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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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UK has not done enough to prepare for shocks to food supplies, says watchdog
National Audit Office urges government to act as climate crisis, disease and cyberattacks pose growing risks The climate crisis, disease and cyber-attacks pose growing risks to the UK’s food supplies and the government needs to act to make the system more resilient, according to the public spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) is urging the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) to work more closely with households, communities and businesses to ensure the flow of crucial food into the country can withstand supply shocks that are becoming increasingly common and severe. Continue reading...
Revealed: how companies ‘secretly’ use billions of litres of public water in drought-hit England
Exclusive: As millions of people face hosepipe bans, many companies are not required to report, let alone cut, use of public supply Less than 1% of businesses in England use more water than the daily needs of 10 million people, as millions of households face hosepipe bans and three-quarters of the country is in drought. Businesses across England use 2.6bn litres a day from the public water supply, which includes potable and non-potable water provided by water companies. In total, businesses account for about 30% of public supply use, with two-thirds of their consumption in water-stressed areas, according to Mosl, the organisation that operates England’s business water market. Continue reading...
President Javier Milei says ‘winds of change’ support Argentina’s claim to Falkland Islands
President cites Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might reconsider US support for British sovereignty, and threatens swifter sanctions on British oil interests President Javier Milei has said “winds of change favourable” to Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands were “blowing around the world” in a televised address, citing signs that Donald Trump might reconsider the US position on the islands’ sovereignty. “Recently, President Trump declared that the US is re-evaluating its historic position in relation to the Malvinas,” he said, using the Argentinian name for the islands. Continue reading...
‘Capitalism is dying’: in Luton, these former car workers have a moral tale for our times | Aditya Chakrabortty
Abandoned by the company they worked for, let down by Labour and their unions – now they watch their friends turn to Reform for answers After everything, why would anyone still back Nigel Farage? In some of the comments below my piece last week about Reform UK, I spot the usual answers: Farage’s supporters are dim, racist, deplorable. Yet away from Westminster and the news cycle, Reform voters are being manufactured – not with headlines or crypto funds but through the failure of institutions they once trusted to protect them. To see what I mean, leave SW1 and go 40 miles up the road, to Luton. In a deserted hotel bar, five men are reminiscing about how their world ended. Their minds are on a Friday afternoon in March last year, as the place where they had worked for two or three decades apiece, making friends and even meeting future wives, is about to shut for good. Continue reading...
Europe weighs solutions to curtail Russia’s growing hybrid warfare
Governments now moving faster to impose costs on Moscow for its increasing attacks over support for Ukraine Russia’s suspected sabotage campaign across Europe appears to be gathering pace again, confronting governments with a problem they have struggled to solve since the start of the war in Ukraine: how to impose a meaningful cost on Moscow for attacks that remain deliberately below the threshold of conventional war. Over the past month alone, an explosives-laden drone was discovered next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at Germany’s Leipzig airport, Poland has faced suspected acts of sabotage, and a string of unexplained explosions and fires have hit defence facilities supplying Ukraine across Europe. Continue reading...
Nepal-Tibet floods: two workers pulled alive from tunnel nine days after disaster
Officials say pair were rescued from Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel in Nepal after being trapped in depth of 170 metres Two people have been pulled out alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods buried the projects in deep mud and left them trapped. The workers were rescued during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst-affected by last week’s deadly Nepal floods , according to army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet. Continue reading...
‘This could just be the beginning’: minorities fear first far-right win in German state election
As polls point to victory in Saxony-Anhalt for AfD party promising deportations, people face agonising choice: stay or go As the Bible study session wrapped up, leaving worshippers to mingle over cake and coffee, Fatemeh, 44, fought back tears as the conversation turned to Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt. “I worry about it every day,” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about my son and what might happen to us.” Fatemeh worries about what might happen after the elections. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian Continue reading...
H.R. 10303: FLIGHT DECK Act
Bill Text: This bill's text is now available.
EV sales outpace petrol cars for first time as Australians dodge soaring fuel costs
New record for Australia as more than 27,000 EVs sold in August, driven by the rising cost of fuel and new government policy Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Electric vehicle sales in Australia exceeded petrol cars for the first time last month as a transformation driven by high fuel prices and government policy encouraging clean car uptake accelerated. More than 27,000 EVs were sold in August, a new record for a single month and representing 24.9% of new cars sold. The climate-friendly technology surpassed both petrol vehicles (nearly 26,000 sold) and diesel cars (23,600). Continue reading...
Molly Ticehurst’s killer called woman he’d met on Tinder after stabbing and said ‘I’m sorry I murdered her’, court hears
Daniel Billings said ‘I did what I did’ in call from friend’s house after 2024 domestic violence murder Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two hours after Daniel Billings murdered his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst in a frenzied stabbing he spoke to a woman he had met on Tinder. “I’m sorry I murdered her,” Billings told the woman during a phone call at 2.02am on 22 April 2024. Continue reading...
UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scale
Togo-sponsored resolution calls to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland The UN general assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size. Robert Dussey, Togo’s foreign affairs minister, said the resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by countries including the African Union’s 54 other member states. He did not specify the total number. Continue reading...
Missouri state legislative candidate accused of trying to plant cocaine on opponent
Republican candidate Thomas Ross and former campaign manager allegedly devised plan to stash drugs in rival Louise Secker’s purse or vehicle A Missouri House race has been rocked by the Wednesday arrest of Republican candidate Thomas Ross, whom prosecutors accuse of attempting to frame his primary opponent Louise Secker for cocaine possession. In June, Ross allegedly gave his former campaign manager, identified by the initials “CS” in court documents, a bag of cocaine and Adderall. The two allegedly devised a plan for the former manager to stash the drugs in Secker’s purse or vehicle. Continue reading...
