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Residents observe day of prayer after floods that killed at least 82 people. Plus, lab-grown sperm and eggs could be just a few years away

President's supporters are gleeful but Everglades jail could prove to be a humanitarian and environmental tragedyAfter the cruelty, the mockery. As the first detainees were being hauled into Donald Trump's controversial migrant jail in the inhospitable, steamy wetlands of the Florida Everglades last week, his supporters were indulging in some parallel retail therapy.Surrounded by swamps & pythons, it's a one-way ticket to regret," the Florida Republican party's official X account crowed, hawking its new range of Alligator Alcatraz-themed shirts and hats. Grab our merch to support tough-on-crime borders! Limited supply - get yours before the gators do!" Continue reading...

Some parents can now opt students out of LGBTQ+ book readings. The writers warn of increased book bans and biasSarah Brannen, an illustrator and children's book author, was riding in the car with her sister when she received an alert on her phone in late June. She was in a group chat with other authors whose books were being debated in a US supreme court case, and the messages soon poured in. Her book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, highlights a same-sex marriage, and is at the center of a contentious case that could have widespread implications for public school education throughout the nation.As per the 27 June ruling, a group of Maryland parents have the option to remove their public elementary school students from classes where Uncle Bobby's Wedding and other storybooks with LGBTQ+ themes are read. The justices decided through a 6-3 vote that the Montgomery county school board violated parents' right to freely exercise their religion by forbidding kids from opting out of instruction. The parents argued that the board impeded them from teaching their kids about gender and sexuality in a way that aligned with their belief system. Continue reading...

DTE Energy had denied involvement in dark money non-profits, but court documents show a $100,000 donationNewly released court documents show power utility DTE Energy knowingly contributed $100,000 to a dark money non-profit that helped sabotage Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer's Covid lockdown policies.The documents contradict previous DTE statements that claimed the utility was not involved with the donation. Continue reading...

Detention comes amid Trump crackdown against perceived political enemies, including immigrants and labor leadersFarm worker activist Alfredo Lelo" Juarez Zeferino, 25, was driving his partner to her job on a tulip farm north of Seattle one March morning when they were pulled over by an unmarked car. A plainclothes agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) emerged and shattered Juarez Zeferino's front window before handcuffing him, his partner said.The officer drove Juarez Zeferino to a nondescript warehouse - the same one he and other activists had years ago discovered is an unmarked Ice holding facility. After his 25 March detention, dozens gathered outside to demand his release. Continue reading...

Prosecutors claim Chavez treated gang rivals like a punchbag' before Ice arrested Mexican boxer in CaliforniaThe Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was a henchman for the Sinaloa drugs cartel and used his skills to pummel rival gang members like a punchbag" before his recent arrest in the US, prosecutors in Mexico have alleged.Chavez, 39, son of legendary world boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Sr and himself a former middleweight titleholder, was arrested in California on Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents, who cited cartel affiliations, multiple criminal convictions and an active arrest warrant in Mexico for weapons trafficking and organized crime. Continue reading...

Demanding that the University of Virginia's president resign is taken from the Viktor Orban playbook of authoritarianismUnder pressure from the Trump administration, the University of Virginia's president of nearly seven years, James Ryan, stepped down on Friday, declaring that while he was committed to the university and inclined to fight, he could not in good conscience push back just to save his job.The Department of Justice demanded that Ryan resign in order to resolve an investigation into whether UVA had sufficiently complied with Donald Trump's orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion.Universities are controlled by leftwing foundations. They're not controlled by the American taxpayer and yet the American taxpayer is sending hundreds of billions of dollars to these universities every single year.I'm not endorsing every single thing that Viktor Orban has ever done [but] I do think that he's made some smart decisions there that we could learn from.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Case is the first of several legal challenges to White House's sweeping crackdown on universities to make it to trialA lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's effort to deport foreign students over pro-Palestinian views goes to trial in a Massachusetts federal court on Monday, where the government for the first time will need to defend its extraordinary position that it can deport noncitizens over their political speech.The case was brought by the national American Association of University Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa) following the arrest and detention of several noncitizen students and scholars who have spoken out on Palestinian rights. The government has claimed the authority to deport noncitizens who have committed no crimes but whose presence it deems poses a threat to US foreign policy. Continue reading...

