US to demand countries share data on ‘pathogens with epidemic potential’ in return for health aid

Draft template seen by the Guardian has no reference to countries receiving benefits for sharing information, such as guaranteed access to medicines developed as a result

The US wants countries to agree to hand over information on bugs that could cause large-scale disease outbreaks in return for restoring aid to tackle health problems such as HIV and malaria, according to government documents.

The Trump administration is seeking new bilateral aid agreements with dozens of countries, after an abrupt withdrawal from existing arrangements at the start of this year. The agreements form part of a new America First Global Health Strategy announced in September.

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World’s longest-married couple reveals key to a lasting relationship: ‘We love each other’

Eleanor Gittens, 107, and Lyle Gittens, 108, of Miami met at a basketball game in 1941 and have been married for 83 years

A Miami husband and wife who recently attained the title of world’s longest-married couple say they managed that feat just by loving one another.

“We love each other,” Eleanor Gittens, 107, said to LongeviQuest when the website specializing on people who are in their second century of life asked what was the secret to her 83 years of marriage to her husband, Lyle.

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Trump-Orbán meeting: US gives Hungary exemption from sanctions on Russian oil and gas

US president also praises Hungarian leader’s hardline stance on immigration during friendly White House summit

The US has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from US sanctions on importing oil and gas from Russia, according to a White House official, after Viktor Orbán pressed his case for a reprieve during a meeting with Donald Trump in Washington.

Last month, Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft that carried the threat of further sanctions on entities in countries buying oil from them.

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Grammys 2026: the nominations in all the major categories

With big numbers for Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and more, check out the nominated artists this year

Bad Bunny – DtMF
Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
Doechii – Anxiety
Billie Eilish – Wildflower
Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
Kendrick Lamar with SZA – Luther
Chappell Roan – The Subway
Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.

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Kendrick Lamar leads Grammy award nominations with nine nods

Rapper receives nominations in all top categories while Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Leon Thomas are also major nominees

The Grammys’ love continues for Kendrick Lamar. The rapper, who took home the most trophies at the 2025 music awards with five, leads the nominees for the 2026 awards.

Lamar is up for nine awards, including album of the year (for his most recent album, GNX), best rap album, record of the year and song of the year. He faces competition for the night’s top award – album of the year – from Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, Tyler, the Creator and Clipse, Pusha T & Malice.

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US supreme court issues emergency order blocking full Snap food aid payments

High court’s order comes after appeals court rejected Trump administration’s request to block November benefits

The supreme court has issued an emergency order temporarily blocking full Snap food aid payments.

The high court’s order came after the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly food stamp benefits amid a US federal government shutdown.

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Film festival in New York cancelled after China puts pressure on directors

Participants ask for their films not to be shown at IndieChina event, which was due to launch this weekend

An independent film festival due to start in New York this weekend has been cancelled after several film-makers pulled out due to harassment from the Chinese authorities, raising concerns about transnational repression.

The inaugural IndieChina film festival was planned to take place between 8 and 15 November. But on 5 November the festival’s curator, Zhu Rikun, posted on Facebook that he had been forced to cancel 80% of the planned screenings because film-makers had pulled out.

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Over 100 US leaders to attend Cop30 climate summit as Trump stays away

Dozens of US state and local leaders will be at talks in Brazil with president’s team expected to send no representatives

The Trump administration appears to be sitting out this month’s United Nations climate talks known as Cop30, telling the Guardian it will not deploy any high-level representatives to the negotiations.

But dozens of US subnational leaders attend to promote their climate efforts.

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Google to build new AI datacentre on tiny Australian Indian Ocean outpost after signing defence deal

Military experts say facility on Christmas Island would be valuable asset to monitor Chinese submarine and naval activity

Google plans to build a large AI datacentre on Australia’s remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island after signing a cloud deal with the Department of Defence earlier this year, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with officials.

Plans for the datacentre on the tiny island located 350km south of Indonesia have not previously been reported, and many details, including its projected size, cost and potential uses, remain secret.

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US strikes another alleged drug boat bringing death toll from campaign in Latin America to 70

US strikes have destroyed at least 18 vessels, but Washington has yet to make public any concrete evidence that its targets posed a threat to America

US forces struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, defense secretary Pete Hegseth has said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s controversial campaign to at least 70.

