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Netanyahu has his own reasons for prolonging the conflict, but many Israelis still want to see Hamas and Hezbollah neutralised

The South Siders' soul-sapping run, culminating Friday with the single-season losses record, is what happens when a disgraceful front office intersects with plain old bad luckWhen the history books are written, there will be all manner of different ways to describe the historic putridness of the 2024 Chicago White Sox. The unprecedented loss total will be one. The incomprehensibly bad performance of the team's position players will be another. The three separate losing streaks of 21, 14, and 12 games. There will be ample time for all of it. The White Sox lost their 121st game on Friday night, the most in a modern era that dates to 1901. They are also the worst team of that span by win percentage, sitting at 39-121 with two games left to play. After a scrappy home sweep of the Los Angeles Angels allowed them to avoid a 121st loss at home, the dam finally broke in a 4-1 road defeat to the playoff-bound Detroit Tigers.But maybe the most modern barometer of the White Sox catastrophe of 2024 is the media environment around the team. The club's rights-holding TV broadcasters have been at its throat all season. And as Chicago approached their milestone loss, the White Sox' own social media stopped bothering to tweet out the team's results (or they did until a late, unexpected winning streak). Their efforts turned out to be the only vaguely successful thing about the entire season: FINAL: can be found on the MLB app," one postgame post on X read. Another had this zinger: FINAL: the number of runs we scored was not greater than the number of runs they scored". Soon, there was only this: Continue reading...

Speaking in Arizona, vice-president seeks to turn one of her biggest vulnerabilities into a political strengthKamala Harris accused Donald Trump of playing political games" on immigration - his signature issue - as the vice-president sought to turn one of her biggest vulnerabilities into a political strength during a visit to the US-Mexico border on Friday.Speaking in the Arizona border town of Douglas, Harris declared the US both a sovereign nation" and a country of immigrants" and said as president, she would strengthen controls at the southern border, while working to fix our broken system of immigration". Continue reading...

This blog has closed. Read our latest story hereAppearing with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in New York on Friday, former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump said that he and Zelenskyy have a very good relationship" before going on to say: I also have a very good relationship with President Putin."I think if we win, we're going to get it resolved very quickly," Trump said, referring to Russia's war against Ukraine. Continue reading...

Ex-president complains search results unfairly favor Kamala Harris and display negative stories about himDonald Trump threatened on Friday to direct the justice department to pursue criminal charges against Google if he is elected president, claiming the company was unfairly displaying negative news articles about him but not his 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris.The complaint - the latest threat on the campaign trail from Trump to wield the power of the presidency in response to enemies real or perceived - came in an abrupt post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

Two arrested in connection with vandalism in abandoned home owned by the son of Philadelphia Phillies co-ownerTwo people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with vandalism in an abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the son of a Philadelphia Phillies co-owner.John Powers Middleton, a film producer, owns a property that has long been left vacant and become a popular target for graffiti artists and squatters. Continue reading...

More than 50 patients and staff evacuated from Unicoi hospital in Erwin after deadly hurricane overwhelms areaMore than 50 hospital patients and staff were airlifted from the roof of the building in Tennessee on Friday afternoon in a dramatic rescue operation after flash flooding overwhelmed the area.An urgent evacuation was launched as the storm effects of Hurricane Helene were felt far and wide, with the state emergency agency and the national guard responding to the situation that quickly unfolded at Unicoi hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, about 100 miles outside Knoxville. Continue reading...

Beleaguered mayor in court as prosecutors allege Adams, 64, sought and accepted improper valuable benefits'

Former US president Donald Trump said he had a 'good relationship' with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday ahead of his meeting with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy, who stood alongside Trump, then intervened, saying, 'I hope you have more good relations with us,' gesturing between himself and Trump

Trump's running mate will speak at Lance Wallnau's event in campaign's latest link to extremist Christian right

Category 4 storm made landfall in Florida late on Thursday before weakening and moving through Georgia and the Carolinas Continue reading...

