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Politics
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Gulf states must rethink trillion-dollar defence in light of US-Iran war, says report
IISS study questions over-reliance on American support and ‘over-dependence on expensive, high-end systems’ Gulf states are going to have to reconfigure their trillion-dollar defences given the damage inflicted on their economies and the questionable continued value of US bases in the face of Iranian attack, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The report says that in the weeks before the 8 April ceasefire, 12 regional states, overwhelmingly in the Gulf, faced 4,670 Iranian one-way attack drones and more than 1,400 ballistic missiles. Nearly half were aimed at the United Arab Emirates. Although the vast majority were repelled, one estimate of the damage to energy infrastructure cited by the report is put as high as $58bn (£43bn). Continue reading...
Final countdown to the make-or-break midterms – podcast
There are 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 in the Senate and 39 governorships up for grabs in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Jonathan Freedland is joined by Carrie Dann, of the Cook Political Report, to run through some of the races to watch before the final weekend of campaigning Continue reading...
First Thing: Alaska Senate race descends into legal acrimony over second Dan Sullivan
DoJ reportedly issues subpoenas after reports Democrat campaign sought candidate with same name as Republican incumbent. Plus, tributes pour in for beloved actor Patrick Stewart Good morning. The US justice department is reported to have issued subpoenas after a report that the Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign collaborated with party operatives to get a challenger with the same name as the Republican senator Dan Sullivan on to the midterm ballot. Ballot stacking is a political tactic used in elections to draw votes away from an opponent by “stacking” the ballot with other candidates. While it is not illegal, the US president and the justice department have filed a lawsuit pre-emptively to block the certification of the Senate election results if the incumbent senator loses. Ariana Baio explains what is going on . The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation in California over claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote. Donald Trump has repeatedly alleged that California’s elections are “corrupt” and “rigged”. Some employees from the office of the Los Angeles county registrar-recorder received grand jury subpoenas, the office confirmed. Government corruption has emerged as a top issue in the upcoming elections , with an overwhelming majority of Americans saying US government officials use their public office for personal financial gain, according to an exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian. Three-quarters of voters said they thought elected officials cared more about enriching themselves than improving the economy for ordinary people. Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed his campaign pulled an attack ad featuring Donna Arthur , the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. It followed severe public backlash rooted in the revelation that Arthur lost custody of Acton in 1978 after Arthur’s second husband was charged with repeatedly raping the then child. The Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has trolled Donald Trump with a new song criticising his attempt to rename Lake Ontario, and another track called 51st State about Trump’s efforts to annex Canada. This video explainer gives an overview in three and a half minutes of whether Israel’s opposition parties can work with new Palestinian Knesset members to oust Netanyahu. Continue reading...
Trump cancels rallies in Iowa and Kansas in shift of Republican strategy – live
The president had been on a campaign blitz in key Republican strongholds but will instead opt for tele-rallies Sign up for the Breaking News US email Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola has denied that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas. “I just want to clear the air,” she said at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska’s capital. Continue reading...
Five reasons why the US midterms matter for the climate – and your energy bill
Voters are feeling the pinch of Trump’s anti-climate agenda as energy costs rise, but a shakeup in Congress could shift things If the polls can be believed, the US could see a blue wave in the midterms, giving Democrats a chance to take back the House and Senate, and gaining up to four governor’s seats. These wins could give Democrats new power to resist Donald Trump’s anti-climate agenda, and to push forward climate policies at the state level. But if Republicans maintain power, it could further embolden Trump’s “drill baby drill” agenda and leave intact his administration’s latitude to continue dismantling regulatory measures his critics say protect public health and the planet. Continue reading...
Beijing Queer film festival cancelled after harassment from authorities
Forums for discussion of feminist and LGBTQ+ views face growing intolerance from Chinese state, say experts Beijing’s annual independent queer film festival has been cancelled after what is understood to have been a campaign of sustained harassment from authorities. Beijing Queer film festival, which was due to begin on Friday in China’s capital, is one of the country’s oldest independent film festivals. Continue reading...
