Government shutdown draws near as Democrats push for healthcare funding

Top Senate Republican says Democrats see shutdown as ‘politically advantageous’ as 30 September deadline looms

The US government is drawing nearer to a potential shutdown after Donald Trump told Republicans on Friday “don’t even bother dealing with” the Democrats, whose congressional leaders are refusing to support spending bills that do not include their healthcare priorities.

Congress is up against an end-of-the-month deadline to approve legislation funding the federal government, otherwise many departments will stop work and employees will be told to stay home. While the Senate and House of Representatives have made some progress on passing the 12 appropriations bills that make up the budget, it seems certain that Congress will need to pass a short-term measure to keep the government open beyond 30 September.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/VvQWi5n

Trump can block Medicaid funds to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood, court rules

Reproductive rights group condemns ruling as ‘backdoor abortion ban’ and says 200 US clinics may face closure

The Trump administration can move forward with its plan to “defund” Planned Parenthood by blocking it from receiving reimbursements from Medicaid, the US government’s insurance program for low-income people, a federal appeals court ruled late Thursday.

The ruling from the first US circuit court of appeals lifts a lower court’s preliminary injunction, which had stopped the Trump administration from enacting a provision of its tax and spending bill that axed Planned Parenthood’s ability to participate in Medicaid for one year.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/RbEoOlj

World's first AI minister will eliminate corruption, says Albania's PM

Named Diella, the new minister will help Albania "leapfrog" bigger, more advanced countries, says Edi Rama.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/FuYEcxh

UK says 'great news' British national freed in Belarus release deal

Julia Fenner was given a long jail term after being detained while entering Belarus in March 2024.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/8RjbJ1a

South African rapist in bid to block Netflix documentary about his life

Thabo Bester, who allegedly faked his death in prison and escaped, says the documentary is defamatory.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/AJFYN9b

Killing of Trump ally lays bare America's bloody and broken politics

Charlie Kirk's killing is another episode of gun violence in America and the latest in a line of recent political violence.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/W3VvmxM

John Lennon’s killer denied parole for 14th time

Mark David Chapman, 70, is serving 20-years-to-life sentence in New York after fatally shooting Beatle in 1980

The man who killed John Lennon outside the former Beatle’s Manhattan apartment building in 1980 has been denied parole for a 14th time, according to New York prison officials.

Mark David Chapman, 70, appeared before a parole board on 27 August, and the decision was recently posted online by the state department of corrections and community supervision.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/LWfTqQp

Boris Johnson under pressure to explain how private office follows funding rules

Office is part-funded by public duty costs allowance, which should only be used to support public work of former PMs

Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to explain how his private office complies with rules over taxpayer subsidies after further revelations about how his staff appear to be overseeing his global commercial operations.

A leak of data from the Office of Boris Johnson appears to show all three of his staff helping Johnson’s business and profit-making ventures.

Secretly lobbied the UAE for a billion-dollar private venture in a potential breach of ethics rules. His work as a “principal adviser” for Bia Advisory, a “climate finance solutions” firm seeking backing from Abu Dhabi’s $300bn investment fund, involved courting a top Emirati official Johnson hosted in No 10 when he was prime minister.

Approached Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, on behalf of Evgeny Lebedev. The Evening Standard owner, whom Johnson made a peer, was seeking a business relationship between his newspaper and Musk, who bankrolled Donald Trump’s ascent to the White House.

Secured contracts with a combined total of more than £850K in separate deals with GB News and Associated Press, the owner of the Daily Mail. GB News suggested some of the information was incorrect but confirmed an ongoing arrangement with Johnson.

Earned more than £5m from less than two years of paid speeches, for some of which he charged $350,000 (£259,000). The 34 speeches include a conference leadership in Delhi, a blockchain symposium in Singapore and a bizarre turn as the headline act at the 50th birthday party of a German pharmaceuticals company boss.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/H1RW5ZN

Surprise as Ivory Coast's ex-first lady cleared to contest presidency

Simone Gbagbo will run against President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a controversial fourth term.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/MKnbPqF

Trump asks Supreme Court to allow billions in foreign aid cuts

The administration is seeking an emergency order as it tries to claw back funds allocated by Congress.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/uWEMZsk

Ousting PM plunges France into fresh political crisis

François Bayrou is out, and President Emmanuel Macron now faces the same problem four prime ministers have failed to solve.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/raVU1mc

Senior Labour figures tell Keir Starmer to stop making mistakes

Prime minister faces criticism from Emily Thornberry, who highlights risk of ‘handing country to Farage’

Keir Starmer has been warned by senior Labour figures to stop making mistakes, before a battle over the party’s deputy leadership and amid fears the government could row back on workers’ rights.

As candidates began to jostle to replace Angela Rayner, the prime minister faced public criticism from Emily Thornberry, a potential contender, who said further mistakes from Starmer could lead to having to “hand our country to [Nigel] Farage”.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/HDC5o0a

Crowd greets Donald Trump with boos and cheers at US Open men’s final

• US president attends Sinner v Alcaraz final

• USTA told broadcasters not to show crowd reaction

Donald Trump drew a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd as he attended the US Open men’s final on Sunday.

