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Strongly worded statement says bloc deplores' 20-year sentence for the pro-democracy figure in Hong Kong

Storm Marta sweeps Iberian peninsula just days after Storms Kristin and Leonardo brought deadly flooding and major damageSpain and Portugal have endured another storm over the weekend, just days after the deadly flooding and major damage caused by Storm Kristin and Storm Leonardo last week. Storm Marta passed over the Iberian peninsula on Saturday bringing fresh torrential rain, killing two people. Storm Kristin killed at least five people when it swept through Portugal last week with Storm Leonardo claiming another victim last Wednesday. The outlook for this week is for more rain across Spain, Portugal and France, especially across north-west Portugal, where more than 100mm is possible during the first half of the week. Some of the heaviest of the rain will transfer to southern Italy and western parts of Greece and Turkey later in the week.High rainfall totals are expected across parts of South Africa and Lesotho this week. By Saturday, provinces including Free State, KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape in South Africa could record fairly widespread rainfall totals of 80-100mm as a result of heavy showers or thunderstorms, with daily rainfall totals perhaps reaching 50mm where storms are particularly intense. Continue reading...

Grace Tame and Lidia Thorpe address crowds in Sydney and Melbourne as thousands take to streets

Family of media tycoon say he will die a martyr behind bars' amid widespread criticism from press freedom groupsJimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences, a punishment his daughter said could mean he will die a martyr behind bars".Claire Lai said the sentence was heartbreakingly cruel" given her 78-year-old father's declining health, while her brother Sebastien Lai called the sentence draconian" and devastating". Continue reading...

President criticises Puerto Rican musician's half-time show as a slap in the face' in lengthy tirade on social mediaUS vice-president JD Vance will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan this week to push a Washington-brokered peace agreement that could transform energy and trade routes in the strategic South Caucasus region.His two-day trip to Armenia, which begins later on Monday, comes just six months after the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders signed an agreement at the White House seen as the first step towards peace after nearly 40 years of war, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Jacqui Smith defends prime minister following resignation of Morgan McSweeney amid Mandelson scandalRobert Jenrick, the former shadow justice secretary who recently defected to Reform UK, told Sky News this morning that he thought the Labour government under Keir Starmer was becoming as dysfunctional as the last Tory government was. He said:The government appears to be collapsing into chaos. Now the prime minister has no authority. There's an outright revolt against him from his own members of parliament and the cabinet.Nothing is going to happen now. Government will be brought to a standstill. I've seen this up close in previous Conservative governments. There'll be no agenda. The issues that people are facing in their daily lives - whether it's wages, energy bills, crime, immigration, the NHS - are all just going to go into stasis now and the public are going to be let down very badly in the weeks and the months to come.I'm glad to see that the person who was the architect of Peter Mandelson's appointment has taken responsibility and has gone ... Morgan had become quite a divisive figure.There were a couple of things that everyone agreed on, one was that he was brilliant, but I think the other one was that people felt he was in the wrong job, so I think it's right that he's gone, and I think it's an opportunity. Continue reading...

William and Kate remain focused on victims' in their first words on scandal involving Andrew Mountbatten-WindsorThe Prince and Princess of Wales have been deeply concerned" by the revelations from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Kensington Palace has said.It is the first time the views of William and Catherine have been known about the crisis, which has engulfed the monarchy and Westminster, and their thoughts remain focused on the victims". Continue reading...

Need for greater military autonomy also accepted, says report for Munich Security Conference, which takes place this weekEurope has come to the painful realisation that it needs to be more assertive and more militarily independent from an authoritarian US administration that no longer shares a commitment to liberal democratic norms and values, a report prepared by the Munich Security Conference asserts.The report sets the scene for an all-out ideological confrontation with the Trump White House at the high-level annual meeting of security policy specialists, which starts on Friday. Continue reading...

