US attorney for DC says charges upgraded to murder in first degree after national guard member dies; US president says he will ‘permanently pause’ migration from ‘third world countries’

• Full report: Trump says he will ‘permanently pause’ migration from ‘third world countries’

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was “devastated” by the death of Sarah Beckstrom.

In a post on X, he asked followers to take a moment to think of those “who have been plunged into unimaginable grief”.

I’m devastated to learn of the passing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, a member of the West Virginia National Guard. She was only twenty years old.

As families across the nation come together today to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us take a moment to think of those in West Virginia who have been plunged into unimaginable grief.

The Canadian PM’s breakthrough oil deal with Alberta cost him a cabinet minister and will still face stiff opposition

When the people of the Haida nation won a decades-long battle for recognition that an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia in Canada was rightfully theirs, it was a long overdue victory.

The unprecedented deal with the provincial and the federal governments meant the Haida no longer had to prove that they had Aboriginal title to the land of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai, “the islands at the boundary of the world”

Scientists say urban raccoons’ shorter snouts and calmer reactions to people mirror traits found in domesticated animals across species

Raccoons living wild in cities in the United States are beginning to show physical changes that resemble early signs of domestication, according to a recent study.

The study found that urban raccoons had developed shorter snouts than rural raccoons, with the research produced by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and published in Frontiers in Zoology. This is an example of a physical trait that appears across domesticated animals that have adapted to living in close proximity to humans over long periods of time, along with other traits such as smaller teeth, curlier tails, smaller brains and floppier ears.

Workers say the firm’s ‘warp-speed’ approach fuels pressure, layoffs and rising emissions

More than 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter expressing “serious concerns” about AI development, saying that the company’s “all-costs justified, warp speed” approach to the powerful technology will cause damage to “democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth.”

The letter, published on Wednesday, was signed by the Amazon workers anonymously, and comes a month after Amazon announced mass layoff plans as it increases adoption of AI in its operations.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Wiegman has had to rejig defence and captaincy for a Wembley friendly with China that should pose new challenges for Lionesses

When England welcome China to a sold-out Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it will mark the sixth meeting between two nations who have been on different trajectories in recent years. The marketing has focused on the clash of continental champions – England as the holders of the European Championship and China as the winners of the 2022 Asian Cup – but there has since been a change in fortunes between the two.

The widening gap was evident the last time they met, at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when England put six past the Steel Roses to progress to the last 16. It caught the eye not only because of the score but because of a bold tactical change from Sarina Wiegman – a switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 – to deal with the absence of Keira Walsh. It kicked the Lionesses’ campaign into life and they made the final, while China exited, registering their worst finish at the tournament.

The skin-lightening industry is booming, while at the same time there has been a surge in cancers and irreversible skin damage among women of colour using unregulated products. But this is not a new story. The dangers of skin-lightening products have been well documented for years, so how is this still happening? Josh Toussaint-Strauss digs into the long history behind the practice of skin lightening, and how the beauty industry has used messaging rooted in classism and colonialism to sell its products, as well as investigating what unregulated products are doing to the skin

• How the colonial legacy has created a toxic beauty industry

• How skin-lightening products are linked to cancer in black African women

Hollywood megastars hit Leeds this year to make Tinsel Town, a feelgood festive comedy about panto. The 24 star, Rebel Wilson and more talk about their addiction to Greggs sausage rolls – and epic brawls with Danny Dyer

Twenty-odd years ago, I binged a TV series on DVD for the first time. At my mate’s house in a village outside Harrogate, I was glued to Jack Bauer shooting his way through 24. We probably only made it to episode six before surrendering to sleep for school the next day.

Fast forward to the start of this year, and photos are all over the local news of Kiefer Sutherland out and about in nearby market towns Knaresborough and Wetherby. The real Jack Bauer in Yorkshire! He and Rebel Wilson are in the area making Tinsel Town, a British Christmas film about pantomimes. By March, I am invited to a Leeds studio, where they are filming, and find Sutherland dressed as Buttons on a stage. His glittery eyeshadow shimmers as he smiles and dances to Katy Perry’s Roar with the Cinderella cast. He repeats this showstopper scene about 15 times. It’s a surreal full circle moment; I half expect him to pull a pistol out on the ugly stepsisters.

Beauty and the Beast or Wolf Alice? Queen Marie Antoinette or Count Arthur Strong? Come and behold: the holiday season offers stage, film, music and art that’s worth singing about

The 12 Beans of Christmas
Touring to 19 December
Last year, character comedians Adam Riches and John Kearns joined forces for an archly silly tribute to crooners Michael Ball and Alfie Boe. Now Riches is back with another leftfield celebrity riff as he gives his Game of Thrones-era Sean Bean impression (as seen on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and his Edinburgh show Dungeons’n’Bastards) a yuletide twist. Rachel Aroesti

Ben Stokes’s batters must realise the aggressive option doesn’t always mean attacking Australia’s bowlers, and if they don’t, it could be all over in Brisbane

It’s not over yet. There is still hope. Before the Ashes started I had plenty of it, because of England’s fantastic array of fast bowlers and because I felt they had improved on their crash‑bang‑wallop, one-size‑fits‑all approach to batting. Then the series got under way, and while the bowlers did their bit, the batters failed badly. After the two-day humiliation in Perth they are inevitably under the microscope – but while everyone is questioning England’s approach, how much are they challenging themselves?

