More than 20 people have been killed in a high-speed train crash in southern Spain.

Antonio Sanz, regional health minister for the Andalusia province where the crash happened on Sunday evening, said officials fear that the death toll may rise.

Rescue operations are ongoing, he said, adding that 73 injured passengers have been taken to six different hospitals.

The evening train between Malaga and Madrid went off the rails and hit a train coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to the Spanish rail operator Adif.

Two Guardia Civil officials confirmed the death toll to The Associated Press by phone and text message. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with police rules.

The authorities said that around 100 people were injured, 25 of them seriously.

An Iryo high-speed train operated by Italy’s Trenitalia derailed late on Sunday evening while travelling from Málaga to Madrid and ended up on the neighbouring track.

An oncoming high-speed train operated by the Spanish company Renfe also derailed as a result, according to the emergency services, citing the rail network operator ADIF.

“The Iryo 6189 Málaga – (to Madrid) train has derailed from the ‌track at Adamuz, ​crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva ‍train which was travelling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” Adif, which runs the rail network, said in a social media post.

Adif said the accident happened about ten minutes after ​the Iryo train left Malaga heading ‌towards Madrid at 6:40pm on Sunday (4.40am Monday AEDT).

Iryo is an Italian-run private rail operator. The ​company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Adif ‍has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.

Andalusia emergency services said on social media that all rail ​traffic ​had been halted and ​emergency services were on their way, ​including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.

Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the train from Cordoba to Madrid, shared images showing the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the ‍side of the carriage.

Australia’s economy shook off the threat of a tariff meltdown in 2025 but is at risk of a correction if complacency sets in.

The resilience of the domestic and global economy despite trade disruptions was a central theme for the year.

Just as forecasters were taken off guard by the resilience of the Australian consumer and a resurgence in inflation in the second half of 2025, worsening trade and geopolitical tensions could also catch them unawares, Oxford Economics Australia’s Harry Murphy Cruise said.

As 2025 went on, investors and firms increasingly brushed off risks – evidenced in record-high equity prices and low-risk premiums.

While an outright trade war was not his base case, Mr Murphy Cruise warned tariffs had not gone anywhere and Donald Trump’s latest threats towards European countries if the US was blocked from buying Greenland showed tensions were ramping up again.

“The risk is more tariffs and geopolitical tensions could snowball,” he told AAP.

“Things have been good but we can’t just be complacent.”

Add to that the risk that AI euphoria – which has fuelled bull runs on Wall Street and on the ASX – runs out, and markets could be on track for a painful correction.

However, Australia’s economy entered 2026 in a good position, Mr Murphy Cruise said.

“The risk is it’s too good,” he said, pointing to the chance the Reserve Bank had to step in with rate hikes to put the brake on demand.

In an Oxford Economics Australia report released on Monday, Mr Murphy Cruise predicted underlying inflation would ease to 2.8 per cent by the end of the year – within the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent target band.

The central bank’s most recent forecasts put the trimmed mean on track for 2.7 per cent by December 2026, but they were last updated in November, before the monthly figure reached a peak of 3.3 per cent.

The economist predicted the unemployment rate would hit 4.6 per cent by mid-2026, up from the current 4.3 per cent.

Despite money markets pricing in at least one rate hike in 2026, Mr Murphy Cruise believes the deterioration in the labour market will have the equivalent effect of raising the cash rate by 25 basis points, cancelling out the need for the Reserve Bank to lift borrowing costs.

Souring consumer confidence in surveys released since the uptick in inflation showed the resurgence was likely to be short-lived, he said.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver also said market rate hike expectations appeared too hawkish.

“Economic data released so far this year has been mixed, with stronger building approvals and household spending but weaker consumer confidence and new job openings,” he wrote in a research note.

“December quarter inflation data to be released at the end of this month will be key, though, for the next few months.”

Politicians will return to Canberra early as they pay respects to the victims of the Bondi terror attack and try to rush through legislation to ensure it never happens again.

Parliament will be recalled on Monday to mark a condolence motion for the victims of the December 14 massacre, during which 15 people were killed by gunmen targeting a Jewish celebration.

The House of Representatives will convene as the first two major polls of the year show Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s personal standing with voters has taken a hit since the Bondi tragedy.

