The Guardian

One MP who now considers a spill inevitable says accepting shorter suspensions for rogue Nationals senators was a significant backdown Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Sussan Ley’s deal to reunite with the Nationals has damaged her credibility and potentially shifted some MPs into her leadership rival Angus Taylor’s corner, according to colleagues who are bracing for a…

Expansion of space operations comes as ADF entering ‘most challenging strategic environment since second world war’, minister says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australian defence force recruits are being asked to aim for the stars, with two new positions advertised in defence’s space command. Applicants were invited to apply directly for the two space specialist ro…

Research suggests surging costs under Morrison government’s job-ready graduate scheme and axing of dozens of subjects largely to blame Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia risks becoming an “artless country” if it does not address the long-term decline in enrolments in creative courses, with more than 40 courses and degrees axed in less than a decade. New researc…

Longtime aide departs after seemingly botched No 10 effort to shore up PM’s position against supposed plotters UK politics live – latest updates Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and longtime aide, has resigned after a bitter row about supposed plots to bring down the PM. McSweeney masterminded Starmer’s path to Downing Street less than five years after Jeremy Corbyn’s devastating d…

Exclusive: Campaign group calls on institutional shareholders to vote against re-election of bosses overseeing net zero row-back Bank chairs who water down their lenders’ climate commitments this year could face embarrassing shareholder revolts as campaigners try to hold bosses to account for environmental backtracking. ShareAction, a campaign group for responsible investment, will be issuing det…

Proposals by California, Hawaii and New York lawmakers aim to hold fossil fuel industry accountable for soaring rates As climate disasters drive up the price of home insurance, three US states are considering empowering their state prosecutors to sue major polluters for their role in those rising costs. Lawmakers in California , Hawaii and New York have introduced measures which would authorize t…

Blaze probably caused by candles at makeshift tribute near Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, say police A memorial for the victims of a deadly fire at a new year party in Switzerland itself caught fire early on Sunday, probably sparked by candles left burning inside, police have said. It was a makeshift tribute to the 41 people killed and the 115 injured in the fire that erupted in the early…

Relatives shut out of €200m fortune reportedly receive letters from executor saying will could be overturned The late German-born Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld was famously precise, exacting and known to hold a grudge, but his final wishes concerning the beneficiaries of his vast fortune could now be overturned beyond the grave in a looming court battle. Seven years after Lagerfeld’s death from …

Northern leaders urge government to support proposal as Manchester mayor says a London bid ‘wouldn’t be right’ The north of England is seeking to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to boost a region “left out of the national story”. Northern leaders have written to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging the government to back a multi-city games spanning an area with a population of 15 milli…

Murdoch tabloid leads charge as big freeze persists – could the mayor please do something about the weather? It snowed two weeks ago in New York. Since then, the temperature has barely risen above freezing – a temperature science naturally dictates is necessary to melt snow and ice. But science isn’t enough for some US political critics, however, who have instead blamed Zohran Mamdani, New York’s…

Arrests follow discovery on Friday of magistrate and her mother in a garage in south-east of country French authorities have arrested five suspects after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot, prosecutors said on Sunday. The arrests of four men and one woman followed the discovery on Friday of the 35-year-old magistrate and her …

Providers report rise in demand as companies seek mental health benefits and increased sense of community In a growing number of workplaces, the soundtrack of the lunch break is no longer the rustle of sandwiches at a desk, but the quiet hum of bees – housed just outside the office window. Employers from Manchester to Milton Keynes are working with professional beekeepers to install hives on roof…

While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by some A separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada . Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition . Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec’s independence movement …

Exit polls point to public endorsement of new prime minister, after day hit by blizzards and freezing conditions Japan’s conservative governing party is on course to dramatically strengthen its grip on power after exit polls predicted a landslide victory in Sunday’s lower house elections. The Liberal Democratic party (LDP) was projected to win between 274 and 328 seats out of a total of 465, acco…

Puerto Rican superstar promises ‘the world will dance’ in all-Spanish half-time gig that comes as Trump agents wage deadly crackdown For 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily – or perhaps entirely – in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whos…