The Guardian

State department says initiative will provide funding to ‘address sovereignty, migration, censorship and lawfare’ Friedrich Merz has warned Donald Trump’s administration against interfering in German elections after the US state department announced a scheme to fund Maga-aligned causes in Europe. The German chancellor was responding to a new US initiative offering grants of up to $3m (£2.2m) for …

The home secretary is the frontrunner for the role ahead of ‘risky’ Ed Miliband, according to senior Labour figures Shabana Mahmood has emerged as the frontrunner to become Andy Burnham’s chancellor after a fierce briefing war over the prospect of Ed Miliband being appointed to the powerful role. Senior Labour figures with knowledge of Burnham’s thinking told the Guardian they expected the home s…

The match-winning England striker is ‘a good ambassador for young people who look like me’, says one contestant Altogether now, with arms in the air: One Jude Bellingham, there’s only one Jude Bellingham … Unless, that is, you happened to find yourself in Shoreditch, east London, on Wednesday, where a dozen young men who looked vaguely like the England midfielder gathered for a lookalike contest …

Incoming prime minister says he doesn’t want to ‘create new divisions’ as Mahmood is tipped to be chancellor Andy Burnham has signalled that he will not increase wealth taxes immediately after becoming prime minister, easing concerns among the business community but limiting his economic room for manoeuvre. He said on Wednesday he did not want to “create new divisions” with his tax policy, in com…

AI-friendly president shared a post saying governor Kathy Hochul should scrap the one-year policy ‘IMMEDIATELY’ Donald Trump railed against the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, for pausing the construction of large new datacenters, the resource-intensive facilities that power artificial intelligence. New York became the first US state to enact a moratorium on new datacenters on Tuesday, when Hoch…

Warnings about dangerous, unhealthy air also extended from Minnesota to New York as wildfires rage in Toronto Extreme heat warnings are in place for large swaths of the United States this week, as an unusual weather pattern eclipses record temperature highs. In Billings, Montana, residents experienced a sweltering 111F (43.9C) on Sunday, the hottest day in its history. Salt Lake City in Utah also…

Five months of U-turns and false boasts leave Donald Trump in worse position than when he started Donald Trump has taken the war with Iran into a new, murkier phase as the two sides move further and further from the vague memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on 17 June. And as during the opening phase of the conflict, the US leader’s objectives and methods are clouded in confusion, daily U-tu…

Exclusive: Prof Evelyn Welch, vice-chancellor of Bristol University, believes her daughter’s success shows value of arts education One of Britain’s leading university vice-chancellors has described sweeping cuts to arts and humanities across the sector as “absolutely tragic”, citing her famous daughter as an example of the value of a creative arts education. Prof Evelyn Welch, the vice-chancellor…

Government – which provides significant portion of charity’s funding – is understood to have demanded an explanation The charity Save the Children has angered the government with a social media post marking Keir Starmer’s impending exit from Downing Street. The organisation suggested on X that the outgoing prime minister was complicit in the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Israel-Gaza war…

Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, found ‘unresponsive’ while being transferred between detention facilities in Georgia Another person has died in federal immigration custody this week in Georgia, officials announced on Wednesday, His is the 22nd death in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody this year. Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, a 45-year-old Venezuelan man, died on Monday morning while …

President’s pick for attorney general faces tough questions over purging of career prosecutors, January 6 and Epstein Todd Blanche sought to downplay his close relationship with Donald Trump , tried to distance himself from decisions regarding January 6 rioters, and defended his handling of files regarding Jeffrey Epstein as well a settlement agreement that created a $1.8bn slush fund and giving …

Environment Canada has issued health warnings after sky over city turns yellow Smoke from more than 100 active wildfires in northern Ontario have made Toronto’s air quality the current worst in the world and caused yellow, smoky air in cities across the north-east US. Environment Canada issued health warnings on Wednesday after the sky over country’s largest city turned a sickly yellow and was ra…

While new study challenges assumptions about how far they travel, witnessing them in action still takes your breath away, scientists say Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast They may look like a fluffy flying carpet, but greater gliders are not as great at gliding as previously thought, Australian researchers have disc…

Internal estimates show 144,600 people will be taken off the scheme by 2030, many of them under 18 Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Almost 145,000 Australians receiving support for autism on the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) are expected to be removed by the end of the decade, internal estimates show, as the federal government moves ahead with plans to na…

Challenges of regulating social media or stopping hate speech show these firms can set their own terms and prices for countries like Australia Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese took a trip back in time during his much anticipated speech on artificial intelligence on Wednesday. Seeking to harness the momentous change bearing down on our lives, the prime …