The American rider defies the sport's physical norms and is already a Grand Tour contender. But for now it is patience, not power, that's his defining traitMatteo Jorgenson is big. Not in the way Dexter Lawrence or Chet Holmgren are big. Not in the sense that most American athletes are considered big. But in the world of professional cycling, Matteo Jorgenson is big. In fact, cycling might be one of the only sports in which a man who stands 6ft 4in (1.93m) and weighs around 70kg (154lbs) is considered big.With broad shoulders and a wide chest that can act like a sail in the wind, Jorgenson is the kind of size that usually rules riders out of contention for Grand Tours such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia. Why? Because Grand Tours are won in the mountains, and big riders don't climb. Continue reading...
The women in the case endured horrors to tell their stories. Still the jury - and Diddy's jubilant supporters - sided with their alleged abuserSean Combs, the musician variously known as Diddy", Puffy", P Diddy" and Love", made a conspicuous scene in the courtroom when the verdict was read. He put his hands into a prayer gesture and mouthed thank you" to the jurors, and pumped his fist in the air. A federal jury in New York on Wednesday had acquitted Combs on federal charges of sex trafficking women, finding him guilty only on lesser charges of transporting the male prostitutes he allegedly forced the women to have sex with across state lines. The mixed verdict was seen as a triumph for Combs, who faced the possibility of life in prison if convicted on trafficking and conspiracy charges. Outside, jubilant supporters of Combs - which have in recent weeks included the provocative rapper Kanye West - erupted into celebration. Some reportedly poured baby oil on each other and yelled: It's not Rico, it's FREAKO."Those triumphant chants were references to the organized group sex encounters that women - including two who testified as witnesses for federal prosecutors - have described as rapes. The women - two ex-partners of Combs's, the singer Cassie Ventura and another alleged victim known as Jane - told the court repeatedly over the course of an eight-week trial that they were coerced into participating in the encounters, which Combs called freak-offs", with violence, drugs, coercive financial arrangements, and threats. The encounters were filmed by Combs, and the videos were shown to the jury; in addition to the testimony of the women and the videos of what they say were their assaults, jurors were also shown security footage of a savage beating Combs inflicted on Ventura in a hotel hallway following one such party in 2016, and heard from a hotel security guard who says that Combs paid him $100,000 to destroy video evidence of his conduct. Continue reading...
With Olympic veterans sidelined and new faces stepping up, the US women's national team looked dominant again this window - but questions remain in key positionsThe US women's national team have just wrapped up another successful window in an experimental year. After beating Ireland 4-0 in back-to-back friendlies, they defeated an experienced Canada side 3-0 in Washington, bringing their 2025 record to 8-0-2 while continuing to field youthful lineups full of emerging talent.Emma Hayes' return to Audi Field came nearly one year to the day since they drew 0-0 with Costa Rica in their final tune-up before going on to win Olympic gold in Paris. Since then, the four-time world champions have turned their focus to the 2027 World Cup. Hayes has worked diligently to build the depth and cohesion needed to challenge for the title. Continue reading...
After years of drift and false starts, the US men's team is carving out identity and intensity under their new coach - just in time for a home World CupThere is something cosmically funny about all of this. Late last summer, the United States men's national team went out and hired the most qualified manager it could find. The one with the most impressive coaching resume far of anyone US Soccer had ever employed on the men's side. The most expensive, certainly. By a multiple. The man brought in to arrest the tailspin the USMNT had slowly slipped into after the 2022 World Cup. To finally unlock that elusive next level. To help a golden generation, or at least a shiny one, come good at last. To salvage something, anything, from a World Cup played mostly on home soil a year from now. Not to squander it all.And what should Mauricio Pochettino add to the US national team's brew of aptitudes and attitudes but pluck and grit? The very same underdog mentality, the ferocity and fitness, that had once taken the US from global laughingstocks to merely unembarrassing and then to internationally competitiveness. Continue reading...
Club World Cup upset may be a turning point in how football in the region is viewed by Europe's eliteSo it came to pass that the blue moon was eclipsed by the crescent and the world of football took on a slightly different hue. For the past couple of years, the Saudi Pro League had been dismissed as a destination for the old, greedy, unambitious or all three. On Tuesday, European football woke up to be faced with a new side of Saudi Arabian football as Al-Hilal celebrated a 4-3 win over Manchester City to go through to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.If a member of the European elite being turned over by a team that had previously been little-known on the world stage was what the competition needed then this was it. Continue reading...
