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Friends and allies of the US president will say his recent tariff threats delivered quick wins, but he may find there are no winners in a trade war

Groups sue Trump administration over the department of government efficiency' being granted unheard-of accessThree federal employee unions are suing the Trump administration, alleging that Elon Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge) has been granted unprecedented and potentially illegal access to sensitive government records.The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court, claims that the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, violated federal privacy laws by giving Musk's team full access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service's confidential payment systems. Continue reading...

Letby's legal team is preparing to submit a case to the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justiceThe evidence used to convict Lucy Letby was challenged on Tuesday by an international panel of experts, which concluded there was no proof the nurse had murdered or harmed any of the babies.Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another seven at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England in the year to June 2016. Continue reading...

Decision expected in next week that could allow country to rejoin international banking systemIran's reformists are pressing for the country to make concessions on financial transparency to allow it to reconnect to the global economic system and send a signal to the Trump White House that it is serious about renegotiating a new relationship with the west, including around its nuclear programme.Tehran is expected in the next week to take decisions that would mean it would be taken off the blacklist of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the body that tackles money laundering and terrorist financing. Continue reading...

European Commission president says relationship with US is cornerstone' of peace' but says there are limitsThousands of people were leaving the Greek island of Santorini by sea and air for a third day Tuesday as an unprecedented series of earthquakes shook the top travel destination, AFP reports.Some 6,000 people have already left the island, known for its spectacular cliff side views and a dormant volcano, which has been hit by hundreds of tremors since last week, officials said. Continue reading...

Politicians in Nigeria hope their capital will one day look like Dubai, but on nearby Refuge Island people live without electricityFor the estimated 2,000 residents of Refuge Island life sometimes feels like that of a refugee.A dozen communities live on the island, which lies in a lagoon on the eastern fringes of Lagos and takes its name from the arrival of enslaved people fleeing the hinterland of western Nigeria in the 19th century. The island has never had electricity, and there are no tarred roads, only footpaths. Continue reading...

Vessels used to evade sanctions on oil exports and help fund war against Ukraine, investigation revealsEuropean and US shipowners have sold at least 230 ageing tankers into the shadow fleet" used by Russia to evade western sanctions on its oil exports and help fund its war against Ukraine, an international investigation reveals.The shipowners have made more than $6bn (4.8bn) since Russia's 2022 invasion by selling the vessels to buyers in countries such as India, Hong Kong, Vietnam or Seychelles that are not participating in the economic sanctions against Moscow, the investigation found. Continue reading...

Trump administration pulling references online won't make crisis' stop impacting Americans' lives, say expertsDonald Trump's administration has started to remove or downgrade mentions of the climate crisis across the US government, with the websites of several major departments pulling down references to anything related to the climate crisis. Climate scientists said they were braced for the worst".A major climate portal on the Department of Defense's website has been scrapped, as has the main climate change section on the site of the Department of State. A climate change page on the White House's website no longer exists, nor does climate content provided by the US agriculture department, including information that provides vulnerability assessments for wildfires. Continue reading...

Rapper alleges assault, false arrest and more when he was detained shortly after winning three awards at 2024 ceremonyKiller Mike, the hip-hop artist known for his solo work as well as the duo Run the Jewels, has sued a private security company after he was arrested at last year's Grammys.The rapper, real name Michael Render, won three awards at the ceremony, for best rap album, best rap song and best rap performance. But shortly after his wins, as he moved backstage towards the red carpet area, he was arrested and detained after an altercation with what Render later described as an overzealous security guard". Continue reading...

Peer who gave gifts to Keir Starmer is said to have blocked ban on potential Elon Musk donations to Reform UK

Kantar figures could be good news for government as food price rises have fuelled persistent UK inflation

Former party deputy chair Jack Lopresti said to be carrying out support work to help the country's fight against RussiaA former Conservative MP ousted in the 2024 election has reportedly joined the International Legion in Ukraine in a non-combat role to help the fight against Russia.Jack Lopresti, who represented the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency in South Gloucestershire from 2010 to 2024, is carrying out support work for the unit, including foreign relations and diplomacy duties, weapons procurement and work with veterans and charities, the Independent reported. Continue reading...

