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PMQs comes as Resolution Foundation says it is not realistic' to think defence spending can increase without tax rises

Hadley is giving evidence in trial of former 2GB rival Jones, 85, who has pleaded not guilty to 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges

London mayor convicted under controversial system where magistrates can decide outcomes in seconds

Foreign policy chief says drone attack last month had all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism' as she prepares to lead today's discussionsUkraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday it was a fair approach" to renew talks on using Russian frozen assets for Ukraine.I think this is a fair approach to start serious discussion how we could use immobilised frozen assets," Sybiha said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland, quoted by Reuters.We see an attempt by Russia to divide us in Europe and to deter us from our support for Ukraine. And I say very clearly today, on behalf of the United Kingdom, this attempt will fail." Continue reading...

Ian Tyler, who was already in role on interim basis, selected and pledges to lead the board's evolution'BP has appointed a new chair after a months-long search following the controversial ousting of Albert Manifold, seeking to draw a line under the boardroom turmoil at the oil and gas company.Ian Tyler, who has served as the interim chair and sat on the BP board as a non-executive director since April 2025, is assuming the role on a permanent basis immediately. Continue reading...

Consumer watchdog Which? set up and accepted payment for fake listing for 1 bed apartment in heart of London'Successive politicians have clawed their way past colleagues over the years to call the residence home. Yet in an offer that probably seemed too good to be true, the property site Booking.com has been accused of systemic security failures" after it was able to set up and accept payment for a fake listing for 10 Downing Street.A property listed as a 1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London" - with the exact address and a picture of the prime minister's home - was listed on 18 June by researchers from the consumer watchdog Which?. Continue reading...

Arthur Downing, author of Power and the People: A History of British Energy, says all-encompassing rapid transition will need a mutualised systemHave you ever wondered why it is that most houses in the UK are reliant on gas boilers? Not what's stopping more people from replacing them with heat pumps, but instead why and how the gas boiler became so ubiquitous in the first place?Arthur Downing, the author of the new book Power and the People: A History of British Energy, can tell you exactly why. We only have boilers in our houses because of a state-owned enterprise that went into everybody's home and installed natural gas-suitable appliances at no direct cost," he says. The nationalised gas industry of the 1940s to the 1980s, which oversaw this huge project, was for three decades one of the most dynamic, innovative, efficient industries in Britain", Downing says. Yet few of us would use these terms to describe it as such now. Continue reading...

Study reveals that pesticide poisoning kills 11,000 people each year, with India accounting for nearly 60% of fatalitiesAlmost half of the world's farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, a study has found.Using publicly available data from 2006-2023, the study, which was commissioned by Pesticide Action Network, found there to be an estimated 402-433m cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning of farmers and farm workers every year. Continue reading...

Sergei Loznitsa likens removal of 2m grant to a punishment in kindergarten' on eve of Venice film festivalOne of Ukraine's most acclaimed film-makers has criticised the European Commission's decision to cut off funds to the Venice Biennale over the opening of Russia's pavilion, likening it to a punishment in kindergarten".The Biennale drew heavy criticism this spring when it allowed Russia to use its pavilion for the first time since 2022, despite the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Exclusive: sanctions against ministers and settler groups are smoke and mirrors cop-out' says Omar BarghoutiBritain's legal and ethical obligation to stop a genocide in Gaza requires it to take bigger steps than halting trade with illegal Israeli settlements or imposing further sanctions, Omar Barghouti, the co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement has said.He described sanctions against individual settler groups or extremist ministers as a smoke and mirrors cop-out and distraction" from the UK's legal obligation under international law to end all support for Israel, including arms exports, trade deals and academic relations that may directly or indirectly enable Israel's illegal occupation" of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Continue reading...

