Another 1,600 people still under evacuation orders with 20,000 residents affected by warnings due to Franklin fireMore than 3,700 residents were allowed to return to their Malibu homes on Thursday after calmer winds and rising humidity in southern California helped firefighters battle a blaze that had forced thousands, including celebrities, to evacuate earlier this week.But another 1,600 people with homes in Malibu - a city typically known for its rugged canyons, stunning bluffs and celebrities' seaside mansions - remained under evacuation orders. All told, about 20,000 residents in the city and neighboring areas had been affected by mandatory evacuation orders and warnings since the fire broke out late Monday.

Judge had dismissed original indictment, ruling that Clark county was wrong venue for filing chargesSix Republicans in Nevada have again been charged with submitting a bogus certificate to Congress that falsely declared Donald Trump the winner of the presidential battleground's 2020 election.Aaron Ford, the state's attorney general, announced on Thursday that the fake electors case had been revived in Carson City, the capital, where he filed a new complaint this week charging the defendants with uttering a forged instrument", a felony. Continue reading...

The public profile of Massad Boulos, whose son married Tiffany Trump, doesn't match his documented backgroundPresident-elect Donald Trump's appointee to advise him on Middle East affairs, Massad Boulos, is reported to have significant discrepancies between his public profile and documented business background, casting doubt on the thoroughness of the former president's vetting process.Corporate records reviewed by the New York Times reveal that Boulos, father-in-law to Tiffany Trump, is frequently described as a billionaire mogul, but actually manages a truck dealership in Nigeria that generated less than $66,000 in profit last year. The company, SCOA Nigeria PLC, is valued at approximately $865,000, with Boulos's personal stake worth just $1.53, according to the securities filings in the Times report. Continue reading...

Consent decree, which needs a judge's approval, follows investigation that found police violate rightsThe US justice department and the city of Louisville have reached an agreement to reform the city's police force after an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor and police treatment of protesters, officials said on Thursday.The consent decree, which must be approved by a judge, follows a federal investigation that found Louisville police have engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community. Continue reading...

Justice department watchdog says there is no evidence undercover agents were among the protest crowds or at the Capitol

National security spokesperson says there's no evidence that reported drone sightings pose a public safety threat'A review of the large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks has shown many are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully, a White House official said on Thursday.John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He added that the US Coast Guard had not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels.

File says marriage irretrievably broken' as Emily Borgwardt, whose husband had fled to Europe, seeks custody of kidsThe wife of the Wisconsin man who allegedly faked his own death and fled to eastern Europe has filed for divorce, according to online court records.Reviewed by the Associated Press, online court records revealed that Emily Borgwardt has filed a divorce petition against Ryan Borgwardt, her husband and father of three kids in Wisconsin's Dodge county circuit court. Continue reading...

Trump's embattled secretary of defence nominee expresses contentious views on gay service members in latest bookPolicies allowing out gay people to serve in the US military have been denounced as part of a Marxist" agenda aimed at prioritising social justice above combat-readiness by Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's embattled defence secretary pick.The assertion was among many contentious anti-woke" views expressed in Hegseth's latest book, The War on Warriors, published this year, in which he lambasted a previous policy - known as don't ask, don't tell (DADT) - that tolerated gay service members as long as they did not disclose their sexual orientation, while also excoriating its repeal. Continue reading...

Premier of Canada's largest province says we need to be ready to fight' back against possible 25% tariffs on goodsThe leader of Canada's largest province says he's prepared to halt energy exports to the United States, warning that other premiers need to be ready to fight" as threats escalate ahead of possible American tariffs.The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, says he's weighing options to fight back against a 25% levy on all Canadian goods that the US president-elect Donald Trump has pledged to implement when he assumes office. Continue reading...

Events in a US court reveal a story that rivals HBO's Succession with a patriarch's waning control, sibling rivalries and a media empire at stakeAll happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," begins Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina. This is an appropriate lens to view Rupert Murdoch's semi-public family feud. This week, it emerged that the media mogul had lost the first round in his legal bid to secure his empire for Lachlan, his eldest son and anointed heir, over his other children - James, Elisabeth and Prudence. More than a power play, it was Murdoch's final push to secure his rightwing media vision, even at the expense of family unity.The familial strife - driven by blurred lines between business and family, ideological clashes and a patriarch's weakening grip - exemplifies Tolstoy's unique unhappiness". The Murdochs' conflicts are shaped by their extraordinary wealth, influence and public scrutiny. The divisions could paralyse corporate decision making, destabilising a media empire with significant repercussions for the culture and politics of the Anglosphere. Continue reading...

