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Frances Tiafoe got the better of Andrey Rublev to delight the New York crowd after Aryna Sabalenka powered past Karolina PliskovaFirst set: *Pliskova 1-5 Sabalenka (*denotes next server) Sabalenka has suffered issues with her serve in the past, but when it’s firing – as it certainly is so far today – it’s hard to stop. She powers through this service hold, and the first set is in sight.First set: Pliskova 1-4 Sabalenka* (*denotes next server) A ten-shot rally ends with Sabalenka blasting an 85mph winner into the corner. Pliskova finds some welcome serve accuracy – a pair of aces get her on the board in this set. Continue reading...

City officials ‘taking this matter very seriously’ as detection comes amid water access problems in Jackson, Mississippi and New YorkE coli has been detected in multiple locations across Baltimore in recent days, city officials have announced.Residents have been urged to boil tap water for at least a minute after E coli samples were detected in West Baltimore over the weekend. Since then, over 1,500 people in the city of around 600,000 have been affected by the advisory, including multiple schools. Continue reading...

Judge Elizabeth Gleicher had previously suspended the same law as state supreme court considers abortion ballot amendmentA judge on Wednesday struck down Michigan’s 1931 anti-abortion law, months after suspending it, the latest development over abortion rights in a state where the issue is being argued in courtrooms and, possibly, at the ballot box.The law, which was long dormant before the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June, violates the Michigan constitution, said Judge Elizabeth Gleicher. Continue reading...

Former intelligence chiefs say national security officials are ‘shaking their heads at what damage might have been done’Mar-a-Lago – the Palm Beach resort and residence where Donald Trump reportedly stored nuclear secrets among a trove of highly classified documents for 18 months since leaving the White House – is a magnet for foreign spies, former intelligence officials have warned.The Washington Post reported that a document describing an unspecified foreign government’s defences, including its nuclear capabilities, was one of the many highly secret papers Trump took away from the White House when he left office in January 2021. Continue reading...

Federal judge says employers don’t need to cover PrEP drugs if it violates companies’ religious beliefsA federal judge in Texas has ruled that employers should not be forced to provide coverage for HIV infection prevention drugs if it violates their owners’ religious beliefs “by making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior”.US district judge Reed O’Connor on Wednesday ruled in favor of Braidwood Management, a Christian-owned company based in Texas, saying it was not required to cover the cost of Truvada and Descovy, two pre-exposure prophylactic drugs also known as PrEP. Continue reading...

The Obamas did not have their unveiling ceremony while Donald Trump was in officeBarack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, returned to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits, hosted by Joe Biden more than five years after the 44th president left office.Large, formal portraits of presidents and first ladies adorn walls, hallways and rooms throughout the White House. Customarily, a former president returns for the unveiling during the tenure of his successor. But the Obamas, who have remained popular since leaving power, did not have their ceremony while Donald Trump was in office. Continue reading...

Hundreds of public officials, including police chiefs, appear on far-right group’s leaked lists of members, report findsThe names of hundreds of US law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that is accused of playing a key role in the January 6 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, according to a report released on Wednesday.The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies – including as police chiefs and sheriffs – and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military. Continue reading...

More than 5m families missing meals and cutting portions because of poverty, according to government researchOne in 10 American households struggled to feed their families last year, with more than 5 million families missing meals and cutting portions due to poverty, new government research reveals.Food insecurity in households with children is the lowest level on record, yet families still account for almost half of the country’s food-insecure households, with 2.3m unable to afford adequate nutritional food at times during 2021, according to the annual food insecurity report by the USDA. Continue reading...

A sense of solidarity in the Brooklyn neighborhood has driven donations – but local Pakistanis say more help is neededAs record-breaking flooding continues to devastate Pakistan, leaving more than 1,250 dead and affecting at least 35 million people, members of the Pakistani diaspora in New York City are rallying their neighbors to help.“There’s a unity here,” said Fareeha Haq, a community worker in Little Pakistan, the neighborhood in South Brooklyn that is home to one of the largest Pakistani populations in the US. The roughly mile-long district lined with mosques, halal grocers and restaurants remains intimately connected to Pakistan: “You can walk out in your traditional clothes and you don’t look awkward. You can get everything you want that would do in Pakistan – there’s a guy who sells sugarcane juice, just like home,” said Haq. Continue reading...

