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Court sides against group, whose members say they do not believe in Satan in the literal sense but fight authoritarianismWhenever the city council of Boston meets, a speaker gives opening remarks: sometimes a sermon, sometimes a poem - but usually a prayer, as the majority of the speakers come from Christian organizations.In 2016, the free speech group that styles itself the Satanic Temple asked to be included, offering to give an invocation". When it was denied, the group sued the city, arguing religious discrimination under the first amendment. Continue reading...

Harris expresses openness to discussing Israel-Gaza stance with movement leaders, who are torn over Walz as VP pickLeaders of the uncommitted" campaign spoke with Kamala Harris and her newly announced running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, before a rally in Detroit on Wednesday to discuss their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.Harris shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with the Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo", the organization said in a statement. Continue reading...

The racists have done one constructive thing: rallied support for the thriving communities they sought to destroyWhen three little girls, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar, were so callously killed in Southport last week, I - along with the entire country - was sickened and shaken to the core. But there was no time for their families to grieve in peace, or space for the solidarity that arises from a period of national sorrow. Instead, the tragedy was violently hijacked by far-right thugs on the basis of flagrant lies, emerging from a climate of Islamophobia and racist, divisive rhetoric that has always been a threat to us all.Over the past week, my mobile phone has been pinging with messages conveying anxiety and fear from family, friends and colleagues. Clips have been circulating of Muslim businesses torched, ethnic minority members of the public being attacked and chants of Pakis out" at passersby on the streets. Continue reading...

The US once dominated weightlifting before a long period in the doldrums. The balance of power could be shifting again thoughCould a caffeine-fueled 20-year-old from Georgia who doesn't have a driver's license and trains out of his family's garage be at the fore of an American weightlifting resurgence? It might be too early to say, but there's a smouldering optimism about the US camp which only grew on Wednesday when Hampton Morris became the first men's lifter from the United States to win an Olympic medal in four decades by taking bronze in the men's 61kg division.Morris, the youngest US weightlifter at the Olympics since Cheryl Haworth in 2000, ended a long-running American hoodoo by hoisting a combined weight of 298kg (about 657lb) between the snatch and clean-and-jerk segments of the contest, becoming the first male US lifter to reach the podium since Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton took silver and bronze respectively at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Li Fabin of China won the gold with a combined total of 310kg, becoming the first lifter to win consecutive Olympic titles since Turkey's Naim Suleymanoglu won three straight from 1988 through 1996, while Theerapong Silachai of Thailand took silver (303kg) in the leadoff event of the five-day weightlifting competition. Continue reading...

Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, was labor secretary under FDRJoe Biden has been asked to designate a national monument to the former US labor secretary, Frances Perkins, by members of Congress and groups including the National Park Conservation Association.Perkins, who served three terms under Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945, was the first woman to be appointed to a presidential cabinet and the longest-serving secretary of labor in US history. Continue reading...

The ex-president is chatting with Logan Paul, Adin Ross and others with vast followings as the demographic shifts right

After decades of failed appeals, execution warrant was signed in June despite objections to planned lethal drugA Utah man who killed his girlfriend's mother by slashing her throat was put to death by lethal injection early Thursday in the state's first execution since 2010.Taberon Dave Honie, 48, was convicted of aggravated murder in the July 1998 death of Claudia Benn, the maternal grandmother of his now 27-year-old daughter, Tressa. Continue reading...

Death reports obtained by the Guardian show elderly people are regularly dying on the streets of LA: They're incredibly alone'Thousands of senior citizens died in Los Angeles while homeless in the past 10 years, with residents age 60 and over representing a quarter of all deaths of unhoused people in that period, according to a Guardian analysis of public records.A common misconception about California's homelessness crisis is that the majority of people on the streets are young adults who came from out-of-state, drawn to warm weather and homeless services. But death reports obtained by the Guardian reveal more than 3,000 of the 11,500 people who died while unhoused in Los Angeles county between 2014 and 2023 were 60 and older, highlighting the vulnerability of older residents in one of the US's most expensive regions.More than 1,700 of the unhoused people age 60 and over who died probably lived unsheltered. They were found in alleys, tents, encampments, bus stops, parks, yards, parking lots, cars, RVs and sidewalks and other locations suggesting they may have been living outside.

