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Politics
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Alleged victim of Alan Jones made broadcaster soft-boiled eggs with soldiers and ironed his underpants, court told
Former 2UE and 2GB radio broadcaster is facing 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A driver for Alan Jones aspired to be a producer but was required to make the 2GB host’s breakfast of soft-boiled eggs with bread soldiers, clean his bathroom at the radio station and iron underpants, a Sydney court has heard. Complainant C told Jones’s indecent assault trial on Friday he was “star-struck” when the broadcaster offered to pay him $40,000 a year to be his driver in the mid-2000s. It was his dream job, C said in Downing Centre local court. Continue reading...
Romania shuts its last nuclear reactor as drought-hit Danube river drops to record low
Cernavoda shutdown poses immediate problems for Moldova, which relies on Romanian power to cover its own electricity shortages Romania has been forced to shut down the last working reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova. Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe , which is facing a new summer heatwave. Continue reading...
Australia has been galvanised by ‘melon-gate’. So what is the luxury fruit at the centre of the PM’s controversy?
Shizuoka Crown melons are part of an important cultural gifting practice in Japan, where they are hand-patted by growers to achieve an even shape and texture The melons at the centre of a national imbroglio involving the Australian prime minister have the sweetness of a watermelon, the snap of a honeydew and the perfume of a peach, according to fruit sellers. Anthony Albanese maintains he has nothing to apologise for, after a joke he made regarding a gift he received from Japan’s prime minister. Continue reading...
CPS director apologises for failings in case of rapist-murderer Simon Levy
Stephen Parkinson says court should have been told that sex offender was being investigated for even more serious offences The director of the Crown Prosecution Service has apologised and vowed to increase staff numbers after conceding that the court deciding whether to release Simon Levy on bail should have known the serial sex offender was being investigated for rape and murder. Levy, 40, was this week given a rare whole-life sentence for the murders of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo and Sheryl Wilkins, and the rape of another woman. Continue reading...
Unemployed young people to join AI boot camps to get job-ready
Pilot scheme will provide three weeks of training as part of UK government’s latest attempt to address Neets crisis Young people out of work or at risk of unemployment in the UK are to join “AI boot camps” where they harness the technology to get a foothold in the workplace. The government’s latest attempt to address the crisis in Neets – young people not in work or education – involves turning to a technology that many view as a potential threat to employment. Continue reading...
US government extensively spied on anti-ICE protesters and leftwing groups, records reveal
DHS sent undercover agents to meetings, infiltrated chats and obtained financial records in vast operation into groups opposing Trump’s immigration crackdown Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning nonprofit groups. Continue reading...
Nigel Farage set for decisive but arguably empty victory in Clacton
Leader of Reform UK on course to defeat Count Binface and an assortment of fringe candidates as polls close in Essex Voting has closed in one of the UK’s more unusual and least tense byelections, with Nigel Farage set for a decisive if arguably empty victory against dozens of independent, fringe, extreme or otherwise oddball opponents. The Reform UK leader sought re-election to his Clacton seat in early July in an attempt to regain the political initiative following weeks of scrutiny over gifts he received and other aspects of his financial affairs. Continue reading...
Massachusetts teen accused of killing mother and brother used ChatGPT
District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT. Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges. Continue reading...
Australia news live: KPMG apologises to whistleblower as firm fronts inquiry over ethical failures
Parliamentary committee continues investigation into KPMG audit leaks. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action. KPMG has reached out to apologise to the man who exposed its audit leaks scandal before an inquiry into its failures today, while Labor MPs want the government to do more to protect whistleblowers. More coming up. Continue reading...
Flock Safety attempts to curb police abuse of its surveillance cameras after scandals
CEO announces measures after reports that system is used to target immigrants or people seeking out-of-state abortions For nearly a decade, the company Flock Safety has gradually built out a network of cameras across the US that allows law enforcement to conduct about 20bn license plate scans every month. In that time, the company had largely left the decision to turn on safety measures up to its customers. Many of those organizations did not turn them on. Continue reading...
Who will be the next White House press secretary?
Karoline Leavitt’s abrupt departure has sparked a tough race inside Trump’s circle for the prominent position Karoline Leavitt’s surprise resignation as the White House press secretary is set to trigger a sharp-elbowed race inside Donald Trump’s world for one of the most prominent positions in the Trump administration. Several names have circulated since the US president announced that Leavitt would step down at the end of the month to spend more time with her family. Continue reading...
Russian plot to kill Ukrainian American thwarted in Warsaw, says Polish PM
Donald Tusk says it is first time ‘someone on the order of Russia’ has sought to attack US citizen in Nato country A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. Continue reading...
Donald Trump deputizes US private companies to conduct cyber-attacks
President signed memorandum giving private sector a role in combating ‘transnational criminal organizations’ Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that aims to give private companies the power to carry out offensive cyber-attacks against foreign criminal entities. The president signed a national security presidential memorandum directing his administration to “leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct these cyber operations under the direction, control and authority of the US government”, the White House said. Continue reading...
