The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into Rockfire Investment Finance, which became embroiled in a financial scandal over how a UK council invested more than £100m into solar farms. The UK’s anti-corruption agency said it had “issued a series of section 2 notices compelling financial institutions to provide information on its newly…
A new search for Madeleine McCann is under way in Portugal with police officers gathering a few miles from where the British toddler was last seen in 2007. Portuguese and German police are carrying out the search 18 years after the three-year-old disappeared from the resort of Praia da Luz while her parents were having…
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature The Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, has some detail about the reaction of Geert Wilders’ (now former) coalition partners to him leaving the government, a move that will likely trigger snap elections. Here is an extract from his write up: Wilders…
An adventurous dog who went missing for 36 days and covered about 100 miles before swimming to an island, has returned from her extended walkies after being rescued by a passing ferry. Amber, a five-year-old retriever cross, had been rescued as a street puppy in Qatar by a charity and moved to the UK but…
The US private equity group KKR has pulled out of a deal to inject fresh equity into Thames Water, leaving the troubled supplier’s future in doubt and increasing the prospects of a temporary nationalisation. The UK’s biggest water supplier had picked KKR as its preferred partner, but the company has “indicated that it will not…
A political staffer has told a Sydney court he embellished a glowing email he wrote to a state MP who allegedly sexually assaulted him years earlier. The Kiama MP, Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the New South Wales district court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges….
The Reserve Bank of Australia is prepared to “respond decisively” to any deterioration in the global economy, paving the way for rapid-fire cash rate cuts if Donald Trump’s tariffs spark further market upheaval. The 20 May RBA meeting minutes, released on Tuesday, show the rate-setting board discussed implementing a bumper 50 basis point cut last…
A man still at large after escaping from a New Orleans jail last month appears to have taken to social media to plead his case to the public. In a video that quickly went viral, the man identifying himself as Antoine Massey – one of 10 prisoners who fled from the Orleans Justice center (OJC)…
Australia’s minimum wage of $24.10 an hour will be increased by 3.5% from July, in a decision by the Fair Work Commission that delivers a real wage increase for the country’s lowest paid workers. Last year’s decision was for a 3.75% increase. Nearly 3 million employees have their pay set by an award and are…
A coalition of mayors from across England are urging the government to allow local authorities to bring in a Barcelona-style visitor levy to generate income from tourism. The group, led by the Liverpool city region mayor, Steve Rotheram, argues that a visitor levy would unlock vital funding for tourism and cultural infrastructure, empower regional growth…
