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J Michael Luttig tells how disappointed' he is in his friend the chief justice for not taking a stand against the presidentJ Michael Luttig, a conservative former federal judge, has said how he is disappointed" in his friend John Roberts, the chief justice of the United States, for an unforgivable reticence" about Donald Trump.Luttig was long considered a possible supreme court nominee himself. He shepherded Clarence Thomas through his contentious supreme court confirmation hearing in 1991 and was a mentor to the Texas senator Ted Cruz. Continue reading...

Midfielder's suspension may mean shifting Fernandez and risking raw talent in quarter-final against PalmeirasMoises Caicedo was still going strong. There were 108 minutes on the clock at the Bank of America Stadium - not taking into account the lengthy weather delay - when the Chelsea midfielder won possession in Benfica's half, found Cole Palmer and surged forward.Palmer advanced towards a back-pedalling, understaffed defence. He waited for support before finding the overlapping Caicedo. Benfica, tiring with 10 men, were defeated by Caicedo's power. The 23-year-old shot, Anatoliy Trubin made a mess of his save and the ball squirmed loose to Christopher Nkunku to score the goal that sent Enzo Maresca's side into the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. Continue reading...

American hellfire Pentecostal preacher brought down by sex scandals who tearfully begged for forgiveness on TVThe American televangelist hellfire preacher Jimmy Swaggart, who has died aged 90, fell by the wayside not once but twice with sex workers, spectacularly ending his previously successful TV ministry that screened in 140 countries and was reputed to bring in $150m a year in merchandising sales.On the first occasion, when he was filmed with a woman at a motel near his church in the suburbs of New Orleans in 1988, he prayed for forgiveness in a tearful TV address. On the second occasion three years later in California when he was caught with a woman in his car, he just told his congregation: The Lord told me it's flat out none of your business." Continue reading...

The 18-year-old says it's very difficult' to focus on Palmeiras as he knows his time with the club is coming to an endWho would have thought that two Brazilian clubs would reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals? If Fluminense beat Al-Hilal in Orlando on Friday and Palmeiras get the better of Chelsea a few hours later in Philadelphia, one of them will make it to the final. Chelsea have already been embarrassed by one Brazilian side at the tournament - they were trounced 3-1 by Flamengo a fortnight ago in the group stage - but they are still favourites to beat Palmeiras in the quarter-finals.The English side came out on top when the teams met in the final of the Club World Cup three years ago, winning 2-1 thanks to a 117th-minute penalty converted by Kai Havertz. At that point, a young prodigy known as Messinho", or little Messi, was taking his first steps in the Palmeiras academy having joined from Cruzeiro. When the teams meet again on Friday night, Estevao Willian will be the central focus. The 18-year-old is inextricably linked to both clubs, having turned professional at one before agreeing to join the other in a deal that could be worth up to 52m. Continue reading...

Details include how White House staff thought ex-president was a prick' who disrespected and mistreated BidenBarack Obama, the former US president, sounded the alarm about Joe Biden's ailing re-election bid almost a year before polling day, warning his former vice-president's staff your campaign is a mess", a new book reveals.The intervention came amid tensions between the Obama and Biden camps as they braced for a tough fight against Donald Trump. In the end, the ageing Biden withdrew from the race in favor of his vice-president, Kamala Harris, who was defeated by Trump. Continue reading...

Justices will hear Idaho and West Virginia appeals on laws barring trans girls from female public school teamsThe US supreme court announced on Thursday that it will consider a bid by West Virginia and Idaho to enforce their state laws banning transgender athletes from female sports teams at public sector schools.The decision means the court is prepared to take up another civil rights challenge to Republican-backed restrictions on transgender people. Continue reading...

Marshall Freeman promoted software and owned stake in company while working for police, violating disclosure laws, says ethics officeA top Atlanta police department (APD) official worked as a consultant for a tech company whose software is key to the city's massive surveillance system, according to an investigation from Atlanta's office of ethics.The official's activities included meeting with police departments across the country about the company's products while also investing in the company and going on to serve on the company's board. Continue reading...

