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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Mike Lindell refuses to concede in Minnesota primary despite getting many less votes than winner
With almost all votes counted in Republican primary for governor, Lisa Demuth is ahead by over 10% of ballots Progressive Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary in race defined by anti-ICE anger US politics live – latest updates Mike Lindell, the pillow salesman, Trump supporter and election denier, has refused to concede defeat in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary, despite trailing by a double-digit margin the morning after polls closed. The Associated Press called the race for Lisa Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, late on Tuesday night. Continue reading...
USS Abraham Lincoln sailors tried to jump overboard amid extended deployment – reports
Aircraft carrier’s crew in ninth month at sea and has spent record 250 days consecutively without making land Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran. Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and the Stars and Stripes , are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times. Continue reading...
Cambridge agrees to hold independent inquiry into Jason Arday appointment
Vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice says she recognises the ‘difficult case’ has damaged the university Cambridge University’s leadership has bowed to internal pressure for an independent investigation into its appointment of Jason Arday as a professor, with its vice-chancellor admitting the affair has damaged the institution. Prof Deborah Prentice said she recognised the “anger and anxiety around this damaging and difficult case” but described it as an aberration that should not be used to cast aspersions on the abilities of its staff of colour. Continue reading...
What’s behind Sydney airport’s heavy delays and near-miss incident?
Air traffic controllers are short-staffed and exhausted – and new recruits face a difficult aptitude test and must train in Melbourne Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Travellers flying in and out of Sydney airport had already been dealing with heavy delays even before a Jetstar plane narrowly avoided colliding with a Qatar Airways plane on the tarmac early on Sunday. The day before, more than 150 flights passing through Sydney were delayed as the airport grappled with a lack of air traffic controllers, highlighting how just how delicate the rostering situation is. Continue reading...
ABC changing editorial policy after Rinehart furore prompts concerns of overreach from academics and advocates
Managing director says guidelines will ensure no individual will ‘be the subject of comedy that is violent in its description in our programming’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A pledge by the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, to change editorial guidelines on satire and violence after the broadcaster aired a program featuring offensive comments about Gina Rinehart , has sparked concerns about overreach. The four-minute film, titled A Very Relaxing Video, ran on documentary-reality show Race Around the World on 12 July and sparked a furore over comments made about the billionaire. Continue reading...
Victorian police investigate allegation a car drove deliberately at speed towards anti-racism protester
Exclusive: ‘Peaceful community rally’ of more than 150 people was walking in Broadmeadows when car travelling in same direction allegedly approached Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Victorian police are investigating allegations that a car was deliberately driven at speed towards a protester taking part in an anti-racism rally in Melbourne last month. More than 150 people gathered in the outer-north suburb of Broadmeadows on 25 July for what organisers described as a “peaceful community rally”. Continue reading...
Coalition plan to scrap energy rules for new houses condemned as ‘cost-of-living timebomb’
Proposal to cut building costs by scrapping the construction code would increase bills for the poorest households, critics say Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Coalition plan to abolish compulsory energy standards for new homes that help reduce people’s exposure to heat and cold has been criticised by advocates as a “cost-of-living timebomb” that would deepen inequality. The opposition’s housing and environment spokesperson, Andrew Bragg, said a Coalition government would cut the National Construction Code from more than 2,000 pages to 80, and strip away all requirements for new homes beyond demanding they were “basic and safe”. Longstanding compulsory energy and accessibility measures would become “optional extras”. Continue reading...
US credit card debt climbs to $1.26tn, nearing last year’s record high
Mortgage and student loan balances saw ‘small decline’ with increases elsewhere, says post alongside Fed report Credit card debt in the United States is growing close to a record high, having creeped up from $54bn to $1.26tn between April and June compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That figure is just shy of last year ’s record high of $1.28tn. Continue reading...
Canadian airline WestJet agrees to settle flight attendants’ sexual harassment class action
Female staff alleged company failed to maintain safe workplace, after allegations of sexual assault against pilot The Canadian airline WestJet has agreed to pay C$4.5m (£2.4m) to settle a decade-long sexual harassment class action lawsuit levelled by its female flight attendants, who alleged the company failed to maintain a safe workplace. The suit followed allegations by Mandalena Lewis, a former flight attendant, that a pilot had sexually assaulted her and a colleague, but that WestJet kept the pilot flying, thereby putting other employees at risk. Continue reading...
