General news

• Pelosi blocks Trump from giving State of the Union address in House – live

  24-01-2019 03:17 via theguardian.com
  Speaker says Trump cannot deliver speech from chamber until government is reopenedSign up for the Guardian’s daily morning briefing 2.17am GMT Air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendant are “have a growing concern for the safety and security of our members, our airlines, and the traveling public due to the government shutdown.”Late on Day 33 of the longest government shutdown in the country’s history, the presidents of the National Air Traffic Controllers Assoc
  
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• House quashes Marjorie Taylor Greene motion to oust speaker Mike Johnson

  08-05-2024 23:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Far-right congresswoman booed on House floor before chamber votes 359-43 to kill proposal to remove fellow RepublicanThe House easily quashed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resolution to oust the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, on Wednesday, as members of both parties came together in a rare moment of bipartisanship to keep the chamber open for business.The motion to table Greene’s resolution was 359 to 43, with 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats voting to kill the proposal.
  
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• Oxford set up League One playoff final with Bolton after holding Peterborough

  08-05-2024 23:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Cameron Brannagan’s penalty earned Oxford United a place in the League One playoff final as they drew 1-1 at Peterborough to progress to Wembley 2-1 on aggregate. Oxford followed up their 1-0 first-leg triumph last Saturday to hold on for a draw in a pulsating second leg and set up a showdown with Bolton on 18 May.Brannagan, a penalty specialist, made no mistake from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Des Buckingham’s side had briefly fallen behind to a Josh Knight goal. That
  
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• Inside No 9 review – nothing short of miraculous

  08-05-2024 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have been making these ingenious, heartstopping chillers for a decade now – and the final series kicks off with perhaps the most meaningful episode yetEvery episode of Inside No 9 is dramatically different – and every episode is also essentially the same. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton tend to begin each instalment of their magnificent comedy-horror anthology by summoning a scene of distinctively British mundanity: it’s small, it&rsquo
  
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• Real Madrid find a way to final again as late Joselu double breaks Bayern hearts

  08-05-2024 23:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Just ridiculous. Just Real Madrid. The team that appears to own this competition, that has some mystical hold over the trophy they refuse to let go of, are in the final again because, well, of course they are.Late on another wild, magical night here, the Santiago Bernabéu launched into a familiar chant. “That’s how Madrid win,” it goes. Again and again and again, each time more epic, more absurd than the last, this team a force that can’t be contained. The closer y
  
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• Trinity College Dublin agrees to divest from Israeli firms after student protest

  08-05-2024 22:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Five-day encampment in university grounds that caused the college major loss of income ended in victory for campaignersStudents at Trinity College Dublin have ended a five-day encampment after the university pledged to cut ties with Israeli companies.Student leaders claimed victory on Wednesday night for a US-style campaign that had disrupted the campus and blocked access to the Book of Kells. Continue reading...
  
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• Nicaragua cancels Chinese plan for controversial canal 10 years on

  08-05-2024 22:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Critics said proposal to build canal linking Atlantic and Pacific would endanger environment and rural communitiesNearly a decade after it broke ground on a controversial plan to build a canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific, Nicaragua has canceled a concession granted to a Chinese businessman to complete the project which critics said would endanger the environment and displace rural communities.Despite a symbolic “ground-breaking” in 2014, no work was done on the canal that wa
  
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• Steve Albini was a button-pushing musician of uncompromising brilliance

  08-05-2024 22:40 via theguardian.com
  
  The alt-rock producer and music legend leaves behind a legacy of controversial provocation but uniquely daring musicThere was a story that Steve Albini liked to tell about his senior year in high school. Aged 17, he was involved in a serious road accident: hit by a car while riding his motorcycle, he badly broke his leg. It was while recuperating that he learned his first instrument, the bass guitar, but that wasn’t really the crux of the tale. It was that, while he was in hospital, he rec
  
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• Peta unveils Kristi Noem ‘ghoulish monster’ Halloween costume

  08-05-2024 22:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Animal rights group says South Dakota governor is ‘scarier than any horror movie villain’ after admission of killing 14-month dogKristi Noem, the South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful, is “scarier than any horror movie villain”, the animal rights pressure group Peta said as it unveiled a Halloween costume inspired by Noem’s stunning campaign-book admission that she once shot an “untrainable” 14-month-old dog called Cricket.&ldquo
  
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• Inquiry into child sexual abuse on Meta platforms leads to arrest of three men

  08-05-2024 22:03 via theguardian.com
  
  New Mexico attorney general highlights real-world consequences of online dangers prevalent on firm’s Instagram and Facebook appsThree men have been arrested and charged with sexually preying on children via Meta’s social networks in New Mexico, the state’s attorney general announced on Wednesday.The arrests stemmed from an investigation into the potential harm to children caused by Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, codenamed “Operation MetaPhile”. Undercover agents
  
