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Tasmanian premier leads tributes for Russell, who earlier this month returned home to see out his days'

Party disendorses Preston candidate Franco Guardiani after social media posts emerge

Former police officer tells jury he joked about being white girl crazy' with friends as lawyer questions him over start of relationship with Baird

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Campaign over Prop 40, as measure was known, was most expensive in state history, flush with Silicon Valley dollarsCalifornia billionaires won a contentious ballot measure campaign, defeating a proposed one-time tax on their wealth.The bruising campaign over Proposition 40 was the most expensive in state history and witness to back-and-forth dealing from tech billionaires and democratic leaders, including Gavin Newsom, the governor, who steadfastly opposed the measure. While supporters of Prop 40 cast it as a solution to drastic healthcare cuts from Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, opponents led by prosperous billionaires mounted an influential campaign saying the billionaire tax was instead an everyone tax". Continue reading...

Government flags criminal law changes to ensure companies can't argue in future that someone didn't know the computer was loaded'OpenAI won't face criminal penalties over the Medicare hack but the prime minister has flagged changes to Australia's criminal law to crack down on future breaches by artificial intelligence companies.Anthony Albanese on Tuesday released the recommendations of a rapid review" into the June breach but not the findings or the report itself.maintaining security controls across all stages of development and deployment;identify and manage serious risks associated with their models;provide mandatory notification of incidents to the Australian government rapidly;allow independent evaluation of their models;maintain and publish safety and security frameworks to ensure good governance, risk management, and transparency;and respond to updated standards and rules as technologies change. Continue reading...

Key environmental groups come out against bipartisan Baaja bill over fears it could spur datacenters and ICE jailsThe Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week's election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.It's a bill that would make it easier to build big infrastructure projects in America - everything from fossil fuel pipelines to transmission lines that would add more clean energy to the grid. And it would roll back environmental and social protections to achieve this goal. That is why climate advocates are torn over the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs act (Baaja). Continue reading...

Runners seek medical treatment as 13-mile race held amid unusually high November temperaturesPolice in southern California are investigating the circumstances that led to the hospitalization of nearly 30 runners who participated in the Santa Barbara Half on Sunday.Santa Barbara police said in a statement to the Associated Press that they had opened an investigation after receiving reports from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital about multiple half-marathon participants seeking medical treatment for unusual symptoms". Continue reading...

Australian carrier announces agreement with Accenture amid unprecedented' technological disruption, CEO Vanessa Hudson says

Boy says he was first exposed to extremist material on TikTok, turned to Telegram and YouTube for bomb-making instructions, and used ChatGPT to devise his plans

Almost two-thirds of school leaders polled say new regime is much more intense than previous frameworkMore than half of headteachers in England who were polled after their schools were inspected under Ofsted's new regime are considering cutting short their careers as a result of the experience.In response to the question Has the inspection affected how long you intend to stay in your role?", 52% of those who responded said they were thinking of leaving their job sooner than planned. Continue reading...

Lawsuit also alleges agents followed Carlos Jimenez to a hospital and interfered' in his care, with bullet fragments still lodged near lungA US citizen who was shot by an immigration officer in southern California has filed a $25m lawsuit against the federal government, alleging he was wrongfully shot and arrested, then subjected to a malicious prosecution".Carlos Jimenez, a father of three from Ontario, a city east of Los Angeles, was on his way to work at a food pantry on 30 October 2025 when he drove by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carrying out an operation. It was around 7am, and Jimenez approached officers calmly and slowly" to inform them that children in the neighborhood would soon be arriving at an adjacent bus stop, according to his complaint filed in federal court on Friday. Continue reading...

Utah judge sets timeline for trial of Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting the far-right activist in September 2025Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old man accused of killing the far-right pundit and activist Charlie Kirk, will stand trial for murder in early July 2028, a Utah district judge ruled on Monday.Judge Tony Graf said the trial will remain in Provo, Utah, and jury selection would begin on 21 June 2028. Attorneys for Robinson had asked to start the trial in January 2029 while Erika Kirk, Charlie's widow, had pushed for an October 2027 date. Continue reading...

Former builder got his big break after restoring the home of a producer who was working on a precursor to the showTommy Walsh, the building and DIY expert who appeared on television shows including Ground Force, has died aged 69 after a long illness.Walsh started his career as a professional builder before rising to fame alongside Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock on the popular BBC garden makeover show from 1997 to 2005. Continue reading...

