World news | The Guardian

US president claims US will take back oil stolen from it by Venezuela, but experts say no legal claim to natural reserves exists

Technocrat must accommodate US demands while shoring up a regime that is hated by many Venezuelans

Maximus Textoris Pulcher, an official resident at Rue de la Loi 16, shows a warmer side of Bart De WeverFor nearly 15 years, Britain's Larry the Cat has charmed visitors to 10 Downing Street. Now another prime ministerial pet is proving a social media hit in Belgium.Maximus Textoris Pulcher was announced in August as an official resident at the Belgian prime minister's office, Rue de la Loi 16 in central Brussels. Continue reading...

Security Service was able to compile detailed files on members of legitimate protest groups infiltrated by undercover police officersThousands of surveillance reports compiled by undercover police officers who spied on political campaigners were routinely passed to MI5, documents obtained by the spycops inquiry have revealed.Police sent undercover officers on long-term deployments to infiltrate mainly leftwing protest groups and gather enormous quantities of information about their political and personal activities. Continue reading...

Dystopian warnings once reserved for the far right have found a wider audience - but there are good reasons for scepticismIt is a darkly dystopian vision of Britain's future, in which tens of thousands die in a bitter civil war in just a few years time.Yet such forecasts are no longer limited to niche corners of the internet or the X feed of Elon Musk, condemned by Downing Street for claiming that war in Britain was inevitable after the post-Southport rioting. Continue reading...

Decision comes after six people died along Australia's eastern coastline during a horror New Year period

A fantasy figure for men and women, a victim of press intrusion, a defender of animals ... the French actor was also a mouthpiece for racial hatred whose views grew uglier over timeBrigitte Bardot inspired many fantasies, from the wanton, panting reveries of assorted French auteurs in the 1950s and 60s, to the perky-nippled bust created in 1969 as a model for Marianne, the embodiment of the French Republic itself.With her death on 28 December, another more contemporary Bardot illusion was shattered. The singer Chappell Roan, responding to Bardot's passing at 91, posted a photo of the actor in her beehived prime on Instagram, saying she had inspired her song Red Wine Supernova and writing": Rest in peace Ms Bardot." Continue reading...

Australian prime minister says government has long held concerns about the situation' in South American country

Trump is no longer bending the rules - he is demolishing them, with consequences far beyond Caracas

Hope, fear and unease ripple through Britain's Venezuelan community after US forces seized Nicolas Maduro

Zia Yusuf announces plans for mandatory sentences with no parole, as party targets grooming gangsChild rapists would be jailed for life if Reform UK wins the next election, its head of policy has said.Under plans announced by Zia Yusuf on Saturday, the party would introduce mandatory whole-life orders for offenders convicted of the crime, making them ineligible for parole, as part of a crackdown on grooming gangs. Continue reading...

New documents reveal numerous missed opportunities as experts and victims condemn US authorities' failuresOver the course of two decades, Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly appeared on law enforcement's radar for sexual misconduct involving teen girls and young women. And over this same period of time, Epstein avoided serious and meaningful punishment for his crimes.The US justice department's recent disclosure of long-secret investigative files related to Epstein has once again raised the question of why he wasn't interdicted sooner, despite numerous reports of misconduct. The issue has been the subject of many conspiracy theories, often focusing on the idea that Epstein - who lived at the center of a network of powerful people - enjoyed some form of protection. Continue reading...

The US may be making positive noises, but exhausted Ukrainians remain wary after nearly four years of warI would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that peace will also come in just a few minutes," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message to the Ukrainian people released just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, I cannot say that yet."Zelenskyy said a peace agreement was 90% ready", but added something that subverted Donald Trump's constant claims that a deal is just around the corner. Those 10% contain, in fact, everything," he said. Continue reading...

Humberside police say body retrieved off East Yorkshire on Friday evening amid rescue operation in horrendous conditions'A second body has been recovered from the sea off the coast of Withernsea, East Yorkshire, as the search resumes for a third missing person.Humberside police said the body of a second person was retrieved on Friday evening. Earlier, a 67-year-old man had been pulled unconscious from the water, but he died later. Continue reading...

