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Weather system brings heavy rainfall, strong winds and mudslides. Elsewhere, Nova Scotia declares state of emergencyDuring the first week of February two storms hit California in quick succession, both featuring intense precipitation thanks to the pineapple express" atmospheric river.Atmospheric rivers are long narrow channels of very moist air that flow through the atmosphere, transporting impressive amounts of water vapour that eventually fall as heavy rain or snow. The pineapple express is a famous recurring atmospheric river that forms near the Hawaiian Islands and flows northe-east to the Pacific coast of North America. Continue reading...

Illegal immigration via the US-Mexico border remains one of the most pressing problems for Congress. And yet the much anticipated $118bn border security bill, which included aid packages to Ukraine and Israel, was blocked by senators after a chaotic week.Why did this crucial piece of legislation with bipartisan support get rejected by the very people who demanded it? This week, Joan E Greve is joined by Marianna Sotomayor, the congressional reporter for the Washington Post, to discuss why the border bill failed Continue reading...

Roberts-Smith, 45, is seeking to overturn June defamation trial judgment that found he engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan

Chancellor hints at tax-free plan for budget as part of efforts to revive country's stock marketThe chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has hinted at plans to launch a tax-free British Isa" investing in UK company shares at the spring budget, as part of efforts to revive the country's stock market.A British stock Isa would allow investors to buy a certain amount of UK company shares, without paying tax. Currently, the government charges a 0.5% tax, known as the share purchase stamp duty, for any shares bought in the UK. Continue reading...

Consultancy's global executive says report suggests there's no evidence confidential information was used for commercial gain

Legislation banning the use of the devices, which have been linked to deaths in custody, passes in NSW with cross-party support

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Two removed posts showed screenshots of tweets shared by Australian Electoral Commission about voting multiple times

Senators say bill will clean up Australia's airline industry through ensuring concrete protections for passengers' hit by flight delays

The girl left her home in Birtinya, on the Sunshine Coast, to visit a nearby park on Wednesday evening

Appearing before the economics committee, Australia's new RBA governor is circumspect when questioned on the direction of interest rates, but leaves the door ajar for further rises

State premier says in emergency situations sometimes it doesn't always go to plan' after mistake when fighting Bullsbrook blaze

Pekka Haavisto says discussion about his being gay has increased since he made it through to the final round of votingThe Finnish presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto has questioned why his sexuality has come under such strong focus in the final days of campaigning before Sunday's election as polls narrow with his rival, Alexander Stubb.The 65-year-old former foreign minister, who if he wins would become Finland's first Green and first gay president, said he had been surprised by the way his sexuality had become an issue of public interest in the second and final round. Continue reading...

EU diplomat Johan Floderus's sister calls on Sweden to start speaking up loudly to demand his releaseThe family of a Swedish EU diplomat imprisoned in Iran for more than 663 days fear he will be given a death sentence or life imprisonment within the coming days after prosecutors sought the maximum sentence in his case.I ask how can this be happening? He is my brother and I'm like: they want to kill my younger brother? That is very hard to take in. I also feel so sad for him being there alone, you know, when I see the pictures of him I just want to be there for him," said Johan Floderus's sister, Ingrid. Continue reading...

Victorian supreme court justice convicts four boys over Reservoir murder that left 16-year-old bleeding to death with 152 injuries

Hollywood star tells social media followers the only way to protect the swift parrot .... is to end native forest logging'

Crews continue to search for Murphy around Buninyong and Canadian Forest after she was last seen leaving home to go for a run on Sunday morning

Russian president's rambling, two-hour talk with commentator is his first interview with western media since the Ukraine invasionTucker Carlson and Vladimir Putin were in the spotlight on Thursday night, as the divisive, Trump-supporting rightwing commentator interviewed the reclusive Russian autocrat.The rambling, two-hour interview, filmed in Moscow, was Putin's first with a western media outlet since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Continue reading...

Jess and Jackie Morecroft able to claim compensation for Gold Coast home that was secretly tied up in feud within original owner's family

Josh Burns says one family is in hiding after contact information from a private group chat encouraging action over coverage of Israel and Palestine were leaked

The 4.3 magnitude quake hit Leongatha in Gippsland, with shaking reported in Sunbury and Wilson's PromontoryThousands of Victorians have been woken by an early morning earthquake that shook large parts of the state.The 4.3 magnitude quake hit near Leongatha in the state's Gippsland region, 135km south-east of Melbourne, at 12.49am today. Continue reading...

