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Party chair queries status of funds Reform leader received from crypto billionaire Christopher HarborneThe Conservatives have asked HMRC to investigate whether Nigel Farage should have paid tax on the 5m gift he received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.The party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, wrote to the tax authorities questioning whether it was a payment to compensate him for running to be an MP. Continue reading...

UK warehouse landlord says board unanimous in recommendation to accept best and final offer'The board of the UK warehouse landlord Segro has U-turned and said it would be willing to accept a 14bn takeover by Segro's bigger US rival, Prologis, in a deal that would be one of the largest foreign takeovers of a UK-listed company.In the latest blow to the troubled London stock market, Segro said in a statement that its board had unanimously concluded" it would recommend its shareholders accept what Prologis called its best and final offer", made just hours before a deadline. Continue reading...

Brussels talks between senior diplomats now underway in attempt to sign off 21st package of sanctions, after previous failed attemptsThe Venice Biennale said it would challenge a European Union decision to withdraw a 2 million grant in response to the return of Russia to its 2026 edition, despite continuing aggression on Ukraine, Reuters reported.The Italian government sharply criticised the move, while the European Commission warned it would suspend or terminate funding if the Russian pavilion returned. Continue reading...

Proposal throws global south countries under the bus', says ActionAid UK director

Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinionA political lobbying firm founded by the former electoral strategist for David Cameron and Boris Johnson secretly pays journalists to write pieces for British newspapers that are favourable to their clients, a Guardian investigation can reveal.In a practice that appears to create a backdoor for private companies to influence public opinion, lobbyists for CT Group - co-founded by the campaign strategist, Lynton Crosby - told an undercover reporter that they had paid journalists to place apparently independent stories in newspapers. Continue reading...

New defence secretary emphasises military will be spending priority over other departments under Burnham

Figures come as large parts of southern Europe endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperaturesFrance recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, authorities have said, as swathes of southern Europe continue to endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures.The French national health agency said on Wednesday that it had recorded 5,764 excess deaths between 17 June and 2 July, an excess mortality rate of 36%. Continue reading...

As measles, hantavirus and cyclospora spread, experts say lost staff and expertise are slowing the responseA series of health challenges - hantavirus, screwworm, Ebola, cyclospora, measles, whooping cough, bird flu - are exposing the widening gaps in America's ability to prevent, identify and halt infectious disease outbreaks.The rapid dismantling of the US public health system at all levels means the US is in worse shape than it was before the Covid pandemic, former top CDC officials say. Continue reading...

New PM says the main perpetrator in the killing of PC Andrew Harper will now not be subject to early release' and he will also review whole policy'Wes Streeting said the US president was right" to demand Europe pays more for its own defence.Donald Trump has been increasingly critical of Europe for relying too much on the US for its security, and has demanded Nato allies reach 5% of GDP on defence spending by 2035.President Trump has called on Europe to carry a greater share of the burden for our own defence, and he is right to do so. The UK has always been a leading light on defence spending, but the world is changing and in these dangerous uncertain times it is clear that we have needed to go further.That's why we've committed 298bn over the next four years, including an additional 15bn on top of last year's spending review settlement. At the recent Nato summit, all members reaffirmed our commitment to 3.5 by 35 [3.5% of GDP by 2035]. Continue reading...

Daniel Siad faced allegations of rape and trafficking in France and appeared in more than 1,000 documents in Epstein filesA modelling scout who recruited women for Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home near Paris, French officials have said.Daniel Siad, 69, was under investigation by the prosecutors specialising in human trafficking in France, accused of rape and other charges. His name appeared in more than 1,000 documents in the US Department of Justice Epstein files that were declassified earlier this year. Continue reading...

US secretary of state says international community should join forces' against authoritarian Ortega regimeNicaragua's congress, controlled by the country's long-serving president, Daniel Ortega, has announced a work plan" to implement the authoritarian leader's order that the country should no longer hold elections.The UN and the US strongly condemned Sunday's announcement by Ortega, who has been in power since 2007 and, after a controversial constitutional change last year, now governs alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo, as co-president". Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese will cast practical' policies as the key to countering the anxiety and frustration in Australia

Isabel Rose, 26, given six-year sentence for blackmail and perverting course of justice after accusing British bankerA British woman who reported being raped to police in Hong Kong has been sentenced to six years in prison for blackmail and perverting the course of public justice.Isabel Rose, 26, from south-east London traveled to Hong Kong in early 2024 to visit a British banker she had met while travelling in south-east Asia. Continue reading...

Clear frontrunner leaves lucrative role at New York's Dia Art Foundation to join UK arts organisation at critical junctureJessica Morgan has been confirmed as the new director of Tate, marking her return to the arts organisation where she worked as a curator for more than a decade, at a critical juncture in its history.Morgan, the clear frontrunner in the race to replace Maria Balshaw, who left this spring after nine years in charge, is currently based in New York, where she has led the Dia Art Foundation since 2015. Continue reading...

