World news | The Guardian

The Iran-based group said it plans to impose an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red SeaLebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, is due to meet Donald Trump for the first time today as he wraps up a four-day visit to Washington.The meeting coincides with ongoing US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel. The two sides announced a framework agreement" on 26 June which stipulates the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah. Continue reading...

As new prime minister briefs cabinet on cost of living government', critics ask where money will come fromAndy Burnham is under mounting pressure to explain how he will pay for his policy pledges as he implored his new cabinet to examine all possible ways" to tackle the cost of living crisis.On his first full day in power, the prime minister faced questions about how he would fund the removal of VAT from electricity bills and also an expected uplift in defence spending - an issue that led his new chancellor, John Healey, to resign as Keir Starmer's defence secretary last month. Continue reading...

The new prime minister said he wants his government to look at all possible ways' to help families with high costs

Diligent, popular, unexpected pick for the Treasury has been given a straitjacket - and the job of funding PM's policy promises

Such technology solves problem of longer, thinner, energy-saving wings not fitting in airports around the worldAirbus has said it will test folding wings for the next generation of its bestselling planes, as the world's largest planemaker races to work out the shape of future commercial aircraft by the end of the decade.Longer, thinner wings made of light but strong composite materials offer the promise of energy savings but present a problem for manufacturers because they will not fit in airports around the world, many of which are already at or near full capacity. Continue reading...

James Desborough told court he had discovered bodies of Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman on his land near St AustellA convicted killer accused of murdering two of his friends whose remains were found burnt and dismembered near his Cornish woodland cabin has insisted he did not kill them but had discovered their bodies on his land.James Desborough claimed he came upon one of the bodies hanging from a tree and the second lying naked in a stream. Continue reading...

A reasonable worst-case scenario' suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coastUp to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a reasonable worst-case scenario" suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.Even if today's global pledges to cut carbon pollution are met, about 1.4 million more people will be exposed to coastal floods in 2200 and 1.7 million in 2300 due to the sea level rise driven by melting ice caps and warming oceans. Continue reading...

Paul Condon tells inquiry there was appalling behaviour by individual officers' but that greater fault was systemicA former Metropolitan police commissioner has admitted that the force failed over decades to properly control a controversial undercover unit that committed horrendous" abuses, the spycops inquiry has heard.Paul Condon said he was appalled by the wrongdoing of the unit, which spent 40 years spying on tens of thousands of political activists. Continue reading...

The deaf actor, who played a major role in Godzilla v Kong and its 2024 sequel, was killed in a car crash in MarylandKaylee Hottle, who played a major role in Godzilla v Kong and the sequel Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, has died at the age of 18.Her death was confirmed by her father, Joshua, in a video shared on Facebook. The stream was in American Sign Language (ASL) as the Hottle family is all deaf. I am taking a flight that I never would like to take," is the name of the video. Continue reading...

Thousands of people again on the streets of Delhi calling for education reforms despite police violence on MondayTaru had come to the protest prepared this time. In one hand was an anti-government poster and in the other was a bicycle helmet. We need to have protection in case Delhi police beat us up again," said the 25-year-old, who stood among her friends. We are not scared of them and we won't run away, no matter what they do. We'll stay here till they listen."On Tuesday, central Delhi still thronged with thousands of protesters, as an unprecedented expression of dissent against the powerful ruling Narendra Modi government showed no sign of abating. Continue reading...

New defence secretary Wes Streeting denounces drill by Neustrashimy as performative and irresponsible'A Russian warship fired its main cannon in a short notice test 45 miles south of Plymouth on Monday, the day Andy Burnham was appointed as prime minister.The Neustrashimy suddenly announced it intended to fire its guns in the morning and requested that a British warship, which had been tracking it, retreat a couple of miles to a safe distance. Continue reading...

Melia group says Donald Trump's sanctions make it impossible' to keep any of its 34 sites openA Spanish hotel chain is to cease all operations in Cuba at the end of the week due to major difficulties" in doing business on the island under growing pressure from Washington.The latest US sanctions make it impossible, de facto and de jure, to maintain even minimal operational stability", the Melia group explained in a statement on Tuesday to the Spanish stock market regulator. Continue reading...

