Treasury secretary’s notepad, photographed by Reuters on Friday morning, prompts questions over US plans

During a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent carelessly revealed plans for the US to buy $5bn-$10bn ⁠in Japanese yen in a scribbled “to do” list left visible to a Reuters photographer.

The image, taken over Bessent’s shoulder during a portion of the meeting open to journalists, showed a Camp David notepad with the underscored words “To Do” followed by “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil”.

Lawyers now say damage to pool liner attributed to David Hearn instead is result of installation by contractor

The justice department has moved to dismiss a criminal case charging former Olympian David Hearn with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial‘ reflecting pool, instead blaming damage to the pool liner as “the result of flawed installation by the contractor”.

Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing in DC superior court on Friday evening that they had received information about a “rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026”.

Pup named Roo, who ran away from home, was found curled up next to rail track – and was ‘thrilled’ to be rescued

A two-year-old pitbull who ran away from home braved two days in a dim San Francisco railway tunnel before being rescued.

Caltrain operators spotted the pup named Roo on his first day in the tunnel. Looking at the dog’s unmoving body, they had assumed he had been fatally struck by a train, according to a recent social media post from the San Francisco animal care and control shelter.

Sean Grayson, diagnosed with colon cancer, was sentenced to 20 years for killing Massey in Springfield in 2024

A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy won’t get an early medical release from his two-decade prison sentence for killing Sonya Massey inside her home after the Black woman called 911 about a possible prowler, state officials decided on Friday.

Sean Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer prior to the 2024 shooting, and his attorney noted in January that the cancer had advanced to his liver and lungs.

Unidentified pilot of F-35B fighter jet receives treatment for non-life-threatening injuries after crash near Miramar

An F-35B fighter jet crashed near a US Marine Corps base in San Diego on Friday morning, sparking a small fire that first responders doused.

The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from the Marine Corps Miramar air base. “The pilot ejected, was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” the Marine Corps said in an updated statement.

Body of William Standish discovered in Teton mountains as investigators say fatal fall likely cause of death

A 28-year-old Australian hiker who lost contact with his family while hiking the Continental Divide Trail between Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in Wyoming has been found dead, according to authorities.

The man, identified as William Standish, was discovered by rescuers on Wednesday morning in the Wigwams, a series of rocky peaks on the west slope of the Teton mountain range, the Teton county coroner said. Investigators say it was likely he suffered a fatal fall.

Defense lawyers say Clancy was ill with postpartum psychosis when she killed three children in January 2023

Jurors walked through the Massachusetts home where Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children, a rare visit on Friday that let them see first-hand the place where an outwardly ordinary family life unraveled into tragedy.

After being driven past two businesses relevant to the narrative of the January 2023 killings, jurors were escorted in groups of six to view the inside of the house, including the basement where the children died.

California governor and wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, release 2022-2024 filings amid Trump investigation

Gavin Newsom and his wife made from $1.7m to $2m annually from 2022 through 2024, and paid about half a million a year in federal and state taxes, according to tax returns released by his office.

The California Democratic governor’s office released more than 700 pages of tax filings spanning four years for reporters to review, offering a window into Newsom’s finances as he prepares to leave office and considers a 2028 presidential bid. Newsom’s office did not release returns for 2025, because the couple filed for an extension and will complete those returns in October.

US president tells reporters during Camp David cabinet meeting technology ‘a hard thing to give away’

Donald Trump has backed off a promise to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defense interceptors, telling reporters that handing over the underlying technology was “a hard thing to give away” during a cabinet meeting at Camp David.

The retreat, billed by the White House as “something different” for the cabinet to experience together, was the first such meeting at the presidential compound of Trump’s second term.

Federal government plan outlines cuts to California, Arizona and Nevada but fix is likely to be only temporary

The US government released its anxiously awaited plan for how to manage the Colorado river crisis on Friday, outlining cuts in water supplied to California, Arizona and Nevada.

The proposal from the US Bureau of Reclamation spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from facing mandatory cuts, for now. But it is a temporary fix as the states that rely on the river continue to fight over a long-term management plan for the dwindling resource that supplies huge swaths of the western US.

