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Lawsuit alleged that Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms aided the illegal trafficking of firearms to drug cartelsThe US supreme court on Thursday spared two American gun companies from a lawsuit by Mexico's government accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking to drug cartels and fueling gun violence on the south side of the US-Mexico border.The justices, in a unanimous ruling, overturned a lower court's decision that had allowed the lawsuit to proceed against the firearms maker Smith & Wesson and distributor Interstate Arms. The lower court had found that Mexico plausibly alleged that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales, harming its government. Continue reading...

Catholic Charities had argued it should not be required to pay unemployment taxes

US defence secretary says he expects goal of 5% of GDP in next decade to be agreed this monthThe US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Nato allies were very close, almost near consensus" to an agreement to significantly raise targets for defence spending to 5% of GDP in the next decade.The Trump administration official indicated he expected the increased target to be agreed at a summit in The Hague later this month - and confirmed that the headline figure was to be split into two parts. Continue reading...

The Tide detergent and Pampers maker plans global restructuring as US consumers pull back and trade costs riseProcter & Gamble will cut up to 7,000 jobs, or approximately 6% of its global workforce, in the next two years as the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers wrestles with tariff-related costs and customers who have grown anxious about the economy.

Johns Hopkins hospital reported 200-gallon spill at its East Baltimore facility before the harbor spill was discoveredCrews were working on Thursday morning to contain and clean up a 2,000-gallon (7,570-liter) diesel fuel spill in Baltimore's harbor, according to state and city officials.Initially, the Johns Hopkins hospital reported a contained 200-gallon diesel fuel spill at its East Baltimore facility on Wednesday morning, but a few hours later the fire department responded to a 911 call for a spill at a marina in Harbor East more than a mile away, officials said. The state, city and US Coast Guard began coordinating a response to the spill. In an update at about 7pm, Johns Hopkins reported that 2,000 gallons had spilled, officials said. Continue reading...

Caracas describes US government as fascist, Somalia vows to address security and Iranian Americans express regret

Frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani sparred on stage as all candidates said they'd stand up to TrumpIn the first debate of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, nine candidates took the stage and fielded questions on housing, affordability, crime, policing, public safety, political regrets and how each candidate would handle the Trump administration if elected.The candidates included former New York governor Andrew Cuomo; democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani; the New York City council speaker, Adrienne Adams; the current New York City comptroller, Brad Lander; former comptroller Scott Stringer; former Bronx assemblyman Michael Blake; state senators Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos; and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. Continue reading...

AB Hernandez, 16, and her mom tell the Guardian about her love of track, how her community has stood by her - and why intimidation tactics' won't workAB Hernandez, a 16-year-old track and field athlete from California, had trained for years for this moment.On Saturday, the high school junior from Jurupa Valley, a city east of Los Angeles, won first place in the high jump, first place in the triple jump and silver in the long jump in the state finals. Continue reading...

Browns' owners want to build a new $2.4bn stadium - and want Ohio taxpayers to foot a portion of the billFor Ryan James, co-owner of the Flat Iron Cafe, Cleveland's oldest Irish pub, National Football League game days are a lifeline in an increasingly difficult business climate.We open up at 9am, and within a few hours, both floors are full of supporters," he says. The pub bought a bus to shuttle fans the one-mile drive to the Browns' stadium on the Lake Erie waterfront. Continue reading...

A trade court ruling is exposing the civil war on the right, as key legal establishment figures oppose the presidentDonald Trump's trade war has become his quagmire: legal, economic and political. On 28 May, the court of international trade ruled his tariffs exceeded his constitutional authority. Point by point, the decision decimated Trump's arguments as flimsy and false, implicitly castigated the Republican Congress for abdicating its constitutional responsibility, and reminded other courts, not least the supreme court, of the judicial branch's obligation to exercise its authority regardless of the blustering of the executive and the fecklessness of the legislative branches.Trump's tariffs, along with his withdrawal of active support for Ukraine and passivity toward his strongman father figure Vladimir Putin, have broken the western alliance, forcing the west to make its own arrangements with China, and cementing the idea for a generation to come that the United States is an untrustworthy and unstable partner.Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth Continue reading...

The Crystal Palace defender has enjoyed one of his finest professional seasons, and is now an undisputed leader in the campChris Richards is fresh off a strong end to his Premier League season, and he's staring down an important task: take hold of a leadership role in the US backline, and help to fix an ailing US men's national team.Easy, right? Continue reading...

