Exclusive: Imran Ahmed says US companies are ‘corrupting the system’ of politics by seeking to avoid accountability

A British anti-disinformation campaigner told by the Trump administration that he faces possible removal from the US has said he is being targeted by arrogant and “sociopathic” tech companies for trying to hold them to account.

Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is among five European nationals barred from the US by the state department after being accused of seeking to push tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.

Fiber artists across the US are using their craft to protest against everything from national guard deployments to rollbacks on abortion rights

In early October, Tracy Wright invited a group of other women in her social circle – all fellow knitters – to gather outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in their home town of Portland, Oregon. They were “armed with their weapons of mass construction”.

Donald Trump had just ordered national guard troops deployed to the city, which he called “war ravaged” in order to protect ICE facilities he said were “under siege” by anti-fascists “and other domestic terrorists”.

After 20 years playing around the world, the group had two UK gigs cancelled this year after protests from activists. It’s made them feel targeted for who they are, the band say

Josh Breslaw was looking forward to a homecoming gig with his band of two decades’ standing. Oi Va Voi, a predominantly Jewish collective mixing traditional eastern European folk tunes with drum’n’bass and dance, were due to conclude a spring tour of Turkey with a gig in May at Bristol’s Strange Brew club, plus one in Brighton where Breslaw lives. But then, after protests from local activists about both the band’s past performances in Israel, and with Israeli singer Zohara, Strange Brew abruptly cancelled, citing “the ongoing situation in Gaza”.

To be told they hadn’t met the venue’s “ethical standards” was devastating, says Breslaw, the band’s 52-year-old drummer: “It felt so unjust.” But worse came when his home-town venue cancelled in solidarity. “It changed how I felt about the city, how I felt about parts of the music industry. And it changed how I felt about the political home I always felt I lived in.” Although the Brighton promoter swiftly apologised, only in November did Strange Brew issue a statement saying it had “made a mistake”, adding that the band likely only attracted scrutiny because they are “a Jewish band performing with an Israeli singer”.

Week 17 delivers a decisive at Soldier Field as Chicago and San Francisco battle for positioning in a crowded NFC race for the No 1 seed and a precious first-round bye

Chicago Bears (11-4) v San Francisco 49ers (11-4)

Pete Hegseth says ‘more to come’ as Nigerian minister confirms his country provided intelligence for first wave

• US politics live: latest news updates

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has warned of new strikes against Islamic State targets in north-western Nigeria, hours after the US military took action against militant camps in what Donald Trump has characterised as efforts to stop the killing of Christians.

Hegseth wrote on X: “The president was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The [Pentagon] is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight – on Christmas. More to come …

Mudslides, big waves and atmospheric rivers slam state after LA’s wettest Christmas season in 54 years

A strong storm system that has brought relentless winds, rain and snowfall to California was expected to ease on Friday, but there was still a risk of high surf along the coast, flash flooding near Los Angeles and avalanches in the Sierra Nevada.

Waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25ft (7.6 meters) on Friday, parts of southern California were at risk of flooding, and avalanches could hit the Lake Tahoe area, officials warned. Residents were told to be ready to evacuate the mountain town of Wrightwood about 80 miles (130km) north-east of Los Angeles because of mudslides.

Government said the move was due to its ‘unrestricted respect for human rights’ in the face of US aggression

Venezuela has said it has carried out its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have freed 99 people detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by the dictator Nicolás Maduro, as it comes under increasing military pressure from the US.

Civil society organisations have treated the news with caution and stressed that the releases were insufficient, noting that at least 900 political prisoners remain in the country.

Valentina Magaletti drummed for her life, Sarz got hips swinging and Daniel Avery got slinky and serpentine: our writers pick their favourite unsung LPs from 2025
• The 50 best albums of 2025
• More on the best culture of 2025

Towards the end of Tether, there is a song called Silk and Velvet; its sound is characteristic of Annahstasia’s debut album. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar and her extraordinary vocals – husky, expressive, elegant – are front and centre. The arrangement is subtle but not drearily tasteful: arching noise that could be feedback or a distorted pedal steel guitar, which gradually swells into something climactic before dying away. The lyrics, meanwhile, concern themselves with selling out: “Maybe I’m an analyst, an antisocial bitch,” she sings. “Who sells her dreams for money.”

