US news | The Guardian

Our photographers captured many memorable and moving moments from 2020. Here’s our pick of the most striking.

Some of college football’s most storied programs have discovered that even seemingly innocuous fight songs and fan-friendly chants aren’t safe from their problematic historiesIn Alabama, “Roll Tide!” is a phrase for all seasons.Love for the University of Alabama’s football powerhouse runs so deep in the southeastern state that the iconic college chant routinely doubles as shorthand for “hello”, “goodbye” and everything in between. Continue reading...

Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zonesDonald Trump has pardoned four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were serving jail sentences for killing 14 civilians including two children in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that sparked an international outcry over the use of mercenaries in war.The four guards – Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns, grenade launchers and a sniper on a crowd of unarmed people in a square in the Iraqi capital. Continue reading...

The president’s recent conduct has raised alarms of an increasingly desperate power bid in his last 30 days. So what can we expect?As the Trump show nears its final episode, America is bracing for potentially the most dramatic, disturbing and outlandish twists yet.Donald Trump’s recent conduct has led critics to suggest that he has lost touch with reality and raise alarms over an increasingly desperate, deranged power grab in the climactic month of his presidency. Continue reading...

Analysis: President sanctions first federal execution of a woman in 67 years – but war criminals, fraudsters and Russia-linked cronies go freeLisa Montgomery is set to become the first woman put to death by the US federal government in 67 years. On Tuesday senators including Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wrote to the justice department demanding an investigation into an “unprecedented spree” of federal executions on Donald Trump’s watch.A few hours later the president announced a slew of 15 pardons. Strikingly they included four military contractors imprisoned for the killing of unarmed men, women and children in Iraq. In short, war criminals. Continue reading...

Outgoing president says $600 stimulus payout to most Americans should increase to $2,000, or $4,000 for a coupleDonald Trump has suggested he may not sign the bipartisan $900bn pandemic relief package that Congress passed on Monday night.Trump complained in a video that the bill delivered too much money to foreign countries and not enough to Americans. The bill has enough votes to override a veto should Trump decide to take that step. Continue reading...

President grants pardons to 15 people, including contractors convicted in massacre in Iraq, and commutes others’ sentencesDonald Trump approved a wave of pre-Christmas pardons, granting clemency to a former campaign aide caught up in the Russia investigation, disgraced Republican lawmakers and several contractors convicted in a massacre in Iraq. Continue reading...

Families caught in the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols faced hard choices. One man shares his story of defeatThe night after their immigration court hearing, Francisco Sical held his young daughter in his arms in a freezing Border Patrol cell. She begged him to open the door.“Have you ever experienced a moment when you see your child crying and you can’t do anything?” he said about the night he confronted one of the hardest decisions of his life. “It breaks your soul.” Continue reading...

Retailer accused of filling ‘thousands of invalid prescriptions’ and pressuring pharmacists to act irresponsiblyThe US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Walmart on Tuesday, alleging that the retail giant filled “thousands of invalid prescriptions” for powerful painkillers, helping fuel America’s opioid crisis.Walmart runs more than 5,000 pharmacies across the country. Until 2018, the chain was a wholesale distributor of controlled substances for its own pharmacies, giving it extensive reach into many communities. Continue reading...

Tucked into a 5,593-page bill are a range of obscure provisions that appear to have little to do with fortifying a fragile economyLate on Monday night, Congress approved a $900bn stimulus package which will deliver financial aid to millions of families and businesses facing economic distress from coronavirus pandemic. Though far smaller than a bill lawmakers passed at the outset of the pandemic, earlier this year, the measure is one the largest pieces of legislation in US history.Related: Covid could shorten US life expectancy by up to three years, experts say Continue reading...

Biden said the US would have dark days ahead in tackling the coronavirus pandemic and things would get worse before they improved.Monday saw the Covid-19 cases pass 18 million in the US according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and Biden said the vaccine rollout would not change trends quickly

Padilla will be state’s first Latino senator after appointment by governor and ally Gavin NewsomCalifornia’s secretary of state, Alex Padilla, has been appointed to fill Kamala Harris’s seat in the US senate.The child of Mexican immigrants, Padilla will be California’s first Latino senator, giving a new level of representation to the demographic group that makes up nearly 40% of the state’s population. Continue reading...

Dr Anthony Fauci was injected with his first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine and he said he hoped it would encourage millions of other Americans to do the same.The top US infectious diseases expert said he felt 'extreme confidence of the safety and efficacy of this vaccine'

More than 40 women submitted testimony claiming abuse, alleging they underwent invasive and unnecessary proceduresMore women have joined an official legal petition alleging that they were medically abused by a gynecologist while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody in a move that significantly expands a case that has shocked America.The legal petition outlining these alleged abuses were filed in the Middle District of Georgia federal court late Monday night. More than 40 women have submitted written testimony attesting to claims of abuse, one attorney on their case said. Continue reading...

