Comcast's cable network spinoff may be a signal to the media industry for necessary change

Comcast may be proceeding with a transaction as a signal to the rest of the media industry that consolidation is necessary.

Snowflake shares pop 19% on earnings and revenue beat

Snowflake reported better-than-expected results on the top and bottom lines.

Billionaire Gautam Adani charged in New York with massive fraud, bribery

Gautam Adani and others are charged in the New York indictment with paying Indian government officials $250 million to secure solar energy supply contracts.

Nvidia nearly doubles revenue on strong AI demand

Nvidia reported earnings after the bell. Here are the results.

Chelsea 3-0 Celtic: Women’s Champions League – live reaction

• Champions League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off
• Live scoreboard | Moving the Goalposts | And mail Sarah

The players are out at Stamford Bridge shortly. Can Chelsea keep their winning run going? Or can Celtic record their first Women’s Champions League win? A reminder if Chelsea pick up a point or more they will secure their knockout stage place.

Have a read of our weekly women’s football newsletter, it’s focused on Marta this week:

House Ethics Committee will keep Matt Gaetz report under wraps

Rep. Susan Wild said there was "no consensus" on the issue and the committee agreed to reconvene on Dec. 5.

Billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US over alleged $250m bribery plot

Indian chair of Adani Group, worth about $85bn, accused of agreeing to pay bribes to obtain solar energy contracts

Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, has been indicted in New York over an alleged multi-billion-dollar scheme to pay $250m in bribes and conceal the scheme from US investors.

Prosecutors charged the chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and two other executives of a renewable energy company with securities fraud and conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud.

Nvidia earnings: AI chip leader shows no signs of stopping mammoth growth

World’s most valuable company delights investors as it reports $35bn of revenue in quarterly results

The AI chipmaker Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company and the engine of the artificial-intelligence boom, rolled out another set of quarterly results on Wednesday to investors’ delight.

The company, whose value has soared by $2.2tn this year to $3.6tn on the back of near-doubling of chip sales, said it had sales of $35.08bn, against expectations of $33.15bn.

Has life in the U.S. become too political? You can buy a house in Italy for $1.

A village in Sardinia is trying to entice politics-weary Americans to buy cheap homes in Italy.

House ethics chair accused of ‘betraying the process’ after committee deadlocked on releasing Gaetz report – US politics live

Democrat Susan Wild says committee chair Michael Guest mischaracterized meeting; she says committee will reconvene in December

The Federal Reserve must not remove Wells Fargo’s $1.95tn asset cap until the bank has fixed its risk management and compliance issues, top Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told the US central bank on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

In a letter to Fed chair, Jerome Powell, and the central bank’s regulatory chief, Michael Barr, Warren said the Fed must reject Wells Fargo reported appeal to have the punishment imposed in 2018 lifted until it “can show that it can properly manage the risks associated with running a large bank”.

Former billionaire investor Sung Kook ‘Bill’ Hwang sentenced to 18 years

Jury had convicted Hwang on criminal charges over Archegos collapse, which cost Wall Street more than $10bn

Former billionaire investor Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than $10bn.

Hwang was sentenced by US district judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, where a jury convicted Hwang in July on 10 criminal charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and market manipulation.

How could the U.S. military be used for Trump's mass deportation plan?

Trump signaled this week that he would enlist the help of the U.S. military for his massive deportation operation.

Federal courts trumpet steps to protect workers after #MeToo movement

The federal courts say they have taken "extensive" steps to protect workers from abuse, discrimination and harassment since the rise of the #MeToo movement, but critics say many workers don't trust the internal system for reporting complaints.

Paolini sweeps aside Sramkova to secure fifth BJK Cup triumph for Italy

• Paolini and Bronzetti power Italy past Slovakia in final
• Raducanu reflects on ‘great’ run despite Britain’s defeat

Jasmine Paolini put on a masterclass to steer Italy to a fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as she beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 in the second singles rubber to wrap up a 2-0 win over Slovakia in the final on Wednesday.

A year after Italy suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Canada in the decider and over a decade since their last title in 2013, the charismatic Paolini demolished Sramkova before celebrating wildly with her teammates and jubilant Italian fans, including the men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner.

American Airlines to shame boarding line cutters with new technology

American Airlines plans to roll out the new technology to 100 airports across the country.

Georgia election workers ask judge to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt

Lawyers for two women who won $148m defamation judgment make request after Trump lawyer’s repeated lies

Rudy Giuliani should be held in civil contempt for continuing to lie about two election workers to whom he already owes $148m for defaming, lawyers for the two women wrote in a court filing Wednesday.

The request comes months after Giuliani agreed in court to never again accuse Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss of election fraud. Despite that agreement earlier this year, Giuliani continued to spread lies about them on his live-streamed show.