Nationals from countries including Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan fully' restricted. Plus, a breakthrough in HIV research

The administration has touted its efforts against illegal immigration. But what sets his actions apart is his crusade against those in the US legallyThe Donald Trump administration has billed itself as taking unprecedented steps to crack down on illegal immigration. While the total number of deportations has yet to surge, it may happen soon. The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, supports suspending habeas corpus to speed up deportations, and the border czar, Tom Homan, has suggested blatantly ignoring court orders. Private companies are also lining up to cash in on mass deportations.Nonetheless, Trump's approach so far to immigration deemed illegal has not differed much from what Barack Obama and Joe Biden did. So why does everything feel different?Daniel Mendiola is a professor of Latin American history and migration studies at Vassar College. Continue reading...

Money transfer service Wise will move primary listing to US and dual list shares to try to lure more investors

Planemaker seals $1.1bn agreement to avoid prosecution over two crashes that killed 346 peopleBoeing has agreed to pay $1.1bn (812m) to avoid prosecution over two plane crashes that killed 346 people, in a deal that a lawyer for 16 families of the victims has described as morally repugnant".The plane manufacturer has secured a deal - agreed in principle last month - with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which includes paying $444.5m to the families of those who died in the crashes of 737 Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. Continue reading...

Will it be Oklahoma City or Indiana? Our contributors pick the winner, key players and dark horses before the season's grand finale tips off Thursday nightThe Thunder's path to victory is to continue to be the most fearsome defensive unit we've seen in recent years. They play an uber-aggressive, hyper-switchable form of defense that has suffocated opponents all year long. It means they give up a lot of fouls, but they also get away with a bunch and force turnovers more than anyone else in the league. Keep that up and, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting his customary 32 points a night, they won't be stopped. Ryan Baldi Continue reading...

A majority of my age group agreed with a recent supreme court ruling - among 18- to 24-year-olds, the reverse was true. I believe the key lies in our respective life stagesDiffering attitudes to women's and transgender rights activism are often said to be generational. One poll, published a month on from the supreme court ruling that the legal definition of woman" in the Equality Act is based on biological sex, found 63% supportive of the ruling and 18% opposed. But younger people were far more likely to be in the latter camp, with 53% of 18- to 24-year-olds disagreeing with the judgment. In my age group, 50-64, the figure was just 13%. Such results echo earlier polls.As with any attempt to link a demographic with a point of view, there are plenty of exceptions. Last month Lady Hale, the octogenarian former president of the supreme court, became one of them when she argued that the ruling had been misinterpreted, telling a literary festival she had met doctors who said there is no such thing as biological sex".Susanna Rustin is a social affairs journalist and the author of Sexed: A History of British FeminismDo 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...

US president says it would jeopardize national security to allow university to keep hosting international studentsDonald Trump signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University, the White House said on Wednesday.The order would suspend for an initial six months the entry into the US of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard. Trump declared that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students. Continue reading...

For decades, the state has been tightening its rules around who qualifies as Italian. This is a chance to fight backWhen I first moved to Italy in 2012, I had no idea that more than a decade later I'd still be here. Back then, being British I had the luxury of EU citizenship, and thus of not overthinking things. I was excited by the prospect of spending time in a country that I'd always been fascinated by, and that was that. And yet, post-Brexit, I'm still here. Italy is my home. My community is here and I've made my career here. I speak the language fluently, and I'm even making progress with the hand gestures. Politically, I've lived through seven prime ministers - from Mario Monti to Giorgia Meloni - but, sadly, one thing I've never been able to do, in all these years, is vote in an election.This weekend, Italians will participate in a referendum that includes a proposal to halve the time of legal residency required for non-EU adult foreigners to apply for Italian citizenship, from 10 to five years. (My own path to citizenship is covered by a different, post-Brexit process. However, a yes vote would offer me another route if my various EU-era documents and residency proofs are found wanting by the Italian bureaucracy.)Jamie Mackay is a writer and translator based in Florence Continue reading...

Investigation will fuel GOP campaign to discredit ex-president and undo pardons and orders issued at end of his termDonald Trump has ordered an investigation into Joe Biden's actions as president, alleging top aides masked his predecessor's cognitive decline".The investigation will build on a Republican-led campaign already under way to discredit the former president and overturn some of his executive actions, including pardons and federal rules issued towards the end of his term in office. Continue reading...

The nine candidates faced off on Wednesday in the first of two debates before a primary election later this monthNine Democratic candidates for New York City mayor faced off on Wednesday evening in the first of two debates ahead of this month's primary election.Held without a live audience, the two-hour debate focused on issues facing New York City, including housing, affordability, crime, policing, public safety, and how each candidate would handle the Trump administration if elected. Continue reading...

