Wales trail in daunting clash with wounded All Blacks

Wales face a daunting challenge against a wounded New Zealand as they seek a first victory since 1953 over the All Blacks.

The hosts scraped past Japan last week to secure their first victory under head coach Steve Tandy — and one that may prove crucial in terms of seeding for the Rugby World Cup draw. It is a demanding end to November for a side short of confidence with the Springboks to come next week, but Tandy will have been pleased with the character shown as his team just about carved out a much-needed win last time out.

They will no doubt fear a backlash from an All Blacks side beaten at Twickenham last week after another collapse after half time. It was a defeat that led to more scrutiny over Scott Robertson as New Zealand continue to struggle for consistency, and a heavily-changed side might just have a point to prove in Cardiff today.

Follow all of the latest from the Quilter Nations Series clash with our live blog below:

‘Beast from the East’ weather phenomenon returning to UK this winter

The UK could be facing another cold snap as the weather phenomenon that brought in 2018’s ‘Beast from the East’ looks set to have “significant implications” on the country’s weather.

The Met Office said “winter has arrived early across the UK, bringing cold Arctic air and a complex mix of weather hazards” after a week of ice and snow weather warnings across stretches of the UK.

Temperatures are set to increase this weekend as milder, more unsettled, Atlantic-driven weather moves in with cloud, rain and winds, but a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event in the next week could see colder weather return in the next two weeks.

A SSW involves a rapid increase in temperature in the stratosphere above the North Pole, often leading to a reversal of the stratospheric polar vortex winds, involving the rapid descent of cold air.

According to the forecaster, this increases the likelihood of colder weather in the UK 10 to 14 days later by roughly 70 per cent. While not guaranteed, meteorologists will be keeping a close eye on the weather phenomenon that can lead to a colder than average start to winter.

“From the clash of Arctic and North African air masses to the impacts of heavy rain, flooding, and significant snow, the country is experiencing a wide range of conditions”, the forecaster reported. “Regional differences are stark, with some areas facing substantial snow while others enjoy sunny skies and frosty nights. The outlook remains uncertain, with the potential for further cold spells and unsettled weather as the season progresses. “

A SSW was the same weather phenomenon that led to the brutal ‘Beast from the East’ in 2018, which transported cold air from Siberia to Europe and heavy snowfall to Great Britain and Ireland. Temperatures plummeted across the country with lows of -14.7C recorded in Faversham, Kent, and Storm Emma brought 50 cm of snow in some elevated areas.

Temperatures dropped well below average for this time of the year across the country this week with wind chill making it feel even colder with “feels like” temperatures widely at minus one or minus two degrees. The Met Office recorded lows of -11.7C at Loch Glascarnoch on Thursday night, the coldest night of the season so far.

The recent arctic air mass brought snow to the UK this week as schools were forced to close across the country, with yellow and amber ice and snow weather warnings issued for parts of the UK.

Saturday:

Cloudy, wet and windy weather will move east across England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be brighter with sunshine and showers, and brighter skies will reach the north and west of England and Wales later. Temperatures nearer normal.

Rain across central and southeast England slowly clearing. Clearer with showers elsewhere, though persistent rain and blustery winds arriving in the west. Some fog, and patchy frost in the north.

Sunday:

Wind and rain in the west moving north and east, becoming slow moving across Northern Ireland, northern England and southern Scotland. Brighter, showery in the far north, and increasingly south.

Monday to Wednesday:

Showery rain on Monday, especially central and eastern areas. Feeling cold again in blustery winds. Drier and brighter, with winds easing on Tuesday. Rain arriving midweek, though turning milder.

Trump’s in trouble – and it’s not just Epstein tearing Maga apart

There is something truly delicious about sitting on the sidelines and watching a really good political spat. It warms the cockles. And the epic falling-out between Donald Trump and the conspiracy-loving, fire-breathing, Maga ultra, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has not disappointed.

In an age marked by utter obsequiousness, Taylor Greene took the fight to Trump. And the name-calling has been fabulous. He now calls her Marjorie Traitor Greene. She says he’s put her life at risk – and in a dramatic new twist has said she will quit Congress, saying: “I refuse to be a ‘battered wife’ hoping it all goes away and gets better.”

If the late, great Tony Benn were alive, he would say politics is about policies, not personalities. I always thought that when he was in his fight with Denis Healey for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party back in the early 1980s, it was a remarkably po-faced response. And so much of politics in the US today is about the personality of Trump. It has been for a decade.

But actually, in relation to the Trump/MTG mega-tiff, Benn’s maxim is right. This is about policy. Sure, the fight is between two combustible personalities, but there are some big issues at stake here. And they have the potential to tear the Make America Great Again movement apart.