For those that ignored dire evacuation orders, a day of clean-up follows a night of traumatic fearThe warnings about Hurricane Helene were dire and for the residents of Taylor county on the Gulf coast of Florida they were necessary.A mandatory evacuation for Taylor county residents has been ordered," came the first message from local and state authorities. Continue reading...

There are clear reasons why women are running from Trump, but men are flocking to him - and it's vital to understand whyI hesitate to give JD Vance any ideas, but if American women were denied the vote, Donald Trump would be restored to the White House in a landslide. Similarly, if men were removed from the franchise, Kamala Harris would be swept into the Oval Office in an even bigger earthquake. As it is, the two are clashing in an election marked by a gulf so wide, the phrase gender gap" doesn't do it justice. In ways that go deeper than mere politics, and with implications for the world beyond the US, the presidential election is increasingly looking like a war between men and women.The numbers are stunning. An NBC poll this week found men favour Trump over Harris by 12 points, 52% to 40%. Among women, Harris leads Trump by 21 points: 58% to 37%. Put the two together and you have a gender chasm of 33 points. Men may not be from Mars and women may not be from Venus, but when it comes to choosing a US president, they are on different planets.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Sometimes you've got to make the most of your 15 minutes of fame

Voters in the swing state are fired up at the idea of electing the US's first Black Indian American female presidentLas Vegas's historic Westside has long been celebrated for its Black community's entrepreneurship, activism and resilience. The neighborhood became historic" when America's first racially integrated casino, the Moulin Rouge, opened in 1955, employing Black card dealers and chorus line dancers, and welcoming singers such as Sammy Davis Jr and Ella Fitzgerald to not only perform, but to dine and gamble. Today, campaign organizers for Kamala Harris hope the community will play a history-making role again in November.The 2024 presidential election could hinge on how Nevada swings. To win the key battleground state, Democrats will have to run up the score in Las Vegas to overcome deficits in rural counties and the evenly divided electorate in Reno. Continue reading...

We would like to hear about the hardest parts of making sure your kids are happy and healthyAmerica is a nation of remarkable wealth and resources. Per capita investments in education and health care are among the highest in the world. And yet across the US, millions of American children are denied the opportunity to thrive.Recent data shows sky high records of child poverty, with children of immigrants representing over 40% of kids living under the poverty line. Affordable childcare is increasingly hard to find and its cost has been outpaced by inflation. Continue reading...

Program signals possible change of strategy in the eternal war between New Yorkers and their least favorite neighborsNew York's seemingly eternal battle against its rodent population has taken a new twist after the city council greenlighted pilot schemes to deploy rat contraceptives in a new bid to curb their booming population.The Thursday-night vote means that in the next few months pilot programs will begin using ContraPest, a type of rodent birth control, that will be put in special containers aimed at encouraging the rats to ingest it. Continue reading...

On the ballot in November is a measure that will make it a state crime for migrants to cross into the US unofficiallySheriffs in four Arizona counties that sit along the border with Mexico have warned that if voters in November pass a measure to make it a state crime for migrants to cross into the US unofficially, they will have face problems enforcing the new law.Criticisms range from the law being unenforceable because of budget to it being racist", with negative comments coming from both Democrats and Republicans. Continue reading...

Judge faces lawsuit after forcing student to put on jail garments and handcuffs and enter isolated holding cellA Detroit judge who briefly detained a teenage girl who fell asleep in his courtroom during a school field trip to learn about the justice system was demoted to presiding over traffic court as he faces a federal lawsuit.Judge Kenneth King was moved to the state court's traffic division after the incident on 13 August. King was temporarily removed from the bench as he completed mandatory training following his actions. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of titles, from dictionaries to Leonardo, are restricted across prisons - and its impact is palpableIn recent years the issue of book bans has become a major story in the US, often driven by socially conservative pressure groups, but nowhere has the impact of bans been felt more acutely than in America's enormous prison population, activists and campaigners say.Books can serve as vital connections to the outside world for incarcerated individuals, yet they are frequently censored in US prisons. Campaigners are advocating for public library catalogs to be accessible on carceral tablets. Continue reading...