The first Newspoll conducted for The Australian since November shows Mr Albanese’s personal approval rating down five points to 42 per cent and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s up two to 28 per cent.

The Newspoll has One Nation (up seven to 22 per cent) ahead of the coalition (down three to 21 per cent) on primary vote, with Labor down four to 32 per cent and the Greens down one to 12 per cent. 

The Resolve Political Monitor poll for Nine Newspapers, conducted in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre, shows Mr Albanese’s approval rating down five points to 35 per cent.

It has Labor’s primary vote down two points to 30 per cent, followed by the coalition (steady at 28 per cent), One Nation (up two to 18 per cent) and the Greens (down two to 10 per cent).

The government initially planned to introduce an omnibus bill criminalising hate speech and strengthening gun laws, before widespread opposition from across the political aisle forced a move to split the legislation into two.

The firearms legislation will enable a promised gun buyback, which was agreed in a national cabinet deal with the states and territories to tighten gun laws following the attack.

One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, was a licensed holder of six firearms despite his son and fellow attacker Naveed having previously come on the radar of ASIO for links to Islamic extremists.

Fresh figures from the Department of Home Affairs showed there were a record 4.1 million firearms in Australia – more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre three decades earlier.

Both bills will now be introduced to the House of Representatives on Tuesday morning, when they will be quickly sent to the Senate thanks to Labor’s majority in the lower house.

A parliamentary inquiry called to conduct a snap review into the proposed legislation is due to report back by Monday morning.

With the Greens’ support, the government expects the gun legislation to be enshrined into law, but the fate of the hate speech changes is less clear.

Labor maintains hope it can strike a deal with the opposition to usher the contentious legislation through the Senate on Tuesday evening, but senators are preparing for a marathon sitting that could drag on into Wednesday morning.

The Greens are opposed to the hate speech measures, concerned they will risk political freedoms such as the ability to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as changes increasing the power of the home affairs minister to cancel visas.

The coalition has signalled it is willing to salvage Labor’s “failed laws” but its MPs are worried about the impact on freedom of speech, even after a contentious racial vilification component was removed.

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The European Union is facing calls to ‍implement a never-before-used range of economic counter-measures known as the “Anti-Coercion Instrument” as part of the bloc’s response to US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against European allies over Greenland.

Trump ​vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the United ⁠States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

All the countries, already subject to tariffs of 10 per cent and 15 per cent, have sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland.

Cyprus, holder of the rotating six-month EU presidency, summoned ambassadors to an emergency meeting in Brussels on Sunday, which EU diplomats said was due to start at 5pm local time.

A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said he was working to coordinate a ‌European response and was ​pushing for activation of the Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could limit access to public tenders in the bloc or restrict trade in services in ‍which the US has a surplus with the EU.

In social media posts late on Saturday, Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee, and Valerie Hayer, head of the centrist Renew Europe group, echoed his call, as did Germany’s engineering association on Sunday.

However, some EU diplomats said now was not the time to escalate the situation.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, closer to Trump than some other EU leaders, described the tariff threat on Sunday as “a mistake” and told ​a briefing during a trip to Korea that she had spoken to Trump a ‌few hours earlier and told him what she thought.

She planned to call other European leaders later on Sunday. Italy has not sent troops to Greenland.

Asked on Sunday about how Britain would respond ​to new tariffs, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said allies needed to work with the United States to resolve the dispute.

“Our position on Greenland is non-negotiable … ‍It is in our collective interest to work together and not to start a war of words,” she told Sky News.

The tariff threats do though call into question trade deals the United States struck with Britain in May and the European Union in July.

The limited agreements have already ​faced ​criticism about their lopsided nature, with the United States maintaining broad tariffs, ​while their partners are required to remove import duties.

The European Parliament looks likely now ​to suspend its work on the EU-US trade deal struck in July. The assembly had been due to vote on removing many EU import duties on January 26-27, but Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party, the largest group in parliament, said in a post on X late on Saturday that approval was not possible for now.

Trump’s threat came just as the European Union was signing its largest ever free trade agreement, with South American bloc Mercosur, in Paraguay. Von der Leyen said that the agreement sent a very strong signal to the rest of the world.

“We choose fair trade over tariffs. We choose a productive, long-term partnership over isolation,” she said.