In Italy all you get is Italian and we win hands down on variety. That is, until you stop off at a motorway service stationLast month in Croatia an old Serbian guy told me a joke about the British, the French, the Germans and the Swiss. I’m shaky on the details but it concerned a vision of paradise in which the engineers were German, the chefs were French, the lovers were Italian, the Swiss were in charge of organising everything and the police – or the “bobbies” as my Serbian friend Slobo called them – were British. I felt a light swelling of pride at this Dixon of Dock Green characterisation of law enforcement in my home country. As for the punchline, I’m not sure how we got to it but there was some kind of muddle in which the Italians were put in charge of organising everything, which led to the policing being done by the Germans, the engineering by the French, the British did the cooking and all the lovers were Swiss.Now, there’s a lot of crass national stereotyping to unpick here. German coppers seem OK to me, and our Renault drives very nicely. As for the Swiss, while I’ve never had a Swiss lover, I can’t imagine what they might lack for in the bedroom. My friend told me he once offended a Swiss bloke with this joke, and now he had offended me. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard my home country’s food casually disparaged in my earshot. And I’m not having it. Having spent three weeks travelling around Europe this summer, I know for sure that, depending on the criteria, we’re the best. Continue reading...

Transition to single annual coronavirus shot is an ‘important milestone’ in the pandemic, says Ashish JhaThe coronavirus vaccine could soon become an annual shot like the flu vaccination, protecting most people from serious illness throughout the year, White House Covid advisers have announced.At a press briefing on Tuesday, Ashish Jha, the Covid response coordinator, said the transition to a single annual shot was an “important milestone” in the pandemic – which has killed more than a million Americans, leaving at least 250,000 children without a parent or primary caregiver. Continue reading...

Maura Healey cruises to Democratic primary victory and will face Republican Geoff Diehl, a supporter of Trump’s election lieMassachusetts is on course to elect its first woman and first gay governor after Maura Healey won the Democratic primary on Tuesday and a Trump-backed candidate, Geoff Diehl, won the Republican contest to face her.Healey, the state attorney general, said: “I am honored to receive the Democratic nomination … Together, we’re going to win in November and build a Massachusetts that works for everyone.” Continue reading...

Supporters dressed as angels stepped in between people gathered to support Brigham Young University’s queer community and anti-LGBTQ+ protestersSupporters of LGBTQ+ students rallying in Utah were given protection from protesters hurling insults and misinformation over the weekend by allies dressed as angels, who raised huge fabric “wings” to shield queer marchers.Members of Brigham Young University’s (BYU) queer community were confronted at a pride event last Saturday by anti-gay students and outside protesters, the Salt Lake Tribune reported, but they found they had an unusual and effective security barrier. Continue reading...

The 24-year-old could end America’s long wait for a men’s slam champion having beaten the odds in so many waysNo sooner had Frances Tiafoe walked off the court after completing the biggest win of his career to reach the US Open quarter-finals than he looked up at his player box where his parents, Frances Sr and Alphina Kamara, beamed down with pride amid deafening roars from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.“To see them experience me beat Rafa Nadal?” recalled Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Hyattsville, Maryland, who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows. “They’ve seen me have big wins, but to beat those Mount Rushmore guys, for them, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads. They’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives.” Continue reading...

Recovered records include material even senior Biden officials were not authorized to view, Washington Post reports. Plus, did Harry Styles really spit on Chris Pine?

Republicans efforts to delegitimize the electoral process should trouble us greatly. Democrats ought to hammer this homeWe’re nearing the end of a summer that’s been a real boon for the Biden administration and Democrats in Washington. The White House finally announced a partial student loan forgiveness plan that will deliver some long-awaited relief to millions of borrowers. The Dobbs decision in June and its aftermath have triggered a public backlash that’s reinforced support for abortion rights and opened the eyes of many Americans to the pro-life movement’s radicalism on the issue. The Department of Justice is evidently in the middle of a quite serious investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents ⁠— one that’s put him at the top of the headlines again in spectacular fashion and may well end in his prosecution. And, most consequentially, after a months-long stalemate, Congress managed to pass a flawed, but genuinely historic bill ⁠— the hilariously and shrewdly named Inflation Reduction Act, which happens to be, among other things, the largest single climate package ever passed by any country.

