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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:03 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

‘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

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

One-time Maga loyalist diverges with Trump on issues including Epstein, so US president has withdrawn support

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 8:07 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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 16, 2025, 2:16 am

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

Turmoil and tensions at FDA after dramatic exit of top drug regulator

Scramble to find replacement for George Tidmarsh shines light on dysfunction at US regulatory agency

After the dramatic ousting of the top drug regulator at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) two weeks ago, officials have scrambled to find a replacement in a process that has revealed the agency’s internal cracks and tensions.

It’s troubling news for a regulatory agency that has previously enjoyed a reputation for stability and consistency.

Published: November 15, 2025, 12:00 pm

Trump says he will take legal action against BBC, despite its apology

US president says he will sue the corporation for ‘anywhere between a billion and $5bn’

Donald Trump has said he still plans to sue the BBC despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading edit of one of his speeches.

The row, over an episode of Panorama from last year about the Capitol riot in 2021, led to accusations of bias at the broadcaster and the resignation of two of the most senior executives at the BBC: the director general, Tim Davie; and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of news.

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:54 am

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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 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

‘Not for the faint-hearted’: is running the BBC an impossible job?

After Tim Davie’s resignation, the next director general will face internal strife, external noise and looming talks over the corporation’s existence and purpose

As BBC senior editors arrived at its New Broadcasting House headquarters in central London on Monday, the most pressing question was what had convinced Tim Davie, the corporation’s director general, to quit suddenly. Like any good BBC drama, it was a plot twist no one had seen coming.

As they assessed the brutal pressures that had finally proved too much for Davie, a second question soon arose. Was running the BBC now simply an impossible job?

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 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

Six great reads: football friendships, European health hacks and the seven stages of romance scams

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:44 am

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 12:00 pm

Chris McCausland: ‘My most embarrassing moment? Going into an undertaker’s thinking it was a barber’s’

The comedian on his geeky teenage years, cheating in an exam and why Strictly is his biggest achievement

Born in Liverpool, Chris McCausland, 48, became a software engineer before losing his sight in his 20s due to a genetic disorder. Forced to change careers, he worked in sales before turning to standup comedy in 2003. In 2024, he took part in Strictly Come Dancing and won. His waltz with professional Dianne Buswell was awarded the memorable moment Bafta in 2025. This year, he added more than 100 new dates to his theatre tour Yonks!, which runs until May 2026, and he has just published a memoir called Keep Laughing. He is married with one child and lives in London.

When were you happiest?
My college years when I was 17 to 19, before the responsibilities of adulthood, just doing the things that I was good at and liked – computers, maths, further maths (I was a geek).

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:00 am

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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 8:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 11:41 am

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 am

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

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

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

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

Alexander Avila is a video essayist, writer and researcher

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:00 am

Gio Reyna marks USMNT return with goal in 2-1 win over Paraguay

• Mönchengladbach midfielder scores on early header

• USA next play Uruguay on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida

Just 209 days from kicking off their World Cup opener, the US men’s national team is still searching for options. Investigating possibilities. One might even use that loaded word: experimenting.

On a chilly fall night outside Philadelphia, at least one of those experiments yielded a possibility, an option, a long-awaited light at the end of a dark period for one of the most mercurial talents ever to wear a US jersey.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:20 am

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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 4:22 pm

Spirit top Thorns to reach NWSL final as Rodman return adds off-field intrigue

• Monday, Bethune send Spirit back to NWSL final

• Trinity Rodman returns amid contract uncertainty

• Washington earn fourth championship appearance

Gift Monday and Croix Bethune scored and the Washington Spirit beat the Portland Thorns 2-0 on Saturday to advance to the National Women’s Soccer League championship game.

With the win, the Spirit will play in their second consecutive NWSL final next weekend in San Jose, California. They will face the winner of Sunday’s semi-final between Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride.

