York

Aug. 3 (UPI) — A flash flooding alert has been issued for New York City and parts of Long Island through Monday evening.

The National Weather Service warns that heavy storms battering the area could reach as much as 2 inches per hour throughout all of the city’s boroughs and Nassau County.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the NWS warning said.

Heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms are expected to ease by Monday evening.

“Summer storms can arrive with little warning, bringing flash flooding, downed tree limbs and dangerous lightning,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.

“I urge every New Yorker to stay alert, take these storms seriously and head indoors when conditions become unsafe,” the mayor continued. “The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to stay informed.”

City officials recommend New Yorkers allow extra travel time and avoid driving through flooded streets, as even shallow water can stall vehicles.

A 10-foot-tall golden trophy mocking US President Donald Trump for his ‘enthusiastic involvement in the Iran war’ appeared in New York’s Foley Square. The statue was created by anonymous art collective Secret Handshake.

Ross Douthat, a longtime conservative voice on the New York Times op-ed page, has been hired as full-time correspondent on “60 Minutes.”

Douthat is the first full-time correspondent named to the venerable CBS News magazine program since it underwent a massive shake-up last spring.

His hiring was announced Tuesday.

CBS News executives are trying to fill several correspondent roles after veterans Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and executive producer Tanya Simon were fired by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss.

Anderson Cooper turned down a new deal to continue as a contributing correspondent.

Douthat, 46, is not frequently seen on television.

He hosted a video podcast, “Interesting Times,” for the New York Times opinion section which explored religion and politics.

On “60 Minutes,” he will become the most prominent conservative voice on a broadcast news network.

Douthat has been with the Times opinion page since 2009, when he replaced conservative columnist Bill Kristol.

The Times section is where Weiss first made her name as anti-woke contrarian before she launched the like-minded digital news site the Free Press, which was acquired last year by CBS News parent Paramount.

Weiss was hired as editor in chief of CBS News in October with a mandate from Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison to pull the network more to the political center. The hiring of Douthat addresses that desire.

Nick Bilton, whom Weiss hired as executive producer of “60 Minutes,” also named three contributors to the program.

• Author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger, 64, who wrote “The Perfect Storm” and covered the Afghanistan war for ABC News. He is a Peabody Award winner.
• Gianna Toboni, 39, a former correspondent for Vice News who most recently was a reporter for CNN. She will also be a CBS News national correspondent.
• Trevor Phillips, 72, a British journalist who joined CBS News earler this year as a senior global affairs correspondent. He also worked in British politics.

Several internal names are still being considered for full-time and contributor roles on the program. They include “CBS Sunday Morning” veteran Seth Doane, national correspondent Matt Guttman and foreign correspondent Holly Phillips. “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Doukopil is also expected be a contributor.

Veteran correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Norah O’Donnell and Jon Wertheim are also returning to the program, which begins its 58th season on Sept. 13.

The internal discord at “60 Minutes” followed a highly successful season where its ratings increased by 9% according to Nielsen.

But there was turmoil throughout the season as Weiss fired Alfonsi and Vega — both of whom complained that the executive pushed them to add right-wing talking points to their stories.

In response to the firings, Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program and claimed she was putting “her thumb on the scale” for more favorable coverage of President Trump’s administration.

Pelley was shown the door with cause after confronting management over the firings at a June 1 meeting.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced a new plan to sell grocery baskets at city-run stores at 30% below retail prices. The baskets will be sold at five city-run stores and are his latest effort to offer savings to New Yorkers.

Withdrawal is latest instance of government’s efforts to crack down on critical media facing setbacks in court.

Attorneys for the United States government have withdrawn subpoenas seeking to compel three New York Times reporters to testify about their sources for a story about an Air Force One jet gifted to US President Donald Trump by Qatar.

Judge Arun Subramanian slammed the government’s lawyers for what he deemed sloppy legal work in an exchange in court on Thursday.

“Subpoenas are not the first thing you do; they are the last thing you do,” an irritated Subramanian said.

“When you see something like this, if this were a civil proceeding, what I would normally do is ask the parties to show causes why sanctions should not be issued,” he added.

The Trump administration had sought to keep the proceedings secret as it pressured the reporters to reveal their sources for a story, a request that raised alarms for US press freedoms as the president and his allies continue to aggressively target critical media and political opponents.

Such efforts, however, have largely been rejected in court. The US government recently withdrew similar subpoenas that sought to compel testimony from reporters with the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

Lawyers for the New York Times challenged the legitimacy of the grand jury subpoenas along with subpoenas for the phone records of several journalists and their relatives. The paper’s managing editor and general counsel sat in the gallery during proceedings on Thursday.

The government has said that it is pursuing those who have leaked material to reporters for a story about Trump taking an older model Air Force One jet back from a summit in Turkiye, rather than the one gifted from Qatar.

The Secret Service reportedly advised that the new jet, which the government has spent $400m to retrofit and upgrade, lacks important security features such as antimissile capabilities.

“Reporters are not the targets; those leaking classified information are,” the Department of Justice said of the subpoena requests.

Obtaining information from government sources is a cornerstone of journalism, and national security reporting in particular and is considered essential to press freedom. Efforts by the US government under both Democratic and Republican administrations to compel reporters to disclose their sources have been viewed as an effort to weaken those protections.

