Monday briefing: How is it possible the prime minister didn’t know about Mandelson’s vetting failure?

• China and Indonesia have agreed to deepen military cooperation and expand strategic ties in technology, energy, and minerals to strengthen bilateral relations amid Asian geopolitical competition. • The Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros has withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, citing concerns that the event's independent and neutral character has been compromised.

Workers thought to be stuck in underground areas at 11 sites after last week’s devastating flash floodsRescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 11 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, ​the ⁠country’s disaster ​management authority has said.The death toll from the ⁠unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud ​and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 903, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. Nearly 5,000 are missing on the two sides of the border. Continue reading...

Telecoms company to benefit from rollout of full-fibre broadband and soaring prices for recycled metalBT is on track for an estimated £2bn-plus windfall over the next decade from selling off old copper cabling, as it cashes in on soaring prices amid the AI market frenzy and switches the UK’s network to full-fibre broadband.Copper is one of the main beneficiaries of the “electrification of everything”, essential for the rapid growth of AI data centres, electronics and the fast-growing renewable energy industry. Continue reading...

Berlin expected to outline response to incident this month widely speculated to have been coordinated by RussiaThe German government is imminently expected to announce who it believes was behind a suspected drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane earlier this month and to outline its response to the incident in coordination with its European and Nato partners.The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told the public broadcaster ARD in an interview on Sunday evening: “We are in the process of concluding the investigations; we have reached a broad agreement within the federal government on how we will respond, and we will make this clear in the coming days. It won’t take much longer.” Continue reading...

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds ‘reasonable cause to believe’ tech firm subjected workers spoke up about Palestine to hostile work environmentThe US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency tasked with enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, has found that Cisco, the global tech company, probably violated the civil rights of Middle Eastern, Muslim and other company employees.The determination, reached earlier this summer, is believed to be the first by the federal agency finding a major company at fault in connection to pro-Palestinian advocacy that swept campuses and workplaces in recent years. Continue reading...

After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seatAnnie Andrews was a dark horse Democrat challenging a five-term Republican in the US Senate when 314 Action, a political action fund devoted to electing scientists and doctors, first backed her.Now, after the unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham, Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race. Donald Trump persuaded South Carolina voters last week to select Graham’s sister, Darline, as the new Republican candidate. They will face off in November in an election still heavily favored to remain in Republican hands in the conservative state. Continue reading...

Jasmeet Wadhwa, who fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan, lost his life in AprilA British family is pleading with French authorities to release the body of a relative that officials have held for five months after he died in the Channel in April.Jasmeet Wadhwa, 32, died while attempting to reach the UK on a dinghy on 1 April with his mother, Harbans Kaur Wadhwa, after they fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan in January of this year. Continue reading...

Donkey named HeeHaw was shot and killed as authorities reportedly looked on property in search of a missing personA police officer in the US state of Georgia was placed on leave after a family’s pet baby donkey was shot and killed during an early-morning search on their property.The animal’s owner, Hannah Israel, said officers were at her pasture without notification or permission at about 12.45am on Sunday, reportedly looking for a missing person when they encountered the small male donkey named HeeHaw. Continue reading...

Trump’s Operation Economic Outcast is expected to push many Iranians into deeper poverty as food inflation soarsFor many Iranians, the new US sanctions campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, seems superfluous given the grim economic situation in their country.Iranians are facing runaway food inflation, closed petrol stations and a seemingly never-ending depreciation of the nation’s currency caused by a lack of foreign exchange reserves. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dr Will Tullett says better understanding of scents can improve wellbeing and perception of the worldChildren need a better education in sniffing aromas, a leading historian of smells has said, noting it may improve their wellbeing and help them understand the world around them.Dr Will Tullett, of the University of York, said pollution had been found to impair people’s olfactory abilities, while many objects and substances today – from margarines to car interiors and even our own homes – were stripped of their original smells and “reodourised” with synthetic scents. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour MPs believe SMC has become ineffective and its work ‘should be a core function of government’Ministers are considering a shake-up of the government’s social mobility watchdog that could range from giving it more teeth to abolishing it outright.The move comes amid concerns that the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) – originally conceived under Gordon Brown’s government in 2010 – has become ineffective. Continue reading...

Clacton, funding, internal divisions – party prepares for annual conference next week after a season of misstepsSenior Reform UK figures like to boast that the summer time – and parliament’s longest recess – is when the party makes hay.Supposedly, it’s when Nigel Farage and co can muscle in on the news cycle with provocative statements and new policies, painting “establishment” opponents as workshy layabouts. Continue reading...