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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Ben Jennings on Reform UK’s council candidates – cartoon
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Seven sailors missing after drones strike tankers near Romania’s Black Sea coast
Nato source says drones came from Russia, while Romania’s president says attacking commercial ships ‘is unacceptable and has to stop’ Seven sailors are missing after drones struck two tankers near Romania’s Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze and raising fresh security concerns on a vital shipping route used by Ukraine. A Nato military source told Reuters the drones that hit the Wine Trader and the Yara J came from Russia. “The drones that caused the fires on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin,” the source said. Continue reading...
People in the US: what is your personal ‘recession indicator’?
We’d like to hear about whether you feel like the US is in a recession and what you think signals such a downturn Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the US is experiencing a recession, according to a new Harris Poll conducted for the Guardian. By the typical definition of a recession – when a country’s economic growth is in the negative for two consecutive quarters – the US is not experiencing one. Still, Americans are facing higher prices and a stagnant job market , what for many feels like a downturn. We want to hear from Americans: do you feel like the US is experiencing a recession? What is your so-called personal “recession indicator”, or a signal in your everyday life that points to an incoming economic slump. It could be seen in your job or at your local grocery store, something you notice at your children’s school or out in your community. Tell us about it below. Continue reading...
Paxton v Talarico: tens of millions of dollars pour into closely watched Texas Senate race
Elon Musk has spent $158m in a month to back Republicans in midterm races – with his efforts mostly focused on Texas Tens of millions of dollars are pouring into Texas as Democrats stage an audacious bid to win a US Senate seat in the Republican stronghold. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is among those wading into the closely watched race as November’s midterm elections approach. Continue reading...
Nicolás Maduro tells New York court new torture allegations are ‘false’
Rewritten indictment accuses ex-Venezuela president and wife Cilia Flores of leading campaign of torture Nicolás Maduro insisted on Thursday during an appearance in a New York court that torture allegations in a rewritten drug trafficking indictment against the deposed Venezuelan president and his wife were “false accusations”. Maduro, shackled at the ankles, was brought to court to face the new charges accusing the couple of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans. Continue reading...
Thames Water asks for £2.4bn more to avoid going bust this year or early 2027
Water company tells creditors it will not survive long enough to agree refinancing deal without more money Thames Water has asked its creditors for another £2.4bn as the embattled water company comes close to running out of cash. The UK’s largest water company said on Thursday it needed another short-term cash injection because it would be unable to reach a longer-term deal to sort out its giant debt pile before running out of cash by “the end of 2026 or the start of 2027”. Continue reading...
Pensioner pleads guilty to raping woman drugged by husband
Graham Brougham, 74, was one of a number of men invited to sexually assault victim while she was unconscious A man from Cheshire has pleaded guilty to the rape of a woman whose husband drugged her and invited other men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Graham Brougham, 74, pleaded guilty to rape at a hearing at Manchester Minshull Street crown court on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...
Hegseth church allies backed plan for ‘public’ execution of Fort Hood shooter
Leader of CREC church – whose pastors have advocated death penalty – says he ‘prefers public executions to private’ Donald Trump announced Thursday he was cancelling Pete Hegseth’s recently announced plans to livestream a military execution – because “many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die”. But there were some fans of Hegseth’s now-scotched idea: the rightwing religious figures that have long backed his career. Hegseth announced last week that the US public would be able to see the execution of Nidal Hasan, which is set for 3 December at Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan, a former army major and psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood in 2009. A military court sentenced him to death in August 2013. Continue reading...
John Healey poised to raise taxes on banks in budget
Exclusive: Chancellor to target sector in his first budget to help offset damage caused by Iran war on public finances John Healey is poised to tax Britain’s banks in his 28 October budget, to help offset the damage inflicted on the public finances by war in the Middle East, the Guardian understands. The chancellor is in Bangkok, where the International Monetary Fund has praised the UK’s progress towards balancing the books, urging him to “stay the course”. Continue reading...
