World News Hub

July was driest month in southern England since records began

The Guardian • 1 month ago

England and Wales provisionally record driest July in nearly 200 years, Met Office saysJuly 2026 was the driest month in southern England since records began nearly 200 years ago, the Met Office has said.England and Wales also provisionally recorded their driest July since records began in 1836. Wales had its joint warmest July on record for mean temperature, and England recorded its second warmes...

Vampire-obsessed man detained after dumping animal corpses outside churches in New Forest

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Benjamin Lewis, who believed drinking blood would prolong life, will be kept in hospital for treatmentA man fascinated with vampires and graveyards who apparently believed he would live for ever if he drank blood has been detained in hospital after being caught dumping animal corpses outside churches in a British forest.Benjamin Lewis, 48, left the bodies of sheep and deer on the doorsteps of chur...

John Oliver on police surveillance: ‘Big Brother on steroids’

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Host tore into the ‘wildly invasive’ cameras, microphones and license plate readers that police use to track AmericansJohn Oliver discussed the tools that police are using to keep track of Americans on the latest episode of Last Week Tonight.In recent years, the use of surveillance technology has exploded among local police forces due to decreasing prices and federal funding, with one local mayor ...

AstraZeneca shares plunge over talks with US cancer drug firm on $400bn merger

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Bristol Myers Squibb tie-up would create world’s fourth largest drugmaker but analysts question rationale for dealMore than £15bn was wiped off the value of Britain’s biggest drugmaker, AstraZeneca, on Monday after a report that it was in discussions to take over its US rival Bristol Myers Squibb in a deal that would create a near $400bn (£300bn) pharmaceutical group.AstraZeneca, run by Pascal Sor...

Paris prosecutor investigates alleged bullying in government departments after suicide attempt

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Internal inquiries also opened after two suicides and two attempted suicides of staff in departments connected to PM’s officeThe Paris state prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry into alleged workplace bullying after the attempted suicide of a staff member in a department connected to the French prime minister’s office, France Inter radio has revealed.The public radio station reported on Mon...

Kmart sells out of low-cost rival to Meta camera glasses across Australia amid warnings of ‘privacy nightmare’

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Expert says people face being filmed without their consent as $89 Anko smartglasses sell out in stores and onlineGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKmart has sold out of Anko-branded $89 camera glasses across Australia, which a digital rights expert says presents a “privacy nightmare” as people face being filmed without their consent.As of Monday, the clear-lens, black-rimm...

Alan Jones argues ‘rivalry’ and ‘treachery’ but after decades wielding the sword of public opinion, he’s the one on trial

The Guardian • 1 month ago

His legal strategy was apparent from the very first. Jones will, it was explicitly stated, seek to undermine the ‘credibility and reliability’ of his accusersGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlan Jones has enjoyed decades as the centre of attention, as the wielder of power.The booming voice, the vast radio audience, the bully pulpit of an eponymous TV show, the great and ...

Most Sydney road tolls to keep rising after Transurban accused of blocking reforms

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Handful of tollroads to get one-off price cuts but WestConnex toll to keep rising at least 4% a yearGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe cost of using Sydney’s biggest toll road will continue to rise at least 4% a year after the multinational private operator was accused of blocking the state government’s push for sweeping reforms.Only a handful of Sydney’s motorways will...

South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania detonates Danube rock to increase water flow – as it happened

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Explosives used to move a large rock and let more water flow to cool nuclear power plantMore must be done ⁠to strengthen the European Union’s borders at critical points, ⁠European Commission president ⁠Ursula ​von der Leyen told Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez ⁠in a letter.In the carefully-calibrated letter, first reported by Reuters and a number of Spanish media, von der Leyen was quoted as ...

Sunday Times and Sun columnist Rod Liddle dies aged 66

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Tributes paid across industry to provocative journalist who died after short illnessWriter and broadcaster Rod Liddle, a prominent columnist for the Sunday Times and the Sun, has died after a short illness.Liddle, whose provocative style attracted both praise and criticism, also wrote for the Spectator magazine and earlier in his career edited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He was 66. Continue rea...

Romania blasts rock to divert water from drought-hit Danube to nuclear reactor

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Hungary and Romania face energy crisis as record-low river levels force atomic power plants to reduce outputEurope live – latest updatesRomanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to help redirect vital cooling water from the drought-hit Danube to the country’s last working nuclear ⁠reactor, as neighbouring Hungary ​said it may be able to eke out two more days of power from its only a...

Holdouts for Trump’s attorney general pick say they will advance his nomination to the full Senate – US politics live

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis say that formal order withdrawing ‘anti-weaponization fund’ has addressed their concernsBlanche formally rescinds Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization fund’Sign up for the US Breaking News emailOn Tuesday, we’ll bring you the latest from Michigan where voters will head to the polls for competitive primaries in Senate and House races.The most closely wa...

Man who returned fire at In-N-Out gunman had done firearm training after 2021 mass shooting

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Police credited Jordan Salinas with limiting number of victims in attack on restaurant in Twin Falls, IdahoA healthcare worker returning fire on a 24-year-old gunman who killed three people and wounded several others an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, has said his impulse to confront the attacker was “automatic” and “mechanical”.That description from 35-year-old Jordan Salinas came in an int...

