Altnaharra, in Sutherland, the most northern region of the Highlands, had reached the low by 9pm on FridayThe UK has recorded its chilliest January night in 15 years, as forecasters predicted it could get even colder over the weekend with temperatures falling as low as -20C in some locations.Altnaharra, in Sutherland, the most northerly region of the Highlands, reached the low of -17.3C by 9pm on Friday. It is the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010, when it dropped below -15C several times at locations across the UK, including -22.3C on 8 January in Altnaharra. Continue reading...
Trump International hotel, currently a Waldorf Astoria, was a venue for influence peddling, opponents sayDonald Trump's property company is in negotiations to re-purchase his Washington hotel, which opponents say was a venue for illicit influence peddling during his first presidency.The Trump International hotel, housed in the city's old post office building a short walk from the White House, was sold in 2022 and is now the Waldorf Astoria. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Departures will add to scrutiny of party leader after Elon Musk said he was not up to the job'A group of 10 councillors representing Reform UK have given notice of their intention to resign en masse in protest at Nigel Farage's leadership.The resignations will add to pressure on the Reform leader after Elon Musk said he was not up to the job". They are timed to overshadow the party's south-east conference this weekend. Continue reading...
DoJ report acknowledges attack was so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence'On Friday, the Department of Justice (DoJ) released its report on the Tulsa race massacre after announcing the review last September.The report came more than 100 years after a June 1921 report by the justice department's Bureau of Investigation, a precursor to the FBI, blamed the massacre on Black men and alleged that perpetrators did not violate any federal laws. Continue reading...
Weapons such as sharpened objects and rocks taken from children aged 15-18 at YOI WetherbyAlmost 900 weapons were seized in one year from children detained in a young offender institution in the north of England, a prisons watchdog has found.In its annual report published on Friday into HM young offender institution Wetherby in West Yorkshire, the institution's independent monitoring board found that children were in possession of a range of improvised weapons. The children told IMB they carried the weapons because they felt unsafe behind bars. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#6TFYF)
US announces $65m bounty for arrest of president, who has led country since 2013 and failed to prove he won recent voteVenezuela's authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, has been accused of a shameless and fraudulent power-grab after swearing himself in for a third term, despite domestic outrage and a chorus of international condemnation at his alleged theft of last year's election.This is a great victory for Venezuelan democracy," the 62-year-old autocrat boasted during a sparsely attended oath-taking ceremony in Caracas that was boycotted by the leaders of democratic nations. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Health secretary says irresponsible public discourse' could vilify communities and lead to terrorismThe use of inflammatory language over grooming gangs risks vilifying entire communities and could lead to atrocities such as the mosque massacre in New Zealand that killed more than 50 people, the health secretary has warned.Wes Streeting said he had no difficulty or qualms" calling out the sickening" crimes of sexual abuse gangs, criticising well meaning, but ultimately fundamentally misguided and warped views of political correctness" for letting down thousands of children. Continue reading...
Martin Elling pleads guilty to destroying records on advice provided to Purdue Pharma on how to turbocharge' salesA former partner at McKinsey & Co pleaded guilty on Friday to obstructing justice by destroying records related to advice he and the consulting firm provided to Purdue Pharma on how to turbocharge" sales of its potent opioid prescription painkiller, OxyContin.Martin Elling, 60, entered his plea in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, a month after the US Department of Justice announced that his former employer had agreed to pay $650m to resolve related charges over its work for Purdue, the Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#6TFTG)
David Crompton, 44, was reportedly given IOU' for prescription medication before fatal incidentA man with epilepsy died in a fall after his pharmacy reportedly left him an IOU" for his prescribed medication when it ran out of an anti-epileptic drug.David Crompton, a 44-year-old man in Leeds, died on 13 December after a fall downstairs resulted in a loss of oxygen to his brain and a cardiac arrest. Continue reading...
