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Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go roundGurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab.Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India’s breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season’s rice crop. Continue reading...

Anna Turley questions Reform UK leader’s revised £25,000 figure for failed attempt to reach Chagos Islands on plane linked to billionaire donorLabour has queried Nigel Farage’s claim that a return trip to the Maldives on a private jet linked to a billionaire donor cost as little as £25,000 as the Reform leader attempted to reach the Chagos Islands.Farage initially recorded his two-day trip to the Maldives as costing £12,500 funded by Thailand-based Reform megadonor Christopher Harborne, before upgrading this to £25,000 in the latest register of interests. Continue reading...

Exclusive: documents chronicle years-long campaign to make it easier to build intensive livestock unitsMinisters are rewriting planning rules to make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns about water pollution, air quality and local opposition.Documents obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show that proposed changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) were discussed by ministers and officials in response to concerns of the country’s leading chicken producers, who have been lobbying on the issue for at least two years. Continue reading...

Party, which has neo-Nazi roots, will hold ‘important ministerial posts within immigration’ if four-party coalition wins in SeptemberThe Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said that he will allow the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) into government for the first time – and give its members key ministerial posts – if his coalition wins the next general election.Despite becoming Sweden’s second biggest political party after the Social Democrats in the last election, SD currently only play a supporting role in the minority-run coalition. Continue reading...

Nearly a quarter of voters site the Reform leader’s support for the US president as the primary reason for not voting for his partyBy day 31 of the war in the Middle East, Nigel Farage had become somewhat less vocal about the closeness of his relationship with Donald Trump.“Trying to read what’s really in the minds of people in the White House right at the moment is a mug’s game,” said the MP, as he unveiled his party’s latest “pledge” to cut the cost of living on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Reform UK will be ‘steering well clear’ of CPAC event in July, says a source, as will senior ToriesNigel Farage will snub a major conference of US conservatives that is being brought to the UK by Liz Truss.The short-lived former prime minister, who was accused of crashing the economy, was chosen by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to lead a version of the event in the UK in July. Continue reading...

Rights group also reports at least 30 injured in Gran Grif raid on Artibonite farming region and almost 6,000 displacedAt least 70 people have been killed and 30 injured during an attack in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region, significantly more than official estimates, a human rights group has said.Police initially reported 16 dead and 10 injured, while a preliminary report from civil protection authorities suggested 17 had died and 19 were wounded. Continue reading...

Marsupial escaped from enclosure at Wisconsin’s Sunshine Farm on Wednesday after he was spooked by stray dogsHow does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo?It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an 8ft (2.5-meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that would end happily on Saturday. Continue reading...

State and federal leaders due to discuss assistance for business sectors but petrol rationing not expected to find backingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarmers say the federal government must help them with tax breaks and underwriting fertiliser purchases to survive the fuel crisis, with Monday’s national cabinet expected to discuss more assistance to businesses amid ballooning petrol prices.Federal and state governments have remained tight-lipped about what would be on the meeting’s agenda but state premiers have urged the Albanese government to take a stronger national coordination role in the crisis. Continue reading...

More than 100 charities, campaign groups and trade unions marched in a show of unity against far right politicsTogether Alliance march – live updatesTens of thousands of people have gathered in London to march against the far right in the biggest multicultural demonstration in UK history.Organisers claimed half a million people have travelled to the capital for the Together Alliance march. Police estimated the turnout closer to 50,000, although they admitted it was difficult to judge due to how spread out the crowd was. Continue reading...