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Bayeux tapestry arrives on British shores for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ exhibition

Like the man whose conquest of England almost a millennium ago it recounts, the Bayeux tapestry crossed the Channel in the dead of night, in as much secrecy as possible, landing on the country’s south coast early the following day. The artefact’s arrival on Friday marked the first time it has returned to England in nearly 1,000 years, and British Museum staff will begin to prepare it for exhibition during its year-long loan. The museum’s director, Nicholas Cullinan, said: “Watching the tapestry arrive at the museum is a moment I will never forget and I look forward to seeing the exhibition take shape over the coming weeks and welcoming the first visitors through our doors this September.” He added: “This has been a monumental effort from colleagues at the British Museum and our partners in the UK and France.” The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said the loan shows what France and the UK “can achieve when they join forces”. Writing in the Times, he said the loan was a “tangible expression of longstanding friendship and a sign of our shared desire to see France and the United Kingdom build their future together”. The UK culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: “Make no mistake – this is a historic moment and a significant act of friendship as we welcome this iconic historical tapestry back to Britain for the first time in almost 1,000 years. “This exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about this pivotal period in our national story and our shared heritage and friendship with France, which endures to the present day. I’m delighted to welcome this tapestry back on to British shores.” The Metropolitan and Kent police forces escorted the delicate 11th-century work from Folkestone to London in what the British Museum has called “one of the most significant international museum loans ever undertaken between the two countries”. It arrived in a large yellow lorry just before 3am, having made its way through the empty streets of London. The secretive operation was the result of years of negotiations, tricky logistical planning and multiple technical studies to ensure the integrity of the 70-metre-long (230ft) medieval artwork. The artefact was folded accordion-style in a climate-controlled case that was placed inside a shock-absorbing cradle. That went into a truck that crossed from France on a vehicle shuttle train through the Channel tunnel. After an 11-hour trip, the truck backed slowly into a loading bay at the museum, where workers eased the container to the ground. Museum staff and British and French diplomats who had been watching in hushed silence broke into applause. The priceless cargo will spend several days acclimatising before it is carefully unpacked and unfolded for an exhibition the British Museum expects to be one of the most popular in its 267-year history. It has said demand to see the “once-in-a-generation exhibition” has been unprecedented – about 100,000 tickets were sold in their first day on sale this month. About 7.5 million people are expected to go to see the artefact during its time in London from September this year to July 2027. It has been on display at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Bayeux in Normandy since 1983 and will return there when the museum reopens after renovation. Cullinan said: “It was like trying to get tickets to Glastonbury. I don’t take for granted that people care that much about a 1,000-year-old embroidery. I think that’s an amazing thing.” Stitched in wool on linen fabric – meaning it is actually an embroidery, not a tapestry – the artwork depicts events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold’s Anglo-Saxon army. The invasion ended Saxon rule, made William the Conqueror the first Norman king of England and bound Britain and France more closely together. Historians believe the tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William’s half-brother, and was probably sewn by women in England – possibly nuns – before being taken across the Channel. It has spent most of the last millennium in the town of Bayeux in north-west France, apart from two short periods when it was at the Louvre in Paris.

Weather tracker: Typhoon leaves people stranded on rooftops in China

As the first typhoon to make landfall in China for the 2026 season, Maysak has caused devastating damage in southern and central regions. The Guangxi region received intense downpours of up to 280mm in 12 hours, causing rivers to swell and dam walls to break. By Monday morning, flooding across the city of Nanning and surrounding areas had resulted in many people being stranded on rooftops. Flood waters pose additional threats in China because of the presence of wild and farmed snakes. On Thursday local media reported that hundreds of snakes, including cobras, had escaped from flooded breeding farms. Typhoon Maysak also aided the development of two destructive tornados that swept across central China later on Monday evening. This occurred when warm air from the south, brought up by Typhoon Maysak, collided with cold air in the north. While authorities continue to verify the full extent of the damage, the official state news agency Xinhua has already reported at least 11 dead and 331 injured, as well as more than 4,855 houses damaged. It was the first recorded tornado to occur within the central Hubei region since May 2021. India has also had heavy rainfall this week, with parts of Mumbai receiving more than 300mm on Sunday and a nearby site at Matheran, just east of Mumbai, recording total rainfall of more than 850mm between Sunday and Wednesday. This four days of rain led to the collapse of buildings within the eastern suburbs of Mumbai, killing at least 13 people. A three-storey chawl collapsed, killing five young children and one woman, according to local authorities. Despite it being within the peak of Mumbai’s monsoon season, 300mm recorded within 24 hours accounts for almost 50% of July’s entire monthly average rainfall. Meanwhile, a notable winter storm hit the south Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha on Tuesday. Wind speeds of up to 124mph were recorded at the amateur weather station located at the school on the island. Roofs were ripped off several buildings, but no casualties were reported. Wind speeds are often enhanced by the 2,000-metre-tall volcano that forms the island. The volcano creates what is known as downslope winds, which are powerful winds on the leeward side of mountains caused by descending air that compresses and results in powerful gusts.

