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Weather tracker: Spain and Portugal hit by third deadly storm in two weeks
Storm Marta sweeps Iberian peninsula just days after Storms Kristin and Leonardo brought deadly flooding and major damageSpain and Portugal have endured another storm over the weekend, just days after the deadly flooding and major damage caused by Storm Kristin and Storm Leonardo last week. Storm Marta passed over the Iberian peninsula on Saturday, bringing fresh torrential rain and killing two people. Storm Kristin killed at least five people after it made landfall on 28 January with Storm Leonardo claiming another victim last Wednesday.The outlook for this week is for more rain across Spain, Portugal and France, especially across north-west Portugal, where more than 100mm is possible during the first half of the week. Some of the heaviest of the rain will transfer to southern Italy and western parts of Greece and Turkey later in the week. Continue reading...
Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, sentenced to 20 years in prison
Family of media tycoon say he will ‘die a martyr behind bars’ amid widespread criticism from press freedom groupsJimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences, a punishment his daughter said could mean “he will die a martyr behind bars”.Claire Lai said the sentence was “heartbreakingly cruel” given her 78-year-old father’s declining health, while her brother Sebastien Lai called the sentence “draconian” and “devastating”. Continue reading...
Vice President J.D. Vance looks to seal peace deal, transit corridor in historic visit to Armenia
Vice President J.D. Vance landed Monday in Armenia, making him the first sitting president or vice president to visit the landlocked country in the Caucasus region of western Asia.
Leader of Scotland's Labour Party calls on Starmer to resign over Epstein revelations
The leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign Monday after revelations about the relationship between former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hong Kong ex-publisher Jimmy Lai's sentence raises international outcry as China defends it
Monday's sentencing of Hong Kong democracy advocate and onetime media magnate Jimmy Lai brought an outcry from governments and rights groups. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities defended it, saying it reflected the spirit of the rule of law.
Japanese shares hit record high as Sanae Takaichi wins landslide election victory
Prime minister’s Liberal Democratic party to be pressed on promised tax cuts and fiscal stimulus plansBusiness live – latest updatesJapan’s stock market has hit a record high after Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) secured a comprehensive victory in Sunday’s election.The LDP won 316 of the 465 seats in the country’s lower house – the first time a single party has secured two-thirds of the chamber since the establishment of Japan’s parliament in 1947. Continue reading...
What to know about Takaichi's conservative policies after big election win
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s big election win paves the way for her ruling party to dominate the crucial lower house of parliament
UK expands Hong Kong visa scheme in wake of Jimmy Lai’s prison sentence
Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five yearsMinisters have opened up visas to thousands more people from Hong Kong in the wake of the 20-year prison sentence handed down to the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.Adult children of British national (overseas) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will be eligible to apply for the route independently of their parents, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday. Continue reading...
Pakistan says Afghanistan has created conditions ‘similar to or worse than’ pre-9/11 attacks
Pakistan’s president warns that the Taliban's government in Afghanistan has created conditions “similar to or worse than” those before the 9/11 attacks in 2001
Japanese PM looks to translate election gains into a new conservative shift
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s governing party has secured a two-thirds supermajority in a parliamentary election
How British PM Keir Starmer could be replaced if Epstein fallout brings him down
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post as he comes under heavy criticism for his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter's ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Israeli forces capture a Hamas ally in south Lebanon as an Israeli drone kills 3, including a child
Israelis forces have seized a local Sunni Islamist politician and an ally of the Palestinian militant Hamas group and took him to Israel for questioning
Feb 10, 2026