The UN office on drugs and crime said in a report the growth underscores Myanmar’s position as the world’s main known source of illicit opium
Opium poppy cultivation in war-torn Myanmar has surged to its highest level in a decade, according to the UN, rising 17% in the past year as conflict and economic hardship push more farmers into the illicit trade.
From the threat of superintelligent AI to the secrets of a longer life; plus the evolution of language and the restless genius of Francis Crick
This felt like the year that AI really arrived. It is on our phones and laptops; it is creeping into digital and corporate infrastructure; it is changing the way we learn, work and create; and the global economy rests on the stratospheric valuations of the corporate giants vying to control it.
But the unchecked rush to go faster and further could extinguish humanity, according to the surprisingly readable and chillingly plausible If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (Bodley Head), by computer scientists Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, which argues against creating superintelligent AI able to cognitively outpace Homo sapiens in all departments. “Even an AI that cares about understanding the universe is likely to annihilate humans as a side-effect,” they write, “because humans are not the most efficient method for producing truths … out of all possible ways to arrange matter.” Not exactly cheery Christmas reading but, as the machines literally calculate our demise, you’ll finally grasp all that tech bro lingo about tokens, weights and maximising preferences.
Failings of legal system mean 97 people were unlawfully killed, but no one will be held accountable
When the Independent Office for Police Conduct published the final report on its mammoth investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, the response from bereaved families and survivors was conflicted.
Some of the IOPC’s findings could be regarded as historic, in particular that 12 former officers would have had cases to answer for gross misconduct, including Peter Wright, the chief constable of South Yorkshire police at the time of the 1989 disaster.
Incarceration should be a last resort, yet this broken and brutal system punishes marginalised women, most of whom are inside for non-violent crimes
‘When you imprison a woman, you imprison a family,” a young woman in Sierra Leone told me, cradling her small baby in a damp cell. My mind flashed back to being a teenager, hearing my mother sob after receiving a phone call to say that my father had been arrested in Zambia for political reasons.
I understand how children are collateral damage of imprisonment, and over 20 years as a lawyer, I know that is even more true when women – primary caregivers – are arrested.
Tesla privately warned the UK government that weakening electric vehicle rules would hit battery car sales and risk the country missing its carbon dioxide targets, according to newly revealed documents.
The US electric carmaker, run by Elon Musk, also called for “support for the used-car market”, according to submissions to a government consultation earlier this year obtained by the Fast Charge, a newsletter covering electric cars.
Three Italian light bites to get you started on the big day: pinzimonio crudites, chilled prawns with boozy mayo, and a delicate frittata that you can stud with artichoke, radicchio or celery
I am evolving as a host, and coming to realise that those rich dishes that crown our festive tables shine brightest when surrounded by contrasting and lighter bites – before, around and after, rather than just on the day itself. I do enjoy angels and devils on horseback, devilled eggs, little sausages wrapped in bacon, mince tarts crowned with goose liver, fried breads and cheesy pizzette, buffalo wings, paté en croute, crab beignets, oysters Rockefeller, shrimp tostadas and rich tamales, but, for the most part, I save these for the parties earlier in December. For Christmas day itself, I start with lighter bites, as better preparation for the rich meal ahead. A trio of dainty, grazing canapes served alongside sparkling Alta Langa…
The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. Check ratings in your region: UK; Australia; US.
Shopping for a Swiftie, a Brat or a Short n’ Sweet superfan? We’ve rounded up the ultimate pop-girlie gifts of 2025, inspired by everyone from Chappell Roan to Olivia Rodrigo
From Olivia Rodrigo headlining Glastonbury to Chappell Roan winning a Grammy for best new artist, 2025 has been yet another slay for the pop girls. And with recently released albums from Taylor Swift, Olivia Dean and Sabrina Carpenter (and one on the way for Charli xcx), there’s no sign of them slowing down.
So, whether you’re shopping for a loved one who’s clinging on to Brat summer or in need of a present for a Swiftie, we’ve rounded up thoughtful gifts inspired by their favourite artists. From a blush used to create Sabrina Carpenter’s rosy cheeks to a Polaroid camera for taking snaps at concerts, you’ll find something on this list to delight the pop girlie in your life.
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but their choices betray yearning for a world that has disappeared
Hollywood has stopped betting on original ideas. Sequels and remakes dominate the box office. Among this year’s Christmas movie releases are Zootropolis 2 (the first Zootropolis came out in 2016), Avatar: Fire and Ash (third in a series that began in 2009), and Wicked: For Good (part two of the adaptation of a musical that premiered in 2003).
New stories are risky. It is safer to retell old ones. British politics feels similarly afflicted by paralysis of the imagination, intimidated by change, stuck in a narrative loop.
Pew Charitable Trusts finds plastic pollution will more than double globally by 2040 unless action taken
The 66m tonnes of pollution from plastic packaging that enters the global environment each year could be almost eliminated by 2040 primarily by reuse and return schemes, significant new research reveals.
