A teenager in New South Wales was charged after allegedly making multiple hoax reports to emergency services – a practice known as “swatting” – falsely claiming mass shootings were taking place at major retail and educational institutions in the US.
The Australian federal police (AFP) charged the boy on 18 December, claiming he is part of an alleged decentralised online crime network hiding behind keyboards in order to trigger an “urgent and large-scale emergency response”.
Officers seized a number of electronic devices and a prohibited firearm in the juvenile’s possession as part of Taskforce Pompilid established in October 2025.
Exclusive: Chinese officials are using a ‘highly specific’ interpretation of EU rules to suggest Taiwanese figures should not be granted visas, officials say
Chinese officials have been pushing “legal advice” on European countries, saying their own border laws require them to ban entry to Taiwanese politicians, according to more than half a dozen diplomats and officials familiar with the matter.
The officials made demarches to European embassies in Beijing, or through local embassies directly to European governments in their capital cities, warning the European countries not to “trample on China’s red lines”, according to the European diplomats and ministries who spoke to the Guardian.
Strike on Lviv that used nuclear-capable ballistic missile a ‘dangerous, inexplicable escalation’. What we know on day 1,420
The US and Britain have condemned Russia for dropping a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine. At an emergency meeting of the UN security council, Tammy Bruce, US deputy ambassador, called the Lviv strike a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation”. Britain’s acting UN ambassador, James Kariuki, called the attack “reckless”, adding that “it threatens regional and international security and carries significant risk of escalation and miscalculation”.
Russia claimed the Oreshnik targeted an aviation repair factory. Ukraine has not confirmed what was hit but said the missile struck during a wider attack using drones and other rockets. The rarely used, multiple warhead Oreshnikmissile is thought to be in limited supply – Ukraine’s military and special forces claim to have destroyed at least one of them on the ground in Russia. Observers have rated the two Oreshnik strikes so far on Ukraine as largely political and symbolic, with dummy warheads probably used, and any damage caused by their sonic boom and physical impact rather than live explosives. Analysts have questioned whether the Oreshnik is accurate enough to deliver non-nuclear bombs, which have to be more closely targeted than nuclear warheads to be effective.
Russian forces launched attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv early on Tuesday, killing at least two people in Kharkiv and injuring another three, Ukrainian authorities said. Kyiv on Monday buried medic Sergiy Smolyak, 56, who was killed in a drone attack as he rushed to rescue residents from a housing block that Russia struck minutes earlier in a massive attack on the Ukrainian capital on Friday. “He was very kind, always calm and even-tempered. He saved so many people,” said Ryta Dorosh, a nurse who worked with Smolyak before the war.
Russia has bombed two more civilian ships transporting food products in the Black Sea, according to Ukraine. “An enemy drone struck a Panamanian-flagged tanker that was waiting to enter port to load vegetable oil. Unfortunately, one crew member was wounded,” said Ukrainian regional development minister Oleksiy Kuleba. “There was also an attack on a ship flying the flag of San Marino, which was leaving the port with a cargo of corn ... This is further proof that Russia is deliberately attacking civilian ships, international trade and maritime safety,” he added. Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said the attacks happened around the Chornomorsk port on the southern Ukrainian coast.
President posts online as US weighs response to situation in Iran, which is major facing anti-government protests
Donald Trump said on Monday any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the US, as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran, which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.
“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” the US president said in a post on Truth Social. Tariffs are paid by US importers of goods from those countries. Iran has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for years.
‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says
Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a “historic” moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis.
The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects.
Allen wins five frames in a row against Mark Williams
Zhao Xintong cruises to 6-2 win over Gary Wilson
Mark Allen shrugged off a bout of food poisoning to beat Mark Williams 6-2, winning five successive frames, and book a Masters quarter-final with Judd Trump or Ding Junhui, who play on Wednesday.
Speaking to the BBC, Allen, the 2018 champion, said: “I prepare properly for these events, but I couldn’t prepare for this at all as I’ve been lying in bed all week with food poisoning. I just thought: ‘Go out there and give my best.’ I wouldn’t have had much left if it had got much closer.”
Former ambassador to US had earlier declined to give apology for keeping in touch with sex offender after his conviction
Peter Mandelson has issued an apology for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – after declining to do so in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC in which he suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the disgraced financier’s sex life.
Ballot proposes one-time, 5% tax on anyone in state worth more than $1bn and grant a five-year period for payment
Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has donated $3m to a California lobbying group advocating against a proposed wealth tax that would target billionaires in the state. The seven-figure contribution comes as several ultra-wealthy tech moguls have left or threatened to leave California over the tax.
Thiel, worth some $26bn, made the donation last month to the California Business Roundtable’s political action committee, according to a public disclosure filing which was first reported by the New York Times. A representative for Thiel did not respond to requests for comment.
Lawsuit comes in the aftermath of an ICE agent fatally shooting Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good
The Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, announced a lawsuit on Monday against the federal government, seeking to end the surge of ICE agents in the state.
The lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials comes in the aftermath of an ICE agent fatally shooting resident Renee Nicole Good behind the wheel of her vehicle last week, leading to protests across the city, and country.
Hospital trusts in Surrey and Kent say situation has been worsened by rise in flu and norovirus cases
Four NHS hospital trusts in England have declared critical incidents after a “surge” in A&E admissions driven in large part by patients with flu, norovirus and respiratory viruses.
Three trusts in Surrey and one in Kent sounded the alarm after a “surge in complex attendances to A&E departments”.
Prime minister tells parliamentary party that ‘being in the room’ for trade and defence talks will boost UK economy
Keir Starmer has defended his frequent trips out of the country to Labour MPs, attempting to draw a direct link with the cost of living at home, which he warned would not be solved by isolationism.
