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Updates from Sunday's matches in US and Europe

Renewed commitments to electrification and climate science are vital outcomes from the latest round of UN talksThe Cop31 climate talks have acquired something their delegates scarcely expected: a little political breathing space. The comeback by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round of Brazil's presidential race was important for many reasons. Victory for his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro, would have marked a dangerous retreat from democracy. But Mr Bolsonaro's commitment to environmental deregulation would also have spelled disaster for the Amazon, making Lula's re-election a big win for the climate. Similarly, success by Democrats in the US midterms means that DonaldTrump's destructive grip has been loosened. Ifthey win back the White House in 2028, the US should rejoin the UN process in time for Cop34.While the diplomatic picture is less bleak than it might have been, the threat level remains high and rising. Antonio Guterres used his last Cop as UN secretary general to issue a pithy warning that it's make or bake time". With the latest analysis pointing toheating of 2.7C by the end of the century - far beyondthe 1.5C target in the Paris agreement -governments face another crunch moment: by pivoting away from fossil fuels, they can still avert themost dangerous impacts. Yet the UK's AndyBurnham was the only G7 leader to make the tripto Turkey; theFrench and German leaders chose toattendan EUsummit in Dublin instead. Continue reading...

Alexander Zverev, the world No 1, opens up his bid to claim another ATP Finals title with a routine 6-4, 6-4 win over Rafael Jodar in TurinFirst set: Zverev 5-3 Jodar* (*next server)Shall I just repeat my entry from Zverev's last service game? This was almost identical, 17 of 18 first serves in and eight aces now. Continue reading...

As Oakland residents watch ex-mayor Sheng Thao stand trial, the scandal has come to symbolise wider frustrationsTwo years ago, residents of Oakland, California, woke up to a shocking scene: their mayor's home was being raided by the FBI. Agents were seen carrying dozens of boxes from the hilltop home of Sheng Thao, the city's 38-year-old leader, as part of an investigation constituents would later learn alleged her participation in a pay-to-play scheme with the city's recycling contractor.It was a stunning moment for Thao, who was elected to lead the Bay Area city in 2022 and was once seen as a promising young mayor in a city that has long grappled with economic inequality and a reputation for violent crime. Her story of growing up in a refugee family and overcoming domestic violence and homelessness to become the first person of Hmong descent to run a major US city resonated with readers confronting questions about equity and representation that came to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic, and made her the subject of glowing media profiles. Continue reading...

Behind the Mississippi senator-elect's victory is a coalition of groups that didn't have a lot of money, but had collective power and post-Callais angerLong before national political leaders and media were paying any attention, long before the Louisiana v Callais supreme court decision gutted the Voting Rights Act, Mississippi organizers were working to grow political participation and improve quality of life in a state that often ranks low on its residents' health and wellbeing.Activists' momentum contributed to Democrat Scott Colom's historic upset in the midterm elections. A loose coalition of about a dozen, mostly Black-led nonprofits or initiatives rallied residents after Callais, the April decision that set off a flurry of redistricting efforts across southern states. That case was not the sole impetus for organizing efforts across Mississippi, but it turned out thousands in the 20 May Mississippi Fights Back" rally. Callais became the most recent opportunity to channel people's frustrations and hopes into action - and to harness previous campaigns that go back years and even decades. Continue reading...

After a hack in France, internet-enabled appliances are looking even less appealing - especially before the holidaysWe are deep into the holiday season now, past Halloween and a mere two weeks away from American Thanksgiving.I've already given up taking care of my body, surrendering fully to gluttony, vices, and going to bed at 7pm because it's pitch black outside. I've begun to hibernate like a slothful bear, my blanket and pillow never too far from my grasp. The only thing closer to my hands than my bedsheets is a slice of cold pizza. I just want to eat in peace, thank you very much. Continue reading...

