The Guardian

Drop comes as AI firm Altruist launches service that helps advisers create personalised tax strategies Business live – latest updates Wealth managers and price comparison sites have become the latest companies to be hit by fears that their businesses will be disrupted by new artificial intelligence innovations. Shares in UK wealth management firms tumbled on Wednesday morning, after the AI compan…

Downing Street not aware of Matthew Doyle’s support for Sean Morton when peerage was granted, minister says UK politics live – latest updates Downing Street was not aware that Keir Starmer’s longstanding communications chief had campaigned for a paedophile when his peerage was announced, a minister has said. Matthew Doyle, who stepped down as the No 10 head of communications last March, was suspe…

Taylor says party in ‘worst position’ since formation and says it needs ‘strong leadership, clear direction’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Angus Taylor has resigned from shadow cabinet and is expected to challenge Sussan Ley for the Liberal leadership, declaring the party is in the “worst position” since its formation in 1944. Taylor announced Wednesday evening he w…

Austin Appelbee told authorities he was ‘really scared’ after swimming 4km in rough seas to get help for mum and two siblings Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast “We got lost out there,” 13-year-old Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero operator, after swimming 4km (2.5 miles) in the rough, open ocean and running 2km …

European Commission president says: ‘We have the second largest economy in the world, but we are driving it with the handbrake on’ European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen insisted this morning that the EU needs to “tear down” the economic barriers that prevent it from becoming “a global giant” and deepen its internal market, as she kicked off 48 hours of intensive discussions on the bl…

Labour has removed the whip from Matthew Doyle, Starmer’s former director of communications, who only recently became a peer Good morning. At PMQs last week Keir Starmer had to face questions about a Labour peer with a paedophile friend. Today he seems likely to face questions about another peer in this category. As Peter Walker reports, yesterday Labour said it had removed the whip from Matthew …

Wildfires that left 23 people dead were made about three times more likely by global heating, researchers say The climate crisis inflamed deadly wildfires that left 23 people dead in Chile and devastated forests in Argentina that host some of the world’s oldest trees, scientists have found. The hot, dry and windy conditions that enabled the fires to blaze across huge areas in January were made ab…

CBA shares surge by 7% after bumper $5.45bn result while data shows owner-occupiers’ share of lending has decreased in tight property market Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Commonwealth Bank has delivered a record $5.45bn half-year cash profit, as investors pile into the housing market and take market share fr…

Mal Lanyon says police were ‘required’ to disperse crowd, while Mehreen Faruqi accused them of ‘assaulting Muslims’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Muslim group has urged the New South Wales police commissioner to apologise to the entire Muslim community after police disrupted a group of people praying at a prot…

PM and global climate action advocate looks set to secure another victory despite voter concerns over cost of living and crime Barbados prime minister and global climate action champion, Mia Amor Mottley, is on course for a third consecutive term in office, forecasts suggest, as voters head to the polls on Wednesday. Mottley is the country’s first female leader since its independence in 1966, and…

Lengthy delays in compensation are ‘emblematic’ of what many relatives of migrant workers go through in the Gulf kingdom, say rights groups When Mohammad Arshad fell to his death while constructing the first new stadium for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, one of the main stadium contractors, the Belgian construction multinational Besix, promised it would take immediate steps to ensure all end…

In Cardinham, which has had 366mm of rain this year, there’s little need to check the weather forecast: more rain Tell us: how have you been affected by the rainy weather in the UK? “I’m thinking of building an ark,” said Sarah Cowen, an artist and cafe owner. “It’s been horrendous. We’ve never known anything like it. The mud, the silt, the endless rain.” Cowen is one of a hardy, if soggy, bunch …

Exclusive: Most people in charity’s study say they worry about being separated from relatives under Mahmood plans Families of nurses and carers have said they fear being torn apart under an immigration crackdown condemned as “an act of economic vandalism”. A survey of more than 1,000 people, many of whom moved to Britain to work or study, found that three in five worry about being separated from …

Ulf Kristersson answers calls from voters in informal weekly show, on topics from women’s safety to beer “Hi Ulf!” says a male voice from the Swedish prime minister’s answering machine. “Just wondering how many beers you have on a Saturday night?” Another caller to Ulf Kristersson’s new podcast Ring statsministern! (Call the prime minister!), asks whether he is friends with Jimmie Åkesson, the le…

Officials arrested Kwok Yin-sang after he tried to end his daughter’s insurance policy and withdraw the funds A Hong Kong court has found the father of a wanted activist guilty of a national security violation, after he tried to end her insurance policy and withdraw the funds, drawing international criticism for the targeting of relatives of pro-democracy campaigners. Kwok Yin-sang, 68, is the fi…