US news | The Guardian

Julian Assange's longest serving legal adviser, Jennifer Robinson, celebrates his 'historic' release outside the federal court in the US Pacific island territory of Saipan. Speaking to media moments before Assange walked free, Robinson claimed his prosecution 'should be of concern to journalists everywhere'. Assange, who had flown to Saipan from London after his prison release, arrived at court accompanied by Australia's US ambassador Kevin Rudd and high commissioner to the UK Stephen SmithSubscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Congressman Bowman defeated by George Latimer, backed by pro-Israel groups in most expensive House primary everJamaal Bowman, the progressive Democratic congressman whose criticism of Israel's war on Gaza made him a target for pro-Israel lobbying groups, lost his primary race on Tuesday night.The Democratic primary in New York's 16th district became the most expensive House primary in history after Bowman was challenged by George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist. Continue reading...

Bitter intraparty fight is one of two elections that could help determine control of Congress in NovemberDespite a series of personal scandals, Lauren Boebert, a hard-right Colorado Republican who narrowly avoided defeat in 2022, won out over a crowded field of other Republican primary candidates in the fourth congressional district - previously led by Ken Buck - which leans more heavily Republican.Boebert's primary win is one of the most closely watched results of Colorado's primary elections, which chose the winners in several bitter intra-party fights among the state's Republicans, including in two competitive House districts that could help determine control of Congress in November. Continue reading...

Apache fire, which prompted evacuation orders, was contained 15% due to favorable' weather conditionsA wildfire is threatening a community in rural northern California near Paradise, where the state's deadliest wildfire struck six years ago.The blaze, dubbed the Apache fire, broke out on Monday and had grown to more than 600 acres (243 hectares), prompting evacuation orders. Continue reading...

Closing arguments conclude in trial that has captivated Massachusetts and triggered conspiracy theoriesJury deliberation is under way in the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read, a woman accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer.Closing arguments from both sides concluded earlier on Tuesday following a two-month-long trial that has captivated Massachusetts and triggered a wave of conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

New, equally controlled joint venture will share electric vehicle architecture and software, companies saidShares in Rivian surged after Volkswagen agreed to invest up to $5bn in the Amazon-backed electric carmaker.Volkswagen will initially invest $1bn as part of a partnership with Rivian to form a new, equally controlled joint venture to share electric vehicle architecture and software, the companies said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Announcement comes in response to pro-Palestinian protest at synagogue that made global headlinesAs Covid cases rise across California, the Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass announced that city officials were exploring the legality of wearing masks at demonstrations.The announcement came as a response to a pro-Palestinian protest outside a Los Angeles synagogue that made international headlines. Continue reading...

Trump is now free to talk about Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen before the first presidential debate of 2024The New York judge who presided over Donald Trump's hush-money trial has partially lifted a gag order that has been hanging over the former president since he was convicted of the accounting fraud charges last month.Under the revised order by Judge Juan Merchan, Trump is now free to criticize trial witnesses, who include Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen, but must maintain restrictions on his comments about individual prosecutors and others involved in the case. Continue reading...

US district judge Aileen Cannon suggests she will deny Trump's attempt to exclude documents seized by FBIThe federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case for retaining classified documents suggested she would deny his attempt to exclude the documents the FBI seized at the Mar-a-Lago club, saying at a hearing Tuesday that the warrant for the search had been properly granted.The former president's lawyers had contended the warrant was unconstitutionally vague and the FBI affidavit, used to convince the magistrate judge to find there was probable cause for a crime at the club, contained contextual omissions. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Trump's trial, read our full coverage here.While his primary contest may be too close to call, the vote count thus far shows Republican congressman Bob Good trailing his challenger John McGuire by a small amount.Good is now casting aspersions on the fairness of the election, NBC News reports:Good claimed during an appearance on Steve Bannon's War Room" podcast Monday that Lynchburg did not secure their drop boxes."There's no accountability for when those boxes were opened," Good said. They were apparently left to be stuffed for two or three days after the election." Continue reading...

District of Columbia court hints at further repercussions, including possibility of being permanently disbarredHunter Biden's right to practice law in Washington DC has been suspended following his recent conviction on federal gun charges, with the possibility that he could be permanently disbarred.The District of Columbia court of appeals issued an order on Tuesday suspending Biden's licence, citing the guilty verdict on three felony charges following this month's trial in Wilmington, Delaware, which it said were defined as serious crimes" under the district's bar rule. Continue reading...

