A blogger falsely claimed Eric Posey exposed himself to a crowd, including childrenA jury has awarded more than $1.1m to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.The Kootenai county district court jury unanimously found that Summer Bushnell defamed Eric Posey, a resident of Post Falls, Idaho, when she posted a doctored video of his performance that included a blurred spot that she claimed covered his fully exposed genitals", the Coeur D'Alene Press reported.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...
For thirty years I longed to turn down the volume on my life. But since I have, I can see the problem with insulating yourself from the worldIt's all so quiet. Just the way I like it: my husband is out; it's pouring, so no one is mowing (the only thing that ever breaches the peace around here) and even the birds are taking a rain check. I can hear my own breathing; hear myself think. But what I'm thinking is: is it too quiet?I craved quiet for so long. For 30 years, actually, since my first year at university. I was living with three others who did an entirely normal amount of partying, dancing and shagging. But I was quietly falling apart and hearing all that ordinary, raucous life made me feel desperately sad and out of control. Since then, I've passed through shared accommodation where I was the weird 21-year-old knocking on doors in my pyjamas to ask neighbours to turn their music down; city blocks where you knew exactly what everyone was watching on TV; a street frequented by 5am glass-recycling lorries; and, for a particularly challenging time, a house next to a family of brass instrumentalists. Continue reading...
Trump has railed against urban centers run by Democrats, and Project 2025 lays out how to crack down on themTo hear Donald Trump tell it, America's cities are in dire shape and in need of a federal intervention.We're going to rebuild our cities into beacons of hope, safety and beauty - better than they have ever been before," he said during a recent speech to the National Rifle Association in what has become a common refrain on the campaign trail. We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington DC." Continue reading...
More than 3,000 people have used the law, inspiring legislation in Australia and Canada and debate in the UK, France and JapanIt's three decades since Ann Jackson voted against the first assisted-dying law in the world.But after watching two partners succumb to cancer, and fearing the prospect of a lingering death herself as she grapples with autoimmune diseases, Jackson is now a vigorous proponent of the Oregon legislation used by thousands of people to end their own lives, and providing a blueprint for other US states and countries considering similar laws, including the UK. Continue reading...
We all start our journey into motherhood with a Plan A for the birth, but wouldn't it be helpful if we had a Plan B or C or even D?Oh God, I mean, I laugh about it now. Which is funny in itself really, the idea that 10 years later I'd be laughing about the day, the dawn, where, white-faced in a room with blood up the walls, I would hand our new raw blinking baby to my boyfriend in order to frantically find, in my Notes app, the document I had grandly named Birth Plan. What was I hoping to find there, I wonder now. It's funny, it is funny, how I scoured it - I want a mobile epidural", I want gentle guidance rather as opposed to being forced to push" - this plan, written as if ticking off boxes on a dim sum menu, written in the voice of the person I was before. It seemed crucial, in that moment, to see if perhaps I'd given them the wrong piece of paper. Had it been an admin error? The forceps, the lack of drugs, the breast milk not coming in, the blood, was it my fault? I remember reading it again and again, I hadn't slept for some time, of course, and the baby was crying, but I felt, I think I felt, that even though I had tried to do everything right, something had gone terribly wrong.It turned out, despite my shock, despite the horrors and their ripples that followed me for years, my experience of giving birth was almost comically pedestrian. It reminded me of the time I got my ears pierced, I must have been about 12, going home on the bus looking at other women's earrings and thinking, OK, you've felt that same agony" - now I traipsed around London with the baby strapped to me looking at other mothers, thinking, and yet, you are walking, you are smiling, you are putting on red lipstick in the reflection of a phone?" As the years have passed I've talked to other people about their births with a kind of hunger - these are stories of babies almost dying and mothers almost dying, and worse, of course - so when last week's report on birth trauma was published, no part of me was surprised at the findings. I can't imagine many parents were. Continue reading...
