US budget chief calls fears that cuts to benefits will lead to deaths ‘totally ridiculous’

Russ Vought defends Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill that will slash safety net programs Medicaid and Snap

The White House budget director Russ Vought on Sunday dismissed as “totally ridiculous” fears expressed by voters that cuts to benefits in the huge spending bill passed by the House will lead to premature deaths in America.

Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill act, now awaiting debate in the US Senate, will slash two major federal safety net programs, Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), which helps people afford groceries, which will affect millions of people if it becomes law.

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British businessman accused of plotting to smuggle US military technology to China

John Miller and Chinese national Cui Guanghai are facing extradition in connection with an FBI investigation

A British businessman has been indicted in the US with attempting to traffic sensitive American military technology to China and silence a critic of the Chinese president.

John Miller, 63, was named by US authorities at the weekend after his arrest in Serbia, where he is facing extradition in connection with an FBI investigation. The Mail on Sunday reported that he was from Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

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UK twice as likely to have hot summer this year, says Met Office

Predictions of increased risk of heatwaves follow country’s sunniest spring on record

The UK is twice as likely as usual to have a hot summer this year, the Met Office has predicted, warning that there is also an increased risk of heatwaves.

The predictions follow the country’s sunniest spring on record, with the UK clocking up 630 hours of sunshine since the start of March, in what has also been the driest spring for more than a century.

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Dozens of Palestinians killed after Israeli forces open fire near aid delivery point, says Gaza civil defence agency – as it happened

Israeli forces opened fire on people heading towards aid distribution site run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, say witnesses

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a newly created private logistics group backed by the US and endorsed by Israel, has given a response to reports that dozens of Palestinian people were killed when Israeli tanks opened fire near one of its aid distribution sites in Gaza earlier today.

“It is false and fabricated. All aid was distributed today without incident,” the GHF said, telling BBC News that there have been no injuries or fatalities.

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Manston staff asked to work overtime amid record number of small boat arrivals

More than 1,100 migrants arrived on Saturday, the highest number on a single day so far this year

Staff at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent have been asked to work overtime to deal with the record number of small boat arrivals, the Guardian has learned.

The 11th-hour appeal to staff on Saturday evening to work was circulated by Management And Training Corporation (MTC), one of the Home Office’s contractors on the site near Ramsgate, due to concerns about not having enough staff on duty.

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UK Sikhs threaten to ‘no platform’ Labour MPs over lack of Golden Temple massacre inquiry

Exclusive: Warnings ‘frustrated’ Sikh voters could turn to Reform over failure to investigate UK’s role in 1984 tragedy

British Sikhs are threatening to “no platform” Labour MPs over the lack of a public inquiry into UK complicity in the 1984 Golden Temple massacre in India, amid warnings “frustrated” Sikh voters could back Reform UK.

More than 450 gurdwaras, charities, associations and university societies have written to Keir Starmer demanding he honour previous promises to fully investigate the affair or risk “massive consequences for the re-election of many Labour MPs”.

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