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US president says he will knock out all Iran's power plants and bridges next week in bid to force Tehran to agree to a deal

Alleged attack may have been motivated by a social media post, police prosecutor tells court

Vulnerable people more at risk as research finds only half of local authority plans require cooling strategiesEngland risks constructing a new generation of death trap" buildings that can fatally overheat unless the government tightens standards and prioritises climate safeguards, planning experts have said.Fears are growing about the plight of vulnerable people in heatwaves, with research this week suggesting that 2,700 people had died in the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales. Yet only about half of local plans being drawn up by councils and local authorities require new buildings to have a cooling or ventilation strategy to prevent overheating, according to findings from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The representation of the people bill has become a test of whether Britain can curb the surge in billionairebacked donations trying to influence how we run the countryGood morning. I'm Hettie O'Brien, and I'll be arriving in your inbox regularly from today, rounding out the First Edition team alongside Libby and Michael.I've spent much of my time at the Guardian writing about who is pulling the strings in Britain: I enjoy illuminating knotty subjects for our readers, exposing how power works, and helping to make sense of the stories defining our world. I'd love to hear what you think - just reply to this email - we want you to play a part in shaping First Edition. But go easy, it's my first day.UK news | The police investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe is examining whether a leftwing or single-issue cause may lie behind her killing, the Guardian has learned.Middle East | Donald Trump has threatened to expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal amid a continuing dispute over the strait of Hormuz.UK politics | Boris Johnson's government wasted 10bn of public money because of the way it went about buying PPE during the coronavirus pandemic, an official inquiry has concluded.Europe news | A spokesperson for the EU has pushed back against the Trump administration's assertion that the international criminal court poses a threat to US sovereignty.US news | The man killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maine on Monday has been identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, according to local news outlets. Continue reading...

Catholic Schools NSW's alleged donations to Liberal party show the need to ensure public money is spent for approved purposes, expert says

Royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion hears of response of universities to incidents on campus

Exclusive: Work and pensions secretary signals possible reform to welfare as ministers await key reviewsLabour must stop simply writing a cheque" for health and disability benefit claimants and will provide more job support instead, the work and pensions secretary has said.Pat McFadden said the government was preparing to launch a renewed effort at welfare reform with a focus on encouraging more people with health conditions to get into work and off benefits. Continue reading...

Melissa Horne describes allegations of improper government interference on a hospital project as alarming', after Jacinta Allan said report was wrong

Angus Taylor has stated his opposition, but discussion paper's authors warn if we want a different outcome, we need to be prepared to do things differently'

US president says Iran has to get to the table and negotiate' as US imposes fresh naval blockade on strait of HormuzTrump again threatens to strike Iran's power plants amid impasse over strait of HormuzResurgent oil and fuel prices could cement a fourth interest rate rise in Australia this year if Donald Trump's renewed conflict with Iran is not resolved within a week, economists warn.US missile strikes on Iran and Trump's announcement of a new maritime blockade has lifted oil prices to their highest point in the month since the two countries agreed to a peace deal. Continue reading...

Bloomberg's editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, stands by reporting, saying ministers who sued imposed an extremely strained meaning on what was a solid story'Bloomberg News and one of its reporters have been ordered to pay S$460,000 (US$355,734) in damages after an article it published was found to have defamed two Singapore government ministers, the city-state's high court said in a judgment released on Tuesday.Bloomberg and the reporter, Low De Wei, are liable to jointly pay S$230,000 to each minister, comprising S$170,000 in general damages and S$60,000 in aggravated damages, the judgment said. Continue reading...

Annual State of the UK Climate analysis finds last four years in UK are in top five hottest on recordThe UK's climatic extremes are becoming increasingly normal, a report has found, with last year the hottest on record and further unprecedented changes" likely to break the record again soon.Data stretching back to 1884 shows the UK has never experienced a year as hot as 2025, according to the annual State of the UK Climate report, with temperatures pushed to dizzying heights by carbon pollution clogging the atmosphere. Continue reading...

Midnight to 6am block on some apps is latest stage of Labour's bid to protect young people from online harmsSixteen and 17-year-olds are to be encouraged to observe a midnight social media curfew, in the latest stage of Labour's bid to protect the next generation" from online harms, including poor sleep caused by night-time scrolling.From next spring, Britain's oldest children will be urged to refrain from using certain apps with a midnight to 6am block being switched on by default. But the curfew will not be mandatory and can be overridden. The move is an extension of the under-16 social media ban announced last month, which included restrictions on platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. Continue reading...

