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Since being elected Pennsylvania governor in 2022, Shapiro maintains high approval ratings, including notable support from RepublicansJosh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, is a leading contender to be named Kamala Harris's running mate in the US presidential election, with a decision expected in the next few days.A congressional aide turned state representative and state attorney general, the 51-year-old father of four was elected governor in 2022. Close to two years later, he maintains historically high approval ratings, including notable support from Republicans, his numbers outstripping such ratings both for Harris and for the GOP ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance. Continue reading...

Find out who is leading the way at the Olympics, and drill down to see which events each country has won medals forFollow all the latest action live | Support the GuardianAs is traditional, the table prioritises the number of gold medals won. On this basis at the 2020 Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, the United States led the field with 39 golds, with China second on 38 and Japan third with 27. If countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silvers, and finally bronze if the numbers are still identical. Continue reading...

For many voters whose support Harris needs, a prosecutor is always a cop, and a cop is not the good guyKamala Harris has struggled to establish a clear political identity, and much of the trouble comes from her record as a prosecutor in California. In 2004, as San Francisco district attorney, she declined to seek the death penalty for a man convicted of killing a police officer (he received a life sentence). Ten years later, when the state supreme court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional, Harris, then the state attorney general, appealed the decision.As California attorney general - a position she held from 2011 to 2017 - Harris launched reforms such as the program to prevent recidivism among young first-time nonviolent drug offenders. The program, Back on Track, offered individual support and job training and replaced jail time with community service - a revolutionary" idea at the time, noted Mother Jones editorial director and veteran Harris-watcher Jamilah King. Yet Harris's office opposed the release of non-violent offenders from California prisons, in defiance of a court order to reduce overcrowding.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books Continue reading...

A travelling tent with self-styled prophets hits swing states and brings a message: help deliver the election to TrumpBy 9am on Monday, hundreds of worshipers who had gathered under a tent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, were already on their feet. Praiseful music bumped from enormous speakers. The temperature was pushing 90F.The congregants had gathered in north-western Wisconsin for the Courage Tour, a travelling tent revival featuring a lineup of charismatic preachers and self-styled prophets promising healing, and delivering a political message: register to vote. Watch, or work, the polls. And help deliver the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

The plane carrying prisoners freed from Russia in return for the release of Russian detainees, in the largest exchange in decades, arrived at Andrews airbase. Sixteen people were freed from Russian custody, including the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Several other foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners were also freed

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris met Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other freed American prisoners just hours after Washington and Moscow completed their largest prisoner exchange since the cold war. Gershkovich and the other freed prisoners, ex-marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, disembarked a Bombardier Jet from Turkey at Andrews air force Base near Washington DC, and were met by their families and the US president and vice-president

Joshua Jones reportedly admits that collectively we did it. We killed him' after Tony Mitchell died of hypothermiaA former corrections officer at an Alabama jail has pleaded guilty in the case of a mentally ill man who died of hypothermia after being held naked in a concrete cell for two weeks.The officer, Joshua Conner Jones, entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors over the treatment of two prisoners at the Walker county jail. Continue reading...

Trump running mate made remarks to Catholic group in 2021, the same year he criticized childless cat ladies'In remarks to a Catholic group, JD Vance attacked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for having a sociopathic attitude" about families and children.One of the politicians that I criticised is AOC," said Vance in 2021, while campaigning for the US Senate seat in Ohio he would win the following year. Continue reading...

Donna Massey told a dispatcher: Please don't send no combative policemen that are prejudiced'Two emergency response calls were made from the home of Sonya Massey, the Black woman who was shot in the face by an Illinois sheriff's deputy after she called 911 for help, in the days leading up to her death, according to records released Wednesday.In a third call, Massey's mother, Donna Massey, reports that her daughter is suffering a mental breakdown" and tells the dispatcher: I don't want you guys to hurt her." She adds that she fears the police and asks that no officer who is prejudiced" be sent. Continue reading...

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Governor says national guard will support first responders as state becomes latest in west to battle several major firesOne person has died and at least five homes were destroyed as Colorado becomes the latest western state to battle several major wildfires.The Boulder county sheriff, Curtis Johnson, reported the death was discovered in one of the five homes burned by the Stone Canyon fire near the town of Lyon, but did not provide further details. The fire has burned more than 1,500 acres (607 hectares) and was reported 20% contained on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

Biles wins gold in individual all-around final, Andy Murray's career ends after doubles loss with Dan EvansWhen you're an official flagbearer for your country at an Olympic Games, the pressure ratchets up a few notches. Australian kayak queen Jess Fox accepted the double-edged sword, chosen as flag bearer, leading the team down the Seine, as the face of her team.Expectations on Fox were already high - both her parents are former Olympians and her sister is also competing at these Games - but somehow she found a way... Continue reading...

