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Prosecutors say impersonators took tests on behalf of applicants, and testing proctor was allegedly bribedFive people in Texas have been charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent teacher certification scheme, which prosecutors say was used to improperly certify hundreds of unqualified teachers to work in local school districts throughout the state.At a press conference on Monday led by the Harris county district attorney, Kim Ogg, prosecutors said the alleged scheme generated at least a million dollars and was used to certify more than 200 unqualified teachers who are currently or have previously worked in Texas public schools. Continue reading...

State that chose Biden in 2020 and has since sent Democrats to statewide offices could tip in either directionMark Kelly removed his sport coat and leveled with a crowd of Democrats gathered at an Indigenous-owned art collaborative in downtown Phoenix on a sweltering afternoon, days before early voting opened.In 2020, Joe Biden had won the state by just more than 10,000 votes - his narrowest margin of victory - way less than 1%", the Arizona senator stressed for emphasis. Continue reading...

FBI is investigating and workers are contacting voters about new ballots after incendiary devices were put in drop box

False claims include that non-citizens are voting in broad numbers and attacks on the voting and counting processThe conspiracy theory that the 2020 was stolen is now mainstream on the right. Believers are undeterred by the fact that the election was free and fair and the lack of evidence of fraud. Those who seek to correct the misinformation become targets of Donald Trump and his allies. Continue reading...

Trump says Netanyahu is doing a good job and Biden is holding him back. Even on this issue, Trump is worseI understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza. I am one of them.While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have the right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. Continue reading...

Survey in seven battleground states finds most fear Trump supporters would use violence to install him in power

Justices halt lower court ruling ordering state to restore registrations of 1,600 voters

Ex-president said Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico an island of garbage', probably' shouldn't have been at rally

The Australian PM should make an early visit to Washington in the event of a Trump victory and prioritise the security and economic architecture of our region

House speaker's comments could help Kamala Harris who outpolls Trump on healthcare in battleground states

GDP rose by 2.8% in the third quarter, short of economists' expectations of 3.1%, and driven primarily by consumer spendingThe pace of US economic growth slowed over the summer but continued its two-year expansion, according to data released on Wednesday, days before millions of voters decide whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump is best placed to lead it forward.US gross domestic product (GDP) - a broad measure of economic health - rose by 2.8% in the third quarter, short of economists' expectations of 3.1%, and down from the previous quarter's 3% reading. The increase was driven primarily by consumer spending, exports and federal government spending Continue reading...

A host of slickly marketed women's health companies are changing the way life-altering medication is accessed - and commodifying it at the same timeKarley Sciortino, a sex influencer, former Vice columnist and the founder of the blog Slutever, is known for her unfiltered writing on kink and dating (a sample advice column is titled Should I Be Double-Teamed by a Couple Twice My Age?") . On Instagram, she occasionally posts sponsored content promoting personal lubricants and vibrators: short, confessional clips shot against her bright pink bedspread.Last month, a company called Wisp approached her about promoting its emergency contraception product, which can be ordered online and delivered straight to patients' doors. The ad she wound up producing for it is almost indistinguishable from her vibrator content, featuring Sciortino sprawled on her bed in hot-pink lipstick, recalling her visits to judgmental doctors to get Plan B as a teen. Sometimes they'd be like: Why do you need it?' And it's like: Take a wild guess, bro,'" she jokes. Continue reading...

Larry Savage was participating in a test of the voting system in Madison county when police say he took two ballotsA Republican former congressional candidate was charged with stealing ballots during a test of a voting system in Madison county, Indiana, state police said on Tuesday.During the test on 3 October, which involved four voting machines and 136 candidate ballots marked for testing, officials discovered that two ballots were missing, according to the Indiana state police. Continue reading...

VP addresses crowd from site of Trump's speech before deadly January 6 attack. Plus, a lost Maya city is foundGood morning.With the White House illuminated behind her, Kamala Harris asked the vanishing slice of undecided Americans to elect a new generation of leadership", likening Donald Trump to a petty tyrant" and recalling how he had stood in the very same spot nearly four years ago and, in a last-gasp effort to cling to power, helped incite the mob that stormed the US Capitol.What was the focus of Harris's speech? The Democratic nominee's big speech mentioned Trump by name 24 times and Joe Biden only once. It confirmed that, even when Trump is not commander-in-chief, he still commands the American psyche.Sorry, who did you mean to condemn? Responding to the Trump rally opener calling Puerto Rico an island of garbage", Joe Biden got into hot water himself: The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters' ... his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been." The president later clarified that he had been condemning the demonization of Latinos, not calling Trump supporters garbage. The Trump rally on Sunday in New York had opened with a series of racist remarks about Puerto Rico, Latinos, Jews and Palestinians.Why did South Carolina pause executions for 13 years? Faced with growing backlash, pharmaceutical companies stopped selling lethal injection drugs to the state, but last year South Carolina passed a shield law to conceal the identity of suppliers. Continue reading...

