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Under the new classification, Schedule G, federal employees will be subject to hiring and firing by the presidentTrump signed an executive order on Thursday creating a new classification of federal employees who would be subject to hiring and firing by the president, Schedule G, for employees working on policy, in the latest action by his administration to reshape the federal workforce.The non-career classified employees will be expected to leave in changing presidential administrations, with the order claiming it will improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles". Continue reading...

Proposal heads to president's desk to be signed after party-line vote was delayed by Jeffrey Epstein controversyHouse Republicans passed Donald Trump's funding cut proposal just after midnight on Friday - clawing back $9bn in federal dollars.The vote was split on party lines, 216-213, with two Republicans, Mike Turner of Ohio and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, opposing the package alongside all Democrats. The proposal will now go to the president's desk to be signed and codified. Continue reading...

The president has long exploited useful fictions embraced by his supporters. Now he's trying to change the narrativeDonald Trump's followers, and the conspiracist influencers turned-government officials through whom he persuades them, have turned on the president and US attorney general after they declared an end to federal inquiries into Jeffrey Epstein's death. But it would be a mistake to think that the investigation scandal is sui generis. It's more like the culmination of a long-running trend, one in which Trump's exploitation of the conspiracist fictions, distrust of institutions, and prurient fascinations of his base have finally come back to bite him.A pedophile ring at the center of power is a recurring theme in rightwing conspiracy theories of the Trump era. During the 2016 presidential election, supporters of Trump, then an outsider challenger for the Republican nomination, began to spread dark claims about his rival for the presidency, Hillary Clinton. Online, far-right trolls and members of the population now called low trust voters"- people who believe that something nefarious and conspiratorial is going on in the halls of American power, even if they don't know exactly what - speculated that Clinton was at the head of a massive human trafficking and pedophilic abuse ring based inside Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington DC. There was no secret ring. But that didn't stop a disturbed man from showing up with a gun.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

A 2018 county meeting foretold the Texas flood that overwhelmed the summer camp for girlsInvestigators of the catastrophic Hill Country flooding in Texas may never be able to pinpoint a precise moment that sealed the fate of 27 young girls, teenage counselors and staff who perished after a wall of water surged through Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River.But perhaps no bigger clue can be found than the account of an otherwise unremarkable and sparsely attended meeting of Kerr county commissioners in March 2018. Continue reading...

Officials believe Raymond Boodarian was burglarizing home when Robin Kaye and Thomas Deluca returnedA 22-year-old man suspected in the shooting deaths of a longtime music supervisor for American Idol and her husband at their home in Los Angeles was charged with two counts of murder Thursday.Police said officers conducting a welfare check Monday at a gated house in the Encino neighborhood found the bodies of Robin Kaye and Thomas Deluca, both 70. The victims both had gunshot wounds, investigators determined. Continue reading...

Trump reportedly contributed sketch of naked woman to sex offender's birthday album. Plus, Medicaid hands over Americans' personal data to immigration authorities

Islamophobic attacks on Zohran Mamdani are a reminder of the difference between individual and structural prejudiceMy only interaction with the FBI came soon after 11 September 2001. A man and woman visited my family's home in Philadelphia - we had recently moved from Palestine - showed their credentials and asked to enter. My parents invited them in and a conversation about political views followed. They left soon afterwards but I knew we were suspect, and I understood why.At the time, I was in high school. Two or three years later, one of my sisters, who wore the hijab then, was confronted by an elderly white man at a department store. What's the significance of the trash you're wearing on your head?" he asked.Ahmed Moor is a writer and fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace Continue reading...

Egyptian-born Ayman Soliman was detained while attending a regular check-in with immigration officersA week after the detention of their imam, Egyptian-born Ayman Soliman, worshippers at the Clifton mosque in Cincinnati, Ohio, are still in shock.Soliman was detained on 9 July while attending a regular check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, weeks after being told that his asylum status had been terminated, a provision that he had held for more than seven years. Continue reading...

