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Politicians and advocates say dismissals are deeply concerning and part of president's relentless efforts to interfere with elections'

All the latest news as the quarter-finals continue

It comes from his willingness to violate all norms, rules and laws - and leaving everyone else to pick up the piecesAt the Nato summit just ended, Trump lashed out at other Nato members, saying he was very disappointed with Nato" and asking: Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they're not there for us?" He reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, blasted European energy and immigration policies, insulted Spain, and worried allies by declaring that the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow doesn't affect us."Yet throughout the proceedings, Trump was treated by other Nato powers with as much courtesy and respect as any US president has ever received from Nato - perhaps more. It was a great meeting, there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity," Trump said when it was over.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK Continue reading...

Rule from Mamdani administration would target streaming services, gym memberships and other recurring chargesNew York City is trying to implement a new rule that would ban companies from using deceptive subscriptions to trap customers into paying for gym memberships, streaming services and other recurring charges, the city's consumer protection office said.The new rule, which would start 1 October, promises hefty fines and aggressive enforcement for violators. Companies that do not provide a simple way to cancel could pay $525 per user subscription, back fees and additional fines. Continue reading...

As the US president swung between threats to take Greenland and promises of help for Ukraine, pledges of a stronger Nato' were lost in the windNato leaders survived another nerve-racking summit with Donald Trump and the 77-year-old defence alliance lives to fight another day, proving its durability against Atlantic storms. But it will never feel safe as long as the unpredictable, vengeful and ruthlessly transactional US president is in the White House.As usual, Trump stole all the headlines at the annual summit, with a mixture of Nato-bashing and implausible threats to take control of Greenland and cut trade with Spain. He declared the ceasefire with Iran dead and called Iranian leaders scum" as US warplanes bombed Iranian targets along the strait of Hormuz. Pitted against such irresistible clickbait, no Nato communique stood a chance of public attention. Continue reading...

The populist Democrat nominee for Senate in Maine bowed to the inevitable but turned his farewell into a pity partyAlways give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."These were the parting words of Richard Nixon after he was forced to resign the presidency over the Watergate imbroglio in 1974. For Graham Platner on Wednesday, the stakes were somewhat smaller. But when it came to suspending his Senate campaign in Maine, the Democrat had plenty of hate to go around. Continue reading...

Democrats need a candidate who can speak to working-class, inland and rural Mainers. A logger from the North Woods seems like the obvious choiceMaine's US Senate race was blown wide open by Graham Platner dropping out of the race. Thankfully, a suitable populist is at hand to fill the breach. His name is Troy Jackson.Jackson was born to a 16-year-old mother in the northern Maine town of Fort Kent. He is a fifth-generation logger, union member and former state legislator. As a teenager himself, he went to work in the woods, and by 1998 he led a union logging blockade to prevent Canadian scabs from working Maine jobs.Dustin Guastella is a research associate at the Center for Working Class Politics and the director of operations for Teamsters Local 623. He is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Agents seeking different person when they killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Mexican who had lived in US for 35 yearsLorenzo Salgado Araujo, a man killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Houston this week, was not the intended target of the enforcement operation", the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly seeking two people from Guatemala when they attempted to stop Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States for 35 years, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...

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Bipartisan Election Assistance Commission maintains mail-voter registration form, among other dutiesDonald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from the White House presidential personnel office. Continue reading...

Testimony from Lance Twiggs heard in court on fourth day of hearing to determine whether case can proceed to trialTyler Robinson, the 23-year-old charged with murdering the far-right pundit Charlie Kirk, told his roommate a day after the fatal shooting that he wished he hadn't done it", according to testimony heard on Thursday in court.On the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether the case against Robinson has probable cause to proceed to trial, the state presented video of a prosecutor interviewing Lance Twiggs, Robinson's then roommate, with whom he was romantically involved. Continue reading...

NCPC gives preliminary approval to plan for skyline-altering arch despite overwhelming public oppositionDonald Trump's plans to build a skyline-altering arch in the nation's capital won initial approval Thursday from a key federal commission, but its members put off a decision on whether a federal law that limits building heights should be applied to this project.Despite overwhelming public opposition, the National Capital Planning Commission voted to approve preliminary site and building plans for the 250ft (76m) arch the Republican president wants to build on a traffic circle at the Virginia end of the Memorial Bridge from Washington. Continue reading...

