One in six UK workers skipping meals to make ends meet, says TUC

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Trade unions body finds 17% have skipped meal in past three months, and as many as 10% do so most days

As many as one in six workers in Britain are skipping meals to make ends meet as households remain under pressure from the higher cost of groceries, energy and other essentials.

Highlighting the impact of the cost of living crisis on working households, figures from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) showed 17% of full- or part-time workers had skipped a meal to reduce their spending in the past three months.

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Kumbh Mela: India races to prepare huge Prayagraj gathering – BBC.com

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  1. Kumbh Mela: India races to prepare huge Prayagraj gathering  BBC.com
  2. Maha Kumbh mela: India hosts world's largest religious gathering with 400 million expected  Sky News
  3. India kicks off a massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering  The Associated Press
  4. Underwater Drones, AI Cameras, 45 Crore Visitors: Maha Kumbh 2025 Begins  NDTV
  5. Multi-layer security plan put in place ahead of biggest gathering today  Hindustan Times
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Missing Briton’s belongings found in Dolomites as rescuers continue search

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Italy’s Alpine cliff and cave rescue corps find items belonging to Aziz Ziriat as search continues

Items belonging to a British hiker who has been missing in the Dolomites since New Year’s Day have been found as the search for him continues.

Sam Harris, 35, and Aziz Ziriat, 36, from London, last sent messages home on 1 January and the pair did not check in for their flight home on 6 January. Friends and relatives have travelled to Italy.

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LA fires could test Getty Center’s claim of being safest place to store artwork

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Getty team says no current plans to move prominent pieces from center deemed ‘marvel of anti-fire engineering’

It houses some of the richest treasures of the art world, such as Vincent van Gogh’s Irises, a popular Rembrandt and a priceless collection of paintings, portraits and other works spanning more than seven centuries.

To protect them, the Getty Center in Los Angeles was built in 1997 as “a marvel of anti-fire engineering”, complete with fire-resistant stone and concrete, protected steel, and set in well-irrigated landscaping.

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At least 17 killed in Yemen gas station explosion – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. At least 17 killed in Yemen gas station explosion  The Jerusalem Post
  2. At least 17 killed, dozens injured in gas station explosion in Yemen  Reuters
  3. Explosion at fuel station in Yemen kills 15 and triggers massive fire  Sky News
  4. 15 killed in an explosion and fire at a gas station in central Yemen  ABC News
  5. At least 17 killed and 50 seriously wounded in explosion at Yemen fuel station  Yahoo! Voices
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Taliban ‘do not see women as human’, says Malala in Pakistan – BBC.com

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  1. Taliban 'do not see women as human', says Malala in Pakistan  BBC.com
  2. Malala Yousafzai urges Muslim leaders to back gender apartheid legal push  Reuters.com
  3. Malala Yousafzai says ‘Israel has decimated the entire education system’ in Gaza  The Hindu
  4. Afghan Taliban skip Pakistan-hosted summit on girls education  VOA Asia
  5. Taliban skips OIC summit on girls’ education amidst rising tensions with Pakistan  The Tribune India
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AfD launches manifesto as campaign season for German election begins

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Polling for far-right insurgent and its extreme policies is rising but other parties have closed ranks against it despite their weak popularity

Germany’s far-right AfD party has signed off on its manifesto before next month’s critical election, proposing a series of deeply controversial policies on everything from migration to education as the campaign for a new government in Europe’s powerhouse formally kicked off.

The party, founded in 2013, endorsed the far-right concept of “re-migration” into its programme, threatening the mass deportation of migrants if it came to power.

