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Federal authorities allege state senator L Louise Lucas, a vocal Trump critic, led a criminal marijuana enterprise'Virginia state senator L Louise Lucas, one of the state's most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a justice department spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Hegseth's aides, who attempted to move Eisenhower globe themselves, dropped it during relocation, army officials sayA priceless pre-second world war globe coveted by the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth for his office in the Pentagon was damaged by his staff in a botched attempt to relocate it, army officials have admitted.Photographs published by the Washington Post on Thursday show the shattered 30-inch Eisenhower globe, said to have been used by Dwight D Eisenhower, the 34th US president, as he plotted the D-day landings as allied supreme commander. Continue reading...

The beloved high school TV show is returning in a different political climate. I'm skeptical that Ryan Murphy has the nuance this moment needsFor months, Ryan Murphy has been discussing Glee. In July, he expressed his love for the musical comedy drama he created. In September, he said that he had finished writing a pilot for a potential reboot, adding that he had reached out to some of the cast about a reunion. And now it is official: Disney+ and Hulu have commissioned a Glee revival.Glee, which ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, was a cultural juggernaut during its initial tenure. The show won six Emmys, four Golden Globes and made stars of actors including Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss and the late Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera. Centred on the trials of New Directions, a scrappy show choir at the fictional McKinley high school in Ohio, the show became known for its peppy covers of show tunes, 80s power pop hits such as Journey's Don't Stop Believin' (a Glee signature), 2010s chart-toppers and some truly baffling mashups (the amalgamation of Scissor Sisters' Let's Have a Kiki and Turkey Lurkey Time from Promises, Promises remains ... a choice). Continue reading...

Russia has carried out a massive 'demonstrative' attack on Ukraine, bombarding Kyiv with ballistic missiles just hours after Vladimir Putin said he had agreed to resume trilateral negotiations after talks with the US envoy Steve Witkoff. Strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people and wounded 22, including four children. Twelve regions across the country were bombed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the strikes proved Russia was not serious about peace

The reigning champions must deal with the absence of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for some time, while fans at Anfield were thrilled by Rio NgumohaParis Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 on Tuesday, but the reigning champions lost the best player in last season's tournament, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This autumn has seen much lobbying for the Ballon d'Or, with the Georgian a popular choice, despite his absence from the World Cup. He is expected to be out for six months, although Rodri's comeback from serious injury - he was rested by Barcelona on Tuesday until coming off the bench in the 60th minute - shows it can take far longer than that for players to rediscover their highest level. Continue reading...

The officer says he took possession of the property and renovated it to prevent criminal activity' and squatting'A Florida police officer who discovered a man dead during a welfare check stole his house and identity and spent years renovating the property for himself, authorities said.Brian Louis Sguros, 35, an officer with the Lauderhill police department near Miami, appeared in court Wednesday on charges including criminal use of a deceased person's identification. Continue reading...

Similar withdrawals from UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain reported as concerns grow about restart of war on Iran after US midterm electionsThe US state department has ordered some diplomats and the families of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia as the gulf kingdom faces a barrage of near-daily attacks, with at least three people killed at an airport and oilfield.Attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure" by the Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen were highlighted as the reason for the drawdown. The state department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, said: The safety and security of department personnel and their families remain our highest priority." Continue reading...

New designation of the Land of Standing-Up Rocks, known for its historic rock spires, passed with bipartisan supportAn area of towering rock spires in south-eastern Arizona known among Native Americans as the Land of Standing-Up Rocks has become the nation's newest national park.Legislation to create Chiricahua national park was sent to the White House and Donald Trump signed it on Tuesday. It passed Congress with bipartisan backing and is now the 64th US national park. Continue reading...

Fox News and others have toed president's line - seemingly hoping unrest abroad will make people vote RepublicanDonald Trump sought to capitalize on the scenes of unrest in France, telling a crowd in Kansas on Monday that migrants" and communists" were responsible, and that the scenes were what the radical Dumocrats' want to do to America".As Republicans struggle to convince voters across the country ahead of November's midterm elections, Trump's allies in the conservative media have followed suit, seemingly hoping that the scenes in France can scare people to the polls. Continue reading...

