The last frontier of empathy: why we still struggle to see ourselves as animals | Megan Mayhew Bergman

Champions of exceptionalism say humans hold a unique moral status. Yet there’s only one species recklessly destroying the planet it needs to survive

At first light in Massachusetts bay, a North Atlantic right whale threads the shallows with her calf tucked into her slipstream. She surfaces, and the V-shaped breath – two brief feathers of vapor – vanishes in the cold air.

The calf is roughly three months old, about the length of a small truck, still learning the rhythm: rise, breathe, tuck back into mother’s wake. They are doing what every mammal mother and baby do: moving toward food and a safer place.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

‘I try not to get him started on politics!’: power couples on rows, rules and who really does the housework

As fewer people tie the knot, four well-known married couples share their secrets, from film director Bruce Robinson and artist Sophie Windham to writers Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman

Bruce Robinson – best known as the writer and director of Withnail and I – met artist Sophie Windham at an Italian restaurant in London in 1982. He proposed three days later. They have been married for 42 years and still live and work side by side in the Welsh borders. They have two grownup children, Lily and Willoughby.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:00 am

The banality of evil: how Epstein’s powerful friends normalised him

Long after his conviction for sexual abuse, people in royalty, academia, business, journalism and politics sought his ear

He got by with a little help from his friends. From British royalty to White House alumni, from a Silicon Valley investor to a leftwing academic, connections and influence were the ultimate currency for Jeffrey Epstein.

Yet none appeared to challenge Epstein over his horrific crimes. If silence is complicity, the casual disdain of the elite circles he moved in spoke volumes.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

How Google’s DeepMind tool is ‘more quickly’ forecasting hurricane behavior

‘Less expensive and time consuming’ model helps with fast and accurate predictions, possibly saving lives and property

When then Tropical Storm Melissa was churning south of Haiti, Philippe Papin, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologist, had confidence it was about to grow into a monster hurricane.

As the lead forecaster on duty, he predicted that in just 24 hours the storm would become a category 4 hurricane and begin a turn towards the coast of Jamaica. No NHC forecaster had ever issued such a bold forecast for rapid strengthening.

Published: November 16, 2025, 1:00 pm

My friend only ever wants to talk about herself. Should I cut her off? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

A face-to-face conversation telling her how her behaviour affects you would give you peace, even if she ignores you

I have been friends with a woman for more than 20 years, who has overcome many challenges, which I admire. However, she’s constantly blindsided by people. Her husband left her, and it was a huge shock. A lot of her friends disappeared at that point as they were only interested in her husband. This surprised her. She made more effort to be my friend, and must have realised more clearly what friendship was.

Over the years since, quite a few of her friends have disappeared and she isn’t sure why. Her last employer turned on her, even though she was an excellent employee, and she left without knowing what had changed.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Michael Jackson is moonwalking back, but after the Springsteen flop is the pop biopic still relevant?

Jackson’s songs are back on charts and biopic trailer racked up 116m views in 24 hours, yet there is a certain hesitation

Michael Jackson’s voodoo classic Thriller was high on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the week of 15 November, handing the 16-years-gone King of Pop a record for having a Top 10 hit across six different decades. Simultaneously, Jackson also broke records for receiving 116m views in 24 hours for the trailer of a new biopic, Michael, set for release in April.

Millions of fans may be excited and primed for a Jackson biopic. For comparison, the trailer beat out Taylor Swift’s Eras tour preview and it will join a procession of recent music biopics about Bruce Springsteen, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Elton John. The most successful of all – the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody – took in nearly a billion dollars at the box office.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Scrutiny grows over LA fire origins after bombshell report: ‘Our Pearl Harbor moment’

Reports that fire crews were ordered to leave original site of blaze prompt tough questions for city and LAFD leaders

Concerns over a small brush fire that reignited days later into the mammoth Palisades fire – the most destructive in Los Angeles history – have grown in recent weeks amid reports that firefighters were ordered to leave the original site of the smaller blaze despite their concerns the ground was still smoldering.

Now, questions remain about how leaders at the Los Angeles fire department responded to a fire that leveled entire communities, and who within the agency knew about concerns the fire could still pose a threat. A former LA city councilor says the aftermath and recovery effort should serve as a Pearl Harbor moment for the city, which should never again be in a position with flames encroaching on all sides.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Trump’s remarks hurtful but hopes they can make up

Congresswoman, a longtime Trump ally, pushes back on president’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday called Donald Trump’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic “hurtful” but said she hopes she and the US president can “make up”, despite stark differences over policy and the release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein.

Greene, a longtime ally and fierce defender of Trump and the “Make America great again” (Maga) base, pushed back against his name-calling in her first interview since Trump withdrew his support for her on Friday.

