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A tour of the mayoral hopeful's Jewish outreach reveals an electorate fractured over Israel and grappling with his historic candidacy in radically different waysSecuring Jewish votes was never going to be a straightforward ride for Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayoral hopeful who is on track to become the most prominent Palestine supporter to assume elected office in the US - in the most Jewish city outside Israel, no less.The notion that he could sparks outright panic in some quarters. Continue reading...

Millions took to US streets to oppose authoritarianism as Democrats acknowledge People want to see us fighting'They marched in their millions. Some waved the Stars and Stripes. Some clutched signs with slogans such as: Nothing is more patriotic than protesting." And some donned inflatable costumes that included aliens, chickens, clowns, frogs, lobsters, mushrooms, penguins, seahorses, sharks, squirrels, starfish and unicorns.The energy of last weekend's No Kings protests against Donald Trump's authoritarianism was palpable and peaceful, drawing an estimated 7 million people to 2,700 rallies across the country. Among them were the Democratic senators Cory Booker, Ed Markey, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, Raphael Warnock and Elizabeth Warren as well as the independent Bernie Sanders. Continue reading...

The president's move is less an example of American exceptionalism than part of a familiar patternAmid all the horrors of the second Trump administration, the demolition of the East Wing is hardly in the top 10. But it provides a powerful symbol of wanton destruction - and, as Trump himself knows full well, images matter greatly in politics. It also curiously combines so many elements of a distinctly Trumpian approach to government: shameless falsehoods about the proposed ballroom (It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it"); complete disregard for legislation (in this case rules about preservation), and unprecedented levels of cronyism (with CEOs trying to curry favor with the president through donations to a grotesque project of self-aggrandizement). There is also something very poignant about the destruction of an edifice which had provided an office of one's own for first ladies. For all these peculiarities, Trump's disfiguring the White House fits into a larger global trend: far-right populist leaders in many countries have used spectacular architecture to advance their political agenda and, more particularly, to set their vision of a real people" - as in real Americans", real Hungarians" et cetera - in stone.Just before Christmas 2020, in the dying days of his first administration, Trump had already taken time off from his busy schedule promoting the big lie about having won the election in order to issue an executive order entitled Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture". The order made classicism" the preferred style for new federal buildings, stopping just short of banning modernism entirely. Biden rescinded the order; Trump brought a version of it back right on inauguration day this year. What is almost entirely forgotten is that the 2020 order had belonged together with Trump's 1776 commission", the ill-fated attempt to whitewash US history; both the architecture orders and the instructions for history teaching were meant to promote an image of the US as pure and beautiful".Jan-Werner Muller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University Continue reading...

As we approach the anniversary of the 2024 election, we awake to new horrors each day. But we must not give up hopeOne year ago, everything was so different. In late October 2024, before the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could certainly acknowledge the deep flaws of their country - its injustices and inequality - but they could still recognize it as the United States. A democracy. A place where the rule of law meant something. A nation led by a dignified and decent public servant, despite his advanced age and increasing frailty.These days, in late October 2025, many of us barely recognize the nation we live in. People suspected of being illegal immigrants are rounded up and shoved into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the people's house" - the White House - is being destroyed for an obscene ballroom. Donald Trump is persecuting his political rivals or supposed enemies and demanding the justice department hand over $230m. Armed military personnel are being sent into American cities on false pretexts. The Pentagon, relabeled the Department of War, has - in effect - rid itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends what could amount to nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Universities, law firms, news companies are buckling under the president's threats, and billionaires are treated like members of the royal family. Continue reading...

Nuns, bishops and laity from California to Texas have created a network of help to uphold church teachingsCatholic parishioners rushed to deliver food boxes to immigrants too terrified to leave their homes in the California city of Coachella after federal immigration agents swept through Latino neighborhoods during the summer.Just south of Arizona's border in Nogales, Mexico, Catholic nuns, laypeople and volunteers at the Kino Border Initiative, despite rising threats against aid workers, cook and serve two meals daily for immigrants who have been deported or lost their chances at US asylum in Donald Trump's crackdown. Continue reading...

