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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...

Few other places in the US will see the effects of funding cuts felt more than in Appalachian communitiesFor healthcare specialists around western Appalachia, the recent dramatic fall in opioid overdose deaths has been nothing short of spectacular.Last year saw a record decline of 30% in Kentucky to 1,410 people. In neighboring West Virginia, state health authorities estimate that there are at least 318 more people alive today due in large part to the availability and widespread use of naloxone or Narcan, a nasal spray that when administered in time, can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Continue reading...

Isolated from the rest of the US, Point Roberts businesses say a drop in Canadian tourism is economically devastatingPoint Roberts, Washington, is about as Canadian as a US town can get. Littered with streets named after Canada's provinces, its gas stations sell by the litre and about half of its 1,000 residents hold dual citizenship. Its sole grocery store, the aptly named International Marketplace, keeps both American and Canadian dollars stocked in its till.That till hasn't been getting much use in recent months. Ali Hayton, the International Marketplace's owner, estimates business is down by 30% amid an unprecedented dip in Canadian visitors. We're hanging on by a thread," she said. Continue reading...

A word of advice to Trump: dozens of judges keep ruling against you because you've flouted the law more than any previous presidentIt's hard to keep track of all the temper tantrums that Donald Trump has had because he's so ticked off that one judge after another has ruled against his flood of illegal actions. In seeking to put their fingers in the dike to stop the US president's lawlessness, federal judges have issued a startling high number of rulings, more than 185, to block or temporarily pause moves by the Trump administration.Livid about all this, White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has railed against judicial activism", while Trump adviser Stephen Miller carps about a judicial coup". As for Trump, the grievance-is-me president has gone into full conniption-mode, moaning about anti-Trump rulings and denouncing USA-hating judges". On Truth Social, he said: How is it possible for [judges] to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of TRUMP'? What other reason could it be?" Continue reading...

Patricia Krenwinkel, in prison over Tate-LaBianca killings, recommended for parole but faces uphill battle to be freedPatricia Krenwinkel, a former Charles Manson follower who has been imprisoned for 56 years over her role in the Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles, could go free after being recommended for parole last week.The decision marked a major victory for the aging incarcerated woman after 16 parole hearings. Krenwinkel, now 77, was 21 at the time of the 1969 killings and has been imprisoned longer than any other woman in California. Continue reading...

Trading partners express anger, including Mexico, which buys more steel from the US than it sends the other way. Plus, Bernie Sanders on why the Democrats failed

Congressional Integrity Project calls Wednesday hearing led by Greene political theater' and exercise in hypocrisyThe far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has assembled a rogues' gallery of extremists, conspiracy theorists and C-team political operatives" to promote Donald Trump's crackdown on non-government organisations (NGOs), a congressional watchdog has claimed.The House of Representatives' Delivering on Government Efficiency (Doge) subcommittee, chaired by Greene, is due to hold a hearing on Wednesday entitled Public Funds, Private Agendas: NGOs Gone Wild". Continue reading...

We have a duty to call out antisemitism when we see it. We also have an equal duty to remember that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are also being targetedThis must stop. Two incidents of political violence, both targeting groups of Jewish people, are two incidents too many. Less than two weeks ago, a gunman shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC, yelling Free Palestine" as he was being detained. This week, a man used a makeshift flamethrower" along with other incendiary devices to attack a Boulder, Colorado, rally organized by Run for Their Lives, a group which organizes events calling for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas". Eight people were injured in this latest assault, at least two of them seriously.These horrific acts will no doubt increase the anxiety many Jewish people have about increasing - and increasingly violent - antisemitism in the United States. Understandably so. Antisemitism must not be given any oxygen to breathe. One can oppose Israel's 600-plus day war, relentlessly pounding the innocents in Gaza, while vigorously opposing all forms of antisemitism. In fact, one must oppose both. Such is our duty to each other in a civilized world.Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Eight were arrested at Moral Monday, an effort to stop a bill they say will slash vital healthcare for lower income peopleA police officer's sense of timing seemed to illuminate the Rev William Barber's moral mission with startling clarity.During a prayer vigil on Monday in the Capitol rotunda, close to the very heart of US democracy, Barber was lamenting that Congress starts each day with its own prayers to the almighty even while preying on the poor. Capitol police captain, John Hersch, serendipitously choose that very moment to intervene. Continue reading...

