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Middle East crisis live: Iran denies Trump’s claims that talks due to take place

Michel Issa, the US ambassador to Lebanon, said on Monday that he was “encouraged” that the US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Lebanon are ongoing in Rome. “A great deal of technical work remains to ensure civilian safety on the ground. There is a meaningful difference between drafting an agreement on paper and implementing it responsibly — moving too quickly risks jeopardizing the very civilians this process is meant to protect,” Issa said in a statement. The ambassador continued: “We believe it is better to take the time needed to get this right the first time. Doing so will allow subsequent pilot zones to move forward more efficiently. Above all, both sides must agree on a clear, workable process before proceeding.”

Red Cross visits Aung San Suu Kyi after Myanmar military pushed to prove she is alive

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the aid organisation has confirmed. The meeting on Monday ⁠followed years of questions over the wellbeing of the 81-year-old, whose whereabouts and health condition have been largely unknown since the elected civilian government she led was ousted by a military coup in February 2021. Little has been seen or heard of Aung San Suu Kyi since late 2022. Myanmar’s military-backed administrations have repeatedly claimed she is in “good health”, even as international pressure has grown on the country’s government to allow independent verification. Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, who had recently demanded the ruling junta provide proof of life, welcomed news of the meeting. He described it as “the first positive development concerning her in more than five years”, adding: “This is an important first step, but it must not be the last,.” In a social media post, Aris said he hoped the meeting would lead to “greater humanitarian access, direct contact with my mother, credible and independently verified information about her wellbeing, and ultimately her immediate and unconditional release, together with all political prisoners”. On Monday, Arnaud de Baecque, the resident representative of the ICRC to Myanmar, visited Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyidaw, the government spokesperson Khine Khine Soe said in a post on Telegram. In two of the four photographs provided by Khine Khine Soe, Aung San Suu Kyi – dressed in traditional Burmese attire – is seen with Baecque in a sparsely furnished, wood-panelled room containing only two chairs and a desk. In another photo, Myanmar’s former leader is seen cutting a birthday cake inscribed with her name. A clothes rack and storage boxes are visible in the background. A fourth image is a closeup of the cake, inscribed with “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu 19.6.2026”. In a statement released afterwards, the ICRC confirmed the visit had occurred and was carried out in accordance with its standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, including the opportunity to speak with Aung San Suu Kyi in private. “In line with the ICRC’s working methods, detention visits provide people deprived of liberty with the opportunity to exchange news with their families,” the statement said. “As is customary in the ICRC’s detention work, observations and recommendations related to the visit are shared exclusively and confidentially with the detaining authorities.” In late April, after a military-engineered election that allowed the former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become Myanmar’s ⁠president, authorities said Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to house arrest. A photograph of the detained former leader was shown on military-controlled TV, however Aris told the BBC the image was taken years ago. While the election was largely criticised as a sham, it has led to diplomatic re-engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Following a meeting between Myanmar’s foreign minister and counterparts from the regional Asean bloc in Bangkok in July, Thailand’s foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, called for access to Aung San Suu Kyi “so that we can be able to verify the claims” of her good health. But the new military-backed administration had so far been reluctant to provide access ⁠to Aung San Suu Kyi, including a May request by the Philippines to allow an Asean special envoy to visit her.

