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Archbishop expresses sorrow in announcement to pay 1,353 people who alleged they were abused as children by priestsThe Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880m to 1,353 people who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests, in the largest settlement by a US diocese over decades-old abuse claims.Archbishop Jose H Gomez expressed sorrow for the abuse in announcing the settlement on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The vice-president Harris was grilled in a TV interview about the Biden administration's efforts to tackle an increase in illegal immigration at the southern border, and put the blame on Republicans for failing to pass a border bill. Harris also said her presidency 'would not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency', and she criticized Trump over his continuing threats against 'the enemy within'

Fulton judge invalidates seven new rules, including one that requires ballots be hand-counted after polls closeA Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the state election board are illegal, unconstitutional and void".Fulton county superior court judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention - one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results. Continue reading...

The Democratic candidate's first appearance on the conservative network formed part of a direct appeal to right-leaning votersFull report: Kamala Harris pledges break from Biden presidency in testy Fox News interviewKamala Harris faced a grilling on Fox News, with host Bret Baier pressing the vice-president on immigration, the economy and the Biden administration in a 30-minute interview on Wednesday night.The Democratic candidate's first appearance on the conservative network formed part of a direct appeal to right-leaning voters, after she was joined by more than 100 Republicans at a campaign event in Pennsylvania earlier in the day. Continue reading...

Genaro Garcia Luna was accused of taking millions of dollars from the Sinaloa cartel for shielding membersGenaro Garcia Luna, the official who for several years led Mexico's fight against the country's violent drug trade, was sentenced to more than 38 years in US prison for accepting bribes from the cartels he was supposed to fight.The US district judge Brian Cogan announced the sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

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Nominee says presidency would not be a continuation' of Biden's and condemns Trump for enemy within' commentsKamala Harris said her presidency would not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency" in a testy interview with the rightwing Fox News channel on Wednesday night as she criticized Donald Trump over his continuing threats against the enemy within".The 25-minute interview, conducted after Harris held a rally with more than 100 Republican officials in Pennsylvania, was the first time Harris had sat for a conversation with Fox News, which has been a consistent supporter of Trump. Continue reading...

Republican state official tried to remove more than 3,200 people from voter rolls on suspicion they were non-citizensAlabama cannot remove thousands of people from its voter rolls on the eve of the presidential election, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.The US district judge Anna Manasco, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued a preliminary injunction halting an effort by Alabama's top election official to try to remove more than 3,200 people from the voter rolls who it suspected of being non-citizens until at least after the presidential election. Continue reading...

Body camera video shows two Phoenix officers violently assaulting Tyron McAlpin, a deaf man with cerebral palsyPhoenix police are facing widespread criticism following the release of body camera footage that showed two white officers violently using a stun gun on and punching a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy.On Monday, attorneys for 34-year-old Tyron McAlpin, who has been charged with resisting arrest and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, released body camera footage of McAlpin's arrest on 19 August outside a Circle K convenience store in Phoenix, Arizona. Continue reading...

Justice department urged to investigate messages amid Republican attempt to clamp down on student votingThe League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has called on the Department of Justice to investigate text messages they say targeted and threatened to discourage young people from voting in the November election.The League of Women Voters says it initially learned of the alleged text campaign on 10 October, when the group received numerous complaints from voters who had received the text. Two people in their 20s who work with the League of Women Voters also received the message, which reads: WARNING: Violating WI Statutes 12.13 & 6.18 may result in fines up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison. Don't vote in a state where you're not eligible."

Paul Dans blames former boss Kevin Roberts for blueprint's downgrading after inflammatory interview

Highway patrol says carpool lanes are for ridesharing for living humans, not lifeless bony impostorsDrivers looking to beat California's endless traffic can use designated carpool lanes, provided they have others in their car. But there's one pesky requirement: those other people have to be alive.That was not the case for a driver stopped this weekend near San Jose for using a fake companion, police say. Riding in the passenger seat was a plastic skeleton. In an apparent effort to add to the illusion, the skeleton was wearing a mask with a giant mouth, reminiscent of the Scream films. Continue reading...

