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Politics
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Vivek Ramaswamy’s Amy Acton ad makes a false – and sickening – argument
Republican attacks on the candidate for governor are contradictory and hinge on a warped understanding of sexual abuse I’ve heard people say that the Ramaswamy team must have been scared. Last week, the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech billionaire and onetime Republican presidential candidate who is currently the Republican nominee to be the governor of Ohio, ran an ad featuring the long-estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, the physician and former public health official Amy Acton. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Why won't MPs tax the rich? We asked them – and their answers gave us hope | Faiza Shaheen
Even most Reform voters are in favour of a tax on the super-wealthy. Yet the first budget of the Burnham era looks set to dodge the issue In John Healey’s first budget this week, we will finally get a sense of the economic policies that will deliver Andy Burnham’s pledge to end neoliberalism. Or will we? Capital gains tax equalised with income tax? Ruled out . A genuine wealth tax on those sitting on over £10m? Off the table . Even the briefed increase in the banking surcharge only takes us back to where it was until the Conservatives cut it in 2023. We can cross our fingers for trailed policies on supporting high streets, financial devolution and longer-term investment, but there is still more than a whiff of trickle-down economics in the air. Poll after poll shows that the British public overwhelmingly supports wealth taxes on the super-rich – including three in five Reform-leaning voters. We know that wealth inequality – with the richest 50 families in the UK possessing more wealth than half of the UK population – is weakening our economy , eroding our social fabric and undermining our democracy . Just last year, Burnham, then mayor of Greater Manchester, explicitly acknowledged that we have “ overtaxed labour and undertaxed wealth ”. So what on earth is going on? Faiza Shaheen is executive director of Tax Justice UK Continue reading...
Defund Elon Musk | Robert Reich
No private individual should have the power to determine US foreign policy, as Musk has attempted to do in Ukraine He’s Exhibit A on why billionaire wealth should be taxed, why we must get big money out of politics, why billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to buy up major media, and why our government shouldn’t give them huge military contracts. I’m talking about Elon Musk, of course. Continue reading...
UK officials discussing free movement with EU ahead of summit, says Reynolds
Business secretary says focus for November summit will be trade and youth mobility, but talks will also include ‘future options for relationship’ UK politics live – latest updates British officials have begun discussions with the EU about a long-term relationship that could include a return to free movement, the business secretary has said while promising the British people “are the boss” when it comes to what the UK will accept. Jonathan Reynolds said the focus for British negotiations was the EU summit in November to seal an agreement to ease some trading restrictions and a youth mobility deal. But he said the prime minister, Andy Burnham, had made it clear he wanted to see a long-term and stable relationship with the bloc. Continue reading...
Fears grow for Iranian athletes on death row as mountaineer latest to be hanged
Two sportspeople have been executed in the past month and at least six more face the same fate, says activist group Fears are growing for more Iranian athletes facing execution after mountain climber Ali-Sina Mostafavi became the latest in a string to be killed by the regime. Mostafavi – who documented his ascents of some of the world’s highest peaks, including Mount Everest – was executed on 14 October having been arrested in April after the anti-government protests a few months earlier. His death followed the killing of Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi, a taekwondo athlete, at the start of October, and the mixed martial arts fighter Gholamreza Khani Shakarab, who was hanged in May. Continue reading...
What Marco Rubio’s sidestepping of New Delhi says about the US’s stance on India
Rubio’s decision not to meet Narendra Modi last week was seen by some as a snub – but by focusing on business leaders and oil, the secretary of state made American priorities clear. Plus: the artist bringing a female perspective to men’s clothing • Don’t get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up here When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited India for the second time this year, headlines concentrated on who he met and where he went. The fact that Rubio bypassed New Delhi and did not meet the prime minister, Narendra Modi, during his trip last week, and instead traveled to the financial capital, Mumbai, where he met India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (pictured top with Rubio), and business leaders, did not go unnoticed. Nor did his decision to travel to Jamnagar, the small Gujarati town that is home to Reliance Industries’ colossal oil refinery complex. Continue reading...
Two men charged with national security offences over RAF Fairford incident
One charged assisting a foreign intelligence service and the other with entering a prohibited place, CPS says Two men have been charged with national security offences after an investigation into a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford. The Crown Prosecution Service said Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24, were both charged under the National Security Act 2023. Continue reading...
ABC to demand rightwing One Nation party stop using Bluey in ‘shocking and disrespectful’ cartoon
Head of Australia’s national broadcaster says depiction of globally beloved character ramming politicians with a car breaches intellectual property Australia’s national broadcaster will send a cease and desist letter to rightwing populist party One Nation for using Bluey in a “shocking and disrespectful” cartoon which sees the beloved character repeatedly ramming politicians with an SUV. ABC managing director Hugh Marks told Senate estimates on Tuesday he became aware of One Nation’s potential breach of intellectual property last week and sought legal advice. “We will be taking further action, I can assure you,” he said. Continue reading...
