Police say all victims are expected to survive their injuries after incident in Mission District on Friday nightMultiple victims were struck by bullets during a mass shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District on Friday night, but authorities said there were no fatalities.“We can confirm there are 9 shooting victims – all are expected to survive their injuries,” the San Francisco police department said in a tweet. Continue reading...
The monster in the Kremlin was surely behind the Ukraine dam explosion. Nato allies have to stop him before he blows up everythingOf course the Russians did it. Blowing up Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine last week is cowardly Vladimir Putin’s long-planned response to what he fears is the start of Kyiv’s counteroffensive. Only Russians really had the means, motive and opportunity. Only this malevolent Kremlin regime would wilfully inflict human and environmental havoc on so vast a scale.It’s impossible to prove at this point. And, of course, Putin’s loathsome sycophants lied about it, blaming Ukrainian self-sabotage. That’s what they do, these mobsters. They lied about the Russian-supplied missile that destroyed Flight MH17 over occupied Donbas in 2014. They lied about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Putin lied blatantly about invading Ukraine, right up to the moment he did. Continue reading...
Scaling back of moderation and rise of AI are creating the perfect storm to weaken elections and democracyIncreasing misinformation on social media, platforms scaling back content moderation and the rise of AI are converging to create a perfect storm for the 2024 elections that some experts warn could put democracy at risk.YouTube this week reversed its election integrity policy, allowing content contesting the validity of the 2020 elections to remain on the platform. Meta, meanwhile, reinstated the Instagram account of misinformation super spreader Robert F Kennedy Jr and will allow Donald Trump to post again imminently. Twitter has also allowed Trump to return, and has generally seen a rise in the spread of misinformation since billionaire Elon Musk took over the platform last year. Continue reading...
by Richard Luscombe in Miami and agencies on (#6C4TC)
The Florida district judge was appointed by the ex-president three years ago and there’s no certainty she will remain on the case but her name is on the summonsAileen Cannon, the Florida district judge assigned to oversee Donald Trump’s classified documents case, initially at least, was appointed to the federal bench by the former president three years ago, and gave him a favorable ruling at an earlier hearing last year.But Cannon was later rebuked by an appeals court panel for granting Trump’s request for an independent special master to review the documents. That action slowed the justice department’s investigation and prompted questions over her impartiality. Continue reading...
I owe my happiness to the queer friends I made. And to my younger self who hated being gay: all is forgivenI was lying awake the other night, thinking about death, when I realised something big. Of all the things I could be reincarnated as – a tapeworm, a dung beetle, a writer (again) – the thing I most fear is coming back as straight. Honestly, the idea sends a shiver down my spine. Because, no disrespect to my straight friends, but I don’t know how they get through the day. Straight women, in particular. I don’t understand how they go through life, dealing with the whole power dynamic in opposite-sex relationships, without even the option of dating other women. I don’t think I could hack it, and they have my utmost respect.It’s not just the romantic side of things, though – over the years, being gay has shifted my entire worldview. It’s made me think twice about every social norm, from the nuclear family to uncomfortable footwear. And I’m not saying that all straight people lack the imagination to challenge these things too, but being gay really helps. Recently, it dawned on me that I’m perfectly within my right to shop for clothes in the men’s section, and that in itself has been a revelation. Again, I know straight women who do this. But when it comes to wearing “men’s” clothes with any real ease and confidence, being a lesbian just helps.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 response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
A pair of former unified champions who have strayed from once-clear paths to stardom will meet on Saturday at Madison Square Garden with a chance to restore faded lusterSome of boxing’s most compelling matchups wither on the vine before they’re finally made and others take place before they’ve ripened. One could argue that Saturday’s fight at Madison Square Garden between Josh Taylor and Teófimo López falls partway into each column.Like the soupy haze that has enveloped Manhattan for most of the week, the outlook ahead of the scheduled 12-round showdown for Taylor’s WBO junior welterweight title is thick with uncertainty. Both men are former unified champions in different weight classes whose once-clear paths to mainstream stardom have been diverted not by outright disaster, but lengthy spells of inactivity and performances short of their heightened standards. Yet each is heartened by the reality that a restoration of luster is one big result away. Crossroads fights like these seldom take place so close to the summit. Continue reading...
Driver of Jeep stopped for running red light helps police jail man – her own passenger – suspected of attempted murder and kidnapBy mouthing the words “help me” to an officer who had pulled her over for a traffic stop, a woman in South Carolina helped authorities jail a man suspected of a shooting and a kidnapping: her own passenger, according to authorities.The unusual encounter began when officer Kayla Wallace pulled over a woman behind the wheel of a Jeep that ran a red light during the early evening of 28 May, the North Myrtle Beach police department said in a statement this week. Wallace noticed the woman was in distress while seated alongside 29-year-old Collin Bates, the police’s statement added. Continue reading...