Wildfires in Europe, Russian missile strikes in Lviv, a tornado in Wisconsin and Spencer Tunick in Spain – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• CBS sidelines Romo indefinitely after arrest

• JJ Watt promoted to lead booth in absence

• Arrest followed Wisconsin OWI traffic stop

Tony Romo has been placed on leave from his role as the lead analyst on CBS’ NFL coverage following his arrest last week on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence.

CBS Sports announced Friday that the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was on leave “until further notice”. JJ Watt will join Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as CBS Sports’ lead NFL team during Romo’s absence.

Brittany Clark struggled for her life before dying from brutal injuries in rare attack, autopsy report confirms

A woman who was killed in a rare alligator attack while swimming with her boyfriend in Florida struggled for her life before dying from the brutal injuries inflicted on her by the animal, newly released autopsy results confirmed.

The report containing the results of Brittany Clark’s autopsy, published on Thursday, also contained new details about the extent of the 28 June mauling that unfolded in Seminole county’s Little Big Econ state forest.

In an increasingly dangerous world, our European neighbours are finding safety in numbers – but Britain is on the outside. The new PM’s task is to change that

There is an orange cloud in the sky. I’m not referring to the wildfires ravaging parts of Europe and East Anglia, though they are connected. I mean the looming pall from across the Atlantic that threatens to spoil the sunny start to the premiership of Andy Burnham – and whose name is Donald Trump.

Burnham’s first 10 days or so in office have gone about as well as he or any of his team could have dared hope. His net approval rating has risen by 17 points, according to one early poll, gaining ground with every category of voter except supporters of Reform UK, though they too like some of what they see. His easy manner, no-notes speech-making and agility on social media have won plaudits, including from a usually sceptical press.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Donald Trump has declared a breakthrough in negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, but IsraelI government officials have voiced scepticism over the deal.

Lucy Hough speaks to Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent

A six-time world champion and three-time World Cup MVP, Japan’s Ayami Sato joins the new Women’s Professional Baseball League hoping to help build the sport’s future

When Ayami Sato takes the mound as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Queens on Saturday, it will be the culmination of a professional career that has spanned 16 years and three countries. The right-handed hurler is largely considered the best pitcher in the history of women’s baseball. She has the awards and experience to prove it, and now she’s taking on America when she makes her debut in the Women’s Professional Baseball League, the first pro women’s baseball league in the United States since the 1950s.

Even though most Americans tuning into the WPBL may not have heard of her, Sato’s resume speaks for itself. Sato’s fastball has been clocked at nearly 80mph and her curveball has a devastating spin rate that is higher than many Major League Baseball pitchers. As a member of the Japan National Team since 2010, Sato has won six gold medals. She is the only player in Women’s Baseball World Cup history to win three consecutive MVP awards. As a member of the now-defunct Japan’s Women’s Baseball League, Sato led the league in strikeouts in three of the last four seasons. And most recently, in 2024 she became the first woman to play pro baseball in Canada as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League.

The World Cup gave MLS unprecedented momentum. Keeping it will depend less on signing aging icons than convincing America’s best young players to stay

“Thanks World, we’ll take it from here,” is Major League Soccer’s message to the American public. Yet two moves in the last week were emblematic of the issues the league faces in taking on the mantle of North America’s hosting of the game’s grandest stage.

A rising, under-the-radar homegrown player left for Europe, and a veteran with immense pedigree arrived, likely to close out his career. Sebastian Berhalter’s swapped title-chasing Vancouver Whitecaps for Middlesbrough of the EFL Championship. Free agent Brazil legend Casemiro traded Manchester’s Old Trafford for Nu Stadium in Miami.

The handcrafted leather boots are a century-old tradition – but with money tight, the cost of up to $800 is harder to justify

For 18 years, one of the most important relationships in Luke Mayfield’s life was with his boots. As a hotshot – one of the US’s elite firefighting crews sent deep, on foot, into wildfires – Mayfield hiked a thousand miles a fire season in his boots, stood in them 16 hours a day and slept near them on assignments that lasted weeks in terrain no truck could reach.

Like every wildland firefighter, he learned the rituals of their upkeep: how to grease them, how to lace them, how soon before the season to break in a new pair so the blisters came during training instead of on duty.

