In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers

When the holistic practitioner Emma Cardinal, 32, became pregnant in May 2023, she planned to have a home birth with midwives. Cardinal lives in a town in British Columbia with strong counter-cultural roots. “The community that I live in, home birth is something a lot of women prioritise,” she explains.

Then Cardinal stumbled across a podcast from the Free Birth Society (FBS). One episode in particular, she says, made an impact: “Unpacking Ultrasound With Yolande Clark.” In it, the Canadian ex-doula Yolande Norris-Clark falsely links ultrasounds to autism and ADHD and states that “ultrasound damages and modifies and destroys cells”.

Former prime minister allegedly wandering 5 Hertford Street to find members for her Mayfair club a street away

For Tory grandees licking their wounds and plotting their return after their disastrous 2024 general election performance, the opulent, fire-lit rooms of the exclusive club 5 Hertford Street are a sanctuary.

But in recent weeks, their long lunches have been rudely interrupted by Liz Truss, who has been accused of wandering the premises in search of members to poach for her own rival operation, just one street away, which asks “founding members” for an eye-watering £500,000.

On her monumental, maximalist opus, the dazzlingly audacious Spanish singer balanced pop and classical, experimentation and accessibility

• The 50 best albums of 2025
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On paper, Lux reads more like a particularly tricky bonus round on University Challenge than the new album by a pop artist whose previous single was a collaboration with Lisa from Blackpink. Split into four distinct movements and sung in 13 languages, Lux is a head-spinning, classical music-adjacent opus exploring feminine mystique, religious transcendence and corporal transformation, often via the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship – grounded and laid bare on Lily Allen’s West End Girl, 2025’s other dissection of heartbreak – is shot heavenwards here, buffeted by the constant presence of the London Symphony Orchestra and the input of Pulitzer prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw among a scroll-sized list of collaborators. Its audacity alone makes the efforts of Rosalía’s pop peers look pretty laughable.

The fact that Lux manages to transcend scholarly chin-stroking and dry Wiki deep dives is near miraculous, and the credit is solely Rosalía’s. While this isn’t her first album to alchemise the past and present – see 2018’s El Mal Querer and its heady flamenco-R&B hybrid – the stakes are far higher on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. What elevates her fourth album, outside its multilayered melodies, rich compositions and engrained drama, is the playfulness at its heart. Like Björk during her 90s peak, there’s a sense of wonderment to Rosalía’s voice that sweeps you up into its tornado. Even when she’s tearing your heart in two, as on La Yugular’s blossoming balladry, or the ascension to heaven on the closing Magnolias, you want to be right there with her.

Looking for a great supermarket champagne? Need an easy recipe to take to a party? Or just some really good cheese… Yotam Ottolenghi, Giorgio Locatelli, Ixta Belfrage and others reveal the best snacks, drinks and desserts to make and buy for the big day

Christmas is a time of overwhelming choice, especially when it comes to food. So, to help you navigate the festive feasting, we asked 16 top chefs and cooks to tell us what they buy or make to give to the people brave enough to invite them over.

Reassuringly, it turns out that even the most decorated chefs love a Ferrero Rocher, a nice glass of sherry, a good mince pie and a decent cheeseboard at this time of year. And everyone is attached to their own traditions, whether that’s the apple tart Matthew Ryle’s family loves in place of Christmas pudding, the hot chocolate-and marshmallow kit Yotam Ottolenghi’s kids can never resist, or Sabrina Ghayour’s favourite truffle-infused cheddar.

US president has been blatant in his appointment of relatives, close friends and big donors – almost none of whom have diplomatic experience

When your goal is to “help Europe correct its current trajectory” because it is “weak”, “decaying” and facing “civilisational erasure”, your choice of highly trained operatives for the mission is plainly of paramount importance.

In Donald Trump’s case they include: a former burger magnate; his eldest son’s former fiancee; the owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team; a producer of Broadway musicals; PayPal’s co-founder; and a convicted felon who is also his son-in-law’s father.

After a decade away, Tom Hiddleston is going undercover again as Jonathan Pine and this time he’s getting into an explosive, sexually fluid power threesome. It’s just what Le Carré would have wanted

For screenwriter David Farr, The Night Manager’s return is a dream come true. Literally. “Having not thought about the show for five years, a vivid image came to me in bed one night,” he says. “I saw a boy in a Colombian monastery, waiting for a black car to come over the hill. For some bizarre reason, I knew who those characters were. Suddenly, I was half-awake and the rest came flying out of me. I wrote it all down in case I forgot. In the morning, I looked at my notes and thought: ‘This is good, actually.’”

He’s not wrong. It’s a special drama that can leave a decade-long gap between series but still be welcomed back with widespread excitement. It’s testament to The Night Manager’s quality that its comeback is the first must-watch show of 2026.

Todd Blanche suggests some documents may be held back temporarily, citing need to protect victims

FBI director Kash Patel has said “no one is above the law” after a Wisconsin judge was found guilty on Thursday of helping a migrant evade a planned immigration arrest outside her courtroom.

Patel is the latest member of President Donald Trump’s administration to celebrate what it sees as a victory in its effort to deter interference with its hardline immigration tactics.

Ukrainian leader welcomes move as Donald Tusk says ‘it could be better’ after Russian frozen assets left out of deal

• EU leaders agree €90bn loan for Ukraine but without use of frozen Russian assets

In his first comments on Ukraine, Putin swiftly blames Kyiv for the continuing war, saying “they are basically refusing to finish this conflict via peaceful means” (whatever that means from the literally invading party).

But he says there are “some signals … indicating they are willing to engage in some type of dialogue.”

Body representing news organisations says move to cut back on number of lobby briefings is deeply concerning

The Society of Editors has raised concerns about Keir Starmer’s plan to reduce scrutiny of No 10 by political journalists, saying it risks weakening transparency.

The body, which represents news organisations, said regular, open and robust questioning was a cornerstone of democracy and that the plan to reduce briefings was deeply concerning.

Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry sentenced to 19 years each for conspiring to murder Christopher Mills

A woman who plotted with her secret lover to murder her husband so they could start a new life together has been jailed for 19 years.

Michelle Mills, 46, and Geraint Berry, 47, planned to kill Christopher Mills so they could continue their affair, and Berry recruited Steven Thomas, also 47, to help carry out their attack on 20 September last year.