As Trump tries to claim he was not a fan' of Epstein, photos, videos and anecdotes paint a picture of a their relationshipIt was a friendship that spanned three different decades. To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrific guy". Epstein believed himself to be Trump's closest friend", and praised the future president as charming".The relationship would eventually break down, the men falling out over a bidding war on a property in Florida. And after Epstein was convicted of child sex offences in 2008, Trump distanced himself from the financier, claiming he was not a fan" and wondering, in recent days, why his supporters would waste time and energy" on demanding that FBI and Department of Justice files on Epstein be released. Continue reading...

It's the bonfire of the Maga hats. The real mystery is where their wearers got the idea of a paedophile conspiracy from in the first placeYou have to feel for Donald Trump's Maga base. The one huge secret they didn't want disclosed was that he actually really hates them. All populists despise their people, obviously - but please, Mr President, respect the playbook! You're supposed to do it quietly. Regrettably, no one could accuse Trump of hiding his spite under a bushel after a week in which he described those of his supporters who want him to simply do what he repeatedly promised, and release the so-called Epstein files, as weaklings" and stupid people". This is quite the (public) volte face from the guy who originally swept to office declaring I love the poorly educated".Most of you are unlikely to need a recap at this stage, but Jeffrey Epstein is the sex-trafficking financier and socialite, who conveniently died in jail while awaiting trial, apparently by suicide. A woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of conspiring with him to sexually abuse minors, and is currently serving 20 years in a low-security Florida prison. But no big-hitting or even small-hitting male associate in the US has so much as been arrested for participating in what I believe the dead paedophile would have encouraged us to call his lifestyle". This second Trump administration didn't just sweep to power while repeatedly screaming about the cover-up" of this story, but it spent a good portion of its early months assuring its ravenous base that Epstein's supposed client list" was on a desk waiting for release approval. Yet now, Trump and his associates say there is no list. Nope. Never even was a list. Where did these weakling idiots get that idea? To summarise his administration's position: We took a look at the deep state and it turns out to be very shallow. Seriously, I'm standing in it right now and it doesn't even come up to my knees."Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Accusers in rolling Epstein files' revelations could do worse than take a lesson from departing parish priestRightwing American conspiracy theories often circle the drain of lurid abuse stories. So it was quite a twist this week to see the chickens of this particular rancid online conspiracy culture come home to roost in the form of Maga faithfuls turning on Donald Trump for what the US president now refers to as the Jeffrey Epstein hoax". Continue reading...

Internet transfixed by canoodling couple who, instead of waving, look horrified and quickly break apartIt is a moment of shock and mortification in Massachusetts that has transfixed the internet.A camera at a Coldplay concert near Boston sweeps the audience and picks out a canoodling couple. Continue reading...

The 18-year-old No 1 draft pick struggled to shoot in his first Summer League game. But his poise, defense and winning mentality confirmed his billing as a generational talentI would say that might be one of the worst games of my life," Cooper Flagg told reporters last Thursday night. But we got the win, so that's what really matters to me." It was a telling statement from the 18-year-old basketball phenom after his first Las Vegas Summer League game. The No 1 overall pick in this year's NBA draft - taken by the Dallas Mavericks after a one-and-done college career at Duke - didn't have nearly as disastrous a debut as he made out. Though he struggled to shoot the ball, Flagg still managed to flash his playmaking and defensive range. Clearly hyperaware to the moment and the hype surrounding his technical NBA debut, he looked determined to put on a show: aggressively hunting his shot and seeking out highlight-reel dunks at every opportunity.He bounced back with 31 points in his second (and ultimately final) Summer League appearance on Saturday. But it was the second-half of his comment after Thursday night's game that encapsulates why Flagg is one of the most hyped teenage prospects in decades: the kid is a winner. Continue reading...

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Along with Democrats, only two House Republicans voted against the cutThe US's Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed president Donald Trump's $9bn funding cut to public media and foreign aid early on Friday, sending it to the White House to be signed into law.The chamber voted 216 to 213 in favor of the funding cut package, altered by the Senate this week to exclude cuts of about $400m in funds for the global PEPFAR HIV/Aids prevention program. Continue reading...

