Train services running through Leeds station have been cancelled, delayed or revised after a serious incident



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The Palestinian Civil Defence exhumed the bodies of more than 150 people who were quickly buried in the courtyards of al-Shifa Hospital during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Some of the victims remain unidentified. Civil defense teams are moving them to cemeteries to give them a proper final resting place.

Published On 8 Dec 20258 Dec 2025

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Domestic air fares surge amid Qantas, Virgin dominance

Luca Ittimani

Domestic air fares rose faster than inflation in October as Qantas and Virgin reaped the rewards of a busy sport finals season, the consumer watchdog has found.

School holidays around the country coincided with crowds of fans flying interstate for Brisbane’s AFL and NRL grand final triumphs over Victorian teams in Melbourne and Sydney.

Late September and October saw 5.5 million domestic passengers as a result, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest airline report.

Qantas and Virgin reaped the rewards of a busy sport finals season. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

Qantas and Virgin added 45 extra flights to meet the demand but services were more full than normal, with 84.4% of seats taken compared with an average of 81.6% over the last year.

That saw air fares hit the highest level in three years, accounting for inflation, the ACCC said. Prices and revenues have risen since 2022 despite jet fuel prices, a major component of airline costs, falling.

If another airline could match the two majors, prices might fall, but there is little competition and therefore less incentive for Qantas or Virgin to reduce ticket prices, the report read.

Virgin accounted for one-third of all domestic flights in October and Qantas, including Jetstar, accounted for nearly two-thirds, with other companies battling for the remaining 2% of passengers.

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Updated at 22.06 CET

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Hogan added that saying he was “gutted” would not be not overstating his feelings on Joyce, adding to RN:

I’ve always quite liked Barnaby. I’ve felt our relationship has always been okay. But yeah, look, I’m really, you know, to say gutted is probably not overstating it.

There’s a thing, you know, to go to the crossbench, there’s a thing to leave the party, but then to actually join now another party, and he will be campaigning for us not to win seats, or us to not get senate spots, I think is a real blow.

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Kevin Hogan says no one ‘gobsmacked’ by Barnaby Joyce’s decision to join One Nation

Kevin Hogan, the deputy leader of the Nationals, compared Barnaby Joyce to Mark Latham after the former said yesterday he would join One Nation.

The only other person I can think of that has left who has been a previous leader of a political party and joined One Nation is Mark Latham. And Barnaby Joyce joins those ranks as having been a previous leader of a party and joining One Nation. But I’ll leave others to make their judgment about that.

Hogan said Joyce’s move was “obviously very disappointing for us and very hurtful in some ways”, telling RN Breakfast this morning:

Barnaby has said this: he doesn’t want to be on the backbench. He doesn’t like where he sits. So I don’t think there was much that could have been done to stop that.

David [Littleproud] was always saying publicly and privately to Barnaby that the door was open for him to return. And obviously, he’s very disappointed that he left. So, look, I think it was always going to be a tough call. And I think no one is, you know, gobsmacked that he’s made the decision yesterday.

Kevin Hogan, left, and Nationals leader David Littleproud. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 22.20 CET

No tsunami threat to Australia after large earthquake near Japan

The Bureau of Meteorology said earlier there is no threat to Australia after a powerful, 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan overnight.

The temblor prompted evacuation orders and tsunami warnings in Japan, which were later downgraded to advisories.

The BoM said all of the Australian mainland, islands or territories would be unaffected by the quake.

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Domestic air fares surge amid Qantas, Virgin dominance

Luca Ittimani

Domestic air fares rose faster than inflation in October as Qantas and Virgin reaped the rewards of a busy sport finals season, the consumer watchdog has found.

School holidays around the country coincided with crowds of fans flying interstate for Brisbane’s AFL and NRL grand final triumphs over Victorian teams in Melbourne and Sydney.

Late September and October saw 5.5 million domestic passengers as a result, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest airline report.

Qantas and Virgin reaped the rewards of a busy sport finals season. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

Qantas and Virgin added 45 extra flights to meet the demand but services were more full than normal, with 84.4% of seats taken compared with an average of 81.6% over the last year.

That saw air fares hit the highest level in three years, accounting for inflation, the ACCC said. Prices and revenues have risen since 2022 despite jet fuel prices, a major component of airline costs, falling.

If another airline could match the two majors, prices might fall, but there is little competition and therefore less incentive for Qantas or Virgin to reduce ticket prices, the report read.

Virgin accounted for one-third of all domestic flights in October and Qantas, including Jetstar, accounted for nearly two-thirds, with other companies battling for the remaining 2% of passengers.

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Updated at 22.06 CET

Patrick Commins

RBA to announce final cash rate decision of the year today

The Reserve Bank is expected to keep the cash rate at 3.6% today, and the focus will be on any clues for whether the monetary policy board thinks it might have to hike the rate in 2026.

Data over recent weeks has shown an unexpectedly sharp rebound in inflation, while national accounts and household spending figures have pointed to an accelerating economy.

Financial markets are now putting a roughly 50% chance on a hike by May, and have fully priced in a move higher by August, according to ANZ.

Economists have also largely abandoned forecasts for rate cuts in 2026, with a handful predicting a hike next year.

The decision is at 2:30pm, and the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, will give her final press conference of the year an hour later.

The Reserve Bank building. Photograph: EyeOfPaul/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 21.59 CET

Good morning everyone, Nick Visser here to take the reins. Let’s get to it.

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Barnaby Joyce says One Nation’s growing popularity part of global rightwing swing

Nino Bucci

Nationals defector Barnaby Joyce says he believes One Nation’s increasing popularity is part of the global movement that explains the rise of Maga in the US and the recent success of other far-right figures, but joked he is much better looking than Nigel Farage.