Police say the sheep were stolen from a property 830km west of Brisbane between February and May

In today's newsletter: Communities from Scotland to India are pushing back against datacentres they feel have been forced upon them, warning they threaten energy supplies and the climateGood morning. This summer, datacentres have become targets of resistance across the world. Ever since the arrival of ChatGPT, big tech has been lobbying for the creation of enormous new facilities. Many governments claim they're essential in any country that wants to cash in on AI.Campaigners argue datacentres drain resources and exacerbate the climate crisis. The Scottish National Party has backed a moratorium on new developments; so has the Greens. The boom has been immense, and so has the backlash. Today's newsletter explains why.UK politics | Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit and Margaret Thatcher for a decade of low growth in the UK, arguing that Britain needs to be brutally honest about having taken a series of wrong turns" in the last 40 years.Nepal-Tibet | A week on from the flash flooding disaster, authorities are urging relatives of the thousands of missing and dead to provide blood samples.Middle East | The US has launched new airstrikes on Iranian targets, prompting counter strikes by Tehran targeting American interests in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, fuelling concerns about a wider renewal of hostilities.Ukraine | Russia has opened a deadly new phase in its war against Ukraine by deliberately targeting the country's railway network, with six employees killed on Tuesday in the latest strikes on Kyiv.US news | Mark Carney has rebuked Donald Trump's administration and urged officials in Washington to start being serious" amid escalation trade tensions between the US and Canada. Continue reading...

Speed limit dropped from 60km/h for around 70% of general roads in the hope of making narrow streets of crowded cities saferDrivers on residential roads in Japan have been forced to take their foot off the accelerator, after the speed limit was slashed from 60km/h (37mph) to 30km/h in an attempt to reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians on narrow urban streets.The new limit, which went into effect on Tuesday, applies to residential roads with no centre line or maximum speed signs, media reports said. Continue reading...

Lehrmann is accused of raping a woman in 2021 and will stand trial in Toowoomba in November. He intends to contest the charges

John Sellers, 34, who moved with his family to Sweden aged 10, has been ejected despite his recent marriage to a SwedeA 34-year-old British man who has lived in Sweden since he was 10 has been deported in the latest of a series of Brexit-induced catastrophes for UK citizens in the country.John Sellers was told to leave despite living in Sweden for 24 years, having been educated in the country and newly married to his Swedish partner, Caroline. Continue reading...

Wong, 29, is accused of urging foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile measures against ChinaJoshua Wong, one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy activists, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China, a national security charge that carries a maximum life sentence.Prosecutors have accused Wong, 29, of working with the exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China. Continue reading...

Decision marks a significant turning point in a case that sparked a national debate in ItalyA British-Australian couple will be allowed to spend more time with their three children after the youngsters were removed from the family's off-grid woodland home in central Italy last year, their lawyer said on Tuesday.The juvenile court of L'Aquila in Italy has approved a staged process under the supervision of social services that could ultimately allow the children to leave the residential care facility where they have been living since November. Continue reading...

Matt Clifford, who drafted AI action plan and advised Starmer and Sunak, hired for senior role at US firmThe architect of the UK government's AI strategy has joined the US startup Anthropic in a senior role a year after stepping down from his Downing Street post.Matt Clifford, a successful tech investor, was appointed as AI opportunities adviser by Keir Starmer last year but resigned from the unpaid role six months later for personal reasons. Continue reading...

Several missing Australians have been found since Tuesday morning, bringing the total citizens unaccounted for to 38

Government says dangerous behaviour' is part of effort by Moscow to cause damage with hybrid attacksThe German government has blamed Russia for the drone attack on Leipzig airport last month, calling it dangerous behaviour" and part of a systematic and concerted effort by Moscow to cause great damage" through a large number of hybrid attacks.The interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, and the foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, ended weeks of speculation and the government's hesitancy to blame Russia, saying in a brisk 10-minute briefing in Berlin that all indications were the Russian state had provided the knowhow and equipment for the planned attack and low-level agents" were recruited to carry it out. Continue reading...

