Trump claims he's brought down prices, touts military bonuses in year-end address

President Trump's speech Wednesday night looked back on his first year and ahead to the next three. He touted new military bonuses, his tariffs and economic policies in a brief address.

Winning numbers announced for estimated $1.25 billion Powerball jackpot

Wednesday's jackpot has an estimated cash value of $572.1 million, Powerball said.

Australia v England: Ashes third Test, day two – live

Australia all out for 371; England fume over Snicko call
Ashes top 100 | Follow on Bluesky | Email Martin

The consensus is that today and tomorrow will be the best days to bat. England need to go huge, because they won’t fancy chasing too many against Nathan Lyon on day five.

“As the cliche has it, it’s a crucial first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh hour,” writes Gary Naylor. “Are Australia bringing 871 Test wickets into an already winning team or imbalancing their attack with a couple of rusty bowlers? Are England Bazball zealots or pragmatic pros? Did 2006 happen at all? Feels like the opening credits of an episode of Soap.”

12/17: CBS Evening News

What led up to Nick Reiner's arrest after alleged murders of Rob and Michele Reiner; Hospital creates holiday market for young patients

Trump announces 'warrior dividend' of $1,776 to every U.S. soldier in primetime speech

Trump highlighted his administration's efforts to seal the Southern border, bring down costs and strengthen U.S. foreign policy.

Jane’s Addiction call it quits after a tumultuous 15 months: ‘The legacy will remain’

US alt-rock band announce they are finally parting ways, following fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuits

US alt-rock band Jane’s Addiction has announced they are parting ways after a tumultuous 15 months of fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuits.

The veteran Californian group, who have a history of drama, dust-ups and bust-ups, prematurely terminated the US leg of their reunion tour in September last year after an onstage altercation in Boston between frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro led to blows and, ultimately, a $10m lawsuit.

12/13: CBS Weekend News

Gunman at large after deadly Brown University shooting; Actor, showman Dick Van Dyke celebrates 100th birthday

Peter Arnett, Pulitzer prize-winner who reported on Vietnam and Gulf wars, dies aged 91

Arnett won 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for the Associated Press

Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, has died at 91.

Arnett, who won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for the Associated Press, died on Wednesday in Newport Beach, California, and was surrounded by friends and family, said his son Andrew Arnett. He had entered hospice on Saturday while suffering from prostate cancer.

U.S. admits liability in Army helicopter collision with American Airlines jet that killed 67 people

The U.S. admitted fault in the deadly Army Black Hawk helicopter collision on Jan. 29 that killed all 67 people on board.

U.S. government admits role in deadly midair collision that killed 67 near D.C.

The filing states that the crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter failed to establish and maintain proper and safe visual separation with a regional American Eagle flight that was approaching Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.

How to watch Trump's prime-time address to the nation

President Trump gave a year-end address to the nation on Wednesday, focusing on his economic policies and immigration.

Trump touts policies in year-end address

President Trump delivered remarks Wednesday night looking back at his first year back in office. Nancy Cordes reports.

US government admits negligence in helicopter-plane collision that killed 67

Official response to lawsuit filed by victims’ relatives admits FAA and army failures played role in Washington DC crash

The US government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the army played a role in causing the collision in January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest crash on American soil in more than two decades.

The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated procedures about when to rely on pilots to maintain visual separation that night. Plus, the filing said, the army helicopter pilots’ “failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet makes the government liable.

US military carried out lethal strike on vessel in Pacific, killing four, says Pete Hegseth

Announcement comes day after Trump said a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela

The US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four people, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a post on Twitter/X, Hegseth wrote: “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. A total of four male narco-terrorists were killed, and no US military forces were harmed.”

Albanese announces new laws cracking down on hate speech and preachers of hate after Bondi beach attack

Australian prime minister unveils new measures to combat antisemitism after Sunday’s massacre in Sydney

• Full report: Bondi terror attack

• Victims of Bondi beach shooting

• Ten minutes of terror: how the Bondi mass shooting unfolded in real time – video

• Follow the latest live updates

The federal government will significantly strengthen hate speech laws – including to target religious preachers – and create new powers to cancel or reject visas of people who spread “hate and division”, in a major escalation of its response to the mass shooting in Bondi.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, unveiled the measures on Thursday after days of intensifying pressure to do more to stamp out anti-Jewish hate following Sunday’s terrorist attack on a Hanukah celebration. It came as mourners gathered in Sydney for the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda – the youngest of the 15 victims.

Medical supply firm Medline jumps more than 40% in debut after biggest IPO of 2025

Medline priced at $29 per share on Tuesday, raising $6.26 billion to cap off a strong year for new listings and bolster optimism about 2026.

