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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Working in Keir Starmer’s No 10 ‘unbearable’, says Sue Gray
Former chief of staff tells of fears her conversations were being recorded and leaked to media by colleagues Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff has lifted the lid on how “unbearable” it was working in No 10, revealing she feared her conversations were being recorded by colleagues seeking to leak her remarks to the media. Sue Gray, who was the most powerful adviser in Downing Street before her resignation in 2024, was highly critical of the working environment under Starmer, saying she was “disappointed” that he did not act on her concerns about staff briefing journalists against her. Continue reading...
Melancholy made in Hungary is fuelling bestsellers across the globe – and widely misunderstood
A ‘capacity for despair’ forged by political oppression has long been consider a Magyar national trait. But after Orbán, writers in the country remind us that melancholy must not always be bleak A lone visitor looks for a garden outside an empty monastery. A morose housekeeper won’t let anyone behind the door of her own home. A retired general living alone on a crumbling estate waits 40 years to confront the only friend he ever had. Melancholy, an affinity with oblivion without a concrete cause, suffuses the Hungarian fiction translated for foreign audiences over the past 30 years, from the tortured tales of Sándor Márai to the taut novels of Magda Szabó. In his book In Praise of Melancholy, essayist László F Földényi tells the story of an Englishman who monomanically decides to teach himself Hungarian. For Földényi, the commitment to studying a language with 26 cases and with no connection to any other language, from a culture besieged by centuries of invasion, is to embrace melancholy, a seductive “capacity for despair”. To read Hungarian literature as an outsider, the poet János Pilinszky claimed in 1972, is to acquire unique spiritual insights that come from centuries of rootlessness, alienation and strife. Continue reading...
GCSE results: hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland await grades – latest updates
Students will begin receiving this years exam results online and in person from 8am (GMT) this morning Good morning and welcome to our GCSE results day live blog. Today, like every year, hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland anxiously await their grades. Continue reading...
Monstera magic: Barbican hands out cuttings as ‘green lung of the city’ closes
Five hundred people turn up to adopt plants from conservatory that will reopen in 2030 after renovation project Above the waxy monstera leaves and bright pink hibiscus flowers in the Barbican conservatory hangs a giant net to catch the panes of glass that are at risk of falling from the ceiling on the unwitting plant lovers below. This precarious situation has caused the estate to shutter its greenhouse on the third and fourth floors for three years so a full refurbishment can take place. But the hiatus has a silver lining for many of those who visited on Wednesday to give the plants from the conservatory a new home. Continue reading...
From bone-dry to soaked to the bone, welcome to the age of climate whiplash | Aditya Chakrabortty
This punishingly hot and dry summer will probably be followed by another wet winter. But it’s nothing compared with what Britain will endure in years to come This summer could be the hottest , driest and deadliest in English history. Successive heatwaves have so far claimed almost 3,000 lives . Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales is in drought, while key reservoirs are parched. Across this brown and stickily unpleasant land, from Grimsby down to St Ives, hosepipe bans are in force , while music festivals are staged not on green fields but in giant dust bowls. Just how bad is it? I asked a leading climate scientist. Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Oxfam ‘can’t guarantee future’ of charity shops as it also reviews warehouse business
Dwindling donations and stiff competition from secondhand sellers online prompt review but ‘no plans for closures yet’ Oxfam is reviewing the operations of its three warehouses in Batley, Bicester and Milton Keynes and says it “cannot give guarantees” on the future of its high street shops in a “difficult economic climate”. The charity said it had no plans to close warehouses or shops but insiders fear that Batley, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, will shut as part of a cost-cutting drive because the West Yorkshire site’s lease is up for renewal. Continue reading...
Trump threatens Iran’s trade partners, as military strikes make way for economic pressure
US president pivots towards ‘crushing’ economic operation against Iran and its trading partners as military strikes fail to bring Tehran to the table Donald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented. “Today, I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences.” Continue reading...
Case against Erin Patterson is ‘overwhelming’ and mushroom killer’s appeal should be dismissed, prosecutors say
Crown prosecutor tells Victorian court that all seven of Patterson’s grounds for appeal should fail Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Victoria’s highest court has been urged to dismiss Erin Patterson’s appeal against her triple murder conviction, hearing that the case against her during trial was “overwhelming”. On Thursday, three judges of Victoria’s court of appeal continued hearing arguments regarding Patterson’s bid to have her conviction overturned. Continue reading...
‘There was grift, there was thuggery’: Victorian premier says ‘nothing is off limits’ at construction royal commission
Ben Carroll releases terms of reference for inquiry that will include examining allegations of CFMEU corruption on state government building sites Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast “Nothing is off limits” to Victoria’s royal commission into the construction sector, Ben Carroll has said, as he released the inquiry’s terms of reference and confirmed former premiers and ministers could be called to face public hearings. The Victorian premier on Thursday unveiled details of the inquiry while acknowledging there had been “grift”, “thuggery” and “violence” on taxpayer-funded building sites, after the letters patent formally establishing the commission were signed off by the governor following a cabinet meeting earlier in the morning. Continue reading...
Larry David says former friend Alan Dershowitz ‘made a deal with the devil’ as Trump’s lawyer
The Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator says Dershowitz, who also defended Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, ‘only has himself to blame’ for being ostracised Larry David has opened up about the collapse of his friendship with Alan Dershowitz, saying that Dershowitz “made a deal with the devil” when he became Donald Trump’s lawyer. Dershowitz, a former Harvard University law professor, has been a member of legal teams for Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, OJ Simpson and Harvey Weinstein at various points in his career, and served on Trump’s defense team during the president’s first impeachment trial in 2020. Continue reading...
H.R. 10132: ARTICLE ONE Act
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10122: STORM FORTIFIED and Wildfire Prepared Act
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10120: National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Act of 2026
Introduced: Sponsor: Rep. Donald Beyer [D-VA8] This bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure which will consider it before sending it to the House floor for consideration.
H.R. 10126: DEMAND Act of 2026
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10137: No Insider Trading on National Security Act of 2026
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10135: Not In My Barn Yard Act
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10124: Mail Theft and Postal Key Crime Prevention Act of 2026
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10136: Crossett Experimental Forest Act of 2026
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10119: Protecting Local Control of Data Centers Act
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 10120: National Flood Impact Reduction and Resilience Act of 2026
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
H.R. 2406: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025
Bill Text: This bill's text for status (Aug. 20, 2026) is now available.
H.R. 6893: Chesapeake Bay Watershed Advancement for Training, Education, Restoration, and Science (WATERS) Act
Bill Text: This bill's text for status (Aug. 20, 2026) is now available.
H.R. 7889: AWRC Act of 2025
Bill Text: This bill's text for status (Aug. 20, 2026) is now available.
H.R. 2827: To provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois, and for other purposes.
Bill Text: This bill's text for status (Aug. 20, 2026) is now available.