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Received today — 13 December 2025

Australia’s social media ban has given us a way to fight big tech – and get my son back on his skateboard | Sisonke Msimang

13 December 2025 at 05:00

The ban on under-16s accessing ‘harmful’ content that began this week has overwhelming approval from adults – even if it had a few teething issues

A few weeks ago, my 14-year-old went into the garage, pulled out his skateboard and told me this was going to be his “skate park summer”. I was curious about what was sparking his renewed interest in an activity he hadn’t thought about since he was 12. His response: “The ban.”

I was thrilled. As far as I was concerned, Australia’s world-first social media law aimed at preventing children under 16 from accessing social media apps was already a success. But this week, as the ban took effect, my son wasn’t so sure. Access to his accounts remained largely unchanged. Many of his friends were in the same position. Across the country, the rollout has been uneven, as social media companies try to work out how to verify kids’ ages.

Sisonke Msimang is the author of Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home (2017) and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela (2018)

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© Illustration: Eiko Ojala/The Guardian

© Illustration: Eiko Ojala/The Guardian

© Illustration: Eiko Ojala/The Guardian

Lionel Messi’s India tour starts in chaos as angry fans throw seats in stadium

13 December 2025 at 04:00
  • Argentinian makes 20-minute appearance in Kolkata

  • Supporters climb fence and hurl objects from stands

Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off on a chaotic note on Saturday as fans ripped up seats and threw them towards the pitch after the Argentina and Inter Miami forward’s brief visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, the ANI news agency reported.

Messi is in India as part of a tour during which he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics and a padel tournament, and launch charitable initiatives at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

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© Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Edward Enninful: ‘Britain feels less tolerant now than we were in the 90s’

The former British Vogue editor reflects on his early years in London, the importance of celebrating diversity and why he takes comfort in the younger generation

When Edward Enninful was scouted on the tube travelling through London in 1988, it changed his life. The Ghanaian teenager, newly arrived in Britain, was drawn into the capital’s creative scene of the 90s – as a model, then stylist and, by 18, the fashion director of i-D magazine.

“It was the height of the YBA [Young British Artists] movement – Jay Jopling, Tracey Emin. I met Kate [Moss] at a casting,” he recalls. “Then Naomi [Campbell] for a cover, and I knew we’d be great friends. We all hung out across disciplines. Friday rolled into Saturday into Sunday. I miss that rawness.”

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© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

New Israeli barrier will slice through precious West Bank farmland

Palestinians who have worked the ‘breadbasket’ area for generations face being replaced by Israeli settlers

The death knell for the Palestinian village of Atouf, on the western slopes of the Jordan valley, arrived in the form of a trail of paper, a series of eviction notices taped to homes, greenhouses and wells, marking a straight line across the open fields.

The notices, which appeared overnight, informed the local farmers that their land would be confiscated and that they had seven days from the date of their delivery, 4 December, to vacate their properties. A military road and accompanying barrier was to be built by Israel right through the area.

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© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

‘Who’s it going to be next time?’: ECHR rethink is ‘moral retreat’, say rights experts

As 27 European countries urge changes to laws forged after second world war, human rights chief says politicians are playing into hands of populists

The battle had been brewing for months. But this week it came to a head in a flurry of meetings, calls and one heady statement. Twenty-seven European countries urged a rethink of the human rights laws forged after the second world war, describing them as an impediment when it came to addressing migration.

Amnesty International has called it “a moral retreat”. Europe’s most senior human rights official said the approach risked creating a “hierarchy of people” where some are seen as more deserving of protection than others.

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© Photograph: Santi Palacios/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Santi Palacios/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Santi Palacios/AFP/Getty Images

Will other countries follow Australia’s social media ban for under-16s?

Several European nations are already planning similar moves while Britain has said ‘nothing is off the table’

Australia is taking on powerful tech companies with its under-16 social media ban, but will the rest of the world follow? The country’s enactment of the policy is being watched closely by politicians, safety campaigners and parents. A number of other countries are not far behind, with Europe in particular hoping to replicate Australia, while the UK is keeping more of a watchful interest.

