Hundreds of National Guard members to leave Portland, Chicago, source says

Last month, about 200 federalized California National Guard soldiers were sent to Portland, and another 200 federalized Texas National Guard soldiers were sent to Chicago.

Best Australian player was wearing Irish colours, Wallabies coach says after heavy loss

• Joe Schmidt says 46-19 defeat to Ireland is ‘a tough one to take’

• Australia on brink of first winless Europe trip in 67 years

The beleaguered Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has ruefully admitted that the best Australian player on the pitch in his side’s latest calamitous defeat was playing in Irish green.

Mack Hansen, the ex-Brumby who grew up in Canberra and was snapped up by his mother’s home country, scored his hat-trick of tries within the first half-hour to kickstart Ireland’s record 46-19 win over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.

Detective says cruelty of woman's murder will "stay with me forever"

Lt. Dakota Black of the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office in Shawnee, Oklahoma, says the case of Makayla Meave, a missing teacher's aide, was one of the most heart-wrenching cases of her career.

We have lift-off! Melbourne’s skyscraper peregrine chicks take to the sky

Falcon fledglings’ inaugural flight watched by dedicated fans includes dramatic crash-landing

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A trio of young falcons born atop a 35-storey building in Melbourne’s CBD have taken flight for the first time, with the take-off captured on a livestream for the world to see.

The three peregrine falcons – two females and one male – fledged late last week, with the footage of their first flight posted on Instagram by non-profit organisation Bird Life Australia. The last falcon took flight shortly after 9am on Saturday for the second time – after returning to the ledge in a crash landing the day before.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is receiving threats amid rift with Trump

President Trump on Friday wrote that he was "withdrawing" his "support and Endorsement" of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, indicating that he might even back an effort to primary his former longtime ally.

Biologists race to rescue bat populations from deadly white-nose syndrome

North Carolina's tricolored bats are unstable, among several species of bats quickly dying off in the dark. The bats eat the same bugs that kill crops, meaning they play a critical role in the ecosystem.

Ukraine war briefing: Drones hit Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery

Russian attacks kill four on Saturday; Serbian government faces deadline to oust Russian owners from state oil company. What we know on day 1,362

Ukraine’s army said on Saturday it struck a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region near Moscow, as “part of efforts to reduce the enemy’s ability to launch missile and bomb strikes”. Explosions and a large fire were observed at the site, said the military. Ryazan is located about 200km (125 miles) south-east of Moscow.

Russian officials often do not admit such attacks have succeeded, and the Ryazan governor, Pavel Malkov, adopted the standard line that Ukrainian drones were shot down but debris happened to hit the target. “Falling debris caused a fire on the premises of one enterprise,” Malkov said. A wave of 25 Ukrainian drones attacked the region, Malkov said.

Officials in southern Ukraine said four people were killed by Russian attacks on Saturday. Prosecutors in the Kherson region said “three civilians are known to have been killed” in the village of Myklitskyi and the city of Kherson. The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Ivan Federov, said a Russian attack killed one person.

The US will not lift sanctions on Serbian oil company NIS unless Belgrade terminates the firm’s majority Russian ownership, Serbia’s energy minister said on Saturday, warning that her country faced “difficult” decisions. Washington sanctioned Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) as part of its crackdown on the Russian energy sector. Analysts say Serbia is on the brink of a winter energy crisis with its lone oil refinery facing a potential shutdown.

Serbia’s energy minister, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, said the US wanted a “complete change of Russian shareholders” to be negotiated by 13 February before lifting sanctions. NIS is 45% owned by Gazprom Neft, which has been targeted by US sanctions. Neft’s parent company, Gazprom, has transferred its own 11.3% stake in NIS to another Russian firm, Intelligence. The Serbian state holds nearly 30% of NIS, with the rest owned by minority shareholders. Handanović suggested the Serbian government was looking at a possible Russian takeover of NIS and would hold a special cabinet meeting about it on Sunday.

Ukraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv’s key logistical systems, Peter Beaumont writes. The rail network carries more than 63% of the country’s freight – including grain shipments – and 37% of passenger traffic, according to the state statistics service. Military assistance from foreign countries often arrives by train. Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister, said: “What we have seen in these escalating attacks is that they are going after trains, especially trying to kill the drivers.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies amid a corruption scandal. Anti-graft investigators allege around $100m has been embezzled. Zelenskyy has already ordered two ministers to resign over the alleged scheme and sanctioned a former business partner who was named as its mastermind. “Alongside a full audit of their financial activities, the management of these companies is to be renewed,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian president called for a new supervisory board at Energoatom – the state nuclear company – “within a week” that would enable a “complete overhaul of the company’s management”. He also called for the quick appointment of a new head of hydropower generating company Ukrhydroenergo and other reforms for oil and gas giant Naftogaz and the main gas operator.

Trump news at a glance: Marjorie Taylor Greene raises fears for her safety as row with Donald Trump escalates

President’s one-time ally says she has been contacted by private security firms after denunciation by president. Key US politics stories from Saturday 15 November at a glance

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Republican ally who previously fiercely defended Donald Trump and his Maga movement, said on Saturday she had been contacted by private security firms “with warnings for my safety” after Trump announced on Friday he was withdrawing his support for and endorsement of the Georgia representative.

In a post on X, Greene said that “a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”, without referring to Trump by name, adding it was “the man I supported and helped get elected”.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Nov. 16)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Couple walking through every U.S. state aims to find common ground among Americans

A couple walked 12,000 miles through all 50 states. What started as a simple adventure to see America's beauty turned into a mission to connect a divided country. Brady Halbleib has the story.

"White nose syndrome" killing millions of bats in North America

A deadly fungal disease called "white nose syndrome" is sweeping across North America, wiping out millions of bats. Dave Malkoff goes underground in North Carolina as scientists race to save these vital creatures.

Why is Trump threatening to sue the BBC?

President Trump has threatened legal action against the British broadcaster BBC. Haley Ott has the details.

Americans still struggling after weeks without federal food aid: "It's either food or lights"

Economic promises helped Donald Trump get re-elected. Now, he has an affordability problem, and his administration is facing backlash from consumers over the cost of living. Ali Bauman has more on efforts to bring relief.

