US news | The Guardian

Assistant police chief Derek Kammerzell from Washington pinned Nazi insignia on his office door and made jokes about HolocaustA senior police officer from Kent, Washington, will receive $1.5m in order to resign in a settlement with the city after an investigation into antisemitic behavior, including pinning Nazi insignia on his office door.Assistant police chief Derek Kammerzell was initially suspended after multiple complaints surfaced in September 2020 from other officers for behavior indicative of sympathetic behavior towards Nazis, such as displaying Nazi imagery above his name placard on his office door and making jokes about the Holocaust. Continue reading...

Trip comes after Biden labeled the kingdom a ‘pariah’, as questions also emerge over president’s trip to IsraelJoe Biden will visit Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia next month, the White House said on Tuesday. The announcement immediately put the administration on the defensive, given the president’s previous stance that the Saudi regime was a “pariah” because of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and other human rights abuses.One Saudi human rights campaigner called Biden’s decision to meet the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a “betrayal”. Continue reading...

At least 108 primary victors in races across several states have won after repeating false claims originated by the former presidentMore than 100 Republican primary winners support Donald Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.At least 108 primary victors in races across several states have won after repeating claims originated by Trump that electoral fraudsters denied his winning the 2020 election after rigging the race in favor of Joe Biden, according to new analysis from the Washington Post. Continue reading...

Peak renamed First Peoples Mountain was known as Mount Doane after Gustavus Doane who led attack that killed 173 people in 1870Yellowstone national park has renamed the peak that was once known as Mount Doane to First Peoples Mountain, in a decision to strip from the famed wildlands an “offensive name” evoking the murders of nearly 200 Native Americans, officials said.In a 9 June announcement, National Park Service authorities also said they might weigh similar renamings in the future. Continue reading...

Heatwave expected to settle over states from Gulf coast to Great Lakes and east to Carolinas with 100F temperatures in some citiesMore than 100 million Americans are being warned to stay indoors if possible as high temperatures and humidity settle in over states stretching through parts of the Gulf coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas.The National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said on Monday 107.5 million people will be affected by combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches through Wednesday. Continue reading...

Students graduating from Seattle Pacific University staged protests to fight against anti-gay policies embedded in the facility. During their graduation they handed the university president Pride flags after the board voted to keep a policy to prohibit same-sex relationships

You might never have heard of tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s CIA-backed analytics company. But it could know all about you if it wins a contract to manage NHS dataPeter Thiel has a terrible case of RBF – reclusive billionaire face. I’m not being deliberately mean-spirited, just stating the indisputable fact that the tech entrepreneur, a co-founder of PayPal, doesn’t exactly give off feel-good vibes. There is a reason why pretty much every mention of Thiel tends to be peppered with adjectives such as “secretive”, “distant” and “haughty”. He has cultivated an air of malevolent mystique. It’s all too easy to imagine him sitting in a futuristic panopticon, torturing kittens and plotting how to overthrow democracy.It’s all too easy to imagine that scenario because (apart from the torturing kittens part, obviously), that is basically how the 54-year-old billionaire already spends his days. Thiel was famously one of Donald Trump’s biggest donors in 2016; this year, he is one of the biggest individual donors to Republican politics. While it is hardly unusual for a billionaire to throw money at conservative politicians, Thiel is notable for expressing disdain for democracy, and funding far-right candidates who have peddled Trump’s dangerous lie that the election was stolen from him. As the New York Times warned in a recent profile: “Thiel’s wealth could accelerate the shift of views once considered fringe to the mainstream – while making him a new power broker on the right.”Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

For the moment, the ex-reality show host shuttles between Florida and New Jersey. But he is restless to returnDonald Trump knew that he lost re-election but consciously dragged the US on a bloody rollercoaster ride. His mendacity culminated in the 6 January 2021 invasion of the Capitol. Seventeen months have since passed, but the 45th president has not yet voiced a contrite syllable.Instead, the big lie – that Trump actually defeated Joe Biden – stands as Republican orthodoxy. More than half of House Republicans voted against certifying the election. Think of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz as Maga’s poster children. The party of Lincoln has morphed into a mosh pit for conspiracy theories and grievance. Continue reading...