Published: November 16, 2025, 12:12 am

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

Ruthless Shiffrin storms to record 102nd win as Olympic slalom season begins

• Shiffrin wins by 1.66sec in dominant display

• American’s 102nd World Cup win overall

• Albanian teenager Lara Colturi takes second

American Mikaela Shiffrin laid down a marker for the Olympic season ahead by obliterating her rivals to easily win the opening Alpine Ski World Cup slalom race on Saturday.

The 30-year-old was in a class of her own, going quickest on both her runs to win by 1.66 seconds for her ninth career win in Levi and a record-extending 102nd World Cup victory.

Published: November 15, 2025, 2:12 pm

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:01 pm

New Orleans Pelicans part ways with Willie Green after 2-10 start

• Pelicans fire Green after 2–10 season start

• Borrego elevated to interim head coach

The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Willie Green on Saturday on the heels of a 2-10 start to the season.

Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, who announced the coaching change, named top assistant James Borrego, a former Charlotte Hornets head coach, as interim coach. The Pelicans next play at home on Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:43 pm

Witnesses of Neymar’s sad decline hope for one final twist in his career’s brutal narrative arc | Barney Ronay

World Cup could still be in reach for the last genius of Brazilian football who has faded to a shadow of his former self

What’s your favourite Neymar advert? This is a tough question to answer. The body of work is huge and varied. The foot deodorant ad perhaps, which depicts Neymar’s feet literally on fire, ablaze with some kind of divine eau de toenail.

Or the new one for a brand of açaí berry death-gloop sorbet product, which shows Neymar holding up twin cones, like phials of luminous unicorn-sperm, and looking as though he’s just been hit over the head with a rock and it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to him.

Published: November 15, 2025, 8:00 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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 2:31 pm

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

Mamdani’s appointment of Lina Khan a warning to private equity, experts say

Ex-FTC chair was among first to go after practice of folding local firms into larger ones leading to higher prices

Experts say New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s selection of Lina Khan, the former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair, for his transition team acts as a warning to private equity firms in the state that have raised rents and monopolized local healthcare industries.

Throughout the US, private equity has increasingly monopolized industries through the practice of “roll-ups”, acquiring many small local firms and rolling them into one larger firm, giving them power to simultaneously raise prices and lower quality.

Published: November 15, 2025, 1:00 pm

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

US judge bars Trump administration from cutting off University of California funds

Federal judge Rita Lin cites playbook designed to bring universities ‘to their knees’ and force them to ‘change their ideological tune’

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funding and threatening hefty fines against the University of California amid the administration’s attempts to coerce elite US universities into adopting and promoting conservative ideals.

US district judge Rita Lin of San Francisco issued the preliminary injunction late Friday, saying the government was not allowed to demand payments from the California school system over the administration’s claims that it violates civil rights by allowing antisemitism and practising affirmative action.

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:14 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 10:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 3:46 am

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 7:18 am

$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

Cop30 was meant to be a turning point, so why do some say the climate summit is broken?

Swamped by lobbyists and hobbled by a lack of urgency, there are fears Cop could become a sprawling spectacle that betrays those who depend on it most

Thousands of diplomats, activists, journalists and lobbyists are gathering in the sweltering, tropical heat of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon, for the Cop30 climate talks.

Since Brazil was awarded the hosting duties three years ago, hopes have been high that the Amazonian Cop – taking place in the country that hosted the Earth summit where the global fight for the climate first began – could be a turning point in the fight against climate breakdown.

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 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

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

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

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 6:00 am

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

From Hollywood to holy water: Pope Leo invites stars to the Vatican

Observers say that welcoming of guests including Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci and Spike Lee is a move to raise pontiff’s profile

A host of Hollywood celebrities will meet Pope Leo on Saturday, a gathering Vatican observers say is aimed at giving some star power to the pontiff, who is the first US pope in the history of the Catholic church.

Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine and Adam Scott are among the actors who will join a special audience with Leo at his Apostolic Palace residence, along with the Oscar-winning directors Spike Lee, George Miller and Gus Van Sant.

Published: November 15, 2025, 5:00 am

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

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

Published: November 15, 2025, 2:00 pm