Charlie Puth helped kick off Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with his rendition of the national anthem, and football fans flocked to social media to give him his flowers for it.
As some national anthem renditions have been critiqued in the past, many believed Puth did well with the performance.
“Charlie Puth killed it holy s—,” one X user wrote.
Charlie Puth performs onstage during the Super Bowl LX Pregame at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Another added: “Charlie Puth singing the national anthem like he’s in the Baptist church mixed with a little 80s RnB in there. One of my favorite anthems I heard [for real].”
Even some viewers who are not fans of the Rumson, New Jersey, native’s music came away impressed.
“While I’m not a huge fan of his musical stylings, Charlie Puth is a brilliant musician,” an X user posted. “A bit of an over production for my taste, but he did a fine job.”
There were some, though, who believe too much autotune pumped into his microphone.
Charlie Puth speaks onstage during the Super Bowl LX Pregame & Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Press Conference at Moscone Center West on Feb. 5, 2026 in San Francisco, California.(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
“Charlie Puth was [fire emoji] but the sound engineer needs to be fired for slapping so much auto-tune on someone who doesn’t need it,” an X user wrote.
“Charlie Puth is good enough to sing the National Anthem without the insane amount of auto-tune he’s using,” another added.
As Puth finished the anthem, a joint U.S. Air Force and Navy eight-ship formation flew over the stadium for the Super Bowl.
It’s also a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, which is a prominent piece of this game.
Charlie Puth performs onstage during the Super Bowl LX Pregame at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Both teams are wearing America 250 patches on their uniforms, while there was a moment before the game acknowledging America 250 with a large flag on the field and fans holding up signs that resembled an American flag.
With Puth’s anthem complete, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots kicked off to determine who will win the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the 2025 NFL season.
A senior US public health official called on Americans to get vaccinated against measles as outbreaks continue in multiple states and concerns grow that the country could lose its measles elimination designation. Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, spoke in support on Sunday of the measles vaccine.
“Take the vaccine, please,” said Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “We have a solution for our problem.”
“Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses,” he told CNN’s State of the Union. “But measles is one you should get your vaccine.”
His boss, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, has a long history of questioning both the safety and necessity of vaccines.
The remarks come as South Carolina is experiencing an outbreak involving hundreds of cases, exceeding the number recorded in Texas’ measles outbreak earlier in 2025. Another outbreak has been identified along the Utah-Arizona border, and several additional states have reported confirmed cases this year. Children have been the most affected.
Public health specialists say the resurgence is occurring as skepticism toward vaccines grows, potentially fueling the return of a disease that officials had previously declared eliminated in the US.
In January alone, the US saw 25% of the total cases confirmed in all of last year, and the outbreak shows no sign of slowing as federal officials mostly stay silent on vaccination.
The vast majority of patients are not vaccinated, but there have been no national campaigns announced, with Oz being the first major statement from the federal government. Last year, Kennedy positioned measles vaccines as a personal choice and recommended unproven treatments for the highly contagious illness.
Oz has previously leaned into Kennedy’s campaign to “make America healthy again” (Maha), an effort to redesign the country’s food supply, reject vaccine mandates and cast doubt on some long-established scientific research. He cast doubt on how well flu vaccines work in an interview with Newsmax last year. “Every year, there’s a flu vaccine. It doesn’t always work very well. That’s why it’s been controversial of late,” Oz said. He instead recommended that Americans “take care” of themselves, so they can “overwhelm” the flu when they encounter it.
Democrats in Texas were called out on Friday in an Atlantic article for their “circular-firing squad behavior” in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.
“The party’s latest and most egregious circular-firing-squad behavior transpired earlier this week, when the Democrat Colin Allred, who’d previously dropped out of the Senate race, endorsed Jasmine Crockett, one of the two remaining major competitors. He gave his reason for doing so in a video he posted to social media on Monday,” Atlantic writer Jonathan Chait wrote.
The article referenced comments made by Morgan Thompson, a political influencer who posts on TikTok under the username @morga_tt, who claimed that state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, referred to former Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, as a “mediocre Black man.” Talarico, who is now facing off against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, allegedly told Thompson that he “signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable, intelligent Black woman.”
Allred responded to the comments in a video on social media, and encouraged people to vote for Crockett.
James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, during a debate at the 2026 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas on Jan. 24, 2026. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) speaks at a press conference in Washington, DC on September 8, 2025. Former Rep. Colin Allred waves to the crowd at a Kamala Harris rally Friday, Oct. 25, 2024 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. (Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Chait wrote that Allred chose the most “inflammatory response” to post on TikTok.
