Denies

• Angus Taylor houdt vanavond speech als reactie op de begroting. Volg het nieuws van vandaag live • Ontvang onze breaking news-e-mail, gebruik de gratis app of luister naar onze dagelijkse nieuwspodcast • Goedemorgen en welkom bij onze live politieke blog. Ik ben Martin Farrer met de belangrijkste verhalen van vannacht, waarna Nick Visser het stokje overneemt (met Krishani Dhanji die vanmiddag klaarstaat in de aanloop naar de reactiespeech van Angus Taylor op de begroting).

• FBI-directeur wijst ook beschuldigingen van onverklaarbare afwezigheden af terwijl Democraten hem ter haven stellen over rapport van Atlantic • De omstreden FBI-directeur Kash Patel heeft onder ede beschuldigingen van overmatig drankgebruik en onverklaarbare afwezigheden tijdens zijn werk ontkend en deze tijdens een verhit congresverhoor als "grondeloos" afgedaan. • Patel probeerde zich te verdedigen terwijl Democraten hem confronteerden met de "uiterst alarmerende" rapporten in de Atlantic, waarvan zij stelden dat ze neerkwamen op een "grove plichtsveronachtlasing".

The Green party leader reshared a post on social media that appeared to show officers kicking the suspect in the Golders Green attack in the headFull report: Zack Polanski’s criticism of Golders Green attack arrest will have ‘chilling effect’, says Met chiefMorning, welcome to our UK politics blog.The Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley has denied he was “intervening in politics” after he wrote an open letter to Zack Polanski over the way officers arrested the Golders Green attack suspect. Continue reading...

As his defense secretary testified before House committee, Trump posted AI-generated image of himself with a weapon and a caption saying ‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY’Pete Hegseth has denied that the US-Israel war on Iran is “a quagmire” and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US than Iran itself, as he came under pressure to set out Washington’s strategy for the conflict.Appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn budget in military spending – and then described some of them as “the biggest challenge” to the war effort. Continue reading...

Starmer’s former chief of staff says he does not recognise media’s portrayal of him before evidence hearing with MPs• UK politics live – latest updatesMorgan McSweeney has denied claims he bullied civil servants into appointing Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the UK, before an evidence hearing with MPs next week.Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff resigned in February over his role in the hiring of Mandelson, but the move failed to end the crisis over the peer’s appointment. On Thursday, McSweeney told a security forum in Kyiv that he did not recognise his “character” portrayed in the media. Continue reading...

New York Times report claimed London-born Adam Back was creator of the cryptocurrency after comparing writingsA British computer scientist has insisted that he is not the elusive developer of bitcoin after a report claimed to unmask him as its creator.The story, in the New York Times, details a years-long effort to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious author of the bitcoin whitepaper which laid the theoretical foundations for modern digital currencies. Continue reading...

The actor whose husband is charged with child sexual abuse says she believes ‘his side of the story’ is ‘the truth’ Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMelissa Gilbert contends she is “neither naive nor … complicit” having married and deciding to stand by her fellow actor Timothy Busfield amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, saying she exclusively has “heard his side of the story” and that it is “the truth”.“I know this man in my bones,” the former Little House on the Prairie cast member remarked in an interview on Monday’s edition of Good Morning America. “No one knows him better than I do.” Continue reading...