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Police in Norfolk, Nebraska were surprised when they began receiving calls saying that a bull had been seen riding shotgun in a car. Lee Meyer, the driver, was then stopped and police questioned him about the large animal alongside him. The bull is a watusi, an African breed, famous for having large horns. 'The officer wrote him some warnings,' Capt Chad Reiman told News Channel North-East Nebraska, a local TV station. 'There were some citable issues with that situation. The officer chose to write him a warning and asked him to take the animal back home and leave the city'

Disclosures detail flights and stays with Harlan Crow as Democrats vow to investigate scandal in which this court is enmired'The conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas faced further controversy on Thursday after the release of his financial disclosure form for 2022 provided evidence of more flights and stays with Harlan Crow, a Republican mega-donor.Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island and judiciary committee member, called the form a late-come effort at clean-up on aisle three'" which would not deter us from fully investigating the massive, secret, rightwing billionaire influence in which this court is enmired". Continue reading...

As the city's increasing homeless community battles debilitating heat-related illnesses and inhospitable streets, outreach workers sound the alarmOn a scorching July day, Athena Sims lay down for a nap on the ground near the tent where she lives, by an overpass in downtown New Orleans. Sims, 46, fell asleep in the shade. When she woke up hours later, she was in the blazing sun, with a splitting headache and a social service worker standing over her, shaking her, telling her she needed to go to the emergency room.You're going to possibly die of heatstroke," she recalls the man telling her. Continue reading...

Trump and his allies made an aggressive push to invalidate the election results in Georgia as part of an effort to overturn results

Some residents say they will have nothing to go back to' after hurricane caused extensive damageFor Evelyn and Thomas Rhodes, the sign they had to flee their home was when a bed started to float off the floor.Ashley Nicole Nguyen of Pasco county, Florida has now started a GoFundMe to try to support the Rhodeses - her grandmother and uncle - who escaped the rising waters from Hurricane Idalia unharmed but have lost many of their possessions. Continue reading...

Voters won a huge battle with the oil industry - proving that we can't save the planet without robust democracyDays ago, voters in Ecuador approved a total ban on oil drilling in protected land in the Amazon, a 2.5m-acre tract in the Yasuni national park that might be the world's most important biodiversity hotspot. The area is a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve and home to two non-contacted Indigenous groups. This could be a major step forward for the entire global climate justice movement in ways that are not yet apparent.This vote is important not only for Ecuador and for the Indigenous peoples in the Yasuni, who now have hope of living in peace in perpetuity. It is also a potential model for how we can use the democratic process around the world to help slow or even stop the expansion of fossil fuels to the benefit of billions of people. Continue reading...

James Cleverly's barely there pressure on China is hardly surprising, given the companies and even universities playing a role in human rights abusesThis week, yet another foreign secretary has justified engaging with the perpetrators of genocide, on the basis that going to Beijing would allow them to raise concerns in private. According to an official statement, James Cleverly made clear the UK's strength of feeling about the mass incarceration of the Uyghur people" in his bilateral meetings with senior Chinese government figures. Once again, this has shown China that when it comes to the mass contravention of human rights, the UK government has nothing but words in response and fails to stand up for its values.Shocking as this is, it is hardly surprising, given not just the failure to protect the Uyghur people from genocide but the concerted efforts to deny the facts and a wilful ignorance across politics, business and civil society in the UK.Rahima Mahmut is executive director of Stop Uyghur Genocide and UK director of the World Uyghur Congress Continue reading...

Nebraska University's volleyball team laid claim to the world record for largest attendance at a women's sporting event, with 92,003 filling Memorial Stadium for their volleyball match against Omaha in Lincoln. The previous attendance record was 91,648, set for a Women's Champions League football match when Barcelona defeated rivals Real Madrid 5-2 at the Camp Nou in 2022. Memorial Stadium's official capacity is just over 85,000 for football, but that number was higher for this event because there were seats and standing room on the field.

