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Sixty years ago, the famed Red Sox slugger used his Cooperstown speech to champion Black players who were excluded because of the sport's color barrierWhen Ted Williams, the last man to hit .400, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he had an iconic career to reflect on. But he decided to dedicate a portion of his speech to championing Black players who had been excluded because of baseball's longtime color barrier.I've always been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform, to have struck out or to hit a tape-measure home run," Williams said in his 25 July 1966 speech - 60 years ago Saturday. And I hope that someday the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way could be added as a symbol of the great Negro players that are not here only because they were not given a chance." Continue reading...

Journalists urge attenders to confront president over media attacks, while Melanie Trump and JD Vance to be absentDonald Trump will address a rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association (WCHA) dinner on Friday three months after the original event was abruptly halted after an armed assailant tried to storm it, with the alleged aim of assassinating him.The rearranged dinner has been condemned as hypocritical" by retired journalists and press freedom groups, who are urging the association to use it to confront Trump over his administration's intensified attacks on the media. Continue reading...

From Lionel Messi's final flourish to players who barely featured, we rank every MLS representative who appeared in the 2026 World CupMessi was always going to be No 1. In what was likely his last World Cup, the Argentinian put together an incredible tournament, registering eight goals, four assists and the most progressive passes of any player, according to Futi. With zero defensive responsibility on his shoulders, Messi was free to do as he liked. The 39-year-old roamed the field with ease and effortlessly drew Argentina back from the brink time and time again. It was Messi who led his country to a 3-2 win against Cape Verde, Messi who assisted and then equalized against Egypt, and Messi who created both of Argentina's late goals against England. In the final, however, Messi disappeared. Across 139 minutes including stoppage time, Messi completed just 28 of 39 passes, registered only one shot and hardly affected the game. He may have left the tournament with no personal or team accolades - a rarity for him - but Messi extended a World Cup legacy that few players have ever to come close to rivaling. Continue reading...

Australia's trade minister, Don Farrell, says tariff regime is unjustified and inconsistent with free trade agreement with US

The US is aligning itself with dictators and autocrats to prevent those accused of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes from ever facing justiceBarely a month appears to go by without Donald Trump making a fresh attempt to destroy the international rules-based order. The US has pulled funding from dozens of international institutions, shut down USAID and withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement. Nato may survive on paper, but Trump has made clear that he has little interest in coming to the aid of any ally that is attacked. The Board of Peace is clearly an attempt to sideline the United Nations.But the state department's announcement last week that it wishes to dismantle the international criminal court brick by brick" could be Trump's most frightening move of all.Steve Bloomfield is the former international editor of the Observer and a previous winner of the Orwell prize Continue reading...

New tariffs will replace 10% global duty and come after US supreme court declared many of the earlier levies illegalDonald Trump has imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire, provoking a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and major trading partners.In the latest attempt to instate aggressive trade policies despite challenges from the US supreme court, the president has imposed tariffs of between 10% or 12.5% on dozens of countries, including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the European Union. It in effect replaces the blanket 10% tariff that Trump imposed in February, right after the supreme court declared many of his earlier tariffs were illegal. Continue reading...

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Tariffs ranging from 10%-12.5%, taking effect on Friday, are US president's latest effort to circumvent CongressJust before a temporary levy on global imports was set to expire, the Trump administration issued a fresh wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries late on Thursday, ranging from 10% to 12.5%. The new tariffs take effect Friday morning.It's Donald Trump's latest effort to continue imposing global levies without congressional approval, despite the supreme court ruling in February that found the US president had illegally used his executive power to implement his global trade policies. Trump has long maintained that the US has been paying more than its fair share in tariffs, and that increased duties are necessary to boost American manufacturing and jobs. Continue reading...

New York Times reports that list of those killed changed from 18 on Wednesday to 14 on ThursdayThe Pentagon's official online list of service members killed in the ongoing Iran war does not include the four soldiers who died during renewed fighting over the weekend, despite the fact that their names were included in a Pentagon press release on the formal transfer of their remains back to the United States on Wednesday.A review of the current list on the Pentagon's Defense Casualty Analysis System website shows that, despite having been last updated on Wednesday, the number of US military personnel killed during Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon's name for the US-Israeli war on Iran that Donald Trump launched on 28 February, remains at 14. Continue reading...