City council candidate Vickie Paladino among those in conga line at 9 December event at restaurant in Queens, New YorkIn a celebration more danse macabre than tripping the light fantastic, members of a Republican club in Queens, New York, partied without masks or social distancing during a mid-pandemic indoor Christmas party, a viral video shows.Related: Covid could shorten US life expectancy by up to three years, experts say Continue reading...

The Lakers, Bucks and Clippers are among the hot favorites as the NBA tips off on Tuesday night following the shortest offseason in league historyWhat happens with James Harden. It looks like the Houston Rockets have finally faced the reality that they will have to trade the player they built the whole team around. Who would have thought that the trade of a once and potentially future MVP would play out like a family getting rid of an unwanted houseguest? HF Continue reading...

Trump continues to make baseless claims of mass electoral fraud, and has reportedly attacked both McConnell and PenceDonald Trump has reportedly acknowledged in private that his attempt to overturn the election result will fail, while a senior Republican in the Senate said on Monday a challenge coming in the House of Representatives will “go down like a shot dog”.Related: Abortion, gun control: conservatives steer pet cases towards supreme court with Barrett on bench Continue reading...

There is a pandemic of violence against women and girls – and we can all act as the vaccine• Nicole Kidman is an Oscar-winning actor, who played a lead role in 2020 drama The Undoing

Cohen filed court papers contending he ‘could be eligible for release’ under the First Step Act that Trump signed into law in 2018Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, says he deserves early release from home confinement under Trump’s signature sentencing reform – but federal authorities refuse to credit him for good behavior and hundreds of hours of work and prison courses completed behind bars.Related: Disloyal review: Michael Cohen's mob hit on Trump entertains – but will it shift votes? Continue reading...

Cities such as Malden, Massachusetts are working to comply with rights laws to accommodate a growing voting blocIn 2007, Fiona Yu was looking forward to voting in Boston’s local elections for the first time – a year after she became a US citizen. Yu, now 60, had immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong where she grew up poor, and earned a high school diploma through night school in the US.On election ay, Yu went to her polling station in Allston, a neighbourhood in Boston. But a poll worker was confused about her new home address. As a recent immigrant, Yu’s English was limited and there was no Chinese interpreter. The poll worker did not let her vote, even though Yu had proper documentation of her new address. Nor did she give her a provisional ballot. Continue reading...

To undo the damage Trump has wrought at home and abroad, the US must move beyond outdated foreign policy ideas

Stripped of its distractions, the holiday season is revealed for what it is: a slog. If you’re facing a lonely Christmas, here are some pointers

Joe Biden promises the coronavirus vaccine is ‘nothing to worry about’ as he receives his first dose live on TV, while Congress passes $900bn aid package. Plus, LA hospitals draw up plans to ration careGood morning.Congress has passed a $900bn coronavirus aid package, after months of gridlock in Washington and both parties working yesterday long into the night. The package includes a temporary jobless benefit, a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans and subsidies for businesses, as well as funds for schools, healthcare providers and renters. At a whopping 5,593 pages, it is probably the longest bill in US history. Continue reading...

The Los Angeles Dodgers ace had developed a reputation as a postseason choker. He put that to rest as his team claimed the World SeriesClayton Kershaw wasn’t the most valuable player in the 2020 World Series. He wasn’t involved in its most dramatic moments, and he didn’t play in the deciding game. But in years to come when we look back at baseball in 2020, asterisks and all, his will be the name associated with this strangest of seasons.It’s easy to like Kershaw, and most people do. He’s humble despite success, he’s handsome but not intimidatingly so, and he doesn’t trash-talk opponents or wade into politics. He just quietly gets on with being the best pitcher of his generation. But despite 13 years of spectacular numbers and armfuls of awards, a popular narrative had formed that risked overshadowing his stellar career. Continue reading...

Liverpool winning the Premier League, the death of Kobe Bryant, Lewis Hamilton’s black power salute, the dejection of Lionel Messi, the agility of Ewa Pajor, Rafael Nadal’s triumph in Paris, teeming crowds at the Cheltenham Festival as the coronavirus spreads: the photographs that tell the story of sport in 2020.In memory of our friend Daffydd Bynon

From the pandemic, to the death of George Floyd, to America’s presidential elections, 2020 has been a year of distress – with moments of hope and endurance. These were some of the images that stood out Continue reading...

Joe Biden received his first injected dose of the Covid-19 vaccine live on television on Monday in an effort to boost confidence in its safety ahead of its wide distribution next year. 'I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about,' the US president-elect said. His wife, Jill Biden, who got the injection earlier in the day, stood by.

Trump has retreated to the proverbial bunker with an ‘elite strike force’ of wingnuts and lackeys. They’re all he’s got left

Biden thanks medical staff after taking first dose of Pfizer vaccine in front of cameras, in bid to show Americans vaccines are safe

Long-expected executive order disparages architectural modernism but critics say Trump’s decree ‘mostly symbolic’Donald Trump decreed on Monday that all new US federal buildings should be “beautiful”, in a long-expected executive order which excoriated architectural modernism but stopped short of demanding that all such projects should be in the classical style.Related: William Barr: no plans to name special counsel to investigate vote fraud claims Continue reading...

