With the Hall of Fame game done, and the second round of preseason games underway, let's look at the storylines that could dominate the coming weeksWinning the Super Bowl back in February puts the Seattle Seahawks in line to become the 10th team, and the ninth franchise, to repeat as champions (the Pittsburgh Steelers went back-to-back twice in the 1970s). While a lot of Super Bowl winners experience massive drains of coaching and playing talent after clinching the title, these Seahawks are left in pretty good shape. Continue reading...
Preliminary findings show fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on 10 July flight from Greece to GermanyBroken engine parts were responsible for shattering a window on a Ryanair plane, causing a passenger to be partly sucked out mid-flight in July, US investigators have said.A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found an engine fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on the 10 July flight from Greece to Germany shattering the window and damaging the fuselage. Continue reading...
The Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies played before 8,000 fans on Thursday at a ballpark carved into the cornfields of tiny Dyersville, Iowa (population: 4,477), where the 1989 Kevin Costner film was shot
President has suggested steam catapults every year since 2017, saying digital systems are too complicated'After nearly a decade of loudly complaining about the fact that modern US aircraft carriers use electromagnetic systems to launch fighter jets instead of steam-powered catapults, Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to redesign a new aircraft carrier to replace the modern system with the old-fashioned catapults he prefers.Trump signed a national security memorandum on Thursday directing the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, to make the change he has had his heart set on since at least 2017, when he first described his idea to Time magazine. Continue reading...
Rare scheduling in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama underlines the renewed appetite in US for state killingsCarlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was put to death by the state of Oklahoma, in the first of three executions scheduled for Thursday in a rare triple procedure that underlines the renewed appetite in the US for state killings.Just one hour later, Darrell Hines was put to death by the state of Tennessee, and at 6pm local time in Alabama, that state executed Jeremy Williams. Continue reading...
by Sam Levin in Los Angeles and Rachel Leingang in Mi on (#77NTG)
DHS sent undercover agents to meetings and infiltrated chats of groups opposing Trump's immigration crackdownNewly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups. Continue reading...
District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his familyA Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT.Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges. Continue reading...
Defense secretary said conditions on aircraft carrier deployed in support of Iran war have been completely misrepresented'The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, insisted a wave of reports describing deteriorating conditions and mental health struggles onboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln completely misrepresented" the situation, pushing back against growing congressional pressure over the ship's record-breaking, nearly nine-month deployment.We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment," Hegseth told reporters during a visit to Panama, adding that some deployments are longer than others" and praising sailors enduring high seas" and austere conditions with less port calls". Continue reading...
Karoline Leavitt's abrupt departure has sparked a tough race inside Trump's circle for the prominent positionKaroline Leavitt's surprise resignation as the White House press secretary is set to trigger a sharp-elbowed race inside Donald Trump's world for one of the most prominent positions in the Trump administration.Several names have circulated since the US president announced that Leavitt would step down at the end of the month to spend more time with her family. Continue reading...
President signed memorandum giving private sector a role in fighting transnational criminal organizations'Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that aims to give private companies the power to carry out offensive cyber-attacks against foreign criminal entities.The president signed a national security presidential memorandum directing his administration to leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct these cyber operations under the direction, control and authority of the US government", the White House said. Continue reading...
Federal court rules administration failed to plausibly show ongoing violation of civil rights lawA US federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit that claimed Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment in the aftermath of the war in Gaza.In a ruling on Thursday morning, US district judge Richard Stearns in Boston said the administration's lawsuit - filed in March - failed to plausibly show an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law on Harvard's campus. Continue reading...
Study of 56m-year-old leaves counters claims from Trump administration members of benefits' of fossil fuel pollutionAdding huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is set to cause the Earth's forests to wither and die rather than flourish, according to a new study that counters erroneous claims that fossil fuel pollution will green the planet.An analysis of fossilized leaf cells from a period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (or PETM), which occurred about 56 million years ago, has helped reconstruct how the world's forests responded when planet-heating gases were previously being released at a rapid rate. Continue reading...