Senate Democrats seek evidence from FBI sex-trafficking probe of Trump AG pick Matt Gaetz

The House Ethics panel is mulling whether to release a report on alleged sexual misconduct by Matt Gaetz, whom Donald Trump wants to run the Justice Department.

Ukraine fires UK-made missiles into Russia for first time

Storm Shadow missile attack comes day after Kyiv used US-supplied long-range weapons to strike within Russia

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, multiple sources have told the Guardian.

The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine, which UK and US officials warned was a significant escalation of the near three-year conflict.

4 Trump administration picks have sexual misconduct allegations in their past

Four men chosen by President-elect Donald Trump for top positions have been accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct.

Juan Mata hopes ‘to build something special’ with San Diego FC investment

• Midfielder follows David Beckham into MLS ownership
• San Diego will be part of Western Conference from 2025

Juan Mata has followed David Beckham in becoming the owner of an MLS team, after he announced that he was joining the investment group of San Diego FC. The former Chelsea and Manchester United midfielder, who now plays for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australia’s A-League Men, is the first active player to become a partner in a US franchise. San Diego will be part of the Western Conference from 2025.

The award of an expansion slot was announced in May 2023, with San Diego chosen ahead of Las Vegas, whose bid was backed by the owners of Aston Villa. The 2025 launch came too late for Mata to be involved as a player, with the Spanish midfielder, who had been released by Vissel Kobe in January, eventually joining Sydney as a free agent in September. Now he has become a part owner with a small shareholding while he continues as a professional, unlike David Beckham, whose ownership of Inter Miami had been written into his contract with MLS when he joined LA Galaxy, but was not announced until he had retired.

Matt Gaetz meets privately with Senate Republicans to build support

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is meeting with Senate Republicans as he seeks to shore up support after Donald Trump tapped the embattled GOP firebrand as his pick for attorney general.

The International Space Station adjusts its orbit to avoid space debris

There are at least 19,000 pieces of space debris in Earth's orbit, not including active satellites, that the U.S is monitoring.

US vetoes UN security council push to call for ceasefire in Gaza

UN security council voted 14-1 in favor of resolution but it was not adopted because of the US veto

The US has vetoed a UN security council push to call for a ceasefire in Gaza that Washington said would have emboldened Hamas.

The resolution demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the war between Israel and the Palestinian group, along with “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.

Susan Smith denied parole 30 years after drowning her 2 sons

Susan Smith, convicted of killing her two sons by rolling her car into a lake in 1994, broke down in tears while making her case to the parole board.

Here's what experts say about the chances of another stimulus check

Some voters are hoping President-elect Donald Trump may send out another stimulus check. Here's what the experts say.

Trump’s cabinet and White House picks – so far

A look at the people who have been and still could be offered key positions when Trump takes office

Donald Trump, the former US president set to return to the White House in January for a second term, has begun making selections for his administratione.

Trump has tasked Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend and pick for commerce secretary, with recruiting officials who will deliver, rather than dilute, his agenda. During his first term, several of Trump’s key appointees tried to convince Trump out of his more extreme plans.

Texas offers thousands of acres to Trump for ‘deportation facilities’

Land commissioner says state is ready to allow facility for ‘processing, detention and coordination’ of deportation

The state of Texas has offered thousands of acres of land to Donald Trump “to construct deportation facilities”.

Texas land commissioner Dawn Buckingham wrote in a letter to Trump that his “office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the US border patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history.”

Violent Attacks in China Raise Difficult Questions

A series of deadly attacks within China in recent weeks have killed dozens and left people uneasy. Those who carried out the attacks have been seemingly ordinary people who authorities say became disgruntled or unhappy. Our correspondent brings us to the site of one recent attacks and says these incidents are raising difficult questions about society and the government.

Target tumbles 22% after its earnings fall short. Here's what happened.

Target stock tumbled more than 20% after reporting earnings that fell short of forecasts. Here what's going on.

Business spending on AI surged 500% this year to $13.8 billion, says Menlo Ventures

Enterprise spending on generative AI surged 500% this year, hitting $13.8 billion — up from just $2.3 billion in 2023, according to a new Menlo Ventures report.

McDonald's pulls espresso drinks from some U.S. menus

Lattes and other espresso-based drinks may not be available at some McDonald's restaurants due to a glitch with coffee machines.

Lebanon youth international Céline Haidar in induced coma after airstrike

• 19-year-old was hit by shrapnel in Chiyah on Saturday
• Player remains in intensive care in hospital

The Lebanon youth international Céline Haidar is still in an induced coma, four days after being struck by shrapnel in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday.

The 19-year-old, the latest football player to be impacted by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and now Lebanon, was hit in Chiyah, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Thai woman sentenced to death for cyanide poisoning in first of 14 murder trials

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is accused of swindling thousands from victims before killing them

A Thai woman alleged to be among the worst serial killers in the kingdom’s history has been convicted and sentenced to death for poisoning a friend with cyanide, in the first of 14 murder trials.