Visualised: how conflict, aid cuts and health-worker attacks are helping Ebola spread in DRC

Nearly two months after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an Ebola outbreak in one province, the virus is continuing to spread rapidly, reaching more parts of the country and infecting more people. According to government data from 8 July, 1,759 cases and 600 deaths have been recorded. The virus has also spread to Uganda, where there have been 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths. The outbreaks are caused by the rare Bundibugyo variant, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. Wessam Mankoula, the head of emergency preparedness and response for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters on Thursday that the outbreak was the fastest growing ever, not only of the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks but of all the different viruses that cause Ebola. In another worrying development, the Congolese health ministry said suspected cases had now been recorded in the provinces of Tshopo and Haut-Uélé, indicating the continued spread of the disease beyond the centre in Ituri. Experts say the spread of the disease has been intensified by several factors, including ongoing conflict, aid cuts and attacks on healthcare workers and treatment centres. They also warn that the outbreak could become the deadliest on record. How have these factors affected the spread of the disease and measures to contain the outbreak? A dangerous overlap of conflict and disease The DRC outbreak was first reported in May in Ituri province in the north-east. It has spread to the neighbouring provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. The three regions are sites of lengthy armed conflicts, involving different actors, that have caused deaths and displacements. Ituri is the centre of a long-running conflict between militias vying for control of its mineral resources. Ladd Serwat, a senior analyst at the Acled conflict monitoring group, said armed groups in the province have complicated humanitarian access in the past, particularly where communities are perceived to be aligned with rival ethnic groups. In North Kivu and South Kivu, the Congolese army and allied militia are fighting the M23 rebel coalition. The government and the rebels control different parts of the province. Serwat said that although health workers can travel through the provinces, the administrations will make it more difficult to coordinate the medical response and the sharing of information. He added: “The overlap between militant activity, population displacement and weak state control could significantly complicate efforts to contain the outbreak. An assessment by the International Organisation for Migration earlier this year found that 3.3 million displaced people live in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, the last of which hosts 1.2 million alone. The collapse of humanitarian funding Humanitarian funding for the DRC declined sharply in 2025, largely because the Trump administration froze foreign aid assistance to programmes funded through the state department. Carla Martinez, the DRC head at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the reduction in funding forced more than 10 humanitarian organisations to reduce or suspend activities. That weakened local health systems and surveillance networks, making it harder to detect and contain outbreaks quickly and increasing the risks posed by Ebola and other diseases, she explained. “The Ebola outbreak is a stark reminder that when humanitarian systems are underfunded, they become more vulnerable to new emergencies,” she said. “Without additional resources, both the public health response and broader humanitarian operations will come under increasing strain, with potentially serious consequences for the DRC and the wider region.” Healthcare under attack Healthcare workers and treatment centres for Ebola have come under attack both in the current outbreak and past ones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. The incidents include violence, riots and property damage, and disrupt the provision of essential services. During the current outbreak, 10 Red Cross volunteers have been attacked, with four sustaining injuries, said Alex Lock, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He noted that most of the incidents occurred during safe burials conducted by Red Cross volunteers and were caused by mistrust fuelled by rumours and misinformation circulating about the disease. In one incident during a burial last month, four volunteers were injured, including two who were severely hurt and had to be airlifted to the capital, Kinshasa, for treatment. Misinformation about the virus and distrust of health responders has been fuelled by the decades-long unrest and outside interference in eastern DRC. Lock said the attacks force them to halt or postpone critical response activities, disrupting vital containment efforts and putting community members at greater risk. “An immobilised colleague means a direct reduction in response capacity,” he said. “This hinders our operational effectiveness and benefits no one, neither the community in need nor those of us working tirelessly to support them in containing and eradicating the virus.”

