7 h. ago X rated Cole Palmer triggers live TV apology as flabbergasted reaction to Donald Trump goes global

The Chelsea star grabbed the headlines during and after his side's stunning 3-0 win over PSG in the Club World Cup Final.

Politics

15 h. ago Cole Palmer turns air Chelsea blue as DAZN forced to apologise after Club World Cup glory

Cole Palmer turned the air Chelsea blue as DAZN were forced to apologise after some x-rated language following their Club World Cup win over PSG

Society

2 d. ago We’ve become inured to Trump’s outbursts – but when he goes quiet, we need to be worried | Jonathan Freedland

Across the US, without soundbites or stunts, the president is building a police state and eroding democracyIn the global attention economy, one titan looms over all others. Donald Trump can command the gaze of the world at a click of those famously short fingers. When he stages a spectacular made-for-TV moment – say, that Oval Office showdown with Volodymyr Zelenskyy – the entire planet sits up and takes notice.But that dominance has a curious side-effect. When Trump does something awful and eye-catching, nations tremble and markets move. But when he does something awful but unflashy, it scarcely registers. So long as there’s no jaw-dropping video, no expletive-ridden soundbite, no gimmick or stunt, it can slip by as if it hadn’t happened. Especially now that our senses are dulled through over-stimulation. These days it requires ever more shocking behaviour by the US president to prompt a reaction; we are becoming inured to him. Yet the danger he poses is as sharp as ever.Jonathan F...

Politics

2 d. ago We’re becoming inured to Trump’s outbursts – but when he goes quiet, we need to be worried | Jonathan Freedland

Across the US, without soundbites or stunts, the president is building a police state and eroding democracyIn the global attention economy, one titan looms over all others. Donald Trump can command the gaze of the world at a click of those famously short fingers. When he stages a spectacular made-for-TV moment – say, that Oval Office showdown with Volodymyr Zelenskyy – the entire planet sits up and takes notice.But that dominance has a curious side-effect. When Trump does something awful and eye-catching, nations tremble and markets move. But when he does something awful but unflashy, it scarcely registers. So long as there’s no jaw-dropping video, no expletive-ridden soundbite, no gimmick or stunt, it can slip by as if it hadn’t happened. Especially now that our senses are dulled through over-stimulation. These days it requires ever more shocking behaviour by the US president to prompt a reaction; we are becoming inured to him. Yet the danger he poses is as sharp as ever.Jonathan F...

Politics

4 d. ago Lobbyists linked to Donald Trump paid millions by world’s poorest countries

Somalia, DR Congo and Yemen among states forced to sign deals and barter their minerals for aid or military supportSome of the world’s poorest countries have started paying millions to lobbyists linked to Donald Trump to try to offset US cuts to foreign aid, an investigation reveals.Somalia, Haiti and Yemen are among 11 countries to sign significant lobbying deals with figures tied directly to the US president after he slashed US foreign humanitarian assistance. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Relief for UK steel industry as Trump delays ramping up tariffs to 50% AGAIN

Donald Trump has extended the deadline for increasing levies on global imports from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

Politics

7 d. ago Europe does not have to choose between guns and butter. There is another way | Shahin Vallée and Joseph de Weck

Yes, defence spending has to rise – but slashing the welfare state to fund it would be a big mistakeEuropean governments are once again haunted by a tough choice between financing the military or spending on social programmes. That, at any rate, is the narrative that has taken hold since Donald Trump’s retreat from the postwar global security order and the urgent pressure to rearm Europe.But to frame the dilemma facing Europe in this way is a big mistake. History teaches us that the political choice has never been about guns or butter, but rather guns or taxes. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago UNAids chief ‘shaken and disgusted’ by US cuts that will mean millions more deaths

Winnie Byanyima tells the Guardian she considered resigning when Donald Trump cancelled Pepfar fundingThe head of the global agency tackling Aids says she expects HIV rates to soar and deaths to multiply in the next four years as a direct impact of the “seismic” US cuts to aid spending.Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAids, said that if the funding permanently disappeared, the world faced an additional 6 million HIV infections and 4 million Aids-related deaths by 2029. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Economic slowdown linked to global uncertainty amid Trump tariffs – think tank

The Fraser of Allander Institute now expects Scottish economic growth of 0.8% in 2025 and 1.0% in 2026 – a slight downgrade from its April forecasts.

