Former head of the FBI who investigated Russia's involvement in the 2016 US presidential electionRobert Mueller, who has died aged 81, led an investigation, as US special counsel, into Russian interference in the 2016 White House election and alleged collusion with Donald Trump's campaign team. Trump was enraged by the two-year-long investigation, which dominated much of his first term as president. He repeatedly dismissed it as a witch-hunt".Mueller's report, published in 2019, was inconclusive. He found links between Russians and those around Trump, and that his bid for the presidency had benefited from Russian leaks that undermined the Democratic campaign. But he failed to establish collusion on the part of the Trump campaign. Continue reading...

Aerial video shows floodwaters around Oahu's North Shore and Waialua in Hawaii's worst flood in more than 20 years.Officials urged people in hard-hit areas to LEAVE NOW' after heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week earlier.Muddy floodwaters covered streets and farmland. On Maui, authorities upgraded an evacuation advisory to a warning for some parts of Lahaina, which is still reeling from a deadly 2023 wildfire, because of retention basins nearing capacity

About 65% of US firefighters are volunteers, as New York state says number has fallen to lowest level in 40 yearsOfficials have warned of serious consequences after the number of volunteer firefighters, the bedrock of firefighting in the US, plunged, leading to entire departments closing in some states.About 65% of American firefighters are volunteers, serving in their free time alongside their regular jobs. In 2008 there were 827,000 volunteers nationwide, but that figure dropped to 635,000 in 2023, the last year data is available. Continue reading...

Web domain added to government registry a month after president directed agencies to release files relating to UAPsIt was a gift to conspiracy theorists.Last week, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency registered the alien.gov and aliens.gov web domains, adding both to the official government website registry. Continue reading...

Actor who rose to fame after starring in Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon also became a TV fixture with Walker, Texas RangerChuck Norris, the former world karate champion who used his fight prowess to become the star of a string of low-budget but financially successful action movies, has died aged 86.His family posted a message on social media saying Norris had died on Thursday, adding: While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace." Continue reading...

Three weeks into the US-Israeli war of choice in Iran, Labor is warning of financial pain. But the economic cost isn't the only risk here

The Reform UK leader has belatedly clocked that most British people really don't like the US president on whose coat-tails he has spent the past decade ridingAt last, the culture has thrown up a split more nauseatingly up itself than Gwyneth Paltrow's from Chris Martin. It is Nigel Farage's attempt to consciously uncouple from Donald Trump, a man up whose backside he's spent the past decade most firmly lodged. Nigel's made such a massive, self-satisfied show of his real estate in the presidential large intestine for 10 years now that I actually don't think non-surgical extraction is possible at this stage. He doesn't just get to walk away whistling. The only way out is a full Faragectomy. I'll give the president a piece of drone fuselage to bite down on.Anyway: conscious uncoupling. Back in the day, you'll remember, Gwyneth and the Coldplay singer deployed this particular phrase when announcing their marital split. Did the public love it? They did not. The general vibe - as with so much of Her Vajesty's output - was that she would do even marriage failure more smugly and unachievably than mere plebs could ever. The pivot from gushing about her perfect marriage to gushing about her perfect divorce felt like mere days.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Cheerleader-in-chief demands more enthusiasm for US-Israeli assault that is helping Russia pay for its war on UkraineWhen even your mother calls you out as a cheat and a liar, then it's probably fair to assume you're a wrong un. Not that this stopped Donald Trump from appointing Pete Hegseth as his defence secretary. Or as Trump prefers, his war secretary. After all, there's no point in having all this shiny military hardware if you're not going to use it. For most of the past two weeks, Hegseth has been the president's cheerleader-in-chief for the war on Iran, and at the weekend he decided to have a pop at the media for not being enthusiastic enough. It seems we've been concentrating on trivial matters like asking what the overall plan for the war is. We heard the president talk about regime change and then change his mind when it was clear that, though he had killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime was still in place. We heard the president say he wanted to neutralise Iranian nuclear facilities when he had already claimed to have done so last year. We heard Trump say that the war was already won though he fancied winning a little bit more, while the Iranians were insisting they were not beaten. Continue reading...

Defense secretary had said relatives of service members killed in refueling tanker crash told him do not stop until the job is done'

Mette-Marit says she did not know he was a sex offender', despite Googling him three years after his prison sentenceNorway's crown princess, Mette-Marit, has said she was manipulated and deceived" by Jeffrey Epstein as she spoke publicly for the first time about her years-long relationship with the late sex offender.She also claimed that she did not know he was a sex offender or an abuser" - despite telling him in an email in 2011, three years after he had been sentenced to 18 months in prison and pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from girls as young as 14, that she had recently Googled him. Continue reading...

