Starmer’s allies launch ‘Stop Andy Burnham’ campaign to block parliamentary return6 hours agoThe Guardian Keir Starmer’s allies have launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign to prevent the Labour mayor from returning to parliament after the resignation of a Manchester MP triggered a byelection. Multiple members of the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) predicted it would be impossible for Burnham to make it through the selection process given the number of Starmer loyalists on the body desperate to avoid a leadership challenge. The Labour party machine sprang into action after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Andrew Gwynne was planning to quit due to ill health, with officials and MPs warning about the financial cost and political risk of a subsequent mayoral race.
[full article] [see deals]Andy Burnham faces tricky run to win Labour crown4 hours agoBBC A marble sits at the top of a very long, elaborate and twisting run right now.If - and it's a big if - it trundles all the way to the bottom, Andy Burnham might become prime minister.But hang on a minute, let's not get ahead of ourselves.That marble might not even set off down the run, or might fly off spectacularly halfway down.The twists, turns and obstacles standing between the Greater Manchester mayor and a return to Westminster as an MP – a prerequisite for him to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership – are substantial.
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Former Special Counsel Jack Smith testifies before US Congress committee | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera8 hours agoAl Jazeera Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has offered public testimony for the first time as he returned to Congress to answer questions about his investigations into United States President Donald Trump. On Thursday, Smith sat before the judiciary committee of the US House of Representatives, where he alternately fielded praise from Democrats and barbs from Republicans. All the while, Smith insisted his investigations were nonpartisan — and that there were, indeed, grounds to bring two federal indictments against Trump during the period between his two terms in office. “I made my decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith told the congressional panel. The 2020 election was a central part of Smith’s investigation.
[full article] [see deals]Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,429 | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera1 hour agoAl Jazeera Atesh, an underground resistance group, says it has trained thousands – including Russian soldiers – in sabotage. Solar and wind power provided more electricity than coal and gas last year, leading a global trend, says Ember. US president says newly established Board of Peace will be able to ‘do pretty much whatever we want to do’.
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Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon for at least $5bn9 hours agoThe Guardian Donald Trump has reportedly sued JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5bn after accusing America’s largest bank of “debanking” him. The US president alleged that JPMorgan stopped offering him banking services in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
[full article] [see deals]Trump sues JPMorgan and CEO Dimon over alleged ‘debanking’ | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera7 hours agoAl Jazeera United States President Donald Trump has sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5bn, accusing JPMorgan of debanking him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021. It alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days’ notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.
[full article] [see deals]Trump sues JPMorgan for $5bn over account closure after Capitol riot6 hours agoBBC President Donald Trump has filed a $5bn (£3.7bn) lawsuit against America's biggest bank JPMorgan Chase, accusing it of illegally closing his accounts for political reasons. The lawsuit, which also names the bank's chief executive Jamie Dimon, alleges that Trump and his businesses suffered "considerable financial and reputational harm" after the bank abruptly closed their accounts in 2021.The bank moved to close the accounts after the 6 January, 2021 riot when Trump supporters descended on the US Capitol to disrupt formal ratification of the election results.
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France seizes oil tanker in Mediterranean sailing from Russia: Macron | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera9 hours agoAl Jazeera The French Navy has intercepted a tanker in the Mediterranean that officials allege belongs to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, designed to evade international sanctions. In a statement shared on social media on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the oil tanker was “coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag”.
[full article] [see deals]France seizes suspected Russian 'shadow fleet' oil tanker in the Mediterranean9 hours agoBBC France says it has seized an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of being part of Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet".French President Emmanuel Macron said the tanker, named the Grinch, was "subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag".The French navy, with the assistance of allies, boarded the vessel on Thursday morning between Spain and Morocco. French maritime authorities said that a search of the vessel had "confirmed the doubts as to the regularity of the flag".Russia's so-called shadow fleet is a clandestine network of tankers used to evade Western sanctions on Russian oil exports.
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ICE detains 5-year-old during Minnesota operation10 hours agoBBC US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday during an enforcement operation, Minnesota school officials have said, as part of an immigration crackdown in the state.Pre-schooler Liam Ramos was with his father - named by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias - when Conejo Arias was approached by agents on his driveway. In a statement posted on X, external, the DHS said "ICE did NOT target a child", but was conducting an operation against his father, an "illegal alien" who "abandoned" his son when approached.Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights Public Schools superintendent, asked: "Why detain a 5-year-old?
