Woman seeks $1m for defamation after she says LaToya Cantrell falsely accused her of following and harassingA New Orleans woman once accused of stalking by the city's mayor, LaToya Cantrell, turned the tables on Friday with a $1m-plus federal lawsuit accusing the elected official, her chief of staff, and eight members of the city's police department of civil rights violations and defamation.Anne W Breaud's lawsuit says Cantrell falsely accused her of following and harassing her. It also claims Cantrell's chief of staff and members of the police department improperly accessed state and federal information on Breaud. Continue reading...
The vice-president's ascent marks a historic moment. But the US must remain vigilant to the threat of the model minority' mythWe are here! We are here! We have arrived!" cheered the lawyer and activist Valarie Kaur, to more than 4,000 south Asian participants mobilizing for Kamala Harris on a Zoom call on Wednesday night.I want to name this a historic moment - and as a moment for all of us to come together." If elected, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would become the first woman, first Black woman, and first south Asian to win the US presidency. Continue reading...
Law doesn't violate amendment to stick to one subject, although abortion and gender healthcare are distinct'A Nebraska law that combined abortion restrictions with another measure to limit gender-affirming healthcare for minors does not violate a state constitutional amendment requiring bills to stick to a single subject, the state supreme court ruled Friday.The state's high court acknowledged in its ruling that abortion and gender-affirming care are distinct types of medical care", but the law does not violate Nebraska's single-subject rule because both abortion and transgender health fall under the subject of medical care. Continue reading...
The former US president and Republican nominee Donald Trump said Kamala Harris's comments about Israel's war on Gaza 'weren't very nice' during a visit by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump was reacting to combative speech by Harris after her own meeting with Netanyahu in which she said she would not be silent about Israel's war in Gaza.Netanyahu said he hoped that Harris's comments did not signal a rift between Israel and the US. Netanyahu also said Israel was 'eager' to secure a ceasefire deal that would lead to the release of hostages held in Gaza.Trump also took a question on his relationship with Netanyahu, in light of reports of difficulties between the leaders. Trump dismissed the reports, saying their relations had always been good, adding that Netanyahu's wife, Sara, was his 'secret weapon' in this respect. 'As long as I have Sara, that's all that matters,' said Trump
Simone Biles has reframed her relationship with the sport but will face fierce competition from Rebeca AndradeIn the aftermath of her nightmare second Olympic experience, all Simone Biles wanted to do was go home. But even after she departed Tokyo, Biles had to follow her teammates to New York and wade through numerous excruciating talk show appearances and photo ops. Then came a parade in her hometown of Houston. Each time the cameras trained on her, she plastered a fake smile over her face. When she finally returned home, she wept.It has taken so much work for Biles to return to the top of her sport after the events of Tokyo 2020. She stepped away from gymnastics for a year, she has spent many hours of therapy trying to fully understand the root causes of her mental suffering and she has had to reframe her relationship with her sport. Now, she says, she is performing for herself. Continue reading...
The horrors of the war in Gaza, and the Israeli prime minister's conduct and rhetoric, are spurring shifts in policies overseasThe multiple standing ovations that Benjamin Netanyahu received in Washington this week, on his first trip abroad since the Hamas attack of 7 October, must have rung hollow even to his ears. The problem was not merely the distraction of the US political class by Joe Biden's abandonment of his re-election bid, and Kamala Harris's ascension. Almost half of House and Senate Democrats boycotted his address to Congress. Many instead met relatives of hostages, who are furious at Mr Netanyahu for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement. Nancy Pelosi described his speech as by far the worst by any foreign dignitary at the Capitol.The Israeli prime minister is used to unpopularity: around 70% of Israelis think he has not done enough to win the hostages' release; a similar number want him to resign. But abroad, he bears much of the responsibility for a decisive shift in attitudes towards his country as well as himself, even in its staunchest ally. Continue reading...
A staggering 72% of Israelis want Netanyahu to step down. Netanyahu doesn't represent us and it's shameful that Congress invited himTo put it bluntly - Benjamin Netanyahu is the enemy of the Israeli people, the Palestinian people, and of every person on this earth who values human life. He is also personally responsible for October 7. The fact that he spoke in Congress, with tens of thousands dead in Gaza and no hostage deal in sight, is an embarrassment to Congress and to every single representative who attended.When Netanyahu spoke to Congress, Congress should've walked out, not given him standing ovations. Even beyond the moral obvious, no dialogue should be had with this man for the same reason dialogue with Trump is a waste of time - all you're ever going to get is another masterclass in gaslighting. And that is exactly what this speech was - from craven lying about the death toll in Gaza to craven lying about his attempts to free the hostages - A smorgasbord of craven lying, which congress, for some reason, could not stop applauding. Continue reading...
