Trump offers contradictory account of Tulsi Gabbard presence at FBI raid in Georgia 05. February 2026 (19:31) Shifting explanations of Gabbard’s presence at election center intensifies scrutiny of role she played in operationDonald Trump on Thursday offered a new and shifting account of why Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was present last week at an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia, saying she went at the urging of the attorney general Pam Bondi.“She took a lot of heat two days ago because she went in at Pam’s insistence,” the US president said at the National Prayer Breakfast, a high-profile event of political and religious leaders. “She went in and she looked at votes that wanted to be checked out from Georgia.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump administration issues rule that makes it easier to fire federal workers 05. February 2026 (19:30) New rule would strip job safeguards for 50,000 federal employees and change how whistleblowers are protectedThe Trump administration is seeking to finalize its overhaul of the federal government’s civil service system through a rule issued this week by the office of personnel management (OPM) to strip job protections from 50,000 civil service employees.Under the rule, the president would have the authority to fire and hire an estimated 50,000 career federal employees. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cuba open to talks with US ‘without pressure’ after months of Trump threats 05. February 2026 (19:26) Miguel Díaz‑Canel says Cuba is willing to engage Washington amid the island’s deepening economic crisisAfter months of threats from Donald Trump, the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has said that his government is willing to talk to the United States, just so long as it is “without pressure”.Standing in front of a life-sized photograph of Fidel Castro carrying a rifle during the 1959 revolution, Díaz-Canel, the 65-year-old president, said on Thursday that his island nation had been subject to an “intense media campaigns of slander, hatred and psychological warfare”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Shin Bet chief’s brother charged with ‘assisting enemy’ over cigarette smuggling in Gaza 05. February 2026 (19:01) Bezalel Zini accused of role in taking goods into the occupied Palestinian territory during an Israeli blockadeThe brother of Israel’s internal security chief has been charged with “assisting the enemy in wartime” for his alleged role in a smuggling network taking cigarettes and other goods into Gaza during an Israeli blockade of the occupied Palestinian territory.Bezalel Zini was one of more than 10 people charged in relation to the alleged network. His brother, David Zini, is the head of the Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency. He was appointed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, last May and began the job in October. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israel accused of spraying cancer-linked herbicide on farms in southern Lebanon 05. February 2026 (18:58) President condemns ‘environmental and health crime’ as critics say Israel seeks to make southern Lebanon uninhabitableLebanon has accused Israel of spraying a herbicide linked to cancer on farmland in the south of the country as a “health crime” that would threaten food security and farmers’ livelihoods.The country’s president, Joseph Aoun, condemned what he called “an environmental and health crime” and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, and he vowed to take “all necessary legal and diplomatic measures to confront this aggression”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Eight current and former Toronto police arrested in organized crime inquiry 05. February 2026 (18:34) Investigation exposes ‘corrosive’ reach of organized crime in Canada, with links to bribes, drug trade and a murder plotAt least eight current and former Toronto police officers have been arrested following a sweeping investigation that officials say exposed the “corrosive” reach of organized crime into Canada’s largest municipal police service.Police allege fellow officers accepted bribes, aided drug traffickers, leaked personal information to criminals who then carried out shootings and helped members of organized crime in a plot to murder a corrections officer. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Is this the end for Starmer? – The Latest 05. February 2026 (17:50) Keir Starmer’s days as prime minister are numbered, Labour MPs have warned, after a week of fury over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. While several MPs have said the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, should take responsibility and resign, the mood surrounding No 10 has seemed ‘terminal’, said an MP from the 2024 intake. Lucy Hough talks to political correspondent Alexandra Topping Continue reading...(The Guardian)
London man angry at ‘Orwellian’ incident in supermarket using facial recognition tech 05. February 2026 (17:47) ‘I shouldn’t have to prove I am innocent,’ said man misidentified by Sainsbury’s staff using Facewatch systemA man was ordered to leave a supermarket in London after staff misidentified him using controversial new facial recognition technology.Warren Rajah was told to abandon his shopping and leave the local store he has been using for 15 years after an “Orwellian” error in a Sainsbury’s in Elephant and Castle. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Epstein files shed more light on Steve Bannon’s efforts to influence European politics 05. February 2026 (17:43) Donald Trump’s former adviser told Epstein in 2019 that he was ‘focused on raising money for Le Pen and Salvini’ before European electionsDozens of messages contained in the latest tranche of Epstein files lay bare the attempts by Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon to tap Jeffrey Epstein for support and funding to bolster European far-right parties.The messages mostly date to 2018 and 2019, when Bannon, after being sacked by Trump, regularly visited Europe in his quest to forge a movement in the European parliament uniting ultra-rightwing and Eurosceptic forces from several countries including Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, Sweden and Austria. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Man who stabbed nine-year-old to death in Lincolnshire found guilty of murder 05. February 2026 (17:36) Family of Lilia Valutyte, killed by Deividas Skebas in July 2022, say she ‘will always live in our hearts’A man who stabbed a nine-year-old girl to death in 2022 has been found guilty of her murder.Deividas Skebas, a 26-year-old Lithuanian man, killed Lilia Valutyte by stabbing her through the heart while the child was playing with a hula hoop outside her mother’s embroidery shop in Boston, Lincolnshire, on 28 July 2022. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
