Putin’s ‘barbaric’ Kyiv attack ‘shows he’s not ready for peace’

Ukrainian officials have said Vladimir Putin is not ready for peace after a “barbaric” strike on two of Ukraine’s largest cities, ahead of a second day of three-way negotiations held in Abu Dhabi

Dozens of people were injured in Kyiv and Kharkiv after a major missile and drone attack overnight, with at least one person dead in the capital.

Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin had “cynically” ordered the strike as the first day of negotiations took place, concluding: “This barbaric attack once again proves that Putin’s place is not at the board of peace, but at the dock of the special tribunal.”

Volodymyr Zelensky said that Putin must be ready to end the war he started during the landmark peace talks which mark the first such talks since the war erupted in February 2022

“The key is that Russia must be ready to end the war it started.”

The Donbas region, including the largely Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, remain a sticking point for both Ukraine and Russia. The Kremlin made it clear early that keeping Donbas was a “very important condition”.

Why Trump is panicking about the Supreme Court and tariffs

The giveaway with Donald Trump is when he starts bleating. He likes to use his Truth Social platform to warn of something before it has actually happened, choosing, as ever, apocalyptic language and block capitals. It is a sign he is nervy and unsettled, that he is not getting his way.

So it is, with the imminent US Supreme Court decision on his tariff regime. “WE’RE SCREWED,” he wrote, saying it would be a “complete mess” if the judges went against his strategy. Businesses may be able to claim refunds, fuelling Trump’s further unease: “It would take many years to figure out what number we are talking about. And even, who, when and where, to pay.”

What is under consideration, at the behest of a clutch of small businesses and some US states, is the legality of Trump’s “emergency” tariffs – the ones imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA and proclaimed on “liberation day”.

They also cover the anti-fentanyl measures levied on Canada, Mexico and China. Excluded are those that were justified on grounds of “national security”, such as steel and aluminium, or those that were in response to deemed unfair foreign practices. Nor is the court opining on the charges that came in after “liberation day”, via subsequent trade deals.

It still represents around half of his new tariffs. If his administration was ordered to pay back, the hit would be a not inconsiderable $130bn. More importantly, the blow to the president’s majesty would be enormous.

Currently, the markets are predicting only a 30 per cent likelihood of Trump winning. He has lost previously in two lower courts. At a hearing in November, a majority of the highest justices in the land were heavily questioning the government’s case. Conservative judges did not appear impressed. That’s why Trump is nervous; why, too, he has repeatedly attacked the lawsuit, stepping up his tirade as the verdict nears.

In reality, he always was on thin ground. No president had used the 1977 IEEPA in that way before. His trade secretary, Scott Bessent, struggled to present a scarcely credible justification, insisting “the national emergency is avoiding a national emergency”. That is really what is under scrutiny here: the weaponising of tariffs in a fight that exists in Trump’s imagination.

Those trying to get the tariffs overturned argue that the IEEPA does not even use the word “tariffs”. Under the US constitution, it is Congress that introduces taxes, not the president acting alone.

Prepare for more gnashing and stomping. The fact that investors will be delighted and shares will head upwards as a result will not deter him. Firms will likely ramp up their import orders, frontloading them, to take advantage of the lower rates. They will do so in the knowledge that this is an obdurate leader who is not minded to reversing because a group of lawyers do not approve.

Neither can they expect a payday anytime soon. Refunds would be “almost impossible for our Country to pay”, Trump asserted this week. “Anybody who says that it can be quickly and easily done would be making a false, inaccurate or totally misunderstood answer to this very large and complex question.”

He has made tariffs his weapon of choice, as we saw again recently over Greenland. Far from backing off, Trump will almost certainly double down, making the duties temporary and product-specific under a different piece of legislation, the Trade Act of 1974. That would allow him to raise tariffs of up to 15 per cent for 150 days.

We’ve seen climbdowns from him, but such is the importance Trump has attached to tariffs, the feeling among White House-watchers is that he will not budge. That was in evidence at Davos, where there was wide acceptance that, come what may, tariffs are here to stay. Trump is fixated by them; he understands them, no one gets killed or injured, although there is inevitable socio-economic fallout, but that does not concern him. They’re a stick that he can wave, that plays directly to Maga, and as he sees it, America’s exploitation and betrayal.

