12/11: CBS Evening News

Families flee homes amid catastrophic flooding in western Washington; Kansas man caring for dozens of raccoons fights to legalize them as pets

12/7: CBS Weekend News

Calls grow for video of second U.S. strike on alleged drug boat; Russia praises Trump's national security plan.

Trump pardons election official Tina Peters, but she was charged in state court

President Trump said he is granting a pardon to Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk who was convicted of allowing unauthorized access to voting machines — even though the pardon power is widely understood to only apply to federal crimes.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia leaves ICE detention after judge ordered release

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immediate release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

‘Charismatic, self-assured, formidable’: Lara Croft returns with two new Tomb Raider games

An all-new Croft adventure, Tomb Raider Catalyst, will be released in 2027 – and a remake of the action heroine’s first adventure arrives next year

After a long break for Lara Croft, a couple of fresh Tomb Raider adventures are on their way. They will be the first new games in the series since 2018, and both will be published by Amazon.

Announced at the Game Awards in LA, Tomb Raider Catalyst stars the “charismatic, self-assured, formidable Lara Croft” from the original 1990s games, says game director Will Kerslake. It’s set in the markets, mountains, and naturally the ancient buildings of northern India, where Lara is racing with other treasure hunters to track down potentially cataclysmic artefacts. It will be out in 2027.

Dozens killed in hospital strike in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state

Conflict monitors say the junta has increased airstrikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar’s civil war

Dozens have been killed in a military strike on a hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to an aid worker, a rebel group, a witness and local media reports, as the junta wages a withering offensive ahead of elections beginning this month.

“The situation is very terrible,” said on-site aid worker Wai Hun Aung. “As for now, we can confirm there are 31 deaths and we think there will be more deaths. Also there are 68 wounded and will be more and more.”

What's on your TikTok page? U.S. looks to scour tourists' online profiles

Foreign visitors who are eligible to bypass the visa application process may soon have to turn over five years' worth of social media history to enter the U.S., under a new Trump administration plan.

Trump expands Venezuela sanctions as Maduro decries new ‘era of piracy’

Six more oil supertankers added to sanctions list, as well as members of Maduro’s extended family, amid rising tensions following tanker seizure

Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.

Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.

Johnson says boat strike hit "able-bodied" survivors who were "not injured"

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he's satisfied with the intelligence and legality of the operation that killed two survivors of a U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat.

See how Minnesota fraudsters spent millions earmarked for hungry kids

Documents and images show luxury purchases and wire transfers to China and East Africa.

Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds

Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust

Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.

Climate breakdown is threatening the survival of polar bears. Two-thirds of them are expected to have disappeared by 2050 as their icy habitat melts and the weather becomes hotter.

Tens of thousands ordered to evacuate in Washington amid severe flooding

Heavy rain​ has triggered flooding, rescues and road closures in Washington state, with Gov. Bob Ferguson declaring a statewide emergency​.

Thailand set for early elections amid political deadlock and Cambodia skirmishes

Move follows a disagreement with the largest grouping in parliament, with elections to be held within 45-60 days

Thailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, announced on Thursday that he is “returning power to the people”, moving to dissolve parliament and clear the way for elections earlier than previously anticipated.

Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said the move followed a disagreement with the largest grouping in parliament, the opposition People’s party. “This happened because we can’t go forward in parliament,” he told Reuters.

Papua New Guinea grapples with HIV epidemic as it battles stigma and US aid cuts

Papua New Guinea has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the Asia-Pacific region, with many unaware they have the virus

After battling illness for years, Nancy Karipa tested positive for HIV in 1999. She had just given birth to her first child. “It was a crossroads moment for me, with the fear of denial, but I chose action,” Karipa, who is now in her 50s, said at an Aids awareness event in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby in December. She and the baby received treatment, and her child remains healthy.

Karipa, from East Sepik in northern PNG, is unusual in sharing her story. The stigma around the disease is high in the Pacific nation, but speaking out has never been more important. This year PNG declared HIV a “national crisis”.

Trump signs executive order blocking states from regulating AI

Order, which lacks the force of law, also creates taskforce whose ‘sole responsibility’ will be challenging states’ AI laws

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that seeks to halt any laws limiting artificial intelligence and block states from regulating the rapidly emerging technology. The order also creates a federal taskforce that will have the “sole responsibility” of challenging states’ AI laws.

At a signing ceremony, the president touted AI companies’ enthusiasm for wanting to “invest” in the United States and said that “if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it”.

Trump is trying to preempt state AI laws via an executive order. It may not be legal

The executive order is the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to hold back state-level AI rules. But many Republicans are also uncomfortable with the effort.

Kansas man caring for dozens of raccoons fights to legalize them as pets

In at least 32 states, pet raccoons are illegal. That includes Kansas, where one man with a soft spot for the creatures is hoping to change that. Dave Malkoff reports.

