The Guardian

Culture secretary says X ‘didn’t even bother to turn up’ to meeting about abuse, intimidation and doxxing on social media UK inflation has returned above 3% as soaring fuel and transport prices triggered by the Iran war heap renewed pressure on British households, Richard Partington reports. Good morning. We will be hearing from Andy Burnham today because he is back at work having taken time off …

Move would mean some input on companies’ spending and holding bosses to account over bills and sewage discharges Mayors and other local politicians could be given powers to oversee water companies under plans being considered by the UK government to bring utilities under greater public control. Local leaders would have the power to direct some parts of water companies’ spending and hold bosses to…

Model comes as part of £500m UK investment by firm’s new Abu Dhabi owner that will also fund new factory McLaren is gearing up to build an SUV for the first time in its 63-year history, betting that the glamour of its all-conquering Formula One team can sell cars to wealthy fans who do not own its supercars. The model, which does not yet have a name, comes as part of a £500m investment by McLaren…

Villagers in Piddington, Oxfordshire, hold symbolic referendum over plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers nearby Residents of an English village have voted to leave the UK in a symbolic referendum against plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers nearby. The result of the poll in Piddington, Oxfordshire, was announced on Wednesday morning after 312 people voted on Tuesday. A total of …

Home affairs minister Tony Burke will detail long-awaited changes as support for One Nation surges amid immigration debate Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast Foreign students will face tough restrictions on the ability to bring family members into Australia, as the federal government shifts sections of Australia’s im…

String of female murder victims found near Johannesburg’s international airport, including five in the past week The discovery of the bodies of seven women around Johannesburg’s international airport, including five in the past week, has prompted an outpouring of fear, grief and anger over a lack of progress in tackling femicide. When Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo did not return after going for…

European Commission president sets out opportunities and challenges facing the European Union Von der Leyen frames it as a choice between “independent Europe that stands up for its values in this world,” or “letting divisions and dependencies hold us back.” “ Do we want to rally around our European idea that together we can decide our own destiny? Or do we let our democracies be undermined by the…

Twenty-five years after 9/11, figures compiled by conflict monitor underline how Sahel region has become centre of Islamist terror Islamist extremist violence in Africa’s Sahel region is set to reach historic highs after a series of sweeping offensives by groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State, according to new figures compiled by the conflict monitor Acled . As the US marks the 25th anniver…

Premier describes deal as ‘major win’ that will deliver more jobs for the state and put more energy into its grid Anthropic, the AI giant behind the large language model Claude, has done a deal to lease the site of its first Australian datacentre in western Queensland. The state premier, David Crisafulli, announced the decision in parliament on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Omar Yassine was arrested and charged with stalking and intimidation after allegedly hurling insults at year 8 student wearing a hijab Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A middle-aged man accused of a “disgusting” Islamophobic attack on a 13-year-old girl has berated a judge after he was denied bail Omar Yassine made an eventful court appearance on Wednesday after being …

Dozens of Bank of England directors and founding subscribers invested in trafficking of enslaved Africans The Bank of England and the British financial system were for centuries deeply involved in the enslavement and transatlantic trafficking of millions of African people, according to new research on Britain’s slavery history. Research by historians compiling the Register of British Slave Trader…

Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin America Nature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness. Organised crime groups or professional killers were i…

Premier Ben Carroll adopts Coalition’s stance on Jack’s Law, which gives police and PSOs power to randomly search people for knives with metal detectors The Victorian premie has made another policy backflip, announcing a re-elected Labor government would give police and protective services officers the power to stop and search people for knives using handheld metal detectors – despite experts war…

Register of British Slave Traders shows clergymen financed company that trafficked enslaved Africans on hundreds of voyages Nearly 250 years after the abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano made the Christian case for reparative justice, the archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, visited the Ghanaian shore where he was enslaved as a boy. After witnessing the dungeons beneath the chapel at Cape Coast Cas…

Study challenges belief that temple’s curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean lines A mathematician has uncovered what may be one of the longest-running myths in history after studying optical illusions and the Parthenon, the famed Greek temple that overlooks Athens. Scholars have marvelled at the building on the Acropolis hill for more than 2,000 years …