Medical examiner releases causes of death for Rob and Michele Reiner

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner died of "multiple sharp force injuries," the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday.

China to hike tax on condoms in attempt to boost falling birth rate

From 1 January, contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate – part of a carrot-and-stick approach by the government to increase births

China is set to impose a value-added tax (VAT) on condoms and other contraceptives for the first time in three decades, as the country tries to boost its birthrate and modernise its tax laws.

From 1 January, condoms and contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate – a tax from which the goods have been exempt since China introduced nationwide VAT in 1993.

Hospital creates holiday market for young patients

It's not always possible to be home for the holidays, but a children's hospital found a way to bring the next best thing to its youngest patients. Karen Hua reports from Houston.

Nearly a quarter of self-checkout shoppers admit to stealing, survey finds

For many Americans, the weekly grocery run has become a financial stress test. Food prices have skyrocketed 25% in the last five years. Now, some shoppers are resorting to other means. Kelly O'Grady reports.

South Carolina measles outbreak worries doctors

Recent measles cases are mainly impacting unvaccinated children, with the most recent outbreak in South Carolina. Skyler Henry has the latest.

Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell petitions to vacate sex crime conviction

The habeas petition by Ghislaine Maxwell comes two day before a deadline for the Department of Justice to release files about Jeffrey Epstein.

Rob and Michele Reiner's children speak out after brother's arrest

Jake and Romy Reiner released a statement on Wednesday, remembering their parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, as their best friends.

Witnesses' description of Brown shooter matches person of interest, police say

As the search entered its fifth day, authorities have so far been unable to identify a person of interest in the shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others over the weekend.

Police investigating shooting death of MIT professor at home

Authorities are investigating after Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor, was shot and killed in his home. CBS Boston's Penny Kmitt reports.

Mayor acknowledges "frustration" over pace of Brown shooting investigation

For the fifth day, law enforcement officials in Providence, Rhode Island, appeared no closer to finding the gunman who burst into a Brown University classroom Saturday, killing two students and wounding nine others. Tom Hanson reports.

What led up to Nick Reiner's arrest after alleged murders of Rob and Michele Reiner

Nick Reiner appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom, off-camera and wearing special clothes to prevent suicide, as he faces charges of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. Jonathan Vigliotti has more about how Nick Reiner spent the hours before his arrest.

House passes GOP health care bill without ACA subsidy extension

The House has passed a GOP health care bill that does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is stepping down in January

Bongino had been selected by President Donald Trump for the high-profile law enforcement job despite him having no prior FBI experience.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he will step down in January

Bongino's tenure was at times tumultuous, including a clash with Justice Department leadership over the Epstein files. But it also involved the arrest of a suspect in the Jan. 6 pipe bomber case.

Met Office: 2026 will bring heat more than 1.4C above preindustrial levels

Forecast is slightly cooler than the record 1.55C reached in 2024, but 2026 set to be among four hottest years since 1850

Next year will bring heat more than 1.4C above preindustrial levels, meteorologists project, as fossil fuel pollution continues to bake the Earth and fuel extreme weather.

The UK Met Office’s central forecast is slightly cooler than the 1.55C reached in 2024, the warmest year on record, but 2026 is set to be among the four hottest years dating back to 1850.

November's inflation report is the first to be released after the shutdown. Here's what to expect

November's CPI report is expected to show the annual inflation rate at 3.1%, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

Jack Smith defends Trump prosecutions in closed-door House testimony

Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his prosecutions of President Trump in a closed-door deposition with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Recalled salad dressings could contain "foreign objects," FDA warns

Onions used to make the salad dressings could contain "black plastic planting material," according to food regulators.

My petty gripe: office parties feel like work because that’s what they are

And don’t get me started on office Secret Santas

As we head into the so-called silly season – that sun-drenched summer of drinks and parties, barbecues and socialising – there’s a shadow looming over the festivities.

The office Christmas party.

Raymond van Barneveld sunk by Swiss star Stefan Bellmont at PDC worlds

• Bellmont: ‘This is great for all Swiss people’

• James Wade cruises past Ryusei Azemoto

The five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld was left stunned after falling to a straight-sets defeat by Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont in their first-round clash at Alexandra Palace.

Bellmont produced the performance of his career to become the first Swiss player win a match at the World Darts Championship. The 36-year-old from Cham hopes that his success will inspire a wave of darts enthusiasts in his home country.

Over a dozen Navy SEALs disciplined for racist memes earlier this year

Military investigators found more than a dozen Navy SEALs had been in a group chat containing racist memes targeting a Black SEAL.

