US news | The Guardian

Trump administration says decisions paused until government can ensure every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible'The Trump administration has announced it is halting all asylum decisions in the wake of the National Guard shooting in Washington DC, according to a senior immigration official.Joseph Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a post on X on Friday that asylum decisions would be paused until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible". Continue reading...

The first autopen was patented in the 1800s and has been used by many American presidentsOn Friday, Donald Trump claimed that he will reverse everything that Joe Biden has signed with an autopen.The automated signature machine has been a tool used by presidents at the White House for decades. Continue reading...

Trump claims without evidence Biden did not sign off on orders himself in latest attack on predecessor - key US politics stories from Friday at a glanceDonald Trump has declared he intends to cancel most of the executive orders signed by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president of the United States.In a post on social media, Trump claimed baselessly that Biden had not signed off on the orders himself, saying that the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him" by signing his name using an autopen - a signature machine, which has commonly been used by nearly all US presidents since the device's invention. Continue reading...

In social media post Trump claims baselessly that Biden did not sign off on the orders himself, escalating longstanding campaign against his predecessor

Hernandez was convicted in 2024 of accepting millions in bribes to protect cocaine shipmentsDonald Trump has said he will grand a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US on drug trafficking and weapons charges.I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly," Trump said Friday in a post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Elaine Miles of Northern Exposure was stopped by four masked men in Seattle while walking to bus stopA Native American actor known for her role in Northern Exposure has said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Seattle, Washington, who told her that her tribal identification looked fake".Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, alleges that she was stopped by four masked men while she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond. She offered them her ID card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon but was told by an ICE agent that anyone can make that." Continue reading...

Student heartbroken' after being sent to Honduras while trying to travel from Boston to Texas, attorney saysA college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was instead deported to Honduras in violation of a court order, according to her attorney.Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, had already passed through security at Boston Logan international airport on 20 November when she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass, said attorney Todd Pomerleau. The Babson College student was then detained by immigration officials and within two days sent to Texas and then Honduras, the country she left at age seven. Continue reading...

Russia's president is only interested in a deal on Moscow's terms. Equipping Kyiv with the resources to fight on is the quickest route to a just settlementAs Donald Trump's Thanksgiving Day deadline for a Ukraine peace agreement came and went this week, the Russia expert Mark Galeotti pointed to a telling indicator of how the Kremlin is treating the latest flurry of White House diplomacy. In the government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a foreign policy scholar close to Vladimir Putin's regime bluntly observed: As long as hostilities continue, leverage remains. As soon as they cease, Russia finds itself alone (we harbour no illusions) in the face of coordinated political and diplomatic pressure."Mr Putin has no interest in a ceasefire followed by talks where Ukraine's rights as a sovereign nation would be defended and reasserted. He seeks the capitulation and reabsorption of Russia's neighbour into Moscow's orbit. Whether that is achieved through battlefield attrition, or through a Trump-backed deal imposed on Ukraine, is a matter of relative indifference. On Thursday, the Russian president reiterated his demand that Ukraine surrender further territory in its east, adding that the alternative would be to lose it through force of arms". Once again, he described Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government as illegitimate", and questioned the legally binding nature of any future agreement.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Applicants reportedly cited Nazi theorists and other extremists as inspiration for Trump administration rolesHacked materials from the powerful rightwing thinktank the Heritage Foundation show that applicants to a Project 2025-branded effort to create a talent pool for the Trump administration cited the influence of Nazi political theorists and other far-right thinkers on their political views.Not all applicants revealed in the hack ended up with Trump administration jobs, but some current appointees did make applications. Continue reading...

Religious leaders' powerful prophetic and moral compass' comes to fore amid ICE arrests, teargas and violenceFor weeks, Chicago has been at the center of the Trump administration's brutal immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security officials have arrested 800 people as of 1 October, while also using violent tactics such as body-slamming and deploying teargas in residential areas.Amid the raids and arrests, which have created a pervasive sense of fear, faith leaders have stepped up, putting themselves on the front lines of resistance. Continue reading...

Shaped by lockdown and two Trump presidencies, gen Z are grappling with a lot in love, dating and the bedroomThe sex lives of gen Z are of great interest - to politicians, to parents, to influencers and dating app executives and to you, apparently. Are gen Z so lonely they are falling in love with AI robots? Are they forming polycules across the US? Are they having enough sex? Are they having sex at all?Gen Z is defined roughly as young Americans aged 13 to 28. This generation came of age with information about sex readily available to them, for better (the internet provides both sex education and community) and arguably for worse, too (in 2022, 54% of US teens reported first seeing online pornography at age 13 or younger). They are more likely to embrace non-traditional identities and are progressive on issues such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage - especially gen Z women. Continue reading...

