❌

Reading view

Summer of 2026 was UK’s hottest on record, Met Office says

World news | The Guardian

By: Pippa Neill

1 September 2026 at 16:09

Meteorologists say average mean temperature of 16.5C was made 130 times more likely by climate crisis

This year’s summer was the UK’s hottest on record, according to provisional data, and the Met Office said the season’s mean temperature was made 130 times more likely by the climate crisis.

Record-breaking and back-to-back heatwaves have scorched much of Europe. In England, temperatures peaked at 38.1C (100.1F) at Kew Gardens in London on 13 August, and June had already been confirmed as the country’s hottest since records began in 1884. Scientists have said these heatwaves are only possible because of the climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels.

Continue reading...

Summer of 2026 was UK’s hottest on record, Met Office says

By: Pippa Neill

1 September 2026 at 16:09

Meteorologists say mean average temperature of 16.5C was made 130 times more likely by climate crisis

This year’s summer was the UK’s hottest on record, according to provisional data, and the Met Office said the season’s mean temperature was made 130 times more likely by the climate crisis.

Record-breaking and back-to-back heatwaves have scorched much of Europe. In England, temperatures peaked at 38.1C (100.1F) at Kew Gardens in London on 13 August, and June had already been confirmed as the country’s hottest since records began in 1884. Scientists have said these heatwaves are only possible because of the climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels.

Continue reading...

Footage of police officer boasting about punching Sydney anti-Herzog protester raises questions about conduct

World news | The Guardian

By: Jordyn Beazley

1 September 2026 at 11:36

Male police officer caught on camera during 9 February protest against visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Video footage has emerged capturing a New South Wales police officer boasting about “punching” a protester in the head “when he was down”, before the protester was charged with assaulting police.

Police body-worn camera footage, which was leaked to a social media account and widely shared over the weekend, reveals a male police officer telling his colleagues during the 9 February protest at Sydney town hall against a visit by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog: “I fucking pumped that cunt.”

Continue reading...

Sydney records warmest winter on record as Melbourne equals previous hottest temperatures

World news | The Guardian

By: Lisa Cox and Jack Larkin

1 September 2026 at 11:41

New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania just experienced their warmest-ever winters – and BoM says above-average temperatures expected to continue

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Australia’s two biggest cities had their hottest and equal hottest winters on record, with three eastern states also breaking temperature records.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) spring outlook shows above average daytime and night-time temperatures are expected to continue for much of the country, with an increased chance of unusually high maximums.

Continue reading...

Charles Perrottet told fugitive developer plan at Nobu dinner to have NSW MP ‘on his knees’, Icac hears

World news | The Guardian

By: Penry Buckley

1 September 2026 at 10:49

Liberal party figure tells inquiry he never asked Jean Nassif ‘for payments for political outcomes’ as lawyer tells him she is ‘gobsmacked’ by his ‘obfuscation’

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The younger brother of Dominic Perrottet has insisted he never asked a fugitive property developer for money for political outcomes – including at a meeting at fine-dining restaurant Nobu in Crown Casino, an inquiry has heard.

On Tuesday, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) heard that developer Jean Nassif had withdrawn from a scheduled videolink appearance from Lebanon later this week, after Charles Perrottet faced questions about the dinner meeting between the two men in Melbourne in May 2021.

Continue reading...

Rival Ray Hadley tells Alan Jones trial that alleged victim ‘broke down and sobbed’ when detailing assaults

World news | The Guardian

By: Amanda Meade

1 September 2026 at 08:20

Former 2GB and 2UE broadcaster Jones, 85, has denied 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges involving six men

Broadcaster Ray Hadley has told a Sydney court that an alleged victim of Alan Jones confided in 2019 he’d been “sexually assaulted” by the fellow 2GB broadcaster on a number of occasions.

“He said [Jones] put his hand on my cock and kissed me,” Hadley told the Downing Centre local court on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

NSW top prosecutor Sally Dowling and state attorney general discussed which barristers could review her office, estimates hears

World news | The Guardian

By: Penry Buckley

1 September 2026 at 10:47

Dowling tells budget estimates that Michael Daley called to tell her he was appointing a senior counsel and ‘raised quite a number of names’

The top prosecutor in New South Wales says she discussed a list of barristers to lead an independent review into controversial findings against her office with the state’s attorney general, before he appointed someone she had known “professionally and socially” for nearly 30 years.

Last month, a state parliamentary committee voted 4-3 to find that the NSW director of public prosecutions (DPP), Sally Dowling SC, had given false evidence about the pitching of a story about an Indigenous child performing an acknowledgment of country at a sentencing hearing to radio station 2GB.

Continue reading...

Sydney home invasion during which man shot and killed a ‘targeted attack’, police believe

World news | The Guardian

By: Caitlin Cassidy

1 September 2026 at 03:09

Alleged offenders at large after man in his early 20s fatally shot in early hours of Tuesday

A man in his early 20s has been fatally shot in an alleged home invasion in Sydney’s south-west that police believe was a “targeted attack”. A homicide investigation is under way, with the alleged offenders still at large.

Acting Supt Gretchin Atkins said the man, who was yet to be formally identified, was at his Glen Alpine home with his family in the early hours of Tuesday morning when multiple individuals allegedly broke in.

Continue reading...