Former ACIP members make contradictory statements following judge essentially invalidating panel and recent decisions

Though the president wields great power, the conflict in the Middle East is spiralling in unforeseen ways that he may not be able to controlWhat a pity Benjamin Netanyahu remains at large after an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza was issued in 2024. Had he been detained, as he certainly should have been, the peoples of Iran, Lebanon, the Gulf - and Israel itself - might have been spared much present-day pain and suffering.The Israeli prime minister's lifelong, passionate obsession with eradicating the real and imagined threats posed by Iran was reportedly a key factor in prompting Donald Trump's abrupt, unprovoked plunge into all-out war. Netanyahu should be in jail, not committing more crimes while the powerful but ego-driven US president negligently looks on.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentatorDo 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...

Record 171 million passengers are expected to fly this spring, even as TSA funding lapse risks longer airport linesSpring breakers in the US could see their long-awaited trips to party destinations disrupted by a trifecta of issues: airport security delays, high gas prices, and chaotic weather.The potential for flight delays comes as US airlines expect that they will see a record-shattering spring travel season. Airlines for America, an aviation industry group, said that 171 million passengers are expected to fly - a 4% increase from the 2025 spring travel period. Continue reading...

Dozens of volunteers, mostly over the age of 70, offer rides and serve as interpreters

Closure of strait of Hormuz - a key fertilizer production and transportation route - has squeezed farmers as prices jumpRodney Bushmeyer has been farming as long as he can remember. Bushmeyer's father was a farmer, as was his grandfather.The family-run Bushmeyer Farms in Illinois dates back more than 100 years, when his ancestors came to the US from Germany. They acquired the first 80 acres cost-free as homesteaders, cleared the land, and worked it. Continue reading...

The US president wanted an easy win, but the conflict is spiralling following Israel's attack on a gas field and Iranian retaliation across the regionShortly after the US and Israel began their illegal assault on Iran, with the US president still preening himself over the kidnapping of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro the previous month, a state department official joked that Donald Trump had a new foreign policy credo: Decapitate and delegate". It was a reversal of Colin Powell's invocation of the Pottery Barn rule" ahead of the invasion of Iraq: you break it, you own it.Gen Powell, then secretary of state, was warning that wars can escalate beyond expectation and are harder to exit than enter. It remains unclear what precisely the Trump administration expected from this conflict - perhaps not least to the White House itself - but it is certain that the president was not paying heed when people described the likely consequences.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...

As Americans face a housing crisis, this development shows how communal living can bring homeownership within reach - and foster connection Continue reading...

Legislators propose designating 31 March as Farmworkers Day in light of allegations against late labor leader

Fed officials expected to lower capital requirements for banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase by 4.8%

Dozens said they weren't given chance to arrange care for their kids after being deported at short notice, study showsThe Trump administration is deporting a significant number of parents without asking them if they have children or allowing them to decide whether to bring their children with them, in apparent violation of its own policies, a major report has found.In interviews with dozens of parents deported to Honduras, as well as physicians and psychologists, government officials and staff at reception centers for deportees, researchers found that many parents were deported quickly after they were detained, without a chance to arrange for the care of their children. Continue reading...

Day 2 of our Guardian analysis of more than a million Epstein emails exposes the child sex offender's deep relationships with more high-profile figuresThe Epstein files have led to intense scrutiny over links between the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the rich and powerful. But the vast trove of information has made it difficult to assess the extent of some of those connections.In this second of a two-part series, The Guardian has focused on Epstein's links to high-profile people in business and the arts - including the renowned economist and former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, the New York film director Woody Allen and Jes Stalay, the former head of Barclays. Continue reading...

Kennedy's appointees promoted treatments' like bleach enemas, but new committee has only one autistic memberThe first public meeting of US autism advisers - notably, since Robert F Kennedy Jr reshaped the committee - was cancelled recently with few details, coinciding with the creation of a rival organization that has prompted some questions within the autistic community about their focus.Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who has long argued for a debunked link between vaccines and autism, chose entirely new members for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in late January, with fewer autistic people and several anti-vaccine advocates. Continue reading...

We are trying our best to resist him, contain him and remove him from office as quickly as we possibly can. Thank you for your patienceDonald Trump is alone.That's different from the United States being alone.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 in the UK Continue reading...

