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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
4583 stories archived
Customers of UK-owned surrogacy firm in Mexico allegedly face huge bills after insurance denied
UK government reviewing allegations about My Surrogacy Journey after complaints about medical costs The UK government has said it is reviewing allegations about a British-owned surrogacy service after surrogates in Mexico who faced health complications including a hysterectomy had their insurance claims rejected. The Department of Health and Social Care is considering whether the UK-based provider My Surrogacy Journey should remain listed on gov.uk as one of four domestic surrogacy agencies available to intended parents, after its Mexican sister company received complaints. Continue reading...
Reform UK beset by internal row over response to Dover and Portsmouth protests
Nigel Farage said demonstrators in balaclavas were ‘horrible’, but others in the party defend them as ‘brave, passionate patriots’ Nigel Farage’s condemnation of the masked men whose blockade of Dover stole headlines on the final day of his party’s annual conference was swift, describing their actions as “horrible”. Yet less than a week on from the public debut of the black-clad members of Patriot Platform , Reform is gripped with internal friction over the activists. There has been unease among some members and councillors about Farage’s criticism and some outright praise for the group as “patriots”. Continue reading...
49ers rout Rams behind Purdy’s three TDs as NFL draws 100,000 to Melbourne
Purdy throws three TDs in dominant 27-7 victory Crowd of 100,021 packs Melbourne Cricket Ground Stafford held to 155 yards as Rams offense sputters Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson and Deebo Samuel caught touchdown passes from Brock Purdy, and the San Francisco 49ers routed the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 Friday in the first NFL regular-season game in Australia. Purdy passed for 205 yards against the Rams’ ineffective defense at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,021 fans, the seventh-largest regular season crowd in NFL history. Continue reading...
JD Vance pitches himself as Trump’s political heir on day two of Republican midterm convention
Vice-president dog-whistled, exaggerated claims of success and echoed Trump talking points to excited audience JD Vance made a clear pitch that he should be the heir to Donald Trump on Thursday night, closing out the Republicans ’ midterm convention with a blistering speech that featured exaggerated claims of success, criticism of Democrats as “lunatics” and an aggressive dismissal of a protester waving a Mexican flag. Speaking in Dallas, the vice-president showed he could channel the basest instincts of his boss, filling his remarks with dog whistles and echoing Trump’s false claims that Democrats “cheered” the 7 October massacre of Israelis. Continue reading...
Elena Rybakina rallies to beat Coco Gauff and book US Open final with Aryna Sabalenka
Second seeded Kazakh comes from set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Sabalenka awaits in title decider after blitzing Jessica Pegula Elena Rybakina overpowered Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a fierce US Open semi-final to book a title showdown with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and stay on course for a third grand slam crown. Gauff absorbed relentless pressure and stayed strong from the back to draw errors from the Kazakh, breaking in the sixth game and taking the opening set in front of a roaring crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama. Continue reading...
Hastie accepts apology from Joyce over ‘traitor’ cartoon as Hanson doubles down and tells critics to ‘chill’
A split emerges in One Nation over the video, with Barnaby Joyce offering an apology as Pauline Hanson continues to refuse to take down the video Andrew Hastie has accepted an apology from his former colleague Barnaby Joyce over a One Nation cartoon video labelling the former SAS captain a traitor, but reiterated that he believed Pauline Hanson was a “lying coward”. The apology has revealed a split between Joyce and his leader, as Hanson instead appeared to double down on the controversial animation on social media, thanking Hastie for drawing attention to the video posted more than one month ago and said critics should “take a chill pill”. Continue reading...
Aryna Sabalenka on brink of US Open trifecta after blitzing Jessica Pegula
Sabalenka defeats Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in semi-final Champion extends US Open winning streak to 19 Belarusian faces Rybakina or Gauff on Saturday Aryna Sabalenka’s grip on the US Open showed no sign of weakening on Thursday night as the two-time defending champion swept past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to move one win from a third straight title. The top-seeded Belarusian star finished with 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, her relentless aggression turning what had been a 50-50 fight deep into the opening set into a one-sided affair that marked her 19th consecutive victory at Flushing Meadows. Continue reading...