Having to reimburse would hurt financially. One of the less shouted aspects of his onslaught is the levies’ revenue-earning potential. He’s portrayed them as striking back at those who have been plundering America and taking its wealth and might for granted, but they are intended as well to boost the federal coffers.

What this means, therefore, is yet additional uncertainty and volatility. The court may rule out his policy; he will seek another route to ensure it remains, at least in a respectable form. Avoiding humiliating personal capitulation will be his top priority. It will take time for the dust to settle and a clearer picture to emerge, if it ever does with this president. That will impact on businesses across the globe, which are left in limbo, not knowing what may be coming down the track. That will put investment decisions, already made and affected in many cases by geopolitical and economic fragility, on hold.

One judge, Amy Coney Barrett, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Trump, said that refunding the tariffs would be a “complete mess” – words that Trump himself chose to echo. That was in relation to repayments. It does not follow that the system itself is wrong.

He will be furious; businesses will be entitled to feel relieved. They should be under no illusion, as with horror movies, in all likelihood, there will be a sequel. The Supreme Court may not like them, but we have not heard the last of Trump and tariffs.

‘I’m 73 and afraid I’ll die without knowing what happened to my son’

When 16-year-old Damien Nettles disappeared, his mother Valerie was too afraid to leave the house. She stayed inside waiting, convinced that every set of footsteps outside meant her son was finally coming home.

But Ms Nettles is now 73, and on 2 November, it will be 30 years since she last saw her child. With no meaningful leads and a stalled investigation, she fears she may never learn the truth about what happened to him before she dies.

Damien’s disappearance devastated his entire family and caused his parents and three siblings’ lives to be irrevocably altered. “Thirty years is going to be hard to swallow,” Ms Nettles said. “But so was 29 years, so was 28 years, and so was one year.”

AsThe Independent has raised £165,000 to launch SafeCall – a free new service to help missing children find support and safety no matter what – and continues to raise more, we spoke to Ms Nettles, who still hopes she will one day find out what happened to her son.

Donate here or text SAFE to 70577 to give £10 to Missing People – enough for one child to get help.

Damien’s grandparents and uncle died not knowing what happened to him, and Ms Nettles fears she will face the same fate too. Even now, she still keeps his teddy bears in his room and hangs up his stocking at Christmas.

“I don’t buy him presents anymore because one year I found the presents from the year before,” she told The Independent.

“It doesn’t go away, it’s on my mind all the time and it’s worse because we have no conclusion as to what happened. It’s an open sore.”

Damien, a “kind and funny” Isle of Wight teenager, went to a party with his friends on a wintry Saturday night in 1996.

His mother had given him a curfew of 10pm, which he persuaded her to push back to midnight. She thought she didn’t have to worry about Damien, as the island was a small place where everybody knew everyone.

Damien and his friend left the party and began walking home at 10.30pm, but after taking separate routes, Damien returned to town to look for his older sister Sarah.

CCTV captured him at Yorkies Fish and Chip shop in Cowes at 11.40pm that night, and shortly after, he was seen walking alone on the high street in footage which Hampshire Police later lost.

When Ms Nettles realised he wasn’t in his bed the next morning, she had assumed he was staying with a friend. But as the hours wore on and Damien didn’t come home, she knew something was deeply wrong.

After filing a police report, Ms Nettles said she was told that Damien would be home by tea time and that his disappearance was something “all boys do at the age of 16”.

She claimed the first 48 hours of his disappearance, vital in a missing person investigation, were not taken seriously by the police and the family had to launch their own search party and obtain CCTV themselves.

While the investigation ticked on for several years, and still remains open today, Ms Nettles feels Damien’s case was always sidelined.

She is now living 5,000 miles away in Texas, in the United States, but still makes every attempt to get any answer that she can.

Not one day has gone by that she hasn’t thought about Damien. “It’s terrible, it’s horrible, it’s altered the shape of our lives,” Ms Nettles said. “Damien came first. It’s always been Damien. I think about him every single day. It doesn’t go away.”

Without any answers, she worries that her children, who have had to grow up without their brother, will be left with the legacy of his disappearance.

In 2011, police arrested eight people, but all suspects were later released without charge.

“Someone is going to have to walk in their door and confess before [the police] are going to do anything,” Ms Nettles said.

“I would much prefer for somebody to tell me where he is so we can go find him, and I can bring him home, and I can give him a funeral, and I’ll have a spot where he is so that I can go and visit.

