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Bill Shorten says a future ALP government would fund extra classes and water safety lessonsAll primary school children would have access to swimming and water safety lessons under a future federal Labor government.The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has committed $46m over the next four years to ensure all Australian children receive school-based swimming lessons. Continue reading...

Police Service of Northern Ireland warns public to stay away from city centre streetA suspected car bomb has exploded on a city centre street in Derry. The Police Service of Northern Ireland tweeted a photograph of an explosion in Bishop Street warning people to stay away.Bishop Street Closed

Sitcom actor, who had retired to France, dies peacefullyThe actor Windsor Davies, best known for his role as the sergeant major in TV series It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, has died at the age of 88.His family said he died peacefully on Thursday, with his daughter saying her parents left a large family “who will all remember them with love, laughter and gratitude”. Continue reading...

Surveillance expert Eric King vetoed from top job at IPCO over past associationsThe Home Office has prompted outrage by blocking the appointment of the man tasked with leading investigations into the UK’s spy agencies.Eric King had been appointed head of investigations at the new government watchdog charged with regulating the intelligence agencies until the Home Office intervened, apparently due to his “previous work and associations”. Continue reading...

Man, 18, held on suspicion of murder of 14-year-old stabbed to death in east LondonPolice have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of the murder of Jaden Moodie, who was knocked off a moped and stabbed to death in a targeted attack in east London.However, officers said they were committed to hunting down a number of other individuals who they believe were involved in the recent high-profile murder of the 14-year-old. Continue reading...

Police are investigating the shooting which also left a woman in a critical conditionA man shot dead in an attack which also left a woman with gunshot wounds fighting for her life has been named by police.Wayne Boylan, 37, was gunned down by two men in a property in Warrenpoint, County Down, Northern Ireland on Friday evening. Continue reading...

In the country’s two main breeding regions, 98% of farmers rely on the banned, traumatic practice of routinely cutting pigs’ tailsOn a farm deep in Italy’s Lombardy region, scores of contented-looking pigs gambol, play and root about in spacious pens deep in straw. It looks more rural idyll than 1,000-strong breeding farm, but the pigs at this Fumagalli farm are in a lucky minority.Unlike many of the pigs destined for the country’s prestigious prosciutto market – worth 7.98bn euros (£7bn) last year – they have not been subjected to the painful practice of tail-docking. A recent EU audit found that across farms in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, the country’s two main pig breeding regions, 98% of farmers remove their animals’ tails, a rate that stands among the highest in Europe. Continue reading...

Doctors and former federal police commissioner call for the practice to be allowed at music festivalsWhen Adriana Buccianti’s son Daniel died of a drug overdose at the Rainbow Serpent music festival in 2012, she wanted to blame someone.“I was just so distressed that I guess I wanted someone hung and quartered,” she told Guardian Australia from her home in Victoria this week. Continue reading...

Jake Neate and his parents repeatedly raised alarm about his mental health before killing

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson’s Brexit speech

Nissan and Mitsubishi say he was paid from joint venture without consulting boardNissan and Mitsubishi have accused their former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, of receiving €7.8m (£6.9m) in “improper payments” from a joint venture between the Japanese carmakers without consulting other board members.The companies said they would try to recover the money from Ghosn, alleging the payments amounted to “misconduct”. Continue reading...

This montage-riddled clunker hits us over the head with stereotypes of masculinity and sports-drama tropes

Lower-fare environment will shake out more loss-making rivals, says Michael O’LearyRyanair has issued its second profit warning in four months, blaming intense competition over the winter that prompted the Irish budget airline to cut fares.Profits for the year ending 31 March will be €100m (£88m) lower than previous expectations, at between €1bn to €1.1bn, the company said in a statement to the stock market. That was down from the €1.1bn to €1.2bn range previously expected. Continue reading...

Mahathir Mohamad refuses visas to Israeli athletes due to compete in a qualifying event for Tokyo 2020Israel has accused the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, of “rabid antisemitism” after he banned Israeli athletes from competing in a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.Malaysia has refused to grant visas to Israeli athletes scheduled to participate in the event to be held in the state of Sarawak in July, a move designed to demonstrate the country’s solidarity with Palestine. Continue reading...