Edward Kelley, a veteran pardoned by Trump, was found guilty of trying to kill officers who investigated himA US military veteran, previously pardoned by Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, was sentenced to life in prison this week for plotting to attack an FBI office and assassinate other law enforcement officers.Edward Kelley, 36, was found guilty last November of trying to attack officers who investigated him over his actions at the US Capitol in Washington DC when pro-Trump supporters tried stormed the building in hopes, ultimately in vain, of stopping the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Continue reading...

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Key rule approved at 4am after Republican holdouts agree to move forward on debate. Plus, fragments show Israeli military used US-made 500lb bomb in strike on Gaza cafe

Residents formed a safety watch after a neo-Nazi march in Lincoln Heights, but racist incidents still cause turmoilDespite its proximity to a busy highway, Lincoln Heights' rolling hills, parks and well-kept lawns are pictures of calm suburban life north of Cincinnati.Today it's home to about 3,000 mostly African American people a few miles from Kentucky and the Ohio River, which divided free northern states from the slave-owning south. In the 1920s, Lincoln Heights became one of the first self-governing Black communities north of the Mason-Dixon line. Continue reading...

Mark Richards was fired from St Francis Xavier school after an obituary identified him as his late husband's widowerA longtime music teacher at a New Orleans-area Catholic school who was essentially fired for being listed in an obituary as another man's widower says he refused to suffer quietly because it's just time" for bullying and homophobic discrimination to stop".If I can put this out there and bring attention to it and make it easier for some other young, gay educator to stand up to it - then, yeah, I'll do that," Mark Richards told the radio show Talk Louisiana With Jim Engster on Tuesday. I have nothing to lose. Continue reading...

I was at a conference about Palestine shortly before he was killed. None of the Israelis I spoke to were willing to publicly name these horrorsIt has been less than two months since my niece Juri - a bright, giggling six-year-old - was killed in Gaza. We buried her while her sister recovered from her injuries and her father tried to walk again on shattered legs. Just a week ago, I was struck by another unbearable loss. My 16-year-old nephew Ali was killed: a drone-fired rocket tore through him and six members of our extended family while they were sitting outside the last house we had left - the only one that hadn't yet been reduced to dust.Ali was split in two. That's not a metaphor: it's literally what the rocket did to his body. A child trying to escape the stifling heat inside a home without electricity, without water, without safety. A child whose only crime was sitting on a plastic chair in a corridor with his uncles - men in their 60s - trying to breathe, trying to live, trying to find a sliver of comfort in a place where even comfort has become a threat. Continue reading...

Donna Kashanian, 64 and a community service volunteer, arrived in 1978 on a student visa and has no criminal recordKaitlynn Milne says her mother is usually always up first thing in the morning, hours before the rest of the family. She enjoys being productive in the quiet hours around sunrise. It's an especially optimal time to do yard work, when the rest of her New Orleans neighborhood still sleeps and she can count on peacefully completing chores.Gardening and rearranging the shed is how an average morning would go for Madonna Donna" Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian mother, wife, home cook, parent-teacher association (PTA) member and lifelong community service volunteer. Continue reading...

The American rider defies the sport's physical norms and is already a Grand Tour contender. But for now it is patience, not power, that's his defining traitMatteo Jorgenson is big. Not in the way Dexter Lawrence or Chet Holmgren are big. Not in the sense that most American athletes are considered big. But in the world of professional cycling, Matteo Jorgenson is big. In fact, cycling might be one of the only sports in which a man who stands 6ft 4in (1.93m) and weighs around 70kg (154lbs) is considered big.With broad shoulders and a wide chest that can act like a sail in the wind, Jorgenson is the kind of size that usually rules riders out of contention for Grand Tours such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia. Why? Because Grand Tours are won in the mountains, and big riders don't climb. Continue reading...

