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GB progress to men's curling final, USA beat Canada in overtime to win gold in women's ice hockey and the USA's Alysa Liu triumphs in figure skatingThe cross-country bit gets going at 1pm, and I'm looking forward to that. It's a scientific fact that here's no kind of race a human can devise that is uncompelling.In the Nordic, teams of two both have a go at ski jumping, and Germany have just leapt into the lead; they'll start the cross-country portion with no time penalty, because Austria have just completed this part of things, and only landed far enough for fifth. Norway are second, Japan third and Finland fourth. Continue reading...

Make America Safe Again' banner put up in striking symbol of president's control over top US law-enforcement agencyA large banner featuring Donald Trump's face was hung on the exterior of justice department headquarters on Thursday in a physical display of the president's efforts to exert power over the law enforcement agency that once investigated him.While Trump banners have been hung outside other agencies across Washington, the decision to place one on the storied justice department building amounted to a striking symbol of the erosion of the department's tradition of independence from White House control. Continue reading...

Hollywood scion and talent agent exchanged sexual emails with Epstein associateCasey Wasserman was born into Hollywood royalty, and for much of his life - until the release of the Epstein files brought his world crashing down - he appeared as formidable and untouchable as the entertainment industry moguls of old.He wasn't just the man charged with organizing the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles - a position he still holds, despite widespread calls for his resignation. He was a consummate power broker, someone who controlled the careers of prominent musicians, actors and athletes through the talent agency named after him, cultivated relationships in local and national politics, raised money for key election contests, endowed civic buildings and, through his family wealth, gave lavishly to social causes. Continue reading...

Kathy Hochul backed away from allowing robotaxi services in smaller cities, though Waymo still plans to move ahead in New York CityNew York's governor, Kathy Hochul, has pulled her proposal to allow commercial robotaxi services in smaller cities outside New York City, a spokesperson for the governor said on Thursday.Based on conversations with stakeholders, including in the legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal," the spokesperson said. Continue reading...

US president vows multinational force and billions of dollars as autocrats and rightwing allies gather in DCThe US has proposed commanding a multinational force in postwar Gaza with troops from Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco, as Donald Trump unveiled his ad-hoc Board of Peace in Washington to heavy international scrutiny.The US plan would require the full disarmament of Hamas and support from Israel, which has tempered expectations that the Trump-friendly committee stacked with autocrats and rightwing allies will be able to deliver on the vision of ending the conflict and rebuilding Gaza as a riviera". Continue reading...

Up to three times national average of metabolite produced by human use of drug was found in town's wastewaterTests on wastewater in an upscale Massachusetts ocean resort town have revealed unexpectedly high levels of cocaine - up to three times the national average.Officials in the town of Nantucket on the eponymous island off Cape Cod began testing its wastewater last summer to monitor high-risk substances and opioids in the community". Continue reading...

A new DHS memo details plan to allow federal immigration officers to detain legal refugees in the US indefinitelyThe Trump administration is moving to arrest thousands of people already legally admitted to the US as refugees and detain them indefinitely for aggressive rescreening", a report published on Thursday said.Under the new policy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that federal immigration officers can and should arrest anyone who has not yet obtained the right to permanent residence, a so-called green card, and subject them to interviews to assess their refugee claims while they are in custody, as first reported by the Washington Post. Continue reading...

We can honor my mentor and the late civil rights icon by becoming the America we've never yet beenBefore 5am on Tuesday, Jesse Jackson Jr called to tell me his father and my friend, the Rev Jesse Louis Jackson, had died at 84 years old. I shared a prayer with the family and listened to Jesse Jr talk about how he had heard his father breathe his last breath in the middle of the night. When he called his mother to the room, he told me, she reached toward his father and said: A mighty lion has fallen."In Africa's savannas, the lion is respected because he has a power that all the other animals recognize, even if they do not understand it. The responses to Jackson's death have proven him to be a lion in this sense - remembered with respect by people from every walk of life, even those who did not understand him. Though Donald Trump has built a political career by opposing almost every policy Jackson worked for in public life, he recalled Jackson as a force of nature". Trump recognized his power, even if he didn't understand it. Anyone who wants to help reconstruct the America that Jackson worked for should take time to understand the source of this mighty lion's strength. Continue reading...

