Most voters want Biden to step down, but don’t agree on suitable alternative – poll

60% of respondents, Republicans and Democrats, say president should be replaced, while 11% were unsure

A majority of voters want Joe Biden to stand down following his dismal debate performance, yet aren’t convinced there is a suitable alternative Democratic candidate, new polls have found.

In a Morning Consult poll, 60% of respondents, Republicans and Democrats, said the president should be replaced by his party for November’s election, while another 11% were unsure.

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Toxic PFAS absorbed through skin at levels higher than previously thought

Absorption through skin could be ‘significant source of exposure’ to toxic forever chemicals, study shows

New research “for the first time proves” toxic PFAS forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin, and at levels much higher than previously thought.

Though modeling and research has suggested the dangerous chemicals are absorbed through skin, University of Birmingham researchers say they used lab-grown tissue that mimics human skin to determine how much of a dose of PFAS compounds can be absorbed.

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Trump loyalists plan to name and shame ‘blacklist’ of federal workers

AAF to publish dossiers of employees they consider hostile to ex-president, with goal of ultimately replacing them

Armed with rhetoric about the “deep state”, a conservative-backed group is planning to publicly name and shame career government employees that they consider hostile to Donald Trump.

This “blacklist” of civil servants, which will be published online, is intended to advance Trump’s broader goals, which, if elected, include weeding out government employees and replacing them with loyalists.

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South Carolina implements one of US’s most restrictive public school book bans

Education superintendent and Moms for Liberty ally drafts law requiring all reading be ‘developmentally appropriate’

South Carolina has implemented one of the most restrictive book ban laws in the US, enabling mass censorship in school classrooms and libraries across the state.

Drafted by Ellen Weaver, the superintendent of education and close ally of the far-right group Moms for Liberty, the law requires all reading material to be “age or developmentally appropriate”. The vague wording of the legislation – open to interpretation and deliberately inviting challenge – could see titles as classic as Romeo and Juliet completely wiped from school shelves.

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Black swing voters in Georgia aren’t swayed by the ‘Trump okey-doke’ – and then there’s Biden

From a barbershop and a cigar bar in Atlanta, many Black voters say they remain undecided after an underwhelming debate

Inside a barbershop in Atlanta’s affluent Buckhead neighborhood, eight Black men gathered to talk politics on the day before the presidential debate. Most were business owners around town, social media stars and notable conservatives.

All but one.

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Ron DeSantis strips more than $32m in Florida arts funding

Political allies are also surprised at move, which cancels nearly entirety of state’s funding and will affect economy

Ron DeSantis stripped more than $32m in arts and culture funding from Florida’s state budget over his hatred of a popular fringe festival that he accused of being “a sexual event”, critics of the rightwing governor say.

DeSantis justified his unprecedented, wide-ranging veto of grants to almost 700 groups and organizations by saying it was “inappropriate” for $7,369 of state money to be allocated to Tampa fringe, a 10-day festival that took place earlier this month with a strong message of inclusivity, and its sister event in Orlando.

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North Korea says drills by South Korea, US and Japan show nations have developed ‘Asian Nato’

Pyongyang calls ‘Freedom Edge’ drills involving fighter jets and nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier ‘provocative’

North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the US held this month, state media have said, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of Nato”.

On Thursday, the three countries began the large-scale joint military drills called “Freedom Edge”, involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks.

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Firefighters near Phoenix battle wildfire as temperatures surpass 100F

Residents evacuate after Boulder View fire rips alongside Scottsdale, and wildfires in California and Oregon rage

A wildfire north-east of Phoenix has, as of Saturday, threatened scores of homes, forced dozens of residents to evacuate and required more than 200 firefighters to battle it.

No structures have been damaged as the wildfire has traversed nearly 6 sq miles (15 sq km) on the cusp of the Boulder Heights subdivision of Scottsdale, said Matthew Wilcox, spokesperson for a multi-agency wildfire response team.

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More than 100 dolphins stranded in shallow water around Cape Cod

Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water

More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.

A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.

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Florida shark attack leaves man in critical condition

Swimmer off Fernandina beach was rescued by Nassau county marine unit after distress call from boat on Friday

A shark attack off Florida’s Atlantic coast left a man with a “severe bite to his right arm” on Friday, authorities say, leaving him in critical condition from blood loss.

The Nassau county sheriff’s office marine unit, which was patrolling off the coast of Fernandina beach near the Florida-Georgia border, said it had received a distress call from a boat on Friday and had applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

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Four dead and nine injured after minivan crashes into New York nail salon

Driver taken to hospital and charged with driving while intoxicated after rescuers free people trapped in building

A minivan slammed into a Long Island, New York, nail salon on Friday, killing four people and injuring nine others inside the business at the time, a Suffolk county fire official said.

