The Guardian
19 minutes ago
Witnesses contradict Trump officials’ account of killing – as it happened
This blog is now closed. Our live coverage continues hereMan shot in Minneapolis by federal agents identified as nurse Alex Pretti‘How many more Americans need to die?’: mayor lambastes TrumpIn a statement sent to the Guardian, assistant secretary of homeland security Tricia McLaughlin said that at 9.05am local time, “as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis” against a person they said was in the country illegally, who she said was “wanted for violent assault”, “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”McLaughlin said that “the officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted” and that “more details on the armed struggle are forthcoming.” Continue reading...
The Guardian
1 hour ago
Fitness fraud: gym goers warned over fake deals on memberships and personal trainers
January is a prime time for people looking to get fit, so fraudsters create fake websites and appsA new year means a new start – it’s time to get fit and there are quite a few deals out there. On Facebook you see a local gym advertising a discount on membership if you sign up within the next few hours. There are limited spaces so you act quickly.It’s only after you pay that you realise the ad was a fraud: you’ve received no membership details and when you contact the gym it has no record of your payment. Continue reading...
The Guardian
1 hour ago
Dingoes on Australia’s K’gari island to be euthanised after tragic death of Canadian tourist Piper James
Queensland government says pack linked to 19-year-old’s death pose ‘unacceptable public safety risk’ as Indigenous traditional owners say they were not consultedThe dingo pack linked to the death of Canadian tourist Piper James on Australian island K’gari will be destroyed, the Queensland government has announced.Environment minister Andrew Powell said on Sunday that an entire pack of 10 animals would be euthanised. Continue reading...
The Guardian
2 hours ago
Trump’s wrecking ball pushes US allies closer to China
In the search for stability, some western nations are turning to a country that many in Washington see as an existential threatIf geopolitics relies at least in part on bonhomie between global leaders, China made an unexpected play for Ireland’s good graces when the taoiseach visited Beijing this month. Meeting Ireland’s leader, Micheál Martin, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China’s president, Xi Jinping, said a favourite book of his as a teenager was The Gadfly, by the Irish author Ethel Voynich, a novel set in the revolutionary fervour of Italy in the 1840s.“It was unusual that we ended up discussing The Gadfly and its impact on both of us but there you are,” Martin told reporters in Beijing. Continue reading...
The Guardian
2 hours ago
AI-generated British schoolgirl becomes far-right social media meme
Amelia, created to deter young people from extremism, has been subverted and is breaking out of niche online silosIn certain corners of the internet, on niche news feeds and algorithms, an AI-generated British schoolgirl has emerged as something of a cultural phenomenon.Her name is Amelia, a purple-haired “goth girl” who proudly carries a mini union flag everywhere she goes and appears to have a penchant for racism. Continue reading...
The Guardian
2 hours ago
Democratic congressman punched in racist attack at Sundance film festival
Maxwell Alejandro Frost says attacker ‘told me Trump was going to deport me’ as police say suspect arrestedThe Florida congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost said he was assaulted by a man who said Donald Trump would deport him at a party during the Sundance film festival in Utah.“Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face,” Frost said in a Saturday post on X. “He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested and I am okay.” Continue reading...
The Guardian
3 hours ago
National cabinet to meet on Friday on health and disability funding – as it happened
This blog is now closed. Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJust rounding out the rest of the prime minister’s jam-packed Insiders interview, Anthony Albanese reiterated that Australia would give “further consideration” to Donald Trump’s invitation to join the his “board of peace” but said it was unclear what the objectives of the board are.(If you want to read more about the project first, you can turn to Ben Doherty’s from earlier this week:)It’s unclear what the objectives of this [the ‘board of peace’ are, which is why we will give it further consideration. My government is one that always has an orderly considered approach to all of our policy, including our international engagement.So we’ve had the 5% housing deposit rolling out, being taken advantage of. Three days of guaranteed childcare subsidy began on 6 January. Cheaper medicines, $25, came in on 1 January. 1800 Medicare has been accessed by tens of thousands of Australians. The bulk-billing incentive has led to a massive spike in the number of free doctor visits …What we have been focused on is dealing with the immediate, but dealing with all of those issues that are so important for Australians as well. And as we go back, school goes back this fortnight, and what that will mean is that the increased fair funding for every school, that begins to kick in as well. So you can walk and chew gum at the same time, as the saying goes, and we’ve been determined to do just that. Continue reading...
The Guardian
3 hours ago
Schumer: Democrats will block funding package if it includes homeland security money
Announcement comes as anger toward DHS – which oversees ICE – intensifies after Alex Pretti fatally shotIn the wake of another fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minnesota by a federal officer, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said his party would block a funding package next week if it includes money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The announcement, which dramatically escalates the potential for another partial government shutdown, comes as anger towards homeland security, which oversees ICE, intensifies among the party after a group of federal agents violently restrained and then fatally shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Continue reading...
