US news | The Guardian

Mike Ditka: legendary Bears head coach's life in pictures

A fuel deal with Vladimir Putin, and sanctions against the legal institution, ram home the president's belief that might is rightOn Friday, Donald Trump drove home his belief that might is right and the rule of law is an obstacle rather than an essential foundation stone of international order. First came the escalated assault on the international criminal court (ICC), sanctioning the body itself. Then he announced a deal with Russia tobuy diesel.The US has long chafed at the notion of being boundby the rule of law that it espoused publicly. Thathypocrisy now appears as a lesser vice. The president has declared that my own morality" is all that constrains him. His brazen flouting of the law, embrace of dictators and rhetorical attacks all undermine global standards.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...

Analysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineries

How will the Seahawks and 49ers fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream optionsLast winter, two games between the 49ers and Seahawks decided the shape of the NFL season. The two teams played each other in the Bay Area on the last weekend of the regular season, and Seattle's win secured the NFC West and homefield advantage when the teams met later in the NFC divisional playoffs. Seattle's advantage only got more lopsided at home, and a 41-6 win proved to be the launching pad that sent the Seahawks flying through the rest of the playoffs, ending with a Super Bowl victory. The Niners watched from home.Now they meet again in one of the most anticipated games of the 2026 season to date. The 49ers take an unbeaten record on the road against a 3-1 Seattle team who have kept the train on the tracks despite Sam Darnold getting hurt early in Week 1 and missing a game. Whoever wins here will claim divisional favorite status as we move into the second quarter of the season, and they'll also give themselves a good shot to claim a head-to-head tiebreaker that may be important in the league's most competitive division. Continue reading...

Parra-Hernandez suffered a broken leg and taken to a hospital after being hit by car during an ICE operationAn Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent driving a vehicle struck a man on Saturday while trying to pursue him and someone else in the Houston area, according to authorities.The federal agency had been trying to pull over and arrest Jose Mendoza-Cervantes in north-west Harris county, Texas, when he and the victim, Miguel Parra-Hernandez, exited the vehicle, officials said. Continue reading...

Comments were among the most direct overtures by Trump to woo Democratic senator into his Republican partyDonald Trump on Saturday openly encouraged Democratic US senator John Fetterman to switch parties and become a Republican just weeks before the federal midterm elections could reshape control of Congress.I'd love to see him as a Republican," the presidents told reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he returned to Washington DC from a rally in Tennessee. He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat."Guardian staff contributed reporting Continue reading...

The Michigan candidate for US Senate seat is running without directly acknowledging specific constituent groupsAbdul El-Sayed has an impressive resume: Rhodes scholar, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, executive director of the Detroit health department. And, at 41, the Michigan Democratic senatorial candidate represents a new generation of politicians, a shift that he also embodies sartorially. Whereas casual dress for many politicians is a tieless dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, El-Sayed has embraced a post-corporate, digital nomad-ish uniform: fitted black T-shirt, slim jeans and sneakers.His progressive politics are having a moment among liberals, and he remains unswervingly disciplined about his message: Money Out of Politics, Money in Your Pocket, Medicare for All." On paper he appears well-aligned to Democratic sensibilities in this moment, and he is competitive in the polls. But his support is softer than overall Democratic sentiment would dictate, especially among Black voters. Continue reading...

Trump's big, beautiful bill' spending cuts will be fully felt next year, but hospitals are already feeling the squeezeMaternity wards across the United States are facing a wave of closures as cuts to federal Medicaid funding take effect, experts have warned.According to analysis by the non-profit Protect Our Care, 52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill was announced in July 2025, with a further eight having announced their upcoming closure. Continue reading...

As raw milk industry experiences record growth, experts say it might contain pathogens that can sicken peopleAs raw milk becomes increasingly popular among Americans, there have been several recent disease outbreaks tied to the product, alarming public health officials.Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a ban on sales of unpasteurized milk in the United States. Continue reading...

