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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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‘Their whole village has disappeared’: frantic hunt for survivors in Kathmandu hospital
Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Posters of the missing line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peaking out from behind a door. These are faces of Nepal’s missing, just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed through the Himalayas and wiped away entire villages. By Saturday morning, the toll of the missing had risen to almost 3,000, in both Nepal and Tibet. Continue reading...
Royal Navy spent three days tracking Russian vessels in UK waters
Three vessels and a helicopter deployed to monitor four ships travelling through the North Sea to the Channel The Royal Navy spent three days tracking Russian vessels as they passed through UK waters, it has emerged. The “intense” 72-hour operation took place last week, with radars used to monitor four ships that made their way from the North Sea through to the Channel. Continue reading...
Ex-White House teleprompter operator fined $172,000 for Trump speech bets
Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Gabriel Perez wagered on Kalshi about words president used in speeches A White House teleprompter operator who left his post amid accusations that he used inside knowledge to make bets on Donald Trump ’s speeches on an online prediction market has been fined $172,000, according to federal regulators. Gabriel Perez exploited “material, nonpublic information” that he gathered through his work for the president in order to place wagers on the Kalshi platform “for his personal benefit”, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintained in a news release on Friday. Continue reading...
Cells for arrested offenders may run out without early prison release, says Labour
Bridget Phillipson says government would not have to consider releasing prisoners early if Tories had created more capacity Cells to hold newly arrested people could run out without the early prison release scheme, a government minister has said. Bridget Phillipson defended the plan to address the prison capacity crisis in England and Wales by releasing thousands of prisoners early, which has been criticised by domestic abuse charities , bereaved families and probation officers among others. Continue reading...
Is Donald Trump’s bid to brand Democrats as ‘radical’ communists working?
In deep red South Carolina, the president helped stoke apprehension of a deeper red surge ahead of November’s US midterm elections After casting his vote in South Carolina, a man who introduced himself as Chestnut was unwilling to give his full name. “You don’t have a need to know,” the air force veteran declared. He was, however, happy to share his views. “I’m a true American. I believe in the USA,” said the man, outside Christ the Servant Lutheran church in Conway. “And I don’t believe in communism or socialism.” Continue reading...
Fourth time lucky as Chris Cantrill’s spoof whodunnit wins Edinburgh comedy award 2026
Nominated in three previous years, the rambunctious standup – one half of The Delightful Sausage – wins the prize for his show Rewilding while Marty Gleeson is named best newcomer The annual Edinburgh comedy award has been won by the standup Chris Cantrill, two years after his comedy partner Amy Gledhill – in the raucous northern double act The Delightful Sausage – won the same prize. Cantrill, 42 and from Bradford, received the so-called “Oscar of live comedy” for a show, Rewilding , about his new life in rural Northumberland, where an act of vandalism shocks the local community – and a spoof whodunnit ensues. It builds on the foundations laid in 2024 by Easily Swayed , which documented his move to the countryside and secured what was then Cantrill’s third nomination (but first as a solo act) for the award. Continue reading...
Sarah Ferguson to return to UK after relocating amid Epstein revelations
Former Duchess of York moved to Swiss chalet during fallout over her friendship with convicted child sex offender Sarah Ferguson is set to return to the UK after relocating to a Swiss chalet amid the fallout over her and ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports. The scandal over the pair’s relationship with Epstein saw them both lose their royal titles earlier last year. According to the Sun, the former Duchess of York, 66, is renting a six-bedroom gated property in the home counties. Continue reading...
Russian strike on warehouse near Kyiv kills at least 37
Attack on business apparently storing ‘explosive objects’ sparks huge fire, damaging residential buildings At least 37 people have been killed after a Russian drone struck a warehouse near Kyiv’s western suburbs which appears to have been storing “explosive objects”. The attack damaged at least 50 residential buildings, including a care home for elderly and disabled people, and sparked a huge fire and explosions in the Bucha district of the Ukrainian capital. The regional governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said a further 42 people, including four children, had been injured after the Russian drone strike. Continue reading...
Trump’s DHS is using an obscure law to secretly snoop on journalists, non-profits and unions: ‘It’s outrageous’
Even after judges rejected the same ploy, the Trump administration is going directly to social media and telecommunications companies The Trump administration has been deploying an obscure legal maneuver to try to obtain private information on journalists, non-profits and unions, raising alarm over a power the government has asserted without judicial oversight. In one instance, the government obtained six months of telephone records for Georgia Fort , a Minneapolis journalist. Fort was not notified of the request for her information, nor was she given a chance to contest the government’s effort to obtain them, her lawyers said in court papers . Continue reading...