Animal welfare charities say marmoset could be first of many' since new law on primate licenses and microchippingA stressed and dehydrated" monkey has been found in a laundry bag on a London bus in what animal welfare charities warn could be the first of many" abandonments now owners must obtain primate licenses.The female common marmoset was discovered on a 302 bus waiting in Kensal Rise, north-west London, on Friday by a passenger whose buggy was obstructed by the bag containing the monkey in a cage. The monkey has since been named Oyster after the London transport payment system. Continue reading...

Film star promotes Christopher Nolan film epic wearing gold artefacts dating back almost 3,000 yearsThe Odyssey is a story about a Greek king's long journey home. But a pair of earrings worn on the new film adaptation's press tour - and their long separation from their homeland - is sparking controversy.At a photocall in London, Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena in the Christopher Nolan film, wore a pair of earrings fashioned from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC. Continue reading...

Experts warn global energy market at a critical juncture' with escalating Middle East crisis expected to further drag on a slowing Australian economy

Government urges visitors not to approach or feed wolves as it manages safety amid growing populationDanish authorities have advised tourists to stand still, make eye contact and put up maximum resistance" in the event of attack if they encounter a wolf while on holiday.After a 200-year absence, wolves started returning to Denmark in 2012. There are now estimated to be 49 wolves on the Danish peninsular of Jutland. Continue reading...

Joshua Kerry appears at Westminster magistrates court charged with murder of former MP earlier this monthA man has appeared in court charged with the murder of former MP and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.Joshua Kerry, 28, is accused of killing the 78-year-old former Conservative minister at her home in Haytor, Devon, earlier this month, by hitting her on the head with a hammer 21 times. Continue reading...

State department's 100-page report is latest push in Trump administration campaign to bring down governmentThe US government's latest allegations that Cuba is behind many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history" and that its leaders pose a unique threat to American homeland security" have come as startling revelations to those living under the six-month-long US oil blockade in Havana, where desperate people search through piles of uncollected rubbish for food, or else swelter at home in 24-hour-plus blackouts.The unsigned 100-page report Cuba: Capital of 21st-Century Communism, published by the US state department on Monday, blames Havana for everything from the George Floyd riots to the rise of antifa to the explosion of pro-terrorist activism on American college campuses". Continue reading...

Move would give government veto over big decisions and hostile takeovers, after Burnham's call for greater public control

European leaders have made positive noises about the new UK PM, but he is likely to face the same restrictions as Starmer

Interviews with residents of Russian-held region point to frustration with Moscow as Ukrainian campaign to isolate it takes toll on daily lifeFirst, the guests stopped coming. As Ukrainian drones and missiles pounded Crimea throughout the spring and into the summer, Russian tourists began cancelling their bookings at the small guesthouse Marina runs in Yevpatoria, a resort town on the peninsula's Black Sea coast.Then petrol became scarce, making it harder to stock the business with food and other essentials. Now, electricity and running water are cut off for much of the day, just as the summer heat sets in. Continue reading...

National disaster agency confirms severe financial and human losses' in eastern province of NuristanRescue crews in Afghanistan are searching for survivors and bodies among the rubble of houses destroyed by devastating flash floods that authorities said had killed nearly two dozen people and left more than 100 people missing.The Afghanistan national disaster management authority said on Tuesday that 23 people had died, 80 had been injured and more than 100 were missing after floods struck the eastern province of Nuristan on Monday, causing an undetermined number of buildings to collapse. The provincial capital city of Parun was among the areas affected, authorities said. Continue reading...

Officers use teargas and water cannon on crowds in Bologna after death of Abderrahim Fakir under police restraintPolice have clashed with demonstrators during a protest in the Italian city of Bologna after a Moroccan-born man died pleading for help under police restraint.Human rights campaigners and Italy's opposition parties have demanded urgent answers over the death on Sunday of Abderrahim Fakir, 42, who had moved to Italy when he was five years old and ran a small removals and cleaning business. Continue reading...

Residents of Deir Jarir say raids that killed two Palestinians late on Sunday are part of pattern of violenceEven by the brutal standards of militant settler violence in the West Bank, the raid on Deir Jarir late on Sunday night that killed two Palestinians and left another in hospital with a gunshot wound was extreme.Palestinians in the town said settlers from a nearby outpost arrived after 9pm on Sunday claiming that they were searching for stolen livestock. Israeli soldiers and police soon joined them, protecting them as they sought to take several villagers' sheep by force. Continue reading...

