UK interest rate predictions fall as US and Iran agree two-week ceasefire

• The article examines whether a potential military failure in Iran would fundamentally change U.S. strategic approaches to warfare and foreign intervention. • It notes a historical trend where veterans and voters punished previous administrations for the high costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Operation under way to rescue dozens missing after boat overturned by waves at world’s largest manmade lakeAt least 15 people have died and 27 are missing after an overcrowded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe.The boat had a capacity of 90 people, but was carrying 114 adult passengers, five crew members and an unknown number of children, Zimbabwe’s civil protection unit (CPU) said, citing ticket sales. Continue reading...

Calls for speed limiters or mandated helmet use after research into injuries at three paediatric trauma centres The number of children involved in crashes on e-scooters has soared in recent years, with some as young as nine involved in collisions, research has found.Researchers carried out a review of injuries among the under-16s at three specialist paediatric trauma centres – Alder Hey in Liverpool, and Sheffield and Royal Manchester children’s hospitals – between January 2019 and December 2024. Continue reading...

With wing spans up to 3ft, the shy cownose ray species typically arrive in Long Island waters in the warmer monthsDrone footage of dozens of stingrays in the ocean off New York has captivated beachgoers and marine enthusiasts, offering a rare bird’s-eye view of a species that scientists say has visited the area for decades.The footage was captured las`t Friday off the coast of Southampton on the Long Island peninsula by Joanna Steidle, a Hamptons-based professional drone pilot known for her aerial ocean shots. It shows cownose rays gliding through the water en masse near the surface. Continue reading...

Iran lost top leaders in the war and US ‘humiliation ... a form of revenge’, say experts, after administration’s flight ruseSince the joint US-Israeli strikes in February that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and scores of other senior Iranian officials on the first day of the war, a revenge plot to kill Donald Trump should not have appeared far-fetched.But the US administration’s elaborate ruse to spirit Trump off of Air Force One in Turkey last month indicates a credibility to the Iranian threat that has surprised many in Washington – including the Trump aides and journalists left on the jet that may have remained the target of an Iranian missile strike. Continue reading...

Geopolitics and cost of living crisis have cost Europe’s largest travel company €60m so farHolidaymakers are waiting until the last minute to book their trips because of the continuing uncertainty caused by the war in Iran and the cost of living crisis, according to Tui, Europe’s largest travel company, which said the war had cost it €60m (£51m) so far.In the weeks after the outbreak of war at the end of February, Tui recorded a temporary drop-off in customers wanting to travel to Cyprus or Turkey, in what the company called a “volatile market”. Continue reading...

President says Secret Service wanted him on ‘different plane’ due to threat as Democrats call for congressional briefingHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.President Donald Trump said he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat that he insisted didn’t scare him. Continue reading...

Event expected to hit solar power just as fifth heatwave of summer increases use of air conditioning and fansGreat Britain faces a shortfall of electricity supplies on Wednesday evening as the near total solar eclipse is expected to wipe out solar power generation.The government’s electricity grid operator raised an official alarm that there is currently not enough power generation expected as the moon blocks up to 95% of the sun over parts of the country, the most dramatic eclipse visible in Great Britain since 1999. Continue reading...

One Nation MP says failed WA candidate’s comments describing same-sex attraction as a mental illness are ‘highly offensive’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBarnaby Joyce has defended One Nation as “one of the gayest parties in Australia” after comments surfaced from one of its failed candidate describing same-sex attraction as a mental illness.The former National turned One Nation MP was asked to respond to a series of homophobic comments made by a former Western Australian legislative council candidate for One Nation in a video last month, as first reported by ABC on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwavesUK heatwave live – latest updatesJust 20 staff are working on climate adaptation within a key government department tasked with protecting the environment and maintaining food security, a freedom of information request has revealed.The officials make up 0.3% of staff within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Continue reading...

Crowly pulls off last-minute victory in tight race after polls had shown his progressive opponent as a clear frontrunner David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, pulled off a last-minute victory after re-entering the Wisconsin governor’s race and snagging an endorsement from Tony Evers, the outgoing governor.The race came down to the wire, with Francesca Hong and Crowley running close to each other as each batch of results came in. Polls had shown Hong as a clear frontrunner in the race, but with large chunks of voters still undecided and an ever-changing field of candidates, polling was difficult. Polls in Michigan similarly showed progressive Abdul El-Sayed with a more sizeable lead than he ended up with in his victory in the Democratic primary for US senate. Continue reading...

Coalition demands police investigate apparent leaking of diplomatic cable to newspaper but Labor calls it a ‘silly political stunt’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Japanese ambassador has downplayed Anthony Albanese’s comments about a gift of melons from Sanae Takaichi, saying Tokyo had been reassured by the Australian government that the prime minister “did not make the comments in the way that has been reported”.While the Coalition continued to raise outrage over Albanese’s comments to the Bush Deep podcast, including seeking to have federal police investigate the alleged leaking of a diplomatic cable to a newspaper, the Japanese government appeared to be uninterested in making a diplomatic incident out of the much-maligned comments. Continue reading...