Investigation into Powerhouse Parramatta museum under way as stop-gap leader steps in

World news | The Guardian

By: Australian Associated Press

1 September 2026 at 02:42

‘Opera House of the west’ still slated to open to the public as scheduled on 7 November, NSW arts minister says

An investigation is under way into allegations of misconduct involving senior executives at the soon-to-be-opened Powerhouse Parramatta.

The $915m museum in western Sydney, billed as one of the world’s most significant new museum projects, is set to open in November.

Continue reading...

100 ultramarathons in 100 days: former rugby pro hit by brain injury nears end of feat

By: Steven Morris

31 August 2026 at 17:00

David ‘Jacko’ Jackson has aimed to raise awareness of brain injuries, with fellow runners sharing their stories

The key for David “Jacko” Jackson is to take each stage nice and gently. “It’s not about running fast,” he said. “It’s more like the hare and tortoise story. Slow and steady – and do it again tomorrow.”

So far, so good. Jackson, a former professional rugby player who retired after a traumatic brain injury, is nearing the end of an extraordinary bid to run 100 ultramarathons (50km, or about 30 miles) in 100 consecutive days.

Continue reading...

Newborn baby’s body found in Sydney rubbish bin as police hold ‘serious concerns’ for mother

World news | The Guardian

By: Josh Taylor

31 August 2026 at 10:35

Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby’s body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

New South Wales police have appealed for information to find the mother of a newborn baby boy, whose body was discovered in a rubbish bin in Auburn in Sydney’s west on Monday morning.

Police said emergency services responded to reports of the body of a baby located in a rubbish bin at a unit block along Harrow Road in Auburn at 11.20am, with officers from the Auburn police area command finding the body of a newborn boy.

Continue reading...

‘It was like fighting a dinosaur’: Sydney shark attack survivor recalls left hook that helped save her life

31 August 2026 at 08:01

Leah Stewart, who was bitten while swimming at Coogee beach, says she asked herself ‘which limb am I willing to lose’ as she fought back

An Australian woman who lost an arm after a shark attack at a Sydney beach has described delivering a “left hook” punch to the four-metre great white as its open mouth came within centimetres of her face.

Leah Stewart, 34, a teacher and mother of a one-year-old, was attacked by the shark while on a morning swim at Coogee beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on 13 June.

Continue reading...

Properties in UK national parks command 24% premium, study finds

By: Simon Goodley

31 August 2026 at 07:00

Nationwide research also shows average 14% premium for housing in national landscapes of England and Wales

Housebuyers are paying a premium of almost a quarter to own a property located within a UK national park, with the New Forest the most expensive national park to live in, according to Britain’s biggest building society.

Nationwide found that a property located within a national park cost 24% more on average than a similar property elsewhere, while buyers were also stumping up a 6% premium for homes within three miles of a national park.

Continue reading...

Man who murdered Molly Ticehurst unlikely to face life in jail, court hears

World news | The Guardian

By: Australian Associated Press

31 August 2026 at 10:11

Justice Natalie Adams says she is troubled by expert evidence about rape allegations in slain woman’s police statement

Molly Ticehurst’s ex-boyfriend is unlikely to face a life sentence for her domestic violence murder, a crime which galvanised a national movement against gendered abuse.

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the New South Wales central-west, in the early hours of 22 April 2024.

Continue reading...

Properties in UK national parks command 24% premium, study finds

World news | The Guardian

By: Simon Goodley

31 August 2026 at 07:00

Nationwide research also shows average 14% premium for housing in national landscapes of England and Wales

Housebuyers are paying a premium of almost a quarter to own a property located within a UK national park, with the New Forest the most expensive national park to live in, according to Britain’s biggest building society.

Nationwide found that a property located within a national park cost 24% more on average than a similar property elsewhere, while buyers were also stumping up a 6% premium for homes within three miles of a national park.

Continue reading...

NSW may not be able to prosecute large-scale water theft due to doubts about licences for billions of litres

By: Lisa Cox Climate and environment reporter

31 August 2026 at 02:36

Successful legal challenge raises questions about hundreds of floodplain harvesting licences issued by former Coalition government

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The New South Wales water regulator has cast doubt over its ability to prosecute potential water theft due to uncertainty about the validity of licences governing billions of litres of water entitlements in the state’s north.

It follows a successful legal challenge brought by a group of irrigators in the state’s north-west which found 11 floodplain harvesting licences issued by the former Coalition government were invalid.

Continue reading...

Cells for arrested offenders may run out without early prison release, says Labour

World news | The Guardian

By: Kevin Rawlinson

29 August 2026 at 16:25

Bridget Phillipson says government would not have to consider releasing prisoners early if Tories had created more capacity

Cells to hold newly arrested people could run out without the early prison release scheme, a minister has said.

Bridget Phillipson defended the plan to address the prison capacity crisis in England and Wales by releasing thousands of prisoners early, which has been criticised by domestic abuse charities, bereaved families and probation officers among others.

Continue reading...

Goodbye, Harry and Meghan. Turns Out We Didn’t Need Actual Royals.

NYT > Top Stories

By: Robin Givhan

29 August 2026 at 14:00

With their departure, can America please shake off its obsession with royalty?

Prince William Is Still Silent About His Brother, Harry. Can That Last?

NYT > Top Stories

By: Michael D. Shear

27 August 2026 at 07:01

Years of long-distance division between Prince William and his younger brother will be tested now that Harry has returned to Britain.

Prince William, the heir to the British throne, attends a service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in June.