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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Pressure mounts on Texas to address brutal heat crisis in prison cells
State hit by new wrongful death lawsuit by family of Jason Wilson, who died in ‘brutally hot, un-airconditioned’ cell Texas, the state with the largest prison population in the US, is coming under mounting legal pressure to address the ongoing crisis of brutal heat in its cells, as extreme summer temperatures expose inmates to suffering, illness and even death. The Texas department of criminal justice (TDCJ), the state agency that runs dozens of prisons, has been hit by a new wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Jason Wilson. The inmate was found dead in his solitary confinement cell at the Coffield unit in July 2024. Continue reading...
This program gives Black single moms $1,000 a month for a year. The results are undeniable
The Magnolia Mother’s Trust is the first to target low-income families led by Black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi Three months after giving birth to her son, Amaya Jones moved into a new apartment complex. She knew no one else in the building, but it was a fresh start for her and her two children. One day, someone put up a flyer on her unit’s door, notifying her about a program called the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT). Launched in 2018, the MMT is the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country, and the first to target extremely low-income families headed by Black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi. With no strings attached, the program provides mothers with $1,000 a month for 12 months. Continue reading...
Time marches on: what the next three years will bring for the USMNT
After a fun World Cup with a dismal end, the US enters the 2030 cycle with numerous avenues to rebuild the squad There are massive questions lingering around the US men’s program. Mauricio Pochettino’s contract is up, US Soccer has made an extension offer, but both parties are taking some time. Matt Crocker’s abrupt exit as sporting director to take a similar job with Saudi Arabia before the World Cup begs more queries about the direction of the sport in this country. And while most of the 2026 squad’s core still projects to contend for 2030, four years is a long time. From now, each year offers a major tournament. This is what the US should hope to clarify at every step of the way. Continue reading...
Democrats need to rethink their image of a ‘man of the people’ | Judith Levine
For progressives too, working-class heroes are bearded, buff white guys. Their treatment of women can be overlooked Ana Marie Cox’s New Republic profile of the Maine oyster farmer and former Democratic senatorial candidate Graham Platner begins with an encounter on the shore with a salt in rubber boots. Learning that she’s looking for Platner, the guy says: “Good man.” In the 2025 article, Cox is charmed by Platner, who’s as voluble as this guy is terse. She’s impressed by the oyster, calling it a metaphor for “how labor, science, and regulation can still stitch together a community and economy.”. Continue reading...
Police warn against protest misinformation amid Glasgow disorder
Disturbances linked to false claims spread online by bad actors ‘tapping into fears within the community’ Scottish police have warned people to factcheck online claims before going to protests, after crowds gathered outside two homes in Glasgow this week, in one case as a result of mistaken identity. Police Scotland said that several nights of disorder in Scotland’s biggest city had “clearly been orchestrated by individuals who are not from Glasgow”. Continue reading...
‘He’s forcing higher bills’: Trump spends billions to kill clean energy and keep coal alive
Critics accuse president of ‘fattening the wallets of his cronies’ as working Americans face higher energy rates The Trump administration has directly spent $2.7bn of taxpayer money on its crusade against wind power while pouring $1.125bn into boosting coal, which critics say is pushing up Americans’ bills. They say the moves are evidence that the president aims to serve fossil-fuel companies like those which donated record sums to his presidential campaign , rather than the working-class Americans to whom he pledged to lower energy bills and other costs. Continue reading...
Ministers plan legally binding debt targets for England’s water companies
Exclusive: Move comes as allies of Andy Burnham work on proposals to take water companies into public control Ministers are drawing up plans to set legally binding debt targets for England’s water companies as they look for ways to avoid another corporate failure such as Thames Water. Sources say Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, is working on proposals that would force companies to keep their debt below certain levels for the first time or face legal punishment. Continue reading...