I based my optimism on some of what I had seen over the summer. In the first innings against India at Lord’s Joe Root and Ollie Pope put on 109 runs at almost exactly three an over, staying calm and building a foundation that eventually won their side the match. I watched that and admired the way they had refined their attitude, becoming more adaptable to the match situation, the surfaces they were playing on and the challenges presented by the opposition – in that case, in particular, the need to negate the brilliant Jasprit Bumrah.

Critics say JH Campbell coal-fired plant in western Michigan is expensive and emits high levels of toxic pollution

Trump administration orders to keep an ageing, unneeded Michigan coal-fired power plant online has cost ratepayers from across the US midwest about $113m so far, according to estimates from the plant’s operator and regulators.

Still, the US energy department last week ordered the plant to remain open for another 90 days.

A festively fizzy, rosy-red aperitif based on a rustic Italian strawberry liqueur

Earlier this year, we launched a range of tiny cocktails in collaboration with drinks writer Tyler Zielinski to reimagine Italian classics in miniature form, all designed to serve as light, pre-dinner tipples. This one’s suitably red, to go with the festive season.

Matteo Pesce, head of beverage, with Tyler Zielinski for Bar Lina, London and Manchester

Advocates are fighting against the $16.7bn global smart-toy market, decrying surveillance and a lack of regulation

As the holiday season looms into view with Black Friday, one category on people’s gift lists is causing increasing concern: products with artificial intelligence.

The development has raised new concerns about the dangers smart toys could pose to children, as consumer advocacy groups say AI could harm kids’ safety and development. The trend has prompted calls for increased testing of such products and governmental oversight.

Ticketmaster said they would ‘lead by example’ after Dean called out companies when tickets for her North American tour appeared on resale sites at prices in excess of $1,000

Ticketmaster has given fans of Olivia Dean partial refunds after the British singer condemned ticketing companies for allowing touts to relist tickets for her North American tour at more than 14 times their face value.

After the tour sold out in minutes on 21 November and tickets appeared on resale sites at prices in excess of $1,000, Dean addressed the major ticketing companies on Instagram: “@Ticketmaster @Livenation @AEGPresents you are providing a disgusting service,” she wrote. “The prices at which you’re allowing tickets to be re-sold is vile and completely against our wishes. Live music should be affordable and accessible and we need to find a new way of making that possible. BE BETTER.”

Kyiv and the rest of Europe must stand together to prevent Russia from seizing more territory by force

• Dmytro Kuleba is a former foreign minister of Ukraine

Europe breathed a deep collective sigh of relief on Monday, as the crisis triggered by Washington’s presentation of a new 28-point plan for ending the war appeared – briefly – to have been stabilised. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, spoke of “substantial progress” after Ukraine-US talks in Geneva. On Monday night, Vladimir Putin made his countermove: another massive barrage of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv.

The sequence of contrasting events captured the grim essence of the outgoing year. By day, diplomatic battles are fought: hopeful statements are issued from Washington, London, Brussels and Kyiv. Immense energy is expended on containing Donald Trump’s initiatives. By night, Putin brutally reminds the world that, for him, war remains the primary tool for achieving “peace”.

Dmytro Kuleba was Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs from 2020 to 2024

Expert advisers likely to recommend only a few thousand men with genetic variant should be eligible for tests

Prostate cancer screening will not be made routinely available for the vast majority of men across the UK, according to the expected recommendations from a panel of expert government health advisers.

The UK national screening committee is expected to only recommend screening for men with the genetic variants BRCA1 and BRCA2 who are between the ages of 45 and 61.

Organised by Olly Alexander and the Mighty Hoopla festival to ‘fight back against the politics of fear and exclusion’, Trans Mission will take place at Wembley Arena in March

Artists including Sugababes, Wolf Alice, Romy, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Christine and the Queens, Beth Ditto, Beverley Knight, Jasmine.4.T, Kae Tempest and more will perform at an all-star charity concert at Wembley Arena in support of trans rights next year.

Organised by Olly Alexander and the Mighty Hoopla festival, Trans Mission will also feature appearances from figures including Green party leader Zack Polanski, actor Ian McKellen, comedian Grace Campbell, author Shon Faye, actor Mawaan Rizwan, model Munroe Bergdorf and actor Nicola Coughlan.

