Verdict comes after former friend A$AP Relli accused rapper of shooting him in Hollywood in 2021
The musician A$AP Rocky has been found not guilty of shooting a former friend after an altercation in Hollywood in 2021, sparing him from a potentially decades-long prison sentence.
A Los Angeles jury on Tuesday acquitted him of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Continue reading...Education department gives ultimatum to stop using ‘racial preferences’ as factors in admissions or risk losing money
The Trump administration is giving the US’s schools and universities two weeks to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal money, raising the stakes in the president’s fight against “wokeness”.
In a memo on Friday, the education department gave an ultimatum to stop using “racial preferences” as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools are being given 14 days to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race.
Continue reading...White House has raised threat of levies as a means to bolster US economy, ignoring warnings trade wars could derail it
Donald Trump stood firm against warnings that his threatened trade war risks derailing the US economy, claiming his administration could hit foreign cars with tariffs of around 25% within weeks.
Semiconductor chips and drugs are set to face higher duties, Trump told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
Continue reading...In this back-to-the-future world, Russia is fully restored to the top table, while the US envoys outdo each other to praise Trump
Ukraine was laid out on the glossy conference table in Riyadh on Tuesday, not to be dissected on this occasion, but rather for an initial inspection by the Americans and Russians, who have reserved the carving knives for future use.
No Ukrainians were present for these opening discussions on the country’s fate, or for the lunch of whole lamb and “symphony of scallops”, nor was anyone there representing the rest of the European continent. Whether they will be given a seat at the table before lines are drawn is far from clear. For now, they must wonder if they are among the “irritants” in US-Russia relations referred to by the US state department.
Continue reading...Claudia Tenney’s bill combining Flag Day with Trump’s birthday could face steep odds of success in Congress
A Republican congresswoman has proposed making Donald Trump’s birthday a public holiday, in an effort probably doomed to failure in Congress but obviously intended to curry favor with the president.
Claudia Tenney, a representative from New York’s Finger Lakes region, introduced legislation on Friday aiming to combine the US annual commemoration of Flag Day with a new observance of Trump’s birthday on 14 June, arguing that the president is “the most consequential … in modern American history”.
Continue reading...Absurd for Moscow to talk about peace while it is killing Ukrainians, official says, after drone strikes across country
Ukraine reacted with gloom and dismay on Tuesday to the meeting between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia, with officials in Kyiv saying the Trump administration was “appeasing” Moscow.
They said negotiations between the two delegations got under way in Riyadh just hours after Russia attacked Ukraine with dozens of drones. At least two people were killed and 26 injured in strikes across the country.
Continue reading...Michelle King opts to retire after 30 years rather than grant request by ‘department of government efficiency’
The acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) left the agency after she refused to give billionaire Elon Musk and the so-called ”department of government efficiency” (Doge) access to sensitive information about beneficiaries.
The SSA processes retirement and disability benefits for more than 71 million Americans – and it uses sensitive personal information, such as banking information and tax information, to do so.
Continue reading...Five people charged with murder in Sam Nordquist’s death in upstate New York also identified as LGBTQ+, say officials
Authorities investigating the alleged torture and murder of Sam Nordquist in upstate New York say they have found no evidence the transgender man’s killing was a hate crime, pointing out that five people recently charged in connection with the slaying also identified as LGBTQ+.
“We urge the community not to speculate into the motive behind the murder as we work to find justice for Sam,” authorities said over the weekend in a joint press release from the Ontario county district attorney’s office and New York state police. “At this time, we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime.”
Continue reading...The Oscar-nominated actor has said he is attempting to be more candid about his former co-star’s alleged behaviour
Guy Pearce, the actor Oscar-nominated for his role in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, has opened up about his experiences when working with Kevin Spacey on 1997 film LA Confidential.
Pearce had previously been oblique about his time with Spacey, who has been dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct, which Spacey has always denied, calling him “a handsy guy” in 2018. But speaking on Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter, the actor said he was now attempting to be franker about his co-star’s alleged behaviour.
Continue reading...Exclusive: More than 200 civil society groups say governments have failed to prevent planes from being used to violate international law
More than 200 organisations worldwide have called on nations involved in producing F-35 fighter jets to “immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel” amid fears they have failed to prevent the planes from being used to violate international law.