Title 42 bans all migrants from entering the country over spread of Covid – but the rule is largely enforced against Mexicans and people from Guatemala, Honduras and El SalvadorAs hundreds of migrants line up along an Arizona border barrier around 4am, agents try to separate them into groups by nationality.“Anyone from Russia or Bangladesh? I need somebody else from Russia here,” an agent shouts and then says quietly, almost to himself: “These are Romanian.” Continue reading...

Move comes as Biden administration outlines plans to boost domestic production of semiconductorsUS technology firms that receive government funding will be banned from building “advanced technology facilities” in China for a decade, the Biden administration has announced, as it outlined plans to increase domestic production of semiconductors.The requirements come under the US government’s near-$53bn (£46bn) plan to scale up manufacturing of semiconductor chips – the “brain” in every electronic device from cars to household appliances – which are predominantly produced in Asia. Continue reading...

Judge Aileen Cannon’s opinion screams out that she applies more lenient rules to Donald TrumpThe best thing one can say about Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision Monday appointing a special master to review the documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is that it’s not the end of the world: the Justice Department can continue its investigation of Donald Trump’s apparent theft and retention of highly sensitive defense-related documents, at least those that weren’t seized in the August 6 search. The Washington Post reported that those documents included nuclear secrets of other nations.It can also continue to investigate his efforts to overturn the presidential election, culminating in his role in the violent insurrection of January 6, keeping in mind the historic holding of a New Mexico state court this September 6 that the 14th Amendment bars all who played such a role from ever again holding public office in the United States.Laurence H Tribe is the Carl M Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law SchoolDennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy Continue reading...

Sacramento Republic of the second-tier USL are 90 minutes away from a historic trophy and the biggest triumph in a long-overlooked city’s sports historySacramento, as a city, has always had a chip on its shoulder. Despite its 2.5 million residents and status as the capital of California, it has long been overshadowed by the likes of the Bay Area’s Silicon Valley and Los Angeles.That dynamic inevitably spills over to sports, where its soccer team, Sacramento Republic of the second-tier USL, was infamously spurned last year by Major League Soccer only 17 months after it was very publicly awarded an expansion slot. Continue reading...

The Americans’ actions at the 1972 Games had echoes of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. But today their story has been largely forgottenFifty years ago this week, two African American athletes, Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett, won gold and silver respectively in the 400m at the Munich Olympics. At the medal ceremony they threw themselves into the maw of history.During the US national anthem, the athletes shared the top tier of the podium – which would usually have been reserved for Matthews alone as the winner – an act of unity that broke Olympic protocol. They angled their backs away from the American flag and chatted casually, looking uninterested. Matthews rubbed his chin pensively before folding his arms. Collett stood barefoot, jacket open with hands on hips. As they departed, Matthews twirled his medal on his finger while Collett thrust a clenched fist into the air. Continue reading...

Critics say the decision to stop reviewing documents seized from Mar-a-Lago until a special master is appointed is ‘unprecedented’ and ‘insane’Monday’s decision by a US federal judge to stop the investigation of Donald Trump’s seizure of classified documents until a “special master” reviews them has thrown the political and legal worlds into uproar – pitting those who believe the ex-president has special legal privileges against those who think he should be treated like any other citizen.The procedural victory for Trump means the Department of Justice will have to press pause on its effort to determine whether the former president may have illegally run off with classified documents from the White House and kept them at his home in Mar-a-Lago. Continue reading...

Chris Van Hollen calls for independent US inquiry, saying IDF claim Shireen Abu Aqleh died amid gun battle unsupported by evidenceA US senator has dismissed an Israeli army report that claims a soldier accidentally killed the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh in the midst of a gun battle, saying it is unsupported by the evidence.Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator for Maryland, repeated his call for an independent US investigation into Abu Aqleh’s killing in the West Bank in May, saying that the United Nations and reconstructions by major news outlets found that the Al Jazeera television journalist was not in the immediate vicinity of fighting with Palestinian militants and could not have been caught in the crossfire. Continue reading...

Former Trump strategist to face state charges over fundraising for the wall that likely mirror a federal case in which he was pardonedTop former Trump strategist Steve Bannon is expected to be indicted on Thursday on state fraud charges connected to his role in a fundraising scheme to build a border wall, according to two sources familiar with the matter, years after he received a presidential pardon in the federal case.The expected move by the Manhattan district attorney’s office was quietly communicated to Bannon in recent days, the sources said of the sealed indictment, and indicated the state charges will likely mirror the federal case in which he was pardoned. Continue reading...

