21 h. ago As civil rights books are pulled from school shelves, one Alabama town is refusing to forget its story

The Scottsboro Boys Museum tells the story of nine African American men who were falsely accused of the rape of two white women in 1931

Culture

30 h. ago Chinese economy slows as Trump tariffs bite; FTSE 100 on track to hit new record

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsThe owner of Kingsmill has agreed to buy its rival bakery business Hovis, in a deal that could make the biggest bread brand in the country if it gets the green light from regulators.Associated British Foods, a FTSE 100 company which also owns the retailer Primark, has agreed to buy Hovis from the private equity firm Endless.This transaction will create a UK bakeries business that is both profitable and sustainable over the long term. Supporting the Hovis and Kingsmill brands with well-invested and efficient operations will also enable innovation and growth. This solution will create value for shareholders, provide greater choice for consumers and increase efficiencies for customers.Firms may be running on existing capacity rather than building new plants The July industrial value-add breakdown tells a more nuanced story than the weak fixed asset investment headline. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago Trump told cops to do ‘whatever the hell they want’ to fix DC. Here’s why that’s ‘extremely dangerous’

White House mandate ‘runs roughshod over constitutional rights and due process protections,’ civil rights groups and legal experts tell Alex Woodward

Politics

55 h. ago UK economy posts surprise 0.3% growth in three months to June

GDP figure slower than previous quarter but beats expectations thanks to 0.4% expansion last monthThe UK economy grew at a faster rate than expected in the second quarter, official figures show, despite pressure on households and businesses from tax increased and Donald Trump’s global trade war.Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 0.3% in the three months to the end of June, down from a rate of 0.7% in the first quarter. Continue reading...

Politics

55 h. ago UK economic growth slows amid pressure on business and Trump trade war

UK economic growth slowed to 0.3% between April and June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Economics

5 d. ago US veterans agency lost thousands of ‘core’ medical staff under Trump, records show

Departures are exacerbating existing shortages and creating ‘very unsafe’ conditions for patients, veterans and health workers sayThe Department of Veterans Affairs has lost thousands of healthcare professionals deemed “core” to the system’s ability to function and “without which mission-critical work cannot be completed”, agency records show.The number of medical staff on hand to treat veterans has fallen every month since Donald Trump took office. The VA has experienced a net loss of 2,000 registered nurses since the start of this fiscal year, the data show, along with approximately 1,300 medical assistants, 1,100 nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses, 800 doctors, 500 social workers and 150 psychologists. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Rightwingers warn of another blaze of summer riots in Britain – but they’re the ones striking the match | John Harris

Grim predictions of ‘societal collapse’ and ‘civil war’ will hit home so long as Labour fails to address the country’s problemsA last stretch of this strange, uneasy summer remains. Between now and September, there could conceivably be further outbreaks of the kind of violence that rightwing politicians and their media allies have been frantically predicting. But for now, behold a fascinating spectacle: a country quietly refusing to chaotically combust, despite being endlessly encouraged to do so.One word in particular symbolises the gap between hyped-up rhetoric and everyday reality. “Tinderbox” was first used in the mid-16th century, to describe a crude instrument for starting fires: a container that carried a piece of either flint or steel, and a pocketful of the dry, flammable material that gave the device its name. With the invention of matches, the use of such implements fell away, and the word began its passage to how it is used today: as political shorthand for any situation...

Events

7 d. ago Trump’s DOJ subpoenas NY AG’s office for files on Trump’s civil prosecution and case against NRA

Trump’s Justice Department has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James as it investigates whether she violated the president’s civil rights

Politics

7 d. ago Justice Department subpoenas New York AG James as it investigates whether she violated Trump rights

The Justice Department has subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James as it investigates whether she violated Trump’s civil rights

Politics

8 d. ago Former Georgia deputy indicted on charges he used excessive force and covered it up in reports

A federal grand jury has indicted a former Georgia sheriff's sergeant on civil rights charges

Politics

1 week ago Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, our voices are being eroded | Al Sharpton

The 1965 law, a rare and profound act of consensus, has been hollowed out. We cannot forget the power Dr King saw in the right to voteIn a moment when we should be celebrating one of the most important pieces of legislation in American history, we are in fact at a worse place as a nation than when it was passed. Those of us fighting to protect the right to vote find ourselves against a movement that doesn’t want to take us back to 1965. They want to create an America that more closely resembles the one of 1865.Sixty years ago, in a rare and profound act of consensus, Congress passed a law to end the centuries-old rigging of American democracy. Yet today the system is as rigged as ever, with the battered Voting Rights Act on life support.Rev Al Sharpton is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and radio talkshow host Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago White House officials rush to defend Trump after shaky economic week

US trade representative says ‘the president is the president’ after firing of labor statistics chief amid slow job growthDonald Trump administration officials fanned out on Sunday’s US political shows to defend the president’s policies after a bruising week of poor economic, trade and employment numbers that culminated with the firing of labor statistics chief Erika McEntarfer.US trade representative Jamieson Greer said Trump has “real concerns” about the jobs numbers that extend beyond Friday’s report that showed the national economy added 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. Job growth numbers were revised down by 285,000 for the two previous months as well. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Profound alarm’: US veterans agency roiled by fight over anti

Nearly 100 lawmakers claim the agency’s recent actions put veterans’ healthcare at risk. Department of Veterans Affairs chief says ‘no one is being discriminated against at VA’The US Department of Veterans Affairs has enthusiastically joined Donald Trump’s war on DEI – demanding that staffers report colleagues who engage in diversity initiatives, banning LGBTQ+ pride flags from VA hospitals and shuttering an office investigating why Black veterans are more likely to have their mental health disability claims rejected.Last week, VA secretary Doug Collins tweeted that “VA is now squarely focused on Veterans – not out-of-touch, woke causes such as DEI and gender dysphoria treatments.” Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Civil rights work is slowing as Trump dismantles the Education Department, agency data shows

Data from the Education Department shows the pace at which it resolves civil rights complaints has slowed as the Trump administration dismantles the agency

Politics

4 w. ago Ice given access to Medicaid data in move critics call a privacy betrayal

Officials let Ice access health data to locate migrants, alarming experts who warn of civil rights and health risksMedicaid officials have reportedly made an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to allow agents to examine a database of Americans’ personal information – including home addresses, social security numbers and ethnicities.The data sharing agreement will allow Ice to find “the location of aliens”, according to an agreement obtained by the Associated Press. Medicaid is the nation’s single largest health insurer, providing coverage for 79 million low-income, disabled and elderly people. Continue reading...

Politics