Digested week: The Traitors suddenly feels tired – time for a politicians version? | John Crace
Liz Truss is like a broken record, Harry Kane is for ever Spurs, and the celebs in the castle are getting on my nerves You would have thought someone would have made an intervention by now. To save Liz Truss from the worst excesses and delusions of herself. Most former prime ministers – and there are enough of them by now – make the transition into civilian life with little fuss. More or less. John Major found himself elevated from national joke to statesman after 20 years; Tony Blair took the grandiose step of establishing his very own institute; Boris Johnson took his grumblings to the Daily Mail where he is now more or less ignored; Theresa May opted for obscurity; we have yet to find out Keir Starmer’s next move. Yet Liz Truss seems permanently scarred by her 49 days in office and its abrupt ending. Constantly feeling the need to pick away at the wound that will never heal. Continue reading...
Families in the US are opting for earlier measles vaccinations amid outbreak
Parents are opting for a second shot of MMR vaccine sooner, which aligns with guidance in Germany, the UK and France Measles cases are accelerating in the US, with twice as many confirmed cases as last year, and more parents are opting for earlier vaccination – especially with the second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which can be given as soon as four weeks after the first. Giving the second shot soon after the first aligns with what some other countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom and France, recommend – and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also says it’s an option. Continue reading...
Congressional Democrats send scathing letter to ICE and DHS decrying treatment of hunger strikers
Immigrants at Texas detention facility, protesting harsh conditions, say they’ve been threatened with force-feeding Members of Congress sent a scathing letter to federal immigration officials this week demanding answers about conditions inside a Texas immigration jail, as detained immigrants on a prolonged hunger strike claim officials are retaliating against them and threatening them with force feeding. A group of seven congressional Democrats sent the letter earlier this week to Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, and David Venturella, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director, protesting about the treatment of hunger strikers. Continue reading...
‘The status quo sucks’: affordability and Trump loom over final stretch of Maine’s tight Senate race
Key contest between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson will gauge how voters feel about Trump 2.0 and rising costs Christian LaMontagne has started slowing his lobster boat down. The 27-year-old fisher spends longer on the water when out hauling traps in Casco Bay, but the trade-off helps him save fuel at a time when costs have surged. Before the US war with Iran began in late February, filling his tank cost about $350 a week. Now it’s doubled to nearly $700. Continue reading...
NCAA basketball 2026-27 predictions: from JuJu Watkins to Tyran Stokes, the names you’ll know by March
Can Florida’s continuity trump the transfer portal? Will JuJu Watkins pick up where she left off? And who will survive an expanded March Madness? Our writers weigh in Lots of stuff. The return of JuJu Watkins at USC after her 19-month injury layoff , the debut of Tyran Stokes at Kansas, the potential turnaround of the Big East on the men’s side, and the stacked ACC on the women’s side. Ella Brockway Continue reading...
‘Swift justice’: Student List supporters focus on cleaning up Serbia’s rotten institutions
After improbable election victory, the unconventional grassroots movement says it will prioritise dismissal of corrupt officials In Belgrade’s Pioneers Park, just across from the national assembly, a small crowd craned their necks to listen. One woman held aloft a placard reading “Love prevailed for the people and Serbia”. With a bouquet of media microphones in front of them, members of the Student List, the direct democracy movement that won an improbable but decisive victory in Sunday’s election, gathered under the trees. Having spent days bathing in the euphoria of their unexpected triumph , the candidates’ focus was now clear: the cleaning up of the rotten institutions that had increasingly blighted the lives of Serbs over the 14 years of government by the populist leader Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive party (SNS). They called for the dismissal of many senior law enforcement officials, among them the chiefs of the criminal police, the paramilitary gendarmerie and an anti-terrorism unit. Continue reading...