The Guardian's ranking of the world's best female footballers overflowed with Americans. But their fellow players largely shunned themWomen's soccer has grown exponentially in the 22 years since Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra marveled at the very existence of a professional game in the USA in Bend It Like Beckham.In the film, the main characters went off to the USA to play collegiate soccer, while the UK had only the faintest whispers that local clubs might soon field professional teams. Today, the protagonists would have several professional options without ever straying from the reach of Greater London. Continue reading...

Republicans tuck new law into relief bill for Hurricane Helene as they attempt to shift state government controlOn the brink of losing their supermajority in the state legislature, North Carolina Republicans overrode a gubernatorial veto on Wednesday to enact a new law that gives them control over elections in the state and strips the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of some of their powers.Currently, North Carolina's governor appoints the five members of the state board of elections, allowing him to select a three-person majority from his party. The new law transfers that appointment power to the state auditor. A Republican won control of the state auditor race this fall for the first time in more than a decade. Continue reading...

Donation comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and appears to be an effort to improve relationsMeta has donated $1m to Donald Trump's inaugural fund, the company confirmed on Thursday.The donation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, appears to be the latest effort by the social media company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to improve relations with the incoming president, and comes just weeks after Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Continue reading...

Every president since Franklin D Roosevelt - save Gerald Ford - has won title at least once, making it a rite of passage

Michigan and Ohio State players brawled after the Wolverines beat their archrivals in their own backyard. But is legislative action really needed?For Ohio State, a home loss to Michigan on 30 November was a football catastrophe, the Buckeyes' fourth loss in a row against their hated rivals. For a few seconds, the focus was on the Buckeyes' lost opportunity to secure a spot in the Big Ten championship game. Then, the spotlight shifted to midfield, where a Michigan player planted the school's maize and blue flag into the turf. It's safe to say the Ohio State players were unhappy at being mocked in their own backyard.A fracas ensued, with Ohio State players initiating a physical altercation and Michigan players responding in kind. The Buckeyes pushed through a thin barrier of police officers to shove a mass of Wolverines off the home team's logo, and several players wrestled each other to the ground. Police officers threatened the use of tasers. At least one held the device directly into a Michigan player's belly but did not activate it, as an officer's body camera footage now reveals. Continue reading...

What good is piping hot gossip when you have to explain every character's years-long back story and their annoying snacking habits?Forget the shrieks and hugs at the arrivals hall or the way the traffic parts for an ambulance with the lights and sirens on. For me, there is nothing more wholesome than lunchtime in the CBD seeing two people who demographically have no business knowing each other glued to one another. They don't see the traffic, the eye contact is unbroken. The bond is strong.They're work wives.Emily Mulligan is a writer based in Sydney Continue reading...

The folk hero status sometimes accorded to those charged with serious crimes means the victims and the violence can be forgottenFrom the moment the world saw the smiling, unmasked face of the young man in the New York City hostel, memes began spreading about his looks. In the days since Luigi Mangione was identified and charged in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, it has been impossible to escape his photo. Or photos. They are proliferating.They are on television, in the newspaper and all over social media. Not just pictures of Mr Mangione from his booking at a police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, or his mug shots in prison orange, but photos of him in earlier times, in a navy blazer, crisp white shirt and tie. Images of him hiking shirtless in the hills. In all of them, he is clean-shaven, curly-haired, often flashing a bright, white grin. Even his Tinder profile has made it into the public, with more pics featuring his six-pack. One commentator compared the stream of pictures to an endless photo shoot". Continue reading...

The architect of six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots is taking his first steps in college football. But there are sound reasons for his decisionBill Belichick, the most successful coach in NFL history, is off to college.The architect of six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots has agreed a deal with North Carolina to become the school's new head coach. A year after his exit from the Patriots, he is leaving the pro game behind to dive into the wild west of college sports in the pay-for-play era. Continue reading...

Patel's non-profit Kash Foundation is linked to Maga-merchandise firms and spends much more on fundraising than it does on charitable givingThe personal foundation of Kash Patel, Donald Trump's controversial pick for FBI director, has directed donor money to a business controlled by its own vice-president, Andrew Ollis, a direct marketing entrepreneur whose business affairs are now deeply entangled with Patel's.Two websites associated with that non-profit direct visitors to an online clothing store, Based Apparel, an online Maga merchandising operation owned by Ollis and Patel. Continue reading...

