The president’s speech in Philadelphia decried Republicans’ assault on voting rights but critics say it offered few answers, especially on Senate rules that let the minority to block reformFew in the audience applauding Joe Biden could have questioned the sincerity of his warning about a momentous threat to American democracy.But they may have walked away with lingering doubts about his ability to meet the moment or answer fears that even the office of the presidency will be found politically impotent in the face of the challenge. Continue reading...

‘Death followed Michael Gargiulo everywhere he went’, says judge, in case which included the murder of the girlfriend of actor Ashton KutcherA man dubbed the “Hollywood Ripper” has been sentenced to death for the home-invasion murders of two women and the attempted murder of a third in a much-delayed case stretching back 20 years.Victims’ family members wept as Los Angeles superior court Judge Larry Fidler handed down the sentence to 45-year-old Michael Thomas Gargiulo on Friday. Continue reading...

Pyrocumulus clouds viewable from 100 miles away as Bootleg fire grows beyond size of New York CitySmoke and heat from a huge wildfire in south-eastern Oregon are creating giant “fire clouds” over the blaze – dangerous columns of smoke and ash that can reach up to six miles (10km) in the sky and are visible from more than 100 miles (160km) away.Authorities have put these clouds at the top of the list of the extreme fire behavior they are seeing amid the Bootleg fire, the largest wildfire burning in the US. The inferno grew on Friday to about 377 sq miles (976 sq km), an area larger than New York City, and was raging through a part of the American west that is enduring a historic drought. Continue reading...

Findings undermine Trump’s claims after Biden beat him by more than 10,000 votes in stateArizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3m ballots cast in last year’s presidential election, undercutting Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state’s most populous county.The 182 cases identified by the Associated Press represent instances where problems were clear enough that officials referred them for further review. So far, only four cases have led to charges, including those identified in a separate state investigation. No one has been convicted. No vote was counted twice. Continue reading...

LAPD said it was responding to calls of a ‘man armed with a gun’, but photos showed an object that appeared to be a lighterLos Angeles police fatally shot a man on Hollywood boulevard on Thursday, causing chaos at a busy tourist strip and prompting a state investigation into the use of deadly force.LAPD officials said officers had received 911 calls about 11.20am of a “man armed with a gun”, but police photos from the scene showed an object that appeared to be a lighter. Continue reading...

• South African leads Collin Morikawa by two shots

Effort aims to reduce false confessions, as other measures seek to reduce prison population and support restorative justiceThe governor of Illinois has signed the country’s first law prohibiting police from lying to juveniles during criminal interrogations.The measure, which is intended to reduce false confessions by young people, was one of four pieces of legislation JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed, he said, “to change the laws that have failed the people they serve”. Continue reading...

In Tucson, a fire department swift water team rescued a father and his two daughters from the roof of their vehicle on Wednesday after they drove into a usually dry wash and got stranded in floodwaters, said Golder Ranch Fire District spokesman Capt Adam Jarrold. In Flagstaff, floodwaters have inundated communities in the shadow of a mountain that burned in 2019 and adjacent neighbourhoods, sending at least one vehicle floating down a city street.

• Californian remorseful after claiming club ‘sucked’

Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland accused of conspiring to attack Democratic targets after the 2020 presidential electionTwo California men have been indicted on charges they conspired to attack the Democratic party headquarters in Sacramento, the US justice department said on Friday.According to the unsealed indictment, Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, of Napa and Jarrod Copeland, 37, of Vallejo started plotting to attack Democratic targets after the 2020 presidential election. They also tried to get support from an anti-government group to further the cause. Continue reading...

Speaking during a White House briefing, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said US coronavirus cases were up about 70% over the last week, with nearly all hospital admissions and deaths among the unvaccinated. The White House Covid-19 coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, added that the pandemic is 'one that predominantly threatens unvaccinated people' and that the administration expects cases to increase in the weeks ahead because of spread in communities with low vaccination rates

The lip of a hole came between the Argentinian and a course record on Friday, and he is anxious to keep up the good workEmiliano Grillo is savouring the moment. The Argentinian is currently having a ball at the Open, only the lip of a hole coming between him and the course record on Friday. He has also had the pleasure of watching his country lift an international football trophy this past week, something his hosts can’t quite say themselves. “It’s a nice week to be in England,” he admits. “Not for you guys, but for me it is.”Recording a second-round score of 64 means the 28-year-old is six under par for the tournament and well placed going into the weekend at Royal St George’s. “Sixty-four is definitely a good round”, he said. “I got a little look at the 63. I didn’t know it was the course record but it doesn’t matter. Playing under par in a major is what you’re looking for.” Continue reading...

