section
Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
4612 stories archived
Apple to introduce its new CEO – and a folding iPhone – at annual showcase
John Ternus will helm first major event as head of $4.5tn company, alongside new products John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO, will helm the company’s annual showcase of new iPhones and other products on Wednesday. It will be the first time the public will get a feel for the executive, who is filling the shoes of Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, at the $4.5tn tech giant. Not much is publicly known about Ternus’s leadership style, even though he has worked at Apple for 25 years . He has kept a low profile and is known for a calm manner and attention to detail . Ternus started at the company in 2001 and in 2013 became the vice-president of hardware engineering. By 2021, he was heading the entire hardware department. Continue reading...
‘Mr Congeniality’ Burnham advises Badenoch to ditch the point-scoring over defence spending
Leader of the opposition rehashes last week’s questions on defence policy but comes up short against a new PM who preaches consensus politics The case of the dog that didn’t bark in the night. Sometimes prime minister’s questions are as notable for the topics that the leader of the opposition doesn’t ask about as for the ones she does. So you have to assume that Kemi Badenoch now realises she was on the wrong side of public opinion on the weekend’s protests and the government’s decision to impose sanctions on Israeli illegal settlements. I guess it’s hard to be too vocal when you fundamentally agree with the rioters. And maybe she has noticed that many of her own party are a little queasy about Palestinian land being seized and people being killed. And no reaction from the US about the sanctions. Continue reading...
US treasury to buy back $6bn in government debt to alleviate bond market
Scott Bessent made announcement on Wednesday as bond yields rose to highest point since 2008 financial crisis US politics live – latest updates The US treasury will buy back $6bn worth of government debt in an effort to alleviate a sell-off in the US bond market , the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced on Wednesday. Rising inflation and uncertainty from the war in Iran have spooked investors from US bonds, what has historically been known to be one of the safest investment vehicles. Treasury yields have been rising, with the yield for the 30-year treasury bond hitting about 5.2% – the highest yield since the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading...
UK defends sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements after backlash – The Latest
The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is facing a backlash over the government’s sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank after the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said the safety of British Jews could be at risk. Miliband has rejected the warnings, emphasising that ministers can confront the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government while also fighting antisemitism. Lucy Hough speaks to diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour – watch on YouTube Continue reading...
How the deadly Amazon cargo plane crash unfolded | Deconstructed
An Amazon cargo plane crashed at Miami international airport in Florida after overshooting the runway, striking vehicles and resulting in at least five deaths and five injuries. Officials said evidence suggested the pilots considered aborting the landing before the crash. Miami airport is not equipped with 'arresting beds', systems of lightweight, crushable material that the federal aviation authority says have been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide at the end of runways to help safely stop planes that overshoot At least five dead after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami airport Continue reading...
Israel sanctions will not hurt intelligence sharing between spy agencies, says Miliband
UK foreign secretary says international community including US shares ‘frustration’ at Israel’s failure to constrain illegal settlers British intelligence has been given assurances by its Israeli counterpart that information sharing with the UK will continue as before, Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary has said. The disclosure counters predictions that his decision to impose a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements will lead to a collapse in cooperation between the agencies. The exchanges of information are seen as mutually beneficial and it is understood that Israeli intelligence was never willing to become mired in any political dispute between the two governments. Continue reading...
Anthropic researchers say AI could cause human extinction by 2030
One researcher who resigned said many in industry believe that without regulation AI could kill off humanity Artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, according to three researchers with the industry giant Anthropic , one of whom has quit his job in protest. The latest doom-laden predictions came in posts on social media on Tuesday by a researcher who said he resigned because Anthropic and his previous employer, OpenAI , were ignoring or at best mishandling their response to the threat. Continue reading...
Texas Republican in race for key House seat under fire for derogatory comments
Brandon Herrera of state’s 23rd congressional district calls insults against women and unhoused people ‘jokes’ A Republican candidate for a key congressional district in Texas has come under scrutiny over a series of derogatory comments made about women in his social media posts and videos. Brandon Herrera, who is the GOP candidate for Texas’s 23rd congressional district, has made a string of insults while fashioning a rightwing online persona as the “AK Guy”, and hosts a YouTube channel with more than 4 million subscribers that tests and reviews firearms. Continue reading...
Iran claims to have attacked 10 ships near strait of Hormuz after US strikes
Oil price rises above $100 a barrel as Tehran responds to US attacks that sunk five Iranian tankers Tehran has said it attacked 10 ships around the strait of Hormuz after the US sunk five Iranian tankers, as escalating strikes between the two sent the oil price over $100 a barrel for the first time since July. The attacks were the sharpest flare-up of strikes in weeks, as the two sides struggled to break a deadlock in the six-month-long war. Fighting in recent weeks has largely revolved around who controls the strait of Hormuz, as Iran attempts to close off the waterway and Washington enforces a blockade of Iranian ports. The strait is a critical route for global energy supplies, with up to 20% of the world’s oil and gas transiting it before the US-Iran war. The rising price of oil, above the psychologically significant $100 mark is likely to have knock-on effects on inflation and the price of goods. Stocks fell on Wall Street while rising fuel and food prices in the US will further frustrate the Trump administration, which faces a midterm election with an unpopular war and a cost-of-living crisis. Continue reading...
