Republican lawmakers have moved to block a Democratic effort to force the release of the so-called Epstein files, a near-mythological trove of undisclosed information about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at the center of an internal political war among US conservatives.
Democrats had been pressing for an amendment to cryptocurrency legislation that would have forced the release of information and exhibits itemized in a list of evidence held by the justice department from the 2019 child sex-trafficking case against disgraced financier Epstein.
Dataset containing details of thousands of Afghans who applied for relocation to UK released ‘in error’ in 2022
Helen Miller is taking over as director of the Insitute for Fiscal Studies thinktank this week, taking over from Paul Johnson, who established himself as the nation’s leading budget commentator.
Budget commentary tends to focus on the Treasury’s fiscal rules, on how much “headroom” is available to Rachel Reeves (spare cash in the budget – based on spending plans and anticipated tax revenue, based on the OBR’s growth assumptions), and whether tax or spending plans need to change because the OBR’s forecasts have shifted.
Labour came to office with the promise of a ‘mission-driven’ government – a commitment to long-term thinking and systemic reform. The ambition that we should be ‘raising our sights as a nation’ and finding ways to tackle the big challenges we face is the right one.
Despite this, we continue to limp from fiscal event to fiscal event, obsessed with whether run of the mill revisions to the economic and fiscal outlook have reduced the fiscal headroom and whether tax or spend takeaways will follow. We need to break out of this cycle.
Noel Gallagher named a song after it, Marc Almond practically moved in and the Killers had a bathtub reserved for puking in – but was it rock’n’roll, or just a bit tragic?
In the early 2000s, a member of the New York dance-punk band Radio 4 was walking upstairs when he realised he’d forgotten the key to his room at London’s Columbia hotel. Rather than walk back down the several flights he’d already climbed, he drunkenly decided to jump all the way down to the reception level. When he regained consciousness, a bemused Courtney Love was staring down at his prone body. As was an irate hotel manager, who swiftly barred the band from staying there for years, before the crumpled musician was scooped up to go and spend a few days in hospital.
It was not easy to get barred from the Columbia hotel, but Radio 4 were not the only ones who managed it. Once, at 6am, members of Oasis decided to throw all the furniture in the bar out of the window, piece by piece. When items landed on the hotel manager’s Mercedes, the band had to scarper before the police arrived. It played such a significant part in Oasis’s story that Noel Gallagher wrote a song in tribute to it, Columbia, based on his escapades there back when he was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets.
Twenty-two union leaders criticise Met over arrest of people who took part in pro-Gaza march in January
More than 20 union leaders have expressed their deep concern over the apparent erosion of the right to peaceful protest, piling pressure on the Metropolitan police over its handling of pro-Palestinian marches at the start of the year.
Paul Nowak of the Trades Union Congress, Christina McAnea of Unison, Daniel Kebede of the National Education Union, Matt Wrack of the NASUWT and Eddie Dempsey of the RMT are among 22 trade union general secretaries who have criticised the Met’s decision to arrest and charge former union members who took part in peaceful protest on 18 January.
Director general defence his performance after criticism from culture secretary over ‘catastrophic failures’
Tim Davie has insisted he is still the right person to lead the BBC, after a succession of controversies that have led the culture secretary to accuse him of overseeing a “series of catastrophic failures”.
Davie has been under the most intense pressure of his five-year tenure as director general after incidents including the livestreaming of Bob Vylan’s performance at the Glastonbury festival, as well as the broadcast of a Gaza documentary that breached the corporation’s editorial guidelines.
Inflation shot up in June as the impacts of Donald Trump’s tariffs slowly started to show in US prices.
Business leaders have said for months that the high, volatile rates of Trump’s tariffs will force companies to raise consumer prices. Prices remained stable in the spring, particularly as many of Trump’s highest tariffs were paused; however, they started increasing in May and have continued to rise in June.
He may be insecure and lack any obvious qualifications, but he’s also extremely devoted to Donald Trump. And isn’t that what really matters?