[full article] [see deals]US officers detain 5-year-old boy as Minnesota immigration raids continue | Migration News | Al Jazeera24 minutes agoAl Jazeera US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have detained a five-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota, after allegedly using him “as bait” to apprehend his father, who has a pending asylum case. Federal agents took the child, Liam Conejo Ramos, from a running car while it was in the family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said during a news conference on Wednesday. The officers then told the child to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a five-year-old as bait”, Stenvik said. Stenvik said the family, who came to the United States in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country.
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BBC apologises to sacked presenter over homophobic abuse1 hour agoBBC The BBC has apologised to a former radio presenter after an internal investigation found a failure to act in response to homophobic abuse.Jack Murley alleged he was called homophobic names, including "fairy boy", by other staff members and told to sound "less gay" on air by a manager.The 37-year-old was dismissed from BBC Radio Cornwall in 2024 for breaching the organisation's editorial and social media guidelines after posting online about proposed changes to BBC Local. An employment tribunal found it was "reasonable" and not a result of discrimination over his sexuality.In a subsequent letter to Murley, the BBC's chief operating officer across Nations, Jason Horton, apologised on behalf of the organisation for "the behaviours and comments" he was subject to.
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Queen Elizabeth II statue will be standing and not on horseback1 hour agoBBC The national monument to the late Queen Elizabeth II will feature a statue of her standing, rather than on horseback as previously illustrated, the memorial committee has announced.The memorial, including three statues and a tiara-shaped glass balustrade for a bridge, is going to be built in St James's Park in central London, near Buckingham Palace.The designer of a second smaller sculpture has also been announced as Karen Newman, who once made waxwork models at Madame Tussauds, including Prince Philip.But in an update from the memorial committee and Cabinet Office, the main statue on The Mall will show Queen Elizabeth standing up and not riding a horse, as depicted in earlier illustrations.
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Hundreds of illegal waste tips operating in England - including 11 'super sites'1 hour agoBBC Environmental campaigners and residents living near sites across England say little is being done to clean up the dumps, despite the culprits in many cases already having been identified and prosecuted.In Gloucestershire, tens of thousands of tonnes of waste has been dumped at land in Over.Witnesses have told the BBC that, at its height, 30-50 vehicles were going onto the site near the Over roundabout every day.A fire in June 2025, which saw Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service called out, caused operations at the site to largely cease, although it has not been closed off.Fires regularly break out at the site, which is close to a busy main road and at the back of a popular countryside park and farmshop.
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Japan pauses restart of world’s largest nuclear power plant one day after it went online2 hours agoThe Guardian The restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant was suspended in Japan on Thursday just a day after it went online for the first time in about 14 years, with the operator saying it does not know when the problem will be solved. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata province had been closed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but operations to relaunch it began on Wednesday after it received the final green light from the nuclear regulator. However, its operator the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said on Thursday that “an alarm from the monitoring system … sounded during the reactor startup procedures”, causing it to suspend operations.
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Retired civil servants left in pension limbo2 hours agoBBC Some former state employees across the country have been left with no income this month after the company managing civil service pensions failed to pay them.The Civil Service Pension Scheme, which manages the pensions of 1.7 million public sector workers in the UK, has been unable to provide lump sums or regular payments to many people since Capita took over administration of the scheme in December.Capita said it had been left with a much bigger backlog of cases than originally agreed and apologised to those affected.One retiree, Steve Duell, said that he will have to borrow to pay his bills if he does not receive his pension by the end of the month.
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MPs ask Serious Fraud Office to investigate UK home insulation sector2 hours agoThe Guardian Members of parliament have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the UK’s home insulation sector, after thousands of householders suffered ruined homes, big financial losses and months of disruption from the “clear and catastrophic failure” of two Conservative government schemes. More than 30,000 households were left with defects, some of them severe, including mould, water ingress and damage to the fabric of walls, with about 3,000 dwellings so badly damaged they presented immediate health and safety risks to occupants. Households that had external cladding installed – numbering about 23,000 – bore the worst of the damage, with 98% damaged and in need of repair, alongside 29% of the homes fitted with internal wall insulation.
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House rejects resolution that would bar Trump from sending troops to Venezuela3 hours agoThe Guardian The US House has rejected a resolution that would have prevented Donald Trump from sending US military forces to Venezuela, after a vote on the legislation fell just short of the majority needed for passage. The tied vote was the latest sign of House speaker Mike Johnson’s tenuous hold on the majority, as well as some of the growing pushback in the Republican-controlled Congress to the US president’s aggressions in the western hemisphere. A Senate vote on a similar resolution was also tied last week until JD Vance broke the deadlock. Last week, Senate Republicans were only able to narrowly dismiss the Venezuela war powers resolution after the Trump administration persuaded two Republicans to back away from their earlier support.