Trump says he's "sort of made up my mind" on Venezuela military action

President Trump says he has "sort of made up my mind" on whether to take military action in Venezuela. The comments come as America's largest aircraft carrier, the Ford, and other U.S. forces move within striking distance of the country. Charlie D'Agata has new details.

Trump drops support for Marjorie Taylor Greene amid Epstein fallout

President Trump says he will no longer support onetime close ally and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene amid the ongoing fallout over the Epstein files. Willie James Inman reports.

YouTuber Jack Doherty arrested in Miami Beach, police say

Miami Beach Police announced that the 22-year-old was taken into custody on multiple charges, including possessing amphetamine and marijuana, along with resisting an officer without violence.

Rainstorm pummels California, triggering flash flood warnings, evacuation orders

Flash flood warnings expanded on Saturday as rain hit wide swaths of California amid fears that the atmospheric river will intensify. Andres Gutierrez has the latest details.

The Wallabies were meant to prove they’re back. But instead they have gone backwards

The 46-19 shellacking against Ireland is a stark reminder of how far behind the best teams Australia still sit

Three weeks ago, Australia arrived in Europe self-assured and quietly confident of taking a few prized scalps. And why not? They had come within a single refereeing call at the breakdown of claiming a British & Irish Lions series win. They had hammered the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg. They had shown great chutzpah to beat Argentina after the hooter and they still carried the glow of last November’s win over England.

This was a side developing shape and steel, a side capable of the sublime, a side beginning to coax long-dormant fans back to the code while tempting home several stars who had crossed to rugby league. This tour was supposed to confirm, unequivocally, that the Wallabies were back. Instead, they’ve gone backwards after a sorry performance against Ireland in Dublin where they received a 46–19 shellacking that still managed to flatter them on the scoreboard.

One Shot With Ed Sheeran review – well-planned spontaneity from all-smiling singer

Philip Barantini’s single-take special follows the star mooching around Manhattan, guitar ever ready for ad hoc turns, ahead of his evening show

Ed Sheeran floats through New York on a cloud of his own sunny high spirits in this hour-long Netflix special. He is the Candide of the music business, smiling benignly, strumming and singing, seamlessly pausing for selfies and fist-bumps and high-fives; he almost visibly absorbs energy from the saucer-eyed fan-worship shown by gobsmacked passersby and radiates it back at them.

Maybe you have to be a Sheeran fan to really appreciate it, but this is another single-take bravura special from film-maker Philip Barantini (who directed Netflix’s searing single-take drama Adolescence) and his director of photography Nyk Allen. With no cuts (though there’s an allowable fast-forward bit, and the audio might have been tweaked in post-production) they follow the unselfconscious Ed as he completes a late-afternoon soundcheck at the New York theatre where he’s playing a concert later on, and then for the next hour, and with fans pretty much always swarming around him, he wanders through the city with his guitar for various encounters, some planned, some (supposedly) not.

Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds

Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment

Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers.

Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.

Teenager charged with murder after death of girl, 17, in South Wales

Gwent police name victim as Lainie Williams and have charged Cameron Cheng, 18, a British national

A teenager has been charged with murder after a 17-year-old girl was killed in South Wales.

The girl, named as Lainie Williams, was pronounced dead at the scene, Gwent police said.

Texas trooper sent home after confronting South Carolina player during game

• Trooper exchanged words with Nyck Harbor

• LeBron James among critics on social media

A Texas trooper who confronted South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor after the player’s touchdown on Saturday was sent home from the game, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.

Harbor scored on an 80-yard reception in the second quarter and entered the tunnel after the score, appearing to walk off a leg injury. As he and three of his teammates, including running back Oscar Adaway III, were walking back to the field, the trooper walked in between Harbor and Adaway and bumped into them.

UK government set to make support for asylum seekers ‘discretionary’

Home secretary expected to change system to deny help to those who can work or who have assets

Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce changes to Britain’s asylum system on Monday in an attempt to quell rising fears about immigration.

The home secretary plans to amend laws that guarantee housing and financial support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

Scotland lose in Greece but Denmark stumble takes World Cup qualification to decider

The most extraordinary upshot of an extraordinary evening was that Scotland’s dream of qualifying automatically for the World Cup remains alive. Steve Clarke has Belarus to thank for that, their surprise draw in Denmark leaving Scotland in precisely the position they had sought before this clash with Greece. If Scotland beat Denmark in Glasgow on Tuesday, they will top this section.

The dust might just have settled on this preposterous fixture by then. Scotland trailed by three at one point before hauling themselves back into proceedings against a Greece team who finished with 10 men.

Wild Cherry review – this fun, trashy thriller seems to have spent most of its budget on clothes

There are shades of Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives and everything Nicole Kidman has appeared in for the last five years. Put your brain aside, and enjoy

That its ultra-wealthy characters live in a place called Richford Lake tells you almost everything you need to know about the glossy new thriller Wild Cherry. Yes, it’s another entry in the increasingly popular eat-the-rich genre. Yes, it has shades of The White Lotus and everything starring Nicole Kidman for the past five years. Yes, most of the budget has gone to wardrobe, with any woman over the age of 30 apparently allergic to synthetic fibres and every actor seemingly cast primarily for her ability to carry off swagged silk and cashmere in warm beige tones. Yes, you should have bought shares in the colour camel years ago but it’s too late now. Yes, the insular community and soapy vibe suggests an ancestry that includes Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl. Yes, in short, it’s trash with pretensions. But trash with pretensions is as fun a way to spend the long winter evenings as any, so why not set your brain aside and enjoy it?

We begin with the obligatory the-future-as-prelude scene, which here involves four women – two older, two younger – standing in a well-appointed bathroom in their underwear scrubbing blood off their hands. We then flashback to begin the six-part journey to finding out what the jolly heck is going on.

Border Patrol plans to expand immigration crackdown to Charlotte, New Orleans

The Trump administration is planning to dispatch Border Patrol agents to Charlotte and New Orleans to oversee immigration operations that could involve armored vehicles and special operations teams.

