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David Pecker testified about his role in buying a story from the model Karen McDougal about an alleged affair with Trump

Oral arguments over former president's claim of immunity seem to have left Trump happier than the justice departmentWell," said one reporter to another as they left the supreme court chamber, sometime after noon on Thursday. Looks like we're getting a king."Notwithstanding a certain mordant hyperbole on a momentous day in American history, the sentiment seemed within bounds. Continue reading...

Dazhon Darien impersonated high school principal in Maryland in clip that quickly spread on social media, police sayA high school athletic director in Maryland has been charged with using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments, authorities said on Thursday.Dazhon Darien faked the voice of Pikesville high school's principal in January following conversations that Darien's contract would not be renewed, according to charging documents filed by Baltimore county police. Continue reading...

Court ruled last month that Crystal Mason, initially sentenced to five years in prison, did not know she was ineligible to vote in 2016A Texas prosecutor will appeal against a court ruling tossing out a five-year prison sentence for a woman who unintentionally tried to vote while ineligible in the 2016 election, an unexpected move that continues one of the most closely watched voting prosecutions in the US.Last month, the second court of appeals, which is based in Fort Worth, threw out the 2018 conviction of Crystal Mason, a Black woman who submitted a provisional ballot in 2016 that ultimately went uncounted. Mason was on supervised release for a federal felony at the time she voted and has said she had no idea she was ineligible. The panel said prosecutors had failed to prove Mason actually knew she was ineligible. Continue reading...

Republican Mike Johnson accused of wilfully spreading misinformation' and inciting violence' after CNN interviewProgressive activists have condemned Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, for willfully spreading misinformation" and inciting violence" in a TV interview about student protests against Israel's war in Gaza.Johnson, who was booed and heckled during a press conference at Columbia University on Wednesday, when he said Hamas backed" the protests in a CNN interview. There is no evidence Hamas has had any role in the student protests, though the organization has praised the demonstration. The Republican went on to make sweeping, incendiary claims: Some of these students apparently are unaware of the atrocities of October 7 or they're denying it. Continue reading...

A judge approved the warrant in investigation to determine if church hierarchy illegally covered up systemic child molestationLouisiana state police went into the office of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans on Thursday to begin the process of collecting records from the organization spanning the history of its decades-old clerical abuse scandal, as troopers investigate whether the local church hierarchy illegally covered up systemic child molestation.Troopers arrived at the archdiocese's headquarters at about 9.45am local time three days after a state court judge signed a search warrant authorizing them to take the entirety of the documents in question.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit its website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are calling on universities to sell investments in companies they say are complicit in war in GazaAs protests against Israel's offensive in Gaza are spreading throughout American campuses, one demand made by students across schools keeps coming up: divestment from Israel.Universities rely on endowments to fund things like research and scholarships, and those endowments are typically invested in companies and alternative asset classes, such as private equity and hedge funds. Continue reading...

Former National Enquirer publisher says he helped Trump to suppress negative stories that threatened 2016 presidential bid

Just before oral arguments at the supreme court finished, liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked lawyer for special counsel about implications of court dramatically expanding presidential immunityIn an exchange with attorney John Sauer, conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett signaled she thought Donald Trump could still face trial on some election interference charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, even if the supreme court agrees with his claims of immunity.So, you concede that private acts don't get immunity?" Barrett asked.He urges us even if we ... assume that there was some sort of immunity for official acts, that there were sufficient private acts in the indictment ... for the case to go back and the trial to begin immediately. And I want to know if you agree or disagree about the characterization of these acts. Continue reading...

The overcrowded city is leading the way with a tax on day trippers. Surely other great European destinations should follow suitVenice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the central Plaza de Espana. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout, Tourists go home, refugees welcome." Amsterdam wants no more coach parties, nor does Rome.The Venice payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist flow round the Rialto and St Mark's Square, let alone leave more room for Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian 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...

Students react to school's invitation to president to speak while authorities crack down on campus protests across USMorehouse College, a nearly 160-year-old historically Black college in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its commencement ceremony in May. Though Morehouse initially extended the invitation in September, Biden's acceptance comes after a tumultuous week for the president, in which college students across the nation have engaged in sustained anti-war protests in solidarity with Palestine.The Guardian spoke to Morehouse students who criticized the school's decision to host Biden, and others who had mixed feelings about the upcoming address. Continue reading...

