An emergency motion argues that the pause on construction leaves the White House open and exposed'. Key US politics stories from Saturday 4 April at a glanceA judge's order to stop construction work on the White House ballroom poses security risks, the Trump administration argued in an emergency motion that seeks to set aside the ruling.The emergency motion argues that US district judge Richard Leon's decision has left the executive mansion open and exposed" and is threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President's staff". Continue reading...
US National Park Service lawyers cite materials that will be installed to make heavily fortified' facilityDonald Trump's administration is arguing that a judge's order to halt construction of a $400m White House ballroom creates a security risk for the US president as his team asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling.In a motion filed on Friday, US National Park Service (NPS) lawyers say that the federal judge's order to suspend construction of the new facility is threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the president and his family, and the president's staff". Continue reading...
Springs fire, which had spread quickly by windy conditions, at least 45% contained on Saturday, say fire officialsCalifornia fire protection crews on Saturday were getting a handle on the wildfire that broke out the previous evening in Riverside county, fanned by high winds that quickly spread the flames to more than 4,100 acres.The Springs fire, about 64 miles (103km) east of Los Angeles, was at least 45% contained on Saturday, a fire department spokesperson said. It was 25% contained late on Friday evening. Continue reading...
Trump ordered data collection after raising concern about race being used as factor in college admissionsA federal judge on Friday halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren't considering race in admissions.The ruling from the US district court judge F Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs' states. Continue reading...
Carasses wash ashore Guemes Island in creepy mystery', with authorities saying canines appear to be the same sizeOfficials are investigating after nearly two dozen dead canines washed ashore on a Washington state island, in what one local has compared to the start of a horror movie".The Skagit county sheriff's office said 21 canines had been found on the shoreline of Guemes Island, about 80 miles north of Seattle, between 26 March and Friday. Continue reading...
State department said niece and grandniece of Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 US drone strike, celebrated attacks against US soldiersUS federal agents have arrested the niece and grandniece of the late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after the Trump administration's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, revoked their lawful permanent resident status, officials said on Saturday.Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement," or ICE, the state department said in a statement. Continue reading...
by Associated Press and Guardian staff on (#74QCQ)
Matthew Rodriguez, 18, was apprehended in Pennsylvania in connection to shooting that killed Kaori Patterson-MooreA second suspect in the stray-bullet killing of a seven-month-old baby on a Brooklyn street was arrested on Friday, investigators said, two days after a shooting the New York police department (NYPD) commissioner called a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience".Matthew Rodriguez, 18, was apprehended in Pennsylvania by NYPD detectives working with US marshals, according to authorities. Continue reading...
As voters head to polls, Washington support and alleged interference from Moscow raise questions about influenceThe official announcement that JD Vance was to visit, days before Hungarians cast their ballots in a hotly contested election, was greeted by Budapest with no less than four exclamation marks and three emojis.!!Official!!" Viktor Orban's political director, Balazs Orban, wrote on social media as he confirmed the news. The White House said Vance, along with his wife Usha, will land in Hungary on Tuesday, in what is widely seen as an attempt to bolster Orban as he trails in the polls. Continue reading...
Alan Hayward James, who called himself Al Capone', admitted to rigging bids for IT contracts with PentagonA former US air force master sergeant who nicknamed himself Al Capone" has pleaded guilty to defrauding the military branch out of $37m by inflating the cost of IT contracts - and giving some of the extra money to an individual he called Godfather".Alan Hayward James, from Texas, ran a nine-year scam, beginning in April 2016, which also saw him funnel excess funds to himself, his family and his co-conspirators. Continue reading...
The former Little House on the Prairie star said husband was last person in world who would hurt a child'Melissa Gilbert has staunchly defended her husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield in her first interview since New Mexico prosecutors charged him with child sexual abuse in early February.In part of a conversation scheduled to be broadcast on Monday on Good Morning America but circulated in advance as a preview, Gilbert told ABC host George Stephanopoulos that she believed the Emmy winner whom she married in 2013 to be the last person in the world who would hurt a child". Continue reading...
As Trump's administration aims to bring warrior culture' back to the military, young service members express anxiety and snark online over potential deploymentIf posts coming from the White House were to be believed, the US-Israel war on Iran looks something like scenes from Top Gun, Braveheart and Deadpool - or how a fifth-grade boy might imagine combat. The Trump administration has also presented Operation Epic Fury as a video game, borrowing gen Z parlance to describe the US armed forces as locked in" on the conflict.Such macho posturing squares with secretary of defense Pete Hegseth's desire to bring warrior culture" back to the military. The former Fox News host has railed against DEI, fat troops" and beardos" (troops with beards), and envisioned a military full of the right people" who fit his imposed standards of virility and masculinity. Continue reading...
