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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
3021 stories archived
Camden council was warned about paedophile nursery worker years before arrest
Vincent Chan went on to abuse children after being cleared of ‘significant concerns’ following council-overseen inquiry A paedophile nursery worker was cleared by an investigation overseen by a local authority three years before he was arrested. In February, Vincent Chan was jailed after pleading guilty to 56 offences , including assault by penetration on three-year-old girls in his care at a Bright Horizons nursery on Finchley Road in north-west London. After his conviction, prosecutors described him as a “prolific sexual predator”. Continue reading...
A replica of Donald Trump’s Oval Office goes for the gold in Washington DC
The tourist attraction just unveiled an elaborate, full-scale overhaul to match Trump’s second-term aesthetic Sitting behind a replica Resolute Desk, nine-year-old Sydney Wright posed for the camera like a future US president. “I love it,” she smiled. And what about the dazzling gold appliqués, gold leaf and gold trim surrounding her? “It’s cool.” Sydney was among a steady stream of visitors on Thursday to The People’s House: A White House Experience , an interactive museum – with an orientation film narrated by The West Wing star Martin Sheen – at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, just 150 yards from the real thing. Continue reading...
Ukraine hit by deadly Russian strikes as ‘thanks’ for Trump diesel deal, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president says money from fuel sales will intensify war as European leaders reiterate support for Kyiv Russia launched deadly strikes on civilians in Ukraine as “thanks” for a deal cut by Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin to buy large quantities of Russian diesel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, accusing Washington of helping fund Moscow’s war. The Ukrainian president has expressed repeated outrage at the agreement announced by Trump on Friday, which the US president said was needed to reduce diesel prices, and comes ahead of November midterm elections where the cost of fuel is a key voter issue. Continue reading...
Two dead as Isaias weakens to post-tropical cyclone after striking Florida panhandle
Deaths came from falling trees as nearly a million people are without power and rain and flooding remain a concern Two people have died amid Isaias after it made landfall late on Friday on Florida’s panhandle as a category 2 hurricane, according to authorities. Both of those deaths occurred after trees fell on homes, one in Escambia county, Florida, and another in Birmingham, Alabama, as the storm moved in inland, local officials said. Continue reading...
‘People are leaving’: New York City’s EMS workers are struggling to make ends meet
EMS workers, who make life-or-death decisions in emergencies, are the lowest paid first responders After 31 years in New York City’s emergency medical services, Oren Barzilay has started giving young New Yorkers advice he never imagined giving when he began his EMS career. “Don’t come here,” he tells them. “You are only going to hurt yourself.” It is a striking reversal for Barzilay, the recently retired president of FDNY EMS Local 2507. What changed for Barzilay was not his view of work or the value of service. It was what he believes is the New York City failure to pay the people who put their lives at risk to save the lives of others. Continue reading...
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain easily wins re-election
Fain was dogged by investigation but still decisively beat challenger Rich Boyer, who received just 13% of vote The president of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, has easily won his re-election bid after an campaign period marred by accusations of corruption and election interference. The union’s election of leadership for a four-year term began with mail-in ballots being sent out in late August 2026, with vote tabulating commencing on 6 October. Continue reading...
The Jane Doe in the Cornell seven case is getting threats | Arwa Mahdawi
Every time a story about a woman being raped becomes headline news, the same pattern repeats without fail If she really was raped, why didn’t she speak up earlier? Why did she get drunk? Why was she wearing such a short skirt? Why did she walk home by herself? God, it’s exhausting, isn’t it? Every time a story about a woman being raped becomes headline news, the same pattern repeats without fail. People accuse the woman of asking for it. They question her motives; they scrutinize her looks; they attack her character. And without fail, she is punished for speaking up. Continue reading...
How a South African billionaire is turning a corner of Somerset into ‘one man’s estate’
Koos Bekker’s Newt estate encompasses luxury hotels, pubs and high street business, with local concerns including flooding When South African billionaire Koos Bekker bought an old country estate in a sleepy corner of Somerset to turn it into a luxury hotel, residents thought it was a sign their area was on the up. Walking through his peaceful manicured gardens, which feature a maze of apple trees twisted into perfect shapes using the espalier method, it’s easy to feel that all is well in this quiet, picturesque pocket of England. Continue reading...