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, described as an online gambling addict, is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from her victims before killing them with the chemical.

Delta expects higher profits thanks to high-end travel and 'resilient economy'

Delta, the most profitable U.S. airline, expects to expand capacity by no more than 4% year-over-year in 2025.

Standoff as Canada Yukon town council refuses to swear oath to King Charles

Council in Yukon territory deadlocked, citing the crown’s tarnished relations with Indigenous peoples in the region

The council of a town in Canada’s Yukon territory has been locked for weeks in bureaucratic standstill after its members refused to swear a mandatory oath of allegiance to King Charles, citing the crown’s tarnished relations with Indigenous peoples in the region.

The standoff, which threatens to cost them their seats, reflects a complicated view of the country’s head of state, who lives thousands of miles away, and increasingly serves as a reminder to a history of violence and broken promises

Man convicted of murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley

Jose Ibarra was found guilty in the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kosovo to appeal against Uefa-imposed 3-0 loss for leaving field over pro-Serbia chants

• Game in Romania abandoned near the end
• Kosovo plan to take case to court of arbitration for sport

Kosovo are preparing an appeal to the court of arbitration for sport after Uefa handed them a 3-0 defeat for walking off the field during Friday’s Nations League tie against Romania in Bucharest, which was eventually abandoned when they elected not to return.

Kosovo left the pitch during second-half stoppage time upon hearing chants of “Serbia” from the home crowd. The match was suspended and when it was clear they would refuse to resume proceedings were drawn to a halt.

Murdoch family retains majority control of News Corp after shareholder vote

Activist investor Starboard Value had challenged ownership structure, as Murdoch family controls 41% of company votes

Lachlan Murdoch faced down a shareholder vote on Wednesday aimed at weakening the Murdoch family’s control over their media empire.

The activist investor Starboard Value had challenged the ownership structure of News Corp, the parent company of dozens of news outlets globally including the Wall Street Journal and publisher HarperCollins in the US, and the Times and the Sun in the UK.

Cormac McCarthy had 16-year-old ‘muse’ when he was 42, Vanity Fair reports

Augusta Britt says relationship with then-married author, who died in 2023, began after they met at motel pool

The author Cormac McCarthy, who died last year aged 89, began a relationship with a 16-year-old when he was 42 and the woman became his “secret muse”, Vanity Fair has reported.

The author of The Road and Suttree gave very few interviews, so little is known of his private life other than that he married three times and lived in Spain and Texas before settling in New Mexico.

Thousands eager to escape Trump keen to snap up €1 Sardinian home, says mayor

American applications would be fast-tracked although scheme is open to other nationalities, says mayor of Ollolai

The mayor of a small town in Sardinia has said thousands of Americans keen to escape Donald Trump have expressed an interest in moving there after he offered homes to them for as little as €1.

Francesco Columbu, the mayor of Ollolai, has staged similarly enticing initiatives in the past as a way to combat depopulation. He released more homes for sale after sensing he was on to a winner when Trump clinched a second term as US president in elections earlier this month.

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s plutocrats: money for something | Editorial

The Republicans were always the party of big business, but Mr Trump is turning them into a playpen for oligarchs

One person turns up surprisingly often at Donald Trump’s side. Not his No 2, JD Vance, nor his wife, Melania, but another man a quarter-century younger and about $300bn heavier: Elon Musk. The two hunkered down in Mar-a-Lago on the night of the election, celebrating the results. This week they were in Texas, watching Mr Musk’s staff test-launch a spacecraft. During the campaign, Mr Musk personally chipped in $130m, made speeches at rallies and organised campaigns to “get out the vote”. Last week, the world’s richest man was picked by the president-elect to run a new “department of government efficiency”. So close are the pair that Mr Musk dubs himself “First Buddy”.

American politics has always been coiled around money, tight as a vine around a trunk. Nearly 25 years ago, George W Bush joked at a swanky white-tie dinner: “Some people call you the elites; I call you my base.” Nor is it confined to the right wing. Of the two main candidates in this month’s election, more billionaires backed Kamala Harris. One result is a highly warped politics that works against the very people it urges to go out and vote.

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.

Veteran news editor expects Trump 'to go after the press in every conceivable way'

Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron says he thinks Trump is "salivating for the opportunity to prosecute and imprison journalists." New Yorker editor David Remnick agrees.

Could Trump reinstate the student debt that Biden forgave? Here's what experts say

Millions of student loan borrowers have had their debt forgiven under the Biden administration. Could President-elect Donald Trump claw back that relief?

Trump taps Russ Vought to lead budget office again

If confirmed, this will be Russ Vought's second time as OMB director. He authored a chapter of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a GOP administration.

