Democrats and Republicans react to John Bolton’s bombshell book on Trump – video

Political figures have criticised Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, for his new book, The Room Where It Happened, which makes a series of explosive claims about the US president.

Democrat speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, echoed Bolton in saying Trump was 'unfit' to be president but added that the Republican 'chose loyalty over patriotism'

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Into the Wild abandoned bus airlifted from Alaska back country – video

An abandoned bus in the Alaska back country, made popular by the book Into the Wild and film of the same name, was airlifted on Thursday as a public safety measure.

The bus has long attracted adventurers to the area, which is affected by unpredictable weather and sometimes swollen rivers where some have had to be rescued or have died.

The Alaska army national guard moved the bus as part of a training mission 'at no cost to the public or additional cost to the state' using a heavy-lift helicopter

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Abandoned bus made famous by movie Into the Wild removed by Alaska authorities

Helicopter removed the bus where adventurer Christopher McCandless died of starvation in 1992, to prevent others trying to reach it

An abandoned bus in the Alaska back country, popularized by the book Into the Wild and movie of the same name, was removed on Thursday as a public safety measure, state officials said.

The bus has long attracted adventurers to an area without cellphone service and marked by unpredictable weather and at-times swollen rivers. Some have had to be rescued or have died. Christopher McCandless, the subject of the book and movie, died of starvation there in 1992.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil surpasses one million cases

Country hits grisly milestone as WHO says pandemic is entering ‘new and dangerous phase’

In Australia, authorities are watching the rise in coronavirus cases in Victoria closely as the state prepares to further ease restrictions from Monday.

Gyms, cinemas, indoor sports centres and concert venues are scheduled to reopen on Monday while cafes, restaurants and pubs will increase capacity from 20 people to 50.

Brazil has passed a total of more than one million coronavirus cases, and nearly 50,000 deaths, according to its health ministry data, in a new low for the world’s second worst-hit country.

Brazil has recorded 1,032,913 confirmed cases, second only to the United States, with 1,206 new deaths reported on Friday to take the total official fatalities to 48,954, the ministry said.

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Trump again threatens to cut China ties after US official ruled it out

President contradicts top China trade negotiator as Washington questions Beijing Covid-19 outbreak numbers

Donald Trump has renewed his threat to cut ties with China, a day after his diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing and his top US trade negotiator said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option.

The conflicting stances emerged as Washington questioned China’s credibility on accurately reporting the new Covid-19 cluster in Beijing.

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Trump battles to halt memoir as Bolton calls president ‘not fit for office’

  • Former security adviser calls Trump ‘stunningly uninformed’
  • DoJ lawyers likely to face battle to halt memoir’s publication

The Trump administration will go to court on Friday in an effort to halt publication of John Bolton’s memoir of his time as national security adviser, on the grounds it contains classified material.

Related: John Bolton says Trump is 'not fit for office' as fallout continues over book – live

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Raab betrays his ignorance of the origin and meaning of taking a knee

Linking to Game of Thrones disregards Colin Kaepernick’s protest and what it inspired

The foreign secretary Dominic Raab’s assertion that the act of taking a knee appears to be “a symbol of subjugation and subordination” that originates from the TV show Game of Thrones showed a startling level of ignorance of the genesis of the protest adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

When the then NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the US national anthem before a game on 1 September 2016 to highlight racism, it began a protest that would reverberate around the world.

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US supreme court rejects Trump’s bid to end Daca program

John Roberts wrote in 5-4 majority opinion the administration’s decision to end program was ‘arbitrary and capricious’

The US supreme court has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to end the program that made it possible for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to live and work in the US without fear of deportation.

More than 652,800 people, including doctors fighting the coronavirus, were waiting on the decision about the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly known by its acronym Daca.

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Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies aged 92

Smith, who died at home in Manhattan, played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s as US envoy

Jean Kennedy Smith, the youngest sister and last surviving sibling of John F Kennedy, who as US envoy played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s, has died aged 92, her daughter confirmed to the New York Times.

Related: Coronavirus live news: New York set to ease lockdown further as outdoor restaurants reopen

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What is Juneteenth – and should it be a federal holiday in the US? – video explainer

Every 19 June for more than 150 years African Americans across the US have celebrated freedom from slavery. Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn explores the significance of Juneteenth, how celebrations have evolved over the years and looks at whether it is time for the holiday to receive federal recognition

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Coronavirus live news: New Zealand reports another new case as Brazil nears 1m infections

Deaths worldwide near 500,000; US health expert says country is ‘still in first wave’; Argentinian president enters voluntary isolation amid coronavirus surge. Follow the latest updates

The hospitalisation of Honduras president with Covid-19 and pneumonia Wednesday has drawn attention to another country struggling under the pandemics strain as cases rise sharply in the capital, AP reports.

President Juan Orlando Hernández announced late Tuesday that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. Just hours later he was hospitalised after doctors determined he had pneumonia.

From March to 7 June, Honduras confirmed 6,327 coronavirus infections. In the 10 days since, it added 3,329 more, a surge that has come after the government began a gradual reactivation of the economy.

The full story on Australia’s unemployment rate now:

Australia lost a further 227,000 jobs between April and May, resulting in a total loss of 835,000 jobs in seasonally adjusted terms since March and a 0.7% jump in unemployment to 7.1%.

