Governor

Floods caused by thunderstorms that have dumped inches of rain on Kentucky and Indiana, with more possibleAndy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, says four people have died as a result of flash floods from thunderstorms that have brought as much as 7in (18cm) of rain to the state.Beshear confirmed the four deaths in a social media post, noting three people were from Madison county and one was from Jackson county. “Please join Britainy and me as we pray for their families during this difficult time,” Beshear said. Continue reading...

• Governor Gavin Newsom hosted the first public preview of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a new addition to the California Science Center. • The facility is designed to honor California's history of aviation and space exploration, highlighting the contributions of engineers, astronauts, and scientists. • The center aims to foster curiosity and learning for future generations by showcasing the state's commitment to science and innovation.

Fireworks prohibition comes alongside state of emergency as wildfires prompt evacuations and red-flag warningsUtah governor Spencer Cox has announced a state of emergency and accompanying temporary prohibition on the use of personal fireworks until 5 July. The announcement comes as the state experiences an unprecedented wildfire season with blazes that have prompted evacuations in Eureka, a small town about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City.Under the governor’s executive order, the state forester is allowed to ban the use of fireworks anywhere in the state. The order temporarily suspends a 2024 law that disallowed the forester from banning fireworks in cities across the state. Continue reading...

• Governor Gavin Newsom hosted the first public preview of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a new addition to the California Science Center. • The facility is designed to showcase California's history of aviation and space exploration, highlighting the contributions of local engineers, astronauts, and scientists. • This expansion underscores the state's commitment to science, education, and innovation by providing an immersive learning environment for future generations.

Cook is at the center of a supreme court case focused on whether Trump’s firing of her from the Fed board was legalFederal Reserve governor Lisa Cook faced more than $1.3m in legal and security fees after coming under attack from the Trump administration, according to ethics disclosures that were filed on Wednesday.The White House targeted Cook last summer as Donald Trump ramped up his unprecedented campaign to push the Fed to cut interest rates. Continue reading...

Departing Mike DeWine, who co-wrote state’s death penalty bill, says ‘I no longer believe [it] is a deterrent to murder’Republican governor Mike DeWine, the who co-wrote the bill to reinstate Ohio’s death penalty more than 45 years ago, has called for the state to abolish capital punishment, saying it did not improve public safety and could no longer be morally justified.“I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder,” DeWine said on Tuesday. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.” Continue reading...

Race set to test Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican partySign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Races for the Senate and governor in Oklahoma in primary elections begins today, as Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican party faces its next test.The United States and Iran have signed a memo of understanding giving them 60 days to find a way out of the war. The terms of the deal, which has not been publicly released, remain unclear. Vice-president JD Vance called the 1.5-page MOU a “very general document” whose details will be ironed out in the coming weeks of negotiations.The future of the strait of Hormuz remains cloudy. US officials have offered conflicting forecasts for the future of the straight, with Trump saying that by the end of the week it “will be completely open,” while other officials say it may take longer for shipping to return to something approximating the pre-war status quo. Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghei, however, told reporters that Iran may still charge fees to pass through the straight.Trump is in Évian-les-Bains, France, to attend the G7 summit, where Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hoping world leaders will help him find a way out of his country’s four-year war. He spoke with Donald Trump ahead of the G7 meeting, which Russian leader Vladimir Putin is also attending.California govenor Gavin Newsom is accusing Trump of directing the US justice department to investigate him and his wife. Newsom, a prominent Democrat, tweeted that Trump was coming after him because he is considering running for the president. Continue reading...