Australia v England: Ashes second Test, day three – live

Hosts seek to build on 44-run first-innings lead at the Gabba
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74th over: Australia 379-6 (Carey 47, Neser 15) Stokes starts around the wicket to the left-handed Alex Carey. Two slips in place. The first ball is defended for a dot and the next is guided behind point for a single that brings up the fifty partnership between Carey and Neser. It’s a wounding one for England.

Stokes bustles through the over, finding a good length and four dots to Neser. Brydon Carse is going to start from the other end, he had a bruising day yesterday, a couple of wickets here would take the edge off.

12/1: CBS Evening News

Midwest snowstorm triggers crashes, flight chaos; Cafés still struggling after coffee tariffs lifted.

Texas flood disaster 911 calls released: "Some callers did not survive"

Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall warned that the 911 calls received by dispatchers during the Texas floods are distressing.

Ukraine war briefing: Progress depends on Russia taking peace talks seriously, say Washington and Kyiv

US and Ukraine to hold third day of discussions in Florida as Emmanuel Macron says there is ‘no mistrust’ between Europe and White House. What we know on day 1,382

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agree that “real progress” would depend on Russia’s willingness to end the war. Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv’s armed forces. “Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings,” said a summary of the talks.

The US and Ukrainian officials “also agreed on the framework of security arrangements and discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace”. The talks in Florida come after Witkoff and Kushner met Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a US plan to end the conflict but the Russian president rejected parts of the proposal and threatened that Russia was “ready” for war if Europe started it.

Emmanuel Macron has said there is “no mistrust” between Europe and the US, a day after a report claimed the French president had warned privately there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine, reports Oliver Holmes. “Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential,” Macron said during a visit to China on Friday. “And I say it again and again, we need to work together.”

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said they held “very constructive” talks with the Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever, on Friday over an EU plan to use Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine, which Belgium has so far refused to endorse. The EC, along with most European governments, prefers a “reparations loan” using Russian state assets immobilised in the European Union due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We agreed that time is of the essence given the current geopolitical situation,” von der Leyen said after the meeting in Brussels. Moscow’s ambassador to Germany, meanwhile, warned that the plan to use frozen Russian assets would have “far-reaching consequences” for the EU. “Any operation with sovereign Russian assets without Russia’s consent constitutes theft,” Sergey Nechaev claimed.

Russian drones struck a house in central Ukraine, killing a 12-year-old boy, officials said, while long-range Ukrainian strikes reportedly targeted a Russian port and an oil refinery. In Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian drone attack overnight to Friday destroyed a house where the boy was killed and two women injured, said the head of the regional military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko. In Russia, Ukrainian drones attacked a port in the Krasnodar region on the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire at the Temryuk seaport and damaging port infrastructure, officials said. Ukrainian drones also aimed deeper inside Russia, attacking the city of Syzran on the Volga river, said the mayor, Sergei Volodchenkov, without providing more details. Unconfirmed media reports said Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Syzran.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said a Ukrainian drone struck and damaged a high-rise building in Grozny, capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, and vowed to retaliate within a week. The drone had caused no casualties, he said on Friday.

Vladimir Putin has told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, that Russia is ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance to the US as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”. The statement, made on Friday after the annual India-Russia summit, appeared to be directed at western countries – particularly the US – that have attempted to pressure New Delhi into scaling back its ties to Moscow, reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen.

12/5: CBS Evening News

Shift in decades-long guidance on hepatitis B vaccine; Lowe's employees go above and beyond to find beloved cat that disappeared onto freight truck

Map shows more than 1,800 measles cases across U.S.

CBS News is tracking a record number of measles cases around the country after an outbreak in West Texas that led to the deaths of two children.

National Guard member is "slowly healing" after D.C. shooting, governor says

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the family expects Andrew Wolfe to be in acute care for another two to three weeks.

CDC panel votes to stop recommending birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, with members appointed by RFK Jr., voted to change longstanding recommendations on the hepatitis B vaccine.

When a Lowe's store cat disappeared, staff pulled out all the stops to find her

When Francine the cat went missing from her Richmond, Virginia, store, employees determined she must have wandered onto a freight truck bound for a distribution center 85 miles away in North Carolina.

Zootopia 2 bucks trend for Hollywood releases in China as it breaks records for foreign animation

Now China’s highest-grossing foreign animation, the films, known as Zootropolis in some countries, comes amid a boom for domestic productions

A comedy about animal cops investigating a reptilian mystery has become the highest-grossing foreign animated film ever in China, bucking the trend of declining interest in overseas productions that has resulted in Hollywood films struggling in the Chinese box office.

Zootopia 2 (called Zootropolis 2 in some European countries), a hotly anticipated and widely marketed sequel to 2016’s Zootopia, was released in China last week. In its first seven days, it made about 2bn yuan (£213m) in ticket sales, making it one of the best-performing films of the year.

Netflix to buy Warner Bros. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion

Netflix on Friday said it will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.

Indiana House GOP advances 9-0 congressional map, sending plan to state Senate

President Trump has led the charge to create more GOP-friendly congressional districts in the 2026 midterm elections.

What Netflix's $82.7 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. means for viewers

Netflix said it is buying Warner Bros. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion, merging the biggest streaming service with a storied studio that has produced films such as "Casablanca" and the "Harry Potter" franchise. Elaine Quijano has more on what it means for those watching at home.

Michael Jordan tells court he ‘wasn’t afraid’ of Nascar in antitrust trial

• Jordan testifies in Nascar antitrust case

• Says he invested $40m into 23XI team

• Criticizes charter system as unlawful

Michael Jeffrey Jordan, as he cordially introduced himself to the federal courtroom in Charlotte on Friday, admitted it was his competitive side and novelty within the sport that emboldened a push for 23XI Racing to “challenge” Nascar over what he perceived were violations of antitrust rules.

Jordan shared financial and corporate details of his 23XI team and said he invested $40m of his own funds in the success of the Nascar Cup series team launched along with business partner Curtis Polk and longtime driver Denny Hamlin.

911 calls released from deadly Texas flooding

The Kerrville Police Department released nearly 200 calls from deadly flooding that happened on July Fourth. Jason Allen reports.

