PM Pedro Sanchez expected to visit territory today as Italy demands Spain be suspended from the Schengen area amid concerns over fresh migration crisisWe are getting some more pictures from Ceuta, showing the people who arrived last night waiting in parts of the city with El Mundo reporting long queues at local supermarkets.But also there are reports that some migrants are choosing to return to Morocco. Continue reading...
Plan set to transform funding so English regions no longer rely on Whitehall handouts for projectsIn other news, Labour's former deputy leader Harriet Harman has suggested that men should be banned from running to become the next Labour leader.We've got to have a woman next time," the Labour peer told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast.Governments of all political stripes have made genuine efforts to tackle domestic abuse. Too often, I have seen those attempts fall short because responsibility and accountability is scattered across Whitehall.It is one of the many reasons why progress on halving violence against women and girls has been slow - the machinery of government is simply not set up to tackle problems that cut across every part of the state. Continue reading...
Live, rolling coverage as the AA says average petrol prices could rise above 159.7p per litre mark set in MayThe story piquing the interest of the financial press this morning is that of Leopold Aschenbrenner, the AI Wunderkind (he's German-born) who has been forced to sell off his fund in a fire sale after the AI boom ran out of steam.The 24-year-old had persuaded a lot of people to give him a lot of money for a hedge fund, after previously working for OpenAI and the FTX Future Fund, a charitable arm of the fraudulent crypto empire of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now in prison. Aschenbrenner ploughed that money into debt-fuelled bets on artificial intelligence companies, earning huge returns until he found out that stocks can also fall.The trader dubbed the Nostradamus of AI" would have been hard-pressed to foresee how quickly his high-flying hedge fund would run into trouble.The firm's rapid downward spiral is a familiar tale, as Silicon Valley and Wall Street once again threw their weight behind a bright-eyed but untested investor who promised this time would be different. Everybody always wants to find the next golden child," said one longtime hedge fund executive. It just keeps happening."In less than 24 hours - which included a conversation between Griffin and Aschenbrenner - Griffin's Citadel hedge fund reached out to Situational Awareness and snapped up the investments at a discount, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified citing private information.It was a startling reversal for Aschenbrenner, a former researcher at OpenAI who - before starting his hedge fund roughly two years ago - had no previous investment experience. His fledging firm has watched its assets plunge from $45bn at the start of July to about $10bn. Continue reading...
Trio set up Swift Partners for the acquisition, allowing supermarket to focus on core food businessSainsbury's has agreed to sell the Argos retail chain for 120m to allow it to concentrate on its core food business.The supermarket announced on Friday it was selling the catalogue shopping business to a trio of retail veterans, a decade after buying the company for more than 1bn. Continue reading...
Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look realFrom apparently conspiring to steal elections to abusing staff or performing embarrassing dance moves, the last few years have seen plenty of fake content made about politicians intended to malign its targets and mislead the public.Now EU rules aim to stem the flood of this deceptive content: starting from Sunday, artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look authentic must be labelled. Continue reading...
by Sam Jones in Madrid and Angela Giuffrida in Rome on (#77C1M)
Some drowned and others caught up in crush, official says, as incident prompts criticism of Spain from France and ItalyAt least 18 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after around 49,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco in a matter of hours, triggering a political crisis for the Madrid government and unleashing a barrage of criticism from other EU countries.The large influx of people arriving in Ceuta by swimming across from neighbouring Morocco or scaling the high border fence has caught the city of 85,000 off guard and resulted in what one local police association has called a serious humanitarian crisis". Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#77C38)
Boom in solar farms and home installations in first half of 2026 began shortly after start of US-Israel war against IranGreat Britain has recorded more new solar power installations in the first half of this year than in any six-month period since 2011, as households turn to rooftop panels to help cut their energy bills.An analysis of the government's official figures shows that Great Britain added 142,536 solar installations in the first six months of the year, putting it on track to top last year's record solar additions. Continue reading...
As the death toll rises to almost 1,500, and with a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain potentially still months away, health workers face a battle to slow the outbreakThe latest numbers of confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has made this latest outbreak the fastest growing in the known history of the virus.At 3,360 confirmed cases, the disease is now affecting people in five provinces in the east of the DRC, with 1,487 deaths recorded, representing an overall case fatality rate estimated at about 45%, according to Congolese health officials. Health responses to the outbreak have been badly hampered by conflict in many of the affected areas. Continue reading...