Trump asks Justice Department to probe Epstein's ties to Democrats, banks

President Trump accused Democrats of using what he calls the "Epstein hoax" to defect blame for the government shutdown.

Borthwick hails ‘outstanding leader’ Ford after England topple All Blacks

• Ford scores 13 points including two drop goals in victory

• ‘He made brilliant decisions and executed perfectly’

Steve Borthwick has paid tribute to the perseverance and character of George Ford after England’s impressive 33-18 victory over the All Blacks. Twelve months ago, Ford narrowly failed to clinch a home victory in this same fixture, but he was a pivotal figure on Saturday as his side gained their revenge with a first win over New Zealand in south-west London since 2012.

“George is a brilliant player, an outstanding leader and an even better person,” the head coach said after the fly-half contributed 13 points to seal his team’s 10th successive Test win this year. “I know you like to talk about 12 months ago and the ball hitting a post. But when he pulls on the England shirt he is just such a consistent performer.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s had ‘warnings for my safety’ after posts by Trump

One-time Maga loyalist diverges with Trump on issues including Epstein, so US president has withdrawn support

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Republican ally who previously fiercely defended Donald Trump and his Maga movement, said on Saturday she had been contacted by private security firms “with warnings for my safety” after Trump announced on Friday he was withdrawing his support for and endorsement of the Georgia representative.

In a post on X, Greene said that “a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”, without referring to Trump by name, adding it was “the man I supported and helped get elected”.

Tuchel’s back to the future England can play with fire and fury at the World Cup | Jonathan Wilson

A tactically and technically adept Three Lions squad can take the handbrake off and prosper in North America next summer

Watching Micky van de Ven surge through the pretty much the entire FC Copenhagen team in the Champions League last week, two sensations occurred. The first was awe, that somebody so powerful and so quick would still have the composure to finish as he did. And the second was that this didn’t feel entirely fair. It was as though Gulliver had landed himself a deal in the Lilliput Premier League.

The same evening, Liverpool, who have at times struggled physically in the Premier League this season, bullied Real Madrid, their threat at set plays so marked that eventually it was the 5ft 7in Alexis Mac Allister who headed the vital goal. The following day, Newcastle swatted Athletic Bilbao aside, largely by being bigger than them: for the opening goal, the Spanish side’s defence appears to have looked at Dan Burn and decided there was no point even trying to mark him.

11/15: Saturday Morning

The U.S. military struck its 20th alleged drug-smuggling boat, a Pentagon official confirmed for CBS News. Meanwhile, Southern California battles severe storms and possible floods.

Ethiopia confirms outbreak of deadly Marburg virus

Africa CDC says at least nine cases have been detected of Ebola-like illness, which kills up to 80% of those infected

Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.

The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and has a 21-day incubation period.

The moment I knew: I felt a pang of fear – but I knew we were an unbeatable duo

After spying Tom Box at a punk gig, Kate Logan made a Dalek poster to capture his attention

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

Long before we’d met, I had heard a lot about a guy called Tom Box. I knew he was an Australian living in the South Island of New Zealand. I was in Wellington, and there’d been a few occasions when I’d travelled to the South Island for raves or anarchist conferences where some of the folks had gone to Tom’s place – but I splintered off somewhere else.

Then one day, in 2007, I was at a punk gig when a mutual friend said, “Oh, do you know Tom Box? He’s over there. He’s just moved up to Wellington.” There in a sea of black-clad punks, jumping up and down at the front of the mosh pit, was this guy in a pale blue Star Trek uniform. To me, as a person unfamiliar with Star Trek, he looked like he was wearing pyjamas. This was my first vision of him, but we didn’t talk at all that night.

Bill Bryson: ‘Ever since I was a little boy, I have pretended to be able to vaporise people I don’t like’

The American British author on pet peeves, the perils of fantasy dinner parties, and revisiting The Short History of Everything two decades later

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

You did a whole book on Australia, and have travelled here a bit since – what’s the number one tip or recommendation you’d give someone coming for the first time?

Get out and walk! I mean, maybe not through the outback, but if you’re in any of the cities, walk. I do that wherever I go. And I love to just go off and explore without knowing where I’m going, without a map or any preconceived ideas. I think it’s the best way to discover a place, and it has the great virtue that if you turn a corner – say in Sydney – and there’s suddenly the Harbour Bridge, you feel as if you’ve discovered it. There’s a real feeling of exhilaration, I think, in that. But also, you discover little cafes and hidden corners and odds and ends.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 by Bill Bryson is out now through Penguin. The author is touring Australia and New Zealand in February 2026 with the live show The Best of Bill Bryson

Tony Popovic nears World Cup deadline with negatives piling up for the Socceroos

A callow Australia side confirmed in defeat by Venezuela that the head coach needs his big hitters back before facing Colombia in New York

A day before Australian football looked to its past, Tony Popovic sent out a side to face Venezuela focused on its future. Nineteen years and 364 days ago, the Golden Generation defender had been part of the side that defeated Uruguay in a shootout to end 32 years of heartbreak and send the Socceroos back to the promised land. Two decades on, here he was in the dugout of Shell Energy Stadium, tinkering and experimenting before a sixth-straight World Cup for Australia.

Popovic had named an XI with three debutants – the most in 12 years – and a player in Nestory Irankunda that hadn’t been born when John Alosi scored that famous penalty.

Trump pardons Jan. 6 defendant who remained in prison on weapons charge

January 6 defendant Dan Wilson was pardoned by President Trump for a second time on unrelated gun charges.

Todd Snider, alt-country singer-songwriter of Alright Guy, dies aged 59

Influential musician who created Americana hits had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia

Todd Snider, the influential alt-country singer-songwriter who created Americana hits such as Alright Guy, has died at 59.

His passing was shared through announcements on his official social media accounts. Although no cause of death was provided, his family shared on Friday that he had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia.

Former Fed Gov. Adriana Kugler violated trading rules while at central bank: ethics report

The Federal Reserve's internal watchdog was notified earlier this year about stock trades from 2024 disclosed by then-Gov Adriana Kugler.