Key rule finally approved at 4am in Washington DC after lawmakers objected to provisions and cost

The women in the case endured horrors to tell their stories. Still the jury - and Diddy's jubilant supporters - sided with their alleged abuserSean Combs, the musician variously known as Diddy", Puffy", P Diddy" and Love", made a conspicuous scene in the courtroom when the verdict was read. He put his hands into a prayer gesture and mouthed thank you" to the jurors, and pumped his fist in the air. A federal jury in New York on Wednesday had acquitted Combs on federal charges of sex trafficking women, finding him guilty only on lesser charges of transporting the male prostitutes he allegedly forced the women to have sex with across state lines. The mixed verdict was seen as a triumph for Combs, who faced the possibility of life in prison if convicted on trafficking and conspiracy charges. Outside, jubilant supporters of Combs - which have in recent weeks included the provocative rapper Kanye West - erupted into celebration. Some reportedly poured baby oil on each other and yelled: It's not Rico, it's FREAKO."Those triumphant chants were references to the organized group sex encounters that women - including two who testified as witnesses for federal prosecutors - have described as rapes. The women - two ex-partners of Combs's, the singer Cassie Ventura and another alleged victim known as Jane - told the court repeatedly over the course of an eight-week trial that they were coerced into participating in the encounters, which Combs called freak-offs", with violence, drugs, coercive financial arrangements, and threats. The encounters were filmed by Combs, and the videos were shown to the jury; in addition to the testimony of the women and the videos of what they say were their assaults, jurors were also shown security footage of a savage beating Combs inflicted on Ventura in a hotel hallway following one such party in 2016, and heard from a hotel security guard who says that Combs paid him $100,000 to destroy video evidence of his conduct. Continue reading...

With Olympic veterans sidelined and new faces stepping up, the US women's national team looked dominant again this window - but questions remain in key positionsThe US women's national team have just wrapped up another successful window in an experimental year. After beating Ireland 4-0 in back-to-back friendlies, they defeated an experienced Canada side 3-0 in Washington, bringing their 2025 record to 8-0-2 while continuing to field youthful lineups full of emerging talent.Emma Hayes' return to Audi Field came nearly one year to the day since they drew 0-0 with Costa Rica in their final tune-up before going on to win Olympic gold in Paris. Since then, the four-time world champions have turned their focus to the 2027 World Cup. Hayes has worked diligently to build the depth and cohesion needed to challenge for the title. Continue reading...

After years of drift and false starts, the US men's team is carving out identity and intensity under their new coach - just in time for a home World CupThere is something cosmically funny about all of this. Late last summer, the United States men's national team went out and hired the most qualified manager it could find. The one with the most impressive coaching resume far of anyone US Soccer had ever employed on the men's side. The most expensive, certainly. By a multiple. The man brought in to arrest the tailspin the USMNT had slowly slipped into after the 2022 World Cup. To finally unlock that elusive next level. To help a golden generation, or at least a shiny one, come good at last. To salvage something, anything, from a World Cup played mostly on home soil a year from now. Not to squander it all.And what should Mauricio Pochettino add to the US national team's brew of aptitudes and attitudes but pluck and grit? The very same underdog mentality, the ferocity and fitness, that had once taken the US from global laughingstocks to merely unembarrassing and then to internationally competitiveness. Continue reading...

Club World Cup upset may be a turning point in how football in the region is viewed by Europe's eliteSo it came to pass that the blue moon was eclipsed by the crescent and the world of football took on a slightly different hue. For the past couple of years, the Saudi Pro League had been dismissed as a destination for the old, greedy, unambitious or all three. On Tuesday, European football woke up to be faced with a new side of Saudi Arabian football as Al-Hilal celebrated a 4-3 win over Manchester City to go through to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.If a member of the European elite being turned over by a team that had previously been little-known on the world stage was what the competition needed then this was it. Continue reading...

Purists' attempts to police our global languages are doomed - there's joy and inspiration in new expressions from all over the worldEven your own language can have the capacity to surprise you. I recently joined a panel at a journalism conference with a reporter and a lawyer, both from Colombia. I found myself captivated by some of the words they used that aren't - or rather weren't - so common in Spain. The investigative journalist Diana Salinas referred to her craft as la filigrana, the filigree. I wouldn't have used the term in that context, and yet it struck me as perfect to describe the intricate, careful work that investigative reporting requires.Filigrana is not even considered a Latin-Americanism - it comes from Italian - but it has somehow been forgotten in everyday speech in Spain. As is often the case with Spanish in Latin America, usage and context enriches the word.Maria Ramirez is a journalist and the deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain Continue reading...

