Americans’ support for labor unions at highest in nearly 60 years

Gallup survey finds 71% of US residents approve of unions amid a wave of successful organizing efforts

A new Gallup annual Work and Education survey found that Americans’ approval of labor unions is at its highest in nearly 60 years.

Seventy-one per cent of US residents approve of unions, as high as in 1965. The 1950s saw the highest support for unions, at three in four Americans, according to the polling firm.

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Canada invokes treaty with US in push to keep cross-border pipeline open

Canada warns of ‘significant’ economic damage in the event of a shutdown of Line 5, which travels through Michigan

Canada has once again invoked a longstanding treaty with the US as it seeks to keep a controversial cross-border pipeline open, warning of “significant” economic damage to both countries in the event of a shutdown.

Canada’s foreign minister said Line 5, a pipeline operated by Calgary-based Enbridge, was a critical source of energy security.

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Shock as 12-year-old allegedly shoots classmate in Oakland school

Victim described as in stable condition and alleged shooter held in California city that has seen six gun deaths in recent days

A 12-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly shot and wounded his 13-year-old classmate at a school in Oakland, California.

The shooting erupted at about 1.30pm on Monday at Madison Park academy in East Oakland. Local police said they were able to quickly detain the alleged shooter while his victim was hospitalized in what is now described as stable condition.

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Biden ‘determined to ban assault weapons’ as he lays out crime prevention plans – as it happened

President details his Safer America Plan in Pennsylvania speech and says funding police provides ‘peace of mind’

The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding a gaggle aboard Air Force One, as Joe Biden heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to talk about gun safety.

The first topic in the gaggle is the flooding in Mississippi and the failure of the Jackson area water treatment services, which has caused a crisis over clean drinking water.

US Secret Service official Tony Ornato, a figure of intense interest to the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, has retired from the agency. He was an eyewitness to some of the most critical incidents involving Donald Trump in the hours leading up to the deadly assault on the US Capitol.

NBC News reported that Trump has hired a criminal attorney who was once Florida’s solicitor to his legal team. Chris Kise is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach on Thursday when district judge Aileen Cannon mulls Trump’s request for a special master to oversee the justice department’s review of classified materials seized by the FBI at his home.

We’re awaiting at any moment the justice department’s legal response to Trump’s request, which will be a lengthy filing running up to 40 pages after Cannon waived a 20-page limit imposed by the court.

Incumbent Democratic Arizona senator Mark Kelly leads Republican challenger Blake Masters by more than three points in a poll released today, appearing to confirm a growing belief within the party that pro-choice messaging on abortion will be vote-winner in November’s midterms.

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Top Secret Service official at heart of January 6 Trump row steps down

Tony Ornato, who reportedly told aide Trump lunged for steering wheel as Capitol attack was starting, was key figure to committee

Top US Secret Service official Tony Ornato, who has become a figure of intense interest to the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, has retired from the agency.

Ornato was thrust into the center of the January 6 furor as an eyewitness to some of the most critical incidents involving Donald Trump in the hours leading up to the deadly assault on the US Capitol.

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Death at California senior home after dishwasher soap served instead of juice

Officials investigating after three residents at San Mateo facility reportedly ingested liquid given mistakenly by staff

One resident of a California home for senior citizens died and two others were hospitalized after the complex’s staff mistakenly served them dishwashing liquid thinking it was drinking juice over the weekend, according to officials.

Three people living at Atria Park senior living facility in San Mateo, California, just south of San Francisco, had to be taken to a hospital after ingesting the liquid in question on Saturday morning. One of them later died, and the local police, the state department of social services and the facility itself are investigating, Atria Park officials said in a statement provided to media outlets on Monday.

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US fossil fuel firm sues insurer for refusing to cover climate lawsuit

Aloha Petroleum’s case against AIG could set precedent as to whether firms are protected against climate damage claims

A fossil fuel firm is suing its insurer for refusing to cover a climate lawsuit in a case that could affect the wider industry’s ability to defend itself from litigation.

Aloha Petroleum, a subsidiary of the US-based Sunoco, filed a claim against AIG’s National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh earlier this month, arguing it had failed to protect Aloha from the mounting costs of defending climate-related claims by local governments in Hawaii.

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First Thing: major sea-level rise from ice cap melting ‘now inevitable’

Minimum rise of 10in to occur regardless of climate action, scientists find. Plus, survey asks about likelihood of US civil war

Good morning.

Research based on satellite measurements of ice losses from Greenland and the shape of the ice cap from 2000-19 has allowed scientists to calculate how the climate crisis has pushed the ice sheet from an equilibrium where snowfall matches the ice lost.

This figure could more than double within this century. The 27cm estimate is a minimum because it only accounts for global heating so far, writes Damien Carrington, but experts said “there is still a lot of room to minimise the damage”.

Senator faces backlash over violence prediction if Trump is prosecuted. The senior Republican lawmaker Lindsey Graham forecast “riots in the streets” if the former president is prosecuted for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton was cleared for use of her personal email, and the FBI allegedly failed to investigate Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son.

What have Oregon politicians said? A number of shootings this year have involved shooters who had legally obtained assault-style rifles, and one Oregon senator said: “Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines should never be on the street in the first place.” Another added: “America cannot just shrug its shoulders.”

County officials had attempted to get the lawsuit thrown out. They had argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because it had been filed after a statute of limitations passed. A district court judge ruled in favor of that argument from the county in October 2020. But an appellate court overturned the decision.

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Dutch defence minister concerned at US gun violence after soldier’s death

‘We don’t expect this,’ says Kajsa Ollongren of shooting that left two other Dutch commandos wounded

The Dutch defence minister has expressed concern at gun violence in the US after a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded.

