Rhonda Jewell was sentenced to 17 years for forgetting 10-month-old Ariya in car's back seat, leading to child's deathA state appeals court in Florida reversed the felony murder conviction of a woman who accidentally left a baby in her car, resulting in the child's death.In July 2023, while babysitting four children from two different families, 46-year-old Rhonda Jewell forgot 10-month-old Ariya Paige was in the back of her car, and went inside to care for the other kids. Strapped into her carseat in the Florida summer heat, Ariya died of hyperthermia before Jewell realized her mistake. Jewell was convicted the following year of third-degree felony murder, predicated on the underlying felony of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Continue reading...
President says payments, to be sent in early October, are meant to offset cost of monthly insurance premiumsDonald Trump has said the US government will send a one-time $90 payment to more than 20 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, the health insurance program for elderly people, to help offset the cost of their monthly medical insurance premiums.The president said on social media late on Friday that the payments would come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which he said was given $2bn by Congress to improve the Medicare fee-for-service program. Continue reading...
Temperatures expected to hover around 100F in downtown LA and even hotter inland, raising concerns about wildfiresSouthern California faced scorching heatwaves this summer that made locals wonder what happened to their famed Mediterranean climate.Now, the fall is bringing heatwaves too. Continue reading...
Fuel costs are biting for crop growers, trucking firms and a host of other industries as Iran war stokes record pricesJoe Hamilton farms corn and soybeans on 2,500 acres in Indiana's Delaware county. Next week, when his soybean harvest kicks off, four tractors, two combine harvesters and five semi-trucks will roar to life.And with that, a record bill for about 9,000 gallons of diesel awaits him. Continue reading...
Black voters reveal a generational divide, with younger voters drawn to the Democratic Socialists of America, and older voters focused on what can realistically be achievedOne of the most heated debates in the Democratic party is how left it should go - especially after a year that has seen several democratic socialists win their primary races. Moderate Democrats worry that left-wing candidates will struggle to win general elections, while progressive voters want fresh solutions to healthcare and the rising cost of living. But largely left out of this debate is one of the most critical bases of the party: Black voters.A Pew Research Center study found that among Democrats, only 21% of Black voters are likely to positively view candidates who align with democratic socialists, compared to 40% of white, 30% of Asian, and 20% of Hispanic voters. Continue reading...
President's popularity has plummeted in solidly Republican state - will his presence at midterm rallies help or hinder?Kelly Savage-Radich grew up in a Republican-supporting Ohio family and voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. But today the mother of three, who lives in a Montgomery county suburb of Dayton, is facing the prospect of having to sell one of her family's vehicles due to the high cost of gas. Her grocery bill has gone up about $100 a week.She lays the blame squarely at the Trump administration's door. Continue reading...
The US defense secretary who hates beardos, weirdos and wimps' has announced an Office of Religious Affairs at the PentagonApart from money and McDonald's, there's nothing Donald Trump seems to love more than a big, beautiful" wall. The government is currently spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fulfill the president's fantasy of lining the US-Mexico border with 30ft steel bollard walls and high-tech surveillance.What the Trump administration is apparently not so keen on is the wall of separation between church and state. While the president may hawk bibles as a side hustle, he is not exactly devout; he serves only mammon. The top levels of his government, however, are stuffed full of religious fanatics who appear hellbent on remaking the country as a Christian theocracy.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
by Byard Duncan, Sophie Sullivan, Michael Hudson, Bar on (#78T1M)
Congress members say pricing practices at 7-Eleven and Circle K stores underscore everyday Americans' affordability strugglesFive US House members have called out pricing practices at the US's two largest convenience store chains in response to an investigation by the Guardian.The Guardian found that 7-Eleven and Circle K stores frequently charge customers more at the register or pump for snacks, gas and other items than the prices they promise on the shelf or on outdoor fuel signs. Continue reading...
Frank Strada facing mounting questions after Pike survives injection with lethal drugs in TennesseeTennessee's prison chief is under fire for the failed execution of Christa Pike, which lawyers say was the fifth botched" execution under his leadership across two states since 2022.Frank Strada, the commissioner of the Tennessee department of correction, has faced mounting questions about the state's highly secretive death penalty protocols since Wednesday evening when Pike became the first death row prisoner in the US to to be injected with lethal drugs and survive. Continue reading...