Trump names Adam Telle as acting army secretary following the departure of Driscoll
Telle has previously worked for Trump during his first term as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs Donald Trump on Thursday named Adam Telle as the acting army secretary after the departure of Daniel Driscoll amid widespread reports of tensions with defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the army for civil works. Continue reading...
Split verdict in New Orleans murder trial tied to staged-wrecks scheme
Sean Alfortish and Leon Parker convicted on some counts but not murder charges linked to insurance fraud plot A federal jury in New Orleans on Thursday returned a split verdict after more than 30 hours of deliberations in a three-week-long blockbuster fraud and murder trial that garnered headlines far beyond Louisiana. Jurors deadlocked on murder charges Sean Alfortish and Leon “Chunky” Parker faced, leading US district judge Wendy Vitter to declare a mistrial as prosecutors vowed to try the case on those counts again. Continue reading...
Missouri supreme court throws out new congressional maps backed by Trump
Setback for Republicans in redistricting battle as court orders forbids maps from being used in November elections The Missouri supreme court has unanimously blocked new congressional districts backed by Donald Trump from being used in the November election and ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map. The decision Thursday marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle. Republicans had hoped Missouri’s new congressional boundaries could help them win an additional seat and hold onto their slim House majority in the midterms. The ruling still could be appealed to the US supreme court. Continue reading...
Genetically modified pig kidney keeps man alive for record nine months
Organ kept Tim Andrews off dialysis and acted as a ‘bridge’ while he waited for a human transplant in the US A genetically modified kidney from a pig called Wilma has kept a 66-year-old man with kidney failure alive for a record nine months and successfully acted as a “bridge” to a human transplant in a world first. Tim Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes and had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, against a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the waiting list. Continue reading...
San Francisco fire officials rescue man trapped inside garbage truck
Firefighters hollowed out a dumpster truck and lifted a man from trash and debris after bystanders alerted driver to screams San Francisco fire officials manually hollowed out a garbage truck early on Wednesday to rescue a man trapped inside. Firefighters were dispatched around 4.11am after receiving a report of an individual stuck inside a Recology dumpster truck, authorities said. Continue reading...
Sadiq Khan agrees to have his texts and emails searched in Palantir legal battle
US tech company has sued London mayor after he prevented it from working with Metropolitan police Sadiq Khan has agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of a legal battle with Palantir, the high court has been told, after he prevented the US technology company from working with the Metropolitan police. The London mayor stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May, with the artificial intelligence developer suing Khan’s office over the decision. Continue reading...
Volkswagen confirms it will cut 100,000 jobs by 2030
Under-pressure carmaker will shed 15% of workforce and halve its product line in sector’s biggest ever restructure The car company Volkswagen has confirmed that it will shed 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade after being hit by US tariffs and fierce competition from Chinese rivals. The German manufacturer said management and unions had agreed as part of a sweeping cost-cutting plan to cut a further 50,000 positions by 2030, bringing total job losses in the pipeline to 100,000. Continue reading...
Federal judge blocks Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship
Supreme court ruled in June against president’s earlier order to change citizenship rules for babies born in US A federal judge has temporarily blocked Donald Trump ’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship – the longstanding principle that all babies born in the US are guaranteed American citizenship. The decision came nearly a month after the president tried for a second time to limit via executive order which people born in the US can become American citizens. The supreme court ruled in late June that Trump’s previous sweeping order denying birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants or temporary visitors was unconstitutional . Continue reading...
Excavation work on Trump’s towering, gilded arch to begin over next two weeks
Project that critics say will disrupt historic sightlines in Washington DC is facing a lawsuit The Trump administration said on Thursday that excavation work will start over the next two weeks on the site where it plans to build a towering, gilded arch, a project that is facing a lawsuit and that critics say will disrupt historic sightlines in Washington DC. The proposed arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington, including renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, building a huge new White House ballroom, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park that could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths. Continue reading...
JD Vance reacts to airstrike that killed four at Iran wedding: ‘Things happen’
US vice-president says he’s ‘extremely skeptical’ of Iran reports when asked whether US was responsible for deaths The US vice-president, JD Vance, said “sometimes things happen” when asked on Thursday whether an American strike was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran this week. The strike hit Kuhestak, a town in Sirik county on the strait of Hormuz. The toll was reported not by the Iranian government but by the Iranian Red Crescent, a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that operates independently of Tehran and is generally treated by international monitors as a credible source on casualty figures. Continue reading...
Lindsay Clancy jury sent home again without verdict in murder trial
Deadlocked jurors to return on Friday to see if they can reach a decision after dramatic day of deliberations The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict Thursday in a dramatic sixth day of deliberations. Her defense lawyer told the judge that the panel’s foreperson said in a note that a single juror would not follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt and was holding up a verdict. Continue reading...
Australia news live: Pauline Hanson to make cost of living ‘worse’, new union boss warns; Labor scraps course citing ‘integrity’
The new ACTU secretary, Melissa Donnelly, says One Nation ‘says one thing and does another’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action. The new secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Melissa Donnelly, has said cost of living issues and the rollout of AI in workplaces are two major focuses of her new role. More coming up. Continue reading...