As a law student, I know the struggle for Palestinian liberation will not be won in the halls of the United Nations or courts of The HagueIt has been more than a year of the ongoing onslaught in Gaza, where experts and common people across the world recognize that a genocide is taking place. We have seen the decimation of Gaza's hospitals, the use of starvation and disease as weapons of war, attacks on aid workers and the prevention of humanitarian aid, the invasion of Lebanon, Syria and West Bank cities, the arbitrary detention of 9,000 Palestinians, the use of white phosphorus, and the series of countless bombs, bombs and more bombs - all individually war crimes, and collectively, affronts to the very idea of international law and jurisprudence.Like millions around the world, I watched Sha'ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old student, burn alive as he slept in a tent outside the al-Aqsa Martyrs' hospital in central Gaza. I've seen my people unable to do anything as flames swallowed yet another martyr, another hospital, another set of refugees in tents. I've watched Israeli occupation forces in north Gaza prepare what appeared to be a mass grave, outside Indonesian hospital, lining up Palestinian men and boys with their hands tied and eyes blindfolded.Ahmad Ibsais is a first generation Palestinian American, law student and poet who writes the newsletter State of Siege Continue reading...

Mike Johnson has an explanation for why the Republican majority is so thin - and it's misleading and cynicalMike Johnson, the House Speaker, will soon have the challenge of leading a three-seat Republican majority. He has an interesting theory about why the Republican edge will be so slender. Last week, on Fox News, he blamed Democratic gerrymandering.While it's always a delightful surprise to hear a Republican leader express concern about the evils of gerrymandering, Johnson has the facts and the math completely backwards.David Daley is the author of the new book Antidemocratic: Inside the Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections as well as Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count Continue reading...

Wray's resignation came after Trump said he would fire the official. Plus, scientists fear climate crisis is acceleratingGood morning.The FBI director, Christopher Wray, has announced he is leaving the top job after Donald Trump's announcement that he would fire him and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel.What has Patel said about the FBI? He's labeled the FBI as part of a deep state" and said he would shut its Washington headquarters.What is the news from Gaza? Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 people, including seven children and a woman, in overnight and early morning attacks, Palestinian medical officials said. Continue reading...

Lawmaker called for a limited state of emergency', while 21 mayors asked governor to enact statewide actionThe mysterious reported sightings of drone clusters in the night skies over New Jersey and other parts of the US north-east has prompted frustrated outbursts from Congress members, triggering calls for a limited state of emergency to be declared over the region.Jon Bramnick, a Republican state senator in New Jersey, has demanded a ban on all drones until the mystery is solved. ABC's Action News reported that he called for a limited state of emergency ... until the public receives an explanation regarding these multiple sightings". Continue reading...

Is University of Connecticut point guard Paige Bueckers the next Caitlin Clark? There a chance this year's presumptive No 1 draft pick might be even betterIn 2013 AAU coach Gary Knox posted a photo of a smiling girl, hands clutching her backpack straps, orange headband perfectly coordinated with her orange T-shirt. Remember the name," he wrote on X. Paige Bueckers. 6th grade, think Diana Taurasi. Best 6th grade G I've ever seen."Knox wasn't wrong. Bueckers arrived on the women's college basketball scene in 2020 as the year's top recruit, when she - like Taurasi years before her - joined the University of Connecticut and immediately made an impact. Everyone wanted a piece of Bueckers, although she was just happy to finally have arrived at the school, even with the Covid-19 pandemic raging. Continue reading...

The FBI has not been able to give Congress answers about a recent spate of drone sightings above New Jersey. Dozens of drones have been spotted across New Jersey night skies in recent weeks, including near sensitive sites such as a military research facility. Robert Wheeler, the FBI assistant director of the critical incident response group, could only tell lawmakers the agency is 'actively investigating'. Texas Republican Tony Gonzales called it 'madness' that law enforcement agencies did not have more answers. 'Sometimes I feel like I'm in the The Twilight Zone', Gonzales said, referring to the 1950s sci-fi series

The immigration hardliner has echoed Trump's criticism of fake news' and has never acknowledged her defeat in race to be governor of ArizonaPresident-elect Donald Trump has picked Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist and immigration hardliner to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world.Lake, who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat, was a television news anchor in Phoenix for nearly three decades until she left in 2021 after making a series of controversial statements on social media, including sharing Covid-19 misinformation during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Six-time championship-winning coach will ensure team can evolve, compete and win', says UNC athletic directorSix-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick has agreed to a five-year deal to become the next coach at North Carolina.The school announced the hiring on Wednesday night, roughly a week after the 72-year-old Belichick's name surfaced as an unlikely candidate to replace the program's winningest all-time coach in Mack Brown. Continue reading...