Severe rainfall and flood warnings issued for central Greece and western Turkey
Turkey has seen powerful thunderstorms and a fatal tornado this week with more heavy rain expected Heavy rain and strong winds will continue to affect parts of south-eastern Europe and Turkey over the next few days, as an area of low pressure in the region has allowed for the formation of powerful thunderstorms. During a particularly intense thunderstorm in Antalya, a coastal city in the south-west of Turkey, the formation of a tornado resulted in the deaths of four construction workers on Tuesday. Authorities in Greece and Turkey have released severe rainfall and flooding warnings, as a further 100-150 mm (nearly 4-6in) of rain is expected this week in central Greece and western parts of Turkey, with locally higher totals possible. Travelling eastwards towards South Asia, strong winds and heavy rainfall have swept across the Indian regions of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Arnab made landfall. With wind gusts in excess of 85 mph (140 km/h) and rainfall totals in some regions exceeding 200mm, the severe storm has prompted mass evacuations of over 180,000 people, as well as widespread disruption to energy and transport infrastructure. The cyclone will weaken as it continues to traverse northwards over the coming days, though will continue to deliver heavy rain to parts of northern and central India as it does so. Continue reading...
The world needs the United Nations more than ever. It needs a new lease on life | Alex Rondos and Mark Medish
We need neither ‘peace in our time’ nor ‘perpetual peace’ – but enough peace to keep civilization To save the United Nations from the irrelevance in which it now wallows, the next secretary general will require the concerted backing of the few powers that govern the security council. The paradox is that the great powers who created the institution in the 1940s and recently treat it with a cavalier cynicism are now the ones who need it most, as does the rest of the world. Continue reading...
As Trump escalates extreme attacks, Democrats – finally – rally round El-Sayed
Endorsement not always full-throated but party backing marks major turn after bitter split over nomination Facing a barrage of extreme attacks from Donald Trump and his allies, the Democratic establishment is finally rallying around progressive Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate in the closely-watched US Senate election in Michigan. But the endorsement is not always full-throated, and often even omits his name. At a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, the US president launched the latest in a wave of Islamophobic rants against El-Sayed, erroneously branding him a “jihadist” and “Muslim Brotherhood member” while invoking 9/11. Continue reading...
Government corruption a top issue for US midterm voters, exclusive poll finds
Harris poll for Guardian finds 76% believe officials care more about self-enrichment than helping everyday Americans Government corruption has emerged as a top issue in the upcoming US midterm elections, with an overwhelming majority of Americans saying US government officials use their public office for personal financial gain, according to an exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans said that government corruption, as defined as elected officials putting their own or their donors’ financial interests ahead of the public’s, is a problem, according to the survey. Continue reading...
Mary Peltola made a mistake. But her Republican opponent would be a disaster for Alaska | Kim Heacox
Trump and Senator Dan Sullivan have put my home state on the chopping block. But Peltola understands Alaskans Donald Trump’s trip to Alaska earlier this month was a real doozy. Should I be surprised? The previous time he visited my home state, in August 2025, he ordered the US military to roll out a red carpet for Russia’s Vladimir Putin . The two billionaire oligarchs chummed it up and posed for cameras, then talked about the war in Ukraine and achieved no formal ceasefire and no peace agreement. Continue reading...
A rare red line in deeply cynical times
It’s been a particularly brutal cycle for attack ads, but voters are responding with humanity. Plus: on the campaign trail with a Democrat in Kansas This was originally published in the Stakes 2026, a newsletter about the midterm elections. Sign up to get it in your inbox There’s a campaign moment I can’t stop thinking about. It happened shortly after the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio, released a shocking attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. In the ad, as many readers will know by now, Acton’s mother accuses her daughter of lying and tells Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton, 60, says she has not spoken to her mother since she was 12, when she and her brother were removed from their mother’s custody after their stepfather was arrested and charged with raping her. Acton says she last saw her mother at the courthouse, where her mother came to support her husband as her daughter testified against him. Continue reading...
