UK inflation falls by more than expected to 2.6% in lift for Andy Burnham

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Annual June figure comes after new PM pledges to reduce cost of living and improve economy

UK inflation dropped by more than expected in June to 2.6%, in a boost for Andy Burnham’s plans to reduce the cost of living.

The new prime minister has pledged to bring down the cost of living to give households more disposable income and improve the outlook for the economy, announcing a winter VAT cut on electricity bills and lowering the cap on bus fares in England.

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​World largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

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Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rights

The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.

Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments.

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People with secret ‘safe phones’ advised to turn off devices during national test of AusAlert emergency warning

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Ten-second ‘siren’ to blare on most phones on Monday as part of national test despite reservations from some states

An unsilenceable siren will blare out of most phones in Australia on Monday afternoon for 10 seconds, with the federal government confirming a national test of the new AusAlert emergency alert system will go ahead, despite reservations from some state governments.

Domestic violence campaigners and the National Emergency Management Agency have also repeated advice that people who may have secret “safe phones”, kept hidden for personal safety reasons, may want to turn off their devices for up to 24 hours after the test scheduled for 2pm (AEST) on Monday.

iPhones 11 and up running iOS 26.4 or later;

Apple Watch SE2, SE3, Series 6 and up running watchOS 26.4 or later;

Android devices running Android 12 or later.

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Alleged rape victim ‘could have done a lot better’ if she had made up claims against well-connected Melbourne man, court told

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Prosecutor tells court that ‘gaps or inconsistencies’ in the woman’s account ‘enhances her credibility’, but the defence maintains she is lying

A woman who accused a well-connected Melbourne man of rape “could have done a much better job” if she was inventing the story for money, a Melbourne court has heard.

But the accused’s lawyer has described the prosecution’s case as a “horrendous mixture” of “lies, fabrications, inconsistencies, [and] evidence that has been found to be demonstrably untrue”.

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Iran’s foreign minister describes moment of attack that killed Khamenei

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Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.

In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran’s senior leadership.

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Lack of defibrillators could put 16m at risk of death by cardiac arrest in England and Wales

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Exclusive: Research shows millions live more than a 1km round trip from 24/7 accessible device

More than 16 million people in England and Wales risk dying from a cardiac arrest because they live farther than a 1km round trip from the nearest 24/7 defibrillator, according to exclusive research.

Analysis of publicly available defibrillators by the Heart Restart campaign found that in England and Wales alone, 35 million people – more than half the population – do not live within the recommended three- to five-minute brisk walk of a defibrillator. Of these, about half live more than a 1km round trip from a 24/7 accessible defibrillator.

There are more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK, but fewer than one in 10 people survive. However, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival.

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