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The Juneteenth National Independence Day marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned that they had been freed two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation Continue reading...

Actor is due to go to trial over death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed on set of RustFewer than three weeks before actor Alec Baldwin is due to go on trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, prosecutors have said that he engaged in horseplay with the revolver", including firing a blank round at a crew member on the set of Rust before the tragic accident occurred.Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Continue reading...

Virginia Hislop left school to care for her family during the second world war; 83 years later she received diplomaVirginia Hislop took 83 years to get her master's degree from Stanford University. Now, at 105 years old, she's finally graduated.My goodness, I've waited a long time for this," she said, walking across the stage on Sunday to receive her diploma. She was cheered on by her family, grandchildren and the 2024 graduating class. Continue reading...

Law passed requiring text to be displayed in every public school classroom, although lawsuits against it are expectedLouisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by the Republican governor, Jeff Landry, on Wednesday.The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in large, easily readable font" be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action - to sign or veto the bill - has lapsed. Continue reading...

The Americans failed to chase down the second-innings total to lose the opening Super Eight matchU S A! Netravalkar strikes! Hendricks tries to smoke him down the ground but loses his shape - hand coming off the bat during the stroke. Corey Anderson clings on to a steepler. Just about. Then holds his palms out as if to say what were you worried about'?'2nd over: South Africa 13-0 (de Kock 3, Hendricks 9) Pace man Ali Khan from t'other end with a slip in place. He's whippy and around the wicket. Action reminiscent of Fidel Edwards. de Kock is tied down somewhat, a handsome drive stopped by some excellent fielding in the ring, Shayan Jahangir with the acrobatics at backward point. No such trouble for Hendricks who steps out and swats a length ball over extra cover for SIX. Continue reading...

US says dams killed off salmon, inundated villages and burial grounds, and spirited wealth away from tribesThe US government, in a report published on Tuesday, acknowledged for the first time the harms that federal dams have inflicted on Native American tribes in the US Pacific north-west.The report by the interior department details the historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia River Basin Tribes", including how dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have devastated salmon runs, inundated villages and burial grounds, and deprived tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life. Continue reading...

Son of convicted murderer says Netflix defamed him when suggesting he was involved in death of Stephen SmithRichard Alexander Buster" Murdaugh, the son of imprisoned South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of reckless indifference to the truth" when it linked him to the 2015 death of his schoolfriend Stephen Smith in a documentary.The 28-year-old son of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, seeks actual and punitive damages from Netflix and other companies connected to documentaries examining the murders for damaging his reputation irreparably" and causing mental anguish". Continue reading...

Israeli leader made claim in X post, although Biden administration says it does not know what he is talking about'The Biden administration has reacted furiously to criticisms by Benjamin Netanyahu that the US is holding back weapons and ammunition from Israel in its war in Gaza, reportedly cancelling a high-level meeting with Israeli officials on Iran in retaliation.Netanyahu made the claims of a supposedly deliberate weapons delay in a video posted on X in which he implied that Israel's ability to prevail in the nine-month war with Hamas was being hampered as a result. Continue reading...

Both men - 78 and 81 respectively - have behaved in ways that might give even the most cautious observer pauseNo election involving Donald Trump can be considered normal, but, in among all the breaches and oddities of this uniquely strange presidential race, one stands out as stranger than others. That is: speculation as to which of the two presidential candidates is showing the greater and more alarming rate of mental decline.Until recently, this topic was considered at best unsporting, at worst dangerous - particularly on the left, where it is assumed that discussions around age will hurt Biden more than Trump. Even Trump, however, has benefited from certain delicacies governing the subject of impairment. During his first run for president, when the words narcissist" and borderline personality" first started to be bandied about, plenty of mental health professionals popped up to steeple their fingers and point out it is neither polite nor judicious to diagnose others based on zero clinical information. Continue reading...

