‘Obi understands’: young Nigerians swell support of presidential hopeful

The popularity of Peter Obi’s message of change with younger voters fed up with the status quo makes him a real contender

At a recent campaign stop, Peter Obi responded to a regular criticism. Bola Tinubu, a rival candidate in next month’s presidential elections in Nigeria, had called him stingy. Obi told a crowd of supporters that yes, he has been stingy with public funds, and that made him a better fit for the country’s top job.

Nigerians go to the polls on 25 February to choose a replacement for Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight-year rule has been sharply criticised for failing to get to grips with rampant insecurity and a cost of living crisis.

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Hiker missing in California named as British actor Julian Sands

Actor, known for roles in Leaving Las Vegas and Warlock, was reported missing on Friday evening

A hiker reported as missing in southern California has been named as the British actor Julian Sands.

The 65-year-old was reported missing in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel mountains on Friday evening, with searches by local authorities continuing over the weekend.

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Jacinda Ardern resigns as prime minister of New Zealand

Labour leader to stand down no later than 7 February, saying she ‘no longer had enough in the tank’ to do the job

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said she is resigning, in an unexpected announcement that came as she confirmed a national election for October.

At the party’s first caucus meeting of the year on Thursday, Ardern said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “It’s time,” she added.

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Mental health racial bias in England and Wales is ‘inexcusable’, says report

MPs and peers say draft mental health bill must go further to strengthen patients’ choices

Ministers must use legislation to address an “unacceptable and inexcusable” failure to address racial disparity in the use of the Mental Health Act, MPs and peers have said.

The joint committee on the draft mental health bill says the bill does not go far enough to tackle failures that were identified in a landmark independent review five years ago, but which still persist and may even be getting worse.

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‘Medieval institution’: Commonwealth Guardian readers on Prince Harry’s Spare

Comments range from ‘the monarchy is valuable’ to ‘Harry and Meghan are having their cake and eating it’

Last week, the tell-all autobiography by Prince Harry, Spare, was released and sold a combined 1,430,000 copies on its first day on sale in the US, Canada and the UK.

Here, readers from Commonwealth countries share their thoughts on Prince Harry, his new book and whether the controversies surrounding the royal family have changed their views towards the monarchy.

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Trump pleads with Meta to restore Facebook account

Former president’s lawyers petition company to allow access following ban from platform in wake of 2021 Capitol attack

Donald Trump has petitioned Meta to restore his access to Facebook, as he reportedly looks to shift his 2024 presidential campaign into a higher gear.

The former president was banned from Facebook more than two years ago, after his followers attacked the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

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Netanyahu told by Israel’s supreme court he must fire key ally from cabinet

Prime minister’s coalition in jeopardy after Aryeh Deri ruled ineligible for government due to tax offences

Israel’s supreme court has ruled that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, must fire a key ally from the country’s new cabinet, presenting the Israeli leader with a potential coalition crisis and deepening a rift over the power of the courts.

Ten of 11 judges on the high court found that Aryeh Deri, the influential head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party who has served repeatedly in Netanyahu’s previous governments, is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offences and placed on probation as part of a plea deal. Deri has pledged not to quit and met Netanyahu after the ruling.

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White House condemns appointments of far-right Republicans to House oversight panel – as it happened

Donald Trump remains the most popular man in the GOP, or at least among those running for president, pollster Morning Consult finds in a survey released today:

Deeper in the survey, you’ll find Florida governor Ron DeSantis the leader among second choices for the nominations, distantly followed by former vice-president Mike Pence.

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Usain Bolt lawyers say $12.7m is missing from Olympic champion’s account

  • Jamaican authorities investigating after alarm is raised
  • Firm says several clients may be missing large sums

A lawyer for Usain Bolt said on Wednesday that more than $12.7m is missing from his account with a private investment firm in Jamaica.

Linton P Gordon, a lawyer for Bolt, provided the Associated Press with a copy of a letter sent to Stocks & Securities Limited demanding that the money be returned. Gordon said the Olympic champion’s account once had $12.8m but now reflects a balance of only $12,000.

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Health Canada recommends limiting alcohol to just 2 drinks per week

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) identifies cancer, heart disease and stroke as health risks of drinking alcohol

New alcohol guidelines recommending that Canadians limit themselves to just two drinks a week – and ideally cut alcohol altogether – have prompted intense debate over risk versus enjoyment in a country where the vast majority of adults regularly consume alcohol.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) this week called for a substantial reduction in consumption, warning that seemingly moderate drinking poses a number of serious health risks, including cancer, heart disease and stroke.