ICE agents ‘looking for someone else’ when they killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo | First Thing
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly seeking two people from Guatemala. Plus, readers recommend the best films of 2026 so far Good morning. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a man killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Houston this week, was not the intended target of the “enforcement operation”, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were reportedly seeking two people from Guatemala when they attempted to stop Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the Us for 35 years. Salgado Araujo, who was on his way to work early on Tuesday morning, was driving three other people in a white van. After the shooting, the three men were taken into custody. One of the three men has been identified by advocates as Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the brother of the victim. It was reported that he was still in an immigration detention center. How have authorities justified the killing? The ICE agents who stopped Salgado Araujo claimed he “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer” who then fired his weapon “in self-defense”, but did not provide evidence to corroborate that account. It is a defense the agency has used in other high-profile incidents, including when Renee Good was killed in Minneapolis, when video evidence later contradicted the description. The officers involved in shooting Salgado Araujo were not wearing body cameras, DHS said. How is Trump endangering the midterm elections? The US president has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections. The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission were forced out on Thursday. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other two, Democratic appointees, were notified of their terminations via email. Continue reading...
How Pauline Hanson courts UK’s far-right – and builds a global brand – with ‘pseudo events’ and publicity stunts
The One Nation leader is set to be interviewed by Tommy Robinson as part of a media strategy that seems designed to seek scandal – and reach millions Pauline Hanson’s highly publicised meetings with controversial far-right figures in the UK will drive international eyeballs to her content and continue building the global brand – and that’s by design, far-right experts say. The One Nation leader is visiting on a “fact-finding mission” with her chief-of-staff, James Ashby, ticking off a number of the country’s most divisive personalities. Continue reading...
French billionaire becomes Vodafone’s largest shareholder with £4.4bn stake
Xavier Niel buys 16% through investment vehicle Vega after Emirati telecoms group e& sells shareholding The French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel has become Vodafone’s largest shareholder after buying a 16% stake for £4.4bn. On Friday the Emirati telecoms group e&, which first took a stake worth £3.3bn in Vodafone in 2022 , announced the sale of its entire shareholding for 112.5p a share. Continue reading...
New York City seeks to implement ban on deceptive subscription practices
Rule from Mamdani administration would target streaming services, gym memberships and other recurring charges New York City is trying to implement a new rule that would ban companies from using deceptive subscriptions to trap customers into paying for gym memberships, streaming services and other recurring charges, the city’s consumer protection office said. The new rule, which would start 1 October, promises hefty fines and aggressive enforcement for violators. Companies that do not provide a simple way to cancel could pay $525 per user subscription, back fees and additional fines. Continue reading...
The Nato summit exposed the real source of Trump’s power
It comes from his willingness to violate all norms, rules and laws – and leaving everyone else to pick up the pieces At the Nato summit just ended, Trump lashed out at other Nato members, saying he was “very disappointed with Nato” and asking: “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us?” He reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, blasted European energy and immigration policies, insulted Spain , and worried allies by declaring that the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow “doesn’t affect us.” Yet throughout the proceedings, Trump was treated by other Nato powers with as much courtesy and respect as any US president has ever received from Nato – perhaps more. “It was a great meeting, there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity,” Trump said when it was over. Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com . His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK Continue reading...
Once again Trump brought his wrecking ball to the Nato summit, and once again the alliance survived. But for how long? | Paul Taylor
As the US president swung between threats to take Greenland and promises of help for Ukraine, pledges of a ‘stronger Nato’ were lost in the wind Nato leaders survived another nerve-racking summit with Donald Trump and the 77-year-old defence alliance lives to fight another day, proving its durability against Atlantic storms. But it will never feel safe as long as the unpredictable, vengeful and ruthlessly transactional US president is in the White House. As usual, Trump stole all the headlines at the annual summit, with a mixture of Nato-bashing and implausible threats to take control of Greenland and cut trade with Spain. He declared the ceasefire with Iran dead and called Iranian leaders “ scum ” as US warplanes bombed Iranian targets along the strait of Hormuz. Pitted against such irresistible clickbait, no Nato communique stood a chance of public attention. Continue reading...