It should give us all food for thought

New court documents allege physical and psychological torture at Cecot in one of first looks at conditions in prisonKilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and detained in one of that country's most notorious prisons, was physically and psychologically tortured during the three months he spent in Salvadorian custody, according to new court documents filed Wednesday.While being held at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador, Abrego Garcia and 20 other men were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM", according to the court papers filed by his lawyers in the federal district court in Maryland. Continue reading...

Chamber stalls for hours on procedural vote as the White House pressures fellow Republicans to get Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill passed. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 2 July 2025The House of Representatives was at a standstill on Wednesday as Republican leaders continued to try to rally holdouts against Donald Trump's megabill, with speaker Mike Johnson saying very positive" progress had been made toward passing it.The House stalled for hours on a procedural vote while Johnson and the White House worked to pressure a handful of Republicans to ensure they would vote to approve the sweeping tax-and-spending bill amid a razor-thin Republican majority and get it to Trump to sign in time for his self-imposed 4 July deadline. Continue reading...

Sean Parnell repeats Trump claim that key sites were destroyed, based on assessments inside the department'

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Spokesperson Sean Parnell confirms defence department reviewing shipments may not affect only Ukraine

Alexis McGill Johnson says nearly 200 health centers could close if US House passes sweeping tax-and-spending billPlanned Parenthood stands to lose roughly $700m in federal funding if the US House passes Republicans' massive spending-and-tax bill, the organization's CEO said on Wednesday, amounting to what abortion rights supporters and opponents alike have called a backdoor abortion ban".We are facing down the reality that nearly 200 health centers are at risk of closure. We're facing a reality of the impact on shutting down almost half of abortion-providing health centers," Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of Americas's CEO, said in an interview Wednesday morning. It does feel existential. Not just for Planned Parenthood, but for communities that are relying on access to this care." Continue reading...

It was another busy day in SW19 as we moved toward the third round with Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz among those to reach round threeAs expected, the rain is not relenting yet. Play has been pushed back to 12.15, at the earliest. Though looking at the forecast there could be another couple of hours of drizzle before what's forecast to be a clear mid-afternoon/evening.Emma Raducanu stressed the importance of leaning on her support network at Wimbledon as she prepares for her challenging second-round match against Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 champion.Raducanu, who reached the second round on Monday with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over the 17-year-old British wildcard Mimi Xu, reflected on the additional support she has received at the All England Club. At Wimbledon, it's particularly special. I had really good friends in the box there," said Raducanu, before reeling off a list of names. To have them all here in this one week, and the way the stars align that they could be here, it means so much when I see them there. It just makes me really happy." Continue reading...

President exceeded his authority and his proclamation of an invasion' at southern border is unlawful, court rulesA federal court has ruled that Donald Trump's proclamation of an invasion" at the US-Mexico border is unlawful, saying that the president had exceeded his authority in suspending the right to apply for asylum at the southern border.As part of his crackdown on immigration, Trump abruptly closed the southern border to tens of thousands of people who had been waiting to cross into the US legally and apply for asylum, signing a proclamation on the day of his inauguration that directed officials to take action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States". Continue reading...

Explosion caused huge blaze that led to spot fires, collapsed a building, forced evacuations and cut powerAuthorities are searching for seven people who are unaccounted for after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in rural northern California sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air and forced evacuations, the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) said on Wednesday.The Tuesday evening blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a huge blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed a building near Esparto, also resulted in power outages. People in the farming community about 40 miles (64km) north-west of Sacramento have been urged to avoid the area for several days. Continue reading...

Researchers to follow fresh clues that suggest pioneering aviator may have crash-landed on remote Pacific islandA new mission to locate Amelia Earhart's long-missing plane is being launched, researchers announced on Wednesday, following fresh clues that suggest she may have crash-landed on a remote island in the South Pacific.A satellite image may show part of Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E protruding from the sand on Nikumaroro, an isolated island in Kiribati about 1,000 miles from Fiji, according to Richard Pettigrew, head of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, a non-profit based in Oregon. Continue reading...