These parrots came to Los Angeles as pets – then went wild. Now scientists are unlocking their mysteries

Once escapees from the pet trade, Los Angeles’s feral parrots have become a vibrant part of city life, and could even aid conservation in their native homelands

A morning mist hung over the palm trees as birds chattered and cars roared by on the streets of Pasadena. It was a scene that evoked a tropical island rather than a bustling city in north-east Los Angeles county.

“It feels parrot-y,” says Diego Blanco, a research assistant at Occidental College’s Moore Laboratory of Zoology, nodding to the verdant flora that surrounds us: tall trees and ornamental bushes with berries.

Unexpected group of artists fight to keep radio alive 100 years after its Golden Age

The Golden Age of Radio began in the 1920s, and a century later, an unexpected group of artists are fighting to keep it relevant amid the rise of podcasts and other popular forms of digital media.

‘Trump is inconsistent with Christian principles’: why the Democratic party is seeing a rise of white clergy candidates

From Texas and Iowa to Arkansas, faith leaders are wading into politics to counter the rise of Christian nationalism

He grew up on a farm in Indiana, the son of a factory worker and eldest of five children. He studied at Liberty, a Christian university founded by the conservative pastor and televangelist Jerry Falwell, and recalls wearing a T-shirt expressing opposition to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Two decades later, Justin Douglas is running for the US Congress – as a Democrat.

Two arrested over phone hidden in Commons to reportedly play sex noises during PMQs

Police believe device was deliberately planted near frontbench to disrupt proceedings, prompting heightened security in parliament

Police have arrested two men in connection with a mobile phone hidden in the House of Commons that was reportedly planted there to play sex noises during prime minister’s questions.

The phone was found near the frontbench during a routine sweep of the chamber. It is believed to have been intended to interrupt the keynote weekly showdown between Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch in September.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz win to set up clash in ATP Finals’ climax

• Sinner beats De Minaur 7-5, 6-2 to reach third final in a row

• Alcaraz sinks Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 to make first final

The 2025 men’s tennis season will conclude with a final showdown between the two best players in the world after Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz reached the final of the ATP Finals.

Sinner continued his total dominance of the indoor season as the Italian held off an admirable early challenge from Alex de Minaur before bulldozing his path into the tournament’s final for a third consecutive year with a supreme 7-5, 6-2 win, a victory that extended his winning record against the Australian to 13-0.

Thousands hit streets of Belém to call for action during crucial Cop30 summit

Funeral for fossil fuels held as part of ‘Great People’s March’ calling on governments to step up climate efforts

The streets of Belém echoed with indigenous chants, classical Brazilian songs and calls for environmental justice on Saturday as tens of thousands of people marched to demand urgent action on the climate and nature crisis.

Activists from around the world converged on the Amazonian host city of COP30, urging negotiators to ramp up ambition.

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: the people who could face deportation under Reform

As party’s rise fuels fears over future visa rules, people share how the lives they have built are in jeopardy

As Reform UK soars in the polls, Britain’s migrant communities are facing an uncertain future.

The party has announced a swathe of hardline immigration policies, including its plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain – the right to settle permanently in the UK after five years of residence.

Flights begin to get back on track as shutdown ends

Air travel and other government services, including SNAP benefits, are returning to normal following the end of the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Tributes paid to ‘fearless and funny’ Observer journalist Rachel Cooke who has died aged 56

Cooke, who worked for the Observer for 25 years and was described as its ‘backbone’, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year

Tributes have been paid to the journalist and critic Rachel Cooke after her death from cancer.

Cooke, 56, was diagnosed with the illness earlier this year and died on Friday. She worked for the Observer for 25 years, where she was described as “the backbone of the paper”.

Southern California braces for potentially dangerous floods

Southern California is preparing for potentially dangerous flooding as storms slam the region.

Viktor Orbán begins ‘anti-war roadshow’ as Hungary gears up for 2026 elections

PM makes opposition to support for Ukraine central to Fidesz campaign as it loses ground over cost of living crisis

Hungary’s prime minister has kicked off a weeks-long “anti-war roadshow”, turning criticism of European support for Ukraine into an early campaign message before next year’s elections.

Viktor Orbán’ is scheduled to stage an event in five cities before the end of the year, and started with an assembly on Saturday in the north-western city of Győr.

Inmate threw chemical substance at officer in prison escape, officials say

The St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Department said two inmates broke out after a "brief struggle," during which a chemical substance was thrown at a police officer's face.

Plastic paradise: on the frontlines of the fight to clean up pollution in Bali – in pictures

In January the island’s beaches were inundated with waves of plastic pollution, a phenomenon that has been getting worse by the year. Photographer and film-maker Sean Gallagher travelled to Bali to document the increasing tide of rubbish washing up on beaches and riverbanks, and the people facing the monumental challenge of cleaning up. His portraits are on show as part of the 2025 Head On photo festival at Bondi Beach promenade until 30 November

Chuck Schumer should quit – but would his imaginary friends agree? | Arwa Mahdawi

The US government was shut down for weeks – and then Democrats shrugged their shoulders and gave up

Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has a pair of very sweet imaginary friends. They’re a middle-class couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey and they live on Long Island. At one point the imaginary couple, who feature in Schumer’s 2007 book, Positively American, were called the O’Reillys. According to the Hill, one Schumer aide said the name then was changed because the publisher thought O’Reilly was “too ethnic” for mass consumption. Another aide said that claim was false, and Schumer just wanted a name that “sounded more national”. Naming strategy aside, the key point here is that Schumer has said he runs all his policy decisions by this completely fictional couple. He’s referred to them hundreds of times throughout his political career.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Officer in critical condition after crash while supporting Vance's motorcade

A state trooper and a Maryville Police Department motorcycle officer collided while supporting Vice President Vance's motorcade on Friday.

‘Are they going to eat me alive?’: trail runners become prey in newest form of hunting

Nervous reporter is chased across English countryside by baying bloodhounds, in what could soon be only legal way to hunt with dogs

Would you like to be chased by a pack of hounds? It’s a question often put to highlight the cruelty of hunting, because the answer would seem to be no. Or so you would think.

