MI5 lied about relations with neo-Nazi informant, watchdog says

• The United States launched a series of rare daytime air strikes against Iran as part of an ongoing cycle of tit-for-tat military escalations. • In response, Iranian leadership accused Washington of attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic, asserting that while Tehran does not seek war, it must remain prepared to fight.

Appointment by outgoing prime minister, potentially opens door for London mayor to join Burnham cabinetSadiq Khan has been given a peerage by Keir Starmer just days before the prime minister stands down, potentially opening the door to one of Labour’s most high-profile mayors joining Andy Burnham’s cabinet in future.The London mayor has long been tipped for the House of Lords, with Starmer said to have been keen to put him there immediately after the May local elections in an attempt to shore up Labour’s progressive flank. Continue reading...

Critics say Foreign Office figures send ‘global message about the role the country wants to play on international stage’Labour’s foreign aid cuts mean reductions of as much as 90% in the bilateral support the UK will give to some African countries, Foreign Office figures show.The department’s annual report includes a long-awaited breakdown of how the reduction in the aid budget will affect individual countries for the next three years. Continue reading...

President says he had to choose ‘one side or the other’ after breakdown of relations between ministry and military leadersEurope live – latest updatesUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has defended his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership.Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov – widely seen as a reformist and moderniser – and the military’s commander in chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi. Continue reading...

Long-running AIHW survey shows daily rates of smoking dropped to 5.6% last year – down from 8.3% two years agoGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDaily smoking rates have fallen to a historic low and are tracking well ahead of national targets, while vaping rates have stabilised, according to the largest nationally representative survey on tobacco use.But those who do smoke are increasingly using illicit tobacco, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) National Drug Strategy Household Survey also found. Continue reading...

Most Australian capital cities have at least 80% chance of unusually warm and dry spring as climatologists watch developing system with increasing alarmGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe El Niño climate phenomenon linked to record global temperatures and now locked in place in the Pacific Ocean could develop into the strongest on record, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.Climatologists are watching the strengthening El Niño with increasing alarm, saying the forecasts from climate models in the coming months are “mind blowing” and “astounding”. Continue reading...

Guardian analysis finds 19% of games reached heat levels warranting delays, as Fifa defends its player safeguardsThe climate crisis has come for football.During this year’s World Cup, nearly one in five of the tournament’s 100-plus matches took place in levels of heat and humidity that a football players’ union has previously said should trigger delays or postponements, a Guardian analysis has found. An additional 23 matches were played in cities as they reached those heat levels, but in stadiums where conditions were mitigated by air conditioning. Continue reading...

Vadym Iermolaiev says military intelligence officers were behind assassination attempt that seriously wounded his wife and childEurope live – latest updatesThe Ukrainian businessman who survived an assassination attempt in Monaco has accused Ukraine’s military intelligence agency of organising the attack.In his first public statement since the bombing that shook the wealthy principality, Vadym Iermolaiev alleged that serving and former officers of the GUR military intelligence agency were behind the attempted killing, which left him injured but his partner critically wounded. Continue reading...

Millions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoorsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Smoke from wildfires burning in south-central Canada and parts of Minnesota is spreading across the US, prompting air quality alerts in more than 20 states with millions of Americans expected to face unhealthy air conditions this week.The smoke from the more than 180 active wildfires in northern Ontario briefly made Toronto’s air quality among the worst in the world on Wednesday. By Wednesday night, the smoke had spread across several US states, from Minnesota, where multiple wildfires are also burning, to New York, blanketing the skies in haze and worsening air quality. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Green party launches pushback against idea that next PM will have more left-leaning agenda than StarmerUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham is “too in hock to vested interests” to offer real change, Zack Polanski has said as the Greens launched a pushback against the incoming prime minister, portraying him as cautious and weak on such areas as wealth taxes, Gaza and rent controls.Under Polanski’s leadership the Green party in England and Wales has more than tripled its membership, and is closely tracking Labour in opinion polls, with much of the new support coming from former Labour voters disenchanted with Keir Starmer’s approach. Continue reading...

Analysis reveals stark socioeconomic divide, with schools with highest free school meal eligibility having fewer treesPrivate school grounds in England offer 41% more tree cover than state schools for cooling and shade in extreme temperatures, research has found.As teachers and students prepare to take their summer holidays after weeks of high temperatures where some classrooms reached highs of 40C, an analysis of tree cover in schools in England reveals a stark socioeconomic divide. Continue reading...

Heatwaves, high energy prices, calls for reindustrialisation and North Sea drilling are all high on the to-do listUK politics live – latest updatesWildfires cast a pall of smoke this week over Greater Manchester, whose former mayor Andy Burnham stands on the threshold of No 10. Amid three UK heatwaves so far this year, which have killed thousands of people in England and Wales, damaged harvests and left children crying in classrooms, the new prime minister’s plans for the climate crisis remain as shrouded as his city.“Burnham has been very quiet about the climate [crisis] so far,” says Chris Venables, an environmental campaigner and fellow at the Green Alliance thinktank. “I don’t think [it] is at the forefront of his mind, but that does not mean he will water down this agenda.” Continue reading...