Richard Alston, trailblazer and guiding light of British dance, dies aged 77

• China has expanded its influence across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Indo-Pacific by providing development aid to regions often neglected by Western nations. • The Lowy Institute reports that China has committed $7.5 billion and spent at least $5 billion in development aid in the Pacific islands since 2008.

• Host Chris Williamson led a debate on August 31, 2026, featuring Robert Pape, Jiang Xueqin, and George Friedman regarding the decline of American global power. • The discussion focused on specific geopolitical flashpoints including the wars in Ukraine and Israel, as well as tensions involving Iran, China, and NATO.

Exclusive: London mayor accuses council of ‘breathtaking arrogance’ in ‘ignoring’ responses to a consultationSadiq Khan has criticised the “breathtaking arrogance” of Westminster council, which has kept restrictions on vertical drinking in Soho and an effective ban on new bars and pubs in the area.The mayor of London has accused the Conservative-led council of “ignoring” the responses to a consultation into its new licensing policy. The vast majority of respondents, 81%, disagreed with the council’s “cumulative impact zone” which decrees that applications for bars and pubs in the West End of London, one of Europe’s most famous nightlife districts, will be refused unless in exceptional circumstances. Eighty-four per cent said the licensing policy would be bad for business. Continue reading...

Alarm that Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania may fall next after party’s Saxony-Anhalt election victory‘It breaks my heart’: victory sparks dismay Europe live – latest updatesThousands of Germans have staged protests against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) after the party’s watershed victory in a state election, warning it posed a danger in two more polls this month.Demonstrators at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate held a peaceful pro-democracy rally denouncing the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian AfD, which has called for mass deportations of asylum seekers and a rollback of state support for renewable energy and public broadcasting. Continue reading...

In strongest condemnation ever by UK government, Ed Miliband announces sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlementsUK politics live – latest updatesIsraeli “terrorists” are conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with the tacit backing of the government, the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has said as he announced sweeping sanctions, alongside France and Canada, on trade with Israeli settlements.In the strongest condemnation ever issued by the UK government, Miliband said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, saying such acknowledgment was “the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.”An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements.A ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties.Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.A new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”. Continue reading...

Man, who had arrived in Turin from Miami via Istanbul, under investigation for smuggling and faces fine or prisonAn Italian man is facing a hefty fine or possible prison term after the dried head of a critically endangered crocodile was found in his luggage at Turin’s Caselle airport.The man had arrived at the airport in the northern Italian city on a flight from Miami via Istanbul, the Turin unit of Italy’s financial police squad said in a statement. Continue reading...

More than 140 clubs breached licences, with a third caught taking water illegally, analysis shows – but no fines issuedMore than 140 golf clubs in England have breached their water extraction licences in the past five years, according to data analysis by the Guardian.More than a third of these clubs were caught taking water illegally from the environment, either by taking more than permitted or by removing it outside of the permitted period. Continue reading...

Riyadh says it will retaliate after overnight attacks by Iran-backed Yemen group on oil facilities wound more than 70Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have attacked four cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a significant expansion of the Middle East war.Saudi Arabia said it would retaliate after the overnight strikes – reportedly involving dozens of drones and missiles – that targeted several oil facilities in the country’s south. Continue reading...

Experts helped guide weather scenes in Pressure – a film depicting dramatic buildup to 1944’s D-day landingsDressed in a Royal Air Force uniform and sporting a trim moustache, Andrew Scott looks slightly queasy – as well he might. Behind him is a huge map of the Channel, and in front of him is Brendan Fraser, looming with a request: “I need a forecast,” he says.Starring in the film Pressure, based on a true story, Scott plays the meteorologist Capt James Stagg – the man who must tell Gen Eisenhower – played by Fraser – whether conditions will be suitable for the D-day landings scheduled to take place on 5 June 1944. But a large storm is approaching the Normandy coast. Continue reading...

From rare bacteria to ‘forever chemicals’, a series of cases of violations or alleged pollution has prompted alarmWhen officials in Wyoming conducted a routine test on the water that was being discharged from a massive under-construction Meta datacenter, it was a shock to find it contained a rare and potentially hazardous bacterium.While the wastewater flushed into sewers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was never destined for the public drinking supply, the presence of Cupriavidus gilardii bacterium in 801,000 gallons of water ejected by a contractor for the datacenter earlier this year was still unnerving. Continue reading...

Duke and Duchess of Sussex were apparently given little notice before message was sent to the mediaThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex were “surprised” at being given little notice of a formal letter sent to government departments and the military on behalf of King Charles reiterating their status as non-working royals.Harry and Meghan, who returned to the UK from the US two weeks ago, had insufficient time to clarify any points before details were issued to the media, it is understood. Continue reading...