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Around 70 million litres of untreated wastewater leaked into waters off Wellington after a failure at the Moa Point treatment plant, and local authorities have advised people to avoid coastal waterways while repairs continue.

Authorities report 35 people have died and almost 400 were injured after record snowfall in northern Japan; officials warned that melting snow could increase avalanche and slip risks.

South Australia Police have declared the disappearance of four-year-old Gus Lamont a major crime and say a person who lived at the family's Oak Park station is now considered a suspect; two of his grandmothers have engaged lawyers and said they will not be giving interviews.

Mountbatten Hampshire will open a new charity shop at 36 Jewry Street in Winchester this spring to help raise funds for its end-of-life care services; the charity says demand for its services has grown 71% over the past three years.

Opinion polls this week suggest the ruling LDP and its coalition partner could secure a two-thirds lower-house majority, and much of the party’s momentum is linked to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s high public profile and social media reach.

At a rain-soaked London premiere of Wuthering Heights, Jacob Elordi held an umbrella for co-star Margot Robbie, keeping her gown dry while his suit became wet; the pair later laughed and posed for photos. The film is scheduled to open in Australia on February 12.

Investigators found 189 human remains at the Return to Nature facility and owners Jon and Carie Hallford pleaded guilty; Jon is due to be sentenced Friday and Carie is scheduled for sentencing in April, and relatives are preparing to testify.

A Lancet review of trials involving more than 120,000 people found few side effects linked to statins and reported similar adverse-event rates in placebo groups; serious liver disease was not increased.

Jesy Nelson has announced an Amazon Prime documentary and is campaigning for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) screening to be added to the newborn heel prick test after her nine-month-old twins were diagnosed with SMA1.

Kyiv and Moscow completed a major prisoner exchange during a US-brokered two-day round of talks in Abu Dhabi. Negotiators agreed to resume negotiations soon, while US special envoy Steve Witkoff said significant work remains.

A family video shows Donald Trump calling Robert and Linda Ollis to tell them their son, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, will receive a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor and be invited to the White House.

Senior US and Iranian officials are due to meet in Oman for direct talks amid concerns about a possible military confrontation. The meeting follows a US military build-up in the Middle East and reports by human rights groups of widespread violence during recent protests in Iran.

A Lancet systematic review of 19 randomised trials involving about 124,000 people found no strong evidence that statins cause most of the side-effects listed on product labels; only a few small risks beyond known muscle symptoms and increased blood sugar had supporting evidence.

South Wales Police detained a 52-year-old NHS doctor in Swansea on suspicion of inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity; he was later released on conditional bail while investigations continue.

A father from Cardiff noticed a lump under his jaw, saw his GP and was diagnosed within weeks with an HPV-related head and neck cancer; he says he had only known of HPV in relation to cervical cancer and did not realise it could cause cancers in men.

A pooled analysis of more than 154,000 people across 23 randomized trials found no significant increase for 62 of 66 side effects listed on statin labels, with only small absolute rises observed for a few measures such as abnormal liver blood tests.

Eight new on-call firefighters passed out at a parade on 2 February 2026 and will join crews in Godalming, Guildford, Chobham, Oxted and Lingfield; Chief Fire Officer Dan Quin praised their dedication.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will scrap a national electric-vehicle sales mandate and will provide C$2.3 billion for purchase incentives and C$1.5 billion for charging, alongside up to C$3.1 billion for the auto-manufacturing transition.

A WHO analysis estimates about 37% of cancers — roughly seven million cases a year — are linked to preventable infections, behaviours and environmental pollutants; smoking, infections and alcohol were the largest contributors.

The New START Treaty, signed in 2010, expired on 5 February 2026, ending the treaty limits on US and Russian nuclear stockpiles.

President Catherine Connolly made her first official visit to Northern Ireland at Ulster University's Belfast campus, praising the campus and emphasising the Good Friday Agreement, peace and shared heritage.

The New START treaty between the United States and Russia expired, removing agreed limits on deployed strategic nuclear warheads; Russian officials said the parties are no longer bound by the treaty and are free to decide how to proceed.

Teddi Mellencamp, who is being treated for stage 4 melanoma, joined a cancer screening awareness campaign and urged people not to delay recommended screenings.

Dyslexia Sparks and Humberside Fire and Rescue will hold a dyslexia awareness event at Bransholme Fire Station in Hull where firefighter Sam Heslop will share his experience; the session runs 09:30–11:30 GMT on Saturday.

Researchers used EEG on 49 sleeping newborns and found brain responses that tracked rhythmic but not melodic patterns in original musical excerpts, while shuffled versions did not elicit the same responses.

Researchers at MIT and the Scripps Research Institute report that a DNA-based virus-like particle displaying the engineered HIV antigen eOD‑GT8 produced eightfold more on-target precursor B cells than a protein-based VLP in a humanized mouse model, and the DNA scaffold did not induce scaffold-specific antibodies.

A global trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found the oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide lowered LDL cholesterol by more than 57% at 24 weeks versus about 3% with placebo in patients already taking statins.

A WHO analysis linked about 37% of new cancer cases in 2022—roughly 7.1 million—to 30 preventable causes, with smoking, infections and alcohol among the top reported risks.

Pinnacle Darts Academy in Wakefield has raised £3,395 through events including a 12-hour darts marathon to help about 125 junior players aged 8–17 attend national JDC tournaments.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act through Dec. 31, 2026, restoring duty-free access that supports Lesotho’s garment exports; the brief extension leaves longer-term trade arrangements undetermined.