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BoM forecasts rain will probably have cleared for midnight firework celebrations in major cities, with Brisbane set to be the wettest

Ibrahim Bazzi died in Bint Jbeil alongside his wife, Shorouq Hammoud, who had a visa to settle in Sydney, and his brother Ali, an alleged Hezbollah fighterThe federal government has raised the deaths of two Australians with Israel, after the brothers and one of their wives were killed in airstrike in a home in southern Lebanon.The acting foreign minister, Mark Dreyfus, confirmed two Australians died in the Israeli airstrike in al-Dawra neighbourhood in the town of Bint Jbeil, and said the Albanese government had been in communication" with Israel after the deaths. Continue reading...

The party has triggered outrage from conservative politicians and supporters of the war in UkraineA rapper who attended a celebrity party wearing only a sock has been jailed for 15 days, sponsors of some of Russia's best known entertainers have torn up their contracts, and President Vladimir Putin is reported to be unamused.A party with an almost naked" dress code at a Moscow nightclub, held at a time when Russia is engaged in a war with Ukraine and the authorities are pushing an increasingly conservative social agenda, has provoked an unusually swift and powerful backlash. Continue reading...

The former Democratic US senator was a popular figure in Wisconsin and donated to civic and educational causesHerb Kohl, a former Democratic US senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, has died. He was 88.His death Wednesday was announced by Herb Kohl Philanthropies, which did not give a cause but said he died after a brief illness. Continue reading...

Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died hours after the singer's 17 November show - a day when temperatures hit 40CHeat exhaustion caused the death of a Brazilian fan who attended a Taylor Swift concert in November, according to a forensics report obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday.Ana Clara Benevides, 23, passed out during Swift's second song at the show in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November and died hours later at a local hospital. Temperatures in the city that day were at about 40C (105F). Continue reading...

More than 250,000 vinyl records were sold last week, the most since the turn of the centuryVinyl records were a surprise hit this Christmas, with weekly sales in the UK soaring to their highest level this century during the festive shopping period, fuelled by artists including Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones.The vinyl record resurgence, with a new generation of music lovers turning to retro formats such as LPs and cassettes, has fuelled a sales surge to their highest annual level since Elton John's Sacrifice and Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby topped the charts in 1990. Continue reading...

Pat Cullen urges RCN members in new year message to push ministers further'Politicians did only enough to save their own skins during strikes by nurses, a union leader has claimed, meaning there was just modest progress in NHS pay and staffing in 2023.Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said Westminster stopped well short of the revolution needed". Continue reading...

Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says DefraBritish households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) - from cables to toasters and power tools - collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a consultation published on Thursday. The ambition is for retailers, rather than the taxpayer, to pick up the tab for these new ways of disposing of defunct, often toxic products safely. The measures are due to come into force in two years' time. Continue reading...

