section
Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
3994 stories archived
Thursday briefing: What happens after an asylum hotel closes?
In today’s newsletter: With more sites closed and more lives upended, a look at the rhetoric and reality of where asylum seekers should be housed Good morning. This week, immigration minister Anna Turley announced, with minor fanfare, the government will stop using a further 13 hotels to house asylum seekers across the country. It brings the total shut this year to 44, in pursuit of Labour’s manifesto pledge, now reiterated by Andy Burnham, to cease hotel use completely by the end of this parliament. Doing so would remove what have become highly visible symbols of an increasingly toxic debate about migration. Less than 160 to go, according to the Home Office. Solar eclipse | Wednesday’s eclipse began in Russia’s remote Arctic north , going on to trace an arc over much of western Europe. From the UK to northern Italy, tens of millions of people turned to the sky as the light of the setting sun was almost completely blocked out. UK news | Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid “inhumane and impossible” conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with “the bigger questions” of climate adaptation. US politics | Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary at the end of August, Donald Trump announced. Science | Astronomers claim to have discovered a new kind of cosmic object , a black hole “star”, which is the size of the entire solar system and glows with a brilliant red light. Middle East | Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. Continue reading...
Swim hero Katie Ledecky extends 16-year winning streak with Pan Pacs gold
American wins 1500m freestyle in 15min 36.09sec Walsh beats Douglass to claim 50m butterfly title Urlando breaks Michael Phelps’ 20-year-old record Katie Ledecky won the 1500m freestyle on opening night of the Pan Pacific Championships on Wednesday, earning the first international medal of her storied career on home soil. The two-time Olympic champion in the event was under her own world-record pace in the early stages of the 30-lap race, with fans at the outdoor pool in Irvine, California, on their feet cheering throughout. Continue reading...
Alan Jones’ lawyers accused by defence of ‘intimidating’ witness in indecent assault case
Judge rejects intimidation claim as high profile trial continues with complainant J’s ex-girlfriend cross-examined by shock jock’s defence team The prosecutor in the Alan Jones trial has accused the defence team in court of “intimidating” an alleged victim’s former girlfriend after she asserted she wasn’t financially motivated to provide evidence supporting her ex’s allegations. On Thursday, complainant J’s ex-girlfriend was cross-examined by Jones’s defence team, during which she maintained she had a conversation with J more than 20 years ago in which he alleged Jones touched him. Continue reading...
Category C and women’s prisons could be upgraded to ease overcrowding
Exclusive: Ministers explore diverting male prisoners serving short terms or on remand away from tougher jails Ministers are examining a possible upgrade of security at men’s category C and women’s prisons to deal with an overcrowding crisis across the England and Wales estate, the Guardian understands. Officials have explored diverting prisoners on remand or serving short sentences away from category B “reception” prisons such as HMPs Liverpool, Manchester and Pentonville in north London. Continue reading...
Reform council leader, 20, defends record one year on: ‘The establishment will throw anyone under the bus’
George Finch plagued by bullying claims and other controversies since taking helm at Warwickshire council George Finch, who made history last year after he was elected as leader of Warwickshire county council at the age of 19, is no stranger to criticism. His year at the helm of a minority Reform administration has been dominated by a string of controversies, including three code of conduct investigations and a no-confidence call – which he survived by just one vote. Continue reading...
Australia’s largest aluminium smelter to run on renewables by 2023 after Rio Tinto strikes $2.5bn taxpayer bailout deal
Rio Tinto makes power supply deal with federal and NSW government to cut emissions and decarbonise, preventing potential closure Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Resources giant Rio Tinto says Australia’s largest aluminium smelter will run entirely on renewable energy by 2033 after it struck a $2.5bn subsidy deal with the federal and New South Wales governments to prevent a potential closure. The deal – announced by Anthony Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, at the Tomago smelter near Newcastle on Thursday – is for a 10-year below-market power supply guarantee that begins after the facility’s existing coal-focused electricity contract with AGL ends in December 2028. Continue reading...