Erika Kirk: Controversial Charlie clips lack context

The CBS News town hall with Erika Kirk will air Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Erika Kirk says Charlie shouldn't be "deteriorated to two sentences" from viral clips

Erika Kirk said her husband Charlie's comments were often taken out of context as clips of his controversial stances circulated online following his assassination in September. See more of her conversation with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss in a one-hour town hall, airing Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Oracle's lease commitments jump by almost 150% as company builds out to meet AI demand

Oracle's lease commitments now total $248 billion, with $10 billion tied to cloud capacity.

Time magazine reveals its 2025 Person of the Year

Time magazine named "the architects of AI" its 2025 Person of the Year on Thursday, calling out tech industry leaders behind the rise in artificial intelligence.

How Minnesota fraudsters spent millions intended for hungry kids

The Somali community in Minnesota has been in the news recently because of a massive federal fraud case -- and heated political rhetoric from President Trump. Jonah Kaplan of CBS Minnesota continues his reporting on the scandal, with a look at how fraudsters spent hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.

Liam Neeson denies anti-vax views after narrating Covid documentary

Taken star lends his voice to a film that questions the legitimacy of vaccines and includes interview with RFK Jr

Liam Neeson has lent his voice to a new documentary that questions the legitimacy of vaccines and praises Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The film, called Plague of Corruption, is narrated by the Taken actor and based on a bestselling book co-authored by Judy Mikovits, a disgraced former scientist who gained notoriety during the Covid pandemic. She claimed Covid was caused by a bad strain of the flu vaccine and urged people not to get vaccinated.

911 calls reveal details about moments before Sherrone Moore's arrest

New 911 audio has revealed details about the chaotic moments leading to the arrest of former Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore. Dispatchers sent police to an apartment complex where the alleged victim detailed an encounter with Moore, who was allegedly carrying a knife. Jericka Duncan reports.

Families flee homes amid catastrophic flooding in western Washington

There's catastrophic flooding across western Washington after more than a dozen rivers hit a major flood stage, trapping residents in their homes and submerging vehicles. Carter Evans reports and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

Broadcom reveals its mystery $10 billion customer is Anthropic

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said Anthropic placed an additional $11 billion order in the fourth quarter.

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Gabriel Jesus is looking to impress, Daniel Muñoz is tough to replace and is this it for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool?

• Premier League top scorers: the Golden Boot race

This season Chelsea have held Arsenal after going down to 10 men and have beaten Barcelona, Liverpool and Tottenham. They have also dropped points against Atalanta, Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Leeds, Qarabag and Sunderland. It is clear that winning against smaller sides remains a problem for Enzo Maresca. Chelsea rise to the big occasion but inconsistency flares when they are expected to win. They do not like playing against deep defences – Maresca has often reacted with dismay when opponents switch to a back five to counter his carefully formulated plans – and can be forgiven if they are edgy about hosting Everton on Saturday. David Moyes’s side have just recorded clean sheets at Bournemouth and Manchester United. They will back themselves to neutralise Chelsea’s attacking talents. Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Liverpool v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Fulham, Saturday 5.30pm

Arsenal v Wolves, Saturday 8pm

Littler lights up Ally Pally opening night as prize money raises stakes

The PDC world darts championship is back, but could the new £1m winners’ cheque make this show too big?

A team of assistant referees walks into the Twelve Pins in Finsbury Park carrying linesmen’s flags and whistles. It’s 3pm on a Thursday, you think, they’ve probably just been reffing a local game. Then, you think, there isn’t a football pitch around here. And why haven’t they changed and showered? Then more referees walk in, more linesmen, one of them in a comedy wig. And eventually the penny drops.

Yes, “the Darts” is back: an indispensable festive trimming that – much like Christmas itself – always seems to roll around a little sooner every year. Fire up all the old cliches: “the beauty of set play”, “bent the wire”, “pressure the shot”. Wheel John Part out of the attic. Fingers poised on the 180 zoom. You know it’s serious, because it’s two hours before his match and Luke Littler is already on the practice board.

You know what's definitely not a 'hoax'? Our news quiz. Give it a go

What did Disney do now? Which beloved icons are having birthdays? Why is there a question about hair?

MyPillow's Mike Lindell announces he's running for Minnesota governor

MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell has announced he will run for Minnesota governor in 2026, seeking the Republican nomination to challenge DFL incumbent Gov. Tim Walz.

Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools

President Nayib Bukele entrusting chatbot known for calling itself ‘MechaHitler’ to create ‘AI-powered’ curricula

Elon Musk is partnering with the government of El Salvador to bring his artificial intelligence company’s chatbot, Grok, to more than 1 million students across the country, according to a Thursday announcement by xAI. Over the next two years, the plan is to “deploy” the chatbot to more than 5,000 public schools in an “AI-powered education program”.

xAI’s Grok is more known for referring to itself as “MechaHitler” and espousing far-right conspiracy theories than it is for public education. Over the past year, the chatbot has spewed various antisemitic content, decried “white genocide” and claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

Charlie Kirk murder suspect appears in court as judge weighs media access

Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. They plan to seek the death penalty.