Head of Ukraine's armed forces calls for different war' in 2024; stop Putin or all of Europe at risk, says Moldova presidentThe US government has announced the release of what it said was its last available package of weapons available for Ukraine, with Congress needing to decide on future support. According to the state department, it is worth up to $250m and includes air defence munitions and components, Himars ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armour munitions, and over 15m rounds of ammunition.The war in 2024 must be different from 2023", the head of Ukraine's armed forces has said. Otherwise we will face what I wrote about in the article [the Economist]", said Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Unfortunately, I must state that the enemy is not far behind us. In recent days, we have had a powerful confrontation applying modern technologies. But we do not spare efforts. My main mistake was that I thought that the amount of losses we inflicted on the enemy would stop anyone. But not the Russian Federation."Zaluzhnyi, giving a press conference, said Ukrainian troops remained on a defensive line in the northern part of Maryinka. But I can say that this settlement no longer exists. The [Russian] method is the same as it was in Bakhmut. Street by street, block by block are destroyed. The fact that we have now moved to the outskirts of Maryinka, and in some places equipped positions beyond Maryinka, seems to me to be nothing that can cause a public outcry."As for the conduct of hostilities around Avdiivka," he continued, there is no need to dwell on it and make a show of it. The conduct of hostilities is subject to the laws of war, and they are not subject to what politicians or journalists want. The enemy now has the opportunity to concentrate forces; they can do to the city in two or three months what they have done to Bakhmut."Two people were killed in Russian drone attacks on Odesa, according to figures from the Odesa oblast governor, Oleh Kiper. A 17-year-old was among the wounded and remained in hospital.Russian shelling left 70% of Kherson without electricity, said the Kherson oblast governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Shelling by Russian forces on Tuesday had badly damaged" the infrastructure of the city, he said, adding that it was difficult" to say when repairs would be completed. A railway station was attacked as a train was set to evacuate residents, killing one police officer and injuring four people.A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine has been denied the chance to run for president. Russia's central election commission refused to accept the former regional legislator Yekaterina Duntsova's initial nomination by a group of supporters, citing errors in the paperwork, including spelling. After losing Wednesday's appeal against the commission's decision, Duntsova said she would start working on the creation of her own political party that would stand for peace, freedom and democracy".Poland is getting closer to ending the truck driver blockades of several border crossings with Ukraine, says the country's prime minister, Donald Tusk. Polish drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since 6 November, demanding the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, held talks in Moscow with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and said progress had been made on plans for Russia and India to jointly produce military equipment. Jaishankar added that he expected Vladimir Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to meet next year.Russia says its newest howitzers will be deployed soon" against Ukrainian forces. The head of the state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, told the RIA news agency that testing of the new self-propelled artillery units, named Coalition-SV, had been completed and mass production had started, with the pilot batch to be delivered by the end of this year.Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped in his war against Ukraine or all of Europe will pay a much higher price, Moldova's pro-European president, Maia Sandu, said in an interview published on Wednesday. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on the latest developments in the Israel-Gaza war here and see all our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereLebanese state media is reporting that three people have been killed and one wounded by an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.The claims have not been independently verified. Continue reading...

Lib Dems' data analysis shows record levels of overheating and sharp rise in flooding, causing needless disruption'Record levels of overheating and a sharp rise in flooding at England's hospitals are putting vulnerable patients at risk, figures show.Analysis of NHS data by the Liberal Democrats found that the number of health trusts reporting overheating in clinical areas had doubled compared with six years ago, and floods had increased by nearly 60% from last year. Continue reading...

US artist became known for crawling along 42nd Street in New York in 1978 and recently exhibited at the South London GalleryThe American artist Pope.L, famous for performances in which he crawled through the gutters of busy American streets, has died aged 68, his gallery confirmed.His first show for a British non-commercial institution, the South London Gallery, opened only last month and was critically acclaimed. The artist attended the opening of the exhibition, which was titled Hospital. He died at home on 23 December in Chicago. Continue reading...

Man, 23, arrested on suspicion of murder and a 55-year-old is being held on suspicion of attempted murderA 46-year-old man has died and several others were injured after a car hit a crowd of people during violence in Sheffield, police have said.Emergency services were called to College Close in the Burngreave area of the city on Wednesday at about 2pm following reports of violence and disorder", South Yorkshire police said. Continue reading...

In social media posts, the singer thanked the sculptor Yino Marquez and his students for their enormous artistic talent'Shakira has been transformed into a 21.3ft (6.5 meters) bronze statue in her home town of Barranquilla, Colombia, where according to legend she began her trademark hip-shaking dance moves on the table in a Lebanese restaurant at the age of four.The Hips Don't Lie singer shared photos and video of the statue, which captures her making her trademark hip swivel, on her Instagram account. She captioned one post: Estoy muy emocionada por este homenaje a la mujer Colombiana y a las Barranquilleras dentro y fuera de mi tierra!" (I am very excited for this tribute to the Colombian woman and the Barranquilleras inside and outside my land!) Continue reading...

Tom and brother Dick's groundbreaking CBS show was pulled when they took a stance against Vietnam war and for civil rightsTom Smothers, half of the comedy group the Smothers Brothers, has died at the age of 86.Smothers was described as not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life", but as a one-of-a-kind creative partner", according to a statement by his brother Dick Smothers on Wednesday shared by the National Comedy Center. Continue reading...