Defense attorneys question LAPD criminalist on third day of hearing to decide whether singer will stand trialBlood stains on objects recovered from singer D4vd's former Los Angeles residence probably came from Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old whose decomposed body was found in his Tesla last fall, according to testimony heard in court on Thursday.Prosecutors say D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, fatally stabbed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez last year to prevent her from exposing the sexual nature of their relationship amid his rising profile in the music world. Continue reading...

Suspect allegedly yelled Allahu Akbar' before attacking a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish manNew York City police are investigating a pair of stabbings near Central Park as a possible hate crime, police commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday.The suspect, Raul Morales, allegedly stabbed a 57-year-old Asian man in the back with a knife, then stabbed a 50-year-old Jewish man in the torso with a screwdriver, according to a New York police department spokesperson. Morales allegedly yelled Allahu Akbar" before the stabbings, police said. The attacks occurred about two blocks apart and in broad daylight in Manhattan's affluent Upper West Side neighborhood. Continue reading...

Vote from advisory group - whose members include people linked to peptides industry - likely to embolden RFK JrA panel of federal health advisers on Thursday narrowly recommended easing access to several peptides popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite warnings from government scientists that the chemicals have not been shown to be safe or effective.In a series of votes, outside experts to the Food and Drug Administration advised the agency to drop current restrictions barring pharmacies from producing injectable peptides with names like BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV. Continue reading...

Republicans have latched on to the announcement after Trump's lie-laden speech, but experts say DHS's data is designed to create a false argument'Donald Trump and his allies quickly seized on an announcement from Mikie Sherrill, the New Jersey governor, on Tuesday that 6,600 noncitizens had registered to vote because of a software error, and fewer than 400 of them voted, using the disclosure to escalate false claims that there are scores of noncitizens on the voter rolls.Trump seized on the news days after he said in a primetime speech that the Department of Homeland Security identified 278,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls in New Jersey and three other states. But a Guardian review of the letters the DHS sent the states shows the agency expressed less certainty about the number and has offered no explanation of its methodology. Continue reading...

Republican Blake Miguez is weighing what district to run in after state redrew map following supreme court decisionA congressional candidate from Louisiana who was the subject of a police report accusing him of rape - which he denies - says he is hoping to again earn" Donald Trump's endorsement as he considers precisely where to run amid redistricting.The candidate, Blake Miguez, is weighing running in one of two districts, neither of which he lives in but in which he is allowed to run. He has been mulling that choice after the supreme court's landmark decision in Callais v Louisiana prompted the state to swiftly redraw its US House districts - and after he had secured the president's backing under the previous congressional map. Continue reading...

Journalists had reported on security concerns about US president flying on $400m Air Force One plane from QatarDonald Trump's justice department has abandoned, for now, efforts to subpoena New York Times reporters over their coverage of security risks involving the president's Qatari-gifted Air Force One replacement.Sean Buckley, a top-ranking official in the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office, announced the decision on Thursday afternoon about an hour into a proceeding where he was repeatedly grilled on the appropriateness of the subpoenas. Buckley was in court because the New York Times filed paperwork to fight these subpoenas. Continue reading...

Agent came under suspicion after allegedly providing info in MS Now report about vice-president's helicopter tripA Secret Service agent assigned to JD Vance's protective detail is the subject of an administrative investigation, and potential criminal inquiry, involving allegations of compromising operational and information security", according to the Secret Service chief of communications.The agent came under suspicion after allegedly providing information that appeared in an MS Now report about the vice-president's planned Marine Corps helicopter trip with his son to a golf lesson, a source told CNN. Continue reading...

