32 h. ago Texas Democrats say they are prepared to return to state after two

Chair of state’s house Democratic caucus said they will return once California submits new congressional map to offset losses in TexasUS politics live – latest updatesTexas Democrats said on Thursday they are prepared to return to the state under certain conditions, ending a nearly two-week-long effort to block Republicans from passing a new congressional map that would add five GOP seats.The lawmakers said they would return as long as the legislature ends its first special session on Friday, which Republicans have said they plan to do. Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, has said he will immediately call another special session. Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Morecambe FC reach sale agreement in principle after being on brink of extinction

Morecambe have said an agreement in principle has been reached for the sale of the club, with the side currently suspended by the National League over their financial issues

Politics

41 h. ago Coronation Street favourite Asha Alahan to reach 'breaking point' after racist attack

Coronation Street has announced that cobbles favourite Asha Alahan will be the focus of an upcoming hour-long special which follows her during a 'harrowing' paramedic shift

Events

41 h. ago Harrowing ITV Coronation Street episode will show character reach breaking point in emotional hour

Coronation Street's beloved character Asha Alahan will be at the centre of an emotional hour-long special episode, which will air on ITV this month

Culture

5 d. ago As the world hurtles ever closer to nuclear oblivion, where is the opposition? | Simon Tisdall

The puerile standoff between the US and Russia ought to alert a slumbering public to a risk that is in many ways greater than during the cold warNuclear weapons – their lethal menace, dark history and future spread – are back in the headlines again and, as usual, the news is worrying, bordering on desperate. Russia’s decision last week to formally abandon the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty banning medium- and short-range nuclear missiles completes the demolition of a key pillar of global arms control. It will accelerate an already frantic nuclear arms race in Europe and Asia at a moment when US and Russian leaders are taunting each other like schoolboys.Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has repeatedly threatened the west with nuclear weapons during his war in Ukraine. Last November, Russian forces fired their new Oreshnik hypersonic, nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile at Dnipro. It travels “like a meteorite” at 10 times the speed of sound and can reach...

Events

6 d. ago ‘We are at war – bring it on’: Democrats ready to fight dirty to stop Trump

Republican push for gerrymandered congressional maps triggers down-and-dirty from new generation – will it work?It was a stirring speech that brought Democrats to tears. “When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level,” Michelle Obama told them in Philadelphia in 2016. “No, our motto is: ‘When they go low, we go high.’”Fast forward to Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaking in Chicago this week. “This is not the Democratic party of your grandfather, which would bring a pencil to the knife fight,” he insisted. “This is a new Democratic party. We’re bringing a knife to a knife fight, and we are going to fight fire with fire.” Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Texas house again fails to meet quorum as governor threatens to add more Republican seats to gerrymandered map – live

State legislature fails to meet quorum for third day; Greg Abbott says ‘we may may it six, or seven, or eight’ about number of added gerrymandered seatsTexas house meets without necessary number of lawmakersAccording to new reporting by the New York Times, the president has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that the Trump administration considers terrorist organizations.According to the Times’ sources, US military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the group. The Times also notes that this escalation would be the most “aggressive step” in the administration’s “campaign against cartels”. They also noted that this continues the president’s preference for using “military forces to carry out what has primarily been considered a law enforcement responsibility to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs”. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago ‘Leave it to nature’: how enticing insects to kill off pests helped cut reliance on pesticides

While working to stop bollworms destroying cotton crops, Dr Robert Mensah wondered whether other insects could provide a solutionWhile trying to come up with a pesticide solution to kill off bollworms, Dr Robert Mensah had his eureka moment.It was the 90s, and in Australia bollworms were devastating cotton farms, with the larvae of these moths chomping up the crops faster than farmers could eradicate them. The farmers were trapped in an arms race with the bollworms, applying more and more pesticide to combat an increasingly resistant species of pest – killing many beneficial insects in the process. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Democrats condemn Texas senator over alleged FBI role in locating lawmakers

