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Schools' investment in social-emotional support appears to pay off, especially for girls, but work is far from complete'A recently released study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows levels of sadness and hopelessness are improving in some US teenagers, and notably among girls.However,, the survey and experts said, challenges remain, as some metrics worsened in the most recent report. Of particular concern is a growing group of students who missed school because they did not feel safe. Continue reading...

The new presidential ticket is accentuating the positive on a swing through battleground states but opinions differ on whether they can shift the mood in rural AmericaWhen Vice-President Kamala Harris and the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, stepped onstage together for the first time on Tuesday, Philadelphia's Liacouras Center glittered red, white and blue as Beyonce's Freedom blared and the crowd pulsed.Walz, who was plucked from relative obscurity just hours, when he accepted Harris's offer to join the Democratic presidential ticket, placed his hand over his heart, almost bewildered by the reception. He waved. He bowed. He pointed to the crowd, and back to Harris. He grinned and laughed and bowed again. Continue reading...

Politico's Meridith McGraw reminds us of Trump's limited vetting skills and aversion to Ron DeSanctimonious'JD Vance is only the latest in a parade of personnel misfires launched by Donald Trump. The junior senator from Ohio turned unpopular vice-presidential pick follows other bad staffing ideas like Omarosa Manigault Newman, Anthony Scaramucci and Rob Porter.In Trump in Exile, her new book on the former president's time out of power, Meridith McGraw of Politico reminds us of Trump's limited vetting skills, as well as his antipathy toward Florida's Ron DeSantis, and his cravings for cash. Oh - and his fetish for being tanned.Trump in Exile was published in the US on 6 August 2024 by Penguin Random House Continue reading...

US economy has staying power but China's growth prospects have worsened and too little attention is paid to war in GazaBack in the 1930s, the French government constructed what it thought was an impregnable defence system to prevent a repeat of the German invasion at the start of the first world war. The Maginot Line might have looked impressive but proved to be a white elephant because when the attack came in 1940 it was in a different place altogether.In the past week the financial markets have displayed something of a Maginot Line mentality. They are right to think there is a threat lurking out there but they are wrong to think the biggest danger is a recession in the US. The real threat comes from elsewhere. Continue reading...

Traditional news outlets flagellate themselves when inaccurate. But the rightwing instigators of last week's riots aren't restricted by concepts such as truthLet's get ready to rhumble! As heroic locals and beleaguered police battle to stop cocaine-fuelled hard-right rioters burning people to death, the laughing faces of ITV's Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly hang suspended in the smoke shrouding buildings in Rotherham and Tamworth. Watch us wreck the mike!! Psyche!!!The greatest trick Nigel Farage ever pulled, appearing in December's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, was looking normal to the ITV millions by eating a pizza covered with some penises. How Ant and Dec laughed as Nigel's EU views were left un-factchecked by current affairs titans such as Britney Spears's sister and a man from JLS. Psyche!Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

When Joe Biden quit the race, no one could have predicted the surge in support for Kamala HarrisIn 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the Democratic nominee for president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, adopted the ditty Happy Days Are Here Again as his official campaign song.With its upbeat lyrics - The skies above are clear again, So, let us sing a song of cheer again, Happy days are here again" - the tune spoke to the hopethat a brighter future lay aheadwith a new occupant of the White House. Continue reading...

Abiding memories of the Games included Marchand's dominance, Ngamba's bronze and 100m and 1500m thrillersThree years after Simone Biles wasforced to withdraw from all butone of her Olympic finals due tothe twisties, she returned to produce one of the great Games comebacks. Across nine days of excellence that yielded three gold medals and a silver, Biles most notably held off a brilliant challenge from Rebeca Andrade to become theoldest ever all-around champion, at 27. Her comeback has underlined the importance of mental health, longevity, sportsmanship, athletes having the freedom to express themselves and, of course, her peerless genius. Continue reading...