Banking group beats Barclays to snare biggest acquisition since it was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008

Israeli president will meet prime minister Anthony Albanese and travel to Canberra and Melbourne as pro-Palestine supporters stage protests

Antonio Jose Seguro scores resounding win despite Andre Ventura's populist Chega party securing 33.2% of votesThe moderate socialist Antonio Jose Seguro won a resounding victory in the second round of Portugal's presidential election on Sunday, triumphing over his far-right opponent, Andre Ventura, whose Chega party still managed to take a record share of the vote.Seguro won 66.8% of votes to Ventura's 33.2% in the election, which went ahead despite weeks of disruption caused by deadly storms. The vote to elect a successor to the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was marked by a cross-party push to head off the prospect of a Chega victory, with some senior rightwing figures throwing their weight behind the centre-left candidate to keep Ventura from entering the presidential palace. Continue reading...

Juan Pablo Guanipa was violently' taken from a residential neighbourhood in Caracas, according to opposition leader Maria Corina MachadoVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday one of her closest allies was kidnapped hours after being released from prison.The government had released several prominent opposition members from prison on Sunday after lengthy politically motivated detentions. Continue reading...

Palestine Action Group argued powers so broad anyone in Sydney CBD or eastern suburbs could be searched - even when Israeli president in Canberra or Melbourne

Detentions of senior Reformists Front figures follow criticism of the authorities' handling of recent protestsThe head of Iran's Reformists Front, the organisation that was instrumental in securing the election of the country's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in a move that will probably deepen the tensions over the handling of the recent street protests.Azar Mansouri, the secretary general of the Islamic Iran People party, had expressed deep sorrow at protesters' deaths, and said nothing could justify such a catastrophe. She had not in public called for the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to resign. Continue reading...

Data shows deprived communities have more off-licences and takeaways and fewer childcare facilities and gymsEngland's poorest communities have 70% more vape shops, off-licences and bookmakers than wealthier ones and far fewer cafes and gyms, a study has found.The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), chaired by the Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, said ministers risked overlooking vitally important neighbourhood shopping precincts by focusing on town centres. In deprived areas, local shops have roughly double the number of retailers selling unhealthy food and significantly higher vacancy rates, its research has found. Continue reading...

Study find nitazenes, which are up to 500 times stronger than heroin, can degrade significantly in portmortem blood samplesDeaths caused by a synthetic opioid that is hundreds of times stronger than heroin may have been underestimated by up to a third across the UK, according to research.Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, and up to 500 times stronger than heroin. They were manufactured originally as a painkiller in the 1950s but their development was halted due to their extreme potencies resulting in a high risk of addiction. Continue reading...

Thinktank analysis says proposed earned settlement' changes could trap families in prolonged insecurityMore than 300,000 children already living in the UK could be forced to wait 10 years for settled status under proposed changes to the Home Office's earned settlement" policy, according to an analysis by a centre left thinktank.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1.35 million people already on routes to settlement are children, most of them dependants on their families' work visas. Continue reading...

Leadership challenge by conservative MP is a matter of when, not if, they say

Intelligence agency takes unusual step of publicly releasing statement and says it will reserve our right to take further action' if the ABC makes false claims

British papers explore what's next for prime minister Keir Starmer after the loss of his longtime adviser over the Mandelson-Epstein files scandalThe fate of prime minister Keir Starmer dominates the UK front pages on Monday after his embattled chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.In standing down, McSweeney admitted the decision to advise sending Mandelson to the US despite his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was wrong". I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice," he said, after a Sunday phone call with Starmer. Continue reading...

Australian white supremacist tells NZ court he was suffering from nervous exhaustion' when he entered his guilty plea in March 2020The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, in the worst mass shooting in the New Zealand's history, has asked a court to discard his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes.Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty in March 2020 to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and a terrorism charge, after initially saying he would defend the charges. In August 2020, Tarrant became the first person in New Zealand under current laws to be sentenced to life in prison without the chance of ever walking free. Continue reading...

