• Cessna jet crashed during attempted return to airport

• No confirmation Biffle was aboard the aircraft

• FAA and NTSB responding to North Carolina crash

A business jet with six people aboard crashed Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina used by Nascar teams and Fortune 500 companies, erupting in a large fire and killing multiple people, authorities said.

Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle.

There were six people on the Cessna C550 that crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72km) north of Charlotte, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

“I can confirm there were fatalities,” Iredell county aheriff Darren Campbell said.

Golfers playing next to the airport were shocked as they witnessed the disaster, even dropping to the ground at the Lakewood Golf Club while the plane was overhead. The ninth hole was covered with debris.

“We were like, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s way too low,’” said Joshua Green of Mooresville. “It was scary.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were investigating. AccuWeather says there was some drizzle and clouds at the time of the crash.

The plane took off from the airport shortly after 10am but then returned and was attempting to land there, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.

The plane had planned to fly later from Sarasota, Florida, to Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and then to Statesville by evening, data showed.

Video from WSOC-TV showed first responders rushing onto the runway as flames burned near scattered wreckage from the plane. The airport’s website states that it offers corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several Nascar teams.

With 2025 almost over, there have been 1,331 US crashes this year investigated by the NTSB, from two-seat planes to commercial aircraft, compared to a total of 1,482 in 2024.

Major air disasters around the world in 2025 include the plane-helicopter collision that killed 67 in Washington, the Air India crash that killed 260 in India, and a crash in Russia’s Far East that claimed 48 lives. Fourteen people, including 11 on the ground, died in a UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky.

Images, undated and uncaptioned, include Nabokov lines written on woman’s body and show Bill Gates and Noam Chomsky

• US politics – live updates

• What we know so far about the Epstein files

Democrats on the House oversight committee have released a new batch of photos from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the deadline for the justice department to release its files related to Epstein looms.

The images, released on Thursday, are undated and lack captions or context. Among them are photographs of what appear to be lines from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita written on different parts of a woman’s body.

Intelligence service says attacks were work of groups connected to Russian state in ‘clear evidence’ of hybrid war

The Danish government has accused Russia of being behind two “destructive and disruptive” cyber-attacks in what it describes as “very clear evidence” of a hybrid war.

The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) announced on Thursday that Moscow was behind a cyber-attack on a Danish water utility in 2024 and a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Danish websites in the lead-up to the municipal and regional council elections in November.

• ECB and Cricket Australia could bring in UltraEdge

• Snicko hit by more bad decisions on day two in Adelaide

The England and Wales Cricket Board has held talks with Cricket Australia about the possibility of replacing the decision review system (DRS) technology Snicko with an alternative UltraEdge for the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne after controversy on the opening two days of the Adelaide Test.

In bilateral series, DRS technology is the responsibility of the home board, which in practice is passed on to the main domestic broadcast rights holder, in this case Fox Sports. However, the Guardian has learned that Cricket Australia’s free-to-air rights holder, Channel 7, has a DRS contract with Hawk-Eye Innovations, the company behind UltraEdge, so there is an alternative available should the hosts seek to make a change amid unhappiness from players on both sides.

Turner, appointed ambassador to UN in May, now replaces Peter Mandelson who was sacked over Epstein links

Keir Starmer has appointed the career diplomat Christian Turner as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, replacing Peter Mandelson who was sacked over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Turner, who was appointed ambassador to the UN in May, had previously been political director at the Foreign Office and had brokered a close relationship with the new Labour administration before taking up his UN role in New York.

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, spoke candidly about Trump’s inner circle and the piece made even bigger waves with its unsparing photos

• US politics live – latest updates

Critics of the Trump administration have praised Vanity Fair’s interview with the White House chief of staff, and particularly the unvarnished photographs of Trump’s inner circle that accompanied it, as overdue scrutiny of a controversial cabinet even as his allies rallied to dismiss it as a hit piece.

Over what the magazine said was 11 separate interviews by reporter Chris Whipple, Susie Wiles spoke candidly about her colleagues, describing Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality”, JD Vance, the vice-president, as being a “conspiracy theorist for a decade” and Russell Vought, the budget chief, as a “right-wing absolute zealot”.

Report on Kamala Harris’s loss to Trump would be a ‘distraction’ as party is ‘putting our learnings into motion’

The Democratic National Committee won’t release a review of its election loss in 2024, saying it would be a “distraction” from helping the party win going forward.

The party has been working on a so-called autopsy of 2024 since Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to Donald Trump.