July 22 (UPI) — The man who rushed a stage to attack author Salman Rushdie will face federal terrorism charges in a trial that began Wednesday in New York.

Hadi Matar, 28, was found guilty of murder in state court last year and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the August 2022 attack that left Rushdie blind in one eye and without use of one hand.

The federal case will determine if the attack was an act of terrorism and if he was carrying out a fatwa against Rushdie, set by the former Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, or if it was for Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, or neither.

Khomeini, then the ayatollah of Iran, created the fatwa in 1989 because of Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988. Hardline Muslims considered the book blasphemous because of the way it portrayed the Prophet Muhammad.

The attack on Rushdie happened at the Chautauquah Institution in Chautauquah, N.Y., as he was delivering a speech for more than 1,000 people on writers in political exile. Matar rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie more than a dozen times.

Matar is a U.S. citizen of Lebanese origin who was raised in New Jersey and California. His friends and relatives said that after some professional and academic frustration, he became religious. His mother told The New York Times that she could not support him.

Rushdie, 79, wrote and published in 2024, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, a memoir about the attack and his recovery.

Matar had written in his notebook a list of pros and cons to attacking Rushdie. The Times reported that a page provided by prosecutors showed that he wrote one reason not to do it was: “Could make life worse. But I doubt that. It kind of sucks already.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani releases a video statement calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to face trial for war crimes, citing the ICC’s arrest warrant. But, after days of speculation, Mamdani says New York does not have the power to arrest Netanyahu.

‘King [Messi] abdicates, but the prince [Lamine Yamal] takes the throne!’
Spain fans filled the streets of New York with chants and songs ahead of the World Cup final against defending champions Argentina. Spain’s supporters are confident a new generation can bring the trophy home.

New York City – It’s dubbed “Little Argentina”, but lifelong resident Christian Gimenez says much has changed in the neighbourhood he grew up in.

Once an epicentre of the Argentinian diaspora that settled in New York City, most relocating during the so-called “dirty war” of the 1970s, only a handful of Argentinian restaurants and bakeries remain as a foothold of what once was in the Elmhurst, Queens neighbourhood.

But when the FIFA World Cup comes around, the block swells with revellers, clad in white and sky blue. With Argentina heading to the final against Spain on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just a few kilometres (miles) away, everything on the block – from the asphalt, to the benches, to the store fronts, and even the fire plugs – bears the iconic colours.

As a child, “everywhere you would go, it was Argentinian,” Gimenez, who owns Rio de la Plata Bakery and is among those who spearheaded the decorations, told Al Jazeera. “So what I do is try to keep it alive.”

To be sure, the 40-year-old is clear that the commitment to Argentina’s national team goes far beyond the monthlong tournament. The World Cup may come only once every four years, but the vaunting mural of Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona on the side of his bakery is a mainstay.

To many, it is a reminder of the generational significance of the country’s football tradition, one that has for decades been a glue for Argentinians in New York City, even as the community has dispersed.

Seventy-four-year-old Beatriz Jaime recounted watching Argentina’s 1978 routing of the Netherlands in a broadcast at Madison Square Garden, and returning to the neighbourhood soon after to find it “loaded with people” celebrating into the night.

“The thing is that the roots are here, and they’re in Argentina,” said Jaime, who grew up in Queens but now lives on Long Island.

“You never forget that. I get goosebumps.”

For Henry Pachaco, 45, who is also from Queens, fandom is a family affair. He stood clad in the national team jersey, his mother wearing a blue shirt with a single phrase, “Hand of God”, a reference to the infamous hand-ball goal scored by Maradona in the 1986 quarterfinal match against England.

Pachaco called the block “the centre” for Argentinian fans in the city, offering a stadium atmosphere on game day – complete with a closed street, music, an outdoor television, and street food – without the price tag.

For Argentina to be in the final, for Messi to possibly be playing in his last national team match, and for all of it to be happening on New York’s doorstep, he said, represents a convergence of worlds.

“It’s like bringing Argentina to New York … wherever you go, anywhere in the world, when Argentinians get together. That that same passion is equal, no matter what.

“You’re always gonna be accepted here and have the best time of your life,” he said.

Gimenez echoed the sentiment, while addressing several racist incidents from Argentinian fans that have tarnished La Albiceleste’s run in this World Cup and the last. He said that was not representative of the fan base.

“Whatever your race or whatever your ethnic background is, we don’t look into that,” he said.

“If you’re supporting us, we love you. Straight up, just like that.”

A new fandom grows in Brooklyn

It is a message that is likely to be well received a borough away, in the Kensington neighbourhood of Brooklyn, home to an rapid-growing Bangladeshi community that has earned the area the title “Little Bangladesh”.

NYC data shows the diaspora population has tripled in the last two decades, one of the fastest-growing groups in an ever-changing city. Last year, the community elected the first-ever Bangladeshi American to the NYC Council.

Shafiqul Alam, 66, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 36 years, said the area has transformed, bringing with it a passionate new base of support for Argentina’s national team.

On match days, large-screen televisions have been set up in pedestrian squares in the neighbourhood. If the weather turns, he said, it is not uncommon for people to crowd inside his shop to watch on his own television.