Recovered records include material even senior Biden officials were not authorized to view, Washington Post reportsThe FBI recovered a document describing a foreign government’s nuclear capabilities during its search of Mar-a-Lago, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.The Post, citing unnamed sources, did not identify the foreign government named in the document describing the country’s military defenses. Continue reading...

There were scenes of destruction across California as wildfires torched homes in the south and eviscerated a historic community near the Oregon border.

E-cigarette company, whose products are blamed for a surge in youth vaping, also faces new marketing restrictionsThe electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440m to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal on Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to investigate Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative. Continue reading...

Four fire-related deaths were reported over the weekend as more than 4,000 firefighters battled 14 large blazes across the stateCalifornia’s power grid is facing a major stress test on Tuesday, as a historic heatwave enters its most brutal phase. With temperatures in parts of the state forecasted to hit 115F (46C), officials are asking residents to prepare for possible rolling blackouts as the heatwave reaches a boiling point.Officials said controlled power interruptions “can help maintain reliability and avoid cascading blackouts”, as people across the state crank up their air conditioners amid scorching temperatures, California’s grid operator warned. Continue reading...

Los Angeles Unified, with over 600,000 students, suffers ‘significant infrastructure disruption’ but classes set to take place as usualHackers targeted the second-largest school district in the US with a cyber-attack over Labor Day weekend, officials at Los Angeles unified school district have confirmed.The district characterized the cyber-attack as a “significant disruption to our system’s infrastructure” but officials said they did not expect major problems with teaching or such services as transportation and food. It said business operations might be delayed or modified.The Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...

This marks the first time since 1869 that a court removed an official for participating in an insurrectionA New Mexico official was removed from elected office on Tuesday for his role in the January 6 siege on the US capitol, marking the first time a politician has lost their job for their involvement in the attack.Couy Griffin, one of three commissioners in Otero county in southern New Mexico, was immediately removed from his position and cannot hold elected office again, Francis Mathew, a district judge in Santa Fe, wrote in his ruling. Continue reading...

US midterms campaigns kick into high gear after Labor Day as Senate returns from month-long break

Residents of one of the largest public housing complexes in Manhattan have not had safe drinking water for more than a weekDangerous levels of arsenic were found in a New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex, leaving thousands of affected residents without safe tap water.The crisis plays out as people in the predominantly Black city of Jackson, Mississippi, have gone without clean drinking water for more than a month, with residents using bottled water for everyday needs like cooking and brushing teeth. Continue reading...

Prominent Memphis businessman’s granddaughter was forced into a car and kidnapped during an early morning jog on FridayPolice in Tennessee have found the body of a woman who was forced into a car and kidnapped during an early morning jog near the University of Memphis.Memphis police said on Tuesday that investigators identified the body of 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher, a schoolteacher and a prominent Memphis businessman’s granddaughter whose disappearance horrified people across the country.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Dead include local civil rights activist as one body recovered while the other nine remain missing after crash in Washington stateTen people were killed when a floatplane crashed in the waters of Washington state’s Puget Sound over the weekend, including a local civil rights activist and the founder of a winery and his family.The US Coast Guard released the names of the crash victims early on Tuesday. The body of one of the dead was recovered by a good Samaritan after the Sunday afternoon crash. The other nine remain missing. Continue reading...

People were annoyed rather than upset at the Australian’s criticism of Serena Williams. After all, they knew what to expectTennis fans had yet to shed their party clothes from the Serena Williams farewell fest when Margaret Court crashed the party and released a funk that got folks up in arms.In an interview with the Daily Telegraph’s Oliver Brown published on Monday, Court said of Serena, “I’ve admired her as a player … But I don’t think she has ever admired me.” Has Court called Serena to express this admiration? If not, why make up what Serena may or may not feel? In the interview Court – a 24-time grand slam singles champion – also raises her issues with Serena’s sportsmanship, abilities after giving birth and the comforts of life on tour in the modern era. Continue reading...