This presidential election may come down to one question: whether Americans feel stress about their budgetsThis story is co-published with and supported by the journalism non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting ProjectThis election may well come down to one critical question: whether voters feel like they are better off now than they were four years ago. Although experts say important economic metrics are doing well or trending in a positive direction, some Americans may not feel it when they stress about their tight budget. Continue reading...

Eighth district could determine the balance of Congress, but mis- and disinformation has been rapidly proliferatingWhen Yadira Caraveo, a Democratic party member, won the race to represent Colorado's eighth district in the House of Representatives in 2022, she eked out a victory, winning by the narrowest margin of any Democrat in the country. This November, Caraveo is facing yet another close race - one that could determine the balance of Congress.In a district where nearly 40% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, the community will be decisive in crowning a winner. The battle for their votes is mostly playing out not on TV or in town halls, but on social media and local radio. Continue reading...

The South African-born multibillionaire almost certainly worked in the US without correct authorisation - just another enterprising expat' operating in a legal grey area'When is an illegal immigrant not an illegal immigrant? When they're a privileged white person, of course. In that case the correct classification is enterprising expat" operating in a legal grey area".No prizes for guessing who I'm referencing here. Yep, it's America's most irritating immigrant: Elon Musk. Over the years, the South African-born multibillionaire has amplified numerous anti-immigrant conspiracy theories and declared: We should also not be allowing people in the country if they're breaking the law." Which is interesting, because the Washington Post reported on Saturday that Musk almost certainly worked in the US without correct authorisation in 1995 after he dropped out of Stanford to launch a startup called Zip2.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...

Ricardo Rossello - no stranger to political fallout himself - says Trump must address offensive jokes with full force'Puerto Rico's former governor Ricardo Rossello has been closely watching the fallout from the racist comments made during Donald Trump's campaign rally on Sunday.As someone involved in politics for much of his life, Rossello - who has historically supported the Democratic party - heard reactions from both Republican colleagues and previously ambivalent voters. Continue reading...

Despite his claims to the contrary, unemployment is low, inflation is way down, and job growth is remarkably strongIf Donald Trump wins next week's election, it would be the first time in US history that a candidate wins based on such a huge lie - his falsehood that we have the worst economy ever". The former president's Big Lie has distorted the views of millions of Americans, wrongly convincing many that the US economy is in bad shape.There's no denying that many Americans are struggling economically and that inflation was painfully high back in 2022, but inflation is far lower now, and most economists agree that our economy is strong. The unemployment rate is low, inflation is way down, economic growth is solid, and job growth has been remarkably strong. Indeed, the country has added nearly 18m jobs - a record - under the Biden-Harris administration. Not only that, median household income has climbed to $80,610, higher than it was in Trump's last year in office. Continue reading...

Owners are finally taking their teams more seriously, and the hunt for better talent is reflective of a surge in income, publicity and fansWhen news broke on Monday that the Connecticut Sun had parted ways with coach Stephanie White after two seasons, it became clear that something was afoot in the WNBA.In a little over a month, seven teams - the Sun, Los Angeles Sparks, Indiana Fever, Chicago Sky, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics - have fired or parted ways" with their coaches. Four teams (the Mystics, Fever, Dream, and the Las Vegas Aces) also parted ways with their GMs over the same period. Continue reading...

Fox's big-money signing displayed an ill-judged use of language, while the battle for the NFC West is heating upDetroit's offense (defense TBD) Continue reading...

