Exit poll suggests leftwing PSD poised to defeat resurgent far-right movement in parliamentary election

Romania’s main centre-left party was on track to finish first in parliamentary elections, according to early exit polls, seemingly beating an advancing far right boosted by the shock victory of an ultranationalist in last week’s presidential first-round ballot.

The ruling Social Democratic party (PSD) was forecast to receive 26% of the vote, ahead of the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) on 19%, while the National Liberal party (PNL) and centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) were vying for third on 15-16%.

• Midfielder nets winner in 1-0 victory at Torino
• Bellingham and Mbappé on target for Madrid

Scott McTominay’s first-half goal earned leaders Napoli a 1-0 win at Torino as Antonio Conte’s side opened a four-point gap at the top of the Serie A standings.

The Scotland midfielder found the net around the half-hour mark when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post after receiving a precise pass from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Napoli move on to 32 points, with four teams level on 28 points: Atalanta, Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina.

Forces only took three days to take the city from Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but the Middle East’s newest conflict looks set to last

• Middle East crisis – live updates

It was not Kyiv that fell in three days, but Aleppo. A surprise offensive launched by Syrian rebels from the north west of the country last week has reignited a dormant conflict – and revealed a change in the balance of power caused not by one but two nearby wars, in Ukraine and Lebanon and the Middle East.

Aleppo was the scene of fierce and destructive fighting between 2012 and 2016 when the Syrian civil war was at its height. Rebel groups were forced out as Syrian government forces supporting the president, Bashar al-Assad, were able to capture the country’s second city, with the help of Russia and its air force.

Exclusive: Businesses to require financial services licence number to post Facebook ads while individuals will need government-issued ID

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Fake celebrity investment scams may soon be harder to push on Facebook and Instagram, with Meta introducing a requirement that financial advertisers are verified.

Beginning in early February, Meta will require advertisers seeking to run ads about financial services to verify information about who are the beneficiary and payer. Businesses will be required to provide their Australian financial services licence number or declare an exemption. Individuals will need to provide a government-issued ID.

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• Leclerc second, Piastri third as Norris finishes 10th
• Race director failed to remove debris from track

Max Verstappen without doubt delivered a fine drive for victory at the Qatar Grand Prix but the reverberations from this dead rubber in the desert will resound long after the anthems faded into the night. Controversy and potential danger marked the meeting at the Lusail circuit, bringing recent decisions made by Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, sharply into scrutiny on the same day its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, had demanded drivers mind their own business when questioning his governance.

Verstappen was in imperious form at Lusail in a race peppered with safety car interventions that he handled with aplomb and while being hounded throughout by a charging Lando Norris, who stayed within two seconds of the Dutchman until he received a penalty that took him out of contention.

When times have been tough in the past for Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, there has always been the sense they will pull through; it will be OK. Almost to the extent there has been little dramatic tension around them, only inevitability. Not now.

The City machine looks broken, the certainties that have driven them for so long absent, the control gone. They got exactly what they deserved on a highly charged Anfield occasion – another defeat, a sixth in seven matches in all competitions, a fourth in succession in the Premier League and it is almost impossible to see them defending their title from here.

• Serie A match halted as Bove treated by paramedics
• Players form protective barrier around 22-year-old

The Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove was taken off the pitch in an ambulance after collapsing shortly after the start of their Serie A match against Internazionale.

Sky Sport Italia reported that Bove was transported to the Careggi hospital near the Stadio Franchi in Florence, was breathing on his own and had regained consciousness.

Home secretary to highlight data showing record number of calm autumnal days that made Channel crossings likely

The number of small boat arrivals since Keir Starmer took power has passed 20,000, with the Home Office claiming a record number of calm autumnal days in the Channel was responsible.

A 31-day period in October and November had the highest ratio of so-called “red days” – when weather conditions make crossings likely or very likely – since records began in 2018, according to a leaked analysis.

Dave Lewis says the near-constant stream of clean electricity could supply the grid as early as 2030

In the south-west of Morocco, a sprawl of wind and solar farms stretching across an area the size of Greater London could soon generate the green electricity powering more than 9m British homes.

This is the unflinching vision of Sir Dave Lewis, the former Tesco boss who is hoping to build the world’s longest subsea power cable in order to harness north Africa’s renewable energy sources and power Britain’s clean energy agenda.

• All-rounder scored 80 and bowled 19.3 overs in first Test
• England captain confident of being fit for Wellington

Ben Stokes moved to play down concerns over his fitness and declared himself “raring to go” for the second Test at Wellington after the England captain ended his efforts with the ball mid-over during the eight-wicket win at Hagley Oval.

At the end of a year in which Stokes has missed four Tests with a hamstring injury, there were fears the all-rounder had done himself another mischief when pulling up lame three balls into the fifth over of his spell on the fourth morning.

The INF treaty kept nuclear missiles off European soil and was a brake on a perilous arms buildup. Now it is gone

Five years ago, the collapse of a landmark cold war arms treaty opened a Pandora’s box, unleashing missile-shaped furies that have struck Ukraine. The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty ended when the US withdrew, citing Russian violations dating back to 2014 under Vladimir Putin. While abandoning the treaty aligned with the first Trump administration’s broader opposition to arms control, continuing to pressure Mr Putin into compliance would have been the wiser course.