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, showed emotion as he described the collective effort behind the release of American citizens detained in Russia. The US journalist Evan Gershkovich and the ex-marine Paul Whelan were released by Russia as part of the biggest prisoner exchange between the two countries since the the cold war. Several other foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners were also freed

The American sprinter was at rock bottom when a positive marijuana test ended her hopes before the Tokyo Olympics. She has reinvented herself sinceI'm a Bentley," Sha'Carri Richardson says proudly at one point in Sprint, the fly-on-the-wall Netflix series that follows some of the world's leading track stars. Fast, expensive ... fancy." It shows how little she knows about cars.Bentleys are all about subtlety. The amenities don't intrude. The speed is hushed. They're grand but never ostentatious. Richardson? She's a Lamborghini: not just fast but abruptly so while, at the same time, loud and susceptible to spiraling out of control at any moment. But this latest edition of the Richardson is vastly more fine-tuned for her Olympic debut on Friday, a do-over of sorts. Continue reading...

An occasion of fellowship devolved into a spectacle at the National Association of Black Journalists' conventionYesterday, the National Association of Black Journalists launched its annual convention and career fair in Chicago, Illinois. The multi-day event - viewed by Black journalists as an invaluable safe space - brings together thousands of members from across the nation to train, network and socialize.The conference's opening day, however, was overshadowed by an unexpected guest: Donald J Trump. The former president was invited by the NABJ board to participate in a panel interview and his attendance was announced just two days before the event. The interview was fraught, hostile and brief. And it confirmed many NABJ members' fears that Trump's interaction with three Black women moderators - Rachel Scott from ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Semafor's Kadia Goba - would be a farce. The discussion ran afoul of any attempt to use journalism to speak truth to power. Continue reading...

Russian state TV shows the moment journalist Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Paul Whelan and other members of the prisoner exchange board a plane to leave Russia. The swap took place at Ankara airport and involved the freeing of several foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners. In exchange, eight Russians held in the west were returned to Moscow

The US president held a press conference after the journalist Evan Gershkovich and others were freed in a prisoner exchange between western countries and Russia. Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza were among those freed after being held in Russia. The exchange took place at Ankara airport in Turkey, with eight Russians held in the west returning to Russia. Among them was the assassin Vadim Krasikov, who has been held in a German prison since 2019 for the murder of a Chechen exile in Berlin

Five-judge panel rules that Juan Merchan was correct to extend parts of gag order until Trump is sentencedA New York appeals court on Thursday denied Donald Trump's bid to end a gag order in his hush-money criminal case, rejecting the Republican president's argument that his May conviction constitutes a change in circumstances" that warrants lifting the restrictions.A five-judge panel in the state's mid-level appellate court ruled that the trial judge, Juan Merchan, was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced, writing that the fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing". Continue reading...

American remains the west's most influential nation - which is why I fear for a world where Republican leaders could be in powerThe forthcoming election is one of the most important to me since I first cast a ballot more than four decades ago. And yet this time - while I've never felt more invested in an election's outcome - I won't have a vote.I'm not talking about the next federal poll in Australia - the one that's most likely to be held early next year. No, I'm referring to the United States presidential election in November, the result of which will reverberate with profound global consequences and - therefore - with significant personal others as well. Continue reading...

Background as senator, US navy pilot and astronaut helps his case to become Kamala Harris's running mateMark Kelly's resume stands out in the sea of lawyers that dominate Washington.The Arizona senator was a US navy pilot who served multiple deployments. He was on Celebrity Jeopardy. He is a steadfast partner to his wife, former US representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt at a public event in Tucson in 2011 and has worked alongside Kelly to limit guns since. Continue reading...

To survive a deadly cancer, author Ida Harris had to give up her sweet tooth. It's been an identity-shaking adjustmentA diabetic at a dessert show: I know it sounds like a terrible joke, the most exquisite torture or, at the very least, a bad idea. But there I was at Sweet Fest in Atlanta, rumored to be the sweetest day the city had ever seen.I strolled slowly by dessert display after display: decadent banana puddings; strawberry-stuffed muffins; brownies in shades of blonde, velvet and the darkest chocolate. I lusted after every sugar cookie, ice cream scoop and candied apple. But nothing quite piqued my interest like the bread puddings made by small, home-based bakeries. Continue reading...

Grassroots groups say mobilizing voters is easier after Biden left the race and Harris's candidacy now gains steamBlack grassroots organizers who played a critical role in mobilizing voters in the last presidential election say they are seeing an uptick in interest in their groups and a jolt of energy after Kamala Harris took Joe Biden's place at the top of the Democratic ticket.I hear nothing but enthusiasm," said Helen Butler, a longtime voting rights organizer who runs the nonpartisan Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda. More people are calling to volunteer. The young people are saying, What can we do?' All of our activities are nonpartisan. So we're training them to just talk about civic engagement and why public policy matters." Continue reading...

