• Collins discloses stage 4 glioblastoma diagnosis

• Former NBA trailblazer pursuing new therapies

• Symptoms appeared and worsened rapidly

Jason Collins, the former NBA player who became the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, said Thursday he’s battling “one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer”.

Collins, who revealed in a brief statement in September that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, said in an interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne published Thursday that he has stage 4 glioblastoma.

Roundhouse apologises after animation projected behind band appears to show Star of David entwined with swastika

A music venue in London has apologised after antisemitic imagery was allegedly displayed on stage during a Primal Scream gig.

A video appearing to show the Star of David entwined with a swastika appeared to be screened during the Scottish band’s show at the Roundhouse in Camden on Monday.

Measure to redistrict, which would add two GOP-friendly seats, failed 19-31 after 21 Republicans joined 10 Democrats

Indiana Republicans rejected an effort to redraw the state’s congressional map on Thursday, a stunning and blunt rebuke of Donald Trump and Republican efforts to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts to add two more Republican-friendly seats.

The measure failed 19-31, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats in rejecting the new maps.

The media company is investing $1bn in OpenAI – and allowing its characters to be used in generated videos

Users of OpenAI’s video generation app will soon be able to see their own faces alongside characters from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney’s animated films, according to a joint announcement from the startup and Disney on Thursday. Perhaps you, Lightning McQueen and Iron Man are all dancing together in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Sora is an app made by OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, which allows users to generate videos of up to 20 seconds through short text prompts. The startup previously attempted to steer Sora’s output away from unlicensed copyrighted material, though with little success, which prompted threats of lawsuits by rights holders.

Roger Federer, an ardent Basel supporter, was up in the stands, in the posh seats to be precise, but even from there he could surely appreciate the grace with which Youri Tielemans clinched victory for Aston Villa.

Unai Emery turned to Tielemans at half-time to lift his side and the midfielder delivered within eight minutes, his classy first-time finish regaining Villa the lead, after Evann Guessand’s early strike was cancelled out. This represented a 14th victory in their past 16 matches and it felt a significant one, too, given the pileup at the top of the league table amid the fight to advance automatically to the round of 16 in March.

This might be Crystal Palace’s first European campaign but they are learning very quickly. Having arrived in Dublin missing some of their big-hitters including star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and the marauding wing-back Daniel Muñoz, they left with a comfortable victory that virtually assured them of a place in the Conference League playoffs.

Oliver Glasner has already said that he will play a weakened team against Finnish side KuPS in their final group stage match next week despite slipping up against Strasbourg on their last outing as Palace are in the middle of a marathon December in which they will play eight times. So it was heartening for him to see some of his fringe players shine, as Christantus Uche capped only his second start since joining on an initial loan from Getafe in the summer with a well-taken goal and Eddie Nketiah scored for the second game in succession.

Two matches is not an adequate window in which to judge a manager. Nonetheless, these are worrying times for Wilfried Nancy and Celtic. Seriously worrying, in truth.

Back-to-back losses since the Frenchman’s arrival would be bad enough without the rampant manner in which Roma ensured six points from six in visits to Glasgow during this season’s Europa League. What a canter this proved from minute one.

Yana Leonova faces multiple charges including fraud and conspiracy for smuggling US aviation parts to Russia

An ongoing FBI investigation into a Belarusian woman accused of smuggling US aviation parts and electronics to Russia is teetering on the brink of collapse after being caught in what one judge called a “Kafkaesque” case brought on by the Trump administration’s attempts to deport her before she faces trial.

Federal prosecutors had worked for over a year to secure the extradition of Yana Leonova, who faces multiple charges including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. But their efforts unraveled when immigration officials abruptly issued an order to detain and deport her soon after she was flown into the US last month, a move that plunged the case into legal chaos.

• Kalimuendo and Jesus goals give Forest 2-1 away win

• Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros defeat Rangers 2-1

Igor Jesus’s late goal sealed Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win in Utrecht and boosted their hopes of a top-eight finish in the Europa League group phase. Arnaud Kalimuendo’s second-half opener for Forest was cancelled out by the Utrecht substitute Mike van der Hoorn before Jesus stepped off the bench to fire home the visitors’ late winner.