Jesse Watters gave a litany of reasons why women shouldn't lead before denying he agreed. But peddling these ideas normalizes themOh dear, it looks like Jesse Watters' mother needs to give him a good talking to again. The Fox News host regularly spouts so much deliberately provocative nonsense that his mum, a liberal, has called into his show to ask him to use his voice responsibly". Instead of listening to her, however, he's told his audience of millions that men shouldn't eat soup in public because it's effeminate, shared his creepy fantasies about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's sex life, and urged America to bomb or maybe gas" the United Nations headquarters. This week, as Donald Trump (a man) presides over a disastrous, immoral, and unpopular war, Watters has been busy informing the world that women just aren't cut out to be president.What prompted this latest rant? The usual pathological desire to be noticed, I presume. And also a recent MS NOW interview with Nancy Pelosi, in which the former speaker of the House, 86, said a female US president is inevitable, but likely won't happen in her lifetime.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnistThe assault on freedom with Mehdi Hasan and Arwa Mahdawi
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The US president seems to have turned his attention to Cuba in recent weeks, saying that it was 'next'. Officials from both countries have reportedly been in negotiations since February however the content of the discussions remains unclear. The Guardian spoke with professor emeritus of international relations Dr Philip Brenner about what the US might really want with the Island Continue reading...
Indigenous doulas are creating support networks for mothers who are at the highest risk of pregnancy-related deathMary Sherbick found out she was pregnant at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Although she and her partner had planned it, the pandemic was anxiety-inducing and isolating. While scrolling on social media, she came across online talking circles for Alaska Native women, organized by Alaska Native Birthworkers Community (ANBC), who were pregnant or postpartum. Sherbick, who is Yupik, immediately signed up.A lot of us were also just concerned about the way that we would be treated, and some of our concerns of pain or our birth plans within a hospital setting," Sherbick said. I think a lot of the women that I talked to just were aware of the history of how Indigenous women, Indigenous people in general, have been treated, and the sterilization programs that have been done unknowingly to Indigenous people." Continue reading...
The president's son-in-law is acting as an envoy even as he looks to secure billions for his company from foreign governmentsAfter Donald Trump returned to the White House, his son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner declined to take a job in the new administration and instead planned to focus on running his Miami-based private equity firm. Kushner said he would also forgo raising more money for his company while Trump was in office, to avoid any appearance of a conflict.But since last summer, Kushner has re-emerged as a high-level peace envoy for Trump, helping broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza; steering negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine; and, most recently, playing a central role in the aborted negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran's nuclear program. Kushner still doesn't hold an official government position - he's a private citizen who has been negotiating some of the most important foreign policy agreements on behalf of the Trump administration, with a direct line to the president. Continue reading...
If the Eagles are to make a mark on their home World Cup in 2031, the hard-hitting Anthem RC lock could have a key role to playWill Sherman may be the future of US rugby, but his roots are in the game's American past. The 22-year-old standout second-row forward for Anthem Rugby Carolina in Major League Rugby is the son of Wade Sherman, a member of a champion Cal Berkeley team that included Mark Bingham, who on 11 September 2001 was one of the Flight 93 passengers who fought their hijackers and kept it from reaching Washington.There was a super old photo that my dad pulled up, and the first time I heard that story was from him," Sherman said. He was like, That guy standing to my left is an American hero.'" Continue reading...
In the fifth week of the war, Trump continues contradicting himself on its objectives and how Americans are affectedWhen Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury alongside Israel on 28 February, his administration had settled on a set of stated, and broad, objectives: destroy Iran's missiles, eliminate its navy, prevent a nuclear weapon.Over a month later those objectives have multiplied, contracted and contradicted each other. Continue reading...
The Trump administration takes pleasure in deploying dysphemism to describe the killing of IraniansOn 23 March, Donald Trump said that if things didn't go to his liking in Iran, we just keep bombing our little hearts out". A week later the US president told journalists on Air Force One: You never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up."On 4 March, Pete Hegseth squirmed in pleasure as he described death and destruction from the sky all day long". Whatever happened to the subtle art of political euphemism? Continue reading...
