The old ways are over and nobody is entirely sure what is to follow but football revolutions once experienced are never forgotten

If you want a picture of the future, imagine Michael Kayode winding up to take a long throw – forever. Or at least that was how it seemed in October. Already, though, the picture has begun to change. This was the year of the backlash, and then a bit of a backlash to the backlash.

For almost two decades football had accepted the guardiolista consensus. Football was about possession, about the press, but most of all about position, about the careful manipulation of space. Much-improved pitches meant first touches could be taken for granted: players receiving the ball didn’t have to focus on getting it under control but could instead be parsing their options. The game had become chess with a ball, a matter of strategy more than physicality.

Unai Emery had to tear up the plan. Aston Villa had started this game in a compact 4-2-2-2 formation but they were desperate for much of the first hour. Their passing was lethargic, they had no width, they were 1-0 down to a dominant Chelsea and it seemed the story was going to centre on Emery’s decision not to start Ollie Watkins up front.

Yet few managers are as effective as Emery when it comes to altering the flow with a few smart tweaks. The Spaniard never stops plotting, never stops hunting for weaknesses in his opponents, and perhaps it was not a surprise when Villa’s tactical mastermind found a way to ensure that the travelling fans were belting out songs about winning the league at full time.

Among Jews the meaning of the term has evolved – but there is still no consensus. And when people talk past one another there are real-world consequences

The 14 December Bondi Beach attack targeting Jews at a Hanukah celebration has brought the issue of antisemitism into sharp national focus. In response, the New South Wales government announced measures to further curb hate speech and symbols, and, more controversially, new protest powers. This event and the government’s response have once again raised questions about the relationship between Jews, Israel, Zionism and anti-Zionism.

Zionism is a Jewish national movement that sought to create a Jewish state, then to secure and sustain it. But “Zionism” is also a contested label: for many Jews it signifies safety, continuity and belonging; for Palestinians – and for many others – it denotes dispossession and ongoing domination. It’s clear that for different people, the word Zionism means very different things, which leads to people talking past one another – with real-world consequences.

• Winner carries huge weight to success at Chepstow

• Cheltenham Gold Cup on horizon after brave victory

It is seven years and counting since Native River became the last horse trained in Britain to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the beleaguered home team has conceivably emerged from the first two days of the Christmas programme with not one, but two realistic contenders for next year’s race, after Haiti Couleurs put up a magnificent performance to win the Welsh Grand National here under 11st 13lb on Saturday.

Or, as Haiti Couleurs’ connections might prefer it, England has a chance with Friday’s King George winner, The Jukebox Man, and Wales has a shout with Haiti Couleurs, who is trained by Rebecca Curtis in Pembrokeshire and ridden by Sean Bowen, the champion jockey, who was born just down the road from her yard.

⚽ Updates from the 5.30pm Premier League kick-off
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The teams are in the tunnel at Stamford Bridge. The Liquidator is blasting out over the sound system. It’s almost time. Everyone ready?

Here are the match reports from the 3pm kick-offs, in no particular order:

Liverpool and Wolves united in a moving tribute to Diogo Jota on the day Florian Wirtz finally scored the first goal of his slow-burning Anfield career. The lasting impression, however, was Liverpool’s relief at holding off a team that has endured more defeats in the first half of a season than any other in Premier League history.

“I’ve just said to the lads that I’m getting fed up with this,” said Rob Edwards, the Wolves manager. Edwards has been in charge for seven games, but deflation was understandable.

A few minutes before half-time in a contest that largely swung one way but briefly veered the other, Brighton threatened what was then a rare foray into Arsenal territory.

For a short moment the visitors seemed certain to muster their first shot of an afternoon that had hitherto been miserable. But, no sooner had Maxim De Cuyper received the ball on the counterattack, the Belgian was flattened by a crunching Declan Rice tackle that killed any threat. De Cuyper slumped; Rice, towering over him, roared – arguably this season’s standout Premier League midfielder making light of playing right-back for the first time in his Arsenal career.

Low-quality AI-generated content is now saturating social media – and generating about $117m a year, data shows

More than 20% of the videos that YouTube’s algorithm shows to new users are “AI slop” – low-quality AI-generated content designed to farm views, research has found.

The video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the world’s most popular YouTube channels – the top 100 in every country – and found that 278 of them contain only AI slop.

Trump is using the presidency as a branding opportunity. He’s slapping his name on as many buildings, monuments and government projects as he can

In 2011, Donald Trump published a book with the self-help guru Robert Kiyosaki titled Midas Touch. It’s a typical self-empowerment manual in which the pair expound on the secrets of entrepreneurial success while drawing on their personal experiences. At one point, they write, “Building a brand may be more important than building a business.”