The longtime chief executive of AMI, which owns the National Enquirer, has a long history with the ex-president

While other comedians spend more time complaining than cracking jokes, the former Late Show host remains gloriously unhinged and hilariousWith every advance in human technology comes an advance in weird new emotional situations. For example, the Germans should invent a word for the specific drop in the stomach that occurs when you open X to see a celebrity you like trending globally. No one 20 years ago could ever have imagined this specific feeling. Depending on the person, my brain leaps to conclusions. If it's an older person, I worry they've carked it. If it's Sydney Sweeney, I assume her breasts are up to something again (existing). And if it's a comedian I've loved since childhood, I assume they've been cancelled for doing something shitty (due to patterns).A few weeks ago, I got a Tower of Terror-size gut drop when I saw Conan O'Brien, one of my biggest comedy heroes, trending. Luckily I didn't need to worry. He had gone viral for his appearance on the YouTube show Hot Ones, where a celebrity is interviewed while eating progressively hotter wings. Conan had given a completely unhinged and hilarious performance, including rubbing hot sauce on his nipples. In a sentence I'd never thought I'd say, thank God it was just more breasts discourse. Continue reading...

At least 93 students detained at USC and 34 arrested in Austin while House speaker faced jeers at Columbia UniversityMore than 100 people were arrested at Emerson College in Boston early on Thursday in the latest crackdown against the rising wave of campus pro-Palestinian protests across the US that has seen the House speaker, Mike Johnson, suggest calling in the national guard.Johnson waded into an already tense situation on Wednesday with a visit to Columbia University, where the decision last week of the university president, Minouche Shafik, to invite the NYPD to dismantle a student encampment catalysed what is rapidly becoming a national movement. Johnson nevertheless called for the resignation of Shafik, facing jeers on campus from the pro-Palestinian protesters. Continue reading...

FTSE 100 hits another record, after buyout offer for Anglo American, while US economy slowed by more than expected in the last quarter

Before dying earlier this month, Larry Webb confessed to killing Susan Carter and her child and burying their bodies in his yardA man confessed to killing a 10-year-old girl and her mother on his deathbed, closing a 24-year-old cold case in Beckley, West Virginia.After the confession, officials found remains believed to be those of Susan and Natasha Alex" Carter, her daughter, in Beckley on Monday. Continue reading...

Today, we remember the 1974 Carnation Revolution. But as memories of dictatorship fade, anti-democratic forces are on the riseFifty years ago, on 25 April 1974, a military-led movement in Portugal took down the rightwing authoritarian regime that had governed the country for 41 years. The Carnation Revolution, named after the flowers people offered soldiers on the streets, led the country to democracy and an era of immense social progress - reducing infant mortality and illiteracy rates, for example, which were comparatively very high in 1974. By 1986, Portugal had made enough strides to be able to join the European Communities, now the EU.I was born in the early 1990s, but even in my generation 25 April is a hallowed anniversary for many. Growing up as a teenager interested in politics generated a strong emotional attachment to a national holiday centred on the celebration of political freedom. Continue reading...

The Republican House speaker visited Columbia University as another 80 people arrested at colleges in Austin and LA. Plus, Arizona indicts Trump allies over fake elector' scheme

The safety and security of Palestinians and Jews are interdependent, so we should use language carefullyIn reporting on the encampments springing up on college campuses across the US, the media seem to have convened a terminology confab and agreed on two descriptions: pro-Palestinian" and anti-Israel". These labels oversimplify Americans' opinions on Israel's onslaught against Gaza, which marked its 200th day on Tuesday with no end in sight. But the error is worse than semantic.Universities Struggle as Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations Grow," says the New York Times. Colleges Struggle to Contain Intensifying Pro-Palestinian Protests," reports the Wall Street Journal. In Minneapolis, the Star Tribune has the local news that the University of Minnesota police arrest nine after pro-Palestinian encampment set up on campus". Some publications less shy about displaying their political biases take the opposite tack. A headline in the right-leaning New York Post, for instance, exaggerated the literally incendiary nature of the demonstrators' tactics: Anti-Israel protesters carry flares to march on NYPD HQ after over 130 arrested at NYU." The accompanying video is cast in red. Ever evenhanded, CBS does both: Pro-Palestinian, pro-Israel protesters gather outside Columbia University."Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books Continue reading...