Donald Trump makes announcement in response to anti-tariff ad sponsored by Ontario government. Key US politics stories from Saturday 25 October at a glanceDonald Trump announced on Saturday that he will raise US tariffs on Canada by 10% in retaliation for an anti-tariff advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government, which has further strained one of the world's largest trade partnerships.The statement, posted on Trump's Truth Social account, came after several days of public disputes over the ad, which referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free trade and provoked the US president's anger. Continue reading...

Fort Worth police share video of extraordinary effort by officers and motorists to pull car off baby and give CPRA baby is expected to make a full recovery and two Fort Worth police officers are being hailed as heroes after saving the infant, who was pinned under an overturned car after a crash on Texas's Interstate 30 on Thursday morning.Fort Worth police said in a social media post that Sgt R Nichols and officer E Bounds responded to a crash around 9.30am where a woman and an infant had been in a collision that caused the infant to be ejected from the vehicle. Continue reading...

Sgt Kevin Bollaro accused of misconduct and falsifying report after blowing off investigation of a double homicideA New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors say he didn't quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead stopping at an ATM and pizzeria.Franklin township police sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of 1 August when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) from Manhattan in central New Jersey, according to Hunterdon county prosecutor Renee Robeson's office. Continue reading...

Move is response to ad sponsored by Ontario that referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free tradeDonald Trump announced on Saturday that he will raise US tariffs on Canada by 10% in retaliation for an anti-tariff advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government, which has further strained one of the world's largest trade partnerships.The statement, posted on Trump's Truth Social account, came after several days of public disputes over the ad, which referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free trade and provoked the US president's anger. Continue reading...

Notable majority feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, and only 27% approve of his job performanceDonald Trump's standing with Hispanic adults has dropped notably since he took office at the start of the year, according to a new poll.Polling by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests growing unease among a voting bloc that was crucial to his 2024 re-election victory. The October survey shows that 25% of Hispanic adults now hold a somewhat" or very" favorable view of Trump, down sharply from 44% in an AP-NORC poll conducted just before he began his second term. Continue reading...

Jose Castro Rivera, 24, was killed Thursday morning after running onto a highway and being struckA 24-year-old Honduran man died while trying to flee Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Virginia, bringing the death toll among those trying to escape detention in the Trump administration's mass deportation crackdown to at least three people.Jose Castro Rivera was killed on Thursday morning after running onto a busy highway and being struck and fatally injured while trying to evade ICE agents, local authorities said. Continue reading...

Reclusive Republican billionaire is descendant of gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew MellonA reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.Timothy Mellon, heir to the gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, is the secret donor whom Trump has described as a friend", great American" and patriot", but has refused to name, the Times reported on Saturday, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the arrangement. Continue reading...

Republican opposition to the effort to give House Democrats more safe seats may be no match for the fact that Californians really don't like TrumpThere are many ways to characterize Proposition 50, the single ballot initiative that Californians will be voting on this election season.You could say it's about redrawing congressional district lines outside the regular once-a-decade schedule. You could say, more precisely, that it's about counterbalancing Republican efforts to engineer congressional seats in their favor in Texas and elsewhere with a gerrymander that favors the Democrats. You could, like the measure's detractors, call it a partisan power grab that risks undermining 15 years of careful work to make California's congressional elections as fair and competitive as possible. Continue reading...

Zohran Mamdani is facing off against Andrew Cuomo in New York, and Jack Ciattarelli and Mikie Sherrill are competing in New JerseyPolling places opened on Saturday for the start of in-person voting for two of the year's most closely watched elections: the New York City mayor's race and the contest to pick New Jersey's next governor.New Yorkers are choosing between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat on the ballot as an independent. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, is also on the ballot but dropped out of the race last month and recently threw his support behind Cuomo. Continue reading...

In a BBC interview, former vice-president says she isn't done with politics and could possibly' be the next presidentKamala Harris says she is not done with politics and strongly suggested that she is considering another bid for president in a new interview.In an interview scheduled to air on the BBC on Sunday morning, Harris says that she would possibly" be the next president, making the clearest suggestion to date that she will make another run for the White House in 2028 despite lagging far behind in the polls. Continue reading...

