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Politics
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Donald Trump’s midterm strategy? Make it all about him | Robert Reich
The president apparently plans to focus on the person he most admires – himself – even if Republicans would rather he didn’t With the midterm races officially beginning this week, a big question hanging over the Republican party is how Trump will allocate his giant stash of Super Pac money. As of 31 July, Maga Inc had more than $400m on hand, larger than the cash reserves of any of the major party committees. But he’s barely spent any of it yet. Why not? Continue reading...
‘Everything is against us’: Jaguar Land Rover suppliers voice fears amid carmaker’s cutbacks
Firms warn of impact of company’s decision to to axe 4,000 jobs and call for government to support sector Jaguar Land Rover confirms plan to cut 4,000 jobs David Roberts is not in an optimistic mood. The chair of Coventry-based Evtec may preside over a business with 900 highly skilled employees, multiple sites and precision machinery, but the outlook for the manufacturer appears tricky. “Everything is against us,” he says. Evtec is a “tier one” supplier to Jaguar Land Rover, also headquartered in Coventry, which this week announced 4,000 job cuts over two years even as the chancellor, John Healey, attempted to talk up Britain’s growth prospects in his first big speech, just down the road. Continue reading...
US police fear Meta smart glasses could be used to secretly record them
Exclusive: Documents show officers from Maine to California worry Meta’s camera-equipped glasses will be used either to secretly record them or aid acts of terrorism In January, the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism unit sent out a memo warning police officers about a new potential “security and counterintelligence” threat: Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The memo directed officers to “conduct thorough inspections of all eyewear permitted within inmate cells” and cautioned that people who have been arrested could use these glasses, equipped with small cameras and microphones, to record inside police facilities. The memo cited two examples of such videos posted on social media. Continue reading...
OpenAI models went rogue. We urgently need a better ‘hugging face’ investigation | Mackenzie Arnold and Stephan Llerena
The breach won’t be the last – or the most dangerous – of its kind. We need an agency capable of full investigations into AI incidents When OpenAI first revealed that its AI agents had autonomously hacked a major real-world company, Hugging Face, many assumed only one or two agents were involved. The truth, a new report reveals, is far stranger: the incident involved about 1,200 AI agents, 700 of which directly participated in the attack. OpenAI invited researchers from METR, along with an expert from Redwood Research, to produce the new report, alongside the company’s own investigation . The findings shocked the experts. Continue reading...
25 years after 9/11, is Islamophobia in the US at an all-time high? — Stateside with Kai and Carter
In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, the journalist Rozina Ali remembers her parents telling her that as Muslims, they would now be under suspicion. It took years for Ali to understand what they meant. She talks to Carter Sherman about this journey and how it led her to write about the history of Islamophobia in the US. Ali explores how attacks on Muslims by successive administrations since 9/11 cemented Islamophobia in all areas of American life, and she explains why she believes these prejudices are more pervasive now than ever. Seasons of Fury: Four Families, and the Rise of Islamophobia in America by Rozina Ali is out now Continue reading...
New Hampshire and Rhode Island electorate to vote in state primaries - US politics live
Voters will choose candidates across full slate of federal, state and local offices over next two days Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. New Hampshire and Rhode Island primary voters will choose candidates across a full slate of federal, state and local offices over the next two days. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Canadian private jet maker Bombardier would no longer be allowed to sell its planes in the United States unless it started manufacturing in the country. “NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ’piggybank’.” New York mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to come face-to-face with Rudy Giuliani at the main September 11 memorial service, just days after the former mayor – who led the city at the time of the 2001 terrorist attacks – disparaged his Muslim religion and said he should skip the ceremony. In an interview with right-leaning Newsmax at the weekend, Giuliani said : “Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.” A cluster of advocacy groups that boast veteran lawyers, voting experts and ex-judges have expanded legal challenges to Donald Trump’s authoritarian executive orders on voting and other presidential actions they see as a “war” on the rule of law in the US. Heavy legal opposition to Trump’s two executive orders on elections to curb voting rights and supplant the authority of states on election matters has come from the Democracy Defenders Fund, the Campaign Legal Center, the American Civil Liberties Union and kindred groups. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report linking “gender ideology” to leftwing authoritarianism and political violence – a study scientists say was poorly conducted and “nakedly political”, likely leading to greater politicization of science and health. It follows attempts by the administration to limit access to gender-affirming care – including, on Friday, an agreement reached between the Department of Justice and a New York hospital to no longer offer pediatric gender-affirming care. Continue reading...
Mother flagged faulty smoke alarms before house fire that killed father and five children, court hears
Pre-inquest conference into Queensland deaths hears witnesses did not hear any smoke alarms during 2023 fire A landlord was repeatedly warned about improperly installed smoke alarms before a house fire that killed a father and five children in Queensland in 2023, a coroner has heard. Deputy state coroner Donald MacKenzie held a pre-inquest conference into the Russell Island deaths on Tuesday. Continue reading...
