Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden offer extra support to solo-parent households. In its latest pronatalist push, the Trump administration aims to shift funds away from themWhen news broke that the Trump administration planned to pay married couples to have one parent stay home with their kids, everyone from policy wonks to Redditors bemoaned what they saw as a new front in the mommy wars.The proposal would shift funds that subsidize childcare for low-income working parents - the majority of them single parents who rely on childcare providers - to low-income married couples with one earner. Given that most single parents and stay-at-home parents are women, and both groups would be applying for the same limited funds, it seemed almost designed to pit moms against each other. Continue reading...
Congressional investigations are only part of the solution. A civic project will do needed legal legworkThe Democrats' midterm victory was resounding, but it will not be enough to re-establish the rule of law in the United States.The basic principle that even the president and his officials and cronies are subject to the law has been profoundly undermined by Donald Trump through unchecked ICE violence, apparently large-scale official corruption, and frequent defiance of the law. Continue reading...
If Democrats want to keep the blue wave going into 2028, they have to take on the billionaire classWelcome back to How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America's political future. Last week, Judd Legum shined a spotlight on the role of dark money in US elections. Today's edition was written by Naomi Klein, Guardian US columnist and author of End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World, co-written with Astra Taylor.To see the battle lines of the post-midterm era in sharp relief, look to Texas.The oligarchs in this battle seem to have no loyalty to the nations, states and cities that helped them grow their enormous wealth. Continue reading...
Donald Trump said war in Iran would end soon as he played down concerns US would escalate military campaign against Tehran after midterm elections. During a White House press conference, Trump said Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and an escalation was not needed
With weeks left on the congressional calendar, House and Senate representatives have a host of issues they still need to tackleOn their first day back in the Capitol after comprehensive defeats in last week's midterm elections, Republicans were divided into two camps: those who saw the catastrophe coming, and those who did not.I told you exactly what was going to happen. Over and over and over, I told you," said West Virginia senator Jim Justice. I said really and truly, if you weren't concerned and you were a Republican, you were living in a cave. That was my exact words." Continue reading...
Stephen Miller is an ideologue on a mission to reshape the world. But his appointment has a silver lining for DemocratsHas the midterms bloodbath made Donald Trump go all woke? Has his party's historic rebuke finally made him reflect on his actions and forced a road to Damascus moment?Of course not; this is the world's least introspective man we are talking about. However, for about 30 seconds on Sunday, the usually incoherent president managed the amazing feat of speaking a little bit of sense. Continue reading...
What young students stand to lose is more than cognitive skill: it's a reliable sense of their own mindsIn August, OpenAI launched Teen Mode - a version of ChatGPT in which every user under 18 will automatically be enrolled - a year after a lawsuit alleged that ChatGPT had contributed to the suicide of a 16-year-old named Adam Raine.For years, the tech industry has contested any causal link between its products and the harms named in a wave of similar lawsuits, each alleging that the companies had not merely failed to protect children but had deliberately designed products to exploit them. Continue reading...
Sustained not by public opinion but by billionaire media owners, British rightwing commentators will embrace a Maga successor, not moderationHallelujahs and hosannas have been echoing around the democratic world over the last few weeks. The White House madman is a loser. Rejoice at Serbia, Hungary, Brazil and hold our breath for Israel.Take heart from our best historians' encouragements. Margaret MacMillan wrote in the Observer: And now we can hope these elections will bring an end to cruelty, naked greed, contempt for decency, and the relentless vulgarity that tries to pass for boldness and authenticity. What a difference an election can make."Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Sport has long been regarded as great unifier but there is evidence that this era of hyper-partisanship may change thatOver the weekend, President Trump floated his latest wild idea: that the man behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Power Slap, the ethically dubious sport" where competitors take turns smacking each other with an open palm, could be his new White House press secretary.Trump's post on TruthSocial was about as subtle as a slap to the face. He Trump wanted the UFC chief executive, Dana White, whom he hailed as aviolent Fighter and Warrior", to take the job. And for six of his fighters to join him to defend us against the Lunatic Left". But it also carried a certain logic. TheUFC is Maga's sport of choice. Why couldn't it also be its praetorian guard? Continue reading...
Key environmental groups come out against bipartisan Baaja bill over fears it could spur datacenters and ICE jailsThe Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week's election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.It's a bill that would make it easier to build big infrastructure projects in America - everything from fossil fuel pipelines to transmission lines that would add more clean energy to the grid. And it would roll back environmental and social protections to achieve this goal. That is why climate advocates are torn over the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs act (Baaja). Continue reading...
Runners seek medical treatment as 13-mile race held amid unusually high November temperaturesPolice in southern California are investigating the circumstances that led to the hospitalization of nearly 30 runners who participated in the Santa Barbara Half on Sunday.Santa Barbara police said in a statement to the Associated Press that they had opened an investigation after receiving reports from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital about multiple half-marathon participants seeking medical treatment for unusual symptoms". Continue reading...
Chamber voted 73-25 to formally take up bill that will shorten timelines to start energy and datacenter projectsThe Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week's election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face years-long delays in getting to the grid. Continue reading...
Ruling said law enacted by Congress reflects preference for border control over environmental and recreational harmThe US supreme court has allowed Donald Trump to continue his administration's construction of a border wall in Texas's Big Bend region, including parts of Big Bend national park.In an unsigned, five-page ruling, the nation's highest court granted the Trump administration's emergency request to suspend a lower court order that had temporarily stopped the project last month. Continue reading...
In an emotional press conference, CF Montreal's founder and owner Joey Saputo refused to rule out relocationIn a rare press conference, CF Montreal owner Joey Saputo announced that his family was beginning the process of initiating a structured sale process" of the MLS club. Saputo informed the public of his intentions on Monday afternoon, pausing multiple times to fight back tears after over three decades of owning the Quebecois club.This decision is neither driven by urgency, nor dictated by circumstance," Saputo said in his initial scripted remarks. It's the result of a careful and deliberate reflection on where we stand today, and more importantly, on the opportunities that lie ahead for the club." Continue reading...
by Shrai Popat, Hazel Tang, Greta Baxter, John Farrel on (#79MZH)
While Democrats notched major midterm wins in Senate and House races, the blue wave extended further down the ballot -into races that received far less attention but could have major consequences in the years ahead. Shrai Popat, Guardian US politics reporter, explains some of the Democratic wins you may not have heard about Continue reading...
President, after talks with Qatari PM, suggests end to war coming fairly soon' and military escalation not neededDonald Trump has said that the war in Iran is effectively over" as he played down concerns that the US would escalate its military campaign against Tehran after the midterm elections.During a White House press conference, Trump said that Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and that an escalation was not needed. Continue reading...
Massachusetts judge rejects bid by Clancy's attorneys to have the case against her dismissedA Massachusetts judge cleared the way on Monday for Lindsay Clancy to be tried again on murder charges for killing her three young children at her home in 2023, saying a retrial would not unconstitutionally subject her to a double prosecution for the same crime.Judge William Sullivan in Plymouth rejected a bid by Clancy's attorneys to have the case against her dismissed. The judge on 4 September declared a mistrial after the jury reported that a holdout juror was preventing it from reaching a unanimous verdict. Continue reading...
Caucus had 100 members in the last Congress, and six of the nine candidates it endorsed won, flipping seatsHouse progressives, long dismissed as the Democratic party's leftwing outliers, are heading into the next Congress in larger numbers than ever and vowing to push the new Democratic majority to the left.The Congressional Progressive caucus said on Sunday it will welcome more than 25 new members, including a record number who won in red districts, expanding its ranks to more than 105 lawmakers. Continue reading...
University and police conducting investigations into Sigma Alpha Epsilon over extremely concerning incident'A fraternity at Ohio State University has been temporarily suspended while authorities investigate a video that appears to show two panicked men engulfed in flames.A video shared on social media shows one individual with his sweatpants on fire who then lunges at a second individual and tackles him to the ground. The second man's clothing also catches fire, and they both roll on the ground while removing their clothes as several onlookers intervene. Continue reading...
Calley Means claims officials abandoned Maha agenda and took money from sugar industry leading up to midtermsA former top Trump administration health adviser accused Susie Wiles, whom Donald Trump removed as the White House chief of staff last week, of stalling the so-called Make America healthy again" (Maha) agenda by prioritizing special interest groups and fundraising before the midterm elections.Calley Means, who resigned two weeks ago from his job advising Robert F Kennedy Jr, blamed Wiles and other Trump staffers for dropping the ball on the Maha agenda to take money from the sugar industry to fuel the midterms - which Republicans ultimately lost. Continue reading...
The AI chip boss's actions raise urgent questions about corporate influence, national security and the US president's willingness to listen to intelligence warningsIt could be the plot of a spy thriller. One of the most powerful figures in the AI revolution admitted to having an affair with a Chinese businesswomen said to have passed intelligence to Beijing. When Donald Trump was briefed about the Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang's liaisons with Alice Huang, he took no action. Perhaps he thought only marriage vows had been broken. Or perhaps Mr Trump was willing to overlook the conduct of a friend who championed his unpopular datacentre expansion, whose company donated to his White House ballroom and who echoed his opposition to AI safeguards against expert advice.Nvidia became the cornerstone of AI by supplying brute computing power. As tech giants scrambled for the firm's graphics processing units (GPUs), Mr Huang sold the picks and shovels for the AI gold rush - and amassed a $160bn fortune. When China joined the race for tech supremacy, Nvidia's microchips became a national security issue. In October 2022, the US slapped export controls on GPU sales to China. Thirty months later, Nvidia was effectively banned from selling to Beijing. Mr Huang lobbied for looser controls. Such was his sway with Mr Trump that the White House scrapped Biden-era global AI chip restrictions and then permitted sales of Nvidia's prized H200 processors to Chinese customers.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...
The document is expected to fetch more than $10m and the proceeds will be donated to several charitiesThe likely only surviving handwritten final full draft of Martin Luther King Jr's historic 1963 I Have a Dream speech is set to be auctioned in New York City in January, with proceeds benefiting several charities, including the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia.Auction house Christie's has announced that the document is expected to fetch more than $10m, and that the pages will be displayed publicly at the auction house from 15 to 21 January, before being offered in a single-lot sale. Continue reading...
Democrats won seats on anti-datacentre tickets and Musk wasted nearly half a billion dollars. Big tech may be losing its grip, but it won't go quietlyPhotos That Precede Unfortunate Events: a couple of months back, Donald Trump hosted some of the world's most powerful tech executives at the White House for a Super Intelligence luncheon", which by coincidence is also how my mum described her tuna sandwiches in a forlorn attempt to get me to eat them. Sitting either side of the president were Elon Musk, making a rare offline appearance in daylight hours, and Jensen Huang, the Nvidia chief executive carving out a precious slot in what we now know was an extremely busy schedule.Over a delicious meal of microchips and rare-earth metals, the billionaires sketched out a utopian future of an AI industry unencumbered by regulation or safeguards, powered by their heroic strongman leader, a political genius effortlessly able to impose his will upon an entire nation. And perhaps it should have been apparent even at the time that these (mostly) men were putting their faith in a guy who had recently been defeated by pond algae. But as the drinks and the good times flowed, it was still possible to believe that the sun would never set on the thousand-year American superintelligence empire.Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnistThe Guardian's year in review 2026. On Tuesday 1 December 2026, join your favourite Guardian writers for an evening of candid conversations, witty remarks and surprises as we look back on the year-defining stories of 2026. With Zoe Williams, Lucy Mangan, Jonathan Liew, Heather Stewart, Pippa Crerar, John Crace and host, multi-award-winning comedian Suzi Ruffell.
American activist and trade unionist who fought for the rights of farm workersAlthough she was never the president of the United Farm Workers union, Dolores Huerta, who has died aged 96, was one of the most significant American trade union leaders of the 20th century. Her battle cry, Si, se puede!", coined in the midst of tensions with police in Arizona in the 1970s, was adapted to the English Yes, we can" and became Barack Obama's slogan during his successful campaign for the US presidency in 2008.While the UFW leader Cesar Chavez was the public face of the union as its president, Huerta was the organiser who helped break the resistance of California's grape growers by building bridges to secondary boycotts by unions packing and transporting grapes, and by organising boycotts of national supermarket chains such as A&P and Finast, who sold them. To take on agriculture, which to this day is still a powerhouse, that took a lot of guts," her son Emilio said. Continue reading...
Former president's new book Promise Me America provides an inside look at January 6, Covid-19 response and moreJoe Biden will undertake only limited promotion of his upcoming White House memoir because of advancing cancer, the former president said in a social media post on Sunday night.His new book, Promise Me America, which will be published on 17 November, is Biden's account of a one-term presidency that began in 2021 in the shadow of the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump eager to overturn the outgoing Republican president's defeat by his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. Continue reading...
by Robert Reich, Wajahat Ali, Katie Phang, Judd Legum on (#79MJD)
Democrats have taken control of Congress in a sweeping blue wave - now the real work beginsWelcome to a special edition of How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America's political future. Sign up here to receive future editions in your inbox. Continue reading...
The US president sees Europeans as the mirror image of his woke' domestic foes. They should brace for further betrayal this winterEuropeans have greeted the blue wave that crashed down on Donald Trump and his Republican party with jubilation and relief. Jubilation, because Trump's second presidential administration has been the most destructive in the history of the transatlantic relationship. His disdain for Europe and his evident delight in attacking its governments - in particular that of Ukraine - have been hard to swallow.Relief, because the midterm election results confirm that Europeans are not unique in being appalled by Trump's actions: a large majority of Americans are too. I was in Washington immediately after the vote, and the mood was one of excitement and a newfound confidence. And like many Americans, in these results Europeans see hope that US democracy can be saved, American foreign policy moderated and the transatlantic partnership revived.Nathalie Tocci is a professor of practice at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Europe, and a senior fellow at Bocconi University's Institute for European Policymaking Continue reading...
Tuesday was a victory for equity and inclusivity and a rejection of hate and fear. The biggest losers? Megadonors and Super PacsRather than regurgitate the particular wins and losses that occurred on Tuesday, I thought it more useful, at this point, to look at the big picture and identify the largest overall winners and losers for the country as a whole.Biggest winner: a diverse, equitable and inclusive America. It's Donald Trump's DEI nightmare. Georgia voters elected Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first Black female governor in the country. Texas chose Gina Hinojosa, the state's first Latina governor and first Democratic governor in more than 30 years. California elected Xavier Becerra, the state's first Latino governor. New Mexico chose Deb Haaland, the country's first female Native American governor. Florida elected Byron Donalds, the first Black governor in Florida's history (a Republican). Continue reading...
by Abené Clayton in Los Angeles with photographs by on (#79MJG)
Black women and girls represent an outsized share of LA homicide victims - frustrated with police and legislators' failures, they're stepping up and speaking out to stop the violenceAs a child, Tioni Theus was a ball of energy. After school she liked to play golf and dance. On weekends, she'd go to the movies and the mall with her older cousin. Driving back home at the end of the day to her family's apartment in South Los Angeles, California, she'd ask: What are we doing next?"Everything changed when Tioni was 13. Her mother was hit by a car and critically injured, leaving her unable to take care of her daughter. While her mom recovered, Tioni lived with other family members. But the accident left Tioni angry, her older cousin Nafeesah Kincy said, and she struggled to understand that her life had permanently changed. Continue reading...
Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was 'only kidding' when he announced a day earlier that he had offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
Election wins of Annie Andrews, Abdul El-Sayed and more who ran on healthcare issues are viewed as sign of home as Trump administration unravels US health policyPublic health leaders and politicians who made healthcare a central part of their platforms swept into office in the US midterm elections last week, setting the stage for national, state and local changes.Voters, faced with an unprecedented rise in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, alongside devastating outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, chose national candidates who prioritized public health, healthcare affordability, reproductive health and the impeachment of Robert F Kennedy Jr, among other key issues. Continue reading...
Democrats should drag Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk before the world and make them explain just what it is they're trying to do and whyThe AI industry had a bad night last week.The Democrats' sweeping midterms victory is a rebuke of Donald Trump, the industry's most powerful champion. Continue reading...
Winning candidates promised to cut costs, rein in corporations, curb billionaire power and improve the economyDon't worry, cash-strapped Americans, relief is on the way", the senator Chuck Schumer promised last week in a press conference celebrating Democrats' massive midterms win.Winning candidates promised to cut food and healthcare costs, rein in corporations ripping off consumers and workers, curb billionaire power and make the world's biggest economy better serve the working class. Continue reading...
The new Congress cannot maintain the culture of political impunity that got us here in the first placeFresh from an overwhelming victory, Democrats might quickly divide over what should be seen as unnecessary fracture.Establishment figures demand a focus on kitchen table issues", while others insist that successful candidates did not just campaign on the cost of living, but managed to connect people's daily struggles with the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration. Continue reading...
by Nosheen Iqbal, Saskia Collette, Laurence Topham, B on (#79MEE)
What happens when Elon Musk and a bunch of tech bros try to rip up the US government? Journalist Michael Lewis - the acclaimed author of Moneyball and of The Big Short - talks to Nosheen Iqbal about his new book Blockers, which tells the story of the civil servants who stood up to Musk's department of government efficiency' as it tried to dismantle the US government Continue reading...
Trump has long relied on sports to project strength and fuel his culture wars. But after a crushing midterm defeat, even his UFC ally cannot distract from the political falloutIn the wake of being destroyed in the midterm elections, it was only a matter of time before Donald Trump did something outrageous in an attempt to misdirect public attention away from his catastrophic losses. Before the midterms, published reports suggested the possibility of apocalypse, global or domestic - a nuclear strike on Iran, martial law to suspend last week's, the invalidation of individual races, such as in Alaska - but Trump opted for banality over Armageddon, offering his vacant press secretary opening to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.It was absurd, and widely posited that a confused Trump had erroneously conflated UFC's White with the Dana White who made more sense, former Heritage Foundation staffer Dana White. Because the public reactions made him look even more lost, confirming the sentiments of recklessness and disorder, utter chaos and buffoonery that led to the Republicans being routed in the midterm elections, the president said his offer to White was all a joke. As a disciple of the notorious McCarthyite Roy Cohn, who taught Trump one of his main political pillars - never apologize or admit wrongdoing. Ever. - Trump should not, of course, be taken at his word. Continue reading...
The quarterback has led Cincinnati to four straight wins with stat lines that put him in the company of Tom Brady. At this rate, the trophy seems his to loseAt the end of the 2021 season, the Cincinnati Bengals came up three points short in Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams. Near the end of the 2022 season, the Bengals came up three points short - a 23-20 score line again in the AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. But from 2023 through 2025, those Bengals had to walk the desert for a while. Between injuries to quarterback Joe Burrow, an offensive line that was problematic at best, and one of the NFL's worst defenses from year to year, Cincinnati had a combined regular-season record of 24-27, and no playoff appearances.Now, the new Bengals are 6-2 after their 34-17 shellacking of the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. And Burrow is on a tear we've rarely seen from any quarterback. Over the last four weeks, his 16 touchdown passes is the most in a four-game span in Bengals history (which goes back to 1968). He is the second quarterback in pro football history with 16 or more passing touchdowns and two or more rushing touchdowns in any four-game span, putting him up with Tom Brady in 2007 - the season in which the New England Patriots' offense scored 36.8 points per game, and Brady was at his best. Burrow has been pressured on just 30.2% of his dropbacks this season, as opposed to 33.8% in 2025 and 34.2% in 2024. Continue reading...
Trump's most controversial aide begins his first day as White House chief of staffStephen Miller, the influential architect of Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown, is due to start as White House chief of staff today. His promotion has horrified many, handing even more power to the president's most controversial aide.The 41-year-old has been with Trump since the beginning of the US president's political career - serving as a speechwriter during his 2016 presidential campaign - and has long been seen as a hardliner on the right, serving as the driving force behind first-term Trump policies such as family separation at the US-Mexico border and the travel ban on people from many Muslim-majority countries. Continue reading...
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