Related: Australia loses 227,000 more jobs, taking unemployment to 7.1%

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Trump administration seeks emergency order to block Bolton’s memoir

Last-ditch attempt to quash release comes as copies have already been shipped and news outlets report on startling details

The Trump administration has made an aggressive last-ditch attempt to block the release of John Bolton’s bombshell book, in which the former national security adviser writes that the US president offered favors to dictators and asked China to help him with his 2020 re-election.

On Wednesday night, the justice department sought an emergency order from a judge to block the publication of Bolton’s memoir, after explosive excerpts were printed by various news organizations.

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Pacific data cable not safe from China if Hong Kong included, says US

Justice department says ‘recent actions’ by China towards its territory indicate landing station could expose US communications to spying

The US government wants a high-capacity undersea data cable system proposed by Google and Facebook to bypass Hong Kong, citing potential national security concerns following China’s moves to exert greater control in the territory.

The Pacific Light Cable Network, pending approval by the federal communications commission (FCC), should connect the US, Taiwan and the Philippines but not go through Hong Kong as planned, a US Justice Department committee has recommended.

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Danny Masterson: That ’70s Show actor charged with rapes of three women

Charges come after a three-year investigation of the actor, who is being held on $3.3m bail

Danny Masterson, the actor known for That ‘70s Show, has been charged with the rapes of three women in the early 2000s, Los Angeles prosecutors said Wednesday.

The three counts of rape by force or fear come after a three-year investigation of the 44-year-old Masterson. The charges were filed Tuesday and Masterson was arrested late Wednesday morning, jail records showed. He was released a few hours later after posting bond and is scheduled to be arraigned 18 September.

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Pilot in Kobe Bryant crash thought he was climbing rather than descending

  • Documents say Ara Zobayan was trying to climb out of clouds
  • Crash killed NBA legend, his daughter and seven others

The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he was actually descending, federal investigators said in documents released on Wednesday.

Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles. The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have “misperceived” the pitch of the aircraft, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan had lost his bearing.

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US imposes sanctions on Syrian president’s wife under Caesar Act

Asma al-Assad among dozens targeted in campaign to deny regime revenue and support

The Syrian first lady, Asma al-Assad, has been named in the first round of new US sanctions that are certain to intensify pressure on the embattled regime and its backers as the country’s crippled economy continues to wither.

The law, known as the Caesar Act, came into effect on Wednesday, placing anyone who does business with 39 named individuals and regime entities in the cross hairs of the US Treasury. The sanctions are the toughest yet imposed on Bashar al-Assad and are set to be the centrepiece of a pressure campaign that also targets his government’s two major backers, Iran and Hezbollah.

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Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as ‘favor’ to dictators, Bolton book says

Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors to dictators he liked”, according to a new book written by his former national security adviser John Bolton.

Related: How Trump's missteps undermined the US's recovery from pandemic

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Americans reportedly find ‘loophole’ to violate Canada’s Covid-19 border closure

Officials investigating reports that US citizens are crossing border on pretext of visiting Alaska, only to stay in Canada

For some Americans, the prospect of visiting the Rocky Mountains without hordes of visitors cramming its picturesque trails and alpine towns, is so tempting that they’re prepared to risk arrest.

Canadian officials are investigating reports that American tourists are making covert forays into the country, violating a border closure imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

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Coronavirus live news: New Zealand to trace 320 ‘close contacts’ of virus pair who stopped to meet friends

Beijing raises alert level and grounds hundreds of flights; India’s official death toll leaps by more than 2,000 to reach 11,903; Brazil suffers record case increase

Around 11,000 mink at a farm in Denmark will have to be culled after they were found to be infected with the coronavirus, the country’s authorities have said.

The outbreak is the first in Denmark, the world’s biggest producer of mink skins, but comes shortly after the virus was found at 13 mink farms in the Netherlands, where about 570,000 mink have been ordered culled.

If you’re planning to meet Vladimir Putin in the next few weeks, be warned: you will have to pass through a special disinfectant tunnel to get to the Russian president.

Putin’s official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has confirmed a report by Russian state television that three airport-style tunnels have been built for the president: one at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, where he has reputedly being doing much of his work during the pandemic, and two at the Kremlin.

В резиденции Путина для защиты от коронавируса установили специальный туннель. Он предназначен для дезинфекцииhttps://t.co/jjwWbuZ2EX pic.twitter.com/h62KWARvsr

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Black Lives Matter protests: Republicans to unveil police reform plan – live updates

Another statue went down in Richmond, Virginia last night - this time from the Howitzers Monument which was erected in 1892 to commemorate a Richmond Civil War artillery unit.

Activists have been demanding not just reforms to policing in the US, but a deep-seated change in police culture. A report this morning by Jesselyn Cook and Nick Robins-Early for the Huffington Post website illustrates exactly why some people see this as a necessary goal. They’ve been studying the places they describe as “the dangerous online fever swamps of American police”:

This police media ecosystem is not necessarily a broad representation of what most cops believe. But inside this echo chamber, which has thousands of users and readers, extremist views dictate the narrative. Wild misinformation and bigotry are rampant, with people who claim to be current and former officers posting debunked falsehoods and racist stereotypes about protesters.

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