The Guardian

Grade requirement for student loans would cut a financial lifeline for English universities

Institutions could lose out on at least £200m a year if 30,000 or so potential students without even one GCSE are excluded each yearIf universities thought a Labour government would quickly revive their financial stability, those days are over. The vibes may have improved but little else has, with rising costs remorselessly squeezing their budgets and universities having to cut or close departments.Prestigious universities such as Nottingham were hit after tougher visa restrictions skewered thei

general  Jun 17, 2026

BBC World

Telegram challenges India ban over exam paper leak fears

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has called the ban a "mistake", arguing it would punish millions of users.

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Clinician reported birthkeeper to police the day Melbourne wellness influencer died following freebirth

Inquest hears clinician wasn’t legally required to report to police but was concerned about public health and safety A senior clinician reported a birthkeeper to police the same day one of her clients died after giving birth at home – something the senior clinician said he had not done before.The evidence was heard during the third day of the inquest into the death of 30-year-old wellness influencer Stacey Warnecke, who died on 29 September in Frankston hospital in Melbourne. She had paid Emily

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

UK inflation stays steady at 2.8% despite Iran conflict driving up fuel prices

Flatlining figure confounds forecasts of an increase to 3% as Bank of England prepares to set interest ratesUK inflation unexpectedly remained at 2.8% last month despite the Middle East war driving up energy prices, official figures have shown.May’s annual price rise reading recorded by the Office for National Statistics confounded economists’ forecasts of a rise to 3%. Continue reading...

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

‘Tax break tart’: hospitality tipped to exploit summer VAT cut on children’s meals

As bosses ridicule the chancellor’s scheme, one venue is offering a £25 ‘kids’ menu of snails and anchovy butter toastRestaurants and pubs are expected to devise “enterprising” schemes to exploit a tax break on meals for under-18s, after one venue launched a menu for “kids” featuring wild burgundy snail salad and anchovy butter toast.Rachel Reeves last month announced a temporary cut in VAT on children’s meals from 20% to 5% between 25 June and 1 September, part of a “Great British summer saving

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Wednesday briefing: In a new era of far-right organising, how can we tackle hate?

In today’s newsletter: The far right are using social media to foster division, from Southampton to Belfast, but there are calls for clear and urgent ways to counter digital radicalismGood morning. Ten years after the murder of the MP Jo Cox by a rightwing extremist in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, her sister Kim Leadbeater, now herself a MP, issued a clear and urgent summons.In an interview on our Today in Focus podcast, she proposed that political hatred in Britain is worse now than at

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Woman says she ‘didn’t understand mental health’ before daughter experiencing acute psychosis killed another child

Girl told mother she thought about killing people ‘all the time’, inquest into 10-year-old Biddy Porter’s death hearsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe mother of a child killer did not understand mental health and consulted a naturopathic herbalist about concerns for her teenage daughter, an inquest has been told.Two weeks after the 14-year-old confessed to her mother that she thought about killing people “all the

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

A nation shaped by rain: exhibition celebrates Scotland’s wettest obsession

Minnie the Minx and Macbeth feature in National Library’s exploration of how rainfall has shaped Scottish science, literature, history and identityIt seems fitting that, 250 years ago, one of Scotland’s foremost scientists took a close interest in what is arguably the country’s most famous feature: rainJames Hutton, celebrated by Scots as the father of modern geology, went so far as to write a formula for “a theory of rain”. In 1784, he sketched out the key principles for the “condensation of aq

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

BBC presenter Ashley Cain called women ‘slags’, ‘sluts’ and ‘bitches’

Exclusive: Cain has been lauded by corporation for his appeal to young men despite history of abusive and misogynistic remarks• Warning: this article contains sexually explicit, offensive languageA BBC presenter lauded by the corporation for his appeal to young male audiences has a history of making abusive and misogynistic remarks about women, whom he has variously called “slags”, “sluts”, “psychos” and “bitches”, the Guardian can reveal.Ashley Cain is the presenter of the BBC Three documentary

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Sierra Leone’s first lady refuses to condemn FGM without ‘reliable data’ on harms

Exclusive: health professionals, survivors and politicians voice concerns in open letter over comments by Fatima Maadi Bio, who denies supporting the practiceThe first lady of Sierra Leone has denied that she supports female genital mutilation amid rising anger around her perceived approval of the practice.But in an exclusive response to the Guardian, Fatima Maada Bio, the wife of President Julius Maada Bio, also said she would not openly condemn FGM until she saw “reliable data” that the practi

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault accused of stranglehold over French business press

Arnault’s addition of leading weekly to stable of publications raises concerns about media ownership in FranceHe is known as the “wolf in cashmere” – the owner of the world’s biggest luxury group whose brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany have made him one of the world’s richest people.But Bernard Arnault, a close friend of Donald Trump, is under fire from journalists’ unions in France for buying up almost all the country’s business and economic press. Continue reading...

