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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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NHS to rate English trusts on tackling violence and racism towards staff
Exclusive: Published league tables will rank acute, ambulance and mental health trusts on six measures The NHS will rate trusts according to how well they tackle racism, violence and sexual misconduct towards staff, the government has announced. From July, all NHS acute, ambulance and mental health trusts in England will be judged and ranked in published league tables on six main measures of wellbeing, affecting more than 1.5 million staff. Continue reading...
Anthony Albanese apologises ‘unequivocally’ for podcast comment about Kylie Minogue
Prime minister picked pop singer in game of ‘shag, marry, date’ on comedy podcast Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for his comments while playing a ‘shag, marry, date’ game on a comedy podcast where he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories. The prime minister issued a statement on Monday morning after receiving criticism over the weekend for his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with comedian Nikki Osborne. Continue reading...
Astonished Belgium vow to ‘defend football’ after Fifa’s shock Balogun reversal
Rudi Garcia likens decision to April Fools’ Day joke Belgian FA says it will investigate all potential options USMNT reaction to Fifa flip: ‘Thought it was AI at first’ As a Fifa media officer read aloud the statement confirming the governing body’s shock reversal of US striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension on Sunday, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois put their poker faces to work. Garcia stared straight down the aisle of the press conference room at Seattle Stadium. Courtois’s eyes fluttered about, perhaps masking some rolls as he faced a press pack eager to make sense of an unexpected World Cup twist. Balogun’s reinstatement came across as a joke to the Belgian boss, though he hardly seemed ready for a laugh. Continue reading...
Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s emergency earthquake response as number of bodies expected to soar
Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disaster Venezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest. Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived. Continue reading...
Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow ends US Senate primary campaign
Lawmaker’s exit gives voters choice between progressive Abdul El-Sayed and centrist Haley Stevens in must-win seat Mallory McMorrow, a Michigan Democrat, has dropped out of a contentious US Senate primary campaign , setting up a straight fight between the party’s progressive and establishment wings – represented by Abdul El-Sayed , a former public health official, and Haley Stevens, a congresswoman. McMorrow ’s retreat marks the end of a center-left bid to hold the seat being vacated this year by the Democrat Gary Peters. The three-way primary contest was a close one earlier in the campaign, but polls indicated that McMorrow’s support had plunged in recent weeks, as El-Sayed raced past her and Stevens to emerge as the frontrunner for the party’s nomination. Continue reading...
Skydiver dies after incident near Nottinghamshire airfield
Body of woman, 22, found in field in proximity of Langar airfield, where popular civilian skydiving centre operates A 22-year-old skydiver has died after a parachuting incident near a Nottinghamshire airfield, police have confirmed. Emergency services were called to Langar airfield, a former RAF base, at 12.13pm on Sunday and the woman was found in a nearby field, where she was pronounced dead at the scene, a police spokesperson said. Continue reading...
Australia news live: Crisafulli promises harsher youth bail laws; auction clearances below 50% again
Queensland premier vows to imprison more youth offenders at party state conference. Follow today’s news live David Crisafulli has vowed to imprison more youth offenders. In a keynote speech to the Liberal National party’s state conference on Sunday, the Queensland premier said his government would create and legislate a new offence by the end of the year, carrying a mandatory sentence – yet to be set – for repeat offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail. We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve heard from Queenslanders who are telling us to keep going, and we will with reforms to Labor’s weak bail laws. This is a further step to make already harsh bail laws harsher. Continue reading...
Florida Republican says deporting Haitians with TPS would be ‘huge mistake’
‘Haiti is a failed state’, says Carlos Giménez, congressman and Miami Cuban exile, after controversial court ruling Carlos Giménez, a Republican congressman from Florida, broke with the Trump administration on Sunday, calling on the White House to reconsider its push to eliminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitian migrants. Returning some 350,000 Haitians to their chaotic, dangerous homeland following the US supreme court’s ruling that the Trump administration can cut off temporary legal protections, would be a grave error, Giménez said. Continue reading...
