Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch’s pledge to scrap stamp duty on the purchase of main homes is the top story in many of the papers. The Daily Express reports Badenoch used her speech at the party conference to announce she would scrap the tax to “unleash the ‘dream of home ownership’ for millions”. It says it was a “barnstorming speech which was packed with humour and personal sentiment”.
“Kemi fires up Tories with pledge to scrap hated stamp duty,” reads the front page headline of the Daily Mail. It adds she “electrified the Tory party conference by announcing plans for an audacious £9bn tax cut funded by a crackdown on welfare and waste”. The paper also quotes Victoria Beckham, the former pop star once known as Posh Spice, who opens up about her experience suffering an eating disorder in a new Netflix documentary.
The i Paper focuses on the potential impact of the Tories’ stamp duty pledge on the November Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “believed to be considering a new property tax to replace stamp duty and now faces extra political pressure to counter the Tories next month”, according to the paper.
The Financial Times leads with warnings from prominent financial institutions, the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund, that the AI boom could cause a “sudden correction” on the stock market. The paper explains it could trigger a “dotcom” event, referring to the late 1990s investor boom in internet start-ups, some of which “burst” in the early 2000s.
The Daily Telegraph leads with former top civil servant Lord Case questioning Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s explanation of why a “trial collapsed” over alleged Chinese spying, because China had not been labelled a “national security threat” at the time two men were charged. Both of the men charged deny the allegations.
Badenoch’s efforts to “galvanise her leadership and revive the Conservative Party’s political fortunes” through her stamp duty announcement lead the Times. A separate headline asks: “When did UK decide China was not a threat?”
“Ministers commit to overhaul of licensing laws in push for growth” is the Guardian’s top story. It goes on to explain pubs and restaurants will be able to extend their hours under the government’s plans, while adding warnings from health experts that it could lead to “more drunken disorder”. The paper quotes new analysis published in the Lancet on the “scale of children suffering in Gaza”. It reports “almost 55,000 children in Gaza are malnourished”, according to the study led by the UN Relief and Works Agency.
The mother of missing girl Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann, giving testimony in a case against her alleged stalker leads several other newspapers. Madeleine vanished in 2007 at the age of three during a family holiday in Portugal. The Metro reports her family was contacted by Julia Wandelt, who allegedly claimed she was their missing daughter. Mrs McCann “went to police in September last year when she learned Wandelt had allegedly approached her other daughter Amelie”, the paper says. Ms Wandelt denies the stalking charges.
The Sun also leads with Mrs McCann’s testimony in court against her alleged stalker under the headline “I want Maddie back… calling me Mum”. “Posh: my eating disorder struggle” also features on the front page of the paper, next to a photo of Victoria Beckham at the premiere of her new documentary.
“What I want most is for Maddie to be back… calling me ‘mum'” tops the Daily Mirror, reporting on Mrs McCann’s “anguish over a woman claiming to be Madeline”. Gerry McCann, Madeline’s father, “confronted” the woman allegedly claiming to be his daughter, the paper reports.
The 7ft 2in Tory conference attendee James McAlpine makes a back-to-back appearance on the Daily Star’s front page, today talking up his hopes to become the tallest prime minister in history. It embeds a photo of yesterday’s front page, where it referred to Mr McAlpine as the “Never Ending Tory”, quipping that today he was “larging it with Kemi Badenoch”, who noted he was a “stand-out” member of the party.
More than four years after the family of deceased Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed a wrongful death suit against the Angels, jury selection will begin Monday in Orange County Superior Court.
Skaggs’ widow Carli Skaggs and parents Debra Hetman and Darrell Skaggs stated in a court filing that they seek at least $210 million in lost earnings and damages. A lawyer for the Angels said in a pretrial hearing that the plaintiffs now seek a judgment of $1 billion, although the lead attorney representing the family said the number is an exaggeration.
The trial is expected to last several weeks. Pretrial discovery included more than 50 depositions and the witness list contains nearly 80 names.
Lawyers for the Skaggs family aim to establish that the Angels were responsible for the death of the 27-year-old left-handed pitcher on July 1, 2019, after he snorted crushed pills that contained fentanyl in a hotel room during a team road trip in Texas.
An autopsy concluded Skaggs accidentally died of asphyxia after aspirating his own vomit while under the influence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol.
Angels communications director Eric Kay provided Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone pills that turned out to be laced with fentanyl and is serving 22 years in federal prison for his role in the death. Skaggs’ lawyers will try to prove that other Angels employees knew Kay was providing opioids to Skaggs.
“The Angels owed Tyler Skaggs a duty to provide a safe place to work and play baseball,” the lawsuit said. “The Angels breached their duty when they allowed Kay, a drug addict, complete access to Tyler. The Angels also breached their duty when they allowed Kay to provide Tyler with dangerous illegal drugs. The Angels should have known Kay was dealing drugs to players. Tyler died as a result of the Angels’ breach of their duties.”
The Skaggs family planned to call numerous current and former Angels players as witnesses, including future Hall of Famers Mike Trout and Albert Pujols as well as pitcher Andrew Heaney — Skaggs’ best friend on the team — in an attempt to show that Skaggs was a fully functioning major league pitcher and not an addict.
Pretrial filings and hearings indicated that the Angels were attempting to show that Skaggs was a longtime drug user who acquired pills from sources other than Kay. Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, testified during Kay’s 2022 criminal trial that her son admitted he had an “issue” with oxycodone as far back as 2013.
Hetman said her son quit “cold turkey” but she testified the addiction remained enough of a concern that Skaggs wasn’t prescribed opioids after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014.
Judge H. Shaina Colover dashed a key Angels defense strategy when she ruled that Kay’s criminal conviction could not be disputed during the civil trial. Angels attorney Todd Theodora contended that new evidence indicated Skaggs died of a “cardiac arrhythmia, second to the fact that Tyler had 10 to 15 drinks in him, coupled with the oxycodone, for which Angels baseball is not responsible.”
Theodora said that if the Angels could prove Kay was not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, neither Kay nor the team would be culpable in Skaggs’ death. Colover, however, ruled that Kay’s “conviction, based on applicable law and facts, was final.” Kay’s appeal was denied in federal court in November 2023.
Pretrial depositions of Angels players and support personnel provided a rare glimpse into the rowdy, often profane culture of a major league clubhouse.
Angels clubhouse attendants testified that Kay participated in stunts such as purposely taking an 85-mph fastball off his knee in the batting cage, having a pitcher throw a football at his face from short range, eating a bug and eating pimples off the back of Trout.
Tim Mead, the Angels longtime vice president of communication and Kay’s supervisor, acknowledged as much in his deposition, saying, “If you try to describe a clubhouse or a locker room in professional sports, or even college, and probably even the military in terms, and try to equate it to how we see — how this law firm is run or a corporation is run, you know, unfortunately, there’s not lot of comparison…. There’s a lot of fun, there’s a lot of release.”
And a lot of painkillers. Former Angels players Matt Harvey, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian testified at Kay’s trial that he distributed blue 30 milligram oxycodone pills to them at Angel Stadium. Skaggs, testimony revealed, was a particularly frequent customer.
Testimony established that Kay was also a longtime user of oxycodone and that the Angels knew it. In a filing, the Skaggs family showed evidence that Angels team physician Craig Milhouse prescribed Kay Hydrocodone 15 times from 2009 to 2012. The Skaggs family also plans to call Trout, who according to the deposition of former Angels clubhouse attendant Kris Constanti, offered to pay for Kay’s drug rehabilitation in 2018.
Skaggs was a top prospect coming out of Santa Monica High in 2009, and the Angels made him their first-round draft pick. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks a year later and made his major league debut with them in 2012.
Traded back to the Angels in 2014, Skaggs made the starting rotation, where he remained when not battling injuries until his death. His numbers were rather ordinary, a 28-38 win-loss record with a 4.41 earned-run average in 96 career starts, but his lawyers pointed to his youth and the escalating salaries given to starting pitchers in asking for a jury award of at least $210 million and as much as $785 million.
Skaggs earned $9.2 million — including $3.7 million in 2019 — and would have become a free agent after the 2020 season. Effective starting pitchers at a similar age and comparable performance can command multi-year contracts of $100 million or more.
Skaggs’ death prompted MLB to begin testing for opioids and cocaine in 2020, but only players who do not cooperate with their treatment plans are subject to discipline. Marijuana was removed from the list of drugs of abuse and is treated the same as alcohol.
MLB emergency medical procedures now require that naloxone be stored in clubhouses, weight rooms, dugouts and umpire dressing rooms at all ballparks. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is an antidote for opioid poisoning.
So Jimmy Kimmel is coming back, fast enough that there are still folks out there who didn’t know he was gone.
Hallelujah? Praise be to ABC? Free speech triumphs?
It all depends on Tuesday night, when we see if Kimmel returns undaunted, or if he has been subdued. Of all the consequential, crazy, frightening events that have taken place in recent days, Kimmel’s return should be a moment we all watch — a real-time, late-night look at how successful our president is at forcing us to censor ourselves through fear.
Please, Jimmy, don’t back down.
If Kimmel tempers his comedy now, pulls his punches on making fun of power, he sends the message that we should all be afraid, that we should all bend. Maybe he didn’t sign up for this, but here he is — a person in a position of influence being forced to make a risky choice between safety and country.
That sounds terribly dramatic, I know, but self-censorship is the heart of authoritarianism. When people of power are too scared to even crack a joke, what does that mean for the average person?
If Kimmel, with his celebrity, clout and wealth, cannot stand up to this president, what chance do the rest of us have?
Patriotism used to be a simple thing. A bit of apple pie, a flag on the Fourth of July, maybe even a twinge of pride when the national anthem plays and all the words pop into your mind even though you can’t find your car keys or remember what day it is.
It’s just something there, running in the background — an unspoken acknowledgment that being American is a pretty terrific thing to be.
Now, of course, patriotism is the most loaded of words. It’s been masticated and barfed out by the MAGA movement into a specific gruel — a white, Western-centric dogma that demands a narrow and angry Christianity dominate civic life.
The one that put a knot in my stomach was the speech by Stephen Miller, Trump’s immigration czar, speaking, without humor, at the memorial for Charlie Kirk.
That’s disturbing, but actually mild compared with what he said next, a now-familiar Christian nationalist rant.
“Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello,” Miller said. “Our ancestors built the cities they produced, the art and architecture they built. The industry.”
Who’s going to tell him about Sally Hemings? But he continued with an attack on the “yous” who don’t agree with this worldview, the “yous,” like Kimmel, one presumes (though Kimmel’s name did not come up) who oppose this cruel version of America.
“You are wickedness, you are jealousy, you are envy, you are hatred, you are nothing,” Miller said. “You can build nothing. You can produce nothing. You can create nothing.”
Humor, of course, ain’t nothing, which is why this administration can’t stand it.
Humor builds camaraderie. It produces dopamine and serotonin, the glue of human bonding. It drains away fear, and creates hope.
Which is why autocrats always go after comedians pretty early on. It’s not thin skin, though Trump seems to have that. It’s effective management of dissent.
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels knew it. In 1939, after his party had set up a Chamber of Culture that required all performers to adhere to certain rules, he banned five German comedians — Werner Finck, Peter Sachse, Helmuth Buth, Wilhelm Meissner and Manfred Dlugi — for making political jokes that didn’t support the regime. He basically ended their careers for daring satire against Nazi leaders, claiming people didn’t find it funny.
“(I)n their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance in public and especially to party comrades,” the New York Times reported the German government claiming at the time.
Sounds familiar.
Kimmel, of course, is not the only comedian speaking out. Jon Stewart has hit back on “The Daily Show,” pretending to be scared into submission, perhaps a hat tip to Finck, who famously joked, “I am not saying anything. And even that I am not saying.”
And there are plenty of others pushing back. Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken to all-caps rebuttals. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whom Trump called “nothing,” is also vocal in his opposition, especially of National Guard troops in Chicago.
The collective power of the powerful is no joke. It means something.
But all the sober talk in the world can’t rival one spot-on dig when it comes to kicking the clay feet of would-be dictators. Mark Twain said it best: Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. Which is what makes Kimmel so relevant in this moment.
Can he come back with a laugh — proving we have nothing to fear but fear itself — or are we seriously in trouble?
The Hillsborough Law seeks to force public bodies to cooperate with investigations into major disasters
A long-awaited “Hillsborough Law” bill will force public officials to tell the truth during investigations into major disasters.
The news has been welcomed by campaigners, who had feared the legislation was going to be watered down.
The landmark Public Office (Accountability) Bill will force public bodies to cooperate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal sanctions, as well as provide legal funding to those affected by state-related disasters.
Sir Keir Starmer had promised the law by the 36th anniversary of the disaster, which was on 15 April this year
The bill will be introduced to Parliament on Tuesday to begin its journey towards becoming law.
The government has confirmed a new professional and legal “duty of candour” will be part of the bill, meaning public officials would have to act with honesty and integrity at all times and would face criminal sanctions if they breached it.
Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, said she was hopeful the new law “will mean no-one will ever have to suffer like we did”.
The disaster, during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield on 15 April 1989, led to the deaths of 97 football fans.
The government said the new legislation would “end the culture of cover-ups” and learn lessons from wider disasters including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Horizon and infected blood scandals.
Ms Aspinall said: “It’s been a long journey to get here. I am so grateful to the prime minister for fulfilling his promise to me.”
Margaret Aspinall said she hoped “no-one will ever have to suffer like we did”
Sir Keir praised Ms Aspinall’s “courage” and “the strength of all the Hillsborough families and survivors” in their long campaign for justice.
He said the new legislation would change “the balance of power in Britain” to ensure the state could “never hide from the people it is supposed to serve”.
“Make no mistake, this a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the subpostmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire,” he said.
One of the bill’s architects, Elkan Abrahamson of law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, said there was still some way to go before it became law.
“We will now scrutinise the bill as it makes its passage through parliament, so we’re not quite there yet,” he said.
“But today is still a momentous step, owed entirely to the persistence of campaigners and their refusal to give up.
“The Hillsborough Law will transform the face of British justice.”
Manchester City are set to assess forward Omar Marmoush before Sunday’s Manchester derby after he suffered a knee injury while on international duty with Egypt.
The 26-year-old was substituted in the ninth minute of his country’s World Cup qualifier with Burkina Faso – which finished in a goalless draw – in Ouagadougou on Tuesday.
He initially played on after receiving treatment on the field before being replaced by Osama Faisal shortly afterwards.
A picture of the player leaving the pitch with medics was posted on the Egyptian Football Association’s X account with the message: “Omar Marmoush suffers a bruised knee ligament.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has relieved three deputies of duty while it investigates the circumstances of the bloody beating of a Valencia man outside a Santa Clarita bar last year.
Parker Seitz, 25, alleged in a federal lawsuit that off-duty sheriff’s deputies attacked him outside a bar called the Break Room last Thanksgiving Day.
He sustained multiple serious injuries, according to the complaint filed in California’s Central District federal court on Aug. 25, including a fractured jaw, a punctured lung and a bruised collarbone.
Seitz is suing the county, multiple L.A. County sheriff’s deputies, hired security guards at the Break Room, and the bar itself for unspecified damages.
“Parker Seitz was violently attacked by off-duty Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies, under the watchful eye of security guards contracted by a local business,” Josh Stambaugh, an attorney for Seitz, said in a statement. “He suffered serious injuries and, as we allege in our lawsuit, members and leaders of the LASD then attempted to conceal the truth of the attack and evade accountability on behalf of the organization.”
The sheriff’s department said in an email that it “takes these allegations seriously,” and that on Dec. 2 it “initiated an internal investigation into the incident. Three employees have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Management at the Break Room did not respond to requests for comment.
The complaint alleges assault and battery by off-duty deputies Randy Austin and Nicholas Hernandez and an unidentified third assailant, along with a civil conspiracy by the county and a number of sheriff’s department employees accused of trying to bury the incident.
Parker Seitz, 25, alleges off-duty sheriff’s deputies attacked him outside a Santa Clarita bar called the Break Room last Thanksgiving Day. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has relieved three deputies of duty while it investigates the incident.
(Robert Hanashiro / For The Times)
About 10:30 p.m. Nov. 27, Seitz and two friends visited the bar, where Austin, Hernandez and the third assailant “began to bother and harass Seitz, including by repeatedly reaching for the sunglasses resting on” his head, according to the complaint. Minutes after Seitz left the bar about 1:36 a.m. Nov. 28, the complaint said, Hernandez knocked the shades off Seitz’s head “in a rude and offensive manner” and “an altercation broke out.”
The altercation dissipated quickly, according to the complaint, but then at about 1:46 a.m., Austin, “suddenly and without any justification,” punched Seitz and knocked him down, then Austin, Hernandez and the unidentified third person proceeded “to beat and stomp on him while he was on the ground.”
Seitz was bloodied during the beating and taken to a nearby hospital. Shortly after his arrival there, Justin Diez — who was a captain in charge of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station at the time of the incident and was promoted in April to lead the department’s North Patrol Division as commander — and deputy Richard Wyatt allegedly defamed him and violated his constitutional and civil rights in an effort to intimidate him and cover up the assault, the complaint said.
Wyatt, Seitz alleged, told one of Seitz’s friends that he had thrown the first punch and that he had been disruptive while at the hospital, which Seitz denies.
Later that morning, Diez called Seitz’s father, Ryan Seitz, and told him his son had “started a fight with off-duty deputies of the LASD” and “if Ryan Seitz would leave it to” Diez, he “would make sure the situation would go away,” the complaints said, describing the call as an attempt “to cover up the true circumstances of the beating … and to intimidate and dissuade Seitz from filing or pressing charges or pursuing any claims against the deputies” or the county.
The Sheriff’s Department did not directly respond to the allegations outlined in Seitz’s complaint, but it said that it “has established policies and procedures that clearly outline the standards of conduct required of all employees. … Any violation of these standards will be addressed promptly, and appropriate action will be taken if evidence is found to support the allegation of misconduct.”
Stambaugh said Seitz “was out with friends after a Friendsgiving dinner celebrating the purchase of his first home” the night he was allegedly assaulted.
“Parker Seitz’s lawsuit is a demand for accountability in response to the wrongs he has personally suffered, and an effort to ensure that the actions of these specific LASD members remain an anomaly,” Stambaugh said in his statement. “This is not the LASD that the Seitz family had supported and believed in.”
FEARS are growing that Rachel Reeves could slap a new tax on people’s homes to replace stamp duty and council tax.
The Chancellor is studying plans for a levy on houses worth over £500,000, according to The Guardian.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves could slap a new tax on people’s homesCredit: AFP
The paper said the Treasury is looking at a “proportional property tax” which would be paid when owners sell their homes.
It claimed the shake-up could also pave the way for a new local levy to replace council tax, which is still based on 1990s property values.
But Treasury officials last night insisted that while tax reform is being explored, the details – including any threshold or rate – have not been decided.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “The best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy – which is our focus.
READ MORE ON RACHEL REEVES
“Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms, which are expected to grow the economy by £6.8bn and cut borrowing by £3.4bn.
“We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible, which is why at last Autumn’s Budget, we protected working people’s payslips and kept our promise not to raise the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, employee National Insurance, or VAT.”
Anything above this threshold is charged at 40%, but your tax-free allowance rises by £175,000 if you leave your home to a direct descendant, such as a son, daughter or grandchild.
Currently, pension pots are exempt from inheritance tax – but this will all change from April 2027, when they will suddenly be subject to the 40% levy, following a tax grab announced in last year’s October Budget.
LIVE: Rachel Reeves and BoE governor Bailey speak at Mansion House
The change is expected to increase the number of estates paying death duties from 4% to 9.7%, dragging thousands of people into the tax net.
New analysis by Quilter shows that grieving families could face a nasty bill sting following the changes.
WASHINGTON — President Trump publicly scorned Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday for the cost of an extensive building renovation as the two officials toured the unfinished project.
Trump said the project cost $3.1 billion, much higher than the Fed’s $2.5-billion figure, while Powell, standing next to him, silently shook his head.
“This came from us?” Powell said, then figuring out that Trump was including the renovation of the Martin Building that was finished five years ago.
“Do you expect any more additional cost overruns?” Trump asked.
“Don’t expect them,” Powell said.
Trump said in his career as a real estate developer he would fire someone for cost overruns. The president joked that he would back off Powell if he lowered interest rates.
The Federal Reserve is known for its tight lips, structured formality and extraordinary power to shape the global economy.
Trump and his allies say the renovation of the Fed headquarters and a neighboring building reflects an institution run amok. The Fed allowed reporters to tour the building before the visit by Trump, who, in his real estate career, has bragged about his lavish spending on architectural accoutrements that gave a Versailles-like golden flair to his buildings.
The visit was an attempt to further ratchet up pressure on Powell, whom the Republican president has relentlessly attacked for not cutting borrowing costs. Trump’s criticisms have put the Fed, a historically independent institution, under a harsh spotlight. Undermining its independence could reduce the Fed’s ability to calm financial markets and stabilize the U.S. economy.
“This stubborn guy at the Fed just doesn’t get it — Never did, and never will,” Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social. “The Board should act, but they don’t have the Courage to do so!”
Journalists get rare tour of Fed renovation
On Thursday, reporters wound through cement mixers, front loaders and plastic pipes as they got a close-up view of the active construction site that encompasses the Fed’s historic headquarters, known as the Marriner S. Eccles building, and a second building across 20th Street in Washington.
Fed staff, who declined to be identified, said that greater security requirements, rising materials costs and tariffs, and the need to comply with historic preservation measures drove up the cost of the project, which was budgeted in 2022 at $1.9 billion.
The staff pointed out new blast-resistant windows and seismic walls that were needed to comply with modern building codes and security standards set out by the Department of Homeland Security. The Fed has to build with the highest level of security in mind, Fed staff said, including something called “progressive collapse,” in which only parts of the building would fall if hit with explosives.
Powell, Trump and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) during Thursday’s tour of the Federal Reserve.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
Sensitivity to the president’s pending visit among Fed staff was high during the tour. Reporters were ushered into a small room outside the Fed’s boardroom, where 19 officials meet eight times a year to decide whether to change short-term interest rates. The room, which will have a security booth, is oval-shaped, and someone had written “oval office” on plywood walls.
The Fed staff downplayed the inscription as a joke. When reporters returned to the room later, it had been painted over.
During the tour, Fed staff also showed the elevator shaft that congressional critics have said is for “VIPs” only. Powell has since said it will be open to all Fed staff. The renovation includes an 18-inch extension so the elevator reaches a slightly elevated area that is now accessible only by steps or a ramp. A planning document that said the elevator will only be for the Fed’s seven governors was erroneous and later amended, staff said.
Renovations have been in the works for a while
Plans for the renovation were first approved by the Fed’s governing board in 2017. The project then wended its way through several local commissions for approval, at least one of which, the Commission for Fine Arts, included several Trump appointees. The commission pushed for more marble in the second of the two buildings the Fed is renovating, known as 1951 Constitution Avenue, specifically in a mostly glass extension that some of Trump’s appointees derided as a “glass box.”
Fed staff also said tariffs and inflationary increases in building material prices drove up costs. Trump in 2018 imposed a 25% duty on steel and 10% on aluminum. He increased them this year to 50%. Steel prices are up about 60% since the plans were approved, while construction materials costs overall are up about 50%, according to government data.
Fed staff also pointed to the complication of historic renovations — both buildings have significant preservation needs. Constructing a new building on an empty site would have been cheaper, they said.
As one example, the staff pointed reporters to where they had excavated beneath the Eccles building to add a floor of mechanical rooms, storage space and some offices. The Fed staff acknowledged such structural additions underground are expensive, but said it was done to avoid adding HVAC equipment and other mechanics on the roof, which is historic.
The Fed has previously attributed much of the project’s cost to underground construction. It is also adding three underground levels of parking for its second building. Initially the central bank proposed building more above ground, but ran into Washington, D.C., height restrictions, forcing more underground construction.
Renovation project could be impetus to push out Powell
Trump wants Powell to dramatically slash the Fed’s benchmark interest rate under the belief that inflation is not a problem, but Powell wants to see how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy before making any rate cuts that could potentially cause inflation to accelerate.
The renovation project has emerged as a possible justification by Trump to take the extraordinary step of firing Powell for cause, an act that some administration officials have played down given that the Fed chair’s term ends in May 2026. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought suggested in a July 10 letter to Powell that changes to the renovations in order to save money might have violated the National Capital Planning Act.
Fed staff said there were just two changes to the plans they had submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, and neither were significant enough to warrant a resubmission of the plans. They removed a seating area on the roof of the Eccles building, because it was an amenity, and two water features in front of the second building, which they said saved money.
More recently, Trump has said he has no plans to oust Powell, which could be illegal based on a note in a Supreme Court ruling in May. The Supreme Court found that Trump had the power to remove board members of other independent agencies but indicated that a Fed chair could only be removed for cause.
Pushing Powell out also would almost certainly jilt global markets, potentially having the opposite effect that Trump wants as he pushes for lower borrowing costs.
Not everyone in Trump’s administration agrees with the president’s contention that Powell needs to resign.
“There’s nothing that tells me that he should step down right now,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whom Trump has floated as a potential replacement for Powell, in a recent interview with Fox Business. “He’s been a good public servant.”
Rugaber, Boak and Megerian write for the Associated Press.
Brits have been warned they could face a £5,000 fine and prosecution if they bring two common items back into the UK from their summer holiday – even if they were purchased at duty free
Careful what you buy in Duty Free(Image: Getty Images)
British holidaymakers have been cautioned they could be hit with a hefty £5,000 penalty and face prosecution for bringing back two everyday items from their summer getaway – even if purchased duty-free.
Travellers are now prohibited from returning with untreated meat and dairy products from overseas in fresh measures designed to halt the spread of Foot and Mouth disease.
This means it’s now against the law to transport lamb, pork, mutton and goat meat along with any products containing them, including sandwiches.
The restriction also covers cheese, chorizo, salami, serrano ham, yoghurt, butter, milk, and sandwiches featuring any of these components.
The prohibition extends to items that are packaged or purchased at airports, reports the Express.
Foot and Mouth disease is described as a “highly contagious viral disease” capable of killing cattle, sheep, pigs, and other cloven-hoofed livestock.
The infection can be transmitted through animal products and spreads rapidly, authorities have cautioned.
A recent surge of cases affecting Hungary, Austria and Germany has prompted the UK’s chief veterinarian to urge Britons to adhere to the fresh regulations.
Cheese, butter, milk, and meats now cannot be brought into the country from abroad(Image: Getty)
The illness can also trigger catastrophic economic consequences, with the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001 estimated to have cost £15 billion in disease control expenses alone.
Any passengers discovered with the prohibited goods must hand them over at the border, or risk having them confiscated and destroyed.
In certain circumstances, individuals could face a £5,000 fine in England, or prosecution throughout Great Britain. The ban, introduced in April, is set to remain until the “personal import of affected products no longer poses a significant biosecurity risk to GB”.
However, the restrictions do not apply to those arriving into Great Britain from Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man.
Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s chief veterinary officer, has urged holidaymakers to help protect farmers. She said: “I know it is disappointing not to be able to bring back produce from your holidays, but please avoid temptation.”
Middlemiss further added: “This highly contagious disease causes considerable suffering to livestock and has a devastating economic and personal impact on farmers, who lose their prized animals.”
On 24 July, Baroness Hayman, the biosecurity minister, said: “We are asking the public to take this seriously. Do not bring prohibited animal or plant products into the country-doing so puts farmers’ livelihoods at risk.”
She also mentioned that the ban reflects a “clear determination to safeguard our borders” and “maintaining the integrity of our biosecurity against Foot and Mouth disease is essential”.
Symptoms of Foot and Mouth disease vary depending on the animal, but in cattle the main signs are sores and blisters on the feet, mouth and tongue, a fever, reluctance to feed, and lameness. Meanwhile, in pigs and sheep, the signs are usually lameness and blistering.
Farmers who suspect their livestock may have Foot and Mouth disease are urged to report it immediately by dialling 03000 200 301 in England, 0300 303 8268 in Wales, or contacting the local Field Services Office in Scotland.
Washington, DC – Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader targeted for deportation by President Donald Trump, has met with lawmakers in Washington, DC.
The visit on Tuesday comes just more than a month after the 30-year-old, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was released from immigration custody in Louisiana.
“I’m here in Washington, DC, today to meet with lawmakers, with members of Congress, to demand the end of the US-funded genocide in Gaza, and also to demand accountability from Columbia University, from the Trump administration for their retaliation against my speech,” said Khalil in a video interview with the news agency Reuters.
“To be honest, I feel that this is my duty to continue advocating for Palestinians. This is what the Trump administration tried to do. They tried to silence me. But I’m here to say that we will continue to resist. We are not backing down.”
Khalil continues to face deportation under the Trump administration, which has relied on an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 in its attempts to expel international students involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Under the law, the secretary of state can expel a foreign national if their presence in the country is deemed to have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”, although the standard for making that determination remains unclear.
I met with Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, who was imprisoned for 104 days by the Trump administration for opposing Netanyahu’s illegal & horrific war in Gaza. Outrageous.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and immigration officials have repeatedly portrayed Khalil’s advocacy as anti-Jewish and supportive of Hamas, but they have failed to provide evidence backing those claims.
Lawyers for Khalil and three other students targeted for deportation by the Trump administration — Mohsen Mahdawi, Rumeysa Ozturk and Badar Khan Suri — have argued that their arrests trample on the constitutionally protected freedom of speech.
Several district judges have sided with that position in ordering the students’ release from custody as their cases proceed in immigration court.
Earlier this month, Khalil, who missed the birth of his son while detained, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging malicious prosecution, as well as false arrest and imprisonment. He is seeking $20m in damages or an apology from the government.
US Senator Bernie Sanders was among the lawmakers who met with Khalil on Tuesday.
“We must not allow Trump to destroy the First Amendment & freedom to dissent,” Sanders said in a post on the social media platform X, accompanied by a photo with Khalil.
Mahmoud Khalil is a kind, gentle soul who cares deeply about others’ humanity, and his abduction, detention, and ongoing persecution by the Trump Admin is egregious.
I am deeply relieved that he has been reunited with his wife and his infant son. Our meeting today was fortifying… pic.twitter.com/HgWWkTafPw
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) July 22, 2025
Khalil also met with Congress members Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern, Troy Carter and Summer Lee.
“Mahmoud Khalil is a kind, gentle soul who cares deeply about others’ humanity, and his abduction, detention, and ongoing persecution by the Trump Admin is egregious,” Pressley wrote in a post on X.
“Our meeting today was fortifying and productive.”
In its own social media message on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security once again called Khalil a “terrorist sympathiser”, accusing him of anti-Jewish “hateful behavior and rhetoric”.
However, ahead of his release in June, federal Judge Michael Farbiarz said he had given the administration lawyers ample time to support the public statements made against Khalil. He said they failed to do so.
“The petitioner’s career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled,” Farbiarz wrote at the time. “This adds up to irreparable harm.”
The morning after the night before and it is an easy ‘take’ to say Henry Pollock should start for the British and Irish Lions in the first Test against Australia.
It was certainly an eye-catching performance from the 20-year-old Northampton Saints star in the 54-7 win over Western Force, one that captured the attention of the Australian media.
The state broadcaster, ABC News, said Pollock “showcased his star potential” and “produced a series of tackle-busting runs”.
The headline in the Australian read: ‘Lions wonder kid, playmaker put Wallabies on notice.’
Pollock, making his first Lions start, looked like a kid in the candy store.
With a smile on his face, he gorged on Western Force at times. His pace and lung-busting break set up a first-half try for Tomos Williams, the power matched by a sublime offload to the Welsh scrum-half.
In the second half came the audacious chip over the top, chase and gather before alertly leaving the ball when he went to ground. The move resulted in a try for Joe McCarthy.
“I thought he was brilliant today,” said Lions captain Dan Sheehan.
“He does his own thing. He has his own way of playing. He’s probably different to a lot of the forwards.
“I enjoy that rugby – off the cuff, see what’s in front of you and make it happen. And with his skillset and speed, he can certainly make it happen.
“It’s just about trying to make sure that he’s doing the right thing for the team all the time.
“He’ll be continuously developing. All these big games are massive for him and massive for all of us – the experience. He’ll just get better and better from here.”
Even his opponents heaped praise on Pollock.
“Henry Pollock lived up to the hype. He came into his own as they kept on the intensity and he’s a hell of a ball-carrier,” proclaimed Australia international Nic White.
On Tuesday, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by several masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a courthouse in Manhattan as he attempted to steer an individual past immigration authorities. That same day, masked agents outside a Walmart in Pico Rivera detained two individuals — one a target of immigration enforcement, the other a U.S. citizen who tried to intervene.
These two scenes from opposite sides of the country illustrate what has become a more common problem: federal agents wearing masks to avoid recognition. On Thursday, masked individuals said to be affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security descended on a Home Depot in Hollywood and on Dodger Stadium.
Masking is not good law enforcement practice. It may contradict Homeland Security regulations, while potentially providing cover for some officers to violate constitutional and civil rights. It undermines agents’ authority and endangers public safety as well.
The federal government has no specific policy banning immigration agents from wearing masks. But the fact that such practice is not illegal does not make it acceptable. Department of Homeland Securityregulations require immigration officers to identify themselves during an arrest or, in casesof a warrantless arrest, provide a statement explaining how they identified themselves. The use of masks seems to violate the intent of these directives for identification.
ICE agents in masks are becoming disturbingly routine. There were ICE agents in masks at the Los Angeles immigration protestsrecently, just as there have been at enforcement actions inMinneapolis,Boston,Phoenix andacross the country. In March a video of Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, being detained by masked officers on the streetwent viral.
There seems to be no uniformity in the face coverings immigration agents wear, which has included ski masks, surgical masks, balaclavas and sunglasses. Such inconsistency across a federal workforce flies in the face of sound policing. Masked agents can confuse both bystanders and ICE targets, which risks people interfering with enforcement actions that look more like kidnappings. The International Assn. of Chiefs of Policehas warned that the public “may be intimidated or fearful of officers wearing a face covering, which may heighten their defensive reactions.”
Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE,said earlier this month that immigration agents wear masks to protect themselves. “I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks,”he said, “but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line, because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
Yet law enforcement jobs come with an assumption of exactly that risk. Consider that the overwhelming majority of police officers, sheriffs and FBI agents fulfill their duties without concealing their faces. Correction officers who deal with prisoners do not wear masks, nor do judges who administer our laws. Because these public employees have such tremendous power, their roles require full transparency.
Besides, ICEagents are increasinglytargeting noncriminals, which mitigates the argument that agents require masks for safety. Accordingto the research site Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, about 44% of people in ICE detention as of June 1 have no criminal record.
When ICE agents wear masks, there can be unintended consequences. Lately, there has been aspike in people impersonating agents andengaging in harassment, assault and violence. In April, a Florida womanwore a mask as she posed as an ICE agent and attempted to kidnap her ex-boyfriend’s wife.
Ironically, the Trump administration has a double standard around the idea of people wearing masks. It has demanded thatuniversities bar students from wearing masks during protests. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles immigration protests, the president postedon social media, “From now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests.” Shouldn’t that principle be applied to both sides?
True, it makes sense for immigration agents to use face coverings when they are making arrests of a high-profile target or conducting an undercover operation. However, masking should be the exception, not the norm. If ICE agents are conducting their duties anonymously, they open the door to potential civil rights and due process violations. The practice gives impunity to agents to make unlawful arrests, without the possibility of public accountability.
Masking can also be seen as a show of intimidation by immigration agents — whether their target is an undocumented migrant oran American citizen, like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who wasarrested outside a New Jersey detention facility in May. Masked ICE agents give the impression of being a secret police force, which is not good for our democracy.
Last week, two Democratic lawmakers in Californiaintroduced a bill that would bar local, state and federal law enforcement officers in California from wearing masks on duty (with certain exceptions). Although this is a step in the right direction, it remains unclear whether such a state measure could be applied to federal agents. Congress should ban the use of masks by immigration agents.
ICE officers should not be allowed to conceal their faces. The public’s need for accountability strongly outweighs any rationale for agents’ anonymity.
Raul A. Reyes is an immigration attorney and contributor to NBC Latino and CNN Opinion. X: @RaulAReyes; Instagram: @raulareyes1
After being in the England team since I was 21, it’s time to close that chapter of my life. I didn’t ever want this day to come, but I cannot tell you how proud I am it happened.
It’s been the biggest honour to represent my country, one that I had only dreamt about as a young girl.
I’ve played with some incredible players, worked with some incredible managers, played in some amazing tournaments and have irreplaceable memories.
My journey has been full of ups and downs, setbacks and achievements. Enough has been said and written about those, but regardless of whatever was thrown at me, I want you all to know that every time I put on that England badge I gave it 100%.
Every single call-up, I accepted my role and did whatever was needed for the team. I wanted England to win. I’ve always been there to help England win.
My mum had a dream of me representing my country and I’m so proud I was able to do that and play in front of you all.
I will never, ever forget the noise when my name is read out at a stadium. I was first selected when I was playing in WSL 2, I played a part in the game-changing World Cup, winning bronze in 2015, creating memories of a lifetime.
Starting in every game and winning the Euros in 2022 was a dream come true, to be part of change in women’s football was one of the best experiences I could ever have imagined.
Thank you to all of you for embracing me as a young girl from Reading who had a dream. I hope you all know that wearing that badge was the greatest honour.
To every young girl that suffers setbacks, just remember you can. You can. Forever a Lioness, Fran.
Guacamole has been spared from tariffs for now. But salsa may not be so lucky.
While President Trump put threatened tariffs on Mexican avocados on pause, the U.S. government plans to put a nearly 21% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes starting July 14. A duty — like a tariff — is a tax on imports, and this one would affect the 4 billion pounds of tomatoes the U.S. imports from Mexico each year.
Proponents say the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure the produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico supplies around 70% of the U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange.
“Unless we even the playing field in terms of fair pricing, you’re not going to have a domestic industry for fresh tomatoes in the very near future,” said Robert Guenther, the trade group’s executive vice president. Florida and California are the top U.S. producers of tomatoes, but most of California’s crop is turned into sauces and other products.
Opponents say the duty will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. NatureSweet, a San Antonio-based company that grows tomatoes in Mexico as well as the U.S., said it will be paying millions of dollars each month in duties if the decision isn’t reversed.
“We will look for ways to adapt or streamline our operations, but the truth is, we are always doing that so we run an efficient business already,” said Skip Hulett, NatureSweet’s chief legal officer. “Produce is not a large-margin business. We’re determining what portion of the cost we could absorb, but these added costs will most certainly need to be passed on to the consumer.”
Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, expects U.S. retail prices for tomatoes to rise by about 10.5% if the duty goes through.
Mexico’s government said last month it was convinced it could negotiate over the issue. But if the tomato tax takes effect, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has hinted her country may impose duties on chicken and pork legs imported from the U.S.
The tug-of-war over tomatoes has a long history. In 1996, shortly after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, the U.S. Department of Commerce investigated allegations that Mexico was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping.
The U.S. government agreed to suspend the investigation if Mexico met certain rules, including selling its tomatoes at a minimum price. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties.
But last month, the Commerce Department announced its withdrawal from the latest agreement, saying it had been “flooded with comments” from U.S. tomato growers who want better protection from Mexican imports.
Guenther, of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said that even though Mexican exporters are required to charge a minimum price, shipments are only spot-checked, so exporters can get around that. But more generally, Mexico hurts the U.S. industry because it costs 40% to 50% less to grow tomatoes there, Guenther said. Land is cheaper, labor is cheaper, and inputs such as seeds and fertilizer cost less, he said.
Tomatoes are a labor-intensive crop, Guenther said, and the U.S. industry typically relies on immigrant workers through the H-2A visa program. That program required farmers to pay workers an average of $16.98 per hour last year, an amount that has jumped as labor has become harder to find. Richards estimates that workers on Mexican tomato farms earn about one-tenth that rate.
NatureSweet acknowledges that it’s more cost-effective to grow tomatoes in Mexico, but says climate is one of the biggest reasons. The company’s Mexican greenhouses don’t need lighting, heating or cooling systems because of the year-round weather conditions.
“You can relocate some industries, but you can’t relocate climate agriculture,” Hulett said.
Lance Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Assn. of the Americas, which represents importers of Mexican tomatoes, said Florida doesn’t produce the vine-ripened tomatoes that U.S. consumers increasingly favor. Florida tomatoes are picked when they’re green and shipped to warehouses to ripen, he said.
“Florida doesn’t grow the kinds of specialty tomatoes that have taken off, but they want to get protection,” Jungmeyer said. “Their market share is dropping for reasons of their own choice.”
Guenther disagrees. “If you put a Florida tomato up against a Mexican tomato, I think it would do very well in [a] taste test,” he said.
Adrian Burciaga, co-owner of Don Artemio, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth, said he wouldn’t want to switch to a U.S. producer. He compares it to fine wine; if he wants a good Cabernet Sauvignon, he gets it from Napa, Calif. If he wants a good tomato that reminds him of his childhood, he gets it from Mexico.
“We know the flavors they are going to bring to the salsas and moles. We don’t want to compromise flavors,” Burciaga said.
Burciaga said his restaurant uses 300 to 400 pounds of Roma tomatoes from Mexico every week. He currently pays $19 for a 25-pound crate of tomatoes. He doesn’t relish paying the additional cost, but he feels he has no choice.
Burciaga said the tomato duty — and the threat of Trump implementing the paused 25% tariff on many other products from Mexico — are making it difficult to run his business.
“The uncertainty part concerns us. A small or medium restaurant budgets things out. We know in advance that in six months things will increase, so we’re able to adjust,” he said. “But we don’t know these things in advance. How do you plan and how do you react?”
Durbin writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
