US news | The Guardian

Head of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee must answer charge of acting as unregistered foreign agent in New York court on MondayTom Barrack, a longtime ally of Donald Trump who chaired the former president’s inaugural committee, posted $250m bail with a $5m cash security and was released from custody in California on Friday.Related: ‘It’s chilling what is happening’: a rightwing backlash to Biden takes root in Republican states Continue reading...

Tribute was vandalized in Brooklyn but volunteers painstakingly made good the damage before transfer to New York’s Union SquareA statue of George Floyd that was defaced in Brooklyn has been cleaned – painstakingly, with toothbrushes – and is headed for display in Union Square in Manhattan.Related: George Floyd memorials vandalised in New York and New Jersey Continue reading...

The reality star’s run seems completely depressing – especially as she’s aligned with a party that wants to erode LGBTQ rightsLooks like Caitlyn Jenner needs to drum up some cash quick. When it comes to her finances, the reality TV star is no longer Keeping Up With the Kardashians – she’s trailing miserably behind her famously flush extended family. According to her tax filings the 71-year-old’s annual income has dropped from $2.5m in 2015, when she had her own reality TV show, to $555,000 in 2018 and 2019. Barely enough to pay the pool boy! Continue reading...

Some skating purists may see the Olympics as the antithesis of their values. But the sport has been awash with corporate money for decadesHe has hosted Justin Bieber at his private skate park and guest-starred opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the TV show Ballers. Now, Nyjah Huston is aiming to become an Olympic champion as skateboarding makes its debut in Tokyo.Medals are on offer in two disciplines at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. In street, competitors skate on outdoor furniture and obstacles such as handrails, benches and stairs. Park features lofty tricks in steep-sided bowls. Continue reading...

David Chipman’s nomination to lead the ATF could be in trouble – which would be a serious blow to gun control advocatesThe nomination of David Chipman to lead the principal agency that enforces federal gun laws is stalling as Republicans and the National Rifle Association (NRA) seek a major symbolic victory on the ever contentious issue of gun rights.This week Merrick Garland, the attorney general, urged the US Senate to confirm Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) where he will play a crucial role in the struggle against gun violence. Continue reading...

The alert I get when an opponent has made their move gives me the shot of excitement I used to get from social media notificationsLord help me, I am in the whirlwind throes of the beautiful game. Online chess. The ancient pastime enjoyed a boom late last year. And I got caught squarely in its blast. Chess.com, the internet’s leading chess platform, saw an eruption in activity, triggered by lockdown idleness and (my own personal inciting event) Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, which landed in October 2020, and showed the world that chess is actually really cool. As long as you ignore the actual chess and focus instead on the narcotic-fuelled psychodrama of a very beautiful woman and put the kid from Love Actually in a cowboy hat, for some reason.But there was enough actual chess in the show to reawaken my old love for the game. I’d played a lot as a child, as you can probably tell from my face. I played in the school club and entered competitions. I collected sets, including a Simpsons one and a Lord Of The Rings one, allowing me to play the pieces from one board against those of the other. No, I didn’t go out much as a kid. But how could I when I was busy battling the dark forces of Sauron with an army of Barts? Continue reading...

Iconic American gymnast is reaching her peak while becoming a voice for change and Tokyo 2020 may not be her last GamesSimone Biles was widely hailed as the best gymnast in history before she had even competed on the sport’s biggest stage. Born three months short of the age cut-off for the London Games, she had already piled up three straight all-around titles and 14 overall medals at world championships, including 10 golds, when she touched down in Brazil five years ago for her Olympic debut.Somehow, the 4ft 8in, 105lb sprite from suburban Houston managed to realise the impossible expectations that preceded her, fulfilling her long-held promise with four gold medals in seven unforgettable days at the Arena Olímpica do Rio. Already a superstar in the parochial world of gymnastics, Biles became a household name overnight. Continue reading...

Firefighters have officially ended their efforts following one of the nation’s deadliest engineering failuresFirefighters have declared the end of their search for bodies at the site of a collapsed Florida condo building, concluding a month of painstaking work removing layers of dangerous debris that were once piled several stories high.The collapse on 24 June at the oceanside Champlain Towers South killed 97 people, with at least one more missing person yet to be identified. The site has been mostly swept flat and the rubble moved to a Miami warehouse. Although forensic scientists are still at work, including examining the debris at the warehouse, there are no more bodies to be found where the building once stood. Continue reading...

Police in Suffolk county have used a helicopter and night-vision equipment – but have yet to find the 1,500lb animalAn escaped bull has eluded capture for several days on Long Island despite searchers employing a helicopter and night-vision equipment along with attempts to lure the roaming animal with grain and a cow.Related: Win for Angelina Jolie as court disqualifies judge in Brad Pitt divorce case Continue reading...

