Announcements mark latest twist in the frosty relationship between west African military governments and the US

Mali and Burkina Faso said they would ban US citizens from entering their countries in retaliation for Donald Trump’s decision to ban Malian and Burkinabe citizens from entering the US.

The announcements, made on Tuesday in separate statements by the foreign ministers of the two west African countries, marked the latest twist in the frosty relationship between west African military governments and the US.

Two trains taking tourists to and from Peru’s famed archaeological site collided, killing a railroad worker

Two trains taking tourists to and from Peru’s famed archaeological site of Machu Picchu crashed on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring about 30 passengers.

The person killed was a railroad worker, according to Jhonathan Castillo Gonzalez, a captain with the Cuzco police department. He told the Associated Press that the railway suspended services along the rail line connecting Machu Picchu with the nearby city of Cuzco after the accident.

Mary-Ann Stephenson says she must build relationship with LGBTQ+ sector amid debate over single-sex spaces

The new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has asked campaigners who raised doubts about her appointment to “judge me on what I do”.

In one of her first media interviews since her appointment at the start of December, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson pledged to “uphold the rights of everybody across all protected characteristics”, after the UK government overruled the objections of parliament’s women and equalities committee about her suitability for the job.

BPI figures show music lovers listened to equivalent of 210.3m albums by UK artists in 2025 in 11th consecutive year of growth

Nostalgia surrounding the Oasis reunion tour, alongside Taylor Swift fans’ clamour for vinyl, contributed to another boom year for the UK music industry, as physical formats continued their comeback.

Music lovers listened to the equivalent of 210.3m albums by UK artists during 2025, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) annual report, up 4.9% on 2024 and the 11th year of growth in a row.

For most of these tipples, one is one too many

• 54-year-old admitted to hospital on Boxing Day with meningitis

• Martyn played 67 Tests for Australia between 1992 and 2006

The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.

The 54-year-old “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on Tuesday.

Minutes of travel expenses of former Duke of York as UK trade envoy withheld from National Archives

• Blair pressured officials over case of UK soldiers accused of beating Iraqi man to death, files show

• ‘Too complacent’: how Blair’s advisers misjudged his disastrous WI speech

• Brown’s allies could wreck Labour’s 2005 election hopes, Mandelson warned

The Cabinet Office has been accused of covering up for the royal family after the release of documents including some relating to travel expenses for the former Duke of York as UK trade envoy were withheld at the last minute.

Files released to the National Archives include documents relating to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and a grovelling apology from John Major’s office after an official birthday telegram to the Queen Mother was addressed in an “improper manner”.

Arsenal will begin 2026 with a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League as they continue their quest for the club’s very own holy grail, and judging by this game of two halves against putative title rivals they may need it.

A scrappy, angst-ridden opening 45 minutes was followed by a performance of complete dominance kickstarted by two goals in the space of five minutes from Gabriel Magalhães and Martín Zubimendi at the start of the second half. Leandro Trossard added a third with 20 minutes to go before the substitute Gabriel Jesus rubbed salt in Aston Villa’s wounds to compound their first defeat in 12 matches and leave them six points adrift of the leaders in third.

Manchester United missed eight frontline players so Wolves, who arrived as the bottom team with only two points, seemed ideal opponents. Yet Ruben Amorim’s side struggled – badly – and while Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire headed those unavailable, the display provokes questions regarding United’s cohesion.

In the contest’s closing phase they were potent only sporadically – as throughout. Their opening-half goal was a fortunate one for Joshua Zirkzee, rebounding in off Ladislav Krejci, and after the Czech’s equaliser just before the interval, Wolves might have recorded a first – and famous – victory of the season.

It is fair to assume that Pep Guardiola has targeted Antoine Semenyo for more than his enormous long throws. Still, the Bournemouth winger’s missiles were a devastating weapon against a slipshod Chelsea defence. They led to insultingly simple goals for David Brooks and Justin Kluivert during a breathless first half and were enough to plunge Enzo Maresca deeper into trouble after another damaging result for the Italian’s erratic side.

There were jeers from the Stamford Bridge crowd when Maresca removed Cole Palmer with Chelsea chasing a winner during a one-sided second half. There was no chance of the dissenters giving a moment’s thought to the context around Palmer, whose load still needs careful management as he feels his way back from a groin injury. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” was the chant pouring down from the stands and, although Chelsea were the stronger side during the closing stages, there were more boos when this wild game drew to a close.

One person had made an emergency call after companion fell 500ft, but rescue copter couldn’t land due to high winds

A man and two of his companions are dead after high winds prevented rescue crews from responding to a report of an injured hiker near a southern California mountain trail, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department announced on Monday.

The three bodies were discovered Monday evening along the Devil’s Backbone trail at Mount Baldy, which rises more than 10,000ft and sits just east of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department.

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3 min: Odegaard tries to release Trossard into the Villa box down the inside-left channel. Clank. Goal kick, so another chance for the home fans to indulge their love of interactive festive theatre.

1 min: Villa work the ball back to their keeper Martinez, formerly of Arsenal. The Argentinian World Cup winner cops the expected abuse. It is pantomime season, to be fair.

• Carlsen captures ninth blitz world title in Doha

• Norwegian completes fifth rapid-blitz double

• Assaubayeva beats Muzychuk in women’s final

Magnus Carlsen’s domination of chess showed no sign of weakening when the world number one won the blitz world championship title for the ninth time on Tuesday, two days after taking the rapid title.

