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Lawyers for Adichie and her husband serve Euracare hospital with legal notice after death of 21-month-old

The Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has accused a Lagos hospital of negligence after the death of one of her 21-month-old twin boys.

Nkanu Nnamdi died on 6 January after a brief illness. He was one of twin boys born to Adichie and Ivara Esege, a doctor, in 2024 by surrogacy, eight years after the birth of their first child, a girl.

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Case brought by Muslim leaders and MP follows failed 2024 bid and seen as part of global anti-women’s rights backlash

A group of religious leaders and an MP in the Gambia have launched efforts to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation at the country’s supreme court.

The court case, due to resume this month, comes after two babies bled to death after undergoing FGM in the Gambia last year. Almameh Gibba, an MP and one of the plaintiffs, tabled a bill to decriminalise FGM that was rejected by the country’s parliament in 2024.

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Very little information has been shared about strikes in Sokoto state

Two weeks after the US carried out Christmas Day airstrikes in north-west Nigeria on what it described as Islamic State fighters, questions remain over the specific group that was targeted and the operation’s impact.

In the aftermath of the strikes, Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that “ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians” were hit with “numerous perfect strikes”.

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British boxer was injured in collision that killed his personal trainer Latif Ayodele and strength coach Sina Ghami

Nigerian police have charged Anthony Joshua’s driver with causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal crash that killed two people.

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with driving without a valid driving licence and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property”. He is due to appear in court on 20 January.

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9,500-year-old pyre uncovered in Malawi offers rare insight into rituals of ancient African hunter-gatherer groups

A cremation pyre built about 9,500 years ago has been discovered in Africa, offering a fresh glimpse into the complexity of ancient hunter-gatherer communities.

Researchers say the pyre, discovered in a rock shelter at the foot of Mount Hora in northern Malawi, is thought to be the oldest in the world to contain adult remains, the oldest confirmed intentional cremation in Africa, and the first pyre to be associated with African hunter-gatherers.

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Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe

US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.

The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe.

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Leftwing leader rallies his supporters as US president accuses him of drug trafficking and threatens military action

A leftwing South American firebrand calls for his followers to rally in public squares nationwide to defend his country’s sovereignty and decry verbal attacks from Donald Trump. The US president accuses the leader of personally flooding American streets with illegal drugs and imposes sanctions against him and his wife. Threats of military action are followed by a phone conversation between the two leaders.

One might imagine that this is a description of the buildup of tensions that led to the 3 January special forces raid on Caracas to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to face several criminal charges in New York.

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Picture is as murky as a barrel of oil, with US companies in 2026 expecting their first production drop in four years

US shale-oil producers were already contending with oil prices at four-year lows. News that they may soon face a significant competitor in their back yard probably wasn’t how frackers wanted to greet 2026.

The US capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolaá Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, hit the share prices of independent shale-oil producers, such as Diamondback Energy and Devon Energy, last week.

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Canada’s PM seeks to smooth over past ructions in relationship with China as trade war takes its toll

During the final stretch of Canada’s spring election campaign, Mark Carney told a debate audience that China was the country’s “biggest geopolitical risk”. He pointed to its attempts to meddle in elections and its recent efforts to disrupt Canada’s Arctic claims.

When Carney’s government plane touches down in Beijing this week, it will be the first time a Canadian prime minister has been welcomed in nearly a decade. The trip, undertaken amid the rupturing of global economic and political alliances, reflects a desire by Ottawa to mend a broken relationship with a global superpower that uses its vast and lucrative market to both woo and punish countries.

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US president says company is ‘playing too cute’ after CEO responds sceptically to his push for oil investment after deposing Nicolás Maduro

Donald Trump has said he might block ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil company’s chief executive called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.

Darren Woods told the US president that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 other oil executives.

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Country follows Indonesia in restricting access after global outcry over X’s AI tool

Malaysia has become the second country to temporarily block access to Elon Musk’s Grok after a global outcry over the AI tool and its ability to produce fake, sexualised images.

Malaysia said it would restrict access to Grok until effective safeguards were implemented, a day after similar action was taken by Indonesia.

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Early Rain pastor said to be among those held in sweep that followed arrests of members of other unregistered churches

Leaders of a prominent underground church have been detained in south-west China, according to a church statement, the latest blow in what appears to be a sweeping crackdown on unregistered Christian groups in the country.

On Tuesday, Li Yingqiang, the leader of the Early Rain Covenant Church, was taken by police from his home in Deyang, a small city in Sichuan province, according to the statement. Li’s wife, Zhang Xinyue, has also been detained, along with two other church members: Dai Zhichao, a pastor; and Ye Fenghua, a lay member. At least a further four members were taken and later released, while some others remain out of contact.

