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Politics
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On the Nomination PN930-2: Michael J. Hendershot, of Ohio, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio
Vote: Nomination Confirmed 50/44 Sen. Duckworth [D-IL]: Nay Sen. Durbin [D-IL]: Nay
H.R. 915: Small Business Technological Act of 2025
Vote: Passed 414/4 Rep. Krishnamoorthi [D-IL8]: Yea
H.R. 7401: Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act
Vote: Passed 415/0 Rep. Krishnamoorthi [D-IL8]: Yea
Yosemite visitor dies after being swept over nearly 600ft waterfall
Josue Baires Alfaro, 22, identified as victim in Nevada Fall incident that nearly claimed life of woman who tried to help A 22-year-old visitor to Yosemite national park in California died after he was swept over a 594ft-high waterfall on Saturday, officials confirmed this week. A fellow parkgoer, Freesia Gaul, was capturing a photo when she noticed the man, reportedly identified by local authorities as Josue Baires Alfaro, in the Merced River. Continue reading...
US opens second federal investigation of deadly Tesla crash into Texas home
Driver told authorities he had driver-assistance technology engaged before crash that killed 76-year-old Martha Avila The US government has opened a second federal investigation into a recent crash of a Tesla that reportedly had driver-assistance technology engaged, struck a Texas home and killed a resident. Meanwhile, the family of Martha Avila, the 76-year-old resident who was killed, has sued over the wreck . Continue reading...
Has the American project failed? Eddie Glaude Jr on the US at 250 – Stateside with Kai and Carter
As the US prepares to celebrate 250 years since its founding, Kai Wright sits down with Eddie Glaude Jr, a Princeton University professor, to talk about the conflicts at the heart of the American project. Glaude argues that Black Americans have played a vital role in establishing the country, but their presence is a constant reminder that the American fantasy – the story of a white republic – doesn’t exist. He and Kai discuss how the Trump administration has normalized white supremacist rhetoric and the myriad ways the president is trying to whitewash history. Glaude’s book America, USA: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries , is out now. 'We’re witnessing the end of the America that made our lives possible’: author Eddie Glaude on US’s 250th birthday Trump is desecrating the Lincoln memorial - a civic sacred ground Continue reading...
Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender launch new party aimed at political centre promising ‘reason over rage’
New party dubbed Community Strong Australia follows secret talks about future of community independents Teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have launched a new political party called Community Strong Australia, with the aim of providing a centrist alternative for voters amid the rise of One Nation and the turmoil inside the Coalition. The party will focus on issues including housing affordability, cost of living, climate change, childcare, education, healthcare and social cohesion, according to Steggall, the member for Warringah. Continue reading...
Australia politics live: boom in home batteries means fewer new transmission lines will be needed, models show
Aemo modelling shows electricity use will nearly double by 2050. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action. There will be plenty of politics to come but we start with good news: thanks to the recent boom in batteries connected to the national power grid, we’re going to save money on new transmission lines. That’s despite our power use being expected to nearly double in the next decade or so. Continue reading...
Morocco v Haiti: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽ Match kicks off at 6pm ET/11pm BST/8am AEST ⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Group tables | Mail Ella Where do things stand in Group C? If Morocco draw, they are guaranteed a top-two finish in Group C. To top the group, they would need to beat Haiti and then hope Scotland can either draw or beat Brazil. Continue reading...
Jacob Elordi, Jenna Ortega and Stephen Fry among new invited Oscar voters
Annual list of creatives invited to join the Academy also includes Josh O’Connor, Teyana Taylor and Jon Bernthal Jacob Elordi , Jenna Ortega and Stephen Fry are among the 529 creatives invited to join this year’s member class of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “We are delighted to invite this remarkable group of film artists and professionals from around the world to join the Academy,” said CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor in a statement. “Through their commitment to filmmaking, this year’s exceptionally talented class has made significant contributions to our global movie industry.” Continue reading...
‘We should be worried’: report sheds light on ICE’s booming arsenal of hi-tech surveillance tools
Spending on government contracts with tech firms that use AI-powered tools to track immigrants has soared to record levels under Trump 2.0, report says A new report sheds light on the unprecedented growth of the US government’s immigration surveillance arsenal, revealing fresh details about how spending on technology and AI tools to find and track migrants has soared to record levels during Donald Trump’s second term. The report, released this week, analyzed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) contracts with 11 companies the authors said provide surveillance tech. They found the money awarded to these firms doubled from 2024 to 2025, to just over $310m – and in 2026, that number soared to a record $513m. Continue reading...
Man who died in suspected murder at Peak District stone circle named by police
A 41-year-old man has been arrested after Isaac Clare-Watts, 26, found at Nine Ladies monument on Monday A 26-year-old man who died in a suspected murder during a summer solstice event at a Bronze Age stone circle has been named by police. Isaac Clare-Watts, from Nottingham, was found at the Nine Ladies stone circle in Stanton Lees in the Peak District in Derbyshire at about 1.38pm on Monday. Continue reading...