But Joyce did not answer questions on the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night about whether he supported Pauline Hanson’s “long-running vilification of ethnic groups”.

Joyce first said he disagreed that Hanson did vilify ethnic groups, and then when asked about her comment that “we are in danger of being swamped by Muslims, who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own”, tried to divert the answer to one about the “extremities” of sharia law.

Asked “do you see any comparison with the rise in popularity of One Nation and the rise with the Reform Party in the UK under Nigel Farage?”, Joyce responded:

Yes, I do. And not only that, I think Australia’s late to the party, whether it’s Farage in the UK, whether it’s Le Pen in France, whether it’s Merlino in Italy, whether it’s within the Maga movement within the Republican Party of the United States, it’s a phenomen[on] across the world. Because Australia has compulsory voting, it’s stickier here, but now it’s happening.

Joyce also agreed with statements Hanson made earlier on Monday, that he would have no portfolio within the party, nor had they reached any agreement about a possible future handover in leadership.

He also largely backed what Kevin Hogan, the deputy Nationals leader, said about his reasons for leaving the party: that he did not want to sit on the backbench. Joyce said:

Well, Kevin is right to a degree. I believe that you’ve got to be as effective as you can possibly be, and I don’t believe …sitting in the corner of the Coalition for one and a half years, not getting a question … I’m 58 years old, not 85 years old, and I’m looking forward to giving greater service to our nation. And if I can get myself into a place that’s more efficacious, I’ll do precisely that.

Barnaby Joyce: ‘I’m 58 years old, not 85 years old.’ Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 21.10 CET

Josh Butler

Albanese tells school students social media ban will ‘ensure Australian children have a childhood’

Anthony Albanese admits the under-16s ban on social media – coming into effect tomorrow – “will require some adjustment”, but told school students in a video address he believes it’s the right thing to do.

The restrictions – which will require TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and others to remove children from their services – begin on 10 December. Albanese has written to all state and territory premiers and chief ministers today, thanking them for their support for the change.

“While this profound change will require some adjustment in the short term, this is the cultural change Australia needs to deliver greater peace of mind for parents and ensure Australian children have a childhood,” the PM wrote in his letters to those leaders.

The PM’s office has also shared a video which Albanese made for young people, and which will be played to students in schools nationwide this week. In the clip, Albanese again concedes the impact the change might have on some children, saying: “If you have questions, by all means, reach out. Talk to your parents, your teachers, and your friends. And if you feel like you need more support, Headspace and Kids Helpline is there to assist.”

Explaining why the government is making the change, Albanese said: “You’ll know better than anyone what it’s like growing up with algorithms, endless feeds and the pressure that can come with that. That’s why we’ve taken this step to support you.”

He recommended under-16s “make the most of the school holidays coming up rather than spending it scrolling on your phone”, urging them to “start a new sport, learn a new instrument, or read that book that has been sitting there on your shelf for some time. And importantly, spend quality time with your friends and your family. Face to face.”

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has made a video for school students. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare

Updated at 21.05 CET

Josh Butler

Reddit reportedly considering legal challenge to social media ban

Reddit says it has “deep concerns” about the under-16s social media ban coming into effect tomorrow, but has agreed to comply with the legislation.

However media reports suggest the platform is considering a legal challenge.

In a statement this morning, Reddit claimed Australia’s law was “legally erroneous”, and went past its original intent.

Reddit said it would begin suspending accounts of users confirmed to be under 16, and require new users to be at least 16 to create accounts. Its statement notes, like YouTube, “Reddit will continue to be accessible to browse without an account”. The platform said it would use an “age prediction model” to estimate users’ ages, which it described as “privacy-preserving”, which includes verifying birthdates through a third-party identity verification provider.

“This is often achieved by sending a photo of a government ID or taking a selfie. Reddit will not have access to this photographic information,” the platform said.

Reddit’s statement said it was “concerned about the potential implications” of minimum age laws.

“We believe strongly in the open internet and the continued accessibility of quality knowledge, information, resources, and community building for everyone, including young people …. By limiting account eligibility and putting identity tests on internet usage, this law undermines everyone’s right to both free expression and privacy, as well as account-specific protections,” the statement said.

“We also believe the law’s application to Reddit (a pseudonymous, text-based forum overwhelmingly used by adults) is arbitrary, legally erroneous, and goes far beyond the original intent of the Australian Parliament, especially when other obvious platforms are exempt.”

The Australian Financial Review reports that Reddit has enlisted top legal representation and is considering a court challenge which may go to the constitution’s implied right of freedom of political communication. A Reddit spokesperson would not comment on the reporting or confirm whether a challenge was in the works, saying only: “The only decision we’ve made is to comply with the law”.

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Updated at 20.55 CET

‘Full steam ahead’ for Aukus deal as Wong and Marles meet Rubio and Hegseth in Washington

The Aukus submarine deal is going “full steam ahead”, Australia and the US have confirmed after a high-level meeting in Washington.

Associated Press reports US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, met their Australian counterparts on Monday local time for annual talks expected to focus on Indo-Pacific security and countering China’s increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan.

Rubio, Hegseth, Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and defence minister Richard Marles gathered at the State Department but in remarks before the meeting none mentioned China by name.

“This is a very strong partnership, it’s a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance,” Rubio said, hailing cooperation between Washington and Canberra on critical minerals, defence production and troop deployments.

The US president, Donald Trump, and Australian PM, Anthony Albanese, signed a critical minerals deal at the White House in October after China imposed tougher rules on exporting its own critical minerals.

“We have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable, and that are diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or our partners of the world,” Rubio said on Monday.

