AP PHOTOS: Fishermen say a new natural gas project off Senegal's coast threatens their livelihoods
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
USDOT offering $5.4 billion for bridge funding, but strikes diversity requirements
June 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. government will make available $5.4 billion in grant funding for building, replacing or repairing bridges across the country under a 2021 infrastructure law, but is striking diversity requirements, the U.S. Department of Transportation said on Monday. USDOT said it was removing climate change, environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion from grant application requirements for bridges from the funding approved in 2021 under a $1-trillion infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. Last week, USDOT said separately it would end consideration of race or gender when awarding billions of dollars in federal highway and transit project funding set aside for disadvantaged small businesses. In April, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said states could lose transportation funding over a failure to cooperate on federal immigration enforcement efforts or for maintaining DEI programs. Trump issued an executive order seeking to ban DEI programs in January. Under Biden, bridge grant applicants had to address climate change impacts and detail how proposed projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector and lifecycle emissions from the project materials, USDOT said on Monday. Another requirement called for addressing how projects would create good-paying jobs with the free choice to join a union and how projects would promote local inclusive economic development and entrepreneurship such as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, minority-owned business or women-owned business programs. A Kentucky judge ruled in September that a federal program enacted in 1983 - the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program - violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. The program treats businesses owned by racial minorities and women as presumptively disadvantaged, making them eligible for funding. The program was reauthorized in 2021 through the infrastructure law that set aside more than $37 billion for that purpose.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Jamie Foxx reveals exactly how he feels about Diddy amid rapper's sex trafficking trial
Jamie Foxx has spoken out again about Diddy, making it clear what he thought of the disgraced rap mogul. During his appearance at The Comedy Store for Netflix 's All-Star Comedy Night, Jamie called Diddy a 'nasty motherf****r,' according to Urban Hollywood. 'That Diddy s**t is crazy, huh? I don't know if he's going to jail, but he's a nasty motherf***er. S**t! Am I right? Especially for our community. [For] white people, it's cool, but Black people are like, that was our hero. All that godd**n baby oil, boy. Then, the urine,' Jamie said, referring to an alleged claim regarding Diddy's ex Cassie and an escort urinating in her mouth. Jamie, 57, spoke on stage behinds his daughter Corrine Foxx, who served as the moderator. After looking at Corrine's reaction, Jamie then said, 'Oh that's right. It's the Emmys. My bad, I'm sorry, so sorry.' He brought up Diddy again, this time comparing the case to the 1999 film Life starring Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy. 'When I watch the trial, all I think of is Life. Martin Lawrence telling to Eddie Murphy, "Why you so nasty, Ray? Cause I'm a nasty moutherf****r." Why you so nasty, Diddy? Cause I'm a nasty motherf****r. Take that, take that, take that.' Jamie said. 'That makes you listen to that differently. What are we taking, because I don't want any of that,' he added. 'For the Black people in here, you know how that hurts us, because Diddy was [known for] It's all about the Benjamins." That was our whole culture. Now it's all about the baby oil.' Last week, Jamie debunked the bizarre conspiracy theory that Sean ' Diddy ' Combs once tried to kill him. Amid the disgraced rap mogul's federal sex-trafficking trial, which began earlier this month, the actor poked fun at the rumors that swirled around his road to recovery after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke and a brain bleed in 2023. While reflecting on his hospitalization, which lasted several weeks, the comedian revealed he 'snuck in' his phone because he had no idea 'what the outside world was saying.' 'I couldn't get my mind around the fact that I had a stroke. I'm in f*****g perfect shape,' he said during The Hollywood Reporter's Stand-Up Comedy Roundtable. This is when he stumbled upon the crazy allegations that 'Puffy tried to kill' him. 'No, Puffy didn't try to kill me,' Foxx insisted, before sharing his reaction to speculation that he was 'a clone.' He continued: 'When they [conspiracy theorists] said I was a clone, that made me flip. I'm sitting in the hospital bed, like, 'These b***-a** mother******s are trying to clone me.' And then I saw me walk into my room, but I'm white, so I see the white me. The next morning, I said, 'I know what's up, you're trying to clone me and make me white so I'll sell better overseas.'' His joke prompted a psychiatrist to ask: 'Are you all right?' Foxx, then, replied: 'Am I all right or am I all white? I saw you trying to get the white motherf*****g Jamie Foxx and it ain't going to happen.' The psychiatrist went on to 'calmly' decide to 'lower' his dosage of medication. Back in October 2024, a source close to Diddy insisted to that 'there is no truth to Sean Combs putting Jamie Foxx in the hospital.' In Foxx's Netflix special, titled What Had Happened Was..., which aired last year, he took a few swipes at Diddy. After explaining that he suffered a stroke, caused by a bleed on the brain, Jamie explained: 'I say this all the time, I saw the tunnel, I didn't see the light. 'It was hot in that tunnel. I thought, s**t, have I gone to the wrong place? I looked at the end of the tunnel and I thought I saw the devil saying come on… or was that Puffy?' 'I'm f*****g around, but if that was Puffy he had a flaming bottle of Johnson and… no, I'm just kidding.' In the special, Jamie also spoke about the rumors linking his 2023 health crisis to Diddy, by beginning his stand-up set with a dig at him. 'The internet was trying to kill me, saying Puffy was trying to kill me. Hell no, I left those parties early. Something didn't look right,' he quipped. 'The internet was trying to kill me,' Foxx said, referencing the online speculation that Combs had something to do with his hospitalization. 'The internet was saying that Puffy was trying to kill me. I know what you're thinking… Did he?!' 'Hell, no,' he added with a jibe about Combs' infamous 'Freak Off' parties. 'I left them parties early. I was out by 9, n*****, something don't look right, n*****. It looks slippery in here!'
