General news

• The Fed hopes the third cut's the charm

  11-12-2025 00:52 via nbcnews.com
  
  It’s hump day and rate cut day, so I tapped senior business correspondent Christine Romans to share her reporting from the briefing with Chairman Jermone Powell.
  
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• News live: PM confirms deal to keep Tomago aluminium smelter open; first Tuvalu climate migrants arrive in Australia

  12-12-2025 03:10 via theguardian.com
  Follow updatesReddit launches high court challenge to Australia’s under-16s social media banGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOfficials investigating after Victoria police memorial vandalised overnightVictoria police are investigating the vandalism of the Victoria Police Memorial in Melbourne this morning.If you don’t need to be on the roads during heavy rainfall, we ask the community to delay their travel until the storm passes.If you do come across flash fl
  
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• Don Farrell charged taxpayers more than $2,200 to travel to Canberra on same weekend he attended wedding

  12-12-2025 03:08 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: The trade and tourism minister flew with his wife from Adelaide to Canberra, listing official duties as the reason for the travelFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe trade and tourism minister, Don Farrell, charged taxpayers more than $2,200 to travel to Canberra on the same weekend he attended a press gallery journalist’s wedding, describing the reason for the trip as official duties.Farrell –
  
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• Dozens killed in hospital strike in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state

  12-12-2025 03:07 via theguardian.com
  Conflict monitors say the junta has increased airstrikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar’s civil warDozens have been killed in a military strike on a hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to an aid worker, a rebel group, a witness and local media reports, as the junta wages a withering offensive ahead of elections beginning this month.“The situation is very terrible,” said on-site aid worker Wai Hun Aung. “As for now, we can confirm there ar
  
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• The Reject Shop faces a legal threat from a UK artist over a flamingo egg cup. Does it have a leg to stand on?

  12-12-2025 03:04 via theguardian.com
  Australian retailer tells ceramic artist Hannah Turner it won’t restock the product amid debate over copyrightGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastUK artist Hannah Turner was shocked by the image of a ceramic flamingo-shaped egg cup that showed up on her screen.She took in its green eyes, the pattern of the feathers, its thin pink legs and its overall shape. She felt recognition. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump expands Venezuela sanctions as Maduro decries new ‘era of piracy’

  12-12-2025 02:43 via theguardian.com
  Six more oil supertankers added to sanctions list, as well as members of Maduro’s extended family, amid rising tensions following tanker seizureDonald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.Late on Thursday, the US imposed curb
  
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• ‘I hope he loses’: Trump blasts Indiana Republican senate leader after his state redistricting effort gets blocked –as it happened

  12-12-2025 02:15 via theguardian.com
  This live blog is now closed.Indiana Republicans reject effort to redraw voting maps in rebuke to TrumpChris Van Hollen, the Democratic senator from Maryland, was among the lawmakers speaking out against the Trump administration and its actions around Venezuela, taking to the senate floor on Wednesday to call on Congress to block Donald Trump from “using taxpayer dollars to launch a regime change war”.“Last time I checked, the constitution of the United States gives Congress &n
  
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• Labor wants watchdog to advise on overhauling travel perks for politicians as backlash grows

  12-12-2025 02:09 via theguardian.com
  Sussan Ley offers bipartisan truce to work on reform after a week of damaging headlines about MPs’ largesseFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government wants the independent expenses watchdog to provide advice on overhauling travel perks for MPs, opening the door to changes after a backlash over politicians’ entitlements.The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is prepared to work with Anthony Albane
  
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• Thailand set for early elections amid political deadlock and Cambodia skirmishes

  12-12-2025 01:51 via theguardian.com
  Move follows a disagreement with the largest grouping in parliament, with elections to be held within 45-60 daysThailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, announced on Thursday that he is “returning power to the people”, moving to dissolve parliament and clear the way for elections earlier than previously anticipated.Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said the move followed a disagreement with the largest grouping in parliament, the opposition People’s p
  
