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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta to close
Newspaper whose former editor won Nobel peace prize says pressure from Russian authorities has forced it to shut The Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Friday that it was closing, citing pressure from authorities who recently searched the home of its senior editor and earlier this year detained one of its journalists. “Novaya Gazeta is ceasing to exist,” the editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, said in a video statement published on YouTube. “The Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work.” Continue reading...
I’m a gen Z voter. Content creators have far less power than politicians think | Alex Bronzini-Vender
Both US parties scramble to win young voters via influencer operations. The evidence doesn’t support their efforts In tight races, any group that shifts a few points can be called decisive. In 2024, however, gen Z voters actually earned the spotlight. Take Michigan, where Donald Trump won by about 1.4 points: he and Kamala Harris evenly split the youth vote, a 24-point collapse in the Democratic edge since 2020. If young voters made up just 15% of the state’s electorate, their swing toward the president would be worth roughly 3.6 points, larger than Trump’s entire margin of victory. Alex Bronzini-Vender is a writer living in New York Continue reading...
Houthis sending Taiz ‘back to the stone age’, governor of besieged Yemen city says
Oxygen, food and water supplies running low and massacres taking place, says Nabil Shamsan The Houthis are trying to send the city of Taiz back to the stone age, the city’s governor said in a briefing designed to urge the international community to do more to lift the month-long siege. Nabil Shamsan said massacres were taking place in Yemen’s third city, that oxygen and water supplies were running out and that rubbish was piling up in the streets due to landfill sites being either full or inaccessible. Continue reading...
Spain continues to investigate causes of deadly Toledo train crash – Europe live
The full investigation is likely to take at least weeks to conclude Spain continues investigating Wednesday’s deadly train crash in Toledo province, which killed 69 people, and left many more injured. An initial interim report by the independent body investigating the crash confirms the high-speed Ave train was travelling at between 160 and 200km/h when it collided with the stationary train ahead of it. Continue reading...
Andy Burnham admits he would have liked more radical first budget
Prime minister says room for manoeuvre was limited by geopolitical crises and Labour’s 2024 manifesto Andy Burnham has admitted his first budget as prime minister was not as radical as he would have liked because of the economic uncertainty facing the country. He said he would have liked to have gone further with this week’s announcement – including with higher energy support payments – but felt hemmed in by external events such as the war in Iran, which has pushed up borrowing costs. Continue reading...
BP profits jump as Middle East conflict drives up oil refining margins
Third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit rises to $8.46bn, up from $2.2bn a year ago BP has posted a jump in its quarterly profits as the war in the Middle East drove up oil and gas prices and led to “significantly higher” trading. The energy company said on Friday that third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit – a key measure of its income – rose to $8.46bn, up from $2.2bn a year ago. Analysts had expected profits of $7.33bn. Continue reading...
Beach volleyball in Morecambe Bay? An Olympics of the north sounds like a winner | Emma John
Our sport-loving PM is willing to risk a bitter north v south furore, all for the sake of table tennis in Teesside As someone who barely understands their own finances, let alone the country’s, I will admit that budget day doesn’t always register with me. Perhaps if there were outre outfits or horse-drawn carriages involved, like there are at the state opening of parliament, I’d get into it, but the only accessory of note is a briefcase and it doesn’t even glow mysteriously when you open it. This week, however, the chancellor of the exchequer did manage to catch my attention. Somewhere amid the household energy payments and defence spending , he slipped in a cheeky £7m to assess a possible Olympic bid for the north of England. That’s only a preliminary step and a fraction of the cost of any actual bid – Tokyo and Paris spent more than £50m on theirs. Still, it’s enough to put thoughts in people’s heads of beach volleyball in Morecambe Bay or a British eight rowing to victory along the Tyne. Continue reading...
Are Trump’s global actions, from Ukraine to Iran, going to hurt him in elections?
Voters who backed the US president in the last election are saying they can’t vote for him today: ‘This is an abomination’ Outside the Ukrainian educational and cultural center in a quiet Pennsylvania suburb of Jenkintown, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, a banner expressed unqualified gratitude: “Thank you USA for supporting Ukraine.” Inside, however, the sentiment was altogether different. Irene Skulsky, a retired teacher in her late 70s, voiced indignation at Donald Trump ’s sudden turn against her ancestral homeland, which she believed had come close to killing her son, Darko, and a desire to punish his fellow Republicans at next week’s midterm elections. Continue reading...
Mahmood infuriates fellow ministers by failing to reveal impact of UK migration shake-up
Home secretary’s colleagues fear homelessness will rise as a result of changes to the asylum system Shabana Mahmood has infuriated ministerial colleagues by failing to share what they see as crucial information about the impact of her migration changes. Sources say the home secretary has repeatedly refused to reveal how much she expects homelessness to rise as a result of changes to the asylum system. Continue reading...