Southern Transitional Council wants to form a breakaway state, which would split the Arabian Peninsula's poorest state in twoSaudi Arabia's foreign ministry has called for Yemen's southern factions to attend a dialogue" in Riyadh, after a surprise independence bid and the United Arab Emirates declaring it had withdrawn all troops from Yemen.In a statement on Saturday, the Saudi ministry urged a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause". Riyadh said the Yemeni government had issued the invitation for talks. Continue reading...

Decision to carry the weapons at SCG not due to active or imminent threat but to help the public feel safe', NSW police chief says

Minutes obtained under freedom of information laws show West Midlands police flagged concerns over decision ahead of Aston Villa matchJewish communities warned West Midlands police that a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a match against Aston Villa could be perceived as antisemitic", documents show.Supporters of the Israeli team were banned from attending the Europa League fixture at Villa Park in Birmingham on 6 November, causing outrage, with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, condemning it as wrong" and suggesting it amounted to antisemitism. Continue reading...

Charlotte Niddam, 15, went to school in Hertfordshire and her family have not heard from her since the blazeA teenager educated in Britain is among those missing after a deadly fire in a Swiss ski resort.Charlotte Niddam, 15, lived in Bushey, Hertfordshire, until recently and attended Immanuel college, a private Jewish secondary school in the town. The school issued a statement on Friday saying it was praying for a miracle for Charlotte". Continue reading...

A UK government warning that Amal Clooney risks US sanctions over her role in the issuing of an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister is key among reasons the couple have sought French citizenshipThe exodus from Hollywood to shores not presided over by Donald Trump has been busy and loud. Ellen DeGeneres, Robin Wright and Courtney Love moved to England; Rosie O'Donnell opted for Ireland; Eva Longoria, Spain. Other Trump critics, including Richard Gere, Lena Dunham and Ryan Gosling, have upped sticks without citing the re-election as a motivating factor.In the case of Clooney, however, there has appeared little doubt that his decision to gain French citizenship was primarily because of Trump, whose re-election he energetically campaigned against. Yet amid the heat and headlines generated by the pair's war of words, some of the actor's reasons for relocating may have flown under the radar. Continue reading...

Officials say 40 people were killed and 119 injured, with some in hospital still unidentified due to horrific' injuriesItaly's ambassador to Switzerland Gian Lorenzo Cornado has said that all bar five of the 112 injured have been identified now, reports Reuters. Swiss officials are yet to give an update on this and have not shared the names of any victims or injured.Six Italians are still missing and 13 hospitalised, he added. Three Italians were repatriated on Thursday and three more will follow on Friday, he said.It's the grief, as if we have all lost a loved one. Continue reading...

Footage and witness statements show blaze that killed about 40 was very rapid', prosecutor saysInvestigators believe fountain sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling sparked the deadly fire that tore through a crowded bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100.Everything suggests the fire started from the burning candles or Bengal lights' that had been attached to champagne bottles," the prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said on Friday. These went too close to the ceiling." Continue reading...

Death of man from Kettering comes shortly after disappearance of two men during a Christmas Day swim in DevonA 51-year-old man has died after attempting to rescue a woman who was struggling to swim at Brighton beach on New Year's Day, police have confirmed.Sussex police were alerted at 10.35am on Thursday after the swimmer, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, was recovered from the water to the west of Brighton Palace Pier. Continue reading...

Some of the injured taken to Belgium, France and Germany while Swiss officials try to identify the dead

Police say woman's death in Tennant Creek appeared to be the result of a medical episode, but Aboriginal legal service says internal investigation is not sufficient'

Businesses including pubs and car rental companies targeted to check if they use power asymmetry' to gather personal data and keep it too long

US president's posts that US will come to the rescue of protesters prompts warnings of regret-inducing response'Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if its government killed demonstrators, prompting warnings from senior Iranian officials that any American interference would cross a red line".In a social media post on Friday, Trump said that if Iran shoots and kills protesters, the US would come to their rescue". He added: We are locked and loaded, and ready to go", without explaining what that might mean in practice. Continue reading...