Students shun calls to stay in school as anti-Hanson protesters gather across Australia
High schoolers join university walkouts in major cities and several smaller locations amid urge to ‘stand up against the far right’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Calls for striking students to stay in school are unlikely to deter thousands across the country preparing to take part in a major walkout in protest against Pauline Hanson. High schoolers have begun joining the coordinated university union protests taking place in every major city and several smaller locations across the country on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...
Zambia elections haunted by ghost of incumbent president’s arch-rival
Hakainde Hichilema is bidding for second term, but feud between him and family of Edgar Lungu, who died in 2025, continues As Zambians go to the polls, the ghost of the current president’s predecessor hangs over the elections. Hakainde Hichilema, 64, is bidding for a second term leading the southern African country after defeating his arch-rival Edgar Lungu by a landslide in 2021. Continue reading...
India fuels worldwide jump in planned coal production
Rise in new mine proposals, mainly in states of Odisha and Jharkhand, comes despite plateau in global demand Enough new coalmining projects were proposed last year to increase global supplies by 2.5bn tonnes a year, an increase of 11% from the year before, even as demand for coal plateaus, according to a new report. Global Energy Monitor , an NGO, found that India ignited a rise in new coalmine proposals in 2025 despite a global slowdown in the number of mine openings because of falling demand for the fossil fuel. Continue reading...
Victims of road crime feel ‘forgotten by system’, official review finds
Many of those affected in England and Wales think offences are not treated with the seriousness they deserve, says commissioner Bereaved families or seriously injured victims of road crime feel “forgotten by the system” with offences not treated with the seriousness they deserve, an official review has found. The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales found that many of the thousands afflicted each year by criminal driving felt that “the harm they had suffered mattered less” than that from other serious crimes. Continue reading...
Ibac charges police officer accused of repeatedly hitting Indigenous man with Taser during Melbourne arrest
Victorian corruption watchdog alleges weapon was used to hit man’s head, with another officer accused of kneeing him in same incident last year Two Victorian police officers have been charged with assault after allegedly using a Taser and knee to repeatedly strike a man in the head during an arrest last year. In a statement, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission said it had charged the two officers after an investigation into the force used during an arrest of an Indigenous man in Melbourne’s east last August. Continue reading...
Surrogate mother who fled to Texas gives birth to baby with severe heart defect
McKenna West initially agreed to an abortion after diagnosis, but then fled to state where abortion is illegal and broke contact with biological parents, attorney alleges A surrogate mother who traveled to Texas, where abortion is illegal, claiming she was pressured to end the pregnancy after the discovery of a severe heart defect, gave birth on Wednesday to a baby boy. The child’s biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, confirmed the birth through their lawyer, while denying they forced McKenna West, who is from Alaska, to undergo an abortion, the Texas Tribune reported . Continue reading...
Reformers were ‘spectacularly unsuccessful’ in taking over NSW Liberals, Catholic schools boss says
Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney tells Icac corruption inquiry that Christain factional group driven by ‘a calling … a duty’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A factional ally of the federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has told a corruption inquiry a group of Christian Liberal power brokers who allegedly solicited illegal political donations were “spectacularly unsuccessful in their ambitions”. The Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney, told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday that the Reformers’ model was never correct. Continue reading...
Telstra CEO gets $700,000 pay rise to $6.8m despite Australia-wide outage
Telco board cuts senior executive bonuses by total $1.3m after tech fail that affected millions Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra has paid its chief executive, Vicki Brady, $6.8m for the year ending in June, after docking 20% of her bonus in response to the network’s nationwide outage in July. The company reported financial results on Thursday. Its board met on Monday and decided to cut Brady’s bonus by $607,000 – but she still took home a $700,000 pay rise as she was awarded a total of $6.1m the year before. Continue reading...
David McBride leaves prison on parole after being jailed for leaking Afghanistan war documents
Attorney general grants former army lawyer’s release after 27 months in jail Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast David McBride, the former army lawyer jailed for his role in stealing secret defence documents about the Afghanistan war and leaking them to the media, has been released from prison in Canberra on Thursday. McBride was sentenced to a maximum five years and eight months in jail in May 2024, but is being released on parole after serving his full non-parole period of 27 months. Continue reading...
