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The recent conviction of an activist who used the phrase at a rally in Berlin has widened a rift in German societyIs it legal to say the words From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" in Germany? The answer appears to be yes: you can shout them from the rooftops in German, English, Arabic or Hebrew, so long as a court accepts that you are not doing so to indicate support for Hamas or its murderous assault of 7 October.This distinction came to bear on the activist Ava Moayeri last week, when she was convicted of condoning a crime" for leading a chant of the slogan at a Berlin rally on 11 October. If the speaker of the phrase is understood to mean, for instance, that they support the peaceful liberation of Palestinians, then the utterance would be protected. But the presiding judge, Birgit Balzer, didn't think that was possible in this case, citing the date of the protest in her decision. Moayeri is expected to challenge the verdict in a higher court.Peter Kuras is a writer and translator based in Berlin

General Hospital star, 37, was shot dead in downtown LA in May after interrupting men taking car's catalytic converterPolice have arrested four suspects in the fatal shooting of Johnny Wactor, the actor best known for his role on General Hospital.The four suspects were arrested in Los Angeles, and range in age from 18 to 22. Three of the suspects were booked on arrest warrants for murder and the fourth was booked as an accessory. Continue reading...

Former president also says in press conference he is entitled to personal attacks' against Democratic rivalDonald Trump expanded his circle of senior advisers on Thursday, adding five new aides including his former 2016 presidential campaign chief as the campaign attempts to find effective attacks against Kamala Harris, according to people familiar with the matter.The former president brought Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz from the Trump-aligned Maga Inc political action committee, as well as previous Trump campaign veterans Corey Lewandowski and Tim Murtaugh. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the 2024 US election, you can read our full coverage here.Donald Trump's campaign has made a slew of new hires as he looks to get his footing against Democrat Kamala Harris, including bringing Corey Lewandowski, who managed part of his 2016 run, on to its leadership team.Other hires on the team include Washington Times columnist and communications strategist Tim Murtaugh, political consultant Alex Bruesewitz and Taylor Budowich and Alex Pfeiffer, both of whom are associated with the Make America Great Again Super Pac. Continue reading...

President declares we finally beat big pharma' as he joins Harris on stage in Maryland for first time since exiting raceJoe Biden and Kamala Harris on Thursday cast themselves as the champions of American seniors in a David-and-Goliath fight against big pharmaceutical companies, at a joint event touting a landmark deal to lower the cost of prescription drugs.We finally beat big pharma," the US president declared, sharing the stage with his vice-president for the first time since he abandoned his re-election bid in late July and Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee. Continue reading...

VP nominees to face off on 1 October as Vance challenges Walz to an earlier debate in SeptemberJD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, has accepted an invitation by CBS to debate Tim Walz, his Democratic counterpart, on 1 October after initially appearing to hedge.Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, also said he was accepting another invitation from CNN to debate Walz on 18 September, although it was unclear whether the Democratic nominee had agreed to the challenge. Continue reading...

Five people have been arrested and charged over the death of Matthew Perry, prosecutors said, including the actor's personal assistant and two doctors. Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, told a press conference doctors supplied the Friends actor, who died at his Los Angeles home in October 2023, with a large amount of ketamine and 'took advantage of Mr Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves'

Two men charged with robbing luxury watch had firearm of Christopher Dorner, who killed four people and died in 2013Authorities are investigating how a gun registered to an infamous Los Angeles police officer ended up at the Airbnb of two men recently charged in the robbery of a $1m watch in Beverly Hills.Investigators discovered the weapon earlier this month after they connected the Airbnb to a vehicle involved in another Beverly Hills theft, authorities said. The weapon was registered to Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police department (LAPD) officer who killed the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance as well as two others over nine days in 2013 before dying in a dramatic standoff with law enforcement. Dorner had felt he had been wrongly fired by LAPD, and accused the department of racism and corruption. Continue reading...

Four board members stepped down at Florida A&M University upon interim president Timothy Beard's requestJust two weeks before the 2024-2025 school yearbegins and one week into his tenure, the interim president of Florida A&M University, Timothy Beard, has called on the board to resign.As you know, our University (Famu) is at a critical juncture, where we must align our leadership, vision, and strategies to meet the evolving challenges and opportunities ahead," Beard wrote in his letter, first reported by HBCU Gameday. Continue reading...

