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Seven states declare states of emergency as flights are cancelled, schools closed and drivers face treacherous road conditions

Ken Martin and Ben Wikler from the midwest are favorites as party aims to recapture Congress and White HouseAs Republicans prepare to seize the reins of power in Washington, a low-profile race to head the Democrats' national governing body is being flagged up as the first milestone on the party's agonising road to electoral recovery.Two middle-aged men from the northern midwest have been tipped as frontrunners to succeed the outgoing Jaime Harrison as chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), a post from which the groundwork for the recapture of Congress and the White House is expected to be undertaken. Continue reading...

Washington Post report said aides were aiming to target only critical imports but president-elect calls it fake news'President-elect Donald Trump on Monday denied a newspaper report that said his aides were exploring tariff plans that would only cover critical imports.The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don't exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it's wrong. It's just another example of Fake News," he wrote in a post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

President reiterates that Donald Trump threatened democracy by inciting supporters into attack in 2021

Scottish Labour leader sets out plan to revive party's flagging fortunes before Holyrood electionsAnas Sarwar has accused the Scottish government of weakening every institution in Scotland" as he set out plans to revive Labour's flagging fortunes before the Holyrood elections.The Scottish Labour leader said he would spend much of 2025 reminding the Scottish National party time and time again of their failures", while setting out what his party would do differently if it wins power in May next year. Continue reading...

Denise Coates paid herself 150m in salary and dividends last year - far below the 466m she collected in 2020Britain's highest-paid woman, the Bet365 billionaire Denise Coates, has given herself a 45% pay cut, receiving 150m in salary and dividends last year despite soaring profits at the online gambling company.The Stoke-based business reported an increase in turnover from 3.4bn to 3.7bn last year, while also cutting costs and benefiting from a one-off gain on the value of its investments. Continue reading...

Statement from UN agency strongly condemns horrifying incident' on Sunday which it says risked lives of staff

Warning for snow and ice in place across most of south-west, north-west and West Midlands in England, Wales, western and northern Scotland and Northern Ireland. This live blog is closed

Critics decry Keir Starmer's plan as feeding the parasite' rather than investing in the public health service

Design shows intent to keep control of Faroe Islands and Greenland - which Trump says he would like the US to buyThe Danish king has shocked some historians by changing the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature Greenland and the Faroe Islands - in what has also been seen as a rebuke to Donald Trump.Less than a year since succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe, after she stood down on New Year's Eve 2023, King Frederik has made a clear statement of intent to keep the autonomous Danish territory and former colony within the kingdom of Denmark. Continue reading...

Heather Genusa, engaged to Brandon Taylor, calls decision not to place barriers on Bourbon Street a horrible disgrace'A woman who saw her fiance get run over and killed alongside 13 other victims of the Bourbon Street truck attack on New Year's Day in New Orleans says city officials need to pay" the consequences after evidently opting against using multiple types of vehicle barriers that could have protected the targeted crowd.He died for no reason," Heather Genusa, 38, said of 43-year-old Brandon Taylor, to whom she was engaged to be married. Continue reading...

Flooding closes main roads as cold air forecast to return from Monday - and possibility of more snow later in week

We're excited that we have our country back,' one convicted man said. Plus, Adrien Brody wins Golden Globe for The BrutalistGood morning.Once back in power, Donald Trump has promised he will pardon people prosecuted over the assault on the Capitol four years ago today. Carried out by a mob of Trump's supporters after he had addressed them outside the White House, the 6 January 2021 attack brought political violence into the halls of Congress and has been linked to nine deaths among police and rioters.How many have been charged? The justice department has charged more than 1,500 people, nearly 600 of whom have faced felony charges of assaulting or impeding law enforcement.How popular would the move be? For all the enthusiasm among Trump's supporters, a December poll from Monmouth University found that 61% of respondents would disapprove of Trump pardoning people convicted of attacking the Capitol.What do we know about the attack? Jabber's truck displayed an IS flag. A rifle he used in the shootout was bought privately from someone who did not know what he had planned. Officials said Jabbar - who wore body armor and a helmet - had fashioned a homemade device meant to suppress the noise of gunshots fired by the rifle.What do authorities believe about the motive? Indications suggest Jabbar fell into extremism after marital and financial woes. Continue reading...