Purists' attempts to police our global languages are doomed - there's joy and inspiration in new expressions from all over the worldEven your own language can have the capacity to surprise you. I recently joined a panel at a journalism conference with a reporter and a lawyer, both from Colombia. I found myself captivated by some of the words they used that aren't - or rather weren't - so common in Spain. The investigative journalist Diana Salinas referred to her craft as la filigrana, the filigree. I wouldn't have used the term in that context, and yet it struck me as perfect to describe the intricate, careful work that investigative reporting requires.Filigrana is not even considered a Latin-Americanism - it comes from Italian - but it has somehow been forgotten in everyday speech in Spain. As is often the case with Spanish in Latin America, usage and context enriches the word.Maria Ramirez is a journalist and the deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain Continue reading...
New court documents allege physical and psychological torture at Cecot in one of first looks at conditions in prisonKilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and detained in one of that country's most notorious prisons, was physically and psychologically tortured during the three months he spent in Salvadorian custody, according to new court documents filed Wednesday.While being held at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador, Abrego Garcia and 20 other men were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM", according to the court papers filed by his lawyers in the federal district court in Maryland. Continue reading...
Chamber stalls for hours on procedural vote as the White House pressures fellow Republicans to get Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill passed. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 2 July 2025The House of Representatives was at a standstill on Wednesday as Republican leaders continued to try to rally holdouts against Donald Trump's megabill, with speaker Mike Johnson saying very positive" progress had been made toward passing it.The House stalled for hours on a procedural vote while Johnson and the White House worked to pressure a handful of Republicans to ensure they would vote to approve the sweeping tax-and-spending bill amid a razor-thin Republican majority and get it to Trump to sign in time for his self-imposed 4 July deadline. Continue reading...
Alexis McGill Johnson says nearly 200 health centers could close if US House passes sweeping tax-and-spending billPlanned Parenthood stands to lose roughly $700m in federal funding if the US House passes Republicans' massive spending-and-tax bill, the organization's CEO said on Wednesday, amounting to what abortion rights supporters and opponents alike have called a backdoor abortion ban".We are facing down the reality that nearly 200 health centers are at risk of closure. We're facing a reality of the impact on shutting down almost half of abortion-providing health centers," Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of Americas's CEO, said in an interview Wednesday morning. It does feel existential. Not just for Planned Parenthood, but for communities that are relying on access to this care." Continue reading...
by Bryan Armen Graham (now), Katy Murrells and Will U on (#6YCG5)
It was another busy day in SW19 as we moved toward the third round with Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz among those to reach round threeAs expected, the rain is not relenting yet. Play has been pushed back to 12.15, at the earliest. Though looking at the forecast there could be another couple of hours of drizzle before what's forecast to be a clear mid-afternoon/evening.Emma Raducanu stressed the importance of leaning on her support network at Wimbledon as she prepares for her challenging second-round match against Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 champion.Raducanu, who reached the second round on Monday with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over the 17-year-old British wildcard Mimi Xu, reflected on the additional support she has received at the All England Club. At Wimbledon, it's particularly special. I had really good friends in the box there," said Raducanu, before reeling off a list of names. To have them all here in this one week, and the way the stars align that they could be here, it means so much when I see them there. It just makes me really happy." Continue reading...
President exceeded his authority and his proclamation of an invasion' at southern border is unlawful, court rulesA federal court has ruled that Donald Trump's proclamation of an invasion" at the US-Mexico border is unlawful, saying that the president had exceeded his authority in suspending the right to apply for asylum at the southern border.As part of his crackdown on immigration, Trump abruptly closed the southern border to tens of thousands of people who had been waiting to cross into the US legally and apply for asylum, signing a proclamation on the day of his inauguration that directed officials to take action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States". Continue reading...
Explosion caused huge blaze that led to spot fires, collapsed a building, forced evacuations and cut powerAuthorities are searching for seven people who are unaccounted for after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in rural northern California sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air and forced evacuations, the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) said on Wednesday.The Tuesday evening blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a huge blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed a building near Esparto, also resulted in power outages. People in the farming community about 40 miles (64km) north-west of Sacramento have been urged to avoid the area for several days. Continue reading...
Researchers to follow fresh clues that suggest pioneering aviator may have crash-landed on remote Pacific islandA new mission to locate Amelia Earhart's long-missing plane is being launched, researchers announced on Wednesday, following fresh clues that suggest she may have crash-landed on a remote island in the South Pacific.A satellite image may show part of Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E protruding from the sand on Nikumaroro, an isolated island in Kiribati about 1,000 miles from Fiji, according to Richard Pettigrew, head of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, a non-profit based in Oregon. Continue reading...
We asked the president's supporters what they thought of his big, beautiful bill' - the answers revealed a wide splitSo confident is Donald Trump in the sweeping tax and spending legislation that Republicans are trying to push through Congress by the slimmest of margins that he refers to it as his big, beautiful bill".The measure, which the House of Representatives could pass on Wednesday, is centered on making permanent tax cuts created during his first term, creating new exemptions for tips, overtime and car loan interest, and funding mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. To lower its price tag, Republicans have proposed the largest cuts ever to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and to the food assistance program known as Snap. They have also included provisions to phase out tax incentives meant to encourage the expansion of clean energy technologies that were created under Joe Biden. Continue reading...
