7 h. ago Mayor of DC pushes back on Trump’s incursion as national guard troops patrol the streets

Around 800 troops expected to be deployed and an unknown number of arrests have been made as Trump makes claims about ‘crime crisis’US politics live – latest updatesNational guard and federal law enforcement agents were spotted on the streets of Washington DC overnight Wednesday, as part of Donald Trump’s campaign to quell a “crime crisis” in the capital that local officials say does not exist.National guard troops were spotted arriving on the National Mall late Tuesday as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI and Department of Homeland Security fanned out across neighborhoods in the capital, sometimes accompanied by local police officers. Video circulating on local media showed police and federal agents arresting at least one person that evening in Columbia Heights, home to the city’s largest Hispanic population. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago Mould, vermin and ceiling leaks: German police say they work in ‘embarrassing’ conditions

Union calls for increased spending to revamp vehicles and station houses that it says are an insult to officers’ dignityGermany’s biggest police union has complained about the dilapidated state of hundreds of police stations across the country and a fleet of aged vehicles, saying conditions are a threat to officers’ health and an insult to their dignity.“Decades-old toilet bowls, mould in the offices, vermin, broken heating units and holes in the ceiling that let the rain in,” said Hagen Husgen of the GdP union, citing just a few of the complaints his organisation had received from members. Continue reading...

Events

62 h. ago New calls to increase weekly State Pension payments to £586 for every person aged over 60

An online petition proposes a new ‘universal’ State Pension linked to the National Living Wage.

Economics

4 d. ago William H Webster, former director of FBI and CIA, dies aged 101

Appointed by Carter to head FBI in 1978, Webster helped improve the image of an agency tarnished by scandalWilliam H Webster, the former FBI and CIA director whose troubleshooting skills and integrity helped restore public confidence in those federal agencies, has died, his family announced on Friday. He was 101.Webster led the FBI from 1978 to 1987 and the CIA from 1987 to 1991, the only person to guide the nation’s top law-enforcement agency and its primary intelligence-gathering organization. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Released violent offenders to be ‘locked’ in restriction zones in England and Wales

Women’s safety campaigners welcome plan to switch from exclusion zones that ‘have made victims feel trapped’Restriction zones aimed at “locking” violent offenders – rather than their victims – into specific areas when they are released from prison are to be introduced by the government in England and Wales.At the moment, exclusion zones are often used to keep an offender away from their victim’s home but many campaigners for women’s safety have long called for this to be flipped.Increased tagging for domestic perpetrators.Requiring judges to flag domestic abuse at sentencing so prisons, probation and police can better identify and manage abusers.Expanding specialist domestic abuse courts.Bolstering transparency for victims at sentencing – including the provision of free copies of judges’ sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Just one course of psychotherapy can ease back pain for years, study finds

Study calls for scaling up clinician training to increase accessibility of psychotherapy

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Healthocide’: experts warn of rise in targeting of health services in conflict

Principle of medical neutrality threatened as doctors and hospitals deliberately attacked, particularly in GazaTargeting medics and hospitals in acts of war should be called “healthocide”, academics have urged, amid an increase in such attacks in recent years.Health services are increasingly deliberately under attack and medics are facing violence and abuse in conflict zones around the world – in particular in Gaza, but also in Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and El Salvador. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Japan’s oldest person, aged 114, reveals the ‘greatest asset’ of her long life

Retired physician Shigeko Kagawa didn’t retire until she was 86

Politics

2 w. ago The Oath: to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel’s healthcare system

Across the world, newly graduated medical students take an oath to uphold the ethics of medical practice. Dr Lina Qasem-Hassan, a Palestinian living and working in Israel, teaches medical ethics as well as practising as a physician, caring for both Israeli and Palestinian patients. In Israel’s internationally acclaimed healthcare system, regarded as one of the world’s leading examples, a quarter of doctors are Palestinian citizens of Israel. While the medical oath calls for equal care for all patients, Lina sees a profession increasingly at odds with that principle. Since filming began in February 2024, and with the conflict continuing to escalate ever since, Lina's commitment to the oath remains unwavering Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Who needs quinoa? 17 overlooked and affordable superfoods, from peas and potatoes to popcorn and even sugar

Can’t afford goji berries, spirulina or turmeric – or just don’t like the taste? Most kitchens are full of healthy but unglamorous alternatives. Nutrition experts name their favouritesWhat is a superfood? According to Italian scientists writing in the journal Frontiers in Food Science and Technology in February, the term was coined in the 1960s to describe foods that could fight malnutrition. It wasn’t until the 00s that it was co-opted to sell exotic and expensive ingredients to health-conscious customers. During the pandemic, interest in so-called superfoods increased again, especially those said to “boost immunity” and “protect against pathogens”.The researchers, Giulia Santunione and Giuseppe Montevecchi, define superfoods as “a marketing term used to describe nutrient-dense foods claimed to have health benefits”. In sales terms, the superfood label has been a huge success. The global superfoods market is projected to rise from an estimated $155.2bn in 2022 to $344.9bn by 2033. ...

Politics

4 w. ago Commuters rage over public transport faux pas that makes rush hour 'even more miserable'

Fed-up Londoners are taking to social media to call out this increasingly common nuisance of 'pole hogging'. Some are calling the habit the 'height of entitlement' and 'weird'

Politics

4 w. ago HMRC does not know how many billionaires pay tax in UK – report

The Public Accounts Committee is calling for HMRC to publish its plan for increasing tax yield from wealthy taxpayers domestically and offshore.

Economics

4 w. ago DWP makes major Universal Credit change with UK households given £725 boost

The Department for Work and Pensions has announced that the Universal Credit standard allowance will permanently rise above inflation, amounting to £725 by 2029/30 in cash terms for a single person aged 25 or over

Economics

4 w. ago HMRC warning for Brits who receive state pension as they could owe money

The full rate of the new State Pension is now £230.25 per week or £11,973 a year, meaning some pensioners who receive this amount may need to consider their tax position

Events