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Military personnel told they can return to Nigeria after actions described as unfriendly act'Authorities in Burkina Faso have released 11 Nigerian military personnel held after a cargo plane from Lagos made an unauthorised" emergency landing in its second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso.The breakaway regional Association of Sahel States (AES) said on Monday that the C-130 aircraft had entered Burkina Faso's airspace without clearance, calling it an unfriendly act". Continue reading...

Report also found an overall failure of the museum', including broken security camera and lack of coordination, hearing told

Tory leader says head of Reform should put on his big boy pants' and apologise over allegations from ex-schoolmates

Australian psych-rockers, who removed their music from Spotify in protest against the streaming service, lament the appearance of AI band King Lizard WizardSpotify has removed an AI impersonator of popular Australian rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard from the streaming service, with the band's frontman voicing despair at the situation.King Gizzard removed their music from Spotify in July in a protest against the company's chief executive Daniel Ek, who is the chair of military technology company Helsing as well as a major investor. Continue reading...

Parents of Madeleine McCann among dozens to sign letter to PM urging him to revive second part of Leveson inquiryMadeleine McCann's father has called for greater scrutiny of the UK media as he told how monstering" by sections of the press had made him feel as if he was being suffocated and buried".Gerry McCann said his family was tormented by press abuses" and that the media had repeatedly interfered" with the investigation into his daughter's disappearance in 2007. Continue reading...

Local police say Dyllon Redfern, 24, brandished a derringer from the 19th century after being asked for his IDThe single-shot, percussion-style pistols known as derringers have almost certainly not been used in violent crimes since the 19th-century old west in the US - but police allege that a robber clad in pajama pants brandished one of those weapons at an Oklahoma liquor store recently.Dyllon Redfern, 24, stands accused of going into Primo's Wine and Spirits in Tulsa on the night of 5 December but being turned away from buying anything because he did not have his identification. Store employees later told Tulsa police that Redfern, who was in pajama pants and a hooded sweatshirt, left and came back with what they described as an old timey musket", pointed the gun at them and demanded cash as well as their IDs. Continue reading...

Natasha Ugle says nothing has changed' since her husband Wayne's death in 2023, as a national report found 33 First Nations peoples died in custody last year

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Dramatic scenes in the water prompt warnings to swimmers and snorkelers at one of Australia's most popular holiday destinationsAn abundance of baitfish has drawn in hundreds of sharks to feed in the shallows around Byron Bay, creating dramatic scenes at one of Australia's most popular holiday destinations.The multi-day event was captured by many Byron locals, who shared footage of the sharks, including black tip whalers, dusky whalers and bull sharks, as they fed on the large school of fish over the weekend. Continue reading...

After a ceasefire deal he brokered collapsed, Trump told a rally in Pennsylvania that he would make a call' to stop a war' between Thailand and CambodiaUS president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will make a call regarding reignited hostilities on the Thai-Cambodia border, where fighting has resumed less than two months after a ceasefire he brokered between the two nations collapsed.Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, the US president reiterated his global peacemaking skills, proclaiming that in ten months I ended eight wars", before listing hostilities between Kosovo and Serbia, Pakistan and India, and Israel and Iran. Continue reading...

The Emily in Paris actor and writer of the Tony-nominated Slave Play remains in Japan while prosecutors investigate the alleged discovery of MDMA in his bagThe American playwright and Emily in Paris actor Jeremy O Harris has been released three weeks after his arrest in Japan on suspicion of drug smuggling while prosecutors investigate, police said Wednesday.Japan has some of the world's strictest drug laws, and possession of illegal narcotics can result in jail time. Prosecutors also have a very high conviction rate. Continue reading...

Additional student critically wounded on Tuesday, after 17 August shooting left two people with gunshot woundsAt least one student was killed and another was critically wounded in a shooting at a residence hall at Kentucky State University on Tuesday, and a suspect who is not a student at the school was in custody, officials said.The shooting was the second in four months in the same area of the university. Continue reading...

