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Washington says Moscow's influence over company poses significant risk, as Kaspersky argues its activities do not threaten US securityJoe Biden's administration has banned Russia-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing its popular antivirus products in the US over national security concerns.Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use," said a commerce department statement. The announcement came after a lengthy investigation found Kaspersky's continued operations in the United States presented a national security risk due to the Russian government's offensive cyber capabilities and capacity to influence or direct Kaspersky's operations". Continue reading...

Lionel Messi's through ball led to Julian Alvarez's goal in the 49th minute, then he assisted on Lautaro Martinez's goal in the 88th as Argentina began the defense of their Copa America title with a 2-0 victory over Canada on Thursday night.Argentina are seeking their third straight major title after winning the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup. Continue reading...

Manhattan prosecutors decline to pursue charges against dozens of students who occupied building in April protestDozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters arrested in April after occupying and barricading a building at Columbia University in New York City have had all criminal charges against them dropped, Manhattan prosecutors said at a court hearing.The hearing at the Manhattan criminal courthouse came seven weeks after Columbia administrators called in hundreds of armed and heavily armored police officers to the university's campus in a high-profile law-enforcement response that was broadcast live on national news channels. Continue reading...

Incumbent Bob Good, chair of far-right Freedom Caucus, appeals for patience as votes counted in congressional raceThe conservative US representative Bob Good is asking for patience from the people of Virginia's fifth district over the coming weeks" as he hopes the final ballot count from Tuesday's primary will allow him to fend off a fellow Republican challenger endorsed by former president Donald Trump.Good, who chairs the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, currently trails state senator John McGuire by a little more than 300 votes as elections officials finalize their vote counts and mail-in ballots continue to trickle in. Continue reading...

Crypto tycoons claim Biden has openly declared war against crypto' in lengthy critique of administration policyCryptocurrency tycoons the Winklevoss twins have each donated $1m in bitcoin to Donald Trump's campaign and pledged to vote for the former president in November, claiming Joe Biden had openly declared war against crypto".Trump is pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, pro-business", Cameron Winklevoss declared on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. And he will put an end to the Biden Administration's war on crypto." Continue reading...

Agents also conducted searches at two homes owned by members of the politically influential Duong familyFederal authorities have raided a home belonging to the mayor of Oakland, California, as part of an investigation that included a search of at least two other houses, officials said on Thursday.The raid took place on Thursday morning, when FBI agents carried 80 boxes out of a four-bedroom home that property records link to Sheng Thao, who is serving her first term as the city's mayor. Continue reading...

Wrapped in bald eagle packaging, 21kg of cocaine was found off the Florida Keys coastBoaters have discovered $1m worth of cocaine off the coast of the Florida Keys, authorities announced.In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Monroe county sheriff's department announced that recreational boaters discovered a package containing approximately 21kg (61lbs) of packaged cocaine around seven miles (11km) off Islamorada, a village of islands in the Florida Keys. Continue reading...

Aileen Cannon was urged by senior jurists to recuse herself over perception of bias towards Trump, report saysAileen Cannon, the Florida judge who has come under fire for her handling of classified document charges against Donald Trump, ignored the advice of more senior colleagues to decline the case and pass it to another jurist, it has been reported.Two senior judges on the Florida bench urged Cannon to defer when it was randomly assigned to her last June, in part due to a perception that she was biased in Trump's favour because of her actions after the allegations against him of illegally retaining sensitive government documents first came to light. Continue reading...

Aipac breaks its own record to back George Latimer against incumbent fellow Democrat Jamaal BowmanThe primary for New York's 16th congressional district, which takes place on Tuesday, has drawn record-breaking spending, with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and a crypto-currency Super Pac behind the lion's share of the funding.AdImpact, a group tracking political advertisements, reported earlier this week that the race between the incumbent progressive representative Jamaal Bowman and his challenger, George Latimer, has become the most expensive House primary ever", with more than $23m spent on ads so far. Continue reading...

Funeral home gets overwhelming response to request for pallbearers and attendees for Gary Brooks's serviceFormer US marine Gerry Brooks died alone at a nursing home in Maine, all but forgotten. Then the funeral home posted a notice asking if anyone would serve as a pallbearer or simply attend his burial.Within minutes, it was turning away volunteers to carry his casket. A bagpiper came forward to play at the service. A pilot offered to perform a flyover. Military groups across the state pledged a proper sendoff. Continue reading...