Rulings in cases alleging antisemitism on US campuses say common pro-Palestinian speech is constitutionally protectedFew debates from the last few years have been more contentious than whether criticism of Israel and Zionism is antisemitic, threatens Jewish people or violates their civil rights. Allegations of antisemitism have cost people jobs, provided pretexts for censorship and fueled an unprecedented crackdown on protest over Israel and shows of support for Palestinian rights, especially at universities.Pro-Israel groups have filed hundreds of lawsuits or legal actions in an effort to silence some of this speech, with the vast majority filed since 2023 in response to the protest movement surrounding Israel's recent war in Gaza. The most important rulings to have come out of these cases, experts say, have found that speech and slogans at the heart of the controversies are protected by the first amendment. Continue reading...

US spent $11.3bn on bombs in the first six days of the US and Israel's joint attack on Iran - key US politics stories from 18 March 2026 at a glancePart of Donald Trump's pitch to voters was that, if he became president again, he would rein in government spending and not send US troops to war. He may have campaigned with promises, but he's governing with billions of dollars worth of bombs dropping on Iran.In the six days that followed the US and Israel's joint attack on Iran on 28 February, $11.3bn was spent on American taxpayer-funded bombs that hit the country and caused hundreds of deaths, the Pentagon has told lawmakers. This figure does not capture the full cost of the conflict, such as deployment of forces, and will now be far higher given the ongoing nature of the war. Continue reading...

Admission came during questioning at Senate intelligence committee worldwide threats hearingThe Federal Bureau of Investigation has started buying location data on Americans, Kash Patel, FBI director, said under oath at the Senate intelligence committee worldwide threats hearing on Wednesday.Patel's admission came in response to a question from the senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who is a longtime opponent of the warrantless surveillance of Americans. Wyden told Patel that his predecessor, Christopher Wray, testified in 2023 that the FBI did not at that time purchase location data derived from internet advertising, although he acknowledged that it had done so in the past. Continue reading...

New York Times report leads to multiple cancellations of events meant to celebrate the late labor organizer

Exclusive: Republican congresswoman started negotiations with Saudi Arabia without informing the White House

After 17 months of negotiations, the WNBA and its players have agreed to a new CBA. From salaries to revenue sharing, here's what's changing and why it matters

National intelligence director says Iran's conventional military projection capabilities had been largely destroyed'

Thomas Abt, a researcher, says online taunts and barbs from songs can intensify shootings in underserved areasWhenever the US tries to make sense of a high-profile mass shooting, it inevitably turns to one source: the social media accounts of the suspect. Law enforcement, reporters and the public scrutinize these digital footprints, hoping to find clues about a possible motive.Less explored, however, is the role social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube play in shootings that happen in underserved Black and Latino communities and are scarcely covered outside of local crime news. These shootings, Thomas Abt, the lead author of a new Violence Reduction Center white paper on the topic told the Guardian, are increasingly being fueled by online disputes and barbs being traded back and forth in songs and music videos and shared online. Continue reading...

Beijing seeks to decipher effect of Iran war on US midterms and best way to apply pressure when Trump meets XiThe White House said on Wednesday that China had agreed to postpone Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, as war in the Middle East rages on, complicating the US president's position at home and abroad.China has not yet commented on the delay to the highly anticipated trip, in which Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will meet in person for the first time since October. Trump previously said he hoped to delay the trip, originally scheduled to run from 31 March to 2 April, for five or six weeks". Continue reading...

Prosecutors say Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that he drankA Utah woman was convicted on Monday of aggravated murder after poisoning her husband with fentanyl and then self-publishing a children's book about coping with grief.Prosecutors said Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that her husband Eric Richins drank in March 2022. Continue reading...

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US president wants countries to help police the strait after Iran effectively closed the vital fossil fuel shipping channel - key US politics stories from Monday 16 March at a glanceKey US allies in Europe and beyond have ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz, despite threats from Donald Trump that Nato faces a very bad future" if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.The UK, Germany, France and Italy, along with Australia and Japan, have said they had no plans to send warships. Continue reading...

Cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm identified as likely source' of infections across multiple statesCheese from the country's largest raw milk distributor have been linked to a multistate E coli outbreak.Raw cheddar cheese from the California-based company Raw Farm has been identified as the likely source" of several E coli O157:H7 infections in California, Florida and Texas, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), PBS News reported, though no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E coli. Continue reading...

