Fox News |
Trump threatens DOJ, FBI to 'start doing their job' or he'll 'get involved' during Indiana rally
Fox News President Trump on Thursday night seemingly issued an ultimatum to the Justice Department and the FBI – either they “start doing their job” or he will “get involved.” The president's pointed remarks came as he took the stage at a rally in Indiana in ... |
New York Times |
At McCain's Memorial, Tears, Laughs and Allusions to the Man Not Invited
New York Times PHOENIX — Senator John McCain was remembered Thursday at a memorial service that evoked the one-time prisoner of war's unbreakable will, the Arizona senator's devotion to his adopted state and the maverick Republican's willingness to break with his ... Joe Biden's McCain eulogy just explained exactly what's wrong with American politics 'All politics is personal': Biden recalls his bond with McCain in a bipartisan time The quotes from Sen. John McCain's Arizona memorial that define his legacy |
CNN |
7 dead in New Mexico bus-truck crash, state police say
CNN (CNN) At least seven people were killed in northwestern New Mexico when a tractor-trailer crashed head-on with a nearly packed Greyhound bus, officials said. "We do expect that number to rise," New Mexico State Police spokesman Officer Ray Wilson said ... The Latest: Police say 7 killed in New Mexico crash Greyhound Bus, Semi-Truck Crash Head-On In New Mexico; At Least 4 Killed NM Greyhound crash: At least 7 dead in LA-bound bus accident |
New York Times |
Asian-American Students Suing Harvard Over Affirmative Action Win Justice Dept. Support
New York Times WASHINGTON — The Justice Department lent its support on Thursday to students who are suing Harvard University over affirmative action policies that they claim discriminate against Asian-American applicants, in a case that could have far-reaching ... Justice Department criticizes Harvard admissions in case alleging bias against Asian Americans Justice Department Says Harvard Hurts Asian Americans' Admissions Prospects With 'Personal Rating' Harvard admissions 'may be infected with racial bias,' DOJ says |
USA TODAY |
The next iPhones, Apple Watch leak as Apple preps for Sept. 12 event
USA TODAY Apple may be preparing to announce new iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches on Sept. 12, but it looks like someone has decided to share the images of the new products a bit early. Just hours after Apple sent out media invitations to its next big event ... Apple Accidentally Reveals Radical New iPhone XS A notorious Apple blog may have just published a leaked photo of the new iPhone Two theories about Apple's mysterious event |
BBC News |
Carl Bernstein: Trump attacks 'degenerate' Watergate reporter
BBC News US President Donald Trump is waging a war of words with legendary Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein over a story about his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen. On Wednesday, the president called Mr Bernstein a "sloppy" and "degenerate fool" who invented stories. Will Trump Pardon Manafort? CNN doesn't intend to reveal other source in bombshell Michael Cohen story as Trump rages at network Trump's Attacks on the Media Are Reaching Dangerous New Levels |
Reuters |
US, Canada make late-night push for NAFTA; no deal yet
Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top NAFTA negotiators from Canada and the United States wrapped up a third day of two-way talks on Thursday, agreeing to meet the next day to resolve final differences before a deadline, with Mexican counterparts on standby to ... US-Canada Trade Talks Take On 'Intense Rhythm' What Happened This Week in the World Economy and What It Means Friday is not the real deadline for 'NAFTA 2.0' |
Fox News |
Canadian mom, daughter camping in California are found after reported missing by woman's boyfriend
Fox News Police have found a young Canadian mother and her daughter, who were reported missing by the woman's concerned boyfriend after setting out for a camping trip in Northern California. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department announced that Audrey ... Missing woman, daughter from Canada found safe |
CNN |
NYT: Trump tried to buy, bury decades of dirt from National Enquirer
CNN Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump sought to buy all the dirt on him collected by the tabloid National Enquirer and its parent company American Media Inc., according to a new report. Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen devised a ... Report: Trump, Cohen wanted to buy decades of killed stories from National Enquirer Trump-friendly National Enquirer sees a decline in circulation, revenue |
HuffPost |
Alex Jones Fails To Stop Sandy Hook Parents' Defamation Case
HuffPost Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has failed to shut down a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the parents of a Sandy Hook victim. Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court ruled in Austin, Texas, on Thursday that the Infowars host must face ... |
Research suggests explosion in social care assistance for Britain’s ageing population
The number of people in the UK aged 85 or older who require round-the-clock help to eat, dress, wash and go to the toilet will almost double over the next 20 years, research has suggested, highlighting the explosion in social care needs.
