Royal Opera House, London
Damiano Michieletto’s production of Offenbach’s opéra fantastique is full of warped wit and devilish touches with a fine cast bringing this colourful fever-dream to life

A huge eyeball in the wall of a classroom suddenly starts to swivel. A top-hatted man on stilts lurches into a bar and performs slow, ungainly circuits before disappearing followed by dancers dressed as rats. A woman is trapped in a bolt of cloth held taut by two rampaging horned figures, her features protruding through it – except when the cloth drops, another devilish dancer is in her place. A guest wearing the curved beak of the plague doctor stalks a Venetian carnival party. A letter combusts in mid-air.

There are creepy details galore in Damiano Michieletto ’s new production of Offenbach’s opéra fantastique The Tales of Hoffmann . It’s a staging that takes seriously the dark side of ETA Hoffmann’s extraordinarily weird stories – and of Offenbach’s late-career attempt to prove himself beyond operetta. Under Antonello Manacorda, the ROH Orchestra provided grit on demand.

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Shares in UK retailers fall as investors digest Rachel Reeves’s changes to NICs and tax thresholds

• Business live – latest updates

Asda has warned that measures in the government’s budget will be a “big burden” for the supermarket chain, costing it £100m, and could prevent it from raising wages or hiring as many staff, as it struggles to turn around falling sales.

The company’s warning on Friday came as other UK retailers’ share prices took a hit as stock market investors continue to digest the implications of the changes to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) announced in the Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first budget.

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There is a strong chance the president-elect’s radical strategy going wrong, with a high risk of rising prices, inflation and interest rates

It’s the economy, stupid. So said James Carville when he was advising Bill Clinton in his 1992 presidential campaign and the phrase is as true now as it was 32 years ago. Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris this week for the same reason he lost to Joe Biden in 2020: millions of Americans were unhappy about the economic record of the incumbent party. Two out of three voters this week thought the US economy was on the wrong track – and that spelt trouble for Harris.

The question is whether they will feel any differently at the end of Trump’s second term in the White House, when it ends in 2029. Looking at some of the policies proposed by the president-elect, it is by no means certain that they will.

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Elnur Soltanov recorded with fake oil and gas group which asked for deals in exchange for sponsoring talks

The chief executive of Cop29 has been filmed apparently agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals at the climate summit.

The recording has amplified calls by campaigners who want the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists to be banned from future Cop talks.

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The government has announced universities can charge up to £9,535 from 2025-26. Here’s the lowdown on the changes

University fees are on the way up . Here’s what parents and students need to know about the changes.

Tuition fees in England will rise to £9,535 in the next academic year (2025-26). The maximum universities can charge is currently £9,250 – a cap that has been in place since 2017. The fees typically cover lectures, tutorials, access to equipment, libraries and admin, among other things. The increase was approved by the government as a result of the financial problems in the university sector. It will apply to new students starting university next autumn, and those continuing their studies in their second and third years.

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• Manager seeking statement victory for improving side
• Maresca hopes Cole Palmer will shake off injury in time

Enzo Maresca will relish the pressure of chasing a statement victory when Chelsea try to enhance their top-four credentials in their clash with Arsenal on Sunday.

The head coach, who hopes that Cole Palmer will shake off a knee injury in time, has seen his team perform encouragingly in last Sunday’s draw with Manchester United and defeats by Liverpool and Manchester City. The onus is on Chelsea to win a big game and Maresca is not concerned about whether there is more heat on Arsenal after their disappointing run.

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From extremely awkward sex scenes to addictive 10-minute episodes that have left fans accosting the stars in the street, Cheaters is a romcom like no other. As season two looms, the cast talk about nudity, orgasm faces and Prince Harry

It was the vase moment that did it. The first series of short-form romcom Cheaters truly took off when undersexed Zack, played by Jack Fox, overheard his wife in bed with another man. Surprised to find himself becoming aroused, he began pleasuring himself outside the door and grabbed a nearby vase at the climactic moment. “I was masturbating to the nation,” says Fox today. “I just remember our director telling me: ‘Longer strokes! I need to see the elbow move!’ Not a note I’d ever had before.”

“Seeing that scene pop up on Gogglebox was the greatest moment of our lives,” laughs co-star Callie Cooke. “Shirley from Caerphilly went: ‘He’s spunking into a vase!’ Marcus told Mica: ‘Put this in the planner now!’ It was fantastic for our ratings.”

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A heady, risotto-style Mexican chicken rice with a knockout, chilli-spiked garlic mayo

This is inspired wholeheartedly by a dish I ate while cooking at the 45th birthday party of Nicos in Mexico City a few months ago. I love how many Mexican chefs are so enamoured of aspects of Spanish cooking, while still having a fierce pride in their own traditions and ingredients. Alfredo Villanueva, from Villa Torel , shared some of the secrets of this dish with me, which I have attempted to adapt for home cooking and the season. A veritable feast, and wonderful paired with a crisp, bitter-leaf salad.

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Threat of protectionist ‘America first’ trade policies adds urgency to European reforms to boost economic growth

EU leaders are gathering in Budapest for an informal summit on the bloc’s ailing competitiveness – a task given added urgency by the threat of protectionist “America first” trade policies promised by the US president-elect Donald Trump.

“Don’t ask what the US can do for you, ask what Europe should do for itself,” the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said as the meeting got under way . “Europe must find a balance. We know what we have to do.”

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