An immigration officer shot and killed the 26-year-old Colombian man afte reportedly ramming into his carThe man killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maine on Monday has been identified as Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.An immigration agent shot and killed the 26-year-old Colombian man on Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, after reportedly ramming into his car. Continue reading...

Bill marks a full-circle moment for the PM-in-waiting and encapsulates what he says his government will be aboutAndy Burnham has always said he took his first steps out of Westminster in 2009, when he walked out to address furious Liverpool fans at the Kop on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.They chanted Justice for the 96" for a full two minutes before the then culture secretary was able to continue, demonstrating their anger that nobody in public office had been convicted of any offence over the tragedy. Continue reading...

Counter-terrorism police say that they are still working to establish the motive for the killing of the former government ministerIn response to a question from Alec Shelbrooke (Con), Campbell said he was totally unaware" not just of the wording of the Tory opposition day motion planned for tomorrow (see 1.04pm), but of the topic that it was going to cover. In a bid to convince MPs that this was not a lie, he said that he was standing at the despatch box and that MPs knew the importance of a minister telling the absolute truth when they stand here".In the Commons, Alan Campbell, the leader of the house, has just announced there will be a change in parliamentary business tomorrow. Wednesday was set aside for an opposition day debate - a debate on a motion tabled by the Tories. Instead, there will be a general debate on the situation in Iran. There will also be a vote on the regulations banning support for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.The government has a majority of more than 150 and it could not trust its MPs to vote the right way on that motion [delaying the recess], and it could not bear the idea of a new prime minister facing any scrutiny before September.A prime minister, let me remind us all, who has been chosen by a coronation not a contest, with no known platform, almost no known policies, and no idea of his priorities or indeed his cabinet team. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts fear rise in education cold spots' and social immobility as 4,000 academic posts lost in one yearThousands of university job cuts in humanities and social sciences are creating widespread cold spots for languages, classics and theology degrees, the British Academy has warned.Universities' finances are so precarious that redundancies are also occurring in business studies, law and English - subjects considered strategically important and traditionally popular courses. Continue reading...

Chair criticises use of VIP lane' to prioritise PPE contracts for companies with Tory connections in damning report

Firework displays cancelled as Paris military parade asserts France's rearmament ... and Europe's strategic awakening'Emmanuel Macron has presided over his final Bastille Day parade in Paris amid a searing heatwave and wildfires that forced authorities around the country to cancel traditional firework displays and balls celebrating France's national day.The French president was joined for the annual military procession and flypast by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and two dozen other national leaders. Continue reading...

Gates has denied any ties to Epstein's crimes and has not been accused of any wrongdoingBillionaire Warren Buffett omitted Bill Gates' foundation from his annual donations this year after disclosures of the Microsoft co-founder's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett will donate about $6bn to four foundations connected to his own family, but did not mention Gates in his announcement Tuesday.Buffett also said in his statement that he wants all of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway stock worth more than $140bn donated to charity by the end of 2034. Previously the plan was for his three children to distribute his remaining fortune within 10 years of the 95-year-old investor's death. Continue reading...

Documents show the FBI director's gift was displayed proudly' by the AFP before new commissioner ordered it be destroyed

Legal action by the Daylesford small business owner has forced councillors to stand down - leaving only two able to serve

No unruly behaviour will be tolerated' after the match, according to France's interior ministerHere is the first big moment of the day as the Garde republicaine plays the French national anthem, La Marseillaise".Macron is not singing, but Lecornu behind him - very much is. Continue reading...

Defendant pleads guilty to crimes over the course of 12 years, some of which also involved a person unknown'A man has been told he faces a possible life sentence after pleading guilty to 32 sexual offences against his girlfriend while she was allegedly drugged or asleep, including some attacks he recorded.The defendant, aged in his 40s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Northampton crown court on Tuesday where he admitted the offences which happened over more than a decade between January 2014 and September last year. Continue reading...