The vehicle came to a stop at the back of the Hawaii Nail & Spa salon in Deer Park at about 4.40pm.

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Revealed: the tech entrepreneur behind a pro-Israel hate network

The Guardian used public records and open source materials to identify Daniel Linden of the Shirion Collective

A prime mover behind the Shirion Collective, a conspiracy-minded, pro-Israel disinformation network seeking to shape public opinion about the Gaza conflict in the US, Australia and the UK, is a tech entrepreneur named Daniel Linden living in Florida who co-wrote a guidebook for OnlyFans users, the Guardian can reveal.

Shirion has harassed pro-Palestinian activists, including many Jews, offered bounties for the identity of pro-Palestinian protesters, spread conspiracy narratives centered on figures like George Soros, and boasted of an AI-surveillance platform but offered few concrete details of how the technology functions.

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Could Kamala Harris be a winner for the Democrats if Biden steps aside?

The vice-president would be a logical choice if Biden does opt out, but some are already looking to other contenders

Joe Biden’s stumbling debate performance left Democrats so panicked some are searching for an alternative to replace the 81-year-old president as the party’s standard-bearer.

Biden has given no indication that he intends to exit the race, and his campaign has flatly dismissed the suggestion. But that has done little to silence critics who are openly questioning whether Biden is the right person to take on Donald Trump, a figure the president – and his party – view as a grave threat to American democracy.

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Renters in New York City fight back against real estate broker fees

City is one of few in the US where tenants can be forced to pay fees, despite a landlord having hired the broker

A row is brewing in New York City between renters and real estate brokers, over who pays the thousands of dollars in fees when an apartment is rented.

On 12 June, lawmakers in New York met to discuss the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses act (Fare act), which would require the person who hires the broker to pay the broker fee.

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Crazy Town singer Seth Binzer died of accidental overdose, band manager says

Frontman, who spoke before about substance addiction, said to have taken mix of pharmaceutical and street drugs

The US singer Seth Binzer, whose rap-rock band Crazy Town became a No 1 hit with 2001’s Butterfly, died as a result of an accidental drug overdose, his group’s manager told the Guardian on Friday.

Crazy Town manager Howie Hubberman said the death on Monday of the musician known as Shifty Shellshock occurred after he ingested an unintentionally lethal combination of pharmaceutical and street drugs, though the medical examiner in the vocalist’s home town of Los Angeles had not yet provided details on an official cause or manner of death.

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Martin Mull, Arrested Development and Roseanne actor, dies aged 80

Mull, known for his droll and esoteric comedy, dies after ‘valiant fight against a long illness’, says daughter

Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said Friday. He was 80 years old.

Mull’s daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness”.

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Trump claims ‘big victory’ over Biden despite lying in debate

Former president claims ‘no amount of rest or rigging could help’ Biden during victory lap at Virginia rally

Donald Trump wasted no time bringing up Thursday’s debate at a rally in Virginia on Friday.

“Hello, Virginia,” he opened to a crowd in Chesapeake. “Did anybody last night watch a thing called the debate?”

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Biden comes out swinging in first speech after presidential debate with Trump

Attendees note ‘night and day’ difference between campaign stop in North Carolina and ‘lackluster’ debate showing

In what several supporters described as a “night and day” difference from his performance in last night’s debate, President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to keep fighting against what he framed as an existential threat to America.

In his first campaign stop following the debate, Biden showed off a louder and more dynamic voice at the North Carolina state fairgrounds in Raleigh.

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Uber and Lyft agree to minimum pay and benefits for Massachusetts drivers

Ride-share companies sign off on $175m settlement that will give workers paid sick leave and other protections

Uber and Lyft drivers will be guaranteed among the highest wages in the US for ride-share workers under a historic deal agreed with Massachusetts prosecutors.

Andrea Campbell, the state’s attorney general, and the two companies agreed to a $175m settlement Thursday evening that requires a minimum pay floor of $32.50 per hour, and introduces a slew of other benefits and protections that drivers didn’t already have.

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US supreme court rejects Steve Bannon attempt to avoid prison

Trump ally, convicted of contempt of Congress, fails in bid for emergency delay and must report to prison by Monday

The supreme court has rejected Steve Bannon’s attempt to avoid prison time following his contempt of Congress convictions.

In a brief ruling issued on Friday, the supreme court ordered Donald Trump’s former adviser, who has been challenging convictions over his defiance of subpoenas surrounding the House’s January 6 insurrection investigation, to report to prison by Monday.

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