Travis Kelce says wedding to Taylor Swift was 'the best night of my life' in first official comments
Kelce’s remarks on his marriage to Swift at Madison Square Garden comes weeks after the event, which remains shrouded in mystery American football star Travis Kelce has described his secretive early July wedding to pop sensation Taylor Swift as “the best night of my life.” “I appreciate everybody who came out and celebrated and, you know, had fun with us,” the Kansas City Chiefs player told a briefing. Continue reading...
Arrest of ebike rider attempting to evade police after driving recklessly – video
Recent data compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission shows 19 pedestrians were killed across the US in crashes with ebike riders from 2017 to 2024. That’s roughly the average number of pedestrians killed by motorists every day of 2024 Continue reading...
Nurses fainting in ‘inhumane’ conditions due to extreme heat, union warns
RCN calls for more air conditioners as Burnham faces pressure to recognise urgency of adaptation to climate crisis Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid “inhumane and impossible” conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with “the bigger questions” of climate adaptation. Amid growing pressure from Labour backbenches to fully acknowledge the urgency of adaptation measures as the climate crisis bites, Burnham said he was for now focusing on the immediate crises caused by an ongoing summer of extreme heat. Continue reading...
Minnesota man killed his wife and child before dying by suicide, police say
Police said they believed deceased man was assailant in domestic-related homicide at daycare center A man killed a woman and their child inside a small in-home daycare center they own in Minnesota before taking his own life, police said on Wednesday. Hopkins police department said in statement they responded to a report of a stabbing at the residence on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North around 9am in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins. Inside, they found two adults and a child dead. Continue reading...
Pay with a glance at a screen as biometric technology company begins push into Australian retail
Customers will be able to pay using face and palm scans, potentially speeding up transactions – but rollout of the technology is likely to be slow Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The company behind 300,000 Eftpos terminals across Australia is hoping shoppers will want to make payments by simply glancing at a screen, as biometric technology pushes further into retailing. Verifone is selling the innovation as “pay for your coffee with a smile”, promising faster checkouts for people who opt in to having their face or palm-vein – the veins in people’s hands – biometrics used for Eftpos transactions in Australia. Continue reading...
US army helicopter crashes in Texas, killing two people and sparking wildfire
Military official says AH-64 Apache had been on a routine training flight near Fort Hood when it went down An army Apache helicopter crashed in a central Texas field on Wednesday, killing both people on board and sparking a wildfire that forced several homes to be evacuated, a sheriff’s official said. Officials from nearby Fort Hood announced that the AH-64 Apache helicopter had crashed. Cliff Coleman, spokesperson for the Bell county sheriff’s office, confirmed that both occupants had died. Continue reading...
Ignore the doomsdayers – property investing in Australia is far from broken
Investor loan applications may have fallen since the start of the year, but the slump already appears to be turning around Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Ignore the doomsday warnings about the government’s tax changes – property investing in Australia is a little bruised, but it’s far from broken. The country’s biggest mortgage lender, Commonwealth Bank, reported a bumper $11bn full-year cash profit on Wednesday, backed by robust demand for its lending products, especially mortgages. Continue reading...
Karoline Leavitt: six key takeaways from 20 months as Trump’s press secretary
Trump’s most prominent spokesperson won regular plaudit from her boss for her unflinching defense of his agenda Donald Trump’s most prominent spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, is leaving the White House . The US president announced on Wednesday that his press secretary would depart at the end of the month. Leavitt, who has served in the role since Trump’s returned to power in January 2025, won regular plaudit from her boss for her unflinching defense of his agenda, but faced frequent criticism for amplifying misinformation and curbing press freedom. Continue reading...
It must have been love, but it’s over now: sex toy placed in trash bin triggers DC bomb squad
After person is spotted disposing of suspicious device, police with K-9 unit halt major roadway for two hours A stretch of a major Washington DC roadway was brought to a standstill during Wednesday morning’s rush hour after the city’s bomb squad responded to a suspicious device – only for police to later identify the object as a sex toy. The situation unfolded at about 7 am as many commuters were on their way to work. Authorities initially told WUSA9 that a witness had reported seeing someone place a suspicious package inside a trash can near the Tenleytown fire station. Continue reading...