Group accused of planning sniper and drone attack on Donald Trump's UFC cage-fighting show in JuneEight men were indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges Thursday for their alleged roles in a thwarted drone and sniper attack on the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the White House in June.The indictment, returned in Ohio, charges all eight in two separate conspiracies, one to provide material support to terrorists and a second to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official. Continue reading...

Trailblazing pilot was denied opportunity to become Nasa astronaut but made history on Blue Origin flight in 2021Wally Funk, a trailblazing aviation pioneer who was denied the opportunity to become a Nasa astronaut and half a century later became the oldest woman to travel into space, has died aged 87.Funk died peacefully on Wednesday evening at her apartment in an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas, city councilwoman and close friend Duff O'Dell said on Thursday. O'Dell, who described herself as Funk's caregiver, said she was by Funk's side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg. It took its toll," O'Dell told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Models show overwhelming chance that this year's El Nino to rank among largest going back to 1950El Nino is strengthening and the risks of a historic event with the power to supercharge extreme weather around the world are rising, according to the latest analysis from the US National Weather Service.Models show there is now an 81% chance that a very strong El Nino that would rank among the largest El Nino events in the historical record going back to 1950" will develop before the end of this year, forecasters said in an advisory released Thursday. There is almost near certainty - a 97% probability - that the conditions will persist through spring 2027. Continue reading...

Democrats have until 27 July to pick a new candidate to face Susan Collins in November - here are the options so farA month after he won Maine's Democratic primary, Graham Platner, the oyster farmer turned insurgent candidate, has suspended his campaign after being accused by a former girlfriend of severely sexually assaulting her in 2021 - an allegation he denies as categorically untrue".Now that Platner has said he will file paperwork to withdraw from the race, Maine Democrats have until 27 July to select a replacement to face Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, in a race widely seen as pivotal to control of the Senate. The state party said on Wednesday it would hold a nominating convention to pick a new candidate. Continue reading...

Bipartisan group warns HHS that older adults and people with disabilities risk being pressured to end their livesLawmakers urged the health and human services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, on Thursday to establish strict hospice reporting rules to prevent discrimination and coercion in medically assisted suicide.The bipartisan group of members of Congress warned that older adults, people with disabilities, or those with disaffected caregivers face a particular risk of being pressured to end their lives. Continue reading...

England's Jarell Quansah was banned for two games after his red card against Mexico while political jousting continued off the pitchOur very own Jonny Weeks has been doing clever things with photos from across the World Cup.Check them out! Continue reading...

It's a first all-Czech Wimbledon women's final after Karolina Muchova saved a match point in a dramatic final-set tie-break and Linda Noskova was nerveless against Marta KostyukGauff does hold a 6-1 lead in their head-to-head, by the way, but I'm not sure we can read too much into that, as none of those matches were on grass. Gauff, arguably the best competitor in the women's game, has made an art out of winning ugly" - the phrase made famous by her former coach Brad Gilbert - and has consistently found a way to come through three-setters during this tournament even when she's not been at her best. She may well need all that fight to combat Muchova's mix of power and touch - which is so dangerous on grass - especially if Gauff's serve and forehand wobble, as they sometimes do. Gauff's backhand, though, is brilliant. Will temperament + backhand or power + hands prevail? It's going to be so fun finding out.And here they come to a big cheer from the crowd, not that it's quite as warm as the red-hot weather, with the current temp around 33C, and not that Gauff can properly hear it either, because she's got her headphones - and game face - on. Continue reading...

Reform UK presents itself as the people's voice while opaque digital wealth flows around it. That makes transparency a democratic necessityTwice now, the Guardian's questions about Reform UK's finances appear to have been pre-empted by stories friendly to the party. This paper revealed in April that Nigel Farage received 5m from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne - but an interview with Reform UK's leader, claiming he needed the cash for security", was published hours earlier in the Telegraph. Then, Richard Tice's suggestion that the National Crime Agency (NCA) had leaked the MP's bank statements landed on the Telegraph site on Tuesday, just before the Guardian said bankers had reported the 5m donation to law enforcement over money-laundering concerns.A party serious about probity would have no issue answering questions about such cash. Instead, Reform uses a pliant media outlet to frame scrutiny as persecution. In Mr Farage's world, the questions become the scandal, not the large undisclosed sums. That is a warning about how an authoritarian nationalist party that aspires to govern treats accountability: not as a democratic obligation, but as an attack.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...

