News 18/01/26

Twenty-one people have died and more than a hundred are injured after a train derailment in southern Spain, the interior ministry and Spanish media report.

A train from Malaga to Madrid, carrying three hundred and seventeen passengers, left Malaga at six forty local time before derailing and crossing onto an adjacent track, where another train was also derailed. Emergency services attended the scene.

More than sixty Labour MPs have called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to ban under-16s from social media platforms.

In an open letter on Sunday, the sixty-one MPs said successive governments had done too little to protect young people from unregulated, addictive platforms. They urged him to follow Australia’s example, which introduced a ban in December. Other countries are reportedly considering similar measures. Sir Keir has not ruled out introducing a ban, saying all options remain on the table. The House of Lords is due to vote next week on a Liberal Democrat proposal to restrict social media access using film-style age ratings.

The Slough Jets have booked a place in the Britton Cup Final after home and away wins against the Solent Devils.

A four one victory in Solent gave them a three goal aggregate lead, which they extended with five more goals on home ice. The only reply was a late delayed penalty goal. Five people have died after trains derailed near Adamuz.

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell has defected to Reform UK this week.

The Romford MP said he had resigned as a shadow foreign office minister under Kemi Badenoch and left the Conservative Party. Writing on X, he said the time had come to put country before party and said Reform UK was willing to fight for the Kingdom.

A mother has thanked two strangers who rescued her nine month old baby from a burning car.

Alex McClean from Ebbw Vale said her car began to smoke on a dual carriageway and she could not open the other doors. Wesley Beynon entered through the driver’s door to free Lilah, while his uncle Marc Willding pulled her to safety.

There has been an outpouring of memories and nostalgia as Slough’s Queensmere shopping centre closed for the final time.

The centre has shut ahead of demolition and a redevelopment plan for sixteen hundred flats by Berkeley Homes. A statement on The Observatory social media said Queensmere will close from seventeen January twenty twenty six, with many retailers already relocated.

Emmanuel Macron will ask for the activation of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument if new United States tariffs are imposed, according to his entourage quoted by Le Monde.

The mechanism, never used before and described as the bloc’s trade bazooka, would allow the EU to respond to countries applying economic pressure to force policy changes. It could permit countermeasures including tariffs or restrictions on market access, aimed at protecting European sovereignty and economic interests. Its use would require approval by a qualified majority of member states.

British tennis player Arthur Fery has reached the second round of the Australian Open after beating twentieth seed Flavio Cobolli.

The twenty-three-year-old qualifier and current world number one hundred and eighty five won in straight sets seven six, six four, six one on John Cain Arena. The British number seven, who did not drop a set during qualifying, impressed again at Melbourne Park. His opponent, a Wimbledon quarter finalist last summer, struggled with stomach problems. The Londoner’s victory comes six months after he beat another twentieth seed, Australian Alexei Popyrin, at the All England Club.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found seriously injured in the street, police said.

Officers were called to Catherine Gardens in Thorpe St Andrew, outside Norwich, just before eleven forty five on Saturday. Emergency services attended but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. A man in his sixties was arrested in Norwich on Sunday morning on suspicion of murder.

A system known as Jess’s Rule is being advertised in all GP practices in England from this week.

It urges doctors to reconsider a diagnosis after three appointments without results. The rule is named after twenty seven year old Jessica Brady, who contacted her surgery twenty times in six months before dying from cancer in twenty twenty.