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Some extraordinary golf was often overshadowed by the Donald, colourful fans, crazy MCs and tempers flaring

I was out by the practice green late afternoon on the Monday of the Ryder Cup, and so was Bryson DeChambeau. He was on his own, signing autographs for the handful of people on the other side of the railings, and there was this one woman leaning over towards him, a bottle blonde, late middle-aged, in a tight white dress. She was only a couple of feet away from him but she was screaming in his ear like she was trying to reach someone across the far side of the golf course. “We love you Bryson! Bryson! We love you! We love you for everything you’ve done for the Donald! We love you for everything you’ve done for the Donald!”

It was a long, strange week, and when I think back on it now the golf is entirely overwhelmed by technicolour memories of the weird scenes around the grounds of Bethpage Black and in the surrounding town of Farmingdale. I wish I could say that the things I remember best are that approach shot Scottie Scheffler hit from 180 yards at the 10th, or the 40ft putt Rory McIlroy made on the 6th, or Jon Rahm’s chip-in from the rough at the 8th. But they’re not.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/dec/29/i-was-there-europes-dramatic-ryder-cup-win-signed-off-a-strange-week

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Like her forebears Fiona Apple and Giant Drag, Izzy Hagerup puts a distinctly twisty take on indie-rock, and is unafraid of dark emotional truths

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Recommended if you likeWednesday, Fiona Apple, Giant Drag
Up nextEuropean/UK tour kicks off in May

A word that Prewn, AKA Izzy Hagerup, often uses to describe her music is “dissociation” – the disconnected emotional state embodied by many of the Chicago-born musician’s songs. It’s not an impression anyone would be left with from listening to her bitter, potent take on indie-rock. Hagerup’s guitar lines snake as they thrash; her balladry is grimy and expansive, steered by febrile vocals that recall mid-period Fiona Apple and the drone of the cello she played as a kid. Unexpected moments lurk, such as the shadowy slip into trip-hop on recent single Dirty Dog.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/dec/29/seeing-all-the-work-that-goes-into-diy-scenes-changed-my-life-the-bitterly-optimistic-indie-rock-of-prewn

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Stress releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can suppress your immune system – but chronic concerns are more of an issue than short-term worries

‘Stress has a well-established effect on your immune health,” says Daniel M Davis, head of life sciences at Imperial College London. “But stress is a very broad phenomenon. You can feel stressed watching a horror movie, or you can experience long-term stress, like going through a divorce.”

Short-term stress can temporarily affect your immune system. “The number of immune cells in the blood changes,” says Davis. “But it returns to normal within about an hour, so it’s unlikely to have any major impact.”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/29/is-it-true-sick-stressed-ill

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Manchester and Bristol among those worst hit as most airports face bills more than doubling in next three years

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Air passengers are being warned to brace for ticket rises as regional airports across the UK face “unprecedented” rises in property tax next year.

Analysis of government data for PA Media has revealedregional airportsare among those facing the steepest increases in business rates of any sector in the UK amid an overhaul of property valuations underpinning the tax.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/29/air-passengers-higher-fares-regional-airports-tax-bills

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Hinata Goto reportedly fell as he was trying to get off the 30-metre-long walkway

A five-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped in a moving travelator at a ski resort in northern Japan, local media have said.

The victim, Hinata Goto, died on Sunday after his right arm became trapped in the walkway’s winding mechanism during a family skiing trip to Otaru, a city on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/29/boy-5-killed-after-arm-trapped-in-ski-resort-travelator-in-japan-hokkaido

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From an acclaimed short-story writer, this epic of power and class across generations in Pakistan is brutal, funny and brilliantly told

Imagine a shattering portrayal of Pakistani life through a chain of interlocking novellas, and you’ll be somewhere close to understanding the breadth and impact of Daniyal Mueenuddin’s first novel. Reminiscent of Neel Mukherjee’s dazzling circular depiction of Indian inequalities,A State of Freedom, it’s a keenly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed short-story collection with which he made his debut in 2009,In Other Rooms, Other Wonders– also portraying overlapping worlds of Pakistani class and culture.

We begin in the squalor and bustle of a Rawalpindi bazaar in the 1950s, where the heartbreaking figure of a small child, abandoned to his fate and clutching a pair of plastic shoes, is scooped under the protection of a tea stall owner. He proceeds to raise the boy as his own son, having only daughters, but Yazid is also adopted by the stall’s garrulous regulars, who teach him both to read and to pay keen attention to the currents of class, wealth and power which flow past him every day.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/29/this-is-where-the-serpent-lives-by-daniyal-mueenuddin-set-to-be-a-standout-novel-of-2026

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Jérémie Battaglia’s captivating documentary follows two north Africanraseteursbattling bulls and systemic racism in southern France

In southern France, theancient and controversial tradition of Camargue bullfightingremains to this day. In contrast to more lethal forms of the sport, participants – orraseteurs– win points by snatching various ribbons attached to the bulls, each of which comes with a cash prize up to thousands of euros. Following a group of athletes of north African descent, Jérémie Battaglia’s documentary paints a captivating portrait of multicultural France.

For Jawad Bakloul and Belkacem Benhammou, the two young men at the centre of the film, the hardships multiply. Because of their ethnic background, the pair encounter a world of contradictions when they step into an arena. Not only do they face mortal danger, they also face racial abuse from the older, largely white spectators, despite upholding a piece of traditional French culture.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/29/a-french-youth-review-bullfighters-grapple-with-the-horns-of-valour-and-acceptance

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The former Woman’s Hour host speaks candidly with older stars such as Paul Merton and Trevor McDonald. Plus, the secrets of how to win the World Cup!

Former Woman’s Hour host Jenni Murray offers an amiable slant on thecelebrity interview podcast. Her Saga magazine series features exclusively older interviewees, speaking about the life lessons they’ve learned thus far. Paul Merton is rather candid when it comes to mental health and Ian Hislop (“Is he as nice as he looks? He’s nicer …”), with Tony Blackburn and Trevor McDonald also appearing this season.Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes fortnightly

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/29/life-lessons-with-radio-legend-jenni-murray-the-best-podcasts-of-the-week

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DCI Barnaby and DS Winter deal with an angry artist. Plus: Rob Rinder and AJ Odudu suffer in The Celebrity Apprentice. Here’s what to watch this evening

8.30pm, ITV1
Families, eh? When Stourwick patriarch Henry Shirewell pops his clogs, his eldest son, ceramicist Lucian, announces to his siblings that he plans to transform the family pile into a – shock, horror! – residential artists’ community. That means kicking everybody out for good. But when a letter is discovered that casts suspicion on his actions, DCI Barnaby and DS Jamie Winter are called in to solve a potential murder.Hollie Richardson

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/29/tv-tonight-a-ceramicist-cracks-in-a-new-series-of-midsomer-murders

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From Tchaikovsky to Turnage, and Handel to Heggie, here are Guardian photographer Tristram Kenton’s favourite opera images of the year

• Shock and awe:our critics on the best classical events of the year
•The best classical recordings of the year

https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2025/dec/29/tristram-kenton-favourite-opera-pictures-of-2025