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Alarm bells over conflict of interest as filing shows Trump raked in $2bn in 2025 | First Thing
President made more than $1bn from crypto businesses last year while federal government oversaw regulation. Plus, giant seal causes havoc in Tasmania – but locals love him Good morning. Donald Trump has raked in more than $1bn from his crypto businesses since returning to the White House, according to financial disclosures, making him substantially richer and ringing alarm bells over a conflict of interest. According to a 927-page document released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, in all, Trump made more than $2.2bn last year, benefitting from a vast network of businesses and investments across the world including in China. Where else is Trump getting money from? The US president made millions last year from selling Trump-branded Bibles, sneakers and other small items in another unprecedented move for the presidency. In the Trump-branded watches category alone, the president earned $4.7m. Trump also racked up tens of millions from fees and licensing deals in a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas. Many of those countries were at the same time negotiating with the US over tariffs, military aid and other important matters. Continue reading...
Duke of York’s theatre to be renamed after Tom Stoppard
New name recognises the playwright’s huge impact on British theatre with producer Sonia Friedman saying he would be ‘tickled pink’ The Duke of York’s theatre in the West End is to become the Tom Stoppard theatre in honour of the playwright who died in November. The theatre is currently presenting Carrie Cracknell’s revival of Stoppard’s 1993 masterpiece Arcadia and the same play was produced there in 2009 . The playwright’s wife, Sabrina Stoppard, said: “Tom was in his element whenever he had a play on in the West End, so I am thrilled to bits that this theatre will be named after him. It means that his memory will live on, not just through his plays, but also through this building.” Continue reading...
Fears of Catholic schism as defiant sect ordains ultra-conservative bishops
Consecrations by Society of Saint Pius X bring automatic excommunication for bishops – and crisis for Pope Leo A rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics has defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, which they declared a “sacred duty” despite it causing their automatic excommunication. In a ritual-filled ceremony on Wednesday streamed live from the Swiss village of Ecône, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) went ahead with the consecrations of four bishops, one from Switzerland, one from France and two from the US. Continue reading...
Serena Williams in race against time to be fit for Wimbledon doubles with sister Venus
Former champion tweaked right knee in defeat against Joint The 44-year-old made return after nearly four years away Serena Williams’ appearance in the women’s doubles alongside her sister Venus later this week is in doubt because of a knee injury. The 23-times grand slam singles winner played her first singles match since the 2022 US Open on Tuesday, which ended in a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to the 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint on Centre Court, and is due to play with Venus at Wimbledon for the first time since they won their sixth doubles title a decade ago. Continue reading...
The USMNT’s quest for World Cup glory is currency in the attention economy
In Wednesday’s last-32 match, the US team have more than just a chance to win against Bosnia and Herzegovina. They’re playing to win over their country It took Mauricio Pochettino a little while to understand that he had accepted an innately vibes-based job. If club soccer boils down to managers exerting control and fitting their players into an intricate system, buttressed by cutting-edge tactics, ultra-modern analytics and first-in-class sports science, international soccer demands a different job entirely. And it tends to take long-time club coaches who are managing in the international game for the first time a bit to catch on to the difference. Continue reading...
New Orleans residents on warning to abandon sinking city: ‘Nobody wants to leave home’
After a recent study found New Orleans is at a ‘point of no return’ amid the climate crisis, some locals say they will ‘only leave if forced to’. But what would it take to stay? When a study in May concluded that New Orleans has hit a “point of no return” due to the climate crisis that will require people to eventually retreat from their storied yet ultimately doomed city, the local reaction was swift and fiery. The onward march of rising seas around a sinking city was unsettling, but the study is “more focused on generating publicity and clickbait headlines” than coming up with solutions, said Helena Moreno, New Orleans’ mayor. There is flooding in Miami, and wildfires and earthquakes near San Fransisco, Moreno pointed out, “yet no serious movement exists to declare those cities lost causes”. Continue reading...
‘The next 250 years belong to all of us’: 7 activists on rebuilding the US
Advocates describe this moment as both a crisis and an opening to reimagine the promises of freedom and democracy This Fourth of July marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence promised liberty and equality for all – even as it excluded most of the people living on the land it claimed to liberate. For many Americans, the semiquincentennial is less a celebration than a reckoning. The country arrives at this milestone amid sustained attacks on voting rights, civil rights and democratic institutions – challenges that organizers say are taking the country back generations. It’s a moment that activists and advocates describe as both a crisis and an opening to reimagine the promises of freedom and democracy. Continue reading...
