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Politics
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Sydney set to hit 33C in warmest start to spring since mid-1800s, while snow forecast in southern NSW
A total fire ban is in place for greater Sydney with extreme fire danger exacerbated by hot and windy conditions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Summer heat is due to arrive early across much of eastern Australia with potentially record early September temperatures predicted for Brisbane and Sydney, while snow was expected in southern New South Wales. Maximum temperatures in Sydney during the first days of September were on track to match the city’s midsummer average of 26.4C, warmer than any other start to spring since the city’s Observatory Hill station opened in 1858. Continue reading...
Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes journalists
Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outlet A federal judge has declined to stop the Pentagon from firing journalists who say they were illegally punished for speaking out about the need for the Stars and Stripes publication to maintain its editorial independence. The ruling by US district judge Trevor McFadden allows the Pentagon to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over the historically independent military news outlet. Continue reading...
Trump order directs officials to consider stripping protections for gray wolves
Interior department given three months to decide whether wolves can be removed from endangered species list Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them. The order gives interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal government to de-list them. Continue reading...
Death on the road to Rafah: the night the IDF targeted World Central Kitchen aid workers
The Israeli army had helped plan the delivery of food aid on 1 April 2024, but things went wrong from the beginning and ended in seven deaths • Exclusive: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike On the evening of 1 April 2024, a team of aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) stood on Gaza’s Mediterranean shore overseeing the unloading of a barge full of desperately needed food on a makeshift jetty made of sand and rubble. The Gaza war had been raging for six months and Israel’s closure of land crossings had left the whole territory facing the threat of famine. WCK and local Palestinian contractors had constructed the jetty out of everything they could lay their hands on, including debris from the bombed house of one of the contractors, so that the pallets of humanitarian assistance could be delivered by boat from Cyprus. Continue reading...
‘Guilt by association’: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike
Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals targeting of World Central Kitchen convoy was result of widely used military tactic • Death on the road to Rafah: the night the IDF targeted World Central Kitchen aid workers Seven aid workers killed in an airstrike in Gaza were marked as targets under an Israeli military practice of establishing guilt by association, a Guardian investigation shows. A top Israeli military prosecutor announced last month that he would not pursue criminal proceedings for the April 2024 incident in which drones fired missiles at three clearly marked World Central Kitchen (WCK) cars soon after they had escorted a food aid delivery to Gaza. Three British humanitarian workers along with an Australian, a Palestinian, a Pole and a dual US-Canadian national were killed. Continue reading...
US judge extends block on Trump order to restrict mail-in voting
Indira Talwani’s ruling presents major setback for president as first states begin to send out mail ballots for midterms A federal judge on Friday extended her prohibition against the US Postal Service implementing Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting during the midterms, putting another major obstacle in the way of the administration as the first states begin sending out mail ballots. The preliminary injunction from US district court judge Indira Talwani replaces a temporary order she granted blocking the USPS plan. Continue reading...
Ex-safety manager given 19 months’ prison over five-year-old’s hyperbaric chamber fire death
Jeffrey Mosteller pleaded no contest to charges relating to burning death of Thomas Cooper in Michigan A former safety manager has been sentenced to one year and seven months in prison in connection with the death of a five-year-old Michigan boy who was killed in a fiery January 2025 explosion inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Jeffrey Mosteller, 66, received that sentence after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Oakland county circuit court in Michigan on Monday. Continue reading...
USL and players ratify new CBA, raising salaries and introducing 12-month deals
New pact includes terms for first-division USL Premier Base pay for Championship grows from $31k to $42k Agreement runs through the 2030 season The United Soccer League and USL Players Association announced the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement for two levels of the organization’s pyramid on Friday, with fresh terms taking effect immediately and running through 2030. The new pact include a second agreement for the second-division USL Championship as well as the first set of terms for the upcoming USL Premier, a first-division sanctioned league scheduled to lauch in 2028. Among the headline items of the deals is the introduction of 12-month contracts for players, a codified first in the US lower divisions. The first USL CBAs worked to standardize 10-month contracts; before then, clubs varied in their commitments to players. Championship players will earn a base compensation (which includes housing) of $42,000 in 2026 – up from $31,000 – with that floor increasing annually over the term of the agreement. The USL Premier will also launch with 12-month contracts and a compensation floor of $67,500 in 2028 with annual increases worked into the CBA. Continue reading...
