The Guardian

Reform campaign accused by ex-councillor of falsely reporting expenses during Farage’s run to become MP last year The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has been urged to “come clean” over his election campaign in Clacton after a former aide claimed his party breached spending rules. Farage’s campaign has been accused of falsely reporting his election expenses during his successful run to become an …

Chalmers flags pressure on national finances as Reserve Bank contemplates possibility of interest rate rises next year Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Jim Chalmers has foreshadowed more “difficult decisions” in next week’s mid-year budget update after cabinet decided not to extend billions of dollars in energy bill rebates into the new year. The withdrawal of the powe…

Concerns over recording of meetings at coordination centre excluding Palestinians that was set up to provide support for Trump’s Gaza plan Israeli operatives are conducting widespread surveillance of US forces and allies stationed at a new US base in the country’s south, according to sources briefed on disputes about open and covert recordings of meetings and discussions. The scale of intelligenc…

Home Office has reportedly ordered threat assessment amid long-running row into Duke of Sussex’s safety Prince Harry’s security arrangements while in the UK are being reviewed by the government, according to reports. Harry wrote to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, shortly after her appointment and submitted a formal request for a risk assessment to the Executive Committee for the Protection o…

Juan Orlando Hernández thanked the Lord for being ‘a free man’ and then Trump for ‘changing my life’ Former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández recently thanked God and Donald Trump – in that order – for being pardoned by the latter of a drug trafficking conviction won by federal US prosecutors less than two years earlier. Speaking in a video posted to social media and referring to the US p…

STC troops now control all eight governorates, a major setback for Emirates’ regional rival Saudi Arabia The United Arab Emirates-backed military leadership in South Yemen has seized power across the whole of the south of the country, a move that opens up the possibility that the South will declare independence and revert Yemen to being two states for the first time since 1960. As many as 10,000 …

More councils expected to fall into bankruptcy in near future as they face nervous wait over government funding Local authorities in England and Wales have warned their finances are at “breaking point” with more councils expected to fall into bankruptcy in future, as they face a nervous wait to discover their government funding this month. Council leaders expect changes to annual funding arrangem…

Sunday’s ‘patriots only’ Legislative Council elections took place in the shadow of the Tai Po fire that killed at least 159 people Hong Kong saw a near-record low turnout in Sunday’s “patriots only” Legislative Council elections, with fewer than 32% of voters turning out, as the number of registered voters fell for the fourth consecutive year. At 31.9%, Sunday’s turnout is marginally higher than …

Officials say the Birch nightclub had contravened multiple safety regulations and that the basement had no fire safety exit Four members of the same family on their first holiday to Goa were among the 25 killed in a deadly fire at a nightclub in the popular Indian tourist state on Saturday night. The massive blaze broke out at just before midnight at Birch by Romeo Lane, a buzzing bar, restaurant…

Exclusive: Ministers face pushback over potential changes to asylum seekers’ rights before Council of Europe meeting Human rights groups have warned UK ministers against weakening protections against torture or other mistreatment for asylum seekers before a crucial European summit this week on how to respond to migration. David Lammy, the justice secretary, is expected to help lead arguments at t…

Backlog delaying ‘shovel-ready’ ventures will be cleared with aim of building virtually zero-carbon power system by 2030 Britain’s energy system operator is pulling the plug on hundreds of electricity generation projects to clear a huge backlog that is stopping “shovel-ready” schemes from connecting to the power grid. Developers will be told on Monday whether their plans will be dismissed by the …

Painting of Enlightenment figure, whose constitution for the island inspired revolutionaries in US, is up for auction Thirty years ago, a painting by the British artist Sir William Beechey was sold as “portrait of a man”. The anonymous buyer, however, knew precisely who the unnamed man in the picture was: Pascal Paoli, the 18th-century Corsican independence leader and icon of the Enlightenment. C…

From digging trenches and building walls, to learning survival skills, Poland is increasingly aware of risks posed by its eastern neighbours Cezary Pruszko still remembers the civil defence training of his Communist-era schooldays – map reading, survival skills, and a sense that the danger of war was real and ever present. “My generation grew up with those threats. You didn’t have to explain why …

While country’s return to global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestically old grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the state Lying in bed recovering after his latest surgery, Ayman Ali retells the story of Syria’s revolution through his wounds. His right eye, lost in an attack on a rebel observation post he was manning in 2012, is covered by yellow medical tape. Propped against th…

16-year-old’s death was caused by longstanding failures in the justice system, coroner Phil Urquhart finds Warning: This article contains references to an Indigenous Australian who has died Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The coroner investigating the death of Indigenous teenager Cleveland Dodd has called for the …