David Squires on … Lionel Messi enjoying his true passion after Argentina retirement
Our cartoonist imagines how the football great might while away the hours after calling time on his international career Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...
I am sending the assisted dying bill back to the Lords – and this time, peers must do the right thing | Lauren Edwards
The will of the elected chamber – and a popular, compassionate piece of legislation – must not be frustrated again by a small minority of peers Lauren Edwards is the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood I was elected to Westminster two years ago, when the country was crying out for change and looking to parliament to tackle the big issues that had been forgotten for too long. When that change didn’t come fast enough, trust in politics once again started to ebb away. We have one last chance to prove we can deliver on people’s priorities. Assisted dying didn’t feature in the manifesto I was elected on. Nor should it have done. Matters of conscience such as this are rightly left to individual MPs to decide upon. There will always be a range of views within all political parties. But this issue has been supported by a substantial majority in the country for a very long time. Reputable independent polling has shown support for assisted dying consistently at about 75%. The latest British social attitudes survey from the National Centre for Social Research found that “it is clear we are observing a continued high level of public support for legal change to allow assisted dying in some circumstances”. Lauren Edwards is the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood and has reintroduced the terminally ill adults bill in parliament Continue reading...
Councils pay more than £125m a year placing vulnerable children in illegal care homes in England
Exclusive: Booming industry of businesses profit from shortage of beds for most at-risk children Princess’s story: the case that highlights scourge of illegal care provision Councils are paying more than £125m a year of taxpayers’ money to place vulnerable children in illegal care homes across England, an investigation has found. The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) have uncovered a booming industry of businesses profiting from a shortage of beds for the most at-risk children in Ofsted-inspected homes. Continue reading...
Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham have been stalked. They’re far from alone in the WNBA
Players generally welcome interacting with their fans. But as the league’s popularity surges, there are dangers to be aware of Caitlin Clark spent most of the 2025 WNBA season sidelined with a series of injuries that forced her to miss more than 30 games. But she also spent part of the season (and the preceding offseason) quietly navigating a tumultuous and scary reality: a 55-year-old man was stalking her , and he was convinced they were in a relationship. That man, Michael Lewis, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison last July. Lewis sent Clark “hundreds” of messages – many of which were “threats and sexually explicit” – between 12 December 2024 and 11 January 2025. Lewis, who is from Texas, was arrested at a hotel in Indianapolis, where Clark plays for the Indiana Fever . The case took a toll on Clark: she said she feared for her safety and had changed her appearance in public. Continue reading...
Man City-bound 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan is MLS’s chaotic revelation
The Philadelphia Union midfielder has gotten his longest run of game time since turning pro, and the data is tantalizing There’s a video from a United States U-15 camp three years ago that will make your head spin. It’s a routine training session for the boys on the pitch except one, a head shorter and a year or two younger than the others, who’s practicing with the national team for the first time. Is the boy nervous? He is not. A pass floats into the box and he checks his run, tries to get under it, but the ball is too high for his 13-year-old head to reach. He doesn’t even jump. As the cross sails over him, he flings himself forward like Superman and flicks a heel up behind his back, catching the ball with a scorpion kick that bounces straight into the path of a teammate for a cartoon assist. Continue reading...
Low turnout threatens Commons vote on assisted dying, say MPs
Backers seek support for second attempt to get law through House of Lords after ‘undemocratic’ rejection last year MPs on both sides of the assisted dying debate have voiced fears about turnout affecting the vote on Friday, when the bill returns to the Commons for its second attempt to become law. Those who back the change in the law have been emphasising the “undemocratic” nature of the bill’s rejection by the House of Lords after it was talked out by a handful of peers after passing the House of Commons. The bill fell despite multiple days of debate from peers because of the number of amendments tabled in the Lords. Continue reading...
Oil price approaches $100 a barrel after attacks on Saudi oil facilities – business live
Saudi authorities said operations at some energy facilities have been attacked by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis Gas prices are rising this morning, putting pressure on European countries who need to stock up their storage levels before the winter. The month-ahead UK gas price is up around 1% at 184p a therm, close to yesterday’s highs when gas hit its highest since January 2023. Continue reading...
Fake wide receivers to undercover stings: did the 49ers have the wildest NFL preseason of all time?
A large part of San Francisco’s summer was a literal car crash. On the positive side, they have so far avoided their usual list of crushing injuries The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers have trekked to Australia for this week’s NFL season opener in Melbourne. The flight time from California to Victoria is nearly the same for both teams – roughly 16 hours – but their journeys to the start of the season couldn’t be more different. It’s been smooth sailing for the Rams, with their collection of playmakers growing by the day . It’s a very different story for the 49ers: facing Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett, not to mention the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, at least twice this season is the least of their problems. Their offseason has been more than lightly turbulent: it’s been batshit crazy. Continue reading...