Kyiv and the rest of Europe must stand together to prevent Russia from seizing more territory by force

President's remarks followed the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two guard members shot. Plus, Palestinian-American 16-year-old released after nine months in Israeli jail

One other member of the guards, Andrew Wolfe, is still fighting for his life', according to the president

The entertainment giant is building almost 2,000 homes in California's Palm Springs area so beloved by its founderThe Coachella valley typically brings a few things to mind: hot desert sun, the most Instagrammable music festival in the country, and even more sun. What it doesn't bring to mind, however, is the family-friendly, Mickey Mouse-eared nostalgia associated with all things Disney. But that may be changing.In 2022, Disney announced plans to build a first-of-its-kind branded residential community, which they have named Storyliving by Disney". The first of the Storyliving communities, Cotino, is officially welcoming residents into model homes in Rancho Mirage, a city nestled in Coachella valley. When all plans are finished, the 618-acre community will feature almost 2,000 residential units, including single-family homes and condos. Continue reading...

The one-act play Oh, Mary! - the stupidest, funniest thing possible' - to open after blockbuster run in New YorkWhat if, in the final weeks before Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the first lady could not care less about the American civil war and was instead hell-bent on becoming a cabaret star?That is the question posed by Oh, Mary!, the smash-hit show that reimagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a gloriously unhinged alcoholic who despises her closeted husband. Continue reading...

Ex-member of the hip-hop group was convicted of money laundering and campaign finance violations after funneling money from a rich MalaysianFrom the moment the Fugees shot to fame in the mid-90s, Prakazrel Pras" Michel was discounted as an incidental member of the hip-hop superstars. He was the unremarkable New Jersey rhyme spitter by way of Brooklyn who was lucky enough to be a high school classmate of the mesmerizing Lauryn Hill and a cousin to mercurial Wyclef Jean. On the group's breakout album The Score, Michel's eight-bar features were minor contributions, relative to Hill's adroitness as an emcee and balladeer and Jean's compositional polymathy.From Hawaii to Hawthorne, I run marathons, like / Buju Banton, I'm a true champion, like / Farrakhan reads his daily Qur'an / It's a phenomenon, lyrics fast like Ramadan," Michel raps on the band's breakout single Fu-Gee-La, in one of his more pedestrian efforts. Continue reading...

Many knew little about the polarizing figure before Utah Valley University was thrust into the national spotlightThe spot where Charlie Kirk was killed is fenced off. The fountain beside it shut down. The American flags nearby hang low above the spot where he fell. Every so often, someone stops to leave flowers or say a prayer. There are far more police officers and security staff than before, and many linger around the venue, as if the campus itself hasn't taken a full breath since that day.Back in 2019, Utah Valley University felt big and loud in the best way, a sprawling public campus of nearly 46,000 students and one of the most diverse in the state, with a large share of first-generation students. Then, on 10 September 2025, Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and one of the country's most polarizing conservative commentators, was shot on stage during a campus event. The attack sparked national outrage and political blame, adding to a long list of politically violent episodes. Two months later, UVU stands at the center of a national conversation. Continue reading...

We live not in a post-Holocaust world of Never Again' but in the same world that led to the Holocaust, a world of Again and Again'On 10 October, following two years of Israeli genocide that have turned Gaza into the new benchmark of total destruction, after Israel has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and inflicted on all the people in Gaza severe bodily or mental harm," to quote from the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Trump administration imposed a ceasefire, giving rise to the idea that the Gaza war has ended.The ceasefire, however, seems to be designed mostly to move forward with the business deals of the mega rich in the Middle East, and the fire has never ceased: the Israeli government has continued its assault, killing and injuring hundreds of Palestinians since 10 October, destroying thousands of homes and buildings, and blocking the entry of sufficient aid.Raz Segal is an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide Continue reading...

