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Trump ally describes ex-president's reaction to news his former adviser Peter Navarro convicted of contempt of CongressDonald Trump was really, really upset" when he learned that his former White House adviser Peter Navarro had been convicted of contempt of Congress, according to the ex-president's close ally Rudy Giuliani.This one really got to me," Giuliani - the former New York City mayor and Trump attorney - said Friday on the far-right media outlet Newsmax. I was with former president Trump when we found out about it [on Thursday], and I've got to tell you, he was really, really upset about it." Continue reading...

Democratic governor issues emergency order restricting carrying firearms for at least 30 days amid spate of gun violenceNew Mexico's governor on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days amid a spate of gun violence.The Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said she is expecting legal challenges but felt compelled to act in response to gun deaths, including the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week. Continue reading...

Russia's isolated war-criminal president is seeking out useful idiots like North Korea's Kim Jong-un to bolster his military rampage against UkraineVladimir Putin must be feeling fairly desperate if he's relying on Kim Jong-un for friendship and support. There's a reason why North Korea's unpredictable dictator is among the world's most ostracised leaders.Nobody likes him and he don't care, as the saying goes. Yet Russia's despised, isolated war-criminal president is in much the same leaky boat these days, slowly sinking, calling out for help. Continue reading...

The singer and actor's divorce is nobody's business - but the tabloid narrative that she's a party lover while he's a devoted father should be questionedThis time last week I wouldn't have been able to pick pop star Joe Jonas out of a police line-up. If you'd asked me what I'd thought about him I'd have said: Uh ... nothing?" Over the past few days, however, I've had the misfortune of seeing his face everywhere and hearing about him nonstop. It's possible you have too. After four years of marriage, Jonas and the actor Sophie Turner are getting a divorce; the news has sparked endless coverage, scurrilous rumours and a lot of online outrage about mom-shaming. Continue reading...

Flipping the state senate would allow Republicans to push through Governor Glenn Youngkin's plan for a 15-week banAs she addressed about 120 Democratic voters at a rally in rural Orange, Virginia, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger made a point to impress upon her constituents just how much is on the line this fall.This is personal. And politics is personal," Spanberger told the crowd. This year more than any other year, this election matters." Continue reading...

Minnesota advocates hope to end exploitation of construction workers by making developers make ethical standards pledgeAfter putting up a new interior wall for a six-story dorm for University of Minnesota students, Ivan Gonzalez confessed to some problems with a job that he, along with dozens of other immigrant workers, were rushing to finish.Inside a second-floor dorm room-to-be, Gonzalez said he typically worked 10-hour days, six days a week doing drywall, and was paid $220 a day, often in cash. There's no overtime pay, no benefits," Gonzalez said, noting he sometimes worked 13-hour days. Continue reading...

Decades after the city displaced thousands of mostly Black families, private investigators are helping them reclaim housingWhen Hubeline Jasper was a child, her family was kicked out of their San Francisco apartment - but her mother was determined to stay. Even after the landlord turned off the utilities, they remained in their home in the Fillmore district, the city's thriving Black cultural and economic hub. To make it work, her mother cooked over an open fire in the dining room, using skills she had learned growing up in rural Texas, and daisy-chained extension cords to borrow electricity from a neighboring building.In those days, families had to look out for each other," Jasper recalled. Continue reading...

Sean McVay's team were always going to suffer in the long-term after trading away draft picks for quick success. How will it affect an already shaky fanbase?It was a typical February weekday in Los Angeles. Mild weather. Massive traffic. Downtown was bustling but not much more than usual, even though the newly crowned Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams took to the streets for a victory parade. Only about 20,000 people showed up. One social media jokester quipped that there were more Aaron Donald abs than there than fans. In comparison, the Kansas City Chiefs attracted more than 800,000 fans to their Super Bowl victory parade after the 2019 season.Despite the sparse attendance, there was plenty of excitement around the Rams. Sure, the franchise was fresh off a few missteps and unfortunate events. There was the controversial, financially driven move from St Louis in 2016, which alienated a massive chunk of the team's fanbase. Playing the 2020 season in an empty SoFi Stadium due to Covid-19 was not ideal. And sharing that stadium (and a market) with the Chargers didn't help build a new fanbase either. Continue reading...