The letter, signed by 232 civil society organisations, was sent on Monday to government ministers in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the US and the UK as the war in Gaza reached 500 days.
Continue reading...British prime minister says force would need protections such as air cover that only US can provide
Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to provide a US “backstop” to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, saying it is the only way to deter Russia from attacking the country again.
The UK prime minister’s appeal to Trump came after an emergency summit in Paris that heard widespread calls by European leaders for a large boost in defence spending.
Continue reading...Departures follow justice department shelving charges widely seen as reward for Eric Adams helping Trump administration
Four deputies to New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, resigned on Monday as the growing chaos following a justice department request to drop corruption charges against him, widely seen as a reward for his help with Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, engulfs his three-year-old administration.
According to reports, four of Adams’ deputies – first deputy mayor Maria Torres Springer, deputy mayor for operations Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for health and human services Anne Williams-Isom, and deputy mayor for public safety Chauncey Parker – said they were stepping down.
Continue reading...Victims reportedly posted ‘death to Arabs’ on social media after shooting while suspect held on attempted murder charges
A Jewish man in Miami Beach is facing charges of attempted murder following accusations that he opened fire on two men he believed were Palestinians but reportedly turned out to be Israeli visitors.
According to arrest documents, at 9.30pm on Saturday surveillance video appeared to show Mordechai Brafman, 27, getting out of his truck and opening fire with a semiautomatic handgun at a vehicle as it passed. Brafman allegedly fired 17 times, striking one victim in the left shoulder and grazing the other’s left forearm.
Continue reading...Israeli PM urges US to help ‘finish the job’ as Washington makes early maximalist demand over Tehran’s programme
Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that, with Donald Trump’s support, his government will “finish the job” of neutralising the threat from Iran, amid US reports that Israel is considering airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites in the coming few months.
Trump has said he would prefer to make a deal with Tehran, but also made clear that he was considering US military action if talks failed, and his administration has laid down an early maximalist demand: Iranian abandonment of its entire nuclear programme.
Continue reading...Project Waterworth, which involves cable longer than Earth’s circumference, to also reach South Africa and Brazil
Meta has announced plans to build the world’s longest underwater cable project, which aims to connect the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other regions.
The tech company said Project Waterworth involved a 50,000km (31,000-mile) subsea cable, which is longer than the Earth’s circumference.
Continue reading...President moves to cut Federal Aviation Administration workforce, including safety workers, as critics say public could be endangered
The Trump administration has begun firing hundreds of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including some who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure, despite four deadly crashes since inauguration day.
According to the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (Pass) union, “several hundred” workers received termination notices on Friday.
Continue reading...Comments suggest Israeli PM will reject Hamas pledge to hand over control of territory to the PA
Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that he is “committed” to Donald Trump’s plan to take over and develop the Gaza Strip, amid uncertainty over whether Israel will send a delegation to Qatar to discuss the second stage of the fragile ceasefire in the war with Hamas.
In a statement on Monday, the Israeli prime minister said: “Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to US president Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza.”
Continue reading...Attempt to remove head of the office of special counsel is key test of executive branch’s battle with US judiciary to reshape federal government
Donald Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to approve the firing of the head of a federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers in the first appeal of Trump’s new term and a key test of his battle with the judicial branch.
Hampton Dellinger, the head of the office of the special counsel (OSC), is among the fired government watchdogs who have sued the Trump administration, arguing that their dismissals were illegal and that they should be reinstated.
Continue reading...End of ‘de minimis’ policy for Chinese goods also expected to hit bigger fashion retailers such as Asos and Boohoo
Many UK-based independent sellers on marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon could suffer a significant hit to US sales from planned changes to import rules under Donald Trump, with experts comparing the impact to a second Brexit.
The new rules, which mean all parcels originating or made in China and being sold into the US must pay import duty – of as much as 15% on fashion items – and an additional 10% tariff, are also expected to impact bigger online clothing retailers such as Asos and Boohoo.
Continue reading...Uncertainty created by tariffs and contempt for rule of law will deter investment, says top economist
Donald Trump’s tariff threats have made the US “a scary place to invest” and may unleash stagflation, the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said.
“It risks the worst of all possible worlds: a kind of stagflation,” Stiglitz said in an interview with the Guardian.
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