Jabs to prevent influenza, rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other vaccines are no longer fully recommended

The Trump administration will slash routine vaccine recommendations during childhood from 17 to 11 jabs – the biggest change to vaccines yet under the purview of longtime vaccine critic Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The changes, which US health officials announced on Monday afternoon and are effective immediately, will erode trust and reduce access to vaccines while allowing infectious diseases to spread, experts said.

Prime minister assures colleagues he may one day stand up to Donald Trump – but not yet

Keir Starmer has got used to walking a diplomatic tightrope with Donald Trump. But the US president’s Venezuelan adventure, whisking its leader out of the country after a late-night raid, has pushed that cautious approach to its limits.

The clues were all there. Ever since Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela against drug traffickers – and blockaded oil tankers – the military campaign had been mounting.

President wants to placate demonstrators calling for political change, action on corruption and help with cost of living

The Iranian government is attempting risky economic concessions as it tries to meet the escalating demands of protesters seeking fundamental political change, a clampdown on corruption and an easing of the squeeze on living standards of the poor.

Now entering their ninth day, the protests have spread to 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces, with a human rights group claiming that the death toll has passed 35 with more than 1,200 arrested.

Deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was controversially captured by US special forces and is due to appear in a Manhattan court. The arrest came after months of US pressure against Maduro, including attacks on ‘narco-boats’ and blockades on oil tankers. Donald Trump has since claimed the US is going to ‘run’ Venezuela - but how?

Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders must defend the rule of international law, as a dangerous new world order emerges

The initial reaction of European leaders to Donald Trump’s illegal military intervention in Venezuela was not only weak, it also had the briefest of shelf lives. Refusing on Sunday to condemn the attack as a breach of international law, European Union member states called hopefully for “a negotiated, democratic, inclusive and peaceful solution to the crisis, led by Venezuelans”. The delusional nature of that response was laid bare as Mr Trump told reporters the same day: “We’re in charge.”

So much for the restoration of democracy. The US president also repeated threats of further military action, should the repressive regime left behind when Nicolás Maduro was seized fail to do Washington’s bidding. As Mr Trump’s marginalising of the Nobel prize-winning opposition figurehead María Corina Machado illustrated early on, the will of Venezuelans is not on his list of priorities. Operation Absolute Resolve was about exercising raw power to dominate a sovereign nation, and controlling Venezuela’s future oil production.

Degrading pictures being posted on Elon Musk’s site despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate them

Degrading images of children and women with their clothes digitally removed by Grok AI continue to be shared on Elon Musk’s X, despite the platform’s commitment to suspend users who generate them.

After days of concern over use of the chatbot to alter photographs to create sexualised pictures of real women and children stripped to their underwear without their consent, the UK’s communication’s watchdog, Ofcom, said on Monday that it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK”. Ofcom added that it would assess whether an investigation is necessary based on the company’s response.

Husam Zomlot says inauguration of mission in London marks change of direction for Palestinian state

The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said the inauguration of the state’s embassy in London is “proof that our identity cannot be denied”.

Husam Zomlot hailed the upgrading of Palestine’s mission in Hammersmith, west London, as “historic” and “monumental”.

William Defoor, 26, to appear in court Tuesday after arrest for alleged attack on vice-president’s Cincinnati home

A man arrested during an incident where someone appeared to be trying to break into the Ohio house of JD Vance with a hammer is to appear in court on Tuesday.

The vice-president on Monday thanked law enforcement in Ohio for arresting someone he referred to as a “crazy person” who had turned up at his Cincinnati home overnight.

Goalkeeper who swapped city rivals in the summer proved pivotal on his return with a stunning series of saves

“I hope people don’t get angry but he’s my friend.” There wasn’t long until the Barcelona derby and Jofre Carreras had briefly abandoned the warm-up to talk to the TV. There on the touchline, talk inevitably turned to his former roommate, housemate and teammate Joan García, now in goal for their greatest rivals. Carreras’s answer was just about audible over all the noise and then he was off again: he had something else to do before it all started, accepting a shirt marking his 100th game for Espanyol. Behind them as club legend Rafa Marañón presented it, the team captains lined up for a photo of their own with the first Catalan to referee this fixture in 80 years and, way off to the left out of shot, García clapped. Like everything else he did, except actually play, he did so discreetly.

