House votes to repeal new law allowing $500K lawsuits from senators

House lawmakers moved quickly to repeal a provision that allows senators to sue for $500,000 over phone record seizures. It's unclear what the Senate will do.

House Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick charged with stealing $5M in Covid aid funds

Cherfilus-McCormick joined Congress in 2022 after winning a special election to fill the seat of late Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun is leaving to create his own startup

Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun is leaving the company, marking an end of an era of pioneering computer science research at the Facebook parent.

Trump signs bill to release Epstein files

The Epstein files bill got overwhelming support in the House and Senate, with only one lawmaker, Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, voting against it.

Man was likely unarmed when shot multiple times by Akron officer, mayor says

An Akron police officer fired more than a dozen shots within 25 seconds of arriving on the scene, police body camera footage appears to show.

Epstein messages show effort to connect with former friend Bill Gates

"He wants to talk to you but his wife won't let him," an apparent adviser to Gates told Epstein.

Epstein bill heading to Trump's desk after clearing final hurdle in Congress

The House sent to the Senate a bill that would force the release of the Epstein files, the final procedural move before President Trump's signature.

Judge questions Lindsey Halligan's handling of indictment in Comey case

A judge repeatedly questioned prosecutors about the validity of the indictment returned by a grand jury and its handling by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.

Coast Guard seizes $360 million in cocaine amid debate over maritime anti-smuggling strategy

As the U.S. Coast Guard unloads $360 million in seized cocaine, debate simmers about what the best approach is for anti-smuggling tactics on the high seas. Nicole Sganga spoke to a Coast Guard commander and DEA administrator Terry Cole.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang rejects talk of AI bubble: 'We see something very different'

During Nvidia's quarterly earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang offered a three-pronged argument to suggest that AI isn't a bubble.

House Democrat faces federal charges for allegedly stealing $5m in disaster funds – US politics live

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a representative of Florida, is accused of using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign

One quick note, there haven’t been any changes to Donald Trump’s schedule today, per the press pool. Which means, as of now, the president doesn’t have any time allotted to sign the bill forcing the justice department to release the full batch of Jeffrey Epstein files.

We’ll keep you updated if things change throughout the day.

New PSA asks flyers to show some manners this holiday season

A new campaign from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy seeks to get air passengers to treat each other with a bit more civility during the holiday travel season. Kris Van Cleave has more.

Veteran FBI employee claims he was fired for displaying Pride flag

A 16-year FBI employee has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired last month because he had a Pride flag draped near his desk. Scott MacFarlane has details.

Nasa releases close-up pictures of comet flying by from another star system

The interstellar visitor, known as 3I/Atlas, will be seen just in this instance, never to come back again

Nasa releases close-up pictures on Wednesday of the interstellar comet that’s making a quick one-and-done tour of the solar system.

Discovered over the summer, the comet known as 3I/Atlas is only the third confirmed object to visit our corner of the cosmos from another star. It zipped harmlessly past Mars last month.

Mom discharged from hospital while in labor says "I was stripped of my dignity"

Two weeks before she was scheduled to give birth, Mercedes Wells fought back tears as staff at Franciscan Health in Crown Point, Indiana, wheeled her out of the hospital. Her contractions were only one minute apart when a nurse told her she was being discharged. Elaine Quijano reports.

Man says "I never had a gun" after being shot by Akron police officer, bodycam shows

A police officer in Akron, Ohio, is under investigation after firing more than a dozen shots at a man he thought had a gun. The city's mayor says it appears the man was not armed. Meg Oliver has the story.

Nvidia says there's 'no assurance' of final agreement with OpenAI despite $100 billion pact

Two months after announcing its blockbuster $100 billion agreement with OpenAI, Nvidia said in its quarterly report that an official deal is not guaranteed.

Dog and cat abandonment soars in UK as owners struggle with cost of living

RSPCA says pet abandonments in England and Wales rose by almost 25% in 2025 compared with 2024

There is an “epidemic” of dogs, cats and other pets being abandoned as owners struggle to cope with the cost of living crisis, the UK’s largest animal welfare charity has said.

The RSPCA said abandonments in England and Wales had risen by almost 25% in 2025 compared with last year, reaching their highest rate for at least five years.

Pinprick blood test could detect disease 10 years before symptoms appear, study finds

Molecular profiles will give detailed snapshot of person’s physiology and predict diseases from diabetes to cancer and dementia

The world’s largest study into key substances in the bloodstream has paved the way for a swathe of pinprick tests that can detect early signs of disease more than a decade before symptoms appear, researchers say.

Work on the tests follows the completion of a project by the UK Biobank to measure the levels of nearly 250 different proteins, sugars, fats and other compounds in blood collected from half a million volunteers.

Trump administration seeks to roll back protections for imperiled species and habitat

The Interior Department proposed reviving a suite of changes to Endangered Species Act regulations first made during the Republican's first term. Those changes were reversed under former President Biden.

