Her delivery might be stilted – but Truss’ new YouTube show has grand ambitions: a ‘Trump revolution’ in Britain with the help of an influential US conservative ecosystem

Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, began the first edition of her YouTube show with a vow to unmask “the evil-doers” attempting to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She would, she explained, reveal how an “international network of leftists work to subvert democracy and the will of the people”.

Despite her bleak monologue, Truss pointed to hope from across the Atlantic. “We’re going to look at the Trump revolution and see how this can be achieved in Britain,” she said. “We’ll be talking to the leading lights of the Maga movement.”

Forget homeschooling, how about taking your family on a perpetual gap year and quitting the nine-to-five? Families who did just that share the hostel horrors and mid-trip meltdowns behind the Instagram feed

It was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. Late last year, Josy and Joe Davis decided to quit their jobs, sell their home and pull their two young daughters out of school to travel the world. Though their life in Gloucestershire was good on paper, post-pandemic it had been increasingly feeling like a grind. Josy, 35, a police dispatcher, worked shifts that swung from early morning to late night. Joe, also 35, a logistics manager, was often on call until 10pm. Neither felt as if they could ever switch off – let alone enjoy family time.

Exhausted, Josy caught herself being short with her daughters, Lola and Zara, six and four. “I felt like I spent my days off recovering, rather than actually being present,” she says. Though only in Year 1, Lola was feeling the pressure at school, fretting about where she ranked in the class.

I defy anyone to watch the Nigella Christmas special and feel anything but drunk on yuletide bonhomie

If your run-up to Christmas already feels a bit chaotic, there’s always a cosy nook of the TV schedule where nothing but gorgeous, kitsch, heartwarming things happen. And by that I mean the cooking channels, where it’s currently full-on re-run time. Nigel Slater’s 12 Tastes of Christmas, anyone? That episode of Fanny Cradock at Christmas when she folds mincemeat into an omelette? I defy anyone to watch my own personal favourite, 2017’s Nigella: At My Table, Christmas special and feel anything but drunk on yuletide bonhomie. Or just drunk, considering our Nigella’s first recipe is a massive Christmas vodka martini featuring vodka, raspberry liqueur and enough crème de cacao blanc to stun a reindeer. Later, she whips up a no-churn brandy and salted caramel ice-cream and souses some red cabbage with cranberries. Heaven.

I won’t make a single one of these recipes, though; I’m just here to gawp. Behold, my Christmas angel, utterly resplendent in chic, countryside garb and ambling about her fairylight-strewn cottage (even though it’s actually a TV set in Elstree with a BBC snow machine turned up to 11). Ooh, devilled eggs and duck à l’orange? I should make those! (Spoiler: I won’t.)

But whether or not we make these Yuletide recipes, all these festive specials by Nigella, Jamie, Nigel, Keith and Fanny provide a sterling service to the stressed home cook. In the Capital Floyd: Christmas Specials from 2000, Keith isn’t remotely stressed by a 12-pound turkey with giblets or a gravlax starter for nine. Yes, perhaps that’s because he’s been glugging Chateau Lafite Rothschild since 9am, but no one can accuse our man Floyd of an iota of festive fluster. Tom Kerridge Cooks Christmas, meanwhile, is another delight in which he rolls his turkey into kievs with sage butter, mulls cider and whips up some Christmas pud ice-cream. Tom doesn’t so much as break a sweat, and it’s all clearly completely doable with a bit of pre-thought, a good spud peeler and some elbow power! It’s all in the planning, he says.

Obviously, the tinsel-covered elephant in all of these rooms – and the one that’s never, ever mentioned – is that all these Christmas specials were very pre-planned. So much so, in fact, that they were recorded all the way back in April, with a cast of at least 25 researchers, producers, home economists, food stylists and lighting technicians all working for weeks to ensure that Nigella’s cottage is so spectacularly seasonal that we go all misty-eyed while watching the woman whip meringue into snowy peaks.

