by Shrai Popat (now) and Vivian Ho (earlier) on (#71JY6)
Epstein Files Transparency Act now goes to Donald Trump for his signature as Democrats and Republicans hailing the bravery of Epstein survivorsOne quick note, there haven't been any changes to Donald Trump's schedule today, per the press pool. Which means, as of now, the president doesn't have any time allotted to sign the bill forcing the justice department to release the full batch of Jeffrey Epstein files.We'll keep you updated if things change throughout the day. Continue reading...
by Chris Stein in Washington and Lauren Gambino on (#71HY0)
Legislation would next go to Trump who indicated he would sign bill after he and his allies backed down from oppositionThe Senate approved legislation on Wednesday that would force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the morning after a near-unanimous vote in the US House.By unanimous consent, the Senate agreed to pass the measure as soon as it arrived in the chamber from the House on Tuesday, which had overwhelmingly approved the bill earlier that day in a 427-1 tally. Once the legislation is forwarded to the Senate, it will be automatically approved and cleared for Trump's signature. The president, who dropped his opposition after it was clear it would pass, has said he would sign it. Continue reading...
Starbucks union threatens to expand campaign as politicians like Zohran Mamdani back striking workersUnionized Starbucks workers are threatening to expand a US strike against the world's biggest coffee chain into the largest and longest" in the company's history - and urging customers to steer clear.Starbucks has said the vast majority of its cafes remain open, and expressed disappointment that Starbucks Workers United launched the strike. Continue reading...
Bill Ackman thinks his pickup line could aid population rates. Given the track record of the mega-rich, it may do the oppositeSit down and pay attention, because this column might change your life. I bring you tidings from the Nazi-filled wilderness that is now X, where Maga-adjacent billionaire Bill Ackman has generously decided to dispense romantic advice to the masses. Online culture, Ackman notes, has destroyed the ability to spontaneously meet strangers". The antidote to this, he suggests, are four simple words.May I meet you?" Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips, Laure Boulinier and Sarah Bertram on (#71K2H)
In August, Donald Trump started a campaign of aggression against Venezuela. The US president first launched airstrikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of the South American country - a move largely condemned as extrajudicial killings - then deployed US naval assets in the Caribbean. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, explains why the claims the targeted boats were carrying drugs destined for the US are dubious and what Trump's actions could mean for the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro
Newly released Epstein documents drag the ex-treasury secretary into deeper scrutiny as Harvard widens its reviewHarvard is set to launch a new investigation into its former university president and Bill Clinton economic adviser Larry Summers about his ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as it also emerged Summers has resigned from the board of OpenAI.The moves comes after Summers said he would be stepping back from public engagements after emails revealed the extent of his relationship with the late sex offender. Continue reading...
In San Francisco, doctors say, a growing number of Latinos who work physically demanding jobs have turned to supplements that promise relief for joint and bone pain. FDA warnings are not filtering throughThis story was co-published with El Tecolote, a bilingual community newsroom that serves Latinx communities who live or work in San Francisco.When Gloria Caballero, 52, started experiencing knee pain four years ago, her sister in Los Angeles suggested a natural remedy that a co-worker had sworn by: a supplement called Artri Ajo King. Following her advice, Caballero started buying the yellow-and-blue pills in Los Angeles and bringing them up to her home in San Francisco, where she started taking them twice a day, every day. Continue reading...
Pontiff backs statement by US bishops condemning raids and mass deportations under Trump administrationPope Leo has reiterated his disapproval of Donald Trump's immigration policies, saying foreigners in the US are being treated in an extremely disrespectful way".Leo, the first US pontiff in the history of the Catholic church, made the remarks in response to questions about a statement adopted last week during a special assembly of US bishops that criticised the Trump administration's mass deportations and lamented the fear and anxiety caused by immigration raids. Continue reading...
Staff at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab spent days cleaning the concrete-covered great horned owlAn owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in south-western Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a fighter".The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort in the south-western part of the state and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers. Continue reading...
