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Politics
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Experts warn of ways screwworm could spread in the US and new difficulties in keeping it at bay
Scientists worry that current eradication efforts won’t be able to contain parasitic infestation pushing into US When conservationists set up cameras in remote regions of Central American forests, they wanted to monitor illegal cattle movement, which can lead to deforestation . But in recent months, they discovered another alarming development: wildlife rapidly infected with the new world screwworm. It’s a warning sign of how the fly could spread in the US – and it signals new difficulties in pushing it back south, a process that will probably take years, experts say. Continue reading...
How to plan for an election that leaders are trying to subvert
The White House is working to change electoral rules in its favor. Protectors of democracy must have a counterplan The second Trump administration is systematically eroding the institutional foundations of competitive elections without formally abolishing them. They have a plan to achieve what scholars of democratic backsliding call “electoral subversion”: changing electoral rules in their favor. Protectors of democracy must have a counter-plan of their own. The White House’s approach to electoral subversion has multiple fronts . The administration has rewarded those who used violence to disrupt the last transfer of power, disabled the federal agencies charged with protecting election integrity , moved to extend executive control over voter registration, and threatened to withhold terrorism prevention funding from states who do not change their voting rules. Continue reading...
‘Nothing to suggest’ Ann Widdecombe death politically motivated, say police
Officers say they are not looking for anyone else after arrest of man, 28, on suspicion of murdering ex-Tory politician Detectives investigating the death of Ann Widdecombe have said there is “nothing to suggest it was politically motivated”. A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the murder of the former Conservative MP at an address in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with Widdecombe’s death. Continue reading...
ESPN analyst Matt Miller faces financial investigation amid car crash recovery
Miller takes indefinite leave after arm amputation and questions of possible financial improprieties An on-air analyst for a top US sports broadcaster says he is pulling back from his role indefinitely as he heals from a car crash in Missouri that forced him to undergo a life-saving amputation – and while he reportedly faces a law enforcement investigation into possible financial improprieties connected to what he billed as side charity work. Matt Miller’s announcement on Friday that he was taking indefinite leave from ESPN provided only the latest twist in an unusual case that has drawn significant attention from both media as well as the substantial number of American football fanatics who follow his area of expertise: the process by which NFL teams select, or draft, collegiate prospects. Continue reading...
New LS Lowry exhibition aims to demolish ‘naive and uncultured’ myth
Gallery director says collection of 140 paintings will offer a more balanced view of Manchester painter’s work A new exhibition of work by LS Lowry will “bust a few myths” about the Mancunian artist, who the show’s co-curator says is still wrongly derided for being “naive and uncultured”. LS Lowry: the Theatre of Life features 140 paintings by the artist, who captured working-class life in the industrial north-west of England during the early and mid 20th century. Continue reading...
Stephen Miller is outraged over birthright citizenship. His arguments are nonsense | Sidney Blumenthal
Trump’s immigration architect calls the supreme court’s decision ‘outrageous’ as he pushes for policy rooted in genetics, not law Neither of the supreme court majority opinions in Trump v Barbara , the 5-4 decision upholding the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, mention the true architect of the case. Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14160, which would deny citizenship to children born on American soil if their parents are undocumented immigrants or on temporary visas, is extensively noted, but not the man responsible for it . The omission of Stephen Miller is like Dracula without Dracula. The vampire identified is chief justice Roger B Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision of 1857, though his notorious statement at the heart of his ruling went uncited: that the framers believed that Black people “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect”, that they were excluded from the Declaration of Independence’s principle that “all men are created equal” because of racial inferiority “too clear for dispute,” and that rendered them no different from “an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic.” Continue reading...
Israel’s war in Gaza dominates US midterm races as Democrats split
Tensions between progressive and moderate camps of Democratic party on display in key Senate race in Michigan The Israel-Gaza war created gaping divisions in the Democratic party and contributed to a resounding loss in a critical presidential election year in 2024. Two years later, the issue continues to dominate races across the country, as progressives try to seize on Israel’s falling popularity and a broad anti-war sentiment ahead of November’s midterms. A recent debate among two Democrats vying for one of the most competitive US Senate seats in the country openly displayed the tension between progressive and moderate camps of the party. Continue reading...
Tommy Robinson’s Musk-funded Russia trip spurs call to defend UK democracy
Ed Davey voices concern about the Musk family foundation taking the far-right activist on a visit to Moscow The UK must do more to defend its democracy after it emerged that Elon Musk’s family foundation had taken the far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Russia, Ed Davey has said. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was brought to Russia by the Musks, the billionaire tech mogul’s father told the Guardian . Continue reading...
