Michelle Obama: white men do not have to worry about impostor syndrome

Former US first lady says she has sat ‘at every powerful table’ and not met a single white man with such doubts

White men do not have to worry about impostor syndrome, according to Michelle Obama, who said she had sat “at every powerful table there is” and not found one.

The former US first lady told SXSW London that she wanted to “demystify” what it was like to sit in elite meetings, which she said were often populated by people from diverse backgrounds who felt like outsiders.

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Trump taps ally Bill Pulte to serve as top intelligence chief

US president says head of Federal Housing Finance Agency will serve as acting director days after Gabbard exits role

Donald Trump has tapped a close ally to serve as the country’s top intelligence official, days after Tulsi Gabbard announced her exit from the role.

The US president said that Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and heir to a home construction company fortune, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.

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‘Outright theft’: legal experts decry $1.8bn Trump anti-weaponization fund

Critics from both sides and legal scholars say ‘slush fund’ is scheme that will help January 6 rioters

A legal and political firestorm is growing over the $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund Donald Trump’s justice department has launched to pay alleged victims of “lawfare”, but that ex-DoJ officials and legal experts call “corrupt” and a “slush fund” for Maga allies that benefits the president.

Congressional critics from both parties and legal scholars have attacked the fund as an opaque scheme that will improperly help January 6 insurrectionists, some of whom said they intend to apply for grants, while echoing Trump’s false claims that Joe Biden’s administration was “weaponized” against them.

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Democrats oppose Trump officials’ effort to include crypto in 401(k) plans

Change backed by labor department would expose workers to greater financial risk, letter shared with Guardian says

Congressional Democrats are strongly opposing a US Department of Labor proposal that would allow 401(k) investments to include cryptocurrency, private credit and private equity assets, arguing the change will expose workers to riskier and more complex investments.

In a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and House education and workforce committee ranking member Bobby Scott of Virginia, argued the rule would expose an estimated $14.2tn of 401(k) retirement savings to volatile assets and would probably not withstand a challenge in court.

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Aipac affiliate has funded lavish trips to Israel for dozens of Congress members since 7 October, filings reveal

Revealed: AIEF, a charitable affiliate of pro-Israel lobby Aipac, has spent millions on travel for lawmakers from both parties, even as voters’ support for Israel plummets

Dozens of members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers have enjoyed lavish gifted travel to Israel funded by an Aipac affiliate since 7 October 2023, amid Israel’s expanding wars on its neighbors and despite plummeting levels of support among Americans for the country’s policies, a Guardian analysis has found.

Congressional ethics filings and other public records show the trips, led by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), revolved around one-sided briefings on Middle East politics and Israeli domestic and foreign policy. Lawmakers and their staffers from both parties met Israeli officials, military contractors and civil society figures, including Benjamin Netanyahu and advocates for the annexation of the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians from Jerusalem.

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First Thing: Defense department bars reporters from Pentagon press room

Spokesperson claims Trump administration has ‘the most transparent war department in history’ despite ban on journalists using Pentagon facility. Also, more than 1,000 Marilyn Monroes descend on Palm Springs

Good morning.

In another apparent affront to press freedom from the Trump administration, journalists may no longer enter the Pentagon’s press office, which has been designated as a classified space.

How have the media reacted? After the defense department announced sweeping restrictions in October, many longtime reporters refused to agree and began turning over their press passes. The department then announced a “next generation of the Pentagon press corps” featuring 60 journalists from far-right outlets. The New York Times sued the Pentagon over those policies, which designated journalists as “security risks”, and a federal judge found in the Times’s favor in March.

What is making the fund controversial? The terms of the fund do not require the disclosure of how much is paid to whom. Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader, said: “Trump’s nearly $2bn Maga slush fund is his most brazen act of self-dealing yet and one of the most corrupt schemes ever launched by a president.”

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White Castle adds veggie burger to menu as plant-based eating grows

Ohio-based slider chain introduces Southwest Veggie Slider permanently after customer feedback for meatless option

Vegetarians have a new reason to celebrate: White Castle has added a permanent meat-free option to its menu.

On Monday, the Columbus, Ohio-based slider chain announced the launch of the Southwest Veggie Slider, featuring a crispy brown rice crust and a smoky chipotle- and barbecue-inspired veggie patty made with sweet potatoes, black beans, corn, red bell peppers, onions and carrots.

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Democrats split on Israel parade as Mamdani keeps promise to skip event

New York mayor refused to attend as other Democrats drew rebukes for marching with Israel’s far-right finance minister

As they have done for decades, prominent members of the Democratic party establishment marched on Sunday in New York City’s annual Israel Day parade. Perhaps more noteworthy, however, was who was missing.

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, refused to attend, citing his opposition to the Israeli government, which he has accused of committing genocide in Gaza.

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California’s conservative Huntington Beach could get a gay, Democratic congressman

Robert Garcia became the lead contender in Tuesday’s primaries for congressional district 42 after redistricting

The conservative California community of Huntington Beach, known for banning the Pride flag from city property and fighting the state over pandemic and housing policy, could soon be represented by a gay, Democratic congressman.

Robert Garcia, an incumbent two-term Democratic LGBTQ+ congressman, immigrant and Donald Trump critic, is considered the leading contender in Tuesday’s primary race for the US House seat. Thanks to a successful restricting effort that redrew California’s voting maps to favor Democrats, Huntington Beach is now part of Garcia’s congressional district 42.

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Nvidia launches ‘superchip’ putting AI power into laptops and PCs

Firm says its RTX Spark PC chip for Microsoft Windows will let AI agents replace the mouse and keyboard

A new front has opened up in the battle for dominance in AI chips, as Nvidia said its latest development could replace the mouse and keyboard in how people use computers.

