57 h. ago Guyanese businessman facing US extradition elected opposition leader

Azruddin Mohamed’s election comes six months after he formed political party that became country’s second largestA Guyanese businessman facing extradition to the US on gold-smuggling and money-laundering charges has been elected as the country’s opposition leader, six months after he formed a political party that quickly became the second largest in the South American country.Azruddin Mohamed, 38, was confirmed as Guyana’s opposition leader after 16 lawmakers from the We Invest in Nationhood party (Win) and another from a single-seat outfit voted in his favor. The tally made Win the second-largest party in parliament, securing Mohamed’s election even as a magistrate’s court hears state arguments for his extradition to the US. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Multimillionaire leader of Reform in Scotland refuses to reveal net worth

Newly-appointed Malcolm Offord, who became a Tory life peer in 2021, plans to stand for Holyrood in MayUK politics live – latest updatesThe multimillionaire financier who has been made leader of Reform UK in Scotland has refused to say how wealthy he is, claiming that is a private matter.Malcolm Offord, formerly a Conservative party life peer, was unveiled by Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, as the party’s first Scottish leader, 10 weeks before a Scottish parliament election in which Reform is expected to win up to 18 seats. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Three arrested after alleged racially motivated attack on Muslim religious leader in Victoria

Police allege a 47-year-old imam was assaulted after he and his wife were forced off the road by three people in Melbourne’s south-eastFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Victorian Muslim religious leader was punched in the face after he and his wife were allegedly forced from their car on a Melbourne freeway in what police allege was a racially motivated attack.Police allege the pair were travelling along the South Gippsland Highway in Melbourne’s south-east at 7.40pm on Saturday when they were “racially abused” by three occupants of a small black hatchback. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago New protests erupt in Iran as supreme leader signals upcoming crackdown

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls protesters ‘vandals’ and ‘saboteurs’ and blames US for instigating the unrestIranians took to the streets in new protests on Friday to press the biggest movement against the Islamic republic in more than three years, as authorities sustained an internet blackout as part of a crackdown that has left dozens dead.Iran’s supreme leader vowed that authorities will not back down in the face of the rapidly growing protest movement, setting the stage for an intensified violent crackdown. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Iran’s supreme leader sets stage for harsher crackdown as protest movement swells

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls protesters ‘vandals’ and ‘saboteurs’ and blames the US for instigating the unrestIran’s supreme leader has vowed that authorities will “not back down” in the face of a rapidly growing protest movement, setting the stage for an intensified violent crackdown on the second day of a nationwide internet shutdown.Protests have raged in cities and towns across the country in recent days, posing a threat to the authority of the regime, which has been significantly weakened since the last large protest movement in the country in 2022. Another round of demonstrations was called for Friday night. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Iran’s supreme leader vows authorities ‘will not back down’ in face of growing protest movement

Protests have taken place in all 31 Iranian provinces as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blames US for unrestIran’s supreme leader has vowed that authorities will “not back down” in the face of a rapidly growing protest movement, fuelling fears of an intensifying crackdown on the second day of a nationwide internet shutdown.Protests have taken place in all 31 Iranian provinces in recent days, posing a threat to the authority of the regime, which has been significantly weakened since the last large protest movement in the country in 2022. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls protesters ‘vandals’ and ‘saboteurs’ and blames the US for instigating the unrestIran’s supreme leader has vowed that authorities will “not back down” in the face of growing protests, blaming the US for instigating demonstrations that started over economic conditions and have since expanded to calls for political reform.In his first speech since the protests started 13 days ago, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signalled on Friday that a greater crackdown was coming. He described protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs”, and accused them of working on behalf of foreign agendas. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago María Corina Machado to publish book on political vision for Venezuela amid upheaval

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner will lay out vision for the country in book publishing in USVenezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will publish a book in the US that lays out her vision for Venezuela’s political reconstruction as the country faces significant upheaval.The 120-page work titled The Freedom Manifesto is being released by Regnery Publishing, a conservative book publisher acquired by Skyhorse Publishing in 2023. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Delcy Rodríguez strikes defiant tone but must walk tightrope as Venezuela’s interim leader