“I’m not going to give up hope, I’m always going to have a glimmer of hope. I can only hope that if there is a heaven, I’ll find him up there.”

Detective superintendent Nick Plummer from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “Our shared objective with the Nettles family remains finding out what happened to Damien.

“We understand the concerns raised by members of the Nettles family about the standards of our initial investigation. A complaint was received in 2016, where two elements raised were upheld following an investigation. A detailed apology was subsequently provided to Damien’s family.

“It’s important to stress that this is still an open case and any new credible information will be explored for any viable lines of enquiry.”

Please donate now to The Independent and Missing People’s SafeCall campaign, which has raised £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service helping vulnerable children find safety and support.

For advice, support and options if you or someone you love goes missing, text or call the charity Missing People on 116 000. It’s free, confidential and non-judgemental. Or visit missingpeople.org.uk/get-help

Boy, 12, mauled by shark in Sydney Harbour dies

A 12-year-old boy who was bitten by a shark in Sydney has died from his injuries, his family said on Saturday.

Nico Antic was mauled by a shark near Shark Beach at Nielsen Park in Sydney Harbour and suffered “devastating injuries”.

The boy was jumping off rocks in Vaucluse with his friends last Sunday when he was attacked. He was brought out of the water by his friends and immediately taken to a children’s hospital in Randwick where he was put in an induced coma after surgery. He had suffered severe injuries on both legs.

“We’re heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away,” his family said in a statement. “Nico was a happy, friendly, and sporty young boy with the most kind and generous spirit. He was always full of life and that’s how we’ll remember him.”

In the wake of the incident, a family friend started an online fundraiser for Antic’s parents to help them through the ordeal.

“Tragically, their beloved child, Nico, was attacked by a shark on Sunday in Sydney harbour and sustained devastating injuries. Despite all efforts, this heartbreaking event has led to the worst possible outcome. We are raising funds to help the Antic family cover upcoming expenses and related arrangements during this incredibly difficult time,” the fundraiser said.

Police said they believed a bull shark, a species known to inhabit murky, brackish waters, was responsible for the attack.

After a series of shark attacks along Australia’s east coast, including three in Sydney just this past week, authorities shut down a dozen beaches.

The attack that claimed Antic’s life occurred shortly after 4.20pm along the popular coastal path of Hermitage Foreshore Walk.

Two similar incidents followed within 24 hours, heightening concern. An 11-year-old boy surfing at the Dee Why Beach on Monday morning escaped unharmed after a shark bit his surfboard multiple times and tore away a chunk from its mid-section.

Northern Beaches Council lifeguards immediately closed the beach, erected warning signs, and launched jet ski and drone patrols. A piece of the surfboard was sent to the NSW Fisheries to help identify the shark.

That same evening, a man was left in critical condition after being bitten by a shark at Manly Beach.

In the wake of the attacks, the New South Wales police warned residents and visitors against entering the Shark Beach waters.

“The harbour as you know is brackish, it is full of fresh water at the moment due to the amount of rain we’ve had,” marine area command superintendent Joe McNulty said.

“We believe a combination of the brackish water, the fresh water and the action of the splashing may have made that perfect storm environment for that shark attack,” he said, urging people to avoid swimming in Sydney Harbour and nearby river systems while water visibility remained poor.

Authorities said heavy swell had prevented the operation of smart drumlines along much of the NSW coast, limiting shark detection efforts.

Since 2020, Australia has recorded 23 fatal shark attacks, though experts stress the risk remains low compared with the number of people entering the ocean each year.

‘I wanted a designer vagina since I was 14 – but I now live in excruciating pain’

A woman who desperately wanted “designer vagina” surgery at the age of 14 wants to ban the practice after she was left in “excruciating pain”.

Campaigners are calling for labiaplasty – which alters the appearance of the folds of skin at the vaginal opening and is sometimes referred to as getting a “Barbie” vagina – to be treated as female genital mutilation (FGM).

They say the operation, which plastic surgeons warned several years ago was “the world’s fastest-growing cosmetic procedure”, has surged in popularity as a TikTok trend in recent months.

Riley Smith* said the procedure was promoted to her as a “fix” after she felt “insecure” about the size of her labia. She told The Independent that her “vulgar” friends reaffirmed her “worst insecurities” when she confided in them about her worries.

