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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Backsliding on climate would drive Labour into obscurity, Zack Polanski says
Debate in Labour and union movement over climate commitments as many call for Burnham not to allow drilling in North Sea Analysis: ‘Act on the evidence outside the window’: Andy Burnham urged to stick to net zero targets if he becomes PM Backsliding on climate action would drive the Labour party into political obscurity, Zack Polanski has warned, as trade union leaders said more drilling in the North Sea would not help UK workers. The Green party leader, speaking to the Guardian as searing heat swept the country for the second time this year, urged Andy Burnham – widely expected to be the UK’s next prime minister – to be bold on climate justice. He said any move to water down the party’s commitments would have dire consequences at the ballot box. Continue reading...
Trump to meet House speaker in attempt to break legislative gridlock – US politics live
Trump suddenly scrapped the signing of a pivotal bipartisan housing bill yesterday, demanding the Senate pass his voter ID bill Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. A dramatic day is in store in Washington DC as Donald Trump heads for a crucial meeting with Mike Johnson, the House speaker, in an attempt to break a legislative gridlock as huge political fireworks have detonated on Capitol Hill far ahead of anything resembling a Fourth of July celebration. Maryland’s Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen is endorsing the progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate primary, a split with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, the Associated Press reports as an exclusive. The US supreme court is expected to issue opinions at 10am ET and most of the big cases have not yet been ruled upon. We await immigration and finance-related opinions in particular. Huge focus on the Hill where the House speaker, Mike Johnson, meets with Trump at 2pm, with both hoping the House will be persuaded to take a vote and end a rebellion from within the right wing of the Republican caucus over the Save Act to tighten up on who can vote in US elections. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana got into a shouting match with Trump at the Senate lunch on Wednesday after Trump admonished four senators, including him, for backing a resolution to rein in the war in the Middle East. Kennedy reportedly responded: “You have not told the American people what’s going on” with the war, adding afterwards to reporters: “It was supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months,” according to Politico. Continue reading...
‘Act on the evidence outside the window’: Andy Burnham urged to stick to net zero targets if he becomes PM
Mayor of Manchester is coming under pressure from some to ditch net zero targets but this could be highly damaging on many levels UK politics live – latest updates Britain’s net zero economy is booming. The sector is worth £100bn a year to the UK , has outpaced other sectors , and supports higher-paying jobs than the average. For a union leader to suggest that the man who has overseen this impressive record – the energy secretary, Ed Miliband – would be a “noose around the neck” of job creation , as Unite’s Sharon Graham has done, might seem extraordinary. Continue reading...
Detroit Lions star Terrion Arnold arrested on kidnapping, armed robbery charges
Accused of being ‘primary conspirator’ in targeted plot Florida attorney: Potential sentence is up to life in prison Team decline to comment on cornerback’s situation Detroit Lions player Terrion Arnold has been arrested in connection to a kidnapping and robbery in Florida and faces felony charges, officials said Wednesday. Arnold, 23, is accused of being the “primary conspirator” before three men in their late teens were held at gunpoint, battered and pistol-whipped in February in Tampa, the city’s police department said in a statement. Some of their belongings were stolen, police said. Continue reading...
Vehicle hits crowd in Cabo San Lucas after Mexico’s World Cup victory over Czechia
City hall confirms a car drove through crowd ‘Several people injured’ following incident A vehicle struck multiple people at a gathering in the popular tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas following Mexico’s victory in a World Cup match on Wednesday night , Los Cabos’ city hall said in a statement. “According to preliminary information, the vehicle was surrounded by a group of people and, for reasons to be determined by the competent authority, drove through the crowd, injuring several people,” city hall added. Continue reading...
Salisbury house where Skripal was poisoned with novichok up for sale
Estate agents are offering a 30% stake in former Russian spy’s house for £114,000, with the rest owned by the council The house in Salisbury where the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok is up for sale. A 30% shared ownership of the house on Christie Miller road is being offered for £114,000, with the rest being held by Wiltshire council. Continue reading...
Reform UK plan to target EU nationals based in Britain ‘absolutely outrageous’
Exclusive: Rights group says Nigel Farage’s party is reneging on promises made during the Brexit referendum campaign UK politics live – latest updates EU nationals based permanently in the UK have expressed alarm over a Reform UK plan to target their rights to accommodation and employment, saying the policy is a betrayal of promises made in the Brexit referendum 10 years ago. Under updated migration policies, Nigel Farage’s party would evict all overseas nationals from social housing and make it notably more expensive for companies to employ them, with both policies also affecting EU nationals who have settled status. Continue reading...