State department says it has reached administrative settlement with company's US arm to resolve breachesThe UK defence company BAE Systems is to pay a $36m (26.7m) civil penalty after breaching US arms exports regulations more than 100 times.The US Department of State announced on Thursday that it had reached an administrative settlement with the US arm of BAE to resolve 104 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Continue reading...
Jose Chajon-Raxon experienced seizure-like activity' at Delaney Hall and later died after being hospitalizedA Guatemalan immigrant detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Newark, New Jersey, facility suffered a medical emergency and later died after being hospitalized, according to the Trump administration.Jose Chajon-Raxon is the third immigrant to die after being held at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center that reopened in May 2025 amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Continue reading...
Tech billionaire's $158.3bn deal an outlier in report showing widening gap of CEO to worker pay at top companiesElon Musk received over 2.5m times as much compensation at Tesla as the company's average worker, according to a new report on the growing gap between top corporate executives and their workers.Musk's $158.3bn pay deal was an outlier but came as the gap between CEO and worker pay continued to grow. Excluding Musk, last year the average ratio of CEO to worker pay for the top S&P 500 companies was 312 to 1, up from a 285:1 ratio in 2024. With Musk, the average pay ratio was 5,387:1, according to the executive pay watch report released this week by the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US. Continue reading...
Republican congressman publicly shared links to evidence his team compiled in response to domestic abuse allegationsEmily Moreno, the ex-wife of Max Miller, has sued the embattled Republican congressman and his lawyer for uploading a picture of their infant daughter to a publicly accessible Dropbox folder as part of their custody battle.The complaint argues that Miller recklessly published and disclosed to the world a nude image" of their daughter. The photos in the lawsuit were part of a tranche of evidence that Miller's team compiled in response to the domestic abuse allegations the lawmaker is facing following his divorce. Those allegations include holding a gun to Moreno's head, pouring boiling water on her, and actions that resulted in his two-year-old daughter's collarbone being broken, all of which Miller denies.In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women's Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
One of the most famous teams in the world is about to change hands for the second time in less than a year for more than $12bn. Will anyone push back?One of the most brutal lessons we must learn as fans is that the team we shed blood, sweat and tears for is seen by those who own it as just one of many assets. That gap has never felt as wide as it does this week. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are set to change hands, for the second time in 10 months, for $12.5bn, a sum that would be a record for any North American sports team. (The deal must be approved by the NBA's board of governors before it can go through.) The buyers aren't diehards who saved up every penny like the good Dr Jerry Buss in the 1970s. Those days are gone. If and when the deal is approved, the new owners will be venture capitalist Josh Kushner and his business partner, Bob Iger. Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the titleless Wormtongue to Donald Trump's Saruman. Iger used to run Disney. These men have connections across the political world and influence in every corner of the American empire. A franchise woven into a city's identity should never become an asset vastly wealthy people move around like a chip around a poker table. But that is exactly what the Lakers are about to become. The way the deal came together should terrify anyone who still thinks sports belong to the fans.Mark Walter took control of the team from the Buss family last October at a valuation of roughly $10bn. Now he is set to cash out around $2bn richer. That's not how this is supposed to work. The old guard, like Buss, used to guard their NBA teams like heirlooms and pass them down. Walter is set to flip the team after less than a year. Continue reading...
As Karoline Leavitt plans to step down, it's apparent how the president above all values a readiness to twist the truthAs Karoline Leavitt prepares to step down from her role as Donald Trump's fifth White House press secretary, a brief review of her tenure, and that of her predecessors, makes clear that the most fabulist president in US history prizes one quality above all else in the women and men who speak for him: a willingness to tell outrageous lies.Leavitt started her tenure by telling a wild falsehood at her very first news conference, when she claimed that the Biden administration had planned to use $50m in taxpayer dollars to send condoms to Gaza. Later the same day, the Guardian reported that the claim was directly contradicted by USAID records. Continue reading...
Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as regulator says five companies can raise bills to pay for infrastructure for new housing and datacentresThe biggest factor for the FTSE 100's underperformance on Thursday morning relative to other European markets is a big decline in the mining sector.Chilean miner Antofagasta is the biggest faller on London's benchmark index, down 4.9% after it cut its guidance for future output.The London-listed miner cut its 2026 copper output estimate to between 625,000 and 655,000 metric tons, from a previous forecast of 650,000 to 700,000 tons, due to a shutdown at its Los Pelambres mine in July after extreme rains prompted Chile's government to declare a state of catastrophe" in the Coquimbo Region.While there has been no material impact on key equipment and infrastructure, the miner said it will need to repair some pipeline platforms and water management systems. Continue reading...
Prize was eighth largest in Powerball history and followed three months without a top prize winnerA Powerball ticket sold at a gas station in western Illinois was the sole winner of the $1bn jackpot, ending a three-month drought without a top-prize victor.The ticket that won the jackpot on Wednesday night was purchased at a Hy-Vee station in Quincy, about 100 miles (160km) west of the state capital of Springfield along the Missouri border, Illinois Lottery officials said. The winning numbers were 4-26-66-67-69 with the Powerball number of 9. Continue reading...
Ethics experts and Democrats express alarm as Trump uses office to grow his personal fortune to unprecedented' levelDonald Trump's use of his second presidency to grow his personal fortune has alarmed legal and ethics experts and congressional Democrats as he has reaped an unprecedented" $2.2bn in 2025 revenues by amassing big cryptocurrency holdings, benefitting from wealthy foreign interests, expanding his Truth Social business and more, while federal oversight of his actions has waned.Trump last year raked in at least $1.4bn from his crypto ventures according to financial disclosure forms he filed in June. Simultaneously, about one million investors in a Trump crypto scheme suffered almost $3.8bn in losses as their volatile crypto holdings tanked in value. Continue reading...
The congresswoman's decision is an assertion of women's freedom and dignity at a time when our status is rapidly erodingDon't be weird about this," representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive star and rumored 2028 presidential contender, said on her live video broadcast as she raised her shirt to angle the syringe into her abdomen. Then, with resignation, even though I know all of you will be."The New York Democrat is 36 years old, and this week, she revealed that she is beginning the process of freezing her eggs during Congress' August recess. In the video, Ocasio-Cortez said that she was seeking to destigmatize the realities of women's lives as they navigate the conflicting demands of professional aspiration and family building; she explained to viewers the process of the hormonal injections she was administering to herself, showing them the drugs and injector she was using arrayed on a paper towel, beside a disinfecting towelette. The procedure, Ocasio-Cortez explained, was not covered by her insurance, and she would be paying 100% out of pocket". She had been saving to afford it for some time. This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life," she said, going on to assert her hope that transparency about such questions will destigmatize women's reproductive lives and promote their dignity. Continue reading...
State is US's largest user of pesticide that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson's diseaseCalifornia is banning paraquat, a highly toxic, controversial herbicide used across millions of acres of American cropland.Public health advocates characterize it as a deadly substance that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson's disease. It is already outlawed in more than 70 countries, including China, the UK and the EU. Yet in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reapproved it for use in 2021 and 2024. Continue reading...
It's a nice sentiment, but all AI users should ask three questions about their preferred choice of AI platformOn Monday, Mark Zuckerberg published a 6,500-word essay, The Future Is for Everyone. The essay came with something even rarer: a new Meta open-weight model. An open-weight AI model is the kind of AI with which you download the entire thing, and it works on your own computer (with or without the internet) and nobody can switch it off except for you. Almost every mainstream AI tool you use, whether it be Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude, is one you rent access to. Meta's is one that you can download and actually own. I downloaded it before I finished the essay. So can you.This major move by the world's largest tech heavyweight comes amid a summer heavy with AI news, full of nations at war. Washington against Beijing; tech founder against tech founder. But beneath those conflicts is a deeper contest between two kinds of power: a government that can order technology offline in an instant, and a company that can simply close your account. Neither is necessarily villainous. But the rest of us are not merely the audience in this fight; we are the prize. And the terms are already being written: intelligence on lease, a future we pay for but never quite own. Continue reading...