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Indian diamond heiress gives up fortune to become child nun

Eight-year-old daughter of wealthy gem dealer follows family’s Jain faith to enter strict religious order

An eight-year-old girl in India who was due to inherit a multimillion-dollar diamond fortune has instead been admitted as a nun to a strict religious order after renouncing worldly pleasures.

Devanshi Sanghvi was, until this week, an heiress to the Sanghvi and Sons jewellery business in the western city of Surat, known locally as Diamond City for its prominence in the global gem trade.

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Olaf Scholz steers clear of commitment to supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

Zelenskiy warns against delaying military support after German chancellor’s reticence at Davos summit

Germany’s chancellor avoided committing to the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at the Davos summit on Wednesday, although he held the door open to a positive decision at a special summit of western defence ministers on Friday.

Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks at all when a Ukrainian delegate asked him “why the hesitancy” in signing off their re-export – prompting an apparently frustrated Ukrainian president to warn the same forum against delay.

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Chile rejects $2.5bn iron and copper mine planned near penguin reserve

Dominga project included insufficient efforts to mitigate impact on reserves for dolphins, whales and penguins, committee says

Chile’s government has rejected a controversial $2.5bn iron and copper mining project proposed in an important area for biodiversity and marine life.

The Dominga project, 70km north of the city of La Serena, would have seen an open-pit mine, processing and desalination plants, as well as a large port, installed just 30km from a famed Humboldt penguin reserve.

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Colombia defends minister who led Guatemala corruption inquiry as row deepens

Country says accusations against Iván Velásquez attempt by Guatemala to ‘persecute’ those investigating high-level corruption

A growing diplomatic row has broken out after Guatemala’s government accused Colombia’s defence minister of breaking the law during his time as the head of a UN-backed anti-corruption mission in Guatemala.

This week, Guatemala announced that Iván Velásquez was being investigated for “illegal, arbitrary and abusive acts” stemming from his inquiry into corruption allegations involving the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

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Hong Kong police arrest six for selling ‘seditious’ book at lunar new year fair

Six people accused of publishing book relating to 2019 protests in move critics say has spread terror

Police in Hong Kong have raided a lunar new year shopping fair and arrested six people for selling a “seditious” book related to the 2019 anti-government protests in a move critics say has spread “terror” just days before the celebrations.

National security officers accused three men and three women, aged between 18 and 62, of producing and publishing “a seditious book about a series of riots that occurred in Hong Kong from June 2019 to February 2020”, and selling it in a lunar new year stall in a shopping centre in Mong Kok, a bustling shopping district.

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Sea ‘a graveyard’ as number of Rohingya fleeing Bangladesh by boat soars

UN figures show number of those attempting to escape horrendous conditions in refugee camps increased from 700 in 2021 to over 3,500 in 2022

The number of Rohingya refugees taking dangerous sea journeys in the hope of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia has surged by 360%, the UN has announced after hundreds of refugees were left stranded at the end of last year.

Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps have warned that human smugglers have ramped up operations and are constantly searching for people to fill boats from Myanmar and Bangladesh headed for Malaysia, where people believe they can live more freely.

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Italian police find suspected ‘secret bunker’ of captured mafia boss

‘Last godfather’ of Sicilian mafia Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested after 30 years on run

Italian military police have found a possible secret bunker suspected of being used by Matteo Messina Denaro, the “last godfather” of the Sicilian mafia who was arrested on Monday after 30 years on the run.

The entrance to the bunker was concealed in a closet full of clothes in a house in Campobello di Mazara, a small town in Sicily where the apartment Denaro, 60, had been living in was discovered on Tuesday.

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Cash for influence inquiry homes in on Brussels meeting days before World Cup

Ex-MEP allegedly called on friends to ask questions at meeting to lead Qatari minister ‘on a known path’

Belgian police seized nearly €1.5m in cash from homes and hotels in Brussels last month, allegedly paid by Qatar to sway decisions in the European parliament. Now a series of reports have suggested what that money may have been attempting to buy.

Investigators have homed in on a meeting of the European parliament’s subcommittee on human rights on 14 November 2022, where Qatar’s minister for labour, Ali bin Samikh al-Marri, defended his country’s record on workers’ rights.

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TonyBet fined for asking winners for ID leaving other gamblers unchecked

Regulator fines online betting firm £442,750 for imposing unfair terms and failures in anti-money laundering measures

An online betting firm has been fined £442,750 for demanding ID from winning punters before it would give them the cash, while failing to carry out similar checks on potentially vulnerable people depositing money.

The Gambling Commission punished TonyBet, which is based in Estonia but has a licence to operate in Great Britain, for imposing unfair terms and failures in anti-money laundering and social responsibility measures.

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