She had labiaplasty aged 22 after being described as “the perfect candidate”, and claims not to have been warned of the risks, instead being told it was “super simple surgery”.

Afterwards, she felt “extremely drained and uncomfortable” and said she has since experienced irritation, dryness and recurring infections due to the removed tissue.

She now “can’t sit directly on it for long”, and finds sex “excruciatingly painful and mentally distressing”. Ms Smith added: “I’m so sad. Penetration was never painful before. I feel so angry at the surgeon, the system and myself for making this decision.

“It makes me so angry how casually this procedure is promoted as increasing sexual confidence, improving hygiene, and even making underwear more physically comfortable.”

She said a doctor has spoken to her about reconstruction surgery, applying the same techniques used for women who have suffered FGM.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines FGM as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”.

FGM is illegal in the UK and usually non-consensual, but plastic surgeons can legally perform labiaplasty on anyone over 18 who consents. Figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons show there were 635 labiaplasty operations in the UK in 2024, which was a slight decrease from the previous year.

Charity The Vavengers, which works to end violence against women and girls in the UK, is fighting for labiaplasty to be criminalised like FGM. Chief executive Sema Gornall argued it is impossible to “consent to that much bodily harm” and claimed labiaplasty has become “normalised” on social media.

A search for the procedure on TikTok brings up more than 7,000 posts since 2024. Google has seen a 90 per cent increase in searches for “labiaplasty before and after uk” in the past year, and a 70 per cent increase in searches for “what is labiaplasty” in the past five years.

Ms Gornall added: “There are over 10,000 nerve fibres on the female genitalia. If I can’t consent to cutting off my arm without a medical reason… I can’t consent to cutting off my genitalia as well.”

FGM, as defined by the UK’s 2003 Female Genital Mutilation Act, includes cutting, pricking, stitching, or cauterisation of the vulva for reasons of “ritual”.

Dr Kate Goldie Townsend, a lecturer at Exeter University specialising in political philosophy, particularly concerning the body and children’s rights, told The Independent: “[FGM] is often connected to myths about cleanliness, and that undergoing the practice makes the girl or woman more marriageable.

“The rise in labiaplasty as a trend on platforms like TikTok adds to the incessant pressure on girls and women to conform to rigid, patriarchal beauty norms, no doubt fuelled by mainstream hetero-pornography.”

She explained how current FGM legislation states it is not a crime for an approved person to perform a “surgical operation on a girl which is necessary for her physical or mental health”, meaning a child could technically have labiaplasty if she had intense anxiety about her vulva’s appearance.

Dr Townsend said labiaplasty risks mirror those of FGM, including “bleeding, infection, reduction in sexual function due to the removal of nerve endings, chaffing, scarring, and psychological distress due to regret”.

The benefits are a “socio-cultural increase in confidence” due to feelings of “conforming to patriarchal beauty standards”. However, Dr Townsend said “many women express regret at having undergone the procedure, and some private clinics are capitalising on women and girls’ bodily anxieties”.

The Vavengers ambassador Payzee Mahmod, who underwent FGM, said: “I know women who have pain every single day of their life, not even just through having sex, but just existing in their bodies. They live with that pain.”

She said labiaplasty is “decorated and masked in this idea that women are choosing to have a designer vagina, that this is a sense of empowerment and freedom, but actually, this all goes back to patriarchy, because this is done for men in the same way that FGM is done for men”.

The government said it has no current plans to ban private labiaplasty surgery for adults, which costs around £4,000.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Prioritising women’s health and safety is paramount. Labiaplasty is only available on the NHS in exceptional circumstances when patients have a clinical need for surgery, for instance, to remove cancerous tissue.

“FGM is different. It is a crime, it is child abuse, and it can destroy lives. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls, and offenders will face the full force of the law.”

A WHO spokesperson said it develops “guidance and resources to support countries with high prevalence” to implement prevention and care services, but “decisions about labiaplasty and other forms of plastic surgery are not the focus of WHO’s efforts to end FGM”.

*Name has been changed

What the future of travel looks like in 2026

Are we done with viral hotspots? According to travel comparison site KAYAK’s WTF (that’s What The Future, by the way) 2026 trends report, the era of copy-paste travel may finally be winding down. Not because people are travelling less – quite the opposite – but because they’re travelling differently.