Buoyant Democratic duo, energized by recent polling data, hope to win over voters in critical states such as NevadaKamala Harris and Tim Walz wrapped up their first week together on the campaign trail with a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, as the Democratic party seeks to further galvanize its base and win over undecided voters in battleground states such as Nevada.In what was the vice-president and Minnesota governor's fifth rally in five days, the pair hoped to continue building on the renewed wave of enthusiasm and engagement among some voters and organizers since Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race amid growing concerns over his cognitive health and entrenched support for Israel's war in Gaza. Continue reading...

Protest marking 10 years since shooting escalated when fence was breached and Black officer was knocked to the ground, hitting his head, says police chiefA Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city's police station during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, police said on Saturday.The Ferguson police chief, Troy Doyle, said Officer Travis Brown suffered a severe brain injury on Friday after being knocked to the ground. He is in an area hospital right now fighting for his life," Doyle said. Continue reading...

Despite a febrile Bercy Arena, the USA's new Dream Team always looked in control in a 98-87 win against the hostsWith 16 seconds left on the clock at the Bercy Arena, Steph Curry took the ball in centre court, 30 feet from the rim, and already falling backwards, the sky blocked out by two French defenders in front of him, unable to see the basket, milliseconds ticking down before he lost control, before gravity took hold, the day closing in.Somehow from that blind position he still released the ball in a hard flat perfect arc, the roar of the crowd telling Curry he had indeed hit the invisible target beyond the flailing hands. It was a remarkable piece of morse-code accuracy at the best of times. Continue reading...

USA win fifth successive men's basketball gold, New Zealand's Hamish Kerr claims men's high jump, USWNT win women's football gold and more.Jerry Spring has sent in a lovely email about sport climbing, which I was delighted to receive.Glad you have enjoyed climbing. If you've never tried it , i hope you can get to your local gym or outside. It is just pure fun as you say.Sadly there are some issues over some athletes restricting their weight and potential longterm effects on joints... but there is increasingly awareness so I hope these get resolved. Continue reading...

Singer jabs at ex-president for playing My Heart Will Go On at campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana on FridayCeline Dion, the Canadian pop icon, has rebuked and mocked the Donald Trump campaign for unauthorized use of her hit song about the sinking Titanic as a musical interlude during a recent rally.Dion, beloved by millions of people for her tear-jerking ballads, issued a strong and somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement on Saturday, a day after Trump played a video clip of My Heart Will Go On from the film Titanic at a campaign event in Bozeman, Montana. Continue reading...

The preferred model of femininity for the yelping far right is the homebound tradwife. Let them cry and keep boxingThe saga of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif at the Olympics. The explosive Times feature about the tradwife" Hannah Neeleman. Whatever has happened to the Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance to make him once insist that a coven of vengeful witches - sorry, childless cat ladies" - are hexing ruin on people's lives.They're not news stories. They're concurrent threads in the dystopian nightmare being woven for western women by the kind of far-right political forces you wouldn't want near you to darn your damn socks. Continue reading...

Dogs, horses, birds, goats and pet cockroaches were seized from a home in Riverside county and placed in careAnimal services officials in southern California have rescued more than 100 neglected animals including dogs, horses, birds and pet cockroaches from a home in Riverside county.Riverside county officials served a search warrant on Wednesday at a property that was discovered following the Nixon fire that burned more than 5,200 acres (2,100 hectares) in July, according to a statement released on Thursday. Continue reading...

Ex-Chelsea manager dropped Rose Lavelle and her team struggled to create chances but Hayes is now in creditShe checks her watch. She claps her hands. She points at things. She shouts at people. Trinity Rodman jogs past her on her way up the left touchline and she gives her a pat on the back. She is basically trying to convince herself that there are still jobs to do when, in fact, her work is done. We are deep into injury time, and Emma Hayes can no more influence this Olympic final than the fan in the Uncle Sam hat sitting 50 yards above her.Finally, the whistle. The explosion. Hayes raises her arms, looks skywards, lets out a roar. It is, perhaps, the only moment of personal indulgence she will allow herself. While her victorious players are dancing in a huddle, Hayes has no interest in thrusting herself into the middle, a move known these days as the Jorge Vilda". Instead she walks towards the devastated Brazilian players, offers them a word of comfort, seeks out the retiring Marta to pay her respects. Continue reading...