Edmonton face the Panthers in the NHL title showdown for the second season in a row. But there are plenty of talking points off the ice tooThis time last year the story of the Stanley Cup final between Florida and Edmonton was mostly about Connor McDavid, hockey's generational talent, getting the chance to bring the Cup back to hockey's generational home. And it almost went his way, after the Oilers overcame a three-game deficit to force a deciding Game 7. Instead, McDavid's win came a little later. His series-winning goal against the US in February's Four Nations Cup amid the febrile nationalism created by Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs seemed to quiet the doubters about where hockey both belonged and who rightly owned its highest honours. But here we are again, on the eve of the final, with the Oilers back in Florida for the second season in a row - Game 1 is on Wednesday night - and with a team from that state contending for the Cup for the sixth straight year.The easiest way to explain why the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-22) and Florida Panthers (2023-25) have each reached the Stanley Cup final as Eastern Conference champions in three consecutive seasons is that, well, they have both been very good teams. You can point to some common elements between the two, like scoring depth, a certain level of tenacity and grit, elite Russian goaltending, and Carter Verhaeghe. But there has also been something less obvious or quantifiable about these teams. Some characteristic that they share, beyond the on-ice talent and performance. It may be Florida itself. Continue reading...

Got' was changed during the editing of an opinion piece, leading to correspondence lamenting a slide into American English. But language isn't a fortressIn Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II, a messenger breathlessly announces to the king that, Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge". Hold this late 16th-century text in mind as we fast forward to last week when Martin Kettle, associate editor and columnist at the Guardian in the UK, was seen to suggest in an opinion piece that, if King Charles has pushed the boundaries of neutrality, such as with his speech to open the new Canadian parliament, he has so far gotten away with it".In a letter published the next day, a reader asked teasingly if this use of gotten" - and another writer's reference to a faucet" - were signs the Guardian had fallen into line with Donald Trump's demand that news agencies adopt current US terminology, such as referring to the Gulf of America".Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian's global readers' editor

The president believes his Nippon Steel agreement will revive America's steel industry - but workers are skepticalDonald Trump, once totally against" Nippon Steel of Japan's controversial $14bn takeover bid for US Steel, the second largest US steel producer, is now hailing the deal as a turning point for the struggling industry.We won't be able to call this section a rust belt any more," the US president declared at a plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on Friday. It'll be a golden belt." Continue reading...

The senator and twice Democratic presidential hopeful is on tour with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez trying to build a new progressive movement. He reveals why he thinks Republicans are scared to speak up and what went wrong for Kamala Harris in 2024I think what Trumpism is about, is an understanding that the system in America is not working for working-class people," says Bernie Sanders, sat in the Guardian's offices in London. In a phoney, hypocritical way, Trump has tapped into that. His quote-unquote solutions' will only make a bad situation worse."In person, Sanders' 83 years read differently than in photograph, perhaps because of how conversational he is. His voice is magnetic - a Brooklyn accent that feels both warm and tough. But what I have been aware of, and I've talked about it for years, is that in America, the very richest people are doing phenomenally well, while 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck." Continue reading...

In banning a schools debate on Palestinian sovereignty, our leaders have revealed the nation we're becomingIn Denmark, we like to think of ourselves as being in the vanguard of freedom of expression. We were the first country in the world to legalise pornography. We insisted on the right to publish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Rather than marginalise so-called rightwing populists in parliament, we invited them in to political cooperation. We pride ourselves on being unafraid of controversy and we're good at making authorities who try to tell us what to do - and especially what not to do - look ridiculous.Danes also like to think of our country as a role model for democracy. As such, the national elections for children aged 13 to 16 are a cherished tradition, considered a part of civic education and a preparation for democratic participation. All schools are invited to take part in the exercise, which is held every other year. Students debate 20 issues for three weeks before casting votes for the parties that are also eligible to stand in real general elections.Rune Lykkeberg is editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper Information Continue reading...

Trading partners around the world express anger including Mexico which buys more steel out of the US than it sends the other wayThe US has doubled tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports to 50%, pressing ahead in the face of criticism from key trading partners with a measure that Donald Trump says is intended to revive the American industry.After imposing and rapidly lifting tariffs on much of the world, only to reduce them, Trump last week refocused on the global steel and aluminum markets - and the dominance of China. Continue reading...

Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu charged after allegedly smuggling a fungus to US that can cause serious illness and billions of dollars in crop lossesTwo Chinese scientists have been charged with smuggling a toxic fungus into the United States that they planned to research at an American university, the justice department has said.Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, the US attorney's office for the eastern district of Michigan said in a statement on Tuesday. Continue reading...

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Musk's outburst may embolden some Republican senators to reject Trump's one big, beautiful bill' - key US politics stories from Tuesday at a glanceDays after officially exiting the White House, Elon Musk has grown increasingly critical of President Donald Trump's signature tax bill, describing it as a disgusting abomination".Musk's online outburst may embolden fiscally conservative Republican senators to defy Trump as they continue crucial negotiations on Capitol Hill over the so-called one big, beautiful bill". Continue reading...

After national outcry, Trump officials reverses decision to end humanitarian parole for four-year-old and familyThe Trump administration has reversed its decision to revoke the legal status of a four-year-old girl, receiving ocontinuing life-saving treatment in the US, and her family after a national outcry.Deysi Vargas, her husband and their daughter - whom lawyers identified by the pseudonym Sofia - had come to the US in 2023 to seek medical care for their daughter who has a rare condition that requires specialized treatment. But in April, the federal government ended their humanitarian parole, a temporary status granted to people on urgent humanitarian grounds, and ordered them to self-deport". Continue reading...

Ruling in Washington comes despite executive order signed by Donald Trump that targeted funding for such careA US judge on Tuesday ruled the US Bureau of Prisons must keep providing transgender inmates gender-affirming care, despite an executive order Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office to halt funding for such care.US district judge Royce Lamberth in Washington DC allowed a group of more than 2,000 transgender inmates in federal prisons to pursue a lawsuit challenging the order as a class action. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to provide them with hormone therapy and accommodations such as clothing and hair-removal devices while the lawsuit plays out. Continue reading...

Timing of announcement on ship named after prominent gay rights activist and veteran is intentional, reports sayThe US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has ordered the US navy to strip the name of prominent gay rights activist and navy veteran Harvey Milk from a ship during the middle of June - a month meant to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community - according to multiple outlets.The order to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler, was in a memorandum from the office of the secretary of the navy, which was reported on and viewed by Military.com and CBS. Those reports note that the navy secretary, John Phelan, was instructed to strip the ship of its name by Hegseth. Continue reading...

The former head of Doge said the outrageous' tax bill will cause the deficit to grow to $2.5tn

Republican extremist says she would have voted against tax and spending bill if she knew about AI language

Abortion rights supporters say scaling back the Biden administration's guidance will endanger pregnant patients' lives

Police raid home where man identifying himself as Antoine Massey filmed clips released online while still on the runPolice raided the home where a man who identifies himself as New Orleans jail escapee Antoine Massey filmed videos he released on social media while still on the run, but he was not recaptured, according to an Associated Press source.Authorities were so convinced about the authenticity of the videos that they searched a New Orleans home late on Monday where they believe the videos were filmed, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The official said he was not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation into the 16 May jail escape by Massey as well as nine other prisoners. Continue reading...

The majority of US Jews overwhelmingly oppose Netanyahu's policies. But subtleties get lost and truly unleashed people reactIt happened again. The third time this year that Jewish people were attacked with murderous intent in a major US city under the guise of the assailant caring about the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. It's the second time that fires were set. The first happened when an attacker - a US citizen - broke into the official residence of Pennsylvania's governor in Harrisburg, on the evening of Passover and set fire to the residence. The only thing that saved governor Josh Shapiro and his family was a quick response from security guards, leaving only some Passover Haggadahs, the text that charts Jewish hopes for freedom and liberation from one generation to the next, to burn on the tables still set from dinner.About two weeks ago, there was the murder of two innocent Jewish Israeli embassy workers who were attending an event hosted by the The American Jewish Committee at the Jewish Museum in Washington DC on how to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; these young people were chosen at random from a crowd apparently targeted intentionally since the murderer, again a US citizen, appeared to have wanted to hunt down and kill Jews in response to Israel - a sovereign country's - military acts. Tellingly, the gunman had a brief association to the far-left Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL said in a statement that he is not a member and that his association with the group ended in 2017).Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK, and Israeli publications Continue reading...

