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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday, amid widespread protests in Washington. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the US capital, calling on the US to end arms sales to Israel and to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.As Netanyahu entered the chamber to address Congress, he was welcomed with a standing ovation from US lawmakers. Netanyahu thanked the US for its support for Israel and laid out his vision for a post-war Gaza, amid growing pressure on his government to wind down and end the war. The Israeli leader said his country did not seek to resettle the territory, but that a future Gaza would have to be 'demilitarised' and 'de-radicalised'

Case, brought after host George Stephanopoulos said Trump had been found liable for rape', allowed to proceedA federal judge in Miami has denied a motion to dismiss Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against the ABC News TV network and one of its star journalists, George Stephanopoulos, concerning remarks made by the anchor in March that the former president had been found liable for rape".In a 21-page ruling issued on Wednesday, the judge, Cecilia Altonaga of the US district court for the southern district of Florida, rejected arguments brought by the news division and its host. She said that a reasonable jury" could conclude that Trump had been defamed, and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate". Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister gives fiery speech praising US support for Gaza war and calling protesters Iran's useful idiots'

Tech-focused Nasdaq retreats 3.6% and S&P 500 also down in wake of lacklustre results from big-tech companiesWall Street suffered its worst day of trading in 19 months as disappointment around earnings from Tesla and Google challenged the recent big-tech rally.The benchmark S&P 500 index dropped 2.3% as a sell-off triggered its biggest single-day fall since December 2022. Continue reading...

Republican VP nominee introduces book by Kevin Roberts, head of rightwing plan that Trump has tried to disavowThe Republican senator and vice-presidential nominee JD Vance has written the foreword to a forthcoming book by the head of Project 2025, the vast rightwing plan for a second Trump administration Democrats say shows the authoritarian threat posed by the GOP - and which Donald Trump has tried to disavow.In publicity material for the book, Vance says of Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation: Never before has a figure with [his] depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new future for conservatism." Continue reading...

Containing Brenda Banda will be the USWNT's biggest challenge in Nice. But Naomi Girma leads a group capable of shutting down the most potent attacksWhile Paris prepares for the official Olympic kickoff on Friday, an immovable object will collide with an unstoppable force.The venue is Nice, the coastal city that hosted the final stage of the Tour de France a few days ago and is one of the hosts for the Olympic soccer tournament. On Thursday, that's where the enigmatic US women's soccer team will face an upstart team from Zambia. Continue reading...

Hawarden fire in Riverside county burned 527 acres, injured two people and destroyed six homesIllegal fireworks ignited a blaze in southern California over the weekend that destroyed six homes and caused $10m in damages, officials said this week.The Hawarden fire in Riverside county has scorched 527 acres, damaged seven homes and cost the county more than $1m in emergency response, Patricia Lock Dawson, the city's mayor, said at a press conference on Monday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Fred C Trump III shares story of presidential nominee using N-word and describes Trump's attitude on raceIn a new book, Donald Trump's nephew recalls the future US president, at the start of his New York real estate career, surveying damage to a beloved car and furiously using the N-word.The shocking scene appears in All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way by Fred C Trump III, which will be published in the US next Tuesday. The Guardian obtained a copy. Continue reading...

The latest from Paris as the first events began, with chaos and drama in the men's football

Former US president has tried to distance himself from conservative guide for a second term. Here's what it is about and his links to itHeavyweight conservatives joined together to create a roadmap for a potential second Trump presidency, and they are working to recruit and train the people who would work in an incoming conservative administration.Project 2025 details across more than 900 pages how Trump and his allies could dismantle and disrupt the US government. It suggests ridding the federal ranks of many appointed roles and stacking agencies instead with more political appointees aligned with and more beholden to Trump's policy prescriptions. Continue reading...

Kristen Marie Battocletti, 35, used funds from her Tuscaloosa church to send digital gifts to content creatorsA former employee at an Alabama church has pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from the church to purchase gifts for content creators on TikTok.Between April and October 2023, Kristen Marie Battocletti stole approximately $300,000 from St Francis of Assisi University Parish church in Tuscaloosa, according to a release from the US attorney's office in the northern district of Alabama. Continue reading...

