Watchdog finds ‘significant evidence’ of coordination with another pro-Brexit campaign group

Vote Leave has been fined and reported to the police by the Electoral Commission, after the watchdog found “significant evidence” of coordination with another campaign group, BeLeave.

The commission’s long-awaited report said it had found evidence BeLeave spent more than £675,000 with data firm Aggregate IQ coordinated with Vote Leave, which should have been declared by the Brexit campaign group.

PM provokes rebellion from Tory remainers but wins customs vote in Commons

• Vote Leave fined and reported to police by Electoral Commission

Theresa May has narrowly seen off a Commons rebellion from Conservative remainers unhappy that she had caved in to hardline Brexiters by accepting their amendments to the customs bill.

The government majority was reduced to just three votes on the two most controversial amendments after leading Tory remainer Anna Soubry complained that the prime minister had lost control of events by making concessions to the rightwing European Research Group of MPs.

After the president’s joint press conference with Putin, several dissident Republicans echoed Democrats in rebuking Trump

Donald Trump drew mostly bipartisan condemnation after failing to denounce Russian meddling in the US presidential election at a joint press conference with Vladimir Putin.

Criticism came from familiar corners such as the Republican senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, but of note were some usually friendly voices who added to the chorus, including the House speaker, Paul Ryan, and the former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, who called Trump’s behavior the “most serious mistake of his presidency”.

Two presidents brush aside claims of Russian election meddling … fury as Brexiteers get their way on Chequers plan … and the curse of perfectionism

Hello, I’m Warren Murray on a Tuesday when there’s a wealth of strong stories to tell you about.

UK lobbied for delay in law under which leaders could be prosecuted for going to war

A crime of aggression, under which politicians and military leaders can be held individually responsible for invasions and other major attacks, comes into force at the international criminal court, reviving global legal powers last exercised at the Nuremburg and Tokyo war crimes trials of the 1940s.

Claims alleging that armed force has been used against the “sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence” of another state can, from Tuesday, be taken to the tribunal in The Hague.

United Utilities says 7 million customers will be affected by first ban since 2012

Millions of households in the north-west of England will face the first hosepipe ban in the country since 2012 after the UK’s longest heatwave in more than 40 years.

The water company United Utilities said 7 million customers would be affected by the ban, which is due to come into force on 5 August.

Exclusive: Nazneen Rahman will leave the ICR in October after harassment claims

A leading light in the world of cancer genetics, who was honoured at the outstanding Asian women of achievement awards and given a CBE, has quit her job at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) after facing multiple allegations of bullying dating back 12 years.

Prof Nazneen Rahman, who is the high-profile head of genetics and epidemiology at the ICR, was given leave of absence last November after a letter signed by 45 current and former employees accused her of “serious recurrent bullying and harassment”.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics says changing the DNA of a human embryo could be ‘morally permissable’ if it is in the child’s best interests

The creation of babies whose DNA has been altered to give them what parents perceive to be the best chances in life has received a cautious green light in a landmark report from a leading UK ethics body.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said that changing the DNA of a human embryo could be “morally permissible” if it was in the future child’s interests and did not add to the kinds of inequalities that already divide society.

Former China editor claims vindication but predicts she will never be given a major presenting job at the corporation again

The former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie has described her fight for equal pay as worse than her battle with breast cancer and declared she will probably never get a major presenting job at the corporation again.

The journalist resigned from her role in January in protest at inequalities at the BBC, accusing the corporation of having a “secretive and illegal pay culture”.

President says London has not provided evidence to back up claims that Moscow was behind poisoning of four people – one fatally

Vladimir Putin has accused Britain of making baseless allegations against Russia over the former Soviet spy and three other people poisoned, one fatally, with the novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.

Asked in a Fox News interview about the British government’s assertion that Moscow was behind the novichok attack on the former spy Sergei Skripal, Putin said London had not provided any evidence to back up the claim.