Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser says Australia’s bushfires are a climate change ‘wake-up call’

Stephanie Kelton says Australia could ‘absolutely’ benefit from a program similar to the Green New Deal

Australia’s unprecedented bushfires are a wake-up call to the world about the importance of tackling climate change, Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser said, and the country should consider implementing a green new deal to transition to a low carbon economy.

Stephanie Kelton said Australia could benefit from an ambitious program of spending, similar to the one proposed by Sanders and others that aims to transform the US economy and help keep global heating below 1.5C.

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‘So you won’t take down lies?’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenges Facebook CEO – video

Mark Zuckerberg faced a gruelling examination from the Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday, with questions over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook’s reluctance to police political advertising.

The Facebook CEO declined to disclose when he found out the company was harvesting and selling user data to influence elections. She also asked Zuckerberg about his 'dinner parties with far-right figures' and if at those meetings he addressed the popular rightwing theory that Facebook cracks down on conservative speech, a question Zuckerberg also dodged

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How AOC turned boring congressional hearings into electrifying moments

The Democrat made waves by challenging Zuckerberg. It wasn’t even her first viral moment that day

It isn’t often that you hear someone rave about a great congressional hearing they’ve seen online. Heck, outside of big national events, I’m going to bet you have never willingly watched C-Span.

But less than one year since she entered Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has represented New York’s 14th congressional district since January, has changed that.

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Ocasio-Cortez stumps Zuckerberg with questions on far right and Cambridge Analytica

Democratic lawmaker challenges Facebook CEO during hearing over Libra cryptocurrency

Mark Zuckerberg faced a grueling examination from the Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday, with questions over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook’s reluctance to police political advertising.

Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers grilled the Facebook CEO during a hearing in front of the US House of Representatives financial services committee regarding the launch of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra.

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Ocasio-Cortez joins Bernie Sanders for comeback rally in New York

Bernie Sanders addressed a rally in New York City on Saturday, his first since he paused his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination due to health concerns.

Related: Will Ocasio-Cortez's Sanders endorsement shake up the 2020 race?

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s voice cracks during speech on climate change – video

US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a speech at a global mayors event on Friday, highlighting that the world's most advanced and richest economies are failing to take sufficient steps to combat climate change. Ocasio-Cortez's voice began to crack as she spoke about the future of any children she might have, stating that it was the current population's responsibility to steer the world away from environmental jeopardy 

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Budget deal: Republicans and Democrats agree to raise debt ceiling – as it happened

The US was on track to run out of money in September if there was no deal

We’re ending our live coverage for the day, thanks for following along. Tune in tomorrow for what is sure to be a busy day as DC braces for Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony this week. Here are some key events and links from the day:

Here’s a story from today about a neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee that apparently collectively organized to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) from detaining a man:

When we #ProtectEachOther we win ✊https://t.co/uK9e1vFZBe

I’m outside a home in Hermitage where neighbors say ICE agents tried to take a man from his home early this morning. Neighbors say the man was in his van with his young son and they stayed there for 4 hours or so. Neighbors say they refused to let agents take the man.

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Ocasio-Cortez wants ‘9/11-style commission’ on family separations

  • Democratic congresswoman hosts event in New York district
  • Tells crowd Trump ‘sent me back to Queens’ with racist attack

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for a “9/11-style commission” to investigate child separation on the border with Mexico on Saturday, and said the US government has a life-long responsibility to children it severed from their parents, to provide them with mental health support.

Related: Bieber thanks Trump over A$AP Rocky but urges: 'Let those kids out of cages'

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Ocasio-Cortez on Trump rally: ‘The president put millions of Americans in danger’ – video

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat representative, has weighed in on Donald Trump's rally in North Carolina, at which the crowd chanted 'send her back' after he mentioned Ilhan Omar. Speaking at Capitol Hill, Ocasio-Cortez said: 'It is about creating a volatile environment in this country through violent rhetoric that puts anyone, like Ilhan, anyone who believes in the rights of all people, in danger'

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The Squad: progressive Democrats reveal how they got their name

‘Anyone who is interested in building a more equitable and just world is a part of The Squad,’ Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said

Four progressive democrats known as “The Squad” have revealed the source of their fierce moniker – they gave it to themselves at a photo shoot.

