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Donald Trump criticised Thomas Tuchel for England's semi-final lossI'm still getting my head around the 2007 photo of Lionel Messi, 19, bathing Lamine Yamal, four months, for a Unicef calendar shoot.Sid Lowe has done some digging to find out how it all came out ...The photograph was taken around Christmas 2007. Sport newspaper was putting together a charity calendar on behalf of Barcelona and Unicef, a studio set up in the away dressing room at the Camp Nou. Each player had a month and appeared with a child. Ronaldinho, the star, was July. Messi was January. Lamine Yamal was four months old. His mum, Sheila, had put him into a draw to take part. Monfort got the idea the night before when bathing his daughter, taking a plastic tub and a rubber duck with him. Although the baby was tiny and Messi was timid, with Sheila's help he got a shot he was happy with. Continue reading...

Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison uncovered the truth after Bylin received an at-home DNA test as a Christmas giftA DNA discovery has led two families to accuse a North Dakota hospital of changing the course of their lives after learning two newborns were allegedly switched at birth nearly four decades ago.Kyle Bylin uncovered the truth after receiving an at-home DNA test during a Christmas gift exchange. The test connected him with his biological aunt through a genealogy platform, prompting her nephew, Jeremy Morrison, to take his own DNA test. The results confirmed the two men had been raised by each other's biological families. Continue reading...

Fifa says football brings the world together but the unhoused in Atlanta feel targeted and completely excluded from the tournamentA lot of our community has been pushed out by the World Cup. We're not just dollar signs, we're more than that. We're people and we're frustrated that they've chosen to treat us less than human."They dropped me off there in the middle of the night. They call them Mormon centres or whatever, but it ain't nothing but a warehouse of cops. It looked like a Fema camp. When I saw it, I left, I walked all the way back here. It's because of the World Cup. They're trying to make it look good for tourists. They don't want the eyesores around." Continue reading...

As Cuba swelters under six-month oil blockade imposed by US, tempers are fraying and unrest is growingWhen Cuba's national grid collapses, as it did for the third time in 10 days on Tuesday, a collective groan spreads across its cities and people wonder, again, whether the island's antiquated electricity system may soon become unrecoverable.The 777-mile Caribbean island of 9.5 million people has been sweltering under a six-month-long oil blockade imposed by the US, part of a pressure campaign to bring down its communist government. But the parlous state of Cuba's infrastructure goes far further back. Continue reading...

In a speech given on Wednesday in honor of Nelson Mandela Day, New York's mayor reflects on what Madiba can teach us in a fractured eraWhat a privilege it is to be together to honor the leadership of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. For 27 years, this organization has insisted that Madiba's legacy belongs not only in museums, but in movements for freedom too. I would like to recognize a man whose legacy lives on in the millions that he inspired.Madiba lives in every protest for justice, every call for democracy, every march with a righteous demand. Madiba lives in every township and slum where dignity remains just out of reach, and he lives in each person who reaches for that dignity, who works all day and then returns home with food for the hungry and medicine for the sick. Madiba lives each time someone bears witness to oppression, or want, or misery, and does not accept it as inevitable, but rather as something that we each can fight. So many of us are only where we are today - can only conceive of the principled as possible - because Madiba showed us the path. Continue reading...

Thursday's speech about election integrity was a case in point, as the president seeks to undermine the systemAmerica's mad king is spiraling. Donald Trump's approval ratings are mired in the 30s as the Iran war rages on with no end in sight. As prices rise and the US's reputation tanks, Trump is building self-serving monuments and putting his face on new $1 coins to ensure he leaves a lasting legacy. Don't worry, Donald, we'll never forget you! Your name will forever be associated with corruption, crime, and a nationwide outbreak of explosive diarrhea.When the going gets tough, Trump tends to go into full-on victim mode. This week was no exception. On Thursday, the president gave a televised primetime speech in which he rehashed all his usual grievances. A random jab about trans people? Check. Boasting about how he's single-handedly made America great again? Check. Demonizing the media? Check. Complaints about how unfair it was he lost to Joe Biden in 2020 coupled with accusations about Chinese interference and misinformation about election integrity? Check. No country can be great without fair and honest elections," Trump announced. If there can be no trust, there can be no greatness. Unfortunately, the system we have falls catastrophically short of that standard."Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