Vance Boelter receives two life terms after admitting politically motivated killings and shootings

The Pentagon head proposed a 44% increase - to second world war levels - while woke' programs are gutted

President's remarks follow Houthi strikes on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and oil prices rising past $100 a barrel again

No injuries or deaths were reported from early-morning temblor whose epicenter was 68 miles from Amarillo

Forecasters warn of US coastal flooding, heavy rain and dangerous surf as the storm tracks westTropical Storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon, and is moving westward toward the Texas coast, where it is expected to reach later on Thursday, bringing rainfall, winds and rising water levels.In a Thursday morning update, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Bertha was moving west and that the center of the tropical storm was expected to move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts over the next several hours before moving inland over Texas on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Torrential rains in West Virginia have caused flash flooding that inundated homes and businesses. Authorities say the floods washed out bridges and led to numerous water rescues in portions of the state. Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia's governor, declared a state of emergency for all 55 counties on Tuesday night. No deaths were immediately reported. Morrisey sent 100 National Guard members to the hardest-hit areas in the northern portion of the state with an additional 200 members expected to arrive by late Wednesday morning. The rains were part of wide-ranging storms that produced reports of tornadoes in several states Continue reading...

Congressional Progressive caucus say healthcare should not be a privilege' as they champions single payer systemThe Congressional Progressive caucus (CPC) held a shadow hearing on Medicare for All on Wednesday, led by Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell.The hearing comes as over half of the House Democratic caucus has co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation, and Senator Andy Kim introduced legislation on Tuesday that would enroll all children into Medicaid until the age of 26, while Republicans passed drastic healthcare cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including nearly $1n in cuts to Medicaid and allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. Continue reading...

Resolution, which comes after similar one in June, is largely symbolic, as Trump administration says it's unconstitutional

We are now a nation of homogenized open concepts and curb appeal. It's an approach that leads to anxiety and isolationRecently, Jonathan Swan - one of the authors of a new tell-all about Donald Trump's second term - told the hosts of The View that if you had a pie chart of Trump's mind, a pretty substantial slice is devoted to interior decorating". He also revealed that Trump is engaged in design wars" with Melania and moved furniture she had selected into his spaces. The commander-in-chief apparently has even been caught supergluing gilded accents to the Oval Office mantel himself. Though Trump claims taxpayers won't be on the hook for the costs of his renovations, the New York Times reported that the White House's 18 major remodeling projects - from the botched Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool to the paved-over Rose Garden to the looming Arc de Trump" - will probably come with a price tag of $1.2bn.Of course, Trump's renovation compulsion didn't start this year. The president celebrated winning his first term, in 2017, by ripping out the Oval Office's royal blue carpet with the presidential seal and replacing it with a Mar-a-Lago peach version, accented with - what else? - gold. But in his second term, he's gotten bolder, both politically and aesthetically - and more addicted. By the autumn of his first year back in office, he went ahead and tore down the East Wing entirely. Continue reading...

Committee accused of trying to weaponize' justice system via laughably weak and vindictive criminal referral'Democrats have accused the US House of Representatives judiciary committee of a baseless" and vindictive" attack on former special prosecutor Jack Smith after it referred him for criminal prosecution for allegedly lying to Congress over his investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Committee chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote to acting US attorney general Todd Blanche on Wednesday night, asserting Smith made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact" during testimony about obtaining phone records of a number of Republican lawmakers. Continue reading...

Concern over US effort to prosecute Sam Tunick, accused by authorities of wiping his phone using GrapheneOSThe US Department of Justice is attempting to prosecute an Atlanta resident in connection with the movement against the police training center known as Cop City because he had GrapheneOS on his phone, an open-source operating system that enables users to enter a passcode and wipe a phone clean.The case, which had its first hearing on Monday, centers on a little-known US federal statute that makes it a crime to destroy property in an effort to prevent it from being seized. Continue reading...

Staley is latest high-profile figure to testify before House amid investigation into Epstein, convicted sex offenderFormer Barclays boss Jes Staley appeared before by US lawmakers on Thursday in a closed-door interview about his past ties to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Staley, who spent more than three decades at JPMorgan Chase before joining Barclays in 2015, is the latest in a series of high-profile figures to appear in front of the House committee on oversight and reform as part of its investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial over child sex-trafficking charges. Continue reading...

Conflict continues across the region as White House announces nuclear technology agreement. Plus, the artist who flattened a Tesla with a tank

Woolsey died of a stroke at Washington home after facing Havana syndrome' reported by some government officialsR James Woolsey, a national security expert who led the CIA for two turbulent years after his appointment by Bill Clinton, has died. He was 84.Woolsey, who became CIA director in early 1993, died on Tuesday at his home in Washington, according to several newspapers. Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, his wife, told the newspapers that he died from a stroke. Continue reading...

The justice's opinions have offered the president workarounds to enact his agenda despite clashes with the courtOf the conservative justices on the supreme court, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have in the current session voted most consistently, at 89 and 88%, to support Donald Trump in his cases, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yet perhaps the most influential justice to advance key parts of Trump's radical agenda has a slightly lower rating at 76%, and performed not so much by billowing lofty abstractions of originalism and textualism, but instead by contriving an assortment of glib schemes at justification.Mayhem in the city streets, violence, even killings, renewed rounds of Trump's threats and shakedowns around the world through damaging tariffs, and chaos within the Congress around birthright citizenship, all of which helped fracture the divided Republican leadership on the eve of the midterm elections, have followed the opinions issued by Brett Kavanaugh. By the end of this session, he has clearly emerged as the chief enabler to operationalize Trump's most salient political issues. Continue reading...

Shah will face Republican Jay Freely, a Trump-backed former NFL kicker, in November for battleground seatAmish Shah won the Democratic primary on Wednesday in a hotly contested congressional district in Arizona, delivering another defeat to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which backed a rival, as more voters reject the preferences of party leaders in Washington.Shah, an emergency physician, will face Republican Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker who was endorsed by Donald Trump in his primary, in the fall. Before becoming political opponents, Feely and Shah were part of the same team - the New York Jets. Shah was a doctor on the sidelines, while Feely was the kicker. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren claims bank did not meaningfully investigate' Jes Staley's links with sex offenderThe leading US senator Elizabeth Warren has called for urgent answers from Barclays over what she claimed was its apparent failure to meaningfully investigate" ties between the bank's former boss, Jes Staley, and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.In a letter sent privately to Barclays's chair, Nigel Higgins, and seen by the Guardian, Warren - the most senior Democrat on the US senate banking committee - said it was deeply unclear how Barclays, supposedly investigating Staley's connection to Epstein, failed to uncover this decades-long relationship". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ro Khanna says reindustrialization' effort would provide grants, loans and investments to smaller businessesDemocrats in the US Congress have laid out plans for what they say would be the boldest" bid to revitalize the country's industrial heartlands since the second world war - using revenue raised by tariffs on China.A bill introduced this week would create a new bank to strengthen domestic manufacturing, provided with up to $15bn in funds each year. Continue reading...

A decade ago, experts said I'd be the last reporter to face a subpoena in a leak investigation. How wrong they wereIn 2015, after I won a seven-year battle with the federal government and refused its demands that I reveal my confidential sources for a story I wrote about a botched CIA operation, many media experts predicted that I would be the last journalist ever subpoenaed by the government in a leak investigation. They argued that new surveillance technology made it possible for the government to more readily identify sources inside the government without having to rely on the testimony of reporters. There was no longer any need for the government to go through the lengthy and bitter legal process of trying to haul reporters into court and threaten them with jail if they refused to reveal their sources.Fast forward more than a decade, and it is obvious that those predictions from the experts were wrong. The notion that leak investigations are primarily designed to find leakers now seems quaint.James Risen is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Continue reading...

A 162-game season guarantees failure as much as success. Inside a losing clubhouse, staying together and believing can become the hardest part of the jobIf you ask professional athletes, they'll tell you. Losing is no fun. But in Major League Baseball, losing big can be especially tedious.An MLB seasons boasts a whopping 162 games (twice as many as the NBA and NHL) and even the best hitters fail two-thirds of the time at the plate. If a pitcher wins half his starts, he's an All-Star. Because of that, says decorated starter Jamie Moyer, a losing campaign takes on a particular consequence. Continue reading...

The 17-year-old dreamed of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Now he is America's next big track star, with another chance for gold at this week's US championshipsGeorge Lutkenhaus and his family were rushing to the airport. There was a plane to catch and traffic was bad. Inside the car was a tense silence. In the back, a teenager, minding his own business, AirPods in, seemingly oblivious. Wife Tricia turned to George. Are you OK?" she said.No, I am not OK!" he replied. What just happened there was not normal! And he's just sitting there in the back ... " Continue reading...

