‘It’s hard to know what day it is’: families tell of grim Ice detention in Texas

Anxiety high as parents and children tell of lack of clean water, inadequate medical care and poor food in ‘prison-like’ conditions

At the South Texas Family Residential Center, guards allegedly refer to detained immigrant families as “inmates”, spouses aren’t allowed to hold hands, and children don’t know where they can kick around a ball without getting in trouble, according to a stark court filing.

Yet those are minor indignities compared with accounts given to outside monitors of a lack of clean drinking water, sleep, healthy food, privacy, hygiene supplies and appropriate healthcare. Alongside government admissions of what attorneys called “prolonged unexplained detention” at the facility in the remote town of Dilley, Texas anxiety levels for detainees are high.

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Palestinian American denied slot at DNC competing for Georgia governor: ‘We’re trying to rebuild the coalition’

Ruwa Romman is ‘running to build a movement’ and ‘restoring civic ethos of being involved in the government’

Ruwa Romman, the first Palestinian-American elected to state-level office in Georgia, was fighting for a speaking slot a year ago at the Democratic national convention, hoping to draw attention to concerns among progressive voters about the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

On Monday, she announced her candidacy for governor in Georgia – looking for a different kind of attention.

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Trump gives Hamas ‘three or four days’ to respond to his peace plan for Gaza

US president warns militant group will ‘pay in hell’ if it rejects the deal, which seeks to end two-year-long war

Donald Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum of “three or four days” to respond to his proposed peace and reconstruction plan in Gaza, warning the militant group would “pay in hell” if it rejects the deal, as the Israeli offensive continued, inflicting further civilian casualties.

Trump’s proposal was announced in a joint press conference in Washington with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and seeks a definitive end to the relentless two-year-long war. At least 31 Palestinians were killed across Gaza on Tuesday, local hospitals said.

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Nine people dead and scores injured over weekend of mass US shootings

Six separate mass shootings bring tally to 324 this year, underscoring continuing US crisis of gun violence

Sunday’s mass murder at a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, which left at least four worshippers dead and eight wounded, was just one of six mass shootings that erupted across the US over a weekend of gun horror.

The Gun Violence Archive, an online non-profit database which records mass shootings in America, added six fresh incidents over Saturday and Sunday. The concentrated bloodletting, spread out across four states, took the lives of nine people, including the suspect in Sunday’s shooting at Grand Blanc’s Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church, as well as injuring at least 33.

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Cannabis stocks soar after Trump shares video promoting drug’s use for seniors

Video posted on Truth Social touts CBD as a ‘gamechanger’ and promotes Medicaid coverage of CBD products

Cannabis stocks are on a high after Donald Trump shared a video on Sunday promoting cannabis use for seniors and Medicaid coverage of CBD products.

The nearly three-minute-long video, posted on the president’s Truth Social platform, touts the usage of hemp-derived CBD as a “gamechanger” that is a pain and stress reliever for seniors.

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Trump administration spending $625m to revive dying coal industry

White House allocating 13.1m acres of public land to coal mining, which has been on rapid decline over past 30 years

The White House will open 13.1m acres (5.3m hectares) of public land to coal mining while providing $625m for coal-fired power plants, the Trump administration has announced.

The efforts came as part of a suite of initiatives from the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency, aimed at reviving the flagging coal sector. Coal, the most polluting and costly fossil fuel, has been on a rapid decline over the past 30 years, with the US halving its production between 2008 and 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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Stephen Miller takes leading role in strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats

Exclusive: Miller’s homeland security council has played a key part in coordinating operations, sources say

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, according to three people familiar with the situation. At times, his role has superseded that of Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser.

The strikes on the Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying narcotics, which the administration has claimed were necessary because interdiction did not work, have been orchestrated through the homeland security council (HSC), which Miller leads as the homeland security adviser.

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US citizen Amir Amiry freed by Taliban in Afghanistan

Secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomes release as ‘important step forward’ as Taliban seek to normalise relations with US

The Taliban on Sunday freed a US citizen from an Afghan prison, weeks after they said they had reached an agreement with US envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalise relations.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomed the release of Amir Amiry, saying it marked the administration’s determination, reinforced by Donald Trump’s recent executive order, to protect American nationals from wrongful detention abroad.

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US citizen Amir Amiry freed by Taliban in Afghanistan

Secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomes release as ‘important step forward’ as Taliban seek to normalise relations with US

The Taliban on Sunday freed a US citizen from an Afghan prison, weeks after they said they had reached an agreement with US envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalise relations.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomed the release of Amir Amiry, saying it marked the administration’s determination, reinforced by Donald Trump’s recent executive order, to protect American nationals from wrongful detention abroad.

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Tropical Storm Imelda forming and expected to become hurricane

Forecast track could take storm, which caused disruption in Bahamas and Cuba, away from US east coast

Tropical Storm Imelda formed on Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane on a forecast track that could take it away from the US east coast in the coming days. The storm was causing disruption in the Bahamas and Cuba on Sunday, and a tropical storm watch was posted in parts of Florida.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto weakened very slightly but remained a strong category 4 storm in the Atlantic, threatening Bermuda.