Meg Ryan honors Rob Reiner and his wife Michele

Meg Ryan starred in Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally...," a breakout role that catapulted her career in romantic comedies.

Chelsea fight back to seal WCL quarter-final spot, Manchester United sink Juve

• Sam Kerr header secures 2-1 victory in Wolfsburg

• United seeded for playoffs along with Arsenal

Chelsea clinched an automatic place in the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals by coming from behind to stun Wolfsburg and avoid having to contest February’s playoffs.

Sam Kerr won the game with her 20th Champions League goal, heading in Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s cross. Chelsea survived a late scare when the German side struck the crossbar in the 94th minute, but will now contest the last eight in March.

Micron forecasts surging revenue as computer memory demand for AI remains high

The high demand for memory has driven Micron shares higher and they are up 168% in 2025.

CBS News special celebrates Rob Reiner's life and legacy

The special features interviews with Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, Albert Brooks, Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Jerry O'Connell and Mandy Patinkin.

Lewis Miley heads dramatic late winner as holders Newcastle edge Fulham

To remedy a local let down, enter the local hero. After 56 years without a trophy before glorious victory at Wembley in March Newcastle were never going to let go of the Carabao Cup without a fight, but few of the impressionable children walking up Barrack Road for a pre-Christmas treat imagined their heroes having to hang on to the silverware this grimly before Lewis Miley’s stoppage-time winner.

The Magpies had dominated without often threatening the killer blow, with the constant threat of their own doubt undermining them after the miserable derby defeat at Sunderland that cast a cloud of gloom over St James’ Park well before the Wednesday afternoon rain set in.

Obamacare subsidies extension to get vote after 4 Republicans buck leadership

Millions of Americans will face much higher health insurance premiums in 2026 if Congress does not extend boosted subsidies for Obamacare plans.

Trump installs partisan plaques for past presidents at White House

President Trump added plaques with disparaging comments about Biden and Obama on a "Presidential Walk of Fame" at the White House.

Nick Reiner appears in court, arraignment set for Jan. 7 in killing of parents

Nick Reiner​ appeared in court on Wednesday on two counts of murder in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

Arsenal ease past Leuven but settle for Women’s Champions League playoffs

Arsenal secured a seeded spot for the Women’s Champions League knockout playoffs with a comfortable 3-0 victory away at OH Leuven. Olivia Smith, Beth Mead and a Saar Janssen own goal helped Renée Slegers’ team end the league phase in fifth place.

Slegers was delighted with her side’s maturity in front of a raucous crowd at the Den Dreef as they earned their fourth win of the campaign against the plucky hosts.

Delta president Glen Hauenstein, who helped turn airline into industry profit leader, to retire in February

Delta's president, Glen Hauenstein, who helped turn Delta into the country's premium-travel leader, is retiring after 20 years.

Federal court says troops can stay in D.C., and hints at prolonged deployment

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled that National Guard troops can remain in the city for now. That decision comes after a different federal appeals court ruled that troops must leave Los Angeles earlier this week.

Trump participates in dignified transfer honoring U.S. soldiers killed in Syria

Two members of the Iowa National Guard were killed in Syria on Saturday — Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard.

Jack Smith defends his prosecutions of Trump in closed-door session in Congress

The former Justice Department special counsel told the House Judiciary Committee that his team developed "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump took part in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

A Chinese man who filmed secret footage in Xinjiang risks deportation from the U.S.

Guan Heng sailed to the U.S. by boat from the Bahamas after publishing footage he filmed of purported detention camps in China. He has been held in immigration detention since August.

FCC chief Brendan Carr tells Senate that his agency is 'not formally ... independent'

FCC chairman Brendan Carr testified to a congressional committee for the first time since ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel's show following a Carr threat.

The Oscars is moving to YouTube starting in 2029

The Oscars ceremony is moving to YouTube starting in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday.

Parents of sextortion victim sue Meta for alleged wrongful death

Exclusive: Lawsuit is the first UK case of its kind, with Ros and Mark Dowey accusing Meta of ‘putting profit before our young people’

The parents of a 16-year-old who took his own life after he fell victim to a sextortion gang on Instagram are suing Meta for the alleged wrongful death of their son, in the first UK case of its kind.

Murray Dowey died in December 2023 at his family home in Dunblane, after being tricked into sending intimate pictures to an Instagram contact. He thought it was a girl his own age, but it turned out to be overseas criminals involved in financially motivated sexual extortion.

Senate passes NDAA, sending $900 billion defense policy bill to Trump

The Senate approved a $900 billion defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, sending it to the president's desk for his signature.