Mary Fowler claims racist treatment at French club Montpellier after receiving bananas as leaving present

• Forward makes claim about dressing room incident at Montpellier

• ‘It was hard to see it as merely a simple error,’ says Matildas star

Matildas star Mary Fowler has claimed she experienced racism while at Montpellier in 2022 when she was given bananas while others in the squad received flowers at the end of her final season with the French club.

The explosive revelations are contained in her memoir Bloom, which was released this week and details the extensive challenges she has faced in her young career, including a pattern of self harm she has worked hard to overcome.

‘California sober’: marijuana may help you drink less, study finds

Brown University researchers run joint-and-drink study to find alcohol consumption falls after smoking cannabis

It turns out that going “California sober” may actually help you stay away from alcohol, according to new research published in the the American Journal of Psychiatry.

A team of Brown University researchers conducted a study in which participants were given marijuana joints to smoke and then sent out to a controlled “bar lab”, in which they then were given the choice to have up to eight mini alcoholic beverages. The experiment was conducted three separate times: once with 7.2% THC cannabis, once with 3.1% THC cannabis and once with 0.03% THC cannabis, which was considered a placebo.

Botulism cases rise to 31 amid ongoing recall of ByHeart baby formula, FDA says

The FDA said it received multiple reports that the baby formula is still being found on store shelves in multiple states.

Nvidia shares rise on stronger-than-expected revenue, forecast

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said sales for the company's current-generation GPU, called Blackwell, are "off the charts."

The landline may be having a renaissance – but it’s to a world in which the art of phone calls has changed | Paul Daley

Some may be nostalgic for a time when the landline made communication a family affair, before smartphones were an extension of each of us

When something becomes old and then new again during my lifetime, I might be forgiven for feeling at once quite aged and a little sentimental.

But suggestions that the landline telephone may be having a cultural renaissance just make me feel old and somewhat triggered by experiences of fraught teenage social negotiations over the long obsolete rotary dial phone of my youth.

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Paul Daley is a Guardian Australia columnist

New Zealand bans puberty blockers for young transgender people

Critics warn move could have devastating impact on lives and wellbeing of those affected

New Zealand has announced it is banning new prescriptions of puberty-blocking drugs for young transgender people, in a move that critics warned could worsen the mental health of those affected.

The step comes amid growing global debate about the number of adolescents seeking to change gender, dividing those concerned about hastiness in prescribing such medications and those worried about access to remedies they deem lifesaving.

House lawmakers force a vote on bill to restore federal workers' bargaining rights

House lawmakers have collected enough signatures to force a vote on a bill that would nullify President Trump's executive order terminating collective bargaining rights for most federal workers.

5 charts that illustrate America's deepening affordability crisis

Although inflation has eased, many Americans say they still feel squeezed financially. Here are five areas where households are feeling the pinch.

Russo double secures tight turnaround for Arsenal against Real Madrid in WCL

Alessia Russo’s second-half double secured a 2-1 comeback victory for Arsenal against Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League.

The hosts enjoyed plenty of opportunities during the first half but the former Arsenal player Caroline Weir sent the visitors ahead on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant volley.

Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks review – the sheer number of pornographic drawings is a big shock

JMW Turner left behind some 37,000 sketches when he died, many of which have rarely been seen. Do they – including a huge collection of explicit sketches – reveal truths about the elusive man?

The hook for Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks is meant to be that many of the 37,000 sketches left behind by the great British painter JMW Turner have rarely been seen and never been filmed; therein may be hints at the nuances of his elusive character that his main oeuvre kept hidden. Equally remarkable, though, is the documentary’s bold choice of contributors. As well as the art historians and present-day British artists who would dominate a standard art film, there are famous laymen, from the obviously somewhat qualified – Timothy Spall played the artist in Mike Leigh’s biographical film Mr Turner; Chris Packham is well placed to comment on Turner’s reverence for the natural world – to the more surprising hire of Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones.

Neither the sketchbooks nor the celebs turn the documentary format upside down, but they add something to a distillation of Turner’s life and legacy that balances accessibility with analytical muscle. Will a previously uninitiated viewer now be more likely to attend a Turner exhibition? Yes. Can existing Turner experts finesse their knowledge? Yes. Job done.

‘We excel at every phase of AI’: Nvidia CEO quells Wall Street fears of AI bubble amid market selloff

Jensen Huang opens earnings call with attempt to dispel concerns after his $5tn firm beat Wall Street expectations

Nvidia shares are rising in after-market trading after the company posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. All eyes were on Nvidia, the bellwether for the AI industry and the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, as analysts and investors hoped the chipmaker’s third-quarter earnings would assuage concerns about whether the high-flying valuations of AI firms have peaked.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvida, opened the earnings call with an attempt to dispel those concerns. In sum, Huang said, there’s a major transformation happening in AI and Nvidia is foundational to that transformation.

Turkey to host Cop31 climate conference after Australia drops push to hold it in Adelaide

Fortnight-long event to be held in Antalya but Australia may lead negotiations

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Turkey will host the Cop31 climate conference after the Australian government dropped its push to hold the event in Adelaide at the last moment – despite having invested in a more than three-year campaign.