The top part of SpaceX's megarocket Starship returned to its Texas launch tower on Saturday, a milestone in the company's efforts to make the craft suitable for human spaceflight. Starship's 15th test flight was envisioned as a historic double-catch mission, where all parts of the rocket would be returned intact, but the lower booster section malfunctioned and activated an automated abort, exploding over the ocean

When Trump was first elected, Republicans held every lever in Arizona - now they've been swept in a blue tidal wave, and the road to rebuild could be fraughtWhen Donald Trump was first elected to the White House in 2016, Republicans held every lever of statewide power in Arizona, from the governor's office to both US Senate seats and majorities in the legislature. Over the next decade, as Trump tightened his grip on the party, Democrats began chipping away at that dominance, gradually turning the longtime GOP stronghold into a political battleground.Then came the November midterm elections. Democrats swept every statewide office on the ballot - from governor to the obscure post of mine inspector - and secured a lawmaking trifecta unseen since 1966. Continue reading...

Activists have been shouting about economic issues for years - in January they will expect lawmakers to respondStonecrest is resolutely middle class. About six out of 10 of its voters cast ballots in the 2026 election and about 90% of them voted for Democrats, according to election figures. And they have often been overlooked by Georgia's Republican establishment.The fundraiser Keisha Lance Bottoms held at the Privi event center and retreat in suburban Atlanta in September didn't draw a lot of attention. But Stonecrest, by one measure the largest city in the United States with a non-Hispanic Black population above 90%, tends to roll under the radar. Continue reading...

Dana White's company squeezes fighters, bullies journalists and toadies up to Trump. But it has also given neglected Olympians a path to money and fame that didn't exist before itIf you don't like what is being said, change the conversation. Amid the wreckage of an epic midterm beatdown, the diminished president of the United States spent part of last week channeling another Donald when he publicly floated longtime aide-de-camp Dana White - the Ultimate Fighting Championship chief executive, Meta board member and public face of professional face-slapping - as the next White House press secretary. Trump's kayfabe featured a support team of UFC bruisers to help White keep the Washington press corps in line, a fantasy lineup that included Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov and one Kayla Harris". Surely he meant Kayla Harrison, the twice Olympic champion judoka from small-town Ohio who on Saturday night submitted the great Amanda Nunes in the co-main event at Madison Square Garden and made a credible claim for being the greatest female mixed martial artist the sport has ever seen.Trump's turn to White's trademark bluster was a simple enough gambit to parse. In 2024, he rode the manosphere to an astonishing 63% backing among young white men, with White name-checking Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Adin Ross and the Nelk Boys from the victory podium like the heterodox heirs to Bill Buckley. Two years later, that support had cratered by 20 points in the midterms: the political equivalent of a 10-8 round. Suddenly, the prospect of White as some cauliflower-eared CJ Cregg seemed less like comic relief than a panicked attempt to inject a cycle of synthetic testosterone into Maga's increasingly low-energy movement. Continue reading...

Order by judge Ana Reyes is the latest instance of the federal judiciary pushing back against Trump's efforts to redesign the nation's capitalA federal judge has ordered a temporary suspension of any work at a historic Washington public golf course, in the latest setback for US president Donald Trump's plan to turn it into a championship-level course.In a 30-page decision, US district judge Ana Reyes temporarily blocked the federal government from moving forward with a plan that would have closed East Potomac Park on Sunday. Trump said in an 18 October social media post that the closure would last 15 months and transform the park's golf offerings into one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World". Continue reading...

Peoria officials said a bomb was found at BioUrja Renewables and later defused; FBI said it is investigatingResidents were ordered to evacuate parts of an Illinois community on Friday after the mayor there said authorities found a bomb at a local ethanol production plant.The discovery reported at BioUrja Renewables in Peoria triggered a mandatory evacuation over a one-mile evacuation zone encompassing sections of that city as well as the adjacent municipality of East Peoria. Officials ultimately lifted the evacuation zone at about 1.25pm local time on Saturday - but only after making it clear there had genuinely been a bomb found and ruling out the presence of any other explosives. Continue reading...

Republican House speaker not running for re-election contrasts sharply with president who avoids accountabilityIn his first interview since the midterm elections, the US House speaker, Mike Johnson, said that the Republican party's crushing losses during the 3 November elections prompted his decision to step away from party leadership.Leaders have to take responsibility when things go wrong," Johnson said on Fox News on Saturday. Continue reading...

