Kennedy Center president seeks $1 million from jazz musician Chuck Redd after he canceled his Christmas Eve show over Trump renaming controversy.

The musician Chuck Redd called off the annual Christmas Eve performances after the Kennedy Center board added President Trump’s name to the performing arts center.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

The teen had been sleeping in the same bed with her mother the morning she disappeared.

Attack on Kyiv injures five, says mayor, amid flurry of weekend diplomacy that will see Ukrainian president meet Trump in Florida

European leaders are to take part in a call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump on Saturday as part of a growing push for a peace deal that will see the Ukrainian president head to Florida on Sunday.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is to join a call on Saturday, a commission spokesperson told Reuters, ahead of the Ukrainian president’s trip to Florida for a Sunday meeting with Trump that Zelenskyy said would focus on some of the most sensitive parts of the peace talks. Key sticking points include Ukrainian security guarantees and reconstruction, plus territorial discussions regarding the Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

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© Photograph: Cedar Barnes/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Cedar Barnes/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Cedar Barnes/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The FBI has scrapped a nearly $5 billion proposal to construct a new building that would not have opened until 2035.

As Americans tire of Donald Trump, a Democratic midterm ‘tsunami’ could sweep the GOP out of power

It was a wake-up call for America. In January, Donald Trump took the oath of office, declared himself “saved by God to make America great again” and issued a barrage of executive orders. In the ensuing months the US president and his allies moved at breakneck speed and seemed indomitable.

But as 2025 draws to a close with Trump struggling to stay awake at meetings, the prevailing image is of a driver asleep at the wheel. Opinion polls suggest that Americans are turning against him. Republicans are heading for the exit ahead of congressional contests next November that look bleak for the president’s party.

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© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Dan, 40, a sock designer and writer, meets Emmie, 39, an art consultant

What were you hoping for?
To snog the love of my life. Failing that, I’d heard good things about the broccoli.

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© Photograph: Graeme Robertson and Jill Mead/The Guardian

© Photograph: Graeme Robertson and Jill Mead/The Guardian

© Photograph: Graeme Robertson and Jill Mead/The Guardian

Knight Frank says shopping centres and food stores lead revival as retail outperforms other commercial property

• Shoppers shun UK high streets despite lure of Boxing Day sales

UK retailers are investing more in bricks and mortar, with shopping centres and food stores leading a revival, according to research.

Retailers and property investors are reallocating capital back into physical stores, according to the property group Knight Frank.

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© Photograph: Shine Pix/SHAUN FELLOWS

© Photograph: Shine Pix/SHAUN FELLOWS

© Photograph: Shine Pix/SHAUN FELLOWS

Need something brilliant to read over the holidays? Here are six of our best pieces from 2025. Look out for part two next Saturday

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© Composite: Getty / Guardian Design

© Composite: Getty / Guardian Design

© Composite: Getty / Guardian Design

A decadent, cheesy centrepiece to steal the attention at any party, and built for comfort and joy

As 2025 closes, I wanted to leave you with one of my favourite recipes: the pumpkin fondue. This started life as a Lyonnaise dish that I saw Anthony Bourdain enjoy on his TV series Parts Unknown at Daniel Boulud’s parents’ farmhouse. My adapted version could be a centrepiece of your New Year’s Eve party, where the molten cheese mixture can be spread on bruschetta and topped with pickles. Equally, however, it could be a main meal shared with friends alongside a salad, pickles and bread. Either way, it’s built for comfort and for joy. Happy New Year to you.

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© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Susannah Cohen.

© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Susannah Cohen.

© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Susannah Cohen.

Did the 21st century begin on 1 January 2000? Or was it that blue sky day in September 2001 when the planes hit the twin towers? These images from the last 25 years chronicle modern history in the making

At the turn of the century there was a modest debate, mainly conducted on the letters pages of the newspapers – back then, still the prime forum for public discussion – as to when, exactly, the new millennium and the 21st century began. Most assumed the start date was 1 January 2000, but dissenters, swiftly branded pedants, insisted the correct date came a year later. As it turned out, both were wrong.

The 21st century began in earnest, at least in the western mind, on a day that no one had circled in their diaries. Out of a clear blue sky, two passenger jets flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 and so inaugurated a new age of anxiety – a period in which we have lived ever since.

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© Photograph: MARTY LEDERHANDLER/AP

© Photograph: MARTY LEDERHANDLER/AP

© Photograph: MARTY LEDERHANDLER/AP

Our cartoonists look back at a year of covering tragedy, farce and everything in between – and having to draw far too many Donald Trumps

In a year in which I’ve drawn too many cartoons about powerful people acting with impunity, the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stood out to me as a rare win for justice and accountability. Dark humour feels vital to make light of everything that’s going wrong, but I’ve also been trying to draw cartoons that highlight reasons for hope, such as the fragile ceasefire in Gaza or Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York.

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© Illustration: Martin Rowson/The Guardian

© Illustration: Martin Rowson/The Guardian

© Illustration: Martin Rowson/The Guardian

From the books I’ve read (and forgotten) this year to the number of times my jokes bombed on stage

As the end of the year looms up like the handle of a rake I’ve just stepped on, I recall the preceding 12 months as a period characterised by a steep erosion of trust and a sinking feeling that nothing is to be taken at face value. We subsist on a steady diet of lies, distortion and AI slop. Everything is getting stupider, including me.

That’s why, when it comes to examining the year, I choose to reckon with nothing but cold, hard numbers. Here, then, is how things stand for me, statistically, at the close of 2025.

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© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian

© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian

© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian

Two countries pledge in joint statement to halt all forms of attacks and further troop deployments in long-running dispute over contested territory

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate” ceasefire, pledging to end weeks of deadly border clashes that have killed more than 100 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.

In a joint statement, the two south-east Asian neighbours said the ceasefire would take effect on Saturday at noon local time and involve “all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Crisis has laid bare the increasingly fraught relations between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi

In an exclusive interview, the head of the TUC says a customs union with the EU could boost the UK’s economy

Keir Starmer should seek out a far closer relationship with Europe, including a possible customs union, the head of the TUC has said.

Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said the British public recognised the need for a vastly improved trading arrangement and said it had become more urgent than ever because of the fickle nature of the relationship with Donald Trump’s United States.

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© Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

© Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

© Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

Tireless dynamism has been fetishised by the likes of Donald Trump and Sanae Takaichi

In spite of efforts to bring it into the mainstream, the cryptocurrency remains one step removed from money

Rome and Madrid rewarded by investors for cutting deficits, while France and Germany look to borrow more

Companies including Marriott and Hilton push to improve perks and get more direct bookings

Sponsorships and collaborations soar even as industry slowdown spurs renewed focus on wealthiest customers

Explosion occurred during Friday prayers at Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque in Homs

The White House press secretary announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with a daughter who is due in May. She and her husband have a 1-year-old son.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Brian Cox once toured as a keyboardist in major rock and pop bands. Now he’s a particle physicist on a new world tour with a dazzling show he designed in an era of science disinformation and denial.

© Andrew Testa for The New York Times