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Politics
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One person killed in shooting outside Magic City Classic football game in Alabama
Eight injured in shooting outside Legion Field Annual game draws huge crowds to Birmingham One person was killed and eight others were wounded in a mass shooting outside Legion Field after the annual Magic City Classic football game on Saturday night, police in Birmingham, Alabama, said. Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game, but the shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue. Continue reading...
Trump to appear at rallies in battlegrounds Iowa and Kansas two days before midterms – live
He had originally canceled the in-person appearances in favor of tele-rallies, only to reverse course Sign up for the Breaking News US email Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Donald Trump is making stops in Iowa and Kansas to throw support behind Republicans in competitive Senate races with just two days remaining before the midterm elections. He had originally canceled the in-person appearances in favor of tele-rallies, only to reverse course on Friday. Abdul El-Sayed , the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s tightly fought Senate race, wants Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events. The two had planned to appear together Sunday at a church service in Detroit, but Representative Debbie Dingell later told CNN she had spoken to Stevens and told her, “This isn’t working.” A US judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal with prejudice on Saturday, according to a court filing, bringing an end to his legal challenge over the newspaper’s reporting on his alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein . Continue reading...
‘There’s a lot of hate’: rightwing racism stirs south Asian mobilization in Texas
In state that become ‘ground zero’ for discrimination against south Asians, experts say they are seeing voters motivated to fight back Last winter, while Pooja Sethi was canvassing to become the Democratic candidate for the Texas house of representatives, she received a text from a staff member alerting her to a post on X. The Turning Point USA influencer Savanah Hernandez – a Trump supporter known for creating videos that target immigrants – had posted a photo of Sethi’s campaign banner with the caption: “Welcome to politics in Texas.” The post went viral. Continue reading...
Home values fall for seventh consecutive month as interest rates dent demand
Centre of downturn shifts away from Sydney and Melbourne, but after such strong growth most homeowners still sit on sizeable gains Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australian home values have dropped for a seventh consecutive month, with prices in the capital cities now falling at the fastest pace in 40 years as rising mortgage rates scare off buyers. Cotality data shows the centre of the downturn is also shifting away from Sydney and Melbourne toward the mid-sized state capital cities, with Brisbane and Perth leading October’s declines. Continue reading...
Colorado community fights plan to use drones to spray weed killer
Officials in Red Hill, Colorado, say they have a safe plan to wipe out invasive weeds, but some locals are concerned Soon, weed-killing chemicals will start falling from the sky over the Red Hill area of Boulder county, Colorado. The wildland is known for its biodiversity , home to hundreds of important species and a concentration of rare environmental resources. It is a key habitat for beloved herds of elk and bighorn sheep, with farms and ranchland lying at its base. Continue reading...
The US founders made a grave error in granting presidents pardon power | James Rosen
Trump’s utter abuse of the power proves it. As the midterms approach, voters have not forgotten January 6 From betraying Ukraine and dispatching masked agents who killed Americans to deporting US citizens and pulling out of accords controlling climate change and Iranian nuclear weapons , the list of Donald Trump’s abuses is long and growing still longer, seemingly by the day. Looking back decades from now, historians will see that at the top of this shameful list is Trump’s utter abuse of his pardon power. It started on the first day of his second term, when he pardoned more than 1,500 insurrectionists who, on 6 January 2021, had stormed the US Capitol. Continue reading...
Former NSW Liberal leads overhaul of One Nation candidate selection process
Exclusive: Mark Jones, once on track for one of the Liberal party’s most powerful roles, is now instrumental in One Nation’s expansion Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast In 2023, a young and ambitious Liberal moderate was on the brink of securing one of the most powerful roles in the party: state director of the New South Wales branch. Three years later, he is playing a key role in selecting and vetting One Nation candidates determined to beat his former colleagues. Multiple Liberal sources familiar with recruitment for the position, which involves running election campaigns and managing fundraising, confirm Mark Jones was among the final three candidates for the role before his career advancement was ultimately blocked. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...
Northern Territory water plan condemned as ‘blatant and shameless’ attack on nature
Exclusive : Move to scrap legal requirement to set aside water for environment is ‘extreme even for the NT CLP government’, green group says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Northern Territory government has been accused of making a “blatant and shameless” attack on nature by planning to delete a legal requirement that water must be allocated to the environment. In what has been described as the latest in a series of attacks on the environment by the NT’s Country Liberal party, the Finocchiaro government plans to change water rules that govern how much ground and surface water industry can take. Continue reading...