The Western Conference's No 1 seed can become the second expansion team to win MLS CupAs San Diego FC prepare for their first playoff appearance this Sunday, they do so with the deserved title of record breakers. The expansion club has earned the Western Conference's No 1 seed and set records for most victories (19) and points (63) in a single season by an MLS expansion team. As a result, they will be at home for the remainder of the playoffs, and would host MLS Cup if they make it there and meet anyone other than Inter Miami, Cincinnati, or the Supporters' Shield-winning Philadelphia Union.Now, they're aiming for more history - to become the first expansion side to win MLS Cup since 1998 when the Chicago Fire achieved it against DC United. Continue reading...

The president's mega-project raises a lot of questions - including when he's planning on leavingDonald Trump has quite the passion for American history. If there's a controversial statue commemorating a dead white supremacist out there, there's a good chance the president has gone to bat for it.Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," Trump tweeted in 2017, in response to a push to remove Confederate monuments. You can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Trump added.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Experts say there has been an 80% drop-off since serial killing peaked in the US in the 1970s - but that hasn't stopped social media speculationFor the past two years, rumors of a serial killer have preoccupied residents of Austin, Texas, and beyond as body upon body kept turning up at a lake in the city. The killer was even given a name: the Rainey Street Ripper.But authorities now say some 36 drownings in the lake, near Rainey Street neighborhood, were probably related to alcohol and drug consumption and the reservoir's proximity to the city's famous bar scene. Continue reading...

As Trump's tariffs and funding cuts suspend projects in Erie, some residents view the changes as a necessary evilIt was set to be the most expensive project that the beaten-down manufacturing sector of Erie, Pennsylvania, had seen in decades. In a blighted corner of town, a startup planned a $300m plant that would turn plastic waste into fuel for steel factories.Neighborhood advocates in Erie's impoverished east side hoped the facility would provide the jobs and prosperity they needed. Environmentalists decried the pollution they expected the plant to bring. Unions got ready for what they hoped would be hundreds of jobs created by its construction, with more to come once it opened. Continue reading...

Critics of the Democratic nominee for NYC mayor have called him everything from jihadist candidate' to terrorist sympathizer'On Thursday morning, hours after a combative final New York mayoral debate that failed to move the needle in his favor, Andrew Cuomo's attacks on progressive Democratic rival Zohran Mamdani resumed a familiar, racially charged theme.God forbid, another 9/11, can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?" the independent candidate and former governor told conservative radio talkshow host Sid Rosenberg, referring to the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City by Islamic extremists. Continue reading...

The US president's reversal was as capricious as his original plan. What if local billionaires had urged him to stick with it?This story was published in collaboration with Mission Local.The mayor of San Francisco said on Thursday that Donald Trump had simply called him - no go-betweens or consigliere required - and told him there would no longer be a deployment of federal agents or troops to the city.Joe Eskenazi is an editor and columnist for Mission Local. Io Yeh Gilman and Xueer Lu contributed reporting Continue reading...

Anxiety and economic stress among federal employees as Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked on billMore furloughs, more anxiety and more economic stress are bearing down on federal employees as the shutdown of the federal government continues into its fourth week with Republicans and Democrats at a standstill on negotiating a budget deal.There's no sight of this ending and we're starting to wonder if we're going to be made whole and if this is going to continue into the next round of pay, which is what we're headed into now. On Friday, we will be missing our first full paycheck," Johnny Jones, council secretary treasurer for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) TSA Council 100, and a TSA employee in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, said. Continue reading...

Trip will see him take part in high-stakes trade talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping - but he also raised prospect of meeting North Korean leader

Marco Rubio has pushed for a tough approach to Venezuela, while the president reportedly only cares about the oilIt was a solemn pledge at the heart of Donald Trump's America first" appeal.A Make America great again" (Maga) foreign policy would mean the end of military commitments that had in the past sucked the US into draining and drawn-out wars far from its own shores. Continue reading...