Exclusive: diplomats had to scramble to contain fallout with Beijing after Douglas Alexander's trip to TaipeiChina threatened to cancel high-level trade talks with the UK earlier this year over a government minister's visit to Taiwan, the Guardian can disclose.Beijing told the British government it would pull its first trade and economic dialogue with the UK in seven years after Douglas Alexander, then a trade minister, travelled to Taipei in late June. Continue reading...

Brian King Joseph claims the rapper and actor was priming' him for sexual exploitation'. Smith's lawyer has called the allegations false, baseless and reckless'Will Smith is being sued by a violinist from his 2025 tour, who claims the rapper and actor exhibited predatory behaviour" and was deliberately grooming and priming" him for further sexual exploitation". Brian King Joseph is also pursuing the performer and his company Treyball Studios Management for wrongful termination and retaliation in a suit filed in the superior court of California.Joseph alleges that he was hired for the tour in support of Smith's new album, Based on a True Story, after first appearing on stage with Smith in December 2024. The suit claims that Smith once told Joseph, You and I have such a special connection that I don't have with anyone else." Continue reading...

Paul Ovenden argues time spent discussing political prisoner was symptom of government struggling to focusEfforts to free Alaa Abd el-Fattah regularly distracted Keir Starmer's government from focusing on bread-and-butter domestic political issues, according to one of the prime minister's closest former advisers.Paul Ovenden, who stood down last year as the prime minister's director of strategy, said the case of the British political prisoner became a running joke" among those in government frustrated by the slow pace of change. Continue reading...

Reports say actor, 34, found unresponsive in corridor of Fairmont hotel in early hours of New Year's DayVictoria Jones, the daughter of the actor Tommy Lee Jones, has been found dead in a San Francisco hotel.Jones, 34, was discovered in the early hours of New Year's Day according to TMZ, which cited law enforcement sources. Continue reading...

Artist's daughter Marguerite features in most of the pieces, kept in the family until complete surprise' donationThe Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris has received an extraordinarily generous" donation of 61 works by Henri Matisse that have been kept in the artist's family.Most of the donated art - which includes paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs and a sculpture - features the painter's daughter Marguerite. Continue reading...

British military doctors and therapists provide support at base where innovative treatments aid recovery of those who have lost limbsAt a specialist treatment centre in Ukraine, as other amputees play volleyball nearby, Vladislav shows a video on his phone of how he lost his left leg. He found the footage - of a drone closing in rapidly on a buggy, Vladislav standing exposed at its rear - on a Russian military social media channel.The 31-year-old, an arbitration lawyer before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, makes a double whistling noise to describe the drone's ominous progress. That's me," he says, pointing at the video, filmed from a fibre optic drone, chasing him down with terrifying ease as the vehicle slows for a corner. Then the screen goes blank. Continue reading...

NHS to administer combined immunisation in move in line with approach in US, Canada, Australia and GermanyChildren in the UK are to be immunised against chickenpox at the same time as measles, mumps and rubella.The NHS across the UK's four home nations will administer a combined vaccine to young children to protect them against all four diseases from Friday. Continue reading...

Ukraine rejects claim, saying its forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sitesA Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and injured at least 50 more as they celebrated the new year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine's Kherson region, Russian officials said, as tensions between the two countries continue to rise despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks.Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region's Moscow-installed leader, Vladimir Saldo, said in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. He said one of the drones was carrying an incendiary mixture that sparked a blaze. Continue reading...

A woman has also died after being swept into the ocean in Sydney on New Year's Day, while the body of a man was found near Palm beach

Police have ruled out an attack on Le Constellation bar as investigation starts into cause of fireOfficials at the press conference are asking for prudence" from those in the town, reminding them not to make unnecessary demands on hospitals, which are overwhelmed.Please leave investigators to do their work, they say. Continue reading...

