US law enforcement officers say Meta and Snapchat routinely delay or reject warrants. The companies disagree

Max Osterman was 18 when he connected with a drug dealer on Snapchat who used the handle skyhigh.303. Max would message him whenever he wanted to buy Percocet, and they would meet. After about a year, and just days after their last exchange, Max collapsed. The pills he ordered had been laced with fentanyl. He died from the overdose in February 2021 at his home in Broomfield, Colorado.

The dealer continued selling prescription painkillers until 2023, when he was jailed on two drug distribution convictions. When handing down the sentence, the judge said he was responsible for four deaths, yet he never faced charges for supplying the pills that killed Max.

We’d like to hear from independent retailers about how changes to online searches has affected them. We’d also like to find out from customers about how easy it is to track down independent retailers

We’d like to find out more about how your business has been affected by changes to online searches amid the rise of AI.

Independent businesses have traditionally relied on online advertising for increased visibility and sales, even if they are based on the high street. However, with the introduction of AI mode and AI Overview summaries on Google, and the proliferation of LLMs such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, people are altering their search habits, which may affect the online visibility of small businesses.

Suspect Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was found dead in New Hampshire storage facility after five-day manhunt

Investigators turned on Friday to the search for a motive in the murders of two Brown University students and a physics professor in Massachusetts in separate but linked attacks, after the prime suspect was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The body of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and formerly very briefly a student at Brown, was discovered in a New Hampshire storage facility on Thursday night after a five-day manhunt.

Former prime minister allegedly trying to poach members of 5 Hertford Street for her own Mayfair club one street away

For Tory grandees licking their wounds and plotting their return after their disastrous 2024 general election performance, the opulent, fire-lit rooms of the exclusive club 5 Hertford Street are a sanctuary.

But in recent weeks, their long lunches have been rudely interrupted by Liz Truss, who has been accused of wandering the premises in search of members to poach for her own rival operation, just one street away, which asks “founding members” for an eye-watering £500,000.

First prize was won by Elise Blanchard, who documented the lives of girls and young women in Afghanistan. Second prize was won by Natalya Saprunova, who captured the how children in Mongolia are affected by air pollution. Third prize was awarded to Sourav Das, who documented childhood in Jharia, home to one of India’s largest coal mines. Honourable mentions went to seven other photo series from Afghanistan, Gaza, South Africa, Ukraine and the UK

• An exhibition of the work will run until the end of January 2026 at the Haus der Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin, and then at the Willy Brandt Haus, also in Berlin, from 30 January to 26 April 2026

Marvel has put the first official trailer for the new Avengers meetup before random screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Recordings of it have leaked online – but many questions still remain

Is anything real any more? For the last few weeks there have been rumours that Marvel is about to drop the first official footage for its forthcoming superhero epic Avengers: Doomsday, ahead of screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. And it makes a sort of sense: the latest instalment of James Cameron’s 3D mega-project about blue aliens and colonial shame is clearly a visual spectacle, so why not lure fans of Captain America and Thor into cinemas by dangling the promise of a Doomsday trailer in front of them? In a world in which everyone expects everything to be online instantly, could the most radical experiment be to put this thing in cinemas?

If it once seemed like a good idea, it increasingly looks less so. There are rumoured to be multiple Doomsday trailers in circulation, to be ushered in ahead of select screenings of Fire and Ash. But several appear to have leaked online already, which means most Avengers superfans are now getting their first glimpse of the new movie through a prism of phone footage and compression artefacts. Audiences at early showings of Cameron’s film, meanwhile, have reported not seeing any Avengers trailer, though some insist they definitely saw something, briefly.

Now the Guardian’s Top 50 countdowns, as voted for by the whole film team, have announced their No 1s, here are our chief critic’s personal choices – in no particular order

• The 50 best films of 2025 in the UK
• The 50 best movies of 2025 in the US

The time has come once more for me to present my “Braddies”, a strictly personal awards list for films on UK release in the year just gone and, as ever, quite distinct from this paper’s collegiate best-of-year countdown. These are my top 10 lists for best film, director, actor and supporting actor, actress and supporting actress, directorial debut, cinematographer, screenplay and film most likely to be overlooked by the boomer mainstream media (or MSM).

As we look back over the last 12 months, there can be no doubt of the villain of 2025: Tilly Norwood, the female AI star. Launched in October, she is a smilingly bland and really very convincing non-human being who will work uncomplainingly and cheaply without ever storming off to her trailer. Like everyone else, I deplored the horrible simulation and opined that she is part of the AI-isation of movies that has been happening for some time now – without AI.

People of Silverdale report rattling and shaking as 2.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in probable aftershock

A village in Lancashire has been hit by a “radiator rattling” earthquake for the second time in little over two weeks.

Residents of Silverdale, a small coastal village located five miles south of the Cumbria border, reported the now strangely familiar feeling of rattling and shaking in their homes at 5.03am as a 2.5-magnitude earthquake hit the area with its epicentre 1.6 miles (2.6km) off the coast.