Independent sources confirmed to the Guardian that the fortnight-long event would be held in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya in November 2026.

‘Unforgivable’: Trump’s ‘piggy’ insult is stoking more outrage than usual

The clip of the US president on Air Force One last Friday has taken off without much help from the media itself

It’s one outrage in days full of outrageous material.

“Quiet, piggy,” Donald Trump told a female reporter in a press gaggle, pointing his finger at her angrily.

Elon Musk's xAI will be first customer for Nvidia-backed data center in Saudi Arabia

Nvidia and xAI said a data center being built in Saudi Arabia and equipped with hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips will count xAI as its first customer.

Major League Baseball announces new media rights deals for NBC, ESPN and Netflix

MLB officially announced new media rights deals with NBC, Netflix and ESPN until 2028.

Alphabet stock surges on Gemini 3 AI model optimism

Google said Gemini 3 allows users to get better answers to more complex questions and doesn't need as much prompting to determine the context.

Saudi prince Mohammed is being lavished by Trump. It’s clear why | Mohamad Bazzi

Autocrats like Prince Mohammed are eager to benefit from Trump’s brazen effort to use the presidency to enrich himself and his family

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, visited the US this week for the first time in seven years – and Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for his favorite Arab autocrat. On Tuesday, Trump hosted the prince for lunch and talks at the White House, followed by a black-tie dinner that included members of Congress, business leaders and top administration officials. The next day, Trump and the prince appeared together at a US-Saudi investment summit at the Kennedy Center.

It’s all part of a rehabilitation tour for Prince Mohammed, years after US intelligence agencies concluded that he had ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident. In October 2018, Khashoggi was ambushed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-member hit team, who dismembered his body with a bone saw. For a time, the killing turned Prince Mohammed into an international pariah. But Trump never wavered in his support of the Saudi leader, and during his first term protected the prince from US sanctions and pressure from Congress.

Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University

Curaçao to Cape Verde: Small nations make big World Cup history

From tiny Curaçao, to troubled Haiti's remarkable comeback, discover how some of the smallest nations in the world are defying the odds to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The September jobs report is finally coming out Thursday. Here's what it is expected to show

Due at 8:30 a.m. ET, the report is forecast to show a gain of 50,000 jobs in the public and private sectors.

Trump says he'd love to fire Powell, urges Bessent to 'work on' him to lower rates

Trump has long pushed for Powell to sharply lower interest rates, but the latest Fed minutes show central bank officials are conflicted over further cuts.

Jets’ Aaron Glenn confident Kris Boyd will ‘walk away’ from NYC shooting

• Jets’ Boyd in critical but stable condition

• Glenn: player ‘upbeat’, expected to recover

• NYPD releases images of shooting suspect

New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn says he has spoken to Kris Boyd and is confident the cornerback and special teams standout will be OK after being shot in midtown Manhattan early Sunday morning.

Glenn said the hospitalized Boyd was “upbeat” in their recent conversation.

Fed minutes show divide over October rate cut and cast doubt about December

While the Federal Open Market Committee approved a cut at the meeting, the path forward looks less creation.

Texas man indicted in death of "King of the Hill" voice actor Jonathan Joss

It is unclear whether the killing of "King of the Hill" voice actor Jonathan Joss will be considered a hate crime.

From the first ball to Bazball: everything you need to know about the Ashes

Can Ben Stokes really lead England to victory in Australia? Set your alarms and gird your loins, this one’s not just big, it’s positively Brobdingnagian

JetBlue to add Milan, Barcelona flights next year in push for high-spending travelers

The new seasonal flights will launch next spring from Boston

Mount Semeru eruption in Indonesia prompts evacuations

More than 300 people most at risk are moved to shelters as tallest peak on Java island unleashes clouds of hot ash

Indonesia’s Mount Semeru, the highest peak on Java island, has erupted, blanketing several villages with falling ash, prompting evacuations and leading authorities to raise the alert to the highest level.

The volcano in East Java province unleashed searing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km (4 miles) down its slopes several times from midday to dusk, while a thick column of hot clouds rose 2km into the air, Indonesia’s Geology Agency said in a statement.

Trump speaks at U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum

Trump's appearance at the Kennedy Center came a day after he hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at the White House.

US and Russian officials draft plan to end Ukraine war based on capitulation from Kyiv

It is unclear if Trump administration backs deal that would mean Kyiv giving up territory and slashing size of military

US and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil.

The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country’s military and political sovereignty. The plan is likely to be viewed as surrender in Kyiv.

Judge questions DOJ about lead-up to Comey indictment, expresses skepticism

In court Wednesday, former FBI Director James Comey sought to have the criminal charges against him dismissed.

Trump vows U.S. help in settling Sudan war, at request of Saudi crown prince

President Trump said the U.S. is getting involved in peace efforts in Sudan at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The infidelity saga of RFK Jr, Nuzzi and her ex is unspooling: ‘It’s like they’ve opened all their trench coats’

The rollout of reporter Olivia Nuzzi’s memoir has led to Ryan Lizza airing out her alleged affairs – and is fueling a dangerous stereotype about journalists

This week, Olivia Nuzzi – the US star political reporter known for her cozy access to top Republican figures – dropped an excerpt of her memoir, American Canto. In it, she detailed what she describes as an emotional affair with Robert F Kennedy Jr, who she calls “the politician”.

