Former Manchester United player discusses culinary and cultural surprises, feeling more mature and how he learned Korean
Jesse Lingard says his Korean is decent, good enough to make himself understood when out for dinner and the shocks do not stop there. The former Manchester United and England midfielder was always going to throw himself into his K-League adventure with FC Seoul and now that it is over after two years, a new chapter beckoning when the January transfer window opens, the 33-year-old certainly has the tales to tell.
It was the little things as much as anything else, the cultural quirks. And the bigger ones, of course – such as the time he watched an octopus squirm in front of him before eating it. “The food is different, obviously, and I tried live octopus,” Lingard says. “It was moving. I was scared at first but it was all right.”
The feeling among fans is anticlimatic as ‘businessmen have appropriated the ball that used to belong to the people’
Jonathan Zamora was seven years old the last time Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1986. “I witnessed perhaps one of the most sublime moments in the history of football,” he says, retelling a story that has become a pillar of his life.
Zamora, a Mexican football fan, does not remember how his father, Antonio, got tickets to the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and England at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. But he does clearly remember the goals: first when Diego Maradona used his “hand of God” to push the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. And then the “goal of the century”, where the Argentinian went on a slalom run, dribbling past half the England team before scoring.
The winners and runners-up of this year’s RSPCA Young Photographer Awards have been announced with an image of a stag lit up in the darkness by Thomas Durrant, 17, from London, named the overall winner
PostNord’s decision to end service on 30 December comes after fear over ‘increasing digitalisation’ of Danish society
The Danish postal service will deliver its last letter on 30 December, ending a more than 400-year-old tradition.
Announcing the decision earlier this year to stop delivering letters, PostNord, formed in 2009 in a merger of the Swedish and Danish postal services, said it would cut 1,500 jobs in Denmark and remove 1,500 red postboxes amid the “increasing digitalisation” of Danish society.
Steps to help combat fraud in which criminals use AI-generated replica of a person’s voice to deceive victims
The voicemail from your son is alarming. He has just been in a car accident and is highly stressed. He needs money urgently, although it is not clear why, and he gives you some bank details for a transfer.
You consider yourself wise to other scams, and have ignored texts claiming to be from him and asking for cash. But you can hear his voice and he is clearly in trouble.
Restaurants, bars and shops are happy to be back after Storm Claudia – but there are fears for the future
“It was heart-wrenching,” says Andrea Sholl, recalling the Friday night last month when flood waters started rising inside Bar 125, the restaurant she and her husband, Martin, own in the Welsh border town of Monmouth.
The Sholls and a couple of colleagues were still clearing up after a busy evening serving diners when the building started to fill with water at about 1am.
Acute-on-chronic liver failure will be treated with device that cleans patients’ blood corrupted by toxins
The NHS is to trial a potentially life-saving new treatment for a deadly liver disease that causes the body’s vital organs to fail.
Thirteen major hospitals will use a device that cleans patients’ blood that has become corrupted by toxins as a result of them developing acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF).
A protest barring MPs from pubs is exposing deeper tensions between politicians and the communities they represent
Labour MPs heading back to their constituencies this weekend will do so with a sense of relief that another turbulent term in British politics is over. But those hoping to pitch up at their local pub for a restorative pint with colleagues and constituents may find festive cheer is in short supply. In fact, some may not be allowed through the door.
For the past few weeks, pubs across the country have been putting up signs declaring “No Labour MPs” in protest at changes to business rates announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her latest budget.
From preparing safe topics to taking silly games, we ask the experts how to avoid falling out with your nearest and dearest – before, during and after the big day
Plan breaks in your schedule
Spending time with difficult family members requires careful planning, says Katie Rose, a therapist registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the founder of TherapEast. “If you’re going to stay with somebody for three or four days, find ways to politely give yourself a break. Go for lunch with friends who live locally, or book a ticket to a museum or a National Trust place so that you have ways of getting yourself out of the house.” Tamara Hoyton, a senior practitioner for Relate at Family Action, agrees that scheduling breaks is a good strategy. “Arrange a trip out, or offer to cook so that you’re away from the living room where everyone else is,” she says.