US officials urge swimmers to be cautious amid surge in drowning deaths
Recent deadly water-related incidents amid heatwave leads National Park Service to issue water-safety reminders As a heatwave continues to bake the western and central US, officials are urging swimmers to be cautious when seeking respite from the summer heat, especially amid a score of recent deadly water-related incidents. Each year, from April to September, drowning deaths rise nationwide, according to 2018-24 data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading...
‘Inept, incompetent, craven’: Scott Bessent struggles to clean up the president’s mess
There’s little optimism about treasury secretary’s ability to handle Trump’s tariffs, Iran sanctions and colossal US debt History remembers Gen Dwight Eisenhower , the supreme commander of the allied forces in Europe during the second world war, for his role in the D-day invasion of Normandy. Whether Scott Bessent will achieve similar posterity as the face of the “economic D-day” in Iran remains to be seen. The US treasury secretary, already trying to manage a $40tn national debt pile, this week took charge of Donald Trump ’s effort to reverse-engineer his war of choice. Whereas the US would typically take on an adversary with diplomacy, sanctions and military force, in that order, the US president started with a six-month bombing campaign and now hopes that economic isolation can finish the job. Continue reading...
Laurie Anderson’s next manuscript to be locked away for 88 years in Future Library
Grammy award-winning American artist selected as 13th person to submit written work to Oslo-based project The next manuscript by the American artist Laurie Anderson will remain unseen for 88 years, as she becomes the 13th figure to contribute to the Future Library project. Anderson joins Margaret Atwood, Han Kang, Ocean Vuong and other prominent authors who have written secret manuscripts, which have been locked away until 2114. Continue reading...
The rebranding of ‘Lake America’ is Trump’s desperate attempt to distract us | Arwa Mahdawi
Ignore Iran, the Epstein files, and your wallet – not to mention Trump’s plummeting approval ratings Don’t mention the war! Or the economy, for that matter. Or the Epstein files. Or Natalie Harp. Or “affordability”, which, as Donald Trump recently said at a rally, is a word that was “never used” by the media before he took office. Best not to talk about anything that affects ordinary people or embarrasses the president, really. Instead, let’s all rejoice in Trump’s latest triumph: renaming Lake Ontario, which is shared by Canada and the US, as Lake America . On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to America-fy the lake’s name on US maps and documents, which is an excellent use of time and resources. I suppose we can at least be thankful that the president, who is trying to slap his own name on everything from airports to the Kennedy Center , didn’t decree that the body of water be called Lake Trump. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Democrats ignored the uncommitted movement for Gaza in 2024. Now, it’s winning elections
By linking progressive politics with nominally Arab American issues, organizers are building winning coalitions Abbas Alawieh initially thought the uncommitted movement of 2024 had failed. The insurgent group, which he helped co-found, had gotten more than 700,000 Democrats to vote “uncommitted” on their 2024 presidential primary ballots to pressure the US government to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. But when the group pushed for the Democratic party to add an embargo on arms to Israel in its platform, it didn’t happen. And when they asked to have a Palestinian American speaker address the Democratic national convention, it was also a no-go. Continue reading...
‘I wanted to find the slowest fashion imaginable’: the woman growing her own dress
Looking for an alternative to fast fashion, Eve Ogden Schaub decided to create a garment from homegrown flax From crop tops to shorts and brightly patterned dresses, many of today’s clothes are the result of fast fashion. But one woman is taking a radical approach to challenging this trend by growing her own dress. Eve Ogden Schaub is in the midst of a project to create a linen garment made from flax she is growing at home, documenting the process in videos shared on her Instagram account . Continue reading...
‘If it’s made in the US, I don’t buy it’: Canadians on boycotting Trump’s America
Avoiding US goods and services – from tech to whisky to air travel – has forced many to find a new way of living For William McDonald, 38, a diesel mechanic from Thunder Bay, Ontario, “Canadian is always the first choice,” even if it means his weekly bills are higher. “As soon as Trump started putting those tariffs on in February [last year], I started boycotting US goods,” he said. “Avoiding American products has driven my costs up, and I’m still happy to do it. Continue reading...
