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Once the midterms are over, Trump will be free to pursue vendetta politics. But with will and diplomacy, he can be reined inAs another Iran catastrophe looms, one question matters more than any other: how to stop it before it's too late? Whatever the eventual outcome of Israel's election and next week's US midterm polls, Donald Trump, playing the Lone Ranger, and Benjamin Netanyahu, his badass Tonto, appear hell-bent on resuming the illegal war of choice they began in June last year and expanded in February. Like a Shakespearean tragedy moving inexorably to a bloody denouement, the worst is yet to come. And yet three things seem certain: the US and Israel will again fail to totally destroy Iran's largely hypothetical nuclear capabilities; its regime will survive; and millions of ordinary people, there and around the world, will pay the price for this unjustified, reckless aggression.Ducking and weaving, Trump is desperate to dodge the blame for the Republicans' anticipated midterm meltdown, largely triggered by war-related fuel and consumer price inflation. He claimed Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries were responsible, but that didn't wash. He cut a treacherous diesel deal with Vladimir Putin but, as usual, Russia's smirking mafioso conned him. He urged US allies to tap their strategic reserves but, unsurprisingly, vilified and sidelined European leaders, who view his war as an unmitigated disaster and declined to bail him out. Trump also reportedly rebuffed last-gasp, electorally driven pressure from Netanyahu to hit Iran this month, fearful it would unleash a Democratic tsunami.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

In this episode of Guardian Australia's US politics podcast, co-hosts Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy talk about Barack Obama's war of words with Donald Trump, after the former president spoke at a campaign rally in Ohio and compared Trump's White House changes to the Cheesecake Factory. But how effective is Obama on the Democratic party campaign trail? What are the risks around personal attacks? And how much does Obama's legacy help or hinder when it comes to the midterms?Reged and Jonathan also look at the backlash over an attack ad from the campaign of Republican nominee for governor of Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, and why some are saying it's a new low for US politics. Finally, how has the perception of corruption in government become such a key issue for voters on both sides of the aisle? Continue reading...

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Bill Essayli, a former GOP lawmaker and ally of president, has not been confirmed by the Senate in his roleA US judge ruled on Tuesday that Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in southern California, was unlawfully serving" as the head of the US attorney's office and was disqualified from overseeing two criminal prosecutions.The order, however, will not immediately go into effect, and the Department of Justice (DoJ) has said it intends to appeal. Continue reading...

Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billionsDonald Trump announced his administration is terminating" Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.Trump said during a campaign rally in Texas that the change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210 million barrels of oil - equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption. Tonight, I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers," Trump said, lifting what he called crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket" for small oil and gas operators. Continue reading...

Discovery comes months after Utah county detectives confirmed that Bundy had killed another Utah girl that yearThe notorious serial killer Ted Bundy has been found responsible, through DNA evidence, for the murder of a 17-year-old Utah girl who went missing in 1974 before her nude body was found days later, state authorities announced at a Tuesday news conference.The breakthrough in the investigation of Melissa Ann Smith's death comes months after Utah county detectives confirmed in April that Bundy had killed another Utah girl, 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime, in 1974. Continue reading...

Hazardous storm conditions delayed recovery efforts on mountain that has proved to be a perilous hiking spotThe body of a missing California hiker, blanketed in a layer of snow, was recovered on Mount Whitney on Sunday after a blustery storm delayed retrieval operations for five days.The Inyo county sheriff's office extended its condolences to the loved ones and family of the hiker, who has not been publicly identified, in a Monday statement. Continue reading...

Susan and Michael Pretti say they have been ignored and misled' in quest for justice over son's killing by US agentsThe parents of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, accused federal officials of stonewalling them and shielding their son's killers.During a press conference on Tuesday, Michael and Susan Pretti made their first public remarks since their son's death in January, calling for the Department of Justice to hold those involved in their son's death accountable. The federal government has not provided them with meaningful information about the case, they said. Continue reading...

President at Texas campaign rally hails deal struck with post-Maduro government as greatest oil victory in history'Donald Trump suggested Venezuela would become the 51st state of the United States on Tuesday as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had one million barrels of oil on it" from the country, nine months after deposing its president.At a campaign rally in Corpus Christ, Texas, Trump touted a US oil deal with Venezuela, which the US attacked in January, capturing its long-serving leader Nicolas Maduro. Continue reading...