The agreement offers the Saudis the same options Trump has sworn Iran will never haveThe stark contrast between Donald Trump's nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia and his nuclear demands for Iran would be comical if not so tragic. Trump has handed the Saudis the same nuclear options he swore Iran would never have.To make matters worse, Trump seems to have offered the Saudis this sweetheart deal to make amends for his disastrous war of choice with Iran. Meanwhile, he continues to bomb Iran in a push to open the strait of Hormuz, which was not closed until Trump launched his counterproductive war. Continue reading...

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Shooting happened on street in popular neighborhood lined with restaurants, bars, shops and homesA police officer in Madison, Wisconsin, shot and killed a man Wednesday in an incident that was captured on cellphone footage, sparking local protests.John Patterson, the Madison police chief, acknowledged the shooting at a news conference, but stressed footage circulating was just one perspective of what happened. Continue reading...

Trump administration hails agreement, which comes as the US fights a war with Iran in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically

Gory details about tarp, mats and inflatable pool come to light during hearing over death of Celeste Rivas HernandezAt singer D4vd's former Hollywood Hills home, law enforcement detected possible bloodstains - invisible to the naked eye - on items including a green tarp, black rubber mats and a crumpled inflatable pool that had the odor of fresh laundry.The gory details came to light on Wednesday, the second day of a hearing to determine whether there was probable cause for the musician, whose full name is David Anthony Burke, to stand trial for the murder and sexual abuse of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Continue reading...

President visits swing state to promote Trump accounts' and says high prices lingering from Joe Biden's presidencyDonald Trump scoffed at the word affordability" as a political message, describing it at a campaign rally on Wednesday as a term concocted by Democratic political consultants to criticize his presidency. Yet even as the president dismissed the notion of affordability, he devoted much of his speech at Wheeler high school to touting the bread-and-butter benefits of his economic policies.So I just want you to remember that if you're paying a little bit more - a lot of it's come down now, we got it coming down very rapidly actually," Trump said in Marietta, an Atlanta suburb, casting higher prices today as a lingering effect of the Biden administration. Continue reading...

GOP-controlled chamber paves way for reconciliation bill, while making long-shot attempt at new voting restrictionsHouse Republicans on Wednesday agreed to begin the process of writing a $95bn bill to fund the war with Iran as well as provide new aid to farmers, while making a long-shot attempt to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.In a virtually party-line 216-214, the Republican-controlled chamber passed a budget resolution that paves the way for the creation of a reconciliation bill, which can advance through the Senate under special rules that circumvent the Democratic filibuster and requires only a simple majority to pass. Two Republicans - Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, as well as Kevin Kiley, an independent of California who aligns with the GOP - joined all Democrats in opposing the measure. Continue reading...

Donald Trump approves agreement to help country make fuel for civilian nuclear programmeDonald Trump signed a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that could enable the kingdom to enrich its own uranium for nuclear reactions.The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement" and an accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement," according to a statement from the US Department of Energy. Continue reading...

Three-year-old girl landed in ICU after snake bit her while grabbing a package outside her family's Santa Clarita homeA three-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit earlier this month after a rattlesnake bit her while she was trying to grab an Amazon package.Addy, the young girl, ran out with her mother on 13 July to pick up a package dropped over the gate to their home in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Passage of annual bill complicated by Trump's decision to join Israel in attacking Iran without congressional approvalThe US House of Representatives passed a $1.15tn defense policy bill in a near-party-line vote on Wednesday, after Democrats refused to back the measure amid the war with Iran and Donald Trump's push to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.A key plank of the president's plan to spend $1.5tn on the military in the 2027 fiscal year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the Republican-controlled chamber by a 216-212 vote, with all but six Democrats opposing its passage. Seven House Republicans broke ranks to oppose the measure, which now goes to the Senate. Continue reading...

Andy Biggs wins nomination to challenge Katie Hobbs as Alex Kolodin won party's primary for secretary of stateDonald Trump-backed candidates in Arizona prevailed in key primary contests on Tuesday, setting up a fall campaign that will test whether Republicans can reverse some of their recent losses in the presidential battleground state.Andy Biggs, the hard-right congressman endorsed by Donald Trump, easily won the Republican nomination to challenge the incumbent Democrat, Governor Katie Hobbs. Continue reading...