Adam Lambert

Beth Ditto

Bimini

Beverley Knight

Christine and the Queens

Fat Tony

GottMikk

HAAi

Jasmine.4.T

Kae Tempest

Kate Nash

MNEK

Olly Alexander

Romy

Sink the Pink

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Sugababes

Tom Grennan

Tom Rasmussen

Trans Voices

Wolf Alice

Dani St James

Grace Campbell

Harriet Rose

Ian McKellen

Jack Rooke

Jayde Adams

Jo Maugham

Jordan Stephens

Juno Birch

Juno Dawson

Kadiff Kirwan

Layton Williams

Mawaan Rizwan

Munroe Bergdorf

Nicola Coughlan

Russell Tovey

Shon Faye

Tia Kofi

Tiara Skye

Zack Polanski

Airline says 55,000 people signed up to Prime, making €4.4m, but passengers benefited by more than €6m

• Business live – latest updates

Ryanair is shutting its frequent flyers members’ club after only eight months because customers exploited its benefits too much.

The budget airline said on Friday it was closing the scheme, which offered benefits including flight discounts, free reserved seating on up to 12 flights a year and travel insurance.

The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten; Woman in the Pillory by Brigitte Reimann; Iran+100, edited by various; Sea Now by Eva Meijer

The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten, translated by Alison McCullough (Serpent’s Tail, £12.99)
On the last day of his life – how does he know? He just does – Norwegian ferryman Nils Vik takes a final boat trip, alone after a lifetime helping others. He remembers those he has ferried, including actor Edward G Robinson; Miss Norway 1966, who was “declared the most beautiful woman in the nation and won a Fiat 850”; and young gay man Jon, who was bullied by his father, then drowned in a car, channelling the Smiths: “What a heavenly way to die … to die by his lover’s side.” That blend of light and dark runs through the novel, but the person Nils really misses is his late wife Marta. He masks his turmoil (“After the storm … there’s no evidence. Only the calm blue surface”), and tries to remember the happy times. He recalls his daughter taking him to see a play. “What did you like about it?” “Everything.” The reader understands.

It’s always crushing when a wildly anticipated game turns out to be a dud, but this RPG’s awful story and clunky dialogue gave my son and I something to talk about

It was an exciting November for the Diamond household: one of those rare games that we all loved had a sequel coming out! The original Outer Worlds dazzled our eyeballs with its art nouveau palette and charmed our ears with witty dialogue, sucking us into a classic mystery-unravelling story in one of my favourite “little man versus evil corporate overlords” worlds since Deus Ex. It didn’t have the most original combat, but that didn’t matter: it was obviously a labour of love from a team totally invested in the telling of this tale, and we all fell under its spell.

Well, when I say all of us, I mean myself and the three kids. My wife did not play The Outer Worlds, because none of those worlds featured Crash Bandicoot. But the rest of us dug it, and the kids particularly enjoyed that I flounced away from the final boss battle after half a day of trying, declaring that I had pretty much completed the game and that was good enough for a dad with other things to do.

Paul Brown looks back at his career reporting on the climate crisis, failed summit and nuclear power – and how to do it well

Paul Brown was the Guardian’s environment correspondent from 1989 until 2005 and has written many columns since. He submitted his last column last week after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. From his hospital bed in Luton, Paul offers his reflections on 45 years writing for the Guardian.

We, in the climate business, all owe a great deal to Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Her politics were anathema to me and to many Guardian readers. But she prided herself on being a scientist before she was a politician.

Up to 1,000 women globally await execution in prison, with mitigating factors such as child abuse and coercion ignored

• Read more in our Women in prison series

There are between 500 and 1,000 women on death row in at least 42 countries, according to a 2023 report by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The countries that execute the most women are also the countries that execute the most people, namely China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

According to Amnesty International, in 2024 an unknown number of women were executed in China, two were put to death in Egypt, 30 in Iran, one in Iraq, nine in Saudi Arabia and two in Yemen. Some countries, including China, North Korea and Vietnam, do not publish accurate data.

Californian singer-songwriter Lukas Frank is picking up rave reviews for his second album’s epic choruses and lush orchestrations

From Los Angeles
Recommended if you like John Grant, Scott Walker, Father John Misty
Up next A cover of Duran Duran’s The Chauffeur is out now, with another single due in February

After several years of perseverance, things are happening for Storefront Church. The audience at this month’s sellout gig at St Pancras Old Church in London included Perfume Genius and members of the Last Dinner Party and the Horrors and their self-released second album, Ink & Oil, is picking up rave reviews. One used the term “emotional flood” to describe the album’s epic, baroque pop, big pianos and drums, sweeping choruses and Travis Warner’s lush, cinematic orchestrations.

Far-right minister defends killing of two men who appeared to have given themselves up, saying ‘terrorists must die’

Video of an Israeli military raid in the West Bank shows soldiers summarily executing two Palestinians they had detained seconds earlier.

The shooting on Thursday evening, which was also witnessed by journalists close to the scene, is under justice ministry review, but has already been defended by Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared that “terrorists must die”.