Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley defiant after Trump pardons

Lead of Chrisley Knows Best said he doesn’t ‘have an apology to give’ in interview after release from prison

A reality TV star who was imprisoned for defrauding banks of tens of millions of dollars before beingpardonedin May by Donald Trump says there is nothing for him to be sorry about.

“I don’t have an apology to give you or anyone else over the money that I’ve made,” Todd Chrisleysaidin an interview with ABC News that was posted online Monday.

Speaking to the network alongside his wife, Julie, who was also imprisoned and then pardoned by the president, Chrisley’s comments were some of his most extensive comments yet about his and his spouse’s abbreviated experiences behind bars.

He joked that his first post-pardon shower back home was as exciting as his “first sexual encounter”. And, as his family begins planning to return to television with a new reality show on Lifetime, he said “it doesn’t matter what someone else’s opinion” of him is.

“No one’s opinion of me has ever caused me to question who I am at the core,” the former co-star of Chrisley Knows Best said to ABC News. “So I don’t worry about someone else’s opinion.”

Chrisley Knows Best aired on USA Network from 2014 to 2023, depicting Todd as a wealthy real estate developer and entrepreneur who was raising a family with Julie in their suburban Atlanta mansion.

But in 2019, during Trump’s first presidency, the federal government charged the Chrisleys with tax evasion and bank fraud. Jurors in 2022 convicted the couple of defrauding banks of at least $30m, leaving Todd to be sentenced to 12 years in prison and Julie to seven years.

The couple’s daughter Savannah Chrisley was a vocalTrumpadvocate as he successfully ran for a second presidency in November 2024. Trump then pardoned Todd and Julie on 27 May, a little more than four months after he was sworn back into the Oval Office.

Trump personally called Savannah to inform her of her parents’ pardons, according to a White Housevideo.

The Chrisleys’ pardons freed them from prison after serving less than three years. Their pardons came amid a series of clemencies that Trump gave to supporters in what evidently was a broaderrebukeagainst a justice system that had convicted him of criminally falsifying business records months before he retook the White House.

Some particularly criticized the Chrisleys’ pardons because an appeals court had upheld their jury convictions.

Nonetheless, as ABC News noted, Todd argued that the makeup of the couple’s jury was questionable and the president was right to pardon him and Julie.

Julie recounted to the network that she had made some everlasting friendships while incarcerated. “I have met some amazing women … that I will be friends with till the day that I die,” she told ABC.

Yet, unsurprisingly, Todd said he and his wife were relieved to be out of prison early as they weigh whether to move to South Carolina and film themselves converting a mansion into a hotel.

“You don’t realize how much your freedom means to you until you don’t have it,” he remarked.

Senate holds marathon ‘vote-a-rama’ on Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ – US politics live

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the secondTrump administration.

The US Senate is holding a marathon voteon a sprawling budgetthat is vital to Donald Trump’s agenda and would see sweeping tax breaks and cuts to healthcare and food programmes if passed.

Senators have convened at the Capitol for a process known as “vote-a-rama”, in which lawmakers will propose amendments to the legislation over what is expected to be many hours.

Democrats say the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs for lower-income Americans.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act(yes, it is formally called this) is expected to add an estimated $3.3tn to the national debt over the next decade.Republicansare rushing to pass the bill Trump’s self-imposed deadline of 4 July.

Republicans – who control both chambers of Congress and are generally loyal to Trump – are heavily divided over how deep welfare cuts should be in order to extend tax breaks in the legislation.

It is about 2.30am in Washington and it has been over 16 hours since voting began. We are expecting a result in around two and a half/ three hours time. Stay with us for all the latest developments.

Tech billionaireElon Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars in support of Trump’s candidacy, has pledged to found a new political party he called the “America Party” and support candidates who did not back the budget bill in future elections.

TheSenate parliamentarianfound thatRepublicanscan include a provision that would blockMedicaidfunding fromPlanned Parenthoodin the “big, beautiful bill”.

Trumpsigned an executive order overturning sanctions onSyriatoday and issued a memorandum on US policy towardCuba.