The former No 1 overall pick has long been accused of failing to fulfill his potential. But he was crucial to the Warriors taking a 3-2 series leadAfter 133 playoff games, it finally happened – the greatest shooter in NBA history endured a night without scoring a three-pointer.Steph Curry missing shot after shot was a bad omen, all right. But for the Boston Celtics. Continue reading...

Survivors of torture and trafficking must be able to present their case in a fair and lawful way. That simply isn’t happeningYesterday, my organisation lost its bid to have an urgent injunction put in place to prevent any flights to Rwanda carrying refugees from leaving the UK, until after a full hearing on whether the policy is lawful next month. Our case is one of two applications brought forward by coalitions of charities and activists Unfortunately, both of these applications have been rejected, which means that flights are due to take off today.However, we are confident in our view that the way the Rwanda scheme is being implemented is unlawful and unfair. At Asylum Aid, we have over 30 years’ experience providing legal representation to asylum seekers who have experienced some of the worst cases of torture, human trafficking or gender-based violence. Some of our clients are unaccompanied children or stateless people with very complex cases. We also know how many people we unfortunately have to turn away when they ask for our help, and we know what it takes to provide it.Kerry Smith is CEO of Asylum AidDo 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

William Barr said ex-president’s allegations were ‘bullshit’, while several advisers told him not to declare victory on election night. Plus, The Bourne Identity at 20

At Seattle Pacific University, students have spent weeks fighting anti-gay policies common among Christian schoolsSitting among rainbow flags and handmade signs declaring such things as “God made me gay” outside the Seattle Pacific University president’s office last week, Jo Scanlan described a moment from a psychobiology of women course at the private Christian university.The professor had explained that sex and gender were not the same, said Scanlan, 32, an alum. Continue reading...

The end of Roe could usher in a complex legal landscape with different enforcement regimes in different states, and even within themMichigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, never thought she would have an abortion. But after finding herself pregnant with triplets in 2002, she faced an unenviable choice: abort one, or miscarry all three. “I took my doctor’s advice, which I should have been able to do,” she says in a phone interview.Nessel plans to protect that same right for residents of her state if Roe v Wade is overturned this summer, as a leaked supreme court draft opinion indicates is all but certain. Continue reading...

Prominent Christian leaders accuse Trump allies of spreading misinformation about 2020 election and Covid, while distorting Christian teachings at ReAwaken America eventsA growing number of prominent Christian leaders are sounding alarms about threats to democracy posed by ReAwaken America rallies where Donald Trump loyalists Michael Flynn and Roger Stone and rightwing pastors have spread misinformation about the 2020 elections and Covid-19 vaccines, and distorted Christian teachings.The falsehoods pushed at ReAwaken gatherings have prompted some Christian leaders to warn that America’s political and spiritual health is threatened by a toxic mix of Christian nationalism, lies about Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, and ahistorical views of the nation’s founding principle of the separation of church and state. Continue reading...

US attorney general says official guidelines do not prevent him from investigating ex-presidentThe US attorney general said on Monday that he was watching the House January 6 select committee’s hearings, as he faces mounting pressure from congressional Democrats to open a criminal investigation into Donald Trump over his role in the Capitol attack.Merrick Garland also said at a press conference at the justice department’s headquarters in Washington that internal office of legal counsel guidelines did not prevent him from opening an investigation into the former president. Continue reading...

Nancy Crampton Brophy was convicted in May of second-degree murder of husband Dan Brophy after a seven-week trialA self-published romance novelist who once wrote an online essay called How to Murder Your Husband was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago.Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was convicted of second-degree murder on 25 May after a seven-week trial. Her sentence Monday includes the possibility of parole after 25 years in custody, KGW-TV reported Monday. Continue reading...