Suspected mass bird flu deaths found in second state as Murray Watt warns ‘this is the beginning’

Aerial surveillance has detected mass bird deaths in a second Australian state in another suspected escalation of the spread of deadly H5 bird flu. The environment minister, Murray Watt, said on Monday Australia had begun “a long and difficult journey” as CSIRO analysis confirmed Australia’s first mass mortality event at Baudin Rocks off South Australia’s coast. Hours later, Victorian authorities said aerial observations had identified a “cluster” of dead and sick greater crested terns in the Glenelg River estuary near Nelson and across Lawrence Rocks, in the state’s south-west, over the weekend. If samples taken from the Victorian birds return positive results, it would be Australia’s second confirmed mortality event from the deadly disease that has devastated wildlife populations globally. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “I want to level with people: this is the beginning of what is likely to be a long, difficult journey in terms of the impacts on wildlife,” Watt said on Monday. Aerial surveillance over Baudin Rocks identified about 50 dead and 30 sicks birds, the South Australian government said on the weekend. Samples taken from five greater crested terns and a silver gull were sent to the CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness and confirmed positive on Monday. “The reality is, you can’t stop native and wild birds flying around, and you can’t stop wild animals moving around, and that will mean more mass mortality events like the one we have now seen,” Watt said. “What we can do, and what we have been doing, is build up the resilience of the populations of our native birds and mammals.” In Victoria, the state’s chief biodiversity officer, James Todd, said aerial surveillance had made observations that were “consistent with what was recently reported in South Australia”. Speaking to media on Monday afternoon, the state’s chief veterinary officer Dr Graeme Cooke said aerial and ground surveillance in the south-west, near Portland and Nelson, in the past few days showed “a clear increase in the number of dead terns along that part of the coast”. “Last week we talked about individual detections; the first cases of the H5 bird flu in Victoria. We are now seeing a change as the disease spreads out and has further impacts,” he said. The region is home to an important breeding colony of Australasian gannets as well as seal colonies and the Glenelg estuary and Discovery Bay, an internationally significant wetland site. South Australia’s environment minister, Emily Bourke, said she was also concerned about a confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a petrel found in the Coorong, one of several new locations where the deadly disease has been detected in the state. The migratory petrel was one of 18 new cases in SA confirmed by CSIRO on Monday, which included the samples from six birds at Baudin Rocks. The new cases included a silver gull in Glenelg, two greater crested terns at Troubridge Island, a silver gull at Southend, a greater crested tern at Monarto and six greater crested terns on Pages Islands. The Coorong is a large area that is home to internationally significant wetlands that support populations of waterbirds and migratory species. “That confirmed location is of concern because it is where waterbirds are also located,” Bourke said “So it’s going from seabirds, but also potentially now into where we know a lot of waterbirds are nesting and using this space as a safe haven.”

Russia blames Ukraine for deadly restaurant bombing in Moscow

Russia has blamed Ukraine for a bombing at a restaurant in central Moscow that killed five people, amid growing speculation that a senior Russian military commander was the intended target. The explosion occurred on Saturday evening near the entrance to an upmarket Italian restaurant in one of the city’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers on Kudrinskaya Square. Russian prosecutors said an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device had attempted to enter the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard. The device detonated moments later, killing five people and injuring 19 others. In a statement on Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, saying: “The bloody tentacles of [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s terrorist gang have reached the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant in Moscow.” Russian authorities have not identified the intended target or named the victims. However, pro-Kremlin military bloggers and several independent Russian media outlets reported that the attack may have been aimed at Col Gen Aleksandr Chayko, the commander of Russia’s aerospace forces, who was reportedly attending a private banquet at the restaurant to celebrate his 55th birthday. Photographs and videos that appeared online shortly after the bombing, purportedly from the private event, showed a stage with the words “Aleksandr 55” displayed in the background. Chayko is one of Russia’s top military commanders, having led the failed assault on Kyiv in early 2022 before later being promoted to command the Russian air force. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which is known for publishing leaks from within Russia’s security services, reported that Chayko escaped unharmed. According to the channel, his daughter, Maria, was seriously injured in the blast, while her husband, Daniil Peredriy, was killed. They were outside on the restaurant’s terrace when the explosion occurred. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that investigators believed the woman carrying the explosive device may not have known she was transporting a bomb, suggesting it was detonated remotely by another person, killing her. Among the other reported victims was a member of Russia’s elite Federal Protective Service (FSO). Kyiv has not yet commented on the incident. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s intelligence agencies have targeted dozens of senior Russian military officers and Russia-installed officials, accusing them of involvement in war crimes. Ukrainian intelligence services have previously employed a range of tactics, relying on both willing saboteurs and unwitting civilians to carry out bombings. They have succeeded in killing at least four Russian generals and several other senior military figures, as well as pro-war activists deep inside Russian territory, although some operations have missed their intended targets. In 2022, a car bomb killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of the ultranationalist Russian ideologue Aleksandr Dugin, in an attack widely believed to have been intended for her father.