Other failures listed in damning official report include blaming children for making poor choices'Metropolitan police officers tried to put off children from making complaints about alleged sexual abuse and privately blamed young people for crimes suffered, a damning official report has revealed.Most investigations into child exploitation were rated as inadequate by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). Of the 244 cases it examined, 43 were graded as good, more than half (121) as inadequate and 80 as needing improvement. Continue reading...

Retired Australian swimmer James Magnussen is the first person to publicly express interest in competing at an Olympic-styled event with no drug testing

Caretaker government says it took decision for security reasons after two bomb blasts targeted election officesPhone services have been suspended in Pakistan as the country voted in a general election marred by allegations of vote rigging and militant attacks.The caretaker government said phone services, including mobile internet, had been suspended on Thursday for security reasons, after two two bomb blasts by Islamic State targeted election offices in the restive region of Balochistan on the eve of the polls. Continue reading...

Ahmad Khalefa, human rights lawyer of Palestinian heritage, released to house arrest after organising anti-war protestA prominent Israeli human rights lawyer of Palestinian heritage has been released to house arrest after spending 110 days in prison for organising a peaceful protest against the war in Gaza.A supreme court judge ruled on Wednesday that Ahmad Khalefa, 42, a lawyer working with Human Rights Defenders Fund, an Israeli non-governmental organisation, should be detained at home subject to electronic monitoring while his case is pending. Continue reading...

The pair, who last worked together on 2006's Inside Man, will reimagine the 1963 crime drama High and Low for Apple and A24Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are teaming up for the fifth time, reimagining Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime drama High and Low.The pair, whose previous projects include Malcolm X and He Got Game, will start filming a reinterpretation in March. Based on the novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain, the original film stars Toshiro Mifune as a wealthy man in ruin after paying the ransom for a kidnapping. Continue reading...

Some interviews will still be shown on TalkTV but Morgan calls commitment to daily show unnecessary straitjacket'Piers Morgan has announced he is leaving his TalkTV daily evening show, less than two years after its launch, to focus on his YouTube channel.The Piers Morgan Uncensored channel has grown to 2.3 million subscribers since 2022. Continue reading...

President's replacement of Zaluzhnyi with his land forces commander is not seen as a radical departurePresident Volodymyr Zelenskiy's decision to replace his most senior military commander may solve a political problem, but it is not clear how it can improve Ukraine's weakening position on the battlefield.It was clear that the outgoing Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi had lost the confidence of the Ukrainian leader, who had come to be wary of the general's popularity and saw him as a political threat. By refusing to resign when asked by the president last week, Zaluzhnyi had created an untenable situation at the top. Continue reading...

Club reaches agreement with Willie McKay as it continues search for truth' about death of ArgentinianCardiff City have reached an out-of-court settlement with the agent Willie McKay in their pursuit of discovering the truth about Emiliano Sala's death.Sala died on 21 January 2019 when the light aircraft he travelled in from France crashed into the Channel, two days after Cardiff had announced the signing of the Argentinian footballer from Nantes. Continue reading...

Military says blatant assassination' of three members of Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Baghdad risks widening conflict

Rachel Reeves had promised to spend big to be Britain's first green chancellor. Now she wants to spend as little public money as possible

Minimum price of bottle of whisky set at 18.20 as ministers mull health tax to retrieve higher revenue from shopsScottish consumers will be unable to buy a bottle of red wine for less than 6.09 or a bottle of whisky for under 18.20 from October, after the minimum price for alcohol was raised by 30%.Shona Robison, the deputy first minister, confirmed a Guardian story earlier this week that the minimum unit price (MUP) will increase from 50p a unit to 65p to keep pace with inflation and ensure prices are kept relatively high. Continue reading...

More than 26,000 section 21 notices issued in five years since ban was announced, while social housing stock has plummetedPrivate renters in England were hit by a triple whammy of bad news on Thursday as official figures showed soaring no-fault evictions, a net loss of more than 16,000 homes for social rent and a fresh delay to long-promised laws to give renters greater security.The number of households evicted by bailiffs as a result of no-fault evictions rose 39% in 2023 compared with 2022, according to analysis by the housing charity Shelter of new Ministry of Justice figures. Continue reading...

Humza Yousaf attempts to refresh his government after Michael Matheson resigns over 11,000 iPad roaming billHumza Yousaf has carried out a mini cabinet reshuffle after his beleaguered health secretary quit over a parliamentary investigation into how he racked up a near-11,000 bill on his work iPad.The first minister attempted to refresh his government after enduring intense cross-party attacks at Holyrood over the resignation of Michael Matheson on Thursday. Matheson had previously refused repeated demands to stand down. Continue reading...