Yet increasing numbers of people are volunteering to be chased across the countryside by baying bloodhounds in what could soon be the only legal way to hunt with dogs in England and Wales, rather than pursuing animals or their scents.

The government shutdown is over. The air traffic controller shortage is not

Staffing shortages of air traffic controllers forced airlines to chop flights and delay thousands of others that disrupted travel plans of 5 million people.

Mega Millions single ticket holder wins $980 million jackpot

The single ticket was purchased at Publix in Newnan, Georgia, Mega Millions said.

Post your questions for Peaches

As she prepares to release No Lube So Rude, her first album in a decade, the Canadian dance-punk icon will answer your questions

Whether crowdsurfing inside a giant condom or singing alongside a vulva-headed dancer, Peaches has left us with some indelible on-stage images over the years – and there are set to be a few new ones as she goes on tour and releases her first album in a decade. As she does so, she’ll join us to answer your questions.

Peaches, AKA Merrill Nisker, emerged from Toronto’s underground scene in the late 1990s – her peers included Feist, her flatmate above a sex shop – but really came to fame in the early 00s after she moved to Berlin. Her debut EP, Lovertits, was a cherished item on the era’s electroclash scene but it was the a joyous, profane dance-punk track Fuck the Pain Away, from her debut album The Teaches of Peaches, that really took her into the mainstream.

Israel breaching international law by limiting Gaza aid, says Unrwa official

Natalie Boucly says supplies are ready but only about half of what is needed is getting into territory

Israel is breaching international law by continuing to impose restrictions on aid flows into Gaza, where the population remains critically short of food and life-saving goods as winter sets in, a senior official at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.

In an interview during a recent visit to Brussels, Natalie Boucly, an Unrwa deputy commissioner general, said the whole world – including the EU and US – needed to increase the pressure on Israel’s government to ensure the unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza.

She was a prison officer. He was a convicted rapist. How did she fall for him?

Cherrie-Ann Austin-Saddington was working in a men’s prison when she began a relationship with an inmate that would turn her, too, into a criminal. How do some of the most dangerous men in Britain get what they want – even behind bars?

There was a moment in the summer of 2022 when 26-year-old Cherrie-Ann Austin-Saddington, a female prison officer in a men’s jail, had to make a choice. She was on her wing at HMP The Verne in Dorset, in the day room where inmates go to read books and newspapers, when a prisoner called Bradley Trengrove handed her a magazine. Concealed within its pages was a slip of paper with a number written on it – the number of his secret, illicit mobile phone. Under the watchful eye of the prison’s security cameras, Austin-Saddington had to decide what to do next.

“I was thinking, do I report it? Do I not report it?” she says. “I wasn’t thinking, I’ll text him – that wasn’t in my head.” But she did not throw the piece of paper away. She kept it, and in the end decided not to report anything.

Taylor Swift’s silence on the Trump administration using her music speaks volumes | Alim Kheraj

Official Trump social media accounts have been using The Life of a Showgirl snippets to promote his agenda. Why has Swift, who once wanted ‘to be on the right side of history’, said nothing?

In the last two weeks, the Trump administration has used music from Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, in three posts on social media. The first, shared by the official White House account on TikTok, was a patriotic slide show of images set to lead single The Fate of Ophelia. As Swift sings “pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes”, the video cuts to pictures of the US flag, President Trump, the vice-president, JD Vance, and the first and second ladies. The second and third were posted by Team Trump, the official account for the Trump Campaign. One, set to Father Figure, riffs on the lyric “this empire belongs to me” with the caption “this empire belongs to @President Donald J Trump”, while the other, celebrating Melania Trump winning something called the Patriot of the year award, is soundtracked by Opalite.

The Trump administration has found itself in dicey waters for using popular music in the past. The White Stripes and the estate of Isaac Hayes have both attempted to sue the administration for using their music without permission, while artists including Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Abba and Foo Fighters have released statements demanding Trump stop using their songs at campaign rallies and public appearances. Most recently, Olivia Rodrigo condemned the administration after the official Department of Homeland Security and White House Instagram account used her song All-American Bitch on a video promoting its controversial deportation efforts (the song was later removed by Instagram).

Samuel Ojo on the world of the night bus – cartoon

Continue reading...

Big content is taking on AI – but it’s far from the David v Goliath tale they’d have you believe | Alexander Avila

Deals between media conglomerates and tech companies serve both sets of interests, while leaving artists by the wayside

The world’s biggest music company is now in the AI business. Last year, Universal Music Group (UMG), alongside labels including Warner Records and Sony Music Entertainment sued two AI music startups for allegedly using their recordings to train text-to-music models without permission.

But last month, UMG announced a deal with one of the defendants, Udio, to create an AI music platform. Their joint press release offered assurances that the label will commit to “do what’s right by [UMG’s] artists”. However, one advocacy group, the Music Artists Coalition, responded with the statement: “We’ve seen this before – everyone talks about ‘partnership’, but artists end up on the sidelines with scraps.”

Alexander Avila is a video essayist, writer and researcher

Icelandic is in danger of dying out because of AI and English-language media, says former PM

Katrín Jakobsdóttir and her co-author want the 350,000 people who speak the language to fight for its future

Iceland’s former prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has said that the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance.

Katrín, who stood down as prime minister last year to run for president after seven years in office, said Iceland was undergoing “radical” change when it came to language use. More people are reading and speaking English, and fewer are reading in Icelandic, a trend she says is being exacerbated by the way language models are trained.

Hurricane Melissa a ‘real-time case study’ of colonialism’s legacies

Destruction in Jamaica shows why climate justice cannot be separated from reparatory justice, campaigners say

Perched on the edge of a hill in the idyllic village of Cold Spring in Hanover, Jamaica, the Gurney’s Mount Baptist church has stood for centuries as a symbol of resistance and endurance. The church and its congregation have endured through uprisings – in particular the famous 1831 slave revolt led by the Black Baptist deacon Samuel Sharpe – and earthquakes.

