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Politics
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San Diego Padres minor-league staffer detained by ICE after arrest in Texas
Family says Venezuelan has pending asylum claim DHS says 34-year-old faces removal proceedings San Diego Padres minor-league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela remained in federal immigration custody on Tuesday after being detained at an airport in El Paso, Texas, while returning from a work trip. Pirela’s family said the 34-year-old Venezuelan has a pending asylum claim and has continually renewed his work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security said he does not have legal status and will face removal proceedings. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on global inequality: extreme wealth threatens democracy | Editorial
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani shows Britain’s Andy Burnham that confronting billionaires need not mean the end of cooperation with Donald Trump In November, Californians will vote on a one-off 5% levy on residents worth more than $1bn. The union-backed plan could raise $100bn, more than enough to replace federal healthcare funding stripped away by Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act . About 200 very rich people would pay. But the referendum is becoming a test of whether extreme wealth can buy the political power to defeat a popular redistributive policy. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has already spent $100m backing opposition to the tax – a fraction of the $13bn bill he could face. Other billionaires are joining him. Whether voters can impose costs on the super-rich once their fortunes are big enough to shape the political process is now an open question. That alone should trouble any democracy. It’s a long way from Mr Brin’s west coast lair of Mountain View to Andy Burnham’s Makerfield constituency. But the prime minister should heed the call from prominent progressive academics – led by the Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz – urging Britain to join a new global push to tackle inequality. Prof Stiglitz wants help creating a new UN International Panel on Inequality (IPI). This stems from the G20’s first-ever inequality report , which warned that the yawning gap between rich and poor was a human-made crisis corroding democracy and social cohesion while blocking efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Continue reading...
US to sanction the president and a prosecutor of international criminal court
Marco Rubio announced measures against Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye, who was investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza The US will sanction the president of the international criminal court (ICC) and a prosecutor tasked with investigating crimes committed by Israel during its war on Gaza. The new sanctions designations were unveiled by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who called the Hague-based ICC a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate”, in a statement. Continue reading...
Teenager dies after falling in abandoned high-rise tower in New Orleans
Jacque St Ann, 17, and his friends broke into Plaza Tower and he fell as they were descending an interior staircase A high school student recently fell to his death after entering an abandoned high-rise tower in downtown New Orleans with his friends – in an apparent case of urban exploration highlighting the dangers of unaddressed city blight. New Orleans police said Jacque St Ann, 17, and his friends, of the nearby community of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, traveled into the city and broke into the fenced-off, 45-story Plaza Tower in the central business district, which has stood derelict for years. Continue reading...
Florida to carry out its 13th execution this year in US’s busiest death chamber
US supreme court declined to halt execution of William Frances Silvia, and state has two executions next month A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law is set to be executed on Tuesday, continuing the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty in Republican governor Ron DeSantis ’s final term. William Frances Silvia, 61, would be the 13th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, which has two more executions scheduled in September and has carried out more than half the US’s 22 executions so far in 2026. Continue reading...
Tupac Shakur murder trial: gang leader in court accused of orchestrating 1996 killing of rap star
Duane Davis is only man ever charged in relation to drive-by shooting of Shakur in Las Vegas What we know about Tupac Shakur’s death and what to expect from murder trial If you’re catching up now on what’s happened so far in th Tupac Shakur murder trial in Las Vegas, here is video of key evidence presented to the Las Vegas jury yesterday: The court heard brief testimony from Thomas Kern , who was a crime scene analyst for the Las Vegas police department in 1996, who was present at the autopsy of Tupac Shakur, and is authenticating evidence from the autopsy. Kern did not face any cross-examination. Continue reading...
Penn State students accused of running cocaine trafficking ring at fraternity houses
Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi were off campus, with Delta Upsilon placed on interim probation More than a dozen Penn State University students ran a cocaine trafficking ring that cut and packaged the potent drug mainly at two fraternity houses, authorities said on Monday. The Pennsylvania attorney general, Dave Sunday, announced charges on Monday against 14 people linked to the purported operation, saying it involved “primarily college students and two fraternities”. The drugs were “distributed mainly to Penn State … students”, Sunday’s office contended in statements that caused waves far beyond the research university’s campus community. Continue reading...