The US Open's breakout star didn't get the result he wanted in Friday's semi-final against Novak Djokovic, but promises to remain an exasperating foe on tour for years to comeAfter dispatching with upstart Ben Shelton to advance to his 10th US Open final, Novak Djokovic glowered at the Arthur Ashe crowd as he pantomimed himself answering an imaginary phone and slamming down the receiver. There was no question the cold call was meant for the American, who turned off many observers by celebrating his semi-final victory over compatriot Frances Tiafoe in similar fashion. The Serb was also chilly to Shelton when they met at net for the customary post-match handshake.But in his post-match news conference Shelton - to his immense credit - didn't answer the immediate call to hit back. I didn't see it until after the match," Shelton said of Djokovic's riposte. I don't like when I'm on social media and I see people telling me how I can celebrate or can't celebrate. I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want." Continue reading...

The PM is keen to show India as the mother of democracy', but this is one of the most undemocratic periods in its historyOver the last few months, billboards across India, especially in the capital, New Delhi, have been plastered with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hoardings welcome international delegates to the G20 summit with the words Mother of Democracy to host G20". On the eve of the summit, which begins on Saturday, the prime minister has penned an article citing the diversity of the Indian democracy. He writes: For India, the G20 presidency is not merely a high-level diplomatic endeavour. As the mother of democracy, and a model of diversity, we opened the doors of this experience to the world."Over the past year, through his much-publicised state visit to the United States and through his much talked-about international trips, including the G7 meetings, Modi has extolled the virtues of democracy, of a secular and inclusive nation, paying obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi at every available opportunity. But this grandstanding is, in fact, a diabolic facade. The ugly reality of present-day India is that minorities are under relentless attack. Continue reading...

Ruling means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district stays in the superior court of AtlantaA federal judge denied a request from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to transfer his Georgia 2020 election interference case from state to federal court on the basis that some of the charged conduct was within the scope of his official duties.The ruling from US district judge Steve Jones on Friday means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis stays in superior court in Atlanta, unless Meadows appeals and the decision is reversed by the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit. Continue reading...

The company, formerly known as Twitter, argued an assembly bill violates its free speech rights under the first amendmentElon Musk's X sued California on Friday, challenging the constitutionality of a state law establishing new transparency requirements for social media companies, including how they police disinformation, hate speech and extremism.X, the social media platform once called Twitter, said the law, known as Assembly Bill 587, violates its free speech rights under the US constitution's first amendment and California's state constitution. Continue reading...

Meadows faces two felony charges, including racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officerLindsey Graham's name appeared early as Donald Trump's attempts to stay in the White House began shortly after his re-election defeat in November 2020.Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger told the press that the South Carolina senator had called him to ask if it was possible to throw away mail-in ballots in counties crucial to Joe Biden's win in Georgia. From the Guardian's Lauren Gambino's report at the time:Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has said that Senator Lindsey Graham asked whether it was possible to invalidate legally cast ballots after Donald Trump was narrowly defeated in the state.In an interview with the Washington Post, Raffensperger said that his fellow Republican, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, questioned him about the state's signature-matching law and asked whether political bias might have played a role in counties where poll workers accepted higher rates of mismatched signatures. According to Raffensperger, Graham then asked whether he had the authority to toss out all mail-in ballots in these counties. Continue reading...

The No 2 seed looked in total control before a third-set wobble gave his opponent hope - only for Djokovic to take it in a tie breakFirst set: Shelton 1-1 Djokovic* (*denotes next server)Shelton shows off his powerful serve, whistling one down the court at 136mph. He delivers a 138mph second serve to clinch the game, holding to love. He's a crowd pleaser, for sure. Djokovic looks quietly impressed. Continue reading...

Democrat, 83, has represented San Francisco since 1987 and served as House speaker twiceThe former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that she will be seeking re-election in 2024. The 83-year-old Democrat representing California's 11th district announced the news on Wednesday among volunteers and labor allies in San Francisco.Pelosi went on to tweet about her plans, saying: Now more than ever our city needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery. Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection - and respectfully ask for your vote." Continue reading...

Brandon Johnson took a drastically different approach than his counterpart to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in their citiesChicago's mayor, Brandon Johnson, has attacked his New York counterpart, Eric Adams, for the latter's aggressive comments that the large number of migrants arriving from the US-Mexico border will destroy" his city.The two Democrats took sharply contrasting stances earlier this week on their handling of the humanitarian crisis aggravated since the far-right Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has been unilaterally bussing migrants to Democratic-led cities over the last year. Continue reading...