Jeers suggest Republican presidential candidate faces a challenge in broadening his appealDonald Trump, the former US president, has suffered the rare humiliation of getting booed and heckled during a raucous speech to the Libertarian National Convention.Trump's rocky ride at a Washington hotel on Saturday night, including cries of Bullshit!" and Fuck you!", underlined the challenge that the Republican presidential nominee faces to broaden his appeal both left and right on the political spectrum. Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman in New York and agency on (#6N2CD)
President entreats graduates at commencement to hold fast' to oath to US constitution in veiled reference to Trump's threat to democracyJoe Biden has called newly graduating US military officers the guardians of American democracy" at a commencement speech in New York state, where the US president, without mentioning Donald Trump by name, gave strong warnings of unprecedented threats to US freedom.Biden told the West Point military academy graduating class of 2024 that it is being called upon to tackle threats across the globe as well as preserve America's ideals at home. Continue reading...
by Joanna Walters in New York and agency on (#6N2EV)
Senate Democrats seek meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts to discuss issue and seek Alito's recusal on January 6 casesThe wife of US supreme court justice Samuel Alito reportedly justified the display of an upside-down American flag at the couple's home by saying it was an international signal of distress", as senior Democrats have requested a meeting with the chief justice over the growing scandal.Martha-Ann Alito made the comments to a Washington Post reporter, the outlet reported on Saturday, when the journalist visited the couple's Virginia home in January 2021, not long after the attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump. Continue reading...
United Auto Workers filed petition Friday, accusing company of relentless' campaign including firings and captive-audience meetingsThe United Auto Workers (UAW) union is seeking a new election at a Mercedes-Benz vehicle plant in Alabama after losing a vote there last week, according to a petition filed on Friday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).The union accused Mercedes of engaging in a relentless anti-union campaign" including the firing of employees who were pro-union and holding frequent captive-audience meetings to spread anti-union views, according to the filing. Continue reading...
US and Britain condemn Hamas and Putin, yet balk at attempts to hold Israel's leaders to account. But no one should be above the lawIndignant protests by Israeli and US leaders over last week's decision by the prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) to seek Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest for alleged war crimes shone new light on an old reality: for those at the top who wield decisive political power, all people are equal - but some are more equal than others.At the heart of objections to Karim Khan's gutsy move is the unspoken implication that violence against Palestinians, a dispossessed, marginalised and largely voiceless people, is less wrong, or somehow more acceptable, than violence against Israelis, the privileged, protected citizens of an established nation state. To demur is to be accused, inanely yet inevitably, of antisemitism. Continue reading...
The state wasn't the best place to get pregnant in the first place, with some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the USLouisiana is not a great place to get pregnant. If you need an abortion, a near-total ban means it's almost impossible to get one, even in cases of rape or incest - anyone who provides an abortion deemed illegal can go to jail for 15 years. And if you plan on having the baby, you have to deal with some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the US. Although, as Senator Bill Cassidy has helpfully noted, if you correct our population for race, we're not as much of an outlier as it'd otherwise appear". In other words, if you ignore Black people (a third of his constituents), things look a little better. So that's OK then! Continue reading...
by David Smith in Atlanta, Georgia, and Detroit, Mich on (#6N28S)
Veteran Democrat embraces a gruelling schedule in swing through Michigan and Georgia as he seeks to avoid joining ranks of one-term presidentsThe fact is that this election, a lot is at stake," said Joe Biden, collar unbuttoned, mic in hand, watched by about 50 guests at tables dotted with small US flags at Mary Mac's Tea Room in downtown Atlanta. It's not about me. It's about the alternative as well."The off-the-cuff remark was telling. After more than half a century in national politics, Joe Biden's final campaign is defined not by his record but his opponent: Donald Trump. The outcome of November's presidential election will decide whether he is remembered by history as the man who saved democracy twice - or as a mere interregnum in the onward march of Trumpism. Continue reading...
The Grammy-winning singer suffered an ugly incident with a security guard - but Rowland stood her ground. Good for herKelly Rowland is holding her own after she was filmed calling out a security guard who disrespected her as she posed for photos at the Cannes film festival earlier this week.In the video, you can see the security guard rush the Grammy-winning singer off the steps, blocking photographers' view of Rowland while speaking to her in a way to which Rowland clearly took objection. The singer initially appears to engage with the security guard calmly, placing a hand on the security guard's arm after she apologized for stepping on Rowland's dress. A verbal back-and-forth ensues and then, it appears, Rowland had enough.Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Abraham Arceo was diagnosed with cancer a year ago, and family not sure he would make it to ceremony - until hospital intervenedHospital staff in California helped a dying man fulfill his wish of walking his daughter down the aisle by hosting the pushed-up wedding ceremony it in the facility's chapel.Abraham Arceo was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago, and his condition worsened in recent weeks to the point his family members were not sure he would make it to the planned date of his daughter Brittny's marriage to her fiance, Alan Tran, on 28 June. Continue reading...
