San Francisco Pride, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the world, has reportedly lost significant funding as major corporate sponsors – some who supported the festivities for years – have pulled out of the event. Four companies, which include Comcast and Anheuser-Busch, among others, and provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, told … Read more
The disability benefit reforms statement issued by the welfare secretary, Liz Kendall alongside £5bn of cuts felt like Labour’s latest attempt to answer the question that seems to come up every time it tackles a thorny social policy issue and deliver bad news. Namely: how is this different from life under the Tories? Kendall tried … Read more
As the ceasefire in Gaza extended from days into weeks, and newly freed hostages began sharing grim details of their captivity, Benjamin Netanyahu’s political room for manoeuvre seemed to shrink. He was caught between the far-right parties propping up his government, keen to return to war in Gaza, and the majority of Israelis who prioritised … Read more
Russian officials expect to hold talks with Elon Musk soon about space travel to Mars, Vladimir Putin’s international cooperation envoy said on Tuesday. The envoy’s comments, which Musk has not confirmed, also stated that Russia wanted to expand its cooperation with the US on space projects. “I think that there will undoubtedly be a discussion … Read more
The band Semisonic has said the Donald Trump White House “missed the point” of its hit Closing Time “entirely” when the administration used the Emmy-nominated song in a social media post showing a shackled person being deported. A statement from Semisonic also said the White House did not have permission to use the song in … Read more
Toxic rhetoric around benefit cuts has stirred up hatred against disabled people, Tanni Grey-Thompson has said, as campaigners called the government’s planned welfare changes “brutal and reckless”. Lady Grey-Thompson, a Paralympic champion and cross-bench peer, said she had been contacted by disabled people saying they had been shouted at in the street by passersby telling … Read more
Meta to keep factcheckers for Australian election Josh Taylor Factcheckers will be in operation on posts on Facebook and Instagram during the Australian federal election this year, with the move to ditch factcheckers limited to the US for now. In a blog post on Tuesday night, Meta’s head of policy in Australia, Cheryl Seeto, said … Read more
A former minister behind the controversial VIP lane for supplying personal protective equipment during the pandemic has said “some crooks” were probably awarded contracts, but defended the scheme as necessary to plug shortages. Lord Agnew, who was a Cabinet Office minister responsible for procurement during the pandemic, accused the Covid inquiry of having a “misconceived … Read more
A senior Democratic congressman vowed to “stop Doge’s illegal power grab” after operatives from Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” gained entry to the US Institute of Peace in Washington – an independent organization established by Congress – and forced out its leaders. “I was at USIP tonight to conduct congressional oversight over Doge’s … Read more
A 19-year-old man who shot dead his mother and two younger siblings had planned to kill 30 children at a primary school, a court has heard. Nicholas Prosper, from Luton, Bedfordshire, had wanted to carry out the killing at his former primary school to gain notoriety as a mass murderer, and had been planning it … Read more