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Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: former police officer continues evidence in double murder trial
Lamarre-Condon returns to witness box for day two of his evidence. He’s accused of shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney in 2024 Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Lamarre-Condon tells the jury about an occasion when he went to the Royal National park with a friend and shot his gun. At this time he was thinking of taking his own life, and he wanted to test how loud his gun was, he told the jury. I was very aware of making sure the bullet didn’t hit any innocent person. A little paper bag like that would never change the sound of a gun shot. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14 We were not exclusive. I was still seeing people at various points throughout my time with Jesse. Continue reading...
Powerhouse Parramatta opens this weekend – and it’s dazzling inside and out
Coups de théâtre abound in the $915m addition to western Sydney’s skyline, which opens on Saturday with five new exhibitions – and a 23-day festival Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Dubbed the “Opera House of western Sydney”, Powerhouse Parramatta’s white lattice exoskeleton, composed from 1,300 individual pieces and wrapping 30,000 sq metres of interior space, has already become a familiar landmark. Even better known, perhaps, is the project’s controversial history . Since the Parramatta outpost was announced in 2014, a vocal group of dissenters led by former staff and trustees has lamented what they see as the neglect of the museum’s Ultimo site in favour of a new infrastructure project, and what they say is a shift away from the museum’s core business towards contemporary art and events. Continue reading...
Salon, internet’s oldest general interest publication, shuts down after 31 years
Website known for politics, arts and culture coverage announces closure just weeks before anniversary Salon, one of the early internet’s pioneering publications, is closing after more than three decades, the outlet announced on Thursday. “It’s difficult to find the right words for the end of something that has meant so much to so many people. Salon was never just a website,” Salon said in a statement . “It was an idea about what journalism could be, born at a moment when the internet was still a largely unexplored frontier.” Continue reading...
Russian and Ukrainian officials thank Melania Trump for brokering ceasefire - video
Kirill Dimitrov, envoy to Russian president Vladimir Putin, delivered a gift to Melania Trump at the White House on Thursday to thank her for brokering a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian forces in Oleshky, Ukraine. During the same event, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets gifted the first lady with the Order of Princess Olga, 1st Degree award. Continue reading...
Trump administration holds secret talks to deport Iranians even as war presses on, court documents show
The development emerges from a lawsuit alleging violations of national immigration regulations The Trump administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as the war there dragged on, court documents obtained by the Associated Press show. The court documents unsealed on Thursday show the Republican administration as recently as mid-October said it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although it was unclear when it intended to do so. Continue reading...
Google, Meta and TikTok sue California to block law protecting children from addiction risk
Law bans social media platforms from providing minors features such as autoplay that lead to compulsive use Google, Meta and TikTok sued California to block enforcement of a new state law intended to limit the risk of addicting children under 16 to social media platforms. The law, known as Assembly Bill 1709, prohibits such platforms from offering underage children “psychologically exploitative features” that could lead to compulsive use, such as providing personal recommendations and sending videos through autoplay features. It also requires the deletion of children’s accounts with those features. Continue reading...
British Ebola patient evacuated from DRC arrives at London hospital
Doctor who was helping response to outbreak in Africa taken to specialist isolation unit at Royal Free hospital A British doctor who tested positive for Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has returned to the UK for specialist treatment. The patient, whose identity is unknown, was transported home on a medical evacuation flight , the Department of Health and Social Care said on Thursday. They are now being cared for in a specialised high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead, north London. Continue reading...
Deep-red Kansas votes for change as patience wears thin with Trump: ‘The economy is really taking a beating’
Bills have soared in rural state buffeted by tariffs and war in Iran – and Democrat Adam Hamilton’s stunning upset shows how deep economic frustrations run Linda Olson always does her homework before voting – a trait she inherited from a family invested, and interested, in politics. Her father was a photographer who took portraits of political leaders in Washington, while her grandparents were farmers who cared deeply about their industry. In 2024, Olson’s research led her to Donald Trump. She trusted that the then-former president would improve their economic realities in Junction City, Kansas – where she was born and raised – if he returned to the White House. Continue reading...
US accuses Mexican judge of $2m bribe to free accused drug trafficker allegedly linked to ex-Olympic snowboarder
The judge oversaw extradition proceedings in Mexico for a Canadian citizen allegedly helping Ryan Wedding A Mexican judge has been arrested and accused of accepting $2m in bribes in exchange for releasing a suspected Canadian drug trafficker from custody, US officials said Thursday. Luis Benítez Alcántara was overseeing extradition proceedings in Mexico in 2024 for Canadian citizen Andrew Clark, who was charged in the US with helping to run a billion dollar drug trafficking group allegedly headed by former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, the justice department said in a statement. Continue reading...
Who is Nithya Raman, the democratic socialist who will be Los Angeles’s next mayor?