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins' victory means Democrats will now hold 30 US governorships after midterm blowoutDemocrats have captured Alaska's governor's seat for the first time in nearly three decades, marking another major victory for their party in a midterm election period that has dramatically shifted political power across the US.Former Alaska state legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins defeated three Republican opponents, including a candidate backed by Donald Trump, becoming the first Democrat elected governor of Alaska since 1998. Continue reading...

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday, halting all departures and landings across US airports for just over four hours. The stop marked the longest nationwide shutdown, and only the second nationwide ground stop of all departures, since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The US homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, and the US transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, appeared to suggest that the cause of the outage was older technology becoming overwhelmed with data after new technology was introduced.

Incoming lawmakers have more in common with each other than they have divisions, even across ideological factionsDemocrats who won in the midterms, including those in places previously considered off the blue map and those in Democratic strongholds, crafted their campaigns around economic populism and accountability.Lawmakers in the anti-establishment incoming congressional class have more in common with each other than divisions, even across ideological factions. Voters sent a resounding message to work on affordability and rein in the Trump administration, and Democrats across the party have many more shared goals than Republicans, who face a more existential level of discord. Continue reading...

James Fergie' Chambers, a Cox Enterprises heir, faced a two-hour hearing about alleged support for HamasA two-hour hearing in Spain's high court Friday on the US extradition request of wealthy leftwing activist and philanthropist James Fergie" Chambers turned out to be a study in contrasts.Chambers's defense took most of the session to query the US citizen and detail irregularities in the Trump administration's extradition request - several of which the Guardian has reported on - as well as the figures of Spanish law that would lead the three-judge panel to deny the request; while the prosecutor sped through his case, head down, asking Chambers no questions at all. Continue reading...

In region where migrants have settled to work at abattoirs and feedyards, harsh raids pushed people to vote DemocratJose Del Real looked over the crowd from the stage in a park, at hundreds of his neighbors with furious signs tucked under their arms, voicing their anger at immigration agents who had descended on their town and started rounding up their friends and family. His daughters, in the front row, were crying.Del Real, an army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, hadn't voted in a decade. He thought it would not matter in this ruby red corner of Kansas. But the midterm election was weeks away. He draped an American flag over his shoulders, put on his Iraq veteran cap and ended his speech with a message: None of this matters if you do not vote. Let's go vote." Continue reading...

Authorities declined to file charges against napping woman whose truck accelerated on to field during youth gameA soccer mom napping in her pickup truck when it suddenly accelerated on to the field at a Kansas youth tournament where her child was playing, killing two people, won't face criminal charges, a prosecutor has said.Investigators believe the 34-year-old woman had failed to put the Chevrolet 1500 in park and likely put her foot on the gas pedal while sleeping at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita on 17 October. They conducted multiple interviews and even ran a test in the same parking spot with a similar vehicle. Continue reading...

The coach's tenure with the USMNT brought a whiplash of highs and lows. He met some goals but also left many with the impression he never truly bought inIt did not take US men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino very long to take his first big swing.He'd just taken the reins of the program after a disastrous performance at the 2024 Copa America cost his predecessor his job, with the first home World Cup in three decades looming on the horizon. The federation introduced him in New York City, on the 24th floor of a building overlooking the Hudson River. In short order, he was asked about the culture surrounding the program. In his answer, he invoked the four-time World Cup champion US women. Continue reading...

Two centuries after the expedition, Indigenous students are conducting a new wildlife survey along the routeIn 1804, when Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery to explore the newly acquired land west of the Mississippi, the president's primary aim was political: Americans needed to establish presence, power and trade routes in these territories before the Europeans beat them to it.But Jefferson, an ardent naturalist, had a secondary agenda. He ordered that the expedition also survey the flora and fauna of these landscapes. On their two-year jaunt across the western half of the country, Lewis and Clark kept meticulous journals of the animals and plants they encountered: bison, horned lizards, sage grouse, prairie dogs, wild licorice and catfish, among them. These observations were pivotal in shaping an early understanding of North American biodiversity. Continue reading...