Progressive and democratic socialist politicians are recanting pandemic-era statements on police and prison abolitionThe north may not remember, but 9 August this year marked the 12th anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown Jr in Ferguson, Missouri. That day, the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reassured an ABC news anchor that she, like other progressive politicians and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates, had moved away" from statements they made during the pandemic, particularly on police and prison abolition. Questioned further, she explained:I have a local city councilman that has this saying: Woke 1 was crazy'... especially during Covid, I think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful. I think that when we talk about crime today, it's fundamentally different than the way that we talked about crime in bringing crime down. And I think that we all share in the goals of having as low a crime rate as possible. I think that, you know, during lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today. And I'm grateful that these candidates have the opportunity to present who they are to their electorate and what they're campaigning on in this moment." Continue reading...
The dangers of AI become clearer every day. Why are we still acting as if we have no choice about our future?Rather than producing jobs, the US economy actually lost 23,000 jobs in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on Friday. In addition, May and June's job numbers were revised downward, showing a combined 103,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.As if this weren't bad enough, wage growth has also slowed. Average hourly earnings rose by just 0.1% from June. Continue reading...
We look at the many contenders for the English title this season, one of the big potential moves of the summer and chaos at FifaIt's difficult to recall a Premier League season starting amid such widespread uncertainty as this one. Half the division, including Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, is under new management. The Pep Guardiola era is over and, as Jonathan Wilson put it, the Premier League has no alpha manager possibly for the first time ever. Continue reading...
The author of a new novel about the famed detective explores a little-known facet of Holmes's creatorWhat do Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle have to do with boxing? More than you may think. Doyle, who created Holmes, was a boxing enthusiast who boxed a bit and wrote extensively about the sport.Doyle stood 6ft tall and weighed in the neighborhood of 200lb. He began sparring while a medical student at the University of Edinburgh and described himself as a fair average amateur".McMurdo," cried Sherlock Holmes genially. I don't think you can have forgotten me. Don't you remember the amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back?"Not Mr Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter. God's truth! How could I have mistook you? If instead o' standin' there so quiet, you had just stepped up and given me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, I'd ha' known you without a question. Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy."Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book - Sherlock Holmes and Mrs. Rutledge - will be published later this month and is available for preorder on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk as well as other platforms. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Continue reading...
McKenna West initially agreed to an abortion after diagnosis, but then fled to state where abortion is illegal and broke contact with biological parents, attorney allegesA surrogate mother who traveled to Texas, where abortion is illegal, claiming she was pressured to end the pregnancy after the discovery of a severe heart defect, gave birth on Wednesday to a baby boy.The child's biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, confirmed the birth through their lawyer, while denying they forced McKenna West, who is from Alaska, to undergo an abortion, the Texas Tribune reported. Continue reading...
Democratic socialist Francesca Hong fell just short as David Crowley strives for unity for the general electionFrancesca Hong, a democratic socialist, was on course to win the party's nomination for Wisconsin governor on Wednesday by a clear margin, according to the polls - presaging the latest in an extraordinary wave of leftwing victories across the country, challenging the party's establishment.It was not to be. In a photo finish after a messy campaign, David Crowley eked out a win by a few thousand votes over Hong, raising questions over the limits of the progressive movement that has swept through Democratic contests in recent months. Continue reading...
Recent data compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission shows 19 pedestrians were killed across the US in crashes with ebike riders from 2017 to 2024. That's roughly the average number of pedestrians killed by motorists every day of 2024 Continue reading...