The plan to mobilise Russia’s frozen assets is morally compelling and ingenious. The problem is that its enemies will never see it that way

Morally, the decision facing the European Council in Brussels this week has been a no-brainer. Russia invaded Ukraine illegally and unilaterally. Moscow shows no sign of wanting peace. It actively threatens other countries too, including Britain. Ukraine is running out of money. Yet £184bn worth of Russian assets remain frozen in Europe, notably in Belgium. That money should therefore be mobilised to fund Ukraine. To many, this would be the enactment of a clear and present duty, proof positive that Europe can still be a heavy hitter.

In the messy reaches of the real world, however, things have not been straightforward. Law, economics and politics all managed to insinuate themselves, sometimes venomously, into the intense buildup to Brussels. Reparations can have lethal political consequences. Seizure of assets will undoubtedly face legal challenge. It is also bitterly opposed by Donald Trump, who wants the unfreezing of assets to form a key part of his pro-Russian peace plan. Mr Trump is pressing hard for a quick deal, and US and Russian negotiators are poised to meet again in Miami at the weekend.

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.

News organisations fear move could hit newsrooms and other media publishers by stopping users sharing their content

Facebook is testing a system that charges users for sharing web links, in a move that could prove to be a further blow to news outlets and other publishers.

Meta, the social media platform’s owner, said it is carrying out a “limited test” in which those without a paid Meta Verified subscription, costing at least £9.99 a month, can only post two external links a month.

Back at the PDC world championship for the first time since 2022, the women’s world champion means business, starting on Friday against the world No 22

“When I was younger, they thought I was a mute,” Beau Greaves says with a wry smile, thinking about all the ways darts has changed her. “Never said owt in school, really shy. Didn’t really know what to say half the time. I suppose playing darts just brought me out of my shell. When you get popular, people want to meet you and talk. It’s matured me.”

Greaves was 18 the first time she won the Lakeside women’s world championship, thrusting herself firmly into the crosshairs of public adulation. And even if she played like a natural-born star, with her beautiful fluid throwing arc, she didn’t always feel like one. Endless interviews, viral fame, global domination: this was never what she had craved from the sport. She was Beau, and she just wanted to throw.

A renowned Kabul cinema that for decades attracted the city’s film fans is being demolished to make way for a shopping mall

Millions will tune in to watch the brash YouTuber get his comeuppance – the fight will likely go on as long as Joshua decides to let it

An undersized loudmouth disruptor arrives in Miami for a no-hope fight with one of history’s most destructive heavyweights, exploiting every available lever of new media to amplify his delusions of grandeur to mass audiences. There are mounting concerns for his mental and physical wellbeing, with doctors, commentators and former fighters openly questioning his soundness of mind and wondering whether he might end up in hospital – or worse. The oddsmakers have made him an 8-1 longshot, a price that feels almost charitable given the epic scale of the mismatch. The buildup revolves less around the favorite than around the smaller man’s mouth: his noise, his presence, and the creeping suspicion that spectacle may finally have outrun sense.

Cassius Clay wound up shocking the world back in 1964 when he made Sonny Liston quit on his stool after six rounds at the Miami Beach Convention Center. But it’s right here, on the eve of Friday night’s scheduled eight-round showdown between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua at the nearby Kaseya Center, where those curious rhymes with the past come to a screeching halt.

Summit divided on idea of loan secured against Russian assets, as Belgium seeks guarantees if scheme goes wrong

• Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets

EU leaders are racing to secure a funding deal for Ukraine that has been cast as a choice between “money today or blood tomorrow”, but Belgium continues to oppose a loan secured against Russia’s frozen assets.

At a summit billed as make or break, EU leaders are discussing an unprecedented move to tap some of Russia’s €210bn sovereign assets frozen in the bloc days after the full-scale invasion of 2022.

• Brother of Puka Nacua among two arrested in LA case

• Vehicle tied to Lakers forward tracked to hotel valet

• Suspects released same night as investigation continues

Two men, including the brother of Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, were arrested over the weekend on suspicion of taking a vehicle belonging to Los Angeles Lakers forward Adou Thiero without consent, according to the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department.

Authorities said deputies were able to track the vehicle – a newer-model BMW – to the One Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Investigators determined the suspects had valeted the car and entered the hotel, where they were later identified using security footage and arrested.

Latest images include photos of words written across a woman’s body

Democratic lawmakers will release more photographs from evidence gathered from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein if the Department of Justice fails to meet the Friday deadline to disclose investigative documents, Congressman Robert Garcia told CNN yesterday.

Speaking to Erin Burnett, Garcia said a petition to the federal court by Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s convicted accomplice - to have her conviction on sex trafficking charges thrown out and to obtain a pardon do not trigger an exemption to the law Congress passed mandating a release of documents by the DoJ.

