Gun laws will be significantly tightened and protests restricted for up to three months in New South Wales at the behest of the police commissioner, under an emergency set of laws introduced to the state parliament in the wake of the Bondi shooting.
The bill is being debated in the lower house on Monday and is expected to pass with the support of the NSW Liberal party, and pass the upper house on Tuesday.
Six absurdist signs resembling official city council information boards have popped up across New Zealand’s second-largest city
Outside an abandoned building in New Zealand’s second-biggest city, a sign reads “slightly haunted but manageable”. In the middle of a busy shopping strip, pedestrians are warned to keep to a 2.83km/h walking speed. In another part of the Christchurch, one piece of signage declares simply “don’t”.
The baffling boards are not an overzealous new council initiative, but a piece of art designed to “play with the way we take authority and signage so seriously”.
Moscow reported to have forcibly moved dozens of people from border village; Florida peace talks described as ‘productive’. What we know on day 1,398
The Ukrainian army was battling an attempted Russian breakthrough in the Sumy region, it said on Sunday, after reports that Moscow forcibly moved 50 people from a border village there. That marks a renewed Russian advance in the part of the region largely spared from intense ground fighting since Ukraine regained land there in a 2022 counteroffensive. “Fighting is currently ongoing in the village of Grabovske,” Ukraine’s joint taskforce said, adding the troops were “making efforts to drive the occupiers back into Russian territory”. It has also refuted media reports saying Moscow’s troops were in the neighbouring Ryasne village. Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian rights ombudsman said Russian troops forcibly moved about 50 people from Grabovske to Russia. There was no official comment from Russia. On Saturday, the Russian army said it had captured the village of Vysoke, a short distance from Grabovske.
US and Ukrainian envoys issued a joint statement on Sunday saying talks in Miami had been “productive and constructive” but did not announce any apparent breakthrough in efforts to end the Russian invasion. “Over the last three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation held a series of productive and constructive meetings with American and European partners,” Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said in separate statements on X on Sunday. Witkoff posted: “Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability and long-term prosperity. Peace must be not only a cessation of hostilities, but also a dignified foundation for a stable future.”
The Kremlin on Sunday denied that three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US were on the cards. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a day earlier that Washington had mooted the trilateral format, which would mark Moscow and Kyiv’s first face-to-face negotiations in half a year, but the Ukrainian president expressed scepticism that they would lead to progress. Russian news agencies reported Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, as telling reporters: “At present, no one has seriously discussed this initiative, and to my knowledge it is not in preparation.” Russian representatives have also been in southern Florida for discussions with the US over Ukraine, with a Kremlin envoy saying on Saturday that the talks had been pressing on “constructively”.
Keir Starmer discussed efforts to achieve a “just and lasting end” to the war in a Sunday call with Donald Trump, the British prime minister’s office said in a statement after the Florida talks. “The two leaders began by reflecting on the war in Ukraine,” Starmer’s office said in a readout of the call, adding they had discussed the work of the so-called “coalition of the willing” countries that have pledged to support Kyiv.
Russia has renewed its criticism of efforts by Europe and Ukraine to amend US proposals to end the war in Ukraine, saying they did not improve prospects for peace. Rory Carroll reports that Putin aide Ushakov told reporters on Sunday that the proposed tweaks to Washington’s plan could prolong the conflict. “I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov said. He added that he had not seen the exact proposals and that his criticism was “not a forecast”.
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, Reuters reported six sources familiar with intelligence as saying, even as negotiators seek an end to the war that would leave Russia with far less territory. The most recent of the reports dates from late September, one of the sources said. The intelligence contradicts the Russian leader’s denials that he is a threat to Europe. “The intelligence has always been that Putin wants more,” Mike Quigley, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, told Reuters. “The Europeans are convinced of it. The Poles are absolutely convinced of it. The Baltics think they’re first.”
The media hold power to account but no business can keep producing without being paid
The government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) consultation paper is welcome but it has taken too long to get to this point, the envisaged scheme is complex and it risks favouring the big tech companies.
The background to all this is important. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s digital platform inquiry, which was completed in mid-2019, recommended what became the news media bargaining code (NMBC). The logic was that Google and Facebook, in particular, were benefiting significantly from news content without paying for it.