History shows us that the creation of international rules and institutions is followed by their partial destruction, and a reconstruction that builds on what came beforeNineteen forty-five was a pivotal moment in international law, marking the founding of the United Nations and the International Military Tribunal to investigate war crimes committed during the second world war. Eighty years on, it is increasingly being said that we are living through a moment of great change, towards a world that is without such law.In September, the Financial Times published an editorial headlined A world without rules". That view was premised on two incidents: Israel's launch of a missile strike on a building that hosted Hamas officials in Qatar; and the flight of 19 Russian drones into Polish airspace. This flouting of the previous rules-based order", the FT said, was now producing a kind of anarchy and a proliferation of violence".Philippe Sands is professor of law at University College LondonThis is adapted from A World Without Law?, the 46th FA Mann Lecture, delivered by Philippe Sands on 18 November 2025 Continue reading...
The bill's support in the House and Senate is a rare moment of bipartisan agreement. Plus, Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince's visit
Trump administration proposal would exclude elite schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practicesThe state department is proposing to suspend 38 universities including Harvard and Yale from a federal research partnership program because they engage in diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices, according to an internal memo and spreadsheet obtained by the Guardian.The memo, dated 17 November, recommends excluding institutions from the Diplomacy Lab - a program that pairs university researchers with state department policy offices - if they openly engage in DEI hiring practices" or set DEI objectives for candidate pools. Continue reading...
How are people expected to handle increased health insurance costs when everything else in life has become more expensive? I think the answer is: they're notI've got a genius business idea for people with few discernible skills. First you establish a health insurance" company and get people to pay you large sums every month. Then, when a customer tries to use their insurance to cover medical costs, make a habit of denying their claim. While doing that, pay lobbyists to keep politicians amenable. Repeat this strategy until your company is worth billions.I'm not saying this is exactly how the US health insurance industry works, but it's close enough. There is a reason Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialised world, but have the worst health outcomes, according to an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. Privatising a public good is great for a few well-remunerated executives but rarely benefits the masses. Continue reading...
Data sharply contradicts officials' portrayal of immigration sweeps as effort to fight worst of the worst' criminalsMore than 97% of immigrants detained in the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago had no criminal conviction, according to federal court records.The data, released on Friday and first reported by the Chicago Tribune, sharply contradicts the Trump administration's portrayal of the immigration sweeps as an effort to fight crime and, as Trump himself has described it, targeting the worst of the worst". Continue reading...
The New York Giants quarterback has become everyone's favorite goofball. But it's a jarring status given his historyHear the term national treasure" and odds are you think of someone like Dolly Parton, Betty White, Simone Biles or Tom Hanks. They are comforting, widely admired and have uncontroversial histories.And then there's Jameis Winston. Continue reading...
We now know 42 of the 48 of the teams that will play next year, but for a host of teams the race goes on via playoffsAll nine of the automatic places have been filled by the nine group winners, with the four best runners-up - DR Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Nigeria - competing in November's playoffs in Morocco. Nigeria beat Gabon 4-1 in the first semi-final, while Cameroon fell to a last-gasp 1-0 defeat by DR Congo in the second tie. DR Congo upset Nigeria after a gripping penalty shootout in the final, and go through to represent Africa in the intercontinental playoffs in March.
Photographer Claire Beckett captured the soldiers and civilians who dress up as Afghans and Iraqis in military bases across America. They play everything from insurgents to shoppers in mocked-up firefights Continue reading...
Donald Trump's administration withdrew from the World Health Organization in January, prompting the agency to scale back its workThe World Health Organization has said its workforce will shrink by nearly a quarter - or over 2,000 jobs - by the middle of next year as it seeks to implement reforms after its top donor, the United States, announced its departure.US President Donald Trump's administration withdrew from the body upon taking office in January, prompting the agency to scale back its work and cut its management team by half. Continue reading...
LAPD sources tell NBC4 singer has not been cooperative with investigation into death of Celeste Rivas, 15The singer D4vd has been identified as a suspect in the death of Celeste Rivas, a teenager who went missing and was found dead in the singer's Tesla in September, Los Angeles police department sources told NBC4 Investigates.The decomposed body of Rivas, 15, was found on 8 September in the front trunk of a black Tesla registered to D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke. The car had been ticketed in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood and then impounded in a tow yard in Los Angeles. Continue reading...
