Iranian sports minister accuses UK of ‘sedition plot at World Cup’

Tehran parliament told plan was for national football team to defect on pitch in Qatar but plot was foiled

The UK was plotting for the Iranian national football team to defect on the pitch at the World Cup in Qatar, the minister of sport and youth has told the Iranian parliament, without providing any evidence.

The sports minister, Hamid Sajjadi, told MPs the country’s enemies had attempted “the height of sedition”. He said the “Old Fox”, by which he meant the UK, had planned for Iran’s players to walk off the pitch at specified moments and seek to defect.

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George Santos: Brazil reactivates fraud case against fabulist congressman-elect

Republican is accused of using stolen checkbook and fake name at shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008

As the fabulist New York Republican representative-elect George Santos prepares to be sworn in on Tuesday, Brazilian prosecutors say they are reopening a criminal fraud case against him.

Santos, who faces federal and state investigations involving possible criminal activity related to his two congressional campaigns, is accused of using a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the New York Times reported on Monday citing court documents.

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Zelenskiy warns of Russian drone campaign as Ukraine claims to have downed almost 500 since September – as it happened

Protracted campaign of Iranian drones to ‘exhaust’ Ukraine, says president. This live blog is now closed

Nato countries will discuss their defence spending targets in the coming months as some of them call for turning a 2% target into a minimum figure, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told the German news agency DPA, according to a Reuters report.

Some allies are strongly in favour of turning the current 2% target into a minimum,” DPA quoted Stoltenberg as saying in an interview published on Tuesday.

We will meet, we will have ministerial meetings, we will have talks in capitals,” he said.

The parties discussed expected results of the next Ukraine-EU summit to be held on 3 February in Kyiv and agreed to intensify preparatory work,” the statement read.

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RMT chief threatens rail strikes could continue beyond May – business live

Mick Lynch says strikes could carry on into spring unless a reasonable offer is made to the RMT union; transport secretary denies blocking a deal

Huw Howells, head of manufacturing and industrials at Lloyds Bank corporate & institutional banking, said:

Manufacturers start 2023 on somewhat uncertain ground as December shows a fifth month of contraction.

There are silver linings in the supply chain, but unknowns remain for 2023, making forecasting difficult as manufacturers balance demand and supply.

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Tobacco companies to be billed for cleaning up cigarette butts in Spain

Ruling is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling

Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain.

The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging.

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Brexit: Northern Ireland protocol ‘perhaps a bit too strict’, says Varadkar

Irish PM says he understands unionists’ concerns and he will be ‘flexible and reasonable’ on matter

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has said mistakes were made on all sides in the handling of Brexit, vowing to be “flexible and reasonable” when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland protocol.

“One thing I have said in the past is that, when we designed the protocol, when it was originally negotiated, perhaps it was a little bit too strict,” the taoiseach said, speaking in Dublin.

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John Kerry: rich countries must respond to developing world anger over climate

US climate envoy says there needs to be work on details of ‘loss and damage’ fund in 2023

People in developing countries are feeling increasingly angry and “victimised” by the climate crisis, the US climate envoy John Kerry has warned, and rich countries must respond urgently.

“I’ve been chronicling the increased frustration and anger of island states and vulnerable countries and small African nations and others around the world that feel victimised by the fact that they are a minuscule component of emissions,” he said. “And yet [they are] paying a very high price. Seventeen of the 20 most affected countries in the world, by the climate crisis, are in Africa, and yet 48 sub-Saharan countries total 0.55% of all emissions.”

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Extreme-right Israeli minister visits al-Aqsa mosque compound

Move by Itamar Ben-Gvir angers Palestinians after Hamas warned such a step was a ‘red line’

The extreme-right Israeli firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir has visited Jerusalem’s sacred al-Aqsa mosque compound for the first time since becoming a minister, angering Palestinians who see the visit as a provocation.

“Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement, after the Palestinian militant group had said such a move would be a “red line”.

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‘I feel at home here’: descendants of Galicia’s emigrés return to the old country

Spain’s poor western region is welcoming back heirs of those who once left it – especially from troubled Argentina

Galicia has long been one of Spain’s poorest regions and since the mid-19th century Galicians have emigrated in their tens of thousands to seek a brighter future in the Americas. But now they’re coming back.

The Galician regional government says that returnees – the majority are Argentinians – are settling in the area at a rate of three a day. After more than 150 years of steady depopulation, in 2019 more people arrived than left, while, for the first time in its history, the reverse was true for Argentina.

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Two Britons among four killed in helicopter collision in Australia

Mid-air collision near Sea World on the Gold Coast also left three people critically injured

Two British people were among four killed after two helicopters collided in mid-air near a marine theme park on Australia’s Gold Coast, it has been confirmed.

A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who died in Australia and are in contact with the local authorities.”

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‘Burned the hill down’: billionaire’s runaway fireworks spark New Zealand furore

Neighbours furious after firefighters had to be called to Redemption Song, owned by Empire State Building magnate Tony Malkin

Residents of a New Zealand town are calling for a ban on private fireworks after a display by a New York billionaire set off a blaze on New Year’s Eve.

