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Labour party chair says government having conversations about use of platform in light of sexualised Grok images

Emergency rescuers step in as intense rain results in landslips, power cuts and communities left isolatedKosovo has seen prolonged, intense rainfall this week leading to widespread flooding. Cities, towns and villages were inundated as rivers overflowed their banks. Communities were cut off and emergency services rescued people trapped in their homes. People lost their water supply as well as electricity in the Drenas, Malisheva and Rahovec municipalities after flood water entered electrical substations.Personal weather stations across the south-west of the country recorded more than 50mm within 24 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some local stations recording about 80mm in the municipality of Malisheva. This followed previously heavy rainfall from Saturday to Monday, during which official weather stations at Junik and Gllogjan in the west of the country recorded 231.5mm and 151.6mm of rain respectively within two days. A further 130mm fell in the region of Junik on Tuesday, exacerbating the flooding with landslips. Continue reading...

Big names from Leonardo DiCaprio to Timothee Chalamet are aiming for a win at Hollywood's most important Oscars precursorHollywood's A-list will assemble this weekend for the 83rd Golden Globes ceremony, a night that will reveal where this year's Oscars race is headed.Stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Michael B Jordan and Ariana Grande are among those nominated for film awards while small screen nominees include Helen Mirren, Jenna Ortega, Jude Law and Glen Powell. Continue reading...

Online competition and weak consumer confidence behind fall, although sales at group's supermarkets rose

Helen Garner and Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser among 47 people who have pulled out of annual writers' festival to protest Abdel-Fattah's axing

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In today's newsletter: In just one year, this administration has lurched from one bewildering decision to another. Will things go back to normal after Trump's term, or are we seeing a broader erosion of western democratic norms?Good morning. Paramilitary-style troops deployed on the streets of major cities fatally shooting citizens; vessels seized in international waters; a foreign head of state captured; cherished cultural institutions dismantled; a judiciary installed and seemingly in thrall to the regime; and the mooted breaching of presidential term limits. It sounds like the background to a spy thriller about a rogue state.Yet some argue that the Trump administration in the US has done all of these things - and more - in the space of just a year in office. The question is whether these developments are merely episodic flashes of the chaos we have come to associate with Donald Trump, or signs of a deeper, longer-term transformation in the character of American power.UK politics | Thirty-four school contemporaries of Nigel Farage have now come forward to claim they saw him behave in a racist or antisemitic manner, raising fresh questions over the Reform leader's evolving denials.Minneapolis | The FBI has taken full control of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency officer in Minneapolis.Health | Scientists say they have rejuvenated" human eggs for the first time in an advance that they predict could revolutionise IVF success rates for older women.Venezuela | The US is receiving full cooperation from Venezuela's regime and will control the country and its vast oil reserves for years, Donald Trump has claimed.Greenland | Peter Mandelson has accused European leaders including Keir Starmer of a histrionic" reaction to Donald Trump's plan to take over Greenland, arguing that without hard power and hard cash" they will continue to slide into unimportance in the age of Trump". Continue reading...

For much of the last 30 years, the rest of the world has been forced to persevere with climate action in the face of US intransigence

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado hails move to tackle injustice' as Spain's foreign ministry confirms release of five Spanish nationalsFive days after the US seized Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has announced it is releasing an important number" of detainees in what the congressional president characterised as a gesture to consolidate peace".Former opposition candidate Enrique Marquez was among those released from prison, according to an opposition statement. It's all over now," Marquez said in a video taken by a local journalist who accompanied him and his wife, as well as another opposition member Biagio Pilieri, who was also released. Continue reading...

Fire at superyacht berth in Middle Harbour is not being treated as suspicious, police say

Report says officials seem unprepared for potential risks that unregulated industry poses to UK financial stabilityThe UK Treasury has a limited grasp" of concerns linked to the booming shadow banking sector and may not be prepared for risks the unregulated industry poses to financial stability, peers have said.While a lack of data makes it hard to say whether the $16tn (12tn) non-bank financial sector could bring the wider financial system to its knees, officials do not seem to be alive to the potential risks, according to a Lords financial services regulation committee report. Continue reading...

