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Falling ceiling debris at Kennedy Center may mire debate over renovations

Preservationists worry board may seize on incident ‘to make the point that the whole thing needs to be shut down’

Falling debris from a ceiling in the grand foyer of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts may have complicated a battle over renovations of the Washington DC arts center that could result in the building being demolished.

A portion of the ceiling collapsed on Friday evening after heavy rain swept through the area, prompting officials to temporarily close the Edward Durell Stone-designed building. No one was injured by the debris.

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© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

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Judge orders Trump administration to reveal who set up $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization fund’

Judge issues order as part of discovery process in lawsuit brought by non-profit into now defunct compensation fund

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reveal who set up the structure of a controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponization fund” to recompense victims of so-called political lawfare that was reportedly dropped by the justice department last month.

Ivan Davis, the US magistrate judge for the eastern district of Virginia, issued the order compelling discovery materials from the government as part of a lawsuit brought by the Democracy Forward non-profit on behalf of plaintiffs including a fired prosecutor and a college professor acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest against an immigration raid in California.

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© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

© Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

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Lindsay Clancy murder trial ends in dramatic deadlock – what comes next?

District attorney must decide whether to retry case after jury’s failure to reach verdict despite hours of deliberation

Lindsay Clancy, prosecutors, defense lawyers, the judge and millions watching on are back where they started after her five-week trial over the murder of her three children ended in a mistrial.

America’s saddest case has ceased for the moment, but the legal wrangling is not over, and a second trial could now be on the horizon, prolonging and repeating an agonizing spectacle that has gripped America and the world.

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© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

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Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocked again

Defense lawyer had asked for time to request emergency stay after jury was split 11 to one

The judge in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children, has declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and remained deadlocked after a week of deliberations.

Jurors in Plymouth state court spent more than 38 hours in deliberations over the charges against the 36-year-old mom, which came on the heels of a weeks-long trial that directed national attention to maternal mental health issues that can occur postpartum.

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© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Reuters

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Trump ‘border czar’ denies Milo Yiannopoulos was deported quickly to spare him from ICE detention

Tom Homan denies British far-right commentator, who was deported one day after arrest, got preferential treatment

The White House “border czar,” Tom Homan, denied on Sunday that deporting the British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos just a day after being arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amounted to preferential treatment.

Homan said it was his understanding that Yiannopoulos, 41, had overstayed what he believed to be a visitor visa, had not appeared at an immigration hearing and was issued a final order of removal on 22 July.

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© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

© Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

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Trump says NBC’s Kristen ‌Welker should face ‘punishment’ from FCC

Trump’s threat comes after host described success record of candidates whom president had endorsed as ‘mixed’

Donald Trump ⁠on Sunday said NBC’s Kristen ‌Welker – host of Meet the Press – should face “rebuke or punishment” from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Welker, during a live segment for a local Washington DC affiliate, described the success record of political candidates whom the president had endorsed as “mixed”. The segment aired before Sunday’s edition of Meet the Press.

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© Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

© Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

© Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

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Canada erects giant ‘Lake Ontario’ sign as spat with Trump over name escalates

Meanwhile, Trump posts video of himself kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with Lake America sign

Donald Trump and Canada continued a verbal duel on Saturday over the US government’s administrative renaming of Lake Ontario, with the Ontario premier erecting a giant sign saying “Lake Ontario. Now and Always” – and the American president posting a video of him tearing down an avatar of that sign, erecting a replacement saying Lake America, and dancing to YMCA.

Rhetoric over the naming of Lake Ontario is the public face of an escalating trade dispute between the US and its northern neighbor involving a 50% US tariff on Canadian steel and retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa.

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© Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters

© Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters

© Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters

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Far-right media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos deported by ICE from US to UK

Ex-Breitbart editor has vocally supported immediate deportations for anyone who can’t prove US residency

Far-right British media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported from the US after being detained on Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New Orleans in connection with what the agency said was expired authorization to be in the country and a deportation order.

Yiannopoulos’s deportation to the UK occurred on Friday, said a statement on Saturday from a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE.

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© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Final witness in Lindsay Clancy trial says he doesn’t believe she heard a voice during killings

FBI psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff says he has treated only two women with postpartum psychosis, both decades earlier

Testimony finished in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Wednesday, as a final witness for the prosecution laid out that he believed the Massachusetts mother knew right from wrong when she took the lives of her three young children before attempting to commit suicide in 2023.

