Clacton polls open with Farage up against slew of fringe candidates

• Myanmar is challenging the traditional diplomatic model where governments must make political concessions and end human rights abuses to end international isolation. • Historically, Western diplomacy utilized conditionality, applying economic restrictions and diplomatic pressure to force rehabilitation and political reform.

• Former Indonesian Ambassador Dr. Wajid Fauzi delivered a presentation at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) analyzing the historical and geopolitical drivers of Middle East conflicts. • He specifically highlighted the conflict in Yemen, explaining how domestic strife evolved into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

• A devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia, resulting in more than 160 deaths, while Typhoon Dolphin forced the evacuation of over one million people in China. • NOAA reported that July 2026 was the hottest month ever documented in the U.S., highlighting escalating climate trends.

The three teenagers are students at Scots College, one of Sydney’s oldest all-boys’ private schoolsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThree students from a Sydney boys’ private school have been charged with sexual assault offences in relation to the alleged assault of a teenage girl.Police launched an investigation after reports that a 14-year-old girl had last month been assaulted in an alleyway in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Continue reading...

Health secretary praises more collegiate style under Andy Burnham and says previous No 10 sidelined her from key policy launchYvette Cooper admits Labour has “not done government very well” in the last couple of years, and accused Keir Starmer’s No 10 of sidelining her during the launch of a key immigration policy when she was home secretary.Speaking on the Political Currency podcast with the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, Cooper highlighted some of the difficulties ministers faced with Starmer’s leadership, which she summarised as “bring me solutions, not problems”. Continue reading...

GDP expanded by 0.4% in three months to June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter, says ONSEconomic growth slowed in the second quarter of the year, as the disruption unleashed by the Iran war began to take its toll, official figures show.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter, in line with City economists’ expectations. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: With more sites closed and more lives upended, a look at the rhetoric and reality of where asylum seekers should be housedGood morning. This week, immigration minister Anna Turley announced, with minor fanfare, the government will stop using a further 13 hotels to house asylum seekers across the country.It brings the total shut this year to 44, in pursuit of Labour’s manifesto pledge, now reiterated by Andy Burnham, to cease hotel use completely by the end of this parliament. Doing so would remove what have become highly visible symbols of an increasingly toxic debate about migration. Less than 160 to go, according to the Home Office.Solar eclipse | Wednesday’s eclipse began in Russia’s remote Arctic north, going on to trace an arc over much of western Europe. From the UK to northern Italy, tens of millions of people turned to the sky as the light of the setting sun was almost completely blocked out.UK news | Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid “inhumane and impossible” conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with “the bigger questions” of climate adaptation.US politics | Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary at the end of August, Donald Trump announced.Science | Astronomers claim to have discovered a new kind of cosmic object, a black hole “star”, which is the size of the entire solar system and glows with a brilliant red light.Middle East | Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. Continue reading...

Judge rejects intimidation claim as high profile trial continues with complainant J’s ex-girlfriend cross-examined by shock jock’s defence teamThe prosecutor in the Alan Jones trial has accused the defence team in court of “intimidating” an alleged victim’s former girlfriend after she asserted she wasn’t financially motivated to provide evidence supporting her ex’s allegations.On Thursday, complainant J’s ex-girlfriend was cross-examined by Jones’s defence team, during which she maintained she had a conversation with J more than 20 years ago in which he alleged Jones touched him. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ministers explore diverting male prisoners serving short terms or on remand away from tougher jailsMinisters are examining a possible upgrade of security at men’s category C and women’s prisons to deal with an overcrowding crisis across the England and Wales estate, the Guardian understands.Officials have explored diverting prisoners on remand or serving short sentences away from category B “reception” prisons such as HMPs Liverpool, Manchester and Pentonville in north London. Continue reading...

Rio Tinto makes power supply deal with federal and NSW government to cut emissions and decarbonise, preventing potential closureFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastResources giant Rio Tinto says Australia’s largest aluminium smelter will run entirely on renewable energy by 2033 after it struck a $2.5bn subsidy deal with the federal and New South Wales governments to prevent a potential closure.The deal – announced by Anthony Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, at the Tomago smelter near Newcastle on Thursday – is for a 10-year below-market power supply guarantee that begins after the facility’s existing coal-focused electricity contract with AGL ends in December 2028. Continue reading...

High schoolers join university walkouts in major cities and several smaller locations amid urge to ‘stand up against the far right’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCalls for striking students to stay in school are unlikely to deter thousands across the country preparing to take part in a major walkout in protest against Pauline Hanson.High schoolers have begun joining the coordinated university union protests taking place in every major city and several smaller locations across the country on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...