Politics is tough' the outgoing minister lamented in her resignation speech, as if the events that forced her to quit weren't her own doing

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Exclusive: Paywall to return after a decade with new Sun Club offering also featuring Royal Exclusive video showSun readers will have to pay 2 a month to access columns by star writers including Jeremy Clarkson, popular content such as from the agony aunt Dear Deidre and some exclusive stories and investigations, as the UK's biggest tabloid launches a paid-for content strategy.Called Sun Club and initially priced at 1.99 a month, it launches on Tuesday and comes a decade after the Sun scrapped a subscription strategy that put all of its content behind a paywall. Continue reading...

Jack Gibson-Burrell faces court after being charged with 50 offences, including criminal damage, burglary and shop theft

Campaigners urge crackdown after user says they were shocked to see offers of free betsAdverts for the bookmaker Ladbrokes have been shown to exhausted parents" via a smartphone app that can be used as a baby monitor, the Guardian can reveal.Campaigners have responded by calling for urgent action to reform the rules governing gambling advertising, which have so far been left out of plans to overhaul regulation of the 11bn-a-year sector. Continue reading...

Gloucester council approach offers psychological support, decluttering advice and cuts through shame of poorly understood conditionCarol has been trying to clear her home for two years but in her maelstrom of dishevelled possessions, there is still nowhere to sit - and barely anywhere to stand.To her, however, things look great. She is delighted that the chaotic towers of tumbled clothes, yellowed newspapers, pebbles and innumerable bags stuffed into other dusty bags are now waist- instead of shoulder-high: six months ago, these perilous mountains teetered close to the stained ceilings, brushing the thick cobwebs that still hang from broken light fittings. Continue reading...

Labor MP resigns portfolio after revelations into her use of taxpayer-funded ministerial car for private purposes and criticism from premier Chris Minns

The belief that a few glasses of wine help to protect against heart disease has persisted - despite evidence showing that the benefits have been overestimated

Eggs and verbal abuse were allegedly hurled at young women in Bondi with the incident initially investigated under Strike Force Pearl

Supreme court case discontinued after Ilknur Caliskan, 47, underwent sleep study and her lawyers flagged parasomnia defence

If successful, the scheme could speed up testing and reduce radiologists' workload by around halfThe NHS is launching the world's biggest trial of artificial intelligence to detect breast cancer, which could lead to faster diagnosis of the disease.AI will be deployed to analyse two-thirds of at least 700,000 mammograms done in England over the next few years to see if it is as accurate and reliable at reading scans as a radiologist. Continue reading...

Oscar-winning director - and longtime Buffy fan - Chloe Zhao is onboard to direct, with Dolly Parton as executive producerA sequel reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reportedly in the works, with Sarah Michelle Gellar expected to return to the titular role and the Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao to direct the pilot episode.On Tuesday Deadline reported sources close to the project confirming that the streaming service Hulu is near a pilot order", with lifelong Buffy fan Zhao onboard to direct the episode, written by the Poker Face writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman. Continue reading...

Lawmakers point to shutting of USAid and accessing federal payment system as markings of constitutional crisis'Progressive lawmakers condemned Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Monday, pointing to the attempted shuttering of the foreign aid agency USAid and the accessing of the treasury department's federal payment system as the markings of a constitutional crisis".After Musk declared that he was working to shut down USAid, Democratic members of Congress tried to enter the agency's Washington headquarters but said they were turned away on the orders of Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge). USAid staffers were also locked out of the building on Monday, as the White House confirmed plans to merge the agency with the state department. Continue reading...