Thomas Kingston, son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, had been prescribed SSRIsA coroner has issued a warning about the effects of antidepressants prescribed by a Buckingham Palace doctor to the son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent before his suicide.Thomas Kingston, 45, whose marriage to Lady Gabriella at Windsor Castle in 2019 was attended by the late Queen, killed himself last February after suffering adverse effects of medication he had recently been prescribed", an inquest found last month. Continue reading...
Grammy-winning musician alleged the imprisoned rapper is harassing her through surrogates after he shot her in 2020Megan Thee Stallion has been granted a restraining order from imprisoned rapper Tory Lanez until early 2030.Los Angeles superior court judge Richard Bloom has granted Megan's request for a protective order after the hip-hop star alleged that Lanez is harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6TFQ4)
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's relatives demand compensation from Italian firm Leonardo six years after his deathThe family of Leicester City's former owner, who was killed in a helicopter crash outside the club's stadium in 2018, have launched a lawsuit against the company which made the aircraft.Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's family are suing the Italian aerospace and defence company Leonardo SpA for 2.15bn - the largest fatal accident claim in English history, according to the family's lawyers. Continue reading...
Morgan McSweeney met EU counterparts before Christmas as Downing Street poised to hire new foreign adviserKeir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, made a below-the-radar trip to Brussels last month, as No 10 prepares to appoint its own foreign affairs adviser to help bolster the Downing Street policy operation.As the UK's attempts at a reset" with the EU continue behind closed doors, No 10's most senior aide made the trip to meet counterparts in Brussels before Christmas. Continue reading...
New Zealand garden takes first prize in global competition designed to promote water conservationA sun-scorched patch of lawn near Christchurch, in New Zealand, has been crowned the ugliest lawn in the world.Now in its second year, the World's Ugliest Lawn competition rewards lawn owners for not watering their parched yellow grass and patchy flowerbeds. Continue reading...
Move marks shift in views but sexually active gay men will not be admitted to Roman Catholic seminariesGay men will be allowed to train as priests in Roman Catholic seminaries, so long as they observe celibacy, according to new guidelines announced by the Italian Bishops Conference (CIE).The decision marks a shift from the view previously held by Pope Francis that gay men should not be admitted to seminaries owing to the risk of them leading a double life. Continue reading...
Measures targeting Russian energy sector attempt to leverage peace deal for Ukraine in Trump administrationThe Biden administration on Friday imposed its broadest package of sanctions yet targeting Russia's oil and gas revenues in an attempt to give Kyiv and the incoming administration of Donald Trump leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine. The move is meant to cut Russias oil revenues for the war that started in February 2022, and has killed or wounded tens of thousands and reduced cities to rubble.The measures are the most significant sanctions yet against the Russian energy sector, the largest source of revenue for the Kremlin's war machine", a senior Biden official told reporters in a call. Continue reading...
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen crossing a bridge in the city centre on Tuesday morningPolice are searching for two sisters reported missing in Aberdeen, who were last seen three days ago.Police Scotland has asked for the public's help to trace Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, who were last seen early on Tuesday morning on CCTV cameras in the city centre. Continue reading...
Former WWE CEO agrees to penalty over undisclosed settlement agreements worth $10.5m with two womenThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says that it has settled charges against the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Vince McMahon over his failure to disclose to the sports entertainment company's board and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth $10.5m with two women in order for them not to reveal potential claims against himself and WWE.McMahon resigned from WWE's parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct. At the time, McMahon stepped down from his position as executive chairman of the board of directors at WWE's parent company, TKO Group Holdings. He continued to deny wrongdoing following the filing of the lawsuit. Continue reading...
So-called department of government efficiency charged by Trump to help effect radical government shake-upElon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have already dispatched emissaries across the US government ahead of their mission to slash public spending as joint heads of Doge (the department of government efficiency), a non-governmental body body ordered by Donald Trump to help realize his goal of a radical government shake-up.The two tech billionaires have already sent aides to more than a dozen federal agencies as they look to identify possible cuts, according to the Washington Post. Continue reading...
