GCSE results: hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland await grades – latest updates 20. August 2026 (08:47) Students will begin receiving this years exam results online and in person from 8am (GMT) this morningCompulsory GCSE resits in England harm teenagers’ mental wellbeing, study findsThe app allowing students to access their GCSE results digitally is being rolled out nationally this year, after a successful trial last year.In 2025, nearly 100,000 year 11 pupils in the Greater Manchester and the West Midlands combined authority areas received their GCSE results via an app called Education Record, which automatically collates their key information and exam results. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Erin Patterson’s mushroom murders sentence too lenient and she should die behind bars, prosecutors argue 20. August 2026 (08:44) Crown prosecutor tells Victorian court that all seven of Patterson’s grounds for appeal should fail while arguing for tougher sentenceGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTriple murderer Erin Patterson should have been given no possibility of ever being released from prison, or a non-parole period so lengthy that she was likely to die behind bars, Victoria’s highest court has heard.Patterson, 51, is appealing against her convictions in the court of appeal, with the Director of Public Prosecutions is also appealing against the sentence handed down to her, arguing it is “manifestly inadequate”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
More than 1,000 birds found dead in three mass mortality events amid ‘significant’ H5 escalation in Australia 20. August 2026 (08:16) South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas says there have still been no detections in poultry or livestock and no mass deaths involving mammalsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has declared a “significant escalation” in H5 bird flu in the state after the detection of three mass mortality events involving more than 1,000 greater crested terns.Malinauskas said the cause of the deaths was presumed to be H5 bird flu. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Farage using Christianity ‘to stir anti-Muslim feeling’, says Rowan Williams 20. August 2026 (08:00) Former archbishop of Canterbury also has ‘awkward questions’ for activist Tommy Robinson on his claimed faithA former archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of misusing the UK’s Christianity “to channel anti-Muslim feeling” and said he also had “some awkward questions” for the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.Dr Rowan Williams, who was the archbishop of Canterbury for 10 years until 2012, said there was an “inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Monstera magic: Barbican hands out cuttings as ‘green lung of the city’ closes 20. August 2026 (07:00) Five hundred people turn up to adopt plants from conservatory that will reopen in 2030 after renovation projectAbove the waxy monstera leaves and bright pink hibiscus flowers in the Barbican conservatory hangs a giant net to catch the panes of glass that are at risk of falling from the ceiling on the unwitting plant lovers below.This precarious situation has caused the estate to shutter its greenhouse on the third and fourth floors for three years so a full refurbishment can take place. But the hiatus has a silver lining for many of those who visited on Wednesday to give the plants from the conservatory a new home. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Oxfam ‘can’t guarantee future’ of charity shops as it also reviews warehouse business 20. August 2026 (07:00) Dwindling donations and stiff competition from secondhand sellers online prompt review but ‘no plans for closures yet’Oxfam is reviewing the operations of its three warehouses in Batley, Bicester and Milton Keynes and says it “cannot give guarantees” on the future of its high street shops in a “difficult economic climate”.The charity said it had no plans to close warehouses or shops but insiders fear that Batley, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, will shut as part of a cost-cutting drive because the West Yorkshire site’s lease is up for renewal. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump threatens Iran’s trade partners, as military strikes make way for economic pressure 20. August 2026 (06:53) US president pivots towards ‘crushing’ economic operation against Iran and its trading partners as military strikes fail to bring Tehran to the tableDonald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented.“Today, I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Larry David says former friend Alan Dershowitz ‘made a deal with the devil’ as Trump’s lawyer 20. August 2026 (06:06) The Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator says Dershowitz, who also defended Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, ‘only has himself to blame’ for being ostracisedLarry David has opened up about the collapse of his friendship with Alan Dershowitz, saying that Dershowitz “made a deal with the devil” when he became Donald Trump’s lawyer.Dershowitz, a former Harvard University law professor, has been a member of legal teams for Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, OJ Simpson and Harvey Weinstein at various points in his career, and served on Trump’s defense team during the president’s first impeachment trial in 2020. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Kyiv comes under Russian missile attack, killing at least six 20. August 2026 (05:38) Death reported after residential areas and warehouses hit in heavy bombardment in capital and surrounding regionA heavy Russian bombardment killed at least six people and wounded dozens in Ukraine’s capital and its surrounding region overnight, authorities said on Thursday.A missile attack on Kyiv struck residential areas and warehouses, said the Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko. The attack damaged residential buildings, a medical facility and an educational institution and left five people dead and 23 wounded, city military authorities said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Missing teen hiker Lily Hooper found dead after disappearing in NSW national park a week ago 20. August 2026 (05:19) Premier Chris Minns tells parliament ‘this is obviously devastating’ after earlier announcing 18-year-old had been ‘found alive’ with half a bottle of waterFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe body of missing 18-year-old bushwalker Lily Hooper has been found in a remote New South Wales national park more than a week after she set out on her hike.“I’ve got some terrible news,” the NSW premier, Chris Minns, told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. Just minutes earlier, Minns had said Lily had been “found alive”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