To protect the Iran peace talks, will Trump finally restrain Netanyahu? | Mohamad Bazzi
As long as Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon, any deal between the US and Iran will be at risk On 18 June, JD Vance stood in the White House press briefing room and tore into Israeli critics of the Iran deal that his boss, Donald Trump, had signed the previous day. The vice-president argued that Trump was the only world leader who was still sympathetic to Israel after nearly three years of wars and destruction across the Middle East. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government,” Vance said, “I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.” Vance also pointed out that, during the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, two-thirds of the defensive weapons used to protect Israel from Iranian retaliation “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”. Vance publicly scolded Israel’s leaders in a way they have rarely been criticized by a high-level US politician. And while Vance did not directly target his criticism at the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the subtext was clear: the Trump administration is willing to call out the Israeli leader for sabotaging ceasefire agreements so that he could prolong regional wars and maintain power. Mohamad Bazzi is a Guardian US columnist. He is also director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies and a journalism professor at New York University Continue reading...
Police investigating death of man on Jet2 flight from Larnaca to Manchester
Officers looking into reports the man had been ‘aggressive and disruptive’ and that passengers had restrained him A police investigation has been launched after a man on a Jet2 flight died after reportedly being restrained by passengers. A spokesperson for Greater Manchester police confirmed the death of the man, who was in his 30s. Continue reading...
Highest June minimum temperature record broken in Cardiff as ‘savage’ heatwave continues
Thermometer shows 23.5C overnight in Welsh capital as climate crisis makes such extreme temperatures more severe and more likely Europe live – latest updates A sweltering night in Cardiff has broken another new UK heat record as brutally hot conditions continue across England and Wales. Temperatures only fell to 23.5C overnight in the Welsh capital, the Met Office said, making it the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in June. The UK’s high temperature record for June is also likely to be broken on Thursday, just a day after the previous record. The heatwave, supercharged by the climate crisis, drove the temperature to 36.1C at Gosport in Hampshire on Wednesday, beating the previous record of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976. Continue reading...
Hospitals in England declare critical incidents as machines and IT fail in heat
Extreme weather breaks MRI scanners and cooling units, as workload rises for sleep-deprived staff on sweltering wards Doctors have sounded the alarm over the disastrous impact of extreme heat on the NHS in England, with radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down. The hot weather has also prompted a surge in admissions and people arriving at A&E, causing severe overcrowding in some places and exacerbating heat-related pressures on infrastructure. Continue reading...
Would-be physician assistants deterred by strict caps on US student loans
Advocates condemn change that caps loans at $20,500 per year – less than half median annual cost of PA program Strict new caps on federal student loans are causing would-be physician assistants to reconsider training, groups representing physician assistants said. An overhaul of the federal student loan system scheduled to go into effect 1 July strictly caps the annual amount of federal loans physician assistants can borrow to $20,500 per year – less than half the median annual cost of a PA program. Continue reading...
Powerful earthquakes rock Venezuela as death toll reaches 164 | First Thing
Buildings collapse after double quakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude. Plus, the apartment renters facing a tide of fees Good morning. Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has declared a state of emergency after the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes that collapsed dozens of buildings, killing at least 164 people and injuring 971 more, with experts predicting the death toll could rise still further. What do we know ? The US Geological Survey (USGS) said Venezuela had been hit by two quakes: a magnitude 7.5 “mainshock” and a 7.2 “foreshock” 39 seconds earlier. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” the USGS said. How does the damage look on the ground? Rodríguez, who confirmed the death toll, said the airport had been closed after sustaining “severe damage” and added that the metro and train systems had been halted. A Guardian reporter saw at least three buildings that had collapsed in Altamira, an upmarket area of Caracas that is home to many foreign embassies, after the quakes hit shortly after 6pm on Wednesday. This is what the company said: In a statement, Greystar told the Guardian it disagreed with the allegations in the court actions and was “actively defending” the cases. In various court filings, the company has called tenants’ legal complaints factually deficient, implausible and “futile”. In other housing news: Donald Trump abruptly cancelled his plan to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing on Wednesday, holding the bill – which passed both the House and Senate – hostage until Congress passes the Save America Act, which would impose new identification requirements on voters and curtail mail-in voting. Continue reading...
Rome airports threaten to suspend new EU passport system to avoid summer ‘disaster’
Airports CEO says letting non-EU passengers skip entry-exit system was only way to avoid peak season travel chaos Rome’s airports will have to suspend the EU’s new digital border system for non-EU citizens to avoid a “disaster” during the peak tourism summer months, according to the head of the airports company. Marco Troncone said that allowing passengers to skip the biometric entry-exit system (EES) was the only way of avoiding travel chaos over the summer amid warnings from other European airport officials. Continue reading...
Datacentres facing increase in global climate-related legal cases, report finds
LSE analysis highlights litigation linked to energy sources, water consumption and air pollution The proliferation of datacentres and AI is increasingly at the forefront of environmental litigation around the world from Chile to Ireland, a report has found. In an analysis of about 3,600 climate-related lawsuits filed since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics (LSE) found a growing number of cases challenging the energy sources, water consumption and air pollution of datacentres, all of which have related climate implications. Continue reading...
