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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Natalie Harp reportedly posted 150 pro-Trump tweets on day of Capitol riot
Devoted Trump aide flooded her now-disabled profile urging people to ‘never concede’ on 6 January 2021 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. CNN on Saturday reported that a deactivated account which Harp had on what is now known as X was packed with fiercely pro-Trump messages on the day of the January 6 Capitol attack in Washington DC, including posts repeating his lies that the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden toward the end of his first presidency, had been stolen from by fraudsters. Continue reading...
Spying device detectors may give domestic abuse victims false sense of security, study finds
Many tools fail to help victims find hidden cameras, microphones and trackers, leaving them at risk of ongoing surveillance Commercial detectors intended to help domestic abuse victims find hidden spying devices may actually give them a false sense of security, a study has found. The consumer detection tools claim to identify hidden cameras, microphones or trackers through methods such as signal-strength readings, infrared lens detection and scanning for wifi or Bluetooth devices. Continue reading...
Illicit deeds have just gotten a new Halloween video game banned in Australia – and it’s not because of the violence
Academics – and a former director of Australia’s Classification Board – say Halloween: The Game’s ban due to ‘incentivised drug use’ highlights an incoherent set of standards Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Halloween’s Michael Myers is one of film’s most feared boogeymen, responsible for some of the most brutal on-screen deaths in horror cinema. US video game developer Illfonic looked to reproduce those terrors in its upcoming title Halloween: The Game, with gruesome killings a major focus of the gameplay: for instance, you can stomp another player’s head through a toilet seat, or fry their brain by throwing them through a television screen. But Australians will not be able to play Halloween: The Game, because it has been refused classification by the Classification Board, which means it is banned from sale within the country. And it’s not because of the violence or murders. Continue reading...
Australia’s marine parks protect ‘places no one goes’ rather than fragile coastal zones, scientists say
Hundreds of experts write to environment minister calling for stronger protections for ‘unique and distinct’ marine ecosystems Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has been accused of leaving coastal waters largely unprotected by establishing the bulk of highly protected marine parks in remote areas. More than 270 leading marine scientists from 84 research institutes have written to the environment minister, Murray Watt, urging stronger protections for marine ecosystems, as a once-in-a-decade review of marine parks gets under way. Continue reading...
Australia’s first home buyers are still taking out loans as property investors step back, data shows
Exclusive: New entrants the only cohort making more loan applications amid interest rate rises and tax changes, mortgage broker says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast First home buyers are still taking out a large number of loans, with government backing, even as investors step back from Australia’s property market. New entrants are now the only cohort applying for more loans than they were in June, according to new data from Loan Market, the mortgage broking company. Continue reading...
‘Absurd’: children to see gambling logos on sports jerseys until 2032 in transition period condemned by Pocock
Government says it hopes clubs will end jersey deals with wagering companies earlier, but calls it a commercial decision Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Children across Australia will continue to see gambling logos on professional sport jerseys until up to 2032 despite the government’s pledge to break the link between sport and wagering. The Albanese government has banned gambling company logos on jerseys but legislated a five-year transition period to allow clubs and bookmakers to adjust. Continue reading...
Former Abercrombie CEO mentally fit for sex-trafficking trial, judge says
Michael Jeffries is ruled mentally competent to stand trial after being hospitalized for months for dementia symptoms The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch has been ruled mentally competent to stand trial as he faces sex-trafficking charges after being hospitalized for months for dementia and Alzheimer’s symptoms. Michael Jeffries, who is 82 and free on bond for now, is scheduled to be tried in late October, alongside two co-defendants: his partner Matthew Smith and staffer James Jacobson. A pretrial hearing was slated for Thursday. Continue reading...
CrossCountry cancels almost all rail services after power cut hits control centre
Transport secretary asks ‘publicly owned operators to lay on extra services where possible’ CrossCountry has cancelled almost all of its train services in Great Britain after a power cut in Birmingham hit its control centre on Sunday. Most services have been cancelled until further notice, including routes from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh. Continue reading...