Camera footage shows New York highway superintendent shot at driver's car as person was trying to leave his propertyAn upstate New York town official accused of shooting and wounding a food delivery person says he was protecting his family and has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges.Ring doorbell camera footage shows John Reilly III, the highway superintendent in Chester, a town nearly 60 miles (96km) north of Manhattan, shooting at the DoorDash driver's car on 2 May as the person was trying to leave Reilly's property. Prosecutors allege the shooting was unprovoked, saying the driver was lost and his cellphone battery was dead, as he only tried to see if Reilly had ordered the food he was trying to deliver. Continue reading...

As Trump edges toward tougher rhetoric on Putin, Graham steps up with a sanctions bill that could reshape GOP foreign policyHas Lindsey Graham been playing the long game with Donald Trump?Graham, who has calibrated his pro-Ukraine support since the inauguration to stay in the US president's orbit, has said he expects this week that the Senate will begin moving his Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, a bill that he says would impose bone-breaking sanctions" on Vladimir Putin and a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil and other goods, potentially targeting China and India. Continue reading...

Tech mogul says: Every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity'US tech mogul Bill Gates has pledged the majority of his $200bn fortune towards health and education services in Africa.Speaking at an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the 69-year-old said that his pledge would focus on unleashing the human potential through health, through education" across the continent, adding: Every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity." Continue reading...

Greg Rosen, who is moving into the private sector, said the pardons send a terrible message to the American people'

Iga Swiatek defeated Elina Svitolina while Aryna Sabalenka saw off Zheng Qinwen, and Lorenzo Musetti beat Frances Tiafoe in four setsZheng breaks: Sabalenka 1-2 Zheng* (*denotes next server)A lovely touch drop volley from Zheng and she's got a sniff at 0-30 on Sabalenka's serve. It's a good tactic on the slow clay," says Chris Evert on the commentary. I could listen to her all day. And there's an ooooh" from Chrissie when Zheng's forehand smacks the sideline for a winner! 15-40, two break points. Zheng unwinds with an inside-out forehand ... and then comes forward a few steps to wallop another inside-outer and there's the break! Continue reading...

Program halted suddenly, leaving legal immigrants unable to work due to lack of US social security numberMillions of legal immigrants may be left unable to work after the US Social Security Administration quietly instituted a rule change to stop automatically issuing them social security numbers.The Enumeration Beyond Entry program is an agreement between the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, where US Citizenship and Immigration Services would provide social security with information from applicants for work authorization or naturalization. Continue reading...

Ras Baraka was arrested for trespassing last month while trying to visit center with Democratic Congress members

Milford high school students walk out to support classmate Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, with teachers following: We are inspired by the brave young people'Students at Massachusetts's Milford high school staged a walkout on Monday to show support for their classmate Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who was headed to volleyball practice when he was detained over the weekend by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents who were actually looking for his father.Gomes Da Silva, a Brazilian national, entered the US in 2012 on a student visa, according to a court document since filed by his lawyer. The filing states that Gomes Da Silva's student visa status has since lapsed - but that he is eligible for and intends to apply for asylum. Continue reading...

Rare intervention from former president urges people to call their senators to oppose Trump tax billBarack Obama has warned that Congress is putting millions of Americans at risk of losing healthcare coverage, in a rare intervention from the former president as the Republican party advances legislation that would gut major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.Congressional Republicans are trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act and put millions of people at risk of losing their health care," Obama posted on social media. Call your Senators and tell them we can't let that happen." Continue reading...

Mississippi's Operation Good engaged teens in a range of programs, protecting them from violence - but that work is now in jeopardyMost days, Fredrick Womack and his team can be found scattered throughout Jackson, Mississippi, talking to groups of young Black men and teens - whether they're working, which bills need to be paid at home and if any brewing conflicts are at risk of turning violent. Through these conversations with young men, who are both perpetrators and victims of much of the city's violence, Womack hopes he can help steer them in a different direction.Womack, 51, is the co-founder of the non-profit Operation Good, which, in addition to this work on the streets, hosts a youth summer program and trash cleanups, and helps teen boys find odd jobs, like cutting lawns, so they can earn a few dollars instead of resorting to crime for income. It also offers critical resources for the community, like buying school clothes for kids and paying utility bills for families that can't afford them through its It Takes a Village program. That is the main underlying factor for violence," Womack said, people living in impoverished situations." Continue reading...