John Reyes and his family were cleaning out his father-in-law’s home when they made the surprise discoveryCleaning out a house for renovation can oftentimes produce some unsavory surprises, but a family in Los Angeles got lucky – a million times over – with one of their finds.John Reyes, a realtor in the Inland Empire area, was helping his wife, Elizabeth, clean out her father’s 1900s-era home last year when they discovered more than 1m copper pennies in a cramped crawlspace in the basement, according to KTLA news. The trove has a face value of at least $10,000, but could be worth more than $1m. Continue reading...
by Gabrielle Canon (now); Léonie Chao-Fong, Maya Yan on (#6C4ES)
Indictment accuses former president of risking national security, foreign relations, safety of US military and intelligence gatheringThe US senate judiciary committee chairman, Dick Durbin, has said the investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith should be allowed to continue “without interference”.In a statement on Friday, Durbin added that Donald Trump “should be afforded the due process protections that he is guaranteed by our constitution, just like any other American”.I think before the sun sets today, the attorney general of the United States should be standing in front of the American people, should unseal this indictment, should provide the American people with all the facts and information here.And the American people be able to judge for themselves whether this is just the latest incident of weaponization and politicization at the justice department or it’s something different. Continue reading...
by Associated Press and Guardian staff on (#6C4N8)
Plaintiff, who was altar boy in Chesterfield, Missouri, said he was abused by priest Gary Wolken, jailed for abusing another boyThe Roman Catholic archdiocese of St Louis has agreed to pay $1m to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who previously spent 12 years in prison for abusing another boy, an attorney for the victim said Friday.The plaintiff was an altar boy at a church in Chesterfield, Missouri. The suit alleged he was abused by Gary Wolken starting in 1993, when the boy was in fourth grade, and continuing through 1995. The lawsuit said the plaintiff repressed memories until he was an adult. Continue reading...
Special counsel Jack Smith, who has pursued criminal charges against Donald Trump, has said his team would seek 'a speedy trial'. His statement to reporters followed an indictment against the embattled former president getting unsealed, which included 37 federal charges related to the mishandling of confidential national security documents including nuclear weapons secrets. Smith said it was 'very important' that 'the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law'
Trump took classified documents including information on nuclear weapons and secret plans to attack a foreign countryDonald Trump took classified documents including information on nuclear weapons in the US and secret plans to attack a foreign country, according to a 49-page federal indictment unsealed Friday afternoon.The former US president, alongside a military valet, now faces a sweeping 37-count felony indictment related to the mishandling of classified documents. Continue reading...
Donald Trump is the first former president in US history to face federal criminal charges – is this a gamechanger or just another chapter in the drama?
The Miami lifer and Methuselah of the NBA finals, who turns 43 on Friday, has done more to define the Heat’s unimpeachable team culture over two decades than any other figureThere were 29.8 seconds left in Game 3 of the NBA finals when Udonis Haslem made the creaky walk from the Miami Heat bench to the scorer’s table on Wednesday night. By then the Denver Nuggets’ 109-94 victory was well in hand, and many of the Heat faithful had long since made for the exits.For his part, though, Haslem at least could say he got a shot up, and missed, before ducking into the locker room – the most action he’d seen since the playoffs tipped off a month and a half ago. The only highlight in that garbage-time effort was Haslem blowing past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the oldest to participate in the NBA finals at 42 years and 363 days. And with Heat legend’s retirement looming after the buzzer sounds on this series, well, he damn sure isn’t about to go out like that. Continue reading...
Rightwing governor Greg Abbott unveils new measures at US-Mexico border condemned by critics as ‘chilling’The governor of Texas announced the state will install a barrier made of buoys along a section of the Rio Grande where people often wade or swim across the treacherous river from Mexico seeking refuge in the US, as the state committed $5.1bn towards ramping up plans to thwart border crossings.Greg Abbott said a “new, water-based barrier of buoys” will be placed in the river. At a press conference he showed a line of large red buoys floating in the center of the Rio Grande. Continue reading...
German carmaker becomes first to gain permit for offering self-driving cars in California, but with strict conditionsThe California department of motor vehicles has approved Mercedes-Benz’s automated driving system on designated highways under certain conditions without the active control of a driver.California is one of Tesla’s largest markets, accounting for 16% of the carmaker’s global deliveries last year, according to Reuters calculations. Continue reading...
