US supreme court rules Louisiana must redraw its congressional map in landmark case

Brown calls for police to look into former prince’s use of public funds as he says he had colleague raise issue in 2008Gordon Brown has revealed he ordered that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor be questioned about incurring “unacceptable costs” as a trade envoy in 2008, as he called for the police to widen their inquiry to include the use of public funds.The former prime minister said he asked a colleague from the business department to question Mountbatten-Windsor about his travel expenses. Continue reading...

Critics say Maryland’s new law banning rapidly change product costs based on consumer data is full of carveoutsMaryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores.Maryland’s law bans grocers and third-party delivery services from using a person’s personal data to set higher prices. Wes Moore, the governor, signed the measure into law on Tuesday. “At a time when technology can predict what we need, when we need it, when we’ll pay for it and also – when we’ll pay more for it, and at a time when we’re watching how big companies are then using these analytics against us to make record profits, Maryland is not just pushing back. Maryland is pushing forward because we are going to protect our people,” Moore said at the bill signing ceremony. Continue reading...

The fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuelsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA majority of Australians support taxing profits from gas exports and extending the cut to the fuel excise, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, despite Anthony Albanese on Wednesday ruling out a new tax on existing gas export contracts.The poll also found the fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuels. Australians also say they’re already cutting back on travel, switching to public transport and reducing their use of aircon and heating amid the global fuel uncertainty. Continue reading...

Democrats had filed civil contempt resolution against former attorney general for not appearing for depositionUS politics live – latest updatesThe House oversight and government reform committee has said that former attorney general Pam Bondi will now appear before the panel on 29 May to answer questions about the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and its release of the Epstein files.The announcement of the date came shortly after the Democrats on the committee announced that they had filed a civil contempt resolution against Bondi after she did not appear for her deposition earlier this month. Continue reading...

Three defendants deny plotting arson attack on two homes and a car connected to prime minister in London last yearA series of arson attacks on property linked to Keir Starmer was masterminded by a Russian-speaking contact using the pseudonym “El Money”, a court has heard.Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Petro Pochynok, 35, both from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, a Romanian national, sat with their heads bent towards interpreters as Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, opened the trial over the arson attacks in May last year. Continue reading...

Article 42.7 had languished in obscurity for decades – until Donald Trump began casting doubt on US commitment to Nato• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMost people have heard of Nato’s article 5. The “one for all, all for one” clause states an armed attack on one member country should be considered an attack on all, requiring member states to come to the victim’s aid – including with “the use of armed force”.Not so many, till this week, had heard of the EU’s own mutual defence clause, article 42.7 (pdf), which says that if a member state comes under armed attack, the others “shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power”. That’s perhaps because there hadn’t, until recently, been much need for Europeans to consult article 42.7. More than 40 US military bases and 85,000 troops across the EU (and UK) were testament to Washington’s defence commitment to the old continent. Continue reading...

Royal Navy chief says unified naval force will deter future Russian threats from the ‘open sea border’ to the northBritain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced.Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins insisted that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israel war in Iran that “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”. Continue reading...

Rise in electricity demand in first quarter of 2026 was moderated by record output from rooftop solarGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore datacentres and warmer conditions helped push electricity demand to record highs in the first three months of the year, according to Australia’s Energy Market Operator, while growth in batteries kept average wholesale prices down.Electricity demand – from households, business and industry – reached record levels of 25GW in Q1 2026, an increase of 1.2% compared with the same quarter last year. Across the grid, this growth was offset by record output from rooftop solar. Continue reading...

A Senate committee is poised to advance Trump’s pick as doubts linger over the Fed’s independence and Powell’s futureUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailKevin Warsh, ​Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve, is set to clear a key procedural hurdle on Wednesday, opening ‌the way for him to succeed Jerome Powell in coming weeks amid the White House’s unprecedented efforts to exert control over the world’s most powerful central bank.The Senate banking committee is set to vote at 10am EDT (1400 GMT) to advance Warsh’s nomination to the full Republican-controlled Senate. All 13 Republicans on ​the panel are expected to support Warsh after Thom Tillis, a North Carolina senator, dropped his opposition following the Department of Justice’s ​decision on Friday to end a criminal investigation into Powell that Tillis viewed as a threat to the ⁠Fed’s political independence. Continue reading...

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for flag, which appeared on 120-metre Spire in SeptemberWhat goes up must come down – unless it’s a Palestinian flag at the top of Dublin’s tallest monument that no one knows how to remove.The flag appeared on the 120-metre Spire on O’Connell Street last September and for seven months it has defied every proposed measure to take it down. Who installed it and how remains a mystery. Continue reading...

Four years after president’s pledge, his would-be successors are divided on how to tackle rising guerrilla attacksThe landmark 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the largest insurgent army in Latin America succeeded in some ways: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) agreed to lay down their weapons, and the violence that had racked the country was substantially reduced.But the deal alone could not end the decades-long armed conflict for good. Subsequent administrations slow-walked the implementation of the settlement, which was rejected by Farc dissidents and other rebel factions. Continue reading...