MPs warn that UK agreements with Donald Trump are ‘built on sand’

Exclusive: UK government’s ‘naive belief’ that Trump is a good faith actor ‘could cost UK taxpayer billions’, says health select committee chair

Ministers and senior MPs have warned that the UK’s agreements with Donald Trump are “built on sand” after the Guardian established that the deal to avoid drug tariffs has no underlying text beyond limited headline terms.

The “milestone” US-UK deal announced this month on pharmaceuticals, which will mean the NHS pays more for medicines in exchange for a promise of zero tariffs on the industry, still lacks a legal footing beyond top lines contained in two government press releases.

With costs a growing worry for Americans, Trump seeks to defend his economic record

Trump broke little new ground, restating messages his White House has been pushing for months: that economic problems can be blamed on Joe Biden, and that his second term has been a massive success.

Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead 'AGI' group

Rohit Prasad, a top Amazon executive overseeing its artificial general intelligence unit, is leaving at the end of this year, the company confirmed.

Italy makes a surprising discovery ahead of the Winter Olympics: dinosaur tracks

A nature photographer stumbled upon thousands of 210-million-year-old dinosaur tracks in Italy's central Alps, near where some Olympic skiing and snowboarding events will be held in February.

Canada sees large drop in population amid international students crackdown

Population fell by 0.2% in third quarter – and the only other quarterly decline on record was attributed to Covid limits

Canada experienced one of its largest drops in population in the most recent quarter, the result of a crackdown on international students. The drop marks dramatic turnaround for a country that has long pegged its economic growth to immigration.

New estimates released on Wednesday by Statistics Canada showed that Canada’s population fell by 0.2% in the third quarter to stand at 41.6 million, down from 41.65 million on 1 July.

If he never returns, Terence Crawford’s legacy as one of boxing’s greats is secure | Bryan Armen Graham

The ring’s standout problem-solver steps away from ‘competition’ on his own terms and with an unblemished record across five divisions

Terence “Bud” Crawford has always fought like a man who wanted to leave no room for argument. Not simply to win, but to win so cleanly that dissent collapses on contact. So his retirement announcement on Tuesday didn’t feel like a sudden fade-out so much as the closing of a file: tidy, decisive, signed in his own hand. Three months after scaling two weight divisions to outclass Canelo Álvarez in Las Vegas and become the undisputed super-middleweight champion, Crawford says he is stepping away “on his own terms”. In the cruellest sport, that is rarer than a perfect record.

Boxing is purpose-built to keep you in. To lure you back with one more payday, one more belt, one more chance to settle a score that only exists because the promoters or the public insist it should. The hurt business has never been conducive to happy endings. The preferred vernacular is violent or sad or compromised: a stoppage you don’t see coming, a dubious decision, a diminished version of yourself preserved forever in high definition.

The Guardian view on another green U-turn in Brussels: going slow on car-industry targets is a road to nowhere | Editorial

The European Commission’s proposals to water down a 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars will store up major problems for the future

Two years ago, the European Union’s adoption of a 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars was hailed as an act of global leadership, and a declaration of faith in the journey to net zero. That the home of BMW, Renault and Fiat should decisively reverse away from the internal combustion engine was seen as a symbolic moment.

This week, Brussels proposals to water down that ban have sent a very different kind of message. Electric vehicles might be the future. But after intensive lobbying by German and Italian manufacturers, the European Commission has proposed a reprieve for new CO₂-emitting cars that would allow them to be sold after the former cut-off date. According to the EU’s industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, this U-turn offers a “lifeline” to an ailing car industry that has struggled to cope with Donald Trump’s trade wars and Chinese competition.

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 Australia’s social media ban: dragging tech companies into action | Editorial

Children under the age of 16 needed protecting and the moral argument wasn’t winning. Government regulation can change the terms of debate

On 10 December, the world watched as Australia enacted the first social media ban for under-16s. Whether it will have the desired effect of improving young people’s lives we are yet to find out. But what the ban has achieved already is clear.

Many politicians, along with academics and philosophers, have noted that self-regulation has not been an effective safeguard against the harms of social media – especially when the bottom line for people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk depends on keeping eyes on screens. For too long, these companies resisted, decrying censorship and prioritising “free speech” over moderation. The Australian government decided waiting was no longer an option. The social media ban and similar regulation across the world is now dragging tech companies kicking and screaming toward change. That it has taken the force of the law to ensure basic standards – such as robust age verification, teen-friendly user accounts and deactivation where appropriate – are met shows the moral argument alone was not enough.

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.

