by Andrew Sparrow on June 16, 2026 at 8:38 am

Nearly one in six pieces of news shared in local Facebook groups during the campaign is false, Social Market Foundation report findsMinisters have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer, Kiran Stacey, Dan Milmoa and Aisha Down report.Here are some pictures of Keir Starmer at the G7 summit yesterday. Continue reading...

on June 16, 2026 at 8:26 am

The Bank of Japan has been raising rates from near-zero since 2024.

on June 16, 2026 at 8:07 am

The US vice-president says the agreement is "about a page and a half" and "very general", meaning many details will be worked out later.

by Kiran Stacey, Dan Milmo and Aisha Down on June 16, 2026 at 8:05 am

No 10 is worried about retaliation from White House over restrictions on under-16s’ internet useMinisters have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer.Officials said they had spent weeks trying to reassure senior Trump officials and the US president himself that the restrictions were not specifically aimed at US technology companies. Continue reading...

by Julia Kollewe on June 16, 2026 at 7:58 am

Environment secretary reportedly raises concerns that customers would face ‘undue burden’ from £10bn planThames Water should be nationalised, says BurnhamBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK environment secretary has objected to a £10bn rescue proposal for Thames Water because it would place an “undue burden” on consumers, pushing the troubled utilities firm closer towards public ownership.Emma Reynolds wrote to the regulator Ofwat on Monday to raise concerns about the plan for the UK’s biggest water company as she is worried that customers will lose out. Continue reading...

on June 16, 2026 at 7:05 am

A picture in a new school textbook had covered up the naked torso of the famous figurine with dark shading.

by Anna Minton on June 16, 2026 at 7:00 am

The UK has its own progressive policies such as the second home and ‘mansion’ taxes. So why isn’t the PM shouting it from the rooftops?In April, to mark the day on which Americans are expected to file their taxes, the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, filmed himself on Billionaires’ Row, an enclave of super-tall apartment buildings just south of Central Park. When he took office, he said, he would tax the rich, and now, outside the hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s $238m penthouse, he was ready to make good on his pledge. “Today, we’re taxing the rich,” he said with a flamboyant smile, zooming his face into the camera. It was the opening to a short film unashamedly titled Happy Tax Day, New York.He went into battle armed with stats. According to Mark Levine, NYC’s comptroller (a senior financial executive), the pied-à-terre tax on second homes will raise about $500m annually fromabout 11,200 properties.Anna Minton is reader in architecture at the University of East London. Her new book, Superprime: The Sterilisation of the City, will be published by Penguin next year Continue reading...

by Michael Savage Media editor on June 16, 2026 at 6:00 am

Some titles that once backed the Tories now ‘flirting with Farage’ as they try to gauge where readers standIt was a Mail on Sunday headline with all the ferocity usually reserved for general elections, directed squarely at a political opponent. But in this case, the traditionally Conservative-supporting title was not targeting Labour.The party in its crosshairs was Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain, the vehemently rightwing outfit that regards Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as too weak on deporting migrants. Continue reading...

by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on June 16, 2026 at 5:17 am

Exclusive: Carns, who quit last week, says he was angered by unwillingness to confront sunk costs of legacy programmesThere is “unbelievable” waste and inefficiency at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the former armed forces minister Al Carns has said, adding that every time he would “turn a stone over” he would get another shock.Carns said that during his time as a defence minister he had been angered by the unwillingness to confront the sunk costs of legacy programmes – and suggested mismanaged programmes such as tanks investment should be scrapped in favour of new technology. Continue reading...

by Peter Walker and Nosheen Iqbal on June 16, 2026 at 5:00 am

Labour MP warns of voices fanning hatred on eve of 10th anniversary of the murder of her sister, the MP Jo Cox• How the murder of my sister changed Britain – podcastPolitical hatred and division in the UK is probably worse now than during the Brexit referendum, when Jo Cox was murdered, says Kim Leadbeater, Cox’s sister who is now also a Labour MP.Speaking to the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast Leadbeater, who was elected to the same Yorkshire seat held by Cox in a 2021 byelection, said everyone in public life had a responsibility to try and ease tensions. Continue reading...

by Frances Ryan on June 16, 2026 at 5:00 am

While we need protecting from foreign enemies, slashing benefits in favour of defence will make millions less, not more, safeAs the row over the military budget grows, Keir Starmer has spent much of the past few days insisting he’s spending huge sums of taxpayer money on defence. Every single government department has made cuts to fund next month’s defence investment plan (Dip), the prime minister promised, resulting in “the biggest sustained increase since the cold war”. On Sunday, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told the BBC that cabinet ministers have been asked to look for further reductions to help fund defence.Now squint and replace the word “defence” with “welfare”. Imagine Starmer – or any prime minister for that matter – boasting they’ve pinched cash from the NHS or schools to boost benefit payments. Indeed, swap “defence” for any sort of progressive cause – think housing, social care or net zero – and you’d be hard-pressed to picture a politician trying to save their career by pledging vast levels of spending, let alone if that spending was lifted from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

on June 16, 2026 at 4:25 am

The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil was outside the Iran v New Zealand opening round match as protesters called for an end to Tehran’s clerical regime.