‘Someone is smoking weed’: Sabalenka halts US Open match due to cannabis smell
‘It’s tricky to handle when you’re trying to compete’ Alcaraz into fourth round after straight sets victory Aryna Sabalenka briefly stopped her match at the US Open to complain about the strong smell of cannabis on her court as she comfortably reached the fourth round in New York. Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, continued her attempts to rebuild her form as she overcame a challenging test from Kamilla Rakhimova before winning 6-3, 6-4. Continue reading...
Four key moments from 'America's saddest murder trial' – video
The weeks-long murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of fatally strangling her three children, has ended in a mistrial. As the public now waits for what will happen next, the Guardian's breaking news reporter Maya Yang looks at some of the key moments from what has been called 'America's saddest murder trial' Continue reading...
Democrats condemn DHS over death of Rohingya refugee abandoned by border agents
Lawmakers demand agency cooperate with investigation into death of nearly blind Nurul Amin Shah Alam in Buffalo Democratic lawmakers are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security turn over records and fully cooperate with an investigation into the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind Rohingya refugee who died after US border agents left him outside a closed coffee shop on a freezing night in Buffalo earlier this year. At a press conference in Buffalo on Friday, standing just a few feet away from where Shah was found dead, Tim Kennedy of New York was joined by Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the House homeland security committee, Lou Correa of California, and Nellie Pou of New Jersey in calling on DHS to cooperate with the Erie county district attorney’s investigation. Continue reading...
Trump’s ‘retribution’ could now include Falklands as favor to Milei – and revenge on the UK
US president suggests he might support his Argentinian acolyte’s drive to reclaim sovereignty of disputed islands Donald Trump has long embraced vengeance. “I am your retribution,” he declared to an admiring audience at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as he commenced his march back to the White House. It is unlikely Argentina, and far-flung holdovers of the former British empire, were on the US president’s mind at the time. Continue reading...
Six-week-old child in Pennsylvania dies from measles, coroner says
Officials decline to confirm whether death was one of two announced last week as Lancaster county outbreak grows A six-week-old child in Pennsylvania died from measles, the Lancaster County coroner has determined, following two measles-related deaths in the county last week. The determination comes as Lancaster county faces a growing measles outbreak. Continue reading...
Trump to take gifted Qatar jet to Ireland despite questions about its security
The president was moved to a separate aircraft during a July trip after officials learned of a possible Iranian threat, leaving questions about the plane’s defenses unanswered Donald Trump intends to use the Boeing jet gifted by Qatar for his trip to Ireland next week, marking the first time the aircraft will leave the US since concerns were raised over whether it can adequately protect the president from attack. The decision, a senior administration official told the Washington Post , comes weeks after Trump suggested the plane would be grounded for about a month while it underwent unspecified security upgrades. Continue reading...
Lindsay Clancy: five key moments from ‘America’s saddest murder trial’
Massachusetts mother accused of fatally strangling her children faces possibility of retrial after judge declares mistrial Full report: Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case Clancy judge declares mistrial – what happens next? The trial of Lindsay Clancy that gripped headlines in recent weeks, drawing renewed attention to the state of maternal mental healthcare in the US and postpartum psychosis, has ended with a mistrial. This now leaves Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of fatally strangling her three children in January 2023 who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, open to the possibility of a retrial with a different jury. Continue reading...
Lindsay Clancy judge declares mistrial – what happens next?
The case essentially goes back to the same status as before the trial began, and prosecutors have to decide whether to try again Full report: Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A Massachusetts jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision in the trial of Lindsay Clancy , a mother accused of murdering her three children, and a mistrial has been declared by Judge William Sullivan. The 12-person jury was made up of nine women and three men and, according to the notes given to the court, was split 11 to one. Continue reading...
