This child-based spinoff of the entertainment behemoth is hilarious, charming and hugely fun. Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak’s chemistry as hosts is spot on and the children so delightful the casting directors deserve awards

The original Taskmaster is already a miracle of construction, its success balanced on a razor’s edge. It relies on the perfect, unforced chemistry between its hosts (Greg Davies and Alex Horne – the latter also the show’s creator), an array of tasks that allow for blinding success, abject failure, deep misinterpretation and moments of genius as participants compete for prizes they have themselves brought in (the low stakes are a vital part of its workings), and the procuring of five celebrities – usually comedians – per series who can take it seriously enough to be funny but lightly enough not to bog the whole absurd confection down.

In this they have succeeded magnificently for 18 series (and seven specials). Messing with perfection is rarely to be welcomed, and especially not when it involves the introduction of children. And so it is with astonishment as great as my joy and relief to report that the spinoff Junior Taskmaster, in which the competitors are all aged between about nine and 12 (please don’t make me use the word “tweenagers”) is a triumph.

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The actors will join Matt Damon and Tom Holland in the Oppenheimer director’s mysterious next movie

Anne Hathaway and Zendaya are set to star in Christopher Nolan ’s much-anticipated next movie.

According to Deadline , the two actors will join the previously announced cast of Matt Damon and Tom Holland. Details of the project have been kept under wraps but sources tell the Hollywood Reporter that it will not be set in the present day.

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X chief, who campaigned hard for Trump, spoke to Ukraine leader after being handed phone by president-elect

Elon Musk reportedly made a surprise guest appearance on a call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, solidifying the Tesla chief executive’s role as the most influential civilian in the country come January.

Musk was present with Trump during the call for roughly 25 minutes, according to Axios , which first reported the call. Trump handed Musk the phone and Musk and Zelenskyy spoke briefly. On the call, Zelenskyy thanked Musk for the satellites he had been providing Ukraine through his company, Starlink, according to AFP. Musk said he would continue to provide satellite internet connection, the report said.

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• American outlasts world No 1 7-6 (4), 6-3 in Riyadh
• Zheng Qinwen beats Barbora Krejcikova in first semi

When Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka stared each other down just a month ago in Wuhan, Gauff clearly had the edge as she methodically established a set and break lead. But then, out of nowhere, her serve spectacularly crumbled. Although she fought brilliantly until the end, she was torpedoed by an astounding 21 double faults .

Having already been a presence on the tour for half a decade, it is sometimes easy to forget that, at 20 years old, Gauff is still growing, still a work in progress. Throughout this week, Gauff has shown the results of some of that progress as she arrived in Riyadh with significant adjustments in her game and she has used them to play some of the best tennis of her career. On Friday, Gauff produced a brilliant performance against Sabalenka, the world No 1, to reach the final of the WTA Finals with a spectacular 7-6 (4), 6-3 win.

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Police say plans in place to deal with rise in border crossings as US president-elect pledges to remove 11m people

• Trump says deportation plan has ‘no price tag’

Canada is bracing for a surge of migrants to its southern border after Donald Trump doubled down on his pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation in American history.

On Thursday, Trump told NBC News there was “no choice” but to proceed in removing some of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States.

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Gregor Bauld, 23, cleared of murder but admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility

A schizophrenic man who killed his mother outside their family home has been jailed for life, subject to a hospital order.

Gregor Bauld, who was 22 when he killed Christine Bauld, had delusions that his mother was the leader of a war tribe, the court heard.

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The gender gap among young people was predictably vast. But the numbers still defied expectations, as the political scientist Melissa Deckman explains

• A masculinity researcher on the Democrats’ ‘fatal miscalculation’

Long before voting closed in the 2024 elections, pundits predicted that young Americans would be riven by a canyon-wide gender gap. Those predictions turned out to be correct.

As a whole, Kamala Harris won voters between the ages of 18 and 29 by six points. But preliminary exit polling indicates that Donald Trump opened up a 16-point gender gap between young men and young women: 56% of men between the ages of 18 and 29 voted for Trump while just 40% of their female peers did so.

Election deniers use Trump victory to sow more doubt over 2020 result

What a second Trump presidency means for big US tech firms

Who could be in Trump’s new administration

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Campaign raises £5m in just a few weeks as community, local businesses and celebrities rally round

A Liverpool baby hospice has been saved after the city helped raise vital funds for a new home.

Zoe’s Place , a charity that cares for children with life-limiting conditions from birth to the age of five, was founded in Liverpool in 1995 by Prof Jack Scarisbrick. The name was chosen because Zoe means “gift of life” in Greek. The charity needed to raise £5m in a matter of weeks to find a new building to call home, while an extra £1.4m was needed to help the hospice stay open in the meantime.

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House of Commons and the speaker decline to comment on claim made by Reform UK leader at rally in Wales

Donald Trump has been invited to address the UK parliament next year, Nigel Farage has claimed, saying Britain must “roll out the red carpet” for the US president-elect.

The Reform UK leader said Lindsay Hoyle was an improvement on the previous Commons speaker, John Bercow, because he had already invited Trump to parliament next year. Farage told his Reform party’s Welsh rally: “I do think having Sir Lindsay Hoyle there as the speaker compared to that ghastly little pipsqueak Bercow that went before is an improvement.

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