Jason Collins, NBA’s first openly gay player, says he has a year to live after brain tumor diagnosis

• Collins discloses stage 4 glioblastoma diagnosis

• Former NBA trailblazer pursuing new therapies

• Symptoms appeared and worsened rapidly

Jason Collins, the former NBA player who became the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, said Thursday he’s battling “one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer”.

Collins, who revealed in a brief statement in September that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, said in an interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne published Thursday that he has stage 4 glioblastoma.

House passes INVEST Act to ease investment standards and boost capital in markets

"We make it easier to be a public company in America," House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, said during debate on the bill.

London venue ‘appalled’ after antisemitic imagery allegedly screened at Primal Scream gig

Roundhouse apologises after animation projected behind band appears to show Star of David entwined with swastika

A music venue in London has apologised after antisemitic imagery was allegedly displayed on stage during a Primal Scream gig.

A video appearing to show the Star of David entwined with a swastika was said to be screened during the Scottish band’s show at the Roundhouse in Camden on Monday.

Indiana Republicans reject effort to redraw voting maps in rebuke to Trump

Measure to redistrict, which would add two GOP-friendly seats, failed 19-31 after 21 Republicans joined 10 Democrats

• Trump news at a glance

Indiana Republicans rejected an effort to redraw the state’s congressional map on Thursday, a stunning and blunt rebuke of Donald Trump and Republican efforts to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts to add two more Republican-friendly seats.

The measure failed 19-31, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats in rejecting the new maps.

Indiana redistricting bill that Trump demanded defeated in state Senate

President Trump and the GOP mounted an immense pressure campaign in Indiana as they try to make the congressional map more favorable before the 2026 midterms.

Open AI, Microsoft sued over ChatGPT's alleged role in murder-suicide

The suit alleges the artificial intelligence chatbot intensified a man's "paranoid delusions" and helped direct them at his mother before he died by suicide.

Broadcom beats on earnings and revenue, says AI chip sales will double in current quarter

Broadcom's stock is near an all-time high and has climbed 75% so far in 2025 as the company benefits from booming demand for AI infrastructure.

Bessent calls for overhaul of regulator that protects U.S. financial system

Treasury Secretary's proposal to revamp the Financial Stability Oversight Council would expose Americans to risk, critics say.

Disney wants you to AI-generate yourself into your favorite Marvel movie

The media company is investing $1bn in OpenAI – and allowing its characters to be used in generated videos

Users of OpenAI’s video generation app will soon be able to see their own faces alongside characters from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney’s animated films, according to a joint announcement from the startup and Disney on Thursday. Perhaps you, Lightning McQueen and Iron Man are all dancing together in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Sora is an app made by OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, which allows users to generate videos of up to 20 seconds through short text prompts. The startup previously attempted to steer Sora’s output away from unlicensed copyrighted material, though with little success, which prompted threats of lawsuits by rights holders.

Camp Mystic hopes new flood warning system will prevent future catastrophes

In early July, more than 130 people were killed in catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country region, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic.

Director found guilty of scamming $11M from Netflix and buying luxury cars, mattresses

Carl Erik Rinsch, a Hollywood director, has been convicted on charges that he scammed Netflix out of $11 million for a show that never materialized.

Classy Tielemans seals win in Basel to keep Aston Villa on march in Europe

Roger Federer, an ardent Basel supporter, was up in the stands, in the posh seats to be precise, but even he could surely ignore his allegiances and appreciate the grace with which Youri Tielemans clinched victory for Aston Villa.

Unai Emery turned to Tielemans at half-time and the midfielder delivered within eight minutes, his classy first-time finish regaining the lead, after Evann Guessand’s early strike was cancelled out. This represented a 14th victory in their past 16 matches and it felt a significant one, too, given the pileup at the top of the table amid the scrap to advance automatically to the last 16 in March.

Crystal Palace climb Conference League table as Uche sparks Shelbourne stroll

This might be Crystal Palace’s first European campaign but they are learning very quickly. Having arrived in Dublin missing some of their big-hitters including star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and the marauding wing-back Daniel Muñoz, they left with a comfortable victory that virtually assured them of a place in the Conference League playoffs.

Oliver Glasner has already said that he will play a weakened team against Finnish side KuPS in their final group stage match next week despite slipping up against Strasbourg on their last outing as Palace are in the middle of a marathon December in which they will play eight times. So it was heartening for him to see some of his fringe players shine, as Christantus Uche capped only his second start since joining on an initial loan from Getafe in the summer with a well-taken goal and Eddie Nketiah scored for the second game in succession.