Urban planner and outsider who bested Karen Bass has close ties to Hollywood progressives – and a complicated relationship with the DSA Nithya Raman on Thursday unseated Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass after a neck-and-neck race for the leadership for the US’s second largest city. The young progressive’s victory means that the two largest cities in the US, as well the nation’s capital, Washington DC, have now all elected democratic socialist mayors. Continue reading...
‘Dark horse diplomat’: Melania Trump plays both sides in joint Russia-Ukraine White House visit
As war rages on in Kyiv and other cities, the first lady celebrates her single-city ceasefire with Russian and Ukrainian envoys Beaming from a podium in the White House’s Grand Foyer, Melania Trump welcomed senior Russian and Ukrainian officials on Thursday to celebrate a ceasefire in an embattled Ukrainian town for which she has become the unlikeliest broker. The evacuation from Oleshky, a frontline Ukrainian town now occupied by Russia where 800 people lived through a protracted humanitarian crisis, may seem like a sideshow at this point in the war. Russian missiles and drones continue to rain down on Kyiv and other major cities, and a single Russian strike described as a “double-tap” bombing killed 40 people in Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Democratic socialist Nithya Raman wins Los Angeles mayoral race over incumbent Karen Bass
Major shake-up as LA councilmember, once considered long shot, ousts Democratic rival she had once endorsed Nithya Raman was elected to serve as the mayor of Los Angeles, eking out a narrow win over incumbent Karen Bass, in a major shake-up in local politics that reflects the growing dissatisfaction with the direction of the city. The progressive urban planner had served on LA’s city council since 2020. She caused a stir when she entered the race earlier this year hours before the filing deadline – and shortly after endorsing Bass for re-election – and her campaign was once viewed as a long shot. Continue reading...
Gavin Newsom commutes more than 500 death sentences in California
Democrat’s move prevents these people from executions under future governors, after Christa Pike’s failed execution Gavin Newsom , California ’s governor, has commuted the death sentences of more than 500 people on the state’s death row on Thursday, a move that ensures they can never be executed under future administrations. The Democrat ’s mass commutation at the end of his term has converted all of the state’s death sentences to life without the possibility of parole, the largest clearing of any US death row in modern history. Continue reading...
Trump is soothing the midterms loss with what he loves best: interior design | Arwa Mahdawi
The president seems to accept this is his last White House stint and is focused on renovating whatever he can get his little hands on As you’d expect, the right is in a shambles right now. Elon Musk is making jokes about his “election-interfering space lasers” and pretending that he really, really doesn’t care that he threw away nearly half a billion dollars trying to influence the midterms. JD Vance is writing long essays on social media about how he agrees the Iran war was a bit of an oopsie. Donald Trump, meanwhile, seems to be going through his own idiosyncratic grieving process about the Republicans’ historic midterm beating. The president has skipped all the way past shock, denial and anger and landed at the “admiring my beautiful renovations” stage of grief. Continue reading...
US midterm voters responded in a thunderous voice. This is just the beginning | Betsy Reed
A note from our US editor: A reckoning is coming, but make no mistake: Trump is still president – we’ll need a free press in 2027 as much as we did in darker days. Please help today if you are able Betsy Reed is US editor of the Guardian Over the past two years, millions of people all over the world have watched Donald Trump’s destructive reign unfold with one question in their minds: Is there no check on his power? This week, voters deciding who controls Congress responded in a thunderous voice: there must be a check on the president’s power. From Texas to Ohio to South Carolina, Americans surged to the polls to register their opposition to Donald Trump – and to show their support for the kind of leaders who will look out for the interests of everyday people rather than those of a corrupt ruling elite. And now many people are looking at politics with a new and unfamiliar feeling of hope. Continue reading...
‘Our work’s not done’: Russell Brand detective urges other potential victims to come forward
Brand is under investigation over two more rape allegations and police say others could speak up after guilty verdicts The lead detective in the case against Russell Brand has urged other potential victims of the comedian to come forward after it emerged that he is under investigation for two further rape allegations and faces a civil claim in the UK. Det Supt Andy Furphy, the Metropolitan police’s strategic lead in the investigation, described Brand, 51, as “a predator” whose behaviour escalated as his fame grew. Continue reading...
I know the dangers a wounded Trump presents – this is how the UK should deal with him now | Kim Darroch
Power is draining away at home, but the US president will see a chance to make his mark through foreign policy Kim Darroch was Britain’s ambassador to the US between January 2016 and December 2019 Election nights are party time in Washington . The bars and restaurants fill up and the city rocks. For diplomats, it’s an opportunity – but it’s also a long night, as you trek across the party scene in search of insight and illumination. Invariably, it has its moments. I recall being at the Washington Post party on the night of the presidential election on 8 November 2016. Washington is an overwhelmingly Democrat city and the atmosphere was raucously optimistic, reflecting Hillary Clinton’s small but consistent lead in the polls. As the first results came in a shocked hush fell across the room. People gathered in small, murmuring groups. Within 30 minutes, half the guests had left. In contrast, I recall speaking to Nancy Pelosi, the queen of the Democrats, at a watch party on 6 November 2018, for the midterms during Trump’s first presidency. I asked her what I should put in my overnight report to London, given that most results wouldn’t be in. She said, with striking confidence, that I should predict that the Democrats would retake the House of Representatives. She was right: the Democrats flipped 41 Republican seats. It gave Pelosi a second term as speaker of the House and gave the world the enjoyable theatre of her sitting directly behind Trump at his State of the Union speeches, rolling her eyes at the bombast. Kim Darroch was British ambassador to the US from 2016 to 2019, and is author of Collateral Damage: Britain, America and Europe in the Age of Trump Do 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...