Friday briefing: Inside our investigation of Nigel Farage and Reform’s deepening financial scandal

Good morning. One of the privileges of working at the Guardian is attending our morning conference – the gathering of colleagues from across departments to discuss our daily publishing schedule – which is open to every journalist in the building. This is a rarity across media organisations, which tend to keep these discussions to the most senior editors. These past few days, the morning meetings have been busier than usual as City editor, Anna Isaac, relayed the twists and turns of her exclusive reporting on Reform’s deepening financial scandal – and the fact that Nigel Farage would rather fight a byelection with an intergalactic space warrior than respond to her questions. Morning conference has remained open to all for decades now, thanks to an understanding that everything said in the room remains there. But after a week like this one, I’ve got dispensation from the higher ups to bring you into the meeting room with us, as Anna talks me through the spoiler tactics, legal threats and the slow, then fast, unravelling of Nigel Farage’s credibility. Five big stories UK politics | Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership, signalling a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East. Middle East | The US and Iran traded retaliatory strikes on Thursday as Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz. Spain | Twelve people were reported killed in a wildfire in Almeria in southern Spain, as about 150 firefighters battled the blaze which broke out amid soaring temperatures. UK news | Vapes could be sold in plain packaging as part of a range of proposals to stop them being marketed to children. UK politics | Keir Starmer has signalled he could hand out resignation honours when he leaves Downing Street, despite pledging three years ago he would not do so when he eventually stood down. In depth: Having to reply to media for Farage was the straw that broke the camel’s back On Tuesday morning, Anna was at her desk in the Guardian’s London headquarters putting the final touches to the story that has dominated the news this week: her exclusive that the £5m gift to Nigel Farage from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne had been reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money. She was already braced for the unexpected: “I’d heard a whisper from a Reform insider, and then I saw Farage’s post on X [that he would be making a ‘statement about his future in public life’ at 2pm].” “I knew there’d been debates about his future over the weekend within Reform, that he was considering all kinds of options – even stepping down,” she tells me. Anna explains how Farage’s panic seemingly began after she put in her first round of “rights of reply” – a journalistic duty which involves contacting the person or organisation that is the subject of a story, so they are aware of the allegations and have an opportunity to respond before publication. This is, as our longest-serving editor CP Scott put it in 1921, because: “The voice of opponents no less than that of friends has a right to be heard.” In an attempt to get Farage to directly address some of the Guardian’s questions Anna put in a second right of reply – giving Farage a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond. “As I understand it, that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and he decided to go for it”. And so at 2pm, in a rambling video address during which he claimed to be the “most physically and verbally attacked public figure or politician of modern times”, Farage announced that he would force a byelection in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea, in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to outrun the worsening scandal. It’s a tactic that has spectacularly backfired after all other main parties confirmed they would boycott the contest, leaving Farage in a two-way fight with the veteran parody candidate (and 5,900-year-old leader of the Recyclons) Count Binface. *** Choreographed spoilers What followed was a coordinated endeavour by Reform to undermine the Guardian’s reporting. While rights of reply are good journalistic practice, they can provide individuals the opportunity to pass on what is contained in them – which usually amounts to fine details of the allegations against them – to a more sympathetic media outlet, a classic spoiler tactic to reframe the narrative in their favour. Anna had been working on a much wider story, about donations and loans that Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice and his company had received from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster, and Cottrell’s mother, Fiona, which had likewise caused bankers to report potential money-laundering concerns to the NCA. “It appeared to be a coordinated effort to disrupt our reporting,” Anna tells me. “It looks like Richard Tice then briefed the Telegraph – he had a 5 pm deadline to reply to us and insisted, the Guardian understands, that the Telegraph publish their story by 4.30pm”. Tice had also earlier threatened the Guardian with an injunction. Anna says she was anticipating some pushback – this was not her first rodeo after all. In April, when she originally revealed that Farage had been given an undisclosed loan of £5m by Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, the Reform leader gave an interview to the Telegraph before the Guardian published, in an attempt to downplay the story. *** The context As our media editor Michael Savage sets out in his sharp analysis, these classic Fleet Street spoilers are part of Reform’s increasingly aggressive approach