Kennedy Center board votes again to renovate building and inscribe Trump’s name on it – report
The center has until next week to present plan to judge who had blocked earlier rehab and name change US politics live – latest updates The board of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington is said to have voted once again to move forward with Donald Trump ’s controversial plan to temporarily shutter the building for substantial renovations, as well as to inscribe the US president’s name on the facade of its building, despite a federal order for his name to be removed from the signage. The board – mostly handpicked, staunch allies of the president – voted “to close the Kennedy Center’s main building, while keeping a newer addition to the campus, known as the Reach, open for limited programming and to operate as an active memorial to John F Kennedy”, according to the New York Times, which was first to report the results. Continue reading...
Israeli troops force families from homes amid settler terror campaign in West Bank
Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians Israeli troops forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes on Thursday, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out. Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thursday, telling the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim, that the buildings were needed for a days-long operation to remove the settlers. They later relinquished six. Settlers still roam the village. Continue reading...
Several homes ablaze as firefighters try to contain West Midlands grassfire
About 60 crew responding to blaze covering about 40 acres near Stourbridge golf course Several homes are ablaze and two people are receiving treatment as firefighters attempt to contain a grassfire in the West Midlands. The region’s fire service was alerted to an extensive grassfire near Stourbridge golf course just before 1.30pm on Thursday. Continue reading...
Behind England’s bumper A-level results lie record levels of regional disparities
Need for Burnham to tackle regional inequality could not be clearer as London becomes ‘educational outlier’ Andy Burnham has put regional inequality at the top of his agenda as prime minister, and nowhere is the need for doing so clearer than in education. As England’s A-level results were published on Thursday morning, students across the country were pictured celebrating a bumper crop of results, with record rates of As and A*s . Continue reading...
Top Forbes editor reportedly fired after receiving $6m from business associate
Randall Lane left his job last month after accepting money from founder of firm that does business with magazine The top editor of Forbes left his job last month and was reportedly dismissed for accepting $6m from the founder of a firm that does business with the magazine. The New York Times reported this week that Randall Lane was paid by RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, worked with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers. The payment was made after Shook sold a majority stake in the company to a private equity firm a year ago. Continue reading...
Fossils show huge carbon emissions harm forests, not ‘green the planet’
Study of 56m-year-old leaves counters claims from Trump administration members of ‘benefits’ of fossil fuel pollution Adding huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is set to cause the Earth’s forests to wither and die rather than flourish, according to a new study that counters erroneous claims that fossil fuel pollution will green the planet. An analysis of fossilized leaf cells from a period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (or PETM), which occurred about 56 million years ago, has helped reconstruct how the world’s forests responded when planet-heating gases were previously being released at a rapid rate. Continue reading...
Government could pay higher rents to spread asylum accommodation across UK
Greater use of private rental properties would form part of PM’s plan to spread accommodation more evenly across UK Ministers are considering paying higher prices for housing asylum seekers in private rental properties as part of Andy Burnham’s plan to spread accommodation more evenly across the country. The shift towards more private rental accommodation, known as “dispersal”, and the use of former military barracks, are cheaper than expensive hotels for asylum seekers. Continue reading...
UK universities face ‘financial crisis’ amid collapse in international students
Higher education figures call on Labour to reverse tax on fees and warn institutions at risk of ‘going under’ University leaders are warning of financial turmoil in British higher education, after new figures suggest a collapse in international student numbers will deprive the sector of vital income and undermine its future. The sector’s leaders called on the government to rethink the levy on international student fees imposed under Keir Starmer, as a former universities minister warned that there was a risk of a university “going under” because of the financial crisis. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on A-level and T-level results: a boost to the nation’s confidence | Editorial
Young people should be proud of their achievements. Ministers should focus on what comes next A strong set of A-level results should raise confidence in Britain’s future. These are difficult exams , and schools and colleges across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are rightly proud of their achievements. Top grades are up, especially in maths, which remains the most popular subject. A total of 262,820 18-year-olds have gained a place at university or college – 3% more than last year. But the headline success masks some troubling trends. The humanities made up only a quarter of entries, while subject choices are becoming more specialised. Huge gender gaps are also striking: girls made up 79% of English A-level entries but just 19% in computing. In T-levels there has been an improvement, although their newness makes this year’s results harder to assess or compare. But the dropout rate remains higher than in the qualifications that T-levels are supposed to replace, while take-up remains low. Five years in, such ongoing issues cannot be dismissed as teething troubles. Continue reading...
BAE Systems to pay $36m penalty after 104 violations of US arms export rules
State department says it has reached administrative settlement with company’s US arm to resolve breaches The UK defence firm BAE Systems is to pay a $36m (£26.7m) civil penalty after breaching US arms exports regulations more than 100 times. The US Department of State announced on Thursday it had reached an administrative settlement with the US arm of BAE to resolve 104 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Continue reading...
Ukraine ‘proposes deal with Russia to halt attacks on civilian ships in Black Sea’
Kyiv said to have suggested agreement in apparent attempt to reopen crucial grain corridor, according to Reuters Ukraine has proposed a deal with Russia that would see both sides halt their attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, Reuters has reported, in an apparent attempt to reopen a crucial grain corridor. Kyiv is said to have made the offer via a third party. Moscow has yet to respond, the news agency added. The busy waterway is a key export route for both Russia and Ukraine, used to transport grain and other vital foodstuffs worldwide. Continue reading...