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Guardian democracy reporters George Chidi and Sam Levine answered your questions about the dramatic implications of the Save America Act for US votersThe latest version of the Save America Act could, if it is passed, upend voting for all Americans in the middle of a federal midterm election year and create costly, chaotic changes for elections workers. George Chidi, the Guardian's politics and democracy correspondent and Sam Levine, who has spent years focusing on voting rights in the US, including for our ongoing series The fight for democracy, answered questions about Save's implications on everything from the midterms to overseas voting.George and Sam have now finished answering your questions. Read the Q&A below.George: I think the Kansas example is instructive. Kansas enacted a law in 2013 requiring voters to prove their citizenship when registering. Evidence presented in a federal lawsuit challenging the law showed that 18,000 people were blocked from registering - about 8 per cent of people trying to register. That statistic only covers motor voter registrations; another study showed the overall number was closer to one in eight voters. Only about a quarter of those who were initially blocked ended up registering. (And no, these were not non-citizens - they were by and large born Americans who couldn't lay hands on their birth certificates.) The blocked registrants were disproportionately young people with no party affiliation. The federal court struck down the law in 2018.Arizona enacted a similar law in 2005, with similar results. Elections officials attributed the large number of blocked registrants to people whose married names didn't match their birth certificates, or people who couldn't get their birth certificate. In 2024, the US supreme court blocked the use of documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections in the Arizona case.George: The hard part here is making an argument that will be heard by people who believe the mainstream media" exists to lie to conservatives. I think the best answer is to show examples of people who look and sound - and perhaps believe the same things - as the people demanding high levels of documentation to vote. One of the less-spoken corollaries to voting registration changes as proposed is that it will disproportionately affect voters with a propensity to vote for Republicans. Married women. Rural voters. People who have never drawn a passport and don't have easy access to a county clerk who can send them a new birth certificate. Continue reading...

Mormon Wives star was accused of domestic violence by her former partner Dakota MortensenProsecutors in Utah have declined to press charges against Taylor Frankie Paul, star of the reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, after she was accused of domestic violence.In a statement on Tuesday, the Salt Lake county district attorney's office said it would not be pursuing charges against Paul following a pair of domestic violence investigations stemming from allegations made by Paul's former partner Dakota Mortensen. Continue reading...

Physicians issue reminder to public after TV doctor and CMS chief relays president's claim on Don Jr podcastDonald Trump defended his consumption of diet soda by suggesting it might help prevent cancer, according to recent comments shared by Mehmet Oz in an interview with Donald Trump Jr.The remarks have even prompted some doctors to remind the public that, no, diet soda will not do anything to prevent cancer. Continue reading...

The time is long overdue for members of Congress to listen to the American people and end US military aid to the extremist Netanyahu governmentI am a proud Jewish-American. My father fled Poland in 1921 to escape poverty and antisemitism. Those in his family who stayed were murdered by the Nazis. Since childhood, I have known very well where antisemitism, racism, fanaticism and demagoguery lead.So let me be clear. Speaking out against the horrific and inhumane actions of Israel, and its extremist leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not antisemitic. Speaking out about the dangerous and destructive role that Israel plays in shaping US foreign and military policy is not antisemitic. It is, in fact, what every member of Congress and every American should be doing.Bernie Sanders is a US senator, and ranking member of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. He represents the state of Vermont Continue reading...

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Strike marks third deadly attack on vessels in region in four days, and the killing of 174 people since September

Filing seeks to overturn seditious conspiracy charges of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who laid siege to US Capitol in 2021The US Department of Justice has requested that a federal appeals judge overturn convictions for members of far-right groups Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who were previously found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the violent siege of the US capitol in 2021.Jeanine Pirro, the Donald Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, signed separate motions on Tuesday to vacate convictions for a slew of individuals, including the Proud Boys' leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs as well as Stewart Rhodes, a former attorney who founded the Oath Keepers' militia. Continue reading...

Collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Trump to impose a blockade on Iranian ports - key US politics stories from 14 April at a glanceDonald Trump has hinted that US-Iranian peace talks could resume in Islamabad over the next two days, and complimented the work of Pakistan's army chief as mediator.The US president was speaking on Tuesday to a New York Post reporter who had gone to Islamabad for the first round of ceasefire talks over the weekend. After an interview discussing prospects for negotiations, the reporter said the president had called her back with an update". Continue reading...

US president says negotiations could restart in Islamabad under fantastic' Pakistani army chief Asim Munir Middle East crisis - live updatesDonald Trump has said that US-Iranian peace talks could resume in Islamabad over the next two days, and complimented the work of Pakistan's army chief as mediator.The US president was speaking on Tuesday to a New York Post reporter who had gone to Islamabad for the first round of ceasefire talks over the weekend. After an interview discussing prospects for negotiations, the reporter said the president had called her back with an update". Continue reading...

Departures came after lawmakers from both parties threatened to introduce resolutions expelling the two men

Massachusetts liberal arts college laments heartbreaking reality' and says financial pressures to blameA Massachusetts liberal arts college is set to close permanently due to low enrollment and financial problems.The board of trustees of Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst founded in 1965, pointed to financial pressures" that have been compounded by shifting external factors". Continue reading...

Kevin Warsh, seeking to replace Fed chair, Jerome Powell, had to file financial disclosures for Senate approvalKevin Warsh, the former Federal Reserve governor chosen by Donald Trump to lead the central bank, has submitted financial disclosures that suggest he holds assets worth well over $100m.The document is required for his nomination to advance through the Senate, beginning with a yet-to-be-scheduled hearing. Continue reading...

Trump's EPA chief Lee Zeldin's presence shows how much influence climate deniers now have, experts sayAs scientists confirmed that March was the United States's most abnormally hot month in recorded history, dozens of climate deniers gathered to promote misinformation and tout their newfound influence on federal policy.At a conference hosted by the prominent science-denying thinktank the Heartland Institute last week, a crowd of mostly middle-aged men in suits claimed the world is finally waking up to the idea that the climate crisis does not exist. Continue reading...

The Middle East on fire, a spat with the pope - and he posts himself as Potus Almighty. Will his disciples now see that their messiah has feet of clay?You hear such a lot from Maga Republicans about how liberals think Trump voters are stupid. But not nearly enough about the far more salient point: that Donald Trump thinks Trump voters are stupid. Naturally, nobody deplores his own people as passionately as a populist, but even by those exacting historical standards Trump really does regard his supporters as a honking great throng of halfwits. How else to explain his seemingly retrofitted claim yesterday that the AI picture he posted of himself as Jesus was me as a doctor". Er, no. After it incensed leading figures in the Christian right, which makes up a large part of his voter base, the US president later deleted it, lamenting of these idiots that he didn't want anybody to be confused. People were confused." Yeah, people are stoopid.Alas, as you've no doubt seen, controversy still attends this image Trump shared on his Truth Social/True Sociopath platform. It depicts Trump in Jesus robes and holding a glowing orb of something - presumably heavenly light or radioactive material he omitted to tell Congress about - which he is transmitting restoratively into the forehead of some midwestern Lazarus. I'm sure we'd all love to know how the AI prompt for it could be show me Donald Trump as a doctor", or indeed how the LLM of choice would react when called out on its subsequent error. You're right - I overstated that. I shouldn't have implied the US president is a benign deity who can raise the dead. To clarify - he's a malignant narcissist and a tumour on the world. Thanks for catching that." Continue reading...

Iran says Americans will be hit with higher fuel prices due to the blockade. Plus, summers are growing longer globally

Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway. Key US politics stories from Sunday 12 April at a glanceDonald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway from Iran in the aftermath of failed peace negotiations between the countries in Pakistan.The US president also threatened to bomb Iran's water treatment facilities as well as its power plants and bridges, repeating an earlier threat, if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons programme - the key sticking point between the two sides. Continue reading...

