Top World News

Jul 1, 2026 - World

This blog is now closed.Check out our Midwinter’s Ball gallery hereGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlbanese says charges against EY employees who accessed PM’s bank account details ‘appropriate’It’s not just KPMG in (boiling) hot water right now; EY is also in the spotlight, after two of its graduate employees on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank allegedly used the bank’s systems to access the personal details of Anthony Albanese. The two employees have been sacked.It’s before the courts and I’m not about to go into the detail of that. It’s appropriate that charges have been laid …accessing anyone’s privacy, any Australian’s privacy, is alarming, let alone someone from a contractor who’s not an employee of Commonwealth Bank being able to access that information.We’ve cracked down on that and we’ll continue to examine these issues. Quite clearly, the behaviour of some of these big accounting firms has been completely unacceptable. In some cases, it has involved breaches of the law. And they need to be held to account.Since I’ve come into this role, I’ve really tried to prioritise drawing together a lot of strands of work that were already in play. And especially now that we’ve seen what’s happened with KPMG, we’re now accelerating a lot of the government’s work. Continue reading...

Jul 1, 2026 - World

Day trippers face fines for entering Austrian city’s old town during July and August to curb ‘chaotic traffic situations’Europe live – latest updatesSalzburg has begun enforcing a summer ban on visitors driving into its historic centre, picking up a policy modelled by other car-choked European cities plagued by overtourism.Authorities in Austria’s fourth largest municipal area said they hoped the “less traffic, more city” restrictions in July and August would reduce the number of vehicle entries by 1,000 a day. Continue reading...

Jul 1, 2026 - World

Prime minister says he will take no lectures from Tories after Kemi Badenoch says investment plan is insufficientUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer was forced on the defensive in the Commons over his long-delayed defence investment plan announced this week, which critics argue leaves his successor as prime minister, expected to be Andy Burnham, with an extra £4.7bn to find in his first budget.Starmer defended his £298bn defence investment plan (Dip) at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday despite a growing backlash from insiders in Burnham’s team and from ministers and MPs resentful over cuts to key transport infrastructure projects to fund it. Continue reading...

Jul 1, 2026 - World

Three people have died from suffocation More than a million people gathered in Mexico CityThree people died ⁠from suffocation as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat ⁠said in the early ⁠hours ​of Wednesday.The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of fans had gathered to ⁠celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 32. Continue reading...

Jul 1, 2026 - World

Mexican health authorities report that three people died of asphyxiation during celebrations in downtown Mexico City