It's always worth lodging a complaint, despite government budget cuts, layoffs and the rollback of regulatory oversightIt might feel right now like there's no one looking out for US consumers. But a wide array of federal, state and local regulators and watchdogs are tasked with targeting company fraud and deception.If you have an intractable problem with a company, it is always worth filing a complaint to every relevant government office, consumer advocates say - despite government budget cuts, layoffs and the steady rollback of federal regulatory oversight.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes complaints on general product and service fraud and scams here. It often refers cases to other agencies and collaborates with states on investigations.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) handles complaints within the financial services industry, including credit scorers and non-bank lenders, here and still appears to be actively contacting companies to resolve issues, despite cuts.You can search the Consumer Product Safety Commission's database of product recalls and warnings here and file a complaint about an unsafe product here.Report airline travel delays, baggage problems and discrimination at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) consumer protection office.The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center takes complaints about criminal activity online, including fraud, here. The bar for the FBI to launch a criminal investigation is generally higher than at agencies that handle civil complaints.Register complaints about moving companies, trucks, buses and other transport here.You can request an external appeal" of a health insurer's coverage denial in some states; a federal appeals process was suspended by Health and Human Services on 1 July. More information is here. Continue reading...

Yet more consolidation means one less studio, inevitable redundancies and a blow to this city's cultural heritageThere are simply too many companies in the world. Apple, Google, Amazon, Ryanair. I'm probably forgetting some. How could I not? There are so many companies. Thankfully, here in Hollywood, we're culling the herd. My memory says thanks. My career, on the other hand, does not.After Disney swallowing up 20th Century Fox (which is now just called 20th Century Studios", making it sound like a company that makes gramophones), Discovery merging with Warner Brothers, and Skydance buying Paramount, you'd think the industry would be done kneecapping itself through strategic acquisitions. Wrong again, friend. Warner Bros Discovery - swimming in debt and loaded up with depreciating cable TV assets - put itself on the market only three years after its last merger. First they went to Netflix, then to Paramount, after Netflix realized they like profit too much. Now a Paramount-WBD merger is progressing. All of this means one less movie studio, inevitable redundancies and more consolidation of vision.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr, still stands by Andrea Shaw after her indictmentAn Idaho mother charged with the first-degree murders of her 18-month-old twins has blamed their deaths on vaccines they received eight days before they died. But doctors who reviewed details about the case at the request of the Guardian say vaccines did not kill them.This was not a close call," said Dr Jake Scott, a clinical infectious disease physician at Stanford who specializes in vaccine science. I can say with confidence what didn't happen here. It was not the vaccines." Continue reading...

The Fifa president sought influence with the US leader. Instead, Fifa's president has entangled football in politics and wounded the game's credibilityEver since the United States won the rights to co-host the 2026 World Cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has worked to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump at all costs, supposedly to secure preferential treatment for Fifa from the American government. Predictably, he suffered the same fate as everyone who has made a Faustian bargain with the US president: he learned that cozying up to Trump always backfires, tarnishing the entire sport along the way.I love soccer because, at its best, it is inclusive, democratic and accessible to everyone. So do billions of other people; the sport's universal cultural impact truly lends it the potential to be a force for good that unites the world", as Fifa loves to say. We saw this force in action at the start of the World Cup when, despite Trump's hardline anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner policies, the prevailing sentiment showed that visiting teams and fans found most Americans really are warm and welcoming people.Nathan Goldberg Crenier serves as the elected vice-president of the US Soccer Federation. This editorial represents his personal opinions and does not necessarily reflect the positions or views of US Soccer. Continue reading...

