In messages released by House Democrats, Epstein wrote Trump ‘spent hours at my house’ in the company of one of his sex-trafficked victims * US politics live – latest updates Damning new emails that suggest Donald Trump knew about the conduct of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released Wednesday, in which Epstein said “of course [Trump] knew about the girls” and which are likely to add pressure on the White House to release the so-called Epstein files. In one of several messages released by Democrats on the House oversight committee and not publicly seen before, Epstein wrote to a contact in 2011 that Trump “spent hours at my house” in the company of one of the disgraced financier’s sex-trafficked victims. Continue reading...

Growing calls for Morgan McSweeney to go after extraordinary briefing operation against Wes Streeting Keir Starmer is coming under intense pressure from a wide range of ministers and MPs to sack his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, after No 10 was accused of an extraordinary briefing operation against the health secretary, Wes Streeting. Starmer is understood to have told MPs he will not sack his chief of staff and would not respond to several demands to ensure there were “consequences” for the briefers. Continue reading...

President condemns ‘shocking’ incident in rare comment as settlers injure four Palestinians and attack Israeli soldiers Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, injuring four Palestinians and attacking Israeli soldiers in the latest incident of rising settler violence. The settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, setting vehicles on fire and damaging property belonging to a Bedouin community, with charred remains of cars left behind the next day. Continue reading...

Chancellor advised to replace levy with an annual property tax as Treasury considers overhaul of system Rachel Reeves has been urged to abolish the “sin tax” of stamp duty in the budget by property experts including TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp, as the chancellor faced calls to replace it with an annual property tax. Allsopp, presenter of Channel 4 property shows including Location, Location, Location, said “people are in a panic” about potential stamp duty changes, and “sitting tight” ahead of the 26 November budget. Continue reading...

Chancellor expected to introduce new limit on how much can be spent on a bicycle through cycle to work scheme Rachel Reeves has drawn up a plan to cut tax benefits for workers using salary sacrifice schemes to buy expensive manual and electric bicycles, according to a report. The chancellor is expected to introduce a new limit on how much people can spend on a bicycle through the cycle to work scheme in this month’s budget, the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with budget preparations, amid concerns that subsidising cycle purchases is not the best use of taxpayers’ money. Continue reading...

Fossil fuel emissions have hit a record high while many nations have done too little to avert deadly global heating The world is still on track for a catastrophic 2.6C increase in temperature as countries have not made sufficiently strong climate pledges, while emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high, two major reports have found. Despite their promises, governments’ new emission-cutting plans submitted for the Cop30 climate talks taking place in Brazil have done little to avert dangerous global heating for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Climate Action Tracker update. Continue reading...

As Keir Starmer announces SMRs to be built in Wales, US ambassador says Britain should choose ‘a different path’ Keir Starmer has announced that the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors will be built in north Wales – but immediately faced a backlash from Donald Trump’s administration after it pushed for a US manufacturer to be chosen. Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, will be home to three small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built by British manufacturer Rolls-Royce SMR. The government said it will invest £2.5bn. Continue reading...

Matthew Goodwin argued people from minority ethnic backgrounds born and raised in UK were not always British Reform UK has been accused of embracing racism after it picked a former academic who argued that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British as the head of its new student organisation. Matthew Goodwin, who is now a hard-right activist and prominent Reform supporter, has confirmed on X that he has been made the honorary president of the new Students4Reform organisation. Continue reading...

It is often assumed that people of retirement age will no longer have housing costs to cover. But for a significant and growing group, this is far from the case

Documents show staff kept Epstein informed of Trump’s air travel – and Epstein kept up with news about former friend A tranche of documents released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday revealed that Jeffrey Epstein’s staff kept him apprised of Donald Trump’s air travel as it related to his own transportation – and that the late sex trafficker kept up with news about his former friend years after their relationship soured. This disclosure of about 20,000 pages from Republican members of the committee related to Epstein comes as Trump continues to battle with the political fallout related to their past friendship – and his justice department’s failure to release documents as he had long promised on the campaign trail. Continue reading...

Skincare, karaoke machines and must-have fashion are all the rage …

Ed Miliband says PM would not have backed attacks on Wes Streeting but briefing is ‘longstanding aspect of politics’ Ed Miliband has said he was certain Keir Starmer would sack whoever had briefed against Wes Streeting, after a chaotic 48 hours in which No 10 launched an operation to shore up the prime minister against an anticipated leadership challenge. The prime minister apologised to the health secretary in a phone call with him late on Wednesday. Starmer is facing mounting calls to sack his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over the row. Continue reading...