Related: Adult social care services on brink of collapse, survey shows
Continue reading...Propaganda unit’s 117-page book contains pictures purportedly taken in Rakhine state that are really from Tanzania and Bangladesh
A new book on the Rohingya crisis written by Myanmar military propagandists uses fake photographs and a chilling rewriting of history in what appears to be an attempt to justify the killing of thousands of Rohingya over the last year in attacks by the army that the UN has condemned as genocide.
The 117-page book, published in July by the army’s department of public relations and psychological warfare, includes what it calls “documentary photos”. A Reuters investigation reveals that the provenance of three of the eight historical photographs contained in the book were faked.
Continue reading...Detectives question man detained in Birmingham … aftermath of Wonga’s collapse … and plight of dolphin trapped in defunct marine park
Hello – it’s Warren Murray rounding out the week in news.
Continue reading...Gold smartphone and an Apple Watch with a larger display are expected at company’s regular September gathering
Apple shares hit record highs on Thursday after it said it would host an event on 12 September at its Cupertino campus where it is widely expected to unveil new iPhone models.
At one point its shares rose to more than $228 each amid speculation that Apple plans to release three new smartphones this year, including one with a larger display than previous models. Analysts also expect Apple to release an iPhone with a edge-to-edge display similar to the iPhone X but using less-costly LCD screen technology.
Continue reading...Payday loan company was struggling under a welter of customer compensation claims
Wonga, the payday lender that became notorious for its extortionate interest rates and was a toxic symbol of Britain’s household debt crisis, has collapsed into administration after it was brought down by a welter of compensation claims.
Its collapse on Thursday leaves an estimated 200,000 customers still owing more than £400m in short-term loans. But borrowers were told to continue making payments and administrators are expected to sell Wonga’s loan book to another lending firm.
Continue reading...In Bloomberg interview, president criticises organization and lauds plan on China tariffs, driving down US equities
Donald Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization if it doesn’t “shape up” and treat the US better. The US president issued the threat against the international trade body during an interview with Bloomberg news.
“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump said, making public a proposal he has reportedly made to top aides in the past.
Continue reading...Teenager known as Khadija claims that during two-month ordeal she was repeatedly assaulted, starved and tattooed with swastikas
A dozen men have been arrested in Morocco over the alleged rape, kidnapping and torture of a 17-year-old girl who claims to have been held against her will during a two-month ordeal that has sent shockwaves across the kingdom.
The case has reignited a fresh debate over women’s rights in Morocco, where sexual abuse is well-documented despite laws recently passed to combat gender-based violence and harassment.
Continue reading...Man, 21, taken into custody over the killing of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem, according to West Midlands police
A 21-year-old man has been arrested in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham on suspicion of murdering Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother Khaola Saleem, 49, West Midlands police have said.
The pair were fatally stabbed in Northdown Road in the early hours of bank holiday Monday. Police said the suspect was detained on Thursday evening and would be questioned by detectives.
Continue reading...Astronauts patch small rip leaking oxygen, seemingly caused by collision with a meteorite fragment
Astronauts on board the International Space Station have managed to repair a tiny tear in the fabric of a Russian capsule that was letting oxygen leak into space.
The ship docked at the orbiting lab in June. Scientists believe the small rip in its shell could have been caused by a fragment of a meteorite colliding with the capsule.
