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Reform UK leader fails to declare 380,000 on time, saying he is computer-illiterate oddball'

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Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke say the laws are needed to protect Australians - particularly the Jewish community

Amnesty International deeply concerned for scores of people walking around in search of assistance'Thousands of people, including suspected victims of human trafficking, are estimated to have been released or escaped from scam compounds across Cambodia over recent days, after growing international pressure to crackdown on the multibillion-dollar industry.The Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh said it had received reports from 1,440 of its nationals who had been released from scam centres, while large queues of Chinese nationals were also seen outside the Chinese embassy. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: Music spaces are welcoming bigger crowds again, but the industry remains fragile as rising costs and shrinking local circuits threaten the next generation of talentGood morning. The music industry has long been one of the UK's successful export stories, whether it was the British invasion of the US spearheaded by the Beatles and the Stones in the 1960s or the contemporary success of the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran.In recent years, however, there has been a steady drumbeat of doom in the background. Artists have concerns about artificial intelligence slop replacing them, they face dwindling earning power due to paltry streaming royalty rates, and crucially, there has been a contraction in the number of venues where musicians can hone their craft and build a fanbase.UK news | The government has approved the construction of a vast new Chinese embassy complex in east London despite concerns about security and its impact on political exiles in the capital.Chagos Island | Donald Trump has suggested Britain's decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.Social trends | Rightwing movements are struggling to gain support among graduates as education emerges as the most important dividing line in British attitudes towards politics, diversity and immigration.Middle East | Israeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia in the West Bank.US news | An Indiana state court judge and his wife were in stable condition on Monday as authorities continued to search for suspects who shot the couple the day before at their Lafayette home. Continue reading...

Regime appears to have turned to digital currency issued by Tether in the face of sanctionsIran's central bank appears to have been using vast quantities of a cryptocurrency championed by Nigel Farage, according to a new report.Elliptic, a crypto analytics company, said it had traced at least $507m (377m) of cryptocurrency issued by Tether - a company touted by the Reform UK leader - passing through accounts that appear to be controlled by Iran's central bank. Continue reading...

Aldi triumphed in the consumer watchdog's laundry showdown, while some name brands failed to come out in the wash

Gelsenkirchen savings bank was raided over Christmas by criminals who used huge drill to access vaultFaqir Malyar, a carpet trader from the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, was on his way to visit one of his customers during the Christmas holidays when he heard news on the radio of an astonishing bank heist. Thieves had drilled a hole in the wall of the vault of a local Sparkasse - savings bank - and made off with the contents of almost 3,250 deposit boxes.The robbery, likened by a police spokesperson to the Hollywood film Ocean's Eleven, made international headlines: it is estimated that the thieves' haul could have been worth as much as 300m (260m), a sum that would make it the one of the biggest bank heists in a country wearily familiar with them. Continue reading...

The 85-year-old bestselling author's final novel, Adam and Eve, will be published in English in OctoberBestselling novelist Jeffrey Archer has announced his next novel, Adam and Eve, will be his last, coming out 50 years after his debut was published.The 85-year-old author has sold more than 300m books around the world since his first novel, Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less, was published in 1976, according to his publishers. His 1979 novel, Kane and Abel, was his biggest hit, selling more than 34m copies in 119 countries and 47 languages, and being reprinted more than 130 times. Continue reading...

Coroner to examine if 19-year-old drowned off Australian tourist island or was killed by wild dingoesI'm 18, and you can't stop me!" Piper James told her father before she set off backpacking on the other side of the Pacific Ocean - but the young Canadian woman's trip to Australia ended in tragedy and trauma.Early on Monday, the now-19-year-old was found dead on a beach on the world heritage-listed sand island and tourist destination of K'gari (formerly known as Fraser Island) off the Queensland coast, surrounded by a pack of dingoes near the Maheno shipwreck. Continue reading...

Carney warns US-led global system of governance is enduring a rupture' as US president flies in for showdown with European leaders over GreenlandCanadian prime minister Mark Carney has said that the US-led global system of governance is enduring a rupture," defined by great power competition and a fading" rules-based order.His speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum comes a day before US President Donald Trump was set to address the gathering in Davos, Switzerland. Continue reading...