Abandoned by the US: Palestinian Americans trapped in a surge of Israeli settler violence

No man’s land in Turmus Ayya lies where the US flags end and the Israeli flags begin. It is a few hundred metres of soil scorched by molotov cocktails where Israeli settlers have placed a boulder to tell the Palestinian villagers: this is our land now. On one side of that boulder are the white-stoned mansions where the Palestinian residents of Turmus Ayya live. About 80% of them are US citizens, members of the diaspora in New York, Chicago and Paterson, New Jersey, who return for the summers and bring their children here to experience Palestinian culture and learn Arabic. Many call themselves proud American patriots and fly the stars and stripes from their balconies. On the other side is an illegal Israeli outpost of corrugated metal trailers and shacks staffed by young men who claim all of the West Bank as Jewish land. The outposts radiate from Shilo, a hilltop settlement across the valley that has become a destination for Americans seeking Judaism’s first religious and spiritual capital before the first temple was built. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has visited Shilo, which the UN says is a violation of international law, twice in the last two years. The irony is not lost on people here that the US has backed settlers claiming the West Bank as theirs, and that US dollars – through Jewish charities and the US budget to support the Israeli military – have helped finance the Israeli land grab. Given Shilo’s close ties to the US, they muse that some of those attacking Turmus Ayya could be fellow Americans. “Only in Palestine will you find American citizens invading American citizens for land,” said Yaser Alkam, a semi-retired family law attorney from Turmus Ayya who for 35 years lived in Anaheim, California. He is now the head of this village’s council. “There is no fight. One side attacks and the other side defends with the limited means that we have.” The violence is relentless. At night, settlers roam the village in off-road vehicles and intimidate people with gunshots, screaming and shining flashlights through the windows. In a recent attack against a family on the edge of the village, the settlers spray-painted the word “Revenge” on the side of the house. Among those accused of violence and intimidation is Amishav Melet, whose brother was killed in a clash when settlers marched into another Palestinian village last week. He has publicly declared that he believes Jews should retake all of the West Bank. He has denied claims that he is connected to settler violence. “I have his pictures,” Alkam said of Melet. “And I’m sure he has my pictures and he has my name. He knows me and I know him … And he’s probably waiting for the time to get me.” While the Trump administration is focused on Iran, Israel’s accelerating land grab in the West Bank has found an enthusiastic supporter in Huckabee. The US ambassador is an evangelical Christian who has supported Jewish claims on the occupied land that settlers call Judea and Samaria. Huckabee told residents in 2025: “President Trump loves this land. You are not alone. We stand with you, and so do many around the world. Those who do not stand with you do not stand with God.” When attacks take place, Alkam contacts Huckabee’s embassy for protection. Sometimes, he said, US officials have helped, most recently in late July when the Israeli military occupied a house owned by a doctor from Syracuse, who had hosted the Democratic congressman Ro Khanna during his visit to Turmus Ayya earlier in the month. Alkam credited the US embassy with “playing a big role” in getting the military to leave, he said. But nine Palestinian Americans have been killed in the West Bank since 2022 by either settlers or the Israeli military, and the US is often unable to help or to restrain the settlers or military during violent attacks. A year after a Palestinian American from Tampa Bay was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, settlers attacked his family members and friends, and even a CNN crew, who had gathered for a vigil. In response to questions from the Guardian, the state department said all US citizens in the West Bank had access to consular services, condemned violence “by any party in the West Bank” and said it was in “regular dialogue with partners about improving stability and security”. “As the president has clearly stated, the United States does not support Israel annexing the West Bank,” the spokesperson said. “A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region.” The moments when the US has intervened have only convinced Alkam that Washington could be doing more to restrain the settlers and the Israeli government. “We thought we would never get to this point,” he said. “We never thought that American