Forest bounced back from last weekend’s disappointing defeat at Everton to secure their third win in this season’s competition – their first on the road – and move on to 11 points after six matches. Murillo, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Douglas Luiz returned from injury as Sean Dyche made nine changes from Saturday’s 3-0 loss, and his rejigged side made an impressive start to the first competitive meeting between the two teams.

Utah judge weighs media access in prosecution of Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder

The 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk made his first in-person court appearance on Thursday as his attorneys push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case.

A Utah judge is weighing the public’s right to know details in the prosecution of Tyler Robinson against his attorneys’ concerns that the swarm of media attention could interfere with his right to a fair trial.

Move interpreted as escalation of US policy as Vladimir Putin ‘reaffirms’ support for South American dictator

• US politics live – latest updates

Diplomatic pressure on Nicolás Maduro has grown after the US interdicted a “dark fleet” tanker off the coast of Venezuela in a move that has been interpreted as an escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure on the South American dictator.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that the US would take the seized oil tanker, the Skipper, to a US port one day after military and law enforcement boarded it off the coast of Venezuela.

New York attorney general dodges indictment for second time in a week as Trump’s justice department seeks retribution

A federal grand jury has declined to indict Letitia James, the New York attorney general, on mortgage fraud charges for the second time in a week, according to a person familiar with the matter, in an embarrassing blow to the Trump justice department as the president has sought retribution against one of his political rivals.

The department has attempted to twice file new charges against James after a judge dismissed an indictment against her after determining the prosecutor handling the case had not been properly appointed.

Trump hands 760 acres of California public land to the navy for a new defense zone, deepening border militarization

The US’s southern border is poised to become more militarized following an announcement by Trump administration officials that armed forces would now oversee 760 acres of public land for a three-year period.

The US Department of Interior said in a statement that jurisdiction over this acreage – located in California’s San Diego and Imperial counties – would be transferred to the US navy “to establish a National Defense Area to support ongoing border security operations”.

UC Berkeley apologizes to Israeli sociologist and dance teacher and Pomona to create taskforce on Jewish life

Two California colleges have reached settlements with Jewish organizations and individuals who filed complaints alleging antisemitism arising from pro-Palestinian campus protests, including a $60,000 payment to an Israeli sociologist and dance researcher who says she was not rehired by the University of California, Berkeley despite the popularity of her class.

The UC Berkeley chancellor, Rich Lyons, on Wednesday issued an apology to Yael Nativ, a visiting 2022 professor who was found in a campus investigation to have been the victim of discrimination, the Los Angeles Times reported. She is also invited to teach her class in a semester of her choosing.

Author whose Shopaholic series of romcom novels were global bestsellers and adapted into a Hollywood film

Sophie Kinsella, who has died of a brain tumour aged 55, was one of Britain’s most successful novelists, selling more than 50 million copies of her books, including the globally successful Shopaholic series. Through three decades she retained a loyal and passionate readership with her deceptively light and intricately plotted comic novels.

Like her best-known heroine, Becky Bloomwood, Kinsella began her writing career in financial journalism, but, realising she was uninspired (and probably not very good at it), she wrote a book, The Tennis Party, that was published in 1995, when she was 25, under her given name, Madeleine Wickham (“Maddy”). This was followed by five subsequent standalone “Aga sagas”, which all achieved moderate chart success and critical acclaim.

⚽ Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest, Ferencvaros 2-1 Rangers
⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | And email Scott

Stuttgart 3-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv. Some bonus content here. No need to thank us! And there really is no need to thank us, because it comes courtesy of our old MBM and Clockwatch pal Kári Tulinius. “Stuttgart looked like they were heading to the most comfortable of home wins when they went 3-0 up after yet another defensive rick by Maccabi, when the normally reliable Alexander Nübel tried to save Roy Revivo’s shot with a hand so weak it seemed like it was made out of cottage cheese. The comedy defending moment still goes to the visitors, though, who let in an opener after a covering defender simply fell on his behind while tracking a high ball, giving Lorenz Assignon all the time in the world to measure the aim on his volley.”

Callum O’Dowda swings a ball in from the left wing. Barnabás Varga heads into the top-right corner from close range. He couldn’t miss, partly because the nearest defender, Emmanuel Fernandez, was the wrong side of the striker, facing upfield, then span around in confusion, making no challenge whatsoever. Comically poor defending.

