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Epstein files reveal messages between his accomplice and a man who appears to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Big Cypress fox squirrels released as a pair to reduce stress and support natural behaviors during return to the wildTwo rare and elusive" juvenile squirrels have a new home for the holidays after they were injured falling from their nests and spent several weeks in a Florida wildlife rehab" facility.The pair of Big Cypress fox squirrels, a threatened species so uncommon that the Conservancy of Southwest Florida hasn't treated one in at least a decade, was released back into the wild at a carefully selected site rich in high-quality pine and cypress habitat" near the nest where one of them was originally found. Continue reading...

Review will request commonsense' system with most serious incidents recorded as antisocial behaviourThe category of non-crime hate incidents is no longer fit for purpose and could be scrapped under plans to be presented to the home secretary.A review by police leaders will call for non-crime hate incidents to be replaced with a new commonsense" system, the Telegraph reports. Under the new scheme, only the most serious incidents would be recorded as antisocial behaviour. Continue reading...

Son of jailed former Brazilian president says spokesperson for national symbol' sandals is openly leftwing'Leaderless since its figurehead was jailed for attempting a coup, Brazil's far right has found a new nemesis: the iconic flip-flop brand Havaianas, which has been cancelled" by Jair Bolsonaro's supporters over a television advert.The controversy stems from the actor Fernanda Torres - the star of I'm Still Here, the Brazilian film that won an Oscar for best international feature - saying in the ad that she hoped audiences would not start 2026 on the right foot", but with both feet". Continue reading...

Home affairs minister says the proposal would clamp down on groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir and the National Socialist Network

Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein thought zero hour' had finally arrived until undercover operative thwarted themWhen Walid Saadaoui recruited Amar Hussein to join him in a pogrom on the streets of Greater Manchester, Hussein wept with joy.For years, the two men had been sleeper agents for the Islamic State terrorist group. Each had lived quietly in Britain for years, waiting for the right moment to stage an attack, and for the right person to give them the support to make it happen. Continue reading...

Announcement after proposed sale falls through prompts backlash and union says more than 200 jobs at riskA Reform UK-led council plan to shut eight of its residential care homes has been condemned as a betrayal of local people".Days before Christmas, Derbyshire county council announced that the homes would have to close after a proposed sale fell through. Continue reading...

Five of the officers also facing charges of conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public officeSix immigration officers have been charged with offences after an investigation into alleged thefts from migrants and money laundering.Five of the officers are facing charges including conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday. All six have been charged with money laundering offences. Continue reading...

Administration has arrested 328,000 and deported 327,000 people. Plus, Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank celebrates Christmas againGood morning.The number of people in immigration detention in the US has hit an all-time high, according to data published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).What are the demographics of people the administration is targeting for deportation? In one of the biggest changes in immigration enforcement policies, immigrants with no criminal record continue to make up the largest group in US immigration detention, despite the administration's rhetoric about focusing its anti-immigration efforts on the worst of the worst" criminals. (Being undocumented in the US is a civil not a criminal infraction.)How are ordinary people fighting back? As Trump carries out his mass deportation operation, Julia Carrie Wong reports on how residents are banding together to block raids and distribute groceries.What did Trump say about Clinton? I like Bill Clinton," Trump said after he featured prominently in Friday's cache of photos. I hate to see photos come out of him but this is what the Democrats - mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans - are asking for, so they're giving their photos of me too."Meanwhile, what's happening on the Hill? The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said yesterday he will introduce a resolution directing the Senate to take legal action against the justice department - over its incomplete release of files. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor acknowledges pain and suffering' after region's police chief declined to apologiseThe mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has apologised for past police failings towards LGBTQ+ people, acknowledging unacceptable discrimination and the pain and suffering it caused".Campaigners say the apology is in contrast to the stance of the chief constable of Greater Manchester police (GMP), Stephen Watson, who earlier this year declined to apologise on behalf of his force, saying that do so could be seen as superficial and merely performative". Continue reading...