Public outcry to punish the alleged perpetrators in the Cornell case misses the point - the only solution is political, legal and cultural equality of womenSometimes a story is so so appalling, it captures the public's attention, including the attention of people who don't focus on the issue otherwise. Such is the case with the alleged 2024 gang rape at Cornell University.For feminists who focus on violence against women or anyone who has ever cared about campus rape, the claims made in Jane Doe's civil lawsuit against the alleged perpetrators may be unusual in its severity - but we know the statistics that show that somewhere between 20% and 25% of women college students will be the victim of a sexual assault (no statistics tell us what percentage of men students will be rapists). Continue reading...
Sailors' relatives are relieved as the ship is expected to dock in San Diego this week after a record-breaking 250-plus days at seaA mother in San Diego is counting down the days until her son comes home.I had a big sign made, welcoming him back," she said. I can't wait to see him." Continue reading...
John Steinbeck's hometown of Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, a recent Brookings Institution analysis foundNestled between two mountain ranges at the crook of central California's coastline sits a valley known as the salad bowl of the world".Farm workers stoop over neatly lined rows of crops off Highway 101 to harvest more than half of the nation's supply of lettuce and nearly a third of its strawberries. The soil here is so rich that author John Steinbeck made the Salinas valley the promised land in his literary depictions of people chasing the American dream: immigrants, farm workers, westward-moving hopefuls, hungering for a better life. Continue reading...
Announcement from US officials comes after CDC declared end to outbreak that infected nearly 13,000 peopleThe Food and Drug Administration said on Friday its inspectors had detected cyclospora at the Mexican farm blamed for the largest foodborne illness outbreak of the parasite in US history.FDA inspectors said Friday they found cyclospora in two places: a wastewater tank and a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation. They said it was unclear how the lettuce became infected. Continue reading...
Kenan Ken' Urker, 34, who died of apparent drug overdose, was partner of woman convicted of murder of motherThe on-and-off partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who spent time in prison for her role in the murder of her abusive mother, was found dead inside his Louisiana home on his 34th birthday on Thursday in what authorities described as an apparent drug overdose.The sheriff's office in Lafourche parish, Louisiana, confirmed Kenan Ken" Urker - the father of Blanchard's daughter - was discovered on Thursday after relatives asked police to conduct a welfare check at his residence. Continue reading...
Plan to install barriers through popular national park sparked outrage from advocates and politicians alikeA federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from expanding the border wall and other security infrastructure across the Big Bend region of west Texas, where contentious plans to build roads and vehicle barriers through a popular national park have led to furious backlash and public protests.US district judge Kathleen Cardone's ruling after a Friday hearing in El Paso deals a major blow to the Trump administration's efforts to expand the border wall through west Texas at breakneck pace, while riding roughshod over the objections of local business owners, landowners, public land advocates and politicians from both parties. Continue reading...
Kevin Warsh's predecessor had been investigated over cost overruns related to central bank renovation projectThe US justice department is not reopening a criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the central bank's building renovation project, a department spokesperson said on Friday.Attorney general Todd Blanche - in comments to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development - said he has not ruled out continuing to look into the project's oversight and potentially take action if evidence of wrongdoing came to light. Continue reading...
by Alba Asenjo Domínguez in Washington on (#78SV1)
The justice and treasury departments said they sent $2m to Hamas through charities and cryptocurrency, while six people were arrested across the US and FranceThe Trump administration on Friday unveiled sanctions against three individuals allegedly related to the Islamist militant group Hamas and against two charities based in France while also announcing six arrests - actions that the government called an extraordinary counter-terrorism work" to expose a sophisticated, multiyear financing architecture".Investigators alleged that the network moved more than $2m to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels". Continue reading...
Judge unseals bodycam footage from officers who responded to 911 from McDonald's in PennsylvaniaPolice bodycam footage released Friday shows the moment officers located and arrested Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald's in connection with the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan.In one video, officers ask Mangione to lower the face mask he was wearing to hide his identity. Continue reading...
Newly released police bodycam footage shows officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, approaching, searching and arresting Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's on 9 December 2024 in connection with the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The Guardian has edited the video from multiple cameras to show the moments of the arrest Continue reading...