The Comstock Act, largely unenforced in recent history, could be used to restrict abortion drugs in post-Roe USDemocrats introduced legislation on Thursday to repeal a 19th-century anti-obscenity law that bans mailing abortion-related materials, amid growing worries that anti-abortion activists will use the law to implement a federal abortion ban.The bill to repeal the Comstock Act was introduced by the Minnesota Democratic senator Tina Smith, whose office provided a draft copy of the legislation to the Guardian. The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Nevada senator Catherine Cortez Masto also back the bill, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the news of Smith's plans. Companion legislation was also set to be introduced in the House. Continue reading...

The revival of ties between Russia and North Korea is prompted by events outside Asia, but the best hopes of containment may lie within the regionA shiny, sanctions-busting Russian limousine for KimJong-un. A fawning, rapturous reception for Vladimir Putin. These grand gestures may be welcomed by the North Korean and Russian leaders, but are intended as much for their global audience as for each other. The real prize is the strategic partnership treaty that they signed during Mr Putin's first visit to Pyongyang since 2000. The question is what it will mean in practical terms.The relationship has been reinvigorated by events outside Asia, but hopes of containing it lie within the region. The proximate cause is evidently Russia's invasion of Ukraine: an isolated and impoverished Pyongyang is already believed to have supplied millions of artillery shells in return for cheap oil, food and other sorely needed goods. Russia might also benefit from North Korean manpower, though much more likely for labour than combat. Continue reading...

The state recently passed a law requiring that all public schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroomUS civil liberties groups have sued Louisiana for what they called its blatantly unconstitutional" new law requiring all state-funded schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined with its Louisiana affiliate and two other bodies - Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom of Religion Foundation - for the suit against the law, signed on Wednesday by the state's rightwing Republican governor, Jeff Landry. Continue reading...

More than 1,400 structures destroyed or damaged after village of Ruidoso residents forced to flee earlier in the weekDays after devastating wildfires killed at least two people and burned more than 1,400 buildings, the village of Ruidoso in New Mexico has seen heavy rain that forced more evacuations as well as water rescues.On Wednesday, the National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency, and warned people to seek higher ground. Water rescues are ongoing in the Ruidoso area as flood waters surge down the slopes from nearby burn scars," the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque said on Wednesday afternoon. The flooding temporarily forced some fire crews to evacuate, KOB4 reported. Continue reading...

Baseball's most exciting player and the first black superstar of the post-integration eraIn America's golden age, the 1950s, when baseball was still the national pastime and New York was the unofficial centre of the world, the city had three baseball teams that were each blessed with an outstanding centre-fielder. Brooklyn's Dodgers, for decades loveable losers until Jackie Robinson broke baseball's apartheid, had Duke Snider. The dynastic Yankees, the team of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, boasted Mickey Mantle. And just across the Bronx River from Yankee Stadium, the Giants had Willie Mays.Mays, who has died aged 93, was the first black superstar of the post-Robinson era of integration, and though arguments persist as to whether he or Mantle was the greatest of the three, or indeed greater than the legendary Ty Cobb, he was inarguably baseball's most exciting player. Continue reading...

Four construction workers were briefly trapped by smoke in Charlotte Douglas international airport fireAn air traffic control tower caught on fire on Thursday morning at Charlotte Douglas international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina.The fire broke out at about 8.10am at the airport's old air traffic control tower on Josh Birmingham Parkway, according to the Charlotte fire department. Videos posted on social media showed dark heavy smoke billowing in the air. Continue reading...

I run the brush along his body and he arches with pleasure. My heart fills with lightness

Independent candidate is confirmed on ballot in only five states and reached 15% polling threshold in just three surveysRobert F Kennedy Jr, who is running as an independent presidential candidate, will not be included in CNN's debate next week after failing to meet the network's criteria.A Wednesday midnight deadline passed without Kennedy being able to demonstrate that he had met the conditions necessary to share the debate platform with Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Past politicians tried to undermine democracy. They failed because Americans refused to tolerate their wrongdoingDonald Trump's threats to democracy - including his promise to govern as a dictator on day one" and his refusal to abide by the norm of a peaceful transition of power - are often called unprecedented. While commentators and journalists are rightly focused on the danger of the moment, there are precedents for what we face today. Three examples, far from minimizing the current danger, show both how fragile American democracy has always been and how American citizens can fight successfully to save it.The first example of a presidential threat to democracy came close to the founding. The second US president, John Adams, criminalized dissent and sought to prosecute his critics. The number of these prosecutions was vast. The most recent research on the subject identifies 126 individuals who were prosecuted. These cases were not just based on the hurt feelings of a thin-skinned president (although they were partly that). They came in response to reports that Adams's party was attempting a kind of self-coup, not unlike the events of January 6.Corey Brettschneider is professor of political science at Brown University and the author of The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought To Defend It Continue reading...

