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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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‘I’m going to miss this place’: Aqueduct bids farewell after 132 years as New York City’s racetrack
The last thoroughbred racetrack in New York City went dark after its final races on Sunday, closing the book on 132 years of history and one of the city’s last great communal spaces For the better part of a century, the subway ride to Aqueduct Racetrack followed a familiar rhythm. The closer the train drew to Ozone Park, the more animated the conversations became. Men with folded racing forms debated trip notes, overlays and bombs. Regulars swapped tips while newcomers eavesdropped, hoping to catch a profitable whisper. By the time the doors opened at the Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue stop, thousands of New Yorkers had arrived at what many considered the city’s most democratic sporting venue. That ritual took place for the last time on Sunday. After 132 years, Aqueduct hosted its final day of thoroughbred racing before closing for good, marking the end of the last racetrack within New York City limits and a fixture of city life that had endured since the Gilded Age. Pictured above: A towering 60ft-by-80ft mural depicting Secretariat, painted by renowned Los Angeles street artist David Flores, has welcomed visitors to Aqueduct for years. Pictured below: Scenes from around Aqueduct on Sunday’s closing day. All photographs by Lauren Caulk. Continue reading...
Thai police investigate if Australian man charged over 17-year-old girl’s murder linked to other unsolved cases
Police say there are similarities but no evidence of links between Thunchanok Donhomla’s alleged murder and two other deaths in past two years in same region Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Thai police are investigating whether an Australian man charged with murdering a 17-year-old girl could be linked to two unsolved cases in the region. Police colonel Anek Srathongyoo, a superintendent of Pattaya City police station, told the Guardian on Tuesday that although there was no evidence linking Simon Peter Carman to the cases in neighbouring regions, they were investigating the possibility given similarities between the cases. Continue reading...
NSW’s deadly one-in-100-years floods could have been slashed by two metres using dams, CSIRO finds
Governments have not committed to measures modelled in the report on Lismore’s 2022 floods, which led to the deaths of 13 people Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Building 10 new dams in New South Wales’s northern rivers could have reduced flood levels by up to two metres during devastating floods in 2022, but not enough to prevent a key levee overspilling, a report has found. The CSIRO report was released on Tuesday, four years after it was commissioned by the Morrison government following NSW’s one-in-100-years floods. Continue reading...
Europe and US on collision course over next high representative for Bosnia
Diplomats from around world meet in Sarajevo in second attempt to agree on top envoy, as US pushes for its choice Diplomats from around the world are due to meet in Sarajevo on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve a deep rift between the US and Europe over a top envoy appointment that could have a powerful influence on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Disagreement has erupted over who should become the next high representative for the international community, a post with significant powers, in an overt test of political wills, with the Trump administration assertively pushing a business-driven agenda, potentially at the expense of Bosnia’s delicate postwar political balance. Continue reading...
Reader Q&A: ask Ajit Niranjan anything about Europe’s hellish week of heat
Our European environment correspondent has been reporting on the shocking heatwave that continues to scorch its way across Europe, covering everything from the lack of preparation to ways to deal with the heat Post your questions now – Ajit will be here at 1pm BST (2pm CEST) to answer them Many European countries, including Germany, France, Czechia, Poland and Hungary have experienced their hottest days ever . The UK and others have suffered their hottest ever day in June. Over the past week Ajit, alongside the rest of our environment team and network of reporters, has been following this extreme heat wave as it headed east across the continent. Today, Budapest is expected to hit 40C and other parts of eastern Europe have issued red warnings for extreme heat. We have looked at how the heatwave has been used as a political football ; the best ways to stay safe in the heat and how these kind of temperatures disproportionately impact women and low-income families . Continue reading...