State environmental regulator says Valhalla project, set to drill up to 20 gas wells in Canning basin, can proceed subject to conditions

Cost of living likely to dominate the agenda ahead of 7 November poll as centre-right National party battles to retain powerThe prime minister, Christopher Luxon, has announced New Zealand's next general election will be held on 7 November, kickstarting a campaign cycle that could become one of the country's most contested in years.On Wednesday, Luxon told reporters the National party would continue its agenda to fix the basics and build the future". Continue reading...

Families call for end to political bickering' as David Crisafulli confirms the state LNP will not back the program

For years, Beijing has struggled to gain a foothold in Greenland, in part because of US and Danish unity. Trump's fraying of that alliance could create the opening it needsAccording to Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, China and Russia must be having a field day" about Donald Trump's plans for Greenland, which Kallas says will divide Nato.But according to Trump, his plans are motivated by a desire to counter the very threat that Kallas identified. World peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. Continue reading...

Close family friend says Nico Antic had devastating injuries' and was fighting for his life after more than 60 hours in hospital

Actor and mother of Brianna Ghey among signatories of letter to three party leaders ahead of Lords voteThe actor Hugh Grant is among the signatories of a letter urging Westminster party leaders to ban social media for children under 16.The letter to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey calls on them to back amendment 94a to the children's wellbeing and schools bill, ahead of peers voting on amendments on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Sharp increase in leading cause of irreversible but preventable blindness driven by ageing population and shows need for early diagnosisNew estimates predict at least 1.6 million people in the UK will be living with glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, by 2060.The figure is much higher than the current 1.1 million people estimated to have the condition, research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests. Continue reading...

Incident in Spain took place days after collision between two high-speed trains in Andalucia that killed at least 42A commuter train has hit a collapsed retaining wall near Barcelona, killing the driver and injuring 37 people, four of them seriously, firefighters have said.Four people are believed to be in a critical condition after the incident in the Catalonia region of north-eastern Spain, a spokesperson for the region's fire service, Claudi Gallardo, told reporters. Continue reading...

Cost-cutting' announcement comes amid uncertainty over deal struck with Saudi Arabia to perform in RiyadhNew York's Metropolitan Opera has announced a round of layoffs, pay cuts and program reductions as it grapples with financial strain.The organization cited problems left over from the Covid pandemic, which drastically affected performing arts shows across the US and internationally. Continue reading...

Guy Hochman says he was interrogated for six hours after legal group filed complaint accusing him of war crimesAn Israeli comedian and former combat soldier was detained and interrogated for six hours while traveling to Canada on Monday after a pro-Palestinian legal group filed a complaint against him accusing him of war crimes and incitement to genocide".The comedian, Guy Hochman, was detained upon arrival at Toronto Pearson international airport and only released after the intervention of the Israeli consulate, according to the Times of Israel. His detention came after the Hind Rajab Foundation, a Belgium-based group that aims to hold Israeli military personnel accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, filed a 40-page dossier about him with Canadian authorities. The groups Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights and the Legal Centre for Palestine also joined the complaint. Continue reading...

Prime minister hopes for pragmatic' solutions, while US president drops one diplomatic bomb after anotherIn his account of Tony Blair's years in power, The New Machiavelli, Jonathan Powell sets out two opposing strategies for any British prime minister in dealing with their counterpart in the White House.The first, he says, is cutting a bella figura" - parading for show - by openly criticising the US president, for which he gives the example of the French. The other, and the approach preferred by Powell, is to do diplomacy in private and build a close relationship, in the hope of having greater influence. Continue reading...

PM's spokesperson insists government's position is unchanged and that the US still supports the dealThe UK will press ahead with plans to hand the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius despite Donald Trump calling it an act of great stupidity" and suggesting it was among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.The US president said ceding sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes the Diego Garcia military base, was a sign of total weakness" by the UK. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Northern towns are unfairly penalised by new three-year council settlements, say members with Liverpool seatsKeir Starmer is facing another potentially damaging rebellion, as Labour MPs from north-west towns urge the government to give their local councils more money over the next three years.Labour MPs from the Liverpool city region have written to the local government secretary, Steve Reed, urging him to change the recent three-year local funding settlement, which they say unfairly penalises northern towns. Continue reading...

Louisiana congresswoman is challenging Cassidy, who voted to convict the US president after 2021 Capitol attackLouisiana congresswoman Julia Letlow officially announced her bid for Senate on Tuesday after receiving a complete and total" social media endorsement from Donald Trump over the weekend.Letlow, a Republican, is issuing a primary challenge to two-term GOP incumbent Bill Cassidy, a former physician who once voted to convict the president of inciting an insurrection during his second impeachment trial after the 2021 Capitol riots. Continue reading...

