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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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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...
‘Tip of the iceberg’: nearly 500,000 New Yorkers lose health insurance due to Trump cuts
First of major coverage losses expected as a result of the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill signed into law one year ago Nearly 500,000 moderate-income New Yorkers will be dumped from their health insurance plans on 1 July – the first of major coverage losses expected as a result of HR 1, the Republican-led law signed almost exactly one year ago. The law, sometimes called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” slashed government health spending by $911bn nationally in favor of permanent tax breaks for higher-income families and border security. Continue reading...
Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is making some wonder: will we have real disclosure soon? | Seth Shostak
The short answer is that there’s nothing to disclose. But that doesn’t mean we won’t make contact with extraterrestrial life Even before Stephen Spielberg’s latest film, Disclosure Day, began unspooling at local multiplexes, the internet was debating whether we would ever experience a real-life disclosure day – when the US government admits that it’s aware of aliens here on Earth, a secret it has supposedly kept since the 1940s. That would be dramatic news. But don’t hold your breath. Continue reading...
US supreme court rejects appeal from lawyer punished over effort to remove abusive priest
Richard Trahant fined $400,000 over apparent violation of order in case of priest who admitted sexual misconduct The US supreme court has rejected an appeal from an attorney who was fined $400,000 after taking steps to get an abusive Roman Catholic priest removed as chaplain of a high school campus. In a notice on Monday, the supreme court’s justices indicated without explanation that they would not take up the case of Richard Trahant, whose clients include dozens of people victimized by a clergy abuse scandal that drove New Orleans’ Catholic archdiocese into federal bankruptcy court. Continue reading...
Two confirmed dead in mass celebrations by Mexico fans after World Cup victory
Third death reported by local media but unconfirmed More than a million people gathered in Mexico City At least two people died during massive celebrations in Mexico City as the national team advanced to the next round at the World Cup, according to the local government. A 19-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man died of asphyxiation, according to the city’s health ministry. Authorities have not confirmed the death of a third person, reported by local media. Continue reading...
A ‘buttery’ mouthfeel or ‘meadow grass’ notes? How Australian olive oils rank against other supermarket options
Consumer advocacy group Choice blind tested 30 olive oils – and found many of the highest ranked came from Australia Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Consumer advocacy group Choice has taste tested 30 supermarket extra-virgin olive oils, and found some Australian-made oils rank higher than those imported from Italy and Spain. “A lot of Australians are after local products, and there are a lot of Australian olive oil makers that have built quite a good reputation,” Pru Engel, Choice audience and engagement editor, said. Continue reading...
Henry Nowak murder: two officers under gross misconduct investigation
IOPC acting after complaint from family of student, whom officers initially handcuffed and treated as a suspect Two police officers in the case of Henry Nowak have been placed under investigation for gross misconduct by the police watchdog. Nowak, 18, died in December 2025 after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton. Digwa falsely told police he had been the victim of a racist attack, which led officers to handcuff Nowak and treat him as a suspect, despite him saying he had been stabbed and that he could not breathe. Continue reading...
UK house prices stall for second straight month as agents warn of summer slump
Average price of typical home little changed at £277,484 in June, says Nationwide, while housebuilder shares fall Business live – latest updates UK house price growth stalled for a second consecutive month in June as rising interest rates triggered by the war in Iran hurt homebuyer demand and agents warned of a summer slump. The average price of a typical UK home edged down to £277,484 last month from £278,024 a month earlier, after a 0.6% month-on-month fall in May , according to the lender Nationwide. Economists had forecast a small monthly rise of 0.1% in June. Continue reading...
Ireland set to take presidency of EU in Dublin opening ceremony – Europe live
Ireland’s tasks at helm of bloc include help navigate talks on fresh Russia sanctions, and Ukraine and Moldova accession Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin suggested Ukraine could join the EU even during the war with Russia. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland , Martin said t he process will be conducted on “a merit-based approach,” and insisted the EU “wants the war to end,” but the accession could still happen during the conflict. “Some [member states] who want to spend more, some who want to spend less, quite a significant number who want to protect the common agricultural policy, cohesion funding, and then new areas like competitiveness funding and research, additional money for research funding, which actually is the key to new products and new ideas of the future.” Continue reading...