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has met Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan for bilateral talks in St PetersburgAzerbaijani officials have said the country could be closing in on a peace agreement with Armenia to end their decades-long conflict following its lightning offensive in September to take control of its Nagorno-Karabakh region.In face of a decisive military advance, more than 100,000 people fled the mountainous south Caucasus enclave, which, following a war in the 1990s, had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. Continue reading...

Bodies of men missing for several days were retrieved from a river on Christmas Eve and Christmas DayKenyan police are investigating four suspected killings on a Del Monte pineapple farm after bodies were retrieved from a river on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.It follows a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism into allegations of brutal assaults and killings by security guards at the farm in Thika, which is the single largest exporter of Kenyan produce to the world. Continue reading...

Culture minister Lina Mendoni pledges to fill the void' at British Museum should ancient sculptures be returned to AthensGreece is prepared to part with some of its greatest treasures to fill the void" at the British Museum if the Parthenon marbles were reunited in Athens, the country's culture minister has said.Speaking to the Guardian at the end of a momentous year for the campaign to retrieve the fifth-century BC masterpieces, Lina Mendoni promised that the London institution's revered Greek galleries would never go empty. Continue reading...

Security officials keen to arrange meeting as time running out', according to reports

Trainee detective constable says her ordeal helps her to empathise with victims and help other officers on her team

Det Supt Andrew Wadey says force has let women and girls down badly' and service must be improved to restore faith

The British film-maker also wrote the landmark TV play Made in Britain, starring Tim Roth, and won an Emmy award for Band of BrothersDavid Leland, the director behind popular 1980s hit Wish You Were Here and writer on a string of acclaimed British films including Made in Britain, Mona Lisa and Personal Services, has died aged 82. His agency Casarotto Ramsay and Associates said in a statement that Leland died on Sunday surrounded by his family. They added: He is survived by his wife, Sabrina, his four daughters, his son and his six grandchildren ... all of whom he loved almost as much as Arsenal football club."Born in 1941, Leland initially trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech of Drama, before becoming part of the breakaway that led to the creation of the Drama Centre in 1963. He secured small roles in 1970s films such as John Mackenzie's directorial debut One Brief Summer, Gawain and the Green Knight starring Murray Head and Jacques Demy's The Pied Piper. However, he found writing and directing more to his taste, directing the world premiere of Michael Palin and Terry Jones's pair of short plays, Their Finest Hours, at the Crucible theatre, Sheffield, in 1976, and commissioning Victoria Wood to write her 1978 play Talent for the same venue. In 1977 Leland cast Pierce Brosnan, who had also studied at the Drama Centre, in the UK premiere of Tennessee Williams' play The Red Devil Battery Sign at the Roundhouse in London. Continue reading...

Measures include spending limits for online games and ban on rewarding players for logging in each dayChina's $45bn (31.3bn) gaming industry has been dealt a blow by proposals to limit the time and money spent on the sector.New rules including spending limits for online games, a ban on games from rewarding players for logging in every day and a ban on lucky draw features from being offered to minors were announced by regulators last week, sparking panic among investors. Continue reading...

Justice system is more reluctant to criminalise 10- and 11-year-olds but government refuses to raise age of criminal responsibilityNo 10- or 11-year-olds have been imprisoned in England and Wales since 2010, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said, as the criminal justice system becomes ever more reluctant to criminalise primary-school-age children.There has been a huge drop in the number of very young children cautioned or convicted in England and Wales in recent years. Continue reading...

Union says operating company is heading for disaster' with budget based on unrealistic future visitor numbersThe Eiffel Tower was closed to the public on Wednesday after staff went on strike on the 100th anniversary of the death of its creator, Gustave Eiffel.Disappointed tourists who had booked tickets to access the 134-year-old monument were told it was shut and they would be contacted by email. Continue reading...