Millions facing sub-freezing temperatures as Arctic blast grips U.S.

In much of the country, it was yet another day of record cold -- and there is more Arctic air on the way. Tom Hanson reports, and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

Shift in decades-long guidance on hepatitis B vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel voted to change the recommendation for when children should get their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Meg Oliver has more.

SpaceX aims for $800 billion valuation in secondary share sale, WSJ reports

Elon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly launching an insider share sale that could value the company as high as $800 billion.

Trump official signals potential rollback of changes to census racial categories

Trump officials are reviewing changes to racial and ethnic categories that the Biden administration approved for the 2030 census and other federal government forms, a White House agency official says.

Report finds Afghanistan mission was "two-decade long effort fraught with waste"

The final report this week from the special inspector general for Afghanistan identified $26 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse in U.S. reconstruction spending in Afghanistan since 2009.

Lady Gaga review – the Mayhem Ball shows Mother Monster is still the reigning queen of spectacle

Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
The pop star’s first Australian show in a decade comes after years of physical and mental pain – so it’s a great relief to see her having a good time again

As Lady Gaga is carted on stage atop a crinoline structure that resembles both a red velvet cake and a toilet roll doll cozy she states her dictum: “Dance or die”.

Mother Monster’s ruling sets into motion an operatic 150-minute show – her first in Australia since the artRAVE in August of 2014. For the entirety of the Mayhem Ball, Gaga careens between dancing and dying in what she calls her “gothic dream” – although it often reads more Halloween. Skeletons abound – no doubt a homage to the late Gaga muse Rick Genest, otherwise known as Zombie Boy. At times it’s downright Hitchcockian, Gaga a veritable Kim Novak as she switches between blond and brunette selves with each wig change.

How many spiders and pseudoscorpions does it take to make one of the world’s greatest taxonomists?

Former Perth curator Mark Harvey is one of the few people on Earth to have described 1,000 new species, many of them arachnids. Colleagues say his legacy is ‘unquantifiable’

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For most people around the world, 16 August 1977 was memorable because it was the day Elvis Presley died.

“We turned the radio on when we got back in the car and that was the headline. Elvis was dead,” remembers Dr Mark Harvey.

From ‘terrorist’ to national treasure, renowned Māori activist finally tells his own story

Tāme Iti’s colourful memoir covers his decades-long fight for Indigenous rights in New Zealand and takes aim at ‘saboteurs’ in the government

There are so many ways to begin telling the story of Tāme Iti, arguably New Zealand’s most recognisable Māori rights activist, who was once branded a terrorist by the state and is now considered by many a national treasure.

You could begin with his formative school years at the foot of Te Urewera ranges, where he was made to write the lines “I will not speak Māori” as punishment for speaking his language – lines that have since become a prominent feature of his art and activism.

‘Cultivate resistance’: policy paper lays bare Trump support for Europe’s far right

Text signed by president seems to echo ‘great replacement’ theory, saying Europe faces ‘civilisational erasure’

Donald Trump’s administration has said Europe faces “civilisational erasure” within the next two decades as a result of migration and EU integration, arguing in a policy document that the US must “cultivate resistance” within the continent to “Europe’s current trajectory”.

Billed as “a roadmap to ensure America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history and the home of freedom on earth”, the US National Security Strategy makes explicit Washington’s support for Europe’s nationalist far-right parties.

2 Louisiana inmates on the run after escape through damaged jail wall

Officials in Louisiana say two inmates accused of violent crimes are on the run after escaping from jail by removing pieces of a wall and using sheets to scale a wall.

Officials expand probe into Waymo over robotaxis driving around buses

Federal regulators are investigating multiple Texas incidents in which the robotaxis drove around stopped school buses.

HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait

Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered.

Professor visiting Harvard arrested by ICE agrees to leave country

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, charged with firing a pellet gun on eve of Yom Kippur outside a synagogue, has said he was not aware of the holiday or that he was shooting next to one

US immigration authorities arrested a visiting professor at Harvard law school after he was charged with discharging a pellet gun outside a Massachusetts synagogue the day before Yom Kippur, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday – and he agreed to leave the country.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, a Brazilian citizen, was arrested on Wednesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his temporary nonimmigrant visa was revoked by the state department following what the Trump administration labeled an “anti-semitic shooting incident” – a description at odds with how local authorities have described the case.

Premier League news: Mejbri banned for spitting; Rodri’s return delayed

Word from the top-tier press conferences, including Maresca singling out Adarabioyo’s gaffes and Paquetá expecting an instant West Ham return

Thomas Frank faces Brentford reunion not knowing his best Spurs team

• Frank up against former club Brentford on Saturday

• Dane urges team to ‘be calm’ if they concede first

Thomas Frank has admitted he is still to decide on his best Tottenham team but promised his players would not panic should they concede another early goal in Saturday’s meeting with his former club Brentford.

Spurs suffered their record-equalling 10th home defeat of 2025 against Fulham last Saturday after going 2-0 down in the sixth minute and a section of supporters booed the goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after his mistake for the second. But a spirited performance at Newcastle in midweek in which Cristian Romero equalised with an overhead kick in added time has lifted spirits after three successive losses.

Fackham Hall review – Downton Abbey spoof is fast, funny and throwaway

Period drama parody has some decent and often smart gags and benefits from a game cast including Damian Lewis and Thomasin McKenzie

Perhaps it’s the feeling of end times in the air: after years of inactivity, spoofs are making a comeback. This summer saw the resurgence of the lighthearted genre, which at its best sends up the pretensions of overly serious genre with a barrage of pitched cliches, sight gags and stupid-clever puns. The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson in a spoof of a buddy-cop spoof, opened to moderate box office success; the hapless rock band dialed it back up to 11 in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Reboots of the horror spoof gold-standard Scary Movie and the Mel Brooks Star Wars rip Spaceballs were greenlit, and there were rumors of a return for international man of mystery Austin Powers. Unserious times, it seems, beget appetite for knowingly unserious, joke-dense, refreshingly shallow fun.