Europe's leaders can no longer trust a word that comes out of Washington. No more slaps on the wrist - we need concrete steps to punish TrumpHistorical comparisons are always inexact. No one conflict precisely mirrors another. Yet Donald Trump's shameless appeasement of Vladimir Putin carries more than a noxious whiff of Neville Chamberlain's failed attempt in Munich in 1938 to head off war with Nazi Germany. To be fair to the former UK prime minister - and history largely hasn't been - his peacemaking efforts had the enthusiastic backing of most people in Britain and France who, like him, were desperate to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the first world war. Trump enjoys no equivalent public support for his treachery. Nor does he face the prospect of a US war with Russia. His betrayal of Ukraine is cynically self-interested, globally dangerous and utterly contemptible.US-Russian talks on agreeing the shoddy terms of a precedent-setting American sell-out of Ukraine are at an advanced stage, after meetings in St Petersburg this week. Trump has zigzagged over the war ever since returning to office. Now, panicked by record-low poll ratings, he seems determined to scapegoat Ukraine and force its de facto capitulation. Recent steps - his shocking decision to fund Putin's war machine by buying Russian diesel, his waiving of tougher sanctions, his mysterious, lethal interruptions in US satellite and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and his renewed attempt to oust Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy - mark Trump out as the skulking Judas, the craven Brutus of the modern age. He makes Chamberlain look like a man of iron principle. All that's lacking is an umbrella.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Polls show US voters are deeply upset by high gas prices and are likely to punish Republicans in the midterms as a resultWith fewer than two weeks until the midterms, US voters are unlikely to see relief on one of this election cycle's main issues: gas prices.Airing up her car's tires at a Speedway in Perrysburg, Ohio, Toledo resident Sharie Smith, 41, says soaring costs are having a direct impact on her life. Continue reading...

An American company is still supplying Taser weapons linked to prisoner abuse by Israeli forces. Plus, 12 valuable lessons about life and death by hospice workers

Thousands of people are training to be poll observers to look out for any interference or ICE presence on election dayStevie Lyn is angry at what she's seen in her Phoenix, Arizona, neighborhood over the past year. Since US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began conducting raids all across the city, her Latino neighbors on the west side have had to hide in their homes, too scared to grocery shop, work and vote. That's why she volunteered to become a poll observer.I had to take the anger, because it was eating me alive, and direct it towards a constructive activity," she said. Continue reading...

Frustration with a sprawling fraud scandal has cut Peggy Flanagan's poll lead - could ex-NFL reporter Michele Tafoya win a first statewide election for Republicans in 20 years?As Democrats fight to regain control of the US Senate, hopes are rising in states - from Kansas to Texas - where they have not prevailed in decades. But in Minnesota, where Republicans have not won statewide election since 2006, the contest for an open Senate seat is closer than expected.Should Peggy Flanagan - the state's Democratic lieutenant governor - win the election, she will be the first Native American woman to serve in the US Senate. But history has not yet been made. The closely watched Cook Political Report shifted its rating on the race this week from likely Democrat" to lean Democrat". Continue reading...

The CNN star's wise advice to be truthful, not neutral' should be tattooed on our soulsAfter decades as a renowned international journalist, the CNN star Christiane Amanpour is calling it a career, saying she'll soon leave the cable network which she joined in 1983.She will be missed for the courage in war zones and forthright presentation that have made her one of the most famous names in media.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Last year, South Korea took responsibility for enabling the mass export' of children for sale abroad. Now those uprooted are grappling with false promises of a better lifeAs international, transracial adoptees in their 30s in the US, Jacquelyn Wells and Lauren White-Gydas have things in common.They were both born in South Korea to unwed mothers in the 1980s. Both were shipped to the US as newborns to join white families who eagerly welcomed adorable, new daughters. And neither knew many other Asians in the towns where they grew up - Wells in Westford, Massachusetts, and White-Gydas in Salem, Oregon. Continue reading...

The early standouts have emerged. But even the best teams have flaws that can be exposed by their opponentsWho would have thought the 49ers would be here after a rough old offseason? Head coach Kyle Shanahan's participation in training camp was limited due to a serious car crash, team owner Jed York's visit to an Ohio trailer park did not end well, and one player after another endured serious injuries. Despite all this, San Francisco are full of positive vibes. They are top of a tough division and their immense defense, led by the intensity of players such as safety Malik Mustapha and Fred Warner, is complemented by an equally impressive offense. Continue reading...

If Flavio Bolsonaro is elected, Brazil's ecosystems will face collapse. The ruling class would rather burn the world than share it with the poor

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President was reportedly heckled at least nine times during campaign event for Darline GrahamMultiple protesters were removed from Donald Trump's rally at South Carolina's Clemson University on Wednesday, including one who was apparently punched by a rally attender - to the US president's delight.That was great, man. Wow. Man, I loved that. I watched that," Trump said. That was incredible. Wow. That was unbelievable. Is everybody OK? Continue reading...

Russia frees Stephen Hubbard after US request while Steve Witkoff praises Putin, wanted by ICC as war criminal, as a humanitarian'Vladimir Putin ordered the release of an American man from a Russian jail as he met Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday for fresh talks on ending the war in Ukraine, amid increasingly close relations between Moscow and Washington.Trump had previously asked Putin to free Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher who had spent more than four years in Russian jails on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. Continue reading...

