States

• The United States Mission to the United Nations issued a briefing calling for immediate economic and political reforms by the Cuban regime. • The U.S. demanded the release of political prisoners, the opening of the economy, and an end to the government's practice of blaming American policies for Cuba's internal misery. • The U.S. urged UN Member States to stop voting for the annual anti-embargo resolution and to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the Cuban people directly rather than the government.

Republican states rebrand June as ‘nuclear family month’ or ‘fidelity month’ in latest attack on LGBTQ+ communitiesJune is widely marked as gay Pride month – when LGBTQ+ communities march to protest discrimination and celebrate their identities in the month that the modern US gay liberation movement was born out of the 1969 uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn – although not so much in certain Republican-led states this year.Some Republican governors have suddenly come up with alternative labels for the month, which both supporters and opponents view as counterprogramming. Continue reading...

Republican-led states growing renewable capabilities at faster rate as Texas emerges as clean-energy leaderDemocratic-led states are eroding their climate policies, as red states are scaling up their clean energy deployment.California on Friday scaled back its cap-and-invest program, offering more than $3bn in free pollution allowances to polluting companies. Earlier the same week, New York weakened its groundbreaking climate law, delaying a plan to regulate carbon from 2024 until 2028 and reducing emissions-slashing targets. Rhode Island’s governor, meanwhile, is attempting to roll back aggressive clean-energy programs. Continue reading...

White House says caps will lower tuition costs, but critics say they will exacerbate the country’s nursing shortageSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailWhile the Trump administration has argued that new restrictions on the size of federal student loans will lower tuition costs, public health officials and Democrats say the measures will exacerbate the country’s serious nursing shortage.As such, a group of 24 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia recently sued the federal government seeking to block the new rule, which is set to take effect on 1 July. Continue reading...

• Primary election races are currently unfolding across six states, including New Jersey, California, and Iowa, as candidates advance toward midterm battles. • In separate political developments, Senator Marco Rubio is engaging with lawmakers to answer critical questions regarding government policy. • The Trump administration is weighing a decision to relocate certain groups to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the region's severe humanitarian crisis.

Consumer advocates decry Democrat Jared Polis for ‘choosing to side with dominant corporations’ over workersColorado’s governor vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have banned companies from using surveillance pricing to set workers’ wages and prices for consumer goods.The measure would have been the strongest in the nation against algorithmic pricing. While Maryland became the first state to approve a law banning surveillance pricing in grocery stores in April, Colorado’s proposed measure was more expansive. Continue reading...

All the latest results and updates as New Jersey, South Dakota, New Mexico and Montana also vote in primariesCalifornia elections: governor, LA mayor and Congress at stakeSign up for the Breaking News US emailVoters in six states have been casting their ballots in the US midterm election primaries. Here are some of the images from polling stations that have dropped on the news wires today:A wave of Democratic doctors, scientists and public health professionals across the country are seeking office in the midterm elections in a rebuke to Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr’s health policies. Continue reading...