The latest of these goofy parodies, which premieres on the beyond-parody day that Fifa awarded Donald Trump an inaugural peace prize and Netflix announced its plan to buy Warner Bros, is Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that pokes at the very pokeable pretensions of gilded British period dramas. (Yes, Fackham rhymes with a crass kiss-off to the aristocracy.) Co-written by British Irish comedian and TV presenter Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O’Hanlon, Fackham Hall has plenty of material to work with – the historical soap’s grand finale just premiered in September, 15 years after Julian Fellowes’s series started going upstairs-downstairs with ludicrous portent – and wastes none of it. From ludicrous start (servants rolling joints for the household and responding to calls from the “masturbatorium”) to ludicrous finish (someone manages to marry a second cousin rather than a first!), this enjoyable silver-spoon romp packs all of its 97 minutes with jokes and bits ranging from the puerile to the genuinely funny, proving that there may yet be more to wring from eat-the-rich satire.

The Liz Truss Show review – hapless ravings from a cupboard

Britain’s briefest PM kept her fans waiting before launching her latest plea for Maga attention in the form of a ham-fisted YouTube talk show

In the lead-up to the launch of The Liz Truss Show – the hot new YouTube series from Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister – one phrase was repeated time and time again: “They tried to silence her.” Turns out they didn’t need to, because Truss was perfectly capable of doing that herself.

Episode 1, she tweeted, would be available on Friday at 6pm. Except, on Friday at 6pm, it was nowhere to be seen. By 6.05, with still no sign of it, her faithful began to grow itchy. “Where’s your show?” they tweeted at her. A few more minutes passed. “FFS Liz get your act together,” sighed another.

People flee DR Congo fighting one day after peace deal signed in Washington

Hundreds driven into Rwanda as M23 militia battles Congolese army and Burundian soldiers for border town of Kamanyola

Fresh fighting in eastern DR Congo has forced hundreds to flee across the border into Rwanda, a day after a peace deal was signed in Washington DC.

Thursday’s agreement was meant to stabilise the resource-rich east but it has had little visible effect on the ground so far, in an area plagued by conflict for 30 years.

Sale blow 14-0 lead to slump to home defeat by Glasgow in Champions Cup opener

• Sale 21-26 Glasgow

• Alex Sanderson’s injury-hit side in worrying slide

Losing is in danger of becoming a habit for Sale after a stellar ­Glasgow side headed back north with a ­bonus-point win in this Champions Cup opener.

Alex Sanderson’s hosts, beaten here by Exeter a week ago and already off the pace in their Prem campaign, let slip an early 14-0 lead to a Warriors team packed with some of Scotland’s finest talent.

World Cup draw: group-by-group analysis for the 2026 tournament

How each team qualified, who will be favourites to progress to the knockout stage and which games to look out for

The opening game in the Azteca will be a repeat of the opener in 2010 when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico in Soccer City, Soweto. Mexico have won one knockout game at the World Cup, beating Bulgaria last time they hosted, in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that side and will be targeting their third quarter-final as hosts. South Africa, coached by the veteran Belgian Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin, despite having a game against Lesotho they appeared to have won awarded against them for fielding a suspended player.

For Gen Zers, finding work after college is often a painful slog

"It's very discouraging," said one young job-seeker as employers pull back on hiring entry-level workers.

Frank Gehry, renowned architect, dies at age 96

Frank Gehry was known for designing the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

US supreme court to decide on legality of Trump birthright citizenship order

Justices to take up case amid legal fight over order to heavily restrict right to birthright citizenship in US

The US supreme court agreed on Friday to decide the legality of Donald Trump’s order to heavily restrict the right to birthright citizenship, the long-held constitutional principle that individuals born on US soil are automatically United States citizens.

The justices will hear the president’s request to uphold his executive order on birthright citizenship, issued just hours after Trump took office for his second term and immediately blocked from taking effect.

Trump's 'garbage' comment met with disappointment in Somalia

In Somalia, people are pushing back and pointing to the positives after President Trump disparaged their country.

2026 FIFA Men's World Cup groups revealed; Team USA learns its opponents

The 2026 Men's World Cup will be held across the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.

Frank Gehry, legendary Canadian-American architect, dies aged 96

The architect, whose work included the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, died after a brief illness

• From Bilbao to Las Vegas: Frank Gehry’s incredible architecture – in pictures

Frank Gehry, one of the most influential and distinctive talents in American architecture, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles following a brief respiratory illness, his chief of staff confirmed. He was 96.

Gehry, the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright, was one of the first to embrace the potential of computer design, and pioneered a distinctively exuberant style of bravura power, whimsical and arresting collisions of form. His most famous work remains the Guggenheim Museumin Bilbao, a fantastical, titanium-clad composition on the Nervión River which received international acclaim upon its opening in 1997, heralding a new era of emotive architecture.

Trump wins his peace prize from Fifa – any chance of a VAR review?

At a gaudy and gauche World Cup draw, Gianni Infantino went all out to flatter the world’s most precious ego

• Full report: Trump awarded inaugural Fifa peace prize at World Cup draw in Washington

It had about as much drama and suspense as reading a dictionary or watching election results come in from North Korea.

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump won the inaugural Fifa peace prize on Friday at a cheesy, gaudy and gauche World Cup draw expertly designed to flatter the world’s most precious ego.

Meta acquiring AI wearable company Limitless

Meta has acquired the startup Limitless, which makes a small, artificial intelligence-powered pendant.

Supreme Court to hear case on Trump birthright citizenship order

The U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment had been understood to grant citizenship to children born in the country, even if their parents are not citizens.

Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of Trump's birthright citizenship order

The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide the legality of President Trump's executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship​.

Here's where minimum wage increases are set to kick in next year

Minimum wages are set to rise in 22 U.S. states and 66 cities and counties next year, even as the federal baseline wage remains at $7.25.

Norris’ date with F1 destiny arrives as he aims to keep Verstappen and Piastri at bay

He has a 12-point lead before Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP but the British driver vows to ‘crack on’ if the title goes elsewhere

The atmosphere at a season-deciding finale in the Formula One world championship is like no other. The paddock positively hums with a febrile, pulsing excitement and sense of expectation that is impossible to ignore. Amid all of which the title favourite, Lando Norris, finds himself at the moment he has dedicated his life toward, destiny lying in his own hands.