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© Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

US scolds Rwanda for breaking peace deal as M23 rebels seize key Congo city

12 December 2025 at 21:58

Mike Waltz warns ‘spoilers’ will be held to account as rebel fighters escalate offensive in South Kivu province

The US has accused Rwanda of violating a US-brokered peace agreement by backing a deadly new rebel offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Congo, and warned action will be taken against “spoilers”.

The remarks by the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, came as more than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels escalated their offensive in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province, according to officials who also say Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.

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© Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $40m to women who said talc to blame for cancer

12 December 2025 at 21:58

California jury finds company knew its talc-based products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers

A California jury on Friday awarded $40m to two women who said Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder was to blame for their ovarian cancer.

The jury in Los Angeles superior court awarded $18m to Monica Kent and $22m to Deborah Schultz and her husband after finding that Johnson & Johnson knew for years its talc-based products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers.

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© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Received yesterday — 12 December 2025

See you in March? Debate in New Zealand over extremely long summer break

12 December 2025 at 18:01

The country’s ‘unofficial shutdown’ has sparked a national conversation, with arguments about whether the break is affecting productivity or a vital respite

It sounds idyllic: weeks off work at the warmest time of the year, with relaxation mode kicking in before Christmas and little rush to return to the office until late February.

But in New Zealand, there are concerns that what’s been labelled by some an “unofficial shutdown” could be hurting the country’s productivity.

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© Photograph: Derek Morrison

© Photograph: Derek Morrison

© Photograph: Derek Morrison

EU to freeze €210bn in Russian assets indefinitely

12 December 2025 at 15:18

The decision is a significant step towards using the cash to aid Ukraine’s defence – but Moscow is threatening to retaliate

The EU has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russia’s sovereign assets in the bloc, as Moscow stepped up its threats to retaliate against Euroclear, the keeper of most of the Kremlin’s immobilised money.

The decision by the EU to use emergency powers to immobilise €210bn (£185bn) of Russia’s central bank’s assets marks a significant step towards using the cash to aid Ukraine’s defence.

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© Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

© Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

© Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

The week around the world in 20 pictures

12 December 2025 at 14:35

Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, floods in Indonesia, the IDF in Gaza and the Nutcracker in Nairobi: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

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© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

Exposed: the business linked to baby deaths across the world | The Latest

A year-long investigation into the Free Birth Society reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors.

Lucy Hough talks to the investigative correspondent Lucy Osborne about her reporting.

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© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

Canada’s Liberals edge closer to majority after Conservative lawmaker crosses floor

12 December 2025 at 12:28

Rookie Michael Ma leaves Conservative party for ‘steady, practical approach’ of Mark Carney’s government

Canada’s ruling Liberals have edged closer to a majority government after a Conservative lawmaker crossed the floor, in yet another blow to the struggling Tories.

Rookie lawmaker Michael Ma said late on Thursday that he had decided to leave the Conservative party, for “the steady, practical approach” of prime minister Mark Carney’s government, which he said would “deliver on the priorities I hear every day, including affordability and the economy”.

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© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

Sickened by Keir Starmer’s call to curb human rights | Letters

12 December 2025 at 13:03

Nick Moss, Dr Deborah Talbot, Dimitra Blana and Mary Pimm on the prime minister’s plan to ‘protect our borders’ and Donald Trump’s accusations that Europe is ‘weak’ and ‘decaying’

There is something particularly sickening about Keir Starmer’s call for European leaders to “urgently curb joint human rights laws” (Starmer urges Europe’s leaders to curb ECHR to halt rise of far right, 9 December).

It is not just that the human rights lawyer who wrote a key text on the Human Rights Act 1998 has become, as prime minister, an advocate of the act’s undoing, along with all the consequences for migrant families that will flow from that. It is that Starmer shows through this the complete dearth of ideas available to European social democracy.

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© Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

The importance of Europe in curbing Russia’s might | Letters

12 December 2025 at 12:58

Europe must realise its superior economic and military potential has to be mobilised, writes Bill Jones, while Robin Wilson addresses Belgium’s resistance to seizing Russian assets

I wholly support the plea to Europe by Timothy Garton Ash (Only Europe can save Ukraine from Putin and Trump – but will it?, 6 December). One aspect he did not mention was the strategic nuclear balance. Since the late 1940s, responsibility for deterrence has always lain with the Pentagon and has succeeded in keeping the peace, though at times a very fragile version of it.