Wong said the alliance “has always been to ensure it delivers concrete benefits for our security and prosperity and for that of the United States. And Aukus is central to that: a win for Australia, a win for the US and a win for the United Kingdom,” Wong said. “We are full steam ahead.”

Hegseth echoed her comments, saying that “as we move full steam ahead on Aukus, we applaud Australia’s upcoming delivery of an additional $1bn to help expand US submarine production capacity. We’re strengthening Aukus so that it works for America, for Australia and for the UK.”

Marles said they were “living in a much more contested world, where it really matters to be doubling down with friends and allies and, obviously, America is front and centre and foremost for Australia in that respect”.

(L-R) Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth meet for bilateral talks at the State Department in Washington DC on Monday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShare

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser to pick up the slack.

There has been a high-powered meeting in Washington overnight, as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, met Australia’s Penny Wong and Richard Marles. As you’d expect, they had warm words for the alliance between the two countries. They also confirmed it was “full steam ahead” on the Aukus deal to build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia, with Australia due to give the US $1bn to kickstart production. More from the meeting in a minute.

Domestic air fares rose faster than inflation in October as Qantas and Virgin reaped the rewards of a busy sport finals season, the consumer watchdog has found. More on that shortly.

A leading economist has warned interest rates are unlikely to be cut for much of 2026 as the Reserve Bank meets for its final monthly meeting of the year. More details soon …

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Updated at 22.02 CET

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The United States Supreme Court on Monday appeared poised to hand President Donald Trump a significant boost in executive power after conservative justices signaled that they would uphold the dismissal of a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

President Trump fired Democratic FTC member Rebecca Slaughter in March, four years before the end of her term and in contradiction of a 90-year-old legal precedent which affords tenure protection to the heads of independent agencies.

A lower court had initially ruled that Trump had exceeded his presidential authority by dismissing Slaughter but, during a two-hour appeal hearing, the Justice Department argued that tenure protections unlawfully encroached on presidential power.

And the argument appeared on Monday to have earned sympathy from conservative justices, who have a 6-3 Supreme Court majority and who have called for the precedent in question – known as “Humphrey’s Executor v. United States” – to be overturned.

Conservatives arugue precedent is out of date

“Humphrey’s Executor must be overruled,” said US Solicitor General D. John Sauer, arguing for the Trump administration, arguing that the 1935 precedent has “not withstood the test of time.”

Conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts appeared to concur, suggesting that the ruling, which rebuffed an attempt by President Franklin Roosevelt to fire an FTC member over policy differences, was a relic of the past which had applied to an FTC which was far less powerful in the 1930s than it is today.

“Humphrey’s Executor is just a dried husk of whatever people used to think it was,” Roberts said. “It was addressing an agency that had very little, if any, executive power and that may be why they were able to attract such a broad support on the court at the time.”

Solicitor Sauer said the existence of the precedent “continues to tempt Congress to erect, at the heart of our government, a headless fourth branch insulated from political accountability and democratic control.”

Liberals warn of boost in presidential power

Liberal justices, however, warned that overturning the precedent and upholding Slaughter’s dismissal would signal a massive increase in presidential power for Trump.

“The result of what you want is that the president is going to have massive, unchecked, uncontrolled power – not only to do traditional execution, but to make law through legislative and adjudicative frameworks,” argued Justice Elena Kagan, adding:

“What you are left with is a president … with control over everything, including over much of the lawmaking that happens in this country.”

Her liberal colleague Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that independent agencies such as the FTC have existed throughout US history, and for good reason.

“Neither the King, nor Parliament nor prime ministers in England at the time of the founding [of the United States] ever had an unqualified removal power,” Sotomayor argued, adding:

“You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent.”

‘Real-world realities’

Given Trump’s recent testing of the constitutional limits of presidential powers in areas including immigration, tariffs and domestic military deployments, Kagan called on the court not to ignore “the real-world realities” of what its decisions can do.

“We are asking the court to adhere to all of its precedents and to give effect to the collective wisdom and experience of all three branches of government,” added Amit Agarwa, a lawyer representing Slaughter.

By contrast, he continued, the administration is “asking you to abandon precedent after precedent, after precedent.”

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

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First lady Melania Trump and Ukraine’s Olena Zelenska have joined a campaign exposing Russia’s billion-dollar operation to abduct and indoctrinate Ukrainian children, its spokesperson said.

While labeling Russia’s “calculated” attempts to strike at his country’s future, Maksym Maksymov of Bring Kids Back UA said the two first ladies’ contrasting roles make the organization’s messaging even stronger.

“Together, they help ensure that no abducted child is forgotten, but apart, one speaks from the center of the crisis and the other carries the message to the world,” Maksymov told Fox News Digital.

Melania Trump’s recent work helped bring visibility to cases that saw seven Ukrainian children reunited with their parents. In October, the mom-of-one supported another eight.

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP ANNOUNCES 8 UKRAINIAN CHILDREN REUNITED WITH FAMILIES AFTER BEING TAKEN INTO RUSSIA

First lady Melania Trump speaks during a Naturalization Ceremony at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb)

“Melania Trump uses her voice as a mother and a public figure with compassion to draw global attention to children who might otherwise be forgotten,” Maksymov said.

“When she speaks, people listen, and she chose to use that influence to highlight the suffering of Ukrainian children directly to the person responsible for their abductions. That takes courage,” he added. “Melania acknowledges their pain, elevates the urgency of bringing these children home, and reinforces a simple truth: that children belong with the people who love them, and their return must be unconditional.”

MELANIA TRUMP NAMED FOX NATION’S ‘PATRIOT OF THE YEAR’ FOR GLOBAL CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY WORK

Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, is working to expose Russia’s billion-dollar operation to abduct and indoctrinate Ukrainian children. (Michael Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

Meanwhile, Olena Zelenska, he said, is involved on the ground.

