Maui celebrates recovery of 151-year-old banyan tree after 2023 wildfire damage

Community landmark is now thriving and bearing fruit after about half its branches died due to intense heat

When a deadly wildfire tore through Lahaina on Maui last August, the wall of flames scorched the 151-year-old banyan tree along the historic town’s Front Street. But the sprawling tree survived the blaze, and thanks to the efforts of arborists and dedicated volunteers, parts of it are growing back – and even thriving.

For generations, the banyan tree served as a gathering place along Lahaina’s waterfront. By many accounts, it was the heart of the oceanside community – towering more than 60ft (18m) high and anchored by multiple trunks that span nearly an acre.

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Middle East crisis: US warns Israel and Iran that conflict must not escalate – as it happened

Antony Blinken says US has been ‘engaged in intense diplomacy’ as the region braces for attacks from Iran and its allies

It has just gone 2pm in Jerusalem. If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s developments:

The United States has communicated to Iran and Israel that conflict in the Middle East must not escalate, secretary of state Antony Blinken said. The Middle East is bracing for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies after last week’s killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders for an area in northern Gaza that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago. The IDF said it would respond to a Hamas rocket attack from the Beit Hanoun area the day before and urged residents to relocate to Gaza City, large areas of which have been destroyed.

More than 39,677 Palestinians have been killed and 91,645 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.

Protesters have disrupted an Israeli supreme court hearing about a shadowy military facility where Israel has held Palestinian detainees throughout the war in Gaza. The protesters yelled “Shame!” as the attorney for a number of Israeli human rights groups argued that the Sde Teiman facility should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse. An Associated Press investigation into the facility, as well as others by rights groups, found detainees endured abysmal conditions there.

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Utah outlaws books by Judy Blume and Sarah J Maas in first statewide ban

State has ordered books by 13 authors, 12 of them women, to be removed from every public school, classroom and library

Books by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur and Sarah J Maas are among 13 titles that the state of Utah has ordered to be removed from all public school classrooms and libraries.

This marks the first time a state has outlawed a list of books statewide, according to PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman, who oversees the organisation’s free expression programs.

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Cori Bush loses primary after pro-Israel groups spend millions to oust ‘Squad’ member

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri’s first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote

A prominent member of the progressive “Squad” in Congress, Cori Bush, has lost her Democratic primary in St Louis after pro-Israel pressure groups spent millions of dollars to unseat her over criticisms of Israel’s war on Gaza.

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri’s first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote. Bush took about 46%.

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Texas: judge rules against Black high school teen in hair discrimination case

Darryl George, 18, filed civil rights lawsuit after Barbers Hill school system punished him for refusing to alter hairstyle

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed by a Black high school student who alleged that school officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they punished him for refusing to change his hairstyle.

The ruling in the case of Darryl George was another victory for the Barbers Hill school district near Houston, which has said its policy restricting hair length for male students instills discipline while teaching grooming and respect for authority.

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Liza Minnelli announces memoir because documentaries ‘didn’t get it right’

Cabaret star says she felt ‘mad as hell’ after hearing stories from people who didn’t know her or her family, and will release untitled book in 2026

Liza Minnelli is to release a memoir after she claimed previous screen depictions of her life “didn’t get it right”.

The 78-year-old US actor and singer will release the book in spring 2026, which will take readers through her career, struggles with substance abuse and love life.

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The coach v the couch: key takeaways from the first Harris-Walz rally

Harris praises Walz’s time as a football coach as her VP pick says he’ll debate JD Vance ‘if he’s willing to get off the couch’

Kamala Harris introduced her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, to supporters at a packed, energetic rally at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The event, which kicks off a week-long tour through the most politically competitive US states, marks a new chapter for the Harris campaign after securing enough delegates to be the Democratic nominee.

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Kamala Harris introduces running mate Tim Walz at raucous Philadelphia rally

Democratic nominee calls Walz ‘the kind of vice-president America deserves’ as pair vow to take fight to Donald Trump

Kamala Harris introduced her running mate Tim Walz as “the kind of vice-president America deserves” at a raucous rally in Philadelphia that showcased Democratic unity and enthusiasm for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the November election.

Casting their campaign as a “fight for the future”, Harris and Walz were repeatedly interrupted by applause and cheering as they addressed thousands of battleground-state voters wearing bracelets that twinkled red, white and blue at Temple University’s Liacouras Center – a crowd Harris’s team said was its largest to date.

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US plans more frequent bomber deployments to Australia amid China’s ‘escalatory behaviour’

Australia-US talks also turn to Middle East conflict as representatives ramp up calls for Gaza ceasefire

The US says it plans “more frequent” deployments of bomber aircraft to Australia amid concerns over China’s “dangerous and escalatory behaviour” in the region.

The announcement after annual talks on Wednesday builds on a long-term trend of increased rotations of American forces to Australia, along with moves to upgrade Australian military bases and pre-position US army equipment in Australia.

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Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran charged in foiled plot to kill US leaders

Asif Merchant, 46, tried to recruit people for scheme to assassinate figures including Donald Trump, says FBI

A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged over a foiled conspiracy to carry out political assassinations on US soil, the justice department said on Tuesday as it disclosed what officials say is the latest murder-for-hire plot to target US public figures.

Asif Merchant, 46, sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020, according to a criminal complaint.