More than 1,500 firefighters battle blaze as weather conditions are forecast to improve, aiding crews in effortsCrews struggled to contain a wind-driven blaze that forced more than 10,000 to evacuate the canyons of Malibu, California, on Wednesday, even as forecasters said improving weather significantly diminished high fire danger.Residents waited anxiously to see whether their properties had been spared by the Franklin fire, which erupted late on Monday and grew to more than 6 sq miles by Wednesday morning. The blaze was just 7% contained on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

This live coverage is ending now, thanks for following along. Here is the full story on FBI chief Christopher Wray announcing that he will resign:

Criminal complaint charging Ryan Borgwardt details how 45-year-old pulled off disappearance to country of GeorgiaA Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning and left his wife and three children for eastern Europe willingly returned to the US after four months and was charged on Wednesday with obstructing an intense lake search for his body.The criminal complaint charging Ryan Borgwardt with misdemeanor obstruction offers a detailed account of how the 45-year-old pulled off his disappearance, including how he struggled to emerge from the water, almost didn't make it through customs on his way overseas and was living in the country of Georgia when he realized he had left too many clues behind. Continue reading...

Trump had signaled his intent to fire the veteran official and replace him with firebrand Kash PatelThe director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, announced on Wednesday that he was stepping down, after Donald Trump said he would fire him and install the firebrand loyalist Kash Patel in his place.Wray, who the president-elect himself appointed as director during his first presidency after firing Wray's predecessor James Comey in 2017, announced his decision to staff at the bureau's Washington headquarters. Continue reading...

The shamelessness of Fifa's process was fully on show in Zurich during a display of contempt for governance, democracy, love, hope and good senseWell, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups.First, exactly how disgusting would this spectacle turn out to be in the flesh? The answer to which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was: extremely disgusting. And second, how would the process actually work? Continue reading...

It was not immediately clear where Kobayashi, who had vanished last month in Los Angeles, was foundHannah Kobayashi has been found safe, the Los Angeles police department (LAPD) said on Wednesday.Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles, and her disappearance prompted a huge search and a missing persons investigation. It was not immediately clear where she was found, but police previously said she had voluntarily crossed the border into Mexico. Continue reading...

American Medical Association finds people in US are sick for an average of 12.4 years, an increase from figure in 2000Americans spend more time living with diseases than people from other countries, according to a new study.On Wednesday, the American Medical Association published its latest findings, revealing that Americans live with diseases for an average of 12.4 years. Mental and substance-use disorders, as well as musculoskeletal diseases, are main contributors to the years lived with disability in the US, per the study. Continue reading...

Louisiana artist gets five years probation and $200,000 fine after stating he possessed weapons despite being a felonA federal judge in Utah sentenced Louisiana rap artist NBA Youngboy to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges after he acknowledged having possessed weapons despite being a felon.The rapper, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him - one carries a 23-month sentence and the other orders five years of probation and a $200,000 fine. Continue reading...

The company said it would no longer fund the venture and will prioritize Super Cruise, its driver assistance programGeneral Motors announced on Tuesday it will end robotaxi development at its money-losing Cruise business, a blow to the ambitions of the largest US automaker to advance the technology.GM said it would no longer fund work on self-driving robotaxis given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market". Continue reading...

State's top court temporarily stops SB 99 on grounds that it will likely violate privacy rights enshrined in constitutionMontana's ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors has been temporarily blocked by the state supreme court on grounds that it is likely to violate the right to privacy enshrined in the state's constitution.The top court in Montana sided on Wednesday with an earlier district court decision blocking SB 99, the ban introduced last year by the Republican-controlled state legislature. The decision will allow under-18 transgender girls and boys to continue gender-affirming medical treatment pending a full trial. Continue reading...

President says failure may have contributed to voters blaming him for high prices even as economy improvedJoe Biden has voiced regret for not following Donald Trump's example by putting his signature on Covid-19-era economic stimulus cheques sent to Americans during a speech about his record on the economy as he prepares to leave office.Five weeks after his vice-president, Kamala Harris, lost the presidential election to Trump, the US president suggested on Tuesday that his failure to put his name on the cheques may have contributed to voters blaming his administration for high prices even when the economy was improving. Continue reading...

President Yoon Suk Yeol's alarming attempt to impose his will could hardly be worse-timed for a key Asian powerThe South Korean president's bizarre, appalling and short-lived attempt to impose martial law last week is still wreaking havoc. Police attempted to raid YoonSukYeol's office on Wednesday as they investigate him for a potential offence of insurrection. His party says he will hand power to the prime minister and party chief; others call that an unconstitutional second coup". It is a measure of the country's progress since democratisation in the 1980s that the main opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, initially thought the president's announcement had been deep-faked, and now describes it as preposterous".Mr Yoon claimed without evidence that martial law was necessary to eradicate the threat from despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces" - meaning the opposition. Though other conservatives share his bitter conviction that the left are Pyongyang-sympathisers, most people believe the decision primarily reflected his erratic and personalised rule. A political outsider, he made his name as a top anti-corruption prosecutor, but grew angry at scrutiny of his wife's conduct as well as parliamentary obstruction of his policies. Despite his dismal approval ratings he seems to have thought that the people would back him. Within six hours, he was forced to U-turn. Continue reading...