After a gruelling 23-race trek around the world, the conclusion of all the work, sacrifice and effort will be decided in just an hour and a half on Sunday afternoon in Abu Dhabi.

Wretched start to six wins in a row: how Aston Villa turned their season around

As Premier League’s most in-form side prepare to host Arsenal their experience is beginning to look like a superpower

In a parallel universe somewhere, Unai Emery is still wrestling with his black puffer coat in his dugout at the Amex Stadium, trying to force his hands through the sleeves, fresh from hurling it to the ground in wild celebration. The adrenaline of Aston Villa’s 4-3 comeback win at Brighton on Wednesday has probably only just faded. He made cinematic viewing and triggered memories of Mario Balotelli struggling to put on a warm-up bib and Tim Sherwood, while Villa manager a decade ago, launching his club-branded jacket towards the turf after Christian Benteke equalised against QPR.

By the end, Emery was hoarse and Villa had chalked up an eighth victory in nine Premier League matches, 12 out of 14 in all competitions. Across the past 10 league matches, Villa have accrued a division-high 25 points and in that time only Manchester City have scored more goals and Arsenal conceded fewer. This is the same team that failed to win any of their opening six matches and took three points from their first five league games. At that point Emery was concerned and shared his feelings with his squad, insisting his players raise their performance levels at training and in matches. Belief within an experienced squad – at 27.4 years, the average age of players selected in the league this season is the joint-oldest, with Fulham – did not waver.

Judge orders unsealing of grand jury transcripts from Epstein case in Florida

A federal judge granted a Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts from a federal investigation in Florida into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Putin and Modi expand India-Russia economic ties in talks in New Delhi

India gave Russia's leader a warm welcome in his first visit since his country invaded Ukraine. The visit in part signaled India's defiance of the U.S., which has punished New Delhi for buying Russian oil.

World Cup 2026 draw: England face two 2018 reunions, Scotland land Brazil

• England to play Croatia, Panama and Ghana in Group L

• France joined by Senegal and Norway in Group I

• Trump awarded inaugural Fifa peace prize

England will face a rematch of their 2018 semi-final in the opening fixture of their World Cup campaign next summer, after they were drawn alongside Croatia in Group L.

England will also play Panama, another side they faced at the Russia World Cup, and Ghana. Venues and kick-off times will be announced from 5pm GMT on Saturday but the group’s matches are split across four US cities – Dallas, Boston, New York/New Jersey and Philadelphia – and Toronto.

‘This merger must be blocked’: Netflix-Warner Bros deal faces fierce backlash

US politicians and Hollywood guilds have voiced concerns against the proposed $83bn purchase of the studio

The news that Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros in an $83bn deal has led to backlash among figures in and out of the entertainment industry.

Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator, called it “an anti-monopoly nightmare” in a statement released soon after the announcement.

Trump admin views Netflix and Warner Bros. deal with 'heavy skepticism': Senior official

Paramount Skydance, whose CEO David Ellison is friendly with the Trump administration, wanted to buy WBD outright, making several bids for its full portfolio.

David Ellison's hunt for WBD made David Zaslav richer — and it may not be over

Paramount is considering taking an offer to WBD shareholders, thinking its deal has a better chance of gaining regulatory approval than Netflix's, sources said.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Russian airstrikes in Kyiv, floods in Colombo, the cold moon in Gaza and Trump at the World Cup draw: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole confessed, said he supports Trump and has anarchist views: MS NOW

Cole spoke to the authorities for "more than four hours" after his arrest, the government told a judge during the suspect's initial court appearance.

AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media

Hundreds of videos on TikTok and elsewhere impersonate experts to sell supplements with unproven effects

TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation.

The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions of doctors and influencers directing viewers to Wellness Nest, a US-based supplements firm.

Former Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’

Exclusive: Yinka Bankole says he felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader’s attempts to ‘dismiss’ hurt of alleged targets

• I’ll never forget the look of hatred Nigel Farage had for me at school, simply for existing

A former Dulwich college pupil who claims a teenage Nigel Farage told him “that’s the way back to Africa” has said he felt compelled to speak out after the Reform leader’s attempt at “denying or dismissing” the hurt of his alleged targets.

Yinka Bankole, who claims he had just started at the school when a 17-year-old Farage singled him out for abuse, said he had decided to tell his story in full after watching the Reform leader’s press conference on Thursday.

For the first time this century, child deaths under age 5 will likely rise. Why?

A dramatic drop in mortality for youngsters under age 5 has been one of the great accomplishments in global health. But estimates suggest that in 2025 child deaths will go up.

The Trump administration sinks to a new low – opening fire on drowning men | Jonathan Freedland

These deadly US boat strikes are the latest example of a president corrupting both the law and morality

The Trump administration looks ever more like a criminal enterprise – and now it seems to have added war crimes to its repertoire. Though even that may be too generous a description.

On Thursday, word came that the US military had launched yet another deadly strike on a small boat moving through international waters. This time the attack killed four people, bringing to at least 87 the number of people the US has killed in a series of 22 such strikes on what it says are drug boats – vessels carrying illicit narcotics in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Guardian newsroom: Year One of Trumpism: Is Britain Emulating the US?
On Wednesday 21 January 2026, join Jonathan Freedland, Tania Branigan and Nick Lowles as they reflect on the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency – and to ask if Britain could be set on the same path.
Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Appeals court hands Trump a victory, OK'ing firings of two independent agency heads

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that President Trump's firings of Democratic members of the Merit Systems Protection Board and the National Labor Relations Board were lawful.

EU hits Elon Musk's X with $140 million fine over business practices

The fines were due to the platform's misleading use of blue check marks to identify verified users and a lack of transparency over ads and data access for researchers.

Core inflation rate watched by Fed hit 2.8%, delayed September data shows, lower than expected

The delayed core personal consumption expenditures price index for September was expected to show a 2.9% annual increase.

Trump awarded inaugural Fifa peace prize at World Cup draw in Washington

• Trump praised by Infantino at DC ceremony

• President’s peace claims disputed by critics

• Look back at our World Cup draw live blog

Donald Trump has been named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming “the world is a safer place now” as he received the award at the draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington DC.

Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president and one of Trump’s closest sporting allies, presented the honour onstage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, saying Trump had been selected “in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world”.

Brighton owner Tony Bloom faces questions over allegations he bet on his own teams

Exclusive: Billionaire is claimed to be anonymous figure behind $70m of wins in US legal case. He denies betting on his own teams

Tony Bloom, the billionaire owner of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, is facing questions over claims he was an anonymous gambler behind $70m (£52m) in winnings – which allegedly included bets on his football teams.

Bloom – one of the world’s most successful professional gamblers – is claimed to be the “John Doe” referred to in a US legal case that tried to unmask who has benefited from the lucrative winning streak.

Trump's security strategy slams European allies and asserts U.S. power in the Americas

The Trump administration has set forth a national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America's dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

The Guide #220: The best things we watched, read and listened to this year – that weren’t from 2025

In this week’s newsletter: We revisit forgotten noirs, rediscovered albums and retro games that stole the year

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We’ve just inched into December, which of course means Christmas list season. Already, five days in, plenty of publications have shared their cultural best-ofs for 2025 – you can read the Guardian’s best books and songs of the year right now, with our countdowns in TV, film and music coming very soon.

Meanwhile, many of you will have been bombarded on social media by screengrabs of your colleagues/friends/enemies’ Spotify Wrapped playlists (though Mood Machine author Liz Pelly has written pretty convincingly about why you shouldn’t share yours). This year’s Wrapped includes a “listening age” feature, which uses the release dates of the music you streamed to determine how horribly out-of-date your tastes are – revealing to some users that they are, in fact, centenarians.

Scarlett Johansson joining the Batverse is good news for the franchise – but who will she play?

The actor who marries box office ratings with Wes Anderson cool should revive the Batman series, but trying to guess who she might play is a thankless task

For years the follow-up to Matt Reeves’ slick but glacially paced 2022 comic-book epic The Batman has existed in a dimly lit rumour void. We know it will eventually get here (supposedly in October 2027), but nobody knows quite what it will look like. Entire geological epochs may come and go before the film-maker finally decides which doyen of Batman’s infamous rogues’ gallery he wants to unleash next. The foundations of Gotham itself may shift before Reeves works out which brooding, rain-soaked grunge ditty will form the basis of the new soundtrack.

And then – out of nowhere – comes this week’s news that Scarlett Johansson is in final talks to join the cast of the sequel. We have no idea who she’s likely to play but it matters not: this feels consequential, a bat-signal flickering to life over a city long abandoned. Johansson is more than just an A-lister; she’s one of the few actors who still puts bums on seats and appears in Wes Anderson movies. She retains a veneer of golden-era Hollywood cool that feels exactly right.

The end of big-screen cinema? What Netflix hopes to achieve by buying Warner Bros | Andrew Pulver

IP success stories such as Barbie and the DC Universe? That elusive best picture Oscar? Or perhaps the main goal is a good old-fashioned blockbuster

Corporate Hollywood has undergone huge upheavals in recent years – as consequential, perhaps, as the 1970s and 80s, when the studio marques that had made their names in the movies’ golden age were being bought up by international conglomerates. The acquisition of Warner Bros – legendary for crime pictures in the 40s and 50s, and Batman movies in the 90s and 00s – by a streaming service feels particularly significant, coming as it does on the back of the merger of Paramount with Skydance Media earlier this year and, in 2019, Disney’s purchase of fellow studio 21st Century Fox.

What is most evident in all these deals is how streaming services have changed the game. Disney’s buying spree – which had previously included Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar – in retrospect looks essentially like preparatory positioning to increase the marketability of their Disney+ player. It is significant that the new Paramount regime’s first move was to prise Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer away from Netflix. And Netflix, of course, have made their billions by upending the traditional pitch-session-to-cinema pipeline that had sustained the film industry for decades. They have signed up legions of the classiest directors, hogged nearly all the audience-friendly documentaries and premiered one water-cooler series after another.

Austria to go ahead with Eurovision despite financial impact of boycott

Host broadcaster says show will not suffer after four countries withdraw from 2026 contest over Israel and Gaza

Austria has said it will continue with plans to host next year’s Eurovision, in spite of its budget being hit by four countries boycotting the song contest over Israel’s participation and the war in Gaza.

At a meeting in Geneva, the national broadcasters that make up the European Broadcasting Union gave the all clear for Israel to take part in next year’s event in Vienna, the contest’s 70th anniversary edition.

CDC advisers vote to overturn decades-long policy on hepatitis B vaccine for infants

In a controversial move, the vaccine advisory group reversed a recommendations for universal immunizing of newborns intended to protect them from a virus that attacks the liver.

Saracens hatch plan to put dent in French dominance against Clermont

Even without Maro Itoje, Ben Earl and Jamie George, the English club are set to deploy a formidable lineup against their depleted opponents

Judging by the Saracens side ­starting their Champions Cup campaign against Clermont Auvergne on Saturday, a show of strength is the aim. Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Tom Willis and Nick Isiekwe are some of the ^­distinguished names who will line up in north ­London aiming to put a small, symbolic dent in the notion that French clubs are poised to dominate the competition again.

Even without the rested England captain, Maro Itoje, and back-row Ben Earl – both recently returned from a successful autumn campaign – the quality of the lineup indicates the depth required for a deep tournament run.

Martin Rowson on Israel’s participation in Eurovision – cartoon

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Eurovision has faced political boycotts before – how does the latest compare?

Decision by four countries to pull out over Israel’s inclusion is significant for the contest but crisis may not be existential

The decision by four European broadcasters to boycott next year’s Eurovision over Israel’s inclusion is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the 70-year history of the song contest.

One of the few genuinely popular, non-elitist and pan-European cultural events will be without Spain, one of the “big five” nations in terms of financial contributions; Ireland, which has won the contest more times than any other country bar Sweden; the Netherlands, a 1956 founding member; and Slovenia, symbolic of the EU’s eastward enlargement.

Former doctor charged with sexual assaults against 38 patients in his care

Nathaniel Spencer, from Birmingham, is accused of 45 offences, including some against children under 13

A former doctor has been charged with carrying out sexual assaults against 38 people who were patients in his care.