Drawing on billions of user searches, an independent survey from more than 14,000 Gen Z and Millennial travellers – including over 2,000 next-gen UK travellers – and exclusive TikTok community insights, KAYAK’s report shows a shift away from headline destinations and performative travel. In their place? Shorter breaks, quieter cities, better value and experiences that feel personal rather than pre-approved.

Here’s what that looks like in practice, and where those trends could take you.

The next “it” destination, it turns out, is the one you haven’t already seen 50 times on your phone. According to KAYAK, 71 per cent of Gen Z and 75 per cent of Millennials actively want to visit places they’ve never been before, while TikTok posts tagged #hiddengems are up more than 50 per cent. Saturation is the new turn-off.

Cork fits that brief neatly. Long treated as a stopping point on the way to somewhere else, Ireland’s second city still flies under the algorithmic radar. Yet it rewards curiosity in small, satisfying ways: a walkable centre, a burgeoning food scene and easy access to coastline and countryside without the fanfare.

Base yourself near Shandon rather than around the busier quays, and start the day with a stroll along the River Lee before the city fully wakes up. For dinner, follow locals to the English Market at lunchtime, then head out to Ballycotton or Garretstown the next morning.

Travellers aren’t cancelling trips in 2026, they’re financing them more creatively. Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z and Millennial travellers say installment plans will determine how many trips they take, while KAYAK data shows international fares from the UK sitting almost exactly where they were last year. Add a 52 per cent rise in the use of flight price alerts and the picture becomes clear: deal-hunting has gone mainstream.

This shift favours cities that deliver substance without sticker shock. Bilbao still fits the bill, but it’s the city’s everyday pleasures that offer the real value. Skip the Guggenheim café and eat at Gure Toki or Sorginzulo for pintxos done properly. Better still, cross the river into Deusto at lunchtime, where menus del día feel resolutely local and prices soften noticeably. Savvy travellers are stretching budgets without sacrificing experience, and places like Bilbao are making it easy for them.

Forget souvenirs. In 2026, it’s goosebumps people are packing for. More than half of travellers say natural wonders will shape their plans, and 34 per cent list awe-inspiring experiences as a top priority. That’s driving renewed interest in northern landscapes, but not always the obvious ones.

While Tromsø continues to top bucket lists, travellers looking for something fresher are turning towards Christchurch, New Zealand as a gateway rather than a destination in itself. From here, the night skies of the Canterbury plains offer serious dark-sky credentials without the premium price tags of more famous stargazing spots. Pair it with a drive to Lake Tekapo or a night at Mt John Observatory, and prepare to be amazed as the universe puts on one of its more impressive galactic light shows.

AI has officially replaced your mate who “went once and loved it”. Nearly six in 10 travellers say they’d change destination if AI suggested somewhere better, and half would do so for a better deal. Notably, 44 per cent of AI prompts are now about value, not inspiration.

AI can also steer travellers toward lesser-visited cities that prioritise authentic, local experiences over familiar tourist circuits. Fukuoka, in particular, remains one of the country’s most liveable and engaging destinations, offering a compelling blend of modern convenience and rich cultural heritage. Base yourself near Hakata Station for better-value hotels, then eat like a local at the yatai food stalls along the Naka River. It’s informal, affordable and far more revealing than a booked-out tasting menu. Leveraging AI-led planning tools helps today’s savvy travellers to unlock the city’s true potential, moving beyond generic guidebook recommendations.

Luxury, redefined, looks suspiciously like a good night’s sleep. KAYAK’s report shows 69 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials travel primarily for mental reset, while wellness-led luxury continues to rise. The emphasis has shifted from showing off to switching off.

The Greek island of Zakynthos excels here, particularly inland. Head to villages such as Kiliomenos, where evenings are cooler and dinner at family-run tavernas like Latas stretches lazily into the night. No playlists, no dress code, just plates refilled without fuss. For one in five travellers, it’s the small comforts that matter most: a quiet morning, decent coffee, and nowhere you’re expected to be. Wellness travel isn’t about spa breaks and luxury escapes anymore; it’s about coming back better than you left.

The big-city rush is out. In 2026, 84 per cent of younger travellers say they’d rather visit a smaller city or rural area than a major hub. Lower prices help, but the real appeal is authenticity that doesn’t need explaining.