But when Hurricane Melissa descended on Jamaica, it ripped off the church roof and shredded the rows of sturdy pews, leaving an unrecognisable mangle of wood and debris in its wake. Outside, parts of the structure had survived the onslaught of the category 5 storm. The church is one of Jamaica’s 146,000 buildings – just 15% of those assessed so far – that has suffered major to severe damage, according to Alvin Gayle, director general of Jamaica’s emergency management office. The death toll on Thursday was 45, with 13 people missing; an estimated 90,000 households and 360,000 people have been affected by the damage.

Don’t argue with strangers… and 11 more rules to survive the information crisis

Feeling overwhelmed by divisive opinions, endless rows and unreliable facts? Here’s how to weather the data storm

We all live in history. A lot of the problems that face us, and the opportunities that present themselves, are defined not by our own choices or even the specific place or government we’re living under, but by the particular epoch of human events that our lives happen to coincide with.

The Industrial Revolution, for example, presented opportunities for certain kinds of business success – it made some people very rich while others were exploited. If you’d known that was the name of your era, it would have given you a clue about what kinds of events to prepare for. So I’m suggesting a name for the era we’re living through: the Information Crisis.

After I burned out, physics helped me understand what had happened to me – and to move on | Zahaan Bharmal

I thought hard work equalled success. I had to realise that’s not always how it works, in science or in life

If the words “force equals mass times acceleration” are mildly triggering, I apologise. Newton’s second law of motion will be familiar to anyone who’s ever studied physics. For some who struggled with that course, it may bring back painful memories. But for me, as an awkward teenager, it was oddly comforting – proof of an ordered, structured universe where cause always led to predictable effect. I carried that belief into university, where I studied physics, and even into my career. If I just worked hard enough, success would be mine.

But nine months into my first job, I got made redundant. It turns out that life doesn’t always obey Newton’s laws.

Zahaan Bharmal is the author of The Art of Physics and a senior director at Google, writing in a personal capacity

The teenager who quit Manchester City for Oxford University: ‘I felt I could do more’

Han Willhoft-King was fancied to succeed at Spurs then City but opted for law at Brasenose College above pressing sessions with Guardiola

Freshers’ week, Oxford University, early October. A time for the heart to hammer with excitement, when horizons are broadened inexorably. For minimal sleep and maximum fun. And for one or two tall stories, a bit of personal reinvention, perhaps.

Take one new law student at Brasenose College, because he can certainly spin a few yarns. About the time, for example, he was coached by Yaya Touré at the Tottenham academy. He did not recognise him at first but then saw him on the ball and the penny dropped.

Blast from confiscated explosives at police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir kills nine

The accidental explosion comes days after a deadly car blast in New Delhi which killed at least eight people near the city’s historic Red Fort

At least nine people were killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police have announced.

The blast occurred in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, the region’s main city, late on Friday while a team of forensic experts and police were examining the explosive material, said Nalin Prabhat, the region’s police director general. He ruled out any foul play, saying it was an accident.

History comes alive at a new hotel-museum in the ancient Italian city of Matera

The past lives again at an unusual immersive hotel housed in the cave dwellings of Italy’s oldest city, once ruled by ancient Greece

Diners fall silent as the haunting sound of the aulos – a double-piped wind instrument from ancient Greece – echoes through the vaulted breakfast room. The musician, Davide, wears a chiton (tunic), as do the guests; the mosaic floor, decorated vases and flicker of flames from the sconces add to the sense that we’ve stepped back in time.

This is Moyseion, a one-of-a-kind hotel-museum in the famous troglodyte city of Matera, in Basilicata, known for its sassi – cave dwellings carved into the limestone mountainside. Every detail has been carefully designed to transport visitors to Magna Graecia, as this area of southern Italy was known when it was ruled by the ancient Greeks from the 8th-6th century BC.

My Cultural Awakening: I moved across the world after watching a Billy Connolly documentary

A chance viewing of the comic’s World Tour of Scotland made me swap Australia for the Highlands, although things didn’t quite go to plan …

I was 23 and thought I had found my path in life. I’d always wanted to work with animals, and I had just landed a job as a vet nurse in Melbourne. I was still learning the ropes, but I imagined I would stay there for years, building a life around the work. Then, five months in, the vet called me into his office and told me it wasn’t working out. “It’s not you,” he said, “I just really hate training people.” His previous nurse had been with him for decades; she knew his every move. I didn’t. And just like that, I was out of a job.

I drove home crying, feeling utterly adrift. I wasn’t sure whether to try again at another vet clinic or rip up the plan entirely and do something else. After spending a few days floating around aimlessly, trying to recalibrate my life, I turned on the TV, needing something to take my mind off things. And there he was: Billy Connolly, striding across a windswept Scottish landscape in his World Tour of Scotland documentary.

Teletubbies creator warns parents over ‘empty’ YouTube programmes for children

Anne Wood says algorithms bypass ‘the responsibility of art’ and have failed to support high-quality children’s content

Lots of programmes for children on YouTube are “empty” and do “nothing to encourage the imaginative life of children”, the Teletubbies creator has cautioned parents.

Anne Wood, the veteran children’s producer who devised the popular TV show for preschool children, said children’s television had long been undervalued and she feared “we’re losing a tremendous amount and nobody can see it because it’s not considered important”.

‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands

A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat

Just past a scrum of dog walkers, about 40 people are urgently combing through the sand on hands and knees. Their task is to try to remove millions of peppercorn-sized black plastic biobeads from where they have settled in the sand. Beyond them, a seal carcass grins menacingly, teeth protruding from its rotting skull.

Last week, an environmental disaster took place on Camber Sands beach, on what could turn out to be an unprecedented scale. Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works, owned by Southern Water, experienced a mechanical failure and spewed out millions of biobeads on to the Sussex coastline. Southern Water has since taken responsibility for the spill. Ironically, biobeads are used to clean wastewater – bacteria attach to their rough, crinkly surface and clean the water of contaminants.

