The Guardian

Split vote comes as Iran war is rekindled and oil price climbs back above $90 a barrel Business live – latest updates Only Middle East crisis is preventing drop in UK interest rates The Bank of England has kept UK interest rates on hold as it warned that a further escalation in the Iran war could drive inflation above 4% next year, adding to cost of living pressures on households. Against a volat…

Shares in Rolls-Royce jump by 5% after it lifts earnings guidance, while BAE Systems also upgrades profit forecasts Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems are expecting higher profits as governments around the world boost their defence spending. Both companies lifted their earnings guidance on Thursday morning, citing commitments from governments to increase investment in defence systems. Continue reading...

President says he has no objection to pulling his former lawyer’s name until dissenting Republicans are out of office US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump has threatened to “temporarily” shelve a bid to permanently install his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as US attorney general amid resistance in US Congress. Blanche, currently serving as acting attorney general, has been struggl…

Sam Mostyn says there is a widespread ‘failure to understand and engage with and feel proud of the very civic underpinnings of our democracy’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia faces a “growing catastrophe” from poor understanding of the country’s constitutional foundation, the governor general, Sam Mostyn, has warned as attacks on institutions and threats agai…

The opposition leader is the highest-profile person mentioned so far at the NSW anti-corruption commission – and the political figure with the most to lose Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast After the opening days of an inquiry exposing a dark underbelly of the New South Wales Liberals, the prevailing mood among Angus Taylor’s colleagues is one of apprehension. The feder…

European Forest Fire Information Service figures show conditions in EU 43% more severe than for same period in last 20 years Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, new data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean. Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU since the start of the year has been …

Government fears social discontent on ‘most important battlefield’ of economy and livelihoods as war takes its toll amid anti-state dissent Iran, in the midst of an escalating five-month war with the US, continues to stumble from one internal crisis to another – whether it is over public executions, the rising cost of living, the alleged bias of the state broadcaster or even the post-midnight des…

Exclusive: Reform’s Robert Jenrick says party confident it followed all rules at the time, after latest Guardian revelations The Electoral Commission has been asked to investigate whether Reform UK has broken donations rules, after the Guardian revealed that the convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred more than $2m to his mother in the days before her donations to the party in 2024. Labou…

UK’s highest court gives permission for Huda Ammori to challenge court of appeal ruling The co-founder of Palestine Action has won permission to challenge the ban against the group at the UK’s highest court. The direct action group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July last year but its co-founder, Huda Ammori, has been fighting to have it overturned amid a mass civil disobedience ca…

Lawmakers question delays in medical care, casualty figures and Pentagon’s handling of drone attack in Kuwait US politics live – latest updates The Trump administration is facing growing demands to explain why wounded US soldiers went more than a week without adequate hospital care after a March drone strike in Kuwait, just days into the US-Israel war on Iran . In a letter to the US defense secre…

First US pope praises principles of freedom and opportunity in implicit critique of Donald Trump’s policies Pope Leo, the first US pontiff, has expressed “great love” for his home country and its core principles of freedom, opportunity and welcoming immigrants, but qualified that he “just happens to be American”. In an interview with the US broadcaster NBC on the sidelines of a prayer event in Ca…

Trump’s overall approval rating slumps to 34%, according to new CNN poll, as midterms testing Republican power loom Three-quarters of Americans believe Donald Trump is not paying enough attention to the country’s most important problems, and two-thirds think he places himself above the needs of the US, according to a new poll. The CNN survey , conducted by market research company SSRS, comes less…

State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a ⁠global conference in Brazil ⁠this week, ​causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online. Reuters viewed a video of the presentation given at the Aids 20…

Maria and Czeslaw Krupa, who arrived in 1947 and 1948 as dependents of displaced Polish service members, were told they did not have post-Brexit rights to return to UK Two Polish citizens who have lived in the UK for nearly 80 years after their parents fled the second world war have spoken of their terrifying experience after being told they did not have post-Brexit rights to return to the UK. In…

Ferocious flames continue to rage in parts of France and Spain, with no sign of abating. We chart the destruction in graphics and pictures The hellish infernos that have torn through parts of France and Spain have caused deaths, the evacuation of 330,000 people from their homes, widespread destruction and clouds of toxic smoke. Records have already been smashed and with the fourth heatwave of the…