The lawyer for Cassie Ventura, Doug Wigdor, said outside the court that his team is pleased Sean 'Diddy' Combs has 'finally been held accountable'. He added: 'Of course, we would have liked to have seen a conviction on the sex crimes and RICO, but we understand that "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a high standard and we're just pleased he still faces substantial jail time'
Program mirrors earlier successful mission to fight new world screwworm fly, whose larvae can infest living tissueThe US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government's plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before. Continue reading...
US president says goods from Vietnam will face a 20% tariff, a lower rate than the 46% levy he announced in AprilThe United States and Vietnam struck a trade agreement that sets 20% tariffs on many of the Southeast Asian country's exports following last-minute negotiations, Donald Trump and Vietnamese state media said on Wednesday.The rate is lower than an initial 46% levy Trump announced in April on goods from Vietnam which was due to take effect next week. Continue reading...
Critics warn the staggering sum dedicated to the agency in the bill will threaten humanitarian protections and disrupt the economyThousands of new immigration enforcement officers. Tens of thousands of new detention beds. New fees on asylum applications. And new construction on the border wall.Donald Trump's sweeping spending bill would vastly expand the federal government's immigration enforcement machinery and, if passed by the House, supercharge the president's plan to carry out what he has vowed will be the largest deportation campaign in US history. Continue reading...
New York senator had claimed that Democratic nominee for mayor had made references to global jihad'The New York Democrat senator Kirsten Gillibrand has apologized to Zohran Mamdani, the party nominee for New York City mayor, for comments she made claiming that Mamdani had made references to global jihad".Gillibrand apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani's record and for her tone on the call," according to a readout of a phone call between Gillibrand and Mamdani that was obtained by Politico. Continue reading...
Twenty states say giving immigrants' health data to DHS broke privacy laws and threatens access to emergency careThe Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials, a group of 20 states allege in a lawsuit.Last month health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's advisers ordered the release of a dataset that includes the private health information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington DC to the Department of Homeland Security. Continue reading...
by Gaurav Pokharel in Beldangi refugee camp on (#6YCG6)
Dozens of Bhutanese refugees are facing deportation from Nepal, a country that once gave them shelterAshish Subedi never imagined he would be deported once, let alone twice.Subedi, 36, had grown up in the Beldangi refugee camp in eastern Nepal where his family, along with over 100,000 other ethnic Lhotshampas, ended up after being expelled from Bhutan in the early 1990s. Continue reading...
Ward Sakeik was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon in the US Virgin IslandsThe US government has tried for the second time to deport a stateless Palestinian woman, according to court documents - despite a judge's order barring her removal.Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old newlywed, was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. Last month, the government attempted to deport her without informing her where she was being sent, according to her husband, Taahir Shaikh. An officer eventually told her that she would be sent to the Israel border - just hours before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. Continue reading...
Gail Lee, who has challenged the registrations of hundreds of voters in the county, was nominated by the local Republican partyAn Atlanta-area county has appointed a staunch election denier, with a history of challenging voter registrations, to the county's board of registration and elections, a pivotal position to cast doubt on the results of future elections.DeKalb county's Republican committee nominated Gail Lee and a second Republican activist, but the nomination of William Henderson was rejected last week by the chief judge of the DeKalb county superior court, Shondeana Morris, after a letter campaign against the two promoted by the county's Democratic committee and voting rights activists. Continue reading...
Democratic mayors challenge new rules that give millions of people less time to enroll in coverageNew Trump administration rules that give millions of people a shorter timeframe to sign up for the Affordable Care Act's health care coverage are facing a legal challenge from Democratic mayors around the country.The rules, rolled out last month, reverse a Biden-era effort to expand access to the Affordable Care Act's health insurance, commonly called Obamacare" or the ACA. The previous Democratic administration expanded the enrollment window for the coverage, which led to record enrollment. Continue reading...
Week of 20 June was highest level of risk for Fordham Tick Index as scientists remind people to take precautionsTicks have been flourishing recently in the United States.This year, as compared to recent years, there has been an increase in the reported number of blacklegged ticks, the number of such ticks that carry Lyme disease and visits to the emergency room because of bites from the tiny parasitic arachnid, according to data from universities and the US federal government. Continue reading...
