The H-2A program lets growers bring in guest workers. In a part of Washington, some say they’re getting squeezed out

Agriculture rules in Quincy, Washington. Sprawling apple, cherry and peach orchards surround this rural city of about 8,000. Packing sheds dot the middle of downtown. Railroad tracks run close to the Columbia River, so produce can make its way to market by both train and waterway.

Farm workers such as Alberto, who is only using his first name for privacy reasons, are the backbone of the industry. Once a migrant farm worker traveling around California and Washington state for jobs, he now lives permanently in Quincy with his family. There, he’s found steady year-round work planting, tending and harvesting crops at various farms. With that more stable work, he and other domestic farm workers have built a tight community in Grant county.

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Fox News hosts are publicly bemused to see their colleagues tapped for cabinet positions. In private, they’re more shocked

When Donald Trump tapped a Fox News host this week to run the mighty US defense department, even Pete Hegseth’s colleagues at the rightwing media outlet were taken aback.

“What the heck – can you believe it?” wondered Jesse Watters on his primetime show on Tuesday.

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

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Sir Jamie Colman and his wife are said to have financially supported Smyth despite knowing of abuse allegations

The heir to the Colman’s mustard dynasty and his wife, a member of the clergy, have been asked by the Church of England to step back from their roles in a Hampshire church after being named in a damning report on a sadistic abuser.

Sir Jamie Colman has been asked to cease his volunteering activities at St Leonard’s church, Oakley, and the Rev Sue Colman has been asked to step back from all ministerial duties by the diocese of Winchester.

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Concern over ‘high risk’ game in Paris mounts after riot police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters

Police in Paris are braced for potential violence before Thursday’s France-Israel football match, with police deploying one officer for every five ticket holders at the Stade de France.

The match has been designated “high risk” after the hooliganism and antisemitism in Amsterdam last week when the Israeli club team Maccabi Tel Aviv played Ajax.

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(Island)
The trio bring gorgeous vocals and spiky attitude to 90s-facing songs – but they need a little more of that era’s oddball invention, as well as an undeniable hit

You don’t have to be particularly keen-eared to spot Flo’s musical influences. They announce them in the opening seconds of their debut album – or rather actor Cynthia Erivo does. Her guest spot is the latest in a series of high-profile co-signs the London trio has attracted. SZA is apparently a fan; Missy Elliott guested on their 2023 single Fly Girl; rapper GloRilla turned up on this year’s In My Bag; and MNEK, who has collaborated with Madonna, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa, has been their chief producer from the start. Now it’s the turn of the award-winning star of Wicked to do her thing on the intro to Access All Areas, announcing Flo’s mission – “bad bitch replenishment”, apparently – and listing their inspirations: they are, we’re told, “receiving the baton passed on by Destiny’s Child, the Sugababes, SWV”. They doubtless wouldn’t object too strenuously if you added TLC, En Vogue, Zhané and 702 to the list.

Reanimating the sound of the classic R&B girl group for the 2020s really doesn’t seem like a bad idea. It feels different – in recent years, the genre has been almost entirely ruled by solo artists – and, moreover, it chimes with UK rap’s rash of 90s and early 00s R&B samples and a broader nostalgia in pop for the era of Napster and MTV Total Request Live. The old rule that pop revivalism tends to work in 20-year cycles, burnishing the music young artists remember as kids, still holds true.

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Changes which could allow gamekeepers to sidestep law on killing birds of prey has been condemned by campaigners

Wildlife charities have condemned a decision by Scotland’s nature conservation agency to water down a new law designed to combat the illegal killing of birds of prey.

NatureScot, a government agency, has decided to greatly reduce the area of land affected by a new licensing regime for grouse moors, after legal threats by shooting estates and land owners.

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One is an abolitionist vegan, the other used to be a livestock farmer – could they come to any mutual understanding?

Alex, 28, Loughborough

Occupation Programmer

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• Australia 93-4; Pakistan 64-9 (seven overs each)
• Game at the Gabba delayed after lightning and rain

Glenn Maxwell went wild with the bat, then Xavier Bartlett ripped apart Pakistan’s top order as Australia dominated a seven-over Gabba Twenty20 slog to win by 29 runs.

Lightning and heavy rain reduced Thursday’s series opener in Brisbane to a seven-overs-a-side contest, and it was one-way traffic as soon as Maxwell (43 off 19) strode to the crease. His brazen innings featured boundaries to all corners of the ground, before Marcus Stoinis chimed in with 21 off seven balls, including 10 off the final two balls of the innings as Australia finished on 93 for four. The visitors could only muster 64 for nine in their allotment as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

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Amsterdam police say they are aware of footage that appears to show officers beating protesters after banned rally

Dutch authorities have said they are investigating reports of police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters after a banned rally on Wednesday evening had been broken up.

Amsterdam police said on X that they were aware of online footage, which seemed to show police officers beating protesters who had already been released after being taken away from the site of the protest.

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