Tehran may claim it will not negotiate under duress, but that is precisely what it is being required to doAlthough much attention will be given to the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, it is the arsenal of war" that Donald Trump has assembled in the Middle East, and what it implies for the stately pace of Washington's negotiations with Iran, that deserves more.The well-connected Axios reporter Barak Ravid is hated in Iran - one news site on Thursday described him as a one-man psychological war operation against Tehran. But he is widely read, as was his report that the US viewed the talks in Geneva on Tuesday as a nothing burger", and that a full-scale attack on Iran was far closer than most Americans realised. The story led to a spike in oil prices and front-page pieces in US newspapers saying Trump's military preparations would be complete by the weekend, although . Continue reading...

RFK Jr ally Jay Bhattacharya was named acting director of the CDC and will be fourth leader in a year to head agencyJay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was named the acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday, making him the fourth leader in a year at the embattled agency in an unprecedented move that further consolidates power among a small group of men at the helm of US health agencies.He's been an ineffectual health leader whose attention will be further fractured, and as a close ally to Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime vaccine critic. Bhattacharya may sign off on further changes to the vaccine schedule, observers said. Continue reading...

Racism allegations in Portugal overshadowed another fine result in the Arctic and the holders being pushed by their Ligue 1 rivalsNothing should divert attention away from what happened after Vinicius Junior's goal for Real Madrid in their 1-0 victory at Benfica on Tuesday. It would be frivolous to do so. The Brazilian scored one of the finest goals of a career marked by spectacular strikes, but this week's Champions League action will be remembered for the regrettable flashpoint that followed. Continue reading...

Cesar Vasquez, who has supported families of undocumented immigrants since age 14, has become a community lifeline - and a known ICE targetWhile most 18-year-olds worry about college papers and spring break plans, Cesar Vasquez drives through coastal California farm towns scanning for unmarked SUVs before dawn. He flips down his driver's seat visor to look at a taped list of license plates he has already identified as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles, and jots down a few new ones he suspects could be. His phone buzzes constantly - tips from neighbors, text chains from volunteers alerting to ICE activity - all in an attempt to keep his community safe from being swept up in federal agents' widening dragnet.This is what organizing looks like for this son of undocumented immigrants. In his home town of Santa Maria, a small farming town on California's central coast where over 80% of farm workers are undocumented, Vasquez has become both a crucial community lifeline and a known target of federal immigration enforcement. Continue reading...

The homeland security department is reportedly seeking information on critical social media accounts. Look no furtherThe New York Times reports that the Department of Homeland Security has sent Google, Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and other media corporations subpoenas for the names on accounts that criticize ICE enforcement. The department wants to identify Americans who oppose what it's doing.I'll save them time.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now Continue reading...

Police assessing if Mountbatten-Windsor shared sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein. Plus: how plastic production has doubledGood morning.Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.What other information has the force shared? Thames Valley police previously said they were reviewing allegations that a woman was trafficked to the UK by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with Andrew.This is a developing story: follow the latest updates.What is the ISF? According to the UN, which authorized the creation of a temporary force, the ISF will be tasked with securing Gaza's border and maintaining peace within the area. It's also supposed to protect civilians, and train and support vetted Palestinian police forces".What about in case of renewed war? It's unclear what the ISF's rules of engagement would be if there was combat, renewed bombing by Israel, or Hamas attacks.What other news is there from Gaza? A Lancet study has found that the death toll in the first 16 months of the war in Gaza was far higher than reported. Continue reading...

The US president's relentless self-aggrandizement spree continues amid hypocrisy and shifting explanationsAs a real estate developer, Donald Trump built his empire on ostentatious displays of wealth, substantial tax breaks - and lots of free publicity. As president, he has deployed the power of the state to expand his personal brand, adding his name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the US Institute of Peace, a class of new navy warships, and even investment accounts for millions of children.Trump is now eyeing yet more grandiose targets in his self-aggrandizement spree. He wants Congress to rename New York's Penn Station and Washington Dulles international airport in his honor. But there's a catch: Trump reportedly told Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, that he would unfreeze billions of dollars in federal funding for a major infrastructure project in the north-east - if Schumer supported renaming the two sites.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...