In the first 10 months of this year, South Korea imported $159m worth of kimchi, almost entirely from China, while exporting $137m
The pungent scent of red chilli powder hangs in the air at Kim Chieun’s kimchi factory in Incheon, about 30km west of Seoul. Inside, salted cabbage soaks in large metal vats in the first stage of a process that Kim has followed for more than 30 years.
But watching over the production line has become increasingly fraught. South Korea imports more kimchi than it exports, and the gap has widened as cheaper Chinese-made products take hold in the domestic market.
Fantasy, mystery and psychological thriller series dominate book sales, as adult colouring also makes a comeback
Fantasy, mystery and psychological thriller series dominate the UK’s bestsellers list for 2025, topped by Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune. The fifth book in his Thursday Murder Club series secured the top position at 391,429 hardback sales.
Adult colouring also had a resurgence this year: colouring books aimed at all ages made it into the top 20 chart, according to analysis by NielsenIQ BookData.
McCarthy hurt as Vikings hand Giants ninth straight loss
Chargers close on playoffs behind Herbert surge
Cam Ward threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, and the Tennessee Titans snapped an 11-game home skid by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 26-9 on Sunday.
The Titans (3-12) improved to 1-7 at home this season with their first win at Nissan Stadium since 3 November 2024. The skid matched the franchise’s worst since moving to Tennessee in 1997.
The Africa Cup of Nations hosts, Morocco, overcame a nervy start to beat Comoros in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday after Brahim Díaz and the substitute Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals.
It was a far from convincing showing, however, from highly fancied Morocco who are 97 places above the small Indian Ocean island nation in the world rankings and had to toil hard for the points in the rain at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.
England forward’s brilliance is proving difficult to stop but Unai Emery will surely not be able to keep relying on him every time
It is only two months since Morgan Rogers was standing on the Stadium of Light pitch, looking confused as Unai Emery berated him for failing to anticipate a through-ball as Aston Villa failed to beat a team that played for an hour with 10 men. At that point, as Villa went six without a win, it wasn’t clear whether Rogers’ form was a symptom or a cause of Villa’s more general malaise.
There was a volcanic touchline reaction from Emery on Sunday as well, but this was rather more positive. As Rogers swept in his second of the game to restore Villa’s lead, Emery ripped off his thick padded coat, spread his arms and roared. Villa were on their way to a 10th successive win and, having failed to win any of their first six games of the season, are somehow only three points behind the leaders Arsenal.
Steve Witkoff says representatives share goals to stop killing, support Ukraine and end war with Russia
A White House envoy said on Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the US and Europe.
TV host who came under pressure from Trump government will say: ‘From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year’
The US comedian whose late-night show was briefly cancelled after pressure from Donald Trump’s government is to urge UK audiences to stand up for free speech.
In a defiant alternative Christmas message on Channel 4, Jimmy Kimmel will liken the first year of Trump’s second administration to the rise of fascism.
Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany’s new TV drama is flat, airless and banal. It’s a crass affair with a thin, half-hearted performance from Sharpe
Here’s my position. If you are going to create a miniseries about the life, death and music of one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western civilisation, and if you are going to use as your source material a script for a great play that was made into a near-perfect film beloved by almost everyone for its wit and immense, profound themes rendered accessible and moving, and for the fact that it had two of the most extraordinary performances ever committed to what may still then have been celluloid – well, you had better be pretty damn sure that you are bringing something new, exciting, different, richer, cleverer, even more illuminating to the table. Otherwise you are going to look like a bit of a berk.
And so, my friends, to the new six-part drama Amadeus, about the life, death and music of Wolfgang A Mozart, one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western history. Co-creators Joe Barton and Julian Farino have retained parts of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play and the 1984 film starring Tom Hulce as Mozart and F Murray Abraham as his rival composer Antonio Salieri, reworked them into lesser forms, and surrounded them with lesser – flat, airless, banal – scenes. Shaffer’s driving interests in the corrupting power of envy, the survival of religious faith under duress, the mystery of talent and what we expect to come from genius are mostly reduced to pale, petty versions of themselves. The performances – well, we’ll come to those.
Department says image was flagged by prosecutors before determining it posed no risk to survivors of late sex offender
The US justice department said on Sunday it had restored an image it had removed a day earlier from the public release of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein after concluding that the photograph, which included within it a photo of Donald Trump, posed no risk of public exposure to victims of the late convicted sex offender.
