The Smallville star was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday. How did she fall into the service of such a group?Allison Mack, the actor best known for her starring role in the series Smallville, presented a very different look to the woman who’d arrived at the same Brooklyn courthouse in early 2018 to be arraigned on charges she manipulated women into becoming sexual slaves within the Nxivm self-empowerment group.Back then, she was confident and smartly dressed – the picture of a successful Hollywood actor. On Wednesday, she was head bowed, her blonde hair obscuring her face, wearing a simple dress resembling a penitent’s sack-cloth. Continue reading...

An artist’s images of tiny toys and figurines dumped in the ocean highlight the wasteful ways we have to changeSocial media was made for projects like Tracey Williams’s #LegoLostatSea, which anecdotally charts the plastic that has been dumped in the ocean in the past 70 years. Williams began her mission after becoming obsessed with the container of 4.8m Lego pieces that spilled from a cargo ship 20 miles off Land’s End in 1997, and which continue to be washed up on Cornwall’s beaches every day. The fact that many of those Lego sets had a nautical theme – mini plastic octupuses and divers’ flippers are common finds – makes them a perfect metaphor for the 8m tonnes of plastic that end up in the oceans each year. At current rates, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. A special report in the journal Science last week launched a campaign for governments to commit to phase out “virgin” plastic production in the next 20 years. Even if that happens, our age will be known for centuries to come for its detritus: the Happy Meal figurines and plastic bottles and Lego snorkellers that come and go on every tide. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by media show concern and frustration after engineer warned of structural damageNew reports have detailed long debate among condo board members at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, over extensive and costly repairs the building was expected to undergo before it collapsed on 24 June.Related: Miami condo death toll rises to 24 amid plans to demolish remaining structure Continue reading...

Don’t let the length or density of Sasha Issenberg’s new book put you off – it is a must-read on the fight for true civil rightsSasha Issenberg’s tour-de-force, 900-word chronicle of “America’s quarter-century struggle over same-sex marriage” might have been even better had it been given even a few illustrations.Related: This is the Fire review: Don Lemon's audacious study of racism – and love Continue reading...

Fireworks, a Trump impersonator and undying belief in the former president at his second rally after leaving officeTheir trust in Trump remains unshaken.Supporters of Donald Trump, the former US president, gathered in their thousands at a rain-soaked rally in Florida on Saturday unmoved by criminal charges against his business. Continue reading...

The world’s biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, and an estimated 1 million species are at risk of extinctionCorporate Australia is familiar with the concept that climate change presents a financial risk to the global economy, but more recently biodiversity loss has emerged as an equally important risk.In fact, climate change and biodiversity loss are now often referred to as the “twin crises” facing the global financial system and awareness of the role the financial sector plays in this is rising swiftly. Continue reading...

Men armed with rifles and handguns claimed to be from group ‘that does not recognize our laws’, police sayAn hours-long stand-off with a group of heavily armed men that partially shut down Interstate 95 ended on Saturday with 11 suspects in custody, Massachusetts state police said.Police initially reported nine suspects were taken into custody, but two more were taken into custody in their vehicle later on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Joe Biden has warned that although America has Covid-19 'on the run' the latest variant is of particular concern among those who remain unvaccinated – as the president’s goal of 70% of US adults receiving at least one shot of vaccine by the Fourth of July holiday looks set to fall short.'I’m not concerned there’s going to be a major outbreak … another epidemic nationwide. But I am concerned lives will be lost,' he said.

Cosby becoming a free man on the same day Spears lost her latest battle to free herself from a man’s control is almost too on the noseIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune and an expensive lawyer can get away with almost anything. See as exhibit one: Bill Cosby. On Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned the disgraced actor’s sexual assault conviction on a legal technicality. Cosby had served two years of a three to ten-year sentence for a 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand; before Wednesday’s surprise reversal he had been expected to serve the maximum time after vowing he wasn’t going to show any remorse for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Continue reading...

Rally billed as Fourth of July celebration featuring fireworks and expected to draw several thousand in state Trump won in 2020

Governor announces intent to make Rolf Kaestel, who robbed a Fort Smith shop of $264 in 1981, eligible for paroleThe governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, has said he intends to commute the sentence of a man serving life in prison for robbing a taco shop in 1981 with a water pistol.Hutchinson announced he intended to make Rolf Kaestel immediately eligible for parole. There is a 30-day waiting period to receive public feedback before the governor’s decision can become final. Continue reading...