Andy Burnham is about to have a crash course in hardcore geopolitics | Rafael Behr
The likely next prime minister would rather be in Warrington than Washington, but foreign policy will dominate his agenda more than he thinks If Andy Burnham is lucky, he will get some time to adjust to the pace of life as prime minister before dealing with his first international crisis. It won’t be long. Donald Trump is an engine of constant turmoil. Aftershocks from his recent military adventure in the Middle East will be felt for years. None of the declared war aims were achieved. The Iranian regime was not toppled. The terms agreed for a ceasefire promise Tehran more generous sanctions relief with fewer conditions than were imposed under the nuclear containment deal that Barack Obama signed in 2015. It is a worse arrangement than the one Trump discarded in his first term as “one of the worst deals ever”. Stocks of US munitions and credibility have been drained. Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
RSC casts Sharon D Clarke as black lesbian Othello in reimagining of play
Three-time Olivier winner to play general viewed through ‘urgent new lens’ of misogynoir in futuristic production The Royal Shakespeare Company has cast Sharon D Clarke as a black lesbian Othello in a futuristic reimagining of the play which is being billed as projecting the 400-year-old story through “an urgent new lens”. Clarke, who is a three-time Olivier winner and has starred in West End and Broadway productions, brought the project to the RSC with the twist that Othello would be depicted as a black lesbian general married to a younger Desdemona. Continue reading...
Starmer to take PMQs as he faces backlash over ‘poisoned chalice’ defence investment plan – UK politics live
Concerns that plan is not properly funded and will take cash from much-needed road projects Good morning. Yesterday Keir Starmer published the defence investment plan (Dip), which was probably the last substantial announcement of his premiership. Today he is facing what will probably be his second last PMQs (he is expected to be at the Nato summit next Wednesday, and he’ll have his swansong on 15 July), and the session is likely to be dominated by complaints about the Dip. Broadly, there are three distinct criticisms. What I’m complaining about today is that the East Midlands would appear to be the only region that has been told it is sacrificing its road investments programme in order to be able to contribute to the Dip. Continue reading...
‘Life saving’ drug for people with opioid dependency to be pulled from Australia by end of year
Exclusive: Fears that US companies may withdraw more medecines as global markets react to policy changes by the Trump administration A “life saving” drug heavily subsidised for Australians living with opioid dependency will be pulled from the market by the end of the year, causing alarm among doctors and pharmacists. US pharmaceutical company Indivior confirmed the marketing and sale of the long-acting injectable prescription opioid Sublocade would end from 31 December, with a company spokesperson describing it as a “commercial decision”. Continue reading...
Ministers ‘furious’ over cuts to road projects to fund defence plan
Robert Jenrick and MP for Lincoln among those whose constituencies could be hit by cuts to road infrastructure plans The MP for Lincoln and the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, and the Reform MP Robert Jenrick have voiced anger at the cancellation or delay of key transport infrastructure projects to fund the defence investment plan . Falconer and Jenrick were among MPs who have had cuts to road improvements in their constituencies, with savings contributing towards the increase in defence spending. Two roads in the East Midlands are among those where investment cuts have been made to fund a £15bn uplift in defence. Continue reading...
Call to suspend new EU border system in peak holiday period as planes leave half full
Airlines and airports say passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours for biometric checks Airlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period, warning that some flights are leaving half full and passengers are struggling in queues of up to five hours. In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, airlines and airports asked for an option to suspend checks under the system over fears the situation will get much worse during the busy summer season. Continue reading...
‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population
Fears of resurgence of HIV/Aids amid loss of access to PrEP drugs as at least 40 people arrested in ‘toxic’ climate A “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year. Up to 40 people have been arrested and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media. Continue reading...
‘Happy vowel’ is a key indicator of social class in Manchester accents, study finds
Final vowel in words such as happy, baby and chilly varies clearly by social class across the city Pronunciation of the “happy vowel” is one of the key indicators of social class in Mancunian accents, researchers have found. A sociolinguistic study, led by Lancaster University, found that the final vowel in words such as happy, baby, chilly and city – known to linguists as “the happy vowel” – varies clearly by social class across Manchester. Continue reading...
Friend of Thai teen allegedly murdered by Australian man went to his condo after reporting her missing
Security footage images show a friend went to Simon Peter Carman’s apartment in Pattaya, Thailand after reporting Thunchanok Donhomla missing The friend of the 17-year-old girl allegedly murdered in Thailand reported her missing to police and then visited the condo of the Australian man charged over her death. Security footage images obtained by the Guardian shows the friend at the apartment of Simon Peter Carman. The footage is time stamped 1.49pm on Friday 26 June, although it is not clear whether the time stamp was added manually. Continue reading...
Creatives sound alarm on copyright as Pocock calls $50bn datacentre proposal ‘ultimate dirty deal’
Proposal has been put to cabinet to allow AI companies to mine content, in exchange for investment and $350m fund to compensate artists, sources say Creatives are demanding fresh assurances from the Albanese government that it won’t water down copyright laws under a potential deal with tech giants to attract more than $50bn worth of datacentre investment in exchange for a $350m-a-year fund for artists. Guardian Australia has been told an industry proposal has been presented to cabinet that would grant AI companies special exemptions to mine creative content. Continue reading...