The justice department said the image had been flagged by federal prosecutors in New York for potentially exposing victims of Epstein. Its unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a chorus of accusations from Democrats about evident political interference in favor of the president, a former friend of Epstein.
Figures at event include Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Trump Jr as cohesion of political right shows signs of stress
The stars of the Maga conservatism converged for the four-day AmericaFest conference in Phoenix this weekend amid reports that the cohesion of the political-religious right, a year into Donald Trump’s second presidential term, is showing signs of stress.
The sold-out Turning Point USA event brought together figures from the right including Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump Jr, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ben Shapiro and Glenn Beck, to kick around the dominant themes of conservatism.
The rebuilding Chicago White Sox added Munetaka Murakami to their lineup on Sunday, agreeing to a $34m, two-year contract with the Japanese slugger.
Murakami, who turns 26 on 2 February, joins a promising group of young hitters that also includes Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth. The White Sox finished last in the AL Central this year with a 60-102 record, a 19-game improvement from the previous season.
Captain Fernandes injured in defeat at Aston Villa
‘We need to find solutions, we continue with our plan’
Ruben Amorim insisted Manchester United risk making mistakes in the January transfer window if they panic after Bruno Fernandes joined their growing injury list. Amorim said he expects the United captain to miss their home Boxing Day game against Newcastle and fears Fernandes will be sidelined “for a while” after being forced off at half-time in the defeat against Aston Villa.
Fernandes clutched his left calf after a sixth-minute tackle from Boubacar Kamara and was later fouled by another Villa midfielder, Amadou Onana. He was replaced by Lisandro Martínez at the interval. The Argentina centre-back played alongside Manuel Ugarte at the base of United’s midfield, with Kobbie Mainoo absent with a calf issue sustained in training on Saturday.
Unexpected arrival is a boon for birdlife in New Zealand, where there are only 500 takahē left
A pair of rare native New Zealand takahē birds who were believed infertile have stunned staff at the world’s largest urban eco-sanctuary, after hatching a “miracle” chick.
The roughly seven-week old chick was discovered inside Zealandia, a fully fenced eco-sanctuary 10 minutes from Wellington’s city centre, in November, but its arrival has been a closely guarded secret to ensure its safety.
The hosts and favourites got off to a winning start after goals from Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi
The teams take to the field in Rabat, the stadium looks close to full, the home fans are expectant. Can Morocco set a standard?
On the field at Rabat, at the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah, CAF President Dr Pratrice Motsepe has takes to declare the AFCON open. Sadly, UK coverage of the opening ceremony has been non-existent.
Presidential spokesperson says all those abducted from a Catholic school in Niger state last month are now free
Nigerian authorities say they have secured the release of a further 130 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic school in November, after 100 were freed earlier this month.
“Another 130 abducted Niger state pupils released, none left in captivity,” presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said on X, in a post accompanied by a photo of smiling children.
MPs and next of kin of prisoners Amu Gib, 30, and Kamran Ahmed, 28, call for immediate government intervention
Two Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners taking part in a hunger strike have been taken to hospital, as their next of kin and MPs expressed concern over prison conditions and called for immediate government intervention.
Amu Gib, 30, who was being held at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey while awaiting trial, is on day 50 of their hunger strike and 28-year-old Kamran Ahmed was being held at Pentonville prison in London and on day 42 of his hunger strike. The two are the latest of eight prisoners who have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strike action began on Balfour day, 2 November, according to Prisoners for Palestine.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is eager to avoid a mass clearout of England’s senior leadership in the wake of another humiliating away Ashes series defeat.
England’s hopes of winning the urn were expunged inside 11 days for just the fourth time in the contest’s 143-year history with Sunday’s 82-run defeat in Adelaide, and a fourth Ashes whitewash is on the cards in Melbourne and Sydney, unless the tourists can arrest a dismal 18-match run without a win in Australia that stretches back to 2011.
Saturday’s arrivals were the most on a single day in December and take the annual total to 41,455
More than 800 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, a record for a day in December, according to the Home Office.
December is traditionally one of the quietest months for Channel crossings, as a combination of low temperatures and stormy weather makes the journey particularly difficult. Poor visibility and less daylight have also been cited as factors influencing the crossings.
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