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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...

Plaintiffs alleged collusion between homeland security and justice agencies to potentially deport people from hearingsTwelve immigrants and their legal advocates filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday against the Trump administration, alleging that the justice department and the Department of Homeland Security colluded to arrest and deport potentially thousands of people at their immigration hearings.A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups - including the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Education and Services (RAICES), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Democracy Forward and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF) - filed the suit on behalf of 12 plaintiffs, the majority of whom were seeking protection in the US from anti-LGBTQ+ violence or female genital mutilation. Continue reading...

Noaa initially issued a tsunami warning in the state's southern coast, which it later downgraded to an advisoryA stretch of Alaska's southern coast was under a tsunami advisory on Wednesday after a strong earthquake was felt throughout the region.The US Geological Survey described the earthquake as a magnitude 7.3. After the quake, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a tsunami warning, which it later downgraded to an advisory. Continue reading...

Children removed from California home of couple who were arrested in May and had said they wanted a large family'More than 20 children are in the custody of a California child-welfare agency while authorities investigate a Los Angeles-area couple and whether they misled surrogate mothers around the country.Fifteen children were removed from the couple's opulent home in Arcadia after an abuse allegation in May, and another six living elsewhere were also located, said Arcadia's police lieutenant, Kollin Cieadlo. They range in age from two months to 13 years, with most between one and three. Continue reading...

Outcome could have major effects on whether the Catholic archdiocese settles its expensive, five-year-old caseAs New Orleans's bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese finalizes a plan to settle 633 clergy abuse claims filed against it, the church's investors are arguing in US bankruptcy court that about half of those survivors could have their claims thrown out.Church officials said on Wednesday they would not necessarily seek that, though the eligibility of claims will be determined by a court-appointed examiner. If the investors' arguments prevail, it could have major effects on whether the US's second-oldest Catholic archdiocese settles its expensive, five-year-old bankruptcy case - or if victims of abuse by its clergy will pursue their claims individually in civil court. Continue reading...

Announcement that people from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen were deported comes after eight others were sent to South Sudan this monthThe US has flown five immigrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Cuba to the small, African country of Eswatini - an absolute monarchy with a troubling human rights record.The move signals that the US is again ramping up so-called third country" deportations after the US supreme court cleared the practice last month. Continue reading...

GOP aiming to meet Friday deadline mandated by law for bill, known as a rescissions package, to pass Congress

University announces move as it tries to restore $400m in funds frozen over alleged failure to protect Jewish studentsColumbia University has agreed to adopt a controversial definition of antisemitism as it pursues an agreement with the Trump aimed at restoring $400m in federal government grants frozen over its alleged failure to protect Jewish students.In a letter to students and staff, the university's acting president, Claire Shipman, said it would incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism into its anti-discrimination policies as part of a broad overhaul. Continue reading...

Trio allegedly took cash to file false reports that would allow noncitizens to qualify for special visa to let them stay in USFederal authorities have charged three current or former Louisiana police chiefs with taking bribes in exchange for filing false police reports that would allow noncitizens to seek a visa that lets certain crime victims stay in the US.The false police reports would indicate that the immigrant was a victim of a crime that would qualify them to apply for a so-called U visa, US attorney Alexander C Van Hook said on Wednesday at a news conference in Lafayette, Louisiana. He said the police officials were paid $5,000 for each name they provided falsified reports for - and that there were hundreds of names. Continue reading...

Lawsuit claims Fema lacks power to cancel multibillion-dollar Bric program after it was approved by CongressA group of 20 mostly Democratic-led US states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration from terminating a multibillion-dollar grant program that funds infrastructure upgrades to protect against natural disasters.The lawsuit filed in Boston federal court claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) lacked the power to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April after it was approved and funded by Congress. Continue reading...

New England Society for Psychic Research announced the sudden' death of Dan Rivera, 54, the organization's leaderA paranormal investigator who was helping lead a national tour of the allegedly haunted Annabelle doll has suddenly died over the weekend.On Tuesday, the New England Society for Psychic Research announced the sudden" death of 54-year-old Dan Rivera, the organization's lead paranormal investigator and an army veteran. Continue reading...

