HS2: Heidi Alexander to set out true cost of rail project – and when trains will begin to run

Pouria Zeraati, who worked for a dissident Farsi-language broadcaster, was attacked outside his home in 2024The stabbing of a journalist in London was a planned attack ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state, a court has heard.Pouria Zeraati, a British journalist of Iranian origin had worked for Iran International, a Farsi-language dissident Farsi-language broadcaster, when he was stabbed in the leg outside of his west London home in 2024. Continue reading...

About 36% of children whose parents were detained were younger than six, Brookings Institution study foundMore than 145,000 US children have likely experienced a parent being detained by immigration authorities since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency, according to a new report published by a reputed US thinkthank.The report, released Monday by the Brookings Institution, estimates that about 146,635 children who are US citizens have had a parent detained during the mass deportation campaign the Trump administration embarked on after he retook office in early January. The study further found that of those children, more than 22,000 experienced the detention of all of their co-resident parents. Continue reading...

If most popular Labour politician cannot win this seat then party’s electoral problems run deeper than Keir StarmerThe Makerfield byelection is bigger than Andy Burnham. Of the Labour MPs who were back on the constituency’s doorsteps in Hindley Green and Winstanley, just after an intensive local election campaign, many said the fight feels existential.It matters because it is probably the closest the UK will ever come to a direct presidential-style election, run through one single constituency and likely to decide the future of the Labour party. Continue reading...

A court case in New York has highlighted how Iran is using technology to recruit agents who may not even be regime supportersWhen on Friday a 32-year-old Iraqi was brought before a court in New York to be charged with planning to attack Jewish community sites in the US, a curtain was suddenly lifted on a corner of a shadowy world.The detention of Mohammed Saad Baqer al-Saadi in Turkey last week revealed rare details of Iran’s efforts to use terrorism to sow discord among communities in Europe, the UK and the US – but also the outlines of an uncertain and threatening future. Continue reading...

Accounts for Reform UK leader’s media company suggest money was not withdrawn at time of property purchaseNigel Farage is facing fresh scrutiny over his claim that he paid for his £1.4m house from a reality show fee rather than the millions gifted to him by a crypto billionaire.Accounts for the Reform leader’s personal media company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, suggest that money was not withdrawn from the firm at the time of the house purchase. Continue reading...

Bank founded 174 years ago could be phased out as early as 1 July as part of group’s reviewBosses at Lloyds Banking Group are considering axing the Halifax as a standalone brand, as part of a sweeping review that could result in the historic 174-year-old lender disappearing from Britain’s high streets.Lloyds has been assessing the future of its branding strategy and whether it will continue to operate everyday banking under three different brands – Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland – after government-backed rescue efforts at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading...

Some in party fear all-out campaign could boost Reform UK chancesThe Greens are locked in an internal debate about how hard to challenge Andy Burnham in the Makerfield byelection, with some worried about allowing Reform UK to win and others wanting the party to go all out.While characterised by insiders as “very civilised”, the discussion has highlighted existing differences between Greens who believe concessions can be won from Labour through informal cooperation and others – including some newer leftwing activists – who argue it achieves little. Continue reading...

Tehran is said to have made or reiterated some concessions but source in mediator Pakistan appears pessimisticMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran has made a new proposal for a deal to definitively end the war in the Middle East, officials in the region said on Monday, though there was no sign of any immediate breakthrough in the stalled peace negotiations.A ceasefire has paused most violence after six weeks of US-Israeli airstrikes and Iranian retaliation, but there has been little progress since Donald Trump said the ceasefire was “on life support”, and reports in Israeli media suggest a resumption of hostilities is imminent. Continue reading...

Train operator says passenger demand will still be met as it trims summer timetable at government’s behestAvanti West Coast is to cut about one in seven trains on its busiest intercity routes this summer to reduce costs.The train operator said it was reducing its timetable between London Euston and Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester in response to a government request to lower spending. Continue reading...

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum denies any links between her Morena party and organized crimePressure is mounting on Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, after two former top officials from the country’s Sinaloa state – both members of her Morena party – gave themselves up to US authorities over alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel.The state’s former security minister, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, crossed the border into Arizona last week and was taken into custody by US marshals, Mexico’s security ministry said. Sinaloa’s former finance minister, Enrique Díaz Vega, was taken into custody in New York. Continue reading...

Health minister issues stern rebuke, saying Greenlanders are not ‘experimental subjects’ of geopolitical interestGreenland’s government has criticised the arrival of a US doctor in Nuuk alongside Donald Trump’s special envoy, Jeff Landry, saying that Greenlanders are not “experimental subjects”.Joseph Griffin said he had joined the delegation as a volunteer to “assess the medical needs” of the Arctic island, which the US president has repeatedly threatened to invade. Continue reading...

Bookies’ favourite to replace Keir Starmer tones down stance on government borrowing to assuage City investorsUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has always faced a narrow path to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister: a tricky byelection, a leadership contest that is yet to be declared, and a far from constructive bond market backdrop.In making his pitch, assuaging City investors in particular has led the Greater Manchester mayor to dance on a pin. Continue reading...