Not to be outdone, Nuzzi’s ex-fiance and former Politico correspondent Ryan Lizza self-published an essay dishing on the day he found out Nuzzi was cheating on him, he claims – not with RFK Jr, as one might have expected, but with another former presidential candidate, Mark Sanford.

Inside the dawn patrols where San Diego teachers track ICE: ‘We have to resist’

With students terrified and arrests rising, educators turn activists – scanning streets, sharing alerts and defending the right to feel safe

Three teachers drove through a quiet neighborhood in southern San Diego, the sun not yet fully up over the horizon. They drank coffee and talked about their jobs. The start of the school day was still an hour or two away.

Suddenly, mid-conversation, they spotted something: what appeared to be an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, driving right past them.

China’s power play: MI5 warns of relentless espionage attempts in Britain

Alert says Beijing trying to recruit British sources in parliament, even if potential gains may be unclear

An unexpected connection on LinkedIn. An offer of work from a headhunter, most likely a young woman, based in China. The chance to earn perhaps £20,000 part-time writing a handful of geopolitical reports for a Chinese company peppered with “non-public” or “insider” insights. Payment in cryptocurrency or cash preferred.

It may seem obvious, on this telling, that something about this approach would be amiss. Nevertheless, China’s powerful ministry of state security (MSS) still considers it worthwhile to deploy recruitment consultants to try it – leading MI5 to warn repeatedly about their activity online.

Epstein survivor expresses hope for transparency after files vote

Annie Farmer, who testified that she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, spoke to "CBS Mornings" about what she expects from the Epstein files.

FBI probing stepsibling in teen's cruise ship death, sources say

Anna Kepner, 18, was on a family vacation aboard the Carnival Horizon with her father, stepmother, and three stepsiblings when she was discovered dead.

Loose wire on ship likely led to power loss before Baltimore bridge collapse, NTSB finds

A blackout that left a giant cargo ship powerless and on a collision course with Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024 was likely caused by a loose wire, the NTSB found. Kris Van Cleave reports.

The Guardian view on falling net migration: political debate is now detached from the facts

A fixation on reducing numbers leaves no room for rational discussion of what that means for the economy and society

British political debate has long been dominated by public anxiety about rising levels of immigration. How might that change if the population tide were to turn? Not at all, would appear to be the answer. Net migration has in fact been falling since before Labour came to power last July, and yet there has been no end of demand for ever tighter controls and no end of government acquiescence.

New figures published this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), adjusting historical data for methodological changes, show that net migration was 944,000 for the year ending March 2023 – about 40,000 higher than had previously been thought. The drop since then has also been steeper. The number for the year ending December 2024 is now thought to be 345,000 – lower than the earlier count by 86,000.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Guardian view on funding Ukraine’s resistance: a looming financial crisis in Kyiv must be averted | Editorial

Whether by leveraging Russia’s frozen assets, or other means, the EU must deliver the cash necessary to withstand Putin’s war of attrition

In the early part of this year, as the US vice-president, JD Vance, berated European leaders in Munich, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was subjected to a televised mauling in the White House, it became starkly apparent that the bonds of solidarity between the European Union and Ukraine would need to be strengthened to cope with a new geopolitical reality. As 2025 draws to a close, a moment of reckoning has arrived.

According to EU estimates, Ukraine will need more than €70bn in extra financial assistance next year to keep defending itself against Vladimir Putin. That money won’t be coming from Washington, where Donald Trump has refused to seek new funding for military aid from Congress. Yet Kyiv’s ability to negotiate an acceptable peace depends on its capacity to withstand Mr Putin’s relentless war of attrition, which is designed to drain Ukraine of the resources necessary to resist, and to weaken the resolve of its European allies.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Housing numbers point to an unusually strong buyer's market. There's a catch

There are many more sellers on the market now than buyers, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a buyer's market. Here's why.

Ben Jennings on ultra-processed foods – cartoon

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US charges ex-Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with murder of witness

Unsealed indictment says Ryan Wedding tracked down witness who was then murdered before he could testify

US authorities have charged a fugitive former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with the murder of a witness who was prepared to testify against him.

The attorney general, Pam Bondi, said on Wednesday that Ryan Wedding was accused in a newly unsealed indictment of tracking down a witness in Colombia who was then murdered before he could give evidence.

Target says it's working with ChatGPT for AI-assisted shopping

Target's move, which follows a similar deal between Walmart and OpenAI, comes as the retailer is struggling with declining sales.

‘He used to say things like “Hitler was right”’: Farage faces more allegations of racist behaviour at school

A former friend and others who were at Dulwich college with the now Reform UK leader speak of his behaviour

• ‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school

It had been a fun sleepover at Nigel Farage’s house and Jean-Pierre Lihou, a teenager with an appetite, was delighted with his schoolfriend’s mother’s hospitality. “I remember the fantastic cooked English breakfast, as opposed to what you get at a boarding house on a morning,” Lihou recalled. “I was a boarder and he was a day boy,” he said of their education at Dulwich college in south-east London.