Thirty laws limit mail and early voting, impose tougher voter ID laws and risk faulty purges, says Brennan Center analysisAt least 18 US states have enacted more than two dozen laws this year that restrict voting access, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice.The report found that the 30 laws that have been passed since 1 January “make mail voting and early voting more difficult, impose harsher voter ID requirements, and make faulty voter [roll] purges more likely, among other things”. Continue reading...

Sculpture of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave trader and Confederate general, placed in state museumThe bust of a Ku Klux Klan leader, Confederate general and slave trader has been removed from Tennessee’s state capitol after more than four decades on display.The removal of the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest on Friday came after the state building commission approved its relocation to the Tennessee State Museum on Thursday in a 5-2 vote. Continue reading...

The ‘counter-sanctions’ are in response to Washington’s actions and are the first under China’s new anti-foreign sanction lawBarely 48 hours before the arrival in China of one of Biden’s most-trusted diplomats, Beijing has announced its decision to impose counter-sanctions on seven American citizens and entities, including former commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, in retaliation against Washington’s earlier sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdowns.The Biden administration announced sanctions on seven Chinese officials on 16 July and warned US businesses of the “growing risks” posed by Beijing and Hong Kong. Continue reading...

Money to be split among at least 20 ex-employees of B&B Hospitality and three Manhattan restaurantsCelebrity chef Mario Batali, his business partner and their New York City restaurant company have agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve a four-year investigation by the state attorney general’s office into allegations that Batali and other workers sexually harassed employees.The money will be split among at least 20 former employees of B&B Hospitality and their Manhattan restaurants Babbo, Lupa and the now closed Del Posto, which Batali co-owned with Joseph Bastianich until March 2019, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced Friday. Continue reading...

Kennedy, US ambassador to Japan under Obama, was high-profile supporter of Joe Biden’s presidential campaignJoe Biden reportedly plans to nominate Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F Kennedy, as the US ambassador to Australia.Related: Win for Angelina Jolie as court disqualifies judge in Brad Pitt divorce case Continue reading...

Court finds John Ouderkirk did not sufficiently disclose business relationships with Pitt’s attorneysA California appeals court has disqualified a private judge being used by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in their divorce case, handing Jolie a major victory.Related: Marijuana farmers blamed for water theft as drought grips American west Continue reading...

The WTC’s refusal to properly reward new skills is in danger of creating a world where gymnastic routines are tediously similarIn the final fleeting month before the Olympics two of the best gymnasts in the world showed for the first time similar uneven bar skills of the highest difficulty only days apart. Both Sanne Wevers and Nina Derwael performed slightly different variants of the iconic Nabieva release, in which the gymnasts launch themselves above and beyond the high bar with their legs straight before executing a half turn in the air and then catching it on the other side.But high difficulty often comes at a cost. Derwael flexed her feet and arched her hips to clear the bar, then “cheated” on her half-turn. Wevers’ variation was more difficult but her bent legs splayed out in all directions above the high bar. This is all a normal sight. As gymnasts push their limits with the toughest skills, legs cross, chests fall low on landings, twists are not fully completed and the judges mark every deduction down. Continue reading...

As Covid cases rise, vaccination lags and costs soar, most Japanese people are extremely cynical about the GamesThe Olympic Games begins in Tokyo on Friday, just as Covid-19 blights the city for the fourth time – and a year after the Games were originally scheduled to begin.Despite the latest alarming spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalisations across the city’s metropolitan area, Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has reiterated his resolve to go ahead with the Games, declaring at a session of the International Olympic Committee held on 20 July that “the Games can be held successfully, with the efforts and wisdom of the people”. Continue reading...

The North Carolina native has only just turned 17 but she started racing at an age when most kids can barely stay afloatJust what does a three-year-old swimming prodigy look like?Mark Curzan knows the answer to that now, though he didn’t at the time. Continue reading...

Alabama’s Kay Ivey says surge in new infections is due to a reluctance among many in state to get inoculatedThe Republican governor of Alabama has said it is “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for rising cases of Covid-19, amid concern that months of misinformation over the need and efficacy of vaccines is fueling a resurgence of coronavirus infections in several states.Kay Ivey said that vaccines are “the greatest weapon we have to fight Covid” and added that a surge in new cases of the coronavirus in Alabama is due to a reluctance among many people in the state to get inoculated. Continue reading...

