6 h. ago Why Trump’s undermining of US statistics is so dangerous | Daniel Malinsky

From the firing of the labor statistics chief to plans for a new census, the president’s moves serve to entrench authoritarianismIn 1937, Joseph Stalin commissioned a sweeping census of the Soviet Union. The data reflected some uncomfortable facts – in particular, the dampening of population growth in areas devastated by the 1933 famine – and so Stalin’s government suppressed the release of the survey results. Several high-level government statistical workers responsible for the census were subsequently imprisoned and apparently executed. Though the Soviet authorities would proudly trumpet national statistics that glorified the USSR’s achievements, any numbers that did not fit the preferred narrative were buried.A few weeks ago, following the release of “disappointing” jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Donald Trump fired the commissioner of labor statistics, Dr Erika McEntarfer, and claimed the numbers were “rigged”. He also announced his intention to commission a...

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7 h. ago Kim Jong Un arrives in China as President Xi challenges Trump with bid to establish new world order at anti

The North Korean leader's rare trip marks his first visit to China in six years and comes as the trio tighten their alliance in a direct challenge to the West.

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40 h. ago Angela Rayner is warned her plan to hand trade unions more power 'violates human rights'

As part of her reforms to employment rights, the party's deputy leader (pictured) is scrapping a Tory-era requirement for union members to opt in if they want to contribute towards political funds.

Events

3 d. ago Court blocks Trump bid to end protections for 600,000 Venezuelans

Appellate panel upholds lower court’s ruling as homeland security spokesperson attacks ‘activist’ judgesA federal appeals court on Friday blocked Donald Trump’s plans to end protections for 600,000 people from Venezuela who have permission to live and work in the US, saying that plaintiffs are likely to win their claim that the president’s administration’s actions were unlawful.A three-judge panel of the ninth US circuit court of appeals unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that maintained temporary protected status for Venezuelans while TPS holders challenge actions by the Republican president’s administration in court. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Ministers face backlash after Epping asylum hotel injunction overturned

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said that Sir Keir Starmer ‘puts the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British people’.

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4 d. ago UN human rights staff urge leadership to declare Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide

Internal letter also calls on UN member states to suspend arms sales, saying ‘criticising Israel is not enough’Middle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of employees of the United Nations’ leading human rights agency have backed an internal letter telling its leadership to declare Israel’s offensive in Gaza a genocide and to call on UN member states to suspend arms sales to Israel.The 1,100-word letter, signed by about a quarter of the 2,000 staff of the Geneva- and New York-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the Israeli offensive in Gaza meets the legal threshold of genocide and that this means “arms sales, transfers and related logistical or financial support to Israeli authorities” constitutes a clear breach of international law by all those involved. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago ICE asks permission to use Chicago Navy base as launch pad for its immigration and deportation crackdown

The president campaigned on reducing crime but his militaristic approach has sparked controversy among state leaders and civil rights groups

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5 d. ago Protesters throw stones at Argentina’s Milei over corruption allegations linked to sister

President’s motorcade pelted with stones on campaign trail as country’s news agenda dominated by alleged scandalThe president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has been pelted with stones while campaigning near the capital Buenos Aires by demonstrators protesting about allegations of corruption involving his influential sister.The far-right leader, who was whisked from the scene by his security detail, sustained no injuries after his motorcade was attacked, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni wrote on X. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Farage attacked for ‘ugly’ rhetoric of plan for mass deportation of asylum seekers

Reform UK leader says he will rip up UK’s human rights commitments and pay despotic regimes to take people backNigel Farage has been accused of “ugly” and “destructive” rhetoric after announcing plans to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, and pledging to pay despotic regimes such as the Taliban to take them back.Unveiling Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” at a combative press conference in Oxford, Farage said he would rip up the UK’s postwar human rights commitments, contained in a range of international conventions, to deport “absolutely anyone” – including women and children – arriving by small boat. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to sue Trump administration over its attempt to fire her

Cook’s attorney said the president has ‘no authority’ and ‘lacks any factual or legal basis’ to fire the Fed governorThe Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook will sue the Trump administration over its bid to fire her over unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, her attorney has said.Donald Trump announced he was firing Cook on Monday night, in an extraordinary move that marks the latest escalation in the US president’s attack on the central bank’s independence. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Nigel Farage vows to scrap UK human rights law and promises mass deportations

The Reform UK leader pledged to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and scrap the Human Rights Act

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8 d. ago Democrats ask Trump to resume a major offshore wind project near Rhode Island

The Democratic governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut, members of Congress and union workers are calling on the Trump administration to allow a major offshore wind project to move forward

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8 d. ago Britain facing ‘acute challenges’, Andrew Bailey tells economic summit

Bank of England chief tells Jackson Hole event of concern about weak growth and fall in worker numbersBritain faces an “acute challenge” from its weak underlying economic growth and a drop in the number of workers since the pandemic, according to the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey.A rise in the number of people defined as long-term sick and a big drop in young people in work – factors that he suggested might be intertwined – added to the squeeze created by an ageing population. Continue reading...

