US news | The Guardian

US attorney in Washington DC moves to dismiss charges against David Hearn, telling court that documents indicated damage was the result of flawed installation'

Treasury secretary's notepad, photographed by Reuters on Friday morning, prompts questions over US plansDuring a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent carelessly revealed plans for the US to buy $5bn-$10bn in Japanese yen in a scribbled to do" list left visible to a Reuters photographer.The image, taken over Bessent's shoulder during a portion of the meeting open to journalists, showed a Camp David notepad with the underscored words To Do" followed by Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil". Continue reading...

Unidentified pilot of F-35B fighter jet receives treatment for non-life-threatening injuries after crash near MiramarAn F-35B fighter jet crashed near a US Marine Corps base in San Diego on Friday morning, sparking a small fire that first responders doused.The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from the Marine Corps Miramar air base. The pilot ejected, was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries," the Marine Corps said in an updated statement. Continue reading...

Lawyers now say damage to pool liner attributed to David Hearn instead is result of installation by contractorThe justice department has moved to dismiss a criminal case charging former Olympian David Hearn with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, instead blaming damage to the pool liner as the result of flawed installation by the contractor".Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing in DC superior court on Friday evening that they had received information about a rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026". Continue reading...

Pup named Roo, who ran away from home, was found curled up next to rail track - and was thrilled' to be rescuedA two-year-old pitbull who ran away from home braved two days in a dim San Francisco railway tunnel before being rescued.Caltrain operators spotted the pup named Roo on his first day in the tunnel. Looking at the dog's unmoving body, they had assumed he had been fatally struck by a train, according to a recent social media post from the San Francisco animal care and control shelter. Continue reading...

Sean Grayson, diagnosed with colon cancer, was sentenced to 20 years for killing Massey in Springfield in 2024A former Illinois sheriff's deputy won't get an early medical release from his two-decade prison sentence for killing Sonya Massey inside her home after the Black woman called 911 about a possible prowler, state officials decided on Friday.Sean Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer prior to the 2024 shooting, and his attorney noted in January that the cancer had advanced to his liver and lungs. Continue reading...

Body of William Standish discovered in Teton mountains as investigators say fatal fall likely cause of deathA 28-year-old Australian hiker who lost contact with his family while hiking the Continental Divide Trail between Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in Wyoming has been found dead, according to authorities.The man, identified as William Standish, was discovered by rescuers on Wednesday morning in the Wigwams, a series of rocky peaks on the west slope of the Teton mountain range, the Teton county coroner said. Investigators say it was likely he suffered a fatal fall. Continue reading...

Defense lawyers say Clancy was ill with postpartum psychosis when she killed three children in January 2023Jurors walked through the Massachusetts home where Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children, a rare visit on Friday that let them see first-hand the place where an outwardly ordinary family life unraveled into tragedy.After being driven past two businesses relevant to the narrative of the January 2023 killings, jurors were escorted in groups of six to view the inside of the house, including the basement where the children died. Continue reading...

US government, which owes legal services firm $65m, stopped paying in December, as contract runs out FridayCurrent and former prosecutors are denouncing the Trump administration for fast-tracking the deportation of immigrant children, as a key contract for legal services is set to expire on Friday.A series of federal laws has for decades shielded child immigrants from removal, either to protect their safety or to allow them to testify against abusers or human traffickers. Continue reading...

California governor and wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, release 2022-2024 filings amid Trump investigationGavin Newsom and his wife made from $1.7m to $2m annually from 2022 through 2024, and paid about half a million a year in federal and state taxes, according to tax returns released by his office.The California Democratic governor's office released more than 700 pages of tax filings spanning four years for reporters to review, offering a window into Newsom's finances as he prepares to leave office and considers a 2028 presidential bid. Newsom's office did not release returns for 2025, because the couple filed for an extension and will complete those returns in October. Continue reading...

US president tells reporters during Camp David cabinet meeting technology a hard thing to give away'Donald Trump has backed off a promise to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defense interceptors, telling reporters that handing over the underlying technology was a hard thing to give away" during a cabinet meeting at Camp David.The retreat, billed by the White House as something different" for the cabinet to experience together, was the first such meeting at the presidential compound of Trump's second term. Continue reading...

Federal government plan outlines cuts to California, Arizona and Nevada but fix is likely to be only temporaryThe US government released its anxiously awaited plan for how to manage the Colorado river crisis on Friday, outlining cuts in water supplied to California, Arizona and Nevada.The proposal from the US Bureau of Reclamation spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from facing mandatory cuts, for now. But it is a temporary fix as the states that rely on the river continue to fight over a long-term management plan for the dwindling resource that supplies huge swaths of the western US. Continue reading...