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Move comes after governments and regulators from Europe to Asia have condemned the AI tool and some have opened inquiries into sexualised content

Indonesia temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot on Saturday due to the risk of AI-generated pornographic content, becoming the first country to deny access to the AI tool.

The move comes after governments, researchers and regulators from Europe to Asia have condemned and some have opened inquiries into sexualised content on the app.

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Chen founded multinational conglomerate Prince Group that US says is front for multibillion-dollar fraud operation

Chinese television has shown footage of the US-indicted tycoon Chen Zhi being escorted by armed police after his extradition to China from Cambodia, where authorities on Thursday ordered the liquidation of a bank he founded linked to a massive “scam centre” network.

Chen, who chairs a conglomerate the US says is a front for a multibillion-dollar online fraud operation, was shown in handcuffs and hooded as he was led off a plane at a Beijing airport by black-clad Swat officers, with the state broadcaster CCTV describing him as the “leader of a major transnational gambling and fraud crime syndicate”.

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In mid-December PNG said the company did not have a licence to operate in the country and ordered it to halt operations

Frustration is growing in Papua New Guinea weeks after the government ordered Starlink to shut down operations in the country as businesses, health providers and communities struggle without access to internet services.

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a satellite internet company that provides internet to remote places. In mid-December, the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta) ordered the company to halt operations because it was not licensed in PNG.

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No emergency warnings in place for first time since Thursday – though 12 major blazes are still active

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The bushfire threat in Victoria has eased, with no emergency warnings in place for the first time in almost a week, as the number of structures lost nears 500.

The State Control Centre (SCC) on Tuesday morning confirmed that while there were 12 major bushfires active across Victoria, many of which are expected to burn for days or weeks, there were no emergency warnings in place for the first time since Thursday.

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AFP says boy allegedly made hoax reports to emergency services at major retail and educational institutions in the US, a practice known as ‘swatting’. Follow updates live

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New role a ‘continuation of Rudd’s public service’, PM says

Albanese said the decision to step down was “entirely” Rudd’s, but said the ambassador’s next role will only continue his work to advance the public interest.

Kevin Rudd has a work ethic unlike anyone I’ve ever met. … He sees this as a continuation of his public service, not just to Australia but to the global community.

I have seen first-hand how hard he works, not just in the last few years but throughout his public life. He’s always brought an extraordinary level of energy and discipline to public service.

He applied his relentless effort, his experience, intellect and determination to advance Australia’s interests in Washington, and Kevin Rudd has served the nation well.

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Ructions within festival board over Palestinian-Australian academic’s inclusion began in October, email reveals

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Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has become the latest international headline act to pull out of the 2026 Adelaide writers’ week in protest over the Adelaide festival board’s decision to rescind its invitation to Palestinian-Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Ardern had been scheduled to discuss her memoir A Different Kind of Power with the ABC’s host of 7.30, Sarah Ferguson, on 3 March.

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Anthony Albanese thanks former Labor PM, who will step down in March, for his service to Australia

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Kevin Rudd will step down as Australian ambassador to the US at the end of March, Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday morning.

The former prime minister and foreign minister will leave the role a year early, on 31 March, after being appointed global president of the international relations thinktank the Asia Society. Rudd will also head the society’s Centre for China Analysis.

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Exclusive: Writing for Guardian Australia, Adler says she ‘cannot be party to silencing writers’ after Adelaide festival board cancelled Randa Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to appear

• Louise Adler: I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide writers’ week

• Peter Greste: If we silence voices we don’t agree with, we’re doing the work of extremists for them

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The director of Adelaide writers’ week, Louise Adler, has resigned after the board of the Adelaide festival announced it had dumped the Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the literary event.

“I cannot be party to silencing writers, so with a heavy heart I am resigning from my role as the director of the AWW,” said Adler, one of Australia’s most influential literary figures.

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Incriminating video, dismissed by officials as part of a ‘hybrid attack’, has forced resignations of Nikos Christodoulides’s wife and chief of staff

The Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, has said he has “nothing to fear” over a scandal that has forced the resignations of his chief of staff and his wife from a leadership role of a major charity.

As allegations of high-level corruption swirled days after the island assumed the rotating EU presidency, officials insisted the country had been the victim of “hybrid warfare”. The incriminating claims, implicating the president and first lady in a cash for access network, were made in a video uploaded on X.

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Jens-Frederik Nielsen repeated the government’s statement it would work on strengthening security through Nato

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is to travel to Paraguay on Saturday to sign the controversial Mercosur trade deal with a group of Latin American countries this Saturday.

The deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay was adopted by member states on Friday, ending 25 years of negotiation and months of wrangling with member states over the final compromises.

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Democrat also says president is ‘spending no time thinking about the actual crises’ like food aid and health costs

Donald Trump’s threat to annex Greenland represents an existential crisis for Nato, the senior Democratic US senator Chris Murphy has warned, with the demise of the decades-old alliance of western nations certain to follow any American military intervention.