Welsh health board may close urgent primary care centres at three hospitals
UPCCs in Holyhead, Tremadog and Bangor may shut as Betsi Cadwaladr University health board struggles with funding and recruitment A struggling Welsh health board may close urgent primary care centres at three hospitals, citing funding and recruitment issues, prompting widespread criticism. Betsi Cadwaladr University health board, which serves about a quarter of Wales’s population, said it was consulting on ending urgent primary care centres (UPCCs) at Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley in Holyhead, Ysbyty Alltwen in Tremadog and Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor by April 2027. Continue reading...
‘We spend our days in silence’: fear and repression in Ohio as ICE terrorizes Haitian immigrants
Haitian community in Springfield demands dignity and better rights for immigrants as ICE crackdown ramps up Michaelle Louis’s feet and legs are aching. She can barely walk. Surrounded by corn fields and the distant hum of a busy highway, the native of Haiti and dozens of other activists are 23 miles into a 45-mile march from Springfield to Ohio’s statehouse in Columbus to demand better rights for Haitian immigrants. Continue reading...
Spirit of 1676: remembering the Native American cataclysm of King Philip’s war
The conflict that tore through New England 350 years ago was the bloodiest per capita in colonial or US history Massachusetts is proud of its ties to the American Revolution. From Paul Revere’s Ride to the siege of Boston, the past year-plus has been devoted to celebrating 250 years of US independence. Yet during this time, the state, and New England in general, has given far less attention to an older, more complex remembrance: The 350th anniversary of King Philip’s war. King Philip, or Metacom, was an Indigenous leader from the Pokanoket people. Alarmed by English colonists’ infringement of Indigenous rights, from seizing land to proselytizing, Metacom led an alliance of New England tribes – including the Pokanoket, Nipmuc and Narragansett – in an existential struggle for control of the region. He gave his name to the conflict, but paid with his life – as did many others, soldiers and civilians alike. With an estimated 800 dead on the colonial side, and three to five thousand Indigenous slain, the war claimed more deaths per capita than any other in colonial American or US history. Continue reading...
‘Dark money made darker’: funding labyrinth conceals donors to Republican campaigns
One man’s campaign finance operation in Wisconsin exemplifies the opacity of the US political funding system In the summer of 2024, a non-profit called the Green Dragon Coalition wired the last $20,000 of a $445,000 grant to a Super Pac . Its tax return for that year would describe the purpose of the transfer as “educational”. The same day, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, the Super Pac spent $8,000 attacking Celeste Maloy, the Republican congresswoman for Utah’s second district, four days before the primary that would decide whether she kept her seat. It had already spent more than $400,000 promoting her challenger, Colby Jenkins, who was running to her right with the endorsement of the rightwing Utah senator Mike Lee. Continue reading...
The UK’s legal cannabis market is booming – so why can’t this talented artist get any to treat his epilepsy? | Kojo Koram
Companies have rushed to supply the drug as a wellness treatment, but patients with serious illnesses aren’t able to get NHS prescriptions In 2022, a prodigiously talented young artist named Louis Petit was preparing to return to the UK, having been effectively exiled in the Netherlands as a teenager so he could access the medical cannabis he needed to control his epilepsy. Six years earlier, Louis, then 12, had been diagnosed with a rare form of the neurological disease when medical cannabis was still illegal in the UK. But in Rotterdam, where it was legal, doctors helped him discover that a medical cannabis oil called Bedrolite, in combination with the right mix of anti-epileptic treatment, could slow and eventually stop his seizures. This was something his neurologists in the UK had previously considered impossible. Dr Kojo Koram is professor of law and political economy at Loughborough University and the author of The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...
The US-China trade war seems to have subsided – but the sense of calm is misleading
A truce has cooled the trade conflict, but neither country has done anything to limit the outbreak of new hostilities Donald Trump ’s trade wars have largely fallen off the headlines. Fears of new tariffs flare up from time to time when the US president goes off the rails – for instance, threatening to end US trade with countries with which it has a deficit unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. But the sense that the world’s two largest economies are plowing ahead into an overt economic conflagration has taken a back seat to other, more salient fears, about Trump ending American democracy, AI killing us all and stuff like that. The sense of calm is misleading. Under the radar, the world is marching toward an economic war of potentially epic proportions, one that, history suggests, could well spill over into the real thing. Continue reading...
Affordability top of mind for voters in final sprint to midterms: ‘I have to pick between medicine or groceries’
Cost of living has loomed over this election cycle as workers and unions champion candidates fighting for higher wages and tackling rising prices For millions of Americans heading to the polls on Tuesday, affordability is a constant and worsening issue, and it’s been a prevailing concern this election cycle. In Lorain county, Ohio, Gina Jones and her co-workers at the Lorain county job and family services have been on strike since February 2026, the longest public sector strike in Ohio history and on pace to break the US record for longest public sector strike. Continue reading...