More than 100 firefighters remain at scene after Dunwich Heath blaze spread across 150 hectares and forced evacuationsFire crews tackling a large wildfire burning for more than 24 hours near Britain's biggest nuclear power station have said the situation is stabilising".More than 100 firefighters have been battling the blaze in Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, on the Suffolk coast since Wednesday evening. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#77C0C)
Scheme brought in up to 500 foreign-trained doctors a year and was seen as example of British soft power'The NHS has scrapped a longstanding scheme that let overseas doctors boost their skills in UK hospitals and was seen as an example of British soft power".Senior doctors have criticised NHS England's decision to axe the Medical Training Initiative, under which 400 to 500 foreign-trained doctors were given placements in Britain every year. Continue reading...
by Catarina Fernandes Martins in Lisbon on (#77C0B)
Fernando Alexandre's push to digitise marking process deemed a failure with some students and parents contemplating legal actionPressure is growing on Portugal's education minister to resign amid student and teacher protests over his handling of this year's national school exams.Fernando Alexandre is accused of failing to take responsibility for what critics say is an unprecedented and chaotic school exam season affecting children aged 14 to 18, prompting student protesters to call for him to be flunked". Continue reading...
by Geraldine McKelvie Senior correspondent on (#77C0D)
She Plays to Win face losing one of their female players after being told team must include a maleThe UK's only all-female chess team have been promoted to the game's top tier - only to be told they will have to add a man to their squad.She Plays to Win Lionesses A Team have fallen foul of a rule designed to boost female participation in the sport. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jonathan Freedland with Bhaskar Sunka on (#77BYT)
Leftwing Democrats are having their moment in the sun, with Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and endless calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028. Has Democratic socialism shifted from the political fringe to the mainstream? And can this group lure back the all-important swing voters?Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bhaskar Sunkara, president of the Nation magazine, founding editor of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme InequalitiesArchive: AP, ReutersWatch Jonathan Freedland on our new Politics Weekly YouTube channelSend your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.comHelp support the Guardian. Go to theguardian.com/politicspodus Continue reading...
Campaigners worry politicians will have moved on by time of elections in which Marine Le Pen is expected to challengeAs dozens of forest wildfires burned across France this week amid the summer's fourth brutal heatwave and increasing air pollution, some wondered whether voters' first-hand experience of the climate emergency would change the political debate ahead of next year's presidential election.The Green leader, Marine Tondelier, who cut short a tour of France on medical advice that at seven months pregnant she should avoid breathing smoke-filled air in the south-west near a huge wildfire in Gironde, said the political class still had its head in the sand. Continue reading...
Queensland police fine driver of another car that allegedly caused Yaris to swerve before it hit kerb and catapulted into air - and busA Queensland driver has been fined after being involved in a stunning crash that saw a car become airborne and then stuck in the side of a bus.The drama unfolded at Rocklea in Brisbane's south on Wednesday evening. A blue Toyota Yaris hit a traffic island and was catapulted into the air before smashing into the side of the council bus. The back of the car was left protruding from the bus. Continue reading...
One Nation leader's how can you tell me there are good Muslims?' remarks were the subject of complaints, but police say the matter has now been finalised
by Josh Halliday North of England editor on (#77BS3)
Local leaders say plan will transform funding so English regions no longer rely on Whitehall handouts for projectsEngland's regional mayors will be able to break out of the death grip of the Treasury" by borrowing to invest in big projects under transformational" plans to shift power out of Whitehall.For the first time, mayors will keep a share of income tax generated in their area from 2028, as well as business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds by April 2027. Continue reading...
Makers of unreleased $45m film Fortitude sue after hard drive stolen from streamer's Los Angeles officeNetflix is being sued for $105m over the theft of a hard drive including an unreleased Nicolas Cage war movie.The streamer's Los Angeles office was the target of a theft involving a number of hard drives, one of which contained a copy of second world war spy thriller Fortitude. Continue reading...
CRS officers funded by UK tried to stop boarding of boat, on day four asylum seekers died trying to cross ChannelFrench riot police funded by UK taxpayers used teargas on asylum seekers in an attempt to stop them from boarding a boat in which three women were later found dead, a charity has claimed.Footage and photographs seen by the Guardian show CS gas canisters being fired towards groups of people on Plage du Braek near Dunkirk at 4am on Thursday. At 6am, three women were found dead in a boat near the same beach. Continue reading...
Figures show hot, dry, windy conditions in EU are 43% more severe than the average over last 20 yearsFire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU from the start of the year until the end of July has been 43% more severe than the average for the same period over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows. Continue reading...
Yemeni sources say Saudi Arabia is preparing sea and possible land attack to break chokehold on oil exports through Red SeaSaudi Arabia is preparing for a major military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources believe, in a move to break the chokehold on its oil exports through the southern Red Sea.Saudi forces have been seen withdrawing from the east of Yemen in what could be preparation for a land offensive. At the same time, Riyadh is trying to organise a naval coalition to protect shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait. Continue reading...
