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What does Rupert's failed attempt to hand his empire to son Lachlan tell us? They'd be happier giving their money awayRupert Murdoch has lost an epic legal battle against three of his children: he wanted to wrest control of his media empire back from them, settle it solely upon his son Lachlan in the event of his death, and thereby ... well, who knows his true motivation. Most likely to destroy, but who, and in what order, is now lost in a sealed court decision in Nevada.Everyone is calling it the Succession trial", partly because it's about succession, partly because it sounds like an episode of the TV programme Succession, and partly because it was also inspired by one: after the death of Logan Roy (who, for readers who live in a cave, is fictional), Elisabeth Murdoch's representative, Mark Devereux, penned the Succession memo", which aimed to prevent turmoil following the mogul's death. Instead, it just brought that turmoil forward, so that it could happen while he was still alive. Continue reading...

Court rejects far-right shock jock's claim of collusion' but finds that trustee should have got more money from parody site or Jones-affiliated bidderA US bankruptcy judge stopped parody news site the Onion from buying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones's Infowars website, ruling that a bankruptcy auction did not result in the best possible bids.However, the judge, Christopher Lopez, on Tuesday rejected Jones's claims that the auction was plagued by collusion". Continue reading...

The 26-year-old appears to have spondylolisthesis, a fracture or weakness in the vertebrae of the spineLuigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, appears to have suffered from a rare back condition called spondylolisthesis, according to posts linked to him on the social media site Reddit.While not confirmed, archived Reddit posts under the username Mister_Cactus" and elements of Mangione's other social media accounts, as well as an account by a friend, seem to confirm that he suffered from a back condition that caused him chronic pain. Continue reading...

About 700 firefighters battle wind-whipped flames tearing across dry coastal hillsides and near Pepperdine UniversityMore than 1,500 firefighters are working to contain a fast-moving wildfire that has whipped through the iconic southern California community of Malibu.Fueled by strong winds gusting across the sloped terrain overlooking the Pacific, the so-called Franklin fire erupted on Monday night By Tuesday night, the fire had ballooned to more than 2,800 acres, tearing through the tinder-dry folds of Malibu Canyonas it raced rapidly downhill towards the Pacific Ocean. About 20,000 residents were under evacuation orders, including celebrities Dick Van Dyke and Cher, who live in the affluent coastal city. Continue reading...

Judge sides with FTC that merger would lead to higher prices and less bargaining leverage for union workersA US judge blocked the pending $25bn merger of US grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons on Tuesday, siding with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a win for the Biden administration.The FTC argued at a three-week trial in Portland, Oregon, that the merger would eliminate head-to-head competition between the top two traditional grocery chains, leading to higher prices for shoppers and reduced bargaining leverage for unionized workers. Continue reading...

Ferguson, already one of five commissioners of the body, will replace Lina Khan, who fought big tech over antitrustPresident-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission.He will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars' worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. Continue reading...

Guilfoyle, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, has not served in any foreign policy or diplomacy roleDonald Trump has named Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who has been engaged to Trump's eldest son, to be the US ambassador to Greece.For many years, Kimberly has been a close friend and ally," Trump wrote in a statement. Kimberly is perfectly suited to foster strong bilateral relations with Greece, advancing our interests on issues ranging from defense cooperation to trade and economic innovation." Continue reading...

The 830-acre Christian college invested in fire-proofing its buildings and landscaping, a strategy that has long served itAs thousands of residents fled a roaring wildfire ripping through Malibu's mountainsides on Monday, Pepperdine University students stayed put.Howling winds spit embers into the trees of the Christian college's picturesque campus and the skies cast an ominous orange-and-red haze as students gathered in two buildings in the center of campus. Continue reading...

