This huge hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the fastest spider on the planet 09. July 2026 (17:00) A brown huntsman is the quickest of more than 250 species analysed by scientists in the UK and GermanyIf arachnophobes were not frightened enough by the horrific ability of Australia’s huntsman spiders to drag dead mice up the sides of fridges, they now have another reason.They might be the fastest spiders on the planet. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Growing legal bill for failed defence of controversial NSW protest laws runs to hundreds of thousands of dollars 09. July 2026 (17:00) Exclusive: Documents show $117,455.50 was spent in a single legal fight over laws rushed through after Bondi attackGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to unsuccessfully defend constitutional challenges against protest laws that were expected to be struck down.The costs, outlined in documents obtained by Guardian Australia via freedom of information legislation, include $117,455.50 of taxpayers’ money on a single challenge to controversial public assembly restriction declaration (Pard) laws. Those laws were enacted following the Bondi beach terror attack and were in place during a now infamous rally against the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, in February. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Former US Olympian pleads not guilty to damaging reflecting pool amid Trump’s renovation 09. July 2026 (16:52) David Hearn is accused of destroying ‘American flag blue’ lining material on the bottom of the reflecting poolDavid Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to damaging Washington’s reflecting pool after a $14.7m renovation project.Hearn, a three-time US Olympian, was indicted last week on a single felony count of property destruction. He appeared in local superior court in Washington DC, to enter the plea after he was criminally charged over the incident in mid-June. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Doreen Lawrence will not foot any of legal bill for failed attempt to sue Daily Mail 09. July 2026 (16:50) Exclusive: Source close to co-claimant Prince Harry says he is protective of social campaigner and will not ‘see her out of pocket’Doreen Lawrence, the social justice campaigner, will not foot any of a multimillion-pound bill for the failed attempt to sue the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Guardian understands.Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, whose case was the subject of a long-running Daily Mail campaign from the late 1990s, was one of seven claimants defeated in court over claims the Mail titles used unlawful methods to source stories. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US air force cancels promotions over grading error in security test 09. July 2026 (16:35) ‘Highly unprecedented anomaly’ meant 135 people given incorrect scores and wrongly informed of promotionsThe air force has canceled the promotions of dozens of service members after discovering what it said was a grading error in a test of their security knowledge.The “isolated and highly unprecedented anomaly” was announced in a press release on Tuesday, which said 135 airmen and women had been awarded incorrect scores on the security forces specialty knowledge test (SKT) and been wrongly informed they had earned promotion. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Convicted fraudster was introduced as Farage’s chief of staff, says ex-Reform candidate 09. July 2026 (16:05) Exclusive: Questions grow over George Cottrell’s role as party says he has never held an official positionUK politics live – latest updatesWhy is Farage quitting as an MP, only to stand again?George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader.Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the cost of a fundraising lunch with potential donors before the national vote. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Legionnaires’ outbreak rocks New York as experts warn of rising climate threat 09. July 2026 (16:00) Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in ManhattanA New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Flight of fancy: San Francisco moves to build private luxury airport terminal 09. July 2026 (16:00) City seeking bids to build and operate separate terminal, following Los Angeles, London and other citiesSick of the TSA lines? Tired of playing musical chairs at the gate? Rather sit as far from your fellow airplane passengers for as long as possible, in the comfort of your own private, luxury airport terminal?Soon you may get your wish. And San Francisco international airport wants to be your genie – for a fee. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Licensed to drill? How a Trump-linked Texas oil company is elbowing its way into Greenland 09. July 2026 (15:52) Greenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude lie beneath territory and claims it has exploration permits – a claim flatly denied by NuukOn 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. “So,” Robert Price said via an interpreter, “we have a project to drill for oil here.”The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Germany set to make rental e-scooter operators liable for accidents 09. July 2026 (15:06) Measures aim to make it easier for victims to gain compensation, with firms such as Bolt and Lime held responsible for damageVictims hit by rental e-scooters on German streets will have an easier time gaining compensation from their operators under legislation due to be passed in parliament that would put the vehicles on a legal footing similar to that of cars.The draft law by the right-left coalition government, which has been welcomed by consumer rights advocates, says that given the rapid rise in the use of e-scooters in recent years coupled with high accident rates, rental operators such as Lime and Bolt should be held liable. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