Jason Hackett's army of muttonistas' adore his beer reviews - in New York, the Guardian found, even star actors are fansYou might not be familiar with Prime Mutton. Maybe you haven't heard his catchphrases - absolute creamer", muttonista", or the still-in-development creamerisimo".If so, you're missing out on a man who in the space of a year has created little short of a cult: an army of more than 160,000 social media fans, including celebrities, who cheer along online and in person as their leader - basically - reviews beer. Continue reading...

US-born pontiff addresses likely the deadliest natural disaster in his home country since assuming role in MayPope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced his sympathies for the families whose lives have been upended by the flooding in Texas's Hill Country, which left about 80 dead - many of them children - and others missing.After reciting Angelus prayers at the Vatican, the American-born pontiff remarked in English: I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas. Continue reading...

Eight were held for weeks at a US military base in Djibouti while their legal challenge played out in courtEight men deported from the US in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have reached the Trump administration's intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the state department advises against travel to due to crime, kidnapping and armed conflict".The men from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan arrived in South Sudan on Friday after a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to relocate them in a case that had gone to the supreme court, which had permitted their removal from the US. Administration officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the US. Continue reading...

We've been living in a great experiment: can finance provide basic human rights such as housing? The answer is increasingly noThe housing crisis is now as big a threat to the EU as Russia," Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, recently declared. We're running the risk of having the working and middle classes conclude that their democracies are incapable of solving their biggest problem."It is not hard to see where Collboni is coming from. From Dublin to Milan, residents routinely find half of their incomes swallowed up by rent, and home ownership is unthinkable for most. Major cities are witnessing spiralling house prices and some have jaw-dropping year-on-year median rent increases of more than 10%. People are being pushed into ever more precarious and cramped conditions and homelessness is rapidly rising. Continue reading...

My brother is a man who leaves space for silence. If you want to hear him speak you must learn to be quiet

The president said the US will notify countries of higher tariff rates by 9 July, but the rates won't take effect until 1 August. Key US politics stories from Sunday 6 July.Stock markets slipped amid confusion as to when - and at what level - new US tariffs would be applied, as Donald Trump's self-imposed 9 July deadline edged closer.The US is close to finalising several trade agreements in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by Thursday, the president said on Sunday, with the higher rates to take effect on 1 August. Continue reading...

US president railed against his former adviser online after tech billionaire said he will start and bankroll America partyDonald Trump called Elon Musk's decision to start and bankroll a new US political party ridiculous" on Sunday. Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it but I think it's ridiculous," the president told reporters traveling with him back to the White House from his New Jersey golf club.He then elaborated, at great length, in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks," the president wrote. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States". Continue reading...

Residents observe day of prayer after 82 people killed and 10 girls and one camp counselor still unaccounted forResidents in central Texas were observing a day of prayer on Sunday for at least 82 people killed and dozens missing in Friday's devastating flash flooding, as a search and rescue operation for survivors began to morph into a grim exercise of recovering bodies.Relatives continued an anxious wait for news of 10 girls and one camp counselor still unaccounted for from a riverside summer camp that was overwhelmed by flash flooding from the Guadalupe River, which rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes on Friday morning after torrential pre-dawn rain north of San Antonio. Continue reading...

Terrifying flash floods from Guadalupe River left 70 dead, many of them children, and miles of destruction

People recounted their ordeal after deadly flooding swept through central Texas on Friday morning. At least 50 people, including 15 children, have died as a result of the floods, authorities say, as rescuers continued to search for those still missing

Major development in case against Rafael Caro Quintero accused of taking part in Camarena's 1985 murder in MexicoThe US justice department has begun to hand over audio recordings of the 1985 torture and killing of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent Enrique Kiki" Camarena to a Mexican kingpin's legal defense team, according to a court document filed on Friday.Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the founders of the Mexican Guadalajara cartel, is facing federal prosecution in the eastern district of New York for alleged drug trafficking. Caro Quintero is accused of having participated in Camarena's torture and murder in 1985 in Mexico. Continue reading...

The rules of the institutions that define our lives bend like reeds when it comes to Israel - so much that the whole global order is on the verge of collapseSereen Haddad is a bright young woman. At 20 years old, she just finished a four-year degree in psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in only three years, earning the highest honors along the way. Yet, despite her accomplishments, she still can't graduate. Her diploma is being withheld by the university, not because I didn't complete the requirements", she told me, but because I stood up for Palestinian life." Continue reading...