Defence investment plan criticised as ‘too little, too late’ ahead of launch – UK politics live
Defence investment plan, which was originally due in the autumn, criticised by Tories and Lib Dems Good morning. After Keir Starmer agreed to stand down next month to let Andy Burnham replace him, he said that he would not make major policy announcements in his final days in office. But there was one exemption; Starmer was committed to publishing the defence investment plan (Dip) before the Nato summit in Turkey next week, and he took the view that, since it was more or less ready, this was an existing policy commitment, not a new one. It is certainly a policy that has already consumed vast amounts of goverment time. The government published its strategic defence review (SDR) more than a year ago. The Dip, the plan setting out how much money ministers would commit to defence spending to meet the threats identified in the SDR, was originally due in the autumn. It is finally coming today – but only after triggering the resignation of John Healey as defence secretary earlier this month because he wanted defence spending to rise to 3% of GDP by 2030 – and was not happy about the Dip only lifting it to 2.68% by the end of the decade. The new defence secretary, Dan Jarvis, has squeezed a bit more out of the Treasury, and he will present the Dip in a statement to MPs later. This is too little, too late. Too little because it is barely more money than John Healey and Al Carns resigned over when they said Britain would be “less safe”. And too late because the plan is now almost a year overdue and only being rushed through because Keir Starmer is desperate for a legacy. This late and underfunded plan is unforgivable. It is a political choice that makes us all less safe, puts jobs at risk and threatens businesses across the country in supply chains. The government have dangerously short-changed our armed forces when they need urgent investment after years of Conservative negligence. Defence chiefs have been forced to make hard choices, when they should be given what they need. Continue reading...
EY sacks graduate employee after he allegedly accessed Australian PM’s bank account
Two men – including one who worked for EY – appear in court after being charged over accessing restricted data An employee at one of the big four accounting firms has been sacked after he and another man allegedly accessed prime minister Anthony Albanese’s personal banking account. The men, aged 21 and 25, faced court on Tuesday over the breach which Australian federal police alleged occurred when the EY graduate was on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank. Continue reading...
Bereaved mother says England maternity commissioner role would be ‘fundamentally dangerous’
Emily Barley, founder of Maternity Safety Alliance, says recommendation in Amos report will not solve wider cultural problems The appointment of a national maternity commissioner would be “fundamentally dangerous”, a bereaved mother who founded a maternity safety campaign group has warned. Emily Barley, whose daughter Beatrice died because of failings at Barnsley hospital in 2022, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the recommendation for a maternity commissioner in England in the Amos review was “not going to do what we need to move maternity safety forwards”. Maternity triage services – the childbirth equivalent of A&E – need an urgent overhaul, including more staff on duty, so that women’s concerns are acted on more quickly. Families should get the right to seek a fresh, independent investigation when things go wrong if they are not happy with the hospital’s own inquiry. The NHS’s “brutal” and “cruel” system of agreeing compensation with harmed and bereaved families should be replaced by a new process in which hospitals admit errors immediately. The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is “embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system”. Continue reading...
Monaco parcel bomb blast severely wounds Ukrainian oligarch
Source says Vadym Yermolaiev was one of two adults left with life-threatening injuries after apartment blast on Monday A parcel bomb blast wounded a Ukrainian oligarch and two others in Monaco on Monday in an unprecedented act that has rocked the super-safe principality. A couple and a teenager were wounded in the explosion at about 9pm on Monday in a residential building on a street along the border with France. Continue reading...
How I survived the record Paris heatwave while seven months pregnant
It feels as if we are being abandoned to our fate by those in power, with further extreme heat expected next week In the summer of 2019, I had a “fun” idea for a piece. Paris was due to experience its hottest day in history, and I proposed travelling around the city trying out its various cooling-off strategies to see if they would help. Reader, it was not fun and they did not help . Last week, Paris experienced its worst period of catastrophic heat on record, worse than that day in 2019, and worse than in 2003, when a sustained heatwave killed nearly 15,000 people. I now live in a neighbourhood in Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest département in mainland France and one of the most exposed to extreme heat, and, to add to the complications, am seven months pregnant. So how did my week go this time? Continue reading...
Taking time out to remember a remarkable life lived at 100mph
Bill Nuttall is the goalkeeper who cleaned out Pelé, coached Gerd Müller and built a US national team from scratch At the foot of Signal Mountain on a bend in the Tennessee river, over the little level crossing like a postcard of America, past the sheriff at the gate and through an avenue of pines, the perfect pitch awaits Lamine Yamal, Rodri and the rest. So does a man. He’s 6ft 3in, 78 years old, his name is Bill Nuttall, and he’s here every day. “I’ve got nothing else to do,” he says, laughing. He’s done it all: he cleaned out Pelé and got cleaned out by Gordon Banks, coached Gerd Müller and built a US national team from scratch, the hosts making history in 1994. He also brought Spain here, an even better host now than he was back then. Continue reading...
