Murder charge in Los Angeles against teenage son of acclaimed photojournalist, praised for shining a spotlight on siege of Sarajevo'The British photojournalist Paul Lowe has been fatally stabbed on a hiking trail in California and his teenage son arrested for murder, according to police.Lowe, who covered conflicts including the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, was found dead on 12 October in the San Gabriel mountains. Continue reading...
The Democratic nominee is turning her attention to Black men - but her insistence that we can do it all' is undercut by realityAs we enter the final 21 days of the 2024 presidential election, the euphoric sheen from the summer's Kamala is Brat" phenomenon, which resonated with large swaths of gen Z voters, has waned. The Harris campaign is scrambling to communicate its case for selection at the polls, with the vice-president hurriedly pushing out platforms that address lingering skepticism amongst various demographic groups. On Tuesday night, during a broadcast conversation with the radio host Charlamagne tha God, Harris turned her attention to Black men.Harris's concern is not completely unfounded - several notable Black male celebrities, such as the rapper 50 Cent and the sports personality Stephen A Smith, have expressed their receptiveness to the Trump campaign. On the aggregate, there has been a dip in support: a New York Times/Siena College poll of likely Black voters reported that 78% of all Black voters expressed an interest in voting for Harris, which would be a significantly smaller turnout than the 90% of Black people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020. The most pronounced drop comes from Black men, 85% of whom turned out for the US president in the last election and just 70% of whom now say they would vote for Harris. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins, Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin on (#6RGCP)
Beijing does not see there being much difference between a Democratic- or Republican-controlled White HouseDeciphering the obscure machinations of elite politics is a pursuit that western China-watchers are all too familiar with. But as the US election approaches, it is analysts in China who are struggling to read the tea leaves on what differentiates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump when it comes to their stance on the US's biggest geopolitical rival.Commentators are calling it the vibes election. For Beijing, despite the cheers and whoops of Harris's campaign, her vibes are largely similar to Trump's.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...
Travis Gienger, a horticulture teacher, retained his title, though he fell short of the world record he set last yearA Minnesota horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion on Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in northern California, where his massive gourds have won the top prize four years in a row.Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, beat his closest competitor by 6lbs (2.7kg) to clinch the victory at the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco. Continue reading...
Deaths occurred on consecutive days in Tennessee and Minnesota as children were struck by vehiclesTwo boys recently died at separate Halloween-themed haunted hayride attractions in tractor accidents, authorities said.The first boy died about 10.45 pm on 11 October at the Haunted Hilltop Halloween event in Hamilton county, Tennessee. A group of children at the event were playing near a path through which hay ride tractors drove, the Hamilton county sheriff's department said. Continue reading...
Snake appears in top of fifth inning of Dodger v New York Mets game before being wrapped in towel and removedA snake slithered through the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout during game two of the National League Championship Series on Monday.The reptile appeared in the top of the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 7-3 loss to the New York Mets. It wasn't big enough to put a scare into anyone. Continue reading...
US policy in effect from 1994 to 2011 removed thousands of LGBTQ+ service members, many less than honorablyNearly all US service members who were forcibly separated from the military when the don't ask, don't tell" policy was in place have now been honorably discharged, defense department officials announced on Tuesday.The policy, which went into effect on 28 February 1994 during then president Bill Clinton's administration, barred service members from being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual - otherwise legally defined as those with a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts". Under the policy, other service members were also not allowed to ask each other about their sexual orientation. Continue reading...
A private letter from Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin to Benjamin Netanyahu gives Israel 30 days to actThe Biden administration has warned Israel that it faces possible punishment, including the potential stopping of US weapons transfers, if it does not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into Gaza.A letter written jointly by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, exhorts Benjamin Netanyahu's government to ease humanitarian suffering in the territory by lifting restrictions on the entry of assistance within 30 days or face unspecified policy implications". Continue reading...
In 2020, nine bodies were found near US-Mexico border. In the first eight months of 2024, there were 108.Ten times as many migrants died in New Mexico near the US-Mexico border in each of the last two years compared with just five years ago.During the first eight months of 2024, the bodies of 108 presumed migrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, were found near the border in New Mexico, according to the most recent data. Many of the bodies were discovered less than 10 miles (16km) from El Paso. Continue reading...
CNN report said North Carolina candidate for governor made explicit posts on website's message boardMark Robinson, North Carolina's lieutenant governor, announced a lawsuit Tuesday against CNN over its recent report alleging he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website's message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory.The lawsuit, filed in Wake county superior court, comes less than four weeks after a television report that led many fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson's gubernatorial campaign. Robinson announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Raleigh. Continue reading...