TV producer, who was in relationship with ex-comedian that reportedly ended in 2014, accuses him of violence, coercive control and abuse'

Particles from fireworks and bonfires likely to have contributed to levels well above WHO's daily guidelineAir pollution soared to very high" levels across urban parts of England on Monday as still, foggy weather kept emissions trapped after a weekend of fireworks and bonfires.Government monitoring showed 11 sites, mainly in London and Greater Manchester, reached the highest band on its 10-point index for particulate matter in the 24 hours to 10am. A further 27 sites recorded high" levels across the capital, the north-west, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the east of England. Continue reading...

Judge tells disgraced actor and comedian he had displayed casual, arrogant disregard of any woman's right to say no'

Exclusive: Almost two-thirds of visits lead to no arrests and nearly three-quarters are conducted without a warrantShabana Mahmood's ICE-style raid agency has been accused of engaging in fishing expeditions" after figures disclosed that almost two-thirds of enforcement visits result in no arrests and nearly three-quarters are conducted without a warrant.The home secretary has hailed the expanded use of immigration enforcement teams, and claimed they will help to secure the UK's borders by removing a key incentive for irregular migration.There were 23,538 immigration enforcement engagements such as workplace raids, home raids and spot checks in 2025 - or 60 a day. Of these, 15,578, or 66.1%, resulted in no arrests.Only 25.81% of visits where a premises was accessed used a warrant. Critics say this suggests the Home Office is launching fishing expeditions" based on weak intelligence.Nearly nine out of ten (89%) of leads alleging immigration crime" in 2025 came from the public or from Crimestoppers, a charity that collects anonymous tip-offs. Around 2% came from the police. Continue reading...

Glenn Gibbins sentenced to 150-hours of unpaid work by South Tyneside magistrates over 2024 Facebook postA Reform party councillor who claimed racist comments about Nigerians were no more than a bit of fun" has been handed a community order for posting grossly offensive material.Glenn Gibbins, who was voted on to Sunderland council in May, wrote on Facebook in March 2024: Carnt believe the amount of nigerians in town... should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!" Continue reading...

French foreign minister vows European sanctions against Tehran over unprecedented' hacks last monthFrance has said Iran was responsible for a massive cyber-attack on supermarket freezers and chiller cabinets that was described by its foreign minister as being an act of unprecedented scale and unprecedented aggression".Jean-Noel Barrot said Europe-wide sanctions" would be imposed against those responsible, adding that the attacks - which took control of digital thermostats to push temperatures up to above 50C - constituted a major violation of the nation's interests". Continue reading...

Dunagan was six when he voiced the young deer in the classic cartoon, with an assistant director instructing him to pretend his own mother had diedDonnie Dunagan, who voiced Bambi in the Walt Disney classic, as well as playing the son of Frankenstein opposite Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff, has died aged 92.Dunagan was six when he was chosen to provide the voice of the young deer in the animation's most heartbreaking chapter. He recalled the experience in the recording booth as easy and relaxed, with rudimentary technology and notes from an assistant director instructing him to pretend his own mother had died when voicing Bambi's reaction to his mother being killed by a hunter. Continue reading...

Five-times Olympic champion says he is neither leftwing nor rightwing, but would seek to bring people together'The French judo star and five-times Olympic gold medallist Teddy Riner has announced plans to run in next year's presidential election, describing himself as someone neither leftwing nor rightwing but who would seek to bring people together".With more than five months before the April-May ballot to replace Emmanuel Macron, the race has been shaping up to be a showdown between political extremes. Polls point to a hollowing out of the political centre, suggesting that the anti-immigrant National Rally leader Marine Le Pen could be the frontrunner, with the radical-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon trailing behind. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cross-party call for ethnicity options to be broadened beyond English' being only within White' categoryBritons should be able to define themselves as both Black and English, according to senior MPs who are calling to broaden the range of ethnicity options in the census.The cross-party push is a riposte to Reform UK politicians who have claimed that people from minority ethnic backgrounds cannot have English ethnic identity. Continue reading...

The prime minister said he wants police forces to have dedicated rape and serious sexual offence teams by the end of 2027Downing Street has insisted that the government remains committed to the principle of the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate - while not denying today's Guardian report saying interim targets to achieve it are set to be watered down. (See 9.26am.)Asked about the story at the daily lobby briefing, the PM's spokesperson said:The government is fully behind the zero emission vehicle mandate, and no decisions have been taken yet.We're sticking to our commitment, phasing out new cars that run only on petrol or diesel by 2030, every new car and van will be zero emission by 2035, and our legally binding net zero targets. None of that is changing. Continue reading...