“Our first lady, Olena Zelenska, has been a steady and essential presence in this work. She visits hospitals, shelters, schools and churches across Ukraine, meeting children who have lived through trauma no child should ever experience,” Maksymov explained.

In fact, in response to the work of the organization, Ukraine has since criminalized the deportation of children, their forced militarization and the obstruction of their return. 

Melania Trump joins Ukraine’s Olena Zelenska in the fight against Russia’s systematic child abduction program. (Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sanctions were also imposed on individuals involved in abductions and illegal adoptions.

It was Melania Trump who also previously wrote a “peace letter” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling him “it is time” to protect children and future generations around the globe, Fox News Digital reported in August.

UKRAINE’S STOLEN CHILDREN CRISIS LOOMS LARGE AS NATO MEETS ON RUSSIA’S WAR

Ukrainian orphans are seen during a stopover in Warsaw, Poland, en route to the U.K., on March 21, 2022. (Pawel Kuczynski/AP Photo)

President Donald Trump then hand-delivered the message to the Russian leader before their summit in Alaska that month.

But ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the illegal removal of children continues to be a concern.

According to Bring Kids Back UA, launched by Zelenska, nearly 20,000 children have been reported taken, although Maksym stresses that “each case requires individual verification because Russia blocks access, hides information and often alters children’s identities.”

So far, he said, “Ukraine has fully verified 9,221 cases,” but thousands more remain unaccounted for.

One example of Russia’s coercive system, he said, is the case of Bohdan Yermokhin, whose experience Ukrainian officials describe in detail.

DEM SENATOR SAYS MELANIA TRUMP IS AMERICA’S ‘SECRET WEAPON’ AGAINST PUTIN’S ‘WAR CRIMINALITY’

People and medical staff are seen responding to the missile strike against a children’s hospital in Kyiv. (AP/Anton Shtuka)

“One case that shows both the cruelty of this crime and the resilience of these children is this story.” 

After being taken to Russia, “he was pressured to give up his Ukrainian identity and exposed to propaganda aimed at reshaping how he saw his own country.”

His ordeal highlights what Maksym said is Russia’s deliberate “abduction of Ukrainian children as part of a strategy to erase their identity and mold them into something they are not.” 

“Russia is spending billions on systems that militarize and indoctrinate these children rather than return them,” Maksym claimed.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Ukraine’s position is clear. Every abducted child must be returned unconditionally. There can be no peace while even one child remains in Russia’s hands,” he said. “War has taken away their childhood. Children live with bombings, displacement, fear, and the loss of everything familiar. This is calculated. It is systematic, and it is aimed at Ukraine’s future.”

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture. 

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A 30-year-old Florida man is facing up to a half-decade in federal prison after confessing to posting violent threats on social media that promised to decapitate Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, murder her “monkey children,” then eat the kids “for protein,” according to plea agreement papers reviewed by The Independent.

Myles M. McQuade, a Tampa resident, made the threats on X, the Elon Musk-owned social network formerly known as Twitter, one day after Omar criticized late right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk in an interview with a progressive news outlet. Her remarks sparked Republican outrage, leading to GOP legislators insisting Omar be stripped of her committee assignments.

“Go back to Somalia before its [sic] too late,” McQuade warned in one post, which is reproduced in his December 2 plea.

In another, McQuade addressed Omar as “you dirty subhuman [N-word].”

In both instances, McQuade’s plea, which was added to the public docket on December 4, says that the threat to kill Omar was “intended… to be a true threat of violence,” and that he “recognized that it would be viewed as a true threat of violence… not idle talk, a careless remark, or something said jokingly.”

open image in gallery

Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, is the only Somali-American member of Congress. She said she has faced a skyrocketing number of death threats in recent months, and a Florida man, 30-year-old Myles M. McQuade, has now pleaded guilty to threatening her life (Getty Images)

McQuade is an account executive at a tech company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The charges against him have not been previously reported.

Omar’s family fled war-torn Somalia when Omar was a child. They were granted asylum in 1995, and Omar became a U.S. citizen five years later, at the age of 17. The 43-year-old legislator, who has represented Minnesota’s 5th congressional district since 2019, is the first Somali-American member of Congress, and one of two Muslim women presently serving.

A member of “The Squad,” a group of far-left-leaning Democratic lawmakers, Omar has faced ongoing death threats from the MAGA faithful amid years of vitriolic attacks by President Trump, who last week during a televised cabinet meeting described Omar and her fellow Somali-Americans as “garbage,” and called for Omar to be “thrown the hell out of our country.”

“Those Somalians should be out of here,” Trump ranted, using an incorrect term for Somalis. “They’ve destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her – she’s always talking about ‘the constitution provides me with uhhhh,’” he continued, referring to Omar.

“Go back to your own country and figure out your constitution. All she does is complain about this country and without this country she would not be in very good shape. She probably wouldn’t be alive right now.”

In October, Omar told NBC News that she feared for her life due to a sharp spike in threats over her criticisms of Israel. GOP leaders did nothing to push back against the “toxic language” being used by party members, refusing to “hold extremists in their ranks accountable,” she said, noting that this kind of behavior in fact has “real-world consequences.”

“Since assuming office, two men have pleaded guilty to threatening to kill me,” Omar told the outlet. “This is very real. I fear for my children and have to speak to them about remaining vigilant because you just never know.”

open image in gallery

Rep. Ilhan Omar is the only Somali-American member of Congress, and one of two Muslim women serving in the legislative body. She has faced a recent uptick in violent threats, stoked in part by public animosity from the White House (AFP via Getty Images)

On Sept. 11, Omar sat for an interview with Zeteo, during which she expressed concern that conservatives had “weaponized” the fatal September 10 shooting of Charlie Kirk to attack the left. While emphasizing that Kirk’s death was in fact tragic, Omar said those on the right had recast Kirk wrongly as a unifying presence, rather than a divisive figure who last year demanded she be deported.