VP nominee pushed baseless warning in 2022 that George Soros would pack planes of Black women to get abortionsJD Vance, Ohio senator and Donald Trump's running mate, promoted a baseless rightwing talking point in 2022 when he warned of George Soros-funded planes transporting Black women across state lines for abortions.I'm sympathetic to the view that like, okay, look here, here's a situation - let's say Roe v Wade is overruled," Vance said in a recently resurfaced podcast interview. Ohio bans abortion in 2022, or let's say 2024. And then, you know, every day George Soros sends a 747 to Columbus to load up disproportionately Black women to get them to go have abortions in California. And of course, the left will celebrate this as a victory for diversity - uh, that's kind of creepy." Continue reading...
Swimming is splashing into the confines of a rugby stadium with all eyes on whether world records will be smashedOlympic swimming rarely disappoints, and it starts on Saturday with the women's 100m butterfly heats. As excitement builds, many are wondering if the pool will produce record-breaking performances to light up the Games.First things first; in Paris there is a separate venue for the swimmers in Nanterre while the divers and artistic swimmers get to star in the 151m purpose-built aquatics centre in Saint-Denis. So much for the hype around a flexible pool. Instead, the swimming events will be held in the Paris La Defense Arena where two 50m temporary pools have been built in what is normally a 30,000-seat rugby stadium. Continue reading...
Minors can receive contraception confidentially under Title X in the state with the highest repeat teen birth rateKen Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has sued the Biden administration over a longstanding federal program that provides teenagers access to contraception without parental consent, the state's latest attack against the federal government's reproductive healthcare policies.This suit is likely a preview of where the Texas GOP - and national Republicans - stand on attacking contraception access," says Mary Ziegler, a professor at University of California, Davis, School of Law and reproductive health expert. While Republicans say they don't want to take aim at contraception, this is another sign that this is actually where we're headed." Continue reading...
The Americans are reigning Olympic champions but still needed funds in the run-up to Paris. Then a hip-hop veteran came in to save the dayThe United States women's water polo team will launch their bid for an unprecedented fourth straight Olympic gold medal on Saturday with an unlikely benefactor in their corner. Flavor Flav, the 65-year-old founding member of Public Enemy, has stolen the show around town in his role as the team's official hype man.This is quite an experience for me right now, you know, because the only time I've ever seen the Olympics was on TV," said Flav, who spent Thursday hugging and high-fiving everyone in sight at the Team USA house in the historic Palais Brongniart. You know what I'm saying? But I always wanted to see what it felt like being there." Continue reading...
Fate has swung wildly in her favour, with everything from the Democrat establishment to memes on her side. Will we finally see a Madam President?A week has always been a long time in politics, but this might have been the longest week in Kamala Harris's life. While Joe Biden is still technically the US president, he already feels irrelevant. All eyes are on Harris now. The speed with which she has gone from being one of the most unpopular vice-presidents in modern history to sitting at the top of the Democratic ticket, with an army of enthusiastic fans behind her, is astounding. Biden's trajectory has been widely compared to a Shakespearean tragedy; Harris's sudden reversal of fortune, meanwhile, is like something out of a fairytale.A quick recap: Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris on Sunday. The Democratic establishment then threw its weight behind her on Monday. So did hundreds of thousands of donors; Harris's campaign raked in a record-breaking $81m in just 24 hours. By Tuesday, she had earned enough support from delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president next month. On Wednesday, Democrats approved rules meaning that any Democrat who wants to compete against Harris for the nomination only has days to do so. Then, on Friday, Barack Obama endorsed the vice-president. Her coronation is almost complete. Continue reading...
by Melissa Hellmann and Rachel Leingang on (#6PGMW)
Movement that used the Democratic primaries to voice opposition wants more than empathy for Palestinians from the vice-presidentThe protest movement that sought to use the Democratic primaries to pressure Joe Biden to shift his policy on Israel and Gaza breathed a sigh of relief when he ended his bid for re-election. But they're not ready to promise they'll support Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee.More than 700,000 Americans voted uncommitted", or its equivalent, in state primaries as a message to Biden that he risked losing significant support in November if he did not shift away from his support for Israel. As next month's Democratic national convention inches closer, the movement has turned its sights to pressuring Harris to shape a new course on Gaza policy. Its demands of Harris include an arms embargo on Israel and support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials. Continue reading...