It has left the president seething. His view is that Maga is whatever he says it is. It’s not for other people to decide. Say it quietly, it is almost Dr Frankenstein losing control of his monster – and if he has lost control, then is he no longer the all-powerful president we have hitherto thought? Even, perish the thought, a little bit lame?

So let’s dive into this. The main cause of the falling-out between MTG and the president was around the release of the Epstein files. It has been a running sore, and Trump has been all over the place on this. Pre-election, the Maga movement was as one: the files must be released. But as it became clear that the president’s name might feature quite prominently, suddenly those closest to him lost their appetite for publication. The Wall Street Journal revealing the tasteless card Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday added to that sense of jeopardy. Trump insists it’s a fake – though he hasn’t explained how or why.

It’s not just that he opposed publication; the Republican Party did everything it could to prevent a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. But MTG and a handful of others weren’t going to budge on their view that they owed it to the victims of America’s most prolific paedophile. Until 10 days ago, the White House was turning the thumbscrews on the holdouts.

It was only when there was a recognition that the threats were going nowhere that Trump accepted the inevitable and said he would support the release of the files. Be in no doubt, this is a stinging defeat for him. He was free at any time to release the files without the need for a congressional vote. He chose not to. His tetchiness was more than apparent when a woman reporter questioned him about it on Air Force One and he said – disgracefully – to her, “quiet piggy”.

But it doesn’t end there. MTG and others want the administration to focus much more on the economy, not buying the Trump bromides that the US economy is the envy of the world, that trillions of dollars are pouring in from his tariff policy, and that Americans have never been better off. The affordability crisis has been seized on by political opponents – like the Epstein files, Trump is trying to dismiss this, too, as a Democrat hoax.

There is something else tearing at Maga. It is principally about free speech, but it goes much deeper than that. The spark has been an interview that the former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson conducted with the Holocaust-denying antisemite, Nick Fuentes. The interview could not have been friendlier.

Initially, the controversy was on whether Fuentes should have been platformed at all by someone with such a huge following as Carlson, and whether he should have been given such an easy ride. It was the usual debate about free speech and cancelling.

But it morphed into something else. It became about whether the Trump administration was too close to Israel. If Maga is about America First, why do we care what happens in a country far away with only a few million people in it? Indeed, why did the Trump administration intervene in Argentina, bailing out their beef farmers when America’s farmers are reeling from his administration’s tariff policies?

In the moves of certain key figures, you can see that minds are turning to the post-Trump world and who will be the standard-bearer for the Republicans in 2028. Once that happens, power could drain from this presidency quickly.

But I have been doing this for too long to dare to count Trump out. And let me go back to the Epstein vote to underline why. As I said, 10 days ago, when Trump was still trying to prevent the release of the files, there were only a handful of GOP members who needed to be won over. In the 435-seat House of Representatives, about 215 supported Trump that the files should stay under wraps. But once he said he was in favour of their release, all but one voted for release.

Just think about that. These politicians, each with an electoral mandate from their own electorates, are so supine that all but one changed their minds once freed by Trump to do so. It’s pathetic.

Trump may be weakened. But the Republican Party is yet to discover any kind of backbone.

Strictly Come Misery – it doesn’t need new presenters, it needs to end

Just a few short years ago, Strictly Come Dancing was the shiniest of jewels in the BBC’s broadcasting crown. It was a reliable ratings hit, celebrities were lining up to get vigorously spray-tanned and learn the salsa, and the whole production seemed to exude a genuine sense of niceness. It was comfort telly par excellence, and didn’t leave you with a grotty taste in your mouth, unlike its more exploitative competitors in the reality TV sphere.

But right now, the show feels less like the diamond of public service broadcasting and more like a weight around the corporation’s neck, as yet another bleak headline threatens to extinguish that much-vaunted “Strictly magic”.

Yesterday, The Sun reported that a Strictly star, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on suspicion of rape in October. The arrest was related to an alleged incident last year, and was confirmed by Hertfordshire Police. “A man was released on police bail under investigation having been arrested in London on Monday 13 October on suspicion of rape,” the force told the newspaper, adding that inquiries are continuing. The BBC, meanwhile, said that it “would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation”.

The news comes after another male Strictly star was arrested in August on suspicion of rape; the Metropolitan Police said that he was also suspected of “non-consensual intimate image abuse”. These two grim news stories add to an unenviable roll call of Strictly-related scandals that are proving increasingly difficult for fans of the show (and I include myself in that number) to ignore.

