Coral Adventurer, separately being investigated for allegedly leaving behind passenger who died on Lizard Island, ordered not to leave PNG waters Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A cruise ship that ran aground off Papua New Guinea has been “detained” out of concern it’s unseaworthy “due to potential damage”, amid an investigation into how it became stuck on Saturday morning. The Coral Adventurer remained stuck on a reef off the north coast of Papua New Guinea, about 30km from PNG’s second-largest city, Lae, on Tuesday, as efforts to refloat it continue. Continue reading...

Zia’s archrivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation Former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia, whose archrivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation, has died, her political party said on Tuesday. She was 80. “The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6am, just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer,” the party said in a statement. Continue reading...

Two men killed in Hegseth-led attack on boat suspected of carrying drugs in international waters, Pentagon says The US military announced the killing of another two men in “a lethal kinetic strike”on a boat suspected of carrying drugs in international waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday. The Pentagon released video of the strike, which brings the total number of known naval attacks on suspected drug smugglers to 30 since September, and raises the death toll to at least 107 people, according to US military figures. Continue reading...

Australian federal police are reviewing security camera footage from the duo’s month-long trip to Davao in November The alleged Bondi attack shooters did not receive training or come into contact with a broader terror cell while visiting the Philippines, according to current assessments by federal police, with initial investigations indicating the father and son acted alone. The Australian federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said on Tuesday that Sajid and Naveen Akram had spent nearly a month in the Philippines just weeks before carrying out the antisemitic shooting at a Bondi Hanukah event on 14 December, killing 15 victims. Continue reading...

Littler’s missed doubles cheered in win over Rob Cross Champion denies being bothered in unconvincing style They say you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain. At a feverish and hostile Alexandra Palace, the same crowd that cheered Luke Littler on as a 16-year-old boy now jeers him to victory as an 18-year-old man. The character arc has come full circle; the heel turn complete. He is three matches from retaining his world title, and remains the overwhelming favourite to do so. But from this point, he’s going to have to do it on his own. As he finally skewered the winning dart to beat the spirited Rob Cross 4-2, he spun around to rebuke the audience that had done everything in its power to rattle him, from cheering his missed doubles to singing for Michael van Gerwen instead. “NOW WHAT?” he screamed at the sea of rented fancy dress, once and then twice. The heckling continued, surged even, and had still not abated by the time Littler gathered for his stage interview. Continue reading...

Jewish safety after Bondi will only be found by tackling radicalisation across Australia head on What would it take for me to feel safe wearing a kippah (a Jewish head covering) on a daily basis? This is a question I have been asking myself since 14 December. Which is not to suggest that I felt safe – or maybe comfortable is a better adjective – being Jewish in public before the Bondi massacre, but is to say that the question has suddenly become far more urgent. I do not feel safe wearing a kippah because I fear that to many Australians this would be interpreted as a sign that I support Israel. I do not want people to make assumptions about my politics based on my appearance. And, more prosaically, in terms of my fear, I do not want to be shouted at when I’m going to the shops. I do not feel safe wearing a kippah because all of my life I’ve overheard non-Jewish people sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories. Greedy, cheap, power hungry, in control of the media. A host of conscious and unconscious biases inform how people react to Jews – to wear a kippah is to invite these reactions. Continue reading...

Tony Blair was told that tensions with his then chancellor would need to be carefully managed, files reveal ‘Too complacent’: how Blair’s advisers misjudged his disastrous WI speech Peter Mandelson warned Tony Blair not to allow Gordon Brown’s supporters to wreck Labour’s 2005 general election campaign from within, according to newly released government files. Relations between Blair and his chancellor were strained in the autumn of 2004 as Labour prepared to try for a third successive election victory. Brown and his allies believed the prime minister had reneged on a promise to step down towards the end of Labour’s second term to allow him to take over. Continue reading...

