US news | The Guardian

US has used claims of a war on drugs' to justify its attacks, which have resulted in 83 deaths that the UN has called extrajudicial executionsAmid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas, the US has gathered its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama.Donald Trump's administration has steadily increased pressure on Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of running the Cartel of the Suns" drug-trafficking organization, and placing a $50m bounty on his head. Continue reading...

Democrats' relentless focus on affordability welcomed in a group that had been seduced by an ecosystem of huckstersJust a few months ago, it seemed that the political landscape was changing permanently, with young people shifting right - especially young men. Democrats spun up a vortex of efforts to win them back, but they often appeared to be flailing. This month's elections, however, told a different story.Young men in the US face a political identity crisis. It should not be controversial to say that the world that many were promised as children has not come to fruition. Two decades of war and a turbulent economy have combined with a massively changing workforce. Young men's disaffection should come as no real surprise.Cory Alpert is a PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne looking at the impact of AI on democracy. He served in the Biden-Harris administration for three years Continue reading...

He called one a piggy' after being questioned about the files, and reacted furiously to another during a meeting with the Saudi crown princeSince the early days of his political career, Donald Trump has been critical of the media, but in recent days his hostility has reached a new peak - particularly when it comes to questions about his association with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.Trump invoked the phrase piggy" - a term he has used before - to describe a female reporter on Friday, and has aggressively responded to at least one other female reporter over the past week, including threatening to revoke ABC's license. Continue reading...

Senators cited Reuters reporting that Meta itself estimated its platforms were involved in a third of all scams in the USUS senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal have asked the heads of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate revenue from ads on Facebook and Instagram that promote scams and banned goods.The FTC and SEC should immediately open investigations and, if the reporting is accurate, pursue vigorous enforcement action where appropriate" to force Meta to disgorge profits, pay penalties and agree to cease running such advertisements, Hawley and Blumenthal wrote in a letter to the federal agencies. Continue reading...

Disqualifications of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri bring unnecessary stress for McLaren in the final two F1 races of the seasonAs misjudgments go, McLaren's error in calculations that led to the disqualification of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday could barely have been more cataclysmic nor more poorly timed. Quite how they got it wrong just when they wanted to close out the drivers' championship with as little fuss as possible will take no little explanation.Norris and Piastri, second and fourth respectively to Max Verstappen's win in Nevada, had been solid enough results until the FIA discovered the skid blocks on their cars had been worn beyond the 9mm limit. In one fell swoop, Verstappen was right back in the fight, alongside Piastri, 24 points back from Norris. Continue reading...

Footage of lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii was captured by the United States Geological Survey on Sunday night.Kilauea, which is is one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting intermittently since last December. Continue reading...

Mark Kelly, a veteran targeted by Trump over military comments, says he is not going to be intimidated'. Plus, DNA reveals stone age teenager as chewer of 10,500-year-old gum'Good morning.Senator Mark Kelly yesterday urged congressional Republicans to publicly reject Trump's threats against him and five other Democratic lawmakers who have said that military personnel are not obligated to follow illegal commands.What did Kelly say? His words carry tremendous weight, more so than anybody else in the country, and he should be aware of that, and because of what he says, there is now increased threats against us," Kelly said of Trump's accusations.What does the original plan say? The original 28-point US document leaked last week demands Ukraine hand over territory to Russia, limits the size of its army and agrees not to pursue the Kremlin for alleged war crimes.This is a developing story. Follow the liveblog here. Continue reading...

Exodus of lawyers under Trump weakens department's capacity in civil rights, national security and other areasDonald Trump's weaponization of the US department of justice to focus on retribution against political foes, on fulfilling Maga goals and on ranting pardons for allies has seen thousands of lawyers depart or be fired and weakened investigations in civil rights, national security and other areas, say ex-prosecutors and legal experts.Data compiled by the nonpartisan Justice Connection showed that overall DoJ employment has dropped by about 5,500 lawyers and non-lawyers who have left since Trump took office. That included people who were fired, quit or took a deferred resignation program, underscoring a sharp drop in DoJ resources. By contrast, the department last year employed about 10,000 attorneys, according to DoJ data. Continue reading...