Darializa Avila Chevalier criticizes NYPD's inaction' in protecting Marble Hill protesters after ICE shot a manDemocratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier believes that the New York police departments' conduct towards protesters after an ICE agent shot and wounded a man in the district she is running to represent violated the spirit, if not the letter" of the city's sanctuary laws.These rules ban local police from helping federal immigration authorities in civil immigration enforcement operations. Continue reading...

They're the latest technological innovation no one asked for - now with added consent issues!I went to a party recently. A fancy one, filled with expensive people and interesting clothes.You might find this surprising, as I expend hundreds of words a week in this publication bemoaning human interaction, but I love parties. I like free champagne, passed appetizers and forced, go-nowhere small talk. Continue reading...

Even if AI supercharged the economy, its impact on the government's finances would be muted'Back through political history to the age of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have repeatedly promised the US public that tax cuts would pay for themselves, firing up economic growth and filling the government's coffers.The promise never really panned out. From the Gipper's day on, the Republicans' tax cuts inevitably increased the budget deficit. Despite its failure, though, the promise is back, coated in a fine new layer of artificial intelligence pixie dust. It will fail again. Continue reading...

Heat and humidity have led to one of the worst mosquito years in recent history, with West Nile virus at a decade highLos Angeles might be best known for blue skies, beaches and film premiers - but for the last several years it's held another, unenviable distinction: the most mosquito-infested city in America.And this year has been especially nightmarish, thanks to a series of heatwaves and an extra-powerful El Nino. Locals have called it a summer of living hell" as clouds of mosquitoes swarm backyards and leave diners at open air patios scratching their ankles. Continue reading...

Rev Dr Frederick Douglass Haynes III is reclaiming a faith-based politics to counter Trump-allied white evangelicalsIt was that point in the evening: dinner plates were cleared; speeches had run long; people were chatting, milling or eyeing the exit. But then the Rev Dr Frederick Douglass Haynes III took the stage. Bald, bearded, bespectacled and dressed in black, he delivered a mix of fiery sermon and performance poetry. Soon the guests were back in their seats - rapt, listening, clapping and whooping.Haynes's rolling cadence was evocative of the pulpit but the political message was far from kumbaya. Aiming to succeed Democratic star Jasmine Crockett in Texas's 30th congressional district, he danced like a butterfly with references to the boxer Muhammad Ali and rapper Tupac Shakur. But he also stung like a bee, branding Donald Trump as President Pickpocket" and Republicans as the authors of racist gerrymandering and voter suppression. Continue reading...

David McCloskey's new book depicts a calamitous collapse of the special relationship' - could things get darker still?The special relationship", the time-honored emotional bond between the US and Britain that has sustained through war and peace, is in trouble.The ties of history, culture and language that have bridged an ocean and bound the two countries politically for generations are fraying as perhaps never before - strained relentlessly by Donald Trump, who has gleefully sacrificed traditional alliances and diplomatic niceties on the altar of his America first" agenda. Continue reading...

Investigation launched after five broadcasters last month ceased presidential coverage after CNN, MS Now and Politico were barred from White HouseThe US Department of Justice is investigating whether the decision of the White House television press pool to halt coverage of the US president, Donald Trump, last month violated antitrust law, an agency spokesperson said Saturday.A spokesperson for the department said group boycotts among business competitors might violate US law. The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws," they said. Continue reading...

Deceased were all members of the same family, officials say, and one of victims placed the initial emergency callFive people were shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide at a residence in Georgia on Friday, authorities say.The deceased were family members who lived at the home in Douglas, a city in south Georgia. Continue reading...

Authorities say suspect among dead in house after standoff with police in Erie and there is no ongoing threatA man fatally shot eight people, including a pregnant woman and children, at a Pennsylvania residence on Friday before killing himself, police say.The victims have not been publicly identified, but seven relatives and a family friend died in the rampage. Continue reading...