Idaho's law requires doctors to treat pregnant women's health as disposable - and the loss of their lives as an acceptable riskThe risk of stating plainly what Idaho argued at the US supreme court on Wednesday morning is that it is so sadistic and extreme that people might not believe you. Idaho has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Prohibiting all abortions at any stage of gestation, with no exceptions for rape or incest, the Idaho law allows doctors to perform abortions in cases where the life - but not merely" the health - of the pregnant woman is at risk.In practice, this has wound up being a ban on abortions needed to save women's lives: according to Idaho hospitals, six pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies have had to be airlifted across state lines to hospitals in states with life and health exemptions in the months since Idaho began enforcing its abortion ban. One way to describe this state of affairs is to say that Idaho's abortion law has come into conflict with medical best practice. Another way to describe it is to say that the law has forced pregnant women to flee the state for their lives.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

With her husband on trial over hush money payments - and desperate for cash - the ex-first lady isn't worried about opticsIf your husband was a legally adjudicated sexual predator who cheated on you with an adult film star shortly after you gave birth to his son, and then allegedly paid her hush money to cover it up in an attempt to illegally influence the 2016 election, and then went on trial for those hush money payments, while also facing a litany of other criminal charges, what do you think you would do?In Melania Trump's case, the answer seems to be: ignore all that hoo-ha and sell a $245 necklace to celebrate Mother's Day. On Sunday, the notably un-effusive first lady announced that she had designed the Her Love & Gratitude' necklace to express immense gratitude and honor all mothers". The necklace features a flower pendant made of gold vermeil (sterling silver with a solid gold plate) and can include a custom engraving. Best of all, every purchase comes with a limited-edition digital NFT collectible that is minted on the Solana blockchain. Just what every mother wants! Continue reading...

Our former PM has a dire warning and a book to sell, but it isn't really cutting through. A bit more Brit-style bumbling might helpI know the name," texts a friend when I ask if she knows who Liz Truss is, but like most Americans can't quite put her finger on why. Like 8%," guesses another when I ask her to put a number on how many of her countrymen she imagines know of Truss. The standard response, in my extremely unscientific poll of Americans as to whether or not they know of Truss, however, was: No, should I?" - the answer to which, of course, depends entirely on whether you want to understand why the Tory party is polling around 20% or whether you happen to be Liz Truss.Truss, the only one of us to suffer that particular misfortune, was in Washington DC this week trying, like so many minor British celebrities before her, to catch the eye of the Americans. At the Heritage Foundation, a rightwing thinktank that hosted the launch of Truss's book Ten Years to Save the West, she came bearing a warning". Not an ideal ice-breaker, perhaps, but one clearly tailored to an audience receptive to the frisson of the term forces of the global left".Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The former US president often describes himself as the best friend that Israel has ever had', but he may not be so reliableAt a windy rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, earlier this month, Donald Trump began his hour-long address by sending prayers and support to Israel as it withstood Iran's aerial assault.They're under attack right now," the former president and presumptive Republican nominee said. That's because we show great weakness." Continue reading...

Our writers take a look at the best prospects coming out of college, and which teams needs to nail their picks over the coming daysIt feels like a lock that it will be LSU's Jayden Daniels, thought I wouldn't put it past the Commanders to fall in love with Michigan's JJ McCarthy. Daniels is a funky prospect; he was a starry duel threat at LSU, but it's tough to see whether the best elements of his game - his running, his deep ball - will smoothly transition to the NFL. He doesn't possess Lamar Jackson-esque breakaway speed and has a brittle frame. As a thrower from the pocket, he has a snappy delivery but struggles to shift to his second and third reads. There is some RGIII to his game. Do Washington really want to tread that path again? OC Continue reading...

