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The GuardianPublic PolicyUnited Kingdom
Andy Burnham says he’s ‘increasingly confident’ early release of PC Harper killers can be prevented - UK politics live

Andy Burnham says he’s ‘increasingly confident’ early release of PC Harper killers can be prevented - UK politics live

The prime minister says other work to reduce prisoner numbers could allow for more space for serious offendersDebbie Adlam, the mother of PC Andrew Harper, told the BBC this morning that she had a “bit of hope” about her son’s killers being excluded from the early release scheme followng a call from Downing Street about this last night.Referring to a conversation with a member of the PM’s staff, Adlam told BBC Breakfast:She said that he wanted to convey that he wants to do everything that he can and has more hope now of finding a resolution to this to try and keep them in prison.I think the fact that it’s actually come from Downing Street – I’ve got to try and have some faith in it, but at the same time, I have to protect my own feelings.It’s just been up and down. It’s just the rollercoaster of just hope, not even more than that is really, really draining. We’ve now got a little bit of hope that we didn’t have before.I understand the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper - and I share it.I fully appreciate the anguish of Andrew’s family and, more broadly, of all those victims and their families who may see those who caused them such harm not serve their full sentence.

1h ago
The GuardianBasketballUSA
Does Sophie Cunningham benefit from white privilege? Of course she does | Etan Thomas

Does Sophie Cunningham benefit from white privilege? Of course she does | Etan Thomas

One of the player’s WNBA rivals said the Fever guard is treated differently from her Black peers. There’s plenty of evidence to back that statement upWhite privilege. An accusation that triggers multitudes of white people in America as if you had insulted their mother. Mention racism, and people may debate you. Mention discrimination, and people may even listen. But say the words “white privilege”, and suddenly defenses go up, outrage erupts, and people start explaining why privilege couldn’t possibly have anything to do with what everyone just witnessed with their own eyes.Which brings us to DiJonai Carrington and Sophie Cunningham.

2h ago
BBCBasketballUSA
Carrington tells critics to do 'research' over 'white privilege' post

Carrington tells critics to do 'research' over 'white privilege' post

DiJonai Carrington joined Chicago Sky in April Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington has told her critics to do their "research" amid the ongoing furore from her on-court confrontation with Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham and subsequent social media post. Carrington was ejected from her side's WNBA defeat for committing a hard foul on Cunningham, and then posted "white privilege" on social media tagging Indiana Fever.

11h ago
BBCBasketballUSA
Carrington makes 'white privilege' post after ejection

Carrington makes 'white privilege' post after ejection

Carrington missed the first 27 games of the season because of injury Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was ejected from her side's WNBA defeat by Indiana Fever for committing a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham, and subsequently posted "white privilege" on social media. Carrington caught Cunningham across the left side of the head with her arm as the Indiana Fever guard attempted a right-handed layup late in the opening quarter in Chicago.

2d ago
The GuardianBasketballUSA
Sky’s DiJonai Carrington posts ‘white privilege’ after ejection for hard foul on Sophie Cunningham

Sky’s DiJonai Carrington posts ‘white privilege’ after ejection for hard foul on Sophie Cunningham

Carrington tossed for Flagrant 2 on CunninghamChicago player tags Fever in social media postClark’s eighth technical triggers one-game banDiJonai Carrington of the Chicago Sky was ejected Saturday after being called for a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever. Minutes later, Carrington posted on social media the words “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever.Cunningham, who is white, was shooting a fast-break layup in the first quarter when Carrington, who is Black, came from behind and hit her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in.

2d ago
The TelegraphScandalSwitzerland
Trump: Fifa removing Infantino would be a terrible mistake

Trump: Fifa removing Infantino would be a terrible mistake

Donald Trump has finally stepped into the furore over Gianni Infantino’s future as Fifa president, saying it would be a “terrible mistake” if he were to be ousted. Two weeks on from the revelations of Infantino’s proposal to privatise 20 per cent of Fifa, Trump posted on his Truth Social account in support of the man whom he regularly garlanded with praise in the build-up to this summer’s World Cup and beyond.