UK side-hustle tax-free allowance to rise to £3,000 next year
Up to 1.4 million people could benefit from change to trading allowance announced in budget, with some saving hundreds in tax The amount Britons can earn from a side hustle without paying tax will rise to £3,000 next year in a fillip for those who make extra cash from hobbies or reselling. Up to 1.4 million people could benefit from the change announced in the budget , with the chancellor confirming the tax-free “trading” allowance will increase from £1,000 to £3,000 in April 2027. Continue reading...
Friday briefing: Israel has a dilemma - can its opposition govern with Palestinian parties?
In today’s newsletter: Benjamin Netanyahu has been left without a majority, now it is up to the coalition to find out whether the desire for change will prove to be a defining political moment Good morning. It was described by many Israelis as the most consequential election in their country’s history. And, as the final votes were tallied, it has delivered a result that presents Israel with a significant dilemma. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition has lost its mandate while the opposition has a clear majority: but only if the Jewish Israeli opposition bloc, led by retired general Gadi Eisenkot, is prepared to make a governing pact with Palestinian Israeli parties, which have secured a historic result. UK politics | John Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances. Patrick Stewart | The acclaimed British stage and screen actor renowned for both Shakespeare and sci-fi, died at his home in Los Angeles after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”, his longtime spokesperson said. Environment | One of the most ambitious nature recovery projects ever undertaken in England can go ahead after campaigners announced they had raised £30m to buy an estate in Northumberland. Europe | Spain began three days of mourning on Thursday for at least 69 people who died in a high-speed rail collision , as hospitals continued to treat dozens of injured passengers and train drivers went on strike to urge more investment in railway safety. US news | The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation in California over claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in the state, and has begun subpoenaing election officials. Continue reading...
UK government’s obesity plan ‘doomed to fail’, MPs warn
Cross-party committee says ‘moonshot’ vow to end obesity epidemic in a decade will fail without personal leadership from PM The UK government’s promise to reverse rising obesity rates in the next decade is “doomed to fail” without a major rethink and a new plan led directly by the prime minister, a cross-party committee of MPs has concluded. The health and social care select committee said in a report that there are no signs the so-called “moonshot ambition on obesity”, set out in the 10-year health plan for England, will achieve anything significant. Continue reading...
Battle lines redrawn in Spain’s snap election after latest train disaster
Next month’s poll no longer the contest it was, as Pedro Sánchez finds himself forced to defend government’s safety record One of the most dependable cliches of contemporary Spanish politics is that it never pays to bet against Pedro Sánchez . Time and time again – as leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) and as prime minister – Sánchez has shown an almost preternatural ability to profit from adversity, and to confound expectations and wrongfoot his opponents. But next month’s snap general election , called by Sánchez after rightwing and far-right parties voted down the housing reforms his coalition government had announced in response to angry protests , may suddenly not be the contest it once was. Continue reading...
Opening the EU debate again is clearly a political minefield. But we have to do it | Simon Jenkins
Andy Burnham must tread cautiously, but Brexit was a very grave act of self-harm – and he is right to address it Andy Burnham’s opening debate on whether Britain should rejoin the EU is divisive, painful and politically risky. That is why it should be welcomed. To jeopardise his popularity so soon after coming to office might seem reckless, but the issue is urgent and not going away. Brexit is continuing to damage the nation’s economy. The prime minister’s job is to challenge, if not reform it. The Brexit decade has evoked a bizarre sense of guilt among Britons. Opinion polls show nearly 60% regard it as a mistake, with just a third still in favour. Almost a quarter of those who voted for Brexit now regret it. While early forecasts of economic disaster were proved wrong , the accumulated cost of cutting links with Britain’s biggest trading partner is estimated at 6-8% of GDP . Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Hitting the fan: London council angers residents with removal of 700 dog-waste bins
Conservative-run Hillingdon aims to save £100,000 but local people fear dog poo will ‘be dumped everywhere’ People in a west London borough fear it will become covered in dog poo after their cash-strapped council decided to remove 700 dog-waste bins to save money. “People are worried there’s going to be dog shit everywhere,” said Daniel O’Neill, the chief road steward at Ruislip Residents’ Association. Continue reading...
Security guard who protected Nigel Farage on campaign trail was facing rape charge
Ryan Dinnage – who accompanied Reform UK leader on walkabouts before local elections – was later jailed, raising questions about vetting failure One of Nigel Farage’s security team who accompanied him on the local election campaign trail this year was facing a rape charge and was later jailed for eight years, raising questions about a failure of vetting. Ryan Dinnage spent time protecting Farage in April and May, but in June was convicted of having raped a woman while she slept in a caravan at the Royal Windsor horse show. Continue reading...