Economics

1 week ago The Guardian view on Trump’s aid cuts and development: the global majority deserve justice, not charity | Editorial

Funding is plummeting as needs grow, with the closure of USAID, the slashing of UK and European aid budgets, and the obstruction of debt reform and cancellationWhen one door closes, you would hope that another opens. As USAID was formally shut down on Monday, a once-in-a-decade development financing conference was kicking off in Seville. But while initially intended to move the world closer to its ambitious 2030 sustainable development goals, it now looks more like an attempt to prevent a reversal of the progress already made.A study published in the Lancet predicted that Donald Trump’s aid cuts could claim more than 14 million lives by 2030, a third of them among children. For many poor countries, the scale of the shock would be similar to that of a major war, the authors found. More than four-fifths of the US agency’s programmes have been cut, with surviving projects folded into the state department. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Bush, Obama and Bono bid farewell to USAID as researchers warn agency’s closure means 14m extra deaths

Departing staff thanked by two former presidents and a rock legend as new study reveals human cost of Trump administration’s decision to axe global humanitarian agency

Events

1 week ago Obama and Bush call Trump’s USAID closure a ‘travesty’ as report warns of 14 million extra deaths

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush and singer Bono send emotional message to staff as organisation closesBarack Obama and George W Bush have criticised the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as a study warned it could result in “a staggering number” of avoidable deaths – more than 14 million over five years.The former US presidents made rare public criticisms of the Trump administration as they took part in a video farewell for USAID staffers on Monday on its last day as an independent organisation. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Obama calls Trump’s USAID closure a ‘travesty’ as report warns of extra 14 million deaths by 2030

Former presidents Obama and George W Bush and singer Bono send emotional message to staff as organisation closesBarack Obama and George W Bush have criticised the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as a study warned it would result in “a staggering number” of avoidable deaths.The former US presidents made rare public criticisms of the Trump administration as they took part in a video farewell for USAID staffers on its last day as an independent organisation. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Obama and Bush call Trump’s USAID closure a ‘travesty’ as report warns of millions of extra deaths

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush and singer Bono send emotional message to staff as organisation closesBarack Obama and George W Bush have criticised the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as a study warned it would result in “a staggering number” of avoidable deaths.The former US presidents made rare public criticisms of the Trump administration as they took part in a video farewell for USAID staffers on its last day as an independent organisation. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago To all who think capitalism can drive progressive change, it won’t – and here’s the shocking proof | Polly Toynbee

Asset manager Aberdeen’s surprise cut to funding research into inequality has left those that used its grants for good works reelingThe axe fell with shocking suddenness. On Thursday Aberdeen Group plc terminated its Financial Fairness Trust without notice and sacked the CEO, Mubin Haq, the chair and all the trustees, leaving eight staff dangling. The company tells me it plans to move in a different direction. That dreaded phrase marks the end of 16 remarkable years, during which the trust sponsored some of the most influential research into inequality and its financial causes.Aberdeen is a wealth management and investment company. I admired its willingness to fund research not in its own immediate interest, but for the sake of social improvement, as a sign that decent capitalism was possible. Now that’s over. The mood has changed. Wildfires started by President Trump are engulfing global companies as his administration attempts to bar asset and retirement plan managers from conside...

Events

2 w. ago Home discomforts send Trump rushing to project image of global patriarch

The tortured progress of the president’s tax-and-spend bill is likely to bring his supporters a big, ugly surprise – little wonder he was so keen to turn the focus to Iran and Nato“Daddy’s home.” So said a social media post from the White House, accompanied by a video featuring the song Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) by Usher and images of Donald Trump at the Nato summit in The Hague.The US president’s fundraising allies were quick to market $35 T-shirts with his image and the word after Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, referred to Trump’s criticism of Israel and Iran over violations of a ceasefire by quipping: “And then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get [them to] stop.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Is Trump a genius? Top economist and tariff skeptic admits president may have outsmarted us all on the economy

Torsten Sløk, the chief economist at Apollo Global Management, theorized a possible way for President Donald Trump to avoid wrecking the global economy with his tariffs — if he changes how he’s playing his game

Politics

2 w. ago US attacks on Iran redraw calculus of use of force for allies and rivals around globe

Perceived readiness of US to employ force instead of negotiations could have knock-on effects around the worldUS politics live – latest updatesFor US allies and rivals around the world, Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran have redrawn the calculus of the White House’s readiness to use force in the kind of direct interventions that the president said he would make a thing of the past under his isolationist “America First” foreign policy.From Russia and China to Europe and across the global south, the president’s decision to launch the largest strategic bombing strike in US history indicates a White House that is ready to employ force abroad – but reluctantly and under the extremely temperamental and unpredictable leadership of the president. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Number of Brits who see US as a global threat doubles since Donald Trump came to power

President’s first few months in office have left fears about the US’ global role at an ‘all time high’ and rivalling China, Israel and North Korea

Politics

2 w. ago Canada and EU sign defense pact amid strained US relations and global instability

Amid Trump’s disrespect of old allies, EU and Canada vow more support for Ukraine and joint work on climate crisisCanada has signed a wide-ranging defence pact with the EU, as Donald Trump and global instability prompt traditional US allies to deepen their alliances.Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on Monday joined European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and head of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels, where they signed a security and defence partnership, pledged more support for Ukraine, as well as joint work on issues from the climate crisis to artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Events