Second gentleman tells LGBTQ+ fundraiser his phone was on fire' after wife Kamala Harris entered spotlightDoug Emhoff has described being caught by surprise by the timing of Joe Biden's announcement last Sunday that he was dropping out of his re-election campaign, telling an LGBTQ+ fundraiser that he was in an exercise class in Los Angeles when he heard the news.Emhoff, 59, the husband of US vice-president Kamala Harris, explained to attendees on a fundraising call organized by a group called Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris that he was with a gay couple friend" having coffee, messing around and talking" when people started coming up to them. Continue reading...
Louisiana's Elizabeth Francis, America's grandmother', was born before women could vote and has seen two world warsThe oldest person in the US offers two bits of advice when asked for the keys to her longevity: If the good Lord gave it to you, use it" and Speak your mind, don't bite your tongue!"Elizabeth Francis's pearls of wisdom were recirculated widely as she celebrated her 115th birthday on Thursday. The milestone cemented her place as the world's fourth-oldest living person, according to the LongeviQuest website, an authority on supercentenarians, or those who are 110 or older. Continue reading...
Marchand, Peaty, Ledecky and co mean the pool is stacked with big names despite shadow of Chinese doping scandalYou can't miss Leon Marchand in Paris, his picture runs right up along all 200m of the only skyscraper in the city limits, the Tour Montparnasse. Marchand is 22 and has never won an Olympic medal, but he is one of the three French faces of the Games, along with Antoine Dupont and Victor Wembanyana. It means that for the first time since Michael Phelps set himself the impossible job of winning eight gold medals at Beijing in 2008, a swimmer is the star turn at the Olympics. It's no coincidence that last year Marchand finally beat Phelps' last surviving solo world record, in the 400m individual medley.Marchand goes in four separate solo events in seven days, the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, with the finals just an hour and a half apart on Wednesday evening, the 200m later in the week and the 400m medley, which is the first event up, on Sunday evening. That night he will share the top of the bill with Adam Peaty, who is trying to become the second man, after Phelps, to win the same event at three consecutive Games. There was a time Peaty was the nearest thing to a sure thing in sport, but he has had a rough three years since Tokyo, and, while he has set the fastest time in the world this year, he is still searching for his very best form. Continue reading...
Sure, Harris deserves scrutiny. But she doesn't deserve smears and stereotypes amplified by journalists and pundits addicted to clicksIt's going to be ugly, that much is already clear.In the few days since Kamala Harris began her 2024 campaign for president, the media has shown us where some of their coverage is headed: no place good.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...
by Rachel Leingang and Stephanie Kirchgaessner on (#6PGPK)
Heritage Foundation leader has long received spiritual guidance from group and his policy goals align with its teachingsKevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation president and the architect of Project 2025, the conservative thinktank's road map for a second Trump presidency, has close ties and receives regular spiritual guidance from an Opus Dei-led center in Washington DC, a hub of activity for the radical and secretive Catholic group.Roberts acknowledged in a speech last September that - for years - he has visited the Catholic Information Center, a K Street institution headed by an Opus Dei priest and incorporated by the archdiocese of Washington, on a weekly basis for mass and formation", or religious guidance. Opus Dei also organizes monthly retreats at the CIC. Continue reading...
France still doesn't have a government but at least it can unite in the joy of seeing Parisians even more peeved than usualGetting to the Left Bank is easier said than done. Actually it's fine by metro, but crossing the river by any other means is, temporarily at least, a bit of an ordeal: innumerable detours for closed bridges, and cops as confused as you are. Continue reading...
Outsiders can't fathom his success. But Trump's supporters believe his gaffes and misdemeanours prove he's one of them'There is no such thing as a universal leader. Leaders always represent a specific social group: a political party, a religion or a social movement. The more they are loved by insiders, the more such adulation seems bizarre and inexplicable to outsiders - to the extent that we often dismiss adoring followers as deluded or deplorable in some way. Think Margaret Thatcher, or Jeremy Corbyn, or Boris Johnson.But perhaps the greatest enigma of contemporary politics concerns Donald Trump - a man who elicits messianic fever and revulsion in equal measure. A liar and serial philanderer championed by evangelists; a felon supported by law and order" enthusiasts; a man who boasts of groping women and yet was elected with a majority of white women voters; a billionaire who likes posing in the golden lift of his New York skyscraper while also posing as the champion of the working class. How on earth does any of this make sense? Yet, at the same time, how can Kamala Harris - if, as is near-certain, she is crowned the Democratic nominee - hope to win in November unless she is able to make sense of it? Continue reading...