‘Horrific’ maternity care failings at Nottingham NHS trust prompt calls for public inquiry
Report uncovers biggest childbirth scandal in NHS history in which 520 mothers and babies suffered ‘potentially avoidable’ harm or died Horrific failings led to 520 mothers and babies in Nottingham suffering harm or dying, sparking calls for a public inquiry into maternity care across England. In all, 444 women and 76 newborn babies suffered “potentially avoidable” outcomes, a damning three-year long review of the biggest childbirth scandal in NHS history concluded. A “bullying and toxic culture” persisted at NUH over many years and impeded moves to improve care. Maternity service managers and the trust’s senior leaders were repeatedly warned about a host of serious problems in the maternity units at both hospitals but did not take effective action. Maternity staff displayed “a culture of not admitting women who were seeking admission in labour”, despite the risks this posed to them and their babies. Both maternity units were consistently seriously short-staffed and could not cope with the number of births and complexity of cases they had to handle. One baby girl who died early in gestation was “inadvertently disposed of as clinical waste by laboratory staff after her postmortem examination”, compounding her parents’ distress. Continue reading...
Motion to Invoke Cloture: Michael J. Hendershot to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio: Michael J. Hendershot, of Ohio, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio
Vote: Cloture Motion Agreed to 52/45 Sen. Duckworth [D-IL]: Nay Sen. Durbin [D-IL]: Nay
Shabana Mahmood’s immigration and asylum bill to go before MPs next week
Refugee charities fear controversial changes, including on forced removals and age checks, are being rushed through Shabana Mahmood’s controversial plans to increase the forced removal of people refused asylum, introduce stringent age checks for people claiming to be children and limit applications under human rights laws are scheduled to be placed before MPs within days. The immigration and asylum bill is expected to be put before parliament next Tuesday and will face opposition from some Labour, Lib Dem and independent MPs. Andy Burnham’s team, widely expected to be in No 10 within weeks, is understood to be aware of the bill and its contents. Continue reading...
Senior No 10 aides to lobby Andy Burnham to invest more than £13.5bn defence spend
Downing Street figures plan to convince Burnham to revive ‘war bonds’ when he becomes prime minister Downing Street aides are planning to lobby Andy Burnham during access talks to revive the idea of “war bonds” to pay for higher defence spending when he becomes prime minister, the Guardian understands. Senior No 10 figures want the Treasury to be allowed to borrow more for military spending and will try to convince Burnham to invest beyond the £13.5bn earmarked for the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (Dip). Continue reading...
Federal judge blocks Trump effort to make voters show proof of citizenship
Ruling is win for democracy advocates who have fought back against Trump’s push to take power over voting A US federal court blocked Donald Trump’s attempt to regulate elections via executive order, a win for democracy advocates who have fought back against the US president’s push to take power over voting. Trump issued an executive order on elections, including a documentary proof of citizenship requirement that would have necessitated that people show passports, birth certificates or other documentation when they registered to vote, or changed their registration. Continue reading...
Trump under pressure to back up claim of sabotage at reflecting pool
President’s promise of photo and video evidence of vandalism at Washington landmark yet to be fulfilled Donald Trump and the Department of the Interior are facing growing pressure to release photo and video evidence substantiating their claims of sabotage at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington. The $14.7m renovation of the landmark has descended into a farce of algae blooms, peeling paint and dead ducks just days before the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Crews have been seen erecting fencing near the area. Continue reading...
Judge orders Trump administration to explain tarp obscuring Kennedy Center
White House must report by 31 July on purpose of tarp installed while Trump’s name was stripped from building A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Donald Trump ’s administration to explain why it placed a tarp over the Kennedy Center’s facade after the Republican leader’s name was removed from the building under a court order. US district judge Christopher Cooper said the administration must report by 31 July “the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding” now in place at the iconic building. The tarp was installed as workers stripped Trump’s name in a predawn operation this month following an order from Cooper that the Trump administration unlawfully added his name to the facade in December. Continue reading...
Back on the pitch: how Burnham’s chief of staff pick reunites late-90s Labour football team
Some worry choosing James Purnell, former Demon Eyes teammate, would show Labour struggling for new talent The most powerful football team in the country is getting back together. Andy Burnham’s decision to appoint James Purnell as his chief of staff should he become prime minister will reunite not only two old friends and former Labour ministers but two of the linchpins of the famous Demon Eyes team set up in the late 1990s. Continue reading...
Pakistan police rescue French woman and children allegedly held captive by husband for 12 years
Husband arrested after Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and five children found at home in north-western province Pakistan police say they have rescued a French woman and her five children after she told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and subjected to years of domestic abuse in the country’s north-west. The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued earlier this week from a mud-brick home in Bara, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, the district police chief, Waqar Ahmad, said. Continue reading...
On the Nomination PN930-7: John George Edward Marck, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas
Vote: Nomination Confirmed 52/45 Sen. Duckworth [D-IL]: Nay Sen. Durbin [D-IL]: Nay
Exploit last North Sea oil and gas or risk mass job losses, Andy Burham urged
British Chamber of Commerce boss Shevaun Haviland says transition to clean energy could be handled better Andy Burnham should be ready to exploit the UK’s remaining North Sea oil and gas resources to avoid mass job losses in Scotland and the north-east, the director of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Shevaun Haviland, has said. The decision about whether to allow extraction at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields now appears likely to fall to a Burnham administration. Continue reading...
Member of cultlike Zizians group charged with murder of her parents
Michelle Zajko, in jail since February 2025 on other charges, has been charged in 2022 Pennsylvania killings of parents A member of the cultlike group known as Zizians, who has denied killing her parents in Pennsylvania in 2022, has been charged with murder, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Michelle Zajko, who has been jailed in Maryland on other charges since February 2025, has been charged with murder, burglary and conspiracy charges in the deaths of Rita and Richard Zajko, Delaware county district attorney Tanner Rouse said at a news conference. The prosecutor said she did not act alone. Continue reading...