The American could next move for Sheffield Wednesday or Watford while Palace wait to see if dealings fall favourablyA champion skateboarder in his youth, John Textor has never been averse to risk. The American businessman even warrants a mention in Craig Snyder's book A Secret History of the Ollie as one of the few who beat eight-time world champion Rodney Mullen in freestyle competitions during the turn of the 70s", but a serious head injury put an end to his competitive career.Textor surprisingly turned his attention to football club ownership in 2021 when he bought a stake in Crystal Palace after making his fortune in digital technology and the next week could prove decisive for his latest venture. Continue reading...

Mechanisms designed to limit executive power - Congress, the courts and internal safeguards - are being underminedNear corn dog and cookie vendors, Ray Seeman was washing his hands on a sweltering day. He had come to the rally in a Maga cap and a T-shirt that proclaimed: Cult 45: proud member. Is this a cult? It seems like it," he laughed. It seems like you're either in or you're out."A cult, perhaps, but not an imperial presidency, Seeman insisted, though he does understand Donald Trump's frustrations. I don't like executive orders," he said. I like it to go through due process. But at the same time you've got to get stuff done sometimes." Continue reading...

Voters want more choice at the polls and more issue-driven campaigns. In the Democratic primary, they got bothThe polls did not look good for New York progressives this winter when the Working Families party began making its endorsements for city elections. An early February poll from Emerson College showed Andrew Cuomo with a 23-point lead in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup. None of the four leading progressives even approached double-digit support - including the then unknown assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. He polled at 1%.In the days before ranked-choice voting, the Working Families party's endorsement process might have looked quite different. Like-minded candidates would have drawn sharp distinctions between each other. Party officials might have looked to nudge candidates toward the exits, behind closed doors. Before any votes had been cast in the primary, the party would consolidate behind just one choice. It would have been bloody and left a bitter taste for everyone. Continue reading...

The 32-year-old was instrumental in high-profile national security firings, and has cheerled the attacks on IranAfter years of claiming to be the vanguard of a new America First" isolationist movement rebelling against the neoconservative policies of the George W Bush administration that led to the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Maga's online influencers are cheering for another war in the Middle East.And not just any war: they are applauding Donald Trump's high-risk decision to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, a move that was considered a war too far even by the Bush administration. Continue reading...

Rightwing network downplays criticism from economists and says bill is packed with massive, huge, important wins'Donald Trump's mega-bill has been widely criticized in the press. News outlets and Democrats have warned that millions of people could be stripped of their health coverage through cuts to Medicaid, that cuts to food programs would see children go hungry, and that the legislation would cause the deficit to balloon.Fox News sees it differently. Continue reading...

Family of Cynthia Olivera reconsiders support for president after Ice detained her at green card interviewThe family of a Canadian national who supported Donald Trump's plans for mass deportations of immigrants say they are feeling betrayed after federal agents recently detained the woman in California while she interviewed for permanent US residency - and began working to expel her from the country.We feel totally blindsided," Cynthia Olivera's husband - US citizen and self-identified Trump voter Francisco Olivera - told the California news station KGTV. I want my vote back." Continue reading...

Playmaker scored against his new club and should form an entertaining combination with the England internationalThe good news for Chelsea is that Cole Palmer and Estevao Willian will be on the same team when they next share a pitch. Even better, it seems two of the most gifted young forwards around already have a connection. They were on opposite sides in Philadelphia on Friday night but friends when it was over, sharing a warm embrace after Chelsea's victory over Palmeiras in the Club World Cup, swapping shirts and perhaps thinking about how much fun they are going to have at the expense of opposition defences when they line up together next season.It was a heartwarming sight. Palmer offered a reminder that he remains the main man at Chelsea, performing with craft and intelligence during a first half in which he opened the scoring in smooth fashion, but Estevao vied for centre stage on his final appearance for Palmeiras. It was an extraordinary performance given the context. Anticipation has been building ever since Chelsea agreed a 52m fee with Palmeiras for Estevao in May 2024. The 18-year-old has remained on an upward trajectory after staying with Palmeiras for one more season, but any hopes of keeping the hype machine from going into overdrive with a player regarded as the best Brazilian youth product of his generation had disappeared long before he found himself trying to knock his future employers out of the Club World Cup. Continue reading...