The would-be president and the US right look ready to side with Putin, and walk away from a fight the free world must winThe war for Ukraine gets darker and more terrifying, and now a new front has opened up many miles away – in a US Republican party whose biggest players are itching to abandon Ukraine to its fate.Proof of the conflict’s deepening horror came this week, with the destruction on Tuesday of the Kakhovka dam in Russian-controlled Ukraine, releasing a body of water so massive it’s best imagined not as a reservoir but as a great lake. The result has been the flooding of a vast swath of terrain, forcing thousands to abandon their homes and flee for their lives. But the menaces unleashed by this act go further than the immediate and devastating effect on the people who live close by.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Decision affects 15,000 hotel workers who are pushing for raises, affordable healthcare and safe workloads and staffing levelsHotel workers are threatening to strike in California over pay and conditions in what would be the largest ever strike by hotel workers.In a strike authorization vote held on 8 June, workers voted 96% in favor of authorizing a strike, which could begin as early as Fourth of July weekend. Continue reading...
Will the NRL’s new 10-season deal in Las Vegas help revive the colourful but fractured US rugby league scene?By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets RequiredThey were hanging off the rafters and window ledges. They were standing on rooftops and perched along precarious walls: Sydney Cricket Ground was overflowing. More than 65,000 people were inside and another 5,000 were locked out, scrambling for vantage points. But this was no Origin decider. Seventy years ago this week, the SCG was packed out for the visit of the American All Stars, a team of college football players who had no knowledge of rugby league just a month before.Three days later, to mark the Queen’s coronation, another 32,554 fans attended the SCG to watch the Americans score 41 points against a New South Wales side featuring Clive Churchill, Keith Holman, Noel Pidding and Harry Wells, courtesy of a generous display of defending and refereeing (albeit the Blues heaped on 62 points themselves). American half-back Gary Kerkorian, a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback the previous season, scored all 13 of his kicks at goal that week. The future looked exhilarating. Continue reading...
For the first time ever, a leading US presidential contender will be running under the cloud of possible imprisonment. Yet this may not hold back TrumpOn Thursday night, word of the government’s indictment of Donald Trump seeped out. The 45th president is reportedly slated to be arraigned this coming Tuesday on seven separate counts. He stands accused of violating the Espionage Act, false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice.Irony abounds. As a first-time candidate, he led chants of “lock her up”. From the White House, he sought jail for his political opponents. Now on his third bid for the presidency, Trump must contend with an array of pending federal and state prosecutions and investigations.Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 Continue reading...
Senior party figures and Trump’s closest challenger in the GOP presidential race, Ron DeSantis, make supportive statementsRepublicans, including some rivals for the 2024 presidential nomination, have rallied quickly to support Donald Trump, after news of the former US president’s indictment on several federal counts relating to his retention of classified documents.The news was broken by Trump himself on his own social media platform Truth Social, seemingly pre-empting any announcement from the Department of Justice, and forcing many Republicans to flock to his defense. Continue reading...
There’s no telling how many indictments he will collect before the election. And the sad fact is that his party doesn’t seem to careDonald Trump announced his latest indictment last night in front of a painting of a guy literally twirling his moustache. “I am an innocent man,” the former president insisted, next to this cartoon shorthand for villainy. The oil painting in question is not so much an artwork as a lift-music version of an artwork, and seems to hang at Trump’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey – which is the same place he buried his former wife Ivana, as all admirers of both exquisite taste and private-cemetery tax breaks may already know. Either way, Ivana’s there, right near the first tee. It’s what she would have wanted.As for her surviving ex-husband, it’s fashionable to say that anything that would represent a catastrophic setback for any other human being is exactly what Trump would have wanted. By this metric, his indictment on federal charges for the first time, including under the Espionage Act, is an absolute gift and a triumph. He’ll use it to pull in fundraising, it’ll rally his base, it’ll make every Republican beta – which is to say, every Republican – feel they have to swear loyalty to him. Furthermore, it’s already got him right where he most loves to be: with everyone talking about him. And these are all reasonable points – or at least reasonable in a through-the-looking-glass way, given that to many outside observers the United States passed reason two or three election cycles ago. If only they could invade themselves to bring democracy.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistOn Tuesday 13 June, Marina Hyde will join Gary Younge at a Guardian Live event in Brighton. Readers can join this event in personWhat Just Happened?! by Marina Hyde (Guardian Faber, £9.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...
