GB News will not be investigated over ‘no riot in Belfast’ claim

• The US Central Command conducted airstrikes for the ninth consecutive night, targeting Iranian missile sites, air defense systems, and military command centers. • Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed the interim ceasefire deal signed by Donald Trump as "worthless and invalid," while Iranian negotiators announced the suspension of their commitments.

• The United States and Iran are locked in a persistent "grey zone" conflict characterized by a cycle of military pressure and diplomatic overtures. • Despite Donald Trump's previous promises to avoid "forever wars," the current strategy suggests that diplomacy is being used to manage the conflict rather than resolve it.

• Russia launched a deadly attack near Odesa, Ukraine, contributing to ongoing conflict and regional instability. • In legal news, Mexican drug kingpin Ismael Zambada has been sentenced in the United States, marking a significant blow to organized crime networks.

Research during Hungary election shows AI recommended parties not running and gave highly volatile answers to identical promptsAI chatbots provide inaccurate, inconsistent and unreliable guidance to voters asking which party they should back, a study suggests, often recommending the wrong party, not mentioning the right one, or listing parties not even running.“The results raise serious concerns about the reliability of general-purpose AI systems in electoral contexts,” the study, published by the civil liberties group Liberties and based on research during this year’s Hungarian parliamentary elections, concluded. Continue reading...

Revamped Ripon attraction reopens as a more immersive experience telling ‘national story’ of poverty and welfareVisitors to one of Britain’s most complete surviving Victorian workhouses won’t have to strip and bathe in someone else’s bath water. But they might get some gruel, they can sweep the yard and there are “schoolmaster” volunteers happy to tell children how to behave.“You are literally going to walk in the footsteps of people who have experienced this place,” said the director of the Ripon Museums Trust, Alexa Vernon. Continue reading...

Interim report not able to draw ‘nexus’ between matters referred to child protection and circumstances leading to five-year-old’s alleged murder•Warning: This story contains references to Indigenous Australians who have diedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKumanjayi Little Baby’s mother was “effectively” left alone to protect her children while also experiencing domestic violence, because child protection authorities failed to adequately assess multiple threats to her safety, a draft review has found.But the interim report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, found that despite those conclusions, the review was unable to draw a link between the child protection referrals and the five-year-old Warlpiri girl’s death. Continue reading...

Experts urge ministers to update legislation to prevent intended parents resorting to riskier arrangements abroadSurrogates, parents and children are being failed by the UK’s archaic laws, which are “creaking at the seams” as demand for surrogacy grows rapidly, experts have said.Figures obtained by the Guardian show there were just under 1,000 children born to surrogates in 2025, double the number in 2015. The rise has been driven by a rise in the number of gay couples seeking to be parents, increasing infertility and shifting cultural attitudes. Continue reading...

New prime minister urged to introduce 2% minimum charge on households with more than £100m in wealthA wealth tax on the UK’s super-rich households could raise £10bn a year, according to academics who urged Andy Burnham to include the measure in his plans to “make tax fairer” and pay for better public services.The sum could be raised through a 2% minimum charge on households with more than £100m in wealth and would affect fewer than 1,000 of the richest UK households, according to the study by Gabriel Zucman, a professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics, and Ben Tippet, a lecturer in economics and wealth inequality at King’s College London. Continue reading...

Albanese government’s approval of North West Shelf gas extension being challenged by the Australian Conservation Foundation and Friends of Australian Rock ArtThe Albanese government’s decision to approve one of the world’s largest gas projects in Western Australia is being challenged in the federal court, setting up a significant test of how Australia’s environment law deals with the threat of climate change.The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Friends of Australian Rock Art (Fara) are this week running concurrent court challenges against the approval of the extension of Woodside’s major North West Shelf gas export project. Continue reading...

Iran has attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, after the US launched a tenth consecutive night of strikesMiddle East crisis live: follow latest updatesNearly 100 US service members have been injured over the last two weeks of escalating strikes on Iran, the Pentagon has said, as Tehran launched a wave of reprisals to the tenth consecutive night of attacks.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday they had targeted US military sites including air defence systems and a radar installation in Bahrain and Kuwait, while a tanker in the strait of Hormuz reported being ⁠struck by an unknown projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel and board a lifeboat. Continue reading...

Industry says government’s failure to address cooling demands means AI growth plans are ‘fatally flawed’The UK will not have enough water for future datacentres, the water industry has said in stark criticism of the government’s AI growth plans.Datacentres rely on large amounts of water to manage the heat generated by densely packed servers. Cooling towers, chillers and humidification systems make direct use of this water, with large volumes also consumed indirectly through high electrical power needs. Continue reading...

Decline in clearing of trees and shrubs offset by sharp jump in clearing of non-woody vegetationFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlmost 90 rugby league fields’ worth of woody habitat were bulldozed in New South Wales every day in 2024, according to new government data which shows the state has failed to rein in high rates of clearing.Clearing of vegetation across the state increased by 16% in 2024, reaching 81,293 hectares (200,879 acres) in total – an area more than 275 times the size of the Sydney CBD. The increase was due to a sharp jump in clearing of non-woody vegetation, up 70% on the previous year. Continue reading...