Sky News
38 minutes ago
- Sky News
Colorado live: Suspected petrol bomb attacker 'had no regrets', say officials
Suspect 'said he had no regrets' Acting US attorney J Bishop Grewell says that Soliman stated that he had been planning this attack for a year. "He acted because he hated what he called the Zionist group," he says. The charges allege that what he did was to throw Molotov cocktails at a group of men and women, Grewell says. He adds: "When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die. "He had no regrets and he would go back and do it again. "He said that he had previously tried to purchase a firearm, but resorted to the Molotov cocktails when he could not purchase a gun because he was not a legal citizen." Police holding news conference Acting US attorney J Bishop Grewell for the district of Colorado has begun the news conference and starts by "expressing his heartbreak" over the attack yesterday. He says his office "are taking action" and thanks the first responders who worked to "quickly end the attack". "My office has charged Mohamed Soliman with the commission of a hate crime," he says. "When that offence includes attempted murder, the statutory maximum federal sentence is life in prison. "No one should ever be subjected to violence of any kind but our laws recognise that such violence is particularly pernicious when someone is targeted because of their race, their religion or their national origin." Colorado charges Soliman with eight counts of first-degree murder The state of Colorado has charged Mohamed Soliman with eight counts of first-degree murder, our partner NBC News is reporting. In the state of Colorado, death is not required for there to be a murder charge. Rubio says all terrorists will have visa revoked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said shared a few comments this evening on the Colorado attack. Here is what he has said on X... FBI and federal officials to hold news conference At around 9.30pm UK time, state and federal officials will hold a news conference to announce state and federal charges against Mohamed Soliman. The Boulder District Attorney's Office and the police department will join the FBI for the joint conference. Here are the people we are expecting to hear from: Acting US attorney J Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado Special agent in charge Mark Michalek for FBI Denver The 20th judicial district attorney Michael Dougherty Boulder police chief Stephen Redfearn We'll bring you the latest in our live coverage. Colorado suspect 'had 14 unlit Molotov cocktails' Mohamed Soliman told investigators that he looked up videos on how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube and purchased the items he needed to make them, our partner network NBC News reports. The suspect, who is accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails at a group of people while yelling "Free Palestine!", also told police that he had planned the attack for a year, it is alleged. According to a police report seen by NBC News, a black plastic container with a yellow top was found near where Soliman was arrested. Inside it was at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails. The report also says that Soliman allegedly told investigators that he "wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead". "Soliman stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over 'our land,' which he explained to be Palestine," a police complaint seen by NBC reads. He also stated "he would do it again". Soliman had expired visa Following Soliman's arrest, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, said he had entered the US in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023. "The Colorado terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," she said in a post on X. "He filed for asylum in September 2022." McLaughlin told Sky's partner network NBC News the suspect's asylum claim was pending at the time of the attack. Watch: Moment Colorado suspect is arrested On Sunday, the man accused of using a makeshift flamethrower to attack a US group bringing attention to Israeli hostages in Gaza was charged with a federal hate crime. Mohamed Soliman told police he had planned it for a year and targeted what he described as the "Zionist group", the FBI said. Witnesses reported the man allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" during the attack. The clip below shows the moment Soliman was arrested... Suspect to appear in court later tonight Mohamed Soliman is set to appear in court later tonight. Before that, state and federal officials will hold a news conference at around 9.30pm UK time to announce state and federal charges against him. We'll bring you the latest as we get them. What happened during the Colorado attack? Police chief Steve Redfearn said the attack happened at around 1.26pm on Sunday and that initial reports were that "people were being set on fire". Boulder's police chief said the attack happened as a "group of pro-Israel people" were peacefully demonstrating. The walk is held regularly by a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives, which aims to raise awareness of the hostages who remain in Gaza. An initial review of Mohamed Soliman's possible social media accounts has not answered questions about a motive or pointed to any particular ideology, two senior law enforcement officials said. Video from the scene showed a bare-chested man shouting and clutching two bottles after the attack. Other footage showed him being held down and arrested by police as people doused one of the victims with water. Nearby there appeared to be a large black burn mark on the ground. A large part of downtown Boulder was cordoned off as sniffer dogs and the bomb squad searched for potential devices. Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88 were injured and taken to hospitals, Boulder police said. The force said the injuries ranged from "very serious" to "more minor". Some of the victims were airlifted to hospital.