Nikki Giovanni, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on 7 June 1943, was a critically acclaimed poet, educator and activist whose work was pivotal to the Black Arts movement and the Black Power movement. Giovanni attended her grandfather's alma mater, Fisk University, graduating with honors in history and becoming a member of Delta Sigma Theta. Later, she returned to academia as a university professor at Virginia Tech. Her influential body of work includes her self-published book Black Feeling, Black Talk/Black Judgement (1968), the New York Times bestseller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009), the Emmy-award nominated The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni (1968-1998) and, most recently, The Last Book, scheduled to publish in fall 2025. Giovanni passed away on 9 December 2024 of cancer

Luigi Mangione, 26, who is a suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, shouted: 'This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people' as he was led by police into a courthouse. He fought his extradition to New York to face murder charges in a hearing at Blair county courthouse in Pennsylvania and remained in custody after the hearing

Witnesses testify to judiciary committee as top Republican says undocumented people should get ready to leave'Donald Trump's vow to carry out the largest deportation campaign in American history would separate families and hurt the economy, witnesses testified during a Tuesday Senate hearing, as a top Republican on the committee warned that undocumented people living in the country should get ready to leave".The president-elect has outlined an aggressive second-term immigration agenda that includes plans to declare a national emergency and deploy the US military to round up and expel millions of people living in the country without documentation. Trump has also vowed to end humanitarian protections for millions of people who fled violence, conflict or other disasters in their home countries. Continue reading...

Based on evidence on site, authorities believe individuals were two of five people aboard Wind Walker in rough seasTwo bodies have been recovered amid debris from a fishing boat that reportedly capsized with five people aboard in rough seas in waters off south-east Alaska earlier this month.Authorities believe the two individuals had been on the boat based on evidence found at the site on Monday, including buoys and other gear associated with the Wind Walker, said Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson with the Alaska department of public safety, by email on Tuesday. Continue reading...

President-elect also promises faster environmental approvals without giving further details in latest sign of billionaire-friendly policiesArt Arthur, a resident fellow at the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, explained to senators why he believed it would be useful for local police to be involved in deportations.Deportations are typically carried out by federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), but Arthur noted there was a relatively small number of Ice agents. Continue reading...

Justice department says lawyers overreached in aiming to discover who was leaking classified information in 2017A Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation aimed at finding leakers during Donald Trump's first presidency resulted in invasive searches of congressional staffers' phone and email records, often without specific cause or the prior approval of the attorney general, a report published on Tuesday has found.In findings that may trigger concerns of how Trump's incoming administration will behave, the department's inspector general concluded that DoJ lawyers overreached their authority in their inquiries aimed at discovering who was leaking classified information in 2017, in the early phases of the president-elect's first stint in the White House. Continue reading...

Weiner, 60, whom some blame for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential defeat, registers as candidate for New York City councilAnthony Weiner, the former congressman who suffered one of the most spectacular falls from grace in US politics after he was embroiled in a sexting scandal that some blame for Hillary Clinton's defeat in the 2016 presidential election, has formally initiated yet another attempt at a comeback.Weiner, 60, has officially registered as a candidate for a New York City council seat. The filing with the city's campaign finance board, which was first reported by the New York Post's Craig McCarthy, marks Weiner's latest attempt to claw his way back into public office despite his scandal-laced past. Continue reading...

The Global Engagement Center, which addresses foreign influence operations outside the US, snubbed for extensionThe Global Engagement Center (GEC), a state department unit critical to combating foreign disinformation, will not receive a multi-year extension in the latest National Defense Authorization Act, putting its future operations in jeopardy.The next chapter of the GEC - which only addresses foreign influence operations outside the United States - now relies on Congress to come up with an extension some other way by 24 December, or the United States faces a potential gap in their international disinformation response capabilities. Continue reading...

Ardent Trump supporter took on culture-war cases as San Francisco lawyer and filed lawsuits over election integrity'

Suspect yelled this is... an insult to the intelligence of the American people' outside of hearing meant to decide whether he'll be extraditedThe suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson screamed this is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people" outside a court hearing in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.The hearing is meant decide whether Luigi Mangione, 26, should be extradited to New York City to face murder charges in the 4 December shooting. Continue reading...

Liberal supreme court judge will take on ensemble role in musical, a fantasy she articulated in Harvard applicationKetanji Brown Jackson is set to fulfill a long-held dream this Saturday, stepping on to Broadway in a one-night performance of the musical & Juliet.The 54-year-old liberal supreme court justice will take on an ensemble role in the show, realising a goal she first articulated in her Harvard University application essay. Jackson will appear in the 8pm ET performance and participate in a post-show talkback with audience members. Continue reading...

Hiring comes after ex-congressman's attorney general nomination foundered amid sexual misconduct allegationsFormer Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has secured a prime-time slot at One America News Network (OANN), a broadcaster known for its staunch support of Donald Trump and controversial election coverage.Gaetz, who rose to prominence as a combative Trump ally and was instrumental in ousting the former House speaker Kevin McCarthy, will host a nightly political talkshow beginning in January 2025. Continue reading...

Samuel Bateman pleaded guilty to a years-long scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimesA polygamous religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual wives" including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for forcing girls as young as nine years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults.Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, has pleaded guilty to a years-long scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline at 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...

Sydney Nicole Gifford has accused rival Alyssa Sheil of copying her bland style, in a $150,000 lawsuit over lost income and mental anguish'. What's behind this race to the bottom?

Eric Adams will close 25 shelters in next two months including Floyd Bennett Field, which houses 2,000 peopleThe New York city mayor, Eric Adams, announced on Tuesday that an additional 25 shelters used to house asylum seekers will be closing in the coming two months.The move comes amid a rightward tack by Adams, especially on the issue of immigration, which has seen him hew close to the incoming Donald Trump administration, which has plans for a mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Continue reading...

Products featured the words deny', defend' and depose', which was reportedly on bullet casings at site of shootingAmazon has removed merchandise featuring the words deny", defend" and depose", which were reportedly written on bullet casings found at the site of the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.Since last Wednesday's fatal shooting, items such as T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, caps, pint glasses and more bearing the words deny, defend, depose" have been available for purchase on online retail stores including eBay, Amazon, Etsy and other sites. Continue reading...

Seventy-seven prize winners sign letter arguing Trump's DHHS pick will put US public health in jeopardy'Seventy-seven Nobel laureates have signed a letter urging the US Senate to reject Robert F Kennedy Jr as Donald Trump's nominee for health and human services secretary, arguing that he is unfit and would put American public health in jeopardy".It is believed to be the first time in living memory that Nobel prize winners have united against a presidential cabinet pick, and comes against a backdrop of Kennedy's public support for discredited theories, including a claim that childhood vaccines cause autism. Continue reading...

Alleged shooter, 26, appears to have suffered chronic back problems and withdrew from social contact in NovemberThe family of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the 4 December murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, reported him missing in November after he withdrew from social contact following surgery on his back.Mangione, 26, was reported missing on 18 November, police told the New York Post, after family members became worried that they had lost touch with him. A message from relatives had earlier been circulated to his circle of friends asking for help finding him after Mangione had undergone back surgery a few months previously. Continue reading...

There is something even more wonderfully ponderous than Test cricket - the world chess championship - and this year's showdown is exceptionalLike many Australians, when a Test match finishes early, I spend the next day pottering around the house completely devoid of purpose. My soul understands that I should be spending this time watching cricket. That there is no cricket to watch opens a void in my life. What am I to fill it with? Chores, charity or family? No, that is not acceptable. I need another way to waste my time.Fortunately for me, there is an even more wonderfully ponderous and very occasionally thrilling event going on at this very moment, and it's the perfect antidote for anyone who finds Test cricket to be a little too high octane. I'm speaking of the world chess championship, which is currently being held in Singapore.James Colley is a comedy writer from Sydney. His debut novel The Next Big Thing is out now Continue reading...

The Russian leader may be a warm and attentive host: he may also be cross that Assad is now his problem. But then life's full of uncertainty, isn't it?It's fair to say the TV show Schitt's Creek would have been a lot less funny had it concerned the family of a deposed dictator rather than the family of an embezzled video store mogul. Even so, it's a strange but undeniable fact that when toddlers are stumbling out of dungeons, and the unspeakable horrors of the former Syrian regime are still being revealed, a significant part of the human impulse is to thirst for details of the dreadful Assad family's new lives in Moscow, then remark tartly: Well, they've gone down in the world." And of course, the Assads may yet plunge further - for all the overly impressed reports of apartments in glittering Moscow skyscrapers, I must say I'd have picked something on the ground floor myself.For now, Syrian refugee Bashar al-Assad might be telling himself that if Vladimir Putin has offered him asylum, he can't possibly be angry with him for putting Russia's unrivalled network of military bases in Syria at serious risk. In which case, it's possible Bashar is about to go on a journey of discovery as long as the Trans-Siberian railway. Then again, it could be much, much shorter. But perhaps Assad's comfortable with limbo. He has, after all, spent the past two decades apparently unable to decide whether he is or isn't growing a moustache. Follically speaking, I guess he now finally has time to pick a lane. Or, as I say, doesn't have time. For while the man who used chemical weapons against his own people may be physically located in Moscow, in security terms, and for the rest of his entire life, he cannot be at all clear where he stands.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

People on death row, those with marijuana convictions and the Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier are among those the president could benefitIn late November, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to Joe Biden, calling on him to use his executive clemency power to address longstanding injustices in our legal system".The letter, which is just one example of how lawmakers and advocates across the country have pushed for the president to grant clemency and issue pardons during his lame duck period, came days before the US president pardoned his son Hunter for any federal crimes he committed or may have committed" between 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2024. Continue reading...

Please support what Elon Musk calls our laboriously vile propaganda machine' as we try to reach our year-end fundraising goal. We welcome all contributions hereThe year is 2050. The US government is run by President Elon Musk and his 690 children. Donald Trump, immortalized as an AI hologram, continues to send ALL CAPS tweets ALL THE TIME. The US has a special new relationship with the UK: the British Isles have been turned into a SpaceX rocket factory.In this brave new world, might is right. International human rights law doesn't exist anymore. Journalists don't exist either. Kash Patel, who Trump picked as his FBI director in 2024, promised to come after people in the media" and he followed through. Now state news is piped directly into people's brains via Musk's proprietary microchips. Continue reading...

Broward county state attorney announces plan that could benefit up to 2,600 people convicted in 1988-1990Between 1988 and 1990, the Broward county sheriff's office (BSO) in Florida manufactured and sold crack cocaine as part of a controversial sting operation to arrest people for purchasing the illegal drug. Many of those who are arrested for purchasing the BSO-made drugs were given lengthy prison sentences. The Florida supreme court declared the operation unlawful in 1993, but many people still have criminal charges or convictions on their records.Now, the Broward county state attorney, Harold F Pryor, seeks to bring justice to those affected by the operation. Last week Pryor, the first Black state attorney in Broward and the first Black man to be elected state attorney in Florida, announced plans to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions linked to the drug sting operation. Continue reading...

With inequality and insecurity growing, young men are vulnerable, but in Luton the community is showing them a real alternativeI was 12 years old when the far-right English Defence League (EDL) marched through my town of Luton. Teachers at my all-boys, majority Muslim state comprehensive told us to stay indoors. We were overwhelmingly working-class, the children of taxi drivers and factory workers for whom racist violence was a regular occurrence.Many of us aligned with people organising the counter-demonstrations against the EDL and soon found other common ground. Alongside antifascism, the activists were vocal on foreign policy issues such as Iraq and Palestine, as well as the domestic issue of austerity.Taj Ali is a journalist and historian. He is currently writing a book on the history of British South Asian political activismDo 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. Continue reading...

Company threatens to tear down RenCen if taxpayers don't contribute $250m in subsidies for renovationGeneral Motors is threatening to tear down Detroit's tallest skyscraper currently housing the automaker's headquarters if taxpayers don't contribute $250m in subsidies for a renovation, a move that critics labeled extortion" and has generated public outrage.The riverfront building, called the RenCen, is the centerpiece of the skyline in the world's auto capital. Development observers and the public have also panned the renovation plan in part because it calls for demolishing two of five office towers GM owns in the RenCen complex - they say the automaker could instead convert it to apartments, or find other uses. Continue reading...

Police were called after Luigi Mangione, 26, was recognized in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania. Plus, how April Balascio put her serial killer father behind bars

Ex-DoJ prosecutors fear loyalists Kash Patel and Pam Bondi will pursue Trump's calls for revenge on deep state' foesBy tapping two combative ultra-loyalists to run the FBI and the justice department, Donald Trump has sparked fears they will pursue the president-elect's calls for revenge" against his political foes and sack officials who Trump demonizes as deep state" opponents, say ex-DoJ prosecutors.Kash Patel and Pam Bondi, who Trump has nominated to run the FBI and DoJ, respectively, have been unswerving loyalists to Trump for years, promoting Trump's false claims that his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden was due to fraud. Continue reading...

I asked my doctor for a shot to protect my premature daughter against RSV. Then we realized we didn't qualify for insuranceSince Thursday morning, United Healthcare hasn't left my thoughts - but not for the reason you might think.