The Norwegian beat Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2½-1½ in the final in Doha to secure his fifth rapid and blitz double after achieving the feat in 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023. Carlsen, who relinquished his regular world chess champion title citing a lack of motivation after winning it in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and saying he would not go for it again, recovered from a stuttering start in the 19 opening games to secure his place in the last four.

Schlossberg, 35, revealed in November diagnosis of mutation of cancer of blood and bone marrow

Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of the 35th US president, John F Kennedy, died on Tuesday after revealing in November she had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. She was 35.

Her passing was announced in a social media post by the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the post said. It was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Carolina, Jack, Rose and Rory”.

In an unusual turn, the central bank’s board debated over monetary policy before the latest quarter-point cut

The US Federal Reserve agreed to cut interest rates at its December meeting only after a deeply nuanced debate about the risks facing the US economy right now, according to minutes of the latest two-day session.

Even some of those who supported the rate cut acknowledged “the decision was finely balanced or that they could have supported keeping the target range unchanged”, given the different risks facing the US economy, according to the minutes released on Tuesday.

Failure of groups including MSF and ActionAid to hand over staff details means they will not be able to operate in Gaza, say Israeli officials

• During a fierce storm I could hear the panicked screams of children in tents outside. This is Christmas in Gaza

Israel has announced it will stop dozens of aid organisations working in Gaza within 36 hours for failing to meet stringent new requirements to hand over personal details of Palestinian and international staff deployed in the devastated territory.

The list of groups hit by the ban include some of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations such as ActionAid, International Rescue Committee and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Report of a drone attack on a port facility signals new phase in US military campaign against Nicolás Maduro

• US wargames played out scenarios for Maduro’s fall. None of them ended well for Venezuela

Nearly a week after Donald Trump first announced what he said was the first US ground strike in a four-month-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela, details remain very thin on the ground.

CNN and the New York Times reported late on Monday that they had confirmed the CIA had used a drone to target a “port facility” allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua street gang. No casualties were reported, but the date, time and location of the attack remain unknown. Venezuela’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his government have remained silent.

If confirmed, the first strike on land would mark a new phase in a campaign that since August has involved the deployment of a massive US naval fleet, airstrikes that have so far killed 107 people, a “total blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers, the seizure of two vessels and the pursuit of a third.

• Uganda knocked out after 3-1 defeat by Super Eagles

• Tanzania 1-1 Tunisia | Senegal 3-0 Benin | DRC 3-0 Botswana

Raphael Onyedika scored twice and Paul Onuachu netted his first international goal in four years as Nigeria beat 10-man Uganda 3-1 in Fes on Tuesday to record a third win in Group C at the Africa Cup of Nations and send the east African side home.

Nigeria finished top of the group with nine points followed by Tunisia and then Tanzania, who drew 1-1, with the latter reaching the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed sides.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is at risk after Donald Trump vowed to shutter it since his return to office

A federal judge has ordered that the Trump administration must allow funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to continue.

The watchdog, which supporters say protects US consumers from financial harm by powerful banks, lenders and corporations, is at risk of collapsing after Donald Trump vowed to shutter it since he returned to office this year.

• Fury and Usyk pay tribute to Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele

• Joshua recovering in Nigeria after fatal collision

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have passed their condolences to the families of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the two friends who died in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday in which the former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was also injured.

Ayodele, also known as Latz, was a personal trainer of Joshua, while Ghami acted as strength and conditioning coach for the 36-year-old boxer. Joshua remains in hospital in Lagos, where he was described by his management team as being in a stable condition.

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Starting lineups from Old Trafford:

Man Utd (4-4-2): Lammens; Dalot, Heaven, Martínez, Shaw; Dorgu, Casemiro, Ugarte, Cunha; Sesko, Zirkzee.
Subs: Bayindir, Fredericson, Malacia, Yoro, J Fletcher, L Fletcher, Lacey, Mantato, Obi.

Assertion comes after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of attacking Vladimir Putin’s palace in Novgorod

• Did Ukraine target Putin’s residence or is Russian claim a ploy to sway Trump?

Russia said its latest nuclear-capable missile system has been deployed in Belarus, a day after Moscow claimed that Ukraine had carried out a large-scale drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Footage released by Russia’s ministry of defence showed the new Oreshnik missile trundling through a snowy forest. Soldiers were seen disguising combat vehicles with green netting and raising a flag at an airbase in eastern Belarus, close to the Russian border.

Engineers still struggling to restore full rail service on Tuesday evening as car passengers face seven-hour delays

A power outage in the Channel tunnel has disrupted thousands of journeys ahead of the new year celebrations, with all passenger and vehicle trains suspended for several hours while engineers raced to repair the fault.

As Eurostar foot passenger departures for the continent were first delayed, then cancelled, the halls of St Pancras International station in London filled with stranded travellers awaiting updates. At Folkestone in Kent, tailbacks formed as drivers hoping to catch the shuttle faced seven-hour delays.

In a statement shared on Instagram, Nguyen says she faced a ‘tsunami of harassment’ after the all-female spaceflight

Amanda Nguyen, the Vietnamese-American astronaut who was part of the all-female Blue Origin spaceflight, has opened up about her depression after she experienced a “tsunami of harassment” after the trip, in which she became the first Vietnamese woman to go to space.

Nguyen, 34, was part of April’s historic 11-minute flight, whose crew included pop star Katy Perry, broadcast journalist Gayle King, and journalist and wife of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez. The flight was heavily criticized for its environmental impact and critics questioned its purpose and use of resources.