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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Robert Jenrick says questions about £5m donation to Farage are legitimate
Reform MP appears to contradict party leader’s claim money from crypto billionaire is ‘none of your business’ Robert Jenrick has said it is “legitimate” for the media to ask questions about Nigel Farage’s £5m personal donation from a cryptocurrency billionaire, just days after the Reform UK leader told an interviewer it was “none of your business”. Jenrick, who is Reform’s shadow chancellor, said voters on the doorstep were not asking about the money given to Farage by the Thailand-based British crypto investor Christopher Harborne. Continue reading...
The World Cup 'Pride Match' Iran and Egypt tried to stop - video
Seattle’s World Cup committee is pushing forward with “Pride Match” celebrations this week despite backlash from Egypt and Iran, who have called for the cancellation of LGBTQ+ rights festivities around the game. Last year, Seattle’s local organising committee, which is separate from Fifa, made plans for 26 June to be a Pride-themed match coinciding with the city’s annual Pride weekend. In December, Egypt and Iran were drawn to play each other on that date in Seattle, causing a swift firestorm and condemnation from the two countries, as Sam Levin explains Seattle prepares for unlikely matchup as its World Cup Pride celebration: Egypt v Iran Continue reading...
Senator Ron Wyden accuses US health agency of plan to deport more than 500 migrant children
Wyden says in a letter addressed to Robert F Kennedy Jr that HHS is preparing an ‘unprecedented legal framework’ Ron Wyden , a US senator of Oregon , accused the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of preparing to use what he describes as an “unprecedented legal framework” to deport more than 500 unaccompanied migrant children currently in the custody of the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). In a letter addressed to the HHS secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr , Wyden said he had obtained “credible information” that the department was using a list of more than 500 children as targets for expedited removal under a new administrative process that he says lacks statutory authority. He called the reported initiative “deeply alarming” and urged HHS to immediately suspend any related screening or removal efforts. Continue reading...
H.R. 2478: Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025
Vote: Passed 414/2 Rep. Krishnamoorthi [D-IL8]: Yea
Whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams sues Meta over attempts to ‘silence’ her
Former employee files complaint accusing company of ‘coercive surveillance’ and first amendment violation The Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is suing the tech company over its efforts to “silence” her. A 57-page complaint filed to a US district court in California on Thursday argues that an interim arbitration ruling sought by Meta preventing Wynn-Williams from publicising her memoir, Careless People, was “improper and unlawful” and a “blatant violation of the first amendment”. It also accuses the company of “coercive surveillance”. Continue reading...
New York prosecutors seek to drop Harvey Weinstein rape charge
Accuser declines to testify in fourth trial after May mistrial with prosecutors citing her ‘extraordinarily taxing ordeal’ Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday moved to drop a third-degree rape charge against Harvey Weinstein after the woman accusing the disgraced movie mogul of assaulting her said she did not want to testify in what would have been a fourth trial. Weinstein’s third trial in New York state court over an allegation that he raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann ended in a mistrial in May after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Continue reading...
White House seeks extra funds for Iran war as part of $87.6bn request
Top Democrat signals party will not back paying for unpopular conflict never authorized by Congress The White House has requested Congress approve $87.6bn in new funding, much of which would go towards the costs of Donald Trump’s war with Iran, but a top Democrat has signaled the party will not support paying for an unpopular conflict that lawmakers never authorized. The Trump administration’s supplemental funding request released on Wednesday comes amid a logjam in US Congress sparked by the president’s demand that the Senate pass a measure to impose sweeping new restrictions on voting nationwide. Continue reading...
Rescue teams race to Venezuela amid fears thousands killed in earthquakes
US among nations sending help to search for survivors on country’s north coast where dozen of buildings flattened Venezuela earthquake – latest updates Rescue teams are racing to Venezuela’s shattered northern coast after a sucker punch of almost simultaneous earthquakes reduced dozens of buildings to rubble, with thousands feared to have been killed. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the Department of Defense would help search and rescue teams deploy to the affected region after Venezuela’s main gateway, the Simón Bolívar international airport, was badly damaged by 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes, less than 40 seconds apart, late on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...
