In disjointed Washington speech, nominee tells audience low numbers are because of the Democrat curse on you'Donald Trump has complained bitterly to Jewish donors that a majority of Jews vote against him in US presidential elections, suggesting that the Democratic party has a curse on you".The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks during a speech on Thursday at the Israeli-American Council national summit in Washington, where he used hyperbolic language to warn that victory for his opponent Kamala Harris would result in Israel being wiped off the map. Continue reading...
Yes, I'm talking about silly clips - but if people think entirely staged pranks are real then I fear for us allWith advances in technology including AI and ChatGPT, and increasingly realistic fake images everywhere, media literacy is diving towards an all-time low. There are many areas where a lack of critical thinking has had and will have devastating effects on society. I'm here to talk about something that is not as serious but that does have one daily impact - annoying me.It happens when I'm scrolling TikTok, or X, or Instagram (or one of the many other apps I use to make sure my brain is never alone with itself), and the algorithm serves me up a video it thinks I'll like. It will be a video that lots of other people have watched, liked and commented on with a series of crying laughing emojis, or LMFAO" or omg so funny". So with this forward sizzle, I click, excited and open-hearted, ready to laugh. Continue reading...
Springfield mayor Rob Rue says the order will allow city officials to acquire resources to address potential threats'The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, has issued an emergency proclamation following the continued rise in public safety threats over false rightwing rumors about the city's migrant communities.On Thursday, Rob Rue released a statement, saying: Ensuring the safety of Springfield's residents is our top priority." He added: We are addressing these threats with the seriousness they warrant and are taking immediate steps to ensure the security of both our community and our employees. Our commitment to preventing harm is unwavering." Continue reading...
Six Rankin county officers known as Goon Squad' were convicted for hours-long attack involving racial slursThe US Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff's department whose officers tortured two Black men in a racist attack that included beatings, repeated use of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth, officials said Thursday.The justice department will investigate whether the Rankin county sheriff's department has engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force and unlawful stops, searches and arrests, and whether it has used racially discriminatory policing practices, according to assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke. Continue reading...
Fred and Sheila McCoy to receive $25,000 reward for locating remains near highway where gunman opened fireA retired couple who decided to become bounty hunters for the week found the body that authorities believe to be the shooter who attacked people on an interstate highway and then disappeared, it emerged on Thursday.After the shooter fled, leaving a Kentucky community scared and on guard, Fred and Sheila McCoy decided to plunge into rugged terrain in search of what was widely anticipated to be the gunman's remains, as law enforcement were also searching. Continue reading...
State's lieutenant governor Mark Robinson used description on pornography website, CNN reportsNorth Carolina's Republican gubernatorial nominee, Mark Robinson, referred to himself as a black NAZI!" on a pornography website's message board, according to a new CNN report about the current lieutenant governor who has already been marked by scandal and controversial comments.According to CNN's reporting, Robinson referred to himself as a perv" in archived messages because he enjoyed watching transgender pornography". The messages were made between 2008 and 2012 on Nude Africa", a pornographic website that includes a message board. Continue reading...
Schumer moves towards vote on government funding extension after Mike Johnson's package fails to passThe Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, on Thursday took a procedural step toward setting up a vote next week on a government funding extension as the House scrambles to avert a shutdown starting on 1 October.Schumer's move comes a day after the Republican-led House rejected a proposal by the speaker, Mike Johnson, that would have linked a six-month stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, with a controversial measure backed by conservatives mandating that states require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Continue reading...
No one was injured in Bedford escapade but child reportedly told officers she struck a mailbox' on her tripAn eight-year-old girl in Ohio took her mother's car and drove for more than 20 minutes along busy roads to get to a local Target store - where she promptly went shopping.The drama unfolded when Bedford police got a missing-child call that was followed up by another call concerning a small child driving east on Rockside Road", local TV station WJW reported. Continue reading...
Intimidating looking but relatively harmless arachnids native to east Asia spread across US north-eastThe invasive joro spider has been spotted for the first time in Pennsylvania.Six of the giant, colorful spiders, which were already spreading across north-east states including New York and New Jersey, were seen in the yard of a home in Bucks county on 5 September, according to the interactive tracking system JoroWatch. A state entomologist then visited to confirm the location and identification. Continue reading...