Campaigners feel vindicated by some of report's conclusions but are unconvinced by its verdict on VIP lane'

86-year-old from West Midlands taken to hospital after eight-day event in which 57 people were injuredAn 86-year-old British man is among 57 people injured while taking part in the running of the bulls festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.The man, from Halesowen in the West Midlands, was taken to hospital on Tuesday - the last morning of the eight-day annual event - after suffering injuries to his right hand, left elbow and right eyebrow. A spokesperson for the festival said the man, who has not been named, was being assessed by doctors but not thought to be badly hurt. Continue reading...

Court ruled last week against policy to reduce protections for asylum seekers facing removal under one in, one out schemeThe Home Office is set to ignore a high court ruling and continue sending asylum seekers to France without looking into claims they have been trafficked, which last week was found to be unlawful.On Friday Mr Justice Sheldon ruled against the home secretary's policy to reduce protections for trafficking victims earmarked for forced removal to France. Home Office sources told the Guardian that operational activity could continue despite the ruling. Home Office removed certain protections for this group because they could delay removals to France by at least 30 days. Continue reading...

Bar owner offers deepest apologies' as police investigate whether exits were either blocked or hard to accessThe Bangkok pub that became the scene of the city's deadliest blaze in 17 years has said it will cooperate with an investigation into alleged negligence, as the death toll rose to 30.The local district office said on Tuesday that three more people had died after the devastating fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday. An initial assessment by disaster officials found an electrical short circuit in an air conditioner located in the ceiling had caused the fire. Continue reading...

US hits targets in port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas while Iran attacks two tankers in strait of Hormuz

Ofwat says repeated errors led to real disruption and hardship for residents and businesses across many years'

Director general Matt Brittin says funding model ties corporation to the past as number of licences falls by 539,000The number of people paying the BBC's licence fee has fallen faster than expected in the last year, with half a million more households opting out of the payment.Matt Brittin, the BBC's director general, said the broadcaster faced a moment of real jeopardy", as the licence fee funding model ties us to the past". Continue reading...

Rebecca Slaughter, who was fired by Trump from the FTC in 2025, worries agencies will be undermined by threat of removal if a decision is contrary to president's favorFederal officials fired by the Trump administration are calling the recent supreme court decision a dagger in the heart" of the civil service that will open independent federal government agencies to corruption and manipulation at the whim of the president.Since Donald Trump took office again in January 2025, he has fired more than 50 officials from federal agencies as the Trump administration openly sought to have the supreme court overturn a landmark 1935 ruling that limited the president's power over independent agencies, known as Humphrey's Executor. Continue reading...

Plane bringing Houthi delegation home from Tehran had to divert after Yemeni government bombed Sana'a airport

BBPA wants content definition for beer to be considered non-alcoholic to be changed from 0.05% to 0.5%Pubs and brewers are being prevented from capitalising on Britons' record-breaking thirst for alcohol-free beer because of over-strict regulation, a trade body has warned.More than 64m pints of low- and no-alcohol beer is forecast to be sold over the summer, an increase of 8m compared with 2025, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said, citing the figures as proof that the category is not just a fad". Continue reading...

Threat of social unrest rises as public indignation at lack of disaster aid comes on top of fallout from US military intervention A revolution in ruins: fury amid the rubble of a housing project in quake-hit VenezuelaPublic anger at what many perceive as the Venezuelan government's botched response to twin earthquakes that killed nearly 4,500 people is growing, with one grieving mother caught on camera berating the son of former president Nicolas Maduro.Maduro's politician son received a hostile reception while visiting a semi-destroyed social housing project named after his father's late mentor Hugo Chavez. Continue reading...

Reform's Treasury spokesperson says talks on party leader's protection only happening as a result' of Ann Widdecombe's death

Kyiv's decision to honour second world war fighters who killed about 100,000 Poles has revived simmering tensionsIn the aftermath of Russia's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Polish-Ukrainian solidarity emerged as one of the most heartwarming subplots of the Kremlin's brutal war. Millions of Poles, remembering their country's own tragic history with Russia, mobilised to help Ukrainian refugees with food, shelter and support as they crossed the border in huge numbers to flee the conflict.Four years later, that outpouring of generosity and solidarity is a distant memory, as the two countries find themselves locked in a bitter dispute over history that has led to angry rhetoric, mutual mud-slinging and a threat from Poland to block Ukraine's EU accession until it gets its historical house in order. Continue reading...