Strictly’s reputation has never been entirely squeaky clean; for a family-friendly show, it has been the rumoured catalyst for a staggering amount of extra-marital goings-on (the so-called “Strictly curse”, which has seen scores of contestants split up with their significant others either during or shortly after their stint in the competition, is is very well-documented). But that arguably lent the programme a bit of a gossipy frisson that only helped cement its position as one of the nation’s most talked-about shows.

But there has been a shadow hanging over Strictly, dimming the gleam of all those diamantés for a while now and that shadow has only darkened. January 2024 saw former contestant Amanda Abbington reveal that she’d been diagnosed with mild PTSD. She would later accuse her dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, of bullying; Pernice, who strongly denied the allegations, was dropped from the show’s line-up. A long investigation upheld complaints of verbal bullying and harassment, but concluded that Pernice had not been physically aggressive.

While this scandal was bubbling away, another professional, Graziano di Prima, left Strictly after admitting to kicking celebrity contestant Zara McDermott during rehearsals (he later apologised, stating that his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected [his] training regime”.

Against this backdrop, last year’s competition just about managed to drag its feet along and go through the motions; the show’s welfare policies got a refresh, too, with chaperones brought in to accompany celebs during rehearsals. But then the Strictly live tour, which sees recent contestants take the routines on the road and perform to arenas full of fans, was engulfed in bad publicity, too. Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans was dropped by the BBC as a radio presenter after making what he described as “inappropriate and unacceptable” remarks at the launch event.

Not long afterwards, EastEnders star and 2024 contestant Jamie Borthwick was suspended by the BBC after using a slur against people with disabilities on the Strictly set. He apologised ‘sincerely and wholeheartedly’ for the remarks. And in August, the broadcaster launched an investigation into alleged drug use by two Strictly stars, in another blow to the series’ family-friendly image. The two separate arrests on suspicion of rape, then, are bleak additions to a very sorry saga. Against this uncomfortable backdrop, longtime presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced in October that they would both be stepping down from the series at the end of 2025.

The pair’s consummate professionalism has just about managed to keep Strictly afloat through all this behind-the-scenes mess, but they have decided that now “feels like the right time” to leave. Although their goodbye message was a cheery one, you have to wonder whether the beloved duo were simply exhausted by having to grin and bear it every Saturday night as another show-related bombshell seemed to explode around them.

There has been much chatter about who might step into Daly and Winkleman’s presenting shoes as Strictly’s hosts, but less discussion of a question that’s arguably just as pertinent: will any big names actually want to become the show’s latest figureheads, and risk aligning themselves with any future scandals?

The Strictly gig is either the most exciting vacancy in broadcasting right now, or the biggest poisoned chalice, depending on how cynically you look at it. “If it was simply a case of the duo looking to step down and initiate a graceful passing of the baton, then a joint announcement with the new presenters would have been better,” says Nina Sawetz, reputation and crisis adviser. “Constant speculation of behind-the-scenes tensions, salary rumours and endless debates on who will be replacing [Daly and Winkleman] and whether they’ll measure up will only overshadow and heap pressure onto anyone looking to step into their position,” she adds. “Big-name presenters won’t want to inherit instability, even for a show as big as this.”

Is the best solution for the BBC to simply cut their losses and put this floundering show out of its misery altogether? I’ve always previously been of the opinion that Strictly could withstand the bad headlines, but I underestimated the cumulative effect of so much scandal. “Strictly has been living off its legacy for a while, but the problem now is the accumulation of negative stories,” Sawetz adds. “When a show designed to be warm, familiar and cosy becomes defined by uncertainty and disruption, one controversy at a time, it not only starts to drag the programme itself, but its talent and the wider corporation.”

Another tell-tale sign that a series is on its last legs is audience numbers, but Strictly makes an interesting case study here. Viewing stats for the launch shows have been creeping downwards for the past few years, but Strictly is still one of the most watched shows on British TV; the decrease might just reflect changing trends in telly watching, rather than any big judgement on the part of the viewership. It’s hard to dispute, though, that Winkleman’s other blockbuster show, The Traitors, seems to have usurped Strictly’s place in audiences’ hearts.

But 21 years is a very long time in TV, and there’s certainly an argument to be made for quitting while you’re ahead (or, in the case of Strictly, while you seem to be rapidly veering off-piste). “Reality TV shows are harder to gauge when they have passed their sell-by date, due to the unpredictable human element,” notes David Frossman-Miller, global media director at W Communications. It tends to be more obvious when a drama or comedy is going stale, but in the reality bubble, “two ho-hum years could be blown out of the water with a season with some fantastic personalities”.

