Merseyside police detective sacked for misconduct after paying boy, 17, for sex 07. January 2026 (11:13) DC John Rigby, who is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to charges, told he brought policing ‘into disrepute’A Merseyside police detective who paid a 17-year-old boy for sex has been sacked and told he acted in a way “that brings policing nationally into disrepute”.DC John Rigby has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and is on remand in prison awaiting sentence. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Maga media stars back Trump on Venezuela … mostly: ‘It doesn’t make any sense’ 07. January 2026 (11:00) Maga media used to hate US foreign intervention – now some are cheering it on“I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars,” Donald Trump said after declaring victory on 6 November 2024. It wasn’t his first pledge to disengage the US from foreign conflicts, and Trump’s top allies in conservative media and the “Make America Great Again” (Maga) movement have all rallied to his pledge to “put America first”.Now that the US president seems to have broken his pledge by launching an invasion of Venezuela, not to mention threatening future actions against Cuba and Colombia and potentially Greenland, some have reasonably wondered whether Trump’s supporters in Maga media would hammer him for that inconsistency. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Amsterdam airport cancels at least 700 flights because of snow and wind 07. January 2026 (10:54) Camp beds set up as more than 1,000 travellers spend night at key flight hub during freezing European weatherEurope live – latest updatesAmsterdam Schiphol airport, one of the largest in Europe, has announced at least 700 flight cancellations because of snow and wind, after days of weather-related travel disruptions.More than 1,000 people spent the night at Schiphol, the airport said on Wednesday, adding that it had set up camp beds and offered breakfast to travellers forced to sleep there. The number of cancellations is expected to rise throughout the day. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Wager platform Polymarket not paying out on bets on US invasion of Venezuela 07. January 2026 (09:56) Gamblers who placed bets totalling $10.5m angered after capture of Nicolás Maduro deemed not to qualifyThe online wager platform Polymarket has angered some gamblers by declaring it will not pay out yet on millions of dollars’ worth of bets on a US invasion of Venezuela, arguing that the capture of the then president, Nicolás Maduro, does not qualify.Before Donald Trump’s forces captured Maduro on Saturday morning, some traders appeared to have anticipated the shock move by placing bets on “prediction markets”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK weather: ice warnings in place across country as heavy snow expected 07. January 2026 (09:05) Storm Goretti forecast bring as much as 20cm of snowfall in some places amid freezing temperatures Ice warnings are in place across the UK before a storm that is expected to bring heavy snow later in the week.The Met Office has issued yellow ice warnings for Wednesday morning for most of the UK, including Northern Ireland, amid an Arctic air mass, which has brought wintry showers across the country. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Labor group urges Albanese to rescind invitation to Israeli president Isaac Herzog 07. January 2026 (08:50) Friends of Palestine has criticised the decision to invite Israel’s head of state to Australia in a sign of further strain within the Labor movement A group of rank-and-file Labor Party members has urged the Albanese government to rescind its invitation for Israeli president Isaac Herzog to visit Australia, voicing outrage over his country’s military bombardment of Gaza.In signs of further strain inside the Labor movement over the war in the Middle East and the response to the Bondi antisemitic terror attack, the Labor Friends of Palestine group said that, if Herzog does travel to Australia, federal police should investigate him for his role in what they alleged was incitement of genocide – an outcome international law experts say is unlikely to occur. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australia Post apologises for losing Aboriginal artist’s painting worth $4,000 07. January 2026 (07:09) Bobbi Lockyer says she sent the item express post with tracking as the national postal service says the search continuesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJust before Christmas, Aboriginal artist Bobbi Lockyer packed up a precious painting she had spent more than a hundred hours on and sent it to her client.What arrived at the other end was an empty package. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It takes a town to raise a family’: the community sponsors supporting refugees in the UK 07. January 2026 (07:00) Groups are coming together across the country to help refugee families settle and integrate into local life“Our children correct us when we don’t pronounce some words with the proper Derbyshire accent,” says Samir*, an Afghan refugee whose family have settled into their new lives in the north of England.Initially, he says, it was difficult for the family to get used to rural life in Derbyshire, but after a while they had integrated into the local community so well that his children, who have adopted the Derbyshire accent, tease him about his. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Catastrophic’ MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than £100m 07. January 2026 (06:00) MPs criticise 10-year deal struck in ‘blind panic’ to rent Dartmoor prison, where high levels of radon had been detectedA “catastrophic” decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than £100m, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.The public accounts committee said the 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor from the Duchy of Cornwall was signed “in a blind panic” by senior civil servants looking to guarantee prison places. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links 07. January 2026 (06:00) Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought RomansAn “extraordinary” iron age war trumpet that may have links to the Celtic tribe led by Boudicca in the period they were battling the invading Roman army has been discovered by archaeologists in Norfolk.The bronze trumpet or carnyx is only the third ever found in Britain, and the most complete example discovered anywhere in the world. Fashioned in the shape of a snarling wild animal, the object would have been mounted on a long mouthpiece high above the heads of warriors, allowing it to be sounded to intimidate the enemy in battle. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
