The Guardian

Hungarian PM, who is facing an upcoming election, appears in no mood to compromise as EU leaders meet in Brussels this morning Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda said he worried that “the events in Middle East can overshadow the war in Ukraine,” with the world’s attention shifting to the Middle East. “I don’t think this is [right], because we are at a very, very critical stage of the war, … wit…

London mayor also says his party should make clear manifesto commitment on full membership in next parliament Good morning. Shortly before the general election in 2024, Keir Starmer said he did not think the UK would rejoin the EU in his lifetime . (He is now 63.) At the time he was loath to say anything that implied the Brexit vote was a mistake. More recently, Labour has been happy to talk abou…

Charity Commission appoints interim manager at William Blake House in Northamptonshire, under investigation after families raised alarm A charity watchdog has taken control of a learning disability care home in Northamptonshire that is under investigation after residents’ families raised concerns over its management, including payments of £1m to a trustee. The Charity Commission has appointed an …

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news UK wage growth slows sharply as unemployment holds steady Fed holds interest rates steady as Iran war drives up oil prices and inflation fears Middle East crisis live: Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ entire South Pars gasfield if Iran strikes Qatar This chart shows how UK gas prices have surged over 170p a therm today, as the Iran war has ca…

Residents of Coen and surrounding towns in far north Queensland spent Thursday sandbagging, stockpiling food and preparing for power outages ahead of possible category 5 storm Cyclone Narelle path tracker map Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast In some ways, it seemed a pleasant, wet season morning in the remote Aboriginal community of Coen in tropical far north Queenslan…

Ireland’s former taoiseach warns of conservative Russian influence and says US is now ‘off the pitch’ under Trump LGBTQ+ rights in Europe are caught in a “chill wind” from east and west as Vladimir Putin’s Russia exports its conservative agenda and the “Americans are off the pitch” under Donald Trump, Ireland’s former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. Varadkar, who in 2017 became Ireland’s first o…

ONS data for three months to January is unlikely to convince Bank of England to cut interest rates Business live – latest updates Wage growth slowed sharply in the three months to January according to the latest snapshot of the jobs market from the Office for National Statistics. Average earnings fell to 3.8% in the three months to January, from 4.2%, which was a larger fall than forecast by City…

Move will put national security and lives overseas at risk, critics say, as overall UK aid budget is slashed to 0.3% of gross national income Climate aid to developing countries from the UK will be cut by about 14% to roughly £2bn a year under government plans, in a move critics said would put national security and lives overseas at risk. The move follows bitter rows with the Treasury, which want…

Massive storm tracking a path to Queensland coast, which intensified offshore Thursday morning to category five, fuelled by warm waters in Coral Sea Cyclone Narelle path tracker map Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is expected to make landfall in far north Queensland on Friday morning as a monster category four storm, bringing destructiv…

People struggle to cook and businesses bear brunt as closure of strait of Hormuz slows imports of liquefied petroleum gas For four days, Maya Rani, 36, has been arriving each morning at a gas distributor’s office in Delhi, her six-month-old daughter in her lap, waiting for hours. And each day she returns home empty-handed, told that a cooking gas cylinder may not be available for at least another…

US president claims Israel will not attack South Pars again – but threatens to destroy ‘extremely important and valuable’ site if Iran continues to attack gas facilities in Qatar Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump threatened to “massively blow up” the world’s largest gasfield after Israeli strikes on the Iranian site prompted Tehran to step up attacks on energy facilities across the M…

Nigeria had largest increase in terrorism-related deaths, ranking fourth in global index behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Niger Jihadist violence rose sharply in Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo last year, even as global deaths from terrorism dropped to their lowest level in a decade, according to a new report. Nigeria recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2025, w…

Increased output from wind generation and batteries, and falling electricity contract prices, are expected to deliver lower energy bills Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Power prices on Australia’s east coast are predicted to fall from July because of increased output from wind generation and batteries, and falling…

Hungarian PM shows no sign of backing down while Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges EU to resolve dispute Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will face pressure from other EU leaders to stop blocking a vital €90bn loan for Ukraine over a political dispute about an oil pipeline. Ahead of an EU summit on Thursday, Orbán, who faces elections next month, showed no sign of backing down in his veto of the l…

Abuse survivor tells news.com.au that her mental health suffered after being contacted by journalist Richard Guilliatt Warning: This article contains graphic content Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A woman who suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents for 14 years has broken her silence to say how devastated she was when The Australian interviewed…