Bill would stipulate that Congress, not the supreme court, has authority to determine to whom federal criminal laws are applied

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Sophie Downey for a women's football specialRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.On the podcast today: we start with the Canadian drones, their national coach suspended and a six-point deduction at the Olympics. How did this happen and does the punishment fit the crime? The panel debate. Continue reading...

In exchange for removing the death penalty as a possible punishment, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other accused plead guilty. Plus, extreme heat at the Olympics

If liberals insist workers should focus more on race than shared class interests, they give right wing ammo for their culture warHow things can change in a matter of weeks. In early July, populism seemed to rule the day in American politics.Donald Trump selected JD Vance, a figure who's been trying on producerist rhetoric in recent years, as his pick for vice-president and invited the Teamsters president, Sean O'Brien, to speak at the Republican national convention. Joe Biden, facing a flagging campaign and internal pressure to step down, met with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to lay out a pro-worker agenda for a potential new term. Continue reading...

Trump's running mate is not a break from ruthless Republican capitalism - just a shameless repackaging of itInitially hailed as an inspired choice to inherit the Maga movement, James David Vance has fast proved a liability to the Trump campaign: Democrats are successfully branding him as a creepy manosphere specimen; his stances on abortion, IVF and women without children have rightly made him a focal point for criticizing the right's obsession with controlling women's bodies. Then there's the issue of whether he's really the man to mansplain Appalachia to the rest of us, given that he grew up in a city in Ohio.But one story about the junior senator continues to be accepted at face value: Vance as champion of a new right-populism" that puts the working class first. There are no policy proposals that would vindicate that image; what's more, Vance's career has been financed by a nefarious combination of rightwing tech bros and the fossil fuel industry: those who have no problem polluting the public sphere with misinformation and disinformation and those profiting from polluting the atmosphere. Both are prime promoters of the libertarianism that right-populists" supposedly disavow. Continue reading...

Blueprint outlines extreme, conservative policies for a potential second Trump term and beyondYou've probably heard of Project 2025 - either from Democrats such as the vice-president, Kamala Harris, warning of what it could mean for US government, or from Republicans such as former president Donald Trump claiming they have nothing to do with it.The project is an effort by the Heritage Foundation, a prominent rightwing thinktank, to dismantle features of the government it believes conflict with conservative ideology and to install extreme, conservative policies in a potential second Trump term and beyond. Continue reading...

Former general cautioned ex-president does touch a chord', though those who have worked with him don't like himDemocrats have a dangerous tendency to underestimate Donald Trump, warned Wesley Clark, a retired senior US general and former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.I don't think anybody who works for Trump has ever recommended him," Clark said. Not John Bolton, not John Kelly, the retired marines general who was [White House] chief of staff ... not [retired marines general] Jim Mattis, who resigned as secretary of defense under Trump. I don't think people who work for him have any respect for his ability. Continue reading...

Donald Trump participated in a contentious panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists. The discussion, held in Chicago at the organisation's annual convention, began after an hour-long delay, with a room full of journalists tensely awaiting the programme

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 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...

Find out who is leading the way at the Olympics, and drill down to see which events each country has won medals forFollow all the latest action live | Support the GuardianAs is traditional, the table prioritises the number of gold medals won. On this basis at the 2020 Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, the United States led the field with 39 golds, with China second on 38 and Japan third with 27. If countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silvers, and finally bronze if the numbers are still identical. Continue reading...

From a headscarf ban for French athletes to social cleansing in the capital, these Games rest on a foundation of injusticeThe Paris Olympics opening ceremony was a stunning spectacle for global audiences, projecting an image of a proudly inclusive and festive France - even if the awkward truth is that, just a few weeks earlier, our country was on the verge of putting a racist far-right party into government. The ceremony's various tableaux were presented as a triumphant display of our different cultures performed by artists of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and genders, and fuelled by references to historical struggles against oppression.But this unifying narrative introduced an Olympic and Paralympic Games that in reality are not all that inclusive. Continue reading...

Vice-president brushes off remarks by Donald Trump in which he said Harris happened to turn Black' a number of years agoKamala Harris has shrugged off Donald Trump's questioning of her racial identity, saying that it was the same old show" and that America deserves better", at a rally in Texas.On Wednesday, in an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Trump antagonised senior Black journalists and questioned Harris's race, saying, She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black." Continue reading...

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has gone on the offensive after suspicions that he stole last Sunday's presidential election plunged Venezuela into turmoil and diplomatic isolation, blaming the unrest on a far-right conspiracy being spearheaded by perverse and macabre" political foes. Maduro said that he would be willing to restart talks with the United States if Washington shows Venezuela due respect, while at the same time blaming them for helping cause the unrest.