Ten minutes into the new year, firefighters were called to fight multiple grass fires at the property of Tony Malkin – chief executive of the entity that owns the Empire State Building – after an extravagant private fireworks display went awry near Queenstown in Central Otago.

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‘I had to say goodbye’: thousands pay their respects to Pelé in Brazil

Family and friends stand over open coffin in Santos, as Fifa president asks countries to name stadiums after football legend

Thousands of mourners braved punishing heat to pay their final tribute to footballing legend Pelé on Monday as the president of Fifa said he would ask every member country to name a stadium after the recently deceased Brazilian player.

Fans lined up outside the 106-year-old Vila Belmiro ground in Santos – the city in south-eastern Brazil where Pelé first made his name as a star goal scorer in the 1950s – overnight and at about 10am mourners began filing past the coffin that had been placed under a shaded tent in the middle of the field.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian defence ministry says 63 servicemen killed in Makiivka — as it happened

Recently mobilised Russian troops said to have been killed; Ukraine reports 20 ‘aerial targets’ shot down above Kyiv

A New Year’s Day attack on a complex in the Russian-controlled city of Makiivka killed scores of recently mobilised troops sent by Moscow, according to reports on both sides, in what could be one of the deadliest known incidents involving Russian conscripts so far.

Without claiming the strike, Ukraine’s military command said up to 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the incident in Makiivka, a city in the Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk region.

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‘Extreme event’: warm January weather breaks records across Europe

At least eight countries experience record high temperatures of ‘almost unheard of’ heat, say meteorologists

Weather records have been falling across Europe at a disconcerting rate in the last few days, say meteorologists.

The warmest January day ever was recorded in at least eight European countries including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, according to data collated by Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist who tracks extreme temperatures.

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Spain ‘ready for any scenario’ as Gibraltar talks with UK falter

Spanish foreign minister says he does not want ‘no deal’ relationship, but EU is prepared for hard Brexit for territory

Spain and the EU are prepared for all possibilities – including a hard Brexit – when it comes to the bloc’s relationship with Gibraltar, Spain’s foreign minister has said, adding that the ball was now in London’s court after 11 rounds of negotiations.

“Spain doesn’t want a ‘no deal’ scenario,” the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, told Europa Press. “The government of Spain and the EU, which is ultimately the signatory on the agreement with the UK, are ready for any scenario.”

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Rescuers in Vietnam battle to save boy trapped in construction site

Ly Hao Nam, 10, fell down a narrow shaft on New Year’s Eve but there was no response from him on Monday


Rescuers in Vietnam were desperately trying to free a 10-year-old boy on Monday, two days after he fell into the narrow open shaft of a concrete pile at a construction site on New Year’s Eve.

Ly Hao Nam was heard crying for help shortly after he fell into the pile on Saturday morning, but rescuers received no response from him on Monday as they lowered a camera down to try to locate his position in the 35-metre long support pillar.

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Chagos Islanders demand say as UK-Mauritius sovereignty talks begin

Lobby group says future being decided ‘without the involvement of the actual community itself’

Descendants of the people of the Chagos Islands have claimed their views are being ignored as the prime minister of Mauritius announced the start of talks with Britain over the territory’s sovereignty.

Pravind Jugnauth, who has led the Mauritian government since 2017, used a new year’s address to reveal that talks with London were under way over the disputed Indian Ocean archipelago.

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Hunters go home empty-handed on first day of Sweden’s biggest wolf cull

Hunters allowed to kill 75 wolves from an already endangered population of 460 amid ‘political pressure’ from hunting lobby

The biggest wolf cull in modern times has begun in Sweden as nature organisations warn it could drastically harm the population.

On Monday, the Guardian accompanied 200 hunters as they went to kill wolves in the frost-covered forests between Gävleborg and Dalarna, hunting from midnight until the sun set at 3pm. Groups will be going out across Sweden all month as they attempt to take down the large predators.

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Ukraine missile strike on Russian-held city of Makiivka kills scores of troops

Moscow says 63 of its soldiers died in attack on school building used as barracks amid claims death toll could be higher

A New Year’s Day attack on a complex in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Makiivka has killed scores of recently mobilised troops sent by Moscow, in one of deadliest single strikes against Russia’s forces since the war began.

Russia’s defence ministry, in a rare admission on Monday, said 63 Russian soldiers died when Ukraine hit “a temporary deployment facility” with four US-supplied Himars missiles.

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Germany calls for fireworks ban after attacks on rescue services

Chancellor condemns incidents on New Year’s Eve in which firefighters and police officers were targeted

German police and firefighters’ unions have called for a ban on personal fireworks on New Year’s Eve, as the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, condemned incidents of rescue services being targeted with firecrackers and rockets.

Groups of inebriated individuals setting off their own firework displays are a familiar sight on German streets at Silvester (New Year’s Eve), with shops allowed to sell not only sparklers but also small rockets, fountains and firecrackers during the last three days of the year.

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