Grace Dent is judge and co-presenter of finals week for BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef on Tuesday 15 December and Friday 19 December

Our resident Sweet Spotter had the (mis)fortune of eating a selection of widely available chocolate truffles to save you one more Christmas chore ….

• The best supermarket mince pies, tasted and rated

A perfect chocolate truffle, for me, has a fine, tempered shell that, with a soft, satisfying snap, gives way to a ganache that melts luxuriantly on the tongue (and, failing that delicate snap, then give me a classic bitter dusting of cocoa). Truffles may come in endless variations, but at their core, they are simply chocolate and cream, which makes the quality of both non-negotiable.

A good dark chocolate, about 60-70% cocoa, brings complexity and depth without bitterness, while the right cream-to-chocolate ratio creates a ganache that’s smooth, rich and just soft enough to dissolve in the mouth. Any further additions such as salt, liqueur, citrus, coffee or spices should never be dominant. And, whatever the finish, be it cocoa powder, toasted nuts, coconut or a glossy shell, it should complement rather than compete with the chocolate ganache inside.

US president finds himself shouldering same burdens of affordability crisis and the inexorable march of time

He was supposed to be touting the economy but could not resist taking aim at an old foe. “Which is better: Sleepy Joe or Crooked Joe?” Donald Trump teased supporters in Pennsylvania this week, still toying with nicknames for his predecessor Joe Biden. “Typically, Crooked Joe wins. I’m surprised because to me he’s a sleepy son of a bitch.”

Exulting in Biden’s drowsiness, the US president and his supporters seemed blissfully ignorant of a rich irony: that 79-year-old Trump himself has recently been spotted apparently dozing off at various meetings.

The most exciting places our writers came across this year, from untouched islands in Finland to an affordable ski resort in Bulgaria and the perfect Parisian bistro

On a midsummer trip to Ireland, I saw dolphins in the Irish Sea, sunset by the Liffey, and misty views of the Galtee Mountains. The half-hour train journey to Cobh (“cove”), through Cork’s island-studded harbour, was especially lovely. As the railway crossed Lough Mahon, home to thousands of seabirds, there was water on both sides of the train. I watched oystercatchers, egrets, godwits and common terns, which nest on floating pontoons. Curlews foraged in the mudflats, and an old Martello tower stood on a wooded promontory.

The HCDA, which sought to expose police corruption and violence, was secretly monitored for a decade

Undercover officers secretly monitored a community organisation that sought to expose wrongdoing and corruption in the Metropolitan police, the spycops public inquiry has heard.

Previously secret reports show that the Hackney Community Defence Association (HCDA) in east London and its key organiser were monitored by police spies for a decade.

Police say anyone at the scene should take shelter and more information will be provided when it is available. Follow updates live

Prime minister Anthony Albanese just released a statement. He said:

The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing. Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives. My thoughts are with every person affected.

I just have spoken to the AFP Commissioner and the NSW Premier. We are working with NSW Police and will provide further updates as more information is confirmed.

I urge people in the vicinity to follow information from the NSW Police.

Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, says ‘shooter’ still at large, as officials embark on widespread manhunt

• Brown University shooting: follow live updates

• What we know so far about the Brown University shooting

At least two people were killed and nine more critically injured in a shooting on Saturday at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with the suspect still at large hours after the first shelter in place orders were issued.

Police scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighbourhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, back yards and porches for hours late into the night after the shooting was first reported in the afternoon.

Liz Sayce, who led inquiry into department’s failures, ‘distressed’ at carers being blamed for running up huge overpayments

The Department of Work and Pensions needs a management and cultural overhaul if it is to restore public trust after the benefits scandal which left hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers in debt, a key government adviser has warned.

Prof Liz Sayce led a scathing review of the carer’s allowance scandal, which found the DWP system and leadership failures were responsible for carers unknowingly running up huge debts, some of which resulted in serious mental illness and, possibly, criminal convictions for fraud.