towards the media, with Farage confronting broadcasters and individual reporters about their coverage. In May, he circulated the details of a Guardian photographer online, after he attended Farage’s home. The Guardian issued a statement at the time stating it was concerned by Farage’s response, and that the photographer had been “working lawfully in a public space”. Michael suggests these attacks, alongside its launch of a new podcast and Substack, “mark an attempt to renew Reform’s status as the plucky outsider, taking on the establishment” – as polling this week put Labour ahead of Reform for the first time in a year, evidence of a Burnham bounce and potentially the impact of intense scrutiny of the party’s finances. Sending a “right to reply” is often an anxious time for journalists, explains Nick Hopkins, our head of news, when I catch up with him after an exhausting week. But Farage and Tice have “added a whole new layer of jeopardy to this established and essential journalistic process”. “‘Spoilers’ are not unusual,” says Nick, who has steered some of the Guardian’s most complex investigations over the years, including the Snowden files and the Panama Papers. But Reform seems to be normalising them. “It’s a dangerous tactic. Why would journalists go to anyone if they thought there was a good chance inquiries would be handed to another, rival organisation? “It’s a strategy for chaos. Does it really benefit Reform in the long run? The thing about unanswered questions is, they don’t go away.” These repeated spoilers are “really difficult” to navigate, Anna admits. “We have to strike a balance between maintaining our standards … [while also knowing] that some people either won’t engage with the process or will seek to undermine it. We’re also dealing with people who will use litigation to have a chilling effect. So we have to weigh up the different risks.” “But at the end of the day, we ran the stories and yet again, their spoilers only serve to confirm our journalism.” *** Why it matters, and what next Anna has built her career on scrupulous long-term investigations of difficult financial stories involving government agencies and political parties. When she was recognised at the 2024 UK Press Awards for her work on sexual misconduct at the CBI, she was praised for exposing “the clubby immoral behaviour of powerful people”. And she has spent many months investigating the financial dealings of Reform UK precisely because of what’s at stake. “We can see from the May election results that Reform are a massive electoral force in this country. If this could be our government in 2029, it’s never been more important to scrutinise them.” I’ve been really struck by reasoning that sources gave for speaking to the Guardian about these transactions: they wanted the electorate to be equipped with the knowledge to judge a major political party, based on how transparent it has been about its finances. But another key concern they raised, Anna tells me, is that any potential NCA investigation could take years to conclude because of the agency’s strapped resources. “And with where we are in the electoral cycle, we might not have those years.” Farage’s own behaviour this week, she suggests, “is indicative of someone that thinks the parliamentary standards investigation [into the undeclared £5m loan] might be very difficult for him. And of course, if he wins his seat again, the investigation can restart.” The Metropolitan police confirmed in a statement on Thursday night that they are investigating donations made by Fiona Cottrell after a referral by the Electoral Commission. And legislation is making its way – slowly – through parliament to limit overseas and cryptocurrency donations to UK political parties. Last night we revealed that Labour MPs are expected to push ministers for even tougher measures amid escalating concern about foreign political interference in elections. This is all wraps into one question, says Anna: “Is anything going to happen in terms of either law or accountability quickly enough? And we just don’t know”. Regardless of all the noise and aggression emitted by Reform, Anna says: “We’ll just carry on doing what we’re doing, holding all political parties to account whenever they need to be.” That’s a promise. And if you want to read more investigations like this, then please consider supporting us. Your contribution gives reporters the vital time and space we need to continue producing impactful journalism. What else we’ve been reading Our You be the judge series is always fun – and this one is a summer classic: should my friend stop expecting gratitude for splitting a freebie? Patrick This photo gallery of the superlative Bonnie Tyler across the decades proves that a back-combed feather cut never goes out of style. Do not miss this beautiful photo essay by South African photographer Sabelo Mlangeni who embedded himself in queer and rural communities for this series. Patrick World Cup 2026 France 2 - 0 Morocco | Kylian Mbappé scored a stunning opener after a first-half penalty miss in France’s victory against Morocco to reach the World Cup semi-finals. They will now face the winner of Spain v Belgium, which takes place later today. Racism |Ashifa Kassam has taken a look at what is behind the surge in racist abuse during the World Cup – both on social media platforms and offline. The path to the final | France or Morocco will already be through to the final four by the time you read this, but Guardian football writers have been making their predictions for the rest of the tournament. Let’s hope Bryan Armen Graham is right. Today’s Fixture Spain v Belgium, 8pm on BBC Sport Tennis | Karolina Muchova edged out Coco Gauff in a deciding-set tie-break, while Linda Noskova produced a clinical display to defeat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, to reach the final of Wimbledon. Cycling | Tadej Pogacar won stage six of the Tour de France, which finished on the brutal Col du Tourmalet mountain pass in the Pyrenees. Cricket |Raf Nicholson has previewed the first ever Test match at Lord’s for England’s women’s team against India, which begins later today. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Film The Last One for the Road | ★★★★☆ Francesco Sossai’s new film (pictured above) is not one that recognises the spoilsport clinical concept of “alcoholism”. Rather, it is the cynically amused and lenient witness to drunkenness, bleariness, sadness and intermittent nausea; to the tragicomic optimism of ageing boozers, ruined romantics with a superhuman ability to keep imbibing throughout the day, always wanting just one last drink, and then one last drink after that in the hope that elusive happiness will finally materialise. It is a road movie, a buddy movie and a faintly baffling shaggy-dog tale; a coming-of-age story that embraces infantilism and not coming of age; a bittersweet comedy without the sweet. It is intensely depressing yet funny at the same time. Peter Bradshaw TV Abandoned | ★★★★☆ Did you know your surname when you were five years old? The more you think about it, the harder the question becomes to answer. Most of us will have been lucky enough for it not to matter – parents or guardians were always on hand to look after those details. But for Ramón, Elvira and Ricard, it was a very real issue. The three siblings were found by a station guard as they wandered around Barcelona’s Estació de França in 1984. They carried no luggage or ID. Their family name was a mystery. Over its four episodes, this gripping documentary series both shows and tells what that absence really means. Phil Harrison Game Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced | ★★★★☆ Edward Kenway isn’t your dad’s Assassin’s Creed protagonist. Neither sworn to ancient oaths nor given a noble destiny, he’s just a guy who likes coin, dislikes rules, and whose gold-chasing, rule-dodging lifestyle sees him embroiled in an ancient war between Templars and assassins quite by accident. He is a brilliant extension of the player, in that way, and that’s what this remake of the 2013 pirate-themed Assassin’s Creed does so well: the sense of freedom. Like the original, Ubisoft Singapore’s Resynced version really nails the fantasy of being a swashbuckling privateer. Your time is nearly all spent doing things that feel core to a pirate’s life: sailing a ship across the seas with your crew, attacking Spanish trade vessels, sword fighting dastardly soldiers, plotting elaborate treasure heists, playing checkers by the harbour with crusty sailors. And unlike in the original game, it’s almost never spent doing things that break that fantasy. Phil Iwaniuk Books Service by Lauren Mooney | There are, MR James tells us, five conditions that must be met for a perfect ghost story: the pretence of truth, a “pleasing terror”, no explanation of the machinery, no gratuitous horror, and that the story belong to the writer’s (and reader’s) “own day”. In Lauren Mooney’s sharply observed debut novel, Danielle lives a precarious existence as a PA at a dilettante arts charity called Hodgepodge (strapline: “for ideas”). She types emails, makes tea and increasingly finds herself running personal errands for her monstrous boss Jeannie. Jeannie seems to see no difference between working for the charity, and working for her. The hauntings of Service are genuinely chilling. Ella Risbridger The front pages “Police investigate donations from mother of Farage ally to Reform”, is the Guardian’s front page headline today, and the Times says “Met inquiry into £500k donations to Reform”. The FT leads on “Burnham weighs plan to install deputy in Downing Street’s northern outpost”, the Mail, also on Burnham, writes “What a shameless stitch-up!”. The Telegraph has “Badenoch purges MPs who back net zero” and the Express writes “Kemi: Only Tories have serious policies”. The i Paper says “UK’s 1.6 million weight loss jab users told to start strength training”. The Mirror runs with “Ignorant” over Restore Britain leader’s comments on Dunblane. Lastly, the Sun, on the World Cup, has “Ban out of order”. The Latest US and Iran trade strikes: is Trump’s peace deal over? The US president has said the truce with Iran is ‘over’ amid 48 hours of intense strikes. In the days leading to this escalation, three tankers were attacked by Iran in the strait of Hormuz, raising questions about the clarity of the ceasefire agreement signed in June. The US military’s attacks occurred during the week-long funeral of Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which drew millions on to the streets. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Harry Kane has always been an enigmatic footballing superstar, his humble, affable, slightly awkward demeanour – recently showcased the funniest and certainly squeakiest post-match interview of all time – contrasting with his deadly finishing. And yet, it’s these unexplored qualities that have stood the England captain in such good stead during his meteoric career, writes Sam Cunningham. “Harry’s great company. He was quietly confident he was going to have a good career,” said the former England under-20s manager Peter Taylor. “You could just tell there’s something about him – he was confident. It wasn’t a case of ‘football owes me a living’; it was: ‘I’m gonna work me socks off to have one.’” 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