Attorney for families says plane maker should be fined $25bn, but amount could be reduced if Boeing improved safety standardsFamilies of the victims of two Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia have demanded that the plane maker be criminally prosecuted and fined $25bn for the deadliest corporate crime in US history".In a letter to the US justice department, Paul Cassell, an attorney for 15 victims' families, said that the amount is legally justified and clearly appropriate", but could be significantly reduced if Boeing improved safety standards and agreed to an independent monitor. Continue reading...

Merger with International Paper moving at absolutely full steam' in face of separate interest from Brazil's SuzanoThe boss of the FTSE 100 company DS Smith has said its 5.8bn takeover by a US rival is going at absolutely full steam", despite concerns it could be derailed by another packaging sector merger.Miles Roberts, DS Smith's chief executive, said merger work with International Paper was going very well" and that he definitely expected the deal to complete. Continue reading...

Over the course of a 24-hour shift, Joseph Sakran bears witness to horror after horror. His experiences have driven him to become a national advocate and organizer against gun violenceWarning: this story contains graphic imagesJohn Doe's torso was a nest of bullets, over a dozen lead pellets shot from two feet away. The moment Doe got off the ambulance, Joseph Sakran rushed him to the operating room and slashed through his abdomen. Doe's innards were obliterated, covered by a mixture of stool and blood. Continue reading...

After offering test-free admissions, some US schools are reversing course, claiming it will helped under-resourced students - but critics say it will do the oppositeWhen SAT and ACT testing sites closed at the start of the pandemic in 2020, about 2,000 higher education institutions in the US had no choice but to offer prospective students test-optional or test-free admissions. It was a sweeping decision that by many accounts increased the applicant pool and enrollment of underrepresented communities.But as the public health crisis waned in recent years, some Ivy League and state schools have changed course by reinstating SAT and ACT score requirements in their admissions. In just the past few months, schools such as Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Tennessee announced reinstatements, citing the tests as strong indicators of potential college success. Brown and Dartmouth, in particular, said high test scores could help under-resourced students stand out to admissions officers and therefore increase school diversity. Continue reading...

The NHS says it's not trying to replace qualified doctors with physician associates. But we can see the terrifying truthSomething radical, precipitous and sweeping is under way in the NHS. It's untried, untested and sorely lacking in evidence, with the potential to cause significant patient harm. I'm talking about the Department of Health and Social Care's project to rapidly expand so-called medical associate professions (MAPs), the largest group of which are termed physician associates (PAs). None of these groups have a medical degree, nor postgraduate medical training. But their deployment in our health service is billed as essential" workforce planning - the only way to address rising patient demand and a desperate shortage of trained medics.Last week marked a new and depressingly low point for doctors, like me, who believe this project to be one of the most singularly dishonest, duplicitous and downright reckless political responses to the NHS workforce crisis. We discovered that a large NHS body - the Bradford District and Craven health and care partnership, responsible for the health and care needs of 2.4 million people - appeared to be breaking the law by producing posters that misrepresented physician associates as doctors to its patient population. The physician will see you now" stated the posters. But the member of staff featured and explicitly described as a physician in Bradford" was no such thing. In place of a five-year medical degree, they had a truncated, two-year physician associate degree.Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor and the author of Breathtaking: Inside the NHS in a Time of Pandemic Continue reading...

Sources' claims suggest Will Lewis's advice to British PM contradicted instructions to staff. Plus, East Palestine crash chemicals spread to 16 states

Ukraine is expected to make a renewed push for membership in the military alliance. The US must oppose the proposalUkraine and its supporters are pushing the White House for a stronger pledge to bring the country into Nato at the 75th anniversary July summit in Washington. Their push is understandable - but this is a dangerous idea that would commit the US to a long-term defense of Ukraine, while creating a major vulnerability for Nato, which would end up weaker, not stronger, than today. Nato membership is also not the best option for Ukraine.Joe Biden has already gone to lengths to show Ukraine support by signing a bilateral security agreement in Italy last week, not to mention prying $175bn in US assistance from Congress. He should use the upcoming summit to put Ukraine's Nato membership onto the back burner.Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he directs the program on American Statecraft. He served as the US national intelligence officer for Europe from 2018 to 2021. Continue reading...