Police open investigation into Nottinghamshire service that treated Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in 2023The NHS trust that treated the triple killer Valdo Calocane in the years before the Nottingham attacks is being investigated by police for corporate manslaughter.Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after he fatally stabbed the 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar, and the 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, on 13 June 2023. Continue reading...

Victims of crime say it's no laughing matter' after ministers caught on hot mic ribbing' about scheme

John Neal failed to disclose relationship with female colleague that risked triggering conflict of interest concernsLloyd's of London has ruled that its former boss John Neal breached compliance rules by failing to disclose a close relationship" with a female colleague that risked triggering conflict of interest concerns at the insurance market.An investigation by the Council of Lloyd's, which is responsible for the market's management and supervision, said it could not find any conclusive evidence" Neal was romantically involved with the company's then corporate affairs director, nor that there were any process failures relating to her promotion during Neal's tenure. Continue reading...

Proceedings suspended as politicians call for Modi government to address police violence and education scandalsIndia's opposition parties have shut down parliament in a protest calling for the resignation of the education minister, in solidarity with the new youth-led cockroach" movement.Opposition politicians, led by the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, gathered outside the parliament building in Delhi on Wednesday, many dressed in black and waving placards calling on Dharmendra Pradhan to quit. Continue reading...

Equinor benefits from move to ramp up oil and gas production during strait of Hormuz blockades

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Measure to cost more than 500m, with money allocated to allow devolved nations to do the sameSingle bus fares across England will be capped at 2 from January, Andy Burnham has announced, as he continues a cost of living blitz in his first week as prime minister.The nationwide cap is currently set at 3 until the end of March 2027, although some areas - including London and Greater Manchester, where Burnham set a 2 limit as mayor - have lower top rates for single tickets. Continue reading...

Annual June figure comes after new PM pledges to reduce cost of living and improve economy

Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rightsThe world's biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on duty of care" as well as its own publicly stated commitments. Continue reading...

These visualisations from exclusive polling modelling show how the UK parliament could change under different voting systemsNew analysis produced exclusively for the Guardian reveals how different voting systems would return wildly different seat totals in the UK parliament based on current polling.While the current first past the post (FPTP) system could leave Reform UK just 30 seats short of a majority based on recent polls, the modelling shows how proportional systems would be likely to give the UK a more finely balanced parliament that better represents the votes people cast. Continue reading...

Ten-second siren' to blare on most phones on Monday as part of national test despite reservations from some states

Prosecutor tells court that gaps or inconsistencies' in the woman's account enhances her credibility', but the defence maintains she is lying

One Nation leader criticised by advocates after telling women being abused: don't put up with it'Pauline Hanson has described domestic violence as wrong" but a two-way street", and that women being abused should not put up with it, drawing condemnation from advocates who have accused the One Nation leader of victim-blaming.On Wednesday, Hanson told radio station 4BC domestic violence in Australia was a scourge, but that society was under so much pressure", when asked to call out the issue. Continue reading...

Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of warIran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran's senior leadership. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research shows millions live more than a 1km round trip from 24/7 accessible deviceMore than 16 million people in England and Wales risk dying from a cardiac arrest because they live farther than a 1km round trip from the nearest 24/7 defibrillator, according to exclusive research.

Judge finds Wilson did not defame Charlotte MacInnes, lead actor in Pitch Perfect star's directorial debut The Deb

Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern EnglandFor years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.Finally it all paid off as a puffling - baby puffin - poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades. Continue reading...

In April Japan coined new term kokushobi for days above 40C as country advises workers to wear shorts to the office to cope with stifling heatJapan logged its first official kokushobi or cruelly hot day" on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common.The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture, all hit 40C. Gujo's 40C and Toyota's 40.1C were all-time highs recorded at their respective weather stations. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. Read our latest full report here.Lebanon'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...

Police found woman dead in Bentley home and seriously injured girl on nearby highway

UK resident was evacuated from Democratic Republic of the Congo where there is an outbreak of the diseaseA humanitarian worker is being monitored at a specialist hospital in London after potential exposure to the Ebola virus.The UK resident was medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the worker had been treating patients with the disease, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. Continue reading...

After nationwide protests Oleksandr Syrskyi is to be replaced in reshuffle and popular defence minister returns to governmentVolodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a prominent position" to the defence minister he sacked last week in a move that sparked nationwide protests.In a late-night TV address, Zelenskyy said he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular and innovative general, as the new head of Ukraine's armed forces. Drapatyi would oversee a reorganisation of the army's command structure, Ukraine's president said. 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