Scientists decry Trump’s ‘blame game’ after he claims Canada ‘poisoning’ US air

• German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced on July 23, 2026, that Germany will suspend automatic temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens fleeing military conscription. • The policy shift specifies that evading enlistment in the Ukrainian military will no longer be considered valid grounds for receiving humanitarian asylum.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed a UN Security Council debate on Thursday, July 24, emphasizing the critical role of diplomacy in resolving global crises. • Guterres acknowledged that while diplomatic efforts may have failed to prevent current military confrontations and border tensions, they remain the most effective tool for ending them.

• Israeli Minister Israel Katz (Sa’ar) attributed a recent antisemitic stabbing in New York City to "incitement" by politician Zohran Mamdani. • The IDF reported that settlers raided a Palestinian-abandoned home following repeated harassment, though no arrests have been made.

• The UN has warned that escalating Middle East tensions are threatening vital regional trade routes, specifically the Strait of Hormuz. • The situation is exacerbated by ongoing American airstrikes on Iran and a diplomatic stalemate regarding the closure of the crucial energy waterway.

US courts, state officials and Democrats warn that moves are endangering voting rights and the rule of lawThe Trump administration continues to expand its authoritarian and radical drive to revamp voting rules and seize state election powers, though it faces growing resistance from US courts, state officials and Democrats, who warn the moves are sparking “chaos” and endangering voting rights and the rule of law.Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive to change election rules, which states legally set, is fueled by his obsession with his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, which he falsely attributes to voting fraud, coupled with his fear that Democrats will “find a reason to impeach me” if they take control of the House in November’s midterms elections, say former election officials and legal experts. Continue reading...

Researchers tracked mother-child pairs for up to 11 years, finding Pfas mixtures may affect developing gutsPrenatal and early life exposure to Pfas mixtures is probably linked to higher levels of intestinal inflammation in children, new first-of-its-kind research shows. Intestinal inflammation can cause irritable bowel diseases, like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer.While Pfas has been linked to irritable bowel disease and intestinal inflammation in adults, the new peer-reviewed Mt Sinai study is the first to look at how the chemicals impact children during a critical developmental phase. Continue reading...

While overall levy for UK is unchanged, sectors not covered by Turnberry deal face tougher competitionDonald Trump’s latest round of tariffs has put UK businesses at a disadvantage against the EU even though the overall tariff for London has not changed, experts have said.In the levies, announced late on Thursday and said to be aimed against countries that engage in forced labour, the EU’s previous 15% near blanket tariff is reduced to 10%, the same level as the tariff deal struck by Keir Starmer and Peter Mandelson last year. Continue reading...

Several others seriously injured in attack that residents of Palestinian village say also involved Israeli militaryFour Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in a shooting in the northern West Bank, health officials have said, during what residents described as a settler attack also involving the Israeli military. Several more people were seriously injured.The serious incident in the Palestinian village of Tell, near Nablus, is the deadliest attack in the West Bank this year and has the potential to lead to a series of reprisals between Israeli-backed settlers and Palestinian communities. Continue reading...

Measures replace 10% global duty and come after supreme court declared many of the earlier tariffs illegal. Plus, how secondhand fashion got so expensiveGood morning.Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire, provoking a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and trading partners.What is Trump’s justification for the tariffs? The newest tariffs, announced late last night by the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, would fall under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, aimed against countries that engage in forced labor. Trump had said his administration would investigate unfair trading practices to impose permanent tariffs as soon as the February supreme court decision was announced.How have the affected countries reacted to the news? The ‘forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs has been met with bewilderment, with some saying their labor laws are stronger than those in the US.How are the authorities responding? Last week, Bill Essayli, an assistant US attorney, asked the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the cluster to determine if there is an environmental cause. Continue reading...

Carmaker, which is pushing through cost-cutting programme, expects sales to fall by up to 3% this yearVolkswagen has reported a steep fall in profits and cut its revenue forecast amid a sales slump in China, as the German carmaker pushes through a brutal cost-cutting programme that includes slashing up to 100,000 jobs.The world’s second-largest maker of vehicles said it expects sales to fall by up to 3% this year, a dramatic reversal on a previous forecast for a 3% increase on last year’s €321.9bn (£275.3bn), because of a sales slump in the highly competitive Chinese market. Continue reading...

Axel Rudakubana moved to psychiatric hospital after it was concluded he could not be safely managed in prisonThe Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been accused of attempting to “manipulate the system” by the families of his victims, after it emerged he had been transferred from prison to a psychiatric hospital.Rubakubana, 19, was jailed for life in January last year, with a minimum sentence of 52 years, for the murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. Continue reading...

Even some Republicans apparently expressing concern over measures against 85 countriesSign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump’s move to impose a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries has drawn criticism from both Democratic politicians and his own allies.If he was serious, he would not be applying the same tariff rate to China, one of the worst forced labor abusers in the world, as he does to countries like Australia. Then again, unlike China, Australia, doesn’t manufacture any Trump corporation products.This is the same administration that gutted funding to combat forced labor through cuts to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and rolled back worker protections here at home, while encouraging companies to profit off some of the world’s worst forced labor abusers through his proposed US-China Board of Trade.Everything that you do that’s not focused on affordability is not helpful. This might not be a negative five, but it’s a negative 0.5. Anything that you’re doing that is not on the plus side of the scale is a problem.When you announce new tariffs, it’s not like, okay, well, let’s see what they do. It’s, ‘Oh crap, those are the bad things.’I think Republicans are comfortable with the threat, even though that has some market impacts. But actual revenue coming away from people’s pocketbooks is not what Republicans are happy with.Any conversation about tariffs, unless it’s reducing them, is a bad conversation for Republicans.The government of Brazil has rejected the Trump administration’s claim that it, and 84 other nations, failed to enforce a ban on forced labor, and called the new 12.5% US tariff on imports from Brazil “completely arbitrary and unjustified”.The Pentagon’s official online list of service members killed in the ongoing Iran war does not include the four soldiers who died during renewed fighting over the weekend, despite the fact that their names were included in a Pentagon press release on the formal transfer of their remains back to the United States on Wednesday.The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, said “it’s very hard to deal with President Trump when he changes his mind every single day. One day the prime minister is with him side by side, and next thing you know, President Trump turns on him like a rabid dog.” Continue reading...