A Liverpool fan and an influencer explain what it's like to be hired for a Truman Show-style experimentWhen Kevin Kotoko heard that he had been selected as one of Fox's chief World Cup watchers he had no hesitation in accepting. What self-respecting football fan could turn down the opportunity to be paid $50,000 (37,000) to take in all 104 games at this World Cup, after all?The only issues were that he would have to watch every match in a custom-built viewing cube in the heart of Times Square and let his employers know that he wouldn't be coming in for work the next day. I quit my job," admits Kotoko, a Liverpool fan who is from Florida and was working as a waiter in a restaurant. I found out on Thursday that I had won the competition and so I told them on Friday that would be my last day!" Continue reading...

There is a fundamental tension between extreme wealth and the very possibility of democracy. That's because extreme wealth is always an extreme powerThe stock market listing of SpaceX has led to an outpouring of celebration, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Yet those who rejoice in Elon Musk's fortune surpassing the $1tn mark need to be reminded of a simple and vital truth: the mere existence of trillionaires is a major political and economic problem, probably the defining issue of our time.Simply put, there is a fundamental tension between extreme wealth and the very possibility of democracy. Extreme wealth is always an extreme power. It's the power to stifle competition, the power to shape public discourse, the power to influence policymaking, the power to buy elections, the power to stall social progress.Gabriel Zucman is a professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics, a summer research professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and founding director of the International Tax Observatory. He is the author of We Need to Tax Billionaires. Continue reading...

Sixteen-year-old tells police Juven Pineda treated her like a prisoner' and thretened to harm family in HondurasAn accused sex trafficker allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl to resolve a $13,500 debt that he claimed she and her family owed him, according to Louisiana police.Juven Pineda, 34, faces charges of second-degree rape and human trafficking after his capture in North Carolina and recent transfer to the custody of investigators in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, who had obtained a warrant to arrest him.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Josh Hokit's comment, made after the match at the White House, was condemned widely, but not by the presidentDonald Trump is facing growing pressure to condemn an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor who used a White House appearance to push a sexist, racist and transphobic conspiracy theory about former first lady Michelle Obama.At a UFC event on the south lawn on Sunday, the US president's 80th birthday, Josh Hokit, a fighter, shouted into the microphone in front of Trump: Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?" Continue reading...

The new DC mayor will face a slew of challenges in the city, including how to handle the Trump administrationThere's a transplant from Mar-a-Lago at the center of DCs mayoral primary race on Tuesday, but his name is nowhere on the ballot.For the first time in more than a decade, Washington DC will have a new mayor this year as the city faces concerns about how to address public safety, housing affordability, and increased federal immigration enforcement in the district. How the next mayor handles Donald Trump is also key question on residents' minds, with many closely watching to see if any of the president's supporters are pouring money into the race, as well as the primaries for the city's congressional delegate. Continue reading...

Across the US, thousands of people are injecting themselves with unregulated peptides in pursuit of weight loss, muscle growth and younger-looking skin. Despite being labelled 'not for human consumption', the substances are readily available online and have surged in popularity among people disillusioned by traditional healthcare. To find out why so many Americans are willing to risk unknown side-effects for the promise of a quick fix, Adam Gabbatt meets the users and influencers driving the peptide boom, and investigates what's really inside some of these so-called 'miracle' drugs Continue reading...

The desecration of a ruler's symbols is among the oldest forms of political revoltThere's a reason the first two of the Ten Commandments prohibit worshiping false gods and making false idols. And a reason iconoclasm - the desecration of the monuments of a hated ruler or regime - is one of the oldest and most powerful symbolic forms of political revolt.The revolutionary power of iconoclasm is also why Donald Trump - who understands the manipulation of imagery as well as anyone on earth - has had a huge blue and white tarp draped across the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while the letters of his name are pried off under court order.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist and frequent contributor to the Guardian. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...

Senate Republicans say there are many unanswered questions about the deal and question inclusion of funds for IranThe US vice-president, JD Vance, has said a number of issues still need to be figured out with Iran, as many Republicans expressed scepticism of the agreement reached this week by Donald Trump, and pressed the White House to release more information about it.The memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing on Friday in Geneva, is centred around reopening the strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States' naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. Continue reading...

