US firm fined for Australian immigration security failures. How much? Border force refuses to say

EU chief diplomat says ‘not much happening’ in talks as she cautions against focus on personalities rather than strategyBut other foreign ministers appear somewhat divided on the concept of appointing a single EU negotiator for Russia.Austria’s Beate Meinl-Reisinge said it was a necessary step as “the EU should not get ready.”“It’s a trap that Russia wants us to walk into, that we discuss who talks to them, and they are already picking who is suitable, who is not. Let’s not walk into that trap. Negotiations are always a team effort. You have good cops, you have bad cops, you have a strategy [on] how you go to the table, so that is why the substance is much more important.”“This is what Russia does. Because it’s not really gaining ground on the battlefield, what they are doing now is really increasing the terrorist attacks, because you can’t really describe it in other ways, creating fear inside the society. It hasn’t worked for four years, and I don’t think that it’s going to work now.” Continue reading...

Government-commissioned report on young people not in employment, education or training to be published by review chair Milburn todayGood morning. For the second day in a row, the Westminster news is dominated by the thoughts of a leading Labour figure from the Tony Blair. But this time it’s an intervention commissioned, and welcomed, by Keir Starmer’s government. Alan Milburn, who has health secretary under Tony Blair, once seen as a future PM, and later chair of the Social Mobility Commisson, was asked last year to lead a review into why the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neets) is rising. Today he is publishing his first “diagnostic” report, focusing on the causes of the problem. A second report, focusing on policy recommendations, is due in the autumn.As Richard Partington reports, Milburn says Britain risks a 25% rise in the number of Neets, to 1.25 million by the early 2030s, without urgent government action to avoid a “lost generation”.Well, certainly every employer that we spoke to raised these issues as real concerns, the minimum wage. No employer really wants to be paying poverty wages to young people, that’s not what you come across.But there is, particularly in low-margin sectors of the economy, like retail and hospitality, there is no doubt that these changes have had an impact. So that is something the government really needs to think about. If the priority is to create young people’s jobs, then it’s got to create the right conditions for employers to do so.Yes, I am … Every employer that I talk to, they will say the same thing. There’s no doubt that the changes that were made a couple of years ago have had an impact on employers. Continue reading...

Agreement affecting meat, plants and packaging promises to end paperwork ‘hell’ and border delays from 2027Business live – latest updatesBrexit red tape affecting UK food exports to the EU, including fresh sausages and burgers, will be scrapped from mid-2027 in the first confirmed result of Keir Starmer’s “reset” negotiations with Brussels, the government has announced.When the rules come into force, exporters of meat – whether fresh, frozen or processed – will no longer require costly veterinary certificates to prove they meet EU standards. Nor will they need similar documentation for plants or wood packaging material. Businesses selling into Northern Ireland will no longer require health labels. Continue reading...

President’s remarks indicate the two countries remain far apart over initial deal to end warAfter 88 days of near-total internet blackout in Iran, long-delayed messages, images and poems flooded phones and social media feeds at about 5pm on Tuesday, when still-limited connectivity flickered back to life.The first reactions, however, were not celebratory. Many new posts were threaded with scepticism, anxiety and anger.The Israeli military declared a new swathe of southern Lebanon a combat zone and said residents in the area should move north, warning it would act “with great force” against the Iran-backed Hezbollah in the zone. The statement on Wednesday appeared to signal a further escalation after more than 120 strikes hit Lebanon’s south and east on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire.The major Lebanese city of Tyre has come under constant Israeli bombardment, according to local media. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is hitting Hezbollah targets in the ancient coastal city in southern Lebanon, a day after issuing a warning forcing thousands of people to leave Tyre and surrounding areas. Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported two people were killed in Tyre in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Imitation versions of Shakhtar and Zorya in RussiaUkrainian FA urged Uefa to take action last yearUefa is yet to take action against the integration of clubs from illegally occupied parts of Ukraine into Russia’s football system despite being urged to do so by the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) last year.Imitation versions of Shakhtar Donetsk and Zorya Luhansk, two of the most successful clubs in Ukraine’s Premier League, have been competing in Russia’s fourth tier since its season began in March. They have joined the Crimea-based sides Rubin Yalta and FC Sevastopol in group 1 of the regionalised Football National League 2B, meaning a quarter of the teams in their division purport to represent areas of occupied Ukraine. Continue reading...

Vetting of former UK ambassador to Washington warned of ties to senior figures in China, Russia and IsraelA former head of MI6 has said it would have been “totally impossible” for the Foreign Office to put in place mitigations to manage Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel when he was the UK’s ambassador to the US.On Wednesday, the Guardian revealed some of the concerns that contributed to security officials recommending that Mandelson be denied developed vetting clearance in early 2025. Continue reading...

Waltham Forest in the east of the capital has seen a wave of industrial action in schools, with more to come The gates to South Grove primary school in Walthamstow were closed to pupils last week.Teachers were on strike as part of a disparate wave of industrial action by members of the National Education Union (NEU) in schools across the borough of Waltham Forest in east London. Continue reading...

As the UK experiences some of its hottest ever May weather, five people share their concerns – and tips for keeping coolThe UK is experiencing some of the hottest May weather ever recorded, with temperatures surpassing 35C in parts of England on Tuesday.Campaigners have warned that Britain’s public buildings are dangerously unprepared for rising temperatures, calling for better cooling systems in hospitals, care homes and other spaces used by vulnerable people. Continue reading...

When an Inner Mongolia farmer sought two herders to tend his 3,000 sheep, he was swamped with applicants including graduates, factory labourers and white-collar workersA Chinese farm owner’s recruitment drive for shepherds has ended in success after his job advert seeking people to work on his Inner Mongolia ranch went viral, drawing the attention of city dwellers struggling to find work and highlighting growing strains in China’s labour market.Zuo Xiaoyong posted an advert on Chinese social media in late April seeking two shepherds, preferably a couple, to take 3,000 sheep out to graze on a 2,000ha pasture in the summer. The shepherds would also undertake indoor feeding and cleaning during the winter when temperatures can drop below -30C at his ranch roughly 300km from Xilinhot city, near the Mongolian border. Continue reading...

Industry figures warn of national security risk and call for ministers to address impact of extreme weather, inflation and Iran warBritain is “sleepwalking into a food crisis” caused by extreme weather, inflation and the impacts of the Iran war – and the government is failing to take the threat seriously, food experts have said.Farmers are facing severe strain from the current heatwave following a dry spring, with many crops likely to yield less as temperatures rise beyond their tolerance. Livestock are also suffering heat stress and there is a rising risk of wildfires. Economic losses are likely to be measured in the hundreds of millions of pounds. Continue reading...

The WasteBar food truck hopes the eye-catching deal will change people’s attitude to waste in the NetherlandsUsing cigarette butts to buy buttery Dutch pancakes? That is the deal one food truck is offering at festivals in the Netherlands as a way to get people thinking about litter.Cigarette butts are the most common form of plastic waste in the world, with more than 4.5tn butts produced every year. In the Netherlands the estimated figure is in the hundreds of millions. Continue reading...