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Senator Bill Cassidy, who will not be returning to Congress after losing his Louisiana primary to a Trump-backed candidate, said he would support the AG nominee

Police arrested Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, in connection with the Gann fire, which has burned more than 15 sq miles in Calaveras countyAt least one person has died in a wildfire burning in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range that officials believed was sparked by a man using a chainsaw.Police arrested Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, in connection with the Gann fire, which has destroyed seven buildings, scorched more than 15 sq miles in Calaveras county and killed a well-known dog breeder in the town of Angels Camp. Continue reading...

People voice frustration with officials' failure to engage with community over placement of asylum seekers in areaA smashed window pane and some broken eggshells on a footpath were some of the tell-tale signs of events that took place this week on a residential street at the edge of Thetford.On Friday afternoon it was not hard to find local people with a sense of foreboding after the latest disorder in the Norfolk market town which has seen crowds attempt to break into properties believed to be housing asylum seekers. Continue reading...

White House continues to target Cook despite decision from justices that upheld Federal Reserve's independenceDonald Trump is attempting once again to oust the US Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, despite a recent US supreme court decision that upheld the central bank's independence.Cook reportedly received a letter from the White House this week that provided notice, in accordance to the supreme court's June ruling, that Trump was considering removing" her from her Fed position over the same claims of mortgage fraud that he levied against her last summer. Continue reading...

Late senator spent final days of his life working to advance bill that will now head to the House after 86-11 Senate voteBy a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator's work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats. Continue reading...

Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, who served a decade for killing her husband, pleaded guilty to murder of Rebecca Marodi, a fire captain who fought the Eaton blazeA California woman this week admitted to killing her wife, a decorated fire captain who fought the deadly 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, by stabbing her - the same fate she previously delivered to her husband and had served a decade in prison for.Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to second-degree murder after killing her wife, Rebecca Becky" Marodi, 49, a California fire captain, at their home in February 2025, just a month after Becky, as she was known, battled the Eaton blaze that killed 19. Continue reading...

Decision follows supreme court ruling that allowed US government to strip protections for Haitians and SyriansTemporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of South Sudanese nationals in the United States is set to end after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with stripping their protections.On Friday, US district judge Patti Saris of the district of Massachusetts rejected an attempt by immigrant rights organizations including the New York-based African Communities Together to keep TPS for South Sudanese nationals living in the US. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Seven in 10 survey respondents expect services to be reduced or shut, while more than half anticipate job lossesMillions of adults and children in England face being forced to wait longer for mental health care, with more than two-thirds of NHS providers planning to cut services and half expected to axe jobs, the Guardian can reveal.With mental health services already under extraordinary pressure amid soaring demand for support, experts warned the proposed cuts - drawn up by trusts to plug holes in their finances - would also have significant" consequences for the wider NHS, the economy and public services. Continue reading...

Disclosure comes after Conservative and Reform claims that French police refusing to intervene in crossingsThe French authorities have halted small boats at sea in the Channel on 10 occasions since the spring, officials said on Friday.Despite claims from the Conservatives and Reform that the French were refusing to intervene in small boat crossings, Maritime Prefect officers were using intervention tactics" to board or control vessels at sea and take asylum seekers back to France. Continue reading...

Taxi driver says he acted as middleman between Yorgen Fenech and three men already convicted of 150,000 contract killingThe businessman accused of paying for hitmen to murder the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was impatient for the killing to take place, and once texted from his boat to say he was preparing champagne" to celebrate, a jury in Malta has heard.Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes several Hilton hotels, is on trial in Malta for complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia. She died in a car bombing in October 2017 after publishing a series of revelations about senior politicians that were so damaging they triggered a snap general election. Continue reading...

Group calls for thorough and transparent investigation' of hiring of professor who resigned after his claims came under scrutinyThe University of Cambridge has announced a review into the way it vets and hires senior academic staff in an effort to fend off external and internal criticism of its appointment of Jason Arday as a professor.But a group of Cambridge academics quickly rejected the university's response, saying: We strongly believe that a thorough and transparent investigation into the wider circumstances of this damaging episode is essential." Continue reading...

Counter-disinformation group says social media channels connected to Pravda network helped amplify messageAccounts with links to the Russian military promoting far-right messages reached more than 500,000 people in the days following the mass influx of people into Ceuta, according to an analysis by 411, a counter-disinformation group.Russia-linked social media accounts frequently spread destabilising narratives in Europe, often promoting far-right talking points about immigration. Continue reading...

Delays to sexual assault charges and failures to report past convictions in court hearings gave Simon Levy chance to attack more women Violence against women: has anything changed in policing since Sarah Everard's killing?Catastrophic errors left a persistent and proven sex offender free before he murdered two women in London, it can be revealed.On Friday, an Old Bailey jury found Simon Levy, 40, guilty of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins five months later. Continue reading...