Singh, who heads Sacha Sauda sect, is currently serving 20-year for rape of two followersAn Indian court sentenced a popular and flamboyant spiritual guru and three followers to life in prison on Thursday over the murder 16 years ago of a journalist who published a letter about the guru’s alleged sexual exploitation of women.The guru, who calls himself Dr Saint Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Insan, received the sentence through a video link from a prison where he is serving a 20-year sentence in a separate case involving the raping of two female followers. Continue reading...

Activists say a child and doctor killed in demonstrations against Omar al-BashirThousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Sudan, including the capital, where activists said a child and a doctor were killed in clashes between police and protesters calling for the end of Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year-old rule.Thursday’s protests marked some of the most widespread disturbances since unrest began on 19 December. Continue reading...

The American designer, who is also behind the Off White show, tells his own story for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion WeekThere are not many designers who can present two collections in two days at one fashion week.Yet Virgil Abloh kicked off Paris men’s fashion week with shows for Off-White and Louis Vuitton, while also cramming in an art exhibition, a jewellery launch and the opening of a flower shop in a Parisian hotel. Continue reading...

Year-long programme of events will explore history of revolt linked to trust’s sitesPut down the jam scone and stop scrutinising that Chippendale sideboard. The National Trust will be directing visitors to examine more revolutionary concerns this year with a programme of events commemorating protests, marches and demands for social change.The conservation charity is best known for its careful stewardship of hundreds of historic homes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But in an effort to be “relevant” and capture new audiences, it will focus this year on the history of protest at its sites, in a programme inspired by the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre. Continue reading...

Visiting president says Serbia being forced to make ‘artificial choice’ between EU and RussiaVladimir Putin has arrived in Belgradeto bestow a top state honour on the Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić, hoping to shore up one of the few strong bilateral relationships Russia has in Europe and reinforce Moscow’s claims to maintaining influence in the Balkans.Related: Now is chance for Kosovo deal, says Serbian president – but at what cost? Continue reading...

President says planners of assault claimed by al-Shabaab will be relentlessly pursued

Two-year-old Julen Roselló has been trapped in 100-metre shaft near Málaga for four daysRescuers in southern Spain are racing racing to reach a toddler who fell down a borehole more than 100 metres deep four days ago.Two-year-old Julen Roselló had gone for a picnic with his family in the countryside on Sunday when he fell down the 25cm-wide hole in Totalán, near Málaga. Continue reading...

If Scotland and Northern Ireland remained, as voters there wanted, it would open the door to a better deal all roundWhen all solutions are bad, it’s time to reinvent the problem. Is it still possible to honour the initial Brexit referendum without crossing the EU’s red lines? Yes – through semi-Brexit.The UK is divided into four nations, two of which voted remain and two of which voted leave. The British government could honour those decisions and allow Scotland and Northern Ireland to remain in the EU as the successor state to the UK, while permitting England and Wales (if it still wants to) to exit. Continue reading...

Former president remains in ICC custody after acquittal on charges of crimes against humanityThe International Criminal Court has dashed Laurent Gbagbo’s hopes of a swift release following the acquittal of the Ivory Coast’s former president on charges of crimes against humanity.Trial judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude to be immediately freed after clearing them of any role in a wave of post-electoral violence in 2010-2011 that killed 3,000 people. Continue reading...

Force sends in firearms team after reports a woman had been dragged from car at gunpointA private training company has sparked an armed police response by carrying out a “kidnapping training scenario” in a town centre without notifying police.Essex police dispatched all available officers, firearms teams, and a helicopter following reports that a woman had been dragged from her car at gunpoint. But once armed officers surrounded the suspects, they realised it was a private security company carrying out a training exercise. Continue reading...

Private Jason Challis was accidentally shot in the head in an urban warfare exercise in the Northern TerritoryThe death of an inexperienced 25-year-old soldier during a live-fire training exercise occurred because of a “catastrophic systemic failure” by Australian army commanders, a coroner has found.Private Jason Challis, 25, from Geelong, was accidentally shot in the head while crouching behind a building in an urban warfare exercise south of Darwin on 10 May 2017. Continue reading...