Oleksandr Prokudin said that 70% of subscribers' had been left without electricity

Harley Bond's treatment for a form of childhood dementia ends after deal to buy drug company fell throughThe family of a boy with a rare form of childhood dementia said he had been given a death sentence" after his treatment was withdrawn amid a collapsed takeover deal.Harley Bond, 11, was diagnosed seven years ago with a condition called Sanfilippo syndrome, which gradually limits a child's ability to walk, talk and eat. Continue reading...

Row over disinterment in East Lothian church highlights big property selloff accompanying retreat from organised religionAt first sight the lichen-covered sandstone slab seems to be a doorstep for Morham church in East Lothian. Yet four rusting iron rings set into the stone hint at the slab's true purpose.Once the slab is lifted by those four iron rings, stairs lead down into a crypt which hold the remains of some pivotal figures in Scottish history. Their presence is delaying the sale of the church overhead, in a controversy that raises significant questions about the ramifications of one of the biggest property selloffs of modern times. Continue reading...

Three US soldiers were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq, which Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group claimed credit forJoe Biden ordered the US military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three US service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq.A national security council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, said one of the troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier on Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone. Continue reading...

Exclusive: We can't just put it all on the police's shoulders' says NSW premier as Aboriginal people make up 59% of juvenile detention populationThe New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended the way police interact with young Aboriginal people and said the force is not to blame for disproportionate Indigenous incarceration rates.Speaking in Bourke, in far western NSW, Minns also said he was reluctant to meet the demands of the Country Mayors Association, police union and some Nationals MPs to hold an inquiry into regional crime. Continue reading...

AFP unable to rule out whether users are visiting modern opium dens to buy and consume the drugOne of Australia's emerging niche drugs in 2023 happens to be one of the country's oldest.About 180 years after opium was first imported into the country, the Australian federal police seized more than double the amount of the drug this year than in 2022. It is also almost six times the amount seized in 2021. Continue reading...

Dmitry Lima told he will be sent to Portugal, from where his parents arrived more than 30 years ago, after serving a prison sentenceA 28-year-old British-born man who has never left the country has spoken of his devastation after being told he will be deported to Portugal, from where his parents arrived more than 30 years ago, under a post-Brexit policy towards EU nationals convicted of crimes.Dmitry Lima was born in Lambeth, in south London, does not speak Portuguese and has never travelled abroad but he was given a deportation order by the Home Office after serving a prison sentence for drugs offences and for carrying a Taser. Continue reading...

About 70 firefighters on scene at prestigious Catholic school in Fulham in west of cityFirefighters are tackling a blaze at a prestigious Catholic school in west London.Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were called to the London Oratory school on Seagrave Road in Fulham at about 10am on Wednesday. An atrium is alight in a four-storey building, the fire brigade said. Continue reading...

Signatories of open letter, who include Charlotte Rampling and Carla Bruni, accused of placing actor above the lawAn open letter signed by 56 prominent figures defending Gerard Depardieu and suggesting the cinema giant - who has been accused of rape and sexual assault - is the victim of a lynching" has sparked outrage in France.Critics have accused signatories - including the British actor Charlotte Rampling, the former French first lady Carla Bruni and Depardieu's former partner Carole Bouquet - of placing him above the law and attempting to drown out #MeToo voices. Continue reading...

Leading doctors and charities urge children's health minister to take action to support struggling familiesFailure to tackle the cost of soaring infant formula is creating a crisis of infant hunger and putting the health of babies from low income families at risk, clinical experts and campaigners have warned.Leading doctors and nurses, including the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, have joined children's charities in urging ministers to take urgent action to ensure parents hit by the rising cost of living can access infant formula. Continue reading...

Ministers looking for election boost for Rishi Sunak think about revisiting tax cut idea that last surfaced before autumn statementConservative ministers are considering tax cuts and help for first-time buyers in the coming months in the hope of giving Rishi Sunak a pre-election boost.Downing Street officials are thinking about completely scrapping inheritance tax in three months' time, according to the Telegraph, as the prime minister ordered a gear change" on tax. Continue reading...