Some two dozen girls still unaccounted for after summer camps swept away as Guadalupe River rises 26ft in 45 minutesRescuers searched on Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 50 people - with more rain pounding the region.The flooding in Kerr county killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight people died in nearby counties. Continue reading...

If the US cuts off the cash it will have world-changing effects, but it's not the only country falling short in its obligations to the United NationsThe United Nations and its agencies have long struggled with funding shortfalls. Now an entrenched problem is becoming an acute crisis in the shadow of Donald Trump's executioner's axe. The US is the biggest contributor, at 22%, to the UN's core budget. In February, the White House announced a six-month review of US membership of all international organisations, conventions and treaties, including the UN, with a view to reducing or ending funding - and possible withdrawal. The deadline for decapitation falls next month.Trump's abolition of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and scrapping of most aid programmes, has already badly damaged UN-led and UN-backed humanitarian operations, which rely on discretionary funding. Yet Trump's axe symbolises a more fundamental threat - to multilateralism and the much-battered international rules-based order. The basic concept of collective responsibility for maintaining global peace and security, and collaboration in tackling shared problems - embodied by the UN since its creation 80 years ago last week - is on the chopping block.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Musk, the world's richest man, only departed from the White House this May but has been critical of Trump's signature policy bill - key US politics stories from Saturday 5 JulyThe fallout between the US president, Donald Trump, and tech billionaire Elon Musk has reached a new low, with Musk declaring this weekend that he will bankroll a new political party to rival the president.Musk, the world's richest man, only departed from the White House this May but has been critical of Trump's signature policy bill, which he has described as utterly insane and destructive". Continue reading...

Girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River, are still missing, says city manager. This blog is now closed.We have more from the Associated Press on Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian summer camp from which up to 25 people are missing.Chloe Crane, a teacher and former Camp Mystic counsellor, said her heart broke when a fellow teacher shared an email from the camp about the missing girls.At least 24 people have died and up to 25 people are missing after torrential rain caused flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas on Friday.Rescue teams are searching for the people who were attending the Christian all-girls Camp Mystic summer camp just outside the town of Kerrville 104km (64 miles) north-west of San Antonio.As of Friday night, emergency personnel had rescued or evacuated 237 people, including 167 by helicopter, Reuters reports.The Texas Division of Emergency Management had 14 helicopters andhundreds of emergency workers, as well as drones, involved in search-and-rescue operations.A month's worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours. In less than an hour the river rose 26 feet (7.9m) in what Kerr county sheriff's office called catastrophic flooding".The flooding swept away mobile homes, vehicles and holiday cabins where people were spending the 4 July weekend, the BBC said.A state of emergency has been declared in several counties.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, US President Donald Trump said, We'll take care of them," when asked about federal aid for the disaster.Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local elected official, said a disaster of such magnitude was unforeseen. We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what's happened here," he said. None whatsoever."More rain is expected in the state, including around Waco, and flooding is anticipated downriver from Kerr county. Continue reading...

Previously apolitical agency lauds Trump's spending bill with false statements about federal taxes, experts sayAn email sent by the US Social Security Administration (SSA) that claims Donald Trump's major new spending bill has eliminated taxes on benefits for most recipients is misleading, critics have said.The reconciliation bill - which the president called the one big, beautiful bill" before signing it on Friday after Republicans in Congress passed it - includes provisions that will strip people of their health insurance, cut food assistance for the poor, kill off clean energy development and raise the national debt by trillions of dollars. Continue reading...

Violence and shootings tend to surge during the summer, especially on one of the deadliest days of the yearFriday's US Independence Day holiday was marked by multiple shootings across the US, including one in Indianapolis that left at least two dead and five wounded as a police chief voiced frustration over the latest acts of violence in his city.Indianapolis metropolitan police chief Chris Bailey told reporters early Saturday morning that the Fourth of July mayhem a day earlier was completely unacceptable and unnecessary" - and that parents and guardians needed to better control their children. Continue reading...