Adams is bombastic, eccentric and allegedly ethically relaxed. This indictment does not come as a surpriseFor the first time in the modern history of New York City, a sitting mayor has been indicted.Eric Adams will now know the fate of Donald Trump - to be indicted and possibly convicted in a Manhattan courtroom. Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district, has unsealed a 57-page indictment that accused Adams of performing favors for Turkish foreign nationals after accepting more than $100,000 in international plane tickets and accommodations, as well as soliciting illegal donations from them. These donations generated public matching funds for his mayoral campaign in 2021. Continue reading...

Metals and PFAS linked to serious health issues are among compounds found, highlighting need for further scrutinyMore than 3,600 chemicals approved for food contact in packaging, kitchenware or food processing equipment have been found in humans, new peer-reviewed research has found, highlighting a little-regulated exposure risk to toxic substances.The chemicals have been found in human blood, hair or breast milk. Among them are compounds known to be highly toxic, like PFAS, bisphenol, metals, phthalates and volatile organic compounds. Many are linked to cancer, hormone disruption and other serious health issues. Continue reading...

Conservatives say voter registration processing is too slow, while voting rights groups are livid over drop box removalsA battleground Pennsylvania county with a history of election errors is facing heavy criticism from activists on both sides of the political spectrum over the way it is running its presidential vote in 2024.Conservative activists, who have dominated recent election board meetings, say the county isn't processing voter registrations fast enough - something county officials say is simply untrue. Voting rights groups, meanwhile, are furious over a recent decision by the county manager in Luzerne county in the north-eastern part of the state to get rid of ballot drop boxes. Continue reading...

Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida coast on Thursday night as a powerful and potentially disastrous category 4 storm, bringing chaos to a wide swathe of the Gulf coast and threatening high winds, storm surges and drenching rainfall. Helene was located about 70km east-southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 225km/h, the Miami-based UA National Hurricane Center said late on Thursday. The huge storm formed rapidly this week and strengthened as it careened across the warm waters of the Gulf, gathering speed. The National Hurricane Center has said Helene is now a tropical storm as it moves farther inland over Georgia but noted that 'life-threatening storm surges, winds and heavy rains continue'

This crisis is a humanitarian disaster that may destabilize the whole region. Does Biden have any red lines' left?Just after daybreak on Monday, dozens of US-made warplanes began raining bombs and missiles on Lebanon, killing more than 550 people and injuring 1,800 in the hours that followed. By day's end, Israel had carried out one of the most intense aerial bombardments in modern history. The Israeli fighter jets were sent by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, but they couldn't have gotten off the ground without the full support and complicity of Joe Biden over the past 11 months.The Israeli military said it bombed more than 1,600 targets throughout Lebanon that day, claiming it was targeting locations where Hezbollah stored rockets and other weapons it was firing at northern Israel. The death toll, which included 50 children and 94 women, was the country's highest single-day toll since Lebanon's 15-year civil war ended in 1990. Nearly 500,000 Lebanese civilians fled their homes in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa valley and other regions. Continue reading...

While Trump's affair with Stormy Daniels made headlines, scandals like this don't move the needle for US votersEarlier this year, at Donald Trump's hush-money trial, adult film star Stormy Daniels told jurors how at age 27, she met a 60-year-old Trump, whose wife had only recently given birth to their son, for what she thought was dinner. She arrived to find him in satin pyjamas and, during an encounter that included very brief" sex, the business magnate told Daniels that she reminded him of his daughter, Ivanka.I'm not dragging all this up again to put you off your dinner. I'm bringing it up to remind you that, while all these sordid details made headlines and generated jokes on late-night talkshows, they didn't move the needle with Trump's voters at all. His base, which includes evangelical Christians, simply didn't care. Nor were they bothered about Trump's association with Mark Robinson, the disgraced Republican candidate running to be North Carolina's next governor who was allegedly once active on a porn forum called Nude Africa where he boasted about being a perv". Continue reading...