Hunger's role in Jewish philosophy and history makes it all the more horrifying that civilians in Gaza are eating garbageFor many months now, it has been no secret that one of America's closest allies has been using hunger as a weapon against a civilian population. That hunger is being used by Israel is supremely ironic, given the particular role that privation from food plays both in Jewish philosophy and in the grim history of the Jewish people. It is a charge that the Jewish State has repeatedly denied in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.Beginning this past winter, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam both condemned Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war. Governmental organizations have also begun to echo those accusations. In Gaza, we are no longer on the brink of a famine, we are in a state of famine," the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said several weeks ago. The Gaza population was facing a manmade disaster", Borrell reported. The United Nations World Food Program concurs: a full-blown famine" is taking place in northern Gaza, according to the head of the program. This was followed by the international criminal court considering issuing warrants against leaders of both Hamas and Israel, and, in the case of the Israelis, for the war crime of starvation of civilians.John Oakes is the author of The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy and Promise of Doing Without. He is publisher of The Evergreen Review Continue reading...

Pennsylvania woman, 26, was pronounced dead after being swept over St Mary Falls in Glacier national parkA woman has drowned after falling and getting swept over by a waterfall at a popular national park in Montana.On Monday, federal officials announced that a 26-year-old woman from Pennsylvania drowned after falling into the water above St Mary's Falls on the east side of Glacier national park. Continue reading...

This case remains alarming despite his release. The battle for press freedom must be vigorously pursuedJulian Assange should never have been charged with espionage by the US. The release of the WikiLeaks founder from custody in the UK is good news, and it is especially welcome to his family and supporters. He is due to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents at a hearing early on Wednesday, but is not expected to face further jail time. The court in Saipan, a remote Pacific island which is a US territory, is expected to approve the deal, crediting him for the five years he has already spent on remand in prison.His opportunity to live with his young family comes thanks to Australian diplomacy under the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who had made clear his desire for a resolution, and the Biden administration's keenness to get a controversial case off its plate, particularly in an election year. Seventeen of the charges have been dropped. The one that remains, however, is cause for serious alarm. It was the Trump administration that brought this case. But while the Biden administration has dropped 17 of the 18 charges, it insisted on a charge under the 1917 Espionage Act, rather than the one first brought against him of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Continue reading...

The defending 800m Olympic champion won't defend her title after a stumble in a single race. Her absence is a needless wound for Team USAThe track and field events at this summer's Olympics don't start until August, but Team USA are already losing medals in June.Athing Mu, who won gold in the women's 800m in Tokyo and followed up with a world championship the next year at the age of 20, isn't going to Paris. Neither are Brooke Andersen, the 2022 world champion in the women's hammer throw, or Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, the 2023 world champion in the women's discus. Continue reading...

Rowlands, 93, who played an Alzheimer's patient in son's 2004 film, is in full dementia', says Nick CassavetesGena Rowlands, the screen actor whose career spans over seven decades and includes two Oscar nominations and an honorary Academy Award, has Alzheimer's disease, according to her son Nick Cassavetes.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on the 20th anniversary of his film The Notebook, in which Rowlands played a character with the disease, Cassavetes said his mother, now 94 years old, was in full dementia". Rowlands memorably played Allie in the film, the older version of the character played by Rachel McAdams, whose dementia is tended to by her husband Noah (James Garner).This article was amended on 25 June, 2024 to correct Gena Rowlands's age. She turned 94 on 19 June. Continue reading...

News comes amid anti-diversity legislation that has gutted inclusionary programs at several public universitiesAfter 21 years of service, the University of Utah's LGBT Resource Center will close on Friday, as the second-largest public university in the state comes into compliance with HB 261, Utah's version of the anti-DEI legislation that has swept the country and gutted inclusionary programs at several public universities.As we've evaluated how best to comply with the legislation, I want to be clear that we've faced very difficult decisions," the vice-president for student affairs, Lori McDonald, said in a statement. The law and subsequent guidance require a foundational change in how we approach student support, and we will follow the law. This isn't about changing the words we use; we're changing how we approach the work." Continue reading...