“Bangladeshi people love Argentina,” he said, “and Argentina loves Bangladesh.”

Many factors have coalesced to fuel support for Argentina within South Asia, and particularly Bangladesh, notably a newfound access to televisions in the 1980s, which aligned with the Maradona-led national team’s 1986 defeat of England.

The match held potent political significance for countries still grappling with the legacy of British colonialism. But for many younger fans, support comes down to one man: Messi.

“Knowing this could be Messi’s last match, everyone will want to watch,” said Sajid Bhuyan, 31, a resident of the neighbourhood.

He had trouble imagining that any less than 90 percent of the local Bangladeshi community in Kensington backed Argentina.

While the origin stories of their fandom may be different, Bhuyan felt the passion from Little Bangladesh to Little Argentina was the same.

He recounted a tournament that has repeatedly seen Argentina come back from the brink of defeat, most recently in a stunning turnaround in the semifinal against England.

“I almost died when Argentina scored the two goals in just minutes,” Bhuyan said. “I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk, I had to take five or six minutes to calm down.

“So if it happens again,” he said, “we will enjoy!”

Five weeks after the start of the biggest-ever football tournament, it’s almost time for the day billions across the world have waited for – the FIFA World Cup final.

Spain, the champions of Europe, face defending World Cup winners Argentina in a title clash for the ages.

For Spain, it marks the final step in their quest for a second world title, 16 years on from their maiden triumph, while Argentina are chasing history to become only the third country to lift back-to-back World Cups.

Here are the top 10 things you need to know ahead of Sunday’s final in New York, United States:

Deja vu: Messi and Yamal meet again after two decades

The moment Argentina set up the World Cup final against Spain, social media was again flooded with the now-viral photo of a young Messi bathing baby Yamal during a TV commercial. At first, many thought it was an AI-generated image, but it’s indeed real and dates back to 2007.

During a UNICEF fundraising shoot at his former club, Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium, a 20-year-old Messi met Yamal, who was only five months old at that time and accompanied by his mother, Sheila Ebana.

Almost two decades on from that day, Messi and Yamal face each other in a clash of generations in the 2026 World Cup final.

“It is a true miracle of destiny,” the photographer Joan Monfort told BBC Sport.

Will Donald Trump attend the World Cup final?

Yes. The White House has said US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final – his first appearance at the tournament. He will jointly present the trophy, along with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, to the winning team’s captain.

Though Trump was not at any game of the 48-team tournament, he was still involved – rather controversially. Trump personally urged Infantino to review a decision to hand a red card to US striker Folarin Balogun.

FIFA, then, broke its own rules to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban, allowing him to play in the quarterfinals, which the US lost to Belgium. The controversial decision drew criticism and once again put the spotlight on the growing influence of politics on sport.

Superstitions first: Argentinian President Milei won’t attend the final

It is common practice for the heads of state of the finalist nations to attend the ultimate showdown, but Argentinian President Javier Milei won’t be travelling to New Jersey. Why? Because of superstition.

Milei has decided to watch the game on a TV from his presidential residence, just like he did for each of Argentina’s seven matches en route to the final. He will also be putting on the same heavy jacket he wears each time.

In Latin America, and particularly in Argentina, so-called “cabalas”, or ritualistic beliefs and habits, carry unusual weight, reflecting their passion for the national team.

Canadian wildfire smoke blankets New York before World Cup final

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has blanketed much of the northeastern US, triggering ⁠health alerts, but a ⁠cold front expected on the weekend will help dissipate the dangerous haze in time for Sunday’s World Cup final in the New York area.

More ⁠than 80,000 people are expected to attend the World Cup final at the open-air New York-New Jersey stadium, while another 50,000 are ⁠expected to watch the game from Central Park in Manhattan.

New York City began feeling the effects of the wildfires this week, and local authorities issued an alert, urging residents to reduce strenuous outdoor activity and take extra breaks if they are outside.

On Thursday, the air quality ‌in New Jersey, the site of the stadium, was rated as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” by several air quality measurement platforms.

World Cup final: The most expensive US sporting event

As of Friday, the get-in price for the Spain vs Argentina final is $7,595, according to ticket-tracking service TicketData.com. The platform states a 10 percent increase in price over the last three days.

As per data from secondary ticket marketplace TickPick, the average purchase price for the final is $11,327, the highest ever recorded in US sporting history, surpassing the ticket prices for the NFL’s Super Bowl and the NBA Finals.

NFL-style half-time show

For the first time in history, a football World Cup final will feature a half-time show, inspired by the Super Bowl.

Expect fireworks to light up the New York skyline when a pop party kicks off, headlined by Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, Coldplay and others.

The performance is expected to last about 11 minutes, with the half-time break potentially extended to up to 30 minutes. Additionally, there will be a closing ceremony 90 minutes before kickoff, with Tom Cruise, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger expected to feature.

Record-breaking prize money

In December, FIFA announced a record World Cup prize fund of $727m –  a 50 percent increase on the funds distributed at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Four months later, the prize money on offer was further increased, with the world governing body projected to surpass $11bn in revenue in the current four-year cycle from 2023 to 2026.