Request comes after attempts to detain Yoon Suk Yeol were thwarted by presidential security service guards last weekSouth Korea's investigating authorities have requested an extension of a warrant to arrest the country's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol.The corruption investigation office for high-ranking officials (CIO) made the application at Seoul western district court on Monday. Continue reading...

NSW centre to remain closed after serious issues aired, though operators dispute many of the allegations and plan to contest tribunal's finding

Learning and Work Institute says 71% of Londoners and 65% of adults in Scotland will have degree by 2035, compared with 29% in East YorkshireEconomic growth in the UK risks being held back by a skills chasm" between regions, as London and the south-east suck in highly qualified workers, according to a report by the Learning and Work Institute.The gap between high- and low-skilled areas of the UK is already wider than in many comparable countries and is forecast to widen, the thinktank says. Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than one in 10 young people in custody are held at least 75 miles from their homesVulnerable children are being jailed many miles from their families at record levels, a Guardian investigation has found, prompting warnings that the government is breaking the law.The proportion of young people being detained in young offender institutions (YOIs) more than 100 miles from their home has doubled over the last decade to 15% - the highest since its peak at the height of the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Three people from Millicent found unresponsive on beach south of Beachport

Mukesh Chandrakar had reported on alleged corruption in the construction industry and had a popular YouTube channelIndian media rights groups have called for an investigation after the body of a missing journalist was found hidden in a septic tank.Mukesh Chandrakar, 32, was a well-known freelance journalist in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh who contributed to some of the country's biggest news channels. He had also widely reported on alleged corruption in the construction industry on his popular YouTube channel. Continue reading...

Chloe Mason knew Codye Thomson and Kaine Thomson-Gleeson and had visited a Caboolture home where she was fatally shot, police allege

Ford's Ranger ute was again Australia's most popular vehicle and majority of new vehicles sold in 2024 - about 57% - were SUVs

Bosses will hit milestone marginally quicker this year on the third working day of 2025 with median hourly pay of 1,298, says High Pay CentreThe chief executives of FTSE 100 companies will have made more money in 2025 by midday on Monday than their average worker does in a whole year, according to the latest measure of inequality between bosses and their employees.Median pay for FTSE 100 chief executives is 4.22m, 113 times the median full-time worker's pay of 37,430, according to the High Pay Centre, a campaign group. That means UK bosses will exceed their workers' annual pay within 29 hours - or at about 11:30am on Monday, if they started work straight after the new year holiday. Continue reading...

The capital beats Paris and Dublin, in second and third place, as traffic congestion gets consistently worseMuch like its gridlocked traffic, London's position as the most congested city in Europe has remained unmoved, with it coming top of the list ahead of Paris and Dublin.Drivers in the capital spent an average 101 hours sitting in traffic last year, a 2% increase from the previous year, according to the transport analytics company Inrix. Continue reading...

Magistrates court heard Ilaisa Tanoa Degei allegedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old crew member in the early hours of the new year

Former French president alleged to have received millions of euros from Libyan dictator's regime to fund campaignThe former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go on trial on Monday over the biggest political financing scandal in modern French history, in which he is alleged to have received millions of euros in illegal election campaign funding from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.The historic trial of the rightwing former French president and 12 other people - including three former government ministers - for criminal conspiracy to receive funds from a foreign dictator on a massive scale threatens to worsen voters' already low trust in the French political class. Continue reading...

Portraits of wealthy American heiresses who married into British society will be shown at Kenwood in LondonMargaret Daisy" Leiter was just 19 when in 1898 she was painted by the most celebrated society portraitist of the age, John Singer Sargent. Leiter, the youngest daughter of an American retail magnate, was a celebrated beauty who was said to have the loveliest eyes in Washington".Sargent's resulting portrait, in which Leiter stands full length, exuberantly swathed in fabric, radiates with the monied self-assurance of a young woman fully aware of her own social power. Continue reading...

The low-budget immigration saga and the Netflix crime musical picked up major film wins while the historical epic dominated television awards

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Event in February that commemorates signing of New Zealand's founding document expected to draw tens of thousands but PM will not attendOrganisers of New Zealand's national day commemorating the signing of the country's founding treaty between Mori tribes and the British crown are expecting record attendance in 2025, following a year of rising tensions over the government's policy direction for Mori.In February, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Waitangi, in New Zealand's Northland region, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Mori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840 and is instrumental in upholding Mori rights. Continue reading...

