All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
The latest incursion into American airspace is forest fire smoke from Canada. An invasion, according to President Trump. And the man with a tariff for every occasion does not disappoint “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being
David Axelrod, Barack Hussein Obama’s chief strategist, was clearly worried about Donald Trump’s prime time speech about election integrity last night. Hyperventilating on X Tuesday, he warned that “If @POTUS really trots out Pulte, Patel and a crew of political apparatchiks posing as intel experts... to announce they've uncovered ‘evidence’ of foul play in 2020, it’ll only heighten fears that he'll claim an ‘emergency’ down the line and claim extraordinary fed power over elections. If so – and there are plenty of other signs of manipulation brewing – the most important battles of the midterms may be in the courts.” Let’s begin by considering Axelrod’s rhetoric.
So FIFA is going to take action against the Argentinian players for unfurling their "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" banner after beating England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final. The act was a clear violation of the Federation’s rules about politicizing the game. Typically, however, any fines or suspensions will come into force after the final is out of the way on Sunday – meaning the punishments will be all but pointless. Cue more wild conspiracy theories about FIFA’s closeness to Argentina, the Nazis and the Masons, and goodness knows what else. Sane people probably realize that it’s not worth getting too het up about what a bunch of overpaid, talented but dishonorable sports stars think about the Falkland Islands, which have belonged to Britain for two centuries.
China’s political interference is in many ways worse than President Trump asserts, but the true nature and scale of Beijing’s activities may be obscured by his efforts to use it for partisan gain. Whatever Trump’s motives in accusing China of meddling in the 2020 presidential election – “the largest compromise of election data in history,” as he put it – Beijing has undoubtedly become more aggressive in its political interference. Beijing has adopted Russian-style disinformation operations in its attempts to undermine its western rivals, and the United States in particular. The pandemic was a turning point.
The war in Iran rumbles on, in parallel to talks that are aimed at stopping it. Both sides would rather the war were over; this limbo is causing mayhem in Iran’s economy and politics, while MAGA too has been bent out of shape. Yet a reality might be starting to take hold in which fighting simply drifts aimlessly, much like the peace talks. And much like the ships that are stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, too. As both sides try to game the stalemate, unintended consequences are emerging The US is calculating that a naval blockade, in the absence of a memorandum of understanding, can economically constrict Tehran, narrowing its room for maneuver and eventually forcing Tehran back to the table.
Pete Hegseth has announced that the US military will test soldiers over 30-years old for low testosterone. But judging by President Trump’s pallid performance on Thursday night during his election integrity speech, the testing should commence with him. Trump appeared to be a spent force, slurring many of his words and rehashing old grievances ad nauseam. His principal complaint: starting in 2019, China engaged in machinations to make it look like “your president wasn’t so hot.” This speech wasn’t a show of strength, but a confession of weakness Last night, Trump himself never brought the heat. The American left went into overdrive, fretting that Trump would fire an opening salvo to seize control of the midterm elections in November.
France’s National Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday granting terminally ill adults the right to end their lives with medical assistance. Macron is desperate to leave one legacy, no matter how divisive and controversial it is The assisted dying bill (droit à l’aide à mourir)was backed by 291 MPs with 241 against. It is the fourth time the text has been approved by the lower house, but in the past the upper house (the Senate) has rejected the bill. The impasse prompted the government to activate a mechanism in the constitution that allows the Assembly to have the final say without the consent of the Senate.
Taking the luck out of betting might lessen the thrill, but it certainly ups the profit. White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez allegedly made more than $100,000 by using inside knowledge of the President’s speeches to place bets on prediction market Kalshi, according to ABC News. Perez, who has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, is believed to have placed bets on more than a dozen speeches – including February's State of the Union address. At times, he would even alter the bets mid-speech if he saw that the President was skipping a section on the teleprompter. Cockburn can't help but respect the hustle. His account’s winning streak was tracked and reported to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is now initiating a full investigation.
One of Donald Trump’s greatest strengths is his ability to repeat himself endlessly. It takes some doing. At 9 p.m. tonight, he says, he’ll give the world a big primetime showstopper announcement. It’s expected that he will reveal something about foreign influence or operations in "the stolen election" of 2020. Escalate, threaten, befuddle, try to find an off-ramp on more agreeable terms, and if necessary bore the enemy into submission We don’t know exactly what, but we can be sure Trump will reiterate that he actually won three presidential elections, not two, and that he’ll use this stunt to push The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) Act. That’s currently his pet obsession. And Trump just keeps going until he gets what he wants.