US senator appears at Manhattan rally alongside New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who cautioned that AI is coming for human jobs'Bernie Sanders has sounded an alarm over the US economy, warning the worst is yet to come" unless workers overcome a ruling class" of billionaires.The US senator spoke at a rally in Manhattan on Sunday alongside Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, who cautioned that artificial intelligence was coming for human jobs" amid mounting concern over the technology's rapid development. Continue reading...

Democratic congressman, running to replace Gavin Newsom, has faced multiple accusationsRepresentative Eric Swalwell, the Democratic frontrunner in the fiercely contested race to be governor of California, has suspended his campaign amid a series of sexual assault and misconduct allegations by a former staff member and at least three other women.The woman who worked for Swalwell said the California congressman had sexually assaulted her twice when she was too inebriated to consent, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, which was published on Friday. Continue reading...

Joel Gilbert, who mailed anti-Barack Obama film to voters in 2012, accuses congressman of violating immigration law

Rory McIlroy became just the fourth player in history to win consecutive Green Jackets

Tom Watson wants to fill in the creek in front. The Golden Bear says play safe if the pin is on the right. McIlroy defied the conventional wisdom and wonThere's hot, and then there's the back nine on Sunday at Augusta when there are five players within two shots of the lead. The TV weathermen reckoned it was 30C but then they weren't down at Amen Corner when Rory McIlroy was standing on the tee at Augusta National's 12th hole, that little rinky-dink 155-yard par three, tied for the lead and waiting for the wind to drop long enough that he could get his shot off. Four days ago, they asked Tom Watson what was the one change he'd make to this golf course if he could. Watson didn't blink. I'd fill in that creek in front of No 12."Touche" said Gary Player. Continue reading...

Latest updates from Moving Day at Augusta National

After Calvin Duncan served 28 years for a murder he didn't commit, he won an election to serve as criminal court clerk. But now the office might be shut downA man imprisoned for nearly 30 years before being exonerated won a landmark election in New Orleans promising to fix a judicial system that failed him. Now, Louisiana's governor, Jeff Landry, and the Republican-controlled state legislature are racing to eliminate his job before he can be sworn in.Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote last November to become the Orleans parish clerk of criminal court after pledging to reform the justice system based on his own experience fighting to access court records while in maximum security prison. Continue reading...

Three people wounded in attack at Grand Central subway station by man who stated he was Lucifer', police saidPolice in New York City shot and killed a man who stabbed three people on a subway platform in New York City's Grand Central station, the city's police commissioner said.Jessica Tisch, who leads the New York police department, told reporters at a news conference at the station that officers, flagged down by a witness to the stabbings at about 9.40am, had encountered a suspect, armed with a machete, who defied at least 20 verbal orders to drop the weapon and repeatedly stated that he was Lucifer". Continue reading...

President already has issued sweeping pardons throughout second term, including for 1,500 US Capital riot defendantsDonald Trump has reportedly said he will issue pardons en masse to his closest advisers at the end of his second presidency, promising them in casual conversations over the last year.I'll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office]," the president reportedly said in a recent meeting, garnering laughs from the room, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing an anonymous source. Continue reading...

The first lady has put the Barbra Streisand effect in overdrive with a PR nightmare of her own makingYou've probably heard of the Barbra Streisand effect: the phenomenon where attempts to censor information end up drawing more attention to it.Now we might soon be referencing the Melania Trump effect: the phenomenon where holding a surprise press conference to state that you did not have a relationship with a dead paedophile, and would like people to please stop speculating about the matter, immediately causes people to start speculating about the matter.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Even as a triumphant moon flyby primes agency for a 2028 landing, Trump's proposed budget cuts cast pall on US space programThe astronauts on board Artemis II were almost poets", Nasa's administrator, Jared Isaacman, declared on Friday, referring to their inspiring words as they swung above the lunar surface.They were, he said, ambassadors for humanity" as they became the first humans to travel to the moon and return safely to Earth since 1972, on a mission that broke a distance record. Continue reading...

More than a dozen survivors accuse first lady of shifting the burden' on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings - key US politics stories from Friday 10 AprilMore than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse have accused Melania Trump of shifting the burden" on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein's abuse.Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony," said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement. Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice." Continue reading...