That was certainly Trump’s approach to business: he was the New York real estate tycoon who turned his fame into a brand that symbolized luxury and savvy strategy – even if his companies had filed for bankruptcy six times. Trump spent decades trying to use his name to turn a profit: he owned an airline and a university, and slapped his moniker on vodka, steaks, neckties, board games and even bottled water. Leveraging the fame he gained from the Apprentice TV show, he expanded to licensing Trump-branded global real estate projects built by other developers. In many of these ventures, Trump collected licensing fees, rather than investing his own money, ensuring that he profited even if the businesses collapsed.

Rightwing parties want to follow in US’s footsteps of minimal government intervention, but at what cost?

Next month, Donald Trump will welcome a poverty-stricken family to peruse his plans for a $300m glitzy state ballroom in the White House. The event will be staged as part of National Poverty in America Awareness Month, the time every year when charities document the number of US residents surviving on low incomes.

Of course, the president will do no such thing, preferring to summon the press to watch him rub shoulders with the billionaire class as he did at last month’s black tie dinner for the Saudi ruler and his entourage.

Deputy defence minister says new air defence systems will be completed in 24 months

Poland plans to complete a new set of anti-drone fortifications along its eastern borders within two years, a top defence official has said, after a massive incursion of unmanned Russian aerial combat vehicles into Polish airspace earlier this year.

“We expect to have the first capabilities of the system in roughly six months, perhaps even sooner. And the full system will take 24 months to complete,” the deputy defence minister, Cezary Tomczyk, told the Guardian in an interview in Warsaw.

Nearly 15,000 flights were canceled or delayed as both states declared weather emergencies after snowstorm

A mix of snow and ice bore down on the US north-east early on Saturday, disrupting post-holiday weekend airline traffic and prompting officials in New York and New Jersey to issue weather emergency declarations even as the storm ebbed by mid-morning.

More than 14,400 domestic US flights on Saturday were canceled or delayed as of mid-morning, with the majority in the New York area, including at John F Kennedy international airport, LaGuardia airport and Newark Liberty international airport, according to the tracking site FlightAware.

• ‘Monster’ dominates Picasso to defend undisputed title

• Unanimous decision in Riyadh keeps Inoue unbeaten

• Nakatani victory fuels chatter of Tokyo super-fight

Naoya Inoue moved a step closer to the biggest bout in Japanese boxing history after outclassing Alan Picasso by unanimous decision in Riyadh on Saturday, retaining his undisputed super-bantamweight titles and clearing the runway for a long-anticipated showdown with countryman Junto Nakatani.

Inoue, widely regarded as one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters in the world alongside Oleksandr Usyk and the recently retired Terence Crawford, was in control from the opening bell at the Mohammed Abdo Arena, neutralizing the previously unbeaten Mexican challenger with precision, speed and sustained pressure over 12 rounds. The judges scored the contest 120-108, 119-109 and 117-111 in favor of the 32-year-old champion.

What winning in Melbourne says is: here is what you could have had with Australia’s weaknesses exposed

Na-na na-na na-na na na na, Duckett’s on the piss. On the piss. Duckett’s on the piss.

Don’t take me home, please don’t take me home. And while we’re here, stand up, stand up, please do stand up if you love a two-day Test on a pitch as green and ridged as an under-ripe roasting potato. For an hour in mid-afternoon on day two at the MCG England’s top order finally did the thing. The clocks stopped. Dogs miaowed. Birds flew backwards across the sky. And Test cricket turned into darts.

⚽ Updates from the afternoon’s football action
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In Scotland, Hearts are making a go of things in the derby at Easter Road. Lawrence Shankland pulled one back on 75 minutes. That seemed no more than a consolation, but Cammy Devlin has made it 3-2 on 89 minutes, and there will be six additional minutes. Is an absurd comeback on?

Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Jakobs, Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Mane, Jackson.
Subs: Diaw, Lamine Camara, Ciss, Dia, Diallo, Diarra, El Hadji Diouf, Yehvann Diouf, Mbaye, Antoine Mendy, Cherif Ndiaye, Sabaly, Pape Sarr, Mamadou Sarr, Seck.

• Mané levels in 1-1 draw with DR Congo in Group D

• Benin win knocks out Botswana | Tanzania 1-1 Uganda

Sadio Mané scored for Senegal as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Saturday and keep top place in Group D. Cédric Bakambu put DRC into the lead in the 61st minute, but Mané equalised eight minutes later with his 51st goal for his country, one of the favourites to win the tournament.

The match was cagey at times with both sides careful in their approach, although Nicolas Jackson had a couple of first-half chances for Senegal, coming close with short-range efforts.

This story will be updated

Judging by the way Gianluigi Donnarumma celebrated Rayan Cherki’s late winner at Nottingham Forest, this was a significant victory for Manchester City. Donnarumma hurtled towards the bench where Pep Guardiola was being mobbed by his coaching staff, including Kolo Touré, Pep Lijnders and the set-piece coach James French, seemingly the architect behind Phil Foden’s corner that led to the goal. Cherki smacked a right-foot effort through the legs of Morgan Gibbs-White and into the corner of the Forest goal, to put City ahead of Arsenal for a couple of hours at least. Earlier, Forest’s Omari Hutchinson had cancelled out Tijjani Reijnders’ second-half opener.