ECJ ruling brings hope to area of city targeted over high percentage of residents with ‘non-western’ backgrounds

Residents of a Copenhagen neighbourhood that became an international symbol of a law in Denmark known as the “ghetto law” have said they are confident they can overturn the legislation in the Danish courts after the top EU court ruled that it may be unlawful.

The controversial law, dating from 2018, allows the state to demolish apartment blocks in areas labelled “parallel societies” by the government, where at least half of residents have a “non-western” background. Formerly, the government referred to these neighbourhoods as “ghettoes”.

Enter what I call ‘no-skincare skincare’ – things that support the skin without disturbing it

Hi Ugly,

I used to love skincare, but after reading your articles and noticing how many useless products get produced, I lost faith in it.

Why is this column called ‘Ask Ugly’?

How should I be styling my pubic hair?

How do I deal with imperfection?

My father had plastic surgery. Now he wants me and my mother to get work done

I want to ignore beauty culture. But I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t look a certain way

• Rioux, 19, is the world’s tallest teenager

• Redshirt freshman has only appeared in blowouts so far

Olivier Rioux lumbered through the lane, caught a bounce pass from teammate CJ Ingram and dunked, sending Florida’s bench and the home crowd into a frenzy.

Rioux barely left his feet to make it happen.

Late-night hosts recapped Trump’s national address and further insights from chief of staff Susie Wiles’s interview

Late-night hosts discussed – or ignored – Donald Trump’s surprise primetime address and dug further into the explosive new interview the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

Ronald Hicks, who endorsed message condemning ICE raids, to lead one of biggest US archdioceses

Pope Leo XIV has named a fellow Chicagoan as the next archbishop of New York, one of the biggest US archdioceses, in a signal that the church will continue its stance against the Trump administration on immigration.

The US-born pope chose 58-year-old Ronald Hicks, the current bishop of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the church in New York, replacing retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan who has served for 16 years after being selected by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

A Guardian study of past ticket prices for the men’s World Cup, compared with current 2026 figures, shows how the barrier for entry has been raised for most fans

In the past, a fan’s ability to attend a World Cup hosted in their nation hinged more on bid books than their checkbooks. For 2026 in the US, Mexico and Canada, even the least expensive tickets are a luxury commodity by comparison.

An analysis by the Guardian of men’s World Cup ticket pricing shows that amid the general rise in ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, the most extreme of those hikes have often applied to the cheapest tickets. The analysis is based on official Fifa pricing dating back to 1994, with more robust data available starting in 2006. Prices for 2026 games are accurate as of 16 December 2025, and do not include the 1.6% of sellable tickets for each game that Fifa recently made available for a fixed $60 price.

Package includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, and has drawn an angry response from China

• The maps that show how China’s military is squeezing Taiwan

The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.

The state department announced the sales late on Wednesday during a nationally televised address by president Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. US-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over China’s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must unify with the People’s Republic of China.

It is clear that the FCC is not an independent agency, but an instrument of the president’s political agenda

The Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, admitted at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that there had been a political “sea change” and he no longer viewed the FCC as an independent agency. Commissioners, he says, serve at the pleasure of the president.

In his case, that president is Donald Trump, whose face Carr wears as a lapel pin, whose agenda he loudly embraces, and who often publicly demands that Carr censor his critics, including revoking their broadcast licenses.

Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer. Clayton Weimers is the executive director of RSF USA, the North American branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The no-nonsense comic actor and author further cements her status as a national treasure with her trademark gobby one-liners

A lot of terrible things happen to Kathy Burke in her memoir, though you won’t find her mired in self-pity. Burke was a toddler when her mother died from stomach cancer, meaning she has no memory of her. In the Islington council flat where she grew up, she shared a bedroom with her alcoholic dad who would give up booze only to fall off the wagon and, at his worst, became violent. When a stranger on the estate called her ugly in front of her friends, she cannily deflected the insult with laughter. “I’m the best dancer at the ugly bug ball though,” she hooted, and did a little dance.

Burke would find her tribe on London’s punk scene and, in her teens, got the acting bug and a place at London’s Anna Scher Theatre school. This put her on the path to a brilliant and varied acting and writing career that saw her appearing in comedy sketches with Harry Enfield and French and Saunders, being called a genius by Peter Cook and taken by Luc Besson’s private jet to collect the prize for best actress at Cannes film festival for Gary Oldman’s 1997 film Nil By Mouth. There, much to her chagrin, she found herself “accepting a bellini cocktail from Harvey fuckface Weinstein”.