“Allred did not have to record and share his response to Talarico, nor was he required to take the allegation at face value. He chose the most inflammatory response,” he wrote.
Allred said, “We’re tired of folks using praise for Black women to mask criticism for Black men.”
“Everything about this episode reveals levels of pathological incompetence. Crockett and her supporters are prying open fissures that will scar whichever candidate emerges. They are expressing themselves in social-justice jargon that might be effective in a student-council race at Wesleyan but sounds completely alien to most Texans,” Chait wrote.
Chait also criticized Crockett for her plan to win over voters that have historically not been reached. The progressive firebrand has said she doesn’t need to win over voters who supported President Donald Trump. She said during an interview on CNN in December, “Our goal is to make sure that we can engage people that historically have not been talked to.”
“Crockett has suggested that she can help drive turnout of infrequent voters. The belief that there is a hidden reservoir of left-wing voters who will bother to show up at the polls only if a sufficiently progressive candidate activates their interest is a decades-old myth,” Chait argued.
State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, left, and Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, shake hands during a debate at the 2026 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He also argued that concerns about Crockett’s electability were not racist, as she has suggested. Chait specifically referenced podcast hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers telling listeners not to waste money on her campaign.
“I really do think that the host said the quiet part out loud, which basically was: If a White man couldn’t do it, then why would a Black woman even have the audacity to think that she could?” Crockett said.
“One fatal flaw of progressive identity norms, which treat women and people of color as experts on racism and sexism whose charges of bias cannot be refuted, is that they insulate bad arguments from scrutiny. The belief that swing voters in Texas are too racist and sexist to be compromised with implies that defeat is the only morally acceptable option,” he wrote.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose parents migrated to the UK from Pakistan, is facing the suggestion from a veteran Labour peer that she is “pulling up the drawbridge once inside” when considering the plight of refugee children trapped abroad.
Alf Dubs, who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, said the home secretary and other ministers had “kowtowed” to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK by preventing unaccompanied children from seeking refuge with UK-based family members.
Keir Starmer’s government is facing pressure from Labour MPs after announcing plans for the biggest shake-up of asylum laws in 40 years, including the suspension of family reunion visas.
Ministers have rejected attempts by Dubs and refugee charities to make it easier for children seeking asylum from abroad to apply to join family in the UK.
Mahmood has said that more safe and legal routes will be opened for refugees once order and control has been restored to the UK’s borders.
In an interview with the Guardian, Dubs, who also served as MP for Battersea and as Northern Ireland minister during the Good Friday negotiations, said he was not surprised that home secretaries who were the children of migrants, such as Mahmood, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and James Cleverly, had become hardline home secretaries.
Mahmood’s parents migrated to the UK from Kashmir. Photograph: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
“Some people believe you pull up the drawbridge once you get inside. Politics is a tough old business. Some may want to demonstrate that they’re not going to just do things because of their background,” he said.
“I argue that the cause of human rights should not depend upon the actual background of the individual putting forward the argument. It should be on the merits of the argument,” he said.
Asked if Mahmood had “pulled up the drawbridge” on child refugees, Dubs replied: “It looks like it”.
Dubs, 93, was transported to the UK through the Kindertransport train, which he subsequently discovered had been organised by the Berlin-based stockbroker Sir Nicholas Winton.
A Labour party member for more than 50 years, Dubs accused Starmer’s government of using asylum like a “political football” while courting voters on the right of the Conservative party and Reform.
Children in Germany saying goodbye before being taken to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1938 or 1939. Photograph: dpa-Film Warner/DPA/PA Images
“I would like to see the government accept in principle that children who are abroad – asylum-seeking children who have got relatives with settled status here – should be allowed to join them. Not all claimants, but at least some of them.
“I think we can show that we are not just kowtowing to Reform, as we have appeared to be, and we can show that we are moving in a different direction and can persuade the public to come with us.”
Asked if he believed that the current rise of extremism was following a similar pattern to that of the 1930s, Dubs said: “There are certain similarities. In one sense, I had an easier journey than some of the children I have met who have come from Syria and Afghanistan. I did not have to cross continents and use people traffickers.
“In ’38 and ’39, Britain took unaccompanied child refugees on Kindertransport from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Most other countries said no. Even America said no. But Britain did it in difficult circumstances then and we can do it now,.”