Continue reading...Max is joined by Barry Glendenning, Andy Brassell and Lars Sivertsen to discuss Mourinho (again), Carabao Cup action, Declan Rice’s international dilemma, Hal Robson-Kanu’s international retirement and flesh-eating rats
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Andy Brassell and Lars Sivertsen to discuss the last few days of football, starting with Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Continue reading...The former editor-in-chief of the Guardian looks back on two decades that changed journalism for ever. By Alan Rusbridger
By early 2017 the world had woken up to a problem that, with a mixture of impotence, incomprehension and dread, journalists had seen coming for some time. News, the thing that helped people understand their world, that oiled the wheels of society, that pollinated communities, that kept the powerful honest – news was broken.
The problem had many different names and diagnoses. Some thought we were drowning in too much news; others feared we were in danger of becoming newsless. Some believed we had too much free news; others, that paid-for news was leaving behind it a long caravan of ignorance.
Continue reading...The president will be absent for John McCain’s memorial services – a clear sign of his failure to accept the responsibilities of a head of state
“The lion of the US Senate,” said Barack Obama during a stirring eulogy at the funeral mass for Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009. Listening at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston were George W Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain.
Related: 'A true American hero': friends and family bid John McCain farewell
Continue reading...Twenty years on from their seminal album, Version 2.0, the band’s singer is still as driven by anxiety and anger as ever. She talks about her history of self-harm, the pressures of fame – and why she has become so vocal in the #MeToo movement
‘Cheers! Up yer bum,” says Shirley Manson raising a glass as the light fades on her rooftop home over the Hollywood Hills. Her husband, Billy, has prepared Aperol spritzes. They’re bright orange and match Manson’s hair. She chortles deeply. “I was out with my goddaughter on Saturday night. I had an orange dress on, orange hair, orange lipstick and an orange cocktail. She said: ‘Auntie Shirl! You’ve excelled yourself.’”
The orange matches the sleeve of Version 2.0, the second album by Manson’s band, Garbage. In 1998, it became their first UK No 1 album and picked up four Grammy nominations, including album of the year; they are currently rehearsing a 20th-anniversary tour where they will play it in full.
Continue reading...Better known for exhibitions on art, the museum has opened its doors to the darkness of magic
Visitors may wish to cross their fingers for luck before walking under a ladder into Spellbound, a new exhibition on the history of magic, at the Ashmolean museum in Oxford, to encounter a very dead cat, a unicorn’s horn, a medium’s ectoplasm and padlocks cut from the Centenary Bridge in Leeds when their weight foretold not everlasting love but the imminent collapse of the whole structure.
The first object in the exhibition is a silver bottle that, if opened, will unleash dire but unspecified consequences.
Continue reading...Prime minister suggests show about female home secretary is not relaxing television for her
Theresa May has said she did not enjoy watching the BBC drama Bodyguard, which focused on the relationship between a rightwing home secretary and her personal protection officer.
The prime minister switched off after 20 minutes of the first episode and told reporters while visiting Africa that she preferred watching programmes that were not so close to home.
Continue reading...He no longer wants to take lead roles but the Oscar-winner’s new film, King of Thieves, a dramatisation of the Hatton Garden robbery, sees him do just that. He talks about Brexit, Putin’s good side and lunch with Trump
It is a wet and blustery August morning: perfect Michael Caine weather. When the actor returned to Britain in the 1980s after a decade in Los Angeles, he claimed it was because he missed the rain, although there was also the happy coincidence that the Conservative government (“Maggie,” he says, with inextinguishable fondness) had implemented a tax structure more favourable to those on extravagant incomes. Of which more, inevitably, later: a conversation about tax is the price you pay for the considerable pleasure of Caine’s company.
On the day we meet, it is half a century almost to the month since Caine (who wasn’t a “Sir” until 2000) laid out his career plans in the Daily Express.
Continue reading...Anger after hundreds of fish and reptiles have been left in tiny pools amid crumbling concrete since January
Anger is mounting in Japan after a dolphin, 46 penguins and hundreds of fish were found to have been abandoned for months in a derelict aquarium.