Attorneys say hospital staff are working to clear pentobarbital she was administered from her systemChrista Pike remained hospitalized, unconscious and on a machine helping her breathe after her failed execution in Tennessee, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.The attorneys said hospital staff were working to save Pike's life and clear the pentobarbital she was administered from her system as of late Thursday. Continue reading...
Ceremony will not be hosted at its traditional home for the first time since awards began in 1978The Kennedy Center Honors will take place away from its traditional home this year for the first time in its history as the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remains in jeopardy amid Donald Trump's ongoing battle to have it named after himself.The Capital One Arena in Washington DC is now set to host the ceremony on 7 December, a Kennedy Center spokespersonsaid. The list of honorees this year has not yet been announced. Continue reading...
University denies allegations, saying it is committed to making admissions decisions in compliance with all lawsThe Department of Justice said on Thursday that the law school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions.The announcement follows a similar accusation against the university's medical school and comes as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges' processes for selecting students. Continue reading...
A decade after his infamous Access Hollywood tape, the gender divide is again shaping a pivotal midterm electionA decade ago, Donald Trump's improbable presidential campaign was rocked - and nearly derailed - by the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape, a 2005 recording in which the real estate developer turned reality TV star boasted about kissing and grabbing women without their consent.When you're a star, they let you do it," he said, a remark he later downplayed as locker-room talk" before musing that the tape might be fake. (It wasn't.)Of course I'm the underdog': the British former spin doctor trying to turn California redA fake image of a Georgia mayor kissing a person went viral. Can US voters trust everything they see?Most Americans don't know Hasan Piker. The rest say he is changing this year's electionsTrump campaign ads paid with public money violate federal law, critics sayTrump allies could use midterms counting window' to disrupt results, experts warnWhat Democrats are getting right - and wrong - in run-up to midterms: We can't just be anti-Trump' Continue reading...
Russian strikes on Kyiv, the flydubai plane incident, student protests in Paris and Mount Etna erupts - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalistsWarning: this gallery contains images some readers may find distressing Continue reading...
Hochul, who appointed the state's attorney general, Letitia James, as special prosecutor in the case, criticized how the alleged assault was handled by the school and promised a thorough investigation Continue reading...
Support for 37-year-old Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins could upend the governor's race in the heavily Republican stateThis July, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins spent four days and 450 miles (725km) wending his way down the Yukon River in a 24-ft Alweld skiff, a flat-bottomed aluminum boat built for shallow Alaska rivers.Starting in Koyukon Athabascan country, he passed through Indigenous Deg Hit'an communities like Anvik, before ending among the Yup'ik villages of the lower river, Russian Mission and Pilot Station among them. The boat carried him through 11 villages - some only reachable by water or small plane, and most with fewer than 300 residents, and fewer still who could recall the last time they had seen a candidate for Alaska governor, Republican, Democrat or independent. Continue reading...
Final jobs report before the midterm elections also shows the US unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%US employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, a sharp drop from last month's gains, and unemployment rose slightly to 4.2%, a sign of a cooling labor market in the final jobs report before the midterm election.The numbers were under half of economists' expectations of just under 70,000 new jobs. Most job gains were concentrated in the healthcare industry, which added 17,000 new jobs, while the information, financial and professional industries saw losses, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading...
Refugees from third countries are being sent to Equatorial Guinea, where they are often sent back to the very countries they fledFor nearly a year, the Hotel Bamy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, has been Adam's prison. He is confined alone to a hotel room, under constant watch by the security officers and soldiers of a notoriously oppressive regime who control his movements. Not long ago, they barged into his room, handcuffed and beat him, and warned him not to tell anyone. There is no cell to point to, no charges or formal sentence, and nothing on paper to document his plight.Adam, 26, has chosen not to share his real name or even his country of origin out of fear for his safety. He fled indefinite, forced military conscription in his home country after enduring abuse during his military service. Continue reading...
Death toll of medical helicopter crash is now three people as two others continue to recover from injuries, authorities sayPolice divers have found the body of a patient who went missing after a medical helicopter crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island near Los Angeles, bringing the death toll to three while two other people were recovering from their injuries, the authorities said on Friday.Divers with the Los Angeles county sheriff's department found the victim's body Thursday in the wreckage of the helicopter after searching more than 156 sq miles (404 sq km) over 23 hours, the Coast Guard said in a statement. Continue reading...