The millennial comedy Bref was a valuable introduction to life in France. More than a decade on, the show is back - and I've learned my own lessonsWhen I was little I imagined, as most children probably do, that the grownups had things all worked out and someday I would find myself on the other side of a clear boundary. Adolescence on one side; maturity, responsibility, self-assuredness, composition on the other.A few weeks ago I turned 35. As the day ticked closer, I found that old childhood suspicion creeping in again; if any birthday should serve as a demarcator of that boundary, it should be this one, shouldn't it? And now, as the days tick further from that imagined inflection point, it has become a reinforcement of probably the single biggest lesson I have taken away from adulthood": that most of us are simply winging it most of the time, through a process of becoming that never quite reaches become.Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Trump said the letter the Wall Street Journal alleged he wrote to Epstein was a fake' and that he plans to sue the publication owned by Rupert Murdoch - key US politics stories from 17 July 2025Growing pressure on the Trump administration has prompted the US president to direct his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking case.The announcement came as Trump seeks to tamp down controversy over a story published in the Wall Street Journal that alleges the US president contributed a sketch of a naked woman to Epstein's 50th birthday album. The president has said the letter is a fake, and that he will sue the publication over the story. Continue reading...

Rallies at more than 1,500 sites nationwide as people protest against Trump administrationPeople across all 50 US states on Thursday are joining marches and rallies at more than 1,500 sites to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.The Good Trouble Lives On" day of action coincides with the fifth anniversary of Lewis's death. Lewis was a longtime congressman from Georgia who participated in iconic civil rights actions, including the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 when police attacked Lewis and other protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Continue reading...

President directs Pam Bondi to seek release of testimony from sex-trafficking case and threatens to sue Wall Street JournalDonald Trump said on Thursday he had directed his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking case as he sought to tamp down controversy over a story that he allegedly contributed a sketch of a naked woman to Epstein's 50th birthday album.The president said on Truth Social he had authorized the justice department to seek the public release of the materials, which are under seal, citing the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein". Continue reading...

A spokesperson for the southern African nation says UN will repatriate five men to their home countries, but agency says it has not been contactedFive migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration's third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says.Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, declined to identify the correctional facility or facilities where the five men are held, citing security concerns. She told the Associated Press that Eswatini planned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency. Continue reading...

If our leaders allow this massacre to pass without consequence or condemnation, it will reveal a disturbing truth about what the world is willing to accept

Ruling is a win for Republicans, who anticipate losing US House seats in next year's midterm electionsThe Florida supreme court rejected a challenge to the state's congressional map on Thursday, a decision that weakens the influence of Black voters in the state and could make it easier to draw gerrymandered maps in the future.The years-long legal dispute centered on Florida governor Ron DeSantis's decision to get rid of a winding district in northern Florida where Black voters made up nearly half of the eligible voter population and had repeatedly elected Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, to Congress. When the Florida legislature redrew the map in 2021, DeSantis went out of his way to chop up the district into four different ones in which white people comprised a majority. DeSantis said at the time that the district, which stretched more than 200 miles from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, had impermissibly sorted voters based on their race. Continue reading...

Governor condemns Texas effort to redraw maps to pick up more seats and says Democrats should respond in kindSeeking to offset a Republican plan to pick up congressional seats in Texas, California Democrats say they are prepared to redraw the state's 52 congressional districts in a longshot and controversial effort to pick up Democratic seats.Governor Gavin Newsom, seen as a likely presidential candidate in 2028, has been leading the threat in recent days. And Democratic members of California's delegation in the US House appear to be on board. Continue reading...

CVI is common among older adults, but requires a thorough checkup to rule out more serious causes of leg swellingDonald Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, the White House said on Thursday, after he noticed swelling in his legs.The White House released a memo from the president's physician, Sean Barbabella, who said a medical exam revealed no evidence of a more serious condition like deep vein thrombosis. Continue reading...

Doug Burgum, interior secretary, and Pam Bondi, attorney general, visit island as Nancy Pelosi calls idea lunacy'A delegation of US officials toured Alcatraz on Thursday as part of Donald Trump's pledge to reopen the shuttered federal prison and tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay, amid an outcry from California leaders who have called the plan lunacy".Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, who visited the island prison with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said the federal government was beginning the work to renovate and reopen the site to house the most dangerous criminals and illegals". Continue reading...