Protesters spent months occupying an ancient cottonwood. Then a tense standoff with US border patrol came to a headA 200-year-old cottonwood tree near the US-Mexico border, known as the grandmother", has been destroyed to make way for the construction of Donald Trump's border wall, despite a months-long effort by protesters trying to save it.In late July, land defenders began a tree-sit in the ghost town of Lochiel, Arizona, taking turns occupying a platform high in the tree's canopy. The group remained there for more than 70 days. Continue reading...

US president suggests Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not done enough to end warDonald Trump has said Ukraine needs a new leader", a day after making a deal with Vladimir Putin to buy large quantities of Russian diesel.The US president suggested Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war with Russia and blamed him for high diesel prices in the US. Continue reading...

10-year police veteran Shane Seiber was killed after responding to a report of a man with a gunA Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot and another was wounded on Saturday after responding to a report of a man with a gun, authorities said.Shane Seiber, 40, was killed early on Saturday morning in West Philadelphia, according to the city's police commissioner, Kevin Bethel. Continue reading...

ICE official, who was sleeping on man's lawn and appeared intoxicated', faces felony charges, California police sayA 72-year-old man shot an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official in California early on Friday morning after the intoxicated and agitated" official assaulted him and his daughter on their property, local authorities allege.The Fresno police department said that the ICE official was receiving medical care after being shot in the midsection. The official, identified as David Gonzalez, is facing felony charges for assaulting the father-daughter duo, Fresno police said. Continue reading...

Pike's lawyers said she is back in same prison she's lived in for last 30 years and will continue to receive medical careChrista Pike has been discharged from the hospital after surviving Tennessee's botched 30 September attempt to execute her by lethal injection and is back in prison, her lawyers said on Saturday.Pike, 50, returned to the Deborah K Johnson rehabilitation center, where she has been imprisoned for the last three decades, her attorneys, Stephen Ferrell, Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason, said in a statement. Continue reading...

The tourist attraction just unveiled an elaborate, full-scale overhaul to match Trump's second-term aestheticSitting behind a replica Resolute Desk, nine-year-old Sydney Wright posed for the camera like a future US president. I love it," she smiled. And what about the dazzling gold appliques, gold leaf and gold trim surrounding her? It's cool."Sydney was among a steady stream of visitors on Thursday to The People's House: A White House Experience, an interactive museum - with an orientation film narrated by The West Wing star Martin Sheen - at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, just 150 yards from the real thing. Continue reading...

EMS workers, who make life-or-death decisions in emergencies, are the lowest paid first respondersAfter 31 years in New York City's emergency medical services, Oren Barzilay has started giving young New Yorkers advice he never imagined giving when he began his EMS career. Don't come here," he tells them. You are only going to hurt yourself."It is a striking reversal for Barzilay, the recently retired president of FDNY EMS Local 2507. What changed for Barzilay was not his view of work or the value of service. It was what he believes is the New York City failure to pay the people who put their lives at risk to save the lives of others. Continue reading...

Fain was dogged by investigation but still decisively beat challenger Rich Boyer, who received just 13% of voteThe president of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, has easily won his re-election bid after an campaign period marred by accusations of corruption and election interference.The union's election of leadership for a four-year term began with mail-in ballots being sent out in late August 2026, with vote tabulating commencing on 6 October. Continue reading...

Every time a story about a woman being raped becomes headline news, the same pattern repeats without failIf she really was raped, why didn't she speak up earlier? Why did she get drunk? Why was she wearing such a short skirt? Why did she walk home by herself?God, it's exhausting, isn't it? Every time a story about a woman being raped becomes headline news, the same pattern repeats without fail. People accuse the woman of asking for it. They question her motives; they scrutinize her looks; they attack her character. And without fail, she is punished for speaking up. Continue reading...

