Progress

Cal Fire official says Sunday was ‘big turning point’ to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% containedFirefighters made progress toward containing northern California’s Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday.Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire. Continue reading...

• Tech stocks across Asia, Europe, and the United States declined after industry leaders raised safety concerns regarding "frontier" artificial intelligence technology. • Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on other industry leaders to slow the pace of AI development to avoid losing control of the technology. • This shift in sentiment creates immediate financial volatility for investors and companies heavily invested in the rapid deployment of AI.

Michigan Senate nominee and others have re-energized one-time Democratic voters who abandoned the party under BidenTwo years ago, Zainab Bibi Ahmed thought she had turned her back on the Democrats for good. Now, she is volunteering for the party’s US Senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed.Ahmed was one of 100,000 people to vote uncommitted in the February 2024 Democratic Michigan primary, in a bid to send a message to then US president Joe Biden about his support for Israel, as people watched what Amnesty International later called a “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza on their screens. Continue reading...

First Muslim woman and Afghan American elected to California legislature held lead throughout race over main opponent Melissa HernandezSign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.Following a bitter intra-party battle, progressive Aisha Wahab has been elected to Congress in a special election to fill the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April after facing sexual misconduct allegations (he has denied the allegations).Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, who turned on the president in 2019, when he compared him to a mobster during congressional testimony, executed another 180-degree turn, showering the president with praise during a friendly conversation between the two men on Cohen’s New York City radio show.The White House faced fresh questions over whether Donald Trump’s closest aide, Natalie Harp, had access to US government secrets without security clearance.At a Rose Garden event to promote Melania Trump’s advocacy for foster children, the first lady opened with a joked about her lack of recent public appearances, as her husband looked on with something less than rapt attention.One week after Trump ordered his navy secretary to redesign a new aircraft carrier, the USS Doris Miller - to scrap the modern electromagnetic system used to launch fighter jets, and install old-fashioned steam-powered catapults instead - CNN reports that the navy is considering another change to the same ship: removing the name of Miller, a Black sailor known for his heroism during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, and naming it instead the USS Donald Trump.The non-partisan Cook Political Report updated its midterm election forecast to rate the US Senate races in both Texas and Iowa, which had leaned in favor of Republicans, as toss ups that could break for Democrats. Continue reading...

• The FDA has approved Pasatru™ (garetosmab-grts) as the first and only treatment to reduce new heterotopic ossification (HO) lesions and clinician-assessed flare-ups in adults with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP). • The approval follows the OPTIMA Phase 3 clinical trial, a multinational study designed to evaluate the drug's efficacy, safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics in patients with active FOP. • This development is significant as it provides a targeted therapeutic option for a rare disease, supported by previous Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations from the FDA, EMA, and Japan's Ministry of Health.

• Tuesday's primary elections in Florida saw a progressive candidate secure an upset victory for the Democratic Senate nomination. • Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, endorsed by Donald Trump, won his party's nomination to become Florida's first Black governor. • These results highlight a continuing ideological divide within the Democratic party and the enduring influence of Trump over Republican nominations.

US president cancelled planned tariff imposition just hours before it was to come into force. Plus, why are people so obsessed with television vampires?Good morning. Donald Trump has paused his threatened punitive tariff on Canada just hours before it was due to come into effect. After Trump’s announcement, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said “substantial progress” had been made towards a trade deal, but more work was needed.Tuesday’s 11th-hour backdown comes after a contentious year for the two countries, with the longstanding alliance strained by tit-for-tat tariffs and online broadsides in which Trump has mused about wanting to turn Canada into a US state.How much trade do the two countries do? Historically, Canada and the US have been strong trading partners. In 2024, trade between the countries was estimated to be roughly $909bn, according to the office of the US trade representative.What else happened in Florida’s elections? Byron Donalds, a congressman backed by Trump, won the Republican nomination for governor in the race to succeed Ron DeSantis. Donalds trounced three reasonably prominent Republican rivals, including Jay Collins, DeSantis’s handpicked lieutenant governor. If he wins the November election, as he is expected to do in the conservative stronghold, Donalds would become the first Black governor in any southern US state. Continue reading...