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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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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...
EasyJet opens talks with Castlelake after rejecting £4.9bn takeover offer
British carrier says it hopes to receive ‘more attractive proposal that better reflects’ its value Business live – latest updates EasyJet has opened talks with Castlelake, despite rejecting a fourth takeover offer worth £4.9bn from the US investment firm, with the airline saying it would open its books in the hope of receiving a higher bid. The British budget carrier unanimously rejected the latest proposal, of 650p a share, saying it still “substantially” undervalued the company while flagging “significant questions of deliverability”. Continue reading...
Reeves backs Burnham to be PM despite reports she may be offered only junior role
Allies of Reeves lobby to keep her as chancellor as the ‘stable’ choice while Wes Streeting and Ed Miliband also in the picture UK politics live – latest updates Rachel Reeves has given her support to Andy Burnham to be the next prime minister, despite reports that she is likely to be moved out of the role of chancellor if he becomes the next Labour leader. The chancellor told the BBC she and Burnham were friends and did not appear to rule out accepting a more junior cabinet position. “I’m supporting Andy to be prime minister,” she said. Continue reading...
Hot Mess and Acid’s Reign: the romcom and queer cabaret spotlighting climate crisis
A blooming new wave of musical theatre is exploring the plight of the planet with a playful and hopeful approach Earth is a single woman with a lot to give; Humanity is a charismatic bad boy who turns out to be an inveterate taker. Their toxic relationship is told in Hot Mess , a musical created by Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, which works both as an eccentric romcom with broad commercial appeal and a serious analogy for our abuse of the once fecund, now depleted planet. A hot ticket at the Edinburgh fringe last summer and now on in London, it is at the vanguard of a newly blooming genre of musicals about the environmental crisis. The RSC’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind uses exuberant song and dance for the true story of a teenager who builds a wind turbine from an old bicycle in drought-ridden Malawi. Bryony Kimmings’ Bog Witch is a one-woman show with music and standup about the plight of the planet, while in New York the folk-pop musical Dear Everything was a response to climate emergency co-written by V (formerly Eve Ensler) and narrated by Jane Fonda. Meanwhile, in the West End hit Hadestown , hell is strewn with empty oil drums. Continue reading...
How a ‘naive’ Mauricio Pochettino’s lowest moments turned the USMNT into World Cup darlings
The former Tottenham coach experienced three body blows early in his tenure with the US, each contributing to the solid World Cup to come Tears welled in Mauricio Pochettino’s eyes. His US team had just lost the 2025 Gold Cup final in a hard-fought match to determine the regional crown. To make matters worse they had been beaten by Mexico, their arch-rivals. Were they tears of sadness, of frustration at the result? Perhaps in part. But as Pochettino explained this week, these were also tears of empathy for his players. They had just played a tournament final. In Houston, one of the largest metro areas in the United States. Continue reading...
Europe braced for another day of extreme heat as warnings issued across UK, France and Italy – live
UK June heat record could be broken for the second consecutive day Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said there had been an “increase in mortality” in the capital owing to the heatwave, without giving any figures, AFP reported. He said “pretty much all our indicators are in a critical state” , including calls to emergency medical services, calls to the fire brigade, ER admissions, and deaths, he told local TV. Continue reading...
Reeves hints she accepts Burnham will not keep her as chancellor – UK politics live
Reeves refused to say whether she would accept a more junior job in cabinet if Burnham offered her one Good morning. Rachel Reeves now seems to resigned to losing her job as chancellor when Andy Burnham becomes PM, probably three weeks tomorrow. She had reportedly been angling to stay in post, but she has given an interview to the BBC with a tone that is distinctly valedictory. Reeves says she is backing Burnham to be the next PM. Asked why she did not stand in Downing Street to hear Keir Starmer’s resignation speech on Monday, but did turn up in Westminster Hall for a photocall with Burnham with other Labour MPs, she did not offer an explanation, but said her loyalty to Starmer had never been in doubt. She also said she was proud of her record. I know that whoever is prime minister and chancellor in the future will inherit a stronger economy than the one I inherited two years ago. Those are the choices that the new prime minister, I hope Andy Burnham, will get to make in a few weeks time. I’m not going to pre-empt those. It is his prerogative as prime minister to make those appointments. Continue reading...
