Trump refiles $10bn lawsuit against WSJ over report on alleged Epstein ties

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producerJamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024. Continue reading...

States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standardsAbortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it’s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions. Continue reading...

Wicked co-star said reactions to the incident, which included suggestions she was Grande’s ‘bodyguard’, reflect an insidious view of Black womenWicked star Cynthia Erivo has said that reactions to the incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good, in which she stepped in to fend off a red-carpet invader who grabbed co-star Ariana Grande, revealed “the insidious nature of how we view Black women” and put her off campaigning for Oscars.In an interview with Variety, Erivo said that she and Grande were “terrified” when Johnson Wen jumped a barrier at Universal Studios Singapore and rushed towards them. “Nobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ … And what people couldn’t see is that he wouldn’t let go [of Grande]. He wouldn’t let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.” Continue reading...

President makes comments after reports Iran and Oman have discussed jointly charging a toll for ships. Plus, how ‘balcony solar’ could help fight rising energy costsGood morning.In a casual aside during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” Oman, a US ally, if it failed to “behave” over the reopening the strait of Hormuz.What is the latest on a deal to end the war? Negotiations are continuing but the US earlier this week struck Iranian targets, reportedly killing four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which prompted an apparent Iranian retaliatory attack on an American airbase in Kuwait.What is happening inside Iran? Internet restrictions were partially lifted this week, revealing increasing anger from Iranians over rapid food price inflation.What is the humanitarian toll of the war? More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the latest round of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which began in March. At least 3,213 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The office of Israel’s prime minister reported that 23 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel.What is life like inside Israel’s “yellow line”? The Guardian’s William Christou, in Kfarchouba, Lebanon, spoke to the villagers living in fear of nightly raids and daytime bombings from the Israeli military occupying their land. Continue reading...

Alan Milburn warns of ‘lost generation’ after number of young people not in work or education rises to more than 1m‘A record of failure’: what’s in first part of Milburn report?Tell us: we would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job hunting experienceBritain risks a financial hit worth £125bn a year from a worsening crisis in youth worklessness after a rise in the number of young people not in employment or education to more than 1 million.In a landmark government-backed report, Alan Milburn warned that Britain’s economy and the public finances were losing billions of pounds a year amid the growing risk of a “lost generation” of young people. Continue reading...

Minister spares 700kg beast after security concerns around the unusual level of public interest in the animalA rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official.The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival. Continue reading...

It’s a thumbs up from the country’s 3 million students, who can now buy cheap meals up to twice a dayWhere in France can you get a nutritious and balanced three-course meal for €1?If you are one of the country’s estimated 3 million students in higher education, the answer is: the university restaurant or cafe. Continue reading...

Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly told undercover officer reporter ‘needed to be taken off the board’An Alabama neo-Nazi accused of trying to start a paramilitary unit to take out “high value targets” aimed to kill a journalist who once reported on him, according to law enforcement testimony obtained by the Guardian.Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly used “coded talk” to tell an undercover officer in November 2024 that the journalist was a “pawn” that “needed to be taken off the board”. Continue reading...

The lawsuit is one of several that the president has brought in his personal capacity against news organizationsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump has refiled a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10bn in damages against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after a judge threw out an earlier version over legal deficiencies.In a new interview with CBS News, Jill Biden, the former first lady, said that she was “frightened” as she watched her husband, then-president Joe Biden, freeze up during his disastrous 2024 debate against Donald Trump. Pressed to explain what happened, Jill Biden said: “I don’t know what happened. I mean as I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke’. And it scared me to death.”Two House Democrats, Don Beyer of Virginia and Dina Titus of Nevada, announced that they plan to introduce a bill that would “explicitly prohibit construction of President Trump’s proposed ‘triumphal arch’ outside Arlington National Cemetery”.Cam Higby, a rightwing activist disguised as a pro-Palestinian activist, disrupted a news conference with the Democratic congressmen Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Continue reading...

Barratt Redrow boss says rising interest rates, higher student debt and squeeze on wages hitting property dreamBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Britain’s largest housebuilder has warned that it is the most challenging time to be a first-time buyer since the financial crisis, as the dream of home ownership moves increasingly out of reach for many young people.A combination of rising interest rates, higher levels of student debt and the squeeze on wages is making it “challenging, very, very difficult” for young people to get on the housing ladder, according to David Thomas, the outgoing chief executive of Barratt Redrow. Continue reading...

The $1,000 tax deduction, $250 ‘working Australians tax offset’, and CGT and negative gearing changes will most benefit young people, Treasury secretary saysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNinety per cent of young Australians will be better off under the Albanese government’s tax proposals, the Treasury claims, as Labor moves to pass its reforms into law.The government introduced the tax changes to parliament on Thursday before a heated question time in which the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, called Anthony Albanese an “arrogant prick”, while separately the Nationals demanded the government call an early election. Continue reading...