AI poses ‘Hiroshima’-style threat to humanity without global rules, says Cooper
Exclusive: Foreign secretary warns of combined risks of AI, climate crisis, irregular migration and foreign interference Artificial intelligence poses a “Hiroshima”-style risk to humanity if governments do not agree to curb how it is developed, the foreign secretary has warned. Yvette Cooper urged countries, including the US and China, to agree international rules for AI, telling the Guardian she believes the issue will dominate foreign policy over the next two years. Continue reading...
At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country
More than 20 states reported temperatures above 100F as heat dome sits over eastern US during holiday weekend At least about two dozen people have died amid the perilous climate crisis-driven heatwave that has scorched swaths of the US with record temperatures. As a huge heat dome sits over the county’s eastern half, extreme heat gripped millions of people in the days leading up to the US’s semiquincentennial on Saturday – and beyond it. More than 20 states experienced have reported stifling temperatures more than 100F (38C), marring celebrations. And more than 140 million people remained under active heat alerts across the US on Sunday. Continue reading...
The Atlantic republishes JD Vance’s anti-Trump essay from 10 years ago
Magazine invites readers to judge Vance’s ‘assessment’ of Trump, whom he called ‘cultural heroin’ during first term The Atlantic on Saturday republished a JD Vance essay that dismissed Donald Trump as “cultural heroin” exactly 10 years earlier, bringing back to the fore his evolving from a critic of the president to his vice-president. In an editor’s note, the magazine said it was republishing the essay on the occasion of its 10th anniversary – and the US’s semiquincentennial – “so that our readers can judge for themselves how well his assessment [of Trump] … has stood the test of time”. Continue reading...
EasyJet agrees to £5bn takeover by US investment firm
Agreement in principle with Castlelake follows several rejected offers and means UK’s biggest low-cost carrier will be taken private EasyJet has agreed a £5bn takeover by US investment firm Castlelake that will see Britain’s biggest low-cost airline taken private. The companies announced an agreement in principle on Sunday evening in a statement to the stock market, and requested an extension to a deadline to complete the deal formally. The agreement came after weeks of negotiations and several rejected offers. Continue reading...
Folarin Balogun eligible to play for US v Belgium as Fifa rescinds red card suspension
US striker was shown red in last-32 match Fifa disciplinary committee cites article of Fifa code USA striker Folarin Balogun will play against Belgium in Monday’s last-16 game after Fifa announced it has rescinded the one-game ban he received for a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fifa’s disciplinary committee said it made the decision in line with Article 27 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code, which allows them to rescind red cards. As a result, Balogun will be on a probationary period of one year. If, during that year, Balogun commits what the code refers to as “another infringement of a similar nature and gravity,” the striker will serve his one-game ban. Continue reading...
What are the latest allegations about Nigel Farage’s funding?
Reform UK leader received financial support from a convicted fraudster for staffing, security and housing Nigel Farage did not declare gifts from crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud As Nigel Farage awaits the findings of a standards watchdog investigation into a £5m gift he received from the British-Thai crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, fresh allegations about his finances have emerged. Here we take a look at the latest claims made about Farage and his funds. Continue reading...
FBI seized more than 600 drones flying over World Cup games in US cities
Agency says drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities in restricted airspace since tournament began More than 600 drones flying over restricted World Cup airspace in the US have been seized since the tournament began in June, the FBI said on Saturday – including 99 captured flying in Miami, 77 in Atlanta and 32 in Kansas City. In a statement on X , the law enforcement agency said that drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities by FBI and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Continue reading...
Paul McCartney performs I Want to Hold Your Hand for first time in 60 years at Taylor Swift wedding
McCartney reportedly played Beatles No 1 hit at star-studded reception at Madison Square Garden Paul McCartney performed the beloved Beatles No 1 hit I Want to Hold Your Hand for the first time in 60 years at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding. McCartney performed the number at the star-studded reception at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday, People magazine reported . The track was the Beatles’ first American No 1 hit, sparking Beatlemania in the US and the wave of British bands’ success nicknamed “the British invasion”. Continue reading...
