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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Ernie Johnson, beloved host of Inside the NBA, to step away from show at end of season
70-year-old wants to spend more time with family Johnson leaving after 37 years in role Ernie Johnson, the widely loved host of Inside the NBA , has announced he will step away at the end of the current season after 37 years in the role. Johnson made the announcement on social media on Wednesday . Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Labour’s budget: bold ambitions and welcome first steps | Editorial
Banks, landlords and gambling firms will pay more as the chancellor begins building a fairer economy and a more active state in a cost of living crisis John Healey’s first budget was a Rorschach test. Supporters saw dozens of measures offering “ breathing space” to a public worn down by rising prices. Critics admitted to a slew of announcements but countered that each was modest in value . Underlying both views is that the budget was more ambitious on how a state can do more to protect the public than on how much it spends. The chancellor has taken a small step in the right direction – a tricky feat in a turbulent world. But an economy marked by entrenched inequality and more than a decade of stagnation will need a bigger stride. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s “ pretty grim picture ” of living standards exposes the budget’s central weakness: its relief is temporary, while the squeeze on households persists. As the government deficit shrinks and company profits recover, households are expected to move from saving roughly £50bn in 2026 to borrowing roughly the same amount in 2031. By then, mortgage repayments are expected to reach 4.25% of household disposable income – the highest level since 2009. The OBR expects growth to recover from 1% in 2027 to 1.8% in 2029, while weak worker “bargaining power” allows firms to rebuild profit margins. That sits uneasily with Mr Healey’s promises to working people. Continue reading...
Israel’s choice: Netanyahu remaining in power or a Palestinian-backed coalition
Incumbent could turn defeat into another term in office as rival parties erect confected barrier to unseating him Hours before the final results from Israel’s elections were in, several things were clear. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition had lost its mandate, and the opposition had a firm majority. But most of Israel ’s Jewish opposition ruled out governing with Palestinian-led parties, in the course of a racist election campaign that saw Netanyahu painting Palestinian citizens as an enemy inside the state. Continue reading...
FDA scientists opposed Trump administration’s move to ease peptide access
Effort to loosen rules on unproven peptide drugs, favored by RFK Jr, faced fierce pushback from agency scientists A plan to give people in the United States easier access to unproven peptide drugs favored by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr , was opposed by most Food and Drug Administration scientific staff members, who had limited input in drafting the policy, according to six people familiar with its development. The document posted online on Wednesday by Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) covers a handful of injectable peptides promoted within the wellness industry for building muscle, healing injuries and boosting energy. Continue reading...
Vladimir Putin hails Elon Musk’s ‘genius’ amid plans for Russian Starlink
Russia plans to build own version of US billionaire’s satellite communications to help attack Ukraine Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk’s genius and said he was in touch with Starlink’s controlling shareholder as Russia develops its own satellite communications for its military to use against Ukraine. The Russian president, speaking at a summit with African leaders in Moscow, was comparing the Earth-orbiting network built by Musk’s SpaceX with Russia’s gradual efforts to build its own Rassvet constellation. Continue reading...
He promised fresh hope and delivered doom, but Dr Death’s budget succeeds in doing no harm | John Crace
Armed with 98 measures, a rictus grin and a decidedly comedy-free speech, the chancellor at least offered us – and Labour – some breathing space It was as if John Healey was taking the Hippocratic oath. First do no harm. For your first budget, this may be no bad thing: we can all think of plenty of chancellors who have done untold damage. Take a bow George Osborne. It might just have been better if the doctor that Healey had chosen to impersonate was not Dr Death. John can’t help looking like the last man you would want to stop by your hospital bed. Not everyone can have a naturally sunny disposition. His face seems to be carved out of despair. But it would be a big help if, when called upon to make his most important speech of the year, he didn’t reinforce the impression when he opened his mouth. A one-way journey to the slough of despond. Continue reading...
Nigel Farage skips budget in Commons over seating ‘altercation’ concerns
Reform UK leader ‘shocked’ by £10bn pledged to Ukraine and doubles down on cutting tax for crypto investors Budget 2026 live – latest updates Budget 2026: key points at a glance Nigel Farage skipped the chancellor’s first budget because he was worried he would get in a “physical altercation” with another MP in a row over seating arrangements. The Reform UK leader admitted he was not present in the House of Commons but gave a press conference afterwards in which he said he was “shocked” by the £10bn going to support Ukraine and doubled down on his party’s policies on cutting tax for crypto investors. Continue reading...
