Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull tells a public inquiry that the Aukus deal with the US and UK will probably result in no submarines at all for Australia. He says the US's capacity for building submarines has remained stubbornly laggard, and that it is prevented by its own legislation from selling any submarines to Australia if that would 'degrade' its own fleet. It currently needs to nearly double its submarine production rate, from 1.2 to 2.3 a year Continue reading...
Americans want someone on their side in the fight against vested interests - that means politicians like the Michigan primary winner and Zohran MamdaniAbdul El-Sayed's win in the Michigan Senate primary was a historic breakthrough. Not only because he is a Muslim son of immigrants who broke with almost every single tenet of establishment Democratic party politics. But because he has wiped that complacent sneer at progressive wins off the faces of centrist gatekeepers. Zohran Mamdani? Relax, he's just a mayor. And it's New York City. Outside urban and liberal corridors, there is nothing to worry about. Now El-Sayed has won the Democratic party's nomination in a swing state that is also on the list of presidential nomination states.There is a lot to be excited about. Not only within the US, but for observers abroad hopeful for the emergence of a truly revolutionary left that is able to weather powerful and well-funded adversaries and prevail. The money raised to defeat El-Sayed was staggering. He was outspent by more than nine to one. It was the most expensive Democratic congressional primary ever. A roll call of cartoon bad guys, such as Chevron and Philip Morris, funded his opponent, Haley Stevens, to the tune of over $60m. Of that funding, nearly half came from a Super Pac backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac). Continue reading...
Scharf, who helped president win approval for $400m ballroom, to replace David Warrington on 1 SeptemberDonald Trump announced on Sunday that Will Scharf, the staff secretary who helped secure approval for the $400m White House ballroom project, will become White House counsel and assistant to the president.Effective 1 September, Scharf will replace David Warrington, who will be leaving the administration to join the private sector. Warrington formerly served as a personal counsel and a lawyer for Trump's 2024 campaign. Continue reading...
US congresswoman to share journey online as she criticizes Trump administration's attacks on reproductive careAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez has announced she is going to freeze her eggs and will be sharing the process online.The progressive New York congresswoman, 36, revealed her decision to undergo fertility treatment in a series of Instagram stories this weekend. This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life," Ocasio-Cortez said. Continue reading...
Small cruise ship rescued skiff in south-east Alaska even though Meta billionaire's $300m megayacht was closerMark Zuckerberg has faced questions over why a small cruise ship in south-east Alaska rescued a stranded skiff and its crew when his 387ft superyacht had been closer.The Silicon Valley billionaire's yacht, worth a reported $300m, is said to have repeatedly" declined to assist when a nearby boat called for help last week. Continue reading...
Levels at reservoir along Arizona-Nevada border dipped below previous record set in 2022, amid water crisis in westLake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was filled some 90 years ago, the latest sign of a deepening water crisis in the American west.Water levels at the reservoir, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border outside Las Vegas, hit 1,040.4ft (317.1 meters) above sea level on Friday, according to federal data. That's just below the record set on 28 July 2022, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation. Continue reading...
Michigan nominee, who spoke to Obama after primary win, vows to fight inequality as president makes billions off you'Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, embraced Donald Trump's suggestion that the two represent VERY DIFFERENT" versions of the US, pledging to fight inequality while the president is making billions of dollars off of you".In a Saturday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump shared an image of himself and the first lady, Melania Trump, beside a photo of El-Sayed, who is Muslim, and his wife, Sarah Jukaku, wearing a hijab. Two VERY DIFFERENT America's [sic]," read the caption. Continue reading...
Mutual aid groups that started giving out PPEs during Covid are now loaning air purifiers and distributing masks to fume-addled communitiesMiquette Thompson's home in rural Mendocino county has been covered in smoke all week. There are the nearby Feliz and Woodside fires in northern California, which have burned more than 1,000 acres, as well as the wildfires devastating Oregon and Washington that are sending smoke their way, too.It's become not unusual," she said of walking outside and seeing a hazy sky. Continue reading...
Manuel Hernandez charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment after boat overturned in New York harborThe captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor on Saturday evening has been charged following the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and her five-month-old daughter.Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment in the early hours of Sunday morning, a New York police department spokesperson told the Guardian. Continue reading...