Ex-president's lawyer says September sentencing would be election interference and there's no basis' for rushing'Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York hush-money criminal case to delay his sentencing until after the November presidential election.In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawyer for the former US president and current Republican nominee suggested that sentencing Trump as scheduled on 18 September - about seven weeks before election day - would amount to election interference. Continue reading...

Democratic VP nominee pushes back against his rival's abortion comments as they agree to 1 October debate

Rowlands, best known as the star of groundbreaking movies directed by her husband John Cassavetes, has died aged 94. Here we look back on her career highs

Make the Road Action supports Kamala Harris in its first-ever general election presidential endorsementThe immigrant rights group Make the Road Action is backing Kamala Harris in its first-ever general election presidential endorsement.The 15-year-old organisation dedicated to Latino voter engagement in key swing states including Nevada and Pennsylvania, had previously supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primaries but has otherwise avoided endorsing any presidential candidates. The voter mobilization group's endorsement on Thursday, provided first to the Guardian, comes amid a rush of enthusiasm for Harris's nascent campaign. Continue reading...

In a world of swiping and DMs I hoped to be able to put myself out there more - but it turns out the comfort zone is really comfyLast December, after consuming a few red wines, my friend Hana and I set ourselves the new year resolution to ask someone out in person each month.With Hana visiting Melbourne from Canberra a couple of times a year, it was typical for our boozy biannual catch-ups to end in questions about our dating lives. This night was not much different. Continue reading...

NBC News finds major Democratic-run cities have not seen any buses of asylum seekers from Texas governor this yearThe controversial effort by Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, to bus people seeking asylum to Democratic-run cities has reportedly been foiled - because there are not enough migrants crossing the border.Abbott claimed at the Republican national convention in July that he had continued bussing migrants to sanctuary cities all across the country", adding: Those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border." Continue reading...

After opening his Famous Amos bakery in 1975, the entrepreneur and literary advocate built a cookie empireWallace Wally" Amos, the entrepreneur and founder of Famous Amos cookies who later became a children's literary advocate, died on Tuesday at the age of 88, his family said.With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride," said a statement from his children, Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos. Continue reading...

Independent presidential candidate reportedly reached out to campaign to discuss dropping out and endorsing HarrisRobert F Kennedy Jr, the beleaguered independent presidential candidate, reached out to the Kamala Harris campaign last week to discuss dropping out of the race and endorsing the Democrat, according to multiple reports.Kennedy attempted to set up a meeting with Harris to propose him serving in her administration, possibly as a cabinet secretary, in exchange for his endorsement, the Washington Post reported. Continue reading...

Colonel Custard found in Pennsylvania arcade game and released into nearby field: He got set free. No one got bit'A Pennsylvania groundhog is making a name for himself for something other than predicting an early or late spring.An intrepid varmint dubbed Colonel Custard - so named for the frozen custard shop and mini-golf outlet where he was discovered - was found stowed away with a passel of stuffed animals prizes in an arcade game two weeks ago. Players were maneuvering a mechanical claw to pluck toys from the glass game case when they suddenly realized a real live groundhog was blinking back at them. Continue reading...

Chicago Fire fans hoped the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star would transform their club. Instead he was largely an expensive non-entityEven if you had never watched Xherdan Shaqiri play a full match, it's likely you have seen one of his highlights. There is no shortage of them. That breakaway goal and controversial celebration against Serbia in the 2018 World Cup. That assist in the Liverpool-Barcelona comeback. That ridiculous bicycle kick against Poland at Euro 2016. Any of his pinpoint free-kick goals for Stoke.This week, that career reached its low point - a disappointing two and a half seasons in Major League Soccer ended via mutual contract termination. Heralded as a potential franchise-altering acquisition for a desperate Chicago Fire team in 2022, the 32-year-old leaves the US having rarely looked above average in MLS. Often, he was significantly below that level. Given the money involved in his acquisition, there's a compelling case to be made for Shaqiri as the league's worst-value signing of all time. Continue reading...

Brian Niccol, who was poached from Chipotle, will get package worth four times that of his predecessorThe new chief executive of Starbucks is in line for a sign-on pay package worth up to $113m (88m), in one of the largest such executive deals in corporate history and which is four times larger than that of his predecessor. .The American coffee chain poached the boss of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol, naming him as its new chief executive this week in a surprise management shake-up, ousting Laxman Narasimhan from the job after just 17 months. Continue reading...