Tech investors promise to disrupt everything from padel to basketball, but their pitch-deck jargon is slowly draining the humanity from sport itselfFinally, a sector more ludicrously hyped than AI. Speaking to Yahoo Sports recently about the launch of Project B, a startup global women's basketball league, co-founder Grady Burnett declared that women's basketball is growing right now as fast as AI". Come again? There's no question that women's basketball is growing nicely, a development that we should all cheer: this year's WNBA season was the most watched ever. But it is testing credulity to suggest that the sport is growing at anything like the same speed as AI, which since 2022 has gone from the technological margins to the very center of the US economy: by some reports, AI spending accounted for half of the growth in US GDP in the first half of this year. Perhaps I'm missing the real story here and the Federal Reserve is actively keeping tabs on attendance figures at Washington Mystics v Golden State Valkyries games for signs of potential overheating in the US economy. But it seems unlikely.Claims like Burnett's are par for the course in the hyperventilating world of sports investment, in which new leagues intent on world domination are launched seemingly every week and the pitches, delivered at investment conferences by slick men with gleaming teeth and spotless sneakers, grow more and more clammily self-satisfied by the hour. Burnett's league, which he co-founded with former Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, was briefly associated with Maverick Carter and LeBron James over the summer but that pair now seems to have been removed from the picture, and the league is emerging from stealth mode", to use a wormy bit of tech jargon, as the pure, uncut essence of bored Silicon Valley rich guy calculation. In a crowded field, Project B may be the most insanely overcaffeinated, tech bro-addled pitch for a new sports league yet. Continue reading...

Would-be contenders include governors, senators, members of Congress and the former vice-presidentAfter Democrats's devastating loss to Donald Trump, the path forward for the party remains uncertain. With no clear direction - and no obvious standard-bearer - the race for the party's 2028 presidential nomination is wide open. Would-be contenders include governors, senators, members of Congress, a former cabinet secretary and the former vice-president. While no one has officially announced their candidacy, several have begun visiting the early-voting states, and raising their profiles with appearances on popular podcasts and cross-country book tours. Of course, much could change in the months and years ahead, leaving room for surprises and new faces.Many more Democrats are viewed as potential contenders. Here's who else to watch.Illinois governor JB PritzkerMaryland governor Wes MooreMichigan governor Gretchen WhitmerMinnesota governor and former vice-presidential nominee Tim WalzColorado governor Jared PolisFormer commerce secretary Gina RaimondoBarack Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm EmanuelArizona senator Mark KellyMichigan senator Elissa SlotkinConnecticut senator Chris MurphyNew Jersey senator Cory BookerCalifornia congressman Ro KhannaColorado congressman Jason CrowMedia personality Stephen A Smith Continue reading...

In a social media post sent late on Thanksgiving, US president said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens' following Washington DC shootingDonald Trump has said he will permanently pause migration from all third world countries," a day after two national guard members were shot in Washington DC in an attack that has become a political flashpoint in the president's ongoing crackdown on immigration.In a social media post beginning with a very happy Thanksgiving," sent after 11pm on Thursday, the US president said his administration would end all federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens" and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States". Continue reading...

Trump announced the death of national guard member Sarah Beckstrom, as his administration pledged to re-examine entry of Afghan refugees. Key US politics stories from Thursday at a glanceThe FBI searched multiple properties on Thursday as it widened its investigation into a shooting in Washington on Wednesday, that has left one national guard member dead and another in a critical condition.The search including a home in Washington state linked to the suspect, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who officials said was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the US in 2021 under a resettlement program. Continue reading...

Dak Prescott shone in a dramatic win for the Dallas Cowboys against the Kansas City Chiefs at AT&T StadiumLions 0-3 Packers 4:01, 1st quarterThat sack Goff didn't take on 3rd down in the previous drive, he just took it on this one. Green Bay's defensive line is dominating so far. Micah Parsons and Kingsley Enagbare share the QB takedown. Punt. Continue reading...

Donald Trump signaled after attack that refugee and asylum cases would be scrutinizedTrump administration officials say they are undertaking a broad re-examination of asylum cases and green cards issued to citizens of certain countries, after the shooting of two national guard members near the White House in Washington DC on Wednesday.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) named the suspect in the shooting as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the US under a policy set up under Joe Biden after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and continued under Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, worked with agency-backed military units during US war in Afghanistan

Administration said awareness is not a strategy', but here is a short list of orders the president has signed to do just thatFor the first time since 1988 the US government said it will no longer commemorate World Aids Day, which honors those who have lost their lives to the disease, celebrates efforts to combat the epidemic and raises awareness.An awareness day is not a strategy," a state department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, told the New York Times. Continue reading...

Stern, credited with designing 15 Central Park West, sought to design buildings that invoked pre-war splendorRobert AM Stern, an architect who fashioned the New York City skyline with buildings that sought to invoke pre-war splendor but with modern luxury fit for billionaires and movie stars, has died at the age of 86.Dubbed The King of Central Park West" by Vanity Fair, Stern was credited with designing 15 Central Park West that, in 2008, was credited as being the highest-priced new apartment building in the history of New York. Continue reading...