Iran begin disrupted campaign with hard-fought draw against the All Whites in Los AngelesAll Whites: 1 Max Crocombe (gk); 13 Liberato Cacace, 16 Finn Surman, 5 Michael Boxall, 2 Tim Payne; 6 Joe Bell, 8 Marko Stameni; 11 Eli Just, 10 Sarpreet Singh, 20 Callum McCowatt; 9 Chris Wood (c).Chris Wood will lead the line and the side into their third World Cup campaign. The XI is expected to settle into a more defensive 4-2-3-1 formation and rely on pace up front from Just, Singh and McCowatt. Crocombe is named goalkeeper ahead of Alex Paulsen. Continue reading...

A compromise deal packed with fudges'; Newsom says Trump weaponizing justice department against him. Key US politics stories from Monday 15 June at a glanceNews of a potential reopening of the strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquid gas pass, sent stock markets higher and oil prices lower on Monday morning. Iran had closed the waterway to most shipping in the early days of the war mounted against it by the US and Israel.The secretariat of Iran's supreme national security council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would end permanently from Monday night. The precise terms of the peace deal remain unclear and Julian Borger writes that in reopening the strait, on a basis yet to be fully explained, Donald Trump achieves little more than fixing a problem that he caused himself. Even that is not in the bag yet. It is still a long way to Friday and a planned signing ceremony in Geneva, in view of all the fudges that have been packed into this compromise deal." Continue reading...

B-52 crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards air force base in southern California's Mojave Desert, officials say

Uruguay were poor in the first half but upped their game and took a deserved point thanks to Maxi Araujo2 min The Saudi Arabia attack is led by Salem al-Dawsari, who scored the winner in their astounding win over Argentina four years ago.1 min Saudi Arabia kick off from left to right as we watch. The match is only four minutes behind schedule, so you can all go chill, relax. Continue reading...

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Elections chief says bid by ex-teacher to challenge senator with same name was filed to confuse or mislead' votersThere will still be one Dan Sullivan on the ballot, but election officials in Alaska determined a second man by the same name cannot run against him in the high-stakes Senate race.A man named Dan Sullivan, or Daniel J Sullivan Jr, filed to run as a Republican against incumbent Alaska senator Dan S Sullivan, also a Republican. Republicans filed complaints against the other Dan Sullivan, saying the candidate had coordinated with a Democratic campaign to confuse voters. Continue reading...

Donald Trump posts Let the oil flow' as US-Iran peace deal sparks immediate drop for Brent crude

A five-year-old girl was swept away and a woman was pulled into the water, prompting authorities to urge precautionMassive waves, coastal flooding and dangerous rip currents are roiling the California coastline this week as authorities advise people to take precautions while visiting beaches following two deaths last week.Turbulent waters swept a five-year-old girl, who was walking with her mother and brother, out to sea from the shore of Treasure Island Beach in Orange county in southern California on Tuesday. Bystanders were able to rescue the mother and son, but the girl was not found and her body was recovered on Thursday. Continue reading...

Andy Lewis, also known for slacklining and tricklining, and an unidentified man were killed in accident in Utah canyonA weekend Base jumping accident in a Utah canyon killed two people, one of them a daredevil athlete best known for performing onstage with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl, authorities said.The sheriff's office in Grand county, Utah, confirmed one of the dead was Andy Lewis, an extreme athlete known for feats in Base jumping, a dangerous sport that involves parachuting to the ground after jumping from a tall fixed object such as a building, a bridge or a desert cliff overlooking a deep canyon. Continue reading...

The US-Iran ceasefire is welcome. But the US president is trying to disguise a failed war of choice as a diplomatic victoryThe US-Iran agreement to halt fighting for 60 days is welcome, because even cynical diplomacy is better than war. But Donald Trump should not be allowed to call this a triumph. He has bought a pause after an illegal war of choice that failed to secure its declared aims, devastated Iran, destabilised Lebanon and sent shocks through energy and fertiliser markets, leaving many people poorer and hungrier. A campaign launched to display US military strength is likely instead to be remembered for demonstrating its limits.A deal with Iran is better than war with Iran. But the US president is hailing as victory the partial easing of a crisis that he, and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, helped create. The measure of success will not be the reopening of the strait of Hormuz, which war had closed, but whether the next two months produce a verifiable nuclear settlement and put out the flames fanned by the US-Israel attacks.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Agent opened fire at car, striking it, as suspect fled scene and has not been located, Stafford Township police sayAn Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in New Jersey was reportedly struck by a vehicle and shot at the car as it fled the scene on Monday morning, according to local authorities.The police department of Stafford Township said in a statement that it had been provided with information that ICE was attempting to apprehend a suspect when the suspect fled from the scene in a vehicle, striking [an ICE agent]". Continue reading...