Russell Wilson built his career on faith, charm and polish. Now the NFL's perennial nice guy has become proof that sincerity can backfire in professional footballThey say you can't win football games with too many choir boys. One choir boy might be too many in the case of Russell Wilson, the NFL's would-be Mr Congeniality. From the off the New York Giants quarterback has gone to lengths to distinguish himself as the game's most likable star, the kind of player kids look up to and opponents look out for. And all it seems to do is breed resentment.Wilson's closest collaborators struggle to speak his name without spitting. Richard Sherman, the standout former defensive back turned Prime Video analyst, begrudges Wilson for the favoritism he received from management during their years together in Seattle. KJ Wright, another prominent member of that Legion of Boom defense, accuses Wilson of betraying locker room bonds. Marshawn Lynch, the delightful but famously reticent Seahawks running back who lined up behind Wilson for 56 Seahawks games, recalls having to ask someone in the team's front office for the QB's contact info - and Wilson calling him back from a blocked number. Russ was just a quarterback for me," Lynch said. Just the quarterback who led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl title. Continue reading...

Toronto's nine-run eruption turned an alleged mismatch into a statement, showing the Dodgers' empire of excess can be thwarted by patience, contact and beliefBefore the first pitch of the 2025 World Series on Friday night, it had been 32 years and one day since the greatest day in Toronto Blue Jays history and the last time that the franchise hosted a World Series game.On 23 October 1993, outfielder Joe Carter hit the second ever walk-off home run to clinch a World Series championship on a pitch that was being thrown to Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton. On 24 October 2025, the first Blue Jays home run hit in a World Series game since Carter's was by outfielder Daulton Varsho, whose father, Gary, named his son after his former Phillies teammate ... Darren Daulton. Two innings later, outfielder Addison Barger hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, the keynote of a nine-run sixth inning, which was the highest-scoring World Series inning since 1968. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump is adding a $300m ballroom to the White House - but that plan has come at the cost of the historic East Wing

This blog is now closed. Read our latest story hereThe US secretary of state has confirmed Donald Trump's announcement that all trade negotiations with Canada have been suspended.Marco Rubio spoke during a visit to a civil-military coordination centre in southern Israel. Continue reading...

Police say one person critical and one person in serious condition but no details on suspect or suspectsA shooting near Howard University has left at least four people shot, police in Washington DC said.The shooting happened as thousands descended on the campus for homecoming celebrations. Continue reading...

Show's leader, who resigned in April, says he was also pressured to apologize for edit of Kamala Harris interviewThe former executive producer of 60 Minutes, Bill Owens, said he faced intense internal pressure from his corporate bosses to avoid certain stories that had the potential to generate backlash for parent company Paramount, in his first public remarks since his sudden resignation in late April.In January, 60 Minutes ran a segment featuring former state department employees who had quit over how Joe Biden's administration handled the war in Gaza. The segment drew backlash from pro-Israel organizations and unnerved Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, a strong supporter of Israel. Continue reading...

Karin Immergut to decide by Monday whether to lift her order blocking federalized troops from patrolling cityA federal judge in Portland, Oregon, on Friday rejected the Trump administration's request to immediately lift her order blocking the deployment of federalized national guard troops to the city, saying that she would decide the matter by Monday.The hearing in Portland and one in Washington DC are the latest in a head-spinning array of lawsuits and overlapping rulings prompted by Trump's push to send the military into Democratic-run cities despite fierce resistance from mayors and governors. Troop deployment remains blocked in the Chicago area, where all sides are waiting to see whether the US supreme court intervenes to allow it. Continue reading...

Treasury accuses Gustavo Petro of allowing drug cartels to flourish' as president attacks Trump's oppressive regime'The US treasury department has announced sanctions on Colombian president Gustavo Petro, one of Donald Trump's harshest international critics.President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity," treasury secretary Scott Bessent wrote in a post on X. Today President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation." Continue reading...