Until the suspension of family reunion visas in September 2025, an adult who was granted refugee status could sponsor their spouse or partner and dependent children under the age of 18 to join them. Children have no family reunion rights.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, the Home Office issued 20,876 refugee family reunion visas. More than half were granted to children, while 37% were issued to adult women, the Refugee Council said.
At the time of the suspension, the Home Office said it would last until “spring 2026”, when it planned to introduce new restrictions, which could include new income thresholds and English-language tests.
Dubs attempted to amend the border security, asylum and immigration bill in the autumn so that unaccompanied children outside the UK could be reunited with close family members granted refugee status. His efforts were successfully opposed by the government.
Dubs said he was “disappointed” by the move. In 2020, Keir Starmer had signed a joint letter with the peer demanding the then Conservative government commit to family reunion for child refugees.
This is not the first time Dubs has taken on a government over the plight of refugee children. In 2016, he championed the landmark “Dubs amendment”, which was supported on all sides of both houses and accepted by the then Conservative government. It led to the admission to the UK of 480 unaccompanied refugee children, mainly fleeing Syria, who had been stranded alone in Europe.
He plans to push for further changes to allow unaccompanied children to enter the UK.
“We must not run scared of Reform. They will always outdo us in hostility. What we have got to do is to say that certain basic human rights principles must apply.
“Do it very gently, argue for compassion. This is a nuanced thing, because we have to bear in mind that there are a lot of people in traditional Labour seats who are looking at Reform sympathetically. But we have got to make a bid for them,” he said.
Mahmood also wants to double the time it takes most migrant workers to qualify for permanent residence, from five years to 10 years. Last week, about 40 Labour MPs raised concerns about the impact of the proposals on migrants already living here, describing the retrospective approach as “un-British” and “moving the goalposts”.
A source close to the home secretary said once order and control had been restored to the UK’s borders she would open safe and legal routes for genuine asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution.
Mahmood is also said to believe that without major changes to separate asylum seekers from “economic migrants”, the government risks losing consent for an asylum system at all, which could lead to widespread divisions and possible disorder.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Under this government’s reforms to create a fairer asylum system, family reunion will no longer be automatic. Those seeking to bring family members to the UK will need to meet stricter criteria going forward.
“Other routes will be available for eligible individuals to apply to reunite with family.”
Despite living in Puerto Rico, Jake Paul will not be supporting his neighbor during the halftime show.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer denounced Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show roughly two hours before kickoff and implored fans to realize that they “have power” to use their voices.
“Purposefully turning off the halftime show. Let’s rally together and show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences (which equals viewership for them),” Paul posted to X. “You are their benefit. Realize you have power. Turn off this halftime.”
Jake Paul gives a press conference after knocking out Andre August in the first round at the Caribe Royale Orlando.(Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports)
Paul then called Bad Bunny “a fake American citizen performing who publicly hates America.”
“I cannot support that,” Paul continued.
The artist received both praise and backlash for his “ICE out” comments at the Grammys last week. Bad Bunny said last fall he decided to do his residency shows in his native Puerto Rico and didn’t book any U.S. dates on his tour over fears his fans would be detained by ICE agents.
Bad Bunny accepts the award for Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos at the 68th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said he will avoid Bad Bunny’s performance in the “Woke Bowl.”
“And we’ve got Bad Bunny, or Bad Rabbit, at halftime. I’ll be watching the (Turning Point USA) halftime show. It’s just unfortunate we’ve gotten to this point,” Tuberville said.
Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre also said he would be tuned in to Turning Point USA’s “The All-American Halftime Show,” saying he did not know who Bad Bunny was.
Earlier in the weekend, Paul defended ICE agents after watching some Olympic hockey with Vice President J.D. Vance.
US boxer and influencer Jake Paul and US Vice President JD Vance attend the women’s preliminary round Group A Ice Hockey match between USA and Finland at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, on Feb. 7, 2026. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday shrugged off US threats. Abbas Araghchi made it clear that despite the ongoing talks with America, Iran will never give up uranium enrichment. He said that Iran is not going to be afraid of the threat of war from America or military deployment in the region.
At an event in Tehran, Abbas Araghchi said that Iran’s trust in Washington is very low and he also doubts whether America is taking the talks seriously or not. He said that Iran is also consulting its strategic partners China and Russia regarding these talks.
Why did Araghchi speak on the deployment of American warships?
Araghchi said Iran’s insistence on uranium enrichment is because no country can dictate its behavior. Referring to the deployment of the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, he said that Iran is not afraid of this.
It is noteworthy that Iran and America have resumed talks in Oman for the first time after the 12-day war with Israel in June last year. In these talks, Iran wants to remove US economic sanctions and in return is talking about offering some confidence-building measures related to the nuclear program.