Josh Kushner and Bob Iger reportedly buying Los Angeles Lakers for $12bn
Mark Walter bought team last year for $10bn Iger and Kushner aim to ‘compete at the highest level’ Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers for more than $12bn in a record-breaking deal, ESPN reported on Wednesday , citing sources with knowledge of the deal. Billionaire Mark Walter purchased a majority stake of the NBA team last year from the Buss family in a deal that valued the club at $10bn, with the deal only having been approved by the board of governors in October. Continue reading...
Burnham to consider ban on disposable barbecues as wildfires rage in UK
PM to look at imposing restriction on devices in public spaces, though campaigners fear it does not go far enough The government will look at banning disposable barbecues as wildfires continue to rage across the country, prime minister Andy Burnham has said. Disposable barbecues have been the cause of a number of serious fires over the last few years, but campaigners were critical of the PM’s failure to link those fires more broadly to the climate crisis. Macclesfield, Cheshire, July 2026: A large woodland fire which was tackled by dozens of firefighters. Cheshire Fire and Rescue service said a discarded barbecue was the probable cause Three separate fires in one day around London, July 2026: In Feltham, six hectares of heathland close to houses were damaged. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has urged people not to use disposable barbecues and to properly extinguish cigarettes after crews tackled three grass fires on Wednesday. The Trossachs, Scotland, May 2025: Covered two hectares in the Glen Finglas region of the national park. Glen Finglas is the biggest Woodland Trust site in the UK. The BBQ understood to have sparked that fire was found with a burger still on the grill. Continue reading...
Lionel Messi has ‘quite a few doubts’ about football future after death of his father
Messi’s father, Jorge, died last week at age of 68 Argentinian suggests he may not play on much longer Lionel Messi said on Wednesday he is having doubts about continuing his career following the death of his father last week. Messi’s father, Jorge, died last week aged 68 at a medical clinic in the Argentinian city of Rosario after a long illness. Continue reading...
In Venice, it’s not politics as usual as film-makers aim to recapture our attention
As social media shrinks and distorts the EU’s crises, the Venice film festival is delivering politically forthright epics from directors such as Sergei Loznitsa and Alex Gibney • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Europe is in an economic crisis that, unlike the eurozone downturn at the beginning of the millennium, cannot be measured in ratings downgrades and borrowing costs. For metrics, try engagement depth and consumer trust instead. The unedifying spectacle of the European Union’s falling out over the Ceuta crisis looks like the latest symptom of Europe’s shrinking attention economy. When more than 70,000 people crossed over from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the start of the month, Rome hastily reintroduced air and sea border checks with Spain for one month; Madrid retaliated with spot-checks on travellers to Italy. Continue reading...
Too many holes! Why badgers are digging up Britain’s lovingly maintained golf courses
Thanks to the drought, these black-and-white beauties are struggling to catch worms in the rock-hard earth. But there’s still good foraging on well-watered fairways and greens Name: Badgers. Age: European badgers live for five to eight years in the wild. They have been in the UK, where this story is set, for half to three-quarters of a million years. Continue reading...
Stars, trees, mountains: Santa Rosa outdoor youth program is using nature to combat gun violence
LandPaths takes at-risk youth out of their concrete, urban environments and into the natural one, offering many their first encounters with the land Alejandro Elizarraraz stands in the middle of a grassy field with a saw in his hands. On a hillside overlooking the lush forests of northern California, the 18 year old cuts back brush and branches as a way to help prevent wildfires. “We’re going to give the tree a high fade cuz it’s 10 feet,” he said, grinning. “You get it?” Continue reading...
Kansas father kills his four children and their mother before shooting himself
Incident marks second familicide in midwest in two weeks, with the children who died ranging in age from three to nine A father killed his four young children and their mother before turning the gun on himself, said authorities in Wichita, Kansas – marking the second incident of familicide in the midwest in two weeks. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Winfield police department said a man identified as 53-year-old Ronald Williams Sr called police at 8.50am on Tuesday to say he had killed his entire family and was about to take his own life. Continue reading...
