Weather tracker: Heatwave breaks June temperature records across Europe 03. July 2026 (11:20) UK provisional peak of 37.7C shatters previous record by huge margin, while Germany hits all-time high of 41.7CLast week’s heatwave across western Europe shattered national June records and set new all-time highs.The UK recorded a provisional high of 37.7C at Lingwood in Norfolk on Friday 27 June, smashing the previous June record of 35.6C, set in 1976. Such a margin is exceptionally rare: temperature records are typically broken by 0.1C or 0.2C, not a remarkable 2.1C. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Keir Starmer ally Hollie Ridley to step down as Labour general secretary 03. July 2026 (11:15) Exclusive: As well as citing personal reasons, Ridley says she is making way for a successor ‘to work alongside new leader’Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, is to step down this autumn after two years in the job, she has announced to party staff.Ridley, an ally of Keir Starmer who ran Labour’s field operations in the 2024 general win election, said in an internal email she would stand down after the party’s annual conference in September. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Woman suspected in Monaco parcel bombing reportedly seen in Germany 03. July 2026 (11:05) Suspect is said to have tried to pass as a man during attack apparently targeting Ukrainian-born oligarchThe main suspect in a bomb attack in Monaco this week is a woman who has been spotted in Germany, a judicial source in Monaco told Reuters on Friday.Three people were wounded on Monday evening in a parcel bomb explosion in the wealthy principality, which was believed to be an attack on a Ukrainian-born oligarch. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US heatwave threatens 250th anniversary events and World Cup 03. July 2026 (09:01) Weekend’s high temperatures and humidity ‘virtually impossible’ without climate crisis, researchers sayThe scorching heat blanketing much of the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend.“The climate the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in a press release. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Details of MCG assault against Lidia Thorpe revealed after court lifts suppression order 03. July 2026 (08:16) Ebony Bell convicted and handed community work order following assault on senator and second ‘gratuitous act of violence’ while on bailFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman has been handed a community work order for punching Lidia Thorpe outside the MCG over claims the independent senator disrespected her mother.Ebony Bell was initially told to undertake an anger management course after her 2024 attack on Thorpe, but committed a second “gratuitous act of violence” while on bail, the Melbourne magistrates court was told in June. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Burnham’s funding gap: what state are UK finances in for the PM-in-waiting? 03. July 2026 (08:00) Given pressures on the public purse, the Makerfield MP may have to look at autumn tax rises to fund his ‘new direction’An economy rattled by a global energy shock, jittery bond markets and rising spending demands. As Andy Burnham prepares for government, the pressures on the public finances are in focus.The prospective prime minister pledged a new direction for Britain this week within two constraints: sticking to Labour’s current fiscal rules, and consistency with its 2024 manifesto. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ali Khamenei’s six-day funeral expected to draw millions in Iran 03. July 2026 (07:43) Huge scale of funeral for supreme leader across five cities is intended to relay message of resistance to rest of the worldIn the small hours of Friday the police roadblocks, stalls, posters and army vans were starting to appear across Tehran as millions of Iranians prepared to attend the long-delayed six-day funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei’s, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 turbulent years.Killed in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack on the country in February, the funeral is intended to be an epic display of personal mourning, national power, resilience and social cohesion. Small groups of mourners carrying flags were gathering along the roads festooned with the red fist, the symbol of the funeral alongside the slogan “We must rise”. At a ceremony dedicated to the families of martyrs, Khamenei’s coffin was displayed. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jacinta Allan admits criminals infiltrated Big Build but rejects calls for royal commission 03. July 2026 (07:33) Premier apologised over organised crime in some of Victoria’s largest construction projects, in op-ed that claimed a royal commission would not solve the issueFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJacinta Allan has admitted that criminals have infiltrated some of Victoria’s largest construction projects – but has again rejected growing calls for a royal commission into alleged corruption involving unions and labour hire companies.In an opinion piece published in the Age on Thursday night, the premier wrote that “we now know that criminals operated on some of Victoria’s construction sites” during projects dubbed by the Labor government as the Big Build. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Ridiculous’ for US to maintain current Nato support, Trump warns ahead of alliance summit 03. July 2026 (07:19) President says Washington’s relationship with Nato is ‘not reciprocal’ and ‘they were not there for us’ in Iran warDonald Trump has said it is “ridiculous” for the US to continue its “one sided” relationship with Nato, less than a week before a summit of the military alliance in Ankara.Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “They were not there for us!!!” and Washington’s relationship with Nato “is not reciprocal”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Spyware used against MEP investigating Pegasus abuses, report finds 03. July 2026 (07:00) Researchers say Stelios Kouloglou’s device was compromised after he joined European parliamentary committeeNSO Group’s hacking software was repeatedly used against a member of the European parliament while he was conducting an investigation of spyware abuses in Europe, according to a new report.Researchers at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said they could not attribute the attacks against Stelios Kouloglou to any particular government operator of Pegasus spyware. But their investigation found the attack against the Greek now-former MEP bore the hallmarks of a previous hacking campaign against exiled Russian and Belarusian journalists in Europe. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