Wildfires in Europe, Russian missile strikes in Lviv, a tornado in Wisconsin and Spencer Tunick in Spain - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...

President calls for former personal defense lawyer to be immediately approved' as attorney generalDonald Trump has defended controversial plans for a $1.8bn slush fund even as they threaten to derail the nomination of his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche for US attorney general.Blanche should be immediately approved" by the US Senate, the president declared in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning, defending the payout scheme proposed by his officials in the Department of Justice as it holds up Blanche's confirmation. Continue reading...

Brittany Clark struggled for her life before dying from brutal injuries in rare attack, autopsy report confirmsA woman who was killed in a rare alligator attack while swimming with her boyfriend in Florida struggled for her life before dying from the brutal injuries inflicted on her by the animal, newly released autopsy results confirmed.The report containing the results of Brittany Clark's autopsy, published on Thursday, also contained new details about the extent of the 28 June mauling that unfolded in Seminole county's Little Big Econ state forest. Continue reading...

In an increasingly dangerous world, our European neighbours are finding safety in numbers - but Britain is on the outside. The new PM's task is to change thatThere is an orange cloud in the sky. I'm not referring to the wildfires ravaging parts of Europe and East Anglia, though they are connected. I mean the looming pall from across the Atlantic that threatens to spoil the sunny start to the premiership of Andy Burnham - and whose name is Donald Trump.Burnham's first 10 days or so in office have gone about as well as he or any of his team could have dared hope. His net approval rating has risen by 17 points, according to one early poll, gaining ground with every category of voter except supporters of Reform UK, though they too like some of what they see. His easy manner, no-notes speech-making and agility on social media have won plaudits, including from a usually sceptical press.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Donald Trump has declared a breakthrough in negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, but IsraelI government officials have voiced scepticism over the deal.

A six-time world champion and three-time World Cup MVP, Japan's Ayami Sato joins the new Women's Professional Baseball League hoping to help build the sport's futureWhen Ayami Sato takes the mound as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Queens on Saturday, it will be the culmination of a professional career that has spanned 16 years and three countries. The right-handed hurler is largely considered the best pitcher in the history of women's baseball. She has the awards and experience to prove it, and now she's taking on America when she makes her debut in the Women's Professional Baseball League, the first pro women's baseball league in the United States since the 1950s.Even though most Americans tuning into the WPBL may not have heard of her, Sato's resume speaks for itself. Sato's fastball has been clocked at nearly 80mph and her curveball has a devastating spin rate that is higher than many Major League Baseball pitchers. As a member of the Japan National Team since 2010, Sato has won six gold medals. She is the only player in Women's Baseball World Cup history to win three consecutive MVP awards. As a member of the now-defunct Japan's Women's Baseball League, Sato led the league in strikeouts in three of the last four seasons. And most recently, in 2024 she became the first woman to play pro baseball in Canada as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League. Continue reading...

The World Cup gave MLS unprecedented momentum. Keeping it will depend less on signing aging icons than convincing America's best young players to stayThanks World, we'll take it from here," is Major League Soccer's message to the American public. Yet two moves in the last week were emblematic of the issues the league faces in taking on the mantle of North America's hosting of the game's grandest stage.A rising, under-the-radar homegrown player left for Europe, and a veteran with immense pedigree arrived, likely to close out his career. Sebastian Berhalter's swapped title-chasing Vancouver Whitecaps for Middlesbrough of the EFL Championship. Free agent Brazil legend Casemiro traded Manchester's Old Trafford for Nu Stadium in Miami. Continue reading...

The handcrafted leather boots are a century-old tradition - but with money tight, the cost of up to $800 is harder to justifyFor 18 years, one of the most important relationships in Luke Mayfield's life was with his boots. As a hotshot - one of the US's elite firefighting crews sent deep, on foot, into wildfires - Mayfield hiked a thousand miles a fire season in his boots, stood in them 16 hours a day and slept near them on assignments that lasted weeks in terrain no truck could reach.Like every wildland firefighter, he learned the rituals of their upkeep: how to grease them, how to lace them, how soon before the season to break in a new pair so the blisters came during training instead of on duty. Continue reading...

Energy prices have soared again since fighting between US and Iran resumed two weeks ago as conflict spreads across Middle East

Kaohly Her is accused of inappropriate conduct and creating a sexualized work environment' by senior officials

Move seeking $3.25m in damages six months after mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie was last seen safeTwo men questioned early in the search for NBC's Today Show host Savannah Guthrie's missing mother said they will file a $3.25m wrongful arrest lawsuit against the sheriff who detained them, as the investigation passes the six-month mark this weekend.Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen safe while at her Tucson, Arizona, home on 1 February. Authorities, including the FBI, believe she was kidnapped. But despite a number of leads and blood spatters at the house, no further trace of her has been found, and no suspects have emerged. Continue reading...