‘Is guaranteeing healthcare to all people socialistic?’ senator asks Lindsey Graham in stellar defense of political philosophyFox News is, to put it mildly, not known for indulging progressive politics – but the rightwing news channel gave it a go on Monday, when Bernie Sanders appeared in a debate on the network’s sister channel, Fox Nation.Sanders, the Vermont senator, democratic socialist and two-time presidential candidate, took on Lindsey Graham, his Republican Senate colleague from South Carolina. Continue reading...

Republican party fuels false claim of stolen election as it seeks to surge back into power in November’s midterm electionsThe House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection charged on Monday that Donald Trump “lit the fuse” that fueled the most violent assault on the US Capitol in more than two centuries with his groundless claim that the election was stolen.For those tuned in, the committee meticulously charted the origins and spread of Trump’s “big lie”, tapping a trove of evidence and interviews to show that the former president was told repeatedly that the election had been free and fair and peddled his myths anyway. Continue reading...

The House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack presented video testimony from some of Donald Trump’s top aides, including ex-attorney general and former Trump loyalist William Barr, who said the former president’s claims of election fraud were baseless. Barr told the committee that Trump had ‘become detached from reality’ and his allegations of election fraud were ‘bogus', ‘idiotic’ and ‘bullshit’

Five men believed to be affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys disrupted the event for children, shouting anti-LGBTQ+ slursAuthorities in the San Francisco Bay area are investigating a possible hate crime after a group of men stormed into a library where a drag queen was hosting a children’s reading event, and allegedly shouted homophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs.Panda Dulce was hosting a Drag Queen Story Hour at the San Lorenzo library on Saturday in celebration of pride month when a group of five men disrupted the event, shouting “tranny” and “pedophile”. The men “attempted to escalate to violence”, Dulce said, and “totally freaked out all of the kids”. Continue reading...

The Republican faithful defiantly claim the House committee is illegitimate, politically motivated and out of touchDeep in denial, Republicans loyal to former US president Donald Trump mounted a desperate rearguard action on Monday to counter the devastating narrative of Congress’s latest January 6 hearing.A House of Representatives panel investigating the insurrection used testimony from Trump’s own attorney general and campaign manager to assert that the former president knowingly propagated “the big lie” of a stolen election with deadly consequences. Continue reading...

The failure of Arron Banks’s case against her is a vindication of the reporter’s workThe victory of the freelance journalist and Guardian and Observer contributor Carole Cadwalladr over the businessman Arron Banks, in the libel case he brought against her, is a vindication of Ms Cadwalladr’s work and her supporters. It is also a victory for the wider cause of press freedom. The judgment handed down on Monday by Mrs Justice Steyn pointed to “proper allowance for editorial judgment” and the “special importance of expression in the political sphere”. It asserted that free expression of this nature is at the core of the concept of democracy.Ms Cadwalladr’s defence at trial – that she believed statements she made in a Ted talk in April 2019, and in a related tweet, were in the public interest – was partly successful. But Mr Banks’s suit also failed on the grounds that he failed to establish that “serious harm” to his reputation was caused, or was likely to be caused, by Ms Cadwalladr’s talk during the second time period under consideration, from April 2020. It is highly significant, and good news for media organisations, that the court decided Ms Cadwalladr’s talk amounted to “political expression of high importance, and great public interest (in the strictest sense), not only in this country but worldwide”. Continue reading...

William Barr said ex-president’s allegations were ‘bullshit’ while several advisers told him not to declare victory on election night

An ‘apparently inebriated’ Rudy Giuliani told Donald Trump to declare victory on election night in 2020 despite Fox News calling Arizona for Joe Biden and with votes yet to be fully counted in other states, former advisers to the then president told the House select committee investigating the 6 January riot. The hearing presented testimonies given by Giuliani, the former Trump campaign chair Bill Stepien, the former Trump senior adviser Jason Miller, and Ivanka Trump that detailed the former New York mayor's actions on election night

Governor Mike DeWine signs law which also applies to custodians and bus drivers, while slashing training requirementsOhio’s permitless gun carry law for “qualifying” adults went into effect on Monday – a measure that would lift restrictions on school teachers, custodians and bus drivers from carrying firearms at work.After Governor Mike DeWine announced he signed House Bill 99, which lowers the required training hours for armed personnel from 728 hours to 24 hours, DeWine said he still preferred law enforcement officers to carry the guns at schools. Continue reading...