Arrest of asylum seeker Elvis Joel TE and his two-year-old, without a warrant, had sparked widespread outrageA federal judge ruled on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must release a Minneapolis man and asylum seeker who has been unlawfully detained for 50 days.The man, identified as Elvis Joel TE in court filings, was arrested on 22 January at the height of ICE's aggressive raids in Minneapolis. The case sparked widespread outrage as Elvis TE was detained with his two-year-old daughter while they were returning home from the store, and ICE quickly flew both of them to Texas despite a court order barring their transfer out of Minnesota. Continue reading...

Kordia was taken at a check-in at an ICE office in New Jersey and was held despite court ruling thrice for her releaseA New Jersey woman who had been arrested at a pro-Palestine protest and booked into a US immigration detention center in Texas last March has been released on bond, after a year in custody.Leqaa Kordia, 33, originally from the West Bank, was arrested in April 2024 at a protest against Israel's war on Gaza outside of Columbia University. Nearly a year later, she was taken into custody after reporting for a check-in at a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in New Jersey. Continue reading...

Pair attempt to strike united front amid reports vice-president skeptical over US-Israeli attack on IranDonald Trump revealed that he had asked China to delay his forthcoming visit to Beijing while the war with Iran was continuing, as he attempted to strike a united front on Monday with his vice-president JD Vance, who is believed to have been skeptical over attacking Tehran's regime.Appearing together with Vance for the first time in two weeks, Trump said he did not think the conflict - which started on 28 February after the US and Israel opened hostilities - would be over this week but predicted victory would be achieved soon. Continue reading...

Storm system dumps snow in midwest and threatens east coast with high winds and possible long-track tornadoes'

Oil could pass 2008 record of $147.50 a barrel as damage and field closures risk compounding supply shock caused by Iran warAbout 20 miles off the coast of Iran lies the source of the petrostate's economic lifeblood and the latest target of US military aggression: an 8 sq mile coral island through which nine in every 10 barrels of Iranian crude passes each day.The US president's decision to launch a weekend attack on Kharg Island, the home of Iran's processing hub and the heart of its economy, is an unsurprising counterstrike to the Iranian regime's ongoing chokehold on the oil market's trade artery. Continue reading...

The luxury property surge fuels growth in Miami, but a poll finds many residents weighing an exit over housing and living costsTo a casual observer, everything in south Florida's real estate garden is looking rosy. There's a gold rush" in Miami as ultra-wealthy buyers snap up mega-mansions and luxuriously appointed condos as soon as they hit the market; and the Guardian has also reported recently on the Mamdani effect" of elite New Yorkers arriving in the sunshine state with bulging pocketbooks in search of a high-priced escape from the city's new mayor.Yet alongside the boom, there are rumblings of a more troubling parallel reality. Undoubtedly, the billionaire class is helping to pump even more dollars into an already thriving Florida economy. But as prices rise and the less affluent find everything from housing and insurance to gas and groceries increasingly expensive, many are considering doing something about it. Continue reading...

Tommy Thompson refused to give up the location of 500 missing coins found in a historic shipwreckA US treasure hunter who was imprisoned for 10 years after refusing to reveal the location of missing gold coins has been released from prison, without officials apparently ever learning where that gold is.Tommy Thompson - a renowned salvager who in 1998 found the long-lost, so-called Ship of Gold near South Carolina - was freed from federal prison on 4 March, records and reports recently indicated. Continue reading...

Could we be at the beginning of a change never before seen by humans - allowing us to escape the drudgery of work?The other day I pulled into the parking lot of a client's offices and in the spot next to me was a woman sitting in her car blasting music. She caught me looking and rolled down her window and said, I'll be inside in a minute ... Just enjoying my last few moments of freedom!"Is this way we want to live? No, it's not. Continue reading...

Jewish and Arab American leaders decry violence at Temple Israel, but US-Israel war on Iran complicates healingJewish and Arab American leaders across Detroit and the US strongly condemned the 12 March terrorist attack on a Michigan synagogue and largely aimed to lower tensions against the backdrop of the US and Israel's ongoing military campaign in Iran.But in Michigan, where large populations of Arab Americans and Jews live near one another, the complexities of the situation can be difficult to grapple with - and few people had easy or quick answers on how to move forward. Continue reading...

Bill faces constitutional hurdles as previous abortion bans were struck down by state supreme court in January

The American propelled ahead of frontrunner Michael Kimani Kamau by a fraction of a second