‘‘Never Forget’ is not a slogan’: Mamdani designates 9/11 as a Day of Remembrance and Service
The New York City mayor will sign two executive orders honoring those impacted by the attacks, as he faces campaign to exclude him from the 25th anniversary commemoration New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to designate September 11 as a Day of Remembrance and Service ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Mamdani’s office announced on Friday morning that the mayor will sign two executive orders honoring victims, first responders, survivors, city workers and families affected by the attacks. The orders will also strengthen the city’s ability to protect New Yorkers and maintain essential services during emergencies. Continue reading...
Reform donations scandal: is this the final blow for Farage? – The Latest
Reform UK has suspended two senior officials after they were filmed in an undercover operation appearing to attempt to get around electoral laws on foreign donations. The sting, by Channel 4 News and the investigative group Verbatim, was published on the eve of Nigel Farage’s party conference speech in Birmingham. Reform says it has launched an investigation into the actions of James Orr, the party’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage. Lucy Hough speaks to senior political correspondent Peter Walker – watch on YouTube Continue reading...
Maria Bartiromo’s lawyer denies she was fired from Fox News anchor role
Fox announced host’s departure Thursday but gave no explanation, only saying it was effective immediately Maria Bartiromo’s lawyer sharply denied that she was fired from her job at Fox News on Friday, after reports that she was dismissed after divulging the network’s editorial guidance to the White House. Fox announced Bartiromo’s departure on Thursday but provided no explanation, saying only in a statement that it was effective immediately. Continue reading...
‘I can’t be bought,’ says Nige – just when it rather looks as if he can | John Crace
Just as the party leader had hoped to change the narrative, along came Channel 4 to spoil his conference fun Why, oh why, oh why? You could almost feel Nigel Farage’s frustration. Why was it always him? Surely it was about time that someone gave him a break. There he was trying to earn some money from a Thai crypto billionaire and a gold bullion dealer, and yet still Reform kept getting linked to dodgy cash. It was almost as if a pattern was emerging. First there was the £5m gift, then the Posh George donations via Dicky Tice, and now Channel 4 News had done a sting on him and two of his most trusted aides in which it looked as if they were happy to break the law on political donations . Life can be so damned unfair at times. Always kicking you when you are down. Continue reading...
Cambridge University probing conduct of academic suspended by Reform UK
James Orr, an associate professor, was shown in Channel 4 News footage apparently trying to sidestep electoral law Cambridge University has said it is examining the conduct of James Orr, its associate professor and a top Reform UK aide, after he was filmed appearing to try to circumvent electoral laws on foreign political donations. Orr, the suspended head of policy for the party, is one of two senior officials to step aside after claims that he orchestrated a plot to have polling paid for by a foreign firm – something that is impermissible under British electoral law. Continue reading...
Cambridge University asks former chief crown prosecutor to open Arday review
Nazir Afzal to focus in review’s first stage on support given to professor in immediate period before his death The University of Cambridge has asked Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, to lead the first part of its review into the death of the scholar Jason Arday. Arday died at his home in south London on 14 August, nine days after his resignation as a Cambridge professor amid swirling allegations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career. Continue reading...
Farage seeks to shore up damaged leadership as scandal engulfs Reform conference
Splits emerge within party after resignation of officials reported to police for apparent plot to evade donations law Nigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he attempted to distance himself from two of his most senior officials reported to the police for apparently plotting to evade the law on foreign donations. As the scandal engulfed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham, Farage was forced to suspend his closest aide, Dan Jukes, and head of policy, James Orr, after an undercover investigation by reporters from a group called Verbatim . Continue reading...
Trump’s ex-labor secretary drank on job and created ‘toxic’ work environment, report alleges
Labor department report alleges Lori Chavez-DeRemer also made a staffer attend a strip club while on a personal trip Donald Trump’s former secretary of labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, drank during working hours, kept alcohol on federal property and made a staffer attend a strip club while on a personal trip, according to a new report by the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General . Chavez-DeRemer was appointed by Trump to serve as labor secretary in January 2025 and resigned in April 2026 amid the misconduct allegations. Continue reading...