Targeting Kyiv’s forces are the hypersonic Oreshnik missile and the ballistic Iskander missile. Both can carry a nuclear warhead and would have been barred under the INF treaty. These weapons signal an alarming return to cold war-style tit-for‑tat posturing, with great powers ramping up their military capabilities. Their use highlights Moscow’s accelerated missile development. But it also raises questions about the implications of a nuclear-tipped Oreshnik missile – capable of striking European capitals within 12 to 16 minutes – for Nato security.

Turmoil in the populist party founded by comedian Beppe Grillo could herald a crucial progressive realignment

Political scientists have long argued that a defining characteristic of populism is the distinction between a “pure people” and a “corrupt elite”. In the turbulent politics of the early 21st century, few public figures have promoted that worldview with as much vigour and impact as the Italian comedian Beppe Grillo.

During the 2010s, Mr Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) became at one point the most successful and quixotic populist party in Europe, coming first in the Italian election of 2018 by a comfortable margin. Its signature principles were a belief in the power of direct democracy, and a conviction that traditional left‑right politics should be superseded by a popular revolt against la casta – the privileged elite whose power persisted whichever government was in charge. People power was mobilised through the party’s Rousseau platform, designed as a forum for online democracy by M5S’s co-founder and internet evangelist Gianroberto Casaleggio.

Ex-spy had information about Putin’s ‘embezzlement’ of profits from metals production, intelligence official says

Vladimir Putin may have ordered the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal because the former Russian spy harboured secret information about the Russian president’s “criminal embezzlement” of profits from metals production, the UK government believes.

A leading intelligence official on Russia has said he took “at face value” Skripal’s assertions that secrets he knew about how Putin may have made money led to the nerve agent attack on him in Salisbury.

Georgian media reports protests in at least eight cities and towns after Saturday’s demonstrations leave 44 in hospital

Protesters rallied in Georgia’s capital for a fourth consecutive night on Sunday and there were signs that opposition was spreading to the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.

For months, tensions have been rising between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opponents who accuse it of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-western and pro-Russian policies.

Actor says he’s selling memorabilia to help cover ‘expensive’ treatment costs for recent colorectal cancer diagnosis

The Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek announced he is selling memorabilia to help cover the “expensive” treatment costs for his recent colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Van Der Beek, also known for the film Varsity Blues, made the announcement on Instagram last week, nearly three weeks after revealing his illness in an interview with People.

“Amorim, Ruben Amorim, nananananananaaa,” the jubilant Manchester United fans chorused after the impressive Joshua Zirkzee’s second goal. Sung to the melody of KC and the Sunshine Band’s Give It Up, this was the last thing the new manager’s players did: fail to go after any apparent lost cause in case gold could be mined.

It was how Zirkzee struck United’s fourth. From deep in his area, the substitute Luke Shaw headed out. The ball came to Amad Diallo, who rolled it along the right wing into space. Over thundered Marcus Rashford, who failed to connect but, when the ball was passed back to James Tarkowski, there was Diallo harrying. Everton’s captain dawdled, the right wing‑back pilfered possession, sprinted ahead, squared left to United’s centre-forward and he rammed home.

Conservationists fear an expansion of drilling with North Dakota governor Trump’s pick for secretary of the interior and White House ‘energy czar’

Of all Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees so far, Doug Burgum has stood out for appearing to be one of the most conventional.

The billionaire governor of North Dakota – like most picks to lead the Department of the Interior, the largest landowner in the US west – comes from a western state. He is not a conspiracy theorist, he hasn’t been investigated for sex trafficking. Unlike the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Energy, he is not a fracking CEO.

As neighbors face an uncertain political future, the city’s only Afghan restaurant provides a sense of community – and ‘a bit of happiness’

An aromatic blend of spices and bolani, stuffed pan-fried bread, and the voice of Asad Badie, an Afghan pop singer who rose to stardom in the 1980s, foreshadowed a meal experience that one could easily believe was taking place thousands of miles away.

In reality, it was almost 1pm in Tucson, Arizona, when Ritiek Rafi and Ahmad Bahaduri started to greet and take orders from customers in Dari and English inside the only Afghan restaurant in the city.

• World Cup champion crashed during giant slalom
• 29-year-old also suffered ‘severe muscle trauma’

Mikaela Shiffrin suffered a deep puncture wound to her abdomen and “severe muscle trauma” during her crash in a race on Saturday but she escaped serious bone, ligament or organ damage.

The five-time overall World Cup champion is sidelined for the Killington Cup slalom race on Sunday. There is no timetable for her return to competition, the US Ski Team said in a statement.

Pep Guardiola’s struggling team crashed to their latest defeat as Liverpool opened up an 11-point gap on the champions

Arne Slot has been speaking to the BBC: “I think what we expect is what you always expect from City. They like to control the ball and possession. Maybe the difference between this [and normal] is [lack of] wingers. We have to wait and see in the first few minutes if they have changed anything in terms of formation.

“A bit of everything today. We’d both like to have the ball. If you’re sloppy [in a game like this] you have no chance. You have to be top on every aspect of your game. We have to be on top of our game in everything.”

• Updates from F1 race at 4pm GMT in Lusail
• Have any thoughts? Send them to Yara via email

Lap 1/57: Russell is on the outside line to start. The track temperature is only 23 C, a lot cooler than previous years. Verstappen swoops in and takes the lead within the first turn and Norris speeds to second. Safety car comes out after Colapinto and Ocon, the 16th crash for Williams this season. Hülkenberg also had an incident and he has continued but his rim is popping out of his car.

Off they go for the formation lap! We are underway at the Lusail International Circuit.