Top World News
MPs say death threats a daily reality in ‘increasing climate of abuse’
As Ann Widdecombe’s death raises concerns over security, politicians reveal extent of problemJess Phillips has received so many death threats she has to remind herself not to be blase. One night she received more than 600 rape threats. In 2019, a man forced his way into her office. The same year a white supremacist sent her a picture of Jo Cox, her friend and fellow Labour MP who was murdered in 2016, accompanied with the message: “I will have you dealt with.”“This is not academic to me; it is something I face every day,” says the MP for Birmingham Yardley. “You learn to cope with it, but it does cause terrible anxiety. For me, I feel guilty about the people who work for me, my kids, my family.” Continue reading...
US, Iran Intensify Strikes After Trump Reveals Hormuz Toll Plan
The US launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate an American blockade of Iranian ports.
‘They’re local lads’: artist puts mural of Bellingham and Rogers on chip shop
The mural in a Birmingham suburb is so popular that the shop’s owner is opening two hours early to meet demandOn a busy junction in Quinton, a suburb of Birmingham, England football stars Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are peering out from the side of a fish and chip shop, tucking into the local delicacy: orange chips.The huge lifelike image was pasted on the wall on Friday afternoon by a local guerilla artist seeking to foster West Midlands pride, both for the area’s footballing stars and for its distinctive neon battered chips. Continue reading...
MPs vote on Hillsborough amendment as Starmer and Burnham address Commons – as it happened
Outgoing prime minister opens third reading debate on the Hillsborough law billIn response to a question from Alec Shelbrooke (Con), Campbell said he was “totally unaware” not just of the wording of the Tory opposition day motion planned for tomorrow (see 1.04pm), but of the topic that it was going to cover. In a bid to convince MPs that this was not a lie, he said that he was standing at the despatch box and that MPs knew the importance of a minister “telling the absolute truth when they stand here”.In the Commons, Alan Campbell, the leader of the house, has just announced there will be a change in parliamentary business tomorrow. Wednesday was set aside for an opposition day debate – a debate on a motion tabled by the Tories. Instead, there will be a general debate on the situation in Iran. There will also be a vote on the regulations banning support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.The government has a majority of more than 150 and it could not trust its MPs to vote the right way on that motion [delaying the recess], and it could not bear the idea of a new prime minister facing any scrutiny before September.A prime minister, let me remind us all, who has been chosen by a coronation not a contest, with no known platform, almost no known policies, and no idea of his priorities or indeed his cabinet team. Continue reading...
Bloomberg Ordered To Pay $178,000 In Singapore Ministers' Defamation Case
Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait said the agency was disappointed by the ruling "but we will of course respect it".
Here's Why Parents Kidnap Their Own Children In Japan
Under the current system, only one parent, usually the one who kept physical custody of the child, retains full parental rights.
Keir Starmer becomes first UK PM to receive France’s Légion d’honneur
Exclusive: Emmanuel Macron honours outgoing prime minister for leadership role in supporting UkraineKeir Starmer has become the first UK prime minister to be presented with the Légion d’honneur by a French president, in recognition of his work with France on the security of Europe.Emmanuel Macron awarded the historic honour to Starmer for his leadership in setting up the coalition of the willing – a group of countries chaired by France and the UK that have pledged to support Ukraine – at a critical moment for Europe in early 2025. Continue reading...
Right-wing hardliners eye 'macabre' moment to finish off GOP's hawkish wing: report
America First hardliners are viewing Sen. Lindsey Graham's death as a dark opportunity to purge the Republican Party of its remaining interventionist wing and consolidate control over Donald Trump's foreign policy agenda, Politico is reporting.Graham's sudden passing left a gaping hole in the GOP's hawkish establishment — a void that anti-interventionist Trump allies are openly celebrating as a chance to eliminate their final formidable obstacle within the party.Unlike most Republicans, Graham possessed a durable relationship with Trump, which he leveraged consistently to push aggressive foreign policy positions: unwavering support for Israel, robust aid to Ukraine, and advocacy for military strikes against Iran. With him out of the way, Politico is reporting his right-wing critics see it as a "macabre opening" they need to quickly take advantage of."The McCain wing of the 'America Last' party has taken a mortal blow with the death of Graham and the demise of [Sen. Mitch] McConnell," said Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House strategist. "[GOP Sen. Tom] Cotton and the rest of the cabal have neither the gravitas nor the cunning of those two. The Oligarchs in Ukraine and Imperial Israel Proponents are curled up in the fetal position."According to Politico, a former Trump adviser is also excited about gaining more influence with Graham out of the way. Steve Cortes framed Graham's death in nakedly transactional terms."Broadly, whatever the reason, if there are fewer voices in President Trump's ear advocating for intervention that's a great thing. It's a great thing for our country, it's a great thing for our movement, it's a great thing for our party," he said."Still, not all of the president’s America First allies see Graham’s death as a boon to their cause. Some instead frame him as a bridge between a still-hawkish Senate GOP conference and a more anti-interventionist White House — someone who was able to move between both camps in a way that actually helped the America First cause," the report notes with Alex Gray, a former NSC official in Trump’s first term warning, "It actually hurts the America First movement if we don’t have establishment senators who are willing to give America First views a fair hearing, the way Graham did. He inserted kind of an interpretive bridge between the two sides. He did a lot for America First foreign policy.”
Young Germans opting out of military service as Berlin strives to boost army
Almost 6,000 young men apply to be excluded on moral or religious grounds despite ‘conscription lite’ policyThe number of young men applying to be conscientious objectors and refuse armed military service in Germany has risen sharply this year, undermining a drive by Berlin to create Europe’s strongest conventional army and deter the Russian threat.More people had applied to exclude themselves from service on religious or moral grounds in the first half of 2026 than in the whole of last year, according to figures provided by the government on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Kash Patel gave his Australian counterpart a 3D replica gun as a gift. It was destroyed within months
Documents show the FBI director’s gift was ‘displayed proudly’ by the AFP before new commissioner ordered it be destroyedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWhen the FBI director, Kash Patel, visited the Australian federal police last year, he came bearing a gift: a 3D-printed imitation pistol that then was “displayed proudly” in the commissioner’s office.Yet within months, shortly after Krissy Barrett became the AFP’s new commissioner last October, she ordered it to be destroyed. Continue reading...
David Penman wasn’t happy with his local Victorian council. So, he privately prosecuted five councillors
Legal action by the Daylesford small business owner has forced councillors to stand down – leaving only two able to serveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDavid Penman wasn’t happy.The Daylesford small business owner didn’t like the work of his local council. So, using little-known laws that force elected officials to stand down, he essentially stopped it from making any big decisions. Continue reading...
Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds
GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate powerFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastClaims by the Coalition and One Nation that abandoning a net zero climate target would bring down power prices are contradicted in a new CSIRO report on the costs of generating electricity.Generation costs will probably rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s policy on net zero, according to the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, but prices should then stabilise at levels below recent price spikes. Continue reading...
