World News Hub

About 400,000 UK children supported by baby banks, up 11% on previous year

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Exclusive: Charities say they ‘cannot continue to absorb the impact of child poverty’ without government supportFour hundred thousand children in the UK were supported by baby banks in 2025, an 11% increase from the year before, prompting warnings from charities that they “cannot continue to absorb the impact of child poverty on this scale” without government support.New research from the Baby Ban...

EU faces fierce criticism over plans to host Taliban in Brussels

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Rights campaigners and MEPs say meeting would normalise regime that erases women from public lifeEU officials are facing fierce criticism over plans to host the Taliban in Brussels on Tuesday, with rights campaigners and MEPs warning that the meeting risks normalising a regime that has banned girls from school beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women from public life, while its ranks inclu...

Extreme heat: is the UK becoming a 40C country? – podcast

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Met Office forecasters have issued a rare red weather warning for England, with temperatures potentially reaching 40C (104F) in some places. Europe is also dealing with a debilitating heatwave, with schools closed, trains cancelled and France even restricting the consumption of alcohol outdoors to take pressure off the emergency services. The high temperatures coincide with the coming El Niño, whi...

Australia politics live: Jim Chalmers hails ‘important day for tax reform’ after deal with Greens; paraquat herbicide gets regulator green light despite Parkinson’s fears

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for...

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit over LA sanctuary city policy

The Guardian • 2 months ago

City hails victory after US officials sued over ordinance that limits LA’s cooperation with immigration authoritiesA California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed ⁠by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance limiting ⁠its cooperation with federal ⁠immigration ​authorities.Fernando Olguin, a judge in the central California US district court rejected the administratio...

Where did it all go wrong for Starmer? – podcast

The Guardian • 2 months ago

The UK has lost its sixth prime minister in a decade. How did Keir Starmer go from landslide victory to resigning in two years?When the former human rights lawyer, full of ambition, won a landslide in the 2024 general election, hope was in the air. Keir Starmer had arrived on a promise to repair 14 years of Conservative damage. Just two years later, with anger and disappointment swelling across th...

Australia politics live: Jim Chalmers hails ‘important day for tax reform’ as Greens promise to support passage of budget measures

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for ...

Australia politics live: Labor reaches deal with Greens to pass tax reforms through Senate; Hanson explains stance on paid parental leave

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for ...

Labor reaches deal with the Greens to pass changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it has also negotiated an extension to the inquiry into controversial changes to the NDISFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Greens will support the Albanese government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes under a deal that will delay and tweak Labor’s planned overhaul of the national disa...

Australia politics live: Greens announce deal with Labor on tax changes and NDIS; Pauline Hanson explains stance on paid parental leave

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for ...

Australia politics live: Greens announce deal with Labor on CGT changes and NDIS inquiry; Pauline Hanson explains stance on paid parental leave

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for ...

Lost memoir of Hiroshima survivor found after decades in US archive

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Written in 1947, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s account of the horrors of the atomic bomb attack will be published in August and is being made into a filmThe memoir of a man who survived the horrors of Hiroshima is to be published for the first time this summer after its discovery in a US archive.The 230-page memoir was written almost 80 years ago by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who witnessed the city’s destruction afte...

A fire in LA has been burning for days. What’s taking so long to put it out?

The Guardian • 2 months ago

While warehouse fires are often extinguished in a day, the Boyle Heights blaze is on its sixth day. Here’s what to knowLos Angeles firefighters are on their sixth day of battling a fire at a massive warehouse near downtown that stores frozen food.Smoke has billowed from the warehouse, which was covered in solar panels and insulated like a freezer, filling the air surrounding the roughly 500,000-sq...

Met to expand use of live facial recognition into central London by Christmas

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Technology to be used in six more areas next year as critics say tens of thousands of people will be forced into ‘digital police lineup’The Metropolitan police is to expand its use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, first into London’s West End by Christmas and then into a further six areas next year.The new cameras will be fixed, and could be attached to street furniture such as lamp-po...

Australia politics live: David Pocock rues ‘farcical’ tax review; Pauline Hanson explains stance on paid parental leave

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Senator says he wants to see further changes for small businesses and ensure loopholes for wealthier people are actually closed. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official o...

US Senate passes bipartisan bill to lower housing costs

The Guardian • 2 months ago

21st Century Road to Housing Act, which aims to boost supply and stop investors buying up homes, heads to HouseSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe Senate on Monday passed a bipartisan measure aimed at lowering housing costs by streamlining construction and permitting, ending months of fraught negotiations on a priority for both parties ahead of November...

Reflecting pool to be drained again as Trump claims five vandalism arrests

The Guardian • 2 months ago

President says ‘vandals’ to blame for algae blooms and peeling paint as $14m renovation to undergo further repairsThe Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is set to be drained again after Donald Trump said on Monday – without providing proof – that five people were arrested for vandalism and five more are under investigation in connection to the algae blooms and peeling paint that appeared weeks after...

Plan to auction over 100 Titanic artifacts faces US government opposition

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Company wants to sell objects despite agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitionsA plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic – including personal belongings, currency, kitchen items and decor – is facing pushback from the US government, according to newly unsealed court documents.RMS Titanic Inc, the company that owns exclusive salva...

Australia politics live: David Pocock rues ‘farcical’ tax review; Marles defends Ben Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial opening

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Senator says he wants to see further changes for small businesses and ensure loopholes for wealthier people are actually closed. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says MarlesRichard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official o...

California drivers sue gas stations for allegedly using AI to inflate prices

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Firms including BP and 7-Eleven accused of coordinating prices to ‘wring more money from pockets of consumers’Gas ⁠station ​operators including BP, Circle K, Marathon, 7-Eleven, Walmart and Albertsons were sued on Monday by California drivers ⁠who accused them of using artificial intelligence to boost prices at the pump.According to a proposed class action, the defendants ⁠violated California’s ma...

UK plans to give established media more visibility on YouTube and TikTok

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Move for greater prominence on social media comes as ministers warn online misinformation risk becoming ‘existential for our democracy’Plans to hand established broadcasters and media companies greater prominence on digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok have been unveiled, as ministers warned online misinformation risked becoming “existential for our democracy”.In proposals that set up a new c...

Andy Burnham prepares for power as emotional Keir Starmer bows out

The Guardian • 2 months ago

New Makerfield MP could get keys to No 10 unopposed after British prime minister’s resignation paves way for successorWho is Andy Burnham, the ‘man of the people’ likely to be next UK prime minister?Keir Starmer has finally bowed to intense pressure to stand down as British prime minister as he conceded that he was no longer the right man to lead the country, leaving Andy Burnham all but certain t...

HR consultant wins English court case using AI lawyer in apparent legal first

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Barrister who was given material produced by Garfield AI says advocacy at trial ‘remained fundamentally human’An artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court pro...

Artificial intelligence law firm wins court case in England for first time

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Company hails victory for freelancer over unpaid debt as ‘landmark moment’ for access to justiceAn artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, called Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceeding...

Australia politics live: NSW to lower road toll cap and Queensland to promise infrastructure in today’s state budgets

The Guardian • 2 months ago

Weekly toll cap in NSW to fall from $60 to $50 for one year. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government will lower the weekly road toll cap from $60 to $50 for one year as part of cost of living measures handed down today in the 2026-27 state budget.In advance of today’s budget, the Minns government has announced that the thres...