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• Trump has yet to decide his VP pick – and it’s turning into a pageant of its own

  08-05-2024 21:35 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s less than six months until election day, and Donald Trump is choosing his running mate. It’s quite the spectacleSign up for The Stakes: a free newsletter on the 2024 US presidential electionHello there, and welcome to the Guardian’s brand new US election newsletter. I hope you’re having a nice week.It’s less than six months until election day, and Donald Trump, when he’s not in court or looking at racing cars, is spending time weighing his vice-presidenti
  
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• Aston Villa wait on fitness of Emiliano Martínez for Olympiakos second leg

  08-05-2024 21:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Goalkeeper returned to training this week after thigh problemUnai Emery: ‘If he is available 100%, he is going to play’Unai Emery has said he will make a last-minute call on whether Emiliano Martínez will face Olympiakos as they attempt to overturn a first-leg defeat to reach the Europa Conference League final. Martínez, who returned to training this week after a thigh problem, has travelled to Athens but Emery confirmed he will speak to the club doctor before making a
  
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• Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging

  08-05-2024 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Rasoulof is one of Iran’s leading directors and his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig is due to premiere at Cannes film festivalThe Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, a fine and the confiscation of property, his lawyer has confirmed.Writing on X, Babak Paknia, a human rights lawyer representing Rasoulof, said that the judgment was confirmed in a court of appeal and the case had now been sent for enforcement. Continue reading...
  
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• Elon Musk’s lawyers succeed in challenge to remove OpenAI case judge

  08-05-2024 21:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Challenge cited California state law that allows plaintiffs and defendants to remove judge they believe can’t grant impartial trialThe California judge presiding over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, has removed himself from the case. Judge Ethan Schulman on Monday sustained a challenge from Musk’s lawyers, which cited a California state law that allows plaintiffs and defendants to remove a judge they believe cannot grant an impartial trial.The law, k
  
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• Domestic abuse survivors ‘put in danger by early prison release of perpetrators’

  08-05-2024 21:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Survivors of abuse being put in danger by plans to release prisoners 70 days early, says commissionerSurvivors of domestic abuse have been put in danger by ministers’ failure to give notice of the early release from prison of their abusers, a Home Office adviser has said.Nicole Jacobs, the independent domestic abuse commissioner, criticised the lack of warning of a new policy to free prisoners up to 70 days early from full jails. Continue reading...
  
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• Labour vows to ban fire and rehire after war of words with unions

  08-05-2024 20:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: plans revealed in new leaked dossier sent to unions ahead of crunch meeting with Keir StarmerLabour has vowed it will change the law to ban fire and rehire, after a war of words with unions who accused the party of watering down its pledges on workers’ rights.The plans are revealed in a new leaked dossier, which was sent to trade unions ahead of a crunch meeting with Keir Starmer and contains sweeping plans for an overhaul of workers’ rights including on employment status,
  
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• Garrick club chair says ‘exceptional lady members’ may be fast-tracked

  08-05-2024 20:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Christopher Kirker tells members that normal waiting times will apply for most women as concerns raised about tokenismThe chair of the Garrick has told its members that the club may consider “allowing one or two exceptional … lady members” to join in the near future but that normal waiting times will apply for the majority of women.A leaked email from Christopher Kirker to all members on Wednesday described Tuesday’s vote ending the London institution’s men-only ru
  
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• David Lammy tells US Republicans he can find ‘common cause’ with Trump

  08-05-2024 20:37 via theguardian.com
  
  In Washington DC speech, shadow foreign secretary says Labour ‘will always work with US, whoever wins’David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, has set out in a Washington DC speech his credentials as a British foreign secretary capable of working with a Trump presidency, saying he “gets the agenda that drives America First”, and insisting he would seek to find “common cause” with Donald Trump.He vowed a Labour government “will always work with the Unit
  
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• GB News joint owner loses fight over £34m of secretly salvaged silver

  08-05-2024 20:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Paul Marshall’s claim on thousands of WW2 silver bars successfully challenged by South African governmentThe joint owner of GB News has lost a legal battle with the South African government over £34m of silver secretly salvaged from a second world war shipwreck.Paul Marshall, who is lining up a bid for the Daily Telegraph, had claimed ownership of 2,364 silver bars his company had recovered from the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Continue reading...
  
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• Luis Rubiales to stand trial for World Cup kiss of footballer Jenni Hermoso

  08-05-2024 20:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Former Spanish soccer federation chief faces one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for alleged actions in the aftermathSpain’s former football chief, Luis Rubiales, will have to stand trial over the unsolicited kiss he planted on footballer Jenni Hermoso, after the country’s high court agreed to hear the case.The decision comes nine months after Rubiales, 46, grabbed Hermoso by the head during the televised celebrations of Spain’s World Cup win and kissed her on the l
  
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• Port Talbot couple admit ‘dine and dash’ offences with £1,000 in unpaid bills

  08-05-2024 20:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Bernard and Ann McDonagh admit five joint charges of fraud after not paying at four restaurants and one takeawayA couple from south Wales have admitted carrying out a string of “dine and dash” offences, racking up large bills for food and drink before leaving without paying.Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, from Port Talbot, admitted five joint charges of fraud and will be sentenced at Swansea crown court this month. Continue reading...
  
