Brexit vote prompts economic, political and diplomatic chaos
The only certainty is uncertainty: political and economic upheaval continues after the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. On Monday, chancellor George Osborne sought to calm the markets, saying the Conservatives had “prepared for whatever the future held”. But Osborne did not reverse his prediction that Britain’s exit would plunge the country into recession and cost thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, the pound dropped to a 31-year-low against the dollar.
Osborne seeks to calm markets amid Brexit turmoil
UK parties plunged into crisis
There are no declared contenders to replace prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faces a revolt. In the US, leaders sought advantage from the chaos while secretary of state John Kerry travelled to Brussels and London. European leaders pressed for the UK to trigger article 50 in the EU constitution to start the exit process, but with little political leadership in the UK there is no appetite for that. In his first comments since the vote, Boris Johnson, leader of the pro-Brexit faction, said he would introduce points-based immigration while maintaining trade with the European single market and freeing the country from “extraordinary and opaque” EU law.
Johnson breaks silence after Brexit vote
Scots away?
First minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish parliament could seek to block Brexit or secure a new independence referendum. Many in the UK are looking for a way to reverse the Brexit vote, some questioning lawmakers’ obligation to follow the result. Meanwhile, banks based in London face losing an “EU passport” to operate freely across Europe’s financial markets. Can London survive as a financial capital? And other European countries could be looking to exit the EU, too.
Seven ways Brexit could damage the US
Trump and Republicans at odds
While Donald Trump spent the weekend at his golf courses in Scotland, leading Republicans including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell refused to speak positively on their support for their presumptive presidential nominee. “It’s a long time until November,” McConnell told ABC. “And the burden, obviously, will be on him to convince people that he can handle this job.” McConnell did concede that Trump’s campaign has shown signs of disarray. Also, does the Never Trump faction have another effort in it? And can Trump afford to be president?
Cracks deepen inside marriage of Trump and Republicans
Google takes aim at public transport
Sidewalk Labs, a secretive R&D division of Google’s parent company Alphabet, is offering cloud software Flow to Columbus, Ohio in order to upgrade bus and parking services, the Guardian can reveal. Plans suggest Sidewalk’s high-tech services – “new superpowers to extend access and mobility” – could make it easier to drive and park in cities and create hybrid public/private transit options. Some, however, fear such innovations could tie public services too closely to Google.
Secretive Alphabet division aims to fix public transit in US
Stanford judge in parallel case
Aaron Persky, the judge in the Stanford sexual assault trial, is presiding over a similar case in which a Latino man faces a much harsher sentence than that handed to the student athlete Brock Turner. Raul Ramirez, a 32-year-old from El Salvador, has admitted to sexually assaulting his female roommate and is facing three years in state prison. Turner is a white 20-year-old who Persky sentenced to probation and six months in county jail, for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
Stanford judge overseeing much harsher sentence for similar assault case
White nationalist rally hit by violence
Ten people including one white nationalist were taken to local hospitals after fights broke out with counter-protesters during a rally at the state capitol in Sacramento. City fire department officials said the fight broke out when people carrying sticks rushed into the rally area. White nationalist leader Matthew Heimbach, who was accused of assaulting a black woman at a Donald Trump rally in Kentucky earlier this year, told the Guardian only one of the injured people belonged to his group, the Traditionalist Workers party.
Multiple people stabbed at Sacramento white nationalist rally
Farc leader: we’re sorry
Carlos Antonio Lozada, supreme urban commander of Colombia’s Farc rebels, spoke to Guardian sister paper the Observer about war, making peace and meeting victims. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) stands apart from other Latin American leftwing guerrilla movements, because it has endured. Lozada says: “No future generations of Colombians should have to go through this war.”
Farc rebel leader: ‘We repent everything, not just the war’
Messi threatens to quit after Copa final loss
After his astonishing penalty miss in Argentina’s defeat by Chile in the Copa América final at MetLife Stadium in New York, the 29-year-old football star said his international career was finished. “I tried so hard to be a champion with Argentina,” he said. “But it didn’t happen. I couldn’t do it. I think it’s best for everyone, for me and for many people who want it. The choice for me is over, it is a decision.”
Messi says Argentina career is over
Happy campers
Yearn for camp? Jana Kasperkevic finds not only an open bar but a million-dollar industry tailored for adults looking to relive marshmallow toasting, kayak trips, hammocks, mosquito bites and furtive kisses. “We are trying to figure out if it’s a fad or if it’s something that will be around for a while, where people could come to for the next 30 years,” says appropriately named organiser Ben Camp.
Summer camp with an open bar: retreats for adults are big business
And in case you missed it …
Ahead of a US tour, Adele played the main stage at Glastonbury, confronting fears that her songs were just too sombre for a festival crowd. Early on in her set, she said as much: “I don’t have a lot of upbeat, happy songs, which is why I think people were annoyed at me playing. But fuck them, eh?” Critic Alexis Petridis says doubters didn’t reckon on the force of the singer’s personality.