2h ago
The GuardianWorld CupSwitzerland
Donald Trump says it would be a ‘terrible mistake’ to replace Fifa’s Gianni Infantino

Donald Trump says it would be a ‘terrible mistake’ to replace Fifa’s Gianni Infantino

US president backs ‘fantastic’ Infantino in Truth Social postInfantino under pressure following doomed World Cup sell-off plan US president Donald Trump has warned Fifa would be making a “terrible mistake” if they get rid of Gianni Infantino as the head of world football’s governing body.Infantino has come under pressure following his doomed plan to sell off stakes in the men’s World Cup to private investors.

8h ago
The GuardianHealth AlertsUSA
Trump signs order attempting to override CDC vaccine schedule and break up MMR shots

Trump signs order attempting to override CDC vaccine schedule and break up MMR shots

President and RFK Jr, the health secretary, repeatedly referred to autism during signing, though studies show no link between it and vaccines has signed an executive order with plans for sweeping changes to the childhood vaccination schedule that attempts to override the authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).It’s an attempt to undergird the changes made earlier this year to CDC vaccination recommendations, which were halted by a federal judge. The CDC is the federal agency tasked with recommending vaccines, not the White House.

15h ago
The GuardianHumanityEast of England
Prison without hope or end is psychological torture. Burnham doesn’t need another review to tell him that | Simon Hattenstone

Prison without hope or end is psychological torture. Burnham doesn’t need another review to tell him that | Simon Hattenstone

Political leaders have kicked the can of public protection tariff reform down the road for years – causing hopeless inmates to take their own livesIn January 2015, Tommy Nicol told his family that he was suffering “psychological torture of a person who is doing 99 years”. Nicol had been given an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence six years earlier for stealing a car from a garage and injuring the owner. He was already – the minimum time you can serve in prison before being considered for release. Nicol was given another two-year knock-back from the Parole Board and was in despair. If and when he got released, he would be on a lifelong licence. Eight months later, aged 37, Nicol hanged himself at The Mount prison in Hertfordshire, England.By the time he took his own life, the inhumane IPP sentence had already been abolished for three years. The problem is, it didn’t apply retroactively. Those already serving IPP sentences stayed on them. This, despite David Blunkett, who devised and introduced them as home secretary in 2005, calling it “” of his political career. And this despite UN special rapporteur on torture Alice Edwards that the sentence was “psychological torture”. Astonishingly, more than 2,000 people are still serving IPP sentences in England and Wales.Simon Hattenstone is a Guardian features writerIn the UK and Ireland, can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email or . In the US, you can call or text the at 988 or chat at . In Australia, the crisis support service is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at

22h ago
The GuardianWellnessWest Midlands
Matilda in pieces: what one mother’s suicide reveals about the carers broken by the system

Matilda in pieces: what one mother’s suicide reveals about the carers broken by the system

Parent-carers of disabled children are exposed to chronic levels of extreme stress and often reach crisis point before help is available – then they face a ‘fight for basic support’, experts say. This is Matilda Davis’s storyTwo days before she died, Matilda Davis issued a plea on Facebook. Sharing a study that found more than 40% of parent-carers had considered suicide, she called for “greater awareness, action and change” in Britain’s broken social care system. “This speaks the words I can’t,” she wrote.Matilda, known as Tilly to her family and friends, had spent years battling for support in a regime that close observers and those who rely on it often say is increasingly confusing, fragmented and difficult to navigate.

5h ago
The GuardianHumanityUSA
Miss North Carolina USA stripped of title after alleged racist posts resurface

Miss North Carolina USA stripped of title after alleged racist posts resurface

First runner-up, Myla Hadley, will represent the state at the Miss USA pageant after Brittany Boltinhouse’s removalA pageant queen recently crowned Miss USA has been stripped of her title after a string of alleged racist posts resurfaced.Brittany Boltinhouse, 27, was formally dethroned on Wednesday by pageant organizers A Blaize Productions after what it said was “a thorough review of recently surfaced information”.

