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Politics
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Will Trump’s next press secretary be a better liar than the first five?
As Karoline Leavitt plans to step down, it’s apparent how the president above all values a readiness to twist the truth As Karoline Leavitt prepares to step down from her role as Donald Trump ’s fifth White House press secretary, a brief review of her tenure , and that of her predecessors, makes clear that the most fabulist president in US history prizes one quality above all else in the women and men who speak for him: a willingness to tell outrageous lies. Leavitt started her tenure by telling a wild falsehood at her very first news conference, when she claimed that the Biden administration had planned to use $50m in taxpayer dollars to send condoms to Gaza. Later the same day, the Guardian reported that the claim was directly contradicted by USAID records. Continue reading...
Man, 102, dies after alleged assault in south Wales pub
Phillip Ormerod was taken to hospital after the incident in the Crow’s Nest in Cwmbran and later died of his injuries A 102-year-old man has died of his injuries after allegedly being assaulted at a pub in south Wales. Phillip Ormerod of Cwmbran in the Welsh valleys, was taken to hospital after the incident at the Crow’s Nest pub on 1 August. Gwent police said on Thursday that he had since died. Continue reading...
Lottery ticket sold at Illinois gas station wins $1bn Powerball jackpot
Prize was eighth largest in Powerball history and followed three months without a top prize winner A Powerball ticket sold at a gas station in western Illinois was the sole winner of the $1bn jackpot, ending a three-month drought without a top-prize victor. The ticket that won the jackpot on Wednesday night was purchased at a Hy-Vee station in Quincy, about 100 miles (160km) west of the state capital of Springfield along the Missouri border, Illinois Lottery officials said. The winning numbers were 4-26-66-67-69 with the Powerball number of 9. Continue reading...
Piranha drama: boy, 8, hooks fearsome exotic fish in Pennsylvania lake
South American fish with razor-toothed jaws was probably released by someone who owned it as a pet, officials say An eight-year-old boy fishing for bass in Pennsylvania was stunned to catch something more associated with the Amazon – and countless horror movies – than the rolling landscape of the eastern US. Seamus Coffey, who was fishing with his father Michael in a lake near Philadelphia, hauled in a large red-bellied piranha, complete with the razor-toothed jaws that the fearsome breed is so famous for. Continue reading...
Italian businessman admits organising bombing at home of journalist and friend
Valter Lavitola’s lawyer says he had intended attack to boost security for investigative reporter Sigfrido Ranucci An Italian businessman has admitted to masterminding a bomb attack at the home of Sigfrido Ranucci, a prominent investigative journalist, claiming it was intended to boost his security protection. Valter Lavitola, who was friends with Ranucci, the host of Report, an investigative programme aired by the state broadcaster, Rai, made the confession to investigators after his arrest earlier this week in connection with the case, the businessman’s lawyer, Sergio Cola, told the Italian media . Continue reading...
Japan condemns visit by Vladimir Putin to disputed Kuril Islands
Japanese PM says islands seized by Soviets late in second world war are part of Japan under international law The Japanese government has reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow. Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, summoned the Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev, while the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called Putin’s actions “absolutely unacceptable”. Continue reading...
RSC postpones Othello while leading actor Sharon D Clarke has cancer treatment
Radical reimagining of Shakespeare play was due to run at Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 13 February to 3 April 2027 The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that it will postpone its radical production of Othello starring Sharon D Clarke, while the Olivier-winning actor undergoes treatment for cancer. The production, directed by Monique Touko, was scheduled to run from 13 February to 3 April 2027 at the Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Clarke, 60, is best known for her role as Lola Griffin in the BBC medical drama Holby City, as well as for her theatrical performances in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Caroline, or Change. Continue reading...
Sports Direct owner buys Harvey Nichols department store chain
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group acquires Knightsbridge-headquartered retailer after it went into administration Business live – latest updates The owner of Sports Direct has bought Harvey Nichols out of administration after the upmarket department store chain warned it could run out of money if it did not find new funding. Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group said on Thursday it had bought the department store chain, which is headquartered at its store in Knightsbridge, for an undisclosed sum on the same day as it was placed into administration. It has 13 stores and 1,200 employees. Continue reading...
Transport watchdog investigates another near miss at Sydney airport
Two planes came close to collision on the runway on Sunday – hours after another near miss – making a total of three in recent weeks Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The transport safety watchdog is investigating a another near-collision between two planes at Sydney airport – an incident that occurred on the same day as one that made national news and raised concerns about air traffic control. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Thursday night that it was investigating a second “runway incursion” on Sunday 9 August. Continue reading...