FIFA’s December announcement on prize money said ⁠the champions would take home $50m and the runners-up $33m. Additionally, each qualified nation would ⁠be entitled to $1.5m to cover preparation costs.

World Cup trophy to arrive in bespoke Louis Vuitton trunk

As was the case in the last four finals, the golden World Cup trophy – the biggest prize in football – will be transported to the venue in a bespoke Louis Vuitton trunk designed by the French luxury ‌fashion house.

The trunk features a golden V for “Victory” – and “Vuitton” – across the front, with the brand’s recognisable monogram pattern and gold-plated brass corner protectors.

Golden Boot among awards up for grabs

Apart from the winning team earning the opportunity to lift the coveted World Cup trophy, players will also have a shot at individual glory.

As many as five official trophies, including the Golden Boot for the top scorer and Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament, will be handed out.

Messi leads the race for the Golden Boot, ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappe, who will feature in the third-place playoff a day before the final. Mbappe won the Golden Boot last year while Messi is bidding for his first such achievement.

The Golden Glove, Young Player and Fair Play are the other official awards presented by the FIFA Technical Study Group.

The referee lineup

The World Cup final will be officiated by Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic, who will be assisted by his compatriots Tomasz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic.

Jordanian duo Adham Makhadmeh and Mohammad Alkalaf will be the fourth official and reserve assistant referee, respectively.

Officials in New York and New Jersey have issued an air quality health alert because of wildfire smoke just days before the World Cup final.

Haze caused by Canadian wildfires has blanketed the New York region, prompting officials to urge residents to reduce outdoor exertion and stay indoors if possible.

New York New Jersey Stadium – which is in East Rutherford, New Jersey – will host the final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday, 19 July (20:00 BST).

Conditions deteriorated just before Spain landed in New Jersey on Wednesday night, a day after their semi-final victory over France in Texas.

Spain spent Thursday training outdoors, looking unaffected by the air quality. They have not commented on whether they are concerned.

Argentina, meanwhile, stayed in Georgia after their semi-final win over England, but will begin training in New Jersey on Friday afternoon.

Contractor Dan Edgar said his daughter Kaitlynn was practising at New York New Jersey Stadium on Thursday, where she will be dancing and performing for the final.

“She’s texting me that it’s bad out there,” he said. “It’s hard to dance, she says you can feel the air, it’s heavy.”

The smoke-filled sky and extremely hot temperatures have already been experienced by some footballers. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) went ahead with a match between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit on Wednesday night in front of a record crowd at Citi Field in Queens despite the orange haze.

The air quality index meant players were mandated to take two breaks per half according to NWSL policy.

Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman said after the match that the air quality was rough, and in her opinion, they shouldn’t have played.

Rodman said: “Not to make excuses at all, but I think on both sides we were all like, ‘another break, another break, another break’.”

New Yorkers are relieved conditions are not as intense as they were in June 2023, when the skies turned completely orange because of Canadian wildfires.

New York New Jersey Stadium is an open-air facility, but at the moment there is no suggestion the World Cup final, with more than 80,000 spectators and a star-studded half-time show, will be affected.

The air quality in the area is expected to improve on Friday while forecast rain on Saturday should further help disperse some of the smoke.

On Thursday, the Major League Soccer match between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps was postponed because of poor air quality conditions in the Chicago area.

Former Bayern Munich and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was set to make his debut for Chicago having joined as a free agent last month.

July 14 (UPI) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday putting a moratorium on building large data centers for one year.

Hochul, a Democrat, signed the executive order pausing environmental permits and said that the delay would give the state legislature time to create new laws that protect the electrical grid, environment and communities.

The order is the first statewide ban in the United States.

“As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul said in a statement. “New York will lead the way in creating the strongest standards in the nation for data center development, ensuring that when companies succeed because of New York, New Yorkers succeed, too.”

The order will temporarily block the state from approving permits for data centers that use 50 or more megawatts of power. During that time, the state will create a regulatory framework for assessing how the projects affect the environment.

The ban won’t delay projects that already have the needed permits.

Hochul also called on lawmakers Tuesday to repeal sales tax exemptions for data centers.

New York has fewer data centers than some other states, such as Texas and Virginia. But some projects have sparked local battles around the state.

Though states once courted the artificial intelligence companies’ investment, sentiment has since soured. Data centers use an enormous amount of electricity and are adding a huge burden to the electrical grid.

A May Gallup poll showed that more Americans would rather live near a nuclear power plant than a data center.

In Monterey Park, Calif., voters recently blocked data center construction permanently. But in April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed legislation that blocked construction of data centers because she said it could block a project in a town that supported a local data center.

The Seminole Nation passed a complete moratorium that bans development on its tribal land.

Hochul’s team didn’t say how many proposed data centers the moratorium would affect, but Cleanview lists 25 proposed facilities in the state, and a planned 300-megawatt facility near Ithaca has seen protests and backlash from locals, The Washington Post reported.

Lawmakers in New York recently passed a bill that called for a one-year moratorium but Hochul’s action allows the governor to move quickly while she reviews the legislation, the office said.

“This is an important victory for the thousands of New Yorkers who demanded that their government take action to put a pause on hyperscale data centers,” said Mitch Jones, managing director for policy and litigation at environmental group Food & Water Watch.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, marking a dramatic escalation of President Trump’s campaign against the media that has drawn condemnation for eroding a fundamental freedom of American democracy.

