US government, which owes legal services firm $65m, stopped paying in December, as contract runs out Friday

Current and former prosecutors are denouncing the Trump administration for fast-tracking the deportation of immigrant children, as a key contract for legal services is set to expire on Friday.

A series of federal laws has for decades shielded child immigrants from removal, either to protect their safety or to allow them to testify against abusers or human traffickers.

Official declines to say whether Gabriel Perez, who allegedly bet on prediction market Kalshi, resigned or was fired

A White House teleprompter operator who reportedly used inside knowledge to make bets about Donald Trump’s speeches on the online prediction market Kalshi is no longer in his post, according to a White House official.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the personnel matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Gabriel Perez “no longer works in the federal government”.

Three people died, including one of the suspects, and at least five more were wounded, including two-year-old boy

Seattle police recovered a modified machine gun and an untraceable “ghost gun” from the scene of a mass shooting at a food festival this weekend that left three people dead – including one of the suspects – and at least five more wounded, the police chief, Shon Barnes, said on Tuesday.

Sunday’s shooting appeared to involve at least three suspects, Barnes said at a televised news conference. One of those three, 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko Semo, died at the scene. A second, 15-year-old suspect was disarmed and arrested at the scene. At least one more suspect remains at large, Barnes said.

Police believe Sara Gilson was killed by husband Jeremiah Duffy after she accused him on TikTok of child sexual abuse

Sara Gilson, the social media influencer who was killed after she publicly accused her husband of child sexual abuse, “couldn’t seem to get away” from Jeremiah Duffy despite filing multiple protective orders, Gilson’s ex-husband said in an interview.

“She had been stuck in a relationship where domestic abuse seemed ‘OK’,” Lyle Landers told People. “I had begged her for five years to get away from him. I had offered to help her, in any way I could, to get away from him. But he seemed to have some sort of control over her, and she couldn’t seem to get away.”

Bryan Kohberger, convicted of killing four college students in 2022, claims he pleaded guilty due to bad legal advice

A man convicted last year of killing four college students in Idaho has filed to withdraw his guilty plea and seek a new trial, claiming he pleaded guilty due to bad legal advice.

Bryan Kohberger was convicted of breaking into a six-bedroom house in 2022 and killing four University of Idaho students in their early 20s. The victims – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – were found dead with dozens of knife wounds. Goncalves also showed evidence of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma.

Warning: some viewers may find the following footage distressing. A fatal police shooting that killed 38-year-old Corey Ruiz has sparked massive protests in Madison, Wisconsin. Bystander video shared with the Guardian shows how the shooting unfolded on 22 July.

President directs interior department to display signs outside museum that accuse institution of inaccuracy

Donald Trump on Friday ordered the interior department to display signs in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that accuse the institution of inaccuracy.

The order escalates the Trump’s attacks against the Smithsonian, which he and his allies accuse of politicizing the institution by focusing too much on injustices in American history, instead of more triumphant moments such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Joanna Ruth Shields’ body was found in a pool of water with suspicious marks, driving speculation she was attacked

A young woman whose body was found in the backcountry of California’s Big Sur with suspicious marks on her face and neck died of alcohol withdrawal, the Monterey county sheriff’s office said on Thursday.

The discovery of Joanna Ruth Shields’ body in April had driven widespread suspicion that she had been the victim of a violent attack. A group of hikers found Shields, 37, naked in a pool of water in the Sykes hot springs area of the Ventana wilderness with marks on her neck and a cut across her forehead.

Suspect allegedly yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ before attacking a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man

New York City police are investigating a pair of stabbings near Central Park as a possible hate crime, police commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday.

The suspect, Raul Morales, allegedly stabbed a 57-year-old Asian man in the back with a knife, then stabbed a 50-year-old Jewish man in the torso with a screwdriver, according to a New York police department spokesperson. Morales allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” before the stabbings, police said. The attacks occurred about two blocks apart and in broad daylight in Manhattan’s affluent Upper West Side neighborhood.

Shooting happened on street in popular neighborhood lined with restaurants, bars, shops and homes

A police officer in Madison, Wisconsin, shot and killed a man Wednesday in an incident that was captured on cellphone footage, sparking local protests.

John Patterson, the Madison police chief, acknowledged the shooting at a news conference, but stressed footage circulating was just one perspective of what happened.

Three-year-old girl landed in ICU after snake bit her while grabbing a package outside her family’s Santa Clarita home

A three-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit earlier this month after a rattlesnake bit her while she was trying to grab an Amazon package.

Addy, the young girl, ran out with her mother on 13 July to pick up a package dropped over the gate to their home in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.

Sausalito city manager Elaine Forbes faces misdemeanor charges for allegedly trying to steal the three-story vessel

A Bay Area city manager will face misdemeanor charges for allegedly breaking into a 66ft yacht while drinking and trying to steal the vessel.

Elaine Forbes, Sausalito’s city manager, was arrested on the morning of 18 July after police received a call for a noise disturbance. Police say Forbes had “apparently broken into” a three-story yacht, where she was consuming alcohol.

United staffer told customer ‘you don’t act like at a citizen’ during incident over wait time at San Francisco airport

United Airlines is “looking into” a viral video showing a United Airlines employee threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a Mexican American man at San Francisco international Airport last week.

The scene erupted after Julio Varela of San Ramon grew upset at United Airlines staff for taking a long time to correct an error his family made when entering his daughter’s name to buy a ticket for a flight to Canada, according to NBC News.

Team of firefighters saved the pup from the water near East Palo Alto in a mission that utilized boats, trucks and a drone

Firefighters rescued a small dog that had been missing for weeks after finding it swimming into the San Francisco Bay.

The dog had gone missing over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Menlo Park fire protection district. But someone called 911 on 16 July to say they had seen a dog enter the bay near the Dumbarton Bridge in East Palo Alto.