PM says it is sad and wrong' to link his comment about transgender people to case of murdered teenager

Civil claim relating to alleged killing, rape and attacks by guards at pineapple farm should be struck out, claim firm's lawyersFresh Del Monte has claimed it should not be held liable for a civil lawsuit alleging killing, rape and violence by security guards at its Kenyan pineapple farm because it is domiciled in the Cayman Islands.In the high court in Thika on Thursday, lawyers for the company's Kenyan subsidiary, Del Monte Kenya, also applied to have a case against the farm struck out altogether. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he was making a point about Keir Starmer and using tragedy to detract from point I was making is worst of politics'Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the anti-trans jibe he made about Keir Starmer at PMQs yesterday, after being told Brianna Ghey's mother would be listening in the public gallery.Speaking to journalists in Cornwall, Sunak insisted that he was just making a point about Starmer. And he said that to link what he said to the death of Brianna, whose murder was partly motivated by transphobia, was the worst of politics".If you look at what I said, I was very clear, talking about Keir Starmer's proven track record of U-turns on major policies because he doesn't have a plan.A point only proven by today's reports that the Labour party and Keir Starmer are apparently planning to reverse on their signature economic green spending policy.But to use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making about Keir Starmer's proven track record of multiple U-turns on major policies, because he doesn't have a plan, I think is both sad and wrong, and it demonstrates the worst of politics.Today's announcement will give confidence to the oil and gas industry and those who stand to benefit from a fossil fuel energy system. For the rest of us, faced with unaffordable energy bills, fossil fuel-funded wars, and the floods, storms and droughts that the climate crisis brings, this is a deeply disappointing signal on the low level of ambition a future government has when it comes to the biggest challenge the world is facing.Green investment doesn't just deliver for the planet; it also benefits our health and economy. Cutting it would be shortsighted and cost the country dearly.The UK is already lagging behind in the race to manufacture green steel, build electric vehicles, and develop giga-battery factories. Thousands of jobs are at risk if we don't match the investment the US and the rest of Europe are making in these industries ... Continue reading...

Houston attorney Mason Herring pleaded guilty to two charges for spiking then pregnant wife's drinks to induce abortionA Texas man who drugged his wife's drinks in an attempt to induce an abortion was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years on probation.Mason Herring, a 39-year-old Houston attorney, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person. He had initially been charged with felony assault to induce abortion. Continue reading...

Preliminary results of largest study of its kind show 55% of survivors are living with depression, while 74% have respiratory issuesRates of depression, respiratory problems and kidney abnormalities are soaring among survivors of the Maui wildfire, according to the preliminary findings from a groundbreaking study.The University of Hawaii (UH) has partnered with community health groups to track, understand and address the impacts on health and social conditions caused by the deadliest American wildfire in more than a century, which killed 100 people and destroyed more than 2,200 buildings as it razed the historic town of Lahaina.55% are experiencing symptoms of depression - significantly higher than the rate reported by Maui residents (33%) in a 2023 survey. Depression rates were higher among older residents, with 75% of 50-something fire survivors reporting low mood, insomnia, and poor concentration, among other symptoms. About 1.3% of participants reported recent suicidal thoughts.74% are experiencing respiratory issues, with 49% exhibiting signs of lung obstruction and 33% experiencing compromised lung function linked to low oxygen levels.Initial blood biomarker tests indicated that 8% to 18% of participants may have compromised kidney function.Three out of four participants have an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, including 21% with high blood pressure at a level that warrants medical attention. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on the Middle East hereA journalist and his son have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the central Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera.Nafez Abdel Jawad, who worked for Palestine TV, was killed in a bombing of a residential building in the al-Salam neighbourhood in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip last night, says Al Jazeera. The news organisation said that his only son also died in the airstrike and other injuries had also been reported. Continue reading...

Watchdog receives complaint, reportedly from Santander UK, that advert paints misleading picture of bank branch closuresDominic West's portrayal of an arrogant, smoothie-drinking, branch-closing banker has landed Nationwide in potentially hot water, with the building society now facing a formal complaint over its TV advert from a rival lender.Santander UK is understood to have lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the television commercial, on the basis that it discredits and denigrates" Nationwide's rivals and paints a misleading picture about bank branch closures. Continue reading...