Passports with the president's portrait, previously only available in DC, will be offered at 27 agencies nationwide

You've got to admire the Fifa president's chutzpah in trying to flog off football's greatest prize. If only Uefa wasn't being so pesky about it allImagine a plan so distasteful that even the Americans and a Middle Eastern nepo-royal football boss can't be doing with it. Such is the status of Fifa president Gianni Infantino's scheme to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors. More historically, perhaps, the 55 nations that make up Uefa have reacted to this horror show by voting unanimously to boycott Fifa tournaments, including World Cups, if Infantino presses ahead. That would mean Spain and Portugal boycotting their own men's World Cup next time around, which you'd think - not to call it too soon - would come off as slightly bad vibes.A testing moment, then, for the haunted cue-ball. Again. Can it really already be time to turn to Infantino once more, even after he appeared in this spot only on Tuesday, after his 15-page Instagram crash-out about his haters? Yes. Yes, I'm afraid it can. Demanding the federations of the world sell off the World Cup to some fund led by Donald Trump's son-in-law's brother will regrettably draw attention to you in ways that will prove difficult to control. As indicated, the Fifa president's plan has contrived to appear vulgar to the North American confederation, Concacaf, as well as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Senators Warren and Van Hollen attack Republican rubber stamps' in Congress for surrendering authority to Trump. Plus, could AI take your job? Some workers in China already know the answerGood morning.Senior Democrats accused Republicans in the US Congress of becoming gelatinous blobs" who will not stand up to Donald Trump and rubber stamps" for his war on Iran.What else is happening in Washington? Trump has said a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza. However, briefings from both sides exposed disputes over its implementation that could prove difficult to overcome.What has Blanche said? Blanche has already said publicly that the payout fund to compensate victims of so-called government weaponization is not moving forward amid bipartisan backlash. But Cornyn and Tillis had sought assurances in writing, something Blanche has refused to do. Cornyn also sought to clarify the terms of the tax immunity portion of the agreement. Continue reading...

Contender, largest tagged male great white, heading north as overheating oceans alter range of several shark speciesThe largest tagged male great white shark in the Atlantic Ocean has been identified traveling up the US and Canada coastline amid a surge in sightings of sharks that are increasingly shifting their movement patterns due to the overheating of the oceans.The great white shark, named Contender, is nearly 14ft long and weighs more than 1,650lbs. The hulking fish has been pinged in several locations off North Carolina and Maine as he headed north for the summer, with Contender's last known location located off Nova Scotia in Canada on 11 July. Continue reading...

Temporary protected status allowed me to rebuild my life. Now thousands like me help keep this country runningRight now, across the country, there are more than 330,000 Haitians collectively holding their breath over the future of lifesaving immigration protections provided through temporary protected status (TPS). Three hundred and fifty thousand is a big, meaningful number - but for many, it's still just a number.In the case of Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress, the number of lives at stake has mattered little. Trump has been incessant in his efforts to eliminate TPS for Haitians. In doing so, he's broken with a bipartisan tradition dating back to 1990 of prioritizing the safety of people from other countries who cannot return home because of dangerous conditions. And it's how he's done it, too: without consideration for the ongoing violence, civil unrest, lack of infrastructure, and political instability in Haiti. But what Trump has also failed to acknowledge are the lives built here by that same huge number of people. Continue reading...

Leftwing Democrats are having their political moment in the sun, with Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and the endless calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028. Has Democratic socialism shifted from the political fringe to the mainstream? And can this group lure back the all-important swing voters? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bhaskar Sunkara, the president of the Nation magazine, founding editor of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality Continue reading...

Here are things that will - and will not - help us fight the threat of wildfiresI have spent much of my career studying boreal forests and I know fire is part of how they renew themselves. That knowledge did nothing for the lump in my throat last week as wildfires closed in on my community in northwestern Ontario.Over 150 fires were burning in the region almost at once, displacing at least 1,800 people from more than a dozen communities, most of them Indigenous. Namaygoosisagagun First Nation burned to the ground, its residents narrowly escaping by boat.Julee Boan is Partnerships Director, Global Northern Forests, International, at the National Resources Defense Council Continue reading...