Farage was a great mimic, and funny with it, Lihou said. But over time he found there was a darker side to his 14-year-old friend.

Rome decries ‘Italian-sounding’ pasta sauces on sale in EU parliament store

Agriculture minister calls for investigation over marketing of carbonara sauce containing wrong type of cured meat

Italy’s agriculture minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, has called for an immediate investigation after coming across what he claimed were jars of “Italian-sounding” pasta sauce on the shelves of the European parliament’s supermarket.

Lollobrigida, of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, was particularly vexed by a carbonara sauce made with “Italiaanse pancetta” – the classic Roman pasta dish is made with a different cured meat, guanciale – and a tomato sauce containing “oignons de Calabria”, or onions from Calabria.

A fire in southwestern Japan damages 170 homes and forces evacuations

Firefighters and army helicopters battled a fire that burned through old wooden houses in a fishing town in southwestern Japan.

How Kash Patel is roiling the FBI and changing its mission

New Yorker writer Marc Fisher says Patel became FBI director without senior law enforcement experience because of his loyalty to Trump and willingness to seek retribution for his perceived enemies.

I am the king of the common cold – and I can tell you how to avoid one | Adrian Chiles

No one suffers a cold like I do. Drops and brandy don’t touch the sides – but thanks to a friendly singer, I’ve learned a more extreme regime for countering the snuffles

This time last year, I was on a TV programme with three singers. There was a rapper of Ghanaian heritage, a big pop star, and a famous mezzo-soprano. It was deep midwinter. The night before, I’d been at an old friend’s 60th birthday, crammed into the function room of a pub somewhere in Surrey. It had been a good night, but now, just for something to say, I wondered how it was possible to avoid catching a cold when half the people at the party were players in a symphony of coughs, sneezes, snuffles and nose-blows. By the way, how come some people have nose-blows like trumpets, and others don’t? A question for another day.

At mention of my night out, this trio of troubadours in the TV green room did two things. First, they shrunk away from me slightly. Second, they engaged in a feverishly enthusiastic discussion on how to avoid catching colds which, naturally enough given their line of work, was something of an obsession for them. I get that, but I have skin in this game too – I must avoid colds at all costs because the colds I get are worse than anyone else’s. I don’t have a medical certificate to confirm this, but I know it to be true. My colds last longer. My nose is more blocked, my throat is scratchier, my coughing fits are louder, barkier and apparently endless. My family, wise to the couple of quick throat-clearances which herald the coming storm, either kick me out of the room, or clear the room themselves. Back when I presented football on ITV, my poor colleagues in the studio gallery grew attuned to the warning signs. “Cans off!” the studio director would holler to his team, before I deafened them all, blowing the wiring in their headphones.

Greetings from Yimianpo, China, where artisans carve Russian nesting dolls

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

Video shows moment construction worker lifted to safety after trench collapse

One person was killed and two others were injured after a trench collapsed at a construction site in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, officials said. One of the construction workers was buried up to his waist for hours before he was pulled out. Tom Hanson reports.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at 50: the spirit of rebellion lives on

The 1975 drama, one of the only films to ever receive the big five Oscars, remains a touchstone of American cinema with a resonant message of resisting conformity

A movie winning the big five Academy Awards – best picture along with honoring the lead actor and actress, writing and directing – happens so rarely that there’s not much use in examining the three movies that have pulled it off for common ground. But among It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Silence of the Lambs, it may be Cuckoo’s Nest, released 50 years ago on Wednesday, that feels like the unlikeliest across-the-board triumph. It Happened One Night and The Silence of the Lambs both belong to rarely awarded genres (romantic comedy and horror, respectively), which makes their big wins unusual but also clearcut: here is an example of the best this type of movie has to offer. Cuckoo’s Nest, meanwhile, is potentially much thornier. It’s a comedy-drama made at least in part as allegory – an anti-conformity story of fomenting 1960s social rebellion, disguised as a movie about lovable patients at a mental health facility.

The Ken Kesey novel that the movie is based on was published in 1962, chronicling some of what Kesey saw as a hospital orderly and anticipating some of the coming pushback against postwar American conformity. The major change in Miloš Forman’s film is to shift the narrative away from Chief (Will Sampson), a towering Native American who presents himself as deaf and mute. Chief narrates the book, while the movie hews closer to the perspective of RP McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), who enters the facility having faked mental illness in the hopes that he can avoid serving out a prison work-camp sentence. Though the doctors don’t seem entirely convinced by his ruse, his behavior is apparently erratic enough for him to stay at least a little while. His attempts to bring more individualism and fun to his cohabitants runs afoul of Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who exercises tight control over the ward.

