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Politics
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Nuclear weapons storage in spotlight as US plans $4bn boost for its UK airbases
Exclusive: Pentagon files suggest some new facilities will store nuclear arsenal, with $163m also earmarked for secretive spy base More than $4bn (£3bn) is to be spent upgrading the US government’s military and spy bases in the UK, according to official documents that shed light on the UK’s apparent role as a secretive site for American nuclear weapons. The construction plans include building new bunkers in Suffolk, which will seemingly be used to store nuclear weapons, and modernising facilities to help covert units run secret operations. Continue reading...
Did US drug agents allow lethal fentanyl to hit New Mexico’s streets?
Explosive AP story based on whistleblower testimony suggests agents ‘sat back and watched’ in hopes of securing larger drug-trafficking bust Did the Drug Enforcement Agency break the law and gamble with public safety when it permitted large quantities of fentanyl pills to be trafficked in New Mexico in the hopes of getting a larger drug-trafficking bust? That is the question at the heart of an explosive story published in the Associated Press , based on information provided by a former DEA agent turned whistleblower; the whistleblower filed a complaint in 2023 that claimed agents had allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Albuquerque – a city still reeling from the opioid crisis while many others across the country are seeing overdose rates decline. Continue reading...
UK watchdog plans to break Apple and Google’s ‘effective duopoly’ on mobile app stores
CMA says developers should be able to steer users away from app stores for payments to increase competition Business live – latest updates The UK’s competition watchdog is challenging Apple and Google’s “effective duopoly” over mobile platforms by allowing developers to steer users away from their app stores to make purchases. The Competition and Markets Authority argues that consumers and app owners are being let down by Apple and Google restrictions on spending money outside their app stores. Continue reading...
Grand Theft Auto workers seek union recognition after mass firings
Exclusive: Staff at Rockstar Games hope move can be completed before release of GTA VI scheduled for November The makers of Grand Theft Auto are attempting to gain official union recognition after mass sackings last year. Video game designers and other employees at Rockstar Games are working with the IWGB Game Workers Union to try to secure unionisation before the release of GTA VI scheduled for November . Continue reading...
UK disposable incomes squeezed by price rises and tax changes
ONS confirms 0.6% GDP growth in first quarter, with services, production and construction sectors expanding Business live – latest updates UK households suffered a drop in disposable incomes in the first three months of the year as price rises and extra wealth taxes hit average spending power. The Office for National Statistics said a rise in the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation in the first quarter and higher capital gains tax receipts reduced real household disposable income by 0.8% from January to the end of March. Continue reading...
Monaco bombing was ‘attempted assassination’, not terror attack, say prosecutors – Europe live
Authorities are still searching to identify the suspect of an alleged assassination attempt of a Ukrainian business tycoon Police in Monaco are searching for a suspected bomber after a Ukrainian-born business tycoon, his wife and their child were injured in an unprecedented attack that has shaken the normally ultra-safe principality. Monaco prosecutor said this morning that the investigation was opened into an attempted assassination, after a terrorist attack was ruled out through early inquiries. The Monaco government said a suspect had left a parcel bomb in the lobby of a residential building that exploded shortly before 9pm on Monday, causing what officials described as a “powerful explosion”. French media identified the victims as Vadym Iermolaiev, his wife and their 13-year-old child. Iermolaiev and his wife had been taken to hospital with serious injuries, while their child was also wounded, French authorities said. Continue reading...
Police units deployed across South Africa before anti-immigration protests
Government fears repeat of anti-migrant violence in 2008 that led to looting and resulted in deaths of 62 people South African authorities have deployed police units to towns and cities around the country before planned demonstrations against undocumented foreign nationals . Security personnel were seen patrolling the central business district in Johannesburg, the economic capital, where many shopkeepers decided not to open on Tuesday. Trucks and other assets belonging to the South African National Defence Force were also present, according to local media reports. Continue reading...
Chris Martin’s lost James Bond theme goes on auction with unheard Coldplay tapes
Acoustic recording of a song titled The World Is Not Enough included in wide-ranging auction featuring formative Coldplay recordings A lost demo recording of a song Coldplay’s Chris Martin reportedly intended for 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough is going up for auction, alongside other recordings from the band’s earliest years. For the auction by Wax Poetics , the British producer Chris Allison is making available an archive of recordings the band made prior to their Allison-produced second EP The Blue Room, released in October 1999. Continue reading...
Meet Wisconsin-born Esmir Bajraktarević, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup hero
The former New England Revolution midfielder came up through the US system, but felt a pull toward his parents’ homeland Esmir Bajraktarević’s uture offered two options with little overlap. Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, a Midwestern river town where Harry Houdini also came of age, Bajraktarević’s development took him from the nearby Chicago Fire’s academy to the New England Revolution. He began representing the United States at youth levels, first the U-19s and then the U-23s. He was included in Gregg Berhalter’s squad camp in January 2024, making his senior debut against Slovenia. He was involved at Olympic level too, helping the US qualify for Paris 2024. Continue reading...
Progressives are winning in American cities. Can they win rural voters too? | Bhaskar Sunkara
Democratic socialists need to do more than win in the big American cities. And they can, with the right message I joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in April 2007 at the age of 17. DSA back then was a small group with an ageing membership and an almost negative amount of buzz. If you’d told me its candidates would someday sweep primaries across New York City, I would have been surprised to say the least. Last week, they did. Darializa Avila Chevalier, an organizer in her early 30s, beat the five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in a Harlem-and-Bronx seat. Claire Valdez, another socialist, took the open seat Nydia Velázquez is leaving in Brooklyn and Queens. Add the state races, and DSA will seat at least 15 of its endorsed candidates in Albany next year. The movement that made Zohran Mamdani mayor is starting to look less like a pressure campaign and more like a bloc that can govern. Bhaskar Sunkara is a Guardian US columnist. He is the president of the Nation, the founding editor of Jacobin, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality Continue reading...
Wimbledon 2026: Serena Williams returns, Swiatek, Zverev and Boulter in action – live
Updates from day two | Serena on her SW19 return Sabalenka overcomes wobble | Diary | Email Daniel Wotcha one and all and welcome to Wimbledon 2026 – day two! As you’d expect, we’ve a faintly daunting and thoroughly thrilling banquet of tennis awaiting us today, so let’s dig right in. Continue reading...
Kash Patel draws flak for posting FBI case details on social media ‘to make himself look good’
FBI veterans believe director may have flouted legal rules by prematurely divulging details of UFC attack plot inquiry Kash Patel may have flouted legal constraints and the FBI’s disciplinary code in prematurely divulging arrests in an alleged plot to attack this month’s Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the White House, bureau veterans have alleged. Continue reading...
Sainsbury’s chief says grocery inflation not as bad as feared so far
Supermarket has lifted sales with Aldi price match, and has benefited from hot weather and World Cup matches Business live – latest updates Grocery inflation in the UK has not been as bad as feared so far, the boss of Sainsbury’s has said, but “pressure in the system” remains as the industry hopes for a swift resolution to the Middle East conflict. Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second largest supermarket, said it was still early in the year and there was “still uncertainty where inflation will go”, but suggested it could come in well below the Food and Drink Federation’s initial prediction of at least 9% by December . Continue reading...
Anger at supreme court ruling on Trump’s power to fire agency chiefs – US politics live
Today is the final day for the supreme court to lay out the last rulings of its nine-month term Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog. In a significant victory for the president on Monday, the court granted him the ability to fire leaders of some independent US agencies at will, in a move one advocacy group called “disastrous.” Continue reading...
Labor’s gambling ad legislation a ‘capitulation’ to industry lobby, Liberal MP says
Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers all say the planned reforms are too weak and the proposals are ‘half-arsed’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor’s reforms to gambling advertising have been branded a “capitulation” and “half-arsed” by opponents, as the Liberals and Greens combine to urge the government to go further in cracking down on wagering. Three years this week since the Murphy report recommended a full ad ban, Labor’s proposed wagering reforms have underwhelmed the parliament, with the Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers all saying the changes are too weak – making it unclear whether the government’s bill will have enough support to pass into law. Continue reading...