The new jet, a present from the U.S. ally on which the administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service this month. But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran.

The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week, the New York Times said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes.

They were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The journalists subpoenaed included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, the Times reported.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said in a statement.

Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Trump’s “war on the press is looking for another victim.”

He said in a statement that the subpoenas “break from long-standing Justice Department practice to protect the public interest and press independence by requiring prosecutors to only seek information from reporters as a last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted.”

The department said that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”

Its statement said that “we value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information, which means not sharing classified information.”

While recognizing “there may always be natural tension there,” the department said, “we are not going to ignore the law and stop investigating the people who work in the administration and think it’s OK to leak classified information impacting national security.”

Pattern of anti-press actions

Issuing subpoenas represents a further ramping up of Trump’s effort to threaten independent new organizations by leveraging the power of the federal government against them. It is also part of a systematic pattern by the Republican president to attempt to undermine press freedom in order to shield him from negative coverage.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department issued subpoenas seeking to compel testimony from reporters at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. In both cases, the department later withdrew the subpoenas.

In January, FBI agents searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, who has been covering Trump’s transformation of the federal government, as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified information.

Adam Steinbaugh, senior attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said Friday’s subpoenas and the prospect of “hauling reporters before grand juries sends a chilling message to journalists and whistleblowers alike: Watch what you say, or expect a knock on the door.”

“These tactics are becoming more common,” Steinbaugh said in a statement. “That doesn’t make them normal.”

During his first term, Trump suggested that the press constituted an “enemy” of the American people. Since returning to the White House, he has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history.

Trump’s attacks against news outlets and media figures he believes are overly critical of him has included filing lawsuits against outlets whose coverage he dislikes, threatening to revoke TV broadcast licenses and seeking to bend news organizations and social media companies to his will.

The Justice Department over the years has developed and revised internal policies governing how it will respond to news media leaks.

Though the department across presidential administrations has periodically seized the phone records of individual journalists in hopes of identifying sources for national security stories, it is extremely rare for the government to attempt to compel reporters to reveal their sources before a grand jury.

In April 2025, then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi rescinded a Biden administration policy that protected journalists from having their phone records secretly seized during leak investigations — a practice long decried by news organizations and press freedom groups.

Doing so again gave prosecutors the authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make “unauthorized disclosures” to journalists.

A memo Bondi issued said members of the press are “presumptively entitled to advance notice of such investigative activities,” and subpoenas are to be “narrowly drawn.” Warrants must also include “protocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities,” the memo stated.

Security issues with new Air Force One

The president flew the new Air Force One to Turkey during this week’s visit. But he departed Wednesday on one of the older-model Air Force One jets for Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base in Suffolk, England.

The newer plane also flew to Mildenhall. Trump then switched to that plane for the flight home to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The abrupt swap came as a shaky ceasefire with Iran had collapsed, with the U.S. launching airstrikes on Iran and Tehran attacking three gulf Arab states. Iran and Turkey share a border, sparking speculation that the new jet lacked certain sophisticated security and countermeasure systems.

The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service, and that the newer plane lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities.

Trump denied any security concerns, posting on social media that the stop in Mildenhall was so that service members there could view the new jet. During the flight, Trump denied to the reporters accompanying him that security concerns involving Iran were a factor in flying two planes home.

Still, asked if he was aware of any credible threats against Air Force One by Iran, Trump responded, “I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list.”

The White House did not answer messages seeking comment about the subpoenas of the Times journalists.

Weissert and Khalil write for the Associated Press. AP writers Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has issued subpoenas against journalists from The New York Times, in what advocates say is an escalating attack on the free press.

Late on Friday, the Times reported that at least four of its reporters have received subpoenas, some delivered to their homes by federal agents.

Those subpoenas compel them to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, the newspaper’s lawyer, in a statement quoted by the Times.

News of the subpoenas prompted outcry from leading news groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which demanded their withdrawal.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations, and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said CPJ’s chief executive officer Jodie Ginsberg.

The subpoenas were authorised by a top official in Trump’s Department of Justice: Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Clayton is in line to succeed Bill Pulte as the director of national intelligence, a cabinet-level role Pulte holds on an interim basis. The Senate is set to begin hearings on Clayton’s confirmation next week.

Scrutiny on NATO travel coverage

At issue is The New York Times coverage of Trump’s return flight from the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, this week.

While Trump flew to Europe on his new Air Force One, a jet gifted by Qatar and retrofitted by the US military, he left on the old Air Force One.

Trump claimed the switch was made to allow the new jet to visit RAF Mildenhall, an air force base in Suffolk, England, that supports US military operations.

He framed it as an opportunity to allow military members to tour the aircraft.

“It’s going to go to a couple of bases,” Trump said at the time, “so the soldiers can see it because it’s truly magnificent.”

But at the same July 8 news conference, Trump referenced concerns about his safety.

When asked about the airline switch by a reporter from The New York Post, Trump responded, “You know, the life of a president is very dangerous.” He proceeded to add that he’s “number one on the kill list for Iran”.