Trump shrugged off Khashoggi’s killing. This is a new low | Jodie Ginsberg

Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered in a Saudi consulate. The president says ‘things happen’

“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came in a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

Jodie Ginsberg is CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists

MLS reopens investigation into Philadelphia Union executive as team puts him on leave

• Ernst Tanner was subject of Guardian investigation

• Complaint alleged racist, sexist, and homophobic comments

• Tanner denies allegations, which initial MLS investigation did not corroborate

• Read our full investigation | Summary of our findings

Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday that it is re-opening its investigation into Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner. The Union said in a statement to the Guardian that they have placed Tanner on administrative leave. The move comes a day after the Guardian published an investigation into Tanner’s conduct.

Tanner had previously been under investigation by MLS after the league received a complaint from the MLS Players Association in late January. In it, the MLSPA outlined a wide range of alleged issues surrounding Tanner, which included the use of racist, sexist and homophobic language and instances of inappropriate physical contact with a staff member.

Made multiple misogynistic comments, including saying “women don’t belong in men’s soccer” about a female MLS referee and telling a gathering of academy players that they “should never worry about a referee, unless she’s a woman.”

Directed a homophobic slur at an MLS referee in 2023

Spoke about Black players “like they were subhuman” and suggested that Black referees “lack intelligence and capability.”

Touched a co-worker inappropriately “numerous times,” an allegation for which he was reported to the Union’s HR department.

Hired an underqualified coach who was allegedly abusive toward players on the Philadelphia Union II, the club’s reserve team that is used as a proving ground for young players from its thriving academy.

Christie’s withdraws rare ‘first calculator’ from auction after French court halts export

Move comes after French scientists issued urgent appeal to prevent La Pascaline from leaving the country

A rare example of the first functioning calculating machine in history looks likely to stay in France after Christie’s withdrew it from auction pending a definitive ruling from a Paris court on whether or not it can be exported.

La Pascaline, developed by the French mathematician and inventor Blaise Pascal in 1642, when he was just 19, and billed as “the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction”, had been expected to fetch more than €2m (£1.8m).

Uber hit with legal demands to halt use of AI-driven pay systems

Proposed legal case understood to allege that app has breached data protection law varying driver pay rates

Uber has been hit with legal demands to stop using its artificial intelligence driven pay systems, which have been blamed for significantly reducing the incomes of the ride hailing app’s drivers.

A letter before action – sent to the US company by the non-profit foundation, Worker Info Exchange (WIE), on Wednesday – is understood to allege that the ride hailing app has breached European data protection law by varying driver pay rates through its controversial algorithm.

‘It gives everyone a lift’: Scotland’s World Cup qualification unites a nation

Excitement is palpable as Tartan Army to head to football’s biggest stage for first time in 28 years

The prognosis from the north Glasgow primary schools squad had been bleak. “Everybody says Scotland are going to get pumped,” my eight-year told me as he left football training on Tuesday evening, with a realism born of experience even over his short life.

But three hours later, Scotland fans across the nation and beyond were catapulted beyond euphoria as their team qualified for the men’s football World Cup for the first time in more than a quarter of a century after a bum-squeaking, breathtaking 4-2 win against Denmark at Hampden.

Every time new emails drop, elites do the Epstein shuffle: ‘Yes I knew him, but I didn’t KNOW him’ | Emma Brockes

For the New York and Washington great and good who loved the company of wealth and power, all that glitters is no longer gold

Many years ago, I went to a party in central London thrown by a host known for curating interesting and heavyweight guest lists and, on entering, encountered David Irving, the disgraced historian and Holocaust denier. As a marker of social pariahdom, Holocaust denial is up there with – or perhaps even more potent than – a conviction for sex offences, and I turned around and walked out; not through any particular moral superiority, but because I thought “notoriety” as a criteria for inclusion on a guest list was stupid and offensive. As I left, I remember looking across the room at the host and thinking: you silly bloody bint, I’m embarrassed for you.

I thought about that party and Irving this week while reading, with grim amusement, the absolute scramble currently under way in the US among media and other public figures seeking to explain, justify, downplay and generally paddle away as fast as they can from their social interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. I’m not talking about the men alleged to have joined the late paedophile in abusing trafficked girls, but rather the apparently endless list of notable figures – mostly in New York, but also reaching down to Washington DC, and across America’s Ivy League campuses – who enjoyed his hospitality, appeared with him at parties, and exchanged cordial emails with the man long after his true nature was known. As the Senate voted this week to release the Epstein files, the chorus of “we didn’t know!” from certain corners grew so loud it might’ve been Germany in 1946.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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Woman admits to falsely claiming astronaut ex committed crime in space

Summer Worden pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement after alleging her ex-wife, astronaut Anne McClain, illegally accessed her bank account.

‘I never wanted to sing into a vacuum’: Scottish folk pioneer Dick Gaughan’s fight for his lost music

A skilled interpreter and social justice champion, Gaughan is a hero to the likes of Richard Hawley and Billy Bragg. Yet much of his work has been stuck in limbo for decades – until a determined fan stepped in

‘It felt to me as if the world had forgotten about the Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley of folk, or a singular figure in the mould of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash or Richard Thompson.” So says Colin Harper, curator of a slew of new releases celebrating the stunning music of Scottish musician Dick Gaughan. Harper had recently reconnected with his music after several decades, “and I couldn’t believe the quality of it. His singing and guitar playing were astonishing – he performed traditional songs and championed social justice so powerfully.”

