section
Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
3959 stories archived
Make Ed Miliband chancellor, ex-chief Treasury adviser tells Andy Burnham
Nicholas Stern joins growing number backing Miliband, saying he has vision and experience to revive economy A former chief economic adviser to the Treasury has called on Andy Burnham to appoint Ed Miliband as chancellor, arguing the energy secretary has a “bold” vision to revive the economy. Nicholas Stern, a professor at the London School of Economics who was a senior figure in the Treasury during Gordon Brown’s tenure, said only Miliband had the experience and the strategic vision to accelerate investment and rebuild public trust in the state’s ability to “get things done”. Continue reading...
NSW Labor to adopt tougher pokies stance as Sydney inner west mayor says ‘momentum for real reform unstoppable’
State Labor conference expected to pass a motion which would commit to 50% of machines being removed from operation in next 10 years Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast New South Wales premier Chris Minns will take a tougher stance on poker machines to the next election after being pushed to adopt the approach by the party’s left. A motion expected to pass the NSW Labor conference with unanimous support on Sunday afternoon will add a plan to to take “decisive action” on problem gambling and the growing use of poker machines to its policy platform, amid surging profits for operators and accusations of inaction on reform. Continue reading...
Founder of prominent underground church released from prison in China
Ezra Jin, founder of Zion Church, lands in the US and reunites with family who are ‘overwhelmed with joy’ The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States. Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October . Continue reading...
Belgium players say they will need ‘balls’ to nullify home crowd against US
Belgium play Americans in the last-16 on Monday US have enjoyed strong support at home at the World Cup A raucous, pro-US crowd is expected in Seattle for the Americans’ last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, but the Red Devils say that they don’t fear the atmosphere that will await them. “I think we just have to … show balls on the pitch,” left-back Maxim De Cuyper said on Friday. “Try to play your own game. If you play against 80,000 supporters or with 80,000, you have to try to do the same.” Continue reading...
Woman charged with murder after body of four-year-old boy found in Central Coast home
Police are investigating what happened to a boy who was found with significant arm injuries Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A woman has been charged with murder after police found the body of a pre-schooler at a home on the New South Wales Central Coast. Police rushed to the home at Wyong after a 32-year-old woman presented to the local police station on Saturday. Continue reading...
Evacuation disrupts Trump’s planned DC speech after threat of thunderstorm
Extreme heatwave across US east coast already had upended some of the weekend’s long-planned celebrations Donald Trump’s plans to celebrate the US’s 250th birthday with “the greatest show of all” in the heart of Washington DC were disrupted on a Saturday evening by fears of a thunderstorm. Thousands of spectators who had filed onto the National Mall for a show featuring a speech by the US president and an extensive fireworks display were instructed to evacuate the site. Continue reading...
Australia news live: Albanese to target rightwing ‘axis of grievance’ at NSW Labor conference; first east coast bird flu case confirmed
Follow the day’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning all and thanks for being with us. Graham Readfearn here. First up, we will have news in a few minutes that NSW has recorded its first confirmed case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu in a giant petrel found north of Newcastle at Hawks Nest. Continue reading...
Cricket match abandoned after charging bull stops play
Match at Burnopfield near Newcastle called off after 800kg young bull escaped from farm and stormed playing field A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull stormed the playing field and charged at players. The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield Cricket Club near Newcastle was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground. Continue reading...
Female US rower completes historic solo journey from California to Hawaii
Kelsey Pfendler set out to become first US woman, youngest woman and fastest woman to solo over 2,400-mile journey A Grand Canyon river-rafting guide who aimed to become the first US woman to row solo across the mid-Pacific has completed a record-breaking journey from California to Hawaii . Hundreds of people gathered to cheer on Kelsey Pfendler as she pulled into a Honolulu harbor on Friday night on her 21ft rowboat, Lily, after nearly a month-and-a-half at sea, local media reported. Guardian staff contributed Continue reading...
Archaeologists uncover ancient Byzantine city in Egypt’s western desert
Well-preserved fourth-century quarters reveal details of daily life, urban development and economic activities Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a well-preserved Byzantine-era city in the western desert. The fourth-century quarters had residential and religious structures, including a basilica-style church in the Dakhla oasis. Archaeologists also found coins, pottery fragments and tools. Continue reading...
Norfolk Island’s unique corals under triple threat from disease, El Niño and now government-approved dredging
Exclusive: Most of the island’s corals are likely to be species that have not been formally described by science, researcher says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Scientists fear unique corals that fringe Australia’s remote Norfolk Island could disappear because of a triple threat of disease, El Niño and a federal government plan to dredge a neighbouring shipping channel. A failure to manage sediment and pollution washing into bays from cattle farming, cleared land along with wastewater has been blamed for widespread disease and outbreaks of algae over the corals. Continue reading...
Neo-fascist group Patriot Front parades Confederate flag in Washington DC on Fourth of July
Hundreds of masked members of the white supremacist organization marched and chanted in the US capital Hundreds of masked men carrying banners, including the Confederate flag, marched through Washington DC on the Fourth of July, the 250th anniversary of the US’s inception. The group appeared to be led by Thomas Rousseau, founder of the neo-fascist, white supremacist organization Patriot Front. Members of the group wore white masks and gathered in front of DC’s Union Station. They later marched towards Capitol Hill, WTOP reported . Continue reading...
Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg oil terminal and nearby port
St Petersburg governor reports no victims after ‘large-scale’ overnight attack that also hit Baltic port of Vysotsk Ukraine launched a big overnight drone attack on St Petersburg and the surrounding area, hitting the city’s oil terminal and port infrastructure in the wider region. The St Petersburg governor, Alexander Beglov, said the city had been subjected to a “large-scale” drone attack that had hit its oil terminal. He said there were no casualties and the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands march in London for annual Pride parade
More than 35,000 people from about 600 groups made their way from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall via Piccadilly Tens of thousands of people marched through central London for the annual LGBT+ Pride parade. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, joined the crowd as they proceeded through the capital on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...
In a pickle: US pickle company pulls out of DC fair over Confederate flag
Mt Olive Pickle Company says it was unaware image of flag was included in exhibit, and cites value of ‘human dignity’ A leading vendor of the US delicacy that is the pickle has withdrawn from the Great American State Fair in Washington DC after North Carolina’s booth displayed a video containing a Confederate flag. The Mt Olive Pickle Company, which is located in eastern North Carolina and bills itself as the “#1 bestselling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the US”, told local news station WNCT it had been unaware that an image of the flag would be included in a video as part of the state’s exhibit. Continue reading...
Three children dead after boat capsizes during storm in Wisconsin
Officials rescued seven other people after a sudden storm led to a boat sinking on Geneva Lake Three children died after a boat capsized on Wisconsin ’s Geneva Lake during inclement weather on the eve of the US’s semiquincentennial celebrations, and seven other people had to be rescued by emergency responders, according to officials. A recreational motor boat with 10 passengers, including four children, sank on Friday afternoon as the boat “attempted to navigate to safety as weather conditions deteriorated” amid an intense, sudden storm, the city of Lake Geneva police department said in a statement. Continue reading...
The US celebrated the end of a ‘long national nightmare’ as it turned 200. What about now?
A decade in the making, the 1976 bicentennial had a cathartic impact on the wounded national polity Americans: how do you feel about the country’s future after 250 years of independence? It felt like a proper jamboree – a coming together of diverse peoples who thought they had something to celebrate. But the defining moment of the 1976 bicentennial, the US’s last epic birthday celebration, came two years before. “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,” Gerald Ford declared in his presidential inauguration speech of 9 August 1974. “Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men.” Continue reading...
‘Heartbroken’: injury ends Williams sisters’ hopes of Wimbledon doubles reunion
23-time champion fails to recover after defeat by Joint Serena and Venus pull out of Saturday evening match Serena Williams will not compete alongside Venus Williams in the doubles after she was forced to withdraw from their first-round match due to the knee injury sustained in her singles return at Wimbledon. Williams had been in a race to be fit to face Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra on Saturday afternoon. But she has not recovered from twisting her knee in the first set of her opening-round singles match against Maya Joint, which she lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Continue reading...
Canada v Morocco: World Cup 2026 last 16 – live
⚽️ Kick-off time: 12pm local/1pm EDT/6pm BST/3am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Scott Canada made it out of Group B easily enough. A 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina. A six-goal rout of Qatar that was soured by a bad injury to Ismaël Koné. A 2-1 defeat to Switzerland that lost them home advantage. Then in the round of 16 they ground out victory over South Africa. Stephen Eustáquio was their last-gasp hero. Continue reading...
Elon Musk posted twice as often on UK race and immigration as about SpaceX in IPO run-up
Guardian analysis of X feed shows how keen world’s richest person was to air his views and ‘interfere’ in British politics Elon Musk posted about race and immigration in the UK on his social media network X twice as often as he did about SpaceX, which he also owns, in the run-up to the aerospace and AI company’s initial public offering. A Guardian analysis of Musk’s posts, replies and reposts between 31 May and 12 June has shown the extent to which the social media activity of the world’s richest person, who lives primarily in the US, has focused on UK politics. Continue reading...
Week-long heatwave due in England with 34C peak in south-east
Heat health alerts in place in most regions of England from Sunday to Saturday with mercury also rising in Wales Another heatwave is on the way across parts of the UK with peak temperatures of 34C forecast. Temperatures in the south of England could reach 28C on Saturday, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...
Trump pardons 11 people on eve of country’s Fourth of July celebrations
Pardons issued to nine people charged with violating Clean Air Act as extreme heat smothers much of US Donald Trump on Friday issued pardons to 11 people – two convicted fraudsters and nine charged with having violated the federal Clean Air Act by disabling or otherwise modifying trucks’ emissions controls. Those executive pardons – coming amid US semiquincentennial celebrations blanketed in extreme heat exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions – were among a broader wave of acts of clemency from Trump during his second presidency, chiefly for those he considers to be aligned with him. Continue reading...
What impact will Andy Burnham have on Zack Polanski and the Greens?
Voters disillusioned with Starmer’s Labour were tempted by the Greens – but Polanski’s party fears the affable, left-leaning Burnham could win them back The shift was notable. A week after Keir Starmer said he would resign, YouGov polling showed Labour up two points and the Greens down by the same amount. Might an Andy Burnham premiership mean a rethink for Zack Polanski’s party? The short answer is it is too early to know, particularly in an era of unprecedented political volatility and the seesawing poll numbers that come with it. This year alone, a five-point Labour lead over the Greens has become a similar margin in favour of the Greens, and then a seven-point advantage for Labour. Continue reading...
Burnham will change No 10 ‘boys club’ briefing culture, says Lucy Powell
Deputy Labour leader says No 10 needs to become more meritocratic and has asked Burnham to commit to 50/50 gender split for ministers and staff Andy Burnham will change a “boys club” culture of factional briefings at No 10 which silenced critics, according to the deputy leader of the Labour party. Lucy Powell said she had experienced “unpleasant” briefings in Downing Street, which left people afraid to speak out or challenge Downing Street’s position. Continue reading...