Shia LaBeouf mulls plan to become deacon after Catholic confirmation

Actor, 37, received sacrament on New Year’s Eve and Capuchin friar Alexander Rodriguez says he wishes to be a deacon ‘in the future’

The Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf is seeking to becoming a Catholic deacon after receiving the sacrament of confirmation on New Year’s Eve.

A California-based chapter of the Capuchin Franciscans, a Catholic religious order, shared the news in a Facebook post on Tuesday alongside photos of the 37-year-old actor smiling next to several of the organization’s members.

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Slain Amazon activist Bruno Pereira’s son fighting rare form of cancer

Pedro, five, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma; a fund has been set up so that his family can afford expensive chemotherapy drug

Leading artists, Indigenous activists and politicians across Brazil are urging people to contribute to a fund to help the son of the slain Amazon activist Bruno Pereira, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Pedro Pereira, five, the son of anthropologist Beatriz Matos and Bruno Pereira – who was ambushed and killed in the western Amazon in June 2022 alongside the British journalist Dom Phillips – was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma last year.

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Israel tries to appease US with proposals for Gaza as Blinken heads to Middle East

Washington wants concessions from the Netanyahu administration, as critics say plans lack detail or commitment

Israeli officials are scrambling to head off mounting frustration in Washington in the run-up to a potentially difficult meeting between the top US diplomat and Benjamin Netanyahu by offering a series of policy proposals on Gaza that critics say lack detail or commitment.

The US has offered staunch support to Israel since the outbreak of its war with Hamas three months ago but is anxious to secure some concessions from Netanyahu to lower regional tensions and help avert a wider conflict in the Middle East.

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Met rejects calls to investigate Prince Andrew after release of Epstein files

Scotland Yard suggest recently unsealed documents containing allegations of sexual assaults do not provide new information

The Metropolitan police has rejected calls to launch an investigation into Prince Andrew, after the release of court documents relating to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Accusations against Prince Andrew, including allegedly groping a woman’s breast during an encounter involving a puppet version of the prince and claims he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, were given a new airing in the unsealing of 1,200 pages by a US court.

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Hezbollah chief says response to killing of senior Hamas official is ‘inevitable’

Hassan Nasrallah says assassination in Beirut has changed nature of his group’s conflict with Israel, raising fears of escalation

The assassination of one of Hamas’s most senior officials in Beirut has changed the nature of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Hezbollah’s head, Hassan Nasrallah, has said, adding that a response is “inevitable”.

In a second nationally televised address within three days, Nasrallah said that all of Lebanon would be “exposed” if there was no response from his group to the killing of Saleh al-Arouri, further heightening fears of a dangerous escalation in the conflict, even as Israel said its military was ready for any eventuality.

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Nepal bans citizens from working in Russia or Ukraine after deaths in military

Work permits to leave Nepal for those countries halted as 10 men killed and dozens more reported missing

The government of Nepal has banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for employment after 10 young men were killed and dozens more reported missing while fighting, predominately in the Russian military.

More than 200 Nepali soldiers are believed to have enlisted in the Russian army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nepal’s foreign ministry had said, and more than 100 of them have gone missing. A smaller number are believed to be fighting in the Ukrainian army.

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Money, money, money: Abba’s Benny and Björn share in £900,000 payout

Swedish music stars profit from blockbuster year for Mamma Mia! production company Littlestar Services

Abba stars Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have shared in a dividend of nearly £1m after a surge in profits at the production company behind the Mamma Mia! stage musical and film adaptations.

The Swedish music legends received the payout after a blockbuster year for Littlestar Services, the licensing and production company behind the musical based on the pop group’s hits.

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Madrid investigates ‘racist’ Epiphany videos featuring blackface sent to children

City council hired firm to produce personalised messages as part of traditional 6 January festivities

Madrid city council is investigating after video messages featuring a white man wearing blackface and speaking halting and heavily accented Spanish were sent to children as part of the traditional 6 January festivities that celebrate the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus.

The feast of the Epiphany – or Día de Reyes, day of the kings – is the day when Spanish children receive their Christmas presents courtesy of the three kings, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. It is preceded by cavalcades, held across Spain on 5 January, in which the kings parade through the streets, showering the crowds with sweets.

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Eurozone inflation rises to 2.9% after increase in energy costs

December data comes amid speculation over when European Central Bank will cut interest rates

Inflation across the eurozone rose in December after an increase in energy costs, reversing six months of consecutive falls and easing the pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut interest rates.

Figures from the EU statistical agency Eurostat showed consumer prices across the 20-country bloc rose at an annual rate of 2.9% last month, up from 2.4% in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a slightly higher reading of 3% for December.

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Israel could keep security control of Gaza after Hamas defeat, says defence minister

Yoav Gallant’s proposal suggests Palestinians would run day to day administration of territory

The Israeli defence minister has suggested that Israel would keep security control of Gaza after Hamas has been defeated with an undefined, Israeli-guided Palestinian body running day to day administration and the US, European Union and regional partners taking responsibility for the reconstruction of the territory.

Yoav Gallant revealed the plan to media on Thursday before a visit by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and after growing pressure from the US for Israel to make proposals for postwar scenarios.

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Weather tracker: Beijing experiences its coldest December since 1951

Weather observatory records period of more than 300 hours in which temperatures remained below freezing

Beijing experienced its coldest December since records began in 1951, after a cold wave hit much of China. Temperatures fell below -10C, alongside heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions. Northern and north-eastern parts of the country experienced the coldest temperatures, as icy air moved south from the Arctic, with some areas plunging to -40C.