Some in party are delighted by leader's tack rightwards but opponents have savoured latest Conservative controversyThere was a moment in the middle of this week when a news alert raised eyebrows among the politically committed. It read: Kemi Badenoch: Former neo-Nazi candidate would just be sorting out bins." It was a collection of words that might prompt palpitations in the most sanguine of communications professionals, followed by panicked advice that retreat was necessary. But as a deeply weird week for the Conservative party came to a close on Friday, its leader appeared adamant she would hold the line.With Badenoch accused of aping Reform UK on policy and purging centrists from her party in recent weeks, her decision to stand by a man who was jailed after creating sexualised images of a Jewish MP and calling her a rodent" has prompted concerns about the leader of the opposition's political antennae and the Tories' wider strategy. Continue reading...

Andrew and Tristan Tate remain in jail as they fight extradition to UK to face charges of rape, assault and moreLawyers for Andrew and Tristan Tate urged a US judge on Friday to release the brothers from a Miami jail as they fight the British government's efforts to extradite them to face charges of rape, assault and facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.In a filing in Miami federal court, the Tate brothers' lawyers said their extraordinary public visibility" would make it impractical for them to try to flee, meaning there was no need to keep them behind bars until the extradition proceedings end. Continue reading...

Home Office minister Anna Turley says PM is authentic' and praises video of him discussing bar snacks with John HealeyStreeting said it was not OK" that the killers of PC Andrew Harper were eligible for early release, PA reports.He said the government should never have been put in a position" where prisons were so full that offenders were going to be let out at an earlier stage of their sentence. Continue reading...

Teenager killed his grandparents before opening fire at school near Bangkok, where more than 30 were woundedA Thai teenager killed his grandparents before opening fire at his school, where he shot five people dead and took his own life, police have said, in an attack that has shaken a country struggling to deal with gun violence.The 14-year-old wounded more than 30 people in the shooting at the prestigious Debsirin Nonthaburi school in the Nonthaburi province on Bangkok's outskirts. Nine people were in a critical condition, the Thai health department said. Continue reading...

Experts say the attackers' behaviour, and the handling of their cases, have striking similaritiesAbout 40 metres off Tottenham High Street, up a slip road for deliveries to a B&M homewares store, is a stretch of concrete paving behind a 2-metre wall topped with spikes.This is the patch of ground that Simon Levy tried to turn into his personal killing field. Continue reading...

As Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president vowing a new military offensive, the country's last leftwing rebels are getting ready to fight backAs the boat approached the riverbank, camouflaged figures watched from the tree line.Behind them, in the dim understory of the jungle, a commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sat with his rifle on his lap, amid the buzz and whine of insects and the thwacks of machetes on bamboo as his troops set up camp, hidden from enemy drones. Continue reading...

Yinon Levy charged with manslaughter in first exception this decade to culture of impunity for Israelis who kill Palestinians in the occupied West BankProsecutors in Israel have indicted an extremist settler for shooting a Palestinian activist last July, the first attempt this decade to hold an Israeli responsible for killing a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank.Yinon Levy, who was under western sanctions, is charged with manslaughter over the death of Awdeh Hathaleen, an English teacher and peace activist. In his last moments, Hathaleen filmed the settler drawing his weapon and opening fire towards him. Continue reading...

Officials try to find homes for residents as talks to save social assistance hub collapse amid government crackdownRome authorities are scrambling to find homes for hundreds of people sleeping in tents in extreme heat after talks aimed at saving Italy's most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance collapsed amid a crackdown by Giorgia Meloni's government on squatted buildings.The approximately 400 evicted residents of Spin Time Labs, located in a 10-floor building in Rome's Esquilino district occupied by grassroots groups since 2013, will not be allowed to move back in after its private owner refused Rome council's offer to buy the property. The residents were forced out at the end of last month. Continue reading...

Musician's projects included Madonna's Ray of Light, Blur's 13 and All Saints' chart-topping singles Pure Shores and Black CoffeeWilliam Orbit, the British music producer whose dreamy yet propulsive style invigorated work by Madonna, Blur, All Saints, U2 and more, has died aged 69.A statement on his social media, attributed to family and friends, said he died at home on 23 July. He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness," the statement read. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

More air-conditioned spaces are open during extreme heat, but distance, stigma and risk perception keep many awayResponding to an uptick in extreme heat waves this summer, US cities have increased their efforts to establish cooling centers to keep people safe but continue to encounter a problem: actually getting people to enter the public air-conditioned spaces.Lower-income people, who often do not have - or cannot afford to operate - air conditioning, face a greater risk of heat-related illness or deaths, which means public agencies in the US concentrate their efforts on trying to reach them. Continue reading...

