Trump calls Senate bill to end shutdown a ‘very big victory’ as deal splits Democrats – US politics live
US president congratulates Republicans on deal now moving to House; Democrats riven over some senators’ support for billTop House Democrats vow to oppose shutdown bill over healthcare fundingHow US senators voted on the shutdown-ending budget billAs the supreme court deliberates on the fate of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs – which he maintains are a matter of “national security” as justices appeared skeptical during oral arguments on the case last week – the president said that the US would be forced to hand “in excess of three trillion dollars” if the levies are scrapped, in a late night post on Truth Social.He added:It would not be possible to ever make up for that kind of a ‘drubbing.’ That would truly become an insurmountable National Security Event, and devastating to the future of our Country – Possibly non-sustainable! Continue reading...
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Nandy rules out taking action to remove Robbie Gibb from BBC board – UK politics live
Culture secretary also condemns MPs who dismiss BBC as ‘institutionally biased’ in swipe at Badenoch and Farage Here is a round-up of what various lawyers and commentators have been saying about Donald Trump’s legal case against the BBC.Joshua Rozenberg, the legal commentator and a former BBC journalist, has said in a post on his A Lawyer Writes Substack that the corporation should settle. He explains:Given what Brito is claiming, the lawyer is unlikely to be impressed with the BBC’s assertion that “the purpose of editing the clip was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump’s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time”.So the BBC would be well advised to draft a retraction and apology in terms that the president’s lawyer finds acceptable. Brito is also calling for this to be broadcast as prominently as the original programme. And the corporation will have to pay compensation.George Peretz KC, chair of the Society of Labour Lawyers, says on Bluesky, commenting on Rozenberg’s blog, that the BBC might be better off with a more robust approach.So at the moment, despite @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social’s piece, I wonder whether a better BBC response would be the Arkell v Pressdram one. proftomcrick.com/2014/04/29/a...(At least to the extent he’s seeking more than a formal apology limited to the obvious mistake and a very modest offer of compensation.)There is, after all, the risk of a dangerous precedent here. The BBC will often offend foreign leaders – some worse than Trump. Sometimes it will make factual mistakes in reporting on them. Yield to Trump now, and who next?Mark Stephens, a media lawyer, told BBC Breakfast that a court case could reflect badly on Trump. He said:Every damning quote that he’s ever uttered is going to be played back to him and picked over – not great PR.Trump risks turning what’s currently a PR skirmish with the BBC very much on the back foot into a global headline that the court finds Trump’s words were incendiary …George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York and a former lawyer for the New York Times, told the BBC that Trump “has a long record of unsuccessful libel suits – and an even longer record of letters like the one you received that don’t end up as lawsuits at all”.Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer who is trying to recover costs from Trump after the president sued him unsuccessfully in the UK, says Trump’s latest threat is preposterous.Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC in London is preposterous. He remains in breach of English High Court orders in a case he brought and lost against Orbis 18 months ago. So any further abuse of the UK courts by him for such legal tourism and intimidation should be prohibited.Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, says the BBC has been told Trump does not have a case.The legal advice to the BBC I am told is that President Trump was not meaningfully damaged by Panorama’s manipulation of his 6 January speech, and that therefore there is no legal necessity to pay him compensation. The BBC board is therefore likely to resist and fight his demand to be “appropriately compensated” out of court, and will risk him carrying through on his threat to seek $1bn in damages by going to court.These times are difficult for the BBC but we will get through it. We will get through it and we will thrive. This narrative will not just be given by our enemies. It’s our narrative. We own things.I see the free press under pressure. I see the weaponisation. I think we have to fight for our journalism.We have made some mistakes that have cost us but we need to fight for that. Continue reading...
Turkey Seeks Jail Sentence of Over 2,000 Years for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
Prosecutors accused Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, of leading a criminal organization. The opposition called the case politically motivated.
World must ‘honour 1.5C’, small island states insist at Cop30 summit – live
The 1.5 temperature limit is not a political slogan, it’s a lifeline, the small island states say, as climate discussions continue in BelémIn the run-up to Cop30, the Guardian published a series of articles looking at the ten biggest polluters of greenhouse gas, and their plans to clean up. Here’s a piece my colleague Jonathan Watts wrote in September about China, which according to an analysis published today has plateaued its emissions.Chinese power took on an old-fashioned hue in the past week with a huge military parade, a gathering of former allies Russia and North Korea, and President Xi Jinping’s defiant vow not to be intimidated by bullies. Continue reading...
Removing CO2 from atmosphere vital to avoid catastrophic tipping points, leading scientist says
10bn tonnes of C02 emissions must be removed from the air every year to limit global heating to 1.7C, says Johan RockströmCop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in BrazilRemoving carbon from the atmosphere will now be necessary to avoid catastrophic tipping points, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned, as even in the best case scenario the world will heat by about 1.7C.Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who is one of the chief scientific advisers to the UN and the Cop30 presidency, said 10bn tonnes of carbon dioxide needed to be removed from the air every year even to limit global heating to 1.7C (3.1F) above preindustrial levels. Continue reading...
These Sheep Have a Statement to Make
How fashion connected a designer, a farmer, Grindr and a herd of male-oriented rams.
Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine sign voice deal with AI company
The voices of the Oscar-winning actors can now be used to create AI-generated versions in a new deal with ElevenLabsOscar-winning actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have both signed a deal with the AI audio company ElevenLabs.The New York-based company can now create AI-generated versions of their voices as part of a bid to solve a “key ethical challenge” in the artificial intelligence industry’s alliance with Hollywood. Continue reading...
Israel attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals
Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sitesIsraeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals.Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts. Continue reading...
Trump Is Said to Propose Opening California Coast to Oil Drilling
The move would set up a clash with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a chief critic of the president and an opponent of oil exploration in the Pacific.
Search for West Virginia miner trapped by floodwater extends into fourth day
Rescuers have been seeking unnamed man since pocket of water inundated Rolling Thunder mine on SaturdayEmergency responders have been trying to reach a miner trapped deep inside a flooded West Virginia coalmine since Saturday, according to authorities.A mining crew hit an unknown pocket of water on Saturday about three-quarters of a mile into the Rolling Thunder mine near Drennen, about 50 miles (80km) east of the state capital of Charleston, the Nicholas county commissioner, Garrett Cole, said in a Facebook post. Continue reading...