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Tropical Storm Imelda forming and expected to become hurricane

Forecast track could take storm, which caused disruption in Bahamas and Cuba, away from US east coast

Tropical Storm Imelda formed on Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane on a forecast track that could take it away from the US east coast in the coming days. The storm was causing disruption in the Bahamas and Cuba on Sunday, and a tropical storm watch was posted in parts of Florida.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto weakened very slightly but remained a strong category 4 storm in the Atlantic, threatening Bermuda.

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Leaders of Mexican megachurch led a sprawling sex-trafficking enterprise, US prosecutors allege

The family behind La Luz del Mundo Church allegedly facilitated sexual abuse of children and women for decades

Since its inception nearly 100 years ago, La Luz del Mundo Church has been a family affair even as it spread from Mexico to the US and around the world.

Eusebio “Aaron” Joaquín Gonzalez, who founded the Guadalajara-based Christian church, was succeeded by his son, Samuel Joaquín Flores, upon his death in 1964.

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Three dead in Arizona flooding as the Carolinas brace for possible hurricane

Flooding overwhelms town of Globe as North Carolina governor declares an emergency ahead of storm

At least three people died and others were believed missing after flooding in a rural community in Arizona, officials said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, crews spent Saturday making preparations for an unnamed weather system that is forecast to approach that state’s coast as a hurricane early next week.

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FBI arrest man who allegedly threatened to shoot people at Texas Pride parade

Suspect Joshua Cole allegedly used a Facebook account to threaten revenge for murder of Charlie Kirk

Federal authorities in Texas have arrested a man for allegedly threatening to shoot people at a pro-LGBTQ+ parade, to avenge the murder of Charlie Kirk.

According to court documents viewed by the Guardian, on 18 September, the FBI’s field office in Dallas was notified by Abilene, Texas, police about online threats from a local resident.

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Police identify suspect in 1991 murders of four girls at Texas yogurt shop

Officials name Robert Eugene Brashers in brutal deaths of Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas and Jennifer and Sarah Harbison

After more than three decades, police have identified a dead suspect in an infamous 1991 murder case in which four girls were slain at a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas.

Austin police revealed Friday that Robert Eugene Brashers had been identified as a suspect in the murders through “a wide range of DNA testing”. Brashers, who had a lengthy criminal history, died by suicide in 1999 at age 40 during a standoff with police in Missouri.

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US military brass brace for firings as Pentagon chief orders top-level meeting

Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals and admirals to Virginia to meet and receive address on ‘warrior ethos’

US military officials are reportedly bracing for possible firings or demotions after the Trump administration’s Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, abruptly summoned hundreds of generals and admirals from around the world to attend a gathering in Virginia in the upcoming days.

The event, scheduled for Tuesday at Marine Corps University in Quantico, is expected to feature a short address by Hegseth focused on military standards and the “warrior ethos”, according to the Washington Post.

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Belva Davis, a journalist who ‘opened doors for a generation’, dies aged 92

Friends and colleagues remember the first Black woman hired as a TV reporter on the west coast for her ‘courage, integrity, grace and humanity’

Unflappable. Fair. A mentor. The trailblazing journalist Belva Davis carried all of these traits, according to friends and colleagues, as they remembered the first Black woman hired as a television reporter on the west coast in the days following her death.

Davis entered television news in the 1960s, when the industry was dominated by white men, making her presence on screens especially pioneering. She died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

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Trump brags of ‘massive’ oil deal in Pakistan – but drilling has not found any

Announcement of deal baffles experts and former ministers, who say there is no sign of any untapped reserves

The newfound camaraderie between the US and Pakistan was on full display this week as Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, into the Oval Office, heralding them both as “great leaders”.

Having been cold-shouldered by successive US presidents, this was the first time a Pakistani prime minister had been invited to Washington in more than six years. It was also the unprecedented second time this year that Munir – who holds no official government role – held an intimate meeting with Trump, which many took as a telling signal of where the power to cut deals really lies in Pakistan.

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US revokes visa for Colombian president Gustavo Petro after ‘reckless’ actions in New York

At a pro-Palestine protest, Petro urged US soldiers to ‘disobey Trump’s order’ and ‘not point their rifles at humanity’

The US state department said on Friday it would revoke the visa of Colombian leftist president Gustavo Petro for his “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York.

“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the state department said on X.

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Trump fires US attorney who told border agents to follow law on immigration raids

New York Times reports Michele Beckwith’s firing came after she reminded Border Patrol to comply with courts

Donald Trump fired a top federal prosecutor in Sacramento just hours after she warned immigration agents they could not indiscriminately detain people in her district, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times.

Michele Beckwith, who became the acting US attorney in Sacramento in January, received an email at 4.31pm on 15 July notifying her that the president had ordered her termination.

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