Former secretary of state, who has debated both men, says Trump starts with nonsense and digresses into blather'Hillary Clinton has said it would be a waste of time" for Joe Biden to attempt to refute Donald Trump's contentions in Thursday's presidential debate because it's nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are".The former secretary of state wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that Trump starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather". Continue reading...

Former US president made the claim in a fundraising email that advertised coffee mugs featuring his mugshot

Alieu and Isatu Wurie died during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as temperatures exceeded 120FA Maryland couple died recently while completing the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid extreme heat.Alieu Wurie, 71, and Isatu Wurie, 65, of Bowie, Maryland, were among the more than 1,300 people who died during the pilgrimage as temperatures exceeded 120F (48.9C). Continue reading...

This case is nothing to be proud of. As politicians stood by, he suffered within a chaotic system they have done little to fixFinally. After more than five years locked inside HMP Belmarsh, Britain's most secure prison, and seven years confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Julian Assange can breathe some fresh, free air. It is certainly a day to celebrate, but also one to demand answers. Why - why, for heaven's sake - has it taken so long? And what about all the others who languish in crazily overcrowded British jails?It seems appropriate that Assange's release, on the basis of a deal that gives the US government the fig leaf of a guilty plea, occurred in the very week before a general election, in the country where he was detained for all those years. Voters seem likely to dispose of a government whose feeble home secretaries, from Priti Patel onwards, bowed the knee to the US on its extradition request when they could have easily followed the brave path that Theresa May took when she was home secretary in 2012, declining to allow the removal to the US of the hacker Gary McKinnon. But what lessons have any of our politicians - or our judges - learned? Continue reading...

From selling Bibles to extolling the Ten Commandments, Trump has been courting evangelicals all year. And despite his shortcomings, it is working as well as everWhat were you doing at 1.22am on Friday morning? I was engaged in my favourite hobby: sleeping. Donald Trump, it seems, was also busy with his favourite pastime: being unhinged on social media. In the early hours of Friday, Trump hit the well-worn caps lock key on his digital device and started truthing" on his Truth Social platform.I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER," he wrote. READ IT - HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG??? THIS MAY BE, IN FACT, THE FIRST MAJOR STEP IN THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION, WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED, IN OUR COUNTRY. BRING BACK TTC!!! MAGA2024" Continue reading...

Alternatives to costly Wegovy and Saxenda will make such treatments more widely available worldwide

Vivek Murthy made declaration after weekend in which dozens of Americans were killed or wounded in mass shootingsThe US surgeon general on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the fast-growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country.The advisory issued by Dr Vivek Murthy, the nation's top doctor, came as the US grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded. Continue reading...

WikiLeaks founder reportedly travelling to US plea deal hearing in Northern Mariana Islands. Plus, how fashion entered its ugly' decadeGood morning.Julian Assange has struck a deal with the US justice department, freeing him from a UK prison, and is expected to plead guilty to breaching US espionage law in a deal that would allow him to return home to Australia.Will he face more jail time? Probably not. Under the deal, which must be signed off by a judge, he will probably be credited for the five years he has already served and face no further prison time.How long was he held at Belmarsh prison? 1,901 days.How would a ceasefire be worked out? It would be based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks, according to Kellogg and Fred Fleitz. Continue reading...

Down 3-0, then storming back to tie the series, the Oilers gave the NHL its most anticipated Final game seven in decades - but it was the Panthers who shrugged off their reputation as a joke to take their first Stanley CupOn what was their third attempt in franchise history, the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup. They didn't do so easily. Up three games to none on the Edmonton Oilers, they let their series lead slip away, lost three in a row, and set up a deciding seventh game back in Florida on Monday night, arguably the most anticipated Stanley Cup Final game seven in decades. It delivered an anxious end-to-end battle, and an exciting end to a long and unprecedented final round. Excitement is cold comfort for Oilers fans, whose hopes were high after Edmonton's surprising resurgence. For them, the loss will sting even more than that of 2006, the last time the Oilers lost the Cup in seven. But for Florida, the Cup is the culmination of a 30-year journey from early expansion surprise to laughing stock and back again.When the Panthers first went to the Cup Final, in 1996, the team was only three years old, one of the early forays the NHL made into the American South. Replete with high-quality expansion draft picks, including star goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, the Panthers surprised many on their way past their Eastern opponents on the way to the Cup. But those Panthers ran into a powerhouse Colorado Avalanche team, newly (and forcefully) decamped from Quebec City. The Panthers got swept, 4-0. Still, that early playoff run engaged a new fanbase and even established a bit of team lore, based on a story about how forward Scott Mellanby killed a rat that scuttled into the Panthers' locker room at the Miami Arena during the team's home opener that season. As other players jumped out of the way, Mellanby treated the rat like a puck, killing it with a hard one-timer. Fans took to tossing plastic rats on the ice to celebrate wins - a habit that's stuck. Continue reading...