Scientist says case is warning for farmers to reduce reliance on controversial and common herbicideScientists have identified a glyphosate-resistant weed on a farm in the UK for the first time, raising concerns about the controversial herbicide.Scientists at the agricultural consultancy ADAS, said that, after reports from agronomists and screening of seed samples from a farm in Kent, they had confirmed glyphosate resistance in Italian ryegrass, an annual grass weed that particularly affects wheat fields in the UK. This is the first time glyphosate resistance in weeds has been detected in the UK. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy says chancellor's visit to China is right and proper', despite continued bond market sell-offThe reason that Culture secretary Lisa Nandy was on the media round today was to promote the government's consultation on tackling online ticket touting.On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme she said:People will no longer go on to a website and find that the tickets have been bought up by touts in mass numbers as part of an industry that fleeces fans and leeches money out of the music industry and are then sold on at vastly inflated pricesOver 1,000 pounds, for Coldplay tickets, for Bruce Springsteen tickets. I don't know a single person who could afford that sort of thing. And that's what we're bringing an end to today, the time is up for ticket touts.In my view the government was right to reject that form of opportunism [the Tory amendment that was voted down this week].But I did hear last night coming out of that debate ministers saying they are open to discussing issues now with survivors.I get the point that Andy's making. He said that there was a case for a smaller, more limited national inquiry into the specific issues that the inquiry that he instigated could not pick up.I do understand that because the inquiry that we had here in Greater Manchester, astonishingly, some of the Greater Manchester police officers refused to even take part, and the local inquiry couldn't compel them to do so.The reason I think that that people have heard from us that there may at some point in the future be another inquiry is because child abuse by its very nature is hidden, it's secretive, and at various points, I'm sure that more will come out about the scandals that we've heard. We are not going to rule out an inquiry ever. Continue reading...
DNC files legal action over Republican lawsuit seeking to dispute re-election of Democratic supreme court justiceThe Democratic National Committee on Friday attempted to stop North Carolina Republicans' effort to invalidate tens of thousands of ballots from the November election and upend a state supreme court race that Democrats won.The DNC filed a legal action on Friday to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee in Wake county, North Carolina, in late December, seeking to throw out votes because of alleged missing information on registration forms. Continue reading...
Project Lifeline says it previously helped three friends of 14-year-old who was stabbed to death in south-east LondonThe life of the 14-year-old stabbing victim Kelyan Bokassa could have been saved if he had been helped to move out of south-east London, according to an anti-knife crime charity who knew him.Kelyan, who was an aspiring drill rapper, was stabbed to death in Woolwich on a 472 bus on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6TFES)
Tom Crowther KC says public inquiries seen as Rolls-Royce solution' but local review in Shropshire led to real progressPublic inquiries are seen as the Rolls-Royce solution" to tackling the grooming gangs scandal but local reviews are more effective, the former chair of the Telford child sexual exploitation (CSE) inquiry has said.Tom Crowther KC said the Telford model" led to real progress in the Shropshire town and could be used in towns across the country looking into similar CSE scandals. Continue reading...
Trump had asked the highest US legal body to call off today's sentencing after New York courts refused to postpone itReuters has written up a brief overview of the hush-money case:Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in March 2023 with illegally falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with the pornographic film actor Stormy Daniels. A jury convicted him of 34 felony counts in May 2024. The judge overseeing the case indicated he does not plan to send Trump to prison. But by granting an unconditional discharge, he would place a judgment of guilt on Trump's permanent record. Continue reading...
Norwegian capital's sites were 98% free of fossil fuels last year, and it aims to increase use of electric machineryTafseer Ali felt no need to raise his voice as the pair of diggers lumbered past him, their treads weighing heavy on the rock and asphalt.Quiet electric machines like these make it easy to work in the city centre, the construction manager said - and keep the neighbours happy. If they have less noise, we get fewer complaints." Continue reading...
Three people arrested after group escapes Johannesburg house by breaking a window and burglar barSouth African police have rescued 26 Ethiopians from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg after the group broke a window and burglar bar to escape from a house where they were being held naked.Three people were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and possessing an illegal firearm on Thursday night after neighbours in the Sandringham suburb heard the commotion and tipped off the police, the Hawks serious crime unit said in a statement. Police urged the public to report any other escaped naked people in the area. Continue reading...