‘More relevant than making fires’: Explorer Scouts launch badges for AI and digital age
Content creation and online safety among new topics for 14- to 18-year-olds – but tweaks may be needed when social media ban comes in Scouts are introducing badges in content creation, digital communication and online safety after consulting nearly 3,000 teenagers who said they wanted skills to help them navigate a world increasingly shaped by AI, social media and digital technology. The new Explorer Scout badges, part of the Scout movement’s first major overhaul in almost 25 years, will require 14- to 18-year olds to explore how digital communities shape opinion, create online campaigns, investigate digital footprints and design toolkits to help others stay safe online. Continue reading...
Oil price falls to pre-Iran war levels as more tankers exit strait of Hormuz
Fears of long-lasting energy crunch ‘slinking away’ as vessel traffic doubled in 24 hours to highest level since late February Business live – latest updates Oil prices have fallen below levels seen before the Iran war started in late February as more oil tankers exited the strait of Hormuz. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell to a low of $72.24 a barrel on Thursday, slightly lower than the day before the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Tehran on 28 February. Prices have fallen more than 20% this month. Continue reading...
Sydney shark attack survivor awake and alert and ‘remembers the whole event in detail’, brother says
Australian woman Leah Stewart no longer in critical condition but doesn’t yet have use of her hand A woman who was attacked by a shark at Sydney’s Coogee’s beach is no longer in a critical condition and “remembers the whole event in detail”, her brother has said. Leah Stewart’s brother, Joshua, provided the update on a fundraising site on Thursday, writing that it was “amazing to hear from her so much sooner than anyone expected” and she had been “overjoyed” to see her daughter for the first time since the incident almost two weeks ago . Continue reading...
Britain has become addicted to pressing the ‘new PM’ button – and I don’t see how Burnham avoids it | Jonathan Liew
He’s almost certain to become the UK’s seventh leader in a decade. And with the rightwing press and the algorithm against him, he’s basically a meat sacrifice Current state of British democracy: the guy who puts out the resignation lectern in front of No 10 is now so familiar that he has become a meme. On the internet, they call him Hot Podium Guy . William Hague’s old line about the Tory party being “an autocracy moderated by regicide” is now basically true of the country as a whole. And so out Keir Starmer strides to give a speech that, in the grand tradition of Starmer oratory, occupies the curious liminal space between the instantly forgettable and the barely existent. What might comprise a Davina-style supercut of Starmer’s best bits? The time he described us as an “ island of strangers ”, or blurted out that Israel had the right to starve Gaza of food and water? When your most memorable quotes were so poorly judged, perhaps it might be best for everyone if you put the microphone down for a while. Not everyone is a natural public speaker, which on one level, of course, is fine. What Starmer craved above all was a task , a clear set of instructions and a solution. To him the British state was essentially an item of flatpack furniture: insert legislation A into complex social problem B, screw voter demographic C as tightly as possible, and if in doubt, call the handy 24-hour helpline to speak to Morgan . Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
‘I was miserable at my old school’: UK social media ban puts spotlight on hybrid learning
Pupils say LPS Hybrid’s combination of remote and in-person classes has transformed their school experience Two years ago, Ellie Ball could barely bring herself to attend school. Today, the 16-year-old is planning to take four A-levels and hopes to study astrolaw – “It’s basically space law,” she explains – at university. The transformation happened largely through a screen. Continue reading...
Thursday briefing: Why EU-Taliban talks have sparked outrage among Afghan women
In today’s newsletter: Amid rising anti‑immigration rhetoric across Europe, the decision to engage with the Taliban signals a profound shift in how the EU balances security and human rights Good morning. It’s a slap in the face. That’s the phrase I kept hearing – in furious overnight messages, in blazing opinion columns – as Afghan women responded to the meeting between EU officials and the Taliban that took place in Brussels on Tuesday. The talks, to discuss how to scale up the deportation of Afghan migrants, were met with widespread outrage, and disbelief that Europe would countenance offering legitimacy to a regime that affords a bird better protections than a woman . World news | Venezuela’s interim leader has declared a state of emergency after the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes that collapsed dozens of buildings and killed at least 32 people, with experts warning the death toll could rise significantly. Heatwave | The UK has broken its all-time temperature record for June and France has recorded its hottest day ever for the second day running, as a heatwave affecting more than 90 million people sweeps across swathes of Europe. UK politics | Donald Trump has labelled Andy Burnham “extremely liberal”, in his first public comments about the former Greater Manchester mayor since he emerged as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer. Europe news | The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in France , the country’s health ministry has said, in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission to an area affected by the outbreak in the DRC. UK news | A little-known system in which US military personnel are tried through a court martial for alleged crimes committed in the UK is under growing scrutiny . Continue reading...
