First big storm of season heads towards Gulf coast and is expected to bring potentially heavy rains

Tropical Storm Edouard headed toward the US Gulf coast early on Tuesday and was expected to gain strength before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana.

The storm was upgraded on Monday night from a tropical depression, and forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expect it will make landfall in Texas later on Tuesday.

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© Photograph: NOAA/AP

© Photograph: NOAA/AP

© Photograph: NOAA/AP

Experts say ruling could undermine the ‘actual malice’ standard and make publishers more wary of critical reporting

A $300,000 jury verdict won recently by a Louisiana supreme court justice who sued the Advocate, the state’s largest newspaper, for libel over an editorial has caused concern among some US press freedom advocates.

One said the decision demonstrated a misunderstanding of a key legal principle governing such cases. And another worries the verdict could have a chilling effect on the media industry’s efforts to report on powerful people and institutions.

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© Photograph: Louisiana Supreme Court

© Photograph: Louisiana Supreme Court

© Photograph: Louisiana Supreme Court

Ten deportees said they experienced or witnessed what they called abusive or violent treatment by ICE. They spent months in detention, they said, before being sent to nations where they had no ties.

© Matthew Jacobs/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images