Tories dismiss PM’s budget ‘everyday fixes’ as little more than ‘cheaper gherkins’, and ‘an insult to families’ – UK politics live
Removing tariffs on more than 100 products, including gherkins and baked beans, was one of five measures announced this morning before tomorrow’s budget Good morning. Prime ministers tend to get judged by posterity by the decisions they take on the big issues of the day. But little things matter too in the here and now, often disproportionately, and Andy Burnham , more than his predecessors, has decided that what he calls “everyday fixes” are worth focusing on too. Alexandra Topping wrote a good analysis about the pluses and minuses of this approach last week. But she filed too soon, because this morning Burnham has announced another five. These are all changes contained in tomorrow’s budget but being announced today – presumably because John Healey will have bigger surprises for MPs tomorrow, and the Treasury wants these measures to get some media attention today because tomorrow they will be overshadowed by another story. • Making higher tax-free mileage rates permanent and increasing support for nurses , care workers, self employed builders and others who drive for work. The chancellor is locking in the 55p per mile rate for the first 10,000 business miles and increasing the rate above 10,000 miles from 25p to 35p per mile, supporting around 3 million employees and self-employed people who use their own vehicle for work. • Extending parental pay to more than 150,000 additional parents per year , including self-employed dads and partners who have previously missed out, giving eligible parents two weeks of support currently worth up to £194 a week so they can spend more time with their child. Rampant borrowing, soaring taxes and an utter inability to cut spending mean inflation has already wiped out the benefits of Burnham’s ‘everyday fixes’. Shoppers face rising costs at the till and families are struggling to make ends meet, but Burnham’s plan is cheaper gherkins. This is an insult to families hammered by Labour’s tax rises. Part of the genius with this stuff is the negative polarisation, when people start attacking perfectly sensible and helpful – albeit small – changes. Actually I want longer Post Office queues please! Continue reading...
Number of UK businesses in financial distress ‘at two-decade high’
Administrator BTG says 738,144 firms struggling as calls grow for more support for private sector in budget The number of UK businesses in financial distress has hit its highest level in more than two decades, as pressure grows on the chancellor to provide more support to the private sector in Wednesday’s budget . There were 738,144 businesses in “significant” financial distress in the third quarter of this year, up 1.6% compared with the same period last year, according to BTG. That is the highest level since the administrator’s closely watched “red flag” report began in 2004. Continue reading...
GPS detour leads Alabama driver to save Georgia family from house fire
Casey Sparks inadvertently ended up in Lyerly, Georgia, where he noticed burning home and helped to save family An Alabama driver’s unintended, GPS-directed detour in Georgia positioned him to help save a couple and a dozen children in their care from a fire that enveloped their home while they slept recently, according to the family and their rescuer. As he recounted in an interview with television station WRCB that quickly went viral among internet circles dedicated to uplifting news stories, James Burke had fallen asleep in his recliner while his wife, 12 adopted children and one grandchild slept in their beds on the night of 17 October in the community of Lyerly, Georgia. Continue reading...
Russia launches 280 drones at Ukraine as local ceasefire begins in Oleshky – Europe live
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 16 ballistic missiles were also launched overnight despite localised truce in Russian-occupied town Russia and Ukraine have started a localised ceasefire to allow for a humanitarian operation to begin in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky , but Russian strikes continued in other parts of the country, including Kyiv. Overnight, Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones, with at least 15 people injured in Kyiv, with further attacks in the Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia regions. “ Every such delay means another Russian strike on one facility or another. Unfortunately, strikes are taking place every day. Russia is constantly taking new steps toward escalation.” Continue reading...
Burnham in danger of sleepwalking into climate disaster, say campaigners
Letter to PM argues series of wrong choices on North Sea oil, Heathrow, EVs and heat pumps will scupper net zero plans Andy Burnham will “sleepwalk” into climate disaster if he fails to get a grip on a series of important policies whose combined impact could scupper plans to reach net zero, campaigners have said. Big decisions on North Sea drilling , the expansion of Heathrow airport , electric vehicles (EVs) and grants for heat pumps are awaiting decisions from ministers. Continue reading...
Melting glaciers in Dolomites reveal cache of first world war munitions
Italian army removes and defuses 250 explosives encased in ice for more than 100 years after hikers’ sightings A significant cache of unexploded bombs from the first world war emerged this summer from rapidly retreating glaciers in the Dolomites, the Italian army has said. The devices, which included Italian artillery shells and French mortar bombs, were removed and defused by the army’s Julia Alpine brigade, according to a statement. Continue reading...
UK government met 137 businesses over AI datacentres – but no environmental groups
Investigation finds dozens of ministers and civil servants moved into AI roles as government developed datacentre expansion plans The UK’s policy on datacentres and AI was developed without any meetings with environmental groups, an investigation has found. The nonprofit organisation Spotlight on Corruption said a “considerable revolving door” shaped the government’s development of “AI growth zones”, a central plank of the former prime minister Keir Starmer’s AI and economic policy, with 38 ministers, senior civil servants and special advisers hired to positions in AI companies between July 2024 and September 2026. Continue reading...