Ruling beats back a lawsuit by a Republican election board member linked to an election denialist organizationElection certification is a mandatory duty, not discretionary, for county election officials in Georgia, a judge ruled on Tuesday, rejecting assertions made by a Republican elections official that elections board members could refuse to certify an election based on their suspicions of fraud or error.Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton county board of registration and elections, brought the suit earlier this year after abstaining from a vote to certify the May primary election. The America First Policy Institute, a legal thinktank that was formed by former Donald Trump advisers in the wake of Trump's 2020 election loss to help lay legal groundwork for his potential return to office, joined the suit. Continue reading...
Bao Li and Qing Bao head to National Zoo quelling fears that diplomatic strains could threaten popular panda programThe US National Zoo's long dark panda drought seems to be coming to an end.Eleven months after the zoo in Washington DC sent its three wildly popular pandas - Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji - back to China, a new pair of bears arrived in the US. Continue reading...
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with itOver the past year, Israel has launched attacks on multiple countries and occupied territories: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.Yet countries and territories aside, Israel has also targeted one specific organization with a series of unprecedented rhetorical and violent attacks.Israel's prime minister, while standing on stage at the UN general assembly, denounced the body as contemptible", a house of darkness" and a swamp of antisemitic bile".Israel's outgoing ambassador to the UN shredded a copy of the UN charter with a miniature paper shredder while also standing at the podium of the general assembly, and later said the UN headquarters in New York should be closed and wiped off the face of the Earth".Israel's foreign minister falsely accused the UN secretary general of not having condemned Iran's attacks on Israel, declared him persona non grata in Israel" and announced that he had banned him from entering the country".The Israeli government actively obstructed a UN-mandated commission of inquiry trying to collect evidence on the 7 October attacks.Israel's parliament is in the process of designating a longstanding UN agency, Unrwa, as a terrorist organization".The Israeli military has bombed UN schools, warehouses and refugee camps in Gaza for 12 consecutive months, and killed a record 228 UN employees in the process. By far the highest number of our personnel killed in a single conflict or natural disaster since the creation of the United Nations," to quote the UN secretary general.The Israeli military is now also attacking UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. According to the UN, five UN Blue Helmets' serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon have been injured as Israeli forces inflicted damage on UN positions close to the Blue Line'."Mehdi Hasan is the CEO and editor-in-chief of the new media compay Zeteo Continue reading...
Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, allege 100% negligence' as they consider lawsuit for damagesTwo men who survived being shot during the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump in July at a rally in support of the former president say the US Secret Service failed them as well as the Republican White House nominee.The remarks from Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, came on Monday to NBC News in their first public interview since the shooting in Pennsylvania, which also killed one spectator and injured Trump's ear before a Secret Service sniper shot the would-be assassin dead. Continue reading...
William Jacob Parsons accused of going armed to the terror of the public' as Hurricane Helene relief workers targetedA man accused of threatening violence against Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) workers responding to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina has been arrested, according to authorities.William Jacob Parsons, 44, faces a charge of going armed to the terror of the public" after his arrest in Rutherford county, the local sheriff's office said in a news release on Monday. Continue reading...
The latest survey shows the presidential candidates are neck and neck. But a trip around my neighbourhood suggests good news for Harris and possibly for giant meteorsPolls! What are they good for? Absolutely nothing, except for driving yourself bonkers. Oh look: Donald Trump is up by two points. Wait, it looks like Kamala Harris is up by five points. Yikes, now Trump is up by one-nineteenth of a point. Now, according to a much discussed NBC News poll that came out on Sunday, Trump and Harris are neck and neck.As the US election draws closer, I have developed a severe case of poll-tigue. Can we just give the damn things a rest already? As we all know, polling is an inexact science at the best of times. More importantly, pretty much all the results of recent Trump-Harris polls have been within the margin of error. The fact that this new poll shows Harris tied with Trump (within the margin of error) while a poll in September showed that Harris was leading Trump (also within the margin of error) might signal that the Harris honeymoon is officially over, but ultimately, it's not that big a deal. You can scrutinise the numbers ad infinitum, but when it comes down to it, the truth is that nobody knows what is going to happen in November other than it's (probably) going to be very close. Polls are basically astrology for political nerds at this point. Continue reading...
The River Arts District attracted artists with cheap rents. With buildings flattened, the community fears a land grabThe arts community in Asheville, North Carolina, is piecing itself together in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.In the River Arts District, artwork was destroyed, and the buildings that once housed studios and galleries are mud-caked or crumbling. As they face the immediate challenge of survival, the community now wonders if what it once had can ever be rebuilt from the ground up. Continue reading...