The 71-year-old performer's son Micah has been arrested on suspicion of murder, Santa Monica police saidJubilant Sykes, the Grammy-nominated opera and gospel singer, has died aged 71 after being stabbed to death at his home in California.His 31-year-old son, Micah Sykes, was arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

In state's 18th execution this year, Mark Geralds, 58, given three-drug injection for 1989 stabbing of Tressa PettiboneA man convicted of fatally stabbing a woman during a home invasion decades ago was executed on Tuesday evening in Florida.Mark Allen Geralds, 58, was pronounced dead at 6.15pm following a three-drug injection at Florida state prison for the February 1989 murder of Tressa Pettibone. Continue reading...

Crews conduct high-water rescues in Washington, and flood watches put in effect along coast down to OregonA series of powerful storms hit the Pacific north-west, dumping heavy rain, swelling rivers, closing roads and prompting high-water rescues in several states.An unusually strong storm system called an atmospheric river is passing through the region, bringing heavy rainfall across western Washington and north-western Oregon and more than a foot of snow in the northern Rockies and north-western Wyoming. Continue reading...

National Audit Office says Shabana Mahmood's plans may have unintended consequences' on stretched systemShabana Mahmood's radical plans to overhaul the asylum system could cause unintended consequences" such as increased homelessness among people seeking refuge and growing case backlogs, Whitehall's spending watchdog has concluded.The head of the National Audit Office said that the home secretary's policies, which are meant to accelerate case decisions and reduce appeals, would require effective action on the bottlenecks" if they were to succeed. Continue reading...

Seven brainteasers feature in intelligence agency's 2025 Christmas card, with covers designed by UK school pupilsA warning from the spies at GCHQ: a robber is on the loose, intent on stealing Christmas presents. Luckily, he won't find it easy.The robber's target, according to the British intelligence and security agency, is a house with a large number of rooms, each of which has a letter, which are linked to each other by coloured doors and arrows. He can't go through the same-coloured door twice in a row, and can't move against any arrows. Eventually, the robber is caught by the police. How was he acting? Continue reading...

Exclusive: Culture secretary announces first national youth strategy in 15 years to help vulnerable' generationYoung people have faced violent indifference" from the political establishment for decades, leaving them struggling to navigate a changing world, the culture secretary said as she announced the first national youth strategy in 15 years.In an interview with the Guardian, Lisa Nandy said young people today were the most digitally connected but also the most isolated generation, adding that more could be done to police online spaces under new laws. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy says he would hold wartime elections within months given help from allies and Ukraine's parliament

Exclusive: PM calls for members of European convention on human rights to allow tougher action to protect borders

The closer you get to Kalu's endless sinewy trails of old VHS tape, the harder it is to know where their forms stop and the space around them begins

Chair of 2025 judging panel says win begins to erase that border between the neurotypical and neurodiverse artist'

Worcestershire council leader Jo Monk sent city councillor Ed Kimberley a cease and desist letter over his criticism of herThe leader of a Reform UK-run local authority has been criticised for an authoritarian" attempt to silence opposition after sending a legal threat to a Labour councillor, demanding he stops mentioning her name in public.Ed Kimberley, a Worcester city councillor, said he received the cease and desist letter from the leader of Worcestershire county council, Jo Monk, in late November. Continue reading...

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels clash with Congolese army and other groups as they march on strategic eastern townAbout 200,000 people have fled their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Rwanda-backed rebels march on a strategic eastern town just days after Donald Trump hosted the Rwandan and Congolese leaders to proclaim peace.The UN said at least 74 people had been killed, mostly civilians, and 83 admitted to hospital with wounds from escalating clashes in the area in recent days. Continue reading...

French first lady was filmed calling women who had disrupted Paris theatre show by Ary Abittan sales connes'French celebrities and politicians on the left have expressed outrage after Brigitte Macron was filmed using a derogatory and sexist slur to describe feminist protesters at a theatre show in Paris.A video filmed on Sunday showed France's first lady in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergere theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comedian previously accused of rape, before a performance he was about to give. The previous night, feminist campaigners had disrupted his show with shouts of: Abittan, rapist!" Continue reading...