Eleven skydivers and a pilot were killed in Sunday crash as aircraft for Skydive Kansas City was taking off in ButlerThe Missouri skydiving community is mourning the loss of several of its members after a plane crash south of Kansas City killed 11 skydivers and a pilot.The crash occurred around noon on Sunday in Butler, Missouri, as an aircraft supporting operations for Skydive Kansas City was taking off, the company said in a statement on Monday, as reported by the local news outlet KCTV. Continue reading...

Residents of West Oakland, which suffers from toxic waste and high pollution rates, rally against a coal export facilityWest Oakland, a California neighborhood known for its rich history of Black activism from the Pullman Porters' union to the Black Panthers, might not seem like the site of the country's next great coal project.But that's exactly what the Trump administration is pushing for - with the injection of $75m to build a sprawling coal export terminal in the nearby port of Oakland. Continue reading...

Markets welcome US-Iran peace deal but prices may stay high as buyers race to refill depleted emergency crude stockpiles

Visitors say arbitrary and changing rules prevent visitation and cause stress to families and their detained loved onesIn January, Gabriela Soto's husband was detained in Delaney Hall, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, New Jersey. She has been very stressed" in the months since, comforting her heartbroken children and spending thousands of dollars on asylum-related legal cases. She has regularly visited her husband on weekends at the facility. She is one of hundreds of visitors lining up every week to see loved ones.But Delaney Hall has rejected her visits time and time again over supposed dress code violations. More than 10 times, Soto said, she has been told that either she or her children could not visit because of what they were wearing. Continue reading...

Homeowners association in Madison incites protests and calls for humane solutions after voting to kill geeseA homeowners association in Madison, Alabama, has incited protests and calls for humane wildlife management solutions after voting to kill off hundreds of local geese.Dozens of people gathered in the city's Edgewater neighborhood to protest against the non-unanimous plan by the homeowners association (HOA) there to euthanize the Canada geese at Lady Ann Lake by fatally gassing them in a chamber. They called for more humane alternatives such as using horns to scare off the geese or relocating the birds. Continue reading...

Despite a last-ditch legal bid to block the event, the White House spent the night as a marketing department for the private fighting companyA warm Sunday night on the South Lawn - with bright lights, fireworks, a fighter plane flyover, thousands of spectators, and the first major professional sporting event ever staged at the White House - produced many memorable scenes. One might linger more than most.Justin Gaethje, the American interim lightweight champion, stood alone in the Oval Office in his fight shorts, draped in an American flag, studying a framed Declaration of Independence before he turned to walk out to the cage. Continue reading...

Move is part of broad effort to open public lands to industry and other uses, threatening wildlife and ecosystemsThe Trump administration is executing a controversial plan to allow dirt bikes, ATVs, trucks, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles to drive through tens of millions of acres of public lands and national parks, which environmental groups warn threatens endangered species and the environment.The plan's opponents say the impacts will be wide-ranging and that the vehicles will likely destroy sensitive habitats, harm waterways, drive large predators like grizzly bears into contact with humans, and otherwise damage pristine public lands and parks. Continue reading...

Federal Reserve to make first decision under Kevin Warsh as Middle East hopes ease inflation pressures

Daphy Michel, a vulnerable asylum seeker from Haiti, died at Pittsburgh bus shelter days after leaving federal custodyA medical examiner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker in Pennsylvania after being released from federal custody a homicide.Meanwhile, an attorney representing her family said he expects her relatives to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with her death, though a spokesperson maintained in an email that the agency had NOTHING to do with this woman's death". Continue reading...

Trump says strait of Hormuz to reopen as part of imminent agreement. Plus, best pictures from historic NBA night for New York

The list of government AI use cases has ballooned by 70% since Biden left office and includes many plans to hand over sensitive governmental functions to AIOn 14 April, the Trump administration quietly acknowledged the widespread use of AI to automate government processes. The office of management and budget (OMB) disclosed a staggering 3,611 active or planned use cases for AI across the federal government. The list has ballooned by 70% from the one published in the final year of the Biden administration, and includes many disturbing-seeming plans to hand over sensitive governmental functions to AI.Scanning this list, many readers may find many causes for alarm. It represents a transfer of decision processes from human to machine on a massive scale over matters of individual freedom, public health and wellbeing, nuclear reactor safety and more.Nathan E Sanders is a data scientist affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center of Harvard University and co-author, with Bruce Schneier, of the book Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship. Bruce Schneier is a security technologist who teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University and University of Toronto's Munk School Continue reading...