The recent US statement on defence makes it clear that Europe is no longer seen as a priority by the Trump administration, the danger now being that doubt is crucially being raised as to the credibility of Nato’s deterrent. Without certainty of a reaction in kind, Russia, under its ambitious and risk-taking president, might be tempted to chance its arm in what almost looks like a ceding of Europe by the US into a Russian “sphere of influence”.

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© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/EPA

© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/EPA

© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/EPA

Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi arrested in Iran

12 December 2025 at 12:33

Mohammadi ‘violently’ detained along with other activists at memorial event in Mashhad, her foundation says

There are fears for the wellbeing of the 2023 Nobel peace prize winner, Narges Mohammadi, after she was detained by Iranian security forces at a memorial ceremony for a human rights lawyer in the eastern city of Mashhad.

Mohammadi, 53, who was granted temporary leave from prison on medical grounds in December 2024, was newly detained along with several other activists at the memorial for Khosro Alikordi, who was found dead in his office last week.

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© Photograph: Reihane Taravati/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Reihane Taravati/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Reihane Taravati/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

‘What is going on here?’ Meloni celebrated at Italy’s far-right Atreju Christmas festival

12 December 2025 at 11:04

Week-long event organised by Brothers of Italy looks like winter wonderland but is chance for PM to flaunt power

When, out of curiosity, Leila Cader and her friends entered the gardens surrounding Castel Sant’Angelo, a prominent Rome monument that once served as a refuge for popes during times of war, they thought they’d chanced upon an enchanting winter wonderland.

With the scent of mulled wine wafting through the air, Santa’s elves wandering around, stalls selling nativity-scene figurines and skaters merrily gliding on an ice-rink, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

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© Photograph: Chris Warde-Jones

© Photograph: Chris Warde-Jones

© Photograph: Chris Warde-Jones

Families washed out of tents as flood waters course through Gaza

12 December 2025 at 10:26

Gaza has been hit by heavy rains and low temperatures, deepening the misery of most of its 2.2 million population who are living in tents after two years of Israeli bombardment. Thousands of homeless people have been washed out of their makeshift shelters and forced to seek emergency refuge

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Primal Scream defend image of swastika inside Star of David shown during London gig

12 December 2025 at 09:16

Scottish rock band says image ‘meant to provoke debate, not hate’ after many at concert accuse group of antisemitism

The Scottish rock group Primal Scream has defended displaying an image of a swastika inside a Star of David during a London gig, in response to accusations of racism and antisemitism.

During a performance at the London’s Roundhouse, a video was shown on stage of a swastika in the centre of a Star of David that was then superimposed over eyes of images of political figures, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the US president, Donald Trump.

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© Photograph: Lorne Thomson/Redferns

© Photograph: Lorne Thomson/Redferns

© Photograph: Lorne Thomson/Redferns

Welcome to the 2026 World Cup shakedown! The price of a ticket: the integrity of the game | Marina Hyde

12 December 2025 at 09:00

In World Cup parlance, Qatar was Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s qualifier. Now it’s the big time for Trump’s dictator-curious protege

I used to think Fifa’s recent practice of holding the World Cup in autocracies was because it made it easier for world football’s governing body to do the things it loved: spend untold billions of other people’s money and siphon the profits without having to worry about boring little things like human rights or public opinion. Which, let’s face it, really piss around with your bottom line.

But for a while now, that view has seemed ridiculously naive, a bit like assuming Recep Erdoğan followed Vladimir Putin’s election-hollowing gameplan just because hey, he’s an interested guy who likes to read around a lot of subjects. So no: Fifa president Gianni Infantino hasn’t spent recent tournaments cosying up to authoritarians because it made his life easier. He’s done it to learn from the best. And his latest decree this week simply confirms Fifa is now a fully operational autocracy in the classic populace-rinsing style. Do just absorb yesterday’s news that the cheapest ticket for next year’s World Cup final in the US will cost £3,120 – seven times more than the cheapest ticket for the last World Cup final in Qatar. (Admittedly, still marginally cheaper than an off-peak single from London to Manchester.)