The brutalisation of global norms by figures like Pete Hegseth must be seen as an ethical issue. It's a fight against chaos, and all major religions must play a roleThat combative old hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, is not much heard these days, though it was once a favourite with church congregations and school assemblies. Written in 1865 by Sabine Baring-Gould, an English clergyman and religious scholar, its belligerent refrain urges the faithful on to battle, victory and conquest: Onward, Christian soldiers / Marching as to war / With the cross of Jesus / Going on before!" Its martial tone suited the Victorian zeitgeist but it made succeeding generations uneasy (though it was still sung in my primary school in the early 1960s). Nowadays, this sort of triumphalism gives religion a bad name.Pete Hegseth, US defence secretary, and a leading Christian soldier, would certainly disagree. He probably hums it on his way to work. At a recent Christian worship service in the Pentagon - an irregular event, given the constitution's dislike of anything smacking of state religion - Hegseth, referencing Iran, prayed for overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy". Hegseth's creed is killing. He describes Iranians as religious fanatics". And he should know. His intolerant brand of evangelical Christian nationalism is extreme even by US standards - yet has Donald Trump's backing. Trump was a Presbyterian until 2020, when he abruptly declared he wasn't. God knows what he is now.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...
Stiff winds spreading the smoke' as Springs fire bears down on Moreno Valley while smaller Crown fire also burningA pair of wildfires broke out in southern California on Friday, marking the region's first significant burns in a spring that has seen a major heatwave.The fires started in windy conditions that have caused them to spread quickly. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for parts of southern California through midday Friday, warning of gusts up to 50mph. Continue reading...
Trump said Vance would focus on blue states and, without providing evidence, accused Democrat leaders of rampant theft' - key US politics stories from Friday 3 April at a glanceDonald Trump has given his vice-president, JD Vance, a new side gig: fraud czar".The president this week announced a fresh crackdown on fraud" in Democratic states and tapped Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California. Continue reading...
Budget proposal released on Friday outlines president's desire to revive former federal prison in San Francisco BayDonald Trump is asking for $152m to restore Alcatraz, a former federal prison off the coast of San Francisco, according to a budget proposal released on Friday for the 2027 fiscal year.Last May, Trump first called upon the Department of Justice, the FBI and Homeland Security to rebuild the prison. He heaped praise on Alcatraz's reputation in a Truth Social post. Continue reading...
US president issues executive order as longest partial government shutdown in US history enters 49th dayDonald Trump issued an executive order Friday that declares all Department of Homeland Security employees will receive pay and benefits during the agency's partial shutdown.
Catholic Timothy Broglio says hard to cast this war as something that would be sponsored by the Lord'The leader of all Catholic chaplains in the United States' armed forces has questioned how righteous the US military's campaign in Iran is, saying that under the just war theory - it is not".Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, told CBS News in an interview set for broadcast Sunday that while Iran was a threat with nuclear arms", waging war on the theocratic state constituted compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized". Continue reading...
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US president makes baseless claims about fraud in blue states and says JD Vance will lead clampdown as fraud czar'Donald Trump announced a fresh crackdown on fraud" in Democratic states and tapped JD Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California.In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president announced that his vice-president was now in charge of fraud' in the United States", claiming the problem is massive and pervasive" and that Vance's new role as fraud czar" will be a major factor in how great the future of our country will be". Continue reading...
Over 20 attorneys general challenge the executive order and say it's an unconstitutional move to disenfranchise votersMore than 20 Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit Friday challenging Donald Trump's Tuesday executive order to restrict who can vote by mail.In his order, Trump directed the US Postal Service to abstain from sending mail-in or absentee ballots to people who are not on a pre-ordained list of eligible citizens. Continue reading...
California House members tour Otay Mesa center, which has faced allegations of poor conditions and sexual assaultsTwo California lawmakers conducted an oversight visit on Thursday at Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Otay Mesa detention center, an immigrant detention facility that has faced allegations of overcrowding, poor conditions and sexual assaults.The visit had been previously scheduled. But Mike Levin, a Democratic congressman, told the Guardian he planned to conduct more unannounced visits following a federal court ruling that struck down the Trump administration's policy of forcing members of Congress to announce oversight visits seven days in advance. Continue reading...
As casualties mount, those who share a home state with the deceased in Iowa, Kentucky or Ohio question the war's legalityUpon the headstones at the Dayton National Cemetery in southwest Ohio are the names of the numerous wars fallen soldiers buried here have fought in: Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.At the center of this sprawling, manicured cemetery for veterans and service members, ground staff and three machines this week have cleared space for a new grave site. It will be the place where one of the first victims of a new US conflict - the 2026 war on Iran - will be laid to rest on Friday. Continue reading...
