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Andy Burnham is Prime Minister. Now what?
Andy Burnham has unveiled his first cabinet as prime minister, appointing John Healey as chancellor in a surprise move, shifting Ed Miliband to the Foreign Office and keeping Shabana Mahmood as home secretary. The announcement, followed by his first speech outside Downing Street, offers an early signal of the political direction and priorities of his…
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House Dems hand GOP a win on trans sports as party unity cracks
Five House Democrats broke with their party to join Republicans in passing an amendment restricting transgender participation in school sports, exposing cracks in Democratic unity on the issue. The vote came during the House’s consideration of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that sets military and national security policy, on…
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Voices: ‘If Trump hates him, he’s the right choice’: Readers dismiss anger over Ed Miliband’s foreign secretary appointment
Ed Miliband’s appointment as foreign secretary under new prime minister Andy Burnham has reportedly angered the White House, which is said to be “deeply concerned” about the choice given his long history of criticising Donald Trump. Readers of The Independent responded to the row largely by dismissing it as an overreach by Trump, arguing that…
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Independent autopsy “inconclusive” on cause of death for 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi
An independent autopsy commissioned for Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old former high school and college American football player, has proved inconclusive, leaving his family and campaigners without answers weeks after his death. Wells disappeared following a Fourth of July boat party with friends off the Mississippi coast and was found dead two days later on Horn…
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Clarence Thomas’ constitutional argument against federal gun law gets first major court test
The full US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear the case of United States v. Squire, brought by a convicted heroin trafficker, in a move that could challenge the constitutional basis of one of the federal government’s most frequently used gun laws. The decision follows recent remarks from Supreme Court Justice Clarence…
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Reporter’s Notebook: House’s final sprint puts SAVE America Act and Iran funding in play
The US House of Representatives is racing to pass a slate of major bills before its August recess, with lawmakers warning they may not return to Washington in force until after the November election. Among the measures being pushed through in this “final sprint” are the SAVE America Act, which would require photo identification for…
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Spiraling domestic consumption is wrecking China’s economy
The article text was unavailable, so its claims and supporting evidence cannot be independently summarised. Its title suggests an argument that weak domestic consumption is damaging China’s economy. No specific events, figures, sources or policy details were provided in the accessible material. Any fuller account would risk attributing unverified claims to the article.
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New Jersey Dem gov’s blame game backfires after tech company pins noncitizen voter registration on state
New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill has faced backlash after blaming a “software error” for the improper registration of thousands of non-citizens to vote, only for the technology vendor involved, IDEMIA, to publicly dispute that account and place responsibility back on the state. The dispute matters because it has triggered a federal investigation into voter…
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What is Pickaxe Mountain?
Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified underground site in Iran, near the Natanz nuclear-enrichment complex, which President Trump has threatened to strike. Its importance lies in the possibility that it could protect parts of Iran’s nuclear programme from air attacks, although international inspectors have not been allowed access and its exact purpose remains unconfirmed. Known…
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41 states at risk of losing federal SNAP funds, new data shows: What to know
The article text provided does not contain the news report itself: it only says access to The Hill’s page was denied because JavaScript appeared to be disabled. As a result, the specific findings, states affected and policy details behind the headline cannot be verified from the supplied material. Based solely on the title, the article…