Bestselling author and Netflix producer said extensive early experience of grief was very cruel but effective teacher'American thriller writer Harlan Coben said experiencing quite a bit of tragedy" in his 20s made him a better writer.The bestselling author, who wrote the Myron Bolitar thriller series and novels turned Netflix shows such as Fool Me Once and Missing You, said he was in his 20s when his father died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in 1988. Continue reading...

Child poverty plan must address the 70% of families with at least one parent in work, Resolution Foundation saysLabour must offer extra support to working parents, including with childcare and commuting, if it is to fulfil its promise of cutting child poverty, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has argued.The government's manifesto promised an ambitious strategy" on child poverty, and ministers have said they will publish a 10-year plan in the spring. Continue reading...

Scottish Labour, Greens and Lib Dem MSPs accuse first minister of creating false narrative'John Swinney, Scotland's first minister, will warn opposition parties that they will fuel populist forces if they prevent his budget from being passed this month.In a keynote speech in Edinburgh on Monday to mark the new year, Swinney will say Scottish voters would be astonished and public services damaged if MSPs fail to allow the budget to go through. Continue reading...

The Multibank, founded by Gordon Brown, receives boost with Amazon-led drive for 250,000 items this monthA charity founded by the former prime minister Gordon Brown is to increase its campaign efforts against child hygiene poverty this year.The Multibank, which was founded by the former Labour leader, is working with a number of sports clubs across Britain and the Hygiene Bank charity. Over the Christmas and new year period it collected thousands of hygiene products at sporting fixtures. Continue reading...

Proposals to be outlined by Keir Starmer will offer patients 500,000 more appointments a year, as health secretary says without reforms NHS could collapse like Woolworths'Patients in England will be offered 500,000 more appointments a year via seven-day health hubs under plans to tackle lengthy waiting times, as ministers warned the NHS could collapse like Woolworths without major reform.Millions of people will be able to access checks, tests and scans closer to home as the health service expands the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) opening 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Continue reading...

Met office warns of continued likely travel delays, stranded vehicles and power cuts due to wintry conditions

Tributes flood in for warm-hearted and amazing' drag artist James Lee WilliamsJames Lee Williams, known as drag artist The Vivienne, has died at the age of 32, their public relations representative announced on Sunday.Simon Jones posted on Instagram: It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved James Lee Williams - The Vivienne, has passed this weekend. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 414,137 people believed to have experienced some level of harm in last year, Guardian analysis findsMore than 1,000 patients a day in England are suffering potential harm" because of ambulance handover delays, the Guardian can reveal.In the last year, 414,137 patients are believed to have experienced some level of harm because they spent so long in the back of ambulances waiting to get into hospital. Of those, 44,409 - more than 850 a week - suffered severe potential harm", with delays causing permanent or long-term harm or death. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to Lib Dem peer and former Wales culture minister who introduced free entry to museumsTributes have been paid to Jenny Randerson, a titan" of Welsh politics who introduced free entry to museums in Wales, after her death at the age of 76.Lady Randerson brought in the measure while a minister in the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition in the Welsh parliament between 2000 and 2003. She died on Saturday. Continue reading...

It is unclear what prompted Musk to write on X that Farage doesn't have what it takes' to be Reform UK's leaderElon Musk has called for Nigel Farage to be replaced as Reform UK leader hours after Farage described the billionaire businessman as a hero", in what is likely to be a preview of how a chaotic Donald Trump presidency could affect British politics.Farage, who is also the de facto owner of Reform, doesn't have what it takes", Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns, less than three weeks after the pair held seemingly warm talks at Trump's Florida home. The Reform party needs a new leader," he wrote. Continue reading...

Four days of mourning declared for death of Pasok party co-founder, the architect of country's entry into euroTributes have been paid to the former socialist prime minister Costas Simitis, who with dogged determination guided Greece into the eurozone and took the vital steps to ensure it was ready to host the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.News of Simitis's death at the age of 88 was met on Sunday with outpourings from across the political spectrum, with friends and foes alike voicing admiration for a man credited with overseeing some of the country's most momentous changes. Continue reading...