It was a cheap little thing, but Dad was obsessed with it. For some reason I thought it would stop when he didAfter my dad died, this thing happened that I can't get past. It was when I went to the undertaker to get his ashes. They weren't ready, said the lady there, but she did have his watch to give me. This she handed over in a little velvety bag. As she went into an explanation about the hold-up with the ashes, I got the watch out of the bag and just stared at it, stunned. I couldn't believe that it was still ticking away, showing the correct time. I mean, I know: why would a cheap, battery-powered watch have died just because the wrist it had been around had gone for ever? At some level I must have thought it would have had the decency to stop at the moment that my dad stopped, as a mark of respect. But no, on it went regardless, heartless.It's funny what gets you. And what doesn't. Dates, for example, mean nothing at all to me. I was asked on Sunday if I felt particularly sad about my dad. I didn't really get where the question had come from, even though I knew it was Father's Day as my daughters had texted me. I just didn't make the connection. I felt no sadder or less sad on Sunday than I did on Saturday or Monday. And it'll be the same when his birthday comes round; and the anniversary of his death, too. Dates are just random numbers. I'm not proud of feeling this way; I've been forgetting birthdays and anniversaries - my own as well as others' - all my life, causing a fair amount of offence and upset in the process. Continue reading...

At least one killed as residents of Ruidoso escape blazes which are 0% containedTwo fast-moving fires killed at least one person in New Mexico, claimed 1,400 structures and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents as firefighters hope cooler temperatures and the chance of rain could bring some relief as they struggle to bring the out of control" blazes to heel .A state of emergency has been declared by New Mexico's governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council, to speed recovery and response funding into the region. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants married to US nationals can now exit the shadows' while others remain stuck in limboHundreds of thousands of immigrants had reason to rejoice when Joe Biden unveiled a highly expansive plan to extend legal status to spouses of US citizens but, inevitably, some were left out.Claudia Zuniga, 35, was married in 2017, 10 years after her husband came to the United States. He moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, after they wed, knowing that, by law, he had to live outside the US for years to gain legal status. Our lives took a 180-degree turn," she said. Continue reading...

Calf was stuck in lake between floatplane and dock, unable to gain its footing as mother worriedly watchedAn Alaska man and two police officers rescued a baby moose from what police described as a sure demise" after it fell into a lake and got stuck in a narrow space between a floatplane and a dock.Spencer Warren, who works for the outdoor tourism company Destination Alaska Adventure Co, had arrived at work about 6.30am on Friday to prepare a floatplane for the day's trip when he heard what he thought was an odd-sounding bird. Continue reading...

The NBA postseason remains an eight-week psychodrama of moments, memes and memories unlike anything in sport. Our writer looks back at the 20 biggest takeawaysThis particular trade deadline was a bit of a snoozefest, as many teams opted to roll with the status quo. But the two teams that made the biggest swings, Indiana (in a move for Pascal Siakam that actually came shortly before the deadline) and Dallas (who acquired PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford and shipped away cantankerous Grant Williams) both were rewarded mightily for their gumption: in the form of surprise Eastern Conference finals and NBA finals appearances, respectively. Continue reading...

Russian president makes first visit in 24 years as anti-west relationship deepens. Plus, Ebon Moss-Bachrach on The Bear

Dakota Adams, 27, entered politics after escaping life with Stewart Rhodes, who is in prison for his role in January 6With his thick eyeliner, long blond hair and leather jacket, Dakota Adams does not look like a typical politician.The 27-year-old, who is running as a progressive Democrat in a deep-red, rural corner of Montana, doesn't have a typical politician backstory either. Continue reading...

At least 30 states officially celebrate end of slavery in US, but others pay employees to take day off to celebrate enslavers

Rain and snow samples from Wisconsin to Maine and North Carolina after crash show highest pH levels over last decadeChemicals released during the East Palestine train wreck fires in February 2023 in Ohio were carried across 16 US states, new research of federal precipitation and pollution data shows.Analysis of rain and snow samples collected from northern Wisconsin to Maine to North Carolina in the weeks following the crash found the highest levels of pH and some compounds recorded over the last ten years. That includes chloride, which researchers say was largely released during a controversial controlled burn of highly toxic vinyl chloride carried by the train. Continue reading...

