US news | The Guardian

Vote comes amid Republican call to impeach defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Plus a catnapped bodega cat in Brooklyn is returned home

Announcement of visa restrictions follows Trump's false claims of white genocide' taking place in South AfricaThe US has announced visa restrictions on some South Africans as Donald Trump's administration continues to claim that South Africa's government racially discriminates against white minority Afrikaners.The announcement did not specify individuals who were barred from the US. Trump has spent his second term falsely claiming there is a white genocide" in South Africa and railing against its affirmative action policies. Continue reading...

Pictures of Georgia Democrat looking into middle distance proliferate - and social media skills have boosted his profileDelivering a speech in Atlanta last month, Jon Ossoff accused Donald Trump of corruption, incompetence and fecklessness, and peppered his remarks with substantive observations of dates and times and places. But the comment that ricocheted across the internet - a clip of just a few seconds - was an almost-throwaway reference about how the US president wants to travel with Natalie" onboard Air Force One.The crowd cheered the US senator, who is running for re-election in battleground Georgia and is increasingly seen as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028. But his target audience that day - and this year - spanned far beyond the concert hall. Continue reading...

Gun violence-prevention programs are another casualty of Trump's immigration enforcement crackdownLast June, hundreds of federal agents descended on Los Angeles in the first major immigration enforcement operation of the second Trump administration. Immigrants were swept up at Home Depots and car washes, in front of food stands and at garment factories.In some Latino and immigrant communities, residents were afraid to go to work; kids stayed home from school and petrified families had friends and neighbors make their grocery runs, too scared to go outside themselves. Continue reading...

The DOI placed QR codes in national parks, inviting visitors to report content deemed negative about either past or living Americans'. Instead, it became a mode of resistanceOver the past year and a half, Donald Trump and his administration have launched a campaign to censor American history at US national parks and federal lands.As part of Executive Order 14253, Restoring truth and sanity to American history", the Department of Interior (DOI) ordered park rangers to review all signs, brochures, books and films for content that inappropriately disparages" Americans by suggesting that the United States was inherently racist, sexist or oppressive". It's resulted in dozens of sign removals across the US, most of them related to slavery, Indigenous history and the climate crisis. Continue reading...

A growing cohort of performers clown' as a means to innovate traditional protest and create social changeOn a humid morning on 15 July, Tillie the Clown, a Brooklyn-based drag performer whose real name is Taylor Horne, was waiting to be let inside a New York City council meeting. Horne had started getting into character at 5am, for a makeup and clown-costuming process that would take two hours. It would be another 10 hours before Horne was allowed to address the city council about the passing of Romanch's Law, which would phase out and ultimately ban New York's horse carriage industry.From the moment Horne walked into the meeting room, carriage horse proponents ridiculed them, pointing and laughing. Dressed in a black top hat and gloves with their face painted white and red, Horne began their three-minute speech: We pride ourselves on being a world-class destination ... yet we are clinging to the exploitation of horse-drawn carriages. A giant prey animal is not built to thrive in New York's overstimulating concrete environment." Horne later learned that those carriage horse supporters went on social media to poke fun at their display. They fell right into my trap," Horne said. They decided to critique the messenger and not the message." Continue reading...

The 16-year-old Union star isn't the first wunderkind to be feted by the American soccersphereThe trouble with trying not to hype up Cavan Sullivan is that he keeps on doing cool stuff. Like this past weekend, when he scampers along on a Philadelphia Union breakaway, loses his man by stopping so suddenly it's as if he's pulled a ripcord, back-heels the cutback behind his standing leg, watches it slowly kiss off the far post and in, and celebrated the goal by bowing and doffing an imaginary top hat to the crowd.Like when he doubles the score by setting up an attack and finishing it himself with a left-footed lash through the goalkeeper's legs form an acute angle. Like when he fashions yet another goal by holding up the play and then suddenly springs a teammate up the right flank. Continue reading...

