Consumer protection agency deletes thousands of pages as Trump administration seeks to dismantle it 04. June 2026 (17:00) Deletion of the bureau’s website content is just the most recent part of a larger plan to ‘undermine an agency that’s helped people’The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau deleted at least 2,200 webpages from its website last month, a move advocates say is part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to dismantle the federal consumer finance watchdog.The removed content was all published before Trump’s second term, and includes press releases, consumer advisories, congressional testimonies, speeches and blog posts. Some of the material dates back to as early as 2010, when the agency was formed. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Starmer accuses Musk of trying to ‘whip up division’ in UK over Henry Nowak murder 04. June 2026 (15:17) PM says Britons are ‘reasonable, tolerant people’ and backs MP’s legal action against Grok firm over fake sexualised imagesUK politics live – latest updatesElon Musk is “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division, Keir Starmer has said in a significant toughening of government language about the X owner.It comes after weeks of posts by Musk on his social media platform about the murder of Henry Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Embarrassing’: pressure on Merz after Germany’s failure to win UN security council seat 04. June 2026 (15:05) Criticism comes from across political spectrum after blow to Friedrich Merz’s governmentGermany’s unprecedented failure to win one of the rotating seats on the UN security council has prompted an intense round of soul searching in Berlin, and raised questions about its claims to international leadership under Friedrich Merz.The council vote on Wednesday, which elected Austria and Portugal to a two-year term along with Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe, was a blow to Merz’s struggling government, which has sought to position itself as a leading European voice on the world stage. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Alarm as once-eradicated flesh-eating parasite found in calf in Texas 04. June 2026 (14:54) USDA confirms first case of New World screwworm in cattle in six decades, posing threat to livestock industryA flesh-eating parasite rarely seen in the US in six decades has been found in a calf in Texas, agriculture officials said, in an alarming development for the country’s cattle industry.The New World screwworm fly (NWS) was confirmed in the animal in the south of the state, about 50 miles from the Mexico border, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said late on Wednesday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Boom Box documentary casts spotlight on unethical tactics of undercover policing 04. June 2026 (14:49) Four-part TV documentary examines the aftermath of Operation Peyzac, where officers posed as music industry figures to gather intelligence on crimeIt was the undercover police operation that led to 37 people being jailed for more than 400 years in total after officers set up a fake recording studio and record shop on a north London housing estate.Now, a four-part television documentary has brought Operation Peyzac back under the spotlight, prompting renewed scrutiny of the tactics used by undercover officers and calls for the operation to be examined by the UK’s ongoing spycops inquiry. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Bob Harris steps down from BBC Radio 2 shows because of ill health 04. June 2026 (14:49) Veteran broadcaster makes ‘one of hardest decisions of my entire life’ weeks after revealing spread of cancer to spineThe veteran broadcaster Bob Harris has announced he is stepping down from BBC Radio 2 after 30 years so he can focus on “getting well again”, six weeks after revealing his prostate cancer had spread into his upper spine.The 80-year-old host of The Country Show and Sounds of the 70s, known as “Whispering” Bob Harris, said his health problems were forcing him to step down and that it had been “one of the hardest decisions of my entire life”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Financier Lex Greensill banned from running UK companies for nine years 04. June 2026 (14:42) Founder of Greensill Capital says there was no finding he acted dishonestly after his company collapsed owing £1.6bnThe disgraced former financier Lex Greensill has been banned from running a UK company for nine years after he was judged to be unfit because of the 2021 collapse of his £1.6bn supply chain invoicing firm.The government’s Insolvency Service said on Thursday that Greensill had signed a disqualification undertaking, bringing the case to an end before a trial was due to begin on 8 June. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Experts criticise plan for American-only Ebola quarantine centre in Kenya 04. June 2026 (14:30) Plan departs from policy of bringing CDC staff back to US for treatment and offering support to all health workersFormer top US officials and other experts are urging the Trump administration to abandon plans for an Ebola quarantine and treatment centre in Kenya, as the union for workers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls for Americans exposed to Ebola to be brought home for treatment.Soon after the US revealed it was setting up a field hospital in Kenya for the Ebola quarantine and treatment of Americans, the Kenyan high court blocked the order – but the Kenyan and US governments moved forward anyway, with the first American responders reportedly landing at the Laikipia airbase on Saturday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK car sales hit post-Covid high for May as Chinese EV makers gain ground 04. June 2026 (14:28) Registrations up 7% in the month, with battery EVs recording fastest growth and Tesla jumping 45% as motorists look to cut fuel billsBritish car sales rose in May to their strongest level for the month since before the Covid pandemic, driven in part by strong growth from the Chinese manufacturers BYD and Chery.Car registrations rose by 7% to 160,662 during the month, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘I’d rather read a book’: Tarantino criticises ‘flavourless sausage factory’ Hollywood 04. June 2026 (14:21) Pulp Fiction director writes in Sight and Sound that ‘since the pandemic … it seems almost impossible for a new movie to come out that I don’t pick to death’Quentin Tarantino has criticised contemporary Hollywood, calling it “a flavourless sausage factory”.Writing in Sight and Sound magazine, Tarantino said that “since the pandemic … it seems almost impossible for a new movie to come out that I don’t pick to death”. He added: “Flaws, implausibilities, audience pandering, miscast performers or just plain stupid shit usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavourless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