Continue reading...Only one of these two makes it past halfway in this gruelling spin on the celebrity challenge show. Plus, the Coco Chanel story is better than fiction
Ben Fogle has achieved something noble and profound: he has made those series where semi-famous people sweat over contrived ordeals, such as pretending to be an Edwardian serf or going on quite a long walk, look even more trivial. In Our Everest Challenge With Ben Fogle & Victoria Pendleton (ITV), the adventurer and his Olympian pal literally try to climb Mount Everest. It’s very much the Everest of celebrity-challenge documentaries.
Not that the majestic enormity of the task means we’re immune to the tropes of the form. Early on, Fogle ticks off the obligatory shot of him discussing the project with his family, to give us a sense of both the sacrifice involved and the desirability of his house: on the latter point, he has got a kitchen-diner the size of a squash court. In Kathmandu, “Vic” masters the art of banal scene-setting by reacting to a blessing they receive from a local lama: “For me, it’s pretty unique.” Fogle adds a sprinkle of sea salt to the reality-TV cheese by talking about Everest as if it were a human woman, like a smooth, randy yachtsman. “I’ve dreamed of climbing her, ever since I was just a boy.” Crikey. Can he pull it off?
Continue reading...I was awakened by the bedside radio coming to life, leaving me briefly lost between a bad dream and reality. Two BBC World Service reporters were calmly discussing a nation gone raving mad. Its food needed stockpiling. Medicines were running low. Ports were jammed and motorways were turning into vast lorry parks. Foreigners were fleeing, care homes emptying of staff, fruit lying unpicked. Where was it?
Then, through my slowly dawning consciousness, someone called Dominic Raab started talking about bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches and writing 75 “technical notices”. Meanwhile the prime minister was off to sell child pornography policing in Africa. What nightmare was this? Surely not 21st-century Britain?
Continue reading...One of my recent donations to a crowdfunding page was in memory of a friend’s spouse for research into a rare form of cancer. Another was to keep a local community centre going, and a third to help someone with huge medical bills in the United States after an accident.
I am not here to talk about my altruism, but to explain how I and many others treat crowdsourcing. The fact that Alex Salmond, the former leader of the Scottish National party, is using crowdfunding to pay his legal costs for a judicial review into the Scottish government’s handling of sexual harassment claims against him, is somewhat gobsmacking.
Continue reading...The payday lender went a long way towards creating demand, not just satisfying it
It was the 1980s, I was drifting in and out of low-paid jobs, and near constantly broke. When the cash machine wouldn’t shell out any more, when the credit card was maxed out, my last resort was a shabby exchange bureau near Oxford Circus. They would accept me writing a cheque for £50 with a cheque guarantee card (remember them?). We both knew it would bounce. But the guarantee meant he got his £50, plus a fee, and I got my emergency £50. The consequences would come later.
This was before Wonga. If it had been around, maybe (OK, probably) I would have used them. The cost of bounced cheques - a huge earner for the “respectable” banks - can work out even higher than a short-term loan, even at 5,800%. It’s telling that Wonga’s biggest customers were always 20- to 35-year-old males. A former colleague, James Ball, wrote a searingly honest account of how he had used it. Yes, he said, they’re the perfect pin-up villain – but also that they “helped me, and doubtless helped plenty of other people”.
Continue reading...There are several species of spider whose young hatch and gradually eat their own mother. The term for this macabre practice is matriphagy. This is now the fate of the Conservative party and its hungry Ukip offspring. Remainer Tory MPs are reporting sharp rises in applications to become members of their local associations – of up to 30% in the last three months. While dozens of Tory councillors defected to Ukip under David Cameron’s leadership, one report suggests at least 10% of Ukip councillors have gone the other way since 2015.
Related: New party members are not entryists, say pro-Brexit Tory MPs
Continue reading...A few days ago, David Challenor, the father of a high-profile Green party member, Aimee Challenor, was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for child rape, torture and other depraved and horrific crimes. My thoughts are with the survivors of his shocking and disgusting acts.
