Senate to begin voting on Trump intelligence nominee Jay Clayton – US politics live

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The US president’s pick to be the country’s director of national intelligence is expected to be approved within days – but only after a tense confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump plans to tout his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit today, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.

Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, home to tracks and proving grounds for new models and vehicles. Early voting is underway for Michigan’s 4 August primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties, AP reported.

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Home Office blocking evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza

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Refugee family reunions in limbo, despite Foreign Office saying it is ready get people out of war-torn territory

The Home Office is blocking the evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza, despite the Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of the war-torn region.

Last September, the Home Office announced it was suspending refugee family reunion applications and that new, more restrictive rules would be announced in the spring. So far there has been no announcement and the process remains suspended.

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DCC, one of FTSE 100’s biggest energy firms, agrees £5.75bn takeover

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KKR and Energy Capital Partners poised to buy firm despite misgivings from founder and biggest shareholders

One of the biggest energy businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange has agreed a controversial £5.7bn takeover by private equity, adding to the growing exodus of companies from the UK market.

The US private equity groups KKR and Energy Capital Partners are poised to buy DCC Energy after the company’s board recommended the offer despite misgivings from its founder and biggest shareholders.

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Trump continues pause on Iran strikes as Pentagon reveals higher casualty figures | First Thing

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Eighteen American troops have been killed and 624 wounded since White House launched war on Tehran. Plus, International Cowboy Day in Kenya

Good morning. The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war. Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat. Tehran said on Sunday it would pause what it called “retaliatory” attacks against US allies in the region.

Trump is said to be weighing up diplomatic and military options in the nearly five-month-old conflict. Axios reported on Sunday that Adm Bradley Cooper, the top US military commander in the region, had told Trump the US military campaign had reached the limits of its effectiveness.

How many US service personnel have been killed and injured in Trump’s Iran war? The Pentagon updated its official war casualty database over the weekend, adding more than 140 wounded service members. The new figures show that 18 US troops have been killed and 624 wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on 28 February.

How has Katy Perry become embroiled in debate over the war? The pop star has condemned the White House after it used her hit song Firework in a TikTok video showing US military strikes on Iranian targets, saying: “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength … my music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”

What has the international court accused Netanyahu of? The court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, issued a warrant accusing the Israeli prime minister of being “allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

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Burnham says there are ‘big decisions’ ahead on making council tax fairer – UK politics live

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Labour’s 2024 manifesto did not include any specific commitments on council tax but two models are being floated

James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, has accused Andy Burnham of planning “more ways to tax Middle England”. Responding to reports that Burnham wants to change council tax (see 10.03am), Cleverly said:

Andy Burnham and Labour are just looking for more ways to tax Middle England, and raise taxes on people’s homes.

Replacing council tax and stamp duty with a new house price tax would not be a tax cut for hardworking families – quite the reverse: people across England would end up paying more.

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PM urged to uphold climate pledges made as mayor and ban new North Sea oil drilling

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Experts who helped Burnham draw up Manchester carbon neutral pledge say backtracking would send wrong message amid wildfires and heatwaves

Leading climate scientists who created Greater Manchester’s carbon neutral by 2038 commitment are urging Andy Burnham to unequivocally reject new drilling in the North Sea.

In a letter to the prime minister they said he, as mayor of Greater Manchester, had unveiled one of the UK’s most ambitious local climate programmes that tackled housing, green growth and public transport.

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‘Our country is the mission’: more than 100 ex-Nasa astronauts launch new voting campaign

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Astronauts for America liken effort to instill trust and faith back in constitution’s principles and democratic institutions to ‘making a course correction’

Orbiting 250 miles above the US in the international space station, astronaut Cady Coleman did not look down and see red or blue states, sanctuary cities or communities occupied by thousands of federal immigration enforcement agents in camouflage uniforms and automatic weapons.

What she saw was a single land, from Pacific to Atlantic, no borders or partitions, just a united America, and a population valuing its equality while convinced that what brought them together was far greater than anything that divided them.

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Baby missing after mother and toddler found dead off coast of South Australia

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Emergency services pulled the bodies from the ocean at Port Macdonnell amid ‘grave concerns’ for second child

A baby is missing off the coast of South Australia after the bodies of a mother and her toddler were pulled from the ocean.

Emergency services were called to the state’s southernmost coastal town, Port Macdonnell, at about 11.15am on Monday after a car was found with its engine running.

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Blanche-led DoJ likely to derail Epstein survivors’ pursuit of justice, experts say

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Lawyers predict ‘more suppression and no active investigations’ but victims’ groups determined to continue fight

As Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer Todd Blanche appears poised for confirmation as attorney general, numerous Jeffrey Epstein survivors have sounded the alarm that a US justice department helmed by him would derail their pursuit of justice.

In a letter urging Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn to reject his nomination, these survivors said that Blanche’s handling of the Epstein case as acting attorney general was characterized by misstep after misstep.

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British YouTuber Yung Filly describes night he met fan in Australian nightclub before allegedly raping her

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Performer on trial on six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent

A British YouTuber and musician accused of violently raping a fan after a gig never asked his alleged victim if she wanted sex, a court has been told.

Rapper Yung Filly, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is fighting six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

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NSW police deputy commissioner says letting Jewish security group carry guns could be seen as ‘favouritism’

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The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is this week examining security arrangements for the Jewish community

The deputy commissioner of New South Wales police has pushed back at calls for the private security sector to be armed at Jewish events.

The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion has been examining security arrangements for the Jewish community in this block of hearings, with some witnesses lobbying for the Community Security Group (CSG) to be armed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.

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Uganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hunger

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Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutrition

Uganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country.

A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition.

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Burnham to meet Zelenskyy at UK naval base in show of ‘unwavering’ support

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Ukrainian president will be first overseas visitor for new British prime minister

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will become Andy Burnham’s first overseas visitor as prime minister, in a visit that Burnham said underlined Britain’s “unwavering” backing for Ukraine.

Less than two weeks after Keir Starmer travelled to Kyiv for the final foreign visit of his prime ministership, the Ukrainian president will on Monday join Burnham at a naval base where Ukrainian forces have been receiving training.

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