Newspaper publishes series on how it ignored Black residents’ concerns and successes and fueled segregationThe Kansas City Star’s top editor has apologized for past decades of racist coverage and the newspaper has posted a series of stories examining how it ignored the concerns and achievements of Black residents and helped keep Kansas City segregated.The newspaper said a detailed examination of its past coverage and that of its longtime sister newspaper, the Kansas City Times, documented how they often wrote about Black residents only as criminals or people living in crime-plagued neighborhoods and ignored segregation in Kansas City, Missouri, and its public schools. Continue reading...

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupts late on Sunday, shooting a steam cloud into the atmosphere for about an hour. The eruption happened in Halema’uma’u crater, the US Geological Survey said. Kilauea is in the Hawaii Volcanoes national park

Powell reportedly pitched plan to seize voting machines, after Friday meeting at which Trump weighed special counsel roleThe lawyer and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell was back at the White House on Sunday night, reportedly to pitch Donald Trump on a plan to seize voting machines as the US president continues to dispute the result of November’s election, which he lost.Related: Romney decries martial law discussion in Trump's White House Continue reading...

Ministers claim they’ve only just heard of the new Covid strain. After days of ducking, diving and denials, that’s another untruth

Johns played key role in the desegregation of the public school system when, at 16, she led classmates in protest at poor conditionsA statue of the civil rights activist Barbara Johns, who played a key role in the desegregation of the public school system, will be installed in the US Capitol, officials said on Monday, replacing one of Robert E Lee, a leader of the pro-slavery Confederacy.Related: Conspiracy-theorist lawyer Sidney Powell spotted again at White House Continue reading...

New lava flow interacts with pool of water inside crater, leading to short-lived but fairly vigorous eruptionThe Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupted late on Sunday and shot a steam cloud into the atmosphere that lasted about an hour.The eruption happened in Halema’uma’u crater, the US Geological Survey said. Kilauea is in the Hawaii Volcanoes national park. Continue reading...

Reporter Christie Smythe calls the ‘Pharma Bro’ her life partner, saying relationship developed while he serves prison sentenceThe internet was set ablaze on Sunday night by a viral interview in which a former reporter for Bloomberg News described how she upended her “perfect little Brooklyn life” by falling in love with Martin Shkreli, a maverick hedge funder who rose to infamy before being sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud.Related: Martin Shkreli pays price for arrogance – and 'egregious multitude of lies' Continue reading...

A state-by-state look at the turnout data reflects a messy national picture with chaotic regulations and poor record-keepingThis article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access.Americans shattered records for voting by mail in many states in the 2020 presidential election, a phenomenon that tested existing election laws, new pandemic-related regulations, postal service capacity, voter education efforts and voters’ own resolve. Continue reading...

Tom Vilsack is a corporate yes man and former lobbyist with a dismal record in his previous time as secretary. This is appalling

The owners of my local restaurant are like my family - and I’m anxious and sad that their business may shutterWhen I heard Andrew Cuomo on the radio recently, talking about shutting down indoor dining in New York City restaurants again, I turned up the volume. I follow the hospitality industry news as if it affects me personally; in a sense, it does. My friends own a restaurant in my neighborhood, Sake Bar Satsko on East 7th Street. Since it opened in 2004, Satsko’s, as it’s also known, has become like another room of my house – the room where all the fun stuff happens. And now, with this latest round of restrictions, it might have to close forever.Much has been written about how important restaurants are to the culture of New York City – they’re “a thread in the fabric that might unravel if you yanked us from the weave”, wrote Gabrielle Hamilton in April, on shuttering her iconic cafe, Prune – so I won’t go into all that. We know that New York won’t be New York without its abundance of lively and delicious restaurants, thousands of which are estimated to have closed permanently since Covid-19 struck. The real question is why the government has done so little to assist this vital industry, which employs more than 300,000 New Yorkers – many of them recent immigrants, musicians, writers, artists and actors, all of whom help make up the city’s special sauce. Continue reading...

Top congressional leaders have agreed a last-hour $900bn coronavirus aid package, following late-night discussions on Sunday. Plus, Mitt Romney calls Trump’s election disputes ‘nutty’ and ‘embarrassing’Good morning.Congress has agreed on a $900bn coronavirus aid package, after weeks of negotiations ran into late-night talks on Sunday. The House was forced to grant a temporary funding extension to avoid a government shutdown, as lawmakers ran out of time to pass the aid package before the midnight Sunday deadline. The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, last night promised “help is on the way”, while the Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said the package should have enough support to pass both chambers of Congress. Continue reading...

Obscene wealth, financial speculation, cavalier indifference – yet Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue claim their Democratic challengers are out of touch