“There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him [Kirk] just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar told host Mehdi Hasan. “These people are full of s**t, and it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”

At 12:33 a.m. on September 12, McQuade – who was vacationing in Orlando, according to his plea papers – logged onto X and posted a message aimed at a target identified in court documents as “U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN 1.”

“[U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN 1] I’m going to kill you, you dirty subhuman [N-word] and I’ll eat your monkey children for protein,” the post read. “Go back to Somalia before its [sic] too late.”

Eight minutes after that, McQuade followed up with a second X message, according to the plea documents.

“[N-word]. When this country falls I’m going to kill your children in front of you then cut your head off,” the post read.

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(US District Court for the Middle District of Florida)

McQuade’s plea bargain says he was “motivated by U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN 1’s status as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and her official actions.”

As is customary for the Department of Justice, the filing does not include the victim’s name. However, the language used in court filings, in addition to McQuade’s messages, make clear she was the target. (Omar’s office did not respond to a request for comment; a Department of Justice spokesperson declined to share any additional detail.)

Shortly before 8 a.m. that morning, the U.S. Capitol Police “received a report of these threats… and began investigating,” the plea papers say. A team of Capitol Police special agents showed up at McQuade’s apartment that evening, in an attempt to question him, but he was out of town, the plea goes on.

“The agents attempted to contact McQuade by phone, but when they identified themselves, he disconnected the call,” it states.

The agents returned to McQuade’s apartment on Sept. 14, and “attempted an interview,” according to the plea, which does not provide further specifics.

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President Trump last week described Rep. Ilhan Omar as ‘garbage,’ and called for her to be deported (AFP via Getty Images)

Prosecutors charged McQuade in a bill of information filed December 2. He pleaded guilty the same day to one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure.

The charge carries a maximum of five years behind bars, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.

Seamus Hughes, a senior research faculty member at University of Nebraska Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, and an expert on violent extremism, is seeing more and more people like McQuade crossing his professional radar.

“With three weeks still to go, 2025 continues its record of the most federal arrests involving threats to public officials in at least a decade,” Hughes told The Independent. “The violent rhetoric touches on all levels of public service, be it the local election official, to a Minnesota congresswoman, to the president of the United States – the connective glue being a rising and concerning subset of Americans who see threatening murder as an acceptable outlet to express their political disagreements. It never is, it never should be, and hopefully… it never will be.”

McQuade is set to appear for a hearing in Tampa federal court on December 22.

Defense attorney Andrew Searle, who is representing McQuade, did not respond on Monday to a request for comment.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Valerie Bertinelli showed an individual cheese plate during a holiday entertaining segment on The Drew Barrymore Show
• After she ate an olive from it, co-host Ross Mathews offered her his own plate, explaining that Drew Barrymore’s dog Douglas had licked hers
• Bertinelli didn’t appear concerned and opted to keep her own plate

Valerie Bertinelli got some surprising news after sampling a snack plate.

During a segment on holiday entertaining on the Dec. 4 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the celebrity chef, 65, showed off a personal cheeseboard place setting.

“Look at this cute little cheese plate that you can put in front of everybody when they come over,” she said, holding it up for viewers to see.

“It’s the perfect size,” she added, before placing an olive in her mouth.

Co-host Ross Mathews quickly tried to swap in his own plate before she could eat more, telling Bertinelli, “I want you to eat mine.”

Drew Barrymore’s dog Douglas on the ‘Drew Barrymore Show’ set.

The Drew Barrymore Show

He then explained, “Drew’s dog Dougie was licking your cheese plate back there before you pulled it out.”

However, Bertinelli didn’t seem worried, pulling back her own plate in front of her.

“You don’t care?” Mathews asked, as Bertinelli assured him, “I don’t care.”

The small cheese plates prompted host Drew Barrymore to suggest serving individual guacamole bowls at parties.

“Don’t do the large guacamole bowl,” she advised. “It’s foul. It’s disgusting. It browns. It’s double-dipped and I’m so mad at it. Just do little bowls!” 

Drew Barrymore, Valerie Bertinelli, Ross Mathews.

The Drew Barrymore Show

The One Day at a Time alum, who joined Barrymore’s show as a lifestyle expert in 2024, recently said the supportive atmosphere there encouraged her to write her upcoming memoir, Getting Naked.

In a clip posted on the show’s Instagram on Oct. 10, Barrymore praised Bertinelli as “a very open book,” calling her “very real, very wise, very giving of your life experiences.”

“I want my life experiences to have meant something,” the Food Network alum explained.

Bertinelli revealed that she started the project around the same time she began appearing on the talk show last year.

“You welcomed me into this home and it felt like such a safe space,” the Indulge cookbook author said. “And I started to then just write, and write and write. And I went, ‘Oh, I’m not healed yet. I’ve got so much more left to do.’”

“I feel so loved here,” she added. “And this book is hopefully what I’ve been through, what I can learn from it, and then what I can then give anybody else that may want to learn and make their lives better as well.”

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The NHS has issued an urgent vaccination warning as a ‘superflu’ sweeps across Britain with hospitalisations in London tripling and schools across the nation shutting. 

The health service said it is ‘bracing for an unprecedented flu wave this winter’ with thrice as many Londoners being hospitalised in comparison to last year.

Last week there was a daily average of 259 in beds across the capital city due to the flu – a stark contrast to a daily average of 89 last year. 

Meanwhile, there were 16,500 ambulance handovers with a daily average of 2,363 another ‘significantly’ higher figure when compared to 2024 statistics. 