I had watched the coming-of-age weepie over and over growing up so it was an overwhelming experience to sit down with its creator and see it again. It was a magical day and he was just as warm-hearted as his movie

Rob Reiner beams as he greets me. “You’ve seen Stand By Me 100 times?” he asks. I nod sheepishly. “Then you probably know it better than I do.” It’s August 2006, 20 years after Reiner’s coming-of-age weepie was first released, and I’m sitting in his office at Castle Rock Entertainment, the LA-based production company he co-launched in 1987. On the walls hang posters of Reiner’s beloved movies – This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, Misery, A Few Good Men – but our attention is fixed on a modest TV as Stand By Me begins.

I’m here in Beverly Hills to write an anniversary article for a film magazine, but it’s also a pinch-me moment. As a teen, I’d watched Stand By Me on loop, identifying with the four protagonists – fragile, wannabe-writer Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough-but-sensitive Chris (River Phoenix), wildcard joker Teddy (Corey Feldman) and put-upon Vern (Jerry O’Connell) – as they share their grief, insecurities and mistrust of adults.

Our demands are simple – and they start with stopping the flow of arms to Israel

• Amu Gib is an activist currently being held at HMP Bronzefield

Amu Gib is one of several prisoners on hunger strike who are awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action. Gib is being being held at HMP Bronzefield. Their charges relate to an alleged break-in at RAF Brize Norton this year. This article is based on interviews with Ainle Ó Cairealláin, host of the Rebel Matters podcast, and the writer and researcher ES Wight on days 18 and 33 of the strike.

We began our hunger strike on 2 November: the anniversary of the Balfour declaration, when Britain planted the seeds of the genocide that we are witnessing today.

An HMP Bronzefield spokesperson said: “We cannot provide information about specific individuals; however, we can confirm that all prisoners are managed in line with the policies and procedures governing the entire UK prison estate. This includes specialist multi-agency processes, led by the government, to assess individual risks and security status. However, if any prisoner has specific complaints, we encourage them to raise them directly with the prison, as there are numerous channels available for addressing such concerns.”

Amu Gib is an activist currently being held at HMP Bronzefield

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.

Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group used drones and explosives in Thursday night attack that also injured at least 28 soldiers

Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group has attacked a military base near Venezuela with drones and explosives, killing six soldiers and wounding more than two dozen.

Founded in 1964 and inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN is the oldest surviving guerrilla group in the Americas, and controls key drug-producing regions of Colombia. Efforts to negotiate a peace settlement have repeatedly stalled.

Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry sentenced to 19 years each for conspiring to murder Christopher Mills

A woman who plotted with her secret lover to murder her husband so they could start a new life together has been jailed for 19 years.

Michelle Mills, 46, and Geraint Berry, 47, planned to kill Christopher Mills so they could continue their affair, and Berry recruited Steven Thomas, also 47, to help carry out their attack on 20 September last year.

Chicago can edge closer to sealing the NFC North in a sepia-toned Soldier Field showdown that headlines a pivotal week in the NFL playoff race

Another week as the NFL winds up for the postseason offers a fresh look at contenders building for the Super Bowl. Jacksonville v Denver, yes please. Baltimore v New England, bingo. Pittsburgh v Detroit, hmm … OK. Still not satisfied? The strange lights of Saturday night over in the NFC North should do the trick with a sepia-toned showdown between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. A win for either and a Detroit defeat confirms a playoff slot while victory for the Bears gets them close to sealing the division (even in defeat the Packers still will be ahead for the seventh seed). The gaping hole left by Micah Parsons in Green Bay’s defensive front may have Chicago fans edging to the side of expectation that their Bears can put together a deep playoff run if home-field advantage is on their side.

In our house, the Christmas photo still exists. But it follows a very different set of rules: Keep it quick, keep it casual, and if it’s not funny … what’s the point?

In my family, Christmas isn’t just a holiday … It’s an obsession. And my mother? She’s the matriarch of mistletoe.

Every December, our home transformed into a living snow globe. We didn’t just buy ornaments, we made them. We didn’t watch Christmas movies, we lived them. We’d cut down our own trees, hand-string popcorn garlands and spend full afternoons debating the correct angle of the angel on top of the tree.

While every story has been unique in loveliness, I’ve found that many share a similar pulse

• Read our kindness of strangers series here

Earlier this year, I had a phone call with a woman named Debbie about one of her toughest days as a parent. While she was carting her two sick toddlers to buy medicine, one abruptly vomited across the floor of the local shopping mall. A passing stranger stopped, grabbed a roll of paper towel from the display in front of the chemist, and sopped up the mess – then went inside to pay for what she’d used, insisting on footing the bill. It was a small but lovely act that spoke to the decency of other people.

Working as a journalist often involves speaking to people on, or about, the worst day of their life. But for the past year I have had the tremendous pleasure of interviewing Australians (and the occasional Briton) about something very different – the acts of kindness they’ve received from a total stranger. Guardian Australia asked readers to send in these stories, and we have been publishing them in our weekly Kindness of Strangers column.

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Restoring a feeling of safety for Australian Jews will take extraordinary effort. As well as stamping out antisemitism, the work should start with a national approach to managing guns

The shock and grief that already hung over Australia this week after the Bondi beach shootings has only been compounded by the funerals for the victims.