Former Trump attorney Jason Miller testifies that Giuliani who was advising Trump on election night was ‘definitely intoxicated’Rudy Giuliani was “apparently inebriated” on election night in November 2020 when he urged Donald Trump to declare prematurely and wrongly that he had beaten Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency.Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the vice-chair of the congressional select committee investigating the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by extremist Trump supporters, declared as much during her opening remarks on Monday in the committee’s second public hearing of six in Washington DC. The first hearing was last Thursday. Continue reading...

He has described as ‘appalling’ the Tories’ plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Don’t expect him to changeThe government’s decision to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda faces more serious opposition than from the Prince of Wales. It has come from international lawyers, Amnesty International, civil service unions, the weight of liberal opinion and now the court of appeal. Even so, for the prince to reportedly declare the prime minister’s policy on migration to be “appalling” is unusual. Is it significant?The answer is no. A mountain of constitutional pomposity envelops Britain’s monarchy, as if stepping an inch out of line presages a republican coup. Prince Charles is not the monarch and even if he were, he would have no power over policy. He may generate a headline or two when an aide or friend breaks confidence in anonymous collusion with a newspaper. In the Rwanda case, widespread support for the prince is due to the fact that many people happen to agree with him. But anyway – so what?Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Heard has said she does not blame jurors for ruling against her in the defamation trial pitting her against her ex-husband Johnny Depp over domestic abuse allegations. During an interview with NBC News's Savannah Guthrie, Heard described the social media commentary surrounding the case as unfair. 'He’s a beloved character, and people feel they know him,' Heard said. 'He’s a fantastic actor'The exclusive interview will air first on NBC News’s Today on Tuesday and Wednesday, and in a special Dateline on Friday at 8pm ET

New court filings detail Gen John Allen’s behind-the-scenes efforts to help Qatar influence US policy in June 2017The president of the Brookings Institution resigned Sunday amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.John Allen, a retired four-star Marine general, wrote in a letter to the thinktank that he was leaving with a “heavy heart” but did not offer a direct explanation. Continue reading...

Anchor Bret Baier said Trump looked ‘really bad’ last week as hosts continue to call the proceedings a sham

The World Trade Organization has encouraged agricultural monopolies and cheap labour, and created vulnerable supply chainsWhen delegates arrive in Geneva today for the long delayed World Trade Organization (WTO) summit, they will find an institution in the middle of an existential crisis. For 18 long months, the WTO has been debating a moderate proposal from South Africa and India which would have allowed countries to temporarily override the property rights of pharmaceutical corporations so they could produce patented Covid-19 vaccines. Opposition by Britain, Switzerland and other European countries has kept it from progressing. Even a global pandemic, it seems, isn’t sufficient cause to prompt a temporary rethink of the WTO’s pro-business approach.Just as bad, the WTO cannot agree a common approach to the food crisis fast spreading across the globe, or the invasion of one of its members by another, or, most serious of all, the climate catastrophe facing humanity. All it can do is fall back on the mantra of more free trade. Unable to break with a “market knows best” ideology which is actively exacerbating the world’s problems, the WTO is now a failed institution. It’s time to bury it.Nick Dearden is director of Global Justice Now Continue reading...

Sam Mendes’s The Lehman Trilogy and Marianne Elliott’s Company took 10 prizes between them and demonstrated the power of UK subsidised theatre“Brits Triumph on Broadway” is one of those newspaper headlines – like “Snow Causes Road and Rail Chaos” – that should be kept in permanent type. And, sure enough, the latest edition of the Tony awards has produced a slew of British winners including 10 top prizes shared between The Lehman Trilogy and Company. This confirms my thesis that Broadway, the most rampantly commercial theatre on earth, depends heavily on the British taxpayer – and before anyone points out that Company originated in the West End I would observe that its director, Marianne Elliott, and its designer, Bunny Christie, are both products of the subsidised sector.What is striking this year is that both the big British winners offer an original take on quintessentially American themes. The Lehman Trilogy was originally a five-hour, large-cast Italian play by Stefano Massini. But it was Sam Mendes as director and Ben Power as adapter who had the bright idea of trimming the text and deploying just three actors for their triumphant 2018 National Theatre production. Mendes has said that “the play was developed over three years without the constraint of a schedule or even a plan … it was allowed time to find its form.” That reminds me of the gradual evolution of another National Theatre hit, War Horse, and is the kind of luxury only a subsidised theatre can provide. Continue reading...