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

John Lewis injects £20m into Glasgow city centre store in wider branch reboot

Upgrade to Buchanan Galleries part of £50m spend this year and £800m by 2029 to revive appeal of department storesJohn Lewis is to spend £20m on a revamp of its Glasgow store in the city centre’s Buchanan Galleries in a vote of confidence in the shopping mall not long ago scheduled for demolition.It is the largest cash injection within a wider plan to spend £50m this financial year on refreshing its shops, with department stores in Reading, Cambridge, Leicester and Liverpool all earmarked for an

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Ghana to advance reparatory justice at first major gathering since landmark UN resolution

Heads of state and participants from more than 80 countries at three-day event in Accra to pursue actionable commitments to reconciliation and restitutionGhana is hosting a conference to advance the continent’s push for reparatory justice after the adoption of the landmark United Nations (UN) resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.Heads of state and government, ministers, civil society representatives, historians, researchers and legal exp

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Lib Dems to urge Labour to drop ‘torpor and timidity’ on EU and rejoin single market

Exclusive: Ed Davey to make call ahead of 10th anniversary of Brexit vote, in strengthening of party’s position on EUThe Lib Dems will urge Andy Burnham to end Labour’s “torpor and timidity” towards the EU as they call for the UK to rejoin the single market, in a notable strengthening of their own position.Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote next week, Ed Davey will challenge Burnham to scrap Labour’s red lines on the customs union and single market if he becomes prime minister and

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Pauline Hanson says Australia ‘must be monocultural’ in National Press Club speech

One Nation leader denounces high immigration levels, Islam, transgender rights, the ABC and the Guardian in inflammatory addressPauline Hanson has declared Australia cannot be multicultural and must exist as a “monocultural society”, warning high migration had caused the country lose its identity and national values.In an inflammatory address to the National Press Club in Canberra, the One Nation leader pledged to axe SBS and overhaul the ABC if she wins the next federal election, including impo

general  Jun 17, 2026

BBC World

Australian shock jock wins A$12m payout after radio station tore up contract

Kyle Sandilands was sacked after an on-air spat with his co-host, who accused him of bullying.

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

British Council faces more job cuts to help pay off £197m loan

National Audit Office says agency proposes closing operations in 11 countries as part of turnaround planThe British Council faces cutting its workforce further and closing operations in 11 countries as it struggles to repay a crippling £197m Covid-era government loan that threatens its survival, the public spending watchdog has said.The UK’s soft-power agency remains loss-making six years on from the pandemic and is not expected to make a profit until 2029-30, a report from the National Audit Of

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

Lives and incomes lost as Ebola takes toll on Bunia’s public-facing workers

A headteacher, a motorcycle taxi driver and a travel agent are among those who are counting the human and economic cost of the virusJustin Keno watches more than 400 pupils stream through the Nelson Mandela school’s gate each morning, and wonders which of them might be carrying Ebola.The institution’s principal has done everything he can to prevent the spread of the virus: installing hand-washing basins at the entrance, providing alcohol-based hand rub for parents, making pupils bring packed lun

general  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian

‘Enraged’ union boss defends naming and shaming Victorian Labor MPs who had ‘zero conversations’ with voters

Candidates must ‘work their ass off’ to stop One Nation or expect withdrawal of union support, Trades Hall Council secretary saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of Victoria’s powerful Trades Hall Council has defended naming and shaming 23 state Labor MPs and candidates for having “zero conversations” with their constituents in the past two weeks, saying they all need to “work their ass off” to stop One Nati

general  Jun 17, 2026

WSJ World News

Xi’s Enforcers Are Hunting Down Officials Who Consult Mystics and Borrow Too Much

The Chinese leader’s anticorruption campaign has widened into a fight against everything from disloyalty to “superstitious” behavior.

general  Jun 17, 2026