In response to a call-out, I was inundated with moving messages from dads about how much they loved their baby slingsThis week's viral paternity-leave campaign stunt, placing baby dolls in slings on statues of men such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thierry Henry in London, has got me thinking about shifting perceptions of fatherhood. Like the Pregnant Then Screwed campaign, which utilised Antony Gormley's iron men of Crosby beach, Merseyside, in a similar fashion, the message relies on a subversion. We are not used to seeing representations of masculinity like this in our culture. In our minds, great men - at least historically - do not wear their babies, even if the men we love do. Perceptions are changing, but I wonder how long it will be until we see a male MP with an infant attached to him in parliament, as Stella Creasy was reprimanded for doing in 2021.It has been six years since Piers Morgan lamented seeing Daniel Craig with his baby in a carrier, and Morgan seemed like a dinosaur even then. These days, it is a common sight, and baby-wearing celebrities from John Legend to Gordon Ramsay abound. Humans have been using the materials around them to secure infants to their bodies for thousands of years, and in many cultures have continued to do so, but it's only in the latter half of the 20th century that the practice has become increasingly normalised in western countries (BabyBjorn launched its first carrier in 1973) - and even more recently when it comes to men. Continue reading...
FAA looking into incident in which Boeing 737-900 had to make emergency landing due to cabin pressure issuesThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a Delta Air Lines flight after pressurization issues caused some passengers to say they suffered ruptured eardrums and nosebleeds and forced the plane to turn around.On Sunday, the flight, a Boeing 737-900, was traveling from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Portland, Oregon, when it was forced to make an emergency landing back in Salt Lake City due to pressurization issues. Continue reading...
Republican-controlled ballot board approved the unclear language for measure about boundary-drawing commissionOhio voters will see misleading language when they go to vote on an anti-gerrymandering proposal this fall after the state supreme court greenlit the deceptive wording written by Republicans.The Republican-controlled Ohio ballot board approved the language on Wednesday in a 3-2 party-line vote, two days after the Republican-led state supreme court voted 4-3 to correct various defects the justices found in what the board had already passed. The court's ruling, however, did not require the ballot board to rewrite some of the most significant portions of the amendment. Continue reading...
The European Commission president's new team reflects her ruthlessness in crushing critics, rewarding loyalty and showing who is the bossWith six executive vice-presidents balancing political families, geography and gender, Ursula von der Leyen has cemented her personal power in her second term as European Commission president while subtly tilting the EU executive to the right politically and to the east geographically.The new 27-member commission unveiled on Tuesday illustrates her commitment to making the European economy greener, more competitive and more secure, and her ruthlessness in wielding power to crush critics, reward loyalty and punish those who do not cooperate with her. Her eviction of the powerful French industry commissioner Thierry Breton, who had criticised her personal governance style, and the demotion of Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi to the health and animal welfare job in a snub to the nationalist Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, illustrate her determination to show who is the boss. Continue reading...
Brian Jeffrey Raymond of California was found guilty of drugging and raping women in his government apartmentsA former CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced.Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, drugged more than two dozen women and performed nonconsensual sexual acts or made sexual contact with at least 10 women, the justice department said in a press release. Continue reading...
The head coach was supposed to bring a wave of fresh thinking to Denver. But he is losing games and confusing his young quarterbackIt was only last season that Sean Payton rocked up in Denver and set a blowtorch to everything that came before, labelling Nathaniel Hackett's spell in charge of the Broncos one of the worst coaching jobs" in NFL history. It would be nice to know where he thinks his first two games of this season stack up in the rankings.The Broncos have started the season 0-2. Push the timeline back further and Denver have only won two of their last eight games, with both wins coming over a team quarterbacked by Easton Stick. Through two weeks this season, the Broncos' offense has laid an egg in four out of eight quarters. Payton, once at the vanguard of offensive football, looks someone out of ideas - or at least out of time. His offense is stuck in 2013, and is led by a rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, who looks in over his head. The advanced metrics this season put Denver's offense ahead of only the awful Carolina Panthers, a team who benched their quarterback this week, in part, because they are worried he has trouble seeing over the line of scrimmage. Continue reading...
Ken Wilson had been trying to conserve electricity in order to lower his utility bill, but it was still stubbornly highA California man has realised that he has inadvertently been paying his neighbor's electricity bill - for at least the last 15 years.Ken Wilson, who lives in Vacaville between Sacramento and San Francisco, had been worried that his bill was higher than other people's, which did not make sense to him because he often sought to save power, he told local TV station KMAX/KOVR. Continue reading...
The kids, parents and chaperones were on a school field trip when a wagon overturned, critically injuring threeAbout 25 children and adults were injured on Wednesday when a wagon carrying them overturned at a western Wisconsin apple orchard.The children, parents and chaperones were on a field trip to the orchard in Lafayette when one of two wagons being pulled by a tractor turned sideways and rolled over, the Chippewa county sheriff, Travis Hakes, told reporters. Continue reading...
