The Guardian

President tells Wall Street Journal in interview that his doctors encouraged him to take lower dose but he declined Donald Trump takes “more aspirin” than his doctors recommend but he says “my health is perfect”, according to an interview given to the Wall Street Journal after the outlet recently questioned the 79-year-old president’s health. Trump told the Journal that the large dose of aspirin …

Hundreds of people gather in Centenary Square to see in 2026 after false claims online promise ‘dazzling’ display The new year got off to an anticlimactic start for hundreds of people in Birmingham who were tricked into attending a New Year’s Eve fireworks display that didn’t exist. Crowds of revellers gathered in the city’s Centenary Square, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pyrotechnics display to…

Mamdani was sworn into office by Letitia James shortly after midnight in the abandoned city hall subway station Happy new year! In the wee hours of 2026, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as the new mayor of New York City in a private ceremony in the abandoned beaux-arts subway station under city hall. The democratic socialist, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James ,…

Second highest annual number of irregular arrivals on record reached British shores in 2025 More than 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year, figures branded “shameful” by the Home Office have revealed. The government said 41,472 people arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in 2025 – the second highest number on record after 45,774 made the journey in 2022. Continue readin…

New Labour advertising strategist Chris Powell says Reform are threat to democracy and urgent plan must ‘wage and win the daily war for attention’ What is Keir Starmer doing to push back the populists? Not nearly enough. We have a plan to take them on Keir Starmer does not have enough of a plan to defeat the “existential threat” that populism poses to UK democracy and should undertake a “fundamen…

Abortion was seen as one of Democrats’ strongest issues in the 2024 election – new polls indicate that may be shifting Up to seven states will vote on abortion rights this year. But recent polling indicates that Democrats may not be able to count on the issue in their efforts to drive votes in the 2026 midterms, after making abortion rights the centerpiece of their pitch to voters in the election…

Nationwide protests against living conditions enter fifth day with security forces reportedly using live ammunition The largest protests in Iran for three years entered a fifth day on Thursday amid reports of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces, with state-affiliated media confirming at least two people had been killed. Although state media did not identify those killed, witness…

Ukraine has not commented on attack on cafe and hotel that comes despite ‘productive’ ongoing peace talks A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and injured at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said, as tensions between the two nations continue to spike despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks. Thr…

British charitable trust that draws on OxyContin maker fortune says it exempted names to protect their reputations Two charities that received a combined total of more than £1.1m from the British charitable trust run by the Sackler family were kept out of its latest accounts to protect their reputations from “serious prejudice”. The trust, which draws on the Sackler fortune that came out of the U…

President auctioned off portrait painted live onstage and said his new year’s resolution was ‘peace on Earth’ Donald Trump welcomed 2026 with a glitzy bash at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach where he auctioned off a freshly painted portrait of Jesus Christ for $2.75m and said his new year’s resolution was a wish for “peace on Earth”. The portrait of Jesus had been painted onstage by artist Vane…

Complaint argues Trump administration denying coverage of gender-affirming care is sex-based discrimination The Trump administration is facing a new legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs. The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ …

Harsher penalties and a ‘reshaping’ of the sector predicted when Financial Conduct Authority takes over as regulator UK law firms are bracing themselves for a money laundering crackdown as ministers race to improve the City’s reputation ahead of a fresh financial crime review. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been designated as the new anti-money laundering watchdog for the legal sector,…

Afghanistan and Yemen excluded from list of 17 priority countries chosen by Trump administration to receive aid laden with demands The $2bn (£1.5bn) of aid the US pledged this week may have been hailed as “bold and ambitious” by the UN but could be the “nail in the coffin” in changing to a shrunken, less flexible aid system dominated by Washington’s political priorities, aid experts fear. After a…

While last year’s 8.6% increase isn’t likely to be repeated, economists expect growth across the country as demand continues to outstrip supply Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australian residential property values are expected to rise by at least 5% over the next 12 months – on top of the 8.6% increase seen in 2025 – exacerbating a housing affordability crunch across…

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penalty Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being execut…