Reports indicate defense secretary unilaterally acted to halt shipment even as Pentagon suggested US arsenal is stockedPete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, unilaterally halted an agreed shipment of military aid to Ukraine due to baseless concerns that US stockpiles of weapons have run too low, it has been reported.A batch of air defense missiles and other precision munitions were due to be sent to Ukraine to aid it in its ongoing war with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022. The aid was promised by the US during Joe Biden's administration last year. Continue reading...

Novak Djokovic produced a masterclass, while Jannik Sinner coasted to victory and Iga Swiatek handily defeated Danielle CollinsWhile we wait, let me delve into my reserves of Wimbledon anecdotes and pick one out from middle Saturday in 2012. Five hours and 31 minutes I sat on Court 2 watching Jack Draper's conqueror, Marin Cilic, drag out a five-set epic against Sam Querrey in the third round.In the end it was 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 17-15 to the Croatian - the second longest match in Wimbledon history. The umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, had also been in the chair for that Isner v Mahut marathon two years earlier. Continue reading...

Goals from Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele helped the nine-man European champions stumble past Bayern Munich in the most chaotic style imaginable

Donald Trump's dramatic escalation in threats to deport or arrest citizens - from the world's richest person to Democratic lawmakers - should be taken seriously, experts sayThreats of retribution from Donald Trump are hardly a novelty, but even by his standards, the US president's warnings of wrathful vengeance in recent days have represented a dramatic escalation.In the past week, Trump has threatened deportation, loss of US citizenship or arrest against, respectively, the world's richest person, the prospective future mayor of New York and Joe Biden's former homeland security secretary. Continue reading...

A drone video shows the scale of devastation left by the flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas on Friday. At least 24 people have died and trees, houses and cars were under water as rescue teams searched for missing people, including those attending the Christian all-girls Camp Mystic summer camp outside the town of Kerrville, 65 miles (105km) north-west of San Antonio. Donald Trump said: 'We'll take care of them,' when asked about federal aid for the disaster

The courts have failed to reckon with coercive control and survivors' trauma. Same with the court of public opinionWouldn't it be nice if, just now and again, bad things happened to bad people? Wouldn't it be refreshing if violence against women was taken seriously instead of being treated like one big joke?Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

In weekly nonviolent protests that channel the civil rights tradition, the faithful rally to end poverty and injusticeOn 2 June, at St Mark's Episcopal church in Washington DC, people packed the sanctuary - elders in denim jackets, seminarians in collars, organizers clutching clipboards. Some had come in from North Carolina; others walked from their homes just a few blocks away. The seats were full, so the crowd lined the aisles and leaned against the red-brick walls beneath stained-glass windows that cast streaks of light across the floor.It was the first Moral Monday of the summer - a tradition of weekly, nonviolent protest that began in North Carolina in 2013 and now serves as the beating heart of the Rev William Barber's national movement to end poverty and systemic injustice. I am not afraid," the congregation sang. They clapped in rhythm. They swayed in place. Their voices, layered and lived in, reverberated through the rafters: I would die for liberation, because I know why I was made." It was part worship, part invocation, part warning. They folded into the center of the sanctuary as they sang covenants of nonviolence - pledges to neither resist arrest nor retaliate, to remain disciplined and dignified in the face of confrontation. One organizer stepped forward and asked them to consider the gravity of what they were saying. In every cell of your body," he said, do you believe that?" Continue reading...

The change has some users of BNPL loans worried, but financial experts say the move could benefit borrowersA new change to buy now, pay later loans means borrowers' credit scores may see a change, which has worried some users of the loans.I have a feeling that I'm just not going to have as much access to spending power and zero or really low APR rates," said Nicole Nitta, a 31-year-old Las Vegas resident, who uses BNPL and shared that she already does not have great credit. Continue reading...

Old Glory Club has at least 26 chapters with participants including military personnel, lawyers and civil servantsA nationwide US network of dozens of far-right, men-only fraternal clubs has what members describe as literally hundreds" of participants who include past and currently serving military personnel, lawyers, civil servants, and prominent antisemitic influencers, a Guardian investigation can reveal.The Old Glory Club (OGC) - which has at least 26 chapters in 20 US states and until now has drawn little attention - exemplifies the alarming rise of organized racist political groups in the past few years but especially during the rise of Donald Trump and his return to the White House. Continue reading...