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Politics
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Twelve people arrested over A66 crash that killed seven including two police officers
Nine men and three women aged between 19 and 61 arrested as part of investigation of events leading to deadly collision Twelve people have been arrested on suspicion of offences including being involved with organised crime as part of the investigation into events leading to a crash on the A66 which killed two police officers and five others. Cleveland police said nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, had been arrested on suspicion of offences ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Continue reading...
At least six injured in Reno, Nevada, wildfire as 42,000 forced to evacuate
Fast-moving, ‘human-caused’ fire in Reno leaves thousands of homes and businesses without power, officials say Tens of thousands of people in Nevada were urged to evacuate as a fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire bore down on the city of Reno. The Hawk fire began on Saturday to the north-west of the city, and quickly grew, showing “extreme fire behavior”. Continue reading...
French police accused of rising use of violence to stop Channel crossings
NGO criticises ‘human cost’ of UK-funded crackdown on attempts to set off from French beaches in small boats People trying to cross the Channel to the UK have reported an increase in French police use of violence on beaches to prevent them from getting into dinghies, according to a French NGO. Utopia 56, which works on beaches from where migrants attempt Channel crossings, says so far this year 2,720 people have reported being victims of French police violence, compared with 1,954 over the same period last year, when crossings overall were much higher. Continue reading...
Up to £464m ‘moved through more than 3,000 UK high street shell companies’
Research shows firms are branded as beauty and convenience but apparently operate in money-laundering and terrorist financing sectors Up to £464m has “moved through” more than 3,000 UK shell companies branded as beauty and convenience stores but apparently operating in the money-laundering and terrorist financing sectors, a new analysis sets out. The companies – listed as hairdressers, barber shops and salons, on the one hand, or mini-marts and corner shops on the other – show “remarkably similar lifespans” of about six months despite their seemingly different purposes. Continue reading...
Race Across the World star Jo Gardiner dies a year after son
Gardiner, who had cancer, is remembered as ‘one of a kind’ after competing in BBC show with son Sam in 2020 Tributes have been paid to the Race Across the World star Jo Gardiner, who has died a year after her son and co-star Sam was killed in a car crash. The physiotherapist from Manchester died after “a long and courageous battle with cancer”, relatives said. She was 61 and is survived by her other son, Charlie. Continue reading...
Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey in her home dies aged 32
Sean Grayson, who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2023, was serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder The former Illinois sheriff’s deputy convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her home after she reported a possible prowler to 911, has died, his attorney said Sunday. Sean Grayson died on Sunday, lawyer Daniel Fultz – who represented the ex-Sangamon county deputy at his trial – told NBC News and CBS News . The Associated Press contributed Continue reading...
First Thing: New Fed chair Kevin Warsh faces early test amid bond market worries
Key speech to be delivered this week at Jackson Hole said to focus on productivity and demographics in the US. Plus, how do you vaccinate 1,000 little penguins in the wild? Good morning. The new US Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, faces a critical test this week amid anxiety in government bond markets over inflation and Donald Trump’s tax and spending plans. As the world’s most powerful central bank prepares for its annual Jackson Hole conference, analysts said bond traders would be looking for signals from Warsh over its commitment to fighting inflation. However, Warsh has signalled reluctance to use his speech on Friday for the “more traditional setup” of dropping hints over how the US central bank may respond to inflationary pressures when its officials next meet to set interest rates in September and December. Instead, he has said his Jackson Hole speech could be “focused on bigger questions”, including concerns over productivity and demographics. Why is this a crucial moment for the Fed? The gathering of the world’s most powerful central bankers in the Grand Teton national park is a blue riband event in the financial calendar. However, the meeting comes as selling pressure intensifies in the $30tn US government debt market despite efforts by the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, to assuage investor worries after he committed to at least double Washington’s purchases of US Treasury bonds. What did Joshua Aviles say about his father’s arrest? “I’ve been deployed for over nine months, out at sea in the Middle East aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, fighting for a country that has given me everything. I just got a call that my dad was taken by ICE. We have done everything through immigration to get his green card approved, and we are just waiting. This is heartbreaking for me. I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal.” How did the DHS respond? The DHS said Luis Manuel Aviles Roa entered the US illegally and would remain in immigration and customs enforcement detention pending removal proceedings. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the DHS said. Continue reading...
Trump’s border wall construction threatens rock art as old as the pyramids: ‘The ancestors are still here’
The president’s border wall plan could damage or destroy ‘the oldest-known books in North America’ On an overcast summer morning, Carolyn Boyd, an archeologist at Texas State University, stood at the foot of a cave in west Texas, looking up toward a series of towering murals painted on a rock wall. Three massive human-like figures soared toward an overhang that had sheltered the painting from the elements since they were drawn here perhaps 4,000 years ago. An artist herself, Boyd knows how hard it would have been to paint these long, crisp lines. Before starting, the bands of Indigenous hunter-gatherers who lived in this west Texas valley, where the Pecos River empties into the Rio Grande, would have spent weeks pulverizing gypsum, hematite, limonite and manganese to make paint. They would have gathered massive quantities of sotol stalks to fold its fibers into scaffolding. The painting itself would have required teamwork and precision, with people at the bottom guiding artists on the wall as they painted figures stretching up to 30ft tall. Continue reading...