Rage-baiting efforts of Trump accounts silenced after posts such as a video linking her Red album to RepublicansSome of Taylor Swift's songs have been removed from videos posted on social media by Donald Trump's campaign and the White House, silencing efforts to mock the pop star.A video posted 3 August featuring the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, watching fireworks was posted this month on TikTok with Swift's song August. Continue reading...
Case, who has represented island state's first district in US Congress since 2019, beat state senator Jarrett KeohokaloleThe moderate Democratic representative Ed Case has seen off a progressive challenge to retain his party's nomination for the US House of Representatives election in Hawaii's first congressional district.Case, who has represented the district in Washington DC since 2019, prevailed in Saturday's primary over Jarrett Keohokalole, the state senator. Continue reading...
Jurors hear from host of medical experts as defence says postpartum psychosis caused young mother to kill childrenIt's been called America's saddest murder trial" and last week jurors in the Lindsay Clancy case listened to mental health professionals, counsellors, psychiatrists, and medication experts explain the circumstances in which the young mother killed her three children.It has been a spectacle that has gripped America, not least because Clancy's legal defense has been supported by her now divorced husband.In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978 Continue reading...
Chuck Schumer and other senators took part in exercises in which legal experts laid out election disruption scenariosIn a Washington DC conference room last month, some of the most senior Democrats in the US Senate gathered to plan for a prospect that only recently would have felt more akin to science fiction: they started to wargame democracy.Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader, and senators including Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, Mark Warner, Elissa Slotkin and Raphael Warnock were among those in the room as a team of legal experts offered scenarios. Continue reading...
Lawyers for man accused of killing healthcare CEO Brian Thompson raise red flags about limits on reportersWeeks before Luigi Mangione faces a jury over the killing of the UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson, the hugely anticipated proceedings already have potential to reach trial-of-the-century status.Intense global interest in Mangione's case is unfolding against a media landscape where news consumers expect minute-by-minute updates, a mise-en-scene now made all the more complicated by social media influencers who managed to get press credentials and often flock to major US criminal cases in search of clicks and money. Continue reading...
New research shows that a class gap on the left threatens any winning coalition - but there are ways to address itDebates on the left are typically framed as a division between moderates and progressives, with the two sides wrestling over how best to form a governing coalition. Yet, in many ways, this divide obscures a much bigger fault line: the class divide. The fact is, many of the Democratic party's ideological factions consist almost exclusively of college-educated professionals. As a result, the priorities of this class tend to dominate the party's appeals. The priorities of working-class voters, meanwhile, are an afterthought.A new report from Jared Abbott, the director of the Center for Working Class Politics, and Joan Williams, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back, looks at ways to bridge the yawning class divide that threatens the possibility of forming a winning coalition. Continue reading...
Gerson Turcios was 17 when he fled violence in Honduras to build a new life in the US. Six years later, he was mowing lawns in his home town of Rhinebeck when immigration officers took him. Within hours, friends, neighbours and local celebrities sprang into action. Could they stop his deportation?Gerson Turcios didn't recognise the menstanding next to a couple of dark SUVs outside his house one July afternoon last year. He figured they were lost and approached to see if he could help. A slim 23-year-old with short dark hair and big brown eyes, Turcios had just finished work mowing lawns in the pretty town of Rhinebeck, in New York's Hudson Valley. The men asked if he knew someone called Jimmy - he did, but Jimmy hadn't lived in the small, white weatherboard house with Turcios, his brother and his brother's girlfriend for a while.The men noted Turcios's accent and asked where he was from. Turcios didn't answer, so one took out his phone and snapped a photograph. The next thing Turcios knew, he was in handcuffs in the back of one of the SUVs and on his way to an ICE processing centre in Newburgh, New York, then on to a detention centre. Continue reading...
Officials did not identify the pilots but said they were employed by Helicopter Transport Services, which was contracted by US Forest ServiceTwo helicopter pilots who crashed while they were fighting a wildfire in Utah have died, officials confirmed Saturday. The pilots were killed when their Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter went down Friday morning, according to the Sevier County Sheriff.The helicopter was among those fighting a fire in the Fishlake National Forest. The crash ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze, which has now scorched nearly 174 square miles (nearly 451skm). Continue reading...