Brad Pitt and George Clooney's new film Wolfs shows that while geopolitical realities have changed, western prejudice hasn'tI recently watched the new bro-flick Wolfs. In my defence: I was sick and therefore lacking in imagination. I didn't fall for the Brad Pitt-George Clooney combo, though, doing proper bro stuff - walking around in leather jackets, driving cars (fast), cracking egomaniac quasi-ironic jokes. If it wasn't for the portrayals of Albanians" and Croatians" and their rival mafias, I might have fallen asleep.The Albanians enter the film as a bunch of hefty guys with guns; they're done away with swiftly, in less than a minute. The Croatians, on the other hand, are presented more elaborately, in a longer scene of a Croatian wedding party.Ana Schnabl is a Slovenian novelist, editor and critic

With a week to go until polls open on 5 November, Harris makes her case to the country while the White House goes into damage control after Biden's gaffe

Edited video clip of president's remarks suggests he insulted Trump backers, but his wording is unclearJoe Biden put out a statement that he had meant to say" earlier on Tuesday that a pro-Trump comedian's hateful rhetoric" about Puerto Rico was garbage". But in an edited video clip already widely circulating on social media Tuesday evening, a phrase that came out of Biden's mouth was the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters".Republican politicians and rightwing media outlets quickly picked up the clip to argue that Biden had called Trump's supporters garbage, comparing his remarks with Hillary Clinton's labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in a basket of deplorables" in 2016, a comment that is widely seen as undermining her campaign. Continue reading...

Ex-president's comments come after comedian at one of Trump's recent rallies called Puerto Rico island of garbage'Donald Trump praised Puerto Ricans on Tuesday during a Pennsylvania rally, days after a comedian made a racist joke and referred to Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage" at one of his rallies.Nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do," the former president said a little over an hour into a rally in Allentown, in the Lehigh Valley, which has a sizable Latino population.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

With the presidential race deadlocked a week before election day, Kamala Harris pledged to seek common ground in her 'closing argument' speech from a park near the White House, where Donald Trump spoke in 2021 before a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a last-ditch effort to overturn his 2020 loss. Harris cast her opponent as a divisive figure, planning to leverage the power of the presidency against his political enemies rather than in service of the American people

Vice-president strikes hopeful tone in remarks delivered from site of Trump's speech before deadly January 6 attackWith the White House illuminated behind her, Kamala Harris asked the vanishing slice of undecided Americans to elect a new generation of leadership", likening Donald Trump to a petty tyrant" who had stood in the very same spot nearly four years ago and, in a last-gasp effort to cling to power, helped incite the mob that stormed the US Capitol.The choice between her and Trump in the deadlocked presidential contest was about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division", Harris said, from the Ellipse near the White House's South Lawn, where tens of thousands of supporters gathered one week before the final votes of the 2024 election are cast. Continue reading...

The Democratic nominee mentioned Trump by name 24 times at the Washington DC event, before pivoting to hopeWhither the politics of joy? Kamala Harris's solid if unspectacular closing argument for why she should be elected US president was not about Kamala Harris. It was first and foremost about Donald Trump.The Democratic nominee's big speech in Washington mentioned Trump by name 24 times and Joe Biden only once. It confirmed that, even when Trump is not commander-in-chief, he still commands the American psyche. Continue reading...

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Trading in Trump Media & Technology Group stock suspended several times due to volatility ahead of election

On 6 July 2024, Michael Kenyon was walking to his local store in Phoenix, Arizona, when two officers of the city's police department stopped him. Kenyon's encounter with police left him with third-degree burns and deep scarring. The incident took place during a day in which Phoenix was under an excessive heat warning. Kenyon said the burning during the arrest 'felt like acid on my skin'. Kenyon has not been charged with a crime Continue reading...

Trump ally served four-month sentence for defying subpoena in investigation into 6 January attack

Craigslist ad offers 3ft by 10ft space for just $250 a month - for nerdy gamer' but nobody with a criminal recordA California home" for rent is shining a light on the US housing crisis - and evoking Harry Potter's living situation.For $250 a month, an online ad is offering the opportunity to reside in a 3ft by 10ft cubby located under the stairs of a one-bedroom apartment in downtown San Jose. Continue reading...

Revealed: officers appear to hold Michael Kenyon, 30, to hot pavement in July, causing third-degree burnsOn 6 July 2024, a day when temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona, reached 114F (45.5C), Michael Kenyon was walking to his local store to buy a soda when two officers of the city's police department stopped him.They hastily told him he was being detained, Kenyon recalls, without clearly stating why. Two more officers arrived. Continue reading...

State charges included kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of husband of Nancy PelosiThe man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial.A San Francisco jury in June found David DePape guilty of charges including aggravated kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder. Continue reading...

