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Politics
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Weather tracker: Heatwave on course to tip temperatures over 40C in Germany and Poland
Extreme heat continues to impact daily life – and sporting events – across Europe. Plus, a tornado in Russia Temperatures are forecast to rise dramatically in parts of central and northern Europe this weekend as the intense heatwave continues . In Germany and Poland, highs of up to or exceeding 40C (104F) are expected on both Saturday and Sunday, days after swathes of France experienced similar extreme temperatures. The Austrian Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Spielberg, has declared a heat hazard , the first race to do so this season. Temperatures are expected to rise into the low 30s celsius during the race almost 10C warmer than usual for the venue. Across Europe, the intense heat has led to severe thunderstorms. In the Sverdlovsk region of central Russia, a strong tornado was reported on the evening of 22 June. Rated a 3 out of 5 on the international fujita scale, the twister injured 16 people and destroyed or damaged about 100 homes and businesses in the town of Kushva. Emergency services have been working on restoring power to the town. Tornadoes are not unheard of in Russia but are certainly rare, although forecasters warn that they may become more common in future as the climate breaks down. Storm warnings remain in effect in the southern part of the country on Friday. Continue reading...
MoJ to examine case of British woman strangled by US fighter pilot, justice minister says
Sarah Steele has told of ‘degrading’ experience under US military justice system after assault by airman in Cambridge A UK justice minister has described the case of a British woman strangled by an American fighter pilot as “really serious” and said the Ministry of Justice would examine it. Sarah Steele, an academic, has come forward to speak about the “distressing and degrading” experience she had with the US military justice system after she was assaulted by the airman in Cambridge. Continue reading...
Heathrow expects fall in passengers and profits this year because of Iran war
Airport has also been ‘engaging closely’ with regulator to discuss cost of plan to build third runway Business live – latest updates Heathrow has said that passenger numbers and profits will fall this year because of the conflict in the Middle East. Europe’s busiest airport said it expects a 1.1% decline in the total number of passengers to 83.6 million, as the impact of the Iran war affects global air travel. Continue reading...
I will show you fear in a rainbow baseball cap: the right’s culture wars come to MLB
The right’s verdict is in: white, heterosexual, Christian men face the most discrimination in the US. The Giants don’t want to push back On 19 June, the New York Times published an article on the hostility toward minority members of the military at the Department of Defense and the blocking of several promotions of minority, non-male officers despite their decorations and accomplishments. The Times attributed the ideological climate to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who, according to the newspaper, is waging a “war on diversity” . Four days earlier, California governor Gavin Newsom said that the Department of Justice was investigating him and his wife for alleged financial irregularities, adding to the speculation long held that Donald Trump’s administration would spend its second term weaponizing the government to settle scores. As Hegseth attacks race, gender and “diversity” through the military with the aim of restoring an unchallenged and unquestioned white, Christian leadership , and the justice department harasses Trump’s political opponents, the DoJ used the San Francisco Giants’ honoring of pride month to open yet another front in what the president sees as a culture war against white men. The Giants incurred additional damage, all of it embarrassingly self-inflicted. Their milky, cowardly response betrayed their own city, a large part of their fanbase and the organization’s history. Howard Bryant is the author of 11 books, including The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism and Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. Continue reading...
Mexico’s new UK ambassador from ‘party of poor’ has 10 houses and £1m of jewellery
Alejandro Gertz Manero’s cars and properties contrast starkly with Morena party’s long association with austerity With his million-dollar jewellery collection and his two Rolls-Royces, Mexico’s new ambassador to the UK will fit right in with the Mayfair crowd. Former attorney general Alejandro Gertz Manero was appointed to the post by President Claudia Sheinbaum last year, but only recently disclosed his financial assets . Continue reading...
Cambridge hospital staff investigated over accessing records of boy in crocodile attack
About 40 members of staff looked at information of boy, three, who ended up in zoo enclosure About 40 members of hospital staff accessed the medical records of a three-year-old boy hurt in a crocodile pit, prompting an investigation, it has been reported. Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and is investigating whether all the workers had a legitimate reason for looking at his information. Continue reading...
Charities criticise ‘costly’ Home Office plan to use more military bases to house asylum seekers - UK politics live
Government seeking planning permission at sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. We are leading today’s blog on the news that the Home Office is attempting to use three more military sites to house thousands of asylum seekers. Planning permission is being sought at Ministry of Defence sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers, the Home Office said. Continue reading...
Park to protect 12,000 koalas to go ahead via contentious carbon credit deal by Albanese government
Minns government waiting on federal approval of carbon credit scheme before proceeding with long-awaited great koala national park Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A long-promised New South Wales great koala national park is set to go ahead after the Albanese government greenlit the state to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for protecting native forests previously earmarked for logging. The assistant climate change minister, Josh Wilson, told Nine newspapers the government had approved the awarding of carbon credits to state governments for storing carbon dioxide in native forests on public land. Continue reading...
Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached ‘alarming’ levels since aid cuts, survey finds
Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...
Wanted: a new PM, a new James Bond, a new Doctor – and a UK that can agree on its leading characters | Nadia Khomami
Britain has found itself looking for all three protagonists at once. Who gets to stand at the centre of the national story? It’s been the refrain of the week. Why can’t the country hold on to a prime minister – and how can it be that Larry, the Downing Street cat, has managed to outlast six of them? Have we become ungovernable? Is it because one government after another has failed to halt the slide in living standards – or have online attention spans eroded our patience for change? But Westminster isn’t the only dramatic platform casting for a new lead at the moment. Amid the political chaos this week, I was struck by a social media comment that this is the first time the UK has found itself looking for a new PM, a new James Bond and a new lead for Doctor Who, all at the same time. Continue reading...
‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering
Emerging research suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in the immediate vicinity by as much as 9C The community living next to the largest datacentre park in Europe say the scorching summer heat has grown unbearable. On days like Wednesday, said Nabeel Nawaz, the store manager of a Chaiiwala franchise in the centre of Slough, the heat is like something “pinching your body and burning your skin”. Continue reading...
World Cup 2026: Haaland and Mbappé face off, Scotland still left in limbo – live
⚽ Latest news from day 15 | Haaland v Mbappé in data ⚽ Third-place table | Player guide | Bracketology | Mail us Hello and welcome to today’s World Cup news blog where we will recap yesterday’s action, as well as teeing up today’s games and any news that drops in between. Several teams qualified for the knockout stage yesterday including Sweden and Côte d’Ivoire. The implications of those has seen teams like Scotland are hanging on by a thread to remain in the competition. Continue reading...
Red warning for south-east England after record June heat, as France braces for more stifling temperatures – Europe heatwave live
First time red warnings issued in UK for three consecutive days; Paris to ban drinking alcohol in public as hospitals reach ‘saturation point’ European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say Paris to ban drinking alcohol in public as hospitals hit heatwave breaking point The UK Met Office has extended a red heat alert into Friday for a large area of south-east England, the first time such warnings have been issued for three days in a row. The red warning is in place until 9pm for London , Oxfordshire , Bedfordshire , Hampshire and Kent . Amber heat warnings are in place for a wider area on Friday, and are running into Saturday for parts of east and south-east England. Continue reading...
Pochettino chides press for questions after 3-2 loss to Turkey: ‘We won the group’
US manager says his team deserve congratulations Plays down talk of momentum and focuses on positives Mauricio Pochettino criticized questions over his team’s performance in a 3-2 loss to Turkey on Thursday, telling journalists he expected to be congratulated for leading the US to a first-place finish in the group and found their questions about the dead-rubber loss “weird”. The US had secured top spot in Group D on the back of two historic performances – a 4-1 opening win against Paraguay in which the team scored more goals in a World Cup match than ever before, and a 2-0 victory over Australia that secured a first six-point opening to a World Cup. Continue reading...
South Korea to train half a million military personnel to become ‘drone warriors’
All branches of the military will be taught how to use technology that has become a ‘game changer on the battlefield’, says defence minister All of South Korea’s military forces will be trained as drone operators in a sweeping overhaul of its warfare strategy, the defence minister has said. “All soldiers should be able to use drones like a second personal firearm,” Ahn Gyu-back, who heads the defence ministry in Seoul, said on Friday. Continue reading...
After Starmer’s ‘purge’, could Andy Burnham lure back Labour’s bruised leftwingers?
Socialists marginalised under current PM are anxious about whether his replacement will again disappoint them On 10 September 2024, Jon Trickett, a veteran leftwing MP, was preparing to vote against one of his own government’s most incendiary plans : to remove the winter fuel allowance from some retired people, a benefit long seen by many UK households as essential. Senior figures told Trickett he would be the only Labour member of parliament to do so. He said this week: “I said: ‘I don’t give a fuck. I’m going to do what I believe is the right thing.’ And I was right.” That has since seen as a policy misstep from which Keir Starmer’s government never recovered. Trickett could, perhaps, be forgiven for indulging in a little schadenfreude after Starmer’s resignation this week, just two years after he won a landslide general election victory. Continue reading...
Vital Blue Mountains highway to be closed for another year as NSW reveals bridge plans
New structure to be built above 194-year-old Mitchells Causeway as residents face months of delays to reopening of Victoria Pass section of highway Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A vital road connecting Sydney with New South Wales’ central west will remain shut for at least another year, leaving Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands residents facing extended travel times and detours for longer than expected. Transport for NSW closed the Victoria Pass section of the Great Western Highway in March after critical structural cracks were detected at Mitchells Causeway, or “Convict Bridge”, a 194-year-old, convict-built infrastructure . Continue reading...