Completely nuts: Dutch gallery covers floor in peanut butter to honour late artist
Wim T Schippers asked that his 800lb sculpture be spread smoothly and without ‘educational purpose’ A museum in Rotterdam has paid tribute to the idiosyncratic character of one of the most influential figures in the Dutch arts by spreading 800lb of peanut butter across the floor of one of its galleries. The hexagonal floor installation, called Pindakaasvloer (Peanut butter floor), is a recreation of a work by Wim T Schippers conceived of in 1962 and first exhibited in 1969. Continue reading...
Trump called ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ over election commission firings - US politics live
Politicians and advocates say dismissals are ‘deeply concerning and part of president’s ‘relentless efforts to interfere with elections’ Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’ Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. The Trump administration has been branded “irresponsible and dangerous” after the president terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission (EAC) that assists election administration officials nationwide. Victor Marx , a marines veteran, pastor and self-described “high-risk missionary”, whose extraordinary claims about his past have been disputed and mocked, won the Republican primary for Colorado governor. State senator Barbara Kirkmeyer conceded the race, despite losing by just fewer than 2,500 votes. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum , said her government will ask state and federal prosecutors in the United States to file criminal charges against the people responsible for the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens targeted during anti-immigration operations or while in immigration detention centers. A Mexican immigrant who was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent during a traffic stop in Houston on Tuesday was not the man federal officers were searching for, the Department of Homeland Security said. Morris Katz, Zohran Mamdani ’s 27-year-old media strategist, who has been blamed by many Democrats for helping to recruit Graham Platner to run for the US Senate in Maine and made ads for the campaign, distanced himself from the candidate. Troy Jackson , a former president of the Maine state senate who hopes to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for US Senate , if Platner makes good on his promise to formally withdraw by the Monday deadline, said in an interview with MS Now that Platner had lied to him. Dan Kleban , a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company, wrote on Substack on Thursday that he would not vote for Chuck Schumer as the party’s Senate leader next year should he win the nomination and be elected. Continue reading...
Home secretary unlawfully cut trafficking protections to enable ‘one in one out’ asylum deal, judge rules
Shabana Mahmood amended guidance so those denied trafficking protections could not appeal case The home secretary’s decision to reduce protections for potential trafficking victims to allow the “one in one out” asylum returns deal to proceed was unlawful, a high court judge has ruled. The legal challenge was brought by five small boat asylum seekers earmarked for return to France – four from Eritrea and one from Sudan. It related to a change in guidance on the one in one out scheme , which meant that those denied trafficking protections no longer had the right to ask for it to be reconsidered. Continue reading...
Alarm over launch of facial recognition in UK shops that instantly alerts police
Civil liberties groups say Facewatch system in stores such as Sainsbury’s and B&M is ‘dangerous escalation’ Facial recognition technology in shops will soon alert police in real time to the presence of serious offenders, with civil liberties groups warning of a “dangerous escalation” towards surveillance and criminalisation in the retail sector. Facewatch, a facial recognition system used by more than 100 businesses including Sainsbury’s, B&M and Spar to monitor thieves, said it was launching a UK-first feature to “alert police instantly when the most serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match”. Continue reading...
UK Treasury must change disciplinary process after worker’s suicide, mother says
Chloe Moffat, 26, killed herself day after meeting about anonymous complaint in which she was not allowed to bring a colleague The mother of a young woman who took her own life after facing disciplinary proceedings at the Treasury has called on the government department to change its practices. Chloe Moffat, 26, had worked at the Treasury as a personal assistant for almost three years. She “loved her job” and had an “exemplary employment record”, the coroner at her inquest heard this week. Continue reading...
It’s not me, it’s them: Platner goes down snarling with graceless exit video
The populist Democrat nominee for Senate in Maine bowed to the inevitable but turned his farewell into a pity party “Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.” These were the parting words of Richard Nixon after he was forced to resign the presidency over the Watergate imbroglio in 1974. For Graham Platner on Wednesday, the stakes were somewhat smaller. But when it came to suspending his Senate campaign in Maine , the Democrat had plenty of hate to go around. Continue reading...
