‘Self-serving stuff’: anger remains high in Whitehall over Olly Robbins sacking

• J. Ricardo Martins argues that the "Geneva fiasco" demonstrates the danger of replacing professional diplomats with business-oriented dealmakers in international relations. • The author contends that these dealmakers mistakenly viewed compromise as weakness, which escalated a negotiable crisis into an active conflict with Iran.

• Israel's military operations, which began with the destruction of Gaza, have expanded into Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf region. • The escalation is being sustained through significant financial support and arms shipments provided by the United States.

Ron Wyden tells of ‘grave concerns’ over plan, first revealed by Guardian, to hold families at sprawling Louisiana facilityThe ranking member on the US Senate’s influential finance committee has demanded transparency over a proposed “first-of-its-kind” ICE family and child detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana, citing reporting by the Guardian that first revealed the Trump administration’s plans in March.Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has written to the project’s contractors and to the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] expressing concerns over conflicts of interest, environmental contamination, and “the absence of a public process” in the center’s planning. Continue reading...

Mother demands overhaul of maternity care after settling case over birth at Queen’s hospital in Romford in 2019The family of a girl left brain-damaged at birth have agreed to accept £28m in damages after the NHS trust involved admitted that its mistakes led to the tragedy.Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS trust failed to monitor the baby’s heart rate while her mother was in labour or ask an obstetrician to review the case, either of which might have led to the girl being born in a healthy condition. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Greater Lincolnshire mayor walks out on cabinet minister after row over social media role in community tensionsAndrea Jenkyns walked out of a meeting on Thursday with a cabinet minister and several other metropolitan mayors after a heated discussion about the murder of Henry Nowak and the civil unrest that has followed.The Reform mayor of Greater Lincolnshire walked out of the meeting with the communities secretary, Steve Reed, and other regional leaders after a row over the role social media has played in exacerbating community tensions. Continue reading...

While huge donations are nothing new in UK politics, some fear electoral finance is distorting democracy itselfKeir Starmer may be relaxed about allowing millions from cryptocurrency billionaires to flow into Reform UK’s coffers but Labour MPs are tearing their hair out every time the quarterly data on electoral finance drops.“I look at it through my fingers,” says one MP, as the latest figures show a further £7m went to Reform UK from just two men – Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo. Continue reading...

Zulkernain Ahmed was in pursuit of a group on bikes when he hit Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb, who was walking on pavementTwo brothers have been jailed for killing a 16-year-old boy who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” when he was hit while walking by a car being deliberately driven at a group on bikes.Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb, who had come to the UK “in search of safety and a better life”, was hit by the vehicle, driven by 21-year-old Zulkernain Ahmed in Sheffield in June 2025. Continue reading...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador says Washington is using investigations into governors and propaganda to boost rivalsMexico’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has accused US officials of trying to weaken the governing party to strengthen the opposition, amid rising tensions between the two countries over Washington’s investigations into several Mexican governors.“Some US officials are plotting to weaken Morena and strengthen the rightwing opposition in Mexico with the aim of restoring a subservient, corrupt, mafia-like, and cruel government,” López Obrador wrote in a lengthy letter posted on X on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Beluga whales, which Marineland threatened to euthanize in 2025, will be moved to sanctuaries in Spain or across USCanada and an embattled marine park have reached a tentative deal on the future of 30 beluga whales, ending a saga that has captivated the public and angered animal rights groups.The federal fisheries ministry announced this week that all of Marineland’s belugas would be shipped to either Spain or one of four locations in the US, ending whale captivity in Canada. Continue reading...

Peter Kyle says British politics fails to reward political accomplishment and Labour risks aping Tory instabilityThe Labour party has not learned the right lessons from the Conservatives about changing leader, a senior cabinet minister has warned, saying in a swipe at potential challengers that “entitlement is not a qualification”.Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said he was worried that British politics “rewards the wrong behaviour” and there was little credit for the work of his own department, including negotiating trade deals, rescue packages for companies and preserving British industry. Continue reading...

Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad made a surprise appearance at a performance of Abba VoyageAbba Voyage concerts can be deafening enough. But when the real-life Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad made an appearance in the hall, which was packed with hundreds of schoolchildren, even security staff present were surprised by the din.On Tuesday, at the custom-built Abba Arena in east London, the virtual concert residency launched its expanded education programme, which aims to support young people across the area getting into creative industries. Continue reading...

US president accused of ‘putting polluters first’ by invoking Defense Production Act to prop up coal outputDonald Trump is to use a wartime presidential authority to hand $700m to coal-fired power plants in the US, the latest move by the president to bolster what he calls “beautiful clean coal” despite it being the dirtiest of fossil fuels.Trump is using the Defense Production Act, a cold war-era statute used to accelerate American industrial output in times of national need, to provide grants to more than a dozen existing coal plants across the US, including facilities capable of exporting coal. Continue reading...