citizens in Turmus Ayya are going to be attacked under the eyes and the ears of the current administration.” Many of the residents even voted for Trump, he said, but lost faith when the administration quickly moved to remove violent settlers from sanctions lists drawn up under the Biden administration. Ghaith Odeh grew up in Queens, New York, and still spends most of his time in Paterson, New Jersey, but his wife and children moved to their family’s land in Turmus Ayya in 2021. They live on the border of the village near the settlers, and like others on the frontlines, they have shutters over their windows (plastic, not metal, he regrets). From there, he can scan the settler outpost below. The violence began before the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and the launch of Israel’s war in Gaza, but has grown worse in the past year. “We’ve had multiple times where we were scared for our lives here, where we were actually in danger,” Odeh said, recounting the night that settlers burned down part of his parents’ house, the six Israeli military raids on his house, the regular gunfire near the village, and the time a rifle was pointed at his son, one of six children. He is especially scared when he is out of the house, he said. When Odeh contacted the US embassy about the attacks, he said he was given canned replies to report them to local law enforcement. Asked what message he felt he had received from the US government, he said: “It’s OK for an Israeli American to live over here, but not for an American Palestinian.” The violence has changed daily life in the village. Many fear bringing their children here and people have to rely on themselves for protection. The discussions in the village now revolve around security measures: whether to install barbed wire or hang more American flags to emphasise the village’s connection to the US. Pointing to a neighbour from Chicago who was installing a barbed-wire fence, Odeh said: “I don’t want to live in a prison,” adding that he wanted to set an example for his children of how to live without fear. “I’m born and raised in America,” he said. “We lived in freedom over there. And I’m not gonna live any other way.” But people are scared for their lives. Last month, Maisoon Ali, a 60-year-old retiree, was at home in nearby Deir Dibwan when she looked up and saw three young men running up the driveway with bottles filled with a flammable liquid. She says it was only luck that she ran into her house, where she pulled down the metal shutters that put a barrier between her and them. After trying to pour the liquid on her, the settlers set fire to furniture and the building’s exterior while Ali sheltered inside. “Thank God I acted fast,” said Ali, who for decades lived in Vienna, Virginia, and whose children still live in the US. “If I didn’t do that, I would have been burned alive,” she said. Ali’s father foresaw trouble in the 1970s when he built the house and installed bulletproof glass. When he died, Ali’s father made her promise that she would not abandon the house. Now, she has turned the home into a “prison”, with fences around the house and the surrounding olive grove. She has abandoned her regular routine of travelling to Ramallah to see friends or swim at the local YMCA. “It would kill him to see this,” she said, gesturing toward the fortifications. “It makes me emotional because this is our land and I’m 60 years old and I decided to retire in my family home. And I don’t want to live like this, scared, and not doing my routine.” Meanwhile, the Israeli settlers camped nearby remain a constant threat. Dozens besieged the house again on 18 June, days after the first attack. One of the men has threatened her online, posting a video in which he is seen standing by a fence next to a basketball court behind Ali’s house. “The reality on the ground is shouting out what they already understand on their own: the homeowner has returned,” he says. The firebomb attack against Ali took place on 14 June, two days after Huckabee made a surprise visit to Shilo to back the settlers. Alkam, noting Huckabee does not address the Palestinian American community in the West Bank, said: “I’ve reached out at least four times asking for a visit to Turmus Ayya. He does not even consider that we exist.” Israeli prosecutors say they have charged six settlers with “acts of terrorism, arson, sabotage and violent rioting” in Deir Dibwan, although the cases are reportedly covered by a gag order and it is not clear if they are related to the attack on Ali’s house. After filing an initial report with the US embassy, she said she was told to report the case to local authorities. “If we were a Jewish Israeli American family who they had tried to burn alive, the American ambassador would have been here in two hours,” she said. “But I haven’t been contacted.”