Two 1960s London housing estates saved from demolition after decade-long battle
Change of council leadership hands reprieve to residents of architecturally celebrated developments in Lambeth Two architecturally celebrated council estates in south London that have been under threat of demolition for more than a decade have been saved. Residents of Cressingham Gardens and the Central Hill estate have campaigned tirelessly for their homes to be saved, saying the low-density 1960s developments are significant in design and popular with those living there. Continue reading...
How has Trump’s immigration agenda affected the US midterms? Send us your questions
Join our final live Q&A before the midterm elections, on 22 October at noon ET on the Guardian US site Since Donald Trump started his second term in January 2025, immigration enforcement has remained a major issue for US voters, with arrests reaching record highs , operations becoming deadly and immigration raids hitting politicians’ homes . Our reporting has documented the experiences of those directly affected by the harsh conditions in detention centers and resistance to ICE agents on the ground. Immigration will be a defining issue in the final weeks of campaigning for the 2026 US midterm elections. The makeup of the Democratic party, plus key races to watch Who are the groups financially backing the candidates in the midterms? Will the Iran war cost Trump in the US midterm elections? Your questions answered Continue reading...
Repressive, secretive and highly militarised: Eritrea, the east African country facing UK visa ban threat
Country has not had an election in 33 years and has withdrawn cooperation with UK on migrant returns Eritrea, the east African country embroiled in a row with the UK over its refusal to accept the return of rejected asylum seekers and criminals, is considered one of world’s most secretive and repressive states, with reports of arbitrary detention and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, opinion and religion. Situated in the Horn of Africa and bordering Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, it became a sovereign state after gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a 30-year war. Continue reading...
US senator Susan Collins writes off allegations of corruption as ‘completely false’
The Republican, who is up for re-election, refutes claims the convicted ex-CEO of defense contractor Navatek made US senator Susan Collins of Maine has dismissed allegations that she traded federal contracts for campaign cash as “completely false” after it emerged the FBI examined the claims. Asked by a reporter about an ethics complaint filed last week by a Maine attorney, the Republican – currently campaigning to retain her seat ahead of November’s US midterm elections – said the allegations were recycled from 2020 and had been rejected by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Federal Election Commission. Continue reading...
Cost of balancing Great Britain’s power grid reaches nearly £50m a day
Grid operator is paying huge sums to switch off windfarms in areas of excess electricity generation while turning on gas plants elsewhere The cost of balancing Great Britain’s power grid has soared to near-record highs of almost £50m a day after windfarms were turned off due to bottlenecks in transmitting power around the country. The grid operator paid £47.9m on Wednesday to turn windfarms off in areas with an oversupply of electricity and turn gas plants on in areas where supplies were tight. Continue reading...
Cult venue Prince Charles cinema ‘saved’ after lease renewal signed
The much-loved central London institution, which has been threatened with closure since January 2025, secures 25-year lease without break clause with current landlords The celebrated Prince Charles repertory cinema in London’s Leicester Square has announced that the threat of closure has been staved off by signing a new 25-year lease with its landlords. In a post on social media titled “You Saved the PCC”, the cinema said that “after 21 months of uncertainty, we’re delighted to have secured the future of the cinema” and that they had “signed a new 25-year lease with no break clause, ensuring our projectors will keep rolling for years to come”. Continue reading...
Just as Saint Nige thought it was safe to reappear, along comes pesky ITV | John Crace
How dare the channel reveal more racism and bigotry within Reform just as he was planning a press conference? Sometimes the world can be very unfair. As though life is just one cruel joke. How else to make sense of everything? For when the history books come to be written, Nigel Farage will go down as one of the century’s unluckiest politicians. Poor Nige. All he has ever wanted is a better Britain. A country united in a shared vision where everyone gets along with one another. Where people of all faiths and none look out for each other. Where men and women of all colours are treated as equals. Where Nige can teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy ‘minded to intervene’ in Sky’s £1.6bn purchase of ITV
Culture secretary’s move paves way for deeper scrutiny of deal that would create UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said she is “minded to intervene” in Sky’s £1.6bn purchase of ITV, in a move that paves the way for deeper scrutiny of a deal that would create the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster. Sky announced over the summer that it had reached a deal to buy ITV’s broadcasting and streaming arm, representing a major shift in the ownership of Britain’s public service media. Continue reading...
