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Tilman Fertitta, Texas billionaire and President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Italy, is conducting a two-month tour along the Italian coast on his luxury, 384-foot superyacht, supposedly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.The voyage has not been well received.The so-called “Coastal Diplomacy 250” tour, which began last month, has made a handful of its 13 planned stops. But Fertitta’s arrival in Venice on Friday, scheduled to overlap with a major Venetian festival, was all but smooth sailing. The ostentatious display was met with hundreds of protesters.Demonstrators carried a banner stating “Venezia non si USA,” a double entendre combining the acronym USA with the statement “Venice is not to be used.” Organizers made the sign the length of Fertitta’s yacht, they said, to match “the dimensions of his arrogance,” according to the Associated Press.Footage shows demonstrators delivering remarks against the Trump administration for promoting oligarchy, bombing Iran, and supporting genocide in Gaza, among other misdeeds. After a brief clash with riot police, protesters can be heard shouting “Shame!” at the authorities.Protesters carried Palestinian flags, inflatable pool floats, and signs and T-shirts bearing anti-Trump messages. A sampling of those messages included: “Party Yes, American Arrogance No,” “No Kings, No Oligarchs,” “Trump Voters are Illegal Immigrants Here,” “Make America Read Again,” and “We are Not Trump’s Slaves and You Are Not the Emperors of the World.”

Kshama sawant is an independent socialist who served on the Seattle city council for a decade. She had a key role in winning a $15 minimum wage for the city in 2014, and more recently in the movement to raise it to $21.30, giving Seattle one of the highest wages in the United States. Now, she’s running for the House of Representatives against Adam Smith, a corporate Democrat with a penchant for supporting overseas wars. She joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss the state of the race.

There is a great deal riding on his success, and not just for Britain. The post Can Prime Minister Burnham Succeed? appeared first on The American Prospect.

House Republicans released a much-anticipated continuing resolution Friday—and it omits Donald Trump’s biggest ask.Despite Trump specifically ordering his congressional allies to include his unpopular voter restriction bill in the government funding mechanism during a late-night address to the nation the night before, Republicans’ 15-page C.R. makes no mention of the SAVE America Act.“Congress must pass the SAVE America Act. How easy is that to do? Unless you want to cheat,” Trump said Thursday night. “The only reason you wouldn’t do it is you want to cheat, because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can’t get away or can’t get elected any other way.”Instead, Republicans offered a clean funding package. If passed, it would fund the federal government until December 4.The president has predicated his support for any legislative effort on the Save Act’s passage. Since the beginning of the year, Trump has insisted it should be Congress’s top priority, refusing to sign any bill and derailing Cabinet confirmations until Capitol Hill bends to his will. So far, that stalemate has gummed up efforts to fund the Department of Homeland Security, stalled attempts to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, and upended a planned photo op of Trump signing a landmark housing bill.The original iteration of the SAVE America Act sparked nationwide backlash for proposing numerous amendments to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, perhaps chief among them a requirement that voters bring either a passport or birth certificate to register to vote. Critics argued that the mandate would unduly restrict millions of Americans from voting, pointing out that half of the country’s population lacks a passport and furthermore that the legislation as written would make it difficult for anyone who changed their name—including married women—to register.The bill would also require voters to present photo identification when casting a ballot, and a total ban on mail-in voting. Trump has described the latter procedure as “crooked” and “corrupt,” despite the fact that he himself has cast several mail-in ballots.The continuing resolution would temporarily extend current funding levels for the government while Congress continues negotiating appropriation bills for the coming year. It is expected to be put to a floor vote next week.This story has been updated.

The Republicans make no mention of experts’ warnings that the climate crisis is supercharging the wildfires.

With no way to close off the open-air stadium, FIFA doesn’t appear to have any plan in place to protect those inside.