‘Our strength is our ability to say no to superpowers’
Western countries and Israel allege that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb, which Iran has rejected. Araghchi said Iran is not seeking any nuclear weapons and its real strength is its ability to say ‘no’ to the superpowers.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has described Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to world peace. The US and Israel want the talks to include issues like Iran’s ballistic missile program and support to regional armed organizations, but Iran has refused to make these a part of the talks.
Araghchi said the continuation of sanctions and military activities raise questions about America’s diplomatic commitment and Iran will monitor the situation and decide on further talks.
Newspoll an ‘existential crisis’ for Liberals and ‘we are now at irrelevance’, Hume says
Jane Hume has not minced her words this morning, and after telling Sky News this morning the Coalition needed a “reset”, she spoke to reporters in the press gallery and called this morning’s Newspoll an “existential crisis”.
The Liberal senator and former frontbencher said there wouldn’t be a single Liberal elected to the House of Representatives if the poll results continued.
Hume dances around the question of whether the reset means a leadership change in both parties, saying that’s a decision for both party rooms, “not just me”.
We’re talking about a leadership contest between Sussan Ley and Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. None of them will have seats after the next election, if these polls continue, so something’s got to give.
I’m not casting aspersions on any one particular leader or leadership aspirant, but at some stage we need to do something very, very different, because this is so much worse than it was just in May last year, when we had our worst election defeat in history …
We are now at irrelevance.
Liberal senator Jane Hume: ‘We need to do something very, very different.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Key events
What’s happening in parliament today?
Senators are grilling public servants and the government today in Senate estimates – we’ll bring anything juicy we hear right to you!
And over in the House, it’s our first Monday sitting of the year, which means it’s time for private members’ bills.
This morning, the Nationals MP Pat Conaghan is putting forward a private member’s bill to ban burning or desecrating the Australian flag. Sound a bit familiar? There’s a bit of lore to this one.
It’s an issue that One Nation has been pushing, and that the Liberal MP Phil Thompson subsequently tried to introduce when the government was debating the antisemitism bill.
Since that failed (because Labor has a majority in the House), Conaghan is trying again to debate it in the House. He says:
We can and must, without apology, say that those who burn our flag are wrong their actions are divisive, disrespectful and damaging to out social cohesion.
Tom McIlroy
ABC defends Four Corners episode after Asio criticism
Further to the last post, an ABC spokesperson has defended the episode.
“The Four Corners program is a comprehensive investigation examining the events that led to the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil,” they told Guardian Australia.
Four Corners spoke to numerous people and provides a number of sources of information for a detailed picture of the Akrams’ actions and associations in the years leading up to the Bondi attack.
Detailed questions were put to ASIO and its response is reflected in the story. The public will be able to watch the full investigation tonight.
Asio raises concerns over Four Corners episode on Bondi terror attack
Tom McIlroy
The intelligence agency Asio says it has serious concerns about an episode of Four Corners on the Bondi beach terror attack, due to air tonight.
In a lengthy statement, which Asio said was issued in response to questions from the ABC, Asio warned the ABC it could take further action if the broadcast includes claims the broadcaster cannot substantiate.
The episode focuses on the Bondi gunmen, father and son Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, examining their “histories and their associations with an Islamic State terrorist network in Australia”.
The statement says Asio investigated Naveed Akram in 2019, finding he did not intend to engage in violent extremism at that time, and that they stand by that finding in respect of that time.
Four Corners’ questions about the investigation appear to be based on the uncorroborated claims of a single, unreliable and disgruntled source.
Asio claims Naveed Akram has been misidentified by a source, even alleging that person has a “track record of making statements that are untrue.”
Asio also rejected ABC claims about resourcing of the organisation. The statement says:
ASIO is constrained in our ability to respond to specific questions because there is an ongoing investigation, the matter is before the courts and we now have the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
It would not be responsible to risk prejudicing the Royal Commission, any criminal proceedings, and the ongoing investigations.
Independents decry ‘placement poverty’ for health students as data shows 42% going hungry
Independents Helen Haines, David Pocock, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan and Fatima Payman are pushing the government to end “placement poverty” for health students doing their university degree placements.
New survey data from the Health Students Alliance found 42% of health students are going hungry during placements.
Independent Member for Indi Helen Haines speaks to the media at Parliament House, pushing for the government to end placement poverty. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
The Parliamentary Budget Office, commissioned by Haines and Pocock, costed the expansion and found that it would cost the budget $290m to include medical and allied health students within the existing commonwealth prac payment scheme.