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‘Will act accordingly’: US threatens action against Haitian council | Government News | Al Jazeera3 hours agoAl Jazeera The United States has issued a warning to Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, writing that it would consider action should the temporary governing body compromise the Caribbean nation’s security. In a sternly worded social media post on Thursday, the US embassy in Haiti maintained that its goal was the “establishment of baseline security and stability”. “The US would regard any effort to change the composition of the government by the non-elected Transitional Presidential Council at this late stage in its tenure (set to expire on February 7) to be an effort to undermine that objective,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote.
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Six injured after knife attack at Kurdish demonstration in Antwerp4 hours agoThe Guardian Six people have been injured after a knife attack at a demonstration in Belgium on Thursday evening, police said. Two of the victims were in a critical condition in hospital following the incident in the port city of Antwerp near the Operaplein (Opera Square), police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns said. Bruyns said police were able to apprehend the two suspects who, based on initial findings, had mingled with the demonstrators.
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Rural and coastal areas of England to get more cancer doctors4 hours agoThe Guardian Hospitals in rural and coastal parts of England will get more cancer doctors to help tackle stark inequalities that mean people in some areas are far more likely to die from the disease. The plan is part of a government drive to end the “patchy” nature of NHS cancer care, which is characterised by wide postcode lotteries in access to diagnostic tests and treatment. “For too long your chances of seeing a doctor and catching cancer early have depended on where you live,” said Wes Streeting, the health secretary. The scheme is one of a host of measures to improve cancer care in England that will be announced in the government’s new national cancer plan on 4 February, World Cancer Day.
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Trump sparks anger over claim Nato troops avoided Afghanistan front line4 hours agoBBC Donald Trump has sparked fresh outrage in the UK after saying Nato troops stayed "a little off the front lines" during the war in Afghanistan.Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, called it an "absolute insult" to the 457 British service personnel killed in the conflict, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "How dare he question their sacrifice?"Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served in Afghanistan, said it was "sad to see our nation's sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply".The UK was among several allies to join the US in Afghanistan from 2001, after it invoked Nato's collective security clause following the 9/11 terror attacks.
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Son-in-law of opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez released in Venezuela | US-Venezuela Tensions News | Al Jazeera4 hours agoAl Jazeera The son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has been released from prison in the South American country. The release of Rafael Tudares Bracho on Thursday comes as the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez gradually reduces the number of political prisoners held in Venezuela’s prisons. The move has been widely seen as a concession to the administration of United States President Donald Trump, which has kept military assets deployed off the country’s coast and threatened Venezuelan officials if they do not comply with US demands.
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US unveils plans for 'New Gaza' with skyscrapers5 hours agoBBC The US has unveiled its plans for a "New Gaza" that would see the devastated Palestinian territory rebuilt from scratch.Slides showed dozens of skyscrapers stretching along the Mediterranean coast and housing estates in the Rafah area, while a map outlining the phased development of new residential, agricultural and industrial areas for the 2.1 million population.They were presented during a signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos for President Donald Trump's new Board of Peace, which is tasked with ending the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and overseeing reconstruction."We're going to be very successful in Gaza.
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Two popular Tunisian journalists handed three-year jail terms | Freedom of the Press News | Al Jazeera5 hours agoAl Jazeera A Tunisian court has handed new prison terms to two well-known media figures in what critics say is the government’s latest attempt to punish dissent. The criminal chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced radio journalists Bohran Bssaies and Mourad Zghidi to three and a half years in prison on Thursday for “money laundering”, a judicial source told Tunisia’s state TAP news agency. The conviction adds to a growing list of cases against opposition figures, journalists, and other perceived critics of President Kais Saied, who rights groups say has overseen a wide-reaching rollback on freedoms since taking office in 2019.
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Former FTX crypto executive Caroline Ellison released from federal custody5 hours agoThe Guardian Disgraced former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison was released from federal custody Thursday after serving about 14 months for her involvement in the multibillion-dollar FTX fraud scandal. Ellison was previously head of FTX’s associated trading arm and the on-again, off-again romantic partner of the crypto exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Ellison, 31, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to seven charges including wire fraud and money laundering.
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White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest6 hours agoThe Guardian The White House posted a digitally altered image of a woman who was arrested on Thursday in a case touted by attorney general Pam Bondi, to make it seem as if she was dramatically crying, a Guardian analysis of the image has found. The woman, Nekima Levy Armstrong, also appears to have darker skin in the altered image. Armstrong was one of three people arrested on Thursday in connection to a demonstration that disrupted church services in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.