Ferguson’s double for Roma piles misery on Celtic in Nancy’s European debut

Two matches is not an adequate window in which to judge a manager. Nonetheless, these are worrying times for Wilfried Nancy and Celtic. Seriously worrying, in truth.

Back-to-back losses since the Frenchman’s arrival would be bad enough without the rampant manner in which Roma ensured six points from six in visits to Glasgow during this season’s Europa League. What a canter this proved from minute one.

Fed votes to reappoint all of its regional bank presidents

The Fed on Thursday reappointed 11 of its 12 regional bank presidents, ending a mini-drama at in a move that came a bit earlier than usual.

ICE issues deportation order for Belarusian woman extradited by FBI

Yana Leonova faces multiple charges including fraud and conspiracy for smuggling US aviation parts to Russia

An ongoing FBI investigation into a Belarusian woman accused of smuggling US aviation parts and electronics to Russia is teetering on the brink of collapse after being caught in what one judge called a “Kafkaesque” case brought on by the Trump administration’s attempts to deport her before she faces trial.

Federal prosecutors had worked for over a year to secure the extradition of Yana Leonova, who faces multiple charges including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. But their efforts unraveled when immigration officials abruptly issued an order to detain and deport her soon after she was flown into the US last month, a move that plunged the case into legal chaos.

In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan

Indiana Republicans resisted the call by President Trump for redistricting. He and the state's Republican governor threatened to back primary challenges against senators who wouldn't get on board.

Here's how Trump's $1 million "gold card" visa will work

The Trump administration says it's also creating a $5 million platinum card visa that will allow foreigners to live in the U.S. for 270 days a year.

DOJ fails again to get grand jury to indict New York AG Letitia James, a Trump target

The original indictments against Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey had been dismissed by a judge.

Rivian announces new AI tech, chip and robotaxi ambitions

The company has also developed AI models to power its Autonomy+ subscription, which it intends to roll out early next year for $2,500 up front or $49.99 a month.

Head Start centers told to avoid 'disability,' 'women' and more in funding requests

New court documents reveal a list of nearly 200 words or phrases the Trump administration told Head Start programs it does not want to see in their funding requests.

Trump administration creates new militarized zone in California along southern US border

Trump hands 760 acres of California public land to the navy for a new defense zone, deepening border militarization

The US’s southern border is poised to become more militarized following an announcement by Trump administration officials that armed forces would now oversee 760 acres of public land for a three-year period.

The US Department of Interior said in a statement that jurisdiction over this acreage – located in California’s San Diego and Imperial counties – would be transferred to the US navy “to establish a National Defense Area to support ongoing border security operations”.

California colleges agree settlements over antisemitism complaints

UC Berkeley apologizes to Israeli sociologist and dance teacher and Pomona to create taskforce on Jewish life

Two California colleges have reached settlements with Jewish organizations and individuals who filed complaints alleging antisemitism arising from pro-Palestinian campus protests, including a $60,000 payment to an Israeli sociologist and dance researcher who says she was not rehired by the University of California, Berkeley despite the popularity of her class.

The UC Berkeley chancellor, Rich Lyons, on Wednesday issued an apology to Yael Nativ, a visiting 2022 professor who was found in a campus investigation to have been the victim of discrimination, the Los Angeles Times reported. She is also invited to teach her class in a semester of her choosing.

Accused Charlie Kirk killer makes first in-person court appearance

Utah judge weighs media access in prosecution of Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder

The 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk made his first in-person court appearance on Thursday as his attorneys push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case.

A Utah judge is weighing the public’s right to know details in the prosecution of Tyler Robinson against his attorneys’ concerns that the swarm of media attention could interfere with his right to a fair trial.

US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president says plan would not be fair without guarantees that Russia would not simply take over zone

The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Previously, the US had suggested Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory.

Mike Lindell, Trump ally and MyPillow founder, running for Minnesota governor

Lindell, an election conspiracist who still maintains the 2020 election was stolen, joins a crowded Republican field

Mike Lindell, a pillow salesman and election conspiracist, is running for governor of Minnesota, he announced on Thursday.

Lindell, an ally of Donald Trump’s and major player in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, joins a crowded Republican primary in the left-leaning state, where his pillow company, MyPillow, is headquartered.

Bessent to propose major overhaul of regulatory body created from financial crisis

In a letter set to be released Thursday, Bessent will recommend changing the approach of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Trump pushes for top prosecutor nominee Halligan after judge tosses Comey, James cases

The Senate's "blue slip" tradition is likely to prevent Lindsey Halligan from becoming U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The case for more Fed rate cuts could rest on a 'systematic overcount' of jobs numbers

There are indications that policymakers will be more inclined to cut further if the labor market stays weak.

