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Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels held off the TCU Horned Frogs in a low-scoring affair at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Saturday in the first major college football game of the 2026 season

Ex-House intel committee chair, now running against Abdul El-Sayed, instead saw photo of Osama bin Laden's bodyIn a recent fundraising email, the Republican candidate for Michigan's open US Senate seat, former congressman Mike Rogers, appeared to mislead supporters about his past by suggesting that he had played an active role in the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida who was shot and killed in an American military raid on his compound in Pakistan in 2011.When I served as a US army officer and an FBI special agent, I swore a sacred oath to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," Rogers wrote, according to a screenshot of the email shared online by Azi Paybarah, a former Washington Post reporter now with Straight Arrow News. I dedicated my life to keeping our families safe - working in the shadows, hunting down terrorists, and standing on the frontlines of our national security." Continue reading...

Bureau will still dismiss those engaged with sex workers within past 10 years, three or more times overall, or while in public safety capacityThe FBI is dropping a categorical hiring ban on applicants who have had sexual encounters with sex workers and will instead consider in a more holistic manner at least some candidates who have engaged in the practice in the past, according to people familiar with the matter.The move away from an automatic disqualification falls along a continuum of evolving recruitment standards within federal law enforcement and at the buttoned-up bureau, which several years ago relaxed its approach to candidates' past marijuana use and has drawn more recent concern among some current and former agents about a perceived loosening of recruitment requirements as it seeks to replenish its ranks. Continue reading...

Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Gabriel Perez wagered on Kalshi about words president used in speechesA White House teleprompter operator who left his post amid accusations that he used inside knowledge to make bets on Donald Trump's speeches on an online prediction market has been fined $172,000, according to federal regulators.Gabriel Perez illicitly exploited material, nonpublic information" that he gathered through his work for the president in order to place wagers on the Kalshi platform for his personal benefit", the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintained in a news release on Friday. Continue reading...

In deep red South Carolina, the president helped stoke apprehension of a deeper red surge ahead of November's US midterm electionsAfter casting his vote in South Carolina, a man who introduced himself as Chestnut was unwilling to give his full name. You don't have a need to know," the air force veteran declared. He was, however, happy to share his views.I'm a true American. I believe in the USA," said the man, outside Christ the Servant Lutheran church in Conway. And I don't believe in communism or socialism." Continue reading...

Avoiding US goods and services - from tech to whisky to air travel - has forced many to find a new way of livingFor William McDonald, 38, a diesel mechanic from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canadian is always the first choice," even if it means his weekly bills are higher.As soon as Trump started putting those tariffs on in February [last year], I started boycotting US goods," he said. Avoiding American products has driven my costs up, and I'm still happy to do it. Continue reading...

Even after judges rejected the same ploy, the Trump administration is going directly to social media and telecommunications companiesThe Trump administration has been deploying an obscure legal maneuver to try to obtain private information on journalists, non-profits and unions, raising alarm over a power the government has asserted without judicial oversight.In one instance, the government obtained six months of telephone records for Georgia Fort, a Minneapolis journalist. Fort was not notified of the request for her information, nor was she given a chance to contest the government's effort to obtain them, her lawyers said in court papers. Continue reading...

Recent deadly water-related incidents amid heatwave leads National Park Service to issue water-safety remindersAs a heatwave continues to bake the western and central US, officials are urging swimmers to be cautious when seeking respite from the summer heat, especially amid a score of recent deadly water-related incidents.Each year, from April to September, drowning deaths rise nationwide, according to 2018-24 data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading...

There's little optimism about treasury secretary's ability to handle Trump's tariffs, Iran sanctions and colossal US debtHistory remembers Gen Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the allied forces in Europe during the second world war, for his role in the D-day invasion of Normandy. Whether Scott Bessent will achieve similar posterity as the face of the economic D-day" in Iran remains to be seen.The US treasury secretary, already trying to manage a $40tn national debt pile, this week took charge of Donald Trump's effort to reverse-engineer his war of choice. Whereas the US would typically take on an adversary with diplomacy, sanctions and military force, in that order, the US president started with a six-month bombing campaign and now hopes that economic isolation can finish the job. Continue reading...

