Vox doubles its seats in Extremadura as Socialist Workers’ party, mired in corruption scandals, loses 10 of its 28 seats
Spain’s ruling Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE), already reeling from a series of corruption and sexual harassment scandals, has suffered another blow with a disastrous showing in Sunday’s regional election in the north-western region of Extremadura.
The PSOE lost 10 of its 28 seats as the far-right Vox party doubled its representation on two years ago from five to 11 seats.
Michelle Williams put in a stunning performance in this tale of a dying woman’s quest to have an orgasm. It’s not just clever, tender and blackly comic – it’s a beautiful meditation on what it means to live (and die) well
Dying for Sex is about a fortysomething woman leaving her husband and having lots of experimental sex after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Except, of course, it’s not. It’s about so much more than that. By the end, the sex scenes – many and varied though they may be – are just a bagatelle.
Partly this is because there is no false hope offered here. None of the sexy set pieces are a full escape from reality. The series is based on a true story and the podcast made about Molly Kochan’s decision to cram years of sexual experience into the little time she was told she had left before metastasised breast cancer killed her. Whatever Molly does, whatever we see her do – enjoy or not enjoy – we know it will not change the ultimate outcome. This is the frame in which all the scenes of sex parties, age-gapped hookups, discovery of “pup play” and mastering the tricky latches on cock cages in Molly’s pursuit of her first partnered orgasm are set.
Continuing the series where writers pick their go-to mood-lifting films is a look back to the inspiring sports documentary
It feels apt following a 2026 World Cup draw featuring tiny island debutants Curacao and Cape Verde to revisit Next Goal Wins, an underdog story I adopted upon first watch as if it were a team I would loyally follow for the rest of my life.
The documentary chronicles the world’s (once) worst soccer team, American Samoa, and their valiant efforts to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, but to label it merely a soccer film is to overlook a perfect study of remarkable characters, circumstances and a lesser seen island life. You don’t need to be a sports fan to be uplifted here.
This year has brought us many brilliant video games – but as wealth continues to concentrate, and games are used to exert economic and political influence, we need to keep an eye on the top players
I love playing video games, but what interests me most as a journalist are the ways in which games intersect with real life. One of the joys of spending 20 years on this beat has been meeting hundreds of people whose lives have been meaningfully enhanced by games, and as their cultural influence has grown, these stories have become more and more plentiful.
There is another side to this, however. A couple of decades ago, video games were mostly either ignored or vilified by governments and mainstream culture, leading to an underdog mentality that has persisted even as games have become a nearly $200bn industry. As their popularity has grown, so have their political and cultural relevance. And the ways in which games intersect with real life are now coloured by the economic and political realities of our times.
Whoever wins season’s Scudetto is likely to crawl over the line and Juve have entered the picture
”When you say things like that, it makes me want to bite you,” Luciano Spalletti told a Sky Sport Italia reporter asking about title ambitions. Treating interviewers like a slice of Panettone aside, the most shocking thing about this assertion is that it’s not entirely implausible. Juventus have barely scraped a few good performances, but the overwhelming sense of inconsistency throughout Serie A means that’s no reason to rule them out for the top prize.
Spalletti can tuck into his Christmas dinner knowing Juventus beat Roma 2-1 to close within a point of fourth place, securing three competitive wins in a row, with Loïs Openda finally breaking his Serie A duck, and Gleison Bremer returning for his first start sincehis meniscus tear on 27 September. The quality in the squad was always present, so with a little confidence, momentum and players beginning to gel with their new coach, there’s plenty for fans to get their teeth into.
Documents allege Epstein’s accomplice and ex-girlfriend ‘normalized’ his grooming and ‘directed’ girls on what to do
A document among the tranche of newly releasedJeffrey Epstein files casts fresh light on psychological tricks that his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell deployed in her effort to lure vulnerable teen girls into his abusive orbit.
Toya Bush-Harris stopped by the Page Six studio to chat with “Virtual Reali-Tea” co-hosts Danny Murphy and Evan Real about all the drama unfolding in Season 12 of “Married to Medicine.” Of course, we had to talk Birkins as one of her pricey purses joined us for the interview. Toya also unpacked her tense scenes...
The Guardian’s picture editors highlight the work of photojournalists working for news agencies worldwide whose images have made an impact and contributed to our journalism during 2025
Over the course of 2025, millions of images have been filed through our picture system from agencies who cover news all over the world.
The images taken by their teams of photojournalists, filed through local editors and international desk editors, are a mainstay of our coverage of international news, and enable the production of reactive news stories as well as features and visual essays.
Members of the Mahogany Blue Baby Dolls march in the 25th Anniversary Satchmo Salute second line parade honouring the jazz legend Louis Armstrong, in New Orleans, Louisiana, 3 August.
Change in attitudes has been stoked by disinformation, viral videos and the election of rightwing populist president
Valeriia Kholkina was out buying ice-cream with her husband and four-year-old daughter when a man overheard them speaking Ukrainian. “Teach your daughter to speak Polish,” said the stranger. Then he physically assaulted both parents.