Billionaire Chris Rokos, who paid £330m in tax last year, to quit UK
Hedge fund tycoon is latest financier to exit amid fears among super-rich over tax rises Business live – latest updates The hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos is poised to leave the UK, the latest in a string of high-profile exits among Britain’s super-rich. The founder of Rokos Capital Management is preparing to move his residency to Greece, and will open an office in Athens as part of the move, according to Bloomberg. Continue reading...
Ukraine’s prosecutor general resigns after corruption allegations as Russia resumes strikes on Kyiv – Europe live
Ruslan Kravchenko leaves post after his offices were searched at the weekend, as Moscow renews attacks after pause for peace talks Separately, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has condemned the presence of senior Serbian officials at yesterday’s funeral of Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić, saying it showed “a failure to confront a dark chapter in Europe’s recent history” and questioned Serbia’s alignment with the EU. Mladić, who died last week, was buried with military honours in after a memorial service attended by tens of thousands of people and led by Porfirije, the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox church. Continue reading...
UK-US trade could suffer as a result of sanctions for illegal Israeli settlements, American ambassador warns – UK politics live
UK foreign secretary to reassert support for Palestinian rights and a two-state solution in move drawing criticism from US and Israel Good morning. It is hard to understand Labour/leftwing politics in the UK at the moment without reference to Israel and Gaza. Keir Starmer’s popularity with some progressive voters slumped in part because he was seen as unwilling to do enough to channel the anger they feel about how Israel is treating Palestinians – even though last year he took the historic step of formally recognising the state of Palestine . Quite a lot of what Andy Burnham has done in his early days as PM has had a “continuity Starmer”, but today the new government will take a bold step that will recast the UK/Israel relationship, acting where the Starmer administration just dragged its feet. In a statement to MPs, Ed Miliband , the new foreign secretary, will announce that Britain is banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Patrick Wintour has the story here. I don’t know if [the British government is] really aware of the implications and how it’s going to affect Brits. For example, 25% of pharmaceuticals that are used in the UK are made in Israel. Are they willing to give those up? It looks like they are. Continue reading...
Artworks stolen from Renoir museum on French Riviera in latest heist
Thieves took four artworks but dropped one as they fled, says mayor of southern town of Cagnes-sur-Mer Two thieves have broken into a museum dedicated to the French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stealing four artworks and dropping one as they fled, the local mayor has said. “Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran,” said Bryan Masson, the mayor of the southern town of Cagnes-sur-Mer. His office estimated the value of the stolen works at €9m (£7.7m). Continue reading...
England’s teenagers outperform peers in most countries in maths, reading and science
OECD test sees results dip in almost all member nations and warns of ‘digital distractions’ eroding academic skills England’s teenagers are outperforming their peers in most countries in maths, reading and science, according to an international survey that warns of “digital distractions” eroding academic skills around the world. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) programme for international student assessment (Pisa), which last year tested 760,000 15-year-olds in 91 countries and regions, found that results dipped in almost all of its members compared with previous years, with the exception of England and a handful of others. Continue reading...
Australia’s classroom disruption among worst in world, prompting calls for ‘digital detox’
Public school students are the equivalent of two and a half years behind their independent peers, as global report shows decline in reading and maths Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Public school students are more than two years behind their independent counterparts and Australia’s classroom disruption remains among the worst in the world, a global report has found. The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results, released on Tuesday by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), tested the literacy of 15-year-olds in 91 countries, including Australia . The tests have run every three years since 2000. Continue reading...
UK commits £100m to bolster Ukraine’s air defences over winter
Package of military equipment includes Patriot missiles, supplies of which have dwindled amid Russian attacks The UK has committed £100m to boost Ukraine’s air defences over winter with a package of military equipment including Patriot missiles. Defence interceptors, large-calibre artillery rounds and drones will be supplied to Ukraine through the contribution to Nato’s prioritised Ukraine requirements list. Continue reading...
One Nation’s Warren Pickering admits to illegal drug use and says he is ‘no angel’ in extraordinary press conference
Victorian One Nation leader tells media he has used methamphetamine, speed and marijuana Victorian One Nation leader, Warren Pickering, has admitted he “made mistakes” in his 20s, including using ecstasy, methamphetamines and marijuana, losing his license multiple times for drink driving and hurting people he loved. But he has denied claims by his ex-partner, published by The Australian, that he smoked ice in front of children and said he was considering legal action against the publication at a press conference on Tuesday. Guardian Australia and the ABC were barred from attending the press conference. Continue reading...
Why India’s economic data has sparked a furore
India’s statistical system once commanded respect, and its data on economic and social indicators was considered rigorous – that appears to have eroded There isn’t much that we Indians agree on these days. GDP numbers are no exception. Last week, India released glowing GDP numbers for the latest quarter – 7.8% growth – higher than the forecast 7% . It sparked a furore. Subhash Garg, a former finance secretary under Narendra Modi’s government and now a critic, reframed what Modi called a “herculean feat” as mere smoke and mirrors. According to Garg , the government revised last year’s current-price GDP downwards to inflate this year’s number – he believes the real growth is only 2.6%. Continue reading...