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez remains in custody after surgery to remove bullet supporters say was stuck close to his spineThe Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot and wounded by a federal immigration agent in Texas last month had surgery on Thursday to remove the bullet that had been lodged in his back for nearly two weeks.Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, had appeared in court in a wheelchair on Wednesday, wearing a sling on his arm. He remains in custody on charges that he assaulted an officer while trying to evade arrest. Continue reading...
As LeBron James and other NBA stars wholeheartedly embrace the murk of betting and prediction markets, the San Antonio Spurs' 22-year-old cornerstone has drawn a refreshing lineIf the song from LeBron James's agonizing Polymarket ad is as stuck in your head as mine thanks to the commercial playing during every YouTube video and HBO show (all I wanted to do was rewatch The Leftovers), let Victor Wembanyama be your antidote. At the Spurs' practice on Thursday, San Antonio Express-News columnist Mike Finger asked Wembanyama if he would ever partner with a sports betting firm. It couldn't have been easier for the 22-year-old to say yes. The NBA displays ads for both FanDuel and DraftKings, in addition to hawking betting odds on its broadcasts. Until the streaming service met its end a few months ago, plenty of NBA games streamed exclusively on FanDuel Sports Network. Then there are Wembanyama's legendary peers: James is the new face of Polymarket; Kevin Durant reads FanDuel odds and invests in Kalshi; Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Kalshi shareholder.Absolutely not," Wembanyama said instead. I will never do that. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me." Continue reading...
The case of the Siders family illustrates major shortcomings among Ohio's political and administrative authoritiesIn June 2025, Jody Walker stood in front of Ohio lawmakers at a senate finance committee meeting in Columbus. As the head of South Central Ohio Job and Family Services, he was desperate for help.I have been a county director since 1999, yet I have not seen such a challenging time in the child welfare system as I do today," he said, specifically in terms of the needs of our children." Continue reading...
City on edge as police comb home of Raymond Horsch, pornographer who died last year, in grisly case involving disturbing pictures and filmA dilapidated house, burned out above the second story, may hold clues to dark tales and - potentially - the darkest of endings as the FBI and police in Philadelphia try to unpick what took place at 417 West Chew Avenue for more than three decades.Last week, homicide investigators shifted their focus from examining an archive of a million photographs and film recovered from what is known locally as the house of horrors" to excavating what is in or under the home of Raymond RC" Horsch, a career criminal, local artist, author and snuff photographer who died last year aged 82, and his son Eugene, 44. Continue reading...
by Chris Stein, Alex Clark, Andrew Witherspoon and As on (#78SDS)
These graphics explain what the Democrats would need to do to flip the Senate and House of RepresentativesA turning point in Donald Trump's second term will soon arrive. On 3 November, voters across the US will decide whether to keep the president's Republican allies in control of Congress, or return Democrats to the majority.Many indicators of voter sentiment suggest the Democrats are favored to take back control of the House of Representatives, and potentially the Senate. Winning either would be a significant victory for the party and give it the power to block Trump's legislative agenda and more aggressively investigate his administration. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jonathan Freedland with James Henson, on (#78SDT)
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is surprising everyone, as polls have him leading his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, in the Republican-led state of Texas.Jonathan Freedland speaks to James Henson, founder and executive director of the Texas Politics Project, about why a blue wave in the Lone Star state would be seismic Continue reading...
Failed attempt to execute 50-year-old prompts review of state's execution practices. Plus the California woman who is allergic to coldGood morning. Tennessee's governor has suspended executions as Christa Pike's lawyer says the state's failed lethal injection execution attempt has left her in a critical condition. Bill Lee, the Republican state governor, has suspended all executions in the state until at least the end of the year and ordered an independent inquiry.Leading voices on the death penalty in the US have told the Guardian that the failed execution was such a violation of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment" that all judicial killings should be halted nationwide.What have Pike's lawyers said about her condition? Randy Spivey, one of her attorneys, said: We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment, but we do know that she is alive right now and receiving life-saving medical care. She is in a critical condition."What did witnesses say took place during the execution attempt? Catherine Sweeney, a reporter at the Nashville Public Radio WPLN, said: They went through two rounds, and she was still breathing at the end. She was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around. At one point, she said ... there was a spot that was burning and hurting, and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal."What was Pike convicted of? She was convicted of the brutal 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, alongside her then boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Lee said he had not yet spoken to Slemmer's family after the failed execution.Why has the DNC issued a lawsuit against the administration? The Trump administration broke the law when it pushed through a last-minute change to the form overseas citizens use to register and request absentee ballots, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in a lawsuit filed on Thursday. Trump and Republicans are so desperate to hang on to power that they are trying to eliminate the way some American citizens abroad register to vote and request mail ballots," said Ken Martin, the chair of the DNC.Which states are leading the resistance to the Trump EPA's repeal of emissions rules? Twenty-one states, led by New York, are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's power plant rule. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, said the federal government was showing callous disregard" for Americans' health and the environment, and future generations would pay the price. Power plants that burn fossil fuels are a major source of planet-warming pollution. Continue reading...