Trump has amassed staggering wealth in ‘most openly corrupt’ presidency
Ethics experts and Democrats express alarm as Trump uses office to grow his personal fortune to ‘unprecedented’ level Donald Trump’s use of his second presidency to grow his personal fortune has alarmed legal and ethics experts and congressional Democrats as he has reaped an “unprecedented” $2.2bn in 2025 revenues by amassing big cryptocurrency holdings, benefitting from wealthy foreign interests, expanding his Truth Social business and more, while federal oversight of his actions has waned. Trump last year raked in at least $1.4bn from his crypto ventures according to financial disclosure forms he filed in June. Simultaneously, about one million investors in a Trump crypto scheme suffered almost $3.8bn in losses as their volatile crypto holdings tanked in value. Continue reading...
AOC’s public egg-freezing shouldn’t feel radical. But in today’s US, it does
The congresswoman’s decision is an assertion of women’s freedom and dignity at a time when our status is rapidly eroding “Don’t be weird about this,” representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive star and rumored 2028 presidential contender, said on her live video broadcast as she raised her shirt to angle the syringe into her abdomen. Then, with resignation, “even though I know all of you will be.” The New York Democrat is 36 years old, and this week, she revealed that she is beginning the process of freezing her eggs during Congress’ August recess. In the video, Ocasio-Cortez said that she was seeking to destigmatize the realities of women’s lives as they navigate the conflicting demands of professional aspiration and family building; she explained to viewers the process of the hormonal injections she was administering to herself, showing them the drugs and injector she was using arrayed on a paper towel, beside a disinfecting towelette. The procedure, Ocasio-Cortez explained, was not covered by her insurance, and she would be paying “100% out of pocket”. She had been saving to afford it for some time. “This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” she said, going on to assert her hope that transparency about such questions will destigmatize women’s reproductive lives and promote their dignity. Continue reading...
California bans paraquat, highly toxic herbicide outlawed in more than 70 countries
State is US’s largest user of pesticide that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson’s disease California is banning paraquat, a highly toxic, controversial herbicide used across millions of acres of American cropland. Public health advocates characterize it as a deadly substance that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson’s disease. It is already outlawed in more than 70 countries, including China, the UK and the EU. Yet in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reapproved it for use in 2021 and 2024. Continue reading...
Mark Zuckerberg says the future of AI is for everyone. But who owns it?
It’s a nice sentiment, but all AI users should ask three questions about their preferred choice of AI platform On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg published a 6,500-word essay, The Future Is for Everyone. The essay came with something even rarer: a new Meta open-weight model. An open-weight AI model is the kind of AI with which you download the entire thing, and it works on your own computer (with or without the internet) and nobody can switch it off except for you. Almost every mainstream AI tool you use, whether it be Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude, is one you rent access to. Meta’s is one that you can download and actually own. I downloaded it before I finished the essay. So can you. This major move by the world’s largest tech heavyweight comes amid a summer heavy with AI news, full of nations at war. Washington against Beijing; tech founder against tech founder. But beneath those conflicts is a deeper contest between two kinds of power: a government that can order technology offline in an instant, and a company that can simply close your account. Neither is necessarily villainous. But the rest of us are not merely the audience in this fight; we are the prize. And the terms are already being written: intelligence on lease, a future we pay for but never quite own. Continue reading...
Severe storms cut power supply to 540,000 homes in US midwest
Indiana faced most outages at 267,000, about 8% of its customers, with severe thunderstorms and wind ahead Power supply was cut on Thursday to about 540,000 homes and businesses across the US midwest as severe storms battered the region, data from PowerOutage.us showed. Indiana was the hardest-hit state, with more than 267,000 outages, representing about 8% of its roughly 3.3 million customers, the data showed. Continue reading...
Questions over Karoline Leavitt’s replacement as she steps down as White House press secretary – US politics live
Leavitt’s departure three months before midterms raises questions over who will communicate Trump’s messages as his approval rating falls to record low, says YouGov polling Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s decision to step down from the role comes less than three months before the midterm elections. The two most senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, secretary of state Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month’s Nato summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane after an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior US official said Wednesday. Continue reading...
‘Melancholic fantasy’: Wong escalates Labor rhetoric against Hanson, condemning ‘monoculture’ comment
Foreign affairs minister and first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet to use Lowy Institute address to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor has escalated its pushback on One Nation’s surging political support, with the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, labelling Pauline Hanson’s push for a monoculture a “melancholic fantasy” that would harm national security. Wong, the first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet, will use a major address at The Lowy Institute on Friday to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions, insisting the country’s multicultural success remains a national asset. Continue reading...
