UK house prices flat in July, says Lloyds, as buyers struggle with affordability

• Gulf monarchies are shifting their strategy toward Iran from direct confrontation to "strategic containment," aiming to limit Tehran's regional influence without triggering a total state collapse. • This shift follows over 40 years of zero-sum rivalry characterized by Iran's nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile development, and support for non-state armed actors.

• Pakistan has offered to host renewed diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad to facilitate a resolution to their ongoing tensions. • This move signals a strategic shift for Islamabad, which is attempting to transition from a reactive player to a responsible stakeholder in regional stability.

Inspections ordered by US regulator will affect about 470 aircraft, after reported problems in earlier modelsBusiness live – latest updatesThe US aviation regulator has ordered inspections of the fuselages of Boeing 737 Max planes for possible cracks in a component.The Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive will affect an estimated 471 aircraft and follows reports of cracks in earlier Boeing models. Continue reading...

Former senior adviser to Trump is seeking reelection despite domestic abuse allegations by his ex-wifeHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump is declining to say whether representative Max Miller, of Ohio, should withdraw his reelection bid following domestic abuse allegations levelled against him by his ex-wife.One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.The two new orders came just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down Trump’s previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, a right that has been guaranteed since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.The orders were part of a quixotic campaign Trump has waged for more than a decade, since he promised to eliminate the right at a 2015 campaign event.Despite an endorsement from Trump, congressman Andy Ogles, a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, was in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent meeting that they need to help JD Vance win the 2028 presidential election. Continue reading...

Met police say charge relates to alleged assault that reportedly took place in December at venue in LondonThe England striker Ivan Toney has been charged with assault after an incident at a nightclub in Soho.The Metropolitan police said Ivan Toney, 30, of Northampton, was charged on 31 July with assault causing actual bodily harm. Continue reading...

More than double number of arrests made since 2024 compared with previous two-year periodPrimary schools in England should be required to identify children at risk of leaving education at 16 without finding a job, a government review is to recommend.Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, said he would call for sweeping changes in education policy alongside a shake-up of the benefits system to address the problem. Continue reading...

Move to raise levy on goods made with polysilicon aims to protect domestic US supply chains from China, the major producerDonald Trump has ordered a new 15% tariff on imported products made of polysilicon, an important ingredient in microchip manufacturing that is primarily produced by China.The new tariff, which will take effect on 4 December, is aimed at supporting US chip and solar panel supply chains to compete with Beijing on artificial intelligence and energy. Continue reading...

The curator of Norway’s national museum in Oslo stumbled upon is bringing the work by the Flemish baroque artist Clara Peeters out of obscurity in a major exhibition of female artistsAnonymous was often a woman: so said Virginia Woolf. And so thought Cynthia Osiecki one day in 2022, when she chanced on an unattributed still life in the storage area of the National Museum of Norway in Oslo.Osiecki had been studying the work of a renowned 17th-century Flemish artist, Clara Peeters, one of the earliest practitioners of still life painting. Works by Peeters hang in the Prado in Madrid, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Continue reading...

US president’s complaint industry ‘making too much money’ comes after his policies boosted corporationsDonald Trump’s statement that oil companies have made “too much money” from the Iran war has angered environmentalists, who say that his policies were designed to benefit those very corporations. If he really believes his own claims, he should impose a windfall profits tax, advocates say. “Trump’s declaration that big oil is ‘making too much money’ belies his accommodation and giveaways to the industry that have enabled its price-gouging – not to mention his disaster of a war of choice against Iran,” said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen. “But like a broken clock that’s correct twice a day, the president is right that oil companies are ‘making too much money’, which means Trump should endorse a windfall profits tax.”ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday both reported windfall profits for the second quarter of the year. Chevron said its earnings soared nearly 400% to $12bn, while Exxon’s profits more than doubled to $14.5bn. On Monday evening, Trump took aim at those gains, saying the companies “ought to give some of that back to the public”. Continue reading...

At least 15 other people injured after student ⁠opened fire at Debsirin Nonthaburi school, north of BangkokThailand school shooting – latest updatesA Thai teenager killed at least six people and himself at a school outside Bangkok, after fatally shooting his grandparents, in the country’s worst mass shooting since 2022.Seven people ⁠were ⁠killed in the attack and 15 were wounded, ‌Thai police ⁠said on Friday. Continue reading...

As Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president vowing a new military offensive, the country’s last leftwing rebels are getting ready to fight backAs the boat approached the riverbank, camouflaged figures watched from the tree line.Behind them, in the dim understory of the jungle, a commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sat with his rifle on his lap, amid the buzz and whine of insects and the thwacks of machetes on bamboo as his troops set up camp, hidden from enemy drones. Continue reading...