As in the Gareth Southgate era, a diverse and passionately committed national team is offering a counter-narrative to the forces of social divisionThe identity of the worst performers at the men's WorldCup has come as no surprise. In the lead-up tothetournament, the world had seen more than enough of Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino in action to fear the worst once the games actually began. MrTrump's lobbying of Fifa to lift a one-match ban on the United States' star striker confirmed that his bullying will-to-power extends to spheres that he neither cares about nor understands. Mr Infantino's craven willingness to accommodate it has been an affront to sporting integrity.From prohibitive ticket prices to the introduction of advertiser-friendly hydration breaks - conveniently replicating the lucrative four-quarter format common in US sports - there have been plenty of other reasons to question Fifa's overly commercialised stewardship of the beautiful game. But the World Cup still delivers a unique spectacle, as anyone who marvelled at the heroic exploits of Cape Verde, or witnessed Scottish fans' goodhumoured invasion of Boston, can testify.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...

Platner's former backers are seeking real progressive' to prevent nomination going to establishment Democrat

Donald Trump's erratic behaviour at the Nato summit in Turkey left his allies guessing. One moment he was criticising fellow leaders over their contribution to defence spending, the next he was praising the alliance's unity.From Ankara, the Guardian's defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, explains how Nato emerged from the chaos Continue reading...

A 2021 state law allows campus police to own military equipment for civilian safety - students fear it may be used to quash dissentFor many public colleges and universities in California, keeping their campuses safe includes owning military-grade weaponry: AR-15s, stun grenades designed to cause temporary blindness and sonic weapons that resonate so loudly they are known in the armed forces as the voice of God.According to California state law, campus police can only own military equipment if the college believes there is no other way to uphold civilian safety. Continue reading...

AI companies want to capture the value created by entire industries. That concentration of wealth and power is society's greatest riskOpposition to AI datacenters has emerged as a primary theme in US politics, one that - surprisingly - doesn't fall along party lines. We applaud people coming together for constructive debate on any issue, and agree that communities need to evaluate whether any economic benefits these datacenters bring is worth their costs. Still, we worry that a focus on datacenters obscures the larger impacts of AI on people's lives: the concentration of power of AI companies, and their widespread political and financial influence.Local datacenter opposition is grounded in legitimate concerns about misallocation of land resources when housing is at a premium, pressures on already higher energy prices, and localized environmental impact. Unlike other resource-consuming and polluting industrial facilities, datacenters produce very few jobs. The fact that US opposition to datacenters seems to be most fierce among lower-income communities reflects righteous indignation with an inequitable bargain, where tech companies and developers profit from exploiting local resources but offer little in return. On a global scale, their carbon footprint could grow unsustainably if usage accelerates. And all this is in aid of a technology that many fear will propagate misinformation, take their jobs, or even cause existential risks for humanity. Continue reading...

David Hearn is accused of destroying American flag blue' lining material on the bottom of the reflecting poolDavid Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to damaging Washington's reflecting pool after a $14.7m renovation project.Hearn, a three-time US Olympian, was indicted last week on a single felony count of property destruction. He appeared in local superior court in Washington DC to enter the plea after he was criminally charged over the incident in mid-June. Continue reading...

Officials say climate crisis worsening our exposure' to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in ManhattanA New York outbreak of legionnaires' disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe's growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria. Continue reading...

Chris Mufarrige has taken aim at Facebook scams and junk fees, but consumer advocates say he has an uphill climbAs the director of the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection bureau, Chris Mufarrige is the top enforcer protecting Americans against predatory companies.He's got an uphill climb, consumer advocates say. Continue reading...

City seeking bids to build and operate separate terminal, following Los Angeles, London and other citiesSick of the TSA lines? Tired of playing musical chairs at the gate? Rather sit as far from your fellow airplane passengers for as long as possible, in the comfort of your own private, luxury airport terminal?Soon you may get your wish. And San Francisco international airport wants to be your genie - for a fee. Continue reading...

Greenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude lie beneath territory and claims it has exploration permits - a claim flatly denied by NuukOn 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. So," Robert Price said via an interpreter, we have a project to drill for oil here."The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit. Continue reading...

US president contested judge's order to release money after Carroll's 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against himA Manhattan federal appeals court late on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's latest bid to delay the payment of more than $5m to E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him.The US court of appeals for the second circuit made its decision hours after Trump filed paperwork fighting Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan's order releasing this money - which has been held in a court-controlled account since June 2023. Trump denies all wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Explosions reported in southern Iran in most extensive exchange of fire since interim ceasefire. Plus the complicated legacy of beat poet Allen GinsbergGood morning. The US military carried out strikes on Iran for a second day, hours after President Donald Trump said an interim agreement to end the war was over". Iranian state media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas in the strait of Hormuz; in Sirik, another southern coastal city; and the south-western Bushehr province, home to Iran's nuclear-power-plant complex. US Central Command confirmed the strikes.On Tuesday, three cargo ships transiting the strait of Hormuz were attacked, leading to the most extensive exchange of fire between the two sides since the interim deal was signed last month. At the Nato summit in Ankara yesterday, Trump said: Anything that happens is going to happen very fast" and that the latest strikes would not result in long-term" military action. They are behaving very badly," Trump said, accusing Iran of launching drones and a missile at ships.What are the economic impacts of the renewed hostilities? US stock markets fell on Wednesday, and Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, jumped more than 5% to crest $80 a barrel. The International Monetary Fund lowered its global economic growth forecast to 3%, citing conflict in the Middle East. Jorge Leon, the head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, said: Tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz has essentially stopped, which tells you more about risk perception right now than any statement from Washington or Tehran."Who could replace Platner? Maine Democrats have until 27 July to select a replacement to face Susan Collins in a race widely seen as pivotal to control of the Senate. The state party said it would hold a nominating convention to pick a new candidate. Troy Jackson, Janet Mills, Valli Geiger and Shenna Bellows are among the names in the frame - with Joseph Gedeon profiling them and assessing their prospects in this piece. Continue reading...

Crude memes of the Maga luminary are exploding online - less than a year after conservatives were suppressing any slander against himTen months since his assassination, Charlie Kirk's name and likeness are still proliferating online. Just not the way the far-right activist would have wanted.Audio of the gunshot that killed him has become a TikTok meme, as have ironic reposts of the apparent AI-slop song We Are Charlie Kirk, which was originally created as a posthumous tribute. He was the butt of a crude joke during the Netflix roast of Hollywood star Kevin Hart in May. The next month, a viral tweet encouraged people to take a shot" in his honor on Juneteenth. And a trend known as Kirkification" has emerged, in which internet pranksters superimpose his face on to unlikely images, such as the Mona Lisa, a woman in a bikini, or Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Deaths and injuries up as critics condemn administration's appalling' plan to gut federal disaster management systemThe number of US chemical accidents is rising just as the Trump administration guts protections against the disasters, a new analysis of federal data by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit found.The report found the number of chemical accidents, explosions, fires and other emergencies that release chemicals into the atmosphere was up by at least 51% since 2021. Deaths and injuries were up at least 20%. Continue reading...

Illness surging in Michigan and other US states is rarely life-threatening, CDC says - but it can have severe effectsCases of cyclosporiasis - a parasitic illness that can cause explosive", watery diarrhea - have surged across the United States in recent days, health officials have said, with an abnormally large outbreak of almost 1,000 cases reported in Michigan.Michigan typically reports about 50 cases a year, making the current outbreak the largest in the state's history and one of the nation's biggest in recent years. Ohio has also reported a sharp increase, with 177 cases as of 2 July, since the CDC's last count. Continue reading...

Mauricio Pochettino's team delivered several thrilling performances on home soil. The way it ended was somewhat less exhilaratingSo now what? How are we supposed to think about this supposedly golden generation of the United States men's national team who have fallen short of expectations at this World Cup on home soil?How do we come to terms with the sense that this team beat Paraguay 4-1 in their opener - the most impressive performance in the program's history - but also lost dismally against Belgium by the same scoreline in the last 16?Leander Schaerlaeckens is the author of The Long Game: U.S. Men's Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, which is out now. He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...