Rightwing gen Z women are celebrating the anti-trans supreme court ruling | Kelsy Burke and Katie Gaddini
Gen Z conservative women may be fewer in numbers than their male counterparts, but they are no less consequential On the steps of the US supreme court on Tuesday, a group of women celebrated . They cheered and held up signs with phrases like “Girls’ Sports for Girls Only” and “Truth, Fairness, Biological Reality”. Penny Young Nance, the CEO of Concerned Women for America, told the gathering that after a decade of these conservative women’s activism: “The court agrees with us that a man cannot be a woman”. “The decision will affect the law across the country,” she said. “We will have a better opportunity to protect young women.” Continue reading...
Progressive primary victories have corporate Democrats panicking | Norman Solomon
The success of democratic socialists has led to an establishment backlash, fueling divisions over how to respond A recent chair of the Democratic National Committee apparently wants democratic socialists to get out of his party. “If you hate the Democratic Party, then please don’t run for our nomination,” Jaime Harrison tweeted on election day last week, shortly before results showed that three of those socialists had won Democratic primaries for Congress in deep-blue New York City. He didn’t identify his targets, but the implication was clear. Harrison’s call for self-expulsion was the bizarre opposite of a welcome mat: “Don’t use our resources. Don’t rely on our volunteers. Don’t use our infrastructure. Don’t ask Democrats to invest their time, money, and energy in your campaign.” The tweet turned reality on its head. Socialist candidates have been winning because they inspired multitudes of people to volunteer and provide what’s needed to win. Continue reading...
Trump to attend opening of Roosevelt library amid overturning conservation efforts
Theodore Roosevelt protected swathes of land, while Trump has lifted them from more than 86m acres Donald Trump will attend a ribbon cutting for the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on Wednesday, touting the legacy of a president his own administration is attempting to destroy, critics say. While in office from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt established five new national parks, protected swaths of land and passed legislation enabling himself and future presidents to proclaim historic landmarks and other objects of historic or scientific interest in federal ownership as national monuments. Continue reading...
Family of boy injured in Cambridgeshire crocodile enclosure thank zoo staff who rescued him
Three-year-old remains in hospital after undergoing multiple surgeries but is now in a stable condition The family of a three-year-old boy who was seriously injured in a crocodile attack at a zoo have thanked staff at the attraction in a new statement released through the police. Last month, officers were called to Johnsons of Old Hurst zoo in Huntingdonshire over “reports of an incident involving a three-year-old boy, during which he ended up in the crocodile enclosure”. Continue reading...
Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says
Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civilians The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its seizure of El Fasher last year, Amnesty International has alleged. Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday. Continue reading...
BBC staff fear strike action inevitable after anger at 1% pay rise offer
Unions reject proposed below-inflation increase which comes as corporation prepares to cut thousands of jobs BBC staff fear a strike is on the horizon at the broadcaster after anger over a below-inflation pay rise offer made amid plans to cut thousands of jobs. There is widespread consternation among staff at the offer of a 1% increase, seen as derisory given that inflation is running at almost three times that level. Continue reading...
Halifax to disappear from UK high street as Lloyds axes bank brand after 173 years
Group confirms it will stop opening new accounts under the name and move existing ones to Lloyds Lloyds Banking Group has announced it is axing the Halifax brand, meaning the 173-year-old former building society’s name will disappear from UK high streets. The group will stop opening new accounts under the Halifax brand, and kickstart a process of shifting existing accounts to Lloyds branding over the coming days. Continue reading...
Death by firing squad: archaic method on the rise in US as Idaho opens new execution chamber
Supporters of the method say it’s foolproof – but forensic experts say it can be ‘excruciating’ amid allegations it’s been intentionally botched The tangled path of US capital punishment takes a new turn on Wednesday as Idaho becomes the first state to adopt the firing squad as its primary form of execution, embracing the brutal killing technique even as concerns grow that it can inflict excruciating pain and suffering. The state’s department of corrections (IDOC) says it has met its deadline, set by the legislature , to have its death chamber at a maximum security prison south of Boise retrofitted and open for business by 1 July. It has spent more than $1m in the venture, including $24,000 on a rack of AR-style, .308-caliber, scoped rifles that will be wielded by volunteer marksmen. Continue reading...
Coventry Cathedral glass engraving damaged in set-up for music event
Figure in John Hutton’s west screen, considered a 20th-century masterpiece, cracked by ladder used in lighting rig Deep cracks have appeared in one of the huge angels etched into John Hutton’s west screen of glass panels at Coventry Cathedral after a major music event. It has prompted concern that the increase in cathedrals hosting outside events, a big source of revenue, risks damaging some of the UK’s most important religious architecture. Continue reading...
‘I wish he had done more to free enslaved people’: Thomas Jefferson’s descendant on his family’s complex legacy
Shannon LaNier, Jefferson’s sixth great-grandson, reflects on his lineage and the role of African Americans in the nation’s founding When the US turns 250 years old on Saturday, Shannon LaNier will be reckoning with a fundamental contradiction in its origin story – and his own. LaNier is the sixth great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson , the founding father who wrote the Declaration of Independence and became the third president. Continue reading...