Votes came as premium tax credits for estimated 21.8 million enrollees of plans set to expire at end of month

The US Senate on Thursday rejected competing proposals to address the imminent expiration of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, greatly increasing the chances that healthcare costs will soon rise to unaffordable levels for millions of Americans.

The votes, part of a deal brokered between Republican majority leader John Thune and the Democratic senators who agreed to reopen the government after a historically long shutdown last month, came as premium tax credits for an estimated 21.8 million enrollees of the plans are set to expire at the end of the month. Health policy research group KFF estimates that annual premiums will more than double if the subsidies are allowed to expire.

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s campaign against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, whose government called the seizure an act of international piracy.

The Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny over a series of attacks on boats off the Venezuelan coast. At least 87 people have been killed in 22 known strikes since early September. Lucy Hough talks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat

‘Clear conflict’ between Eurovision ideals of ‘inclusion and dignity for all’ and decision to let Israel compete, says 2024 winner

Nemo, the Swiss singer who won the 2024 Eurovision song contest, has said they are handing back their trophy in protest over Israel’s participation in next year’s event.

The 26-year-old, the first non-binary winner of the contest, said on Thursday there was “a clear conflict” between the Eurovision ideals of “unity, inclusion and dignity for all” and the decision to allow Israel to compete.

Sir Keir Starmer promised to bring meaningful reform to the House of Lords. He is failing to introduce it

In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer called the unelected House of Lords “indefensible”. This week, barely 18 months into his prime ministership, Sir Keir took the total of unelected peers he has appointed since July 2024 to 96. Remarkably, Wednesday’s 34 new life peerages, mainly Labour supporters, take his appointment total above those of each of his four most recent Conservative predecessors. You must go back to David Cameron to find a prime minister who did more to stuff the Lords than Sir Keir.

At the last election, Labour presented itself to the voters as a party of Lords reform. The party manifesto promised to remove the remaining hereditary peers, to reform the appointments process, to impose a peers’ retirement age, and to consult on proposals for replacing the Lords with an alternative second chamber. The House of Lords, the manifesto flatly declared, was “too big”.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

A Tommy Robinson-inspired carol service is the latest sign of a burgeoning Christian nationalist movement. The Church of England is right to push back

The story of Christmas is a tale of poverty and flight from persecution. According to Christian tradition, humanity’s saviour is born in a stable, since Mary and Joseph are unable to find a room in Bethlehem. The holy family subsequently flee to Egypt to escape the murderous intentions of King Herod. This drama grounds the New Testament message of compassion for the stranger, the fugitive and all those who find themselves far from home. “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat,” says Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The spirit of a far-right show of force planned on Saturday by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, will be somewhat different. Since reportedly converting fully to Christianity while serving a prison sentence for contempt of court, Mr Yaxley-Lennon has energetically deployed his faith to promote his own gospel of ethnic discord and political polarisation. The Unite the Kingdom rally he organised in July featured hymns, a plethora of wooden crosses and a Christian preacher who spoke of a war against “the Muslim”. His latest provocation is a “carol service” in central London, ostensibly to “put Christ back in Christmas”.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Confusion over diplomatic standoff deepens after conflicting reports about the soldiers’ whereabouts

Eleven Nigerian military personnel are reportedly still in Burkina Faso days after their plane made an “unauthorised” landing in the south-west city of Bobo Dioulasso, despite earlier suggestions they had been freed, deepening confusion about the diplomatic standoff.

Burkinabé authorities told the BBC on Tuesday that the troops had been released and given permission to return to Nigeria, but officials in Abuja have said the matter is yet to be resolved.

Lindell, an election conspiracist who still maintains the 2020 election was stolen, joins a crowded Republican field

Mike Lindell, a pillow salesman and election conspiracist, is running for governor of Minnesota, he announced on Thursday.

Lindell, an ally of Donald Trump’s and major player in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, joins a crowded Republican primary in the left-leaning state, where his pillow company, MyPillow, is headquartered.

Two protesters disrupted House panel hearing, with one yelling line made famous in 1973 horror film

Protesters briefly interrupted the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, during a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday, evoking a quote from the film The Exorcist.

As Noem delivered her opening remarks before the House committee on homeland security, two protesters disrupted the session, with one yelling: “Stop ICE raids! The power of Christ compels you! End deportations, the power of Christ compels you!”