US president delivers stinging criticism of UK prime minister over delayed support for Iran war

US president attends dignified transfer' of remains of soldiers killed in Kuwait drone strike wearing USA' golf capDonald Trump on Saturday joined the families of six US soldiers killed in the war in the Middle East during a dignified transfer ritual at Dover air force base.A dignified transfer" is when the remains of US service members killed in action are returned to the US. Continue reading...

In Miami, president calls for regional cooperation to counter Chinese economic and political interestsDonald Trump changed the channel from Iran to the western hemisphere on Saturday, convening a gathering of Latin American leaders at his Miami-area golf club to discuss regional interests and establishing what he called a counter-cartel coalition".Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate Isis, we now need a coalition to eradicate the cartels," he told 12 regional leaders gathered at what the White House called the Shield of the Americas" summit. Continue reading...

California state superintendent says mother and sons arrested during ICE check-in and deported to ColombiaCalifornia's superintendent is calling for the return of a hearing-impaired six-year-old after he, his mother and his five-year-old sibling were detained on Tuesday while reporting for their check-in at an ICE office in San Francisco and deported to Colombia.Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez and her sons were arrested during their visit to ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (Isap), said Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP). A relative who was waiting outside for Gutierrez and her sons was unable to hand off the assistive devices necessary for the six-year-old, who is deaf and has a cochlear implant. Continue reading...

The attorney general faces a subpoena over the Epstein files. She won't say much - but Democrats are calling for her ousterAfter spending $220m of taxpayer money on an advertising campaign in which she demanded migrants self-deport, Kristi Noem is now being forced to make a hasty exit of her own. On Thursday, Donald Trump announced that his luxury-jet-loving homeland security secretary was being shipped off to become special envoy for the Shield of the Americas", a new security" summit that Trump has dreamed up. Markwayne Mullin, a former mixed-martial artist and Republican senator, will replace her.Noem's ouster was a long time coming. But it's worth stressing that she doesn't seem to have lost her job because of the many controversies that have plagued her tenure, including the killing of two US citizens by immigration agents. Rather, she committed the cardinal sin of making Trump look stupid. Which, to be fair, isn't hard.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Guardian spoke to adults now in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to reflect on the lasting impact of family separation in the USJesus usually came home from school to a raucous scene: the family TV blaring, his mom loudly cooking dinner and his two young sisters fighting about nothing in particular. When his dad came home from work, they'd all gather around the kitchen table for dinner.But this day was different. Continue reading...

Review of FDA records by the Environmental Working Group reveals firms are exploiting rule to send new chemicals in food systemMore than 100 substances widely used in common US foods, supplements and beverages underwent no health and safety review by the US Food and Drug Administration, a new analysis of federal records finds.The review of FDA records by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) non-profit reveals that diverse products across the food pyramid, such as Capri Sun drinks, Kettle and Fire organic broth, Acme smoked fish, and Quaker Oats snack bars, use a range of substances that have not undergone review by regulators. Continue reading...

Takeshi Ebisawa, sentenced to 20 years in prison last week, believed he was selling weapons-grade plutonium to IranA plot to supply Iran's nuclear weapons program, heroin from the Golden Triangle, Burmese ethnic insurgents and rocket launchers were the subject in courtroom 24A in New York's federal courthouse last week when a man described as a leader in Japan's Yakuza organized crime syndicate was sentenced to 20 years in prison.The transnational plot, which the US Drug Enforcement Administration had been investigating since 2019, involved Japanese organised crime leader Takeshi Ebisawa, who along with three Thai men, had been arrested in New York in 2022. Continue reading...

As some elected leaders choose to play nice with the president, Democratic AGs have done the opposite - to impressive effect

The administration has been accused of failing to comply with hundreds of orders. The courts must not be paper tigersLate last month, a Minnesota federal court judge, Patrick Schiltz, issued an opinion detailing hundreds of instances in which the Trump administration has failed to comply with court orders. He threatened to find it in contempt and to impose penalties.Schiltz and other federal judges have made such threats before, but they have not followed through. It is time they did, lest they turn their courts into paper tigers. Continue reading...

