Leader Ali

• Circuit Judge J. Kennedy Peabody warned against using government authority to punish dissent, criticism, or perceived political disloyalty during the opening of the 15th Judicial Circuit in River Gee County. • The judge argued that public institutions "bleed" and suffer significantly when administrative decisions are driven by personal interests, resentment, or revenge rather than the law. • This warning highlights the critical need for intolerance and retaliatory leadership to be removed from the exercise of public power to maintain institutional integrity.

Attorneys general meet in Darwin to work on nationalising the working with children check after serious allegations of safety breaches in childcare sector. Follow liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAttorneys-general are meeting in Darwin on Friday, to work on nationalising the working with children check - sparked by serious allegations of safety breaches and child abuse in the childcare sector.But a fully nationalised system will only be in place under current timelines from mid-2028 – two years from now.All governments have made significant progress towards delivering a national approach to Working with Children Checks ... I am confident my state and territory colleagues will take the next big step today and agree on nationally consistent minimum standards and information sharing. Continue reading...

David Huerta was arrested while protesting against an ICE operation during crackdown in Los AngelesThe Department of Justice (DoJ) has moved to dismiss charges against a prominent California union leader who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid in Los Angeles last year, in the latest US government case against protesters to fall apart.David Huerta, the president of Service Employees International Union United Service Workers West, was arrested at a June 2025 demonstration and has been fighting the charges ever since. On Monday, the US attorney’s office in LA filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. Continue reading...

• A Mimecast report reveals that 65% of IT and security leaders in Singapore and Australia believe an AI-driven attack on their organization is inevitable within the next 12 months. • Despite this perceived threat, only 40% of these decision-makers claim to be fully prepared with specific strategies to counter AI-driven attacks. • The financial stakes are high, with the average cost of a single insider-driven data exposure estimated at $13.1 million, potentially leading to an annual risk exposure of $943.2 million for firms facing six incidents monthly.

• Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has challenged Donald Trump's assertions that the 2024 election was "rigged and stolen." • Greene questioned the validity of the results by referencing previous disputed claims regarding Russian interference in 2016 and Chinese interference in 2020. • This internal Republican friction occurs amidst a broader week of political volatility involving Iran strikes, U.S. political clashes, and debates over foreign aid.

Appearing on a podcast with the far-right UK activist who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, Hanson makes evidence-free claims about migrantsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPauline Hanson has used an interview with the far-right British activist Tommy Robinson to blame the end of the White Australia policy for creating what she sees as problems with migration and said her daughter, Lee Hanson, was the future of One Nation.The One Nation leader, who is visiting the UK for a series of conference appearances and a holiday with her billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart, appeared on an episode of Robinson’s podcast on Friday, repeating unsubstantiated claims about the spread of sharia law and accusing Muslim communities, without evidence, of rorting the national disability insurance scheme. Continue reading...

Outgoing PM moves to cements his legacy before his replacement by Andy Burnham as party leader tomorrowGood morning. Conventional wisdom has it that, once a PM announces they are going to stand down, all their power vanishes faster than water down a clear plughole. Broadly that’s correct. But in the last week or so Keir Starmer seems to have been acting with a decisiveness that eluded him for most of his time in office: finalising the defence investment plan; delivering the long-awaited apology to victims of forced adoption; over-ruling the security services to deliver the concession that got the Hillsborough law bill over the line; and finally securing a conditional pardon for Ruth Ellis.This is not happening because being on the way out makes a PM more powerful. But it does help them focus, and forces them to give up on faffing around.British Steel is part of the fabric of our nation and a cornerstone of Britain’s industrial strength.Today’s decision secures the future of steelmaking in the UK, protects skilled jobs and safeguards a vital national capability. Continue reading...

Leaders from Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea to join Albanese at State of Origin decider. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese will host a trio of Pacific prime ministers as he tries to bolster Australia’s regional influence amid the creeping threat of China, Australian Associated Press reports.The bilateral meetings with Papua New Guinea’s James Marape, Tonga’s Lord Fakafānua and Samoa’s La’auli Leuatea Schmidt will be followed by a Pacific rugby league event in Brisbane with all four leaders. Continue reading...

• A Confluent report reveals that 78% of Singapore IT leaders are unable to scale AI due to a lack of real-time data infrastructure, despite 75% already piloting agentic AI solutions. • Significant technical hurdles persist, with 95% of leaders struggling with data quality and legacy system integration, while 93% cite concerns over Large Language Model (LLM) reliability. • These challenges have led 73% of agentic AI projects to stall, with 50% of those initiatives being completely abandoned, mirroring trends across the Asia Pacific region.

Millions join funeral procession in capital of Tehran to mourn Khamenei who was kiled in US-Israel airstrikes in FebruaryGood morning, and welcome to the Middle East live blog.Today marks the start of a mass funeral procession for Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Continue reading...