Intrusive press photographs and official visit to Brazil led to then first lady adopting style of dress that she made famousHillary Clinton decided to start wearing the pantsuits that became her political trademark after “suggestive” photos taken of her during a visit to Brazil were used in a lingerie ad in the mid-1990s, she has revealed.The former US secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate told CBS News in an interview that aired on Sunday that the choice came after a 1995 trip to Brazil she took with her husband, Bill Clinton, then in the first of two terms as president. Continue reading...

Julie Chin, who works for NBC in Tulsa, did not finish broadcast and was taken to hospital, but says she should be ‘just fine’An Oklahoma TV news anchor suffered a stroke live on air as she read the news about the cancellation of a Nasa rocket launch.Julie Chin, who works for an NBC station in Tulsa, started to stumble over her words as she read from a teleprompter over the weekend. Continue reading...

The slugger turned down a huge contract extension from the Yankees and bet on his own abilities. It looks like he made the right decisionAaron Judge started 2022 by turning down a seven-year, $213.5m contract extension from the New York Yankees. That deal would have given the now 30-year-old one of the largest contracts in MLB history. But Judge thought he was worth more, opting to play out this season and see what he could fetch in free-agency. In an era in which the phrase “bet on yourself” has become ubiquitous, perhaps nobody placed a larger bet than Judge. And that bet is paying dividends.On Monday against the Minnesota Twins, Judge launched his 54th home run of the season, the latest installment in a special campaign from the 6ft 7in, 280lb right fielder. Judge’s effort puts him on track to finish the season with 64 home runs, which would take him past the American League record of 61, set by fellow Yankee Roger Maris in 1961. Beyond that is MLB-record territory, where the murky, steroid-bound legacies of Barry Bonds (73 home runs in 2001), Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (70 and 66 respectively in 1998) are the subject of endless fan debate. Continue reading...

Federal court accepts ex-president’s call for official to set aside materials potentially subject to privilege protections. Plus, Chris Rock on Will Smith’s apology videoGood morning.A federal judge has granted Donald Trump’s request to have a “special master” appointed to review documents the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate that could be subject to privilege protections in the investigation into unauthorized retention of government secrets.Will the DoJ appeal? Yes, it would probably appeal against the decision to the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit, officials said, though in the meantime it will almost certainly delay the investigation into potential violations of the Espionage Act and potential obstruction of justice.When was he arrested? Francis was arrested in a San Diego hotel room during a sting in 2013, and pleaded guilty two years later. He has had various health problems, including kidney cancer, and has been held at a private residence since 2018.Why has he made an escape now? It’s unclear, as he had been acting as a cooperating witness for a federal prosecutor, but he was due to be sentenced on 22 September. Continue reading...

The good news is, we know how to fix that malaise – because many, many people have been right there with you beforeAs a connoisseur of the journalistic art of spinning out fake trends that exist solely to spark heated reactions from readers on the internet, I appreciate the invention of “quiet quitting”.The term, which can be loosely defined as “people half-assing it at work”, may provoke in you the irrepressible urge to shout: “That’s not new!” Which means it is doing its job as a trend piece. As a piece of social analysis, though, it is most useful for its flaws: it’s just more evidence that the working people of today have all of the frustrations that working people have always had – but they’ve forgotten what we’re actually supposed to do about it.Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York Continue reading...

A new PM with the support of less than half her MPs needs to sort out a country facing calamity. What could go wrong?Well, there it is. The UK’s third prime minister in just over three years is Liz Truss, the troubling result of a lab accident in which a community centre asset stripper was crossbred with a Live-Laugh-Love decal.Her predecessor, Boris Johnson, left Downing Street this morning after an arrogant, lie-heavy speech, in which he displayed his character development after three years in office – precisely zero. None of his children was there (it’s actually quite a small street). He remains a short king over the water for any number of Conservatives who somehow still yearn to be shackled to a wildly underachieving narcissist who openly despises them. There’s being psychologically beaten, and then there’s … that. Continue reading...

The border policy violated international law – and prosecuting those responsible may be the best way to prevent it from happening againIn the Trump administration’s four years of undermining America’s image of decency, perhaps no policy did so as effectively, or as viciously, as his family separation policy – which separated 5,000 children, some as young as four months old, from their mothers and fathers.The theory behind the policy was that inflicting excruciating pain on thousands of parents and children separated at the border would deter migration to the US. It was another example of the Trump administration’s calculated cruelty.Austin Sarat is a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College and the author of Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane ExecutionDennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy Continue reading...