Trump’s affordability crisis hits his supporters hardest as he calls housing bill of ‘minor importance’
A housing shortfall, record home costs and cuts to subsidies are intensifying the US affordability crunch Of the various dimensions of the affordability crisis weighing on US families, housing probably weighs heaviest. The typical home price has risen above five times the annual income of the typical family. The monthly cost of owning a home has hit record highs . The US faces a housing shortfall of millions of homes. But builders are not rushing to meet the shortfall. The supply of new homes declined over 14% in May, compared to May of 2025. Moody’s Analytics expects single-family and multifamily residential investment to contract every year between now and 2030. Continue reading...
‘It’s like being close to home’: World Cup vibes immaculate in richly diverse New York
Fans of all stripes pack the bars to sing, cheer and commiserate in city where more than 3m people were born outside US Almost 200,000 Ecuadorians and Ecuadorian Americans live in New York City, and last week quite a lot of them were in a Brooklyn restaurant called El Encebollado de Victor to watch their football team take on Germany – a traditional World Cup powerhouse. It made for quite a sight: a sea of yellow shirts under the restaurant’s blue roof, which had been adorned with red, blue and yellow balloons for the occasion. Among the most patriotically dressed was Luis Aguilar, 45, who was born in the US to parents who had emigrated from Ecuador. Continue reading...
US labor board more likely to dismiss worker and union charges under Trump, analysis finds
Report points to staffing shortages, procedural changes and lack of a board quorum as contributing factors Dismissals of unfair labor practice charges have surged at the National Labor Relations Board under Donald Trump , according to a new analysis . From January 2025 to 29 April 2026, the US top labor watchdog dismissed 34.7% of all unfair labor practice charges filed by labor unions, a 14.2% increase from 2024. The agency dismissed 67.4% of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers, 10.7% higher than 2024. Continue reading...
Up to 150 former WH Smith stores to close as high court approves restructure
Restructuring plan involves writing off debts to suppliers and cutting rent for many landlords Business live – latest updates Up to 150 former WH Smith high street stores are to close after the high court approved a swingeing restructure that could affect thousands of jobs. The retailer, which has 450 stores and employs about 5,000 staff, was bought by the private equity firm Modella Capital, which also owns Hobbycraft, last year and rebranded as TG Jones. Continue reading...
White House rejects conflict-of-interests concerns as Trump’s crypto earnings soar – US politics live
Spokesperson says president has ‘proudly made the US the crypto capital of the world’ Sign up for US breaking news alerts email Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. The White House said that Donald Trump has “proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world” after the president recorded around $1.2bn in income from his family’s cryptocurrency activities. The US supreme court upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship , affirming that nearly all people born on US soil are American citizens and rejecting a central pillar of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said this order violated the 14th amendment of the US constitution. More here . Meanwhile, the court upheld laws in two conservative states excluding transgender girls and women from competing in female sports in a far-reaching ruling likely to pave the way for similar bans throughout the US and handing Trump a key “culture war” victory. More here . The supreme court will consider whether bans on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms are constitutional . The justices said on Tuesday they will hear appeals challenging bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area in the next term. The high court’s announcement comes on the heels of two recent victories for second amendment attorneys and advocates. More here . Trump announced that Republicans will stage their first ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections , a move aimed at energizing voters as the party fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November. The two-day gathering will take place in Dallas on 9 and 10 September, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years. More here . Continue reading...
What is the United States of America now? | Rebecca Solnit
The United States of America is ... so many things, horrific and magnificent, good and evil, promising and cursed The United States of America is a truck that has driven into a ditch. The United States of America is a program that has been hacked. The United States of America is ... so many things, horrific and magnificent, good and evil, promising and cursed, as it approaches its quarter millennium mark. I say it as though the US was one thing, but it is a thousand things. It is the masked ICE agent shooting Renee Good while standing up for immigrants, but it is also Good herself and the immigrants, and the streets of Minneapolis and their Dakota and Ojibwe Indigenous past – and present and future. The US before 1865 was slaveowners, but it was also the enslaved and the abolitionists. Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. Her newest book is The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change Continue reading...
What’s next for LeBron James: a Curry alliance, return to Cleveland or a Wembanyama mentor?
The 41-year-old says he intends to continue his career after his departure from the Lakers. There are several intriguing options to consider It’s official : LeBron James will not finish his career as a Los Angeles Laker. The talking heads are in a gnashing froth. ESPN’s Shams Charania has become the first human being in recorded history to somehow get less than zero sleep over a 24-hour period. Steph Curry is widening his eyes. Bronny James is secretly relishing the chance to forge his own identity as he says “I’ll miss you, Dad.” James hasn’t been the best player in the league for more than half a decade, but at 41 he remains the most decorated and the one who commands the most coverage. So let’s indulge in a time-honored tradition one last time: wild speculation over where the King will play next season. Continue reading...