section
Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
3731 stories archived
The weirdest things a leak revealed about Peter Thiel’s secret club | Tayo Bero
The Dialog society grades its attendees on a hidden scale, tackles issues from sex to world wars, and offers matchmaking What would happen if roughly 200 members of the global elite gathered every year for a top secret retreat? What would they do? What would they talk about? Who would be on the guest list? Well, data leaked by the Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew (who also brought us the justice department’s no-fly list back in 2023) is shedding new light on Dialog , the private social club co-created by the former PayPal boss Peter Thiel and the angel investor Auren Hoffman. Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Farm workers at high risk amid screwworm outbreak in US south-west
Those who work with animals are at greater risk for infection, but face challenges in accessing healthcare Agricultural workers are among the highest risk group for human infection during the screwworm outbreak in the American south, yet they frequently face challenges in accessing public health – an ongoing concern amid zoonotic spillovers such as H5N1 bird flu. Screwworm has been detected in goats and sheep in three Texas counties in recent days, bringing the total to 16 known cases among animals and none reported in people. Continue reading...
Louis Vuitton brings the beach to Paris in near 40C heat
Pharrell Williams’s menswear collection had a surf theme, while Saint Laurent models wore skinny suits In temperatures close to 40C, most of Paris would have loved to go to the beach this week. Guests at the Louis Vuitton show got the look at least – the ground was covered with sand and there was a huge artificial wave as a backdrop. The menswear collection, designed by Pharrell Williams, had a surf theme. There were branded wetsuits, Ugg-style boots and the chunky knits surfers wear at the end of a day. There were some jumpers and slouchy suiting, but the active lifestyle idea took centre stage with board shorts, caps, skate-style sneakers and a gilet. Some models carried surfboards branded with the Louis Vuitton logo and the final look was a model in a monogram wetsuit carrying a bike on his shoulder. Continue reading...
Meta pauses employee tracker for AI training amid privacy concerns
Workers signed petition against tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and computer screen content Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash. The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens in order to collect data for training its AI models. Continue reading...
Israel continues to commit genocide by targeting children in Gaza, UN inquiry finds | First Thing
Palestinian children ‘deliberately targeted and killed’, report’s chair says. Plus, Mamdani-backed candidates sweep NYC Democratic primaries Good morning. Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an independent UN inquiry has found . What does the report say? That Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. “The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, said in a statement accompanying the report . How has Israel ’s government reacted? The Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel rejected the commission’s “libellous sham”. The country has fought hard against allegations of genocide, while receiving critical diplomatic support from its allies including the US and the UK. What about legal and rights experts? A significant body of research has concluded that Israel is intent on destroying Palestinians, including analyses by UN investigators, rights bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch , and genocide scholars worldwide. Which Mamdani allies won their primaries? Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated the Democratic representative Dan Goldman; Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of Nydia Velázquez, who is retiring; and Darializa Avila Chevalier, a public defense investigator, toppled Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the congressional Hispanic caucus. Continue reading...
Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier wins Democratic NYC primary – video
The public defence investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the Hispanic caucus in Congress, in the diverse 13th congressional district, which covers Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. Chevalier was backed by the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who had a clean sweep with wins from Brad Lander and Claire Valdez meaning all three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City Continue reading...
London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley named as first focus of grooming gangs inquiry
Inquiry will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they did or did not do to protect children from sexual abuse London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley will be the first towns and cities investigated by an independent grooming gangs inquiry, it was announced on Wednesday. The independent inquiry into grooming gangs has confirmed that its three-part hearings will investigate Whitehall departments and politicians alongside local councils, the NHS and national police institutions. Continue reading...
Children’s watchdog rebukes Home Office plan to crackdown on refused asylum seekers
Proposals including use of force on minors will cause ‘significant harm’, says England Children’s Commissioner Shabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families – including those with children receiving ongoing medical treatment – to leave the UK should not be implemented as proposed. Continue reading...
‘One in, one out’ deal on Channel crossings to end in October, French reports say
Controversial agreement under which UK can return people who arrive by small boat will reportedly not be extended The “one in, one out” agreement on cross-Channel migration between the UK and France is due to end in October, according to French media reports. Under the terms of the deal, asylum seekers who arrive in the UK in a small boat can be forcibly returned to France, in exchange for others in France who have not tried to cross the Channel being brought to the UK legally. Continue reading...