And so, he adds, the BBC is certainly “in a difficult position”. Cancelling “a hugely loved show, a staple of Saturday night TV, is a huge call to make”, he adds, but “the repeated issues have been a huge internal headache for the BBC”, and the continuing flurry of bad publicity “makes this show ending sooner a necessary reality”.

Perhaps BBC bosses should look over to their rivals at ITV for some examples of what happens when you let a once-beloved show stumble on way past its prime. The X Factor, Strictly’s one-time Saturday night ratings competitor, rumbled along for way too long, throwing in random format shake-ups that only served as a reminder of how much better it used to be. Earlier this week, in a glaring warning sign, Strictly announced a new “Instant Dance challenge” taking place later in the month; it’s the first time producers have had to mix up the tried and true formula, and it felt like an attempt to claw back some positive headlines.

While a bit of low level gossip can do wonders for a show’s reputation, when the backstage dramas utterly obscure what’s happening on screen, you know a programme is in truly dire straits. “Strictly’s off-screen issues have overshadowed the show, and will likely in turn be the nail in the coffin,” Frossman-Miller predicts. It certainly feels like a dead show walking right now.

Boris Becker becomes new dad day before his 58th birthday

Boris Becker has welcomed a baby daughter with his wife Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro.

The former tennis player shared the news with his 411,000 followers on Instagram, writing: “Welcome to the world… Zoë Vittoria Becker. 21.11.2025.”

Alongside the caption, he posted a black-and-white photograph of himself and his wife, 35, holding the newborn’s hand.

Zoë was born on Friday 21 November, the day before Becker celebrated his own 58th birthday on Saturday 22 November.

Becker has four other children from previous relationships, including his son Noah Gabriel whom he had in 1994 with his ex-wife Barbara Feltus. The couple welcomed a second child, Elias Balthasar, in 1999 before getting divorced in 2001.

The German athlete also has a daughter with the Russian model Angela Ermakova, and another son, Amadeus, with his second wife Lilly Kerssenberg before splitting acrimoniously after nine years in 2018.

Becker, who coached Novak Djokovic for three years from 2013 to 2016, has been married to his current wife Lillian since last September when they wed in a lavish ceremony in Portofino, Italy.

The couple announced they were expecting their first child together back in June.

In September, Becker spoke to The Sunday Times about their relationship, which started after they met through friends in 2018.

“She is obviously a very attractive woman, but I felt that from the first day we had lunch together alone, we had this instant intellectual connection,” he told the publication.

“Even though she’s 20 years younger, I feel like she has an old soul, and I like to think my soul is a bit younger, so we met in the middle.”

The former Wimbledon champion also praised Lilian for sticking by him when he was found guilty of hiding millions of assets after being made bankrupt.

Becker was sentenced to two and half years in prison. He was released early on 15 December 2022 having served eight months, and was deported to Germany by UK authorities.

“I was a little bit surprised that women still stay with you if you have nothing,” he told the publication. “I didn’t experience that much before.”

EV owners: Earn £55 with this E.ON Next tariff deal now

Considering getting an electric vehicle or have driven one for a while? You may be searching for the right energy tariff to charge your car, and if so, we have just the deal to help. E.ON Next is offering The Independent readers £55 credit with its Drive Smart EV tariff.

With impressively low overnight rates of 6.5p/kWh, it’s worth noting that when you use E.ON Next smart charging, that same competitive price is also applied to the rest of your home. We’d say that makes this limited-time offer of £55 credit sound even more appealing.

This exclusive offer is only available until 30 November, so you better be speedy to snap it up. Keep reading to learn more about the E.ON Next Drive Smart EV tariff – including eligibility, charting your energy use with the Next Home app and getting a quote.

There are a few straightforward requirements to be eligible for the E.ON Next Drive Smart EV tariff. As well as needing to have a smart meter and EV charger already installed at home, you must own or lease an EV that is a model supported by this tariff. Finally, you can only charge and connect one vehicle with E.ON Next’s EV tariff. Sounds simple? Once you’re signed up with your new tariff, you can set up Smart Schedules by downloading the E.ON Next Home app to get started.

After signing up to E.ON Next’s EV tariff, you need to have the Next Home app. This is a convenient way of accessing all of your EV charging information in one place. From seeing your entire charging history to planning future charging stints, you can view all energy cost savings here too. The app enables you to stay informed about charging rates, as you can map any cost changes according to what time of day or night you’re using energy to power your car. This handy level of monitoring lets you take the wheel when charging.

To get £55 when signing up for the E.ON Next Drive Smart EV tariff and make the most of this exclusive deal, head over to the quotes page here. With the offer only available until 30 November, you’d better put your foot down.