Guardiola had warned his squad against overindulging on Christmas Day, promising to weigh his players on their return to training and before they departed for Nottingham. “Only the manager is overweight – the rest are perfect,” the City manager, fresh from a couple of days in Catalonia, said with a smile before kick-off. City arrived in ominous form and have now won their past eight matches in all competitions, including six in a row in the Premier League.

Suze Lopez found out she was pregnant only days before giving birth, due to fetus hiding behind 22lb ovarian cyst

A California family is celebrating their first holiday following the delivery of their latest child, a baby that had been growing outside of the mother’s womb.

Suze Lopez, a 41-year-old emergency room nurse in Bakersfield, California, delivered baby Ryu via surgery in August, so the newborn is celebrating his first Christmas. He had been an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus – and was hidden behind a large ovarian cyst.

Long-winded legal wrangling and recalcitrant Catholic church leadership thwarted hopes for timely settlement

An image of his great-grandmother stayed with James Adams for years and strengthened his faith: she was withered, nearly blind, touching his cheeks when they sat together, as if the feel of his face gave her sight. A working woman whose husband, a police officer, killed himself, she raised four children; her faith was a rock against life’s travails. She died at 98, when Adams was 28, about to marry.

Many years later, in 2020, Adams, a New Orleans banker, was president of the Catholic Community Foundation, the archdiocese’s fundraising arm, when Archbishop Gregory Aymond ousted him – as he’s recounted from a witness stand in court and in multiple media interviews. Overnight, Adams became a church enemy because of what a priest did to him as a boy. His story mirrors the legal saga that has tarnished Aymond’s career.

Historically, when organizers have used tactical innovation, movement activity has peaked

Federal agents in military fatigues carrying assault rifles in major cities. Huge cuts to healthcare, science and the US’s largest anti-hunger program. Immigrants dragged from cars and courthouse hallways. Rising authoritarianism, corruption and anti-democratic behavior. These are just some of the reasons pushback against the Trump administration is growing with each passing day.

While traditional marches such as the massive No Kings protests are a critical part of any resistance movement, sociologist Doug McAdam has shown how tactical innovation – the introduction of creative or novel protest methods – was a key part of the success of the civil rights movement in the US. Historically, when organizers established new tactics, movement activity peaked.

Iain Peters waited more than 50 years before going to the police but hopes he can be a beacon for other survivors

A man who was sexually assaulted by a children’s television presenter has spoken of how climbing and mountaineering saved his life and “sanity” during the 50 years in which he kept the abuse secret.

Iain Peters, 77, who has waived his right to anonymity, was between nine and 13 years old when he was abused weekly by John Earle, when he was a geography teacher and deputy head at a now-closed boarding school in Okehampton, Devon.

Drummer Chuck Redd decided to cancel his yearly Jazz Jam after Donald Trump added his name to the venue

The president of the Kennedy Center has demanded $1m in damages and fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.

“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment – explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure – is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” the venue’s president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with the Associated Press.

By puncturing Oklahoma City’s aura of inevitability, Victor Wembanyama and co have restored suspense, drama and joy to a season that was in danger of becoming dull

I’ve seen enough: Give the San Antonio Spurs the keys to Santa Claus’ workshop. Put Stephon Castle in charge of toy assembly. Let De’Aaron Fox toss presents into chimneys, from whatever range he’d like. Devin Vassell can customize the Christmas cookies. Harrison Barnes has the army of elves covered. And, of course, Santa Claus’s sleigh must immediately be resized for a taller, thinner pilot so that the towering Victor Wembanyama can drive it comfortably. The sensational Spurs have felled the Oklahoma City Thunder three times in two weeks, and in doing so revitalized this NBA season. I now have more faith in the Spurs’ ability to grant joy to the masses than any holiday legends of old.

It looked dire for a while there. The Thunder might have won the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, but began this season in even more ominous form. They reeled off 24 wins in their first 25 games (the lone loss was a fluky 20-point comeback). In most of them, Jalen Williams, their second-best player, was on the sidelines recovering from wrist surgery. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, their best, seldom had to play in fourth quarters. The Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings by 31. The Los Angeles Lakers, who some expected to be a plausible rival, lost by 29; their basketball savant Luka Doncic looked like he was playing against ten men. The Phoenix Suns’ valiant first earned them a close loss, by just four points. When they met again 12 days later, the Thunder won by 49. This game knocked all the remaining leaves off the trees and started winter 10 days ahead of schedule. Oklahoma City looked capable of shredding anything in its path, even the 2016 Golden State Warriors’ legendary regular season record of 73-9.