John Malkovich cancels Israel trip over fabricated solidarity quote
The Wild Horse Nine actor had been due to appear on stage in The Music Critic in Tel Aviv – but pulled out over PR firm’s ‘unacceptable and untenable’ attribution of statement John Malkovich has cancelled a planned trip to Israel next year to appear on stage after a PR firm hired by the show attributed quotes to the actor that the company had written. Malkovich, who is a leading Oscar contender for his role in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine , was due to appear in The Music Critic, a theatrical-musical satire composed by the Jewish violinist Aleksey Igudesman, in Tel Aviv’s Charles Bronfman Auditorium on 13 April. Continue reading...
Trump’s top six falsehoods about 9/11 as 25th anniversary nears
US president often brings up al-Qaida attack that struck his home town New York City almost 25 years ago Donald Trump often brings up September 11, the devastating al-Qaida attack that struck his home town New York City almost 25 years ago. His recollections of that day have repeatedly included exaggerations and falsehoods – including this week, when he shared an anecdote at a White House event commemorating the attacks that appears to be untrue. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands line the streets as Norway bids farewell to King Harald V
Europe’s royals and global political figures attend ceremony that brings 13 days of national mourning to a close Europe live – latest updates Norway has observed a minute’s silence as it takes leave of King Harald V in a series of ceremonies, bringing to a close 13 days of national mourning that followed the popular monarch’s death last month at the age of 89. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Oslo and foreign heads of state and government converged on the Norwegian capital for the funeral of the late king, a light-touch and unassuming reformer who ruled for more than three decades. Continue reading...
The RBA hoped this year’s three interest rate rises would tame inflation – but nothing is going their way
The breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire, rising oil prices and the explosion in data centre investment are making the central bank’s task harder Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast For five years the Reserve Bank has been trying to wrangle inflation back to its 2.5% target, and for years it has essentially failed. The result is a cost of living crisis that has generated intense community grievance. Continue reading...
Australia is on a collision course with US big tech. Could it cause Trump to turn on his ‘mate’? | Mark Kenny
Anthony Albanese wants social media algorithms to be optional – and it’s not the first Musk-Zuckerberg irritant emanating from Australia New risks to a deftly managed personal relationship with Donald Trump have not slowed the Australian prime minister’s plans for a showdown with America’s all-conquering social media companies. Anthony Albanese, who will rub shoulders with the US president and other world leaders in New York later this month at the UN general assembly, is pushing ahead with changes that would impose fines on big tech firms under a newly created “digital duty of care”. Continue reading...
New Mexicans slam Trump’s threat to change state’s name
Residents denounce suggestion to rename state ‘New America’, save some Republicans who insist it was ‘satire’ US politics live – latest updates When scrolling through social media over the Labor Day weekend, actor, comedian and native New Mexican Steven Michael Quezada was stopped cold by a post about Donald Trump’s recent call to rename New Mexico to New America. “At first I thought, nah, that’s got to be a joke,” said Quezada , who played drug enforcement agent Steven Gomez in the legendary TV series Breaking Bad. Continue reading...
US Open 2026 quarter-finals: Zheng v Rybakina, Andreeva v Gauff – live
Rolling updates from the last eight at Flushing Meadows Shelton wins after night of vomit, sweat and home hopes Get in touch: email Katy | And follow us over on TikTok Hello and welcome to our coverage of the US Open day 11 - which begins less than eight hours after Ben Shelton struck his final ace to take out Carlos Alcaraz on day 10. Are you ready for some more tennis? Of course you are! This may be the city that never sleeps but the 3.33am finish - the latest in the tournament’s history and the fourth time this fortnight that play stretched beyond 2am - once again raises questions about the demands tennis places on its athletes. But organisers could not have foreseen the day’s extraordinary drama, with all four quarter-finals on Arthur Ashe going the distance, lasting a combined total of nearly 14 hours, and three being decided in a final-set tie-break. From Aryna Sabalenka’s high-quality win over the Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, to the two American derbies as Frances Tiafoe came back from two sets down against Alex Michelsen and Jessica Pegula pulled off a recovery of her own against Emma Navarro, to that climax as Alcaraz’s title defence came to an end, the spectacle never let up. I can’t remember another day of tennis quite like it. Continue reading...