Nearly 25% of UK pubs and restaurants lose money, research shows
Hospitality trade bodies’ data published as celebrity chefs and restaurateurs launch campaign for VAT cut Nearly a quarter of UK pubs, bars and restaurants are losing money, according to new survey data that came as a group of celebrity chefs and business owners stepped up their campaign for a sector-specific VAT cut . Spearheaded by chef Tom Kerridge, leading figures in the hospitality sector are calling for VAT on the industry to be cut from 20% to 10%. Continue reading...
Every World Cup needs a cult hero: 2026 has given us touchline dreamboat Sebastián Beccacece
The Ecuador manager is a beautifully manicured buzz of energy with Bolivarian liberation in his heart. The tournament is all the better for him An underrated pleasure for spectators at every World Cup is observing the managers. If club football, an increasingly regimented domain of set pieces and systems, is all about structure, international soccer is much more a matter of style – and at this tournament, the theatrics of the sport’s touchline strutters have been rich with emotion and figurative power. Didier Deschamps patrols his technical area with the watchful pride of an outer-arrondissement charcutier . Luis de la Fuente is a veteran wealth manager at Banco Santander. Japan’s Hajime Moriyasu is about to go postal at his dreary office job in a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film. Socceroos coach Tony Popovic looks like he’s on his way to MC a wedding at Sydney’s King Tomislav Croatian Club . And Carlo Ancelotti is … well, he’s just Carlo Ancelotti, a man with Champions League-winning eyebrows whose fierce allegiance to his three-piece suit, even through the worst of a North American summer, suggests he’s somehow in command of his own climate. Continue reading...
Queensland government admits vulnerable children slept on floor of public service offices
LNP denies claims that recent changes to child safety practices have led to an increase in the use of office space Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Queensland government has rejected claims its policies have further strained an under-pressure child protection system, after revelations that vulnerable children were made to sleep on the floor of public service offices. The premier, David Crisafulli, confirmed on Monday that the approach had been used under his LNP government, but his government said it would typically be done only in the early morning, when other options weren’t available. Continue reading...
Cost to rewire Great Britain’s electricity network could reach £90bn in 2030s
Energy system operator says sum needed to deliver clean power targets while meeting rising demand is up by 50% The cost of rewiring Great Britain’s electricity networks through the 2030s is now 50% higher than before the Labour government came to power, and could reach almost £90bn in the next decade, according to the energy system operator. Building new high-voltage transmission lines and infrastructure to connect low-carbon energy to the grid in the 2030s was initially forecast by the energy system operator to cost £58bn. Continue reading...
Unite boss to face leadership challenge amid concerns over rise of Reform
Simon Dubbins to announce he has secured required number of nominations to challenge Sharon Graham Sharon Graham, the leader of the UK’s second biggest union, Unite, is to face a challenge as general secretary over claims the union is not doing enough to challenge the rise of Reform UK. Simon Dubbins, who started out as a print worker and has been an international director with the union since 2008, will announce on Tuesday that he has secured the required number of nominations to mount a challenge. Continue reading...
Millions of Britons urged to submit meter readings before energy price cap rises on Wednesday
Estimated 5.3m households on standard tariffs without smart meters risk being overcharged for some of June usage Millions of Britons could pay higher energy bills than they need to if they do not submit a meter reading before the price cap rises on Wednesday. The estimated 5.3 million households on standard tariffs who do not have a smart meter have been urged to take action before the new unit rates for gas and electricity take effect. Continue reading...