Seized tanker will go to U.S. port, Trump administration intends 'to seize the oil'

The U.S. government has kept the proceeds from past seizures of foreign oil, generating $47 million from forfeited Iranian assets in 2024

Forget flowers: These ancient plants attract pollinators by getting hot

While many modern plants use colorful flowers to attract pollinators, ancient palm-like plants called cycads lure them by heating up and glowing in the infrared.

Billion-dollar OpenAI deal allows users to make content with Disney characters

It's a whole new world for Mickey, Simba, Stitch and more as Disney brings hundreds of its characters to Sora, the short-form video platform from OpenAI, as part of a three-year licensing agreement.

Senate fails to advance health care bills, with price hikes coming for millions

The Senate on Thursday failed to advance competing Democratic and Republican measures to address health care costs. Follow live updates here.

The State Department reinstates an old font, in a typeface about-face

The State Department is swapping out Calibri for Times New Roman in all its official documents, reversing a Biden-era change that aimed to increase accessibility for readers with disabilities.

Sophie Kinsella obituary

Author whose Shopaholic series of romcom novels were global bestsellers and adapted into a Hollywood film

Sophie Kinsella, who has died of a brain tumour aged 55, was one of Britain’s most successful novelists, selling more than 50 million copies of her books, including the globally successful Shopaholic series. Through three decades she retained a loyal and passionate readership with her deceptively light and intricately plotted comic novels.

Like her best-known heroine, Becky Bloomwood, Kinsella began her writing career in financial journalism, but, realising she was uninspired (and probably not very good at it), she wrote a book, The Tennis Party, that was published in 1995, when she was 25, under her given name, Madeleine Wickham (“Maddy”). This was followed by five subsequent standalone “Aga sagas”, which all achieved moderate chart success and critical acclaim.

'Spoof' ship: Seized oil tanker Skipper hid location data, visited Iran and Venezuela

The seizure of the oil tanker Skipper comes as President Donald Trump has escalated pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in recent weeks.

Eurovision winner Nemo to return trophy in protest at Israel taking part in 2026

‘Clear conflict’ between Eurovision ideals of ‘inclusion and dignity for all’ and decision to let Israel compete, says 2024 winner

Nemo, the Swiss singer who won the 2024 Eurovision song contest, has said they are handing back their trophy in protest over Israel’s participation in next year’s event.

The 26-year-old, the first non-binary winner of the contest, said on Thursday there was “a clear conflict” between the Eurovision ideals of “unity, inclusion and dignity for all” and the decision to allow Israel to compete.

The Guardian view on Labour’s new peerages: another boost for the ermine arms race | Editorial

Sir Keir Starmer promised to bring meaningful reform to the House of Lords. He is failing to introduce it

In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer called the unelected House of Lords “indefensible”. This week, barely 18 months into his prime ministership, Sir Keir took the total of unelected peers he has appointed since July 2024 to 96. Remarkably, Wednesday’s 34 new life peerages, mainly Labour supporters, take his appointment total above those of each of his four most recent Conservative predecessors. You must go back to David Cameron to find a prime minister who did more to stuff the Lords than Sir Keir.

At the last election, Labour presented itself to the voters as a party of Lords reform. The party manifesto promised to remove the remaining hereditary peers, to reform the appointments process, to impose a peers’ retirement age, and to consult on proposals for replacing the Lords with an alternative second chamber. The House of Lords, the manifesto flatly declared, was “too big”.

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 far-right perversions of the Christmas message: promoting a gospel of hate | Editorial

A Tommy Robinson-inspired carol service is the latest sign of a burgeoning Christian nationalist movement. The Church of England is right to push back

The story of Christmas is a tale of poverty and flight from persecution. According to Christian tradition, humanity’s saviour is born in a stable, since Mary and Joseph are unable to find a room in Bethlehem. The holy family subsequently flee to Egypt to escape the murderous intentions of King Herod. This drama grounds the New Testament message of compassion for the stranger, the fugitive and all those who find themselves far from home. “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat,” says Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The spirit of a far-right show of force planned on Saturday by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, will be somewhat different. Since reportedly converting fully to Christianity while serving a prison sentence for contempt of court, Mr Yaxley-Lennon has energetically deployed his faith to promote his own gospel of ethnic discord and political polarisation. The Unite the Kingdom rally he organised in July featured hymns, a plethora of wooden crosses and a Christian preacher who spoke of a war against “the Muslim”. His latest provocation is a “carol service” in central London, ostensibly to “put Christ back in Christmas”.

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.

U.S. and Japan flex military muscles in a show of force amid Tokyo's feud with Beijing

This follows joint drills by Chinese and Russian strategic bombers and fighters on Tuesday that prompted Japan and South Korea to scramble planes to monitor them.

