President speaks with ex-president Barack Obama during campaign event at Peacock Theater on Saturday night

Some of Hollywood’s brightest stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser for President Joe Biden, helping raise what his re-election campaign said was a record $30m-plus and hoping to energize would-be supporters for a November election that they argued was among the most important in the nation’s history.

George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage at the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former president Barack Obama, who both stressed the need to defeat former president Donald Trump in a race that’s expected to be exceedingly close.

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Reverend, pastor and professor, who was a close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr, dies in Los Angeles after short illness

The Rev James Lawson Jr, an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the civil rights movement gained traction, has died, his family said on Monday. He was 95.

His family said Lawson died on Sunday after a short illness in Los Angeles, where he spent decades working as a pastor, labor movement organizer and university professor.

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© Photograph: Mark Humphrey/AP

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© Photograph: Mark Humphrey/AP

A new program, backed by Cornell Tech, M.I.T. and U.C.L.A., helps prepare lower-income, Latina and Black female computing majors for artificial intelligence careers.