The Green party has, rightly, faced questions about its association with David Challenor, who in the past has acted as an election agent for his daughter and whose own membership of the party has now been terminated with immediate effect. Our governance bodies have established an urgent and independent formal investigation and a review of the party’s safeguarding and child protection procedures, and Aimee has stepped back from her spokesperson role, as well as withdrawing as a candidate in our current leadership elections.
Continue reading...Iheanacho looks to impress, what now for Mourinho’s shambolic defence and no change for Rafa at Man City
Despite not dropping a point or conceding a goal, Liverpool have yet to really hit their stride in the current campaign. West Ham took very little beating in their opener, while subsequent victories over Crystal Palace and Brighton were a mite laboured. An away trip to Leicester on Saturday lunchtime should provide another reasonably stiff test ahead of what is likely to be a more challenging trip to Tottenham Hotspur after the international break. Leicester clearly missed the searing pace of the suspended Jamie Vardy against Southampton and Kelechi Iheanacho struggled to impress in his role as replacement. The striker got off the mark for the season against Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and with Vardy sitting out the last instalment of a three-match ban , he needs a big performance against the – thus far – impregnable two-man portcullis that is Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, if he is to stake any sort of claim for keeping Vardy out upon his return. BG
• Jamie Vardy: ‘I get abuse but I give it back’
• Salah blames Egypt’s FA for World Cup disruptions
• Mohamed Lahyani leaves umpire’s chair to gee up Australian
• Roger Federer beats Benoît Paire in straight sets
Nick Kyrgios was saved from himself and from possible expulsion from the US Open on day four when the respected chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, broke with convention to comfort and warn the emotional young Australian about tanking during his second-round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Related: Andy Murray targets Davis Cup return after encouragement of US Open
Continue reading...Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge
Continue reading...Back when Keaton Jennings was a coming man, he was one of a group of English players picked to take part in a military training camp. One of the tasks, Jennings said then, was that the players had to fix a broken boat during a storm.
Turns out that while this may have been good metaphorical preparation for the experience of playing in this England team, it was less help getting him ready for the actual business of Test match batting. Jennings made such a strong impression at that camp England earmarked him as a candidate to be Test captain. Two years later, he is barely hanging on to his place in the team.
Continue reading...• England manager knows ‘every facet’ of his players’ lives
• Neville adopts holistic approach before crucial Wales match
Phil Neville sends text and WhatsApp messages to his England Women players on a daily basis to “know every facet” of their lives.
The manager, whose team play Wales in a pivotal World Cup qualifier in Newport on Friday night, believes it is impossible to coach properly unless you understand the player as a person. “The first month after I took over, I messaged players maybe once or twice a week but now I speak every single day with every single player,” Neville said.
Continue reading...FBI says Robert Chain began a series of threatening calls after the newspaper announced it was coordinating a response to Trump’s attacks on the media
A man has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill employees of the Boston Globe newspaper, in messages repeating Donald Trump’s claims that journalists are the “enemy of the people” and “fake news”.
Robert Chain called the Globe’s newsroom and claimed he would shoot staff members in the head, according to the FBI, which said Chain later specified that he was retaliating against the newspaper’s criticism of Trump’s attacks on the news media.
Continue reading...Mourners including Joe Biden said goodbye in Phoenix, in a program reflecting McCain’s legacy of forging unlikely friendships
Senator John McCain was remembered in Phoenix on Thursday as a “true American hero” and a political “maverick”, whose salty humor and scrappy nature endeared him to generations of Arizonans and Americans.
Related: John McCain: 10 moments that will shape the senator's legacy
Continue reading...The president said the attorney general, who he has repeatedly criticized, will stay on at least until November
Donald Trump said on Thursday the US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was safe in his job at least until the midterm elections, Bloomberg News reported.
Related: FBI arrests man who threatened to kill Boston Globe staff for criticizing Trump
Continue reading...Party tried to take down O’Rourke, Senator Ted Cruz’s challenger, by sharing an old photo of him with his former band
Undecided voters in the suddenly surprisingly tight Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke were handed some potentially game-changing news earlier this week by the official Twitter account of the Republican party of Texas. In a series of what one can only assume were meant to be revelatory tweets, O’Rourke, the party pointed out, seems like a really cool dude.