Analysis shows funding for biotech, defense and video platform - and a fascination with The Lord of the RingsJD Vance's investments reveal potential contradictions between the political persona he has sought to project, his history as a venture capitalist and Peter Thiel acolyte, and his status as a hard-edged tribune of the so-called new right".Companies he has invested in include a firm that carries out medical testing of therapies that may include stem cells in scientific research to tech firms with records of harvesting data. Vance and some of the people behind the various firms he is involved with also exhibit an obsession with references to the mythology around The Lord of the Rings' fantasy world. Continue reading...

The teenager's precocious talent won plaudits at the US Olympic trials. Now he is ready to become his country's youngest-ever male track athlete at the GamesThere was never a time in 16-year-old Quincy Wilson's life that he wasn't fast. It's a fact that has propelled him to the Paris Olympics, where, if ESPN sources are to be believed, Wilson on Friday will become the youngest US male track and field athlete to ever appear at the Games.Wilson's mother, Monique, was the first to chase after her son once his feet touched the ground as a 10-month old. Continue reading...

Even with Harris running, more than one out of five Black voters say they support Trump. But polls can be deceivingThroughout the 2024 cycle, polling has suggested that Republicans are poised to do extraordinarily well with African Americans.Even with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, more than one out of five black voters say they support Donald Trump. Younger Black voters seem especially open to casting ballots for the Republican party. Continue reading...

Detroit rally draws 15,000 people and high energy. Plus, Israel minister condemned over starvation remarks

Coaches such as Jurgen Klinsmann and Gregg Berhalter have preached change, but there has been no upturn in results in the biggest competitionsFor the US men's national team, it's been an era of big promises and underwhelming results.Jurgen Klinsmann started the trend when he took over the team in 2011, assuring fans that no longer would the US be the hardscrabble group that would occasionally but not consistently get results against the world's elite. Rather, they would be more proactive, more cultured and entertaining. A revamped youth system would ensure a constant pipeline of talent - talent that would be good enough to play overseas. And those players would be used to the pressure that comes with higher expectations, having proved their worth in top European leagues. Continue reading...

Users of online platforms spread conspiracy theory that he changed Minnesota flag to mimic Somalia'sJust as he was officially announced on the ticket, Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz, often lauded as the safest pick for Kamala Harris to make as a running mate, was already facing racist and nativist attacks from the online depths of the far right.In media speculation leading up to Harris's potential pick, Walz, a midwesterner who once coached a high school football team, was seen as evening out the Californian vice-president's candidacy for the White House. Continue reading...

Kamala Harris's evening speech in Detroit, Michigan, was interrupted by protesters against the war in Gaza who chanted: 'Kamala, Kamala, you can't hide, we won't vote for genocide'. Harris responded by saying: 'If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking'

From a row about an allegedly blasphemous biblical scene to a controversial boxing match, the Games have been hijacked by culture wars between Russia and the westWhile sport has long prided itself on its capacity to promote peace and reconciliation, there was widespread anxiety before the Paris Olympics that the wars in Europe and the Middle East would poison the event. Thankfully, there have been no major security incidents. Yet geopolitical conflict has played out at the Games, including in the controversy over women's boxing.On the eve of the Olympics, many feared the worst. Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza, now exacerbated by the threat of an all-out regional war, brought back the ghosts of the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian militants infiltrated the Olympic village, killing 11 members of the Israeli team.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnistDo 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...

Detroit rally draws 15,000 people and high energy despite Gaza protesters and medical incidents from summer heatKamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota's governor, Tim Walz, continued their swing-state tour with rallies in rural Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, that the campaign said brought out more than 10,000 people each.The rallies, which followed a raucous event in Philadelphia, served as an opportunity for Harris to continue to introduce Walz, a formerly low-profile midwest governor, to Democrats in the critical swing state. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. Thank you for following along. You can find the latest US elections news here.The other big news late on Wednesday was congresswoman Cori Bush losing her Democratic primary after pro-Israel pressure groups spent millions of dollars to unseat her over criticisms of Israel's war on Gaza.St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri's first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote. Bush, a member of the progressive Squad", took about 46%. Continue reading...

Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the country's oldest Black sorority and one of the Divine Nine, which boasts four million membersOn 10 July, less than two weeks before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Kamala Harris attended a boule: the annual or biannual gathering of all of the members of a sorority. But this wasn't just any sorority, it was Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historic Black sorority Harris joined in college, and one of the Divine Nine - also known as the Pan-Hellenic Council - the most powerful Black sororities in America.To my line sisters, the 38 Jewels of Iridescent Splendor: Oh, you are such an incredible part of my journey," she said. Continue reading...