Jarvis Cocker and Mary Beard announced as Booker prize judges

The historian is set to lead a ‘stellar’ 2026 panel featuring the Pulp frontman and other acclaimed writers, as the search begins for next year’s standout work of fiction

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker will feature on the 2026 Booker prize judging panel that will be chaired by the classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard.

Novelist Patricia Lockwood has also been named as a judge, along with the poet Raymond Antrobus and Rebecca Liu, an editor at the Guardian Saturday magazine.

Eli Lilly's next-generation obesity drug delivers strong weight loss, reduces knee pain in late-stage trial  

The drugmaker is betting big on retatrutide as the next pillar of its obesity portfolio after its weight loss injection Zepbound and its upcoming pill. 

Farmers welcome Trump's $12 billion aid package, say additional relief is needed

President Trump says he's sending $12 billion in aid to American farmers who are reeling from global trade disruptions. Those include inflation and Trump's tariffs that are making fertilizer and farm equipment more expensive, and the President's trade war with China which closed a huge market for American soybean exports. 

Home prices go negative for the first time in over 2 years — and may stay that way for a while

Home prices have not gone negative since mid-2023, a year after the Federal Reserve first brought rates up from zero, and mortgage rates moved sharply higher.

Ben Jennings on Trump’s plan to scrutinise tourists’ social media histories – cartoon

Continue reading...

Silent Night, Deadly Night review – killer Santa remake is overstuffed

There are too many competing and overfamiliar ideas in this busy slasher reboot that’s sorely lacking in style

There was a bizarre moral outrage back in November 1984 when seasonal slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night dared to put an axe in the hands of Santa. Despite being, you know, not a real person he was once treated with enough reverence to cause parent-led protests, a ban of all advertising and then of the film itself. It provided a sharp edge to an otherwise blunt and unremarkable post-Halloween knockoff and might help to explain why it managed to eke out four junky sequels and a 2012 remake.

We’re now at the inevitable second remake stage but the 2025 redo arrives after the gimmick of Killer Santa has now become a subgenre in itself. He’s cropped up in Christmas Bloody Christmas, Christmas Evil, Santa’s Slay, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, Deadly Games and last year’s Terrifier 3 and the makers of this December’s take are more than aware that seeing Santa with a weapon isn’t enough to shock today’s horror fans.

Leinster’s Leo Cullen will use lessons learned at Leicester in bid to tame Tigers

Leinster head coach admits his stint at Welford Road helped ‘shape’ him and could be key in Champions Cup clash

Leicester v Leinster fixtures have become common recently – the fifth since 2022 takes place on Friday night – but the history between the sides runs far deeper. Leo Cullen, head coach of the Dublin-based province, spent a couple of seasons at Welford Road in the mid-2000s, winning the Premiership in 2006-07 and losing a Heineken Cup final against Wasps in the same season.

Since 2022 the former second‑row has overseen four Champions Cup victories against his former club, including two in 2023-24. Three and a half years ago, there was a masterful quarter-final dismantling of what was then Steve Borthwick’s side. Leinster will now shoot for a hat-trick of Welford Road victories this decade, and the presence of the New Zealand international Rieko Ioane, on full debut, is sure to help.

I now declare you throuple: how to plan a polyamorous wedding

A throuple in Tennessee shares how they planned a fairytale wedding, from rings to first dance

On the day of her wedding, Janie Coppola, 30, overslept. She woke up to a friend banging on her bedroom window, and had to quickly do her hair before rushing to the venue, a dreamy castle in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Fortunately, the rest of the day went smoothly, and on the afternoon of 18 October, she walked down the aisle in a big white dress to be wed to her husband. And her wife.

“Your favorite throuple got hitched,” Margaret French, 32, Janie’s wife, captioned an Instagram post about the day.

Goodbye June review – Kate Winslet’s Christmas heartwarmer is like a two-hour John Lewis ad

Star turns from Helen Mirren, Andrea Riseborough and Toni Colette can’t stop cartoony sentimentality smothering this film directed by Winslet and written by her son Joe Anders

Kate Winslet’s feature directing debut is a family movie, scripted by her son Joe Anders; it’s a well-intentioned and starrily cast yuletide heartwarmer, like a two-hour John Lewis Christmas TV ad without the logo at the end. There are one or two nice lines and sharp moments but they are submerged in a treacly soup of sentimentality; in the end, I couldn’t get past the cartoony quasi-Richard Curtis characterisation and the weird not-quite-earthlingness of the people involved. Having said this, I am aware of having been first in the queue to denigrate Winslet’s Christmas film The Holiday, that is regarded by many as one of the most successful films of all time.