Former Carlton president apologises to ex-wife as lewd photo defamation case settles
Luke Sayers says he accepts Cate Sayers did not post photo of his genitals as she says settlement closes ‘painful and difficult chapter’ Embattled former AFL club president Luke Sayers has apologised to his former wife for the harm he caused as her defamation case over a lewd photo settled. Lawyers for Sayers, the immediate past president of the Carlton Football Club, read out the apology in the Victorian supreme court on Friday after indicating the settlement. Continue reading...
Molly Ticehurst’s killer Daniel Billings sentenced to 28 years in jail for her murder
Ticehurst’s former partner had pleaded guilty to stabbing her 15 times at her Forbes home just before midnight on 21 April 2024 Molly Ticehurst’s ex-boyfriend has been sentenced to 28 years in jail for her senseless and brutal murder, which was revenge for her reporting allegations of sexual assault to police. Daniel Billings was sentenced in the Orange Supreme Court today by Justice Natalie Adams, who imposed a non-parole period of 20 years. Continue reading...
Ed Stone to elder statesman: the making of Ed Miliband – podcast
The UK foreign secretary has drawn rage and respect after announcing trade sanctions on Israeli settlers. Heather Stewart explains how – and why – Ed Miliband got tough This time just over a decade ago, Ed Miliband was known for pushing his older brother David out of the way to become leader of the Labour party … only to lose the 2015 general election and become an internet meme for eating a bacon sandwich. But through the last 10 years, Miliband seems to have undergone a quiet transformation. This week he condemned Israel’s “settler terrorists”, saying they were ethnically cleansing the West Bank, his condemnation breaking decades-long government policy on UK-Israel relations. And, his supporters say, he’s only just getting started. Continue reading...
Texas reports first equine infection of New World screwworm on ranch horse
The flesh-eating parasite had been largely eradicated, but now authorities are racing to contain an outbreak A horse in southern Texas has been infected with the New World screwworm, marking the first US equine infection as health authorities race to contain an outbreak of the flesh-eating parasite. The pest was discovered on the hind limb of a working ranch horse in Presidio county, according to a statement on Thursday from US Equestrian Foundation. Continue reading...
US Open tennis 2026 women’s semi-finals: Sabalenka v Pegula, Gauff v Rybakina – live
Meet the US Open’s fascinating ambidextrous talent Tiafoe v Shelton semi-final a legacy of departing Monfils Get in touch! Email Ella with any thoughts This is the first time since 1975 (!!!) that the top four seeds will appear in the US Open women’s semi-finals. Fifty-one years ago, Billie Jean King was the reigning champion, and the tournament was being played on clay for the first time after years on grass. (It switched to hardcourt three years later.) Those semi-finals were Chris Evert v Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade v Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Evert, the top seed, would beat the fourth-seeded Cawley for her first US Open title. Continue reading...
Trump ally resigns from post leading inquiry into alleged conspiracy against president
Joe diGenova led investigation focused on intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in 2016 election An ally of Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has resigned from his post leading a Department of Justice investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president. “I did in fact resign,” Joe diGenova told the Associated Press, calling it an “honor and a privilege” to serve Trump and the justice department. Continue reading...
More Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils as Musk terms fears a ‘psyop’
Insiders at the firm fear tech’s advancement could cause human extinction while others are calling it a ‘setup’ A day after a former researcher at Anthropic made an apocalyptic declaration about artificial intelligence, more researchers and staff members at the AI startup publicly agreed with him and posted their own dire warnings. In response, Elon Musk and other conservative figures on X, formerly Twitter, called the chorus of concerns a “setup” and a “psyop”. Continue reading...
San Francisco mayor declares rent emergency as housing costs soar
Median rent for one-bedroom apartment in city tops $4,495 with a national median of $1,900 San Francisco ’s mayor, Daniel Lurie, declared a rent emergency on Thursday, proposing reforms aimed at curbing evictions and preventing rent spikes as the city grapples with soaring apartment prices. The Bay Area city, home to a large number of high-earning tech workers, has long been one of the most expensive housing and rental markets in the country. Continue reading...