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Two confirmed dead and more presumed buried after landslides hit house and campground in New Zealand6 hours agoThe Guardian Landslides hit a house and a campground in New Zealand on Thursday, leaving at least two dead while emergency crews were trying to rescue others buried in rubble, officials said. The first hit a house in the community of Welcome Bay on New Zealand’s North Island at 4:50am, police said. Two people escaped the house, and the bodies of two who were trapped inside were recovered hours later, the emergency management minister, Mark Mitchell, said.
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Paramount Skydance extends Warner Bros takeover bid offer | Media News | Al Jazeera6 hours agoAl Jazeera Paramount Skydance has extended the deadline for its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery by a month, buying time to persuade investors that its bid is superior to one from Netflix. The Ellison-owned media company on Thursday moved the deadline to February 20 to consider its $77.9bn offer to buy Warner shares for $30 apiece in cash. The extension marks the second time Paramount has pushed out the deadline since challenging Warner’s merger agreement with Netflix last month. Earlier this month, Warner’s board rejected an amended Paramount bid that included $40bn in equity personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
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Infantino joke about British fans was 'cheap' - FSA6 hours agoBBC Infantino reiterated his defence of World Cup 2026 ticket prices, which the FSA previously described as "scandalous".Group stage tickets are up to three times the price of those for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while the cheapest ticket for the final in New Jersey is £3,119.Fifa introduced a small number of "more affordable" $60 (£45) tickets for all 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup following criticism of its pricing structure.Speaking in Davos, Infantino acknowledged "tickets are not cheap" and that he and Fifa were "hammered" as a result, adding "the main critics were from Germany and England, of course".However, he defended the prices by again pointing to the demand for tickets.He said: "Now, number one in ticket requests is the US.
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Three people die at same waterfall beauty spot as warning issued7 hours agoBBC Helen and Rachael Patching, aged 52 and 33, from Kent died in January 2023 and 26-year-old Corey Longdon from Gloucester died in June 2024 on visits to the area known as Waterfall Country in the Brecon Beacons.Assistant coroner for south Wales central Rachel Knight said she would issue a prevention of future deaths report and ask for improvements to be made to mobile phone signal in the area.Knight said it was "unusual" to hold three inquests as one, but felt the issues were "similar" due to the location and events leading up to the deaths.
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Government admits its approval for Buckinghamshire AI datacentre should be quashed7 hours agoThe Guardian The government has been forced to admit its own planning approval for a major AI datacentre should be quashed after it failed to fully consider the climate impact, in what campaigners described as “an embarrassing climbdown”. Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, had overruled opposition from a local council to grant permission for a hyperscale datacentre on greenbelt land by the M25 in Buckinghamshire in line with Labour’s pledge to enable faster private investment in AI. But her successor, Steve Reed, has admitted the reasons for not requiring an environmental impact assessment were “inadequate” and that “permission should be quashed”.
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Experts warn of threat to democracy by ‘AI bot swarms’ infesting social media7 hours agoThe Guardian Political leaders could soon launch swarms of human-imitating AI agents to reshape public opinion in a way that threatens to undermine democracy, a high profile group of experts in AI and online misinformation has warned. The Nobel peace prize-winning free-speech activist, Maria Ressa, and leading AI and social science researchers from Berkeley, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and Yale are among a global consortium flagging the new “disruptive threat” posed by hard-to-detect, malicious “AI swarms” infesting social media and messaging channels. A would-be autocrat could use such swarms to persuade populations to accept cancelled elections or overturn results, they said, amid predictions the technology could be deployed at scale by the time of the US presidential election in 2028.
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US envoy meets SDF commander, calls for Syria ceasefire to be upheld | Syria's War News | Al Jazeera8 hours agoAl Jazeera The United States has reiterated support for a ceasefire in Syria’s north, urging the government and Kurdish-led forces to adopt “confidence-building measures” after recent clashes. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack made the diplomatic appeal on Thursday after meeting with Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Ilham Ahmed, a leading Syrian Kurdish politician.
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Gordon Ramsay says tax changes will make restaurants ‘lambs to the slaughter’8 hours agoThe Guardian The celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has accused the government of cooking up a kitchen nightmare at restaurants across the country with tax changes that he says will make hospitality businesses “lambs to the slaughter”. Ramsay, whose company operates 34 restaurants in the UK including Bread Street Kitchen, Pétrus and Lucky Cat, said the industry was “facing a bloodbath”. He said restaurants were closing every day as a result of rising business rates, which came on top of higher energy, staffing and ingredient costs and little growth in consumer spending.
