Labour hire firm paid Mick Gatto more than $1m to secure work on Big Build, CFMEU inquiry told 31. July 2026 (08:11) M Group’s lawyer tells inquiry while the firm’s directors ‘may have done business with Gatto’ they were not ‘frontmen’ for himFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA labour hire company accused of being a front for underworld figure Mick Gatto paid him more than $1m over nine years, with its lawyer telling an inquiry it did so to secure work on Victorian government Big Build sites where the construction union had influence.Integrity expert Geoffrey Watson SC appeared before the Queensland inquiry into the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) on Friday, defending his Rotting from the Top report, which alleged Gatto controlled several M Group companies through “dummy directors” Michael Portia and Tony Paragalli. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Rob has the bucks cash’: NSW Liberals used Reformers funds to pay for ‘personal expenditure’, Icac hears 31. July 2026 (08:03) Robert Assaf separately tells anti-corruption inquiry money funnelled through lobbying firm to create ‘maximum benefit from a tax perspective’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA group of young conservative Liberal power brokers accused of soliciting illegal donations used some of the funds to pay for a bucks night, one of its members has told a corruption inquiry.The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Friday heard again from Robert Assaf, who this week was the first witness from the conservative right Liberal factional group the Reformers to give evidence. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Calls grow ‘to flunk’ Portugal’s education minister amid exam marking fiasco 31. July 2026 (08:00) Fernando Alexandre’s push to digitise marking process deemed a failure with some students and parents contemplating legal actionPressure is growing on Portugal’s education minister to resign amid student and teacher protests over his handling of this year’s national school exams.Fernando Alexandre is accused of failing to take responsibility for what critics say is an unprecedented and chaotic school exam season affecting children aged 14 to 18, prompting student protesters to call for him “to be flunked”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Medical colleges condemn scrapping of NHS placements for overseas doctors 31. July 2026 (08:00) Scheme brought in up to 500 foreign-trained doctors a year and was seen as example of British ‘soft power’The NHS has scrapped a longstanding scheme that let overseas doctors boost their skills in UK hospitals and was seen as an example of British “soft power”.Senior doctors have criticised NHS England’s decision to axe the Medical Training Initiative, under which 400 to 500 foreign-trained doctors were given placements in Britain every year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Fury as UK’s only all-female chess team promoted – then told they must recruit a man 31. July 2026 (08:00) She Plays to Win face losing one of their female players after being told team must include a maleThe UK’s only all-female chess team have been promoted to the game’s top tier – only to be told they will have to add a man to their squad.She Plays to Win Lionesses A Team have fallen foul of a rule designed to boost female participation in the sport. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Forced out of Australia’s military due to his sexuality, David says an apology is ‘long overdue’ for veterans like him 31. July 2026 (07:48) Exclusive: ADF personnel who were discriminated against for being LGBTQ+ are owed a national apology, federal government toldFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA national apology should be issued to LGBTQ+ veterans and service personnel who experienced discrimination at the hands of the Australian Defence Force, according to recommendations to the federal government.David Gibson, who was discharged from the military in 1989 because he was bisexual and chair of GLBTI Rights in Ageing, said it was time for the prime minister to issue an apology. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
HSBC to close all branches and pull out of Australian retail banking market 31. July 2026 (07:00) London-based company to sell local loan portfolio to Blackstone but will continue private and institutional banking servicesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe London-headquartered HSBC is closing all Australian branches over the next 18 months after selling its local mortgage and personal loan portfolio to the global asset giant Blackstone.The transaction will end HSBC’s decades-long retail presence in Australia, although it will continue to operate private and institutional banking services, the company announced on Friday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Drones offer alternative to balloons for weather research 31. July 2026 (07:00) Pre-programmed flights gather data at different altitudes then return to bases to recharge and downloadWeather happens in the boundary layer, the atmosphere from ground level to a few thousand metres, but this can be difficult to study in detail: weather stations are too low, and aircraft are expensive. Instrumented weather balloons are the traditional solution, and thousands are released every day. But these are at the mercy of the wind and use irreplaceable helium.Drones offer an alternative and the US company Meteomatics has taken the idea further with Meteobase, a base station on the ground with a drone that can be launched and recovered automatically. It carries out a pre-programmed flight, gathering data at different altitudes, then returns to recharge and download data which the Meteobase sends to researchers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
AOC 2028: Could the US elect its first female president? – podcast 31. July 2026 (06:00) Leftwing Democrats are having their moment in the sun, with Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and endless calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028. Has Democratic socialism shifted from the political fringe to the mainstream? And can this group lure back the all-important swing voters?Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bhaskar Sunkara, president of the Nation magazine, founding editor of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme InequalitiesArchive: AP, ReutersWatch Jonathan Freedland on our new Politics Weekly YouTube channelSend your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.comHelp support the Guardian. Go to theguardian.com/politicspodus Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Will brutal wildfires force French leaders to take climate crisis seriously? 31. July 2026 (06:00) Campaigners worry politicians will have moved on by time of elections in which Marine Le Pen is expected to challengeAs dozens of forest wildfires burned across France this week amid the summer’s fourth brutal heatwave and increasing air pollution, some wondered whether voters’ first-hand experience of the climate emergency would change the political debate ahead of next year’s presidential election.The Green leader, Marine Tondelier, who cut short a tour of France on medical advice that at seven months pregnant she should avoid breathing smoke-filled air in the south-west near a huge wildfire in Gironde, said the political class still had its head in the sand. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