Haines said:
Unpaid mandatory placements are pushing thousands of students into financial hardship at a time of acute workforce shortages and a cost-of-living crisis.
These costings show that ending placement poverty is both achievable and affordable. Failing to act is a political choice, not a budget constraint.
Albanese on Coalition chaos: ‘I just sit back and watch with some incredulity’
The prime minister has done a couple of commercial radio interviews this morning, and dug in to the Coalition’s electoral woes.
Anthony Albanese tells Nova Sydney that David Littleproud looked “like a hostage” next to Sussan Ley at their joint press conference on Sunday announcing that the two parties would reunite.
Albanese says:
I just sit back and watch with some incredulity, I’ve got to say, at their carry on. They really don’t like each other and I think yesterday, having a look at them, you know, David Littleproud looked like a hostage at that press conference.
Asked whether Australia could see One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as a future prime minister, Albanese says “no”, and tells the Coalition to get their act together to fend the minor right-wing party off.
Pauline Hanson and One Nation are all about grievance and identifying problems, not providing solutions and dividing people. So, I think it’s unfortunate the state of the traditional conservative parties in Australia at the moment. I hope they get their act together because I think that’s good for the country to have a strong government, and a strong Opposition, but I don’t think Pauline Hanson is the answer to anything.
Littleproud defends Nationals, saying his party has been ‘reasonable’
David Littleproud says the National party has handled negotiations with the Liberal party with “dignity”, after making a deal on Sunday to reunite the Coalition.
Speaking to Sky News, the Nationals leader says his party left on principle and returned to the Coalition on principle.
We lived by our principles as a National party through difficult times, but we’ve done it with dignity, and with respect and integrity all the way.
He adds that the Nationals have been “reasonable all the way through”.
Littleproud initially said his party wouldn’t sit under Sussan Ley’s leadership but since changed his story.
To Sky he said that it would have been “hypocritical” if the Coalition wasn’t reunited after Ley granted the Nats’ request to have the three senators reinstated to the frontbench within six weeks rather than six months.
We’d be hypocritical if we stayed out of the Coalition after Sussan Ley granted all that. So we did the right thing.
Nationals leader David Littleproud. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Jonathan Barrett
ASX to rebound as sentiment improves
Australian shares are set to reverse some of the steep losses suffered late last week when the market opens this morning amid improved investor sentiment.
Futures pricing indicates the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 will open more than 1% higher this morning to around the 8,780 point mark, following a strong session on Wall Street on Friday.
Today’s anticipated strong gains follow a 2% dive on the ASX on Friday, which represented the worst single trading day since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs were revealed last April.
Global share markets have been hit by bouts of risk aversion, fears of an artificial intelligence bubble, falling commodity prices and signs of inflation reigniting, which has subdued equity returns in Australia.
At the same time, many traders have used sell-downs to top up their holdings, leading to quick rebounds. Australia’s benchmark index is down just over 4% from highs struck in October last year.
Michael McCarthy, market strategist at trading platform Moomoo, says recent volatility and price pressure in gold, silver, cryptocurrencies and technology stocks means investors are on edge.
Company results in Australia and the US could once again drive big single stock reactions, pushing stocks to soar on strong numbers and sink on less than perfect results.
Newspoll an ‘existential crisis’ for Liberals and ‘we are now at irrelevance’, Hume says
Jane Hume has not minced her words this morning, and after telling Sky News this morning the Coalition needed a “reset”, she spoke to reporters in the press gallery and called this morning’s Newspoll an “existential crisis”.
The Liberal senator and former frontbencher said there wouldn’t be a single Liberal elected to the House of Representatives if the poll results continued.
Hume dances around the question of whether the reset means a leadership change in both parties, saying that’s a decision for both party rooms, “not just me”.
We’re talking about a leadership contest between Sussan Ley and Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. None of them will have seats after the next election, if these polls continue, so something’s got to give.
I’m not casting aspersions on any one particular leader or leadership aspirant, but at some stage we need to do something very, very different, because this is so much worse than it was just in May last year, when we had our worst election defeat in history …
We are now at irrelevance.
Liberal senator Jane Hume: ‘We need to do something very, very different.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
‘We didn’t do it out of spite’, Littleproud says of split
After 17 days in the wilderness, the Nationals have returned to the Coalition.
David Littleproud has had to explain his change in tune on his previous comments that his party would not serve under Ley’s leadership.