Global hunger declined for the third year in a row in 2025 but experts call for action to bring down costs of fruit, vegetables and dairy as report shows 2.69bn people can't afford to eat wellOne in three people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet, a new report has found, prompting calls for urgent action on food affordability.There are 2.69 billion people unable to afford a diverse diet that meets their energy and nutrient needs, and it will take immense" amounts of work to achieve the global target of zero hunger by 2030, the annual report from five UN agencies warned. Continue reading...

Figure of 16bn from ONS comes after Andy Burnham revealed plans to cut VAT on electricity bills

Unemployment holds steady at 4.9%, underlining the challenge facing the new prime minister

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Newly appointed chancellor John Healey says reduction will be funded by cancelling digital ID schemeElectricity bills will be reduced by an average of 45 a year from October, after Andy Burnham announced the government would remove VAT from them.The new prime minister said on Tuesday he was implementing an immediate tax cut to help ease cost of living pressures for households in Britain. Continue reading...

People gather at cafes and outdoor screenings to support team after Spain's backing for Palestinian rightsThe Spanish football team's World Cup win has been celebrated in the streets of Gaza, where Spain's support for Palestinian rights and Israel's backing for the Argentinian team turned the competition into more than a football showdown.Gathered at cafes and outdoor screenings, Palestinians defied the risk of Israeli attacks to cheer on a team they had taken to their hearts. Continue reading...

Vertical Aerospace says government has given 10m backing, taking its total investment in the project to 48mBritish flying taxi startup Vertical Aerospace has said the UK government has expressed interest in buying a military variant of its aircraft as it races to gain approval for flights with paying passengers.Vertical also welcomed another 10m grant from the government, taking its total UK state funding to 48m. Continue reading...

George Foster tells royal commission Australia's democratic institutions fundamentally different, but I can't ignore certain disturbing parallels in the social atmosphere'

In today's newsletter: As the new prime minister enters No 10, our journalists take you through what it was like covering his first hours in powerGood morning, and let's abandon all conditional tenses because finally Andy Burnham is UK prime minister and, on a day of ceremony and celebration, he pledged his government would be a circuit breaker for Britain".A defining characteristic of Team Burnham thus far has been the concentrated silence at its heart - a vacuum filled by increasingly frenzied speculation in recent days about his cabinet picks and policy priorities. As the black box finally cracked open on Monday, with his first instruction as prime minister - to end rough sleeping - and his surprise choice of chancellor, I was at the Guardian's head office in London, speaking to editors and correspondents covering the early hours of Burnham's premiership about what they might reveal for the country.UK news | A 28-year-old man from Rotherham has been charged with the murder of the former MP and Reform UK party spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.Technology | Cases of predators coercing children into harming themselves or producing sexual photos and videos of themselves have surged globally in the past year, child safety experts and law enforcement officials warn.Iran | Nearly 100 US service members have been injured over the last two weeks of escalating strikes on Iran, the Pentagon has said, as Tehran launched a wave of reprisals to the tenth consecutive night of attacks.Ryanair | The airline has reassured travellers that its planes are safe after a passenger was almost sucked out of a window mid-flight this month, and have reported strong summer bookings after a profits slump.UK politics | Reform UK MP, Sarah Pochin, has complained that the standards system investigating Nigel Farage over undeclared gifts is a kangaroo court" and that the media, the British state and the old parties have mounted a vicious and desperate campaign to stop Reform UK". Continue reading...

Revamped Ripon attraction reopens as a more immersive experience telling national story' of poverty and welfareVisitors to one of Britain's most complete surviving Victorian workhouses won't have to strip and bathe in someone else's bath water. But they might get some gruel, they can sweep the yard and there are schoolmaster" volunteers happy to tell children how to behave.You are literally going to walk in the footsteps of people who have experienced this place," said the director of the Ripon Museums Trust, Alexa Vernon. Continue reading...

New prime minister urged to introduce 2% minimum charge on households with more than 100m in wealthA wealth tax on the UK's super-rich households could raise 10bn a year, according to academics who urged Andy Burnham to include the measure in his plans to make tax fairer" and pay for better public services.The sum could be raised through a 2% minimum charge on households with more than 100m in wealth and would affect fewer than 1,000 of the richest UK households, according to the study by Gabriel Zucman, a professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics, and Ben Tippet, a lecturer in economics and wealth inequality at King's College London. Continue reading...

