Top World News

Jul 27, 2026 - World

In a poll conducted between July 24 and 26, the approval rating for Sanae Takaichi's administration fell to 57%, down from 69% in June and the first time it has dropped below 60% since she took office

Jul 27, 2026 - World

Defence secretary Wes Streeting says the country will see a prime minister that ‘runs towards big and difficult issues’Andy Burnham has said there are “big decisions” ahead of his government on council tax, as he criticised the unfairness of the current system for making some people pay higher rates than are levied on more expensive homes in London.In his interview with Laura Kuenssberg for the BBC’s Panorama programme, Burnham said:There are people here in Greater Manchester who pay a much higher council tax than people living in much larger homes in London.So the chancellor before, Rachel Reeves, was right to start to reform council tax to create some fairness there in relation to people in homes that are of much greater value, who haven’t seen their council tax go up over the years because of the failure to revalue the banding.We need to honour the manifesto upon which Labour was elected, and if I was to bring forward any changes, obviously people would rightly say, well, is this consistent with that manifesto? So there are big decisions ahead, you are right about that.Two models are competing for support: a proportional property tax, which would replace both council tax and stamp duty with a flat 0.48 per cent annual charge on a home’s current value; or a land value tax – an annual charge based on the value of the land a property sits on, rather than the building. Continue reading...

Jul 27, 2026 - World

Red Sea traffic has been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade Saudi exports, expanding the US-Iran conflict that has already choked oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Jul 27, 2026 - World

Mass hearings, removal orders ‘in absentia’ – judges are wrapping up immigration cases in unprecedented numbersThe second Trump administration recorded its highest number of immigration arrests so far last month. One significant and alarming reason that is far less noticeable than armored, masked agents swaggering in the streets with weapons may be a sudden change in America’s immigration courts.Here, in recent months, accelerated mass hearings are giving people facing existential questions about their future little time to prepare for their cases, and judges are often ordering vulnerable immigrants deported without them even being in the courtroom. Continue reading...

Jul 27, 2026 - World

Top House Democrat says US president ‘failed to deliver’ on campaign promises to lower costs and avoid overseas warsDonald Trump’s Republican party has “nothing to run on” for the congressional midterm elections after the president broke promises to lower costs and avoid starting war overseas, Hakeem Jeffries has said.The House minority leader, a New York congressman, made those comments on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, exactly 100 days from the 3 November midterms, when Jeffries and his fellow Democrats are aiming to take control of the US House and Senate from their Republican opponents. Continue reading...