‘Once upon a time, in the land of the free, there lived a wizard called Kash the Distinguished Discoverer.” That piece of verbal wizardry is the opening line of a children’s book trilogy called The Plot Against the King (aimed at children aged three and above) by a Mr Kash Patel. The first book, published in 2022, is like Harry Potter for conspiracy theorists. Kash helps King Donald battle Hillary Queenton and a “shifty knight”, who have been spreading lies about the king working with the Russionians. In the final book in the trilogy (The Plot Against the King 3: The Return of the King) a couple of villains called Comma‑la‑la‑la and Baron Von Biden make an appearance.
Not so long ago, publishing deeply weird books about the president while also promoting wild QAnon conspiracy theories would get you put on some kind of watchlist. Now it gets you a top job as the guy in charge of watchlists. Patel is not just a children’s book author; he is also the director of the FBI. His chief qualification for the role appears to be his extreme devotion to President Donald Trump. He certainly didn’t have any FBI experience before getting the job as head of the agency.
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Liverpool plan to keep him for final two years of contract
Colombia forward valued by club at more than €100m
Liverpool have rejected an offer from Bayern Munich to sign Luis Díaz for €67.5m (£58.6m). Bayern and Barcelona have been linked with the Colombia international this summer and the Bundesliga champions submitted their first bid on Tuesday. Liverpool rejected the approach and reiterated that the 28-year-old was not for sale.
The Premier League champions value Díaz at more than €100m given his status on the domestic and global stage and market prices. There is also longstanding interest in the winger from the Saudi Pro League. Liverpool’s valuation is based on their accounting position rather than an asking price.
Protests this month laid bare the growing anger from locals against foreigners who have flocked to the Mexican capital since the coronavirus pandemic
The protesters tore through the city chanting angry slogans and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake: shattered glass, broken doors and furious graffiti – “get out of Mexico.”
Some, dressed in black, smashed windows of local businesses. Others marched peacefully but carried signs with angry messages: “You’re a colonizer not a fucking ‘expat’”; “Gringo go home.”
Inoffensive adventure story updates Dora the Explorer as she goes in search of the legendary golden sun that will grant one wish
If you have a bunch of eight-year-olds over for a sleepover and you’re looking for something to stick on the TV, you could do worse than this straight-to-streaming live-action adaptation of the animated show Dora the Explorer. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Dora and the Lost City of Gold from 2019, with a new star in the shape of Samantha Lorraine, and aimed at slightly older kids than the cartoon. There are action sequences looted from Raiders of the Lost Ark that had my eight-year-old squealing at the screen, though as it’s determined to be undemanding and inoffensive, it’s got that plasticky quality that middling kids’ films tend to have.
Lorraine plays Dora, a teenage explorer who’s grown up in the Amazon, raised on her grandfather’s stories about the Incas. For years, Dora has been searching for clues to find Sol Dorado, a legendary golden sun that will grant one wish, joined by her cousin Diego (Jacob Rodriguez). The scriptwriters deserve credit for resisting the temptation to bolt on a love interest; instead, we have cousin Diego in the role conventionally given to a female character: the pretty but non-essential sidekick.
Most stir-fry sauces are sweet, dense and cloying. Any lighter, fresher alternatives? Louis, Falmouth
If Julie Lin, author of Sama Sama: Comfort Food from my Malaysian-Scottish Kitchen, were to hazard a guess, it would be that Louis is buying shop-bought sauces: “They’re always sweet and dense,” she says. “There’s a phrase we use in Malaysia, agak agak, which means to season until you know that it’s good for you.” And that’s only ever going to come from making it yourself, which for Lin often means her “master wok” sauce. To make a bottle, she combines 75g white sugar, three teaspoons of MSG, and 75ml rice-wine vinegar, and whisks until the sugar dissolves. Stir in 300ml light soy sauce and 100ml dark soy sauce, followed by 50ml sesame oil. Pour that into a sterilised jar or bottle, give it a shake and keep for a month at room temperature. That’s then ready to go, or customise it with, say, chilli or garlic, because one stir-fry sauce is not going to fit all. While the basic master wok number is a good shout for stir-frying noodles, rice or vegetables, however, “if you’re going for a lamb stir-fry, for example, you’ll probably want to add some cumin, garlic and maybe make it more vinegary.”