Related: Beto O'Rourke: can the upstart Texas Democrat eject Ted Cruz?
Continue reading...Canada’s top trade negotiator says ‘we’re working very intensely’ to reach a deal by Friday and avoid breakdown in trade relations
Talks between Canada and the United States over renegotiating the Nafta trade agreement are going to the wire as Washington pushes for a deal by Friday.
Related: Nafta betrayal points to bleak future for US-Canada relationship
Continue reading...In Bloomberg interview, president criticises organization and lauds plan on China tariffs, driving down US equities
Donald Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization if it doesn’t “shape up” and treat the US better. The US president issued the threat against the international trade body during an interview with Bloomberg news.
“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump said, making public a proposal he has reportedly made to top aides in the past.
Continue reading...More injured after semi-truck collided with bus carrying 49 people near Arizona border, authorities say
At least seven people were killed and others were seriously injured Thursday in a head-on crash involving a commercial passenger bus and a semi-truck along Interstate 40 in New Mexico, near the Arizona border, authorities said.
Preliminary information indicated the semi was headed east when it blew a tire, sending the rig across the median and into oncoming traffic, where it smashed into the bus, New Mexico state police said.
Continue reading...Reports of sexual assaults on airlines have increased, a change some attribute to the #MeToo movement
Two men accused of sexually assaulting fellow passengers aboard separate airline flights have been federally charged in a move meant to signal a heightened response to in-flight sex crimes.
Prosecutors in Seattle claim the men isolated and attacked women in what amounts to textbook cases of in-flight sexual abuse. One man is accused of groping a sleeping woman while she was incapacitated by prescription medication and alcohol; the other is alleged to have used his position in an outside seat to force himself on another passenger.
Continue reading...Colin Kaepernick’s grievance against the NFL is set to go to trial after an arbitrator turned down what was effectively a request by the league for the case to be dismissed.
Kaepernick filed the grievance in October last year, claiming owners have colluded to keep him out of the league after he knelt during the national anthem to highlight racial injustice in the United States. Under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement teams and the NFL are forbidden from coming together to deprive a player of employment.
Continue reading...The company’s new policy, prompted by legislation passed in its home state of Washington, will give workers 12 weeks paid leave
Microsoft has announced a policy requiring its contractors to offer employees a minimum of 12 weeks paid parental leave, paying them up to $1,000 a week.
The policy, which affects US-based companies that do work for the technology company and have more than 50 employees, will be rolled out over the next year. It will affect people including the company’s cafeteria workers, janitors, IT support staff and engineering consultants.
Continue reading...A study of #hot tags on Instagram says it’s about women maximising their lot, but nudity is about control by men
“A woman must continually watch herself,” is a John Berger quote you might remember if you studied art at school, or if you like watching bad 70s fashion in action on YouTube. The theory (from his 1972 documentary series, Ways of Seeing) goes, “from earliest childhood [each woman] has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually … how she appears to men is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life … This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves.”
It’s a useful quote to pull out if you’re writing an essay about the ubiquity of naked female paintings throughout history. It also works well as an answer to the question asked by a new academic study this week, “Why are there so many sexy selfies of women everywhere these days?”
Continue reading...A system of ‘justice’ simply cannot operate with legitimacy when the dollars in a person’s pocket dictate whether they are kept behind bars or not
Beginning this summer, you will not see bail bond advertisements on Google or Facebook. In May, the tech giants announced they will no longer permit the bail bond industry to broadcast ads on their platforms. They stated that enabling an exploitative industry that preys on low-income communities and people of color is a breach of their terms of service.