Rory McIlroy produced a scintillating finish in round two to record a 7-under 65 and open up a huge lead at halfwayWyndham Clark's birdie putt at 6 looks good. A straight roll. But it drifts a little to the right just before reaching the cup, enough to kink out. That really did look like it was going in. So he remains at -3 for both his round and the Tournament overall. He's no longer the only player out there in red for his round today: Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, birdies 7 and 8 to move into credit today - he's +3 overall - while the old trooper Freddie Couples birdies 2 to get back to +5. Such a shame about that hideous run at 15, 16 and 17 yesterday - quadruple bogey, double bogey, double bogey - but you can forgive a 66-year-old for running out of gas under the heat of the late-afternoon sun.The Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai starts his second round calmly and confidently. Tea Olive found in regulation, and a long birdie putt that shaves the hole. He remains at -1 after yesterday's 71, a round that promised more after going out in 33. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark's run of consecutive birdies comes to an end at 5. Just a par, though he's now landed his tee shot at 6 into the heart of the green, using the slope to bring his ball towards the flag tucked away front left. He'll have a good look at birdie from 18 feet, a putt not exactly flat and straight, but as flat and straight as they come around here. Continue reading...

Clarence Curtis Jordan was convicted in 1978 but hadn't had a lawyer for over 30 yearsThe Texas court of criminal appeals has overturned the death sentence of Clarence Curtis Jordan, a 70-year-old man with intellectual disabilities, who spent nearly 50 years on death row -much of that time without a lawyer.Jordan was convicted in 1978 for the murder of Joe L Williams, a 40-year-old grocer in Houston, and was sentenced to death. In the years that followed, courts determined that Jordan, who has intellectual disabilities, was incompetent", making him ineligible for execution under constitutional standards. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dozens of organizations write to Congress after general announced plan to deal with' those fleeing any humanitarian crisis on the islandDozens of US and international human rights organizations are decrying the Trump administration's plans to establish a migrant camp" for fleeing Cubans at the Guantanamo Bay military base if the island nation's crisis worsens under pressure from the US, according to a letter to members of Congress on Friday.The 85 groups plan to submit the joint letter, exclusively shared with the Guardian, to US senators and House representatives, expressing their profound concern" with comments made last month by a top Department of Defense commander, and describing any prospect of further migrant detention at the base as deeply troubling and unacceptable". Continue reading...

Prices were up 3.3% over the year, adding to the unpredictability that first came with Trump tariffs

Trump's missile-rattling isn't helping anyone. At least that makes it easier to explain the world to my kidWere you bullied as a child? If so, congratulations. You are probably pretty interesting, or maybe you have an extreme body odor problem. Either way, you were noticeable enough to warrant being picked on by someone with extreme self-loathing or an even worse body odor problem. That's the nature of bullying, though. The fact that you're a target at all is a sign that something about you is remarkable. Total feckless duds don't get bullied; they fade into the background, then become Democratic senators.The aim of the bully is to bring down someone they're threatened by, to assert their dominance over a person who reflects their insecurities back on them so that they might feel more powerful while applying a vicious wedgie. I wasn't bullied so much as teased verbally for being eccentric, biracial, vegetarian and not particularly tough. I also had a lisp thanks to having a gap in my front teeth for years prior to my parents mercifully getting me braces in middle school. I was an easy punchline for anyone looking to score points during lunch in the quad.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

The Bible-thumping US defense secretary is overseeing another strategic disaster in the Middle East. Is this a war or a crusade?Nine months and six days before a Tomahawk missile tore through the gaily decorated classrooms of the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran, ripping apart the bodies of schoolchildren, teachers and parents, the personal pastor of the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, delivered a sermon at the Pentagon.There's a temptation to think that you're actually in control and responsible for final outcomes, especially for those who issue the commands and do the aiming and the shooting," preached Brooks Potteiger, Hegseth's closest spiritual adviser, at the first of what have become monthly Christian worship services at the Department of Defense. But you are not ultimately in charge of the world." Continue reading...