NHS Providers boss says those who are coughing and sneezing' should wear face coverings on public transportPeople experiencing flu or cold symptoms should wear a mask in public places as the UK grapples with a tidal wave" of illness, an NHS leader has said.Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said the country was facing a very nasty strain of flu" that had occurred earlier in the year than normal, and face coverings should be worn on public transport, as during the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Killings of suspected IRA informers brought shame and fear but relatives have opportunity to step out of shadows

Nine-year investigation paints highly critical picture of agency's handling of double agent

This blog is now closed, you can read more UK political coverage hereBadenoch says the Tories will review the way the household benefit cap operates.This is a policy introduced by George Osborne when he was chancellor. It imposes a cap on the total amount a household can receive in benefits.We will review every circumstance in which benefits are currently paying more than work.We will undertake a full eview of the level and operation of the household benefit cap, which currently acts more like a sieve than a cap, because most people on benefits avoid it through one exemption or another. Continue reading...

Flood alerts issued across Britain while every county in Ireland under orange weather warningsFlights, trains and ferries were cancelled, motorists faced long delays and thousands of properties left without power across the UK and Ireland after Storm Bram brought heavy rain and strong winds.By Tuesday night, there were more than 300 flood warnings or alerts across the UK and sporting matches and festive events were cancelled because of the weather. Continue reading...

Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman say regulator breached right to privacy during Entain bid for casino website 888Two gambling bosses facing criminal charges of bribery and fraud have begun a separate civil claim against the Gambling Commission, claiming the regulator breached their right to privacy when it intervened in their plan to take control of the online casino company 888.Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman, the former chief executive and chair of the Ladbrokes and Coral owner, Entain, bought 6.5% of 888 Holdings in June 2023 via a vehicle called FS Gaming and proposed installing themselves at the top of the business, which also owned William Hill. Continue reading...

Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested in March amid White House's crackdown on foreign students' pro-Palestinian advocacyA federal judge has allowed a Tufts University student from Turkey to resume research and teaching while she deals with the consequences of having her visa revoked by the Trump administration, leading to six weeks of detention.Rumeysa Ozturk, a PhD student studying children's relationship to social media, was among the first people arrested as the Trump administration began targeting foreign-born students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. She had co-authored an op-ed criticizing her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Immigration enforcement officers took her away in an unmarked vehicle, in an encounter caught on video in March outside her Somerville residence. Continue reading...

Press conference was expected to have been Venezuelan opposition leader's first public appearance in 11 monthsA press conference in Oslo with the Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader in hiding, has been cancelled, the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said, adding that it was in the dark" as to her whereabouts.Machado last appeared in public on 9 January at a demonstration in Caracas protesting against the inauguration of Nicolas Maduro for his third term as president. The press conference, traditionally held by the Nobel laureate on the eve of the award ceremony, had been expected to be the 58-year-old's first public appearance in 11 months. Continue reading...

The musician, who led the Grammy-winning band, had been receiving treatment for colon cancerRaul Malo, the soulful tenor and frontman of the genre-defying, Grammy-winning band the Mavericks, has died. He was 60.Malo died on Monday night, his wife, Betty Malo, posted on his Facebook page. He had been diagnosed with cancer. The frontman of the Mavericks had documented his health journey on social media since he disclosed in June 2024 that he was receiving treatment for colon cancer. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine remained committed to a real peace' after US president hints he could walk away from KyivOh, and a little warning shot from EU's Kallas:If we go into the fight [of] pointing fingers, I mean, we can also point a lot of fingers [on] what is wrong in America, but this is not the way we work, we are not going to meddle with the internal affairs of other countries." Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis's legally dubious order designating Cair - and Muslim Brotherhood - follows similar move by TexasFlorida is declaring the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) - a US civil rights and liberties group - a foreign terrorist organization, the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, announced on Monday.The move closely follows a similar order issued in November by Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, DeSantis's fellow Republican, even though only the federal government can designate terrorist organizations. Continue reading...