The sordid UFC event represents his own efforts to symbolically fuse the federal government with his person, to insist that he is America and is the stateHitler dreamed of a 1,000-year Reich; Putin is said to have baroque dreams of territorial conquest meant to restore a dubiously historical empire he calls Greater Russia". Sure, there are people around Donald Trump who imagine using his rise to power to establish some sort of grand, civilizational project: there are the white nationalists who dream of a country purged of those they deem racially impure; there are the Christian nationalists who imagine a future theocracy in which women wear long braids and skirts, and don't vote; there are the techno-reactionaries who imagine a future of interplanetary colonies, techno-assisted eugenics, and polygamous harems.But Trump himself is conspicuously small in his dreams: his are comparatively little ambitions, not extending far beyond the reach of his ego and his senses.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Despite reports of Anthony Odiong preying on female congregants, the Catholic church extended his term

The process to renew Daca immigration status used to take a few weeks - now it drags on for monthsIt's been six months since Claudia first applied to renew her US immigration status - a process that, for the last 14 years, would only take a few weeks.But now, the prolonged delay has put her life on hold. Claudia, who moved to the US when she was four, has maintained legal status as a Dreamer" with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program, which was created in 2012 to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation. Continue reading...

Self-deprecating jokes and mental health advocacy have gone viral, and his political commentary is proving popularIt's been quite the journey for Hunter Biden. In the space of a few weeks, the former first son has gone from a man seen as a political liability to an unlikely galvanizing force within the Democratic party, through his emergence on social media as a mental health advocate, razzer of Republicans, and working-class whisperer.In the process Biden has switched from the GOP's bete noire to, actually, someone that a fair number of Republican voters seem to like. Continue reading...

If Democrats won't ensure accountability, Americans should look to the example of Argentina's escrachesRecently Greg Bovino, infamous former Border Patrol commander, served as a star attraction at a remigration summit" in Portugal; there he took selfies with Austrian activist Martin Sellner, one of Europe's most notorious rightwing extremists, and told him: We've never talked before - face to face, that is - until yesterday, and we were on the same sheet of music almost immediately."Meanwhile, Tina Peters, the disgraced former elections clerk whose sentence was commuted by Colorado governor Jared Polis, pontificates on Steve Bannon's show about how Democrats will cheat in the midterms. It is rare that those out of government service show contrition, but it is also rare that they immediately monetize past cruelty and present-day conspiracy theories. Presumably it is only a matter of time before the men who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti get to cash in with podcasts for Maga world.Jan-Werner Muller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University Continue reading...

Voters want someone they trust to change the economic dealGraham Platner's victory in the Maine Democratic primary, despite controversies that would sink more conventional candidates, shows us that voters are not simply rejecting incumbents. They are responding to candidates - even those with pretty dire baggage - who speak to a widespread belief that the economic system is increasingly rigged in favour of billionaires and large corporations.In my research with Harvard professor Taeku Lee, based on surveys of more than 36,000 voters across the US, UK, France and Germany, we see a hidden wave of voter opinion that is hostile to big corporations and billionaire influence.Pepper Culpepper is professor at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government and author of Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy Continue reading...

I became a fan of this team to connect with my father. Their NBA championship does not erase the heartbreaks and hurt of the past - it completes the journeyDo you know what you want your last thought to be? I have waited my whole life for mine.Most people, I imagine, don't choose theirs. They arrive at the end and find loved ones' faces gathered around their bed. Their subconscious gifts them the sound of their child's laugh, or the memory of their wedding day rises from the dark like a lantern, unbidden. The mind, in its final kindness, selects for them. But I decided long ago that I would not leave that to chance. I decided, the way you decide anything important, deliberately and a little defiantly, the way I have decided most things in my life. Continue reading...

Precise terms remain unclear amid conflicting claims over when access to vital global shipping route will be restored

Who is winning the battle to be top scorer at the World Cup? Live and updated throughout the tournamentThe Golden Boot is awarded to the World Cup's top goalscorer, with assists used as a tie-breaker if two or more players finish level. The 2026 tournament has three former Golden Boot winners taking part: Kylian Mbappe of France (eight goals in 2022), England's Harry Kane (six goals in 2018) and James Rodriguez of Colombia (six goals in 2014).Mbappe and Kane are among the pre-tournament favourites to finish top scorer in North America, alongside Norway's Erling Haaland - making his World Cup debut - and Argentina's Lionel Messi. Continue reading...