The conviction of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong is another hostile act. How can Britain ignore Beijing’s provocations and human rights abuses?
The UK pushed hard to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, the newspaper publisher and British citizen who was a leading light in Hong Kong’s brutally suppressed pro-democracy movement. So, too, did press freedom and human rights campaigners. But the Beijing-appointed high court judges in the former colony convicted him anyway, finding Lai guilty last week on fake charges of trying to “destabilise” the Chinese Communist party (CCP). For Xi Jinping, China’s dictator-emperor, there is no greater crime.
Protesting to China’s ambassador, the UK’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, condemned the trial as “politically motivated”. She’s right, of course – but her angry words will make no difference. Beijing’s contempt for Britain’s views is as painfully obvious as the UK’s weakness and indecision in the face of Chinese hubris. The breaking of its solemn promise to respect Hong Kong’s freedoms after the 1997 handover typifies the arrogance and untrustworthiness of Xi’s CCP.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator
These types of relationships can be challenging – you need to have an honest conversation about what you both want
My partner and I are professionals in our early 30s. We’ve been together for five years, and long-distance for the last three, but have just moved back in together.
While we were long-distance, we both had difficulties in our work. She hadimportantexams, and it’s taken a long time for me to get into my career. Over the last year, our relationship has become strained, and it feels as if we’ve grown apart. Now it feels as if we aren’t friends, let alone partners. This is complicated by our work shifts. Despite now living together, we still barely see each other.
Blue cheese and honey gougeres, roast squash soup with melting brie, mushroom and celeriac pithivier, roast miso brussels sprouts, and a caramelised pear and rosemary pudding
Christmas for me began as a summertime celebration in New Zealand, with long days and warm evenings. Twenty-plus years on, the wintry cosiness of a UK Christmas has taken hold. Now, my essentials include perfectly crisp roast potatoes with plenty of gravy, and sprouts (non-negotiable). Even my young niece and nephew love them, which is a small victory I’m quietly proud of.
Williams hits Moore in OT after Bears steal onside
Chicago erase 10-point deficit as Love exits concussed
Eagles clinch NFC East despite miscues, late brawl
Caleb Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore in overtime, and the Chicago Bears overcame a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter Saturday night for a 22-16 win over the Green Bay Packers, who lost quarterback Jordan Love to a concussion.
The Bears (11-4) extended their lead in the NFC North to one and a half games over the Packers (9-5-1) with two left to play and got some payback for a loss at Lambeau Field two weeks earlier. It was Chicago’s sixth win this season after trailing in the final two minutes and its most incredible – Green Bay had a win probability of 99%.
Manager says the ban Xavi Simons faces is ‘too harsh’
Slot says his ‘gut feeling’ on Isak injury is not positive
A frustrated Thomas Frank took aim at two decisions, both involving the use of the video assistant referee system, that helped swing proceedings in Liverpool’s favour during his Tottenham side’s stormy 2-1 defeat on Saturday night.
Spurs finished with nine men after Cristian Romero was dismissed while they sought an equaliser in added time. But it was the red card handed to Xavi Simons in the first half, upgraded from a yellow after the VAR had slowed down his late challenge on Virgil van Dijk, that infuriated Frank the most. He cut an animated figure on the touchline as Simons departed, and said later that John Brooks’s original decision should have stood.
Attackers wound 10 others in Bekkersdal after opening fire at tavern patrons and ‘randomly’ shooting in the street, police say
Gunmen killed nine people and wounded 10 others in an attack at a township outside Johannesburg, police said on Sunday, in the second mass shooting in South Africa in December.
Police initially said 10 people were killed but later revised the toll.