Will Healey’s budget tackle the cost of living? – podcast
John Healey has delivered a ‘steady as she goes’ budget, with help for the cost of living a big theme. The chancellor promised a £100 energy payment for some households, extended the VAT suspension on electricity bills to next July and confirmed the scrapping of gas standing charges. But after months of the same old message of ‘hope in difficult times’, and many of the big decisions on tax and spending delayed until next year, what should we take away from today? Continue reading...
Burnham promised big change – where was it? Instead we got the Martin Lewis budget | Aditya Chakrabortty
The financial guru’s fingerprints are all over John Healey’s red book – but Lewis is not a politician. His everyday fixes can’t meet this turbulent moment Was this Andy Burnham’s budget – the bold vision of a new prime minister who burns with a passion to topple “40 years of neoliberalism”? Fat chance. Was it John Healey’s budget – the repair job of a cautious chancellor fretting about record-high taxes, £3tn of public debt and an economy stuck in first gear? Little sign of that. This budget was cast in the image of a man who isn’t in Burnham’s government or even a Labour politician – but who appears almost every day on TV, on podcasts and is probably better known than 649 of the MPs at Westminster. Today’s budget was the Martin Lewis budget. Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist and the Guardian’s senior economics commentator Continue reading...
‘It all happened in a split-second’: survivors recount details of Spain’s second deadly train crash in 10 months
Passengers describe carriages full of ‘people with their heads crushed and missing limbs’ after crash that has claimed at least 68 lives Josimar Medina woke a little before 9am on Wednesday to find himself airborne and hurtling through his carriage on the fast train from Madrid to Seville. “I remember flying through the air and looking for my girlfriend, who was also shooting through the air,” said Medina, a 37-year-old tourist from the northern Peruvian city of Chiclayo. Continue reading...
Conservative influencers charged with unlawful voting, disguising themselves in ‘Muslim garb’
James O’Keefe and Cam Higby were trying to show vulnerabilities in allowing a voter to vouch for another Two rightwing influencers have been charged with felonies in Minneapolis over attempts in the state’s election primary to disguise themselves in what they called “Muslim garb” and claim they were local voters. James O’Keefe and Cam Higby went to polling places in Minnesota during the state’s August primary in an attempt to show vulnerabilities in the practice of “vouching”, where a registered voter from the same precinct can vouch for another voter’s eligibility. Continue reading...
New study estimates 75% of deceased ex-NFL players had brain disease CTE
Research looked at prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 2,362 players who died in 2008-2023 A new study published on Wednesday estimates that about 75% of former NFL players who died over a 15-year period had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The research, published in Jama Network Open and conducted by a Boston-based team, examined the estimated prevalence of the degenerative brain disease among NFL players who died from 2008 through 2023. Researchers found that the estimated rate of CTE among these players was substantially higher than the rates observed in brain samples collected from the general population. Continue reading...
Bills, banks, ‘breathing space’: what was in Burnham’s first budget? - The Latest
In his first budget as chancellor, John Healey has pledged to offer ‘breathing space’ to help Britons navigate ‘global economic storms’. There were a record number of measures, including a one-off £100 energy payment to millions and a rise in the levy on bank profits. But the Conservatives have criticised the government for postponing big decisions, including on defence and welfare. Lucy Hough speaks to economics editor Heather Stewart – watch on YouTube Continue reading...
Allison Pearson said to be negotiating exit from Daily Telegraph amid job cull
Columnist’s relations with some senior editorial figures said to be strained over subjects she raised in her columns The controversial Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson is understood to be in negotiations about leaving the broadsheet as the newspaper’s new owner makes significant newsroom cuts. Sources told the Guardian that Pearson – firmly on the right of the Telegraph’s roster – is preparing to announce her exit imminently and is crafting a statement about her future plans. Continue reading...
‘Like Saddam opened a Cheesecake Factory’: was Obama’s joke about Trump’s interior design ‘elitist’?