More than 8,500 readers have so far given to charities providing help to refugees and asylum seekers

Jennings says he was not expecting co-host to leave but is eager to equal Alex Trebek's record of 38 years as sole hostKen Jennings says he was as surprised as anyone to learn he would become the solo host of Jeopardy!, the long-running US gameshow.In an interview published on Monday by the Hollywood Reporter, Jennings, the most famous contestant in the quizshow's history, said he was not expecting co-host Mayim Bialik's announcement that she was leaving. Continue reading...

Royal Life Saving Society chief says Australians may not be as strong swimmers as we believe' as December toll hits 22Another person has drowned in New South Wales, adding to the rising drowning death toll that has prompted a warning from lifesavers at what is considered the deadliest time of year.Four people were pulled from the water at Port Stephens on Wednesday afternoon, including a 33-year-old man who could not be revived and died at the scene. Continue reading...

The Australian cook and writer, who taught himself to cook, died peacefully at hospital in London on Christmas DayChefs and writers have taken to social media to remember Bill Granger as a culinary legend" and brilliant" person who exported Australian food culture to the world.The Australian cook and restaurateur died at a hospital in London on Christmas Day, the family of the food writer confirmed on Instagram. He was 54. Continue reading...

Two campers in Victoria and three friends on a fishing trip in Queensland among 10 lives lost as storms ravaged eastern AustraliaThe body of a man has been discovered in flood-affected regional Victoria, taking the death toll from storms that wreaked havoc on eastern Australia over the Christmas period to 10.Victoria police received information on Wednesday that it was believed a man was camping with a woman who was located deceased following flash flooding in Buchan in East Gippsland on 26 December. Continue reading...

Winemakers question plan as government champions Brexit freedom' to allow old-fashioned sizeThe poet Robert Burns imagined a man toasting his lover with a pint o' wine", and Winston Churchill was perhaps the most famous proponent of the pint bottle for champagne. Now, Rishi Sunak's government has spied a Brexit opportunity" to legalise the sale of wine by the pint once more - if it can persuade anyone to make the bottles.Still and sparkling wine will be sold in 200ml, 500ml and 568ml (pint) sizes in 2024, alongside existing measures, under new rules, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on Wednesday. It said the change was made possible by Brexit. Continue reading...

Many makers of PPE and surgical instruments are based in China, where about 100,000 people may be trapped in forced labourOver a fifth of NHS suppliers providing items including surgical instruments, gloves, gowns and face masks are at high risk" of using modern slavery, according to a government review.Nearly half of all NHS suppliers of gowns and uniforms are based in China, which also provides the bulk of all masks. Continue reading...

Lee Parkin intervened in vain in 20-minute attack as he walked his dog near his home in Doncaster

Israel appears to be receiving munitions from stockpile, but there has been little transparencyTheir precise location is classified, but somewhere in Israel there are multiple closely guarded warehouses that contain billions of dollars' worth of weapons owned by the US government.Long shrouded in secrecy, the warehouses are part of an extensive but previously little-known stockpile now facing scrutiny as pressure mounts on the Biden administration over its support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Continue reading...

Globally successful restaurateur and food writer known as the godfather of avocado toast' dies peacefully in LondonThe Australian cook and restaurateur Bill Granger has died in London aged 54.Fellow cooks, celebrities and lovers of his restaurants paid tribute after the family of the food writer confirmed on Instagram he had died peacefully in hospital on Christmas Day. Continue reading...

Nine-year-old girl and three men confirmed dead after boat capsized in south-east Queensland among death toll

Lifeguards will take every possible precaution after man who came off a paddleboard failed to surface, Prue Car says

Emergency services called to Penrith Beach on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacingA man's body has been found after a search at a newly opened beach in Sydney's west.Emergency services were called to Penrith Beach just after 2.30pm on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacing. Continue reading...

Writing on X, jailed Russian opposition leader said he was still in a good mood' after an exhausting transfer to the Polar Wolf' prisonThe jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said he was fine" after a pretty exhausting" 20-day transfer to a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle.The Kremlin critic's whereabouts had been unknown for more than two weeks, but he is in a penal colony in Russia's far north and has been visited by his lawyer, his supporters have said. Continue reading...