Police say suspect stole three-and-a-half-month-old tuxedo kitten Magnolia before attempting to rob a PNC bankLaw enforcement agencies are accustomed to dealing with cat burglars - but now a Maryland police department is saying it grappled with a cat-wielding bank robber.The Prince George's county police department said its officers arrested a man suspected of stealing a cat and then taking the animal with him to a PNC bank branch in the local community of Beltsville to rob the establishment on Monday morning. Continue reading...
Another 16 people rescued after pontoon pleasure boat' sinks about 600 yards from famous tourist attractionOne person was killed, two were missing and 16 were rescued after a pontoon boat capsized and sank near San Francisco's Alcatraz Island on Tuesday, authorities said.Nineteen people were aboard the vessel at the time of the incident. Continue reading...
Man who was 74 was one of three older prisoners scheduled for execution within the span of a monthFlorida put to death one of its oldest prisoners in its state history on Tuesday, a 74-year-old convicted murderer who was one of three older prisoners scheduled for execution within the span of a month in the nation's busiest death penalty state.Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at 6.16pm after a three-drug injection at Florida state prison near Starke. He was convicted of killing Patricia Gifford on 1 January 1982, just hours after meeting the 18-year-old woman at a New Year's Eve party. Continue reading...
Boston cone' arrives to fanfare in first-class seat from Glasgow before planned trip to raise money for mental healthFresh off its first-class flight from Glasgow, it received a reception befitting a visiting dignitary: a bagpiper in full regalia playing inside Boston Logan international airport. Waiting to greet it were diplomats, the governor and Boston's mayor.The guest of honor? An orange traffic cone. Continue reading...
Clarence Frazier Jr charged with murder over killing of Drew Hanson and could face death penalty if convictedA federal agent was fatally shot while trying to help authorities capture a man who failed to show up to his sexual battery trial in Louisiana, according to the US justice department.Clarence Frazier Jr, 48, was charged with murder in the killing of deputy US marshal Drew Hanson, authorities said. Frazier could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if he is eventually convicted of murdering Hanson.Rae Walberg of WWL Louisiana, a Guardian reporting partner, contributed Continue reading...
Sunshine Protection Act has bipartisan support, including backing of Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors, and will head to the Senate nextThe US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent.The bid to end clock-changing, dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, has bipartisan support, including the backing of Donald Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors. Following the 308-117 tally in the House, the bill next goes to the Senate. Continue reading...
Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett appear before House lawmakers in rare testimony to ask for more protectionSupreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives.Barrett and fellow supreme court justice Elena Kagan made the case for increased security in rare House testimony to discuss the court's budget request. The last time a sitting justice answered questions on Capitol Hill was 2019. Continue reading...
Spain grandly swatted aside strangely subdued France to reach Sunday's finalFrance and Spain have only met once before at the World Cup. That was 20 years ago, back in the day when Les Bleus very much had La Roja's number (the Euro 84 final, the Euro 2000 quarters, all that).Spain have had the better of the tournament football since. Wins in the Euro 2012 quarters and the Euro 2024 semis, plus an absurd 5-4 victory in last year's Nations League semis. France did win the 2021 Nations League final, though. Continue reading...
Enchanted' visitors queued for hours to see two of largest - and smelliest - plants flower in San MarinoTwo corpse flowers have bloomed at a southern California research institution, where thousands of visitors had the rare chance to watch two of the world's largest - and most odorous - plants flowering at the same time.The two titan arums, named Odorysseus and Odora, attracted more than 7,000 people on Monday at the Huntington library, art museum and botanical gardens in San Marino, about 12 miles (19km) from downtown Los Angeles, after they bloomed over the weekend. Continue reading...
Death of unidentified 28-year-old man marks third immigration enforcement-related death in one weekA person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, a state highway patrol spokesperson confirmed, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations.Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an encounter" with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. As the four men fled from the agents, one of them ran into the busy road and was struck by a semi truck. The person died at the scene. Continue reading...
Lawsuit alleges administration coordinated with online surveillance groups to criminalize solidarity with Palestine'Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Trump administration officials and several pro-Israel groups, accusing them of conspiring to target him and others as punishment for their support of Palestinian rights.The former Columbia University graduate student became the face of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestine speech after he was detained last year. A permanent US resident, Khalil is also fighting in court against the government's effort to deport him. Continue reading...