The NHS has warned Londoners to get their flu jab as ‘a matter of urgency’, adding that with only a couple weeks left before Christmas, ‘now is the time to act’. 

It comes as schools are closing amid escalating flu outbreaks that are seeing hundreds of pupils off sick at a time. 

School staff have compared the situation to ‘being back in Covid times’, with some headteachers reducing singing in assemblies to cut the spread of illness.

Elsewhere, medical leaders have pleaded with junior doctors to ‘end their painful’ strikes amid safety fears as it could clash with the worst outbreak in decades.

St Martin’s School in Caerphilly, Wales, has closed after more than 250 pupils and staff fell ill

Meanwhile, London Ambulance Service has been working closely with partners in the capital since the summer to plan for a city-wide approach to a flu outbreak. 

Dr. Chris Streather, Chief Medical Director for the NHS in London, said: ‘The NHS has prepared earlier for winter than ever before, but despite this, we know that surging flu cases, coinciding with industrial action by resident doctors, will put pressure on services in the coming weeks.

‘While we’ve vaccinated over 1.8 million people this season, there are still vulnerable people who haven’t come forward. 

‘If you’re in one of the eligible groups and you haven’t had your flu vaccine yet, I urge you to come forward as soon as possible – it’s never too late.’

Dr. Fenella Wrigley, Chief Medical Officer for the London Ambulance Service, added: ‘I strongly urge all eligible people to get a flu vaccination. 

‘We are extremely busy and our 999 control rooms are taking a number of calls from people with flu or similar viral illnesses.

‘Flu can make you feel very unwell, but most healthy people recover with rest, fluids and products available at your pharmacy to manage symptoms. 

‘We need our clinicians to be available to help the people who are more seriously unwell with flu or other conditions.’

Elsewhere, the Academy of  Medical Royal Colleges has made the uncommon decision to attempt to de-escalate the row between the government and the British Medical Association (BMA).

And in doing so, the academy issued a stark warning of the ‘particularly virulent flu’ gripping the country as the outbreak could potentially be at its peak during strikes. 

The resident doctors were set to take to the picket lines between December 17 to December 22 – a move lambasted by Wes Street as a ‘cynical’ bid to ruin Christmas.

The ACMRC urged junior doctors to ‘abandon guidance’ to not inform their employers if they were striking. 

It stated this would allow NHS hospitals to find cover during the strikes and at the height of the flu outbreak. 

A statement, seen by The Times, explained staff would be working in a bid to get ‘patients home for Christmas’.

‘Second, and perhaps more significantly, there is considerable additional pressure being caused by a particularly virulent flu virus taking hold,’ it added.

‘Today, there are ten times more patients in hospital beds with flu than there were at the same time two years ago.

‘If managers were told which resident doctors are intending to take action, it would at least allow them to plan safely for emergency cover and perhaps consolidate resources on a regional basis.’

The BMA has told doctors to do the opposite as they say following the academy’s advice would ‘undermine’ their industrial action. 

Meanwhile, NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has branded the union’s action in the run-up to Christmas as ‘cruel and calculated to cause mayhem’.

The NHS boss believes, by the end of this week, there will be anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 people hospitalised by the flu – figures that exceed peaks in previous years. 

Junior doctors took industrial action with demands of a 26 percent pay rise in addition to the wage increase of 28.9 percent they were given in the last two years. 

While ministers have said they will not move on pay, the Secretary of Health did offer to cover training costs as well as an additional 2,000 jobs.  

But, the BMA rejected the proposal in just four hours without consulting their wider membership. 

A BMA spokesperson said: ‘As the Academy recognises, there is no legal obligation for resident doctors to inform their employers whether they are planning to strike. 

‘This is an important safeguard to ensure doctors exercising their legal right to take part in industrial action are not discriminated against or singled out for negative treatment by employers. 

‘In previous rounds of action we saw NHS England saying that striking doctors should face “consequences'” – illustrating exactly why doctors would not want to have to tell their employers.

‘We’ve given employers adequate notice to plan for next week’s strikes, assuming that no resident doctors will be in work, so they can plan appropriately.’

The Daily Mail has approached the BMA and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges for comment.

Amid the ‘superflu’ outbreak University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust declared a ‘critical incident’.

Royal Stoke Hospital and Stafford County Hospital face ‘extremely high demand’. Patients were urged to use A&E only for life-threatening conditions.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran has cancelled ‘routine visiting’ across all its hospitals amid ‘significant pressure’ due to a ‘sharp rise in viral respiratory infections, including flu’. 

NHS chiefs also warned that London was in the grip of an unprecedented and escalating flu wave with already cases at a record high and ‘no peak yet in sight’. 

One of the worst-hit schools has been St Martin’s in Caerphilly, South Wales, where a temporary closure has been imposed after more than 250 pupils and staff fell ill.

The secondary school’s headteacher Lee Jarvis told parents and carers about a ‘significant outbreak of flu-like illness’, saying there would be a ‘firebreak’ period.

During this time there will be a deep clean of the school, with online learning in place after 242 pupils and 12 members of staff were reported absent from St Martin’s.

Their symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, high temperatures, cough, headaches, fatigue and ‘general flu-like effects’ – with an average recovery time of seven days.

The school closed last Friday and is aiming to reopen tomorrow, but parents were urged to keep their children at home if they show any symptoms ‘even if mild’.

Public Health Wales confirmed it had been in contact with St Martin’s and understood ‘the school has done a risk assessment and decided to shut down temporarily’.

Elsewhere, Congleton High School in Cheshire shut for three days a fortnight ago after high numbers of pupils suffered flu-like symptoms. 