Joe Biden turns 82 as Democrats begin search for younger party leaders

Party calls for generational shift and looks to younger governors after Harris’s defeat in presidential election

Joe Biden marked his 82nd birthday on Wednesday as Democrats began searching for a younger generation of party leaders following Kamala Harris’s morale-sapping defeat in this month’s presidential election.

Any birthday celebrations planned by the US president will probably be muted as he returned to Washington from the G20 summit in Brazil a seemingly diminished figure, awaiting the return to power of Donald Trump, who is expected to dismantle many of his achievements in the past four years.

Australia and Turkey in standoff to be host of crucial 2026 climate talks

As Cop29 in Azerbaijan reaches final stages, countries try to shore up support for conference where question of limiting global heating will be key

Australia is locked in a standoff with Turkey over which will host vital UN climate talks in 2026, where the question of whether the world can limit global heating in line with scientific advice is likely to be decided.

Australia’s government wants to host the summit in partnership with Pacific nations, which are among the countries most threatened by climate breakdown.

Ben Jennings on Putin’s rhetoric over Russia’s nuclear weapons – cartoon

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Deepfakes of Elon Musk contribute to billions in fraud losses

A study found that Elon Musk is the most common celebrity used in deepfake scams.

House Ethics Committee is deadlocked on whether to release Gaetz report

The U.S. House Committee on Ethics is deadlocked on whether to release its report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose nomination to serve as Trump's attorney general has been plagued by controversy.

Opt out: how to stop tech companies spying on your phone as Trump promises mass deportations

There are no federal privacy regulations to protect your information – here’s how you can do it yourself

Welcome to Opt Out, a semi-regular column in which we help you navigate your online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The last column covered how to talk to your family about not posting your baby’s photos on the internet.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to execute the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in American history, and many rights groups are concerned he’ll also introduce or reinstate rules that target broader immigrant communities as well – even if they’ve come through legal pathways or have been naturalized. If his prior administration is any indication, that can include people from certain Muslim-majority countries, asylum seekers and refugees.

Bomb cyclone batters Northwest, causing widespread power outages

A major storm swept across the northwestern U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain, causing widespread power outages and downing trees that killed at least two people.

‘What can we do to make this better?’ Alec Baldwin film Rust finally premieres in Poland

First screening for troubled western whose cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on set takes place at niche film festival, boycotted by high-profile figures over a separate sexism row

Rust, the western whose production became notorious after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, has been screened for the first time at the Camerimage cinematography festival in Torun, Poland.

Hutchins was shot by a prop gun held by the film’s star and producer Alec Baldwin on set in New Mexico. Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter but the case was dismissed for evidence withholding, while Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armourer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on the same charge, and assistant director David Halls given six months probation for negligent use of a deadly weapon. The film’s closing credits now contain a tribute to Hutchins, with the words “For Halyna” and a quote: “What can we do to make this better?” The festival’s CEO Marek Żydowicz said that Baldwin, who is credited as one of Rust’s producers, was not invited.

‘Positive progress’ made in Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire talks, US envoy says

Amos Hochstein to meet Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after Beirut discussions over deal to end fighting

The US envoy Amos Hochstein has said there is “positive progress” towards a ceasefire in Lebanon after talks in Beirut aimed at ending 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hochstein has met Lebanese officials over the past two days after Hezbollah indicated it had agreed to the text of a US ceasefire proposal, although with some comments. He said on Tuesday that the gaps between Hezbollah and Israel had “narrowed”, raising optimism about a deal between the two parties.

Gladdington and Glicked: will these weird, wild double bills beat Barbenheimer?

There are a lot of big movies out this November, including Gladiator 2, Paddington 3 and Wicked. So should you watch them all in one afternoon?

Name: Glicked and Gladdington.

Age: Extremely new.

A man has been convicted of murder in the killing of Laken Riley

The case over the killing of a Georgia nursing student fueled the national debate over immigration during this year's presidential race.

‘I fly, I drive. We’re all complicit’: Richard Flanagan on vanishing species and refusing the Baillie Gifford prize money

The Australian’s book about his parents’ love and his father’s horrific experience of Burma’s Death Railway won the illustrious nonfiction award. Here he talks about finding beauty and hope in the age of extinction and despair

Richard Flanagan had only just got home from a trek through the wilderness when “the phone started going off like a chainsaw revving”. The day before, he had been standing in a grove of 1,000-year-old pencil pines, trees that he fears may not be around in a decade, such is the effect of the climate crisis on alpine heathland and rainforest in his native Tasmania, Australia. But now, on the other side of the world, his book Question 7 had just been awarded the Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction, making him the first writer to win both this and the Booker, which he received in 2014 for The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Flanagan’s prerecorded acceptance speech initially followed customary form, thanking the prize’s judging panel, his fellow shortlisted writers and its sponsors, the investment management company that gives the award its name and which in recent times has become the focus of intense scrutiny over its ties to the fossil fuel industry. His soul would be troubled, Flanagan explained, if he did not draw attention to the devastating impact the climate crisis was having on his own country and to urge Baillie Gifford to meet with him and outline a plan for its withdrawal from any involvement in fossil fuels. Until that time, continued the 63-year-old, he would delay taking receipt of the £50,000 prize money. “As each of us is guilty,” he concluded, “each of us too bears a responsibility to act: a writer, a fund manager.”