4d ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Centrist Democrats dismiss Abdul El-Sayed as a freak radical. Do they want to win in 2028 or not? | Nesrine Malik

Centrist Democrats dismiss Abdul El-Sayed as a freak radical. Do they want to win in 2028 or not? | Nesrine Malik

Americans want someone on their side in the fight against vested interests – that means politicians like the Michigan primary winner and Zohran MamdaniAbdul El-Sayed’s win in the Michigan Senate primary was a historic breakthrough. Not only because he is a Muslim son of immigrants who broke with almost every single tenet of establishment Democratic party politics. But because he has wiped that complacent sneer at progressive wins off the faces of centrist gatekeepers. Zohran Mamdani? Relax, he’s just a mayor. And it’s New York City. Outside urban and liberal corridors, there is nothing to worry about. Now El-Sayed has won the Democratic party’s nomination in a swing state that is also on the .There is a lot to be excited about. Not only within the US, but for observers abroad hopeful for the emergence of a truly revolutionary left that is able to weather powerful and well-funded adversaries and prevail. The money raised to defeat El-Sayed was staggering. He was outspent by more than nine to one. It was the most . A roll call of cartoon bad guys, such as Chevron and Philip Morris, funded his opponent, Haley Stevens, to the tune of over $60m. Of that funding, came from a Super Pac backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).

1d ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Abdul El-Sayed embraces Trump claim he represents ‘very different’ America

Abdul El-Sayed embraces Trump claim he represents ‘very different’ America

Michigan nominee, who spoke to Obama after primary win, vows to fight inequality as president ‘makes billions off you’Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, embraced Donald Trump’s suggestion that the two represent “VERY DIFFERENT” versions of the US, pledging to fight inequality while the president is “making billions of dollars off of you”.In a Saturday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump shared an image of himself and the first lady, Melania Trump, beside a photo of El-Sayed, who is Muslim, and his wife, Sarah Jukaku, wearing a hijab. “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s [sic],” read the caption.

1d ago
The TelegraphScandalSwitzerland
Fifa members in talks over breakaway competitions

Fifa members in talks over breakaway competitions

Three of world football’s biggest confederations have begun talks to set up breakaway competitions in response to Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup. Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, which represents North, Central America and Caribbean football, are understood to want players to have meaningful opportunities to compete in the event of a World Cup boycott, which is still being threatened by Uefa.

23h ago
The GuardianDiplomacy
As conflict in the Middle East intensifies, India’s relationship with Israel deepens

As conflict in the Middle East intensifies, India’s relationship with Israel deepens

An Amnesty International report reveals that the country is now a key part of Israel’s weapons supply chain. Plus, Assam floods, student anger spreads and a song to put in rotationHello, and welcome back to This Is India.For this week’s newsletter, I’m looking at India’s evolving relationship with Israel, and how it has deepened as conflict swept across the Middle East. Why is it that India has formed an even closer bond with a country that has faced mounting international isolation and backlash over a military campaign in Gaza that has left the territory in ruins and , – many of whom were children?

3h ago
The GuardianSex & IdentityUSA
WNBA commissioner says league will continue discussing issue of transgender eligibility

WNBA commissioner says league will continue discussing issue of transgender eligibility

Commissioner sends memo to teams on eligibility rulesPlayers’ union refuses to be used as a political pawnCunningham remarks have prompted rallies and protestsWNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has sent a memo to teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women’s basketball.“I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention,” Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and obtained by the Associated Press. “I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism.”

2d ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictEastern Europe
Ukraine drone strike on oil refinery deep inside Russia kills at least 13

Ukraine drone strike on oil refinery deep inside Russia kills at least 13

Attack hundreds of miles from border one of deadliest launched by Kyiv as it steps up campaign to weaken Moscow’s economyA “massive” Ukrainian drone strike killed at least 13 people, according to the local mayor, as Kyiv steps up its campaign of long-range strikes on targets far from the frontline.Kyiv said it hit the Taneko refinery in the industrial city of Nizhnekamsk, around 1,200km (750 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The raid was to reduce the “military potential of the Russian aggressor,” Ukraine’s general staff said. Footage circulating online appeared to show smoke rising from the refinery in the city.

19h ago
The GuardianScandalWorld
Uefa, Concacaf and AFC push for Infantino to quit and discuss rival competitions

Uefa, Concacaf and AFC push for Infantino to quit and discuss rival competitions

Confederations write open letter damning Fifa presidentConcacaf president Montagliani seen as top contenderUefa, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf will push for Gianni Infantino to resign after writing an open letter calling for “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”.In a dramatic escalation of the war that has threatened to tear football apart since details emerged of the Fifa president’s failed Football Forward Enterprise scheme, the three governing bodies accused Infantino of “trust broken through deception” and condemned his failure to acknowledge that the proposal should not have been unilaterally launched.

