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Until the UK and other nuclear states are brave enough to disarm, the Doomsday Clock will keep ticking towards midnightSeventy-seven years ago, a group of scientists created a symbolic Doomsday Clock to measure humanity's proximity to self-destruction, or midnight". The hands move closer to - or further away from - midnight, depending on what existential threats exist at that particular time. Addressing the UN general assembly last year, the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, announced that the clock had moved to 90 seconds to midnight, declaring that humanity was perilously close to catastrophe. This is the closest the clock has ever stood to humanity's darkest hour," he said. We need to wake up - and get to work." Guterres named three perilous challenges. One, extreme poverty. Two, an accelerating climate crisis. And three, global nuclear war.Lie flat in a ditch and cover the exposed skin of the head and hands." In 1980, Margaret Thatcher's government published a pamphlet, Protect and Survive, advising people what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. In what was in essence a DIY handbook, people were instructed to hide under a table, place bodies of dead relatives in another room or, if outside, lie on the floor and hope for the best. Adopting an optimistic attitude toward our extinction, the 32-page booklet was ridiculed by a population that knew there was no survival kit for nuclear annihilation.

Knox hoped conviction for wrongly accusing bar owner of murdering Briton Meredith Kercher would be droppedA Florence court has upheld a slander conviction against Amanda Knox for wrongly accusing a bar owner of murdering the British student Meredith Kercher.The American, 36, had asked for the conviction to be dropped, saying she had returned to Italy in the hope of clearing my name once and for all of the false charges against me". Continue reading...

Charles Barrett was accused of using his fame as a rock climber to lure victim to park and later making threatening phone calls to herA professional rock climber who assaulted a woman three times during a weekend hiking trip to California's Yosemite national park in 2016 has been sentenced to life in prison.Charles Barrett, 40, had been accused of using his fame as a rock climber to lure the woman to the park, and then making hundreds of threatening phone calls against her and his other victims after he was arrested and placed in custody.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Under pressure from Republicans and some Democrats to reduce number of people arriving at border, Biden issues executive order. Plus: the search for a fix to modern loneliness

The formidable disease affects every corner of my life. Working with these medicines hasn't been a cure-all - but it's yielded deep lessons

We'd like to hear how the lives of people in the US have been affected by the 2022 overturning of the landmark abortion rights ruling of Roe v Wade, if applicableThe US supreme court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022 abolished the national right to abortion, and 14 states have since enacted near-total abortion bans, while three states - Georgia, South Carolina and Florida - have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights.We're interested to hear from people in the US how, if at all, they have been affected by the landmark ruling's overturning, and how their lives may have changed since. Continue reading...

We're starting to get glimpses of how voters feel about Trump's felony conviction - and it's moderately good news for Biden

Emma Hayes led the US to a pair of convincing wins over South Korea in her first two games as national team coach. There was plenty to digestWhen Lily Yohannes steered in the USWNT's third on Tuesday, it wasn't just a goal, it was a symbol of a new era. Continue reading...

Education about the risks of being overweight means nothing if people have no access to healthy food or places to exerciseType 2 diabetes used to be a condition linked to ageing and getting older. It's the most common metabolic chronic condition in elderly people in the UK, and the likelihood of developing diabetes increases dramatically after the age of 45. People of south Asian heritage have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes, and I've grown up watching my grandparents and elderly relatives develop it, one after another. India is often referred to as the diabetes capital of the world", accounting for 17% of the total number of diabetes patients worldwide.But in Britain, recent data has shown a major change in the profile of who is getting diabetes: it's now young people. The number of under-40s being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen 39% in the past six years. This was especially the case for people from deprived areas and those from black and south Asian backgrounds. In 2022, Diabetes UK highlighted that the number of children receiving treatment for type 2 diabetes in England and Wales had increased by over 50% over the previous five years.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading...

The actor has been frank about her luck and comfort. But many celebrity children refuse to acknowledge the influence of their rich and well-connected parentsCongratulations to the actor Maya Hawke, who has just done something few of her peers seem capable of: acknowledge that one of the secrets of her success has been a little sprinkling of nepotism. The daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman has always seemed to wear her privilege with a shrug", as a recent Guardian profile put it, but in a new interview with the Times, the Stranger Things star was even more frank about not deserving" the life she has.Deserves is a complicated word," she said. There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don't, but I think I'm comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway." She added: It's OK to be made fun of when you're in rarefied air. It's a lucky place to be." Continue reading...

People at the border reel after hearing about Biden's order and consider the CBP One app, where they can go and what's nextAngel Ramos Giron was searching for a gap to breach the coils of concertina wire standing between him and the huge US fence near gate 36.The port of entry divides Ciudid Juarez in Mexico, where he stood on Tuesday afternoon looking towards El Paso, its sister city in Texas in the US. Continue reading...

Measurable in Trump supporters, psycho-social phenomenon can have consequences for democracy, authors sayPolitical observers are quick to blame hyperpartisanship and political polarization for leading more than 2,000 supporters of Donald Trump to riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.But according to a recently published study, racial resentment" - not just partisanship - explains the violence that broke out after the 2020 election. Continue reading...

Most scientists say no, but some want ultra-processed foods, with sky-high sugar amounts, to count as addictive substancesPsychologist Ashley Gearhardt remembers one type 2 diabetes patient who acknowledged that eating pillowy Krispy Kreme doughnuts is devastatingly bad for her. Knowing that the donuts could worsen her disease didn't stop her from driving out of her way to secure a box of the sweets.Clearly, compulsivity is happening," said Gearhardt, a University of Michigan professor and one of the creators of the Yale Food Addiction Scale, a self-reporting tool that helps people find out whether they are at risk for food addiction. In her view, that inability to control an urge helps make the case that sugar is addictive. Continue reading...

It's one of the evolutionary puzzles of our species. Why (oh why) do we do it?The last hurrah? A collective show to the world of anarchic solidarity? A time to take stock, to be joyful, to be maudlin - perhaps all three? What is it about the stag do? They are mainly awful. More often than not, it's a random group of men, off the leash" from their families, who act like incapable children and - as soon as booze is on the menu - neanderthals. And things get worse when the dos are held abroad, usually somewhere sunny or a European city - any European city. Before long, you're not exactly sure what country you're in anyway.This means the drinking can start at the airport. Then the sun, cheap beer, language barrier and the sense of invulnerability can kick in, fuelling our terrible reputation as Brits abroad. Continue reading...

The PM and Labour leader tussled on tax, Gaza and immigration. But did either man land a damaging blow?The debate format was poorly thought out. How can anything of substance be said in 45-second answers? On the questions that required longer responses - taxation, the cost of living crisis - there just wasn't enough time to get into any detail. But on immigration, the brevity was grimly revealing.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Indian Fever star has endured a brutal welcome to the professional ranks. But it was no different for the likes of Michael Jordan and Peyton ManningOn Monday the WNBA named Caitlin Clark its rookie of the month, a sweet reward for the 22-year-old that couldn't come at a tougher time.Since entering the league mere weeks ago as the top overall pick, Clark has not only been under pressure due to the outsized expectations that have come with her immense collegiate star status; she's had to do so while being guarded the length of the floor, running blindly into screens and losing nine of her first 11 games with the Indiana Fever, who have finished last in their conference for the last three seasons. Even though many close WNBA followers expected Clark wouldn't get by anywhere near as easily as she did at Iowa - not least former top pick Diana Taurasi, who a month ago warned, reality is coming" - that hasn't stopped Clark's legion of fans from taking the slights against her personally and attributing them to a wider league conspiracy to cut down their shiny new meal ticket. Continue reading...

Prosecutors called Lynch the driving force' behind Autonomy's missteps as the tycoon tried to humanize himself on the standA US jury has begun deliberating the fate of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch in a corporate fraud trial that began in March, as a years-long saga over a 2011 acquisition deal approaches its end.Lynch is charged with 15 counts of fraud, though originally he faced 16; one count of securities fraud was dismissed last week in a notable victory for his defense. Continue reading...

Polls predict huge gains for the far right in the European elections. But it is too fragmented to truly capitalise on themOn Thursday, the Dutch will be the first to go to the polls in the European elections, which are technically a collection of 27 national ballots held over the four days from 6 to 9 June. This is fitting, given that the last Dutch general election in November 2023, which produced a shocking landslide for the far right, has been defining the narrative of the 2024 European elections campaign". Although polls predict huge gains for the far right, its deep divisions mean the victory may prove to be a pyrrhic one.A much-cited report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) predicts that the combined far right will win roughly a quarter of the 720 seats in the new parliament. This would be an increase in support of some 4 to 5%, and is in line with a longer-term trend: the far right made big gains in the European elections of 2014 and 2019.Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia, and author of The Far Right Today Continue reading...

Vote is Congress's first legislative rebuke of war-crimes court since ICC prosecutor's decision to seek arrests of leaders of Israel and HamasThe House passed legislation on Tuesday that would sanction the international criminal court after its chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.The 247-155 vote amounts to Congress's first legislative rebuke of the war-crimes court since prosecutor Karim Khan's decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas. The move was widely denounced in Washington, creating a rare moment of unity on Israel even as partisan divisions over the war with Hamas intensified. Continue reading...

Congressman bids to replace Menendez, who plans to run as independent despite being charged with accepting bribesDemocratic congressman Andy Kim has won New Jersey's Senate primary, putting him in strong position for the general election in the blue-leaning state, though the win comes a day after Democratic senator Bob Menendez filed to run as an independent amid his federal corruption trial.Menendez, who has denied allegations that he accepted bribes to promote the interests of the Egyptian government, has chosen not to seek the Democratic Senate nomination. Kim's win comes after a bruising battle that led New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy to withdraw from the race in March. Continue reading...

Republicans succeed in push for ballot measure asking voters to make it a crime to enter US from Mexico outside a port of entryThe Republican-controlled Arizona legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a proposal asking voters to make it a state crime for non-citizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry, sending the measure to the 5 November ballot.The vote came as Joe Biden unveiled plans Tuesday to restrict the number of people seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border, saying: This action will help to gain control of our border, restore order to the process." Continue reading...

Rish!, under pressure, got snippy, continually talking over Starmer. It was a terrible lookIt was another night of broken sleep. Fever dreams of Nigel Farage tormented him. That wide crocodile smile. Siren promises to the disaffected. The narcissistic orange glow.Worse, Rishi Sunak had even woken to the man himself being interviewed by Mishal Husain on Radio 4. Would no one rid him of this turbulent fraud? Now Nige sounded irritable. Angry that someone was daring to ask him about policy details: not just blowing smoke up his arse. Continue reading...

Baseball's partnerships with sportsbooks inundate viewers with ads for sports betting. Is it any wonder the San Diego Padres infielder ended up getting hit with a lifetime ban?Major League Baseball has brought down the heaviest hammer in its arsenal. On Tuesday, the league issued a lifetime ban to the San Diego Padres' Tucupita Marcano after its investigation revealed he had repeatedly bet on Pittsburgh Pirates games while a member of that team.MLB said that Marcano placed 387 bets on baseball between 2022 and 2023, totaling more than $150,000 in wagers. Twenty-five of those bets were parlay wagers that included a bet on his own team to lose. Marcano placed them while he was injured and out of the lineup, and the league and player both deny that he manipulated any games. But it was all much too close for MLB's comfort, so the league permanently exiled the 24-year-old. MLB suspended four other players one year apiece for lower-tier gambling infractions. Those players bet smaller amounts on games not involving their own teams, though a few of them were minor leaguers who bet on their organization's major league teams. Nobody punished on Tuesday is a star player, and if MLB has its way, the stories will soon fade from the limelight. Continue reading...

Attorney general defends stewardship of justice department and accuses Republican lawmakers of peddling conspiracy theoriesUS attorney general Merrick Garland has defended his stewardship of the justice department in a combative display on Capitol Hill that saw him accusing Republicans of attacking the rule of law while telling them he will not be intimidated."Testifying before the House judiciary committee, Garland accused GOP congressmen of engaging in conspiracy theories and peddling false narratives. Continue reading...

US representatives Nanette Barragan, Judy Chu and Raul Grijalva say order guts legal rights, while ACLU threatens to sueProgressive Democrats and immigration advocates have shared their outrage after Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that would turn away some asylum seekers.Biden's order will temporarily shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to enter the country legally when authorities have determined that the border is overwhelmed". Continue reading...

President's move comes amid voter dissatisfaction over immigration as leftwing and Latino lawmakers express alarmJoe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that will temporarily shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to cross between lawful ports of entry, when a daily threshold of crossings has been exceeded.The order will take effect immediately, senior administration officials said on a press call. Those seeking asylum will be held to a much more rigorous standard for establishing credible fear of returning to their home country, although certain groups - including human trafficking victims and unaccompanied children - would be excluded from the ban. Continue reading...

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In a 2-1 ruling, judges found grant program run by Black-woman owned venture capitalist firm likely to violate' Civil Rights ActA US federal court of appeals panel has suspended Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based, Black woman-owned venture capitalist firm, from continuing the firm's Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, a grant program for Black female business owners.In the 2-1 ruling, the panel of three judges, two appointed by Donald Trump and one appointed by Barack Obama, ruled that the grant program is substantially likely to violate" section 1981 of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits the use of race in making contracts. The act aimed to fully integrate formerly enslaved Black Americans as citizens, give them the full rights of American citizenship and to make it illegal to deprive any Americans of rights on the basis of race, color, or prior condition of slavery or involuntary servitude". Continue reading...

US president's remarks to Time magazine about PM's role in conflict draw heavily critical response from Israeli government

Worker called 911 when Constance Glantz, 74, was discovered to be breathing as staff were preparing her for her own funeralPolice in Lincoln, Nebraska, are investigating why a 74-year-old woman was pronounced dead but then found to actually be alive in a local funeral home on Monday.The town's firefighting and rescue teams responded to the Butherus-Maser & Love funeral home at 11.43am after the caller said CPR was being performed on what was initially thought to be the corpse of Constance Glantz. Continue reading...

Claudia Sheinbaum aims to continue the pursuit of social justice - her predecessor's most outstanding quality - without his charismaClaudia Sheinbaum made history this week by winning a landslide election to become Mexico's first female president. A leftwing climate scientist, Ms Sheinbaum appears a technocrat with progressive views, everything her presidential predecessor, the folksy populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as Amlo, was not.Yet the differences may be more about style than substance. Ms Sheinbaum has been by Mr Lopez Obrador's side for two decades, and has a deserved reputation for hard work, fidelity to her mentor and a thirst for social justice. One of the big questions for thenew president is whether her win will translate intomore political rights and protections for women, 11of whom are murdered a day. Continue reading...

Kenneth Chesebro, Jim Troupis and Michael Roman each charged with one felony count of forgery, according to court documentsWisconsin's attorney general, Josh Kaul, filed felony charges on Tuesday against three men who played a key role in the effort to appoint fake electors in the state as part of Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the election.Kenneth Chesebro, Jim Troupis, and Michael Roman were each charged with one felony count of forgery, according to court documents. The crime is a class H felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to six years in prison. Continue reading...

As Biden launches the strictest border crackdown of his presidency, five asylum seekers share their battles to secure protection in the USOn Tuesday, Joe Biden unveiled the most restrictive immigration policy of his presidency with an executive order enabling the mass rejection of asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border when crossings reach certain levels.The order would allow the US government to temporarily shut down the border when the number of people seeking entry exceeds a daily threshold, empowering authorities to automatically block migrants from presenting their asylum cases. The policy, which would significantly erode the rights of asylum seekers, appears to be one of the harshest immigration crackdowns pushed by any modern Democrat and mirrors the Trump administration's efforts to broadly limit entries en masse. Continue reading...

President also likens his predecessor's rejection of the court verdict against him to his refusal to accept he lost 2020 electionJoe Biden has called Donald Trump reckless and dangerous" over the former president's claim that the trial leading to last week's felony conviction in a Manhattan court was rigged.In his sharpest criticism yet of his predecessor's drive to undermine the legal integrity of the prosecution against him, the president also said a second Trump presidency would be a much greater threat to American democracy than his first. He likened Trump's rejection of the court verdict against him to his refusal to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Continue reading...

Jannik Sinner will be the new world No 1 after Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament due to a knee injuryA decent return from Gauff makes 30-15 but Jabeur is finding first serves, and though she's soon drawn into a net exchange, a tasty volley is good enough. The pot is boiling.Another terrific hold from Gauff who makes 40-0 then picks a drop, skidding in to flip a backhand pick-up cross-court for a clean winner. Things will change as the match progresses, but at the moment it looks like it'll turn on a point her or there. Gauff 3-2 Jabeur Continue reading...

Jay Ostrem, 64, reportedly became upset after his wife told him she was assaulted by a neighborA former small-town mayor charged with murder after a triple killing last week reportedly became upset before the deadly shooting because his wife told him that she had been assaulted by a neighbor.The details on the alleged apparent motive in the case came amid the most recent update on the shooting deaths that occurred the night of 27 May in the small town of Centerville, South Dakota, about 40 minutes outside of Sioux Falls, NBC News reported, citing court documents. Continue reading...

National parks service says bison aren't agressive but will defend their space when threatened' after 83-year-old was woundedA bison gored and seriously wounded an elderly woman at Wyoming's Yellowstone national park over the weekend, rangers said.The attack occurred on 1 June near the Storm Point trail at Yellowstone lake, where the animal was defending its ground", according to a news release by the US national parks service (NPS). Continue reading...

While their huge egos have rubbed each other the wrong way in the past, they may have found common groundWhat happens when two of the most influential and insufferable people in the universe join forces? Looks like we're about to find out. Rumour has it that Elon Musk is cosying up to convicted felon, adjudicated fraudster and presidential hopeful Donald Trump, in the hopes of securing a job in the White House.Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the pair speak on the phone several times a month, and have discussed a possible advisory role for Musk if Trump is elected president again. It's not clear what political pies Musk wants to stick his little fingers in: The role hasn't been fully hammered out," the WSJ said. But, according to people familiar with the talks", Musk might get a position advising on border security and the economy. Continue reading...

A new book looks back at the federal investigation that found bribery and corruption within a major industry and the informant who was at the centerOn 26 September 2018, 10 prominent US college sports figures were arrested in connection with a federal investigation into fraud and corruption. Specifically, the government alleged that business managers and financial advisers had bribed basketball coaches to secure business with NBA-bound players, and that a senior executive with Adidas had further conspired with them to funnel payments to high school players and their families in exchange for their commitment to Adidas-sponsored college sports programs.The scandal - which ensnared the top NBA draft pick Deandre Ayton, hall of fame coach Rick Pitino and Kobie Baker, the associate athletic director at Alabama, one of the country's premier talent factories - was a black eye for the NCAA, the keystone cops who style themselves as virtuous defenders of amateurism in college sports while reaping billions off the backs of student-athletes, the majority of them Black and quite economically disadvantaged. The extent of the scheme wasn't fully understood until one of the schemers, a middle-aged moneyman named Marty Blazer, was turned into an FBI informant. There's a saying in law enforcement of being half a cop'," says true crime writer Guy Lawson, when you're the criminal but you start to think cops are cool. Marty became a motivated cooperator. He became an inventive one." Continue reading...