As the world waited for rational outcomes from irrational players, the people being bombed were forced to adjust to the fact of terror as part of daily lifeHumans take a lot of killing," wrote Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. As bleak a phrase as it is, McCourt was talking about resilience, how much poverty and abuse a person can withstand and still survive. But the other side of human capacity for pain is how much can be forced upon us and normalised. It is bewildering how war - shocking and intolerable at first - quickly becomes a matter of fact. Few conflicts have demonstrated that more vividly than the war on Iran. For months it was a matter of low-grade strikes, hot and cold rhetoric, and near-conclusions to the hostilities that never came. Sharp political crisis manifested as grinding hardship and upheaval for the people.We have a peace deal now, for that be thankful, but think what preceded it. Over the past week alone, Donald Trump had ordered strikes on Iran, and expressed a desire to take Kharg Island, which handles 90% of Iran's crude oil exports. He then prematurely declared that the US had ended the war on Iran in a great settlement". The markets did their customary flicker in response to the announcement of a deal, but the rest of us, not invested in oil futures, could have been forgiven for not registering a reaction to imminent peace - he had made the same promise almost 40 times. In press conferences, social media posts and interviews over the past few months, Trump had said relax, it's almost over. Just how not over it was can be traced by the strikes and counter-strikes across the region, the closure of the strait of Hormuz, general global economic upheaval and specific Middle East destabilisation. Continue reading...

Yasin Ayari shines bright as Graham Potter's Sweden put on a five-star showing to crush TunisiaThis evening's match is taking place at the impressive Estadio BBVA, known for the duration of the World Cup as Monterrey Stadium. The 53,000 capacity arena is nicknamed the Steel Giant, and was opened in 2015.It is famed for its view of Cerro de la Silla, a nearby mountain with a highest peak of almost 6,000 feet. The steep stands and proximity of seating to the pitch will help the atmosphere. Continue reading...

The European Commission has unveiled its plans for digital sovereignty. Its proposals betray a disappointing lack of visionBeti Hohler is a Slovenian national who lives in the Netherlands. Like tens of millions of other Europeans, she uses Apple's app store and has an Amazon account. When she travels for work or leisure, she may want to book a place on Airbnb or Booking, using a credit card issued by Visa or Mastercard, perhaps through PayPal.But when the Trump administration sanctioned her last year for her work as a judge at the international criminal court (ICC), her ability to use any of these services vanished overnight. Her credit cards, her accounts with US companies - all gone. The sanctions against Hohler and some of her colleagues mean they live in constant uncertainty", she said.Max von Thun is the director of Open Markets Institute Europe, an anti-monopoly thinktank Continue reading...

When the Hurricanes arrived in North Carolina, many saw them as a relocation folly destined to fail. One man has helped change that narrativeRod Brind'Amour is made for the playoffs. The Carolina Hurricanes coach made his NHL debut in the postseason in 1989, filling in for the St Louis Blues in a game against the Minnesota North Stars. He scored on his first shot. Still, it took him 17 seasons in the NHL before he hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2006 as captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, the team he has now led to another Cup win as head coach. The fear of losing motivates you a lot of times," he told reporters after that 2006 Cup win.Wherever the motivation came from this year, the result is the same. The Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 on Sunday to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history, exactly 20 years since they did it last. Continue reading...

Trump says the oil will flow but state media reports out of Tehran suggest it could be under Iranian arrangements' ; UFC paying White House fighters in Trump crypto. Key US politics stories from Sunday 14 June at a glanceThe Iranian deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed in the early hours of Monday an agreement for an immediate end" to the US-Iranian war, and said Lebanon was included in a peace deal due to be signed on Friday. Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced the agreement on Sunday afternoon, saying both sides would be declaring the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts".Regional officials said Qatari mediators had travelled to Tehran on Sunday to finalise terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Uncertainty swirled, though, including around whether Israel would end its attacks aimed at Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Iranian hardliners registered their opposition to what they see as capitulation to the US. Lindsay Graham, a Republican senator, said he was pleased to hear about the MOU but added: I am somewhat concerned that Iran's view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming." Continue reading...

Demonstrations took off in Washington and across US as Trump throws first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House groundsDozens of people stood across the entrance gates to the Ellipse, the park south of the White House, on Sunday afternoon, holding protest signs and chanting as the president prepared to host seven mixed martial arts fights on the lawn.Thousands of fight fans streamed past the protesters into the sprawling public viewing area that the Trump administration and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is hosting the fights, erected steps from the White House. The cage fights, marketed as a celebration of the country's fighting spirit" ahead of its 250th anniversary, are being held on Donald Trump's 80th birthday. Continue reading...