The health of Australia’s economy is set to be given a global reality check, as the domestic unemployment rate comes under the spotlight.

The International Monetary Fund will release the latest round of its World Economic Outlook Update on Monday, which contains forecasts for major economies and a state of play for global finances.

The body’s previous report released in October forecast global growth slowing to 3.2 per cent in 2025 and further downwards to 3.1 per cent in 2026.

Advanced economies were also projected to grow by just 1.5 per cent.

The release of the report follows global uncertainty in financial markets, following US intervention in Venezuela and tensions in Iran.

While the focus will be global on Monday, Thursday will see the economic forecasts move closer to home with the release of unemployment data for the last month of 2025.

November’s job figures saw the unemployment rate remain steady at 4.3 per cent, staying at the rate for five of the past six months.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed unemployed numbers fell during the month by 2000 people, while the number of workers in jobs dropped by 21,000.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the figures for December are likely to show a worsening of unemployment levels.

“Jobs data is expected to show a gain of 30,000 with unemployment rising to 4.5 per cent on the back of a bounce back in participation,” he said.

Senior economist at NAB Taylor Nugent was more optimistic on the data

“We expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3 per cent on Thursday and for 40,000 employment growth, reflecting a bit of payback from surprising softness in recent employment growth,” he said.

“The prospect of a rebound in participation rate leaves the risk skewed higher on the unemployment rate.”

Investors on Wall Street meanwhile seem non-plussed by President Donald Trump’s proposed cap on credit card interest or indications that he is yet to settle on a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Stocks ended nearly flat on Friday with all three major indexes posting losses for the week as fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.11 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 49,359.33, the S&P 500 lost 4.46 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 6,940.01 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 14.63 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 23,515.39.

Australian share futures dipped 6.0 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,592.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 42.2 points on Friday, up 0.48 per cent, to 8,903.9, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 42.5 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 9,226.7.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs ‍on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said additional 10 per cent import tariffs would take effect on February ​1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain – all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.

Those tariffs would increase to 25 per cent on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the ⁠US to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.

Trump has repeatedly said he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.

The president has said Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it.

European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.

“These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” Trump wrote.

“The United ‌States of America is ​immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many ‍decades,” he said.

The nations named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning the US military seizure of a territory in NATO could collapse the military alliance that Washington leads.

“The president’s announcement comes as a ‍surprise,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unusually blunt in condemning Trump’s threat, saying on social media platform X his country would raise the issue directly with Washington.

“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong,” Starmer said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said in separate but identical posts on X that the European Union stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.

“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they said.

Officials from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reiterated support for Denmark on Saturday and said tariffs should not be part of Greenland discussions.

Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency, said it has called ​for an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the union’s 27 countries on Sunday.

Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against Trump’s demands and called for the territory to be left to determine its own future.

The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland vital ​to US security interests, Trump has said.

Danish and other European officials have pointed out that Greenland is already covered by NATO’s collective security pact.

Australia’s east coast is being smashed by summer storms as residents are told to evacuate. 

An emergency warning is in place for Sydney’s Northern Beaches on Sunday morning, with residents at Narrabeen Lagoon and surrounds told to leave. 

More than a dozen people have been rescued across Sydney with cars submerged and homes flooded. 

At Great Mackerel Beach, in the Northern Beaches, a landslide damaged numerous homes with at least one woman injured. 

The storm system also claimed the life of a woman on Saturday after a tree branch fell on her car and SES crews received more than 800 calls for help after heavy rain lashed NSW.

Senior meteorologist Edward Townsend-Medlock said more heavy rainfall was expected from Sydney’s northern suburbs through to the Hunter Coast on Sunday morning.

“Within that concentrated area is where you could get some of those more severe thunderstorm cells that we saw, for example, on the Central Coast,” he told AAP.

At least 750 SES volunteers were on the ground responding to weekend storm call-outs, with the busiest units in the South Coast, Illawarra, Sydney and Hunter regions.

NSW SES spokeswoman Emily Barton told AAP rain had been experienced “far and wide” across the state. 

Crews would focus on the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Sydney metropolitan area on Sunday as clean-up efforts continued, she said.

Warnings remain in place for hazardous surf on the east coast at beaches stretching from Newcastle to Batemans Bay, as well as the Eden coast.