“It would be the end of Nato, right? Nato would have an obligation to defend Greenland,” the Connecticut senator and member of the chamber’s foreign relations committee said on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. Murphy added that it would mean “clearly … we would be at war with Europe, with England, with France”.

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Haul represents country’s largest seizure at sea, with officers digging bales out from vast amount of salt

Spanish police have made their largest seizure of cocaine at sea after finding almost 10 tonnes of the drug hidden among a cargo of salt on a merchant ship off the Canary Islands.

Detectives and anti-drug prosecutors investigating a multinational criminal group alleged to be exporting “enormous quantities” of cocaine from South America to Europe had identified a suspect ship that had set off from Brazil, the Policía Nacional said in a statement on Monday.

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Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro faces allegations he ran a criminal group while in government

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A former Polish minister who is under investigation for alleged abuse of power during his time in the conservative-nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government has been granted political asylum in Hungary.

Zbigniew Ziobro, the former justice minister, was one of the most prominent faces of the PiS government and played a central role in its controversial judiciary reforms, which critics say undermined the rule of law and the independence of courts, leading to prolonged conflict with the EU.

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• ‘The streets are full of blood’: Iranian protests gather momentum as regime cracks down

• Iranian student killed during protests was shot in head ‘from close range’

• Analysis: Unpredictable Trump weighs up Iranian pleas for help against calls for restraint

• People in Iran: share your views on the current situation

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, has said communication lines with the US remain open, as the Trump administration continues to weigh the option of military strikes.

“This channel of communication between our foreign minister (Abbas Araghchi) and the special envoy of the president of the United States is open,” Baghaei said, in apparent reference to Steve Witkoff.

Always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.

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Speaker of parliament says country fighting four-front war after minister claims unrest has ‘come under total control’

Tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators have rallied in Tehran as the Iranian regime sought to downplay the continuing nationwide protest movement.

State TV showed crowds of people on Monday streaming through the streets of Tehran before gathering in Enqelab Square for the “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism” rally. There, they listened to a speech by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who railed against western intervention.

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Actors, doctors and human rights leaders sign letter calling for restoration of medical care to ‘collapsed’ system

Dozens of artists, including Cynthia Nixon, Mark Ruffalo and Ilana Glazer, have joined with doctors, human rights leaders and humanitarian organizations to call for the immediate restoration of medical care in Gaza in a letter addressed to the state of Israel and world leaders.

“Israel’s systematic attacks on hospitals and unlawful blockade have collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system,” says the letter, which was shared exclusively with the Guardian. “Through its policies and military activities, the government of Israel has deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza and then denied the very help that could save them.”

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Foreign minister says talks possible only on basis of respect after Trump threatened ‘very strong’ military response

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said Iran is willing to negotiate with the US about its nuclear programme on the basis of respect, but did not comment on claims by Donald Trump that Iran was arranging a meeting with the US.

The US president, who has threatened to intervene in Iran, said on Sunday such a meeting was being planned, but added it could be derailed by the crackdown on protesters. He has claimed that Iran reached out and proposed negotiations, as he considers “very strong” military action against the regime.

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Demonstrations initially focused on economic issues but as they have grown and become political the regime has responded with deadly force

• Iran crisis live – latest updates

A protest movement in Iran that started as a small demonstration by shopkeepers in Tehran over a weakening currency has exploded into the largest nationwide uprising in years against the country’s theocratic leaders.

Fearing a threat to its decades-old grip on the country, the government has responded with deadly force. Rights groups have reported that hundreds of people have been killed by security forces and the state-backed Basij militia.

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Police ask Paramjeet Singh Pamma to install security cameras and reinforce door locks at his home

Police have advised a high-profile Sikh activist in the UK to install security cameras at his home and reinforce door locks because of threats from Hindu nationalist elements.

Paramjeet Singh Pamma, 52, said he had been visited by police and received verbal advice to increase his security due to intelligence suggesting threats to his safety.

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UN and many western countries as well as human rights groups say that in the absence of a meaningful opposition the election is neither free, fair nor credible

Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised as a tool to formalise junta rule.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished nation of 51 million people.

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Satat Sampada founders Harjeet Singh and Jyoti Awasthi say allegations are ‘baseless, biased and misleading’

Police have raided the home of one of India’s leading environmental activists over claims his campaigning for a treaty to cut the use of fossil fuels was undermining the national interest.

Investigators from India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) claim Harjeet Singh and his wife, Jyoti Awasthi, co-founders of Satat Sampada (Nature Forever), were paid almost £500,000 to advocate for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT).

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The fate of the woman who left the UK at 15 in search of Islamic State raises wider questions about citizenship

While many aspects of UK political polling have shifted drastically since 2019, the public’s view on Shamima Begum has remained largely fixed: a big majority do not want the now 26-year-old woman back in the UK.

