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Scottish Sun
12 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20m of Brit taxpayer cash to receive first deportees — from America
Some will enjoy hotel-quality facilities at Hope Hostel SCHEME TRUMPED Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20m of Brit taxpayer cash to receive first deportees — from America Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20million of British taxpayers' money to house our unwanted migrants is to receive its first deportees — from America. Rwanda is taking in 250 migrants thrown out of the US under Donald Trump's mass removal programme. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Rwanda is taking in 250 migrants thrown out of the US under Donald Trump's mass removal programme Credit: Getty Some will enjoy hotel-quality facilities at Hope Hostel, which was readied under the then-Tory government's deportation scheme last summer. The £700million plan was ditched when Labour won the election. Trump is now pushing ahead with his scheme. A Hope Hostel source told The Sun yesterday: 'We are always ready to provide the best services to the customers.' Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo confirmed those arriving in the country would be given support. She added: 'Under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement. 'Those approved will be provided with workforce training, healthcare and accommodation support to jump-start their lives in Rwanda.' The initial agreement — signed last month — is for 250 people but can be extended if both countries agree. Britain signed its agreement in 2022. Four UK arrivals were sent to Rwanda but that was under a separate voluntary scheme and did not involve their moving into Hope Hostel. Ismael Bakina, boss of the private operator of the hostel, said the US arrivals would be surprised at the quality of the services offered, adding: 'This is not a prison or a detention centre.' I visited Rwanda's £20m 'migrant hotel' where UK asylum seekers will stay – it's got Premier League on TV & footie pitch
The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Spike Lee, Adam McKay and over 2,000 writers decry Trump's ‘un-American' actions in open letter
More than 2,300 members of the Writers Guild of America, including Spike Lee and Adam McKay, have signed an open letter decrying the actions of Donald Trump's administration that represent 'an unprecedented, authoritarian assault' on free speech. The letter, a combined effort from the WGA East and West branches, cites the US president's 'baseless lawsuits' against news organizations that have 'published stories he does not like and leveraged them into payoffs'. It specifically references Paramount's decision to pay Trump $16m to settle a 'meritless lawsuit' about a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The letter notes that Trump 'retaliated against publications reporting factually on the White House and threatened broadcasters' licenses', and has repeatedly called for the cancellation of programs which criticize him. Additionally, the letter blasts Republicans in congress who 'collaborated' with the Trump administration to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting 'in order to silence PBS and NPR'. And it says the FCC, led by Trump-appointed chairperson Brendan Carr, 'openly conditioned its approval of the Skydance-Paramount merger on assurances that CBS would make 'significant changes' to the purported ideological viewpoint of its journalism and entertainment programming. 'These are un-American attempts to restrict the kinds of stories and jokes that may be told, to silence criticism and dissent,' the letter reads. 'We don't have a king, we have a president. And the president doesn't get to pick what's on television, in movie theaters, on stage, on our bookshelves, or in the news.' Signees include Tony Gilroy, David Simon, Mike Schur, Ilana Glazer, Lilly Wachowski, Celine Song, Justin Kuritzkes, Desus Nice, Gillian Flynn, John Waters, Liz Meriwether, Kenneth Lonergan, Alfonso Cuarón, Shawn Ryan and many other prominent names in film and television. The letter, released on Tuesday, calls on elected representatives and industry leaders to 'resist this overreach', as well as their audiences to 'fight for a free and democratic future' and 'raise their voice'. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced last Friday that it would shut down after 57 years in operation, following the decision by the Republican-controlled House last month to eliminate $1.1bn in CPB funding over two years, part of a $9bn reduction to public media and foreign aid programs. The corporation, established by Congress in 1967 to ensure educational and cultural programming remained accessible to all Americans, distributed more than $500m annually to PBS, NPR and 1,500 local stations nationwide. Despite the federal grants, stations mostly relied on viewer donations, corporate sponsorships and local government funds to stay afloat. The Trump administration has also filed a lawsuit against three CPB board members who refused to leave their positions after Trump attempted to remove them. 'This is certainly not the first time that free speech has come under assault in this country, but free speech remains our right because generation after generation of Americans have dedicated themselves to its protection,' the letter concludes. 'Now and always, when writers come under attack, our collective power as a union allows us to fight back. This period in American life will not last forever, and when it's over the world will remember who had the courage to speak out.'
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Democrats have early edge over Republicans in 2026 midterm election poll
A new poll shows finds that Democrats have an early edge heading into the 2026 midterm elections in the minority party's bid to wrest control of the House of Representatives back from Republicans. A YouGov/The Economist survey took place between August 1-4 and polled 1702 US adult citizens. The generic ballot is a barometer that shows just whether voters would prefer voting for a Democrat or Republican. As of this week, 43.7 percent of voters intend to vote for Democrats in the midterms and 38.4 percent prefer to vote for Republicans. The differences are even more pronounced when it comes to independent voters, as 38.2 percent said they intend to vote for Democrats while only 26 percent of them plan to vote for Republicans. Historically, the president's party loses at least one chamber in Congress during a midterm election, and flips some governorships or state legislatures. With the president off the ballot, voters register their satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the president's job performance at the midterms. The Economist/YouGov poll showed a majority of 55 percent of voters disapprove of President Donald Trump's job performance while 41 percent approve of it, with 12 percent of people who voted for Trump in 2024 disapproving of his job performance. Around the same time in 2017, 39.6 percent of voters planned to vote for the Democrats and 33.3 percent planned to vote for the Republicans. In 2018, Democrats would win back the the House of Representatives as they made a net gain of 40 seats. Democrats also have a significant advantage with young people. After young people, driven largely by young men, swung significantly to the right in 2024, 50.8 percent of voters younger than 30 said they intend to vote for Democrats, compared to only 21.8 percent who said they intend to vote for Republicans. Voters between 18 and 29 range disapprove of Trump's performance on the economy, with only 29 percent approving and 60 percent disapproving. They also do not approve of how he's handling inflation and prices, with 68 percent disapproving. Republicans also seem to be losing their grip on Hispanics voters, as 42.8 percent of Hispanic voters said that they intend to vote for Democrats. That's slightly lower than the 47.3 percent of Hispanic voters who said the same thing during the first week of August in 2017, which preceded huge Hispanic turnout in the 2018 midterm election, but still significant. Hispanic voters largely disapprove of Trump's performance on the economy, with 55 percent disapproving and only 38 percent approving. They are also not fans of his immigration policies, with 60 percent of Hispanic voters disapproving and only 35 percent approving. Trump has ramped up his attacks on Hispanics, particularly after he sent the US National Guard into Los Angeles without the consent of the state's Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom to quell protests against against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Across the board, voters oppose his handling of health care, with 57 percent of voters disapproving of it. This comes a momth after Trump signed his signature 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill,' that included steep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats hope to retake the House of Representatives next year. But Republicans hope to shore up their majorities. In Texas, Republicans elected to call a special session to redraw congressional lines in the middle of the decade, which prompted Democrats to decamp to blue states.