This fling may have been consensual - but let's spare a thought for all the other women in media tainted by unfair associationAnyone who is not a moralist or kidding themselves will admit that a good piece of gossip is one of life's greatest pleasures. Gossip exposes the false sanctimony of the powerful: it reveals the smug and self-righteous to be grubby, selfish and embarrassing - just like the rest of us. If the pronouncements of politicians make history, and the reporting of the media shapes that history's official narrative, gossip runs along behind them, like a bratty younger sibling, filling in their omissions to tell a truer story. You left out this part." That's not what you told me."Maybe this is why media gossip about journalists and politicians carries such a frisson of transgressive delight: it breaks their monopoly on narrative authority. The people who have been appointed to tell us stories about our world, and about ourselves, finally get themselves subjected to the same treatment. It helps, too, to bust the bubble of a media industry that has long demanded more moral gravitas than it has really earned. These are the people, after all, who claim to be holding power to account. But how do they actually behave towards those in power?Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Hurricane Helene is expected to bring life-threatening storm surges as high as 20ft. Plus, Eric Adams chargedGood morning.Hurricane Helene made landfall as a category 4 hurricane in the Florida Big Bend region around 11.10pm ET on Thursday, one of the strongest hurricanes on record to hit Florida. The storm weakened to a category 1 overnight.How dangerous is a storm surge? As a hurricane approaches a coast, the churning winds force ocean water up onto land; atmospheric pressure from the storm also helps squeeze the water ashore. The shallower the continental shelf, the higher the threat of a dangerous surge. Water is heavy, and it can move fast in a surge, sweeping people to their deaths, throwing about boats and vehicles, and pulverizing structures.Follow our live blog here.What did Netanyahu say? We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we reach all our goals - chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes." He addresses the UN today.What is the scale of the war? Israeli airstrikes have killed about 700 people since Monday - with that day representing the highest death toll in a single day in Lebanon since the civil war of 1975-90 - and reports have suggested Israel is making plans for a ground offensive. Continue reading...

Network includes derogatory profiles of figures such as UN experts and food writer Michael Pollan, and is part of an effort to downplay pesticide dangers, records suggestIn 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a global human rights concern", citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other health problems.Publicly, the pesticide industry's lead trade association dubbed the recommendations unfounded and sensational assertions". In private, industry advocates have gone further. Continue reading...

Surge could rise to as much as 20ft in some spots after huge storm strengthened as it careened across Gulf of MexicoHurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida coast on Thursday night as a powerful and potentially disastrous category 4 storm, bringing chaos to a wide swathe of the Gulf coast and threatening high winds, storm surges and drenching rainfall.Helene was located about 70km east-southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 225 kph, the Miami-based UA National Hurricane Center said late on Thursday. Continue reading...

After a final win before a sellout crowd, the Oakland A's are finally moving to Las Vegas as baseball's inexplicable lose-lose deal continues to move forwardA's fans lingered long after the third out of their 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, soaking up every last minute inside the massive concrete Oakland Coliseum one final time. Now the club, one of Major League Baseball's most storied franchises - founded in Philadelphia before a stint in Kansas City - is set to abandon the city of Oakland and its colorful fanbase after 56 seasons. The Athletics aren't departing for greener pastures, but potentially - and we still don't really know for sure - for a desert locale that didn't ask for them. Oakland-born Dave Stewart, an All-Star hurler on the city's last World Series champion in 1989, posed the question of the day on the A's pre-game broadcast.What happened?" Stewart said. There's no real explanation for it. And any explanation that you give, it doesn't cover the impact, and it doesn't cover all the details of what really took place, for the Oakland A's to be leaving this city, playing [in at] minor league baseball [stadium] in Sacramento for three years, and then eventually ending up in Las Vegas." Continue reading...