Not only would the plan do vast economic damage - it assumes that Americans are easily bamboozledWhenever Donald Trump gives a speech, it's filled with so many lies and self-serving exaggerations that when he does utter something true, I see that as a sort of marvel. That's what happened nearly an hour into Trump's marathon speech last Wednesday at the Republican midterm convention, when he declared: Only I can make this promise to you." Trump said that just before he made a promise that was so shameless and irresponsible that what he said was indeed true: only Donald Trump could make such a preposterous promise.Feeling very generous with other people's money, Trump promised to give $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in November. It certainly looked and smelled like a bribe.Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labor and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Continue reading...

The president's assistant travelled with him to Ireland - which really shouldn't be much of a story. But his comms team seems determined to make it onePassport, money, emotional support human: Donald Trump had all the travel essentials on his recent trip to Ireland. The president flew into Dublin on Saturday morning to play golf, meet the country's leaders and make provocative comments about unification. Melania didn't accompany her husband on the trip (Uh, she sends her regards," Trump said), but his devoted aide Natalie Harp was obviously at his side.You'll know Harp: the 35-year-old assistant was headline news last month after Democratic senator Jon Ossoff quipped that Trump didn't want to do his job; he just wanted to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie". That comment would have been quickly forgotten were it not for the Trump administration's unhinged response (sample: Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics"), which sparked a media frenzy. There was suddenly a spotlight on Harp, who is nicknamed the human printer" because she trails the president with a portable printer, ready to hand him hard copies of flattering coverage. She appears to be disturbingly obsessed with her boss and he seems to appreciate the attention: it was recently revealed that Trump gave her (and two other female aides) a cash gift of $45,000 (33,000) for a nice holiday. Continue reading...

Ten seasons ago, Minnesota entered the playoffs with a chip on their shoulders and won a championship. Can they channel the same energy this year?Williams Arena (now known as The Barn) in Minneapolis was packed to capacity on 4 October 2017, when Cheryl Reeve sent Sylvia Fowles into Game 5 of the WNBA finals and watched her take off. Reeve, chasing her fourth championship after losing out in 2016, had learned her lesson the previous year, when she put Fowles back into a finals game too late.Fowles answered the call. She racked up 17 points and broke her own WNBA rebounds record with 20. Her effort was matched by that of Maya Moore, with 18 points and 10 rebounds; Lindsay Whalen, who had 17 points and eight assists; and Seimone Augustus, who added another 14 points, six assists and six rebounds. The Lynx showed out, clinching the franchise's fourth title, with Fowles named finals MVP. Continue reading...

US grapples with federal firefighter shortage as crews say they're spread thin and lack resources during unrelenting year of fireFirefighters battling enormous wildfires in the United States say the federal government is failing them at a time when supercharged blazes have made their jobs exponentially more dangerous.While the US continues to grapple with a critical shortage of federal firefighters - with especially large gaps in essential management positions - the Trump administration has increased pressure on firefighting forces to rapidly and aggressively contain the flames. Continue reading...

The stark reality is this: we don't know how to maintain control of these systems. But there are actions we can takeWith Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic, we have reached the AI risk tipping point. Millions of people are finally coming to understand what experts have known for years: AI companies have been gambling with all of our lives, and the odds are not good.In response, the Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, has introduced a proposal for pacing the frontier", endorsed by Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Can we breathe a sigh of relief? Are we about to step back from the edge of extinction?

An NBC helicopter crashed in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, near the site of a bus crash that occurred hours earlier on Wednesday. The helicopter crashed near a one-storey building as news crews were covering the bus crash that left at least two people dead and six others injured, according to the Los Angeles fire department

Accident occurred as news crews in Los Angeles were covering a bus crash that had killed at least two people hours earlierA news helicopter crash in a Los Angeles neighborhood has killed at least three people, after it came to the ground and burst into flames near the site of a bus crash that occurred hours earlier.The helicopter crashed near a one-storey commercial building in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, as news crews were covering the bus crash that left at least two people dead and six others injured, according the Los Angeles Fire Department. Continue reading...