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• Sydney after-school childcare worker pleads guilty to using children to produce child abuse material

  12-12-2025 01:50 via theguardian.com
  Former police officer admits to taking explicit images of children as young as four in his careFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA former police officer who was secretly working in childcare has admitted taking explicit photos and videos of children younger than 10 when they were in his care.David William James created the child abuse material while working at six out-of-school hours (OOSH) care services in Sydney&rsq
  
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• Liam Neeson denies anti-vax views after narrating Covid documentary

  12-12-2025 01:23 via theguardian.com
  Taken star lends his voice to a film that questions the legitimacy of vaccines and includes interview with RFK JrLiam Neeson has lent his voice to a new documentary that questions the legitimacy of vaccines and praises Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.The film, called Plague of Corruption, is narrated by the Taken actor and based on a bestselling book co-authored by Judy Mikovits, a disgraced former scientist who gained notoriety during the Covid pand
  
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• MPs announce inquiry into work of Office for Budget Responsibility

  12-12-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Treasury committee will examine agency’s forecasting record and discover where it ‘needs to do better’MPs have launched an inquiry into the role and performance of the Office for Budget Responsibility.The all-party Commons Treasury committee will spend until the end of next month investigating the independent agency’s forecasting performance and impartiality. The panel will consider whether reforms are needed 15 years after the OBR was set up by George Osborne when he was
  
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• WATCH: Competing Democrat, Republican health care proposals both fail in the Senate

  12-12-2025 00:31 via abcnews.go.com
  The Senate failed to advance two competing health care proposals aimed at addressing a spike in costs expected for tens of millions of Americans who receive enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
  
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• Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools

  12-12-2025 00:11 via theguardian.com
  President Nayib Bukele entrusting chatbot known for calling itself ‘MechaHitler’ to create ‘AI-powered’ curriculaElon Musk is partnering with the government of El Salvador to bring his artificial intelligence company’s chatbot, Grok, to more than 1 million students across the country, according to a Thursday announcement by xAI. Over the next two years, the plan is to “deploy” the chatbot to more than 5,000 public schools in an “AI-powered educatio
  
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• Indiana Republicans reject effort to redraw voting maps in rebuke to Trump

  11-12-2025 23:51 via theguardian.com
  Measure to redistrict, which would add two GOP-friendly seats, failed 19-31 after 21 Republicans joined 10 DemocratsIndiana Republicans rejected an effort to redraw the state’s congressional map on Thursday, a stunning and blunt rebuke of Donald Trump and Republican efforts to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts to add two more Republican-friendly seats.The measure failed 19-31, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats in rejecting the new maps. Continue reading...
  
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• Senate back to square one on health care after both bills fail

  11-12-2025 23:49 via abcnews.go.com
  The Senate failed to advance two plans aimed at addressing a spike in health care costs that are expected for millions of Americans who receive enhanced ACA tax credits.
  
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• Kilmar Ábrego García released from ICE custody in fight over Trump immigration

  11-12-2025 23:48 via theguardian.com
  Ábrego plans return to Maryland as DHS pledges to appeal judge’s decision, calling ruling ‘naked judicial activism’Kilmar Ábrego García has been freed from an immigration detention facility in Pennsylvania after a federal judge in Maryland ordered his release on Thursday.Ábrego was released shortly before 5pm ET, his attorney told the Associated Press. He plans to return to Maryland, where he has lived for many years with his US citizen wife and chil
  
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• Labour to create up to 60,000 spaces for children with Send in English schools

  11-12-2025 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Bridget Phillipson says £3bn scheme focussed on local state schools will ‘transform lives’, after rise in parent appealsThe government is to invest £3bn in creating bespoke places within local state schools for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), a crucial part of its efforts to grapple with England’s rising numbers of children facing social and mental health problems.The plan announced by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, to cr
  
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• WATCH: 'Catastrophic' flooding forces emergency rescues in the Pacific Northwest

  11-12-2025 23:03 via abcnews.go.com
  Up to 100,000 people in Washington state could be ordered to evacuate amid a threat of "catastrophic" flooding from an atmospheric river event, officials said.
  