Weather system tied to warming sea surface expected to intensify in fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027El Nino, a recurring climate phenomenon marked by above-average sea surface temperatures, when changes in wind patterns allow warmer water to spread across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could spell a wet winter for portions of the western and south-eastern US, climate models show. Coastal areas may be at elevated risk of flooding, experts warn.Climate scientists predict this year's super" El Nino, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C, will be the strongest of the century. The weather system is expected to intensify in the fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...
Joe Biden's prostate cancer is reportedly debilitating', even as ex-president continues to speak out on public issuesFormer US president Joe Biden's prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, even as he continues to speak out on public issues, his son Hunter said in an interview.In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father's condition, describing it as very sad to watch. Continue reading...
by Victoria Bekiempis (now); Yohannes Lowe, Emily Mac on (#77HWF)
Senate minority leader condemns Republicans after Donald Trump's former defense lawyer confirmed by 50 votes to 49 early on Saturday morning. This blog is now closed.Joe Biden's prostate cancer has spread throughout his body, causing the former president great pain, his son Hunter Biden said during an interview broadcast Friday.The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further," Hunter Biden said in a sit-down with the BBC. It's very painful and it's very debilitating in many respects." Continue reading...
State's attorney general says scammers have made off with more than $100m in past two yearsScammers in New York have been using gold bars to steal money from victims, primarily older adults, and made off with more than $100m over the past two years, the state's attorney general announced on Friday.The scheme starts with victims receiving a fake pop-up message that states their computer or financial account has been compromised, the press release stated. The message includes a phone number to call, and when people do, the scammers convince the victims to provide remote access to their computers, which allows them to access their financial information or online bank accounts. Continue reading...
Dr Mark Fowler assisted in the failed execution of a Tennessee prisoner. Physicians are meant to heal patients - why is he working in the death chamber?Mark Fowler, a physician with 25 years' experience, stepped beneath the bright lights and approached the middle-aged man lying on a gurney. Around him, people in medical gowns prepared needles and sterile tubing.It had all the appearances of a hospital setting. Continue reading...
City on track to record fewest reported rat sightings since pandemic as Mamdani's containerization' program brings bins to boroughsIs New York finally winning its war on rats? Or are New Yorkers' vermin neighbors merely adapting to changing circumstances and, at least in some neighborhoods, staying out of sight?With an estimated one rat for every three people, New York's long-running rat war is in a period of uneasy detente. Continue reading...
Four-year-old Taras, who now resides at a Minnesota sanctuary, was diagnosed with an often fatal infectionA lion that escaped the war in Ukraine after being found as a four-month-old cub inside a duffel bag at Odesa railway station is facing an even greater battle for survival in his new home in Minnesota from a rare and often fatal fungal disease.Taras, his two sisters Lesya and Stefania, and an unrelated, slightly older cub from Kyiv named Prada, were brought to the US in November 2022 by the Wildcat Sanctuary, a secluded private reserve near Sandstone, Minnesota, that arranged their rescue with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Continue reading...
Major win for president as former personal lawyer wins approval despite outcry over $1.8bn slush fundThe US Senate voted to narrowly confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general in a major win for Donald Trump, who will now have his one-time personal attorney sitting atop the nation's law enforcement apparatus.Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana cast the deciding vote in Blanche's favor after two other Republicans - Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - voted against him. Every Democrat rejected Blanche's nomination as the Republican-led Senate voted 50-49. Continue reading...