Britain’s blighted high streets will improve by next election, says Rayner
Housing secretary says Labour wants to reverse fortunes of towns plagued by boarded-up shops and rogue businesses Angela Rayner has said voters will begin to see a difference in their high street before the next general election as Labour prioritises investment in struggling local communities. The housing secretary said the government had made it a top priority before the country goes to the polls to begin turning around the fortunes of places blighted by boarded-up shops and rogue businesses. Continue reading...
Trump vowed to reduce prices, but his policies have fueled US inflation | Steven Greenhouse
‘Even though economists warned that tariffs would be inflationary, Trump has enthusiastically embraced them’ Donald Trump successfully campaigned for his second term two years ago promising to reduce prices on day one , but ever since he returned to the White House, he has done little to fight inflation or reduce prices. Instead, some of his most important policy decisions – most notably his war against Iran and his tariff wars – have increased inflation instead of reducing it. This helps explain why more than one-in-five Americans who voted for Trump now disapprove of the job he’s doing. Even though economists warned that tariffs would be inflationary, Trump has enthusiastically embraced them during his second term. Indeed, the “ liberation day ” tariffs he imposed soon after returning to office increased the price of hundreds of goods, including citrus fruits , steel, bananas, beef and auto parts. When the supreme court overturned those tariffs as illegal, Trump immediately imposed new 10% across-the-board tariffs that again helped push up prices (a lower court found those tariffs unlawful, too ). Time and again, Trump has slapped on new tariffs even though they inherently push up prices because tariffs are a tax on imported goods. Little wonder that a Fox News poll this month found that 77% of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled tariffs. Continue reading...
Healey’s budget cuts mean Britain is likely to miss green heating targets
Ex-energy secretary Ed Miliband’s agenda appears undermined as money is diverted from renewables to defence Britain is unlikely to hit its targets on green heating after the cuts announced by John Healey this week, experts have warned, as critics of Ed Miliband claim the former energy secretary’s green agenda is being dismantled. The chancellor unveiled more than £3bn worth of cuts to the energy department’s budget this week, much of which will pay for higher defence spending. Continue reading...
Police Scotland says it has received information on Jeffrey Epstein visit to Balmoral with Andrew
Force says ‘inquiries ongoing’ into visit to royal estate in Scotland, when Ghislaine Maxwell was also present Police Scotland has received “information” and has “active inquiries ongoing” regarding time spent by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Balmoral, the king’s private estate in Scotland, the force has said. More details soon … Continue reading...
Burnham says he wants to offer more ‘regional empowerment’ ahead of devolution summit – UK politics live
Prime minister in Glasgow to meet with Scottish and Welsh leaders to talk about ‘next stage of devolution’ Good morning. Andy Burnham is in Glasgow today for a meeting with the leaders from Scotland and Wales and he says he wants to use it to talk about “the next stage of devolution”. According to the overnight briefing from No 10 , he is less interested in giving more powers to the devolved parliaments and more interested in promoting “regional empowerment” in their countries. In his pre-summit statement, Burnham says: Through No 10 North, we are rewiring the state. I want to make sure every city and region in the United Kingdom is part of that. Today I’ll be making an offer to the governments of each nation. Put politics aside and work in partnership with the UK government to develop models of regional empowerment that ensure communities can use their own strengths to unlock their potential. Continue reading...
UK house prices grow at slowest pace in two years as mortgage rates rise
Sluggish growth of 0.5% in October comes as higher borrowing costs put break on market UK house prices grew by an annual rate of just 0.5% in October, the slowest pace in more than two years, as higher mortgage rates put off potential buyers. The average price for a property in the UK stood at £273,566 in October, flat on the previous month and down from 0.8% in the year to September, according to the lender Nationwide. Continue reading...