Army deployed in Pakistan's capital as negotiations set to begin. Plus, Melania Trump issues bafflingly timed denial of ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Oil heads for biggest daily fall since pandemic as Iran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz under its management

Loyalists rush to defend president for outsmarting the critics' but others decry deal as a negative for our country'Donald Trump's acceptance of a two-week ceasefire in Iran has exposed fresh divisions in his Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, with some supporters expressing vindication and others accusing the US president of betrayal.The US and Iran both claimed victory after the two countries agreed to pause hostilities following more than a month of war. But the strait of Hormuz remained closed on Wednesday and fighting was still taking place as Israel launched its biggest attacks yet on Lebanon. Continue reading...

One of the great lessons of the Masters is money only goes so far, with strict rules designed to keep out ticket toutsJeffrey Epstein's web of influence stretched from European palaces to Ivy League universities and Wall Street banks, but there was apparently at least one little corner of the establishment that seems to have been beyond his reach: Augusta National. In July 2019, Epstein sent an iMessage to Steve Bannon asking for his help with a particularly difficult problem. Need to work magic to get brad Karp admitted to augusta golf club," Epstein wrote. The head of Paul Weiss Brad Karp?" Bannon replied. Yes."Karp, the former chair of the legal firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, stepped down from his position in February because of his ties with Epstein. Continue reading...

Spaniard is seeking his second Green Jacket at first Masters since 1994 without Tiger Woods or Phil MickelsonHalf a mile from the gates of Augusta National, at the foot of Washington Road, sits a keyboard and piano store. It closes on Masters week every year. Spring has sprung and so have we," reads a sign in the forecourt. Clearly there is insufficient correlation between golf fans and those with a tendency to tinkle the ivories (or similar) for the business to remain open.Masters mania is not for everyone. This feels a pity; almost nine months since the last putt dropped on the final major of 2025 and 27 weeks on from the Ryder Cup rumpus of Bethpage, golf is back at the forefront of the sporting world. Another date reference is significant. This Masters, the 90th edition, will be the first since 1994 without either one or both of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on the draw sheet. Rather than cause for a golfing lament, this provides opportunity. The post-Tiger world need not be as scary a place as so many seem to believe. Continue reading...

The chasm between the two sides remains vast. A mega-deal remains the only path to averting a return to full-scale warDonald Trump styles himself as a peerless tough guy who never backs down. But he doesn't always make good on his threats. Consider his demand that Denmark hand over Greenland, or his threats to hike tariffs on trade partners. He has even found ways to extend his deadlines for Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz, claiming, without evidence, that Iran was begging" for a deal.On Monday, Trump outdid himself. He gave Tehran until Tuesday at 8pm ET to reopen the strait - or a whole civilization will die tonight". The president's public threat to commit genocide sent shockwaves through the United States. Some Democratic leaders concluded that Trump has lost his mind". More than 70 Democratic members of Congress called for his removal from office. Some politicians and media personalities sympathetic to Maga did the same or roundly rebuked him. Some commentators reminded soldiers that they were required to disobey flagrantly illegal orders. Never in American presidential politics has a spectacle matched this one. Continue reading...

Voters pick Clay Fuller for US House over Democrat who opposes Iran war, but by smaller margin than in the past

Architect admits to murdering eight women, whose remains were mostly found along Long Island's coast

Justice department says Bondi will not appear for House deposition since she was ousted as US attorney generalPam Bondi, the former US attorney general, will not appear next week for a scheduled deposition before the House oversight and government reform committee to answer questions about the justice department's handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and its release of the Epstein files, the committee said.In a statement on Wednesday morning shared with the Guardian, a spokesperson for the House oversight committee said the Department of Justice has stated Pam Bondi will not appear on April 14 for a deposition since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General". Continue reading...

Nixon's Vietnam strategy appears at play in Trump's Iran threats, but he may want to ponder the ex-president's fateDonald Trump has made no secret of his admiration for Richard Nixon, Watergate and leaving office in disgrace be damned.But the president has taken his tribute act to new levels in threatening to erase Iran as a civilization, only to step back from the brink when the Tehran regime agreed - at a price - to reopen the economically vital strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...