Alaska man injured by bear that kept returning to his isolated hut in the wildernessIt reads like the plot of a page-turning novel or a thriller or adventure film – a sequel to The Revenant, even, perhaps, the 2016 film where Leonardo DiCaprio plays an American frontiersman and fur trapper left for dead after being mauled by a bear in the early 19th century.But this was real life in 2021. A man in Alaska was rescued, injured but alive, after enduring repeated attacks by a grizzly bear that kept on returning to his isolated hut in the wilderness, from which he had no way of contacting the outside world. Continue reading...

For Milwaukee fans, the NBA championship doesn’t negate the progress that’s still needed in the city, but the win felt like a much needed reprieveJabari Thompson had never seen an event bring the city of Milwaukee together like its NBA championship has done. It’s a victory for the basketball team – its first title in 50 years – but an even bigger win for a city that has sorely needed a moment to celebrate, he said.“I feel like I was out there playing. Like I beat the Phoenix Suns, like we all did, and this win belongs to all of us,” said Thompson, 27. Continue reading...

Speaker is locked in a battle of wills with Kevin McCarthy who is determined to change the political conversation, critics sayIt was, Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday, one of the darkest days in America’s history – an assault on democracy, Congress and the constitution. “The American people want to know the truth,” she said.But will the truth of the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol ever be fully told? Continue reading...

ACLU of Alaska spokesperson says some of Matthias Cicotte’s tweets ‘aimed directly at incarceration and criminal prosecution’The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU) has called for “an investigation and audit” of the case record of a senior Alaskan legal official revealed by the Guardian to be operating a far-right Deseret nationalist, or “DezNat”, Twitter account under the pseudonym JReubenCIark.In a statement to the Guardian in response to revelations that tweets from the account were antisemitic, racist, homophobic and advocated violence, the state ACLU spokesperson, Megan Edge, said the work of assistant attorney general Matthias Cicotte needed to be closely examined. Continue reading...

Based on your answers, we’ll help you find your top 10 Olympic sports as the Games get underway in TokyoThe Olympics are upon us and even if there are no fans at the stadiums this year due to Covid-19, there are more than 300 events to watch on TV from the comfort of your sofa. Of course, you may have minor things like a job, family or life to spend your time on which is why we’ve produced a handy quiz to narrow down the events that most suit you. Just answer the questions below to see if you should be tuning into the marathon or modern pentathlon. Continue reading...

Hospitals in areas with low vaccination rates are filling up, government officials say

Workers are now entering their third week on strike to demand better conditionsSince 5 July, hundreds of striking workers at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, have drawn attention to the Dickensian conditions workers have been subjected to in order to produce some of the biggest brand name chips in the United States, including Fritos, Cheetos, Doritos, Lay’s, Ruffles, Funyuns and Tostitos.Workers have publicly aired a list of grievances ranging from stagnant wages, high turnover rates and a lack of hazard pay during the pandemic to 84-hour workweeks, warehouses in triple-digit heat with no air conditioning, months on end without a day off, and so-called “suicide shifts” where workers are only off the clock for eight hours before having to come back in. Continue reading...

Any reform after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse will depend on the US re-evaluating its interests in the countryThe assassination of Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s president, marks another point in the years-long power struggle that pitted his loyalists against activists and working-class families, exhausted by years of social strife and gang violence. On Saturday, his wife Martine Moïse, injured in the attack, returned home to the Caribbean state to face speculation about her own political career. Meanwhile, the authorities still search for the motive for her husband’s killing.At least 20 people have now been arrested in connection with the murder, including Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American self-proclaimed pastor who lives in South Florida, and who allegedly issued the order for the assassination. According to reporting by the Washington Post, Sanon had ambitions to become president of his homeland. He had vowed to transform the country into a “free and open society” with an ambitious $83bn redevelopment plan for Haiti. His defenders say, however, a plot to kill Moïse was never part of the masterplan. Continue reading...

My access to doctors is tied to my husband – and his access is tied to his employer. Land of the free indeedIt was around the second dose of fentanyl going into my IV bag that I stopped trying to control how much all of this was going to cost. I had been arguing with every decision the caregivers at the emergency room were making – “Is this Cat scan actually necessary or is there another diagnostic tool?” “Is there a cheaper version of this drug you’re giving me?” – and reminding them repeatedly that I was uninsured, but either the opioids in my bloodstream, or the exhaustion of trying to rest in a room next to a woman who, given the sounds she was making, was clearly transforming into a werewolf, forced me to surrender.Related: Why is a 108-year-old resorting to GoFundMe to pay for home care? | Ross Barkan Continue reading...

