section
Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
5055 stories archived
Justice department orders US states to expand how they report undocumented immigrants
New opinion issued by the DoJ says those who take federal money through TANF and SSI must report undocumented immigrants across their state governments The US Department of Justice has ordered states to expand how they report undocumented immigrants to the federal government, according to a legal opinion from Tuesday that reverses a policy that has been in place for nearly 30 years. Under the new opinion , issued by the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, any state that takes federal money through support schemes for low-income Americans, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) , must now report undocumented immigrants across its entire state government, not just through the specific welfare office that runs the program. Continue reading...
Trump ‘happy’ about Harry and Meghan UK return: ‘I was not a fan’
President praises late queen and King Charles but says duke and duchess treated royal family ‘with great disrespect’ Donald Trump has weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move back to Britain, declaring: “I’m happy about it.” “I was not a fan,” the US president told reporters during a question-and-answer session following a press conference with travel executives on Wednesday. “I had a very good relationship with the queen, really good. I got to know her very well. A really good relationship with King Charles – I knew him as Prince Charles and King Charles. I’ve known him for a long time.” Continue reading...
JD Vance says he’s doing ‘God’s work – and if that leads to the end times, OK’
Vice-president says on evangelical podcast he would feel ‘not shocked if the antichrist was walking among us’ JD Vance has said he is “doing as much of God’s work as possible” and that he is OK “if that leads to the end times” , which he says “are coming”. The US vice-president made the comments during a Monday podcast interview with Bryce Crawford, a 22-year old evangelical host with over a million YouTube followers and videos featuring sensationalist headlines including “Preaching the gospel in Chicago’s deadliest neighborhood” and “Debating a ‘gay’ pastor”. Continue reading...
Police chief in Mississippi town where 1-year-old was killed has been fired
The city of Senatobia made national news earlier this year after a white officer shot and killed Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old Black baby, while responding to a shoplifting call Late Tuesday, the city of Senatobia, Mississippi fired its police chief, Harold Vanderford, after it was reported that Vanderford regularly used racist slurs against Black people in his text messages. The town, which is about 40% Black , made national news earlier this year after a white officer fatally shot and killed Kohen Wiley , a one-year-old Black baby, while responding to a shoplifting call at Walmart. Officers fired into a vehicle, shooting the driver and killing the toddler, who was being held in his mother’s arms. Though Vanderford submitted a resignation letter earlier on 1 September, the city’s board of aldermen unanimously voted to reject it and to terminate the officer instead. Vanderford’s firing came just under a week after the city wrote in a statement that, despite the messages, he would “continue to serve the City with the confidence that was placed in him at the time that he was appointed as Chief”. Continue reading...
Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump order
Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with Canada Apple has renamed Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada. The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between the border of New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario, for users in the US. Apple users outside the country will still see the Lake Ontario name. Continue reading...
Gun found in French lake is analysed by 2012 Alps killings investigators
British tourists reportedly discovered Luger pistol that is latest in long line of potential leads in mystery of al-Hilli deaths Experts are examining a gun found by tourists to determine whether it might have been used to kill a British family in the French Alps 14 years ago. In what remains an unsolved murder case, Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Ikbal, 47, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were shot dead on a road near Annecy, a remote Alpine village in eastern France in September 2012. Continue reading...
New UK taskforce will examine influence of political mega-donors
Government pledges to find quick ‘solution’ to party funding row under pressure from Labour MPs Andy Burnham’s government has pledged to “tackle the issue of mega-donors in UK politics” as soon as possible, with dozens of Labour MPs demanding an immediate cap on donations before the next election. The government outlined plans for a taskforce that will look at dealing with the influence of donors giving multimillion-pound contributions and suggested ministers wanted to find a “solution” to the issue quickly. Continue reading...
Burnham tries to calm bond market fears as sell-off threatens crucial first budget
Prime minister promises his government will make decisions ‘grounded in fiscal responsibility’ Andy Burnham moved to calm volatile bond markets on Wednesday as surging borrowing costs threatened to wreck plans for his government’s crucial first budget next month. After a days-long sell-off of government bonds – and with the chancellor, John Healey, facing the prospect of sharply reduced spending power, Burnham used his first appearance at prime minister’s questions to promise decisions would be “grounded in fiscal responsibility”. Continue reading...
Bayeux tapestry loan symbolises ‘entente amicale’ between France and UK, says King Charles
Monarch tells Emmanuel Macron at the British Museum in London that the two nations will share a future ‘woven together’ by history and shared values The loan of the Bayeux tapestry was the “the best possible symbol” of the “entente amicale” between France and the UK, King Charles said as he visited the famous embroidered masterpiece at the British Museum in London. Though the tapestry recounts a conflict, “here it is today, nearly 1,000 years later, as a precious symbol of trust, at a time when trust seems sadly to be in short supply between nations,” he said. Continue reading...
