Collection of rare Barbie dolls worth $15,000 stolen from Victorian town ‘difficult’ to sell off

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Police say Tatura owner is devastated after theft of more than 150 dolls stolen last month

It’s unlikely more than 150 collectible Barbie dolls stolen from their dream house will be sold on the black market, with the close-knit collectors community keeping an eye out for dodgy dealers.

The dolls, as well as Elvis memorabilia and a Jack Daniel’s esky, were stolen from a home in the country Victorian town of Tatura, near Shepparton, in early December.

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Ukraine launches new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region – BBC.com

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  1. Ukraine launches new offensive in Russia's Kursk region  BBC.com
  2. Ukraine's drone jammers are killing it amid a new push into Russian soil, pro-Kremlin milbloggers say  Yahoo! Voices
  3. Ukraine launches surprise operation in Russia’s Kursk region  The Guardian
  4. On The Same Day On The Same Snowy Battlefield, Russia And Ukraine Both Launch Offensives  Forbes
  5. Ukraine updates: Kyiv launches fresh Kursk offensive  DW (English)
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South Korea extends shutdown of Muan airport due to crash probe – Reuters

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  1. South Korea extends shutdown of Muan airport due to crash probe  Reuters
  2. Jeju Air’s Problems Mount After Crash of Flight 7C2216  The New York Times
  3. Emirates: Social Media Slow To Act On Fake Plane Crash Video  Forbes
  4. South Korea plane crash: Why was there a wall near the runway?  BBC.com
  5. South Korea: Fatal crash cockpit transcript almost complete  DW (English)
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Venezuela Challenger to Meet Biden, Putting Pressure on Trump – Bloomberg

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  1. Venezuela Challenger to Meet Biden, Putting Pressure on Trump  Bloomberg
  2. Venezuela opposition leader seeks army recognition as commander-in-chief  FRANCE 24 English
  3. He says he won Venezuela’s presidential election. Now he’s returning to South America as his rival prepares for inauguration  CNN
  4. Venezuela offers $100,000 reward for arrest of exiled opposition candidate  BBC.com
  5. Venezuelan opposition leader to travel to Uruguay, Panama in coming days  Reuters Canada
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Waitangi Day: record crowds expected amid tensions over Māori policy in New Zealand

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Event in February that commemorates signing of New Zealand’s founding document expected to draw tens of thousands but PM will not attend

Organisers of New Zealand’s national day commemorating the signing of the country’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British crown are expecting record attendance in 2025, following a year of rising tensions over the government’s policy direction for Māori.

In February, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Waitangi, in New Zealand’s Northland region, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Māori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840 and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

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Biden signs bill to boost social security payments for millions of public workers

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President says Social Security Fairness Act will benefit ‘Americans who have worked hard all their lives’

Joe Biden has signed into law a measure that boosts social security payments for current and former public employees – such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public-service workers – in what the White House has described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years.

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives … should be able to retire with economic security and dignity,” Biden said. “That’s the entire purpose of the social security system crafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago.”

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Give working parents help with childcare and commuting costs, UK thinktank says

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Child poverty plan must address the 70% of families with at least one parent in work, Resolution Foundation says

Labour must offer extra support to working parents, including with childcare and commuting, if it is to fulfil its promise of cutting child poverty, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has argued.

The government’s manifesto promised an “ambitious strategy” on child poverty, and ministers have said they will publish a 10-year plan in the spring.

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Harlan Coben says ‘quite a bit of tragedy’ in his 20s made him a better writer

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Bestselling author and Netflix producer said extensive early experience of grief was ‘very cruel but effective teacher’

American thriller writer Harlan Coben said experiencing “quite a bit of tragedy” in his 20s made him a better writer.

The bestselling author, who wrote the Myron Bolitar thriller series and novels turned Netflix shows such as Fool Me Once and Missing You, said he was in his 20s when his father died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in 1988.

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UK charity steps up campaign against child hygiene poverty

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The Multibank, founded by Gordon Brown, receives boost with Amazon-led drive for 250,000 items this month

A charity founded by the former prime minister Gordon Brown is to increase its campaign efforts against child hygiene poverty this year.

The Multibank, which was founded by the former Labour leader, is working with a number of sports clubs across Britain and the Hygiene Bank charity. Over the Christmas and new year period it collected thousands of hygiene products at sporting fixtures.

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Swinney to warn opposition of fuelling populism if Scottish budget not passed

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Scottish Labour, Greens and Lib Dem MSPs accuse first minister of ‘creating false narrative’

John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, will warn opposition parties that they will fuel populist forces if they prevent his budget from being passed this month.

In a keynote speech in Edinburgh on Monday to mark the new year, Swinney will say Scottish voters would be astonished and public services damaged if MSPs fail to allow the budget to go through.

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Mint Primer | China’s new virus outbreak: what we know so far | Today News – Mint

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  1. Mint Primer | China’s new virus outbreak: what we know so far | Today News  Mint
  2. What is human metapneumovirus, are cases surging in China, and should we be worried?  The Guardian
  3. HMPV Virus: Delhi government directs city hospitals to be prepared  Hindustan Times
  4. HMPV Virus: How deadly is this virus? China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention sheds light on fatality rate  The Economic Times
  5. Viral disease HMPV is on the rise among kids in China — what is it?  Livescience.com
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FBI investigates potential associates of New Orleans attacker in US and abroad

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Officials say evidence supports theory suspect, 42, carried out deadly attack alone but reveal leads are being pursued

Federal authorities investigating the avowed Islamic State (IS) sympathizer who carried out the New Year’s Day Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans said they are still investigating his potential associates elsewhere in the US and abroad.

In a news briefing, officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they were pursuing leads in Houston, Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. They also revealed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar visited New Orleans twice in the months before the attack, and, on one of those trips, rode a bicycle up Bourbon Street wearing smart Meta glasses and also rode around the French Quarter neighborhood – ostensibly, officials said, to prepare for the attack that he carried out, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.

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Expanded seven-day health hubs to help tackle NHS waiting times in England

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Proposals to be outlined by Keir Starmer will offer patients 500,000 more appointments a year, as health secretary says without reforms NHS could collapse ‘like Woolworths’

Patients in England will be offered 500,000 more appointments a year via seven-day health hubs under plans to tackle lengthy waiting times, as ministers warned the NHS could collapse like Woolworths without major reform.

Millions of people will be able to access checks, tests and scans closer to home as the health service expands the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) opening 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

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Austria Coalition Talks Collapse, Raising Prospects for Far-Right Freedom Party – The New York Times

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  1. Austria Coalition Talks Collapse, Raising Prospects for Far-Right Freedom Party  The New York Times
  2. Speculation grows that Austrian far right leader Herbert Kickl will be asked to form a government  The Associated Press
  3. The infighting propelling Austria’s far right to power  Financial Times
  4. Austrian Far-Right’s Kickl Has Foot in the Door to Lead Nation  Bloomberg
  5. Austria’s president to meet far-right leader amid coalition speculation  The Guardian
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