Republican still mostly ahead in swing states but data suggests presumptive Democratic nominee gaining groundA spate of opinion polls carried out since Joe Biden abandoned his presidential campaign last Sunday show Vice-President Kamala Harris closing the gap on Donald Trump but still narrowly trailing in a tight race.While still often narrowly behind, the ability of Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee, to gain ground on her Republican opponent suggests her elevation to the top of the ticket has reset the presidential race, pollsters say, especially after weeks of plummeting Democratic poll numbers under Biden. Continue reading...
Breathless calls for justice and reform - even when they come from the highest office in the land - feel stale and hollowThe police killing of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Black woman who was shot in the face by a white sheriff's deputy in her own home after she called for help reporting a prowler, is just the latest episode of the hellish TV show that is Black life in America.And if you've been paying attention, the script is often the same: person calls cops for help, cops go into their house, cops shoot them, cops lie about what happened, cops get off (relatively) scot-free.Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Hatred will continue to ooze from the right. Pay attention - because that bigotry isn't just talk, it's Republican policiesLike a warm compress drawing pus from a wound, the Democratic presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris immediately brought out the misogyny and racism of the Maga Republican party.Tim Burchett, the Tennessee Republican representative, called Harris, the child of a Black Jamaican father and an Indian mother, a DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hire - picked, that is, because she is Black, not because she's qualified. Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, insinuated that Harris is a welfare queen. What the hell have you done other than collect a check?" he asked at a Michigan rally of Harris, a former state attorney general, US senator and now the vice-president. At the same time, social media posts showing Harris with her parents falsely claim she's not really Black, because her father is light-skinned.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books Continue reading...
Site of proposed Atlanta police training center has changed greatly since arrest of protesters charged with racketeeringAfter months of stonewalling by Georgia prosecutors, defense attorneys were allowed on Tuesday to visit the forest at the center of the state's criminal conspiracy case against a movement opposing the police training center colloquially known as Cop City" - only to come away frustrated by how much things had changed on the ground.The attorneys also found confusion about where arrests and alleged crimes occurred during the last two years, according to a handful who spoke to the Guardian. Continue reading...
Let's Protect Workers act would also increase fines for wage and hour violations, from $1,100 each to $25,000 eachDemocrats introduced a bill Friday proposing increased penalties for employers found guilty of child labor violations and toughening rules around minimum wage, overtime violations and breaches of health and safety rules.The Let's Protect Workers act would also set new penalties for retaliating against workers who exercise their right to take family and medical leave, toughen oversight of workplace injury records, improve mine safety and ensure funding for workers affected by black lung. Continue reading...
The world's biggest basketball league had steady but unspectacular ratings last season but its blockbuster deal could predict the future of sports broadcastingIf there were ever any doubts that the future of television is streaming, the NBA just put them to rest. After months of protracted negotiations over the 11-year media rights deal set to begin in 2025, the NBA announced last night it has signed deals with incumbent Disney's ESPN, which was already a rights holders, and new partners, NBCUniversal and Amazon. What's even more remarkable than the eye-watering $76bn price tag, is just what the deal tacitly predicts for the future of sports coverage.Several things stand out. Firstly, the NBA's new partners have notably strong streaming platforms, while still maintaining ties to network television (ABC/ESPN and NBC) and an over-the-air presence. Continue reading...
The English coach was brought in to transform a team that had stumbled badly at last year's World Cup. The early signs are encouragingFor US women's national team manager Emma Hayes, just one roadblock seemed to be troubling her team as they made their way to France for their Olympic opener: the invisible brick wall that had been erected in front of goal.In the team's two pre-Olympic warmup friendlies, Hayes' squad had 43 shots. Just 18 landed on target, and only one resulted in a goal. The team showed in a 1-0 win over Mexico and a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica that they had improved as an attacking unit over the course of Hayes' first games in charge, but their ability to finish off plays was in question. Continue reading...
