Everyone loves a good Christmas whodunnit. But in Washington last week they were playing a slight variant of that game: a why-she-dunnit. The who, says Jon Sopel, is Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's fearsome, efficient, no-nonsense chief of staff. The why is this: Why did she sit down for a whole series of on-the-record interviews with Vanity Fair to give her unvarnished views on the characters of the administration?
What was Susie Wiles really trying to say about Trump in her tell-all interview? Read Sopel's analysis here.
In the same Vanity Fair profile, Susie Wiles also confirmed that Trump was in the Epstein files. They were "young, single playboys together," she told the interviewer, Chris Whipple.
While an association does not implicate any of Epstein's contacts in his criminal activities, the global networking, bonhomie and mutual back-rubbing evident in the latest release of Epstein files is not insignificant either. Biographer Thomas Harding looks at what one writer calls the "Epstein class". How did the network work? What did they know? And did their proximity to the sexual abuser matter? A cache of letters Harding discovered buried in a storage locker in east London sheds some light on these questions - especially an intriguing correspondence between the publisher of the notorious novel Lolita and the sex offender whose private photographs contained images of a young woman's body scrawled with quotes from the book.
It is a week since the horrific attack on Bondi beach where gunmen killed 15 Jewish people and injured more than 40 more who had been attending a family Hanukkah celebration. As antisemitic attacks increase across the world, Nicole Lampert talks to British parents who are becoming too terrified to send their children to school and asks how have 'kill drills' for six year olds become accepted as part of life in the UK today?
Meanwhile, in many households, festive planning is coming to its frazzled conclusion. If you are in the midst of sorting out your Christmas menu, we're on hand to help. From Gordon Ramsay's foolproof turkey and perfect beef Wellington to Jamie Oliver's porchetta, Rick Stein's goose and vegan roasts, Hannah Twiggs brings you the best main-event recipes.
And if you have room for dessert (come on, it's Christmas and not everyone is on Mounjaro!), Nigella Lawson makes a compelling case for a special chocolate cake, while Marcus Wareing and Michel Roux offer desserts that look impressive but are entirely achievable at home — provided you keep your nerve.
Have fun and see you on the other side!
Victoria Harper
Executive Editor
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Keep a civil tongue.