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In today’s newsletter: A researcher with a focus on the region explains what’s behind deadly nationwide demonstrations and what a hardening of public opinion against the state might bringGood morning. At least 648 people have been killed by Iran’s security services during nationwide demonstrations, with more than 10,600 arrested. The unrest is widely seen as the most serious challenge to Iran’s Islamic Republic in recent years.People took to the streets for reasons ranging from rising economic hardship to long-simmering anger over political repression and civil rights. Together, they represent a hardening of public opinion against the state.Iran | Donald Trump

Wild success of television series drives huge demand for Game Changers novels, with Australian booksellers reporting significant customer ordersA seventh book in Rachel Reid’s gay romance series that inspired the TV drama Heated Rivalry will be out later this year but Australian fans are still struggling to get their hands on a physical copy of any of the preceding six books.Unrivalled, the next instalment in the Canadian author’s Game Changers series, will be released internationally on 29 September, the publisher HarperCollins announced on Tuesday. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jan/13/heated-rivalry-book-wait-television-show-hockey-series Author : Stephanie Convery Publish date : 2026-01-13 04:01:00 Copyright

Exclusive: Chinese officials are using a ‘highly specific’ interpretation of EU rules to suggest Taiwanese figures should not be granted visas, officials sayChinese officials have been pushing “legal advice” on European countries, saying their own border laws require them to ban entry to Taiwanese politicians, according to more than half a dozen diplomats and officials familiar with the matter.The officials made demarches to European embassies in Beijing, or through local embassies directly to European governments in their capital cities, warning the European countries not to “trample on China’s red lines”, according to the European diplomats and ministries who spoke to

Ructions within festival board over Palestinian-Australian academic’s inclusion began in October, email revealsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFormer New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has become the latest international headline act to pull out of the 2026 Adelaide writers’ week in protest over the Adelaide festival board’s decision to rescind its invitation to Palestinian-Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah.Ardern had been scheduled to discuss her memoir A Different Kind of Power with the ABC’s host of 7.30, Sarah Ferguson, on 3 March. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/12/jacinda-ardern-pulls-out-of-adelaide-writers-week-as-fallout-over-randa-abdel-fattahs-axing-continues-ntwnfb Author : Kelly Burke Publish date : 2026-01-12 22:54:00