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Trump promises not to attack Iran before November’s US midterms

Statement outlines pause on protracted war US president has struggled to end after almost eight months Donald Trump has promised not to attack Iran before November’s US midterm elections, outlining a pause on the protracted war he has struggled to end after almost eight months. In a Truth Social post on Thursday, the US president said Washington was “having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran”, which he claimed was “in very bad condition, both Economically and Militarily”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/OUu9aMn

An AI boom is sending San Francisco rents through the roof: ‘nowhere left for people to go’

According to city’s rent board, eviction notices are up 44% and tenants are on edge over landlords swooping in over their homes To say that Maria Zamudio and her team have been busy lately would be a gross understatement. Every Monday at 9am, the phone lines at the downtown clinic of San Francisco’s Housing Rights Committee start ringing, and they keep ringing until closing at 5 pm. In-person counseling appointments for renters facing eviction or landlord misconduct fill days in advance. After every weekend, the staff of seven sits in their office and sifts through more than 150 voicemails. The rental assistance hotline averages 200 calls a week. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FUCB2I6

FBI says it thwarted terrorist attack in Minnesota by an 18-year-old it supplied with an AK-47

Authorities say they arrested an 18-year-old who was planning a shooting attack at the Mall of America FBI officials stopped a potential terrorist attack on the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, authorities announced Wednesday. An 18-year-old was arrested on one count of obtaining a firearm to carry out an act of terrorism. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud had been investigated over the last nearly two years by the FBI. He was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of the Islamic State for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ua0rsD6

Judge orders officials to preserve all evidence tied to Christa Pike’s botched execution

Judge tells Tennessee officials all items in execution room must be saved as Pike remains restrained in hospital bed A judge ordered Tennessee officials on Wednesday to preserve all evidence related to the botched execution attempt on convicted murderer Christa Pike, as it emerged that the state has refused pleas from medical staff to allow her to be unshackled from her hospital bed. At a hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, judge I’Ashea Myles said: “Anything that was in the actual room” during the attempted execution a week ago must be preserved by the state, including all drugs, intravenous lines and tubing used in the death chamber. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YN9v56n

California couple charged with child abuse in surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children

Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan had 15 children, aged between two months to 13 years, removed from their home A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 kids, police said on Tuesday. Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan are expected to face conspiracy to commit child abuse charges, according to the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9dXQuwh

Educating Rita review – Willy Russell’s classic still has plenty to teach us

Curve theatre, Leicester Director Cara Nolan keeps the play’s original 1980s setting but its message about how expectations are dictated by class and gender is anything but dated So much of the success of Willy Russell’s ivory-spired two-hander rests on the chemistry between its actors. The play traces a woman’s self-empowerment through education via her relationship with a world-weary Open University academic, but there is stiffness here between Rita (Alexandra Mardell) and Frank (Dominic Mafham) as they get acquainted. Frank learns of Rita’s desperate ambition for life beyond her job as a hairdresser and role as wife. Rita hears about his history as a published poet – and picks up on his inveterate drinking. In director Cara Nolan’s production, the dynamic between the pair does not pop in the early scenes, not through any lack of trying, especially on the part of Mardell. She makes a broad, vivacious scouser who has enrolled on to an English literature Open University course in hope ...

Daryz makes history with back-to-back Arc de Triomphe triumphs

Winning rider Barzalona hails ‘exceptional horse’ Stud beckons over bid for unprecedented third win It was a very different, distinctly brutalist Longchamp that last saw a colt go back-to-back in the Arc, and 48 years on from Alleged’s second victory in 1978 with Lester Piggott holding the reins, the uber-modernist new grandstand rose to acclaim its first legend here on Sunday as Daryz produced the same overwhelming turn of finishing speed down the straight that had carried him to victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 12 months ago. Daryz and Mickaël Barzalona did not hit the front until inside the final furlong, but they had been closing on Bay City Roller, who had disputed the lead for much of the way, to such effect from well over a furlong out that the result was in no real doubt. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ryesZa