Recalled ice cream sold nationwide could contain "small stones," FDA says

The recall affects So Delicious Dairy Free's Salted Caramel Cluster ice cream with best by dates of Aug. 8, 2027.

Senate passes $901 billion defense bill that pushes Hegseth for boat strike video

The Senate has given final passage to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which raises troop pay by 3.8%. It also pressures Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela.

Trump vowed to block tankers carrying Venezuela's oil — nearly a dozen are at sea right now

One of the tankers, Skipper, was seized by American forces in the Caribbean last week in a sharp escalation by the Trump administration.

Nick Reiner appears in court on murder charges in killing of parents

Son of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner who is being held without bail did not enter a plea

Nick Reiner, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, made his first appearance in court on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old, who is being held without bail, did not enter a plea, and his arraignment has been delayed until January.

Why I volunteered to be infected with dengue fever

The U.S. has registered over half a million clinical trials since 2000. Here's a look at the business and ethics of human medical experimentation through the eyes of a volunteer.

Storytellers: how the world’s oldest job became the hottest new corporate job title

Big tech, retailers and compliance firms are hiring people to ‘own the narrative’. But what do they actually mean by that?

Name: Storyteller

Age: Since Once Upon a Time, in a land far, far away.

Antony Price, ultra-glam designer for Duran Duran, Bowie and Roxy Music, dies aged 80

The great maverick image-maker, who was praised for inventing ‘result-wear’ yet only staged six shows, was adored by stars and Queen Camilla – and cut Mick Jagger’s Gimme Shelter trousers in his first job

Antony Price, the maverick British designer and theatrical “image maker” has died aged 80. He was among the first to combine music, theatre and fashion, helping to craft Roxy Music’s glam rock aesthetic and designing Duran Duran’s yacht rock tailoring a decade later. More recently, he became Queen Camilla’s go-to designer.

Often described as the greatest designer you’ve never heard of, Price only ever staged six shows – or “fashion extravaganzas” – in his 55-year career but just last month returned to the London catwalk for the first time in more than 30 years with a show in collaboration with 16Arlington. There, Lily Allen created headlines by modelling a black velvet “revenge dress”.

Susie Wiles interview might be a useful distraction from how poorly things are going for Americans

The incendiary quotes don’t disguise how dissatisfied people are about jobs, inflation or the cost of living

• This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland; sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday

So it appears Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, agrees with many of us: she thinks Donald Trump’s cabinet is bonkers.

From that bombshell Vanity Fair interview, which featured some truly terrifying close-up photos, we learned that Wiles considers JD Vance to have been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade”. She believes Elon Musk to be an “odd, odd duck”. Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, is, in Wiles’ view, “a right-wing absolute zealot”.

“If we’re judging by these numbers, Americans are completely dissatisfied with the way things are happening in this country.”

UnitedHealth reduced hospitalizations for nursing home seniors. Now it faces wrongful death claims

The company says it is protecting nursing home residents by curbing unnecessary hospital transfers. Whistleblowers allege cost-cutting tactics have endangered the elderly

Three nursing home residents died because employees of the American healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group helped delay or deny them critical hospital care, two pending lawsuits and a complaint to state authorities have alleged.

The three cases involve a UnitedHealth partnership initiative that places medical staff from the company’s direct care unit, Optum, inside nursing homes to care for residents insured by the company’s insurance arm.

Ben Jennings on Donald Trump suing the BBC – cartoon

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Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets

Exclusive: Key figures at frozen assets depository among targets of intimidation campaign, say European intelligence agencies

Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies.

Security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country.

Rosa von Praunheim, provocative pioneer of gay cinema, dies aged 83

The film-maker, whose 1971 feature about queer life has been described as Germany’s ‘Stonewall moment’, married his long-term partner on Friday

Rosa von Praunheim, a key figure of the New German Cinema movement who made taboo-breaking films about queer life and scandalised the country when he outed German celebrities on live TV, has died aged 83.

German media reported that Praunheim died in Berlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning, just days after marrying his long-term partner at a ceremony in the German capital on Friday.

'Vanity Fair' reporter gets an inside view from Susie Wiles, the woman behind Trump 2.0

Writer Chris Whipple interviewed Trump's chief of staff 11 times, getting her view on cabinet members, Trump's revenge tour, Venezuela policy, and why she says Trump has an "alcoholic's personality."

Scientists log rare case of female polar bear adopting cub: ‘They’re really good moms’

Canadian researchers tracking bear known as X33991 noticed she had gained a second cub who likely needed help

Scientists in Canada have documented a rare case of female polar bear adopting a new cub, in an episode of “curious behaviour” that highlights the complex relationships among the apex Arctic predators.

