Politics — Pete

The Guardian — Politics Jul 31 · 5 min read

Will Burnham fix our barbaric prisons – or cave to rightwing populism? The answer is a tragedy | Simon Jenkins

England and Wales’s prisons are overcrowded, drug-infested and barbaric. Labour has halted a once-in-a-generation effort to change that sorry state Andy Burnham’s “pausing” of the Starmer government’s prisoner release scheme and the resignation of its architect, James Timpson , are disasters. They indicate a Downing Street that puts populism ahead of policy. England and Wales’s prisons are a total disgrace. Timpson was the first justice minister in 15 years prepared to handle them. Now he has gone. Although he said it had been an “honour” to serve in the government, it is reasonable to assume he resigned in disgust. In August 2024 , the prison population in England and Wales hit a record high. The following March, a savage report from the public accounts committee warned that prisons, already full to bursting, could not cope with such numbers and would overflow by the start of 2026. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Jul 31 · 6 min read

Infantino increasingly embattled after senior adviser resigns over World Cup sell-off plans

Infantino’s role as president under increasing pressure 143 of Fifa’s 211 members now stand against scheme Gianni Infantino’s authority has been dealt a fresh blow after Carlos Cordeiro, one of his senior advisers, resigned with immediate effect in protest at proposals to sell a stake in the World Cup. In the latest embarrassment for Infantino, who saw European FAs threaten to boycott future Fifa tournaments on Thursday, the former US Soccer chief Cordeiro criticised “a bad deal for football” and pointed out that the global governing body already sits on huge amounts of debt-free reserves. Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Jul 31 · 7 min read

McCarthyism has returned to the United States – and this time it’s even more dangerous | Judith Levine

Trump’s campaign of repression echoes the red scare. But now the government has bigger ambitions and more powerful tools There are many parallels between the first McCarthy era, roughly 1946 to 1956, and Trump’s campaign of political repression, his own updated McCarthyism. Both regimes crafted a monster of quasi-facts and innuendo and fed it with fear: an enemy within, well-organized and financed, secretive and violent, allied with evil foreigners and bent on overthrowing capitalism, democracy, and Christian morality. Both used flagrantly unconstitutional means to cleanse the nation of the spectral menace. Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Jul 31 · 6 min read

I study the boreal forest. This summer wildfires came for my home | Julee Boan

Here are things that will – and will not – help us fight the threat of wildfires I have spent much of my career studying boreal forests and I know fire is part of how they renew themselves. That knowledge did nothing for the lump in my throat last week as wildfires closed in on my community in northwestern Ontario. Over 150 fires were burning in the region almost at once, displacing at least 1,800 people from more than a dozen communities, most of them Indigenous. Namaygoosisagagun First Nation burned to the ground, its residents narrowly escaping by boat. Julee Boan is Partnerships Director, Global Northern Forests, International, at the National Resources Defense Council Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 3 min read

Sainsbury’s to sell Argos to three retail veterans in £120m deal

Trio set up Swift Partners for the acquisition, allowing supermarket to focus on core food business Sainsbury’s has agreed to sell the Argos retail chain for £120m to allow it to concentrate on its core food business. The supermarket announced on Friday it was selling the catalogue shopping business to a trio of retail veterans, a decade after buying the company for more than £1bn . Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Jul 31 · 7 min read

Can We Kick It?: new doc is timely take on Black history, pay-to-play and future of US soccer

Akbar Majeed’s new feature tells the story of the sport through a Black lens and asks hard questions about the barriers facing the game’s breakthrough Akbar Majeed takes a deep breath as he considers the legacy of the 2026 World Cup and, in particular, the effect of the US team’s collapse against Belgium for a last-16 exit. “Unfortunately, that performance in the last game did not help at all,” he says. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 3 min read

New solar panels in Great Britain at 15-year high as fossil fuel costs soar

Boom in solar farms and home installations in first half of 2026 began shortly after start of US-Israel war against Iran Great Britain has recorded more new solar power installations in the first half of this year than in any six-month period since 2011, as households turn to rooftop panels to help cut their energy bills. An analysis of the government’s official figures shows that Great Britain added 142,536 solar installations in the first six months of the year, putting it on track to top last year’s record solar additions. Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Jul 31 · 3 min read

Top Democrats accuse Republicans of becoming ‘gelatinous blobs’ on Iran war

Senators Warren and Van Hollen attack Republican ‘rubber stamps’ in Congress for surrendering authority to Trump Senior Democrats accused Republicans in the US Congress of becoming “gelatinous blobs” who won’t stand up to Donald Trump and “rubber stamps” for his war on Iran. Elizabeth Warren, a US senator for Massachusetts, and Chris Van Hollen, a US senator for Maryland, argued that the Republican-controlled Congress had surrendered its constitutional authority to the president. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 2 min read

