Germany and France’s top diplomats went to Damascus on behalf of the European Union. It’s the first such trip in years, and part of a flurry of Western outreach.
The Louisiana Republican was unanimously nominated as his party’s candidate for speaker. But resistance among right-wing lawmakers and his slim majority have thrust his fate into doubt.
The affable traditional conservative from South Dakota is the first new chief of the Senate G.O.P. in nearly two decades. He will confront a challenge managing President-elect Donald J. Trump’s expectations.
One of Senator John Thune’s first challenges as majority leader will be to shepherd multiple Trump nominees to confirmation in the closely divided Senate.
The two Mideast powerhouses have been trying to block the rise of Islamist groups in the region for two decades. The rebel takeover in Damascus will test that approach.
In a deal with Islamist parties, Pakistan is abandoning a requirement that religious seminaries, long seen by Western officials as a potential threat, register with the government.
The former mayor of New York City could be held in contempt of court after failing to fully comply with orders to surrender millions of dollars in assets to election workers he defamed.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, has missed several deadlines to hand over assets to two Georgia poll workers he claimed had helped steal the 2020 election from Donald J. Trump.
To refine her monologue for Sunday’s show, she relied on two writers’ rooms and 91 test runs. Then came the fickle audiences and a crisis of confidence.
The city said overall traffic deaths were down compared with 2023, and the number was still far lower than it was before the city adopted its Vision Zero safety program.
The Vision Zero program, instituted under former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014, drove down total traffic fatalities in its first five years, but that number began to rise again.
Proposals on the long-term funding of adult social care in England are unlikely to be delivered before 2028 at the earliest, the government has confirmed.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting is promising "to finally grasp the nettle on social care reform", with an independent commission due to begin work in April.
But the commission, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, is not due to publish its final report until 2028.
Councils and care providers say it is too long to wait for reform of vital services which are already on their knees.
The government also announced immediate plans to get care workers to do more health checks, and a funding boost for services to help elderly and disabled people remain in their homes.
Social care means help for older or disabled people with day-to-day tasks like washing, dressing, medication and eating.
Only those with the most complex health needs get social care provided free by the NHS, so most care is paid for by councils.
In England, only people with high needs and savings or assets of less than £23,250 are eligible for that help, leaving a growing number of people to fund themselves.
Some face paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for their care and may be forced to sell their own home as a result.
The government's ultimate aim is "a new National Care Service, able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st Century", said Streeting.
He said he had invited opposition parties to take part in the commission "to build a cross-party consensus to ensure the National Care Service survives governments of different shades, just as our NHS has for the past 76 years".
Baroness Casey - who has led several high-profile reviews, including into homelessness, the Rotherham child exploitation scandal and the Metropolitan Police - said she was pleased "to lead this vital work".
She is viewed in government as being straight-talking, with good cross-party links, and as someone who gets things done.
Even so, drawing up a plan for a National Care Service that meets the needs of an ageing population and is affordable is perhaps her biggest challenge yet.
There is agreement that the care system has been in crisis for years, struggling with growing demand, under-funding and staff shortages.
The problem has been getting political agreement on how overdue reform will be funded.
In 2010, Labour plans to fund social care were labelled a "death tax"' in that year's election, and Conservative plans were called a "dementia tax" in the 2017 election.
There have also been numerous commissions, reviews and inquiries over the past 25 years which have failed to bring change.
The 2011 Dilnot Commission plan for a cap on individual care costs came closest, making it into legislation, but was not implemented.
However, providing enough support for people in their own homes, care homes and supported living remains a pressing issue.
The care systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are slightly more generous, but all are facing the pressures of growing demand and squeezed finances.
"Our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer-term action," said Streeting.
The government had promised a National Care Service in its manifesto, although provided little detail.
The independent commission will work with users of care services, their families, staff, politicians and the public to recommend how best to build a care service to meet current and future needs.
"Millions of older people, disabled people, their families and carers rely upon an effective adult social care system to live their lives to the full with independence and dignity," said Baroness Casey.
"An independent commission is an opportunity to start a national conversation, find the solutions and build consensus on a long-term plan to fix the system."