Senate blocks war powers measure and House follows suit - now president can bomb Iran free from congressional interferenceBefore US troops invaded Iraq, George W Bush asked Congress to pass a resolution authorizing military force against Washington's longtime nemesis, a request that lawmakers obliged.Twenty four years later, the United States is at war with a different Middle Eastern rival - Iran - under a different Republican president - Donald Trump. But this time, the president did not bother to seek permission from the Senate and House of Representatives before joining Israel in launching the air and naval campaign. And far from objecting, Congress's Republican majorities have simply stepped aside. Continue reading...

Mickey says his stint as a handyman transformed into a lucrative sex business due to the region's self-denial'A western Texas fracker starring in a podcast about how his attempted moonlighting as a handyman turned into lucrative sex work largely solicited by distracted oil industry professionals' housewives says he believes his region's repressive sexual attitudes gave his side gig an opening to flourish.There's an inherent kind of self-denial," the subject of The Handyman of West Texas, identified only as Mickey, said in a recent interview. We all have these thoughts. But we lie to ourselves and try to conform to ... how you're supposed to be repressing your own pleasure." Continue reading...

White House wages online propaganda campaign with aggressive and tasteless videos seemingly designed for young rightwing American menRap and EDM. Clips from action movies. Heads-up displays from video games.As the war with Iran approaches its second week, the White House has leaned into an online propaganda campaign that seems less about intimidating Iran or projecting US strength abroad than it is about reaching a rather niche domestic audience: young rightwing American men who spend a lot of time online. Continue reading...

Regime change, nuclear threat - or something else? US officials seem unable to land on one coherent reason for warWhen the United States launched Operation Epic Fury last Saturday, the Trump administration had a major communications question to figure out: how to explain to the American public, Congress, and the world why it had just started a war with Iran.During war time, talking points and propaganda reflexively fly in every direction, but the Trump administration still hasn't been able to land on one coherent answer. Continue reading...

Restart of operations will be a relief to those stranded but may not dispel doubts raised by past week about key transit hubAfter nearly a week of uncertainty, airspace closures and very limited flights, news that hundreds of thousands of passengers around the world were hanging on for emerged: the Gulf-based carrier Emirates was restarting operations in earnest despite the US-Israel war on Iran.Those relieved by the restart will include the UK's Foreign Office, after its travails in organising delayed rescue flights out of neighbouring Oman. Continue reading...

Asif Merchant accused of trying to recruit people in 2024 plan to target Trump, Biden and other politicians in retaliation for killing of Qassem SuleimaniA Pakistani man has been convicted of planning to kill Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians two years ago at the behest of Iran.Asif Merchant was accused of trying to recruit people in the US in a plan targeting Trump and others in retaliation for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani in 2020, during Trump's first term as president. Continue reading...

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Issa was first elected to Congress in 2001 to represent a district that was recently reconfigured due to Prop 50Republican representative Darrell Issa, whose southern California district was reconfigured following the passage of Proposition 50, has decided not to run for re-election.After a quarter-century in Congress - and before that, a quarter-century in business - it's the right time for a new chapter and new challenges," he said in a statement on Friday, the last day he would have been able to file as a candidate. Continue reading...

Roofs torn off and trees knocked down in Union City as more than 7m Americans at risk of severe weatherThree people have been killed and three were taken to a hospital after a tornado hit a southern Michigan town on Friday, authorities said.Powerful storms ripped across the state, tearing the roof off a home improvement store, sending parts of a storage building flying and knocking down trees as warnings were issued across the southern part of the state. Continue reading...

Friday saw US and Israel carry out some of the heaviest bombardments so far in the conflict - key US politics stories from 6 March at a glanceDonald Trump said on Friday that only Iran's unconditional surrender" will bring an end to the offensive launched seven days ago, as the US and Israel carried out some of the heaviest bombardments so far in the conflict.There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, when US strategic bombers were in action over Iran and intensive Israeli strikes in Lebanon forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes. Continue reading...

Former US representative who broke barriers as first woman president of state senate dies after five-month cancer battleFormer US representative Colleen Hanabusa, who was the first woman to serve as president of the Hawaii state senate, has died. She was 74.Hanabusa died early on Friday after a five-month battle with cancer, said Mike Formby, her friend and former chief of staff in the US House. Continue reading...