As the bombing starts again, it's clear the president has dragged the US into a limitless fiasco - and the world into an economic quagmireFeckless and clueless, Donald Trump is lost in Iran, unable to find a way out of the disastrous war he started. Once again, the US military is pummelling the country and, increasingly, its civilian infrastructure. As before, this unlawful bludgeoning strengthens the resistance of a hardline regime that cares little for its people's suffering. How often have Trump and Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon's wildling lord of bones, hailed a bogus victory? The president claimed this week to be winning big". No one believes him. Even as it counts the vast human and economic cost of his Persian folly, a watching world scoffs at US impotence.Control of the strait of Hormuz, closed due to Trump's belligerence, is now the White House's limited, elusive objective. The grander US and Israeli war aims - eliminating Iran's nuclear programme, degrading its regional militias, regime change - are less attainable than ever. It's Trump's craven leadership that renders US forces ineffective, not the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. If Iran really is the existential menace he claims, the logical course would be all-out conquest. When George W Bush decided Iraq posed unacceptable dangers, he invaded with 170,000 ground troops. It was a catastrophe. But at least Bush had balls.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

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Tondra Madruga named as second victim in deadly capsizing as police continue search for two missing peoplePolice on Friday discovered the wreckage of a boat that sank this week in the San Francisco Bay after recovering the body of a missing person the day before.The body was identified as Tondra Madruga, 58, also known as Tondra Miller, the San Francisco medical examiner said. She was one of three people missing after the Volare, a 49ft (15m) cabin cruiser, sank on Wednesday afternoon with 20 people onboard after being hit by a wave and capsizing. The group was on the boat to scatter the ashes of a loved one. Continue reading...

Darline was 13 when her brother became her legal guardian - and was a key presence as he rose in the Republican ranksWhen Lindsey Graham was in college, his parents died, just over a year apart. But he worried most about his sister, who, at 13, was suddenly an orphan. Graham became her legal guardian - and later adopted her so she could receive his benefits through his service as an air force lawyer.On Tuesday, following Graham's sudden death, that sister, Darline Graham, was sworn in to serve the remainder of her late brother's Senate term. Lindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed," said Henry McMaster, South Carolina's Republican governor, at a press conference on Monday convened at the state capital in Columbia. It's my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now." Continue reading...

Husband of Nancy Pelosi has traffic infractions in California stretching back at least to 2011, according to public recordsPaul Pelosi, husband of US congresswoman and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, is facing a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge after he allegedly crashed into a parked vehicle and left the scene in early July, the Napa county district attorney announced on Friday.No passengers were in the struck car, authorities said, but the vehicle was left with major" damage. A spokesperson for the Pelosi family told several outlets in a statement that Paul apologized to the owner of the vehicle and was assuming responsibility for the damage. Continue reading...

Officials haven't released additional information about the person's identity, age or details on when and how they fell illA legionnaires' disease outbreak that has sickened dozens of people in New York City has claimed its first life, health officials said Friday.Officials didn't release additional information about the person's identity, age or details on when and how they fell ill. Continue reading...

Lawmakers press for review of hiring practices amid a spate of ICE-related deaths within the same weekDemocratic lawmakers are pressing for a review of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hiring practices and continuing calls for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing of an immigrant in Maine by one of the agency's officers after news media reported allegations of past violent and threatening behavior by the officer, according to his family members.The Associated Press, the Portland Press Herald and National Public Radio (NPR) all identified the officer in question as David Brouillette, information that the publications attributed to his family. The outlets also reported allegations that Brouillette had a history of mental health issues and had purportedly subjected his ex-wife to violent, threatening behavior. Continue reading...

Donald Trump delivered a primetime address to the country on Thursday, claiming that declassified intelligence showed Chinese interference in US elections. The US president revived long-running attacks on election security, despite a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence Beijing altered the 2020 vote, which he lost. The Guardian's voting rights reporter Sam Levine factchecks some of Trump's claims Continue reading...

Australia's Lucas Herbert leads the field after a record-equalling 62, while Bryson DeChambeau was hit with a late penaltyAn opening birdie for the 2011 champion Darren Clarke. He's +2. Apropos of nothing, and just because I happen to have the stat to hand, so may as well share it, Clarke is joint holder of the record for most appearances by an Open champion before his first victory. That's 19, after his 2011 win, and he shares the number with Phil Mickelson (2013). Nick Price (1994) is next on the list.Birdie for Jackson Suber at 2, and the leader stretches his advantage at the top! He tugged his drive into the rough down the left, but got a decent lie, and was able to wedge over the flag from 90 yards to 12 feet. One fairly straight roll later, and he moves to -6. Meanwhile Laurie Canter nearly aces the 4th. His tee shot lands just past the bunker guarding the front left and serenely glides to kick-in distance, though it was never threatening to drop, always on a route below the hole. The 36-year-old Englishman is -2. Continue reading...