Matt Fitzpatrick is joint-top of the leaderboard after the first round, with Rory McIlroy within touching distancePadraig Harrington bogeys the par-three 3rd as well. Two putts from 42 feet far from a gimme ... and he doesn't make them. His place at the top is taken by Jacob Skov Olesen: the 26-year-old Dane, making his professional debut at the Open - he finished in a tie for 60th at Troon as an amateur - tramlines a 40-foot putt on 1. Had that not hit the cup, it was halfway to Giant's Causeway. A sizzling Danish start to the Open.-1: Hojgaard (3), Olesen (1)

Officials let Ice access health data to locate migrants, alarming experts who warn of civil rights and health risksMedicaid officials have reportedly made an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to allow agents to examine a database of Americans' personal information - including home addresses, social security numbers and ethnicities.The data sharing agreement will allow Ice to find the location of aliens", according to an agreement obtained by the Associated Press. Medicaid is the nation's single largest health insurer, providing coverage for 79 million low-income, disabled and elderly people. Continue reading...

Comey was terminated this week via a letter from a justice department official citing Trump's constitutional powersFor Maurene Comey, abruptly fired as a US federal prosecutor without explanation, it may feel like a case of like father, like daughter.Comey was terminated suddenly this week via a letter from a justice department official citing the president's powers under article two of the US constitution. Continue reading...

Morgan Geyser, who pleaded guilty to 2014 attack when she was 12 years old, granted conditional releaseA 22-year-old woman who stabbed a classmate a decade ago believing that the act would earn her the right to be servant of Slender Man, a fictional supernatural character, is set to be released from a Wisconsin psychiatric hospital.Waukesha county circuit Judge Scott Wagner agreed on Thursday to the conditional release of Morgan Geyser from Winnebago mental health institute, a psychiatric hospital where she has spent the last seven years. Continue reading...

Missing pair left notes weighed down by rocks saying they were stranded up the road with no phone serviceA mother and her nine-year-old-son who got lost in a remote California forest while on their way to a Boy Scouts camp were rescued after a search crew found notes the pair had left behind.The notes weighed down by rocks with HELP" written at the top said they were stranded up the road with no phone service. Continue reading...

Department of Justice says no prison needed for ex-officer convicted of violating Taylor's civil rights in fatal 2023 raidThe US Department of Justice is recommending a one-day jail sentence and supervised release for the former police officer convicted of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her bedroom by Louisville, Kentucky, police in March 2020.Brett Hankison is set to be sentenced on Monday after being found guilty in November 2024 of one count of civil rights abuse for shooting into Taylor's bedroom window, which was covered by blinds and a blackout curtain, during a narcotics raid on the wrong home. Continue reading...

Republicans refuse to call whistleblower who says Bove advocated ignoring court orders to Senate judiciary panelRepublican senators on Thursday advanced through the judiciary committee Emil Bove's nomination to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court, after Democrats walked out of the session in protest of the GOP's refusal to call a whistleblower who alleged the nominee advocated for ignoring court orders.Donald Trump nominated Bove, his defense attorney who he appointed as a top justice department official in the early weeks of his new administration, for a seat on the third circuit court of appeals overseeing New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the US Virgin Islands. Bove's advancement through the judiciary committee clears the way for his confirmation to be voted on by the full Senate. Continue reading...

There was no specific reason given for her termination from the US attorney's office in the southern district of New YorkThe justice department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a prosecutor in the federal cases against Sean Diddy" Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter.Her termination comes shortly after she prosecuted Combs, who was acquitted of sex-trafficking and racketeering charges. The rapper was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses. Comey also prosecuted Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges. Continue reading...

Coca-Cola offers no confirmation of recipe change, saying corn syrup is safe and widely used in US drinksThe Coca-Cola company has defended its use of corn syrup after Donald Trump's claim Wednesday that he had apparently convinced the brand to switch to using sugar cane in its US drinks, as it does in Mexico and the UK.I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I'd like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola," Trump said in a social media post late Tuesday. Continue reading...

The president is pushing for cuts in spending that Congress needs to approve to take effect - but what exactly are they?Congressional Republicans are pushing for passage of a rescissions package, legislation requested by Donald Trump that will claw back $9bn in funding intended for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.The bill, which is part of the president's campaign to slash government spending, has passed the Senate by a narrow margin of 51 votes to 48. Continue reading...