Speaking to the Today Show earlier, he said the “only assurance” he wanted was that the three sacked shadow ministers – Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald – wouldn’t remain on the backbench.
Under the negotiated deal, the three will spend six weeks iced out instead of six months and then get their positions back (along with the additional pay and staff allocations).
Littleproud said:
We didn’t do this out of spite. It was out of principle.
The only assurance that the National party wanted was that those three ministers that were sacked for voting against it, we were all going to be sacked had we all been given the chance, and process that would never let this happen again, that’s the comfort that we needed and that’s what we were able to achieve.
Liberal party in ‘chaos’, Plibersek says
We haven’t heard a whole lot from the government this morning, while the Coalition drama continues to play out on our screens and airwaves.
Earlier this morning, the Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek says it’s “no wonder” the public say they won’t vote for the Coalition when they’re in chaos.
On a Sunrise panel with Barnaby Joyce, she blames the former Nationals MP in part for kicking the whole saga off.
I don’t really think they’ve given Sussan Ley a fair chance. You know that Angus Taylor was snapping at her heels at the time of their party election at the very beginning. He’s never really let up.
Barnaby started it by leaving, and they’ve kept it going with the sort of chaos and speculation about leadership. And no wonder people say they’re not going to vote Liberal or National while they’re all fighting each other instead of focusing on the Australian people. But to cause the chaos and then use the chaos as an excuse to knock off their first woman leader, I mean, I think people will say that for what it is. It’s pretty shallow and pretty cynical.
Joyce says he wondered how Plibersek was going to “stitch me into that” but says the polling is also “diabolical” for Labor who recorded a primary vote of 33%. Labor reached a post election high of 37% primary in late September.
Social services minister Tanya Plibersek. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
‘Yes it is’: Ley says her job is safe
Sussan Ley is being pressed hard this morning on whether she’ll still be leader by the end of this week – she says she will, and is not expecting a spill.
Speaking to Sky News, Ley again tries to skirt around questions on when Angus Taylor will make a move, and square the focus back onto interest rates and the economy.
But a couple of quick yes/no questions gets some answers.
Pete Stefanovic: “Is your job safe?”
Ley: “Yes, it is.”
Stefanovic: “Are you expecting a spill?”
Ley: “No.”
She also warned her colleagues to stop airing their dirty laundry and venting frustrations publicly.
In any political party there is different views and characterisation about direction and the proper place to have that discussion is inside the party room. In public, we must present a credible alternative to the Australian people.
Petra Stock
More than 660,000 women accessed cheaper contraceptives and other medicines listed on the PBS
More than 660,000 women have accessed cheaper contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis treatments, since they were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Twelve months after the federal government’s $792.9m women’s health package, more than 2 million scripts have been filled, collectively saving women more than $73m, according to government statistics.
From January 2026, Medicare card holders would access further savings with the reduction in maximum out-of-pocket costs for PBS prescription medicines from $31.60 to $25.
Minister for Finance and Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher said:
Women asked the government to take their health seriously, and we’ve delivered. In just the first year, hundreds of thousands of women have saved money on essential medicines, more are getting dedicated menopause care through Medicare, and access to long-acting contraception is easier and more affordable.
This is a practical change that shows up at the pharmacy counter and in the GP clinic. With $25 PBS scripts now in place, costs are coming down even further in 2026.
Herzog’s visit will ‘lift the spirits of a pained community’, peak Jewish body says
Other Jewish peak bodies have welcomed the visit by Isaac Herzog, who arrived in Sydney earlier this morning.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community “warmly welcomes” the arrival.
Herzog is due to address community events and visit survivors of the Bondi terror attack. He will also travel to Canberra and Melbourne.
The co-chief executive of the ECAJ Alex Ryvchin said the visit will mean “a great deal” for victim families and survivors.
His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and we hope will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies.
Members of Jewish community take out full-page newspaper ads condemning Herzog visit
Members of Australia’s Jewish community have signed a letter saying Israeli president Isaac Herzog is not welcome in Australia, taking out full page ads in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.
The ads are organised by the Jewish Council of Australia, which has been a vocal critic of the Israeli government.
The letter states:
Welcoming [Herzog] in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre betrays Jewish communities, multicultural Australia and everyone who stands for Palestinian human rights and international law.
We, the undersigned Australian Jews, say Israeli President Herzog does not speak for us and is NOT WELCOME HERE.
The letter has been signed by more than 600 members of the Jewish community.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been in a high-security prison for more than five years.