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Héctor Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Héctor Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Héctor Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

‘The worst is when the rubbish explodes’: the children living in Patagonia’s vast dumps

12 December 2025 at 09:00

In sprawling landfills, thousands of Argentinian families scavenge for survival amid toxic waste and government neglect, dreaming of steady jobs and escape

The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquén’s open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat.

Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta – one of the world’s largest fossil gas reserves – children here roam amid twisted metal, glass and rubbish spread over five hectares (12 acres). The horizon is waste.

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© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

Indonesia floods were ‘extinction level’ disturbance for world’s rarest ape

12 December 2025 at 08:42

Conservationists fear up to 11% of Tapanuli orangutan population perished in disaster that also killed 1,000 people

The skull of a Tapanuli orangutan, caked in debris, stares out from a tomb of mud in North Sumatra, killed in catastrophic flooding that swept through Indonesia.

The late November floods have been an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest great ape, scientists have said, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era review – as she breaks down over the terror plot, it’s impossible not to feel her pain

12 December 2025 at 07:24

The singer’s tears over the Islamic State terrorist plot against her show and Southport attack make this behind-the-scenes docuseries about her world-conquering tour more moving than anyone could have anticipated

Swifties had long guessed that there would be a documentary going behind the scenes of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour. The 2023 Eras Tour concert movie didn’t show any of the inner workings of this three-and-a-half-hour behemoth, which ran for 149 dates from 2023-24. Fans put some bits together, such as how Swift arrived on stage being pushed inside a cleaning cart. Plus, given the two albums she wrote during and about the Eras tour – 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department and this year’s The Life of a Showgirl – it wouldn’t be Swiftian to overlook another lucrative IP extension.

What fans could never have imagined was that Disney was set to start filming as the Eras tour was due to hit Vienna on 8 August 2023 – the first of three shows in the Austrian capital that were cancelled owing to an Islamic State terrorist plot. We learn this in episode one of the six-part docuseries The End of an Era, when Swift and her longtime friend Ed Sheeran are backstage at Wembley, hours before he guests at her first concert after the thwarted attack. “I didn’t even get to go,” Swift tells him of Vienna. “I was on the plane headed there. I just need to do this show and re-remember the joy of it because I’m a little bit just like …” She can’t find the words.

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© Photograph: Emma McIntyre/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

© Photograph: Emma McIntyre/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

© Photograph: Emma McIntyre/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

EU’s 2035 petrol and diesel car ban will be watered down, says senior MEP

12 December 2025 at 08:58

Decision would anger environmental campaigners, who say it would amount to ‘gutting’ of green deal

The EU’s outright ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 is poised to be watered down, a senior European parliament politician has said.

The decision, expected to be announced by the European Commission on Tuesday in Strasbourg, would be a divisive move, angering environmental campaigners who argue it would amount to the “gutting” of the EU’s flagship green deal.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Machado escape planner feared US strike on her vessel as it fled Venezuela

Special forces veteran Bryan Stern says he told US defence officials some of his planned route to reduce airstrike risk

The most dangerous moments came when salvation seemed finally assured.

Many miles from land, the small fishing skiff carrying the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel prize laureate María Corina Machado had been lost at sea for hours, tossed by strong winds and 10ft waves. A further hazard was the ever present risk of an inadvertent airstrike by US warplanes hunting alleged cocaine smugglers.

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© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

South Korea exam chief quits after complaints English test was too hard

12 December 2025 at 06:08

Notoriously difficult entrance exam is regarded as gateway to economic security and even a good marriage

The chief organiser of South Korea’s notoriously gruelling university entrance exams has resigned – after complaints that an English test he designed was too difficult.

Passing the exam, known locally as the Suneung, is essential for admission to prestigious universities and regarded as a gateway to upward social mobility, economic security and even a good marriage.