The incident, which happened in the city of Szczecin in north-west Poland, reflects an increasingly hostile atmosphere for Ukrainians in the country, a dramatic turnaround from the mood in 2022. Then, in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion, hundreds of thousands of Poles put on a show of support and hospitality for their neighbours, volunteering at the border and offering up their homes to refugees.
Attention high-school seniors: Deadlines are coming up! Polish your dream-college applications, hit send, and hope the admissions game isn’t rigged with “race proxies”! To stay ahead of the curve, consider including your “subjective social status” — what’s good enough for the governor of California should be good enough for admissions officers. Education gatekeepers are always hunting for fresh metrics to cherry-pick students, especially after the Supreme Court’s 2023...
A masterful introduction to the economics of our most basic asset
‘The landlord is a gentleman who does not earn his wealth … his sole function, his chief pride, is the consumption of wealth produced by others.” It was 1909, and a liberal politician was launching an assault on a class of people who – in the eyes of many – contributed nothing to Britain’s advances in industry while living off its gains.
A little over a century after David Lloyd George’s Limehouse speech, and it feels as though the issue of land has returned to politics: an analysis of MPs’ financial interests revealed that a quarter of all Tory MPs earned more than £10,000 from renting out property, while 44 Labour MPs – 11% – did the same. The winner of the most dazzling political campaign of the past year, New York City mayor-electZohran Mamdani made “freeze the rent” his central pledge. On the right, a revolt against property taxes is gathering pace. Journalist Mike Bird’s history of the most basic asset arrives, then, at an opportune moment.
Hadeel Al Gherbawi was seven months pregnant when the war started in October 2023. Up until that point the 26-year-old had meticulously prepared for her son’s arrival. She visited her doctor twice a month because the pregnancy was high risk, had regular ultrasounds and took vitamins. “I love the details,” she says.
Living on the east side of Gaza City, close to the border with Israel,and knowing that being pregnant would make moving fast difficult, she decided to go to her parents in the west of Gaza City that first day. “I thought it was just going to be a few days and I would go back.”
When Jews are attacked, the world is often quick to ask why. Was it a political grievance? A local dispute? A reaction to events thousands of miles away? This reflex, to contextualize violence against Jews rather than name it for what it is, has become one of the most dangerous habits of our time. More...
Mary-Ann Stephenson defends convention as ‘really important’ and warns against demonisation of migrants
Taking the UK out of a European human rights treaty to quell rightwing anger over immigration would be a mistake, the new head of Britain’s equalities watchdog has said, as she warned against the demonisation of people who migrate to the UK.
Mary-Ann Stephenson, who became chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in December, said the European convention on human rights (ECHR) was part of a framework that provides rights most people would agree were fundamental. But she said the tone of public conversation on it was often dangerous.
Can results be misleading? That is the question. Aston Villa’s winning streak continued against Manchester United, but so did the nagging doubts. They were the lesser team by several measures – fewer shots (12-15), less possession (43-57), fewer big chances (2-3). As usual, the victory was a slender one. As usual, our friend xG was unimpressed: according to Opta, United edged it 1.31-1.02. But, as every fan knows, games are not won by xG. They are won by solid teamwork, shrewd management and individual talent – and Villa have all three. Morgan Rogers may be their only star, but he’s delivering like Father Christmas. Unai Emery is wily, battle-hardened, five years ahead of Ruben Amorim. If Rogers profited from Leny Yoro’s naivety, that was probably because Emery had spotted that Yoro is not a right-back, and told Rogers to start wide, cut in and torment him. Talent and management, working together. Tim de Lisle
Beach Sprints are shaking up this most strait-laced of sports and may be heading to a coastal town near you
At a point when most rowers are pounding away on rivers in the wind and rain through the dark winter months, a new breed are honing their skills in brighter climes surrounded by sun, sand and waves, all the while dreaming of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Out of 17 sports that proposed an extra discipline to the International Olympic Committee, rowing came out on top with its Beach Sprints format added to the LA 2028 programme. While many may have noticed the addition of five new sports in baseball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash, a mini-revolution is happening on the water within a sport that will no longer have a lightweight category but will have five coastal rowing events in 2028.
Miami bout was a bleak and blood-flecked affair but both men will find more opponents willing to take the money
Jake Paul’s mouth opened wide, and his eyes became huge glazed saucers, as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua finally ended the circus in Miami late on Friday night. It looked as if Paul was trying to say “Wow!” as the severity of impact registered in his scrambled brain.
Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua’s legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in his utterly stunned moment.
Local media gleefully homed in on English pre-series predictions after Australia retained the urn having played just 11 days of cricket
The sports sections of Australia’s major mastheads were on Monday largely dedicated to ridiculing pre-series predictions of an England Ashes victory, and announcing the end of the tourists’ now-compromised attacking philosophy.
“Bazball is dead”, asserted the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, quoting former Australian opener Simon Katich. The West Australian newspaper fully committed to the theme, mocking up a pronouncement of Bazball’s passing on ye olde parchment, “deeply lamented by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, but basically no one else”.
I received a pardon from President Donald Trump after serving nearly 20 years for a nonviolent drug offense, but supervised release kept my family apart.
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