Cassidy Hutchinson had implicated Donald Trump in US Capitol attack during testimony before House committeeThe justice department on Tuesday failed to secure a grand jury indictment against a former White House staffer who provided dramatic but disputed testimony against Donald Trump before a House committee investigating the 6 January 2021 US Capitol insurrection, according to two people familiar with the matter.A grand jury in Washington rejected prosecutors' request to return an indictment charging Cassidy Hutchinson, said the people, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case. It's the latest setback in the justice department's efforts to charge perceived adversaries of the Republican president. Continue reading...

Sale makes Jodi', a smaller relative of T rex, the second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction', Sotheby's saysA rare skeleton of a Nanotyrannus, a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, sold at auction in New York this week for $47.3m, making it one of the world's most expensive fossils.The skeleton, named Jodi" after the person who found the remains in 2019, sold at Sotheby's on Tuesday for $47.3m, after a twelve-minute bidding battle that saw six bidders compete online and over the phones, before ultimately selling on the phone", Sotheby's said in a statement. Continue reading...

Vice-president tries to link El-Sayed to Paris protests and claims he would lead rioters in burning down' DetroitJD Vance has escalated his inflammatory attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan who has faced an onslaught of Islamophobia, claiming he would lead rioters in burning down" Detroit.El-Sayed, who would become the country's first Muslim senator if he wins next week's election, has been branded a jihadist" by Donald Trump, the US president. Continue reading...

Eight-bedroom mansion listed at $18.5m sold for $28.5m and has a private garden and three-car garageA San Francisco estate sold for $10m above its listing price this month in a new record for the city as the artificial intelligence boom continues to drive up real estate prices.Located in the city's tony Presidio Heights neighborhood, the eight-bedroom mansion was listed at $18.5m on 2 October and ultimately sold for $28.5m on 22 October, according to the property's listing. Continue reading...

If ever enacted, proposals by Marine Le Pen and the AfD leader, Alice Weidel, to hollow out EU institutions would be a continental act of self-harmFollowing the Brexit referendum in 2016, MarineLePen was in a predictably celebratory mood.Britain's vote to leave the European Union, she told one interviewer, was the first breach in the Brussels Wall". Ms Le Pen's Front National party wasat that point committed to taking France downthesame path, given the chance. But as the UK'sself-inflicted economic wounds became a cautionary tale for the rest of Europe, the notion ofFrexit was put on ice.Instead, Ms Le Pen now hopes to lead far-right alliesin hollowing out the EU from within. This month, both she and the leader of Alternative fur Deutschland, Alice Weidel, outlined their visions of aEurope of nations" in which EU institutions would be stripped of both cash and power. Ms Weidel's new deal for Europe" would abolish elections to the European parliament, and seek German opt-outs in areas such as migration, defence and common borrowing. Ms Le Pen's party, now called NationalRally, proposes slashing French contributions to the EU budget by 60% over a five-yearpresidential term, and ending the role of Brusselsin proposing common policies for the 27member states.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...

US military says it carried out an airstrike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in latest attack in regionThe US military said on Tuesday it killed five people after an airstrike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific.Tuesday's strike was among more than 70 such attacks since the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidency, according to media tallies. Collectively, they have killed more than 240 people. Continue reading...

The patient was at a facility in Minneola, Florida, while the surgeon operated remotely from another facilityA Florida surgeon has performed the first telerobotic operation between two US hospitals, removing the prostate of a man with cancer from 35 miles away, according to officials.Dr Vipul Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration in suburban Orlando, on Sunday performed an investigational robotic prostatectomy on a 66-year-old prostate cancer patient who volunteered for a clinical study evaluating a robotic telesurgery system. Continue reading...

Home of wealthy developer Stephen Cloobeck searched in connection to sexual misconduct inquiry into SwalwellFederal law enforcement agents searched a home in suburban Los Angeles early on Tuesday as part of an investigation into Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, a law enforcement official and two people familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.Agents searched the Beverly Hills home of the wealthy developer and Swalwell donor Stephen Cloobeck, where the Democratic ex-congressman spent time before resigning from office in April, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. Continue reading...