Burnham stays away from No 10 North wedding after bride’s plea
Prime minister sends video message to newlyweds instead after bride Sarah Burwin asked him not to ‘ruin’ vibe at Heron House wedding Andy Burnham fulfilled a bride’s wishes by not turning up for her wedding after she asked him not to spoil her big day as she got married at the building housing No 10 North. Sarah Burwin had pleaded on TikTok in July for Burnham not to work from the building in Manchester that day, which hosts the government’s northern headquarters and the city’s register office. Continue reading...
Arrest warrant issued for wife of Massachusetts officer found dead at home
Woman remains missing more than five days after police found officer she was married to dead in their home An arrest warrant has been issued for a mental health advocate who remained missing on Sunday, more than five days after police found the Massachusetts officer she had been married to dead in their home. Karen Solomon, 58, was last spotted in a doorbell camera video, walking down a street in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops early Tuesday morning, just minutes after Worcester police officers responded to a call from the home where Kurt Solomon was found dead. Continue reading...
The PM is promising to fix our everyday annoyances – and I have a list to get him started | Emma Beddington
Andy Burnham hopes we’ll forget the big stuff if he sorts out our minor frustrations and low-level gripes. Pothole politics hasn’t won me over yet, but I know some changes that could This is a vulnerable confession, but I spend way too much time on the social media of the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Whether he is seemingly effortlessly speaking Mandarin, hanging out with kids or charmingly accepting that he should wear a cycle helmet, the man with the million-watt smile is my antidepressant. (Even more vulnerable confession: I believe, irrationally, he is looking after my elder son, who lives there.) This means that I know all about Mamdani’s fight against what Business Insider recently deemed the “annoyance economy” – daily frustrations that make you poorer or drive you slowly, miserably mad. These include the absurd complexity of cancelling subscriptions; hidden fees; getting charged more for something you looked up last week, because of cookies; never being able to find a public toilet; and potholes. He has taken to responding when he gets tagged in people’s “Mamdani, fix this” posts to the point where Britons online are even jokily asking him to take on their problems. Continue reading...
Double jeopardy? Luigi Mangione state case unlikely to proceed, experts say
Defense files motion to dismiss state case after federal guilty plea but prosecutors say they are prepared to litigate After Luigi Mangione admitted in Manhattan federal court that he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, most experts believe that the state murder case against is highly unlikely to proceed – though some still see a slim possibility that it may yet happen. Mangione, who pleaded guilty on 14 August to two federal stalking counts, was scheduled for a New York state trial on 8 September for murder and weapons charges in the December 2024 killing. In the wake of Mangione’s surprise plea, legal experts said New York’s state-level double jeopardy law – which means someone cannot be tried twice for the same crime – could derail his local prosecution. Continue reading...
Holding election in wartime would risk destroying Ukraine, says Zelenskyy
President sharply criticises proposal, saying ‘elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said holding elections in Ukraine during wartime would risk splitting the country at a time when Russia is amassing ballistic missiles and considering whether to mobilise an extra 300,000 soldiers. The Ukrainian president, responding for the first time to a demand made by the sacked former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, sharply criticised an idea that he said was impractical given that Russia appeared to have no interest in a ceasefire. Continue reading...
Burnham to face pressure at Labour conference to recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide
Grassroot groups preparing to put pressure on PM to break with Starmer policy and impose full arms embargo on Israel Grassroot Labour groups are gearing up for a conference showdown with Andy Burnham over Gaza, as the party’s members seek to force the prime minister to recognise Israel’s actions as a genocide, and impose a full arms embargo. Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) will ramp up pressure on Burnham before his first Labour conference as prime minister next month. Continue reading...
Stores are selling Halloween stuff in August. Time has lost all meaning | Dave Schilling
Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spice Happy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner! Just kidding, no, it’s not. Continue reading...