South Carolina lawyer, 55, disciplined by prison after giving interviews for new TV documentary on his caseThe convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina corrections department officials said.Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media, a state prisons spokeswoman, Chrysti Shain, said in a statement. The call was for a Fox Nation documentary series called The Fall of the House of Murdaugh that is set to air on Thursday. Continue reading...

Converted vehicle stopped in Nebraska with gigantic-horned Watusi bovine called Howdy Doody as passengerPolice in Norfolk, Nebraska, responding to calls of a man driving with a cow" in his car were stunned to discover a local man with a huge Watusi bull riding shotgun in his vehicle.The officers received a call referencing a car driving into town that had a cow in it," Capt Chad Reiman told News Channel North-East Nebraska. They thought that it was going to be a calf, something small or something that would actually fit inside the vehicle." Continue reading...

Lawyers for Letitia James, the New York attorney general, claim he then used that blown-up value for business deals. Plus, how athletes manage to train during scorching heatGood morning.In 2014, a year before entering politics and two years before winning the White House, Donald Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2bn, lawyers for the attorney general of New York state alleged in court filings recently made public.When is the trial due to start? The trial is set for October. James's lawyers argued no trial was needed to determine that defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values ... and then used those ... repeatedly in business transactions to defraud banks and insurers". James is seeking $250m and for Trump and his sons to be disqualified from running businesses in New York.How has Trump responded? He did not immediately comment on the New York estimation of how much he inflated his net worth. But he has regularly accused James of being motivated by politics, including in a failed countersuit. Lawyers for Trump were due to file a response.Has anyone died? Yes. The hurricane turned deadly, officials said, when a 40-year-old motorist in Pasco county, north of Tampa, lost control of his vehicle and collided with a tree. Another 59-year-old man died further north in Gainesville, also while driving. Continue reading...

The descendants of Ann Joice, separated as part of the sale, are at the center of a vital new work of history and journalismIn 1676, a Black teenager named Ann Joice arrived on the shores of Maryland with hopes of a new life.She had traveled to the recently founded colony from England, destined for indentured servitude, and worked as a maid for the ruling Calvert family, who for three generations had presided over Maryland as a religious haven for Catholics fleeing persecution in England. Continue reading...

The foreign minister set off with the aim of both standing up for our values' and securing profitable trade. He failed at bothLike a proselytising lay minister naively intent on calming troubled waters, foreign secretary James Cleverly flew into Beijing this week on a whinge and a prayer. The whinge comprised a long list of British grievances, ranging from China's attitude to Ukraine and Hong Kong to its spying on UK officials and sanctions on MPs.Cleverly's prayer was that his hosts would not realise that, when it comes to pursuing a coherent China policy based on deliberate, principled choices backed by political will and economic muscle, rudderless Britain is all at sea - but that Chinese leaders would kindly take notice of what he had to say anyway.Simon Tisdall is a foreign affairs commentator. He has been a foreign leader writer, foreign editor and US editor for the Guardian Continue reading...

The New England coach is the greatest football mind of the 21st-century. But his fortunes have been on the decline since Tom Brady left FoxboroughAs he lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy after his New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams at Super Bowl LIII in 2019, it seemed unthinkable that Bill Belichick, the most successful coach in NFL history, could ever enter a season with his job on the line.It was the culmination of a campaign in which he had led the Patriots to a top-place finish in the AFC East for the 16th time in 19 seasons, and for the 10th year in succession, as well as claiming the AFC championship for the ninth time. His sixth Super Bowl triumph confirmed his status as professional football's most decorated coach. Continue reading...

As New York Times public editor, I worried about his time running the BBCIn late 2012, I was the newly minted public editor (or newsroom watchdog) at the New York Times, when the news hit that Mark Thompson was likely to be the newspaper's next CEO. I looked into his background at the BBC where he was director-general during a tumultuous period, and wrote a post questioning the Times hire. Slow down and investigate, I urged.I was probably overstepping my bounds, since Thompson would be on the business side and not be directly involved in the journalism that I was supposed to be keeping an eye on.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

The University of Nebraska laid claim to the world record for largest attendance at a women's sporting event with 92,003 spectators filling Memorial Stadium on Wednesday for their volleyball match against Omaha Continue reading...