Deadly H5 bird flu found in local Australian seabird for first time

The first case of deadly H5 bird flu in local wildlife has been recorded in a bird found on the South Australian coast, with experts saying the discovery is an escalation of the disease’s arrival in the country. Separately, tests on a young fur seal found on the New South Wales Central Coast returned a negative result for H5 bird flu on Friday night. The animal was found at Blue Bay and died on Thursday with tests undertaken as a precaution, the NSW government said on Friday The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said on Friday that a greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – had tested positive for the disease. The dead bird was found at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast by a member of the public. “While this, of course, is a concerning development, it is not unexpected and is another sign that our strong biosecurity system is working,” Collins said. Until Friday, cases of bird flu had been detected in migratory subantarctic seabirds, mostly giant petrels, found on the coasts of SA, Western Australia and NSW. Environment groups said the development marked a possible turning point for the disease in Australia. Collins said the South Australian government was leading the response to the discovery of the greater crested tern by conducting extra surveillance to help establish whether there had been further spread in local wildlife. “What we do know is that this is a coastal seabird that has an overlapping coastal range with migratory seabirds that have previously tested positive for H5,” she said. Earlier this week, the SA government said it had completed the largest aerial survey of the state’s coastline, islands and reefs in 40 years and found “no widespread evidence of sick or dead seabirds or seals”. In a statement on Friday, the government said the greater crested tern was found dead by a member of the public at Robe Marina on Tuesday. They reported it to the emergency animal disease hotline. The government said the bird was collected for testing the same day. Chris Purnell, the wetland and migratory shorebird program manager at BirdLife Australia, said the detection was “very concerning” and represented a “paradigm shift” in the development of the disease in Australia. All previous confirmed detections had been in migratory birds that had likely brought the disease from the subantarctic, but the greater crested tern was an Australian resident seabird. “Those earlier detections were like little spot fires, but this suggests transmission has occurred on or near our beaches. We consider this to be a local transmission point.” Purnell said greater crested terns lived in large “mixed flocks” with other species, which would generate opportunities for the disease to spread. “This is only one bird, but it is very, very concerning, but not a surprise,” he said. The location of the bird – close to a network of coastal lakes with many birds – was also a concern, Purnell said. BirdLife Australia was particularly worried about the eastern hooded plover – a species listed as vulnerable and with populations living close to where the tern was found. Terns as a group of species had been heavily affected globally by the disease, Purnell said. In France, hundreds and potentially thousands of sandwich terns died within days of the first reports of dead birds. Jack Gough, the chief executive of the Invasive Species Council, said international experience showed H5 could spread quickly and at greater distances than expected. “This is a very serious moment because it’s the first time we’ve seen local transmission of the virus rather than sick pelagic seabirds arriving on the beaches from the Southern Ocean,” he said. “I’m concerned that if we get persistent spread to Australian wildlife, this could quickly turn up all over the Australian continent.”

Monaco bomb mystery deepens as Ukraine’s security services are linked to murder of prime suspect

The case of a suspected bomber accused of targeting a Ukrainian oligarch has taken another murky turn, after details of her subsequent murder were revealed in court with evidence suggesting the involvement of Kyiv’s intelligence agencies. French police last week named Anastasia Berezovska as the person captured on CCTV leaving a rucksack outside a Monaco apartment block. It blew up, injuring the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev as he emerged from the building with his partner and their 13-year-old child. Prosecutors said that Berezovska, 39, who had disguised herself as a man, fled in a car with German registration plates, crossing into France and then Italy. On 1 July, she travelled to Ukraine, catching a bus to her home town of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv. Officials announced on Tuesday that her body had been found in woods near the capital. According to Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency, Berezovska was met by two men, who had made payments to her bank and crypto accounts. One of them, Vladyslav Reut, appeared in court on Thursday, accused of her murder. Reut identified his alleged accomplice as Vitaliy Zhykovych, a former Kyiv region policeman. Ukrainian media reported that Reut, 33, studied law at the national university in Kyiv, and worked for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency. He served in unit A2772, a training centre for special operations forces, Radio Liberty reported. Appearing in a Kyiv court on Thursday, Reut claimed Zhykovych was responsible for Berezovska’s cold-blooded killing. The two men took her at gunpoint to a forest near the village of Yuriv, 60km (40 miles) west of the capital. “Zhykovych fired the first shot at her in the back of the head. She fell down. He came up and fired another shot. I was standing a few metres away at that moment,” Reut told the judge. He said four shots were fired before Zhykovych forced him to dig a hole, took all of Berezovska’s personal belongings and removed her trainers. He added: “I will insist on taking a polygraph to prove my innocence.” Zhykovych’s lawyer, Anatoliy Ivanov, said his client denied the allegations. The SBU said it found Berezovska’s body after the men confessed and its officers recovered bullet casings from the forest. It also published grainy footage of what was described as a “torture chamber” in the basement of Zhykovych’s home in the town of Bilogorodka. Investigators later clarified that Berezovska was not tortured before her woodland murder. Given the connection with Ukrainian military intelligence, the case is embarrassing for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, even if – as officials say – the two men were acting alone. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, urged Zelenskyy to get to the bottom of the shady affair, and to punish those responsible. Responding to a question from the Guardian, Zelenskyy said he expected to receive “further reports” in the next few days about the “widely reported” incident in Monaco. “I will update the public,” he promised. Mykhailo Tkach, an investigative journalist with Ukrainska Pravda, said: “It would be hard to imagine a worse scenario. It will be very difficult to explain whether certain government officials – in particular from the GUR – were involved. It is obvious that an explanation will be required at the highest level.” In 2023, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions on Iermolaiev, one of Ukraine’s richest citizens, with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $220m (£164m). The SBU accused him of continuing to trade alcohol in occupied Crimea and paying millions of dollars in taxes to the Russian treasury. Iermolaiev, 58, described the charges as “absolutely surreal” and said he donated money to Ukraine’s military. Iermolaiev’s son, Artur, was accused of creating a criminal organisation engaged in telephone fraud in his father’s home city of Dnipro. According to Estonian investigators, Artur and three other defendants set up fraudulent call centres. He received a suspended sentence, paid €8.5m (£7.2m) and left Estonia shortly afterwards. One source who knows Iermolaiev socially said the bombing in Monaco and Berezovska’s subsequent murder were criminal rather than political acts. “Vadym or members of his family didn’t want to pay someone,” they suggested. The source suggested the dispute was over protection money, adding: “The woman was disposable.” Details of Berezovska’s life are still emerging. She had been staying in Frankfurt, where German police last week searched her apartment. Before that, she had lived in Zhytomyr, where she made a living from breeding dogs. In 2021 a court in the city reportedly found her guilty of petty hooliganism. According to a ruling, she had “insulted another woman while intoxicated, used obscene language and pushed her”. The speed of the suspects’ arrests has surprised observers, with the SBU directly blaming an employee from the rival GUR agency. Some have speculated this reflects animosity between the two organisations. There are also unanswered questions as to how Berezovska managed to cross back into Ukraine, and whether or not she acted alone in Monaco. In a statement, Ukraine’s state border service said she entered the country “lawfully” on 1 July, via a regular border crossing point. It said the French authorities had not issued a warrant at that time for her arrest. “During her border control checks, no database alerts – including those from Interpol – indicated that she was wanted,” it said. In Kyiv, the mysterious events have raised concerns about damage to Ukraine’s reputation. “I hope it will not have a serious impact. But our allies deserve an explanation,” said the parliamentary deputy Oleksandr Merezhko. “The unusual thing is that the perpetrators were caught so quickly. That could be interpreted as evidence of a swift and effective operation by our law enforcement agencies.”