TheTrump administrationsued the cityofLos Angelesover policies limiting city cooperation with federal immigration authorities, continuing a confrontation over Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts in the largely Democratic city.

TheTrumpadministration informedHarvard Universitythat its investigation found that the universityviolated federal civil rights lawover its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting its federal funding further at risk.

Trumpwill host Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahuat the White House on 7 July.

Trumpwrote to Fed chairJerome Powellagain urging him to lower interest rates.

Severe weather hits the US hard as key forecast offices reel from Trump cuts

This year marks the first time that local NWS offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s history

A brutal stretch of severe weather has taxed communities on the eastern fringes of tornado alley this spring and early summer, while harsh staffing cuts and budget restrictions have forced federal meteorologists to attempt to forecast the carnage with less data.

As of 30 June, there have already been more than 1,200 tornadoes nationwide.

More than 60 people have died due to this year’s tornadoes, most of whichhave centered on the Mississippi River valley– about 500 miles east of the traditional heart of “tornado alley” of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. That unusual eastward shift may also be making tornado outbreaks more dangerous, bringing them in closer proximity to more people than the relatively sparsely populated plains states.

In addition to the tornadoes, it’s also been a burdensome year for flash flooding.

On 14 June,more than three inches of rain fell in just half an hourin West Virginia, washing away a young boy and prompting frantic emergency rescues across two counties in the northern part of the state. According toNational Weather Service statistics, rainfall that intense could only be expected to happen about once every thousand years in a stable climate.

As the weather has worsened, there have been fewer federal scientists to alert the public of it.

Cuts to the weather service by Trump and the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge)have left NWS local forecast offices critically understaffedthroughout this year’s heightened severe weather. In April, an internal document reportedly described how cuts could create a situation of “degraded” operations– shutting down core services one by one until it reaches an equilibrium that doesn’t overtax its remaining employees.

The changing climate is also making simultaneous weather disasters more likely,such as overlapping tornadoes and flash floods– creating emergency preparedness difficulties and compounding the effects of funding cuts.

Deadly storms earlier this springin Kentucky and Missouri featured torrential rains during an ongoing tornado outbreak, a nightmare scenario that demands close attention by emergency managers to avoid people seeking shelter in flood zones. Atthe NWS office in Jackson, Kentucky, however, a staffing shortage meant there was no on-duty forecaster for the overnight shift when the storms were at their peak. This year marks the first time that local NWS forecast offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s modern history.

Now, additional meteorologists are being remanded from research roles – where they’d normally be working to improve techniques and make advances for future years – into the forecasting frontlines in an attempt to fill the staffing gaps.

“The world’s example for weather services is being destroyed,”wroteChris Vagasky, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin, on social media earlier this spring after a round of major changes were announced.

In May, the main computer system that distributes NWS weather alerts to local partners for emergency broadcastsuffered a lengthy outage. By the time the system was back online hours later, at leastone flash flood warning, near Albuquerque, New Mexico and at leastone tornado warning, near Columbia, South Carolina, never made it to the public.

The decision to collect a bedrock source of data for forecasters – weather balloons – has been deferred to local offices, essentially making twice-daily launches optional for understaffed forecast centers.

In June,offices that missed balloon launchesserve New York City, Atlanta, Portland, and more than 10 sites in the midwest. Of the 91 launch sites,just over 70 siteswere consistently launching balloons during peak tornado season in May – a loss of one-quarter of this critical data source.

First used in 1896,weather balloon launchesare stillthe single-most important type of datathat meteorologists use. Weather balloons are the only way meteorologists have of taking direct measurements of air pressure, winds, temperature, and humidity throughout the atmosphere simultaneously at about 1,000 locations across the world – this data forms the basis for all computer-derived weather forecasts that appear on weather apps.

Since upper atmospheric winds generally blow from west to east in the US, the persistent data loss has tended to affect weather forecasts in the eastern half of the country the most – exactly where tornadoes are happening more frequently.

The entire process to launch a weather balloontakes a NWS employee about three hours. Since the balloon launches are time-consuming and difficult to automate, they’re being phased out at NWS offices with staffing shortages – even though they collect essential data.