Here's how much money store brands can save you on Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving dinners will cost less if you buy store-brand products. Here's how much savings they offer.

Forget ‘flattering’: comfortable clothes make me feel most like myself

In midlife, I prioritize roomy designs that helped me move with ease. I had been searching for that freedom all along

A few weeks ago, getting dressed to take my kids to a comics festival, I put on a pair of tapered maroon jersey pants. My 10-year-old looked at me and said: “Whoa, I’ve never seen you wear tight pants before!”

They were hardly fitted, but it’s true that I favor my beloved elastic waist, barrel leg Ilana Kohn Abe pants, which make me feel more like myself than any other item of clothing I’ve owned.

How Laken Riley's death sent "a reality shock" through a college town

For many students, Athens, Georgia, no longer feels like the safe haven they once thought it was, after the killing of Laken Riley.

A Bornean orangutan on a fearless quest for figs: Tim Laman’s best photograph

‘While it was dark, I climbed up and put remote control cameras in the tree. I’d never have got the shot if I’d been up there. An orangutan always knows you’re there’

I was following orangutans in Borneo with my wife, Cheryl Knott, a primatologist who has spent 30 years working in Gunung Palung national park, in the Indonesian part of Borneo. I am a biologist by background, and did my PhD research in rainforest ecology in Borneo, before I went into photography and film-making. I saw so much destruction in the rainforest back in the 90s, and it dawned on me that I could publish scientific articles that maybe 10 people would read – or an article in National Geographic that 10 million people would see.

I was getting increasingly serious about my photography while working on my PhD when I got funding from the National Geographic Society for field research. Through that connection, I was able to show them my pictures and eventually I published an article in the magazine about my work, which in turn meant I was able to get an assignment to document Cheryl’s orangutan PhD.

Gisèle Pelicot held trial in public to force debate on rape culture, say lawyers

At summing up, lawyers say Gisèle Pelicot wanted to show how people still defend rape in France in 2024

Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to waive her anonymity and hold a public trial after her husband drugged her and invited dozens of men to rape her over a decade was made in the hope of ending rape culture and rape itself, her lawyers have argued.

Summing up in court in Avignon, southern France, after more than two months of hearings, Stéphane Babonneau, one of Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyers, said: “We don’t believe rape is an inevitability. This is a country of progress … Rape is not part of the future of society that we want.”

Extremist Timbuktu Islamic police chief sentenced to 10 years in jail by ICC

Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud had been convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity

The international criminal court has sentenced an al-Qaida-linked extremist leader to 10 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out when he headed the Islamic police in Timbuktu in Mali, west Africa.

Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud was convicted in June of torture, religious persecution and other inhumane acts. Judges found he was a “key figure” in a reign of terror after Islamic extremist rebels overran the ancient desert city in 2012.

Trump picks Matthew Whitaker for ambassador to NATO

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Matthew Whitaker as his ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Trump has long criticized for taking advantage of U.S. defense spending.

Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for the first time?

American and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.

In response, Russia has announced it is adjusting its nuclear doctrine. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would interpret any attack against it carried out by a non-nuclear state using weapons supplied by a nuclear state as a joint assault. But what exactly are Atacms, and why has their deployment unsettled Russia so deeply?

• Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for first time?

• Russia-Ukraine war live

Personal bankruptcies are up. When does it make sense to file?

Americans struggling to stay financially afloat should consider debt relief before tapping into retirement accounts, experts say.

NFL kickers are better than ever from long distance, and that's changing football

Field goals of 50 yards or longer used to be a rare thing in the NFL. But this season, kickers are hitting them at a record 72% clip — and head coaches are trying them far more often than ever before.

How a Sabrina Carpenter song led to a priest's demotion for mishandling church funds

Officials say Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was disciplined for mishandling $1.9 million in parish funds. He faced scrutiny last year for letting Carpenter film a music video at his Brooklyn church.

Delta CEO says Trump administration's approach to regulation could be 'breath of fresh air'

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the Trump administration could address governmental "overreach" in regulation.

Paul Simon's inside look at the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss

Legendary musician Paul Simon gives Anthony Mason an inside look at the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss, where scientists are working to help the nearly half a billion people disabled by the condition.

FTX co-founder Gary Wang avoids prison time for role in crypto fraud

Gary Wang was the fifth former FTX executive to be handed a punishment for his role in the collapse of the crypto exchange in late 2022.