The best players in the NBA are no longer exclusively American, while other countries play better as team units. We could see an upset at Paris 2024The 2024 Olympic Games are shaping up to be the most competitive international men's basketball tournament of all time, with powerhouse nations like Canada, Australia, Spain, France, Germany and Serbia loading up on talent as they aim to take down the juggernaut Team USA.The American men have won gold at each of the last four Olympics and have assembled The Avengers" in hopes of doing so again. Led by LeBron James and Stephen Curry, Team USA is packed with NBA All-Stars being coached by NBA champions. But unlike many other teams they will face at the Olympics, this American roster had not played together until a series of warmup games in the last few weeks. And despite their significant talent advantage, they will have less time than any other team to come together, put their NBA habits aside, and play Fiba basketball, which has different rules such as smaller courts and shorter games, as a unit. Continue reading...
From Los Angeles to Cairo, the global water crisis is escalating - but Valencia's Tribunal de les Aigues could inspire a solutionEvery Thursday at noon, outside the west door of Valencia's cathedral, nine black-cloaked figures - one wearing a banded cap and with a ceremonial harpoon by their side - gather for their weekly meeting, as they have done for hundreds of years. This is the Tribunal de les Aigues (Tribunal of Waters) - a water court that may be the oldest institution of justice in Europe.It may seem like a relic of the past, but in fact, in the midst of a global water crisis, the tribunal is more relevant than ever. We are a civilisation at risk of committing aquacide. Due to droughts caused by climate change, expanding industrial agriculture and growing urbanisation, one in every four people will be affected by water scarcity over coming decades, with cities from Los Angeles and Cairo to Melbourne and Sao Paulo facing acute shortages. Water conflicts are on the rise, both within and between nations - we are increasingly fighting over water rather than oil and land. Moreover, in countries such as the UK, private water companies are jacking up prices and siphoning off super-profits while dumping sewage in the rivers. Continue reading...
We are no closer to understanding why some men hate women so viciously - but we can transform how misogyny is policedNatalie Fleet was only 15 when she got pregnant by an older man. At the time, she says she didn't really know how to describe what was happening; didn't see herself as being groomed, or as a child still not legally old enough to consent. If anything, she worried that she might be the one who had done something wrong, given she was the one being called a slag and a slapper. Only now, more than two decades later, does the newly elected Labour MP for Bolsover feel able to say publicly that an experience about which she apparently still has nightmares was statutory rape.Having met the force of nature that is Fleet five years ago when she first stood unsuccessfully for election, I'm struck but not surprised by her courage in volunteering a story that perfectly illustrates what a complex crime rape can be to investigate, and how horribly common abusive behaviour is - or at least, how common it would look if everyone was as willing to talk this openly about it. Continue reading...
by Helen Livingstone (now); Léonie Chao-Fong, Chris on (#6PFNC)
This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on Kamala Harris' meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu hereThe Harris for President campaign has launched its first official video, less than a week after US President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.The ad caps a week during which Harris also broke funding records and quickly clinched enough delegate support to become the presumptive nominee in an election that is now just over 100 days away. Continue reading...
by Dani Anguiano in Chico and Anna Betts in New York on (#6PFY2)
Suspect allegedly pushed burning car into gully which started Park fire as other fires scorch Pacific north-westA California man was arrested on Thursday and accused of starting the state's largest wildlife of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully.The flames have since exploded into what is now the Park fire, which has burned more than 71,000 acres (28,733 hectares) near the city of Chico. Evacuations were ordered in Butte and Tehama counties, with the blaze only 3% contained early on Thursday. Continue reading...
Harris ready to debate Donald Trump' but rival refuses to finalize plans until Democrats formally make nominationKamala Harris has accused Donald Trump of backpedaling" from a previously agreed presidential debate in September, as the Trump campaign said that it would not agree to finalizing plans until Harris formally becomes the Democratic nominee.Harris told reporters on Thursday that she was ready to debate Donald Trump". A debate, hosted by ABC News, was planned for 10 September. Continue reading...
After meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, vice president Kamala Harris said she supports Israel's right to defend itself, but said 'how it does so matters'. Harris expressed concern over the 'devastating' humanitarian situation in Gaza and images of civilians killed in the conflict, saying 'we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies'. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met separately at the White House with president Joe Biden before his meeting with Harris to discuss the war in Gaza and the possibility of securing a cease-fire deal
Just days after Kamala Harris launched her White House campaign, she posed for photographers with Benjamin Netanyahu before meeting in the vice-president's ceremonial office. The Israeli prime minister met separately with Joe Biden earlier in the day, in his first White House visit since before Donald Trump left office in 2020.