While it took longer than expected on the fifth day in Adelaide, eventually it was done. A series won, the Ashes retained for another year and a half until they next go up for grabs in England. For Pat Cummins, this makes three consecutive Ashes series captained without giving up the urn. The feat leaves him in sparse but fine company: the others to do it are Joe Darling, Don Bradman, Richie Benaud, Mike Brearley, Allan Border and Mark Taylor.
It made things neater that Steve Smith missed this third Test, having captained the first two wins in Cummins’ absence, so that it didn’t feel like the full-time captain was swooping in to hoover up the stand-in’s lunch. Those situations can be odd, like Adam Gilchrist filling in to lead what was very much Ricky Ponting’s team, captaining two wins in India in 2004 before Ponting returned from injury once the series was decided. Who gets credit for the win?
Who was Santa, really? Aged eight, I devised a cunning plan to catch him in the act, involving a booby trap and a camera. Unfortunately, the joke was on me …
It was Christmas Eve, 1987. The cold war was beginning to emit its last frosty guffs, Thatcher had set her sights on gay children, and Michael Fish was keeping his head down. In England’s deep south, my sister and I conspired in our bedroom. We are twins: she got the brains; I, being the eldest by a full six minutes, was to inherit the estates and titles, except there were none because my idealistic pinko parents had spent their working lives in public service.
Earlier in the year, my sister had attempted to prove the existence of God. Worried about the health of her pet rabbit, Wodger, she penned him a letter pleading for help, with a rather clever “Please tick if you have read this” box at the end.
Results of Sunday’s snap election in Extremadura are seen as key test of Pedro Sánchez and his PSOE party
Spain’s beleaguered prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, faces a key test on Sunday when voters in the south-western region of Extremadura cast their ballots in the first major election to be held since a series of corruption and sexual harassment allegations enveloped his inner circle, his party and his administration.
Extremadura, once a stronghold of Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), has been in the hands of the conservative People’s party (PP) since 2023, when the latter managed to form a short-lived coalition government with the far-right Vox party, despite finishing just behind the socialists.
Over our marriage, seasonal rows have focussed on cheese, tinsel, turkey, Aled Jones and even pyjamas. Still, I’m convinced that I am the true spirit of the festive season
Most families have their own unique festive rituals, and my husband and I have spent this December in the manner traditional to us: squabbling. He is fully invested in every possible aspect of the season of goodwill. On the big day itself, he wears his cracker crown until it breaks, like a metaphor; I usually don’t bother unfolding mine, let alone putting it on. We’ve been married for 15 years, and weathered many storms together, but at the moment our relationship is particularly challenging. How do you cope when you’re Christmas incompatible?
In my defence, I’m not bah-humbugging at merely a rational amount of yuletide spirit. My husband is perpetually jolly as standard – it’s always the first word anybody I introduce him to uses to describe him afterwards. He’s relentlessly cheerful, endlessly enthusiastic and can be relied upon to put a positive spin on any situation. If we were trapped in a burning building, the last words I’d hear would be, “At least we’re not cold!”
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
England show grit but fall short as hosts take 3-0 lead
“England are talking themselves up more, they’re confident coming to Australia with the group of players they’ve got and fair enough, this is the best team they’ve had probably this century.”
As Marnus Labuschagne wheeled away in delight after pouching the catch that sealed the Ashes for Australia in tranquil Adelaide, it wasn’t just pre-series optimism from the English – or delusion, as per plenty since – that had been popped into a blender and turned into mush after 11 largely one-sided days.
Kyiv continues campaign of attacks on Russia-linked maritime targets; latest US idea is three-way peace talks. What we know on day 1,397
Ukrainian drones hit an oil rig at Russia’s Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea – more than 700km (435 miles) from Ukraine’s nearest border, as well as the military patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraine’s military general staff said in a statement on Saturday. It said the ship was patrolling near the platform. The extent of the damage was being assessed. The attack continues Kyiv’s recent campaign of strikes on Russia-linked maritime targets far from Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian drones struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed two Russian fighter jets were also destroyed at an airfield in occupied Crimea.