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© Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

The Paris climate treaty changed the world. Here’s how | Rebecca Solnit

12 December 2025 at 06:00

There’s much more to do, but we should be encouraged by the progress we have made

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris climate treaty, one of the landmark days in climate-action history. Attending the conference as a journalist, I watched and listened and wondered whether 194 countries could ever agree on anything at all, and the night before they did, people who I thought were more sophisticated than me assured me they couldn’t. Then they did. There are a lot of ways to tell the story of what it means and where we are now, but any version of it needs respect for the complexities, because there are a lot of latitudes between the poles of total victory and total defeat.

I had been dreading the treaty anniversary as an occasion to note that we have not done nearly enough, but in July I thought we might be able celebrate it. Because, on 23 July, the international court of justice handed down an epochal ruling that gives that treaty enforceable consequences it never had before. It declares that all nations have a legal obligation to act in response to the climate crisis, and, as Greenpeace International put it, “obligates states to regulate businesses on the harm caused by their emissions regardless of where the harm takes place. Significantly, the court found that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is fundamental for all other human rights, and that intergenerational equity should guide the interpretation of all climate obligations.” The Paris treaty was cited repeatedly as groundwork for this decision.

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© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

Trump officials ‘conspiring to illegally intimidate’ non-citizens via new VA report, lawmakers say

12 December 2025 at 05:00

Exclusive: Congress members seek answers after Guardian revealed data to be shared for immigration enforcement

More than 20 members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and homeland security officials after the Guardian revealed the VA is compiling a report on all non-US citizens “employed by or affiliated with” the government agency that will then be shared with other federal agencies, including immigration authorities.

The lawmakers, led by Illinois congresswoman Delia Ramirez – along with congressman Mark Takano of California and US senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrats on the House and Senate veterans affairs committees – have written a group letter to be sent to the VA secretary, Doug Collins, and the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, on Friday.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Weather tracker: Australia bushfires could be most dangerous since ‘black summer’

12 December 2025 at 05:00

Fires are burning across NSW, with Tasmania also facing an emergency, while in the US, Washington state braces for floods

Bushfires have been ravaging Australia, with more than 50 burning throughout New South Wales, destroying homes and causing at least one death. Nine blazes remained out of control on Monday as flames ripped through homes and critical infrastructure. Scorching temperatures – peaking at 41C in Koolewong – combined with fierce, erratic winds to spread the fires rapidly and made them harder to control.

On Sunday night an Australian firefighter was killed after a tree fell on him while he worked on a fire near Bulahdelah, about 150 miles (250km) north of Sydney. The blaze scorched 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) and destroyed four homes over the weekend. NSW, one of Australia’s most fire-prone regions, is particularly vulnerable because of its hot, dry climate and vast eucalyptus forests, which shed oils that become highly flammable.

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© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud

12 December 2025 at 04:09

Co-founder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs given more jail time by US judge than prosecutors sought

Do Kwon, the entrepreneur behind two cryptocurrencies that lost $40bn (£29.8bn) three years ago and caused the sector to crash, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud.

The South Korean, 34, had pleaded guilty to two counts of US charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud.

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© Photograph: Stevo Vasiljević/Reuters

© Photograph: Stevo Vasiljević/Reuters

© Photograph: Stevo Vasiljević/Reuters

The facts are stark: Europe must open the door to migrants, or face its own extinction | George Monbiot

12 December 2025 at 01:00

Plummeting birth rates mean that without attracting immigration, many countries are sliding towards collapse

I know what “civilisational erasure” looks like: I’ve seen the graph. The European Commission published it in March. It’s a chart of total fertility rate: the average number of children born per woman. After a minor bump over the past 20 years, the EU rate appears to be declining once more, and now stands at 1.38. The UK’s is 1.44. A population’s replacement rate is 2.1. You may or may not see this as a disaster, but the maths doesn’t care what you think. We are gliding, as if by gravitational force, towards the ground.

Civilisational erasure is the term the Trump administration used in its new national security strategy, published last week. It claimed that immigration, among other factors, will result in the destruction of European civilisation. In reality, without immigration there will be no Europe, no civilisation and no one left to argue about it.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Illustration: Thomas Pullin/The Guardian

© Illustration: Thomas Pullin/The Guardian

© Illustration: Thomas Pullin/The Guardian

Air passengers exposed to extremely high levels of ultrafine particle pollution, study finds

12 December 2025 at 01:00

Levels during boarding and taxiing were far above those defined as high by the World Health Organization

A study has revealed the concentrations of ultrafine particles breathed in by airline passengers.