New path' to power may be opening for FPO after collapse of talks between country's centrist partiesAustria's president has said he will meet the leader of the country's far-right Freedom party (FPO), amid speculation that the pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam party will be tasked with trying to form a government after centrist parties failed to find agreement.The Alpine country of 9 million has been plunged into political crisis after the collapse of coalition talks aimed at keeping the far right out of government. On Sunday it appeared the FPO - narrowly the most voted-for party in September's parliamentary elections - would be most likely to benefit from the turmoil. Continue reading...

Drinks flow and friends are made as people hunker down overnight at the Tan Hill Inn in North YorkshireDo you want a shot?" asks Katy Sherrington from Durham, offering up a tiny glass of a pink liquid. Nobody is going anywhere at this point, so it would be rude not to accept.On Saturday night at the Tan Hill Inn, Britain's highest pub, the snow is falling and the crowd of about 30 people inside know they are probably stuck here for a couple of days. Throughout the place, at the northern edge of North Yorkshire, drinks are flowing and friends are being made. Continue reading...

Shadow justice secretary's comments about British Pakistanis were condemned by former race adviserKemi Badenoch has defended Robert Jenrick after he described Britons of Pakistani origin as people from alien cultures", saying it was vital to have an open debate about the abuse and rape of women and girls by grooming gangs.The Conservative leader's intervention was made after Samuel Kasumu, a former Tory adviser on race issues, said Jenrick's comments were highly divisive and risked people getting killed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: David Neuberger believes lack of access to state-funded lawyers for family disputes is wrong in principle'The former president of the supreme court has said parents are being deprived of their human rights by having to fight for contact with their children without lawyers.David Neuberger said legal aid cuts to family cases were an affront to human rights and that taking away legal aid from family disputes is wrong in principle". Continue reading...

Runways all open at Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool but passengers still face delays with road and rail users also hit by the weatherThe Met office has issued a new yellow warning for heavy rain in southern England, adding to the rainfall warning issued across Wales. The introduction of rain to heavy snowfall could lead to flooding.Football journalist Paul Joyce reports that Liverpool City Council's Ground Safety Advisory Group will meet at midday to decide if the game between Liverpool and Manchester United will go ahead. The group met earlier at 9am. Continue reading...

Global heating has made conditions more favourable for growing grapes - and finding the right variety is keyHeard the one about Irish wine? Like its English counterpart, it is no longer a joke, with more than a dozen vineyards now producing bottles to emulate those of the terroirs of France, Spain and Italy.At about 60 (50) a bottle and produced in small quantities, it is far from a commercial activity, but efforts over the last 10 years have produced what one retailer described as an arguably very fine" rose. Continue reading...

Unrwa senior officer describes 60,000 people sheltering in school buildings sharing 12 bathrooms, but says without aid things will get worseSocial order in Gaza is likely to collapse further if Israel goes ahead with its threat this month to end all cooperation with the UN refugee agency for Palestinians, Louise Wateridge, its senior emergency officer, has warned.Wateridge, who has just returned from Gaza, described the territory as increasingly fractured and said the two Knesset bills due to come into force at the end of the month blocking cooperation with the agency would make it impossible for Unrwa to operate or to distribute aid in a war zone. Continue reading...

Germany's ambassador to UK suggests Starmer will have to agree concessions in order to secure economic benefitsKeir Starmer's effort to reset Britain's relations with its European allies is contingent upon a UK-EU youth mobility scheme, a top diplomat has indicated.Miguel Berger, Germany's ambassador to the UK, said stability across Europe could be undermined if the allies could not secure a number of clear measures" that demonstrate the concrete advantages" of their relationship - one being the youth mobility scheme. Continue reading...

PM frames federal poll as choice between building Australia's future' under Labor or taking Australia backwards' under Coalition

Bank faces criticism over adverts saying people testing its services could fabricate' conditions for 45 a visitBarclays is facing criticism over adverts for paid mystery shoppers" which suggested that people could pretend to be blind or deaf to test the services at the British bank's high street branches.The bank hired market research firm Ipsos to carry out testing at branches. The Barclays-branded instructions said candidates for the roles would ideally be blind or deaf, but also suggested candidates could fabricate" conditions if necessary, for 45 a visit, according to the Mail on Sunday (MoS). Continue reading...