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8 d. ago UK faces ‘acute challenge’ from weak growth and shrinking workforce, says Andrew Bailey

Bank of England governor tells Jackson Hole summit that ageing population is adding to the squeezeBritain faces an “acute challenge” from its weak underlying economic growth and a drop in the number of workers since the pandemic, according to the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey.A rise in the number of people defined as long-term sick and a big drop in young people in work – factors that he suggested might be intertwined – added to the squeeze created by an ageing population. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Political leaders on Scottish council promise to 'defend right to peaceful protest'

Political leaders on a Scottish council have reaffirmed their commitment to being a "Council of Sanctuary"

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1 week ago Government to appeal against court ruling blocking asylum seekers being housed at Epping hotel – as it happened

This blog is now closed In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Friday, MSP Jeremy Balfour who has resigned from the Scottish Conservatives (see 9.13am BST), said he feels the party has “lost its way in Scotland” and “I don’t think it represents true Conservative values”.According to the PA news agency, when asked if Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay is the right person for the job and whether he should stay in the post, he said:Clearly I’m no longer a member of the party so that’s no longer a decision for me to make.I get on very well as an individual with Russell, I think he’s a good individual. Whether he’s the person to lead the Scottish Conservatives is obviously for MSPs, for the membership, to decide.What I’m very clear about is that those with disabilities, other minorities and the people of Lothian need a voice for people to hear what we require within our country.I’m not sure any party is actually offering that at the moment but whethe...

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1 week ago Government to appeal against court ruling blocking asylum seekers being housed at Epping hotel – UK politics live

Security minister says Labour will close asylum hotels by the end of this parliament but it needs to be done ‘in a managed and ordered way’In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Friday, MSP Jeremy Balfour who has resigned from the Scottish Conservatives (see 9.13am BST), said he feels the party has “lost its way in Scotland” and “I don’t think it represents true Conservative values”.According to the PA news agency, when asked if Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay is the right person for the job and whether he should stay in the post, he said:Clearly I’m no longer a member of the party so that’s no longer a decision for me to make.I get on very well as an individual with Russell, I think he’s a good individual. Whether he’s the person to lead the Scottish Conservatives is obviously for MSPs, for the membership, to decide.What I’m very clear about is that those with disabilities, other minorities and the people of Lothian need a voice for people t...

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1 week ago Government to appeal court ruling blocking asylum seekers being housed at Epping hotel – UK politics live

Security minister says Labour will close asylum hotels by the end of this parliament but it needs to be done ‘in a managed and ordered way’In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Friday, MSP Jeremy Balfour who has resigned from the Scottish Conservatives (see 9.13am BST), said he feels the party has “lost its way in Scotland” and “I don’t think it represents true Conservative values”.According to the PA news agency, when asked if Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay is the right person for the job and whether he should stay in the post, he said:Clearly I’m no longer a member of the party so that’s no longer a decision for me to make.I get on very well as an individual with Russell, I think he’s a good individual. Whether he’s the person to lead the Scottish Conservatives is obviously for MSPs, for the membership, to decide.What I’m very clear about is that those with disabilities, other minorities and the people of Lothian need a voice for people t...

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1 week ago Government workers are ‘canary in coalmine’ for Trump bid to gut union rights, leaders warn

Administration has stripped hundreds of thousands of their union contracts as White House says it is just getting startedThe Trump administration has unilaterally stripped hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their union contracts after a federal appeals court overruled an injunction which halted the plans. It is just getting started, according to the White House.An executive order issued in March sought to cancel all collective bargaining agreements for most federal employees, citing national security concerns – and remove collective bargaining rights from more than a million workers. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Steel workers face ‘huge uncertainty’ after Government takeover – union

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB national officer, told the BBC that workers have dealt with a ‘yo-yo’ while the matter went through the courts.

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