Extreme weather fuelled by pool of hot air circulating over Australia’s inland prompts emergency warning and a code red in South Australia

No one sure what happens next … gunfire rings out hours after deadly Nairobi attack … and Toto’s Africa on endless playback in the desertHello, I’m Warren Murray, here to give you a confident notion of what’s going on. Continue reading...

16 January 1964 Remembering Arthur Christian Newton Treadgold who reported from the Canadian goldfields in the 1890sArthur Christian Newton Treadgold, whose dispatches from the Yukon lie in the 1898 files of the then Manchester Guardian, was the most thrusting pioneer of the great Klondike gold rush. He was also the most powerful. This little thickset man from a Lincolnshire yeoman family, a collateral descendant of Sir Isaac Newton, a classics graduate of Oxford, and a Blue, had both the brain – brilliant, ranging, dynamic, above all, tenacious (he was known as the Klondike Spider) – and the incredibly formidable physique for sustaining all he did.Related: Frozen in time: the miraculous gold rush movies buried under the Yukon ice Continue reading...

Stewart Johnston wants royal commission to recommend cameras that can be triggered by raised voices or swear words

As Australia endures the heatwave’s third day, four people tell us what it’s like living in some of the hottest places on Earth• Share your photos of coping with extreme heat in Australia“It’s been like hell. The thing is, you have to work. Start off early, knock off early – by one or two o’clock. You try and do as much as you can in the morning. By the afternoon, it’s too hot to work. Continue reading...

Bill bolsters home affairs minister’s ability to revoke citizenship of people convicted of terrorism offences, regardless of length of sentenceA Coalition bill to lower the threshold for revoking Australian citizenship would expose 18 people convicted of terrorist offences to that penalty, according to departmental information.The home affairs department has described the new powers proposed by Peter Dutton as a “key counter-terrorism tool” in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry but revealed currently just five people in prison and 13 who have served their sentence would be at risk of losing Australian citizenship. Continue reading...

Students for Sensible Drug Policy campaign comes as NSW coroner investigates five recent deaths at music festivalsState and territory leaders will face a national campaign calling for pill-testing led by young people, the group that might argue it has the most to lose from governments baulking at the idea.A day after the New South Wales coroner announced it would investigate five recent deaths at music festivals, Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia will launch the Be Heard Not Harmed campaign at Melbourne’s Revolver nightclub. Continue reading...

The government faces a no-confidence vote that it will expect to win, but what are the PM’s next steps?After Theresa May’s huge defeat over her Brexit deal, parliament and the country face an uncertain next few days. On Wednesday a no-confidence motion in the government will be debated. If the government loses there could be a general election. But even if she defeats the motion, the prime minister’s next steps are hazardous. Continue reading...

Police use Taser weapon on man, 59, during arrest at train station in LondonA man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after an incident at Tulse Hill station in south London has been detained under the Mental Health Act.Officers from British Transport Police and the Metropolitan police were called to the station on Monday evening after reports of a man in possession of a knife. Met officers discharged a Taser electronic weapon as they detained the 59-year-old suspect on a platform shortly after 6.30pm, British Transport police (BTP) said. Continue reading...

Rahaf Mohammed said she will work in support of ‘the same freedom’ she experienced after arriving in CanadaRahaf Mohammed, the Saudi teen who shot into the headlines after barricading herself into a Thai hotel room, has pledged to fight for women fleeing persecution after she successfully escaped abuse and the fear of death in her home country.“Today and for years to come, I will work in support of freedom for women around the world – the same freedom I experienced on the first day I arrived in Canada,” she told reporters at a press conference in Toronto. Continue reading...

Alfie Lamb, three, was in rear footwell of Audi car when he was squashed by car seat, Old Bailey toldA toddler was crushed to death by an electric car seat because his mother’s boyfriend was annoyed that he was making too much noise, a court has heard.Three-and-a-half-year-old Alfie Lamb was in the rear footwell of an Audi car when he was squashed “at the touch of a button” in February last year, the Old Bailey was told. Continue reading...

Community ‘up in arms’ as officers return to scene of the attack to appeal for witnessesPolice are searching for five suspects involved in the murder of a 14-year-old boy who was rammed off his moped and stabbed in east London.Jaden Moodie, a keen boxer, died on 8 January after the “barbaric” attack in Bickley Road, Leyton. Continue reading...

