Messi trains with PSG ahead of Strasbourg game

"Spiritual opium" is how the Chinese brand video games. After a tightening of the noose around the industry and rules at the start of the school year that limit screen time for teens to three hours a week, Fortnite has announced that it is folding. Three years on and one billion dollars spent, the popular survival game never got regulatory approval, despite the financial backing of Chinese tech giant Tencent. So what is the matter with Fortnite?

The response to the tragic drownings on the English Channel has spiraled into a political spat between France and the UK, delaying proactive solutions to prevent future tragedies.

With the Taliban now in power for more than 100 days, women and girls in Afghanistan are still waiting to hear officially if they can return to work and school. Also, how do we flip the script when it comes to gender violence and teach men and boys to act appropriately? Annette Young talks to Michael Conroy, the founder of Men at Work, an UK organisation which offers training programs to foster violence-free relationships for men and boys.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.

Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday (November 29), beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again. The forward added to his 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 trophies after winning the Copa America for the first time with his country last July. Messi, who joined Paris St Germain on a free transfer from Barcelona during the close season after finishing as La Liga's top scorer with the Spanish club, collected 613 points, with Bayern Munich's Lewandowski, named best striker on Monday, getting 580.

Archery is becoming one of the interesting, competitive games and recreational activities in the country. Introduced officially in Nigeria in 1997 after the Nigerian Archery Federation was founded, it got affiliated to the World Archery in the same year. Since then, professional archers and team coaches in Nigeria have been training new archers in order to get the country represented at international championships. Currently, the organisation has its eye set on the 2024 Olympics game in Paris.

Antiviral drugs like Paxlovid could slash hospitalizations and deaths from coronavirus. Treatment would bring us a step closer to the end of the pandemic.

The soccer star is self-isolating after a positive coronavirus test. His fellow PSG players Juan Bernat, Sergio Rico and Nathan Bitumazala have also tested positive for the virus.

Six French police officers are set for a disciplinary hearing over a failure to prevent a horrific femicide last year. Meanwhile, The Times of India calls to "punish hatemongers" after the appearance of an app targeting Muslim women. The UK's Prince Andrew tries to avoid trial for sex trafficking thanks to a deal his accuser signed with Jeffrey Epstein. And a hockey fan alerts a team staff member to a cancerous mole – saving his life and earning a scholarship.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday⁣⁣

At least eight fans dead after a stampede at the Yaounde Olembe Stadium in Cameroon before the host nation's round of 16 game in the Africa Cup of Nations against Comoros, the national broadcaster reports.

In this edition, we take a closer look at a symbol of just how far former enemies France and Germany have come. Nowadays, the Rhine river is barely even an obstacle between the Alsace capital Strasbourg and its twin town of Kehl on the German side. Every day, thousands of cross-border commuters travel back and forth across the river on tram line D, which has linked the two sides since 2017.