Forecasters warn that storm, one of the most powerful to hit the US this year, could create a nightmare'

They've been my favourite since doing work experience at Sydney's Taronga zoo. I hope the viral moment sweeping the globe turns into an enduring devotion like mine

Alan Miller, 59, second person in US to be executed via controversial technique, shook and trembled on gurneyAlabama has carried out the second execution in the US using the controversial method of nitrogen gas, an experimental technique for humans that veterinarians have deemed unacceptable in the US and Europe for the euthanasia of most animals.Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6.38pm local time at a south Alabama prison. Continue reading...

Rockville Centre diocese in New York settles with more than 530 victims after proposed deal comes close to failureA Roman Catholic diocese in Long Island, New York, announced a new bankruptcy settlement on Thursday that would pay more than $323m to about 530 sex abuse survivors who alleged they were abused by priests when they were children.The diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves about 1.2 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties, said earlier this year that it did not think a bankruptcy settlement would be possible after abuse survivors rejected the diocese's previous $200m settlement offer. Continue reading...

Executive order aims to crack down on conversion devices and 3D guns as Harris and Trump spar on campaign trailJoe Biden and Kamala Harris unveiled a new executive order aimed at tackling gun violence on Thursday, as the vice-president and Donald Trump clash over the issue on the campaign trail.The order establishes a new emerging firearms threats task force" to crack down on machine-gun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed guns. The policy also calls on federal agencies to develop guidance for schools on active shooter drills to mitigate potential psychological harm to students. Continue reading...

Former police officer is the first sitting New York City mayor to be criminally charged and has vowed to stay in officeEric Adams, the mayor of New York City, has been charged with accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources after an indictment was filed against the leader of one of the world's biggest cities.In a five-count criminal indictment, US prosecutors allege that before and during his terms as mayor, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him". Continue reading...

Stopgap bill, passed by House and Senate with bipartisan majorities, extends funding until DecemberJoe Biden signed a three-month government funding bill on Thursday, averting an imminent shutdown and delaying a fuller conversation about government spending until after the November elections.The stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, will extend government funding until 20 December. It will also provide an additional $231m for the Secret Service for operations necessary to carry out protective operations including the 2024 presidential campaign and national special security events", following the two recent assassination attempts against Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Pair reach agreement days before case, filed after rightwing network aired false voter claims, was due to go to trialThe voting machine company Smartmatic and the conservative outlet Newsmax have settled a closely watched defamation lawsuit days before it was set to go to trial in Delaware.A spokesman for the Delaware courts said the case had been settled on Thursday. He did not offer additional details. The trial was set to begin in Wilmington on Monday. Continue reading...

The US president, Joe Biden, has announced more than $8bn in military assistance for Ukraine. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles. The Ukrainian president met the US president and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, in Washington

Prosecutors claim Turkish president showered the New York mayor with illegal donations and luxury stays

Ex-New York mayor, who played key role in promoting 2020 election lies, permanently suspended from practising lawRudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who built a career as an uncompromising crime-fighter, has been permanently disbarred from practising law in Washington DC in a ruling stemming from his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Donald Trump's favour.The decision came in the form of a one-page order issued by the US capital's court of appeal and followed a similar order issued in July in New York, Giuliani's home state. Continue reading...

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, jailed for 18 months, alleges prosecutorial misconduct and seeks to be releasedA judge heard arguments on whether to dismiss a criminal conviction against a movie armorer in the shooting death of a cinematographer by the actor Alec Baldwin and said she would rule next week on whether to scuttle the case or order a retrial.In a remote court hearing, an attorney for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed challenged her March conviction for involuntary manslaughter, alleging that prosecutors failed to share evidence including ammunition that might have been exculpatory in the shooting death that occurred on the set of Rust in 2021. Continue reading...

The US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, held a press conference following the unsealing of a 57-page indictment against the mayor of New York, Eric Adams.The document details charges against Adams that include bribery, wire fraud and acceptance of illegal foreign campaign contributions, including from Turkish government officials.Adams has remained defiant since the indictment was made public and denies the charges