Smithsonian Institution secretary to retire amid Trump attacks on musuem independence

• China has expanded its influence across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Indo-Pacific by providing development aid to regions often neglected by Western nations. • The Lowy Institute reports that China has committed $7.5 billion and spent at least $5 billion in development aid in the Pacific islands since 2008.

Foreign secretary ends UK’s feigned helplessness with sanctions and description of Israel’s actions as ethnic cleansingThe indefatigable ability of UK Foreign Office ministers over decades to issue boilerplate statements of concern about the extension of illegal settlements in Israel has long been a matter of ridicule.Even some of the Conservative ministers who issued them, notably Alan Duncan and Alistair Burt, have agreed. Duncan described the UK stance towards settlements as weak and naive, while Burt wondered at the ability of the Foreign Office to find new forms of diplomatic condemnation that never amounted to any specific action. Margaret Thatcher, often torn as prime minister between her natural sympathy for Israel and her fear of the Gulf states falling under the sway of the Soviet Union, similarly expressed her anger at the settlements. Continue reading...

Lisa Nandy says government will introduce legislation after talks deadline ends without breakthroughApple and Google will be forced to block explicit images on children’s smartphones by law in the UK after talks failed to produce a breakthrough, the government has said.The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s. Continue reading...

Sewage plume reached seven bathing waters and significantly affected water quality in June 2023United Utilities has been fined nearly £1m after illegally discharging raw sewage into the Lancashire coastline and polluting seaside holiday locations including Blackpool.The water company pleaded guilty to five environmental permit offences relating to a pollution incident along the Fylde coast in June 2023, and was ordered by Preston magistrates court on Tuesday to pay £964,225 in fines and costs. Continue reading...

High yields threaten to wipe out at least half of the £24bn headroom John Healey was expecting to have for his budgetThe UK government was forced to pay the highest interest rate for a 30-year bond since 1998 on Tuesday, underlining the fiscal challenges facing the chancellor, John Healey.Echoing the global bond market sell-off that has driven up yields, or interest rates, on government borrowing across major markets, the Treasury paid 5.82% to borrow £4bn. Continue reading...

Trump passed the long weekend posting a torrent of memes and musings on his Truth Social platformThe long weekend may have proved too long for Donald Trump, who passed the time by musing about annexing other countries, unilaterally renaming places he’s not allowed to rename and turning himself into a superhero.Amid the torrent of memes and posts by the president on his Truth Social platform over the Labor Day holiday weekend was a bizarre AI-generated video depicting Trump as the Green Lantern DC superhero, wielding a glowing green power ring to erect his border wall, illuminate an “American manufacturing” scene, and command a fleet of warplanes and warships behind him. Continue reading...

Tickets set to cost £408 at return for Somerset festival after a fallow year, a jump from £378.50 in 2025After a fallow year in 2026, Glastonbury festival fans can start to get excited – and nervous – about tickets for 2027’s event going on sale.The price breaks £400 for the first time, at £408 including a £5 booking fee, a rise from the 2025 cost of £378.50. The usual scramble to acquire them – with all the attendant frantic spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups – will begin at 9am on Sunday 4 October. Continue reading...

Appeals court dismisses lawsuit from Jackson residents claiming that tainted drinking water violated their rights A US appellate court has decided that the federal constitution does not guarantee a right to clean water.That legal opinion came in the form of a decision on Friday from the fifth circuit court of appeals to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of a 2022 lawsuit from several Jackson, Mississippi, residents claiming that tainted drinking water violated their constitutional rights. Continue reading...

The victims, employees of an aircraft cleaning company, were in a van when the plane crashed into itAt least five dead after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami airportOfficials in Florida on Tuesday identified the five people killed in Saturday’s Amazon cargo plane crash at Miami international airport – and said two more remained hospitalized in critical condition.At a morning news conference, the Miami-Dade sheriff, Rosie Cordero-Stutz, also said both pilots of the Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767, which careered off the end of the airport’s runway and struck at least two vehicles, were released from the hospital after treatment. Continue reading...

Ruslan Kravchenko resigns over allegations some of his officials were engaged in large-scale money launderingUkraine’s prosecutor general has resigned after investigators used ladders to raid his office in connection with a major corruption scandal that threatens to embarrass Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Ruslan Kravchenko quit his post on Monday after allegations that some of his officials were involved in large-scale money laundering. They received cash to protect call centres involved in illegal phone scams, it was claimed. Continue reading...

Air traffic control issue affecting airports across UK on Tuesday has been resolved but disruption could continue into WednesdayFlight disruption across UK continues after air traffic control technical issueBusiness live – latest updatesAirports across the UK including Manchester, Birmingham and all those in London were hit by problems at air traffic control on Tuesday.The technical issue at arose shortly before 2pm and was resolved about three hours later. By that time nearly 300 flights had been cancelled, with knock-on disruption across Britain and at destination airports abroad likely to continue into the evening and possibly Wednesday. Continue reading...