Tuesday briefing: Inside Shabana Mahmood’s new UK asylum reforms
In today’s newsletter: As the home secretary details reforms to the asylum system, a look at the challenges Labour faces – and what better story could be told about immigration Good morning. Last night home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, set out further planned reforms to the asylum system. A new means-tested scheme, which will see asylum seekers ordered to pay about £10,000 each for their state-funded living costs or be denied settled status in the UK, has been condemned by refugee charities for placing a tax on refugees fleeing war, torture and famine. Over the weekend, briefings suggested Mahmood also plans to speed up the opening of safe and legal routes to claim asylum, like employer sponsorship, as she bids to quell backbench critics, including former deputy leader Angela Rayner – a belated acknowledgment that the absence of such routes has forced many to make the perilous Channel crossing in those small boats that have become a totem for public and political anxieties around immigration. UK politics | Andy Burnham has set out his blueprint to transform the UK with a promise to improve living standards and restore faith in politics through the “biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”. Finance | Crypto firms operating in the UK will be forced to prove they can weather market shocks and hold capital against risky assets as part of sweeping new rules announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Germany | Four women and two men have been killed in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany, police said. Two people including the suspected shooter were arrested. Heatwave | The heatwave wreaking chaos across Europe is a “dramatic warning” to reject climate naysayers, a European Commission vice-president says. World news | A strong aftershock has rattled northern Venezuela , sending terrified residents racing on to the streets five days after the twin earthquakes that killed 1,719 people, left tens of thousands missing and triggered a growing humanitarian emergency. Continue reading...
Brompton sells stakes to Decathlon and Chinese Labubu backer
British bike maker says cycling market is recovering from sales slump and investments will add new expertise The French sports gear retailer Decathlon and a Chinese investment group that was an early backer of Labubu soft toys have bought stakes in the British folding bike maker Brompton, as its boss said the cycling market was recovering from a slump in sales. Decathlon has acquired a 10% stake in the manufacturer while BA Capital has bought 5% in a deal understood to collectively be worth about £18m. Continue reading...
Want to know what Andy Burnham would do in government? Take a look at his past | Frances Ryan
His plan for the country is still vague, but there are clues to what he thinks, on topics from inheritance tax to welfare and social care One week on from Keir Starmer’s resignation, Britain finds itself in a state of both certainty and ambiguity. It is almost guaranteed that Andy Burnham will be prime minister by the end of the summer, bar sudden scandal or meteorite. And yet, whether Burnham gets his expected coronation or not, the infancy of his return to Westminster coupled with the speed of Starmer’s exit timetable has created a remarkable situation: a figure who was not even an MP until a fortnight ago could soon enter Downing Street without anyone knowing what policies he will implement, other than the obligatory buzzword of “ change ”. We are watching a political project being conceived in real time, where the nation’s major unions are fighting about who Burnham’s chancellor – and therefore what his economic programme – should be before he has actually been appointed prime minister. Continue reading...
‘Commanding heights of the economy’: the postwar blueprint that inspires Burnham
In the second of a series on nationalisation, we look at the lessons from Clement Attlee’s administration Will Andy Burnham ‘go big’ in expanding the role of the state? A prime minister with ambitious plans for state ownership. Private companies that put profits before investment. A country struggling with onerous debts. The UK in 2026 with a new prime minister weighing up how and what price public utilities can be nationalised? No, this was Clement Attlee’s government in 1945, committed to taking over the commanding heights of the economy at a time when the country was on its uppers. Continue reading...
School smartphone bans seen as ‘punitive’ by young people, study says
Outright bans may have unintended negative consequences for young people, University College London report warns School smartphone bans are “overly simplistic” and are not supported by young people who regard them as “punitive” rather than helpful, according to research by University College London. The UCL report was published on Tuesday, the day after a statutory ban on smartphones in schools in England came into force, making individual schools and trusts legally responsible for being phone-free throughout the day. Continue reading...
Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in US prison for fraud
Guo Wengui, who gained fans for criticising China’s Communist party, was found guilty in 2024 on nine charges including money laundering A US federal court has sentenced exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui to 30 years in prison, after he was convicted of defrauding thousands of people out of more than $1bn. In July 2024 , a jury unanimously found Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, guilty on nine of 12 charges, including securities offences, wire fraud and money laundering. The FBI arrested Guo, who is in his fifties, in March 2023 at his luxury Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park. Continue reading...
Truck drivers ‘miraculously’ emerge nearly unscathed from explosions and fire after Hume Highway truck crash
Six trucks – including one carrying eight tonnes of butane cans – destroyed at NSW rest stop near Breadalbane, police say Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Police say it is “nothing short of a miracle” that six truck drivers emerged relatively unscathed after an explosive crash involving semi-trailers carrying tonnes of flammable materials on a major New South Wales highway. Two trucks appear to have collided when entering a roadside rest stop, police said, with one crashing into four other rigs just after 5am Tuesday on the Hume Highway near Breadalbane in the state’s southern tablelands. Continue reading...