The 78-year-old was arrested over his role in pro-democracy protests in 2019 and has since been charged with various offences, including collusion with foreign forces, as well as sedition under colonial-era laws.
His trial for alleged national security offences faced lengthy delays but on 15 December he was found guilty of three charges. He is now due to be sentenced on Monday.
Here is everything you need to know about the “world’s most famous prisoner of conscience” and his trial, as it draws closer to a long-awaited conclusion.
Who is Jimmy Lai?
Lai was born in mainland China but fled to Hong Kong at the age of 12, after stowing away on a fishing boat. Here, he began working as a child labourer in a garment factory.
He went on to build a fortune with the fashion empire Giordano and, after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when thousands of people protested for political reforms in Beijing, he became a democracy advocate and turned his hand to newspapers.
Image:Lai during a protest in 2019
Ahead of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China, he started the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily in an attempt to maintain freedom of speech.
The paper was staunchly pro-democratic and did not shy away from criticising authorities in Beijing.
Around the same time, in 1994, he became a full British citizen. He has never held a Chinese or Hong Kong passport, but is seen as a Chinese citizen by Hong Kong authorities.
Image:Protesters clash with riot police in 2019. Pic: Reuters
Image:Pic: Reuters
Why is he in jail?
It was his pro-democratic beliefs that led to Lai becoming a key figure in the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, spurred by Beijing’s tightening squeeze on wide-ranging freedoms. Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper backed the protesters, criticising the government reforms.
Lai and his sons were arrested in August 2020 after police raided the offices of the Apple Daily publisher, Next Digital. He was granted bail, but this was overturned in December of the same year, when Lai was charged with fraud.
Image:Jimmy Lai pictured arriving at court in December 2020. Pic: AP
He was charged under the very national security laws, put in place in 2020, that he had protested.
The charges include collusion with foreign forces, as well as conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.
Image:Next Digital publishes the Apple Daily newspaper. Pic: AP
Image:A worker packs copies of Apple Daily newspaper. Pic: AP
His legal team has claimed he has been denied independent medical care for diabetes, is only allowed out of his cell for 50 minutes a day and, as a devout Catholic, has been denied the Eucharist.
However, the South China Morning Post reported a Hong Kong government spokesman saying Lai had received appropriate treatment and welfare in prison.
Image:Lai shouts before he is taken away by police in 2014. Pic: Reuters
What has happened during his trial so far?
After years of delay, Lai’s national security trial started in December 2023.
Prosecutors allege that Lai conspired with senior executives at Apple Daily to publish 161 seditious articles intended to incite hatred toward the central or Hong Kong governments.
They labelled him a “radical political figure” and accused him of asking the US and other foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland China.
The charges he faces under the territory’s national security law could see him handed a life sentence.
But Lai has always denied the charges against him.
Image:Lai arriving at court in 2020. Pic: AP
Nearly a year after the trial started, in November 2024, Lai took to the stand to testify. During his 52 days on the stand he faced questions about his editorial control over Apple Daily, links to activists in Hong Kong, the UK, and US – and about alleged meetings with US politicians.
Closing arguments in the trial were due to start on 14 August 2025 but were postponed due to a “black” rainstorm warning – Hong Kong’s highest level of warning – as a typhoon swept the city.
On 15 December 2025, he was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, as well as one count of conspiracy to distribute seditious publications.
Reading from an 855-page verdict, Judge Esther Toh said that the evidence showed Lai had extended “constant invitations” to the US to help bring down the Chinese government and had spent years considering what leverage the US could use.
He could face a sentence of life imprisonment.
Jimmy Lai son: UK government must ‘do more’
How is the British government involved?
As he is a British citizen, the UK government expressed concern when Lai was first charged under the national security law in 2020.
Subsequent British governments, including the current Labour one, have said Lai’s imprisonment is a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration – the 1984 agreement which set out the conditions of the transfer of Hong Kong from the UK to China.
Image:Sebastien Lai handing a letter into 10 Downing Street in March
Three months after winning the general election, Sir Keir Starmer said securing Lai’s release was a “priority” for his government and said his government would “continue” to raise the case with China.
Most recently, during a January trip to China, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she raised the question over Lai’s imprisonment with every minister she met. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he has also pressed Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Lai’s detention during previous visits.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
After his father was found guilty, Lai’s son Sebastien called on the government to make his father’s release a pre-condition of closer ties with China, which imposed the law on Hong Kong.
It comes months after he delivereda letter to 10 Downing Street asking for a meeting with Sir Keir to get his father released immediately.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government will continue to call for Lai’s release, but the prime minister’s spokesperson said the UK will continue to do business with Beijing as it is in “the national interest” for the UK economy.