‘The valley has been left behind’: how one of California’s poorest areas became its toughest political battleground
Rising costs and threatened healthcare benefits are testing voters’ loyalty to Trump as Democrat Randy Villegas challenges David Valadao Vanessa Martinez used to work two jobs to make ends meet. Now she works three. In another era, the 26-year-old from California’s hardscrabble Central Valley could have been a poster child for the American Dream, the sort of ambitious, up-by-her-bootstraps personality that politicians of both major parties like to highlight. Continue reading...
Milei adviser claims UK being ‘colonised by Islam’ as Falklands row grows
Santiago Caputo cites election of Sagal Abdi-Wali as MP and calls UK a threat to the west in post shared by Argentina’s president The chief adviser to Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has cited the election of Sagal Abdi-Wali to the UK parliament as evidence of the Islamisation of Britain and further reason for Argentina to take sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. In a post on social media, Santiago Caputo, who is reportedly taking a key role in Argentina’s strategy over the Falklands, suggested that the taking of the south Atlantic islands was necessary to prevent the “interference of an Islamic state” in the region. Continue reading...
Holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy trial gives first interview since mistrial
Michael Desronvil tells Fox News he never had reasonable doubt Clancy was guilty but didn’t back up his claims Michael Desronvil, the sole holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy trial has spoken in his first interview since a mistrial was declared. Desronvil spoke of “tense deliberations” in the jury room, and about how his strong Christian faith helped prepare him for those discussions. Continue reading...
Top health civil servant urged to play no role in clampdown on ADHD clinics
Four MPs raise conflict of interest concerns over Samantha Jones’s past links to a big provider of ADHD assessments A senior civil servant should play no part in ministers’ crackdown on private ADHD and autism clinics because of her recent ties to the industry, MPs have said. Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs are demanding that Samantha Jones, the Department of Health and Social Care’s permanent secretary, steps away from any role in plans to toughen regulation of the booming market in private neurodiversity assessments. Continue reading...
Trump cancels plan to livestream execution following global condemnation
Man convicted of killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas will still be executed, but president said ‘people would rather not watch him die’ Donald Trump has shelved a widely condemned plan to livestream the execution of a disabled man by firing squad. The US president confirmed the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at a military base at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, would not be public. Continue reading...
Labour councils told to end agreements with Greens who do not condemn ‘Zionism is racism’ policy
Party chair calls on Labour groups to end local deals if Green councillors do not reject motion attacked as ‘antisemitic’ UK politics live – latest updates Labour councils who share power with the Greens have been told to terminate agreements if their Green partners do not condemn the party’s new “Zionism is racism” policy. Bridget Phillipson, the Labour chair, said groups working with Green party politicians must “review” their agreements and end them unless they reject the controversial motion, which Andy Burnham called “antisemitic” . Derbyshire Dales Lib Dem-led coalition Broadland Lib Dem-led coalition West Suffolk Labour-led coalition Arun Lib Dem-led coalition Havant Labour-led coalition Lewes Green-led coalition Rother Coalition led by local independent group Runnymede Coalition with Lib Dems, Greens and local independent group Wealden Green-led coalition West Oxfordshire Lib Dem-led coalition West Sussex Lib Dem-led coalition North Somerset Lib Dem-led coalition West Devon Independent-led coalition Monmouthshire Labour minority-led coalition Coventry Labour-led confidence and supply agreement with the Greens Stafford Labour-led coalition Warwick Green-led coalition Sheffield Labour-led coalition Continue reading...
Resources minister faces calls to correct her claim all Beetaloo emissions will be offset
Madeleine King told press club emissions from NT fossil fuel basin ‘are accounted for and offset’ but research found 95% of emissions this decade would not have to be offset Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here The resources minister, Madeleine King, is facing calls to correct her claim in a major speech that all greenhouse gas emissions from developing a massive fossil fuel basin in the Northern Territory will be offset to limit their impact on the climate. Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, King defended her support for the development of the Beetaloo gas basin south of Darwin after being asked if she was comfortable with the impact that the emissions from the gas would have on Australians. Continue reading...