‘Irresponsible failure’: Google, Meta, Snap and Microsoft slam EU over child sexual abuse law lapse

PM appears to draw comparison between Russian and US leaders and calls for plan to restore shipping through strait of HormuzKeir Starmer has said he is “fed up” with the effect that Donald Trump’s actions in the Middle East are having on the British public, while appearing to draw a comparison between the US president to Vladimir Putin.Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston on Thursday, the prime minister said: “I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.” Continue reading...

Prime minister explicitly blames US president for British consumers’ higher bills as he concludes tour of Gulf statesGood morning. Keir Starmer is wrapping up his three-day tour of Gulf states today, and we are starting some conclusions. What we have not got is any sort of plan for a resolution of the Iran war; Starmer is not one of the main protagonists in this conflict, what he has said publicly about his talks with Gulf leaders has consisted largely of platitudes, we still have no idea about when, if or how the strait of Hormuz will fully open, and the outcome will be determined by Iran and a rash and unpredictable US president.But Starmer has been giving some thought to how the UK should respond to the era of global uncertainty we now find ourselves in and he has set out some of his thinking in an article for the Guardian. The full piece is here. Continue reading...

Text on plaque in Hall of Valour updated to include references to war crime – murder charges and the ongoing legal processThe Australian War Memorial has updated the display dedicated to Ben Roberts-Smith after the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal was officially charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.The changes, implemented on Friday, mean nearly half of the descriptive plaque in the museum’s Hall of Valour is now dedicated to events occurring after his military service, beginning with the initial reports of misconduct in 2016. Continue reading...

The four astronauts are set to touch down on Earth and conclude the 10-day mission after completing moon flybyThe number of human beings who have travelled to the moon and returned safely to Earth will grow to 28 on Friday night when Nasa’s Orion capsule containing four Artemis II astronauts will glide gently to a Pacific Ocean splashdown beneath three giant parachutes.The scheduled 5.07pm PT landing (1.07am BST Saturday) off the coast of San Diego will mark the end of a 10-day lunar odyssey that made the three Americans and one Canadian the first people to travel beyond lower Earth orbit since the final mission of the Apollo program in December 1972. Continue reading...

Whatever outcome of ceasefire talks, the region will have to live with a continuing threat from the regime in TehranMiddle East crisis – live updatesGulf nations will seek to add security partners as they rebuild battered economies after the US and Israel’s war on Iran and deal with an emboldened Tehran.The Gulf will have to live with a continuing threat from the regime in Tehran and its remaining missile arsenal. American bases on their soil turned them into targets for Iran, as it retaliated against a joint attack by the US and Israel. Continue reading...

Texas city believes loose rules and low taxes will make the US’s biggest banks come running – can it pull it off?As the warm sun rises over the Dallas skyline, SUVs and pickup trucks whiz past an unassuming construction site that is helping cement the city’s Texas-sized financial ambitions.Nestled between towers claimed by Bank of America and JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs has cordoned off 800,000 sq ft for a new Dallas campus able to host more than 5,000 staff. But the $700m (£530m) project is more than a regional expansion plan by one of America’s largest banks. It is another win for the lobbyists behind Dallas’s “Y’all Street” – the Texan city’s aggressive push to steal New York’s financial crown. Continue reading...

How much fuel does Australia have left today, and when could we run out? Track how much petrol and diesel prices have risen near you in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHundreds of service stations across Australia have run empty, fuel prices are elevated and oil shipments have been cancelled.Australia is battling a fuel crisis as Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz continues to bite. The federal government has released fuel reserves, cut fuel excise taxes and rolled out a national fuel security plan. Continue reading...

Charity advises replacing seed and nut feeders, where birds gather, with small amounts of mealworms, fat balls or suetGarden birds should not be fed seeds and nuts over the summer months, the RSPB has said, in an attempt to reduce the spread of avian diseases.Bird lovers are being urged to take down their bird feeders between May and October to help birds such as the greenfinch, whose numbers have plummeted after the spread of trichomonosis, a parasitic disease transmitted more easily when birds cluster around feeders in the warmer months. Continue reading...

President’s post on Truth Social is in keeping with a pattern of using shocking video to sow fear about immigration and justify mass deportationBesieged by questions about his war on Iran and his wife’s statement on Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump tried to shift the national conversation back to his immigration crackdown by posting a graphic, distressing video of a woman in Florida being killed last week by a man he described as an illegal immigrant from Haiti.The video, taken by a surveillance camera outside a Fort Myers gas station, showed a man identified by authorities as a Haitian immigrant using a hammer to bludgeon to death the woman, who was reportedly a clerk at the gas station. Continue reading...

Thinktank says algorithms are fuelling isolation and division after analysing posts shown to social media usersReform UK voters are the least likely to see posts from friends and family on social media and most likely to see content from brands and news organisations, a study has found.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank said algorithms were fuelling isolation and division after its research analysing users’ feeds on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok found that only 13% of Reform UK voters saw content from someone they knew, compared with 23% of Green party voters. Continue reading...

Woman, 27, found dead near Tennant Creek on Sunday with ‘visible facial injuries’, police sayA man is accused of murdering his partner after allegedly telling police she was injured in a car crash with a kangaroo on an outback highway.The 33-year-old was charged days after his 27-year-old partner was found dead with “visible facial injuries” in a Jeep Cherokee near the Northern Territory’s Tennant Creek. Continue reading...