Hide the Pain Harold and Rubik’s Cube creator among social media’s picks for Hungarian president

Eszter Jámbor, a 46-year-old content creator who focuses on sex education, had a different kind of question for her Instagram followers last week: who did they think should be Hungary’s next president? The suggestions ranged from reality TV stars to bodybuilders and the Victoria’s Secret model Barbara Palvin. But another anonymous online poll asking Hungarians the same question revealed the most popular candidate to be András Arató, a retired electrical engineer who found global online fame as a meme: Hide the Pain Harold. Katalin Karikó, the Nobel-winning biochemist, and Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik’s cube, were also popular choices. “Obviously, politics are serious, but there’s also room for a bit of humour, for that sense of freedom that a part of Hungary is now feeling after the past 16 years,” said Jámbor. Since ousting its rightwing populist leader Viktor Orbán in a milestone election earlier this year, the central European country has been living through a period of rapid political change. The man who succeeded Orbán, Péter Magyar, has begun enacting some of the reforms he promised on the campaign trail: taking “propaganda broadcasts” on public media off air and removing Orbán’s allies from the heads of the prosecution, police and military. Perhaps the biggest fight, however, was the one Magyar picked with the then president, Tamás Sulyok, who was forced to sign a constitutional amendment ending his own term in July. After Sulyok, who was appointed by Orbán’s Fidesz party, left his post, the new prime minister called for suggestions. “Let’s make a decision together,” he said in a Facebook video. Lawmakers from the ruling Tisza party will elect the new president in parliament, but Magyar encouraged “public figures, NGOs and civilians” to put forward names. Less than 24 hours after opening the discussion, however, Magyar said he had nominated the chess grandmaster Judit Polgár for the role. The move prompted a popular backlash criticising his hastiness and Polgár, subject of the Netflix documentary Queen of Chess, turned him down. Magyar apologised for the “miscommunication”, but polls in the aftermath showed his party’s popularity down by 3%. “The process is still imperfect,” says Imre Ónádi, a 55-year-old architect who created a Facebook page and group to support the candidacy of the conservative politician Péter Márki-Zay, who unsuccessfully ran against Orbán in the 2022 general election. Ónádi welcomed Polgár’s refusal “not because she isn’t the right person, but because her nomination was announced without discussion”. He thought Magyar’s apology was a good sign. “It seems they take into account what the population says. That’s democracy, after all,” he added. For now, emboldened by the grassroots success of the Tisza party in the April election but lacking any official channel for recommendations, that discussion is happening in social media posts, online polls and open letters. However, it is unclear whether these popular recommendations are reaching Tisza and how the administration intends to handle them. While the government has set up an online consultation space to discuss an update on traffic regulations, there is no official channel for presidential recommendations, despite Magyar’s encouraging words. “I have a political fever,” said Jámbor, undeterred. “I’ve been voting since I was 18. But I finally feel like I have a say in what happens in the country.” Any Hungarian over the age of 35 with voting rights can become president, but Magyar has said his candidate must be independent of political parties. He has met two popular contenders: the well-known historian Ignác Romsics and Botond Fülöp, a lawyer who uncovered the child abuse pardon scandal that ended the presidency of Katalin Novák in 2024. It is expected that Tisza’s 141 parliamentarians will propose and swear in a candidate before 19 August. Technically, Fidesz, which has 44 members of parliament, could nominate its own candidate, but the party has said it will not take part in the election as it believes Sulyok’s dismissal was unlawful. No other party has enough MPs to nominate someone for the position. Amnesty International Hungary believed that the removal of Sulyok was justified, said Áron Demeter, the head of communications and campaigns in the organisation’s Budapest office. “But we could debate Tisza’s method,” he added, arguing that the government could have pursued impeachment to remove the president instead of pushing through an amendment to the constitution. With its so-called supermajority in parliament, Tisza “shouldn’t do the same things Fidesz did, with the same tools, just because their goal is nobler”, Demeter said.