Asthma deaths reach decade-high levels and number of Australians dying of dementia grows
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, accounted for more than 10% of all deaths for the first time, new data reveals Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dementia has accounted for more than 10% of all deaths for the first time, while the number of people dying from asthma is at decade-high levels, new data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals. There were 188,421 deaths registered in 2025. Of these, 19,019 deaths were caused by dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, the ABS deaths data released on Tuesday shows. It has been the leading cause of death in Australia since 2024 . Continue reading...
Albanese concedes $6m golf club grant in his electorate was not to contain ‘raw sewage’
Grant part of $560m invitation-only scheme transparency advocates say largely funded projects in Labor-held seats Follow our Australian politics live blog for latest updates Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese has admitted he got it wrong after telling parliament a $6m grant to a golf club in his electorate was to stop “raw sewage” going into the nearby river. The grant given to Marrickville golf club in Sydney’s inner-west is under scrutiny as part of a larger $560m invitation-only grants scheme, which transparency advocates say largely funded projects promised at the 2025 election in Labor-held seats. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...
Landowners could scupper free Land Registry access plans, campaigners warn
Proposed lifting of paywall would reveal who owns vast majority of land in England and Wales Plans by the government to give the public free access for the first time to information on who owns England’s land are at risk of being scuppered by landowners, campaigners have said. On Tuesday the government set out its proposals to lift the paywall on the Land Registry, arguing that opening it would help the UK build more houses, protect nature and improve strategic planning. The plans will be open to public consultation for eight weeks. Continue reading...
‘It’s the smell of freedom’: Belgrade cleans up after Student List triumph
Binbag-wielding volunteers clear encampment used by thugs to intimidate opponents of deposed government Student List cleaned up at Serbia’s parliamentary elections. So it was only fitting that the morning after a night of raucous celebrations, the movement’s supporters were gathering, bin bags in hand, at Pioneers Park, opposite the national assembly building in Belgrade. For the previous 18 months, this small patch of greenery – with its established trees and playground – had been a no-go zone. A pro-government camp known as Ćaciland had taken over the space with convicted criminals living there in white tents, happy to attack journalists, or anyone else who came too close. Police stood by but did nothing to prevent the violence. Continue reading...
‘It’s a better experience’: shoppers praise Oxford Street pedestrianisation
Many punters say inconvenience of bus rerouting is small price to pay for more space, but not everyone is happy To the east of Oxford Circus, there is chaos. A steady stream of red London buses swing round the last junction before the newly pedestrianised Oxford Street begins. The streets are crammed with pedestrians, some squabbling over who poked whom with their umbrella first. To the west, pedestrians walk freely through the temporary bollards on to a green welcome banner rolled along the tarmac, declaring Oxford Street traffic-free. Continue reading...
My advice for Burnham’s first budget? Hit the banks – and hit them hard | Polly Toynbee
Bankers have barely begun to repay the billions they cost the country after 2008. In this PM they may have met their match Vibes matter. We live by how we feel – an idea that orthodox economics gets wrong and Andy Burnham’s first budget looks set to get right. This walking good-vibes maestro is spreading a confetti of small good deeds. These may not shift the dial yet on 40 years of neoliberal economics, but they show the way he’s heading. Eyecatching everyday things – from capping bus fares to that small but resonant sum of £45 VAT on average off electricity bills – get people talking, alongside bigger plans for a national care service , electoral reform and a possible journey back to the EU . Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
‘We want a full apology for slavery’: Commonwealth at a crossroads as king heads to the Caribbean
Campaigners say tour could hasten Charles’s removal as head of state unless he does more to confront monarchy’s historic role in slave trade King Charles’s upcoming Caribbean tour could accelerate moves to remove him as head of state in several countries unless he does more to confront the monarchy’s historic links to slavery, campaigners have warned. The king will embark on a nine-day tour on Tuesday, visiting the Bahamas and Guyana before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda, and will attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm). Continue reading...
Albanese promises ‘swift response’ on MP safety as he mulls panic buttons for politicians
Senator Fatima Payman also criticises former colleagues over lack of staffing given to her office Anthony Albanese has promised a “swift government response” to safety threats to MPs and floated the provision of duress alarms for electorate offices, saying politicians and their staff have put up with threats for too long. The prime minister’s pledge to the Labor partyroom came hours after senator Fatima Payman again slammed her former government colleagues over the lack of staffing given to her office, controversially asking: “Is the prime minister waiting for something, like what happened to Dr Helen Haines, to occur to my office?” Continue reading...
Labor condemns One Nation cartoons depicting Penny Wong being murdered as Hanson says videos ‘not going anywhere’
Foreign affairs minister says party’s social media content promotes division and violence as One Nation leader claims Liberal and Labor want cartoons censored Follow our Australian politics live blog for latest updates Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast Labor has accused Pauline Hanson of stoking division and violence in cartoons showing attacks on the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, as One Nation defends its social media content, admitting it might not always be “in good taste”. As parliament grapples with the safety of politicians in the wake of an alleged attack against Indi MP Helen Haines last week, cartoons produced by Hanson have come under increased scrutiny. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...