Helen Mirren is the June of the title, an affectionate but sharp-tongued matriarch who is diagnosed with terminal cancer in the run-up to Christmas, and her entire quarrelling clan will have to assemble in her hospital room. June, with a kind of benign cunning, realises that she can use her last days as a cathartic crisis that will cure her adult children’s unspoken hurt. They are a stressed careerist (Winslet), a stay-at-home mum (Andrea Riseborough), a hippy-dippy natural birth counsellor (Toni Collette) and a troubled soul (Johnny Flynn), plus all their various kids. There is also June’s daft old husband Bernie, played by Timothy Spall, who likes a drink and can’t talk about his feelings, and whose scatterbrained goofiness has a sad origin. Stephen Merchant plays Riseborough’s lovably useless husband and a gentle hospital nurse, played by Fisayo Akinade, is the ensemble’s self-effacing guide to a wiser future.

JetBlue unveils first-ever airport lounge, BlueHouse. Here's what's inside

JetBlue is set to open its first-ever airport lounge, BlueHouse, at JFK next week.

Erika Kirk has one word for Candace Owens

Erika Kirk has one word for Candace Owens, who has been peddling conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk.

Fifa urged to halt World Cup ticket sales after ‘monumental betrayal’ of fans

• Final tickets more than £3,000; five-fold rise on Qatar

• Cheapest England tickets are £165 for two Group L games

Fifa has been accused of a ­“monumental betrayal” by fan ­representatives after it emerged that the cheapest tickets for next summer’s World Cup final will cost more than £3,000.

Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fans across the ­continent, described the prices as “extortionate” and called for an immediate halt to ticket sales after a day when England fans ­discovered that tickets to follow their team through the tournament could cost up to $16,590 (£12,375) in the top categories.

Erika Kirk has one word for Candace Owens as she spreads conspiracy theories

Erika Kirk has one word for Candace Owens, who has been peddling conspiracy theories about her late husband, Charlie Kirk. Watch the one-hour CBS News town hall, moderated by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Seth Meyers to Trump: ‘You can’t convince people the economy is good when they can see the truth’

Late-night hosts discussed Donald Trump’s unconvincing “A+++++” grade for the economy and his rambling speech in Pennsylvania

Late-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s attempts to reassure Americans on the economy as the private sector sheds jobs and grocery prices keep rising.

Orcas team up with dolphins to hunt salmon, study finds

Northern resident killer whales appear to use dolphins as ‘scouts’, in a surprising cooperative hunting strategy

Orcas and dolphins have been spotted for the first time working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study which suggests a cooperative relationship between the two predators.

The research, published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, shows interactions between northern resident orcas (also known as killer whales) and Pacific white-sided dolphins are not just chance encounters while foraging.

Inside the secret mission to get Nobel Peace Prize winner out of Venezuela

An American special forces veteran led the operation to get María Corina Machado out of Venezuela: "The first Nobel Prize winner that we've ever rescued."

Economic growth no longer linked to carbon emissions in most of the world, study finds

Analysis marking 10 years since Paris climate agreement underscores effectiveness of strong government policies

The once-rigid link between economic growth and carbon emissions is breaking across the vast majority of the world, according to a study released ahead of Friday’s 10th anniversary of the Paris climate agreement.

The analysis, which underscores the effectiveness of strong government climate policies, shows this “decoupling” trend has accelerated since 2015 and is becoming particularly pronounced among major emitters in the global south.

From shiveringly vivid Mahler to the eclectic Hermes Experiment: our top classical recordings of 2025

Opera may be conspicuous by its absence, but the brilliance of Berlin Philharmonic’s Schoenberg and the exceptional South Korean Yunchan Lim gave us plenty to sink our teeth into this year

The survey of the new releases that my colleagues and I have enjoyed most in 2025 differs in one significant respect from the lists of previous years. This year’s top ten contains no operas. There has been a profound change in record companies’ policies of how and what they record. The glitzy, studio-based opera recordings of the last century now seem impossible to contemplate, and even releasing audio-only recordings taken directly from live opera-house performances often seems less viable than issuing DVDs of the same productions.

Some specialist labels devoted to specific areas of the operatic repertoire continue sterling work: operas feature prominently in Bru Zane’s mission on behalf of neglected French composers, while Opera Rara continues to crusade for forgotten, mostly 19th century, mostly Italian, scores which this year included the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Other companies continue to find treasures in Europe’s apparently inexhaustible baroque archives, while, on its own label, the London Symphony Orchestra has continued to release Simon Rattle’s Janáček series taken from his concert performances with the orchestra at the Barbican, the latest release being Jenůfa. If full-length operas are notably scarce in the schedules of the major companies, two exceptions this year were Decca’s release of the Oslo-sourced Flying Dutchman, with Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley, and Deutsche Grammophon’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, part of Andris Nelson’s Boston-based Shostakovich series, both of which proved less than overwhelming.