Crowds grew as they moved through Tehran as mourners wore black and carried flags with the slogan ‘we will rise’A millions strong crowd assembled on Monday to take part in the funeral procession of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader.The scale, and depth of the march, however engineered, is an extraordinary turn around for a country that only seven months ago was gripped by street protests that saw thousands killed by government security forces. Many will say that the assembly was a monument to a misconceived war launched on Iran by Donald Trump in February. Continue reading...

Three sons of killed ayatollah were seen beside coffin during ceremonies drawing huge crowds in TehranThree sons of the former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed beside his coffin and those of ⁠four other family members ⁠on Sunday, but Mojtaba, ​the son who has succeeded him as Iran’s supreme leader, did not make an appearance.State TV showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying behind the coffins laid out in the ⁠vast courtyard of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla, a sprawling religious complex. In a show of public devotion to the theocratic state and revolutionary zeal, the country is staging a week of mass funeral processions ⁠for Khamenei, including taking his remains to Shia religious sites in neighbouring Iraq. Continue reading...

Ministers accused of being more hesitant to respond as Reform has risen in polls, due to fear of ‘saying wrong thing’During the May local elections in England, a canvasser was out in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham campaigning for her party. At one doorstep, the occupant asked if she was Muslim. When she said yes, he told her she should be hanged.It is one of dozens of stories that Akeela Ahmed, head of the British Muslim Trust (BMT), the government’s official partner for monitoring anti-Muslim hatred, has heard in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Representatives of Raise the Colours appeared in court after local council accused them of intimidating staffLeaders of the nationalist group Raise the Colours have agreed to stop hoisting England flags from lamp-posts in Oxfordshire after the local authority sought a high court injunction against the campaign.Ryan Bridge, Ben Cullen and Trudy Wells told the high court on Tuesday they would not raise St George’s flags from Oxfordshire county council property, encourage others to do so or impede council workers from taking them down. Continue reading...

Australian Greens should ‘take on’ Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Polanski tells Victorian conference, just as he took on Nigel Farage’s Reform UKGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastZack Polanski, the leader of the Green party of England and Wales, has told his counterparts in Australia that they need to start “connecting with people’s anger” and learn from the “storytelling power” of populist rightwing politics.Speaking via video link at the Victorian Greens campaign conference on Saturday night, Zack Polanski said the party in Australia needed to start “taking on” Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, just as his own party had taken on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Continue reading...

Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas say party must seek to understand why disenfranchised electorate were attracted to Nigel Farage’s partyThe current and former leaders of the Green party have warned that the party should listen to the concerns of Reform UK voters in order to tackle inequality.Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas said on Saturday that the Greens needed to understand why voters affected by the cost of living crisis were attracted to Nigel Farage’s party. Continue reading...

Dr Sharmila Chandran suspended until 20 September as Royal Australasian College of Physicians agrees to work with regulator to meet its obligationsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe charities regulator has suspended the president-elect of one of Australia’s oldest medical colleges for allegedly contravening a direction from the NSW work health and safety watchdog. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) on Monday issued a notice suspending Dr Sharmila Chandran as a responsible person of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which is a registered charity, until 20 September. SafeWork NSW advised that Chandran’s alleged failure to comply with a directive not to contact RACP staff was exposing them to “immediate and serious risks” to their psychological health and safety, the ACNC said in a public statement.The intervention follows months of conflict within the RACP’s board, which culminated in an extraordinary general meeting last month to which police were called. Continue reading...

SNP leader wants to ensure voices of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ‘are heard loud and clear’John Swinney has said he plans to work with the nationalist first ministers in Wales and Northern Ireland in a coordinated opposition to Labour’s policies on the cost of living and UK government spending.The Scottish National party leader said he had spoken to Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin first minister of Northern Ireland, on Friday night after she had called to congratulate him on his party’s “emphatic” victory in the Holyrood elections. Continue reading...

Denmark king asks Troeld Lund Poulsen to form government after PM struggles to gather supportThe king of Denmark has asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after a month-long effort by the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has failed to put together a ruling coalition.The announcement on Friday night shook the political establishment as Frederiksen has been a staple of Danish politics for decades. Her left-leaning party, the Social Democrats, won the plurality of votes in parliamentary elections in March. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Government should back projects that prioritise renewables to protect consumers from ongoing price shocks, they sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFormer oil and gas industry leaders, including senior executives from BP and Shell, are warning the Albanese government that Australians risk ongoing price shocks and higher costs if it prioritises fossil fuel development in response to the global energy crisis.Sixteen ex-executives and professionals – who had worked for companies including Woodside, Inpex, Exxon Mobil and Esso – have urged the government to reject calls for fast-tracked gas and coal extraction, arguing it would do nothing to improve the nation’s liquid fuel security. Continue reading...

One Nation outperforms the Coalition for the first time, while the rightwing populist party’s leader has a positive rating among all age groupsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA majority of surveyed Australians approve of Pauline Hanson’s leadership of One Nation, giving her a higher job approval rating than Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor, as the Guardian Essential poll finds the rightwing populist party is outperforming the Coalition for the first time.The results come as Australians are becoming more pessimistic about the country and the economy, with the majority of respondents saying they expected things to get worse in coming months. Continue reading...