When the right promotes heat-stress denial, ask yourself this: whose children’s lives is it willing to risk? | George Monbiot
The class politics of extreme heat are very real and very dangerous – but that doesn’t stop the billionaire press from peddling its agenda Every time you think the idiocy has hit rock bottom, it discovers a new level. It turns out there’s an even deeper hole you can dig for yourself than climate-science denial: heat-stress denial. Across the billionaire press last week, columnists and leader writers minimised the health impacts of the heatwave, particularly in schools. Expect more of this next week, when temperatures are forecast to soar again . An editorial in the Telegraph (which represents the newspaper’s view) titled “Hot weather alarmism treats the public like children” maintained that “unlike in the seventies, when people were largely trusted to look after themselves, officialdom now feels the need to lecture the public about the risks of hot weather at every opportunity”. Extreme heat warnings are issued and weather maps are “painted in an alarming red”. Outrageous! Instead of issuing warnings, the government should just trust people to “take the appropriate precautions”. We should all “learn to live” with it. Quite right too: whatever happened to the bulldog spirit of ignorance and needless death? Cricket, warm beer, excess mortality: these are the markers of national character. Continue reading...
Wednesday briefing: After two powerful earthquakes, what is the reality on the ground in Venezuela?
In today’s newsletter: A country already in crisis since the removal of its leader earlier this year by the US, now has to find a way to rebuild with little state presence in evidence The shaking seemed to come from nowhere. In a moment captured by fishers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, two earthquakes struck seconds apart . Plumes of dust appear where buildings once stood in the recording as the camera rises and falls with the swell. The men rapidly head for the shore in search of their families. “I’m shaking,” says the cameraman. Since the quakes struck last Wednesday, the search for missing loved ones has not stopped for scores of Venezuelans. Officially, more than 1,700 people have died. But tens of thousands remain missing: desperate relatives are walking up and down streets lined by rubble and collapsed buildings with photos of those they cannot find, asking for help. World news | A child has been rescued from the rubble in Venezuela, six days since the country was hit by devastating twin earthquakes. UK politics | Andy Burnham will have to find an extra £4.7bn for defence in his first budget, after Keir Starmer announced a £298bn defence investment plan (Dip) without having fully identified how it will be funded. US politics | The US supreme court has 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. UK news | The European media group Axel Springer has completed its £575m takeover of the Telegraph, ending years of uncertainty over the future ownership of the 171-year-old titles. US news | Nine matches in the World Cup group stage were played amid potentially dangerous heat and humidity, a Guardian analysis shows. Continue reading...
‘Complicated and expensive’: Burnham is right about the risks of nationalisation | Nils Pratley
Track record of Welsh Water shows public ownership is not the answer to all the woes in the utilities sector Good news for Andy Burnham: one of the original 10 water privatisations from the Thatcher-era has returned to public ownership already. Thanks to a complicated turn-of-the-century corporate saga, Welsh Water, serving 3 million people, converted to not-for-profit status in 2001. It has no shareholders. Financial surpluses go “straight back into keeping bills down and looking after your water and beautiful environment”, as the website blurb puts it . How’s it going? After a quarter of a century without dividend-hungry shareholders to feed, has the model proved its superiority? Not exactly. Welsh Water usually has high scores on customer trust metrics but its performance on bills and spills tends to be middle of the pack. Continue reading...
‘Imagine this was your daughter’: how grieving mothers campaigned to close sentencing gap
David Lammy’s decision to increase minimum sentence for domestic murder victims follows years of tireless lobbying David Lammy had gone quiet. Sitting in his ministerial office in the Palace of Westminster, the justice secretary had just been presented with pictures of women killed by their partners in their own homes, by their grieving mothers. As she put the photographs in front of him, Carole Gould explained that her 17-year-old daughter, Ellie, was killed by fellow sixth-former Thomas Griffiths the day after she ended their relationship in 2019. Julie Devey, who was joining the call remotely, showed a photograph of her daughter, Poppy Devey Waterhouse , who was 24 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Joe Atkinson, on 14 December 2018. Continue reading...
Academy school leaders in England face pay cap to curb ‘banker-style’ salaries
Nearly 100 academy chief executives earn more than £200,000 a year, and at least one more than £500,000 The era of academy school leaders in England receiving “banker-style salaries” and hefty annual increases may soon be over, with the government to introduce limits on executive pay. Nearly 100 academy chief executives earn more than £200,000 a year, with pay in academy trusts equating to anything from less than £5 a pupil to more than £150. Only a quarter of the high-earners were women. Continue reading...