Telegraph’s £575m takeover by German group completed
Acquisition by Axel Springer ends three years of uncertainty over ownership of 172-year old titles Business live – latest updates The European media group Axel Springer has completed its £575m takeover of the Telegraph , ending three tumultuous years of uncertainty over the future ownership of the 172-year-old titles. The Germany-headquartered company, which gazumped the owner of the Daily Mail by tabling a blockbuster offer at the 11th hour, said it has now received all regulatory approvals in the UK, Ireland and Austria to take full control of Telegraph Media Group (TMG). Continue reading...
Alleged Epstein victim and Trump accuser living in fear of retaliation, relative says
Trump administration faces an escalating controversy over handling of ‘Jane Doe 4’ documents in Epstein files. White House has called her allegations ‘completely baseless’ A woman known as Jane Doe 4 in the Jeffrey Epstein files is “staying off the grid” and lives in fear of retaliation from the Trump administration amid an escalating controversy over its handling of her case, according to a family member. “Trauma is brutal. Chronic trauma destroys,” said the relative, who described the woman’s life as layers of abuse dating back to early childhood. “She’s coping as best she can.” Continue reading...
The supreme court has again undermined the power of Congress | Moira Donegan
The Trump v Slaughter decision allows the president further influence over agencies Congress itself created What is Congress for? According to the supreme court, not very much. On Monday, the supreme court overturned Humphrey’s Executor, a 91-year-old precedent, nullified the Federal Trade Commission Act , a 112-year-old law, and presumed to settle a 250-year-old debate on the scope of presidential authority when it reapportioned power away from the people’s representatives in the House and Senate and gave it instead to Donald Trump. In Trump v Slaughter , the court ruled that that the heads of independent agencies that Congress created cannot be protected from arbitrary firings by laws that Congress passed. Instead, Donald Trump is now free to fire agency heads at will and to replace them with political loyalists, regardless of what Congress has said about it. The ruling has one key exception: Donald Trump does not, according to the justices, have the ability to fire members of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve without cause and without proper procedure. A separate decision found for Lisa Cook , the Joe Biden appointee who was the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, and who was fired via social media post by Donald Trump last year. In addition to Cook’s job, the decision protects the independence of the Federal Reserve and the health of financial markets, to say nothing of the considerable personal wealth of the justices themselves. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Share your views on Andy Burnham’s plans for a new No 10 North
Burnham announced that as UK prime minister he would set up a ‘No 10 North’ in Manchester to oversee a devolution of power and resources across the UK Andy Burnham’s tenure as mayor of Manchester has come to an end after nine years. But after his Makerfield byelection victory, the PM-in-waiting plans to maintain his links with the city by setting up a “No 10 North” in Manchester to oversee a devolution of power and resources across the UK . Burnham has asked Caroline Simpson, the chief executive of the Greater Manchester combined authority, to lead the new No 10 North and help put his vision of “Manchesterism” into practice. Continue reading...
EU halves duty-free steel quota but UK and other partners given better rate
Twelve countries with a free trade agreement with Brussels have their quota reduced by just one-third Business live – latest updates The EU has halved the amount of duty-free steel it will accept from abroad, but has agreed to higher levels of imports for 12 trading partners including the UK. The curbs are designed to reduce cheap Chinese steel coming into the bloc. However, 12 countries with a free trade agreement (FTA) with Brussels, including the UK, have had their quota reduced by just one-third. Continue reading...
Georgie Purcell facing antisemitic and misogynistic abuse due to having Jewish partner, commission hears
The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is hearing evidence about hateful speech in the online environment Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Vile, threatening abuse is being levelled at witnesses to the antisemitism inquiry, while a Labor MP says attacks on his partner are heightened because they are stacked with misogyny. Meanwhile, data analysis has shown how quickly factual reports are transformed into conspiracy theories online, and that while there was a spike in antisemitism after the Bondi terror attack, there was a “huge spike” in anti-Muslim hate. Continue reading...
Delhi plans to ban petrol rickshaws and scooters in effort to cut toxic fumes
Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed by some as ‘gamechanger’ The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end of the decade. Continue reading...
‘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...