Impasse sets up showdown over California efforts to shield residents from Trump's mass deportation plansThe sheriff of San Diego county defied a new policy limiting county cooperation with federal immigration authorities, setting up a showdown over California's efforts to shield residents from Donald Trump's mass deportation plans.On Tuesday, San Diego county supervisors voted to prohibit its sheriff's department from working with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) on the federal agency's enforcement of civil immigration laws, including those that allow for deportations. Continue reading...

Kenneth Chesebro, Michael Roman and James Troupis hit with 10 more charges over scheme to overturn 2020 electionWisconsin's justice department filed 10 additional charges on Tuesday against three Donald Trump allies who spearheaded the fake electors" scheme to help the president-elect in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The three men, Kenneth Chesebro, Michael Roman and James Troupis, already faced felony forgery charges in June for their role in the plot. The additional charges include conspiracy to commit a crime and numerous counts of fraud. Continue reading...

Woman, 64, was separated from hiking group in Shore Acres state park and found after shouting for helpA hiker who was missing for two days has been rescued by the US Coast Guard from Shore Acres state park in Oregon after rescue crews heard her shouting for help.The 64-year-old, who was found on Sunday, had been missing since Friday evening after being separated from her hiking group, the coastguard said. Continue reading...

Joyful memes, novelty merch, gushing support: it's undeniably callous, but points to a deeply dysfunctional systemFor the almost two decades I lived in the US, my approach to medical bills was always the same. First invoice, ignore. Second invoice, ignore. Third invoice, written entirely in capital letters and in red, kick back to my insurer to buy another month of non-payment before receiving a fourth invoice, which I would also ignore. After that, the bill would go to a debt collection agency in the midwest, which would send me an extremely unfriendly letter threatening court action if I didn't pay up. I paid up. Ha! That'll show 'em.This is the rigmarole that millions of Americans go through every single time they visit a doctor for anything beyond routine maintenance. It is simultaneously a standard experience and a trigger for the most overpowering, cortisol-releasing emotions. Dragging my heels until the final notice was a pathetic gesture that achieved nothing, but it was the only mechanism I had for expressing the unadulterated rage caused by a basic fact of life in the US: that - and there's no other way to word this - you pay these fuckers enormous amounts of money each year and still they fight you on everything.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Since the fall of Roe in 2022, 76 clinics have shuttered and the initial surge of donations is now falling shortProviding abortions rarely paid the bills for Kwajelyn Jackson in 2024.As the executive director of Feminist Women's Health Center, an abortion clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, Jackson spent the year navigating Georgia's six-week abortion ban, dwindling financial support for abortion patients and soaring inflation. The clinic spent more money than it brought in from providing abortions, especially as Jackson strove to pay her staffers a decent wage and the clinic often subsidized the abortions of patients who could not afford to pay. Continue reading...

First minister seeks to persuade Trump of whisky's significant economic and cultural status during phone callScotland's first minister is leading efforts to persuade President-elect Donald Trump to exclude Scottish whisky from his plans to ratchet up tariffs on imports to the US.John Swinney, who leads Scotland's devolved government, lobbied Trump about whisky's significant economic and cultural status during a warm and friendly" 20-minute long telephone call the pair had on Monday. Continue reading...

I've learned to ignore distractions and focus on one thing, even if it is ensuring the little fella doesn't wee, or worse, on the carpetLast week, our family got a puppy. Not for Christmas - I'm too respectful of the Dogs Trust for that - but, in some ways, because of it. I work from home, and the December slowdown is the perfect time to do what puppies demand of you, which is to spend half your waking moments paying attention to their every twitch and snuffle, in case you miss some developmental milestone that condemns you to six more weeks of accidents on the floor.In case you have never potty-trained a small dog, here is how it (roughly) works. After they snooze, eat or play, you watch them, hawklike, for any indication that they might be about to unburden themselves. Indicator eventually noted, you hustle them outside to a specially prepared area, where you eye them, not too obviously, in the hope that they will let nature take its course. While they are in the act, you repeat whatever mini-mantra you are hoping to associate with the deed - in our case, a cheery let's go!" - then once they are done, you give them a cuddle and shower them with praise. Then you repeat that, five or 12 times a day, until they get the hang of it. Continue reading...