The far-right activist's Manifesto briefly topped the website's chart. It is gone now, but the comments make for worrying readingIt's always tempting to self-soothe when the far right is on the march. Tommy Robinson's new book, Manifesto: Free Speech, Real Democracy, Peaceful Disobedience, briefly topped Amazon's bestseller chart last week - above Boris Johnson's memoir, but also above Richard Osman, the fastest-selling hardback fiction author in British history, and Sally Rooney. Oh well, I thought. Maybe the book itself is not that bad? Maybe he's turned over a new leaf?It is that bad: I will not read it, because I will not buy it, because the day I put 24.99 or any fraction thereof into the pocket of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is the day I've parted company with the material world. But here's how it is described in the blurb: For decades the political class have openly planned to replace the indigenous people of Europe and in Manifesto we focus on how they are doing this in the UK."Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
It's still early in the No 1 overall pick's career but he is already showing the savvy and command of an NFL veteranOn the flight from Chicago to London for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams carried the hopes of an entire fanbase - not to mention the burden of a 75-year quarterback curse unparalleled in pro football history.Evidently, Williams left any baggage on the plane. In a 35-16 domination of the Jaguars, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, a passer rating of 124.4, a Completion Rate Over Expected of +12.5% (only Lamar Jackson was better on Sunday at +14.1%), and a Passing EPA of +14.6 (behind only Jared Goff and Jordan Love). Continue reading...
Ex-House speaker also says on Guardian podcast that she thinks Trump is a grotesque word' and rarely says his nameNancy Pelosi has admitted she still has not spoken to Joe Biden since her crucial intervention in July led to his decision to drop out of the presidential race, following a disastrously frail performance in a debate against Donald Trump.The former speaker of the House told the Guardian's Jonathan Freedland on the Politics Weekly America podcast that although she continues to regard the US president as a great friend and longtime political ally, she felt a cold political calculation was necessary after the evidence of Biden's failing mental acuity. Continue reading...
Kamala Harris spoke at a rally in Pennsylvania, warning her supporters about Donald Trump's comments, after the Republican nominee said the military or national guard should be deployed against opponents whom he called 'the enemy within' when the election takes place on 5 November. 'A second Trump term would be a huge risk for America, and dangerous. Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged,' Harris told the crowd in Erie, Pennsylvania, after playing a clip of Trump's comments
by Robert Tait in Washington DC, and Reuters on (#6RFBE)
At a Pennsylvania rally, the vice-president focused on Trump's threat to use armed forces against his adversariesKamala Harris has said a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America", in a renewed effort to paint her Republican opponent as a threat to democracy, after the former president threatened to use US armed forces against those he has branded the enemy within".At her own campaign rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the US vice-president showed a montage of clips of Trump, including the former president saying those people are more dangerous - the enemy from within - than Russia." Continue reading...
by Helen Sullivan (now); with Cecilia Nowell andHayde on (#6REVH)
This blog is closed now, thanks for following along. You can read our US elections coverage here.Three polls released yesterday show the candidates locked in a close battle for the White House.A New York Times poll found that Harris is underperforming the last three Democratic candidates for the White House among Latino voters. Continue reading...
Ledbetter sued employer Goodyear in 1998 after finding out she was paid $6,500 less than lowest-paid male supervisorLilly Ledbetter, an equal pay advocate whose lawsuit against her employer inspired the Fair Pay Act of 2009, died Saturday in Alabama at age 86.Ledbetter died of respiratory failure, according to a statement from her family provided to the Alabama news organization Al.com. Continue reading...
Hundreds partake in demonstration, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, against Israeli attacks on Gaza and LebanonNew York City police arrested numerous pro-Gaza protesters outside the New York Stock Exchange on Monday after a demonstration highlighting Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.Demonstrators voiced chants such as Let Gaza live!" and Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!" and managed to get inside a security fence outside the exchange on Broad Street in downtown Manhattan. Continue reading...
Sit-down with rightwing broadcaster comes as Democrats try to reach swing voters as they continue media blitzKamala Harris will do a sit-down interview with the broadcaster Fox News on Wednesday, the news channel announced on Monday, in the most dramatic moment yet in a recent media blitz by the Democratic presidential nominee.The interview with Fox News's chief political anchor, Bret Baier, comes as Democrats have increased their presence on Fox News, part of an outreach to undecided voters and after CBS News's 60 Minutes became embroiled in a controversy when rightwing critics have said they edited an interview to make Harris appear more succinct. Continue reading...