New cases surging 10% on last week nationally with several states reaching 50% increase while LA resumes mask-wearing indoorsCovid cases are rising in all 50 US states as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads rapidly across the country, news outlets reported on Friday morning, with half the US population yet to be fully vaccinated.Nationwide, new cases are surging 10% on last week, with several states reaching a 50% increase. Four states – Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and Nevada – are in the throes of full outbreaks. Continue reading...

• State law forbids asking passengers to prove their vaccine status• Lawsuit is ‘last resort’ as company considers leaving FloridaA cruise ship company has filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida surgeon general, over a state law that prohibits companies from asking or requiring customers and employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.Related: As Covid cases rise in Florida, Governor DeSantis digs at Fauci with merchandise Continue reading...

A Guardian investigation revealed that western intelligence agencies have been examining for some time the papers appearing to document a Russian plot to put Donald Trump in powerDon’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Yesterday the Guardian broke the story of the Kremlin papers, documents purportedly revealing that Vladimir Putin personally authorized a secret, multi-agency spy operation to support Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. Continue reading...

Efforts to interest New Yorkers in Euro 2020 are met with blank stares so I find another fair-weather football fanThe highs are lower, when you watch England play from abroad, on the other hand, the lows aren’t as crashingly bad. Efforts to interest New Yorkers in England’s championship defeat are mostly met with blank stares. “You know, the UEFA championship final,” I say, pleadingly, to an American friend. “What words are coming out of your mouth?” she says. It’s hard not to grow petulant. “The whole rest of the world understands.” Continue reading...

The lawmakers energized voters during a months-long attack by Republican legislatures on voting accessGeorgia Roth wasn’t planning on making the two-and-a-half hour drive to the state capitol building in Austin on Tuesday. But when she saw dozens of Democrats in the legislature abruptly leave the state on Monday, blocking Republicans’ plan to enact new legislation to restrict voting access, the 74-year-old hopped into her car and drove east. Continue reading...

The hammer thrower made headlines when she was involved in a controversy over the US national anthem. But she says she is fighting for American valuesAt the US Olympic Track and Field trials in June, hammer thrower Gwen Berry earned a spot on her second Olympic team, placing third in her event. She also became a face of athlete activism. She raised her fist when she was introduced before the hammer throw, and when she was on the podium, she turned around and draped a T-shirt that said “activist athlete” over her head.Berry emerged as a visible activist athlete in 2019, when she won gold at the Pan American Games and raised her fist on the podium, near the end of the national anthem. She did it to draw attention to racial injustice in the US that doesn’t get enough attention, she said. “You can see the racial wealth gap, you can see voter suppression, you can see that Black communities don’t have resources, like grocery stores, water, and access to public transportation.” Continue reading...

Glaring absences in US data despite disproportionate effect on Black, Latino and Native American communitiesThe full picture of the racial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is clouded by systemic failures to collect race and ethnicity data, even in states that are leaders in promoting health equity.In California, for example, a key benchmark for reopening and allocating vaccines doesn’t fully incorporate race and ethnicity data. Meanwhile, nationally there remain glaring absences in testing and hospitalization data by race and ethnicity a full year after it was shown Covid-19 had a disproportionate effect on Black, Latino and Native American communities. Continue reading...

Understanding seasonality can help us to work out when the pandemic is likely to be overThere is a paradox at the heart of Sars-Cov-2 transmission that has yet to be fully explored. While it’s firmly established that the virus transmits best in winter, in common with most other respiratory viruses, the UK is currently experiencing a summer surge. There have also been major Covid-19 epidemic waves in regions such as South America and India outside winter. Why is this?From the beginning of the pandemic, one major question was to what extent Covid would display a seasonal behaviour with higher case numbers in winter. Most respiratory viruses in circulation, including the flu and the four endemic coronaviruses contributing to “common colds”, display strong seasonal patterns, with most infections happening in winter in each hemisphere. Continue reading...