Records also show displays of impunity and instances of officers wearing possible white supremacist morale patchesThe New York City police department's disciplinary issues are coming to a head during the third year of tough-on-crime Mayor Eric Adams's administration, with complaints at their highest since 2012, stop-and-frisk encounters soaring and displays of impunity by rank-and-file officers, according to interviews and data from the city's independent police watchdog agency.Disciplinary records and interviews with sources also reveal a persistent problem with instances of NYPD officers wearing morale patches on their bulletproof vests containing possible white supremacist imagery. Continue reading...

Mothering a Swiftie can mean making decisions that make you feel like either the best or worst parent in the worldI am either the worst parent in the world or the best parent in the world" is what I texted friend after friend last Thursday as my Lyft chugged toward JFK airport.The passenger next to me was far less angst-ridden. Owing to her powers of persuasion, my nine-year-old daughter and I were about to fly across the ocean to see her hero. Continue reading...

The tacky ex-president loves the overrated Impressionist. Personally, I can only take so many portraits of dough-faced womenDonald Trump has criminally bad taste in just about everything. He orders his steaks well done and drowns them in ketchup. His Manhattan penthouse is gold and famously gaudy. He wears shiny suits that never seem to fit properly. And then there's his taste in art: the man loves himself a bit of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. For years, Trump had what he liked to boast was an original Renoir" on his private jet. That has been proven to be nonsense: the original of the painting in question - Two Sisters (On The Terrace) - is in a Chicago gallery and Trump has a fake. Still, he likes it very much and has now relocated it to Trump Tower. Melania Trump also has a fake Renoir in her office.The tasteless Trumps might enjoy Renoir, but so do a lot of people. Why am I slandering the French Impressionist? I'll tell you why: I recently visited the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia (home to the world's single largest collection of Renoirs) and, after looking at 10 million pictures of dough-faced women, I had something of a revelation: Renoir is incredibly overrated. Continue reading...

The edited videos are often posted to question the US president's mental fitness at 81Joe Biden wandered off.Standing among the west's major leaders in Italy last week, the US president turned away, seemingly in confusion, and had to be alerted back to the group to take a photo - at least, that's what rightwing media showed. Continue reading...

Kim enjoys the recognition and backs Putin in Ukraine. Putin's war, meanwhile needs North Korean weapons. It's a dangerous allianceThey make an odd couple. One is smiley-faced and chubby. The other is thin-lipped and scowls a lot. Both are dictators, sinister, brutal and unaccountable in their different ways. Both have made it their mission in life to overturn the post-1945 global order, defying the US, its chief patrolman. And both are sanctioned, ostracised and a little bit feared by the countries of the west.Those fears are likely to intensify after today's Pyongyang summit, both symbolic and substantive, between this unofficial Laurel and Hardy tribute act. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un - the plump one - and Russia's Vladimir Putin - the skinny one - have a shared aim: consolidating their place in a bullish anti-western, anti-democratic alliance, ostensibly representing a new world order", reaching from China to Iran.Simon Tisdall is the Observer's Foreign Affairs CommentatorDo 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...

The tournament kicks off on Thursday. How will the USMNT fare? Who will surprise? Who will crash out early? And who will win it all?

We have much to fear if the French president, playing with fire, opens the door to a far-right governmentTwenty-two years after Jean-Marie Le Pen was unexpectedly voted through to the second round of a French presidential election- an electoral shock that drew nearly a million people on to the streets in protest - the threat of the far right coming to power has returned.On 9 June, French voters gave Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) an unprecedented victory in the European elections. Her party won a record 31.5% of the vote, twice as many votes as the centrist alliance backed by President Emmanuel Macron. A separate far-right list headed by Le Pen's niece, Marion Marechal, won a further 5% of the vote.Rokhaya Diallo is a French journalist, writer, film-maker and activistDo 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...