Hiker Timothy Smith, 53, missing after late-August floods but officials decline to identify remainsHuman remains have been discovered near Arizona's Crystal Rapids, over two weeks after a flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon, leaving two people dead and one person missing.National Park Service personnel recovered the remains, before transferring them to the Coconino county medical examiner's office, the agency confirmed over email. Continue reading...

Intelligence services allegedly attempted to pay people to surveil and kill people perceived to be aligned with UkraineRussia's intelligence services are plotting to carry out targeted killings in the United States and in European nations supporting Ukraine, federal authorities said Tuesday as they announced charges against five people who remain at large.An indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court said a network of the intelligence services had paid and attempted to pay individuals in the United States and in other countries to surveil targets to be killed with plans to then kill them. Continue reading...

Powerful bombs prompted such concern about mass deaths in Gaza that Biden officials paused delivery two years agoThe Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.The $2.8bn package includes 40,000 bombs, made up of 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final. Continue reading...

Bears came through bedroom window and swiped tent at campground, causing scratch marks and puncture woundA black bear burst through a Colorado teenage girl's window and scratched her, days after a bear also bit a camper in the state, according to wildlife officials.On Friday, a woman at a campground in south-west Colorado heard a growl and felt something hit her outdoors tent, according to a news release. Continue reading...

President says he will block renovation project unless court decision to bar his name from being added is overturned

Election officials continue push to assure Americans mail ballots are safe after supreme court rules against president

Financier refused to comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony for the investigation into the late sex offenderThe House oversight committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that the House of Representatives hold Leon Black, the billionaire financier, in contempt of Congress, after he refused to comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) sought by the panel as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Black contends the subpoenas are invalid" and he is suing to block them.Subpoenas are not suggestions; they carry the force of law and require full compliance" the representative James Comer, who chairs the committee, said in the chamber on Tuesday afternoon before the voting began. Mr Black's testimony is crucial to our investigation because he maintained a close personal relationship with Epstein for years during the time when Epstein was engaged in sex trafficking." Continue reading...

Damaging budget report estimates cost would grow $3bn per month and stockpile could take five years to rebuildThe war in Iran has cost the US at least $38bn and left its stockpile of defensive missiles so depleted it could take five years to rebuild, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found, in a damaging report less than two months before midterm elections where the war and the cost of living crisis will likely hurt Republicans at the polls.The economic report comes a day after the Pentagon's inspector general finally released its own first review of the war, saying that the US spent $22.3bn on munitions alone through 30 June, put total spending at $33.4bn, and found the fighting had resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply". Continue reading...

Three-month-old Jabal was returned to Park Slope bodega after community rallied to rescue purloined kittyThe owner of a New York City bodega on Tuesday was reunited with the store's cat after a couple passing by the establishment five days earlier appeared to abduct the feline in plain view of a surveillance camera and ignited an intense grassroots search effort.The plight of three-month-old Jabal began on Thursday morning in Brooklyn, when he went just outside the Eighth Street Mini Market where he lives as it opened for the day. A man walking alongside a woman passed the Park Slope market then picked up Jabal, and the pair took off as the kitten visibly squirmed, according to store surveillance video which the bodega's owner, Imad Jimmy" Innab, reviewed after he noticed the cat had gone missing.This article was updated on 15 September 2026 to reflect Jabal's return to the bodega. Continue reading...

During a Senate committee hearing, FBI director answered questions from Republican senator John Kennedy about the bureau's new policy allowing the hiring of people who have engaged in bestiality Continue reading...

Congressman says defense secretary repeatedly violated constitution through his handling of Iran warRepublican congressman Thomas Massie on Tuesday proposed impeaching Pete Hegseth, saying the defense secretary had repeatedly violated the constitution through his handling of war with Iran and the deaths of civilians in conflicts worldwide.The proposal by Massie, an iconoclastic lawmaker who lost his primary earlier this year after Donald Trump and Hegseth urged voters to oppose him, may put House Republicans in a bind just weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, where they are defending their control of Congress. Continue reading...