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Nationals from countries including Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan fully' restricted as those of seven other countries partially restrictedDonald Trump has signed a sweeping order banning travel from 12 countries and restricting travel from seven others, reviving and expanding the travel bans from his first term.The nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be fully" restricted from entering the US, according to the proclamation. Meanwhile, the entry of nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will be partially restricted. Continue reading...

White House officials say Trump is committed to passing legislation despite vocal opposition from his billionaire donor. Key US politics stories from Wednesday at a glance.Elon Musk has ramped up his opposition to Donald Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill, criticising it in about two dozen posts on his social media platform X in the past 24 hours.In one post to his 220 million followers on the platform, Musk rallied voters to contact lawmakers, writing: Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL." Continue reading...

Judge finds man identified as OCG denied due process, while Venezuelans sent to El Salvador given chance to challenge deportationsA Guatemalan man who said he was deported to Mexico despite fearing he would be persecuted there was flown back to the US on Wednesday after a judge ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, his lawyer said.Brian Murphy, a US district judge in Boston, Massachusetts, had ordered the man's return after the US Department of Justice notified him that its claim that the man had expressly stated he was not afraid of being sent to Mexico was based on erroneous information. Continue reading...

Education secretary said if you're giving facts on both sides' of Tulsa race massacre and Ruby Bridges, it wouldn't be DEILinda McMahon, the education secretary, said on Wednesday she was unsure if teaching students about two of the most notorious racist episodes in US history would fall foul of the Trump administration's onslaught against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Testifying before the House of Representatives' education and workforce subcommittee, McMahon appeared uncertain of her facts when confronted by Summer Lee, a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania. Lee asked her about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and Ruby Bridges, a civil rights workers who as a six-year-old, braved a screaming mob to become the first Black child to attend a previously all-white school. Continue reading...

Officials in New York, New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine issued alerts due to smoke from fires in CanadaSmoke from wildfires in Canada is spreading across multiple states in the US including the eastern seaboard, prompting multiple states to issue air-quality alerts.The poor air quality stretching across the US came as a result of dozens of wildfires burning across Canada as the country's annual wildfire season roars into destructive action. Continue reading...

Education department accuses university of violating federal anti-discrimination laws and notifies accreditorThe Department of Education announced on Wednesday afternoon that it has notified Columbia University's accreditor of an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws by the elite private university in New York that is part of the Ivy League.The alleged violation means that Columbia, in the Trump administration's assessment, has failed to meet the standards" set by the relevant regional, government-recognized but independent body responsible for the accreditation of degree-granting institutions, as a kind of educational quality controller. Continue reading...

Trump administration says project - originally from San Francisco to LA - has no viable path' to move aheadCalifornia's years-long effort to construct a high-speed rail faces yet another hurdle as the Trump administration said the project had no viable path" to move ahead and threatened to pull billions of dollars in federal funding.Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, released a compliance review report that said the project was in default of the terms of its federal grant awards, and said it had been beset by mismanagement, waste and ever-growing costs. Continue reading...

Illinois taskforce brought together more than 100 law enforcement agencies and over 30 retailers for crackdownHundreds of arrests across 28 states were made last week in what officials are saying is an unprecedented national effort to curb rising rates of organized retail theft.The initiative, led by the Cook county regional organized crime taskforce in Illinois, brought together more than 100 law enforcement agencies and over 30 major retailers, CNBC reported Wednesday. The retailers include Target, Macy's, Home Depot, Walgreens and Kroger. Continue reading...

Team behind Oscar-winning biopic of the groundbreaking gay politician hits back at decision to remove his nameSean Penn, the Oscar-winning actor of the 2008 Harvey Milk biopic Milk and Milk writer Dustin Lance Black have spoken out against US defense secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to remove the gay rights icon's name from a navy ship.This is yet another move to distract and to fuel the culture wars that create division," Black told the Hollywood Reporter in a phone call on Wednesday. It's meant to get us to react in ways that are self-centered so that we are further distanced from our brothers and sisters in equally important civil rights fights in this country. It's divide and conquer." Continue reading...

The Trump administration's Pride month plan targets a San Francisco gay rights icon who was assassinated in 1978Leaders in San Francisco are blasting the Trump administration for stripping the name of the gay rights activist Harvey Milk from a US naval ship, and especially during Pride month, when people gather to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.Milk is a revered figure in San Francisco history, a former city supervisor and gay rights advocate who was fatally shot along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978 by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White. Just last month, California marked what would have been Milk's 95th birthday with proclamations heralding his authenticity, kindness and calls for unity. Continue reading...