President calls for former personal defense lawyer to be ‘immediately approved’ as attorney general

Donald Trump has defended controversial plans for a $1.8bn slush fund even as they threaten to derail the nomination of his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche for US attorney general.

Blanche “should be immediately approved” by the US Senate, the president declared in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning, defending the payout scheme proposed by his officials in the Department of Justice as it holds up Blanche’s confirmation.

Energy prices have soared again since fighting between US and Iran resumed two weeks ago as conflict spreads across Middle East

Iran has said it struck two tankers trying to pass through the strait of Hormuz under the escort of the US military as Donald Trump gathered his cabinet to discuss the stalling war and rising prices as midterm elections in the US loom.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday that the “non-compliant oil tankers … were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions”. The military body said the ships had tried to pass through the strait via an “undeclared route” and under US aerial escort.

Kaohly Her is accused of inappropriate conduct and creating a ‘sexualized work environment’ by senior officials

• US politics live – latest updates

A second senior police official in St Paul has alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct by the Minnesota city’s Democratic mayor, Kaohly Her, following confirmation that an inquiry into her behavior was launched earlier this year.

The new claims were reported on Thursday by the Minnesota Star Tribune, which said it obtained further details of the mayor’s alleged actions that gave rise to the original complaint by Axel Henry, the police chief of St Paul.

Move seeking $3.25m in damages six months after mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie was last seen safe

Two men questioned early in the search for NBC’s Today Show host Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother said they will file a $3.25m wrongful arrest lawsuit against the sheriff who detained them, as the investigation passes the six-month mark this weekend.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen safe while at her Tucson, Arizona, home on 1 February. Authorities, including the FBI, believe she was kidnapped. But despite a number of leads and blood spatters at the house, no further trace of her has been found, and no suspects have emerged.

Passports with the president’s portrait, previously only available in DC, will be offered at 27 agencies nationwide

• US politics live – latest updates

Americans outside the nation’s capital will soon be able to get limited-edition passports that feature a picture of Donald Trump and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the state department announced.

The department’s 27 passport agencies nationwide will start offering the special travel documents next month. They previously had only been available at the Washington DC passport office for in-person applicants.

You’ve got to admire the Fifa president’s chutzpah in trying to flog off football’s greatest prize. If only Uefa wasn’t being so pesky about it all

Imagine a plan so distasteful that even the Americans and a Middle Eastern nepo-royal football boss can’t be doing with it. Such is the status of Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s scheme to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors. More historically, perhaps, the 55 nations that make up Uefa have reacted to this horror show by voting unanimously to boycott Fifa tournaments, including World Cups, if Infantino presses ahead. That would mean Spain and Portugal boycotting their own men’s World Cup next time around, which you’d think – not to call it too soon – would come off as slightly bad vibes.

A testing moment, then, for the haunted cue-ball. Again. Can it really already be time to turn to Infantino once more, even after he appeared in this spot only on Tuesday, after his 15-page Instagram crash-out about his haters? Yes. Yes, I’m afraid it can. Demanding the federations of the world sell off the World Cup to some fund led by Donald Trump’s son-in-law’s brother will regrettably draw attention to you in ways that will prove difficult to control. As indicated, the Fifa president’s plan has contrived to appear vulgar to the North American confederation, Concacaf, as well as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Senators Warren and Van Hollen attack Republican ‘rubber stamps’ in Congress for surrendering authority to Trump. Plus, could AI take your job? Some workers in China already know the answer

Good morning.

Senior Democrats accused Republicans in the US Congress of becoming “gelatinous blobs” who will not stand up to Donald Trump and “rubber stamps” for his war on Iran.

What else is happening in Washington? Trump has said a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza. However, briefings from both sides exposed disputes over its implementation that could prove difficult to overcome.

What has Blanche said? Blanche has already said publicly that the payout fund to compensate victims of so-called government weaponization is not moving forward amid bipartisan backlash. But Cornyn and Tillis had sought assurances in writing, something Blanche has refused to do. Cornyn also sought to clarify the terms of the tax immunity portion of the agreement.