New Mexico to continue funding gender-affirming care for minors after federal cuts
Trump administration finalized rule to end Medicaid support for care including hormones and speech therapy New Mexico will continue funding gender-affirming care for minors after a federal rule ending Medicaid support for such care goes into effect. On 13 August, the Trump administration finalized a rule – set to go into effect on 13 October – that will end funding for gender-affirming care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip). Continue reading...
Iran vows to retaliate against countries that cooperate with fresh US sanctions
Test of US rhetoric will rest on whether nations such as India, China and Russia view economic threats as credible Iran has vowed to retaliate against any country that cooperates with the US attempt to impose fresh sanctions against Iran in what the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has billed as “the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary”. In advance of the US announcement, the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s single biggest trading partner in the Middle East, announced it was ending all trade with Iran, a move Tehran believes was coordinated between Washington and Dubai. Continue reading...
Distracted Italian pedestrians who cross road while on phone could be fined under new code
Updated draft highway code follows several court rulings assigning blame for road accidents to careless pedestrians Italy’s updated highway code will target pedestrians who stare at their mobile phones while crossing the road, as the country’s transport ministry strives to improve road safety by cracking down on perilous distractions. The offence, contained in a draft version of the highway code which is expected to be approved by mid-October, carries fines of €75 or more. Continue reading...
'Scared to death' evacuees escape fast-moving wildfire in Reno, Nevada – video
A fast-moving Nevada wildfire exploded to more than 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) on Sunday, pushing from the Sierra foothills toward the centre of Reno and forced nearly 90,000 residents to evacuate as flames threatened neighbourhoods and reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus Continue reading...
Top US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine it
Watchdog data shared with Guardian shows contributions to Republican Attorneys General Association and others Over a dozen US companies that signed a 2021 letter urging Congress to strengthen the Voting Rights Act continue to contribute to state political groups that are actively working to undermine the legislation, according to a campaign finance watchdog. Researchers at the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a nonpartisan organization that tracks financial disclosures, found that companies – including Airbnb, DoorDash, Target and Zillow – that signed the letter are contributing to groups known as 527 organizations that prop up key state races, according to data provided exclusively to the Guardian. Continue reading...
Social media goes into overdrive with Lindsay Clancy conspiracy theories
Algorithms are responsible for fever pitch content surrounding trial, including misinformation, experts say As the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children, starts to wind down, a now international discussion on social media about the case has hit a fever pitch as viewers examine details of the trial and question the state of maternal mental healthcare in the United States. Amateur sleuths and armchair psychologists have been creating content throughout the several weeks of the trial, pointing out perceived discrepancies in evidence. They’ve pointed to Clancy’s last recorded heart rate and body temperature as “smoking guns”, suggested that Patrick Clancy, Lindsay’s ex-husband and father of the children, actually committed the crime, despite no legal evidence to back up the claim . Continue reading...
Minister tells social media firms to remove posts that ‘celebrate’ dangerous driving after A66 crash
Luke Pollard warns government will force platforms to remove content, after latest deadly crash involving a car driving in wrong direction A minister has pressed social media companies to remove content from their platforms showcasing dangerous driving in the wake of a fatal collision that killed seven people in Middlesbrough. The crash in the early hours of Saturday, in which PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died, occurred when a Volkswagen Passat, containing five individuals aged between 23 and 17, crashed head-on with a marked armed response vehicle while driving the wrong way on the A66. Continue reading...
Hakeem Jeffries meeting with Jared Kushner sparks backlash amongst Democrats ahead of midterm elections – US politics live
House Democratic leader meets with president’s son-in-law has ignited fury amongst own party Democrats incredulous over Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner meeting Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries’ meeting with Jared Kushner, the president’s influential son-in-law, has sparked backlash from his own party and other Donald Trump critics. Throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people. To stop the madness, we have repeatedly made clear that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition. The American people want bold change and that’s what House Democrats will deliver. In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us. Tim Scott defended fellow US South Carolina Republican senator Darline Graham’s knowledge of national security issues ahead of their state’s runoff election on Tuesday. Graham, who was appointed to fill the Senate seat held by her brother Lindsey Graham after his sudden death in July, is in a Republican primary runoff against South Carolina congressman Ralph Norman. Dan Sullivan supports Dan Sullivan against Dan Sullivan in Alaska ’s US Senate election , says a former Alaska mayor who recently backed the race’s Republican incumbent over a challenger sharing their name. That development provided another of multiple absurd elements to Dan S Sullivan’s campaign for a third term in the US Senate, which – beside Mary Peltola, a former Alaska Democratic congresswoman – has drawn opposition from Dan J Sullivan. The Donald Trump aide Natalie Harp flooded a since-disabled social media account with pro-Trump posts on the day that the president’s supporters attacked the US Capitol in early 2021 , years before she went to work for him and developed an extraordinary close relationship with him, a new report has revealed. A series of moves by Donald Trump ’s administration to sow doubt in the integrity of US elections has intensified concern among voting experts – and sparked hope among election deniers – that it could declare a national emergency. The White House and US federal agencies have released a string of documents this summer – including disputed analyses of alleged voting by noncitzens and historical intelligence memos – stoking expectations that the US president could move to exert greater control over November’s US midterm elections. Iran’s foreign minister has dismissed the threat of a fresh round of US economic sanctions as a “desperate” ploy , even as its president acknowledged that the Iranian people are facing “many problems” amid Washington’s efforts to isolate and debilitate the country’s economy. Continue reading...