Many victims and families advising inquiry’s legacy project are highly suspicious of idea of Postal Museum exhibition

Victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal have dismissed a planned exhibition on the affair at the Postal Museum as a PR stunt that they are refusing to endorse.

The inquiry into the wrongful convictions of hundreds of post office operators announced in September that it was working with the Postal Museum as part of a legacy project to commemorate the devastating impact of the scandal.

Meeting on Sunday will follow flurry of US, Russian and Ukrainian talks, but Putin has shown little sign of softening

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to travel to the US for a planned meeting with Donald Trump on Sunday, as Washington continues to push for a possible peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.

The Ukrainian president announced the visit on Friday in a social media post, saying he had received a briefing from Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, on new contacts with US officials.

Elon Musk’s net worth increased by nearly 50% to $645bn with founders of Google and Amazon also seeing huge wealth gains

A stock market boom in artificial intelligence companies has added more than half a trillion dollars to the wealth of America’s tech barons in the past year, data shows.

The top 10 US founders and bosses of some of the world’s largest technology companies saw their finances swell to nearly $2.5tn, up from $1.9tn, in the year to Christmas Eve, according to figures from Bloomberg.

Alleged strikes close to UAE-backed forces follow Riyadh’s call for STC to withdraw from newly seized provinces

A separatist group in southern Yemen that this month seized two oil-rich provinces has claimed that Saudi Arabia has fired warning airstrikes directed at its forces.

Videos issued on Friday by media linked to the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) showed airstrikes that it said were close to its positions in Wadi Nahab, Hadramaut province.

• ‘Difference between us and other teams is too small’

• Liverpool have conceded 11 league goals from set pieces

Arne Slot has claimed Liverpool have much more to offer this season and can become the dominant team he envisaged, although only once their set-piece failings have been eradicated.

Liverpool have stemmed a damaging sequence of nine losses in 12 games – the club’s worst run in 71 years – to climb to fifth in the Premier League, level with fourth-placed Chelsea. But Slot, who admits Liverpool’s position remains below expectations, insists he will not get carried away by an unbeaten run of six matches because the team’s performance level requires big improvement.

Spaniard, who at 30 has been coaching for half his life, discusses Arteta, tactics and how to win players’ trust

Carlos Cuesta, towards the end of his first major interview, briefly lets himself wonder how far his journey will take him. “Maybe one day it brings the Maldives,” he says with a laugh, the joke being football managers can quickly be banished from view, twiddling their thumbs on the beach, once their star has faded. Still, would that be so bad? “It could be better or worse, it depends when or why. If it’s because you want it, or if it’s because somebody told you to go.”

If soaking up rays sounds like anathema to Cuesta it is because, in a remarkable ascent, he has barely wasted a minute. In June, shortly before turning 30, he took the reins at Parma and became the youngest head coach in Serie A since 1939. Half of his short life had been spent building up to that moment, the realisation crystallising in his late teens that no other calling would do. “I felt that I needed to coach,” he says. “It was like an inner necessity that I had inside of me.”

• Race by race commentary on the Boxing Day fixture

• Redknapp eyes King George glory | Email Tony

Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm)

Newsflash: Low sun means that the officials are omitting some hurdles. Three have been taken out so there will be just five obstacles to jump. This is never very satisfactory.

Ans they’re off … Starmount jumps the first in the lead with hot favourite Mydaddypaddy in second … and now they have nearly a mile to run before they jump another flight annoyingly … Mydaddypaddy jumped the second well … and again the third … he looks a class act … so now just one hurdle to jump … and now a very long run home … Starmount leads with Mydaddypaddy challenging the new leader Idaho Sun … he comes to take it up but can’t get past Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy is beaten in a big shock at Aintree!

Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm) betting

Mydaddypaddy – 4/7

Idaho Sun – 7/2

Storming George – 10/1

Starmount – 12/1

Glance At Midnight – 25/1

The Last Cloud – 40/1

Diamond Hunter – NR

Wahraan - NR

Full betting here via Oddschecker

Yusuf Tuggar says strikes against group accused by Donald Trump of attacking Christian communities will be an ‘ongoing process’

• Explained: Why has Trump ordered strikes in Nigeria?