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• Natalie Elphicke’s queasy welcome shows Labour will turn no one away | John Crace

  08-05-2024 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  A quick win is a quick win for Keir Starmer. Never mind the politics, just feel that Tory majority weakeningSome things you just don’t see coming. Defections from the Tory party may be very on trend: just last month it was Dan Poulter. Or Dan Who? to his friends. But when Natalie Elphicke took her place right behind Keir Starmer on the Labour benches for prime minister’s questions there were open mouths on both sides of the Commons. Penny Mordaunt had to do a quick double-take. Could
  
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• Keir Starmer sparks Labour anger with decision to admit Natalie Elphicke

  08-05-2024 20:02 via theguardian.com
  
  MP says many in party think rightwing Tory defector is ‘vile’, while shadow minister asks: ‘Are we welcoming Farage next week?’Keir Starmer is facing shadow cabinet anger for welcoming into his party a rightwing Conservative MP who has repeatedly attacked Labour over migration.Natalie Elphicke became on Wednesday the second Tory MP in two weeks to cross the floor of the Commons, dealing another major blow to Rishi Sunak. Continue reading...
  
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• US signals to Israel more arms shipments could be paused over Rafah offensive

  08-05-2024 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Move would mark significant pivot in relations as pressure builds on Israel to pull back from attack US officials have signalled to Israel that more arms shipments could be delayed if the Israeli military pushes ahead with an offensive in Rafah, Gaza, in what would mark the start of a major pivot in relations between the two countries.Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, confirmed on Wednesday that the Biden administration had paused the supply of thousands of large bombs to Israel, in opposi
  
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• Labour MP urges government to review ECB plans to sell stake in Hundred

  08-05-2024 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Proposal will offer eight franchises for sale to private investorsJohn Spellar: ‘There should be full public accountability’A Labour MP has called on the ­government to review any future decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board to sell its stake in the eight Hundred franchises to ­private investors.The ECB has given the 18 ­counties plus the MCC until this Friday to give consent to this new “direction of travel” for the sport’s showpiece dome
  
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• Natalie Robyn, FIA’s first female chief executive, leaves post after 18 months

  08-05-2024 19:57 via theguardian.com
  
  FIA says Robyn will ‘pursue opportunities elsewhere’Fourth senior employee to depart governing body recentlyNatalie Robyn is leaving Formula One’s governing body after serving just 18 months as its first chief executive, the FIA said on Wednesday.Robyn was one of the most senior female executives in motorsport and her arrival from the auto industry was hailed by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, as a “transformative moment” for an organisation led by Mohamm
  
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• Andrew Tate served with UK civil proceedings papers at Romania home

  08-05-2024 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Influencer served legal papers in relation to allegations of rape and sexual assault made by four British womenAndrew Tate has been served with civil proceedings papers at his home in Romania in relation to allegations of rape and sexual assault made by four British women.Lawyers representing the women said the alleged victims were bringing a case against the self-professed “misogynist influencer” at the high court in the UK, after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to p
  
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• Little remains of Brewdog’s ‘punk’ ethos as co-founder steps down

  08-05-2024 19:53 via theguardian.com
  
  James Watt steered the brewer to great success but a private equity stake and attending Nigel Farage’s 60th suggest the edginess is goneBrewDog’s James Watt to step down as chief executive of beer companyThe extraordinary success of the Scottish beer and bars company BrewDog owes much to a shrewd realisation on the part of its co-founder, James Watt.The 42-year-old, who announced his departure as chief executive on Wednesday, realised early on that punk, once a subculture, could be t
  
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• UK to expel Russian defence attache as sanctions escalate

  08-05-2024 19:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Home secretary announces closure of Russian diplomatic premises after pattern of ‘malign activity’ in Britain and EuropeRussia’s defence attache is an “undeclared military intelligence officer” who will be expelled from the UK amid an escalation of sanctions, the home secretary has said.James Cleverly also announced on Wednesday the removal of diplomatic status for several Russian-owned premises and told MPs the moves followed a pattern of “malign activity&rdq
  
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• Scottish first minister John Swinney appoints Kate Forbes as deputy

  08-05-2024 19:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Announcement comes after Swinney is sworn in as seventh first minister ‘for everyone in Scotland’Kate Forbes, the former finance secretary who stepped aside last week allowing John Swinney to stand unopposed for the Scottish National party leadership, has been appointed deputy first minister.The announcement came after Swinney was sworn in as Scotland’s seventh first minister at the court of session on Wednesday morning, after his nomination by MSPs at Holyrood, where he pledge
  
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