US president says phone call with Russian leader won't lead to immediate peace' as Moscow rules out ceasefireDonald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin for more than an hour on Wednesday, but he conceded the talks would not lead to immediate peace" in Ukraine, and warned that Russia would respond to Ukraine's successful attacks this week on its airfields.The US president, who repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours during his election campaign, did not attempt to discourage the Russian leader from retaliation, according to his description of the discussion on his Truth Social platform. Continue reading...

The case, brought by former Dominion employee Eric Coomer, could deepen Lindell's legal and financial troublesA trial underway in Colorado could add to the financial problems facing the pillow salesman and prominent election denier Mike Lindell and will serve as another test of whether defamation law can be effective to fight false claims about elections.Opening statements began Tuesday in a case brought by Eric Coomer, who formerly worked in security and voting technology strategy for the voting machine company Dominion. Coomer sued Lindell and a host of others who spread unproven claims that he interfered with the 2020 election. Continue reading...

The Congressional Budget Office warns Trump's one big, beautiful bill' will leave 10.9 million uninsured by 2034Donald Trump's signature tax bill would blow a $2.4tn hole to America's national debt over the next decade, according to a congressional budget office analysis, which came as Elon Musk called for a new bill.The non-partisan budget office said on Wednesday that Trump's one big, beautiful bill" would decrease federal revenues by $3.67tn while cutting spending by $1.25tn through 2034, as the national debt currently stands at $36tn. Continue reading...

FBI detains 32-year-old from Washington state over links to blast in which authorities believe bomber diedThe FBI arrested a man in connection with last month's bombing of a facility clinic in Palm Springs, California, US authorities said on Wednesday.Daniel Park, a 32-year-old US citizen who lives in Kent, Washington, was taken into custody at John F Kennedy airport in New York on Tuesday after he was deported from Poland, said Bill Essayli, a US attorney for California, at a press conference. Park allegedly provided materials for explosives to the person who carried out the bombing, which officials have described as the largest incident of its kind in southern California. Authorities believe the bomber died in the blast. Continue reading...

Jean-Pierre, now an independent, expected to detail weeks that preceded Biden's dropout from 2024 race in new bookKarine Jean-Pierre, who served as White House press secretary for Joe Biden, has left the Democratic party to become an independent, according to the publisher of her forthcoming book.Jean-Pierre, who served two Democratic White Houses, is expected to detail the weeks that preceded Biden's monumental decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, per a preview of the book, which is set to be published this fall. Continue reading...

While American women such as Serena Williams and Coco Gauff have thrived at Roland-Garros, their male counterparts are making slow progressThe most shocking moment of the 2024 psychosexual tennis film Challengers is not the traumatic knee injury, any frame from the quasi-sex scenes, or the passionate rally with which the movie concludes. It's the reveal that one of the characters, American ATP tennis player Art Donaldson, has won the French Open twice, a stat so foreign to US men we must have a sequel simply for Donaldson to explain how he found success on clay.No American man has lifted the trophy - or even made the semi-finals - on the Parisian clay courts since Andre Agassi did so in 1999. And at the time of Challengers' release, no American man had made the quarter-finals since (bet you won't guess this one) Agassi in 2003. American women have a storied history on clay - Chris Evert's seven Roland-Garros titles and 125-match winning streak on the surface are legend; Serena Williams won Roland-Garros three times; Coco Gauff goes deep there every year and is back in the semi-finals this time - but the men, outside a brief burst in the 1980s and 1990s, have had little luck in the Open era. The 21st-century union between American men and Parisian clay courts is, somehow, more distant and fraught than Art's relationship with his wife, Tashi, in Challengers. Continue reading...

Jannik Sinner eased into the last four, Lois Boisson's unlikely run continued and Coco Gauff overcame Madison Keys in an edgy contest*Keys 4-2 Gauff Gauff's forehand will always be a weakness but it's giving her almost nothing today; another error means 15-0, and she's hitting so many more unforceds than winners that it's almost impossible for her to win games. Keys, on the other hand, has settled. She believes in her game now, so isn't discouraged by adversity - though, as I type, a second serve sits up and begs to be punished; Gauff doesn't miss out, making 40-30, and we're soon at deuce. If she can prolong the rallies, testing Keys' patience, she's got a good chance, and when she makes advantage, she's offered a second serve to attack. And, though, she can't unleash a definitive return, Gauff plays a fine point, her forehand finally giving her something, she finishes the game with an overhead, and might Keys regret the three consecutive errors 40-15 into a first break back? We shall see, but even if it's too late for this set, we can hope that both players are now relaxing into things.Keys 4-1 Gauff* Keys is warming up here, moving Gauff laterally to open up space for the winner; 0-15. And when a double follows, then a netted forehand, you fear for the world no 2, who just hasn't got going yet; shonuff a second double of the game means Keys has the double break and the first set is almost hers. Continue reading...