LeBron James is everything Philadelphia wants. And everything it can’t stand | Bryan Armen Graham
The sports-mad city has embraced its new superstar, even as he choppers in from Manhattan and makes no secret of the fact that Philly was never his first choice Philadelphia has always had an instinctive affinity with athletes who embrace the grind over the glamour. In a place where sports mean a little too much, commitment has traditionally counted for more than celebrity. What it demands above all, sometimes unreasonably, is the sense that they have bought in, that the city and its fortunes matter to them as much as they do to the people who devote their lives to backing its teams. Few embodied that ethic more completely than Lane Johnson, the Eagles’ revered right tackle and best player for more than a decade, who abruptly announced his retirement Tuesday after 14 seasons, two Super Bowl titles and a career spent neutralizing some of the most freakish physical specimens to walk the earth. Johnson’s quotidian greatness on the offensive line was almost perversely workmanlike. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just 10 sacks across close to 7,000 pass-blocking snaps in the last 13 years, going entire seasons without letting his man bring down the quarterback. The Eagles won nearly two-thirds of their games when he played and lost nearly two-thirds when he didn’t. Continue reading...
FDA may allow some toxic chemicals to be added to food without safety review. Experts are alarmed
Regulator looks to expand loophole to allow dangerous compounds in food as long as they’re not carcinogenic The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to expand a controversial loophole to allow some of the world’s most toxic chemicals to be added directly to food without a safety review. The “threshold of regulation” (TOR) exemption currently allows dangerous compounds to be used without review in food contact materials, such as packaging or processing equipment, if they are not carcinogenic, and are added at levels below 0.5 parts per billion (ppb). Continue reading...
Six men on how they plan to stand up against rape culture: ‘Boys need to be taught what is appropriate’
While most of the crowd at a Stop Sexual Violence rally in New York City was mostly women, men of all ages were in attendance too Tens of thousands of protesters gathered at city halls and college campuses across the country on Thursday to demand an end to sexual violence. The nationwide rallies followed weeks of public outcry over the mishandling of campus sexual assault cases at Cornell University and Louisiana State University. The protest organizers – including Women’s March, Feminist Generation and Me Too International – demanded justice for Jane Doe , who said she was drugged and gang-raped by seven students at a Cornell frat party; Kendall Francis, who said she was raped by an LSU football player; and all survivors harmed “from the frat house to the White House”. They also called for reform of Title IX, a set of protections for sexual misconduct victims and LGBTQ+ students that the Trump administration has slowly stripped away . Continue reading...
Study explores links between 19th-century Manchester workers and enslaved Africans in Caribbean
Global Threads research project reveals how slavery hung ‘like a spectre’ over the Peterloo massacre and other Mancunian struggles for equality They were the killings that changed Britain, paving the way for working-class people’s right to vote, as well as leading to the founding of the Manchester Guardian. In the Peterloo massacre of 1819, peaceful protesters were shot and trampled to death by the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry at St Peter’s Field in the city. A study by Global Threads , a public history project, has examined how the exploitation of Africans enslaved in the Caribbean was linked with the struggles of cotton workers at Peterloo. Though these workers were divided by thousands of miles and led different lives, they were exploited by the same forces – as Robert Wedderburn , a Black abolitionist in London, said at the time. Continue reading...
‘Cockroach’ leader among thousands detained in Delhi protest crackdown
Authorities impose strict lockdown in capital to try to stop rally against removal of 130m names from electoral roll Indian authorities have placed Delhi under a severe lockdown and detained tens of thousands of people, including the leader of the youth-led “Cockroach” movement, in an attempt to stop an anti-government protest. Thousands of people from across India were blocked from attending the demonstration, which had been called by the “Cockroach Janata party” (CJP) to protest against an exercise that has stripped 130m names from India’s electoral roll. Continue reading...
Marcy Kaptur: longest-serving congresswoman’s bid for another House term roiled by anti-trans ad
Democrat in Congress since 1983 rebuked over ‘dangerous’ campaign ad – will it harm her chances in tight Ohio race? Last month, Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history, released a video advertisement in which she looks directly at the camera and says exactly what she thinks about one of the most divisive issues facing Democrats today. “Here’s the truth: I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools because parents know what’s best for their kids,” Kaptur says, “and boys should not play in girls’ sports.” Continue reading...