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:48 pm

BBC should not pay Trump any money, says former director general Tony Hall

Not ‘appropriate’ to use licence fee payer’s money to pay US president after threat to sue for up to $5bn, says peer

The BBC should not pay any money to Donald Trump, the former BBC director general Tony Hall has said.

The US president has said he plans to sue the BBC for up to $5bn (£3.8bn) despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading Panorama edit of his 6 January speech.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:08 pm

A puppy and unlimited toilet paper? Legal experts say Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged prison life is uncommon

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking of teen girls – and her treatment is prompting speculation

Since Ghislaine Maxwell’s controversial transfer to a low-security prison camp this summer, her time at Texas’s FPC Bryan has prompted uproar over alleged favorable treatment – including claims this week that she was provided custom-made meals, access to a puppy and as much toilet paper as she wants.

Some of the recent accusations were in a 9 November letter thatJamie Raskin sent to Donald Trump. The Democratic representative’s letter, which cited whistleblower information, demanded answers about Maxwell’s conditions – including whether Trump directed anyone in his administration to give her special treatment.

Published: November 16, 2025, 1:00 pm

It’s all gravy: Thanksgiving air traffic to be normal after US government reopens

Experts say air traffic controllers quickly returning to work, with promise of full back pay, and even $10,000 bonus

Fears that it would take weeks or even months for flight schedules in the US to return to normal in the wake of the US federal government shutdown do not appear to be coming true and the busy upcoming holiday season should be normal for travel, experts say.

That is at least in part because air traffic controllers are quickly returning to work, according to the Department of Transportation.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

German auction house urged to cancel sale of Holocaust artefacts

Survivors group calls on firm Felzmann to ‘show some basic decency’ and halt the ‘cynical and shameless’ event

A group formed by survivors of the Auschwitz death camp is calling on a German auction house to cancel a sale of hundreds of Holocaust artefacts, including letters written by prisoners and other documents that identify many people by name.

The International Auschwitz Committee, a Berlin-based organisation, called the “cynical and shameless” sale with a title of the System of Terror to be stopped. The sale is scheduled to be held on Monday by the Felzmann auction house.

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:32 pm

New York Jets player Kris Boyd in critical condition after being shot in abdomen

• 29-year-old was shot after incident in Midtown

• Police say dispute outside restaurant turned violent

New York Jets player Kris Boyd is hospitalized in critical situation after being shot in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The NYPD said the 29-year-old was shot in the abdomen around 2am on West 38th Street in Midtown. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition.

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:23 pm

South Pacific nation of Tuvalu rebukes Trump’s ‘shameful disregard’ at Cop30

Minister from islands facing extinction is one of few delegates directly calling out Trump’s climate policies

Of all the representatives from 193 countries present at the crucial UN climate talks in Belém, Brazil, only one has summoned the courage to take the stage and publicly denounce the absent and hostile Trump administration: the climate minister of tiny Tuvalu.

On Monday, Maina Vakafua Talia told leaders and diplomats at the Cop30 summit that Donald Trump had shown a “shameful disregard for the rest of the world” by withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement.

Published: November 16, 2025, 1:30 pm

Dermatologists criticise ‘dystopian’ skincare products aimed at children

Marketing or celebrity-led treatments for toddlers and upwards described as ‘ridiculous’ and lacking in skin benefit

Dermatologists have criticised an actor’s new skincare brand, calling it “dystopian” for creating face masks for four-year-olds, warning that the beauty industry is now expanding its reach from teenagers to toddlers.

It comes as a growing number of brands are moving into the children’s, teenage and young adult skincare market. In October, the first skincare brand developed for under-14s, Ever-eden, launched in the US. Superdrug has just created a range for those aged between 13 and 28.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:33 pm

Inside Trump’s scramble to reduce US dependence on Chinese rare-earth metals

The White House has made it a top priority to return the rare-earth industry to US shores. But is it really feasible?

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, returned from South Carolina last week brandishing a small piece of metal, proclaiming that it was the first rare-earth magnet made in the US in a quarter of a century.

It was, he indicated to Fox Business, proof that the US is ending “China’s chokehold on our supply chain”. Thanks to the South Carolina company eVAC’s new rare-earth mineral processing center, Bessent added: “We’re finally becoming independent again.”

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

‘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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 5:00 pm

Questions arise over strikingly similar signatures by Trump on recent pardons

Seemingly identical signatures appeared on clemency orders, which White House blamed on technical error

The Trump administration’s clemency drive is coming under scrutiny after the justice department this week replaced pardons posted online that bore strikingly similar copies of Trump’s signature with others that are distinctively variable.

The corrections came after online commenters seized on the similarities in the president’s signature granting “full and unconditional” pardons to seven men, including to former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry, former Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada and former New York police sergeant Michael McMahon, on 7 November.