Nigerians across Sokoto state told of their shock at Christmas Day strikes by the United States.

Agence France-Presse spoke to people around Jabo town, who said that their area was sometimes a target of armed “bandit” gangs and jihadists, but was not a stronghold for the groups.

⚽ Updates from the afternoon Boxing Day football action
⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Barry

Championship: Despite failing to properly get his head to a free-kick aimed towards the far post, Jack Robinson somehow manages to take advantage of some slapstick defending to bundle the ball over the line anyway and equalise for Birmingham City against 10-man Derby County. It’s as scruffy a goal as you’ll ever see but the home fans at St Andrew’s won’t care.

Millwall 0-0 Ipswich Town: It’s half-time at the Den, where the deadlock between Millwall and Ipswich remains resolutely unbroken.

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

President’s professed satisfaction with his cabinet may be a reflection of how difficult it would be to get a replacement confirmed

For more than a decade he built his brand on two words: “You’re fired!” And in his first term in the White House, Donald Trump did not hesitate to show his staff the door, often via an abrasive tweet.

But since resuming the US presidency in January, Trump, the former host of the reality TV show The Apprentice, appears to have become an uncharacteristically bashful boss, more disposed to hiring than firing.

Texas governor among those to call for expanded access to ibogaine, said to help with treating veterans with PTSD

For half a century, psychedelics largely belonged to the cultural left: anti-war, anti-capitalist, suspicious of the church and state. Now, one of the most politically consequential psychedelic drugs in the US – ibogaine – is being championed by evangelical Christians, Republican governors, military veterans, and big tech billionaires.

Many of them see ibogaine, an intense psychedelic derived from a central African rootbark, as a divine technology. In fact, some pointedly do not refer to it as a psychedelic, given the apparent baggage of the term in some circles.

An old fashioned with a batty backstory

Legend has it that in 1920 Bhupinder Singh, the maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party the night before the match at which he served his guests Patiala pegs, famously generous four-finger whisky pours traditionally measured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them very hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day, and the legend of the Patiala peg was born. This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned is inspired by Singh’s drink. At the restaurant, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we’ve adapted the recipe to make it more suitable for a domestic environment.

James Stevenson, beverage director, Ambassadors Clubhouse, London W1

Armed groups have moved in to the space left by the Farc after the civil war, cutting down rainforest to control land and build thousands of kilometres of smuggling routes

High above the Colombian Amazon, Rodrigo Botero peers out of a small aircraft as the rainforest canopy unfolds below – an endless sea of green interrupted by stark, widening patches of brown. As director of the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS), he has spent years mapping the transformation of this fragile landscape from the air.

His team has logged more than 150 overflights, covering 30,000 miles (50,000km) to track deforestation advancing along the roads, illicit crops and the shifting frontiers of human settlement. “We now have the highest road density in the entire Amazon,” says Botero.

I had gone out with friends to mark the end of university, and one by one they disappeared. With the music throbbing, I learned I could be comfortable in my own company

Between the ages of 16 and 21, the big night out wasn’t just a hobby, it was a calling. Getting together with friends, getting drunk, being blasted by music, meeting new friends in the smoking area, getting more drunk, somehow making it home eight hours later – these were things I excelled at, the precious moments where I could try to lose myself and avoid the anxiety that inevitably came with daybreak.

The escapism wasn’t just selfish fun. It felt like a necessary avoidance of reality, which for me consisted of having a mother with a terminal illness who would die when I was 19, leaving me at university to cope with my grief. Going out, dancing and chatting rubbish to friends was one way to survive.

No rational judge could have expected England’s fall guys to succeed at the MCG where they were thrown on to a festive bonfire

Guess who just got back today? Those wild-eyed boys that had been away. This was a day of brittle, over-caffeinated cricket, on an MCG pitch streaked with faint green ridges. But it was also a day when the boys were, however briefly, back in town.

Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell have been the two protagonists in the grainy, Zapruder-style footage from England’s six-day, mid-series jig-about by the sea. True to apparent recent form, both were here for a good time not a long time as England were bowled out for 110 in 29.5 overs. Both batted like men groping for the light switch in the dark against a new ball that seamed the width of the bat at times.