⚽ Afcon final updates, 7pm GMT (8pm in Rabat) kick-off
⚽ Jonathan Wilson on this Afcon | Follow us on Bluesky

Morocco’s route to the final

Group A Comoros 2-0, Mali 1-1, Zambia 3-0

Last 16 Tanzania 1-0

Quarter-final Cameroon 2-0

Semi-final Nigeria 0-0 (4-2 pens)

Group D Botswana 3-0, DR Congo 1-1, Benin 3-0

Last 16 Sudan 3-1

Quarter-final Mali 1-0

Semi-final Egypt 1-0

Iran’s president makes comment in response to speculation Donald Trump is planning to assassinate or remove Iran’s supreme leader

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, warned on Sunday that any attack on the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would mean a declaration of war.

In an apparent response to speculation that Donald Trump is considering an attempt to assassinate or remove Khamenei, Pezeshkian said in a post on X that “an attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation.”

Next few weeks will show if Trump overplayed his hand with EU over Greenland levies, as calls grow for bloc to trigger untested anti-coercion tool

• Europe live – latest updates

As the sun set over the port of Limassol in Cyprus, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last Thursday used a tried and tested formula to describe the United States – calling it one of “our allies, our partners”. Only 24 hours earlier, Denmark, an EU and Nato member state, had warned that Donald Trump was intent on “conquering” Greenland, but the reflex at the top of the EU executive to describe the US as a friend runs deep.

Trump’s weekend announcement that eight countries that have supported Greenland would face tariffs unless there was a deal to sell the territory to the US was another hammer to the transatlantic alliance, mocking the notion that the US is Europe’s ally. The eight countries include six EU member states, as well as Norway and the UK, the latter unprotected by the much vaunted “special relationship”. It suggests that Europe’s strategy of flatter and appease the US president has failed.

Reform UK leader has decried ‘globalist’ event but this year hopes to meet Donald Trump for Greenland talks

For years he has derided the annual gathering at Davos as a smug and conspiratorial meeting of enemies of the nation state. But this week, Nigel Farage will himself be rubbing shoulders with the “globalists” he has so reviled.

Farage’s itinerary at the Swiss ski resort remains unclear, although his Reform UK deputy, Richard Tice, said on Sunday he hoped Farage would get a chance to speak to Donald Trump, who is also attending the event run by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Tariff threats over the Arctic island expose the limits of coercive diplomacy. Europe’s united response and pushback shows fear is fading

For all Donald Trump’s bluster about restoring American strength, his attempt to bully European allies over Greenland reveals a deeper weakness: coercive diplomacy only works if people are afraid to resist. Increasingly, they aren’t. And that is a good thing. Bullies often back down when confronted – their power relies on fear. Mr Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Europeans unless they acquiesce to his demand to “purchase” Greenland has stripped his trade policy bare. This is not about economic security, unfair trade or protecting American workers. It is about using tariffs as a weapon to force nations to submit.

The response from Europe has been united and swift. That in itself should send a message. France’s Emmanuel Macron says plainly “no amount of intimidation” will alter Europe’s position. Denmark has anchored the issue firmly inside Nato’s collective security. EU leaders have warned that tariff threats risk a dangerous downward spiral. Even Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, seen as ideologically close to Mr Trump, publicly called the tariff threat a “mistake” – adding that she has told him so.

Errors in measuring microplastic pollution can be corrected. Public trust in science also needs to be shored up

It is true that science is self-correcting. Over the long term this means that we can generally trust its results – but up close, correction can be a messy process. The Guardian reported last week that 20 recent studies measuring the amount of micro- and nanoplastics in the human body have been criticised in the scientific literature for methodological issues, calling their results into question. In one sense this is the usual process playing out as it should. However, the scale of the potential error – one scientist estimates that half the high-impact papers in the field are affected – suggests a systemic problem that should have been prevented.

The risk is that in a febrile political atmosphere in which trust in science is being actively eroded on issues from climate change to vaccinations, even minor scientific conflicts can be used to sow further doubt. Given that there is immense public and media interest in plastic pollution, it is unfortunate that scientists working in this area did not show more caution.

Establishment will give training in AI and other skills, more than a decade after David Cameron axed previous school

Ministers will bring in a new “school of government” for senior civil servants to train them in AI and other skills – more than a decade after David Cameron axed the previous college for Whitehall.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, will announce the new body in a speech on Tuesday setting out the government’s plans to “rewire” the civil service for modern times.

Proposed change relating to spies was criticised by campaigners and MPs as allowing an opt-out for senior officials

The government has pulled an amendment to its proposed Hillsborough law amid concerns from campaigners and MPs that the legislation was being watered down.

The public office (accountability) bill aims to force public officials and contractors to tell the truth after disasters.

Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term but poll criticised by observers and rights groups over repression of opposition and internet blackout

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, fresh from winning a seventh term in office at 81, said on Sunday that the opposition were “terrorists” who had tried to use violence to overturn the election results.

Official results showed Museveni winning a landslide with 72% of the vote, but the poll was criticised by African election observers and rights groups due to the heavy repression of the opposition and an internet blackout.

The US president’s trade war for Greenland tells us that the time for fence-sitting or wishful thinking is over

One way or the other, President Trump said, he will have Greenland. Well, at least now we know it’s the other; not an invasion that would have sent young men home to their mothers across Europe in coffins, but instead another trade war, designed to kill off jobs and break Europe’s will. Just our hopes of an economic recovery, then, getting taken out and shot on a whim by our supposedly closest ally, months after Britain signed a trade deal supposed to protect us from such arbitrary punishment beatings. In a sane universe, that would not feel like a climbdown by the White House, yet by comparison with the rhetoric that had Denmark scrambling troops to Greenland last week it is.