June’s numbers suggest economy is continuing to recover at steady pace – but another pattern shows people are quitting their jobsThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the US economy added 850,000 jobs last month. Hidden by this encouraging figure is the hint of an unusual trend: people are beginning to quit their jobs in extraordinary numbers.June’s numbers, in combination with last month’s figures, suggest that the economy is continuing to recover at a steady pace. The rate of unemployment was 5.9% and 9.5 million people remain unemployed. Continue reading...

Despite advances in fire-monitoring technology, volunteers remain a crucial defense amid worsening fire seasonsEvery 10 minutes, when the alarm on his phone goes off, Rory Hewitt carefully scans the horizon. Perched atop the east peak of Mt Tamalpais, one of the highest points in the San Francisco Bay Area, he watches the city towers that gleam in the distance, the fog curling and coasting above the bay, and Marin county sprawling more than 2,571ft beneath him. To the south, the ancient redwood trees of Muir Woods, a blanket of green, stretch to the sea, and to the north-west, yellowing hillsides seem to poke through the canopy, bleeding all the way into Sonoma county.Satisfied after circling a gangway and looking out in each direction, Hewitt comes back inside the small square structure built directly on to the peak where he serves as a Marin county fire lookout. For now, there were no signs of smoke amid the wispy clouds and afternoon haze. Continue reading...

Ravil Mingazov, who spent 15 years in the US prison camp, could be sent to Russia where ‘he will not be free for the rest of his life,’ experts warnA former Guantánamo detainee is facing forced repatriation from the United Arab Emirates to Russia where he faces a “substantial risk of torture” according to UN human rights experts.Ravil Mingazov is a Muslim Tartar who spent 15 years without charge in the US prison camp on Guantánamo Bay before being transferred to the UAE in January 2017. The conditions of the transfer were kept secret, but his family and legal team were given assurances that he would be freed after a few months. Those assurances were not kept. Continue reading...

There is no best kind of parenting, but if it gets you and your kids safely through the day, then that’s enoughThis week, I happened to come across a particularly fascinating Instagram post from a member of that strange and relatively new breed of people known as “mumfluencers”, and it shows the aforementioned mumfluencer, dressed ever-so-casually but with mysteriously perfect makeup, marching through a forest with three small boys. Most intriguingly, she is holding a letter board on which she has spelled out: “Into the woods we go because kids won’t remember their best day of television.”I have a lot of questions about this photo, which has gone heavily viral in the US, and the first one is this: did she carry that letter board the whole time she was in the woods? Because that surely would have become a bit tiresome. Also, are those actually her kids? That has been the public’s assumption, but I also have three small children, and let me tell you, no way would the mother of those kids have the time or inclination to put on lipstick in the morning. Also, maybe I’ve watched too many horror films of the Midsommar variety, but there is something about that photo that makes me suspect she’s taking those kids into the woods to make a human sacrifice. Aww, classic Instagram moment! Continue reading...

The former Democratic presidential hopeful discusses the importance of the voting rights fightTo Beto O’Rourke, voting rights represent the silver bullet for progress in Texas.If more of the over 7 million Texans who were eligible to vote but didn’t last election could actually make it to the ballot box, the former Democratic presidential hopeful thinks state lawmakers would soon stop going after transgender student athletes and abortion access. Continue reading...

Top Republicans in Maricopa county avoided calls from Trump and his allies, records revealNewly released records show the top Republicans in Arizona’s largest county dodged calls from Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of the 2020 election, as the then-president sought to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in key battleground states.The records from Maricopa county, first obtained by the Arizona Republic, shed light on another state where Trump, his attorneys and others mounted a behind-the-scenes pressure campaign on Republican officials overseeing elections. Days before Congress certified Biden’s win on 6 January, Trump pressed Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn Biden’s win there. Continue reading...

Two bodies recovered overnight, including the young girl, with 128 still unaccounted forThe seven-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter was found dead in the rubble of a collapsed condominium, officials said on Friday, as the official death toll in Miami rose to 22 people.Two bodies were recovered overnight, including the young girl, and two more people were found Friday during the day. Continue reading...

Lawyers claim Florida plea deal should protect socialite but tactic is unlikely to workLawyers for the disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell have asked a judge to throw out her case on sex trafficking charges, citing the recent release from prison of actor Bill Cosby.Cosby, 83, was convicted in 2018 of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, at his suburban estate in 2004. But he was released when Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned the conviction after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Pilots who were rescued off Hawaii coast reported engine trouble, FAA says in statementThe pilots of a cargo plane made a desperate and daring nighttime emergency landing on water early Friday and miraculously survived. They were plucked from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii by first responders.One of the two pilots was found clinging to the tail of the wrecked aircraft while the other was rescued clutching a floating package amid the debris scattered across the waves. Continue reading...

