There is something about the care and professionalism to be seen on a ward that defies abstract analysis: a reminder of what it is to be human

I watched Nye, the National Theatre’s hit show about Aneurin Bevan, the former Labour MP for Ebbw Vale and his fight to found a national health service, twice. Both times it left me feeling a bit queasy. Bevan is a mighty working-class hero. Probably no other minister, even in that 1945 government of heroes, would have had the vision, the muscle or the sheer energy to make a national health service happen at all in those bleak postwar years, let alone in a way that no incoming government could unpick.

The NHS sits at the heart of politics and for most of my career in journalism, and charting the crises, the numbers, the arguments, the possibilities and the costs was a staple of my work. You can write all that, you can read about all that, but it can feel very different when events dictate that you cross the line from commentator to patient; when, like me, you pitch up as someone who arrives as an emergency, with a condition that might require major surgery and at least a week of post-operative hospital care – or might just go away of its own accord.

Anne Perkins is a writer and broadcaster, and a former Guardian correspondent

Cybersecurity experts reveal what they do for high-profile clients targeted by hackers such as Scattered Spider

They call it “stopping the bleeding”: the vital window to prevent an entire database from being ransacked by criminals or a production line grinding to a halt.

When a call comes into the cybersecurity firm S-RM, headquartered on Whitechapel High Street in east London, a hacked business or institution may have just minutes to protect themselves.

In this Christmas special, four previous MasterChef winners compete for the ‘ultimate’ accolade. Grace Dent is a joy, while Torode bows out in a … very maverick way indeed

So. Farewell then, John Torode. You were the co-presenter of MasterChef and Celebrity MasterChef. Until you weren’t. But first, and finally, there is this: the second of two festive specials in which we watch the Australian peering at potatoes while pretending we don’t know the BBC chose not to renew his contract in July after an allegation against him using “an extremely offensive racist term” was upheld. (Torode denies the allegations and claims to have “no recollection” of the incident).

So, let’s scurry past the indignities (the two unaired Christmas specials from 2024; the summer of “MASTERCHEF CHAOS” headlines; the aired-but-with-two-contestants-edited-out-at-their-request series of MasterChef; Gregg Wallace) and remember him this way: staring blankly in linen as a panicking former credit controller from Hackney drops half a lobster on the studio floor.

At 20, I went on a European road trip for the summer, where a chance encounter in Cologne taught me the importance of friendship

The clock that ticks at 6am on a Saturday morning at a llama farm in rural Germany, when you wake up hungover next to a naked punk, ticks much more loudly than any other clock. In this case, it was a proper rustic European clock – none of your chrome or plastic nonsense – wooden and ancient, with little figurines which bustled around inside it, on the hour, every hour.

I was 20, on a European road trip, chugging around in an older man’s van in 2014, perpetually hungover.

Must-sees include Beryl Cook’s postwar brilliance, Tracey Emin’s new highs, Frida Kahlo’s confessions – plus Google’s HQ and Gaudí’s finally finished fever dream

Whether you’re cohabiting with flatmates or family, cut down on communal living confusion with these clever tips and tricks, from colour-coded towels to fridge organisers

• How to update your rental home on a budget

Between clashing routines, different cleanliness standards, and that one person who always “forgets” to take the bins out, keeping a shared household running smoothly – whether that’s family or flatmates – isn’t easy.

After years of living in flat-shares, I’ve picked up a few tricks which, in my experience, make the home setup – whatever form that takes – smoother. From fridge organisers to shoe storage that stops your hallway from feeling like an obstacle course, here are 21 ways to cut down on communal living confusion, dread and passive-aggressive Post-it notes.

US president says group will have ‘very short period’ to disarm and that he and Israeli prime minister ‘don’t agree on the West Bank 100%’ as pair meet

• Trump floats hopes of Gaza peace progress as Netanyahu begins visit

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell Donald Trump on Monday that Hamas must return the remains of the last Israeli hostage left in Gaza before the next stages of the stalled ceasefire can be implemented, Israeli officials and analysts say.

The trip comes amid a new push by officials in Washington to force concessions from Israel to allow progress towards a second stage of the ceasefire in Gaza, which began in October after two years of devastating war.

He feels he has a number of cards to play yet and the remains of Gvili is the easiest one to play now but there are others.

Netanyahu knows exactly what he wants for Christmas – more of the same. Israeli troops stay in 51% of Gaza, periodically striking Hamas … without the shadow of withdrawal looming over him. None of this requires a denunciation of the [Trump] plan itself and Trump can very easily justify Israel’s extended stay on Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm.

Russia’s claim it foiled drone attack on Putin residence shows ‘they do not want to finish this war’, Ukrainian president says

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of trying to sabotage peace talks and preparing to bomb government buildings after the Kremlin said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Zelenskyy described the claim as “typical Russian lies” following his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Donald Trump in Florida. He said Russia was “at it again” and using “dangerous statements” to undermine “diplomatic efforts” with the US to end the conflict.

MPs reject calls to strip British-Egyptian activist of UK nationality over social media posts from a decade ago

Downing Street has defended its campaign for the release of a British-Egyptian activist and its decision to welcome him to the UK despite his “abhorrent” tweets a decade ago.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who arrived in London on Boxing Day after the British government successfully negotiated his release, said he apologised “unequivocally” for his posts after opposition parties called for him to be deported and his citizenship revoked.

• Two members of Joshua’s team died in Nigeria crash

• British former boxing champion sustained minor injuries

The British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has issued a statement after he was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday morning which killed two of his close friends.

The former world heavyweight boxing champion was taken to an undisclosed hospital after his car hit a stationary vehicle at about 11am on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Ogun state police commissioner, Lanre Ogunlowo, said. The driver of Joshua’s vehicle was also injured, he added.