Pro-Palestine protester self-immolates outside Atlanta’s Israeli consulate

The person, who is as yet not been identified, is in critical condition and a guard who attempted to intervene was injured

A protester with a Palestinian flag self-immolated on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, injuring a security guard who attempted to intervene, authorities said.

The person, whom officials did not identify, is in critical condition, the Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum said at a news conference. The guard’s condition was not immediately clear.

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Georgia prosecutors oppose plea deals for Trump, Meadows and Giuliani

Exclusive: sources say Fulton county prosecutors unwilling to offer deals to key trio, preferring instead to force them to trial

Fulton county prosecutors do not intend to offer plea deals to Donald Trump and at least two high-level co-defendants charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to two people familiar with the matter, preferring instead to force them to trial.

The individuals seen as ineligible include Trump, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

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Hundreds more US United Methodist congregations disaffiliate amid LGBTQ+ tensions

Over 7,000 congregations have been approved to break away since 2019, when church strengthened bans on same-sex marriage

Another 250-plus United Methodist congregations have broken with the denomination in north Georgia amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ+ people in the church.

The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church voted Saturday to allow 261 congregations to break away, or disaffiliate, after theological tensions over bans on same-sex marriages and the ordination of clergy who are openly LGBTQ+.

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Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter and former first lady, dies aged 96

Carter, who was diagnosed with dementia in May, was fiercely loyal ally throughout husband’s long political career

Rosalynn Carter, wife of the 39th president Jimmy Carter, has died at the couple’s Georgia home aged 96.

Carter, who became one of the nation’s leading mental health advocates during and after her husband’s time in the White House, was diagnosed with dementia in May.

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Georgia judge in Trump case rules to block release of ‘sensitive’ material

Fulton county’s Scott McAfee issues order after outlets published details of videotaped statements from former Trump lawyers

The Fulton county judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump and his top allies in Georgia issued on Thursday a protective order against the release of certain discovery materials, ruling that further leaks of evidence could taint the jury pool before trial.

The order entered by the Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee came after media outlets published details of videotaped statements that the former Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro gave as part of their plea deals.

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Trump’s Georgia election trial could stretch into 2025, says prosecutor

In interview, Fani Willis said trial against the ex-president and 19 defendants would probably extend past election day

The trial in the Georgia racketeering case against Donald Trump and 14 other defendants relating to an alleged conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election could stretch into early 2025, the Fulton county prosecutor, Fani Willis, has said.

In an interview at a global women’s summit held on Tuesday by the Washington Post, Willis said that though she expected the case be on appeal “for years”, the trial itself would probably take “many months”. She envisioned it ending in “the winter or the very early part of 2025”.

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Federal agency says it stopped measuring water pollution near ‘Cop City’

Move is bad news for local environmental groups, whose motion to halt construction will be heard on 15 November

A federal agency that monitors water quality says it stopped measuring sediment pollution levels in a creek that runs alongside the controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” months ago due to safety concerns.

The issue is particularly important as a local environmental group’s motion to stop construction of the project will get its day in federal court on 15 November.

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Moldova and Ukraine’s accelerated path to EU marks Russia’s waning influence

Invasion of Ukraine has fast-tracked timetable for the countries to join bloc after years of ‘economic warfare’

Long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow had already been accused of launching an economic war against its neighbours. With bullying, cajoling and outright threats, the Kremlin’s campaign to warn its former Soviet subjects away from the EU involved telling them they would be blocked from the Russian market and its own customs union, and face cutoffs of crucial supplies of natural gas.

Wednesday’s recommendation by the European Commission to open EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova marks the latest casualty of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine: its own war for economic domination, or at least competitiveness, in eastern Europe.

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Georgia homeowner finds 3ft tegu lizard hiding under porch

Officials remind residents of rules and say non-native Argentine black and white tegus can pose threat to wildlife and people

An oblivious Georgia homeowner was unaware a huge 3ft tegu lizard had taken up residence under her porch until eagle-eyed children in the neighborhood spotted it and told her, state wildlife officials said.

The reptile was a non-native Argentine black and white tegu, the largest of its species that can grow up to 5ft and pose a threat to wildlife and people, the officials reported.

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Germany proposes giving EU candidate countries observer status at summits

Roadmap for expansion suggests integrating countries such as Ukraine into sections of EU before negotiations are complete

Germany has proposed a detailed and innovative roadmap to expand the EU that would give candidate countries such as Ukraine early benefits including observer status at leaders’ summits in Brussels before full membership.

The proposals by the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, amount to an offer of integrating candidate countries into sections of the EU long before technical negotiations for membership, which can drag on for years, are completed.

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Movement against Georgia’s ‘Cop City’ plans occupation and ‘week of action’

‘Block Cop City’ plans non-violent march onto site of police center and a week of panels and screenings aimed at Black audiences

The movement against the police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” is planning two events for the coming weeks in and near Atlanta, Georgia – including a first-ever, non-violent protest march onto the project’s construction site.

The action, planned for 13 November and aimed at occupying the Cop City site for a day, could draw a thousand or more people from across the county. This would make it the largest protest to date at the location. The other event is a Black-led “week of action” the week before, aimed at Black audiences.