10 urgent climate policies the UK should implement now
From rejecting drilling licences to preparing communities for heat, drought and wildfires, here’s how Burnham can ready the UK for a hotter, drier climate From record-smashing temperatures, wildfires, hosepipe bans and thousands of premature deaths , the climate crisis has left its mark across the summer of 2026. Tackling the root cause – the burning of fossil fuels – and ending the crisis will take years. So will fixing the UK government’s calamitous failure to protect lives and livelihoods against the long-predicted affects of global heating. Continue reading...
Europe solar eclipse live: millions flock to viewing spots in Spain, UK and Iceland
Eclipse to be witnessed by tens of millions across western Europe as enthusiasts gather along path of totality Nicola Davis and Oliver Holmes A wide band of north and central Spain , plus a sliver of Portugal and parts of Greenland and Iceland will experience a rare total eclipse. Continue reading...
Farage has turned Clacton into a human zoo. Here’s the truth about what’s happening here | Sarah Elizabeth Cox
When I moved to the town in 2022 I loved the beach walks, cheap drinks and panoramic coastal views. Now it feels like a never-ending circus Clacton town centre is bustling, the beaches are packed and the pier’s raking in cash. We can credit the weather, but no doubt press coverage and Count Binface’s promotional videos have got us on radars too. The tourists look like they’re having a lovely time. I moved to Clacton in 2022 and the first year was brilliant. It started with beach walks, cheap drinks and decorating a flat with panoramic sea views, and ended fat and happy from chips and ice-cream, a newborn baby in tow. Privileged with my health and stable income, albeit strained by a Truss-era mortgage , it was a place I loved, and was proud of. Sarah Elizabeth Cox is a historian, and communications manager for a science charity Continue reading...
Powerful storms in US midwest leave three dead and 800,000 without power
Winds of more than 80mph, severe flooding and tornadoes swept through Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky Powerful storms swept across the midwest on Tuesday, leaving three dead and more than 800,000 without power in four states as winds gusts of more than 80mph (130km/h) tore down trees and power lines. In Indiana , a four-year-old child died after a tree fell on his home in Geneva Township and a person died in a suspected weather-related house explosion in Portage, a city about 30 miles south-east of Chicago. Continue reading...
Police link Welsh valleys death to biker gang rivalry
Investigators believe Vikings and Hells Angels members involved in violence that preceded death of Brecon man A man was killed in what is believed to have been a violent brawl between rival motorcycle gangs in the south Wales valleys, police have said. Anthony “Tony” Jones, 56, of Brecon, died of his injuries in hospital after the violence in Pontnewynydd, near Pontypool, last Thursday evening, which reportedly involved knives and hammers. Continue reading...
Bridget Phillipson condemns Richard Tice’s ‘chilling attempt to silence free press’
Labour chair says Reform deputy leader is trying to harass journalists over reporting on his financial affairs UK politics live – latest updates Richard Tice has been accused by Labour’s Bridget Phillipson of mounting a “deeply chilling attempt to silence the free press” after he sent a legal threat to the Guardian over its reporting on his financial affairs. Lawyers for Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, singled out a Guardian correspondent for her journalism about a series of Tice’s financial transactions that were referred to the National Crime Agency. Continue reading...
US inflation cooled slightly to 3.4% in July, according to latest data
Energy is cheaper than at its peak in late April, but gas is still nearly $1 a gallon more expensive than before the Iran war US consumer prices cooled slightly in July as the annualized inflation rate dipped down to 3.4%, though prices still remain higher than levels seen before the war with Iran. Though inflation decreased 0.7% in June during a brief ceasefire between the US and Iran that brought energy prices down, consumer prices have remained elevated. Price increases hit a three-year high in May, with annual inflation reaching 4.2%. Continue reading...
Five key takeaways from this week’s primaries in Minnesota, Wisconsin and beyond as midterms approach
Primaries across US included Darline Graham advancing to runoff, while progressive Francesca Hong and MyPillow’s Mike Lindell fell short A series of primary elections on Tuesday shaped the future of both the Democratic and Republican parties, pitting newcomers against established candidates and testing name recognition. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, South Carolina, Vermont and Connecticut held elections, with a gubernatorial race in Wisconsin capturing nationwide attention. Continue reading...