Israel's conduct in Gaza shows the danger of using AI in warfare. Humans must remain at the center of wartime decisionsAs tech leaders warn about the threats of artificial intelligence, most conjure up images of AI agents running amok, such as hacking systems used to run our critical infrastructure, banks or even militaries. Yet one serious danger is mentioned less frequently - the threat posed by AI - empowered lethal weapons. Fully autonomous versions of these weapons are colloquially known as killer robots.Israel's conduct in Gaza shows that, in an important respect, such AI weapon systems are already here. An algorithm has been deciding who lives and who dies. Continue reading...
What happened to Pike was gruesome. No one deserves what she went through, not even those who commit horrible crimesBotched executions are nothing new in US history. In the era when hangings were common, some condemned people were decapitated. Later, when the electric chair was in vogue, every now and again, someone would catch fire during an electrocution. And nitrogen hypoxia, the US's newest execution method, has already proven notoriously unreliable.But, of all of the ways we have tried to execute people, lethal injection has the worst track record. More than 8% of all lethal injection executions have been botched. Most of them resulted when those charged with carrying them out could not find a usable vein. Continue reading...
The rightwing media mogul has lost ground to fellow sports bros like Pat McAfee and Joe Rogan. He's hoping his new venture can recapture some groundWhen Maga media blowhard Clay Travis offered $2m to Colin Kaepernick last week to appear on the daily talkshow he hosts with former CIA analyst Buck Sexton, it represented the culmination of a years-long obsession on the right with the onetime NFL star. In Travis's telling of history, Kaepernick taking a knee during the 2016 NFL season was the event that catalyzed professional sports into the era of woke" excess from which, he claims, it has been struggling to recover ever since.But more than simply confirming the right's longstanding villainization of Kaepernick, Travis's offer was also a smarmy bid for publicity for his new media venture, Sport & State. Sport & State, which launched in August, is Travis's bid to get back to his roots as a media mogul who sold the wildly popular Outkick to Fox Sports for a rumored $100m, and reclaim some of the cultural territory lost to fellow sports bros and Magagitators like Pat McAfee, Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. But if there's one thing Sport & State won't be doing, it's engaging with anyone beyond the Magaverse. There has been no response from Kaepernick since Travis made his offer" of $2m to charity in exchange for an interview, which suggests he understands that it was extended more in a spirit of trolling buffoonery than sincerity. No one associated with the left or progressive politics ever appears on Travis's shows, for the simple reason that they are designed purely for the right to talk to itself. (Some would say the same could be said of the left, although the disregard for dissenting perspectives in the Magasphere seems way more extreme.) More than it heralds a renewal of Travis's career or an injection of fresh energy into the Trumpist mediasphere, Sport & State is a case study in the stagnation that has taken hold on the right as Donald Trump stares down the barrel of defeat in November's midterm elections. Continue reading...
Henry Ford's 1926 policy held for decades before eroding into a 24/7 mindset. Here's what we can do about itIt was a Saturday. In fact, the Saturday.Almost exactly a century ago, on 25 September 1926, Henry Ford instituted a policy of weekends for his workforce. Although various labor campaigns had existed for decades to try to carve out what we now call the weekend, this was the first widespread adoption. Continue reading...
Advocacy group that pushed for the legislation says 9,000 children are married in California every yearCalifornia has outlawed child marriage, joining 17 other US states where the taboo practice is also banned.Under past state law, minors of any age could obtain a court order for marriage with the consent of their parents. Continue reading...
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