Emergency medicine specialist says improved social care and efficiency would help crisis in NHS Emergency departments across the UK are “in big trouble” owing to the way corridor care has been “normalised”, a leading medic has warned. Dr Ian Higginson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said there should be “howls of outrage” over deaths linked to long emergency department waits, with just a few hospitals around the UK managing to avoid caring for patients on trolleys in corridors. Continue reading...

Grammy-winning artist joins husband Jay-Z and artists like Taylor Swift following the success of Cowboy Carter tour Beyoncé is now a billionaire, according to a report from Forbes – becoming the fifth musician to obtain the status. The Grammy award-winning artist, 44, has joined the world’s wealthiest people following the success of her Cowboy Carter tour, which grossed more than $400m in ticket sales, and an additional $50m in merchandise sales. Her previous Renaissance world tour brought in about more than $579m. Continue reading...

Some things just aren’t resolvable ... See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here Continue reading...

Trump also repeated false claims about renovation costs for the Fed headquarters during a Monday press conference Donald Trump launched another attack against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Monday, calling the central banker a “fool” and once again suggesting he would like to fire him. Trump launched his latest attack on Powell during a press conference with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, repeating false claims about the cost of a renovation of the central bank headquarters, and told reporters that he might file a lawsuit against Powell for “gross incompetence”. Continue reading...

Meera Syal also made dame while England women’s football and rugby winners feature prominently The actors Idris Elba and Meera Syal have been made a knight and a dame in the new year honours list, with top awards also going to the ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. The former head of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, was also made a dame and there were knighthoods for Patrick McCabe, a former UN official responsible for clearing unexploded bombs in Gaza; Tristram Hunt, the former Labour MP and now director of the V&A, for services to museums; and Roy Clarke, creator of the sitcoms Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and Keeping Up Appearances. Continue reading...

Leah Williamson made an OBE; four Lionesses are MBEs Torvill and Dean now a dame and a knight Sarina Wiegman has been awarded an honorary damehood after guiding England to back-to-back European titles, in a new year honours list dominated by the Lionesses and England’s victorious women’s rugby union team. The Red Roses’ World Cup success on home soil has led to the captain, Zoe Aldcroft, the vice-captain, Marlie Packer, and the head coach, John Mitchell, named OBEs, while Megan Jones, Sadia Kabeya and Ellie Kildunne become MBEs. Continue reading...

Doing a December double over Derby may have offered Leicester fans some festive cheer but it is unlikely to brook the longstanding resentment against a board whose treatment of staff over Christmas has only exacerbated ill will at the King Power Stadium. First-half goals from Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Jordan James sandwiched Rhian Brewster’s equaliser to earn manager Martí Cifuentes some respite after successive defeats. Leicester are four points off the playoff zone ahead of Thursday’s visit to in-form Sheffield United. Continue reading...

Villa keep coming from behind, keep winning by the odd goal and keep confounding the numbers. At some point it must stop – but not yet It can’t go on. It makes no sense that it goes on. And yet it goes on. Aston Villa went into Saturday’s Premier Leage game at Chelsea having won 10 games in a row, looking to match a record set in 1897 and 1914. For an hour there seemed no chance they would achieve it, as Chelsea outplayed them, took the lead and could have had several more. But Chelsea are vulnerable with a lead, especially at home, and Villa have developed a baffling habit of winning away games having gone behind. This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition. Continue reading...

In this Christmas special, four previous MasterChef winners compete for the ‘ultimate’ accolade. Grace Dent is a joy, while Torode bows out in a … very maverick way indeed So. Farewell then, John Torode. You were the co-presenter of MasterChef and Celebrity MasterChef. Until you weren’t. But first, and finally, there is this: the second of two festive specials in which we watch the Australian peering at potatoes while pretending we don’t know the BBC chose not to renew his contract in July after an allegation against him using “an extremely offensive racist term” was upheld. (Torode denies the allegations and claims to have “no recollection” of the incident). So, let’s scurry past the indignities (the two unaired Christmas specials from 2024; the summer of “MASTERCHEF CHAOS” headlines; the aired-but-with-two-contestants-edited-out-at-their-request series of MasterChef; Gregg Wallace) and remember him this way: staring blankly in linen as a panicking former credit controller from Hackney drops half a lobster on the studio floor. Continue reading...