Polar Bears International, a non-profit conservation group, said on Wednesday that when they first placed a GPS collar on a female polar bear in the spring, she had one young cub. But when she was spotted with two cubs of roughly the same age last month, they realized they were witnessing an exceedingly rare case of adoption.

Miami Dolphins to bench QB Tua Tagovailoa after missing playoffs

• Rookie Quinn Ewers will be starter, says Mike McDaniel

• Tagovailoa will be ‘emergency’ QB behind Zach Wilson

The Miami Dolphins are benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and will start rookie Quinn Ewers on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Mike McDaniel announced on Wednesday.

The Dolphins (6-8), eliminated from postseason play, signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212m extension in July 2024 after he led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624.

Chelsea told to ‘put up or shut up’ over potential Earl’s Court move

• Club yet to make a decision on how to build bigger ground

• A £10bn housing and retail bid for site approved this week

Chelsea have been urged to “put up or shut up” and decide whether they want to move to Earl’s Court after alternative plans for the site were approved by Kensington and Chelsea council.

The club are yet to make a decision on how to build a bigger ground and another stumbling block is in their path after the Earls Court Development Company’s proposals for a £10bn housing and retail development were granted planning permission at a council meeting on Tuesday. The ECDC, whose master plan does not include room for a football stadium, secured unanimous approval from Hammersmith and Fulham council last month.

Everything about Paul Mescal is irresistible – with one exception | Adrian Chiles

The actor has said Shakespeare’s language can be understood ‘in the body’. I couldn’t disagree more

I want to believe in reincarnation because I want to come back as Paul Mescal. What it must be like to be irresistible. I’m sure it gets wearing, but I’d still like to give it a try, just for research purposes. Not so much for the carnal stuff, but for the way every word he utters is taken to be as beautiful as he is. Intoxicated by their admiration, his admirers leap headfirst into the still waters of his pronouncements apparently certain of hidden depths thereunder.

So it has been with the reaction to how he comforted his director when she confessed, in so many words, that she couldn’t always grasp what Shakespeare was on about. We’ve all been there. At least I have. There there, quoth Mescal: “Listen, if Shakespeare is performed right, you don’t have to understand what they’re saying. You feel it in the body, the language is written like that.”

How to become a good and thoughtful gift-giver

Choosing the right gift can feel difficult, but it is possible to buy something meaningful that will please your loved ones – and stay out of the trash

My family members are incredible gift-givers. Every birthday and holiday, they manage to select exactly what the recipient wanted – or didn’t know they wanted.

I didn’t inherit this gene.

What do people talk about when they’re not trying to impress you? What are their genuine interests, passions and concerns?

Notice their lifestyle, Maso says: “How they live, what they value, where they unwind.”

Choose something that “reflects their world, not yours”. Did I want a Lego orchid? Yes. Did my father? No.

Add a touch of the unexpected. “The best gifts always have a little, ‘I didn’t know I needed this, but it’s so me!’ moment,” Maso says.

Trump administration to dismantle key climate research center in Colorado

Governor Jared Polis warned that breaking up Boulder’s NCAR would put ‘public safety at risk’

The Trump administration is breaking up a research center praised as a “crown jewel” of climate research after accusing it of spreading “alarmism” about climate change.

Russell Vought, the director of the White House’s office and management budget, said the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, would be dismantled under the supervision of the National Science Foundation.

Mortgage rates move higher after the Fed rate cut, causing loan demand to drop

Mortgage rates moved higher after the Fed cut interest rates last week. That caused demand to drop for both home buying and refinancing.

Apple punted on AI this year. Next year will be critical

Apple this year delayed its big Siri upgrade to 2026. As the company looks ahead, the pressure is on for the iPhone maker to show investors its AI strategy.

Brigitte Macron faces lawsuit after being filmed using sexist slur at Paris theatre

More than 300 women file complaint after video shows French first lady calling feminist protesters ‘sales connes’

Brigitte Macron is facing a legal complaint from several organisations, including women’s rights groups, after she was filmed saying feminist protesters at a theatre show in Paris were “stupid bitches”.

More than 300 women – specifically 343, a historically symbolic number in French feminism – this week filed the complaint against the French first lady for public insult.

Even Happy Birthday has a dark side: my quest to tell the history of the world in 50 pieces of music

The Nazis adopted Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Happy Birthday hides a tale of corporate greed. And Putin uses Shostakovich’s Leningrad symphony as a call to arms. That’s why I put them in my soundtrack to the complexities of human existence

The idea was always a ludicrous one: to reduce millennia of human musical history – not to mention billennia of the Earth’s sonic geology – into a book of 50 pieces of music. And yet that’s the challenge I decided to take on. The most pressing question was: why? To which my answer was: the inevitable failures and gaps of the project are precisely where its interest lies.