AOC and Mamdani wanted to defund the police. Their backtracking puts organizers at risk
Progressive and democratic socialist politicians are recanting pandemic-era statements on police and prison abolition The north may not remember, but 9 August this year marked the 12th anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown Jr in Ferguson, Missouri. That day, the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reassured an ABC news anchor that she, like other progressive politicians and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates, had “moved away” from statements they made during the pandemic, particularly on police and prison abolition. Questioned further, she explained : “I have a local city councilman that has this saying: ‘Woke 1 was crazy’… especially during Covid, I think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful. I think that when we talk about crime today, it’s fundamentally different than the way that we talked about crime in bringing crime down. And I think that we all share in the goals of having as low a crime rate as possible. I think that, you know, during lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today. And I’m grateful that these candidates have the opportunity to present who they are to their electorate and what they’re campaigning on in this moment.” Continue reading...
Trump administration finalizes rule to end federal support for gender-affirming care
Move blocking funds through Medicaid and Chip to make it harder for vulnerable children to get healthcare, experts say The Trump administration finalized a rule on Tuesday to end gender-affirming care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip), a move that will make it harder for vulnerable children to access healthcare and that eschews evidence to advance an anti-transgender ideology, opponents say. The rule is set to take effect on 13 October – but legal challenges could delay or block it entirely. Continue reading...
How Trump’s order on vaccines is sowing confusion, doubt and fear
The order cannot affect change, and is only ‘undermining trust in vaccines’ as CDC guidance remains the same Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them. The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule made earlier this year by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime vaccine opponent – changes that were later halted by a federal judge. Continue reading...
First Thing: Leavitt departs White House press secretary role with Trump’s ratings at historic low
Youngest White House press secretary in history says she wants more time to ‘be the best mom’. Plus are we losing the battle against AI slop in the music charts? Good morning. A familiar face in Donald Trump’s administration is departing, as the US president announced that Karoline Leavitt was stepping down to spend more time with her family. The president said Leavitt, who became the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary on his return to office in January 2025, “will now be one of my top outside advisers” in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump’s most prominent spokesperson is departing while his approval rating is at a historic low, as voters express discontent over rising prices and a war in Iran that has no end in sight. Why did Leavitt say she was stepp ing away? Leavitt wrote: “The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House press secretary – and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life.” How will Leavitt’s time in the role be remembered? At 27 when she was appointed, Leavitt was the youngest White House press secretary in history. And when she announced she was pregnant in December last year, she became the first ever expectant press secretary. She has faced criticism for saying that “Gen Z and those younger than me have been raised with just silver spoons in their mouths” and for attacking reporters trying to hold the White House to account . What are conditions said to be like on board? In April, there was a flurry of public criticism about dire conditions onboard the carrier. Photos emerged of poor-quality and rationed food, and there were reports of water shortages, moldy showers and broken laundry machines. Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, dismissed the accounts as “more fake news”. How long has the ship been at sea? The warship left San Diego on 21 November and was originally intended for the Pacific but was redirected to the Middle East once the US-Israel war with Iran began. Since then the 5,000-plus crew has had only two days on land. The deployment was scheduled to end in May but has been extended a couple of times amid Trump’s ongoing war. Continue reading...
UK economy shows surprising resilience – but that might not last | Richard Partington
Weaker growth, rising energy costs and persistent inflation mean Britain could face tougher times in the autumn UK economic growth slows down Business live – latest updates In the spring the International Monetary Fund warned Britain faced the heaviest economic blow from the Iran war among the world’s most advanced nations. Almost six months into the conflict, on the surface, the UK appears to be proving the forecasters wrong. The latest official figures show the UK maintained its pole position as the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of 2026. Despite the gloomy international backdrop and yet more domestic political uncertainty, consumers have largely continued spending and business investment has boomed. Continue reading...
Schools across the US banned phones. Teens are demanding more offline support
More students are advocating for their own digital wellbeing and developing programs to thrive in tech-free learning environments As students across the country return to school this month, many will be confronting a new reality: classrooms without smartphones. Educators and parents have long fronted the fight against the debilitating influence technology can wield. Yet, many young people say they’ve been left out of important conversations around school phone policies, which are now in effect in at least 39 states and Washington DC. Continue reading...
Lost jobs, inequality, rogue agents: why are we accepting oligarchs’ AI agenda? | Robert Reich
The dangers of AI become clearer every day. Why are we still acting as if we have no choice about our future? Rather than producing jobs, the US economy actually lost 23,000 jobs in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on Friday. In addition, May and June’s job numbers were revised downward, showing a combined 103,000 fewer jobs than previously reported. As if this weren’t bad enough, wage growth has also slowed. Average hourly earnings rose by just 0.1% from June. Continue reading...
Trump administration accused of ‘bullying’ union leader at consumer protection agency
Critic of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leadership was put under investigation and suspended from job US politics live – latest updates The Trump administration has been accused of “bullying and intimidation” after a labor union leader and critic was put under investigation and suspended from his job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Stephen Wheeler, a data scientist at the agency since 2022 and chair of the CFPB union organizing committee, was placed on administrative leave effective immediately earlier this month. The union said it was not provided with any specific violations or given any details of the investigation. Continue reading...