MLS stakeholders want to turn the interest in this summer's North American World Cup into rocket fuel' for the league. Are those realistic expectations?In 1998, a full eight years before Major League Soccer debuted, it got its first World Cup bump".Fifa had just awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States, but there was a stipulation. The US could host the tournament, but only if there was a competitive club league in place by the time it rolled around, something that hadn't been true since the North American Soccer League collapsed in 1985. Tournament organisers missed that 1994 deadline, but two years later, MLS became a reality. Thirty years on, it is still here. Continue reading...

There's a basketball renaissance emerging at Columbia, and Megan Griffith's women are leading itI've been going to Columbia basketball games since I was an undergraduate in the 1960s. As a junior, I did some play-by-play for WKCR, the student-run radio station. There was a time long ago when I went to almost every Lions home game. I'm talking about the men. There wasn't a women's basketball team until 1984. For the past few decades, I've watched the men play once a year.When I enrolled at Columbia in September 1963, the Lions' home games were played in University Hall - an antiquated gym with structural columns that impeded fans' views and looked as though it had been built during the Age of Pericles. Columbia had suffered through six straight losing seasons. Two more followed.Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. The audio version of his memoir - My Mother And Me - was recently released. The reading is by Hauser's good friend, Jim Lampley. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Continue reading...

Exclusive: approximately 350-acre compound planned as base for multinational force, according to records reviewed by the GuardianThe Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza, sprawling more than 350 acres, according to Board of Peace contracting records reviewed by the Guardian.The site is envisioned as a military operating base for a future International Stabilization Force (ISF), planned as a multinational military force composed of pledged troops. The ISF is part of the newly created Board of Peace which is meant to govern Gaza. The Board of Peace is chaired by Donald Trump and led in part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Continue reading...

In a fiery speech in Los Angeles, the Vermont senator criticizes grotesque' levels of economic inequalityBillionaires are treading on very, very thin ice," Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in Los Angeles, imploring California voters to fight grotesque" levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax on the state's richest residents.The Vermont senator railed against the greed", arrogance" and moral turpitude" of the nation's ruling class", calling it fairly disgusting" that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California - or are threatening to do so, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law. Continue reading...

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder pulls out of India's AI Impact Summit to ensure the focus' remains on event's key priorities'Bill Gates has pulled out of a keynote address at the AI Impact Summit in India as he continues to face questions over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The billionaire Microsoft co-founder travelled to India, where his foundation works with the government on delivering AI for social good, earlier this week and was advertised as speaking at the international summit shortly after the country's prime minister, Narendra Modi. Continue reading...

Representatives of repressive regimes from around the world are flying to Washington for the inaugural meeting of the bodyA grouping of largely oppressive and authoritarian world leaders and their envoys are flying to Washington for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump's newly established Board of Peace.The body was created to implement his vision for Gaza's future after it was destroyed by Israel, but Trump has widened its scope, calling it the most consequential international body in history". Continue reading...

People like me were targets of the Islamophobia that gripped the west after the US-led war on terror'. Now I fear a chilling sequel is on the wayTwenty-five years ago, George W Bush persuaded European leaders to back his war on terror". That disastrous project cost millions of lives and caused mass displacement of people from across the Middle East. It normalised racism and hatred for Muslims, refugees and racialised minorities in the US and Europe. I fear Marco Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference, with its calls to defend white, western, Christian civilisation against supposedly contaminating racialised migrants - and the standing ovation he received from European elites - may mark a chilling sequel.Rubio's language of a shared and superior American and European civilisation differs from that of his bosses, Donald Trump and JD Vance. His tone is more emollient but his outreach is conspiratorial. Rubio talks of migration and identity and civilisational anxiety, rather than terrorism and hard security threats as Bush once did. In his Munich speech, Rubio flattered Europeans about the continent's colonial past. He denied preaching a message of xenophobia or hate, and instead framed his call to defend national borders as entirely respectable, dutiful and a fundamental act of sovereignty".Shada Islam is a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. She runs New Horizons Project, a strategy, analysis and advisory companyDo 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...