Christopher Wray testified on Wednesday before House judiciary committee on Capitol HillThe FBI director told the House judiciary committee that the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump just 11 days ago searched online for information about the 1963 assassination of John F Kennedy.Christopher Wray testified before the committee on Capitol Hill, at the House of Representatives, where the Republicans are in the majority. Continue reading...

Musk is determined to help Trump win. Perhaps it's no surprise that both men believe democracy can be bought off

Kamala Harris has become the face of the White House's fight over abortion rights. It is one of the 2024 presidential election's biggest issues, and one of the few where Democrats have the advantage.Within hours of Joe Biden's announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing the vice-president, a series of abortion rights activists spoke out to back Harris.She has visited abortion clinics on the campaign trial and described the 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade as a healthcare crisis'. The Guardian's Carter Sherman explains how, if at all, Harris could change abortions rights on a national level if the Democrats were to secure the Oval Office in November. Continue reading...

Decades ago, I got a job as a scaffolder - and I was a total liability. I'd have been even more useless if mobile phones had been aroundYou are bloody useless," the erection manager said to me. He was referring to my proficiency at scaffolding. His name was Alan and that was his job title. And he was making a fair point. We were on a housing estate somewhere on the blurred line between Birmingham and the Black Country, putting up rigs for the council's painters. And I had just dropped a steel coupler through someone's veranda roof.This was 1985. When Doves Cry by Prince was getting a lot of radio play and I was on a gap year working for the family firm. Even though I was the boss's son, my colleagues felt free to point out my limitations, which were many. Continue reading...

We ask ourselves whether the world is too dark now for something so wholesome. Then the torch is lit, and there's magic in the airIt feels a little embarrassing to be a grown adult excited for the Olympics. I am not sure why. Perhaps it's the unequivocal joy. That feels childish. Why would I believe something good could happen? When was the last time something good happened?Oh, it's so easy to be cynical about things. I'm really good at it too. If I were to play to my strengths, I should go on about how devastating the Olympics is to the economy of the host nation, how commercial elements have hijacked every last corner of the games, and I could maybe even make some vague reference to the carbon emissions required to get all the athletes to Paris, but not in such a way that would necessitate me actually looking up statistics.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Growing number of antisemitic, misogynistic posts reveal far right's anxieties as Harris's candidacy solidifiesAs Donald Trump's campaign shifts his focus to presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice-President Kamala Harris, the online ecosystem of the far right has responded in lockstep with racist insults, misogynistic tropes, antisemitic conspiracy theories and viral memes against her. Some of those attacks, common throughout her vice-presidency, are directly targeting her Jewish husband and second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.After Joe Biden's stunning decision to step down as the Democratic candidate in this year's presidential election to then endorse Harris, Republicans as high ranking as Trump were quick to decry the switch as tantamount to a coup" attempt - a dangerous allegation with no factual basis. Continue reading...

A whale breached and landed on a 23ft boat, sending the men into the water, who were rescued by a nearby shipTwo fishers were rescued on Tuesday after a whale breached and capsized their boat off the shore of New Hampshire, according to the US Coast Guard.In a series of statements posted on X, the Coast Guard said that they received a mayday call stating that a 23ft center console boat had capsized due to a whale breach near Odiorne Point state park in Rye, New Hampshire. Continue reading...

Two-time Democratic candidate writes in New York Times that she is excited' about vice-president taking on TrumpHillary Clinton has issued an impassioned call for Americans to rally around the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, saying that the time for hand-wringing is over" and the challenge now is to mobilize around her unifying vision".Writing in the New York Times, the former US secretary of state and two-time Democratic presidential candidate said she was excited" about the prospects of Harris taking on and defeating Donald Trump in the November election. Continue reading...

Criminal justice activists hope for a reset' in fresh race and urge the vice-president to embrace progressive reformsWhen Kamala Harris ran for president in 2019, criminal justice reform leaders closely scrutinized her career as a prosecutor, with some advocates branding her a top cop" who lacked a strong progressive record.Five years later, with the vice-president on track to become the Democratic nominee, the dynamics have fundamentally shifted. Harris' prosecutorial history, once something of a liability among some Democrats, is now seen as a key asset as she prepares to take on Donald Trump, the ex-president convicted of 34 felonies. Continue reading...

The GOP wants to focus on Kamala Harris's record, not her ethnicity or gender - but who will tell Trump?Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Kamala Harris, as they and Donald Trump's campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before election day.At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Richard Hudson, urged lawmakers to stick to criticizing Harris for her role in Biden-Harris administration policies. Continue reading...

