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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Robin Morgan, child star who became feminist, poet and editor, dies aged 85
Leading second-wave feminist co-founded Women’s Media Center with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem Robin Morgan, a child star of the 1940s and 50s who grew up to become an all-American radical as a poet, essayist, editor and second-wave feminist, has died. She was 85. Morgan’s death was confirmed Saturday by the Women’s Media Center, an organization she co-founded with Jane Fonda and the celebrated author and activist Gloria Steinem , who died Wednesday. Continue reading...
London Paddington fire causes rail chaos as Heathrow trains cancelled
Blaze causes electricity supply failure and disruption of services to airport and Reading A fire near a train track in the London Paddington area has caused major disruption, with services to Heathrow airport cancelled. The fire caused an electricity supply failure which has left all lines between Paddington and the airport blocked, National Rail said. Continue reading...
Egyptian TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death for drug crime
Sarah Khalifa, 39, charged with forming organised criminal gang to manufacture and traffick drugs An Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drug case, official media reported on Saturday. The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. Continue reading...
‘I wasn’t even listening,’ Farage says of donations scandal meeting
Reform UK leader maintains innocence in overseas funding controversy on last day of party conference UK politics live Nigel Farage has claimed that he “wasn’t even listening” during a meeting at the centre of a controversy about whether his party considered evading the law on accepting donations from overseas. The Reform UK leader also claimed that he knew donation law “better than anybody” during interviews as he sought to salvage the final day of his party conference from the fallout that has already cost him two of his closest aides. Continue reading...
US military says it struck three Iranian tankers after American warships came under missile attack
Officials said US aircraft carrier and destroyer avoided attacks before three Iranian tankers were struck by the US The US military said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after US navy warships came under missile attack, further escalating tensions in the region and warning it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet”. According to the military, a US aircraft carrier and destroyer avoided “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling the region. No US personnel were injured. Continue reading...
Judge orders Trump administration to reveal who set up $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization fund’
Judge issued order as part of discovery process in lawsuit brought by non-profit into now defunct compensation fund A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reveal who set up the structure of a controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponization fund” to recompense victims of political lawfare that was reportedly dropped by the justice department last month. The US magistrate judge Ivan Davis for eastern district of Virginia issued the order compelling discovery materials from the government as part of a lawsuit brought by the Democracy Forward non-profit on behalf of plaintiffs including a fired prosecutor and a college professor acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest against an immigration raid in California . Continue reading...
Catastrophic dangers await Burnham’s push for English devolution | Phillip Inman
Like France, the UK has always been centralised – and imposing a new political structure brings huge risks Devolution in England is going to be messy and slow, and brings with it huge risks that Andy Burnham ignores at his peril. The prime minister’s devolution push will be messy because Whitehall’s ingrained anxiety about handing over money and power will lead to piecemeal deals, starting with a deal for Cornwall that will lack the much-promised driving force of a newly minted mayor. Continue reading...
US Open tennis: Fritz, Anisimova and Keys in action on day seven – live
The latest third-round updates from Flushing Meadows You can mail Katy and follow us on TikTok and Bluesky 11am start (4pm BST) unless stated Arthur Ashe Stadium 11.30am New York/4.30pm BST Taylor Fritz (USA, 9) v Francisco Cerundolo (Arg, 24) Cristina Busca (Sp) v Coco Gauff (USA, 4) It’s so good to have Carlos Alcaraz back – even though it’s not the same without Jannik Sinner The end game appears closer for Novak Djokovic - and has already come for Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils – while Alex de Minaur is at a career crossroads Aryna Sabalenka is working her way back into form – though success isn’t the only thing she’s been smelling Coco Gauff has served notice with her start – while Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva have impressed too (Gauff, Rybakina and Jessica Pegula are still pushing Sabalenka for the world No 1 spot) Taylor Fritz is arguably the best-placed home hope to end the 23-year wait for an American male singles champion Naomi Osaka’s tennis hasn’t been as eye-catching as her latest look Eala-mania has taken over New York Britain desperately needs Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu back fit And Alexander Zverev, looking shaky in his first slam as the No 1 seed, has likely turned into a zombie in the city that never sleeps after two 2am, five-set finishes Continue reading...
Raise the Colours leader given access to Reform UK conference while on bail
Ryan Bridge, arrested this year on suspicion of religiously and racially aggravated harassment, says party invited him The leader of a flag campaign group who was arrested on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment was given access to Reform UK’s annual conference. Ryan Bridge, whose Raise the Colours group has put up hundreds of union and St George flags across England, told the Guardian he was invited to the conference. Continue reading...
