Refuse collectors help Italian woman recover binned €1m lottery ticket 04. August 2026 (17:41) Winner called waste management team after she realised stub showing she had hit the jackpot had been thrown awayA €1m lottery ticket has been recovered from the rubbish in Italy after the frantic winner called on refuse collectors to help her retrieve it, according to the waste management company.The instant win ticket was “miraculously still in one piece” after garbage workers combed through mounds of rubbish on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy’s southern Puglia region. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Elon Musk’s X latest to block Saudi dissident accounts inside kingdom 04. August 2026 (17:20) Exclusive: More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia, after similar action on Snapchat and FacebookElon Musk’s X has become the latest major US social media company to block the accounts of Saudi Arabian dissidents so they are no longer visible inside the kingdom, following orders from Saudi authorities.Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that platforms including Snapchat and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram had blocked dissidents’ accounts over allegations by Saudi authorities that they were violating local law. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey gives UK poetry sales an epic boost 04. August 2026 (17:02) Poetry sales surpassed £8m in the first 30 weeks of 2026 and are expected to reach a record high this year thanks to blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s 2,700-year-old poemUK poetry sales are on course to reach a record high this year, buoyed by the success of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.Poetry sales surpassed £8m during the first 30 weeks of 2026, an increase of 13.3% on the same period last year, according to data from market researchers NielsenIQ. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Reading and writing worsens in Australian schools as one in three students fail to meet Naplan benchmarks 04. August 2026 (17:00) Education minister Jason Clare says the results showed ‘real challenges’ but numeracy scores were hearteningFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastReading and writing scores are going backwards for almost every age group in Australia’s national standardised school tests, with one in three students still failing to meet Naplan benchmarks.This year’s tests were taken in March by 1.2 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to measure literacy and numeracy proficiency, with results released on Wednesday by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Did you send that report?’ The Icac bombshell that came late for Damien Tudehope 04. August 2026 (17:00) The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on TuesdayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption.At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Melbourne anti-weapons protest being investigated as terrorist act by ‘far-left extremists’ 04. August 2026 (17:00) Federal police say those who vandalised a defence manufacturer and torched nearby cars could face life imprisonmentGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnti-weapons protesters who vandalised a defence manufacturer and set nearby vehicles alight could face life imprisonment after police said the incident was being investigated as an act of terrorism by “far-left extremists”.The Australian federal police, their Victorian counterparts and spy agency Asio are examining whether the incident at Melbourne-based Lovitt Technologies on 5 July 2025 was potentially perpetrated by “far-left extremists, motivated by anarchist and revolutionary ideologies”, a joint statement said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Mentions of ‘gender’ scrubbed from Queensland Office for Women website amid alleged effort to ‘dewokify’ 04. August 2026 (17:00) Comparisons of live and archived pages show more than 20 mentions have been removed, including in reference to the gender pay gapGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastReferences to “gender equality” have been removed from the Queensland Office for Women’s website amid claims by former staffers that the Liberal National party government wants to “dewokify” the public service.Guardian Australia has seen an email from a manager, sent in January, tasking staff with scanning the website for the word “gender” so that it could be “reframed”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Aboriginal community police officers sue NT authorities over alleged racial abuse and discrimination 04. August 2026 (17:00) Class action claims Indigenous staff were called slurs, exposed to racist language and paid less for doing the same workWarning: This article contains racist and offensive language directed at First Nations peopleGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAboriginal community police officers are suing the Northern Territory government and the NT police force alleging systemic discrimination and underpayment, the widespread use of racist slurs against Indigenous colleagues and community members, and abuse spanning nearly three decades.The class action, on behalf of Aboriginal community police officers (Acpos or Apos) who worked in the NT between 1998 and 2025, is led Shawn Lewfatt, a Darwin man who has served as an Acpo since 1998. He said decades on the job had left him dreading putting on his uniform. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Star Wars dubbed into Welsh for first time for S4C broadcast 04. August 2026 (16:59) Rhys Ifans, Matthew Rhys, Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Mark Lewis Jones among actors voicing characters from 1977 blockbusterThere are a few links between the Star Wars franchise and Wales, including the secretive building of the Millennium Falcon in an old hangar in the far south-west of the Celtic nation.But until now, speakers of Welsh – Cymraeg – have not been able to hear the words of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia spoken in their own language. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Electronic tagging system unprepared to monitor thousands of early-release prisoners, watchdog warns 04. August 2026 (16:14) Probation inspector for England and Wales says ‘clunky’ system needs huge increase in staffUK politics live – latest updatesThe electronic tagging system that will be relied upon to monitor thousands of offenders released early from prison is failing to alert the authorities of potential breaches of conditions, a watchdog has warned.Martin Jones, HM inspector of probation in England and Wales, said the current system relied upon hard-pressed police and probation officers looking up individual cases and then deciding whether potential breaches need to be investigated further. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