Ex-California state senator Nate Holden says he, not Willie Brown, was on helicopter that made emergency landingNate Holden, the former Los Angeles city council member and California state senator, said that he was on the helicopter ride with Donald Trump that was forced to make an emergency landing.In an interview with Politico on Friday, Holden, who is now 95, referred to the former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who Trump insisted was on the helicopter ride, saying: Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco ... I'm a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles." Continue reading...

Crucial states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan are now leaning Democratic, according to NYT/Siena pollA major new poll puts Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump in three key swing states, signaling a dramatic reversal in momentum for the Democratic party with three months to go until the election.The vice-president leads the ex-president by four percentage points in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, 50% to 46%, among almost 2,000 likely voters across the three states, according to new surveys by the New York Times and Siena College. Continue reading...

Culture wars have poisoned political debate, normalised Islamophobia and opened wounds that a generation blighted by nativism hoped had closedPerhaps unhelpfully, we use the term raceriot" to describe two very different phenomena, each with its own dismal history. In the 1980s, it was the term attached to the uprisings that erupted among Blackcommunities in Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Londonand elsewhere. Outbreaks of lawlessness and violence that were in large part a response to racial targeting by the police: harassment that aggravated existing disadvantages and intensified deep disillusionment, especially among the younger generation who had been born in Britain.However, a very different set of events with a far longer history has also been defined as race riots. The deadly disturbances of 1919 in Liverpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Salford, Newport, Barry, Hull and South Shields, like the riots that came again to Liverpool in 1948, and those that broke out in 1958 in Nottingham and London's Notting Hill. Continue reading...

Make sure you don't miss a thing with our full, updating localised guide to the dates and times of all the events at Paris Olympics 2024Follow all the latest action live | Support the GuardianSearch for every event and start time at the Paris Olympics with our comprehensive live schedule. From the football pitch to the pool, via track and field and much more, use our filter tool to pinpoint the sports and disciplines you want to follow most so that you don't miss a thing. Continue reading...

From Bangladesh to Venzuela, one calamity rapidly overtakes another, but common denominators include poverty, corruption and lack of hopeAugust is the quietest month - to mangle TS Eliot's verse - or so news editors used to think. Politicians go on holiday, governments shut down, people head for the hills or the beach. Not much happens. Not so this August. The world this month is experiencing an extraordinary peaking of volatility, instability and insecurity, unprecedented in recent times. It's scary, it's shocking, it's a wild ride.Sudden revolutions, wars current and imminent, terrible crimes, high-stakes feuding, famines, cost of living crunches, violent riots and unfathomable market panics come not as single spies but in battalions. In a world where mutual destruction, steeped in cruelty and despair, is a favoured human pastime, grim vistas of Eliot's The Waste Land beckon anew. Continue reading...

The Rio Grande valley's Tejano population was once reliably Democratic but traditional loyalties have been erodedAnna Holcomb is preparing her Ram pickup truck for the big event on Saturday, festooning it in Make America Great Again (Maga) flags that flap restlessly in the searing hot Texas wind.Holcomb is gearing up for a show of strength by Donald Trump supporters in the Rio Grande valley, the region of south Texas that flanks the Mexican border. From 8am on Saturday morning, thousands of similarly decked-out vehicles will form convoys along a 300-mile stretch, from Brownsville on the Gulf of Mexico all the way north to Eagle Pass. Continue reading...

Park rangers suspect changing water levels and erosion to blame for the collapse of the popular tourist attractionA large geological feature in southern Utah known as the Double Arch", the Hole in the Roof" and sometimes the Toilet Bowl" has collapsed, National Park Service officials said on Friday. No injuries were reported.The popular arch in the Glen Canyon national recreation area fell on Thursday, and park rangers suspect changing water levels and erosion from waves in Lake Powell contributed to its demise. Continue reading...