Baroness Casey has chaired a series of high-profile reviews
The commission will report to the prime minister and its work will be split into two phases.
Phase one will identify critical issues and recommend medium-term improvements. This will report by mid-2026.
Phase two will look at how to organise care services and fund them for the future. This report is not due until 2028 - a year before the next election.
The King's Fund independent health think-tank urged the government to "accelerate the timing".
"The current timetable to report by 2028 is far too long to wait for people who need social care, and their families," said its chief executive, Sarah Woolnough.
Councils, which are under huge financial pressure, pay for care services for most people.
Melanie Williams, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, agreed that the "timescales are too long".
She believes much of the evidence and options on how to reform adult social care are already known and worries that "continuing to tread water until a commission concludes will be at the detriment of people's health and well-being".
About 835,000 people received publicly funded care in 2022, according to the King's Fund. The charity Age UK estimates there are about two million people in England who have unmet care needs - and according to workforce organisation Skills for Care, while 1.59 million people work in adult social care in England, there are currently 131,000 vacancies.
Helen Walker, the head of Carers UK, which represents millions of unpaid people who provide care to family members, said families were "under intense pressure and providing more care than ever before"
When older or disabled people are unable to get the help they need in the community they are more likely to end up in hospital, or get stuck on a ward when they are ready to leave.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England chief executive, said: "We hope this vital action plan and commitment to create a National Care Service will both help better support people and ease pressure on hospital wards."
The government also confirmed an extra £86m would be spent before the end of the financial year in April to help thousands more elderly and disabled people to remain in their homes.
The money is on top of a similar sum announced in the Budget for the next financial year.
Overall, it should allow 7,800 disabled and elderly people to make vital improvements to their homes which should increase their independence and reduce hospitalisations, says the government.
Other changes include:
better career pathways for care workers
better use of technology and new national standards to support elderly people to live at home for longer
up-skilling care workers to deliver basic checks such as blood pressure monitoring
a new digital platform to share medical information between NHS and care staff.
Snow covered homes, roads and cars in the Scottish village of Portmahomack
Temperatures fell to nearly -8C overnight as an Arctic blast hits the UK, with warnings that snow could bring "significant disruption" this weekend.
Amber cold weather health alerts warning of a risk of a rise in deaths are in place for the whole of England, with one local NHS service urging people to avoid going out early in the morning when the frost is thick.
Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are in place for most of England, Wales and Scotland between Saturday and Monday.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Breakfast "it is definitely a weekend to turn the heating on", after charity Age UK said the weather would bring the winter fuel payment cuts "into sharp relief".
Benson in Oxfordshire recorded the UK's lowest temperature of -7.9C overnight, with much of the UK seeing cold and frosty conditions on Friday morning.
Elsewhere, temperatures dropped to -7.5C in Shap, Cumbria, and -6.4C in Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway, earlier on Thursday night.
In Wales, the lowest temperature was -4.9C in Usk, while in Northern Ireland, it was -5.7C in Katesbridge.
Yellow Met Office warnings for ice are in force until 10:00 GMT on Friday in west Wales, north-west England and parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with wintry showers at times throughout the day.
Snow showers will continue in north-east Scotland bringing accumulations of up to 10cm over high ground during Friday too.
BBC weather presenter Sarah Keith-Lucas said 20-40cm of snow could fall across northern England and southern Scotland from late Saturday into Monday, which could cause "significant disruption".
She said temperatures in towns and cities across the UK were expected to fall below freezing overnight on Friday into Saturday morning, with "significantly colder" conditions in rural areas. There could be some freezing fog patches in the Midlands and East Anglia, she added.
On Saturday evening, snow is forecast in parts of southern England, Wales, the Midlands in England and Northern Ireland.
On Sunday morning, snow is expected in parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and southern Scotland especially over higher ground where the snow is expected to be quite disruptive.
Later on Sunday, temperatures are expected to be milder in parts of the country, reaching 13C in London in contrast to Aberdeen where it could be just 2C.
