One person killed and national guard deployed as Colorado battles wildfires

Governor says national guard will support first responders as state becomes latest in west to battle several major fires

One person has died and at least five homes were destroyed as Colorado becomes the latest western state to battle several major wildfires.

The Boulder county sheriff, Curtis Johnson, reported the death was discovered in one of the five homes burned by the Stone Canyon fire near the town of Lyon, but did not provide further details. The fire has burned more than 1,500 acres (607 hectares) and was reported 20% contained on Wednesday evening.

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Russia frees Evan Gershkovich and others in biggest prisoner swap since cold war

Several foreigners and Russian political prisoners released as Germany frees hitman Vadim Krasikov as part of deal

The largest prisoner swap between Russia and the US since the cold war has taken place, as 16 people were freed from Russian custody including the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Several other foreign citizens held in Russia and numerous Russian political prisoners were also freed.

The exchange took place at Ankara airport on Thursday in a complicated operation in which planes arrived from and departed to multiple countries.

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Witness to Titan sub disaster tells of rescue effort: ‘We lived in false hope’

Rory Golden was aboard support ship when submersible imploded in June 2023, killing all five passengers

Rory Golden, who was onboard the support ship for the Titan submersible that imploded in June 2023 while diving toward the wreck of the Titanic, has spoken about the fear and atmosphere of false hope among the crew during the doomed rescue effort.

“We had this image in our heads of them being down there, running out of oxygen in the freezing cold, getting terribly frightened and scared,” Golden told BBC News.

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US pays $2bn to Black and minority farmers after years of discrimination

Payouts are ‘an acknowledgement’ of US’s long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers, USDA says

The Biden administration has doled out more than $2bn in direct payments for Black and other minority farmers discriminated against by the US Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.

More than 23,000 farmers were approved for payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 who planned to start a farm but did not receive a USDA loan received between $3,500 and $6,000.

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Russia prisoner swap involving US journalist Evan Gershkovich under way

Gershkovich and ex-marine Paul Whelan have been freed and are en route to a destination outside Russia, say reports

A major prisoner exchange between Russia and the west is under way involving the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been freed from a Russian prison, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Sources with knowledge of the planned exchange confirmed to the Guardian that a major swap would take place on Thursday in a location outside Russia. They declined to make further details public until after the swap had taken place owing to sensitivity of the matter.

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World Bank warns 108 countries risk being stuck in ‘middle-income trap’

Too many nations, including China and India, are relying on outmoded strategies to become advanced economies, says report

More than 100 countries – including China, India, Brazil and South Africa – risk becoming stuck in a “middle-income trap” unless they adopt radical growth strategies for their economies, the World Bank has said.

The Washington-based development organisation said emerging market nations would struggle to close the gap on US living standards unless they relied less heavily on investment to increase growth.

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Sonya Massey’s mother called 911 and asked police not to hurt daughter before shooting death

Donna Massey told a dispatcher: ‘Please don’t send no combative policemen that are prejudiced’

Two emergency response calls were made from the home of Sonya Massey, the Black woman who was shot in the face by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy after she called 911 for help, in the days leading up to her death, according to records released Wednesday.

In a third call, Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, reports that her daughter is suffering a “mental breakdown” and tells the dispatcher: “I don’t want you guys to hurt her.” She adds that she fears the police and asks that no officer who is “prejudiced” be sent.

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Trump holds first Pennsylvania rally since assassination attempt hours after heated interview with Black journalists – live

Ex-president says he will travel back to Butler where assassination attempt took place; White House condemns Trump after he questions Harris’s racial identity at NABJ event

Journalists at the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) began trickling in to the Hilton hotel in downtown Chicago this morning for a 12pm CT/1pm ET panel – featuring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

He will be quizzed by the prominent political reporters Kadia Goba of Semafor, Rachel Scott of ABC News and Harris Faulkner of Fox News.

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Trump says running mates have ‘virtually no impact’ in apparent JD Vance snub

Trump says ‘you’re voting for the president … you’re voting for me’ when asked about vice-presidential pick

Donald Trump has said that vice presidential picks have “virtually no impact” on elections when asked about JD Vance’s fitness for office, in an apparent attempt to downplay his running mate’s role on the Republican ticket.

Trump made the comments during a combative interview at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago. Asked by the Fox News journalist Harris Faulkner whether Vance would be ready to take over “on day one, if he has to be”, Trump avoided answering directly and instead downplayed the significance of the Vance’s role.

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Incredulous laughter, audible gasps: Trump’s performance at Black journalists’ panel left him exposed

The former president snapped and snarled through his interview – and looked for all the world like an old crank

After keeping an audience of interrogators waiting, Donald Trump finally arrived on stage for his Wednesday appearance at the convention for the National Association of Black Journalists over an hour late. He blamed the delay not on the furious behind-the-scenes between the NABJ and his campaign about whether he could be factchecked in real time, but on what he described as organizers’ inability to calibrate the audio equipment in time for his highly controversial panel discussion. “It’s a disgrace,” he snarled.

When ABC’s Rachel Scott opened the proceedings by asking the former president his impetus for addressing the Black journalists, women and Chicagoans in the crowd who have been regularly subject to his hostility, Trump dismissed the question as “horrible” and called Scott “nasty” before turning his bluster meter up to 11.