Republican Senate minority leader, 81, had a similar but shorter incident several weeks agoThe Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, experienced another public health scare on Wednesday when he appeared to freeze for more than 30 seconds while speaking to reporters in his home state, Kentucky.McConnell, 81, was eventually escorted away by staff, footage from an NBC News affiliate showed. Continue reading...

Storm surges often pose the greatest threat to life and property when powerful storms like Idalia hit - here's what you need to know about what it means

Trump's former attorney ordered to pay attorneys' fees of $89,172.50 for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss

Chabot elementary in Oakland received racist and threatening emails, forcing 50 students and staff to vacate the premisesA California elementary school was evacuated on Tuesday in response to a bomb threat, days after the school was targeted online by rightwing extremists over a playdate event.Chabot elementary in Oakland received the threat over email before school started on Tuesday, forcing roughly 50 students and staff members to evacuate, authorities said. Police found no explosives after searching the school using dogs from the bomb detection team. Continue reading...

Republican senator Mitch McConnell appeared to have another freezing moment on Wednesday at a Kentucky event, prompting further concerns about the minority leader's health. He fell silent for more than 30 seconds after he was asked if he would run for re-election. McConnell, 81, froze at a news conference in Washington in July, going silent for 19 seconds before being taken away from cameras

Republicans' Death Star' law would have hurt many local labor laws, including paid sick leave and mandated water breaksA Texas judge has ruled that a controversial bill dubbed the Death Star law" is unconstitutional, just days before the law was set to take effect when it would have hurt many local labor laws, including paid sick leave and mandated water breaks for some employees toiling outside in a brutal heatwave.The state district judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued her decision in response to a lawsuit against Texas filed by the cities of Houston, San Antonio and El Paso. Gamble agreed with arguments made by the cities that the bill is vague and unclear on which ordinances the municipalities must cancel before it was set to take effect. Continue reading...

Fear and confusion reigns in Perry, where even emergency shelters were forced to close because of hurricane's strengthDriving into Perry, a small, historic city with a population of just more than 7,000 on Wednesday morning, about 15 miles inland from the coast where Hurricane Idalia made landfall, the scene of destruction was jaw-dropping.Many residents had evacuated, especially after it was announced that some emergency shelters in the region would need to close because even they may not be able to withstand the impact of the storm. Continue reading...

After Hurricane Idalia's landfall in Florida with winds reaching 125mph, federal authorities issued alerts on Wednesday about the potential for 'catastrophic and life-threatening' flooding throughout the south-eastern US. The storm brought torrential rains, heavy floods and surging seawater across Florida's Big Bend region as it continued its passage north-east into Georgia. The storm weakened through its passage over inland Florida

Massachusetts judge finds Theodore McCarrick, charged with molesting boy, 16, in 1974, not competent to stand due to dementiaA Massachusetts judge has dismissed a criminal case charging the former Roman Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick with molesting a 16-year-old boy in 1974, saying the 93-year-old was not competent to stand trial due to dementia.McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington DC, is the only current or former US Catholic cardinal to ever face child sexual abuse charges, with prosecutors in Massachusetts and Wisconsin filing separate cases against him. Continue reading...

Ro Khanna says if Trump is Republican nominee, trials should not compromise the ability to have a robust campaign schedule'Assuming Donald Trump clinches the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, it would be unfair for any court dates associated with the former president's pending criminal charges to compromise [his] ability to have a robust campaign schedule", the Democratic US congressman Ro Khanna has said.Khanna's remarks on Tuesday - in an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt - might be surprising to some, given his credentials as a leading progressive voice in the House. Khanna was the former co-chairperson of the liberal US senator Bernie Sanders's campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination that Joe Biden ultimately secured. Continue reading...