Technocrat must accommodate US demands while shoring up a regime that is hated by many VenezuelansUS attacks Venezuela – live updatesIn her first speech as Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez lambasted the US and pledged fealty to Nicolás Maduro. But the Trump administration has made a cold calculation: she will bow to Washington.Rodríguez is a political veteran who served as Maduro’s vice-president and oil minister and defended the regime against accusations of terrorism, drug-running and election-stealing, yet for now she is Donald Trump’s favoured option to lead Venezuela. “She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Starmer insists he WILL still be Prime Minister in 2027 as he pleads with Labour plotters ahead of New Year reset not to unleash 'chaos' by replacing him

In his first interview of 2026 the Labour leader warned those seeking to replacing him that the result would be 'utter chaos'.

Politics

3 w. ago ‘We were missing in the conversation’: how Zack Polanski hit on plan to beat Reform at their own game

This time last year Polanski was barely known outside the party. Now he’s hoping for success at May’s local elections - by taking a page from Nigel Farage’s playbookZack Polanski finally decided to stand as the Greens’ leader, he says, after witnessing the party being eclipsed by Reform in last May’s local elections across England, and realising that British politics had changed for good.While the Greens made yet more steady gains, Reform won nearly 700 councillors from a standing start. As deputy leader, it was Polanski’s job to speak to losing candidates to both offer consolation and ask what lessons could be learned. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago The Guardian view on mRNA vaccines: they are the future – with or without Donald Trump | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we examine how the White House’s war on vaccines has left the future of a key technology uncertain and up for grabsThe late scientist and thinker Donald Braben argued that 20th-century breakthroughs arose from scientists being free to pursue bold ideas without pressure for quick results or rigid peer review. The rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines seemed to validate his claim: emergency conditions sped up trials, relaxed regulatory sequencing and encouraged scientists to share findings before peer review. Out of that sprang one of the great scientific success stories of our age: mRNA vaccines. These use synthetic genetic code to train the immune system to defend itself against viruses. Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, whose work enabled the mRNA Covid vaccine, went on to win the Nobel prize. Their breakthrough suggests that loosening traditional constraints could...

Politics

4 w. ago The Guardian view on the new Monroe doctrine: Trump’s forceful approach to the western hemisphere comes at a cost | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today, how US foreign policy has dramatically – and alarmingly – turned towards Latin America and the CaribbeanDonald Trump is not generally noted as a student of history. Yet over the past year, his decisive reorientation of US foreign policy towards the Americas has revived a playbook dating back two centuries, to the fifth president, James Monroe. Now the 47th is doubling down. An anti-interventionist is having second thoughts. Remarks that sounded at first like bad jokes or random outbursts from the presidential id have become more sinister through repetition or accompanying actions. Only a fool would take all of Mr Trump’s comments literally – but they should certainly be taken seriously.He has refused to rule out using military force to take control of Greenland and repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state. He threatened to seize the Panama canal. He has imposed swing...

Politics

last month Psychic predicts huge world leader will die in 2026 and shares who it won't be

Psychic medium Selina Avalon has shared staggering predictions for 2026, including a major state funeral for a world leader who she says will not be Donald Trump

Politics

last month 'I predicted tsunami and now I know a world leader will die in 2026'

Psychic Selina Avalon claims a major global figure with Greek links will die in early 2026, with Donald Trump set to attend the state funeral

Politics

last month The Guardian view on the new space race: humanity risks exporting its old politics to the moon | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look skyward, where a new lunar contest mirrors humanity’s struggle to live within planetary limitsDuring the cold war’s space race, the Apollo moon missions were driven by the need to prove American superiority. Having made that political and technological point with the 1969 moon landing, the contest between Moscow and Washington petered out. A new dash across the skies kicks off in 2026, reigniting geopolitical competition under the guise of “peaceful exploration”. The moon’s south pole is emerging as the most valuable real estate in the solar system, offering “peaks of eternal light” for solar arrays and ice deposits in craters shielded from the sun.The US and a China-led bloc are eyeing the lunar surface and its potential to control a post-terrestrial economy. Space had been humanity’s last commons, supposedly shielded by the 1967 UN outer space treaty that bans state ...

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