The Trump administration is calling frozen embryos children | Moira Donegan
A document on an embryo adoption program may be marginal – but it marks an escalation in the pursuit of fetal personhood The Trump administration quietly declared frozen embryos to be children last week. In a call for grant applications related to a nearly 20-year-old program meant to raise awareness about frozen embryo adoption , the Department of Health and Human Services referred to frozen embryos using the terms “child” and “children”, calling for screening standards for frozen embryo purchasers to be raised to those applied to parents seeking to adopt actual children. The document refers to frozen embryos as “children who already exist and are in need of a family”. The language is strange and conspicuous in context, even if that context itself may seem marginal: what the Trump administration has done here is change its phrasing in the guidelines for a longstanding and somewhat obscure grant program. Continue reading...
US renters call for action to combat surge of ‘take it or leave it’ apartment fees
Tenants push for tougher rules against unfair add-on charges. Industry players argue against policies that they say could limit the ‘effective use of fees’ ‘Extremely overwhelmed’: apartment renters face rising tide of fees Across the US, many renters are calling for national action to stem add-on charges that spike their housing costs and increase their risk of eviction. “The rental housing market is one where consumers have little power,” Farah Momin, a renter in Seattle, told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in April. “Landlords can impose fees through take-it-or-leave-it lease terms, and the cost/disruption of moving means that tenants may absorb unfair charges rather than leave. Federal baseline protections are needed to level this playing field.” Continue reading...
Louisiana sheriff retires after pleading guilty to beating podcaster who often criticized him
Randy Smith’s resignation was part of plea deal after attack on podcaster Bobby Couvillion at a Madisonville restaurant A suburban New Orleans sheriff who had held one of his community’s most prominent political offices for a decade has retired shortly after pleading guilty to battering a podcaster who often criticized him. Randy Smith, 61, also agreed to serve more than a year of probation after admitting to a late May beating at a steakhouse where he had bought 18 alcoholic beverages on his tab on a Friday afternoon – which all but halted his four-decade policing career. Continue reading...
World Cup: can big sports events bring us together? Recent history says yes | Margaret Sullivan
Although fleeting, sporting events have the enduring power to crumble divisions and highlight the beauty of kinship “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,” went the tagline for the long-running TV show The Wide World of Sports. We’re all familiar with those rollercoaster emotions whether we follow professional football or dabble in sandlot softball. Continue reading...
UK to halve tariff-free steel imports to counter glut of cheap Chinese metal
Duty on imports outside new quota will double in move echoed by similar changes in EU limits Business live – latest updates The UK government will halve the amount of tariff-free steel imports allowed in an attempt to counter a global oversupply of cheap Chinese metal and boost its beleaguered local industry. New “safeguards” will be introduced on 1 July and will coincide with similar new limits being introduced by the EU for the same purposes. Continue reading...
JD Vance is the face of the beleaguered Iran deal – is he its fall guy?
The vice-president, leading a foundering peace deal to end the kind war he’s opposed in the past, is left holding the bag JD Vance has taken the greatest gamble of his vice-presidency by making himself the face of the Iran ceasefire deal – a shaky agreement that already seems to be unraveling at the seams. But after months spent in limbo due to the war, it may be the best chance for him to find his feet again. Continue reading...
Bodies in Nottingham NHS trust mortuary in state of ‘advanced deterioration’, inspectors say
Human Tissue Authority says bodies not transferred to freezer in time due to insufficient storage needs Bodies in the mortuary at the NHS trust at the centre of the health services biggest ever maternity care scandal were found in a state of “advanced deterioration” due to not being transferred to a freezer in time, inspectors have said. Human Tissue Authority (HTA) inspectors who visited Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust in March Continue reading...
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis: ‘It means everything to be a Philadelphia fighter. We always find a way to win’
Ahead of Saturday’s title unification fight in Brooklyn, the unbeaten American talks about family legacy, putting on for North Philly and life as one of boxing’s most feared fighters For years, boxing’s chattering class has treated Jaron “Boots” Ennis less like a champion than a prophecy. The next great one. The future pound-for-pound king. The fighter who one day would justify the steady hype that has followed him since he emerged as a teenager from Bozy’s Dungeon in North Philadelphia as one of the country’s top amateurs. Even now, undefeated in 36 professional fights with 31 knockouts and world championships at two different weights, Ennis approaches Saturday night’s title unification bout with Xander Zayas at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in an unusual position: celebrated as one of the world’s most gifted fighters while still being discussed as though his breakthrough lies ahead. Continue reading...
Elizabeth Warren says ‘frenzy’ of mergers under Trump could be reversed
Senator warns of ‘tsunami of anger’ against big companies and suggests future administrations may undo key deals Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren has warned that corporate mergers approved by the Trump administration – including a pending deal that would put two of America’s largest news outlets under the control of a family sympathetic to the president – could be undone by a future administration. “After 2028, we’ll have new players in Washington, and everyone who’s engaged in this merger frenzy right now is aware of that,” Warren said in an interview. Continue reading...