President delays threatened 25% tariffs on US neighbors but China still to face 10% levy on exports to US from Tuesday

Authorities continue investigation after 67 people killed in collision of army helicopter and commercial jetSalvage crews have removed a large portion of a commercial jet from the Potomac River near Washington's Reagan National airport on Monday, five days after a midair collision last week that killed 67 people.Authorities have said the operation to remove the plane would take several days and they would then work to remove the military helicopter involved in the crash. Continue reading...

Survey also finds 40% of people say antisemitism is a major issue in Australia, while 48% say it is a minor issue

President decrees US treasury and commerce departments to create fund after delaying ban of ByteDance-owned appDonald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the US treasury and commerce departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may also be used to purchase the social media platform TikTok.TikTok, which has about 170 million American users, was briefly taken offline just before a law requiring its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to either sell it on national security grounds or face a ban that took effect on 19 January. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner says government under no illusions' as cash-strapped authorities try to avoid bankruptcySix English councils have been given permission by ministers to draw up cap-busting council tax bill increases of up to 10% from April - twice the rate of the vast majority of authorities - in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy.Record numbers of cash-strapped authorities requested approval for rises above the 4.99% council tax cap this year, amid increasing concerns over their future financial stability after more than a decade of central funding cuts. Continue reading...

Prime minister says both US and Europe are important to UK as he holds press conference with Nato secretary general Mark RutteKeir Starmer's dinner with EU leaders tonight will take place at the Palais d'Egmont, a 16th-century palace where Ted Heath signed the treaty taking Britain into the European Economic Community in 1972. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, claims this is a deliberate attempt to humiliate him.The EU has invited @Keir_Starmer to a leaders summit in the very building where Ted Heath signed away our sovereignty in 1972.

Landlady of The Gedling Inn says there were lots of belly laughs' but the free beer promotion may be a one-offIt had seemed like the perfect promotion to get a few more punters through the door on a Saturday afternoon - give away a free pint for every goal scored by Nottingham Forest that day.But seven goals and 1,500 worth of pints later, Nottinghamshire pub landlady Beccy Webster realised she might have scored a spectacular own goal. Continue reading...

Another boy, also 15, arrested on suspicion of murder over attack at All Saints Catholic high school, police sayA 15-year-old boy has died after being stabbed at a school in Sheffield.The teenager suffered serious injuries in the incident at All Saints Catholic high school, South Yorkshire police said, but despite the best efforts of paramedics he died a short time later. Continue reading...

President threatened to withhold federal funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to those under 19

Ex-Senate majority leader is one of few party members to criticize president's trade war with US neighbors and China

Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Taliban's deputy foreign minister, left for UAE after criticising ban on secondary school and higher education for girlsA senior Taliban minister who expressed support for reversing the ban on girls' education in Afghanistan appears to have been forced to flee the country.Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Khost province, near the Afghan-Pakistani border, on 20 January, Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, criticised the government's ban on girls attending secondary schools and higher education. Continue reading...

Wall Street Journal calls Trump's tariffs the dumbest trade war in history'. Plus, Beyonce wins best album at GrammysGood morning.Global markets tumbled early on Monday in reaction to Donald Trump's steep trade tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, which a Wall Street Journal editorial blasted as the dumbest trade war in history".What did Trump say about the impact on Americans? He acknowledged the tariffs may cause short-term" pain. Economists point out that a tariff is a regressive tax.How are markets reacting? In the US, S&P 500 futures fell 1.6% and Nasdaq futures slumped 2.2%. European futures fell as much as 3.4%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average tumbled as much as 2.3% in early trading, and Korea's Kospi fell as much as 2.4%. Taiwan's Taiex fell 4.4% at the open. Bitcoin was down by more than 6%.How many have been displaced? Jenin's mayor, Mohammad Jarar, was quoted as saying that about 15,000 people were displaced from the Jenin camp and the al-Hadaf neighbourhood Continue reading...

Penalty of 100 kicks in on 1 March for those who failed to pay by 31 January, and rises after three, six and 12 monthsMore than 1 million people have missed the deadline to file self-assessment tax returns and face a penalty starting at 100, HM Revenue & Customs has said.Taxpayers had until midnight on Friday to submit returns online. HMRC said 11.5 million had done so in time, but that 1.1m returns were outstanding. Continue reading...