On Tuesday, the 10-year treasury rate yield reached a 19-year high at 5.041%, even as investors wary Iran war falloutScott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, claimed the government's massive buyback of US bonds was a success.The claim came as the 10-year treasury yield reached a 19-year high on Tuesday, increasing pressure on interest rates as the Federal Reserve weighs another hike to see off rising inflation. Continue reading...

During his 16 August campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff mentioned White House aide Natalie Harp when condemning the Trump administration's handling of the Iran war and USS Lincoln sailors Continue reading...

All deaths occurred in Pennsylvania, in worst year since 1992 for one of the most contagious diseasesPennsylvania health officials said a fourth person had died of measles-associated illness in the worst year for the disease since 1992. All four US deaths have occurred in the state.Due to the Trump administration changing how it reports measles deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not count any of the deaths in its national tally. Three people died in 2025. Continue reading...

US president insists that fears expressed by top experts are a hoax - and that humanity can sleep easy while he's at the wheelWe can all sleep easy. In a post on his Truth Social account, Donald Trump has declared that fears over artificial intelligence were all a hoax dreamed up by conspiracy theorists. Obviously that includes the top bods at Anthropic and its competitors, who all called for a coordinated global slowdown while the industry works out how to mitigate the risks. Still, good to know the tech bros are just fantasists and space cadets at heart.All that was needed to keep humanity safe and well, The Donald insisted, was a president with a very high IQ. Someone very like him. The only man alive who could out-think the combined power of the world's supercomputers. He could tell them where to draw the line and they would reprogram themselves to back off. Inside every AI network is a default off switch that kneels before the US president. Trump can rewire the world with the power of his mind. Continue reading...

Senators question FBI chief on move to cut restrictions on agent applicants who have engaged in bestiality

Proponents say sanctions would help Ukraine, but some Democrats say Trump shouldn't have more tariff authority

ICE says it has no updated information on the number of miscarriages after 3 October 2025. Lawmakers, advocates and immigration attorneys have raised alarms that pregnant detainees are not receiving basic prenatal care and screeningsICE is arresting a record number of pregnant women and teenagers - placing them in detention centers where they say it can be exceedingly difficult to access medical care. At the same time, the agency appears to have lost count of how many suffered a miscarriage.Government documents obtained by the Guardian show that the Trump administration placed more pregnant immigrants in detention last fall and winter than at any time over the previous year. Continue reading...

Wage growth - used to set triple-lock pension - slows to 3.9%, meaning state pension should hit 13,000 next year

The player who invented the Peanut Punch talks about his nomadic childhood, love of Chicago and time as a copBy No Helmets RequiredDefensive back Charles Tillman played 168 games for his hometown team Chicago Bears across 13 NFL seasons. Nicknamed Peanut" as a child by his mother, he became renowned for the Peanut Punch, where he would whack the ball out of the hands of unsuspecting receivers. After retiring from playing, he spent eight years in the FBI before quitting over the Trump administration's ICE policies and tactics. Now 45, he spent some of his summer in England, teaching flag football to kids in Liverpool.You went to a dozen schools around the world as a child. Do you share your own experiences when you coach kids now? Absolutely. I share a great deal because it helped shape me into the person I am today. My dad being in the military and us moving around so much helped my personality. I'm very outgoing and a lot of that stems from my childhood, always being the new kid in school and having to make new friends. So, I talk about those experiences with the kids when it feels appropriate." Continue reading...

A petition against the mayor's presence reeked of Islamophobia - and ran counter to the sense of togetherness that followed the attacksEveryone who was in New York on 11 September 2001 has their 9/11 story. My husband and I were at JFK, boarding a plane to San Francisco. Our two sons were home in lower Manhattan, a block away from my 85-year-old mother. They watched the towers fall from our corner. The weather was radiantly beautiful.For a long time, the faces of the missing were everywhere. Their eyes seemed to follow us from the makeshift shrine outside St Vincent's Hospital to the window of our local bodega. We cried at random moments. We slept badly. Continue reading...