Snow is expected across the Midlands, Wales and northern England over the weekend
The weather warnings include:
A yellow warning for snow and ice in north-east Scotland, including the Orkney and Shetland Islands, until 10:00 GMT on Friday
A yellow warning for ice is in place across north-west England, western Scotland and part of Northern Ireland until 10:00 on Friday
Western Wales is also covered by a yellow ice warning until 10:00 on Friday.
On Saturday from noon until midnight,a yellow warning for snow and ice is in place covering all of England apart from the south-west, and the whole of Wales
A separate yellow warning for snow covers most of Scotland, except the far north, from midnight on Sunday until 12:00 GMT on Monday
The amber cold health alerts cover the whole of England but are not in place for the rest of the UK.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issues the alerts when temperatures are likely to affect people's wellbeing, in particular those who are elderly or have health conditions.
The alerts provide early warning to healthcare providers, and suggest actions such as actively monitoring individuals at high risk, and checking that people most vulnerable to cold-related illnesses have visitor or phone call arrangements in place.
Local NHS services have been issuing tips to residents, with NHS Black Country's integrated care board telling people to "avoid going out early when the frost is thick or late at night when it's dark".
Age UK's director Caroline Abrahams said on Thursday that the cold weather would bring the government's decision to limit winter fuel payments "into sharp relief", and added the charity had already been contacted by people "worrying about what to do".
She urged older people "to do everything they can to stay warm" including risking spending more on their heating. Ms Abrahams added energy companies had "an obligation to help" those struggling and there may be support from local councils too.
The prime minister previously said it was important to protect pensioners who most needed the allowance, but many did not need it because they were "relatively wealthy". The cut aims to save £1.5bn a year.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said on Thursday that no fresh postcodes had been triggered for cold weather payments.
Payments of £25 are made to eligible households when an area's average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0C or below for seven consecutive days.
In one home video clip, the boy throwing the darts is wearing a nappy.
In another, a highchair leans against the wall as he slams them home.
In a third, at an age where most children can barely conceive of double digits, the toddler wanders to the camera and gleefully shouts "one hundred and eighty".
The height of the board changes, the oche edges back, magnet tips switch to tungsten, but the easy action of Luke Littler, which will grace tonight's World Championship final, is a constant.
In football, 'Project Mbappe' has been used to describe the perfect storm conditions that propelled football star Kylian Mbappe from the Paris suburbs to the brink of greatness while he was still a teenager.
Littler is the first prodigy whose total arrows immersion has been documented in real time. His steps have followed a pre-plotted route to the Alexandra Palace stage since he first started walking.
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Watch: Luke Littler plays darts as a toddler in home video footage
Last year, aged just 16, he arrived.
He came into the World Championships as a 66-1 debutant, carved his way through the draw, accumulating followers, raising decibels and spilling out into the mainstream.
It took the world number one - Luke Humphries – to halt the hype train, beating Littler in the final at the cavernous north London venue.
But it was Littler on the chat show sofas alongside Hollywood stars, Littler on the front of kids' darts sets under the Christmas tree, Littler streaking through the earth's upper atmosphere as part of a gaming console advert.
Twelve months ago, he was an unknown. This time, the attention is immediate, and the pressure is inescapable. Now, the upsets are his to suffer, rather than to inflict.
He is approaching the ceiling, bumping up against the biggest names, battling for the biggest prize, as an equal rather than a newcomer.
So soon into his career, he is entering a new era. And the air is different up here.
Admitting to nerves during the match, he said: "It is probably the biggest time it's hit me. Coming into it I was fine, but as soon as [referee] George Noble said 'game on', I couldn't throw them.
"It has been a lot to deal with."
It was, Littler said, "the worst game I have played". That he clocked a tournament record three-dart average of 140.91 in an electrifying, 31-dart, three-leg, fourth set during it shows his sky-high standards.
Still, Littler, choking up, had to cut short his on-stage interview, seeking out his family for a hug.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Littler sought out his family in the crowd after a misfiring performance in his world championship opener against Ryan Meikle
'The Nuke' wasn't in meltdown, but neither was he at his best.
But, when it has mattered, Littler plucked precision from the quiver.