Latinos had ranked among the Democrats' most reliable bases - but the party's once dominant advantage has shrunkThe abrupt substitution of Kamala Harris for Joe Biden as the Democratic party's presidential nominee has energized two of the party's bedrock bases of support - pro-choice women and African Americans - along with millions of young voters who felt dismay at the Hobson's choice posed by two old white guys in the presidential contest.But the country's estimated 36 million eligible Latino voters could be another story. Continue reading...

Experts urge accelerated access to vaccines and testing. Plus, Columbia University president resigns Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.An outbreak in Africa of mpox, the disease formerly known as monkeypox, has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.How is the WHO responding? Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general, said the situation warranted the highest level of alarm under international health law". The WHO released $1.5m from its contingency fund, and called on donors to help reach the $15m it needed for the response.What are experts saying? Trudie Lang, a professor of global health research at Oxford University, said: I have heard so many people refer to this as being very similar to the early days of HIV." Dr Ayoade Alakija, the chair of Africa Vaccine Delivery Alliance, said if the outbreak was in Europe, mpox would have already been considered a major international health emergency.What are the details? Palestinian civilians, mostly young men, are picked up by Israeli soldiers, who dress them in Israeli army uniforms and send them into tunnels and damaged houses ahead of Israeli forces, soldiers told Haaretz and Breaking the Silence. Their hands are tied together and a camera is attached to their bodies as they go in.What's the latest with ceasefire talks? A new round is expected to begin today, although expectations of success are low. Israel has hardened its position in recent weeks and Hamas has indicated it is unlikely to attend the talks in Qatar. Continue reading...

Progressive film-maker says he's more optimistic than he's ever been since Trump announced first run eight years agoWith Joe Biden looking for re-election Democrats feared they were looking at an electoral catastrophe. Now, with Biden dropping out and Vice-President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, it suddenly feels like it is Donald Trump who is staring at possible defeat.The liberal film-maker and Democratic whisperer Michael Moore says he's more optimistic than he has ever been since Trump stepped on to the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his first run for the presidency eight years ago. Continue reading...

The English coach benefited from a degree of fortune at Paris 2024 but she had the skill and pool of talent to exploit itIn evaluating any athlete, team or coach, the danger is always in drawing broad conclusions from results determined by the width of a toe or a bit of luck.So many crucial moments in the history of the USWNT could have gone the other way. Kristine Lilly clearing a goalbound shot in extra time of the 1999 World Cup. Carli Lloyd's long-range shot in 2008, which many goalkeepers would have saved. Questionable penalty kicks all through the 2019 World Cup knockout rounds. Continue reading...

People who have fled Afghanistan encourage the international community to sever ties with our government. That only harms those of us still here

Son faces attempted murder charge after stinky feet' remark set off heated argument, police sayA man shot his father in the face after the victim complained about the son's smelly feet, according to authorities in Iowa.David Carpenter, 48, faces a charge of attempted murder after investigators arrested him in a case that illustrates how quickly relatively minor, interpersonal quarrels can escalate into shootings in the US, which - according to some estimates - has more guns in circulation than people. Continue reading...

Shafik, criticized for handling of student demonstrations, says this period has taken a considerable toll on my family'The president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, has resigned following months of criticism of her handling of campus protests over the war in Gaza.This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community," Shafik wrote in an email to staff and students on Wednesday. It has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community." Continue reading...

Democratic nominee to draw with contrast with Trump on tax and tariffs when she lays out details on Friday, aides sayKamala Harris will announce plans to tackle high grocery costs by targeting corporations in the food and grocery industry, as she previews her economic agenda ahead of the November election.She will also tackle prescription drug and housing costs, drawing a contrast with Trump on tariffs and taxes, according to a Harris campaign statement. Continue reading...

This blog is closing now, thanks for following along. You can read our story on Kamala Harris's economic plan at the link below:

Easter Leafa, who had been holding knife, had moved to Anchorage seeking a better life and opportunities in schoolAnchorage police officers fatally shot a 16-year-old girl holding a knife, the fourth deadly officer-involved shooting in Alaska's largest city since mid-May.The girl's family has since identified her as Easter Leafa, telling local television station Alaska's News Source she had moved to Anchorage from American Samoa four or five months ago, seeking a better life and better opportunities in school. Continue reading...

Harris's VP pick says: See you on October 1, JD,' in reply to CBS invitation to both candidates for a debate in New YorkTim Walz, the Minnesota governor and Kamala Harris's running mate, said he would be willing to debate JD Vance, Ohio senator and Donald Trump's running mate, on 1 October.Walz, in a post to Twitter/X, was responding to a CBS News statement that said it had invited both vice-presidential candidates to participate in a debate in New York City. Continue reading...