In thrall to the oil and gas industries, wealthy nations are backing calamitous projects. But the tide is turning

State law let the agency refuse to work with the Rutan-Rams - which would be more common with the conservative plan were implementedIn 2021, Liz and Gabe Rutan-Ram decided to take the next step toward growing their family and applied to foster a child. After identifying a three-year-old in Florida who they hoped to ultimately adopt, the Rutan-Rams turned back to their home state of Tennessee to start training to become foster parents.But their plans quickly fell apart when the Christian state-funded foster care placement agency informed them by email that they only provide adoption services to prospective adoptive families that share our belief system". The Rutan-Rams, who are Jewish, were out of luck. Continue reading...

Young US voters weigh in on why they like or dislike the VP as a candidate and if they think she could beat TrumpAmerican gen Z voters share how they feel about Kamala Harris's presidential bid, why they like or dislike her as a candidate and whether they think she could beat Donald Trump, as the vice-president races towards winning the Democratic nomination for November's election. Continue reading...

Vice-president makes fiery speech in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Plus, Zosia Mamet on Girls and nepo babies

It does not matter who is up and who is down in the polls. It's about if Democrats turn outNow that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee, you'll be hearing a lot of speculation about how she might poll against Trump. What if I told you that the polls are almost immaterial to the final election result? Instead of making much ado about who is up and who is down, let's keep our eyes on a different question - in October, what will voters think this election is about?The evidence of voter behavior over the last eight years paints a clear picture of what lies ahead. Critically, we can't use polls today to predict this outcome. That's because the winner in November will be determined by what, to most voters, the election seems to be about" by the time voting starts. This will determine whether the voters Democrats need to win will turn out, or stay home.Michael Podhorzer, the former longtime political director of the AFL-CIO, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, the chair of the Analyst Institute, the Research Collaborative and the Defend Democracy Project and writes the Substack Weekend Reading. Continue reading...

From Tanner Tessmann to Benjamin Cremaschi, we look at the players who could use this summer's tournament as a springboard for 2026The USMNT's failure to qualify from the group stage of the Copa America on home soil has thrown US Soccer into crisis.An antidote to the negativity around the team could soon arrive, though, with the Olympic football tournament kicking off in France this afternoon. Competing nations are limited to picking rosters made up predominantly of under-23 players, with just three overage exceptions allowed. Continue reading...

You'd think avoiding this sort of thing would be obvious, but the rise of good tourism' schemes suggests the oppositeIt seems as though a lot of people have forgotten how to be tourists. As a travel writer, I can't quite believe some of the behaviour we're seeing on display around the world. Summer might be a time to throw away inhibitions, but we don't need to throw away all of them.Let's start with the obvious: leave those poor statues alone. There's no need to ride them, play with them, touch them up or do unspeakable things with them, like we've seen in the past week. I won't go into details, but suffice to say that if you're doing things like that in public, your mum will be ashamed. Just don't do it.Laura Hall is a travel writer and journalist based in Copenhagen Continue reading...

The 6ft 2in USA basketball star's secret to success is keeping his motion the same every time. Here's how to emulate his accuracy and consistencyFor almost the entire history of basketball, the No 1 thing that would help a person succeed was height. From Wilt Chamberlain to Shaquille O'Neal, the taller a player, the better. While size still matters, thanks to the talent of the 6ft 2in guard Stephen Curry, shooting is prized as much as any other attribute. The four-time NBA champion and two-time MVP is bringing his shooting ability to the Olympics.Ever since Curry became a sensation thanks to his three-point marksmanship - he is the NBA's all-time leader in three-pointers and attempts and a career 42.6% from beyond the arc despite myriad difficult shots - kids from New York City to Oakland have been taking their basketballs away from the rim and out behind the three-point line to shoot like Steph. But is it possible for anyone to emulate? If you ask Basketball Hall of Famer and former WNBA Coach of the Year Michael Cooper there are ways to try. Continue reading...

A surprise hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone national park has sent sightseers running for safety, after steam, rock and dirt shot high into the sky. No injuries were reported, but the Biscuit Basin area was closed for visitor safety after the falling rocks damaged a boardwalk that keeps people off Yellowstone's fragile and often dangerous geothermal areas. Continue reading...