Published: November 15, 2025, 3:21 pm

Federal immigration officers begin sweep in Charlotte, North Carolina

Local reports say targets include church parishioners doing yard work and workers hanging Christmas lights

Federal immigration officers on Saturday began a sweep through Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, federal officials confirmed.

Local media reports said that among the locations targeted by masked federal agents was a church in east Charlotte, where an arrest was made while about 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:02 am

‘A sick spectacle’: counting down the final minutes on Oklahoma’s death row

Tremane Wood was prepared to die by lethal injection. A minute before he was to be put to death, a call came in

• After a controversial trial, an Oklahoma man makes a final plea to avoid execution

The signature at the bottom of the email about witnessing an execution said cheerfully: “Oklahoma Corrections. We Change Lives!”

I had received the email three weeks earlier. It explained that I was being invited to participate in a lottery, from which five media representatives would be selected to witness the execution of Tremane Wood in the Oklahoma state penitentiary on 13 November. I had never heard of Wood, who had been convicted of the murder of Ronnie Wipf, 19, in 2002.

Published: November 16, 2025, 11:00 am

Everything I wish I’d known before I decided to freeze my eggs at 36

More and more people are turning to egg freezing to increase their chances of becoming a parent. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering it – from the hidden costs to the chances of success

When I first told my mother I was freezing my eggs, she asked: “So my grandchildren are going to be stored next to some Häagen-Dazs?” (Very funny, Mum.) I’m one of an increasing number of women in the UK who have chosen to put their eggs on ice in order to preserve their fertility, although this does – as discussed later – have clear limitations.

According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s regulator for the fertility industry, there was a 170% increase in the number of egg freezing cycles between 2019 and 2023. The technology has been around since the 80s, but became more accessible in the 00s with vitrification, a flash-freezing technique. Now, celebrities such as Florence Pugh and Michaela Coel openly discuss their experiences of it, and companies such as Meta, Spotify and Goldman Sachs subsidise the procedure for employees.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

Saturday Night Live: Glen Powell’s debut as host is dominated by Epstein

Star of Chad Powers and The Running Man makes for a charming emcee in an episode with multiple sketches focusing on week’s biggest scandal

To no one’s surprise, Saturday Night Live kicks off its Thanksgiving episode by taking aim at president Donald Trump by way of his late associate, billionaire sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein, as revealed in the deluge of Epstein emails released by Congress earlier this week. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla) tries to get ahead of reporters’ questions by pretending “there was no news this week, nothing happening with the president, no weird information was revealed, no one had any accusations that rhymed with ‘edophile’.”

She flails around until Trump (James Austin Johnson) takes her place at the podium. He tries to spin things by claiming he barely knew Epstein (“As evidenced by the thousands of pictures of us together dancing and grinding our teeth at various parties, always leering and pointing at something just off camera – probably a book we’re excited to read”), parroting former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s jaw-dropping take that Epstein wasn’t a pedophile (“Terrific thing to just say out of nowhere, great job, Megyn”), and vowing to release all of the files to paying customers (“I just ordered the one that says ‘Does Putin have the photo of Trump blowing Bubba’, whatever the hell that means”).

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:09 pm

Celebrity crib sheet: Sydney Sweeney is everywhere – here are nine things you need to know about her

A jeans ad made her notorious. Then she got cosy with Taylor Swift’s arch-nemesis. Time to get up to speed before the actor/model next hits the headlines …

Spare a thought for Sydney Sweeney! Yes, she is young, beautiful, rich and talented, but she has also been getting it from all sides this week. Her passion project has bombed at the box office; she is still paying for a jeans advertisement she did four months ago, and being called on to address charges of having joked about eugenics; and fellow members of the Hollywood elite are breaking ranks to express their disdain (in one case, with a vomiting emoji). And, as she found out this week, she can’t even enjoy a kiss with her controversial new boyfriend without being snapped by the callous paparazzi!

Here’s what you need to know when Sweeney’s name next crops up – which, if current trends continue, will be soon.

Published: November 16, 2025, 8:00 am

‘I was just going to school’: legacy of New Orleans’ other desegregation pioneers

Gail Etienne has built a center at the former school she and her two six-year-old friends braved angry crowds to attend – the same day as Ruby Bridges’ better-known experience

Gail Etienne still remembers her first day at McDonogh 19 elementary school in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. As her family pulled up to the school in the car with the federal marshals, they saw crowds of angry people screaming. Some carried garbage cans and sticks. Others were holding picket signs against school integration.

“I’ll never forget it,” Etienne said. “I saw this one lady was pregnant and had a garbage can top in her hand. I’m wondering, at six years old, what could I have done at six years old to these people to make them act the way they were acting? I really thought that if they could get to me, they’d want to kill me. I didn’t know why. What had I done? I was just going to school.”

Published: November 16, 2025, 11:00 am

His research on autism was compassionate – how could Hans Asperger have collaborated with the Nazis?

