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McCullum’s position likely to come under scrutiny ECB believes mass sackings would be a mistake The England and Wales Cricket Board is eager to avoid a mass ­clearout of England’s senior leadership in the wake of another humiliating away Ashes series defeat. England’s hopes of winning the urn were expunged inside 11 days for just the fourth time in the contest’s 143-year history with Sunday’s 82-run defeat in Adelaide, and a fourth Ashes whitewash is on the cards in Melbourne and Sydney, unless the tourists can arrest a dismal 18-match run without a win in Australia that stretches back to 2011. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/kFMfPlq

All the incentives in Westminster politics militate against confronting difficult issues, but a failing government may as well try honesty The formula for stable government, according to Britain’s constitution, is a big parliamentary majority and divided opposition. Sir Keir Starmer’s predicament proves that those conditions are not sufficient. The prime minister’s inability to convince voters that he has an agenda for national renewal, and the demoralising effect that has had on the Labour party, make a leadership challenge look plausible after local elections next May. Maybe sooner. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JQljg0U

The Strangers, a horror tale written during the playwright’s college days, appeared in the Strand magazine this week As one of the 20th century’s most successful playwrights, Tennessee Williams penned popular works at the very pinnacle of US theater, including A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Years before his almost unparalleled Broadway triumphs, however, the aspiring writer then known simply as Tom wrote a series of short radio plays as he struggled to find a breakthrough. One is The Strangers, a supernatural tale offering glimpses into the accomplished wordsmith that Williams would become, and published for the first time this week in the literary magazine Strand . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ShFbZKR

Christopher Day was fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum to migrants at a high rate A US army reserve lawyer detailed as a federal immigration judge has been fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum at a high rate out of step with the Trump administration’s mass deportation goals, the Associated Press has learned. Christopher Day began hearing cases in late October as a temporary judge at the immigration court in Annandale, Virginia. He was fired around 2 December, the National Association of Immigration Judges confirmed. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/pJ6AMTK

Proposal would prohibit Medicaid funds from being used to cover puberty blockers, hormone treatments or surgical procedures US politics live – latest updates The Trump administration unveiled new actions aimed at eliminating transition-related medical care for minors across the US on Thursday, referring to such treatments as “sex-rejecting procedures”, a term used by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the effort, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will initiate a rule-making process that would prevent hospitals from offering puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or surgical procedures to minors if they wish to participate in Medicare or Medicaid. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/eh2IiQp

Exclusive global rights to the year’s biggest night in film will move to the video platform for a four year period The Oscars will be moving from broadcast to online as part of a multi-year new deal with YouTube. From 2029, the video platform will have exclusive global rights to Hollywood’s biggest night, including the ceremony but also red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content and Governors Ball access. The deal will run until 2033. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/t5fKGk2

Marco Rubio calls drug-trafficking militia, present in at least 20 of Colombia’s departments, ‘violent and powerful’ The US has designated the Gulf Clan, Colombia ’s largest and most powerful illegal armed criminal group, as a foreign terrorist organisation. The notorious drug-trafficking militia with its roots in far-right paramilitary forces, is present in at least 20 of Colombia’s departments, and dominates people- and drug-smuggling routes through the Darién Gap. It has also battled unsuccessfully against leftwing rebels for control of criminal networks along the Venezuelan border. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/yjiN3km

Britain’s fifth-biggest grocer postpones goal by 15 years to 2050, saying revised plan will now cover entire supply chain Morrisons has become the first UK supermarket chain to postpone its net zero carbon emission targets, delaying them by 15 years to 2050. Britain’s fifth-biggest grocer said its new targets would cover the entire supply chain, as well as Morrisons stores, including emissions from agriculture and land-use sources. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Z5YjdLs

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gcH7PSv

Arabella McCormack, 11, died after being tortured and starved by adoptive family and police and church failed to intervene A lawsuit over the death of an 11-year-old California girl who was allegedly tortured and starved by her adoptive family reached a settlement on Friday totaling $31.5m from the city and county of San Diego as well as other groups. The suit was brought on behalf of the two younger sisters of Arabella McCormack, who died in August 2022. The girls were ages six and seven at the time. Their adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, and McCormack’s parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, are facing charges of murder, conspiracy, child abuse and torture. They pleaded not guilty to all charges, and their criminal case is ongoing. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/6E5yp8d

Prices 10 times those promised in initial bid Fifa not expected to change policy for 2026 The Football Association will pass on England supporters’ concerns about high 2026 World Cup ticket prices to Fifa. However, despite the growing outrage, it is understood none of the international federations expect world football’s governing body to change its policy. Anger among supporter groups continued on Friday after it emerged that the cheapest tickets will cost 10 times the price promised in the original bid for the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the tournament. For England fans it will mean having to pay at least $220 (£165) for group games – when the bid document’s ticket model stated the cheapest seats should be $21 (£15.70). Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/nRfX7CO