By the metrics of scandal, the alleged crime seems decidedly underwhelming. For now at least, the former president can exhaleOn Thursday, Manhattan prosecutors charged the Trump Organization, its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and the Trump Payroll Corp with engaging in a scheme to defraud federal, state and local tax authorities. According to the indictment, Weisselberg failed to pay taxes on $1.7m in income and benefits. The scheme purportedly dated back to 2005.Related: Trump legal troubles escalate after company charged with tax crimes – live Continue reading...

• Joe Biden hails ‘historic progress’ and credits stimulus package• Number in or seeking work still 3m below pre-pandemic peakThe US added 850,000 jobs in June, a sign that the country’s post-vaccine rebound is continuing to accelerate.The national unemployment rate remained relatively stable, rising 0.1% to 5.9% in June, probably because more people came off the sidelines to join the labor force. Continue reading...

Barronelle Stutzman fined for refusing to make arrangement for same-sex wedding because of her Christian beliefsThe US supreme court on Friday declined to hear an appeal by a florist fined by Washington state for refusing to make a flower arrangement for a same-sex wedding due to her Christian beliefs, sidestepping another major case pitting gay rights against religious liberty.Related: Trump legal troubles escalate after company charged with tax crimes – live Continue reading...

US states are using algorithms to figure out whether people are eligible for public benefits and how much care they should receive. But it isn't without its problems. For example, in Arkansas a combination of design decisions and software errors had left many people without the care they needed.So that begs the question: if government officials don't have the technical knowledge to understand these algorithms, how can they ensure the algorithms are doing what they want? Continue reading...

Joe Biden spoke of his admiration for grieving relatives at the site of last week’s deadly Miami condo collapse, as many continue to wait for news of their loved ones.'What amazed me about this group of people was their resilience, their absolute commitment and willingness to do whatever it took to find the answer. I walked away amazed by their strength,' the president said after the three-hour meeting with the relatives at the St Regis Bal Harbor hotel, about a mile from the site of the collapse

Settlement marks one of the largest sums in US history involving cases of sexual abuseThe Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization has reached an $850m agreement with attorneys representing about 60,000 victims of child sexual abuse in what could prove to be a pivotal moment in the group’s bankruptcy case.The settlement would mark one of the largest sums in US history involving cases of sexual abuse. Continue reading...

Haribo supplies are under threat. I’m already struggling to buy Um Bongo and seaweed salad. What does this tell us – except that I need to improve my diet?It started with a rabbit hutch, insanely expensive, but reportedly worth it: the only guaranteed fox-proof outdoor hutch on the market. I ordered it in January; I’d say I got an email about its progress roughly once a week. Twenty-five emails later, still no hutch, and I had started sending elaborate replies to an automated customer service entity: “It’s lucky I don’t have two rabbits, otherwise I’d need another 63 hutches by now, and when would I get those – 2027?” There were a couple of weeks when they were blaming the Suez canal, but mostly, it was “delays caused by Brexit”.Was that really true or was it like at the start of the pandemic when it was just a go-to excuse, and the dry cleaner would blame Covid for failure to remove a stain? I don’t know enough about rabbit hutch supply chains and, more importantly, I don’t want to know. I just want to exist in a world where rabbit accommodation arrives more quickly. Continue reading...

The Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg have been charged with an ‘audacious illegal payment scheme’. Plus, the 10 best popstar career changesGood morning.The Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, the former president’s long-serving chief financial officer, have been charged with a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme” of tax-related crimes. Continue reading...

Scott Rodd of Capital Public Radio explains how the governor repeatedly overstated the state’s achievementsCalifornia leaders have often touted the state’s wildfire prevention efforts, which have taken on a new urgency as fire seasons continue to set grisly records. But a new investigation, published by Capital Public Radio, found that the governor, Gavin Newsom, has dramatically overblown the state’s achievements.The report, released in June, found that Newsom repeatedly overstated how many acres of the state were treated with fuel breaks and hazardous tree removal, along with other key elements of wildfire suppression. The report also found that the state’s fire agency, Cal Fire, saw its fuel reduction efforts cut in half in 2020. Continue reading...

Warning signs are there for global economy, and central banks will be left in impossible positionIn April, I warned that today’s extremely loose monetary and fiscal policies, when combined with a number of negative supply shocks, could result in 1970s-style stagflation (high inflation alongside a recession). In fact, the risk today is even bigger than it was then.After all, debt ratios in advanced economies and most emerging markets were much lower in the 1970s, which is why stagflation has not been associated with debt crises historically. If anything, unexpected inflation in the 1970s wiped out the real value of nominal debts at fixed rates, thus reducing many advanced economies’ public-debt burdens. Continue reading...