For Justin Tsang, author of Long Day? Cook This: Easy East Asian Recipes with a Twist, it’s all about balance: “The perfect stir-fry sauce has to be salty, sweet and umami, but it shouldn’t be one more than the other; it should work in harmony.” If your sauce is bordering on too sweet or dense, anything “a bit tart or fruity” will work wonders: “That could be some sort of acid, such as lime juice to finish, or vinegar, or a splash of sharp Worcestershire sauce,” says Tsang, who has also been known to add HP Sauce to the mix. Alternatively, get to know your onions: “Using the finest grater on a box grater, grate a white onion into an almost-pulp, then mix into your sauce, along with a splash of vinegar – that will cut through any sweetness and make it lighter.”
Photographer David Levene gained access to the ballet company as they prepared for Ballet Coffret, ahead of a UK tour this month where they will also be performing Giselle at the Royal Opera House. We spoke to one of the principal dancers, Yui Yonezawa
The three pieces of Ballet Coffret range from 1910’s Stravinsky-composed classic The Firebird by Michel Fokine through the mid-20th century Etudes by Harald Lander to William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude from 1996. Levene captured the training, preparations and performances of the National Ballet of Japan (NBJ) over three March days in Tokyo, as well as shadowing ballerina Yui Yonezawa and visiting the New National Theatre’s ballet school.
Principal dancer Yui Yonezawa prepares for Ballet Coffret in Tokyo, Japan
Rachel Reeves has unveiled a package of City changes meant to cut “unnecessary” red tape and encourage more financial risk-taking by companies and consumers in the hopes of spurring economic growth.
In a financial services strategy dubbed the Leeds Reforms, the chancellor outlined initiatives designed to boost the financial services sector, including plans to cut “unnecessary costs” related to accountability rules for senior bankers, and to launch an advertising campaign to get consumers investing cash savings in stocks.
Ministers call for hosepipe bans as East and West Midlands enter drought, joining Yorkshire and north-west
Four areas of England are now in drought as the East and West Midlands have joined Yorkshire and the north-west.
Continuing hot and dry weather was a hazard to crop production and wildlife, ministers said, as they urged water companies to put hosepipe bans in place to conserve water as levels deplete.
Singh’s east London running club confirms death in India of athlete thought to be first centenarian to run a marathon
The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.
The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.
We asked readers if they enjoyed the tournament, how it could be improved and if they will watch in four years’ time
It is a senseless attempt to line Fifa’s already gilded pockets and increase the demands on already exhausted players who must be close to breaking point. The idea of the world’s top clubs playing each other is dull because of the mismatch in resources between Europe and the rest. No one needs more games in an already crowded calendar. Playing it in the heat of the American summer is another mistake. I suspect the clubs that participated will pay for it next season. Scrap it. Max, an Arsenal fan
Despite their group-stage exit, Nina Patalon’s side have made history and changed perceptions back home
As Poland were on their way to a historic Euro 2025 win over Denmark the commentator on national TV encouraged people to visit the website of a Polish FA campaign called “Girls’ Team”, which is designed to help young girls find a team to train with. There was such a rush to the website the server broke down.
That would have been unthinkable only a few months ago but the Polish team that played in their first Euros, scored their first goal and secured their first win at the tournament have changed the perception of women’s football in the country for ever. “One of the key goals was to leave the best possible impression and to get little girls interested in the sport,” said the coach, Nina Patalon, after the 3-2 win against Denmark. “That was our biggest responsibility at our first Euros.”
