The Guardian

The changes could see funding boosts for Reform-led councils in the north with high levels of deprivation Deprived towns and cities in the Midlands and the north of England are the big winners in a shake-up of local authority funding that will redirect cash from affluent rural areas to urban councils hit hardest by austerity. Ministers said the changes put in place a fairer system that recognised…

Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10 ‘Chaotic and indecisive’: key findings of report on UK’s Covid response under Tories Dominic Cummings ‘poisoned the atmosphere’ of Boris Johnson’s No 10, Covid inquiry finds The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pa…

Second pandemic report focuses on decision-making, organisation and messaging by senior politicians including Boris Johnson ‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response Dominic Cummings ‘poisoned the atmosphere’ of Boris Johnson’s No 10, Covid inquiry finds “Too little too late” is the key finding of Heather Hallett’s second report from the Covid public inquiry, which focus…

Senior Security Service officers told Commons speaker in private meeting they can tackle espionage risks MI5 officers told the House of Commons speaker at a private meeting that they can tackle the risks of a proposed Chinese super-embassy in London, opening the door to its approval. The Guardian understands that in a meeting held with Lindsay Hoyle in the summer, senior figures from the Security…

Scourge of goldfish has become growing problem as fish are released by pet owners into increasingly warm waters City officials in Canada ’s capital city, Ottawa, plan to cull thousands of feral goldfish from a stormwater pond, a decision that reflects the pervasive spread of the species throughout the region. Earlier in the year, city staff removed 5,000 fish from the city’s Celebration Park. But…

Biden and Bush were in attendance for Republican’s service, along with all other living former vice-presidents Donald Trump and JD Vance have been snubbed, by not being invited to former vice-president Dick Cheney’s funeral, taking place on Thursday, according to a White House official familiar with the matter. Cheney , the former US vice-president to George W Bush and Republican defense hawk who…

Officials say proposal is aimed at stirring up division and disorientating Kyiv’s allies • Europe live – latest updates A new US-Russian peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine has been dismissed as “absurd” and unacceptable by officials in Kyiv amid talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a high-ranking US army delegation. They said the proposal reportedly drafted by Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally…

The top Democrat on the Senate banking committee says private funding for Trump’s ballroom poses serious corruption concerns US politics live – latest updates Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has said that the next independent Department of Justice “should investigate” the private donations that have funded the construction of the new White House ballroom. Warren – who is the top Democra…

The ‘2024 period piece’ stars the Grammy-winning musician with Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott and Alexander Skarsgård Charli xcx ’s 2026 big screen onslaught is set to kick off with The Moment, a mockumentary starring the musician as a self-described “hell version” of herself. The film, based on an idea by the Grammy winner, is fiction but xcx has called it “the realest depiction of the music indus…

Foreign ministers express misgivings about draft US-Russian peace plan favourable to Putin Europe live – latest updates Europeans must be involved in any attempt to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia, the continent’s top diplomats said after reports of a US-Russia plan favourable to Kremlin interests emerged. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, welcomed any “meaningful efforts” to en…

Judge says Nnamdi Kanu used his Indigenous People of Biafra group to incite attacks on security officials and civilians A Nigerian court has convicted the Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu on terrorism-related charges. Judge James Omotosho said prosecutors had shown that Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, had used his Indigenous People of Biafra group (IPOB) to incite attacks on securi…

Former ABC chair says Australia has allowed ‘divisive groups’ into the country. Plus: national broadcaster unveils plans for more short-form news video Want to get this in your inbox every Friday? Sign up for the Weekly Beast media newsletter here Ita Buttrose has revealed her views on immigration while on a book tour for her memoir Unapologetically Ita. Buttrose stepped down as chair in March 20…

Queensland researchers studying intimate-partner killings found one thing common to more than half the cases Police made potentially critical mistakes in Hannah Clarke murders , new evidence reveals Read more from Guardian Australia’s two-year investigation here When researchers in Queensland catalogued data from seven years of intimate-partner killings, they found one thing common to more than h…

SunCable says massive energy project proposed in NT could position Australia as global leader, but critics are concerned about scale Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Energy company SunCable says a massive solar farm it has proposed building in the Northern Territory could power an AI data centre precinct in the region to position Australia as…

Exclusive: Guidance distributed to MPs seeks to pre-empt questions about plan’s compatibility with Paris agreement, indicating opposition is aware of potential breach Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coalition MPs are being told to argue that the decision to dump a net zero emissions target is “entirely consistent” with the Paris agreement, despite leaked documents sug…