The items include Egyptian statues and ancient Greek and Roman coins that date back 1,000 to 5,000 years, officials said.

© U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The items include Egyptian statues and ancient Greek and Roman coins that date back 1,000 to 5,000 years, officials said.

© U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Angie Nixon won one of the biggest upsets in US midterm primaries – and if elected, the Democrat would be the first African American senator in Florida history

The Democratic establishment had the money, the machinery and the candidate with national name recognition. Angie Nixon had a bookshop called Café Resistance and a grassroots campaign for the Senate. On primary election night in Florida, Nixon won in arguably the biggest upset of the primary season. But at least one person was not shocked: Angie Nixon herself. “We weren’t surprised,” the 42-year-old reflects after overcoming a vast fundraising disadvantage to defeat Alex Vindman, a combat veteran who testified against Donald Trump during his first impeachment. “We actually knew we were going to win; we just didn’t know that we were going to win by that much. We put in the work and so super excited about the outcome. It shows that good old-fashioned grassroots organising will beat big money each and every day.”

Nixon won 56.1% of the vote to Vindman’s 43.9%. The result stirred tensions within the Democratic party in a year defined by the struggle between moderates and economic populists. In Florida – a state that has trended increasingly Republican in recent years and is now Trump’s home state – Democrats have now nominated a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who speaks openly about class war.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Continue reading...

© 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.

Continue reading...

© 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”.

Continue reading...

© 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.

Continue reading...

© 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.

Continue reading...

© 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

State Representative Angie Nixon scored a stunning upset on Tuesday in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary. Her victory will test the strength of a democratic socialist in a red state.

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

Byron Donalds, a three-term congressman who won the state’s Republican primary on Tuesday, endorsed President Trump over his own governor, Ron DeSantis. The payoff has been huge.

© Martina Tuaty for The New York Times

State Representative Angie Nixon, a progressive firebrand, marshaled grass-roots enthusiasm to defeat a moderate who dramatically out-raised her. Can it carry her to victory in November?

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

Jim Schwartzel defeated a large field of competitors for a House seat based in Fort Myers, including several candidates who had recently established Florida residency.

Representative Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor of Florida, made a name as a Black conservative in Congress, but his loyalty to President Trump has been his ticket.

© Martina Tuaty for The New York Times

A former Republican, he plans to run on an affordability agenda.

© John Raoux/Associated Press

Mr. Donalds, a conservative congressman with the backing of President Trump, seeks to become the state’s first Black governor.

© Martina Tuaty for The New York Times

Scott Singer will face the winner of the Democratic primary in one of the most competitive House races in the nation.

© TNS/ABACA, via Reuters

Mr. Mills, who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and has faced allegations of assault and threatening behavior toward women, lost to Ryan Elijah, a former TV news anchor.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

The former Republican congressman will try to appeal to voters disaffected with President Trump in a state where Republicans significantly outnumber Democrats.

© John Raoux/Associated Press

Angie Nixon faces another difficult test this November against a Republican incumbent heavily favored to win.

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

Ms. Gruters had been favored to win in a congressional district that was redrawn as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s new map, which leaned even more Republican.

© Sydney Gruters for Congress

Mr. Moskowitz, one of the most vocal Democratic supporters of Israel in the House, will compete in a highly competitive general election in the fall.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The congresswoman won her party’s nomination in Florida’s 20th District over several Black candidates who sharply criticized her decision to run there.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

The Republican incumbent has President Trump’s support, but has little name recognition to many in her state.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Ms. Nixon, a democratic socialist, is running on a platform that calls for universal health care and a federal minimum wage of $25 per hour.

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

The Democrat testified in President Trump’s first impeachment trial and has a twin brother, Eugene, in Congress.

© Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Four states are holding elections on Tuesday. Election officials anticipate having results by late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

© Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Representative Byron Donalds had a wide lead in polls of the race for the Republican nomination for governor. Polling was sparse in every other statewide contest.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times

Republicans hold every statewide elected office and have drastically swung voter registration in the state. A newly gerrymandered congressional map has added four Republican-leaning seats.

© Paul Hennessy/Anadolu, via Getty Images

An early glimpse of a pivotal Senate race, heated primaries on a newly redrawn congressional map, and a special election to replace Eric Swalwell will be in the spotlight on Tuesday.

© Associated Press

We look at the crowded race to replace Byron Donalds.

© Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

A group of Cuban men in Mexico was charged with smuggling people to the United States. One of its leaders said Raúl Castro’s grandson helped, according to interviews and court records.

© Jae C. Hong/Associated Press