Alastair Campbell joins graduates and social mobility charities in criticism of Trinity Hall's new policyTrinity Hall graduates and leading social mobility charities have called on the University of Cambridge college to scrap its controversial efforts to actively recruit students from elite private schools, describing the new policy as damaging, offensive and a step backwards for equality.After the Guardian revealed that Trinity Hall was to target a small group of wealthy private schools - so as to not ignore or marginalise" privately educated students, according to an internal briefing - those promoting students from state schools said they were shocked and disappointed by its justifications. Continue reading...

Charlotte Head, who is accused of taking part in a break-in at Israeli defence firm, is called a remarkable woman' by her barristerA Palestine Action activist accused of taking part in a break-in at an Israeli defence firm's UK site is a remarkable woman", her barrister has told jurors as he likened her to the suffragettes.Charlotte Head, 29, is on trial at Woolwich crown court, south-east London, accused of being involved in a meticulously organised" protest at the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024. Continue reading...

Outage piles pressure on regime as Iranian security forces reported to have killed at least 45 since protests startedIran was plunged into a complete internet blackout on Thursday night as protests over economic conditions spread nationwide, increasing pressure on the country's leadership.While it was unclear what caused the internet cut, first reported by the internet freedom monitor NetBlocks, Iranian authorities have shut down the internet in response to protests in the past. Continue reading...

Change in England largely welcomed by industry and Labour MPs but represents another climbdown

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejects bill passed by congress as he marks anniversary of 2023 Brasilia riotsBrazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vetoed a bill that would dramatically reduce the prison sentence of the country's far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted last year of plotting a coup.Lula vetoed the bill, which was passed by congress in December, on the third anniversary of riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital, Brasilia, over his defeat by Lula in the 2022 general election. Continue reading...

People told to leave three areas as fears grow of wider conflict between government and Kurdish authoritiesThe Syrian army ordered civilians to evacuate neighbourhoods of Aleppo on Thursday after fighting with Kurdish forces entered its third day, deepening the rift between the Syrian government and the US-backed Kurdish authorities in Syria.The Syrian government urged people to leave the three contested neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid by early afternoon, opening humanitarian corridors and displacement shelters to facilitate their exit. The Syrian army said it would begin military operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the deadline, and issued maps showing specific areas that needed to be evacuated. Continue reading...

At 14 metres tall and with intricate maze of pipes, valves and keys, the Bristol Britton organ produces colossal' soundAfter falling silent eight years ago, one of the UK's largest - and loudest - concert hall instruments is bursting back into life.Standing 14 metres high and encompassing more than 5,000 pipes, Bristol's revered Britton organ is making its comeback this weekend, revived and revitalised after a painstaking restoration. Continue reading...

Chain reports strong sales but shares drop 5% after analysts say third quarter performance was behind expectations

Chen founded multinational conglomerate Prince Group that US says is front for multibillion-dollar fraud operationChinese television has shown footage of the US-indicted tycoon Chen Zhi being escorted by armed police after his extradition to China from Cambodia, where authorities on Thursday ordered the liquidation of a bank he founded linked to a massive scam centre" network.Chen, who chairs a conglomerate the US says is a front for a multibillion-dollar online fraud operation, was shown in handcuffs and hooded as he was led off a plane at a Beijing airport by black-clad Swat officers, with the state broadcaster CCTV describing him as the leader of a major transnational gambling and fraud crime syndicate". Continue reading...

Up to 30cm of snow expected in Wales and Midlands with winds of up to 100mph across exposed hills and coastal areasRed and amber weather warnings have been issued across the UK as Storm Goretti evolves into a weather bomb" expected to bring up to 30cm of snowfall in Wales and the Midlands as well as winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) across exposed hills and coastal areas.The Met Office on Thursday described Goretti, the first named storm of 2026, as a multi-hazard event" with heavy rain, strong winds and snow, set to be more powerful than Storm Ciaran in 2023 and the Great Storm of 1987. Continue reading...

Bakery chain also adds 10p to a latte, bringing it to 2.25, as CEO warns of a tough, challenging market'Greggs has added 5p to the price of a sausage roll and 10p to a latte coffee as it leans on some of its bestsellers to soak up rising wage, energy and packaging costs.The UK's largest bakery chain said it had no plans for further price increases at present and it expected inflation to ease this year as it admitted it had sold fewer items in the run-up to Christmas amid a very tough, challenging market". Continue reading...

