Iran hopes to deal Trump a blow at midterms by keeping him entangled in war

Musician’s projects included Madonna’s Ray of Light, Blur’s 13 and All Saints’ chart-topping singles Pure Shores and Black CoffeeWilliam Orbit, the British music producer whose dreamy yet propulsive style invigorated work by Madonna, Blur, All Saints, U2 and more, has died aged 69.A statement on his social media, attributed to family and friends, said he died at home on 23 July. “He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness,” the statement read. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

More air-conditioned spaces are open during extreme heat, but distance, stigma and risk perception keep many awayResponding to an uptick in extreme heat waves this summer, US cities have increased their efforts to establish cooling centers to keep people safe but continue to encounter a problem: actually getting people to enter the public air-conditioned spaces.Lower-income people, who often do not have – or cannot afford to operate – air conditioning, face a greater risk of heat-related illness or deaths, which means public agencies in the US concentrate their efforts on trying to reach them. Continue reading...

Alaska Republican is concerned that proposed fund to compensate January 6 rioters will proceed even though Blanche confirmed it was deadUS politics live – latest updatesLisa Murkowski, Alaska’s moderate Republican senator, announced early on Friday that she will not vote for Donald Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche as US attorney general, leaving his elevation from “acting” to official confirmation in the post even narrower.Murkowski issued a statement expressing her concerns that the Trump administration could proceed with its proposed fund to compensate rioters who invaded the US Capitol on January 6 in a failed attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s defeat of Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Continue reading...

Environmentalists and activists furious as Trump’s policies raise costs for US families. Plus, the undiscovered masterpiece that was left lying in museum storageGood morning. Donald Trump’s statement that oil companies have made “too much money” from the Iran war has angered environmentalists, who say his policies were designed to benefit those very corporations.American families have paid more than $78bn more at the pump since the start of the Iran war, according to a Brown University tracker. And a recent analysis from the environmental advocacy group Climate Power and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal thinktank, found that Trump’s policies had cost the average American family $285 more when filling up their cars.What policies has Trump enacted to help the oil industry? Since re-entering the White House last year, he has eased dozens of restrictions and regulations on fossil fuel expansion, exempted fossil fuel producers from environmental rules, and signed an executive order last year directing the attorney general to prioritize blocking climate lawsuits targeting oil majors. Trump has also personally invested in major oil companies.What did the supreme court previously rule? In the court’s June decision, the chief justice, John Roberts, said Trump’s first order violated the 14th amendment of the US constitution. “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to freely participate in our political community,” he wrote. “The framers of the 14th amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land’. We keep that promise today.” Continue reading...

High 30s celsius forecast for France, Spain and Italy next week, before affecting Germany, Poland and CzechiaAnother pulse of heat is expected to affect central and western Europe next week. The latest forecast models show daily maximum temperatures well into the high 30s celsius widely across France, Spain and Italy during the first half of the week, while Germany, Poland and Czechia will experience the highest temperatures towards the end of the week. The shift in the focus of the heat as the week progresses can be attributed to the movement of high pressure. At the start of the week, low pressure centred in the Atlantic and high pressure centred over the low countries will draw warm air in from southern Europe northwards into parts of France. During the working week, the high pressure will slip a little farther south and east, enabling the warm air once situated over western Europe to make inroads into parts of Germany and central Europe.The heat in central and western Europe this summer has been unrelenting. Last week’s weather tracker highlighted extreme recording breaking temperatures for the month of July in Austria. However, only a few days later, on 4 August, the all-time record was shattered with 41.0C achieved in Stammersdorf, north-east of the capital, Vienna. This comfortably broke the previous all-time record set in the August of 2003 by 0.7C. Unbelievably, that record was broken again the following day when 41.2C was recorded in Deutsch-Altenburg. Slovakia also set a new all-time record on the same day of 41.4C. The continuing European heatwave is associated with a vertically extensive anticyclone, and had the effect of raising the freezing level above 4,000 metres across much of the Alpine region. This represents a level in the atmosphere well above many Alpine glaciers, accelerating the seasonal melting process. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, 51.8C was recorded in Badwater, California, the highest temperature in the US for 2026 so far. Continue reading...

Ten months into her tenure as editor in chief, Weiss’ biggest – and riskiest – bet is getting closer to taking flightBari Weiss is 10 months into her tenure as editor-in-chief of CBS News, but her biggest test is right around the corner.The newest season of 60 Minutes is set to premiere next month after Weiss overhauled the show’s correspondent corps and production staff in the spring. Long considered the gold standard in television news, the show still generates a staggering nine million average viewers per night at a time when linear television’s core audience is either aging out or turning to digital alternatives. Continue reading...

DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin says ‘We’re going after them right now’ despite threat of violence in home country Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are faced with the prospect of imminent risk of arrest and deportation – to a home country racked with crime, violence and political unrest – after the Trump administration officially stripped them of humanitarian protections that had allowed them to live and work legally in the United States for years.US district judge Ana Reyes confirmed on Wednesday that her order blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti was no longer in effect. This followed the controversial supreme court ruling in June that upended judicial review of the program and opened the door for immigration enforcement to track down and detain Haitians en masse. Continue reading...

Florida man faces count of attempted felony murder after confrontation over a spot to catch lobster, authorities sayA Florida boater was alleged to have tried to kill a diver by cutting off his air supply while they fought over a spot to catch lobsters off the state’s coast recently, according to authorities.Michael Joseph Simpson Jr’s criminal defense attorney on Thursday issued a statement dismissing those allegations as “false”. Nonetheless, Simpson, 51, was faced with a count of attempted felony murder after he was jailed in what a sheriff’s office report portrayed as a particularly heated case of boat rage on the waters of Miami’s Biscayne Bay. Continue reading...

Stephen Akinsanya says being mistaken for defendant shows lack of progress on racism within legal systemA black barrister said a security guard told him he could not park in a court’s car park because “it’s not for defendants”.Stephen Akinsanya, who in June was awarded an OBE for raising awareness of youth knife crime and its prevention, said the incident, at an east London court about four weeks ago, illustrated the lack of progress on racism within the criminal justice system. Continue reading...

Inspections ordered by US regulator will affect about 470 aircraft, after reported problems in earlier modelsBusiness live – latest updatesThe US aviation regulator has ordered inspections of the fuselages of Boeing 737 Max planes for possible cracks in a component.The Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive will affect an estimated 471 aircraft and follows reports of cracks in earlier Boeing models. Continue reading...

Former senior adviser to Trump is seeking reelection despite domestic abuse allegations by his ex-wifeHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump is declining to say whether representative Max Miller, of Ohio, should withdraw his reelection bid following domestic abuse allegations levelled against him by his ex-wife.One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.The two new orders came just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down Trump’s previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, a right that has been guaranteed since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.The orders were part of a quixotic campaign Trump has waged for more than a decade, since he promised to eliminate the right at a 2015 campaign event.Despite an endorsement from Trump, congressman Andy Ogles, a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, was in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent meeting that they need to help JD Vance win the 2028 presidential election. Continue reading...