Jimmy Lai trial: key points from media mogul’s testimony on first day

Detained pro-democracy activist spoke for first time about charges against him under Hong Kong national security law

Jimmy Lai, the detained pro-democracy activist and media mogul who is the target of Hong Kong’s most high-profile national security case, took the stand in court on Wednesday. For the first time since he was detained in December 2020, Lai spoke publicly about the charges against him, for which he faces spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Four years after his arrest, the 77-year-old seemed older and not as strong as he used to be. His first words – swearing an oath on the Bible – were delivered hoarsely.

Sea nymphs and an ancient ritual – readers’ best photos

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

People around world associate rolled R with a jagged line, study finds

Speakers of 28 languages linked sound and shape at least 88% of the time, in ‘strongest case of sound symbolism to date’

A rolled R is a sound that many struggle to produce, but research suggests it evokes the same curious response in people the world over: an association with a jagged line.

While onomatopoeia describes words that sound like the noise they describe – such as “bang” – sound symbolism is a broader concept, in which sounds map on to a wider range of meanings, such as shape, texture or size.

We’ve lost 20,000 pubs in the last 40 years. That sends a chill down my spine | Adrian Chiles

I don’t spend every night in my local. But even when I’m home, the knowledge that it exists makes life better

A closed pub is a sad, sad sight. Where once was life, people talking and laughing, now there is none. OK, bad stuff would have gone on too. I get that. Every pub has a drinker or two who needs the drink they’re holding more than they should. These places are, after all, potential vectors for dependence on a highly addictive substance, with all the misery that entails. But I think – hope – that pubs do more good than harm, that they’re more of a blessing than a curse.

Like most drinkers, I’m inclined to imagine that most of the population drink about the same as me, if not more, and in similar places. When the first lockdown was announced, including, unthinkably, the closing of pubs, Boris Johnson said he found it wrenching to be “taking away the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub”. I happened to watch him make that speech on a TV in my local pub – it was my birthday. I’m sure I nodded in agreement, though even then I thought it was a bit of a stretch to make the right to go to the pub sound like it was enshrined in Magna Carta. And when I checked, I found that only about half of adults regularly frequent pubs and bars. So not everyone, by a long shot, exercises their inalienable right, although that leaves no small number who do.

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist

‘You have to be prepared for the worst’: making a film on the fight for democracy in Cuba

Documentary film-maker Nanfu Wang found difficulties while following an activist in Cuba for her revealing, and timely, new film Night is Not Eternal

“I don’t believe in America being the beacon of democracy,” says the documentary film-maker Nanfu Wang. “America sliding into autocracy is not something that is unimaginable.”

Terms such as democracy and autocracy have been thrown around a lot since the re-election of Donald Trump as US president. But Wang speaks with unusual authority on this subject. She was born in China and lived under its authoritarian regime until 2011 when, aged 26, she moved to the US because of its promise of democracy and freedom.

Thinking of getting a dog? Here's how to avoid falling for a puppy scam

The Better Business Bureau reported 2,500 pet scams in 2023. Brandi Munden from the American Kennel Club joins "CBS Mornings Plus" to explain how to identify a legitimate breeder and avoid scams.

My friend Joshua Wong is among those jailed in Hong Kong – the UK must stand up for these political prisoners | Nathan Law

I too suffered this repression. The harsh sentences handed down to democracy activists cannot go unchallenged

Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison on Tuesday. He received a one-third sentencing cut to that period by pleading guilty. Even so, coupled with other charges he faced for his peaceful participation in the 2019 democratic protests, he will be in prison until at least 2027.

I spent my formative years with Wong. We were both student leaders in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, and co-founded the now-dissolved youth-led political party Demosistō in 2016. He gave everything he had to support me in my bid to become the youngest legislator in Hong Kong the same year. In 2020, I departed the city; he remains. The pain of survivor’s guilt hits me every night.

The rise of legal gambling and its hidden impact on teenagers

With sports betting and online gambling more accessible than ever, teens are increasingly at risk for problem gambling. Clinical psychologist Lisa Damour shares advice on how parents can recognize and address the issue.

Rebecca Yarros on her rise to fame, "Fourth Wing" success and her new book

After selling over a million copies of "Fourth Wing" and gaining a cult following, Rebecca Yarros is back with her latest novel, "Variation," a tale of a ballerina uncovering a life-altering family secret. She joins "CBS Mornings."

Iran has offered to keep uranium below purity levels for a bomb, IAEA confirms

UN inspectorate chief calls Tehran’s move a ‘concrete step in the right direction’, amid threat of restored sanctions

Iran has offered to keep its stock of uranium enriched up to 60% – below the purity levels required to make a nuclear bomb – the head of the UN nuclear inspectorate, Rafael Grossi, has confirmed amid the threat of restored European sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear activities.

“I think this is … a concrete step in the right direction. We have a fact which has been verified by us. It is the first time Iran has agreed to take a different path,” Grossi said in Vienna on Tuesday.