But if you haven’t heard of the 77-year-old Gaughan, it’s not surprising: much of his work has been unavailable for years, the rights to it having been claimed by the label Celtic Music, who have not made it available digitally. Gaughan doesn’t recall receiving a royalty statement from the company in 40 years. He is battling for ownership and, in turn, hopes to help other veteran folk artists regain control of their catalogues. “To find that the music I made, that I put a lot of work into, is just not available – it’s like your life isn’t available,” he says.

As a labor force, artists are 'invisible.' A new survey tries to change that

'Struggling artists' isn't a trope, according to a new report. The survey asked more than 2,600 artists about everything from hours worked to housing.

‘An impossibility made possible’: how tiny Curaçao made World Cup history

Caribbean island nation is the smallest to reach the finals tournament after appointing the wily coach and drawing on diaspora

The delay in Dick Advocaat becoming Curaçao’s head coach might have been ominous but instead it was the foundation for glory. Frustrated by the national federation’s financial problems, he deferred starting until January 2024, when the problems were resolved and players paid, paving the way for a historic World Cup qualifying campaign.

Curaçao will be the smallest nation – by land area and population – to play at the World Cup after their 0-0 draw in Jamaica on Wednesday. The Caribbean island has a population of 156,000, sinking the previous record holders, Iceland, which has about 400,000 inhabitants. Last month Cape Verde were confirmed as surprise tournament debutants but the African nation is almost 10 times bigger by area than the former Dutch colony, indicating the level of achievement by Advocaat and his squad.

Wintry conditions to last in coastal areas after up to 7cm of snow fell in parts of UK

North Scotland and east and west coasts of UK to get wintry showers but conditions will be brighter and drier inland

Wintry conditions are expected to continue in coastal areas of the UK after up to 7cm (2.7in) of snow fell in parts of the country.

The Met Office said the forecast in central inland areas was likely to be brighter and drier, while wintry showers were expected on the coasts of north Scotland and the east and west coasts of the UK.

Child care costs more than the rent in dozens of U.S. cities

In some metro areas, child care expenses amount to more than double what families spend on rent, LendingTree found.

Denmark announces one of the world’s most ambitious climate targets, while the rest of the EU looks away

Governments across the continent have attacked green rules with increasing ferocity – all while professing their commitment to existing climate targets

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To little fanfare and few international headlines, Denmark just announced one of the world’s most ambitious climate targets.

The unusually wind-powered and cycle-friendly Nordic nation – whose ruling Social Democrats suffered a setback in elections on Tuesday – promised on Monday to cut planet-heating pollution by at least 82% by 2035 from 1990 levels. The goal inches past the UK’s landmark 81% target for that year and races ahead of the EU’s rather wide goal of 66.3% to 72.5%.

Not Mariah again! New music playlists for the Christmas party season

Whether it’s vibe-setting dance and rap for house parties or soothing dream-pop for when you’re contemplating the clear-up, reach for these ready-made playlists

Let’s face it: when everyone’s two improvised cocktails deep, they’ll be hollering for Pink Pony Club, and after two more, they’ll be doing Fairytale of New York in a male-female karaoke face-off. But for the early part of the party, here’s some 2025 pop, dance and rap to keep the mood buoyant.

Daniel Radcliffe writes supportive letter to Harry Potter successor in new TV series

The actor said he wrote wishing 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin ‘an even better time’ growing up in the role than he had

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe said that he wrote to 11-year-old actor Dominic McLaughlin, who has been cast in the title role of the new Harry Potter TV series.

Radcliffe appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday and said: “I wouldn’t say that anyone who is going to play Harry has to [call me],” adding: “I wrote to Dominic and I sent him a letter and he sent me a very sweet note back.”

‘No contract, no coffee’: what to know about the Starbucks workers’ strike in over 40 US cities

Starbucks union threatens to expand campaign as politicians like Zohran Mamdani back striking workers

Unionized Starbucks workers are threatening to expand a US strike against the world’s biggest coffee chain into “the largest and longest” in the company’s history – and urging customers to steer clear.

Starbucks has said the vast majority of its cafes remain open, and expressed disappointment that Starbucks Workers United launched the strike.

‘May I meet you?’ is just the latest in horrible dating advice from billionaires | Arwa Mahdawi

Bill Ackman thinks his pickup line could aid population rates. Given the track record of the mega-rich, it may do the opposite

Sit down and pay attention, because this column might change your life. I bring you tidings from the Nazi-filled wilderness that is now X, where Maga-adjacent billionaire Bill Ackman has generously decided to dispense romantic advice to the masses. Online culture, Ackman notes, has “destroyed the ability to spontaneously meet strangers”. The antidote to this, he suggests, are four simple words.

“May I meet you?”

