Social media has strong reactions to liberal MS NOW host Rachel Maddow attending the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who she previously spoke critically of.

Nigeria sees another attack on Christians as gunmen abduct Catholic school students, following recent church and boarding school kidnapping incidents.

NYC's socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani heads to Trump's White House home for a high-stakes political meeting that could define his early tenure.

Katie Porter’s jab at billionaire Tom Steyer after he entered California's gubernatorial race backfired after records showed she took more than $10k from him.

Democrats release video urging military officials to disobey Trump orders they deem unlawful, sparking constitutional debate over presidential authority.

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President Donald Trump has threatened the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) with a $5 billion lawsuit for airing "false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements."

The Coast Guard changed its policy to reclassify displays of swastikas, nooses and hate symbols as "potentially divisive" rather than "hate incidents."

Doctors explore how fasting may help cancer patients by putting cells into "repair mode" during chemotherapy, potentially reducing side effects and improving treatment outcomes.

Following her viral video assault, conservative activist Savannah Craven Antao sued her attacker after the Manhattan D.A. dismissed criminal charges.

American diplomats said Donald Trump was trying to achieve peace ‘with an incredible sense of momentum’

German Bild tabloid is also reporting that Merz is expected to hold a phone call not only with Zelenskyy, but also with the US president, Donald Trump.

Mind you: there’s been no official confirmation yet.

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© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

The Yankees have gone cold in their ability to land the top talent from across the world — thanks in large part to the Dodgers.

A community in North Carolina delivers small-town comforts and prices that won't break the bank.

A new brand flogging face masks for four-year-olds is disturbing, but it’s worth asking why children are asking for these products in the first place

As a newish mother, I am only too aware of the myriad ways we have failed our children. And then I came across a new skincare company aimed at four-year-olds. It’s early days for Rini, whose sole product is now a Korean-made hydrating facial mask. A healing ointment and daily barrier cream are allegedly in the works, too. If you were under any illusions as to the mask’s purpose, it is infused with vitamin B12 – which, according to various skincare sites, improves elasticity and skin texture – with a clear peel-on application process modelled online, Patrick Bateman-style, by a preschooler.

On the one hand, I appreciate that children put all sorts on their faces – face paint, stickers, poo, toothpaste, kitchen cleaner, a sibling’s blood, and that’s just in this last week alone – and that their faces will occasionally need to be cleaned. And while it’s entirely plausible that some parents will be moved watching their child dip their delicate toes into the world of Korean beauty, I’m marginally more concerned by the strains of strep and croup doing the rounds at my two-year-old’s childcare (I am also worried about my six-year-old’s health, but if this company is anything to go by, he’s probably beyond help).

Morwenna Ferrier is the Guardian’s fashion and lifestyle editor

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© Photograph: Undefined Undefined/Getty Images

© Photograph: Undefined Undefined/Getty Images

© Photograph: Undefined Undefined/Getty Images

A network of seemingly legitimate professionals in Canada and abroad are accused of keeping a billion-dollar drug cartel afloat under the violent leadership of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. Read More

Japan’s first female prime minister Sanae Takaichi, a hardline conservative, has taken a hawkish stance on China since being elected last month. In one of her first parliamentary speeches, she affirmed, in unusually explicit terms, Japan’s commitment to militarily defending Taiwan from any future Chinese invasion, instigating a diplomatic meltdown from Beijing. Read More

On October 7, Hamas murdered 1,200 innocent people in one of the most barbaric massacres on the planet in recent decades. Many of these murders were committed by military fatigue wearing terrorists with the Palestinian flag sown into the sleeve of their uniform. The beheading of young children; the burning of entire families huddled together in fear; the shooting of the elderly in the back and the heinous misogynistic rape of young girls — these crimes against humanity were all done under the flag of "Palestine." Read More

Recent polling shows that more than half of Canadians now believe immigration levels are too high — double the number from just three years ago. One-third think immigration increases crime, and six in 10 say too many newcomers fail to adopt Canadian values. These are not the views of a suddenly intolerant country. They reflect a public losing confidence in a system that no longer seems to protect their safety or the integrity of Canadian citizenship. Read More

With no Cummins and Hazlewood, Boland off the boil and Doggett on debut, the veteran quick notched a career-best seven for 58 to dominate the opening stanza in Perth

When an Ashes series finally begins and the interminable prognosticating reaches its end, it is customary to discover anew that all of the talk is just talk. So it was for all of us who have offered opinions on the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, and how losing two champion fast bowlers would drastically weaken the Australian side. Instead, it only gave space to their remaining colleague to dominate the first stanza of the Perth Test on his own. In barely a session, Mitchell Starc turned the Big Three into the Big One.

Scott Boland was off the boil – it didn’t matter. Brendan Doggett was on debut, chipping in around the edges – it didn’t matter either. Starc has now notched a career best in consecutive innings: six for nine in Kingston back in July, followed by seven for 58 here.

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© Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

After two years of benign neglect, Ottawa seems to have woken up to the threat to its plan to double non-U.S. exports from an obscure dispute at the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia. Read More

Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings

The FBI spied on a private Signal group chat of immigrants’ rights activists who were organizing “courtwatch” efforts in New York City this spring, law enforcement records shared with the Guardian indicate.

The FBI, the documents show, gained access to conversations in a “courtwatch” Signal group that helps coordinate volunteer activists who monitor public proceedings at three New York federal immigration courts. The US government has repeatedly been accused of violating immigrants’ due process rights at those courts.

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© Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

© Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

© Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

Plus, your Friday news quiz.

© Vincent Alban/The New York Times

AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn’t about the ‘democratization’ of art – it’s about scale

Making music is hard. Well, at least it used to be. I remember the old days, when you had to spend hours and hours honing skills, coming up with something clever or personal to say, then actually recording sounds that people would want to listen to. But that’s the past. In our sparkling future, a pre-teen can dump a bunch of words into a machine and out comes a catchy tune. In 2025, a robot can be a pop star. (Although Data from Star Trek did drop an album back in the 90s. How soon we all forget.)

Three AI-generated songs recently topped Spotify’s “Viral 50” charts. One of the “creators” responsible for these songs, Broken Veteran, who squirted out a track about immigration policies, told the Guardian that AI is “just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training”. It used to be that if you didn’t know how to do something, you wouldn’t do it.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

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© Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images

In India’s Mizoram state, people have an intricate system of harvesting and consuming the pungent and nutritious bugs

Every few years when Udonga montana, a bamboo-feeding stink bug, erupts in massive swarms, the people of the Mizo community in northern India don’t reach for pesticides. Instead, they look for baskets.

Locally, this small brown stink bug is called thangnang. Outsiders see them as an infestation but in the bamboo forests of Mizoram state this small brown bug has long been woven into the food culture.

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© Photograph: Vohbika Dawn

© Photograph: Vohbika Dawn

© Photograph: Vohbika Dawn