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Three accused 9/11 plotters plead guilty in Guantánamo Bay deal – prosecutors

Alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed among trio to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for life sentence

Three men accused of being involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack – including the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon – have agreed to plea deals at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

“The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pre-trial agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case,” the Pentagon said in a short statement.

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Black journalists respond to ‘disastrous’ Trump panel at annual convention

Many expressed frustration with National Association of Black Journalists for inviting ex-president ‘into our home’

On Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump participated in a contentious panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The discussion, held in Chicago at the organization’s annual convention, began after an hour-long delay, with a room full of journalists tensely awaiting the program.

During the wait, Philip Lewis, the HuffPost deputy editor, shared on X that the hold-up was being caused by a disagreement between the NABJ and the former president. “I’m told that Trump is demanding that NABJ not do the live factchecking and that’s why the event hasn’t started yet,” he wrote. “We’re in a standoff.”

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Strong earnings report pushes Meta shares up amid heavy AI spending

Stock price grew around 5%, which revealed the company outperformed analysts’ expectations for its second quarter

Meta’s shares rose in after-hours trading on Wednesday off the back of a strong earnings report that comes as the company is spending heavily on AI tools.

The company’s stock price grew around 5% following the report, which revealed the company outperformed analysts’ expectations for its second quarter.

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US man who planned 2020 Venezuela coup attempt arrested for arms smuggling

Jordan Goudreau, 48, was charged in New York for smuggling and conspiracy alongside partner Yacsy Álvarez

A former US Green Beret who, in 2020, organized a failed crossborder raid of Venezuelan army deserters to remove President Nicolás Maduro has been arrested in New York on federal arms smuggling charges.

A federal indictment unsealed this week in Tampa, Florida, accuses Jordan Goudreau and a Venezuelan partner, Yacsy Álvarez, of violating US arms control laws when they allegedly assembled and sent to Colombia AR-styled weapons, ammo, night vision goggles and other defense equipment requiring a US export license.

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US pauses $95m in aid to Georgia after passage of ‘foreign agents’ law

Secretary of state says suspension is due to ‘anti-democratic’ actions from the Georgian government

The US has suspended $95m in assistance to Georgia after its parliament adopted legislation related to foreign agents that critics say was inspired by a Russian law used to crack down on political dissent and that sparked weeks of mass protests.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that he had decided to pause the Georgian aid, which would directly benefit the government, in response to “anti-democratic” actions the government has taken.

The US has also already imposed visa bans on a number of Georgian politicians and law enforcement officials for suppressing free speech, particularly voices in favor of Georgia’s integration with the west.

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Trump favorite Kari Lake wins Arizona’s Republican Senate primary

Far-right firebrand to face off against Democrat Ruben Gallego for US Senate seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema

Kari Lake, the far-right firebrand and favorite of Donald Trump, has won Arizona’s Republican Senate primary.

The Associated Press projected the race at 8.44pm Arizona time on Tuesday night. Lake rose to prominence as a gubernatorial candidate in 2022, when she refused to concede the race to her Democratic challenger Katie Hobbs.

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Largest wildfire in US grows to cover area bigger than Los Angeles

Park fire scorches 386,000 acres as firefighters battle blazes across US west, including historic mining town of Havilah

The largest wildfire in the US swelled to more than 380,000 acres (154,000 hectares) on Tuesday morning, an area bigger than the city of Los Angeles and three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe, as thousands of firefighters battled the blaze in a remote wilderness area in northern California.

Meanwhile, the destruction caused by wildfires raging across the US west came into sharp focus as photographers documented the destruction left by the Borel fire in southern California. The fast-growing fire tore through the historic mining town of Havilah, leaving burnt buildings, cars and forests.

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‘Cat ladies’ come together to show support for Kamala Harris

Zoom call – with pets included – organized as riposte to comments made by JD Vance about ‘childless cat ladies’

A group of pet lovers and self-described “cat ladies” came together for the latest in a series of Zoom calls in support of Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. The Tuesday evening call was hosted by Christine Pelosi, a political consultant and the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, and Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic party.

The call was not organized around racial and ethnic identity, but as a rebuff to comments made in 2021 by JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, who told the then Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the US was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too”.

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Atlanta rally: Harris tells Trump to ‘say it to my face’ and challenges him to debate

VP touts prosecution record to cheering crowd after state leaders including Stacey Abrams take stage to show support

Three weeks ago, the political commentariat was writing off Georgia and talking of narrow pathways for Joe Biden to hold the White House. Georgia was a desert. Tuesday evening, an Atlanta crowd greeted Kamala Harris like she backed up a truck full of sweet tea to that desert.

It’s probably too early – nine days since the president’s withdrawal and the vice-president’s ascension – to know if sentiment in Georgia had shifted enough to justify jubilation. But the crowd in Atlanta treated the new presumptive presidential nominee as a reason to celebrate after months of her quieter campaigning in the city as the vice-presidential nominee.

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‘Apocalyptic’ floods in Vermont destroy homes as two dozen rescued by boat

Storms result in caved-in roads and crushed cars nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl

Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in north-eastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.

Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8in (15 to more than 20cm) starting late the night before.

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