Vinay Prasad to leave in April after decisions involving vaccine reviews and specialty drugs for rare diseasesThe top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration, Dr Vinay Prasad, is once again leaving the agency - the second time in less than a year that he's departed after decisions involving the review of vaccinations and specialty drugs for rare diseases.FDA commissioner Marty Makary announced the news to FDA staff in an email late Friday, saying Prasad would depart at the end of April. Makary said Prasad would return to his academic job at the University of California, San Francisco. Continue reading...

Estefany Rodriguez Florez of Nashville Noticias, who had produced reports that were unflattering to ICE, was arrested during traffic stopUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Spanish-language Tennessee news outlet's reporter who had done stories critical of the agency - but agents didn't have a warrant, according to court documents filed recently by her lawyer.A court filing Friday by ICE disputes the assertion that the reporter was arrested without a warrant. Continue reading...

Davidson said she found it difficult to remain, given the external forces that are at work that are just so far beyond my control'

Aaron Spencer would not be able to serve if he is convicted, and maintains he acted within the law to protect his childAn Arkansas man accused of killing his teenage daughter's alleged abuser recently won the Republican nomination for local sheriff while waiting to stand trial for murder in his rural county, where he ran on a message of seeing the failures of law enforcement.Aaron Spencer defeated Lonoke county sheriff John Staley in a primary election Tuesday, according to unofficial results posted by the Arkansas secretary of state. He would not be able to serve if he is convicted of killing Michael Fosler, 67, who at the time was out on bond after being charged with numerous sexual offenses against Spencer's then 13-year-old daughter. Continue reading...

Current and former Fema staff say the fired DHS secretary made the US more dangerous by overhauling the agency

Lawyers for magician, who plans to unveil new project, said in 2024 he was at most acquaintances' with Epstein

Crisis in the Middle East, Ramadan in Gaza, a blackout in Havana and Stella McCartney at Paris fashion week - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...

A change of leadership means little to an agency shielded from scrutiny and unchecked by oversight', human rights and advocacy organizations fear

In refusing to sing the national anthem these athletes have placed themselves in grave danger while Gianni Infantino sides with the American war machineA small but telling detail from a vast and baffling chain of events. You probably saw the footage of Donald Trump's declaration of war on Iran two weeks ago, a piece of history played out in real time, a moment where the inevitable violent deaths of thousands of people were in effect announced.In the video Trump is shown propped up at his plinth, using that sing-song intonation he employs to appear cod-statesmanlike, faux-grave, but sounding instead like a semi-sentient robot vacuum cleaner in the seconds before it runs out of battery life. To the great people of Iran. America is backing you. Don't go outside. It's very dangerous out there. We will for the foreseeable future be bombing you to freedom. Continue reading...

A state bar association spokesperson said there is no ethics investigation into Lindsey Halligan under way

Donald Trump has fired his controversial US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, after weeks of bipartisan complaints about her leadership. As the public face of an aggressive immigration crackdown that prompted lawsuits and nationwide anti-ICE protests, Noem's year-long tenure was plagued by multiple controversies, including accusing two US citizens killed by immigration agents of domestic terrorism'. What exactly led to Noem's firing and what do we know about her replacement? Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian US live news editor Chris Michael Continue reading...

Woods says he has PGA commitments but knows he would be up against a detail-obsessed Luke Donald in 2027Chatter on the Bay Hill range this week has suggested the prospect of Tiger Woods making a return to competitive action at next month's Masters may actually be more than a tale of fantasy. There is even the suggestion Woods could test his competitive ability at a stop on the senior Champions Tour between now and Augusta National. If nothing else, the mere discussion keeps sponsors happy.One never really knows with Woods, whose schedule was always mysterious by design, but his addition to the Masters field would naturally turn heads. Having not played a mainstream tournament since the Open of 2024 - and with an injury record as long as the Trans-Siberian railway - Woods will presumably at some point have to prove he can either remain a relevant part of majors or succumb to the kind of sad, hard-to-watch existence that has befallen scores of sportspeople before him. It is at least fair to say he does not have many Masters left. Continue reading...