It must be bad for Nige and his finances if it’s Honest Bob Jenrick to the rescue | John Crace
‘Nothing to see here,’ says the man who once overruled council planners in favour of Richard ‘Dirty’ Desmond How unlucky can one man get? You have to feel for Nigel Farage. Why does it keep happening to him? There he is, just minding his own business, trying to make a decent living – those five houses won’t pay for themselves, which is why other people may have done – and yet there’s always someone trying to drag a good man down. Isn’t the “Man of the People (TM)” entitled to have a few multi-millionaires as friends to bankroll his lifestyle? Who hasn’t pined for crypto and gold bullion? First there was the £5m from the British-Thai crypto billionaire, Christopher Harborne , revealed exclusively by the Guardian. Months later, the stench won’t go away. Even Nige has been at a loss to explain what exactly he was given the money for. Unsure whether it was a payment to cover security or just a little “thank you” for a lifetime’s work in the service of making the country an easier place for grifters to make money. Even now, Nige has gone to ground as he tries to get his story straight. Continue reading...
USA v Belgium tactical analysis: how does Pochettino replace Folarin Balogun’s goal threat?
The US and Belgium meet on Monday for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals. Here’s what to expect from both teams While comparisons to the two most recent clashes between these teams are inevitable, neither of those matches is a terribly useful parallel. Belgium, remarkably, carry four holdovers from their 2-1 victory over the US at the 2014 World Cup; the Americans have none. Continue reading...
Coal is back in AustralianSuper’s portfolio. What happened to that net zero pledge?
In 2020 Australia’s biggest super fund dumped its Whitehaven shares. Fast forward to 2026 and it is now the coalminer’s single biggest investor Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Almost six years ago, the country’s biggest superannuation fund announced a major policy update: AustralianSuper’s investment portfolio would be subject to a net zero carbon emissions target in line with the Paris agreement. To make the point, the fund dumped its holdings in the large thermal and metallurgical coalminer Whitehaven Coal. Continue reading...
Fears Queenslanders could be forced to pay for mine cleanup as LNP reviews environmental ‘red tape’
Mining minister Dale Last says the state has an ‘enormous opportunity’ to become a global leader in critical minerals Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Queenslanders are being warned they could be left to pay for the clean up of abandoned mines if rehabilitation laws are weakened, after the state government announced a bid to cut environmental “red tape” for resources companies. The state’s treasurer, David Janetzki, and the mining minister, Dale Last, this week announced a review of a scheme that requires resources companies to provide surety to cover remediation and rehabilitation costs when mines close. Continue reading...
Iran seeks to tighten control over strait of Hormuz alongside Khamenei funeral
IRGC warnings force ships to turn back as Tehran uses passages from Qur’an to send messages to Gulf delegations The diplomatic and military contest for control of the strait of Hormuz has intensified alongside the dramatic scenes of mourning for the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with some claiming Khamenei’s legacy ultimately depends on Tehran’s grip on the waterway, and so the global economy. Over the past 48 hours, as crowds have swirled in Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to have started to plug a gaping and growing gap in their monopoly control of the strait. Continue reading...
Delivery firm Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary
Company seeks redress for contracts it says it has lost as a result of programme’s claims about its business practices The parcel delivery company Evri is suing the BBC for £1.2m over a documentary it claims caused it serious financial loss. Evri has filed particulars of claim at the high court which state that it lost prospective clients after the broadcast of the Panorama documentary Evri: Where’s my parcel? Continue reading...
Trump’s $2bn bonanza heralds the rise of political grifters across the west
With voters embracing leaders who brazenly monetise public office, experts say an ethical code is breaking down Donald Trump came to office in 2017 after decades of bankruptcies and business failures. Yes, he was rich, but his latest financial disclosure, published this week, suggests he will depart billions richer. In the first year of his second term, he made more than $2bn from Trump hotels, Trump golf courses, Trump cryptocurrency, Trump watches, Trump cologne, Trump Bibles and more. Continue reading...
Pioneer of ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism now says phrase unhelpful
Exclusive: Prof Simon Baron-Cohen says his language was misunderstood and it is a myth that autistic people lack empathy The scientist who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism has said he regrets characterising the condition in this way because the phrase lends itself to misunderstandings. Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people strongly tend towards systemising over empathising has been hugely influential in shaping the popular perception of autism over the past two decades. But while the underlying science had stood the test of time, Baron-Cohen said, he now views the “extreme male brain” label as unhelpful. Continue reading...