Deaths of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo prompt calls for independent investigationsFederal immigration officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice, according to a homeland security source, following two recent deadly shootings in Texas and Maine during which officials shot and killed immigrants in vehicles.Other news outlets, including Fox News and CNN, confirmed that officials nationwide received the instructions, with the former reporting some vehicle stops would be allowed to target the most egregious criminal aliens". Continue reading...
A boy, 16, and girl, 15, were charged with murder after the family members were shot at three different locationsTwo teenagers were charged with murder Tuesday in the killings of five members of an Illinois family who were shot at three different locations.A 16-year-old boy will be prosecuted as an adult, while the case against a 15-year-old girl will start in juvenile court before a possible transfer to the St Clair county criminal court, the county prosecutor's office said. Continue reading...
A collision of online conspiracy theories came for two of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate in recent daysIt was Russia. It was Israel. Could it have been Iran? Or maybe it was a Covid-19 booster. What about the Clintons?After US senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly over the weekend from what a preliminary medical examiner report said was an aortic dissection, conspiracy theories spread quickly claiming - without evidence - that any number of foreign adversaries or other frequent conspiracy subjects might have orchestrated the Republican's death. Continue reading...
Carl McDaniel, 65, from Washington state suffered broken bones after he was charged by a 2,000lb (900kg) bull during a visit to Yellowstone with his grandson on Friday. The encounter was recorded by Mike MacLeod, a professional photographer, who said the animal was 'agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything'
by Sarah Rendell (now and earlier); Daniel Gallan and on (#76ZBH)
France v Spain build-up and Atlanta police step up security for England v ArgentinaAtlanta police are increasing staffing and resources for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina.The department says additional officers will be deployed around the stadium and across the city's entertainment and high-traffic areas, with large crowds expected before and after the match:As Atlanta prepares to host an upcoming World Cup semi-final match and welcomes increased numbers of residents and visitors, the Atlanta Police Department has enhanced its citywide public safety and security posture. Additional personnel and resources are already deployed and will continue to be strategically assigned in and around the event venues, entertainment districts, and other high-traffic areas to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. These proactive measures are designed to protect the public, deter criminal activity, and ensure residents and visitors can safely enjoy this historic event." Continue reading...
Recent strikes have sent oil prices climbing again, with average gas price per gallon up by 70 cents on last yearInflation cooled to an annual rate of 3.5% in June as the brief US-Iran ceasefire, which has since ended, brought energy prices down, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The consumer price index (CPI), which measures a basket of goods and services, has been elevated since the start of the war, largely because of higher energy prices. After mostly staying under 3% since mid-2024, CPI reached a three-year high of 4.2% in May - up from 2.4% in February. Month-over-month, CPI fell 0.8% in June, the largest one-month decrease since April 2020. Continue reading...
by Presented by Lucy Hough with Chris Michael ; produ on (#76ZSE)
The US government has been forced to pay billions in refunds to companies that were hit by Donald Trump's liberation day' tariffs. The US has paid out $81bn (61bn) this fiscal year after the supreme court ruled the tariffs were illegal. Lucy Hough speaks to Chris Michael, an international editor for Guardian US Continue reading...
US government says it wants to systematically disable' The Hague-based international criminal courtA spokesperson for the EU has pushed back against the Trump administration's assertion that the international criminal court poses a threat to US sovereignty, a day after the US government said it would work to systematically disable" a global tribunal that seeks to prosecute some of the world's gravest crimes.We stand firm in our support for the international criminal court (ICC)," an EU spokesperson, Anouar El Anouni, said on Tuesday. Attacks or threats against the court-elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court are simply not acceptable." Continue reading...
The reported infections are the latest in a series of health concerns at the federal immigration jail in AuroraAt least 12 people detained at a federal immigration jail in Colorado have contracted tuberculosis in recent days, according to testimony from inside the facility where dozens of others have reportedly been placed in quarantine.Those affected by the outbreak are also being made to endure their isolation without air conditioning, one detainee who has been at the facility in Aurora since December told the Guardian, through his partner, in a telephone call on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...
Skeleton judged to be one of the largest and most complete ever unearthed was excavated on a ranch in South DakotaA vast, fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed Gus sold at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday for $50.1m with fees (37.4m) to a phone bidder - making it the most valuable dinosaur fossil sold at auction.It also sold well above a pre-sale estimate of $20m to $30m (15m to 22.4m). Continue reading...
