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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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US celebrates Pride with parades across country – in pictures
Across the US, cities wrapped up Pride month with parades and festivals on the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising, which underscored the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. This month’s celebrations unfolded as Trump works to roll back trans rights and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year’s theme for NYC Pride was ‘For All of Us’. Attender Carlos Duarte said: ‘It’s very important for us to be here … all together for love, peace and to show the world who we are.’ Continue reading...
Man charged with attempted murder after car hit pedestrians in west London
Timir Ahmed Mohamed, 34, charged with five counts of attempted murder after alleged incident on Ealing Broadway A man has been charged with attempted murder after a vehicle hit pedestrians on a busy west London road. Timir Ahmed Mohamed, 34, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder as well as dangerous driving, failing to stop, failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis and criminal damage, the Metropolitan police said on Sunday. Continue reading...
Putin admits Ukrainian strikes driving Russian fuel shortages
Russian president says Ukraine’s attacks on infrastructure are causing ‘obvious’ but not critical problems The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, acknowledged that the country was suffering from “a certain shortage” of fuel in an interview published by the Kremlin on Sunday, after repeated Ukrainian strikes in their four-year war. Kyiv calls the attacks fair retribution for Russia’s near-daily barrages on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure since its February 2022 offensive. Continue reading...
Andy Burnham to pledge ‘good growth in every postcode’ in devolution plan
Makerfield MP on course to be PM will argue for more decision-making in regions and communities as he sets out platform for government Andy Burnham will pledge to deliver “good growth in every postcode” by overseeing a significant transfer of power out of Whitehall to local communities as he sets out his case to become the UK’s next prime minister. In his first major speech since winning the Makerfield byelection, Burnham will argue for decision-making to be devolved to regions and communities to drive economic growth locally, replacing the current top-down national model. Continue reading...
British firms to get £3,000 for every long-term jobless youngster they hire
Scheme aims to help 60,000 people aged 18-24 into work as part of push to cut welfare bill and tackle youth jobs crisis Employers in Great Britain will be given £3,000 for every long-term unemployed young person they hire under government plans to reduce the welfare bill and joblessness. The scheme, which will be available to firms from Tuesday, is aimed at helping 60,000 people aged 18-24 enter work over the next three years. Continue reading...
Australia politics live: Vanuatu PM in Canberra as hopes rise over treaty; fossil fuel companies accused of marketing to children
Jotham Napat’s visit renews expectations that the two countries can sign the Nakamal pact after long negotiations. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Hanson’s press club speech a ‘reality check’ for Australians, says Watt Environment minister Murray Watt , says One Nation’s popularity dipping from 31% to 29% is due to Pauline Hanson ’s controversial press club address, but concedes the “polls will bounce around a bit.” We have seen a bit of a change in the public mood towards One Nation since Pauline Hanson’s Press Club speech. I think that speech was a bit of a reality check for a lot of Australians who were thinking about voting for One Nation, because they got to see that as much as people are under pressure at the moment, things could get worse under One Nation with all the cuts they were talking about imposing. Yes, of course, any improvement is welcome. But we know that we to provide real answers and real change to the pressure that people are feeling. I’m a half glass full sort of guy, Nat [ Barr ] and the the electorate’s very restless. People are understandably restless because they’ve seen their incomes decline back to 2011 levels under government … So it’s very volatile. The first thing you’ve got to do is get the herd moving and the herd is moving. It’s just not going through the the right gate for us at the moment. Continue reading...
Heatwave and high humidity to blast much of US: ‘impactful to anyone’
Forecasters expect days of high temperatures in central and eastern US before Fourth of July and World Cup festivities A long and dangerous heatwave will blast a large swath of the central and eastern United States for the upcoming week, the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Sunday – with temperatures rising ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and feeling even hotter because of high humidity also arriving. Already parts of the US, especially Phoenix and central Texas, and much of the south-west were experiencing temperatures of about 100F (38C) on Sunday, while the NWS warned of severe wildfire conditions developing across much of the west as new fires popped up across the region. Continue reading...
Kate completes Three Peaks challenge to raise money for cancer charity
Princess of Wales becomes first royal to climb Scotland, England and Wales’s highest mountains, 18 months after cancer remission The Princess of Wales has completed the Three Peaks challenge to raise money for a cancer charity, becoming the first member of the royal family to achieve the feat. Catherine Middleton, 44, revealed in a message on social media she had successfully taken on the trek not only as a physical endeavour but “to give something back” and raise awareness of the wider impact of serious illness. Continue reading...