Trumpists are painting Biden's border policies as a nexus of vicious crimes so we forget the former president is a felonDonald Trump is already showcasing the big surprise he will spring on Joe Biden at their debate. It's not a surprise; it's his most morbid, ghastly and predictable trick.On Friday, his campaign arranged and publicized a telephone call to the mother of a young woman who had been murdered by an undocumented immigrant to express his heartfelt sympathy. That day, the former president posted three similar stories of gruesome murders on his Truth Social account. We have a new Biden Migrant Killing - It's only going to get worse, and it's all Crooked Joe Biden's fault. He's a disgrace to the Office of President, he's a disgrace to America. I look forward to seeing him at the Fake Debate on Thursday. Let him explain why he has allowed MILLIONS of people to come into our Country illegally!" Continue reading...

New York Red Bulls withdrew its teams from a youth tournament earlier this year. Now veteran players are speaking to them about their own experiencesSo what if they called us monkeys?" said one attendee at a Monday night meeting with players from the New York Red Bulls' male youth academy teams last month. Fuck it. We keep balling." A team meeting with teenage soccer players isn't normally something to make news but this particular event, held in 200-plus capacity event space at Red Bull Arena with every player from the club's top under-12 to under-17 teams, was a little different.Also in the room were former Major League Soccer stars Bradley Wright-Phillips, Earl Edwards Jr, Jalil Anibaba, Ray Gaddis, and Calen Carr as well as former USMNT legends Eddie Pope and Jozy Altidore. Notably, all the former players were Black. Former footballers love to talk, especially about the old days, but the main topic that night in late May was not about winning MLS titles nor being the first American to score in La Liga. Continue reading...

Public service commission, which establishes regulation and sets rates for utilities, accused of disenfranchising Black votersGeorgia has not held an election for its powerful public service commission for more than two years while a lawsuit alleging that the way commissioners are elected disenfranchises Black voters plays out.On Monday, the US supreme court declined to hear the case, leaving an appeals court ruling in place and putting an end to further delays. Continue reading...

Kirk's non-profit, Turning Point Action, is planning a $100m chase the vote' operation to help propel the ex-president to the White House, but his outsized influence is being subjected to scrutiny

The movement faces an uphill battle, but it's growing - and is seen by many as our last hope for peaceThere have been near-weekly protests in Israel since October, focusing on the release of hostages and anti-government messages. Until recently, they have rarely included calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, and few protesters have addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or looked to a long-term peaceful solution. Some progressives argue this lack of anti-war voices reflects a militaristic, nationalist stance inherent to Israeli society and the Zionist project.But is this true? Is a robust anti-war, pro-peace movement impossible in Israel? Continue reading...

Instead of just dropping the case, the Biden administration got a guilty plea and set a dangerous tone for reporters everywhereJulian Assange is on the verge of being set free after the WikiLeaks founder and US authorities have agreed to a surprising plea deal. While it should be a relief to anyone who cares about press freedom that Assange will not be coming to the US to face trial, the Biden administration should be ashamed at how this case has played out.Assange is flying from the UK to a US territory in the Pacific Ocean to make a brief court appearance today, and soon after, he may officially be a free man in his native Australia.Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation Continue reading...

The president's hazardous strategy has failed. Now France stands on the brink of its first far-right government since 1945The image was an oxymoron. Earlier this month, in a luxurious Parisian venue, Emmanuel Macron stood in front of a white wall on which one word was inscribed in large letters: ensemble, meaning together". Estranged from the members of his own party, and even from his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who had not been informed of his plans, Macron was attempting to convince his audience that his dramatic decision to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections - something that almost everyone else regarded as a risky poker move - was in fact the right decision for the country.Yet Macron's decision couldn't have come at a worse moment. The coalition including his party, Renaissance, suffered defeat in the European elections in early June: its 14.6% score was dwarfed by Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN), which won 31.4% of the vote. Not only is the presidential alliance almost certain to lose its relative majority of 250 seats in the parliament, but the far-right party will undoubtedly increase its current tally of 89 seats. To win an absolute majority, RN, joined by a dissident group from the Republicans, would need to secure 289 seats. Even if it doesn't win an absolute majority, it could still become the largest party in the country and thus have its president, Jordan Bardella, named prime minister.Didier Fassin is professor of social sciences at the College de France and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton Continue reading...