Trump's campaign of repression echoes the red scare. But now the government has bigger ambitions and more powerful toolsThere are many parallels between the first McCarthy era, roughly 1946 to 1956, and Trump's campaign of political repression, his own updated McCarthyism.Both regimes crafted a monster of quasi-facts and innuendo and fed it with fear: an enemy within, well-organized and financed, secretive and violent, allied with evil foreigners and bent on overthrowing capitalism, democracy and Christian morality. Both used flagrantly unconstitutional means to cleanse the nation of the spectral menace. Continue reading...

Akbar Majeed's new feature tells the story of the sport through a Black lens and asks hard questions about the barriers facing the game's breakthroughAkbar Majeed takes a deep breath as he considers the legacy of the 2026 World Cup and, in particular, the effect of the US team's collapse against Belgium for a last-16 exit.Unfortunately, that performance in the last game did not help at all," he says. Continue reading...

Senators Warren and Van Hollen attack Republican rubber stamps' in Congress for surrendering authority to TrumpSenior Democrats accused Republicans in the US Congress of becoming gelatinous blobs" who won't stand up to Donald Trump and rubber stamps" for his war on Iran.Elizabeth Warren, a US senator for Massachusetts, and Chris Van Hollen, a US senator for Maryland, argued that the Republican-controlled Congress had surrendered its constitutional authority to the president. Continue reading...

Republicans senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul voted in favor of the motion to prevent Trump from continuing hostilities against Iran. This blog is now closed.

Officers in murder trial testify of arriving at Massachusetts home after anguished 911 call from Patrick ClancyThe two police officers focused first on Lindsay Clancy drifting in and out of consciousness in the snow after jumping from her Massachusetts home's second-floor window in January 2023. Within minutes, they were racing into the basement after her then husband screamed that all three of their children were dead.I can't wake them up - I can't get them up!" Patrick Clancy frantically told the officers who, along with firefighters and paramedics, gave jurors first-hand accounts on Thursday of the aftermath. Continue reading...

Mayor announces resignation of Shon Barnes after city officials faced criticism over response to Sunday shootingSeattle's police chief has resigned amid criticism of the city's response to a fatal shootout at a food festival last weekend, Katie Wilson, the mayor, said on Thursday.The announcement followed hours of speculation about whether Shon Barnes would step down, as some of his supporters said he had rebuffed Wilson's request that he resign. Continue reading...

State department takes full responsibility' for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in BrazilA US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online.Reuters viewed a video of the presentation given at the Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, which shows the errant map displayed halfway during a presentation about the state department's new health agreements. Continue reading...

Former lieutenant governor says path to Democratic nomination no longer viable as democratic socialist rival surges aheadMandela Barnes, the former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, dropped out of the Democratic primary for governor on Thursday, upending the high-stakes contest less than two weeks before the 11 August election.Barnes announced the decision in a video posted on social media, saying he no longer saw a viable path to the nomination, as democratic socialist Francesca Hong surged ahead with a commanding lead. Continue reading...

Kathryn Ruemmler was blasted by family of late Virginia Giuffre after House committee transcripts were released

Republican senators sought written limits on settlement, but president held firm despite risk to attorney general pick

Vast majority of farm workers say raids and deportations have affected their jobs and 61% report shopping less

Measure fails 49-50 as US launches new retaliatory attacks in Iran and lawmakers question the prolonged conflict

Ohio representative is accused by his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend of abuse as he campaigns for re-election

Donations to top US provider have dropped to four-year summer low with less than a day's supply of type O positiveThe American Red Cross has declared the second-ever national blood supply crisis after blood donations fell to a four-year summer low.On Monday, the 145-year-old non-profit said that as the United States' largest single provider of blood products, it now has less than one-day national supply of type O positive blood - the most commonly transfused blood. Continue reading...

President says he has no objection to pulling his former lawyer's name until dissenting Republicans are out of office

We'd like to hear from Black Americans who are using artificial intelligence for health or spiritual guidanceArtificial intelligence is growing in influence in the healthcare space, and more people are seeking guidance from AI tools, including AI-generated social media influencers. Black people in the US, who have been long subject to racism in the healthcare system, are among some of those who are leaning on AI for health-related matters and information.We would like to hear from Black respondents about their experiences with Black AI-generated health and spiritual influencers. Continue reading...

Eric Washington was known for knocking on doors, connecting residents with services and believing Compton could changeAnyone who knew Eric Washington knew that he had two great loves in his life: his mother and the Los Angeles Rams football team.Washington was shot and killed on 4 July alongside Meah Bordenave-Jenkins, a 19-year-old aspiring nurse, while at a block party in Compton, California. With his death, the Los Angeles region lost a homegrown community organizer who worked in the city and county's most underserved neighborhoods. Continue reading...

Lawmakers question delays in medical care, casualty figures and Pentagon's handling of drone attack in Kuwait