British-Azerbaijani man arrested in Cyprus over alleged spying on UK airbase for Iran

Rashad Sultanov, from London, suspected of conducting hostile surveillance and passing information to Revolutionary Guards A British-Azerbaijani national has been arrested ⁠in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a British airbase on the Mediterranean island and passing information to Iran’s ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard ⁠Corps, the Metropolitan police said. Rashad Sultanov, 44, from Islington, north London, was arrested on 17 July by Cypriot authorities ⁠and is being held in custody as extradition proceedings continue, the police said in a statement on Friday. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 2 min read

Weather tracker: Wisconsin battered by rare tornado and meteotsunami

Unusual atmospheric phenomena causes widespread damage in US state, while heat continues to grip Europe A rare and powerful tornado developed over north-east Wisconsin on Monday, lasting 26 minutes and carving a 12-mile path of destruction in western parts of Appleton and Menasha before dissipating over Lake Winnebago. The US National Weather Service classified the tornado as an EF3, making it the fourth of that strength to strike Wisconsin in 2026. EF3 tornadoes are relatively rare in north-east Wisconsin, and this year’s total is already the state’s highest since 1984. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 7 min read

Andy Burnham to set out devolution plan amid criticism it won’t benefit regions equally – UK politics live

Plan set to transform funding so English regions no longer rely on Whitehall handouts for projects Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. From 2028 English regional mayors, for the first time, will be handed a share of income tax receipts instead of central grants and be less beholden to the Treasury by being able to borrow to invest in big projects. Mayors will also be able to keep a share of business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds by April 2027, and gain greater control over services such as housing and transport, under plans that form part of the government’s devolution agenda. There is already a way that the business rates retention is distributed to correspond with central funding formula to correct for that. Because you wouldn’t want to have it that places like London and Manchester and Bristol were able to retain more of theirs while other areas that weren’t growing at the same rate, were falling behind. Yes, that’s right, and it will have more powers devolved, 16-19 funding, employment support budgets and the ability to tailor their own vocational routes. This will be an important part of developing their own local regional growth strategy as well. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 3 min read

Ebola outbreak in DRC the fastest growing in the history of the virus

As the death toll rises to almost 1,500, and with a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain potentially still months away, health workers face a battle to slow the outbreak The latest numbers of confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has made this latest outbreak the fastest growing in the known history of the virus. At 3,360 confirmed cases , the disease is now affecting people in five provinces in the east of the DRC, with 1,487 deaths recorded, representing an overall case fatality rate estimated at about 45%, according to Congolese health officials. Health responses to the outbreak have been badly hampered by conflict in many of the affected areas. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 1 min read

At least 18 die trying to cross to Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco

Some drowned and others caught up in crush, official says, and thousands sleep on streets or in parks At least 18 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after about 49,000 migrants breached the border with Morocco and poured into the tiny territory. Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta on Thursday after people crossed by land and sea. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is expected to join the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, on a visit to Ceuta on Friday morning. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 3 min read

UK house prices up 0.1% in July as buyers remain cautious on interest rates

Price of an average home now £277,542, up from £277,484 the previous month but lower than in May, says Nationwide Business live – latest updates Economic uncertainty dampened UK house price growth in July as prospective house buyers remained cautious about interest rates during the US war with Iran in what should be peak housebuying season. House prices rose by just 0.1% in July from a month earlier, according to the lender Nationwide , while annual price growth slowed to 1.8% this month, down from 2.2% in June. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 3 min read

Suffolk wildfire near Sizewell nuclear plant ‘stabilising’ after 24 hours

More than 100 firefighters remain at scene after Dunwich Heath blaze spread across 150 hectares and forced evacuations Fire crews tackling a large wildfire burning for more than 24 hours near Britain’s biggest nuclear power station have said the situation is “stabilising”. More than 100 firefighters have been battling the blaze in Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, on the Suffolk coast since Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Jul 31 · 4 min read

At least 19 die as thousands of migrants reach Spain’s African enclave of Cueta – Europe live

PM Pedro Sánchez expected to visit territory today as Italy demands Spain be suspended from the Schengen area amid concerns over fresh migration crisis At least 19 people died as thousands of migrants breached the Spanish-Moroccan border in Cueta yesterday, prompting concerns about a fresh migration crisis and questions over the implications for the European Union. A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil force, which polices Spain’s borders, said ⁠ the migrants were “massively entering from the sea” through the Tarajal breakwater, but could not provide an estimate of the numbers. Continue reading...