The list of Republican presidential candidates begs a reversal of the who-would-you-most-like-to-have-a-drink-with testIn a reversal of the who-would-you-most-like-to-have-a-drink-with test, candidates declaring for the Republican presidential race this week presented as so singularly unappetising as to beg the question who among them would you leave the bar to avoid? Trump is not, weirdly, at the top of this list, since when he cares to use it one knows his charm is considerable. Mike Pence, who declared his candidacy on Monday and remains enduringly weird, would definitely break the top three, although a small part of me would like to take a crack, over a beer, at figuring out what his deal is. The former vice-president and evangelical Christian’s very clenched personality and eagerness to be photographed at the weekend in leathers on a Harley-Davidson, is suggestive of a range of possibilities. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans on (#6C4DK)
Mac McCall’s molestation case led to conviction of Catholic cleric and now he hopes to help children, the elderly and those recovering from substance abuseAfter pressing a criminal case which led to the conviction of a Catholic cleric who admitted molesting him as a child, the son of an influential Louisiana politician is trying to convert his “pain into power” by building a physical and mental health fitness program for schoolchildren, the elderly and people recovering from substance abuse.Mac McCall – whose father, John Young, once ran for lieutenant governor of Louisiana – recently publicly identified himself as the victim of the late Virgil Maxey “VM” Wheeler III, in one of the most contentious cases involving a decades-old clerical molestation scandal in his home town’s archdiocese. Continue reading...
Prohibition-era laws require a trip to the liquor store. Those shops say they’re defending an intimate traditionIn New York City, you can now buy marijuana from colorful smoke shops. But here in America’s largest metropolis, you still can’t legally buy a bottle of wine from a grocery store.The restriction dates back to the end of prohibition, and while most other US states have done away with similar laws, it has remained on the books in New York for close to a century, baffling visitors and frustrating residents. Continue reading...
Ex-president to be prosecuted for obstruction and violating Espionage Act over documents held at Mar-a-Lago and has been summoned to court next week. Plus, the doctors helping Republicans attack trans healthcare• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Federal prosecutors have charged Donald Trump over his retention of national security documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. It is a historic development that poses the most significant legal peril yet for the former president.How has Trump reacted to the news? From his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, Trump lashed out at the indictment in a series of posts on Truth Social. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States,” Trump said, adding: “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”Could Trump go to jail? “It is often tempting to hype every Trump drama out of proportion and then lose sight of when something genuinely monumental has happened. Last night’s action by the justice department was genuinely monumental,” writes David Smith. “He really might be going to jail.”What is the Trump Mar-a-Lago case about and why is it significant? The case marks the first time the justice department has charged Trump and adds to the mounting legal troubles he faces as he seeks to return to the presidency. Here’s a breakdown of where things stand.What else did she say? “… We remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison for publishing true information that revealed war crimes committed by the US government.”What did his appeal centre on? Assange’s appeal argued that Patel, as home secretary, erred in her decision to approve the extradition order because the request violated the US-UK extradition treaty which states “extradition shall not be granted if the offence for which extradition is requested is a political offence”. His legal team has consistently maintained that the US desire to try Assange is politically motivated. Continue reading...
Perhaps they know they need to preserve whatever is left of their legitimacyThe supreme court shocked the nation on Thursday by doing something uncharacteristic, unexpected, and to many, downright confusing: they declined to eviscerate what remains of the Voting Rights Act.By the standards of the reactionary court, the result in Allen v Milligan, a challenge to an Alabama congressional district map that crams most of the state’s 27% Black voting population into just one district, was downright astounding. Continue reading...
Opponents call process ‘anti-democratic’ after public participation in council meeting difficult and lack of transparencyQuestions remain about the real cost of the giant police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” after the Atlanta city council’s approval of millions of dollars for the project in a process that opponents have called “anti-democratic”.The 11-4 vote in favor of giving $67m to the project on Tuesday morning came on the heels of 14 hours of public comment against the idea. It played out as city policies made public participation in the council meeting more difficult, and after several council members decided to reject postponing a decision on the money, apparently because they were tired of facing public questioning. Continue reading...
Most renters spend more than a third of their income on rent, leading cities like Boston to introduce measures to stabilize rents – but not without opposition
Twenty articles of impeachment have been brought against Ken Paxton – could Texas politics see a historic toppling?Everything is bigger in Texas, including the drama unfolding within the chambers of its government.The impeachment of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton came as a shock to many, not just because of the nature of his alleged crimes, but because it is a rare instance of the party holding its own to account. Continue reading...
University of Chicago research finds support for violence to achieve political goals and general distrust of democracyTwo and a half years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an estimated 12 million American adults, or 4.4% of the adult population, believe violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to the White House.Though the number of adults who believe this has declined since the insurrection, recent survey data from the University of Chicago reveal alarming and dangerous levels of support for political violence and conspiracy theories across the United States. Continue reading...