Nathaniel Spencer, from Birmingham, is accused of dozens of acts of sexual assault, some of them against children younger than 13, between 2017 and 2021.

Are you a swing voter? We want to hear how you're feeling about politics

Do you think the country is going in the right or wrong direction? Are you happy with your vote last year or do you have any regrets? Or maybe you sat the election out? NPR wants to speak with swing voters across the political spectrum.

What would you write in a very last letter and why?

If you had the chance to write just one last letter, to whom would you send it?

The Danish postal service will deliver its last letter at the end of this month to focus on packages, citing the “increasing digitalisation” of society.

While the public will still be able to send letters through the distributor DAO, it made us think about how we would use that last chance to send a letter.

German MPs rubberstamp military service plan amid school pupil protests

All 18-year-old men to be screened for suitability for armed forces, but proposal falls short of conscription

The German parliament has rubberstamped a new model for military service that aims to boost its armed forces as thousands of school pupils demonstrated across the country against the plans.

The change will include the obligatory screening of all 18-year-old men to gauge their suitability to serve in the military from 1 January, but does not include conscription, as favoured by some conservative politicians.

I spent hours listening to Sabrina Carpenter this year. So why do I have a Spotify ‘listening age’ of 86?

Many users of the app were shocked, this week, by this addition to the Spotify Wrapped roundup – especially twentysomethings who were judged to be 100

“Age is just a number. So don’t take this personally.” Those words were the first inkling I had that I was about to receive some very bad news.

I woke up on Wednesday with a mild hangover after celebrating my 44th birthday. Unfortunately for me, this was the day Spotify released “Spotify Wrapped”, its analysis of (in my case) the 4,863 minutes I had spent listening to music on its platform over the past year. And this year, for the first time, they are calculating the “listening age” of all their users.

Horror game Horses has been banned from sale – but is it as controversial as you’d think?

Pulled by Steam and Epic Games Store, indie horror Horses shook up the industry before it was even released. Now it’s out, all the drama surrounding it seems superfluous

On 25 November, award-winning Italian developer Santa Ragione, responsible for acclaimed titles such as MirrorMoon EP and Saturnalia, revealed that its latest project, Horses, had been banned from Steam - the largest digital store for PC games. A week later, another popular storefront, Epic Games Store, also pulled Horses, right before its 2 December launch date. The game was also briefly removed from the Humble Store, but was reinstated a day later.

The controversy has helped the game rocket to the top of the digital stores that are selling it, namely itch.io and GOG. But the question remains – why was it banned? Horses certainly delves into some intensely controversial topics (a content warning at the start details, “physical violence, psychological abuse, gory imagery, depiction of slavery, physical and psychological torture, domestic abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and misogyny”) and is upsetting and unnerving.

Just not that into ewes: ‘gay sheep’ escape slaughter and take over a New York catwalk

Designer Michael Schmidt’s 36-piece collection was made from the wool of rams who have shown same-sex attraction

When a ram tips its head back, curls its upper lip, and takes a deep breath – what is known in the world of animal husbandry as a “flehmen response” – it is often a sign of arousal. Sheep have a small sensory organ located above the roof of the mouth, and the flehmen response helps to flood it with any sex pheromones wafting about.

Usually, rams flehmen when they encounter ewes during the mating period, according to Michael Stücke, a farmer with 30 years of experience raising sheep in Westphalia, Germany. But on Stücke’s farm, the rams flehmen “all the time”.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair – what does the new Tarantino cut offer?

The director’s two-part revenge saga has now been released as one mammoth movie with several tweaks and additions

Quentin Tarantino and his epic revenge saga Kill Bill had, as the vengeful lead character in the movie keeps saying, unfinished business. Actually, Tarantino mostly finished the business of re-integrating two volumes of Kill Bill into a single feature as early as 2006, just a couple of years after the release of Kill Bill: Vol 2. But while that version played at Cannes and had a few more recent runs at Tarantino-owned theaters in Los Angeles, it never reached home video (though some bootlegs attempted to recreate it) or a wide theatrical release. That’s all changed with this weekend’s debut of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, a four-and-a-half-hour version of the movie hitting over 1,000 screens across North America.

Tarantino made long movies before and after Kill Bill; features that run over two and a half hours make up the vast majority of his filmography. But in the early 2000s, Kill Bill represented a major pivot for the film-maker, away from his then-signature crime dramas with healthy helpings of black comedy. Tarantino and his Pulp Fiction star Uma Thurman cooked up the character of the Bride – “Q & U” are named as providers of the source material in the credits – as a pregnant ex-assassin who becomes the victim of a vicious wedding-eve attack from her ex-boss/lover (that would be Bill) and their lethal colleagues (those would be the other four on her “death list five”, a phrase whose rhythm recalls Fox Force Five, the fictional TV pilot Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction once starred in). The Bride unexpectedly survives the shooting, goes into a coma, and wakes up years later desperate for revenge, forming the backbone of a movie that pays extensive tribute to the kung fu, exploitation and revenge movies of Tarantino’s youth – and his dreams, if the vividly colorful look of the film is any indication.

‘He’s the new Daniel Day-Lewis’: Margot Robbie defends Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights

Robbie addresses backlash to casting Elordi as a character described by Brontë as ‘dark-skinned’, while Fennell praises her female star’s ‘big dick energy’

Margot Robbie has come out in defence of Emerald Fennell’s new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, in which she is playing Cathy opposite Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff.

Despite being months away from release, the film has attracted criticism for its casting as well as alterations that Fennell has made to the characters. In an interview with Vogue magazine, Robbie said: “I get it … there’s nothing else to go off at this point until people see the movie.”

Russell Crowe’s 20 best roles – sorted!

With Nuremberg out in Australian cinemas, we cast an eye over Rusty’s eclectic, varied and downright impressive oeuvre. Are you not entertained?