Members of Melbourne’s Jewish community gathered on Thursday to mourn Reuven Morrison. The 62-year-old met his wife, Leah, at Bondi after immigrating from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He died there on Sunday night, having thrown a brick at one of the gunmen, trying to slow the deadly attack on joyful Hanukah celebrations. His unjust death betrays the reason Morrison chose to move across the world.

In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers

When the holistic practitioner Emma Cardinal, 32, became pregnant in May 2023, she planned to have a home birth with midwives. Cardinal lives in a town in British Columbia with strong counter-cultural roots. “The community that I live in, home birth is something a lot of women prioritise,” she explains.

Then Cardinal stumbled across a podcast from the Free Birth Society (FBS). One episode in particular, she says, made an impact: “Unpacking Ultrasound With Yolande Clark.” In it, the Canadian ex-doula Yolande Norris-Clark falsely links ultrasounds to autism and ADHD and states that “ultrasound damages and modifies and destroys cells”.

On her monumental, maximalist opus, the dazzlingly audacious Spanish singer balanced pop and classical, experimentation and accessibility

• The 50 best albums of 2025
• More on the best culture of 2025

On paper, Lux reads more like a particularly tricky bonus round on University Challenge than the new album by a pop artist whose previous single was a collaboration with Lisa from Blackpink. Split into four distinct movements and sung in 13 languages, Lux is a head-spinning, classical music-adjacent opus exploring feminine mystique, religious transcendence and corporal transformation, often via the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship – grounded and laid bare on Lily Allen’s West End Girl, 2025’s other dissection of heartbreak – is shot heavenwards here, buffeted by the constant presence of the London Symphony Orchestra and the input of Pulitzer prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw among a scroll-sized list of collaborators. Its audacity alone makes the efforts of Rosalía’s pop peers look pretty laughable.

The fact that Lux manages to transcend scholarly chin-stroking and dry Wiki deep dives is near miraculous, and the credit is solely Rosalía’s. While this isn’t her first album to alchemise the past and present – see 2018’s El Mal Querer and its heady flamenco-R&B hybrid – the stakes are far higher on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. What elevates her fourth album, outside its multilayered melodies, rich compositions and engrained drama, is the playfulness at its heart. Like Björk during her 90s peak, there’s a sense of wonderment to Rosalía’s voice that sweeps you up into its tornado. Even when she’s tearing your heart in two, as on La Yugular’s blossoming balladry, or the ascension to heaven on the closing Magnolias, you want to be right there with her.

All of us belong to different tribes that give us identity and meaning, but this lesson tells us we are more than our different tribes

Last week, a family member passed away. While we came together to celebrate the tremendous impact of his life, death always hurts.

Death also always makes me contemplate three things:

Alliance Defending Freedom has ramped up its global spending on litigation and other campaigns to push its ultra conservative Christian values

Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal advocacy group behind the overturning of Roe v Wade, has ramped up its global spending on litigation and other campaigns, in what appears to be an attempt to export what critics call its hard-right Christian theocratic values beyond US borders.

ADF and ADF International, a separate legal entity, spent a combined $10.9m on international grants and programs for the year ending June 2024, according to its most up to date public tax records, and appears to have increased by 70% year-on-year spending on Europe-related issues.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

This €90bn agreement won out over a plan to use frozen Russian assets, but has been hailed a ‘huge deal for the EU’

The EU’s failure to agree a “reparations loan” to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets was a political blow to the bloc’s big beasts, but the last-gasp alternative it devised will do the job – and marks a potentially significant first.

After a marathon 16 hours of talks, EU leaders early on Friday agreed to fund Ukraine, which risked running out of money by next April, with a much-needed €90bn (£79bn) loan. But the solution they came up with was not the one most had wanted.

Criminal ecosystem is made up of mostly male native English language speakers aged from 16 to 25

Ransomware hacks, data theft, crypto scams and sextortion cover a broad range of cybercrimes carried out by an equally varied list of assailants.

But there is also an English-speaking criminal ecosystem carrying out these activities that defies conventional categorisation. Nonetheless, it does have a name: the Com.

The new project from the creator of Pulling and Utopia is the real-life tale of a teacher whose life is upended by working with inmates. ‘It upends your prejudices,’ he says

Writer Dennis Kelly has a few mantras he’s always lived by. They’re all there, clearly defined in his very earliest interviews, right from the start of his career. Write like you mean it (perhaps that’s why his plays have so much heart and drive). Never write for money and never compromise (maybe that’s why two of the best TV shows he had a hand in, the controversial conspiracy drama Utopia and the Sharon Horgan comedy Pulling, were cancelled after two series). And finally: make sure your writing always contains a secret.

In the case of Matilda, the smash-hit stage adaptation he wrote alongside Tim Minchin, Kelly only figured out the secret hidden inside his writing long after the awards came flooding in. It turns out that Matilda, a show that glows with love but also aches with a sense of a loss, was all about Kelly’s longing to be a father – a longing that was met just a few years after the premiere with the birth of Kelly’s now six-year-old daughter, Kezia.