Reaction to the film is crucial to understanding both why it’s gotten so much hate, and why it’s so important that it was madeThe Little Mermaid drama continues, as racist backlash about the movie seems to have led to abysmal box office numbers in China and South Korea.Just like the hate campaign against the movie in the US (which included the infamous #notmyariel hashtag), Chinese and South Korean social media were inundated with bad, unverified reviews and outcry over the casting of a Black Ariel. Continue reading...
After becoming the first player in 72 years to win on her LPGA debut, the 20-year-old American could be what’s needed for a tour that’s deeper than ever but wanting for household namesNo sooner had Rose Zhang finished off one of the more extraordinary fortnights in golf history – capping her Stanford career with an unprecedented second NCAA title, ringing in her 20th birthday, entering the professional ranks and immediately becoming the first player to win on her LPGA debut in 72 years – than she was back on a plane to Palo Alto to nail down some unfinished business.Three more final exams. One last problem set for CS-106A, the introductory computer programming course that’s sworn her off coding for life. Moving out of her on-campus dorm and closing the book on her sophomore year. Continue reading...
The kingdom has extended its soft power through several sporting projects. There are signs that an expansion into US professional leagues could be nextEarlier this week, golf’s civil war came to an abrupt end when the PGA Tour announced plans to merge commercial operations with its Saudi-funded arch-rival, LIV Golf.The shock announcement marked the culmination of a year of disruption, player poaching and heated litigation. It also brought attention to Saudi Arabia’s growing ambitions in sports and raised the possibility that the kingdom will use its seemingly limitless resources to buy into US sporting behemoths such as the NFL and NBA. Continue reading...
Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has launched another diatribe against the Russian army. Is he a loose cannon, or a Kremlin puppet?Coming just a day before the world’s media became submerged in the tragic aftermath of the explosion of the Kakhovka dam in Russian-controlled Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s latest invective against the Russian army on 5 June slipped under the radar. It was his most explosive yet.Dressed in a khaki sweatshirt and trousers, in the middle of a forest in a Wagner training camp, Prigozhin, the commander of an army of contract fighters known as the Wagner group, accuses the Russian army of lying about events in the Belgorod region – where anti-Putin Russian partisans have been conducting cross-border raids from Ukraine since late May – and warns of the risk of civil war. He calls for the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu to be put on trial for facilitating “the genocide of the Russian population” by being totally unprepared for the war in Ukraine, and more than once suggests that Shoigu and other senior military command should be shot. Prigozhin also claims that inhabitants of the Belgorod region have been writing to him, suggesting a Chile-type solution. “Chile means Pinochet,” explains Prigozhin. “… The Russian elite in a stadium surrounded by armed men with machine guns.”Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow at international affairs thinktank Chatham HouseDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Ex-president is being prosecuted for violating Espionage Act and obstruction over documents held at Mar-a-Lago and has been summoned to court next weekFederal prosecutors have charged Donald Trump over his retention of national security documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, a historic development that poses the most significant legal peril yet for the former president.The exact nature of the indictment, filed in federal district court in Miami, is unclear because it remains under seal and the justice department had no immediate comment. Continue reading...
Exclusive: The lawyer said in letter that prosecutors brought up his application to become judge when seeking valet’s cooperationThe lawyer for Donald Trump’s valet, under scrutiny in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation, has submitted court papers describing a meeting at which a top federal prosecutor brought up his application to be a judge when they tried to gain the valet’s cooperation last year, according to three people familiar with the matter.The allegation, described in a letter filed under seal with the chief US judge in Washington, James Boasberg, could affect the investigation just as prosecutors are considering whether to bring charges. Continue reading...
Lawyers seek cut to $5m penalty for sexual abuse and defamation and say if judge does not agree he should permit a new trialDonald Trump on Thursday asked a federal court in New York to slash the penalty awarded against him in the sexual assault and defamation civil case won by writer E Jean Carroll from $5m down to $1m – or grant him a new trial.A jury last month found the former US president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5m in damages. Continue reading...
Shunghla Mashwani was on a family outing when she went missing, but rescuers found her the next day in the wildernessA 10-year-old girl is being praised for surviving on her own for more than 24 hours in the Cascade mountain range in Washington state.Shunghla Mashwani lost track of her family on Sunday while crossing over a pedestrian bridge at the Cathedral Rock trailhead in the northern part of the Cle Elum River valley. That same day, she was reported missing. Continue reading...
US news | The Guardian