Members of Congress and advocates warn that returning people to their home countries could be a death sentenceDozens of Afghans who are currently in the US but fear being deported back to Afghanistan along with a larger group and possibly killed by the Taliban are experiencing fragile relief" this weekend after it appeared that the Trump administration had put on hold plans to remove them within days.Members of Congress and advocates have repeatedly warned that the deportations could effectively be a death sentence. Continue reading...

House members have responded to legitimate criticism with cynicism. Let's not have another Bernie bros' momentBefore we get started, some ground rules. You are, of course, completely free to disagree with everything I have to say here. However, doing so might mean that you're racist, homophobic and/or sexist. (Not to boast, but I have a lot of oppression cards to play.) So, you might want to tread carefully, OK?That might sound ridiculous, but I don't make the rules: I'm just taking a page from the corporate Democrat playbook. From Haley Stevens to Hakeem Jeffries, cynically weaponizing identity politics to ward off reasonable criticism seems to be all the rage.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

City has failed to build infrastructure that could reduce threat, and saw 400 fires, 83 injuries and 12 deaths this yearFires from lithium-ion batteries, which power ebikes and scooters, have become regular occurrences in New York, causing deaths and fear among residents, but the city has failed to build infrastructure that could reduce the threat.New York has seen a dramatic uptick this year in fires from the batteries. In 2025, there were 292 fires, 51 injuries and one death, according to the New York fire department (FDNY). This year, there have already been more than 400 fires, 83 injuries and 12 deaths. Continue reading...

At party's What's Next' conference, consensus is they need to act quickly, but over affordability or accountability is the questionWhat's next for Democrats?It's the question thousands of Democrats, including lawmakers, strategists, pollsters, creators, organizers, staffers and 2028 presidential hopefuls are trying to answer at a three-day gathering in Denver, after a sweeping victory in the 2026 midterm elections. Continue reading...

Midterm elections have defanged the US president - leaving critics to worry about his next move in his fat Elvis' stageIt was just before 3am when Donald Trump entered a crowded Manhattan ballroom, greeted by chants of USA! USA" and theme music from the Hollywood film Air Force One. On stage, two red Make America great again" (Maga) caps were mounted in glass cases like holy relics.That was the scene 10 years ago this week when Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, stunned the world by beating Hillary Clinton to the White House. A decade later an unlikely president is serving an unlikely second term. But in the wake of a humiliating vote of no confidence in last week's midterm elections, he now enters an endgame wracked with uncertainty. Continue reading...

US military has killed nearly 250 people in attack on narco-terrorism', and on 17 March, sank the 16 plaintiffs' boat, leaving two with serious burnsMore than a dozen Ecuadorian fishermen are suing the US government after they survived a military drone attack in the Pacific ocean earlier this year that sank their boat and left two of them with serious burns from the explosions.The 17 March attack on the La Negra Francesca Duarte II was part of the Trump administration's Operation Southern Spear campaign, announced in November 2025 ostensibly to counter narco-terrorists" it said operated in the Caribbean and Pacific. Continue reading...

The reprimand the defense secretary endured at US military's most sacred shrine epitomizes his disreputeThe sentinel who bawled out Pete Hegseth for apparent disrespect at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider seemed to be speaking for more than just himself.Nothing quite epitomizes the disrepute into which the US defense secretary has fallen than the reprimand delivered to Hegseth and his party after they conversed and laughed loudly while visiting Arlington national cemetery on Wednesday to mark Veterans' Day. Continue reading...

No passengers or crew killed or critically hurt after tanker collides with river cruise ship on Mississippi, officials sayIn what the city's mayor declared a miracle on the Mississippi", all passengers were accounted for - with none killed or critically hurt - after a tanker collided with a river cruise ship docked on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday afternoon.Thirty-two people were taken to local hospitals after the Atlantic Asphalt tanker struck American Cruise Lines's American Heritage at about 12.30pm - but none of their injuries were considered critical, New Orleans's mayor, Helena Moreno, said at a news conference. Continue reading...