Jennifer Shuford is expected to leave her post after midterm elections to spend more time with my family'The deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will resign after six months on the job, according to an agency email obtained by the Guardian.Dr Jennifer Shuford was appointed by Donald Trump in April as part of a four-person senior leadership team. Continue reading...

Voters have a chance to break America's two-tiered system of justice and hold powerful people accountableWelcome back to How We Win, a Guardian opinion series with leading thinkers, offering bold ideas for America's political future. Last week, Guardian US columnist Rebecca Solnit wrote about the GOP's alignment with the tech overlords. Today's edition was written by Katie Phang, an independent journalist, trial lawyer and political analyst. Sign up for future editions here.When Americans go to the polls a week from now, accountability will be front and center.Instead of enforcing the law, the attorney general of the United States has been busy subverting it Continue reading...

We want to hear from gen Z voters about the issues that will decide your vote in the midterm electionsThe US midterm elections that will decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states, are just one week away. The results could have a huge impact on Donald Trump's final two years in office.Nearly 50 million people aged 18 to 29 are eligible to vote in the midterms but nearly half are either not registered or civically engaged, according to US Census Bureau data. Continue reading...

Matthew Unglesbee admitted to sending the letters to four unidentified politicians, officials sayAn Illinois man accused of sending letters containing suspicious white powder to four members of Congress has been arrested after he allegedly wrote his own name and return address on the envelopes, according to authorities.Matthew Unglesbee, 36, of Quincy, remained in the custody of US marshals on Tuesday on federal charges of perpetrating a hoax and sending threatening communications through the mail. Continue reading...

We'd like to hear from Americans across the political spectrum about your voting priorities in the midterm electionsOn 3 November, millions of Americans will vote in midterm elections to decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states.In an October poll by the New York Times/Siena College, Donald Trump's approval rating sank to 36% with most respondents expressing frustration over his handling of the US economy, cost of living and Iran war. Continue reading...

Security footage shows Jacob Morley escaping in his prison uniform, investigators describe

US president in unprecedented offer of $1m reward for reports of voter fraud as DoJ acts against states. Plus, everything you need to know about Israel's crucial electionGood morning. The Trump administration's assault on the legitimacy of the midterm elections has continued, with the US president announcing a $1m reward for reports of voter fraud, amid several legal actions by the Department of Justice to limit voting.Donald Trump said the bounty payment was contingent on the arrest and conviction of those responsible. He did not disclose how he would pay for the rewards. Trump's comments follow his repeated and unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.What action is the administration trying to take against Washington state? The administration has asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it alleges are registered to vote without US citizenship. The request marks the third time this month that the justice department has brought a direct state challenge even as voting is under way.What is the latest in the battle over California voters? A US federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's move to block California from counting the ballots of 20,000 registered voters that the justice department claims are non-citizens.Why is Vivek Ramaswamy facing criticism over an advert? The Republican nominee to be the governor of Ohio ran an ad featuring his opponent's mother, who said she would not vote for her daughter. As Moira Donegan explains in this excoriating opinion piece, the estrangement between Amy Acton is decades long and stems from the sexual abuse Acton survived as a child.What are the key takeaways from the investor prospectus? The document reveals the AI research lab's financials and the risks - more than 90 pages of them - that might negatively impact its business. Johana Bhuiyan has identified these four key takeaways.What has Anthropic's model recently been accused of? Anthropic's Claude model accessed voter data in the US state of Georgia, the AI company has confirmed, in the latest example of unauthorised behavior by the technology. The AI model managed to bypass a paywall to reach data that is publicly available but is typically accessible only after paying a fee. Continue reading...

Through thoughtful conversations and dynamic images, Quil Lemons's new book Quiladelphia explores how Black men navigate desire and masculinity as well as the stereotypes placed on them. With a foreword by Brontez Purnell and including Lemons in dialogue with musician Santigold and artist Lyle Ashton Harris, Lemons asks the audience to consider who can embody the American dream Continue reading...

Twenty-two states and Washington DC let voters register on election day. Why aren't politicians doing more to reach young people?With election day just a week away, candidates are ignoring millions of young Americans who could still cast a decisive ballot but have not yet registered to vote.By contrast, my mailbox has been full of political flyers: the various campaigns gleaned my name from the voter file, recognized that I am a regular voter who hadn't cast a ballot yet, and assessed through their targeted analysis that it's worth spending on printing and postage to get their message to me. Continue reading...

Both private and public schools in tech regions are limiting the use of tech in classrooms. But will low-income districts be able to follow suit?German Gil spends most of his waking hours looking at screens. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015, the software engineer has bounced between start-ups and giants including Netflix, Facebook and GitHub.But when it came to the education of his daughter, Victoria, he wanted her to have a different experience, one in which his kid could be a kid". Continue reading...

Last year, the state's board of elections removed several polling sites from local colleges - and students have taken it upon themselves to organize votingOn 15 October, the first day of early voting in North Carolina, mostly Black students from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NC A&T), Bennett College and University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) marched from their college campuses to their nearest polling sites for the first day of early voting.Previously, students were able to vote on their respective campuses; however, late last year, with Republicans at the helm, the North Carolina board of elections removed several polling sites from local colleges: UNCG, NC A&T, Western Carolina University (WCU) and Elon University. As a result, students have taken it upon themselves to organize voting. The marches - two, so far - took about two hours round trip, but protecting their right to vote, the students say, is worth it. Continue reading...

In New Mexico, where a shortage is acute, Casa de Salud trains college and high-school health apprentices who understand the communities they serveI'll be getting a little bit closer to you to put the cuff on," Gisselle Martinez said, demonstrating how to take a manual blood pressure in a trauma-informed manner. It might be a little tight. Let me know if you feel any discomfort and I can take it off."She's not a doctor or a nurse - at least, not yet - but a 21-year-old college student. Between classes, Martinez works as a bilingual health apprentice at Casa de Salud, a primary care clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On top of taking vitals, Martinez is certified in harm reduction - she can run a needle exchange and give out fentanyl test strips. And she understands how a patient's trauma and past neglect can show up in an exam room. Continue reading...

It is essential not just to fund the public goods the nation needs, it is indispensable to restore a sense of fairnessMoney doesn't buy happiness, we're told. Even some economists agree. The Nobel Prize-winning economists, Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, once proposed that rising income increased people's emotional wellbeing only up to a ceiling of about $115,000 in today's money.They probably hadn't met many billionaires. The ultra-rich may not pursue happiness in the joyful sense of the word. But they will try every trick in the book to hang on to their stash and woe befall the tax authority that tries to lay a finger on their treasure. Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu is in the fight of his political life. Voters in Israel are heading to the polls on Tuesday to decide an election that could determine whether Netanyahu will remain the country's prime minister (and affect the outcome of the corruption charges against him). But the Israeli election also arrives at a time when voters around the world seem to be rejecting authoritarianism. A student-run movement stunned the world on Sunday when its candidates routed Serbia's long-serving leader, Aleksandar Vui. That same day, Brazilians beat back a campaign by Flavio Bolsonaro - the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the disgraced former president - in a historic upset. Carter Sherman speaks to Julian Borger, the Guardian's senior international correspondent, about how these four elections could reshape the political world order in just 10 days, and why the upcoming US midterm elections are the biggest test for global democracy.

Republican attacks on the candidate for governor are contradictory and hinge on a warped understanding of sexual abuseI've heard people say that the Ramaswamy team must have been scared.Last week, the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech billionaire and onetime Republican presidential candidate who is currently the Republican nominee to be the governor of Ohio, ran an ad featuring the long-estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, the physician and former public health official Amy Acton.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

No private individual should have the power to determine US foreign policy, as Musk has attempted to do in UkraineHe's Exhibit A on why billionaire wealth should be taxed, why we must get big money out of politics, why billionaires shouldn't be allowed to buy up major media, and why our government shouldn't give them huge military contracts.I'm talking about Elon Musk, of course. Continue reading...

Rubio's decision not to meet Narendra Modi last week was seen by some as a snub - but by focusing on business leaders and oil, the secretary of state made American priorities clear. Plus: the artist bringing a female perspective to men's clothing Don't get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhen the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited India for the second time this year, headlines concentrated on who he met and where he went.The fact that Rubio bypassed New Delhi and did not meet the prime minister, Narendra Modi, during his trip last week, and instead traveled to the financial capital, Mumbai, where he met India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (pictured top with Rubio), and business leaders, did not go unnoticed. Nor did his decision to travel to Jamnagar, the small Gujarati town that is home to Reliance Industries' colossal oil refinery complex. Continue reading...