The prime minister told the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) on Monday night that it was essential for him to be “in the room” for international negotiations on trade and defence, which would then have an impact on the domestic economy.
Ørsted and other wind developers have faced repeated disruptions to multibillion dollar projects under Trump
A federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which Donald Trump’s administration halted along with four other projects last month.
The ruling by US district judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has sought to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters.
The scoreline was far more convincing than Liverpool’s performance against League One opposition. Barnsley made Arne Slot’s side battle for the right to host Brighton in round four while their head coach, Conor Hourihane, accused Dominik Szoboszlai of disrespect for gifting his team a goal while showboating. Slot appeared inclined to agree.
Liverpool were grateful for a late Florian Wirtz-inspired flourish for an ultimately comfortable margin of victory and banishing any anxieties. But this had been another slog against a low defensive block until the expensive substitute swept home a fine third goal and created a stoppage‑time fourth for Hugo Ekitiké. There was no more relieved man inside Anfield than Szoboszlai.
Wicketkeeper-batter says she has lost some competitive edge
35-year-old will miss T20 World Cup in June and July
Australia captain Alyssa Healy is to retire from cricket in March, after the forthcoming series with India, saying she has lost some of the competitive edge that drove her.
The wicketkeeper-batter has been playing for Australia for 15 years, making her debut as a teenager, and has been full-time captain since Meg Lanning retired in 2023.
Incriminating video, dismissed by officials as part of a ‘hybrid attack’, has forced resignations of Nikos Christodoulides’s wife and chief of staff
The Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, has said he has “nothing to fear” over a scandal that has forced the resignations of his chief of staff and his wife from a leadership role of a major charity.
As allegations of high-level corruption swirled days after the island assumed the rotating EU presidency, officials insisted the country had been the victim of “hybrid warfare”. The incriminating claims, implicating the president and first lady in a cash for access network, were made in a video uploaded on X.
Press chief says US president considering ‘many, many’ options amid deadly regime crackdown on protesters
Donald Trump is “unafraid to use military force on Iran” the White House said on Monday as the Iranian regime still faces widespread unrest across the country.
Speaking to Fox News, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that although diplomacy remained Trump’s “first option”, he was “unafraid to use the lethal force and might of the United States military if and when he deems that necessary”.
To supercharge the Melbourne Park event, ‘Opening Week’ maximises the music, food and wellness – and adds a $1m tennis showcase
“Cricket’s in December,” Tennis Australia’s chief executive, Craig Tiley, says with a smile on a record-breaking first day of the Australian Open on Monday. The veteran may be rumoured to be considering a move to the US Tennis Association, but for now he remains focused on his sport’s summer dominance.
“Our objective is we want to own January,” he says. At the launch of one of many Melbourne Park sponsor activations, conditions are ripe for Tiley to talk a big game. “We’re intense, and we’re intense because we’re 21 days, every day.”
Officials in Texas city issued boil water notice and set up water distribution centers after main line break on Saturday
More than 100,000 residents in the Texas border city of El Paso were left with little to no water after a main break over the weekend, and it was expected to take till midweek for operations to return to normal, officials said.
The break in the 36-inch water main line happened late Saturday night in El Paso, which has a population of about 700,000, officials said. Gilbert Trejo, an official with El Paso Water, called it “an event of unprecedented proportion”. He said the break was made even more impactful because of “the way the pipeline itself was designed along with how different connections of smaller lines were made to it”.
Spurs make Atlético Madrid offer worth up to £34.6m
Former Chelsea man keen on Premier League return
Tottenham are confident of beating Aston Villa to the signing of Conor Gallagher from Atlético Madrid after making an offer worth up to €40m (£34.6m) for the England midfielder.
Talks with Atlético are ongoing but Gallagher is understood to be keen to move back to the Premier League to boost his chances of making England’s World Cup squad, having made just four starts in La Liga this season. Spurs are in the market for midfield reinforcements after Rodrigo Bentancur sustained a hamstring injury that is likely to keep him sidelined for three months. The club have identified the 25-year-old as their primary target.
PGA offers re-entry to LIV Golf players via new program
Koepka stands to miss out on at least $50m in equity
Brooks Koepka is returning to the PGA Tour just five weeks after bolting from LIV Golf, agreeing to a one-time program for elite players that comes with a financial penalty that could rank among the largest in sports.
Koepka plans to resume his PGA Tour career in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines at the end of the month. But he will not be eligible for PGA Tour equity grants for five years, he will not receive FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026 and he cannot play signature events unless he earns his way in.
Robert McBride, deputy to Trump ally Lindsey Halligan, is latest in series of dismissals
The number two prosecutor in the US attorney’s office for the eastern district of Virginia has been fired, according to two people familiar with the matter, the latest in a series of dismissals in an office that is leading controversial criminal prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James.
Robert McBride, a former federal prosecutor in Kentucky, was brought in late last year to serve as the deputy to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally who the president installed as the acting US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September. McBride was dismissed after declining to lead the Comey prosecution, which a judge threw out in November after ruling Halligan was unlawfully appointed, one of the people said. (The justice department is appealing the ruling.)
Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who will surely be looking over his shoulder now that Xabi Alonso is available, speaks to TNT Sports:
We have made a few changes but a few have to play here that have played so many games. That means we have a strong line-up.
We know that Conor Bradley is out for a long time. He was progressing and getting better and better. Now, he is injured. But that doesn’t really help us either. Now, we don’t have a lot of options with the players that are out.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, has said communication lines with the US remain open, as the Trump administration continues to weigh the option of military strikes.
“This channel of communication between our foreign minister (Abbas Araghchi) and the special envoy of the president of the United States is open,” Baghaei said, in apparent reference to Steve Witkoff.
Always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.
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