Other families have been unlawfully compelled to be case managed without consent, watchdog finds

Resolution Foundation argues that UK's internationally low tax wedge' must rise to pay for defence ambitionsThe chancellor, John Healey, must be prepared to raise taxes for middle earners if he wants to fund significantly higher defence spending, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has said.Healey resigned from Keir Starmer's government in June, protesting against what he argued was the then prime minister's failure to adequately fund defence. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 people confirmed dead and more than 4,000, including 36 British nationals, remain missingA British aid worker was mistakenly identified by Nepalese authorities as a rescued survivor after returning to Kathmandu on a humanitarian aid flight.Alastair Chambers, a 45-year-old former Gloucester councillor, said he flew to Nepal last week to distribute sleeping bags, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges. Continue reading...

Markwayne Mullin says officers could be deployed if there is a threat to that polling place or we're serving a warrant'US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday said that federal immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers could be deployed to polling sites across the country.Speaking to reporters in New York, Mullin said: ICE isn't there to patrol the polling places. We're there to enforce specific threats." Continue reading...

Experts say ruling could undermine the actual malice' standard and make publishers more wary of critical reportingA $300,000 jury verdict won recently by a Louisiana supreme court justice who sued the Advocate, the state's largest newspaper, for libel over an editorial has caused concern among some US press freedom defenders.One said the decision demonstrated a misunderstanding of a key legal principle governing such cases. And another worries the verdict could have a chilling effect on the media industry's efforts to report critically on powerful people and institutions. Continue reading...

Cash announced after horror car crash that killed two police officers and house fire in which woman and young girl diedCleveland's police force is to receive a 2m funding boost to tackle serious crime, after the home secretary said successive high-profile crimes in the Middlesbrough area had led to a sense of disquiet" in the community.Shabana Mahmood and the prime minister, Andy Burnham, paid tribute in parliament on Tuesday to police constables Matthew Blades and Tom Clough, who were killed when a Volkswagen Passat travelling on the wrong side of the A66 dual carriageway collided head-on with their marked response vehicle. Continue reading...

Police urged people in Overasselt to stay indoors after one person died and 34 were arrestedAuthorities have arrested 34 people, including French, Belgian and Algerian nationals, after a person died in a pre-dawn shootout in a Dutch village reportedly linked to a notorious drug lord.Police urged people in Overasselt, near the German border, to stay indoors with doors and windows shut in case further suspects were on the loose. Continue reading...

Michigan Senate candidate accuses vice-president of dog whistle' and says Republican policies are true evilAbdul El-Sayed, the Democratic US Senate candidate in Michigan, has hit back at Republican vice-president JD Vance's onslaught against him, saying it is evil" to deprive people of healthcare and affordable groceries.Vance, in a Monday speech that railed against undocumented immigrants, cast El-Sayed as representative of terrible evil" and as someone who fights for one group at the expense of others". Continue reading...

Two people shot dead and suspect later died in hospital after shooting in parking lot of Venture-N barAuthorities in Tucson, Arizona, are investigating a shooting outside a gay bar that left three people dead as a possible hate crime.The shooting occurred shortly after midnight on Monday in the parking lot of Venture-N, according to Tucson police. The suspect, identified by police as 44-year old Ousman Ceesay, allegedly killed 42-year-old Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and 33-year-old Cameron Davis Capara. Continue reading...

The star has denied allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace in a suit that has now been thrown out of courtA federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the remaining claims in a well-publicized lawsuit against Lizzo's production company, declaring that the case brought by her former wardrobe stylist could not proceed.The ruling by US district judge Fernando L Aenlle-Rocha comes nearly two years after he dismissed Lizzo as an individual defendant from the case brought by Asha Daniels against the About Damn Time singer and her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc Daniels first filed her lawsuit in September 2023, alleging that she was subject to bullying as well as sexual and racial harassment in an unsafe, sexually charged workplace culture". Continue reading...