That same day, The New York Times reported swapped his new presidential jet for his old one because of security concerns, citing anonymous sources. The change reportedly came at the urging of the Secret Service.

Then, the next day, the Times expanded its coverage with a follow-up report, indicating that the new Air Force One lacked the security capabilities of the old jet.

The article anonymously cited two former Air Force officials as saying there would not have been enough time to make the necessary upgrades before the Ankara flight.

It is unclear what modifications have already been made, but experts have estimated that the updates could cost up to $1bn.

Friday’s subpoenas targeted four of the journalists involved in the Times’s reporting on the subject: Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Eric Lipton and Julian E Barnes.

According to the Times, before the subpoenas were issued, the newspaper was contacted by a senior official from the FBI.

That person, who was unnamed, asked the newspaper to hold off on its reporting about Air Force One, citing national security. The FBI official also requested information on the Times’s anonymous sources.

The newspaper, however, declined to provide such information, in line with standard journalistic practice.

A testy relationship with journalists

The subpoenas mark the latest clash between the Trump administration and US media outlets that report on its activities.

Trump himself has a long-running feud with the Times. In September, he sued the newspaper for $15bn in damages, alleging it had defamed him and attempted to “sabotage” his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election, which he won.

After his initial complaint was thrown out as “improper”, Trump refiled it in October.

The Times, for its part, has sued the Department of Defence under Trump over its attempts to impose media restrictions on journalists.

Just this week, the Times also filed a countersuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after it alleged the newspaper had discriminated against a white, male employee for failing to give him a promotion.

The Times has described the effort as an attempt to muffle the press, in violation of the free-speech protections enshrined in the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

The Times is not the only newspaper to face legal backlash from the Trump administration. In December, Trump launched a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, arguing that a documentary it aired misrepresented his speech before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump is also seeking $10bn from The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a birthday message he allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After that suit was thrown out, Trump refiled it in May.

The Trump administration has also taken actions against individual journalists.

In January, for instance, the FBI executed a raid on the house of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, who covered the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the federal workforce.

The raid came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking information to the news media, but at least two judges have barred the Trump administration from using the information it seized from Natanson.

The Trump administration has denied seeking to erode the freedom of the press, instead citing national security needs.

But McCraw, the Times lawyer, argued that, with the latest subpoenas, the White House was trying to restrict “the American public’s right to know how their government is operating”.

“This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs,” he said.

Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also weighed in on the subpoenas, using them to slam Trump as corrupt.

“Donald Trump is one of the weakest, most thin-skinned individuals the world has ever seen,” Schumer wrote on social media.

“Reporters have the right and duty to report the truth. It’s not their fault his foreign-gifted plane is a national security threat. This subpoena is a gross overreach and a disgusting misuse of federal law enforcement resources that should alarm every American.”

July 8 (UPI) — New York City officials believe they have stabilized a high-rise apartment building Wednesday in Midtown Manhattan after it began to buckle a day earlier.

Construction workers have added temporary support to the structure to prevent it from collapsing. However, the building, and three more in the area, remain under evacuation orders.

Construction crews continue to work on the high-rise structure Wednesday. It is a former office building that served as the headquarters for Pfizer and is being converted into luxury apartments.

The 37-floor building was evacuated Tuesday when construction workers noticed signs that it may collapse, such as multiple floors caving in and bricks falling from its facade.

At least two support columns in the building were observed to be buckling Tuesday, causing upper floors to sag. No injuries were reported.

“I can say right now the building is stable,” said Ahmed Tigani, New York City building commissioner. “We feel confident in the emergency plan we have now.”

The area of East 42nd and 43rd streets between Second and Third avenues remain closed to traffic.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said city officials continue to “prioritize the safety of all that immediate area.” He added that the situation will be investigated.

Mamdani said work Wednesday focused on installing shoring and support beams on the 17th through 24th floors.

“They’re going to be working through the day to get all the way up to the roof and all the way down to floor nine,” Mamdani said.

An upstate New York resident sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for sending federal officers to his house with a warning over an email he sent to the agency’s one-time head.

David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.

Streever’s email called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.” In a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, he said the agency violated his 1st Amendment rights.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever, and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever’s right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the 1st Amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”

Representatives for ICE previously declined to comment on the warning to Streever, citing an ongoing investigation, and the agency did not immediately comment Monday. The suit also names Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose office also did not immediately comment.

“ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director,” the agency said in a statement last week.

The entirety of the three-paragraph email, which carried the subject line “What’s next,” and referenced a leader in Nazi Germany:

“You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.

“The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall. Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.

“You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, Steinbaugh said.

Federal officials went to Streever’s house the same week that officials visited Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker, at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post.

Gonyea believes the warning stemmed from writing “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted,” in a post with a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. She posted it in January, after Ross had already been identified by the news media.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’ address. Part of that post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement in June that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.”

A representative for the New York Attorney General’s Office has said the office is aware of the two residents’ contact with federal agents. The representative has said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Whittle writes for the Associated Press.

For several days, media outlets have watched every move outside the arena. They spotted trucks with cryptic labels like “GP” and “garden party” on it and crews unloading tons of equipment and things like large white staircase prop and large mirror ball. Earlier in the week, workers were seen rolling out a red carpet, which was hastily withdrawn.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an astute student of both politics and pop culture, has coyly alluded to the wedding chatter during press conferences.