Joan and Jofre, both 24, have known each other “for as long as I can remember”, in Carreras’s words. Over four years, they shared a room at Espanyol’s residency on Carretera de Mataró in Sant Adrià del Besòs and then they shared an apartment. When García collected his award as Espanyol’s best player in 2023-24, and was handed a supply of sausages, Carreras also received an award – two different supporters’ clubs rewarding two different winners on the same day. When García started being noticed beyond Barcelona, Carreras declared his friend the world’s best. And when the summer heat got a bit much – and, boy, did it – García took refuge at Carreras’s. Now though they were opponents. And that, Carreras said, was “a bit strange”.

Chrystia Freeland takes on new role amid government shakeup in Kyiv as Ukrainian president replaces key figures

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Canada’s former finance minister Chrystia Freeland as an adviser on economic development, a move he says will help strengthen the “internal resilience” of the war-torn nation.

“Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations,” he wrote on social media. “Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience – both for the sake of Ukraine’s recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defence if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end.”

Owner Modella starts insolvency proceedings for both chains, saying trading is ‘extremely challenging’

The retailers Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop are on the brink of administration, putting 2,550 jobs at risk.

Both chains are owned by Modella Capital, a private equity firm, which recently bought the high street arm of WH Smith – renamed TG Jones. Modella said in a statement that the climate on UK high streets was “extremely challenging” and data suggested “an alarming drop-off in pre-Christmas footfall”.

Exclusive: Lack of consultants in UK health service means patients do not get drugs or surgery in time, say senior medics

Thousands of people who have had a stroke are ending up severely disabled or dying because the NHS has too few specialists to treat them quickly enough, senior doctors are warning.

A chronic shortage of stroke consultants across the NHS means that patients are suffering horrendous consequences because of delays in getting clot-busting drugs and surgery, they said.

70% of stroke units are short of at least one consultant in stroke care, and many are two down.

53 of 84 hospitals that responded had vacancies for a total of 96 consultants.

The NHS relies heavily on locum doctors to fill holes in the workforce caused by the difficulty in recruiting new consultants.

10% of the NHS’s 423 substantive (permanent) consultants are due to retire in the next five years, exacerbating the existing shortage.

Rosen, who led Sega from the 1960s into the 90s and who died on Christmas Day, was a hugely important figure in the history of arcade and home gaming

It is difficult to think of a more influential figure in the arcade game industry than David Rosen, who has died aged 95. The co-founder of Sega, who remained a director of the company until 1996, was instrumental in the birth and rise of the video game business in Japan, and in the 1980s and 90s oversaw the establishment of Sega of America and the huge success of the Mega Drive console.

As a US Air Force pilot during the Korean war, Rosen found himself stationed in Japan, and once the conflict was over, he stayed on, intrigued by the country and seeing possibilities in its recovering economy. In 1954 he set up Rosen Enterprises and noticing that Japanese civilians now required an increasing number of new ID cards he started importing photo booths from the US to answer the demand. From here he expanded to pinball tables and other coin-operated machines, importing them for installation in shops, restaurants and cinemas. In 1965, he merged the company with another importer, Nihon Goraku Bussan, whose coin-op business Service Games was shortened to Sega for the new venture.

Cameron warned that Avatars 4 and 5 might end up as novels if third instalment Fire and Ash bombed. But noise about its slow start is beginning to look like a ritual movies in the series must go through before the money pours in

For a movie saga that is, on paper at least, the world’s most popular fantasy trilogy of all time, Avatar doesn’t half have its sceptics. Maybe it’s James Cameron’s po-faced belief that he’s making the sort of films that could save planet Earth from future environmental apocalypse. Or perhaps it has simply become the kind of cultural behemoth that invites opposition merely by existing. Either way, it’s fair to say not everyone has exactly been sobbing over the idea that Fire and Ash might be the final time we get to see an Avatar film for the foreseeable future.

Until recently, this had seemed like a genuine likelihood. The Hollywood trades have been filled with reports that the saga would be done and dusted if the new instalment fell short of expectations at the box office, while Cameron himself has been publicly talking about what happens if Avatar 4 and 5 don’t get made. Those who would rather chew on their own spleens than sit through six more hours of glowing eco-sermons ever again will have been quietly encouraged by last week’s relatively puny box-office opening for the new episode, reportedly just over $340m worldwide on debut.