Travelers and crew feeling pissed' or lucky' depending on level of upset amid nationwide ground stopThe US Federal Aviation Administration's decision to ground all flights on Friday threw airports and travel plans into chaos across the country, as passengers on planes and in airport terminals were suddenly thrust into limbo.At New York's John F Kennedy airport, passengers found their travel plans abruptly cancelled - some even after they'd boarded. Continue reading...

Transportation secretary Sean Duffy says the airspace is now open and the problem has been identified

New York City mayor says deal will allow bodegas and convenience stores across the country more time to complyZohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, has struck a deal with Donald Trump to secure a 90-day delay on new rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), so that bodegas and corner stores across the country have time to comply.The extension, Mamdani said, starts Friday as a result of conversations he had with Trump and Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary. Continue reading...

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Maryland senator's bid against Chuck Schumer for leadership could decide direction of the Democratic party

This is not a personality contest. This is a debate about the future of the Democratic partyThe election for Democratic Senate leader between Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen must be understood for what it is.This is not a personality contest. This is a debate about the future of the Democratic party. It is a debate about whether the Democratic party remains a top-down party dominated by billionaire campaign contributors, inside-the-beltway consultants and 30-second TV ads, or whether we can transform it into a grassroots party of, by and for the working families of our country. Continue reading...

Seven Americans on their hopes for Colom, 43, Mississippi's first Black senator since ReconstructionDemocrat Scott Colom made history this month, becoming Mississippi's first Black senator since the Reconstruction era after defeating incumbent Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.The 43-year-old's win also contributed to a Democratic majority of at least 55 seats in the Senate - the party's largest midterm gains since 1986. Continue reading...

Kai Wright of the Guardian podcast Stateside will speak with author and environmentalist Bill McKibben - and we'd like to hear your questionsWas the climate crisis one of your top political priorities during the midterm elections? We want to hear from you: what do you want political leaders to do about it in 2027?Democrats will control the House and Senate in the new year, and they have a long list of priorities ahead of them. But it remains to be seen just how much they will focus on one of the most pressing issues of our times: the climate crisis. The UN declared this summer that, despite some progress, it is now unavoidable" that the globe will heat past the point that scientists say will threaten human health. Despite these terrifying predictions, the US remains absent from global efforts to limit the impacts of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

US congresswoman, who has been caught up in repeated controversies, loses re-election bid to Democrat Eileen LaubacherLauren Boebert, the firebrand conservative Republican Colorado representative whose three terms in Congress have been marred by multiple controversies, was defeated in her re-election bid.The gun rights advocate, born-again Christian and one-time QAnon fan lost to Democrat Eileen Laubacher by a less than 1% margin, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Authorities conclude search for victims in wreckage of the building and release the names of the eight victimsThe New York City police department (NYPD) and New York City fire department (FDNY) have concluded the search for victims in the wreckage of the collapsed building in Brooklyn and released the names of the eight people who died.A further 18 people were injured and one was still in critical condition Friday morning, after the disaster on a residential street on Wednesday that saw six men, a boy and a girl among those killed, amid demands for accountability. Continue reading...

Trump officials seek to overturn lower court rulings that found executive order banning asylum applications illegalThe US supreme court agreed on Friday to consider Donald Trump's ban on asylum at the US-Mexico border, a pillar of the Republican president's far-reaching crackdown on immigration.The Trump administration wants to overturn lower court decisions that found the executive order banning asylum applications is illegal. Continue reading...

From Cairo to Moscow to Washington, governments are turning up the pressure on media workersLina Attalah is an influential Egyptian journalist. Yet until last month, even she was unaware of a major and concerning piece of news: her own conviction. In 2024, a court issued her a one-year sentence for spreading false news" and running a website without a licence - which she had repeatedly sought to obtain - after trying her in absentia, even though she was in the country. Ms Attalah learned of the case only after she was separately tried in October, resulting in a large fine and an order for the closure of the Mada Masr website. She faces retrial later this month.Meanwhile, the entire newsroom of the fact-checking website Matsadash remain in detention weeks after authorities snatched the six journalists on charges including joining and financing a terroristgroup and spreading false news. Their lawyerssay that they have been tortured and forced torecord fabricated confessions. Continue reading...