‘I hear he’s extremely liberal’: Trump offers first comments on Andy Burnham
The US president told reporters the former Manchester mayor ‘probably won’t open up the North Sea’ for oil exploration Donald Trump has labelled Andy Burnham “extremely liberal”, in his first public comments about the former Greater Manchester mayor since he emerged as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer. The US president told reporters Burnham “probably won’t open up the North Sea” for oil exploration, and that “the UK is dying”, signalling that the newly elected Labour MP could face a rocky relationship with Trump. Continue reading...
Fortescue class action: female workers claim sexual harassment at remote mine sites
One woman says she found man in her room at WA fly-in, fly-out accommodation while another states she was ‘howled’ at, federal court told Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue is facing a class action lawsuit from female workers over allegations of systemic sexual harassment, violence and retaliation at the iron ore miner’s remote work sites. The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Victoria on Thursday, includes an allegation that a woman was pulled into a dark alley where a man “tried to stick his tongue down my throat”. Continue reading...
How the US bypasses British courts to try its military over crimes in the UK
Even sexual assault or paedophilia cases are heard by US courts martial, using an obscure 1951 agreement A US fighter pilot strangled a woman in England. Why did it end in a ‘degrading’ military trial? A little-known system in which US military personnel are tried through a court martial for alleged crimes committed in the UK is under growing scrutiny. There are more than 12,000 US personnel stationed on at least 15 US military bases and facilities in the UK . With the exception of Lossiemouth in Scotland, all the bases are in England. Continue reading...
It’s not the bond markets Andy Burnham should be afraid of. It’s his own MPs | Aditya Chakrabortty
To stay popular with the public – and his backbenchers – he’ll need to make big changes fast. That means changing the way the government borrows A Labour leader arrives, shirt and smile ironed into place, in his hands a big idea. He has polished one slogan, prepped three anecdotes, memorised eight bullet points. He wants more cash for vital services, or workers to have a stake in their employers, or to take some utility into public control. Not so big an idea, really, but, right on cue, the attacks come from almost every side – breathless lobby reporters, sententious columnists, zombie Blairites . And they all agree on one fatal thing: the bond markets will never wear it. The death sentence having been pronounced, all that remains for the politician’s proposal is a pauper’s funeral. Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
‘It’s like a furnace’: French struggle with heat-trap homes as climate inequality grows
Many of France’s buildings are not designed for hot weather – and low-income housing estates are suffering the worst Living in a sweltering, seventh-floor flat on a concrete housing estate south of Paris, Samira said she was feeling desperate as France experienced its highest temperatures on record this week. “Yesterday I sat down and cried, I thought I’m going to die,” said the 35-year-old single parent and former building caretaker. Her flat in Ris-Orangis in Essonne is, like millions of apartments in France, poorly insulated and lacking in outside window shutters. “Blazing sun hits my windows all day – I can’t breathe, I feel dizzy, there is no air,” she said. Continue reading...
Only Donald Trump could make America’s special 250th birthday all about him
The milestone called for the epic vision of a JFK or the soaring oratory of a Barack Obama. Instead it got a Trump rally If that’s the way America celebrates its birthday, you would not want to be present at its funeral. The shining city on a hill is losing some of its lustre these days. The land that promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is struggling to deliver. A milestone anniversary like 250 years of independence calls for the epic vision of a John F Kennedy, the immaculate timing of a Ronald Reagan or the soaring oratory of a Barack Obama. What it got instead on Wednesday was an 80-year-old convicted criminal who appeared in Home Alone 2 and seems hellbent on dividing the nation. Continue reading...
Karl Stefanovic won’t appear on Friday radio show with Eddie McGuire amid Tommy Robinson interview fallout
Nine Entertainment is expected to sever ties with the Today show host but is yet to make details of the separation public Karl Stefanovic won’t appear on his scheduled Friday afternoon radio show with Eddie McGuire after widespread criticism of his podcast interview with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Stefanovic only recently signed the deal with ARN Media to co-host The Long Weekend nationally on Gold FM, but the threat of an advertising boycott has led to the contract being reviewed, Guardian Australia understands. Continue reading...