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Global markets partly recover but analysts fear ‘we’re not out of woods’

Shares on Wall Street and in Asia and Europe start to recover after Monday’s rout

Shares on Wall Street rose and many Asian and European markets staged a recovery after this week’s global stock market rout, but analysts warned: “We might not be out of the woods.”

The FTSE 100 index in London rose 18 points, or 0.2%, on Tuesday to close at 8,026.69, after losing 166 points, or 2%, on Monday, its biggest one-day points drop in more than a year.

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Tim Walz thanks Kamala Harris for ‘honor of a lifetime’ as she praises running mate for ‘fighting for middle-class families’ – live

Democrats welcome choice of Minnesota governor to be Harris’s running mate in race against Donald Trump and JD Vance

As we await Kamala Harris’s running mate announcement, Americans in some states are heading to the polls today.

Voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington state will cast ballots in their congressional primaries today. Results in Michigan will be especially scrutinized, as the battleground state will play a key role in the presidential election.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) pumped more than $8.5m into the race in Missouri’s first congressional district in support of Bush’s rival, St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell, through its campaign funding arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP). …

The UDP accounts for more than half of all the money spent on the race outside of the campaigns themselves. Much of it comes from billionaires who fund hardline pro-Israel causes and Republicans in other races, including some who have given to Donald Trump’s campaign.

With the support of 99% of all participating delegates in the virtual roll call, Vice-President Harris has historic momentum at her back as we embark on the final steps in officially certifying her as our Party’s nominee.

We thank the thousands of delegates from all across the country who took seriously their responsibility throughout this process to make their voices – and the voices of their communities – heard.

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Polls show Kamala Harris moving ahead of Donald Trump in 2024 US election

Recent national head-to-head polls favor Harris, but polls battleground states present a more mixed picture

As Kamala Harris named Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as her running mate, recent polls showed the vice-president moving ahead of Donald Trump in the race for the White House.

Among recent national head-to-head polls, SurveyUSA put Harris up three points ahead of Trump, 48%-45%; Morning Consult put her up four points, 48%-44%; YouGov and CBS News made it a one-point Harris lead, 50%-49%; and University of Massachusetts Amherst put Harris up three, 46%-43%.

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US governor tells parents kids can ‘not look’ at Ten Commandments in schools

Louisiana’s Jeff Landry was defending a law requiring display of text in all public schools starting next year

The far-right Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, has told parents who don’t want the Ten Commandments hung in up classrooms across the state – as now required by law there – to tell their children to “not look at them”.

The Republican’s remarks came at a news conference on Monday defending the mandate, about two months after Louisiana became the first state in the country to order the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms.

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Kamala Harris names Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as running mate

Under Walz’s leadership, Minnesota has seen progressive legislative wins, and his simple retort that Republicans are ‘weird’ went viral

Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic nominee for US president, has named Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, as her running mate ahead of the November election.

The decision ends intense speculation over which candidate Harris would pick to go up against Donald Trump, the Republican nominee and former president, and his choice for vice-president, the Ohio senator JD Vance.

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Influencer gives Trump a Tesla, a Rolex … and a campaign finance violation?

Video game streamer Adin Ross’s gifts worth tens of thousands may fall foul of fundraising law

After Donald Trump sat down for an interview with a social media influencer whose past guests have included an accused rapist and an avowed white supremacist, the host gave the former president a Tesla Cybertruck as well as a Rolex watch in what could amount to a campaign finance violation.

Trump’s campaign has since said that it will seek guidance from the Federal Election Commission on how to handle the gifts. The internet celebrity who hosted Trump, Adin Ross, has not publicly commented on the gifts in relation to campaign finance laws, which limit individuals’ contributions to political candidates they support to $3,300 – far below the value of the truck and watch.

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Fast-moving California wildfire destroys homes and burns at least 100 acres

Edgehill fire started in San Bernardino and forced evacuations as more than 200 firefighters assigned to blaze

Several homes burned on Monday as a fast-moving wildfire torched a California hillside community, triggering evacuations while hundreds of firefighters tried to control the blaze.

The Edgehill fire started at about 3pm in the Shandin Hills area of San Bernardino and spread rapidly through the neighborhood, burning homes and forcing evacuations, according to the San Bernardino county fire department.

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Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 bodies found ordered to pay $950m

Jon and Carie Hallford found liable as court rules for victims’ families – but amount unlikely to be paid out

The Colorado couple who owned a funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year were ordered to pay $950m to the victims’ families – a largely symbolic victory for families of the deceased.

According to an email sent to victims by Leventhal Lewis, the firm that filed the lawsuit, it is the largest judgment in Colorado’s history.

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Body of man who drowned in Montana national park may have been found

Glacier national park rangers believe they have recovered remains of Siddhant Vitthal Patil, who fell into creek in July

Glacier national park rangers believe they have recovered the body of a man who drowned over the July 4 weekend, park officials in Montana said.

Siddhant Vitthal Patil, 26, of India fell into Avalanche Creek on 6 July, but the creek was running too fast to recover his body.

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US supreme court won’t stop Trump sentencing from going ahead – as it happened

This blog is closed. You can read the latest US election coverage here.

Climate activist, feminist and screen legend Jane Fonda has put out a video message endorsing Kamala Harris to win the White House in November.

“Today I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States,” Fonda begins, talking to camera in close-up.

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