The Beijing weather observatory recorded a period of more than 300 hours in which temperatures remained below freezing, which is the longest for December since records began 72 years ago. The cold snap forced the closure of many schools and businesses in the Chinese capital, owing to travel disruption and the stress from added heating demands. Temperatures have risen into the new year but Beijing remains cold, with maximum temperatures reaching just above freezing so far.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian drones shot down over occupied Crimea, Russia says; Moscow using North Korean missiles, US says – as it happened

Air raid sirens sounds in Sevastopol and traffic halted on key bridge; breach of UN sanctions on Kim regime will be taken to security council. This live blog is now closed

Ukraine says it caused “serious damage” to Russia’s defence systems on the Crimean peninsula during an attack on a military command post there on Thursday.

“Not only was one command post hit, really powerful combat work took place over the past 24 hours, including causing serious damage to the defence system on the Crimean peninsula,” said Natalya Gumenyuk, a spokesperson for the defence forces of southern Ukraine.

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Unauthorised Jewish settlements surge in occupied West Bank, says watchdog – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Our full report on the latest developments in the Middle East is here and all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

The German government is monitoring the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, as the country’s top diplomat prepares to travel to the Middle East for talks.

The spokesperson said:

The risk of escalation is unfortunately very real.

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Reeva Steenkamp’s mother says ‘family serving life sentence’ as Oscar Pistorius freed on parole

Former South African Paralympic and Olympic athlete released after serving nine years for murder of model in 2013

Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, has said the family “are the ones serving a life sentence” after Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on parole.

Pistorius left prison on Friday in the South African capital, Pretoria, after serving nine years for murdering Steenkamp, who was his girlfriend, in a crime that shocked the world.

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Wristwatch reflection led to ‘miracle’ sea rescue 23 hours after man went overboard

Will Fransen was on a solo fishing trip south of Auckland in New Zealand when he was yanked into the water after hooking a big fish

A New Zealand man who survived more than 23 hours in cold waters and an encounter with a shark has been rescued after fishers spotted the reflection from his watch.

Will Fransen, 61, had set off on a solo fishing trip from Whangamatā on the Coromandel Peninsula, south of Auckland, on 2 January, but was yanked overboard after hooking what he suspected was a marlin.

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Kim Ju-ae likely heir to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, says South’s spy agency

Intense speculation over future role for Kim Jong-un’s daughter, who is reportedly 10, comes as North Korea fires shells near South Korean islands

The young daughter of Kim Jong-un is seen as her father’s heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency has said for the first time, after speculation that the North Korean ruler is grooming her to become the fourth member of the dynasty to lead the country since its foundation more than seven decades ago.

There has been intense international speculation about Kim Ju-ae, who is reportedly about 10 years old, since she made her first public appearance in November 2022 when she watched a long-range missile test launch with her father.

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Why is Germany’s economy struggling – and can the government fix it?

As railway staff, lorry drivers, farmers and others threaten to strike, we examine the challenges the country faces

Railway staff, lorry drivers and farmers are among those threatening strike action across Germany from Monday in nationwide protests over grievances ranging from pay and conditions to cuts in agricultural subsidies and higher road tolls.

Long Europe’s powerhouse, Germany is struggling with a potent mix of short-term and deeper structural problems that – along with a divided and seemingly ineffectual government – have prompted economists to talk of the “sick man of Europe”.

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Bombs, boat sinkings and assassinations: is the Middle East descending into war?

Beyond the conflict in Gaza it has been a violent few weeks in the wider Middle East, from attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to bomb blasts in Iran and a killing by drone in Beirut. Julian Borger explains what may happen next

Iran suffered the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Islamic Republic this week when dozens of people were killed in two bomb blasts in the city of Kerman. In Beirut a drone attack in a suburban area killed a senior Hamas commander, and in the Red Sea the US navy shot down two anti-ship missiles and sunk three small boats after responding to distress calls from a container ship that was attacked twice by Houthi rebels.

The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, talks to Hannah Moore about the significance and possible consequences of these events and examines their potential to trigger a regional war. He says there is increasing appetite in Israel for further conflict with Hezbollah at the Lebanese border, and growing rhetoric that a direct war with Iran – which backs Hezbollah and the Houthi movement – is inevitable. Can international leaders do enough to calm tensions in the region?

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Bangladesh election: Sheikh Hasina expected to win fourth term amid opposition boycott

The election has been branded a ‘sham’ designed to cement Hasina’s rule by exiled opposition leader Tarique Rahman

An opposition boycott looks set to usher prime minister Sheikh Hasina to a fourth straight term in the Bangladesh election this weekend.

The election has been described as a “sham” designed to cement Hasina’s rule by exiled opposition leader Tarique Rahman.

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Fears Russia using North Korea-supplied ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine

Washington and Kyiv claim Moscow turning to other states under sanctions to sustain its war effort

Russia has started using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to attack Ukraine, Washington and Kyiv have claimed, in an indication that Moscow plans to further expand its arms deals with regimes under sanctions in order to sustain its war effort.

Washington also alleged Russia was in talks with Iran to buy short-range ballistic missiles. The US intelligence assessment is that Iranian missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but that the deal will eventually be done.

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