In August, Donald Trump started a campaign of aggression against Venezuela. The US president first launched airstrikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of the South American country – a move largely condemned as extrajudicial killings – then deployed US naval assets in the Caribbean. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, explains why the claims the targeted boats were carrying drugs destined for the US are dubious and what Trump's actions could mean for the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro

• Venezuela’s Maduro urges Trump to avoid Afghanistan-style ‘forever war’

Bill Ackman thinks his pickup line could aid population rates. Given the track record of the mega-rich, it may do the opposite

Sit down and pay attention, because this column might change your life. I bring you tidings from the Nazi-filled wilderness that is now X, where Maga-adjacent billionaire Bill Ackman has generously decided to dispense romantic advice to the masses. Online culture, Ackman notes, has “destroyed the ability to spontaneously meet strangers”. The antidote to this, he suggests, are four simple words.

“May I meet you?”

From pyrotechnics in Perth to the denouement in Sydney, our team of writers outline their hopes and fears for the five Tests

Ali Martin A full-blooded Ashes tour – both sets of supporters in the stands watching a hard-fought contest – after the pandemic proved something of a buzzkill four years ago.

That ‘once-a-year’ deal might not be as rare as it looks – here’s how to spot the real bargains hiding in the Black Friday chaos (and avoid the scams)

• Do you really need a new TV? Seven simple ways to upgrade your setup

It’s a difficult time for people who dislike Americana influencing British culture. Even if you’re able to ignore the culture war sailing across the Atlantic, we now have the double whammy of Thanksgiving and Black Friday being celebrated in the UK.

While the former may only have a small footprint in the UK, the latter is big business. In 2024, Britons spent £3.6bn between Black Friday and the retro-futuristically named Cyber Monday – a 5.2% increase on the previous year, despite (or perhaps because of) the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Whether it’s vibe-setting dance and rap for house parties or soothing dream-pop for when you’re contemplating the clear-up, reach for these ready-made playlists

Let’s face it: when everyone’s two improvised cocktails deep, they’ll be hollering for Pink Pony Club, and after two more, they’ll be doing Fairytale of New York in a male-female karaoke face-off. But for the early part of the party, here’s some 2025 pop, dance and rap to keep the mood buoyant.

Steve Clarke’s history-making team has a ferocious work ethic that should typify what Scotland stands for

It was not a time for calm reflection. Kenny McLean had just lobbed Kasper Schmeichel from the halfway line. Limbs. Unbridled, unfiltered joy.

On one outrageous Hampden Park night McLean, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay relegated Archie Gemmill’s stupendous solo effort against the Netherlands in 1978 to merely the fourth best Scotland goal of all time. Zinedine Zidane’s volley for Real Madrid in Hampden’s Champions League final of 2002? A mere tap-in by comparison. What was produced by McTominay, Tierney and McLean will live long in the memories of the children and grandchildren of anybody who was in attendance on Tuesday night. They call McLean “the Mayor of Norwich”. He may as well now be the mayor of Nairn, North Berwick and Newtongrange.

Exclusive: Images are first indication that Israel has used cluster munitions in nearly 20 years

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in its recent 13-month war in Lebanon, photos of munition remnants in south Lebanon seen by the Guardian suggest.

The images, which have been examined by six different arms experts, appear to show the remnants of two different types of Israeli cluster munitions found in three different locations: south of the Litani River in the forested valleys of Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Barghouz and Wadi Deir Siryan.

PM raises Guardian reporting of allegations from more than a dozen school contemporaries of Farage

• UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to urgently explain himself after the Reform leader wholesale denied numerous detailed allegations of racist behaviour during his teenage years.

Responding to the Reform MP Lee Anderson at prime minister’s questions, Starmer raised the Guardian’s reporting of allegations from well over a dozen school contemporaries of Farage.

Defence secretary reveals details of recent incursions as he warns UK is facing ‘new era of threat’ from hostile countries

A Russian spy ship has entered British waters and shone lasers at military pilots, the defence secretary has said, as he warned the UK was facing a “new era of threat” from hostile countries.

John Healey said on Wednesday that the Yantar surveillance ship had crossed in and out of the UK’s exclusive economic zone multiple times in recent weeks, not for the first time this year.

Ukraine to raise the overnight attack on Ternopil, in which more than 70 people were injured, at the security council tomorrow

The Dutch economy minister said he had moved to take effective control of Nexperia to ensure Europe was not locked out of chip production “in an emergency”.

He said the decision to lift the legal move to prevent Nexperia from moving intellectual property and physical assets from its European factory in Hamburg and its corporate headquarters in Nijmegen was the “right step” after consultation with the European Commission and others.

“The Netherlands has considered it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending the order under the Goods Availability Act, in close consultation with European and international partners. The Netherlands will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead.”