An exchange between Dr Erica Schwartz and Senator Josh Hawley during her confirmation hearing is alarmingRobert F Kennedy Jr's new cooking show isn't the only big news out of the public health world this week. On Wednesday, Dr Erica Schwartz was confirmed by the US Senate as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making her the first Black woman to hold the position. This is the first time in almost a year that the agency has had a permanent leader; the previous director, Susan Monarez, only lasted 29 days before she was ousted for butting heads with RFK about US vaccine policies. Translation: she was a little too keen on following accepted science for the Trump administration.So is Schwartz an RFK-approved vaccine skeptic who thinks you can cure cancer by praying to trees? Surprisingly: no. Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump's first term, actually has government experience and a public health background. During her confirmation hearing in July, she walked a careful tightrope when asked about her stance towards vaccines. Schwartz said she will never betray the science" but also dodged questions about how she would handle pressure from Kennedy.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Tech companies offer eye-movement trackers, personalized podcasts and optimized nap predictions'. Who actually needs this?What job in our world is less lucrative than being a parent? A Hollywood internship? Volunteering at a soup kitchen? Professional writer? Parenting is the only job you have to pay money to do. Lots of money. Lodging, clothes, food, school, Pokemon cards - it really adds up. And it's getting worse. According to the tech industry, I have to strap my drooling offspring to a computer in order to ensure the baby's survival.Parents are being offered life-altering advancements in artificial intelligence that purport to make this taxing endeavor a tiny bit easier. OpenAI is suggesting its latest products can make child-rearing more efficient: its boss, Sam Altman, suggests generating a podcast about your kid's life that you can listen to in the morning on the way to school. How entertaining would a podcast that talks about one kid's soccer game that afternoon, one kid's upcoming birthday, some news, etc" actually be? Jimmy needs to work on his dribbling." Great. I think he knows already. He's not going to be the next Messi, so how about we switch back to music? Continue reading...
Ever the strategist, the Chinese leader is taking the offensive, both abroad and at home. That's bad news for global order, and minorities in his countryImagine what would happen if a British prime minister in London told the Scots they could not have their own parliament, national football team or fly the saltire. Or if the Welsh were told their language and poetry were banned and must no longer be taught in schools. The ensuing uproar would probably destroy the United Kingdom. Yet that's exactly what Xi Jinping, China's communist emperor, is telling the roughly 125 million members of the 55 ethnic and religious minorities who together comprise about 9% of the country's (majority Han Chinese) population.Xi claims his sinicisation policy, embodied in a new ethnic unity" law, will boost national identity and integration and, by expanding compulsory use of the Mandarin language, improve life and work prospects. Minorities should hug tightly like pomegranate seeds" to build a strong, united China, he says. But Tibetans, Mongolians, Uyghurs and others who value their separate language and customs fiercely object to what they see as forced assimilation into a conformist, intolerant monoculture dominated by the Communist party's tunnel vision. For them, it's ethnic cleansing by another name.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...
Documents published on US embassy's website prompt claims of attempt to export Maga propaganda to UKThe US embassy in London is offering grants of up to half a million dollars for new public education" programmes in what has been criticised as interference in British domestic politics.Using language that the pro-Trump Maga movement has sought to appropriate, a funding notice identifies a goal of fostering a national conversation" about shared civilizational values" underpinning US-UK ties. Priority will go to applicants aiming to celebrate freedom of speech" and limited government". Continue reading...
Rescuers not yet able to reach scene of crash near Richfield in central Utah, prompting fears for two missing peopleA firefighting Sikorsky S64 helicopter with two individuals onboard crashed on Friday morning in a remote area of central Utah, according to federal aviation authorities.The US Forest Service initially declined to comment on the condition of the helicopter's passengers, asking the public for patience while we focus on response efforts" in a statement. Continue reading...
Officials describe deplorable conditions' at home run by pair linked to crematory closed due to mishandled remainsThe remains of 56 people were found improperly stored and decomposing on Thursday at a Chicago funeral home run by a couple who previously operated a crematory that was similarly shut down because of mishandled remains, authorities said.Illinois state officials, meanwhile, suspended the license of one of the funeral home's directors, alleging bodies were being kept in an unrefrigerated area in deplorable conditions". Continue reading...
Officials praise unarmed employee from nearby store for engaging 24-year-old gunman who later killed himselfPolice released video on Friday of a mass shooting that killed three people at an Idaho In-N-Out Burger restaurant last weekend, and praised an unarmed employee from a nearby store who engaged the gunman outdoors, slowing him down and possibly preventing more deaths as authorities were catching up.The video released by the police also showed at least three people confronted the gunman with their own weapons during the incident. Continue reading...
Will Rosenzweig's defunct blog was publicized online by conservative pundit who tagged senior DoJ officialsA federal prosecutor fired last year over critical comments he had written as a private citizen about Donald Trump sued the justice department on Friday, saying his termination violated his first amendment rights.Will Rosenzweig was two weeks away from trying a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case when a blog he had written years earlier covering a broad range of topics was publicized online by a conservative political commentator who also included a screenshot of Rosenzweig's LinkedIn account and tagged senior justice department officials for their awareness. Continue reading...