TUC leader expects wave of union recognition in private sector over coming year
Paul Nowak says ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of employers could sign access agreements as ‘transformative’ rules come into force The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, is predicting a wave of union recognition deals in the private sector over the next year as “transformative” rules on accessing workplaces come into force. From Friday, as part of Labour’s Employment Rights Act, unions will have the right to enter workplaces or communicate with staff electronically. From January, employers will be obliged to inform workers of their right to join a union. Continue reading...
British Council’s £197m debt should mostly be written off, MPs say
Commons report calls on Foreign Office to bail out soft-power flagship reeling from job cuts and asset sales Ministers should explore writing off a crippling £197m loan to the British Council by converting as much of it as possible into “a grant or similar”, MPs have said. The Commons public accounts committee said the government lacked a “positive vision” for the council, whose soft power value to the UK is put at £1bn a year. The MPs called on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to set out what more it could do to support the council and its work. Continue reading...
Electrocutions, disease and no pay: how workers risk exploitation in Europe’s datacentres
As thousands of datacentres are constructed across Europe, the Guardian and Investigate Europe have uncovered disturbing evidence that some workers building them are exposed to dangerous conditions and living in fear of speaking out Sandu* checked his watch. He was winding down the last 15 minutes of his shift at a vast Google datacentre site in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium, in March, when the call came in. The 34-year-old electrical tester had already worked almost 10 hours, but says such last-minute jobs were normal: “I had no choice. People have been fired after saying no.” The task was one Sandu had done many times before and involved a series of tests measuring the safety and integrity of the electrical wiring. A protective suit was locked away in an equipment room. The round trip would have added another 15 minutes to the job, he says, and people were waiting, so he decided not to retrieve the suit. Continue reading...
Sinkholes, scarred land and scapegoats: the scourge of illegal gold mining in Johannesburg
There is no end in sight for the drivers of illegal mining, while police action appears ineffective Cora Bailey has been encountering illegal miners ever since she first started treating injured animals in the townships around Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, in 1991. But as the price of gold has soared, so too has activity in the abandoned mine shafts that mark the area. In late September, dozens of zama zamas – the name given to illegal miners in South Africa, meaning roughly “to take a chance” in Zulu – arrived to dig for gold across the dirt road from her charity, Claw (Community Led Animal Welfare). Continue reading...
Sudanese diaspora and human rights groups denounce UAE nominee for UN top job
Critics cite Lana Nusseibeh’s denial of accusations the UAE is fuelling Sudan war by supporting paramilitary RSF Members of the Sudanese diaspora and international human rights monitors have denounced the candidature of an Emirati diplomat for the top job at the UN, citing her denial of accusations that the United Arab Emirates is fuelling the war in Sudan by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The UAE nominated Lana Nusseibeh last week to replace the UN secretary general, António Guterres, as he finishes his second five-year term this year, upending a race that had become gridlocked. Continue reading...
Climate academic Andreas Malm barred from entering UK
Swedish author was due to speak alongside Palestine Action co-founder at event discussing ban on the group Andreas Malm, the climate academic and author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, has been blocked from entering the UK before he was due to speak alongside a co-founder of the banned group Palestine Action. Malm was told by immigration officials his presence in the UK “may not be considered to be conducive to the public good”. He said the decision was “scandalous” and urged the government to reconsider. Continue reading...
Wildlife Trusts hit £30m target to buy and rewild huge Northumberland estate
About 25,000 members of public chip in £17m towards 3,800-hectare Rothbury estate, described as ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’ One of the most ambitious nature recovery projects ever undertaken in England can go ahead after campaigners announced they had raised £30m to buy an estate in Northumberland. The Wildlife Trusts’ bid to buy the Rothbury estate , an area the size of Athens, had been championed by David Attenborough who on Friday thanked the public for their help. Continue reading...
Packers beat Panthers as Green Bay’s Christian Watson returns after mid-game hospital visit
Carolina Panthers 19-27 Green Bay Packers Packers WR has 113 receiving yards despite injury Jordan Love threw three touchdown passes, Josh Jacobs scored twice and the Green Bay Packers withstood three turnovers to beat the Carolina Panthers 27-19 on Thursday night. Love went 30 of 41 for 288 yards with touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft, Matthew Golden and Jacobs plus an interception. Although he rushed for only 39 yards on 21 carries against the NFL’s lowest-ranked run defense, Jacobs scored on a four-yard catch and one-yard run for the Packers (5-3). Continue reading...