Pine-cone grenades and planet-baking carbon: the French fires 170 years in the making – a visual guide
An 1857 decree to drain swamps and plant a monoculture, detritus from the trees and global heating combined to produce the conditions for the Gironde inferno The ruinous fires that overran parts of France this summer have burned more land than ever recorded, forced more people from their homes than at any point since the second world war and caused what scientists suspect is the country’s first firestorm thundercloud. The smoke from France’s biggest inferno in nearly 80 years choked Limoges, a city 125 miles (200km) from the flames, with more toxic dust than Delhi residents inhaled on the city’s worst day of smog last year. The blaze that tore through forests outside Bordeaux in late July took just a few weeks to reforge France’s relationship with fire, but the conditions behind it were centuries in the making. Continue reading...
Personal care products are awash in unlabeled toxic chemicals, study finds
Even products labeled ‘eco’, ‘green’ or ‘natural’ can contain dangerous compounds including Pfas Common personal care products widely contain unlabeled toxic chemicals, results from a new peer-reviewed study suggest. The testing of more than 110 items ranging from shampoo to baby lotions found evidence of unlabeled toxic chemicals in about 85%. Many contained multiple ingredients known to be carcinogens or health hazards, and even 26% of products labeled “eco”, “green” or “natural” contained at least one dangerous compound. The products averaged more than three times as many chemicals than were listed on labels. Continue reading...
Manuscript fragments hiding in plain sight shed light on medieval Guernsey’s literary life
Researchers say texts from 12th to 15th centuries ‘hint at a culture which has not even been imagined’ Unprecedented insights into the literary and intellectual life on the island of Guernsey during the middle ages have been revealed through the discovery of 17 medieval manuscript fragments. Dating from between the 12th and 15th centuries, they offer evidence of wide-ranging reading tastes, with everything from an extract from a play and an Ovid poem to passages from the Bible and a travel text. Continue reading...
‘No more!!!’: Trump lashes out after US-Canada talks devolve into trade war
PM Mark Carney says ‘we got attacked’ as tariffs come into force on items from hockey sticks to tongue depressors Donald Trump has hit back at Canada after a breakdown in negotiations plunged the two countries into a trade war . In his first public comments since negotiations collapsed on Friday in Washington, the US president wrote on social media: “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” Continue reading...
Jumpy bond markets make it clear: Trump risks driving US into debt crisis | Heather Stewart
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s attempt to calm bond markets is a sign of weakness not strength “Look, there’s nothing magic about that $40tn number,” the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told CNBC insouciantly last week, as the country’s debt mountain surpassed another bleak record. Yet Bessent’s decision to intervene in government bond markets in an effort to combat soaring yields, belied his studied calm in TV interviews – and reignited fears the US may be on the road to a debt crisis. Continue reading...
Russia withdraws ambassador to UK as Kremlin ratchets pressure over Ukraine support
Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in diplomatic post Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, it has emerged, as the Kremlin continues to try to put pressure on Britain over its support for Ukraine. Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in the diplomatic post, with no indication about whether he will be replaced. Continue reading...
Artemis II crew to receive top US space medal for historic lunar journey
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen broke record for farthest distance traveled from Earth The crew of the historic Artemis II lunar flyby mission have earned the US’s top space medal, officials have announced. Cmdr Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are set to receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on 28 August, the US space agency Nasa said . Continue reading...
Against the wind: despite Trump’s attacks, unions are fighting for good US clean energy jobs
Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, a growing labor movement has addressed the climate crisis and economic inequality Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean. “I had no views other than the darkness at work,” he said. “Then I went polar opposite.” Continue reading...
Trump laying groundwork to impose national emergency by sowing election distrust
President’s speech, declassification of documents and heightened claims of noncitizen voting have experts concerned A series of moves by Donald Trump ’s administration to sow doubt in the integrity of US elections have 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. Continue reading...