Albanese government's approval ofNorth West Shelf gas extension being challenged by the Australian Conservation Foundation and Friends of Australian Rock ArtThe Albanese government's decision to approve one of the world's largest gas projects in Western Australia is being challenged in the federal court, setting up a significant test of how Australia's environment law deals with the climate crisis.The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Friends of Australian Rock Art (Fara) are this week running concurrent court challenges against the approval of the extension of Woodside's major North West Shelf gas export project. Continue reading...

Iran has attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, after the US launched a tenth consecutive night of strikes

One Nation leader posts network's proposal to travel to UK to explore what Australia faces if we don't take back control of who comes to our country'

New prime minister says government must do better' to deliver change but promises prudent approach to economyAndy Burnham has said his arrival in power will bring back hope" to Britain as he launched his premiership with the surprise appointment of John Healey as chancellor and a promise to repair the long-term damage caused to communities during the Thatcher era.The new UK prime minister acknowledged people were fed up" with politics as he addressed the country after taking over from Keir Starmer in Downing Street, saying the government needed to do better" to deliver real change. Continue reading...

New report denounces Havana and claims campaign of subversion' has infiltrated highest levels of US governmentAs part of the Trump administration's continuing attack on left-leaning groups, the US state department has listed several activists and organizations as front groups and fellow travelers" for Cuba, including Hasan Piker and Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls.In a 100-page report released on Monday, the state department denounces Cuba as the capital of 21st-century communism", accusing the Cuban government of carrying out a campaign of subversion" that has infiltrated the highest reaches of the US government, recruited and cultivated generations of American activists [and] backed an unprecedented wave of leftwing terrorism on American soil". Continue reading...

Rayner is back as housing secretary, while Mahmood and McFadden remain in their existing posts

Daniel Ortega, the 80-year-old authoritarian leader, says move will build a wall' against the oppositionNicaragua's long-serving president, Daniel Ortega, has said the country will hold no further elections to prevent the opposition from coming to power.The 80-year-old authoritarian leader, who has been in office since 2007, also said he would work with the congress he controls to pass new laws that would build a wall" against the opposition. Continue reading...

Three people reported injured after incendiary device allegedly thrown at building also housing ICE field officeAuthorities in New York City are investigating an explosion on Monday morning outside an FBI building in lower Manhattan that reportedly injured three people.Investigators said a person who allegedly threw an incendiary device at the scene was taken into custody. The FBI later released the name in a press conference, identifying the suspect as Andrew Arrabaca. Continue reading...

Chancellor pick and early policies avoid market meltdown but next week remains moment of real peril'

The 18-year-old was found dead after a 4 July boat trip with his friends to an island in the Gulf coastFamily and supporters of Nolan Xavier Wells gathered in a Mississippi church on Monday to mourn and celebrate the 18-year-old, whose death following a 4 July boat trip with friends has captured national attention and prompted calls for an independent investigation.The ceremony began with tearful remarks from Wells's parents, who described their son as a warm and gentle presence, a gifted athlete and a role model to his younger siblings. Continue reading...

Defense department says 1Lt Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii and Pvt Isabella Gonzales of Texas were killedThe US military on Monday identified two soldiers killed in action recently as part of the war with Iran.The defense department said in a statement that 1Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were killed in Jordan, where they were supporting a US mission against the Islamic State group. It is unclear how they were killed. Continue reading...

New prime minister says his political and economic model will bring biggest changes in 40 years'

Joshua Kerry from Rotherham charged over killing of politician whose body was found at her Devon homeA 28-year-old man from Rotherham has been charged with the murder of the former MP and Reform party spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.Joshua Kerry has been charged with Widdecombe's murder and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff hints government may be about to sack Oleksandr SyrskyiUkraine's commander in chief Oleksandr Syrskyi is widely expected to lose his job amid signs that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has bowed to pressure from protesters and will reshuffle the army's top leadership.Over the past five days, thousands of demonstrators have gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv, chanting: Syrskyi out". Some have waved cheese graters - a pun on the commander's name, which sounds like cheese in Ukrainian. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research spanning 82 countries finds antibiotic resistance increased in every region between 2004 and 2022Harry Booth has had a rough run through Australia's coldest months. The 13-year-old has been in and out of hospital with a range of common chest and urinary tract infections that his doctors find challenging to treat.Harry was born with kidney failure and began dialysis at six months old, before receiving a kidney transplant from his father at age four. The surgery saved his life but comes with a trade-off: he now needs to take medications that suppress his immune system to prevent his body from rejecting the kidney. Continue reading...