At least 115 people confirmed dead and more than 100 missing, as officials move into new phase of removing hazardous wasteThree weeks after a deadly fire devastated Maui, crews have nearly finished searching for victims. But the exact death toll of the disaster is still unclear.At least 115 people have been confirmed killed in the fire, which destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina, and there are still more than 100 missing persons reports filed with Maui police. Continue reading...

Former president tells Glenn Beck he would have no choice' but to lock up opponents because they're doing it to us'Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again.In an interview on Tuesday, the rightwing broadcaster Glenn Beck raised Trump's famous campaign-trail vow to lock up" Hillary Clinton, his opponent in 2016, a promise Trump did not fulfill in office. Continue reading...

Judge rejects fast-food firm's bid to dismiss US lawsuit claiming pictures on in-store menu boards mislead customersIs Burger King telling whoppers about its Whopper? A court may now decide.A US federal judge has rejected the fast-food chain's bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it cheated hungry customers by making its Whopper sandwich appear larger than it actually is. Continue reading...

Rolling live news coverage of business, economics and financial markets as disruption to UK air travel continues into third dayFashion retailer Superdry has suspended its shares on the London Stock Exchange because of a delay to its accounts, blaming problems with normal procedures" for the failure to report on time.It is just the latest issue for Superdry, which has struggled over the last five years. As well as the pandemic and the shift away from high street stores, retailers are now facing the cost of living crisis after a damp summer.Under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, the Company is required to publish its audited full year 2023 results by 29 August 2023. The Company is currently working with its auditor, RSM UK Audit LLP, to complete the final technical points of the audit of its full year 2023 results and expects to announce later this week.The board confirms that the delay is a result of normal procedures taking longer than anticipated during the first year that RSM are auditing the company. Continue reading...

Too-tight suits for men, too-high heels for women: does dressing up have to be such an ordeal?I was wandering around York one morning last week. The clouds were low and dark and heavy with more than rain. The dog's nose was a-twitch. My brow was furrowing deeper than usual. There was some serious tension in the air. What could it be? The city was as busy as ever but, hang on, what's this? The pubs packed out well before midday? What for, elevenses? A smartly dressed couple passed me. He looked grave, like he might be off to a funeral, but her outfit was too colourful for mourning. And, without breaking their brisk step, she was troughing urgently on a Marks & Spencer sandwich. Ah yes, of course! It was race day.The blokes were, to a man, sporting suits worn in the manner of blokes the world over who rarely wear suits. That is, worn uncomfortably, on account of their suits' sizing being a tribute to younger, slimmer, happier days. I sit very tightly in this category of suit-wearer. In the days when I presented football matches on television, I used to wear them all the time. I've no idea why this was required. Since then my suits only see the light of day for weddings, funerals and court appearances. And yes, they're disappointingly snug. In my case significantly so, as I was persuaded by a fashiony friend that the trousers were too baggy and needed taking in. I was talked into spending an hour I'll never get back standing like a lemon in the back of a tailor's shop, triggering awful memories of my mum rigging me out in something itchy for a distant cousin's wedding. Continue reading...

White gunman who shot three Black victims legally acquired weapons after Ron DeSantis recently allowed permitless carryThe murder of three African Americans in a racist killing in Jacksonville, Florida, has devastated the community and stoked renewed outrage over the state's increasingly loose gun regulations.The white gunman who perpetrated the Jacksonville shooting appears to have legally acquired the weapons used in the attack, a Glock handgun and an AR-15-style rifle emblazoned with swastikas. The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, announced on Sunday that the justice department would investigate the attack as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism". Continue reading...