Kahawa 1893 prioritizes small producers and premium beans, while also offering consumers a virtual pot' to support its suppliersWhen she was a child growing up in Kenya, Margaret Nyamumbo learned about a custom that took place on her grandfather's coffee farm: every few weeks, the women who worked there would gather around a table and drop money into a large pot. Anyone who had contributed had the right to later retrieve funds in the form of a small loan.This so-called table banking" system, which is a custom in Kenya, helped women involved in the coffee trade support one another. Kenyan women, who historically are denied land ownership and therefore the ability to take out loans, provide 90% of labor on coffee farms but own just 1% of the land. Continue reading...
George Papadopoulos and others involved in Intelligencer, increasingly popular source of news in rightwing circlesAmid the recent crackdown on Russian influence in American media, a group of former Trump advisers and operatives have quietly helped build a pro-Russian website that frequently spreads debunked conspiracy theories about the war in Ukraine, election fraud and vaccines.Working alongside contributors for Kremlin state media, the former Donald Trump policy aide George Papadopoulos, his wife, Simona Mangiante, and others have become editorial board members of the website Intelligencer, which is increasingly becoming a source of news for those in the rightwing ecosystem. Continue reading...
The energy drink with 200mg of caffeine per can has gained a cult following in the US due to its wellness-coded imageOn Dakota Johnson's first day on set to film her directorial debut Loser Baby, she grabbed a can of Celsius and started drinking. She said she spent much of the rest of the shoot with a Celsius in her hand. She recalled feeling exhilarated, and though she also found it hard to sleep, surely that was just inspiration from the creative process flowing through her body.Then her costume designer let her in on a secret: Celsius is an energy drink that contains 200mg of caffeine per can. That's why she was staying awake all night. Continue reading...
The vice-presidential candidate seems to feel no remorse about spreading dangerous misinformation that has put lives at riskThere was a moment when JD Vance could have turned back from the story.After the vice-presidential candidate posted on social media about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets - based on the flimsiest of supposed evidence - a Vance staffer checked it out.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he hopes his wife, Melania, wrote 'good things' about him in her forthcoming memoir, which is set to be published in September. At a campaign rally in Uniondale, New York, Trump encouraged the audience to 'go out and buy the book'.'And if she says bad things about me I'll call you all up and say don't buy it,' he added
Joe Biden jokingly asked Jessica Alba for a job during an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House on Wednesday. 'Can you get me a job?' the US president asked as he spoke about the actor and entrepreneur's achievements on stage. Biden withdrew from the race for the US presidency in July, just four months before the November election against Donald Trump after pressure from the Democratic party Continue reading...
Concern around Tua Tagovailoa's health is understandable. But quitting football means athletes must confront life without a sport often crucial to their identityFootball is one of the most violent sports in the world - a fact that is both its downfall and allure. As players, we are acutely aware of the risks we take every time we step on to the field. And if we aren't, it's often a chosen ignorance, a conscious decision to embrace the reckless freedom that the sport demands. I don't know a single teammate from my career in the NFL or college who doesn't suffer daily pain from their playing days. Yet, that pain often brings back memories of treasured moments - the locker room camaraderie, the weight room grind and the battles on the field. In the NFL, these injuries can feel like medals of honor, testaments to having survived a game that those who have not played it cannot truly fathom. Despite the suffering, most of us continue to play the game we love while we still can, accepting the consequences of the life we've chosen. Few regret it, though some do. And tragically, some lose their lives too soon because of it. But what happens when the risk finally outweighs the reward?The recent discussion around the health of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have reopened a familiar debate: when is it time for a player to walk away? After his third documented concussion in two years, many in the football world urged Tua to retire, to shut it down". People point out that he has already made $73m - enough to set up the 26-year-old and his family for life. Why risk his health for a job that could kill him? But walking away isn't a simple choice; it's a deeply personal reckoning that goes beyond the physical.RK Russell is a former NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.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...
Hawaii's Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, is again erupting in a remote area of the Hawaii Volcanoes national park. The eruption began in the volcano's east rift zone on Monday and continued within the Napau crater on Thursday. Geologists conducted an aerial assessment to document the eruption. Kilauea is Hawaii's second largest volcano and last erupted in June Continue reading...
A new book from Columbia University professor Frank Andre Guridy examines the successful repurposing of the US sports stadium into a hub of American public lifeFifty-two years ago last month, 100,000 Black Angelenos gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Although the historic stadium had long served as a venue for many of the city's sports teams, that wasn't the draw on 20 August 1972. Rather, it was Wattstax 72, a celebration of Black culture meant to channel positivity and pride in a community devastated by the Watts riots of 1965 and mourning the assassination of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr in 1968.The Rev Jesse Jackson was an emcee, touting co-sponsor Schlitz Brewing Company's initiative for Black jobs and urging the audience that no matter how impoverished they were, they should remember the motto I am Somebody". The police were not asked to maintain order - the organizers managed things themselves. One member of the talented lineup of performing artists, Prince of Dance" Rufus Thomas, led attendees in a spontaneous on-field rendition of the Funky Chicken. (Many of the stars, including Thomas, had ties to co-sponsor Stax Records.) Afterward, one crowd member disobeyed a request to get off the field - until Thomas persuaded spectators to act as an escort. Overall, it was a successful repurposing of a sports stadium into a public square - a phenomenon that Columbia University history and African American studies professor Frank Andre Guridy further explores in his new book, The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play. Continue reading...
