Ignore Iran, the Epstein files, and your wallet – not to mention Trump’s plummeting approval ratings

Don’t mention the war! Or the economy, for that matter. Or the Epstein files. Or Natalie Harp. Or “affordability”, which, as Donald Trump recently said at a rally, is a word that was “never used” by the media before he took office. Best not to talk about anything that affects ordinary people or embarrasses the president, really. Instead, let’s all rejoice in Trump’s latest triumph: renaming Lake Ontario, which is shared by Canada and the US, as Lake America.

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to America-fy the lake’s name on US maps and documents, which is an excellent use of time and resources. I suppose we can at least be thankful that the president, who is trying to slap his own name on everything from airports to the Kennedy Center, didn’t decree that the body of water be called Lake Trump.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Al Drago/Pool/Al Drago - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Al Drago/Pool/Al Drago - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Al Drago/Pool/Al Drago - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

President’s directive stalls for a second time about a week before the first postal ballots are due to be sent out

A federal judge on Thursday halted – at least for the moment – attempts to implement Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.

The president’s directive stalled for a second time about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. In the US district court, Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order in a case that could be headed back to the supreme court, which on Monday overturned an earlier ruling of hers that had blocked Trump’s order from taking effect.

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© Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

© Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

© Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

A former lieutenant colonel in Venezuela’s National Guard living in Florida was deported, interrupting a lawsuit that accused him of ordering violent raids and torture.

Outrage over making Representative Jared Moskowitz, who is vocally pro-Israel, the top Democrat on a Middle East policy subcommittee reflected the party’s rift over Israel.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Grand jury declined to indict anyone but said there was a ‘sophisticated scheme’ to use funds for political activity

A Florida grand jury has found that the administration of the governor, Ron DeSantis, “misappropriated” $10m in taxpayer money from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity with ties to DeSantis’s wife, before the money was reportedly “funneled” into “two political action committees”.

In the grand jury report, which remains sealed but was obtained and published by CBS News Miami on Wednesday, the grand jurors wrote that “we conclude that these funds were misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” but said that they found “insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally”.

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© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

© Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA

A charity tied to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s wife received the money from a state Medicaid settlement and diverted it to political committees supporting a cause favored by the governor.

© Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The brothers, who have denied all wrongdoing, are fighting extradition to Britain on multiple charges, including rape and sex trafficking.

© Pool photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson

A Florida man was charged over the vandalism of a decoy version of the automated license plate readers, the authorities said.

© Brian Snyder/Reuters

Agents arrest women who ‘almost died’ after they were hit by vehicle and their car flipped over four times, family say

An Ecuadorian mother and daughter were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a hospital after a car crash in central Florida.

On 20 August, Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter, Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, 19, were involved in a car crash in Poinciana, Florida, according to arrest reports reviewed by multiple news outlets.

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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

It has been an uneasy primary season for Jewish voters, with debates over Israel animating many races. But what happened in Florida went beyond that.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times

Kenya Glasgow and her toddler died after lightning struck in Margate, near Fort Lauderdale

A mother and her toddler were killed recently by a lightning strike in south Florida, local authorities said.

The tragedy happened in Margate, near Fort Lauderdale, on Sunday. The victims were Kenya Glasgow, 31, and her two-year-old daughter, named in media reports as Kennedi.

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© Photograph: Wirestock, Inc./Alamy

© Photograph: Wirestock, Inc./Alamy

© Photograph: Wirestock, Inc./Alamy

With opposition to the centers mounting, many Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are campaigning against them.

© Aubrey Trinnaman for The New York Times

Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville, shocked Democrats in red Florida by soundly defeating her centrist primary opponent. Now comes the hard part.

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

Florida counted most of its primary ballots within hours on Tuesday night, well ahead of the days California took to report the results of its major election.

© Lynne Sladky/Associated Press