Disgraced comedian must serve two-thirds of the 10 years and six month sentence before he will be eligible for parole

Terrorism investigation will continue after suspect who killed six after opening fire in market square diedPolish prosecutors have said they do not currently have any evidence tying the man who killed six people and injured 16 in a rare mass shooting in Krakow to any particularly political ideology.The 24-year-old Polish national died in hospital early on Monday after being critically injured in a shootout with police officers as they apprehended him after the attack in the city's busy market square on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Assault on Michel Zecler in 2020 is rare case of police brutality reaching court, at time of heightened tensionsThree French police officers have gone on trial over the beating of a black music producer who they say was not wearing a face mask during the Covid pandemic, in a rare case of police brutality reaching court.The assault on Michel Zecler, now 47, triggered outrage in France over police violence, which victims and researchers say is systemic but authorities and law enforcement unions claim is limited to isolated cases. Continue reading...

Lawsuit filed last year against IBM, Atos and Leonardo after delays to delivery to troubled new systemThe EU has filed a lawsuit against IBM and two other companies involved in its troubled border-management system, an internal document has revealed.The bloc's IT agency, EU-Lisa, filed a case last year against IBM, the French IT company Atos and Italian defence contractor Leonardo, the three members of a consortium to implement and maintain the EU's entry/exit system, which was launched in October 2025. Continue reading...

Terrorism investigation was opened after attacker opened fire in a market squareAFP has a quick snap that Ukraine is to hold separate" meetings with Europeans and Nato in Abu Dhabi. The Kremlin earlier insisted no other European nations would be involved. The US-mediated talks are expected to start tomorrow.Canada is expanding its Russia-related sanctions to target another 38 entities and 24 individuals, including actors involved in ballistic missile technology development and cyber activities, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Troubled utility lobbies for deadline on part of the debt to be extended to March 2028Thames Water has asked creditors for more time to pay back billions of pounds in debt, as the water company scrambles to keep itself afloat.The UK's largest water company said it had proposed an interim" deal under which the deadline to pay off an unspecified portion of the 20bn of debt on its balance sheet would be extended from 2027 to March 2028. Continue reading...

Jensen Huang reportedly had close relationship with Chinese businesswoman accused of passing information to Beijing. Plus, tennis legend Billie Jean King tells all Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning. Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang, has been placed under independent investigation" by the tech company after reports emerged he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort", namely a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who is accused of passing information to Beijing. Nvidia stock is down 5% in pre-market trading as a result.The company's board said in a statement that while it had no reason to believe that either US national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry would examine all available information. Republican lawmakers have expressed alarm, asking Huang to give the House foreign affairs and intelligence committees a closed-door briefing next week on Nvidia's security protocols against foreign adversary espionage".The Guardian will have extensive coverage of the Cop31 conference, including a daily live blog, and these explainers on what is at stake and what the talks can achieve, and who the key players are. Find all of our Cop31 coverage here. Continue reading...

Violent storms lash northern Iraq and parts of Iran, while Portugal faces strong winds and Japan braces for further snowfallDeadly flash floods hit northern Iraq on Saturday as severe thunderstorms swept across the region, including in neighbouring Iran. The city of Erbil, in Iraq, was particularly badly hit, with extensive damage to homes and businesses. Streets were inundated as torrential rain fell over a short period.Rainfall exceeded forecasts, with an estimated 80mm falling in the city, compared with expectations of 30mm. Two people were killed in the floods. Continue reading...

Drivers warned to take care as perfect' weather conditions for mist affect areas of England, Wales and Northern IrelandThick fog will shroud much of the southern half of England, the eastern half of Wales and most of Northern Ireland throughout the early part of the week, forecasters have said, as commuters are told to expect delays.There was disruption to flights at Heathrow airport on Monday, while an incident involving 30 vehicles closed a major road in Kent on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

President makes unusual acknowledgment that one of defining policies of his second administration had become a political liabilityDonald Trump has admitted that his deportation policy was too tough" and has offered to strike an immigration deal with Democrats in a concession after the Republicans' disastrous defeat in the midterm elections.In an interview on the CBS network's 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday, the president acknowledged that the aggressive crackdown had hurt him politically and said he was open to an arrangement to allow some undocumented immigrants to remain in the US. Continue reading...