Statement does not reveal who ex-president voted for but he had said he wanted to live long enough to vote for HarrisJimmy Carter, the centenarian former Democratic president, has voted in the 2024 presidential election, his representatives confirmed on Wednesday.A statement from the Carter Center did not reveal who he voted for, but it is assumed the 100-year-old, who is in hospice care, cast his ballot for the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Robert Telles was convicted of stabbing Jeff German of Las Vegas Review-Journal who had written critical articlesA former Las Vegas official was sentenced to serve nearly three decades in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago and exposed an intimate relationship with a female co-worker.Judge Michelle Leavitt of the Clark county district court on Wednesday sentenced Robert Telles to serve at least 28 years for the September 2022 murder of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German. Continue reading...

Kamala Harris says exhaustion and boredom' leads his audience to slip away. Among the hundreds who quit a rally in Georgia this week were a variety of reasons

Shoshone national forest officials pause gruesome policy of exploding carcasses to minimize hazard during dry spellRangers in Wyoming's Shoshone national forest believe they have figured out how to mitigate an elevated risk of wildfires: they are no longer using explosives to blow up dead horses.The temporary pause in the seemingly bizarre and somewhat gruesome policy comes as a lengthy dry spell in the state's backcountry combines with hotter-than-usual temperatures, increasing the possibility of wildfires. Experts say drought and heat from the climate crisis is fueling a rise in extreme wildfires worldwide. Continue reading...

Republican candidate tells all-female audience in Georgia that Democrats are Marxists and communists and fascists'

There is something about hitting the road that makes me act as if it's my birthday or I'm on an arduous hike. I'm driven by forces I cannot fathomTim Spector, the doctor and diet bloke behind the Zoe nutrition app, has a lot to say about how different bodies process the food put into them in different ways. He comes out with some very clever stuff, as well as a smattering of the startlingly obvious. An example of the second is something he said at the Cheltenham literature festival, where he pointed out that drivers are prone to eating an awful lot of junk on long journeys. He says we don't need to stop for snacks at service stations every couple of hours.Perhaps he drove himself there, gave into temptation en route and felt as if he had let himself down. I know I have on the same journey, from west London. Oh, the opportunities to eat filth! Beaconsfield services for breakfast; Oxford services for elevenses; early lunch at that big filling station where the A40 takes its leave from the Oxford ring road; late lunch at some garage or other on the often tricky last 20 miles into Cheltenham. Crisps, nuts, pastries sweet and savoury, chocolate, sweets, the lot. Continue reading...

Alexander Mick died on Saturday in St Augusta and Samuel Jessen in Hamilton county, Tennessee, on FridayTwo boys have died in separate incidents involving Halloween tractor hayrides in Minnesota and Tennessee.According to a news release, the Stearns county sheriff's office in Minnesota received a call last Saturday about an accident in St Augusta at approximately 7.37pm. The incident occurred at the city's annual Harvest of Horror Haunted Hayride and involved a young boy who was injured when run over by a trolley wagon being pulled by a tractor. Continue reading...

The devastation wrought by Helene and Milton could shake up priorities and bring the climate crisis more to the foreDespite its enormous implications, the climate crisis has so far mostly been a dormant issue in the US presidential election. Some hope the devastation wrought in quick succession by two major hurricanes will shake up the priorities of American voters before a stark choice between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on polling day.Last month, Hurricane Helene became one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the US, killing more than 220 people and causing billions of dollars in damage as it tore a path northwards, through the key election swing states of Georgia and North Carolina. This was followed two weeks later by Hurricane Milton, which rampaged across Florida. Continue reading...

From 2023 until September 2024, the Republican National Committee and affiliates have filed or are involved in 72 cases - and what stands out is their subject matterNearly four years after waging an aggressive legal effort to overturn the 2020 elections, Republicans have filed a slew of lawsuits that appear to be aimed at seeding doubt about the outcome of the 2024 race in the event of a Donald Trump loss.From 2023 until September of this year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and local affiliates have filed or are involved in at least 72 cases, according to an analysis by Democracy Docket, a left-leaning voting rights news platform founded by the Democratic lawyer Marc Elias. At the same point during the 2022 midterm election, Republicans had filed 41 lawsuits. Continue reading...