The sports-mad city has embraced its new superstar, even as he choppers in from Manhattan and makes no secret of the fact that Philly was never his first choicePhiladelphia has always had an instinctive affinity with athletes who embrace the grind over the glamour. In a place where sports mean a little too much, commitment has traditionally counted for more than celebrity. What it demands above all, sometimes unreasonably, is the sense that they have bought in, that the city and its fortunes matter to them as much as they do to the people who devote their lives to backing its teams.Few embodied that ethic more completely than Lane Johnson, the Eagles' revered right tackle and best player for more than a decade, who abruptly announced his retirement Tuesday after 14 seasons, two Super Bowl titles and a career spent neutralizing some of the most freakish physical specimens to walk the earth. Johnson's quotidian greatness on the offensive line was almost perversely workmanlike. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just 10 sacks across close to 7,000 pass-blocking snaps in the last 13 years, going entire seasons without letting his man bring down the quarterback. The Eagles won nearly two-thirds of their games when he played and lost nearly two-thirds when he didn't. Continue reading...

While most of the crowd at a Stop Sexual Violence rally in New York City was mostly women, men of all ages were in attendance tooTens of thousands of protesters gathered at city halls and college campuses across the country on Thursday to demand an end to sexual violence. The nationwide rallies followed weeks of public outcry over the mishandling of campus sexual assault cases at Cornell University and Louisiana State University.The protest organizers - including Women's March, Feminist Generation and Me Too International - demanded justice for Jane Doe, who said she was drugged and gang-raped by seven students at a Cornell frat party; Kendall Francis, who said she was raped by an LSU football player; and all survivors harmed from the frat house to the White House". They also called for reform of Title IX, a set of protections for sexual misconduct victims and LGBTQ+ students that the Trump administration has slowly stripped away. Continue reading...

US president says agreement needed to lower American fuel prices, but move likely to create fresh crisis with Ukraine and Nato alliesDonald Trump was on a fresh collision course with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European allies after a stunning agreement to buy Russian diesel, upending years of US and western pressure on the Kremlin to end its four-and-a-half year war against Ukraine.Zelenskyy reacted furiously to Trump's announcement of the deal with Vladimir Putin, calling it absolutely terrible" and not fair and not honest". Continue reading...

The first league of its kind in 70 years brought players from all around the world to Illinois for eight weeks, writing a new chapter in the history of women's sportsOn the morning of 14 September, Rocky Henley sat at her rental home's dining room table amid scattered rulebooks, colorful markers and graph paper. The New York Heights manager drew a chart on a large poster - her method of sketching plays for the evening's playoff game. Her assistant manager, Jackson, trudged in from the kitchen in flannel pajama pants and a Heights hoodie and watched her work. He also happens to be her son. Continue reading...

First US memorial for suicide victims dedicated by Chicago archdiocese earlier this year at Queen of Heaven cemeteryThe Chicago archdiocese has recognized the Rev Charles Rubey's work supporting families whose loved ones died by suicide this year by dedicating in his honor a memorial to the lives lost to suicide and the victims' surviving families.In 1979 Rubey founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, a counseling and support program run by Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Chicago. Continue reading...

After years of mockery and doubts about her game, Reese has helped carry Atlanta to the WNBA's biggest stage. Her critics might want to start forming an apology queueA lot of folks owe Angel Reese an apology after Friday night. They should probably form an orderly queue.Not that the bad-faith take merchants who have spent three years gleefully circulating her missed layups, likening her occasionally awkward footwork to Bambi on ice" and marveling at the supposed comic genius of mebounds" are likely to join it. The right-wing culture warriors who turned one of the WNBA's most naturally gifted rebounders into a punchline were never particularly interested in an honest assessment of her basketball abilities. But after Friday the punch line has never worn thinner. Continue reading...

Dozens of CIA officers have been afflicted by debilitating symptoms over the past decade. Are they the result of mass hysteria'? Or are they from attacks with an energy weapon and, if so, who is responsible? And has there been a cover-up?Shortly after 1am one night in April 2019, a CIA officer on a work trip to London was jolted awake in his hotel room by the most intense head pain he had ever experienced. His body was soaked with sweat and he felt like his eyes were spinning in their sockets. He manoeuvred his way out of bed, hoping to make it to the bathroom to vomit, but found his sense of balance had deserted him. Eventually, he fell back into a fitful, shallow sleep.The next day, arriving at the work meeting he had travelled for, the officer found he could not remember the names of colleagues in the room, people he knew well. As the meeting got under way, he could barely follow the discussion. Initially, he chalked it up to a terrible - if rather odd - case of food poisoning. But over subsequent weeks, worrying symptoms persisted: brain fog, loss of balance and increasingly harsh tinnitus. Continue reading...