The next concern was how. Called A History of the World in 50 Pieces, the book is not a digested history of music, nor a list of my favourite songs, performances or recordings. Instead, it’s centred on the definition of a “piece of music”. This is a democratic principle – a belief that works don’t belong only to their creators but are shared and reinterpreted by generations of musicians at distances of time, geography and technology, in ways their original composers and performers could not imagine.

Melania: first trailer released for Amazon’s documentary on the first lady

The $40m film – directed by Brett Ratner, who has been accused of sexual misconduct – follows Melania Trump in the days before the 2025 inauguration

Amazon has released the first trailer for next year’s documentary on Melania Trump.

The film will follow the first lady in the 20 days before the 2025 inauguration and has “unprecedented access” with promises of “exclusive footage capturing critical meetings, private conversations, and never-before-seen environments”.

Study finds 10% of over-70s in UK could have Alzheimer’s-like changes in brain

Findings mean more than 1 million people could meet NHS criteria for treatment with anti-amyloid drugs

One in 10 people in the UK aged 70 and older could have Alzheimer’s-like changes in their brain, according to the clearest, real-world picture of how common the disease’s brain changes are in ordinary, older people.

The detection of the proteins linked with the disease is not a diagnosis. But the findings indicate that more than 1 million over-70s would meet Nice’s clinical criteria for anti-amyloid therapy – a stark contrast to the 70,000 people the NHS has estimated could be eligible if funding were available.

Stephen Colbert on Susie Wiles’s candid interviews: ‘She dished, bish’

Late-night hosts discussed the White House chief of staff ’s shocking and revealing interviews with Vanity Fair

Late-night hosts reacted to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’s revealing interview with Vanity Fair.

Are we falling out of love with nonfiction?

In the early 2020s, readers flocked to books to explain political turbulence. But is the world now too grim to read about – and are podcasters taking the place of authors?

In the decade leading up to the pandemic, nonfiction seemed unstoppable. Readers flocked to books that explained a world upended by Brexit, Trump, #MeToo and climate upheaval. Titles such as Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, Caroline Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women, and Robin D’Angelo’s White Fragility soared up the charts. It felt as though reading itself was part of the civic response, a way to understand what was happening, and perhaps influence what might happen next.

Fast forward to the present day, and the picture is starting to look different: a recent report from NielsenIQ found that trade nonfiction sales have slipped sharply. In volume terms, the category is down 8.4% between last summer and the same period this year – nearly double the decline in paperback fiction – and down 4.7% in value. Though there have been some exceptions, such Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare and Want by Gillian Anderson, 14 out of 18 nonfiction subcategories have contracted.

‘A cave complex worthy of Batman!’ Mind-boggling buildings that showed the world a new China

Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal
The birth of the People’s Republic is seen as a time of drab buildings. But this dazzling show, featuring a factory in a cave and a denounced roof, tells a wildly different story

In 1954, an issue of Manhua, a state-sponsored satirical magazine in China, declared: “Some architects blindly worship the formalist styles of western bourgeois design. As a result, grotesque and reactionary buildings have appeared.”

Beneath the headline Ugly Architecture, humorous cartoons of weird buildings fill the page. There is a modernist cylinder with a neoclassical portico bolted on to the front. Another blobby building is framed by an arc of ice-cream cone-shaped columns. An experimental bus stop features a bench beneath an impractical cuboid canopy, “unable to protect you from wind, rain or sun”, as a passerby observes. “Why don’t these buildings adopt the Chinese national style?” asks another bewildered figure, as he cowers beneath a looming glass tower that bears all the hallmarks of the corrupt, capitalist west.

More than 10% of Congress won't return to their seats after 2026

NPR is tracking the record number of congressional lawmakers — now more than 1 in 10 current members — who have announced plans to retire or run for a different office in 2026.

Humphrey Burton, renowned arts broadcaster, dies at 94

Former BBC head of music and arts hailed as ‘huge influence on generations of arts programme-makers’

Sir Humphrey Burton, one of the most influential figures in arts broadcasting, has died at the age of 94.

The award-winning film-maker and director, who revolutionised classical music programming, died at home with his family by his side.