The rebrand forces Jaguar's audience to break every habit they had' concerning the once-cool carmaker, experts sayJames Bond. Washington state. Corporate America. Boy scouts. Delta airlines. The Hasbro toy company. College campuses. Emojis. Pizza Hut, Nike, Lego, M&Ms. Bud Light.This is a small selection of the things that Republicans and the rightwing commentariat has branded woke. And in the past couple of weeks, the car company Jaguar has found itself added to that list. Continue reading...

Construction rental group has been listed in London since 1986 but makes nearly all its profits in the US

Several first-grade students wet themselves at Bartlett elementary in Texas due to educator's punishmentA Texas school teacher is reportedly no longer employed" at the local district where she had been working after she prohibited her first-grade class from using the bathroom as punishment - causing several students to urinate on themselves.According to a social media post from a school parent who later spoke to local news outlets, the teacher at Bartlett elementary sent a message to families on Wednesday explaining that her students had lost their privilege to use the restroom during class because they lost their restroom badge while being in the hallway". Continue reading...

Kansas City are 12-1 this season and most of those victories have been by a fine margin. But to dismiss the Super Bowl champions as merely fortunate is unfairThe Kansas City Chiefs have been living a charmed life all season. Coming into Sunday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions had already set an NFL record with victories in 14 straight one-score games. And their point differential of +54 was the worst of any 11-1 team in pro football history.Sunday night was more of the same. The Chiefs got out to a 13-0 lead, and it seemed for a split second that, for once, they would win a game comfortably. Then, the Chargers came back, and there were three lead changes in the fourth quarter - all on field goals. The game-winner was entirely typical for the Chiefs this season: a 31-yard attempt by backup kicker Matthew Wright, who is in for the injured Harrison Butker. Wright's attempt hooked left, and looked for all the world that it would keep hooking left, leaving Andy Reid's team on the wrong end of a 17-16 score. Continue reading...

CPAC jamboree draws big names from Trump world as Milei positions Buenos Aires as international conservative hubAt the entrance to the office of Argentina's minister of deregulation a biography of the world's most fascinating and controversial innovator" sits on a side table, promising an astonishingly intimate portrait of a rule-breaking visionary".The book's subject is not the minister's boss, the wild-haired, wild-thinking president, Javier Milei. It is the Donald Trump-supporting tech billionaire Elon Musk. Continue reading...

As I spoke to locals, the mood was one of relief - but there are countless tales of loved ones who are not here to help celebrateIn the end, there was no great battle for Damascus, no gruelling siege of the kind we have become accustomed to in Syria's brutal 13-year civil war. It was just an army that melted away and a fleeing president that brought the more than 50-year-long Baathist dictatorship to an end.As Syrians continue to gather to celebrate around Umayyad Square, a new dawn in the country has begun. Further challenges are to come, but for the time being, Syrians can breathe easier. I am a Damascus-based journalist who has been speaking to people on the ground in Syria's freed capital city as they grapple with their new reality. Continue reading...

With Iran suddenly weakened, some will demand regime change in Tehran. Europe's new chief diplomat should pursue nuclear deceleration insteadThe fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is a momentous event, bringing to an end one of the most brutal dictatorships of the past half-century. But it does not automatically usher in reconciliation and democracy. To be clear: the Middle East was and remains on an escalation path, while Russia's determination to annihilate Ukraine as an independent country is unlikely to be affected by its humiliation in Syria.Within Syria, violence, sectarianism and division are more likely scenarios than peace and stability, especially in the Kurdish-populated north, on which Turkish coercion is likely to increase.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Luigi Mangione, 26, suspected of shooting Brian Thompson, was charged following arraignment in Pennsylvania on gun and forgery charges

The Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, condemned those supporting Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of Brian Thompson, who was the UnitedHealthCare CEO. 'In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint,' said Shapiro

Google removing one-star and disparaging reviews of the Pennsylvania location after police arrested suspectGoogle on Monday removed derogatory reviews about McDonald's after the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson was arrested at its restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police say a customer alerted a local employee about him.The negative comments aimed at McDonald's were the latest in what is known as review bombing," where an establishment is hit with a litany of bad reviews based on a political view or an occurrence unrelated to its actual business. Continue reading...

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