Ignore Iran, the Epstein files, and your wallet - not to mention Trump's plummeting approval ratingsDon't mention the war! Or the economy, for that matter. Or the Epstein files. Or Natalie Harp. Or affordability", which, as Donald Trump recently said at a rally, is a word that was never used" by the media before he took office. Best not to talk about anything that affects ordinary people or embarrasses the president, really. Instead, let's all rejoice in Trump's latest triumph: renaming Lake Ontario, which is shared by Canada and the US, as Lake America.On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to America-fy the lake's name on US maps and documents, which is an excellent use of time and resources. I suppose we can at least be thankful that the president, who is trying to slap his own name on everything from airports to the Kennedy Center, didn't decree that the body of water be called Lake Trump.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

By linking progressive politics with nominally Arab American issues, organizers are building winning coalitionsAbbas Alawieh initially thought the uncommitted movement of 2024 had failed.The insurgent group, which he helped co-found, had gotten more than 700,000 Democrats to vote uncommitted" on their 2024 presidential primary ballots to pressure the US government to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. But when the group pushed for the Democratic party to add an embargo on arms to Israel in its platform, it didn't happen. And when they asked to have a Palestinian American speaker address the Democratic national convention, it was also a no-go. Continue reading...

In a 1931 exhibition, Jackie Mitchell silenced the greats back-to-back. It sparked still-ongoing debates over legitimacy and opportunities for women in baseballThe Sultan of Swat sounded exasperated. I don't know what things are coming to," Babe Ruth sighed during spring training in 1931.I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball," he elaborated to reporters. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball everyday." Continue reading...

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US president says US will have majority' control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reservesDonald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez, saying the US will have majority" control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered through a partnership with private business" by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...

Nearly 600 days after the devastating 2025 fires, thousands of Los Angeles residents are still waiting for more than $15bn in federal funds to rebuild their communitiesAs thousands of residents in Spokane, Washington, begin to grapple with a long recovery after a destructive set of blazes that consumed hundreds of homes in the state's second most populated city this month, victims of the Los Angeles firestorm broke a grim record - they have faced the longest delay in modern history for federal aid.Nearly 600 days since a historic firestorm roared into communities across Los Angeles, reducing more than 16,000 structures to ash and toxic debris, the Trump administration has failed to appropriate more than $15bn in long-term recovery funds that are crucial to rebuilding. The delay in supplying the badly needed funds is months longer than the last record set when victims of the Maui fires had to wait 500 days to receive the support, LAist noted this week. Continue reading...

National Park Service, which backs the 250ft arch, says it is likely to disrupt historical significance of dozens of sitesA new National Park Service report backs Donald Trump's proposed arch, despite what it says are adverse effects to the sightlines of a host of landmarks in Washington, including the Washington Monument and the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.The report released on Friday says the 250ft-tall (76-meter) memorial arch is likely to disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location adjacent to the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Continue reading...

Climber, stuck on 6in ridge, had veered off treacherous path and any fall would almost certainly be fatal'An ill-fated move left a man stranded on a 6in ledge over 10,000ft off the ground for hours in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, before a volunteer rescue team came to his aid.The climber, who has not been publicly identified, had been scaling the Mendenhall couloir, a gully on the face of Laurel mountain, with a friend on Saturday. Continue reading...

A former editor of Breitbart News, Yiannopoulos has also served as an intern for Marjorie Taylor GreeneMilo Yiannopoulos, a far-right British political commentator, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Louisiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).In a statement on Friday, a DHS spokesperson said that Yiannopoulos was arrested on Thursday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans international airport (MSY). The spokesperson said Yiannopoulos legally entered the country" in May 2019, but that he chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws". Continue reading...

The Nepal-Tibet flood disaster, Russian strikes in Kyiv, Israeli settlers in the West Bank and tributes to Dolly Parton - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...