‘We’re witnessing the end of the America that made our lives possible’: author Eddie Glaude on US’s 250th birthday
Glaude’s new book shows political turmoil historically reaching its boiling point around Fourth of July celebrations “The mere presence of Black people at the Fourth of July celebrations, acting as if freedom belonged to them, exposed the lie at the heart of this ritual of remembrance by the nation: ours was not a nation committed to liberty and equality.” So goes the second chapter of the author Eddie S Glaude Jr’s latest book America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries. The Princeton University professor’s new text illustrates how political turmoil has historically reached a boiling point around celebrations of the nation’s founding on the Fourth of July. The text is especially relevant now as the United States approaches its 250th birthday. Throughout the book, Glaude argues that since the very beginning, Black Americans have played a vital role in establishing this country. Their presence is a constant reminder that the mythological America – one of a white republic – does not exist. Celebrations of the nation’s founding, he says, reinforce myth-making at the expense of the truth. They’re treated as sacrosanct events, thus justifying the sanitization of the nation’s brutal history. Continue reading...
Why off-duty cops in second jobs ‘kill and die more’ in recession-hit Argentina
Growing number of cases involve police working as rideshare drivers while carrying government-issued guns When the gap between his salary and his family’s basic expenses began widening dramatically, Diego – like many other Argentinians – started working as a rideshare driver on top of his day job. He usually does a few hours at the end of his 12-hour shift; and more on his days off. It would be just another story from recession-ridden Argentina, but for the fact that Diego is a federal police officer. Continue reading...
Record profits, terrible service: something’s got to give for US consumers
Experts say consolidation and market power have left consumers paying more for less How do people in the US describe customer service in 2026? When Delta Airlines charged Marie Duggan, an economic historian visiting Oaxaca, Mexico, $1,200 to change a scheduled flight to the United States, she was so angry she cancelled and booked a cross-border nighttime bus ride instead. Duggan thought Delta’s price increase to fly to Phoenix instead of San Francisco, at twice the price of a one-way flight to Phoenix, was an insult and a rip-off. So she took a $250 flight on Aeromexico to Hermosillo, in the north-western state of Sonora, and then a $59 bus across the Mexico border. Continue reading...
Mamdani-backed candidates win big in New York Democratic primaries – US politics live
Three congressional candidates endorsed by Mamdani win in clear sign of New York mayor’s growing influence Elsewhere in New York, Jack Schlossberg , the grandson of John F Kennedy , was unsuccessful in his bid to revive the political legacy of the US’s most vaunted political family and win in a race dominated by money from AI-focused Super Pacs. Longtime New York politician Micah Lasher won the primary in New York’s 12th district, beating out Kennedy and George Conway , the Republican turned vocal Trump critic, among others in a crowded field of Democrats hoping to succeed the long-serving representative Jerry Nadler . Continue reading...
‘Battle hardened’ Ukraine has role to play in defending Europe, says ex-Nato chief
Country is ‘militarily the strongest in Europe’, says Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who wants coalition ready in case US pulls troops The US’s attitude to the defence of Europe has changed permanently and a European coalition of the willing, including Ukraine, should be established to defend the continent, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Nato secretary general, has said. A coalition of the willing compromising 45 states is already in theory poised to act as a reassurance and training force inside Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement with Russia. Continue reading...
Israeli former leaders and security chiefs threaten legal action over ‘Jewish terrorism’
Leaked letter to PM and military demands action to stop violence against Palestinians in occupied West Bank Dozens of Israelis from the country’s security, political and cultural elite have threatened legal action against their government over support for Jewish terrorism and an “ideology of ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank , according to a leaked letter. Two former prime ministers, former heads of all Israeli security services, former judges, a Nobel laureate and the country’s most revered living novelist were among the signatories to a “final warning” over violence against Palestinians. Continue reading...
Nottingham maternity care scandal review: what are the key findings?
Review of 2,500 cases between 2012 and 2015 finds ‘systemic’ and ‘deep-rooted’ failures, a bullying culture and racism More than 500 mothers and babies died or were harmed at ‘toxic’ Nottingham NHS trust, report finds ‘Truly horrific’: the stories of five people affected A review into the NHS’s biggest ever maternity care scandal has been published. Led by Donna Ockenden, an independent senior midwife, the review examined 2,500 cases involving mothers and babies dying or being seriously injured, or babies being stillborn, while under the care of Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust between 2012 and 2015. Below is a summary of the findings from the report. Continue reading...
More than 500 mothers and babies died or were harmed at ‘toxic’ Nottingham NHS trust, report finds
Donna Ockenden inquiry finds ‘bullying’ culture and ‘cruel’, dismissive attitude to women contributed to avoidable deaths Ockenden report: latest updates Key findings from maternity scandal report ‘Truly horrific’: five stories from the scandal More than 500 mothers and babies came to harm or died as a result of inadequate care in Nottingham, an inquiry into the NHS’s biggest ever maternity scandal has revealed. A total of 444 women and 76 newborn babies suffered “potentially avoidable” outcomes because they received substandard treatment over 13 years from Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust (NUH), a damning report led by the childbirth expert Donna Ockenden has found. 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...