Police seize passport as agents carry out 33 searches and four arrests across Brazil, targeting allies of far-right former presidentBrazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro has surrendered his passport as part of a police investigation into the attempted coup on 8 January 2023, which sought to keep him in power, his lawyers have said.In operations that also targeted key allies of the former far-right leader, federal police agents carried out 33 searches and four arrests across Brazil on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Chief executive, Rene Haas, says UK-based firm is benefiting from huge demand for AI-powered products and appsShares in Arm have soared by more than 50% after raising profit and revenue forecasts amid red-hot demand for artificial intelligence technology, valuing the UK-based tech company at double the market capitalisation when it floated in September.Shares in the world's biggest supplier of design elements for processing chips used in products from smartphones to games consoles opened up 58% on the Nasdaq in the US on Thursday. Continue reading...

President's gaffes stoke concern over his age as election campaign against his presumptive opponent - also advanced in age - picks upJoe Biden has twice made gaffes this week in which he told anecdotes wrongly identifying dead European leaders as having talked to him about the events of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.On Wednesday in New York, Biden reportedly referred to the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl as talking to him about European concerns about the attempt to stop the certification of his 2020 election win, when he apparently meant Angela Merkel. Kohl died in 2017. Continue reading...

Johan Van Overtveldt, chair of the European parliament's budgets committee, says newly agreed 50bn aid to Kyiv is will leave a shortfallFarmers today continued demonstrating in different parts of Europe.Here are the latest photos: Continue reading...

Eruption in Reykjanes peninsula disrupts hot water supply for 20,000 people as lava edges closer to Svartsengi power plantA volcano in Iceland has erupted for the second time this year and the third time since December, pumping lava up to 80 metres (260ft) into the air and disrupting life in the Reykjanes peninsula in the south-west of the country.Fountains of bright orange molten rock spewed from cracks in the ground and lava crossed a road near the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa, which had closed on Thursday. Continue reading...

Names of troops not yet released after aircraft went down in stormy weather in mountains near San DiegoFive marines who disappeared in a helicopter crash in the mountains outside San Diego, California, were confirmed dead, the military said on Thursday morning.The names of the marines were not immediately released. They were first reported missing on Tuesday. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedWe're pausing our coverage now. Here is a summary of the day's developments so far":Up to 25cm of snow is forecast in parts of England and Wales on Thursday, as the Met Office issued weather alerts and warned of disruption to travel. Amber weather warnings for snow have been issued for parts of northern England and north Wales, while a mixture of yellow rain and snow warnings will be in force across the four nations, PA Media reports.The Met Office said strong and gusty easterly winds may lead to some drifting in places", and that 10-15cm of snow is expected quite widely across the warning area. A separate amber warning for snow and ice will be in place between 8am and 3pm on Thursday across north Wales and north-west Shropshire, with 20-25cm of snow forecast in areas above 200 metres.Flooding between Swindon and Chippenham has blocked some railway lines, with disruption expected until 2pm. As a result, trains running between these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 45 minutes.An amber weather warning means travel delays on roads are likely; public transport vehicles and cars could be stranded; power cuts are possible; and some rural communities could be cut off temporarily. In the area covered by the snow and ice warning, the Met Office said untreated pavements and cycle paths could be impassable, PA reports. Met Office meteorologist Amy Bokota said an easterly wind meant that places inland and higher up" were likely to see the most snow.The train company ScotRail has warned passengers to take extra caution while travelling today. It tweeted: A yellow Met Office weather warning is in place for snow and ice from 18:00 today, until 15:00 tomorrow. This covers southern Scotland, up to and including Perth and Dundee. Please take extra care when travelling and keep up to date with your journey using our app or website."Further yellow snow and ice warnings cover southern and central Scotland from 6pm on Thursday to 3pm on Friday, and from 10am on Thursday until 6pm on Friday in Northern Ireland. The Met Office said up to 8cm of snow could fall in Northern Ireland and up to 10cm in parts of Scotland, with 1-3cm more widely in both regions. Another yellow warning for snow and ice is in place in northern Scotland from 4pm on Wednesday to 10am on Thursday, PA reports. Continue reading...

Society's president says claims of ageism, censorship and lowering standards are unfounded

Massimiliano Melargo, who was stopped at airport, has permission to enter and leave UK while awaiting settlement decisionAn Italian man has been removed from the UK despite holding a Home Office certificate explicitly stating he has a right to travel in and out of the country while officials process his application to live and work in the country post-Brexit.Massimiliano Melargo, 27, told how he was detained overnight, separated from his Ukrainian partner, and put on the first plane to Venice by Border Force officials in a step lawyers say contravenes the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK. Continue reading...