Netanyahu meets Biden to discuss end to nine-month war in Gaza and has separate meeting with Kamala HarrisWhite House officials said Israel and Hamas were closer now than we've been before" to reaching a ceasefire deal as Benjamin Netanyahu met Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss an end to the nine-month conflict in Gaza.The talks at the White House came amid unprecedented political turmoil in the US and domestic pressure on the Israeli prime minster to rescue the dozens of hostages still being held captive after Hamas's 7 October attack. Netanyahu also met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate for November's election. Continue reading...
The birds, protected as an endangered species, will remain under zoo care for year and a half before being sent into wildNearly 20 new California condors will fly across the western sky after a record-setting hatching of baby birds this summer at the Los Angeles Zoo.The zoo marked a record of 17 California condor chicks hatched during this year's breeding season, with staff members preparing to set the birds into the harsh wild as they are currently protected as an endangered species. Continue reading...
Trump attorney general's unusual actions certainly not consistent' with justice department policy, report findsThe former attorney general Bill Barr was personally involved in a decision to release an unusual and misleading justice department statement on the eve of the 2020 election suggesting there may have been voter fraud in Pennsylvania, according to a new inspector general's report that was released on Thursday.The 76-page report from the justice department's Office of the Inspector General focused on the department's handling of an investigation into nine military ballots that were found discarded in the trash in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. Barr briefed Trump on the ballot issue before it was public and the president subsequently disclosed it in a radio interview. David Freed, the US attorney overseeing the matter, also released a statement and letter detailing the investigation. Continue reading...
Kamala Harris, who is leading the race to become the Democratic nominee for the US presidential race, said she would be prepared to debate the Republican nominee and former president, Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, she said: 'I have agreed to the previously agreed-upon September 10th debate. He agreed to that previously. Now it appears he's backpedaling. But I'm ready ... I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage.'The 10 September debate was the second date at which Joe Biden was meant to face Trump before he decided to pull out following a poor performance on CNN at the end of June
The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said Hamas and Israel were closer to a ceasefire and hostage release deal than they'd ever been before, during a press conference on Thursday, though gaps remained to be bridged. Kirby told reporters: 'We are closer now than we've been before. Both sides have to make compromises ... But it's going to require, as it always does, some leadership, some compromise and an effort to get there.' He also said the US president, Joe Biden, believed a deal needed to be struck soon
Prosecutors say supreme court ruling has no bearing on case and urge judge to deny Trump's bid to toss verdictThe Manhattan prosecutors who secured Donald Trump's historic criminal conviction disputed the former US president's claim that the verdict should be set aside in the wake of a US supreme court ruling on presidential immunity.In a court filing dated July 24 and made public on Thursday, the prosecutors said the supreme court's ruling had no bearing on their case, which stemmed from hush money paid to a porn star. Continue reading...
Research from Black Futures Lab also finds Black voters concerned about low wages, gun violence and schoolsA vast majority of Black Americans trust Kamala Harris and distrust Donald Trump - 71% compared to 5% - according to the largest-known survey of Black Americans since the Reconstruction era. The survey of 211,219 Black people across all 50 states showed that the presumptive Democratic nominee may have a higher chance of winning over Black voters than the Republican candidate.At a virtual press conference on Thursday afternoon, the Black-led innovation thinktank Black Futures Lab, revealed findings from its 2023 Black Census, which was conducted with the help of 50 Black-led grassroots organizations and national partners across the country from February 2022 to October 2023. The latest survey garnered seven times the respondents from the first census in 2018, which received 30,000 responses. Two-thirds of the respondents were women, a majority were from the south, and nearly half were from 45 to 64 years old. Black Futures Lab believes that the census results will help inform voter mobilization efforts ahead of presidential and local elections. Continue reading...
About half of Democrats in Congress boycotted the PM's speech as thousands of protesters rallied outside the CapitolBenjamin Netanyahu's speech before a joint session of the House and Senate may look like a political victory: the prime minister of a foreign country speaking before Congress, only interrupted by multiple standing ovations. But the political events serving as a backdrop for the speech reveal Netanyahu's political career, and the bipartisan pro-Israel consensus in the US, in sharp decline.At home in Israel, it's virtually unthinkable that Netanyahu could have found such a supportive audience. A staggering 72% of Israelis want him to resign over failures that permitted the 7 October attacks by Hamas to succeed. Continue reading...
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