Mark Dial surrenders on criminal warrant as district's attorney office releases body-cam footage of death of Eddie IrizarryA Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver who was sitting in his car turned himself in Friday morning to face criminal charges.Officer Mark Dial surrendered on a criminal warrant, according to his attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr, who said he has not yet been made aware of the specific charges against the officer. Continue reading...

Dangerous surf and rip currents expected along most of Atlantic coast from Sunday, according to the National Hurricane CenterHurricane Lee is making its way through the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through early next week, prompting warnings of dangerous beach conditions on the US east coast over the weekend.Between Wednesday and Thursday night, Lee evolved from a category 1 tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane. It then dropped down to a category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center announced on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Meeting in Delhi overshadowed by press freedom questions as US journalists kept awayJoe Biden took fresh steps on Friday to lure India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, into an alliance designed to contain China, at a bilateral meeting in Delhi where the pair struck a series of commercial and defence deals covering remote-controlled aircraft, semiconductors and quantum computing.However, the question of press freedom also dominated the agenda on the eve of the full G20 summit as journalists were blocked from covering the event. Before the bilateral at the prime minister's residence, the US press corps, used to being given privileged access to the president, were told to remain outside in a van, out of eyesight of the two leaders. Continue reading...

Recommendations of special purpose grand jury that investigated Trump's efforts to overturn 2020 election made publicA special purpose grand jury in Georgia that investigated Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election for nearly two years recommended bringing criminal charges against several people who ultimately were not charged, including the US senator Lindsey Graham, former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, as well as the influential conservative figure Cleta Mitchell.The special purpose grand jury also recommended indicting Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, Lin Wood, a lawyer who spread some of the most fantastical claims about election fraud after the 2020 race, and Boris Epshteyn, who remains a top Trump aide. Continue reading...

American is reaping the benefits of hiring new coaches and getting to work on her forehand this summerBy the time Coco Gauff arrived at the French Open this year to defend the points she had compiled as a finalist in 2022, all eyes, from opponents to pundits, were on one shot in her game.There was never any doubt about her first serve, which she fires down at a vicious pace with growing precision, nor her excellent backhand, athleticism, variety and court sense. But her forehand was one of the most glaring weaknesses in the top 10. Continue reading...

Citizen Lab discovers alleged attack using zero-click exploit' on individual employed by DC organizationAn individual employed by a Washington DC-based organization with international offices was targeted with powerful hacking software made by NSO Group, researchers have claimed, raising new concerns about the proliferation of spyware that can infect Apple devices.The alleged attack was discovered by researchers at the Citizen Lab at the Munk School at the University of Toronto while they were checking the individual's device. Continue reading...

Ex-president's net worth was exaggerated by between $1.9bn and $3.6bn between 2011 and 2021, court filing saysDonald Trump overstated his net worth by as much as $3.6bn between 2011 and 2021, the attorney general of New York state said in a court filing first reported by CNBC on Friday - a $1.4bn increase on a previous filing that put the top amount at $2.2bn.In the new filing, CNBC said, the attorney general, Letitia James, said she was still [making] a conservative estimate" about by how much Trump's net worth was overstated in annual financial statements. Continue reading...

With Trump looming, Biden could still lose the White House. But this has been a transformative period of achievementThe tragedy of Joe Biden is that people see his age, his frailty and his ailing poll numbers and they miss the bigger story. Which is that his has been a truly consequential presidency, even a transformational one. In less than three years, he has built a record that should unify US progressives, including those on the radical left, and devised an economic model to inspire social democratic parties the world over, including here in Britain.Sadly for Biden, politics and government are different things: it takes more than a record of good governance to get reelected. For one thing, voters cast their ballots less as a verdict on the past than as an instruction (or hope) for the future. And the fear, shared by 76% of Americans, according to a poll this week, is that Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is simply too old to lead them there. Put aside the fact that his near certain opponent in November 2024, Donald Trump, is only three years younger. Trump has a presence and vigour, an ability to project himself, that Biden does not. And that simple fact affects - distorts - the entire way the Biden administration is seen. As one observer puts it, the vibes are off".Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist. He will host a Guardian Live event with Gordon Brown on Tuesday 26 September at 7pm BST. The event will be live in London and livestreamed - book tickets here Continue reading...

Five of seven justices on court were selected by Governor Ron DeSantis and decision would have ramifications across south-eastIn arguments in a case that could drastically limit abortion access in the south-eastern United States, the Florida supreme court on Friday seemed open to arguments to uphold a law that bans abortion past 15 weeks of pregnancy.If the state's high court upholds the 15-week ban under consideration, a separate, stricter law would take effect prohibiting abortion after six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant. Continue reading...

