Middle East crisis live: Conflict continues in Lebanon despite Trump hailing Israeli-Hezbollah de-escalation

• During the second day of the Global Environment Facility's (GEF) 71st Council Meeting, global leaders emphasized the urgent need for a unified approach to environmental governance. • The discussions focused on preventing fragmentation as three separate Conferences of the Parties (COPs) converge, highlighting the intersection of climate action, biodiversity, and ocean health.

• President Jose Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste highlighted the ASEAN bloc as a successful model for regional cooperation during the Shangri-La Dialogue. • He emphasized that the organization's commitment to sustained diplomacy, consensus-building, and practical cooperation is essential for preventing conflict.

• Families in Gaza living near the Israeli military-controlled "Yellow Line" have reported to the UN that they face constant fear of injury or death. • The UN chief praised the outgoing leadership of the World Food Programme (WFP) for making the agency leaner and more agile in responding to global crises.

Donna Jones writes to PM regarding ‘national tragedy’ of Henry Nowak murder in Southampton last DecemberUK politics live – latest updatesThe police and crime commissioner for Hampshire is leading calls for a review of religious exemptions on the carrying of knives after the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak by a man carrying a “Sikh dagger” in Southampton.Donna Jones described the stabbing of university student Nowak as a “national tragedy” and said she was writing to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, about the issue. Continue reading...

One of largest equity fundraisings ever includes $10bn share sale to US investment group Berkshire HathawayBusiness live – latest updatesGoogle’s parent company Alphabet has said it plans to raise up to $80bn (£59bn) in equity to fund its vast artificial intelligence infrastructure investments, raising further questions over the economics of the AI boom.The move, one of the largest equity fundraisings ever globally, includes a $10bn share sale to the US investment group Berkshire Hathaway, which was led until last year by the retired investment guru Warren Buffett for 60 years. Continue reading...

Emily Thornberry criticises Israel’s ‘staggering’ sense of impunity and rebukes Donald Trump for abandoning GazaThe UK government has let the Palestinian people down and failed to make it economically impossible for Israel to continue to act with impunity in the West Bank and Gaza, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, has said.She accused her own government of lacking ambition and wringing its hands on the Palestinian crisis, and she also chastised Donald Trump for declaring a ceasefire in Gaza and then walking away, leaving Gazans to live in rubble. Continue reading...

Exclusive: First shipwrecks found in Nassau harbour on New Providence, once the hideout of Blackbeard and Calico JackThe first shipwrecks linked to the real pirates of the Caribbean in the Bahamas have been discovered by an international team co-directed by a British marine archaeologist.Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham were among pirates who, between the 1690s and 1720s, turned Nassau on the island of New Providence into a hideout where they plotted their next heists on the high seas and divided up their plunder. Continue reading...

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart says it ‘beggars belief’ there were not more exchanges between Mandelson and the PMGood morning. Keir Starmer is chairing cabinet today as Labour MPs mull over the coverage of the Peter Mandelson files. In terms of revelations relating to Mandelson himself, the impact is probably not as bad as many MPs feared; Politico quotes one official as saying the mood last night was at the “top end” of expectations. Here is our main story about the data release, by Henry Dyer and Pippa Crear.There will be more coverage today.There’s a lot of stuff that’s missing. Anybody who’s looked at these 1,500 pages will see acres and acres of white space, these constellations of asterisks, huge amounts of redactions.Now, some of that is fine because it’s national security issues, our relationship with the Americans.It beggars belief that there were so few exchanges between Mandelson and the prime minister. There’s almost nothing in the record.So either this stuff is being deliberately withheld or it’s been deleted. Continue reading...

About 800 Mozambicans said to be caught up in violence in Mossel Bay as anti-immigration protests sweep countryFive Mozambique nationals were killed in “xenophobic attacks” in South Africa at the weekend, the Mozambican government said – the first deaths officially linked to protests against illegal immigration sweeping the country.About 800 Mozambican nationals were caught up in violence that broke out in the southern coastal city of Mossel Bay on Friday, a government statement said. Continue reading...

Senate committee also hears Murray Watt needed personal security after sending the union into administrationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government has paid millions of dollars in personal protection for the administrators of the CFMEU, and had to organise security for minister Murray Watt after he introduced the legislation that placed the union into administration, it has been revealed.Under questioning from Liberal senator Jane Hume in the Senate committee on education and employment legislation, it was revealed that the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has paid millions of dollars to keep the administrators safe. Continue reading...

Senior independent director to handle process again after Albert Manifold’s shock departure last weekBusiness live – latest updatesBP has backed Dame Amanda Blanc to lead its search for a new chair for a second time, shrugging off investor concerns over her role at the oil company after the shock departure of its chair last week.Some shareholders have voiced concerns over Blanc, the senior independent director at the British oil company, running the process again after Albert Manifold’s short stint as chair. Continue reading...