A woman died during the storms on Saturday afternoon when a tree branch fell on her car on Macquarie Pass, south of Wollongong.

“The woman was a driver in the vehicle when the incident happened,” NSW Police said.

A man in the front seat passenger suffered minor injuries, and two passengers in the rear seats were not physically harmed.

Queensland also copped a bout of wild weather as a band of thunderstorms rolled across the southeast, dumping up to 60mm and leaving about 11,000 properties with power. 

More than 2000 properties are still without power in Laidley and Brightview, in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley region after wild weather took roof’s off homes and brought down trees. 

In Victoria, sunny skies are expected on the first day of the Australian Open’s main draw.

Melbourne is set to reach a high of 29C on Sunday, while Adelaide can expect a scorcher with a top of 36C.

Storms and heavy rain are forecast for Darwin, with a high of 31C.

Perth is set to reach 27C, Brisbane 30C and Hobart 21C.

It’s said the rich get richer and the poor get the picture but exactly how wealthier Australians seem able to pay less to own more is a little less obvious.

For the well-to-do who happen to boast a holiday home, though, the trick of extracting the most from their asset is about to become way more transparent thanks to the Australian Tax Office.

Take, for example, a savvy pair we’ll call the Smiths.

They’ve done well enough to set themselves up in a multi-million dollar mansion in Melbourne’s inner east but also have a killer holiday apartment on the Gold Coast for when they need to escape the rain.

From the outside, the Smiths are doin’ it easy but maintaining their lavish lifestyle doesn’t come cheap.

They still owe a few bucks on the beachfront pad, so there are repayments to consider as well as the interest that’s starting to bite as rates climb again.

The Millionaire’s Row getaway also attracts steep council rates made worse by the so-called view tax the Smiths are being slugged with.

Then there’s land taxes, insurance and the never-ending maintenance bill.

So, what to do about it?

To start, the Smiths advertise their costly-to-run property for rent throughout the year via an estate agent.

However they often block out periods for their own use, along the way cancelling bookings they receive for periods around Easter, Christmas and New Year.

But generous to a tee, Mr and Mrs Smith also reserve their home-away-from-home for the use of their extended family and friends.

With five children, some of them old enough to have partners and a couple with their own little ones, the number of people enjoying stays at the property at heavily discounted rents has started to add up.

Then there are in-laws and cousins, and pretty soon the place is occupied during every school holidays as well.

Despite this, and not that they’ve done anything untoward, the Smiths have continued to claim against the cost of owning the luxury unit as a rental investment.

Traditionally referred to as clever accounting, easing their burden by reducing their tax bill has in fact been a financial masterstroke.

At least until now.

Under a new draft ruling by the ATO, the Smiths and other holiday-home owners working from the same tip sheet could be in for a rude shock.

At stake is their ability to claim deductions on interest, rates or upkeep unless the home is “mainly” rented to generate income and available during peak periods.

In tax terms, it’s a big deal. The ATO calculates over two million Australian investment properties apply for tax deductions annually, with the average claim coming in around $20,000.

With the changes expected to take effect from July 1, tax officials will look at the amount of time a home is available for rent, including during popular seasonal periods, says Chartered Accountants tax leader Susan Franks.

“If you’ve got a holiday home and it is in a seasonal area, you really need to make sure that it’s mainly used for rental income during that period,” she tells AAP.

Publishing the proposal in draft form, the tax office has indicated it will crack down on aspects of existing legislation that it hasn’t previously enforced.

It is also keeping an eye on holiday-home owners who demonstrate limited attempts to rent out the property or keep parts of the home inaccessible for guest use.

This consideration won’t apply to the Smiths whose residence is in a high-rise tower, which is why they cop inflated council rates for their view of the beach.

Closer to the sand, however, someone who perhaps owns a two-storey rental but regularly quarantines upstairs for themselves, could attract scrutiny.

Publicly pricing the property well above rental market rates so as to deliberately drive away interest and letting it to family or friends significantly below value will also be frowned upon.

“(The ATO’s) interpretation of the law will be questioned by some,” Ms Franks says.

“However, there is a segment of the community whose deductions need to be reined in in relation to their use of holiday homes.”

To be sure, the ATO can now use third-party data from holiday rental platforms like Airbnb to match income and expenses and identify omitted rental income or overclaimed deductions.