The 99th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of the largest in the world, dazzled crowds in Manhattan, New York, on Thursday. Thirty-two balloons, three giant balloons, 27 floats, four special units, 33 clown groups, 11 marching bands, performance groups, and music stars parade to welcome Santa Claus and the holiday season' Continue reading...

Several flights are delayed and parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could see six to 10 inches of snowParts of the US midwest and the Great Lakes region are bracing for a strong storm this weekend, as an estimated 82 million Americans travel to gather in celebration of Thanksgiving.Some parts of the country are expecting cold, snowy conditions, and the weather has already caused some travel delays. On Thursday morning more than 800 flights were already delayed, most in the northern states. Continue reading...

On Wednesday, Rahmanullah Lakanwal shot troop members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew WolfeTwo national guard members shot on Wednesday in Washington DC are in critical condition. Here's what we know so far:At 2.15pm on Wednesday, a man is alleged to have launched what Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, has called an ambush-style" gun attack two blocks north-west of the White House on two members of the West Virginia national guard.The guard members - named as Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, both newly sworn-in - are currently hospitalized in critical condition.The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was shot at the scene by a third guard member and is being treated in hospital after being arrested. His wounds are not believed to be life-threatening.Lakanwal faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, though if the national guard members die, the charges could be upgraded to first-degree murder.His motives remain unclear: Pirro has said that it's too soon to say" and Jeffery Carroll, an executive assistant DC police chief, said that investigators had no information on a motive and the suspect came around the corner" and immediately started firing at the troops.He had driven across the US from the home he shares with his wife and five children in Bellingham, Washington state, allegedly to conduct the attack.He is believed to have acted alone.Lakanwal worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, and came to the US in 2021 as part of a program to resettle Afghans who had aided US operations there. The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, said Lakanwal was a member of a partner force in Kandahar".The Trump administration has responded to the shooting by ordering 500 more national guard members to Washington, and calling for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.US citizenship and immigration services also said it has stopped processing all immigration requests for Afghan nationals pending further review of security and vetting protocols". Continue reading...

State department has told employees and grant recipients to not publicly promote or make event on 1 DecemberFor the first time since 1988, the US government will no longer commemorate World Aids Day, according to reports.The state department has directed its employees and grant recipients not to use US government funds to mark the event - which falls annually on 1 December - and not to promote the day publicly. The news was first reported by the journalist Emily Bass and confirmed in an email viewed by the New York Times. Continue reading...

Charles Stanish surmised indentations were rudimentary market place and later adapted as accounting and storage systemA Florida archaeologist's decades-long persistence has helped solve one of Peru's most puzzling geographical conundrums: the origin and purpose of the so-called Band of Holes in the country's mountainous Pisco Valley.Charles Stanish, professor of archaeology at the University of South Florida, and an expert on Andean culture, spent years studying the more than 5,200 curious hillside shallow pits known to local residents as Monte Sierpe - serpent mountain. Continue reading...

The US attorney for the District of Columbia,Jeanine Pirro, confirmed the identities of the two national guards critically injured in a Washington DC shooting on Wednesday as Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24. The suspect was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, a man from Afghanistan living in Bellingham, Washington state, the FBI director, Kash Patel, confirmed

Maher Tarabishi was arrested at a routine visit despite decades in the US, leaving his son with Pompe diseaseA 62-year-old father named Maher Tarabishi visited the ICE field office in Dallas, Texas, on 28 October as he has done each year for 17 years. Tarabishi, originally from Jordan, is in the US on a supervision order. Even though his asylum claim was denied, the US government allowed him to remain in the country because he is the primary caretaker for his son, Wael, who was diagnosed at four years old with a progressive muscle disorder called Pompe disease.Tarabishi's mandatory annual visits to ICE were never eventful; he'd arrive, an official might ask about Wael's condition, and then he would leave. This time was different. Continue reading...