Reeves tells Burnham to expect ‘shocks and challenges’ from get-go in No 10
Chancellor says PM-in-waiting needs ‘worked through plan’, in what could be one of her final interviews in No 11 Rachel Reeves has urged Andy Burnham to arrive in Downing Street with a “worked through plan”, saying the incoming prime minister will be tested quickly by a range of incoming “shocks and challenges”. In what could be one of the first female chancellor’s final major interviews while in No 11, Reeves said Burnham should remain focused on the priorities that first brought him into politics. Continue reading...
‘I felt dizzy’: bodybuilder recalls how drug abuse caught up with him
Jamie Mantzouridis used steroids, growth hormones and insulin until the side effects became impossible to ignore Fitness influencers linked to wellness brand helping run illegal steroid market on Telegram Jamie Mantzouridis vividly remembers the first time he took steroids. He got someone else to inject him and his mind was racing. “What if he hit an artery? What if there was an air bubble?” Mantzouridis, however, says he was young and fearless. He was small growing up, skinny and self-conscious. By the time he started training seriously in his early 20s, he noticed other guys at the gym who were much larger, and they explained they were taking steroids. “They looked really good,” he says, “and they said that was what they were doing.” Continue reading...
UK becoming ‘wild west’ for experimental peptides, expert warns
Prof Channa Jayasena says growing online sales of unregulated drugs risk fatalities as responsibility falls between regulators Fitness influencers linked to wellness brand helping run illegal steroid market on Telegram The UK has become a “wild west” for people peddling experimental peptides, steroids and other substances, a leading expert has said, warning action must be taken to avoid fatalities. Prof Channa Jayasena of Imperial College London, a consultant in reproductive endocrinology and andrology at Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals, said he is now encountering patients “day in, day out” who are taking experimental peptides. Continue reading...
Iran attacks Gulf countries following fresh US strikes – Middle East crisis live
Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE reportedly came under attack as Tehran says it is closing Strait of Hormuz India’s foreign ministry has condemned an attack on the commercial vessel – GFS Galaxy – off the coast of Oman earlier today. It said 10 of the 11 Indian nationals on board have been rescued, while one remains missing. The continuing incidents of attacks on commercial shipping in the region are deeply worrisome. We reiterate our call for immediate de-escalation of tensions, and the conclusion of ongoing negotiations for a diplomatic solution so that peace and stability can return to the region. The targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end, and free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, must be restored at the earliest. We have taken control of the strait of Hormuz with power, and we will preserve it with power as well. Continue reading...
First patients enrolled in record-breaking Ebola treatment trial in DRC
Two drugs are being trialled in the Ituri region in a programme set up just six weeks after the outbreak was declared, with hopes it will reduce mortality rates There is no approved drug to help the medical teams scrabbling to save lives in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – but there are hopes that could change within months as the first patients are enrolled in a treatment trial. It is a record pace to set up and start this kind of research, scientists said, with patients enrolled just six weeks after the outbreak being declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 17 May. Continue reading...
Lindsey Graham, key ally of Donald Trump, has died after sudden illness, his office says
Republican senator had served in the Senate since 2003 and was a sharp critic of Trump before becoming one of his most loyal backers US senator Lindsey Graham, a key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said in the early hours of Sunday. He had just turned 71. Graham’s death will send shockwaves through Washington and the Republican party. He has served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina. Continue reading...
UK to crack down on unlicensed casinos sponsoring football teams
Government to launch consultation after Everton’s deal with Stake.com went ahead amid warnings from Gambling Commission Ministers are poised to launch a crackdown on unlicensed casinos sponsoring British sports teams, amid criticism that a delay to the proposals has opened the door for offshore gambling firms to strike lucrative deals with Premier League clubs. Progress with plans to kick unlicensed gambling operators out of football has stalled since February, when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said a review would begin in spring. Continue reading...
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited UFC return ends after 69 seconds with knee injury
Bout with Holloway in Las Vegas finishes in first round UFC chief Dana White: ‘We’re assuming a blown ACL’ Irish star’s last fight before Saturday was five years ago Conor McGregor’s return against Max Holloway at UFC 329 in Las Vegas ended at just 1:09 of the first round Saturday night because of a knee injury. Fighting for the first time in more than five years, the 37-year-old McGregor flew across the ring with a flying left roundhouse kick when the match started and landed awkwardly on his right knee. Continue reading...