Monday briefing: An (almost) comprehensive guide to Nigel Farage’s many scandals

Good morning. It’s been three months since the Guardian revealed that Nigel Farage accepted an undeclared £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in April 2024. Since then, things have snowballed. This weekend, it emerged that Farage struck a secret comeback deal in March and April 2024 with Richard Tice, the then-leader of Reform, for Farage to return as leader. This undermines Farage’s claim that he had no intention of returning to politics until June 2024, a defence he has used to justify failing to declare that £5m to parliamentary authorities. The rapid speed at which these revelations are coming out can make keeping track of all the (alleged) sleaze overwhelming. And that’s just the 2026 vintage – Farage-related scandals go back half a century. So for today’s First Edition, we present a brief-ish history of Farage allegations; a compendium of controversies. We’ve tried our best to be comprehensive, but there’s a lot – apologies if we missed anything, do get in touch. First, this weekend’s biggest stories. Weekend roundup US-Israel war on Iran | Donald Trump has climbed down on planned military strikes against Iran, claiming he has responded to a request to pause any further attacks. Overnight, Trump said talks with Iran will happen on Monday but declined to set a deadline for an agreement. UK politics | Andy Burnham has said his programme of devolution strengthens the case for the UK to have a written constitution, a move that would fundamentally alter the workings of the state. Spain | The EU is to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday amid continued divisions in the bloc over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in north Africa. Heatwave | Britain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers’ Union has warned as a heatwave was forecast to continue into next week. UK policing | An undercover police unit that spied on tens of thousands of political activists had to be shut down amid severe criticisms and recriminations, the spycops public inquiry has heard. In-depth: From Dulwich day denials to ‘missing’ EU funds During his years at Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 80s, Farage’s contemporaries allege he was racist. Yinka Bankole claimed that Farage told him to go “back to Africa,” on at least three occasions while they were schoolboys. Bankole was nine and 10 at the time of these alleged incidents; Farage was 17. James Varcoe recalled Farage “used the N-word”. Jason Meredith alleged Farage called him a “paki” and told him to “go back home”. Peter Ettedgui alleged that Farage taunted him with antisemitic comments, including that “Hitler was right” and hissing to mimic the sound of gas being released after saying “gas them”. Another claimed Farage burned a copy of the school roll when there were more Patels than Smiths. In his biography, Farage described meeting Enoch Powell during his schooldays, writing that the far-right “rivers of blood” MP had “dazzled me for once into an awestruck silence”. (Later, Farage would ask for Powell’s endorsement, and twice requested, unsucessfully, that Powell stand as a Ukip candidate.) Chloë Deakin, a teacher at Dulwich, wrote to Dulwich’s head teacher in 1981, citing Farage’s alleged “publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views”. Deakin wrote of an incident where “Farage and others had marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”. In 2013, Farage responded to this letter, denying – among other things – he knew any “Hitler Youth songs, in English or German”. “Of course I said some ridiculous things,” Farage said, “not necessarily racist things. It depends how you define it.” He also acknowledged that some of his comments “would offend deeply”. But Farage’s denials have shifted over time. He has claimed he only engaged in “banter”, then “aggressive banter”, while labelling some claims – including those made by Bankole and Ettedgui, as “complete fantasy land”. “Any accusation [that] I was ever involved in far-right politics is utterly untrue”, Farage has said. *** The Kipper years Nigel Farage was a founding member of Ukip in 1993, and led the party between 2006 and 2016. Former Ukip leader Alan Sked alleged that Farage “wanted ex-National Front candidates to run” in the 1997 general election. Sked was sceptical, at which point Sked alleges that Farage said: “There’s no need to worry about the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us.” Farage denies this. Farage was a member of the European parliament (MEP) for Ukip from 1999 to 2020. During his time in Brussels, Farage had one of the worst attendance records, and appeared at just one of 42 fisheries committee meetings. The