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Turnout reportedly as low as 40% after opposition party called general strike over ‘sham election’Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has won office for a fifth term, in an election that was overshadowed by a ruthless crackdown on the opposition and low voter turnout.The election commission announced in the early hours of Monday that Hasina’s ruling Awami League had won a fourth consecutive term, winning...

Fixers with alleged links to Egyptian intelligence are making a fortune in ‘fees’ from people hoping to exit through the Rafah crossingIsrael-Gaza war – live updatesPalestinians desperate to leave Gaza are paying bribes to brokers of up to $10,000 (£7,850) to help them exit the territory through Egypt, according to a Guardian investigation.Very few Palestinians have been able to leave Gaza through the Rafah...

Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria died after two rockets were fired at car they were travelling in, witnesses sayMiddle Eastern crisis – live updatesAl Jazeera has accused Israel of the targeted killing of two of its journalists in Gaza as the head of the advocacy group Reporters without Borders decried a “never-ending slaughter” in the territory that had killed 79 journalists in the...

Temperatures could be 10-15C below seasonal average in some areas, with Calgary and Edmonton experiencing low of -30CArctic air will sweep across western Canada and parts of the US early this week, leading to a cold snap that will probably last through the rest of this week and possibly beyond.By Wednesday, temperatures in western Canada could be as much as 10-15C below the seasonal...

Maldivian envoy summoned and flights suspended after insults about Indian PM’s visit to Lakshadweep islandsA row has erupted between India and the Maldives after the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, visited the Indian islands of Lakshadweep to promote tourism.The visit was perceived by some in the Maldives as an attempt to draw tourists away from the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, whose economy is...

Animals have been popping up on golf courses and surfing contests in Dunedin as they reestablish a foothold on the South IslandA growing population of sea lions in the New Zealand city of Dunedin is provoking “overlapping chaos” as their breeding season coincides with residents enjoying peak summer weather.Two sea lions gave birth on a golf course, another swam alongside competitors in a surfing...

Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office says it has arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education ministerProsecutors in Japan have made their first arrest in a financial scandal that has engulfed the country’s ruling party and sparked speculation about the future of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida.The Tokyo district public prosecutors’ office said on Sunday it had arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education minister, who is...

Liz Oliva Fernández says the sanctions, imposed 60 years ago and upheld through Biden, have led to a ‘desperate situation’A Cuban journalist is looking to spread awareness of the US trade embargo in two illuminating documentaries arriving in early 2024.Liz Oliva Fernández says whenever she covered news or events on the island, be it the push for democratic reforms, or the private businesses springing...

Six dead in airstrike on Jenin, Palestinian health ministry reports, as Israel said its aircraft fired on militants who had attacked troopsRead all our Israel-Gaza war coverageUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken met King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Aman on Sunday morning as part of a diplomatic push to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from spreading elsewhere in the region.Blinken’s...

Governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region says 11 people died in strikes on PokrovskAt a glance: what we know on day 683Here are some of the latest images coming out of Donetsk:Five children were among the 11 people killed by a Russian missile strike that hit in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of...

Corruption and the cost of living have trumped concerns about a belligerent neighbour in close race for the presidencyDeep in the mountains of Hsinchu county in north Taiwan, a few dozen residents of Smangus are holding their daily morning meeting in a weatherboard hut, overlooking the towering peaks nearby.The remote Indigenous village, home to about 200 Atayal people, is preparing for Saturday’s presidential election....

Windsor and Maidenhead scraps cultural budget in wake of similar moves in Suffolk, Bristol, Nottingham and BirminghamThe chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned to Berkshire this weekend as the cash-strapped local authority becomes the latest to scrap its cultural budget.Local MP and former prime minister Theresa May was among those to salute a reprieve back in February. But theatre...

Record number of female and ethnic minority MPs expected to sit in Commons according to study of candidate selectionsThe next general election is set to herald the most diverse parliament ever, with record numbers of ethnic minority and female MPs, according to a detailed analysis of candidate selections in winnable seats.The study, by the thinktank British Future, projects that the number of ethnic minority...

Chief executive says further industrial action by junior doctors will hamper progress to reduce health service waiting listsAn NHS boss has warned that his trust is now “stretching to the limit to provide safe care” in the face of continuing junior doctors’ strikes – and warned that further walkouts would halt efforts to cut long waiting times.Cutting waiting lists was one of Rishi Sunak’s...

Parliament returns for election year with a resignation over North Sea drilling and a fight over the Tories’ Rwanda planRishi Sunak is facing a backlash in parliament this week over plans to allow more oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, as Tory troubles pile up on multiple fronts in the run-up to a general election expected this year.MPs return to Westminster on...

Government had rejected campaigners’ demands for new safety measures on basis of outdated researchThe government is reviewing quad bike safety regulation in what campaigners described as “an embarrassing climbdown” after ministers repeatedly claimed that the introduction of roll bars could do more harm than good.Ministers had previously said that research by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showed that roll bars could increase the...

Actor and daughters, 12 and 10, died along with pilot on Thursday after small plane they were in crashed into Caribbean SeaA Los Angeles pilates instructor who recently lost her two daughters and their father – actor Christian Oliver – has paid tribute to her girls and her former husband, saying their deaths are “deeply felt by all who knew” them.Jessica Klepser’s remarks about...

‘The amount of moisture across Victoria at the moment is incredible,’ the Bureau of Meteorology says Hundreds of people across Victoria and South Australia have called for help after heavy rain and severe storms lashed the two states.Residents in Victoria’s north and north-east were warned to expect rainfall totals up to 200mm when thunderstorms sweep across the state on Sunday and Monday. Continue reading...

Angry protests by farmers, hauliers and railway workers risk being exploited by populists such as Alternative für DeutschlandThe symbolism that German farmers chose to express their discontent with the government in the first days of the new year was as unambiguous as it was ominous: by the side of rural roads across the country, there were sightings of makeshift gallows dangling traffic-light signs, a...

The US secretary of state was speaking in Turkey, on trip that will take him to Jordan, Egypt and IsraelUS secretary of state Antony Blinken has urged Middle East countries to use their influence over regional actors to ensure the Gaza conflict is contained and prevent “an endless cycle of violence,” as he continued his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions.Blinken was speaking on...

Victoria police say random attacks were not terror-related with 31-year-old man facing 15 chargesA man is facing more than a dozen charges after he allegedly stabbed four strangers in Melbourne overnight in what police say were “completely random” and unprovoked attacks.Officers on Sunday arrested the 31-year-old Melton man who allegedly used public transport to travel across the city when committing three separate attacks on...

Lloyd Austin apologises for lack of disclosure but questions about medical procedure and the secrecy surrounding it remain unansweredUS defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said he takes “full responsibility” for secrecy surrounding an ongoing, week-long hospitalisation for a still-unspecified medical condition.Austin, who is 70, was admitted on New Year’s Day to Walter Reed national military medical center for what the Pentagon has said were...

Man found dead in driveway of Donnybrook home with gunshot wounds after ‘firearm claimed off one of the offenders’, detective allegesA man found dead in a driveway in Melbourne’s outer north was allegedly part of a group of home invaders before he was shot during a struggle, police say.The man, who was yet to be identified, was found outside the property on Middlemount Street...

Already decimated by mass arrests, opposition parties have boycotted the ‘sham’ election, which will give victory to the ruling Awami LeagueBangladesh began voting on Sunday in an election guaranteed to give a fifth term in office to rime minister Sheikh Hasina, after a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a “terrorist organisation”.Hasina has presided over exceptional economic growth in a country once...