“Someone said, ‘Oh you should do a hashtag or something #squadgoals’ and then it morphed into whole other thing,” Congress member Ayanna Pressley told CBS This Morning on Wednesday.

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Divided House votes to condemn Trump’s racist attack on congresswomen

Nancy Pelosi’s sharp rebuke of the president’s remarks prompted a challenge from Republicans who claimed rule violations

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Donald Trump’s incendiary remarks telling four congresswomen of color to “go back” to where they “came from” as racist.

The measure, which formally rebuked the president’s comments, was approved on a mostly partisan-line vote of 240 to 187.

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‘Do not take the bait’: congresswomen denounce racist Trump attack

Four Democratic women targeted by Trump accuse him of following an ‘agenda of white nationalists’ at a press conference

Four Democratic congresswomen of color targeted by Donald Trump’s racist attacks have accused the US president of following an “agenda of white nationalists” and asked that Americans “do not take the bait” of his divisive rhetoric.

In a joint press conference at the Capitol, the congresswomen spoke out after Trump said they should “go back” to the “crime infested” countries they came from, prompting condemnation in the US and across the world.

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‘His only tool is racism’: why Trump’s bigoted tirade could be a vote winner

The president seems to regard divisive, nativist rhetoric as his best chance of staying in the White House. Analysts say he may be right

It was foul and repugnant. But was it a vote winner?

Donald Trump’s bigoted tirade against four congresswoman of colour, telling them to “go back” to the countries they came from, prompted widespread revulsion – the comments “drip with racism,” said the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer – and yet will not necessarily damage his chances of reelection.

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Donald Trump says tweets about congresswomen were ‘not at all’ racist – video

Donald Trump has said that his tweets on Sunday were 'not at all' racist after he was questioned by the media as he walked up the podium at his Made in America showcase speech. 

On Sunday, the US president used racist language to attack four progressive Democratic congresswomen, telling them to 'go back and help fix the totally broken and crime[-]infested places from which they came'. Trump did not name his targets, but the attack was directed at a group of liberal congresswomen who have had a run-in with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and who are sometimes referred to as 'the Squad': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota

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‘Go back home’: Trump aims racist attack at Ocasio-Cortez and other congresswomen

Donald Trump used racist language to attack “the Squad” on Sunday, saying four progressive Democrats who have clashed with party leaders should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.

Related: ‘Is Bernie going to come?’ Warren seizes on Sanders' Netroots absence

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Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley detail conditions in border detention facilities – video

In an emotional testimony to the House oversight committee on Friday, Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib described conditions at an immigrant detention center, decrying alleged mistreatment happening 'in front of the American flag'. During Ocasio-Cortez's testimony a congressional staffer fainted. The testimony comes as Mike Pence was due to travel to Texas on Friday to tour a facility and participate in a roundtable with border patrol and members of the Senate judiciary committee

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Trump calls Ocasio-Cortez ‘Evita’ in new book American Carnage

  • President interviewed for book on Republican civil war
  • Comparison to Eva Perón indicates respect for Democrat

Donald Trump has compared Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Eva Perón, saying that though he first saw the New York congresswoman “ranting and raving like a lunatic on a street corner” and thinks “she knows nothing”, she has “a certain talent”.

Related: When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'

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Texas migrant detention facilities ‘dangerously overcrowded’ – US government report

Report from government’s own auditors includes images of children and adults penned into rooms

New images of children and adults in “dangerously” overcrowded US border patrol facilities in Texas have been released as part of a report from government auditors.

The congressional House oversight committee announced on Tuesday it will hold a hearing next week on the treatment of migrants held in detention facilities at the southern border after a series of reports of poor treatment.

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Ocasio-Cortez leads critics of video showing Ivanka Trump G20 chat

  • First daughter attempts to talk with May, Macron and more
  • New York Democrat laments damage to ‘diplomatic standing’

The French government on Saturday released a brief clip of a discussion at the G20 summit in Osaka involving four world leaders – and Ivanka Trump.

Related: Ivanka Trump says stepping into North Korea was 'surreal'

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