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In today’s newsletter: As ministers scramble to resolve overcrowding in prisons, experts say the crisis demands a rethink of who we lock up – and what happens when they’re set freeGood morning. On his family holiday last week, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, was reported to be taking daily calls from Ministry of Justice officials about his government’s early release scheme. A furious public outcry has gathered pace since it emerged that the plan – brought in by his predecessor, Keir Starmer, to alleviate overcrowding in prisons across England and Wales – might include two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper and other serious sexual offenders, including grooming gang perpetrators.After several weeks of “system says no” briefings, which Harper’s mother Debbie Adlam has described as “a rollercoaster … really draining”, yesterday Burnham endeavoured to put a pin in it until September.UK news | Repeated debilitating heatwaves this summer are likely to have cost the UK economy more than £4bn in lost economic output by the end of July, new analysis shows.Meta | Courts in England and Wales have joined a number of restaurants, theatres and pubs in banning the controversial Meta glasses, which can record video footage while being worn.Middle East | Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing.UK politics | Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has been accused of using “nasty tactics” in an attempt to intimidate journalists and deflect attention from his own financial affairs after issuing a legal threat to the Guardian.US news | Democrats called on Tuesday for a congressional briefing over a stunning charade in which Donald Trump was secretly spirited to a different plane than the one the public and press believed he was travelling on. Continue reading...

Lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood gives evidence about allegations linked to Reformers at Independent Commission Against Corruption hearingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMembers of a conservative Christian Liberal party faction received a “kickback” from consultancy payments made by the governing body for more than 600 schools in New South Wales, an inquiry has heard.Consultant and lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood gave his third day of evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s (Icac) Operation Rosny on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul calls for tighter gun controls and ‘decisive penalties’ after nine dead in school shooting Thailand has suspended firearms licences after the deadly Nonthaburi school shooting, as the bodies of the teenage attacker and the grandparents he killed were cremated.The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said he had ordered the interior ministry and police to stop issuing licences to possess, purchase and carry firearms, and called for “tighter controls and decisive penalties”. The measures are temporary until a new gun control law is in place, according to government operated news-channel NBT World. Continue reading...

Master’s student made first bar with 100% UK ingredients since 1932 to highlight effect of climate crisis on cocoa plantsThe late queen was the only person in history to have ever eaten a chocolate bar made with 100% British ingredients, after she was given one as a six-year-old in 1932 by the confectioner Rowntree’s.The bar was created from a glasshouse-grown cocoa plant, at Rowntree’s headquarters in York. Continue reading...

The Comac C919 will fly from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, although experts say it could take generations for it to challenge the west’s dominance of the industryChina hopes to break into the world of commercial aviation with the first international flight of a Chinese-made passenger jet scheduled for Wednesday.The Comac C919 will take off from Beijing capital international airport at 3pm, landing in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, just over two hours later. Continue reading...

Nearly 500 personnel battle Timber fire in Los Padres national forest as blaze grows to 3,000 acresEvacuations have been ordered for areas along California’s famous Big Sur coast as a wildfire burns in the nearby steep, rugged mountains.The Timber fire in Monterey county started on Sunday and grew to nearly 3,000 acres by Tuesday evening, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Nearly 500 fire personnel had been assigned to the fire in the Los Padres national forest. Continue reading...

The prime minister tells the Guardian that last year’s diplomatic rift with ally New Zealand could be on voters’ minds as they head to the pollsAs voters in the Cook Islands prepare to head to the polls in a high-stakes general election, they will have much to reflect on. Over recent years, politics in this small island nation has been defined by fierce debates about deep-sea mining, diplomatic rifts with ally New Zealand and a major reshaping of the country’s foreign partnerships.In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, days before Wednesday’s poll, Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown defended his four-year term and the decisions he made that have seen this South Pacific nation of 17,000 people pushed into the international limelight, turning it into a battleground for influence between Beijing and western powers. Continue reading...

The internet had a laugh as President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to walk down the stairs with an umbrella as wind and rain hit after Air Force One landed in Ohio on Tuesday.Trump stepped off his plane at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where a crowd was waiting for him before he headed to Marine One, en route to the Patriot Games in Geneva, Ohio. It happened just a day after reports surfaced that Trump had used Air Force One as a decoy while returning from Turkey under a credible terror threat in July, fleeing in a catering cart and being taken to another aircraft while reporters and White House staff remained on the plane.The clip was shared by independent journalist Aaron Rupar on X."Trump still can't open an umbrella, struggles to get down stairs of Bribe Force One," Rupar commented, referencing the jet gifted to Trump by Qatar.Others noticed the moment."Get this man a catering cart!" Nick Turse, senior reporter at The Intercept, wrote on X."This is the hardest thing he will do all day," strategist Vincent D. Monroy wrote on X."That’s 6,000% more wind than what a man Trump’s age can handle," liberal commentator Chris Robinson wrote on X."How long until he orders the umbrella be arrested?" progressive commentator Janice Hough wrote on X.Trump still can't open an umbrella, struggles to get down stairs of Bribe Force One pic.twitter.com/oY2yGC2xsK— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 11, 2026