Israel ‘seeking Trump’s support for plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza’
Defence minister says he believes US backing could tip regional balance in favour of forced resettlement Israel’s defence minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime. Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” during a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He said the Israeli government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”. Continue reading...
US prosecutors refuse to say if they secretly obtained Don Lemon’s phone records
Experts have expressed deep concerns that the practice runs afoul of the fourth amendment’s right to privacy Federal prosecutors have declined to say whether they secretly obtained phone records for the journalist Don Lemon using an unusual administrative summons, his lawyers said in a Monday court filing , highlighting concern about a controversial legal authority the government has claimed to gather information as it charged Lemon and dozens of others it has charged with civil rights crimes in connection to a January protest at a St Paul church. In January, officials served Verizon with an administrative summons for a log of Lemon’s phone records between 19 December and 20 January. The subpoena didn’t come from a grand jury, as is typical in criminal investigation, and also wasn’t a court-approved search warrant. Instead, it was a unilateral request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said it was requesting the information under 19 USC 1509 – an obscure law that gives the department power to investigate records related to customs issues. Experts say the government is abusing that authority to gather records on journalists, activists, unions, non-profits and online critics, and have expressed deep concerns that the practice runs afoul of the fourth amendment’s right to privacy. Continue reading...
Green party members back Zack Polanski to stand in London byelection
Party leader in England and Wales seen as favourite to contest Holborn and St Pancras after Starmer’s resignation Zack Polanski moved a step closer in his quest to become an MP on Wednesday, with local Green party members supporting him to become the party’s candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. The party leader in England and Wales started campaigning alongside his fellow Green, Hannah Spencer, the MP for Gorton and Denton, in the Holborn area on Tuesday, and is seriously considering putting himself forward as the party’s candidate in the seat vacated by Keir Starmer on Monday . Continue reading...
Female film-makers still being squeezed out of industry, London film festival director says
Over 40% of films in LFF programme are female-made, but only two of 21 gala films are directed by women Female film-makers are still being squeezed out of the industry as they progress beyond their debut films, the director of the London film festival has said, adding that “the dial does not seem to be moving”. Kristy Matheson’s comments came as LFF announced its full programme for this year’s event, which runs from 7 to 19 October. Of the 251 titles, 109 (43%) are made by female film-makers, but only two of the 21 gala films are directed by women. Continue reading...
MMA fight in Florida condemned after fighter’s antisemitic comments
Paul Miller, an openly racist fighter, derided Ben Azoulay, and a spectator was ejected for waving a swastika flag Democrats in Florida have condemned a professional mixed martial arts event in Orlando at which an openly racist fighter derided his beaten opponent as “a short little fucking Jew prick”, and a spectator was ejected for waving a giant swastika flag . Anna Eskamani, a Democratic state representative running to become the city’s mayor, said Saturday’s event, and the assertion by city officials that they were compelled to host it, were unacceptable. Continue reading...
Maltese tycoon found not guilty of involvement in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder
Yorgen Fenech cleared on both charges he faced over 2017 killing of journalist that prompted global outrage One of Malta’s richest men has been found not guilty of involvement in the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The verdict, which is expected to be appealed against by the prosecution, will come as a blow not only to the victim’s family, but to the politicians and campaigners who regard the case as a landmark action in the fight to protect press freedom in Europe. Continue reading...