The rate of voluntary sterilization among young women jumped abruptly after Dobbs, and there's no reason to believe it will drop offDobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, the US supreme court case that rescinded the constitutional right to abortion, is failing on its own terms. Since the ruling, in June 2022, the number of abortions in the US has risen. Support for reproductive rights is on the upswing. And the rate of voluntary sterilization among young women - a repudiation of Trumpian pronatalism, if a desperate one - jumped abruptly after Dobbs, and there's no reason to believe it will drop off.Also rising at an alarming clip are preventable maternal deaths and criminal prosecutions of pregnant people. Continue reading...

The move would likely weaken influence of the state's fast-growing non-white population and backfire on the GOPAt the behest of Donald Trump, Texas Republicans are poised to redraw their state's congressional map to try and gain as many as five congressional seats, a move that is likely to further weaken the influence of the state's fast-growing non-white population and could wind up backfiring on the party.The effort to redraw the map represents a blunt and undemocratic effort by Republican lawmakers to pick the voters who elect them, and comes at a time when many of the party's positions are unpopular. The US president and national Republicans are making the push because the GOP holds a 220-212 advantage in the US House (there are three Democratic vacancies) and Trump's party typically loses seats in the midterm elections, which will happen next year. Continue reading...

As the anti-Trump resistance has grown, so has talk of 3.5%, a figure which stems from research on previous movementsThe number is frequently cited in leftwing circles, serving as a rallying cry for people who oppose Donald Trump: if 3.5% of a population protests against a regime, the regime will fail.Left-leaning content creators, activists and media have boosted the 3.5% rule as the anti-Trump resistance has grown. A Pod Save America episode in June was headlined The 3.5% Protest Rule That Could Bring Down Trump. Social media posts from protest groups broke down the rule and its limitations. Continue reading...

President battles rare backlash from supporters, many of whom say he is hiding vital information. Plus, a climate expert calls for AI and crypto tax Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Donald Trump has turned on his Maga base, blasting his supporters as gullible weaklings" for believing the government is holding out on crucial information about the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.What are his supporters upset about? A key sticking point has been the government's announcement that Epstein did not keep records of a client list". It's particularly contentious because the attorney general, Pam Bondi, had previously said such a list was sitting on my desk right now to review", though she later claimed she was referring to other documents.How were the findings verified? Using open-source information and through analysis by weapons experts. Continue reading...

It seems paradoxical to look to Trump to save Palestinians, yet no recent US president has been better placed to stop IsraelIt seems paradoxical to look to Donald Trump to save the Palestinians, yet no recent American president has been better placed to insist that the Israeli government stop its extraordinary repression and brutality. Trump so far has largely given Israel carte blanche to continue its genocide in Gaza, but Benjamin Netanyahu would be remiss to count on the fickle and self-serving American president. And there may be a way to turn Trump around.Most US presidents have stuck with the Israeli government regardless of its atrocities because the political fallout of deviating was too high. Any pressure on Israel would be sure to trigger outrage from Christian evangelicals (Israel's largest group of supporters in the US) and the conservative segment of American Jews represented by the lobbying group Aipac. Continue reading...

Members vote 51 to 48 in favour of president's request to slash $9bn in spending already approved by CongressThe US Senate has approved Donald Trump's plan for billions of dollars in cuts to funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing the Republican president another victory as he exerts control over Congress with little opposition.The Senate voted 51 to 48 in favour of Trump's request to cut $9bn in spending already approved by Congress. Continue reading...

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President faces Maga backlash over claims of hiding details of Epstein's crimes to protect rich elite - including Trump

Musk says Trump should release files and point out which part is the hoax' as the president struggles to contain crisis within Maga base. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 16 July at a glanceElon Musk has mocked Donald Trump's claim that files related to the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein are a hoax".Wow, amazing that Epstein killed himself' and Ghislaine is in federal prison for a hoax," Musk wrote on his social media platform X in response to the US president's attempt to deflect questions about Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, by casting doubt on the authenticity of the documents his justice department has refused to release. Continue reading...