Inside Fallout, gaming’s most surprising TV hit

With ​a blend of retro-futurism, moral ambiguity and monster-filled wastelands, Fallout became an unlikely prestige television favourite. Now there is something a bigger, stranger and funnier journey ahead

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The Fallout TV series returns to Prime Video today, and it’s fair to say that everyone was pleasantly surprised by how good the first season was. By portraying Fallout’s retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic US through three different characters, it managed to capture different aspects of the game player’s experience, too. There was vault-dweller Lucy, trying to do the right thing and finding that the wasteland made that very difficult; Max, the Brotherhood of Steel rookie, who starts to question his cult’s authority and causes a lot of havoc in robotic power armour; and the Ghoul, Walton Goggins’s breakout character, who has long since lost any sense of morality out in the irradiated wilderness.

The show’s first season ended with a revelation about who helped cause the nuclear war that trapped a group of people in underground vaults for a couple of centuries. It also left plenty of questions open for the second season – and, this time, expectations are higher. Even being “not terrible” was a win for a video game adaptation until quite recently. How are the Fallout TV show’s creators feeling now that the first season has been a success?

How Israel's 'yellow line' is dividing Gaza with deadly consequences – video explainer

Israel military chief, Eyal Zamir, announced on Monday that the 'yellow line', drawn up by the October ceasefire plan, was a 'new border' for Israel. This line has become a lethal boundary, preventing Palestinians entering an area representing 58% of their territory. The Guardian's chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, describes life on the ground for those forced on an ever-smaller part of their land. Israeli officials claim forces are being 'deployed in Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire outline'

• ‘Yellow line’ that divides Gaza under Trump plan is ‘new border’ for Israel, says military chief

• ‘Bloodshed was supposed to stop’: no sign of normal life as Gaza’s killing and misery grind on

Take that Santa! This is me upside-down and naked in a fireplace – Brooke DiDonato’s best photograph

‘I wanted to make a perfect square with my body. My back hurt for days afterwards. People often want to know if the kitten is real’

I’ve thought a lot about the time I made this image. In my 20s, I was living in New York. Then I broke up with my long-term partner in 2019 and I sort of didn’t really know how to cope any more. I didn’t feel creative – my whole experience of living in New York was tied to that relationship, and I felt I needed to go somewhere else and start over. I moved to Austin, Texas – I thought I’d give it a go for a bit.

I was doing a lot of tinkering at home, and I started doing a lot more self-portraits and let my psyche run wild. At this point, in 2021, one of my friends, Mike, was living in a 1940s building in East Austin, with old popcorn ceilings, really cool mouldings and outlet covers and original details, including the fireplace. It was inspiring to be there.

Why this billionaire real estate developer is waving a red flag over data centers

While big players such as Blackstone, KKR and Bain Capital are buying in, Fernando de Leon, founder of Leon Capital Group, said he is sitting out. 

The 50 best albums of 2025

The year’s finest LPs as decided by 30 Guardian music writers – from a slip’n’slide through British club culture to a New York garage rock band in their 20s
• More on the best culture of 2025

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Net migration to UK could rise to 300,000 by end of decade, says government adviser

Chair of migration advisory committee says figure will jump as numbers of overseas students and workers rise again

Net migration to the UK could rise to about 300,000 by the end of the decade, a leading government adviser has said.

Prof Brian Bell, the chair of the migration advisory committee, said the overall migration figure would jump “in the medium term” from the current level of 204,000 as the numbers of overseas students and workers rose again.

The 50 best albums of 2025: No 3 – Blood Orange: Essex Honey

Dev Hynes’ deeply personal response to his mother’s death embodied the many unexpected shades of grief in pastoral hymnals and post-punk

• The 50 best albums of 2025
• More on the best culture of 2025

There’s a lot of grief across the best albums of this year. It’s unsurprising: 2025 has felt like a definitive and dismal break with government accountability, protections for marginalised people and holding back the encroachment of AI in creative and intellectual fields, to cherrypick just a few horrors. Anna von Hausswolff and Rosalía reached for transcendence from these earthly disappointments. Bad Bunny and KeiyaA countered colonial abuse and neglect with writhing resistance anthems. On a more personal scale, Lily Allen and Cate Le Bon grappled with disillusionment about mis-sold romantic ideals. For Jerskin Fendrix, the Tubs, Jennifer Walton, Jim Legxacy and Blood Orange, grief was, straightforwardly, grief for lost loved ones.

Each of those albums was as distinctive and profound as any personal experience of loss always is. Dev Hynes’ fifth album as Blood Orange felt uniquely keyed into the fragmented, distracted headspace that comes after someone passes, in his case, his mother. Essex Honey’s restive nature was summed up in its painful opening lines, which you could read as the dying’s acceptance of death starkly contrasting the living’s ability to meet them on those terms: “In your grace, I looked for some meaning,” Hynes sings on Look at You. “But I found none, and I still search for a truth.”