A hundred athletes are picked each year for the 135-mile race. This time the climate was especially brutalIn the Badwater Basin at the bottom of California’s Death Valley, the air feels like a giant hair dryer and the pavement can melt the soles of your shoes.Yet on Monday night, 100 of the world’s top endurance runners set off on what has become known as “the world’s toughest foot race”, carving 135 miles of terrain through one of the planet’s most extreme climates at the most intense time of year. Continue reading...

At least nine states have considered ‘emergency power limitation’ legislation proposed by conservative organization AlecRepublican lawmakers across more than a dozen states are working to limit the powers of local health departments in ways experts say is likely to lead to “preventable tragedies” during disease outbreaks, including the Covid-19 pandemic.The attempts to limit the emergency powers of public health agencies comes alongside harassment of individual public health workers, renewed concern about the spread of the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant, and a flagging US vaccination campaign. Continue reading...

Federal judge decision puts thousands of lives on hold as many people can’t work or access student loans or scholarshipsFor Kimberly, an undocumented 20-year-old in Missouri, last week’s decision by a Texas judge to not allow immigrants to file new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), a program that shielded them against deportation and provided work permits and other benefits, could have immediate impacts.Kimberly, who came to the US when she was five, was in the process of applying for Daca. The Guardian is not using her full name. For her, like many others, Daca has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs – and one that keeps putting their lives on hold. Continue reading...

Olympians are likely to test boundaries with protests and demonstrations as the Games become increasingly politicalAs the Rio Olympics dominated the sports world’s gaze five years ago, an NFL quarterback began a series of protests against racism that rippled across America and the world and will leave an indelible mark on this year’s Games.Colin Kaepernick last made an NFL appearance in the 2016 season, but the legacy of his activism was evident even before the opening ceremony in Tokyo. Players from several women’s football teams, including the US and Britain, took a knee before their games on Wednesday at the start of the first Olympics since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Continue reading...

If past statements are anything to go by the president, a proud former full-back, will be watching the MLR playoffsBefore the final round of the regular Major League Rugby season, it was both surprising and superb to see the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, wish the Toronto Arrows well.Related: 'It's in my blood': how rugby managed to unite America's elite Continue reading...

The US is at another 'pivotal moment' in the pandemic as the Delta variant drives a big rise in new cases, said CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, who warned 'we are not out of the woods yet'. She added: 'The Delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains,' she said. 'It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses that we know of and that I have seen in my 20-year career.'

Spears is trapped in a state of legal adolescence, but since her plea for freedom to a Californian court, her tone has become more hopefulAmid the bleak horrors of endless lockdown there is presently one certain source of joy. It’s Britney Spears’ Instagram account.Inspirational quotes, cute selfies and objects of material desire are a consistent theme across many accounts on the platform, especially among the “30-something western white girl” demographic the pop star Spears inhabits. Continue reading...

Director William Burns has initiated a taskforce to investigate the syndrome and tripled the size of the medical team involvedAbout 100 CIA officers and family members are among about 200 US officials and kin sickened by “Havana syndrome”, the CIA director, William Burns, said on Thursday, referring to the mysterious set of ailments that include migraines and dizziness.Burns, tapped by Joe Biden as the first career diplomat to serve as CIA chief, said in a National Public Radio interview that he had bolstered his agency’s efforts to determine the cause of the syndrome and what is responsible. Continue reading...

California’s DFEH files suit after investigation reveals discrimination against womenThe video game company behind World of Warcraft and Candy Crush is being sued over allegations of its “frat boy culture” and treatment toward its female employees.California’s department of fair employment and housing (DFEH) filed suit against Activision Blizzard Inc in California’s superior court after a two-year investigation into the company revealed discrimination against women generally and pregnant employees, sexual harassment, retaliation and unequal pay. Continue reading...

Tamarack fire spreads from California to Nevada while weather aids firefighters in OregonA northern California wildfire crossed into Nevada, prompting new evacuations, but better weather has been helping crews battling the nation’s largest blaze in southern Oregon.Meanwhile, the major California utility provider PG&E has announced a multibillion-dollar effort to bury 10,000 miles (16,000km) of its power lines, after its electrical equipment was once again blamed for igniting a separate, fast-growing fire in the state’s north-east. Continue reading...

Group of senators say letter from Chris Wray shows the FBI gathered more than 4,500 tips without any apparent further actionA group of US Democratic senators on Thursday said that newly released materials show the FBI failed to fully investigate sexual misconduct allegations against the US supreme court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was nominated to the court in 2018.Related: FBI failed to fully investigate Brett Kavanaugh sexual misconduct allegations, Democrats say – live Continue reading...