Defending champion arrives at Flushing Meadows in poor form and with a host of challengers looking to usurp herUnder any normal circumstances Aryna Sabalenka would not have lost her third-round match at the Cincinnati Open last week. For all of her unforced errors, indecisiveness and the obvious tension surrounding her tennis, the world No 1 had led the unheralded Sara Bejlek 5-1 in the first set tie-break and then 4-1 in set two. She gave herself more than enough chances to close out a comfortable win.Instead Sabalenka returns to New York trying to find a path through her greatest crisis since she first reached No 1 in the rankings more than three years ago. That straight-sets loss in Cincinnati extended a mediocre 17-7 record dating back to the beginning of April during which she has not reached a final. She has just one more chance to turn her fortunes around as she tries to claim her first grand slam title of the year at the US Open, the tournament she has won on the last two occasions. Continue reading...

However, Kevin Warsh didn't say if interest rates would change in coming months, as inflation remains stubbornThe US Federal Reserve is not done fighting high inflation, its chair, Kevin Warsh, said in his first major speech in the role on Friday, emphasizing that it was the Fed's job to deliver stable prices".Warsh did not indicate where the Fed will take interest rates in the coming months, despite US inflation remaining stubbornly above the central bank's 2% target amid the war in Iran. But his speech was taken by markets as a signal that rates may rise in the coming months, a move that may put him at odds with Donald Trump, who has aggressively called for rates to be cut. Continue reading...

Officials said Tyrin Johnson turned toward guard members with gun while running as report shows he was shot in backTennessee national guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime taskforce in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back, according to an autopsy report obtained by the Associated Press, contradicting police accounts that said the man was facing the troops when they fired.Authorities have said that Tyrin Johnson turned toward guard members with a gun while running from them in the early morning hours after the Fourth of July holiday in Memphis when he was fatally shot in the chest. Continue reading...

President faces criticism over plan to import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffsDonald Trump has pledged to allow cattle ranchers and farmers to process their own food amid a backlash from the US agricultural sector over his decision to pause US tariffs on foreign beef.The US president has been sharply criticized, including from members of his own party, since announcing the US will temporarily import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffs in an effort to bring down prices. Continue reading...

State to offer up to 5,000 trappers chance to snare reptiles whose numbers have risen to 3m from fewer than 100,000The first recreational alligator hunt in Louisiana in more than half a century is about to commence in the swamps of that state, with up to 5,000 hopeful trappers facing strict rules in order to snare a reptile.The state's fish and wildlife commission banned alligator hunting in 1962 to allow the species to recover after decades of unregulated killings for meat and hides dropped numbers there to below 100,000. Continue reading...

X2 ride at Magic Mountain has been closed for a month after one rider experienced brain compression and another remains in comaAn infamous Six Flags Magic Mountain rollercoaster, long favored by intrepid theme park goers, has been closed for more than a month after two people say they experienced brain injuries after riding it, according to a new CNN investigation.The X2 rollercoaster sends riders plummeting and twisting hundreds of feet, reaching up to 76mph (about 122km/h) as the seats rotate 360 degrees. On the southern California theme park's website, it's advertised as a rite of passage for daredevils. Continue reading...

Helipad relocation led in part to incident where Marine One, carrying the president, had close call with passenger jetSafety officials say the relocation of a helipad amid Donald Trump's multi-project White House reconstruction led in part to an incident earlier this month in which a military helicopter carrying the president came too close to a passenger jet.A preliminary report published on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blamed communication issues" for the failure of the crew of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, to give the required three minutes' notice to air traffic controllers that they were about to take off from the White House. Continue reading...

Anti-vaxxers are spreading conspiracy theories after two recent measles-associated deaths in PennsylvaniaAnti-vaccine activists are trying to track down the families of two people, including at least one newborn, who died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania, as governor Josh Shapiro tangles with Robert F Kennedy Jr over his inaccurate and misleading claims".Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), suggested late Wednesday that the deaths in the state may have been fabricated" after a Republican coroner - an elected political office in Lancaster county - claimed one of the measles-associated deaths was unrelated to the virus, although the given cause would be consistent with measles. Continue reading...

Thai navy says routine' visit' will allow personnel to rest and recuperate amid reports of poor conditions onboardThe USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is set to make a temporary stop in Thailand next week as it heads back to the United States, Thai navy officials said, after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea supporting US operations against Iran amid recent reports of poor living conditions and low morale onboard the vessel.The Lincoln left the Middle East several days ago after being relieved by the USS George Washington, and is now heading home to San Diego. A Thai navy official told Reuters this week that the carrier was expected to make a brief port visit in Thailand next week for the crew to rest and recuperate before continuing their journey home. Continue reading...