behaviour of Ukip candidates under Farage’s leadership was astonishing. One Ukip parliamentary candidate referred to gay men as “fucking disgusting old poofters”, while another council candidate stated Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, was “not a real Brit’, that “most Nigerians are bad people” and that Islam is an “evil organisation”. As it happens, my first encounter with Farage was while reporting at Ukip’s 2015 spring conference, during which I was handed a flyer which stated: “What the LGBT is achieving, of course, is a recruitment drive … They must recruit fresh blood and this is best done among children in schools, the younger the better.” *** Expenses In 2014 it emerged MEP Farage claimed £15,500 in annual expenses for office costs, despite paying no rent on the small property where he worked. In total, he claimed more than £205,000. Almost £60,000 of “missing” European Union funds were said to have been paid into Farage’s personal bank account (Farage defended his use of these funds, and faced no formal disciplinary sanction). Farage also faced claims from former staff that he “transferred European funds” into accounts “he controlled … in the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man”. In 2018, Farage was docked €40,000 (£35,500) from his MEP salary, after European parliament auditors concluded he had misspent EU funds in a separate inquiry. “I can spend my EU allowances as I see fit,” Farage told Sky News. He also argued that MEPs don’t claim expenses, but were given flat-rate amounts to use at their discretion. After the Brexit vote, Arron Banks gave Farage £450,000 in funding, which was not declared to EU authorities. After becoming MP for Clacton in 2024, Farage was found to have breached the MPs’ code of conduct 17 times, failing to declare £380,000 of income on time. Since becoming an MP in 2024, Farage’s income has reached £2m – with criticism mounting over his non-parliamentary work. In 2025, Farage declared a £400,000 a year salary for promoting gold bullion for four hours per month. *** Miscellaneous Despite condemning tax avoiders, Farage set up a trust fund in an offshore tax haven. He bemoaned waste in Brussels, then boasted of claiming millions in MEP expenses. He criticised MEPs who put their spouses on payroll (“no exceptions”), then did precisely that himself (£). In 2014, he refused to support same-sex marriage (“a very big can of worms”), and called for people who have tested positive for HIV to be banned from migrating to Britain. In an LBC interview the same year, Farage said you’d be concerned if Romanians moved in next door, but not Germans. “You know what the difference is,” Farage said. He later backtracked. Farage sold videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, referenced antisemitic conspiracy theories, called for the release of a convicted sex offender, expressed support for the IRA and made misogynistic remarks – including about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s breasts. Farage denies a 2006 story in which a 25-year-old woman allegedly took him to her home, staggering drunk, from a pub where, she claims, they made love seven times after which Farage was “snoring like a horse”. *** The £5m Earlier this year, the Guardian broke the story that Farage received £5m from Thailand-based crypto tycoon and Reform donor Christopher Harborne. The cash arrived shortly after Farage said he needed “a million a year” to stand as MP. Farage failed to declare the donation to parliamentary authorities, and has been referred to the parliament’s standards watchdog. He subsequently called the Clacton byelection. When asked what he has done with the £5m, Farage told the BBC “literally none of your business”. Questions remain over properties connected to Farage, including over a £1.4m cash-purchase of a home made shortly after Farage received the donation. Reform UK said the home was bought using Farage’s I’m a Celebrity fee, however company accounts appear to suggest this income remained in Farage’s account post-purchase. Questions remain over an £885,000 Clacton property that Farage claimed to have bought, but is actually owned by his girlfriend, Laure Ferrari. She has refused to confirm how she paid for the house. A wider set of questions about Farage and Reform’s funding have emerged, centering on convicted fraudster (and Harborne pal) George Cottrell, who secretly bankrolled Farage. Again, all undeclared. Cottrell was routinely introduced as Farage’s chief of staff in the past, suggesting he had significant influence, despite Reform stating he has never held an official party position. It’s quite the rap sheet for a man whose party had spent the last 18 months leading national opinion polls. (And we didn’t even manage to squeeze