Chad Eberle of Texas charged over deadly shooting in Saltillo that officials say stemmed from custody disputeA Texas police officer has been arrested in Mexico after authorities there accused him of killing three people and critically injuring the mother of his child in what investigators say stemmed from a dispute over the custody of the minor.The Coahuila attorney general's office said 35-year-old Chad Eberle was arrested on Wednesday at the border on a warrant accusing him of femicide and qualified homicide, according to La Razon de Mexico, a newspaper based in Mexico City. Under Mexican law, femicide refers to the intentional killing of a woman or girl because of her gender. Continue reading...
Late senator spent final days of his life working to advance bill that will now head to the House after 86-11 Senate voteBy a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator's work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats. Continue reading...
Police arrested Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, in connection with the Gann fire, which has burned more than 15 sq miles in Calaveras countyAt least one person has died in a wildfire burning in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range that officials believed was sparked by a man using a chainsaw.Police arrested Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, in connection with the Gann fire, which has destroyed seven buildings, scorched more than 15 sq miles in Calaveras county and killed a well-known dog breeder in the town of Angels Camp. Continue reading...
White House continues to target Cook despite decision from justices that upheld Federal Reserve's independenceDonald Trump is attempting once again to oust the US Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, despite a recent US supreme court decision that upheld the central bank's independence.Cook reportedly received a letter from the White House this week that provided notice, in accordance to the supreme court's June ruling, that Trump was considering removing" her from her Fed position over the same claims of mortgage fraud that he levied against her last summer. Continue reading...
Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi pleads guilty to killing Rebecca Marodi, decorated fire captain who fought Eaton blazeA California woman this week admitted to killing her wife, a decorated fire captain who fought the deadly 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, by stabbing her - the same fate she previously delivered to her husband and had served a decade in prison for.Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to second-degree murder after killing her wife, Rebecca Becky" Marodi, 49, a California fire captain, at their home in February 2025, just a month after Becky, as she was known, battled the Eaton blaze that killed 19. Continue reading...
Wildfires in the US and Europe, Russian strikes in Kyiv, beekeepers in Gaza and the European Aquatics Championships - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...
Judge finds probable cause to believe the MyPillow founder violated campaign law by handing out free pillows at eventAn administrative law judge in Minnesota has found probable cause to believe Mike Lindell, candidate for Minnesota governor and the MyPillow founder, violated campaign finance law by handing out free pillows at a public event last month.In a four-page ruling issued on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Lienesch found that a complaint against Lindell had enough to move on to an evidentiary hearing in front of a three-judge administrative panel. Continue reading...
Much-delayed devices to be deployed by end of month after immigration agents involved in deaths or serious injuriesOfficers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be equipped with much-delayed body cameras by the end of next month, it was reported on Friday. But experts have questioned the transparency of a policy that allows the ICE director to restrict the public release of footage unless it is in the best interests of the agency".Pressure has mounted on the Trump administration to provide body cameras after people caught up in encounters with federal immigration personnel suffered death or serious injuries. Continue reading...
The AFL could borrow some of the gumption from a North American ice hockey league to grow Australian rules football's elite women's competitionIn Australia, it is called the Matildas effect. Elsewhere, it has increasingly become known by a different name: business as usual.The Professional Women's Hockey League is one of several North American competitions making a habit of not only attracting spectacular women's sports crowds, but doing so at a domestic level. Just three years into its existence, the ice hockey league is doing a mighty fine job of it too, with last season's attendance up 71% on their inaugural campaign. Continue reading...
Robyn Cory says daughter Kristen was not protected, amid questions about why it took six years to identify remainsThe family of Kristen Galvan, a 15-year-old Houston girl who was sex trafficked and murdered, says law enforcement failed her twice by not protecting her after she gave forensic interviews about her traffickers, and later by taking more than six years to identify her remains.The Texas attorney general's office announced on 28 July that Kristen's remains had been positively identified using advanced DNA testing conducted over the past year. Parts of her skull, clothing and an earring were found beneath a bridge beside a jogging trail in Missouri City, about 10 miles outside Houston. Continue reading...
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