The US press have suffered about as many assaults this year as in the previous three years combinedThe United States has seen a dramatic increase in violence against journalists since Donald Trump again took office.Most of the reporters and photographers who were allegedly attacked by law enforcement officials were covering protests over the Trump administration's efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that tracks such incidents. Continue reading...

Italy's competition authority says Irish airline implemented technical obstacles to force sales through its own website

Local government secretary writes to town halls warning them against part-time work for full-time pay'The secretary for local government has written to all councils to warn that adopting a four-day week for staff puts them at risk of being declared a failing authority, according to reports.Twenty-five councils have discussed a four-day week policy and one, South Cambridgeshire district council, has already moved to the pattern. Continue reading...

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Hope appeal is raising funds for five UK charities that build trust, hope and change at grassroots level

Exclusive: Campaigners say slashing overseas aid would leave UK unable to meet existing commitmentsPlans by Reform UK to slash the aid budget by 90% would not cover existing contributions to global bodies such as the UN and World Bank, shredding Britain's international influence and risking its standing within those organisations, charities and other parties have warned.Under cuts announced by Nigel Farage in November, overseas aid would be capped at 1bn a year, or about 0.03% of GDP. Keir Starmer's government is already set to reduce aid from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3% by 2027, but even that lower proportion would still amount to 9bn a year. Continue reading...

Decade-long jail term for Gregory John Walker who threw molotov cocktail into Arthur Haines' friend's houseWarning: this article contains names and images of Indigenous Australians who have died

Analysis finds those from most deprived backgrounds almost twice as likely to be admitted to hospital for respiratory conditionsPeople from the poorest backgrounds in England with serious lung conditions are more likely to be admitted to hospital for emergency care than their more affluent counterparts, according to research.Analysis of NHS admissions data for November by Asthma + Lung UK found people from the most deprived backgrounds in England were 56% more likely to be admitted for emergency care, while 62% were more likely to be readmitted within 39 days of an emergency admission, which is linked with an increased chance of dying. Continue reading...

Pro-Palestine and Indigenous activist groups say state government trying to strip away the right to peacefully protest for everyone' in wake of Bondi attack

City of Canterbury Bankstown issues a cease use', alleging building housing Al Madina centre was never approved to be a prayer hall

Under the new rules, parliamentarians will only be able to claim travel expenses for their partners between their home and Canberra

Trump again called for Venezuela's president to leave power and said the US would keep or sell the oil it had seizedChina and Russia have expressed support for Venezuela as it confronts a US blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, while Donald Trump continues to ramp up his pressure campaign on the South American country's president, Nicolas Maduro.Amid reports of slowing activity at Venezuelan ports, the US president again called for Maduro to leave power, and reiterated that the US would keep or sell the oil it had seized off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Chris Bowen criticises Liberal leader's attack on Penny Wong, saying, Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or mourning'

Church leaders and members detained as government tightens controls on underground Christian gatheringsThe knocks came at 2am. Hiding out at a friend's house in a Beijing suburb, Gao Yingjia and his wife, Geng Pengpeng, rushed downstairs to meet the group of plain-clothed men who said they were police officers. Their son, nearly six, was sleeping upstairs, and Gao and Geng wanted to minimise the ruckus. They knew their time was up.Two months later, Gao is in a detention centre in Guangxi province, southern China, charged with illegal use of information networks". His arrest was part of the biggest crackdown on Christians in China since 2018. It has prompted alarm from the US government and human rights groups, with some analysts describing it as the death knell for unofficial churches in China. Continue reading...

Financier will assume the role on 15 February, ahead of US free trade negotiations, says prime minister Mark CarneyCanada's prime minister, Mark Carney, announced that financier Mark Wiseman will serve as the country's next ambassador to the US, an appointment that comes at a critical time in relations between the two major trading partners.Wiseman will assume the role on 15 February and will be involved in negotiations with the US regarding the review of their free trade agreement. Continue reading...

Scheme members will also receive lump sums averaging 5,500 after government hands over 2.3bn reserveSome former mineworkers who are receiving a 100-a-week boost to their pensions after a hard-fought battle say they will now no longer need to worry about money.The Guardian had reported that people were dying in abject poverty" and unable to afford to bury themselves" after the government raided billions from their pensions. Continue reading...