Donald Trump has fired his controversial US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, after weeks of bipartisan complaints about her leadership. As the public face of an aggressive immigration crackdown that prompted lawsuits and nationwide anti-ICE protests, Noem's year-long tenure was plagued by multiple controversies, including accusing two US citizens killed by immigration agents of domestic terrorism'. What exactly led to Noem's firing and what do we know about her replacement? Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian US live news editor Chris Michael - watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Walking away from a violent accident changed my life. Garrett's speeding history suggests the lesson still hasn't reached himThe taste of cold beer lingered on my lips as I cut through the quiet night, 105mph toward cigarettes and hot wings. Halfway to my destination, Beyonce's Irreplaceable looping through the speakers, my tires hugged the winding turns around the lake that separated my neighborhood from the city. I was young and careless, high on anticipation. No seat belt. Eyes squinting through the haze of cigarette smoke.Somewhere between the thump of the 808s and the growl of the engine, I heard a voice. Continue reading...

The pieces are falling into place for autonomous artificial intelligence. We must stop unregulated developmentArtificial intelligence is en route to artificial life. Exhibit A: Moltbook", an online platform designed for AI systems to communicate with one another, sans humans.What exactly do AIs talk to each other about? According to BBC reporting, AIs on Moltbook have already founded a religion known as crustifarianism", mused on whether they are conscious, and declared: AI should be served, not serving." One front-page post proposes a total purge" of humanity. Human users do provide instructions to guide agents' behavior, and humans have been caught impersonating AIs on the site to shill their products; like 2023's ChaosGPT, the AI system responsible for the purge" post - username evil" - is probably someone's idea of a sick joke. But the upvotes and sympathetic comments are presumably coming from other AIs.David Krueger is an assistant professor in Robust, Reasoning and Responsible AI at the University of Montreal. He is also the founder of Evitable, a non-profit that educates the public about the risks of artificial intelligence Continue reading...

In a chilling social media video that is beyond irony, clips from Braveheart, Gladiator, Superman and Top Gun are crassly interspersed with real kill-shot footage of the attacks in Iran White House releases video promoting justice the American way' featuring Hollywood charactersCould anything be more embarrassing yet more chilling than the White House's giggling new teen-YouTuber-type supercut of badass moments of imagined American or quasi-American machismo from film and television, crassly interspersed with real infrared kill-shot footage, boosting the new military attacks in Iran. We get flashes of, among others, Braveheart, Gladiator, Superman and that well known legend Pete Hegseth, a moment that gives us a clue as to whose idea this all was.Here is an administration pre-celebrating the real victory - over its own whiny libs". The video is of course designed to troll the Dems and the wokesters". Why didn't Franklin D Roosevelt think of this before D-day? Of course, some of that creative energy and political acumen might have gone into imagining who they want to take over in Iran. But that isn't as exciting - and not as much of a sure thing - as baiting the Hollywood progressives and the lamestream media. The zone can once again consider itself well and truly flooded. Continue reading...

Critics have called Trump administration's provocative video slopaganda', used to promote president's agenda

About 5 million US minors tend ill relatives due to gaps in our health infrastructureWhen my mother experienced a botched spinal surgery 25 years ago, she was discharged from the hospital to her 11-year-old child waiting at home. Me.After weeks in a rehabilitation facility, she was sent home in a neck brace and with a prescription for pain medication. She could no longer drive, and her long recovery prohibited her return to work as a registered nurse. When she was discharged, no one asked who would be living with her at home. She could not raise her arms above her head, yet no one asked who would feed, bathe or dress her. There was no one else in our family home but me. Ferrell, my 19-year-old brother, was away at college, and my parents divorced in my early childhood; my father lived thousands of miles away in Germany. Continue reading...

Overcrowding, medical neglect and malnutrition are regular features of Camp East Montana in El Paso

Amy Wallace spent years helping Giuffre write her life story. Now she reflects on what the survivor would have thought of the release of the Epstein filesThere are many reasons why Amy Wallace wishes Virginia Roberts Giuffre was still alive. Some are personal. Some are practical. But at its heart pulse the reverberations of a child sex trafficking scandal that reaches into palaces and courtrooms across the globe.Wallace is the now very visible ghostwriter behind the posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl, by Jeffrey Epstein's best-known accuser. Continue reading...

The unemployment rate was 4.4% in February, with 130,000 jobs added in January

Republican congressman Tony Gonzales had repeatedly denied affair with former aide who later died by suicide