US news | The Guardian

Former US president comes to Georgia to support Jon Ossoff for US Senate and Keisha Lance Bottoms for governorBarack Obama, speaking at a Wednesday campaign rally in suburban Atlanta, offered a closing argument for Democrats in the final week of the midterm election campaign.These are not serious people," he said of Donald Trump and the Republican party. And we're all paying the price for their lack of seriousness." Continue reading...

Firm calls charges, which include violating state gambling ban and profiting from illegal activity, crazy overreach'Utah on Wednesday filed criminal charges against prediction market operator Kalshi and two of its executives, months after a federal judge rejected Kalshi's effort to prevent Utah from enforcing its strict anti-gambling laws against the activity.The felony charges could represent a new tactic in how states try to assert regulatory authority over the fast-expanding activity, a clash that appears headed to a showdown at the US supreme court. Continue reading...

Justice department had demanded state segregate and not count ballots from people it claimed were non-citizensA federal judge declined to order California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people the Trump administration claimed were non-citizens, rebuffing a legally thin request from the justice department that appeared designed to cast doubt over the results of the midterms.The ruling from US district judge David Carter, nominated to the federal bench by Bill Clinton, comes about two weeks after the justice department delivered a USB drive to election officials in Los Angeles and Sacramento that it said contained the names of 20,000 non-citizens on the state's voter rolls. There are more than 23 million registered voters in California and non-citizen voting is extremely rare. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed.

Information released by Distributed Denial of Secrets is the third such government data disclosure in the last monthData identifying more than 41,000 employees and contractors for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was released on Wednesday in an unprecedented leak that reveals how the agency is organized. The records, which were made public by the transpaency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets reference operation names, surveillance programs and information on undercover initiatives.DHS did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Continue reading...

Lawmakers, activists and union leaders across the US remember the co-founder of United Farm Workers unionFollowing the news that Dolores Huerta - the civil rights icon who popularized the rallying cry Si, se puede! - had died at the age of 96 on Wednesday, activists, lawmakers and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Hureta's long and lasting legacy.In California - where Huerta helped found the United Farm Workers (UFW) union - her death was deeply felt. It was in California's central valley that she laid the foundations for the United Farm Workers, and helped organize the 1965 Delano grape strike - a national boycott of table grapes that resulted in better wages and working conditions for grape pickers. Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her likeness. And in 2018, California declared 10 April - her birthday - Dolores Huerta Day. Continue reading...

Seawater surges into low-lying communities from San Diego to San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, homes and businessesHistoric high tides have caused chaos up and down the California coast this week, as parts of the state were inundated by record-breaking water levels. Seawater surged into low-lying communities from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, flooding homes and businesses, and jamming important transportation corridors and train routes.Kayakers and paddle boarders could be seen gliding through typically busy thoroughfares in Marin county, north of San Francisco, on Monday and Tuesday. Several drivers had to be rescued from floating cars in the area, while cyclists who had attempted to cross the temporary lagoon that had formed quickly found themselves waist-deep. Further south, in cities such as Newport Beach, water pounded the emergency infrastructure set up to keep out the swelling sea, which seeped through berms, seawalls and sandbag blockades along the shoreline. Continue reading...

Dolores Huerta, the celebrated 1960s labor union leader and civil rights activist, died on Wednesday in California at the age of 96, her family said in a statement.Huerta was a co-founder with Cesar Chavez, another veteran unionist and political activist, of the United Farm Workers union (UFW), which was credited with improving pay and conditions for agricultural workers through a series of strikes, boycotts and protests in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kushner threatens to sue, denying allegations that two slush funds were set up to influence his Middle East roleA new book containing incendiary claims about Jared Kushner's financial dealings during Donald Trump's first term has ignited a political and media firestorm.The book by author Matthew Cole is called Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East and was released in the US this week. An excerpt was published by Vanity Fair last Thursday, and immediately drew a furious response from Kushner, who called its claims completely insane". The book contains numerous allegations about Kushner, whose father-in-law is Trump and who has served as one of his top diplomatic envoys in the Middle East - the most explosive of which are claims linking him to huge bank accounts allegedly funded by Gulf states. Continue reading...

Keaton Denlay says agents handed him poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet' and threatened to criminally prosecute himA California county elections official is speaking out about the Department of Justice's campaign against purported voter fraud", saying federal officials provided him a disorganized list of names filled with inaccuracies - and threatened to criminally prosecute him if he didn't take action.Keaton Denlay, the county clerk-recorder for Butte county, a region north of Sacramento, said a federal agent on Friday hand-delivered what appeared to be a printout of a poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet with missing and jumbled information". The DoJ claimed the list was of 47 likely" noncitizens who were unlawfully registered to vote and demanded the county set aside their ballots. But Denlay said the document was riddled with errors and lacking crucial details, and he declined to act on it. Continue reading...

Pete Hoekstra, controversial US ambassador to Canada, has also accused Canadian officials of interfering in US electionsThe US ambassador has suggested Canada could be blamed if Republicans perform poorly in next week's midterm elections, the latest intervention from a controversial figure who has been accused of inflaming a bitter dispute that has angered and baffled residents of both countries.On Wednesday, CTV news reported that Pete Hoekstra told business leaders at a closed door meeting that if a number of swing races - including Maine and Michigan - go to the Democrats, it could make things harder for Canada because Donald Trump might try to blame the loss on it. Continue reading...

A jet carrying the Brazilian far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro has landed in Miami, Florida, where the losing candidate in Sunday's presidential election runoff left the airport under police escort without speaking to the press. The Gulfstream IV, registered as LV-JQW, left Guayaquil in Ecuador earlier in the day. After losing Sunday's election to the incumbent president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro disappeared for more than 24 hours, until Argentina's migration authorities said he had entered the country by land on Tuesday night

Circumstances are ripe for change in this onetime Republican stronghold given the current dissatisfaction with Trump agenda, experts sayDonald Trump has repeatedly asked voters to pretend that he is on the ballot in November's crucial midterm elections. And in the comfortable confines of Arizona's most affluent and fiercely contested congressional district, Trump is definitely on voters' minds.But whether that helps or hurts the warring congressional candidates in this sun-drenched swath of suburbia, where Teslas and walled-in luxury homes dominate, depends on who you ask. Continue reading...

Fed chair Kevin Warsh said politics played no role in pause of interest rate hikes, despite inflation remaining above 3%The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday during its last board meeting before the midterm elections, keeping rates at one of the highest pre-election levels seen in over 20 years.Two out of 12 board members voted against the pause, preferring to raise rates by a quarter point this meeting, the Fed board said in a statement. Continue reading...

Effort to loosen rules on unproven peptide drugs, favored by RFK Jr, faced fierce pushback from agency scientistsA plan to give people in the United States easier access to unproven peptide drugs favored by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, was opposed by most Food and Drug Administration scientific staff members, who had limited input in drafting the policy, according to six people familiar with its development.The document posted online on Wednesday by Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) covers a handful of injectable peptides promoted within the wellness industry for building muscle, healing injuries and boosting energy. Continue reading...

Obama has been accused of snobbery' over his Trump diss, as people rush to defend the restaurant chain's affordable opulence'Around lunchtime on Tuesday, a Rolls-Royce stopped at the intersection of Beverly Drive and Dayton Way in Beverly Hills, California. Local people in athleisure walked past Balenciaga, Dior and Prada boutiques, as visitors on Hollywood bus tours ogled nearby Rodeo Drive, where Burberry and Louis Vuitton shops meet at a celebrated street corner.Up the street, across from the upmarket Erewhon grocery store - home to $21 smoothies - a few diners sat outside an American landmark: the Cheesecake Factory. Continue reading...

Both Obama and Trump are on the campaign trail, but only one of them appears to be descending into madness

Twin brothers, 22, from Ghana and a 53-year-old American woman targeted older adults in 25 US states, officials sayThree people have pleaded guilty in a $9m romance fraud scam that targeted elderly Americans.On Monday, the US attorney's office in the northern district of Ohio announced that twin brothers from Ghana and an American woman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Continue reading...

Huerta co-founded United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, improving pay and conditions for farm workers

Democrats urge FTC to tackle systemic failure' of biggest convenience and dollar stores over pricing practices after Guardian investigationsThirty-four members of Congress are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports of widespread overcharging by some of America's most-recognized brand-name retailers.The 28 October letter to the FTC comes in direct response to Guardian investigations of four of the nation's largest dollar-store and convenience-store chains. Both investigations revealed pervasive mismatches between shelf labels and register prices. Continue reading...

From redrawing electoral maps to installing a sense of uncertainty around the electoral process ahead of the midterms elections on 3 November, Republicans have deployed several tactics to try to skew the vote in their favor. As the president's popularity continues to drop, it is crucial for him and his administration to retain a majority in Congress or they could face investigations and even impeachment. Guardian political reporter Shrai Popat looks at the ways the Republicans have tried and are still trying to influence the election

You try to leave, it is death,' Halima Salman testified. Her mother and defense attorneys wept after the verdictA New York woman whose father took her to Syria as a teenager and arranged her marriage to an Islamic State fighter was convicted on Tuesday of receiving weapons training from the militant group.Prosecutors said Halima Salman, a US citizen, pledged loyalty to the extremist group and willingly participated in its activities. Jurors were shown a video of her holding an assault rifle, a photo of her with the group's flag and loving text messages she sent her husband. Continue reading...

US health secretary falsely claims at Mike Rogers rally that Arabs have never won major prizes in science or literatureRobert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, faced backlash on Wednesday for a wildly racist tirade" during a campaign stop in Michigan in which he falsely asserted that Arabs never won leading awards in science or literature.Kennedy was speaking at the Monday night event in Grand Rapids in support of Mike Rogers, the Republican US Senate candidate trailing his Democratic midterms opponent Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim, in polling. Continue reading...