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner land in Moscow aiming to revive Ukraine talks
US envoys expected to meet Vladimir Putin before travelling to Kyiv, after peace efforts floundered in recent months The US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow to try to resuscitate a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as both sides said they would halt airstrikes for the visit. The envoys were met at the airport on Saturday by the Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a key interlocutor for the Trump administration’s efforts to end the Ukraine-Russia war. The US outlet Axios reported that they were expected to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, later in the day. The visit came as Trump suggested on Friday a new proposal to end the war, without providing any details on what his new plan might be. Trump made ending the war a priority early in his second term, but his efforts have so far yielded little results. Continue reading...
‘The chancellor is in a bind’: is No 11 at odds with Burnham’s big vision?
MPs applaud PM’s ambition and optimism but John Healey has yet to show he can match leader’s radical perspective Until now, Andy Burnham has been a lucky prime minister. In office for just over six weeks, no major domestic crisis derailed his plans over the summer, Reform has been on the back foot , and he arrived back at Westminster with his personal approval ratings soaring and optimism undampened. But underneath the sense of relief that many Labour MPs are feeling that their high-stakes gamble of ousting Keir Starmer appears – for now – to have paid off, there is an unease that Burnham’s premiership is yet to make contact with economic reality. Continue reading...
Cut the cameras: Flock surveillance cameras spur rare bipartisan backlash
Politicians on the right and left are pushing back against Flock as more Americans voice opposition to the tech Growing factions from both sides of the political aisle in the US are pushing back against surveillance cameras made by a single company, a rare response in a sharply divided country with a president pushing an unwaveringly pro-tech agenda. The bipartisan backlash against Flock Safety cameras resembles nationwide rage toward the construction of large datacenters that power artificial intelligence. Polling shows roughly 75% of Americans oppose new datacenter construction in their areas. Continue reading...
Civilians among at least 60 killed in Yemen as ground fighting escalates
Houthi rebel offensive against government forces on west coast leads to some of deadliest clashes in years Clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement killed more than 60 people, including civilians, as the Houthis pushed forward with a military offensive on Yemen’s western coast. Twenty-six government troops and 31 Houthi fighters were killed during several hours of fighting in the country’s south-west on Saturday, medical and military sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). A missile strike also killed six civilians and injured seven others travelling by bus in the city of Taiz. Continue reading...
After overtourism besieged Big Sur, the worst finally happened: ‘People kept saying someone is going to die’
The coastal community in California had already been devastated by landslides and wildfires before a fatal crash California’s rugged Big Sur coastline is often called a slice of heaven, 120 miles (195km) of unspoiled rocky promontories, sandy beaches and redwood forests at the foot of the Santa Lucia mountains. This year, it has endured a long summer of hell. Wildfires, road closures and repeated disruptions to the local hotel, restaurant and campsite businesses all have posed significant challenges in an era of climate change and unpredictable weather patterns. One large fire broke out in the highlands east of Big Sur in early August and is still less than 25% contained. A second fire erupted 30 miles to the south two weeks later and is so inaccessible to firefighters that it has grown bigger than the first and is barely contained at all. Continue reading...
The US attorney general is fretting about a ‘pandemic’ of gender transitions in schools | Arwa Mahdawi
Todd Blanche’s remarks are part of a totally-not-invented moral panic that stretches the limits of the imagination Being a public school teacher in the US these days is tough. You’ve got to pay for a lot of your own supplies, deal with smartphone-addicted children, and perform gender reassignment surgeries in your lunch break. Luckily our intrepid attorney general, Todd Blanche, is on the case. Blanche appeared on Fox News this week to decry a “pandemic” of gender transitions in schools across the US. “There’s not a parent in America, no matter where you live, that would want their school to change and call their child by a different name and not expect to be told about that. We partnered with the Department of Education recently to combat this very trend and, really, pandemic that’s happening in some school districts around the country,” Blanche said. He seemed more concerned with name changes than with surgery, but the president himself has suggested on several occasions that schools are furtively doing surgery on children. During a campaign speech in 2024, for example, Donald Trump said : “Can you imagine … your son leaves the house and you say: ‘Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this?” Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Lindsay Clancy murder trial ends in dramatic deadlock – what comes next?
District attorney must decide whether to retry case after jury’s failure to reach verdict despite hours of deliberation Lindsay Clancy, prosecutors, defense lawyers, the judge and millions watching on are back where they started after her five-week trial over the murder of her three children ended in a mistrial. America’s saddest case has ceased for the moment, but the legal wrangling is not over, and a second trial could now be on the horizon, prolonging and repeating an agonizing spectacle that has gripped America and the world. Continue reading...
