Mark Carney says Canada is ‘united’ in face of threats as leaders agree to talk before tariffs take effect next month

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Donald Trump has defended his new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, claiming the country cannot survive without the US.

The White House announced the sweeping round of import duties – due to come into effect next month – on Monday, igniting fresh tensions between Washington and Ottawa.

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US gas prices have continued to rise since the conflict with Iran resumed this month. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), a gallon of fuel is now just over $4 – almost a dollar more than a year ago.

It comes as Brent Crude, the international oil benchmark, is now up by almost 2% to $90.92 a barrel.

Interim senator appointed after Lindsey Graham’s death endorsed by Trump ‘for the Good of our Nation’

Darline Graham, the South Carolina interim senator and sister of the late Lindsey Graham, said she plans to run for a full Senate term after Donald Trump endorsed her last week.

In an interview with Sean Hannity that will air in full on Monday, Graham – who was appointed by Governor Henry McMaster to finish the remainder of her brother’s term – said she had “made a decision”.

Troy Jackson is likely to be Democratic nominee after Platner ended Senate bid amid sexual assault allegations

Troy Jackson – a logger, longtime legislator and former president of the Maine senate – is now poised to become the Democratic nominee in Maine’s US Senate race. His rise comes after the party’s previous nominee, Graham Platner, abruptly ended his campaign earlier this month following allegations of sexual assault from a former partner.

Platner’s withdrawal set off a frantic scramble inside the Maine Democratic party. Several contenders filed paperwork to be considered at a 25 July special convention of 601 delegates tasked with selecting a new nominee. But over the weekend, Jackson’s serious challengers dropped out one after another, clearing a swift and unobstructed path for him. Jackson, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary earlier this year, is now the presumptive choice.

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• Donald Trump to impose 50% tariff on most Canadian goods, White House says

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While speaking to reporters on Sunday, Donald Trump acknowledged the three US military casualties as the strikes on Iran continue unabated.

“Well, we feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots, were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said while returning to Washington from the Fifa World Cup final in New Jersey.

Markwayne Mullin at presser repeated many of Trump’s unverified claims from controversial primetime speech

Markwayne Mullin, the US homeland security secretary, doubled down on Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated election claims on Friday amid his agency’s efforts to support the president’s agenda.

Trump used a review compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the basis of many of his unsubstantiated claims on Thursday during his televised primetime address to the nation.

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• DHS secretary doubles down on Trump’s baseless 2020 election claims

• Trump makes unverified claims of China ‘election meddling’

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Trump also took to Truth Social today to claim that there were “great reviews” of his address to the nation on Thursday – where he repeated baseless claims undermining the electoral integrity of the 2020 election, and the safety of the election process at large in the US.

During his speech, Trump also tried to unveil new information – with scant evidence – that China’s interfered in the race that he lost to Joe Biden. This despite assessments from intelligence officials that no foreign actor, including China, attempted to alter any technical aspect of the 2020 voting process.

Liz Oyer tells of how she refused to ‘rubber-stamp a political favor’ in gun rights case involving Trump ally Mel Gibson

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Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney, condemned Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, over his Wednesday testimony to the Senate judiciary committee. Blanche fired Oyer after she refused to recommend restoring firearms rights to the actor and Trump ally Mel Gibson, who was previously convicted of domestic violence.

“I declined to rubber-stamp a political favor for a friend of the president, and it cost me my job,” the former US pardon attorney told the committee on the second day of Blanche’s confirmation hearing.

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• Trump’s speech rumored to feature elections or Iran after president teases ‘really big news’ – live updates

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The average price of diesel fuel in the US has increased again to more than $5 a gallon, according to the AAA, and the average price of gas is almost $4, returning to their highs before the June memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.

It’s a reminder to consumers and truckers of the costs of the Iran war and the unpredictable rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran. A year ago today, the AAA says, the average price for a gallon of diesel was $3.72, almost a dollar and a quarter less than it is now.

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In his opening statement before senators today, Todd Blanche, said that he is “pleased to testify again today to tell everybody here that we are doing just that-we are keeping America safe”.

The nominee for attorney general, who has been leading the justice department in an acting capacity since Pam Bondi was fired in April.

Lindsey Graham’s younger sister appointed by South Carolina’s governor three days after senator’s death

• Darline Graham Nordone: Lindsey Graham’s sister and interim US senator

Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death.

Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother’s current term.

Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett appear before House lawmakers in rare testimony to ask for more protection

Supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives.

Barrett and fellow supreme court justice Elena Kagan made the case for increased security in rare House testimony to discuss the court’s budget request. The last time a sitting justice answered questions on Capitol Hill was 2019.

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Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born private equity investor in Chicago, will serve as chairman of a new state department enterprise fund overseeing more than $200m designated for a central Asia trade corridor, including investments in transportation, energy infrastructure and critical minerals, the Guardian has learned.

The state department confirmed his appointment on Friday.

The former US Senate candidate’s spectacular fall has upended the Maine Senate race and left voters fuming at the party

Almost exactly one year ago, Graham Platner, who has no political experience, was cherry-picked by out-of-state political activists.

According to a person familiar with the campaign, Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan, who have made a name for themselves by recruiting populist candidates across the country, traveled to Maine and rented a house near Platner’s home in Sullivan to convince him to run for the US Senate. Throughout the process, Moraff became Platner’s “right-hand man”, the person described, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of backlash.

Earlier this week, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, was accused by a former partner of sexual assault. Platner denies the allegations, but on Wednesday, he suspended his campaign, accusing the “political establishment” of tanking his candidacy. But this is only the most recent scandal to have surfaced around Platner’s campaign — over the past year, the oyster farmer and combat veteran was revealed to have a tattoo that closely resembled a Totenkopf (a widely recognized Nazi symbol), a long paper trail of racist, misogynist and homophobic posts on Reddit, and in June, the New York Times published allegations from three former partners about Platner’s “toxic” behavior in their relationships, including, in several cases, physical intimidation (allegations Platner denied).

As Democrats regroup and evaluate their dwindling chances to flip the Senate in November, hosts Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are joined by Guardian political reporters Lauren Gambino and Shrai Popat to ask why voters flocked to Platner, why they were reluctant to abandon him as the scandals came out — and what the whole mess says about who gets the privilege of political redemption.

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Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn has pleaded not guilty to vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

Hearn, 67, from Maryland, was arrested last month after stopping by the pool on a bike ride. He told several outlets that he was detained for almost five hours after he reached into the water to inspect what he described a piece of the blue liner that was partially detached from the bottom of the pool as he was curious what it felt like.