Service members are more likely than the general public to become problem gamblers, but screening - and help - is lackingDave Yeager didn't join the US army to become a pathological gambler. But after re-enlisting as a food inspection specialist in the wake of 9/11, Yeager arrived at his base hotel in Seoul, Korea, feeling overwhelmed and restless. I'm walking around and find a casino-style slot machine room," says the 57-year-old former sergeant. As soon as I sat down, the first thing I noticed was that my shoulders started to relax. Then I won, and it was like a dopamine hit. In that moment, all of the fear and anger and stress that I was feeling just went away."Suddenly and without warning, a night of gambling here and there became a seven-day-a-week addiction - one that had him phoning home for more money, pawning personal effects and stealing from his unit. When a demotion in rank failed to curb Yeager's reckless behavior, his bosses threw up their hands. Continue reading...
Former White House trade adviser is currently serving four months in federal prison for contempt of CongressDonald Trump has said he would absolutely" rehire his federally imprisoned former economic adviser Peter Navarro if returned to the presidency in November.I would absolutely have Peter back," Trump - who has spent more than a year grappling with more than 80 of his own criminal charges - told the Wall Street Journal. This outrageous behavior by the Democrats should not have happened." Continue reading...
CNN reports video published on Truth Social and removed hours later was made from template and placeholder text not changedA video posted on social media by Donald Trump referencing a unified reich" has been traced to a template made by a Turkish designer more than a year ago, according to a report from CNN.Critics, including Joe Biden, condemned Trump over a video posted to his Truth Social account on Monday featuring a hypothetical headline from his second presidential term reading industrial strength significantly increased ... driven by the creation of a unified reich". Continue reading...
Independent candidate pledges to pardon Snowden and drop Assange charges, and says Trump caved' over pandemic responseRobert Kennedy Jr, a longshot independent candidate for US president, has sought to woo Libertarian party voters by casting rivals Donald Trump and Joe Biden as enemies of individual freedom.Kennedy, 70, brought Libertarians to their feet by promising to pardon government whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, and drop espionage charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder battling US attempts to extradite him from Britain. Continue reading...
Two were arrested on Thursday after Swat team raided rapper's rented mansion in suburban Fort LauderdaleRapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother committed more than a million dollars in fraud in recent months, stealing money, jewelry, a Cadillac Escalade and furniture, documents released Friday allege.Kingston, 34, and his 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, have been charged with conducting an organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft and related crimes, according to arrest warrants released by the Broward county, Florida, sheriff's office. Continue reading...
Unholy trinity' of Instagram, Activision and Daniel Defense accused of working to convert alienated boys into mass shooters'Families of children who were killed in the 2022 Uvalde mass shooting have filed wrongful death lawsuits accusing Instagram, game maker Activision and weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense of enabling the massacre.The suits were filed on the second anniversary of the school shooting, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed, and accuse the unholy trinity" of Instagram, Call of Duty, and Daniel Defense of working together to convert alienated teenage boys into mass shooters". Continue reading...
Officers threatened to kill the dog of Thomas Perez Jr as they pressured him to falsely confess to killing his father, who was aliveA California city has agreed to pay $900,000 to a man who was subjected to a 17-hour police interrogation in which officers pressured him to falsely confess to murdering his father, who was alive.During the 2018 interrogation of Thomas Perez Jr by police in Fontana, a city east of Los Angeles, officers suggested they would have Perez's dog euthanized as a result of his actions, according to a complaint and footage of the encounter. A judge said the questioning appeared to be unconstitutional psychological torture", and the city agreed to settle Perez's lawsuit for $898,000, his lawyer announced this week. Continue reading...
Duties of US defense secretary, 70, whose cancer treatment in December was initially undisclosed, were briefly carried out by deputyThe US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, underwent hospital treatment for a bladder issue for the second time in just over three months, the Pentagon announced.A Pentagon spokesperson, Maj Gen Pat Ryder, said the 70-year-old Austin entered Walter Reed military medical center on Friday evening to undergo what he called a scheduled, elective, and minimally invasive follow-up non-surgical procedure" to treat his previously disclosed bladder condition. Continue reading...
