‘The line’s running half-empty’: Llanwern steelworks feels the heat from cheap steel imports 23. August 2026 (11:00) New quotas to protect UK firms and jobs appear to be having opposite effect in products such as galvanised steelAt Tata Steel’s factory in Llanwern, south Wales, production lines that should be running full-time are now falling quiet for parts of the day, with workers being put on to maintenance and cleaning work while machines sit idle.There aren’t enough orders to keep them running all the time, the company says, because of a surge of cheap steel coming from Asian countries that is threatening the viability of several UK sites that make similar products, and risk hundreds of jobs. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘These were brave officers’: tributes paid to police among seven killed in A66 crash 23. August 2026 (10:30) Redcar MP says Teesside community is ‘reeling’ as PM offers condolences and asks public to avoid speculationTributes are being paid to two police officers who died on Teesside when a car travelling the wrong way along the A66 crashed head-on into their vehicle, also killing five young men.PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when the marked armed response vehicle they were in was struck by a Volkswagen Passat in the early hours of Saturday morning. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air? 23. August 2026 (09:00) Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against themTen years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.“I had to get to UCLH [one of London’s major hospitals]. My own child was headed there in a blue-lit ambulance because she was struggling to breathe London’s toxic air.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK orders reviews of franchising sector after Vodafone allegations 23. August 2026 (09:00) Two studies will be used to shape government policy amid claims about a former franchisee who took his own life Ministers have commissioned a pair of in-depth reports into how franchising businesses are policed in the UK, as the government considers introducing new laws after high-profile allegations about conduct in the sector.The action follows a Guardian investigation last December, which revealed claims that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to start a franchise in 2018, had taken his own life after pressure from the FTSE 100 telecoms group. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Nine out of 10 unsolved murders in London linked to non-white victims 23. August 2026 (08:00) Exclusive: analysis risks deepening perception of ‘unequal protection under the law’ Killers who take the lives of black people have a greater chance of getting away with their crimes than those who target white people, new research shows.Analysis of unsolved homicides in London between 2019 and 2023 found non-white British people made up 61% of victims. When researchers assessed unsolved murders, 92.9% of cases in the capital were connected with a victim who was non-white. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Onshore windfarm applications hit 10-year high in England 23. August 2026 (08:00) Surge in proposals follows Labour’s lifting of de facto ban, with about 45 plans submitted in the year to MarchPlans for new onshore windfarms in England have reached their highest annual level in a decade, after the government overturned the Conservatives’ de facto ban in 2015.About 45 applications for new onshore windfarms were submitted in the year to March,according to a Guardian analysis of government data. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Friday afternoon fraud’: warning for UK homebuyers on bank scams 23. August 2026 (08:00) Victims have lost tens of thousands – and in one case £300,000 – due to fake emails from solicitor or estate agentYou are poised to move house and are awaiting the solicitor’s instructions that things are ready to go and it is time to hand over your deposit. When the email arrives giving you their bank details, you set up the transfer and move the cash. And then the solicitor calls to ask where the money is.Conveyancing fraud involves criminals getting access to an email chain between homebuyers and their solicitors or estate agents and requesting payment to a bank account they control. Sometimes the solicitor has been hacked, but often the homebuyer has been the victim of a phishing exercise. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Burnham expected to give mayors new powers over local planning decisions 23. August 2026 (07:00) Move would allow mayors to greenlight large-scale developments and have more say on national housing fundingAndy Burnham is expected to give mayors new powers to take control of local planning decisions and greenlight large-scale developments in proposals to be presented next week.The move would allow mayors to “call in” the decisions and direct councils to take them forward or refuse them. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
British corporation continued trafficking of enslaved Africans to Guyana 40 years after abolition 23. August 2026 (07:00) Letter written in 1847 to Sandbach, Tinne and Company’s Liverpool office reveals it engaged in practice after receiving taxpayer-funded compensation, book saysWhen Britain abolished slavery, plantation owners from powerful families notoriously received huge sums in compensation, while those who were enslaved got nothing.Now evidence has come to light that Sandbach, Tinne and Company – a corporation closely linked to the merchants who got the biggest taxpayer-funded compensation payouts – continued to traffic enslaved Africans illegally after abolition to Guyana, in South America. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Liberal plan to split Victorian appeals court attacked as ‘thought bubble’ that would politicise judiciary 23. August 2026 (06:00) Opposition leader Jess Wilson says new dedicated court of criminal appeal would set precedents for tougher sentencesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA radical overhaul of Victoria’s highest court, proposed by the Liberal party to increase sentences, has been criticised by legal and human rights groups who warn it would politicise the judiciary.The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Sunday announced that if elected in November the Coalition would split the court of appeal in two, creating a dedicated court of criminal appeal alongside a separate court of civil appeal. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