The island nation has long punched above its weight at the Games. But in Paris it has been the country's field athletes who have been winning medalsJamaica has been on such a cold streak in Paris, that it's fair to wonder whether the country is planning for the Winter Olympics. In place of its usual dominance in sprinting, it's been one disappointment after another.The misfortune kicked off in June with Elaine Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman alive, injuring her achilles and losing out on a chance to challenge for golds in the 100m and 200m for the third straight Olympics. Then, during the Games themselves, Shericka Jackson, Thompson-Herah's heir apparent, withdrew from the 100m and 200m with an undisclosed injury, a shock development that drastically changed the complexion of both races. My 2024 Olympic dream has been shattered," the three-time medalist wrote in a silence-breaking Instagram post on Friday. Continue reading...

More than 600 python hunters registered for the event that aims to reduce the population of the invasive speciesFriday marked the start of the annual Florida Python Challenge, during which hunters head into the Everglades to track down invasive Burmese pythons in hopes of grabbing a share of $30,000 in prizes.The annual 10-day hunt, which started more than a decade ago, promotes public awareness of issues with invasive species in Florida while engaging the public in Everglades conversation, said Sarah Funck, the wildlife impact management section leader with Florida's fish and wildlife conservation commission. Continue reading...

With a diary suddenly freed up by the end of his re-election bid, the president is looking to safeguard his achievementsWhen a reporter asked if the White House had already started the transition process, Karine Jean-Pierre seemed bemused. Why?" the press secretary retorted. Are you trying to kick us out already? We've got five months."Whatever excitement there is in American politics at the moment, the White House is not the centre of the action. What was expected to be a hectic final sprint towards the presidential election, with Joe Biden pinballing between swing-state rallies, has been replaced by long, languorous afternoons in humid Washington. Continue reading...

The presumptive Democratic nominee for the US presidential election addressed Gaza protesters after they interrupted her campaign speech in Glendale, Arizona. She said 'now is the time' to agree a ceasefire deal which would end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages still held there, and Biden and herself were working around the clock to help secure this

Party enjoys resurgence of excitement that was lacking during Biden's bumpy re-election campaignWith Kamala Harris now poised to take on Donald Trump in the 5 November US presidential election, her fellow Democrats are enjoying a resurgence of optimism that was sorely lacking for much of this year, as Joe Biden struggled through a bumpy re-election campaign that he ultimately abandoned.Since the president's stumbling performance in his late June debate against Trump and his shock decision to withdraw from the race weeks later, Harris has rapidly ascended to become the party's presumptive presidential nominee. Polls have shown her drawing even with, and sometimes overtaking, Trump in the support of voters nationally, and in the handful of crucial swing states that will determine the election. Continue reading...

Vice-president addresses Gaza after protesters interrupt speech on immigration, abortion and Indigenous rightsKamala Harris and Tim Walz rallied a packed arena outside Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday - drawing perhaps the largest Democratic crowd of the election cycle this year.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, her running mate and the local leaders who joined them on stage whipped up the crowd, discussing immigration, abortion rights and Indigenous sovereignty. Continue reading...

Massey's father and state's governor had called for Jack Campbell to quit after his officer shot Massey in her homeAn Illinois sheriff who hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey announced on Friday that he would retire, five weeks after the deputy fatally shot the 36-year-old Black woman in her home.The Sangamon county sheriff, Jack Campbell, who won the office in 2018, said politics stood in the way of his effectiveness as sheriff and suggested he and his family had received death threats. Campbell, a 30-year veteran of the department, had previously said he did not intend to step down". Continue reading...

Imane Khelif triumphed in the women's 66kg category, while Nafissatou Thiam edged epic duel with Team GB starSpeaking of US dominance of basketball, Serbia almost pulled off one of the all-time Olympics upsets when they had the men's Dream Team" on the rack and 76-62 down at the start of the final quarter of last night's semi-final. Coming into the Paris Games, the US had won gold in eight of the last 10 Olympics, with their last stumble coming in 2004 when they won bronze. Luckily, Steph Curry came to the rescue....Heard about the Opal who wanted Gold? Australian basketball GOAT Lauren Jackson is at her fifth Olympics and is yet to win the shiniest medal of all. Instead, at every turn, Jackson and her Opals teammates have been foiled by Team USA whom they meet tonight in the semi-final at Bercy Arena. Can they snap the hoodoo and send Lauren out a winner? Kieran Pender asks: why not? Continue reading...