Sayfollah Saif' Musallet, 20, was an ice-cream shop owner in Florida, and a beloved member of a tight-knit family with deep ties to the US and PalestineWhen Fatmah Muhammad thinks about her younger cousin Sayfollah Musallet, affectionately known as Saif, she pictures him behind the counter of his ice-cream shop in Tampa Bay, Florida, carefully decorating her knafeh with the same effort he brought to everything else.She makes the dessert from scratch, and would sometimes ship it from California, where the 43-year-old baker lives, so the family legacy could grow nationwide. Saif would sell the Palestinian dessert in his little Amish-style ice-cream shop that carried international treats from the world over. Continue reading...

Tom Donlon claims he was sidelined after warning Adams he had uncovered systemic corruption' by NYPD leadershipA former New York police commissioner is suing the city, Eric Adams, the mayor, and top police officials, accusing them of a coordinated criminal enterprise that had taken root at the highest levels of city government".Tom Donlon, who served for two months last year as New York's top cop, filed the 251-page claim in federal court on Wednesday. In it, among other explosive claims, he says he attempted to establish internal oversight into corruption at the NYPD, and uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD's leadership", but after he warned Adams he was sidelined. Continue reading...

The US president denies he would dismiss the Federal Reserve head after reportedly drafting letter to sack himDonald Trump has privately indicated he is on the verge of firing the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, rattling Wall Street and renewing questions over the US central bank's independence.The US president insisted on Wednesday that it was highly unlikely" he would dismiss the Fed chair, after reports he had suggested he would and shown a draft letter dismissing Powell to political allies. Continue reading...

Lawyers for Trump's justice department have said Maryland man will be detained if he is freedA federal judge in Tennessee could rule on Wednesday on whether to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail to await trial on human smuggling charges, a decision that could allow Donald Trump's administration to try to deport the Maryland construction worker for a second time.Lawyers for the justice department have said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) will detain Abrego Garcia if he is freed. Ice officials have said they will initiate deportation proceedings against the Salvadorian national and will possibly try to send him to a third country such as Mexico or South Sudan. Continue reading...

Kenneth Vinyard was trying to assist police when off-duty officer John J Hawk attacked himAn off-duty police officer who killed a bystander by striking him in the chest and knocking him to the ground as the victim tried to give Beaver county, Pennsylvania, investigators information about a shooting has been ordered to serve five years' probation.John J Hawk, 38, received the sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the November 2022 attack outside a Walmart that led to the death of Kenneth Vinyard, 48. Hawk also pleaded guilty to assault and reckless endangerment. Continue reading...

Forum speakers said Donald Trump's second term resembles strongman Viktor Orban's first years in powerDemocrats must organize urgently for the 2026 midterm elections and avoid a it can't happen here" mentality to stop Donald Trump from staging a full-scale autocratic takeover, a Hungarian opposition parliamentarian has said.Katalin Cseh, a critic of Hungary's strongman prime minister, Viktor Orban, told a forum on authoritarianism that the central European country's experience held vital lessons for Trump's opponents in their attempts to resist his assaults on US institutions and democratic norms since his return to the White House. Continue reading...

Descendants of Terminal Island's Japanese community see parallels between the second world war and Ice raids todayJohn Tonai was enraged when he learned that a human-made island in San Pedro Bay was being used as a staging ground for the workplace raids unfolding across Los Angeles.To Tonai, Terminal Island isn't just one of the country's busiest container ports. It's the site of a small fishing village where his parents and thousands of other Japanese immigrants helped establish California's tuna-canning industry. Continue reading...

Watchdog says NIH approved $12m in new dog studies months after pledge to reduce animal testingThe US National Institute of Health (NIH) is continuing to fund cruel and wasteful" animal experiments involving dogs and cats, despite their recent announcement to reduce animal research.The NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya, announced in April the launch of a new initiative to reduce testing in animals" and prioritise human-based technologies" such as organ-on-a-chip and real-world data, in a new era of innovation" in biomedical research. The move seeks to address longstanding translational failures of animal research to predict human outcomes in diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's, due to differences in anatomy, physiology, lifespan, and disease characteristics". Continue reading...

Democratic NYC mayoral nominee seeks to ease tensions with business leaders and critics over controversial phraseZohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York mayor, has told business leaders in the city he will not use the phrase globalize the intifada" and discourage others from doing so, according to reports.Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won the Democratic nomination last month, has been under pressure to clarify his position on the phrase that many regard as a call to violence against Jews, and one that he had previously declined to condemn. Continue reading...

Trump has faced growing pressure from his Maga base. Plus, inflation hits 2.7% as tariffs start to show in prices