Anti-ICE organizers shift focus to defend democracy from Trump assault

Citizens in Minnesota using lessons learned from migrant crackdown to protect elections from president’s threats

When thousands of immigration agents flooded Minnesota earlier this year, a loose network of neighbors sprang into action. They fed each other. They got kids to and from school safely. They tracked the surge that tore through their communities.

After organizing, block by block, to monitor Donald Trump’s extraordinary crackdown on their state, the same neighbors are shifting their focus to a different threat. What if the US president tries to steal an election?

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‘Tech firms are losing the public’: social media age bans near tipping point

UK is latest country to set minimum age for social media access but big tech is fighting back globally against curbs

Arturo Béjar, a former employee turned whistleblower at Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, has talked to parents around the world. He says they share the same perspective: they dread the day their children are old enough to go online.

Governments appear to be listening too. This month the UK became the latest country to state that it would set a minimum age of 16 for accessing major social media platforms. Social media bans are becoming a legislative trend after the precedent set by Australia last year, when it imposed an age limit on platforms including Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Elon Musk’s X, TikTok and Snapchat.

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Venezuelan earthquakes test Trump’s new western hemisphere policy after gutting of USAID

Marco Rubio is scrambling to provide effective disaster response to country whose president US deposed in January

This week’s dual earthquakes in Venezuela are a test for the new era of American power in the western hemisphere, as the Trump administration scrambles to provide an effective disaster response mission to a country that it now calls an ally in Latin America, after a US special forces raid in January deposed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro.

The US is marshalling what secretary of state Marco Rubio called a “big, fast, effective” and “whole-of-government” response as the state department sent three specialised urban search and rescue teams and pledged a $150m assistance fund that one former disaster relief expert called the largest he had seen within 24 hours of an incident.

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Shadow war: how use of proxy forces by Iran, Israel and US is driving Middle East instability

Across region there is a push to disarm militia and reinforce state authority but the temptation to use proxies remains

As Marco Rubio ended his brief visit to the Middle East on Friday, he sought to cast in the best possible light his discussions with leaders of the Gulf states. Those leaders are deeply anxious that the deal agreed earlier this month between Iran and the US fails to address their worries about continued Iranian efforts to project power and influence throughout the region.

“They’ve shared with us some very concrete concerns,” the US secretary of state admitted, and insisted that any definitive agreement will require Tehran to not only restrict its nuclear programme but also halt its support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, militia in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen.

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Trump says he will nominate Lance Schroyer as next ICE director

Schroyer, whom Trump calls ‘a patriot’, led deportation campaign in Oklahoma under ICE-partnered program

Donald ​Trump said on ⁠Saturday ⁠that ​he ‌will ‌nominate ‌Lance Schroyer as ‌the next director of US ​Immigration ⁠and ​Customs ​Enforcement (ICE), succeeding David Venturella, who had been performing the duties of the director.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that Schroyer “has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma — A State where I WON all 77 Counties in 2016, 2020, and 2024! Lance is a former Oklahoma State Trooper, and United States Marine”.

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Venezuela earthquakes: death toll rises again to more than 1,400

Search for survivors continues with nearly 70,000 people reported unaccounted for by their family members

The ⁠death toll ⁠in ⁠the twin ​earthquakes that struck ⁠Venezuela earlier ⁠this ​week ‌has ‌risen to ‌1,430, according to one of the country’s top politicians, Jorge Rodríguez.

Another 3,200 ​people were injured ⁠and 3,100 ​left homeless ​by the ​disaster, ​the National Assembly president added, speaking ​on ​state television.

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White House unveils new images of US ‘patriot passports’ for America’s 250th

Democrats called plans for commemorative passport and gold coin with Trump portrait ‘more befitting a monarchy’

Donald Trump’s efforts to brand the US government with his name and image advanced on Friday when the White House unveiled new images of a passport watermarked with his portrait to mark America’s 250th anniversary.

The White House called it simply the “patriot passport”, while on Truth Social the president introduced it as “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’”

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Bahrain condemns Iranian tit-for-tat drone attack as ‘flagrant threat’

No immediate reports of damage after Bahrain hit by ‘number of drones’ as ship in strait of Hormuz also targeted

Bahrain has said it was attacked by Iran with drones on Saturday, apparently in response to overnight US strikes on Iran. A ship in the strait of Hormuz was also attacked.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a “number of drones” were launched at the country, though there were no immediate reports of damage. It condemned the attack and described it as a “flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents”.

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Germany and Italy swelter in heatwave as records tumble across Europe

Denmark experiences highest temperature on record on Saturday as weather system spreads eastward

Germany ⁠and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in western Europe spread eastwards, after temperatures broke records above 40C (104F).