Strike on Terminal Autonomy plant appears to be first time in the war that Moscow has targeted a US companyA drone factory in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile on Friday was owned by a US corporation registered in Delaware, in what appears to be the first time Moscow has targeted a US company in the conflict.Terminal Autonomy makes precision deep-strike" drones with guidance systems that are resistant to Russian jamming signals, according to a person familiar with the company. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#77BMX)
UK's highest court gives permission for Huda Ammori to challenge court of appeal rulingThe co-founder of Palestine Action has won permission to challenge the ban against the group at the UK's highest court.The direct action group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July last year but its co-founder, Huda Ammori, has been fighting to have the ban overturned amid a mass civil disobedience campaign. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent on (#77BHW)
In first quarter of 2026 returns for breaches of licence conditions rose 31% creating new pressure on prison placesMore people were recalled to prison than were released during the first three months of 2026, the first time on record the recall rate" has surpassed 100% in England and Wales.Between January and March 2026, 12,977 people were released from prison while 13,193 people were returned to prison for breaching their licence conditions, up 31% from last year, new Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data showed. Continue reading...
There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can't ignore that,' the prime minister says when asked about his conversation with Donald TrumpQ: [From ITV's Romilly Weeks] You say that Reform UK followed all the rules in relation to donations. But why did George Cottrell give $2m to his mother shortly before she made substantial donations to the party?Jenrick said Reform was certain all the rules were followed. Any questions for Cottrell would have to be directed to him, he said.It does seem curious that in this case the police have chosen not to take action.We'll see whether they take action against the individual who posted the original tweet, who wore the T-shirt. I'm hearing today that the police may have closed that investigation as well. [See 9.20am.] Continue reading...
Shares in Rolls-Royce jump by 5% after it lifts earnings guidance, while BAE Systems also upgrades profit forecastsRolls-Royce and BAE Systems are expecting higher profits as governments around the world increase their defence spending.Both companies lifted their earnings guidance on Thursday morning, citing commitments from governments to raise investment in defence systems. Continue reading...
Polish PM confirms the missile that crashed in Poland was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile and says he is in touch with EU and US leadersPoland's defence minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz confirms it's most likely" it was a Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile.That's the most probable hypothesis," he says. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#77AQV)
Union calling for two paid breaks a day in what it says is punishing schedule for Storehouse order an object' workersStaff at the V&A's Storehouse site in east London have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over what they say are inadequate toilet and hydration breaks.They will join staff across V&A sites in London who on Wednesday also voted to strike in a wider dispute over pay, working conditions, and the museum having declined to seek living wage accreditation. Continue reading...
Company self-reported offences that led to tax authority's largest out-of-court settlement for such breachesAirbus has been fined 6.4m in the UK after the European aerospace company admitted to multiple breaches of rules designed to stop sensitive goods such as military hardware falling into the wrong hands.The company, which sits at the heart of the European defence industry, said it had paid the settlement to the UK's tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, after self-reporting breaches that occurred before November 2022.Failing to keep accurate records of transfers of controlled technology as per the conditions of three of their Open General Export Licences (Ogels).Multiple occasions failures to keep registers in relation to Ogels.Failing to keep accurate records contrary to the conditions of one of their Ogels.A failure of licence conditions on a standard individual export licence (SIEL). Continue reading...
The book, Antiquities of Athens, was handed back to Kiama library by a man who found it bricked into a wallAn Australian public library has had a book returned an estimated 150 years late after being found behind a wall during a home renovation.The book, Antiquities of Athens, published in 1858, was returned to the library in the seaside town of Kiama, south of Sydney, by a man who had found it inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace Continue reading...
Boom in hummingbird hawk-moth sightings put down to hot weather, strong winds and food scarcity in EuropeHe had just sat down to dinner in the garden when a speedy visitor whizzed by - a grey lump with orange wings", recalled Luke Burstow, from Sussex. It was a hummingbird hawk-moth, a flying insect that migrates to the UK from continental Europe and north Africa.I was like: Wow!'," said the software project manager. I didn't even know they existed." Continue reading...
Robert Assaf tells Icac that Angus Taylor wasn't that involved' but the federal opposition leader definitely wasn't opposed' to work of conservative group
Environmental groups renew calls for windfall tax to support households following Q2 earnings rise to $9.84bnShell more than doubled its profit in its second quarter of the year, as Europe's biggest oil and gas company reaped the benefits from the jump in oil and gas prices triggered by war in the Middle East.The FTSE 100 company's net profit hit $9.84bn (7.4bn) in the three months ended in June, more than double compared with the same period last year. Continue reading...
Document believed to be from 19th century details recipe using Bolivian coca leaves, kola nuts and wineAn Italian friar has unearthed a document from the pharmacy archives of an ancient convent in Florence describing a medicinal potion made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, prompting suggestions it could have been a precursor to the famous US soft drink, Coca-Cola.Father Manuel Russo, rector of the San Marco convent, said he stumbled across the yellowed document, a sort-of promotional flyer, while sorting out the archives. Continue reading...
Mitch Winehouse knowingly and deliberately' made unfounded allegations against Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay, judge saysThe father of British music sensation Amy Winehouse has been ordered to pay 950,000 (US$1.26m, A$1.82m) to his late daughter's friends, who he unsuccessfully sued for auctioning the singer's clothes and other items.Mitch Winehouse earlier this year lost a case in the high court in London against two of Winehouse's friends who auctioned dozens of her clothes and other possessions years after her death. Continue reading...
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