‘A lot of red flags’: plans for New Zealand’s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency

People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them. Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational by 2028. The facility will be used for AI training, processing and data storage and will serve global AI and cloud providers, says the company’s website. Datagrid also plans to build a high-speed internet cable between Invercargill and Australia. Datacentres require large amounts of electricity, water and land, and their rapid growth is igniting debate and protest around the world, as communities grapple with the associated environmental issues, increasing power bills and claims that they are not seeing local economic benefits, despite data company promises. The centre in Makarewa will become New Zealand’s second largest user of electricity, after the nearby Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, using 280MW of electricity. Local authorities have hailed the project as a win for the region, saying it will create jobs and sped up the internet. The company says about 1,200 jobs will be created during the construction phase, and about 50 permanent positions on completion. But Angus Dowell, an economic geographer whose PhD project looks at the construction of datacentres said there were “a lot of red flags,” about the project, and about New Zealand’s push to become an AI hub. “[The centres] provide short term economic benefits in the form of construction, but they’re very, very low employers long term, and so the long term benefits to local economic development are just not there, they don’t stack up,” he said. Residents in the neighbouring community are worried about the development. “Locals down here kind of feel like we’ve had our region sold out from underneath us,” said Kelly Blomfield, the chair of the Southland Sustainable Resource coalition, an advocacy group that monitors regional infrastructure projects. “I think that most people’s actual concern is that we don’t find out anything until its done,” she said, adding that attempts to gather more information from Datagrid have been unsuccessful. The centre is part of the New Zealand government’s attempts to attract foreign investment and build datacentres. Government agency Invest New Zealand wants to secure NZ$25-30bn in foreign investment to build datacentres and AI infrastructure, the agency said. New Zealand “offers a compelling opportunity” and “a safe harbour” for investment because of its access to renewable energy, available land and cool climate, the agency says on its website. “These fundamentals are supported by excellent digital connectivity, a skilled workforce, internationally competitive pricing, and a strong rule of law.” Meanwhile, a report from Boston Consulting Group for the agency claims the industry could “unlock up to $70bn of economic activity” over the next decade. But Makarewa resident, Amanda, who wished to give her first name only, says her early ambivalence about the project has changed to concern. “Now that I know a lot more from what I’ve seen overseas, I am alarmed … not just for Makarewa, but for New Zealand.” Amanda is worried about water and power use, the potential running of 84 diesel generators if there is a power shortage, and how round-the-clock noise and light will affect the community and farm animals. Datagrid has approval to discharge air contaminants from up to 84 diesel back-up generators, to draw up to 604,800 litres of groundwater per day, discharge up to 5000 litres of treated wastewater a day and remove a nearby wetland, an Environment Southland regional council reports show. While direct neighbours to the datacentre site were consulted, the broader community was not, and anti-datacentre sentiment is growing, she said. “I know many people in the community who are not on board with it – the talk is either of apprehension or negativity.” Blomfield says she feels like New Zealand has put itself in the race to become an AI datacentre hub “but no one asked us if we want to be in that race”. “People are starting to understand the scope of it, and people are starting to say: I don’t want this in my back yard.” Datagrid did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment but its chief executive, Rémi Galasso, has previously said that concerns about water and power use were unfounded. Southland’s cool climate minimises the need to use water, and the company would be operating under long-term renewable energy arrangements, not competing for household electricity, he said. Invest New Zealand’s chief executive, Robert Wall, was not available for an interview. Dowell says there is was “a lot of opacity” around the Datagrid project, which raises questions over its impacts, how it will function within the broader AI ecosystem, and how it will benefit New Zealand. “It’s fair for us to look at other places in the world and see the environmental impacts of datacentres, the highly asymmetrical distribution of value as part of the big tech AI economy, and say: we need to know more,” he said. “We should demand more, because there’s a lot at stake.”