Vice-president responds to suggestion by Charlamagne Tha God that Republican rival represents fascismKamala Harris has agreed that Donald Trump is a fascist in her most forthright statement yet in casting her presidential opponent as a potential autocrat harboring authoritarian visions should he return to the White House.The US vice-president and Democratic nominee crossed a psychologically important boundary in addressing the issue of fascism in an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, an influential radio host whose audience reaches a predominantly Black audience of 8 million listeners monthly. The talk happened during a campaign stop in Detroit, the centre of a battle between the two candidates for the battleground state of Michigan. Continue reading...

The future of American democracy depends on whether people believe they have a reason to vote this NovemberWe are mere weeks away from perhaps the most consequential election in American history. The good news, at least for your blood pressure, is that you can ignore the endless parade of horse-race polls. We already know everything we need to know about what will happen.First, we can be confident that, for the third time in a row, a majority of Americans will reject Donald Trump and the Maga agenda. Last month, I used high-quality voter file data to explain why it's almost certain that Kamala Harris, like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, will win the national vote. Continue reading...

State troopers found the dog abandoned with flood waters up to his chest, and he will now be adopted, officials sayFlorida officials have arrested the man who left his dog tied to a post in floodwaters ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall.Florida state troopers found the dog last week, abandoned on the side of Interstate-75 in Tampa with flood waters up to his chest. The Florida highway patrol shared a video at the time of the bodycam footage and a caption: Do NOT do this to your pets please ... " Continue reading...

Airline says it will have to cut passenger forecasts due to lack of planes, with Airbus also hit by production issues

It's a bit awkward: Charles and Camilla are expecting us to bring out the bunting. Instead, they'll meet with a wall of lazy republicanismIt's 25 years since Australia voted no" in a referendum to become a republic - but to suggest the negative 1999 result symbolised an enduring commitment to the values of monarchy would be a grave error.The nuances of this rejection should have been explained to whomever was responsible for planning King Charles III's royal visit this week. The British-born king of Australia, accompanied by Queen Camilla, is making his 17th trip to Australia, his first as king, with stops in Sydney and Canberra during the six-day visit.Van Badham is a Guardian Australia columnist Continue reading...

Judge Robert McBurney says hand-counting would cause chaos and delay election results, as early voting has startedA Georgia judge ruled on Tuesday against a new rule passed by the state election board's pro-Trump majority on the state election board that would have required poll workers to hand-count ballots.Judge Robert McBurney said that as early voting in Georgia has already begun, mandatory hand-counting would create chaos and delay the election results. Continue reading...

Over a dozen family members traveling to Los Angeles for news conference as prosecutors review new evidenceThe extended family of Erik and Lyle Menendez will advocate for the brothers' release from prison during a news conference set for Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles as prosecutors review new evidence to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents.Billed as a powerful show of unity" by more than a dozen family members - including the brothers' aunt - who are traveling across the country to Los Angeles, the news conference will take place less than two weeks after the LA county district attorney, George Gascon, announced his office was looking at the brothers' case again. Continue reading...

Donations poured in for Erika Diarte-Carr, a single mother, after a post announcing her death went viralA single mother from Utah, who was confronted with a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2022, managed to raise more than $1m in donations meant to help secure her children's future before she died over the weekend, according to her family.The story of Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, broke hearts across the US's digital landscape particularly after relatives announced her death Saturday in a social media post that went viral. Continue reading...

Study offers actions Biden can take after surge in child labor violations and warns protections may weaken under TrumpState governments across the US are taking steps to eliminate protections for minors as rates of child labor violations, injuries and chronic school absenteeism rise, according to a report released on Wednesday.The report by Governing for Impact, the Economic Policy Institute, and Child Labor Coalition proposes actions the Biden-Harris administration can take in response to a recent surge in child labor violations around the country and a trend of some states passing legislation that rolls back state-level child labor protections. Continue reading...

Unity has begun to crack over ex-president's support for Israel in its military operations across the Middle EastAs the presidential election season unfolds, the Trump campaign has increasingly leaned on xenophobic rhetoric born out of racist chat boards - even receiving the tacit help of neo-Nazis attempting to seed their own policy interests into the mainstream.But one campaign issue where the Maga world and the extremists of Telegram and other fringe social media sites have diverged, is the former president's support for Israel in its several military operations across the Middle East. Continue reading...