A curmudgeon’s guide to the 2026 US elections | Dave Schilling
From the cheesecake factory discourse to the double Dan Sullivans, campaign season has been ridiculous Chances are, as you’re reading this, your bunker is fully stocked, your doors are locked, and you’re peeking at your computer screen through gaps between your fingers. After all, it’s election day on Tuesday. Once again, democracy will be tested – like Beavis & Butthead taking the SATs. I’m not looking forward to it, and I’m sure you aren’t either. Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...
Chancellor fails to guarantee minimum wage pledge for younger workers
Manifesto promise to equalise rates before next election is now ‘a question of when’, John Healey tells BBC Labour looks less likely to meet its manifesto pledge to equalise the minimum wage for younger workers before the next election, after the chancellor failed to guarantee the rise within that timeframe. John Healey said on Sunday the government was still committed to the increase but failed to spell out when it would be achieved. In the budget, a rise in the minimum wage was handed to adults and under 20s, but there was no larger rise for younger workers, which would have been needed for a move towards equalisation. Continue reading...
Britain should not issue apology over slave trade, says Kemi Badenoch
Tory leader says apology would be ‘navel-gazing distraction’ and would be used by campaigners as lever for financial compensation Kemi Badenoch has said an apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade would be a “navel-gazing distraction”, describing slavery as an evil “in which people from every continent and region participated”. Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday, Badenoch also questioned whether it was worth future leaders attending the Commonwealth summit, given that it was now dominated by calls for reparations. Continue reading...
New public spending category PDEL is a welcome and could have big impact | Heather Stewart
The Preventative Departmental Expenditure Limit will be money ringfenced in the budget for preventive policies John Healey’s debut budget was far from a blockbuster, but it may come to be remembered for the birth of a plucky new character in the tax and spend universe – little PDEL. It may not have the charm of Disney’s Wall-E, but PDEL (pronounced P-Del), Preventative Departmental Expenditure Limit, to give it its full name, marks a welcome, and potentially very consequential, addition. Continue reading...
‘He’s a force’: Obama answers call to boost Democrats – and rattle Trump
Former president has given series of blistering speeches to help candidates in key races – and deployment has proved a hit with party’s progressive wing That could have been awkward. Barack Obama , campaigning for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, acknowledged that his fellow Democrat has criticised some aspects of the Obama presidency. “Yeah, Abdul didn’t agree with some things we wanted to do – that our administration was doing – when I was president,” he told a rally in Detroit . “You know who else doesn’t agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama.” The crowd erupted in laughter. “I’d say about five times a day, she says, ‘You knucklehead. Why you do that?’” Continue reading...
Tommy Robinson conviction leaves far right with leadership void
With heir apparent Danny Tommo also in custody, Robinson’s conviction for harassing journalists is blow to anti-migrant movement The verdict was met with a groan from Tommy Robinson’s supporters, who had sat behind the dock throughout his harassment trial. It took more than 11 hours of jury deliberations to find the far-right activist guilty of harassment causing fear of violence to two journalists, enough time for a band of lieutenants and hangers-on to get their hopes up that he might be acquitted. Continue reading...
Sadiq Khan calls for cap on numbers of robotaxis on London streets
Mayor questions impact on air quality, congestion and jobs as government poised to allow driverless vehicles in capital London’s mayor has called for a cap on the numbers of robotaxis on its streets, with the UK government poised to allow fully driverless vehicles to operate in the capital. Sadiq Khan said politicians had failed to “grasp the pace of change” from the technology, which could threaten jobs and increase congestion in the city, and questioned whether the rules for autonomous cars were fit for purpose. Continue reading...
An embattled Karen Bass is fighting tooth and nail to keep her mayorship in LA. It might be too late
With affordability a major election issue, the incumbent is trying to ward off her democratic socialist challenger At the end of 2022, the four largest US cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston – all had Black mayors. It was a historic alignment made possible by the aftereffects of the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement and the unprecedented wave of protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Six years on, only one of those mayors remains: the embattled Karen Bass of Los Angeles , who is facing a strong challenge from a younger, even more progressive challenger. Bass’s opponent is Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, although the group is considering rescinding its endorsement over her refusal to explicitly embrace the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Continue reading...
Minister says UK apology over historic role in slave trade won’t lead to financial reparations – UK politics live
Ahead of a meeting with Commonwealth leaders, Andy Burnham wrote that Britain needed to ‘acknowledge its complicated history’ Good morning and welcome to our Sunday UK politics blog. Budget week conversation has moved on a bit; Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is doing the rounds of the politics shows this morning and she has an op-ed in the Telegraph railing against the delayed defence spending commitment, claiming instead that the Conservatives could find that spend while cuting the deficit and lowering taxes. I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part. Let me be very clear that will not involve financial reparations, because the British people today shouldn’t be held liable for historic wrongs, wrongs that they had no part in. Continue reading...