This blog now closed. You can find the latest US politics coverage here.Ahead of her and Tim Walz's campaign in Arizona later today, Kamala Harris wrote on X:We are running a campaign on behalf of all Americans.It is great to be in Arizona with governor Tim Walz." Continue reading...

Podcast host calls independent candidate for president a legitimate guy' but says he is not offering endorsementRobert F Kennedy Jr's independent presidential campaign may be seeing poll numbers fall and funds dwindle, amid bizarre tales about brain worms and pranks with dead bears and accusations of dangerous conspiracy mongering, but he has nonetheless secured a sought-after supporter: Joe Rogan.The popular podcaster appeared to offer his endorsement on Thursday, saying Kennedy was the only one that makes sense to me". Continue reading...

Warren Luther Alexander, 73, was arrested for the decades-old killings of three women in southern CaliforniaA 73-year-old man has been charged in the strangulation deaths of three southern California women in 1977, after cold case detectives obtained a DNA match. Authorities said they believe there could be more victims.Warren Luther Alexander of Diamondhead, Mississippi, made his first court appearance on Thursday but his arraignment on three counts of first-degree murder was postponed until later in August, the Ventura county district attorney's office said. Alexander remained jailed without bail. Continue reading...

Democratic party's presumptive nominee 2.1 points over Trump in FiveThirtyEight's national averageKamala Harris continues to gain strength in the US presidential election, as polls nationally and in battleground states show her building leads or catching Donald Trump.On Friday morning, FiveThirtyEight, a leading polling analysis site, puts Harris, the Democratic party's presumptive nominee for president, up by 2.1 points over her Republican rival in its national average. Continue reading...

Local police said they told Secret Service the building the 20-year-old opened fire from needed to be securedIn the chaotic aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally last month, a local police officer told a fellow officer he had warned the Secret Service days earlier that the building where the 20-year-old gunman opened fire needed to be secured.I [bleep] told them they needed to post guys [bleep] over here," the officer said in police body-camera footage released by the Butler township police department, with expletives bleeped out. I told them that [bleeped expletive] Tuesday." Continue reading...

Kevin Roberts, who leads thinktank that drafted blueprint for second Trump presidency, made remark in JanuaryIn a speech earlier this year, Kevin Roberts, the architect of Project 2025, a vast plan for a second Trump administration, compared abortion to slavery, lynchings, the Holocaust, antisemitic violence and terror attacks.Every slave auction, every lynching, every concentration camp, every abortion mill, every pogrom, every terrorist bombing from the Middle East to Kermit Gosnell, from Herod to Hitler to Hamas, has been justified on the same inhuman pretense that the victims aren't really people," Roberts said. Continue reading...

Watergate sparked a political reckoning 50 years ago. The scandal wasn't just an abuse of power, but it was a campaign finance scandal - with lessons for todayIt was 50 years ago - on 9 August 1974 - Richard Nixon resigned as president amid the Watergate" scandal. In the American consciousness, Watergate typically means the botched break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the resulting illegal cover-up (facts that are newly relevant in the wake of the US supreme court's much-criticized decision on presidential immunity last month). But there is an equally relevant part of the story that is often skipped. Watergate was not just about abuse of presidential power. It was also a major campaign finance scandal.By the time Nixon resigned, Americans were outraged to learn that the Watergate break-in and cover-up and other dirty tricks" had been financed from a secret slush fund made up of donations from corporations and wealthy individuals. In response, Congress passed historic reforms designed to increase transparency and curb the influence of big money in politics. This was a watershed moment that helped reshape the ethos of government in America. Today, however, our elections are once again dominated by big money and secret spending. The post-Watergate reforms are in dire need of repair.Daniel I Weiner is director of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU LawOwen Bacskai is a policy associate at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law Continue reading...