The Gotham striker said she was stepping away from the sport, but then signed for Al Qadsiah. The move sparked questions over professionalism and raised concerns of LGBTQ+ fans who have disavowed the Saudi leagueA recent World Cup winner joins a historically downtrodden club, immediately leads them to their first championship, praises the level of play in the league, speaks fondly of living in the club's market, extends her contract with the club, leads the club to another championship, is named a league MVP finalist, and breaks the club's all-time scoring record. That's the fairytale of Esther Gonzalez and Gotham FC - a story that ended abruptly, just nine days after that scoring record was set. On 27 July, Gotham announced that they had mutually parted ways with the striker as she temporarily steps away from soccer to attend to personal matters in Spain". The announcement of her departure was full of gushing words going both directions, and was met with understanding and support from the women's soccer world.But less than a month after Gonzalez left Gotham, Al Qadsiah, a club in the Saudi Women's Premier League, announced her as their newest signing, on a one-season contract with an option to extend for a second. NWSL journalist Jenna Tonelli soon reported, League sources tell me that Gotham did not expect Esther to sign with another club this soon." Questions swirled: did she actually intend to take a break from soccer when she left Gotham? And why would a player who just had a child with her female partner choose to play in Saudi Arabia, a country where same-sex relations are criminalized? Continue reading...

More than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and in Tibet after catastrophic flash floods swept through the region, killing at least 469. Plus: Six months of the war in Iran

Decision to rescind roadless rule' opens more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and loggingMore than 400 endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration's decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades.According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era roadless rule" could put 7.4m acres of endangered-species habitat and nearly 1,800 miles of protected rivers and streams at risk, while opening more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and logging. Continue reading...

Terrified of being seen as a loser, Donald Trump is nonsensically lashing out - even against our old friend CanadaI'm still grieving Dolly Parton. I never met her and always wanted to. She was almost exactly my age and my height and had values I deeply admired. Her death leaves a hole in the firmament.Which brings me to the person whose values are as far from Dolly Parton's as any human could possibly be and still claim to be human. I'm referring, of course, to the current occupant of the Oval Office. Continue reading...

Unpopular new policy comes as midterms loom and control of Congress could be decided by several Michigan racesEvery day $1bn worth of goods crosses the river dividing Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America's auto industry.News this week of Donald Trump's escalating trade spat with Canada has everyone worried. Political and economic leaders and observers labeled the move an act of hubris" , blamed Trump's ego", and called the escalation insanity". Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges sound is nuisance for up to one mile around datacenter as residents experience noises from DataOneIt's a sound Steve Brown, a 63-year-old Vineland, New Jersey resident, literally hears in his sleep: BGRRRRRRRRRRR.It drones, oscillates, growls - these are machines at industrial scale. Are they generators? Pumps? Fans? Brown does not know what equipment causes the sound or why. He only knows two things: he's tired of it, and it's coming from DataOne - a 350MW datacenter under construction a little more than a mile from his home of 25 years.This article was amended on 28 August 2026. A previous version referred to the Michigan law firm Liddle Sheets PC as Liddle Sheets Coulson. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Michael Boren, a senior official overseeing the US Forest Service, is accused by Democratic senators of inappropriate interference'Donald Trump's administration is facing calls to launch an investigation into allegations that Michael Boren, a senior official who oversees the US Forest Service, pressed agency staff to deploy additional resources to fight a fire burning near his Idaho ranch.Three Democratic senators accused Boren of inappropriate interference" in a letter seen by the Guardian, demanding answers from Brooke Rollins, US agricultural secretary. Boren serves as undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment. Continue reading...