UN-backed plan to free ships trapped in strait of Hormuz rejected by Iran
Blocking of proposal backed by Oman signals new threat to free passage through strait vital to world economy Iran has rejected UN-backed plans for the mass evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz , creating a new threat to the free passage of commercial ships through the strait. The proposal, backed by Oman, was potentially the first phase of a broader Omani proposal to consult on setting up a new management of the strait based on voluntary fees and modelled on the Malacca and Singapore strait mechanism. Continue reading...
Israeli forces arrest Palestinian ‘doctor of the poor’
Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a 71-year-old physician well known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested in the occupied West Bank Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank, prompting widespread condemnation. Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested before dawn at his home in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah. Continue reading...
‘Paralysed by fear’: Venezuelans tell of escape and loss after huge earthquakes
People in Caracas and coastal towns describe powerful quakes that collapsed buildings and killed at least 164 As a double whammy of powerful earthquakes rattled Venezuela’s northern coast on Wednesday, residents of the capital, Caracas, scrambled out on to the streets from shuddering, fractured buildings. “It was horrible. I felt like the house was moving to a different rhythm to the earth. I had to carry my mum out. She was paralysed by fear,” said 18-year-old Sebastian Rodríguez, whose family runs a shop in Centro Plaza, a brutalist commercial centre in the affluent neighbourhood of Los Palos Grandes. Continue reading...
Title-hunting Timberwolves reportedly add LaMelo Ball in trade with Hornets
Charlotte get Naz Reid, seven draft picks Minnesota also add guard Josh Green in swap Ball to pair with fellow 2020 draftee Anthony Edwards The Charlotte Hornets have agreed to trade LaMelo Ball, their starting point guard, and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round draft pick, three first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has yet to be approved by the league. Continue reading...
Key Fed inflation gauge rises to three-year high in May after gas prices peaked
Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier – a sign rising costs could pose problem for Trump in midterms The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked, a sign rising costs could pose political problems for Donald Trump and his political party as midterm elections near. Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the US commerce department said Thursday, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March. Continue reading...
City of Paris achieves partial victory over TotalEnergies in climate risks case
French capital hails ‘landmark decision’ against oil firm relating to disclosure of emissions from oil and gas products A Paris court has ruled that French oil major TotalEnergies must disclose the climate risks linked to emissions from its oil and gas products, and set out plans to address them in a high-stakes case brought by NGOs and the city of Paris. The ruling on Thursday is a partial victory for climate change NGOs seeking to apply France’s 2017 corporate duty of vigilance law to climate change. However, the court stopped short of ordering specific measures such as limiting overseas exploration and production or setting binding emissions reduction targets. Continue reading...
‘Constitutional coup’ claims as Zimbabwean senate approves extending presidential term
Opposition figures fear changes will further tighten 83-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s hold on power Zimbabwe is on the brink of amending its constitution to give the president more time in office, a change the government said will bring stability – but which opponents have labelled a “constitutional coup”. The upper house of Zimbabwe’s parliament voted on Wednesday 75-4 in favour of the constitutional amendments, which would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stay in office until 2030 by extending presidential terms from five to seven years. Continue reading...
Unions urge teachers to strike as French school exams go ahead in up to 40C heat
Claims health of staff and children at risk as France struggles to adapt heat-trap school buildings Europe live – latest updates Teachers in France are risking their own and students’ health in overheated schools as a severe heatwave sets new record temperatures , education unions said, urging staff to strike over “unacceptable working conditions”. Several teaching unions on Thursday issued a joint statement denouncing a “blatant lack of preparation” by the government, after teachers have had to work in classrooms where temperatures reached up to 40C. Continue reading...