Reform leader said inquiry had been widened but watchdog is not believed to have decided whether to do soNigel Farage is facing questions about why he claimed his finances were the subject of a second standards investigation, as he was sworn in again as Clacton's MP.The Reform UK leader said when he resigned in July that the standards system had become a political tool" because yet another standards investigation is under way" into his finances. Continue reading...

The prime minister said Britain needed to be brutally honest about the mistakes of the last 40 years of UK politicsAndy Burnham has blamed Brexit and Margaret Thatcher for a decade of low growth in the UK, arguing that Britain needs to be brutally honest about having taken a series of wrong turns" in the last 40 years.In his first Commons appearance since he took over as prime minister about six weeks ago, Burnham told MPs he wanted to build a new sense of optimism so we can make this next decade better than the last".Hinted that he would commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, saying he had appointed John Healey as his chancellor precisely because" of his position on military spending.Signalled he is open to renationalising the water industry - saying he is looking at all possible solutions", as the sector is a leaking monument" to the failures of privatisation.Opened the door to looking again at electoral reform in Labour's next manifesto. I do believe there needs to be a mandate to make that change. There are different views in this house, but I believe we will need to get a consensus at the next election. And if there is that consensus, then a change can be made in the next parliament."Announced he would attend the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey and continue pursuing green energy - but that he would be pragmatic" on supply, amid expectations he will approve the Jackdaw gasfield. The mistake is saying it's got to be one or the other for political purposes. The truth is, it's going to have to be both." Continue reading...

More than 170 Jewish artists, also including Joel Coen, Hannah Einbinder and Miranda July, have supported the actor after he criticized ParamountA collective of more than 170 prominent Jewish artists and academics - including Todd Haynes, Joel Coen, Miranda July, Hannah Einbinder, Wallace Shawn and Naomi Klein - have signed an open letter supporting Mark Ruffalo.The actor had been accused of invoking antisemitic tropes after he criticized Paramount Skydance, the media company owned by David Ellison, a Donald Trump ally. Ruffalo had spoken out about the $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). Continue reading...

Foreign secretary tells MPs he will try to stop illegal settlements carving up the West BankEd Miliband has promised to reset" Britain's policy on Israel, saying he will try to stop British companies helping build settlements in the West Bank.Speaking to the Commons for the first time as foreign secretary, Miliband said he would set out measures to prevent UK involvement in projects such as the illegal E1 plan, which critics say would split the West Bank in half. Continue reading...

Continuing resolution to approve government spending until 11 December passes 370-48 and will now go to TrumpThe US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation to prevent a government shutdown through the midterms, as both parties opted to defuse a volatile dispute ahead of the November elections that will decide the balance of power in Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency.A continuing resolution (CR) authorizing government spending until 11 December passed the House by a 370-48 vote, with only 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats in opposition. Had it not passed, lawmakers would have had until the end of September to approve new funding or face a government shutdown. Continue reading...

Russia believed to be behind hybrid activities in Germany and Europe, minister saysOver in Brussels, the European Commission is just starting its first midday briefing of the autumn.It opens with an announcement that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will receive Nato's Mark Rutte tomorrow. This comes amid growing scrutiny of Russia's activities on the eastern flank. Continue reading...

PM says he has a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong' with UK, and pays tribute to Keir Starmer after his predecessor quit parliamentMy colleague Richard Partington, the Guardian's senior economics correspondent, grew up, like Andy Burnham, in the Warrington suburb of Culcheth. He has been home to find out what people there are saying about the new PM.Yesterday, Kemi Badenoch announced a reshuffle, replacing Mel Stride with Andrew Griffith as shadow chancellor and Priti Patel with Tom Tugendhat as shadow foreign secretary. Continue reading...