Police said they believed deceased man was assailant in domestic-related homicide at daycare centerA man killed a woman and their child inside a small in-home daycare center they own in Minnesota before taking his own life, police said on Wednesday.Hopkins police department said in statement they responded to a report of a stabbing at the residence on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North around 9am in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins. Inside, they found two adults and a child dead. Continue reading...
Military official says AH-64 Apache had been on a routine training flight near Fort Hood when it went downAn army Apache helicopter crashed in a central Texas field on Wednesday, killing both people on board and sparking a wildfire that forced several homes to be evacuated, a sheriff's official said.Officials from nearby Fort Hood announced that the AH-64 Apache helicopter had crashed. Cliff Coleman, spokesperson for the Bell county sheriff's office, confirmed that both occupants had died. Continue reading...
by Shrai Popat in Washington and Guardian staff on (#77N0S)
Trump's most prominent spokesperson won regular plaudits from her boss for her unflinching defense of his agendaDonald Trump's most prominent spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, is leaving the White House. The US president announced on Wednesday that his press secretary would depart at the end of the month.Leavitt, who has served in the role since Trump's returned to power in January 2025, won regular plaudits from her boss for her unflinching defense of his agenda, but faced frequent criticism for amplifying misinformation and curbing press freedom. Continue reading...
After person is spotted disposing of suspicious device, police with K-9 unit halt major roadway for two hoursA stretch of a major Washington DC roadway was brought to a standstill during Wednesday morning's rush hour after the city's bomb squad responded to a suspicious device - only for police to later identify the object as a sex toy.The situation unfolded at about 7am as many commuters were on their way to work. Authorities initially told WUSA9 that a witness had reported seeing someone place a suspicious package inside a trash can near the Tenleytown fire station. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Kai Wright with Ed Pilkington . Produced on (#77MYC)
On 13 August, three states are set to carry out executions by lethal injection. It's the first time since 2010 that three people will be put to death on the same day in the US. In Tennessee, the execution of Darrell Hines is in the spotlight, because the last lethal injection in the state was botched. Ed Pilkington speaks to Kai Wright about the doctor at the center of that botched execution, whose identity was revealed inadvertently last year. Ed explains how his reporting has lifted the lid on a role that is usually hidden away from public view, and what it tells us about the American death penalty todayUnmasked: the doctor who helps put prisoners to death Continue reading...
Reiner, 32, charged with first-degree murder in deaths of Hollywood towering figures Rob Reiner and Michele ReinerA grand jury has indicted Nick Reiner with first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, the renowned director and actor Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, the Los Angeles county district attorney's office announced on Wednesday.Prosecutors accuse Reiner, 32, of stabbing the couple to death in December in their Brentwood home, before fleeing the scene. He was arrested shortly after and charged with murder. Reiner has since been held in custody without bail. Continue reading...
Prosecutors charge Heidi Beirich with financial crimes as part of case against the Southern Poverty Law CenterThe justice department on Wednesday arrested a leading expert on far-right extremism, charging her with financial crimes as part of the government's ongoing case against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).Federal prosecutors charged Heidi Beirich, who formerly served as the group's chief financial officer, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. Continue reading...
Justice department asks justices to pause decision that blocked Trump's order to tighten voting by mail rulesDonald Trump's administration again asked the US supreme court on Wednesday to intervene to fully implement the president's executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of US Congress.The US Department of Justice filed a request asking the justices to put on hold a decision made on Tuesday by US district judge Indira Talwani in Boston that blocks the US Postal Service from nationwide enforcement of the directive's tighter rules for voting by mail. Continue reading...
Darrell Hines's lawyers ask supreme court to intervene, arguing he could face fate similar to failed execution in MayTennessee is scheduled to execute a man this week despite bipartisan backlash after the state botched its previous lethal injection, which dragged on for more than an hour before it was canceled.Darrell Hines, who was convicted of the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins, a motel maid and mother of four, is due to be put to death on Thursday. Continue reading...
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