Advocates say having computer programs decide how much help vulnerable people can get is often arbitrary – and in some cases downright cruelGoing up against an algorithm was a battle unlike any other Larkin Seiler had faced.Because of his cerebral palsy, the 40-year-old, who works at an environmental engineering firm and loves attending sports games of nearly any type, depends on his home care support person for assistance with things most people take for granted, like meals and bathing. Continue reading...

The Phoenix Suns star has been as unlucky as he has been brilliant during his long career. But now he has an great chance to finally win a championshipWhen Chris Paul collided with Phoenix Suns’ teammate Cam Johnson in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarter-finals against the title-favourite Los Angeles Lakers, going down in agony as he held his right shoulder, it looked like deja vu. Here was Paul, now on his fifth team, suffering another significant injury on the NBA’s biggest stage. Here he was, appearing to get ready to watch his seemingly indestructible friend LeBron James go on to his 11th finals appearance when Paul still hadn’t been to his first, despite being in year 16 of his NBA career.Paul toughed it out. He re-entered the game and did all he could with a right arm that hung loosely to the side of his body like a dead plant. He struggled to dribble and only took shots from his favourite spot on the right elbow, which he still managed to slingshot in. He played that way most of the series, using his basketball smarts and slick decision-making to overwhelm the Lakers’ defense, helping the Suns win the series, 4-2. Continue reading...

Comparisons of Democrats to Nazis and suggestions thousands should be executed spark fears of violenceThe extremist rhetoric from rightwing news networks and some elected Republicans is “intensifying”, experts have warned, after a Republican congressman compared Democrats to Nazis and a hard-right news host suggested tens of thousands of Americans should be executed.Rightwing TV personalities, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, and Republican politicians have seized every opportunity to rail against Democrats and liberals in recent months, with race increasingly coming to the fore. Continue reading...

The charges against Allen Weisselberg might seem small fry, but the threat to people higher up the food chain is mountingMichael Cohen sounded giddy on the latest episode of his podcast, Mea Culpa. Allen Weisselberg, a key lieutenant to Donald Trump, Cohen’s former boss, was about to be charged alongside Trump’s company with tax fraud.“This case is being prosecuted like a mob case. And that means they are starting at the bottom of the tree, and working their way up, by getting the smaller fish to flip with pressure on people like Weisselberg to rat on their former boss of bosses!” Cohen said, gleefully mixing his metaphors. Continue reading...

When it comes to my favourite soft drink, someone could make a lot of money opening a rehab clinicAt significant risk of giving a multinational corporation publicity it does not need – please feel free to Google oligopoly markets after reading this piece – I am going to extol the virtues of a long-term love: Diet Coke. Someone has to, given Cristiano Ronaldo’s rejection of the drink in a Euro 2020 press conference and a recent plummet in its share price.There are two types of people: those who can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, and those whose taste buds are clearly compromised. Confusing the two is basically like downing a glass of red and proclaiming: “Love a sauvignon blanc!” Continue reading...

Anne Robinson’s new job might not seem relevant to the average working woman, but visibility is vital to defeat ageismAnne Robinson is, as she says herself, the oldest woman on television not judging cakes.But age has hardly mellowed her. Like the canny pro she is, the 76-year-old former Queen of Mean toned it down a bit for her somewhat unlikely new gig hosting the gentle teatime TV quiz show Countdown, but the pre-launch interviews were as sharp and punchy as ever. After this long in the business, she knows her shtick. And love it or loathe it, there is something rather thrilling about her determination not to be put out to grass. Continue reading...

The Los Angeles police department detonated a cache of homemade fireworks it had seized, causing a major explosion on a residential block that injured 17 people, flipped and damaged cars and smashed windows in nearby homes. The fireworks were detonated inan iron containment vessel – which exploded – because they were deemed toounsafe to move from a SouthLos Angeles neighbourhood

Site was evacuated after workers reported sounds of shifting inside still-standing 12-storey sectionRescue efforts have resumed at a Miami condo block that collapsed one week ago, killing at least 18 and leaving 145 more unaccounted for, more than 12 hours after the work was halted amid fears the structure would topple.Rescue work had been stalled earlier on Thursday when workers reported hearing sounds of shifting inside the still-standing 12-storey section of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside overnight and evacuated the disaster site out of safety concerns. Continue reading...

Anti-Asian crimes more than doubled while hate crimes against Black people increased by 87%, state reports revealHate crimes against Asians in California more than doubled in 2020, as part of an overall 31% surge in hate-based crimes, according to a pair of new reports by California’s attorney general.The increase in anti-Asian crimes was fueled by rhetoric, including that of Donald Trump, blaming Asian communities for the spread of Covid-19 in the United States, the reports said. Continue reading...