With marriage rates in decline, the appeal of a big wedding that we can live vicariously is stronger than everFinally, after decades, I have something in common with Taylor Swift. It feels great to say that out loud, in public. No, I'm not famous, rich, particularly attractive, or a woman. I really, really can't sing. Like, not even my karaoke is tolerable for human ears (dogs seem to be fine with it). No, our sole point of connection in the cosmic swirl of life is that we've both been married. I can't compare this achievement to winning a Grammy or selling out Crypto.com Arena 16 times, but it has to be on the list somewhere.My wedding did not come close to the upwards of $50m floated by People Magazine as the cost of Swift's. We got the venue for free because my wife's family owned it, which is its own sort of privilege. Lena Dunham didn't attend, but I certainly sent enough invites. Still, getting someone to agree to tolerate you till death do you part" is no small feat. Did we get divorced three years later? Of course. I can't believe she dealt with me even that long. Will Taylor and Travis Kelce beat our record? Depends on how often he forgets to put the toilet seat down in one of their numerous homes across the country. That guy just seems like the sort to make that mistake regularly. Don't ask me how I came to this conclusion. I trust my own eyes.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

The loss of protections for Haitian and Syrian workers could worsen shortages of nurses, aides and home care workersThe Trump administration may remove the temporary protected status (TPS) of Haitians and Syrians in the US, the US supreme court ruled in late June - a move that will worsen America's growing caregiver shortage, experts say.The US is now experiencing its fastest increase in the aging population in more than a hundred years, and more than 20% of the US population will be 65 or older by 2030. But the population of caregivers has not grown at the same pace, leading to staffing shortages. Continue reading...

The plane that French team used after match with Paraguay flew 44 deportation-related flights this year aloneThe French men's national soccer team, whose star Kylian Mbappe is one of the world's most outspoken athletes against far-right politicians, has been using a charter airplane company that is at the heart of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.Images of the team posted on social media and flight tracking data show the French team have used Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) for at least three domestic flights between their World Cup games and base camp in Boston. That same airline charter company has operated more than half of ICE's removal flights in 2024 and 2025. Continue reading...

With the World Cup down to eight teams, our writers assesses who's left, identify the biggest remaining threats to France and make calls on who will lift the trophyLionel Messi. As he proved in thrilling style against Egypt, Argentina's No 10 still has magic in his boots even at the age of 39. While his penalty record of four from eight attempts is much worse than you'd expect, he is clinical when it matters most. EA Continue reading...

The meltdown in Maine's Senate race risks the Democrats' opportunity to turn Trump into a lame duck president.Two years ago Democrats had one job: stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. It was the only thing that mattered, but with breathtaking political malpractice, they imploded.This November Democrats have two jobs: win the House of Representatives and win the Senate to turn Trump into a lame duck president for his final two years. But once again the party, fond of warning that the stakes are existential, is in grave danger of blowing it. Continue reading...

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Democratic nominee, dogged by controversy since entering contest, says for the movement to continue, it can't be me'

Request for rehearing comes after Fox News report of Texas hospital advertising maternity services in MexicoDonald Trump said on Wednesday he would ask the US supreme court to reconsider its ruling that the 14th amendment to the US constitution guarantees birthright citizenship in light of what he described as shocking new evidence: a hospital in Texas advertising its services to expectant mothers in Mexico on a pair of billboards.Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with Deliveries starting at $4000', the president wrote on his social media platform, in what appeared to be a wild exaggeration of a Fox News report on just two billboards. Continue reading...

Frustration mounts that Maine nominee has not withdrawn over sexual assault claim as Trump says Platner in a bind'

US president unexpectedly changed plans for flight to England after using Qatari-gifted aircraft to travel to TurkeyDonald Trump flew from Turkey to England onboard the older Air Force One on Wednesday, rather than the new, Qatari-gifted aircraft he used to travel to the Nato summit in Ankara, an unexpected change in plans that prompted questions about security fears.Trump later boarded the new plane at Mildenhall air force base in the United Kingdom for the trip back to Washington. Continue reading...