Get £55 credit by signing up to the E.ON Next Drive Smart EV tariff now

Puberty blockers to be tested on hundreds of children in new clinical trials

Puberty blockers will be tested on children with gender dysphoria, researchers have announced, after a major independent inquiry led to the overhaul of NHS gender services.

Researchers from King’s College London will recruit around 226 children over the next three years to test the benefits and risks of puberty blockers on young people.

The youngest children expected to be recruited will be 10 to 11 for biological females and 11 to 12 for biological males, and the upper age limit will be 15 years and 11 months.

The first participants are expected to be recruited in the new year, following strict selection criteria, and the trial will take “at least” four years.

One group of children will be given puberty blockers for two years, while the other will be given the drugs after a one-year delay. Both groups will be followed up for two years and will be aware of when they should expect to be given the medication.

The children’s health, well-being and development will be monitored throughout the trials.

The second study is called Pathways Connect, and will use scans to look at the brain development of youngsters taking puberty blockers and those who are not.

Some children could remain on the drugs after the study ends if deemed “clinically appropriate”, despite the treatment currently being banned in the UK to treat under-18s with the condition, researchers have said.

Participants’ results will also be compared with a group of children with gender incongruence who have not been given the drugs.

Both studies form part of a wider Pathways research programme, which is aiming to find out how the NHS can support children attending gender services.

Puberty blockers are typically given as an injection, with the most common – called triptorelin – usually administered every six months.

The drugs were first licensed in the 1980s to treat early puberty, which occurs before the age of eight in girls and nine in boys.

Plans for a puberty blockers trial were announced in 2024 following the publication of the Cass Review, which concluded that the quality of research claiming to show the benefits of such medication for youngsters with gender dysphoria was “poor”.

The drugs are not prescribed on the NHS to children for the treatment of gender dysphoria after a ban in 2024 was made permanent last December.

In response to the trial announcement, Dr Cass, paediatrician and Chair of the Cass independent review of gender services for children and young people, said: “My review uncovered a very weak evidence base for benefits from the use of puberty blockers for children and young people with gender dysphoria. In fact some children had more negative than positive effects.

“However, given that there are clinicians, children and families who believe passionately in the beneficial effects, a trial was the only way forward to make sense of this.”

Researchers have been collaborating with clinical services to develop a process that enables patients to undergo psychological and social care, while also providing informed consent.

Chief investigator Emily Simonoff, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at KCL’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), said: “At the end of the trial, each young person will be reviewed individually and clinically to look at their ongoing care needs, which may include remaining on puberty-suppressing hormones, if that’s deemed clinically appropriate for them.”

To take part in the trial, children must have entered puberty and must have a diagnosis of gender incongruence, which is when they feel a mismatch between their gender and their sex at birth.

They must have had these feelings for more than two years, as well as a “persisting desire” to take puberty blockers following psychological care.

The parents or guardians of patients must also support the option of using puberty blockers.

It is hoped that the research will shed light on whether suppressing puberty impacts the development of the brain.

Dr Ronny Cheung, NHS Consultant Paediatrician, and Honorary Senior Lecturer, King’s College London, said: “I strongly welcome this study, which addresses an area of conflicting, poor quality evidence.

“Practising clinicians are always at pains to understand that the treatments we give (and withhold) may appear to be beneficial to the individuals we treat, but without robust evidence we are prone to human biases which overplay the benefit and underestimate the harms.”

The Pathways research programme is being led by KCL, and is co-sponsored by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Young people with gender incongruence need access to high-quality, safe and effective care. We are following the Cass Review, which was clear that the evidence on care for these children is lacking, and proposed this research to help provide it.”

Ex-French President Sarkozy to publish memoir ‘Diary of a Prisoner’

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will publish a book about his recent time behind bars, titled “Diary of a Prisoner,” on December 10, his publisher Fayard announced on Friday.

The house is part of the media group controlled by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré Sarkozy trailed the release in a post on X, writing that in prison “the noise is, unfortunately, constant” and that “the inner life of man becomes stronger in prison.” He spent three weeks in detention there this autumn.

The former head of state, who governed France from 2007 to 2012, was convicted on Sept. 25 of participating in a criminal organization over alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. He was released pending appeal on Nov. 10, and his appeal against the conviction is scheduled to be heard from March 16 to June 3.

The former French president was freed from jail this month after serving just three weeks of a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy.

The 70-year-old, who led France between 2007 and 2012, will remain under judicial supervision pending an appeal hearing over the conviction, a Paris court ruled.

He returned home to his wife, Carla Bruni, and will be banned from leaving France until the appeal.

He could be required to wear an electronic tag while living at home, and may also have to provide bail money and check in regularly with the authorities as part of the arrangement.