In 2019, Sajid Javid, then home secretary, stripped the Londoner of her UK citizenship on the grounds that she was a security threat, having travelled as a schoolgirl with two friends to territory controlled by Islamic State (IS) in Syria. At the time, 76% of people backed the move.

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Hundreds hospitalised in Indore after public toilet built above water pipeline appears to have let sewage into supply

Sewage-contaminated drinking water is being blamed for killing at least 10 people, including a baby boy, and sending more than 270 others to hospital in Indore, ranked India’s “cleanest city” for the last eight years.

Residents of a congested, lower-income neighbourhood in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital, had been warning authorities for months about foul-smelling tap water. Their complaints went unheeded, despite the city’s much-lauded ranking for waste segregation and other cleanliness measures.

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Former ambassador to US had earlier declined to give apology for keeping in touch with sex offender after his conviction

Peter Mandelson has issued an apology for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – after declining to do so in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC in which he suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the disgraced financier’s sex life.

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Prime minister tells parliamentary party that ‘being in the room’ for trade and defence talks will boost UK economy

Keir Starmer has defended his frequent trips out of the country to Labour MPs, attempting to draw a direct link with the cost of living at home, which he warned would not be solved by isolationism.

The prime minister told the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) on Monday night that it was essential for him to be “in the room” for international negotiations on trade and defence, which would then have an impact on the domestic economy.

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Former attorney general urges more clarity on British spy agencies’ role in Abu Zubaydah’s torture by CIA

Ministers should explain why the UK has paid compensation to a Palestinian man who was tortured by the CIA and is still being held in Guantánamo Bay, according to a former attorney general.

Abu Zubaydah, the first man subjected to CIA waterboarding, was reported by the BBC to have been awarded a payment that may amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the role of MI5 and MI6 in his mistreatment.

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Nadhim Zahawi’s ministerial experience is badly needed by Nigel Farage but it comes with his former party’s tainted brand

In the death throes of Boris Johnson’s government in the summer of 2022, Nadhim Zahawi was appointed chancellor by an increasingly desperate prime minister determined to cling on to power.

The vacancy arose after Rishi Sunak, who had led the Treasury for more than two years, quit saying he no longer had confidence in Johnson to lead the country, setting off – with others – a string of high-profile desertions.

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Exclusive: Dutch police question claims used by West Midlands force in evidence to inquiry

Dutch police have questioned the credibility of claims used by British officers to justify excluding Israeli fans from a football match in Birmingham in their testimony to an official inquiry.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from the Europa League game against Aston Villa in November by a Birmingham safety committee following intelligence from West Midlands police.

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Minnesota asks court to declare surge in federal agents in region unconstitutional and unlawful, while Illinois says ICE agents used ‘dangerous tactics’

• Minnesota sues Trump administration to end surge of ICE agents in state

In response to the news overnight that Donald Trump’s justice department has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, the Senate banking committee’s top Democrat – Elizabeth Warren – has warned that her colleagues should not move forward with the president’s nominee for the role when Powell’s term expires at in May of this year.

Warren accused the president of wanting to “install another sock puppet to complete his corrupt takeover of America’s central bank”.

Trump is abusing the authorities of the Department of Justice like a wannabe dictator so the Fed serves his interests, along with his billionaire friends.

This Committee and the Senate should not move forward with any Trump nominee for the Fed, including Fed Chair.

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Ballot proposes one-time, 5% tax on anyone in state worth more than $1bn and grant a five-year period for payment

Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has donated $3m to a California lobbying group advocating against a proposed wealth tax that would target billionaires in the state. The seven-figure contribution comes as several ultra-wealthy tech moguls have left or threatened to leave California over the tax.

Thiel, worth some $26bn, made the donation last month to the California Business Roundtable’s political action committee, according to a public disclosure filing which was first reported by the New York Times. A representative for Thiel did not respond to requests for comment.

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Lawsuit comes in the aftermath of an ICE agent fatally shooting Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good

The Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, announced a lawsuit on Monday against the federal government, seeking to end the surge of ICE agents in the state.

The lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials comes in the aftermath of an ICE agent fatally shooting resident Renee Nicole Good behind the wheel of her vehicle last week, leading to protests across the city, and country.

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Republican senator vows to block all Fed nominations ‘until legal matter is fully resolved’

Several Republican lawmakers have begun speaking out against the Trump administration’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, with one senator going so far as to threaten all Fed nominations as a result.

Thom Tillis, a senator from North Carolina, vowed to block all Federal Reserve nominations after the justice department opened the investigation, inflaming tensions over the central bank’s independence.

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Ørsted and other wind developers have faced repeated disruptions to multibillion dollar projects under Trump

A federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which Donald Trump’s administration halted along with four other projects last month.

The ruling by US district judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has sought to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters.

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