Mark Carney's Strong Borders Act would mean a crackdown on refugees as Canada seeks to bolster its relationship with the USThere are many stereotypes about Canada - that we are a nation of extremely polite people, a welcoming melting pot, and that we're the US's laid-back cousin who lives next door.But right now, Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, is bucking all of that lore after pressure from the US in the form of Donald Trump's concerns" about undocumented migrants and fentanyl moving across the US-Canada border. In response, the recently elected Liberal PM put forward a 127-page bill that includes, among other worrying provisions, sweeping changes to immigration policy that would make the process much more precarious for refugees and could pave the way for mass deportations. Continue reading...
Zhi Alan Cheng, 35, admits to filming assaults of patients and acquaintances in his apartment and workplaceA New York City doctor charged with raping or otherwise sexually abusing several hospital patients and acquaintances has pleaded guilty.Zhi Alan Cheng, a gastroenterologist, acknowledged filming assaults in his apartment and the hospital where he had previously worked, New York-Presbyterian Queens, state prosecutors said in a statement on Monday after his guilty plea. Continue reading...
The justices' decision limiting judicial injunctions gives a red light to the most effective check on the president's power grabEver since Donald Trump returned to power, he has carried out an unprecedented assault against the country's rule of law. But we can be thankful that one group of people - federal district court judges - have bravely stood up to him and his many illegal actions.His excesses include gutting federal agencies, deporting immigrants without due process, seeking to cut thousands of federal jobs despite their legal protections, and ordering an end to birthright citizenship. Intent on upholding the constitution and rule of law, district court judges have issued more than 190 orders blocking or temporarily pausing Trump actions they considered illegal. Their decisions have slowed the US president's wrecking ball as it demolishes federal agencies, devastates foreign aid, decimates scientific research and demoralizes government employees.Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labour and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Continue reading...
It shouldn't be hard to lure them into my spaceship. I'd just have to tell them it was hosting a multimillion-dollar wedding partyThoughts and prayers to the thousands of Norwegians who have just had one of the best weekends of their lives, followed by one hell of a comedown. Thanks to a currency conversion snafu by the state lottery operator, numerous people were incorrectly informed on Friday that they had won life-changing amounts of money in the Eurojackpot. On Monday, a text message was sent to players informing them of the mix-up.It seems Norwegians are a prudent bunch; I haven't found any examples of people spending Jeff Bezos-levels of money as soon as they were told they had won big. Me? I would have gone into evil billionaire mode immediately. Continue reading...
The detention center visit seemed to represent a landmark in a defining issue since even before his first term: migrationDonald Trump's tour of the bloodcurdlingly-monikered - and hastily-constructed - Alligator Alcatraz" migrants detention center in Florida's Everglades had the hallmarks of a calculatedly provocative celebration of the dystopian.Accompanied by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, the Florida governor Ron DeSantis and a phalanx of journalists, the US president saw only virtue in the vista of mesh fencing, barbed wire and forbidding steel bunk beds. Continue reading...
It's been over two years since the A's were awarded public funding for their new ballpark. But despite last month's groundbreaking", its completion is anything but certainIt had just turned 8am on a crystal clear, late June Monday morning, but it was already 85F (29F). Despite the tolerable heat (for the desert), a giant air conditioned tent had been erected on the former site of the Tropicana, the famed hotel which was demolished in a controlled implosion last October. Athletics owner John Fisher, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and a gaggle of politicians had all gathered on the compact, nine-acre site for a ceremony over two years in the making: the groundbreaking for the new A's stadium on the Strip, coming your way in 2028.On the surface, it was your run-of-the-mill pomp and circumstance: a series of uneven speeches mixed in with a few kids gushing over how much they can't wait to have the former Oakland and current A's in Las Vegas. But if you had been following the long-running A's stadium saga, one which led them to a temporary minor-league residency in Sacramento this season, you didn't have to look far beyond the rented heavy-duty construction props to see the farce, and you didn't have to dig much deeper than the dignitaries shoveling into the makeshift baseball diamond to understand what this ceremony really was: the latest stop on Fisher's neverending, would-be stadium tour. Continue reading...
A quarter-final collapse against Guatemala laid bare Canada's lack of control, composure and tactical clarity under Jesse MarschWhat a joyous Sunday for the American football family. A rare one too. Has an international fanbase ever celebrated two sudden-death wins in the space of four sweet hours?In a bitter Canadian irony, the only man inside the US Bank Stadium who could have spelled and pronounced schadenfreude on demand was the one on the end of it. Continue reading...
Paramount said it would pay the $16m to Trump's future presidential library and not to Trump himself. It also said the settlement did not include a statement of apology or regret.CBS parent company Paramount on Wednesday settled a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over an interview broadcast in October, in the latest concession by a media company to the US president, who has targeted outlets over what he describes as false or misleading coverage.Paramount said it would pay $16m to settle the suit with the money allocated to Trump's future presidential library, and not paid to Trump directly or indirectly". Continue reading...
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