Ministers tell HS2 to consider slower train speeds to cut costs

State legislation due to be introduced on Tuesday will give authorities powers to seize high-powered e-motorbikes. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told 7.30 last night that the “world is facing the greatest global energy security threat in its history” and Australians are feeling the pain at the petrol pump. We’ll have more coming up. Continue reading...

Solange Tremblay was ejected over 100 metres from the plane after collision at LaGuardia airport, her daughter saysTwo pilots killed after Air Canada jet collision at LaGuardia in New YorkSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA flight attendant on the Air Canada Jazz flight that collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia airport on Sunday survived in what her daughter called a “complete miracle”, when she was ejected more than 100 metres from the plane while still strapped to her seat.The CRJ-900 jet, operated by Jazz Aviation, collided with a fire truck as it landed, killing both the pilot and co-pilot. Nine people were sent to the hospital with injuries, including Solange Tremblay, a flight attendant. Continue reading...

Every PM hopes to emerge having said nothing that makes the news, and with Iran centre-stage Keir played a blinderWhat a difference a week makes. At last week’s prime minister’s questions, Keir Starmer tried to persuade us that he knew less than he did. His memory was so bad that he could barely remember who Peter Mandelson was, let alone why he had appointed him as ambassador to the US. Fast forward to Monday’s appearance before the liaison committee, the supergroup of select committee chairs, and Keir was desperate to convince us he knew more than he did. He had the inside track on Iran. He was in control. He also wasn’t altogether convincing.Mind you, it’s hard not to feel some sympathy with Starmer. The whole point of being prime minister is that you’re expected to know more than the rest of us. And most of the time you do. State secrets are your life blood. Only just occasionally the veil slips. Having threatened to obliterate Tehran’s power plants just days earlier, on Monday morning Donald Trump announced on Truth Social – along with a strange witch reference – that he was going to delay the bombardment for five days as constructive talks with the Iranian regime were taking place. Continue reading...

PM indicates he would prefer to focus taxpayer-funded help on poorest households, rather than universal bailoutMinisters are looking at providing support for household bills next winter, Keir Starmer said, as he suggested the energy price shock unleashed by the Iran conflict could continue for months to come.The prime minister indicated he would prefer to focus any taxpayer-funded help on the poorest households, rather than an expensive universal bailout, ahead of an emergency meeting on the economic fallout of the Middle East crisis. Continue reading...

Trump administration announces deal with TotalEnergies to redirect investment in wind to oil and gas insteadAs a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.The deal is the latest blow to the US offshore wind industry, which has faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion-dollar projects under Donald Trump. Continue reading...

France’s Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders among speakers praising prime minister at Budapest eventMarine Le Pen has called Viktor Orbán “an exceptional leader” and Geert Wilders hailed “a lion on a continent led by sheep” as Europe’s far-right figureheads rallied round Hungary’s prime minister before an election that polls suggest he may lose.“Hungary has become a symbol in Europe of a proud and sovereign people’s resistance against oppression,” Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of France’s National Rally (RN), told a gathering of EU-sceptical leaders in Budapest on Monday. Continue reading...

Ship arrives three weeks after Iranian-made drone hit British base of RAF Akrotiri on CyprusMiddle East crisis – live updatesHMS Dragon has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, three weeks after an Iranian-made drone hit the British base of RAF Akrotiri, the defence secretary has said.The Type 45 destroyer will begin “operational integration into Cyprus’s defence” from Monday night, John Healey told MPs. Continue reading...

Sudanese and Afghan students with offers to study in UK say government’s ‘emergency brake’ is discriminatoryThe women banned from studying in BritainSix students from Sudan and Afghanistan have accused the home secretary of racial discrimination and launched legal action to try to overturn a ban on them taking up university places in the UK.The students – five from Sudan and one from Afghanistan – have undergraduate degrees in medicine and science-based subjects and received offers from universities including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London. Continue reading...

Israeli military says it will continue operations in line with Israeli government directives until told otherwiseMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran, after Donald Trump signalled a pause in US attacks against energy infrastructure after what he said were talks with Iran.The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it would continue operations in line with Israeli government directives until told otherwise. Continue reading...

Chris Parry described Shomrim members as ‘cosplayers’ hours after arson attack in north LondonGolders Green ambulance arson attack – live updatesA Reform UK mayoral candidate has described members of a Jewish neighbourhood watch group as “cosplayers” and likened them to “Islamists on horseback” in comments made after an attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity.Chris Parry, who remains Reform’s mayoral candidate for Hampshire despite a previous controversy in which he said David Lammy should “go home” to the Caribbean, made the comments on Monday about Shomrim, a group of volunteers who safeguard communities including Orthodox Jewish families. Continue reading...

Cargo plane carrying between 80 and 110 soldiers crashes shortly after takeoff in southern Amazon regionScores of Colombian soldiers are feared dead after military transport plane crashed on takeoff in the south of the country.The defense minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the accident happened as the Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 plane was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, deep in Colombia’s southern Amazon region on the border with Peru, as it transported troops from the armed forces.More details soon … Continue reading...