High 30s celsius forecast for France, Spain and Italy next week, before affecting Germany, Poland and CzechiaAnother pulse of heat is expected to affect central and western Europe next week. The latest forecast models show daily maximum temperatures well into the high 30s celsius widely across France, Spain and Italy during the first half of the week, while Germany, Poland and Czechia will experience the highest temperatures towards the end of the week. The shift in the focus of the heat as the week progresses can be attributed to the movement of high pressure. At the start of the week, low pressure centred in the Atlantic and high pressure centred over the low countries will draw warm air from southern Europe northwards into parts of France. During the working week, the high pressure will slip a little farther south and east, enabling the warm air once situated over western Europe to make inroads into parts of Germany and central Europe.The heat in central and western Europe this summer has been unrelenting. Last week's weather tracker highlighted record-breaking temperatures for the month of July in Austria. However, only a few days later, on 4 August, the all-time record was shattered with 41.0C achieved in Stammersdorf, north-east of the capital, Vienna. This comfortably broke the previous all-time record set in August 2003 by 0.7C. Unbelievably, that record was broken again the following day when 41.2C was recorded in Deutsch-Altenburg. Slovakia also set an all-time record on the same day, of 41.4C. The continuing European heatwave, associated with a vertically extensive anticyclone, raised the freezing level above 4,000 metres across much of the Alpine region. This represents a level in the atmosphere well above many Alpine glaciers, accelerating the seasonal melting process. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, 51.8C was recorded in Badwater, California, the highest temperature in the US for 2026 so far. Continue reading...

Met police say charge relates to alleged assault that reportedly took place in December at venue in LondonThe England footballer Ivan Toney has been charged with assault after an incident at a nightclub in Soho in December last year.Scotland Yard said the striker had been charged on 31 July with assault causing actual bodily harm. Toney, who plays for the Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 24 September. Continue reading...

Stephen Akinsanya says being mistaken for defendant shows lack of progress on racism within legal systemA black barrister has said a security guard told him he could not park in a court's car park in London because it's not for defendants".Stephen Akinsanya, who in June was awarded an OBE for raising awareness of youth knife crime and its prevention, said the incident, at an east London court about four weeks ago, illustrated the lack of progress on racism within the criminal justice system. Continue reading...

Ten months into her tenure as editor in chief, Weiss' biggest - and riskiest - bet is getting closer to taking flightBari Weiss is 10 months into her tenure as editor-in-chief of CBS News, but her biggest test is right around the corner.The newest season of 60 Minutes is set to premiere next month after Weiss overhauled the show's correspondent corps and production staff in the spring. Long considered the gold standard in television news, the show still generates a staggering nine million average viewers per night at a time when linear television's core audience is either aging out or turning to digital alternatives. Continue reading...

DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin says We're going after them right now' despite threat of violence in home countryHundreds of thousands of Haitians are faced with the prospect of imminent risk of arrest and deportation - to a home country racked with crime, violence and political unrest - after the Trump administration officially stripped them of humanitarian protections that had allowed them to live and work legally in the United States for years.US district judge Ana Reyes confirmed on Wednesday that her order blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti was no longer in effect. This followed the controversial supreme court ruling in June that upended judicial review of the program and opened the door for immigration enforcement to track down and detain Haitians en masse. Continue reading...

Florida man faces count of attempted felony murder after confrontation over a spot to catch lobster, authorities sayA Florida boater was alleged to have tried to kill a diver by cutting off his air supply while they fought over a spot to catch lobsters off the state's coast recently, according to authorities.Michael Joseph Simpson Jr's criminal defense attorney on Thursday issued a statement dismissing those allegations as false". Nonetheless, Simpson, 51, was faced with a count of attempted felony murder after he was jailed in what a sheriff's office report portrayed as a particularly heated case of boat rage on the waters of Miami's Biscayne Bay. Continue reading...

Inspections ordered by US regulator will affect about 470 aircraft, after reported problems in earlier models

Property prices in suspended animation' owing to higher mortgage rates and uncertainty in Middle East

US president's complaint industry making too much money' comes after his policies boosted corporationsDonald Trump's statement that oil companies have made too much money" from the Iran war has angered environmentalists, who say that his policies were designed to benefit those very corporations. If he really believes his own claims, he should impose a windfall profits tax, advocates say.

