Fed holds interest rates steady despite Trump’s renewed calls to lower them

• A Ukrainian strike on an Iranian cargo vessel in the Caspian Sea has occurred, signaling a dangerous escalation in global geopolitical tensions. • The event effectively merges the U.S. proxy war in Eastern Europe with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, specifically involving Iran.

• Pakistan has gained international recognition for its recent diplomatic efforts, specifically for facilitating pauses in the conflict between the United States and Iran. • Simultaneously, China has transitioned from a manufacturer of low-cost imitation goods to a global leader in high-tech innovation, particularly in AI and robotics.

• A joint study by UNESCO and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reveals that the region will have 38.3 million fewer school-age children by 2050. • The report highlights a significant demographic shift and recommends integrating data on births, migration, enrollment, and location to better manage educational resources.

• The United States has resumed exchanging military strikes with Iran, marking a sudden escalation in tensions. • This development follows a Tuesday interview with Fox News where President Trump appeared to hesitate over the humanitarian costs of targeting Iranian infrastructure, such as power plants and bridges.

Strike on Terminal Autonomy plant appears to be first time in the war that Moscow has targeted a US companyA drone factory in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile on Friday was owned by a US corporation registered in Delaware, in what appears to be the first time Moscow has targeted a US company in the conflict.Terminal Autonomy makes precision “deep-strike” drones with guidance systems that are resistant to Russian jamming signals, according to a person familiar with the company. Continue reading...

Donations to top US provider have dropped to four-year summer low with less than a day’s supply of type O positiveThe American Red Cross has declared the second-ever national blood supply crisis after blood donations fell to a four-year summer low.On Monday, the 145-year-old non-profit said that as the United States’ largest single provider of blood products, it now has less than one-day national supply of type O positive blood – the most commonly transfused blood. Continue reading...

Jamie Raskin targets football body’s proposed commercial sell-off and links to Trump administrationUS politics live – latest updatesFifa could face a sweeping US congressional investigation into its expanding financial and political ties to Donald Trump and his family if Democrats reclaim the House of Representatives in November, a senior party figure has warned.Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, accused global football’s governing body of a “smash-and-grab scam of colossal proportions” after it proposed a multibillion-dollar privatization of its commercial operations. Continue reading...

In first quarter of 2026 returns for breaches of licence conditions rose 31% creating new pressure on prison placesMore people were recalled to prison than were released during the first three months of 2026, the first time on record the “recall rate” has surpassed 100% in England and Wales.Between January and March 2026, 12,977 people were released from prison while 13,193 people were returned to prison for breaching their licence conditions, up 31% from last year, new Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data showed. Continue reading...

President says he has no objection to pulling his former lawyer’s name until dissenting Republicans are out of officeUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump has threatened to “temporarily” shelve a bid to permanently install his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as US attorney general amid resistance in US Congress.Blanche, currently serving as acting attorney general, has been struggling to persuade a handful of Republican senators to back his nomination for the role. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Reform’s Robert Jenrick says party confident it followed all rules at the time, after latest Guardian revelationsThe Electoral Commission has been asked to investigate whether Reform UK has broken donations rules, after the Guardian revealed that the convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred more than $2m to his mother in the days before her donations to the party in 2024.Labour’s new chair, Bridget Phillipson, wrote to the commission on Thursday asking for it to examine the donations and whether they had been recorded correctly. Continue reading...

Government fears social discontent on ‘most important battlefield’ of economy and livelihoods as war takes its toll amid anti-state dissentIran, in the midst of an escalating five-month war with the US, continues to stumble from one internal crisis to another – whether it is over public executions, the rising cost of living, the alleged bias of the state broadcaster or even the post-midnight destruction of pavements outside liberal-leaning Tehran cafes. Very little that happens in Iran, cultural or political, momentous or trivial, does so uncontested.But there is now a growing threat of a long diplomatic deadlock, forged by mutual distrust in which neither side believes the other will stick to any agreement. That impasse has occurred as the war broadens, drawing in Yemen, Iraq and now Egypt. In Iran, at least, the advocates of escalation are winning. As a result, a convergence of Iran’s conflicts, internal and external, becomes more likely. Continue reading...

UK’s highest court gives permission for Huda Ammori to challenge court of appeal rulingThe co-founder of Palestine Action has won permission to challenge the ban against the group at the UK’s highest court.The direct action group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July last year but its co-founder, Huda Ammori, has been fighting to have it overturned amid a mass civil disobedience campaign. Continue reading...