Bastia, in northern Corsica, perfectly exemplifies the trend. Mornings on the old port unfold naturally with fishermen unloading and café chairs scraping into place. Walk up to the Citadelle before the heat builds, then lunch at U San Ghjuvà for unfussy Corsican cooking. These are places where life hasn’t been edited for visitors. Yes, social media still nudges people towards them, but only once they’re already halfway there.

In 2026, the destination is wherever the action is. An overwhelming 95 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials plan to travel for a major event, whether that’s a concert, a sporting tournament or a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Cities that flex around calendars are winning. In Canada, Toronto works as a terrific base. But those thinking ahead are looking beyond the obvious to places like Halifax, where festivals, touring acts and sporting events are easier to access and far less inflated by demand. Stay near the waterfront, eat at The Bicycle Thief, and let the event anchor the trip rather than dominate it.

Over half of travellers say slower travel helps clear their head, and #slowtravel content has surged by almost 330 per cent on TikTok. But the aim isn’t inactivity, more a break from decision-making.

The Azores remain a benchmark, but similar benefits can be found in places like Praia in Cape Verde. The rhythm is gentle, the beaches walkable, and long lunches at Quintal da Música turn into evenings almost by accident. Headspace holidays aren’t about ticking boxes, they’re about removing friction and the demand for constant optimisation.

Adventure hasn’t disappeared, it’s simply grown up. Nearly one in four travellers now combine light outdoor activity with proper rest, while searches for amenities like terraces, hot tubs and gyms continue to rise. The Great Outdoors is now more likely to be paired with a Quite Decent bottle of wine.

Hilo, on Hawaii’s Big Island, captures that softer approach to adventure perfectly. Base yourself here and mornings might mean walking the edge of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park or taking an easy hike through the stunning scenery of Akaka Falls rainforest. Afternoons are for slowing down: soaking in naturally warmed ocean pools, lingering over poke bowls or fresh fish, and letting yourself reset.

Who says holidays have to be long? Nearly two-thirds of travellers plan to take several shorter trips in 2026, with searches for one-to-four-day breaks continuing to rise. The appeal is immediacy: quick resets, minimal planning and maximum reward.

Milan makes for an excellent Nanocation. Trains run on time, neighbourhoods are compact, and finding good food rarely requires much research. Rather than chasing the Duomo and moving on, spend a night in areas like Isola or Porta Venezia, where the city feels lived-in rather than visited. Grab a seat for aperitivo along the Navigli as the working day winds down, eat late without ceremony, and walk everywhere. Milan rewards restraint; do it right, and even 24 hours can feel like a proper break.

With billions of user searches across its platforms, KAYAK helps travellers find their perfect flight, stay, rental car or holiday package. Download the app here and start exploring.

Salah set for Premier League return as Liverpool face Bournemouth

Mohamed Salah is in line for his first Premier League appearance since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations as Liverpool travel south to face Bournemouth.

The Egyptian returned to the fold in Liverpool’s impressive 3-0 win over Marseille on Wednesday, making his first start for the club since 26 November, when the Reds were humiliated by PSV in the Champions League.

Salah’s infamous tirade against Arne Slot and the Reds hierarchy followed 10 days later, though it seems tensions have since been eased and Liverpool will hope the 33-year-old can return to form to help reignite Liverpool’s top four push going into the second half of the season.

Slot’s side are currently on a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions but are without a win in the league in 2025, having drawn four consecutive outings to Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, are now adjusting to life without talisman Antoine Semenyo, though their previous two home games have seen the 15th-placed side give stern tests to Arsenal and Tottenham, beating the latter in a dramatic last-gasp win.

Follow all the action from Bournemouth vs Liverpool in our live blog below:

In hacked-off Harry, the press has created its worst nightmare

Oceans of ink have been drained in trying to explain what Prince Harry hopes to achieve in the quietly spectacular drama currently being played out in Court 76 of the Royal Courts of Justice.

Is it about revenge, justice, grievance, truth, vindication? Belated retribution for what his mother had to put up with at the hands of tabloid journalists? A chivalrous attempt to protect his wife, Meghan, and his own children from suffering the same fate?

Whatever the motive – and whatever the truth of his claims against Associated Newspapers – there is something almost recklessly heroic in his dogged determination to obtain some form of accountability for a generation of Wild West lawlessness in Fleet Street.

His targets also know a thing or two about revenge. And, like Donald Trump, they have long memories.

