Nicaragua’s president says country will not hold any more elections

• The US Central Command conducted airstrikes for the ninth consecutive night, targeting Iranian missile sites, air defense systems, and military command centers. • Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed the interim ceasefire deal signed by Donald Trump as "worthless and invalid," while Iranian negotiators announced the suspension of their commitments.

Move would give government veto over big decisions and hostile takeovers, after Andy Burnham’s demand for greater public controlBusiness live – latest updatesThe group of investors pursuing a rescue bid for Thames Water have offered the government a “golden share” in a last-ditch attempt to convince Andy Burnham not to nationalise Britain’s biggest water company.London & Valley Water (L&VW), a consortium of 100 institutional investors that hold £17bn of the company’s £21bn debt, said it recognised the new prime minister wanted greater public control and to strengthen the accountability of the water company. Continue reading...

Move is expected to save households around £45 a year in effort to tackle cost of livingBurnham to cut VAT on electricity bills in first cost-of-living moveGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Andy Burnham has announced an £850m tax cut on electricity bills to help ease cost of living pressures in his first significant policy announcement as prime minister. It means that electricity bills will be reduced by an average of £45 a year from October.Downing Street said the move will be partly funded by scrapping Keir Starmer’s digital ID scheme, which would have cost an estimated £1.8bn over three years.Good news that VAT will be cut on electricity bills. It’s a simple way for families to save a few quid, and to mechanically help to keep inflation that little bit lower. But the DigitalID program was unfunded. The government will have to set out how it will pay for its new policies at the budget.Chancellor: John HealeyForeign secretary: Ed MilibandHome secretary: Shabana MahmoodHealth secretary: Yvette CooperWork and pensions secretary: Pat McFaddenHousing secretary: Angela RaynerBusiness secretary: Jonathan ReynoldsEducation secretary: Lucy PowellEqualities minister: Bridget PhillipsonCulture secretary: Lisa NandyDefence secretary: Wes StreetingJustice secretary: Alex NorrisEnvironment secretary: Angela EagleEnergy secretary: Miatta FahnbullehScottish secretary: Douglas AlexanderWelsh secretary: Stephen KinnockNorthern Ireland secretary: Chris BryantTransport secretary: Heidi AlexanderChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Louise Haigh Continue reading...

Newly appointed chancellor John Healey says reduction will be funded by cancelling digital ID schemeElectricity bills will be reduced by an average of £45 a year from October, after Andy Burnham announced the government would remove VAT from them.The new prime minister said on Tuesday he was implementing an immediate tax cut to help ease cost of living pressures for households in Britain. Continue reading...

Higher taxes on sector could threaten plan for £3bn headquarters in London, says Jamie DimonBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, has warned Andy Burnham against raising tax charges on banks, suggesting it could threaten plans to build its £3bn headquarters in London and drive investment away from Britain.The chief executive of the world’s biggest bank, who has a track record of criticising the UK’s bank tax surcharge, does not want to see the UK’s new prime minister targeting the banking industry to raise extra revenue. Continue reading...

Unemployment holds steady at 4.9%, underlining the challenge facing the new prime ministerBusiness live – latest updatesEmployers cut the number of job vacancies in May, according to official figures that highlight the UK’s “fragile” economic outlook amid the conflict in the Middle East.Job vacancies fell to 712,000 – almost half the level in 2022 – as employers put off hiring new staff in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics said. Continue reading...

Tories, Reform, fossil fuel industry and some in his party lined up against net zero agenda as energy secretary“Whenever the Labour party feels a bit sad,” according to one close observer of the current government, speaking some months ago, “they wheel out Ed Miliband to talk about rooftop solar.”It might not have been literally true, but it often felt during Keir Starmer’s premiership as if energy secretary Miliband brought the sun. Unfailingly upbeat, with a simple message that was understandable to voters, he had a clear mission – to decarbonise the UK’s power sector by 2030 – that was seen to be progressing fast. Continue reading...

Figure of £16bn from ONS comes after new prime minister revealed plans to cut VAT on electricity billsBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK government borrowed less than expected in June, in a boost for Andy Burnham as he set out plans to cut VAT on household electricity bills and promised a new direction for the British economy.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing – the difference between government spending and income – was £16bn last month, £7.9bn less than in June 2025. Continue reading...

Maps of Hope has been certified by Proudly Human, a company led by former chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel A collection of speeches and writings by Pope Leo XIV has been certified as human-authored less than two months after Leo declared artificial intelligence the greatest threat to humanity.Proudly Human, the Australian company spearheaded by Australia’s former chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, undertook a review of a collection of writings and speeches by the Pope, in collaboration with the publisher, the Australian Catholic University and cardinals in the Vatican. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.New prime minister Andy Burnham has announced this morning that VAT will be cut from household electricity bills, as part of his plan to help with the cost of living.Westminster has not been working for people for too long, with families struggling with the cost of living.That needs to change. I said I wanted to give people breathing space, and that’s what I’m announcing on my second day as prime minister.Fiscal control is the first duty of any chancellor. It is mine. And fiscal credibility is the bedrock for economic stability and for national security, and you heard the prime minister this afternoon say, in this more dangerous world, we will meet our commitments on defence to our international allies…7am BST: ONS Labour market figures and public financesToday: New PM Andy Burnham to announce cost of living measures Continue reading...

Vertical Aerospace says government has given £10m backing, taking its total investment in the project to £48mBritish flying taxi startup Vertical Aerospace has said the UK government has expressed interest in buying a military variant of its aircraft as it races to gain approval for flights with paying passengers.Vertical also welcomed another £10m grant from the government, taking its total UK state funding to £48m. Continue reading...

George Foster tells royal commission Australia’s democratic institutions fundamentally different ‘but I can’t ignore certain disturbing parallels in the social atmosphere’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA rise in antisemitism across Australia has “disturbing parallels” with the social climate of Nazi Germany, the president of the Australian Holocaust survivors association says.George Foster, the president of Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, told the antisemitism royal commission that he did not believe Australia was “becoming another Germany in the 1930s”. Continue reading...