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Trump's son called UK police after seeing woman 'beat up', court hears8 hours agoBBC Donald Trump's youngest son contacted UK police saying he witnessed a friend in London being "beat up" during a video call, a court has heard.Barron Trump, 19, told police he had friends call 999 from the US so that he could report the alleged attack in January 2025.Matvei Rumiantsev, 22, is on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court accused of assault and two counts of rape, among other charges, against the alleged victim.He denies assault, actual bodily harm, two counts of rape, intentional strangulation and perverting the course of justice by pressuring the woman to withdraw her complaints.
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Number of police forces to be cut in major shakeup9 hours agoBBC The government is to radically reduce the number of police forces in England and Wales as part of what sources have called the largest reform of policing in decades.Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce plans for police reform next week.She will pledge to "significantly" cut the number of forces from its current level of 43, and tell them to focus on serious and organised crime. Police chiefs have been calling, external for the creation of 12 "mega forces" to save money and boost crime-fighting efforts.It could be years before changes are implemented, with government sources saying only that it will happen by the end of the next parliament, around 2034.
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Eight surprise takeaways from the Oscar nominations9 hours agoBBC Awards pundits were taken by surprise from the very first two words spoken at the Oscar nominations on Thursday."Elle Fanning, for Sentimental Value," said hosts Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman, as they kicked off the nominations with the best supporting actress category.Fanning's appearance got things off to a spicy start from the earliest possible moment - she had received praise for her performance in the Norwegian family drama but few had predicted a nomination.The opening category set the tone for a string of snubs and surprises, which started coming thick and fast.
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Reform councillors say they will not close Lancashire care homes9 hours agoThe Guardian Reform councillors have said they will not close a group of care homes in Lancashire after months of public outcry. Members of Lancashire county council, where the party won 52 of 84 seats in the May 2025 local elections, announced earlier this week that the homes slated for closure would instead receive investment. Mark Clifford, the leader of council’s Labour group and the shadow cabinet member for adult social care, praised the work of those who fought against the council’s plans, saying that the decision was “embarrassing” for Reform but a win for the residents and their families.
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Senegal coach defends AFCON final walk-off before expected sanction | Africa Cup of Nations News | Al Jazeera9 hours agoAl Jazeera Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has defended his team’s walk-off during the Africa Cup of Nations final, saying it was an emotional decision taken in the chaos of the moment. Last Sunday, Senegal left the field in stoppage time when Morocco was awarded a penalty, just moments after a potential trophy-winning Senegal goal was ruled out.
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Real Madrid remain football’s top earners but Liverpool overtake Man Utd | Football News | Al Jazeera10 hours agoAl Jazeera Liverpool have overtaken Manchester United for the first time as the Premier League’s biggest-financial earners, but Real Madrid remained top performers in world football during the 2024-25 season, according to an annual financial list. The Spanish club topped Deloitte’s Football Money League, published on Thursday, with 1.16 billion euros ($1.36bn) of revenue despite not winning either La Liga or the Champions League. The only club to make more than $1bn in the past two seasons, Real Madrid benefitted in 2024-25 from a whopping 23 percent rise in commercial revenue – driven by merchandise and corporate partners – to 594 million euros ($696.6m), the Deloitte figures showed.
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Minister told armoured vehicle which left soldiers vomiting was 'safe'10 hours agoBBC A UK government minister has said he is "angry" he was not kept fully informed about issues which resulted in the British Army's Ajax armoured vehicle programme being paused.The Ministry of Defence said it had paused its decision-making on the future of the programme while further investigations took place, after 35 service personnel across 23 vehicles became ill with reports of some vomiting and shaking following training last year.Defence Minister Luke Pollard said he had initially been told the vehicle was "demonstrably safe".He said he had already taken a number of steps, including replacing the senior team leader responsible for the troubled project.
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Man died in fall tying Union flags to lampposts10 hours agoBBC A man suffered fatal head injuries after falling from a ladder intoxicated, while tying a Union flag to a lamppost, an inquest heard.After watching a football match, Paul Lumber, 61, had gone to attach flags to lampposts near his home in Bedminster, Bristol, on the evening of 22 November last year.Neighbours heard a loud bang before finding Lumber, a painter and decorator, on the ground by his ladder, Avon Coroner's Court heard. He died at Southmead Hospital on 6 December.Dr Simon Fox KC, assistant coroner for Avon, reached a conclusion of accidental death on Thursday, noting Lumber had consumed alcohol before his fall.
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