New evidence casts doubt on RFK Jr testimony before Senate
Kennedy repeatedly said 2019 Samoa trip had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’. An email from his then colleague says they were on a vaccine-related ‘mission’ New evidence has emerged that Robert F Kennedy Jr was on a vaccine-related “mission” when he visited Samoa ahead of a deadly measles outbreak in 2019, raising further questions about whether the US health secretary lied to the US Senate when he said the trip had “nothing to do with vaccines”. Records obtained by the Guardian show Kennedy’s colleague told Samoan officials in an email that he and Kennedy were coming as part of a mission to study the island nation’s medical records in the aftermath of a “discontinuity in vaccinations”. Continue reading...
Unison endorses Ed Milband for chancellor under a Burnham government
Exclusive: Trade union backs energy secretary to replace Rachel Reeves, but two other big unions are opposed UK politics live – latest updates Britain’s biggest trade union has endorsed Ed Miliband for chancellor, as the race to take over the Treasury under a potential Andy Burnham government intensifies. Unison has become the most high-profile organisation to back the current energy secretary, who is one of two frontrunners to replace Rachel Reeves in No 11, but who is being opposed by two other major unions – GMB and Unite. Continue reading...
US, Cuba and Iran join global rescue effort after Venezuela earthquakes
Latin American and European counties also among those offering solidarity and help for country already facing a humanitarian crisis Venezuela earthquake – latest updates Countries around the world, including Iran, the US and Cuba, have committed to help with rescue efforts in Venezuela after deadly twin earthquakes hit the country. On the evening of 24 June, Venezuela was rocked by two back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale that killed at least 164 people, injured close to 1,000 more, and caused significant damage to the capital Caracas, as well as areas across the north of the country. Continue reading...
Scenes of destruction after deadly earthquakes in Venezuela – visual guide
Rescue efforts under way after buildings reduced to rubble in capital and along northern coast Hundreds of people are feared to have died and thousands have been injured in Venezuela’s largest earthquake in more than a century. Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit 39 seconds apart near the town of Morón. Continue reading...
US judge blocks Trump administration’s bid to restrict mail-in voting
Ruling comes amid drive by Republican administration to reshape rules around voting ahead of midterms The Trump administration’s plan to deny mail-in ballots to states that would not give their voter rolls to federal officials was blocked Thursday morning by a federal judge in Boston. US district judge Indira Talwani ruled that the provisions of an executive order issued by Donald Trump on 31 March requiring the postal service to require the use of a barcode tracking system for ballot envelopes tied to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data was unconstitutional. Continue reading...
Andy Thingy with the eyelashes who was once ‘mayor of a town’ hits Westminster | John Crace
Trump gets to grips with ‘extremely liberal’ new kid who’s already roasting Kemi Badenoch on X UK politics live – latest updates You know you’ve arrived as the prime minister-in-waiting when even Donald Trump has heard of you. Well, sort of. The name rings a vague bell. Call it a start in the new era of the not-so-special relationship. On Sunday, the US president had the idea of announcing Keir Starmer’s resignation, long before the prime minister had got round to doing it himself. Trump likes to get ahead of the game. No time for losers, so best to dissociate himself from Keir as soon as possible. One day he might get round to dissociating from himself when he finally realises he lost the war with Iran. Continue reading...
Newsroom Edition: What can Albanese learn from Starmer's fall? – podcast
This week, Anthony Albanese’s UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, succumbed to mounting pressure and resigned as prime minister. A number of comparisons have been made between the pair, including resounding election wins followed by a decline in the polls while insurgent rightwing parties gained ground. Josephine Tovey speaks with Mike Ticher, Gabrielle Jackson and Guardian Australia’s international editor, Virginia Harrison, about how Albanese can avoid Starmer’s fate Read more: Continue reading...
Britain’s six prime ministers since 2016 – ranked!
From Cameron’s Brexit exit to Starmer’s Burnham bow-out, half a dozen PMs have gone. So who’s the best of the bunch? The UK has had six prime ministers in the last 10 years – with a seventh likely to be in place by as early as mid-July. John Crace ranks those who have been booted out of Downing Street between 2016 and 2026. Continue reading...