Weaker-than-forecast quarterly data for Larry Ellison’s tech company shows slowdown in revenue growth and big rise in spending Business live – latest updates Oracle ’s shares tumbled 15% on Thursday in response to the company’s quarterly financial results, disclosed the day before. Roughly $80bn vanish from the value of the business software company co-founded by Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison, falling from $630bn (£470bn) to $550bn and fuelling fears of a bubble in artificial intelligence-related stocks. Shares in the chipmaker Nvidia, seen as a bellwether for the AI boom, fell after Oracle’s. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ckpu8ye

The 71-outlet chain was recently bought back by its co-founder, who says Leon must downsize as more customers work from home Fast food chain Leon is planning to close restaurants and cut jobs, less than two months after it was bought back from Asda by its co-founder John Vincent. The chain said on Wednesday that it had appointed administrators to lead a restructuring programme, and it was considering how many of its 71 restaurants would need to shut. It did not say how many roles could be affected. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/NTBRvgu

US treasury accuses Colombian nationals and companies of aiding the RSF, which has committed horrific war crimes The United States has sanctioned four people and four companies accused of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group accused by Washington of committing genocide. Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US treasury said the network was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/VN6opQ9

The Bridge theatre in London presents Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s classic this Christmas. Take a closer look – and revisit past revivals Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/XtKEJQy

Trump team faces mounting pressure as members of Congress allege that the deadly attack was unlawful US Democrats on Sunday pushed the Trump administration to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat incapacitated in the Caribbean, continuing to escalate pressure on the Pentagon amid accusations the attack was unlawful. Eleven people died in the 2 September attack , including two men killed in a follow-up strike as they reportedly clung to wreckage for an hour. That killing has been met with intense scrutiny and accusations of war crimes after the Washington Post reported defense secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill them all” . Adm Frank Bradley of the US navy, who oversaw the attack, told lawmakers on Thursday there was no such order – and the Pentagon has defended the legality of the attack. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rf8uLkq

Police think incident at airport car park involved theft of a suitcase and ‘people known to each other’ A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault after people were allegedly attacked with a “form of pepper spray” at a multistorey car park at Heathrow airport Terminal 3, police have said. The Metropolitan police said armed officers were called to the terminal’s car park at about 8.11am to a report of people being assaulted. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gslvehj

Inter Miami host Vancouver for MLS championship Drop Beau at line on Bluesky or email In a big country, dreams stay with you … Or, in this case, two big countries, with the Vancouver Whitecaps representing Canada. These two clubs are in opposite corners of the continent. Unless MLS expands to Alaska or Hawaii, the distance between Miami and Vancouver is about as big as you can get. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/puBoX76

Web infrastructure provider says problem lasted half an hour and was not an attack, weeks after larger outage Cloudflare has apologised after an outage on Friday morning hit websites including LinkedIn, Zoom and Downdetector, the company’s second outage in less than a month . “Any outage of our systems is unacceptable, and we know we have let the internet down again,” it said in a blogpost , adding that it would release more information next week on how it aims to prevent these failures. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JFWax3i

‘Information-dense’ AI responses are most persuasive but these tend to be less accurate, says security report Chatbots can sway people’s political opinions but the most persuasive artificial intelligence models deliver “substantial” amounts of inaccurate information in the process, according to the UK government’s AI security body. Researchers said the study was the largest and most systematic investigation of AI persuasiveness to date, involving nearly 80,000 British participants holding conversations with 19 different AI models. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/r25WwqP

Market value of ad group that was once world’s largest plummets from about £24bn in 2017 to £3.1bn WPP has been relegated from the FTSE 100 after nearly 30 years, as the advertising multinational struggles to stem an exodus of clients and match the artificial intelligence and data capabilities of rivals . The market valuation of WPP, once the world’s largest advertising group, has plummeted from about £24bn in 2017 to £3.1bn. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Xr69FmU

Relations between French company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus are reportedly ‘very strained’ The leaders of France and Germany have a “strong willingness” to build a new fighter jet together despite bitter internal rivalries, according to the chief executive of engine manufacturer Safran. A row over who should lead between French aerospace company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus has threatened to break apart the countries’ efforts to make a next-generation fighter jet. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/5AQfNO7

Critics voice concern as government says its Sanchar Saathi app combats cybersecurity threats for 1.2bn telecom users India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cybersecurity app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates. In tackling a recent surge of cybercrime and hacking, India is joining authorities worldwide, most recently in Russia, to frame rules blocking the use of stolen phones for fraud or promoting state-backed government service apps. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/HkPg0TJ