Ruling on language in document comes as voters to decide in November whether to add right to abortion to state constitutionAn official informational pamphlet for Arizona voters who will decide in the fall whether to guarantee a constitutional right to an abortion can refer to a fetus as an unborn human being", the state's highest court ruled on Wednesday.Arizona voters will get to decide in November whether to add the right to an abortion to the state constitution. Continue reading...

Elected official Robert Telles pleaded not guilty to murder of Jeff German, who had written stories critical of himOpening statements began on Wednesday in the trial of Robert Telles, a Las Vegas politician accused of killing Jeff German, a veteran investigative journalist.German, a journalist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found stabbed to death outside his home on Labor Day weekend in 2022. Continue reading...

Syrian government denies claims that Tice, who vanished while reporting in Daraya 12 years ago, is being held captiveJoe Biden has called for the immediate release of Austin Tice, the American journalist and former marine who disappeared in Syria in 2012, and who US authorities believe is being held by the Syrian government.This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria," the US president said on Wednesday. We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release." Continue reading...

Man says wife died of allergic reaction at Disney World but company claims streamer's terms block him from filing suitAttorneys for Disney World are seeking to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a husband over the death of his wife last year because of the terms and conditions he agreed to when signing up for Disney+ streaming service several years earlier.In February of this year, Jeffrey Piccolo filed a wrongful death suit against Disney on behalf of his wife, Dr Kanokporn Tangsuan, a medical doctor from New York who died last year. His lawsuit claims that her death was a result of suffering an allergic reaction while dining at a resort restaurant in Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Continue reading...

To say the conflict has been forgotten is too kind: the world is largely indifferent - apart from those who hope to profit thereIt's hard to get aid to Sudanese civilians, but weapons flow towards them endlessly through each of the country's neighbours. The destruction they wreak forces people to flee: 10,000 children are displaced each day. The suffering now will be matched by future pain. Girls as young as eight are being raped by fighters,Unicef has reported, and babies born of sexualviolence are being abandoned.Famine is intensifying and 25 million people are experiencing acute hunger, as the belligerents blockaiddeliveries: Tom Perriello, the US special envoyto Sudan, warned that they are using starvingwomen and children as their arsenal. But thedestruction in the country's agricultural heartlandbodes ill for what lies ahead. The last hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher, in Darfur, isunder assault. Continue reading...

The Democrat has yet to settle on a defining style. But a Black trailblazer offers bold fashion inspirationThe energy that Kamala Harris's candidacy has injected into the Democratic party has taken over the election. With standing-room only rallies that have rock concert vibes, Harris has not only sharpened her rhetoric and message since her 2020 bid for the presidency, but she has also brought new spirit for the campaign.However, Harris's style - which could be employed as a political tool to aid her candidacy and connection with voters - has shifted only slightly. Despite wearing a few outfits that have more color than her usual choice of navy and black, Harris has so far shied away from bold fashion statements that would convey the historic nature of her candidacy, or the excitement she stirs. While the campaign has certainly expanded the political imagination of what Harris can achieve, it still needs to hone in on what image defines her new status as a presidential nominee. Continue reading...

After a painfully long Olympics closing ceremony, I've come to the realisation that everything - from the opera to Meat Loaf to this column - goes on far too longIs it just me, or do most events go on a bit too long? Or, as in the case of the Olympics closing ceremony, a lot too long. The Olympics themselves were simply wonderful and far too short. The last football World Cup saw 64 matches played over nearly a month. At the Olympics countless contests are played out in barely two weeks. I've never understood what the hurry is all about. Perhaps this is the point: it's about leaving us wanting more. Unlike its opening and closing ceremonies about which the opposite plainly applied.I don't think I've ever come out of a church service, a theatre, or a concert venue, and said to whomever I was with: You know what, I'd like that to have gone on a bit longer." Indeed, rare is the event that I didn't think could have benefited from being shorter. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. I'm just honest enough to admit it, and unbothered about being thought a philistine. I'd like to conduct lie detector tests on punters filing out of the Royal Opera House. Were you in any sense thankful when the curtain came down? Did you want more? If you answer no and yes then your pants are on fire. Continue reading...