Fears that pink slime' sites could be as harmful to political discourse as foreign disinformation in 2016 and 2020Political groups on the right and left are using fake news websites designed to look like reliable sources of information to fill the void left by the demise of local newspapers, raising fears of the impact that they might have during America's bitterly fought 2024 election.Some media experts are concerned that the so-called pink slime websites, often funded domestically, could prove at least as harmful to political discourse and voters' faith in media and democracy as foreign disinformation efforts in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Continue reading...

In the state's most diverse district, some recoil at the US border closing while others wrestle with impacts of undocumented migrationRepublicans claim that their election year rhetoric about immigration has a new audience in the Black community. North Charleston's newfound racial complexity tests that claim.The working-class city of about 120,000 is one of the most strongly Democratic in South Carolina, more so than even its larger, storied neighbor to its south. It has also long been split almost evenly between Black and white residents. Immigration has been adding a third dimension to what was a two-way relationship. Continue reading...

Jesse Marsch's squad have an eye on 2026 but have enough talent to disrupt the group stage as they prepare for the tournament opener against ArgentinaHistory was made 67 seconds into Canada's game against Croatia at the 2022 World Cup. Alphonso Davies' leaping header was the team's first-ever goal at the men's tournament and set the tone for a new era of Canadian soccer - an era that Jesse Marsch will hope to accelerate at Copa America.In May, Marsch was announced as the Canadian men's national team head coach, replacing John Herdman, who left to join Toronto FC in MLS. Historically, coaching Canada has been tough. The organization has experienced political and financial turmoil, with the women's national team being especially vocal about a lack of investment. Despite those concerns, Marsch, who interviewed for the USMNT job in 2022, accepted a job some would say he is overqualified for - thanks to some creative accounting from Canada's MLS franchises. Continue reading...

People fear threats from terrorism, climate crisis and disruptive technology. By working together, we can give them hopeWe live in uncertain times. Economic shocks, technological changes, pandemics, the climate emergency and conflict after conflict have combined to create a widespread mood of insecurity.This might seem to be the natural realm of the political right: a politics oriented around the protection of the status quo and rooted in the appeal of hierarchy and tradition. In recent years we have seen how it can fuel the populist right in particular, with its politics of stratification, coercion and isolation. The European parliament elections and the prospect of a far-right prime minister in France are just the latest demonstration of the appeal of build the wall" messaging in an age of insecurity.Florian Ranft is a member of the management board at Das Progressive Zentrum, a thinktank, which is hosting the Progressive Governance Summit in Berlin, 21-22 June. The summit's keynote event is Freedom, Peace and Progress in Europe, a conversation between the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Albanian-British academic Lea Ypi, chaired by the Guardian's editor in chief Katharine Viner. It will be free to view from 1500 CET on Friday 21 June, via live stream at the web link above.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...

The Juneteenth National Independence Day marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned that they had been freed two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation Continue reading...

Actor is due to go to trial over death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed on set of RustFewer than three weeks before actor Alec Baldwin is due to go on trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, prosecutors have said that he engaged in horseplay with the revolver", including firing a blank round at a crew member on the set of Rust before the tragic accident occurred.Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Continue reading...

Virginia Hislop left school to care for her family during the second world war; 83 years later she received diplomaVirginia Hislop took 83 years to get her master's degree from Stanford University. Now, at 105 years old, she's finally graduated.My goodness, I've waited a long time for this," she said, walking across the stage on Sunday to receive her diploma. She was cheered on by her family, grandchildren and the 2024 graduating class. Continue reading...

Law passed requiring text to be displayed in every public school classroom, although lawsuits against it are expectedLouisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by the Republican governor, Jeff Landry, on Wednesday.The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in large, easily readable font" be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action - to sign or veto the bill - has lapsed. Continue reading...