The Guardian
4 hours ago
Alex Pretti did not brandish gun, witnesses say in sworn testimony
Pair testify that Pretti did not hold weapon and was trying to help woman federal agents had shoved to the groundTwo witnesses to the killing of Alex Pretti have said in sworn testimony that the 37-year-old intensive care nurse was not brandishing a weapon when he approached federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, contradicting a claim made by Trump administration officials as they sought to cast the shooting of a prone man as an act of self-defense.Their accounts came in sworn affidavits that were filed in federal court in Minnesota late Saturday, just hours after Pretti’s killing, as part of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of Minneapolis protesters against Kristi Noem and other homeland security officials directing the immigration crackdown in the city. Continue reading...
The Guardian
4 hours ago
Unconfirmed sighting of triple murder suspect Julian Ingram reported in NSW central west
Police deploy air support to search properties at Mount Hope, about 70km north of Lake Cargelligo, where shootings took place on ThursdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWarning: This article contains references to Indigenous Australians who have diedPolice say a sighting of Julian Ingram, who is suspected of murdering multiple people in remote NSW, has been reported about 70km north of where the shootings occurred.The unconfirmed sighting was made early on Sunday morning at Mount Hope in the NSW central west. Continue reading...
The Guardian
6 hours ago
Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv and Moscow set to hold more face-to-face talks as US hails ‘big step’ forward
First round of trilateral meetings shows ‘a lot of progress’ made towards peace, says US official, despite new Russian attacks. What we know on day 1,432Ukraine and Russia have agreed to hold a second round of US-brokered direct peace talks next weekend after a two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi, despite Ukrainian complaints that negotiations were undermined by a barrage of deadly strikes. The trilateral talks in the UAE would resume on 1 February, a US official said on Saturday, adding: “I think getting everyone together was a big step. I think it’s a confirmation of the fact that, number one, a lot of progress has been made to date in really defining the details needed to get to a conclusion.” The talks were the first known direct contact between Ukrainian and Russian officials on a plan being pushed by Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “a lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive”.Russia was criticised for launching drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv – Ukraine’s two largest cities – during peace talks in Abu Dhabi, reported Peter Beaumont. “Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror,” the country’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said after the latest Russian assault on critical infrastructure. With Kyiv and other cities in the midst of widespread outages of heat, water and power after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, officials in the capital said one person had been killed and at least 15 injured in the strikes that continued until morning.US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin for four hours in Moscow ahead of the trilateral peace talks, a US official said. They “met for just about four hours, and again, [a] very, very productive discussion, speaking about the final issues that are open”, the official told a media call on Saturday.The governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod said Ukrainian forces had launched a “massive” attack on the region’s main town, damaging energy infrastructure but causing no casualties. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram on Saturday that a building in the town – also called Belgorod – had been set on fire and an emergency crew was tackling the blaze. A downed drone had also damaged homes in a nearby village, he said.The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had completed the takeover of the village of Starytsya in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region. The village is near the town of Vovchansk, close to the Ukraine-Russia border, where Russian forces launched an incursion in May 2024, and Moscow’s troops have been trying to extend their gains despite Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainian military’s general staff said late on Saturday that Russian forces had launched six attacks on an area including Starytsya. It made no acknowledgement that the village had changed hands. Ukraine’s DeepState military blog made no mention of the village in a report on Friday but said Russian forces “are continuing their pressure in the Vovchansk area”. The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.An intercepted oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet headed on Saturday to a port in southern France for police to inspect, French authorities said. The tanker, the Grinch, was intercepted on Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa, French president Emmanuel Macron said on X. French prosecutors suspect it of belonging to the network of vessels Moscow is accused of using to dodge sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. The tanker would be anchored at Fos-sur-Mere near Marseille and kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, the regional maritime prefecture said. Continue reading...
The Guardian
7 hours ago
Myanmar election enters final stage amid airstrikes and exclusions
Third and final phase of voting taking place on Sunday in village just days after military airstrike killed 21 peoplePolling stations open on Sunday for the final stage of Myanmar’s three-phase election, a one-sided vote that has been widely derided as a sham, with politicians jailed, the main opposition party banned and conflict raging across parts of the country.Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has defended the vote as “free and fair”, presenting it as a return to democracy and stability. The election is happening almost five years after the military seized power in a coup, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a fierce conflict. The 80-year-old has been detained since she was ousted, and her party has been banned. Continue reading...
The Guardian
7 hours ago
Defence department chief Greg Moriarty to succeed Kevin Rudd as Australian ambassador to US
Career public servant and former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull to represent Australia’s interests with Trump administration from April, including progression of Aukus agreementFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of the department of defence, Greg Moriarty, will succeed Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced Moriarty’s appointment to the role on Sunday. A former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull and former Australian envoy to Iran and Indonesia, he has led the defence department since 2017. He will take up the posting in Washington from April. Continue reading...
The Guardian
8 hours ago
Protesters supporting Palestine Action hunger striker arrested outside prison
Police said group breached HMP Wormwood Scrubs grounds where Umer Khalid is being held A group of protesters supporting a Palestine Action prisoner on hunger strike have been arrested after they breached prison grounds, the Metropolitan police has said.The force said on Saturday evening that it had detained a group of protesters outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs, in west London, and was in the process of making a number of arrests. Continue reading...
