Healey made chancellor, Miliband named foreign secretary and Yvette Cooper becomes health secretary as Burnham picks cabinet – UK politics live
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Several Labour MPs are in Downing Street as the new PM chooses his top team

• Burnham vows his arrival in power will be ‘circuit breaker’ moment for UK

• Six highlights from Andy Burnham’s first Downing Street speech

Andy Burnham may see banners urging the government not to allow the proposed Rosebank oil field development in the North Sea as he drives to Buckingham Palace and the No 10 today.

Here is a banner on Whitehall.

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European gas prices surge amid fears US-Iran war will cause winter shortages
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Benchmark hits a four-year high as oil briefly breaches $90 a barrel before easing after Tehran says talks ongoing

• Business live – latest updates

European gas prices have hit a four-month high as the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East raises fears of supply shortages this winter.

The Dutch natural gas benchmark briefly rose above €60 a megawatt hour (MWh) on Monday, near the peaks seen at the start of the US-Iran conflict, after the US expanded its aerial offensive and Iran retaliated with strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait.

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AliExpress fined record €550m by EU for failing to stop sale of illegal and fake goods
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Chinese retail platform handed penalty over listings for items such as counterfeit products and unsafe toys

• Business live – latest updates

The Chinese online retail platform AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£470m) by the EU over its failure to stop illegal goods including harmful clothing, cosmetics and kitchen gadgets being sold through its site.

The European Commission fine is the biggest imposed by the bloc under Digital Services Act (DSA) legislation to protect consumers from illegal goods and deceptive or addictive marketing techniques.

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How Elephant and Castle risks becoming London’s gentrification ‘patient zero’
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

New £500m town centre welcomes its first tenant this month, but displaced traders say promises that they could return have been broken

Diana Sach once employed more than 30 people and catered for hundreds more every day from her Latin American restaurant and delicatessen, famous for its Peruvian empanadas, in south London’s Elephant and Castle district.

Now, she looks longingly at the shiny tall buildings that have replaced the brightly coloured but shabby shopping centre that was her home from home before being demolished in 2021.

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Jeff Bezos and UK government invest in £2bn British startup CuspAI
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Company aims to develop AI software that cuts research times and use of rare metals in chipmakers’ supply chains

• Business live – latest updates

Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, and the UK government have invested in a £2bn British artificial intelligence startup that is aiming to become the “search engine for rare materials” that accelerates the next wave of technological breakthroughs.

The Cambridge-based CuspAI has raised $450m (£330m) in funding from investors including Bezos and the government’s sovereign AI fund, valuing the two-year-old business at $2.6bn.

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Experts warn of rise in sadistic online exploitation of vulnerable children
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Global increase in cases of predators coercing children to harm themselves or produce child sexual abuse material

Cases of predators coercing children into producing sexual photos and videos of themselves have surged globally in the past year, a cruel phenomenon known as “sadistic online exploitation”, child safety experts and law enforcement officials warn.

In cases of sadistic online exploitation, perpetrators target vulnerable teens on social media platforms and online games. These predators then compel their victims into producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), harming themselves and others, or, in extreme cases, attempting suicide.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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Kevin Keegan, Liverpool legend and former Newcastle manager, dies aged 75
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

• Keegan revealed in June 2026 he had stage four cancer

• Starred for Liverpool, Hamburg, Newcastle and England

Kevin Keegan, the former England and Newcastle manager who was twice named European Footballer of the Year, has died aged 75. As a player, Keegan illuminated ­countless matches and in the 1970s proved a stalwart member of ­Liverpool’s serial domestic and European ­trophy ­winning team.

Keegan’s family announced in ­January that he had cancer and, seven weeks ago, he himself revealed that it was stage four, the most advanced form of the disease. “A double ­Ballon d’Or winner, Kevin was a much loved husband, father and grandfather,” read a statement. “The family would like to thank Kevin’s incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.”

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A big red speaker, Louis Vuitton trophy trunks and a tattoo bet – how Spain celebrated World Cup win
Posted on Monday July 20, 2026

Luis de la Fuente’s team was the best at the tournament by some margin but are not satisfied yet with focus now on ‘the next game in September’

On the night that Spain won their first World Cup in 2010, Rodrigo Hernández was on camp somewhere lost in the woods of Connecticut. He had been canoeing when the selección beat Germany in the semi-final, upset to have missed it, and for the final he convinced one of the supervisors to let him watch, alone, on a mini-laptop in the hut where the staff slept. When Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 116th minute, he ran off screaming, doing laps of the lake. He was 14.

On the night that Spain won their second World Cup 16 years later, Rodrigo Hernández was back in the US, not so far from there. When Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute, he ran off screaming in a straighter line and accompanied this time: towards the corner where his other family were. And then, when it ended, when the fighting finished too, he collected the trophy, pausing just long enough for Donald Trump to leave centre stage before lifting it, his timing perfect even here.

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