everything in.) Until recently, Farage’s popularity appeared impregnable. But with Labour – for now, at least – overtaking Reform, his byelection sideshow failing to deliver distraction and no letup in the slew of damaging stories, perhaps all this scandal is starting to stick. The week to come Today | Nominations for the Scottish Labour leadership open, after Anas Sarwar’s surprise resignation to join the House of Lords and take up post as a UK trade minister. Tuesday | The next round of US-brokered peace talks Israel and Lebanon are due to resume in Rome. Friday | The inauguration of Colombia’s incoming far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella will take place in the city of Cali. What else we’ve been enjoying I loved Emma Beddingfield’s tips on how to survive the rest of summer – and yes, I will be treating myself like a beloved dog for the next month or so! Poppy Noor, newsletters team Speeding tickets! Takeaways! Err, big snake plants!? I lapped up every line of this story, which saw five couples keep separate spending diaries, before they revealed all to their partner. Michael If you haven’t encountered Jimothy the raccoon yet (where have you been!), Elle Hunt’s piece on why so many love him is a great place to start. Poppy Jason Arday was Cambridge University’s youngest-ever Black professor. Then questions emerged about his work, as did scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism. It’s a complex topic, which Lanre Bakare navigates expertly in his brilliant reporting. Michael First Edition alumnus Patrick Greenfield has written an excellent story about the exceptionally weird work of Alfred Drummond-Herdman, who creates timelapse footage of fungus on faeces, to understand more about the world around us. Poppy Sport Tour de France Femmes | The Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes took her second win in this year’s Tour de France Femmes in Geneva, further extending her overall lead in the nine-day race. Commonwealth Games | This year’s Commonwealth Games have been “phenomenal” and have shown the events have the potential to carry on for another 100 years, the chief executive of Glasgow 2026 has told the Guardian. Fifa | Gianni Infantino is facing a rebellion from members of the Fifa council who are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that could develop into a full-blown leadership challenge. In an exclusive, the Guardian has learned that moves to call an EGM were already under way before the emergence of Infantino’s abortive plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup. The front pages “UK facing food shortages due to drought, say farmers”, is the Guardian’s front page today. The Telegraph leads on “Police warn early release will force patrol cuts”, the Times has “Toll of schooling ‘straighjacket’”, the Mail runs with “Burnham must scrap ‘disastrous’ pro-union strike laws” and the i Paper says “Two-thirds back wealth tax on assets worth more than £10m”. The Express runs with “1,500 foreign criminals in housing paid for by you”, and the FT has “US companies book ‘rock solid’ profits despite consumers’ struggle with costs”. The Mirror has a “royal exclusive” with “Harry: Dad, let the world see us together”, and lastly, Metro on the fuel crisis writes “Tanks for nothing!”. Today in Focus The exonerated prisoner kicked out of office by Republicans Calvin Duncan spent 28 years in a notorious Louisiana prison for a murder he didn’t commit. After he was finally exonerated, he decided to run for an administrative role that would allow him to help prisoners gain much-needed access to their criminal records. But a Republican plot to keep him from taking up that role ended his incredibly short-lived political career. Olly Laughland tells Annie Kelly why Calvin’s story is indicative of what he’s calling “competitive authoritarianism” in Trump 2.0. Cartoon of the day | Tom Gauld The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad One of the oldest cultural events in Europe is celebrating its 850th birthday by going back to its roots at the Welsh castle where a prince first held it in 1176. The eisteddfod moves between north and south Wales each year, prompting this year’s creative director to describe its as a “Glastonbury on wheels”. Beyond its musical offerings, the event – running until Saturday – also celebrates the Welsh language, culture and creativity. The more than 1,000 events represent, for some revellers, not only pageantry but a kind of homecoming. As Naomi Chiffi, from Tenby, explains: “My kids are all in Welsh-medium education; the first Welsh school in Tenby opened a decade ago now. Events like this on our doorstep show them that the language is a living, fun thing.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply