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South Korea's benchmark Kospi index leads Asian market sell-off, despite Donald Trump's suggestion that US Navy could protect vessels moving through vital strait of HormuzGlobal markets tumbled further on Wednesday despite Donald Trump's offer to have the US navy escort tankers through the strait of Hormuz and the US military's claim that there is not a single Iranian ship underway" in the crucial waterway.The Middle East conflict has crippled the strait which was in effect closed by Iran after strikes by the US and Israel this weekend, raising fears of a sustained energy supply crisis that reverberated around the world. Continue reading...

Neither Ken Paxton or John Cornyn captured 50% of the vote in Texas, forcing another poll in MayA bitter primary contest between the four-term Republican US senator John Cornyn and the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, ended in a runoff on Tuesday.In Texas, a primary runoff is declared if neither candidate are able to capture 50% of the vote. Paxton and Cornyn will now face that election on 26 May. Continue reading...

US Southern Command said joint mission with Ecuadorian forces involves decisive action' against narco-terroristsUS and Ecuadorean forces launched joint operations to combat drug trafficking, the US Southern Command said on Tuesday, but neither side gave more details.Southern Command, which encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean, said in a statement on X that the decisive action" was aimed at combating illicit drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico vie for nomination with results not expected until WednesdayWith nearly all polls closed across Texas on Tuesday evening, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and state representative James Talarico were locked in a fiercely contested and unpredictable primary that has drawn record-level turnout and outsized national attention.The marquee Senate race, unfolding in a state Democrats have not carried statewide in more than three decades, has become an early test of competing political playbooks for challenging Republican dominance - and Donald Trump. In the final weeks, the race has raised fraught questions about race, identity and electability for a party searching for a path back to power in Washington. Continue reading...

Rubio said the US was reacting after learning that Israel planned to strike Iran, but Trump on Wednesday contradicted that explanation - key US politics stories from Tuesday 3 March at a glanceDonald Trump attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters on Tuesday by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.Amid growing criticism from opponents and allies, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fueled by comments made by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio. Continue reading...

Former Democratic governor Cooper to take on Trump-backed Whatley for seat held by retiring Thom Tillis

Trump said service members killed were true American patriots' but warned more US deaths in Iran war likelyThe US Department of Defense on Tuesday identified four of the six American soldiers who were killed Sunday during a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait. Donald Trump said there will likely be more" service members killed before it ends".The soldiers were identified as Captain Cody Khork, 35; Sergeant Nicole Amor, 39; Sergeant Declan Coady, 20; and Sergeant Noah Tietjens, 42. Continue reading...

Homeland security department appears to be looking into comments made about Minnesota's top federal prosecutorThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has opened an internal investigation into allegations that Gregory Bovino, a senior border patrol official, made disparaging remarks about the Jewish faith of Minnesota's top federal prosecutor, the New York Times reported.Bovino, who became the public face of the heavily scrutinized immigration crackdown in Minnesota that left two US citizens dead at the hands of federal agents, allegedly mocked federal prosecutor Daniel Rosen during a January phone call with state prosecutors. According to the Times, Bovino allegedly made sarcastic comments about Rosen's observance of Shabbat - the weekly period of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset - and used the phrase chosen people" in a derisive tone during the 12 January call. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on US politics, you can follow our US midterms blog here.In a late night post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said that the US munition stockpiles at the medium and upper medium grade" have never been higher or better".He added that the US has a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons", meaning that wars can be fought forever'". Continue reading...

Party worries crowded field to replace Gavin Newsom - and quirk of primary system - could open door for Republicans in NovemberIt's been three decades since Democrats last had a wide open contest for the California governorship, one of the most visible and most powerful positions in the US. Instead of relishing in the competition of a crowded field, though, party leaders worry that the race to succeed Gavin Newsom could blow up in their faces.On Tuesday, the state's Democratic party chair, Rusty Hicks, wrote in an extraordinary open letter to the candidates: If you do not have a viable path to make it to the general election, do not file to place your name on the ballot for the primary election." Continue reading...

Democrats have decried Marco Rubio's briefings as inadequate in articulating the goals of warDonald Trump attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters on Tuesday by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.Amid growing criticism among opponents and allies alike, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fueled by comments made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state. Continue reading...

Homeland security secretary was grilled in Senate hearing over immigration enforcement crackdown in Twin Cities

Religious freedom group says 200 troops sent complaints of superiors using extremist Christian rhetoric to justify warUS military commanders have been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical end times" to justify involvement in the Iran war to troops, according to complaints made to a watchdog group.The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) says it has received more than 200 complaints from service members across all branches of the armed forces, including the marines, air force and space force. Continue reading...

Wigdor LLP accuses billionaire of trying to destroy those who seek to hold him to account for alleged sexual assault'A law firm that represented multiple women who accused former Jeffrey Epstein associate Leon Black of sexual misconduct alleged in a Manhattan civil suit on Monday that the powerful financier deployed multiple frivolous and malicious lawsuits" as retaliation for representing these accusers.Wigdor LLP claimed Black, who co-founded and formerly chaired Apollo Global Management, tried to use his billions to buy his own form of justice" and to weaponize the civil justice system to silence and destroy those who seek to hold him to account for alleged sexual assault". Black has emphatically denied all wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Donald Trump's commerce secretary has acknowledged visiting convicted sex offender on private island in 2012

US president criticises prime minister for third time 24 hours, describing him as not Churchill' over initial refusal

Jorge Pederson, 30, had been on life support after weekend attack which left more than a dozen others wounded

Donald Trump has insisted that Israel did not put pressure on the US to launch the initial strikes over the weekend, telling reporters that Iran 'was going to attack first'. The US president also threatened to cut off all trade with Spain after the Nato ally refused permission for two jointly operated bases to be used in US strikes on Iran

Move comes day after department said it would drop fight against law firms that stood up to Trump's executive orders

George Calicut Jr has been in prison for more than 25 years for murder, though there were no witnesses or evidence against him

Proponents of the measure announce they have collected 1.3m signatures to put the issue on the midterm ballot

Prosecutors argued Colin Gray gave 14-year-old son, who is accused of killing four in 2024 shooting, access to firearm

More than 1,000 lawsuits were resolved last year, including multimillion-dollar payouts tied to overturned convictions

Jurors hear how July 4 protest outside ICE turned violent, sparking rare federal case against left-wing demonstratorsA little after 11 pm on the 4th of July last year, police officer Jeremiah Zapata, adrenaline pumping through his body, crawled along Tanglewood drive, a quiet residential street on the outskirts of Fort Worth.A few minutes earlier, an urgent call had come over the radio. A lieutenant responding to a call at the Prairieland detention center, a nearby ICE facility, had been shot. Zapata was one of the first officers to respond to the scene, where another officer told him that the suspects had fled along Tanglewood. Moving slowly in his cruiser underneath a light rain, Zapata used the spotlight on his police cruiser to search for what he assumed the suspect looked like - someone dressed in all black, running with a rifle. Zapata admitted he had tunnel vision" as he frantically searched for a suspect. Continue reading...

Entertainment giant keeps average of $7.58 of each ticket for events at major concert venues, court hears

Republican is accused of improperly claiming more than $9,000 in funds meant to subsidize housing costs for members of Congress

State department urged US citizens in 14 countries to leave, but many flights have been canceled

Trump long promised to end endless wars', but the US has joined Israel in attacking Iran. We want to hear how people in the US are reactingHundreds of people thought to have died in Iran following the strikes by US and Israeli forces on Saturday with the numbers expected to rise. Six US service members have been killed since the conflict began on Saturday.For the last decade Donald Trump has denounced US military intervention in other countries; back in December 2016 the then president elect said; We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with." Continue reading...

Formula One's newest team join the grid having designed a car from scratch in only 12 months with the aim of becoming a championship-winning forceWhen the new Formula One season begins on Sunday in the usual fever of excitement and anticipation, consider amid the maelstrom the Cadillac team. Before the lights go out in Melbourne, F1's newest entrant will have a deserved chance to take a breath and savour for but a moment, their remarkable achievement of simply having made it to the grid.The US team backed by General Motors has been built, aside from those involved in the preplanning, from scratch in what will be a year and a day since its entry was formally approved. As their team principal, Graeme Lowdon, explained, that process had begun in an empty room with a screwdriver and an A4 sheet of paper. Continue reading...

If POTUS can really bomb peace, stability and women's rights into the Middle East, I'll take my hat off to him. Judging by his role in Gaza, I won't hold my breathDonald Trump says Keir Starmer has damaged the special relationship by not helping him more in the US-Israel war on Iran. But you have to remember that when you do help, Trump pretends you didn't anyway, and also pisses on your war dead. Still, what could be more enticing than the Americans trying to sell you a timeshare on a war in the Middle East?And so to Iran. War is the realm of uncertainty," said Carl von Clausewitz, who - and not to be a bitch - I still think of as a more impressive military theorist than Pete Hegseth. Certainly, Carl had fewer Crusades tattoos than the US defence secretary. Hegseth is 100% certain about all his nailed-down positions, even the ones in apparent conflict with each other. And it feels like a great sign that he, Marco Rubio and JD Vance already seem to have different rationales for why this war was launched. This is an administration that came to power on an explicit no more wars" ticket - but look, as Pete keeps saying, this isn't a regime-change war. If that seems confusing, given he first said it about 10 minutes after US-Israeli strikes had just cratered the ayatollah's compound, Hegseth has since been on hand to scoff that what's going down in Iran is no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise".Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The lesson here isn't that one AI company is more ethical than another. It's that we must renovate our democratic structuresOpenAI is in and Anthropic is out as a supplier of AI technology for the US defense department. This news caps a week of bluster by the highest officials in the US government towards some of the wealthiest titans of the big tech industry, and the overhanging specter of the existential risks posed by a new technology powerful enough that the Pentagon claims it is essential to national security. At issue is Anthropic's insistence that the US Department of Defense (DoD) could not use its models to facilitate mass surveillance" or fully autonomous weapons," provisions the defense secretary Pete Hegseth derided as woke".It all came to a head on Friday evening when Donald Trump issued an order for federal government agencies to discontinue use of Anthropic models. Within hours, OpenAI had swooped in, potentially seizing hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts by striking an agreement with the administration to provide classified government systems with AI. Continue reading...

US county attorney is confident' her office will be able to pursue charges in cases which led to criticisms of use-of-force policies

The league and its players, locked in a contentious 17-month standoff, must agree to new CBA terms by 10 March or threaten not starting the season on timeIt's not dramatic to say the labor negotiations between the WNBA and its players feel like an old-timey western standoff. The opposing sides have been holding in a quick-draw stance over a new collective bargaining agreement for the past 17 months, passing proposals back and forth that contain what each side envisions for the future of the league. But with less than 70 days until the 30th WNBA season is supposed to tip off, there's still no resolution.The two sides blew past the original deadline of 31 October 2025 and the 9 January extension, entering a status quo" period. The league said that if a term sheet hasn't been agreed to by 10 March, the 2026 season is at risk of not meeting its planned 8 May start. Continue reading...

British institutions can keep politicians somewhat in check. But in the US, shamelessness has become contagiousIt is both sad and ironic that, 250 years after the revolt against George III, the British monarchy is teaching its former colony lessons about accountability. While elite impunity is rampant in the US - from a president who conspired to steal an election, to the Epstein class" - the man formerly known as Prince Andrew is facing both shame sanctions and legal consequences. The same is true for a towering member of the British establishment, the man still known as Lord Mandelson. Just what explains the difference?Being shamed is not the same as being convicted in a court of law - a difference that those pushing back against #MeToo and other supposedly woke movements never failed to emphasize. But both can be crucial for upholding norms of decency as well as democracy. Successful shaming depends on someone credibly accused of misconduct being part of groups whose approval matters to them. Larry Summers might well be resigning from Harvard because it would just have been too uncomfortable to face students and colleagues who might have voiced their disapproval of the attitudes revealed in the Epstein files. By contrast, certain Republicans appear to feel utterly unashamed, no matter how cruel or racist their utterances, because constituents do not seem to mind or because they can safely keep away from any unpredictable encounters (after all, GOP congressmen systematically cancel town halls). Continue reading...

Nominees for key Senate seat to be set while voters choose in congressional contests reshaped by GOP gerrymanderThe first votes of the 2026 midterm cycle will be cast on Tuesday, with a pair of high-stakes US Senate primaries in Texas that will test both parties' appetite for political change in the Trump era.Voters across the state will decide their nominees for a critical Senate seat, as well as for several key congressional contests reshaped by a mid-decade gerrymander sought by Donald Trump to preserve the GOP's fragile House majority. Continue reading...

Trump says the war could last weeks or far longer'. Plus, what a high schooler detained by ICE for 10 months wants you to know

The world's most popular podcaster seemingly disapproving of ICE does not mean he has soured from the administrationJoe Rogan, the world's most popular podcaster, is struggling to sleep. In an interview last week, he complained that the madness" of the news cycle - from the release of the Epstein library, to US military strikes on Iran - has him overwhelmed". For some, this admission is just the latest sign that the world's most popular podcaster might be regretting his role in cheerleading Donald Trump back into office.It follows seemingly scathing criticism of ICE after the killing of Renee Nicole Good. Rogan compared ICE to the Gestapo in a short clip that quickly went viral. It led this newspaper to reasonably ask Has Joe Rogan fully soured on Trump's presidency?", with ABC, Bloomberg and CNN all recently reporting on Rogan's apparent disapproval of ICE. Continue reading...

Trump administration accused Luis Munoz Pinto of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang. Now living in Colombia he hopes to clear his name and study engineering in the USIt was the busiest hour of the evening in Bolivar Square, one of the most iconic spots in Bogota, Colombia's capital. Amid the buzz of smiling tourists, however, Luis Munoz Pinto sat very still, his head in his hands, as memories of his deportation from the United States to a Salvadorian prison flooded back.Munoz Pinto, 27, was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men accused by the Trump administration of being part of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang and deported from the US to the brutal terrorism mega-prison called Cecot in El Salvador last March. Continue reading...

The president needs a quick win to avoid a quagmire - but he needs a long war to justify potential emergency powersDonald Trump has trapped himself in his war with Iran by announcing that his intention is regime change. That uncertain objective is linked to his most urgent objective at home. While pursuing regime change in Iran, he is desperately attempting to stop regime change through the midterm elections. He needs a swift victory in Iran to avoid a quagmire, but he needs a long war to attempt the assertion of unconstitutional emergency authority over the electoral process.Plunging into war followed Trump's signature style: he negotiated in bad faith, turned to bombing when the sides were making significant progress", according to Oman's foreign minister, was heedless of international law, and shut out congressional consultation. He offered as his imperative Iranian imminent threats", which the Pentagon briefed congressional staffers after Operation Epic Fury began was simply without basis in fact. There was no intelligence suggesting an imminent threat". Where's the WMD? Continue reading...

This is a war without a plan, without a strategy, and without any clear understanding of where it leads or how it endsI've spent the last several days checking with foreign policy experts, analysts and specialists in the Middle East for their understanding of Donald Trump's real goal in Iran, and how anyone (including him) will know he's achieved it.Several told me that Trump is seeking the kind of war" that the US executed in Venezuela - an abduction of a leader by special forces or, as in June, surgical airstrikes on locations where Iran appeared to be building nuclear bombs.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and on 15 March in the UK Continue reading...

The technology most people use only as a chatty tool for daily tasks is reportedly aiding US military aggression. And there is not much we can do about itThere are a lot of things that AI can do. It can sort out your shopping list, and it can keep your kids entertained when they're mutinous by spinning up a tailor-made bedtime story for them. It can make you more efficient at work, and can help our government operate more effectively.What is written less about, and what we need to shout louder about now, are the risks inherent in the militarisation of AI. In the last three months Donald Trump's White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change, or to - in the most recent case in Iran - get as close to doing so as possible, and leaving it up to rank-and-file Iranians to finish the job.Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World's Favourite App Continue reading...

After the league gathered for the combine, we look at the plots that will dominate the news cycle in the coming weeks and monthsBarring a gas mask situation, we know who will be the No 1 overall pick in the draft. The Raiders need a viable long-term solution at quarterback after Geno Smith flamed out last year. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner and national champion, is the top quarterback on the board and will be the first named called on 23 April. After Mendoza, the real intrigue begins. Continue reading...

US president says relationship is not what it was' after PM defends decision not to allow use of British bases

None of the prime minister's critics engages with the hard strategic dilemmas arising from Britain's perilous dependency on US powerIt is not easy being a friend of Donald Trump, but it is a lot less dangerous than being his enemy. There isn't a huge range of options in between. War in the Middle East is exposing how limited the choices are for a British prime minister.The US president doesn't see alliances as long-term relationships based on mutual advantage, but as rolling transactions on a mafia model. The boss offers protection in exchange for tribute and loyalty.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?

He lasted just 11 days as White House communications director, before being fired from the Trump administration. The financier and broadcaster discusses working for the president - and becoming his biggest criticIf somebody walks into your office and says they're friends with Donald Trump, they're either exaggerating the relationship, or they don't understand the relationship," says Anthony Scaramucci. Because nobody is friends with Donald. You're a transaction in this guy's field of vision."Scaramucci should know. He has been non-friends with Trump for more than 30 years, though these days he's more an outright enemy. Just as the attention-devouring president once stalked Hillary Clinton on the debate stage, Trump looms large in Scaramucci's story. The two men seem to haunt each other. When we meet in London during a stopover in his hectic schedule, the conversation rarely drifts away from Trump for more than a few minutes. Conversely, the 62-year-old financier and broadcaster has become one of Trump's most vocal and penetrating critics. We fight like New Yorkers," Scaramucci says. He doesn't really come back at me, because he knows I'm going to come back at him." Unlike Trump's presumptive friends, Scaramucci does understand Trump, he claims. There's something called Trump derangement syndrome'; I think I have Trump reality syndrome'. I know what he is, I know what he does, I know what he's capable of and I know the danger of him." Continue reading...