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• Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area injures at least six people

  11-12-2025 22:55 via theguardian.com
  Explosion led to three-alarm blaze in Hayward, California, neighborhood after construction crew damaged a gas pipeA big explosion erupted in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood of Hayward, California, after a gas line rupture on Thursday, injuring at least six people, according to local news reports.The explosion broke out around 9.30am local time, several hours after a construction crew damaged a gas pipe. At least eight fire engines and two fire trucks responded to the three-alarm blaze. Con
  
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• WATCH: At 100, war veteran still volunteers to tell history

  11-12-2025 22:53 via abcnews.go.com
  Danny New speaks to Arthur Grabiner, a WW II veteran who continues to educate people about his experience during the war in the Pacific.
  
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• WATCH: Stranded father, son rescued from Everglades

  11-12-2025 22:16 via abcnews.go.com
  The pair were rescued by helicopter after their ATV became stuck in mud.
  
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• 2nd grand jury refuses to indict New York AG Letitia James: Sources

  11-12-2025 22:07 via abcnews.go.com
  For a second time in a week, a federal grand jury in Virginia has refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud, sources say.
  
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• WATCH: Airman surprises siblings in early Christmas present

  11-12-2025 22:06 via abcnews.go.com
  Stacie Garrett shared a TikTok video of her eldest son surprising her younger kids ahead of Christmas.
  
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• California colleges agree settlements over antisemitism complaints

  11-12-2025 21:33 via theguardian.com
  UC Berkeley apologizes to Israeli sociologist and dance teacher and Pomona to create taskforce on Jewish lifeTwo California colleges have reached settlements with Jewish organizations and individuals who filed complaints alleging antisemitism arising from pro-Palestinian campus protests, including a $60,000 payment to an Israeli sociologist and dance researcher who says she was not rehired by the University of California, Berkeley despite the popularity of her class.The UC Berkeley chancellor, R
  
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• Key whistleblower contradicts part of phone hacking case against Daily Mail

  11-12-2025 21:30 via theguardian.com
  Private investigator Jonathan Rees denies telling Doreen Lawrence he was involved in bugging herA key whistleblower supporting a legal claim headed by Prince Harry and Doreen Lawrence against the publisher of the Daily Mail appears to have dealt a last-minute blow to the case against the media group.Just weeks before a high court trial, Jonathan Rees, a private investigator who has supported claims of unlawful news gathering at Associated Newspapers, has contradicted a central allegation in the
  
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• Editor of Times and Sunday Times in Scotland is charged over ‘indecent communications’

  11-12-2025 21:29 via theguardian.com
  David McCann, 43, was arrested after police searched his flat in EdinburghThe editor of the Times and Sunday Times in Scotland has been suspended and charged over “indecent online communications”.News UK, which owns the newspapers, announced that David McCann had been suspended after he was “made the subject of a criminal investigation unrelated to his work”. Continue reading...
  
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• US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy

  11-12-2025 21:20 via theguardian.com
  Ukrainian president says plan would not be fair without guarantees that Russia would not simply take over zoneThe US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.Previously, the US had suggested Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a
  
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• Inquiry to be held into north-east England NHS trust after patient deaths

  11-12-2025 21:12 via theguardian.com
  Health secretary announces investigation into Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys trust that has seen young patients take their own livesA public inquiry will be held into the failures of a north-east NHS foundation after the deaths of several patients, Wes Streeting has confirmed.The health secretary made the announcement in Darlington, speaking to the families of patients who died while receiving treatment from hospitals run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS foundation trust, which is headquartered in
  
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• Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area damages homes, sends heavy smoke into air

  11-12-2025 21:01 via abcnews.go.com
  A gas explosion has started a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood, damaging several homes and sending heavy smoke into the air
  
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