Vance, who served as a correspondent in the marines, accused Walz of stolen valor garbage'JD Vance went on the offensive on Wednesday, attacking the military record of Tim Walz, Kamala Harris's vice-presidential pick.Speaking in Michigan, Donald Trump's Republican running mate said: You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz? When the United States Marine Corps ... asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service. Continue reading...

President says in CBS News clip that Trump means what he says' about a bloodbath for the country' if he loses electionJoe Biden has said he is not confident there will be a peaceful transfer of power after the November presidential election.If Trump wins, no, I'm not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I'm not confident at all," the president said in an interview with CBS News that is due to air in full this Sunday.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...

Trump tells Fox News that he announced Walz was a good person' to dissuade protesters from surrounding his houseDonald Trump claimed to have saved Kamala Harris's running mate, Tim Walz, from rightwing protesters in 2020 during unrest in Minnesota after the police murder of George Floyd, a statement that appears to contradict Walz's own descriptions of calls between the two politicians.Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Trump said, without offering evidence or specific dates or times, that he publicly announced Walz was a good person" in order to dissuade protesters from surrounding Walz's house. Continue reading...

Simple, bold logo divides observers but camouflage hat embraces one of the year's most unlikely fashion trendsWith less than 100 days to go until the election, Kamala Harris announced her VP pick - the avuncular Minnesota governor Tim Walz - and dropped a new official logo.Harris Walz merchandise, including yard signs, T-shirts, and one much-memed camouflage printed hat, launched as soon as the current vice-president put Walz on her ticket on Tuesday. The logo looks simple, with some even calling it boring: tall, white, sans serif lettering spelling out the nominees' last names. Continue reading...

A month after the supreme court's immunity ruling, Trump may finally have to answer for his alleged election disputeDonald Trump might have landed a handful of legal victories lately, but his Washington DC federal election subversion case is back on track, meaning he might finally have to answer for alleged election interference in a court of law. Continue reading...

Remote consultations allow access for patients in states with severe curbs as January sees over 100,000 abortionsAbortions continue to rise across the US due to better access to care via telehealth, even as states push new restrictions and total abortion bans in the wake of the supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade, according to a new #WeCount report from the Society of Family Planning published on Wednesday.Still, despite the increase in access for some patients, there are significant challenges for others who need reproductive healthcare. Continue reading...

Gen Z is seeing a historic reverse gender gap', with women poised to outpace men across virtually every measure of political involvement

Mitchell died after being pinned face down after incident in hotel in June, drawing comparisons to George Floyd caseProsecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees on Tuesday with being a party to felony murder in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death.Mitchell was Black. The incident has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked a national reckoning on race relations marked by multiple protests around the country. Continue reading...

Kevin Roberts, president of hard-right Heritage Foundation, says it's time to put down the books and go fight like hell'A JD Vance-introduced book by a leader of Project 2025, the vast and controversial hardline rightwing plan for a second Trump administration, will be delayed until after the 2024 election.There's a time for writing, reading, and book tours - and a time to put down the books and go fight like hell to take back our country," the book's author, Kevin Roberts, told RealClearPolitics, which first reported the news. Continue reading...

Brazilian will get fitting farewell after red card heartbreak but whatever the outcome change is needed at the GamesIt's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls. There's not going to be a Formiga for ever. There's not going to be a Marta for ever. There's not going to be a Cristiane. The women's game depends on you to survive. Think about that. Value it more. Cry in the beginning so you can smile in the end."In June 2019 Marta, Brazil's captain and all-round trailblazer, stood distraught on the side of a pitch in Le Havre. As the cameras came to her after Brazil had again fallen early on the world stage - beaten in extra time by the hosts, France, in the last 16 of the World Cup - she launched into an impassioned speech to her country's next generation that drew worldwide traction. Continue reading...

Minnesota governor thanked Harris for bringing back the joy'. Plus: end-of-life patients find solace with psychedelics

Harris has chosen someone from and of the midwest and someone who is no hillbilly' with fluid valuesVice-President Kamala Harris has selected the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate and this big decision reflects more conventional history than inside-the-DC-beltway convention wisdom. While pundits focused mainly on which possible choice could help her ticket win a battleground state, their focus was on either Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes) or Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona (11 electoral votes). In this hotly competitive race, either selection made good sense in the scramble for a majority of the electoral college.But we have to go back to 1960 when the young Massachusetts senator John Kennedy picked the Texas senator and majority leader, Lyndon Johnson, to be his running mate to find the last time selecting a candidate who actually brought a state with him was the dominant concern. Johnson and Kennedy hated each other but the ticket carried Texas, so who cared?John Zogby is senior partner at John Zogby Strategies and author of Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should Continue reading...