Headteacher Heidi Thurland said the closure from November 26 to 28 was to carry out a deep clean, with teaching continuing on the Arbor remote learning platform.

Simon Kidwell, headteacher of Hartford Manor Primary School and Nursery in Nantwich, Cheshire, told BBC Breakfast this morning: ‘The winter bugs spread really easily in schools.

‘We do know that we can do things to make sure that it’s safer in schools. But we’ve seen schools close to us in Cheshire close for three days, so it has been a real challenge this year.’ 

Late last month, Danesfield Middle School in Williton, Somerset, closed due to a norovirus outbreak among its pupils and staff.

The school said the closure aimed to ‘prevent further spread of the virus’, and so it could ‘carry out a deep clean and break the chain of infection’.

Meanwhile a primary school in Leeds has reduced singing in assemblies to cut the spread of flu, after one in six children were off or sent home last week.

Wigton Moor Primary School headteacher Elaine Bown said it was the ‘worst year’ for sickness since she started nearly 14 years ago. 

She said 70 children were off sick or sent home from Wigton Moor last Monday with high temperatures or coughs – and one class saw almost every pupil off on one day. 

Ms Bown told BBC Yorkshire: ‘We’ve had assemblies, but we’ve not sung in assemblies because again, we know that that’s something that spreads it quite a lot.

‘We are rehearsing for nativities at the moment and Christmas performances and we know from Covid that singing in schools is one of the worst spreaders.

‘But we are also trying hard not to cancel Christmas, we do not want to do that, so we are trying to make it as non-infectious as we can manage.’

Meanwhile the principal of a school in County Londonderry said it is like ‘being back in Covid times’ after 170 pupils were off sick on one day.

Brian Guthrie of Ebrington Primary School said some children even had to go to hospital, telling BBC News NI: ‘It’s not just been flu, it’s been stomach bugs, very sore throats and illnesses in other ways as well.

‘But over the course of last week, it was very, very challenging with the number of pupils and staff off.

‘It took me back to 2020, to be quite honest, the attendance was actually worse last week than it would have been at any of the worst points, if you like, back in Covid times so, yeah, it was a bit of a shock.’

In Scotland, East Lothian Council said its pupil sickness absence rate in the last week of November was 8.1 per cent of the school population, compared to 5.3 per cent in the same week last year.

Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, told the Daily Mail: ‘I think any requests to wear masks should be looked upon as an extension of the old “catch it, bin it, kill it” advice for flu, which was commonly issued every winter before anyone had ever heard of Covid-19.

‘Wearing masks won’t do any harm, but anyone who is ill with flu is unlikely to be able to get out of bed, let alone mix with people outside the home.

‘We’ve known for many years that children are an engine of spread for flu, and the recent data do show increasing cases of infection in educational settings.

‘However, I think the problem most likely to arise is staff getting ill. If there are not enough teachers able to come to work, a school cannot operate safely.

‘Ultimately, we have a vaccine against flu and we have a degree of population-wide immunity which will blunt the severity; we did not have a vaccine to use against Covid, so we have weapons at our disposal to tackle this.

‘People should get their vaccine, especially if they’re entitled to it free on the NHS – just because someone may have had a vaccine last year, does not mean they are covered this year.’

Meanwhile about 100 passengers and crew members on a cruise ship have fallen ill from a potentially deadly sickness bug during a 133-day world trip.

Some on board the Aida Cruises voyage which left Hamburg on November 10 have suffered symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea.

Passengers began displaying symptoms of norovirus after stops in Boston, New York and Miami, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least 95 of the 2,007 passengers and six of the 640 crew members ‘reported being ill during the voyage’, with staff isolating infected passengers after the outbreak.

It comes as the NHS faces a ‘historic crisis’ this winter amid looming strikes and record numbers of people in hospital with flu – with experts now urging Britons to wear face masks.

A troublesome mutant strain of the flu hitting the UK is believed to be more infectious and leading to more severe illness and hospital admissions than last year – while also leaving people vulnerable to other catching other seasonal viruses at the same time.

A ‘drifted’ influenza A(H3N2) strain, also now known as ‘subclade K’ or ‘super flu’, is dominating cases and health leaders have warned the flu season started ‘unusually early’ this year – while virology experts are leading growing calls for mask wearing.

Officials believe surging flu rates are being largely driven by a spike among children at school aged five to 14, with H3N2 accounting for the vast majority of cases. There are now ten times as many patients in hospital compared with the same time in 2023. 

Concerns are mounting at the NHS amid a record number of people in hospital with flu in England for the time of year and fears of an ‘unprecedented wave’ of infections.

NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has warned the country could face its worst flu season on record, after Australia suffered the same earlier this year – and believes the NHS faces pressures that ‘in a lot of ways will be like the Covid period’.

Professor Nicola Lewis, World Influenza Centre director at the Francis Crick Institute, said: ‘We haven’t seen a virus like this for a while, these dynamics are unusual. H3 is always a hotter virus, it’s a nastier virus, it’s more impactful on the population.’

Amid the so-called ‘flunami’, the UK Health Security Agency said masks ‘continue to be a useful tool in limiting the spread respiratory viruses in some situations’.

Officials reissued guidance saying anyone feeling ill should wear a mask because it can reduce the number of particles with viruses released from the mouth and nose.

They also said masks can protect the person wearing them from becoming infected with other respiratory viruses such as Covid-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Mandatory mask rules have been imposed over recent weeks in parts of hospitals in London, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire amid alarm at infection numbers.

Last Thursday, an NHS England board meeting was told by chief executive Sir Jim Mackey that by the end of this week there could be between 5,000 and 8,000 beds occupied by flu patients. That could exceed the highest number on record, 5,400.