World Cup 2026: reaction to England’s quarter-final win over Norway and more – live
⚽ All the latest as the quarter-finals conclude ⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email us Barney Ronay was in Miami to witness the latest instalment of the Jude Bellingham force of will tour. Beneath the deserved adulation for England’s two-goal hero there is no shortage of concern for a team that has lost its spark and a coach that no longer seems to know his best XI. At times this felt like the familiar England parade of we are the hollow men, stuffed men, waiting for the game to happen to them, football as a slow suffocation in that thick sweet air. But they also had Jude Bellingham , who seems increasingly to exist as an entirely different category of human in this team, out there playing a parallel tournament, one that has to this point swept the rest of them along in its wake. Continue reading...
EU accused of dragging its feet over ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements
Foreign ministers will discuss options on Monday but decision on imports is not expected for months The EU has been accused of dragging its feet over upholding international law, on the eve of a long-awaited debate about banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will discuss a possible ban on imports from the settlements, against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza , where a UN inquiry found Israel to be committing a genocide , and surging state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank , which has killed at least 235 children . Continue reading...
A revolution in ruins: fury amid the rubble of a housing project in quake-hit Venezuela
Discontent with Trump-backed government mounts as Chávez heirs struggle to respond to disaster for which they seem ill-prepared Even before two powerful earthquakes reduced the OPPE 25 government housing project to an anarchy of shattered concrete and broken lives, the foundations of Hugo Chávez’s populist “Bolivarian” revolution were shaking in what was once a hotbed of support. Gabriel González remembers his elation when, in 2013, he received the keys to his freshly completed apartment in one of the 12-floor tower blocks El Comandante had ordered to be built in an affluent corner of the resort town of Caraballeda. Continue reading...
US allies apprehensive after capricious Trump changes tune at Nato summit
Sudden shift may be linked to affinity for Erdoğan but what might be consequences of erratic behavior towards alliance? Donald Trump’s relationship with Washington’s Nato allies is nobody’s idea of a happy marriage. But the US president’s volatile performance at the western military alliance’s annual summit in Ankara this week seemed extreme, even by Trumpian standards. As commentators sought toexplain what happened, their usually capacious stock of Trump-fitting cliches was at risk of exhaustion. Continue reading...
Toronto shooting: two dead and three injured as police search for active shooter
Police in the city in Canada urge public to stay away from Salsa on St Clair festival area Police in Toronto were searching for an active shooter on Saturday night after finding five people with gunshot wounds, two of whom were pronounced dead. Officers were called to the Salsa on St Clair festival, an area at St Clair Avenue West near Arlington Avenue that is lined with shops and restaurants, at 8.12pm over reports of a shooting with multiple injuries. Continue reading...
Man charged with murder after remains believed to be missing woman found in Queensland bushland
Toowoomba woman Jana Armstrong was last seen several days ago Police have charged a man with murder after remains believed to be a woman missing for several days were found in bushland. As of Sunday morning, the remains were yet to be formally identified but Queensland police investigators believe they are those of Jana Armstrong. Continue reading...
Wallabies’ pop-gun revival under Joe Schmidt blown apart as France unload heavy artillery | Daniel Gallan
Plucky defeats decorated with patches of excellence will not cut it for Australia with a home World Cup now looming large The camera found Joe Schmidt shortly after France had completed a 22-point swing. Australia’s coach had seen a 21-12 half-time lead obliterated in 16 brutal minutes. Schmidt, one of rugby’s sharpest minds, looked short of answers. The trouble was that the questions confronting him had obvious answers but almost impossible solutions. Why had Australia’s discipline deteriorated? Because they were under pressure. Why had their tackle intensity and ruck speed fallen away? Because France had introduced fresh power from the bench. Why had the Wallabies gone from a nine-point half-time lead to a 13-point deficit in barely a quarter of an hour? Because one team had more large, skilful, Test-quality rugby players than the other. Continue reading...
US and Iran exchange strikes as Tehran again says strait of Hormuz is closed
Tehran says vessel using unapproved route in strait was struck, drawing strikes from US forces to ‘degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners’ Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday it had closed the strait of Hormuz after a vessel travelled on an unapproved route and was struck, warning that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a “severe response”. “A vessel that had jeopardised maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and brought to a halt,” the navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement, without giving any details about the ship. Continue reading...