Running mate criticizes Kamala Harris on Michigan campaign trail but avoids mention of Trump rally jokes

Reader backlash against decision not to make presidential endorsement rolls on despite Bezos defense of decisionDeterioration of the Washington Post's subscriber base continued on Tuesday, hours after its proprietor, Jeff Bezos, defended the decision to forgo formally endorsing a presidential candidate as part of an effort to restore trust in the media.The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the decision was made public on Friday, according to the NPR reporter David Folkenflik. Continue reading...

Maybe my own childhood with a narcissistic, abusive, seductive father was what gave me eyes to see Trump for what he isI went to the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Or I tried to. I wanted to see it, to feel it, to know it. I spent two hours smushed in a crowd of thousands, waiting in the cold, unable to move, in the midst of belligerent conversations, alcohol consumption, rantings and racist posturings. There were older Jewish men, Black families, Asian couples and young Latina women. I heard south Asian men calling Kamala Harris hateful slurs, others saying women needed to just shut up and listen to men. I saw working men showing off their jackets with artistic renderings of Trump as bullfighter slaying the deep state dragon. What I mainly heard and felt was grievance.I've always thought America was a mean place. And what I mean by that is that it's structured for meanness. It's a place of winners and losers, people who matter and those who can be disposed of, a country built on violent theft of Indigenous lands and hundreds of years of enslavement of millions of Black people. It's a place where when a person rises in status, they show it off to those who have less, rather than bringing them along. Where the rich and famous flaunt their wealth and clothes and fabulous lives every single day, and watching is a national past time. A place where most people get lost or abandoned, forgotten or judged. Where an ambitious few can turn that suffering into gold, but most get swallowed in self-hatred and despair. Continue reading...

Presidential candidate defended rally and told reporters 'the love in that room, it was breathtaking'. The six-hour rally has been heavily condemned for racist remarks after the first speaker described Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage

Unknown artist who made bronze piece of feces to honor' January 6 rioters appears to be behind new statueThe unknown artist or artists who fashioned a swirled bronze piece of feces on a replica of the former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk - and placed it on the National Mall recently - appear to have struck again.This time, the artistic-political commentary is focused not on the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack carried out by Donald Trump supporters, when a participant did indeed defecate on Pelosi's desk. Instead, the display satirically evokes the notorious white nationalist Unite the Right tiki torch parade through Charlottesville's University of Virginia campus in August 2017, with some marchers chanting: Jews will not replace us". Continue reading...

Polls show US voters unhappy about the economy, their top election concern. How would the presidential candidates address economic issues such as cost of living and labor?The economy looms large over next month's presidential election as tens of millions of Americans begin casting their votes.Employers are hiring and inflation is fading but consumers are still counting the cost of years of soaring prices. Polls show voters of all persuasions remain unhappy about the state of the economy.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Ex-president also says worst gang members' are entering US, and hinted at transgender operations all over the place'

Thanks to reader support, the Guardian is free from the political and commercial pressures that influence other US outlets. Please help us raise the $2m we need to keep up our momentum.The Guardian is unafraid. And it's independent. (No billionaire bosses.) In this media climate, those qualities are as rare as they are crucial to good journalism.Good journalism is also crucial to the informed citizens we need for a functioning democracy. From too many legacy media outlets based in the US we're getting something else entirely: horse race coverage, scraped-up and reheated scandals of little significance, credulous repeating of claims, polite evasions about the threats and crimes of the right, and what's been dubbed sanewashing": the translation of the luridly loopy utterances of Donald Trump and his minions into coherent-sounding policy statements. And now we're seeing billionaire owners of major papers suppress their own editorial department's endorsements.If you are able, please support the Guardian today. Thank you for helping protect the free press.

Amanda Gallagher was taking pictures of skydivers when she inadvertently stepped back into a spinning propellerA photographer was killed after inadvertently walking into a spinning airplane propeller while taking pictures in Kansas.Amanda Gallagher, 37, was on a work assignment on Saturday capturing pictures of skydivers getting on and off planes in the town of Derby - less than 15 miles from Wichita - when she stepped back into the propeller of a plane that was stationary yet still running. Continue reading...

The longtime Trump ally had just been released from prison after serving four months for contempt of CongressSteve Bannon, a longtime Donald Trump ally who orchestrated his successful 2016 presidential campaign, was just hours out of federal prison when he returned to peddling unfounded conspiracy theories, urging supporters to make sure Democrats cannot steal the election".Bannon, who early on Tuesday morning completed a four-month sentence in Danbury, Connecticut, for flouting a congressional subpoena in an investigation of the January 6 US Capitol attack, fanned the flames of electoral unease on his first War Room podcast post-release. Continue reading...