Reports say move could come this weekend as White House urges Iran to make a deal' with Trump on nuclear programThe US military is ready for possible strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday citing unnamed sources.However, the reports said, Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision on whether to carry out an attack. Trump has repeatedly demanded Iran cease its nuclear program, and has warned he intends to use force if no deal is reached. Continue reading...

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Lawsuit is first by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over workplace DEI in Trump's second termA US civil rights agency has sued a bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products it accuses of sex discrimination over an employee networking event that excluded men, its first lawsuit over workplace diversity programs since Donald Trump took office. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, says Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast violated federal law when it hosted the event for about 250 female employees at a casino in Connecticut in September 2024.The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is owned by Kirin Holdings, a Japanese company. Coca-Cola is not a defendant in the case. Continue reading...

After crew on flight 543 reported smoke in the cockpit, passengers and crew exited Airbus A320 via slidesTraffic was temporarily disrupted at Newark Liberty international airport in New Jersey on Wednesday after a Florida-bound JetBlue flight suffered an engine failure on takeoff and returned to the airport, officials said.Crew on flight 543 reported smoke in the cockpit, and after an emergency landing, passengers and crew exited the Airbus A320 on a taxiway via slides, the Federal Aviation Administration said. No injuries were reported. Continue reading...

Avalanches have caused deaths in Lake Tahoe area in six of past 10 years but latest slide is fourth deadliest in US historyThe avalanche that killed at least eight skiers in California's Sierra Nevada mountains occurred in the Castle Peak area, near Lake Tahoe - an area where deadly avalanches are not uncommon.The Sierra Avalanche Center, which provides forecasts for the region, has observed at least 50 avalanches in the area near Lake Tahoe since September 2025. And according to the National Avalanche Center, which maintains a map of locations where avalanche danger is highest, risk is currently particularly high in the Lake Tahoe area. Continue reading...

NYU Langone's decision comes amid Trump administration threats to cut funding to providers who treat trans youthNYU Langone Health, one of New York City's major hospital networks, announced this week that it will shut down its genderaffirming care program for minors, as the Trump administration escalates threats to strip federal funding from providers that treat trans youth.In a statement to the Guardian, spokesperson Steve Ritea said that given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program." He added that the hospital's pediatric mental health services will continue. Continue reading...

The USA and Canada both won in overtime to reach the men's ice hockey last four, while Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the slalomWomen's aerials: the qualifying rounds of accelerating down a ramp and flying through the air. Hanna Huskova, gold medallist in 2018, does a triple somersault, or the the kiss arse blaster" in the commentator's words, but it is only enough to leave her seventh.Women's curling: Back to the brushes, where Rebecca Morrison posts the final stone of the sixth end into perfect position, Team GB take two and go into a 4-3 lead against the USA with four ends left. Continue reading...

The greatest American skier of all time won her first Olympic medal in 2014. The 12 years in between have been marked by brutal ups and downsA lot can happen in 12 years. If you're Mikaela Shiffrin, as a teenager you can become the youngest ever person to win the Olympic slalom, stack a couple more medals at the next Olympics, become the most successful World Cup skier of all time with a record 108 victories, go 10 more Olympic races in a row over three Winter Games without reaching the podium, overcome the two biggest crashes of your career and subsequent battles with self-doubt and post-traumatic stress disorder and eroding trust in your own skiing, and then bring it all back home with a second Olympic slalom gold.You can also lose your dad. Continue reading...

One skier still missing and six others rescued after group engulfed in Sierra Nevada mountains during severe stormEight skiers who went missing after an avalanche swept the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California have been confirmed dead, authorities said during a Wednesday press conference.One skier is still unaccounted for, while six others, who had been stranded, have since been rescued. Continue reading...

Unite Here, the US's largest hospitality workers' union, says ICE crackdown is harming tourism and costing jobsDonald Trump's immigration policies are having a chilling effect on the hospitality industry, where nearly a third of workers are immigrants, according to the largest hospitality union in the US.The number of employed hospitality workers dropped by 98,000 from December 2024 to December 2025, according to a report from Unite Here, which represents 300,000 workers across the hospitality, food and tourism industries in the US and Canada. Continue reading...