Finance chiefs say higher taxes for the super-rich are key to battling global inequality and climate crisis

Congressman Adam Smith says totalitarian' protesters are trying to silence anyone who dares to disagree with them'Protesters calling for Israel to cease fire in its war with Hamas who have disrupted US public events and infrastructure are practicing leftwing fascism" or leftwing totalitarianism", a senior US House Democrat said, adding that such protesters are challenging representative democracy" and should be arrested.Intimidation is the tactic," said Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee. Intimidation and an effort to silence opposition ... I don't know if there's such a thing as leftwing fascism. If you want to just call it leftwing totalitarianism, then that's what it is. It is a direct challenge to representative democracy now." Continue reading...

More than 60 people, including a journalist, arrested at University of Southern California and University of Texas at Austin. This blog is now closed.

City officials made the decision after saying the sidewalk in Roscoe Village was damaged and needed to be replacedA Chicago sidewalk landmark some residents affectionately referred to as the rat hole" has been removed after city officials decided it was damaged and needed to be replaced.The sidewalk, which had an impression that looked like the outline of a rat with claws and a tail, had been present in Chicago's North Side neighbourhood of Roscoe Village for years. It found fresh fame in January after a Chicago comedian shared a photo on the social platform X. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister terms pro-ceasefire rallies horrific' as students demand universities divest from weapons makersThe Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday condemned pro-Palestinian protests at universities in the United States as horrific", saying the demonstrations have to be stopped", as he categorized students as antisemitic.There's been rising tensions at campuses across the US as demonstrations began last week after students at Columbia set up encampments calling for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel. The protests have led to mass suspensions and arrests of hundreds students in New York, Texas and California. Continue reading...

Along with 11 fake electors, seven allies of the ex-president including Mark Meadows and John Eastman were also chargedAn Arizona grand jury has charged 18 people involved in the scheme to create a slate of false electors for Donald Trump, including 11 people who served as those fake electors and seven Trump allies who aided the scheme.Kris Mayes, Arizona's Democratic attorney general, announced the charges on Wednesday, and said the 11 fake electors had been charged with felonies for fraud, forgery and conspiracy. Continue reading...

Local and state police clash with demonstrators in state capital of Austin while rightwing governor says protesters belong in jail'At least 20 people were arrested, including a photojournalist, as police and demonstrators violently clashed at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday.Hundreds of students walked out of class to protest against the conflict in Gaza and demand the university divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in Israel's war efforts, carrying signs and chanting. Continue reading...

Federal prosecutors looking at relationship with Purdue Pharma and other drug manufacturers, and its role in US opioid crisisMcKinsey is under criminal investigation in the United States over allegations that the consulting firm played a key role in fueling the opioid epidemic, with federal prosecutors homing in on its work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers, three people familiar with the matter said.The consulting firm and the US justice department declined to comment. Continue reading...

The justices must decide whether Idaho doctors can terminate a pregnancy to save a woman's health or only if her life is at riskThe supreme court heard its second abortion rights case of the term on Wednesday, this one focused on how states can regulate emergency abortions - exceedingly rare procedures that often save a woman's life or her future fertility.The case may seem technical because it focuses on a small subset of emergency abortions and federal law that governs emergency room care. Continue reading...

In criminal investigation, New Orleans judge demands paper trail from archbishop Gregory Aymond all the way to the VaticanThe criminal investigation into child sexual abuse in New Orleans' Roman Catholic archdiocese has entered a major new phase, after a judge ordered the church to turn over records to Louisiana state police showing how it responded to abuse allegations over the last several decades.The order signed on Monday seeks files that would identify every priest and deacon accused of abusing children while working in the US's second-oldest archdiocese; when those complaints were first made; and whether the church turned those cases over to police, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Continue reading...

