6+ hour, 9+ min ago (990+ words) Ultimatums sent to publications appear to intensify as Nigel Farage's party rises in polls "It was Trumpian," said Mark Mansfield, editor and CEO of Nation.Cymru, a small English-language Welsh news service. "It has perhaps given us a flavour of how a Reform UK government would behave towards the media." Mansfield is referring to what he described as an attempt by a figure at Nigel Farage's Reform UK party to "bully" his publication, but he believes a wider lesson might be learned. On 12 November, Nation.Cymru published an article when Reform's only Welsh parliament member, Laura Anne Jones, was banned from the Senedd chamber for 14 days after using a racial slur to describe Chinese people. The news website named Ed Sumner, now head of communications at Reform, as being one of the recipients of the offensive WhatsApp messages while working…...

16+ hour, 11+ min ago (738+ words) Morning everyone. Ed Husic, sacked from Labor's ministerial team, continues to make the most of his freedom to speak his mind with a stinging attack on "profiteering" by gas companies and a plea for Australia to set its own prices for "our gas". Elsewhere, Australian households are being squeezed by higher interest rates, Ukraine has won significant amendments to the Russia-US peace plan, and a court in Italy has ruled that three children being raised off-grid by their Australian mother should be taken into care. Plus: can intercity bus travel become cool again? Mortgage squeeze | The average Australian household is spending nearly twice as much of their income on servicing their mortgage than they did five years ago, according to a new report. The average increase is 45%, and in Sydney it takes 68% of income to keep up with a mortgage....

21+ hour, 2+ min ago (806+ words) Embassy's employment of Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips is potentially violation of UK sanctions law, say experts The British embassy in Tel Aviv may have broken both UK sanctions law and UK government security policies by employing an Israeli citizen who owns a home in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine, legal experts have said. The embassy's deputy head of corporate services and HR, Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips, moved to Kerem Reim in 2022. She listed a house she bought there as her home address on financial documents at the time. She later shared posts about the community on social media, including advertising youth programmes and subsidised housing for childcare workers. The settlement, north of Ramallah, was built by Amana, a construction company hit with sanctions last year for supporting, promoting and inciting violence against Palestinians. "Amana has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts…...

11+ hour, 23+ min ago (1257+ words) Chair Samir Shah is a picture of misery before MPs while Robbie Gibb proves the master of deflection This was the BBC in its happiest of happy places. Sure the Beeb likes to do the news, but there is nothing it likes more than reporting on itself. The holy grail of its output. There are whole departments within the Beeb dedicated to making TV and radio programmes about other BBC TV and radio programmes.There can be no other organisation that subjects itself to quite so much self-analysis. Only a psychotherapist would be able to fully determine whether it is solipsism or self-hatred. Maybe both. So much so that it goes out of its way to recruit people whose sole job is to criticise it. Some who are even ideologically opposed to it. Would not be that bothered if it…...

15+ hour, 53+ min ago (637+ words) Michael Prescott, author of leaked memo, chair Samir Shah and board members Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson to appear at select committee Shumeet Banerji resigned from the board on Friday after saying he was cut out of the discussions that led to the shock resignation of director general Tim Davie. The tech industry executive was out of the country on the crucial days before the departure of Davie and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness. The pair quit after tense board discussions over how to respond to allegations of liberal bias made by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC). Prescott left that role in the summer. Banerji cited what he called "governance issues" at the top of the corporation. In a letter, he said he had not been consulted…...

5+ hour, 51+ min ago (706+ words) Search powers, usually reserved for protests, will be in effect in the CBD and beyond in a move criticised by human rights groups Victoria police will have the power to conduct warrant-less pat-downs, search cars and move people on in Melbourne's CBD for six months, in a move human rights and legal groups have described as a "vast overreach. Police on Tuesday declared the CBD, Docklands, Southbank, the sporting and entertainment precinct and parts of East Melbourne and South Melbourne as a "designated area from Sunday, until 29 May 2026. This means police and protective service officers (PSOs) have the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds. The searches, which are allowed under the Control of Weapons Act, can be conducted using an electronic wand or a pat-down, and people may be asked to take off…...

59+ min ago (1551+ words) Former head of British army is suspended from the House of Lords after being filmed breaking rules Two peers suspended from House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules With support from the UK government, the company had a better chance of getting the dam built. The dam, they said, would bring much-needed cheap electricity to many people in Sierra Leone. But it could also bring profits to the company, and Dannatt was not only to receive flowers and upmarket produce, he was also given shares. At issue though is that, freshly decommissioned in 2009, Dannatt had also taken up two new posts. The first was the largely ceremonial role of constable of the Tower of London. That gave him the Queen's House, a grace-and-favour apartment in one of the most iconic buildings in London. The second, a peerage awarded by David…...

4+ hour, 10+ min ago (324+ words) Nathan Gill was an MEP for the Brexit party and Ukip, and later became Reform UK's leader in Wales. Now he has been jailed for 10 years for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements. Luke Harding reportsNathan Gill was a Mormon bishop who went on to represent Wales in the European parliament " first for Ukip, Nigel Farage's original party, then for the Brexit party. Most recently he led Reform UK in Wales. He wasn't the most flashy orator " some would say his delivery was wooden " but the content of his speeches could be surprising, including criticising the Ukrainian government, for, among other things, closing down TV channels. Now those speeches have landed Gill a 10-and-a-half-year jail sentence.Luke Harding is a senior foreign correspondent at the Guardian and former Russia correspondent. He tells Helen Pidd how the case against Gill unfolded…...

17+ hour, 9+ min ago (131+ words) New figures released over the weekend show the cost of the Bureau of Meteorology's website redesign has ballooned to $96.5m.Technology reporter Josh Taylor tells Nour Haydar how this happened, how it compares with other website redesigns and why the environment minister is asking for an explanationRead more:BoM asked to explain "what happened here' after cost of website redesign revealed to be $96.5m Continue reading... New figures released over the weekend show the cost of the Bureau of Meteorology's website redesign has ballooned to $96.5m. Technology reporter Josh Taylor tells Nour Haydar how this happened, how it compares with other website redesigns and why the environment minister is asking for an explanation BoM asked to explain "what happened here' after cost of website redesign revealed to be $96.5m...

2+ hour, 9+ min ago (737+ words) Exclusive: High-profile lawyers suggest ex-City minister Tulip Siddiq has not enjoyed basic rights during her trial in absentia The trial in Bangladesh of the former UK City minister Tulip Siddiq has been "contrived and unfair, leading lawyers including a former Conservative justice secretary have told Bangladesh's ambassador before Thursday's verdict. Siddiq, who resigned from the UK government in January, is due to receive her verdict and sentence in absentia, with the prosecution seeking a maximum life sentence term. The Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate is the niece of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, who was given a death sentence last week over charges of crimes against humanity relating to last year's crackdown on student-led protests. In a letter to Abida Islam, Bangladesh's high commissioner in the UK, a group of high-profile lawyers including Robert Buckland KC,…...