The Guardian

Musicians and production team understood to be facing same punishment after livestream of patriotic song The Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of a production team, including musicians, have been reportedly sentenced to 74 lashes for performing in a concert livestreamed on Ahmadi’s YouTube channel in 2024. According to court documents, the criminal court of Qom province sentenced t…

Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor hopes a win over Reform UK will help force the prime minister to step aside Good evening, and welcome to the Guardian’s Makerfield byelection live blog. The polls have just closed and we may have to wait until around dawn (quite early in the summer, of course) until we get a result. But, as the votes are counted, it should become clear well before then who is goi…

Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor predicted to beat Reform but Keir Starmer is unlikely to easily step aside Makerfield byelection – latest updates Polls have closed in Makerfield, Aberdeen South, and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with the result in the north-west of England constituency byelection poised to decide the future of UK politics. The population of Makerfield , a constituency sitting ju…

Labour mayor giving advisory roles to ex-Bank of England economist and others seen as attempt to reassure markets Makerfield byelection – latest updates Three economic heavyweights have been brought in to advise Andy Burnham as he attempts to reassure the markets before his possible return to parliament on Friday and challenge to Keir Starmer . Burnham is understood to be getting advice from Andy…

Interior department insists water at Washington landmark is ‘crystal clear’ as witnesses report murky green pool US federal government workers continue take on the green hue that has swept across Washington’s reflecting pool, an increasingly fiendish battle the Trump administration compared to its war with Iran. After Donald Trump ordered a $14.2m refurbishment to turn the monument “American Flag…

Two payments of $50m will boost Ukraine’s air defence and munitions supply. 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’ll be Nick Visser with the main action. Jim Chalmers has defended the government’s changes to its controversial capital gains …

David Farley was told One Nation’s policy was to fly only the Australian flag, party leader tells conference Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One Nation’s leader, Pauline Hanson, says she “had to have a conversation” with the new Farrer MP, David Farley, after he appeared to defy her policies on immigration and fly…

Drivers feel some relief but prices still a dollar more per gallon overall since before US-Israel attack on Iran Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The average price of US gasoline fell to just under $4 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since March , following the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz. T…

Move to dismantle $368m sea observatory initiative faced opposition from experts and lawmakers The Donald Trump administration has reversed its decision to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system following an outcry from lawmakers and ocean experts . On Thursday, the National Science Foundation announced that it would halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, stating: “eff…

City councillor who ran on expanding childcare, education and housing slated for office after opponent concedes Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George is slated to be the next mayor of Washington DC after her opponent conceded on Thursday. Lewis George, a city council member, ran on a platform of expanding childcare, education and housing, and revoking the district’s cooperation with federal i…

Number of people infected now tops 1,000 though health officials say the global risk remains low Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) and Uganda , officials said on Thursday. The continued Ebola outbreak in the DRC comes …

US defence secretary addresses allies in latest attempt to get Europe to raise military budgets Pete Hegseth has announced a review of the US military presence across Europe, in a combative address to Nato allies where he threatened to cut force numbers in countries spending the least on defence. The US defence secretary, speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, accused some c…

Supermodel ‘completely abdicated’ her trustee responsibilities at Fashion for Relief, Charity Commission tells hearing Naomi Campbell showed herself to be unfit to run a charity after the supermodel “completely abdicated” her responsibilities as a trustee of her now defunct Fashion for Relief project, according to the charity watchdog. The Charity Commission told a tribunal that Campbell, who is …

MP for Tewkesbury understood to have been arrested by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday night A Liberal Democrat MP has had the whip suspended pending the outcome of a police investigation, a party spokesperson said. Cameron Thomas was arrested by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday night, it is understood. His office has been contacted for comment. Continue reading...

Updated document, which emphasises harm done to African women, is being considered by other Caribbean countries Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, has announced a new manifesto from Caribbean leaders asserting the “moral, ethical and legal case” for reparations over damage caused by hundreds of years of enslavement. Mottley was speaking at a “historic” conference in Ghana to advance the push…