World News Hub

Trump appoints staff secretary Will Scharf as new White House counsel

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Scharf, who helped president win approval for $400m ballroom, to replace David Warrington on 1 SeptemberDonald Trump announced on Sunday that ⁠Will ​Scharf, the staff secretary who helped secure approval for the $400m White House ballroom project, will become ⁠White House counsel and assistant to the president.Effective 1 September, Scharf will replace David Warrington, who will be leaving the adm...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces decision to freeze her eggs

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

US congresswoman to share journey online as she criticizes Trump administration’s attacks on reproductive careAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez has announced she is going to freeze her eggs and will be sharing the process online.The progressive New York congresswoman, 36, revealed her decision to undergo fertility treatment in a series of Instagram stories this weekend. “This is a choice that I am making t...

Australia news live: NSW schools may ban take-home tests over AI concerns; minister calls urgent meeting over airport chaos

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Intervention follows days of delays and a near-miss between two planes on the Sydney aiport tarmac. Follow today’s news liveHealth minister says bulk billing rate has increased to 84%The federal government is trumpeting “big benefits” from its Medicare investments, announcing bulk billing rates across the country are up nearly five percentage points since last year. Continue reading...

Australia news live: NSW schools may ban unsupervised take-home tests over AI concerns; minister calls urgent meeting over airport chaos

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Intervention follows days of delays and a near-miss between two planes on the Sydney aiport tarmac. Follow today’s news liveCatherine King, the federal transport minister, has asked Air Services Australia to speak with her today about a “pathway forward” after two aircraft were involved in a near-miss at Sydney airport on Sunday.The two planes, owned by Jetstar and Qatar Airways, almost collided a...

Australia news live: transport minister calls in Airservices Australia for urgent meeting after Sydney airport chaos

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Intervention follows days of delays and a near-miss between two planes on the Sydney aiport tarmac. Follow today’s news livePrue Car, the NSW deputy premier, has asked the NSW Education Standards Authority (Nesa) to impose a ban on unsupervised take-home assessments during a broad review of AI’s impact on student learning.Car said she has asked Nesa to “urgently” examine artificial intelligence an...

Burnham vows crackdown on ‘rip-off’ business practices to ease cost of living

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

First of PM’s ‘everyday fixes’ to be banning fake discounts and making it easier to cancel unwanted subscriptionsAndy Burnham: I’ll end the rip-offs that people hateAndy Burnham has promised a series of measures to tackle the cost of living, including a ban on fake discounts and making it easier for people to escape unwanted subscriptions.The crackdown on “rip-off” business practices is expected t...

Netanyahu rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan in rare public break with Trump

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Israeli PM says IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed and rebukes US pressure to end wars without his country’s buy-inMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsrael’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza in a rare public break with Donald Trump.In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he was confronting a “wave of rumours about Isra...

Israel rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan in rare public break with Trump

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Netanyahu says IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed and rebuked US pressure to end wars without Israel’s buy-inMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsrael’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza in a rare public break with Donald Trump.In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he was confronting a “wave of rumours about Israeli we...

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan and vows no withdrawal until Hamas disarms – as it happened

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

This live blog is now closed.Israel rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan, says NetanyahuIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Gaza plan hailed by US president Donald Trump, vowing no military pullout of Gaza until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed. The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our...

Zuckerberg faces questions over why superyacht reportedly declined to help stranded boat

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Small cruise ship rescued skiff in south-east Alaska even though Meta billionaire’s $300m megayacht was closerMark Zuckerberg has faced questions over why a small cruise ship in south-east Alaska rescued a stranded skiff and its crew when his 387ft superyacht had been closer.The Silicon Valley billionaire’s yacht, worth a reported $300m, is said to have “repeatedly” declined to assist when a nearb...

Perseid meteor shower set to dazzle northern hemisphere this week

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Astronomers say viewing conditions promising for this year’s shower, and 50 to 100 meteors an hour may be visibleThe Perseid summer light show is back, and viewing conditions are especially promising across the northern hemisphere.The meteor shower’s is expected to peak on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and coincides with a total solar eclipse across Spain, Iceland and Greenland and a six-...

Israel rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan, says Netanyahu

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

In rare public break with Trump, Israel’s prime minister says IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmedMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsrael’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza in a rare public break with Donald Trump.In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he was confronting a “wave of rumours about Israeli weakness and Is...

Canadian government steps in as ‘out of control’ wildfires force thousands to flee

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

British Columbia battling 102 fires day and night across province, as breakneck speed hampers firefighters’ effortsCanada’s federal government has announced it will provide urgent assistance to British Columbia after an onslaught of unprecedented fast-moving wildfires forced about 22,000 people to flee their homes in frantic evacuations.A total of 102 wildfires were raging across the province on S...

Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in China as its strongest storm this year

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Tropical cyclone brings torrential rain and high winds to east coast after hitting Japan’s southern Okinawa provinceTyphoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, has made landfall on the country’s east coast, bringing torrential rain and strong ⁠winds and triggering warnings ​of flooding and landslides.The storm has already swept through Japan’s southern Okinawa prefe...

Lake Mead plummets to historic low water level as Colorado River struggles

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Levels at reservoir along Arizona-Nevada border dipped below previous record set in 2022, amid water crisis in westLake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was filled some 90 years ago, the latest sign of a deepening water crisis in the American west.Water levels at the reservoir, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border outside Las V...

Labour seeking ‘deeper relationship’ with EU under Burnham, new minister says

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Exclusive: Hamish Falconer wants ‘sense of renewed pace’ in post-Brexit talks while staying within Labour’s red linesThe UK will move faster and be more ambitious on achieving closer ties with Europe under Andy Burnham’s government, his new chief post-Brexit negotiator has said..Hamish Falconer, the new cabinet minister in charge of the EU reset talks, said there was “room to be ambitious” within ...

London mayor orders council to drop plan to ban new pubs and bars in Soho and West End

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan urges Westminster council to adopt ‘positive vision of economic growth’ of nightlifeSadiq Khan has ordered Westminster council to scrap a policy that would ban new pubs and bars from opening in Soho and the West End of London.This comes after the Guardian revealed the council’s new licensing policy asks pubs to stop customers from standing up while consuming beverages, which ...

London mayor orders council to drop plan to ban new pubs and restaurants in Soho and West End

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan urges Westminster council to adopt ‘positive vision of economic growth’ of nightlifeSadiq Khan has ordered Westminster council to scrap a policy that would ban new pubs and restaurants from opening in Soho and the West End of London.This comes after the Guardian revealed the council’s new licensing policy asks pubs to stop customers from standing up while consuming beverages,...

Pakistani grooming gang suspect ‘refuses to give date for return to UK’

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Rukhsar Ahmed was recently elected an MP in Pakistan while on bail over alleged child rape in 1990s ManchesterA grooming gang suspect released on bail in the UK and then re-elected as an MP in Pakistan has reportedly declined to say when he would return to face rape charges.The Guardian disclosed that Rukhsar Ahmed, a former Pakistan state minister, was arrested at Manchester airport in July 2024 ...

Iran-aligned Houthis claim they attacked oil refinery in Saudi Arabia

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Drone strike comes after Riyadh signs defence pact and Tehran issues tough demands to reopen strait of HormuzMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesYemen’s Tehran-aligned Houthis have claimed responsibility for an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, two days after the kingdom signed ⁠a defence pact with Turkey ⁠and Pakistan in response to ​growing regional instability caused by the US-Israel wa...

China expresses ‘grave concern’ as internal documents reveal suicide warning before death in Melbourne immigration detention

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Exclusive: Serious questions raised about whether Chinese citizen was properly monitored at centre run by US prison giantGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe US private prison company running Australia’s immigration system was warned that a newly detained Chinese citizen expressed suicidal ideation and had a history of self-harm less than 24 hours before she died by suici...

Italy condemns Spain’s ‘unacceptable’ border controls as Ceuta fallout intensifies

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Travellers caught up in ongoing migration row as Madrid introduces retaliatory measures on visitors from Italy after Rome imposed checks Italy’s foreign minister has called Spain’s decision to impose retaliatory checks on travellers from Italy “incomprehensible and completely unacceptable” as people making their way between the two EU countries were left grappling with the fallout of the escalatin...

Captain charged after woman and her five-month-old die in New York boat capsizing

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Manuel Hernandez charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment after boat overturned in New York harborThe captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor on Saturday evening has been charged following the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and her five-month-old daughter.Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment in the early hours of Sunday morning...

Captain charged after woman and five-month-old die in New York boat capsizing

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Manuel Hernandez charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment after boat overturned in New York harborThe captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor on Saturday evening has been charged following the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and five-month-old girl.Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment in the early hours of Sunday morning, a New ...

Taylor Swift songs removed from Trump and White House’s social media posts

The Guardian • 3 weeks ago

Rage-baiting efforts of Trump accounts silenced after posts such as a video linking her Red album to RepublicansSome of Taylor Swift’s songs have been removed from videos posted on social media by Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House, silencing efforts to mock the pop star.A video posted 3 August featuring the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, watching fireworks was posted thi...