US and Iran trade escalating strikes as supreme leader is buried after days-long funeral

The US and Iran traded retaliatory strikes on Thursday as US president Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz. Iran responded to the latest round of attacks by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant. The second consecutive day of tit-for-tat strikes came hours before Iran buried former supreme leader Ali Khamenei in his home city of Mashhad. Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli airstrikes this February at the outbreak of the war. The “body of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution was buried in the memorial hall of the shrine of Imam Reza”, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Friday. Khamenei’s funeral procession reached the country’s holiest shrine with a ‌huge crowd packing the courtyard, some bearing banners denouncing the ‌US president and reading, “We Will Kill Trump.” The ayatollah’s son and successor was not seen at the ceremony. Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the same series of strikes that killed his father and has since communicated only through written statements. The renewed attacks on Thursday were the largest since Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 17 June aimed at extending the ceasefire and giving space for negotiations for a permanent truce. Washington was still committed to finding a resolution with Iran and “technical talks continue”, a US official told Reuters, even as president Trump declared the truce was “over”. Responding to the escalation, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, threatening to do so “with even greater force”. In Iran, officials said strikes targeted the perimeter of Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant in Bushehr province, an area where the UN’s nuclear watchdog has previously warned that attacks could “pose a very real danger to nuclear safety ”. “Several areas in Bushehr province were targeted today, including the perimeter of the nuclear power plant, a military base in the town of Choghadak and a fishing pier in the south of the province,” said Ehsan Jahanian, the deputy governor of Bushehr, adding there were no reports of casualties so far. After the strikes, the US president posted videos of explosions in Iran and threatened the country once again. “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Hours before, he had promised strikes would not lead to long-term fighting but would be “very fast”. His comments and the exchange of fire prompted worries that the ceasefire could break down and raised concerns about the long-term prospects of negotiations. Significant gaps remain between the two countries over issues such as Iran’s control over the strait, as well as inspections of nuclear facilities. The US military said it hit about 90 targets in Iran, showing footage of strikes on missile launchers and a runway. It said the attacks were meant to degrade Iran’s capacity to “threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for about 20% of the world’s oil and gas. The attacks caused oil prices to rise, before they recovered later in the day after calm was restored. Iran accused the US of war crimes after it said two bridges in the eastern provinces leading to Mashhad were targeted. The bridges constitute key infrastructure for Iran’s cross-border trade with China, which has sharply increased since the start of the war. Trump has repeatedly threatened to hit bridges, power plants and other civilian infrastructure in Iran. Targeting civilian infrastructure if it is not a military objective could amount to a war crime. Iranian state media also reported explosions in several cities, including Bushehr, which houses Iran’s nuclear power plant complex. At least three people were killed in Iran’s south-western Khuzestan province, while a firefighter was killed in an airport in the south-eastern city of Iranshahr. Nine members of Iran’s military also died in strikes on Wednesday. The MoU calls for the reopening of the strait to commercial shipping for 60 days. Iran says it wants to charge fees to ships transiting through the strait, conflicting with the US, which says it is an international waterway and should not have tolls. Iran continues to view its control over the strait as an important source of leverage in its negotiations with the US, while Trump appears to view strikes on Iran as a way of increasing pressure on Tehran. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a senior Iranian negotiator and parliament speaker, said US pressure would not lead anywhere. “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free,” he said in a post on X. “Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit.” Mediators attempted to de-escalate tensions between the US and Iran in an effort to salvage negotiations. The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a key intermediary between the countries, spoke to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Thursday, condemning Tehran’s strikes on ships in the strait. Negotiations towards reaching a final deal were intended to start after the conclusion on Thursday of Khamenei’s seven-day funeral. Additional reporting by Patrick Wintour