Donald Trump pivoted at the weekend to signal his support for the bill and says he will sign the measure when it reaches his desk - key US politics stories from Tuesday 18 NovemberThe Senate on Tuesday gave swift approval to legislation that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, following a near-unanimous vote in the US House of Representatives and a reversal by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. The administration relented after months of trying to forestall the bipartisan effort involving a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which requires approval from each senator but does not require a formal roll call vote, expediting the process. Hours earlier, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill on a 427-1 tally. Continue reading...
Move marks further dismantling of the department and Democrats criticized administration for slashing resources'Donald Trump's administration has taken new steps toward dismantling the US Department of Education by reassigning many of its responsibilities to other federal agencies.The move prompted a fresh wave of criticism, as prominent Democrats accused the administration of slashing resources" for schools and students across the US. Continue reading...
Officials admit inadvertent removal' after court ruled Britania Uriostegui Rios should not be sent to MexicoThe Trump administration is working to return another individual to the United States who was wrongfully deported to their home country in violation of a court order.Officials acknowledged in a court filing last week that Britania Uriostegui Rios, a transgender woman, was inadvertently" deported to Mexico in violation of a March court order which ruled that she was likely to face torture if she returned there. Continue reading...
Publication said it will not renew former treasury secretary's contract in latest fallout after release of emailsThe New York Times is cutting ties with Larry Summers following the publication of a series of email exchanges the Harvard professor and economist had with Jeffrey Epstein.The former US treasury secretary said on Monday he would step back from public commitments after House Republicans released thousands of files relating to the late paedophile who in a 2018 email described himself as Summers' wing man". Continue reading...
Cedric Irving Jr charged over death of legend' John Beam, who was shot and killed on Laney College campus last weekThe 27-year-old man charged with murder in the fatal shooting death of revered Oakland college football coach John Beam made his first appearance in court on Tuesday and was ordered to remain in jail without bail.Cedric Irving Jr, who does not have a criminal record, was charged with murder and use of a gun during the crime, the Alameda county district attorney, Ursula Jones Dickson, said at a news conference. He did not enter a plea on Tuesday and is scheduled to do so at a hearing on 16 December. Continue reading...
Jamal Khashoggi's plight and murder was a warning sign for the US, of the impending loss of freedom and censorship that would sweep the countryThe first time I ever used the words alhumdulilah", which translates to praise be to God in Arabic, was the night of 16 November 2018. A Friday night news alert came through on my phone: CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination." I collapsed into my couch, repeating the words.I am not Muslim. But Jamal, in life and death, has taught me a lot about faith and looking for hope in all the wrong places. As a writer with a history of criticizing America's meddling in weaker countries, in normal circumstances, I should have been loath to celebrate the CIA.Karen Attiah is a writer and educator whose work focuses on race, global culture and human rights Continue reading...
by Pablo Iglesias Maurer and Guardian sport on (#71JFQ)
Tanner denies allegations of sexist, racist and homophobic comments, which prompted a recently-concluded MLS investigation that could not corroborate them
Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner denies the allegations, which prompted a recently-concluded MLS investigation that could not corroborate them
Donald Trump blasted ABC News as fake news when a reporter asked the Saudi crown prince about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, that US intelligence concluded he orchestrated. Trump argued Prince Mohammed 'knew nothing about it' adding that the reporter should not 'embarrass our guest by asking something like that'.US intelligence concluded in 2021 that the crown prince approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler
Thomas Massie urges accountability as House moves to release Epstein files amid renewed calls for Mountbatten-Windsor to testifyThe same kind of consequences" faced by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein must be inflicted on perpetrators of heinous crimes" linked to the disgraced financier in the United States, a congressman has said.Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, also pointed to the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the UK's ambassador to Washington, as an example of the fallout faced by those with ties to the late pedophile. Continue reading...
Delivery company struggling to convince US chain Kroger, its most important customer, of the virtues of automationThat's quite a stock market journey: from 180p at listing 15 years ago to the mighty heights of 29 during the locked-down Covid year of 2020 and now - oh dear - all the way back down to 180p. Welcome to Ocado, which looked like the future of grocery retailing once upon a time but now seems to be struggling to convince its most important customer of the virtues of robots and automation.There is no positive gloss to put on news that Kroger, the US supermarket chain, is closing three of its eight warehouses that use Ocado's technology. Kroger was the client that put a rocket under the UK group's share price in the first place in 2018 by signing a partnership deal. If Ocado could prove the worth of its kit in the world's largest consumer market, went the bulls' argument, valuation doubts would disappear. Continue reading...
Amazon's Zoox will give free rides in parts of the city in attempt to counter Waymo's early lead in self-driving taxisAmazon's Zoox is launching its robotaxi service in San Francisco, offering free rides through parts of the city as it accelerates its attempt to challenge Waymo's early lead in the race to transport passengers in self-driving vehicles.The expansion, announced on Tuesday, will be confined to a few major San Francisco neighborhoods and limited to people who signed up on a waiting list to ride in Zoox's gondola-shaped robotaxis, which have no steering wheel. The San Francisco launch comes less than three months after the Amazon-owned robotaxi company launched its first ride-hailing service along the Las Vegas strip. Continue reading...
The bitcoin collapse lifts the lid on a society without opportunity, where risk is privatised and rightwingers sell illusions of freedom while ordinary punters bear lossesThe crypto crash has come again. And it is as brutal as ever. In barely six weeks, more than $1.2tn has evaporated from cryptocurrencies' market capitalisation. The sell-off has sent bitcoin back to levels last seen in April. The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly fell below $90,000 this week, shedding almost a third of its value since its October peak.The key to understanding crypto is that it has no value" in any economic sense. It generates no income, commands no productive capacity and pays no dividends. Unlike state money, it is not backed by a tax base or a fiscal authority. What props up its price is not cashflow but expectation: the hope that someone else will validate today's valuation tomorrow. When sentiment turns sour or people pull their money out, there is nothing to break cryptocurrencies' fall. Prices don't correct, they collapse. In 2023, MPs rightly said that cryptocurrency trading in the UK should be regulated as a form of gambling - a demand rejected by the then Tory government. Continue reading...
Greg Abbott's move heightens the clash with Muslim groups and usurps federal authorityTexas governor Greg Abbott declared the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) and the Muslim Brotherhood to be foreign terrorist organizations" on Tuesday, prohibiting them from acquiring property in the state and authorizing legal action to shut down affiliated entities.The move marks a massive escalation in Abbott's confrontation with Muslim organizations and communities in Texas, though states have no authority to designate foreign terrorist organizations on behalf of the US. Continue reading...
Deal requires Sackler family members who own company to contribute up to $7bn over 15 yearsA federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids.The deal approved by US bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane requires members of the Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7bn over 15 years. Most of the money is to go to government entities to fight the opioid crisis that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the US since 1999. Continue reading...
Whatever her motives, the Republican congresswoman's revenge tour' against the president is proving surprisingly effectiveThere are 535 members of Congress; only a dozen or so are household names. If you want to achieve that sort of brand name recognition, there are a few tried-and-tested ways to do so. You can spend years working your way up the ranks until you're a power-broker like Nancy Pelosi. You can burst on to the scene and dramatically unseat an incumbent like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did. Or you can go the Marjorie Taylor Greene route and achieve notoriety by being utterly unhinged.Since becoming a congresswoman for Georgia in 2021, Greene has kept herself in the news by spouting conspiracy theories, fighting with colleagues, and being one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders. In recent months, however, something strange has been happening. Greene has continued to generate headlines, but largely because she has turned on her party and is part of a growing Maga civil war. Greene was the first Republican lawmaker, for example, to say that there is a genocide in Gaza and has been one of the loudest voices demanding that the Epstein files be released. She has also criticised the Maga movement for not focusing on affordability or putting America first. Now, things have escalated to the point where Greene is making Trump see red; the pair are in a full-blown feud. Continue reading...