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the young woman who hit global headlines after barricading herself in a Thai hotel room to flee abuse, has said she hopes to be an 'agent for change' in Saudi Arabia, a country where women are denied basic freedoms and are not allowed to work, marry and travel without the permission of a male guardian

The Nigerian author’s darkly comic debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, has become a literary sensation. She explains her struggle with the moral ambiguity of her writing

#Jagärhär (#Iamhere) aims to battle abuse in online threads and jumps to defend those on receiving endWhen a young woman with rainbow hair and a reputation for hostility towards sexual predators won a Swedish lawyer of the year award late last year, the online reaction came in two waves.The first was unpleasant, a torrent of bile from people who objected to Linnéa Claeson’s looks, her feminist politics, her gender, her youth and her instagram account @assholesonline. Continue reading...

Actor finds out about devout ancestor in Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family on BBC OneIn the last 12 months Danny Dyer has called David Cameron a “twat” on live television, watched his daughter win Love Island and delivered Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message.Now there may be a simple explanation for the actor’s elevation to national treasure status: he is the descendant of a saint. Continue reading...

Tuesday: Coalition partners descend into all-out slanging match in country NSW. Plus: Polish mayor dies after stabbingGood morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 15 January. Continue reading...

Mother of Alexys Brown gives moving impact statement at two firms’ sentencing hearingA mother has told a court how her five-year-old daughter was killed when her head became trapped in a faulty disability lift at their family home.Alexys Brown, who was described as a “guardian angel” to her disabled older brother, got into the lift to fetch his mobile phone from upstairs for him. She got her head stuck in a hole in a broken see-through door panel of the lift, and as it moved upwards she became caught between the lift and the ground-floor ceiling. Continue reading...

Australia is in danger of loving some beaches to death. By fostering a passion for wildlife, we can turn the tide on degradation• Vote for Australia’s best beachesAustralia has so many beaches, you could visit a different one every day for 30 years if you chose to – 10,685 around the mainland and Tasmanian coasts alone, according to the University of Sydney’s coastal studies unit.In fact, when you include all 8,222 islands, the entire coastline stretches over 59,736km – this adds up to a great deal of beaches, rocky coves, cliffs, headlands, estuaries, rock pools, sand dunes and mangroves that provide a habitat for an abundance of wildlife. Continue reading...

David Duckenfield faces criminal charge 30 years after 96 died at FA Cup semi-finalAlmost 30 years since 96 men, women and children were killed at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football ground, the trial has started of the police officer in command of the match, David Duckenfield, on a criminal charge of causing the deaths by gross negligence manslaughter.Graham Mackrell, the Sheffield Wednesday club secretary and safety officer at the time of the disaster, is standing trial alongside Duckenfield, on two counts of breaching his duties under safety legislation. Continue reading...

Woman knitted two lines each day in 2018 to signify how long commute was delayedA scarf knitted by a German woman to document her frustrations with frequent train delays is set to fetch close to €4,000 (£3,567) on eBay as the country’s biggest railway company announces its plans for a punctuality tsar to help improve its on-time arrivals.The “rail delay scarf” first achieved fame when journalist Sara Weber posted a photo on Twitter earlier this month. Her mother, a commuter in the Munich area, knitted two lines each day in 2018 to signify how long she was delayed, she explained. Continue reading...

Minister urges MPs to back deal because blocking Brexit would be ‘political disaster’

Honduras’s homicide rate has fallen significantly in recent years, but the country still has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The fall can be attributed to the initiatives of police and military forces against drug smugglers and gangs. In a country of 8 million people, there are an estimated 7,000-10,000 street gang members Continue reading...

In northeastern Nigeria, the militant group exploits a broken social system. There are lessons here for the rest of the worldZahra and Amina seem like lucky survivors of the scourge of northeastern Nigeria, the jihadist movement known as Boko Haram. Both were wives of fighters. Zahra escaped by agreeing to detonate an explosive vest that the militants strapped to her. After walking miles to her intended target, a government checkpoint, she turned herself over to soldiers. Amina fled with her three children after her husband was killed in battle.Related: The Chibok girls are just one part of the ordeal of women in north-east Nigeria | Chitra Nagarajan Continue reading...