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Political football

Sport has shown me success is not about quick wins but collective effort

Usyk retains his class in and out of ring in beating Fury

Boxing is full of unsavoury people but it also produces extraordinary men such as the heavyweight champion

Time for the cackling disrupter to make his exit but there is no shame in losing to a true great

In the end everyone runs out of road. It was probably necessary for Tyson Fury to say he was robbed in the Kingdom Arena on Saturday night.

Theory of nothing earns Saints and Rusk worthy draw

It turns out it wasn't so hard after all. Southampton stopped giving the ball away in their own half, adopted an approach rooted in expediency and kept their second clean sheet of the campaign.

Semenyo shatters United to leave Amorim facing squall

After mid-morning wind and rain that might have caused Noah a problem, the skies cleared and Bournemouth took apart a Manchester United team as amateurish as any of the iterations of the past decade or so.

Burke helps Saracens show title ambitions

It was a cold, bleak midwinter afternoon in north London but the race to be crowned as England's top club side in 2025 is hotting up.

Pereira's Wolves reign gets off to flying start

It took less than 45 minutes of Vítor Pereira's Wolves tenure for the fans to sing his name as he witnessed his new side thrash Leicester.

Díaz and Salah double up in leaders' statement win

Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, having played one game fewer than second-placed Chelsea, with the latest illustration of their remorseless cut and thrust under Arne Slot.

Slot issues title warning Liverpool scolded for easing off while shredding Spurs

Arne Slot urged his players to keep their foot on the accelerator after Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with a wild 6-3 victory against Tottenham.

Postecoglou's Spurs pay price for being an unserious team

Liverpool are serious about this. They're not in London for souvenirs or sightseeing. They had a game four days earlier, they've got another in four days' time, and so all they really want for Christmas is to get in, get the points and get out.

United players were 'nervous' says Amorim after new low

Ruben Amorim has admitted Manchester United's players were nervous during their 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth, which left the club 13th and in the bottom half on Christmas Day for the first time since 1989.

Chancellor's push to improve relationship with EU remains boxed in by Labour's red lines

A \"deeper, more mature relationship\": this was Rachel Reeves's central message to the bloc's finance ministers in Brussels a fortnight ago. In her brief speech - the first such meeting a chancellor had attended since Brexit - Reeves mentioned the relationship with the EU nine times.

London retains monopoly on Britain's priciest streets

London continues to dominate the super-prime property market, with all 20 of the country's priciest streets, research shows.

Fund to save community assets shelved with £15m unallocated

A state-funded scheme that has helped save cherished community sites including mainland Britain's most remote pub is to shut early, leaving millions of pounds unallocated.

Restaurant workers consider legal action on cover charges

Workers are considering legal action against a swathe of upmarket London restaurant owners including Harrods, the Savoy Grill, the Ivy and the Wolseley that add a cover charge to diners' bills that does not go to workers.

Florida's bitter harvest

Orange crops ruined by hurricanes and an incurable tree disease

US shoots down two of its own navy pilots over Red Sea

Two US navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea yesterday in an \"apparent case of friendly fire\", the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in more than a year of the country targeting Yemen's Houthis.

Millions spent on attempts to block help for children with special needs

needs and disabilities (Send) services is urgent and essential.

Schools in Serbia to shut early as student protests spread over station roof collapse

Schools across Serbia will close for the winter holidays a week earlier than planned as the government of the nationalist president, Aleksandar Vučić, seeks to stop anti-corruption protests that have gripped universities from spreading to the secondary education sector.

Family of Ethiopian hero claim medal taken by Italian troops

Descendants of a hero of Ethiopia's resistance against European imperialism are seeking to retrieve a gold medal taken from him by Italian troops, after the artefact's current holder failed to sell it at auction.

Holy trail Assisi braced for influx as faithful celebrate jubilee and millennial saint

Inside a souvenir shop in Assisi, the face of a boy with thick black curly hair smiles out from wall tapestries, fridge magnets and keyrings, outshining the flying cherubim, snow globes and other religious trinkets that cram the shelves.

'The fat one': lottery fever grips Spain as winners share €2.7bn pot

Players with winning tickets in Spain's huge Christmas lottery draw celebrated with sparkling wine, cheers and hugs yesterday in a 200-year-old tradition that marks the beginning of the festive season.

Zelenskyy urges Ukraine diplomats to fight hard for Nato membership

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told his country's diplomats that Ukraine will have to fight to persuade allies to allow it to take up Nato membership, but has described the goal as \"achievable\" as Kyiv searches for security guarantees to protect it from Russia.

Lib Dems could force Commons vote on Waspi compensation

The Liberal Democrats could force a Commons vote on compensation for the Waspis (women against state pension inequality), the party's deputy leader has said, capitalising on unease among Labour MPs over ministers' decision to rule it out.

Funding gap for women's centres 'will mean more prison sentences'

A £5m funding gap for women's centres will lead to more women being imprisoned and derail government reform plans, experts warn.

'A long-distance hug' Readers on the joy - and cost - of Christmas cards

The soaring price of stamps has cast doubt on the future of Christmas cards, but despite the money and time involved, it seems Gen Z want to keep the festive tradition, likened to sending a \"long-distance hug\".

'It needs to be safe' PinkNews claims prompt fears for LGBTQ+ reporting

As it nears its 20th anniversary next year, PinkNews should be celebrating a period that has seen remarkable progress for some but not all LGBTQ+ people in Britain.

Visa income threshold a 'cruel' barrier to family reunions, says charity

Thousands of children are facing Christmas with one of their parents stranded abroad owing to the Home Office's restrictive visa policies, leading to charities branding the UK \"one of the worst countries in the world for family reunion\".

Reopening of Citizens marks Scottish drama renaissance

The long-awaited reopening of the Citizens theatre in Glasgow will mark a turning point for Scottish drama in 2025, with new artistic leadership across several venues, including Alan Cumming at Pitlochry Festival theatre, and a renewed determination to champion work beyond London.

Right-minded pals? Why Musk wants to put his money behind Farage's Reform UK

The get-together last week of Elon Musk, Nigel Farage and Reform UK's treasurer, Nick Candy, wasn't just a gathering of Donald Trump fans. It was a meeting of minds.