US bankruptcy judge will decide whether plan is fair to 650 survivors and dozens of other creditorsThe archdiocese of New Orleans has begun a three-week confirmation trial that will determine whether a federal bankruptcy judge signs off on a $230m settlement meant to compensate 650 clergy abuse survivors and resolve one of the US's longest-running and costliest church bankruptcies.US bankruptcy judge Meredith Grabill will decide whether the plan - five and a half years in the making - is fair to the survivors and dozens of other creditors who have waited through repeated delays, contentious negotiations and a protracted legal fight over a 2021 state law giving survivors of decades-old child sexual abuse the right to sue. Continue reading...
You may have thought Qatar and Russia were tournament lows. You didn't account for the US president and his Fifa soulmate, Gianni InfantinoIt's very clear," claimed haunted Fifa cue-ball Gianni Infantino not so long ago, that politics should stay out of football and football should stay out of politics." But is it clear? Is it really? On Monday, the worst man in world sport was - yet again - to be found in the Oval Office, this time nodding along to Trump's declaration that games could be moved from host cities for next summer's World Cup if the US president deems there's a problem" with security or that the cities are non-compliant in some other way. In practice, that seems to mean if they're run by a Democrat/communist". Amazing that the Fifa president will gladly allow his tournaments to be held in any old violent autocracy but, for the purposes of the White House cameras at least, might need to draw the line at Boston.Honestly, the very sight of Infantino these days causes decades of writing about Fifa to flash before my eyes. How could it have happened? How could we have ended up with an even bigger horror in charge of world football's governing body than the various ones who went before? When Sepp Blatter was thrown from a moving gravy train in 2015 amid an explosive corruption scandal, it would have felt like a genuine feat of sporting excellence to have beaten his record for craven awfulness.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistA year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar
After being expelled from his homeland in 1972, the academic has grappled with questions of political belonging - a major theme of his son's mayoral campaignThe night before Mahmood Mamdani was expelled from Uganda in 1972, a senior professor from the university where he had been employed as a lowly teaching assistant wandered into his family home, looking for spoils. The rest of the family had already left - for the UK, the US and Tanzania - but 26-year-old Mamdani had decided to remain until the final day of the three-month period that Idi Amin, the Ugandan president, had designated for all Asians to leave the country. Passing over the furniture and other remnants of decades of family life, the professor hit upon a carton of Johnnie Walker Red, which Mamdani invited him to take home. Continue reading...
Raleigh's mayor says border patrol and ICE are in city as state's Democratic governor criticizes federal operationsFederal authorities expanded their mass immigration sweeps to Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, on Tuesday, local officials said, after a weekend where more than 100 people were arrested in Charlotte.It is the city of Raleigh's understanding that the border patrol and ICE are already in Raleigh," said the mayor, Janet Cowell, to local media, though she added city authorities did not know how many agents would be involved in the surge. Continue reading...
Hip-hop mogul is serving four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related convictionsThe Los Angeles county sheriff's department said Monday it's investigating a new sexual battery allegation against hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy" Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related convictions.A male music producer and publicist said he was asked to come to a photo shoot in 2020 at a Los Angeles warehouse, where Combs exposed himself while masturbating and told the accuser to assist, according to NBC News, citing a police report. Combs then tossed a dirty shirt at the man, the producer said. Continue reading...
Kingdom's de facto ruler to arrive on first White House trip since killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018Donald Trump is to welcome Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday, in a red-carpet visit expected to result in the sale of highly advanced US F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf monarchy.The crown prince's arrival in Washington will be his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist and critic of the kingdom Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA later determined Khashoggi's murder was approved by the crown prince, leading to global condemnation. Continue reading...
When I was a college basketball player, some believed we were treated differently from other Black and Brown people. An event last weekend suggests otherwiseIt was 1996, my first day stepping foot on Syracuse University's campus. I saw a big student protest was taking place so, with my freshman's inquisitive mind, I ventured over to see what was going on.
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