First Thing: Top 10 US billionaires’ wealth grew by $698bn in past year

Oxfam warns in report that Trump policies risk driving inequality to new heights, while noting Democrats have also exacerbated wealth gap. Plus, why Salman Rushdie’s therapist has called him a ‘badass’Good morning.The collective wealth of the top 10 US billionaires has soared by $698bn in the past year, according to a new report from Oxfam America published today on the growing wealth divide.How have Trump’s policies impacted the figures? Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill”, passed by Congress in May, has been one of the “single largest transfers of wealth upwards in decades”, according to the report, by cutting tax for the wealthy and corporations.How does it work? The system, which launched more than a year ago, rewards soldiers who achieve strikes with points that can be exchanged to buy more weapons in an “Amazon-for-war” online store called Brave1 filled with more than 100 different drones, autonomous vehicles and other drone war material. Continue reading...