“We do many trainings of our servicemen in the United States, and we really don’t expect this to happen. So it’s very, very concerning for us,” Kajsa Ollongren said at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Prague on Tuesday.

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Artemis 1: Nasa cancels moon mission launch over engine problem

US space agency technicians working against the clock to correct ‘engine bleed’ in time for possible rescheduled lift-off on Friday

Nasa is delaying a decision on the timing of its next launch attempt for Artemis 1, the US space agency’s first human-rated moon rocket in 50 years, after calling off Monday’s scheduled liftoff late in the countdown because of an issue related to “engine bleed”.

Engineers at Nasa’s launch complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, discovered the problem with one of the four core-stage engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during overnight loading of 2.76m litres (730,000 gallons) of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel needed to send the spacecraft off on its 1.3m-mile, 42-day journey to the far side of the moon and back.

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Oregon shooting at grocery store leaves three dead, including gunman

Details of suspected gunman his two victims were not immediately released in attack at a Safeway in Bend

A shooting at a Safeway grocery store on Sunday night in Bend, Oregon, left three people dead, including the suspected attacker, reigniting pleas from the public for government leaders to take more action against gun violence.

Police in Bend said the shooter – whose name hasn’t been released – came from a nearby residential area and began firing as he crossed through the Safeway parking lot. One person was shot near the entrance and died at the scene, police said.

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Suspect in Detroit shootings was not confronted after first killing, police say

Man aged 19 held over killing of three people on Sunday and wounding of a fourth did not encounter police after first incident

A 19-year-old man suspected of randomly killing three people on Detroit streets over roughly two hours may have been emboldened when he did not encounter police after the first shooting, the mayor said on Monday.

No one called 911 when a 28-year-old man was shot on Sunday, less than two miles from a police station, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

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FTC sues company for selling data that could be used to track consumers

The lawsuit against data broker Kochava seeks to halt the sale of sensitive geolocation data and delete what was collected

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday sued Idaho-based data broker Kochava for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that could be used to track consumers.

The FTC said consumer data could be used to trace people’s movements to and from sensitive locations including “reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and addiction recovery facilities”.

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Critics denounce Lindsey Graham for warning of ‘riots in the street’ if Trump indicted – as it happened

Justice department faces deadline for detailed inventory of files while ex-president’s team must argue for review by special master

More from Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe on the legal case around the FBI search and seizure of classified documents from former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club-resort and home.

Tribe v Oz

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Program providing free home Covid tests to US households is ending

A dispute over who should fund the free kits will leave test sites or insurance reimbursement as the available options

The US government is suspending its program of free home tests for Covid-19 this week amid disagreements over who should pay for the initiative.

The free home tests, which have provided up to 16 tests for each household, are scheduled to come to a halt on Friday. In the future, people requiring tests for work or travel, or wanting to confirm whether they have the illness, will need to claim the costs of a home test on health insurance or seek results through federally backed testing sites.

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Dutch soldier dies of injuries after shooting in Indianapolis

Commando Simmie Poetsema was one of three soldiers wounded in incident outside hotel in US city

One of three Dutch soldiers wounded in a shooting outside a hotel in Indianapolis over the weekend has died, according to US and Dutch authorities.

The commando died of his injuries on Sunday night surrounded by family and colleagues, the Dutch defence ministry said on Monday.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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Weather tracker: Atlantic hurricane season may finally be starting to stir

Lack of activity has confounded forecasts so far but a cluster of thunderstorms could change that

The Atlantic hurricane season has so far confounded forecasts of an active year, with only three named storms so far, none of which were hurricane strength. In fact, until now this August joins 1997 and 1961 in having no named storms.

However, there are three months left of the season and activity is starting to stir in the tropics. A cluster of thunderstorms in the central Atlantic has the potential to organise sufficiently to become the first named storm since Colin in early July. Should this occur, it may move westwards and approach the Leeward Islands, bringing the threat of heavy rainfall towards the end of this week, but there is little suggestion it will develop into a significant storm at this stage.

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‘The Artemis generation’: Nasa to launch first rocket to the moon since 1972

Test flight that will have no human crew aboard aims to return humans to the moon and eventually land them on Mars

For the first time in 50 years, Nasa on Monday is planning to launch the first rocket that can ferry humans to and from the moon.

The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is scheduled to take off from Nasa’s Cape Canaveral, Florida, complex at 8.33am ET (1.33pm UK time) atop an unmanned Orion spacecraft that is designed to carry up to six astronauts to the moon and beyond.

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MTV VMAs 2022: Taylor Swift wins and Johnny Depp surprises in chaotic ceremony

Taylor Swift announced a new album, Nicki Minaj shouted out female genitals and Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance in a strange, profane evening

Taylor Swift took home the night’s biggest prize – and announced a new album – during the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, a chaotic, bleep-heavy show that nodded to music phenomena past and present, and featured a surprise appearance by Johnny Depp.

Swift, who won best longform video and video of the year for All Too Well (10 Minute Version) for her 2021 re-recorded album Red, was the only artist to double-up on televised awards. Across three hours, MTV moonmen statues went to industry veterans such as Nicki Minaj (best hip-hop) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (best rock); non-English superstars such as Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny (artist of the year) and Blackpink’s Lisa (best K-pop); and newer faces Jack Harlow (song of summer), Lil Nas X (best collaboration, with Harlow, for Industry Baby) and Dove Cameron, a former Disney child star turned actor, who surprised some to win best new artist.

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Taylor Swift announces new album, Midnights, to be released in October

The 32-year-old singer used her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards to reveal her 10th studio album is on the way

Taylor Swift has announced she is releasing a new album, Midnights, in October.

While receiving the top honour at MTV’s annual Video Music Awards, the 32-year-old singer used her acceptance speech to announce her 10th studio album would come out on 21 October.

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