The curator of Norway's national museum in Oslo is bringing the work by the Flemish baroque artist Clara Peeters out of obscurity in a major exhibition of female artists

Police say body of 23-year-old found at Eschol Park property with significant injuries, indicating he may have been attacked before death

Barrister alleges account of penis wiggling is an attempt to humiliate' broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching

This blog is now closedFederal parliament is returning from winter break next week.Do you have a question you'd like to ask Guardian Australia's team of political reporters in Canberra? Our political editor, Tom McIlroy, and the team will be answering readers' questions on the Australian Politics podcast. Continue reading...

Disruption after power failure at regional signalling centre likely to continue until noon with many crews and trains in wrong locations

Exclusive: Neet crisis review to call for teachers to be asked to spot those at risk of leaving education jobless at 16

With the debate over prison overcrowding and what to do about it raging, one initiative offers an alternative solutionAs the prison overcrowding crisis shows no sign of abating and the debate rages over early releases, an initiative in the West Midlands offers an alternative to custodial sentences.The Guardian was offered rare access to the project, under which, instead of being sent to prison, convicted offenders work on the improvement of waterways and green spaces around Smethwick. It is a small part of the community payback scheme, which in total clocked up an estimated 5m hours across England and Wales in the last year. Continue reading...

Slovakia reaches new high of 42C as authorities in Poland forced to shut down Kozienice and Poaniec power plants

Visits down 3.8% after 6.2% fall in June, with many choosing to buy online instead, research for retail body findsShoppers stayed away from UK high streets during last month's heatwave temperatures, with many choosing to buy online instead as the mercury in some areas rose into the mid-30Cs.Trips to high streets were down by 3.8% year on year in July after a 6.2% fall in June, according to research from the monitoring firm Sensormatic for the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Continue reading...

Donald Trump's second term is unlike his first. The politicians who challenged him are gone. The lawyers who once pushed back now choose their battles. What remains is an imperial president with almost no internal checks, using executive power to reshape everything from the economy, immigration and even the presidency itself.Few journalists have covered Trump as closely as the New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan. Jonathan Freedland speaks to him about how the president has consolidated such power - and what it could mean for the US and the worldWatch Jonathan Freedland on our new Politics Weekly YouTube channelYou can find Jonathan Swan and Maggie Habermans' book Regime Change hereSend your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Westminster council has recommended banning vertical drinking' or ordering at the bar in new draft licensing policyNo 10 has vowed to confiscate powers from local councils which try to restrict customers from standing up while drinking in pubs or ordering at the bar.It comes after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Westminster council in central London recommended not allowing vertical drinking" or ordering at the bar in its new draft licensing policy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Academics call for inquiry, saying university must be held accountable for grotesque racism unleashed'The University of Cambridge's leaders deserve blame for the grotesque racism unleashed" by Jason Arday's appointment as professor, according to academics calling for the university to hold an independent inquiry.The Guardian understands that senior dons at Cambridge are circulating a joint letter calling for an inquiry into the processes and circumstances around Arday being given the position, with many suggesting the university wanted a quick fix" to improve the diversity of its staff. Continue reading...

Republican, 84, absent from Senate after fall that led to hospital stay, says he will continue recovery at home

More than $5m in recent weeks have been spent in ads targeting Aisha Wahab and in support of Melissa HernandezSuper Pacs tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) have spent millions in a California congressional race to keep a progressive Democrat from winning Eric Swalwell's former seat.Aisha Wahab, a state senator who has been endorsed by the California Democratic party, is widely considered the frontrunner in the special election for the district covering a swathe of the East Bay. Continue reading...

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Stella Gollovena, 47, has been charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harmA woman has appeared in court accused of stabbing four men in the back with a pair of scissors in one of London's busiest tourist districts.Stella Gollovena, 47, is accused of attacking Patrick De Barr, Thomas Harding, Adrian Lovett and Mantas Jankus during the attack in Covent Garden on Wednesday lunchtime. Continue reading...

Homes of people believed to be asylum seekers attacked during two nights of violence in ThetfordTwo men have been arrested after police were injured as they intervened to protect men believed to be asylum seekers from angry mobs trying to break into their homes.The arrests followed two nights of unrest in Thetford, Norfolk, involving more than 100 people protesting against plans to house asylum seekers in former military barracks near the market town. Continue reading...

Court rules architecture firm not responsible for fatal incident but project managers and engineers found guilty of safety breachesThe architecture firm founded by Norman Foster has been cleared over the death of a man killed by a window that fell 90 metres from a newly constructed London penthouse.Foster + Partners (F+P), the practice behind some of the world's most recognisable buildings such as the Gherkin and revamps of the British Museum and Germany's Reichstag, were not held to be responsible for the death of Mick Ferris, a 53-year-old coach driver, in 2018. Continue reading...