In the most wide-ranging analysis of the global plastic system, the Pew Charitable Trusts, in collaboration with academics including at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, said plastic, a material once called revolutionary and modern, was now putting public health, world economies and the future of the planet at risk.
Deal expected to pave way for further scientific study, boost conservation and open up access to Dorset chalk figure
The mystery of when, how and – perhaps most importantly – why a giant naked figure was carved into a dizzyingly steep hillside in the English West Country has been a source of wonder and intrigue for centuries.
Future generations may come closer to solving the puzzle of the Cerne Giant after the National Trust stepped in to buy 340 acres of land around the 55-metre (180ft) figure.
When his book Notes on Being a Man was released last month, it raced to the top of the bestseller lists. The US author, tech entrepreneur and podcaster explains his theories on dating, crying – and the rise of Donald Trump
It takes balls to title your book Notes on Being a Man. And, superficially, Scott Galloway could easily be lumped in with a dozen other manosphere-friendly alpha-bros promising to teach young men how to find their inner wolf. He is, after all, a wealthy, healthy, white, heterosexual, shaven-headed, 61-year-old Californian who made his name and fortune as a successful investor and podcaster.
But in reality, he is almost the opposite: liberal, left-leaning and surprisingly sensitive. The guy who advises his readers on “how to address the masculinity crisis, build mental strength and raise good sons” has been described as a “progressive Jordan Peterson”, or “Gordon Gekko with a social conscience”.
Van Epps defeats Aftyn Behn in congressional election closely watched for signs of Republican weakness
Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in a congressional special election in the western Nashville suburbs, which was being closely watched for signs of Republican weakness going into congressional midterms next year.
The Associated Press called the race at 9.47 EST with Van Epps holding a 52% to 46% lead.
Christie’s says the sale price is the highest for a Fabergé, beating a £8.9m auction in 2007
A vintage jewel-studded Fabergé egg that belonged to the mother of Russia’s last emperor has been sold for a record £22.9m in London.
The Winter egg was commissioned in 1913 by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and is described as one of the most lavish of Fabergé’s imperial creations.
A former president of Honduras who was convicted of drug trafficking has walked free from a US prison after receiving a pardon from Donald Trump, as the country’s presidential election remained on a knife edge with the US-backed candidate leading by 515 votes.
Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”, was released from a West Virginia prison after Trump’s intervention, Hernández’s wife confirmed on Tuesday.
For a time Pokrovsk was a haven, a wartime Ukrainian boom city because of its strategic position in the east, 30 miles (48km) from the front. But that was before the summer of 2024, when a rapid Russian advance engulfed the industrial centre in a shattering conflict, a duel only now reaching its endgame.
The 18-month battle for Pokrovsk epitomises the current state of the Ukraine war: an attritional struggle in which gradual Russian advances have been made at extraordinary human cost. Though it demonstrates Russia cannot easily capture urban areas, the fight has also drained Ukraine, and consequences are emerging elsewhere.
No sign of an end to rancour among 14 parties elected to the Belgian capital’s 89-seat parliament after 542 days
It is a city that prides itself on the art of political compromise. But recently that quality has been sorely lacking in Brussels, which has gone a record-breaking 542 days without a government.
The Brussels Capital Region, which governs the Belgian capital of 1.25 million people, has not had a government since elections in June 2024.
After I was paralysed in a climbing accident, I discovered how inconsiderate, illogical and incompetent many wheelchair providers can be
I was lying on my back in an east London hospital, sometime in August 2023. I don’t know what day it was, exactly; by that point I’d mostly given up caring. My phone rang. I managed to answer, even though I had largely lost the use of my hands. (Luckily, a member of staff had left it lying on my chest.) Also, I wasn’t feeling great. In the early stages of coming to terms with the fact I was paralysed, I had just been informed that the doctors wanted to drill a hole directly into my guts, inserting a plastic tube to drain away my urine, effectively making my penis redundant. It was proving quite a lot to take in.
The country’s transport ministry said the search would resume on 30 December and confirmed that US robotic company Ocean Infinity would take part
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume this month, the Malaysian transport ministry has said, more than a decade after the plane disappeared in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
In a statement on Wednesday, the transport ministry confirmed the search would resume on 30 December, saying that US-based robotic company Ocean Infinity would recommence a search of the seabed over a period of 55 days, conducted intermittently.
Trump signals imminent land strikes in Venezuela, blaming a navy admiral for a deadly September attack
Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that any country he believes is making drugs destined illegally for the US is vulnerable to a military attack.
The US president’s comments came during a question-and-answer session at the White House at which he also said military strikes on land targets inside Venezuela, which he has accused of narco-terrorism, would “start very soon”.
Known as Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’, Munir’s power now extends over all the armed forces, along with lifelong immunity from prosecution, thanks to a constitutional amendment
Since it was penned in 1973, Pakistan’s constitution has been dealt many blows. Originally a statement of democracy, it was just a matter of years before a pattern of endless constitutional amendments began, validating successive coups and military dictatorships.
