The Guardian

Bank’s chair pledges to keep up fight against inflation but decision brings fears the Fed is failing to keep pace US government borrowing costs have hit their highest level since 2007 after the Federal Reserve voted to hold its key interest rate steady, feeding fears that the central bank may not move fast enough to tame a rise in inflation. The yield – or interest rate – on the 30-year US Treasu…

Boom in hummingbird hawk-moth sightings put down to hot weather, strong winds and food scarcity in Europe He had just sat down to dinner in the garden when a speedy visitor whizzed by – a “grey lump with orange wings”, recalled Luke Burstow, from Sussex. It was a hummingbird hawk-moth , a flying insect that migrates to the UK from continental Europe and north Africa. “I was like: ‘Wow!’,” said th…

Green party said it was ‘obvious from the start’ that Polanski had not committed an offence Good morning. Reform UK are holding a press conference this morning. It is going to feature Robert Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson, and he wants to talk about Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday about social care reform. But we already know what Jenrick thinks about that , and there are plenty of ot…

Several people evacuated after ‘large-scale, wind-driven’ fire breaks out at Dunwich Heath near Leiston A major incident has been declared as firefighters battle a large heathland fire on the Suffolk coast. Suffolk fire and rescue service was called to reports of a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, and crews remained at the scene on Thursday morning. Abou…

Huge missile and drone attack on Ukraine as Poland’s Tusk prepares to travel to impact site discovered in east of country Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz will chair an emergency meeting on the incident at 10.15 local time (9.15 UK), the Polish government said. Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said “a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed in…

Document believed to be from 19th century details recipe using Bolivian coca leaves, kola nuts and wine An Italian friar has unearthed a document from the pharmacy archives of an ancient convent in Florence describing a medicinal potion made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, prompting suggestions it could have been a precursor to the famous US soft drink, Coca-Cola. Father Manuel Russo, re…

Environmental groups renew calls for windfall tax to support households following Q2 earnings rise to $9.84bn Shell more than doubled its profit in its second quarter of the year, as Europe’s biggest oil and gas company reaped the benefits from the jump in oil and gas prices triggered by war in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 company’s net profit hit $9.84bn (£7.4bn) in the three months ended in Ju…

Artist Michael Zavros says he was inspired by a deep respect for Alex Ryvchin’s leadership, as well as an uncanny likeness between the two men An artist’s portrayal of a Jewish leader produced just weeks after the Bondi massacre has won the Archibald people’s choice category. Michael Zavros won the $5,000 prize for his portrait of Alex Ryvchin, the co-head of the Executive Council of Australian J…

Forty hectares of Oaken Wood could be razed after it was identified as potential site of expansion by Reform-run council It was at the confluence of seven forest paths that Allison Sweetman came to a stop. Trees rose on all sides, save for a recently coppiced section to the north-east. The noon heat had silenced most birds, but the quiet was peaceful. “This is what they call Seven Wents,” she sai…

Losing funds should force leaders to confront their own challenges, they said, while many voiced concerns over increasing foreign influence A quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact, saying that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges, according to a new survey. In Ghana and Nigeria, almost half (41% and 40% resp…

Mental health experts to triage triple zero calls, but not all of the changes will be implemented 24/7 or statewide New South Wales will send specialist nurses rather than police to some mental health emergencies after the state announced long-fought-for reform in the wake of multiple deaths at the hands of police. Rose Jackson and Yasmin Catley, the mental health and police ministers, announced …

Robert Assaf tells Icac that Angus Taylor wasn’t ‘that involved’ but the federal opposition leader ‘definitely wasn’t opposed’ to work of conservative group A member of a group of young conservative Liberal power brokers being investigated for allegedly soliciting illegal donations has compared their factional work to Mel Gibson’s Braveheart – and said they “didn’t think the law applied to us” wh…

Removal of Soviet-era statues sped up when Russia seized Crimea in 2014, and since Putin’s 2022 invasion has moved at pace as Ukrainians question their identity Since 2013 the plinth at the bottom of Taras Shevchenko Boulevard in Kyiv has been eerily empty. The scruffy monument is daubed in white paint and graffiti. Someone has stuck a Ukrainian trident where Lenin once stood, gazing down during …

US former top health official, who was subpoenaed to appear at a Senate hearing into Covid-19, says Markson’s reporting about virus’s origin ‘does not make any sense’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dr Anthony Fauci , the US’s chief medical adviser at the start of the pandemic, has described a book by News Corp investigative journalist Sharri Markson backing the “lab …

Trump vowed to hit Iran ‘very hard’ after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts US troops, a day after joint US-Saudi strikes on militants in Iraq Middle East crisis – live updates The US military has launched strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s attack on American forces in Jordan on Wednesday, raising the risk of a return to all-out-war in the region. The new strikes were launch…