Australians to pay at least 20% more for iPads and Macbooks after Apple hikes prices citing AI
Apple Macbook 13-inch prices jumps from $1,799 to $2,099 while the cost of iPads surges by 25% Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australians woke up on Friday to higher prices for Macbooks and iPads after Apple hiked worldwide, blaming an AI-driven cost crunch for computer parts. The iPhone range was unaffected but experts predict Apple will raise prices for its flagship product later this year. Microsoft also lifted its Xbox prices overnight amid a wave of increases for phones and devices. Continue reading...
Burnham has brought hope back to Labour – but he urnham has brought hope back to Labour – but he must understand how quickly it can be punctured understand how quickly it can be punctured | Andy Beckett
The Makerfield MP’s surge towards No 10 is a seductive ad for the power of positive politics. How long that proves effective depends on his next moves The creation of hope is a vital but risky part of democratic politics. Leaders or would-be leaders who arouse hope attract supporters, motivate activists, achieve momentum and win over voters – and then have a chance of holding together political parties, governments and societies in harder times. From Barack Obama to Clement Attlee , Salvador Allende to Zohran Mamdani , leaders from across the left in particular have heavily relied on hope to launch and sustain their ruling projects. Meanwhile, an absence of hope has quickly doomed other left of centre governments. Keir Starmer’s decision, only eight weeks into his premiership, to summon the media to the Downing Street garden and tell them that “ things will get worse before we get better ” in the UK was a mistake from which his administration never recovered. In a society where most lives have been getting harder since the 2008 financial crisis, Starmer’s downbeat manner, however justified by the deep problems he inherited from the Tories, was not an emotional register that much of the electorate desired. Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Porsche magnate puts historic Salzburg villa up for sale after row over private ‘tunnel for one’
Plans by Wolfgang Porsche to bore private 500-metre road link through Austrian hill caused anger among locals Wolfgang Porsche, the Austrian-German automotive magnate, appears to have abandoned plans to build a private 500-metre tunnel for his cars through the Salzburg hills after a public uproar over the “tunnel for one”. In 2020, Porsche bought a storied 17th-century villa on the outskirts of Salzburg for €8.4m (£7.2m), and last autumn he secured permission from the city authorities for an estimated €10m private access road through the rugged limestone hill. Continue reading...
Migrating swifts loyally return every year to nests in buildings, study finds
Conservationists emphasise importance of protecting nesting sites used by ‘strongly faithful’ red-listed species Migratory swifts loyally return every year to their nests in buildings, according to a study, underlining the importance of providing the endangered birds with hollow nesting bricks if traditional nest sites are lost to renovations. The swift, which is on the red list of conservation concern, is one of Britain’s most threatened species, having declined in number by 70% since 1995 because of the loss of nesting sites, often when old buildings are re-roofed or given better insulation. While Scotland this year made the installation of swift bricks – a simple hollow brick – a legal requirement in new buildings, the government in England has repeatedly refused to oblige builders to include a £35 swift brick in every new home. Continue reading...
Too hot for work: why extreme heat is a threat to Europe’s productivity
High temperatures make some workplaces dangerous, with economists warning disruption will dent growth Monique Mosley is used to sweltering conditions at the food factory in Yorkshire where she works, but June’s record-breaking heatwave has made conditions unbearable. “We make hot filled food products and it’s common that we see temperatures in the high 30s,” she said. “Thanks to our union, our employer is offering extra breaks, but not every workplace is the same.” The latest heatwave to grip the UK and much of western Europe has presented significant challenges to employers and their employees , from sweltering offices, disrupted commutes and school closures to dangerous construction sites where workers are at risk of dehydration, heatstroke and other injury. Continue reading...
USA suffer late defeat to Turkey but eye Bosnia and Herzegovina in World Cup knockout stage
The US men’s national team have already made history this summer. They scored the most goals they ever have in a single World Cup game, won two straight games for the first time in the tournament, and wrapped up top spot in an evenly-matched Group D with a game to spare. On Thursday evening they faced a far more familiar foe: World Cup adversity. And in the key moments – the kind of spots where knockout games are won and lost – they wilted. Kaan Ayhan’s goal with the last kick of the game sealed a 3-2 win for Turkey, giving their disastrous tournament a positive ending. It also means the Americans go into last-32 – where they will play Bosnia and Herzegovina – with fresh questions. Continue reading...
Boy, 14, charged with murder over death of teenager Lilly in Wales
Gwent police say accused will face court in Newport following arrest over discovery of teenage girl’s body in Duffryn Park area of Blaina A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder after the discovery of a missing 14-year-old girl’s body, Gwent police said. The boy, from the Blaenau Gwent area, was arrested after the discovery of the body in the Duffryn Park area of Blaina in Wales on 22 June. Continue reading...