Shruthi Kumar gives unscripted condemnation of university after 13 students barred from graduation over involvement in protestsA graduating Harvard University student went off script and upbraided Harvard over the university's treatment of students protesting against what they say is a genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza.As I stand here today, I must take a moment to recognize my peers - the 13 undergraduates in the class of 2024 that will not graduate today," said student Shruthi Kumar, who was chosen to deliver the English commencement remarks for the undergraduate class. Continue reading...
Ali Abbasi's film, which shocked audiences at its world premiere at Cannes, depicts former president raping his first wifeLawyers for Donald Trump have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the producers of The Apprentice in an attempt to block its US sale and release after the film - which depicts the former US president raping his first wife - shocked audiences at its world premiere at the Cannes film festival.The Trump campaign said earlier this week they would take legal action against Ali Abbasi's film, with spokesperson Stephen Cheung vowing to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend film-makers". Continue reading...
Adrian Fontes made comments on NBC panel of elections officials from states whose voters could decide 2024 presidential electionThe rising threats against US elections officials are a form of domestic terrorism, the secretary of state in the presidential campaign battleground state of Arizona has said.Terrorism is defined as a threat of violence for a political outcome," Adrian Fontes said in remarks recorded for an NBC Meet the Press episode airing on Sunday morning. That's what this is, and ... we do have to address it for what it is." Continue reading...
Two young men are promoting a grab-bag ideology celebrating honor' and condemning global elites' - and winning powerful friends on the rightIn the last few years, a self-styled political movement that sounds like a contradiction in terms has gained ground online: Maga communism".Promoted by its two most prominent spokespeople, Haz Al-Din, 27, and Jackson Hinkle, 24, Maga communism comprises a grab bag of ideas that can seem lacking in coherence - ranging from a belief in the power of Donald Trump's followers to wrest power from global elites" to an emphasis on masculine honor", admiration for Vladimir Putin and support for Palestinian liberation. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#6N1S1)
Missouri state representative Ben Baker's daughter and her husband were reportedly ambushed when leaving a churchThe daughter and son-in-law of a Republican politician are among three US missionaries who have been killed by gang members in Haiti as it emerged that the long-awaited deployment of an multinational security force tasked with rescuing the Caribbean country from months of bloodshed had been delayed.Ben Baker, a Republican state representative from Missouri, announced the news of the couple's murder on Facebook late on Thursday, writing: My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. I've never felt this kind of pain." Continue reading...
Edan On, 18, held on $30,000 bail after being identified by CNN throwing objects and beating protesters with wooden polePolice have arrested a man suspected of assaulting pro-Palestinian demonstrators in a violent attack at the University of California, Los Angeles, last month.In late April, a group of masked people marched on to the campus at night and attacked a Gaza solidarity encampment. They threw fireworks, beat students, and attacked staff and student journalists while law enforcement and campus-hired security guards failed to intervene for hours. Continue reading...
Voters want progress, but there must also be accountability. When you pick up a ballot paper, remember all the waste and incompetenceElections are a choice about the future, they say. We should look forward, not back, they say. And most of the time, that's true. But every now and then we should make an exception - and this is one of those times. Because the coming general election must also be about the past. It must be about holding the Conservatives to account for the colossal damage they have done to this country over the past 14 years. It must be a punishment election.The Tories need to face the consequences of what they have done, starting with the cold fact that they have made people poorer. People are worse off now than they were at the last general election, a feat with little or no precedent. Every day, thousands of Britons pay hundreds or thousands more on their mortgages, thanks to the wrecking ball a smirking Liz Truss aimed at the UK economy. Continue reading...
US border patrol records daily average of 3,700 in first 21 days of March, down from reported average of 8,000, in boost for BidenNon-authorized crossings by people into the United States along the US-Mexico border have dropped by more than 50% compared with record high crossings in December 2023, according to a new report citing federal statistics.According to the US border patrol, agents recorded a daily average of 3,700 apprehensions of migrants along the border in the first 21 days of May, a 54% decrease compared with daily average of 8,000 in December, CBS reported late on Thursday, with the TV channel saying it obtained internal government data. Continue reading...