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the US Capitol on Thursday. Beatty was participating in a protestcalling for the Senate to pass asweeping election reform bill. The bill passed the House in Marchbut is being held up in the Senatebecause of a Republican filibuster. Beatty and others were arrestedby Capitol police for 'demonstratingin a prohibited area on Capitol grounds', said police

State is the first to enact a broad ban of PFAS compounds, which are found in everything from cosmetics to cookwareMaine has enacted a groundbreaking law that will ban the use of toxic PFAS compounds in all products by 2030, except in instances deemed “currently unavoidable”.Though states and the federal government have passed piecemeal laws regulating the dangerous chemicals’ use, Maine is the nation’s first state and world’s first government to enact a broad prohibition on the class of about 9,000 compounds, which are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t fully break down and accumulate in the environment and humans. Continue reading...

The US president praises the German leader but reiterates his concerns about the pipeline that will run from Russia to GermanyJoe Biden hosted Angela Merkel at the White House on Thursday for bilateral meetings as the outgoing German chancellor prepares to step down, in a visit that marked Biden’s latest attempt to strengthen relationships with US allies.The two leaders met in the Oval Office and later held a joint press conference. Biden and Merkel vowed to work together to defend against Russian aggression and stand up to anti-democratic actions by China, and also spoke to the importance of the US-German alliance. Continue reading...

The 100m favourite has had an extraordinary journey to the Tokyo Games – now he wants to use his platform to inspireThe man anointed by Usain Bolt as the favourite to succeed him as Olympic 100 metres champion is detailing his extraordinary journey to the Tokyo Games. It is quite the tale. Trayvon Bromell grew up on the south side of St Petersburg, Florida, where poverty and gangs were rife. His mother worked 7pm-7am every day to keep a roof over their heads. His best friend ended up in jail. And yet, despite also breaking both his knees and a hip as a child, he ended up winning bronze at the 2015 world championships as a 20-year-old – behind Bolt – only to spend years being unable to run due to severe injuries.So when the 26-year-old American is asked whether the lack of crowds in Tokyo will present a challenge, he quickly puts things into perspective. “Not for me,” he says. “I grew up with no eyes watching me. People weren’t there when I struggled. People weren’t there when me and my mom could barely pay the bills. And when we didn’t know whether we were going to have a house over our heads there were no eyes on me. So now when I run, it doesn’t factor for me. It’s the same 100 metres.” Continue reading...

Joyce Beatty, chair of Congressional Black Caucus, was calling on the Senate to pass a key election reform billCongresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the Capitol this afternoon.Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol police (USCP) officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building. Continue reading...

A swiftly spreading wildfire raged through drought-parched timber and brush in south-central Oregon for a ninth day on Wednesday, displacing hundreds of residents. The Bootleg fire - which has burned through more than 212,377 acres (85,945 hectares) of forest - has burned 21 homes and 54 other structures, according to state and federal authorities. Video obtained from the Oregon state fire marshal showed emergency crews up close to the fire as it burned around the Fremont-Winema National Forest, about 250 miles south of Portland

State will use $35m to provide monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults leaving foster careCalifornia lawmakers have approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the US, which will see $35m used for monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care, in a move that could spur other states to follow its lead.The effort passed with bipartisan support in the state legislature on Thursday, a sign of the growing momentum for the idea of guaranteed income across the country. Dozens of local programs have sprung up in recent years, including some that have been privately funded, making it easier for elected officials to sell the public on the idea. Continue reading...

Monthly payments will close gaps in previous tax credit system, allowing the poorest families finally to benefitJoe Biden heralded a “giant step towards ending child poverty in America” on Thursday as he marked the beginning of the “life-changing” expansion of the child tax credit system.In remarks from the White House, the president predicted that the provision would lead to the largest one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the US. Social scientists have estimated that under its impact more than 5 million American children will be lifted out of poverty – more than half those currently living below the poverty line. Continue reading...

Defense attorneys for Jarrod Ramos argued he was experiencing mental illness when he attacked the Maryland newsroom in 2018The jury of eight men and four women found that Jarrod Ramos could understand the criminality of his actions and conform his conduct to the requirements of law when he attacked the Capital Gazette newsroom in 2018.The finding means Ramos, 41, will be sentenced to prison, not a maximum-security mental health facility. Prosecutors are seeking five life sentences without the possibility of parole. Continue reading...