We asked the president's supporters what they thought of his big, beautiful bill' - the answers revealed a wide splitSo confident is Donald Trump in the sweeping tax and spending legislation that Republicans are trying to push through Congress by the slimmest of margins that he refers to it as his big, beautiful bill".The measure, which the House of Representatives could pass on Wednesday, is centered on making permanent tax cuts created during his first term, creating new exemptions for tips, overtime and car loan interest, and funding mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. To lower its price tag, Republicans have proposed the largest cuts ever to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and to the food assistance program known as Snap. They have also included provisions to phase out tax incentives meant to encourage the expansion of clean energy technologies that were created under Joe Biden. Continue reading...

The lawyer for Cassie Ventura, Doug Wigdor, said outside the court that his team is pleased Sean 'Diddy' Combs has 'finally been held accountable'. He added: 'Of course, we would have liked to have seen a conviction on the sex crimes and RICO, but we understand that "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a high standard and we're just pleased he still faces substantial jail time'

Program mirrors earlier successful mission to fight new world screwworm fly, whose larvae can infest living tissueThe US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government's plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before. Continue reading...

US president says goods from Vietnam will face a 20% tariff, a lower rate than the 46% levy he announced in AprilThe United States and Vietnam struck a trade agreement that sets 20% tariffs on many of the Southeast Asian country's exports following last-minute negotiations, Donald Trump and Vietnamese state media said on Wednesday.The rate is lower than an initial 46% levy Trump announced in April on goods from Vietnam which was due to take effect next week. Continue reading...

Critics warn the staggering sum dedicated to the agency in the bill will threaten humanitarian protections and disrupt the economyThousands of new immigration enforcement officers. Tens of thousands of new detention beds. New fees on asylum applications. And new construction on the border wall.Donald Trump's sweeping spending bill would vastly expand the federal government's immigration enforcement machinery and, if passed by the House, supercharge the president's plan to carry out what he has vowed will be the largest deportation campaign in US history. Continue reading...

New York senator had claimed that Democratic nominee for mayor had made references to global jihad'The New York Democrat senator Kirsten Gillibrand has apologized to Zohran Mamdani, the party nominee for New York City mayor, for comments she made claiming that Mamdani had made references to global jihad".Gillibrand apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani's record and for her tone on the call," according to a readout of a phone call between Gillibrand and Mamdani that was obtained by Politico. Continue reading...

Twenty states say giving immigrants' health data to DHS broke privacy laws and threatens access to emergency careThe Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials, a group of 20 states allege in a lawsuit.Last month health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's advisers ordered the release of a dataset that includes the private health information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington DC to the Department of Homeland Security. Continue reading...

Jared L Wise, who allegedly called for police to be killed at US Capitol, is now advising on the weaponization' of federal agencies

Dozens of Bhutanese refugees are facing deportation from Nepal, a country that once gave them shelterAshish Subedi never imagined he would be deported once, let alone twice.Subedi, 36, had grown up in the Beldangi refugee camp in eastern Nepal where his family, along with over 100,000 other ethnic Lhotshampas, ended up after being expelled from Bhutan in the early 1990s. Continue reading...

Ward Sakeik was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon in the US Virgin IslandsThe US government has tried for the second time to deport a stateless Palestinian woman, according to court documents - despite a judge's order barring her removal.Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old newlywed, was detained in February on her way home from her honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands. Last month, the government attempted to deport her without informing her where she was being sent, according to her husband, Taahir Shaikh. An officer eventually told her that she would be sent to the Israel border - just hours before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. Continue reading...

Gail Lee, who has challenged the registrations of hundreds of voters in the county, was nominated by the local Republican partyAn Atlanta-area county has appointed a staunch election denier, with a history of challenging voter registrations, to the county's board of registration and elections, a pivotal position to cast doubt on the results of future elections.DeKalb county's Republican committee nominated Gail Lee and a second Republican activist, but the nomination of William Henderson was rejected last week by the chief judge of the DeKalb county superior court, Shondeana Morris, after a letter campaign against the two promoted by the county's Democratic committee and voting rights activists. Continue reading...