UK ‘adding fuel to the fire’ by giving weaponry blueprints to Ukraine, says Russia
Moscow warns of increased tensions with Britain as Burnham visits Kyiv to offer declassified details of missile components Europe live – latest updates The Kremlin has warned of an escalation in tensions between the UK and Russia as Andy Burnham arrived in Kyiv to present Ukraine with newly declassified blueprints to allow Ukraine to improve its production of long range missiles. In his first trip abroad as the prime minister, Burnham will give Ukraine previously classified information on the British manufactured components for long-range cruise missiles. Continue reading...
Thames Water creditors accused of ‘shuffling deckchairs’ with plan for new board
Campaigners say proposal for £10bn rescue deal in bid to avoid nationalisation is a ‘cosy stitch-up’ Business live – latest updates The group of creditors pursuing a rescue bid for Thames Water have been accused of shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic after proposing an overhaul of the stricken utility’s board. In a bid to stave off temporary nationalisation by Andy Burnham, the lenders said they would appoint Liz Barber, the former chief executive of Yorkshire Water, and Clive Selley, the former chief executive of network operator Openreach, as directors if they are allowed to take formal control of the company. Continue reading...
Children make up half of mpox cases in Guinea-Bissau as epidemic spreads
West African country reports 46 suspected cases in outbreak declared in July, amid fears virus may be spreading undetected More than half of the mpox cases reported in Guinea-Bissau have been among children, local authorities have said, almost two months since the country announced an epidemic. A national outbreak was declared on 4 July, just over a week after a 27-year-old woman became the first confirmed case of mpox in the west African country. Since then, there have been seven confirmed cases and 46 suspected cases. Half of those patients have been children, with 16 under the age of four. Continue reading...
Alarm over $20m plan to supply ICE officers with electric-shock gloves
Civil liberties groups decry plan to use gloves linked to death of Kentucky man allegedly shocked 27 times in county jail Plans to supply Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with special gloves that can deliver electric shocks have alarmed experts and drawn scrutiny amid some high-profile lawsuits over their use in local correctional facilities. In one extreme case, a 43-year-old man died after allegedly being shocked 40 times by officers with a combination of the gloves and a Taser in a county jail in Kentucky, and the man’s widow is suing authorities . Continue reading...
From Arizona to Wisconsin, election deniers are vying for office nationwide
Republicans who deny Joe Biden won the 2020 election are running for governor and secretary of state across the US Election deniers are back on the ballot. In most swing states, at least one major Republican candidate has questioned or outright denied the results of the 2020 US presidential election, which Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. Continue reading...
ICE’s tactics look increasingly like torture | Judith Levine
Plans for gloves that can deliver electric shocks underline the homeland security department’s sadistic practices On 11 August, the Associated Press reported that the Homeland Security Agency will spend up to $20m to equip its agents with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks to the skin of a person deemed uncooperative. The “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices”– branded Glove, for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter – will be supplied by their manufacturer, Compliant Technologies, through a no-bid contract . News of the acquisition inspired the editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes to publish a cartoon of an ICE agent wearing the glove, underneath which are a branding iron, an iron maiden, a rack, and other compliance technologies. AKA, instruments of torture. Continue reading...
The treasury bond mess: is this the demise of the US as a safe haven?
The US is scooping up treasury bonds in an effort to raise their price and push yields down – but it’s not working The bond market is driving the Trump administration crazy. Last week, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced that the government would sharply ramp up its purchase of treasury bonds, in an effort to raise their price and thus push down their yield, which amounts to the interest rate the government pays on its debt. It didn’t quite work as planned. Yields on treasurys fell after Bessent’s bond market intervention but soon bounced back. By Friday afternoon, the yield on the 10-year treasury was back near where it was before the secretary’s announcement. The yield on the 30-year bond was again trading around its highest level in 20 years or more. Continue reading...
Devastation, doubt and blame: Hurricane Helene looms over North Carolina’s US Senate race
The Democratic and the Republican candidate each blame the other for the bungled recovery effort after storm struck region Two years after North Carolina suffered the worst natural disaster in its history when Hurricane Helene struck the state’s western half, life in the hardest-hit areas appears back to normal. Downtowns are lively, blocked roads have been reopened and rivers are flowing below their banks. But the telltale evidence of the disaster’s expensive impacts can still be seen – from “for rent” signs in storefronts whose businesses never came back to debris from the storm still lurking in some waterways. And in the race for North Carolina’s US Senate seat, it’s almost as if the hurricane never left. Continue reading...