Worryingly for the opposition, he has started to find his happy place too.
"I'll be honest, no nerves," he said after his quarter-final victory, a 5-2 walloping of Nathan Aspinall.
"I'm playing with absolute confidence, with freedom."
Stephen Bunting was barely a semi-final speedbump for Littler's steamrolling momentum. He averaged 105.48, his highest of this year's competition, in a 6-1 thrashing of the world number five.
Now, Michael van Gerwen stands between Littler and dart's biggest prize, complete with a £500,000 pay day.
The Dutchman is the youngest PDC world champion to date, having won the title as a 24-year-old in 2014.
That period was defined by the Van Gerwen's titanic, torch-passing tussles with Phil Taylor, a rivalry that super-charged darts' rise and saw him claim three world titles.
Littler is the beneficiary, but has added another story to the edifice.
He is already, by some distance, the best-known darts player in the world. Will he now be the best player?
Sir Nick - pictured here with Mark Zuckerberg - leaves Meta at a time when Silicon Valley leaders seek to court Trump
Former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg is to step down from his current job as president of global affairs at social media giant Meta.
In a post on Meta's Facebook on Thursday, Sir Nick, a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he was departing the company after nearly seven years.
He will be replaced by his current deputy and Republican Joe Kaplan, who previously served as deputy chief of staff in the White House during President George W Bush's administration, and is known for handling the company's relations with Republicans.
He added that he would spend "a few months handing over the reins" and representing Facebook at international gatherings before moving on to "new adventures".
Sir Nick's resignation comes just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The president-elect has repeatedly accused Meta and other platforms of censorship and silencing conservative speech.
His relations with Mr Zuckerberg have been particularly strained, after Facebook and Instagram suspended the former president's accounts for two years in 2021, after they said he praised those engaged in violence at the Capitol on 6 January.
Sir Nick's departure is seen by some analysts as a nod to the changing of the guard in Washington.
He joined Facebook in 2018, after losing his seat as an MP in 2017. He was later promoted to president of global affairs, a prominent position at Meta.
He was instrumental in launching Meta's oversight board, a panel of experts that makes decisions and advises Mr Zuckerberg on policies around content moderation, privacy, and other issues.
Sir Nick has been open about his views on Trump's close ally, Elon Musk, describing him as a political puppet master, claiming he has turned X, formerly Twitter, into a "one-man hyper-partisan hobby horse".
The former Liberal Democrat leader moved to Silicon Valley initially but returned to London in 2022.
In his statement, he said he was moving on to "new adventures" with "immense gratitude and pride" at what he had been part of.
He said: "My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between 'big tech' and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector.
"I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics – worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe."
He added: "I am simply thrilled that my deputy, Joel Kaplan, will now become Meta's chief global affairs officer…He is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time!"
Investigators say they will decide on next steps after a review
A day of high drama has drawn to an end in South Korea, with investigators suspending an attempt to arrest ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol after a six-hour standoff with the security team outside his home.
"We've determined that the arrest is impossible," said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which has been investigating Yoon's short-lived martial law declaration.
"Next steps will be decided after review," the CIO said, adding that Yoon's "refusal of the legal process" is "deeply regrettable".
Yoon's supporters, who have been camped out in front of the presidential residence for days, cheered in song and dance as the suspension was announced. "We won," they chanted.
Investigators have until 6 January to arrest Yoon, before the warrant expires. However they can apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.
A US court has rejected the Biden administration's bid to restore "net neutrality" rules, finding that the federal government does not have the authority to regulate internet providers like utilities.
It marks a major defeat for so-called open internet advocates, who have long fought for protections that would require internet providers such as AT&T to treat all legal content equally.
Such rules were first introduced by the Federal Communications Commission under former Democratic president Barack Obama but later repealed during Republican Donald Trump's first term.
The decision, just as Trump is poised to enter the White House for a second term, likely puts an end to the long-running legal battle over the issue.
In their decision, the judges noted that different administrations have gone back and forth on the issue.