Markwayne Mullin at presser repeated many of Trump's unverified claims from controversial primetime speechThe US homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, doubled down on Donald Trump's unsubstantiated election claims on Friday amid his agency's efforts to support the president's agenda.Trump used a review compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the basis of many of his unsubstantiated claims on Thursday during his televised primetime address to the nation. Continue reading...

The president's Orwellian speech on Thursday was just the latest instance of his denialism. It is up to us to resistOn Thursday night, Donald Trump did it again, trashing another American tradition with his primetime address from the White House's East Room about election integrity. Other presidents have used such speeches in times of national emergency, to announce major new policies designed to improve Americans' lives or to honor American traditions.Not Trump. Continue reading...

The World Cup comes down to final two games.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will attend the World Cup final to see his country take on reigning champions Argentina, his government said Friday.Sanchez, a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump - who also plans to attend Sunday's final in New Jersey - will then travel to Algeria for an official visit. AFP Continue reading...

World No 2 was in full flow off the tee but off colour on the greens and knows he needs to make a charge on moving dayOne of the sweetest sounds in sport is the elongated swoosh that comes as Rory McIlroy's driver connects with his ball. Really, it is a beautiful thing. You imagine the impact will be a violent clank. Instead it is more like a yogi softly exhaling having found nirvana.But as McIlroy stepped on the 414-yard par-four 9th on Friday, he was still searching for inner peace. He was plus one for the tournament. The leaderboard was turning a sea of red. And he had substantial ground to make up. Continue reading...

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, wildfires in Europe, ICE in Maine and the World Cup semi-finals - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...

Chatty American in his first Open likes English trains and, despite a second-round blip, likes the links tooDid you hear the one about the kid from Tampa who won the Open in his very first week playing the links? If you didn't, it'll be because neither did he. Right now it's still a maybe. Jackson Suber, 26, square jaw, slim hips, big swing, and very long odds, was two shots clear of the field at one point on Friday morning, and even after he dropped three shots in as many holes, he managed to reach the clubhouse in second place, on six under par. The general reaction was much the same as it had been the previous evening when he first shot to the top of the leaderboard. Suber who?You need to be a pretty close follower of the PGA Tour, or heavily invested in the University of Mississippi golf program to have any real idea. On Thursday evening everyone in the media centre was scurrying around to find out something worth knowing. The first stop is his Open biography, which reveals that he qualified for the championship by finishing in a tie for fourth in the Canadian Open, that this is his third major appearance after he played in the US Open in 2024 (73rd) and 2026 (missed the cut), and that he recently finished fourth in the Byron Nelson. Hmm. Continue reading...

Democrats and advocates sound alarm at Trump rehashing false claims about 2020 election in his primetime addressDemocrats and voting rights groups say Donald Trump's primetime speech making unverified claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election are the clearest sign yet that the president is laying the groundwork to tamper with the results of November's midterms.The upcoming elections to decide the balance of power in Congress and many state legislatures will be a major test of Trump's appeal to voters two years after he resoundingly beat the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to return to the White House. With polls showing that the president is disliked by majorities of voters and his Republican allies are at risk of losing their control of the House of Representatives, the president's Thursday evening speech rehashing allegations about the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden sparked fears he was already looking for ways to ensure November's results are in his favor. Continue reading...

Aircraft that transported team to match is same one used to deport dozens of Venezuelans to Cecot mega-prisonA plane used by the Portugal men's soccer team to fly to a World Cup match is the same one used daily for the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, and brought dozens of Venezuelans to a Salvadoran mega-prison last year against a judge's orders.Video shows Portugal flying on a Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) aircraft en route to Dallas on 4 July ahead of their match against Spain, with the plane's tail number, N837VA, clearly visible. A review of flight records for that Airbus shows it flew removal-related flights both the day before and after flying the Portuguese athletes. Continue reading...

