The Guardian

Kirsty McNeill reaffirms Labour’s 0.7% of GDP pledge and promises value for money to allay voter concerns The development minister, Kirsty McNeill, has declared herself “a huge believer in aid”, as she reaffirmed Labour’s manifesto pledge to return to a target of 0.7% of national income spending. McNeill, a former adviser to Gordon Brown and senior executive at Save the Children, declined to give…

Prime minister vows to ‘reindustrialise Britain’ through new partnership with business The prime minister is to host business leaders, entrepreneurs and local mayors at Downing Street on Monday to pitch his government as a “partner for growth” that can offer a stable platform for investment and jobs in the UK. Ahead of the event, Andy Burnham said the country had “everything it needs to succeed”,…

Follow the day’s news live Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast Australian households could save $5,000 a year by electrifying their homes and cars, AAP reports, and more than 30 organisations will call for incentives and stronger policies in Canberra as part of a national campaign. The campaign is linked to the international Electrify Now campaign, and follows a COP31 pus…

The 8ft statue, installed in Phoenix last week to mark one year since Kirk’s killing, was found painted red A newly unveiled statue of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was vandalized at the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona . The statue was found with red spray-paint. A nearby poster memorial in front of the statue was vandalized with red paint as well. Continue reading...

Police officer shared location of a woman with his relative who is accused of abusing woman A San Jose police officer was fired for using his department’s Flock license plate tracking system to share the location of a woman with the suspect accused of abusing her, Chief Paul Joseph told NBC Bay Area on Friday. The firing marks another in a growing number of cases of misuse of a controversial surv…

Disturbing and AI-generated versions of Dr Seuss character have been used to threaten schools and communities Schools and law enforcement authorities in the US are issuing warnings against a viral “Cat in the Hat” social media trend in which disturbing or AI-generated versions of the Dr Seuss character are used to threaten students, schools and communities. The latest warnings come as safety conc…

Vice-president wears religion on his sleeve but winding spiritual path could alienate evangelicals and Catholics US vice-president JD Vance has worn his religion on his sleeve since converting to the Catholicism in 2019. He recently published a book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, and memorably met the late Pope Francis at the Vatican on Easter Sunday in 2025, a day before the pontiff d…

PM has so far declined to insert curbs on UK-based donors, despite £72m donations from billionaires to Reform UK Trade unions, MPs and donors have urged the government to look again at party funding rules, after Reform UK insisted £72m in donations from two crypto billionaires was within the law. Andy Burnham, a previous backer of caps on domestic donations, has so far declined to insert any curb…

Jefferson county coroner says 40-year-old woman died on Saturday, while two infants died with disease in August A coroner in Pennsylvania announced the death of a 40-year-old woman associated with the state’s ongoing measles outbreak. The death appears to mark the third in the US state’s ongoing outbreak. Two previous deaths in the state were in infant children. In one case, the infant was born w…

US president says ‘many people agree’ with his view on unification, brushing off Andy Burnham’s opposition to referendum Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Irish unification and brushed off Andy Burnham’s opposition to a referendum. “Everybody says that. Then things happen,” the US president said on Sunday of the British prime minister’s response. He reaffirmed his enthusiasm for the uni…

Call for ‘constitutional change in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’ likely to challenge Burnham’s devolution agenda The first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are meeting to affirm their nations’ right to seek independence from the UK, as part of a summit that is likely to challenge Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda. Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Scottish National part…

Woman’s family says she died of injuries after being shot in the head while sitting inside a tent near Khan Younis A pregnant Palestinian woman died on Saturday from injuries sustained after being shot in the head by Israeli forces south of Khan Younis, according to her family and medical workers, as strikes across Gaza killed more than 10 people over the previous 48 hours. The woman, named as Im…

The man who once helped Richard ‘Dirty’ Desmond save a load of tax was wheeled out to face Laura Kuenssberg You wait years for one party donation of £36m and then two come along at once . Reform can hardly believe its luck. All hail the crypto billionaires. Tacky pale turquoise suits all round. And Nigel Farage won’t have to worry about spending any of his own money – if you can call the £5m free…

Country heads to the polls as latest polling shows 0.3-point gap between left and right wing blocs The polls opened at 8am local time (7am UK) and will close 12 hours later, at 8pm local time (7pm UK). And it is at 8pm local time when we should get the results of the Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s polling station survey, and a separate poll commissioned by private broadcaster TV4. Continue read…

The currency has now reached its highest level against the US and Australian dollars in six months Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast In the unpredictable world of global currency markets, there has been one safe bet: that the Japanese yen would continue its relentless decline. In recent weeks, that trade has started to unravel after Tokyo and Washington intervened to su…