A team of French researchers, including those from Université Paris Cité, built a pack of instruments that was flown alongside passengers from Paris Charles de Gaulle to European destinations. The machinery was placed on an empty seat in the front rows or in the galley.

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© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

If the US forces me to choose between my two nationalities, I choose France – and Europe | Alexander Hurst

12 December 2025 at 00:00

Proposals to change US citizenship rules leaves dual citizens like me caught in the crossfire. If push comes to shove, I know where my loyalty lies

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© Photograph: Olympia de Maismont/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Olympia de Maismont/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Olympia de Maismont/AFP/Getty Images

Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds

Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust

Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.

Climate breakdown is threatening the survival of polar bears. Two-thirds of them are expected to have disappeared by 2050 as their icy habitat melts and the weather becomes hotter.

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© Photograph: Alamy

© Photograph: Alamy

© Photograph: Alamy

Received before yesterday

‘It’s not going to end’: Thai evacuees fear for future after fresh clashes with Cambodia

Displaced people in Thailand voice doubts that Donald Trump can stop the fighting as violence flares on the border

Rangsan Angda and many of his neighbours in border areas of Thailand had already packed their bags, fearing that a ceasefire with neighbouring Cambodia would soon collapse.

The ceasefire deal – brokered by Donald Trump, who proclaimed himself “President of PEACE” after he helped end five days of deadly clashes in July – had seemed precarious from the start. “Both sides are confronting one another all the time,” said Angda, 50.

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© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools

11 December 2025 at 18:11

President Nayib Bukele entrusting chatbot known for calling itself ‘MechaHitler’ to create ‘AI-powered’ curricula

Elon Musk is partnering with the government of El Salvador to bring his artificial intelligence company’s chatbot, Grok, to more than 1 million students across the country, according to a Thursday announcement by xAI. Over the next two years, the plan is to “deploy” the chatbot to more than 5,000 public schools in an “AI-powered education program”.

xAI’s Grok is more known for referring to itself as “MechaHitler” and espousing far-right conspiracy theories than it is for public education. Over the past year, the chatbot has spewed various antisemitic content, decried “white genocide” and claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

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© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

Trump expands Venezuela sanctions as Maduro decries new ‘era of piracy’

Six more oil supertankers added to sanctions list, as well as members of Maduro’s extended family, amid rising tensions following tanker seizure

Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.

Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Britain threatened to cut off ICC funding over Netanyahu arrest warrant, claims prosecutor

11 December 2025 at 14:08

Karim Khan makes allegation in court submission while defending move to prosecute Israeli prime minister in 2024

The British government threatened to defund the international criminal court and leave the Rome statute that set it up if it pressed ahead with plans to issue an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu, the ICC’s prosecutor, has claimed.

Karim Khan made the allegation in a submission to the court defending his decision to prosecute Israel’s prime minister.

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© Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

© Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

© Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

The UK’s pharma deal was vital – but the GSK boss is right about US dominance | Nils Pratley

11 December 2025 at 13:57

It would be absurd to claim the UK has suddenly become a life-sciences leader thanks to the new pricing and tariffs pact

That’s gratitude, eh? It’s not even a fortnight since the government agreed to raise the prices the NHS pays for new medicines and here comes the boss of GSK, Britain’s second largest pharma firm, to extol the virtues of doing business in the US.

The US is “still the leading market in the world in terms of the launches of new drugs and vaccines”, said the chief executive, Emma Walmsley, in a BBC interview, explaining why GSK invests about three times as much over there as it does at home. Alongside China, the US is also “the best market in the world to do business development”.

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© Photograph: Justin Setterfield/CAMERA PRESS

© Photograph: Justin Setterfield/CAMERA PRESS

© Photograph: Justin Setterfield/CAMERA PRESS

Why is Trump attacking Venezuelan boats? | The Latest

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s campaign against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, whose government called the seizure an act of international piracy.

The Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny over a series of attacks on boats off the Venezuelan coast. At least 87 people have been killed in 22 known strikes since early September. Lucy Hough talks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat

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© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

© Photograph: Guardian Design

Eurovision winner Nemo to return trophy in protest at Israel taking part in 2026

11 December 2025 at 13:38

‘Clear conflict’ between Eurovision ideals of ‘inclusion and dignity for all’ and decision to let Israel compete, says 2024 winner

Nemo, the Swiss singer who won the 2024 Eurovision song contest, has said they are handing back their trophy in protest over Israel’s participation in next year’s event.

The 26-year-old, the first non-binary winner of the contest, said on Thursday there was “a clear conflict” between the Eurovision ideals of “unity, inclusion and dignity for all” and the decision to allow Israel to compete.

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© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

Disappointing Oracle results knock $80bn off value amid AI bubble fears

11 December 2025 at 13:37

Weaker-than-forecast quarterly data for Larry Ellison’s tech company shows slowdown in revenue growth and big rise in spending

Oracle’s shares tumbled 15% on Thursday in response to the company’s quarterly financial results, disclosed the day before.

Roughly $80bn vanish from the value of the business software company co-founded by Donald Trump ally Larry Ellison, falling from $630bn (£470bn) to $550bn and fuelling fears of a bubble in artificial intelligence-related stocks. Shares in the chipmaker Nvidia, seen as a bellwether for the AI boom, fell after Oracle’s.

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© Photograph: Sundry Photography/Alamy

© Photograph: Sundry Photography/Alamy

© Photograph: Sundry Photography/Alamy

Fate of 11 Nigerian troops unclear after ‘unauthorised’ plane landing in Burkina Faso

11 December 2025 at 13:18

Confusion over diplomatic standoff deepens after conflicting reports about the soldiers’ whereabouts

Eleven Nigerian military personnel are reportedly still in Burkina Faso days after their plane made an “unauthorised” landing in the south-west city of Bobo Dioulasso, despite earlier suggestions they had been freed, deepening confusion about the diplomatic standoff.

Burkinabé authorities told the BBC on Tuesday that the troops had been released and given permission to return to Nigeria, but officials in Abuja have said the matter is yet to be resolved.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy

11 December 2025 at 15:20

Ukrainian president says plan would not be fair without guarantees that Russia would not simply take over zone

The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Previously, the US had suggested Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory.

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© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Amanda Seyfried says she will not apologise for calling Charlie Kirk ‘hateful’ after his shooting

11 December 2025 at 12:34

The Housemaid actor received backlash in September when she left a comment on Instagram after the rightwing activist was killed

The Housemaid star Amanda Seyfried has said she is “not fucking apologising” for describing Charlie Kirk as “hateful” after the latter was shot dead in September.

Seyfried was speaking to Who What Wear when she was asked about her social media activity, including the backlash around her Kirk comment. “I’m not fucking apologising for that. I mean, for fuck’s sake, I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes. What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion, of course.”

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© Photograph: Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

Germany drops promise to resettle hundreds of Afghans

11 December 2025 at 11:54

Interior ministry will tell 640 people awaiting sanctuary ‘there is no longer any political interest in their being admitted’

Hundreds of Afghans previously promised sanctuary in Germany have been told they are no longer welcome, in a stark U-turn by the conservative chancellor, Friedrich Merz‪.

The 640 people in Pakistan awaiting resettlement – many of whom worked for the German military during the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan – will no longer be taken in, as Merz’s government axes two programmes introduced by its centre-left-led predecessor.

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© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

© Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Orcas team up with dolphins to hunt salmon, study finds

11 December 2025 at 11:00

Northern resident killer whales appear to use dolphins as ‘scouts’, in a surprising cooperative hunting strategy

Orcas and dolphins have been spotted for the first time working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study which suggests a cooperative relationship between the two predators.

The research, published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, shows interactions between northern resident orcas (also known as killer whales) and Pacific white-sided dolphins are not just chance encounters while foraging.

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© Photograph: MMRU/Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

© Photograph: MMRU/Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

© Photograph: MMRU/Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

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