In this episode of Guardian Australia's US politics podcast, co-hosts Jonathan Yerushalmy and Reged Ahmad look at how Katie Zacharia broke the record for shortest tenure as White House press secretary. They then look at the pattern of how women in the Trump administration are treated when they're perceived to have made mistakes - versus how men seem to survive their missteps.They also look at how the US might be changing course on Russia's war on Ukraine. Are relations between the US president, Donald Trump, and the Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at their lowest point ever - and what happens if the US decides to take Russian president Vladimir Putin's side in this war? Continue reading...

USDA says screwworm found in elk in Texas, and warns hunters and ranchers to be vigilant to help stop spreadThe US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday it had confirmed the first detection of flesh-eating parasite the New World screwworm in US wildlife in an elk in Pecos county, Texas.The elk was located on a game ranch and was reported after being harvested by a hunter, the USDA said in a statement. Continue reading...

Former speaker is latest target of mailings sent to various Congress members in the lead-up to the midterm electionsCalifornia representative Nancy Pelosi's office received a suspicious letter" on Wednesday in what appears to be the latest incident of ill-intentioned mailings targeted at US Congress members before the midterm elections.The offices of more than three dozen members of Congress across the political spectrum have received envelopes containing white powder in recent days. One lawmaker's office said preliminary tests indicated the powder was not hazardous. Continue reading...

JD Vance, the vice-president, criticized Republicans who have spoken out against a controversial campaign ad from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The ad features the mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, calling her daughter a liar. In a Tuesday statement, Acton's brother, Philip Stearns, said his sister is estranged from her mother, who had married a man that sexually abused Acton when she was 12. He said his mother, Donna Arthur, remained in the marriage after her husband was arrested and her children were taken away from her Continue reading...

Incumbent Mike Lawler is fending off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in state's 17th congressional district

New Mexico lawsuit claims in exchange for furthering Epstein's criminal project, his associates received generous salaries'The attorney general of New Mexico on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein's longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and Epstein's longtime accountant, Richard Kahn, accusing them of having facilitated and concealed" Epstein's crimes, and is seeking to stop them from being paid by Epstein's estate while the litigation plays out.The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the district of New Mexico, names Kahn and Indyke as defendants both in their individual capacity, and in their capacity as co-executors of Epstein's estate. The complaint also names Epstein's estate, and the 1953 Trust, which holds the estate's assets. Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin ordered the release of former teacher Stephen Hubbard, who had spent more than four years in Russian jails on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. This came as Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with the Russian president in St Petersburg for fresh talks on ending the war in Ukraine, amid increasingly close relations between Moscow and Washington.

As prices keep rising, more of the president's supporters are asking what happened to the economic good times he promisedIt is no great revelation that Donald Trump is enrichinghimself as president. He raked in $2.2bn in 2025, with his position and his personal interests frequently overlapping. Yet this week's poll finding that 34% of Republicans (and 66% of all American voters) think that he is using his position to make himself rich merits attention. Separately, voters in a Fox News poll last week put government corruption atthe top of their list of concerns - just ahead of inflation and high prices.Mr Trump pledged that people would be better off if they voted for him. The billionaires are; not the rest. He promised to lower the costs of groceries (they have risen again) and to cut the price of gasoline to below $2 a gallon. It's more than double that, thanks to his reckless and illegal war on Iran. Tariffs have bumped up the cost of living too. Incumbents will always struggle when the economy does. But the gulf between his own prosperity and the daily life of his base now looks less like an inspiration and more like an insult. Cash offers seem unlikely to help much. Continue reading...

Decision stands in contrast to recent trans rights actions from court that often sides with Trump administrationThe US supreme court went against Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday, refusing to allow the immediate enforcement of sweeping restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender individuals held in prisons and federal facilities.The decision marks an unusual victory for transgender rights before the nation's highest court, which has largely sided with the administration and other opponents of transgender rights in several major cases. Continue reading...

Cameras reportedly set up near site for Trump's proposed arch, Arlington Memorial Bridge and reflecting poolThe US Park Police are spending $343,000 to lease mobile surveillance cameras from a company that also supplies Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), federal contract records show. The deal comes as Donald Trump has insisted that vandals damaged the reflecting pool, one of Washington's best-known landmarks - charges that have since been dismissed.The Department of the Interior, which oversees the Park Police, awarded the lease to the Utah-based company LiveView Technologies (LVT) on 14 September, on a fully obligated government contract that runs through the end of February. The records do not say how many camera trailers are covered. Continue reading...

Republican Neil Bush says he was deeply troubled' by Ken Paxton's conduct and enormously impressed' with Talarico

Voters disapprove of Trump's handling of economy and cost of living, says poll in new low recorded by NY Times/SienaDonald Trump's approval rating sank to 36% just two weeks before the midterm elections, the lowest recorded in a poll by the New York Times/Siena College, with most respondents expressing frustration over his handling of the US economy, cost of living and Iran war.In an October survey of approximately 3,494 likely voters, 59% said they disapproved of Trump's handling of his job, and 52% said they planned to vote for the Democratic candidate in the upcoming election. Continue reading...