Yet for the past 15 years, the constitution had – at least on the surface – returned Pakistan to some semblance of civilian rule. That was until last month.
Zelenskyy says ready to meet Trump and that Russia is hoping US loses interest; Briton held in Ukraine on Russian spy allegations. What we know on day 1,379
Steve Witkoff was reported to have flown out of Moscow on Tuesday night after Kremlin aides said no progress was made towards ending the Ukraine war. It came after two weeks of diplomatic chaos and haggling beginning with the Russian leaking of a 28-point wishlist that Moscow had discussed with the US, followed by frenzied efforts involving Ukraine and Europe to produce a counter-proposal more acceptable to Kyiv.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that after their five-hour meeting the two sides were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.” On Tuesday, a video feed showed Vladimir Putin asking Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy, about a short tour of Moscow he had taken before the meeting, with Witkoff calling it a “magnificent city”. The feed then cut out.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he was worried the US could lose interest in the Ukrainian peace process. “If somebody from our allies is tired, I’m afraid,” Zelenskyy told an event in Dublin. “It’s the goal of Russia to withdraw the interest of America from this situation.” The Ukrainian president said he was “awaiting signals” from the US delegation after its meeting with Putin and was “ready for a meeting with President Trump. Everything depends on today’s discussions.” US reports suggested Witkoff might meet Zelenskyy after departing Moscow.
Vladimir Putin used Tuesday’s talks to threaten that Russia was ready for war with Europe. “Europe is preventing the US administration from achieving peace on Ukraine,” Putin claimed without evidence in remarks to Russian state media, adding: “Russia does not intend to fight Europe, but if Europe starts, we are ready right now.” Putin did not clarify which European demands he found unacceptable. “They are on the side of war,” Putin said of European powers.
Ukrainian authorities have arrested a British military instructor accused of spying for Russia and plotting assassinations, writes Serena Richards. Ross David Cutmore, 40, from Dunfermline, was allegedly recruited by Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, to “carry out targeted killings on the territory of Ukraine” between 2024 and 2025. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man who is detained in Ukraine. We remain in close contact with the Ukrainian authorities.”
A Russian-flagged tanker claiming to be carrying sunflower oil to Georgia reported a drone attack off the Turkish coast on Tuesday in which its 13 crew members were unharmed, Turkey’s maritime authority and the Tribeca shipping agency said. Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the attack of the Midvolga-2, which is described by online registries as an oil and chemical products tanker. Turkey has reported three Russia-linked tankers coming under attack off its coast in the Black Sea in recent days. A Ukrainian security source told AFP its forces had used naval drones to hit two of the tankers, on Friday last week, claiming that both vessels were “covertly transporting Russian oil”.
Vladimir Putin on Tuesday condemned the attacks as piracy and threatened to take measures against tankers of countries that help Ukraine, as well as intensifying Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian facilities and vessels. Another oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged Mersin, was struck off the coast of Dakar by four external explosions last week after it left Russia, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the ship’s Turkish owners and the Senegalese authorities. Expert opinions were mixed as to whether Ukraine was involved in that case, AFP reported.
The European Commission plans to make a legal proposal this week to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine while also leaving open the possibility of borrowing on financial markets or mixing the two options, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday. It will be discussed by the EU executive on Wednesday. EU leaders agreed in October to meet Ukraine’s “pressing financial needs” for the next two years but stopped short of endorsing a plan to use €140bn in frozen Russian sovereign assets in Europe as a loan for Kyiv, due to fierce Belgian government objections that because Belgium hosts the Euroclear depository holding most of the Russian assets, it could be at risk from legal retaliation if they are seized.
Will the ban be delayed or postponed, and how will age verification work? Platforms will need to deactivate accounts for users under 16 and stop teens from making accounts until they are that age, or face fines of up to $50m. Here’s everything you need to know
Australia’s world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 is just a week away.
The tech platforms – large and small – are working on functionality that will kick off existing under-16 account holders and prevent any new ones from signing up.
Hong Kong media mogul has suffered dramatic weight loss and other worrying ailments since being jailed in 2020, Lai’s family say
The children of Hong Kong’s jailed pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai have voiced new alarm for his health, describing his dramatic weight loss, teeth rotting and nails turning green before falling off.
Lai, who turns 78 next Monday, has been behind bars in Hong Kong since late 2020 as China clamps down on the financial hub to which it promised a separate system when Britain handed it over in 1997.
Group including Margaret Atwood, Ian McKellen and Richard Branson sign open letter to free Marwan Barghouti
More than 200 leading cultural figures have come together to call for the release of Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian leader seen as capable of uniting factions and bringing the best hope to the stalled mission of creating a Palestinian state.
The prestigious and diverse group calling for his release in an open letter includes a variety of prominent names, including the writers Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor and Mark Ruffalo, and the broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker.
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