The US president's global club was endorsed by the security council on a false prospectus and seems aimed at displacing the United NationsLike many punters who have tried to do business with Donald Trump in the past, the UN has found itself a victim of a classic bait-and-switch, thinking it was buying one thing, but getting quite another.When they voted to endorse the board of peace in November, other members of the UN security council hoped they were binding Trump into a Gaza peace process, but it now appears they were hoodwinked into backing a Trump-dominated pay-to-play club: a global version of his Mar-a-Lago court aimed at supplanting the UN itself. Continue reading...

Dan Jarvis answers questions in the Commons over the decision to approve a new super-embassy'

US president says there is no going back' on goal of controlling Arctic territory, while Emmanuel Macron condemns new colonialism'

French far-right leader denies existence of fake jobs system' in effort to overturn ban on running for presidentThe French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told a Paris appeals court there was no system" set up by her party to misuse European parliament funds, as she gave evidence in a fresh embezzlement trial that will determine whether she can run in the 2027 presidential election.The word system' bothers me because [it gives] the impression of a manipulation," Le Pen said on Tuesday, denying she had told members of the European parliament to hire assistants who instead worked for the party headquarters in Paris. Continue reading...

Ex-nurse, who is serving 15 whole-life prison terms, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven moreThe former nurse Lucy Letby will face no new charges on suspicion of murdering or harming babies, prosecutors have announced.Letby, 36, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016. Continue reading...

Keelman's hospital, which housed dockers in 1700s, awarded 4.6m lottery grant after lying empty for 16 yearsIt was built 300 years ago as an almshouse for men who did some of the most backbreaking and dangerous work on the River Tyne.Most recently it provided fun, if chilly, accommodation for students. Now a new chapter is to be written in the history of a building considered the most at-risk structure in Newcastle, with the announcement of 4.6m lottery money to convert it into affordable housing. Continue reading...

Palestinian refugee agency compound is demolished, while teargas is fired at UN vocational school in West BankIsraeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia, in the West Bank.Israel accuses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unwra) of collaborating with Hamas - a charge the agency denies - and last year banned it from operating on its territory. The demolition marks Israel's latest step against Unrwa, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees. Continue reading...

Gonzalo Sanchez, armed with tools and a quad bike, ferried rescuers and victims after rail collision near CordobaA lottery ticket seller in southern Spain has been hailed as a hero after he spent about six hours ferrying rescuers and victims around on his quad bike after the train collision that killed at least 41 people and injured dozens of others.Gonzalo Sanchez, 43, was at home in the small town of Adamuz when the town's WhatsApp group alerted to reports of a train that had derailed nearby. Continue reading...

Chief secretary to prime minister will also bring in small, risk-taking task forces to target specific problemsKeir Starmer's chief enforcer Darren Jones says he is going to bust the sludge" in Whitehall by bringing in risk-taking task forces to deal with problems and the ability to sack senior civil servants who do not deliver.Jones, who is chief secretary to the prime minister, said civil servants should feel jeopardy" if they are underperforming - highlighting that only seven out of 7,000 senior civil servants are on improvement plans. Continue reading...

Church leaders cite Greenland threats, Venezuela action and aid cuts as undermining human dignity and peaceThree cardinals in the US Catholic church have criticized the Trump administration's foreign policy, saying its push to obtain or otherwise seize Greenland, recent military action in Venezuela, and cuts to humanitarian aid risk destroying international relations and plunging the world into incalculable suffering".Our country's moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination," said a joint statement from Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy and Joseph Tobin, respectively the archbishops of Chicago, Washington DC, and Newark, New Jersey.The Associated Press contributed Continue reading...

Increasingly unpopular at home, a president obsessed by his legacy has turned his scattergun on the world stageOne year into the second Trump administration, an actual US foreign policy remains just a nice idea. Instead, the world has been forced to adapt to the world according to Donald Trump: one increasingly shaped by his erratic shifts and unpredictable decisions, his fury at perceived slights and his growing desire to stamp his legacy in the model of an imperial leader from centuries past.Think of it as the mad king's court, where every day is a carnival. Continue reading...