Never be honest in Hollywood – even if you’re Quentin Tarantino | Dave Schilling

Success doesn’t mean you can speak your mind – and criticizing Paul Dano is like kicking a bunny at a birthday party

There are many things Hollywood is known for: lavish parties, subtle (or not so subtle) plastic surgery, the concept of juice as a meal. What it is not traditionally known for is honesty. I live in Los Angeles, work in the entertainment industry when I’m not moonlighting as a semi-reputable journalist and have done my fair share of lying … or, more accurately, omitting the truth. One of the least pleasant experiences in town is being asked to give honest feedback to someone who is at best an acquaintance. It’s worse yet if that person is a friend, lover or family member who actually takes your opinion seriously. Overall, the notion of offering honesty to a peer is akin to rubbing poison oak on your privates.

And yet, despite knowing how gruesome this can be, I still solicit feedback on scripts, films and even nascent ideas I’m toying with. Naturally, I feel guilty doing it. I blubber about how gracious the person is for taking the time to engage with my creative output, how generous they are and how crucial this step is to any sort of actual success in the industry. I’m even lying when I say that to someone. I should tell them: “I’m sorry I just asked you to do the equivalent of punching several of your own teeth out for free. Please don’t destroy my self-esteem completely. Let my mother finish the job.”

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

Botulism outbreak tied to ByHeart products includes 51 babies in 19 states

Health officials say an infant botulism outbreak tied to ByHeart baby formula has been expanded to include all illnesses reported since the company began production in 2022.

Not one but two shows with a Bitch Lesbian lead? It’s a Christmas miracle | Rebecca Shaw

It is really satisfying to see beautiful, cranky lesbians take the lead in TV’s buzziest new shows, Pluribus and The Beast in Me

I recently went on a holiday for a few days and, as part of that holiday, I caught up on a lot of television shows. Don’t judge me, we all relax in our own ways! I looked at nature too! It’s sort of part of my job! (and other defences).

I am someone who keeps up with new TV shows. I watch everything that is popping off – but I’m happy to admit that, as a didn’t-grow-up-with-women-kissing-each-other-on-TV lesbian, I will go out of my way to seek out ANY shows about queer people, especially if women are going to kiss each other.

Teenagers are presenting Christmas wishlists, Powerpoint-style – my daughter included

A far cry from hand-scrawled letters to Santa, on graphic design platform Canva users have created a whopping 1.4m Christmas wishlist presentations

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

Twas three weeks before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for my 13-year-old daughter, who emerged from her lair with a level of vim uncommon in daylight hours.

As she made her approach with laptop aglow, her droll little mouth was drawn up in a bow. It then became apparent that I was about to become the audience (some may say “victim”) of a recent cultural phenomenon: the Christmas wishlist slideshow.

The 50 best albums of 2025

The year’s finest LPs as decided by 30 Guardian music writers – from a pop star who will drag you to the club to a UK rapper like none before her
• More on the best culture of 2025

***

Goldman Sachs leads investment in software delivery startup Harness at $5.5 billion valuation

Harness CEO Jyoti Bansal wants to eventually take Harness public after he sold his previous startup, AppDynamics, to Cisco just before a planned IPO.

Fighting antelopes and a Brazilian sunset: photos of the day – Thursday

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

A stiff dose of ‘weak sauce’: Paul Dano’s best films – ranked!

After Quentin Tarantino’s unfavourable comments about the actor’s performance in films including There Will Be Blood, we run through the roles that show just how potent he really is

This disquieting narrative debut from the British director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) is a kind of minor Cape Fear. Gael García Bernal plays a sociopathic outsider threatening the apparently perfect life of his long-lost preacher father (William Hurt). In what now looks like a dry run for There Will Be Blood, Dano is the earnest son campaigning for creationism to be taught at school, and sideswiped by the emergence of his sinister half-brother. Variety labelled the film “noxious”. It’s undoubtedly nasty, but Dano helps to lend it a pulse.

Can a nepo baby be an underdog? The remarkable rise of Shedeur Sanders

The quarterback was seen as living off his father’s name when he entered the NFL. But he has slowly started to prove himself at the Cleveland Browns

It seems the goalposts are always moving on Shedeur Sanders, the Cleveland Browns’ rookie quarterback who keeps throwing people off.

He excelled at two colleges to establish himself as a top NFL prospect, only to wind up getting picked in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft in one of the most dramatic stock crashes in league history. He then distinguished himself in training camp, only to wind up as the back-up to the back-up. When Sanders was finally pressed into injury relief duty last month and led the Browns to just their third win of the season, the caveat was that his breakthrough had come at the expense of the even-worse Las Vegas Raiders. Last week against the struggling Tennessee Titans, Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns and rush for another score in the same game since 1950. But for many, the bigger headline was that he lost. Again.

Hiker stuck in quicksand for hours rescued in Utah's Arches National Park

Getting trapped in quicksand is a corny peril of old movies and TV shows, but it really did happen to one unfortunate hiker in Arches National Park.