Exclusive discounts from CBS Mornings Deals

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From Astro Bot to Balatro, the 2024 ‘game of the year’ race is too close to call

In this week’s newsletter: The shortlist for December’s Game Awards is out, and the top contenders are neck and neck

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Much like Christmas is a lot less enjoyable for the person who has to organise all the presents and cook the dinner, game-of-the-year season is rather intimidating for the people who have to put together the shortlists. Every November, I tot up all of the year’s acclaimed games I’ve yet to play, the underground recommendations I’ve yet to follow up on and the games I loved back in February but forgot about. I feel a mounting panic. And when all of the year-end lists come out, I inevitably find I’ve missed something anyway.

The Game Awards have just announced the nominations for this year’s ceremony, taking place on 12 December in Los Angeles. (Disclosure: the Guardian is one of 130 voting outlets for the awards, but my knowledge and involvement with them is limited to sending Geoff Keighley our ballots every year, usually a day or two late. Sorry, Geoff.) There are few surprises in the nominations, but I am pleased that one of the top two most nominated games is Astro Bot, with seven nominations, a game that cannot get enough praise as far as I’m concerned. (The other is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, up for six awards, which our critic dubbed a miracle of fan service; alas, I remain immune to the charms of Final Fantasy despite many attempts over the years to get into it).

Pink flamingos and a firefighters’ protest: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Arizona immigrants fear return to mass arrests as state passes ‘secure our border’ act

A generation of Arizonans revolted against hardline immigration policies and won important battles. This year, the state voted to bring those policies back

The news that Arizona voters on 5 November had approved the so-called “secure our border” initiative hit Reyna Montoya like a gut punch.

The measure – proposition 314 on the ballot – makes crossing the US-Mexico border without authorization a state crime, empowering local officials to arrest and deport border-crossers and enhancing criminal penalties for unauthorised immigrants who apply for public benefits.

BlackRock accused of contributing to climate and human rights abuses

OECD complaint alleges top firm has increased investments in companies implicated in environmental devastation

BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset management company, faces a complaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for allegedly contributing to environmental and human rights abuses around the world through its investments in agribusiness.

Friends of the Earth US and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil accuse BlackRock of increasing investments in companies that have been implicated in the devastation of the Amazon and other major forests despite warnings that this is destabilising the global climate, damaging ecosystems and violating the rights of traditional communities.

Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates among mourners at his funeral

X-Factor judge Simon Cowell and Payne’s former partner Cheryl Tweedy also attend Buckinghamshire service

Members of One Direction and the X-Factor judge Simon Cowell were among the mourners who attended Liam Payne’s funeral.

Payne died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Argentina last month, prompting an outpouring of grief from fans across the world.

Is Trump pick Pete Hegseth ready to run Defense? A former defense secretary weighs in

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says "a lack of any government experience is an issue" when leading the largest institution in the world.

Alec Baldwin's "Rust" to premiere after deadly shooting on set over 3 years ago

Alec Baldwin's western "Rust" will premiere on Wednesday after a deadly shooting on set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. A live round was mistakenly loaded into a prop gun. The film's director, Joel Souza, was also injured that day. He spoke to "CBS Mornings" about the on-set shooting and the premiere.

President-elect Trump's relationship with Elon Musk raises ethics concerns

Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump met in Texas Tuesday to watch as Musk's company SpaceX test launched its largest rocket. The two have had a close relationship throughout the election, but it spotlights potential conflicts of interest. Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla have more than $13 billion in government contracts. Commercial rocket launches like the one Trump attended are regulated by the federal government, and SpaceX has complained that some of those regulations are slowing down technology.

House Ethics Committee to meet amid pressure to release report on Matt Gaetz allegations

A vote Wednesday by the House Ethics Committee will decide if a report on President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz, will be made public. Gaetz has been accused of drug use and having sex with a minor, which he denies.

Eye Opener: House Ethics Committee to meet on publication of Matt Gaetz report

The House Ethics Committee will decide if a report on alleged misconduct by Matt Gaetz will be made public. Also, Ukraine strikes its first targets inside Russia with American missiles, as President Putin unveils a new nuclear doctrine. All that and all that matters in today's Eye Opener.

‘No intention of stopping’: meet the F1 mechanic set for 600th straight race

Aston Martin stalwart Andy Stevenson started his career in a Silverstone shed fending off Eddie Jordan’s barbs

Whatever happens at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, Aston Martin will be celebrating a remarkable achievement. It’s viva Las Vegas for Andy Stevenson, Aston’s sporting director who will mark his 600th grand prix here, a feat of longevity made all the more striking by the fact he has not missed a race since he joined the team as a callow youth in 1987.

Such was his childhood ambition to work in F1 that he committed to it in writing. “My mother recently found the paperwork from my first visit to the careers office which said I wanted to work with fast cars and travel the world,” he says with a smile.