The former deputy PM cautiously welcomed developments that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the US justice department that will allow him to walk free. Joyce was part of the delegation to lobby US law makers over Julian AssangeSubscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Aileen Cannon also expresses doubts about changes to stop Trump from making remarks that could endanger agentsThe federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's prosecution for retaining classified documents expressed deep reservations on Monday with modifying the former president's bail conditions to prevent him from making statements that could endanger FBI agents, suggesting redacting their names in filings was enough.Trump-appointed US district judge Aileen Cannon also repeatedly admonished David Harbach, the prosecutor arguing on behalf of the special counsel, saying at one point she did not appreciate his tone and suggesting if he could not check his frustration, another prosecutor on the team could make arguments instead. Continue reading...

Human rights groups also back filing which aims to block state's new law forcing public schools to showcase textSeveral Louisiana families backed by human rights groups have lodged a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the state's new law forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments.The suit was filed with the US district court in Baton Rouge on Monday at the start of what is expected to be an epic legal battle that could end up before the US supreme court. Christian nationalists have been itching for this fight, hoping to destroy the country's longstanding separation of church and state. Continue reading...

Lawyers for president's son say Delaware court did not have jurisdiction over case when it proceeded to trialLawyers for Hunter Biden have filed a motion requesting a new trial, arguing that a Delaware court did not have jurisdiction over the case when it proceeded to trial.Biden, the eldest living son of the US president, was found guilty earlier this month on three felony counts related to a handgun purchase while he was a user of crack cocaine. Continue reading...

Biden and Harris give forceful campaign statements blaming Trump for ending right to abortion accessJoe Biden and Kamala Harris marked the second anniversary of the US supreme court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade with forceful campaign statements that laid the blame squarely on Donald Trump for ending the national right to abortion.In a video released on Monday, Biden pledged to restore the right to an abortion and protect American freedom" if he is re-elected. Continue reading...

Sheng Thao maintains no plans to resign after authorities carried 80 boxes out of her home as part of investigationSheng Thao, mayor of Oakland, California, delivered a prepared statement on Monday in her first public remarks since federal authorities raided her home last week.Thao, who is serving her first term as the city's mayor, maintains that she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on abortion news in the US, read our coverage here.Vice President Kamala Harris just took the stage to address a crowd at the University of Maryland, her first event of the day to mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision.

Leg-spinner's sleight of hand and control is a crucial part of England's attack in the T20 World CupThis T20 World Cup is the seventh time in the past eight global tournaments that England's men have reached the semi-finals. There was turbulence en route - not uncommon on the inter-island flights in the Caribbean - but along with the two trophies won, it is a reminder of how far their white-ball cricket has come these past nine years.Among the constants in this period of uplift has been Adil Rashid, who on Sunday was once again toying with opponents like a street magician. Granted it was the USA trying - and failing - to read Rashid's sleight of hand. But regardless of the opponent, those four boundary-devoid overs of two for 13 were still a master craftsman at work. Continue reading...

Agency used list which included jobs such as nut sorter and microfilm processor and has not been updated since 1991The US's social security administration is no longer considering a number of outdated jobs as possible work opportunities to deny those applying for disability benefits.Social security disability benefits are determined with a claimant's medical records and ability to work in mind. If unable to perform their past job, the administration looks at the person's age, education and work experience to see if they can do other kinds of work. Continue reading...

Karoline Leavitt bashes biased coverage' and predicts hostile environment' for Trump at Thursday's debateCNN abruptly terminated a live interview with Donald Trump's spokesperson on Monday after she criticised the two journalists whom the network chose to moderate the much anticipated upcoming debate between the former president and Joe Biden.Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, became embroiled in a heated exchange with Kasie Hunt, the presenter of CNN This Morning, after saying Trump would be entering a hostile environment on this very network" when he debates the incumbent president in Atlanta on Thursday. Continue reading...