When Stiggers' father died, he dropped out of college to help his mother and 12 siblings. He thought his football dream had ended but made it in the endQwan'tez Stiggers had only been in college for a few days when his world fell apart. Seven months after the car crash that put him in a coma, Stiggers' father died. Stiggers quit college and returned home to support his mother, Kwanna, and 12 siblings. It was a huge blow to the 18-year-old. His partner, Cheyenne, was also processing a tragedy after her teenage sister had been killed by a stray bullet. Over the last six years, Cheyenne and Qwan'tez have helped each other off the bottom of an emotional well.Working as a delivery driver and washing trucks while his old teammates progressed in their football careers could have driven him off the rails. I wouldn't necessarily say I was envious but I wanted better for myself," says Stiggers. I had a child, was living with my wife - my girlfriend at the time - and got those late-night delivery jobs to pay the bills. Continue reading...

Increase will add strain on healthcare system already struggling amid cuts by Trump administration, experts sayThe number of people with dementia in the United States is projected to increase dramatically over the next 25 years, which will place increasing strain on a healthcare system already struggling to help them amid cuts by the Trump administration, experts say.According to a new study in Jama Neurology, the annual incidence of new dementia cases globally will more than double, from 11.4m in 2023 to 24.7m in 2050. In the United States, the number of adults diagnosed with dementia each year will increase from 514,000 in 2020 to 1m by 2060, according to a Jama study published in 2024. Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu vows to form new coalition while opposition bloc leader says result shows prime minister should step down. Plus, a scathing review of Elon Musk's AI-generated version of The OdysseyGood morning. Israel could be in for weeks of political haggling after exit polls and partial official results showed neither Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition bloc led by the former general Gadi Eisenkot had won enough seats to form a government.With 70% of the vote, or 4m ballots, counted so far, the Netanyahu bloc had 54 seats, the Eisenkot-led Change bloc 47 seats, and the Palestinian parties 19 seats. Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority.What have the two leaders said so far? Israel's longest-serving prime minister vowed to assemble a coalition through agreements between his Likud party, far-right factions and Jewish religious parties. Eisenkot had said earlier in the evening that people decided in favour of change" and Netanyahu should have announced today his retirement from politics".What does the increase in the Palestinian bloc mean? The election was marked by a record participation by Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin, a discriminated minority that makes up about 20% of the country's population. Julian Borger explains from Nazareth that Eisenkot will have to work with Arab-Israeli leaders to have a hope of governing. Millions of other Palestinians living under Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza cannot vote.Here is what we know about the declared results so far. Our live coverage continues on the website.What else has Trump been saying about fossil fuels? Trump suggested on Tuesday that Venezuela would become the 51st US state as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had 1m barrels of oil on it" from the country, nine months after deposing its president. Continue reading...

In social media posts, president has said network is doing little to help' Republican party in midterm electionsDonald Trump has always viewed conservative media as a tool to help him and his party achieve political victory and stay in power. But with polls flashing red for his party ahead of next week's midterm elections, the president and his allies have trained their fire on the most prominent player in the space: Fox News.For years, the president has criticized Fox's non-partisan polling operation, and in recent weeks he has called out the network for not sufficiently airing his midterm rallies - even when they are not particularly newsworthy. Continue reading...

Mexican police had said they found Shayna Feinman in Tijuana, raising the hopes of missing Arizonan's familyArizona authorities say their Mexican counterparts were resoundingly mistaken when they publicly claimed recently that they found alive a woman who was feared slain after disappearing in 2024 - a turn of events that her sister has called turmoil" and heartbreaking".The case in question centers on Shayna Feinman, who was reported missing in rural Yavapai county, Arizona, in March 2024 at age 38. Continue reading...

Psychopatriarchy is jet fuel to racism, colonialism, imperialism and capitalismFor those of us who have spent our lives trying to dismantle this endlessly destructive paradigm of patriarchy, it has become increasingly clear in recent months that something more terrifying is afoot.The wheels are off the cart. We are in the midst of a chaotic, demented acceleration of the most violent and cruel aspects of this system which has evolved into what I am calling Psychopatriarchy.V (formerly Eve Ensler) is a playwright and activist and the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls Continue reading...

The rapper lends the NFL a veneer of credibility but is unlikely to push back on the establishment figures who run the leagueOn Monday the NFL named Jay-Z as the headliner for this season's Super Bowl half-time show. His company, Roc Nation, produces the show under a 2019 deal reportedly worth $5m a year, and the agreement was extended for another five years in 2024. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said his one request when the partnership began was that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day.Goodell's wish makes total sense: Jay-Z is the perfect choice for the half-time show, and that's not a compliment. The NFL wants a shill who can still pass for a rebel, and nobody in American music plays that part better than Jay-Z. Continue reading...

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...

This live blog is now closed.

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...

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...