Coote, 43, had previously pleaded guilty to making an indecent moving image of a childThe former Premier League referee David Coote has been given a suspended sentence after he was found to have a sexual video of a 15-year-old boy in school uniform on his laptop.Judge Shant said Coote, 43, had a spectacular fall from grace" after police charged him with making a category A video, the most serious kind, of a 15-year-old schoolboy. The charge refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving photos or videos containing abuse. Continue reading...

President reportedly hopes falling price will cut domestic consumer energy bills

City targeted by Trump has seen swarm of immigration agents on the streets - and residents say the tension is palpableEdwin Torres DeSantiago received a text message on Wednesday morning as he was tracking immigration enforcement across Minneapolis - a person was shot by ICE at 34th Street and Portland Avenue.He jumped into his car to head to the scene. Torres DeSantiago manages the Immigrant Defense Network, a group that monitors ICE activity and responds to community needs after someone is taken. He's responded to dozens of scenes in the past few months, and even more in the last few days since the federal government surged its presence in the midwestern city. Continue reading...

Charity worker describes incident at Manchester hotel as disgusting and complete discrimination on appearance'Two homeless men were turned away from a Holiday Inn in sub-zero temperatures despite their booking already being paid for, a charity has said.The hotel in Manchester city centre refused to accommodate the men and staff members apparently told them: I know that you're from the street and the hotel doesn't allow it." Continue reading...

Police say 49-year-old man in Springfield on Central Coast tried to stab an officer before being shot

Michelle Ananda-Rajah wholeheartedly' calls for national inquiry as expectations grow prime minister will relent on previous positionAnthony Albanese faces growing pressure inside his own ranks to confirm a royal commission after the Bondi terror attack, with Labor senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah the latest government MP to break ranks and back a powerful inquiry into antisemitism.Ananda-Rajah, a senator from Victoria, said a royal commission was needed to flush out the failings" which have allowed antisemitism to fester in Australia. It comes amid growing expectations the Albanese government will relent on its previous position and convene a royal commission - potentially a joint inquiry with the New South Wales state government - as early as Thursday or Friday. Continue reading...

Outcome of aggression will determine whether rare earths and other resources drive energy transition - or strengthen US military power and oil interestsThe US's first overt attack on an Amazon nation last weekend is a new phase in its extractivist rivalry with China. The outcome will decide whether the vast mineral wealth of South America is directed towards a 21st-century energy transition or a buildup of military power to defend 20th-century fossil fuel interests.Although this onslaught was ostensibly aimed at one corrupt dictatorship in a miserably dysfunctional country, the ramifications are far wider. Continue reading...

Prime minister to look closely' at legal claims against FTSE 100 telecoms groupThe prime minister has promised to review laws governing franchising agreements, in response to the case of a former Vodafone store manager whose family alleges took his own life following pressure from the FTSE 100 telecoms group.Keir Starmer said in the Commons on Wednesday that he would look closely" at the outcome of a high-profile legal claim against Vodafone. Continue reading...

David Wolfson is part of the legal team attempting to recover some of Russian billionaire's frozen assets

Board unwilling to accept hostile takeover despite $40bn guarantee from billionaire Larry EllisonWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has again told its shareholders to reject an inadequate" $108.4bn (80bn) hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the media conglomerate.Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, had sought to combat WBD's criticism of its offer and claims it had consistently misled" investors by saying it had a full backstop" - a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds - from the Ellisons. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader says accusations about his behaviour at Dulwich college were politically motivatedNigel Farage has called allegations of racist and antisemitic bullying during his time at Dulwich college completely made up fantasy", saying his accusers are people with very obvious political motivation".More than 30 people have spoken to the Guardian as part of an investigation based on multiple accounts of racism, including Peter Ettedgui, 61, an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director, who recalled Farage growling repeatedly Hitler was right" or Gas them" at him when they were at school. Continue reading...

Detainees under scheme to return people entering UK on small boats told their plane tickets had been cancelledThe first flight of 2026 to return asylum seekers who came to the UK on small boats to France has been cancelled, the Guardian understands.Detainees earmarked for the UK government's one in, one out" scheme who had tickets for a flight on Wednesday morning to Paris were told their tickets had been cancelled. Continue reading...