Recall comes after independent laboratory Valisure raised alarm over presence of benzene in company’s productsJohnson & Johnson is recalling five of its sunscreen products in the US after low levels of benzene, a carcinogen, was found in its products.The recall comes after Valisure, an independent laboratory, raised the alarm over benzene’s presence in Johnson & Johnson’s products. In a report released in May, Valisure noted that “27% of samples … contained detectable benzene and some batches contained up to three times the conditionally restricted FDA concentration limit of 2 parts per million”. Continue reading...

Calls from liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers who want to see Biden nominate a younger liberal justice to the supreme courtUS supreme court justice Stephen Breyer has said he has not yet decided when he will retire, amid growing pressure from liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers who want to see the Biden administration nominate a younger liberal justice to the bench.When asked whether he had decided when to step down, Breyer answered no in a CNN interview on Thursday. His ultimate decision will be based “primarily, of course, [on] health”, and “second, the court”, he said. The comments from Breyer, who is now 82 and the court’s oldest justice, follow his previous refusals to retire last month when the supreme court’s most recent term ended. Continue reading...

Lawmakers’ bid to bar Republicans from passing voting restrictions energizes activistsHappy Thursday,I’m writing from Austin, where I arrived on Sunday night expecting to cover the high-stakes showdown over GOP-backed voting bills at the Texas capitol. Continue reading...

Discrimination against those from poorer countries seems inevitable unless everyone accepts the WHO’s guidelinesWe have arrived at another of those moments, in this pandemic, where it’s critically important that countries respect a central decision-making body rather than go their own way. The issue on the table now is the use of health certificates to regulate international travel.Sometimes, pandemic decisions need to be made locally to reflect the local context – mask-wearing in schools is an example – but sometimes they really need to be centralised. We saw what can go wrong if they’re not: for example when, in the absence of a federal policy, US states ended up bidding against each other for personal protective equipment from China. Continue reading...

Exclusive: documents suggest Vladimir Putin personally authorized a secret multi-agency effort to interfere in US democracy

The far right is trying to funnel people on Instagram to extreme content with a few simple tricks. Here’s how they do itI spend a lot of time on Instagram. Not posting stories, but researching Gen Z online political subcultures. That’s how I first stumbled across a content strategy that I’ve dubbed the “slow red-pill”.Related: Abolishing online anonymity won’t tackle the underlying problems of racist abuse | Hussein Kesvani Continue reading...

Conservative rhetoric warning of wage-price spirals is disingenuousThirty years ago, Albert O Hirschman published a short book that infuriated conservatives called The Rhetoric of Reaction. The book showed how conservative arguments across time and space fell into three rhetorical buckets: perversity – raising taxes means less revenue; futility – voting changes nothing; and jeopardy – if you give the vote to poor people, you get revolution (the opposite of futility, but who cares about consistency). As well as being a great summer read, Hirschman’s rhetoric continues to shed a useful light on the present conservative obsession (apart from critical race theory) with inflation.Whenever inflation threatens, two versions of the perversity thesis are deployed. The first, usually opined by members of the investor class, argues that inflation mainly hits those on fixed incomes, older and poorer people, thereby proving their concern is born from a sense of care for society’s weakest. Oddly, that same class of folks seem utterly indifferent to older and poorer people until inflation threatens to either reduce their expected investment returns, or impact their leveraged financial strategies, as interest rates rise. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Documents suggest Russia launched secret multi-agency effort to interfere in US democracyVladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. Continue reading...

I’m proud to take on devastating blazes. But sometimes I wonder if anyone else sees the scale of the crisisI’m a firefighter currently battling the Bootleg fire in southern Oregon, the largest blaze right now in the US. As I write this, it’s already ripped through over 200,000 acres (312.5 sq miles).I’m part of a crew that arrived last Thursday. We were one of the first on the scene, and several of us have already gotten heat exhaustion, one guy got fuel in his eye from a water pump and two of our division’s masticators (giant machinery that functions like a lawn mower but for an entire forest) burned up. Continue reading...