Trump gives heckler the middle finger during Michigan Ford plant visit 14. January 2026 (02:05) US president’s flustered response to shouts calling him a ‘pedophile protector’ was to issue rude hand gestureDonald Trump gave someone the middle finger on Tuesday, reportedly responding to shouts admonishing him as a “pedophile protector” as he toured a Michigan Ford plant. The celebrity news and gossip site TMZ shared a short video featuring the president’s flustered response to someone heckling off-screen, during which he appears to issue the hand gesture.Trump spent Tuesday afternoon touring Ford’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn, before giving a speech at the Detroit Economic Club. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
One in four UK teenagers in care have attempted to end their lives, study says 14. January 2026 (01:01) Research also shows teenagers in care are four times more likely to try to end their lives than peers with no care historyOne in four teenagers in care have attempted to end their own life, and are four times more likely to do so than their peers with no care experience, according to a landmark study.The research analysed data from the millennium cohort study, which follows the lives of 19,000 people born in the UK between 2000 and 2002, and considered how out of home care, including foster, residential and kinship care, affected the social and mental health outcomes of the participants. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US agents use teargas on Minneapolis protesters as anti-ICE calls intensify 13. January 2026 (23:41) Trump officials announce ‘largest operation in DHS history’ as 800 border agents flood into city alongside ICEFederal officers in Minneapolis used teargas and eye irritant against activists on Tuesday as the Department of Homeland Security announced it is carrying out “its largest operation in DHS history”, deploying hundreds of border agents on top of the thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents already in the city.A DHS official told CBS News that there are currently 800 Customs and Border Protection agents and 2,000 Ice officials in the Minneapolis area as tensions have risen in recent days. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Congressional progressives vow to block DHS funding without reforms 13. January 2026 (23:33) Ilhan Omar said her caucus will ‘oppose all funding’ for immigration enforcement unless militarized policing endsProgressives in the US Congress on Tuesday vowed to oppose legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless it included significant reforms to immigration enforcement following the killing of a US citizen in Minnesota last week.The declaration by the Democratic-aligned Congressional Progressive caucus comes as the Senate and House of Representatives race to meet an end-of-the-month deadline to approve a series of funding bills or risk a partial government shutdown. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Labour revives Northern Powerhouse Rail project with pledge of £45bn funds 13. January 2026 (23:30) Plan will start with TransPennine upgrade with new line connecting Liverpool and Manchester in second phaseLong-awaited plans for better railways across the north of England have been given government backing with an undertaking to “reverse years of chronic underinvestment” by spending up to £45bn building Northern Powerhouse Rail.Just over £1bn has been allocated to work up a detailed three-stage plan to connect cities from Liverpool to Newcastle, which could fulfil most of the demands of northern leaders, in a series of long-term projects. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump says Microsoft will pay more for its datacenters’ electricity 13. January 2026 (23:09) Microsoft’s president said firm won’t accept tax breaks in towns for its datacenters as backlash against facilities growDonald Trump said he is partnering with tech companies to ensure the large energy-hungry datacenters vital for AI do not drive up electricity bills in the US. On Tuesday, the US president announced that Microsoft was “first up”.“We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI. Data Centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans FREE and SECURE but, the big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you, and congratulations to Microsoft.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK government rolls back key part of digital ID plans 13. January 2026 (21:14) Workers will be able to use other identification for right to work, meaning digital form not mandatoryMinisters have rolled back plans for a central element of the proposed digital ID plans, leaving open the possibility that people will be able to use other forms of identification to prove their right to work.This will mean that the IDs, announced to some controversy in September, will no longer be mandatory for working-age people, given that the only planned obligatory element was to prove the right to work in the UK. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
West Midlands police commissioner criticises MPs for bias against chief constable 13. January 2026 (21:12) Exclusive: Simon Foster is the man responsible for deciding if Craig Guildford should be fired over Maccabi Tel Aviv banThe man who will decide if the West Midlands chief constable, Craig Guildford, deserves to lose his job over the banning of Israeli fans from a football match has attacked MPs for being biased against him.Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, criticised MPs on the home affairs committee for allegedly briefing journalists that Guildford should be ousted, despite the fact their inquiry into the controversy continues. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australia news live: Adelaide writers’ week fiasco was ‘masterclass in poor governance’, outgoing director Louise Adler says 13. January 2026 (20:58) Adler tells the ABC’s 7.30 the turmoil was a ‘watershed’ moment but event will ‘rise from the ashes’. Follow liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s ban on under-16s using a range of social media apps could be copied by the UK after the country’s prime minister told MPs that he was considering a similar scheme after becoming concerned about the amount of time children and teenagers are spending on their phones.Keir Starmer has previously opposed banning social media for children, believing such a move would be difficult to police and could push teenagers towards the dark web. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Federal prosecutors quit in protest over lack of investigation into ICE shooting 13. January 2026 (20:53) Six lawyers from US attorney’s office in Minnesota quit along with four leaders of DoJ’s civil rights divisionA wave of federal prosecutors in Minnesota and Washington DC have resigned in protest over the justice department’s decision not to hold a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed US citizen by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.Six lawyers from the US attorney’s office in Minnesota quit on Tuesday over the department’s reluctance to investigate the shooter of Renee Nicole Good, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
