An undercover investigation raises issues around foreign money, political transparency and the rightwing populist party’s fitness for power

Reform UK’s conference was to open showcasing a party ready for government. It did so with two top aides removed after an investigation aired on Channel 4, its finances under police scrutiny and seven in 10 voters, polls suggest, regarding its leader, Nigel Farage, as sleazy – double the number who thought the same of Andy Burnham. Reform, a rightwing populist party, says it will take power back from a corrupt establishment. The latest scandal raises a question: does Reform oppose the influence of big money – or just who benefits from it?

Undercover reporters from Verbatim Investigations, founded by journalists from the US Center for Climate Reporting, pretended to be a wealthy American father and his UK-based son who wanted to donate to Reform. In the UK, foreign donations are banned from politics. But that allegedly was ignored. Verbatim’s team filmed their meetings with James Orr, a Cambridge academic specialising in ethics, and Reform’s head of policy, as well as with Dan Jukes, Mr Farage’s close aide. Both have been “removed” from their posts.

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From mortgages to inflation, concerns about the public finances of major economies have wide-reaching consequences

When Donald Trump was asked recently about the threat of rising interest rates on US government debt, he told baffled reporters: “The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, his bellicose words did not soothe fractious bond markets, and his resumption of the bombing campaign against Iran only made matters worse.

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Credits: ESA/NASA

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Credits: ESA/NASA – S. Adenot

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Credits: ESA/NASA

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Credits: ESA/NASA

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

Credits: ESA/NASA

NEW YORK (ANP) - Tennisster Aryna Sabalenka is op de US Open doorgedrongen tot de vierde ronde. De als eerste geplaatste Belarussische won in New York met 6-3 6-4 van de Oezbeekse Kamilla Rachimova, de nummer 92 van de wereld.

De 28-jarige Sabalenka won de laatste twee edities van de US Open. Naast haar overwinningen in New York veroverde ze ook twee keer de titel op de Australian Open. Dit jaar kende ze nog geen succes op de grandslamtoernooien. Ze verloor de finale in Australië, werd uitgeschakeld in de kwartfinales op Roland Garros en ging onderuit in de vierde ronde op Wimbledon.

In de vierde ronde speelt Sabalenka tegen de winnares van de partij die gaat tussen de Russische Diana Sjnajder en de Amerikaanse Taylor Townsend.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Peter Vlemmix, de directeur van omroep Ongehoord Nederland (ON!), spreekt aankomende dinsdag met minister Rianne Letschert (Media, D66). Dat bevestigt het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap.

Vlemmix laat weten dat hem is verteld dat hij dinsdag een voorgenomen besluit te horen krijgt. Hij zegt ook dat hij dinsdag in de uitzending zit van het tv-programma Ongehoord Nieuws van de omroep.

ON! is sinds vorige week veel bekritiseerd vanwege een onlineuitzending waarin een toespraak van Adolf Hitler werd getoond. Daarop zei de inmiddels vertrokken hoofdredacteur Joost Niemöller onder meer dat Hitler bepaalde dingen "heel goed" zei. De uitzending is inmiddels offline gehaald.

'Kantelpunt'

Voor het Commissariaat voor de Media was dit nieuwe incident een "kantelpunt". Het Commissariaat voor de Media schreef dat minister Letschert de erkenning van Ongehoord Nederland kan intrekken. Zij besluit naar verwachting ergens na het weekend of de omroep uit het publieke bestel wordt gezet.

De woordvoerder van de minister wil niet zeggen hoe laat en waar het gesprek is, en of dat voor of na het besluit van de minister is.