Harold Lucas, sentenced to death over 1976 murder, killed by lethal injection as state continues execution rush

A Florida man convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was executed Tuesday evening.

Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6.18pm following a three-drug injection starting at 6pm at Florida state prison near Starke, authorities said.

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© Photograph: Curt Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Curt Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Curt Anderson/AP

Kameron Glasgow of Florida honors wife Kenya and daughter Kennedi at local vigil after last week’s tragedy

A Florida man whose wife and toddler daughter were killed by a lightning strike while he was near them recently has implored people to “hold … tight” to their loved ones.

Kameron Glasgow made that arresting remark to local media at a weekend gathering honoring the memories of his wife, Kenya, and two-year-old daughter Kennedi after they died on 23 August from an exceedingly rare cause.

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© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy

© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy

© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy

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.

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© 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

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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

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