How generative AI in Arc Raiders started a scrap over the gaming industry’s future

The use of AI in the surprise game-of-the-year contender has sparked a heated cultural and ethical debate, and raised existential questions for artists, writers and voice actors

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Arc Raiders is, by all accounts, a late game-of-the-year contender. Dropped into a multiplayer world overrun with hostile drones and military robots, every human player is at the mercy of the machines – and each other. Can you trust the other raider you’ve spotted on your way back to humanity’s safe haven underground, or will they shoot you and take everything you’ve just scavenged? Perhaps surprisingly, humanity is (mostly) choosing to band together, according to most people I’ve talked to about this game.

In a review for Gamespot, Mark Delaney paints a beguiling picture of Arc Raiders’s potential for generating war stories, and highlights its surprisingly hopeful tone as the thing that elevates it above similar multiplayer extraction shooters: “We can all kill each other in Arc Raiders. The fact that most of us are choosing instead to lend a helping hand, if not a sign that humanity will be all right in the real world, at the very least makes for one of the best multiplayer games I’ve ever played.”

Ashes 2025-26: Guardian writers’ predictions for the series

From pyrotechnics in Perth to the denouement in Sydney, our team of writers outline their hopes and fears for the five Tests

Ali Martin A full-blooded Ashes tour – both sets of supporters in the stands watching a hard-fought contest – after the pandemic proved something of a buzzkill four years ago.

Buckingham Palace Christmas market: why tourists flocked there – and found just locked gates and big puddles

The hot spot seemed the perfect place for Yuletide-loving royalists. But, as with the Eiffel Tower in Beijing and some of the most picturesque windmills in the Netherlands, there was much less to it than first met the eye ...

Name: Buckingham Palace Christmas market.

Age: Brand new this year.

Mortgage rates hit highest level in a month, pushing loan demand down 5%

Mortgage rates rose to the highest level in a month last week, causing demand for home loans to drop. Demand, however, is still higher than a year ago.

Epstein survivor says she's hopeful for transparency: "A long overdue victory"

Annie Farmer, who testified she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 16, speaks to "CBS Mornings" about Congress' vote to release the files. She said she's hopeful there will be transparency following this vote, but still has concerns. She also spoke about Maxwell, saying, "she needs to serve her full sentence."

'War on drugs' or political agitation? Assessing Trump's actions in Venezuela – video explainer

In August, Donald Trump started a campaign of aggression against Venezuela. The US president first launched airstrikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of the South American country – a move largely condemned as extrajudicial killings – then deployed US naval assets in the Caribbean. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, explains why the claims the targeted boats were carrying drugs destined for the US are dubious and what Trump's actions could mean for the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro

• Venezuela’s Maduro urges Trump to avoid Afghanistan-style ‘forever war’

Porsche reveals all-electric Cayenne SUV, 'most powerful' production vehicle ever made by sports car company

Porsche on Wednesday revealed a new all-electric version of its Cayenne SUV as the "most powerful" production vehicle ever made by the sports car company.

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in Lebanon, photos of remnants suggest

Exclusive: Images are first indication that Israel has used cluster munitions in nearly 20 years

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in its recent 13-month war in Lebanon, photos of munition remnants in south Lebanon seen by the Guardian suggest.

The images, which have been examined by six different arms experts, appear to show the remnants of two different types of Israeli cluster munitions found in three different locations: south of the Litani River in the forested valleys of Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Barghouz and Wadi Deir Siryan.

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: how to do the country look – without being a flat cap cliche

If you’re an urban creature like me, you can go country-coded while staying aware you’re essentially playacting. The trick is not going OTT

Once a decade or so, the urban-centric fashion world discovers this delightful concept called The Countryside. With the vanishingly scant levels of self-awareness that are fashion’s default setting, it then proceeds to immediately and loudly tell the world about it. There are so many trees! Don’t you just love trees? Especially at this time of year when the leaves are lovely tasteful colours, great for selfies, very flattering to the complexion. The pubs are absolutely charming. Sometimes they even have sourdough.

Here we go again. It began with hiking boots, a couple of years ago. Last winter, the barn jacket was suddenly, inexplicably everywhere, and this season is wall-to-wall Fair Isle jumpers. Dressing like you are on a cosy mini-break is to autumn what dressing for a festival field is to summer: a version of countryside dressing conceived by someone who leaves the city for no more than 48 hours at a time. It is possibly not even a million miles from cultural appropriation. And at this point I need to hold my hands up and say: I’m as bad as any of them. I love the countryside but I, in my cold hard heart, am an urban creature, really.

Monkeys in Nepal and snow in the UK: photos of the day – Wednesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Florida serial killer set to die as state sets record pace for executions

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant this week for Frank Athen Walls, whose execution is now scheduled for Dec. 18.

Congress approves Jeffrey Epstein files bill, sending it to Trump to sign

President Donald Trump, a former Epstein friend who fell out with him, recently dropped his opposition to the bipartisan bill to release the files.

Ford recalls nearly 230,000 U.S. vehicles over display issue

The recall affects 2025-2026 Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles.