Dame Louise Casey has called for a newly-announced inquiry into grooming gangs to be used as a “moment to have a national reset” on the issue.
The crossbench peer’s report into the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse in England and Wales paved the way for a new national inquiry announced at the weekend by Sir Keir Starmer.
Baroness Casey urged those called to give evidence to the inquiry to be open to scrutiny and change.
She told the Commons home affairs committee she wanted the government to “crack on” with the inquiry, suggesting it could be completed within three years, with regular updates before the final report.
She was also quizzed by MPs about her report’s finding that the ethnicity of people involved in grooming gangs had been “shied away from” by the authorities.
The peer urged people to “keep calm” on the subject of ethnicity.
Pointing out that her report had said data on the ethnicity of perpetrators was “incomplete and unreliable”, she said: “If you look at the data on child sexual exploitation, suspects and offenders, it’s disproportionately Asian heritage.
“If you look at the data for child abuse, it is not disproportionate, and it is white men.
“So again, just [a] note to everybody really, outside here rather than in here, let’s just keep calm here about how you interrogate data and what you draw from it.”
Concern about child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs stretches back to 2010, when five men from the Asian community in Rotherham were jailed for sexual offences against underage girls.
A local inquiry uncovered widescale abuse in the town, where it was estimated 1,400 children were exploited between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by men of Pakistani heritage.
The report’s author, Baroness Jay, went on to produce a report in 2022 that warned of “endemic” abuse in communities across England and Wales, but its 20 recommendations have yet to be fully implemented.
Baroness Casey praised Baroness Jay’s work and stressed the need for action, and not words, from political leaders.
She said she did not think it was “unreasonable” to hold the government to account in six months’ time on whether her 12 recommendations have been implemented.
“I hope this is a line in the sand, and I think the 12 things that we’re asking for are not impossible.
“They’re not pipe dreams, they’re achievable.”
She also told the committee she would like to see “quite a significant uplift in the prosecutions, the action, the criminal investigations on child sexual exploitation, both historic and current”.
Baroness Casey told BBC Newsnight she was “disappointed” by the politicisation of her report, adding that she felt opposition parties could have “come together” behind the government.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of politicising the issue when he said in January that those calling for a national inquiry were “jumping on a bandwagon” and “amplifying” the demands of the far right.
She said: “I do think that we should take the politics out of it.
“But who was it that said when we raised this issue, that we were pandering to the far right? That’s what brought the politics into it.”
Speaking at a news conference alongside survivors and family members, she added: “I’m not doing politics now, when I’m in the Houses of Parliament, when I’m in the Commons, I will do politics.”
Pressed over whether the Tories owed survivors an apology for not doing more to tackle grooming gangs when they were in power, Badenoch said: “We have done that… I have spoken to [survivors] about this.
“I have apologised. But what I find extraordinary is that more people are interested in prosecuting a government that did some things, did not conclude, rather than looking at what needs to happen right now.”
Badenoch backed the three-year timescale proposed by Baroness Casey for the national inquiry into grooming gangs as “reasonable” – having previously called for it to be done within two years.
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell called for staff members serving for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to resign following comments he made on social media blaming Democrats for the fatal shooting of a state lawmaker in Minnesota over the weekend.
“Senator Mike Lee’s staff now live in the disgrace he has visited upon them, and they all have a moral choice in front of them now,” O’Donnell said late Monday on his nightly show.
“Mike Lee purports to be a man of great religiosity, but he is obviously not a man of great morality or great decency, and his staff has to decide tonight what to do about the disgrace he has handed them,” the “Last Word” host added.
Lee angered many Democrats over the weekend when he responded to news of the assassination of Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband Mark by writing on social platform X, “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way.”
He followed up with a separate post including a photo of a masked man dressed up as a police officer and a headshot of suspected shooter Vance Boelter with the text “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” an apparent reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
Boelter, 57, was also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman (D), and his wife at their home. The duo has undergone surgeries and are expected to survive.
The suspect was apprehended on Sunday and faces state and federal stalking and murder charges.
The Utah Republican was confronted about the posts in the Capitol by Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who told reporters she wanted the Republican to hear from her “about how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horrible, brutal weekend.”
O’Donnell argued that staffers for Lee should respond to the episode by resigning.
“Minimal Senate decency demands the resignation of any staff member who does not fully support Mike Lee’s despicable tweets,” the cable news host said.
“You have your own choice to make. If you agree with Mike Lee’s choice to make jokes about assassination of a Democratic officeholder in Minnesota, if you agree with that, then stay with Mike Lee, stick with Mike Lee, stick with him all the way,” he added. “But if you do have decency, you know you only have one choice.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. factory production barely rose in May as a surge in motor vehicle and aircraft output was partially offset by weakness elsewhere, and the outlook for manufacturing remains clouded by tariffs.
Manufacturing output edged up 0.1% last month after a downwardly revised 0.5% decline in April, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast production rebounding 0.2% after a previously reported 0.4% drop. Production at factories increased 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in May.
President Donald Trump’s shifting tariffs policy poses a significant headwind to manufacturing, which accounts for 10.2% of the economy and relies heavily on imported raw materials.
Trump recently doubled steel and aluminum duties to 50% from 25%. The array of tariffs includes a 25% tax on motor vehicles and parts.
Trump has defended the duties as necessary to revive a long-declining U.S. industrial base, but economists say that cannot be accomplished in a short period of time, citing high production and labor costs as among the challenges.
Motor vehicle and parts output accelerated 4.9% last month after declining 2.3% in April. Production of aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment increased 1.1%. But output of fabricated metal products, machinery and nonmetallic mineral products all posted declines of at least 1.0%.
Durable manufacturing production rose 0.4%. Nondurable manufacturing production dropped 0.2%, pulled down by decreases in the output of printing and support, petroleum and coal as well as food, beverage and tobacco products.
Nondurable consumer goods production fell 0.8% amid a 3.2% plunge in energy nondurable consumer goods.
Mining output ticked up 0.1% after falling 0.3% in the prior month. Utilities production fell 2.9%, with a 3.6% decline in electric utilities output more than offsetting a 2.7% increase in natural gas utilities output. That followed a 4.9% surge in April.
Overall industrial production fell 0.2% after gaining 0.1% in April. It rose 0.6% on a year-over-year basis in May.
Capacity utilization for the industrial sector, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, fell to 77.4% from 77.7% in April. It is 2.2 percentage points below its 1972–2024 average. The operating rate for the manufacturing sector was unchanged at 76.7%. It is 1.5 percentage points below its long-run average.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Nissan revealed new details about the upcoming 2026 Leaf, which will return as a crossover SUV with up to 303 miles of estimated range, dual charge ports, and Google’s software built-in. The reborn Leaf will reach dealerships in the US starting this fall at a yet-to-be-announced price.
The 2026 Leaf is a significant improvement over previous generations in almost every way. Gone is the frumpy hatchback, replaced by a sleek, stylish crossover with improved aerodynamics (0.26 drag coefficient, down from 0.29) and an estimated range between 259 and 303 miles (up dramatically over the current maximum range of 212 miles).
The new Leaf will also set itself apart with dual charge ports, one a standard CCS-compatible port and an additional NACS port that allows access to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network. This is sure to make refueling the 2026 Leaf a better experience than it was with the old CHAdeMO-equipped models.
“We have completely reconstructed the values of the next-generation Leaf,” said Tase Nobutaka, program design director at Nissan, in the press release. “We made it simple and clean, yet with a more energetic feeling. We ensured the all-new Leaf has a dynamic shape, testing it time and time again to reach our ambitious aerodynamic targets.”
“We have completely reconstructed the values of the next-generation Leaf.”
It’s a huge step up from the current Leaf, which was last refreshed in 2023. Despite its status as a pioneering EV with its zero-emission powertrain and affordable starting price, the Leaf was teetering on the brink of discontinuation as Nissan struggled with low sales and declining relevancy. Now it has been resurrected and revived with a set of specs more compatible with the current era than the one from which it emerged.
Car buyers, especially Americans, have soured on hatchbacks, preferring anything resembling an SUV. Even the frumpy Toyota Prius has been reimagined as a sleeker, sportier sedan, so it only makes sense that the Leaf would get its own glow-up.
The 2026 Leaf sports a new 75kWh, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack paired with a 214-horsepower electric motor. It can fast charge at up to 150kWh, and its dual ports will provide a level of flexibility that doesn’t require an adapter, although fast charging is only allowed through one. On the driver side, above the fender is a J1772 charge port that’s compatible with most home and public Level 2 chargers. On the passenger side, a NACS port will allow fast charging at any Tesla Supercharger.
The new Leaf will also be Nissan’s first EV with Plug and Charge, which allows drivers to just plug in and start charging without the need to submit payment information or sign up for a third-party app. Nissan estimates that fast charging from 10 to 80 percent will take 35 minutes.
The Leaf S will be the base trim, while the S Plus and SV Plus trims offer upgrades like a bigger battery and 18-inch alloy wheels. Nissan is also adding a fourth trim level, Platinum Plus, which features 19-inch wheels and a 10-speaker Bose system with built-in front headrest speakers. The base model S trim, which won’t be available until spring 2026, will come with a smaller 52kWh battery and 174-hp motor, and will likely get an estimated 255 miles of range.
An enhanced battery thermal management system and a heat pump will also make the Leaf the ideal EV to charge in winter. The Leaf’s battery pack is sealed by a resin cover, helping keep out cold air, snow, and slush during winter driving. The Leaf will also capture “wasted heat” from the drive motor and the onboard charger, and repurpose that heat to help warm the battery to its ideal temperature range. An onboard heat pump, which comes standard on all trims, will efficiently warm the cabin during colder months. And a battery heater can help bring the pack to the optimal temperature for fast charging when the mercury drops. Dual charging ports will provide a level of flexibility that doesn’t require an adapter.
Dual charging ports will provide a level of flexibility that doesn’t require an adapter
Nissan says its engineers tested the new Leaf over 1,500 days in both the deserts of the Southwest and Fairbanks, Alaska, to gauge how well charging holds up in extreme heat and extreme cold.
The design of the new Leaf is a lot cleaner and more streamlined, with retractable door handles (a first for Nissan), concealed rear handles in the C-pillar, an illuminated logo in the front grille, stacked rectangular lighting, and an optional full-width light bar. The 2026 Leaf is built on the modular CMF-EV platform that also undergirds the Ariya EV. This platform features Nissan’s “3-in-1” powertrain setup that combines the motor, inverter, and reducer into a single unit.
With Google built-in, the Nissan Leaf seamlessly integrates apps like Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play into a vehicle’s infotainment system. Google Maps, for example, will show the vehicle’s range and battery capacity, and on certain routes it’ll suggest charging stops when the destination is beyond the battery’s capacity.
S and S Plus trims will have dual 12.3-inch screens that connect wirelessly to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. On SV Plus and Platinum Plus trims, those screens expand to 14.3 inches.
All trims feature ProPILOT Assist steering assist, lane centering, and adaptive cruise control. The new Leaf also comes with a Nissan-first safety technology called Secondary Collision Mitigation Braking, which automatically applies the brakes after the airbag is deployed to help reduce the severity of a crash or prevent a secondary crash into another vehicle.
Nissan is promising more details on the new Leaf, including price, before the end of the year. The company also recently announced that new ICE and plug-in hybrid versions of its Rogue SUV, and refreshed models of its midsized Pathfinder SUV and Sentra sedan, would be coming soon.
Ideally, the new Leaf will provide a much-needed boost to Nissan. The automaker has been going through a particularly rough patch, with declining sales and the collapse of a merger deal with Honda. It definitely needs some fresh products to help boost its overall image. And while the Leaf certainly isn’t fresh, its new look is sure to turn a few heads.
Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
Two former UFC champions turned back the clock with wins at UFC Fight Night from Atlanta this past weekend.
Kamaru Usman, a vaunted former welterweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, moves up three spots to No. 6 in the welterweight rankings after he showed the division he still knows how to wrestle. Usman took then-fifth-ranked Joaquin Buckley to the canvas four times and landed 17 significant ground strikes on his way to a unanimous decision victory. The loss snapped a six-fight winning streak for Buckley and bumps him down to No. 9 in these rankings.
Two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas also was dominant as she improved to 3-2 as a flyweight with a unanimous decision win over Miranda Maverick in the co-main event. Namajunas moves up one spot to No. 9 with the win.
Results are current; rankings as of June 16. To be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.
Jason Isaacs wasn’t making smoothies for the money.
Four months after The White Lotus’ third season premiered, the 62-year-old—who played Timothy Ratliffe, the family patriarch—revealed that every cast member on the show was paid “a very low price” per episode: $40,000.
“Generally actors don’t talk about pay in public because it’s ridiculously disproportionate to what we do—putting on makeup and funny voices—and just upsets the public,” Jason told Variety in an interview published June 16. “But compared to what people normally get paid for big television shows, that’s a very low price.”
In addition to having made around $320,000 for the entire season, Jason made the same amount as cast members with less experience, including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook, who portrayed his on-screen children.
But according to the Harry Potteralum, that didn’t bother him at all.
“I never work for money,” he explained. “I’ve done all right. People will think I have huge stockpiles of money but sadly, what I’ve done rather immaturely is expand my outgoings to match my incomings and pretty much spent everything I’ve earned over the years.”
Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged by the Football Association for comments made about ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during a video that was leaked on social media.
The 42-year-old was suspended on 11 November 2024 after a video showed him making derogatory comments about Klopp and Liverpool.
Coote was sacked by the Premier League referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December 2024 following a “thorough investigation” into his conduct.
The FA has now charged Coote in relation to rule E3.1, which alleges he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words.
It says reference to Klopp’s nationality in the video constituted an “aggravated” breach.
However, Coote has been cleared of any gambling misconduct following claims that the referee had discussed issuing a yellow card to a player prior to a match.
The children of late Minnesota state Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (D), who was fatally shot over the weekend along with her husband Mark, acknowledged the death of their parents in a statement Monday.
“We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone,” Sophie and Colin Hortman wrote.
“Their love for us was boundless,” they added. “We miss them so much.”
The Hortmans and state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife Yvette were the victims of a shooting on Saturday by a man impersonating a law enforcement officer. The Hoffmans were rushed to the hospital and after surgeries are expected to survive.
The case is being investigated as “politically motived.” The FBI and Justice Department are leading a probe into the violent incident.
Vance Boelter, the suspected gunman, was apprehended Sunday and indicted in the state on stalking and murder charges. He was also hit with a federal murder charge earlier this week.
A list of other potential targets was also found in Boelter’s car, including lawmakers and other top officials.
“Our family would like to thank law enforcement for their swift action that saved others and for the coordination across communities that led to the arrest of the man who murdered our parents,” the Hortman children wrote. “We especially would like to thank the officers who were first on the scene to our parents’ home and their heroic attempts to rescue our mom and dad.”
“Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them,” they added in the statement.
Hortman worked alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) during his tenure in the State Legislature. The two were elected officials for the North Star State’s Farmer Labor Party.
Walz has condemned the attacker for targeting Democratic lawmakers amid a partisan divide nationwide. Others, from both sides of the aisle, have also weighed in on the tragedy.
Hortman’s children said they best way for her legacy to live on is for people to unite.
“Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer,” they wrote. “Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect.”
“The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else,” the duo wrote.
Bon Natural Life (BON) announced a non-exclusive sales distribution agreement with Tianjin Merrill-Youli Trading. The term of the agreement is 36 months with a total contract value of up to US$18 million. Pursuant to the agreement, Merrill-Youli will market, sell and distribute Bon’s Ambroxide and related natural fragrance compounds in the Asia-Pacific region. Merrill-Youli will primarily target the industrial fabric fragrance sector. Bon believes this partnership will help capitalize a leading position in Ambroxide products leveraging Merrill-Youli’s established market presence in fragrance chemicals. The collaboration aims to accelerate adoption of Bon’s Ambroxide line across Asia-Pacific fragrance markets, particularly in fabric applications. Bon plans to use its advanced Ambroxide technology to boost sales growth, increase profits in its fragrance chemicals business, and deliver greater value to its shareholders.
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The Nintendo Switch 2 is great. In many ways, it’s exactly what we hoped for: a Switch, only better. And yet there’s something… underwhelming about it. Maybe it’s unfair, but we’ve come to expect Nintendo to consistently amaze us with either how its consoles work or the games you can play with them. In this case, it still feels like a Switch. Only better. And not universally better, either.
On this episode of The Vergecast, now that a number of folks on our team have spent some real time with the Switch 2, it’s time to talk about how we feel about this new console. First, The Verge’s Andrew Webster joins the show to talk through his review, from the controllers to the design to the game-changing games here and yet to come. Then, The Verge’s Ash Parrish tells us about her experiences traveling with the Switch 2, how her experience has compared to her first demos of the device, and the games she’s been playing so far. Then we pivot a bit, and talk about the Xbox Ally X and Microsoft’s own vision for handheld gaming.
Finally, The Verge’s Sean Hollister helps us answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about the state of consoles. Everything in gaming seems more expensive than ever, and more expensive all the time; is it time for the console business to change?
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:
