US news | The Guardian

Democrats are intervening in Republican primaries, prompting fears the strategy could backfire or promote Trump alliesSome Democrats in Washington are publicly fuming over the party’s decision to boost a Republican congressional candidate in Michigan who has questioned the 2020 election result.The outcry escalated after Axios reported that Democrats plan to spend $425,000 to air an ad ahead of Michigan’s primary, highlighting the conservative bona fides of John Gibbs, who is challenging the incumbent Republican, Peter Meijer. Continue reading...

Neither Liz Truss nor Rishi Sunak is a Tory in the sense that he understood it - they show no interest in preserving the unionI realised David Trimble and I would get on fine when we met for the first time. Over lunch just off Whitehall in the early 1990s, I asked Trimble, in those days the embodiment of a hardline backbench Ulster Unionist MP, if he ever spent time in the Irish Republic. With a grin, he replied that he had just recently been in Dublin for a performance of Leoš Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová, a work he greatly admired. We spent the rest of the lunch talking about opera as well as politics. It was clear that this was a unionist politician who was worth knowing.And so it proved over many years, in conversations of every kind. Trimble, who died this week, was smart, approachable, sometimes sharp, but above all an immensely practical politician. He came from a relatively liberal unionist family background in County Down, but he always knew he had to carry his ardently loyalist base in his Upper Bann constituency along any new path that he advocated or that events required. He was one of those politicians who think around corners, not in straight lines, the best sort.Martin Kettle is a Guardian associate editor and columnist Continue reading...

After two negative tests and nearly resolved symptoms, president says he’s ‘back to the Oval’Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19 and will discontinue his isolation after contracting the virus last Thursday, his doctor said Wednesday.In a letter, Kevin O’Connor said the US president had tested negative for Covid-19 on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and has completed the five-day isolation period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Continue reading...

‘We recreated a pair of Nike trainers and I used Michael Jordan’s number on the niqab. It’s as if, in a parallel universe, this is the uniform for basketball’I was born in the north of Morocco, with six siblings. We moved to Belgium when I was two but went back to visit family every year. They were the best times, when memories were made and inspiration was created. Nostalgia is one of my favourite feelings. It takes you back to when you were more free, and I’ve tried to put the things that I grew up with in my work.There have always been two parts to my work. Fashion, because there you can be creative; there are no borders – everything can be fashion as long as there are clothes involved. And then there are the things that I just loved doing. As a kid, I remember embroidering Nike logos on to the hat my dad used to wear to the mosque, because I thought it was cool. My work is a photographic continuation of that kind of thing. Continue reading...

House speaker’s trip hasn’t been confirmed but US military will increase movement in the Indo-Pacific if she goes to TaiwanUS officials say they have little fear that China would attack Nancy Pelosi’s plane if she flew to Taiwan. But the House speaker would nonetheless be entering one of the world’s hottest spots, where a mishap, misstep or misunderstanding could endanger her safety.Officials said that if Pelosi goes to Taiwan – her visit has not been confirmed – the US military would increase movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific. The officials declined to provide details, but said jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would probably provide overlapping rings of protection. Continue reading...

Jackpot has grown so large because no one has matched the game’s six selected numbers since 15 AprilA giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02bn after no one matched all six numbers on Tuesday night and won the top prize.The new estimated jackpot will be the fourth-largest US lottery prize. Continue reading...

Miles Taylor, author of famous column and book by ‘Anonymous’, says former vice-president cannot stand up to his former bossOn the day Mike Pence and Donald Trump both spoke in Washington, a former member of their administration poured scorn on Pence’s attempt to portray himself as a potential Republican presidential nominee, and competitor to Trump, in 2024.Speaking on CNN, Miles Taylor said: “If you want to know what the Mike Pence vice-presidency was like, Mike Pence is a guy with an erect posture and flaccid conscience. He stood up tall but he did not stand up to Donald Trump.” Continue reading...

Garland promises ‘justice without fear or favor’ as investigators specifically question witnesses about ex-president’s involvement. Plus, McDonald’s burger ingredient on sale for $6,000Good morning.The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said he would “pursue justice without fear or favor” in his decision on whether to charge Donald Trump with crimes related to the Capitol attack and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as news reports indicate the justice department’s investigation is heating up.Can the House January 6 committee make a criminal referral? It can, but whether it should, or will, and whether it has presented sufficient evidence to do so, is a matter of extensive debate around the US and on the committee itself.Is the fire under control? Firefighters battling an explosive blaze near Yosemite significantly slowed the spread of the flames, but thousands of residents from mountain communities remained under evacuation Continue reading...

Neo-Nazis and Proud Boys are targeting libraries, as legislators and conservative lobby groups are trying to remove books from shelves and change how library board members are appointedLast month, I went to a library in more or less the exact middle of America, and everyone was there – kids, elderly people, students of all ethnicities and ability levels – quietly doing their own thing, together. A librarian interviewed me in an elegant amphitheater in front of Kansas City residents. We spoke about immigration, politics and the climate crisis and managed to laugh a lot too. Some audience members challenged my views, and we talked it out right there. We had a frank and fun conversation in a public space, free to all, and streamed live for people who couldn’t make it to the library that day. I only later thought about how rare that is – and how profound.“Libraries are this quiet, powerful space that are just always there, right?” Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada told me. She is a librarian and was elected president of the American Library Association (ALA) earlier this year. “We are that constant, for everyone. We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”Maeve Higgins is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Our society does not make it easy to be a parent, but with four of us onboard, I think it could workI need to phone him; that’s the only way to do this without sounding deranged. How do you explain to a friend, via text, that you’d maybe like to have a baby with some of his friends that you met at his barbecue the other day?My partner, Leo, and I have become a version of the “we saw you from across the bar and dig your vibe” meme – a poke at sexually adventurous couples looking for a “threesome”. We’re more like: “We saw you from across a gathering of thirtysomethings and wondered if you’d be down to help us redesign the nuclear family.”Eleanor Margolis is a columnist for the i newspaper and DivaDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

The NFL is perhaps the most scrutinized league in the world. But who gives the best analysis of what goes on with the teams and players?It has been 18 months since we updated our list of the top NFL analysts, journalists, and opinion-givers. Here’s how things stand before Tom Brady arrives in 2035. Continue reading...

Investigators have specifically questioned witnesses about ex-president’s involvement in the insurrection, reports sayThe US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said he would “pursue justice without fear or favor” in his decision on whether to charge Donald Trump with crimes related to the Capitol attack and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as news reports indicate the justice department’s investigation is heating up.The department is conducting a criminal investigation into the events surrounding and preceding the January 6 insurrection, an effort that Garland – speaking to NBC’s Lester Holt on Tuesday – called “the most wide-ranging investigation in its history”. Continue reading...

In his first trip to Washington since he left office, the former president blamed Democrats for ‘a cesspool of crime’ in the USAmerica first, irony last. Donald Trump, the former US president accused of a coup attempt in which police were speared and sprayed, returned to Washington on Tuesday with a plea for law and order to give police “the respect that they deserve”.Trump spoke at a luxury hotel less than two miles from the US Capitol where, 18 months ago, his supporters furiously attacked law enforcement in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. It was his first visit to the nation’s capital since he snubbed Joe Biden’s inauguration and took flight to Florida. Continue reading...

For half a century, families living on both sides of the border have reunited at Friendship Park. Now 30ft walls threaten the experienceDan Watman had travelled an hour and a half to end up just 200ft from his own home.Watman had come to the American side of Friendship Park, a binational park on the western end of the US-Mexico border where for decades families have met to connect with relatives, to talk about the local native flora in the public garden he runs there. Continue reading...

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak all but descend into outright abuse before Kate McCann’s disturbing collapseIt was about halfway through the Sun leaders’ debate on TalkTV. The topic had moved on to Ukraine and Liz Truss was saying Vladimir Putin wasn’t going to stop there. “He’s going to challenge the freedom and democracy …” Liz never got to finish the sentence.First there was the faintest fizzing sound. A second or so later there was a much louder, prolonged crashing noise. Truss was visibly shocked. She glanced towards Rishi Sunak – just about the first time she had looked him in the eyes all evening – before making her way from behind her podium towards where the noise had come from. Continue reading...

Infowars founder ‘attacked the parents of murdered children’ by telling audience shooting in which 26 died was a hoax, court hearsConspiracy theorist Alex Jones repeatedly “lied and attacked the parents of murdered children” when he told his Infowars audience that the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was a hoax, an attorney for one of the victim’s parents told a Texas jury on Tuesday at the outset of a trial to determine how much Jones must pay for defaming them.Jones created a “massive campaign of lies” and recruited “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet … who were as cruel as Mr Jones wanted them to be” to the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack on the school in Newtown, Connecticut, attorney Mark Bankston said during his opening statement as Jones looked on and occasionally shook his head. Continue reading...

Terryln Hall was just six when Joe Nathan James Jr shot her mother, Faith, in Alabama but 30 years on is asking for mercyTerryln Hall was just six years old when her mother, Faith, was fatally shot by a former boyfriend.Now, nearly 30 years later, Hall and her sister – along with their uncle – oppose Alabama’s plan to execute the man who killed their mother. Unless a judge or the governor intervenes, Joe Nathan James Jr, 49, will die by lethal injection on Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. Continue reading...

Mandy Gutierrez put on administrative leave, as 77-page report details multiple failures from police and other Texas officialsThe principal of the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where an intruder shot dead 19 students and two teachers in May, has been suspended from her job.Mandy Gutierrez of Robb elementary school was put on paid administrative leave on Monday, her attorney Ricardo Cedillo said in a statement to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper support visit to ‘freedom-loving Taiwan’ but Biden concerned any trip would antagonise BeijingPlans for Nancy Pelosi, the US House speaker, to visit Taiwan have prompted opposition from China and the American military but support from Republicans in Washington, including former members of the Trump administration.Trump’s second secretary of defense, Mark Esper, told CNN: “I think if the speaker wants to go, she should go.” Continue reading...

‘To have five-day stretches or a week-long stretch above 90 degrees is very, very rare for the Pacific north-west,’ expert warnsPortland is facing another grueling heatwave with temperatures in the normally temperate Pacific north-west city expected to climb as high as 102F on Tuesday.The Oregon city is one of the least air-conditioned in the US and officials have declared an emergency in response to the severe heat, opening cooling centers in public buildings, including emergency overnight shelters and installing misting stations in parks. Continue reading...

From vaccines to testing, targeted health messaging will help us protect as many as people from the virus as possibleNot since the gruesome heyday of HIV/Aids has a virus been such a threat to men who have sex with men. As monkeypox rips through queer communities, particularly in London, the cruel legacy of that pandemic casts an unnerving shadow. Conversations in LGBTQ+ spaces – from Highgate men’s pond in the capital to bars and clubs in urban centres – turn anxiously to this new threat.Those who have had the virus share their experiences: some symptoms mild, others painful and miserable. WhatsApp groups ping with pictures of gay and bisexual men proudly displaying plaster-covered upper arms to confirm they’ve been vaccinated in a flashback to the peak of the national Covid trauma. On the gay hookup app Grindr, some use their profiles to announce they’re abstaining from sexual contact until their scheduled vaccination; in queer clubs, some choose to skip the ritual taking-off of T-shirts, fearing the prolonged skin-on-skin contact of an intimate dance will put them at risk.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Until last week, I was one of the 15% of people who had never had Covid. Now, like many in this new wave, I’ve succumbedTwo lines? Really? There must be some mistake. This was what went through my head last week, on seeing my first positive lateral flow test. Ah, maybe it’s a duff test, I thought, sitting at the foot of my bed feeling slightly shocked but otherwise absolutely fine and symptomless. So I did another one.That was positive, too, the line next to the little T so thick and vibrant it seemed to be animated on the test strip. Would a third be wasteful? And seeing as I believed every negative test to be accurate, why should the positive be so much less trustworthy?Andy Welch is an assistant production editor at the Guardian

Lies, emasculation, beatings with a wooden spoon: Donald Jr and Ivanka’s childhood memories were hardly fond or heartwarmingThey fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They beat you with a wooden spoon and snidely emasculate you, too.If you read the New York Times’s coverage of Ivana Trump’s funeral last week, you will know exactly to whom that snippet of revised Philip Larkin refers. It is hard to feel sorry for extremely awful, obscenely rich people – particularly in the middle of a cost of living crisis – but I found myself feeling weirdly sad for the Trumps this weekend, after reading about Ivana’s opulent but miserable send-off. Donald Trump’s first wife, who was found dead at the bottom of her stairs this month, had a gold-hued coffin (of course), but the speeches were the real centrepiece. Her kids and a former nanny all gave eulogies that were bizarre and tragic in equal measure. Continue reading...

President criticizes Trump for inaction during Capitol riot, saying he ‘watched it all happen’ from the comfort of the White HouseJoe Biden has said that his presidential predecessor Donald Trump “lacked the courage to act” as a mob of his supporters tried to halt the congressional certification of his defeat in the 2020 election by mounting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.In virtual remarks Monday to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Biden – who was recovering from Covid-19 – said police officers defending the Capitol were “speared, sprayed, stomped on, brutalized” for hours by white nationalists and other Trump sycophants who bought his false claims that he’d been robbed of victory by electoral fraudsters. Continue reading...

Glenn Thompson voted against Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to have a same-sex marriage into federal lawRepresentative Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, attended his son’s same-sex wedding days after the lawmaker voted against a bill that would codify the right to have a same-sex marriage into federal law.Thompson was one of 157 Republicans who voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the US House last week. On Friday, he attended his son’s wedding. Continue reading...

Brooklyn bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead was robbed of over $1m worth of jewellery while a sermon was being livestreamed, after armed men entered his congregation. As Miller-Whitehead asked the group: “How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” he dropped to the floor as a man carrying a gun approached and began searching him and removing his jewellery. Miller-Whitehead, known for his extravagant style and wealth, has offered a $50,000 reward for anyone who can provide information about the culprits

Fire burning near famous national park exploded in size over weekend but crews have achieved 10% containment. Plus, Freya the walrus makes a splash in NorwayGood morning.Firefighters made progress against a ferocious wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills that forced thousands of residents from their homes in the gateway to Yosemite national park.How big is the fire? Since Friday, the blaze has consumed more than 16,700 acres. More than 3,000 people were under evacuation orders. More than 2,000 first responders were battling the blaze.Why is Yosemite’s Oak fire burning with such ferocity? Experts say dry air, strong winds, parched trees and grass, and soaring temperatures caused the Oak fire to expand rapidly through the rugged foothills in recent days. The area has experienced nearly two weeks of triple digit temperatures and low humidity. Vegetation is at almost record levels of dryness.How many shark attacks have there been? There have been at least six shark-human encounters along this stretch of coast, none fatal, but some requiring medical attention.Why has there been a rise in sightings? The rise in encounters is not complicated to explain: warmer sea temperatures mean more food and more reason for sharks to come around. Continue reading...

A world in which everyone has the freedom to move and to stay might sound pie in the sky, but it can workOn 28 April, the Nationality and Borders Act passed, taking an axe to Britain’s international legal obligations to refugees. This came just after we marked 10 years of the hostile environment, the set of policies introduced by the then home secretary Theresa May in 2012 – albeit trailed by New Labour minister Liam Byrne in 2007 – that saw immigration checks outsourced to trusted public services, and the creation of a surveillance infrastructure to check people’s entitlements and target migrants for removal. Despite the revelations of the Windrush scandal, the hostile environment endures; in the recent Tory leadership contest, all candidates were unanimous in their support for deporting refugees to Rwanda.And this hostility isn’t unique to the UK. Day in and day out, we see the global impact of racialised border violence. Scores of migrants found dead in the back of a trailer truck in Texas. People beaten by the authorities and left for dead in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Rescue ships in the Mediterranean unable to find a safe port. Refugees on the Greek border coerced by police into pushing back their compatriots.Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha are the authors of Against Borders: The Case for Abolition Continue reading...

The city’s mayor unveiled ambitious plans to renovate historic Soldier Field. But Bears ownership sees better commercial opportunities elsewhereThe city of Chicago has thrown its considerable weight this week behind an attempt to keep the Bears at Soldier Field, the NFL team’s base since 1971. The historic stadium, the oldest in the NFL, may very well be in its finals days as the Bears’ home.Last fall, the team’s ownership reached a purchase agreement on a sprawling 326-acre site in the Chicago suburbs. The Bears’ purchase is essentially pending although before it becomes final, there are a litany of logistical, financial, and legal loops both sides will need to shore up. Continue reading...

World record holder has to deal with the difficult feelings that come with knowing she is a figment of the ambition of othersIt’s 2022. Sydney McLaughlin is 22. She crosses the line and sits down on the track. There are no wild celebrations or overt displays of emotion. Maybe she’s simply stunned at the fact that she’s just run a world 400m hurdles final in a time that would have earned seventh place in the final of the 400m flat. Maybe she’s reflecting on the mathematical improbability of lowering the world record from 52.16 to 50.68 in the space of 13 months. Maybe she’s just thinking about the lactic acid still burning inside her legs.At the press conference, the focus is not on what she has just achieved but what she might yet achieve. More world records? The 50-second barrier? A switch of events? The world has seen a miracle, and all it wants to know about is her next trick. “The sky’s the limit, for sure,” she says. “I need to ask my coach about our next goal. He calls the shots.” She doesn’t say what she wants for herself. Continue reading...

Ex-president to give keynote address at rightwing thinktank, days after January 6 panel exposed his inaction during Capitol attackMr Trump is going (back) to Washington. The former president will return to the nation’s capital on Tuesday, marking his first visit to the city since leaving office last year.Trump will deliver the keynote address at a summit held by the America First Policy Institute, a thinktank formed by some of his former White House advisers. Continue reading...

In forthcoming memoir Donald Trump’s son-in-law writes that he had treatment while involved in trade negotiations with ChinaJared Kushner, a former senior aide to then-president Donald Trump who is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, wrote in a memoir to be published next month that he had a bout with thyroid cancer in 2019 that was previously undisclosed.According to excerpts of the book seen by Reuters, Kushner wrote that White House physician Sean Conley pulled him aside on Air Force One as Trump flew to Texas to tell him his test results from Walter Reed Medical Center showed he had cancer and “we need to schedule a surgery right away”. Continue reading...

Brain tricks and toothbrush squats might seem crazy, but it’s all part of getting into a healthy routineOn Saturday, I did my local parkrun. For the unfamiliar, that means I walked to my local park and ran around it for 5km with about 100 other people, cheered on by volunteers who were cheering for nothing and who had set it up for nothing.I should have been delighted: this was my first run since I got Covid two weeks ago. The sun was shining, the park at Potternewton in Leeds is beautiful. Instead, I watched a lithe and fit-looking woman running in front of me and thought: “I’d like to run like her.” And then corrected myself. No, I’d like to run like me. The fitter, faster version of me from 2019, when I got personal bests in every race I did and was at peak health.Rose George is the author of The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste Continue reading...

Lamor Miller-Whitehead, known for his flamboyant style, was delivering a livestreamed service when three robbers walked inA New York City preacher was robbed of more than $1m worth of jewellery while delivering a livestreamed sermon on Sunday when armed bandits crashed his Brooklyn church.Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead, a Rolls-Royce-driving preacher known for his flamboyant style and friendship with Mayor Eric Adams, was delivering a sermon at his Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries when police say three robbers walked in. They flashed guns and demanded property from Miller-Whitehead and his wife, Asia K DosReis-Whitehead, police said. Continue reading...

The blaze forced more than 3,000 people to evacuate and exploded to 17,000 acres seemingly overnight – what made it so devastating?The raging Oak fire burning near Yosemite national park has forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 people and offered an alarming look at what could be another devastating year for wildfire in California.The state had been experiencing a slower start to the traditional fire season, but the Oak fire – which has exploded to 17,000 acres since breaking out on Friday – appears to have brought an end to that, tweeted Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. Continue reading...

Appearance of Marc Short indicates justice department has penetrated inner circle of Trump White House in criminal inquiryFormer vice-president Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short appeared last week before a federal grand jury investigating events connected to the January 6 Capitol attack, indicating the justice department has penetrated the inner circle of the Trump White House in its criminal inquiry.The appearance by Short – the top adviser to the former vice president who was also by Pence’s side on the day of the Capitol attack – makes him the highest-ranking Trump White House official known to have testified before the grand jury in Washington. Continue reading...