The Vienna-based ‘father of neurodiversity’ was ahead of his time in his work but was also implicated in the Third Reich’s crimes. My novel set out to explore these contradictions

In 2015, I decided to write a novel about Dr Hans Asperger, who worked at the University Children’s Hospital in Vienna during the second world war. My interest was sparked by two nonfiction books: NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman and In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan and Caren Zucker.

Reading these stories told about Asperger, you would have thought they were talking about two different people. To Silberman, Asperger was a compassionate and original thinker, whereas Donvan and Zucker depict him as an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler. For a historical novelist, widely differing accounts of the same person are gold dust, and I began to dig deeper.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

Merchants’ ‘victory’ over credit card fees will just complicate things more for them

Do small business owners think that Visa and Mastercard won’t just recoup their fees elsewhere?

Want to buy a new shirt from your friendly neighborhood small business? In some cases, be prepared to pay out 2.5% more as a “financing” fee because you’re using a credit card. Enjoying that meal at the local diner? Better have cash or you could be subject to the same fee. Grabbing a bag of chips and a soda at the local convenience store? Oops … Unless you’re prepared to spend a minimum of 10 bucks you can’t use your credit card, sorry.

I’ve always been irritated by these practices. And I know I’m not alone. Who carries cash any more? Why are we, the customer, being shamed because we choose to buy something using what has become a standard form of payment over something that’s clearly a thing of the past?

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:00 pm

The US has drafted a coin featuring Trump. Here’s a better way to immortalize him | Robert Reich

It is our solemn duty to ensure he is remembered for all he has done and may still do to destroy US democracy

The US treasury has drafted a design for a $1 coin featuring Donald Trump on both sides, for the purpose of “honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS”, according to treasury officials.

Meanwhile, Trump reportedly wants the Washington Commanders to name their planned $3.7bn stadium after him. A senior White House source told ESPN: “It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen.”

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:00 pm

The US is now a rogue state - look at its extrajudicial killings off Venezuela’s coast | Simon Tisdall

These widely condemned strikes are just the latest sign of Trump’s imperialist revival – and the collapsing of the rules-based world order

The UK’s reported decision to restrict intelligence-sharing with the Pentagon on suspected drug-traffickers’ boats in the Caribbean is a modest yet symbolic act of resistance to Donald Trump’s imperialist revival. Britain is said to have objected to repeated, lethal US airstrikes on alleged smugglers off Venezuela’s coast – which have been widely condemned as illegal extrajudicial killings amounting to murder.

The strikes appear to foreshadow direct US attacks on Venezuela itself. Trump makes no secret of his wish to topple Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian, ostensibly leftist regime. Most Venezuelans support this aim, but not the means. Regime change forcibly imposed by a foreign power contravenes international law, unless it is authorised by the UN or undertaken in self-defence as a last resort. Legal or not, it never ends well.

Published: November 16, 2025, 8:00 am

How repression is born – and how to resist it | Javier Corrales and Daniel Altschuler

In a clear pattern, a machine designed to generate law and order morphs into an organization operating under lawlessness

We have entered the openly repressive phase of the Trump presidency. The administration has moved beyond verbal attacks on civil society. It is now deploying coercive force against civic organizations and their leaders. While the attacks may seem contained for now, they are likely to grow. Research on other cases of democratic backsliding suggests that once coercion begins, regardless of how limited at first, escalation follows.

In the months ahead, we should thus expect more, not less, government repression. To meet it, pro-democracy organizations, universities and law firms must bravely speak up against abuses of power while building the broadest possible coalition to stand up for fundamental rights. Community, labor and advocacy groups must also train their ranks in strategic nonviolence to resist provocations from the state and make repression backfire.

Javier Corrales is Dwight W Morrow 1895 professor of political science at Amherst College. Daniel Altschuler is the managing director of the Freedom Together Foundation and holds a doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

Want to avoid anxiety, headaches and constipation? Try giving up on your goals | Emma Beddington

We’re taught from infancy that perseverance is a moral virtue and persistence pays. But what if quitters are happier and healthier?

Have you ever heard yourself saying “I’m going to do this if it kills me”? As the pensioners at my gym can attest, it’s what I hiss every time I’m there, attempting slowly and laboriously to get myself a millimetre closer to doing the splits.

But what if it actually is killing me? Not the groin strain, problematic as that is, but because I’ve just read in New Scientist that giving up is good for you, while grinding on isn’t. One study showed that people who “struggled to disengage from unfulfilling goals” had higher levels of cortisol and inflammatory molecules. “The result,” the article explained, “could be a heightened susceptibility to all kinds of conditions, including cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s.” In addition, “goal disengagement” – giving up – correlated with a lower risk of headaches, constipation and eczema; it may even protect against infection. Of 131 older adults, those who scored highly on a giving up scale (asking how easily they stopped fixating on unfulfilling goals and pivoted to others) got fewer colds.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

I don’t believe in God but, as a trauma survivor, I’m learning to forgive myself | Jackie Bailey

In the context of spirituality, trauma is a hand grenade. But it can lead to deeper understandings of the world

“Why me?” “Why evil?” and “Why God?”