Family fallout. Two feuding brothers. An ambitious American actor wife ... the Beckhams certainly seem to have a lot in common with the SussexesSo long, and thanks for all the jam. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and queen of Montecito, recently announced that she is reimagining As Ever, her raspberry spread and flower sprinkle" business. In an interview with Fast Company, which Meghan conducted in fluent buzzword, the actor and entrepreneur said she is thinking bigger than jarred goods and partnering with Netflix to bring forth a vision in which content and commerce meet, not in a product placement way, but rather in an ideological way". (I think the ideology she is referencing here is capitalism). Meghan is now involved with so many different projects that she notes: If I had to write a resume, I don't know what I would call myself."It looks as though her husband, Henry Charles Albert David Mountbatten-Windsor, doesn't know what to call himself either. The big Harry news from recent days is that the Duke of Sussex had a moment where he considered changing his double-barrelled last name to Spencer", in a nod to his late mother and a middle finger to the rest of his family.Do 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...

Authorities say Egyptian national took firearm class but could not make purchase because he is not a US citizenThe man accused of attacking a a pro-Israel peace parade with molotov cocktails in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday told authorities he planned to use a gun and took a concealed firearm class - but was denied the purchase because he was not a US citizen.Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, is facing federal and state charges over the attack which wounded 12 people as they held a weekly demonstration calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. He had planned to target the demonstration with 18 molotov cocktails in his possession but apparently had second thoughts and threw just two, according to authorities. Continue reading...

The president wished his predecessor well but has since reverted to attacks - and dabbled in conspiracy theoriesAfter Joe Biden revealed his cancer diagnosis, Donald Trump offered an uncharacteristically empathetic and simple response.Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery," Trump wrote on social media. Continue reading...

The Israeli military acknowledged that its troops shot at Palestinians, in the third such instance in three days. Plus, US man charged for framing immigrant in fake plot to kill Trump

Trump blames attack on Biden's ridiculous open border policy' as Miller says attack committed by illegal alien'The immigration status of the man who allegedly attacked people with a makeshift flamethrower and other incendiary devices at an event for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, has become further fodder for the Trump administration's deportation agenda.Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old who came to the US in 2022 from Egypt and overstayed his initial tourist visa, according to the US government, allegedly planned his attack on the event specifically to target Zionists, federal authorities said. He shouted Free Palestine" while carrying out the attack, which the FBI has called an act of terrorism", and he was charged on Monday with a federal hate crime. Continue reading...

Jersey Mike's employee reportedly called county sheriff's office after finding note in store bathroom that read HELP'A Navarre, Florida, sandwich shop employee reportedly helped authorities save a domestic violence victim who had allegedly been kidnapped by her abusive, pro-wrestler boyfriend after the worker recently found a note in a store bathroom that read HELP!"At the center of the incident is Eleanor Coffee, who was at her job making sandwiches for a shop belonging to the Jersey Mike's chain when she noticed a little piece of crumpled up paper" that had been discarded next to one of the business's toilet paper dispensers, as she put it to the local news station WEAR-TV. Continue reading...

Efforts raise questions about the far right's place in the broader culture wars waged by the Trump administrationThe far right US publisher Passage Press is now part of Foundation Publishing Group and it is connected via a Foundation director, Daniel Lisi, to Network Press, whose only title to date is an effective accelerationist" manifesto by tech-right venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.Another rightwing publisher, science fiction publisher Ark Press, appears connected to Chapter House which Lisi, a literary scenester in Los Angeles, originally co-founded as an independent publisher of poetry, sci-fi and esoterica, but which now presents itself as a homeschooling resource. Continue reading...

Since Trump returned to the White House, the checks and balances of US democracy have proved remarkably resilientHave we reached peak Trump? Is it possible that we have arrived at a moment, a mere four months into his second term, when the president's capacity to do harm is diminishing?That is undeniably a provocative question. Like any US president, Donald Trump remains immensely powerful. It is early days; he can still cause plenty of damage - and certainly will.Trump's attacks on the restraints on his power should be viewed not in isolation, but as part of a deliberate scheme to build an autocracy. Each step matters. He is attacking not just big law or Ivy League universities but democracy.Early opposition is important because resistance becomes harder over time as checks on presidential authority weaken.The temptation to save one's own skin should be resisted because it plays into the autocratic strategy of divide-and-conquer. A collective defense works best.Appeasement may seem like a way to calm the bully, but bullies see it as weakness, an invitation to demand more.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. His book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, was published by Knopf and Allen Lane in February Continue reading...