Death and alleged torture of man in detention sparks protests in Syria
Picture showing White Helmets volunteer unconscious and with bruises on his body went viral Syrians have protested over the death of a man who was arrested and allegedly beaten by security forces, sparking widespread anger at a practice thought to have ended under the regime of Bashar al-Assad. A crowd gathered in the city of Aleppo, demanding accountability for the security forces who carried out the alleged torture, with participants holding signs and slogans such as: “Do not repeat the same oppression that we revolted against.” Protests were also planned to take place in front of Syria’s parliament in Damascus on Tuesday, as well. Continue reading...
Russia threatens UK over supplying drones to Ukraine — The Latest
Russia has threatened the UK with ‘consequences’ after reports that British drones were used by Ukraine to strike targets on Russia’s mainland for the first time. The Ministry of Defence has rebuffed these threats, saying the UK is ‘committed to providing equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against Putin’s illegal invasion’. Annie Kelly speaks to senior international correspondent Luke Harding – watch on YouTube Luke’s new book Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest will be published next week Continue reading...
Things get even more tricky for Dicky Tice, the Reform deputy with lots of cash but zero self-awareness
Telling the country to enjoy the heat while it burns, you have to wonder if Tice has lost all sense of reality These are the doggiest of dog days. Times when hours turn into days and almost nothing happens in between. Days of precious R&R, when only a few politicians venture out, and then only to fend off accusations they are doing next to nothing and prove they are still alive. Much like the rest of us. The silliest days of the silly season. Days that are made for men like Richard Tice. There are some politicians who have the gift of sounding as if they know what they are talking about. There are those who you suspect are bullshitting but still give the benefit of the doubt. Then there are the ones you only have to look at to know they are completely clueless in every way. Never within the same postcode as plausibility. A walking miracle because somehow they have managed to persuade their party association and constituency voters that what they really need is someone who is visibly dim and incompetent. August gives us space to celebrate these men and women. None more so than Dicky. The apex male of stupidity. The idiot’s idiot. Continue reading...
Rebecca Hendin on Richard Tice and the climate crisis – cartoon
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Christopher Berry-Dee dropped by publisher after allegations of abuse made against him
Bonnier Books will no longer publish UK’s top-selling true crime author following Guardian investigation The main publisher of the bestselling true crime writer Christopher Berry-Dee has dropped the author following a Guardian investigation into allegations of violence and sexual abuse against him, which he denies. Waterstones has also removed his books from sale. “We are shocked and appalled by the very serious allegations relating to Christopher Berry-Dee, and our thoughts are with those affected,” said the publisher Bonnier Books in a statement to the Guardian. Continue reading...
PBS should fund drug to treat breast cancer, endometriosis and gender dysphoria, experts recommend
Triptorelin, already listed for prostate cancer, should have unrestricted use, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The federal government should fund treatment for thousands of women with breast cancer or endometriosis, and children with gender dysphoria, according to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme’s advisory committee. The committee met urgently in July in response to AstraZeneca’s announcement it would remove Zoladex from the market, risking leaving more than 7,500 women with breast cancer without an alternative treatment. Continue reading...
Heavy rain forecast will not reverse widespread drought conditions in UK
Forecasters say intense showers might cause flooding as rain falls on dry, hard ground Floods and drought could hit the UK at the same time this week, with heavy rain forecast to fall on hard, parched soil. While some parts of the UK will have the “first meaningful rain for a long time” in the coming days, it will not reverse widespread drought conditions that have put pressure on wildlife, farmers, firefighters and water resources. Continue reading...
UK risks running out of gas by 2030s, ministers told
Government assessment warns of supply shock that could leave homes and businesses without gas within a decade Great Britain risks running out of gas in the 2030s despite its growing clean energy sources, unless ministers take “unprecedented” action to guard against a future gas supply shock, according to an official assessment of the country’s gas security. The government is considering plans to provide direct financial support to safeguard the country’s ageing gas infrastructure after a consultation found that a “high stress scenario” could mean homes and businesses run out of gas within the next decade. Continue reading...
Labour urges Gambling Commission to investigate firms linked to Reform UK donors
Bridget Phillipson writes to watchdog asking it to look into claims Tether.bet and Fispay operated without a licence The Gambling Commission has been urged to investigate claims that companies linked to Reform UK donors and allies of Nigel Farage have been operating without a licence. The Labour party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, has written to the watchdog asking it to look into Tether.bet, a Montenegro-based gambling company, and Fispay, a UK company owned by Reform’s data protection officer, Mowbray Jackson. Whether Tether.bet, and its operators, provided or advertised remote gambling facilities to consumers in UK without the required licence Whether Fispay Ltd, or any other UK company, provided or supported gambling facilities or services to consumers in the UK without the required licence.” Continue reading...