According to theologian and psychologist Karen McClintock, these are the three key questions that a person will ask of their faith in the aftermath of trauma.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 2:00 pm

The Guardian view on Europe’s firewall against the far right: in growing need of repair | Editorial

The fragility of France’s cordon sanitaire against Le Pen is part of a worrying wider pattern, as centrist parties seek to revive their fortunes

Earlier this autumn, Giorgia Meloni laid out the strategic path to a new era of nationalist populism across Europe. Addressing a gathering of the French far-right party Identité-Libertés, which is led by Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, Italy’s prime minister underlined the need to work towards “the unity of the right and the centre-right” adding “I hope that one day this can also happen in France … but that will depend on you.”

Ms Meloni knows of what she speaks. Her Brothers of Italy party, which has a lineage going back to postwar neofascist movements, became hegemonic under her leadership by mounting a reverse takeover of the Italian right. Less than a decade ago, it scored a marginal 4% in a general election. Currently, it stands at 31% in the polls. Forza Italia, the centre-right party founded by Silvio Berlusconi and a coalition partner in Ms Meloni’s government, is at 8%.

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:25 pm

The Guardian view on a new nuclear age: great powers should not restock a house of dynamite | Editorial

Donald Trump’s remarks on resuming nuclear testing have highlighted the risks. Proliferation must not be considered inevitable

When Eisaku Satō, a former prime minister of Japan, received the Nobel peace prize in 1974 after committing his country to not making nuclear bombs, owning them or allowing them on its territory, he assured the audience: “I have no doubt that this policy will be pursued by all future governments.”

Yet last week, Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister, declined to say whether the country that understands the cost of nuclear war better than any other would stand by its commitment – reflecting the bleak broader outlook. Eighty years after the US dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima, incinerating tens of thousands of people, and almost 40 after Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan seriously discussed nuclear abolition in Reykjavik, the spectre looms once more. Last month, Donald Trump ordered the US military to match other countries’ nuclear weapons testing.

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:30 pm

ATP Finals tennis: Carlos Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner in the final – live

ATP Finals up date from 5pm GMT in Turin
Sign up for the Recap newsletter | Mail Daniel

Time for the Italian anthem. Tuuuuuune!

An exciting variable tonight: Sinner is playing at home. The Turin crowd will be partial in the extreme, the atmosphere steaming, and much as I’m sure Alcaraz can handle it, he’s not used to it.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:16 pm

Gio Reyna and Sergiño Dest: X-factors that could fuel the USMNT World Cup

With returns to fitness and form, Mauricio Pochettino has two creative players capable of fine flashes to overcome difficulty

Mauricio Pochettino hugged the United States men’s national team’s prodigal son as he sauntered off the field, giving Gio Reyna a peck on the cheek and whispering something in his ear.

We will probably never learn what he said, exactly, but we can guess.

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:58 pm

Albania v England: World Cup 2026 qualifying – live

⚽️ World Cup qualifying news from the 5pm GMT kick-off
⚽️ Live scoreboard | Subscribe to Football Daily | Mail Billy

Declan Rice sends it back to Dean Henderson to pump upfield and we’re under way.

A duet of well-dressed blokes with microphones lead us (well, not me) in renditions of both anthems. Classy.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:17 pm

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:36 pm

Brazilian skier makes history with country’s first World Cup win: ‘Difference is a superpower’

• Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins season opener

• 25-year-old switched allegiance from Norway

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen made skiing history as he delivered Brazil’s first-ever World Cup victory in a thrilling season-opening race at Levi on Sunday.

Pinheiro Braathen, who switched allegiance from Norway to Brazil last year, held a commanding 0.41-seconds lead from the first run and weaved his way down through the gates again in an ice-cool second run to claim the landmark win.

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:13 pm

McIlroy emotional after overtaking Ballesteros with seventh Race to Dubai title

• Fitzpatrick wins DP World Tour Championship in playoff

• McIlroy now one behind record for season-long crowns

An emotional Rory McIlroy hailed surpassing Seve Ballesteros by winning a seventh Race to Dubai title as more than he ever dreamed of. McIlroy lost in a playoff against Matt Fitzpatrick in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, having staged a dramatic late fightback with an eagle at the 72nd hole.

While his Ryder Cup teammate celebrated a third win in the event, the Northern Irishman clinched the season-long crown to eclipse the late Ballesteros’s tally of six and move one behind record-holder, Colin Montgomerie. McIlroy told Sky Sports: “It’s amazing, I had a conversation with Carmen [Ballesteros’s ex-wife] before I went out to play today and she told me how proud he would have been.