Rapper paid JM Burkman & Associates $600,000 to push for president's pardon but firm says no partial refund promisedLouisiana rapper Boosie Badazz is reportedly looking to claw back $300,000 from a firm of Washington DC lobbyists after they failed to secure a Donald Trump pardon that he hired them to pursue over his conviction on charges of possessing a loaded weapon at music video shooting in 2023.Boosie - whose legal name is Torence Hatch and who hails from his home state's capital of Baton Rouge - paid JM Burkman & Associates $600,000 in 2025 to advance his push for a pardon from the US president, according to a report on Monday from Notus, which covers the federal government. Continue reading...
Funds released from escrow account after Trump's efforts to block sexual abuse and defamation award failA Manhattan federal court has released more than $5.6m that Donald Trump owes E Jean Carroll in her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him, records reveal.
Money from rail selloff could help solve Ohio city's most pressing problems but political mistrust dictates how profits can be usedCincinnati, Ohio's City of Seven Hills, has been drawing residents in from its suburbs - and, increasingly, other large cities - for years now. The only flat thing in sight is the housing supply.Our city's growing," Aftab Pureval, Cincinnati's mayor, said in an interview. For the first time in a generation, our population is growing." Continue reading...
Biden sued ex-CEO of Overstock.com Patrick Byrne over claim that Biden sought bribe from Iran government in 2021Hunter Biden says he is grateful that the rule of law prevailed" in a defamation lawsuit that recently netted him a judgment of $1.7m in punitive damages from the former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.Biden made that comment in a social media post that served as his first comments about the judgment, which a federal judge in California handed down on Friday. Continue reading...
Aid worker flown to Berlin as Trump administration bars Americans from traveling to US on commercial flightsA US national who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has arrived in Germany for treatment, the health ministry in Berlin said on Monday, weeks after another American infected with Ebola in the DRC was treated in Berlin.Meanwhile, the Trump administration on Monday said it was blocking American citizens in the DRC from traveling to the US on commercial flights, Reuters reported, citing a White House official. Continue reading...
Mourn him if you wish, but let's be honest about what he promoted. The longer this thinking lives on, the more peril we will all faceThe sudden death over the weekend of the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham is predictably inspiring a slew of tributes to the four-term Republican senator. Donald Trump has already ordered flags be flown at half-staff until Saturday, and Republican politicians across the country are fondly recalling Graham. But so too are the Democrats. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois honored Graham, calling him a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next". Senator Adam Schiff of California lauded Graham's sense of humor and how he deployed it to move his policy positions forward".Through this thick, bipartisan forest of remembrances, however, lies Graham's concrete legacy. Death has a way of extinguishing uncomfortable truths, but it's important that we don't forget who Graham was, what he exactly stood for, and what damage he has done over his political career. Continue reading...
Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade projectKonstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born private equity investor in Chicago, will serve as chairman of a new state department enterprise fund overseeing more than $200m designated for a central Asia trade corridor, including investments in transportation, energy infrastructure and critical minerals, the Guardian has learned. The state department confirmed his appointment on Friday.Sokolov was one of 36 donors, including 21 corporations and 15 individuals and family foundations, who Trump said contributed over $350m to Donald Trump's ballroom project. Continue reading...
US preventive services taskforce's members have not issued binding recommendations since March 2025The health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's overhaul of an influential federal advisory group has stalled an update that would have highlighted encouraging" new evidence on helping children quit tobacco, according to a recently departed member of the group.The Trump administration has postponed or canceled all meetings of the US preventive services taskforce since March 2025, effectively preventing taskforce members from issuing binding recommendations for more than a year. As a result, 14 topics under consideration have been stalled - including on cervical cancer screening, perinatal depression and autism screening. Continue reading...
Change of US position on free navigation comes as two tankers hit by Iranian cruise missiles. Plus, the international outpouring of love for the late actor Sam NeillGood morning. The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran, hours after Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and charge ships for safe passage. The UAE said two national tankers were targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles in the southern lane of the strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others, including four seriously.Iran and the US are in theory nearly halfway through the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war, which began in February with the assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. In reality, that deal has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait of Hormuz, resulting in the near-total collapse of an interim ceasefire and worrying world leaders that the conflict could fully resume.How has Trump changed his position on tolls? On Monday, Trump said the US would demand a 20% tariff on all cargoes shipped through the strait of Hormuz. Until now, the US had said the strait should remain open to all without tolls - as it was before Washington and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. Any attempt by the US or Iran - which has also proposed tolls - to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and would be likely to cause further economic disruption far beyond the region.What did Nordone say about her appointment? In brief remarks, Nordone, 64, said: Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him. I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States. I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way. I miss you more than I can even put into words, but I'm going to do this. I got it." Continue reading...