The billionaire has been obsessed with education since pulling his kids out of regular school' 10 years ago. And he's far from the only celebrity to dabbleIf you are not quite ready to stick one of Elon Musk's chips into your brain, you can do the next best thing: send your child to the billionaire's experimental new school. Applications are open for Ad Astra, which serves kids aged three to nine in Bastrop, Texas, close to oneof SpaceX's facilities. There is space for only 48 students, which, once you factor in Musk's many offspring, means competition to be part of the next generation of innovators" is tight.While this is a new campus, Musk's experiment with education goes back a decade. In 2014, the tech magnate pulled five of his children out of their prestigious private school in Los Angeles and stuck them in a SpaceX conference room with a few of his colleagues' kids and a tutor. In a 2015 interview, Musk explained that he didn't like the way regular schools" were run and he wanted to try out his far superior ideas. These included a curriculum that involved battling robots with flame-throwers, but no music, sports or languages; computers will do all these things in the future.Do 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 US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has released footage of a phone call in which she offers Tim Walz the chance to be her running mate in the presidential election.After Harris told the Minnesota governor that she wanted him as her VP pick, he responded: 'I would be honoured'

Make sure you don't miss a thing with our full, updating localised guide to the dates and times of all the events at Paris 2024Follow all the latest action live | Support the GuardianSearch for every event and start time at the Paris Olympics with our comprehensive live schedule. From the football pitch to the pool, via track and field and much more, use our filter tool to pinpoint the sports and disciplines you want to follow most so that you don't miss a thing. Continue reading...

Find out who is leading the way at the Olympics, and drill down to see which events each country has won medals forFollow all the latest action live | Support the GuardianAs is traditional, the table prioritises the number of gold medals won. On this basis at the 2020 Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, the United States led the field with 39 golds, with China second on 38 and Japan third with 27. If countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silvers, and finally bronze if the numbers are still identical. Continue reading...

Harris's vice-presidential pick receives backing of names including Jamie Lee Curtis, Cynthia Nixon and Ken BurnsHollywood figures, including Julianne Moore and Rob Reiner, have shared their support for Kamala Harris's vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz.The 60-year-old Minnesota governor was announced as the running mate of Harris, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, on Tuesday after weeks of speculation. Continue reading...

Progress towards Trinidad and Tobago being an accessible society has stagnated. From taking a taxi to getting medical care, accessibility is still a delusionTrinidad and Tobago has many notable attributes but, sadly, deaf awareness and public sensitisation to deaf culture is not one of them. The last 50 years of family experiences, added to my personal observations, show we still face the same problems, with deaf and hard-of-hearing people still being novelties. It's simply not our society. It may be a harsh assessment but this is my reality."

Get up to speed with the Minnesota governor - what should you know about him and how do you pronounce his name?In Kamala Harris's veepstakes" - the search for a running mate to take on Donald Trump and JD Vance - the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, came from relative obscurity to seize the glittering prize. So who is he and what should you know about him? Continue reading...

Speaking at his first rally since being announced as vice-president Kamala Harris' running mate for the 2024 election, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who like Harris is known for his smile, started his speech by thanking Kamala Harris for 'bringing back the joy'. The Minnesota governor touched on his personal history and upbringing on the 'family farm' before taking aim at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice-presidential candidate JD Vance

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri's first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the voteA prominent member of the progressive Squad" in Congress, Cori Bush, has lost her Democratic primary in St Louis after pro-Israel pressure groups spent millions of dollars to unseat her over criticisms of Israel's war on Gaza.St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri's first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote. Bush took about 46%. Continue reading...

Darryl George, 18, filed civil rights lawsuit after Barbers Hill school system punished him for refusing to alter hairstyleA federal judge on Tuesday dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed by a Black high school student who alleged that school officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they punished him for refusing to change his hairstyle.The ruling in the case of Darryl George was another victory for the Barbers Hill school district near Houston, which has said its policy restricting hair length for male students instills discipline while teaching grooming and respect for authority. Continue reading...

Vice-president Kamala Harris and Minnesota governor Tim Walz appeared together for the first time as the Democratic party's White House ticket at the start of a multi-day tour of swing states they hope to win in November. After earlier announcing her choice of Walz as her running mate, Harris touted Walz's background before predicting that he would earn a new title in November: vice-president of the United States