Arthur Ashe stadium was only partially full – heavy security around the president’s arrival meant the arena was slow to fill – when he stepped outside his luxury box to wave at the crowd. His appearance was also brief enough so that some of those in attendance didn’t notice Trump. He was shown on the stadium’s video screens later, during the national anthem, and his appearance was again met with cheers and boos.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/eqSfrMI

Timelapse shows Blood Moon rising around the world

s the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, it will take on a deep red hue, creating a striking "Blood Moon".

from BBC News https://ift.tt/U19ExND

Those angry about migration figures are ignoring what happened in Australia during Covid and other key facts

But the lack of a well-reasoned migration plan from Labor is not helping at a time when extremist views are flourishing

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

In a little under two weeks we will get the latest official report on the number of overseas migrants entering and leaving Australia.

Whatever the number is, some people will be outraged. But they shouldn’t be.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/VCGED4A

Lisbon funicular worker among those killed in crash

Four employees of a non-profit organisation and a transport worker are among those who died.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/X6N0ow1

Reshuffle of junior ministers raises fears over future of Labour’s workers’ rights bill

Some believe fight is looming over sweeping reforms after employment rights minister Justin Madders sacked and union allies sidelined

Keir Starmer has sought to tighten his grip on his government with a wave of junior ministerial changes that has sidelined allies of the unions, raising questions over the future of Labour’s workers’ rights package.

The reshuffle has been used by Downing Street to signal a tougher stance on immigration in an apparent bid to take on Reform UK, with Shabana Mahmood – a self-described social conservative rising star – now in charge of the Home Office, supported by Sarah Jones who returns to her former policing brief.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/wvFoTrY

Thailand names third prime minister in two years

Multiple administrations have been deposed by court interventions and military coups in recent years.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/ZTmlD4t

Three ways Epstein scandal could go for Trump

This week the victims of Epstein's crimes came forward to demand more information, piling pressure on the White House.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/WcnPMOF

US justice department reportedly opens criminal inquiry into Fed governor Lisa Cook

Officials to investigate claims of mortgage fraud against Cook, who has refused to accept firing by Donald Trump

The US justice department has initiated a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud claims against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, according to new reports, as a lawsuit she filed against Donald Trump over her firing makes its way through court.

Lawyers with the justice department have issued subpoenas for the investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/DJpTxdo

'The hit was very hard': Eyewitness in second carriage shares video of crash moment

The incident in Lisbon's funicular has left 16 dead and multiple injured.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/mAij5Uc

Boy, 3, pulled from funicular crash that has shocked Portugal

It is unclear what caused the crash in which 16 people died and more than 20 were injured, including many foreign nationals.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/0CZ9OER

Trump says 11 killed in US strike on drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela

The Trump administration has signalled a willingness to use military force against drug cartels.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/vXV1REN

Trump faces new Epstein headache as Congress returns from recess

Lawmakers plan pressure campaign for release of Epstein files as victims meet with speaker and oversight committee

• US politics live – latest updates

Congress returns to session on Tuesday, and with it will come a political headache for Donald Trump in the form of renewed attention on the investigation into the disgraced financier Jeff Epstein and his death, a subject that the president has sought to avoid in recent weeks.

While the president got a month-long break from the Epstein issue when lawmakers left town for the annual August recess – with the House of Representatives wrapping up a day early because of the controversy over Epstein – the calm is likely to end quickly. On Tuesday afternoon, representatives from both parties have planned press conferences and legislative maneuvers intended to put pressure on the Trump administration for more transparency over Epstein, whose suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019 has been the subject of conspiracy theories the president amplified while on the campaign trail.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/V79sYoT

Afghan quake victims buried on mountain top as aftershocks continue

The BBC's Yama Bariz travelled to a region devastated by the 6.0 magnitude earthquake.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/JToHV7L

Angela Rayner’s Hove flat: five questions for the deputy PM

What Rayner may be asked to explain about the arrangements behind her purchase of an £800,000 home

Angela Rayner is under pressure to explain her property arrangements after she bought an £800,000 flat in Hove, far from her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne.

Most of the criticism has centred on the complicated tax arrangements surrounding the purchase, though the deputy prime minister’s allies insist she has done nothing wrong and she is not under investigation by the prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards.

Rayner has not said anything yet about the row, which Downing Street said on Monday was partly because a court had ruled some information could not be disclosed. But here are five questions she will face when she does speak publicly about it.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/vNi6LuS

Nestle fires boss after romantic relationship with employee

The food giant says Laurent Freixe had an "undisclosed" relationship with "a direct subordinate".

from BBC News https://ift.tt/jAZPwqu

India's Modi has 'insightful' talks in Putin's limo

The two leaders - both under pressure from Donald Trump - spent 45 minutes inside the Russian leader's car.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/YCbgtDc