Illness surging in Michigan and other US states is rarely life-threatening, CDC says - but it can have severe effects

Aid workers are first known people to quarantine at facility, which sparked huge opposition in KenyaSeven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight the Ebola outbreak are quarantining at a new isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced travel restrictions, the head of a US charity employing them told Reuters.The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked huge opposition in Kenya and is at the heart of a legal case in which a court has ordered the work to be suspended. Construction continued however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. Continue reading...

Shopping local ensures a future for cultures and communities, says Caroline Weaver, creator of the Locavore Guide digital directoryWhen I signed the lease for my new apartment in Brooklyn, the relief of having survived the brutal New York City real estate market was short-lived when my next task became clear: I needed to furnish the place.My first instinct was to check everything off my list by shopping online. But the thought of waiting for deliveries and unboxing an endless mountain of packages seemed exhausting. And, I was moving to New York, where the streets are lined with a seemingly infinite number of stores. Continue reading...

Meta touts safety features - but for women, the dangers of these recording devices are obviousImagine if every time you left the house, you couldn't be sure that the stranger you met at a bar - or even the person walking by you in the street - wasn't secretly recording you. It sounds like something out of a Black Mirror episode, but let's face it, the era of wearable technology is fully upon us as everyday accessories have been developed to help track health and fitness data, receive smartphone notifications, and provide hands-free accessibility.So when Meta announced their AI glasses a few years ago, it wasn't too surprising that one of the biggest (and most embattled) tech companies on earth had begun cashing in on our obsession with watching others. And their AI glasses have already raised serious concerns over privacy, personal safety and even our sense of agency. Continue reading...

The debate about how old is too old to serve in public office has resurfaced this week after the shock death of the Republican senator Lindsey Graham and the surprise return of Mitch McConnell, the 84-year-old senator who published a photo of himself in hospital after a long absence from the spotlight.With rumours continuing to swirl around Donald Trump's health, why is it US politicians seem to cling on to power for so long?Jonathan Freedland speaks to Alexis Coe, a presidential historian and columnist for the New York Times Book review, about whether the US is becoming a gerontocracy - and what can be done about it Continue reading...

The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics draw hundreds of Indigenous athletes to partake in traditional games and celebrate their heritageAs Nicole Johnson prepared to compete in the Alaska sports arena, she visualized propelling into the air and kicking the ball with both of her feet simultaneously. The Inupiaq athlete was partaking in the Arctic game of two-foot high kick, long practiced by her community of northern Alaska Natives. When she kicked the ball made of seal skin that dangled from a kickstand, the crowd erupted in cheers. That day in July 1989 at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO), Johnson set the women's world record in the sport by striking the target at 6ft 6in.For this year's event, at age 57, she will compete in the dene stick pull, where she and another participant will hold on to the center of a stick covered in grease and attempt to wrest the object from their opponent. Continue reading...

Attorneys general from 12 states are suing to block the Paramount-Warner Bros deal they say violates antitrust lawA last-ditch effort to block the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is heading to court as 12 Democratic state attorneys general attempt to stop the $111bn deal they say violates antitrust law and reduces competition in both the film and cable television industries.The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, faces a crucial hearing on Friday to determine if a judge will temporarily pause the deal or allow it to continue toward approval. The merger was already approved by the Department of Justice in June. Continue reading...

Ex-Concacaf executive Mel Brennan reflects on the Fifa corruption scandal, missed reforms and why football's governance remains stubbornly opaqueMel Brennan has seen every level of world football. I know what the World Cup looks like from the 17th floor of Trump Tower ... I know what it looks like from a grass-strewn field in Trinidad where children cannot play because money that was supposed to maintain it went somewhere else entirely," he says.Brennan worked as an executive at Concacaf during the corrupt reign of its infamous former president Jack Warner and the late general secretary Chuck Blazer, who once helped run the organization from Trump Tower.This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Continue reading...

Move would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president's posts firstDonald Trump's media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets.The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. Continue reading...

Opponents say president's address about 2020 election loss is attempt to sow confusion ahead of midterms that could deliver big losses for RepublicansDonald Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election in a primetime televised address that laid bare his continuing obsession with his defeat to Joe Biden, but which opponents warned was a smokescreen for him to meddle in the forthcoming congressional midterms.In a 25-minute speech on Thursday that had been hyped by Trump himself, the US president cast extraordinary doubts on the integrity of the US electoral process, saying it was catastrophically" short of standards of fairness and trust, and vulnerable to trespassing by foreign powers. Continue reading...

Two of the top four chess nations will go head to head in Miami on 27-28 JulyThe USA and Uzbekistan are among the world's current four best chess teams, along with India and China, so the announcement that the pair will meet at Miami on 27-28 July in an all-play-all rapid and blitz Scheveningen format is sure to create interest as a guide to what may happen when the 200-nation classical Olympiad takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 15-27 September. Full details of the forthcoming matchare here.The two teams in Miami will both be at virtually full strength. The USA will field the world Nos 2 and 3, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, plus the world No 7, Wesley So, and the world Nos 17 and 22, Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian. Only the world No 19, Hans Niemann, might have made it stronger. Continue reading...

The broadcaster's tournament coverage was a mix of flat and fizz. It could also have been a long farewell with World Cup rights up for grabsGoodbye, then, to Fox, to its band of upbeat Brits and grown men dressed in suits and sneakers. Goodbye to constant cutaways to Gianni Infantino in the stands, his eyebrows a mournful tipi, his nude head sprinkling under the summer sun. Goodbye to Landon Donovan and his special gift for announcing every celebrity sighting (And there's Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz") as if delivering the results of a colonoscopy. Goodbye to Rebecca Lowe saying OK, OK" whenever she's needed one of her on-set personalities to zip it so she can throw to a break. Goodbye to the momentum graph, which only flashed on screen when a match's momentum needed no explanation; goodbye to no golden goal" on the scorebug during extra time, referencing a rule that has not been in force at a World Cup for 24 years; goodbye to the connected ball, which never seemed connected when we needed connection most.Goodbye to Geoff Shreeves, Fox's middle-aged Oliver Twist chirruping on the sideline for the approval of his American masters. Goodbye to Tom Rinaldi, to his pocket squares and his lyrical" meditations on balls and planets and stars or whatever. Goodbye to Chef Nick, now forced to rein in the extravagance of his early contributions (kangaroo corndogs, fufu chicken tikka masala) in the face of the tournament's gastronomically subdued final four. And goodbye to Jameis Winston, the Fox fan correspondent, whose distressingly antic and sweaty stadium dispatches gave him the unvarying appearance of a man being electrocuted in the middle of a baptism. Continue reading...

US president using office and intelligence agencies to try to undermine confidence in elections before midtermsDonald Trump used the imprimatur of the presidency and United States intelligence agencies to try to undermine confidence in American elections in a presidential address on Thursday that seemed bluntly aimed at laying the groundwork for further destabilizing the electoral system before November's midterm elections.In his address from the East Room at the White House, Trump attempted to give the impression that his administration had uncovered new bombshell findings about vulnerabilities in the US's election system. China, he claimed, had illicitly acquired voter information on 220 million Americans (many states allow anyone to buy voter roll information; Trump did not say the means by which the nation acquired the data). He claimed that China interfered in other ways to undermine his 2020 campaign and that the information had been suppressed by intelligence officials. Continue reading...

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NBC and CNN stayed away from White House speech, while Fox News, MS Now, CBS and some ABC affiliates aired itThe US's largest television stations split on whether to air Donald Trump's White House address live on Thursday night, which was heavy on unproven accusations about the integrity of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.While CNN, ABC and NBC chose not to air the speech live, CBS, Fox News and MS Now (formerly MSNBC) aired at least large portions of the speech live. ABC did not air the speech as a must-run broadcast, but some station affiliates - including the Washington DC station owned by right-leaning broadcaster Sinclair - chose to air the speech. Continue reading...

Businesses and traffic in West Hollywood doused after century-old pipe bursts belowgroundA century-old water pipe buried below a bustling boulevard in a Los Angeles county city burst early Thursday, sending a shock of water spewing into the streets and snarling traffic as several major roads shut down.The 36in riveted steel pipe's rupture left a protruding sinkhole and cracked pavement in West Hollywood. Images of the aftermath showed local metro buses partially submerged in murky brown water. Continue reading...

Taylor Farms reportedly linked to outbreak thought to be in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky

We're now closing this blog. Please join us on our new live blog covering Donald Trump's speech to the nation tonight.