Those partial to a pint may be relieved to know a modest of amount of weak beer may actually be beneficialEuropean heatwave live – latest updatesAs Europe endures a record-breaking heatwave, countries are taking steps to keep people safe and prevent health services from becoming overstretched. Parisians face a temporary ban on drinking alcohol in public to reduce the pressure on the hospitals after a four-fold rise in cardiac arrests in a 24-hour period.We look at why drinking alcohol can be dangerous in a heatwave. Continue reading...
• China is shifting its AI strategy away from competing with the U.S. on frontier models and AGI, focusing instead on the industrialization of AI.
• Kai-Fu Lee, former Google China chief and president of Sinovation Ventures, is leading this transition by pivoting his company from pure LLM development to enterprise AI agents.
• These "super-employees" are designed to automate specific professional functions, including logistics optimization, procurement, and insurance brokering.
Stuart Machin argues government should reduce tax and regulatory burden on supermarkets insteadThe boss of Marks & Spencer has called a government proposal for voluntary price caps on essential food items “completely preposterous”, saying it should reduce tax and regulatory burdens instead.Stuart Machin, the chief executive of the clothing, homewares, food and beauty retailer, said M&S already lost money on some basic items such as milk, bread and baked beans and made very slim profits on other products such as eggs and sugar. Continue reading...
Noongar woman Mary Ann Miller died of sepsis, while homeless to avoid an allegedly abusive ex-partnerWarning: This article contains images of and references to Indigenous Australians who have diedThe family of an Aboriginal mother of seven who died just weeks after giving birth say the Western Australian government knew she was experiencing domestic violence and fearing for her safety weeks before her death.Mary Ann Miller died of sepsis in Fiona Stanley hospital on 28 March, two weeks after giving birth to her son and after she was allegedly assaulted and had her nose broken by her former partner. Guardian Australia is not suggesting the alleged assault contributed to her death. Continue reading...
Meanwhile, as new 10-day truce in Lebanon enters its first full day, Trump claims Iran has agreed to suspend its nuclear programmeIran’s foreign minister has said that the strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway.In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!” Continue reading...
US military boasts blockade of the strait of Hormuz will incapacitate Iran’s economy; Trump says negotiations could return to PakistanUS-Iran peace talks could resume in next two days, Trump saysWelcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.The US military has said American forces have completely halted economic trade going in and out of Iran by sea through a blockade.An estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is fueled by international trade by sea. In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post. “Something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying.US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington on Tuesday were a “historic opportunity”. He said that while every complexity would not be resolved immediately, he hoped the parties would begin to move forward.Lebanon’s president expressed hope that direct talks would lead to an end to his country’s “suffering” after war erupted again between Israel and Hezbollah last month. “I hope that the meeting in Washington... will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and those in the south in particular,” president Joseph Aoun said in a statement, adding that “stability will not return to the south if Israel continues to occupy its lands”.Lebanon’s top envoy to the US said the high-level diplomatic engagement between her country and Israel was “constructive,” but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants that has displaced thousands of Lebanese. After participating in Tuesday’s talks with Rubio and Israel’s ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad said she had “underscored the need to preserve our territorial integrity and state sovereignty”.The US will not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week officials told Reuters, as the US imposes a blockade on shipments from Iranian ports.UK prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron will co-host a summit in Paris on Friday focused on efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz, Downing Street said. A spokesperson said: “The summit will advance work towards a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping once the conflict ends.”Trump criticised Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, a political ally, in an interview published on Tuesday for her unwillingness to help in the Iran war. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt will meet Turkey’s top diplomat this week for talks on regional matters, a ministry source told AFP on Tuesday. “This is the third meeting of the four countries to discuss regional affairs, not specifically Hormuz,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.Hezbollah said it targeted 13 northern Israeli towns with rockets shortly after the start of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington. In a statement, the group said it targeted Kiryat Shmona, Metula and 11 other towns “with simultaneous rocket salvos” at 6.15pm.US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said the underlying US economy remains strong and that growth could still exceed 3% or 3.5% this year despite the impact of the US-Israel war on Iran. Earlier on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth forecasts for 2026 based on the impact of the war and said any further escalation in the conflict could trigger a global recession. Bessent however cast cuts in global growth forecasts and higher inflation projections by the IMF and World Bank as an overreaction. Continue reading...
Marine Conservation Society warns that fish numbers have reached dangerous point of declineConsumers should “completely avoid” buying UK-caught cod, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has said, as it warned that populations have reached a dangerous point of decline despite zero-catch recommendations.The MCS, an environmental charity, publishes a Good Fish Guide to help consumers and businesses make sustainable seafood choices. Continue reading...
With membership soaring, the Green party is grappling with logistics, culture shifts and a flood of new activistsIt is, as one Green activist put it, a never-ending series of “constantly good problems to have”. But how does a party adapt to the sudden trebling of its membership? And when a majority of people in an organisation are new, is it even the same thing anymore?The basic facts alone are startling. Before Zack Polanski took over as leader last September, the Greens in England and Wales had around 66,000 members. They are now at 215,000, and still rising at speed. Continue reading...