Despite Americans paying nearly double that of other nations, the US fares poorly in list of 10 countriesThe United States health system ranked dead last in an international comparison of 10 peer nations, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund.In spite of Americans paying nearly double that of other countries, the system performed poorly on health equity, access to care and outcomes. Continue reading...
If Trump and Vance can't take responsibility for their actions now, why would they take responsibility for the country later?During his debate with Kamala Harris on 10 September, Donald Trump proffered the outrageous lie that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating residents' pets. He wasn't alone in promoting this little bigoted nugget, either. Earlier that day on X, formerly known as Twitter, JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice-president, had already pushed the idea that Springfield's residents have had their pets abducted and eaten" by Haitian illegal immigrants".Vance subsequently tripled down on the falsehood, even later admitting to CNN: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." Continue reading...
by Ed Pilkington in Uniondale, New York on (#6QV8Z)
The former president claimed God saved his life twice and vowed to win in New York despite polls suggesting otherwiseDonald Trump on Wednesday night staged his first rally since he became the target of a second attempted assassination in as many months, telling his supporters in a sports venue outside New York City that what he called these encounters with death" had only hardened him.God has now spared my life. It must have been God, not once, but twice," Trump said to loud cheers from the ecstatic crowd. Continue reading...
After nearly two-week search, police think they found body of Joseph Couch, man suspected of wounding five peopleA body found in rural south-eastern Kentucky is believed to be the man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on an interstate highway, authorities said Wednesday night.Kentucky state police commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr said at a news briefing that the body discovered earlier in the day is believed to be Joseph Couch, of Woodbine. Authorities hoped the discovery would end an intense, nearly two-week search that had area residents on edge. Continue reading...
by Helen Sullivan (now); with Lois Beckett ,Chris Ste on (#6QTE1)
This blog is closed. You can find the latest election coverage here.The US is still not prepared for inevitable Russian attacks on its elections, the former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in 2016 and links between Donald Trump and Moscow, warns in a new book.It is ... evident that Americans have not learned the lessons of Russia's attack on our democracy in 2016," Mueller writes in a preface to Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia and the Mueller Investigation by Aaron Zebley, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein, prosecutors who worked for Mueller from 2017 to 2019.As we detailed in our report, the evidence was clear that the Russian government engaged in multiple, systematic attacks designed to undermine our democracy and favor one candidate over the other." Continue reading...
Body of Javion Magee, 21, discovered under tree in North Carolina last week as authorities say no sign of foul playThe family of a Black man found dead in North Carolina with a rope around his neck under a tree are demanding answers and transparency from authorities, who say there were no signs of foul play.The Vance county sheriff's office, meanwhile, issued a statement on Wednesday saying an examination by the North Carolina chief medical examiner's office has determined that there were no defensive wounds or signs of physical or sexual assault. Full autopsy results, including a determination on cause of death and toxicology, were still pending. Continue reading...
Contentious package championed by Mike Johnson voted down 202-220 with potential stoppage looming 1 OctoberA government funding package championed by Republican House speaker Mike Johnson failed to pass on Wednesday, with less than two weeks left to prevent a shutdown starting 1 October.The final vote was 202 to 220, with 14 House Republicans and all but three House Democrats opposing the bill. Two Republican members voted present". Continue reading...
Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana accuses thinktank director of supporting Hamas in heated hate crime hearingA congressional hearing on hate crimes drew charges of the bigotry it was meant to address after a Republican senator told the female Muslim head of a thinktank to hide your head in a bag" and accused her of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.John Kennedy, the GOP senator for Louisiana, drew condemnation from Democrats as well as Muslim, Jewish and civil liberties groups for the remark, aimed at Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, at a hearing staged by the Senate judiciary committee. Continue reading...
New allegations against disgraced film mogul, currently jailed in New York, not related to his overturned convictionHarvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act. Continue reading...
Two University of California professors also included in charges of failing to disperse after demonstrations in springProsecutors in southern California have charged 10 people, including two professors, with failing to disperse during a pro-Palestinian protest last spring at the University of California, Irvine, that led to a clash with police, officials said Wednesday.The Orange county district attorney's office said those charged included two UCI professors and four students. All are due to appear in court on 16 October to be arraigned on misdemeanor charges, the office said. Continue reading...
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