Wexner, who has denied misconduct related to Epstein, is one of several subpoenaed by House oversight panelThe former boss of the Victoria's Secret lingerie brand, Les Wexner, said he has done nothing wrong" and has nothing to hide", as he testifies on Wednesday before a congressional committee in relation to his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.Wexner is one of several Epstein associates subpoenaed to testify before the House oversight committee in their continued investigation of the late financier's crimes. Continue reading...

Money clears path for work on Gateway project increasing number of tunnels linking New York City and New JerseyThe Trump administration transferred the balance of federal funds it owed to the Gateway rail tunnel initiative on Wednesday, along with additional money beyond the original amount, clearing the path for work on the project to restart as early as next week.Once finished, the project will increase the number of rail tunnels linking New York City and New Jersey, as well as repair a century-old tunnel that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which is used by more than 200,000 travelers and 425 trains daily. Continue reading...

Dozens of world leaders head to Washington for what White House says will largely be a fundraiser on ThursdayDozens of world leaders and national delegations will meet in Washington DC on Thursday for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, as major European allies declined to join the group and criticised the organisation's murky funding and political mandate.The White House has indicated that the summit for his new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward rebuilding Gaza, which has been devastated in the war with Israel and remains in a humanitarian crisis. Continue reading...

Threat of 9.5% property tax increase puts pressure on Governor Hochul, who is seeking re-election this yearZohran Mamdani, New York's democratic socialist mayor, has unveiled two new budget proposals for the city - one to raise income and corporate taxes, or another to raise property taxes - triggering resistance from some political figures in and out of the state.Mamdani's two proposals include either raising taxes on the city's wealthiest residents - which would require approval from New York's governor, Kathy Hochul - or a last resort" measure of a 9.5% property tax increase, which could affect more than 3 million single-family homes, co-ops and condos and over 100,000 commercial buildings", according to the New York Times. Continue reading...

Union coverage slightly increased last year even as White House tried to eliminate contracts for thousands of workersThe number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.About 16.5 million workers were covered by a union contract in 2025, up from 16 million in 2024 and the highest level since 2009. The increase stems from workers joining unions as members - 14.7 million US workers were union members in 2025, up from 14.2 million workers in 2024. Continue reading...

The restaurant can keep menu term despite claim product is essentially chicken nuggets', Illinois ruling saysA customer who sued the US restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings after finding out their boneless wings" were not in fact made of wings has been told by a US judge that his claim has has no meat on its bones".Buffalo Wild Wings can continue using the term boneless wings" on its menu even though the product is essentially chicken nuggets", John Tharp, a district judge, ruled, dismissing a lawsuit that claimed the chain was misleading customers. Continue reading...

Leadership disputes claim of political motive for ousting Jeffrey Rosen, who was praised for non-partisan approachThe first and only museum dedicated to the US constitution has been plunged into turmoil over the sudden departure of its president, a legal scholar widely respected for his commitment to non-partisanship.The National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia announced last month that Jeffrey Rosen would step down after 12 years to be replaced by Vince Stango on an interim basis. Continue reading...

What made the Manchester United co-owner's anti-immigrant screed so revolting was his brazen willingness to say it all out loud. Remind you of anyone?Did British petrochemicals billionaire and Manchester United's controlling minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, really mean it when he proclaimed to Sky News that the UK is being colonized by immigrants"?Is Ratcliffe simply a gutter racist or actually making a cynical political play that may redound to his benefit down the line when Britain faces down yet another period of political upheaval as the country's old factions continue to fracture? There's reasonable debate to be had there. Continue reading...

I was detained for co-writing a op-ed about Gaza as a student at Tufts. My experience has only made me feel more connected to others facing oppressionIt started off as a normal Tuesday. On 25 March 2025 I reviewed applications from university students applying for a summer research position at my lab. I told friends I would bring pastries from Harvard Square for the Friday dinner we were planning. I finalized my schedule for an upcoming child development conference. I worked on my dissertation proposal.The day was busy but not unusual - until I left home after quickly dressing for an iftar dinner at the interfaith center. What followed was my first personal encounter with human-made trauma through state violence. Continue reading...