City officials confirmed to the BBC that somebody applied for street closure permits in the area, but did not reveal whom.

But the city was not likely to have shut down Manhattan’s busiest corridor on a holiday weekend for just anybody. And not just a holiday weekend, July 4th weekend. And Not only July 4th weekend, but America’s 250th birthday weekend – while the city also hosts the World Cup.

The speculation heightened.

Then the celebrities started to emerge.

Paparazzi captured images of Antonoff, Swift’s longtime producer, sporting a tux and a toothpick dangling out of his mouth, reportedly heading to Thursday’s event at the Garden.

His sister Rachel Antonoff, a designer, followed closely behind in a bubblegum-pink dress.

US tabloid Page Six reported Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid, a longtime member of Swift’s friend circle, had also arrived at the venue.

Pop star and actress Selena Gomez posted images of herself on Instagram wearing a black gown with gem earrings and heading to an unspecified event.

People Magazine published video Dunham, who created the series Girls, being chauffeured through Manhattan in a black SUV.

Time Out has named this spot as one of the best places to visit in the UK highlighting its stunning beaches, world-class museums and vibrant food scene

It’s time to look beyond the obvious and consider some of Britain’s finest destinations which may not yet feature on your travel radar — but absolutely should — and one of them is tucked away in the North East.

Time Out has unveiled its list of ‘The 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026’, and cracking the top 10 is a North East city that is frequently overlooked in favour of its more celebrated neighbour just 10 miles down the road.

Certain spots earned their place on the list for their buzzing nightlife, others for their coastlines, some for their museums, and others still for their exceptional food scenes. Claiming the number 10 spot was Sunderland, carving out a reputation that stretches well beyond its celebrated football club.

Premier League glory aside, Sunderland might not immediately spring to mind for many travellers, yet according to the publication’s experts, there’s a wealth of experiences waiting to be discovered in this seaside city. With a host of exhibitions, sporting fixtures and much more scheduled throughout 2026, there are countless reasons to visit — and even more to make you want to linger.

Beaches

Unlike most thriving cities, Sunderland is fortunate enough to boast a handful of sweeping and stunning beaches, owing to its enviable position along the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea coast. The twin beaches at Roker and Seaburn are the perfect spot to kick back and relax, with many visitors hailing them as “the best in the UK” — some having made the trip since childhood.

Both hold blue flag status, making them a clean and safe destination for the whole family, whether you’re soaking up the golden sands in summer or enjoying a brisk stroll along the shore during the cooler months.

A recent visitor shared on TripAdvisor: “We spent a fine sunny spring morning walking on the seafront. We got there easily by taking the E1 bus from Sunderland city centre.

“Roker and Seaburn are attractive with good beaches with nice cafes with good coffee, which we sampled, and seafront restaurants that we would like to try next time. We only spent three hours here, but it has whetted our appetites and will certainly come again when visiting Sunderland.”

Pier Point at Roker sits right on the beachfront, lined with a variety of cafés and restaurants where you can tuck into classic seaside fare and stop off for a drink or two.

Museums

As highlighted by Time Out when unveiling their rankings, museums play a central role in Sunderland’s appeal as a tourist destination and serve as a brilliant showcase of the city’s rich cultural and historical heritage. It’s worth checking ahead for any upcoming exhibits, but on any given day, these venues are well worth a visit.

Standing out among the city’s attractions is the National Glass Centre, set within a striking glass structure beside the waterfront. The venue is devoted to examining concepts and heritage through the medium of glass, while offering visitors the chance to get hands-on and engage with the educational programmes available.

It’s highly regarded as one of Sunderland’s top attractions, ranking second on TripAdvisor. One visitor remarked: “This place is amazing. The glassblowing demonstration is really good, the cafe is really nice, food delish, staff very good. Nice setting on the water.”

Additional museums include the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum, Ryhope Engines Museum and, perhaps most significantly, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. Located in the city centre, Sunderland Museum chronicles the city’s story across four levels, featuring an array of captivating galleries and displays.

One visitor said: “The museum offers free entry and has plenty of exhibits. I first had to see the staple of the museum, which is Wallace the Lion who has been with the museum for over 160 years.

“There was a write-up about how Wallace came to be in the museum which was nice to read about. There were a few other areas which showed off the history of the mines and celebrated the miners’ unions, etc.”

For those seeking somewhere to while away a few hours indoors, whether escaping dreary weather or beating the heat, free entry means there’s every reason to discover what the museum has to offer.

Across the city, a diverse array of thriving independent eateries are serving up some seriously tasty grub, from street food stalls to cosy cafés and beloved seafront staples. Time Out made a point of singling out Propa Pies, a “nostalgia-fuelled pastry pop-up from Hairy Biker Si King”, which offers an impressive selection of inventively flavoured pies alongside timeless classics.

June 26 (UPI) — New York City’s rental board has approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s two-year rent-freeze proposal for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, fulfilling a major campaign promise.

New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 to set a 0% increase for rent-stabilized one-year and two-year leases commencing on or after Oct. 1, and on or before Sept. 30, 2027.

Cheers erupted from the spectators assembled as it was announced that the motion passed.