New battery-powered trains will ‘bring faster journeys to north’
No 10 says 29 new trains to be built in Derby will support 350 local jobs, as well as nearly 6,000 across the UK No 10 has announced the construction of a new fleet of battery-powered trains that will “bring faster, more reliable journeys to the north”. The 29 new trains, which will be run by TransPennine Express, are set to be built in Alstom’s Litchurch Lane works in Derby from 2028, which the government says will support 350 local jobs, as well as nearly 6,000 across the UK. Continue reading...
Former University of Michigan hockey players say they were sexually hazed decades ago
More than a dozen ex-players are suing the University of Michigan, alleging coach and staff were aware of abuse More than a dozen former hockey players are suing the University of Michigan, alleging their coach and other staff were aware of sexual hazing that included the forced shaving of their genitals and other abuse by teammates decades ago. “The abuse was ritualized, meticulously planned and sadistic … Enduring sexual abuse was required to be a member of the Michigan men’s ice hockey team,” attorney Michael Pitt said in a sex discrimination lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit. Continue reading...
Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer asks judge to find her not guilty after mistrial
Kevin Reddington says prosecution did not offer evidence that client’s killing of her children constituted murder Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer on Thursday asked the judge who oversaw the Massachusetts woman’s murder trial to declare her not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, saying prosecutors had failed to prove that, despite being mentally ill, she knew killing her three young children would be wrong. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington made the request to Judge William Sullivan six days after the trial ended in a deadlock, and as a fourth member of the 12-member jury went public to describe how a single juror had prevented the panel from reaching a unanimous verdict. Continue reading...
Australia news live: Anthony Albanese marks 25 years since September 11; aged care provider pays back thousands to residents
Follow the day’s news live. Good morning Welcome to Guardian Australia’s live news coverage for Friday. Continue reading...
Canada offers air defense support for Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits
Canadian PM Mark Carney hosts president in Calgary, where he grew up alongside large Ukrainian community Canada offered support on Thursday to boost Ukraine’s air defenses and help replenish its drone stocks, as the countries pledged to deepen their alliance during a visit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mark Carney hosted the president of Ukraine in Calgary in the western province of Alberta, where the Canadian prime minister grew up among a large community of people with Ukrainian heritage. Continue reading...
'Dr Doom' shows support for surveillance cameras at city council meeting in Seattle – video
A man dressed as the Marvel supervillain addressed the Seattle city council on 8 September to champion the expansion of the city's surveillance network Continue reading...
Esther Rantzen now ‘too physically fragile’ to end her life in Switzerland
Broadcaster, 86, had intended to end her life in Swiss clinic after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023 Esther Rantzen has said she is no longer able to travel to Switzerland to end her life because she has become “too physically fragile”. Rantzen, who presented the TV current affairs programme That’s Life! for 21 years and founded the youth support charity Childline, had intended to end her life in a Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023. Continue reading...
H.Res. 1520: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched against the United States on September 11, 2001, on the 25th anniversary of that date.
Agreed To (Simple Resolution): Last Action: On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to without objection. Explanation: This simple resolution was agreed to on September 10, 2026. That is the end of the legislative process for a simple resolution.
Tiafoe v Shelton US Open semi-final a legacy of the departing Gaël Monfils
Veteran Frenchman bowed out in New York but the clash of two black players in the last four of the men’s singles is testament to his effect The early days of this year’s US Open can be told in a series of farewells to competitors who plan to end their careers this year. The most moving of them all came in the form of Gaël Monfils’s grand departure inside Louis Armstrong Stadium against the wildly talented 20-year-old Learner Tien . Tien was competing in front of his home crowd, one of the Americans capable of a deep run, but for much of his straight sets defeat the Frenchman had the American crowd in the palm of his hands. Beyond the massive popularity he has garnered among tennis fans, one of the most striking parts of Monfils’s long farewell was seeing how highly nearly all of his fellow professional players, and particularly his fellow black players, regard him. Frances Tiafoe says he spent his youth looking up to Monfils. Arthur Fils considers Monfils his older brother. Naomi Osaka’s nickname for Monfils, one of her idols, is simply “the GOAT”. They all hold Monfils in such great esteem, and for good reason. Continue reading...