A stylish love letter to the Ukrainian port charts its transformation from exotic mafia capital to beacon of freedom and, now, battered Russian target

In 1994 the writer Julian Evans went on a 10-day cruise down the Dnipro River. Ukraine had won its independence three years before. The journey took Evans along an ancient route used by the “restless Vikings” who established Kyiv. His ship – the Viktor Glushkov – stopped off at Crimea and Yalta. Its final destination was the glittering Black Sea port of Odesa.

Evans was a veteran traveller. Nonetheless, the city was “unlike any place I had visited”, he writes – a “country beyond the back of a wardrobe” where anything could happen. It had merchants’ houses, acacia trees, a dandyish 19th-century opera and ballet theatre, and wide neoclassical boulevards. It was ostentatious and self-made. There was kolorit: exoticism and flash.

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© Photograph: Julian Evans

© Photograph: Julian Evans

An event at the European parliament featuring the French academic Maboula Soumahoro was axed after French MEPs objected

Maboula Soumahoro is a renowned French scholar and public intellectual. The holder of a PhD earned through studies both in France and at Columbia University in the US, she is an associate professor at the University of Tours, a specialist on the African diaspora, and one of France’s foremost academics when it comes to race relations.

So when the European parliament decided to invite her to an internal event last month as part of a dialogue to discuss ways to “promote equality and inclusion in the workplace”, it made perfect sense.

Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian Europe columnist

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© Photograph: Eric Fougere/Corbis/Getty Images

© Photograph: Eric Fougere/Corbis/Getty Images

Ruth Beckermann’s compassionate documentary is testament to a diverse group of delightful seven-year-olds and the brilliance of their dedicated teacher

There are some big personalities in the class of seven-year-olds in an inner city Vienna primary school in this rather lovely and compassionate documentary. It follows three years in the life of the class, taught for the entire time by one teacher. Ilkay Idiskut is young and dedicated, and she combines the best of teaching styles: a warm and patient listener, but insisting on structure and discipline. The little faces of her pupils look crestfallen when they disappoint her. Ilkay is too good a teacher to have favourites – and the film’s title, Favoriten, is the name of the ethnically diverse district in Vienna where the school is located.

The kids are at that delightful unselfconscious age when they dance like no one is watching, wiggling and wriggling with abandon during the five minute dance breaks to move their bodies in class. Director Ruth Beckermann and her cinematographer Johannes Hammel must have clambered around the tiny, cramped classroom on their knees to get the handheld cameras down at the kids’ level; they don’t miss a thing. Most of the children are from migrant families; many are Turkish and Syrian, 60% have a first language other than German. The school is struggling with finances and staffing, but clearly the kids feel a sense of community.

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© Photograph: Ruth Beckermann Filmproduktion

© Photograph: Ruth Beckermann Filmproduktion

From Christmassy Regency houses and steam train rides to the best grub and places to stay, here’s how to have a high time in Hants this winter

It is raining and blowing a gale as I flash my UV torch around, searching for lights in the darkness. There, a bright red spider web; here, some luminescent fungi; now a twinkling tortoise, Timothy, sheltering by the wall. I am exploring the gardens of Gilbert White’s House in Selborne, Hampshire, which is holding a light trail with a difference this month.

Gilbert White (1720-1793) is considered the father of ecology, one of the first people to observe living creatures in their own habitats, rather than studying dead specimens. He discovered the role of earthworms; developed the idea of the food chain; and identified species including the harvest mouse, noctule bat, chiffchaff, wood warbler and willow warbler.

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© Photograph: PR

© Photograph: PR

Photographer Lisa Barlow was intrigued by the miniature replica of Jerusalem she found in Connecticut. Then she fell in love with the people who lived nearby

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© Photograph: Lisa Barlow

© Photograph: Lisa Barlow

The Julurens — or "big head" people — are twisting scientists' long-accepted understanding of human evolution.

P. Diddy may be spending more time with his lawyers than he maybe did with his ladies.

Special counsel David Weiss noted in his filing that judges in Hunter’s California tax case and Delaware gun trial rejected his “nonsensical” claim that his prosecution was selective. 

The US president-elect will join 50 heads of state for reopening of historic French cathedral, in his first overseas trip since winning the election

US president-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening celebration for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, his first foreign trip since winning the election.

The historic cathedral is set to reopen on Saturday after more than five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019 that engulfed and nearly destroyed the soaring Paris landmark. The ceremonies being held on Saturday and Sunday will be high-security affairs, with about 50 heads of state and government expected to attend.