USS Gerald Ford carrier and other warships will head to coast of Venezuela. Key US politics stories from Friday 24 October at a glanceThe Pentagon said on Friday that it was deploying the United States' most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, a serious escalation in the Trump administration's war against drug cartels that provides the resources to start conducting strikes against targets on the ground.The move will bring the USS Gerald Ford carrier, with dozens of stealth fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, in addition to other warships that accompany the carrier, to the coast of Venezuela as the carrier nears the end of its deployment in the Mediterranean. Continue reading...

Allegation raises further questions about death of Byron Black in execution lawyer says was 100% botched'A man executed on Tennessee death row showed signs of sustained cardiac activity" for nearly two minutes after he was pronounced dead, his attorney said in court on Friday.The allegation raises further questions about how the death of Byron Black unfolded and will increase scrutiny on capital punishment in Tennessee. Continue reading...

Justice department targets two Democratic states holding off-year elections after requests from state RepublicansThe Department of Justice is preparing to send federal election observers to California and New Jersey next month, targeting two Democratic states holding off-year elections following requests from state Republican parties.The department announced it was planning to monitor polling sites in Passaic county, New Jersey, and five counties in southern and central California: Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno. The goal, according to the department, is to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law". Continue reading...

Use of USS Gerald Ford along with fighter jets comes as president plots strikes against alleged cartels on landThe Pentagon said on Friday that it was deploying the United States's most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, a major escalation in the Trump administration's war against drug cartels that provides the resources to start conducting strikes against targets on the ground.The move will bring the USS Gerald Ford, with dozens of stealth fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, in addition to other warships that accompany the carrier, to the coast of Venezuela as it nears the end of its current deployment in the Mediterranean. Continue reading...

Ontario premier says he plans to run ad featuring speech that sparked Trump's ire again during World Series but campaign will end MondayAfter the US suspended all trade negotiations with Canada over a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs that appeared to spark Donald Trump's ire, the premier of Ontario said he planned to run an ad featuring the speech again during the World Series on Friday.Doug Ford, whose government ran the Reagan ad in US markets this week, first posted on X that the two nations were stronger together", while Trump added his own string of social media posts trumpeting the supposed benefits of tariffs. Continue reading...

Despite president's promise to preserve it, the eastern section of the building is now completely destroyedThe East Wing of the White House has now been completely destroyed to pave way for Donald Trump's $300m planned gilded ballroom, just days after the administration announced it would happen and contradicting Trump's earlier promise that the existing building would not be touched.Satellite images on Friday showed the historic building's eastern section reduced to rubble, to the outrage of historians, former White House officials and much of the public. Continue reading...

Nearly 42 million people in danger as federal government shutdown continues and Snap funding to end 1 November

Two sweeping federal indictments have implicated big names in basketball and raised uncomfortable questions about who benefits from legalized gamblingThe NBA gambling scandal is the biggest story of the year in US sports, a culmination of the years-long embrace between professional leagues and the multibillion-dollar gambling industry that has now crossed the line from synergy into scandal.In two sweeping federal indictments unsealed in Brooklyn on Thursday, prosecutors charged more than 30 people - including the Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and assistant Damon Jones - with schemes that turned inside information and rigged card games into engines of profit for organized crime. Continue reading...

State becomes second to attempt to redistrict to benefit Democrats in response to Republicans' efforts to gain seats

New York attorney general appears in court in Virginia in case brought after Trump called for her prosecutionThe New York state attorney general, Letitia James, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of bank fraud and false statements brought after Donald Trump publicly called for her to be prosecuted in a move widely seen as political retribution.Not guilty judge to both counts," James told the judge as she made her first appearance in federal district court in Virginia. The case has been assigned to Judge Jamar Walker, who was nominated by Joe Biden. Continue reading...

San Francisco's mayor, along with Silicon Valley leaders, managed to stop the president's law enforcement surgeDonald Trump rarely has kind words for Democrats, especially those who stand in his way. But on Thursday the president offered something unfamiliar: a compliment.As federal agents mobilized at a US Coast Guard base in the Bay Area, Trump credited San Francisco's new mayor, Daniel Lurie, for very nicely" persuading him to stand down from a planned immigration enforcement surge" in the city this weekend. Continue reading...