In a way, Harry is single-handedly doing what the second part of the Leveson Inquiry into press behaviour and ethics was never allowed to do. He has already humbled some of the biggest beasts in the Murdoch and Mirror empires. Now he has his sights on the Mail titles – and the stakes, both financial and reputational, are enormous.

Do you remember Matt Hancock, the perky little health secretary who was so out of his depth when he found himself having to respond to the greatest health crisis of our times?

You will doubtless have forgotten that he had previously served briefly as culture secretary. In that role, he quietly shelved the promised Leveson 2, which had been due to look into broader illegality in Fleet Street.

Editors and proprietors broke open the champagne and, in time, showed their appreciation by publishing CCTV footage of Hancock and his “adviser”, Gina Coladangelo, treating his own Covid social distancing rules with uninhibited abandon. Some gratitude!

But the celebrations were premature. Politicians may have decided that upsetting the journalistic establishment was not worth the candle. But two men who had suffered egregious front-page humiliation were not so easily cowed.

One was Max Mosley, the former Formula One boss, who found his exotic sex life splattered all over the front page of the News of the World in 2008. His son, Alexander, died of a suspected drug overdose around a year later. Max Mosley – charming, determined and, above all, rich – devoted the rest of his life (he died in 2021) to turning the tables on his former pursuers.

And the other is Prince Harry.

It’s interesting to speculate whether these two avenging angels would have been quite so fixated on achieving justice had Leveson 2 gone ahead. The judge would have had extensive powers of investigation, discovery and subpoena, along with the ability to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath.

It’s likely that they would have come to the same conclusion as Mr Justice Fancourt, who oversaw Prince Harry’s attempt to prove that phone hacking was as rife at the Mirror titles as it had been at the News of the World. “There is,” he found, “compelling evidence that the editors of each newspaper knew very well that [phone hacking] was being used extensively and habitually and that they were happy to take the benefits of it.”

Leveson would also have pursued the question of unlawful activity at the News of the World’s sister paper, The Sun. The civil claimants who pursued The Sun were all effectively forced to settle for significant damages but without any open scrutiny of what had gone on in the daily newsroom.

Prince Harry managed to extract a “full and unequivocal” apology and an admission that private investigators working for The Sun had behaved criminally. But Murdoch was willing to shell out more than £1bn in costs and damages rather than allow the full sunlight of a court action.

Leveson 2 would have examined whether all the witnesses in the original inquiry had told the truth (spoiler: they didn’t). And it would doubtless have had a decent crack at solving the mystery of why quite so many millions of emails were deleted at the Murdoch titles at the very time that the police came knocking.

That’s a question that has vexed former prime minister Gordon Brown, who, for 18 months, has been pressing Met Police chief Mark Rowley to investigate whether his officers were obstructed and evidence destroyed. The Met tells me that material supplied by Brown in November 2025 is “being assessed”.

Leveson 2 would also have turned its steely gaze on Associated Newspapers, which is currently hoping to be allowed to add The Telegraph titles to its stable. Associated has admitted to using private investigators but vehemently denies that they were ever tasked with anything illegal.

Lord Leveson was unimpressed with Hancock’s decision to abolish his inquiry just as it was getting to the heart of the matter. “It must be in the public interest that the extent of the wrongdoing is publicly exposed,” he wrote to Hancock and the then home secretary, Amber Rudd, “not least because the press itself would have been the very first to do just that if it were to have occurred in any other organisation.”

He said he was confident that “a detailed and independent forensic investigation of compellable witnesses would at last provide the answers to ‘who did what to whom’.”

If collective editorial consciences had been clear, there would have been nothing to lose. But they weren’t. Fleet Street wasn’t having it – and, instead, has had to submit to a string of unedifying civil actions culminating in the current blockbuster drama in Court 76.

Journalism drapes itself in the crusading colours of morality and truth-telling. But too often the behaviour exposed by Prince Harry and other claimants over recent years has been revealed to be ethically bankrupt, criminal and dishonest.

Whatever the result of the current Associated case, Prince Harry and his fellow avengers have performed a useful public service – and one that arguably should have been shouldered by the state. The world desperately needs honest, professional witnesses who will hold power to account. It’s just a shame editorial leaders couldn’t have shown more openness, courage and truthfulness in facing up to some egregious past failings closer to home.