Australian citizen working as spy for Iran ‘orchestrated’ Bondi firebombing, Asio boss says
Mike Burgess’s annual threat assessment warns social media is ‘amplifying’ an erosion of trust in institutions, promoting discord and heightening polarisation Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Australian citizen working as a senior intelligence officer for Iran “orchestrated” a firebombing in Bondi, the country’s top spy has revealed, while a former Australian resident in Iraq directed the attack on a Melbourne synagogue. The homegrown ties to Australia’s “summer of antisemitism” are contained in a wide-ranging speech given by Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (Asio) director general, Mike Burgess, on Wednesday night, in which he said the “hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all the violent extremist cohorts have in common”. Continue reading...
Ockenden report live: largest maternity review in NHS history to be published
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden investigated stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths, and babies or mothers who suffered brain damage and other injuries ‘Truly horrific’: five stories from the NHS maternity scandal The report of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS is due to be published today and is expected to outline widespread failings in the care provided to women in Nottingham. As previously reported by the Guardian, the report will reveal a catalogue of appalling behaviour over many years by staff at the city’s two hospitals – Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham city hospital – including racism towards mothers. Continue reading...
UK warehouse landlord Segro rejects £12.6bn takeover offer from US rival
FTSE 100 firm says Prologis all-share proposal turned down as it falls long way short of its own views on value The UK warehouse landlord Segro is at the centre of the latest transatlantic takeover battle after rejecting a £12.6bn takeover approach from the US rival Prologis. Prologis has gone public with its offer for the FTSE 100 company after it was “unequivocally rejected” by Segro’s board on Tuesday despite valuing the company at almost 25% more than its market value at that day’s close. Continue reading...
‘Extremely overwhelmed’: apartment renters face rising tide of fees
Guardian investigation: Renters at apartment buildings operated by industry giant Greystar complain they’re deluged by ‘unfair’ and ‘inflated’ fees. The company denies these claims Tenants at apartment complexes operated by Greystar, the largest owner and manager of apartments in the US, don’t just pay rent. They pay a mass of fees that many renters have never heard of before. These add-ons include “boiler management fees”, “variable refrigerant flow fees”, “solar rebill” fees, even “lifestyle fees”. Continue reading...
Is the world about to be overrun by trans mice? Not if congresswoman Nancy Mace has anything to do with it | Arwa Mahdawi
Mace’s TRANS MICE Act is designed to end ‘radical transgender-related experiments on animals’. But is this all a stupid misunderstanding? First they came for your children. As Donald Trump has claimed without evidence (because facts are woke), US schoolkids have been getting gender-reassignment surgery in between classes. “Can you imagine you’re a parent and … you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation,” Trump said during a rally in 2024 . “What the hell is wrong with our country?” Now it seems the woke brigade has come for poor little mice. According to Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace, who once called herself “Trump in high heels”, American taxpayers are funding transgender rodents. Last week Mace, who is leaving politics next year after coming last in her state’s Republican primary for governor, promoted a new bill called the TRANS MICE Act , designed to “put an end to the use of taxpayer dollars for radical transgender-related experiments on animals”. Continue reading...
What are Trump’s connections to the Tate brothers exactly? | Rebecca Solnit
According to Heidi Blake in the New Yorker, the Tate and Trump circles have overlapped at Mar-a-Lago. What does that mean? Donald Trump has told many stories and denied many others about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. But those questions center on Epstein’s actions and crimes, which Trump says he denounces and wasn’t a part of . The White House has moved heaven, earth, the truth and much else to protect Trump from what the Epstein files might tell us about him. But there is a larger question about what Trump makes of Epstein’s values. Does he reject them, or does he endorse and embrace them? Looking to his administration’s ties to Andrew Tate may be instructive. According to Heidi Blake’s thorough investigation of Tate in the New Yorker earlier this month, the Trump administration intervened last year to buffer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan from the consequences of their criminal charges in Romania. The Tate and Trump circles, she also reports, have overlapped at Mar-a-Lago. Continue reading...
Louisiana man becomes first in state functionally cured of sickle cell disease
Daniel Cressy, 23, says path leading to completion of curative gene therapy is his ‘greatest blessing’ A young south-eastern Louisiana man recently became the first person in his region to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease, clearing the way for him to continue pursuing his dream of a career as a commercial pilot, according to his medical team. Daniel Cressy’s successful completion of curative gene therapy at Manning Family Children’s hospital in New Orleans on Monday generated a measure of optimism within his state, which produces more cases of sickle cell disease per capita than any other in the US, according to the medical center . Continue reading...