Denmark registered its highest temperature on record on Saturday, according to the Danish meteorological institute. “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest day ever since measurements began in 1874,” it said in a post on X.

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Lebanon-Israel deal may stop war crime victims seeking justice, experts say

Agreement could also end hopes of ICC jurisdiction in Lebanon, which advocates pushed for to prosecute Israel

A new agreement between Lebanon and Israel could block victims of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon from pursuing accountability and hinder future efforts to give the international criminal court jurisdiction in the country, legal experts have said.

Lebanon and Israel signed a 14-point framework agreement in Washington on Friday designed to work towards an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

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‘It’s become a litmus test’: wins for Israel critics shine light on key issue for Democrats

Candidates who believe Israel has committed genocide won big in New York – will it push the party to move their way?

Regardless of which party wins control of Congress in November, New York City voters have all but ensured that next year a vocal bloc of new House Democrats will arrive on Capitol Hill, elected, in large part, because they believe Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.

That is an upshot of the primary elections held Tuesday in New York, where voters ousted two incumbent House Democrats and replaced a third who is retiring with progressives championed by Zohran Mamdani.

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Trump threatens 100% tariff on European countries that impose digital tax

US president says levy would be imposed immediately and supersede pre-existing trade deals with the country

Donald Trump has threatened to place a 100% import tariff on any European country that imposes a tax on digital services from US companies.

Writing on Truth Social on Friday, the US president said that “numerous European countries” had been discussing putting a digital services tax on American companies and that “some of these countries are close to actually doing this”.

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Nigel Farage’s anti-WHO campaign moves to US with allies added to board

Relocation of Action on World Health raises questions over why Reform UK leader is involved in a US pressure group

Nigel Farage’s campaign against the World Health Organization (WHO) is moving to the US with a new board of lobbyists, raising questions over why the Reform UK leader is involved in an American pressure group.

The Action on World Health campaign, co-founded by Farage, is relocating to the US state of Delaware as a charitable foundation and grassroots non-profit.

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‘You’re history itself!’: how Arab World Cup commentators fuel fans’ passions

Arabic’s rich history of poetry lends itself well to ‘beautiful commentary that … sounds like a love letter to football’

Even before Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range shot had hit the back of net, the commentator had begun shouting. “Allllllllaaaaaaah!!!!” exclaimed Amer al-Khudhiri, an Omani football announcer for BeIN Sports, as the Portugal star scored his first goal of the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

He took a deep breath and then began his soliloquy. “I knew you were coming for revenge. I knew you would answer everyone, the world, the World Cup, the doubters, those who have lost their memory,” al-Khudhiri said. “Oh history, put Ronaldo here as Portgual’s all-time top scorer, through all its history. Allah, Allah, Allah!”

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Polygamous sect leader guilty of abuse after girls found in trailer on highway

Self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman already serving 50-year prison sentence over child sexual abuse

A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.

Someone alerted authorities about the trailer in 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors. Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls inside, who were ages 11 to 14 at the time. The trailer was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.

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Utah under historic ‘red flag’ weather warning amid dangerous wildfires

Governor also announced state of emergency and banned personal fireworks in state until after Fourth of July

Salt Lake City’s National Weather Service declared a “particularly dangerous situation red flag warning”, the first in the service’s history, according to a social media post.

“THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE … Wind gusts of 40-50+ mph, combined with hot temperatures and extremely dry air, could cause explosive wildfire growth. Any new fire that starts could spread rapidly and become difficult to control,” said Chase Thomason, a meteorologist for KUTV, Utah’s CBS affiliate.

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US says it struck Iran targets after attack on cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz

Strikes against military facilities were in response to drone attack a day earlier on a cargo vessel

The US has struck Iran in a tit-for-tat response to a drone strike on a cargo ship, as the ceasefire between the US and Iran that reopened the strait of Hormuz undergoes its greatest test yet.

The US strikes targeted multiple missile and drone facilities in Iran near the strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island on Friday in what appeared to be a limited strike meant to respond to Iran’s attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship without escalating the conflict.

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Trump blames Iran for drone strike on cargo ship in strait of Hormuz

US president calls it ‘foolish violation’ of ceasefire agreement after drone damaged ship’s upper deck

Donald Trump on Friday blamed Iran for carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the US.

One drone damaged the upper deck of the ship but the ship was able to proceed, the US president said. The US shot down three other drones aimed at the ship, he said.

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Carney announces contest to revamp uninhabitable Canadian PM residence

Various issues – including a rodent infestation and mould – have left the historic, sprawling Ottawa estate empty

10 Downing Street has two things: mice and a chief mouser. For more than a decade, an officially recognized feline has kept rodent infestation in the British prime minister’s residence to a minimum.

Over a similar period, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister has seen an unchecked explosion of rodents.

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