Senior figure allegedly referred to customers buying highly processed food' and denigrated Indian employees

President called the shooting in Washington an act of terror'. Plus, Hong Kong fire death toll rises to 65

Dining at 3pm allows for an ideal holiday schedule. Let's retire the term dinner' from our Thanksgiving lexiconWithout question, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I relish the opportunity to appreciate all the wonderful things about life. I also love that it is simultaneously a holiday all about complaints, criticism and arguments. Every holiday should contain such multitudes. I might be feeling grateful for my blessings while also wishing the gravy had more salt in it. There's something uniquely American about turning a holiday that's meant to be a joyous celebration of abundance into a chance to vehemently disagree about something trivial.Of course, I love arguing about trivial things. In fact, that might be what I'm most grateful for. Thanksgiving traditions are fertile ground for arguments. What to eat and, even more crucially, when to eat. Every year, someone in your life - a family member, friend, know-it-all writer - will tell you they have settled the eternal debate about when to commence Thanksgiving dinner. Some (wrong) people think the word dinner" should be taken literally, in the American sense. These strict constitutionalists can see no nuance in the holiday traditions and believe (falsely) that the meal should begin between 5pm and 7pm, when it's properly dark outside.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Advocates allege navy knew levels of airborne plutonium at Hunters Point shipyard were high before it alerted officialsThe US navy knew of potentially dangerous levels of airborne plutonium in San Francisco for almost a year before it alerted city officials after it carried out testing that detected radioactive material in November last year, public health advocates allege.The plutonium levels exceeded the federal action threshold at the navy's highly contaminated, 866-acre Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. It was detected in an area adjacent to a residential neighborhood filled with condos, and which includes a public park. Continue reading...

A few years ago James Cook worked in a Surrey cinema and Max Pircher played in Austria. Now they're in the NFLBy No Helmets RequiredThe United States is a country of immigrants but the NFL remains dominated by players born in the USA. Only 5% of players are born abroad and the majority of them make the step into the sport by going to college in the US. True outsiders are unusual and foreign coaches are especially rare, which makes James Cook's story remarkable.Cook has been in charge of player development at Cleveland Browns for the past six months. That's an achievement in itself but it's extraordinary considering he grew up in Surrey, is in his late 20s and never played professional sport. Cook discovered the NFL as a 12-year-old when he was channel-flicking with his dad and came across this weird and wonderful" sport. He started playing locally and soon wanted to become the first NFL quarterback born in Europe. He got as far as playing for Great Britain but his plans to go to college in the US proved financially prohibitive. Continue reading...

The attack makes the troops' Washington DC exit less likely and offers a convenient data point for rightwing narrativesWashington DC is considered a safe zone," Donald Trump declared on Tuesday, veering off topic at the national Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. This was one of the most unsafe places anywhere in the United States. It is now considered a totally safe city."A day later, two national guardsmen from West Virginia were shot in a busy area a few blocks from the White House in downtown Washington. The ambush took place outside the Farragut West Metro railway station within sight of the Guardian's office (I had been in the station three hours earlier and witnessed national guard troops milling around). Continue reading...

If support for Israel is no longer de rigueur in New York, it may soon not be obligatory in Washington. That is good news for PalestiniansIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be quaking in his boots at the decisive victory of Zohran Mamdani in the 4 November New York City mayoral election. Not because of absurd allegations of antisemitism for which there is no evidence, but because Mamdani has broken the longstanding taboo for successful New York candidates against criticizing the Israeli government. And he has only reinforced his approach in the month since his election.New York has the largest Jewish population in the United States - and the second-largest of any city in the world after Tel Aviv. The longstanding assumption was that many Jewish voters prioritized the defense of the Israeli government over other issues, so criticism of Israel would set them against a politician. Continue reading...

A new documentary charts how a song that featured a 335lb rapper and bad dancing went viral in the pre-internet eraThe Chicago Bears are 8-3 and soaring in this season's NFL standings. For a fanbase that's grown accustomed to looking up at the division rival Green Bay Packers and looking ahead to the next season's prospects, it's reason to smell the roses and indulge in some light strutting. But even as fans find themselves looking forward to the Bears' first playoff berth in five years, something that once seemed unthinkable with a second-year quarterback and a rookie head coaching helming a squad that managed only five wins last year, no fan is thinking the 2025 Bears have a Super Bowl run in them - not without a rap song to lay the marker down.Before the 1985 edition of the Bears romped to victory in Super Bowl XX, they tempted fate by recording The Super Bowl Shuffle. Although the song only peaked at 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, the accompanying video came to rival Michael Jackson's Thriller for popularity as it popped up endlessly on TV during the Bears' title run. The Super Bowl Shuffle went viral in an age where there was no viral existence like we know it today," the song's recording engineer, Fred Breitberg, says. It was a phenomenal entity as well as being a good record." Continue reading...

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs reveal plans for London and Birmingham as sector is spared tax rises

Anastasia Samoylova took a photographic journey up the US east coast - and found herself in America's unreconciled past just as much as its fragmented present Continue reading...