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JD Vance says there’s “a deal to be made in Greenland” – Axios

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  1. JD Vance says there's "a deal to be made in Greenland"  Axios
  2. Trump Wants to Buy Greenland, But How Much Would It Actually Cost?  The New York Times
  3. Danish foreign minister says we are ready for talks on legitimate US security interests in Arctic  Reuters
  4. Trump risks turning the US into a rogue state  Financial Times
  5. What Imperialist Game Is Donald Trump Playing with Greenland?  The New Yorker
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UK PM Keir Starmer under pressure to sack Hasina’s niece Tulip Siddiq – The Times of India

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  1. UK PM Keir Starmer under pressure to sack Hasina’s niece Tulip Siddiq  The Times of India
  2. Tulip Siddiq faces calls to resign after Bangladesh leader’s remarks  Financial Times
  3. Tulip Siddiq boasted of links with ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  Sky News
  4. Keir Starmer ‘will act on findings of Tulip Siddiq investigation regardless of outcome’  The Guardian
  5. PM urged to sack Tulip Siddiq after Bangladesh leader’s rebuke  The Times
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Italy releases Iranian man wanted by US over drone attack in Jordan

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Mohammad Abedini detained on US warrant three days before Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested in Iran

Italy has released an Iranian citizen wanted by the US over a drone attack in Jordan that killed three Americans a year ago, after the Italian justice minister asked a court to revoke his arrest.

Mohammad Abedini has already returned to Iran, Iranian state TV said on Sunday afternoon.

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Biden spoke with Netanyahu; Sullivan says hostage deal very close – NBC News

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  1. Biden spoke with Netanyahu; Sullivan says hostage deal very close  NBC News
  2. Israel 'caught off guard' by Hamas flexibility in hostage deal talks - report  The Jerusalem Post
  3. Israeli Security Chiefs Join Critical Talks for a Cease-Fire in Gaza  The New York Times
  4. Biden and Netanyahu speak as Gaza negotiations reach critical point  Axios
  5. Jan. 12: FM Sa’ar to UK top diplomat: ‘Soon we will know if Hamas is interested’ in hostage deal  The Times of Israel
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Thousands of students protest in Serbia against violation of civil rights, spy agency crackdown – The Associated Press

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  1. Thousands of students protest in Serbia against violation of civil rights, spy agency crackdown  The Associated Press
  2. Tens of thousands protest in Belgrade  Reuters
  3. Serbia's student strikes demand accountability from government  Euronews
  4. Why students are not backing down from their demands – What the authorities have failed to deliver  Serbina Monitor in English
  5. Serbian students protest government failure to take action on fatal train station collapse  Anadolu Agency | English
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Northern Irish nun killed in Ecuador earthquake takes step towards sainthood

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Beatification ceremony for Clare Crockett, former party girl from Derry, draws more than 100 people to Madrid

A nun from Northern Ireland who was killed in an earthquake while she was teaching music in Ecuador has taken a step closer to sainthood.

A ceremony on Sunday afternoon started the process of beatification for Clare Crockett, who died in Portoviejo, Ecuador during an earthquake in April 2016. The 33-year-old had been working in the country as part of her work as a nun, which had also taken in placements in Spain and the US.

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Sweden neither at war nor at peace, says PM, as warships sent to Baltic Sea

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Ulf Kristersson says ‘hostile intent cannot be ruled out’ as increased surveillance follows suspected cable sabotage

The Swedish prime minister has said that his country is neither at war nor at peace as he announced that Sweden would be sending armed forces into the Baltic Sea for the first time as part of increased surveillance efforts amid a spate of suspected sabotage of undersea cables.

The country announced it will contribute up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft to a Nato effort to monitor critical infrastructure and Russia’s “shadow fleet” as the alliance tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure.

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Fears for UK boomer radicalisation on Facebook after Meta drops factcheckers

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For middle-aged users, it will be ‘even harder to discern the truth’ among extremist content, expert says

Experts fear the decision by Meta to drop professional factcheckers from Facebook will exacerbate so-called boomer radicalisation in the UK.

Even before what Keir Starmer described as “far-right riots” in England last summer, alarm bells were ringing amid fears older people were even more susceptible to misinformation and radicalisation than younger “digital natives”.

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One in five Britons aged 18-45 prefer unelected leaders to democracy, poll finds

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Exclusive: Voters overall are downbeat about politics and almost two-thirds think ‘the UK’s best years are behind us’

One in five generation Z and millennial Britons prefer strong leaders without elections to democracy, and voters overall are feeling downbeat about politics, a report has found.

The polling, due to be published next week as part of the FGS Global Radar report, found that overall 14% of people agreed with the statement: “The best system for running a country effectively is a strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with elections,” rather than the alternative: “The best system for running a country effectively is democracy.”

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