Federal agents showed up at reporters' homes, targeting journalists for doing exactly what the first amendment protectsTo non-journalists, receiving a government subpoena is a serious thing but probably not a violation of basic rights.To journalists, it's quite a different matter - an attack on a foundational right to gather information in the public interest and to provide confidentiality to sources. Continue reading...
Memoir details upbringing of late senator - who denied existence of systemic racism - in segregated southA little-known autobiography from Lindsey Graham published in 2015 sheds light on his complicated record of acknowledging and addressing racism in South Carolina.Graham, born in 1955, came of age in a small textile town in the segregated south, located in Pickens county, the site of the last documented lynching in South Carolina in 1947. My Story, which came across as political spin to anyone who knew the background of Graham's unlikely rise to political prominence, is a window into the conservative white man's view of the south's enduring racial tensions. Continue reading...
As the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game take over Philadelphia, we take a spin around the majors with an awards watch, an Ohtani update and lots in betweenWith more than half of the MLB season in the books, the baseball world has convened in Philadelphia for the annual All-Star festivities. What better time for owners and players to engage in Brotherly Love and figure out how to avoid the widely predicted 2027 labor strife that could cancel next season? Considering the storm clouds gathering, a near-term resolution seems unlikely, so we'd better soak in the season we're having. How's that going? Glad you asked. Continue reading...
Trump's former personal attorney has a vast slate of conflicts of interest. Will lawmakers do their job in his confirmation hearings?Todd Blanche is the most conflicted nominee for attorney general the US Congress has yet to encounter. As the former private attorney for Donald Trump, Blanche has been an unflappable ally for the president since 2023, when he left his private firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, to represent Trump in the hush-money prosecution brought against him by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. He went on to represent Trump in two other criminal prosecutions - the Mar-a-Lago classified documents prosecution, and the January 6 prosecution, both brought against Trump by the special counsel Jack Smith.As both deputy attorney general and as acting head of the justice department since April, when attorney general Pam Bondi was fired by Donald Trump, Blanche has unabashedly continued his advocacy work for his former client through other means. He has signed off on a settlement between the IRS and Donald Trump regarding the latter's taxes, that would ban the IRS from pursuing litigation against Trump, his family or his businesses forever. That settlement has now been ruled by a federal judge to be self-dealing; she referred the case to the Florida Bar Association. The New York Bar has issued a letter saying that Blanche is unfit for office.Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle professor of law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and the faculty director of its Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law Continue reading...
Trump's secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operationsMarco Rubio, the US secretary of state, launched a campaign to dismantle the international criminal court (ICC) on Monday, claiming the global tribunal was interfering with US military and law enforcement operations at the risk of American sovereignty.Rubio invoked images of US border patrol agents and elected leaders being dragged before an international court" and tried by judges from around the world in a lengthy op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal Monday. Continue reading...
Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah will lose close to a million and a half acres each' and open land to developers and oil industryDonald Trump has approved a sharp reduction in the size of two national monuments in Utah held sacred by many Native Americans, in the latest move to open US public land to corporate developers and the oil and gas industry.The two monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, will see a reduction of close to a million and a half acres each", Trump said during an executive order signing event on Monday, undoing protections established by former presidents. Continue reading...
Good, an unarmed US citizen and mother, was killed by immigration officer and Pretti was shot by CBP officialsPreviously withheld evidence regarding the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti is now in the hands of Minnesota prosecutors, helping the state gain clarity on the deaths that occurred earlier this year during protests against a federal immigration crackdown.Through the cooperation of our federal partners, we have obtained hard drives of previously withheld evidence in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis," the Hennepin county attorney, Mary Moriarty, said in a video statement posted on social media. Continue reading...
Idaho to have ballot measure for reproductive freedom law that would reverse ban on abortions at all pregnancy stagesOne of the strictest abortion bans in the country will be on the ballot this November after Idaho's secretary of state certified a ballot measure on Monday that would reverse the state's abortion ban that prohibits the procedure at all stages of pregnancy.The ballot initiative was headed by a volunteer-run group called Idahoans United for Women & Families, which ran a petition drive to get the measure in front of voters this fall. They gathered more than 100,000 signatures, surpassing the required 70,725 to get on the ballot. Continue reading...
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