I don’t know if you remember that old saw: “Always speak ill of the dead.” I don’t recall being brought up with it myself, but a number of people apparently were. After the brutal killing of Ann Widdecombe last week we saw some fine examples of people following this rule. Peter Tatchell – a prominent member of the “be kind” brigade – took to social media to describe the death of Widdecombe in celebratory tones. He listed her crimes, such as her belief that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and then ended his tweet by saying: “BIGOT!” As though final judgment had been passed down from on high.
Joe Biden confirmed the release of his next memoir today, titled Promise Me, America, which will detail his time as president. The book is out November 17, two weeks after the midterms, and will offer the “complete story,” according to the promotional video. Promise me, America: that’s not what his autopen inscribed. “It’s about the challenges we faced as a nation,” Biden said in the video. “It’s about the decisions I made and why I made them.” Biden’s book will address his handling of Covid-19, January 6, the retreat from Afghanistan, Ukraine and his work with NATO. It will also detail his decision to run for reelection and subsequent last-minute withdrawal.
Special counsels have proven themselves, more often than not, to serve a hungry press corps happy to report salacious and unproven details, and not serious, independent investigations that produce meaningful consequences or assure the public that accountability can be achieved. The latest press catnip is over allegations of misconduct by Jack Smith who was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, the same week Trump announced his new presidential bid. His remit was to investigate Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of classified material at Mar-a-Lago. A Republican-controlled Congress now has to decide what to do with a special counsel who may have perjured himself while testifying about those investigations.
Key parts of the post-Brexit treaty that provides for a fluid border between Gibraltar and Spain will come into provisional effect today. Running to over a thousand pages, the treaty took far longer to negotiate than the entire Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. It has still to be ratified by the House of Commons and the EU parliament. The treaty effectively makes Gibraltar part of the EU’s passport-free Schengen area. Both Spain and Gibraltar were anxious to avoid long waits at the border: the 15,000 Spaniards who cross every day are half of Gibraltar’s work force and they are also an estimated 25 percent of the wage earners in the adjacent region – one of the poorest parts of Spain.
England vs Argentina is a match like no other. It is arguably the most highly-charged confrontation in the world of international soccer – haunted by the ghosts of war, perceived past wrongs on the soccer pitch, and a ready-made roll call of heroes and villains to choose from. Games between the two sides represent what might be described as a culture clash of ethics and values, an enduring scrap over the way the game should be played and what counts as fair. The match tonight in Atlanta, for the prize of a place in the World Cup final, is destined to be a titanic clash; it cannot be anything else. History be damned.
Few in France will have been as devastated by their team’s defeat in last night’s World Cup semi-final as Emmanuel Macron. The president put on a brave face, tweeting his congratulations to Spain and thanking the French team "for carrying our colors with commitment." But how Macron must have dreamed of a French World Cup triumph in Sunday’s final. He would have been in New Jersey – as he was in Moscow in 2018 when the Bleus won the World Cup –dancing a jig as his bête noire, Donald Trump, presented the trophy to his boys. Macron's presidency is ending with a whimper In a sense the French football team are a metaphor for Macron’s presidency.
With the reimposition of the American naval blockade against Iran, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Washington and Tehran seems dead. Its demise reveals the Islamic Republic for what it has always been: an aggressive, terroristic power that has no interest in rejoining the community of nations. The Trump administration demonstrated with the MOU that it was willing to go big on sanctions relief for Iran. As part of its terms was a General License X that permitted Iran to sell oil using dollars for the first time in decades. The US military blockade was lifted. Discussions were beginning on the unfreezing of billions of dollars in frozen or restricted Iranian assets.
“Feeling a bit stressed or anxious? Want to practice more mindfulness? Looking for good vibes and your best mellow and chill?” This is not an advert for a life coach but the official sales pitch for NeeDohs, the much-coveted new children’s toys. These are not mere playthings, you see. Thanks to the ADHD-ification of childhood, they are “sensory fidgets.” NeeDohs are produced by American manufacturer Schylling. They are “the original sensory squish toy”, but others have appeared on the market, such as squishy “original viral dumplings,” produced by RMS International. Squishies are the latest craze – brightly colored blobs of plastic to squash, squeeze, stretch and supposedly help children who have trouble focusing. Squishy, stretchy toys aren’t really new.
