The Guardian

In today’s newsletter: From diverted airliners to hacked ​fridges, a string of disruptive incidents has exposed the ​vulnerabilities of modern ​life. ​There is now an increasingly blurred space between peace and conflict, the grey zone. Good morning. A multiplicity of hoax bomb threats divert passenger flights across Europe. A malign cyber-attack targets supermarket fridges in Belgium, Sweden, th…

James Norton and Lucy Punch star as a youthful Mr and Mrs Claus in lively ad about shared moments as well as shopping For years the “Christmas advert moment” has belonged to one brand. John Lewis’s syrupy commercials featuring piano ballads and tearjerker storylines have given the 160-year-old department store a cultural head start in the dash for festive profits. This year, however, there’s one …

Federal judge issues 14-day restraining order on any construction work on Washington monument, hours after it was approved by planning commission A federal judge has halted construction work on Donald Trump’s towering triumphal arch for 14 days, a major setback for one of the president’s most prominent projects in his vision to remake Washington. The temporary restraining order was issued by US d…

Bosses from Great Britain’s biggest energy companies called to meeting as part of government’s debt relief plan An energy minister has told the bosses of Great Britain’s biggest energy suppliers to do more to help households get on top of their unpaid energy bills this winter, before the government spends almost £2.5bn to help write off the country’s record high debts. Energy bosses were summoned…

As new pornography laws come into force, officers say viewing extreme content could lead young people towards abuse images Police forces are turning to specialist charities and partner agencies to cope with the growing number of teenagers caught up in online child abuse. As new pornography laws come into force, frontline officers warn that young people are going down a pathway through extreme con…

Anthony Albanese’s government has taken a blow due to Iran war but voter anxiety around cost of living and datacentres may hit harder Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast The Democrats’ stunning midterm victory should broaden Australia’s alliance with the US, observers say, even as a new power base emerges in Washington, affecting Aukus, datacentre development and relati…

Woman was shot on 14 December 2025 during Hanukkah festival and she has been in and out of hospital since Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A woman who was shot during the Bondi beach terror attack has died in hospital almost 12 months after the massacre. The 90-year-old woman had been in and out of hospital this year for treatment of injuries sustained during the attac…

Opposition leader Jess Wilson grimaced as the ‘Jess Express’, carrying Liberals and reporters, backs into the structure in suburban Melbourne Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Victorian Liberal party’s first offical day on the campaign trail has hit a snag, after its campaign bus reversed into the awning of a shopfront. The “Jess Express”, a large blue bus emblazone…

Three suitcases’ worth of the spiders were on their way to Germany, where they could fetch an estimated €1.5m More than 3,000 tarantulas were seized at an airport in Lima on their way to Germany, Peruvian authorities said. The spiders were hidden inside dirty socks contained in three suitcases carried by two Germans and a Polish citizen, the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) told Ag…

Former NSW police officer gives evidence for a second day after pleading not guilty to murdering Baird and Luke Davies in early 2024 Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: former police officer continues evidence in double murder trial Beau Lamarre-Condon has said he is “guilty of manslaughter” but said shooting Jesse Baird wasn’t intentional, as he gave evidence in his double-murder trial. The …

President seeks to make Oval Office a national monument to ensure designs are not ‘ripped down by stupid people’ Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he says will prevent future administrations from changing his design of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, spaces which he declared as national monuments that should be preserved. In the days since his party suffered historic defeats i…

Mark Rowley calls for ‘revolution’ in policing as major review is expected to propose regional ‘super forces’ Police are heading for failure unless the number of forces in England and Wales is slashed, with their ability to catch criminals collapsing and public confidence falling, Britain’s top officer will say on Friday. The stark comments from Sir Mark Rowley, the commissioner of the Metropolit…

Indiana executed a man hours earlier, and in Alabama, a man was scheduled to die by injection later Florida carried out a record-tying 19th execution of the year on Thursday in an unusual instance of three states administering the death penalty on the same day. Jesse Guardado was pronounced dead at 6.13pm following a three-drug injection at a state prison in Starke, the governor’s office said. Gu…

Lamarre-Condon returns to witness box for day two of his evidence. He’s accused of shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney in 2024 Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Lamarre-Condon tells court his relationship with Baird was not exclusive The former officer has told the court he and Jesse were “doing things that couples were doing”, including getting dinner…

Analysis by human rights organisation Global Echo shows 85 of 132 shipments over eight years contained more than US$5m of organic dates grown in settlements Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Millions of dollars of food grown in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has been shipped to Australia labelled as “produce of Israel”, a new analysis of trade dat…