Ruling comes a day before homeland security department's substantial restrictions were set to take effectA federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would limit how long foreign students and journalists can remain in the US without applying for extensions.F Dennis Saylor, the US district judge in Boston, ruled in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s rule was set to take effect. Continue reading...

Tobacco investments raise new concerns about Dr Nicole Saphier ahead of confirmation hearingDonald Trump's nominee for US surgeon general reported more than $200,000 in business income from a company she owns that sells dietary supplements, a loosely regulated industry that health and consumer advocates say raises concerns about her record and which some critics allege are akin to snake oil".Dr Nicole Saphier, who specializes in breast cancer as a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey and was formerly a Fox News contributor, is facing a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She filed a financial disclosure and ethics agreement last week. Continue reading...

The United States' next World Cup cycle gets underway with this week's squad selection - here's who we think will make the cutPablo: Matt Turner (New England Revolution), Brian Schwake (Nashville SC), Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Diego Kochen (Lyngby) Continue reading...

Julia Curlee, a former senior CIA officer, speaks on Trump administration's purge of national security staff, attacks on DEI and failures in Iran warWhen the White House fired Julia Curlee from her senior intelligence position in March 2025, her boss had an odd request: please still show up to work on Monday, but be discreet".The longtime CIA analyst had served in Donald Trump's first term, briefing Vice-President Mike Pence; worked for Joe Biden as a national security director; and stayed on for Trump's return. She had known her days might be numbered as the incoming White House was ousting national security staffers en masse. Curlee is also transgender, which made her particularly vulnerable as the new administration made anti-trans policies a top priority. But she didn't understand her boss's message until she opened her phone and saw the X post: Continue reading...

Civil rights groups have praised verdict on administration's last-ditch attempt to change midterm voting processes. Plus: all you need to know about last night's Emmys

Across the US, anti-datacenter organizers are harnessing community anger to win local electionsAfter four months of teach-ins and canvassing, Steven Kung helped Monterey Park, just east of Los Angeles, become the first US city to ban datacenter construction. Now, the organizer is running for city council - and he's taking on an incumbent who supported the development of the sprawling facility.The datacenter coming to my neighborhood turned my life upside down," said Kung. I saw that there's a dismantling of democracy at a local level." Continue reading...

Discussion has focused on behavioral outcomes. But Meta's settlement shines a light on damage to young people's emerging desires and identitiesDuring the landmark social media addiction trial that led to Meta's recent $17.1bn settlement, a therapist testified that she had once asked the plaintiff - a young woman named Kaley, who had been using social media since she was six - what her miracle day would look like: what she wished to come true, if anything were possible. Kaley replied that she would be prettier.As a psychoanalyst, I find that exchange devastating in a particular way. A miracle day is an invitation to engage with the full range of human desire: with what one might accomplish or experience, whom one might encounter or love. Kaley's answer contracted the world and all its possibility into a single preoccupation with her own image. Continue reading...

The businessman has spent the past decade moving through some of Russia's most politically connected circlesUmar Kremlev, the Russian oligarch at the centre of reports that he helped pay for Donald Trump Jr's wedding in the Bahamas, has spent the past decade moving through some of Russia's most politically connected circles.Born in 1982 in Serpukhov, an industrial town about 60 miles south of Moscow, he has said he boxed until the age of 19 but never turned professional, blaming what he later called a lack of discipline. Continue reading...

Decision allows states to send ballots under process followed for years even as president tried to limit systemThe supreme court on Monday rejected Donald Trump's mail ballot restrictions for now, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting in the midterm elections already underway.The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they have used for years. Continue reading...

In interview, term-limited California governor said running against former VP would waste everybody's time'Gavin Newsom, the California governor, will not run for president if former vice-president Kamala Harris does, he said in a forthcoming interview with CNN.Newsom and Harris, both from California, are widely viewed as two of the top establishment frontrunners in the coming Democratic presidential primary. Newsom, who terms out this year as governor, has increasingly portrayed himself as a foil to Trump and is widely viewed as positioning himself for a 2028 presidential bid. Continue reading...