Currently, the majority of people held in American jails are awaiting trial
Continue reading...I was awakened by the bedside radio coming to life, leaving me briefly lost between a bad dream and reality. Two BBC World Service reporters were calmly discussing a nation gone raving mad. Its food needed stockpiling. Medicines were running low. Ports were jammed and motorways were turning into vast lorry parks. Foreigners were fleeing, care homes emptying of staff, fruit lying unpicked. Where was it?
Then, through my slowly dawning consciousness, someone called Dominic Raab started talking about bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches and writing 75 “technical notices”. Meanwhile the prime minister was off to sell child pornography policing in Africa. What nightmare was this? Surely not 21st-century Britain?
Continue reading...Since Israel was created in 1948 the United States has been the region’s crucial actor. US presidents have brokered peace deals, provided Israel with security guarantees and the Palestinians with reassurance that they have not been abandoned. Washington stood ready to douse a fire if the dry tinder of rage and discontent in the Holy Land burst into flames. Donald Trump, however, appears more arsonist than firefighter.
The Trump administration has cut aid funding to the Palestinians and slashed its contributions to UNRWA – the UN agency that supports more than 5 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. These cuts have hit hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people already. Israeli security officials privately warn that the move could backfire badly – “setting fire to the ground” by deepening an economic crisis in the West ank and Gaza.
Continue reading...• Mohamed Lahyani leaves umpire’s chair to gee up Australian
• Roger Federer beats Benoît Paire in straight sets
Nick Kyrgios was saved from himself and from possible expulsion from the US Open on day four when the respected chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, broke with convention to comfort and warn the emotional young Australian about tanking during his second-round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Related: Andy Murray targets Davis Cup return after encouragement of US Open
Continue reading...Michigan State University says the NCAA, the body that oversees college sports in the US, has cleared it of any rules violations in the Larry Nassar sexual-assault scandal.
The university’s athletic director, Bill Beekman, says MSU “cooperated fully with the inquiry” and welcomes the NCAA’s conclusion. The school says it received a letter this week from the NCAA’s vice president for enforcement, Jonathan Duncan.
Continue reading...Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Ben Jealous bid for governorships as Democrats pin hopes on an increasingly diverse electorate
When Andrew Gillum launched his bid for the 2018 governor’s race in Florida, America’s largest battleground state, Democratic party leaders wrote off the 39-year-old progressive mayor of Tallahassee.
The party establishment had coalesced behind the former congresswoman Gwen Graham, who over the next 17 months would remain the frontrunner in most polls – while Gillum was poised to finish fourth in a crowded field.
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo and actor Cynthia Nixon traded insults in a televised debate in the race to win the Democratic nomination for governor. Nixon was quick to go after Cuomo early on in the debate, calling him corrupt and a liar, before saying 'experience doesn't mean that much if you're not actually good at governing'
Trump’s attorney said he wrote to the Romanian president under a retainer paid by Freeh Group, who represent Gabriel Popoviciu
Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani is being paid to assist lawyers working to free a wealthy Romanian-American real estate magnate who was convicted and sentenced to prison over a corrupt land deal.
Related: Rudy Giuliani attacks Romania for 'excessive' crackdown on corruption
Continue reading...Turkish lira falls 4% against US dollar as concerns grow of crises in emerging markets
Argentina has hiked interest rates to 60% as it takes dramatic steps to restore confidence in its plunging currency,in the latest sign of turmoil among emerging market economies this year.
The Argentine central bank raised the cost of borrowing by 15 percentage points on Thursday in an attempt to shore up the peso, which has plummeted in value. The central bank said it would keep rates unchanged at 60% until at least December.
Continue reading...While regulation has been strengthened since the crisis, its implementation remains patchy
As the 10th anniversary of the start of the global financial crisis approaches, a wave of retrospective reviews is bearing down on us. Many of them will try to answer the big question: has the financial system been fundamentally reformed, so that we can be confident of preventing a repeat of the dismal and destructive events of 2008-09, or has the crisis been allowed to go to waste?
There will be no consensus answer to that question. Some will argue that the post-crisis reforms, especially those concerning banks’ capital requirements, have gone too far, and that the costs in terms of output have been too high. Others will argue that far more must be done, that banks need far higher capital, and possibly, as the proponents of a recent Swiss referendum argued, that banks should lose their ability to create money.