Document casts doubt on postal service claims it was unaware of bugs that could cause accounting shortfallsThe Post Office made a confidential deal with Fujitsu 19 years ago to fix errors in post office operators' accounts, a document has revealed.The document casts doubt on claims made by the postal service that they were not aware of bugs that could cause accounting shortfalls. Continue reading...

Seven prisoners have been taken to hospital since starting their strikes, with some claiming a lack of medical attention

Controversially appointed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss says: I held that story and I held it because it wasn't ready'CBS News was dealing with internal and external uproar on Monday after it pulled at the last minute an investigation for its flagship 60 Minutes show into the harsh prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans from the US earlier this year.The episode about the Cecot mega-prison was due to air on Sunday night. However, in an editor's note" posted on X late that afternoon, the broadcaster's official account announced that the lineup for tonight's edition of 60 Minutes has been updated. Our report Inside Cecot' will air in a future broadcast."Additional reporting by Jeremy Barr Continue reading...

Move is part of a long-awaited Labour strategy including outlawing hen cages and ending puppy farmingBoiling lobsters alive will be banned under proposals to improve animal welfare in England.Government ministers say that live boiling is not an acceptable killing method" for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published. Continue reading...

Wes Streeting's wish for deeper trade relations is shared by growing number of MPs looking to fight back against FarageWhen Keir Starmer stood on the Labour conference stage in 2018 and defied Jeremy Corbyn to call for a second Brexit referendum with remain as an option, it put him in pole position to become the next Labour leader.Starmer must now feel a sense of deja vu watching Wes Streeting, the most out-and-out pretender for the leadership, follow a similar playbook. In an interview over the weekend, the health secretary strayed from the official government line to call for a deeper trading relationship" with the EU. Continue reading...

Artist confirms image in Bayswater is by him, but gives no indication about another outside Centre Point towerA new Banksy mural that shows two children lying down and looking at the sky has appeared in west London.The artist revealed he was behind the artwork above a row of garages on Queen's Mews in Bayswater by posting a photo of it to his Instagram account on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Long sentences in case of Afro-Ecuadorian Guayaquil Four' focuses attention on president's crackdown on crimeA court in Ecuador has sentenced 11 air force personnel to decades in prison over the forced disappearance" of four Afro-Ecuadorian boys aged between 11 and 15 during security operations in the country's largest city last year.The case of the Guayaquil Four" is widely seen as the starkest example of human rights abuses under the iron-fist security policy pursued by the rightwing president, Daniel Noboa, who placed the armed forces at the centre of the fight against drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Philip Young, 49, is accused of 56 sexual offences, including drugging and raping his now ex-wifeA man has been charged with drugging and raping his then wife over a period of 13 years, with five other men also charged with sexual offences against her.Philip Young, 49, formerly from Swindon but now living in Enfield in north London, has been charged with 56 sexual offences. Continue reading...

Lisbon court rules the posters could incite hatred and tells party leader Andre Ventura to remove them within 24 hoursThe leader of Portugal's far-right Chega party has been ordered to remove street posters attacking the Roma community, after a Lisbon court ruled they were discriminatory and could incite hatred.Judge Ana Barao said the posters' wording attacks an ethnic minority" and she gave Andre Ventura 24 hours to remove them or face a daily fine of 2,500 (2,200) per poster. Continue reading...

YouGov poll for the Times suggests even 40% of Conservative voters support such a moveWes Streeting, the health secretary, used an interview with the Observer published at the weekend to suggest that he favours joining a customs union with the EU. This is something that Keir Starmer has ruled out.But Labour supporters back Streeting on this. According to YouGov polling for the Times, 80% of people who voted Labour at the last general election say a future leader should open negotiations on joining a customs union with the EU. Continue reading...

Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen demand respect for borders after US appoints Greenland envoyThe prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland have demanded respect for their borders after Donald Trump appointed a special envoy to the largely self-governing Danish territory, which he has said repeatedly should be under US control.We have said it very clearly before. Now we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law ... You cannot annex other countries," Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a joint statement. Continue reading...