‘People are pissed’: union decries TSA’s removal of chairs for checkpoint staff
Order for workers to remain standing to ‘reinforce professionalism’ draws rebuke amid plunging morale Union officials have launched a campaign to allow airport security staff to sit once more after the Trump administration unilaterally removed all the chairs for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff at checkpoints. “People are pissed,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) TSA council 100 and president of AFGE local 1040, which represents TSA workers in Dallas-Fort Worth. Continue reading...
Dozens injured and buildings damaged as tornadoes hit Sicily
Marsala on island’s west coast badly affected after powerful storm approached from Mediterranean Two tornadoes have struck the coastal town of Marsala in western Sicily, injuring dozens of people, damaging buildings including a school, and overturning cars. A series of videos began to circulate on Friday morning showing two waterspouts approaching the Sicilian town from the sea as people braced for their arrival. Continue reading...
Candidate named Hitler Mussolini elected mayor in Peru
Leftwing Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores beats far-right candidate in election in remote district of Andes A businessman called Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores has been elected the mayor of a remote district in the Peruvian Andes, according to local election data. The 45-year-old, who shares two of his names with notorious European dictators, won the race for mayor of Queropalca, in Peru’s central Huanuco region, and will take office on 1 January. Continue reading...
Greens must avoid ‘capture by extremists and racists’, says party MP
Ellie Chowns says vote for ‘Zionism is racism’ policy by 0.4% of members shows party processes are not working A Green Party MP has said she wants to make sure her party is not “vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists” amid the continuing fallout from the “Zionism is racism” vote. The party faces a political maelstrom over its policy decision last week to treat Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, as any other form of racism, and to back a single Palestinian state over a two-state solution. The motion was passed at the annual party conference with just over 1,000 votes, approximately 0.4% of the total membership. Continue reading...
UK must not be beholden to foreign AI, says head of Alan Turing Institute
George Williamson says ‘national resilience’ is key focus of ATI amid US and China’s runaway leadership in field The UK must not become dependent on foreign AI systems that can be switched off at short notice and must develop its own versions of the technology, according to the head of the Alan Turing Institute. The country needs a stronger domestic position in AI in response to the US and China’s runaway leadership in the field, with “national resilience” a key focus for ATI said George Williamson. Continue reading...
Post-its, homework breaks and karaoke: inside the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s debut season
The first league of its kind in 70 years brought players from all around the world to Illinois for eight weeks, writing a new chapter in the history of women’s sports On the morning of 14 September, Rocky Henley sat at her rental home’s dining room table amid scattered rulebooks, colorful markers and graph paper. The New York Heights manager drew a chart on a large poster – her method of sketching plays for the evening’s playoff game. Her assistant manager, Jackson, trudged in from the kitchen in flannel pajama pants and a Heights hoodie and watched her work. He also happens to be her son. Continue reading...
Suicide memorial in Chicago signals compassionate shift by Catholic church
First US memorial for suicide victims dedicated by Chicago archdiocese earlier this year at Queen of Heaven cemetery The Chicago archdiocese has recognized the Rev Charles Rubey’s work supporting families whose loved ones died by suicide this year by dedicating in his honor a memorial to the lives lost to suicide and the victims’ surviving families. In 1979 Rubey founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, a counseling and support program run by Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Chicago. Continue reading...
Hurricane Isaias live updates: hundreds of thousands without power as storm batters US Gulf Coast
First Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season makes landfall in the US Sign up for the US Breaking News email More than half a million people were without power after hurricane Isaias wreaked havoc on the US Gulf Coast, with Alabama and the Florida Panhandle being hit the hardest by the storm. The category 2 hurricane made landfall near Destin, Florida, late Friday, with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour. It weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by early morning, with winds of 65 mph, the National Weather Service said. Continue reading...
‘We’re not asking for luxury’: school protesters in Paris suburb feel abandoned by French state
Students say they are desperate to get back to class but conditions are so bad that the protests must continue On a normal school day, Mohammed, 17, wakes at 6am, cares for his younger siblings to help his single mother who works as a security guard, then takes two crowded buses and a local train to get to his high school in Sevran, a low-income banlieue town in the suburbs north-east of Paris. “There aren’t enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up,” Mohammed said. “Classes can be so packed you can’t interact with the teacher. In this year’s heatwaves, it felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains. It was so hot my brain couldn’t function.” Continue reading...
H.R. 7022: Mystic Alerts Act
Bill Text: This bill's text for status (Oct. 9, 2026) is now available.