The Guardian view on the midterms and foreign policy: American voters spoke, and now the world waits anxiously | Editorial
The Democrats have gained new powers to constrain Donald Trump. But the drubbing that Republicans received could yet prompt him to new excesses Donald Trump is a president without parallel, but history can still be instructive. Lame duck presidents often focus on foreign policy to escape domestic discontent and establish a legacy in an area where a hostile Congress offers less of an obstacle. Mr Trump, who was stunningly rebuffed by voters in Tuesday’s midterms , might seek satisfaction in construction projects, the 2028 presidential race and his family’s future. Or, amid the humiliation and with Republican critics growing louder, he could distract attention with fresh adventurism – perhaps escalating against Cuba – or more likely a vengeful new offensive against Iran. Mr Trump won’t put in the legwork or attention to detail demanded by, say, Bill Clinton’s push for lasting peace in the Middle East. But he loves the glitz of state visits, spectacular military action, hobnobbing with strongmen and (unearned) credit for dubious “peace deals”. With a potential three-way meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping mooted for the Apec summit in China this month, Ukraine, Taiwan and others have reason to be nervous. Do 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...
NHS England cancer diagnoses at record high with 1,000 people diagnosed every day
While NHS is identifying more cases, it is failing to meet timescale targets on diagnosis and treatment, experts say Cancer diagnoses in England have hit record highs, with more than 1,000 people diagnosed every day, NHS figures show. But experts warned that although the health service is identifying more cases, it is still failing to meet timescale targets on diagnosis and treatment. Continue reading...
Paraguay’s president quits after millions of people’s savings frozen in bank crisis
Santiago Peña’s rightwing administration had authorised Ueno Bank to drastically expand operations before collapse Paraguay’s rightwing president, Santiago Peña, resigned on Thursday after a political and financial crisis collapsed the South American country’s banking system in recent days. At the centre of the crisis is Ueno Bank, which in just a few years under Peña went from an obscure digital bank to one of the country’s largest lenders, claiming to have about 60% of Paraguay’s adult population as customers. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on cocaine and domestic abuse: new links between drugs and crime need investigating | Editorial
Patterns of drug supply and use are changing and the government’s five-year-old drug strategy must evolve too A slight drop in the number of drug deaths over a year in England and Wales is the first such news since 2012. Over the past decade, the grim trajectory has been upward; the annual figure of 5,519 has more than doubled since the 1990s. Given this trend, any fall is a relief. But the spike in deaths linked to cocaine, which has overtaken heroin for the first time, as well as evidence uncovered by the Guardian of a link with domestic violence, points to the need for a drugs policy that takes account of changing usage. Nearly six in 10 drug tests on people arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse were positive for cocaine in the year to June, while a previous study found that 59% of suspects tested positive for cocaine or opiates. Links between domestic violence and alcohol have been highlighted by campaigners since the 19th century. In 2022, a UK government report found that alcohol and drug use featured in around a third of 127 domestic homicides it examined. Continue reading...
WTA apologizes after hot mic captures Pegula’s ‘diva’ remarks about Andreeva
WTA admits players were not told mics were live Pegula called Andreeva ‘diva’ who ‘needs to be humbled’ Practice livestreams to continue without audio The WTA has apologized and admitted it did not tell players their on-court conversations during practice sessions at the WTA Finals were being broadcast. A controversy has erupted in Indian Wells after Jessica Pegula was heard on the WTA’s YouTube livestream making derogatory comments about Mirra Andreeva and her coach, Conchita Martínez. Continue reading...
Putin envoy thanks Melania Trump for brokering ceasefire – video
Kirill Dimitrov, envoy to Russian president Vladimir Putin, delivered a gift to Melania Trump at the White House on Thursday to thank her for brokering a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian forces in Oleshky, Ukraine. Russia first occupied the village during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Continue reading...
Indiana puts man to death as three US executions to be carried out on same day
Florida set for 19th state killing of year on Thursday as death penalty under renewed focus after botched Christa Pike execution Florida and Alabama plan to execute one man each on Thursday just hours after Indiana put a prisoner to death – in the first of three lethal injections scheduled for the same day in the US. It would be Florida’s 19th execution this year under Republican governor Ron DeSantis, matching a record set by the state in 2025, and the second time this year that three people would be put to death on the same day. Continue reading...