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Award-winning Tasmanian artist's work was published by The Australian, The Saturday Paper and The Hobart MercuryJon Kudelka, the Australian political cartoonist, has died at the age of 53.His wife, Margaret Kudelka, announced the news in a statement on Tuesday: We are sad to tell you that our beloved, brilliant Jon Kudelka died peacefully in South Hobart on Sunday afternoon, surrounded by his family and friends." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won't just do things because of their background'Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose parents migrated to the UK from Pakistan, is facing the suggestion from a veteran Labour peer that she is pulling up the drawbridge once inside" when considering the plight of refugee children trapped abroad.Alf Dubs, who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, said the home secretary and other ministers had kowtowed" to Nigel Farage's Reform UK by preventing unaccompanied children from seeking refuge with UK-based family members. Continue reading...

Moderate socialist defeats far-right populist Andre Ventura, with exit polls putting him comfortably above two-thirds of voteModerate socialist Antonio Jose Seguro secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal's president in a runoff vote on Sunday, beating his far-right, anti-establishment rival Andre Ventura, exit polls and partial results showed.A succession of storms in recent days failed to deter voters, with turnout at about the same level as in the first round on 18 January, even though three municipal councils in southern and central Portugal had to postpone voting by a week due to floods. Continue reading...

Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Preston and police say her death is being treated as suspiciousA man has been arrested over the death of a student in her accommodation at the University of Lancashire.Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Victoria Street, Preston, on Thursday afternoon, Lancashire constabulary said. Continue reading...

McSweeney resigns as PM's top aide after Mandelson revelations as Starmer appoints new acting joint chiefs of staff

Allies hope aide's departure can quell anger over Mandelson scandal but others say it leaves PM dangerously exposed

Those pushing to oust the prime minister are unlikely to be deterred by his right-hand man's departureFor some Labour MPs, the sight of Keir Starmer accepting the resignation of his long-term consigliere, Morgan McSweeney, encapsulated everything they think is going wrong with the prime minister's leadership.After days of mounting criticism over McSweeney's role in advocating for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador, the prime minister's chief of staff left Downing Street on Sunday. Continue reading...

Met Office issues fresh yellow warning for rain as parts of England are still recovering from extensive floodingMore than 200 flood alerts were active across the UK on Sunday as parts of England and Wales braced for more downpours after the Met Office issued a fresh yellow warning for rain.The warning spans noon to midnight on Monday, covering parts of southern Wales as well as south-east and south-west England. The Met Office said that 10-15mm of rain is likely fairly widely with 20-30mm in some places exposed to the strong south to south-easterly winds". Continue reading...

Results mean coalition of recently installed PM has supermajority in lower house of parliamentJapan's conservative governing coalition has dramatically strengthened its grip on power after a landslide victory in Sunday's elections in what will be seen as an early public endorsement of the new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.Her Liberal Democratic party (LDP) was projected to win as many as 328 of the 465 seats in parliament's lower house, well above the 233 it needed to regain the majority it lost in 2024. With her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, she now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the upper chamber, which she does not control. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by US tech firms, edited out warnings by two young speakers at its 2024 Safer Internet Day eventAn internet safety campaign backed by US tech companies has been accused of censoring two teenagers they invited to speak out about the biggest issues facing children online.Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by companies including Snap, Roblox and Meta, edited out warnings from Lewis Swire and Saamya Ghai that social media addiction was an imminent threat to our future" and obsessive scrolling was making people sick", according to a record of edits seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Staunch royalist Anutin Charnvirakul's Bhumjaithai party builds commanding lead on disappointing night for rivalsThe party of the Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a staunch royalist and shrewd political dealmaker, is on track to win the most seats in Sunday's election after a disappointing night for his rivals in the youthful, pro-democracy People's party.We are likely to take first place in the election," the 59-year-old told reporters at the headquarters for his Bhumjaithai party in Bangkok. The victory today belongs to all Thais, no matter whether you voted for us or not," he said. Continue reading...

Women's and human rights activist, arrested at a demonstration in December, is said to be on hunger strikeIran has sentenced the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, her supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security forces.The new convictions against Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the US over its nuclear programme to avert a military strike threatened by Donald Trump. Iran's top diplomat said on Sunday that Tehran's strength came from its ability to say no to the great powers", striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US. Continue reading...

Labour will introduce legislation to cut threshold from 20 in effort to head off looming shortagesLabour will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain's railways are under 30.The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from 20, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers. Continue reading...

