Netflix announces production of third Inbetweeners film

• Social media platforms have changed how governments, diplomats, and citizens communicate and share information during international relations events. • During a conflict in West Asia that began in February 2026, several accounts circulated old video clips and falsely presented them as current footage.

‘Historic’ win in Saxony-Anhalt may show voters’ discontent with political centre, but sweeping conclusions cannot yet be drawnEurope live – latest updatesThe numbers speak for themselves: Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a party that dabbles in Nazi imagery, distinguishes between “biological” and “passport” Germans, and is too extreme even for France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, nearly doubled its score in Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt to 43.8% of the vote.Meanwhile, the centre-right CDU of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, collapsed to 17.2%, less than half its total in the same race five years ago, and the centre-left SPD – Germany’s other main party of government for the past 60-odd years – scraped 9.3%. The least that can be said is that the centre did not hold. Continue reading...

Estimates suggest drop in production with vineyards also concerned ‘smoke taint’ from wildfires may affect qualityFrench vineyards hit by severe drought and heatwaves are expected to report a 30-year low in wine production after the country’s hottest ever recorded summer, according to the agriculture ministry.Initial estimates suggest winemakers will produce just under 34m hectolitres from this year’s harvest: a drop of 6% on last year, and 17% less than ‌the 2021-2025 average. Continue reading...

Indigenous Australians forcibly removed under government policies more likely to have severe or profound disability, report findsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe tens of thousands of Indigenous Australians and their descendents who were forcibly removed under government assimilation policies have far greater physical and health challenges when compared to the wider Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, according to a new report.The report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) was commissioned by peak advocacy body the Healing Foundation, which supports Stolen Generations survivors and their families, and builds on existing data released in 2023. Continue reading...

Pressure follows revelations US military and weapons manufacturers control or have access to more than 100 bases across Australian continentWhy can the US access so many Australian military bases? – podcastGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe US has “led Australia into wars of aggression” for 50 years, internal party campaign group Labor Against War has argued, urging the government to chart a foreign policy independent “from the American war machine”.The Australian government has defended the growing presence of the US military on the Australian continent, insisting the defence sites “are Australian bases under Australian control”, despite evidence the US military controls more than a dozen bases on Australian territory. Continue reading...

Predicted hot and dry weather in growing areas in eastern Australia identified as ‘one of the key issues’ that will affect food prices over next 12 monthsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe most severe El Niño weather event on record threatens to push food prices higher this year, experts say, piling pressure on households already struggling with the post-pandemic spike in grocery bills and complicating the Reserve Bank’s efforts to bring inflation back under control.The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast El Niño will peak in late spring or summer and “reach levels above the warmest observed since reliable records began in 1950”. Continue reading...

Aftershocks of party’s win in Saxony-Anhalt will ripple across Germany, with two more state elections this monthEurope live – latest updatesGermany is reeling from the biggest far-right victory in a state election since the Nazi period after voters in Saxony-Anhalt in the former communist east gave the anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a thumping first-place finish of 44%, just short of an absolute majority. Continue reading...

Matt Clifford forced to stand down amid disquiet from senior MPs over his new full-time job at AI company The chair of the UK government’s “moonshot” science and technology research unit has been forced to stand down after taking a job with the San Francisco AI firm Anthropic, after warnings from senior MPs that the move created a “clear conflict of interest”.Matt Clifford announced last week that he was taking a full-time job working for the company behind the Claude chatbot, “leading its engagement” with governments outside the US – including the UK. But he retained his leadership at Aria, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, which funds frontier science and tech projects. Continue reading...

Theories begin to emerge that plane may have landed too fast and too far down the runway to be able to stop in timeFederal investigators got plans under way on Monday for determining what caused an Amazon cargo jet to barrel off a runway at Miami international airport on Sunday afternoon and crash, killing five people and injuring five others.Video footage showed the jet wobbling a little and coming in fast and far along the runway, with storm clouds clearly visible in the sky behind, as expert theories began to emerge that the Boeing 767 may have landed too fast and too far down the runway to be able to stop in time.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Angela Rayner to announce review into local government shake-up as decisions on four areas withdrawn and 16 paused UK politics live – latest updatesPlans for a major reorganisation of local government have been put on hold after the government received new legal advice that suggested they might not comply with the law.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the review is to ensure the process is robust and aligns with the new government’s aim to “rewire the state”, and follows “updated and privileged legal advice”. Continue reading...

US embassy says Downing Street’s plan to give BBC, ITV and other established media more online visibility carries risk of ‘censorship’The Trump administration has raised “serious concerns” over Downing Street’s plan to force YouTube and other digital platforms to hand more prominence to established broadcasters, warning the move risks “facilitating censorship”.In a pointed intervention, the US government said the proposals to boost traditional media outlets in social media algorithms could “establish a template that authoritarian regimes could invoke to justify more control over online content”. Continue reading...