Caleb Adams tells NBC emotional tale of swimming through his own blood to get help for bites to his torso, arm and handA man who survived being bitten several times by a shark while taking a dip off the coast of California says he fought so hard that he may have hit the animal inside its mouth before he then swam through his own blood to reach safety.I'm very thankful," 46-year-old Caleb Adams said in an emotional interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday on the network's Today show. Continue reading...

Ex-president blames Democrats and offers conciliatory remarks to city hosting Republican national conventionDonald Trump made a brazen bid for support in the vital swing state of Wisconsin on Tuesday by declaring his affection for its biggest population centre, Milwaukee, just days after denigrating it as a horrible city".Needing to explain his own words to a city that will host the Republican national convention next month, the former president predictably chose to tackle the problem head-on at a campaign rally in neighbouring Racine, about 30 miles from Milwaukee along the shore of Lake Michigan. Continue reading...

Anti-abortion activists sue over ballot measure, leading group behind measure to ask federal judge to step inAnti-abortion activists in South Dakota have sued over a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, leading the group behind the measure to ask a federal judge to step in and block the activists' effort.Last week, South Dakota's Life Defense Fund filed a lawsuit accusing Dakotans for Health of fraud, turning in invalid signatures and failing to abide by the state rules that govern signature-gathering for ballot measures. Life Defense Fund has asked a South Dakota circuit court to take the abortion-rights measure off the November ballot. Continue reading...

Robert Morris resigns from Texas church after admitting to sexually abusing girl in the 1980s, starting when she was 12A Texas megachurch said on Tuesday it had accepted the resignation of its senior pastor after he admitted to sexually abusing a child in the 1980s.The church has also launched a formal, legal investigation into the matter. Continue reading...

Other versions of the 10ft-tall metal installation were found in places like Utah, California, Wales and Romania in 2020The mysterious monoliths that surfaced during the Covid-19 pandemic have reappeared, this time in a Nevada desert.Other versions of the singular, reflective, 10ft-tall metal installation were found in places like Utah, California, Wales and Romania in 2020, but now can be seen at Gass Peak, roughly 40 miles north of Las Vegas. Continue reading...

President touts commonsense fix' that would provide relief for more than half a million mixed-status' familiesJoe Biden on Tuesday announced an expansive new plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented spouses of US citizens, calling it a commonsense fix" that would provide relief to more than half a million mixed-status" families in the country.The move comes as the Democratic president tries to strike a balance before the 5 November election: confronting rising public concern over the unprecedented levels of migration at the southern border, while appeasing progressive Democrats and Hispanic leaders furious over Biden's aggressive asylum crackdown, which they likened to Trump-era policies. Continue reading...

The team from Flushing were enduring a long slump until the McDonald's mascot popped up at a game. They have been on a hot streak sinceThe New York Mets were in disarray. The club with Major League Baseball's largest payroll, $308m, had started the season 29-37. They were primed for a second-straight year of rebuilding despite their massive outlay on talent. Less than a month earlier, on 15 May, hedge fund magnate and team owner Steve Cohen all but admitted in a since deleted tweet that the club would be selling off assets at the July trade deadline. Not much we can do" until that time, he told a fan who had mentioned dismantling the roster.Then an unlikely hero showed up. He was soft, purple, and blessed with the dad bod of a back-up catcher. And that hero was Grimace, a second-tier McDonald's mascot who lacks the star power of Ronald McDonald, the political heft of Mayor McCheese or the dashing charisma of Hamburglar. Nevertheless, on 12 June he threw out the first pitch at CitiField and transformed the Mets' season. Continue reading...