Michael Caughran's history raises questions about extent to which his far-right and survivalist activities overlapped with his enlistmentA former US air force survival expert with militia and Christian nationalist connections is running survival and live-fire combat trainings in remote locations throughout the Pacific north-west, boasting on his website that the training incorporates trained law enforcement officers, church security" operatives, and current and former US military members.Michael Patrick Caughran's new training business, American Reconstruction Concepts (ARC) shows organizational and personnel continuities with an earlier organization that explicitly offered biblical training on war" to young people. That organization, Team Rugged, was directly connected with both a neo-Confederate pastor and a former Washington state legislator who has advocated for Christian nationalism, who a state house investigation found to have participated in domestic terrorism". Continue reading...

Trump frantically attempts to find the key to a negative campaign against Harris. But, like the mad King Lear, he spins into agitation and confusionThe madness of King George III was never diagnosed. He likely suffered from bipolarity. One of his uncontrollable bouts of madness was triggered by his reading of Shakespeare's play of a mad king, King Lear. This morning he is ... more agitated and confused, perhaps from having been permitted to read King Lear," wrote his doctor, in papers released only six years ago. The story upset King George, his equerry recounted: His Majesty became so ungovernable that recourse was had to the strait waistcoat."King George's straitjacketing occurred in 1788, a year after the constitutional convention created the United States government to prevent the rise of any king - mad or not. The American revolution, waged against the absolute sovereignty of a monarch, had the madness of King George in mind as the office of president of the United States was being framed. The president, wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No 69, would be subject to impeachment and removal, and liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the king of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable; there is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution." Continue reading...

The US is transferring $3.8bn to Israel in military aid per year. Biden has leverage to force a deal, but he refuses to use itJoe Biden is making a last-ditch effort to salvage the Gaza ceasefire agreement he has been pushing for months. The US president, along with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, have called on Israeli and Hamas negotiators to resume indirect talks on Thursday to hammer out an agreement. But Biden and his administration won't name and shame the biggest obstacle to reaching a deal: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister. For months, Netanyahu has tried to block an agreement by backtracking and adding new conditions, prompting Israeli security officials to accuse him of sabotaging the negotiations to stay in power.Since a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed on 1 December, Biden has invested nearly all of his administration's efforts into resurrecting a ceasefire. But Biden refuses to impose any cost on Netanyahu for his obstinacy and prolonging the conflict. Since Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza 10 months ago, Biden has failed to use the two most effective levers of power at his disposal: withholding billions of dollars in US weapons shipments, and denying Israel political cover at the United Nations security council and other international bodies.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University. He is also a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) Continue reading...

Vice-presidential candidate, once a high school teacher in Nebraska and Minnesota, warmly remembered by alumniImagine your teacher in the White House.For Tim Walz's former students, the hypothetical could become real. And they're stoked. Continue reading...

Ruling marks first time a US judge has gone against a university over demonstrations against Israel-Hamas warThe University of California, Los Angeles, cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from accessing classes and other parts of campus, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.The preliminary injunction marks the first time a US judge has ruled against a university over the demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses earlier this year. Continue reading...

Biden wrote to then US ambassador to Rome on behalf of the energy firm while his father was vice-presidentHunter Biden lobbied the US government for help in securing a lucrative energy contract in Italy while his father Joe Biden was vice-president, newly released documents show.A tranche of previously undisclosed documents now made public under a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request reveals that the president's son wrote to the then US ambassador to Rome, John Phillips, in 2016 seeking assistance on behalf of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, of which he was a board member. Continue reading...

Juan Merchan again denied recusal request from Trump's lawyers ahead of ex-president's sentencing on 18 SeptemberA New York judge declined for a third time to step aside from the case in which Donald Trump was convicted of charges involving hush money paid to an adult film star, dismissing the former US president's claim of conflict of interest related to political consultancy work by the judge's daughter.As he did last April and in August 2023, Juan Merchan in a decision released on Wednesday denied a request by Trump's lawyers that the acting justice of the New York supreme court recuse himself from the first case involving criminal charges against a former US president. Merchan is scheduled to sentence Trump on 18 September. Continue reading...

The American sports writer Beau Dure explains how an incorrect ruling made in haste has resulted in the US gymnast Jordan Chiles being asked to return her Olympic bronze medal, despite potential evidence that she is indeed deserving of it. During the Paris Games, Chiles was not awarded points that she should have been for one of her routines. USA Gymnastics put in an inquiry which was accepted, however the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) concluded that they were four seconds too slow in doing so. USA Gymnastics however has now submitted new evidence proving otherwise but the CAS refuses to accept an appeal of its decision