Russia's Investigative Committee says it is looking into whether Ukraine intelligence services were behind attackA Russian general has been killed after an explosive device detonated beneath his car in what Moscow described as a likely assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services.Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, the head of the operational training directorate of the Russian armed forces' general staff, died of his injuries, a spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement. Continue reading...

Middlesbrough-born musician had hits with Driving Home for Christmas, On the Beach and The Road to HellChris Rea, the British singer-songwriter whose hits included Driving Home For Christmas, has died at the age of 74, a spokesperson for his family said.The statement said that he died peacefully in hospital ... following a short illness". Continue reading...

Comments from deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov carried by state news agencyThe Guardian's Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer, has some more detail on this developing story. Here is an extract from his report:Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, who oversees combat training and readiness for Russia's armed forces in the war in Ukraine, has extensive experience in the Kremlin's post-Soviet wars. He took part in both Chechen wars and later played a role in organising Russia's 2015-16 military intervention in Syria.The Kremlin is expected to comment later on the attack, but some Russian officials have already called for retribution. Continue reading...

More moderate alcohol habits rather than total abstention appear to have driven fallPeople in Britain are drinking less alcohol than in previous years, according to reports.The average UK adult consumed 10.2 alcoholic drinks a week last year, the lowest figure since data collection began in 1990 and a decline of more than a quarter from the peak of 14 two decades ago, according to figures published in the FT from research company IWSR. Continue reading...

Mayor of La Baneza says winning El Gordo Christmas lottery is something that has fallen from the heavens'When the village of La Baneza in Castilla y Leon was engulfed in one of the worst forest fires in Spanish history, the rain came too late to save it.But now the Christmas lottery has showered its 10,000 inhabitants with hundreds of millions of euros. Continue reading...

Guardian analysis of 20 major companies in UK and US shows mentions of Pride on social media have fallen substantially in past two yearsThe UK's biggest businesses are rolling back their public support for Pride celebrations, Guardian analysis suggests, prompting warnings that clear signals" were needed in the face of growing global LGBTQ+ hostility.Analysis of social media posts by the country's biggest companies found mentions of Pride had plummeted by 92% since 2023, mirroring a trend seen in large American firms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Executives at body that trained chef Jamie Oliver awarded pay rises and bonuses after sale to private firm - as hundreds of jobs may be offshoredA pair of City & Guilds executives have each been awarded million-pound bonuses and sizeable salary increases after the skills charity's business was acquired by an international company in October, the Guardian understands.The payments - which are understood to include a 1.7m award for the chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and 1.2m to the finance director, Abid Ismail - have emerged at a sensitive time for the training and qualifications business, as it navigates its first few months in the private sector. Continue reading...

Rabbi calls for good deeds in memory of Dan Elkayam and other victims of attack at Jewish event

Prof Alice Sullivan claims university failed to protect her right to freedom of expression after protest at eventA UK university faces the prospect of legal action over claims it failed to protect an academic's right to freedom of expression who was invited to give a lecture on sex and gender.Prof Alice Sullivan has written to the University of Bristol and the university regulator the Office for Students (OfS) to complain after her talk was disrupted by protesters. She told the BBC some people who had wanted to attend had stayed away because they felt intimidated and that reasonable steps could have been taken to prevent that. Continue reading...

Mary-Ann Stephenson defends convention as really important' and warns against demonisation of migrantsTaking the UK out of a European human rights treaty to quell rightwing anger over immigration would be a mistake, the new head of Britain's equalities watchdog has said, as she warned against the demonisation of people who migrate to the UK.Mary-Ann Stephenson, who became chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in December, said the European convention on human rights (ECHR) was part of a framework that provides rights most people would agree were fundamental. But she said the tone of public conversation on it was often dangerous. Continue reading...

Purcell, of Victoria's Animal Justice party and Burns, of federal Labor, announce arrival of Lilah Poppy Purcell, born on Friday 19 December

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