US House speaker Mike Johnson called on the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, to resign for failing to crack down on antiwar protests in support of Palestine on campus. Johnson was speaking at Columbia University where he said: 'I'm here today joining my colleagues and calling on President [Minouche] Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.'Protests have been taking place at several US universities, where some students have set up tents. Police have responded to some of the demonstrations with force, detaining students and dismantling their camps

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Arizona's harsh abortion ban, you can read our full report:

Testing of pasteurised milk from stores found genetic traces of H5N1 virus, but fragments do not indicate it contains live virusDairy cows being moved across states must be tested for the bird flu, under a federal order issued on Wednesday aimed at containing the spread of the virus across US cattle farms.The clampdown comes after testing of pasteurised milk from grocery store shelves found genetic traces of the H5N1 virus. Health officials said that these fragments of virus do not indicate that the milk contains live virus and that they have seen nothing that would change our assessment" that the supply is safe. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to progressive Democrat who succeeded his father in Congress in 2012 - a steadfast champion for the people'Donald Payne Jr, a US congressman from New Jersey, died on Wednesday, more than two weeks after a heart attack. He was 65.Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, paid tribute to his fellow Democrat, whom he called a friend and steadfast champion for the people" of his state. Continue reading...

Federal Emtala law has become focal point in heated debate over emergency abortions in states that ban procedureFor the second time in a month, the US supreme court on Wednesday heard arguments in a major abortion-rights case, the second to reach the justices since they overturned Roe v Wade two years ago.Wednesday's case involves a 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or Emtala, which requires hospitals that receive federal dollars to stabilize the health of patients who show up at their emergency rooms with medical emergencies. The Biden administration has sued the state of Idaho, arguing that its ban clashes with Emtala because Idaho only permits abortions in medical emergencies if a woman's life is at risk - a higher threshold than Emtala. Continue reading...

A New York court has heard how the tabloid deployed a practice known as catch and kill' to aid Trump in 2016

President says legislation is going to make the world safer' after months of congressional gridlock threatened support for KyivJoe Biden has signed into law a bill that rushes $95bn in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, a bipartisan legislative victory he hailed as a good day for world peace" after months of congressional gridlock threatened Washington's support for Kyiv in its fight to repel Russia's invasion.The Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure in a 79 -18 vote late on Tuesday night, after the package won similarly lopsided approval in the Republican controlled House, despite months of resistance from an isolationist bloc of hardline conservatives opposed to helping Ukraine. Continue reading...

Just because we find a political leader ludicrous, that doesn't mean they're not dangerousThere's something I heard that I can't get out of my mind. It's one line in a very long book full of other very good lines. This was the audiobook of Ian Kershaw's seminal biography of Adolf Hitler. It's absorbing, exhaustive, fascinating and alarming in equal measure. But there is this one line that won't leave me alone. I was driving on a bleak day on a country road when I heard it for the first time. I instantly rewound to hear it again, and then again. And then when I got to where I was going I bought the book itself so I could see it as well as hear it. The line torments me still. And since a problem shared is a problem halved - or whatever the expression is - I ask you to bear the burden with me.It comes in a chapter called The Beerhall Agitator, about the absurd-looking little rabble-rouser's activities during the early 1920s. As a kid I always wondered how they could all have been taken in by such an apparently ludicrous man. The awful truth, of course, was that enough people thought him ludicrous for this ludicrous man to be calamitously underestimated. Continue reading...

This seems a better way to say hello than giving a little bow or a wave - but maybe I'm overthinking the whole processI gave up hugging people just before Christmas; I thought it was for the best. I'm in my mid-50s, possibly a bit smelly and live in fear of coming over as a bit creepy. I work with a lot of young people, at least half of them women, who are mostly in their 20s, and it was getting harder and harder to pull off a brotherly hug when the hugs were feeling fatherly or even grandfatherly. Or just, you know, a bit creepy.Several months on, reviewing this first phase of my post-hugging life, I believe I took the right decision. Put it this way: I really can't think of anyone I've met who I've sensed felt short-changed by the absence of a hug from me. I have seen no cloud of disappointment pass over anyone's face. No one seems to be feeling left out, least of all younger women, who, unsurprisingly I suppose - turn out to be decidedly comfortable with a handshake. Continue reading...

Plane maker beat lowered expectations but still burned billions in response to crisis and reported first revenue drop in seven quartersBoeing burned through nearly $4bn in the last quarter as it scrambled to contain a safety crisis unleashed by a mid-flight blowout of a cabin panel on a brand-new 737 Max 9 jet.The US aircraft maker has been left reeling by the incident in January, which raised questions about its bestselling commercial plane, and warnings from a whistleblower about other sections of its production line. Continue reading...