Trial is the most severe criminal case brought against US students who staged protests against Israel’s war in Gaza

Five Stanford University students are facing trial beginning on Monday over felony charges stemming from a pro-Palestinian protest on campus – the most severe criminal case brought against some of the thousands of students who staged nationwide protests and encampments against Israel’s war in Gaza.

The northern California students are part of a group of 12 who were charged with felony conspiracy to trespass and felony vandalism in connection to an hour-long, June 2024 occupation during which the group barricaded themselves inside the university president’s office to demand Stanford consider a student resolution to divest from Israel, among other requests.

Water bottles are the ‘perfect environment for bacteria to grow’ – as we’ve seen from the horror pics on social media. Follow these steps to stay clean

Environmentally friendly and convenient, reusable water bottles are on the rise. But on social media, people seem confused about how to clean them, and post horrifying pictures of mold growing inside.

Water sourced from a municipal water supply is likely very clean, explains Kelly Reynolds at the University of Arizona, who studies water quality and disease transmission.

If the nine-to-five is getting in the way of your childcare routine, gym sessions or side hustle, this new form of flexible working could be the answer

Name: Microshifting.

Age: Born during the pandemic.

• Las Vegas went 3-14 in Carroll’s first year as head coach

• Team dropped 10 straight, securing No 1 draft pick

The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday after just one year, meaning they will enter their third consecutive season with a new coach in charge.

Carroll expressed high hopes upon taking over, saying he was used to double-digit victories and he expected the same in Las Vegas. But the Raiders went 3-14, going on a 10-game losing streak before finishing with a 14-12 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.

US defense secretary also started proceedings that could strip Kelly from retired military rank and cut pension

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that he had issued a formal censure to Democratic senator Mark Kelly and initiated proceedings that could strip the Arizona lawmaker of his retired military rank and cut his pension, escalating a dispute that began when Kelly urged service members to resist unlawful orders.

Just days after a covert mission to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and strike the capital city, Hegseth announced that Kelly faces retirement grade determination proceedings, a rare administrative action that could see the former astronaut and navy captain demoted in his retired rank. Hegseth accused Kelly of making “seditious statements” that undermined military discipline.

Announcement comes after ongoing fraud of social services cases became focus of ire for Republicans and Trump

• US politics live – latest updates

Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota who ran for vice-president in 2024, announced on Monday that he is abandoning his quest for a third term in office.

The move comes after ongoing fraud of social services cases caught the attention of US Republicans, including Donald Trump, who then used the cases as a pretext to go after Somali residents.

Walz said in a statement that he wasn’t able to “give a political campaign my all”.

Ship changed its name and registered in Russia in apparent attempt to prevent possible US seizure near British Isles

A hastily reflagged oil tanker 250 miles off the coast of Ireland is under US military surveillance after it evaded capture in the Caribbean Sea in December, changed its name and switched course towards northern Russia.

Bella 1 changed its name to the Marinera, registered in Russia, and its crew painted a crude Russian flag on the side in an apparent attempt to prevent a possible US seizure near the British Isles.

Pacific Grove is known as ‘Butterfly Town USA’ for its role as an overwintering spot. As the insect’s population plummets, residents are coming to its rescue

In the tiny seaside village of Pacific Grove, California, there’s no escaping the monarch butterfly.

Here, butterfly murals abound: one splashes across the side of a hotel, another adorns a school. As for local businesses, there’s the Monarch Pub, the Butterfly Grove Inn, even Monarch Knitting (a local yarn shop). And every fall, the small city hosts a butterfly parade, where local elementary school children dress up in butterfly costumes. The city’s municipal code even declares it an unlawful act to “molest or interfere” with monarchs in any way, with a possible fine of $1,000.

Weiss is embroiled in her first major controversy as editor in chief as her handpicked anchor takes evening news show

Taking charge of CBS News in early October with no television industry experience, and already facing both deep skepticism from many network employees and a faltering business model, Bari Weiss began with a lot working against her.

Still, her three months as editor in chief have been more chaotic than even many of her critics expected. “There is blood in the water,” said one CBS News journalist, who, like the others quoted in this story, was not authorized by the network to comment.