Trump campaign chief in voter registration irregularity

In an apparent violation of election law, Donald Trump’s campaign chief, Steve Bannon, is registered to vote in an empty house in Florida where he does not live. Bannon, the chief executive of Trump’s election campaign, has an active voter registration at the house in Miami-Dade County, Florida, that’s scheduled to be demolished. Bannon, 62, formerly rented the house for use by his ex-wife, Diane Clohesy. Separately, a report emerged on Friday that Bannon was accused of domestic violence in 1996.

Trump campaign chief is registered to vote in Florida at unoccupied home

Battle on bigotry ‘takes hate mainstream’

Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults and accused each other of racism after the Clinton campaign released a TV ad tying her rival to the white supremacist movement. Her opponent, she said, “is taking a hate movement mainstream” and is a darling of the “alt-right” as well as a soulmate of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. Trump, trailing badly in the polls, has moved aggressively to capture non-white voters. “What have you to lose?” he asked a gathering of African American and Latino activists in New York. Meanwhile, the Republican nominee said he had yet to understand what alt-right means. Speaking of the alt-right, we also look at the conspiracy theories circling Clinton.

‘Taking hate mainstream’: Trump and Clinton trade insults over racism accusations

Italy declares state of emergency

The Italian government has declared a state of emergency for the stricken zone hit by Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude earthquake. The death toll in central Italy now stands at 267. The Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, authorized a preliminary €50m ($56m) in emergency funding as aftershocks, some as high as 4.7-magnitude, continue to hit the area. Questions are being raised about Italy’s vulnerability. Despite eight devastating earthquakes in 40 years, experts estimate 70% of Italy’s buildings do not meet seismic standards. Meanwhile, “I had said adieu”: a nun tells of her Italian earthquake ordeal.

Italy declares state of emergency in region hit by earthquake

Obama to expand vast Hawaiian marine reserve

The president is planning to expand Papahānaumokuākea marine national monument to twice the size of Texas in a move the White House says will help to protect more than 7,000 species. The proclamation will quadruple the size of the area originally designated by George W Bush in 2006. The designation bans commercial fishing and any new mining, as is the case within the existing area. Recreational fishing will be allowed through a permit.

Obama to create world’s largest protected marine area off coast of Hawaii

FBI’s Don’t Be a Puppet game faces criticism

The American Federation of Teachers claims Don’t be a Puppet: Pull Back the Curtain on Violent Extremism, a counter-terrorism program meant to dissuade teens from being radicalized is instead causing racial profiling and bullying. The union sent an open letter to the FBI director, James Comey, earlier this month arguing that the game created a “broad-based suspicion of people based upon their heritage or ethnicity”.

FBI’s Don’t Be a Puppet game targets Muslim youth, teachers’ union says

US-EU tax war heats up

The US has been accused of “behaving like a tax haven” in an escalating row between Washington and Brussels over the European commission’s anti-trust cases against Apple, Amazon and Starbucks. The increasingly contentious dispute comes as Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s top anti-trust regulator, is expected to conclude her state aid investigation into Apple’s tax affairs. If her ruling goes against the tech giant, it could be ordered to hand over as much as $19bn in unpaid taxes to the Irish government.

War of words hots up between US and EU over tax avoidance

Women look to make Senate gains

In five of the seven states where Democrats have a strong chance of picking up Senate seats, the candidates are women. They include Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio. In all but the last two, the Democratic candidate is a woman. Many say they will bring more than just gender diversity to the Senate: they’ll bring a diversity of perspectives distinct from the long-serving politicians they seek to unseat.

Women poised to lead Democratic return to power in the Senate

France poised for total burkini ban

Escalating the battle over the burkini, French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to impose a nationwide ban on burkinis if re-elected to the presidency in 2017. Sarkozy, husband of model Carla Bruni, is positioning himself as a strong defender of French values and tough on immigration. “I refuse to let the burkini impose itself in French beaches and swimming pools … there must be a law to ban it throughout the republic’s territory,” he said to wide applause.

Burkini row: Nicolas Sarkozy calls for nationwide ban

Transgender ‘Ken doll’ makes controversial entrance

Supporters have rallied around Sacramento’s Freeport Bakery after the business faced a backlash for creating a wedding cake designed as a transgender Ken doll. The complexity of the gender reversal proved too much for some residents who attacked the creation as “disgusting”. “Naively, I guess, I just thought this is a really cool cake, and look at how great they did with the butter cream,” Marlene Goetzeler, co-owner of the bakery, said. “What’s wrong with a Ken cake?”

Transgender ‘Ken doll’ cake brings controversy to California bakery

In case you missed it …

The recent outbreak of anthrax in northern Russia came from a 75-year-old caribou carcass thawing out, underscoring warnings that a warming planet raises the threat of disease. The anthrax, which had not been seen since 1941, killed one and sickened 90. It’s a warning sign of things to come, says climate expert Mona Sarfaty. The greatest threat from global warming may also be the smallest – fungi, bacteria, viruses and mold spores, to vectors like bats and mosquitoes. “Climate change can exacerbate the spread of infectious disease by changing the behavior, lifespans and regions of diseases and their carriers,” Sarfaty writes.

Climate change is thawing deadly diseases. Maybe now we’ll address it?