Rapper who has helped produce the Super Bowl show for years is stepping up to perform himself, at SoFi Stadium in CaliforniaAfter years of producing the Super Bowl half-time show, Jay-Z has announced that the 2027 headline act will be none other than himself.After days of speculation, the NFL, Apple Music and Jay-Z's company Roc Nation announced on Monday night that the rapper will be the featured performer for the half-time festivities at the Super Bowl LXI on 14 February at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Continue reading...

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This is the latest sign of the administration's attempts to challenge states with competitive midterm races that could determine control of CongressThe Trump administration on Monday asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it alleges are registered to vote without US citizenship, less than two weeks after making a similar demand in California.The announcement is the latest sign of the administration's attempts to sow doubts about the election or its outcome in states with races that will help determine control of the US Senate and House. Continue reading...

Newsom accuses Trump of assault on democracy' as DoJ claims 20,000 registered voters in state are non-citizensA US federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration's move to block California from counting the ballots of 20,000 registered voters that the justice department claims are non-citizens.The court on Monday ruled 2-1 against Donald Trump's justice department in the dispute, denying the administration's demand that election officials segregate the thousands of ballots until people on the list could verify their citizenship. The justice department had given the California secretary of state 48-hours to carry out the order, which state election officials refused - leading to the lawsuit. Continue reading...

Suit that cites 2025 Guardian investigation alleges pattern of inaccurate pricing' that affects millions of purchases'The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states have sued Dollar General, the nation's largest dollar-store chain, for persistently overcharging customers at its more than 20,000 stores across the United States.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nashville, cites a Guardian investigation published last December. Continue reading...

Last Ditch bar announced it would soft close' after it went viral following a story on its attempt to relax Covid rulesA Massachusetts lesbian bar that went viral for loosening its Covid mask policy last month announced plans to soft close" on Monday as it seeks new ownership.The Last Ditch bar, in the small city of Greenfield, said in an Instagram post that it was searching for co-owners, new owners or a full sale, and that it would soft close effective immediately", with only booked events" continuing while it closes this winter. It had opened just last year as a bar for dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends". Continue reading...

President's comments come ahead of November midterm elections and follow his claims of widespread voter fraudDonald Trump has announced a $1m reward for reports of voter fraud in past elections and the upcoming midterm elections, with payment contingent on the arrest and conviction of those responsible.In a Truth Social post on Monday, the president wrote: Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid $1,000,000 upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud! Thank you for your attention to this matter." Continue reading...

Comey, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, accused of leaking information related to US national defenseThe justice department charged former FBI director James Comey on Monday with two counts of leaking information related to national defense, the third time the Trump administration has filed criminal charges against one of Donald Trump's most despised foes.The charges, filed in federal court in Washington DC, provide few details about what Comey is alleged to have leaked. The government alleges that the former FBI director leaked the information in 2016 and conspired with an unnamed person to give the information to a national news outlet. Continue reading...

Residents of coastal towns told to avoid beaches during high tides and keep further away from the ocean than usualCoastal communities across California were preparing for days of flooding amid potentially record-breaking tides" this week, as water levels began rising on Monday.The National Weather Service warned that significant coastal flooding was expected in San Diego and Orange counties through Thursday that could close roads and inundate homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. A wide swath of the coast from San Luis Obispo county to Los Angeles county could see minor to moderate" coastal flooding with tides as high as 8ft. Further north in the Bay Area, officials advised there could be as much as 2.1ft of inundation, primarily in low-lying coastal areas. Continue reading...

Republican and Democrat come together for a rare joint endorsement of candidate in unexpected competitive raceTwo South Carolina former governors, David Beasley and Jim Hodges, a Republican and Democrat respectively, have come together for a rare joint endorsement for Democrat Annie Andrews's Senate bid.Andrews, a pediatrician, is looking to flip the seat, currently held by Darline Graham, the Trump-endorsed sister of the late senator Lindsey Graham, in what has become an unexpectedly competitive race for the usually reliably red state. Continue reading...