What is behind Russia’s ‘consequences’ threat over UK sending drones to Ukraine?
Britain has supplied more militarily significant munitions to Kyiv before but there are political reasons for Moscow’s remarks Europe live – latest updates Russia’s embassy in London has accused the UK of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically professing a desire for peace” after it emerged over the weekend that Britain was supplying attack drones to Kyiv. Continue reading...
Philippine school shooter kills fellow student and himself in livestreamed attack
Country’s second fatal school shooting in two months took place in southern city of Zamboanga A student livestreamed himself shooting and killing another pupil in a classroom in the southern Philippines before taking his own life, the second school attack in the country in less than two months. The shooting took place at a school attached to Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the southern city of Zamboanga, a Catholic private institution in western Mindanao. Zamboanga city’s mayor, Khymer Adan Olaso, told the DZMM radio station that the shooter “managed to enter carrying a high-powered firearm and a .45-calibre pistol”. Continue reading...
Trump administration pursues Kilmar Ábrego García on previously dismissed charges
Attorneys for Ábrego, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, say the DoJ’s appeal was ‘flat wrong’ The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to reinstate criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García that were dismissed in May by a judge who said the prosecution of the man who unwittingly became a symbol of the White House’s mass deportation campaign was “vindictive in nature”. In a filing to the US sixth circuit court of appeals, the justice department (DoJ) insisted that human smuggling allegations against Ábrego are genuine – and not retaliation for challenging his wrongful deportation to El Salvador in March 2025. Continue reading...
One person dead and more than 200 ill in UK salmonella outbreak
UKHSA rules out British produce as source of infections and says evidence points to consumption of imported eggs One person has died and more than 200 others have fallen ill during a UK-wide outbreak of salmonella that health officials have linked to the consumption of imported eggs. The 207 people affected range in age from under one year to 90 years old, according to the UK Health Security Agency , which is leading an investigation into the outbreak. Continue reading...
ABC sues Trump’s media regulator over ‘politically motivated’ license renewals
Network alleges FCC demand for early license renewal is retaliation for content the administration disapproves of After being forced to apply early to renew its license to broadcast on the eight local television stations it owns, ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that it is being retaliated against for content-based reasons. The network filed the lawsuit on Tuesday while it waits to hear whether the Brendan Carr-led FCC approves its renewal requests, or, more likely, holds a hearing on their merits. Continue reading...
Revealed: Toby Young free speech group crowdfunded over £60,000 for legal case fought by pro-bono lawyer
Staff members said Free Speech Union would “need to explain” how it spent money donated by its supporters Staff at a campaign group that claims to defend free speech in Britain said it would “need to explain” how it spent roughly £60,000 that was crowdfunded for a legal case that was ultimately fought by a pro bono lawyer. The Free Speech Union (FSU), an activist group founded by Conservative life peer Toby Young, last year took up the case of Julian Foulkes, a 71-year-old retired police officer who had been arrested 18 months earlier after writing a social media post about antisemitism Continue reading...
Scientists who turned to OnlyFans to fund marmot research receive crypto boost
Funding boost worth $100,000 has recently materialized in form of new marmot-themed cryptocurrency Scientists who turned to OnlyFans to help save long-running research into marmots have raised more than $100,000 after harnessing the support of another, very modern, funding avenue – cryptocurrency. The 60-year project of continuous study of marmots – stout, ground-dwelling rodents that are the largest members of the squirrel family – across the US west was facing termination following science funding cuts imposed by Donald Trump’s administration. Continue reading...
Phyllida Law, prolific performer across stage and screen, dies aged 94
As adept at comedy and musicals as she was drama, Law acted alongside daughters Emma and Sophie in a career spanning eight decades Phyllida Law, whose prolific acting career encompassed a wide range of stage, TV and film roles – a number of which were alongside her daughters Emma and Sophie Thompson – has died aged 94. Her personal manager Jacky Leggo said in a statement that she “died supremely peacefully at home, surrounded by all of her family”. Born in Glasgow in 1932, Law was accepted at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre school – initially intending to be a stage designer but then switching to acting. She appeared in a number of Bristol Old Vic productions in the 1950s, and it was there she met Eric Thompson, a fellow actor, whom she married in 1957. Continue reading...