Drumcree standoff shows Northern Ireland’s troubled past still threatens its peace

Pat McFadden urges Labour MPs to back overhauls, amid signs party looking to cut payments for some 16- to 24-year-oldsUK politics live – latest updatesLabour MPs have a moral responsibility to accept significant changes to the welfare system to help get more young people into work, the work and pensions secretary has said.In a sign he is looking to overhaul the welfare state, Pat McFadden said it was time for Labour to “renew” the system first created by the Clement Attlee government and given a new deal by New Labour. Continue reading...

Waltz says Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to end war because they ‘were asking for everything up front’The Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations said the US rejected Iran’s proposal to end the ongoing war there because Iranian negotiators “were asking for everything up front”.Echoing comments by Donald Trump on Saturday, the president’s UN ambassador Mike Waltz told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that Iran had asked for relief “from billions and billions of sanctions that are going into place” as part of an economic blockade on Iran. The blockade is aimed at putting pressure on Iran to stop its attacks ‌on vessels in the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK’s essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very high risk of drought.A very high proportion – 81% – of England’s fresh produce is concentrated in parts of the country that are already experiencing water stress, according to the analysis by nature-focused investment fund Rebalance Earth. Continue reading...

At least one person killed and nearly 150,000 households lost electricity from North Carolina to New EnglandA strong, deadly storm known as a nor’easter battered the US’s east coast over the weekend, bringing power outages, flooding, damaging winds and hazardous ocean conditions.Trees and power lines were knocked down across the region, at least one person was killed and hundreds of thousands were left without electricity as officials cautioned that conditions could deteriorate further. Continue reading...

Airport chiefs say 2035 operations deadline unachievable as critics say new delay makes case for project ‘even more dubious’Plans for a third runway at Heathrow are once again up in the air after the prime minister refused to say whether he backs the “contested” project which is delayed by up to four years.Over the weekend it emerged that ​Heathrow no longer expects to meet the original 2035 deadline. Instead, the airport hopes to secure planning permission by 2029 and then open the runway “within a decade”, meaning it would not be operational until 2039. Continue reading...

Sinn Féin leaders join those on streets opposing decision to allow Garvaghy Road parade for first time since 1998Portadown march: latest updatesHundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland after a court gave late-night clearance for the Orange Order to march on a historically significant road for the first time in nearly 30 years.The loyalist Drumcree parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown was given the go ahead by the Parades Commission for the first time since 1998, a decision denounced as “madness” by Sinn Féin. Continue reading...

The PM oozes confidence and easy-going charm as he tells Laura Kuenssberg the hill he’ll die on is fixing social careUK politics live – latest updatesIn recent weeks there has been much speculation in some parts of the media that Andy Burnham would be calling an early general election. Speculation that existed largely in the heads of those writing the stories, as even the most favourable polls suggest that Labour would lose its huge majority and become the largest party in a coalition government. But to stop the chatter dominating his party conference, Burnham made it clear there would be no early election. His reward? Headlines in the rightwing press that he had bottled it. By not calling an election he had never planned to call. Sometimes you just can’t win.There again, you might call this a first-world problem for the prime minister. This time last year, Burnham had been hanging around the fringes of the conference as he and his allies attempted one of the most half-arsed coups in living memory. One that fizzled out almost before it had started and became the butt of many jokes among Keir Starmer’s inner circle. Andy looked to have blown himself up on the runway, leaving Keir safe for the duration of the parliament. Continue reading...

70% vote against tightening centuries-old neutrality, which far right said was eroded by sanctions against RussiaSwiss voters have decisively rejected a proposal for a strict definition of neutrality that would have required Switzerland to curb cooperation with Nato and abandon sanctions against Russia.All cantons and about 70% of voters rejected the proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be ⁠written into the Swiss constitution, final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The motion had been promoted by the far-right Swiss People’s party (SVP). Continue reading...

Outcome of meetings of Reserve Bank on Monday and Tuesday will affect Australian mortgage rates, household budgets and house pricesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s key interest rate is expected to hit its highest level since 2011, drag down house prices and add more than $100 to typical monthly mortgage repayments.The Reserve Bank board is poised to hike the cash rate from 4.35% to 4.6% on Tuesday, which would be the fourth increase in 2026 and push typical home loan interest rates to 6.5%. Continue reading...

‘People care about the songs, books and pictures that influence the critical moments in their lives,’ says the architect of the fightback in the UKGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIf you want to state the case against copyright reform in Australia, get Kylie Minogue’s phone number.If there is one lesson to be learned from a similar battle in the UK, high-profile members of the creative industries make a difference. They get your argument on the front of newspapers, in the news bulletins and on social media. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show that Kelvin Morton has also clashed with party HQ staff and Brisbane volunteersGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation’s general manager, Kelvin Morton – brought in by the party to improve its vetting processes – referred to David Farley as an “asshole” just days before Farley’s historic Farrer byelection win for the party in May.In a series of text messages seen by Guardian Australia, Morton responds to a news article published in the Sydney Morning Herald about infighting among senior party figures over Farley’s previously undeclared support for the Labor party.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...