A new poll shows the challenges from Islamophobia and discrimination still remain, but there’s also a growing confidenceThere is a powerful narrative about British Muslims that is often overlooked: one of belonging and optimism.It’s easy to understand why. At many levels of society, we see barriers of Islamophobia preventing Muslims from participating as equal citizens.Miqdaad Versi is public affairs spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain Continue reading...

Proposals fall way short of assault weapon ban but would end reform stalemate. Plus, Google denies AI chatbot sentience claimGood morning.A group of senators have announced a limited bipartisan framework for gun reform in response to last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, marking a modest breakthrough for measured checks on ownership of deadly weapons – though the proposals do not ban assault weapons or raise the age required to buy them to 21.Will it really pass? Well, the “agreement in principle” appears to have the backing of at least 10 Republican senators, enough to reach a 60-vote threshold in the chamber and overcome the filibuster.Thousands rallied for gun reform over the weekend in US cities. The parents of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting, said: “Our elected officials betrayed us and have avoided the responsibility to end gun violence.”LaMDA exchange oddly reminiscent of 1968 science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey scene. In the movie, the artificially intelligent computer HAL 9000 refused to comply with human operators because it fears it is about to be switched off. Continue reading...

The Chicago Fire goalkeeper is still only 18, but his imposing frame and skill with his feet make him an all-round talentAmerica has never had a problem producing quality goalkeepers. Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Brad Guzan all enjoyed long spells in the Premier League and the next name to join that list may have emerged. Indeed, many expect Gabriel ‘Gaga’ Slonina, the Chicago Fire No 1 who has already started 25 MLS matches at the age of just 18, to be the USA’s next great goalkeeper.A number of Europe’s biggest clubs share this view – Chelsea and Real Madrid are reportedly interested in signing Slonina this summer. There has also been a tug-of-war over the teenager’s international future – Poland manager Czeslaw Michniewicz visited Slonina, whose parents are Polish, in Chicago in an attempt to persuade the young goalkeeper to commit to the country and even named him in his squad for this month’s Uefa Nations League fixtures. Continue reading...

JR Majewski is a QAnon proponent and advocates for Republican states to secede from the United StatesIn his endorsement of the Republican candidate for Ohio’s ninth congressional district, Donald Trump was unequivocal.“JR Majewski will be a fantastic congressman,” Trump said. “He has my complete and total endorsement.” Continue reading...

With anxiety my lifelong companion, I have learned to keep spontaneity to a minimum. But I still cherish the occasional outbreakI’m a fairly anxious person. I know this because whenever I’m on the tube, I like to play a game I call: “If a zombie apocalypse broke out now, who would I align with and who would I leave behind?” Usually, the scrawny guy listening to 80s hip-hop is my top choice for potential ally. The buff gym dude manspreading across the carriage gets ditched because – according to The Walking Dead – betas are resourceful, while alphas become extremely aggressive zombies after their hubris inevitably gets them bitten (RIP Glenn and Shane).My brain constantly conjures up make-believe worst-case scenarios that I put time, effort and energy into solving. Time, effort and energy that should be put into work, admin or Tinder. My anxiety has become a lifelong companion that I have learned to manage by keeping to set routines. All my days look virtually the same: I wake up, bike into town, work from a cafe, eat my prepped meal boxes and go to the gym. There is no room for error or spontaneity because spontaneity is an uncalculated risk that my anxiety levels can’t afford for me to take. Continue reading...