“At the expense of weather balloons, we would rather focus our energy on looking at other data that will allow us to be able to give you the advance prediction that a tornado will occur,” Suzanne Fortin, meteorologist in charge at the Omaha NWSsaid in a March press conferenceshortly after the cuts were announced. “That’s the reason we’re suspending, so we can focus on those life-saving warnings that can keep people safe.”

In May, every living former director of the NWSsigned on to an open letterwith a warning that, if continued, Trump’s cuts to federal weather forecasting would create “needless loss of life”.

Despite bipartisancongressional pushbackfor a restoration in staffing and funding to the NWS, sharp budget cuts remain on pacein projections for the 2026 budgetfor the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent organization of the NWS. On Monday, in its annual budget request to Congress,Noaa proposed a slight budget increasefor the NWS for fiscal year 2026 while maintaining deep cuts to its research budget that provides tools to forecasters.

“Noaa leadership is taking steps to address those who took a voluntary early retirement option,” Erica Grow Cei, an NWS spokesperson, said in a statement to the Guardian when asked about staffing.

“NWS continues to conduct short-term Temporary Duty assignments (TDYs), and is in the process of conducting a series of Reassignment Opportunity Notices (RONs) to fill roles at NWS field locations with the greatest operational need.

“Additionally, a targeted number of permanent, mission-critical field positions will soon be advertised under an exception to the Department-wide hiring freeze to further stabilize frontline operations.”

In a 5 June hearing on Capitol Hill,commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, whose role includes overseeing Noaa, and by extension the NWS, defended the administration’s approach claiming agencies were “full staffed” and were “transforming how we track storms and forecast weather with cutting-edge technology”.

“Under no circumstances am I going to let public safety or public forecasting be touched,” he said.

.Studies over the past decadehave shown that global heating may be acting to both intensify tornado outbreaks and shift the tornado season eastward and earlier in the year. Warmer air can also hold more water vapor, making extreme rains even more intense.

Five of the past six seasons have had a higher-than-average death toll. This year’s tornado season is the second-busiest on record, and last year’s was the third-busiest.

Weather experts generally agreethat this surge in tornado activity is due in part to unusually warm temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico that have helped supply the eastern US with the necessary ingredients for tornado formation. At the same time,new studies suggestthat unusual summertime warming is concentrating activity into fewer days.

The NWS anticipated some of these changes and had been planning to consolidate and modernize its forecast systems to be more responsive to complex weather emergencies. Butwhat was supposed to be a multi-year transitionto a “mutual aid” concept has instead taken place haphazardly over the past several weeks.

According to climate scientists and public safety experts, all of this adds up to more deaths in disasters.As peak hurricane season approaches, this is a big concern.

Eric Holthaus is a meteorologist and climate journalist based in Minnesota

Obama calls Trump’s USAID closure a ‘travesty’ as report warns of extra 14 million deaths by 2030

Former presidents Obama and George W Bush and singer Bono send emotional message to staff as organisation closes

Barack Obama and George W Bush have criticised the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as a study warned it would result in “a staggering number” of avoidable deaths.

The former US presidents made rare public criticisms of theTrump administrationas they took part in a video farewell for USAID staffers on its last day as an independent organisation.

In March, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced that83% of USAID’s programmeshad been cancelled. The agency is being folded into the state department, where it is to be replaced by a successor organisation called America First.

A study published in the Lancetfound the cuts could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, with a third of those among children.

USAID funding for health care, nutrition, humanitarian aid, development, education and related sectors have helped prevent more than 91 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries over the past two decades, the multinational group of researchers calculated.

They concluded: “Unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030.”

For many of the world’s poorer countries “the resulting shock would be similar in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict”, they said, but “would stem from a conscious and avoidable policy choice”.

USAID was founded six decades ago by president John F Kennedy and had, until recently, enjoyed broad bipartisan support.

However, it was aggressively targeted by the current administration. Donald Trump claimed the agency was run by“radical left lunatics”and rife with “tremendous fraud”. Elon Musk called it “a criminal organisation”.

In a recorded message played in a video conference for USAID staffers on Monday, Obama said that dismantling the agency was “a colossal mistake”.

The call was closed to the media, but parts of the video were shared with the Associated Press.

“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy. Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” said Obama, crediting the organisation with saving lives and playing a role in economic growth that turned recipients into US trade partners.

He predicted that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realise how much you are needed”.

In his message, Bush spoke about cuts to thePresident’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. He said: “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”

Singer Bono recited a poem he had written for the occasion, telling staffers: “They called you crooks/When you were the best of us.”

Southern Water owners to invest up to £1.2bn into troubled utility

Australia’s Macquarie leads consortium putting up funds to help firm avoid breach of regulatory licence

What would happen if Thames Water is temporarily renationalised?

The struggling UK utility Southern Water has secured investment worth up to £1.2bn in a deal led by its majority owner, Macquarie Group, that will help it avoid a breach of its regulatory licence.

A consortium led by Macquarie has committed to invest £655m, with a promise of another £245m by the end of the year from existing shareholders and unnamed new investors. Southern could receive another £300m depending on the outcome of a legal appeal to increase the amount it can charge customers.

Southern supplies Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with water and sewage services. It needed to raise cash in order to avoid a downgrade on its debt rating that could have resulted in a breach of its licence to operate from Ofwat, the sector regulator in England and Wales.

Ofwat has allowed water companies to raise household bills steeply in order to invest billions of pounds over the next five years in infrastructure such as new pipes, water treatment works and reservoirs. Southern had already been allowed a 53% increase for its 4.7 million customers – the largest rise of any company – but it isappealing to the Competition and Markets Authorityto charge more.

Southern in February said it would raise £900m from investors and that it expected “to conclude the process by the end of June 2025”. However, the process was only completed late on the last day of June after protracted negotiations between Australia-headquartered Macquarie and the holders of Southern’s most expensive debt.

Those creditors, the US investor Ares Management and the Australian investor Westbourne Capital, will have £415m in debt written off in exchange for taking part in the equity raise, according to a person close to the talks.

Southern is the latest UK water company to face severe financial pressures, and had net debt of £6.2bn at the end of March 2024.Macquarie has previously faced intense criticismfrom politicians over its record of ownership of Thames Water between 2006 and 2017, when Britain’s biggest water company built up large debts.

Macquarie sold the utility to buyers who have since lost all their investment. Thames Water’s creditors are negotiating with the government to avoid fines before injecting £5.3bn in new debt and equity that would see themformalise control of it – and avoid temporary nationalisation.

Southern’s parallel turnaround efforts had been complicated by its complex capital structure. Negotiations continued until Monday to agree the level of writedown on the debt.

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Securing the equity was crucial for Southern because it has already had itsdebt downgraded to “junk” status by Moody’s Investor Service, one of the trio of big credit rating agencies. Another of the three, S&P Global Ratings, has threatened to cut its rating if the equity raise is not successful. Ofwat requires an investment-grade rating from two of the big agencies.

Southern is majority-owned by Macquarie via a Jersey-incorporated vehicle called Greensands Holdings. The consortium putting up the £655m also includes existing investors. Other minority shareholders include funds controlled by JP Morgan, UBS and Federated Hermes.

Another consequence of the Moody’s rating agency downgrade was that Southern Water was blocked from making payments to the debt holders. Southern said that it would commit to paying no dividends during the 2025 to 2030 regulatory period.

Great Britain’s energy networks to get £24bn upgrade but bills to rise

Ofgem approves investment amid push by government to expand UK’s renewables sector

Energy companies have been given the green light to spend nearly £24bn on Great Britain’s electricity grid, in a move that will further increase household bills.

In its draft verdict on price controls for energy network companies, the energy watchdog,Ofgem, approved more than £15bn to be spent on gas transmission and distribution networks in the five years to 2031.

A further £8.9bn will be invested in the nation’s high-voltage electricity network – the biggest expansion of the grid since the 1960s – with a further £1.3bn earmarked on top of that.

The funding will allow 80 big energy infrastructure projects to be completed by 2030 and comes amid a push by the government to boost the UK’s renewables sector to help improve energy security.

However, to cover the cost of the investment, households’ bills will rise by £104 by 2031 – £30 for gas networks and £74 for the electricity grid. This means an extra £24 a year on bills, which remain higher than beforethe energy crisis, which began to escalate in 2021.

The regulator added that bills would be even higher – about £30 more – without the investment, because the funding will allow the UK to make “better use of our clean renewable energy so we are not having to pay for expensive gas plants to serve demand”.

Labour hasfaced questionsover the cost of its plan to switch to a clean power system by 2030, which it has said will ultimately lead to lower bills.

Jonathan Brearley, the Ofgem chief executive, said major investment in the energy networks was vital to “ensure the system has greater resilience against shocks from volatile gas prices we don’t control”.

He added: “Doing nothing is not an option and will cost consumers more – this is critical national infrastructure. The sooner we build the network we need and invest to strengthen our resilience, the lower the cost for bill payers will be in the future.”

On Tuesday, Ofgem’s quarterly price captook effect, reducing a typical annual dual-fuel bill by 7% to £1,720.

Brearley insisted the regulator had built in cost controls and negotiated a fair deal for investors and consumers. “We won’t hesitate to intervene if network companies don’t deliver on time and on budget,” he said.

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The energy regulator’s draft verdict included a plan to increase the returns that investors can get on equity put intogrid companies. A final decision will be published by the end of the year.

Ofgem proposed a cost of equity of 6% for private investment in grid companies, up from 4.55% in the previous five years.National Grid, SSEN Transmission and Scottish Power are among the utilities submitting plans, and had asked for up to 6.9% in returns.

SSE said Ofgem’s proposals for returns were “not commensurate with globally competitive market rates, robust market evidence, and the significant business risks of investing in electricity transmission”.

However, SSE’s share price rose by 1.8%, National Grid increased 2.2% and Scottish Power’s Spanish owner Iberdrola was up 1.3%, suggesting shareholders were cheered by the Ofgem announcement.

Lucy Letby hospital investigation: three bosses arrested on suspicion of manslaughter

The three, who have not been named, arrested as part of inquiry into the actions of leaders at Countess of Chester hospital

Three bosses at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, police have said.

The three, who have not been named, were arrested on Monday as part of the investigation into the actions of leaders at the Countess of Chester hospital (CoCH).

Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016.

The former neonatal nurse is seeking to overturn her convictions at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), having lost two legal challenges at the court of appeal.

Det Supt Paul Hughes of Cheshire constabulary said on Tuesday: “In October 2023 following the lengthy trial and subsequent conviction of Lucy Letby, Cheshire constabulary launched an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the Countess of Chester hospital.

“This focuses on senior leadership and their decision-making to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities.

“In March 2025 the scope of the investigation widened to also include gross negligence manslaughter.

“This is a separate offence to corporate manslaughter and focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals.

“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder.”

He added: “As part of our ongoing inquiries, on Monday 30 June three individuals who were part of the senior leadership team at the CoCH in 2015-16, were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

“All three have subsequently been bailed pending further inquiries.”

The arrests are the first in the case since Letby was originally arrested in July 2018. The university graduate, originally from Hereford, has been in custody since November 2020.

Police have faced mounting questions about Letby’s convictions after an international panel of experts announced in February that they had found no evidence of criminality against her after reviewing medical records and other documents.

Mark McDonald, the barrister now representing Letby, handed two large dossiers of new expert reviews to the CCRC earlier this year.

But on Tuesday Cheshire constabulary said its criminal investigation into the former nurse, hospital bosses and the hospital itself would continue.

Hughes said: “Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these.

“Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester hospital and the Liverpool women’s hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing.”

Man, 92, jailed for 1967 rape and murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol

Ryland Headley sentenced to minimum of 20 years after what is thought to be oldest cold case solved in modern English policing history

A 92-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 yearsafter being convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in Bristol 58 years ago.

The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Sweeting, told Ryland Headley that he would spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Louisa Dunne at her home in 1967.

It is thought to be the oldest cold case solved in modern English policing history and Headley is believed to be the oldest person in the UK to be convicted of murder.

After killing Dunne, who lived alone in the Easton area of Bristol, Headley left south-westEnglandwith his family and may have spent some time in London before moving to Ipswich in Suffolk.

In 1977, he raped two women, aged 79 and 84, in their homes in Ipswich. He was convicted and originally jailed for life, but at an appeal doctors told the court the rapes arose due to sexual frustration arising from his marriage to an “ambitious and demanding” wife. The sentence was reduced and he spent only about two years in jail.

Sweeting told Headley: “You will never be released – you will die in prison.” He said Dunne was a mother of two and a widow who lived alone in her own home. He said she was born in 1892 and was involved in the labour movement but by the time she died she lived a “simple life” on her pension, with her treasured possessions, her books and deeds to her house.

The judge said Headley was a cruel, depraved, pitiless man who met Dunne’s screams with force. He said she must have suffered considerable pain and fear and he showed “complete disregard” for her life and dignity.

Sweeting said Headley must have thought he had evaded detection and had shown no remorse or shame, but the “diligent” work of police, the Crown Prosecution Service and forensic scientists had led to him being caught.

The judge said the rape and killing had “intergenerational” impact, which was a “powerful aggravating factor”.

When deciding on the sentence, the judge had to take into account what term Headley may have faced if he had been caught in 1967.

Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, said society was “radically” different now. She said the death sentence was still in place in the late 60s for certain very serious crimes and the home secretary rather than the trial judge set the minimum terms for sentences.

But she also said the starting point for a minimum term for the sort of murder with a sexual element that Headley had been found guilty of was about 20 years, rather than the 30 it would be today.

Vigars asked the judge to bear in mind the fear Dunne would have felt. Jeremy Benson KC, for Headley, said only that his client would be 93 in September and requested that the judge take into account his behaviour since he was released from prison for the two rapes in Ipswich in 1980.

In 2023, cold case detectives in Avon and Somerset police reviewed the unsolved murder of Dunne and sent off the skirt she had been wearing and samples of hair for analysis.

A full DNA profile was obtained and a match with Headley found. His DNA was on the national database because he was arrested, but not charged, over an unrelated matter in 2012.

Dunne’s granddaughter, Mary Dainton,has spoken abouthow the family had given up hope of the killer ever being found and been resigned to living with the “emptiness and sadness” the crime had left them with.

She said: “When people found out about the murder, including friends, they withdrew – there is a stigma attached to rape and murder.

“Since Ryland Headley was charged, I’ve struggled emotionally in ways I did not anticipate, and it falls to me to speak for people who are no longer here. It saddens me deeply that all the people who knew and loved Louisa are not here to see that justice is being done.”

In the witness box, Dainton said the crime had a “far-reaching effect” on the family and had “clouded” lives. She added: “I feel it falls to me to speak for the people who are no longer here. I don’t think my mother ever recovered from it.” She said her life had been turned upside down by Headley being caught.

The NationalCrimeAgency is working with Avon and Somerset police to identify whether Headley has committed any other offences.

Labour rebel claims Starmer risks defeat on welfare bill with ‘loads’ of MPs planning to vote against it – UK politics live

This is fromPippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, withher latest takeon the state of play ahead of the start of the debate on the UC and Pip bill.

Meg Hillier, who tabled the original wrecking amendment to welfare bill, confirms she’ll now vote for it.

“I’ve not always been happy about how No 10 has engaged with MPs in general, but on this they acted in good faith: listened, made an offer and honoured it,” she tells @guardian

Her view reflects that of a chunk of former rebels, while others say they’ll hold their noses to back it at second reading, and try to tweak at later stages.

Of those who’ve already decided to vote against, around 40 have signed Rachel Maskell’s new amendment. Rebel leaders say others are expected to join them in voting lobbies, but not to sign.

But many MPs are yet to make up their minds, and want to hear what Liz Kendall has to say today, after despatch box appearance y’day which made things worse.

Some of them are considering abstaining – which could upend the parliamentary maths. But they’re haunted by criticism of Labour MP who followed Harriet Harman’s whip in 2015 and didn’t vote against Tory welfare bill (they abstained).

“People are in turmoil,” one Labour MP tells me. At this stage, it feels like the government will get its welfare bill through second reading. Just. But it’s not in the bag and today will make all the difference.

‘A new wave of repression’: fears for Iran’s political prisoners after Israel war

Families report ‘horrific’ conditions in jails and fear executions may be hastened as part of broader crackdown

Life for Reza Khandan has only got worse since Tehran’s Evin prison, where he was an inmate, was hit by an Israeli airstrike on 23 June. The next night, the 60-year-old human rights activist – who was arrested in 2024 for his support of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement – was moved to another jail in the south of the capital, where he has told family conditions are hard to endure.

“My father and others do not have beds and are forced to sleep on the floor. He once found six or seven bedbugs in his blanket when he woke up,” said his daughter Mehraveh Khandan, who described “horrific” sanitary conditions in the prison.

Families of political prisoners inIransay conditions have worsened since the end of the 12-day war and that they fear vulnerable detainees will bear the brunt of what activists say is a broader crackdown by the Iranian authorities, whose legitimacy was shaken by Israel’s campaign.

The fighting began on 13 June with a barrage of hundreds of Israeli airstrikes that Israel said were aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran quickly responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones. The air war brought in the US and continued until both sides agreed a ceasefire.

An unknown number of prisoners were moved by the Iranian authorities to other detention facilities in the aftermath of Israel’s strike on Evin, which killed 71 people, including some in the jail and others in its vicinity. The whereabouts of many is unknown but those who have been in contact with relatives have said their new jails are even worse than Evin, which was notorious for the torture of political detainees.

Mehraveh, who is based in Amsterdam, said: “The only cooking water available to prisoners was salty until Sunday. [And] in recent days we have witnessed the disappearance of several prisoners who were already facing the death penalty or long sentences.”

Many families have not heard from their loved ones, as long queues have formed for the few phones in detention facilities. Asso Azizi, whose sister Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish aid worker, is on death row, said he had not heard from her in two days.

She and other women were transferred to Qarchak prison, which is described as overcrowded and unsanitary. “Unfortunately, they were not even able to take their personal and sanitary items with them,” Asso said.

Besides the unsanitary conditions, Asso is terrified that the authorities may expedite his sister’s death sentence, which she was handed in July 2024 “solely in relation to her peaceful humanitarian and human rights activities”, according to Amnesty International. The Iranian authorities charged her with armed rebellion against the state.

“There is a concern that just as the process of dealing with her case was very hasty and fast, confirming this sentence in only three days, that now they will execute this sentence to create terror among the people,” Asso said.

As conditions worsen in prison, activists and residents of Tehran have also described a wave of repression as the country reels from the war. Security forces have set up checkpoints across the country, stopping pedestrians and checking their mobile phones, sometimes detaining people based on their online activity.

The security crackdown comes as the Iranian authorities grapple with the extensive Israeli intelligence penetration of its forces and a wave of online criticism.

According to Iranian state media, 700 people have been arrested on charges of collaborating with Israel during the 12-day war. The New-York based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has said hundreds more were arrested in Tehran and six people were executed on espionage charges.

Iran’s parliament is considering a bill that allows for broader use of the death penalty for those who are accused of collaborating with foreign powers, with judicial authorities specifically referencing espionage with Israel.

Hadi Ghaemi, the CHRI’s executive director, said: “Iranian authorities are locking people up incommunicado without cause or access to a lawyer, and sending them to the gallows on ‘national security’ charges in order to terrorise the public and re-establish control.”

The Iranian prison system is murky, particularly for political prisoners. The legal system is plagued with secret trials and allegations of torture. Tracking detainees through the labyrinthine Iranian security apparatus is often a challenge.

For families of Iranian political prisoners, the days ahead will be filled with fear. Mehraveh said: “It is clear that a new wave of intense repression has begun, more severe than ever before. We are deeply concerned.”