Judge questions Lindsay Clancy jury after woman is accused of filming them
Jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial have resumed for a fifth day Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial resumed for a fifth day on Wednesday after the judge questioned jurors one by one following the arrest of a woman accused of filming them as they left the courthouse the previous day. A former labor and delivery nurse, Clancy doesn’t deny strangling her three young children at the family’s Massachusetts home in 2023, but she says postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argue that she knew what she was doing. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Kemi Badenoch and the economy: a plan stuck in the Tory comfort zone | Editorial
The Conservative leader’s choice of a new shadow chancellor shows a lack of insight into the reasons why the party was defeated at the last election To outlast a prime minister always counts as some kind of achievement for an opposition leader, although Kemi Badenoch cannot claim credit for Sir Keir Starmer’s downfall . Sir Keir’s wounds were mostly self-inflicted. To the extent that opposition pressure was involved, it was electoral threats from Reform UK and the Green party that stoked Labour party frustration to a regicidal pitch. The Tory leader’s role was largely as a spectator. Mrs Badenoch still hopes to use regime change to her advantage. She thinks the economy, and fiscal discipline in particular, will be her most fruitful line of attack. In their first confrontation at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, the Conservative leader called Mr Burnham a “spendthrift” and “people pleaser” who will dodge the tough decisions required to prove Britain’s creditworthiness on international markets. She expects him to yield to Labour MPs’ demands for budget increases, which will then have to be financed with tax rises. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Israeli settlements: Britain can no longer look away | Editorial
International law, European action and UK public opinion point the same way. Britain should stop helping to sustain Israeli settlements economically In the Commons this week, the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, appeared to have accepted the principle of a trade ban between the UK and Israeli settlements, which Britain says are illegal under international law. This is long overdue. The test now is whether his promised “ comprehensive reset ” deserves the name. Stopping settlement-produced goods at the border is not enough. Britain should prohibit its companies from sustaining settlement activity – by financing, constructing, insuring, advertising – in territory whose occupation it regards as unlawful. The ban must have teeth. The UK can no longer ignore the violence and pressure exerted on Palestinians in the West Bank by Israel’s government, military and settlers. There have been more than 1,400 settler attacks so far this year, according to the UN, against a record 1,800 registered in 2025. An election campaign has only made matters worse. Last month, Israel issued tenders for 1,234 homes in the 3,401 -unit E1 development east of Jerusalem. The country’s ministers gave the green light for the controversial settlement – long condemned for effectively bisecting the West Bank – expressly to “ erase ” the idea of a Palestinian state, the creation of which the UK officially supports. Continue reading...
Ben Jennings on the rise of datacentres in Britain – cartoon
Continue reading...
Burnham beware, the bond markets will demand proper answers in the budget | Nils Pratley
Fair to say the current sell-off is international, but the PM has said little yet to make investors rethink the UK’s status It’s too soon to say the bond markets have turned on Andy Burnham. Tuesday’s spike in gilt yields, taking the UK’s 30-year borrowing costs to their highest level since 1998 , was part of an international sell-off of government debt . The main contributors are well known. The Iran war, by increasing the cost of energy, has overturned the comforting start-of-the-year thesis of falling global inflation and interest rates. A plunging Japanese yen has kicked away another assumed source of financial stability. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, hasn’t calmed nerves with his solo, and so far futile, attempt to bring down US yields . Meanwhile, the early stage of the AI revolution is an exercise in issuing squillions of debt before long-term returns on capital can possibly be assessed meaningfully. Continue reading...
Leipzig airport attack fallout lays bare Germany’s polarisation on Russia
The government’s increasingly hostile stance towards the Kremlin has drawn criticism from the far right – and the far left Even before the German government laid the blame this week on Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport , the topic of German ties to Moscow was high on the political agenda. But the timing of the unsurprising yet explosive Leipzig announcement – days before a key regional vote – has exposed the extent to which German politics is polarised on the issue. Continue reading...
The $1 Trump coin: legal tender, depending on what you mean by legal
Various laws and 250 years of tradition prevent the likeness of living people from appearing on currency. Donald Trump and Scott Bessent don’t want you to worry about that This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday Two hallmarks of Donald Trump’s second-term: the president’s enthusiasm for putting his name and face on things, and his cavalier approach to established law. Today the president is once again combining both those interests, as the government releases a $1 coin bearing his image, an item of currency which scholars say should be illegal, but which is happening anyway. How many times have you heard that in the last 18 months? Continue reading...
Democratic party infighting engulfs center-right over House rules vote
While leaders focused on Hasan Piker, two of the party’s more conservative members salvaged a GOP measure that was poised to fail House Democratic leaders have spent the past few weeks waging a bitter campaign against their own left flank over a leftwing streamer. On Tuesday, it was the party’s center-right who blindsided them. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, announced late on Tuesday that he had asked the Democratic caucus’s committee on caucus rules to consider punishing the retiring Jared Golden of Maine and Blue Dog Coalition leader Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington after the pair sided with Republicans on a procedural vote that had appeared doomed. Continue reading...
Burnham’s first PMQs showed a leader who wants to please – but knows how to push back
Despite a long absence from parliament, Burnham showed he could hold his own and, despite some nerves, even enjoy himself The coming months will show whether Andy Burnham fits Kemi Badenoch’s charge of a leader too obsessed with being liked to make hard choices. One thing, however, does seem clear from his first outing at prime minister’s questions: he likes saying yes. The very first question came from a political opponent – Ann Davies of Plaid Cymru – but Burnham replied as if she was a valued constituent, saying he understood her worries about the prison early release scheme and hoped she could be reassured. Continue reading...