This liveblog is now closed.

President complains about not winning prize in year he started war with Iran and says: We will not forget, Norway'Donald Trump complained Friday about not winning the Nobel peace prize for 2026, a year in which he started a war with Iran.At what was supposed to be a rally for other Republican candidates in Syracuse, New York, the US president devoted a long portion of his speech airing his grievances with the Nobel committee. Continue reading...

Motorist, reportedly trying to beat a traffic light, barrels through busy intersection and slams into pedestriansAt least one person was killed and nine injured in New York City's eastern Bronx when a motorist barreled through a busy intersection, slammed into pedestrians and triggered a chain-reaction crash involving several vehicles, according to authorities and media reports.The horrifying collision happened shortly after 2pm in the Bronx's Allerton neighborhood, with the driver at the center of the crash reportedly saying he was trying to beat a traffic light. Continue reading...

Zacharia will replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the role at the end of August after giving birth to her second childDonald Trump on Friday announced that he had picked Katie Zacharia to be the next White House press secretary, lining up a conservative commentator he called a devoted fan" to be his most prominent spokesperson.Zacharia will replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the role at the end of August after the birth to her second child. Continue reading...

Locals also express fear after man shot in the neck while his child was in the back of his carResidents of Manhattan's Marble Hill neighborhood were furious at federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday but also scared after an officer shot their neighbor who had his child in the back of his car.Orlando Perez had parked his car on the corner of 225th St and Marble Hill Avenue on Thursday night and witnessed ICE arresting Oscar Belgal, 28, after he had been shot in the neck, apparently with an assault-style rifle. Continue reading...

Immigration officer shot man in car where five-year-old child was sitting, sparking fierce protestsLeading New York Democrats expressed anger and demanded curbs on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violence after a federal officer shot a man driving a car in which his five-year-old son was sitting, sparking fierce protests.At least seven shots were reportedly fired and the man was hit in the neck late on Thursday afternoon as children were coming home from school in the busy Marble Hill neighborhood of New York City. Marble Hill is considered part of Manhattan, but is physically located in the Bronx. Continue reading...

Manhattan prosecutors say murder case over 2024 killing can proceed under exception' to state double jeopardy lawManhattan prosecutors filed paperwork on Friday opposing Luigi Mangione's arguments for dismissing his state-level case in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.Mangione on 14 August pleaded guilty to federal charges in Thompson's 4 December 2024 killing outside a Midtown hotel - weeks before his scheduled 8 September New York state murder and weapons trial. The killing prompted an intense manhunt but also sparked an outpouring of rage against the practices of the for-profit US healthcare industry. Continue reading...

Judge says justice department policy of checking state voter rolls against a federal immigration database is unlawfulA federal judge ruled on Friday that the US justice department's policy of collecting states' unredacted voter rolls to check them against a federal immigration database is unlawful.The ruling, by the US district judge Sparkle Sooknanan, was a setback for Donald Trump, who has pushed his administration to ramp up investigations into non-citizen voting ahead of the November midterm elections, with control of Congress at stake. Continue reading...

It is odd for the US defense secretary to be laying the groundwork for an event that could be organized by TehranPete Hegseth's plans to stage a public execution resemble a grotesque Iran-imitation game.Having failed over the past seven months to defeat the Tehran regime on the battlefield, the self-styled secretary of war" now proposes to mirror its notorious practice of enforcing the death penalty as a grand public spectacle. Continue reading...

A ICE officer shot and injured a man in New York during an enforcement operation, federal officials said. The man was conscious and hospitalized, authorities said, and the shooting quickly sparked angry protests from local residents and elected officials in the neighborhood. Early reports indicated that agents had surrounded the man and a five-year-old child in his car on a busy street before firing multiple rounds, the city's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said in a statement. Continue reading...