The chefs turning down the heat by switching from gas to electric

• El Niño-driven drought conditions in Djibouti have left 256,000 people—approximately 25% of the population—acutely food insecure through December. • Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to address the crisis.

• A top UN official addressed the Security Council on Thursday regarding Syria's ongoing transition and rebuilding efforts following more than a decade of war. • Key developments mentioned include the recent dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the United States' decision to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Decision to rescind ‘roadless rule’ opens more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and loggingMore than 400 endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration’s decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades.According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era “roadless rule” could put 7.4m acres of endangered-species habitat and nearly 1,800 miles of protected rivers and streams at risk, while opening more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and logging. Continue reading...

Average cost of petrol reaches 161.6p a litre, while diesel costs average of 183.4p, according to the AAUK petrol prices have hit their highest level since 2022, piling more financial pressure on motorists before the bank holiday weekend.The average cost of petrol has reached 161.6p a litre, while diesel costs an average of 183.4p a litre, according to the breakdown company the AA. Continue reading...

Unpopular new policy comes as midterms loom and control of Congress could be decided by several Michigan racesEvery day $1bn worth of goods crosses the river dividing Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America’s auto industry.News this week of Donald Trump’s escalating trade spat with Canada has everyone worried. Political and economic leaders and observers labeled the move an act of “hubris” , blamed Trump’s “ego”, and called the escalation “insanity”. Continue reading...

Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on government implementing Trump’s order to limit mail votingSign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.A federal judge has halted, at least temporarily, attempts to implement Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.Plaintiff states have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms.Documents obtained by the Guardian and interviews with military leadership show the war in Iran has depleted the US Navy’s budget.A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year.Trump called the media into the Oval Office to watch him sign an executive order to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America”.“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big’, Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney noted. “The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.”Three journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the US Department of Defense in federal court in Washington DC on Thursday arguing that their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech. Continue reading...

Survivors begin receiving letters with payment amounts months after $305m settlement agreement was struck Survivors of child rape and other sexual abuse within New Orleans’s Roman Catholic archdiocese learned that $641,000 or so is the most they can individually get under a settlement approved in December to resolve a years-long bankruptcy protection case.Those amounts were communicated in letters that hundreds of clergy abuse survivors participating in the New Orleans archdiocese’s bankruptcy began quietly receiving on Tuesday. The figures are well below a $2.4m jury verdict awarded to an unrelated Louisiana religious sexual abuse claimant in June 2025 after the state’s legislature temporarily eliminated filing deadlines for such cases. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Michael Boren, a senior official overseeing the US Forest Service, is accused by Democratic senators of ‘inappropriate interference’Donald Trump’s administration is facing calls to launch an investigation into allegations that Michael Boren, a senior official who oversees the US Forest Service, pressed agency staff to deploy additional resources to fight a fire burning near his Idaho ranch.Three Democratic senators accused Boren of “inappropriate interference” in a letter seen by the Guardian, demanding answers from Brooke Rollins, US agricultural secretary. Boren serves as undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment. Continue reading...

Sales of beans, lentils and soya bean derivatives on rise while Britons buy less real and fake meatBritish shoppers are munching more beans, lentils, tofu and tempeh – while cutting back on both real and plant-based fake meat – to save money and improve their diet.The amount of beans, pulses and soya bean derivatives sold in the UK increased by 7.3% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, led by a surge in cheap dried lentils, an analysis has found. Continue reading...

Chancellor pledges ‘fiscal discipline’ as plan to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 deferred until 2027 reviewThe new chancellor, John Healey, will delay setting out when the UK will meet the target of spending 3% of GDP on defence until next year’s spending review, the Treasury has confirmed.Healey resigned as defence secretary in June under Keir Starmer’s leadership, accusing the then prime minister of being “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country”. Continue reading...

Soaring demand for services has led to tenfold increase in spending in a year in some areas, says NHS AllianceNHS leaders have warned that the costs of meeting soaring demand for ADHD and autism services in England are “running out of control” and have become unsustainable, with spending in some areas rising by up to tenfold over the course of a year. The NHS Alliance, which represents health managers, said the rise in demand since the coronavirus pandemic was forcing some to close waiting lists and look at reining in other services they provide.One integrated care board (ICB) cited in a report said its monthly spend had risen from £146,000 in 2024/25 to £1.5m last year. Continue reading...