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Politics
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Swift nest reportedly thrown in skip during house renovations in South Tyneside
Conservationists fear more nests may have been destroyed during work on Jarrow houses by council-appointed contractor Swift chicks are feared to have been thrown into a skip during house renovations in South Tyneside, despite rules that should stop the destruction of nests. The Northern Swifts Group (NSG) was alerted to the destruction of at least one nest on Tuesday, in a street in Jarrow where houses were being renovated by South Tyneside council. Continue reading...
World Cup 2026: France power on, Quansah ban fallout, Spain v Belgium buildup – live
⚽ All the latest news as the quarter-finals continue ⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email us British police battled football fans in central London early on Friday after France beat Morocco in their World Cup quarter-final. One police officer was injured and four people were arrested following the “violent disorder”, London police said. Continue reading...
Developing countries spend more repaying foreign debt than on education, UN reveals
Unesco report shows children lost out to servicing debt in 113 countries, with 18 spending five times more on loans Most developing countries spent less on education than they did repaying debt last year, according to the UN, at the same time as global aid to education is predicted to decline by up to 30%. More was spent on servicing foreign debt than on education in 113 developing countries in 2025, according to research by the UN’s culture and education agency, Unesco. In sub-Saharan Africa, countries spent 3.6 times more on debt than education . Continue reading...
Here’s how Andy Burnham can finance a reindustrialised Britain – without doing a Liz Truss | Larry Elliott
Britain’s PM-in-waiting is right that the country has been failed by 40 years of neoliberalism. There will be obstacles, but he must embrace radicalism Of all the many prime ministers who have walked through the doors of 10 Downing Street in the past decade, the one Andy Burnham resembles most is Liz Truss. Both had a view of what was going wrong with the economy. Both wanted to break with the politics of managed decline. Both had ambitious ideas for what needed to be done. Truss, of course, came to grief within weeks of becoming prime minister, after her tax-cutting mini-budget was brutally rejected by the financial markets . The big question for Burnham is whether he can deliver on his agenda without suffering the same fate. He can, but it won’t be easy. Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
US private equity firm Apollo enters bidding war for easyJet with £5.7bn offer
Airline’s board minded to recommend deal – after accepting rival one from Castlelake earlier this week The board of easyJet has given the green light to a possible £5.7bn offer from the US private equity firm Apollo, as the low-cost airline becomes the subject of a surprise bidding war. The company’s board said on Friday that it was “minded to recommend” the potential all-cash offer, which values the business at £7.15p a share, to shareholders. Continue reading...
Police discover body of teenage girl in Victorian bushland after 13-year-old vanished on weekend
Police say death of Layla Jeffery ‘suspicious’ after remains found in town of Donald in western Victoria Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The body of a 13-year-old girl who went missing on the weekend has been found in bushland in regional Victoria after an extensive search, with police saying they are treating the death as “suspicious”. Police found Layla Jeffery’s remains in Donald, a small town in western Victoria, late on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...
Beatles mentor Lord Woodbine to feature in new BBC drama
Six-part series will explore the band’s years in Hamburg, including the overlooked influence of Harold Phillips In 1960, the Beatles arrived in the German port city of Hamburg. Inexperienced, keen and – in the case of George Harrison – underage, they were at the start of a two-year spell that would become a key part of Beatles lore, a time when the band honed their skills while entertaining rowdy sailors. The Hamburg stint, during which the band played more than 250 gigs between 1960 and 1962, is the focus of a new BBC drama, Hamburg Days, which will tell the story of how the band were beaten into shape by performing near the notorious Reeperbahn. Continue reading...
Ann Widdecombe, former Tory MP and Reform UK member, dies aged 78
Widdecombe was a prominent Eurosceptic and known for her socially conservative views Ann Widdecombe, the former MP and MEP has died aged 78. A statement from her management said: “It is with great sadness that today we announce the death of the Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe, DSG. Continue reading...
Abuse survivors launch bid to transfer claims to entity that benefited from Christian Brothers’ wealth
Edmund Rice Education Australia does not consent to being made a defendant, in case that has ‘high court written all over it’, Victorian judge hears Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The entity that benefited from vast land and property transfers from the Christian Brothers will fight a move by abuse survivors to make it liable for compensation claims, triggering a potentially costly battle that has “high court written all over it”. The Christian Brothers has a shocking record of clergy abuse – one of the worst of any Catholic church entity – and is facing hundreds of current and future abuse cases estimated to be worth $774m. Continue reading...
Oasis reunion helps draw record 25m ‘music tourists’ to UK concerts
Gigs by Gallagher brothers, Coldplay, Lana Del Rey and Beyonce gives £11bn boost to the economy Big name artists including Oasis with their highly anticipated reunion tour, Coldplay and Beyoncé helped to attract a record number of fans to travel to watch live music last year, helped by a surge in overseas visitors at UK gigs. A report from the industry body UK Music estimated that 24.7 million “music tourists” attended concerts and festivals last year, up 4.8% on 2024 , leading to an unprecedented £11.2bn of spending across the UK economy. Continue reading...
Reeves to launch City ‘skills compact’ committing firms to retrain staff in AI
Exclusive: Plan to improve skills of thousands of financial sector workers to keep pace with tech revolution Chancellor Rachel Reeves is to announce a new City “skills compact” that will commit firms such as Barclays and Lloyds to retraining thousands of financial sector workers for the AI revolution. The financial services skills compact will be launched on Tuesday, during what is likely to be Reeves’s final Mansion House speech to City bosses before Andy Burnham’s expected takeover of No 10. The government-backed initiative will commit employers to improving workers’ skills and helping them “keep pace” with significant technological changes that have prompted fears of mass redundancies. Continue reading...