Comments come after Oval Office meeting with Nato’s Mark Rutte signalled a shift in tone on conflict
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters that he hoped the new language from the US and more sanctions from the EU will force Russian president Vladimir Putin “to face the facts: he has gone too far and he is now at an impasse.”
He said he was hoping for more alignment between the US and the EU on sanctions, as he met with American senators last week in Rome to discuss their proposed bipartisan bill on Russia.
“So we have some progress. We have some positive developments. It’s true that we have trucks that are able to enter, but we don’t know exactly how many.
And what is clear is that the agreement is not fully implemented.
Selection, discipline, kicking, aerial dominance and individual brilliance will all be key in the next few weeks
Selection It may sound obvious but both sides need their key chess pieces to be in the correct places. Neither team are due to declare their hands officially until Thursday but the Lions will be well aware of Joe Schmidt’s ability to produce a tactical surprise or two. The big name to look out from an Australian perspective will be Rob Valetini, such an important cog in the Wallaby pack but injured for the recent Fiji game. If Valetini is ruled out it will be a blow to home morale; the Wallabies are going to need their main men on the field. The Lions have had their own injury problems but their back-row and centre selections will be instructive. They will be tempted to start with their most physical flanker, Tom Curry, and send out Ben Earl and/or Henry Pollock to up the tempo later. But Jac Morgan, the only Welshman left in the squad and a specialist jackler, would offer the Lions balance in more ways than one. And while it seems almost too obvious to start with Sione Tuipulotu at 12 inside Huw Jones, the case for Bundee Aki remains strong. Among other things it would enable Andy Farrell to go direct initially and then change things up for the second Test in Melbourne. Owen Farrell on the bench? The ex-England captain seems destined to have an impact on this series at some point.
Tackle area discipline If the Lions have learned one lesson on this tour it is the vital importance of the breakdown. The Wallabies have a quality ball-sniffing openside in Fraser McReight and will be keen to go hard at the rucks to disrupt the Lions’ momentum and ensure precious quick ball for their own backs. Furthermore, the referees named for this series, New Zealand’s Ben O’Keeffe, Italy’s Andrea Piardi and Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli might not necessarily have been the Lions’ first-choice triumvirate. O’Keeffe refereed the second Test against South Africa four years ago when the Lions were well beaten 27-9 while the other two are new to the unique intensity of a Lions Test series. Andy Farrell’s team have been already been working hard on reducing their penalty counts but, as the former All Black coach Ian Foster observed at the weekend, not giving the opposition an “easy out” will be crucial for both teams. “In a Lions series there’s lots of pressure and it comes down to your discipline,” warned Foster, involved with the Australia & New Zealand Invitational XV beaten 48-0 in Adelaide. “We were combative but when we got squeezed we lost our discipline. The Lions will hurt you if that happens.”
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Rest of the squad unchanged for Old Trafford clash
England have recalled Liam Dawson for next week’s fourth Rothesay Test against India, with the spinning all-rounder replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir. The 35-year-old made the last of his three Test appearances eight years ago, but looks set for an unexpected return at Old Trafford after Bashir’s withdrawal.
Bashir took the match-winning wicket in a tense finish at Lord’s on Monday, having already broken the little finger on his left hand. He is set for surgery in the coming days and will miss the remainder of the series. Dawson has been picked ahead of his fellow left-armer Jack Leach, despite the latter being centrally contracted.
A mystic who turned visions into beautiful chants, Hildegard von Bingen has inspired everyone from Grimes to David Lynch. Musicians including Julia Holter explain the hold she has on them
‘And behold! In the 43rd year of my earthly course, as I was gazing with great fear and trembling attention at a heavenly vision, I saw a great splendour in which resounded a voice from Heaven saying to me, ‘O fragile human, ashes of ashes, and filth of filth! Say and write what you see and hear.”
These are the words of 12th-century polymath Hildegard von Bingen (or Hildegard of Bingen), recalling the divine intervention that set her on the path to becoming one of history’s earliest and most influential composers.
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