Boss of P&O Ferries owner DP World leaves over Jeffrey Epstein links 13. February 2026 (14:11) Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem’s exit as group chair and CEO follows pressure after publication of emailsThe boss of P&O Ferries owner, DP World, has left the company after revelations over his ties with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein forced the ports and logistics company to take action.Dubai-based DP World, which is ultimately owned by Dubai’s royal family, announced Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem’s departure as the group’s chair and chief executive on Friday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Enforcement of laws against polluters nearly non-existent in US, analysis finds 13. February 2026 (14:00) EPA’s records show one environmental consent decree filed in last year – 26 were filed in year one of first Trump termEnforcement of environmental laws against major polluters has virtually ground to a halt under the Trump administration, a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency records from January 2025 to January 2026 shows.Major polluters typically include companies that are among the largest in the oil, gas, coal and chemical industries. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
CIA publishes recruitment video aimed at disaffected Chinese soldiers 13. February 2026 (13:43) Army in turmoil after Xi Jinping placed top general under investigation for suspected corruption last monthThe CIA (the US’s Central Intelligence Agency) has published a Mandarin-language recruitment video aimed at Chinese soldiers, in an apparent attempt to capitalise on the recent instability in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after a series of high-level purges.The video, published on the CIA’s YouTube channel on Thursday, is titled The Reason for Stepping Forward: To Save the Future. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Penisgate 2: Italian Olympic coverage takes Leonardo da Vinci’s genitals away 13. February 2026 (13:07) State broadcaster accused of censorship over opening titles that use altered version of Vitruvian Man, with organs removedItaly’s state broadcaster, Rai, has been accused of censorship after using an image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man with the genitals missing in the opening credits for its Winter Olympics coverage.The image of the 500-year-old drawing appears at the start of the clip before transforming into the bodies of ice skaters, skiers and other winter sports athletes. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
French police arrest nine people over suspected €10m Louvre ticket fraud 13. February 2026 (12:04) Prosecutors’ office says two museum workers, several tour guides and suspected mastermind among those detainedFrench police investigating a suspected €10m (£8.7m) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre museum in Paris have detained nine people, including two members of staff.“Based on the information available to the museum, we suspect the existence of a network organising large-scale fraud,” a museum spokesperson told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Weather tracker: Tropical Cyclone Mitchell hits Western Australia 13. February 2026 (12:01) Affected coastal regions experience heavy rain, high tides and strong winds, with farms and businesses left damaged Tropical Cyclone Mitchell hit the coast of Western Australia last week. It initially developed as a weak tropical low over the Northern Territory in early February, then tracked eastwards over Western Australia’s Kimberley region and eventually reached the Indian Ocean.Fuelled by warm waters, Mitchell intensified into a tropical cyclone and moved south-west, hugging the coast of Western Australia and eventually deepened to a category three storm. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
FDA refuses to consider Moderna flu shot in move experts claim is part of ‘anti-vaccine agenda’ 13. February 2026 (12:00) Agency says application rejected due to lack of ‘adequate and well controlled’ trial, but experts say ‘they’re just coming up with reasons’A senior US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official says Moderna’s clinical trial on a new, potentially more effective flu vaccine was a “brazen failure” and that the FDA is now calling it into question.The FDA unexpectedly refused to consider Moderna’s application for a flu shot based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in a decision that experts say is already having a chilling effect on vaccine development. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Florida man saves pregnant woman from drowning hours before baby’s birth 13. February 2026 (12:00) Logan Hayes jumped into pond to save Sheldy Apollon after she pulled over and accidentally drove into waterA passerby jumped into a frigid Florida pond to save a pregnant woman from her sinking car recently – giving her the opportunity to safely birth her baby hours later, according to authorities and those at the center of the riveting rescue story.As she told it to local news outlet WPTV, Sheldy Apollon of Florida’s Port St Lucie community was 34 weeks pregnant, with pre-eclampsia, and driving to a prenatal massage arranged for her by her fiance on the morning of 6 February when she began feeling dizzy. Apollon, who was also celebrating her birthday that day, stopped to try to let it pass before resuming her trip. When she realized she wasn’t feeling better, she attempted to pull over again. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
High court rules ban on Palestine Action is unlawful – live 13. February 2026 (11:52) Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge; home secretary ‘disappointed’ by ruling and says government will appealThe high court upheld two grounds of challenge, including that the ban was a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.The president of the king’s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mr Justice Swift and Mrs Justice Steyn, said that “Palestine Action is an organisation that promotes its political cause through criminality and encouragement of criminality”, but that proscription was still “disproportionate”.I am disappointed by the court’s decision and disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organisation is disproportionate.“The proscription of Palestine Action followed a rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process, endorsed by parliament. The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ex-cabinet secretary condemns Starmer’s sacking of Chris Wormald as ‘shabby’ – UK politics live 13. February 2026 (11:52) Gus O’Donnell urges Starmer to ‘get a grip’ of ‘disastrous’ advisers as PM heads to Munich Security ConferenceYesterday the Labour party accused Nigel Farage of tolerating “flagrant racism” in Reform UK after Sarah Pochin claimed that she was right to complain about the number of black and Asian people in TV adverts.Keir Starmer has now made the same point in his own words. Commenting on Sarah Pochin’s latest intervention, he told the Daily Mirror:Yet again our country’s discourse is being poisoned and polluted by the racist rhetoric coming from Reform - pitting communities against one another and sowing division to suit their own ends. They should be apologising, not doubling down.You only have to look at the toxicity flowing from their candidate for Gorton and Denton to know what they are about - dangerous ideas that pull at the fabric of who we are in Britain. They don’t have solutions to the challenges we face as a country. All they can offer is a smokescreen of hate and division. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