American Airlines' new system cracks down on passengers trying to board plane early

American Airlines has been testing a new boarding system in Tuscon and two other airports that prevents passengers from trying to board before their group is called. American will add the system to 100 airports ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, with more in the coming months.

Susan Smith up for parole 30 years after drowning her two sons in a South Carolina lake

Thirty years ago, Susan Smith rolled her car into a South Carolina lake with her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons inside. She initially told police she was carjacked before confessing to their killings. On Wednesday, Smith, who is serving a life sentence, will ask a parole board for her freedom.

Weekly mortgage demand inched up, despite higher interest rates. Here's why

After flatlining the week before, mortgage demand rose last week, despite mortgage rates rising for the fourth straight week.

‘Capitalism incarnate’: inside the secret world of McKinsey, the firm hooked on fossil fuels

Interviews and analysis of court documents show how the world’s most prestigious consulting firm quietly helps fuel the climate crisis

Two giant, mirrored walls are set to rise out of the sands of the Arabian desert. They will run parallel for more than 100 miles from the coast of the Red Sea through arid valleys and craggy mountains. Between them, a futuristic city which has no need for cars or roads will be powered completely by renewable energy.

This engineering marvel, its creators say, will usher in “a revolution in civilization”. It’s the jewel in the crown of a $500bn Saudi government project known as Neom, turning a vast scrubland into a techno-utopia and world-class tourist and sporting destination. Perhaps a harbinger for the end of oil, it will supposedly put the powerful petrostate at the forefront of the energy transition. For American consulting giant McKinsey & Company, its advising on this project appears to be making good on the firm’s green promises.

California professor says charges over pro-Palestinian protest show ‘failure in leadership’

Video of arrest of Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, tenured professor at University of California, Irvine, went viral

As riot police arrested 50 people during a May 2024 pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of California, Irvine, Tiffany Willoughby-Herard was escorted away by riot police, her hands zip-tied behind her back.

A video of the tenured professor speaking passionately to reporters as she was arrested circulated widely on social media. “We cannot have a genocidal foreign policy in a democracy,” she says in the video. “These police officers out here today – that’s thousands of students’ scholarships.”

The Man With a Thousand Faces review – triumphant takedown of international dating scammer

There are some jaw-dropping moments in this story of a man who conned numerous women, but this quietly lo-thrills documentary lets the victims tell their stories

‘When he said he was in Toulouse for paediatric training, he was in Krakow seeing his other wife.” This is the moment when a Parisian woman called Marianne discovered that her partner had a second life. And a third, and a fourth … The Man With a Thousand Faces slots neatly into the mini-genre of dating scammer documentaries – but this is the French-intellectual version. There are some jaw-droppers in the story of how Ricardo (sometimes Alexandre or Daniel), a Portuguese (sometimes Argentinian or Brazilian) man conned numerous women. But it’s an emotionally literate, lo-thrills film from film-maker Sonia Kronlund, who casts actors to play some of the women to protect their privacy.

And really, it’s the women that Kronlund finds compelling. Marianne (played by Aurelie Gasche) had a baby with Ricardo, supposedly a surgeon who’d spent years in Africa with Médecins Sans Frontières. She was five months pregnant when suddenly she couldn’t reach him; the phone numbers he’d given her were fake. Another woman discovered the truth after finding a photo that he’d sent to the mother of his baby daughter – only they didn’t have a baby. Ricardo’s typical exit strategy at the end of a relationship was to vanish after getting a phone call to say that one of his parents was dead or in a coma.

Farewell, Rafael Nadal: it was my pleasure to know one of sport’s most gracious champions | Kevin Mitchell

Quiet man from Mallorca couldn’t stop the clock on his ageing body but what a life, what a career – truly tennis’s ‘real thing’

Elite sport is that peculiar amalgam of ritual, repetition, ingrained twitches, drilled skill, known strengths and feared limits. But it matters not a jot without passion – and sometimes even that is not enough.

At 38 and in reasonable if not optimum shape, Rafael Nadal brought all of those elements together in Málaga on Tuesday night as best he could, but not with enough conviction to seal his farewell with a win. He took defeat in his last match with as much dignity as victory in his first, aged 15. But he lost. And it hurt. He would not have wanted it any other way.

Will Marta write new chapter in NWSL final after season of broken records?

Brazil legend features in Saturday’s big Championship game between Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit

The 2024 NWSL Championship between Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit on Saturday will be a historic contest and caps off a memorable year. Hosted at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, it already celebrates a massive milestone in yet another year of growth. The Kansas City Current’s home is the first stadium built specifically for an NWSL club and was deservedly awarded the Championship game.

As the NWSL commissioner, Jessica Berman, said: “It was a natural choice to stage the league’s marquee event in a venue that exemplifies the profound impact of infrastructure, investment and community support on the continued development and success of our sport.” The 11,500 capacity stadium sold out every game and is on course to do the same in the final.