Williams Farms Repack tomatoes recalled in Georgia and Carolinas, although no cases of illness have been reportedThe Food and Drug Administration has upgraded a tomato recall in three states to its most severe warning due to a potential salmonella contamination.Three weeks ago the agency announced a voluntary recall by Williams Farms Repack LLC of its tomatoes across Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Last week, the FDA upgraded the recall to Class 1, indicating a reasonable probability that the product could cause serious adverse health consequences or death". Continue reading...

Santa Ono was rejected after questions about his earlier support of DEI initiatives and later disavowal of themConservatives on a state college board reversed a decision to hire the experienced academic Santa Ono to lead the University of Florida, despite his efforts to distance himself from previous support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and past criticism of Donald Trump.The 10-6 vote followed a contentious meeting of the Florida board of governors on Tuesday when members argued over Ono's record, including accusations he failed to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests last year while he was president of the University of Michigan. Continue reading...

The Philadelphians features video portraits of immigrants, in response to the Trump administration's negative rhetoricDozens of people milled about in Philadelphia's Love Park as a series of short film portraits played on the facade of the park's visitor center on a recent Friday evening. The ambient sounds of the city served as a soundtrack for the silent films. Several videos played simultaneously on different sections of the 360-degree projection wrapped around the building's exterior. Titled the Philadelphians, the 10 portraits recognize the contributions of the city's immigrant communities.One film profiled an Afghan immigrant named Rezwan Natiq and followed him as he shopped at a halal Middle Eastern food market. His words were displayed on the screen: I had a lot of mixed feelings but I had no other option than to leave Afghanistan. I was thinking about my parents who stayed behind, and on the other hand, I was happy that my kids would get to live the life they deserve. At least they will be safe here." He then shared that he felt compelled to give back to the local immigrant community after receiving the opportunity for a new life in the US. Continue reading...

Authorities also reportedly revoked valid visas for Mohamed Sabry Soliman's wife and five childrenUS immigration authorities have taken into custody the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the man who allegedly used incendiary devices to attack a Colorado rally for Israeli hostages, and reportedly revoked their visas.Twelve people were wounded in Boulder on Sunday when the 45-year-old Soliman allegedly attacked people demonstrating for the release of hostages in Gaza in what the FBI has deemed an act of terrorism". During the attack, Soliman shouted Free Palestine". Continue reading...

My former colleagues at the Smithsonian in Washington DC face unprecedented pressure. I urge them to defend their principles

As Oklahoma City prepare to play in the NBA finals, I can't help but think back to playing in a team that included James Harden, Kevin Durant and Russell WestbrookI was in Oklahoma City last month as the Thunder clinched their Western Conference semi-final against the Nuggets in Game 7, and saw first-hand the Thunder run Denver off the court. The game wasn't even close. The Thunder outplayed them on both sides of the court.Defensively, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault put the 6ft 5in Alex Caruso on in the 6ft 11in Nikola Joki and, surprisingly, it worked. With Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein providing help-side support, I watched a frustrated Joki struggle to get to his spots. His usual tricks - flopping, drawing fouls - didn't work. The Thunder defense moved in perfect sync, and it completely disrupted Denver's rhythm. Continue reading...

White House seeks to enshrine cuts Musk-led agency flagged, $8.3bn from state and USAID and $1.1bn from mediaThe Trump administration formally asked Congress to rescind $9.4bn in already approved funding from foreign aid and public broadcasters including NPR and PBS on Tuesday, seeking to enshrine spending cuts identified by Elon Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge).The process, known as rescission, is required by Donald Trump to retrieve money from programs and policies that have already received the funding. Continue reading...

Charlottesville safety campaigner used chalk to draw crossing near intersection where woman was fatally hit by carAfter officials in Charlottesville, Virginia, reportedly ignored his pleas to implement a pedestrian crosswalk at a dangerous intersection, traffic safety activist Kevin Cox drew a crossing with chalk.Authorities responded by covering Cox's handiwork with black paint and charging him with vandalism in a case that evidently demonstrates how acrimonious relations can sometimes get between local government bureaucrats in the US and those who say they are trying to hold them to account. Continue reading...