Risk of serious birth injuries is rising for women in England, data suggests
About 31 in every 1,000 facing haemorrhage or severe tears, NHS figures show, in trend described as ‘national crisis’ How a Romford maternity ward was able to turn the tide after a ‘requires improvement’ rating Women in England are at their highest risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth since records began in 2020, NHS figures show. The rate of women sustaining the most serious type of tear during childbirth rose to 31.1 in every 1,000 in January, February and March – the highest since monitoring began in 2020. Continue reading...
US homeland security secretary tells migrants to seek permanent status or leave
Markwayne Mullin’s remarks come after controversial supreme court ruling to strip TPS from over 350,000 people Migrants in the US on temporary protected status should seek permanent residence or leave, Markwayne Mullin, Homeland Security secretary, said in the wake of last week’s supreme court decision that stripped humanitarian protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The remarks to CNN’s State of the Union program comes after a decision that could allow Donald Trump’s administration to deport Haitian and Syrian immigrants to home countries plagued by conflict and destitution. Continue reading...
Zohran Mamdani says he and allies he endorsed carry a ‘national message’
Mayor says progressive peers who swept primaries speak to Americans ‘coast to coast’ as moderates have reservations Zohran Mamdani , the New York City mayor, said on Sunday that he and a slew of democratic socialist allies who prevailed in recent primary elections are carrying a “national message” to struggling working Americans hungry for a new kind of politics “coast to coast”. Mamdani made that triumphant clarion call on ABC News’s This Week just five days after he had seen his endorsed candidates win Democratic nominations in three races for New York congressional seats, as well as for five state legislature positions in Albany. He made no effort to disguise his delight that his clean sweep marks a dramatic shift in Democratic politics – not just in New York City, which he has led since January, but also across the US. Continue reading...
British man arrested in Ecuador after woman’s body found in suitcase in Colombia
Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith, from Dorset, is accused of killing Natalia Villalba in an apartment in Bogotá A British man has been arrested in Ecuador after the body of a woman was found inside a suitcase in Colombia. Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith is alleged to have caused the death of 36-year-old Natalia Villalba in an apartment in the Chicó neighbourhood of Bogotá on 18 June, local authorities said. Continue reading...
Ella Baron on Andy Burnham’s big plans for Britain – cartoon
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Three firefighters killed and two injured while battling Utah-Colorado wildfires
Firefighters were involved in joint response to Knowles and Gore blazes as wildfires ravage western US, fire agency says Three firefighters were killed and two others were hurt while responding to wildfires along the Colorado - Utah border, the US Wildland Fire Service announced on Sunday. The agency, which was established in January to coordinate wildfire suppression and prevention efforts across public lands, said the firefighters were involved in a joint response to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday. Continue reading...
Sky makes £2bn spending pledge as it prepares takeover of ITV broadcasting arm
Deal could be announced in July and vow will safeguard future of shows such as Coronation Street and Love Island Sky has committed to spending £2bn on ITV’s studios business over the next five years as it hammers out a takeover of its broadcasting arm, a move that will safeguard the future of popular programmes such as Coronation Street and Love Island. Sky, owned by the US telecoms company Comcast, has been in talks for months to buy ITV’s media and entertainment operations, which include its free-to-air TV channels in the UK and the ITVX streaming platform. The £1.6bn takeover deal could be announced in early July, the Sunday Times reported . Continue reading...
The Guardian view on universities: public confidence in degrees is wavering – ministers should shore it up | Editorial
Unfair changes to student loans and concerns about job prospects must be weighed against the life-changing potential of education Is going to university financially worthwhile? New research on graduate incomes is unlikely to help the beleaguered sector’s reputation. Even though most benefit from an earnings premium, worth around £100,000 on average over a lifetime (after tax and student loan repayments), the finding that one in four people end up worse off proves that there are no guarantees. The premium has shrunk by around 30% compared with forecasts from six years ago. The study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) could be viewed as a vindication of the latest British Social Attitudes survey. It found that the proportion of people who think a degree is not worth the time and money has risen from 14% to 34% in 20 years. While the research predated Rachel Reeves’s most recent , unfair worsening of the terms on which graduates repay loans, it arguably reflected reduced confidence in the government’s commitment to protect the graduate earnings premium, as well as anxiety about salary prospects and the economy more broadly. Continue reading...