New publisher Will Lewis's heavy-handed moves alienated a great staff

Our catastrophes have wrought psychic devastation. It's worth acknowledging that and trying to be kind to one anotherEverything is weird and everyone is wrecked. This is maybe the biggest and least acknowledged truth of life in the United States and a lot of places beyond right now. It's the pandemic; the eight years of Trumpism; the distortions, disruptions and corruptions Silicon Valley has promulgated and other looming menaces, including climate chaos. We all know this, because we're living it, but maybe we should talk more about the fact that our political catastrophes are inseparable from widespread psychic devastation, that the public and private, political and personal, are entangled - or rather that the former has wrought havoc on the latter.The wisest people I know are aware that the stresses, atrocities, divisions and divergences from norms of recent years have made them (and everyone else) exhausted and brittle. The less wise but no less brittle either lash out with the sense that what's wrong is definitely someone else or take refuge in cults and oversimplified versions in which they are at least in control of what it all means.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell's Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility Continue reading...

Under Xi Jinping, national security has swallowed up all other state policies, and Hong Kong's activists are paying the priceHours after attending a 4 June vigil, a Chinese student overseas is contacted by her father, bearing a message from the security services: do not participate in activities that might harm China's reputation. In a London theatre, three British actors starring in May 35th, a play about the 1989 Tiananmen killings, keep their identities secret and use pseudonyms. They take this step after actors drop out of a previous Tiananmen-related production in Arizona due to perceived risks to family in China.Thirty-five years have passed since the People's Liberation Army opened fire on the Chinese people, yet Beijing seems more determined than ever to suppress acts commemorating the deaths of 4 June - even small ones far beyond China's own borders. Such repression appears irrational: its targets are not influential political figures, their actions are limited in reach and the acts of suppression affect basic freedoms in other countries far from China. Yet it is illustrative of the sea change at the heart of Xi Jinping's China. The man dubbed the chairman of everything" is transforming China into a security state whose top priority is the securitisation of everything, all the way down to the individual.Louisa Lim is the author of Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong, and The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited. She is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Melbourne Continue reading...

Former Trump fixer laments sad times we are living through' as addresses and phone numbers of wife and children posted onlineDonald Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen has become the latest target of doxing efforts by supporters of the former president following Trump's conviction of criminally falsifying business records last week.According to Advance Democracy, the addresses and phone numbers of Cohen's wife and children were posted on a website on Monday, days after the non-profit group warned of a high volume of social media posts containing violent rhetoric targeting the New York judge Juan Merchan and the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, each of whom played key roles in Trump's conviction. Continue reading...

Ex-leader of US Covid response said congresswoman and Fox News sparked credible death threats' against him and his familyAfter Anthony Fauci appeared at a contentious US House hearing on Monday, the former top public health official who led the nation's response to Covid-19 singled out the far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Fox News as drivers of the credible death threats" that he described to lawmakers.Whether it's ... news media - you know Fox News does it a lot - or it's somebody in the Congress who gets up and makes a public statement that ... the deaths of X number of people [were] because of policies or some crazy idea that I created, immediately, it's like clockwork: the death threats go way up," Fauci said in an interview with CNN. Continue reading...

Lender denies whistleblowers' claim transactions worth $100bn were carried out in breach of sanctionsWhistleblowers have claimed Standard Chartered allegedly carried out billions of dollars of previously undetected transactions for Iran-linked entities and terrorist organisations, according to a New York court filing.Two whistleblowers, who include a former executive at the British bank, filed a motion last week to set aside a judgment that dismissed an earlier lawsuit they filed, in an attempt to revive their efforts. Continue reading...