Portugal elects socialist as president but far-right rival takes record vote share 09. February 2026 (09:16) António José Seguro scores resounding win despite André Ventura’s populist Chega party securing 33.2% of votesThe moderate socialist António José Seguro won a resounding victory in the second round of Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday, triumphing over his far-right opponent, André Ventura, whose Chega party still managed to take a record share of the vote.Seguro won 66.8% of votes to Ventura’s 33.2% in the election, which went ahead despite weeks of disruption caused by deadly storms. The vote to elect a successor to the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was marked by a cross-party push to head off the prospect of a Chega victory, with some senior rightwing figures throwing their weight behind the centre-left candidate to keep Ventura from entering the presidential palace. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK expands Hong Kong visa scheme in wake of Jimmy Lai’s prison sentence 09. February 2026 (09:04) Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five yearsMinisters have opened up visas to thousands more people from Hong Kong in the wake of the 20-year prison sentence handed down to the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.Adult children of British national (overseas) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will be eligible to apply for the route independently of their parents, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Japanese shares hit record high as Sanae Takaichi wins landslide election victory 09. February 2026 (08:50) Prime minister’s Liberal Democratic party to be pressed on promised tax cuts and fiscal stimulus plansBusiness live – latest updatesJapan’s stock market has hit a record high after Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) secured a comprehensive victory in Sunday’s election.The LDP won 316 of the 465 seats in the country’s lower house – the first time a single party has secured two-thirds of the lower house since the establishment of Japan’s parliament in 1947. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Authorities seek to remove from social media image of foetus being circulated by Australian anti-abortion activists 09. February 2026 (08:49) Photograph, first published by anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe, purportedly taken at Townsville hospitalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA distressing picture of a foetus being called “baby Samuel” is now being used by a broad range of anti-abortion activists.Authorities are trying to have the image removed from social media, while the Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS) is investigating how it was taken and shared. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Venezuela’s Machado says close ally kidnapped by ‘heavily armed’ men hours after prison release 09. February 2026 (07:35) Juan Pablo Guanipa was ‘violently’ taken from a residential neighbourhood in Caracas, according to opposition leader María Corina MachadoVenezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Monday one of her closest allies was kidnapped hours after being released from prison.The government had released several prominent opposition members from prison on Sunday after lengthy politically motivated detentions. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iran arrests leading reformists close to the country’s president 09. February 2026 (07:00) Detentions of senior Reformists Front figures follow criticism of the authorities’ handling of recent protestsThe head of Iran’s Reformists Front, the organisation that was instrumental in securing the election of the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in a move that will probably deepen the tensions over the handling of the recent street protests.Azar Mansouri, the secretary general of the Islamic Iran People party, had expressed deep sorrow at protesters’ deaths, and said nothing could justify such a catastrophe. She had not in public called for the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to resign. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
England’s poorest areas have 70% more vape shops and bookmakers than wealthier ones 09. February 2026 (07:00) Data shows deprived communities have more off-licences and takeaways and fewer childcare facilities and gymsEngland’s poorest communities have 70% more vape shops, off-licences and bookmakers than wealthier ones and far fewer cafes and gyms, a study has found.The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), chaired by the Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, said ministers risked overlooking vitally important neighbourhood shopping precincts by focusing on town centres. In deprived areas, local shops have roughly double the number of retailers selling unhealthy food and significantly higher vacancy rates, its research has found. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought 09. February 2026 (06:00) Study find nitazenes, which are up to 500 times stronger than heroin, can degrade significantly in portmortem blood samplesDeaths caused by a synthetic opioid that is hundreds of times stronger than heroin may have been underestimated by up to a third across the UK, according to research.Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, and up to 500 times stronger than heroin. They were manufactured originally as a painkiller in the 1950s but their development was halted due to their extreme potencies resulting in a high risk of addiction. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR 09. February 2026 (06:00) Thinktank analysis says proposed ‘earned settlement’ changes could trap families in prolonged insecurityMore than 300,000 children already living in the UK could be forced to wait 10 years for settled status under proposed changes to the Home Office’s “earned settlement” policy, according to an analysis by a centre left thinktank.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1.35 million people already on routes to settlement are children, most of them dependants on their families’ work visas. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Pro-Palestine activists say NSW is using major event powers as a ‘backdoor way’ of banning Herzog protests 09. February 2026 (05:52) Palestine Action Group say powers so broad anyone in Sydney CBD or eastern suburbs can be searched – even when Israeli president in Canberra or MelbourneThe New South Wales government handed police sweeping powers for the duration of Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit for the improper purpose of suppressing protests, Palestine Action Group Lawyers have argued in court.Monday’s urgent hearing in the supreme court came ahead of a planned protest later in the evening where people opposed to Herzog’s visit plan to march from Town Hall to state parliament. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
