Defense department watchdog opens inquiry into US airstrikes on alleged drug boats

Paul Singer is founder of a leading creditor in the hedge fund consortium locked in talks with the UK governmentA billionaire Donald Trump donor could make millions from a deal being struck between the government and Thames Water.The UK’s largest water company, ministers and creditors are locked in a stalemate as they try to agree a rescue deal to stave off Thames’s collapse. The water company built up a £17.6bn debt pile in the decades after its privatisation. Continue reading...

Acting US attorney general made comments about the Epstein associate at a Senate hearing over budget requestsUS politics live – latest updatesTodd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, told lawmakers on Tuesday that he would not recommend a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes.Blanche’s comments came during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, where he was testifying before the appropriations subcommittee over budget requests for the justice department. Continue reading...

Retail sources rebuff government proposal as ‘unjustified’ and likely to push costs up across boardUK supermarkets have been asked by the government to consider putting a price freeze on some essential foodstuffs to protect the public from inflation fuelled by the Middle East conflict.Retailers rejected the plan, criticising its potential costs amid rising taxes, fuel and energy costs and arguing it could push up prices for shoppers overall. Continue reading...

US president calls Paxton an ‘America First Patriot’ and ‘MAGA Warrior’ ahead of runoff against John CornynUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump has endorsed the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, in the state’s Republican primary, bolstering his bid to unseat the incumbent US senator, John Cornyn.The US president praised Paxton, who has pitched himself as a political warrior for Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, as an “America First Patriot” in a post on social media on Tuesday. Continue reading...

‘The boundaries of entertainment are always pushed for each series,’ psychologist says, as speculation grows over show’s futureThe pressure to keep audiences glued to hit reality TV shows is leading to participants being put in increasingly risky and exploitative situations, according to a psychologist and executive who have both previously worked on Married at First Sight UK.Two women have alleged they were raped during the filming of the show, which is one of Channel 4’s most popular and profitable programmes, and said not enough was done to protect them. Continue reading...

Investigation launched as video circulates online showing officer firing at vehicle and colleagues dragging away bodyAuthorities in Jamaica have launched an investigation after CCTV footage of a woman’s fatal shooting by police sent shock waves across the Caribbean nation.Footage circulating on social media shows a police officer firing at a vehicle during a protest on Sunday in Granville, in Jamaica’s north-western parish of St James. The bullet hit Latoya Bulgin, 45, who was behind the wheel of the vehicle. Continue reading...

Filings reveal $220m to $750m in trades on US president’s behalf in first quarter of 2026, including securities linked to largest US companiesHundreds of thousands of dollars was invested in Eli Lilly on Donald Trump’s behalf earlier this year, according to financial disclosures, as the US drugmaker benefited from his administration’s bid to expand access to blockbuster obesity treatments.Ethics filings revealed several thousand trades on the US president’s behalf tied to stocks and bonds in the first quarter of 2026, with a cumulative ​value of between $220m and around $750m. Continue reading...

Eight-year contract between union and hospitality industry group will boost pay of hotel housekeepers to over $100,000A deal between a New York hotel union and an hospitality industry group is set to boost the earnings of hotel housekeepers to more than $100,000, as part of a pact to avoid threatened strike action during the Fifa World Cup beginning in June.The eight-year contract agreement between the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council – representing 27,000 hotel workers – and the Hotel Association of New York City, which represents 250 hotels, establishes 50% wage raises along with free family healthcare, increased pension contributions, new benefit funds and expanded rights at work, union officials said. Continue reading...

Officials from Baltic states say Moscow behind latest such incident but also tell Kyiv to be more careful with its routingEurope live – latest updatesA Romanian F-16 Nato jet shot down a drone over Estonia on Tuesday in what appears to be the latest case of Russian electronic jamming diverting long-range Ukrainian drones into the alliance’s territory.A local resident told the Estonian public broadcaster, ERR, that he had seen two fighter jets – part of a Nato force policing the skies over the Baltic states – flying in the area before a loud bang that brought the drone down. He said the drone had crashed about 30 metres from the nearest residential building. Continue reading...

A long and bitter legal battle between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman has culminated in victory for the OpenAI boss. Musk has vowed to appeal the verdict. But what did the trial reveal about big tech and the global AI race?Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian US tech and power reporter Nick Robins-Early Continue reading...

London’s biggest productions could be hit if industrial action over pay and conditions goes ahead, says unionSome of the biggest West End shows could be forced to temporarily close during a “summer of turbulence” in London after union members voted to move towards strike action over a dispute about pay and conditions.An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. Continue reading...