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Fossil fuel firms spent millions on US lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest bills

About 60% of oil and gas operations protected from protest due to money spent on lobbying, says Greenpeace USA report

Fossil fuel companies have spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign donations to state lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest laws – which now shield about 60% of US gas and oil operations from protest and civil disobedience, according to a new report from Greenpeace USA.

Eighteen states including Montana, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginia and the Dakotas have enacted sweeping anti-protest laws which boost penalties for trespass near so-called critical infrastructure, that make it far riskier for communities to oppose pipelines and other fossil fuel projects that threaten their land, water and the global climate.

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US man killed by police ‘triggered’ after wrongful imprisonment, family say

Relatives suspect Leonard Cure, 53, resisted traffic-stop arrest because of toll of 16 years in prison for crime he did not commit

The relatives of Leonard Cure, a Black man fatally shot earlier this week at point-blank range by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop, said they suspect he resisted arrest because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he did not commit.

A video was released on Wednesday by a sheriff that showed Cure, who had been released and exonerated in 2020, being shot after grabbing the officer by the neck and forcing his head backward during the traffic stop on Monday.

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Georgia refuses to release evidence from police shooting of Cop City activist

Experts say decision not to make evidence available to family of Manuel Paez Terán or public sets ‘frightening’ precedent

The state of Georgia is refusing to release evidence tied to the police shooting and killing of an activist protesting a police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, prompting concern from police accountability experts who say this sets a “frightening” precedent .

District attorney George Christian released a 31-page report earlier this month concluding that the 18 January shooting of Manuel Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita”, was “objectively reasonable”. Paez Terán was one of a small group of “forest defenders” camping in a wooded public park to protest Cop City, planned for a separate part of the forest south-east of Atlanta, Georgia, less than a mile away. Dozens of officers from multiple agencies raided the park; the state claims Paez Terán fired a gun first, prompting six officers to shoot the activist. The activist sustained 57 gunshot wounds and died nearly instantly.

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Shot 14 times, no charges for police: family’s grief over death of Cop City activist

Manuel Paez Terán, known as ‘Tortuguita’ was isolated and alone as police shot him dead – and his family and friends say the full story is being kept from them

Manuel Paez Terán’s last word was: “Help.” It wasn’t spoken; it was sent by text. From another location in the same forest where Paez Terán – or “Tortuguita”– was camping in a tent, someone texted back: “What do you need?”

Seconds later, Tortuguita – Spanish for “Little Turtle”– was dead. Six Georgia state patrol troopers shot Paez Terán with at least 14 bullets, leaving 57 wounds. The 26-year-old had been sleeping in tents and tree houses in a public park for months, along with dozens of other “forest defenders” in protest against a $90m police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, planned for another part of the forest less than a mile away.

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Jimmy Carter: tributes pour in as ex-president celebrates 99th birthday

Accolades include messages from world leaders and pop culture figures, many focusing on his four decades of humanitarian work

The former US president Jimmy Carter will celebrate his 99th birthday on Sunday by putting off watching church services online and instead celebrating with his wife, Rosalynn, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Plains, Georgia.

The gathering will take place in the same one-story house where the Carters lived before he was elected to the Georgia Senate in 1962.

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Seven months after entering hospice care Jimmy Carter visits peanut festival

Former US president, who has been in ill health for several years, is set to turn 99 on 1 October

Former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have made a surprise appearance at a peanut festival in their Georgia home town, the Carter Center wrote in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The former president, who was also once a peanut farmer, and his wife are seen in a video riding through the Plains Peanut Festival in a black SUV.

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US judge rejects Mark Meadows’ request to move Georgia case to federal court

Ruling means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district stays in the superior court of Atlanta

A federal judge denied a request from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to transfer his Georgia 2020 election interference case from state to federal court on the basis that some of the charged conduct was within the scope of his official duties.

The ruling from US district judge Steve Jones on Friday means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis stays in superior court in Atlanta, unless Meadows appeals and the decision is reversed by the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit.

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Mark Meadows loses bid to transfer Georgia election interference case to federal court – as it happened

Meadows faces two felony charges, including racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer

Lindsey Graham’s name appeared early as Donald Trump’s attempts to stay in the White House began shortly after his re-election defeat in November 2020.

Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger told the press that the South Carolina senator had called him to ask if it was possible to throw away mail-in ballots in counties crucial to Joe Biden’s win in Georgia. From the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino’s report at the time:

Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has said that Senator Lindsey Graham asked whether it was possible to invalidate legally cast ballots after Donald Trump was narrowly defeated in the state.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Raffensperger said that his fellow Republican, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, questioned him about the state’s signature-matching law and asked whether political bias might have played a role in counties where poll workers accepted higher rates of mismatched signatures. According to Raffensperger, Graham then asked whether he had the authority to toss out all mail-in ballots in these counties.

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Atlanta police arrest five activists chained to bulldozer at ‘Cop City’ site

Activists entered open gate where trees are being cleared two days after state attorney general indicted 61 people under Rico law

Atlanta police arrested five activists, including two clergy members, on Thursday after the activists chained themselves to a bulldozer at the construction site for “Cop City”, a huge police and fire department training center being built in a forest south-east of Atlanta.

The activists entered an open gate around 9am local time where trees are being cleared and land is being graded for the training center, which would occupy a footprint of 170 acres if completed according to plans. Two Unitarian Universalist church clergy members hung a sign on the bulldozer saying: “Stop work.”

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