But they said the court no longer had to give "deference" to the FCC's reading of the law, pointing to a recent Supreme Court decision that limits the authority of federal agencies to interpret laws, a decision that critics expect will be used to weaken regulation in the years ahead.
"Applying Loper Bright, means we can end the FCC's vacillations," the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said.
Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the FCC who Trump has tapped to lead the agency, said he was pleased the court had invalidated the Biden administration's "Internet power grab".
The FCC's outgoing Democratic commissioner said the ruling turned the issue over to Congress.
"Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair," Jessica Rosenworcel said.
"With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law."
The fight over net neutrality was once a heated issue in the US, pitting internet providers against big tech companies such as Google and Netflix.
Comedian John Oliver famously urged his audience to express support for the rules, leading to a deluge of comments that crashed the government's site.
But the issue has faded in prominence since the rules were repealed in 2018.
Thursday's ruling does not affect state-level net neutrality laws, which in some places offer similar protections.
But advocates, like Mr Oliver, have said that national rules are important to preventing internet providers from having powers to throttle certain content or charge more for speedy delivery of their service.
Public Knowledge, a progressive-leaning internet policy group, said the decision had weakened the FCC's power to shape privacy protections, implement public safety measures and take other action.
It said it believed the court had erred in ruling that internet service providers were simply offering an "information service" rather than acting as telecommunications companies.
"The court has created a dangerous regulatory gap that leaves consumers vulnerable and gives broadband providers unchecked power over Americans' internet access," it said.
But USTelecom, an industry group whose members include AT&T and Verizon, said the decision was "a victory for American consumers that will lead to more investment, innovation, and competition in the dynamic digital marketplace."
Security posts known as bollards were not in place before a suspect drove a truck into a crowd in the French Quarter of New Orleans early on New Year's Day, killing 14 and injuring at least 35.
Louisiana officials have said the street barriers were malfunctioning and were undergoing renovations before the city hosts the NFL Super Bowl on 9 February.
The short and sturdy posts - made of concrete, metal or other materials - are meant to block cars from entering pedestrian areas.
Christopher Raia, a deputy assistant director with the FBI, on Thursday called the attack an act of terrorism.
During the early morning hours on New Year's Day, a police vehicle was parked at an intersection to block access to Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, where the attack took place, but the suspect drove around the car and onto the sidewalk, police said.
Police have named Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas resident and US Army veteran, as the suspect. He died in the attack.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said on Wednesday that police had been "aware of the bollard situation" and took steps to "harden those target areas".
"We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it," she said.
Ms Kirkpatrick said the city planned to take a number of steps to increase security at the Sugar Bowl American football game, which was moved from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon because of the attack.
Bourbon Street will be re-opened on Thursday shortly ahead of the game.
"We have re-enforced the area," Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on Thursday.
New Orleans began placing bollards on Bourbon Street over ten years ago, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said on Wednesday.
But, she added, the bollards began to malfunction because of clogs from Mardi Gras beads, leading officials to try to replace them before the Super Bowl, which is scheduled to take place at the Caesars Superdome, near the site of the attack.
At the news conference, Ms Kirkpatrick defended the other security measures the city had in place.
"We did have a car there, we had barriers there, we had officers there, and they still got around," she said.
A number of cities in the US and around the world have installed bollards to prevent attacks.
New York City put the security measures in place along the Hudson River Park bike path after a man drove a rented pick-up truck into cyclists and runners along the path, killing eight people, in 2017.
It's too difficult to say for certain whether the New Orleans bollards being in place would have prevented such an incident, said University of Michigan professor and counterterrorism expert Javed Ali.
"He had a Ford 150 pick-up truck. You gun that thing at 50, 60 miles an hour, and who knows, even with bollards in place, would the car just - through physics - have rammed through them anyways?" he said.
"There must have been a lot of luck involved," Mr Ali added. "That's unfortunately what happens in these types of attacks."
A 2017 report commissioned by the city of New Orleans found the French Quarter was a "risk and target area for terrorism that the FBI has identified as a concern that the city must address".
The report noted that the neighbourhood was "often densely packed with pedestrians and represents an area where a mass casualty incident could occur".
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