Democrats condemn ex-president for saying armed forces should turn against enemy within' when voters go to pollsDonald Trump has provoked an angry backlash from Democrats after calling for the US armed forces to be turned against his political adversaries when voters go to the polls at next month's presidential election.In comments that added further fuel to fears of an authoritarian crackdown if he recaptures the White House, the Republican nominee said the military or national guard should be deployed against opponents that he called the enemy within" when the election takes place on 5 November. Continue reading...
Wan Yee Ng was arrested in June with a bag of 29 turtles as she prepared to paddle across Lake Wallace, affidavit saysA woman who wanted to smuggle turtles across a lake and into Canada by hiding the creatures using socks in a duffle bag has pleaded guilty to a smuggling charge.Wan Yee Ng was arrested in June in Vermont as she was about to enter an inflatable kayak with the bag of 29 eastern box turtles and paddle across Lake Wallace to the border with Canada, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. Continue reading...
Plan includes loan program and apprenticeships as worries grow that some Black voters aren't excited for Harris-WalzKamala Harris has revealed a plan to give Black men more economic opportunities, as anxiety mounts among her supporters that some in the Black community are less enthused by the Democratic presidential ticket than in recent elections, and may sit this one out - or support Donald Trump.The vice-president's plan includes forgivable business loans for Black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships, and studying sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African American men. It also includes ensuring that Black men have more access to shaping a national cannabis industry and to invest in cryptocurrency. Continue reading...
Retail chain pulls Snowed In' candle after critics argue it resembles white supremacist group's hoods and robesKu Klux Klan members light torches. Now, some say, Bath & Body Works provided them candles to light, too.The retail chain recently released a candle, labeled Snowed In", that critics argued resembled the hoods and robes worn by the white supremacist group. Continue reading...
Former president calls film about his rise in real estate in 1970s and 80s a politically disgusting hatchet job'Donald Trump railed against a just released biopic about his life in a social media screed early on Monday, calling it a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job" meant to thwart his presidential candidacy.The Apprentice portrays how Trump created his real estate empire under the tutelage of Roy Cohn, a notoriously cutthroat attorney and power-broker in 1970s and 1980s New York City, Intelligencer notes. Trump is played by the Marvel actor Sebastian Stan and Cohn by the Succession star Jeremy Strong. Continue reading...
by Stephen Starr in Hamtramck, Michigan on (#6RF2B)
Hamtramck, population 28,000, has new Trump campaign office weeks from election in hopes of gains in swing stateThat the Trump campaign would open an office in Hamtramck, a tiny city of around 28,000 people north of downtown Detroit, less than a month before the election, speaks to a particular curiosity of the 2024 presidential race.About 40% of Hamtramck's residents are of Middle Eastern or north African descent, 60% are believed to be Muslim Americans, and the city has an all-Muslim city council. Continue reading...
Officials say Snuga Swing was doomed to fail' and infants should never sleep in inclined seatsUS consumer safety officials announced recently they had ordered the recall of 2m Fisher-Price baby swings after they were linked to at least five infants' deaths and posed a suffocation risk.The product, the Snuga Swing, was doomed to fail" according to a commissioner with the US Product Safety Commission, which said infants should never sleep in inclined seats, such as swings, gliders and rockers. Continue reading...
Vem Miller denies local sheriff's allegation he was trying to kill Republican and says he is 100% a Trump supporter'A man arrested on gun possession charges near a Donald Trump rally in California on Saturday, spurring significant safety concerns, said that he was a major supporter of the former US president and would never harm him.Yes, I'm 100% a Trump supporter," the man, Vem Miller, told Fox News Digital in an interview. Miller, 49, denied the local sheriff's allegation that he was bringing weapons to Trump's event to kill him. Continue reading...
Hurricane Helene federal emergency workers told to evacuate Rutherford county, Washington Post reportsGovernment emergency workers in the US responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina were relocated over the weekend amid concerns that armed militia" could pose a threat to their safety.According to an email obtained by the Washington Post, a US Forest Service official sent out a message warning that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately". Continue reading...
Shasta residents voted out an anti-establishment leader in favor of a business owner who attends the enormously popular yet controversial Bethel churchThis is the third in a series of three stories on the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election in Shasta county, a region of 180,000 people in northern California that has emerged as a center of the election denial movement and hotbed for far-right politics. Read the first and second story.For years, an extremist far-right movement has worked to transform one of California's most conservative regions. Since gaining a majority on Shasta county's governing body, they have managed to spark an exodus of government workers, attempted to do away with the voting system and fought the state over policies pertaining to Covid-19 and the second amendment. Continue reading...
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