A geomagnetic storm made the aurora borealis visible across a swath of the United States again on Wednesday, illuminating the skies as far south as Arizona.

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Erik Bottcher, a Democrat from Chelsea, began his career as an L.G.B.T.Q. rights activist. He faces a growing field of rivals vying for a Manhattan House seat.

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Congress released new files from the Epstein investigation. We explain what they mean.

The lawsuit alleges that one worker has their Unpaid Time Off docked after she asked Amazon to make small accommodations for her genetic condition

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The Lebanese-born man was arrested on Tuesday after entering the motorway near the Czech border

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Military analysts and some Ukrainian commanders worry that Kyiv may be repeating the mistake of staying in an embattled city longer than it should, aiming to inflict far more casualties than it suffers.

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Intervention by Tony Blair’s former director of communications comes as the PM is under pressure to sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney

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Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid is a classy plug-in hybrid version of VW’s best-selling SUV that has plenty of strength in depth. It’s not cheap, but it’s more than capable of taking on its ever-growing array of rivals

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The Riviera Maya is a popular choice for families with kids, but Cristina Alonso finds sanctuary in an adults-only resort ideal for romantic getaways

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More than 50 flood warnings and alerts can were issued on Wednesday as the UK braces for more heavy rain

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The former England captain lends his support to The Independent’s SafeCall appeal with the charity Missing People, launched to raise £165,000 for a new lifeline for the 70,000 children reported missing each year

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Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to president Barack Obama and a potential presidential candidate in 2028, is an unlikely advocate for a program not normally associated with the Democrats: national service. Read More

In British Columbia, property rights are in turmoil. The B.C. Supreme Court recently declared that Aboriginal title exists on 800 acres of land in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. Aboriginal title, said the court, is “senior and prior” to fee simple interests. In the shadow of the decision, given the implications, Aboriginal title claims are receiving more attention. Kamloops and Sun Peaks ski resort are targets in one such claim. Meanwhile, the B.C. government has been conferring Aboriginal title across the province too. It continues to make agreements, such as on Haida Gwaii, to transfer control over land use in the province. Read More

BBC faces criticism from Rogan and others over a documentary that edited President Trump's January 6th remarks, omitting his call for peaceful protest.

Family hatch buyers can’t go wrong by choosing a Volkswagen Golf, and the eHybrid plug-in hybrid version builds on its appeal with long-range EV capability – albeit at the expense of boot space

© Volkswagen

A potential 107% tariff on Italian pasta imports could cause companies to withdraw from US market – and for US producers to raise their prices

On Monday night, Kelly planned to make dinner and spend the night inside with her family. Instead, she told her husband to put the kids to bed so she could get in the car, drive to Wegman’s and “panic buy” $100 worth of Rummo pasta.

Kelly, a 42-year-old product manager who lives outside Philadelphia, has celiac disease, which means that eating gluten triggers an immune response that leads to digestive issues. She saw fellow gluten-free people on Reddit and TikTok freaking out over the fact that the US is mulling a 107% tariff on Italian pasta imports. According to the Wall Street Journal, the hike could lead to those companies withdrawing from the US market as early as January.

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© Photograph: eZeePics Studio/Getty Images/iStockphoto

© Photograph: eZeePics Studio/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Guardian has no billionaire or corporate owner: funded by readers, our fierce independence is guaranteed

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The richest man on earth owns X.

The family of the second-richest man owns Paramount, which owns CBS, and could soon own Warner Bros, which owns CNN.

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© Photograph: JW Hendricks/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: JW Hendricks/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: JW Hendricks/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The answer to extremism lies in real alternatives that improve peoples’ lives – not in tired platitudes or managed decline

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© Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

© Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

© Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Residents are organizing in response to raids across the city amid Trump’s wide-ranging ‘operation midway blitz’

Anaís Robles didn’t expect to get teargassed. The co-owner of Colibrí Cafe, the coffee shop that opened this year in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood, saw commotion outside in mid October and ran to see what happened.

Robles saw federal agents donning masks and decided to step back, she was half a block away when the tear gas canisters hit. “People were just in the streets, so to clear out the area, they teargas all of us, and like, multiple teargas [cannisters],” she said.

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© Photograph: Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

© Photograph: Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

© Photograph: Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Unfair labor practice strike on ‘red cup day’ in over 25 cities comes amid stagnant negotiations with coffee chain

Hundreds of Starbucks workers are set to strike in more than 25 cities across the US today amid stagnant negotiations with the world’s largest coffee chain over a first union contract.

On the company’s annual “red cup day”, hailing the start of the lucrative holiday season, Starbucks Workers United is launching an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, with rallies planned in locations including New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and Anaheim, California.

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© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

The machine sought to claim both a transaction fee and a percentage of my change. Why would anyone agree to this?

One night, late in the last century, I was with some friends walking home in the middle of the night. We were living in Cricklewood, on Shoot-Up Hill – which remains my favourite home address. Anyway, a police car, blue lights a-flashing, came to a halt in front of us. A couple of police officers leapt out and asked us to jump up and down. You what?

They asked us again, but in a tone suggesting it was less of a question than a command. Up and down we jumped until told to stop doing so. The cops thanked us for our trouble and, jumping back into their vehicle, explained they were on the hunt for some lads who’d just robbed an amusement arcade. In the morning we asked each other if this had really happened. And 35 years on, I’ve just asked one of the blokes I was with if it really happened. And it did. I don’t think I’ve rummaged for coins in my pocket since without thinking about this incident.

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© Photograph: Adie Bush/Getty Images/Image Source

© Photograph: Adie Bush/Getty Images/Image Source

© Photograph: Adie Bush/Getty Images/Image Source

Having left her husband, Shaw’s daughter moves in with her at the family’s Manhattan apartment and soon tensions arise – wry, sweet, melancholic but somewhat insubstantial

Fiona Shaw finds some tremendous form in this upmarket dramedy of mother-daughter tension and first-world problems, and Katherine Waterston is (as ever) really good. There’s plenty of amusement and wry, sophisticated sadness here, though co-writer and director Gaby Dellal has confected what is, in the end, a pretty middleweight movie.

Shaw plays Kit, an elegant and wealthy widow living in a handsome apartment on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, known for her witty disdain for those less stylish than herself and about to publish a memoir of life with her late husband, a collector of Chinese art. Out of the blue her grown up daughter Charlotte (Waterston) appears, having run out on her abusive rancher husband; she intends to stay for a while with her mother in her childhood Park Avenue home while she figures things out.

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© Photograph: Park Avenue Films

© Photograph: Park Avenue Films

© Photograph: Park Avenue Films