New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins has made it clear that he tries to avoid wearing shoes when he’s away from the football field.
So it was no surprise that he arrived barefoot in Santa Clara, California, a few hours before Super Bowl LX kicked off. But what he was actually wearing may have been more of a surprise.
The 32-year-old walked toward the Patriots locker room wearing a facemask that appeared to be a nod to Hannibal Lecter, along with handcuffs around his wrists. Hollins’ feet were also shackled, and a red jumpsuit had the words “Range 13” on the back.
Mack Hollins (13) of the New England Patriots in a mask and handcuffs ahead of Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.(Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Hollins, who won a Super Bowl during his rookie season with the Philadelphia Eagles, had Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s high school jersey in his hand as he walked through the Levi’s Stadium tunnel. Vrabel is aiming to be the first person to win a Super Bowl title as a player and later as a head coach for the same franchise.
Hollins went through some early warmups on the stadium turf on Sunday while wearing the No. 84 “Warriors” jersey — and, of course, without any cleats on.
While the jersey was a nod, it could have also hinted at the 1979 cult-favorite movie “The Warriors.” The Patriots went undefeated on the road this past regular season and won the AFC Championship game in Denver. In a nod to the film, the idea of persevering away from home developed as a rallying cry for the team this year.
Mack Hollins (13) of the New England Patriots warms up prior to the NFL Super Bowl LX football game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Clips of the 1980s professional wrestling duo, the Road Warriors, became a common theme for Vrabel to show the Patriots this season. Once Vrabel ran out of unseen clips to show the team, he pivoted to the videos from “The Warriors.”
Vrabel, 50, told reporters last week that he was initially surprised the clips resonated with the players. “It’s amazing what sticks. I didn’t think at the time that it would have stuck, but here we are at the end of January, and it’s still sticking,” the former New England linebacker said.
While the Patriots were granted the home team designation for the neutral-site game, the team elected to wear their white road jerseys for Super Bowl LX — keeping in line with their “road warriors” mentality.
Sunday isn’t the first time Hollins’ pregame attire has raised some eyebrows.
Mack Hollins (13) of the New England Patriots arrives prior to Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.(Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Ahead of a January 2025 NFL playoff game between the Bills and the Ravens, the then-Buffalo receiver arrived at the Orchard Park, New York, stadium wearing sunglasses, a straw hat, swimming shorts and a floral shirt. He was also seen holding a beach towel, along with a Bills mini-football.
Women’s rights activist Mohammadi was arrested in December while attending a memorial ceremony in Mashhad.
Published On 8 Feb 20268 Feb 2026
Share
Iranian human rights activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison, according to her lawyers and a group that supports her.
Mohammadi, 53, was on a week-long hunger strike that ended on Sunday, the Narges Foundation said in a statement. It said Mohammadi told her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, in a phone call on Sunday from prison that she had received her sentence on Saturday.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“She has been sentenced to six years in prison for gathering and collusion to commit crimes,” Nili told the AFP news agency.
She was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for propaganda activities and is to be exiled for two years to the city of Khosf in the eastern province of South Khorasan, the lawyer added.
She also received a two-year ban on leaving the country, according to the report.
Nili said the verdict was not final and could be appealed, expressing hope that the activist could be temporarily “released on bail to receive treatment,” due to her health issues.
Mohammadi had on February 2 begun a hunger strike to protest the conditions of her imprisonment and the inability to make phone calls to lawyers and family.
“Narges Mohammadi ended her hunger strike today on its 6th day, while reports indicate her physical condition is deeply alarming,” the foundation said.
Mohammadi told Nili she was transferred to the hospital just three days ago “due to her deteriorating health”, it added.
“However, she was returned to the Ministry of Intelligence’s security detention centre in Mashhad before completing her treatment,” the foundation said.
“Her continued detention is life threatening and a violation of human rights laws.”
Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize after Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights.
A prominent writer and journalist, Mohammadi serves as deputy director of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), an organisation long dedicated to defending political prisoners and promoting broader human rights reforms in Iran. Beyond her advocacy for gender equality, she campaigns vigorously against the death penalty and corruption.
Her 20-year fight for women’s rights made her a symbol of freedom, the Nobel Committee said in 2023.
Mohammadi was arrested on December 12 after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi.
Prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters then that Mohammadi made provocative remarks at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad and encouraged those present “to chant norm-breaking slogans” and “disturb the peace”.