Ceuta leader accuses Morocco over ‘atrocity’ of mass border crossing

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Juan Jesús Vivas says influx seen as ‘at least encouraged or permitted’ by Rabat, as Spain demands EU solidarityExplainer: why is Ceuta a migration flashpoint?A growing chorus of voices have accused Morocco of helping to fuel the crisis in Ceuta, with the leader of the Spanish enclave describing last week’s border crossings as an attack on Spain’s territorial integrity that was seen as being “if n...

Arizona clergy who learn of child abuse in confessions aren’t required to report it, court rules

The Guardian • 1 month ago

State supreme court rules in case of two bishops who were silent about three children abused by Mormon parentsClergy members in Arizona who learn of child abuse in the context of religious confession are not required to report it, the state’s supreme court has said in a ruling that protects what church leaders call the “seal of the confessional”.The panel’s ruling ends a long-running case in which...

Single shark bite led to death of woman off California coast, autopsy shows

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Erica Fox left Lovers Point near Monterey in December alongside group of swimmers but never made it backA single, devastating shark bite was fatal for an ocean swimmer whose body was found on a California beach in December, a new autopsy report confirmed.Erica Fox, 55, drowned after that shark bite broke her pelvis and severed a major artery, according to the findings of the autopsy, which were fi...

Single shark bite led to death of woman whose body was found on California beach, autopsy shows

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Erica Fox left Lovers Point near Monterey in December alongside group of swimmers but never made it backA single, vicious shark bite was fatal for an ocean swimmer whose body was found on a California beach in December, a new autopsy report confirmed.Erica Fox, 55, drowned after that shark bite broke her pelvis and severed a major artery, according to the findings of the autopsy, which were first ...

Farage admits he discussed returning as Reform leader months earlier than previously stated

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Admission may undermine Farage’s account of circumstances surrounding £5m gift from crypto billionaireUK politics live – latest updatesNigel Farage has admitted he held talks about the possibility of returning as Reform UK’s leader months before the 2024 general election, potentially undermining his own account of the circumstances in which he received a £5m gift from a crypto billionaire.It was r...

Man jailed for keeping dead mother’s body in freezer and pocketing her benefits

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Christopher Phillips, who had been his mother Sylvia’s primary carer since 2008, given two years and four months in prison A man has been jailed for keeping his dead mother’s body in a freezer at their shared home for almost three years, during which time he received more than £70,000 of her benefits and other funds.Christopher Phillips, 60, stored the body of Sylvia Phillips, a retired company se...

Radio presenter Tony Livesey leaves BBC after David Sullivan allegations

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Staff at 5 Live told he will not return following claims about his previous career at Sullivan’s Sport newspapersThe BBC radio presenter Tony Livesey has left the broadcaster after allegations were raised about his previous career as the editor-in-chief of David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers.Staff at 5 Live, where Livesey had most recently presented the 10pm to 1am show four days a week, were told h...

Oil prices plunge and Europe’s markets rally after Trump calls off Iran strikes

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Brent crude drops by 5% after US president claimed talks on Middle East peace deal would resumeBusiness live – latest updatesCrude oil prices fell sharply while stocks and government bonds rallied on Monday after Donald Trump cancelled planned strikes on Iran and claimed peace talks were about to resume.Brent crude was trading 5% lower at $83.47 a barrel by lunchtime, after falling as much as 7.3%...

Iran in talks with Oman over shipping but US negotiations on hold, says Tehran

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Iran discussing creation of temporary route through strait of Hormuz with its neighbour, says spokespersonMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIran has been in discussion with Oman about the creation of a new temporary route through the strait of Hormuz that would allow commercial shipping to resume, but is not yet reviving talks with the US, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monda...

Iran in talks with Oman over shipping route but not US, says Tehran

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Iran discussing creation of temporary route through strait of Hormuz with its neighbour, says spokespersonMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIran has been in discussion with Oman about the creation of a new temporary route through the strait of Hormuz that would allow commercial shipping to resume, but is not yet reviving talks with the US, Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monda...

Restore leader accuses Farage of ‘outright lying’ over pact offer but says his party ‘remains open’ – UK politics live

The Guardian • 1 month ago

Rupert Lowe says no talks have taken place after the Reform UK leader said he was ‘open to conversation’ on some sort of electoral dealZia Yusuf said under the plan Reform will create an “integrated surveillance command”, which he claims will “unify” military and intelligence surveillance, making “ours the most surveilled maritime border in the world”.“Any vessel attempting to cross illegally will...

Trump promises new Iran talks as Tehran touts Hormuz shipping deal with Oman | First Thing

The Guardian • 1 month ago

US president says he called off another US attack on Iran as part of a push for an agreement. Plus why Pokémon Go is still bring global joy ten years onGood morning. Donald Trump said talks with Iran would happen on Monday but declined to set a deadline for an agreement after earlier saying he had called ⁠off an imminent attack. For its part, Iran said it was nearing a deal with Oman over a new ro...