Records could be made public within 10 days under new Epstein Files Transparency ActThe justice department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge said on Tuesday.Judge Paul A Engelmayer ruled after the justice department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epstein's cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents. Continue reading...

Public figures sign letter saying plan to reinterpret ECHR for asylum seekers is affront to us all' and a threat to securityThe actors Michael Palin, Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley are among 21 well-known figures calling on Keir Starmer to drop plans to weaken human rights law and instead take a principled stand" for torture victims, on the eve of a crucial European summit.As David Lammy prepares to attend a Council of Europe meeting in Strasbourg that will discuss legal changes to stop bogus asylum claims, the novelist Julian Barnes, the actor Adrian Lester and the comedian Aisling Bea have also signed a letter telling the prime minister: Any attempt at undermining universal protections is an affront to us all and a threat to the security of each and every one of us." Continue reading...

Ofgem proposes cutting debt by giving new residents with no supply deal limited credit before they are cut off

The prime minister claimed $2,800 in family travel entitlements coinciding with three major sporting events between 2023 and 2025

Minor party reaches primary vote of 17% as majority of respondents remain pessimistic about housing affordability and the rising cost of living

Forecasters warn of possible damage to buildings, power cuts and travel disruption with heavy rain and gusts reaching 90mphWe have some more updates on the disruptions caused by the weather conditions to train services in Scotland:Rail services between Fort William and Mallaig will be suspended from 4pm and between Dingwall and Kyle of Lochalsh from 5pm, due to the forecast extreme winds.We're already receiving lots of calls about incidents on roads across Devon and Cornwall this morning. Please only travel if absolutely necessary; drive at an appropriate speed and allow extra distance between other vehicles. Continue reading...

Most of losses from bounceback loan, furlough pay and eat out to help out fraud not recovered, report finds

Men charged with robbery and administering noxious substance over incident at London airport on SundayTwo men have been charged with robbery and administering a noxious substance after more than 20 people were affected by what was thought to be pepper spray at Heathrow airport.Tyrone Richards, 31, and Anton Clarke-Butcher, 24, are due to appear at Uxbridge magistrates court on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Unauthorised touchdown comes less than 24 hours after Nigerian forces intervened in attempted coup in BeninEleven Nigerian military personnel are being held in Burkina Faso after a Nigerian plane reportedly entered Burkinabe airspace without authorisation on Monday, the latest twist in a region enmeshed in multiple political and security crises.In a statement on Monday evening, the breakaway Alliance of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a member alongside Mali and Niger, said the C-130 transport aircraft had made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso. Continue reading...

The 20,000-capacity venue will feed revenue back into smaller venues to nurture the next generation of breakthrough artists'London's O2 Arena, the UK's second-largest indoor concert venue, has announced it will donate a portion of proceeds from its concerts to grassroots gig venues across the country.The 20,000-capacity venue has partnered with the Music Venue Trust charity (MVT), which has been pushing for artists and arena operators to support the venues that often provide a space for musicians to hone their craft, before they hopefully step up to arena-level popularity. Continue reading...

Supermarkets investing heavily in promotional deals to pull in customers, Worldpanel finds

TPG chief executive says he has no idea' why his telco only learned of its customer's death on Monday

Valerie Amos's investigation finds women let down and slow progress on reforms, with devastating consequences'Victims of NHS maternity failings received unacceptable care", leading to tragic consequences", the head of an investigation into maternity care in England has said.Changes within services have been too slow despite being necessary and urgent, according to a report by Valerie Amos, who is leading the national maternity and neonatal investigation (NMNI). Continue reading...

Each side has blamed the other for renewed clashes, which have derailed a ceasefire brokered by Donald TrumpDeadly clashes have escalated along the disputed Thailand-Cambodia border as both sides blamed each other for the fighting and vowed to defend their territories.Seven civilians have been killed and 20 wounded in Cambodia and three Thai soldiers have been killed in the fiercest fighting since a five-day conflict in July. Continue reading...