Former US representative Barney Frank dies aged 86

Top House Democrat calls out SEC schools for silenceCampaign comes as states move to redraw voter mapsHakeem Jeffries, the top US House Democrat, has amplified calls for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that have moved to limit voting rights, saying an “unprecedented moment, featuring an unprecedented attack on Black political representation” requires an “unprecedented response”.Jeffries’s comments came Tuesday as the NAACP launched its “Out of Bounds” campaign. The campaign targets universities in eight states – Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia – whose athletic programs generate more than $100m in revenue. Those eight states have moved to draw new voter maps after the supreme court’s Louisiana v Callais decision severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. Continue reading...

Bodies of Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walter, 32, and Rebecca Walter, 31, from London, were recovered from sea last WednesdayThree women whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton beach last week have been identified as sisters from London.Emergency services were called after concerns were raised for a person’s welfare at about 5.45am on 13 May, before three bodies were pulled from the water near Madeira Drive. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Electoral Commission calls for new controls, as Demos finds tools made up fake scandals, invented candidates or gave wrong dateUK politics live – latest updatesThe Electoral Commission has called for new legal controls over misinformation from AI chatbots, after a thinktank found they had made serious mistakes during the recent Scottish election.The thinktank Demos said its investigation had found that AI services gave voters misinformation to 34% of the questions it posed, which it said raised worrying questions about the lack of regulation of AI platforms in the UK. Continue reading...

White Australia group says it does not want to ‘doxx’ members as it challenges designation as banned hate groupGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA neo-Nazi group has been told it cannot become a political party if it continues to redact the names of its potential members, as it launches a legal challenge to being designated as a banned hate group.The White Australia party, also known as the National Socialist Network, and its national president Thomas Sewell launched a constitutional challenge in the high court of Australia on Friday against the ban by the federal government. Continue reading...

Lawyers of Hazara man who was allegedly sexually abused by carer launch bid to prevent imminent deportation to Pacific islandGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government’s $2.5bn deal with Nauru, under which hundreds of non-citizens will be sent to the tiny Pacific island, will face another legal challenge prompted by an alleged child abuse survivor.Legal representatives for Abdul*, a Hazara man who was re-detained in immigration detention earlier this month, have launched a bid to prevent the 29-year-old’s imminent deportation to Nauru by challenging its compatibility with Australia’s constitution. Continue reading...

Tax office apologises as ombudsman delivers stinging criticism, saying ‘ATO won’t learn unless people highlight the mistakes’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Australian Taxation Office fined a 97-year-old Brisbane woman $1,650 because she had not “prioritised her tax obligations”, despite the recent death of her husband who managed their financial affairs.The decision was only overturned after her accountant posted details of the incident on LinkedIn – catching the attention of industry associations and the tax ombudsman, who issued a stinging rebuke direct to the ATO. Continue reading...

Deal is the biggest acquisition for Murdoch since family resolved dispute over future control of media holdingsJames Murdoch, second son of publishing giant Rupert Murdoch, has agreed to acquire some of Vox Media’s assets, including New York magazine, in a deal believed to be worth around $300m.The 53-year-old publishing scion is acquiring the assets through his company, Lupa Systems, which has built up holdings in Art Basel, the traveling art fair business, and Tribeca Enterprises, the media and entertainment company co-founded by Robert De Niro, and the Indian streaming service Bodhi Tree Systems. Continue reading...

Airstrike at the start of the war was aimed at freeing populist ex-president from house arrest, US newspaper claimsMiddle East crisis – live updatesFresh questions have been raised over the US and Israeli effort to depose the Iranian regime after it was claimed that Israel wanted to put the populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.Ahmadinejad’s turbulent presidency from 2005 to 2013 was marked by incendiary attacks on Israel but he recast himself as a critic of the regime and champion of the poor after falling out with the supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Continue reading...

Retired Capitol police officer and DC officer allege Trump’s $1.8bn fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and alliesUS politics live – latest updatesTwo police officers who clashed with rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have sued Donald Trump over plans to create a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund.The fund, which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund, is set to compensate allies of the US president who he claims were victims of prosecutorial overreach. Continue reading...

A decade after the referendum, EU leaders would welcome closer ties – once the UK has understood the ‘European deal’• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereBrexit’s back. Well, sort of. If it ever really went away. At any rate, an awful lot of ink has been spilled – in Britain, at least – over last weekend’s remarks by a would-be PM that Brexit was “a catastrophic mistake” and the UK’s future lay “back in the EU”.That reflects, first, just how deep the wounds of Brexit still run. A decade after the referendum unleashed an identity politics so powerful it still dominates UK debate, Britain’s voters remain divided into the two warring tribes of remain versus leave. Continue reading...

In first speech since quitting cabinet, Streeting says party must deliver change or it will hand keys of No 10 to ReformUK politics live – latest updatesLabour must be bolder and deliver real change, Wes Streeting has said in his first Commons speech since resigning as health secretary, saying that he quit the government because it was “currently losing” the fight against populist nationalism.Streeting reiterated his view that leaving the EU had been a damaging mistake for the UK, and argued that young people had been let down by a system stacked against them. Continue reading...

In state department cable, Jerusalem embassy told to issue protest to Palestinian Authority leaders, warning ‘consequences will follow’ if they failed to complyThe US has ordered its Jerusalem embassy to pressure the Palestinian leadership into dropping a bid for a UN general assembly vice-presidency, anxious that the role could allow Palestinians to chair high-profile debates on the Middle East.A 19 May state department cable seen by the Guardian instructed the US embassy in Jerusalem to issue a démarche (a formal protest) to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) pressuring them to withdraw the bid by 22 May, warning that “consequences will follow” if they failed to comply. Continue reading...