From Serbia to Bangladesh and India to France, young people are pushing back against authoritarianism and reshaping political landscapesIn Brazil, they rallied online by the millions, sharing videos and spreading memes. In Serbia, they cycled across Europe and ran ultramarathons to make their voices heard.Both movements burst into international public view last month as they became central during election campaigns to the pushback against authoritarianism. What they also offered, however, was a window into a wider phenomenon playing out across the globe, as youth-led movements reshape political landscapes. Continue reading...

Residents of Astley in Greater Manchester will tell public inquiry next week of cacophony' of noise causing sleep deprivation and depressionWhen Stephen Retford retired from the police in 2006, he looked forward to a quiet life after nearly three decades catching villains. But now the former detective has landed another big case - one that is extremely close to home.It's the total injustice of it," the 70-year-old seethed, staring up at the 18-metre-high mega-warehouse that looms over the quiet village of Astley in Greater Manchester. Residents are up in arms about the monster" construction, likening it to having a cruise ship in our back garden". Continue reading...

Paul Nowak also calls on government to avoid arbitrary benefit cuts before much-anticipated Milburn report is published this weekFixing Britain's youth jobs crisis will require ministers to drastically increase investment in employment support while avoiding arbitrary cuts to benefits, the head of the trade union movement has said.Before an important official report expected next week, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Paul Nowak, said the government had a once in a generation chance" to secure young people's futures. Continue reading...

It's pretty obvious that there are all sorts of people making all sorts of comments,' Murray Watt says after budget savings meeting

Minister says Labour hoping to offer bed to every rough sleeper in England but cites chronic housing shortageAndy Burnham's pledge to tackle rough sleeping by getting everyone in for Christmas" is in jeopardy amid rising numbers of people on the streets and a severe housing shortage.Official figures show an increase of nearly 1,000 people sleeping rough in England between January and June, the latest month for which figures are available. Continue reading...

Coffee shop chain targets growth north of London with extra 500 outlets in big boost for youth employmentStarbucks has set out plans to hire 7,500 new baristas over the next five years, in a boost to youth employment as the chain pins hopes for future growth on the north of the country.The US coffee shop chain, which employs more than 18,000 people in the UK, said the hiring spree would focus on the Midlands, north of England, Wales and Scotland, as it targets growth north of the M25. Continue reading...

Ben Carroll refuses to be drawn on latest opinion poll that puts Labor at all-time low of just 18%, behind One Nation on 21% and the Coalition on 33%

Roberto Urbano, 51, appears in court via video link after death of 47-year-old Feng Jianming in the CBD on Friday night

Chris Minns and race discrimination commissioner lambast comments made by Stuart Bonds, who leads party's NSW upper house ticket

Pontiff tells Argentina's president the economy must benefit all on second stop of 12-day Latin America tourPope Leo XIV has delivered a stinging critique of Argentine president Javier Milei's harsh austerity measures, insisting growth must benefit all in a speech met with rapturous applause in Buenos Aires.The economy must be at the service of the people, rather than people being at the service of the economy," he said on Sunday, shortly after landing in Argentina on the second leg of a Latin America tour. Continue reading...

Former police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Baird and Luke Davies in Paddington in early 2024

Danielle Madgwick died in regional NSW in September after suffering multiple stab wounds to her upper body

Time to throw myself into something new,' 32-year-old presenter announces on social media while hailing her unforgettable time' on the showMaya Jama has announced she is stepping down as the host of Love Island after three years.The 32-year-old presenter of the reality TV show made the announcement on Instagram. Continue reading...

Lucy Powell says proposals to end widespread practice will be included in overhaul of England's national curriculumPushing GCSE subjects on younger pupils risks turning England's secondary schools into early exam factories", the education secretary has said, warning that it is increasing disengagement from education.Lucy Powell wants schools to end the widespread practice of teaching GCSE topics to pupils in year 9 or earlier, before they officially start in year 10, and says she plans to reduce the amount of GCSE content to make it easier to fit into the official timetable. Continue reading...

40m scheme in England aims to keep most vulnerable people well at home and avoid unnecessary hospital staysHundreds of thousands of vulnerable patients in England are to receive extra support from their GP as part of a 40m drive aimed at keeping them out of hospital this winter.As the NHS gears up for the pressures of the coming months, family doctors will offer 300,000 people with frailty and long-term conditions health checks, medication reviews and respiratory tests designed to prevent avoidable hospital admissions. Continue reading...

Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham all recorded falls, along with Kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Tasmania