Republicans are few and far between in the city - but America's young men are increasingly shifting to the right. In photographs and interviews by Paola Chapdelaine, members of young Republican clubs explain how they found their way to the party

US appears to take harder line with Israel. Plus, Diddy asks for the identities of his accusers to be disclosedGood morning.Within hours of the US saying it opposed the scope" of its bombing of Beirut, the Israeli army carried out further strikes on the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs.When did Israel last strike Beirut? On 10 October. Its two strikes near the city center killed 22 people.How many are directly affected? Israeli military evacuation alerts are in place across more than a quarter of Lebanon, according to the UN refugee agency.Who are Trump's other mega donors? The list includes the banking heir Timothy Mellon and the casino billionaire Miriam Adelson.What is Harris's funding like? The Harris Victory Fund raised $633m in the three months from 1 July to 30 September - over a third more than the amount raised by Biden in that period in 2020, according to the New York Times. Continue reading...

When times are hard, people opt for affordable luxuries. So should you splash out on that highly Instagrammable $19 smoothie?The last time I happened to find myself in Los Angeles (which is not a place I often happen to find myself), I did what every visitor to La-La Land is now obliged to do: I went to the world's most zeitgeisty grocery store to gawp. Those of you familiar with Erewhon will already know exactly what I'm talking about. For those who don't: Erewhon is a high-end, celebrity-beloved supermarket that sells such things as $19 smoothies made with powdered beef organs and unpasteurised milk. TikTokers routinely flock there to spend small fortunes on fancy snacks and film themselves unpacking their hauls".Erewhon is also, you might have noticed, a literary reference. The brand is named after a 19th-century satirical novel by Samuel Butler about a society full of beautiful people, where crime is treated indulgently and considered a sickness", but poverty and illness are criminalised. In Erewhon, people go to great lengths to appear healthy.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Exclusive: Carla Vinson, who worked for USPS for 26 years, says she endured intimidation and bullying' after reporting two white coworkers who allegedly used racial slursThe United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing accusations of retaliation, harassment and intimidation from a longtime employee who alleges she experienced racism on the job.Carla Thomas Vinson has worked for USPS in Gainesville, Florida, for about 26 years. Everything changed last February. Continue reading...

Other leaders have expressed interest in Giorgia Meloni's deal with Albania. But is it really a humane and effective strategy?There's much interest in the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni'sdeal with Albania tooffshore asylum procedures, which started this week, in an attempt to tackle the rise of irregular migration.Germany, which has announced new border regulations after suspected Islamist attacks and the rise of far-right anti-immigration political parties, is particularly keen to see how the arrangement works. And during a visit to Rome last month the UK's prime minister, Keir Starmer, praised Meloni's efforts to reduce migration flows, saying his government of pragmatism" sought new approaches to managing the issue.Andreina De Leo is a PhD researcher at Maastricht University. Marco Gerbaudo is a PhD researcher at Bocconi University and a Blest fellow Continue reading...

Harris speaks to Charlamagne tha God and Trump rallies in Atlanta with three weeks to go until polls open on 5 November in the US presidential election

This blos is now closed. Don't miss important election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alertsJoe Biden is in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware, this morning, but will in the evening head to nearby Philadelphia for an unspecified political event.The White House has not yet made public any details of that event, scheduled for 6.45pm, but the president has frequently traveled to Philadelphia during his presidency. It's an especially good investment of his time right now - Pennsylvania is one of the swing states expected to decide the election, and Democratic turnout in Philadelphia and its suburbs is expected to be crucial to determining if Kamala Harris can win.Rufo, in his post, refers to six specific paragraphs from Harris' roughly 200-page book.CNN reviewed several of the passages highlighted by Rufo and found that Harris and O'C. Hamilton failed to properly attribute language to sources.Rightwing operatives are getting desperate as they see the bipartisan coalition of support Vice President Harris is building to win this election, as Trump retreats to a conservative echo chamber refusing to face questions about his lies. This is a book that's been out for 15 years, and the Vice President clearly cited sources and statistics in footnotes and endnotes throughout. Continue reading...

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...

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...