Arrests follow discovery on Friday of magistrate and her mother in a garage in south-east of countryFrench authorities have arrested six suspects, including a child, after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot.Four men and one woman were detained, three overnight and two on Sunday morning, the Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran told Agence France-Presse. He later confirmed a child had been arrested on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer's chief of staff leaves job over role in Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador

Longtime aide has said he takes full responsibility' for advising PM to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador

Experts say the term addiction' is be overused and, for social media use, could be difficult to proveForthcoming legal proceedings against Meta and YouTube are frequently referred to as the social media addiction trials", but whether these platforms are truly addictive is still the subject of scientific debate.The lawsuits were brought against Meta, YouTube (Google), Snap Inc and TikTok by plaintiffs alleging these platforms severely damaged their mental health when they were children. Snap and TikTok settled the first case to go to trial, brought by a woman known as KGM, now about 20. The remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube, were set to go to court this week, but the trial was delayed because Meta's senior attorney became ill. Continue reading...

Former culture minister Jack Lang resigns from Arab World Institute in Paris and is also subject of tax investigationJack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris's prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.The 86-year-old resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein. Continue reading...

One MP who now considers a spill inevitable says accepting shorter suspensions for rogue Nationals senators was a significant backdown

Research suggests surging costs under Morrison government's job-ready graduate scheme and axing of dozens of subjects largely to blame

Blaze probably caused by candles at makeshift tribute near Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, say policeA memorial for the victims of a deadly fire at a new year party in Switzerland itself caught fire early on Sunday, probably sparked by candles left burning inside, police have said.It was a makeshift tribute to the 41 people killed and the 115 injured in the fire that erupted in the early hours of 1 January at Le Constellation bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, which was packed with mainly teenagers and young adults. Continue reading...

Northern leaders urge government to support proposal as Manchester mayor says a London bid wouldn't be right'The north of England is seeking to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to boost a region left out of the national story".Northern leaders have written to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging the government to back a multi-city games spanning an area with a population of 15 million people. Continue reading...

Labour faces a battle to hold on to its 13,000 majority, with the Greens the bookies' favourite and Reform hoping to gain from split vote on leftAs Nigel Farage cut the ribbon on Reform UK's byelection headquarters in Greater Manchester this week, Labour's candidate, Angeliki Stogia, sat tearfully in a cafe nearby.Politicians do not often show their emotion but for Stogia, who arrived in Britain as a student from Greece in 1995, this is personal. I am angry," she said of Farage's party. I am very, very angry. How dare they come here and spread this division?" Continue reading...

While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by someA separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada. Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition.Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec's independence movement made a string of provocative overtures to foreign governments, including a trip by the province's premier to France. In a move that outraged anglophone Canada, the mayor of Paris gave Quebec's Jacques Parizeau a welcome befitting a national leader. Continue reading...

Puerto Rican superstar promises the world will dance' in all-Spanish half-time gig that comes as Trump agents wage deadly crackdownFor 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily - or perhaps entirely - in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whose songs fuse the raw energy of musica urbana, Boricua pride and resistance politics, has promised a huge party".At a moment when masked federal agents are sweeping through American cities, rounding up long-settled immigrants, legal residents and even US citizens, Bad Bunny's presence on the grandest stage in US sports offers a striking contrast - a joyful celebration of pride and solidarity for millions of Latinos. Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Keir Starmer as Labour peer reported to have received payment worth three months' salary when he quit in September

Jeff Bezos's axing of more than 300 jobs at the storied newspaper has renewed fears about the resilience of America's democracy to withstand Trump's attacksThe email landed in Lizzie Johnson's in-tray in Ukraine just before 4pm local time. It came at a tough time for the reporter: Russia had been repeatedly striking the country's power grid, and just days before she had been forced to work out of her car without heat, power or running water, writing in pencil because pen ink freezes too readily.Difficult news," was the subject line. The body text said: Your position is eliminated as part of today's organizational changes," explaining that it was necessary to get rid of her to meet the evolving needs of our business". Continue reading...