US president's campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, tells CNN that's all they talk about'Republicans attacking Joe Biden for being too old to serve a second term are one-trick ponies", the US president's campaign co-chair said.Republicans are a one-trick pony talking about the president's age, that's all they talk about," Cedric Richmond told CNN. Continue reading...

The tech deity reportedly shut down his Starlink system to foil a Ukrainian attack. Is he the guiding force we need right now?When Elon Musk posted a personally crafted 280-character peace plan" for the war in Ukraine last October, a Ukrainian diplomat offered a carefully considered review. It ran to a full two words: Fuck off". This week's allegations that Musk shut down his Starlink system (on which the comms-shattered Ukraine relies to defend itself against Russia) right in the middle of a counteroffensive last year - apparently deliberately to neuter it - forces a new question. When he does finally make it there in his big space rocket, will even Mars be far enough for Elon Musk to fuck off to?For now, it's time to take another turn around the block with Phoney Stark, as Musk's biographer Walter Isaacson reveals that the edgelord magnate (and edgelord magnet) ordered his engineers to switch off the Starlink satellite communications network during a surprise attack on the Russian fleet in Crimea last year. Or to disrupt" the attack, as CNN puts it, still clinging embarrassingly to the preferred Silicon Valley argot that surely ought to have been discredited once its boy kings started becoming more powerful than many of the world's actual countries. I can't help feeling that the benefit-of-the-doubt era with these guys ought to have officially ended back when Y2K fashion was just fashion. Yet until very recently, Musk was still being breathlessly judged a net good to humanity, what with his electric cars and his hyperloops and the fact he once smoked a joint on a podcast. So! Very! Cool! Elon was endlessly covered by the media as a kind of fascinating, eccentric inventor, as opposed to someone with a vast amount of power who should be held to account accordingly. Just as it was with Mark Zuckerberg before him, by the time people realised a lot of what was happening, it was rather too late.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Firm, as it's known, is old and looks it. Young Britons are most sceptical and see little in the new king to change thatIt is a truth universally unacknowledged, not least by the media, that the British scarcely think of the monarchy from one year to the next, unless some event - a jubilee, a death, a coronation - sends the institution swimming back into the national consciousness.Nevertheless, as Lord Halifax told Queen Victoria's private secretary in 1871 as she disappeared into seclusion: People want the gilding for their money." The past 18 months, of course, has had a surfeit of royal occasions, with no more on the horizon for a while, so a period of silence was perhaps to be expected, especially as a 96-year-old monarch was succeeded by her 74-year-old son, whose latest idea of excitement appears to be the introduction of a new tartan for his kilt.Stephen Bates is a former Guardian royal correspondent and author of The Shortest History of the Crown Continue reading...

Florida governor aims to rescue flailing presidential campaign that has been further scarred by petty and small' snub of Biden's visitOne reality of Florida politics is that a bad hurricane for the state traditionally blows good fortune for its governor. It was true for Rick Scott, elected a senator in November 2018, one month after guiding Florida through Category 5 Hurricane Michael; and again for Ron DeSantis, whose landslide re-election last year followed his much-praised handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.This year, however, DeSantis is struggling to shake the dark clouds of Hurricane Idalia, as his return to the national stage to try to rescue his flailing presidential campaign after an 11-day break has been further scarred by his petty and small" snub of Joe Biden's visit to Florida last weekend to survey the storm's damage. Continue reading...

If state's highest court upholds the 15-week ban, a separate, stricter law would take effect prohibiting abortion after six weeksThe Florida supreme court on Friday will hear arguments in a case that could drastically limit abortion access in the south-eastern United States.Abortion providers in Florida filed a lawsuit to block the state's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Continue reading...

Former defence minister Oleksii Reznikov tells west that Moscow's goal is the destruction of Ukrainian statehood'Good morning.Ukraine's former defence minister is warning his western counterparts that any deal with the Kremlin will not end the war.This comes after Mexico's supreme court ruled that criminalizing abortions was unconstitutional, a ruling with the potential to turn the country into a popular destination for Americans seeking abortion access, as US state abortion bans proliferate. Continue reading...