Liberal justice says recent decisions on redistricting and campaign finance have undermined democracy and polarized US even more

Flights to third countries where the detainees have no ties are scheduled as early as Wednesday, relatives detailRelatives of gravely ill detainees at two Florida immigration jails say authorities are about to deport their loved ones to unknown countries in Africa despite worsening medical conditions.Flights are scheduled as early as Wednesday, according to the families and the immigration advocacy group the Workers Circle, which has been monitoring conditions and speaking with detainees inside two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in south Florida. Continue reading...

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Lebanese officials were furious, claiming the city erased Gibran's identity. Yet there was a time when Arab immigrants in the US thought we were all Syrians'

A Washington referendum has drawn broad opposition from adults who work with queer and trans teensFor Kelsey Gellner, a Seattle-based pediatric nurse, a statewide proposal to bar trans girls from sports participation feels like a violation of her duty as a medical professional. The ballot initiative includes a requirement she calls invasive and extreme": all students who wish to compete on girls' teams would have to undergo genital exams.I tell my kids and patients that my No 1 job is to keep them safe," said Gellner, who is also a board member of the Washington State Nurses Association. I can say with confidence that girls do not want to have an unnecessary exam that creates an unsafe barrier." Continue reading...

President makes suggestion while announcing new program to reward tipsters who submit fraud allegationsDonald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he would serve as the arbitrator" of decisions in the justice department's new anti-fraud program that awards compensation to those who submit tips resulting in conviction or significant federal enforcement.While announcing the new program alongside JD Vance, the vice-president, who leads the White House's taskforce to eliminate fraud, the president told reporters he had a solution for situations where multiple people submit a tip for the same alleged fraud. Continue reading...

Coordination by Democratic officials overseeing elections includes Zoom calls and in-person tabletop exercisesDemocratic state attorneys general, other top state officials and civic groups have accelerated planning to thwart any federal meddling in the November midterm elections by Donald Trump as he continues his false charges of widespread voting fraud and veiled threats of interfering in the process.Since early this year, 24 Democratic attorneys general have expanded coordination with about a dozen Democratic secretaries of state and several civic groups using weekly Zoom calls and in-person tabletop exercises to strategize about countering any federal intervention in the elections. Continue reading...

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is spending $80m to help Democratic candidates, while Trump has promised Republicans $400m. Plus a vital investigation into justice in Louisiana

Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia, Michigan Senate hopeful has challenged premise of repeated questions on Muslim Brotherhood, Israel and faithAs a candidate positioned at the center of what researchers say are the worst Islamophobic attacks seen since the aftermath of 9/11, many would expect Abdul El-Sayed to simply defend himself and move on.Instead, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan has repeatedly demanded those who question his positions on Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood and his faith, explain the premise of their inquiry. Rather than let others put his loyalties on trial, he has tried to put their assumptions on trial. Continue reading...

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a house framer before he was killed by ICE agents. Countless other Latino builders in Texas live in fear of a similar fateEvery morning long before dawn, while America sleeps, legions of Texas construction workers grab their fluorescent vests and hard hats, sling ladders and tools into their trucks, and head down the highway for another day of grueling labour under the blistering sun.Elsewhere, before the first flush of daylight settles over Texas's concrete sprawl, a separate army gets on the move in a fleet of shiny unmarked SUVs. They hover at gas stations, prowl around bodegas, pounce on the highways. Continue reading...

From Roman-era political potboilers to stories of Catholic priests struggling to impose their authority, what could the reading list of vice-president JD Vance's wife be trying to tell us?Usha Vance, a very clever woman with dubious taste in men, likes to keep herself busy. While lesser mortals (me) waste their one wild and precious life watching Love Is Blind, the second lady has various self-improvement projects on the go. She's brushing up on her German! She's hosting a literacy podcast! She's rereading the classics! And, of course, she's juggling four young children and the demands of being the vice-president's spouse.How does she do it all? With the help of taxpayer dollars, I suspect. Easier to get some reading done when you're being helicoptered everywhere and, as JD Vance has boasted: People go to the grocery store for me." Continue reading...

As women's sprinting enters a golden era in the run-up to LA 2028, controversy surrounding a top coach threatens to overshadow the sport's biggest starsWhen Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas came second at the recent track and field World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, she tried her best to be diplomatic: I am an equal-opportunity doping hater," she said. If you are actively doping in sport, I do take issue with that. I'm not saying any names, no names are mentioned. But if you look at yourself and you think that's what you're doing, then so be it."Thomas then went out of her way to congratulate her compatriot Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who finished ahead of her that day, aware of the territory into which she was straying. Continue reading...