That said, don’t underestimate the gravity of the moment.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Emily Thornberry says risk posed to British democracy by bot farms and biased algorithms requires action

Online disinformation campaigns, including Iranian bot farms promoting Scottish nationalism and biased algorithms depicting London as “an overwhelmingly dangerous” city, are seeking to undermine British democracy, a senior Labour MP has warned.

Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said online disinformation about the UK was being promoted by Donald Trump and other US and UK politicians, and Britain was “constantly suffering from disinformation campaigns from both state and non-state actors”.

Karoline Leavitt was recorded warning network to put out new interview with president in full and without edits

Donald Trump’s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was recently recorded warning CBS News to broadcast a new interview with the president in full and without edits – or “we’ll sue your ass off”.

Trump “said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,’” Leavitt told CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil after he had interviewed the president, according to an audio exchange first reported on by the New York Times. The 13-minute exclusive segment aired on Tuesday, months after CBS’ parent company Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16m over its editing of an unrelated interview ahead of the 2024 election that vaulted him to a second presidency.

⚽ Premier League updates from the 4.30pm GMT kick-off
⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Billy

Premier League report: Will Unwin was at Molineux this afternoon. Let’s hope this one is a bit livelier. The players are in the tunnel, kick-off is in five minutes.

Harrison Armstrong, 18, will start his third game in a row for Everton since returning from his loan at Preston.

A$AP Rocky steals the show during Finn Wolfhard’s first ever go as host with surprise appearances from Sabrina Carpenter, Jason Momoa and more

Saturday Night Live returns from the holiday hiatus to catch us up on all things Trump: the president (James Austin Johnson) addresses the nation from the Oval Office, bragging about his favorite Christmas present: “My very own somebody else’s Nobel prize … and in my stocking: Maduro … we did a reverse Santa on him.”

Joined by cabinet members “Little” Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and JD Vance (Jeremy Culhane, taking over for departed cast member Bowen Yang), who are all trying to “help me do so many legal-ish things to try to get people to stop talking about Epstein.” Said things include an impending invasion of Cuba, “trans in menswear”, new tariffs, and Greenland, only to be interrupted by Trump wandering behind them and looking out the window in a senile fugue state.

Exclusive: DNA test means patients could be offered most effective treatment first, boosting their chances of beating the disease

Scientists have developed a simple DNA blood test that can predict how well patients with breast cancer will respond to treatment.

More than 2 million people globally each year are diagnosed with the disease, which is the world’s most prevalent cancer. Although treatments have improved in recent decades, it is not easy to know which ones will work best for which patients.

• Pool 4: Bristol 15-27 Bordeaux

• Bielle-Biarrey lights up match to secure top spot

The odds on Bordeaux Bègles successfully defending their Champions Cup crown shortened considerably on a damp, grey Sunday lunchtime in Bristol. Good sides can adapt their game to suit awkward conditions and, for the second weekend in a row, French class outflanked English energy and optimism with a hat-trick of tries from the spectacularly prolific French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

The Bears, seeking to play billionaire rugby on a day crying out for more prudent housekeeping, made far too many unforced errors and duly paid the price against opponents who are now perfectly placed in this year’s tournament. They will have the luxury of playing all their subsequent knockout games either on French soil or, if they reach the final, just across the Spanish border in Bilbao, and at this rate it will require something special to prevent them claiming back-to-back titles.

Exclusive: Letter signed by figures on right and left of party says UK should follow Australia’s example by enacting ban

More than 60 Labour MPs have written to Keir Starmer urging him to back a social media ban for under-16s, with peers due to vote on the issue this week.

The MPs, who include select committee chairs, former frontbenchers and MPs from the right and left of the party, are looking to put pressure on the prime minister as calls mount for the UK to follow Australia’s precedent.

It’s far from radical to reject a system predicated on violence – despite what thinktanks might claim

On 7 January 2026, Renee Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross; video captures a man’s voice calling her a “fucking bitch” afterwards. Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security, maligned Good as having committed “domestic terrorism”. Good’s killing became a national flashpoint as protests erupted demanding justice for the mother of three.

Good’s killing is no anomaly. A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed 13 instances of ICE firing into civilian vehicles since July 2025, with at least eight people shot and two killed. ICE detentions are notorious for their inhumane conditions; 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 alone, matching a record set two decades prior in 2004.

Heba Gowayed is an associate professor of sociology at Cuny Hunter College and Cuny Graduate Center and author of the book Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential

Victor Ray is the F Wendell Miller associate professor of sociology at the University of Iowa and author of the book On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Booker prize winner, 80, says he has reached point of having ‘played all my tunes’ after new book Departure(s)

The Booker prize-winning author, Julian Barnes, has confirmed his new novel, Departure(s), will be his last book, saying that he has the sense “that I’ve played all my tunes”.

Barnes, who celebrates his 80th birthday on Monday and whose works over a 45-year career include 15 novels and 10 works of nonfiction, said: “One way of thinking about how long you go on is, ‘As long as they’ll still publish you’.

⚽ Premier League updates from the 2pm GMT kick-off
⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail John

1 min: Sandro Tonali takes the ball deep as Newcastle attempt to pass their way through. Harvey Barnes gets an early touch from a Woltemade layoff. Good energy from the home fans. How long will that last?

Here’s Jeff Beck’s Hi Ho Silver Lining, with the Led Zep medley you will always hear in pre-match at Molineux.

Major retrospective in Plymouth, her adopted city, presents her as a skilful chronicler of social transformation

In her lifetime, Beryl Cook’s colourful, vibrant paintings tended to be dismissed by most critics as mere kitsch or whimsy.

A major retrospective of Cook’s work opening in her adopted city of Plymouth next weekend makes the case that she was a serious, significant artist who skilfully chronicled a tumultuous period of social transformation.