Continue reading...Ron DeSantis, appearing on Fox News, told Florida voters not to 'monkey this up' by choosing his African American opponent, Andrew Gillum. The Florida governor race pits DeSantis, who has closely aligned himself with Donald Trump, against Gillum, a progressive backed by Bernie Sanders. The Florida Democratic party immediately decried DeSantis’s comment as racist
Continue reading...Photo of the administration’s summer interns has drawn scrutiny – and showed a stark contrast to the program under Barack Obama
A leaked photo of the White House summer 2018 interns has again placed Donald Trump’s administration under scrutiny over its commitment to diversity, or lack thereof.
A third of Americans in their 20s belong to a minority group, yet the unreleased press photo shows this season’s class struggling to represent anything like that – not unlike the makeup of the president’s cabinet. The minority members of Trump’s cabinet are few and far between, while 64% of Barack Obama’s first cabinet and cabinet-level officials were women or non-white men, according to a New York Times analysis.
Continue reading...Guitarist Mark Miller appears to confirm wedding after wishing pair well on Facebook
The singer-songwriter Neil Young and actor Daryl Hannah are said to have married during a small ceremony in California at the weekend.
The couple reportedly wed on Saturday in Atascadero, after a ceremony on Young’s yacht near the San Juan islands.
Continue reading...Twitch, where majority of broadcasters play video games for an audience, was the first to unintentionally air a shooting live
When two people were killed and 11 injured at a Madden football video game tournament at a bar in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday, the incident joined the list of hundreds of tragic shootings that have already taken place in the US this year. But it was the first to occur during a video game tournament, and the first to have been unintentionally broadcast live online.
Related: 'No one deserves to die over a video game': survivors recall chaos of Florida shooting
Continue reading...California has given fossil fuel-derived energy a hefty shove towards obsolescence after legislators voted to require that 100% of the state’s electricity come from carbon-free sources.
The bill, which will need to be approved by the state senate and Governor Jerry Brown, will require a complete shift to clean energy such as solar and wind by 2045. It would also demand that electric utilities source 60% of their power from renewable sources by 2030, up from the current target of 50%.
Continue reading...Tesla boss criticised for making unfounded allegation against Vernon Unsworth, who helped free Thai cave boys
Elon Musk appears to have doubled down on his claim that a British explorer who was instrumental in freeing a group of Thai boys trapped in a cave is a “pedo”.
The chair of Tesla was widely criticised last month for making the unfounded allegation against Vernon Unsworth, who was part of an international team that freed the young footballers and their coach from the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand.
Continue reading...Ice agents raided Load Trailer after receiving tips that it hired people who used fraudulent identification documents
Agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) arrested more than 150 people at a trailer manufacturer in north Texas following allegations of immigration violations.
At a Tuesday news conference shortly after the raid, officials called the arrests “one of the larger work site enforcement operations conducted at one site in the past 10 years”. It comes amid a sharp increase in such raids under the Trump administration over the past year.
Continue reading...George Garofano, 26, one of four charged over illegal hacking of American actor and other celebrities
A hacker was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday for a scheme that exposed intimate photos of the actor Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities.
George Garofano, 26, was accused of illegally hacking the private Apple iCloud accounts of 240 people, including Hollywood stars as well as average internet users, allowing their nude photos and private information to be spread around the internet.
Continue reading...Lesson to be learned from 2008 financial crisis is that the challenge was – and is - political
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, some economists argued that the US, and perhaps the global economy, was suffering from “secular stagnation” – an idea first conceived in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Economies had always recovered from downturns, but the Great Depression had lasted an unprecedented length of time. Many believed the economy recovered only because of government spending on the second world war and many feared that with the end of the war, the economy would return to its doldrums.
Something, it was believed, had happened, such that even with low or zero interest rates, the economy would languish. For reasons now well understood, these dire predictions fortunately turned out to be wrong.
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