‘Financial pandemic’: £1 in every £11 spent on UK public contractors goes to private equity
Almost £24.4bn of government money went to private equity-run firms in year to April 2025, Guardian analysis shows ‘Treating children like cattle’: what happens when private equity takes over a UK care home? Nurseries, vets and shops: the sectors where private equity plays a big role One pound in every £11 of UK government spending on contractors went to private equity-controlled companies last year, research shows, including key services such as transport, waste management and healthcare. Politicians and economists have raised concerns over the “financial fragility and sharp cost cutting” created by private equity-backed firms, which often have high levels of debt, and the “conflicting interests” in running public services for maximum profit. Continue reading...
Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded
Document appears to have been subject to conflicting interpretations on key issues of Lebanon ceasefire and strait of Hormuz Middle East crisis live – latest updates The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war . It appears the deliberately opaque wording in the memorandum has been unable to withstand the pressure of conflicting interpretations, and as a result supporters of the deal inside Tehran are on the back foot. Statements to the effect that Iran’s government should never have agreed to reopen the strait of Hormuz are proliferating – and not just among the country’s hardliners. Continue reading...
Body of boy, 15, recovered from Manchester reservoir amid UK heatwave
At least seven people have died in water-related incidents during record-breaking June temperatures The body of a 15-year-old boy has been recovered from a reservoir near Manchester, as police renewed warnings about the dangers of swimming in open water during soaring temperatures. Greater Manchester police said officers had been called to reports of a boy getting into difficulty in the water near Cowbury reservoir in Stalybridge at about 6.30pm on Saturday. A body was recovered later that evening. Continue reading...
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation withdrew more than $800,000 of election spending claims after AEC inquiries
The Australian Electoral Commission is examining if party breached laws in its $6m public funding claim after the last election, documents show Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian Electoral Commission questioned Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party over more than $800,000 of claimed electoral expenditure for the last election, Guardian Australia can reveal. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show that the inquiries prompted the party to withdraw more than 140 items as it sought to provide additional information to justify almost 15% of the party’s $6.01m public funding claim. Continue reading...
Parliament has been getting frosty as winter closes in – but Labor may make one more gamble before the break
As Labor pushes on with reforms, the Coalition must decide whether to join in the parliamentary deal-making Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It’s the last week of parliament before the winter break, and not a minute too soon; tensions have been running a little high lately. The lower house speaker, Milton Dick, has been yeeting MPs mere moments into question time and accused Angus Taylor of “demeaning” the parliament by calling Anthony Albanese a liar; Andrew Hastie claimed One Nation “has declared war on me, so they shall have war”; Labor has been goading the Coalition and its media “cheer squad” for opposing the budget; the Greens hate Labor’s NDIS bill ; and people in the Coalition seem to be mad at everyone, including themselves . Continue reading...
Biden calls Trump ‘a loser’, portraying him as incompetent, corrupt and vain
Pugnacious speech invokes Trump’s ‘vanity projects’ to makeover Washington and the ‘brazen, blatant corruption’ Joe Biden called Donald Trump “a loser” in a pugnacious speech on Saturday that invoked his presidential successor’s attempted makeover of Washington DC to portray him as incompetent, corrupt and vain. He delivered those remarks while giving the keynote address at a gala in Hanover, Maryland, hosted by the state’s Democratic party, which is hoping to help wrest control of Congress away from Trump and his Republican allies during November’s midterm elections. Continue reading...
Bill Cassidy accuses Trump of treating Congress as ‘merely an appendage’
Out-going Louisiana senator’s rebuke over Iran war is rare instance of a Republican politician standing up to Trump Bill Cassidy, the Republican senator from Louisiana who is being ousted from his position after Donald Trump successfully backed a challenger in May’s primary, has accused the US president of treating Congress as “merely an appendage” in his handling of the Iran war. In an interview on Sunday with CBS News’s Face the Nation, the out-going Cassidy explained his recent face-to-face row with Trump over the president’s failure to brief Congress on the prosecution of the hostilities with Tehran. In a fleetingly rare instance of a Republican politician directly standing up to Trump, Cassidy let rip at a Capitol Hill lunch over the senator’s support for a war powers resolution that was a symbolic rebuke to the White House. Continue reading...
Burnham may have to boost defence spending to pass ‘Moscow test’, says ex-military chief
Adm Sir Tony Radakin says UK currenly ‘falls short’ of level required to keep Russian threats at bay The former head of the armed forces has told Andy Burnham that plans for defence spending must meet a “Moscow test” to keep Russian threats at bay, warning the UK currently “falls short” of that level of commitment. Adm Sir Tony Radakin, who was the chief of the defence staff until last year, said that if the government’s defence investment plan (Dip), expected to be published this week, was “not enough” then the probable next prime minister would have to find more funding before the general election. Continue reading...