Closing arguments are expected to begin on Thursday. The jury will then start deliberating.

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© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

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Texas law banning drag shows where children may be present struck down again

‘This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,’ Ken Paxton says

A federal judge has, for a second time, struck down a Texas state law banning drag performances in settings where children may be present.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, US district judge David Hittner said Texas cannot enforce its drag show ban. He said that the measure improperly restricts speech and violates the first amendment of the US constitution.

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© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

© Photograph: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

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Judge blocks Minnesota bid to extradite Texas ICE agent accused of shooting man

Christian Castro charged with assault after allegedly shooting Venezuelan man and remains in custody in Texas

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of firing his gun and wounding a Venezuelan man in the leg is caught in an interstate extradition dispute between Texas and Minnesota – and could walk out of a Texas jail as soon as Wednesday after a federal judge refused to intervene.

Christian Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime by another, in relation to the incident in which he was involved in the wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

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Hakeem Jeffries defends his meeting with Trump envoy Jared Kushner

House minority leader is under attack from his own party for ‘affordability crisis’ meeting with president’s son-in-law

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the US House of Representatives, has defended his meeting with Jared Kushner and claimed it was arranged at the request of Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Jeffries, who has come under attack from Democrats since the New York Times reported on Sunday that the two met privately to discuss common ground on issues like housing, immigration and the high cost of living, said he agreed to the meeting “to discuss the affordability crisis” in the US.

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© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finn Gomez/Getty Images

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Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking appeal, calling claims ‘demonstrably meritless’

Maxwell sought to vacate Epstein-related conviction, alleging hidden trial evidence and juror’s abuse history

A federal judge has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal effort to throw out her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence, calling her claims “demonstrably meritless, and generally based on speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods”.

In a 67-page decision filed on Tuesday, the US district judge Paul Engelmayer for New York’s southern district denied the former British socialite’s petition for relief, finding that Maxwell had failed to make a substantial showing that her constitutional rights were denied when she was convicted for her role in crimes linked to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

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© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

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‘There’s a baby on the field’: Toddler invades pitch during Minnesota’s MLS win over San Jose

  • Child wandered on field during MNUFC’s 5-1 win

  • Minnesota posts win was ‘Like taking money from a baby’

A toddler interrupted a Major League Soccer match between Minnesota United and San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday by invading the pitch – a bizarre scene punctuated by an on-air analyst saying, “There’s a baby on the field.”

With a minute and a half to play in the game that Minnesota won 5-1 at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, the small child took to the field – and the referee blew his whistle to stop play.

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© Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

© Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

© Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

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Indiana mayor calls it ‘unacceptable’ for thousands to have no power two weeks after storm

Gary mayor says 12 days is ‘too long’ for residents to go without power after storm downed trees on to power lines

The mayor of Gary, Indiana, has said it is “unacceptable” that thousands of residents in the city are still without power nearly two weeks after an 11 August storm known as a derecho brought 90 mph, straight-line winds, downing trees on to power lines.

“We’re at day 12, and 12 days is too long for families to be without power,” Eddie Melton, Gary’s mayor, said in a video address on Sunday, adding that he is continuing to pressure the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco) to restore the city’s power before the end of Tuesday.

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© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters

© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters

© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters

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Fast-moving Hawk wildfire is about 27% contained in Reno, Nevada, officials say

Tens of thousands are still under evacuation orders or warnings amid ‘human-caused’, wind-driven blaze

The Hawk fire is about 27% contained, authorities said on Monday afternoon, two days after the fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire sparked near Reno, Nevada.

Authorities added that 23,000 people are under a “go-now” order and 40,000 people are under a “get-set” warning, an improvement from the 90,000 Nevadans under evacuation orders or warnings on Monday morning.

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© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images

© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images

© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images

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Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey in her home dies aged 32

Sean Grayson, who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2023, was serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder

The former Illinois sheriff’s deputy convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her home after she reported a possible prowler to 911, has died, his attorney said on Sunday.

Sean Grayson died on Sunday, lawyer Daniel Fultz – who represented the ex-Sangamon county deputy at his trial – told NBC News and CBS News.

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© Photograph: Illinois State Police/AP

© Photograph: Illinois State Police/AP

© Photograph: Illinois State Police/AP

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