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Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government approved plans for a massive new Chinese Embassy near Tower Bridge, angering critics who fear it will enable spying.

For years, Beijing has struggled to gain a foothold in Greenland, in part because of US and Danish unity. Trump’s fraying of that alliance could create the opening it needs
According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, China and Russia must be having a “” about Donald Trump’s plans for Greenland, which Kallas says will divide Nato.
But according to Trump, his plans are motivated by a desire to counter the very threat that Kallas identified. “World peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

The president wants to bring to the US tiny vehicles, like those commonly seen on the streets of Japan.

As climate and geopolitics shocks bite, countries are rebuilding food buffers. The UK clings to neoliberal ideas while households pay the price
across much of the world is changing. But not in Britain. That may be a costly mistake as the prices of essentials rise because of the climate emergency, geopolitical tensions and the fragility of just-in-time supply chains. Many capitals are now reviving their strategic food reserves. European nations such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany are rebuilding stocks dismantled after the cold war. Climate shocks have led to Egypt and Bangladesh boosting similar programmes. Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia – sensitive to the food needs of their vast populations – are also expanding their reserves.
The UK, by contrast, has no substantial public food reserves. Its strategy rests almost entirely on global markets and private intentions – an approach shaped by decades of liberalised trade. Even in the event of war, the official advice focuses on households essentials. In Britain’s view, food security is about prices, not scarcity of supply.
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Dan Jarvis answers questions in the Commons over the decision to approve a new ‘super-embassy’

Jack Straw, a former Labour foreign secretary, has praised Keir Starmer for the way he is handling Donald Trump. While some opposition parties want Starmer to be more confrontational, Straw told Times Radio that would be a mistake. He said:
The best approach [to handling Trump] that I know of is the one that’s being adopted by our prime minister, Keir Starmer. It’s very hard. It’s very frustrating. I’m sure there have been occasions where Sir Keir has said things to himself in the shaving mirror about Mr Trump that he would not wish to be repeated. But he is an example of how to handle Donald Trump. It is infinitely better than challenging Trump’s ego, to which there is no limit, trying to work around him.
And up to now, the Starmer approach to Trump has succeeded, not least in the fact that, until this latest outburst on Greenland, we did have a much better deal on tariffs than, say, the European Union has had.
The treaty has been signed with the Mauritian government. So I can’t reverse the clock on that. The treaty has been signed. Parliament has a kind of enabling function on treaties. It’s not like a traditional piece of legislation. So it can’t unwind the treaty having been signed.

Critics expected to mount legal challenge to plans for vast complex at Royal Mint Court amid security concerns
The communities secretary, Steve Reed, has given permission for China to build a vast new embassy near the Tower of London after spy chiefs told him that the risks to UK national security could be controlled and dealt with.
The decision paves the way for Keir Starmer to visit Beijing in the coming weeks – though local residents plan to the decision, potentially delaying the development by months or years.

The Guardian’s picture editors select some of the most powerful photos from around the world

In China, marriage and birth rates have hit record lows and many people are living in isolation. Is the Are You Dead? app just a practical response to this – or something more troubling?
A few days before Christmas, after a short battle with illness, a woman in Shanghai called Jiang Ting died. For years, the 46-year-old had lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Hongkou, a residential neighbourhood that sits along the Huangpu River. Neighbours described her as quiet. “She rarely chats with people. We only see her when she goes to and from work, and occasionally when she comes out to pick up takeout,” said a local resident . Her parents long deceased, Jiang had no partner or children to inherit her estate. Her lonely death sparked a debate in Chinese media about how society should handle the .
For Xiong Sisi, also a professional in her 40s living alone in Shanghai, the news triggered uncomfortable feelings. “I truly worry that, after I die, no one will collect my body. I don’t care how I’m buried, but if I rot there, it’s bad for the house,” she says.

Intended as China’s version of Dubai’s palm-shaped artificial island, Ocean Flower Island is a $12 billion monument to debt-fueled economic excess.

Claims of ‘government interference’ in decision on plans for vast outpost near Tower of London
Residents of Royal Mint Court plan to mount a legal challenge within weeks if Steve Reed, the local government secretary, approves China’s plans to build a vast new embassy at the site by the Tower of London on Tuesday.
Mark Nygate, the treasurer of the local Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association, said people living near the proposed development had concerns about “government interference in what is supposed to be an independent process”.

Number of high-spending Chinese tourists visiting Japan halved last month after PM said an invasion of Taiwan could spark Japanese military involvement
Chinese tourism to Japan almost halved in December amid a bitter diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo over the security of .
The number of tourists from mainland dropped by about 45% from the same month a year earlier to about 330,000, Japan’s transport ministry said on Tuesday.

A decision on China’s controversial mega-embassy in London is imminent, with Chinese officials and British diplomats in Beijing anxiously awaiting the outcome of a planning application that could soon be approved. MPs from across the political spectrum have condemned the proposal, but UK security services say they can contain the , which sits close to sensitive data cables linking to the City of London