John Cornyn claims FBI agreed to help return Democrats to state, sparking backlash amid GOP map pushUS politics live – latest updatesDemocrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and Republicans on Thursday after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in locating Texas Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block Republicans from enacting a gerrymandered congressional map that would likely add five more Republican seats before next year’s midterm elections.Senator John Cornyn’s claim that the FBI would assist Republicans’ effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment. An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. None of the lawmakers have been charged with a crime. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Democrats respond to FBI agreement to locate Texas lawmakers: ‘We will not be intimidated’ – live updates

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries accuses Trump administration of attempting to ‘weaponize law enforcement to target political adversaries’Vance urges Republicans in Indiana to redraw map to help tighten House gripDonald Trump on Wednesday celebrated a commitment by Apple to increase its investments in US manufacturing by an additional $100bn over the next four years.Apple’s plan to up its domestic investment comes as it seeks to avoid Trump’s threatened tariffs, which would increase the tech giant’s costs as it relies on a complex international supply chain to produce its iPhones. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, warned during an earnings call in May that the tariffs could cost the company up to $900m that fiscal quarter alone. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago Democrats slam Texas senator Cornyn over alleged FBI role in locating fleeing lawmakers

Cornyn claims the FBI agreed to help return Texas Democrats, sparking legal and political backlash amid GOP map pushUS politics live – latest updatesDemocrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and fellow Republicans on Thursday after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in returning Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to stop a Republican effort to redistrict.US senator John Cornyn’s claim that the FBI will assist Republicans’ effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment. An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Democrats slam Texas senator over alleged FBI role in locating lawmakers

John Cornyn claims FBI agreed to help return Democrats to state, sparking backlash amid GOP map pushUS politics live – latest updatesDemocrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and fellow Republicans on Thursday after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in returning Texas Democratic lawmakers who left the state to stop a Republican effort to redistrict.Senator John Cornyn’s claim that the FBI would assist Republicans’ effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment. An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Transfer news live: Man United reach Sesko breakthrough, Liverpool get Isak boost, Eze to Arsenal

Follow all the latest transfer rumours, gossip and signings

Sport

9 d. ago With only one nuclear arms pact left between the US and Russia, a new arms race is possible

For decades, the threat of nuclear conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union hung over humanity

Events

1 week ago ‘We are at war’: Democrats reach breaking point over Republican threats in political map arms race

Democrats have long warned that partisan gerrymandering threatens American democracy — but now they’re ready to fight fire with fire, Alex Woodward reports

Politics

1 week ago Arms race fears as Putin says Russia is no longer bound by missile treaty

Russia's move follows Trump's nuclear messaging

Events

3 w. ago Revealed: BMA's war chest will fund doctors' strikes with unions able to spend MILLIONS to wreak NHS havoc

The British Medical Association boasts it is prepared for a 'long-term' fight with Health Secretary Wes Streeting if talks to prevent crippling strikes (pictured) fail to reach a breakthrough.

Economics

3 w. ago Tour de France: Alaphilippe celebrates on stage 15 but discovers Wellens won long before him

Radio damage meant Alaphilippe unaware of Belgian’s winWellens had crossed line over a minute before FrenchmanFrench stage wins in the Tour de France are increasingly rare, so when they do happen, there are wild celebrations. Julian Alaphilippe, the former world road race champion, raised his arms in triumph in Carcassonne, thinking he had won, only to be told seconds later that he had in fact finished third behind two Belgians.Ahead of the crestfallen Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar’s teammate Tim Wellens took a solo win on stage 15 of the Tour, well ahead of compatriot Victor Campanaerts, a teammate to Jonas Vingegaard. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Louisiana scraps $3 billion coastal restoration funded by oil spill settlement

Republican Governor Jeff Landry views the project as a threat to the state’s way of life

Economics

4 w. ago Maryland man charged with threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her family

A Maryland man has been arrested on charges that he made threatening calls to the Georgia offices of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Events