Some 1,717 flu patients were in beds each day last week, more than 50 per cent higher than last year. But an average of 259 patients were in a London hospital bed each day last week with flu – three times the average of 89 this time last year.

Those who wish to be vaccinated can find a walk-in appointment by using the NHS walk-in finder.  

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Mum-of-two Cherie Townsend was found to have stabbed 66-year-old Susan Leeds to death more than seven years after her phone was recovered from the grisly scene in California

Cherie Townsend was found guilty of killing 66-year-old retired nurse Susan Leeds(Image: MediaNews Group via Getty Images)

A mum-of-two stabbed a retired nurse to death so she could score the money she needed to send her daughter to cheerleading camp, a court has found.

Cherie Townsend, 47, killed 66-year-old Susan Leeds on May 3, 2018, after descending on her in the parking structure of a shopping mall in Rolling Hills Estates, California. Townsend plunged the knife into her victim 17 times in what has been described as a “brutal” attack following an attempted robbery.

Townsend has now been convicted following a mammoth seven-year legal battle, with the mum having initially claimed she was innocent and being unfairly targeted by law enforcement.

READ MORE: Moment knifeman pretends to be victim after stabbing woman eight times in her homeREAD MORE: Putin sends man who ‘skinned wife over soup’ to frontline as killer dodges trialJurors found that Townsend had personally wielded a knife in Leeds’ killing(Image: MediaNews Group via Getty Images)

The mum was arrested for the first time following the killing in May 2018 after her phone was found at the scene, but was released six days later after prosecutors requested additional evidence from investigators. As the investigation unfolded, Townsend suded the Los Angeles county Sheriff’s Department, claiming in October 2018 that she had been subject to racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress while being falsely imprisoned and detained.

“I live my life in hiding, afraid that the police are going to come or that I’m gonna be unjustly targeted like I was before,” she said in an interview conducted at the time. She was rearrested five years later in August 2023 and charged with murder, resulting in her conviction on Thursday, December 4 for murder in the first degree.

Townsend had claimed she was at the shopping mall at the time of Ms Leeds’ death in aid of her son’s prom, but was unable to explain why her phone was found underneath the car where the dead former nurse was found stabbed to death. In a criminal complaint, it was stated that Townsend had at the time been looking for ways to put $2,000 (£1,501) together, and had said in a note on her phone that she was “completely broken” because she had been unable to come up with the cash.

At one point during the long legal process, Leeds sued California sheriffs(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Townsend has long maintained her innocence, claiming she had dropped her phone while at the mall, and her public defender noted during the trial that no direct evidence had linked her client to the killing, including fingerprints, DNA, witnesses or video footage. While Ms Leeds’ purse was missing, she was still wearing her jewelry, and there was no evidence someone had tried to use her cards, cash or cheques following her death.

However Jurors ultimately decided she had personally used a knife to end Ms Leeds’ life. Fred Leeds, Ms Leeds’ stepson, told local outlet KTLA that “so many lives were impacted by this murder”, adding his stepmother “lived a great life”.

Mr Leeds said: “She lived a great life… a kind human being that would have done anything for anyone, and to be so brutally murdered, there’s just no explanation for it. ” I want to first start out by thanking the police and sheriff’s department in the pursuit of this murder. She didn’t have to be murdered for her purse.”

Townsend, who faces more than 20 years behind bars, will be sentenced on January 23, 2026.

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The Israeli government has been accused of intimidation, harassment and a “blatant disregard” of its obligations by the United Nations after Israeli officials raided a UN building in Jerusalem.

Police officers, along with officials from the town council, entered the East Jerusalem compound of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides services to Palestinian refugees.

The compound has been empty since January, when the Israeli government ordered UNRWA to close the building, accusing the agency of being “infested” with members of Hamas.

The United Nations denied that accusation vehemently.

Read more: What were UNRWA workers in Gaza accused of?

Having gained entry to the compound, the officials filled vehicles with possessions, including office furniture, and raised an Israeli flag in place of the United Nations flag.

They claimed that the building had been raided because UNRWA owed around hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of local taxes.

However, under the UN charter, UN buildings are exempt from such taxes and are also considered “inviolable”, meaning that, rather than raiding the building, Israel has an obligation to protect it.

Since its staff were told to leave, there have been attempts to break into the compound, which has been secured by a team of guards employed by the UN.

Sky News has been told that, when the Israeli officials arrived on Monday morning, the security guards were detained in a room within the compound.

“We didn’t let them in when they first came to the compound, but they cut the chains and the locks and took control,” said George, the head of security, who was standing outside the front gate when we arrived.

“They told my guards to stay in one room, took their phones from them, and told them they couldn’t leave.”

‘The false accusations led to this’

UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said the raid was “a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises”.

He said that failing to cooperate with UN agencies “represent a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world”.

His anger was not isolated. Outside the gates of the UNRWA compound, we met Hakam Shahwam, who used to work here as UNRWA’s chief of staff. It was, he said, “a very sad day”.

Shahwam says the claims that UNRWA was a breeding ground for Hamas had led to the raid.

He told me: “The false accusations led to this. This is a shameful day, not only for the United Nations but also for the government of Israel.

“There must be a strong protest, and a response from the international community. This is unacceptable.”

Read more from Adam Parsons:
Gaza longs for normality, but quasi-anarchy reigns
Israeli forces kill two Palestinians after apparent surrender

‘It is time for UNRWA to be dismantled’

The Israeli government remains adamant that its criticism of UNRWA is justified.

When I asked Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about the raid, she said: “UNRWA is a stain on the United Nations.”

She added: “It is time for UNRWA to be dismantled. It is not part of the solution for Gaza, it is part of the problem.”

She did not comment on the legality of the raid, or on Israel’s ongoing commitment to the UN Charter.

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