Call to suspend new EU border system in peak holiday period as planes leave half full 01. July 2026 (10:08) Airlines and airports say passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours for biometric checksAirlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period,saying some flights are leaving half full and passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours.In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, airlines and airports asked for an option to suspend checks under the system over fears the situation will get much worse during the busy summer season. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
RSC casts Sharon D Clarke as black lesbian Othello in reimagining of play 01. July 2026 (10:00) Three-time Olivier winner to play general viewed through ‘urgent new lens’ of misogynoir in futuristic productionThe Royal Shakespeare Company has cast Sharon D Clarke as a black lesbian Othello in a futuristic reimagining of the play which is being billed as projecting the 400-year-old story through “an urgent new lens”.Clarke, who is a three-time Olivier winner and has starred in West End and Broadway productions, brought the project to the RSC with the twist that Othello would be depicted as a black lesbian general married to a younger Desdemona. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Life-saving’ drug for people with opioid dependency to be pulled from Australia by end of year 01. July 2026 (09:55) Exclusive: Fears that US companies may withdraw more medicines as global markets react to policy changes by the Trump administrationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA “life-saving” drug heavily subsidised for Australians living with opioid dependency will be pulled from the market by the end of the year, causing alarm among doctors and pharmacists.US pharmaceutical company Indivior confirmed the marketing and sale of the long-acting injectable prescription opioid Sublocade would end from 31 December, with a company spokesperson describing it as a “commercial decision”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Minister and MP ‘furious’ over cuts to road projects to fund defence plan 01. July 2026 (09:44) Robert Jenrick and Hamish Falconer, MPs for Newark and Lincoln, among those whose constituencies now face cutsUK politics live – latest updatesThe Labour minister Hamish Falconer and the Reform MP Robert Jenrick have voiced anger at the cancellation or delay of key transport infrastructure projects to fund the defence investment plan.Falconer, the MP for Lincoln and Middle East minister, and Jenrick, the MP for Newark, were among those who have had cuts to road improvements in their constituencies, with savings contributing towards the increase in defence spending. Two roads in the East Midlands are among those where investment cuts have been made to fund a £15bn uplift in defence. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population 01. July 2026 (09:00) Fears of resurgence of HIV/Aids amid loss of access to PrEP drugs as at least 40 people arrested in ‘toxic’ climateA “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year.Up to 40 people have been arrested and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Friend of Thai teen allegedly murdered by Australian man went to his condo after reporting her missing 01. July 2026 (08:36) Security footage images show a friend went to Simon Peter Carman’s apartment in Pattaya, Thailand after reporting Thunchanok Donhomla missing The friend of the 17-year-old girl allegedly murdered in Thailand reported her missing to police and then visited the condo of the Australian man charged over her death.Security footage images obtained by the Guardian shows the friend at the apartment of Simon Peter Carman. The footage is time stamped 1.49pm on Friday 26 June, although it is not clear whether the time stamp was added manually. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Creatives sound alarm on copyright as Pocock calls $50bn datacentre proposal ‘ultimate dirty deal’ 01. July 2026 (08:22) Proposal has been put to cabinet to allow AI companies to mine content, in exchange for investment and $350m fund to compensate artists, sources say Creatives are demanding fresh assurances from the Albanese government that it won’t water down copyright laws under a potential deal with tech giants to attract more than $50bn worth of datacentre investment in exchange for a $350m-a-year fund for artists.Guardian Australia has been told an industry proposal has been presented to cabinet that would grant AI companies special exemptions to mine creative content. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Complicated and expensive’: Burnham is right about the risks of nationalisation | Nils Pratley 01. July 2026 (07:00) Track record of Welsh Water shows public ownership is not the answer to all the woes in the utilities sectorGood news for Andy Burnham: one of the original 10 water privatisations from the Thatcher-era has returned to public ownership already. Thanks to a complicated turn-of-the-century corporate saga, Welsh Water, serving 3 million people, converted to not-for-profit status in 2001. It has no shareholders. Financial surpluses go “straight back into keeping bills down and looking after your water and beautiful environment”, as the website blurb puts it.How’s it going? After a quarter of a century without dividend-hungry shareholders to feed, has the model proved its superiority? Not exactly. Welsh Water usually has high scores on customer trust metrics but its performance on bills and spills tends to be middle of the pack. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Energy price cap rise ‘will push millions in Great Britain into fuel poverty’ 01. July 2026 (07:00) Typical bill will surge by £220 a year from Wednesday, forcing 13.5m homes to spend over 10% of income on fuelMillions of households in Great Britain will be pushed into fuel poverty after months of volatility on the global gas markets as energy bills rise by more than £220 a year under the government’s price cap from Wednesday.As the cap on gas and electricity rates rises to the equivalent of £1,862 a year, the number of households forced to spend more than 10% of their income on energy bills will increase to 13.5m from almost 11.3m in April, according to fuel poverty campaigners. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Imagine this was your daughter’: how grieving mothers campaigned to close sentencing gap 01. July 2026 (07:00) David Lammy’s decision to increase minimum sentence for domestic murder victims follows years of tireless lobbyingDavid Lammy had gone quiet. Sitting in his ministerial office in the Palace of Westminster, the justice secretary had just been presented with pictures of women killed by their partners in their own homes, by their grieving mothers.As she put the photographs in front of him, Carole Gould explained that her 17-year-old daughter, Ellie, was killed by fellow sixth-former Thomas Griffiths the day after she ended their relationship in 2019. Julie Devey, who was joining the call remotely, showed a photograph of her daughter, Poppy Devey Waterhouse, who was 24 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Joe Atkinson, on 14 December 2018. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