In Texas, runners are taking the streets in the dark, football teams are practicing at 7am and racehorses are working nightsSummers in Texas have always been brutal. But this summer was among the most extreme the state has ever experienced, and scientists say July was Earth's warmest month ever. Trying to exercise in these sweltering temperatures can feel impossible.At high temperatures, muscles tire much more quickly and fatigue is common. Committed athletes have taken to leaving their homes in darkness - exceptionally early or late at night - just to train. Continue reading...

The former world No 1's competitive drive and taste for the fight remain the stuff of legend. But this was a tough watchWell, that wasn't pleasant. The grim theatre of an injured 43-year-old Venus Williams taking just two games off Belgium's Greet Minnen before mostly stunned silence inside a half-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium and a prime-time television audience probably wasn't what the USTA had in mind when they pencilled it in for Tuesday's night session at the US Open.This was one of those lamentable spectacles that sports, for all their capacity to inspire joy and wonder, have a way of serving up from time to time. Like a shopworn Joe Louis getting pummelled through the ropes by Rocky Marciano across the river at Madison Square Garden, only if Marciano was a 99th-ranked qualifier with zero career WTA titles who had never made it past the third round at a major. Continue reading...

It's not just extremists who hold the views expressed in his manifestoOn Saturday, Ryan Palmeter, a 21-year-old gunman, entered a dollar store in Jacksonville, Florida, and executed 52-year-old Angela Carr, 19-year-old AJ Laguerre Jr, and 29-year-old Jerrald Gallion. All three victims were Black Americans. This shooting comes on the heels of an even larger mass shooting of Black Americans last year, in Buffalo, New York, where 18-year-old Payton Gendron murdered 10 people.In less than two years, two young white men have committed two mass murders of Americans motivated by an explicit desire to kill Black people.Are you a fascist?Yes, fascism is one of the only political ideologies that will unite Whites against the replacers. Since that is what I seek, calling me a fascist would be accurate.Jason Stanley is professor of philosophy at Yale University, and the author, most recently, of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them Continue reading...

Estate of Joseph Rosenbaum, who Rittenhouse shot with assault rifle in August 2020, is also suing law enforcement departmentsKyle Rittenhouse, who as a teenager shot and killed two people at an anti-racism protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is being sued by the estate of one of the men who died, according to court documents.Since the killings Rittenhouse has become a high-profile figure on the US right, feted at events by rightwingers, appearing on conservative media and lauded by gun rights activists. Continue reading...

Ron Hunter was repeatedly assaulted and sex-trafficked as a child. At 63, he's telling his story - to protect others and heal himselfThis article contains descriptions of sexual abuseRon Hunter is taking us on a trip down memory lane - or more precisely, 42nd Street in Manhattan. He is showing us the spots where, half a century ago, he was repeatedly molested, sexually assaulted and raped from the age of 13. Continue reading...

Fight songs are an important part of the pageantry that makes college football such a unique spectacle. The most famous of them all have become embedded in the national psycheFight songs are an important part of the pageantry of college football. And a select few are embedded in the national consciousness.Any list of greatest college football fight songs" is subject to debate. But the Notre Dame Victory March and Michigan's The Victors have separated themselves from the pack. Continue reading...

Former president has also seen polling and fundraising boosts with each indictment this yearDonald Trump extended his lead over his Republican nomination rivals in a series of polls conducted since the release of his mugshot in Fulton county after he surrendered on charges that he conspired to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia and his absence from the first GOP primary debate.The former US president held commanding advantages across the board in recent surveys done for the Trump campaign and for Morning Consult, leading his nearest challenger, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, in the overall race, in a head-to-head matchup, and in favorability ratings. Continue reading...

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Trump ally and erstwhile America's mayor' is selling his Upper East Side home amid a cash crunch due to ongoing legal problemsRudy Giuliani's Manhattan apartment is on sale for $6.5m but, a local luxury real estate agent said, his name does not add quite the cachet it once did.It was like, it's America's mayor', he chose this building - all very good things ascribed to him living in the same building," Dolly Lenz told the New York Times. Continue reading...