House of Representatives to vote on release of Epstein files after Trump U-turn – US politics live
Move comes after Donald Trump dropped his opposition to a vote on releasing files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey EpsteinFull report: House set to vote on release of Epstein documentsExplainer: what to know about the US House voteIn July, Democratic congressmen Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie turned to an arcane procedural tactic known as a discharge petition to circumvent House leadership and compel a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, if a majority of the 435-member House signs on.House speaker Mike Johnson went to extraordinary lengths to avoid a vote on the the measure, which splintered his conference. Democrats accused the speaker of delaying the swearing-in of Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva to prevent her from becoming the decisive 218th signatory. She signed her name to the petition moments after being sworn in last week. Continue reading...
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‘Ridiculous’ for Farage to claim he could easily renegotiate post-Brexit EU trade deal, says Badenoch – UK politics live
Reform UK leader said he was confident he could get a better deal with the EU, and would remove benefits from EU citizensBack at the Reform UK press conference, Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, has just finished outlining his plan to cut spending on foreignersAs he finished, Yusuf claimed this was “treachery”.Labour is making the conscious and deliberate decision to continue funding extortionate amounts to foreign nationals, to the detriment of British citizens.And I don’t know what to call that. Frankly, in my view, it’s treachery. I think it’s appalling. British people are sick and tired of it.Just a few months ago, Rachel Reeves was saying she couldn’t afford to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Now it looks like becoming her latest U-turn.This isn’t because the economic circumstances have improved. Quite the opposite. Continue reading...
Ex-Harvard president Larry Summers steps back from public role after Epstein email release
The former US treasury secretary says he is "ashamed" of his emails to the late sex offender.
Ofcom receives complaints over GB News item on defendants’ ‘foreign-sounding names’
Lib Dem MP says way figures were compiled on ‘non-British-sounding’ surnames in court was ‘frankly racist’GB News has been accused of risking inflaming tensions over crime committed by migrants after presenting unscientific research that counted the number of defendants with “foreign-sounding names”.Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, has received complaints about a segment on the rightwing news channel last week that drew a link between “non-British” names and those in court charged with sex offences. Continue reading...
Trump’s Gaza plan now has “authority to use force”
“There is actually a need for an operation to have the permission to use force to maintain law and order in Gaza."
Four ‘active club’ members sentenced to prison in Sweden for racist assaults
Men aged 20 to 23 convicted at trial that showed pattern of far-right activists getting together in gymsFour men in Sweden have been found guilty of racially motivated assaults and sentenced to jail after a trial that revealed a growing pattern of far-right activists banding together in fitness clubs.The four men, aged 20 to 23, were members of an “active club”. Such clubs are loosely structured groups that meet in gyms and aim to promote white nationalist, misogynist and hyper-masculine ideology. Continue reading...
At least 15 English sewage plants use plastic beads spilled at Camber Sands
Exclusive: Experts urge water companies to update plants to avoid another catastrophe, as analysis reveals scale of useAt least 15 sewage plants on England’s south coast use the same contaminated plastic beads that were spilled in an environmental disaster in Camber Sands, Guardian analysis can reveal.Environmental experts have urged water companies to update these old treatment plants to avoid another catastrophic spill, which can lead to plastic beads being permanently embedded in the environment and killing marine wildlife. Continue reading...
Poland says ‘everything indicates’ Russia was behind rail sabotage incidents – Europe live
Security spokesperson says the incident at the weekend was a terrorist attack ‘initiated by special services from the East’Heads up: Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk will address the Polish parliament around 1pm local time (midday UK) to give lawmakers an update on the latest on the rail sabotage incidents over the weekend.I will bring you all the key lines here. Continue reading...
Trump’s focus on race backfires as voters punish economic failings
The Maga base rallied on inflation and racial grievances, but stressing race over the economy is costing the US presidentDonald Trump’s 2024 campaign strategy leaned heavily on two sources of grievance among the Maga base. The first was the rising cost of living, propelled by the sharp burst of inflation that peaked at 9% a year in July 2022. Though inflation had receded to 2.7% by election day, frustration over prices convinced many voters that Trump would be a superior steward of the economy. The other theme was race.The strategy won the presidency. Then, Trump made a mistake: focusing relentlessly on hostility towards immigrants and the diverse citizens of urban America, the president pretty much ignored – nay, worsened – his supporters’ economic woes. In elections earlier this month, US economic grievances came back to bite him. Pummeled by voters, Trump is now trying to recover his economic narrative. But it may be too late. Continue reading...
The Congo basin may be the world’s most important rainforest – why is it the least researched?
It is the second-largest tropical forest on Earth, and one of the most vital carbon sinks, but is losing out when it comes to climate policy and fundingIn October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI). Continue reading...