The Guardian
8 hours ago
Home Office to launch ‘British FBI’ to deal with serious crime UK-wide
National Police Service will investigate organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuseThe government is setting up a National Police Service – dubbed the “British FBI” – to deal with organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse in a major change to policing in England and Wales.The new organisation, which will be announced by the Home Office in a white paper on Monday, means fraud, criminal gang and UK-wide counter terror investigations will no longer be carried out by a combination of existing agencies such as the National Crime Agency and regional organised crime units run by local police forces. Continue reading...
The Guardian
10 hours ago
Starmer allies urge him to block Andy Burnham from running in byelection
Greater Manchester mayor has applied to stand for Labour in Gorton and Denton, setting up potential fight for PM’s political futureKeir Starmer’s allies are urging him to block Andy Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton byelection, after the Greater Manchester mayor declared his intention to stand, setting up a potential fight for the prime minister’s political future.Burnham said on Saturday he wanted to contest the seat after the sitting MP, Andrew Gwynne, said he intended to stand down. Continue reading...
The Guardian
11 hours ago
Science teachers from Queensland Open Brethren schools told to teach students about vegetarian dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark
Teachers who attended ‘compulsory’ creationist conference run by US-based fundamentalist group told radiometric dating techniques were flawedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTeachers employed by a large group of Queensland Christian schools were told to teach creationism in science classes, including that vegetarian baby dinosaurs would have been taken aboard Noah’s Ark.Last year, the Open Brethren organisation Christian Community Ministries (CCM) hosted a Christian science conference by the US-based fundamentalist group Answers in Genesis, which once built a replica of Noah’s Ark – with model dinosaurs included. Continue reading...
The Guardian
13 hours ago
Google AI Overviews cite YouTube more than any medical site for health queries, study suggests
Exclusive: German research into responses to health queries raises fresh questions about summaries seen by 2bn people a month• How the ‘confident authority’ of AI Overviews is putting public health at riskGoogle’s search feature AI Overviews cites YouTube more than any medical website when answering queries about health conditions, according to research that raises fresh questions about a tool seen by 2 billion people each month.The company has said its AI summaries, which appear at the top of search results and use generative AI to answer questions from users, are “reliable” and cite reputable medical sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic. Continue reading...
The Guardian
15 hours ago
How the ‘confident authority’ of Google AI Overviews is putting public health at risk
Experts say tool can give ‘completely wrong’ medical advice which could put users at risk of serious harm• AI Overviews cite YouTube more than any medical site, study suggestsDo I have the flu or Covid? Why do I wake up feeling tired? What is causing the pain in my chest? For more than two decades, typing medical questions into the world’s most popular search engine has served up a list of links to websites with the answers. Google those health queries today and the response will likely be written by artificial intelligence.Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, first set out the company’s plans to enmesh AI into its search engine at its annual conference in Mountain View, California, in May 2024. Starting that month, he said, US users would see a new feature, AI Overviews, which would provide information summaries above traditional search results. The change marked the biggest shake-up of Google’s core product in a quarter of a century. By July 2025, the technology had expanded to more than 200 countries in 40 languages, with 2 billion people served AI Overviews each month. Continue reading...
The Guardian
15 hours ago
Russia launches ‘brutal’ attack on Ukraine’s two largest cities – video
Russia launched a major drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, as US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of tripartite peace talks. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said: 'Cynically, Putin ordered a brutal massive missile strike against Ukraine right while delegations are meeting in Abu Dhabi to advance the America-led peace process. His missiles hit not only our people, but also the negotiation table.'Russia launches ‘brutal’ attack on Ukraine as peace talks continue Continue reading...
The Guardian
16 hours ago
Here’s how Europe can file for divorce from Donald Trump | Phillip Inman
Amid the tumult of the WEF in Davos this week, some investors are leading the way by ditching US government bondsThere is a way to file for divorce from Donald Trump and Europe needs to grab the opportunity.To the public it will look as if nothing has changed. But behind the scenes the EU and the UK could close the joint bank account and cut up the credit cards, or at least set in motion a form of financial separation that limits the power of a controlling former partner. Continue reading...
The Guardian
16 hours ago
Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariff over possible deal with China
President also claims US refineries will process seized Venezuelan oil, saying ‘we take the oil’Donald Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if the North American country makes a trade deal with China.Beside that tariff threat, another Trump foreign policy maneuver to make news on Saturday involved the president announcing the US had taken the oil that was on recently seized Venezuelan tankers. Continue reading...
The Guardian
17 hours ago
Russia launches ‘brutal’ attack on Ukraine as peace talks continue
Kyiv says Moscow used 396 drones and missiles in ‘another night of Russian terror’ on second day of talks in UAERussia launched a major drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, as US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of tripartite peace talks.“Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror,” the country’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said after the latest Russian assault on critical infrastructure. Continue reading...
The Guardian
17 hours ago
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