Published: November 16, 2025, 3:03 pm

Denmark hit by sickness bug before crunch World Cup qualifier with Scotland

• Andersen, Højlund and staff member ill before showdown

• Danes need draw and Scotland must win to reach finals

A sickness bug has disrupted ­Denmark’s plans for their make‑or‑break World Cup ­qualifier against Scotland in Glasgow on Tuesday. Brian Riemer, the Danish head coach, has admitted he is concerned over the situation amid fears that the ailment will spread further before kick-off.

Joachim Andersen and Rasmus Højlund missed Denmark’s sur­prising draw with Belarus on ­Saturday evening because of illness. The result in Copenhagen meant Scotland can still qualify automatically despite their 3-2 defeat against Greece. Steve Clarke’s side trail Denmark by a point in Group C as the teams prepare to meet in the final fixture. A draw will be sufficient for Denmark but the backdrop is fraught.

Published: November 16, 2025, 1:07 pm

Conor Benn overpowers Chris Eubank Jr to seal dominant rematch victory

• Benn claims redemption against out-of-sorts rival

• Judges score it 119-107, 116-110, 118-108

Conor Benn, who has been through notoriety, shame and a chastening defeat, finally gained a large measure of sweet relief when he totally outclassed and beat up his diminished old rival Chris Eubank Jr over 12 one-sided rounds on Saturday night. Benn came close to sealing the knockout he craved in the last minute of the fight when he twice dropped Eubank Jr heavily.

A shuddering combination from Benn had an initially delayed reaction but the right hand that smashed into the side of Eubank Jr’s head finally sent him toppling to the canvas. He rose to his feet but was soon down again as Benn threw punch after punch at his wilting and shrunken frame. Eubank Jr staggered to his feet just before the referee completed his count. The fight would surely have been waved over – but the last bell echoed above the bedlam.

Published: November 15, 2025, 11:35 pm

Iran says it could rejoin US nuclear talks if treated with ‘dignity and respect’

Iran’s foreign minister says it has had requests to reopen negotiations, which collapsed after nuclear site bombings

Tehran is willing to restart nuclear talks with Washington as long as it is treated with “dignity and respect”, Iran’s foreign minister has told the Guardian.

Abbas Araghchi said only diplomacy worked, and disclosed fresh requests had come from intermediaries to reopen negotiations with the Trump administration. He said Iran did not have any undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran could not yet allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:00 pm

Zelenskyy pledges to clean up Ukraine’s energy sector amid corruption scandal

President to overhaul state energy firms after $100m kickback scheme alleged by anti-corruption investigators

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a plan to clean up Ukraine’s energy sector after an $100m (£76bn) kickback scheme was alleged by anti-corruption investigators, in the worst scandal of his presidency.

Over the weekend, the Ukrainian president announced an overhaul of key state energy companies including a complete change of management at Energoatom, the nuclear power operator at the centre of the alleged criminal scheme.

Published: November 16, 2025, 4:13 pm

China sends coast guard to Senkaku islands amid row with Japan

Activity around Japanese-held islands, also claimed by China, comes after PM Sanae Takaichi said Japan might respond militarily to an invasion of Taiwan

China has sent its coast guard through the waters of the Senkaku islands and military drones past outlying Japanese territory as Beijing ramps up tensions over the Japanese prime minister’s remarks on Taiwan.

On Sunday the Chinese coastguard said its ships made a “rights enforcement patrol” through the waters of the Senkaku, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands.

Published: November 16, 2025, 7:02 am

At least 120 hurt in gen Z protests over corruption and drug violence in Mexico

Clashes erupt between protesters and riot police in the capital as rallies take place in cities across the country

At least 120 people were injured as thousands of gen Z protesters took to the streets of Mexico City and across the country to voice their anger at corruption and the drug violence that claims tens of thousands of Mexican lives each year.

​Saturday’s rallies, which took place in dozens of cities from Tijuana in the north to Oaxaca in the south drew large crowds, with some demonstrators carrying the One Piece pirate flag that has become a global symbol of the youth movement.

Published: November 16, 2025, 1:58 pm

Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51

Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives

Alice Wong, a writer and disability rights activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51.

Wong died on Friday at a hospital in San Francisco due to an infection, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:35 am

Suspect arrested in shooting death of beloved Oakland football coach

Cedric Irving Jr, 27, is alumnus of high school where John Beam taught before gaining fame on Netflix’s Last Change U

A 27-year-old Skyline high school alumnus, frequently seen lingering near Laney College, has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of Oakland football coach John Beam.

Police identified the suspect as Cedric Irving Jr, who was apprehended before dawn at the San Leandro, California, Bart station, ending an urgent search for the individual believed responsible.