During a contentious panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Donald Trump parroted disinformation about immigration and abortion, questioned Kamala Harris's race and accused a panel moderator, Rachel Scott - the senior congressional correspondent for ABC News - of being 'rude' and presenting a 'nasty question' when she asked him: 'Why should Black voters trust you?'

Alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed among trio to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for life sentenceThree men accused of being involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack - including the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon - have agreed to plea deals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prosecutors said on Wednesday.The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pre-trial agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case," the Pentagon said in a short statement. Continue reading...

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Trump says you're voting for the president ... you're voting for me' when asked about vice-presidential pickDonald Trump has said that vice presidential picks have virtually no impact" on elections when asked about JD Vance's fitness for office, in an apparent attempt to downplay his running mate's role on the Republican ticket.Trump made the comments during a combative interview at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago. Asked by the Fox News journalist Harris Faulkner whether Vance would be ready to take over on day one, if he has to be", Trump avoided answering directly and instead downplayed the significance of the Vance's role. Continue reading...

The former president snapped and snarled through his interview - and looked for all the world like an old crankAfter keeping an audience of interrogators waiting, Donald Trump finally arrived on stage for his Wednesday appearance at the convention for the National Association of Black Journalists over an hour late. He blamed the delay not on the furious behind-the-scenes between the NABJ and his campaign about whether he could be factchecked in real time, but on what he described as organizers' inability to calibrate the audio equipment in time for his highly controversial panel discussion. It's a disgrace," he snarled.When ABC's Rachel Scott opened the proceedings by asking the former president his impetus for addressing the Black journalists, women and Chicagoans in the crowd who have been regularly subject to his hostility, Trump dismissed the question as horrible" and called Scott nasty" before turning his bluster meter up to 11. Continue reading...

Relatives of 346 people killed in 2018 and 2019 crashes say planemaker should face a much higher fineFamilies of some of the 346 people killed in two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes said on Wednesday a US judge should reject the planemaker's proposed plea deal with the US Department of Justice and said the government should seek a much higher fine.On 24 July, the global company finalized an agreement to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay between $243.6m and $487m after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Continue reading...

Many expressed frustration with National Association of Black Journalists for inviting ex-president into our home'On Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump participated in a contentious panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The discussion, held in Chicago at the organization's annual convention, began after an hour-long delay, with a room full of journalists tensely awaiting the program.During the wait, Philip Lewis, the HuffPost deputy editor, shared on X that the hold-up was being caused by a disagreement between the NABJ and the former president. I'm told that Trump is demanding that NABJ not do the live factchecking and that's why the event hasn't started yet," he wrote. We're in a standoff." Continue reading...

Leon Marchand won gold twice in one evening and Katie Ledecky was dominant while Team GB secured five medalsClarisse Agbegnenou was one of just four individual gold medal-winners for France in Tokyo, making her one of the faces of the Games in the build-up to Paris. But the judoka had to settle for bronze in the 63kg category.It was still a moment to cherish though with Agbegnenou making her daughter part of her celebrations, following her close involvement throughout her preparation for the competition. Angelique Chrisafis has more.Agbegnenou's popularity in France rests on her extraordinary personal story. She was born premature in the Brittany city of Rennes, where she had major kidney surgery as a tiny baby, and was in a coma. She is now a patron of premature baby charities. Talent-spotted as a teenager, she received elite training and quickly rose up the ranks to become one of France's biggest judo stars, in both individual and team competitions.She said in the run-up to the Paris Olympics that her trailblazing for elite women athletes who had children was one of her biggest achievements - she took her baby to training in order to feed her. I want women athletes who follow me to feel free and legitimate, to break codes to change mentalities and change the rules. We can have a life as a woman and mother as well as champion at the same time," she told Le Parisien before competing in Paris.There is no mandatory requirement to withdraw from the Games in cases of Covid, leaving nations to implement their own policies with athletes and staff. Continue reading...

The Englishwoman has overseen three wins from three at in Paris, reshaping how the team plays and blowing away memories of the 2023 World CupIt took under a minute after kick-off for the American supporters to break into a chant of I believe that we will win", in the stands in Marseille. That in itself is not too out of the ordinary - it's one of the customary rallying cries from those who worship the US women's national team - but there was a vigour to the chant on Wednesday evening that had a valid, renewed and performance-based justification.A year ago on 1 August 2023, the US laboured to a goalless draw with unfancied Portugal, in their final group game at the World Cup, luckily scraping through to the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth, with five points from three matches. After three group games at these 2024 Olympics, in a group theoretically containing higher-calibre opposition than 12 months ago, the US have impressively won the group with a maximum nine points under new head coach Emma Hayes. More than that, though, they have topped that group with a style of play that seems unrecognisable from that fateful tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Continue reading...