Camber Sands is one of England’s most popular beaches, with rare dune habitat

Blind date: ‘She friend-zoned me over text before the night was through’

Alex, 31, an academic, meets Rachel, 28, a university caseworker

What were you hoping for?
A good plotline, a fun evening and the chance of a connection.

Welcome to the great unwokening of Hollywood! Shame no one can be bothered to turn up | Jason Okundaye

Sydney Sweeney has become the poster child of a predicted rightwing cultural domination. So why is no one watching her films?

I was on a walk around my local area in London when I was stopped in my tracks by a young man sauntering past me, wearing stone-wash jeans, a pair of shades and a “Reagan-Bush ’84” T-shirt. He gave off an incredibly smug air but, to be fair, he did look good. It’s a nice T-shirt, not like those garish Reform-branded football kits, so I could see why it might be appealing. A quick search informed me that for gen-Z rightwingers in the US, it has become the “conservative take on a band shirt or the once-ubiquitous Che Guevara tee”.

That casual display of conservative aesthetics reminded me of something else too: a much discussed cover of New York magazine from earlier this year, after Trump 2.0’s inauguration, which showed young rightwingers celebrating as they “contemplate cultural domination”.

From The Beast in Me to Jon Fosse’s Vaim: the week in rave reviews

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in a taut psychological two-hander, and the Nobel prize winner delivers another miracle. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

Meera Sodha’s vegetarian recipe for mushroom egg foo yung over buttered rice | Meera Sodha recipes

It’s basically a mushroom omelette, but cooked Chinese-style and served on buttered rice

• Share your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage for a special Guardian Live event on Wednesday 26 November.
  

Egg foo yung is a type of omelette that perhaps began life as a type of egg dish in Guangdong province, but has since the early 1900s been a staple on American and British Chinese takeaway menus. I like to order it at Yau’s in Broughton near Scunthorpe or Chi’s in Kenton in Devon, where it arrives as a small, fluffy, delicate omelette, barely able to hold itself together for the amount of vegetables woven into it. Over rice, it is a form of heaven on a Saturday night. I haven’t tried to replicate that specific joy here, but this is a homespun version, for those Saturdays when neither Chi’s nor Yau’s are within range.

Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Heritage and Tim Dowling, with Georgina Lawton hosting You be the judge live. Live in London or via livestream, book tickets here.

Tim Dowling: our lunch guests are always prompt … So where are they?

The table is laid by 12.30pm and we’ve even ironed the napkins. At 1pm the meat is resting. At 1.30pm it’s time to make a phone call …

My wife and I are having people to lunch – another couple; old friends. It’s supposed to be an informal affair, but it’s necessarily been a long time in the planning because, unlike us, our guests are busy people, and hard to nail down.

Besides, if you have weeks to plan a lunch it can’t be that informal – you don’t want to make it seem as if you woke up that morning still having no idea what you were going to cook, even if that is the case.

‘I’m not as fierce as I seem’: Glenn Close on growing up in a cult, marching against Trump – and being unlucky in love

She’s Hollywood’s biggest character actor who terrified a generation of men with her ‘bunny boiling’ turn in Fatal Attraction. Now, Close alternates the glamour of the red carpet with living in a red state. She talks about the joy of her ‘undefined’ life

Most of us don’t live our lives in accordance with a governing metaphor, but Glenn Close does. The 78-year-old was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, a town in the north‑east of the US that, to the actor’s enduring irritation, telegraphs “smug affluence” to other Americans. In fact, Close’s background is more complicated than that, rooted in a childhood that was wild and free but also traumatic, and in an area of New England in which her family goes back generations. “I grew up on those great stone walls of New England,” says the actor, chin out, gimlet-eyed – Queen Christina at the prow of a ship. “Some of them were 6ft tall and 250 years old! I have a book called Sermons in Stone and it says at one point that more energy and hours ran into building the New England stone walls than the pyramids.”

If the walls are an image Close draws on for strength, they might also serve as shorthand for the journalist encountering her at interview. Close appears in a London hotel suite today in a military-style black suit, trim, compact, and with a small white dog propped up on a chair beside her. For the span of our conversation, the actor’s warmth and friendliness combine with a reserve so practised and precise that the presence of the dog in the room feels, unfairly perhaps, like a handy way for Close to burn through a few minutes of the interview with some harmless guff about dog breeds. (The dog is called Pip, which is short for “Sir Pippin of Beanfield”. He is a purebred Havanese and “they’re incredibly intelligent”. Most dog owners in the US have the emotional support paperwork necessary to get them on a plane but, says Close, laughing, “That’s really what he is!”)

Russia increasingly targeting trains as attacks on Ukraine’s rail network intensify

Ukrainian minister says more than 800 attacks recorded since start of year as Moscow seeks to destroy country’s logistical capabilities

Ukraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv’s key logistical systems.

Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister with responsibility for infrastructure, said attacks on the network since the start of 2025 had caused damage totalling $1bn (£760m).

China advises against travel to Japan amid escalating row over PM’s Taiwan comments

Sanae Takaichi says the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo

China has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan, escalating a diplomatic feud sparked by comments from Tokyo’s new prime minister about a hypothetical attack on Taiwan.

Sanae Takaichi told Japan’s parliament on 7 November that the use of force against the self-ruled island claimed by China could warrant a military response from Tokyo. Japan has since said its position on Taiwan – just 100km from the nearest Japanese island – is unchanged.

Disney and YouTube TV reach new deal, ending dayslong blackout

Disney and YouTube TV reached a new deal to bring channels like ABC and ESPN back to the Google-owned live streaming platform Friday.

US army veteran who received Purple Heart deported by ICE to Mexico

Venezuelan-born Jose Barco detained upon early release from prison following attempted murder conviction

An army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served two tours in Iraq was deported on Friday morning from an immigration detention facility in Florence, Arizona.

Arizona state representative Raquel Terán told Fox 10 Phoenix that Jose Barco, a Venezuelan-born veteran whose family fled Cuba as refugees, was deported at 4am from Arizona.

Trump to ask DOJ to probe Jeffrey Epstein involvement with Clinton, JPMorgan, Summers

President Trump himself is a former longtime friend of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a federal jail during Trump's first term.

