Australian fuel prices set to rise by 30c as global markets react to ‘deadly cocktail’

• Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are arriving in India's national capital this weekend for the 18th BRICS Summit. • The summit will serve as a diplomatic hub for leaders to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, the crisis in West Asia, and the evolving global economic order.

Exclusive: Calls from Labour grow as 105 MPs write to PM urging ‘obvious’ step to alleviate cost of living crisisAndy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to commit to improving paternity leave in the UK in the next budget, with more than a quarter of Labour MPs writing to the prime minister to urge him to take action.Ahead of the chancellor’s first budget next month, 105 MPs have written to Burnham calling on him to increase statutory paternity leave to help alleviate the cost of living crisis and arguing that lowest-paid fathers are the hardest hit by meagre paternity leave provision. Continue reading...

Memorials and remembrances will mark the 25 years since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 on 11 September 2001The United States is marking the 25th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on Friday, with memorials and remembrance ceremonies taking place across the country to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.In New York City, the national September 11 memorial and museum will hold its annual commemoration ceremony, with the families of victims gathering at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza and reading aloud the names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Continue reading...

Bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of expertsEsther Rantzen has said she is no longer able to travel to Switzerland to end her life because she has become “too physically fragile”.Rantzen, who presented the TV current affairs programme That’s Life! for 21 years and founded the youth support charity Childline, had intended to end her life in a Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s foreign minister says Russia is deliberately targeting civiliansThe Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad marks a day of mourning today after a Russian attack killed five people yesterday, with two more killed and 79 injured in total in the wider Dnipropetrovsk region.“This is another crime by Russia against peaceful people. Those who lived, worked, and raised children. Russian attacks bring death and destruction to our cities and villages,” Dnipropetrovsk governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. Continue reading...

Unexpected GDP rise comes as borrowing costs and inflation risks mount ahead of Healey’s first budgetThe UK economy grew in July despite the fallout from the Iran war, in welcome news for John Healey ahead of next month’s budget.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a 0.4% increase in gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 0.3% growth in June. Continue reading...

Trespass case launched by two mothers settled after officers often went to families’ houses between midnight and 4amFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo Indigenous mothers have settled a trespass case against New South Wales police, after officers turned up at one of their homes 150 times in 20 months to conduct bail checks on her sons.The case, which was launched against NSW police in April 2024, was settled on confidential terms three weeks before it was to go to trial in the supreme court. Continue reading...

Christina Stambolian dress from 1994 has defined a whole category of fashion and is expected to fetch up to £220,000The dress that Diana, Princess of Wales wore one September evening in 1994 would have been memorable for its design alone – black, fitted, off-the-shoulder, skintight and short. However, it has another distinction, of defining a whole category of fashion – what has since become known as “revenge dressing”.Worn by Diana the same night Charles would reveal his infidelity on TV, the dress was quickly labelled “the revenge dress” by the media. It has its own Wikipedia page, with the same title. Continue reading...

National Audit Office says failure to implement £70bn modernisation would also hold back economic growthThe ‘great grid upgrade’ is off track – ministers should spell out the risks for billsConsumers will pay higher energy bills unless the UK government speeds up work on a vast programme of upgrades to the electricity grid to enable the switch to renewables, the public spending watchdog has warned.The National Audit Office (NAO) said that without faster action the extra costs associated with managing the ageing power network, which are ultimately passed on to the public, could reach £7.8bn a year by 2030. Continue reading...

The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practiceIceland will submit a bill in February 2027 which could permanently ban whaling in its waters, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries to permit commercial whaling.Whaling in Iceland has been put under intense scrutiny since a government-commissioned report was published in 2023 that found harpooned whales took two hours to die. The report led to a temporary suspension of the hunt that year. Continue reading...

The president demonised Democrats in an attempt to wangle votes in midterms despite backlash over Iran warWith his approval rating at a historic low, Donald Trump has brought down the curtain on the Republicans’ first ever midterm convention by pleading with supporters to do him “the biggest favour” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November’s US elections.The president is facing a growing backlash over rising prices and the war in Iran. Sweeping losses for the Republican party could effectively turn Trump into a lame duck for his final two years in the White House. Continue reading...