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© Photograph: Xavier Francolon/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Xavier Francolon/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

Day'Ron Sharpe's stint drew praise from coach Jordi Fernandez but left the big man himself unimpressed.

‘Tax wealth, not work’ would be a powerful message for Starmer and Reeves – are they bold enough to pursue it?

Now he’s retired from casting millions of people into poverty, George Osborne has become another flaunting, flamboyant example of a fast-growing phenomenon: the wealth he was born with sticks to him and accumulates.

A “windfall” for Osborne, says the Financial Times. He took a share of the £70m profits last week as partner in a boutique financial advisory firm. But windfall isn’t quite the word. It’s more like a salary, though less taxable: he took his share of £28m last year, £26.5m the year before and so on, alongside a string of other finance jobs, including cryptocurrency.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The second run of the UK/Irish awards covers adult and children’s fiction, debut novels and nonfiction, with tales that stretch from surreal expeditions to lost sailors and schoolboy lizards

Novelists Donal Ryan, Colin Barrett, broadcaster Zeinab Badawi and children’s and young adult author Patrick Ness are among those shortlisted for this year’s Nero awards.

A total of 16 books were shortlisted across the four categories of fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction and children’s fiction. Winners of each category will be announced on 14 January 2025 and receive £5,000, and an overall winner of the Nero Gold prize will be revealed on 5 March and win an additional £30,000.

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© Composite: Jamie Simonds, Ali Smith and Alamy

© Composite: Jamie Simonds, Ali Smith and Alamy

The 72-year-old American man fell overboard from Ruby Princess ship during a five-day voyage around Mexico.

English actor Daniel Craig has portrayed James Bond in five films.

Ja’Quan McMillian returned an interception 44 yards for a game-sealing touchdown with 1:48 remaining, and the Denver Broncos spoiled career-best performances by Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy,

President and general manager Chris Drury has the responsibility to hold a heart-to-heart with his team, both as a collective unit and in one-on-one meetings, to determine who exactly wants to be here and who is too butt-hurt to play for his teammates.

See what the stars wore on the red carpet.

One person was killed, another was injured and six firefighters sustained minor injuries and were treated for smoke inhalation, Assistant Chief of EMS Paul Miano said.

• Cleveland Browns 32–41 Denver Broncos
• Jerry Jeudy has 235 receiving yards in losing effort

Ja’Quan McMillian returned an interception 44 yards for a game-sealing touchdown with 1:48 remaining, and the Denver Broncos spoiled career-best performances by Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, beating the Browns 41-32 on Monday night.

Winston threw for a franchise-record 497 yards and four touchdowns, and Jeudy had nine catches for 235 yards – the most in NFL history by a receiver against his former team – and a TD. Jeudy played his first four seasons with Denver and was booed every time he caught the ball by the Broncos crowd.

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© Photograph: David Zalubowski/AP

© Photograph: David Zalubowski/AP

Guardian findings back up research by rights group which reveals ‘shocking behavioural norms’ of Israeli soldiers

Israeli soldiers based in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron have intensified a campaign of arbitrary detentions, beatings and abuse of Palestinians, according to Guardian interviews with affected residents and new research by the rights group B’Tselem.

Three people described being seized on the street while going about their daily business on flimsy pretexts such as photos of Palestinian flags found on their phones or allegations of stone-throwing. They were handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to nearby military posts, where they were subjected to mental and physical abuse for hours. One 60-year-old man, Bader a-Tamimi, said he was hit in the torso and thrown against the wall after asking soldiers to stop destroying the wares in his souvenir shop.

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© Photograph: B'Tselem

© Photograph: B'Tselem

Joan Busquets, 96, suffered torture, forced labour and 20 years in prison under the Franco regime and seeks reparations

One of the last surviving fighters from the guerrilla war waged against the Franco dictatorship in the 1940s is suing the Spanish government for €1m in reparations.

Barcelona-born Joan Busquets, 96, suffered torture, forced labour and 20 years in prison at the hands of the Franco regime. The case comes in response to Spain’s Democratic Memory law, passed in 2022, which offers “moral reparations” to the regime’s victims.

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© Photograph: Jordi Matas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Jordi Matas/The Guardian

Enjoying a romantic relationship without cohabiting, or ‘living apart, together’, found to be a popular arrangement

It’s known as living apart, together. Being in a serious relationship while remaining at separate addresses has long been a lifestyle more associated with people starting out in life.

But those aged 60 and above who date like people in their 20s enjoy better mental wellbeing, the largest study of its kind has found.

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© Photograph: Mladen Zivkovic/Getty Images/iStockphoto

© Photograph: Mladen Zivkovic/Getty Images/iStockphoto