Poland was once a staunch ally of Ukraine. But President Zelensky's decision to name a unit of the Ukrainian Special Forces after the “Heroes of the UPA” appears to have shattered the relationship forever. Help may be at hand, though: in the form of the humble British historian. Others want Poland to go further: there are calls to close the border with Ukraine While Polish and Ukrainian politicians have their own agendas and aren't trusted by the other side, some British historians have near-mythological status in eastern Europe.
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On Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly having just return from a trip to Ukraine. It is believed he suffered from a sudden heart problem. Spectator contributor Daniel McCarthy reflects on Graham's political career which was heavily involved in foreign policy, his relationship with Trump and sense of humor, plus how Lindsey Graham represented the people of South Carolina, especially the army base which heavily influenced the area. Learn how to earn yield on gold, paid in gold, at Monetary-Metals.
Last Friday, a senior US official gave a background briefing to the media and made some news. First, Iranian officials contacted the United States through mediators and essentially apologized for their recent attacks against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. And second, the Trump administration expected Tehran to issue a formal statement reiterating that the chokepoint was open to all traffic. “We want them to publicly say that they will stop shooting at ships and explicitly, or at least implicitly, acknowledge that they screwed up,” the official said. “We expect the Iranians to say... that every channel in the strait will be open and that it will be toll-free.
The infamous "Memorandum of Understanding" between the United States and Iran has broken down. One of the major points of failure has been the disagreement over which side controls the Strait of Hormuz. Yesterday, President Donald Trump abruptly declared that his country should now be known as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT" and "as such, as a matter of fairness, will be reimbursed at the rate of 20 percent on all cargo shipped." "POTUS is absolutely right," replied Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, on X. "Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20 percent is of course too much. We will be fair.
The most interesting piece of economic policy from the Trump White House is not a tariff, nor is it an AI export restriction. It’s a brokerage account for babies. Under the new Trump Accounts program, eligible American children born between 2025 and 2028 will receive $1,000 from the Treasury, to be invested in a broad index of American companies. Parents, employers, and other benefactors can contribute up to $5,000 more annually. Before these children can walk or speak, they will own their slice of corporate America. At first glance, this seems uncharacteristically left wing – as if a fever dream from Andrew Yang’s presidential platform had escaped and somehow convinced the Trump administration of its merits.
Soccer is not a quintessentially American sport. Just as Brazil is forever the country of tomorrow, soccer is always the American sport of the the future. It is always coming but never quite arrives, or at least not to the extent that its most-fervent advocates would wish. Wearied British or European readers may be bracing for American anti-soccer invective. This is not that: soccer is a glorious game that deserves to be a major American sport, and though it will never eclipse football or baseball, it is possible to envision it as a second tier American sports.
Both Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe have been in the America, telling the political elite all about Britain's demise. Freddy is joined by the Times of London’s Washington editor Katy Balls to discuss how the right-wing insurgence in British politics translates to an American, the difference between how the online right, versus a typical Republican, may see Farage vs Lowe – and how significant Trump has been to British politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Actor Sam Neill, whose unexpected death was announced today by his family, was claimed as a son by not one, but three countries. Neill’s light-hearted description of his highly-successful vigneron business reflected his approach to his acting career Born in Northern Ireland, grown up in New Zealand and first making his name in Australia, Neill was more than the “Jurassic Park actor” as first reports of his death labeled him. From the time he first enjoyed the spotlight in the 1970s Australian film, My Brilliant Career, and his BAFTA-winning portrayal of the enigmatic Sidney Reilly in television’s Reilly, Ace of Spies, to his most recent work, Neill’s career was as versatile as it was broad. Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders was Cardinal Wolsey in The Tudors.
Homer’s Odyssey is a sweeping, layered epic. It reflects the legacy of an oral tradition of singers and storytellers from across the Greek-speaking world, who weaved together elements of myth and half-remembered idealized histories. Its hero, Odysseus, is among the most enduring and complicated figures in literature. Retellings of his journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy cast him both as noble hero and manipulative anti-hero. His latest incarnation will soon journey across the screen in Christopher Nolan’s film version, which is released Friday. To navigate this world, 'cunning' Odysseus displays the characteristics of a good intelligence officer I feel a connection to Odysseus. Like him, I have lied, deceived, and manipulated.
Political lives almost always end in failure, or at least anticlimax, but Lindsey Graham went to his reward while in the midst of achieving his goals. Indeed, even the timing of his death might advance one of the causes dearest to him. He had just returned from a visit to Kyiv and his fellow advocates of greater US involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war have questioned whether he might not have been murdered by Vladimir Putin. The evidence is against that but the South Carolina senator certainly had deadly enemies: he was high on Iran’s hit-list as well. For decades, he’d called for the use of force against the ayatollahs’ regime and he lived to see that call answered. The Republican aviary still has many other hawks. But can any take Graham’s place?
Already the denunciations of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died at 71, are piling up. Former Republican operative Steve Schmidt’s verdict was not untypical. He declared on X that Graham not only “lacked a moral core,” but also found relevance “as a cast member in the most malignant reality show ever made.” There’s never been a bummer rap. Graham’s moral center was never in greater evidence during the Trump era. Had Graham not aligned himself with Trump, American foreign policy would look vastly different over the past several years. Rather than delivering pompous, empty speeches like former senator Jeff Flake, he made a conscious decision to influence Trump rather than flee the field of fight.
As any Catholic master of ceremonies will tell you, it takes only the tiniest sartorial mishap to lend a Python-esque flavor to moments of the utmost solemnity. On July 1 the rebel traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) created four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV during a five-hour open-air Latin Mass in a Swiss alpine meadow. The consecrating prelates wore dark-red velvet chasubles over scarlet-and-gold dalmatics with matching gloves. They descended from their thrones bearing sacred chrism. Afterward the new bishops stood in a row, miters perched on their heads for the first time. Liberal bishops wear stumpy headgear.
The problem with being a well-known climate skeptic is that whenever there’s a heatwave, you get buttonholed by eco-zealots who think it "proves" they’re right and you’re wrong. The first person to confront me during the current sunny spell was a Guardian journalist at a right-wing conference, which the newspaper had clearly identified as a hotbed of "denialism." It didn’t help that the air conditioning wasn’t working and it was approaching 40°C (104°F) in the main auditorium. "I see you’re sweating profusely," he began, shoving a microphone in my face. "Still think climate change is a hoax?" I had to patiently explain that few people on my side of this debate deny that climate change is real.
What do senior Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and Iran’s new Supreme Leader have in common? Not a lot, except that both men are currently being hidden from public view – and nobody seems to know for sure if either Mitch or Mojtaba Khamenei is alive or dead. Iran is a brutal theocratic regime where the truth tends to be suppressed. America is meant to be a free and democratic society. Yet the 84-year-old Senator for Kentucky has been in hospital since June 14 and rumors are spreading that he is brain-dead, on life-support, or possibly worse, and the party leadership appears to be covering up the facts about his health.
A police officer was hospitalized on Thursday night in London as Moroccans vented their fury at losing to France in the World Cup quarter-final. Riot police were deployed to the Edgware Road after Moroccans set off fireworks and chucked debris at officers. Police arrested four people for "violent disorder." There was also tension overnight in several Dutch cities, although the rioting wasn’t as bad as a fortnight ago when Morocco beat Holland in the World Cup. On that occasion police subdued hooligans with a water cannon and numerous arrests were made. There were also ugly confrontations in Toulouse last weekend when Moroccan fans celebrated beating Canada by attacking police officers.
Has grace-and-favor accommodation now fallen from grace – and favor, too? In recent days, we have learned that both our head of state and our (likely) head of government are giving up the free homes that come with the job. The King has said he will not live at Buckingham Palace once major refurbishment works are completed next year. His heir has let it be known that he won’t live there either. The monarch is very happy living at Clarence House, just as his mother was when she became Queen in 1952. Back then, Winston Churchill formally advised the Sovereign that she had to move into the Palace. No modern prime minister would dream of telling the Sovereign where to sleep, least of all one who plans to follow his example. Andy Burnham has said that he will not live at No.
Metaphorically speaking, champagne bottles were uncorked in the Jerusalem office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Donald Trump declared at the NATO summit in Ankara that the ceasefire with Iran was over. Trump’s remarks – in which he branded Iran’s leaders "scum," "a cancer" and "liars" – were sweet music to Netanyahu and his government. The 60-day ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar on June 17 to end the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other – a war that began on February 28 – was effectively imposed on Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister, Mossad, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Air Force all wanted the fighting to continue.