Decision came after hearing in which Subramanyam Vedam, 64, said he didn't kill Thomas Kinser when he was 19A judge has cleared the way for the potential release of an Indian citizen who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody last year after his Pennsylvania murder conviction was overturned following four decades in prison.The decision came the day after the four-hour hearing in which Subramanyam Vedam insisted he did not fatally shoot Thomas Kinser in 1980 and was questioned by a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lawyer. Vedam participated in the hearing remotely from the Moshannon Valley processing center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Continue reading...
Bondi and Kristi Noem the only two cabinet members to be removed despite string of scandals involving male officialsDonald Trump has been accused of running a misogynistic administration" after making Pam Bondi the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.The US president dismissed the attorney general on Thursday amid mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...
Starmer should just admit we're being held to ransom by Trump - but instead he's making the king go on a state visitDonald Trump has suggested that the war with Iran will be over in two to three weeks. The rest of the world just shrugs. We'll believe it when we see it. The US president has said so many contradictory things over the past few weeks, it's hard to take anything that seriously. Continue reading...
If the idea was to try to shed some of the liabilities of the Epstein scandal by firing Bondi, the move seems likely to backfireIt was only a matter of time. The writing has been on the wall for months for Pam Bondi, Trump's attorney general, who was unceremoniously fired on Thursday after 14 months leading the justice department. Trump was rumored to be unhappy with Bondi; frustrated and the slowness and failures of some of her prosecutions of his political enemies, angry that she could not make the Epstein scandal go away, and disappointed by her rather wooden performances on TV.For a while, it looked like Bondi would be the first cabinet secretary that Trump fired in his second administration - something he has been much more reluctant to do since returning to office in early 2025. But in October, when she was called to testify before a Senate subcommittee, Bondi made sure to issue vicious insults to her Democratic interrogators in front of the news cameras; she made a similar performance in February at a House judiciary committee hearing, where she lobbed ad hominem attacks on Democrats, including calling Representative Jamie Raskin a washed up loser lawyer." These performances evidently endeared Bondi to Donald Trump enough that he decided to keep her around for a while; Kristi Noem, his onetime secretary of homeland security, became the first cabinet member to be fired in his second term. But the Epstein story persisted, and so did Trump's dissatisfaction with his own mounting unpopularity ahead of the November midterms. He is not capable of blaming himself, and so he looked around for someone else to punish for his own failures. Pam Bondi was there.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
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Mauricio Pochettino faces several tough decisions to name a squad for the 2026 World Cup hostsA full 24 matches into the Mauricio Pochettino era, we have arrived at the moment of truth. The US men's national team's 2026 World Cup roster will be named on 26 May, and the team's two recent friendlies (a 5-2 loss to Belgium and a 2-0 loss to Portgual) have given Pochettino plenty to think about as he makes his selection.We here at the Guardian have made our picks as well - based a little on our own preference, but still within the realm of what Pochettino may do. Separately, the three of us made our 26-man rosters. Any player who we agreed on got the on the squad" designation. Anyone we differed on is listed as up for debate", with other notable exclusions listed as out of the picture". Continue reading...
A new book explores how technology and a host of maverick innovators have given rise to an exceptional crop of baseball playersIn a 1940 publicity stunt, the Cleveland Indians' flamethrowing pitcher, Bob Feller, tested which was faster: One of his own blazing deliveries, or a motorcycle. Feller's pitching won, hands down. But today, Feller's once-remarkable speed has become commonplace, even bettered, as major leaguers routinely pass triple figures on the radar gun. The secret to this arms race? The advances in pitching analytics,often authored by people without any previous baseball pedigree.That's part of the narrative of Unhittable, a new book by one such individual - Rob Friedman, more commonly known to his online followers as PitchingNinja. The book's subtitle says it all: How Technology, Mavericks and Innovators Engineered Baseball's New Era of Pitching Dominance. Continue reading...
US attorney general Pam Bondi failed to please a president fixated on prosecuting political enemies - key US politics stories from Thursday 2 April at a glanceSpring cleaning has begun at the White House.Donald Trump on Thursday fired Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, dismissing a loyalist who reshaped the justice department but still failed to please a president fixated on prosecuting political enemies and frustrated with the politically explosive release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Continue reading...
Drone-maker backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr tries to win contracts with Gulf countries protected by USA drone-maker backed by Donald Trump's two oldest sons is trying to sell to Gulf countries while they are under attack by Iran and dependent on the US military led by their father.The sales drive by Florida-based Powerus - which announced a deal last month to bring aboard Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr - positions the company to potentially benefit from a war that their father began. Continue reading...
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