Serbia’s populist president Aleksandar Vučić resigns to run for prime minister

PM says he is willing to expend political capital to bring in universal service that would be funded by ‘everybody’Analysis: can Labour hang on to Burnham bounce?Andy Burnham will fight the next election with a pledge to finally fix the broken social care system, acknowledging that he is willing to expend political capital by asking taxpayers to cover the cost.As Labour’s party conference began in Liverpool, he pledged to “rip the plaster off” to radically transform care, setting out a vision for a universal service that would be free at the point of use for everybody in England. Continue reading...

Counter-terrorism police investigate whether Iran is behind suspected bomb plot after member of public calls 999 over suspicious vehiclesCounter-terrorism police are investigating whether Iran is behind a suspected bomb plot after armed officers found explosives on three vans parked minutes from an RAF base used by the US military.The Guardian understands that after five men were arrested on terrorism charges, investigators were examining materials found in the vans, with an initial view being they were consistent with improvised explosive devices. Continue reading...

Thom Tillis says Trump’s decision to back Paxton over John Cornyn has put the Senate seat at risk for RepublicansUS senator Thom Tillis on Sunday criticized Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, for the president’s support of Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary.“He made a colossal mistake,” Tillis, a frequent Trump critic from North Carolina, said during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union in reference to the president’s support of Paxton who defeated Cornyn in the May primary. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Move by Shabana Mahmood comes after closure of Afghan scheme last year but experts say numbers too small to deter Channel crossingsUK politics live – latest updatesShabana Mahmood will announce a new legal route for refugees that prioritises Afghan women and girls and Palestinians, unfreezing a scheme that will put the most vulnerable refugees on a faster path to permanent status.The change marks a shift in Mahmood’s approach to asylum seekers after the abrupt closure of the Afghan resettlement scheme last year and changes that will keep refugee status under constant review for two decades. Continue reading...

Conference delegates grateful ousting Starmer has paid off, but relief tempered by fiscal headwinds aheadUK politics live: Pat McFadden tells Labour activists they should not defend benefits system ‘status quo’ because it ‘writes off’ claimantsEven Andy Burnham’s closest allies accept that deposing Keir Starmer to install their man as leader was a huge political gamble. But if the mood at the Labour party conference in Liverpool is anything to go by, it is one that – so far – has paid off.The contrast with last year, when Starmer retained his grip on the party and Burnham slunk away from Liverpool early, could not be more stark. Their relief at their turn of fortune is tempered only by the fiscal headwinds ahead. Continue reading...

Governments will be hoping row over the contentious Orange Order march down Garvaghy Road can be defusedPortadown march: latest updatesLike a ghost from its troubled past Drumcree has unexpectedly reappeared to remind people of how far Northern Ireland has changed in 30 years but also how easily history can undermine the present, if imperfect, peace and stability.Three decades ago parts of Northern Ireland came to an almost annual standstill as Protestant Orange Order protesters blocked roads in support of members wanting to march down what they called its traditional route, the Garvaghy Road, on the Sunday before the annual 12 July parade. Continue reading...

Waltz says Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to end war because they ‘were asking for everything up front’The Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations said the US rejected Iran’s proposal to end the ongoing war there because Iranian negotiators “were asking for everything up front”.Echoing comments by Donald Trump on Saturday, the president’s UN ambassador Mike Waltz told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that Iran had asked for relief “from billions and billions of sanctions that are going into place” as part of an economic blockade on Iran. The blockade is aimed at putting pressure on Iran to stop its attacks ‌on vessels in the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Pat McFadden urges Labour MPs to back overhauls, amid signs party looking to cut payments for some 16- to 24-year-oldsUK politics live – latest updatesLabour MPs have a moral responsibility to accept significant changes to the welfare system to help get more young people into work, the work and pensions secretary has said.In a sign he is looking to overhaul the welfare state, Pat McFadden said it was time for Labour to “renew” the system first created by the Clement Attlee government and given a new deal by New Labour. Continue reading...

Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK’s essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very high risk of drought.A very high proportion – 81% – of England’s fresh produce is concentrated in parts of the country that are already experiencing water stress, according to the analysis by nature-focused investment fund Rebalance Earth. Continue reading...

At least one person killed and nearly 150,000 households lost electricity from North Carolina to New EnglandA strong, deadly storm known as a nor’easter battered the US’s east coast over the weekend, bringing power outages, flooding, damaging winds and hazardous ocean conditions.Trees and power lines were knocked down across the region, at least one person was killed and hundreds of thousands were left without electricity as officials cautioned that conditions could deteriorate further. Continue reading...

Airport chiefs say 2035 operations deadline unachievable as critics say new delay makes case for project ‘even more dubious’Plans for a third runway at Heathrow are once again up in the air after the prime minister refused to say whether he backs the “contested” project which is delayed by up to four years.Over the weekend it emerged that ​Heathrow no longer expects to meet the original 2035 deadline. Instead, the airport hopes to secure planning permission by 2029 and then open the runway “within a decade”, meaning it would not be operational until 2039. Continue reading...