The latest swoop - for Bodycote, another FTSE 250 industrial firm - has barely raised barely an eyebrow in WestminsterThe UK is the business of reindustrialising", says the prime minister. If we are, an increasing portion of the activity will be under foreign ownership. Tuesday brought yet another overseas private equity swoop on a FTSE 250 industrial firm.This time it's the Macclesfield-based Bodycote, which describes itself as the world's largest service provider of heat treatment and specialist metallurgical technologies" - think, for example, processes and coatings to toughen jet engine blades. The buyer is the US buyout firm Veritas for 1.65bn or 940p a share, or 1.85bn including debt. Unless, that is, the rival bidder, CVC, a European private equity firm, comes back for another bite, which the market clearly thinks is a possibility because Bodycote's shares closed at 955p. Continue reading...

First minister sets out his government's agenda and defends policy described by industry groups as a potty gimmick'John Swinney insisted on Tuesday he still planned to introduce a legally binding price cap on bread, milk and other essential food items in Scotland despite fierce opposition from farming and business groups.Unveiling the Scottish National party's programme for government - the equivalent to the king's speech - the first minister said he wanted to give families greater peace of mind at a time of rising prices". Continue reading...

Simon Galbraith says Rupert Lowe's party can spark a British renaissance' if it gets into power

Exclusive: Two congressmembers respond to revelations of government snooping on journalists, non-profits and unionsTwo congressional Democrats asked a government watchdog on Tuesday to investigate the Trump administration's use of an obscure law to secretly collect records on journalists, non-profits and unions without judicial oversight.The request from the Oregon senator Ron Wyden and the representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington seen by the Guardian comes amid mounting scrutiny over the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently used its power to issue administrative summonses related to customs matters to make extraordinary unilateral demands for information. They sent their request to the government accountability office (GAO), the non-partisan congressional watchdog. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy says Moscow is capitalising on shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors to lower morale in capital

Use of sniffer dogs and searches will continue despite health and harm reduction groups arguing they could lead to riskier drug taking

Cotality data reveals property prices are now falling in more than 90% of Australian suburbs, while analysts expect market downturn to continue

Brother of former treasurer and premier faces questions about texts that appear to indicate he was aware of fast-tracking policy before it was announced

Meteorologists say average mean temperature of 16.5C was made 130 times more likely by climate crisisThis year's summer was the UK's hottest on record, according to provisional Met Office data, with the season's mean temperature made 130 times more likely as a result of the climate crisis.The summer saw record-breaking and back-to-back heatwaves scorch much of Europe. In England, temperatures peaked at 38.1C (100.1F) at Kew Gardens in London on 13 August, with June already confirmed as the country's hottest since records began in 1884. Scientists have said these heatwaves are only possible because of the climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Campaigners say some care boards in England flouting their legal duty, resulting in cruel' postcode lotterySeriously ill children are being denied the chance to die at home because the NHS in many parts of England is flouting its legal duty to provide the care needed to make that happen, critics say.The widespread failure to provide at-home end-of-life care is forcing children who want to die at home to instead do so in hospital. Campaigners have described it as cruel". Continue reading...

Spectacular Villa Aurora, which was nearly destroyed in last year's fires, leading the recovery as Pacific Palisades emerges from a dark chapterA hillside villa that served as a cultural hub for German writers and artists fleeing the Nazis and narrowly escaped destruction in last year's Los Angeles wildfires reopened its doors to the public this weekend, marking the latest milestone in the city's slow recovery from one of the darkest chapters in its history.Hundreds of friends of the Villa Aurora, a 1920s Spanish Mediterranean house that has taken on a second life as a cultural center with a fierce commitment to artistic freedom, international dialogue and democracy, crowded into the house on Sunday to mark the resumption of speaker events and artistic residencies. Continue reading...

First big storm of season could reach hurricane force and is expected to bring potentially heavy rains and floodingTropical Storm Edouard headed toward the US Gulf coast early on Tuesday and was expected to strengthen significantly - possibly reaching hurricane force - before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana.The storm was upgraded on Monday night from a tropical depression, and forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expect it will make landfall in Texas later on Tuesday. Continue reading...