1d ago
The GuardianBusinessmenUSA
US judge drops criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani

US judge drops criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani

Justice department says it decided to abandon fraud and bribery case in which Adani Group has denied wrongdoingA US judge on ⁠Monday dismissed criminal charges against the Indian ⁠billionaire , after ​the justice department said it had decided to abandon the fraud and bribery case.The Brooklyn-based district judge Nicholas Garaufis’s decision to grant federal prosecutors’ rare attempt to ⁠toss the case came after he inquired into their reasons for doing so, including by asking Adani whether anything was promised in exchange for the dropping of the case. In November 2024, before ⁠the charges were unsealed, Adani had promised to invest $10bn in the United States.

14h ago
The GuardianHumanityUnited Kingdom
Reform backer Arron Banks urged to set out extent of surveillance of journalists

Reform backer Arron Banks urged to set out extent of surveillance of journalists

Industry body says use of private investigators against reporters is ‘attack on our democracy’ after Banks apparently admitted doing soThe businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks is facing calls to lay out the extent of his surveillance of journalists, described by an industry body as an “attack on our democracy”.The News Media Association (NMA), which represents regional and national media, raised concerns after Banks appeared to admit over the weekend to hiring private investigators to .

18h ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Will democratic socialist Francesca Hong shake up the establishment – or help Republicans win Wisconsin?

Will democratic socialist Francesca Hong shake up the establishment – or help Republicans win Wisconsin?

Hong, whose grassroots campaign has made her a frontrunner, aims for primary win after public skepticism from top Democrats and a last-minute shake-upAs Francesca Hong surged ahead in the final weeks of the chaotic primary to be ’s next governor, the democratic socialist has become the internet’s main character.Donald Trump has mocked her old tweets, while major figures in her own party publicly questioned her ability to win a general election. The man she is vying to succeed even launched a late blitz in support of one of her rivals.

21h ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Wisconsin considers democratic socialist for governor amid US wave of progressive wins

Wisconsin considers democratic socialist for governor amid US wave of progressive wins

Francesca Hong is Democratic frontrunner in four-way primary race to lead the swing state, a test of anti-establishment sentiment voters will decide on Tuesday whether to nominate a democratic socialist for the state’s highest office in the latest test of an anti-establishment wave among primary voters., a democratic socialist state lawmaker, emerged as the frontrunner in a four-way race to succeed Tony Evers, the Democratic governor who is not seeking another term.

46m ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictColombia
US promises $1bn in security aid to Colombia as new rightwing president pledges drugs crackdown

US promises $1bn in security aid to Colombia as new rightwing president pledges drugs crackdown

Trump ally Abelardo De La ‌Espriella vows to start ‘profound transformation’ of country’s destiny as he is sworn inThe ​Trump administration plans to provide $1bn in security assistance to the ⁠government of Colombia’s new ​rightwing ‌president, the US state department announced, soon after Abelardo De La ‌Espriella was sworn in and used his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, as well as austerity measures to restore confidence in the economy.De La Espriella, 48, with ⁠promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink ⁠the state by as much as 40% and ​revive the oil and gas sector.

3d ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictColombia
Colombia on the brink: ELN guerrilla group prepares for return to war

Colombia on the brink: ELN guerrilla group prepares for return to war

As Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president vowing a new military offensive, the country’s last leftwing rebels are getting ready to fight backAs the boat approached the riverbank, camouflaged figures watched from the tree line.Behind them, in the dim understory of the jungle, a commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sat with his rifle on his lap, amid the buzz and whine of insects and the thwacks of machetes on bamboo as his troops set up camp, hidden from enemy drones.

4d ago
The GuardianInformationUnited Kingdom
Ofcom investigates GB News over guest’s pride and paedophilia remarks

Ofcom investigates GB News over guest’s pride and paedophilia remarks

Regulator acts after 12,000 complaints over comments by Caroline Farrow linking parades with bestiality and paedophiliaGB News is being investigated by the UK’s media regulator after a guest appeared to link pride parades with bestiality and paedophilia.The remarks are thought to have set a new record for individual complaints about a GB News programme, with more than 12,000 people raising concerns about comments made by the guest Caroline Farrow.

20h ago