Saudi airstrikes hit Aidarous al-Zubaidi's military camps after he defies a demand to travel to Riyadh for talksThe leader of Yemen's routed southern separatist movement, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, has decided to make a defiant last stand in Aden, his supporters say, rejecting a Saudi ultimatum to travel to Riyadh for talks and - for now - a plan to flee the southern capital.Al-Zubaidi, the president of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), has been gathering his remaining troops in Aden as rival Saudi-backed forces seek to take control of Aden. His supporters say his mood is to fight it out although he knows it is likely there will be an attempt to kill him. Continue reading...

Output shrank for 12th month in a row in December, while housebuilding in deepest slump since 2020

Maga media used to hate US foreign intervention - now some are cheering it onI'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars," Donald Trump said after declaring victory on 6 November 2024. It wasn't his first pledge to disengage the US from foreign conflicts, and Trump's top allies in conservative media and the Make America Great Again" (Maga) movement have all rallied to his pledge to put America first".Now that the US president seems to have broken his pledge by launching an invasion of Venezuela, not to mention threatening future actions against Cuba and Colombia and potentially Greenland, some have reasonably wondered whether Trump's supporters in Maga media would hammer him for that inconsistency. Continue reading...

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UK health secretary declines to criticise Donald Trump directly but suggests he is disturbed by events of recent days

Shoppers hit by rising bills switch to discount chains, supermarket own-label products and buying fewer items

Study into intimate partner violence finds strangulation and head impacts increase risk of long-term memory loss and cognitive disabilities

Barry Pollack, a US trial lawyer, will take on the case as the captured Venezuelan president's private counselWhen Nicolas Maduro appeared in court in New York on Monday, his choice of lawyer quickly raised eyebrows.The captured Venezuelan president was accompanied by Barry Pollack, a top-tier US trial lawyer who spent years representing Julian Assange, eventually securing the WikiLeaks founder's release from prison in the UK in 2024. Continue reading...

NSW police commissioner says decision not about stopping free speech' and points to risk of public safety incident'

Fire danger expected to reach extreme levels in South Australia, Victoria and inland NSW this week

Bank of England says individuals borrowed extra 2.1bn in consumer credit in NovemberCredit card borrowing rose at the fastest annual rate for almost two years in November, according to the Bank of England, as households took on debt to finance the rising cost of Christmas.In a snapshot covering the month of Rachel Reeves's highly anticipated autumn budget, the central bank said individuals borrowed an additional 2.1bn in consumer credit, up from a 1.7bn increase in October. Continue reading...

Husam Zomlot says inauguration of mission in London marks change of direction for Palestinian stateThe Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said the inauguration of the state's embassy in London is proof that our identity cannot be denied".Husam Zomlot hailed the upgrading of Palestine's mission in Hammersmith, west London, as historic" and monumental". Continue reading...

Chrystia Freeland takes on new role amid government shakeup in Kyiv as Ukrainian president replaces key figuresUkraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Canada's former finance minister Chrystia Freeland as an adviser on economic development, a move he says will help strengthen the internal resilience" of the war-torn nation.Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations," he wrote on social media. Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience - both for the sake of Ukraine's recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defence if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end." Continue reading...

Insolvency Service says 250 staff remaining at Lincolnshire site will be guaranteed jobs until the end of March

UK's fourth-largest supermarket's sales rose 3% with 5.5m bottles of fizz and 500,000 turkeys sold

US president says an operation in Colombia sounds good' and elections in Venezuela will happen at the right time'Keir Starmer also told the BBC that he thinks we are living in a more volatile" world than we have been for many, many years" and said global affairs have much more of a direct impact" on the UK than they have in a long time, citing the effects of military conflicts and the climate crisis.Asked if Donald Trump is worsening global turmoil, Starmer dodges the question and speaks about the so-called special relationship between the UK and the US.The relationship between the US and the UK is one of the closest relationships in the world. It is vitally important for our defence, for our security, for our intelligence.It is my responsibility to make sure that relationship works as the prime minister of this country, working with the president of the United States. Not only have I stepped up to that responsibility, I have made it my business and I do get on with President Trump. Continue reading...