A school shooting propelled a call for tighter gun laws - but parents and advocates feel vulnerable as legislature adjourns without making any changesThe deadly shooting at a Nashville suburban Christian school in March sparked an outcry among devastated parents, students and Democratic lawmakers who called for tighter gun laws in Tennessee, where they are notoriously weak. It also set off a series of political events, including the failed Republican-led banishment of two Democratic state representatives, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson of the Tennessee Three", for protesting guns on the House floor.For a short time, with ample national attention and grassroots mobilization, Tennessee seemed poised to become the latest state to enact legislation on gun reform after a tragedy. The Republican governor, Bill Lee, who lost two family friends in the Covenant school, ordered stronger background checks and proposed an amendment to Tennessee law that would temporarily confiscate guns from individuals under a mental health order of protection". Continue reading...

Despite his lip-service to democracy and human rights, Biden keeps embracing autocrats and would-be autocratsIn December 2021, President Joe Biden hosted an event billed as a Summit for Democracy". Biden opened his address to the summit by describing his motivation for holding it: in the face of sustained and alarming challenges ... democracy needs champions".Since that time Biden has embraced, as allies, autocrats and would-be autocrats all over the world, including the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who US intelligence has said was responsible for the brutal murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More recently, Biden invited Benjamin Netanyahu, who is presiding over the destruction of Israel's democracy by targeting its judicial system, for an official visit to the United States. Continue reading...

Man whose report of abuse led to Lawrence Hecker's indictment on Thursday first reported it as a teenager in 1975The accuser of a retired New Orleans Catholic priest who was indicted on a child rape charge on Thursday remembers immediately reporting the assault to the high school where it happened - and being heartbroken that nothing was ever done about it.Now, 48 years later, the victim is hopeful that Lawrence Hecker - the man charged with raping him at a church attached to his school - will finally face justice, his attorney told the Guardian and WWL-TV in an interview Thursday. Continue reading...

Technology firms like Amazon, healthcare groups and banks have thrown money at affordable housing, but even billions in short-term private capital can't solve the crisisTo Kimberly Driggins, executive director of Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC), the late 2020 news that Crystal House apartments had come up for sale signaled a rare opportunity. The 825-unit luxury apartment building had long been an icon in Arlington, Virginia, lending its name to the immediate neighborhood, Crystal City.If the affordable housing organization could buy the property, it could house people with a wider range of incomes. But WHC had been founded two years earlier, and this would be its first deal; there was no way the group could afford it alone. Continue reading...

The tournament in Mexico has been all but forgotten about for nearly 50 years. A Venus and Serena Williams produced documentary aims to correct the recordBrandi Chastain is the star of the opening scene of Copa 71, a documentary poised to change how the history of women's sport is remembered. Chastain is not talking about her famous moment in 1999, when she ripped off her shirt to celebrate winning the World Cup for the United States in front of 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl.Instead, Chastain is seen watching footage of another match played in front of a packed stadium. But she is trying to guess which one. That's a massive stadium ... that's a men's football match ..." She stops as she sees the players. Continue reading...

Armed with a booming serve as prodigious as his sense of entitlement, the 20-year-old American upstart is out to buck the odds against Novak Djokovic in the US Open semi-finalsA few months ago Ben Shelton appeared on a podcast called All on the Table, a brown bag session he held with Christopher Eubanks and Francis Tiafoe. For an hour, the three Americans chewed the fat about life on tour between big bites of steak. But the conversation doesn't really get interesting until Eubanks and Tiafoe, the seasoned professionals, ask Shelton what his ultimate goal is now that he's spent a year on the men's tour.I wanna be that dude in the draw that there's not one player who wants to see me," Shelton said. Continue reading...

To my defence ministers friends around the world, I say: thank you for the military support, but heed this adviceHow long is 671 days? In the context of modern history, it is perhaps the equivalent of a few seconds. But for me, it accounts for a period of time during which morehas happened to Ukraine than many countries go through in a century. It is also the number of days that I served as my country's minister of defence.I took up the position on 4 November 2021, when Ukraine had been facing Russian hybrid warfare for eight years. Within 112 days, the Kremlin had begun full-scale warfare - unknown to Europe since the second world war. Ukraine became the first state in the world forced to wage war against an aggressor in five domains at once: land, air, water, and the informational and cyber environments.Oleksii Reznikov was Ukraine's minister of defence from 2021-23Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

American caver Mark Dickey credits the Turkish government and the caving community with saving his life after he developed gastrointestinal bleeding while exploring the Morca cave with other explorers. Speaking more than a kilometre below the surface, he said: 'I'm going to need a lot of help to get out of here' but added that it was also 'a great opportunity to show just how well the international world can work together'. According to Turkey's caving federation, 150 rescuers were trying to reach Dickey and bring him back to the surface safely.