The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

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Senate blocks Democrats’ bid to check Trump power over Venezuela strikes

Resolution fails 49-51 with only two Republican senators voting in favor as president increases military buildup

The US Senate on Thursday blocked a Democratic war powers resolution that would have forced Donald Trump to seek congressional approval to launch strikes in Venezuela, allowing the president to remain unchecked in his ability to expand his military campaign against the country.

The 49-51 vote against passing the resolution, mostly along party lines, came a month after a previous effort to stop strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in international waters similarly failed, 48-51.

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New York, LA, Chicago and Washington DC airports among 40 facing air traffic reductions

US government shutdown blamed for cuts from Friday, two weeks before busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago airports are among 40 that will see reductions in flights from Friday as a result of the government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines.

The Associated Press published the list after airline regulators identified “high-volume markets” where the Federal Administration Agency says air traffic must be reduced by 4% by 6am ET on Friday, a move that would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a cascade of scheduling issues and delays at some of the nation’s largest airports.

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Rockstar Games delays Grand Theft Auto VI – again – to late 2026

The hugely anticipated sequel was due to arrive in May of next year but has been pushed back to November 2026

Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto VI, which was due to release on 26 May next year, has been delayed again – this time to the end of 2026. It has now been nearly two years since the game was announced, and more than 12 years since the release of Grand Theft Auto V.

“Grand Theft Auto VI will now release on Thursday, November 19, 2026,” reads Rockstar Games’s statement on X. “We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve.”

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US supreme court lets Trump block passport sex markers for trans and non-binary people

Decision by high court’s conservative majority is Trump administration’s latest win on emergency docket

The supreme court on Thursday allowed Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.

The decision by the high court’s conservative majority is Trump’s latest win on the high court’s emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out. It halts a lower-court order requiring the government to keep letting people choose male, female or X on their passport to line up with their gender identity on new or renewed passports.

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US judge orders Trump administration to fully fund Snap benefits in November

Ruling comes in response to a challenge to administration’s offer to only partly fund US food benefits amid shutdown

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to find the money to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits for November.

The ruling by US district judge John J McConnell Jr gave the Trump administration until Friday to make the payments through Snap, though it is unlikely the people that rely on it will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries that quickly.

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Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’

Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given

After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.

His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal childcare and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive.

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US ends deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals

South Sudanese people with temporary protected status now have 60 days to leave

The US is ending temporary deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals, which for more than a decade allowed people from the east African country to stay in the US after escaping conflict.

In a notice published on Wednesday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said conditions in South Sudan no longer met the statutory requirements for temporary protected status. The agency said South Sudanese nationals with status through the programme had 60 days to leave the US or face deportation.

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Armed US immigration agents drive off with toddler after arrest of father

‘Devastated’ family demands answers after two-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lot

Masked, heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Home Depot store, then entered his car and drove away with his toddler, who is also a US citizen, in the backseat.

The child’s grandmother said the incident had left the whole family shaken. “I am devastated by what has happened to my son and demand an explanation,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

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Trump’s gold sign outside Oval Office prompts backlash

Lawmakers outraged that president gilding White House as Snap food stamps in jeopardy amid longest US shutdown

A new sign was spotted adorning the White House this week, prompting backlash from lawmakers who have noted that Donald Trump is quite literally gilding the White House during a government shutdown.

Trump has been remaking the White House in his own image with the recent dramatic demolition of the East Wing and active construction of a new ballroom, doing so with plenty of gold. Written in cursive gold script, a sign identifying the Oval Office is now affixed beside the office’s door.

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Third Michigan man arrested over alleged Halloween terror plot

Ayob Nasser, 19, accused of participating in planning of potential attack on LGBTQ+ bars in suburban Detroit

Investigators say a third Michigan man is now facing charges in a plot to stage a terror attack on Halloween. He traveled to an amusement park in the midwest to scout the location, they said.

Ayob Nasser, 19, was arrested on Wednesday. He is accused of participating in the planning of a possible attack on LGBTQ+ bars in suburban Detroit that was inspired by the Islamic State, federal authorities have said.

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