An exceptional cast, astonishing directing and the talent discovery of the decade – not to mention a plot so of-the-moment it was discussed in parliament. This may actually have been perfect TV

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How could it be anything else? Adolescence is the Guardian’s best television series of 2025. And you’d have to assume that we’re not the only ones who think so. In any available metric – story, theme, casting, performances, execution, impact – Adolescence has stood head and shoulders over everything else.

So ubiquitous was Adolescence upon release that it would be easy to assume that everyone in the world has watched it. But just in case, a recap. Adolescence is the story of a terrible crime, and how its shock waves ripple out across a community. In episode one, 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested on suspicion of murdering a female classmate. In episode two, we follow a pair of police officers through a school, and learn that Jamie was radicalised online. The third is a two-hander between Jamie and his psychologist, in which Jamie’s anger rushes to the surface. The fourth returns to Jamie’s parents, as they question what more they could have done to stop this from happening.

It’s celebrity catnip, but beyond the headlines this is also a tale of family dysfunction. At this time of year, so many people know about that

There is not one saga I have been more invested in this year than the Beckham family feud. In case you are not as shamelessly showbiz-pilled as I am, this is a drama that parses like something between the parable of the prodigal son and Catherine de Medici’s tension with her daughter-in-law Mary, Queen of Scots.

It seems that, after years of a trying in-law dynamic, relations between the Beckham family and their first-born, Brooklyn, and his wife, the heiress Nicola Peltz, have soured. Brooklyn has been repeatedly and conspicuously absent from all the family group shots on Instagram and, most notably, mum Victoria’s Netflix documentary, and dad David’s 50th birthday celebrations and knighthood ceremony (and if you know how long Dave’s been auditioning for that honour, you’ll know that this was the biggest indicator of catastrophe).

Jason Okundaye is an assistant opinion editor at the Guardian and the author of Revolutionary Acts

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On the winter solstice, the Cornish town transforms into a rambunctious festival full of dance, delinquency and Morris dancers. Our writer dodges the vegetable missiles – and learns how to get the best out of a horse skull

Incense burners as big as basketballs send thick clouds of smoke into the hyped-up crowd. “Hoo hoo Holly!” cries a man in a suit of twisted roots, looking like an oversized Shredded Wheat. The crowd begins to chant: “Make way for the Holly!” And two 10ft tree gods – the Oak King and the Holly King – begin to lash and headbutt each other, as flamethrowers blast the air with hot orange streams. These mysterious-seeming traditions are part of Montol, Cornwall’s biggest solstice festival. Each year on 21 December, Penzance’s high streets close to traffic and crowds of thousands wearing elaborate outfits and horses skulls prowl, throw brussels sprouts and burn effigies of the sun.

Elements of Montol have pagan roots, including rituals such as “wearing animal masks and cross-dressing, going from house to house performing ludicrous plays and performing really crap music”, says one co-organiser, Aaron Broadhurst. But Montol itself only began in 2007, when Simon Reed, former Penzance mayor and campaigner for Cornish Culture, found the word, meaning “balance”, in an old Cornish dictionary. In its first incarnation, says co-organiser Paul Tyreman, the festival consisted of a wind band, the Turkey Rhubarb Band, who led a procession up Market Jew Street and through the town. “People gathered, sung carols, lit a beacon, and went home.”

Osses on the prowl around Penzance.

Away from our families, my flatmate and I hung out in his bedroom, Christmas lunch on our laps, watching a poorly written, jarringly inappropriate movie

In 2022, I was living in a flat in north London above a chicken shop, with two flatmates and a cockroach infestation (what did we expect, said the landlord, living above a takeaway?). My flatmate was from Lithuania, and was due to go home in January, and our other flatmate, his girlfriend, was away for Christmas. I’d been home to Canada the month before, so for Christmas Day itself it was just the two of us.

I bought a small chicken to roast, and served it with stuffing I’d brought back from Canada – it’s the same concept as the stuffing in the UK but somehow fluffier and with more texture – and some pasta. I made brussels sprouts, trying to recreate a dish I like from a restaurant in my home town by cooking them with bacon, maple syrup, parmesan and a mayonnaise drizzle. It wasn’t very nice. We had some prosecco that my flatmate had won in a competition, even though neither of us really liked prosecco. It felt like we should, because it was Christmas.

Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year

Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist?

The US economy is pumped up on tech-bro vanity. The inevitable correction must prompt a global conversation about intelligent machines, regulation and risk

If AI did not change your life in 2025, next year it will. That is one of few forecasts that can be made with confidence in unpredictable times. This is not an invitation to believe the hype about what the technology can do today, or may one day achieve. The hype doesn’t need your credence. It is puffed up enough on Silicon Valley finance to distort the global economy and fuel geopolitical rivalries, shaping your world regardless of whether the most fanciful claims about AI capability are ever realised.

ChatGPT was launched just over three years ago and became the fastest-growing consumer app in history. Now it has about 800m weekly users. Its parent company, OpenAI, is valued at about $500bn. Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, has negotiated an intricate and, to some eyes, suspiciously opaque network of deals with other players in the sector to build the infrastructure required for the US’s AI-powered future. The value of these commitments is about $1.5tn. This is not real cash, but bear in mind that a person spending $1 every second would need 31,700 years to get through a trillion-dollar stash.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

New files include series of emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and someone who says he is at ‘Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family’

Freshly released emails from the Epstein files show Ghislaine Maxwell discussing arranging “girls” and “two-legged sight seeing” for a man identified in the correspondence as “The Invisible Man”, who is widely believed to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

In a February 2002 email exchange about a proposed trip to Peru, Maxwell forwards messages from Juan Estoban Ganoza outlining possible activities, including visiting the Nazca Lines.

Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and that you will only introduce him to friends that you can trust and rely on to be friendly and discreet and fun.

He does not want to read about any trip in the papers whom or what he saw.

For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case.

In particular, he is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric.

Claim by a senior US attorney about US president appears in latest batch of justice department documents

• US politics live – latest updates

A newly released batch of the so-called Epstein files includes many references to Donald Trump, including a claim by a senior US attorney that the US president was on a flight in the 1990s with the now-deceased convicted child sex offender and a 20-year-old woman.

There is no indication of whether the woman was a victim of any crime, and being included in the files does not indicate any criminal wrongdoing.

In his first comments since the release, the president expressed sympathy for high-profile figures, including Bill Clinton, who have come under scrutiny

Donald Trump has broken his silence on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, complaining that people who “innocently met” the convicted paedophile could have their reputations destroyed.

In his first comments since the justice department began releasing the materials on Friday, the US president on Monday expressed sympathy for prominent Democrats who have come under renewed scrutiny over their associations with Epstein.

Previous policy would have led to inheritance tax being levied on farms valued at over £1m

The Treasury has published this explainer setting out in detail how the inheritance tax rules will apply to farms after today’s announcement.

When the government first announced its plan to extend inheritance tax to farms, it said that this would raise around £520m a year from 2028-29.

The changes we are implementing reflects the concerns that have been raised while preserving the majority of the revenue from reform to help cut debt and borrowing and fund public services. The costings for today’s announcement will be incorporated into the next OBR forecast.