Number of people affected unclear after disruption made it impossible to reach emergency services through numberThe 911 system across Massachusetts was restored Tuesday after going down for several hours, which made it impossible for anyone to reach emergency services through the call number.The Massachusetts state police announced around 3.45pm that the system had been restored and that people could resume calling emergency services. They didn't provide any details about the cause of the outage. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Read the latest on Biden's immigration order here:

Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty in January to federal hate and gun charges after five killed in Club Q shootingThe person who shot and killed five people and injured nearly 20 others at a LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2022 pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges and was sentenced to 55 life terms in prison on Tuesday.Anderson Lee Aldrich, 24, is already serving a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty to state charges in the 2022 shooting last year. As part of the plea agreement, Aldrich repeatedly admitted on Tuesday to evidence of hatred. Continue reading...

Far-right congressman and Trump loyalist also investigated over alleged drug use and claims of other ethical breachesA bipartisan Capitol Hill committee is investigating Matt Gaetz, the far-right Republican congressman and vocal Donald Trump supporter, over longstanding allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and other alleged ethical breaches, it said on Tuesday.The announcement by the House ethics committee - which contains an equal number of Democrats and Republicans - reignited a swirl of scandal surrounding the outspoken Trump ally that had abated somewhat after an earlier criminal investigation into allegations against him was dropped. Continue reading...

Donald Trump's military ran a covert campaign to discredit China's Sinovac vaccine at the height of the pandemicIn July 2021, Joe Biden rightly inveighed against social media companies failing to tackle vaccine disinformation: They're killing people," the US president said. Despite their pledges to take action, lies and sensationalised accounts were still spreading on platforms. Most of those dying in the US were unvaccinated. An additional source of frustration for the US was the fact that Russia and China were encouraging mistrust of western vaccines, questioning their efficacy, exaggerating side-effects and sensationalising the deaths of people who had been inoculated.How, then, would the US describe the effects of its own disinformation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic? A shocking new report has revealed that its military ran a secret campaign to discredit China's Sinovac vaccine with Filipinos - when nothing else was available to the Philippines. The Reuters investigation found that this spread to audiences in central Asia and the Middle East, with fake social media accounts not only questioning Sinovac's efficacy and safety but also claiming it used pork gelatine, to discourage Muslims from receiving it. In the case of the Philippines, the poor take-up of vaccines contributed to one of the highest death rates in the region. Undermining confidence in a specific vaccine can also contribute to broader vaccine hesitancy. Continue reading...

With eyes on 2026, Copa America will be a referendum on the team's head coach

State's supreme court declines to hear former president's one of two legal efforts to terminate the orderDonald Trump has lost one of two legal efforts to terminate a gag order imposed on the former president during his hush-money" trial in New York on accounting fraud charges.On Tuesday, New York's state supreme court said it declined to hear Trump's appeal against the gag order in the case involving Stormy Daniels that led to his conviction on 34 felonies, asserting that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved". Continue reading...

Mary Morrissey apologizes after being filmed dumping liquid into backpack of Democratic legislator Jim CarrollA Vermont lawmaker was compelled to apologize publicly after being caught on video pouring water into her colleague's work bag multiple times across several months.The bizarre behavior is allegedly a part of a campaign of harassment that one legislator aimed at another who represents the same district in the Green Mountain state, independent outlet Seven Days first reported. Continue reading...

Company blames supplier delays for missed production targets and has struggled to meet sales forecastsThe electric car company Fisker has filed for US bankruptcy protection, making it the latest EV startup to collapse trying to challenge the established car industry.The company was started in 2016 by the husband-and-wife team Henrik Fisker and Geeta Gupta-Fisker. It is the second attempt by Fisker, a former Aston Martin design chief, to establish an EV challenger that has ended in bankruptcy. Continue reading...

Of course we must provide a high standard of care. But a broken grievance process can do harmWe have heard all about accountable doctors. Here's why patients must be held accountable.I saved you a voicemail," my friend says over a hastily arranged lunch. After ordering, I hit play and listen not once but three times. The message is like a poorly microwaved meal: warm on the surface, stone cold inside. Continue reading...