Published: November 15, 2025, 9:31 pm

Chile votes for next president in contest dominated by crime and migration fears

Voters face seemingly extreme choice between communist and rightwing frontrunners, who both promise to fight foreign gangs

Chileans began voting for a new president and parliament on Sunday, in a contest expected to favour the hard right as candidates play on popular fears over organised crime and immigration.

It is the first of an expected two rounds of presidential elections, as polls show none of the candidates clearing the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff scheduled for 14 December.

Published: November 16, 2025, 11:55 am

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:38 pm

Trump pressures Thailand to recommit to Cambodia ceasefire with ‘threat of tariffs’

Bangkok had earlier said it was suspending ceasefire, accusing Cambodia of laying landmines along the border

The US has put pressure on Thailand to recommit to a ceasefire with Cambodia, warning trade talks could be halted as Washington seeks to keep a Donald Trump-brokered truce agreement from falling apart.

Earlier this week, Thailand said that it was suspending the ceasefire deal, accusing Cambodia of laying fresh landmines along the border, including one it said wounded a Thai soldier on patrol, who lost a foot in the explosion.

Published: November 15, 2025, 4:03 pm

$170,000 a minute: why Saudi Arabia is the biggest blocker of climate action

Desert kingdom depends on oil dollars but its people already face a climate ‘at the verge of livability’. What’s going on?

Published: November 15, 2025, 2:00 pm

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 9:25 am

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 3:50 pm

Salt Lake City declines to charge anti-child-trafficking activist with sexual assault

District attorney cites ‘insufficient admissible evidence’ against Tim Ballard in connection with allegations

A district attorney based in Salt Lake City is declining to file charges against the founder of an anti-child-trafficking organization – made famous by the 2023 movie Sound of Freedom – in the wake of sexual assault claims by several women in lawsuits.

Sim Gill, the district attorney, issued a statement Friday saying there is “insufficient admissible evidence”, and his office has declined to file charges against Tim Ballard in connection with the allegations.

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:52 pm

Steve Bannon advised Jeffrey Epstein for years on how to rehab his reputation, texts show

Pair devised responses to public outrage about Epstein’s criminal history, his treatment by the justice system and his friendships with powerful people

Hundreds of texts over almost a year show Maga influencer Steve Bannon and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein workshopping legal and media strategies to protect Epstein from the legal and publicity quagmire that enveloped him in the last year of his life.

The texts, released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday, show that as early as June 2018, the pair were devising responses to the gathering storm of public outrage about Epstein’s criminal history, his favorable treatment by the justice system, and his friendships with powerful figures in business, politics and academia.

Published: November 15, 2025, 11:00 am

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:23 pm

Is there a dark side to gratitude?

Feeling thankful is increasingly touted as a cure-all, but sometimes there are reasons not to be grateful

The word “gratitude” is everywhere these days. On mental health leaflets and in magazine columns, emblazoned on mugs and motivational posters. All this is the result of more than two decades’ research in positive psychology which has found that having a “gratitude practice” (usually jotting down three to five things you are thankful for most days) brings a host of psychological and physical benefits.

I don’t want to seem, well, ungrateful. I’m a sceptical historian, but even I was persuaded to take up the gratitude habit, and when I remember to do it, I feel better: more cheerful and connected, inclined to see the good already in my life. Counting your blessings, whether that’s noticing a beautiful sunset or remembering how your neighbour went out of their way to help you earlier, is free and attractively simple. But there’s the problem. In our eagerness to embrace gratitude as a cure-all, have we lost sight of its complexity and its edge?

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

‘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!”)

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 am

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.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:01 am

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:00 am

‘I once said there’s no way I’ll still be playing Baggy Trousers at 30’: Suggs’s honest playlist

Prince Buster’s Al Capone changed the Madness singer’s life and Aretha Franklin is his go-to at karaoke, but what song makes him cry?

The first song I fell in love with
Judy Teen by Cockney Rebel. I’d seen Steve Harley on Top of the Pops and liked his look, with the mascara and bowler hat, like Alex from A Clockwork Orange. One day, me and my mates decided to cycle to Salisbury Plain. I had a transistor radio tied to the handlebars and Judy Teen came on. Unfortunately, the batteries ran out when we got to Swiss Cottage [in north London] … and my legs ran out at the same time!

The first single I bought
The Wall Street Shuffle by 10cc, from Woolworths in Camden Town. Later on, we used to pinch records, but I paid my dues for a while.

Published: November 16, 2025, 9:00 am

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 12:04 pm

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 9:00 am

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.

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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

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:00 pm

Spanish Armada-era astrolabe returns to Scilly after mysterious global journey

Navigation aid from 16th century was on seabed for centuries before being bought and sold in US and Australia

It spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world.

Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe – a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude – is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:30 pm

‘He was quite a private person’: expansive auction shows Gene Hackman as actor and artist

Bonhams is selling over 400 items from the estate of the late Oscar-winning actor, from a draft script of The Silence of the Lambs to his own unique artwork

He was Lex Luthor to Christopher Reeve’s Superman. But could he have been Hannibal Lecter to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling?

The intriguing prospect is raised by an unlikely 33-page draft script for The Silence of the Lambs lurking in a collection of the late actor Gene Hackman’s possessions that goes up for auction later this month.

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:02 am

This is how we do it: ‘I do get jealous and question whether I’m cut out for non-monogamy’

Maya worried about entering into an open relationship with Ollie, but being honest with each other has deepened their relationship

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

If I know that Ollie’s on a date, I find it difficult sitting around, not knowing what to do with myself

Published: November 16, 2025, 11:00 am

Dining across the divide: ‘We both came out thinking Zack Polanski is a breath of fresh air’

They both liked the Greens’ Zack Polanski and disliked the tech oligarchs. But could they find common cause over the power of the unions?

Andrew, 70, near Nottingham

Occupation Retired acupuncturist and herbalist

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:00 pm

The 47 best gift ideas for US tweens in 2025 – picked by actual tweens

Sweatpants are in, you can’t go wrong with Jellycats, and Legos never get old. It turns out tweens are not shy about sharing the holiday gifts they want

• In the UK? The best UK Christmas gifts for 11-year-olds – picked by 11-year-olds

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

From the viral six-seven trend to Italian brainrot memes, tweens are hard to figure out. This is perhaps especially true during the holiday season, when you’re racking your brain for a holiday gift idea for preteens that won’t elicit an eye roll.

We removed some of the guesswork by speaking to 20 tweens to decode what items they are coveting this year. From trendy skincare to Squishmallows, here are 47 holiday gift ideas for kids ages nine to 12, both boys and girls.

Published: November 15, 2025, 8:15 pm

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:00 pm

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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 am

Life as a food delivery worker: ‘Sometimes men open the door naked’

To earn a living as a delivery rider, some work 10-12 hour days, contending with low pay, exhaustion, accidents, injuries and harassment. Is this a new form of modern slavery?

“I earn more cleaning toilets than I do from being a Deliveroo rider,” says Marina, a Brazilian woman who juggles two jobs to support her 12- and 18-year-old daughters.

It’s a “bullshit, horrible job”, says Adam, from Sudan, who combines riding for Deliveroo with studying for a law degree. “On a good day I can earn £50 or £60, although it’s really hard doing deliveries using a pedal bike.”

Published: November 16, 2025, 5:00 am

The kindness of strangers: a woman cleaned up my toddler’s vomit – and paid for the paper towel

I was sleep deprived and completely overwhelmed when she stepped in and took charge

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

As a twin mum the work is constant. It is double the love and double the laughs, but also double the illness. Of course, my twins would never get sick at the same time. As one recovered, the other would start showing symptoms.

One day, when my girls were three, one had a vomiting bug. She hadn’t thrown up for 24 hours so I took my chance to do a quick run to the chemist to stock up on supplies. My husband worked away during the week, so I had to manage on my own. I was exhausted, carrying the sick kid in my arms, while walking the healthy one along next to me as quickly as I could.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

Do good fences really make good neighbours?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

They say “good fences make good neighbours”, presumably meaning that the stronger the boundary between you and people you need to deal with, the more robust the relationship. Is this really true? Jamila, via email

Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

Readers reply: Why do we feel nostalgia?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Why do we feel nostalgia? And why do some things trigger it more than others? Jules, Fife

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.

I always used to dream of the past
But like they say yesterday never comes
Sometimes there’s a song in my brain
And I feel that my heart knows the refrain
I guess it’s just the music that brings on nostalgia for an age yet to come
Ah nostalgia for an age yet to come
Nostalgia for an age yet to come
About the future I only can reminisce
For what I’ve had is what I’ll never get
And although this may sound strange
My future and my past are presently disarranged
And I’m surfing on a wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:00 pm

How Britain replaced the US as Russia’s villain of choice

London and Moscow’s rivalry stretches back to the imperial era, but the Ukraine war has brought relations to a new low

In recent years, Britain has become the villain of choice in Moscow’s eyes. It has been accused of plotting drone strikes on Russian airfields, blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, directing “terrorist” raids inside Russia, and even abetting last year’s gruesome Islamic State concert attack in Moscow.

This week, a new charge was added to the pile: Russian authorities claimed that British intelligence had tried and failed to lure Russian pilots into defecting to the west.

Published: November 16, 2025, 6:00 am

‘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.

Published: November 15, 2025, 1:00 pm

A Santa parade, the Clooneys and frontline pets: photos of the weekend

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

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:47 pm