Since Thursday, Russian forces have at least five times hit a bridge on the Dniester River near the village of Mayaky, south-west of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s Odesa region, according to the deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba. The bridge, which connects parts of the region divided by the river and sea inlets, is the main transport route westward to border crossings with Moldova, and is not operational now. The route accounted for about 40% of fuel supplies to Ukraine, Kuleba said. Ukrainian authorities have set up a pontoon bridge and re-routed logistics through other regions, securing civilian and freight logistics.
The death toll rose to eight from a Russian strike on Pivdennyi port. Geneva-based vegetable oil producer Allseeds said three tanks storing sunflower oil at the site were set ablaze in Pivdennyi, and one of its workers was killed while two were injured.
The Ukrainian military said its forces on Saturday fought back more than 60 attacks on Pokrovsk, which is under heavy Russian siege. Across the combat zones in Ukraine, “the Russian invaders carried out 42 airstrikes, dropping 101 guided bombs. In addition, they used 1,684 kamikaze drones and carried out 2,467 attacks on our military positions and settlements.” In the Kharkiv region city of Izium, two people were killed by guided bomb strikes, said the state emergency service.
Russia reported Ukrainian drone attacks on its Belgorod region as well as an attack on facilities in the Kursk region that left about 5,000 people without electricity.
The White House offered to chair face-to-face talks between officials of the US, Russia and Ukraine, as the Trump administration continued to cast about for a peace deal. “America is now proposing a trilateral meeting with national security advisers – America, Ukraine, Russia,” said Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine would back the proposal, he said, if it facilitated more exchanges of prisoners and paved the way for meetings of national leaders.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine stood for proposals that would leave the frontline where it is without Ukraine having to give up territory it still controls in the industrial region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine. “For me, the fair version is we stand where we are now standing,” he said. US negotiators met Russian officials in Florida on Saturday, following on from US talks on Friday with Ukrainian and European officials. It was suggested the talks would continue on Sunday.
66th over: England 214-6 (Smith 9, Jacks 11) Smith pushes a single off Lyon. It’s the only run off the over. Oohs and ahhs from the Aussie fielders, I wouldn’t say Marnus is quiet exactly.
65th over: England 213-6 (Smith 8, Jacks 11) Smith drives Cameron Green for three more but it was uppish and not too far away from the bowler’s gargantuan wing span in his follow through. Jacks then nearly nicks off with a loosey goosey drive. Gah. To channel Ray Winstone in The Departed – I’m here to tell you there are ways to get out and ways to not get out, getting out caught and bowled to a loose drive is not a way to get out.
Mbappé makes it 59 goals in a year in win over Sevilla
Juventus stay in Serie A race with 2-1 win over Roma
Kylian Mbappé equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 59 goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid with a late penalty in his side’s 2-0 home win over Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday, the French forward celebrating his 27th birthday in style.
Mbappé missed several earlier chances before getting his chance from the spot four minutes from time and he made no mistake to net his 59th goal in as many games across all competitions in 2025 to level Ronaldo’s 2013 haul.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Leeds striker to score in five consecutive Premier League games in 22 years to down a lethargic Crystal Palace, and open up a six-point gap on the relegation zone. Mark Viduka achieved the same feat in 2003, helping secure his side’s top-flight status with his instinctive finishing, another achievement the latest Elland Road No 9 is aiming to replicate.
The former Everton striker cannot have imagined almost 40,000 singing his name at Christmas when he was unemployed for much of the summer, reminding everyone that sometimes the best gifts are free. It took until mid-August for newly promoted Leeds to convince Calvert-Lewin this was the right place to rebuild his career and they are proving one another right, helped by the scorer of the third goal Ethan Ampadu’s long-throws.
Connexion