Nasa space telescope set to launch after surviving Trump budget cuts
Searching for exoplanets and clues on planet formation, the Roman telescope will lift off Sunday morning in Florida A $4.3bn space telescope that Donald Trump tried to kill is set to lift off from Florida early on Sunday as Nasa embarks on the next stage of its quest to unlock the secrets of the universe. The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope survived two rounds of proposed White House budget cuts, and will embark on a million-mile journey into deep space from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center at 7.26am ET, barring late technical issues or intervention from Florida’s notoriously capricious summer weather. Continue reading...
They laid down arms. Now ex-guerrillas in Colombia fear fate under new hardline president
‘Total peace’ plan of previous government led only 99 of Colombia’s 30,000 armed combatants to disarm, but new president Abelardo De la Espriella opposes peace agreements In mid-June, 99 guerrilla fighters were flown by helicopter to a small settlement in a rural area of southern Colombia where they lined up and, one by one, handed their weapons to government officials: rifles, pistols, machine guns and grenade launchers. They also stripped off their heavy tactical vests, field packs and camouflage uniforms, which were each piled into a bonfire to mark the beginning of a new life away from an armed conflict that has claimed nearly half a million lives in the last six decades. Continue reading...
‘Utterly baffled’: the 17-year-old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
In a 1931 exhibition, Jackie Mitchell silenced the greats back-to-back. It sparked still-ongoing debates over legitimacy and opportunities for women in baseball The Sultan of Swat sounded exasperated. “I don’t know what things are coming to,” Babe Ruth sighed during spring training in 1931. “I don’t know what’s going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball,” he elaborated to reporters. “Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball everyday.” Continue reading...
Keep off the grass: British tennis players complain of marijuana smell at US Open
Aroma wafts over practice courts from nearby park Katie Boulter: ‘I’ve experienced it. I’m not a huge fan’ Britain’s US Open hopefuls thought they had put the grass behind them when Wimbledon finished, but the smell of it is all around Flushing Meadows and they are not happy about it. Marijuana is legal for adults in New York and while smoking is not allowed on site, the aroma of weed wafts over some outside courts from the nearby Corona Park. Continue reading...
Tax promises, defence targets and Iran: Andy Burnham’s budget headaches
As economic circumstances worsen, the PM’s commitments have left him and the chancellor in a tight spot When Andy Burnham made his first speech after returning as an MP, he promised that as prime minister he would oversee “the most significant change moment in our politics for 40 years”. His style, direction and communication has been a big shift from Keir Starmer’s approach, but as he heads into the autumn, the new prime minister faces some very similar problems. With an early budget in late October , and worsening economic circumstances, Burnham has made promises and commitments that put him in a tight spot. Here are some of the constraints over the coming months that Burnham and the chancellor, John Healey, must contend with in their autumn budget. Continue reading...
Exeter University approves deal with Saudi Arabia to train military officers and officials
In move that could generate millions, Exeter academics to deliver MA at National Defense University in Riyadh The University of Exeter has approved plans for a “formal partnership” with Saudi Arabia to train senior military officers and government officials, despite long-held concerns about the Saudi government’s human rights record, the Guardian has learned. In a deal that could generate millions of pounds for the Russell Group university, Exeter academics will deliver an MA in applied security and strategy (also known as an MStrat) to a cohort at the National Defense University (NDU) in Riyadh. Continue reading...
‘In walked this big bundle of energy’: the day Dolly Parton came to Rotherham
Country star came to South Yorkshire town in 2007 for UK launch of the Imagination Library, her book donation scheme Shane Jarman was up a ladder decorating a Christmas tree at the school where he was deputy headteacher when he got a call asking him to come to Rotherham hospital ASAP. It was December 2007 and Jarman’s wife, Claire, had given birth the previous day to their first child, a girl called Emma, so of course he rushed to the phone. All was well, he was told, but that “everything would become clear” when he got to the hospital. Once there, his wife told him – somewhat unexpectedly – that they were going to meet Dolly Parton. “And literally within what felt like five minutes,” he recalled, “there were great camera flashes , lots of noise, lots of clicking and in walked this real big bundle of energy.” Continue reading...
Nepal-Tibet floods: death toll rises to 626 and number missing climbs to nearly 3,000 – latest updates
Rescue workers and military personnel have been working around the clock since Wednesday’s disaster ‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal Chinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the dead The risk of a lake formed after the glacier collapse bursting near the China-Nepal border where the devastating flood occurred earlier this week has decreased, Chinese authorities said today, as its size appears to have shrunk. Satellite images from Thursday this morning suggest water in the lake – straddling the China-Nepal border at the confluence of two rivers – has been slowly flowing through, decreasing the reservoir gradually, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the Water Resources Ministry. Continue reading...