The president senses a crisis in his cult of personality. He believes the path to victory is through unwavering devotionDonald Trump has framed his theme for the midterm elections. It has come to him as naturally and inevitably as staring into the mirror, beyond any logic or argument, his definitive answer to no specific issue, providing no understanding of any particular problem, but transcending all of them. His political theme is more primal than programmatic, more instinctive than analytical, a heartfelt expression to protect his greatest romantic attachment, his obsessive fixation, his idealized object: himself.Trump's campaign theme is unrequited love. Unlike the pollsters, media consultants and pundits, he alone has grasped the magnitude and the source of the existential crisis threatening his politics. He has identified the problem for the Republicans as the faltering measure of complete devotion to him. His demand has nothing to do with mutual affection. It is a ploy to reassert his slipping control, a manipulative test to prove loyalty to him, or else. There can be no absolute rule without an absolute ruler; no absolute ruler without absolute submission; no absolute submission without the expression of absolute love. His sadness at its fading gives way to anger, paranoia and greater acts of retribution. He equates the fear he instills as a form of love. Trump accepts subservience, from whatever motive, as affection or its closest equivalent. He cares nothing about sincerity, so it's all in the show. The less love displayed, the more fear required. Yet there is no rebound, but only deeper rejection. Continue reading...

The site once paired news and scores with distinctive voices. Its overhaul under Sinclair Media is the latest sign that serious tennis writing in the US is becoming endangeredA few weeks ago, as I often do, I went to the Tennis.com site to get an update about a match and to check out the commentary from my fellow tennis journalists. I was taken aback when, instead of the usual colorful graphics and info, I was greeted with a rudimentary-looking homepage that displayed only scores and rankings.At first I thought it was a glitch of some sort. But sadly, no. As it turns out, Tennis.com, originally the online site of Tennis Magazine, is under a complete overhaul and will no longer be the home of esteemed writers such as Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo, robbing fans of unique and personal takes on the sport. It appears the longest running American tennis-specific publication is no longer alive in any form. Continue reading...

The singer had a serendipitous mixture of humor, humility and humanity. We could all stand to channel it a bit moreThe moment that the world found out that Dolly Parton had died, I was in a hair salon in the reddest congressional district in New York state. The neighborhood on the shore of Lake Erie where I move every summer voted solidly for Donald Trump in 2024.I often pass a lawn sign that has something misogynistic to say about New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, and the mere mention of Kamala Harris's name can bring derisive jokes. Of course, there certainly are liberals and independents to be found, but on balance the area leans right. Continue reading...

America's second biggest sporting obsession returns this weekend, which means marching bands, 100,000-seat stadiums, ancient rivalries and, increasingly, the operating model of a sport being invented in real timeIs college football healthy? It's a seductive question, one that now comes up every year around this time. Actually, it never recedes, so it's just with the sport all the time. It's also the wrong question, because whoever answers it is free to choose their own adventure. The television ratings are way up there in the galaxy. Money rains down on dozens of programs and thousands of players. Marching bands continue to march. Yet a lot of teams are stranded by realignment or an economic inability to keep up in a transfer arms race. Their fans - actually any team's fans - may be exhausted by escalating asks for their dollars.If you have been checked out of the sport for a while ahead of this weekend's first set of games, you may feel like your body has been frozen for a few decades. Indiana, (yes, really) are the defending national champs, fresh off a 16-0 season that puts them on the list of the handful of best teams ever. Texas Tech, once likened to Siberia by a former coach who is now a US senator, are the fiercest program in the Big 12. Ole Miss are good for the first time since integration. At least Ohio State and Georgia are still powerhouses. Continue reading...

President's directive stalls for a second time about a week before the first postal ballots are due to be sent outA federal judge on Thursday halted - at least for the moment - attempts to implement Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail voting.The president's directive stalled for a second time about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. In the US district court, Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order in a case that could be headed back to the supreme court, which on Monday overturned an earlier ruling of hers that had blocked Trump's order from taking effect. Continue reading...

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Decision allows manufacturers to begin shipping doses, but confusion remains about insurance coverageThe US Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, allowing manufacturers to begin shipping doses to pharmacies and doctors' offices across the country.The FDA approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech's updated Covid vaccines, the companies said on Thursday, after an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target the dominant XFG variant. Continue reading...

Three employees of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news service, allege they were fired after reporting on USS Abraham LincolnThree journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech.The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which their court filing calls the U.S. military's independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command". Continue reading...

Mark Carney rejects attempt to rename lake as did several US governors, with Tony Evers mocking the move

Newly obtained records indicate health secretary lied about Samoa trip during Senate confirmation hearings last yearA senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year.Ron Wyden of Oregon said: RFK's platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress." Continue reading...