Washington Post reporter said everyone in DC' knew Biden allowed his family to sell access to him', James Comer saysIn a new book, James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the powerful US House oversight committee, claims that in a private conversation the Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told him everyone in DC knew" Joe Biden was financially corrupt.Woodward explained that everyone in DC knew that Joe allowed his family to sell access to him, but as far as he was aware, that was not illegal," Comer writes. He added that it should be, but it wasn't. You will have to prove all of Joe Biden's wrongdoing,' he said, and you will likely not be able to do that.'" Continue reading...
There are also fears electronic travel authorisation will threaten post-peace tourism sector in Northern IrelandThe UK Home Office's already burdened immigration services could be overwhelmed this summer when a new visa-waiver system comes into force for European business travellers and tourists in April, a leading law firm has said.There have also been fresh warnings that the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) requirements could threaten the post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland, with Americans and Europeans travelling to Dublin and beyond deciding not to bother crossing the border because of the red tape. Continue reading...
Viagogo and StubHub platforms to be hit by cap of face value plus 30% or lessThe price at which tickets for live events can be resold is to be capped under gamechanging" proposals put forward by the government to crack down on touting in the sector.In a move hailed by music industry figures, the culture minister, Lisa Nandy, has launched a consultation that she said would end the misery" of fans being exploited by touts, some of whom have made huge profits by selling hundreds of tickets a year. Continue reading...
Though few welcome idea of being acquired by the US, status quo as part of Denmark is not universally popularGreenland's prime minister has called for unity and calm after Donald Trump reheated his global row with Nato allies on Tuesday, when the US president-elect said he was prepared to use tariffs or military force to seize control of Greenland.The comments led the Greenlandic prime minister, Mute Egede, to say: Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders." The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said on Thursday that the US seizure of Greenland is not going to happen", while Germany and France have warned Trump over annexation. Continue reading...
Health secretary accused of talking utter nonsense' about private sector's ability to help cut NHS waiting timesWes Streeting has defended the growing use of the private sector to help tackle long waiting lists for treatment but said providers must pull their weight" and not take resources away from the NHS.The health secretary, who has previously said middle-class lefties" risked putting ideological purity ahead of patient care, said he would be entirely pragmatic" about using spare capacity in the private sector. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jonathan Freedland, with Blake Montgo on (#6TF8Z)
This week we learned that Meta is dropping third-party fact-checking, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, spiked a cartoon that made fun of him and other tech leaders kneeling before a statue of Donald Trump, and just about all the big Silicon Valley companies are donating $1m to Trump's inauguration fund. Jonathan Freedland and Blake Montgomery look at who will hold the power between big tech and the White House over the next four yearsArchive: ITV, CBS, PBS Newshour, News Nation, CNN, Fox Business, Bloomberg Television, CNBC, BBC Continue reading...
Welsh star promises big, bold plays that bring vital under-explored' stories about Wales to lifeMichael Sheen, a global star of screen and stage, is spearheading a new national theatre for Wales, promising to create big, bold plays that bring vital stories about his homeland to life.Sheen said he was bursting with ideas and promised to appear in the newly forged Welsh National Theatre's first production, a foundation" story about Wales staged at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Continue reading...
Charity reveals plans to create 250,000 hectares of nature-rich landscape as it marks 130th anniversaryIn past decades the focus has been on protecting beautiful landscapes such as the Lake District, trying to save the crumbling coast or breathing life into historic country houses.Now the National Trust is marking its 130th anniversary by unveiling moonshot" plans to address what it regards as the current national need - the climate and nature crises. Continue reading...
Actor has filed civil lawsuit claiming prosecutors targeted him for professional or political gain, and intentionally concealed evidence that vindicated himActor Alec Baldwin has filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against the prosecutors in his trial over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western movie Rust.The lawsuit was filed Thursday at state district court in Santa Fe, where a judge in July dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin in the death of Hutchins, who was killed in 2021. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian