Bill slashes federal safety-net programs and increases funds for aggressive immigration enforcementDonald Trump signed his sweeping spending package into law on Friday during a Fourth of July picnic at the White House, significantly cutting back on federal safety-net programs and increasing funds for aggressive immigration enforcement.During the picnic, Trump gloated about the bill's passing. It's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of the country," Trump said, while standing next to his wife, Melania Trump. What we've done is put everything into one bill. We've never had anything like that before." Continue reading...
Focusing heavily on their 1990s output with only one song from their last four albums, Liam and Noel Gallagher performed together for the first time since 2009Swaggering, cocksure and incredibly loud, Oasis burst back on to the live music scene on Friday night with an accomplished - if ever so slightly distanced - debut gig on their reunion world tour.Playing Cardiff's Principality Stadium, the six-piece impressed at the start of what is arguably the most anticipated tour of the century, focusing overwhelmingly on songs from their 1990s heyday - only one song, Little By Little, was taken from their final four albums. Continue reading...
Group said to want stronger guarantees of permanent end to war as Netanyahu prepares to meet Trump in USHamas said it had responded on Friday in a positive spirit" to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.US president Donald Trump earlier announced a final proposal" for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours. Continue reading...
Province's language police had a petite contretemps when it challenged Montreal transit agencies use of word on busesQuebec's mercurial and controversial language police have decided that using the word go" is a legitimate way to cheer on sports teams in the province, paving the way for excited fans - and Montreal's transit agency - to celebrate without fear of recrimination.In new guidelines, the Office Quebecois de la Langue Francaise (OQLF, the Quebec Board of the French Language) said that go" was now partially legitimized", according to reporting by the Canadian Press, although the language watchdog says it prefers the French equivalent: allez. Continue reading...
Paul Webb said he ensured books and material were pulled from children's section of Kent libraries, but it emerges they were never thereA boast by a Reform UK councillor that he ensured the removal of trans-ideological material and books" from the children's section of his county's libraries has fallen flat after it emerged that no such material ever existed there.Paul Webb, the cabinet member for communities at Kent council, whose portfolio covers libraries, posted a video to X in which he said he had been recently contacted by a concerned member of the public who found trans-ideological material and books in the children's section of one of our libraries". Continue reading...
After an internal welfare bill rebellion and excluded Labour figures regrouping, the PM is forced to realise the left may have never gone awayA year ago, many around Keir Starmer believed the Labour left had been sealed in a tomb. The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn, the disciplinary action against Labour MPs including Zarah Sultana and the push to the political centre were supposed to fracture the party's leftwing.But this week's drama, which included the prime minister narrowly avoiding defeat on the welfare bill after 49 Labour MPs rebelled, the chancellor's tears during prime minister's questions and Sultana announcing she was quitting the party to join Corbyn's Independent Alliance, has shown that the forces are very much alive. Continue reading...
As band's anthems blare and queues for merchandise snake, festival atmosphere takes hold in city ahead of concertIn the front of Cardiff's Spillers Records - the oldest record shop in the world - there is a three-by-three vinyl display of records by artists playing locally soon!", announced by an orange paper slip inside the plastic sleeve. Despite the mass hoopla outside in the Welsh capital - where the main drag, St Mary's Street, is a racket of bars blasting Britpop anthems and spontaneous singalongs of Champagne Supernova are breaking out - it is still somehow astonishing to see a copy of Oasis's 1998 compilation The Masterplan in the top left corner of the shelf.The band's reunion may finally be starting on Friday at the city's Principality Stadium, but after 16 years apart, it still feels so unlikely. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Chancellor says she never considered resigning and warns there are costs' to welfare bill U-turnRachel Reeves has said it is impossible for her to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and insisted she never thought about quitting despite a turbulent week for her and the government.In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor said there are costs" to the watering down of the welfare bill and acknowledged it had been a damaging" week for Downing Street. Continue reading...
Jahziah suffered a six-inch deep knife wound to the chest after a dispute over cannabis in Oldbury, West MidlandsA teenager who fatally stabbed 13-year-old Jahziah Coke during a dispute over cannabis has been given a life sentence with a minimum term of eight and a half years.The youth, who cannot be named due to a court order protecting his identity, was convicted of murder by a majority verdict in April after a trial at Wolverhampton crown court. Continue reading...
Court will examine seven-year sentence for 15-year-old who killed dog walker in parkThe court of appeal is to review the sentence handed to a teenage boy for killing an 80-year-old man, who was filmed being attacked and racially abused while walking his dog.Bhim Kohli called out for help when he was attacked in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on 1 September last year. He died the next day with a spinal cord injury and fractured ribs. Continue reading...
Russia launches record number of drones and ballistic missiles in seven-hour assault shortly after its leader spoke to US presidentUkraine has accused Vladimir Putin of publicly humiliating" Donald Trump after Russia launched a devastating attack with a record number of drones and ballistic missiles on Kyiv, hours after the two leaders spoke by phone.Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the seven-hour raid as a deliberate act of terror" which immediately followed the call between Washington and Moscow". It was one of the most severe assaults of the entire war and a clear interpretation of how Moscow interprets diplomacy", he added. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6YE5B)
Group will become first direct action protest group to be banned under Terrorism Act after unsuccessful actionBeing a member of, or showing support for, Palestine Action will be a criminal offence from Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group's proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed.A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this week but lawyers acting for its co-founder Huda Ammori had sought to prevent it taking effect. Continue reading...
Corbyn says discussions are ongoing' after MP's surprise announcement but he is understood to be reluctant to take title of party leaderJeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is in discussions about creating a new leftwing political party, hours after the MP Zarah Sultana announced she was quitting Labour to co-lead the project.Sultana, the MP for Coventry South who had the Labour whip suspended last year for voting against the government over the two-child limit on benefits, said on Thursday night she was quitting Labour and would co-lead the founding of a new party" with Corbyn. Continue reading...
by Tiago Rogero, South America correspondent on (#6YE5C)
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, 71, will run unopposed as one of the poorest countries in the region eyes billions of dollarsSuriname is expected to elect its first female president this Sunday, the congresswoman and physician Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, 71, who will run unopposed after the ruling party decided not to field a candidate.Geerlings-Simons will succeed current president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, 66, who has been in office since 2020 and was eligible for re-election - but whose party failed to secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority required in the country's indirect voting system. Continue reading...
Tehran now places little faith in the European countries who played a key role in brokering the Iranian nuclear dealExposed as divided and marginalised during the Iran crisis, European nations are scrambling to retrieve a place at the Middle East negotiating table, fearing an impulsive Donald Trump has diminishing interest in stabilising Iran or the wider region now he believes he has achieved his key objective of wiping out Tehran's nuclear programme.On Tuesday the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, was the latest senior European figure to phone the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, offering to be a facilitator and urging Tehran not to leave the crisis in a dangerous limbo by keeping UN weapons inspectors out of Iran. Continue reading...
CCRC says the four grounds his lawyers argue undermine safety of conviction for 1985 murders fail to meet thresholdThe Criminal Cases Review Commission has refused to refer the case of Jeremy Bamber, who was convicted of murdering five members of his family in 1985, back to the court of appeal.The CCRC, whose chair Helen Pitcher resigned in January and whose chief executive resigned this week after successive justice secretaries declared the miscarriage of justice review body unfit for purpose, has spent four years examining just four of the 10 grounds Bamber's lawyers identified as undermining the safety of his conviction. It will continue to examine the other six. Continue reading...
Mourners gathered on Friday morning to honour Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota at a wake in PortugalMourners have gathered at a wake in Portugal to commemorate Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, following their deaths in a car accident.Jota and his 25-year-old sibling died when the Lamborghini they were travelling in careered off a road in north-western Spain in the early hours of Thursday. The bodies of the two professional footballers were returned to Portugal later that day. Jota was 28 and had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, 11 days before his death. They had three young children. Continue reading...
Ex-BBC presenter criticises failure to show documentary, accusing people at the very top' of failing over the conflictGary Lineker has said the BBC should hold its head in shame" over its failure to show a documentary about the plight of medics in Gaza.The former Match of the Day presenter said people at the very top of the BBC" had been failing over the conflict, after the corporation's controversial decision to drop Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. Continue reading...
by Amy Sedghi (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier) on (#6YDVH)
Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn's Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian's business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to neurotically fine tune taxes".About 10bn - that's a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so 10bn is a small number ... and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can't forecast the future perfectly both because you can't forecast the economy and you can't forecast all the elements of public finances .... The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK's collaboration with Israeli military operations, it is increasingly urgent to confirm whether the UK has contributed to any violations of international humanitarian law through economic or political cooperation with the Israeli government since October 2023, including the sale, supply or use of weapons, surveillance aircraft and Royal Air Force bases. Continue reading...
After initial concerns, pupils are said to be more focused and have better social interactions with each otherBans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands.National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five. Continue reading...
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and Muhammad Amaad on trial over incidents at Manchester airport last JulyTwo brothers assaulted police officers, leaving one with a broken nose, in a violent outburst as they resisted arrest over an earlier assault on a returning passenger at Manchester airport, a court has heard.Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, are said to have struck out after police were called to respond to an incident at a Starbucks cafe in the Terminal 2 building on 23 July last year. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Artists missing out as PRS for Music has collected cut of ticket sales for shows but does not know setlistSongwriters are missing out on millions of pounds a year in royalties because the agency responsible for collecting and distributing payments cannot identify when their songs have been performed at more than 100,000 gigs and performances across the UK.PRS for Music is responsible for collecting royalties for writers when music is played, including on the radio, streaming services, in shops and at live events from pubs to stadiums and festivals. Continue reading...
Rise in sightings prompts call for ban on soil imports, to prevent entry of more species that eat earthworms and degrade soilThey have been invading the UK for years; small mucus-covered animals which hunt in gardens, allotments and greenhouses.The number of sightings of non-native flatworms has risen sharply over the past few years, and experts have warned they can decimate earthworm populations and degrade soil quality. Continue reading...
Fans say opening of museum honouring Hector Guimard, whose work went out of fashion, will right a historic wrongThe forgotten" designer of Paris's most iconic Metro station entrances and art nouveau buildings is to be given his rightful place in the city's history with a museum dedicated to his work.Hector Guimard left a distinctive mark across the French capital in the early 1900s, creating elaborate and monumental Metro entrances whose fans of iron and glass resembling unfurled insect wings were nicknamed dragonflies. Continue reading...
by Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent on (#6YDBH)
Welsh capital to host Liam and Noel Gallagher's first live shows together since 2009 as 41-date tour kicks offOasis songs are already blasting out from the Principality stadium during sound checks and rehearsals as Cardiff gears up for the opening night of the band's hugely anticipated reunion tour.On Friday and Saturday the Welsh capital is hosting Liam and Noel Gallagher's first live shows together since 2009, when a long-running feud between the Manchester brothers culminated in a dramatic backstage fight and subsequent split. Continue reading...
New code, backed by police and families of victims, calls on outlets not to approach bereaved within first 48 hoursSurvivors of terror attacks and the families of those killed are among those calling on the media to adopt tighter guidelines on reporting the incidents, after some found out their loved ones had died from reporters on their doorstep.A new reporting code backed by policing and media figures calls on outlets not to approach bereaved families within the first 48 hours after their loss and to instead make their inquiries via the police. Continue reading...
Winnie Byanyima tells the Guardian she considered resigning when Donald Trump cancelled Pepfar fundingThe head of the global agency tackling Aids says she expects HIV rates to soar and deaths to multiply in the next four years as a direct impact of the seismic" US cuts to aid spending.Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAids, said that if the funding permanently disappeared, the world faced an additional 6 million HIV infections and 4 million Aids-related deaths by 2029. Continue reading...