The $5tn (£3.7tn) US semiconductor company has launched a “superchip” that puts AI capabilities into laptops and desktop computers, a move that will pit it against Intel, Apple, Qualcomm and AMD.

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First Thing: Trump tells critics to ‘sit back and relax’ as Iran claims to target US base

US says it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend, as Iran targets an airbase used by the US to attack southern Iran

Good morning, Martin Belam here. I will be popping into your inbox writing First Thing regularly for the next little while. Here are today’s main stories …

Is this the end of the ceasefire, then? The US and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes since their ceasefire took effect in early April, as negotiations aimed at a more durable agreement drag on. A similar exchange occurred last Thursday. The war launched by the US and Israel on 28 February has killed thousands of people – mainly in Iran and Lebanon – and caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices.

What was Comey accused of? Comey, who was indicted in North Carolina in April, faces up to 10 years in prison for a photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Prosecutors allege the post constituted a threat against Donald Trump, the 47th US president. Comey denies the allegation.

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‘We want fans to know the risks’: US immigrant rights groups mobilize across World Cup host cities amid ICE fears

More than 120 groups issued warning to 10 million visitors about ‘serious rights violations’ under Trump

With the Fifa World Cup just two weeks away, immigrant rights advocates in the 11 US host cities are mobilizing to protect fans and residents from immigration enforcement activities this summer.

In Los Angeles, a labor union representing more than 2,000 hospitality workers at SoFi Stadium is threatening to strike if agents do not stay away from the venue, which is expected to draw about 70,000 fans per match.

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Kane Parsons becomes youngest film-maker to open at No 1 in the US with Backrooms

Backrooms stunned industry observers by taking $81m in its first weekend, a record for studio A24

Kane Parsons has become the youngest film-maker to open a film at number one at the North American box office for his directing debut Backrooms.

Parsons, 20, is seven years younger than the previous record holder, Josh Trank, who was 27 when his debut Chronicle recorded a $22m opening in 2011. Backrooms stunned industry observers by taking $81m in its first weekend in North America – which was also a record for its studio, A24.

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US man named Loony Toon sentenced to 20 years for shooting at police officers

Oregon man with extensive criminal record fired at three officers while speeding away from a traffic stop in 2025

A man with the unusual name Loony Toon and a lengthy rap sheet has been given 20 years in prison after admitting that he shot at police officers in Oregon, according to authorities.

The 43-year-old whose name calls to mind the classic television cartoon franchise Looney Tunes – as well as a colloquial term some invoke when describing an eccentric or irrational person – fired a gun at three officers while speeding away from a 20 June 2025 traffic stop in the community of Milwaukie, local prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

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Cory Booker has ‘concerns’ with Graham Platner’s Senate bid after leaked texts

US senator says Platner, whose wife says he sent sexually explicit messages to other women, has ‘questions to answer’

A high-profile Democrat has expressed concerns with party candidate Graham Platner’s Maine US Senate campaign amid revelations that Platner reportedly sent a number of sexually explicit messages to other women while married.

“Yes, I have concerns,” Cory Booker, the US senator from New Jersey, said Sunday on ABC’s This Week when host Jonathan Karl when asked about the Platner revelations. That guy has questions to answer – and that’s what campaigns are for.”

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Trump’s interior secretary dismisses calls to identify donors for ‘nonpartisan’ concert series

Doug Burgum complains some musicians ‘segmented their audiences’ after artists back out of 250th anniversary event

The Trump administration’s interior secretary, Doug Burgum, complained on Sunday that some musicians “seem to have segmented their audiences” after artists bailed on participating in a concert series planned for the 250th anniversary of the US’s independence.

In the interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Burgum also dismissed calls to publicly identified who had made donations for the concert series – and maintained it was a “nonpartisan” event despite Donald Trump referring to it as a rally.

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US strike on alleged drug boat kills three in eastern Pacific

Attack comes after Friday’s strike that killed three men as well, pushing death toll to more than 200 since last year

The US military said on Saturday it had carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific killing three men, the second strike in as many days.

Officials with the US Southern Command said in a post on X that intelligence had confirmed that the vessel was transiting along “narco-trafficking” routes in the eastern Pacific and engaged in “narco-trafficking” operations.

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Could Trump’s Iran ‘excursion’ be a bigger global turning point than Vietnam?

The far shorter Middle East war has rapidly revealed the strategic weakness of US firepower in an interconnected world

In a 1965 speech justifying the war in Vietnam, Lyndon B Johnson argued that the goal was to ensure “every country can shape its own destiny” since only in such a world could the US secure its own freedom. However, he also admitted “such were infirmities of man that force must often precede reason, and the waste of war, the works of peace”.

It was the kind of elegant justification of the country’s moral mission to which successive US presidential speechwriters have turned at times of war.

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Colombia goes to polls in election pitting outgoing leader’s ally against pro-Trump candidates

Ballots are being cast in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential elections

Colombians are casting ballots in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential election, choosing between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict.

The vote on Sunday, seen as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies, comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

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Three climbers die and one rescued after fall on Alaska’s Mount McKinley

Four were part of seven-person group that had traveled to US to ascend North America’s tallest mountain

Three people have died after falling while climbing Alaska’s Mount McKinley, according to officials. A fourth climber has been rescued.

The four were part of a seven-person group that had traveled to the United States to ascend Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, North America’s tallest mountain, according to information released by the Latvian Mountaineering Association.

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