Mike DeWine ordered emergency session to fix scheduling issues preventing Biden's name from being placed on November ballotOhio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, has called an emergency legislative session to put Joe Biden's name on the presidential ballot after what he called an absurd" threat from the state's top election officer to remove the president for missing its deadline.For weeks, Ohio's secretary of state, Frank LaRose, has been at loggerheads with the Democrats over how to put Biden and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, on the ballot given that their official nomination comes after the expiry of the state's deadline of 90 days before the November election. Continue reading...
Extraordinary measures turn Maricopa county elections office into fortress ahead of 2024 vote to protect staff and ballotsMaricopa county, Arizona - a campaign battleground where election workers have faced violent threats - has taken extraordinary measures to protect its staff and the counting of ballots.The Guardian obtained a document from the county listing security changes it has made since the 2020 election. Those include stationing a Swat team on-site at the main building where votes are tabulated and deploying the sheriff on horseback.This story has been updated with new information from Maricopa officials about how many people can access the tabulation and server rooms. Continue reading...
All that hatred, that anger, can only blossom into a miracle': the prize-winning author calls for a bigger response to the tragedyI don't know how many have died
by Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent on (#6N1PY)
Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, NFL stars and Olympic athletes are finding inspiration in the characters' resilienceThe Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke twice thought he had scored the opening goal against Brentford on 11 May. Each time he wheeled away to celebrate, he put on an orange mask with a spiral pattern and one eyehole before posing in front of the cameras.The goal was ruled out by VAR but the celebration went viral, as journalists wrote about masked mayhem" and others wondered what this bizarre" celebration could mean. Continue reading...
A drowned-rat PM, a blank-page contender and frit Farage refusing to stand at all. All in the first 48 hours - are you not entertained?Even in a year of largely lacklustre summer movies, you have to accept the reality that Rishi Sunak has scheduled his election against the release of Beverly Hills Cop 4. Coming back again, you say? Same old hapless colleagues? Straight to streaming? Whether the public really craves a fourth consecutive outing for previously beloved franchise The Conservative Government is not altogether unclear: audience tracking suggests the IP is knackered and people want to see this one about as much as they wanted to see the Cats movie. At least in that they were able to VFX out the arseholes.But look, stay with the PM on this one! And please note, we're already into the phase of election berserkery in which you can always find a sympathetic party thinker to tell you that, actually, the bad thing you just saw with your own eyes will play so, so well where it matters. Rishi did not look like someone who is ready to compromise, and I think that's really good," judged the Mail's Sarah Vine of his election announcement. I thought his vibe was really good." Mm-hm. Continue reading...
Governor Greg Abbott would have us believe this was a case of self-defense. Would he say that if the situation were reversed?This month, the Texas state parole board unanimously recommended the pardon and release of convicted killer and former US army sergeant Daniel Perry, along with the restoration of his firearm rights. Perry had been working as an Uber driver in July 2020 when he shot and killed Garrett Foster, a white man who was attending a Black Lives Matter protest with his Black fiancee. Perry was later indicted for murder, tried, convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison by an Austin jury.Almost a year from the date of his sentencing, Perry's pardon was granted by Texas governor Greg Abbott, and he now walks free. As terrifying as the initial incident was, this pardon sends a chilling message: that politically motivated killing is OK, and that politicians are more focused on pandering to political pressure than protecting people's lives.Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Exclusive: senator condemns dysfunctional' system and says his bill would help tens of millions who struggle to afford careA bill introduced by the US senator Bernie Sanders would dramatically expand access to oral healthcare by adding dental benefits to Medicare and enhance them in Medicaid, public health insurance programs that together cover 115 million older and lower-income Americans.Despite Americans' reputation for the flashy Hollywood smile", millions struggle to access basic dental care. One in five US seniors have lost all their natural teeth, almost half of adults have some kind of gum disease and painful cavities are one of the most common reasons children miss school. Continue reading...
by Andrew Buncombe in Spokane, Washington on (#6N1JW)
The Spokane community revived the paper to capture the nuance of the Black community - beyond the feel-good stories'One man wants to write an informed column on his experiences of being arrested dozens of times when protesting during the civil rights movement in segregated Chicago.Another writer bags a profile on the author of a celebrated book into the psychological impact of slavery. And a woman originally from New Orleans talks about using genealogical records to discover she is descended from slaves owned by Jesuit priests. Continue reading...
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