Union representing minicab drivers claims livelihoods have been damaged and calls for systemic change'Transport for London is facing an unprecedented" legal challenge from the union representing Uber and other minicab drivers over claims that delays in issuing licences have damaged their livelihoods.TfL has previously apologised for delays in licensing but drivers and their union, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), say they are launching the legal action because of systemic and continuing problems with licensing for this group of drivers. Continue reading...
Battery electric car sales rose 34.6% in first six months of the year after strongest June for overall car sales since 2019British electric car sales rose by a third in the first half of 2025 after the strongest June for overall car sales since before the Covid pandemic.The number of battery electric car sales rose 34.6% to 224,838 units in the first six months of the year, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. Continue reading...
Support is lowest in France, Spain and Poland, while 21% back authoritarian rule under certain circumstancesOnly half of young people in France and Spain believe that democracy is the best form of government, with support even lower among their Polish counterparts, a study has found.A majority from Europe's generation Z - 57% - prefer democracy to any other form of government. Rates of support varied significantly, however, reaching just 48% in Poland and only about 51-52% in Spain and France, with Germany highest at 71%. Continue reading...
by Presented by Nosheen Iqbal with Anna Bettsand Andr on (#6YDRA)
The rapper faced charges often levied at mafia bosses. Anna Betts explains what the jury heard, and Andrew Lawrence tells Nosheen Iqbal what the verdict means for the music mogulSean Combs - or Puff Daddy, P Diddy or Love", as he has been known - was a superstar for decades. He leveraged his work as a rapper into a career as a hip hop mogul. His parties were legendary, filled with A-list celebrities and famous for being wild.Then, last September he was charged with horrifyingly serious offences; one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. An eight-week trial ensued. Continue reading...
Number looking to move to urban centres up 16% in first five months of 2025 compared with same period in 2015With the rise of home working and surging house prices in many urban areas, one might have assumed that British cities had lost some of their appeal to homebuyers over the past decade, but it turns out the opposite is the case.An analysis of the first five months of this year shows the number of would-be first-time buyers in Great Britain looking to move to cities is up by 16% on average compared with the same period in 2015. Continue reading...
Islamic leaders, in power since 2021, announce development after talks with Russian ambassador in KabulAfghanistan's government has said that Russia had become the first country to officially recognise its rule, calling it a brave decision".The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the foreign-backed government and have imposed an austere version of Islamic law. Continue reading...
Coventry South MP, who lost whip last year, surprises some in Corbyn's Independent Alliance with news of formal plansMP Zarah Sultana, suspended from Labour, has announced she is resigning from the party to join Jeremy Corbyn's Independent Alliance.Sultana declared she will co-lead the founding of a new party" - even though, while there was an agreement in principle to form one, the timing and leadership had not been settled, the Guardian understands. Continue reading...
Fire on island being fanned by gale-force winds, with blazes also raging on mainland Greece and in other parts of EuropeA wildfire fanned by gale-force winds has forced the evacuation of about 5,000 people on the Greek island of Crete, authorities and hotel association officials have said, as large swathes of continental Europe baked in a punishing early summer heatwave linked to at least nine deaths.About 230 firefighters, along with 46 fire service vehicles and helicopters, were battling the blaze on Thursday after it broke out 24 hours earlier near Ierapetra, on the south-east coast of the island - the country's largest - threatening to engulf houses and hotels. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6YDJX)
Health secretary banks on resulting efficiencies to reduce number of frontline workers in 10-year health planWes Streeting has staked the future of the NHS on a digital overhaul in which a beefed-up NHS app and new hospital league tables are promised to give patients unprecedented control over their care.A dramatic expansion of the role of the NHS app will result in fewer staff than expected by 2035, with Streeting banking on digital efficiencies to reduce the number of frontline workers, a move described as a large bet" by industry experts. Continue reading...
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