Fertiliser is in short supply. What does it mean for Australia’s farmers – and your bread?

The US-Israel war on Iran is delivering a double blow to Australian farmers, who are being hit by the spike in diesel prices as well as an equally severe surge in the price of fertiliser.Soaring fuel costs are hurting almost every business and household, but growers are now making decisions about planting that will affect the size of their crops come harvest time.So why are we experiencing this fertiliser squeeze, how much worse could it get, and what does it all mean for farmers and the price of food?A fifth of the world’s global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments pass through the strait of Hormuz, which has essentially been shut since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.But the share of world supply of urea – the most popular commonly used fertiliser – that typically passed through the strait before the conflict was more than twice that, at 43%.For sulphur – used to produce phosphate fertilisers – the figure is 44%

BP board suffers triple climate rebellion from shareholders

BP’s board has suffered a triple climate rebellion in its first shareholder meeting since appointing new leadership to steer the embattled oil company.More than 50% of shareholders voting at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) came out against its plans to scrap its existing climate reporting, and its resolution to replace in-person annual shareholder meetings – a lightning rod for climate protest in recent years – with online-only events.About 18% of shareholders voted against the re-election of BP’s chair, Albert Manifold, less than a year after he took on the role. The “unprecedented” revolt means BP will not be allowed to carry out the resolutions that were defeated by a majority, although Manifold will remain as chair.The dissenting shareholders included Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), the UK’s largest asset manager, which had said it would vote against Manifold and oppose BP’s plans to cut back on climate reporting

Chinese hackers using everyday devices to target UK firms, warns cybersecurity agency

British businesses are being urged to step up their vigilance against a China-linked hacking ploy that uses everyday devices for espionage.The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and agencies in nine other countries have warned of persistent attempts by Beijing-backed groups to hack equipment such as wifi routers to launch cyber-attacks.Known as “covert networks” or “botnets”, they typically target vulnerable equipment – for instance devices that have not had a software update or are old – as a base for staging activities such as surveillance and data theft.The NCSC said the technique was used by the majority of China-linked hackers. Richard Horne, the centre’s chief executive, said on Wednesday that China’s intelligence and military agencies had an “eye-watering level of sophistication in their cyber-operations”

Criminal gangs profiting as child sexual abuse websites double, experts say

The number of commercial child sexual abuse websites has doubled in a year as experts say that criminal gangs are making “huge profits” from online sexual exploitation.According to data collected by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), 15,031 commercial child sexual abuse sites were found in 2025, compared with 7,028 found in 2024, a 114% increase.An analyst who worked on the report but did not wish to be named said that this content exists “across all social media platforms” and is “very easy” to find.“I can find child sexual abuse content, the worst categories, category A content, which is penetration of children as young as babies on any social media platform in as little as one search term and two clicks,” said the analyst.“I think the public have this perception that this sort of material is hidden away in dark and dirty corners of the internet, but it’s not, it’s in plain sight

Over-75s drive levels of physical activity in England to record high but inequalities remain

Levels of physical activity in England have broken new records, with more than 30 million adults now meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, the latest Active Lives survey has revealed.The 10th edition of the gold standard report finds a striking rise in activity among older people with 11% growth among the over-75s in the past decade. There is also a consistent improvement among people with disabilities. But other inequalities have proven stubborn, with no change among black and asian communities in 10 years and a decline in activity among the least affluent over that period.“It’s great to see continued growth in the number of people taking part in physical activity, with more adults than ever enjoying the benefit of playing sport and moving”, said the chief executive of Sport England, Simon Hayes

New England coach McDermott backs Connor and criticises Wane’s ‘unfair’ treatment

Brian McDermott, the new England head coach, has insisted that Super League’s reigning Man of Steel, Jake Connor, is central to his plans for this year’s World Cup, before appearing to attack the treatment of the Leeds Rhinos half-back by his predecessor Shaun Wane.McDermott was unveiled on Thursday as England’s coach on a short-term deal for the tournament in Australia this autumn. The former Leeds and London coach is now working in the NRL as an assistant for Gold Coast Titans and saw off competition from Sam Burgess to be named as Wane’s successor.The buildup to last year’s Ashes, which proved to be Wane’s final series in charge, was overshadowed by his decision to omit Connor despite him being crowned Super League’s best player in 2025. Wane insisted that selection was “not difficult” and insisted he paid no attention to accolades like the Man of Steel, with Connor consistently overlooked to the bemusement of many