Source of tens of millions of dollars of donations hidden, according to analysis of AEC data, with government under pressure to reform electoral laws

Exclusive: Senator Sarah Hanson-Young offers to water down Greens bill in a compromise to get legislation across the line

Decision to use executive measure known as 49.3' was also taken in December, toppling the previous governmentFrance faces further political uncertainty as the prime minister, Francois Bayrou, prepares to ignore threats of a no-confidence motion and force the 2025 budget bill through without a vote.With no majority in the Assemblee Nationale, the centrist politician has little choice but to use the constitutional measure, known as the 49.3", on Monday to pass the legislation aimed at reducing the country's soaring deficit. Continue reading...

Judge to rule on utility's plea for 3bn debt lifeline as MPs and charities say emergency loan too costly for customers

Sinn Fein politician to step down after being elected to Seanead, and aims to push reunification agendaThe economy minister for Northern Ireland is to step down from his role at Stormont after being elected to the Seanad in Dublin, the upper house of the Irish parliament.Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy secured one of the 60 seats in the Seanad, with the support of Sinn Fein TDs and councillors, in the early hours of Monday morning. Continue reading...

Atmospheric river brings wind, heavy rain and up to 1.8 metres of snow in mountainous areasAn atmospheric river has been under way through the weekend, pummelling northern and central parts of California with spells of wind and heavy rain and hill snow, and is forecast to continue into Wednesday.The weather system, locally called the Pineapple Express, is set up by low pressure situated to the north-east of Hawaii, which propels moist tropical air from Hawaii and across the Pacific Ocean on blustery westerly winds. The result is a stream of heavy precipitation piling into parts of the west coast of the US, falling as snow down to about 1,200 metres (4,000ft) with rain at lower levels. A cumulative total of up to 500mm (20in) of rain is expected to have fallen by Wednesday, while up to 1.8 metres (6ft) of snow will be possible in mountainous areas. Subsequently, there has been a risk of flooding. Continue reading...

Government of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is treating certain classes of people very badly', Trump claims as he demands full investigation' of situationDonald Trump has claimed South Africa is confiscating" land and treating certain classes of people very badly", announcing he is cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.The US president's intervention into one of South Africa's most divisive issues was rebutted by the country's government and criticised by groups across its political spectrum. Continue reading...

Museum in Koko, Niger Delta, commemorates important exiled merchant prince Nanna Olomu - but it has no cooling and a termite issueIn the sleepy Nigerian port town of Koko, the reminder of a forgotten invasion by the British more than a century ago has itself been forgotten.A statue of Nanna Olomu, the Nigerian merchant prince forced into exile by the British in Accra in 1894, stands outside the bungalow where he lived from when he returned in 1906 until his death 10 years later. Officially known as the Nanna Living History Museum, the building was designated a national monument in 1990. Continue reading...

Home Office process will leave some with eight-week gap when they are unable to prove right to live and work in UKUkrainian refugees face losing their jobs and homes due to uncertainty over the Home Office's visa extension process which will leave some with an eight-week gap in which they are unable to prove their right to live and work in the UK.Some have already been refused tenancy renewal because their visas are about to expire, while others have been told they will have to stop working during the extension process as landlords and employers fear hefty fines and criminal sanctions. Continue reading...

Traders even cashed out of gold, a historical safe haven, in push to protect against what could turn into wave of margin calls

Staffer told by official it would be inappropriate for him to give evidence to review of scandal-hit benefitThe Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of blocking a whistleblower who repeatedly raised the alarm about carer's allowance from giving evidence to an independent review of the scandal-hit benefit.The DWP staffer was told by a senior official it was inappropriate to share with the review their knowledge of the inner workings of a system that has become notorious for its often cruel treatment of unpaid carers. Continue reading...

An unusual ceremony paid tribute to and raised money for those affected by the California wildfires while giving Beyonce her first album of the year