The ex-president has been accused of ‘snobbery’ by the Maga set rushing to defend the restaurant chain and its ‘affordable opulence’ Around lunchtime on Tuesday, a Rolls-Royce stopped at the intersection of Beverly Drive and Dayton Way in Beverly Hills, California. Local people in athleisure walked past Balenciaga, Dior and Prada boutiques, as visitors on Hollywood bus tours ogled nearby Rodeo Drive, where Burberry and Louis Vuitton shops meet at a celebrated street corner. Up the street, across from the upmarket Erewhon grocery store – home to $21 smoothies – a few diners sat outside an American landmark: the Cheesecake Factory. Continue reading...
Budget winners and losers: pensioners and households gain as banks and betting shops hit
How the Burnham government’s first attempt to ease cost of living pressure pans out for key stakeholders Budget 2026: key points at a glance Every budget has its winners and losers, and John Healey’s first as chancellor was no exception. While some gained from tax breaks and rule tweaks, others will either pay more, or had their hopes of reforms dashed. Here are some of those with reason to cheer, or sigh: Continue reading...
Ben Jennings on John Healey’s ‘breathing room’ budget – cartoon
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BBC allegations cost Tory and Reform donor a peerage, defamation trial told
Mohamed Amersi is suing over Panorama episode that made claims of his suspected involvement in corruption A Conservative and Reform UK donor lost out on a knighthood and a peerage amid claims of his involvement in corruption, the high court has heard at the start of his defamation case against the BBC. An episode of Panorama in 2021 and a BBC article caused “very serious harm” to Mohamed Amersi, his barrister, Oliver Powell, said on Wednesday. Continue reading...
The bottomless depths of Donald Trump’s midterm rally bigotry
Both Obama and Trump are on the campaign trail, but only one of them appears to be descending into madness This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday . Barack Obama versus Donald Trump . It is the presidential election that never happened but has come to define an era of US politics. Obama is back on the campaign trail for the midterms, still electrifying crowds, earning shouts of “We love you!” and skewering his successor. “What’s up with the gold?” he asked a crowd in Detroit . “I mean, he’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” This has, predictably, set off a mini culture war involving questions of elitism and the tastefulness of chain restaurants. Continue reading...
Budget 2026 calculator: find out if you are better or worse off
Use our interactive tool to see how you have been affected by John Healey’s tax and spending announcements Healey keeps income tax thresholds frozen. How much more will you pay? Budget 2026: key points at a glance Budget 2026 live – latest updates Continue reading...
Three plead guilty in $9m romance fraud scam targeting elderly Americans
Twin brothers, 22, from Ghana and a 53-year-old American woman targeted older adults in 25 US states, officials say Three people have pleaded guilty in a $9m romance fraud scam that targeted elderly Americans. On Monday, the US attorney’s office in the northern district of Ohio announced that twin brothers from Ghana and an American woman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Continue reading...
Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi given new prison sentence and has assets seized
Charges against him are unclear after return to Iran despite being sentenced last year for ‘propaganda activities’ An Iranian court has handed the award-winning film director Jafar Panahi a new prison sentence of five years and one month and ordered the seizure of all his assets. The 66-year-old, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year for It Was Just an Accident , was sentenced in absentia, his lawyer, Mostafa Nili, told the Iranian news outlet Emtedad. The court also imposed a two-year travel ban and barred him from using social media for two years, Nili said. Continue reading...
‘This isn’t supposed to happen’: giant-slaying Fleetwood revels in fairytale Arsenal win
Fishing town in disbelief the morning after its footballing minnows beat mighty Arsenal on penalties On a wet and windy night on the north-west coast of England, a League Two side sensationally knocked the Premier League champions out of the Carabao Cup. But this is not just a fairytale story of giant-slaying : Fleetwood Town and Arsenal have an unlikely history that stretches back long before Tuesday night’s game. Arsenal played at their iconic Highbury stadium until 2006, and Fleetwood’s ground has the same title, being named after Highbury Avenue, the adjoining street. Continue reading...
Tory Brexit was ‘harder’ than promised in EU referendum, says Andy Burnham
Prime minister warns cabinet not to express opinions about future relationship with Brussels before review of options Andy Burnham has warned ministers not to express their opinions about how the government should approach Brexit, as he argued that the Conservatives’ deal with Brussels had been more extreme than that promised in the 2016 referendum. In another series of announcements connected to his plan to seek closer links with the EU, Burnham told ministers at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the current deal was a bad one, before writing to frontbenchers setting out his hopes to address this. Continue reading...