Prof Steven Prawer tells commission University of Melbourne needs to show it tolerates dissent, but not misbehaviour

Economists warn continued conflict could push oil prices beyond US$100 a barrel, increasing chance of further RBA rate hikeResurgent oil and fuel prices could cement a fourth interest rate rise this year if Donald Trump's renewed conflict with Iran is not resolved within a week, economists warn.US missile strikes on Iran and Trump's announcement overnight of a new maritime blockade has lifted oil prices to their highest point in the month since the two countries agreed to a peace deal. Continue reading...

As general election looms, survey shows twice as many men as women support far-right Sweden DemocratsOne is led by Sweden's first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, and has promised smaller school-class sizes, more housing and free dental care for young people. The other, led by Jimmie Akesson, has neo-Nazi roots and has pledged to lower taxes, improve public safety and treat anti-Swedishness" as a hate crime.In the run-up to Sweden's general election in September, the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats are placed first and second respectively in the polls, and between them are expected to scoop up more than 50% of the vote. Continue reading...

This blog is closed - our live coverage continues hereBahrain's military has accused Iran of targeting civilians with its latest attacks on the country, after Tehran said it had struck US military facilities and infrastructure there earlier.Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its heinous attacks with missiles and drones that target civilians in the Kingdom of Bahrain," the general command of Bahrain's military said, adding that air defences intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks" this morning. Continue reading...

Analysis of 12 indicators including asthma, obesity and vaccination finds child health is national embarrassment'Children in the UK will grow up to be one of the unhealthiest generations in decades, with child health outcomes having declined or stalled completely across all areas, a group of leading paediatricians has said.Reduced vaccination rates alongside rising hospital admissions for asthma and mental health disorders are all contributing factors to the UK's record on children's health, which should be seen as a national embarrassment", their analysis has found. Continue reading...

Despite spending increase in June, Barclays says most people still pessimistic about economyRelentless sunshine and the World Cup coaxed consumers to spend more on beer and online shopping last month, with purse strings expected to remain loose as England fans gear up for Wednesday's semi-final.Most people remain pessimistic about the UK economy, according to data from Barclays Bank based on debit and credit card transactions. Continue reading...

French president Emmanuel Macron has been hosting leaders amid hopes that Ukraine's recent advances could force Putin towards negotiationsin KyivMeanwhile, Russia has been forced to suspend shipping in the Sea of Azov after 90 vessels were targeted by Ukrainian drones in less than a week. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham expected to vote in favour of home secretary's changes to legal loophole and asylum system

After a wild attack on the media, Reform's deputy leader joins other MPs in the Commons offering tributes rather than speculationThis is the third murder of either a sitting or former MP that I've covered in the last 10 years. It doesn't get any easier or less shocking. Every death diminishes us all. The least you would hope is for politicians to behave with dignity. To set an example. For those who knew Ann Widdecombe to express their personal loss, for party leaders and ministers to convey the horror of her death and offer their condolences to her family and friends. Probably best for everyone else to say as little as possible for now.The police have asked for everyone to refrain from speculating about the motives of the suspect, who, as of Monday lunchtime, was still being questioned by counter-terrorism officers, and not to politicise the murder if possible. A time for our political class to behave like grownups. And the overwhelming majority have done that. Just for now, even Nigel Farage has stopped acting as if he were the detective leading the investigation by offering his insights to every passing TV crew, and has fallen silent. Continue reading...

Home secretary insists all MPs treated equally but that security of former MPs and non-Westminster politicians is a concernShabana Mahmood has offered Nigel Farage a personal meeting with the Home Office unit that works on security for high-profile politicians, insisting all MPs are treated equally in how they are offered protection.Addressing the Commons after the death of Ann Widdecombe, the Reform spokesperson whose body was found with serious injuries by the ambulance service at her home in Devon, the home secretary said the incident raised questions about the security of former MPs and politicians from smaller parties, including those not in parliament. Continue reading...

Vote will allow Israelis to pass judgment on Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of conflicts in Gaza and Iran

More than 90 residents have expressed interest in contamination claim against AGC Chemicals EuropeA Pfas factory in Lancashire has announced plans to close down, just days after the Guardian revealed that more than 90 residents have signed up to be involved in a potential legal claim over contamination of the local area.AGC Chemicals Europe Ltd is consulting with employees and their union representatives about plans to cease operations at its manufacturing plant in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire. The consultation is expected to last for at least 45 days. Continue reading...