‘I fear the price could be high’: Inside the German state where the far-right surged
After the AfD’s landslide win in Saxony-Anhalt, people in the state capital share what they make of the result – and what comes next • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Asking residents in a city where a seismic political event has just taken place ‘How do you feel?’ demands chutzpah – this struck me as I walked around Magdeburg, Germany on Monday. The night before, the far-right populist, anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin party Alternative für Deustchland (AfD) had landslide 44% win in Saxony-Anhalt’s state elections, sending shock waves to Berlin, across Germany and way beyond. Regardless of how people in the capital voted, it felt like a bit of an affront to probe. Given the radical plans of the victors, a party classified by domestic intelligence as “rightwing extremist” , that is what I wanted to know. But from the 21-year-old Guinean-German paramedic I met at the central bus station, collecting donations for a local hospice, to the elderly couple returning to their apartment after a stroll down the Elbe river, almost everyone I met opened up to me warmly. Judith, 88, was initially reluctant to talk, but shared some of her life story. Her experience as an eight-year-old refugee, forced to leave Poland in 1946 and eventually ending up move with her family in Magdeburg, had shaped her outlook on life, her successful career as a project engineer – as well as her politics. The news that AfD had not only won the election, but by such a wide margin, was “heartbreaking”, she said. Continue reading...
Burnham sees sanctions against Israeli settlements as an electoral asset
While a survey found Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters to be the strongest backers of such a ban on trade, even Tory and Reform voters were in favour overall UK politics live – latest updates There was a time when placing Israel under strict trade sanctions would have been a politically risky thing for a British prime minister to do. Andy Burnham, however, considers it an electoral asset. As Kemi Badenoch attacked him over defence spending at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Burnham deliberately turned the topic to the trade ban on illegal settlements which he had announced on Tuesday. Continue reading...
BBC boss concedes real prospect of strikes over pay and job cuts
Matt Brittin says ‘cupboard is bare’ after staff reject average 2.1% pay rise in dispute The BBC’s director general has conceded there is a real prospect of industrial action at the broadcaster, as he battles an ongoing dispute over pay and pushes ahead with plans to cut as many as 2,000 jobs. In a call with staff on Tuesday, Matt Brittin faced a series of questions over both the corporation’s plans for huge cuts , as well as pay talks that have now seen staff reject an average 2.1% salary increase. Continue reading...
Ben Shelton wins a night of vomit, sweat and home hopes to triumph at US Open
The 23-year-old’s epic win over Carlos Alcaraz means there is a real chance of an American man winning the US Open for the first time since 2003 In yet another graveyard shift at the US Open, Ben Shelton showed he can hang around late, ousting defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in five sets in a quarter-final that started on Tuesday night and finished on Wednesday morning . When Shelton fired the final ball out wide for his seventh ace of the night, the clock on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court read 3.33am. It was the latest-ever finish at the Open and the fifth-latest finish in grand slam history. After embracing Alcaraz at the net, he pumped his fists and greeted his coach’s box with a primal scream. Parents have a name for this: the zoomies. Then Shelton looked to the stands and gestured at his mother and his girlfriend, soccer star Trinity Rodman. In his on-court interview, he asked that his sister, Emma, be given the day off. She had spent the entire night and much of the early morning watching her little brother play. Continue reading...
Peter’s farm is on ‘flood country’. As Australia’s sea levels rise, safe land is vanishing and costs are huge
Climate Council forecasts more than 267,000 coastal properties will be damaged by flooding by 2100, costing hundreds of billions of dollars Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When grazier Peter Lake moved to the Clarence Valley in the New South Wales northern rivers region in 2007, he knew was “buying in flood country with … eyes open”. His cattle farm, about halfway between Yamba and Grafton, borders the Coldstream River and has flooded five times since 2009. Continue reading...
RentTech companies still asking tenants for personal details ‘completely outside’ new Victorian laws
Some rental platforms encourage hopeful tenants to share ‘excessive’ amount of information, Consumer Policy Research Centre review finds Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast So-called “RentTech” companies may be circumventing new Victorian laws designed to protect tenants’ personal data by asking for information outside the rental application process, a review as found. The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) identified rental platforms that encouraged hopeful tenants to share an “excessive” amount of personal information, or asked them questions that were “completely outside” the new rules. Continue reading...
High-end property hit by steepest price falls as affordable end of Australia’s housing market proves resilient
Despite falls in some parts of the market, prices are showing signs of stabilising as investors exit and first-time buyers move in, analysts say Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast High-end homes are recording steep price falls, while more affordable properties are proving resilient, leaving Australians to experience the market downturn in very different ways, new data shows. Upper-quartile house values in the country’s two biggest markets, Sydney and Melbourne, are now down more than 10% from their peaks, according to analysis from Cotality. Continue reading...
Met police launch inquiry into alleged overseas donations to Reform UK
Scotland Yard confirms it is investigating allegations broadcast by Channel 4 after undercover sting UK politics live – latest updates The Met police will investigate allegations that Reform UK broke electoral law relating to overseas donations as part of a wider inquiry. The force confirmed it was investigating after the allegations were broadcast by Channel 4 following an undercover sting by reporters from Verbatim, in which they posed as a foreign donor seeking to fund Reform. Continue reading...