Russell Crowe’s hair-raising performance as Hermann Göring in Nuremberg is the latest example of the veteran actor’s high-risk, high-reward approach. He has a knack for taking on difficult, baggage-laden roles that could have gone spectacularly badly – only to deliver the goods and make you want to stand up and yell “bravo!” You’ll struggle to find many other actors working today with an oeuvre as eclectic, varied and downright impressive as the Wellington-born star’s. Here are his 20 greatest performances.

Maximum protein, minimal carbs: why gym bros are flocking to Australia’s charcoal chicken shops

From El Jannah’s webpage dedicated to ‘health-conscious individuals’ to Habibi Chicken’s ‘Gym Bro’ pack, businesses are catering to the post-leg day crowd

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Popularised in Australia by Balkan and Lebanese immigrants, charcoal chicken has long been part of our comfort-food canon. But recently, the humble chicken shop has had a renaissance – driven by fresh takes on the classics, the expansion of longstanding chains and a surge of protein-conscious gym goers.

In June, charcoal chicken chain El Jannah, which has more than 50 stores, launched a page on its website dedicated to protein and macros – complete with recommendations for the best post-leg day order – a clear nod to the fitness crowd.

Cold moon over Gaza, snow in Seoul and the Olympic flame: photos of the day – Friday

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

Playwright Jeremy O Harris arrested in Japan for alleged drug smuggling

The writer of the Tony award-nominated Slave Play remains in custody after authorities say they found MDMA in his bag

American actor and playwright Jeremy O Harris, known for the Tony-nominated Slave Play, was arrested last month at an airport in Japan on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country, local authorities said late on Thursday.

Harris, 36, was stopped on 16 November at Naha airport on Okinawa island after a customs officer discovered 0.78 grams of crystal containing the synthetic drug MDMA in his tote bag, an Okinawa regional customs spokesperson said.

The Liz Truss Show will confront the big issues of the day. For example: who on earth would watch Liz Truss? | Marina Hyde

Everyone’s favourite former PM is back! Her mission? To save Britain from its current ‘doomloop’ with, you guessed it, a YouTube talkshow

Will you be seeing a pantomime this year? Birmingham’s got Gok Wan and Biggins in Robin Hood, Bradford has Sinitta in Snow White, while Bromley landed Su Pollard for Beauty and the Beast. And at the end of YouTube’s infinite pier, there’s The Liz Truss Show, starring She’s-Behind-You herself. Curtain up on that one is tonight at 6pm.

According to the producers, Liz’s show “confronts the issues that others tiptoe around”. Wow. The lives, loves, and clinical explanations? Let’s just say I’d watch that. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the format. Instead, like all seasonal entertainment, The Liz Truss Show is based on a fairytale. “The deep state and their allies in the media and politics tried to destroy me,” madam explains in a statement, “now I’m back.” Are the gilt markets the deep state now? Honestly, I can’t keep up. You’ll remember that the irony of Truss’s flameout at the hands of market forces was particularly acute given that she had spent an entire career explaining that free markets were the greatest judge of absolutely everything. Small ideological adjustment: free markets are now the greatest judge of everything except the ideas and personage of Liz Truss.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

‘I’ve had all the luck you can get’: Michael Caine retires for the fourth time

The 92-year-old actor made the announcement again as he received an award at the Red Sea international film festival in Saudi Arabia

Michael Caine has offered an update on his possible retirement from acting at the Red Sea international film festival in Saudi Arabia, appearing to call time on his career for the fourth time.

Taking to the stage to accept a lifetime achievement award, the actor said: “I kept going until I was 90, which was two years ago, and I thought to myself I’m not going to do anything else because I’ve had all the luck you can get.”

CDC panel to vote Friday on hepatitis B vaccine for newborns

The CDC's vaccine advisory panel meets Thursday and Friday to discuss recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine and the schedule of childhood shots.

California pesticide agency could loosen restrictions on most toxic rat poisons

The anti-coagulant rodenticides also unintentionally harm wildlife across the state, including endangered species

The administration of Gavin Newsom, the California governor, is moving to loosen restrictions around the most toxic rat poisons, even as a new state report shows the rodenticides are unintentionally poisoning wildlife across the state, including endangered species.

Blood-thinning, anticoagulant rodenticides were significantly restricted when a 2024 state law approved after 10 years of legislative wrangling required the California department of pesticide regulation to limit the substances’ use unless data showed species collaterally harmed or killed by it had rebounded.

Wayward England pace attack fumble their golden chance to strike with new ball | Simon Burnton

So good in the first innings in Perth, England’s bowlers were dismal in the opening session on day two to let Australia off the hook

Jofra Archer’s first ball zinged towards Jake Weatherald and screamed just past the bat. His second arrowed into his pads, knocking him off his feet, and after a review the umpire raised his finger.

Forty-five overs later, Australia were all out for not many. But that was Perth, a bowling performance that started with a statement of intent from England’s premier fast bowler and a lead followed by his teammates.

‘My God, what a story it would make’: film-maker Kevin Brownlow on It Happened Here and Winstanley

Brownlow is best known for restoring silent movies, but in conjunction with Andrew Mollo, he made two features, in 1964 and 1975, that look astonishingly prescient today

Anyone who has sat in the dark and watched the beautiful, glowing images of a silent film come to life on the screen has plenty to thank Kevin Brownlow for. Since the 1960s he has been on a quest to collect, preserve and restore these fragile artefacts of early cinema – thousands of which were lost, binned, or melted down for their silver content. He even won an honorary Oscar in 2010 for his efforts. But perhaps less well known is Brownlow’s career as a film director; not just with the various documentaries and TV shows related to his passion for silent movies, but in feature films that are as good as any of the more celebrated products of British cinema’s 1960s and 70s golden age.

Brownlow, in conjunction with co-director (and historian) Andrew Mollo, has two brilliant features on his CV: It Happened Here, released in 1964, and Winstanley, released more than a decade later in 1975. But that was it. Brownlow, now 87, seems pretty sanguine about it. “We did try,” he says. “If producers had been enthusiastic, I’m sure we’d have made at least one more feature.”

Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments

Exclusive: Group’s open letter says Reform UK leader must take responsibility for behaviour as a schoolboy

A group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich college allege he made toward Jewish pupils.

The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with intent but may have engaged in “banter in a playground”.