Mental health groups have ‘failed to acknowledge’ risk of violence, says Mind chief
Sector has avoided issue because of stigma fears, expert warns ahead of closure of Nottingham attacks inquiry Mental health organisations have “failed to acknowledge” the risk of violence from a minority of people with severe mental illnesses, the chief executive of Mind has said ahead of the closure of the inquiry into the Nottingham attacks. Dr Sarah Hughes, who has led mental health charity Mind for four years and has worked in the sector for almost four decades, said charities had shied away from addressing the risk of violence due to the fact it had increased the stigma and harassment around people with mental health conditions. Continue reading...
‘I could watch her for hours’: the woman who rescued a bee and created a buzz
After bringing injured queen Phoebee home in July, Gilly McArthur expected her soon to die, but she’s bumbling on Fifty-two days ago, Phoebee was lying by the side of a road in the blistering sun with a broken wing. Today, she’s clambering up the arm of Gilly McArthur, around the nape of her neck and disappearing into her hair. “I couldn’t leave her by the roadside,” McArthur says. “So I bought her home and made her a bed of flowers. I thought she’d be dead in a day or so.” Continue reading...
Alzheimer’s trial to test drug on people without symptoms to see if it can be prevented
Healthy middle-aged people deemed to be at higher risk of developing condition among those eligible to participate People without memory loss will be offered an experimental Alzheimer’s drug that could stop the development of the condition before dementia symptoms emerge. Healthy middle-aged people deemed to have a higher risk of developing the condition will be eligible to participate in the trial, which is being run by an NHS trust as part of an international clinical trial aiming to prevent dementia. Continue reading...
Even in safe-haven Massachusetts, trans care is at risk. Young people are fighting to protect it
Activists are calling on the state attorney general to take action against hospitals that have ended gender-affirming care programs after Trump retook office A group of trans activists from across Massachusetts brought their needles, hormone gels, pills and sharps containers to Boston on Wednesday to send a message to state attorney general Andrea Campbell. Organizers with the youth-led group Protect Trans Futures (PTF) took their hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the lobby of her office building, then occupied the space, refusing to leave without a commitment to protect civil rights for trans kids . Continue reading...
John Healey warns of tough first budget as Middle East war puts pressure on economy
Chancellor told Financial Times he would ensure country had ‘buffer’ against uncertainty as global bond yields hit 18-year high The chancellor has indicated that the UK will face a tough budget next month due to Trump’s war in the Middle East. In an interview with the Financial Times, John Healey said the conflict in Iran would probably have a strong influence on his first budget on 28 October. Continue reading...
Rescuers in Nepal find two more people alive after flood disaster
Chinese man at Trishuli hydropower project and Nepali woman in Nuwakot found 10 days into rescue operation Emergency responders rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in two separate operations on Saturday, as authorities continued to search for thousands of people missing 10 days after massive floods hit Nepal. The Nepali military said a joint team comprising personnel from its army and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a tunnel in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Pictures showed him being evacuated by helicopter after being carried out of the tunnel. Continue reading...
First professional St Nick with Down’s syndrome inducted into International Santa Claus Hall of Fame
Atlanta’s Bradley Carlisle first played Kris Kringle for kids with Down’s syndrome and has now completed elite Santa Academy After recently gaining recognition as the first professional Santa Claus with Down’s syndrome in the US, Bradley Carlisle has already gotten a lot more than the traditional serving of milk and cookies that is usually left out for Father Christmas each year. That is because the 37-year-old community theater actor from suburban Atlanta landed an honorary induction into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame upon completing one of the largest Christmas performer schools in the US in late August – a distinction meant to recognize the important representation his emergence on the holiday scene has brought, according to his supporters. Continue reading...
When Memphis went dark, community members brought the light: ‘We keep ourselves safe’
A storm lasting about 30 minutes wreaked $18m in damage leaving tens of thousands without power in the US city The storm that hit the Memphis , Tennessee, area on 22 August lingered for only about half an hour. But the destruction it left was lasting: $18m in damages , fallen trees and more than 100,000 people without power. Amber Sherman was one of the east Memphis residents who lost power, but her first thoughts were of her neighbors. “My main thought was that the power’s going to be out for a while and people aren’t prepared for that and it’s very hot outside,” Sherman, a coordinator for Black Voters Matter (BVM) in Memphis, said. Days after the storm, a series of rain showers and thunderstorms known as a bow echo storm, the high in Memphis was 91F (32.8C). Tens of thousands of households were still without power. Continue reading...