Tax returns will be compared with platform data, bank records and even property listings to spot discrepancies.

Tax services specialist H&R Block is advising clients to be careful.

“Don’t claim what you’re not entitled to and make sure you have records to support and justify every item,” the company recently warned.

“Tread carefully this year – as the ATO is watching you!”

Homeowners will still be able to reasonably claim deductions on things like rental advertising and cleaning costs after a rental stay.

The federal government insists the coalition declare its stance on hate speech after splitting its legislative agenda in a move allowing Greens support on gun reform.

Both issues will be thrashed out on Tuesday as part of an extraordinary parliamentary sitting week in response to the Bondi terrorist attack.

Monday will feature a condolence motion for the victims of the December 14 massacre, after which the Senate will adjourn as a mark of respect.

Next week, we’re bringing Parliament back early to respond to the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi.

It’s time for the politics to stop, and for Parliament to work together in the national interest. pic.twitter.com/fchkuPA9iO

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 17, 2026

The government had initially proposed an omnibus bill taking in its planned gun buyback scheme, a hate group ban, and racial vilification provisions.

However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese moved to separate the proposals on Saturday after the Greens revealed they would only support the firearms legislation.

“This is a way in which (the Greens) can vote for the gun laws that they said they would vote,” he told reporters.

“These gun laws are really important, there is no reason why anyone should oppose these gun laws.”

Mr Albanese also signalled the removal of racial vilification offences from the surviving hate speech bill as they were also unsupported.

“The hate crimes legislation will continue, the racial vilification laws do not have the support of the Senate,” he said.

“That is what the Greens party and the Liberal Party have made clear, so we deal with the parliament that we have.”

With fresh battlelines drawn, Mr Albanese said it was now up to the coalition to justify its position to the community should it oppose the amended program.

“At the moment, they’re defined by what they’re against but it’s not clear what they’re for,” he said.

“They have, up to this point, of course, called for parliament to be recalled and then opposed.

“They called for hate speech laws. When they’ve seen them, they’re now against them.”

Greens leader Larissa Waters said the minor party would not back the reforms in their original form given the “significant amount of work required to meet community concerns”.

“However, the Greens, having consulted closely with gun safety advocates, are willing to pass the gun law reforms,” she said.

“If the government is, too, those changes can become law when parliament returns next week.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Friday opposed the omnibus bill, calling it “pretty unsalvageable” as the hate speech element did not explicitly criminalise phrases such as “globalise the Intifada”.

Asked whether the legislation should also specifically reference Islamophobia, she said “we’re not talking about that”.

“We’re talking about anti-Semitism and radical Islamic extremism and the rise of ISIS,” she told Nine’s Today program.

Legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders also criticised the bill as too rushed and broad.

Support for the federal government’s sweeping hate speech reforms has collapsed with the Greens revealing they will not back the proposed changes. 

Ahead of an extraordinary parliamentary sitting week to discuss the proposal, the Greens said they could not pass the government’s omnibus bill given the “significant amount of reworking required to meet community concerns”.

However, the minor party says it will pass the proposed gun law reforms put forward in the package.

“The Greens are willing to work with the government to pass gun laws next week but the rest of the omnibus bill needs a huge amount of work,” party leader Larissa Waters said on Saturday.

“With every hour that passes, more concerns are raised by legal experts, faith groups and the community about the Omnibus bill.

“This is complex legislation, with a lot of massive pitfalls and omissions, and the process to fix it can’t be rushed.”

On Friday, the Albanese government made a last ditch bid for bipartisan support for the hate speech and gun reform bill after failing to win backing from the coalition.

“The prime minister has made clear: we are open to amendments, we would like to see national unity, we would like to see the coalition and the Greens act responsibly,” Senator Wong said.

Proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, the reforms include measures such as cracking down on hate preachers, introducing hate speech and racial vilification offences and creating a national gun buyback scheme.

But legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders have criticised the bill as too rushed and broad, with the coalition also confirming it would not support it.

“We are willing to sit down with the government to find a way forward but it’s clear the amount of negotiations and legal analysis required to produce a good outcome can’t be done in the extremely tight time-frame the government has created,” Senator Waters said.

“It may be simpler to start afresh with a bill that aims to protect everyone from hatred and discrimination.”