Expansion of electronic tagging in England and Wales will put public at risk, watchdog warns
National Audit Office says system needs to be upgraded before it is extended to ease strain on overcrowded prisons The rapid expansion of electronic tagging to reduce pressure on prisons will put public safety at risk without robust improvements to a system already under significant strain, the UK’s public spending watchdog has warned. The number of people in England and Wales being electronically monitored has doubled to 28,700 over five years, and is estimated to rise to 22,000 tagged each year from 2027 under government plans to combat the prison capacity crisis by managing more offenders in the community. Continue reading...
Monaco bomb mystery deepens as Ukraine’s security services are linked to murder of prime suspect
Military intelligence officer admits witnessing killing of woman believed to have left explosive device outside oligarch’s home The case of a suspected bomber accused of targeting a Ukrainian oligarch has taken another murky turn, after details of her subsequent murder were revealed in court with evidence suggesting the involvement of Kyiv’s intelligence agencies. French police last week named Anastasia Berezovska as the person captured on CCTV leaving a rucksack outside a Monaco apartment block. It blew up, injuring the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev as he emerged from the building with his partner and their 13-year-old child. Continue reading...
Derryn Hinch, broadcaster once known as ‘the human headline’, dies aged 82
Media figure and former senator died overnight at home, with radio station 3AW leading tributes Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Derryn Hinch, the former journalist and senator, has died aged 82. Hinch had reportedly been in poor health since a recent fall. Continue reading...
Anthony Albanese will not attend Garma festival, despite vowing to attend every year as prime minister
Albanese has attended the Indigenous cultural festival every year since 2019 and committed to ‘be here and engaged with you’ each yeah he remains in office Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese won’t attend this month’s Garma festival, breaking a commitment made just 12 months ago to travel to north-east Arnhem Land each year for Australia’s largest Indigenous cultural gathering. The prime minister last year vowed to keep attending the annual celebration of Yolŋu culture so long as he was in the role. Continue reading...
Deadly H5 bird flu found in local Australian seabird for first time
Native greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – tests positive for disease after being discovered at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The first case of deadly H5 bird flu in local wildlife has been recorded in a bird found on the South Australian coast. The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said on Friday that a greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – had tested positive for the disease. The dead bird was found at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast. Continue reading...
Telstra CEO ‘deeply sorry’ for outage and admits risk of time-keeping failure was known
Vicki Brady grilled at first public appearance since returning from overseas as SA police say call to triple zero failed before death Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra has admitted it knew of the dangers of a failure of its time systems and is now investigating why backup measures failed to stop this weeks outage, as its chief executive says she’s “deeply sorry” about its impacts. It came as South Australian police said an investigation was under way into whether a death during the outage can be linked to problems in calling triple zero, despite Telstra claiming it has no record of any failed call from family members. Continue reading...
Man killed by ICE agents not intended target of immigration arrest, DHS says
Agents seeking different person when they killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Mexican who had lived in US for 35 years Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a man killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Houston this week, was not the intended target of the “enforcement operation”, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly seeking two people from Guatemala when they attempted to stop Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States for 35 years, the New York Times reported . Continue reading...
Wildfires in southern Spain kill 12 amid soaring temperatures
Wildfire comes as Spain suffers a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings Twelve people were reported killed in a wildfire in Almeria in southern Spain , as about 150 firefighters battled the blaze which broke out amid soaring temperatures. “The number of people who died in the fire in Los Gallardos has risen to 12 after the confirmation of six more deaths,” the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement. Continue reading...
Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’
Bipartisan Election Assistance Commission maintains mail-voter registration form, among other duties Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday. The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from the White House presidential personnel office. Continue reading...
‘A lot of red flags’: plans for New Zealand’s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency
Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country’s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them. Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028. Continue reading...
Trump’s proposed 250ft Washington arch clears key planning hurdle
NCPC gives preliminary approval to plan for skyline-altering arch despite overwhelming public opposition Donald Trump’s plans to build a skyline-altering arch in the nation’s capital won initial approval Thursday from a key federal commission, but its members put off a decision on whether a federal law that limits building heights should be applied to this project. Despite overwhelming public opposition, the National Capital Planning Commission voted to approve preliminary site and building plans for the 250ft (76m) arch the Republican president wants to build on a traffic circle at the Virginia end of the Memorial Bridge from Washington. Continue reading...
Pianist Jayson Gillham loses discrimination case against Melbourne symphony orchestra over Gaza comments
Gillham claimed Melbourne concert in 2024 cancelled in attempt to silence him over stance on Israel attacks on Gaza A classical pianist who sued the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has lost his case after he alleged he was unlawfully discriminated against because of his views on Israeli forces killing Palestinian journalists. Justice Graeme Hill handed down his findings before the federal court on Friday, after Jayson Gillham launched legal action against the MSO almost two years ago. Continue reading...
DJ and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini reveals Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Presenter, 77, says ‘for now life goes on as normal and I continue to broadcast’ as he shares diagnosis received in 2025 The longtime radio and TV broadcaster Paul Gambaccini has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The 77-year-old presenter, who has been a regular on the BBC since the 1970s and has one of the most recognisable voices on British radio, shared a statement revealing the diagnosis he received in 2025. Continue reading...