New year party at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana turned into tragedy as flames shot across the ceilingThe new year had passed its first hour and the party in Le Constellation was in full swing with revellers dancing to thumping hip-hop. Dawn was far off and the teenagers and twenty-somethings were in no hurry to leave the bar. It was, after all, New Year's Day.Outside, darkness draped Crans-Montana, a ski resort in the Swiss Alps with a reputation for posh luxury. Le Constellation, however, had few pretensions: a cavernous venue with TV screens on the top floor to watch sport, and a basement with low lighting, loud music and a dancefloor. Continue reading...

Hundreds of people gather in Centenary Square to see in 2026 after false claims online promise dazzling' displayThe new year got off to an anticlimactic start for hundreds of people in Birmingham who were tricked into attending a non-existent New Year's Eve fireworks display. Again.Crowds of revellers gathered in the city's Centenary Square, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pyrotechnics display to welcome in 2026. Continue reading...

Second highest annual number of irregular arrivals on record reached British shores in 2025More than 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year, figures branded shameful" by the Home Office have revealed.The government said 41,472 people arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in 2025 - the second highest number on record after 45,774 made the journey in 2022. Continue reading...

New Labour advertising guru Chris Powell says urgent plan needed to wage and win the daily war for attention'

Investigators say no indication of terrorism or arson after 40 people die and 115 are injured in blaze

British charitable trust that draws on OxyContin-maker fortune says it exempted names to protect reputationsTwo charities that received a combined total of more than 1.1m from the British charitable trust run by the Sackler family were kept out of its latest accounts to protect their reputations from serious prejudice".The trust, which draws on the Sackler fortune that came out of the US opioid crisis, gave 3.8m to arts, eduction and science bodies in 2024, according to its latest accounts, filed on New Year's Eve. Continue reading...

Harsher penalties and a reshaping' of the sector predicted when Financial Conduct Authority takes over as regulatorUK law firms are bracing themselves for a money-laundering crackdown as ministers race to improve the City's reputation ahead of a fresh financial crime review.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been designated as the new anti-money laundering watchdog for the legal sector, in a move that experts warn could result in sharper" penalties and ultimately reshape the industry. Continue reading...

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom's war on drugs' as authorities kill 356 people by death penaltySaudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year.Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh's war on drugs", with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Continue reading...

While last year's 8.6% increase isn't likely to be repeated, economists expect growth across the country as demand continues to outstrip supply

Polling indicates strong public backing for a much less permissive approach to promotion, including sponsorshipMinisters will come under mounting pressure to introduce curbs on gambling advertising this year, as MPs and campaigners latch on to polling that indicates widespread public support for tougher restrictions.Policies affecting gambling have been the subject of fierce debate over recent years, leading to stricter regulation of the 12.5bn-a-year sector and higher taxes announced in November's budget, despite intensive lobbying by the industry. Continue reading...

Tom Shearman cannot begin to describe anguish' of Boxing Day house blaze in which his wife, Nu, children aged four and seven and dog diedA police officer whose wife and two children died in a fire on Boxing Day morning has paid tribute to three of the greatest humans to ever grace our presence" and asked for everyone to tell those close to them that they are loved.Tom Shearman, a serving Gloucestershire officer, said he was humbled beyond comprehension" by the response of his local community and the general public, who have so far donated more than 300,000 to support him. Continue reading...

Country's largest women's health organisation says case of Marius Borg Hoiby encouraging people to seek helpStaff at Norway's largest women's health organisation have seen a rise in the number of women reporting abuse and sexual assault at the hands of their partners ahead of the rape trial of a member of the royal family, saying they hope the case helps to break taboos".Marius Borg Hoiby, the 28-year-old son of the Norwegian crown princess, is due to stand trial in February on 32 charges including four counts of rape, the domestic abuse of a former partner and the illegal filming of a number of women without their knowledge or consent. Continue reading...

New mayor, 34, was sworn in by state attorney general Letitia James in old beaux-arts city hall subway stationZohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City soon after midnight in a private ceremony in an abandoned beaux-arts subway station - a prelude to daylong celebrations set to include a second, public swearing-in and a block party outside city hall.Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University. Continue reading...