Katherine Perkins, 73, taken to hospital after attack by sailfish, which moved so fast Perkins did not have time to reactA Maryland woman on a fishing trip off the Florida coast was taken to hospital after a 100lb sailfish leaped from the water on to her boat and impaled her with its bill.Katherine Perkins, 73, was wounded in the groin in the attack, which happened last week. According to a report from the Martin county sheriff’s department which the Guardian obtained on Monday, she said the fish moved so fast she did not have time to react. Continue reading...

Former NSA contractor says in interview ‘I knew it was secret … but I also knew that I had pledged service to the American people’A former intelligence contractor who was imprisoned for leaking a report about Russian interference in the US presidential election that Donald Trump won in 2016 has insisted she acted out of love for a nation that was “being lied to”.“I am not a traitor – I am not a spy,” Reality Winner said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes. “I am somebody who only acted out of love for what this country stands for.” Continue reading...

West Virginia senator, 74, who has thwarted Joe Biden on key policy goals, is fully vaccinated and has only mild symptomsSenator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who has thwarted many of Joe Biden’s most ambitious policy goals, has tested positive for Covid.The 74-year-old senator is fully vaccinated and said on Twitter on Monday he was experiencing mild symptoms. Continue reading...

Thanks to Desert Island Discs, we finally know what the supermodel sounds like – and it’s magnificentSo many things Kate Moss said on Desert Island Discs were shocking and yet not shocking, but before any of that, just the sound of her voice was absolutely arresting. For over 30 years, she has been the sphinx at the very centre of the culture: no chat shows, no panel games; no podcasts or voiceovers; no Simpsons cameo, no gentle segue into the kind of familiarity where someone who sounds a bit like her could make a decent living doing voiceovers for radio ads. She has been, at various points, just about the most famous person in the country, without anyone who didn’t know her being able to say with certainty what she sounded like. And maybe it’s because she’s really shy, as she told Lauren Laverne on Sunday, or maybe it’s because she made a decision, at the age of 14, that she wouldn’t become public property – in which case, she’s just about the wisest person, famous or otherwise, who ever lived.It’s terrifically sad to hear what it was like to be a model in 1990, partly because it’s probably exactly the same today. Moss described going to a casting for a bra catalogue when she was 15, and some garden-variety predator asking her to take her bra off. It’s such a low move. An equal could retort, “Why do you need to see me without a bra, when you’re specifically hiring me to wear a bra?” It’s a pure leverage of shabby, middle-ranking power.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Steven Lopez, now 48, pleaded guilty to lesser charge in case of attacked jogger then seen as emblematic of New York lawlessnessA forgotten co-defendant of the so-called “Central Park Five”, whose convictions in a notorious 1989 rape in New York City were thrown out more than a decade later, is set have his conviction on a related charge overturned.A hearing was scheduled for Monday afternoon in the case of Steven Lopez, who was arrested along with five other Black and Latino teenagers in the rape and assault on Trisha Meili but reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to the lesser charge of robbing a male jogger. Continue reading...

For the deal to work and global food supplies to get moving again, Ukraine’s ports and ships need Nato protectionOver the weekend, Russia signed a deal with Ukraine to allow grain exports to resume from three Ukrainian ports, thereby easing the global food crisis. Before the ink was dry, Russian forces fired precision missiles into the port of Odesa as grain was being readied for export.This is clearly the behaviour of a tyrannical despot, one whose word cannot be trusted. But it may also be an act of desperation: Richard Moore, the head of MI6, told a US security conference last week that the Russian army is about to “run out of steam”.Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a chemical and biological weapons expert and a fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge Continue reading...

Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young were US citizens killed during ambush by Russian tank in July, says Ukrainian commanderTwo Americans who were killed alongside a pair of Canadian and Swedish nationals while volunteering to defend Ukraine from Russia’s invasion earlier this month have now been identified.Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young were the US citizens killed during an ambush by a Russian tank on 18 July, their Ukrainian commander said on Facebook. The attack in which they died also killed Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois of Canada and Edvard Selander Patrignani, according to the commander, Ruslan Miroshnichenko. Continue reading...