“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants,” Mamdani said in a statement following the vote.

“After reviewing the data and hearing from New Yorkers across the city, the independent RGB has delivered a freeze on one-year leases, and the first-ever freeze on two-year leases in our city’s history. This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.”

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, campaigned heavily on making life more affordable for the average New Yorker, including by creating new affordable housing and freezing rents where legally permitted.

The mayor said he is grateful for the board members’ “thoughtful consideration of the data” before casting their votes.

“I’ll continue to deliver a more affordable city by building and preserving affordable housing, lowering building operating costs like insurance, and ensuring tenants know their rights,” he said.

According to a New York City housing survey from 2023, there were 996,600 rent-stabilized units, representing about 41% of all rental units across the city. Rent stabilization generally applies to buildings with six or more units built before 1974.

The only vote against the rent freeze came from Arpit Gupta, an associate professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

In a statement published online following the vote, Gupta argued that the rent freeze will not solve the housing crisis while possibly making it worse and ultimately driving up rents. He also said the rent freeze could prevent building owners from considering improvements and renovations.

“Residents might continue to enjoy low rents but at the cost of being trapped in units that no longer fit their needs, and with few alternatives and steadily deteriorating conditions,” he said.

“A better option is to undertake the harder reforms needed to make housing more affordable and accessible — that is, build more of it.”

The vote was held following a series of hearings in which nearly 330 people participated and nearly 700 people submitted written, audio or video testimony about their experiences.

New York State Assembly Member Tony Simone said the rent freeze will impact about 2 million New Yorkers and is expected to save renters as much as $6.8 billion over Mamdani’s four-year term.

“This immediate action reflects the urgency needed to prevent more working-class New Yorkers from being priced out of our city,” he said in a statement, while stating that the structural factors that are driving up prices must be addressed.

“To truly address the housing crisis, we need to tackle its root cause: the housing shortage,” he continued.

“New York needs to build more housing units.”

NEW YORK — When Varun Venkatesh cast his ballot in New York’s primary this week, he thought about “a good litmus test for me as a voter.” He wanted to know what the candidates are doing for the Palestinian cause.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had “a clear and more consistent stance.”

Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.

The war in Gaza, which began during Joe Biden’s presidency and undermined Kamala Harris’ bid to replace him, remains an open wound, and how Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party’s unwieldy coalition at a time when it’s trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress.

“The Israel question has become defining,” said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He said some in Mamdani’s camp have embraced “a new level of extremism,” warning that “Republicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.”

Mamdani has no such concerns as he tries to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor’s office of the country’s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls “a status quo of immorality” in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate’s victories on Tuesday night chanted “Free Palestine.”

The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats’ search for their national identity in the coming years.

“When does the race for 2028 begin?” Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. “It starts now.”

Israel-Palestine conflict animates Democrats’ left flank

Even for a party accustomed to searing debates between progressives and moderates, the schism over Israel has been blistering. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel’s right wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them.

Biden was denounced as “Genocide Joe” by pro-Palestinian supporters, who shifted their attention to Harris once she replaced him as the Democratic nominee for president two years ago.

“She was trying to the right thing,” said Jamie Harrison, who led the Democratic National Committee at the time. “It was a hard and awkward place to be in.”

Harrison said the war in Gaza helped cost Harris the state of Michigan, which has a sizable Arab American population. However, he doubts that it was a defining national issue then or now.

“It’s one thing to be in New York. But I can tell you that most places, including where I am in South Carolina, it’s not what people are talking about,” he said. “They are concerned about affording gas and groceries and housing.”

Harrison expects Democrats to look for middle ground in the future, which includes “still supporting Israel’s sovereignty” while calling for “reducing U.S. aid to Israel and changing the nature of the relationship.”

One primary victor blasted the ‘hug Bibi’ strategy

Finding middle ground has been difficult so far, as demonstrated by the primary in New York’s 10th congressional district.

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller backed by Mamdani, successfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the race.

Both candidates are Jewish, and both have criticized the Israeli government. But Lander says the war in Gaza is a genocide, and Goldman does not.

“Our party needs to admit that Joe Biden’s ‘hug Bibi’ strategy was a catastrophic mistake,” Lander said in his primary victory speech. He added, “We cannot keep paying for Netanyahu’s wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters are saying this, loud and clear.”

Ari Rassouli, a voter in the district, said the incumbent’s views on Israel were “one of the many reasons that I didn’t like Dan Goldman.”

Describing the war as a genocide, she said “a candidate that is in support of that has no place in our democracy at all.”

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Lander acknowledged that Israel was among the top issues along with affordability and immigration.

“I like talking to Jewish voters who feel anxiety about the times we live in and say, ‘I have these values, I want to treat everyone like they’re equal and with dignity and created in God’s image. How do we navigate the times we’re in?’” he said.

He added with a smile, “Those are probably the longest conversations at the polls.” ___

Barrow, Peoples and Offenhartz write for the Associated Press. AP writers Anthony Izaguirre and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.

The New York Knicks celebrated their first NBA title in 53 years with a frenzied ticker-tape parade through Manhattan. The Knicks, along with finals MVP Jalen Brunson were awarded keys to the city by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in front of thousands of fans.