Pity the fool who owns a pool. It’s like having a large, delicate, expensive pet | Andrew Herrick

This back yard creature must be kept under constant chemical constraint, or it risks becoming more liability than asset

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

I’ll call him Bruce. He’s any of the 3.1 million Australians living in a house with a pool or spa. Over my long career in hardware, listening to the woes of so many Bruces, I’ve discovered that owning a pool is not all fun and bubbles at cocktail hour.

In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad. On first viewing his bayside property, Bruce already believed the agent’s claim that by far the most desirable addition to any home is a pool. It did look nice, glistening blue in the back yard. And weren’t the kids rapt. But now, years later, Bruce isn’t.

The scientist who helped win the fight to protect a sacred piece of the Pacific

Respected ocean expert Katy Soapi continues to advocate to protect Tetepare, one of the last untouched places in Solomon Islands

Scientist Katy Soapi’s earliest memories are of the sea. She grew up on Rendova, a lush island in western Solomon Islands, and life centred around the ocean.

“I remember when the big waves came, we would dive under them and come up laughing on the other side. Being part of those natural elements brought me so much joy.”

White House drops plan to make airlines pay travelers for delayed flights

The Trump administration is scrapping a proposal that would have made airlines pay passengers up to $775 for flight disruptions.

Woman pleads guilty to lying about astronaut wife accessing bank account from Space Station

Summer Worden faces a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison in the case, which involves false allegations she made against astronaut Anne McClain.

StubHub stock plummets 21% after company withholds fourth-quarter guidance

The company said it was taking a "long term approach," and added that shifting event timing made it hard to predict consumer demand.

Appeals court upholds hate crime convictions of Ahmaud Arbery's killers

A federal appeals court has upheld the hate crime convictions of the three men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia more than five years ago.

Labubu toy movie with potential to anchor franchise in the works at Sony

Viral plush toy is heading to big screen after a deal was signed with details still unclear over whether it would be live-action or animated

Labubus could be headed to the big screen. Sony Pictures has acquired the screen rights to the plush toy sensation and is in early development of a feature film which, if successful, would anchor a new franchise.

The deal, first reported by the Hollywood Reporter, was signed this week between the Chinese toy makers and Sony Pictures, whose animation division is fresh off the global success of KPop Demon Hunters. No producer or film-maker is attached to the project yet, and it’s still unclear if the film would be live-action or animated.

September jobs report will be out Thursday as first data since shutdown starts to trickle out

The departments of Labor and Commerce had not posted revised schedules as of Friday morning, but updates are expected soon.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

The Cop30 climate summit, blackouts in Kyiv, immigration raids in Chicago and super-typhoon Fung-wong: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Despite Coinbase departure, only 28 companies have left Delaware this year

Coinbase became the latest high-profile company to announce plans to reincorporate outside of Delaware, but it's still a very rare move.

Trump can get away with saying what he likes about the BBC. But Epstein? That’s his one vulnerability | Jonathan Freedland

In attacking a vital broadcaster, the US president is once again holding others to standards he flouts. But the Maga faithful might not let his links to the disgraced financier go

To confront Donald Trump is to engage in asymmetric warfare. It is to enter a battlefield that is not level, where he enjoys an immediate and in-built advantage over those who would oppose him or merely hold him to account. That fact has cost Democrats dearly over the past decade – exacting a toll again this very week – but it has now upended an institution central to Britain’s national life: namely, the BBC.

The key asymmetry can be spelled out simply. Trump pays little or no regard to the conventional bounds of truth or honesty. His documented tally of false or misleading statements runs into the tens of thousands: the Washington Post registered 30,573 such statements during Trump’s first term in the White House, an average of 21 a day. In a single interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes earlier this month, Trump spoke falsely 18 times, according to CNN.

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

Share your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage

Ahead of a special Guardian Live event on 26 November, you can share your questions for Tim Dowling, Stuart Heritage and Meera Sodha

It has been a year of small pleasures and big opinions. Is Kim Kardashian’s legal drama All’s Fair really the worst TV show of all time? What are the best (and worst) vegan cheeses? And 20 years after they first hit the shelves, five-toed shoes are apparently having a big fashion moment. But what is it like to wear them in public?

As the year draws to a close, Guardian Live invites you to a special event with columnist Tim Dowling, film and TV writer Stuart Heritage, and cook and author Meera Sodha. They will join comedian, broadcaster, and occasional Guardian contributor Nish Kumar for an evening of sharp observations, seasonal reflections and behind-the-scenes stories from the Guardian.

AfD hails US ban on European leftwing groups as historians fear crackdown on anti-fascists

German far-right party urges Berlin and other European nations to also designate ‘antifa’ groups as terrorist organisations

Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland party has welcomed the US government’s decision to classify a prominent German anti-fascist group and three other European networks as terrorist organisations, calling on Berlin and other European governments to follow the example.

But historians of anti-fascism warned that at a time when far-right groups were making electoral gains across the continent, the move set a dangerous precedent that could prepare the ground for a broader crackdown on leftwing activism.

D.R. Horton is tapping a startup’s AI zoning tool to build more homes

Portland, Oregon-based startup Prophetic has developed an AI-native platform for land acquisition and development analysis.

AI firm claims it stopped Chinese state-sponsored cyber-attack campaign

Anthropic says financial firms and government agencies were attacked ‘largely without human intervention’

A leading artificial intelligence company claims to have stopped a China-backed “cyber espionage” campaign that was able to infiltrate financial firms and government agencies with almost no human oversight.

The US-based Anthropic said its coding tool, Claude Code, was “manipulated” by a Chinese state-sponsored group to attack 30 entities around the world in September, achieving a “handful of successful intrusions”.

The question everyone in AI is asking: How long before a GPU depreciates?

The useful lifespan of AI infrastructure is a key issue for investors, as tech giants plan $1 trillion in AI spending over the next five years.

Fewer burritos, more bargains: Consumers flash holiday warning signs

In the coming week, some of the biggest names in retail, including Walmart, Target, Gap and Home Depot will report their latest earnings.