In a kayak off the Devon coast I witnessed the kind of entitled mindlessness that has ravaged society, and our planetOn a calm and beautiful morning off the coast of south Devon last week, I was watching a small pod of dolphins from my kayak. I had spotted them from half a mile away, feeding and playing on the surface. They were heading my way, so I sat on the water and waited.But from round the headland, at top speed, came a giant twin-engined maritime wankpanzer. Though the dolphins were highly visible and it had plenty of time either to stop or avoid them, it ploughed towards them at full throttle. As it passed, missing them by a few metres, the driver turned and glanced at them, but never checked his speed. The dolphins dived. They briefly reappeared much farther from the coast, after which I didn't see them again. I could hear the boat long after it disappeared: it sounded like a jetliner. God knows what distress it might have caused the dolphins, which are highly sensitive to sound.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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Addressing the US Senate before Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming congressional address, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said Israel's war on Gaza has 'trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values'. Sanders described the conflict as 'one of the worst disasters in modern history', saying it has been 'aided and abetted' by the United States.

Independent senator says in floor speech invitation to Israeli PM, due to give address on Wednesday, is disgrace'The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has condemned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming address to the US Congress, calling him a war criminal" presiding over a rightwing extremist government".Sanders delivered his remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday as Congress expects Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The speech comes after an underwhelming arrival to the US, just after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November's elections. Continue reading...

Move comes as director Kimberly Cheatle resigns after congressional grilling over assassination attemptSecret Service officials are reported to be encouraging Donald Trump's campaign to stop holding outdoor rallies in the wake of the 13 July assassination attempt on the former president at a fairground in Butler, Pennsylvania.The move, reported by the Washington Post, comes as Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following a combative grilling before a congressional committee by both Democrats and Republicans over apparent security failures before an attempt on Trump's life by a 20-year-old gunman. Continue reading...

Stings from the critters invading Montecito can be painful, can displace native wildlife and are a hazard to agricultureA swank town in California's central coast where celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Prince Harry have bought properties, has become a hot spot for another reason: an active infestation of red imported fire ants.The Santa Barbara county agricultural commissioner's office is addressing an active infestation of these ants in Montecito, California, according to a statement issued last week. Continue reading...

Complaint to Federal Election Commission Tuesday accuses Harris of violating federal campaign finance lawsDonald Trump's campaign on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the vice-president Kamala Harris, accusing her 2024 campaign of violating federal campaign finance laws by replacing Joe Biden's name with her own to take control of his campaign funds.The complaint, filed by the Trump campaign's general counsel, David Warrington, argued that the Biden campaign could not rename its committee from Biden for President" to Harris for President" once Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, and roll over $91m. Continue reading...

CEO Elon Musk blames bit of a hangover' from rivals' discounting but insists challenges are fairly short-term'Earnings at Tesla almost halved as discounts and price cuts pile pressure on the electric carmaker's profit margins.Elon Musk, the company's CEO, blamed a bit of a hangover" after rivals cut prices very substantially, which has made it a bit more difficult for Tesla". Continue reading...

Audio obtained by the Guardian reveals police dispatcher was told Black woman's fatal wound was self-inflicted'The family of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was shot in the face and killed by a white sheriff's deputy in Illinois, have said police initially tried to cover up her killing.Police audio obtained by the Guardian features someone on scene the night of Massey's killing - presumably a deputy - saying Massey's wound was self-inflicted". A dispatcher asks to confirm, and the person on scene repeats self-inflicted". The recording is in line with what the family says was misleading information given by police when Massey was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Continue reading...

Block on law was lifted after state supreme court said there is no fundamental right to procedure in state constitutionAn Iowa judge has ruled the state's strict abortion law will take effect Monday, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa supreme court reiterated in June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. That translated into Monday's district court judge's decision ordering the law to into effect next Monday at 8.00am CT. Continue reading...

Tigers treated to frozen fish-sicles, with blood-sicles for African painted dogs and snow for all from 10 tons of iceDozens of animals at the Phoenix zoo in Arizona, where scorching summer heatwaves are the norm, got a delightful surprise: their first snow of the season.Zoo staff and others transformed more than 500 bags of ice into snowflakes, creating a winter wonderland for the animals on Friday. Continue reading...