Physicians say FDA panel conflated two issues and made baseless claims about unproven health benefitsEstrogen-related medications for menopause will no longer carry broad black-box warnings, Marty Makary, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced last week, bypassing the regulatory agency's typical process and, according to experts, overstating the science behind the medications - with troubling implications for future drug decisions.The decision to remove an ominous warning from 2003 about the risks of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and dementia makes sense for local vaginal estrogen products, but systemic estrogen is more complicated, menopause experts said - and more than these nuances, they worried about the scientific process, or lack thereof, in making the decision. Continue reading...

Expecting to be financial advisers at the Fortune 500 firm, some hires say they were gaslit' into peddling terrible' life insurance to all their contactsNorthwestern Mutual likes to think of itself as a storied American institution offering specialized financial advice. The 168-year-old financial giant, ranked 109 on the Fortune 500, and regularly anointed one of the World's Most Admired Companies by the magazine, describes its financial advisers as expert listeners" or a trusted partner who helps you continue to reach goal after goal".It also tops Forbes's list of Best Employers for New Grads, a title that makes it attractive to hundreds of college students desperate for an internship that could launch them into a career in financial services. Each year they file into Northwestern's glassy offices across the country for a three-month internship that they hope could change their lives. There, they are slotted in beside thousands of full-time financial representatives", many of them recent graduates themselves. Continue reading...

After decades of terrorizing civilians in the name of fighting terror, the White House is trying to do it with even less oversightFor the last two months, US forces have amassed outside Venezuela and carried out a series of lethal strikes on civilian boats. The Trump White House has ordered these actions in the name of fighting narco-terrorists" - a label apparently applicable to anyone suspected of participating in drug trafficking near Latin American coastlines. More than 80 people have already been killed in these pre-emptive strikes, and war hawks are calling for expanded military action to depose the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro.Watching this play out, I am reminded of a passage from the geographer Stuart Elden's award-winning 2009 book, Terror and Territory. In discussing how to study the war on terror", Elden observed that it did not make sense to study terrorism as something unique to non-state actors.Daniel Mendiola is a professor of Latin American history and migration studies at Vassar College Continue reading...

The most successful quarterback of all-time approached his playing career with ruthless focus. He could do with the same intensity in his retirement projectsTom Brady played for 23 NFL seasons with a single, maniacal goal: to become the greatest quarterback who ever lived. He achieved it. Now, in retirement, Brady has dabbled in everything. He calls games for Fox. He's building chimneys in Birmingham. He's flogged crypto. He's spreading America's Game to Riyadh. He has a thriving YouTube account. He cloned his dog. Brady's post-playing portfolio has been diverse, or aimless, depending on your perspective.Side hustles are one thing. But running a pro franchise is not a part-time job. Along with his other roles, Brady is also the de facto football czar of the Raiders, the most hapless team in the league. Continue reading...

The prolific German actor - whose career ranged from camp cult cinema to European films and Hollywood - has died aged 81

Democratic senators condemn Trump after he suggests seditious behaviour' be punishable by death'. Key US politics stories from Sunday 23 NovemberDemocratic senator Mark Kelly has said he refuses to be intimidated after US president Donald Trump accused a group of Democrats of seditious behaviour punishable by death" in a series of social media posts.Kelly, one of several Democrats who released a message to military and intelligence personnel that they are not obligated to follow illegal orders", reiterated his call on Sunday, saying that Trump was trying to intimidate us". Kelly called on congressional Republicans to reject Trump's threats. Continue reading...

Morgan Geyser of Wisconsin cut off her electronic monitoring device and was last seen with an acquaintanceA Wisconsin woman who admitted to stabbing a classmate nearly to death in 2014 to please the online horror character Slender Man is missing after she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left a group home, authorities said on Sunday.Madison police issued an alert on Sunday for Morgan Geyser, now 23, saying she was last seen around 8pm on Saturday with an adult acquaintance. Continue reading...

Mark Kelly, a veteran and Democrat targeted by Trump over military comments, says he is not going to be intimidated'Senator Mark Kelly on Sunday urged congressional Republicans to publicly reject Trump's threats against him and five other Democratic lawmakers who stated that military personnel are not obligated to follow illegal commands.We've heard very little, basically crickets, from Republicans in the United States Congress about what the president has said about hanging members of Congress," Kelly, of Arizona, said on CBS's Face the Nation. Continue reading...

New York mayor-elect reaffirms past criticisms of president after agreeing to work with him on cost-of-living concernsZohran Mamdani has reiterated his view that Donald Trump is a fascist" and a despot" just days after the pair had a surprisingly cordial meeting at the White House.Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, the New York City mayor-elect was asked if he still considered Trump a threat to democracy. Everything that I've said in the past I continue to believe," Mamdani replied. I think it is important in our politics that we don't shy away from where we have disagreements." Continue reading...

Christian Jimenez, Oregon high school senior, faces possible obstruction charges after traffic stop by immigration agentsImmigration officers detained a student at a high school in Oregon during his lunch break on Friday, according to the student's family.Seventeen-year-old Christian Jimenez, a US citizen and senior at McMinnville high school, was driving his father's vehicle around 12.30pm during lunch when agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped him, his older brother, Cesar Jimenez, told Oregon Live. Continue reading...

Users posing as rightwing Americans are operating internationally, per the platform's transparency featureMany of the most influential personalities in the Make America great again" (Maga) movement on X are based outside of the US, including Russia, Nigeria and India, a new transparency feature on the social media site has revealed.The new tool, called about this account," became available on Friday to users of the Elon Musk-owned platform. It allows anyone to see where an account is located, when it joined the platform, how often its username has been changed, and how the X app was downloaded. Continue reading...

Statement by Trump administration confirms longstanding suspicions that Musk-led agency is on its way outThe department of government efficiency" (Doge) has apparently been dissolved with eight months still remaining on its contract, ending a drawn-out campaign of invading federal agencies and firing thousands of federal workers.That doesn't exist," office of personnel management (OPM) director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month when asked about Doge's status, adding that it was no longer a centralized entity". Continue reading...

In a city where football is more than a sport, the gun death of John Beam has provoked an outpouring of emotionFootball in Oakland, California, is more than a sport. It's a community. In many schools, coaches are like parental figures who get young people through vulnerable times, into universities and sometimes even drafted to the National Football League.So when gun violence came for longtime Oakland football coach John Beam, whose mentorship had changed the lives of generations of students, the devastation reverberated around the city. Continue reading...

Guilty plea by far-right activist lays bare plans for bombings, school shootings and Santas handing out poisoned candiesMichail Chkhikvishvili, a self-described cult leader who called himself Commander Butcher", did not look like a Hollywood vision of a contemporary terrorist, despite the bizarre, almost made-for-TV extremist actions he planned, such as having people dressed as Santa Claus hand out poison candies on the streets of New York.Chkhikvishvili appeared in a Brooklyn court last week as one might find an office IT tech: close-cropped hair and black-rimmed glasses, attentive, clear-spoken and cooperative as he was questioned about his understanding of a plea that could see him imprisoned for up to 18 years at his March sentencing. Continue reading...

Danielle Bensky, who was abused by Jeffrey Epstein, says president was incredibly disrespectful' in recent commentsA survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse has condemned Donald Trump for dismissing the victims' fight for transparency as a hoax".Shortly after signing a bill to release the Epstein files, the US president posted a lengthy social media rant accusing Democrats of weaponising the scandal against him. Continue reading...

Trump's wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the Maga evangelical perversion of Jesus's message of radical love to one of hate and aggressionTrumpism's most revealing and defining moments - not its most important, nor cruelest, nor most dangerous, nor stupidest, but perhaps its most illuminating - came earlier this autumn. In the course of a few weeks, the US president started showing everyone his plans for a gilded ballroom twice the size of the White House and then began unilaterally ripping down the East Wing to build it. Then, after nationwide protests against his rule, he posted on social media an AI video of himself wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet labeled King Trump", which proceeded to bomb American cities and Americans with a graphically vivid load of human poop.He has done things 10,000 times as bad - the current estimate of deaths from his cuts to USAID is 600,000 and rising, and this week a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill another 1.3 million. But nothing as definitional. No other president would have dared - really, no other president would have imagined - unilaterally destroying large sections of the White House in order to erect a Versailles-style party room, with the active collaboration of some of the richest Americans, almost all of whom have business with the government. And no one - not Richard Nixon, not Andrew Jackson, not Warren Harding, not anyone - would have imagined boasting about defecating on the American citizenry. Even the worst American leaders were willing to maintain the notion that they represented all the people; Trump has managed to turn America's idea of itself entirely upside down. And he has done it with the active consent of an entire political party. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, when asked about the poop video, for once did not bother lying that he had not seen it. Instead he said: The president uses social media to make the point. You can argue he's probably the most effective person who's ever used social media." Continue reading...

James Beard-winning chef Sean Sherman's cookbook Turtle Island pushes readers to view food systems through an Indigenous lensAs a child growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in the 1970s and 80s, Sean Sherman, an Oglala Lakota member and a James Beard award-winning chef, recalls pounding dried bison and mixing it with chokeberry to create a snack called wasna. He and his cousins would often hunt for pheasants and grouse, or harvest wild berries and Thipsila, a wild prairie turnip that's a staple Lakota food. Sherman's earliest memories of food were full of history, culture and spiritualism.His idealistic experiences of harvesting and hunting for food on the reservation were juxtaposed with the legacy of colonialism. Most of the time, Sherman and his family ate government-issued food such as canned beef, or blocks of cow cheese, which diverged from their traditional diet. It's a tale that Sherman, co-founder of the Minneapolis-based Indigenous restaurant Owamni, shares along with other stories in a new cookbook that highlights Indigenous cuisines throughout North America. Continue reading...

The bespoke agreements are full of peril for the universities, allowing the federal government to quietly exert controlIn October, President Trump proposed a compact for higher education, a federal takeover of state and private institutions thinly disguised as an offer of preferential funding consideration. Most of the initially targeted universities rightfully have rejected Trump's unlawful and unconstitutional compact, but some schools, including the University of Virginia and Cornell, have since signed separate agreements with the federal government. Initial media coverage largely portrayed the deals as compromises that allowed the universities to preserve institutional autonomy and resolve outstanding federal investigations. But subsequent revelations about the coercive ouster of UVA's former president underscore how, in fact, deals" like these represent a dangerous new front in the Trump administration's war on higher education.UVA's settlement, announced on 22 October, appeared to focus narrowly on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, to safeguard academic freedom, and to avoid external monitoring or monetary penalties. Cornell paid $60m and made various promises related to admissions, DEI, antisemitism, and foreign financial ties in exchange for a restoration of federal funding. UVA's leaders hailed a constructive outcome" that uphold[s] the university's principles and independence", while Cornell's declared that federal funding would be restored without sacrificing academic freedom. But the reality is very different.Serena Mayeri and Amanda Shanor teach law at the University of Pennsylvania Continue reading...

The costs of groceries, housing, childcare, education and healthcare have become intolerable to manyFrozen dinners were useful when no one was home to cook. A fancy cheese or apple roll felt like a family treat. But not any more. We can't afford to do those little luxuries any more because they're just too expensive to feed five with," says Cat Hill. There's not any wiggle room."The 43-year-old from Hornby, New York, has been hit by both higher grocery prices and rising costs for her small business running a horse stable. Under Donald Trump, she worries it may get even harder. With this administration, it doesn't appear to be stabilising," she adds. It's hard to think about how exactly we are going to ride this out." Continue reading...

Organizers are breaking down barriers and creating clever campaigns to welcome people new to protesting

The army secretary has little in his resume to suggest he can end the war between Russia and UkraineLittle in Dan Driscoll's resume - past or present - suggests he has the qualifications to understand the often-tortured and bloody history of relations between Russia and Ukraine.A former investment banker with a degree in business administration, the current US army secretary's main calling card for a prominent role in the Trump administration may be a friendship with JD Vance dating from when they were at Yale Law School together. Continue reading...

The dangers of artificial intelligence and its potential to consolidate power are clear. But used fairly, it can be a boon for good governmentDemocracy is colliding with the technologies of artificial intelligence. Judging from the audience reaction at the recent World Forum on Democracy in Strasbourg, the general expectation is that democracy will be the worse for it. We have another narrative. Yes, there are risks to democracy from AI, but there are also opportunities.We have just published the book Rewiring Democracy: How AI will Transform Politics, Government, and Citizenship. In it, we take a clear-eyed view of how AI is undermining confidence in our information ecosystem, how the use of biased AI can harm constituents of democracies and how elected officials with authoritarian tendencies can use it to consolidate power. But we also give positive examples of how AI is transforming democratic governance and politics for the better.Nathan E Sanders is a data scientist affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center of Harvard University and co-author, with Bruce Schneier, of the book Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship. Bruce Schneier is a security technologist who teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University Continue reading...

ICE and CBP's North Carolina operation faced an early-warning system run by thousands of volunteersThe operation is not over and it is not ending anytime soon."The message from the Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin went out to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday afternoon, in response to an announcement by Sheriff Garry McFadden that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was done with its immigration enforcement sweep. Continue reading...

The outrage a J Crew jumper has provoked shows that the US right's sense of masculinity is far more fragile than it would care to admitA men's jumper by the all-American preppy label J Crew has sent thousands of Maga Americans into meltdown. From a fashion point of view, it couldn't be more innocuous. It's got a crew neck. It's made from wool. It has a Fair Isle pattern at the upper yoke. There's nothing asymmetric about it, no fringing or tassels, no slogan blasted across the front; no Make America Kind Again". So what's the big deal? Reader, the jumper is pink.The main storm broke underneath a tweet by conservative social media commentator Juanita Broaddrick, in which she asked: Are you kidding me?? Men, would you wear this $168 sweater?" The consensus among her followers was a resounding no, and not because of its price. No man in my family would wear it!" wrote MOMof DataRepublican". My husband wouldn't use a pink bathroom towel," assured another. Another X user was even more passionate: HELL NO. I'm a man, not gay and won't be dressing up as a Golden Girl anytime soon." Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican congressman, called the sweater something a sorority girl would wear in the 80s". I think he meant it witheringly; I read that and think it sounds quite fun.Ellie Violet Bramley is a freelance writer Continue reading...

Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the battlegrounds on which the church, and some other Christian denominations, are fightingThe supreme court can't do it - it's packed with conservatives who owe him their jobs. Congress won't do it - Republicans slavishly follow his orders, Democrats are ill-led and divided. For today's White House, the concept of constitutional limits on executive power is a quaint relic. The news media, or sections of it, does its best amid constant legal threats. But, too often, they pay him off. Brave reporters who insist on asking awkward questions are insulted or silenced: Quiet, piggy."So who will tame Donald Trump? Who will halt his rolling constitutional coup - his ongoing evisceration of US democracy, civil rights, living standards, global reputation and moral integrity? Voters may try to indirectly rein him back in next November's midterms (as they did recently in New York and elsewhere). But those elections are a year away. The emergency is today.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

The ultra-loyal Maga star announced her departure in typical shocking fashion, but president says he would love to see her back in politics - key US politics stories from 22 November 2025The surprise resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene reverberated through Saturday, as figures from across the political spectrum gave responses ranging from criticism to acclaim, including Donald Trump, who hinted at a future political career for her.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman and Greene's frequent sparring partner, criticized her voting record on healthcare and claimed She's carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in", adding: ... her actions have not backed up the rhetoric. For all her talk, she's still voting with them to gut healthcare ... " Continue reading...

Four-time F1 champion races to victory under the lights as Lando Norris holds on for secondKravitz, after talking with Crews, extols the virtues of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Great show indeed. One of the last great US TV comedies.OK, they get Terry. Vegas was made for F1 and vice versa." Continue reading...

Federal appeals court declines to put hold on lower court's finding that administration violated migrants' due processA federal appeals court on Saturday declined to clear the way for Donald Trump's administration to expand a fast-track deportation process to allow for the expedited removal of immigrants who are living far away from the border.A 2-1 panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit declined to put on hold the central part of a ruling by a lower-court judge who had found that the administration's policies violated the due process rights of immigrants who could be apprehended anywhere in the US. Continue reading...

Fire-resistant upgrades are included in replacement structure less than a year after fires destroyed 13,000 homes

Why was the US president so pleased to hang with the democratic socialist? Perhaps we'll never knowZohran and Donald. Donald and Zohran. Not since Turner met Hooch has a couple so captivated the American psyche. This might be the meet-cute of the decade, unless you count RFK Jr and Olivia Nuzzi. Which was actually not cute at all, when I think about it.Why can't we all stop talking about the New York City mayor-elect and his No 1 fan in the White House? Probably because absolutely none of this makes even a tiny bit of sense. From almost the beginning of his rise, Zohran Mamdani positioned himself as an anti-Trump democratic socialist who would use the bully pulpit of Gracie Mansion to battle Maga attacks on the city. Trump, sensing an opportunity to create yet another punching bag, called Mamdani a communist and questioned his American citizenship. He even went to the trouble of endorsing Mamdani's opponent, Andrew Cuomo, in the mayoral election.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Journalist, daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, reveals she has acute myeloid leukemiaTatiana Schlossberg, a journalist and the granddaughter of John F Kennedy, disclosed on Saturday that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, saying her doctor informed her that she has less than a year left to live.The environmental writer also addressed her cousin, Robert F Kennedy Jr, criticizing the influence his policies as secretary of health and human services have had on her experience with the illness. Continue reading...

Three-time NBA champion senses weird deja vu' as his former side returns to playoff contention with a fellow Australian critical to the resurgenceLuc Longley chooses his words carefully when talking about Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, not wanting to heap any more expectation on the young Australian still finding his feet in the ferocious competition of the NBA.He says he doesn't watch every Bulls game these days - only about half of them. That he hasn't spoken to Giddey much since his move to Illinois. That Longley's life in Australia, where he part-owns the Sydney Kings and Flames, takes up most of his energies rather than what is happening on the shores of Lake Michigan. Continue reading...

Anna Kepner, 18, from Titusville, was found dead of asphyxiation under a bed on a Carnival cruise shipThe 16-year-old stepbrother of a Florida teenager found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship this month has been identified as a suspect in her death.Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old from Titusville, was found dead under a bed on the Carnival Horizon on 8 November, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, ABC News reported. Preliminary findings indicate she died of asphyxiation from a bar hold - an arm across the neck - with investigators noting two bruises on the side of her neck. A final autopsy and toxicology report are still pending. Continue reading...

A new congressional map was abruptly passed by Republicans in mid-September - but voters have a chance to rebuke politicians and stop it from going into effectWhen canvassers fan out across neighborhoods, they usually rely on sophisticated lists that will tell them things like a voter's political party and how likely they are to support a given cause. Jill Imbler isn't bothering with any of that.The 69-year-old has lived in Moberly - a Missouri town of about 14,000 people - her entire life. She doesn't use a GPS when she drives around, knows where people live, and what time they're likely to be home. And there's a pretty good chance that she, or one of her six siblings, knows them personally. Continue reading...