The Americans failed to chase down the second-innings total to lose the opening Super Eight matchU S A! Netravalkar strikes! Hendricks tries to smoke him down the ground but loses his shape - hand coming off the bat during the stroke. Corey Anderson clings on to a steepler. Just about. Then holds his palms out as if to say what were you worried about'?'2nd over: South Africa 13-0 (de Kock 3, Hendricks 9) Pace man Ali Khan from t'other end with a slip in place. He's whippy and around the wicket. Action reminiscent of Fidel Edwards. de Kock is tied down somewhat, a handsome drive stopped by some excellent fielding in the ring, Shayan Jahangir with the acrobatics at backward point. No such trouble for Hendricks who steps out and swats a length ball over extra cover for SIX. Continue reading...

US says dams killed off salmon, inundated villages and burial grounds, and spirited wealth away from tribesThe US government, in a report published on Tuesday, acknowledged for the first time the harms that federal dams have inflicted on Native American tribes in the US Pacific north-west.The report by the interior department details the historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia River Basin Tribes", including how dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have devastated salmon runs, inundated villages and burial grounds, and deprived tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life. Continue reading...

Son of convicted murderer says Netflix defamed him when suggesting he was involved in death of Stephen SmithRichard Alexander Buster" Murdaugh, the son of imprisoned South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of reckless indifference to the truth" when it linked him to the 2015 death of his schoolfriend Stephen Smith in a documentary.The 28-year-old son of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, seeks actual and punitive damages from Netflix and other companies connected to documentaries examining the murders for damaging his reputation irreparably" and causing mental anguish". Continue reading...

Israeli leader made claim in X post, although Biden administration says it does not know what he is talking about'The Biden administration has reacted furiously to criticisms by Benjamin Netanyahu that the US is holding back weapons and ammunition from Israel in its war in Gaza, reportedly cancelling a high-level meeting with Israeli officials on Iran in retaliation.Netanyahu made the claims of a supposedly deliberate weapons delay in a video posted on X in which he implied that Israel's ability to prevail in the nine-month war with Hamas was being hampered as a result. Continue reading...

Both men - 78 and 81 respectively - have behaved in ways that might give even the most cautious observer pauseNo election involving Donald Trump can be considered normal, but, in among all the breaches and oddities of this uniquely strange presidential race, one stands out as stranger than others. That is: speculation as to which of the two presidential candidates is showing the greater and more alarming rate of mental decline.Until recently, this topic was considered at best unsporting, at worst dangerous - particularly on the left, where it is assumed that discussions around age will hurt Biden more than Trump. Even Trump, however, has benefited from certain delicacies governing the subject of impairment. During his first run for president, when the words narcissist" and borderline personality" first started to be bandied about, plenty of mental health professionals popped up to steeple their fingers and point out it is neither polite nor judicious to diagnose others based on zero clinical information. Continue reading...

It was a cheap little thing, but Dad was obsessed with it. For some reason I thought it would stop when he didAfter my dad died, this thing happened that I can't get past. It was when I went to the undertaker to get his ashes. They weren't ready, said the lady there, but she did have his watch to give me. This she handed over in a little velvety bag. As she went into an explanation about the hold-up with the ashes, I got the watch out of the bag and just stared at it, stunned. I couldn't believe that it was still ticking away, showing the correct time. I mean, I know: why would a cheap, battery-powered watch have died just because the wrist it had been around had gone for ever? At some level I must have thought it would have had the decency to stop at the moment that my dad stopped, as a mark of respect. But no, on it went regardless, heartless.It's funny what gets you. And what doesn't. Dates, for example, mean nothing at all to me. I was asked on Sunday if I felt particularly sad about my dad. I didn't really get where the question had come from, even though I knew it was Father's Day as my daughters had texted me. I just didn't make the connection. I felt no sadder or less sad on Sunday than I did on Saturday or Monday. And it'll be the same when his birthday comes round; and the anniversary of his death, too. Dates are just random numbers. I'm not proud of feeling this way; I've been forgetting birthdays and anniversaries - my own as well as others' - all my life, causing a fair amount of offence and upset in the process. Continue reading...

At least one killed as residents of Ruidoso escape blazes which are 0% containedTwo fast-moving fires killed at least one person in New Mexico, claimed 1,400 structures and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents as firefighters hope cooler temperatures and the chance of rain could bring some relief as they struggle to bring the out of control" blazes to heel .A state of emergency has been declared by New Mexico's governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council, to speed recovery and response funding into the region. Continue reading...