Greene gives lengthy interview with New York Times days before stepping down as congresswoman for Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene, now just days away from stepping down as a congresswoman for Georgia, has said in her latest mea culpa interview that she “was just so naive” for believing that Donald Trump was a man of the people. In a lengthy interview with the New York Times that examines her break with the president after years of devotion, Greene explained that a series of minor ruptures with the president culminated in a total breach after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed in September. Continue reading...

Gaza not covered in announcement and will be handled on separate track, says US state department official The United States on Monday pledged $2bn in assistance to tens of millions of people facing hunger and disease in more than a dozen countries next year, part of what it said was a new mechanism for the delivery of life-saving assistance following major foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration. The US slashed its aid spending this year, and leading western donors such as Germany also pared back assistance as they pivoted to increased defense spending, triggering a severe funding crunch for the UN. The billions of dollars in assistance pledged by Washington on Monday will be overseen by the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, the state department said, under what it described as new model of assistance agreed with the UN that aims to make aid funding and delivery more efficient and increase accountability for the spending of funds. Continue reading...

South Africa 3-2 Zimbabwe | Egypt 0-0 Angola Angola face wait to qualify but Zimbabwe out Oswin Appollis scored a penalty in the final 10 minutes to hand South Africa a 3-2 victory over Zimbabwe in Marrakech on Monday and seal second spot in Group B at the Africa Cup of Nations, dumping their southern African rivals out of the tournament. South Africa finish with six points in the group, one behind winners Egypt. Both of those advance to the last 16 as Angola, on two points, finish in third and face an anxious wait to see if that is enough as one of the four best third-placed sides. Continue reading...

Strictly and Traitors presenter and ‘true national treasure’ will front The Claudia Winkleman Show from spring She has ruled the Traitors castle and waltzed out of the ballroom on Strictly Come Dancing. Now Claudia Winkleman is taking up residence in one of television’s most traditional settings – on the chatshow sofa. The BBC has confirmed that the presenter, who has become one of its most prized assets after fronting two of its most successful programmes, is to host The Claudia Winkleman Show in the spring. Continue reading...

From jaw-dropping tricks to scorpion kicks, flicks, solo efforts and more – enjoy our pick of 2025’s best goals The very definition of top bins: James Edmondson pops one right in the stanchion at Slough Town to help Macclesfield Town into the third round of the FA Cup. Continue reading...

The actor said privacy laws protecting children from paparazzi were a key factor in the family’s decision George Clooney has been granted French citizenship, along with his wife Amal Clooney and their two children, according to an official decree in France’s government gazette. The publication confirms an ambition Clooney alluded to early in December when he praised French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi. Continue reading...

More moments to savour, following reviews of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Peter Moores grew up in Macclesfield, a northern town that would not feel out of place in Surrey. Maybe that upbringing bred his ability to fit in, find a way to communicate and always be of one’s place, regardless of where that place may be. Continue reading...

Erica Fox’s remains were found after nearly weeklong search, marking a rare shark-related fatality for California California firefighters have found the body of a California triathlete on a beach north-west of Santa Cruz, almost a week after she went missing amid speculation that she was killed by a shark. The remains of Erica Fox were found on Saturday, her father and husband confirmed to local news outlets. Fox, 55, was part of a group of more than a dozen swimmers who left from Lovers Point near Monterey, California, on 21 December, but she never returned to shore. A witness driving by the area reported to authorities that they saw a shark with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth emerge from the water, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Continue reading...

Train accident in Oaxaca is likely to raise criticisms about public works projects from the previous administration At least 13 people were killed when a train derailed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in an accident which is likely to revive opposition criticisms of the speed and dealings with which the country’s government builds its flagship public works projects. The incident took place on the Interoceanic Train, which was built to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, creating an alternative rail cargo route to the Panama canal intended to drive development in the region. Continue reading...