The Guardian

Most economists believe the chronic undersupply of homes will eventually push prices higher once interest rates ease and the tax changes are priced in Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The government’s property tax changes have become one of the defining political issues of Labor’s second term, drawing fierce criticism from opponents who argue they represent an “assault…

Team now plans to see if they can use yeast strains harvested from Ötzi the Iceman to brew beer too Scientists have baked a sourdough loaf of bread using yeast strains harvested from a 5,000-year-old mummy and now plan to see if they can use them to brew beer too. The yeast came from Ötzi the Iceman, a famous corpse remarkably preserved by being frozen in Alpine ice near the Italy-Austria border …

Von der Leyen tells Balkans summit that bloc needs to make enlargement process ‘faster and more credible’ The EU must prove its willingness and ability to take in new members and speed up its enlargement process, leaders of the bloc have said, as they gathered with their counterparts from six western Balkan countries that hope to join soon. “The European Union has to show that it is capable of en…

Greater Manchester mayor’s proposals amount to a notable criticism of Keir Starmer’s policy in the area UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham has proposed a 20% cut to business rates for pubs with many smaller, family-run enterprises taken out of paying the levy altogether, in his first major policy initiative during the Makerfield byelection. Burnham’s plans amount to a notable criticis…

Announcement that ‘policymakers’ need to be convened by US firm viewed as marketing ploy by some experts Anthropic has floated the idea of a worldwide “temporary pause” on AI development – and said it was going to convene “policymakers” to discuss the dangers of advanced AI – in its latest release touting the capabilities of its products. In a long post on Thursday, Anthropic detailed the progres…

Data discredits claims reawakened by the death of Henry Nowak that UK police actions disadvantage white people The US government has joined criticism of alleged two-tier policing in the UK in the wake of Henry Nowak’s murder . How did the term enter the mainstream, and is there any basis for the claim? Continue reading...

Experts warn primary vote-counting could go on for days in governor’s race, LA mayoral race and congressional races Three days after Californians headed to the polls, key races in the primary election remained too close to call and experts warned the counting could continue for days. In the governor’s race, the British-born conservative pundit Steve Hilton was narrowly leading with an estimated 6…

Thousands have protested in the capital, Tirana, this week against a planned luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Groundwork has begun on the $1.6bn complex in an area long seen as one of the Mediterranean’s most environmentally sensitive, containing 200 species of birds including flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans. After builders began erecting a…

Nasa says Russian crew trying to fix worsening air leak in its portion of orbital laboratory International Space Station air leak: latest updates Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have been ordered to shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for potential evacuation as a Russian crew attempts to fix a worsening leak of air in its portion of the orbital laboratory, Nasa has said. T…

Seven Republican senators joined Democrats to block Fisa extension amid disquiet over nomination of Bill Pulte US politics live – latest updates Seven Republican senators joined Democrats early on Friday to block the extension of a powerful government surveillance program, a rebuke to Donald Trump for choosing an inexperienced ally as the country’s top intelligence official. The renewal had been …

EU’s Maroš Šefčovič says summit will ‘probably’ be in July but sources say it could be put back as talks deadlocked UK politics live – latest updates The EU has said Keir Starmer’s upcoming summit “resetting” the UK-Europe relationship may still happen in July, amid growing fears it could be postponed to the autumn as talks over youth mobility remain deadlocked. “The summit is supposed to be mid-…

Average tour earnings down 45%, with nearly three-fifths of musicians saying touring in Europe is no longer viable More than a quarter of British musicians have lost all their EU work since 2021, according to new research. The report by European Movement UK, a cross-party campaign group advocating closer UK-EU relations, found that nearly half of UK musicians have seen their EU work reduced since…

Paul Quinn, 52, to serve 24 years for attack that led to one of worst miscarriages of justice in modern British history A man who evaded justice for nearly two decades has been jailed for 24 years for a “savage” rape for which Andrew Malkinson was wrongly imprisoned. Paul Quinn, 52, was found guilty of the 2003 attack in Salford after a fresh forensic analysis found traces of his DNA on the victi…

Republican states rebrand June as ‘nuclear family month’ or ‘fidelity month’ in latest attack on LGBTQ+ communities June is widely marked as gay Pride month – when LGBTQ+ communities march to protest discrimination and celebrate their identities in the month that the modern US gay liberation movement was born out of the 1969 uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn – although not so much in certain R…

More than 1 million people advised to evacuate homes amid 80mph winds and heavy rain Typhoon Jangmi (also known as Typhoon No 6) moved northwards over the course of this week. From Okinawa to mainland Japan, prolonged and heavy rainfall led to landslide warnings and the flooding of rivers, with Japan issuing level 4 warnings for some rivers, signalling a risk of overflowing. This level is high en…