by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on June 16, 2026 at 4:00 am

Exclusive: Commons motion calls for code of practice to be blocked amid concerns over impact on transgender peopleA number of Labour MPs are increasingly doubtful that the guidance on how organisations should implement the supreme court ruling on sex as it applies in the Equality Act is workable in the real world, with some predicting it will unleash a wave of competing legal claims.A total of 135 MPs, 69 of them from Labour, have signed a Commons motion calling for the code of practice drafted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, approved last month, to be blocked, primarily because of worries about its impact on transgender people. Continue reading...

on June 16, 2026 at 3:57 am

The Reuters Institute records its lowest trust figures since the annual research began in 2015.

on June 16, 2026 at 3:40 am

Donald Trump's ceasefire agreement with Iran leaves the Israeli PM trapped in a new political and security dilemma.

by Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Erica L. Green on June 16, 2026 at 2:55 am

President Trump has long been at odds with European leaders over trade, Ukraine and NATO, but he has lashed out in recent weeks over their refusal to support the U.S. war with Iran.

by Presented by Nosheen Iqbal with Kim Leadbeater; produced by Eleanor Biggs, May Robson, Claudia Efemini, Aisha Riaz and Rudi Zygadlo; executive producer Homa Khaleeli on June 16, 2026 at 2:00 am

It’s a decade since the MP for Batley and Spen was killed by a far-right extremist. Her sister, Kim Leadbeater, who took over her parliamentary seat, explains what lessons are still to be learnedJo Cox was the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, the place where she had grown up and had known her whole life. She was firmly pro-Europe, a passionate campaigner for social justice, and the mother of two young children, five and three years old. On 16 June 2016, at the height of a toxic Brexit campaign, she was murdered by a far-right extremist. He shot and stabbed her several times outside Birstall library in West Yorkshire, shouting: “This is for Britain.” She was 41.Her sister, Kim Leadbeater, and her family set up the Jo Cox Foundation in her honour, and Leadbeater took on her former constituency. A decade later, with far-right ideas increasingly mainstream and far-right violence more common, Leadbeater tells Nosheen Iqbal what lessons we can all learn from the tragedy. Continue reading...

on June 16, 2026 at 1:49 am

The incident occurred on Monday morning while the aircraft had been on a routine test mission.

by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Erica L. Green, Max Bearak and Lara Jakes on June 16, 2026 at 12:59 am

U.S. and Iranian officials said the deal included a 60-day cease-fire to pave the way for negotiations toward a final peace agreement and talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

on June 16, 2026 at 12:11 am

Australian activists claim they were kidnapped, raped and tortured after being detained in May.

on June 15, 2026 at 11:56 pm

Why did Hungary’s pronatalist approach deliver an early rise in births only then to fall back? And what lessons does it offer to other countries desperate to lift fertility?

by Kellen Browning and Jack Healy on June 15, 2026 at 11:50 pm

A rift in Montana between the Democratic nominee and an independent candidate could boost Republican hopes of holding on to an open seat in conservative territory.

on June 15, 2026 at 11:40 pm

The claims also prompted a response from UK media regulator Ofcom, who called them "deeply concerning".

on June 15, 2026 at 11:26 pm

There are glimpses of happiness in the Democratic Republic of Congo's fight against the virus that has killed more than 170.

on June 15, 2026 at 11:11 pm

The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue looks at the contrasting approaches of the two presidents as Trump touts a new peace deal.

on June 15, 2026 at 11:09 pm

From fuel switches to engine failures, here are the biggest mysteries around the Air India crash inquiry.

on June 15, 2026 at 11:06 pm

A source familiar with the investigations says they had been ongoing for "roughly a year".

on June 15, 2026 at 11:01 pm

The streets of the capital, Praia, shook with wild celebrations as the small island nation held Spain to a shock 0-0 draw.

on June 15, 2026 at 10:29 pm

Video assistant referee Shaun Evans has denied "intentionally" making a hand gesture "to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind" and claimed it was a "an involuntary, subconscious twitch" that he was "unaware" of.

by Tony Romm on June 15, 2026 at 9:56 pm

Gas prices and other goods could remain elevated for months, adding to the political challenge facing the White House in the midterm elections.