Add to playlist: DJ Moopie’s charmingly moody experimental compilations and the week’s best new tracks

Connoisseurs of all things delicate and deeply felt will love the music put out by A Colourful Storm, the Melbourne-based DJ’s indie label

From Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 compilation, AU/NZ jangle-pop, Mess Esque
Up next Going Back to Sleep out now

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that can run the gamut from gelid ambient music to churning drum’n’bass and beyond. He also runs A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to putting out charmingly moody experimental pop music, from artists as disparate as London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

In 2017, the label released I Won’t Have to Think About You, a compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. Earlier this year, it put out Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which also functions as a neatly drawn guide to some of the best twee-pop groups currently working. Sydney band Daily Toll, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is one of the year’s underrated gems, contribute Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), push into percussive, psychedelic lounge pop on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, one of Melbourne’s best new bands, channel equal parts Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; minimalist Sydney group the Lewers; and sun-dappled folk-pop from Dutch duo the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s almost certain to become well-loved and frequently referenced among connoisseurs of all things delicate and deeply felt. Shaad D’Souza

Composting for your garden? This ancient method requires minimal effort

Digging a trench alongside your vegetable bed is an easy way to dispose of food and plant waste, and enrich soil for next year’s crops

On a visit to our friends’ house recently, the subject of food waste came up. They haven’t got a tucked-away spot to set up a compost bin or heap in their garden, and their local council doesn’t collect. They had put their effort into bokashi composting in the past, but with a baby on the way I suspect they’ll have more than enough to do without taking on the added responsibility of caring for a bucket of fermenting kitchen scraps.

But as they’re already accustomed to burying their bokashi-ed vegetable peelings, it got me thinking about how low effort and high impact trench composting can be for those without room for a larger system. Trench composting is the simple process of putting your compostable matter – fruit and vegetable waste, plant material from the garden, grass clippings, leaves, etc – into a trench near where you’re planning to grow your crops next year. Over the coming months, this organic matter will slowly decompose, enriching the soil and improving its structure, making it ready to welcome the following season’s plants. No further effort is required from you to engage in this ancient approach.

Five of the best science fiction books of 2025

An eco-masterpiece, icy intrigue, cyberpunkish cyborgs, memory-eating aliens and super-fast travel sends the world spinning out of control

Circular Motion
Alex Foster (Grove)
Alex Foster’s novel treats climate catastrophe through high-concept satire. A new technology of super-fast pods revolutionises travel: launched into low orbit from spring-loaded podiums, they fly west and land again in minutes, regardless of distance. Since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, our globe starts to spin faster. Days contract, first by seconds, then minutes, and eventually hours. It’s a gonzo conceit, and Foster spells out the consequences, his richly rendered characters caught up in their own lives as the world spirals out of control. As days become six hours long, circadian rhythms go out of the window and oceans start to bulge at the equator. The increasing whirligig of the many strands of storytelling converge on their inevitable conclusion, with Foster’s sparky writing, clever plotting and biting wit spinning an excellent tale.

When There Are Wolves Again
EJ Swift (Arcadia)
There are few more pressing issues with which fiction can engage than the climate crisis, and SF, with its capacity to extrapolate into possible futures and dramatise the realities, is particularly well placed to do so. Swift’s superb novel is an eco-masterpiece. Its near-future narrative of collapse and recovery takes us from the rewilding of Chornobyl and the return of wolves to Europe, through setback and challenge, to 2070, a story by turns tragic, alarming, uplifting, poetic and ultimately hopeful. Swift’s accomplished prose and vivid characterisation connect large questions of the planet’s destiny with human intimacy and experience, and she avoids either a too-easy doomsterism or a facile techno-optimism. We can bring the world back from the brink, but it will require honesty, commitment, hard work and a proper sense of stewardship.

Rosa Parks’ vacant former home is an emblem of racist housing policies | Bernadette Atuahene

Seventy years after the Montgomery bus boycott, policies hiding in plain sight continue to ravage the Black community

Friday is the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, which began because Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat to a white person, as required by law. While her brave act brought national attention to the civil rights movement and triggered student sit-ins to end segregation across the south, it also subjected her and her husband, Raymond, to constant death threats. Consequently, like many other Black families fleeing Jim Crow south’s racial violence, in August 1957, Rosa and Raymond moved up north to Detroit.

When the Parks arrived in Detroit, they and other Black people did not have to sit at the back of the bus. Nonetheless, the city was permeated by a quieter but no less pernicious type of racism: racist policies, which are any written or unwritten laws and processes that produce or sustain racial inequity. In my book Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America, I demonstrate how racial covenants, redlining, urban renewal, blockbusting, predatory mortgage lending and racialized property tax administration have stymied the Black community.

Bernadette Atuahene is the Duggan professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, the executive director of the Institute for Law and Organizing, and the author of Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America

Nvidia partner Foxconn reports 26% revenue spike as AI boom continues

The Taiwanese company has increasingly moved into the AI infrastructure space in recent times

Melody’s Echo Chamber: Unclouded review – an enchanted, balmy garden of dreampop

(Domino)
Blooming strings, mellifluous guitars and airy vocals make Melody Prochet’s fourth album a calming place to visit – even if there’s a lack of standout tracks

French musician Melody Prochet, AKA Melody’s Echo Chamber, never struggles to find a supporting cast. Her self-titled 2012 debut was produced by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. On second album Bon Voyage (2018) she teamed up with Swedish psychedelic rock band Dungen, whose guitarist Reine Fiske popped up again on 2022’s Emotional Eternal and now features on Unclouded. Prochet’s fourth album is produced and partly co-written by composer Sven Wunder, and its dizzying array of contributors also includes Josefin Runsteen (opulent strings) and DJ Shadow collaborator Malcolm Catto (percussive fizz).

Still, somehow Prochet retains her own singular vision. Borrowing a title from a quote by Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki – “You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good” – Unclouded takes her airy vocals and baroque dreampop into brighter terrain. Some tracks have a 90s vibe, reminiscent of Saint Etienne or Lush. Others have a feel that can only be accurately described in horticultural terms: the blooming strings of the really lovely Broken Roses, or the sprinkles of xylophones that make Burning Man sound like, well, a Japanese garden.