Count Binface alone can‘t clean up British politics. MPs now have that chance, and they must seize it | Stella Creasy
Amid the allegations about dark money and funding, I have a solution: limit all single donations in a year – from any source – to £100,000 It is sobering that Count Binface’s potential victory in the Clacton byelection seems be one of the few ways we can restore any confidence in the integrity of British political decision-making. Faced with questions about the millions he has raked in before and since being elected, Nigel Farage chose to face a byelection rather than face the standards procedures in parliament. Yet we cannot continue to rely on a man with a bin on his head to stop the toxic rot in our politics feeding off the public’s concern that donations drive our decision-making. With the next election on the horizon, the eye-watering sums involved compel us to tackle the capacity of the largest wallets to be the loudest voices, or risk them overwhelming our democracy altogether. The allegation that money buys you a mouthpiece is not new, or without precedent. Controversies over donors across the political spectrum – whether Bernie Ecclestone , Mohamed Amersi, Paul Marshall or Lubov Chernukhin – have dogged Westminster for decades. Campaigns such as Clean up Westminster have long pushed for stronger safeguards. Yet it is also true the scale of funds now pouring into our politics is fundamentally different. Research by Transparency International shows the share of private political donations coming from individuals and companies giving £1m or more has surged from just 1% in 2015 to 35% in 2024. Continue reading...
Graham Platner is out. Troy Jackson should replace him | Dustin Guastella
Democrats need a candidate who can speak to working-class, inland and rural Mainers. A logger from the North Woods seems like the obvious choice Maine’s US Senate race was blown wide open by Graham Platner dropping out of the race. Thankfully, a suitable populist is at hand to fill the breach. His name is Troy Jackson. Jackson was born to a 16-year-old mother in the northern Maine town of Fort Kent. He is a fifth-generation logger, union member and former state legislator. As a teenager himself, he went to work in the woods, and by 1998 he led a union logging blockade to prevent Canadian scabs from working Maine jobs. Dustin Guastella is a research associate at the Center for Working Class Politics and the director of operations for Teamsters Local 623. He is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
EU accuses Meta of failing to tackle mental health risks of ‘addictive design’
Regulators say Facebook and Instagram features such as autoplay and infinite scroll contribute to ‘compulsive use’ EU regulators have accused Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, of failing to tackle the risks of its “addictive design” on the physical and mental health of users. In an official charge sheet against Meta released on Friday, the European Commission said features such as video autoplay and infinite scroll, which provides an endless stream of content, “shift the brain into autopilot mode, contributing to unhealthy habits and compulsive use”. Continue reading...
Why was the pundit class so quick to defend Graham Platner?
To some of Platner’s most influential backers his swaggering, reckless, and casually brutish masculinity was understood not as a liability, but as a virtue Graham Platner was accused of rape on Monday, and it quickly became clear that he will never be a United States Senator. After days of delay, he finally suspended his campaign in a long and grievance-filled video on Wednesday night. The prospect of his victory was doubtful even before Monday, when a woman he once dated, Jenny Racicot, went on the record to Politico alleging that in 2021, a very drunk Platner let himself her house, when she had told him not to come over. Racicot says she realized he was there when she heard strange noises; then, she says he raped her , forcing intercourse without a condom while she repeatedly told him no. Politico reported that it reviewed emails between Racicot and her therapist about the alleged encounter. The outlet also interviewed a boyfriend Racicot later confided in about the alleged incident, and reviewed messages she shared with another woman warning her away from Platner, long before the start of his political career. Platner denies wrongdoing, saying: “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” But he put out a video saying that he would “reflect on the best path forward” for his campaign. Since Platner may have known about the inevitability of this accusation becoming public, one wonders if the best time for such reflection might have been several months ago, when Maine voters still had the chance to select a more worthy and more viable candidate. Continue reading...
‘What’s more American than baseball?’: World Cup brings fans, chants and verve to the national pastime
The crossover in the American sports calendar has made for a compelling collision of cultures, from Scots in Boston to a new English folk hero in Atlanta First they sang for Harry Kane. Then they sang for Michael Harris II. The Atlanta Braves center-fielder is not someone many Major League Baseball fans would consider a household name. A local kid made good, he has established himself as an above-average, everyday outfielder and at age 25 is enjoying a career-best season, but his face doesn’t dominate billboards and ads in the way of Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge. Continue reading...