Critics expected to mount legal challenge to plans for vast complex at Royal Mint Court amid security concernsThe UK government has approved the construction of a vast new Chinese embassy complex in east London, despite concerns about security and its impact on political exiles in the capital.The decision by the communities secretary, Steve Reed, brings to an end, for now at least, the saga that has been running since 2018 over the site at Royal Mint Court near Tower Bridge. Continue reading...

Research comparing UK and US finds people with fewer qualifications more likely to support rightwing movementsRightwing movements are struggling to gain support among graduates as education emerges as the most important dividing line in British attitudes towards politics, diversity and immigration, research has found.A study from the independent National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) found people with qualifications below A-level were more than twice as likely to support rightwing parties compared with those with qualifications above. Continue reading...

Flurry of posts on Truth Social firmly set out Trump's Greenland stance to European leaders. Plus, spoof Maga caps soar in popularityGood morning.Donald Trump has suggested Britain's decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.What else did Trump share on Truth Social? He leaked private text messages from France's Emmanuel Macron and Nato's Mark Rutte discussing his latest policy moves, and reiterated his intention to take over Greenland as imperative for national and world security", saying there can be no going back".This is a developing story. Follow our live blog here.What was said at other rallies and events? In Washington, Wisdom Cole, the senior national director of advocacy for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said elevated fears within racially diverse and immigrant communities meant that MLK Day observances were forced to take a more urgent tone. We are faced with increased police and state violence inflicted by the government," he said. Meanwhile, Zohran Mamdani, the newly installed New York City mayor, framed inequality as an economic issue at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's annual MLK Day celebration. Continue reading...

Film and TV tie-ins, Lego sets and Toniebox speakers help push sales 6% higher in 2025, after five years of no growth

US president says on social media that Britain's decision to cede islands to Mauritius is act of total weakness'Donald Trump has suggested Britain's decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.The US president, who is travelling to Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory. Continue reading...

Son of David and Victoria Beckham takes to Instagram to open up about feud with parentsA very public spat on social media captured global attention and filled the front pages on Tuesday with its grave consequences for a once close relationship.No, not the US president Donald Trump slamming the UK for its extreme stupidity" but this was Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, son of David and Victoria Beckham, apparently permanently cutting ties with his family. Continue reading...

Two sides blame each other for release of inmates, as Syria's president looks to gain control of north-eastMore than 100 inmates have escaped from a Syrian jail holding Islamic State prisoners amid clashes in the north-east of the country after an agreement by the under-pressure Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to withdraw from two key provinces.Videos released by the SDF showed what it said were IS members being broken out from a jail in Shaddadi by figures in black balaclavas. It said it had lost control of the building after what it claimed was an attack by government-affiliated fighters that killed or wounded dozens. Continue reading...

Surfer taken to hospital with minor injuries after latest shark attack at Point Plomer beach on mid-north coast

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While violent dingo and human interactions have been increasing, police refuse to speculate whether 19-year-old woman drowned or was killed by the wild canids

Police investigate after Nazi slogans allegedly yelled at schoolboys in St Kilda East on Monday night

Total pay of the qualification body's top six executives has risen by 240% to 6.2m since charity sold itThe new owners of the vocational training body City & Guilds appear to have more than tripled the pay of its top six executives right at the moment the company is cutting 22m of costs and shrinking its UK workforce.The large increases to salary and bonuses have emerged during a scandal over the sale of the qualification awards business by its former owner, the UK charity City & Guilds London Institute (CGLI), to the international certification company PeopleCert. Continue reading...

Claims of government interference' in decision on plans for vast outpost near Tower of LondonResidents of Royal Mint Court plan to mount a legal challenge within weeks if Steve Reed, the local government secretary, approves China's plans to build a vast new embassy at the site by the Tower of London on Tuesday.Mark Nygate, the treasurer of the local Royal Mint Court Residents' Association, said people living near the proposed development had concerns about government interference in what is supposed to be an independent process". Continue reading...

Plans to speed up airspace changes for Heathrow expansion could mean industry influences decisions on noise and routesAviation campaigners have warned that communities risk being locked out of decisions about new flight paths as the government accelerates reforms that will allow a third runway at Heathrow to go ahead.Airspace around the UK will be reconfigured as part of a long-running modernisation process to allow planes to fly more efficiently and minimise delays, and the London airport has said progress in this area is essential for its expansion. Continue reading...