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US leaders have long shown some responsibility to help poor people meet basic nutritional needs. That era appears overIn October, millions rallied across America to remind Donald Trump that this nation obeys no kings. Last week, however, a scene worthy of Versailles unfolded: While Trump built his $300m ballroom, the US prepared to face widespread hunger.With Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) funding scheduled to run dry due to the government shutdown, the Trump administration not only refused to prevent the crisis - it fought in court to deprive 42 million Snap recipients of their grocery money. Thankfully, a federal judge ruled against the government and ordered that Snap payments proceed. On Monday, the administration said it would fund just half of recipients' typical benefits. And 2.4 million people soon risk losing their benefits nonetheless, as the $186bn Snap cuts in Trump's benighted budget bill begin taking effect.Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of the Nation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a contributor to the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times Continue reading...

Forget the medium and focus on the New York City mayor-elect's message - centrists can't compete with rent freezes, free buses and support for PalestineWhile there are many reasons for Zohran Mamdani's success, the New York City mayor-elect's meteoric rise was in no small part down to his campaign's blazing social media game. Across TikTok, Instagram and X, his ads have racked up tens of millions of views, turning his charismatic potential into an electoral earthquake that has shaken the foundations of the Democratic party. Many politicians on both sides of the Atlantic will be asking: what is his secret formula?For me, the answer is clear. Since I was only 14, I've been an online leftwing commentator, building a platform of more than 700,000 followers on Instagram with no money or institutional backing. On social media, radicalism isn't a potential liability - it's your strongest selling point. This is a reality that the most adept politicians - from Mamdani to Donald Trump - understand very well. Above all else, what matters online is your authenticity and commitment to standing by the things you believe in, no matter how many outraged headlines they may produce.Rohan Sathyamoorthy is a 20-year-old writer from south-west London Continue reading...

The structure, variously known as the border fence or border wall, is not continuous and only covers sections of the almost 2,000-mile boundary between the two countries. It consists of a series of obstructions designed to discourage illegal entry into the US Continue reading...

As world leaders gather in Brazil for climate talks, data suggests current plans would lead to devastating heating. Plus, Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor-elect, introduces his all-female transition team

South Sudanese people with temporary protected status now have 60 days to leaveThe US is ending temporary deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals, which for more than a decade allowed people from the east African country to stay in the US after escaping conflict.In a notice published on Wednesday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said conditions in South Sudan no longer met the statutory requirements for temporary protected status. The agency said South Sudanese nationals with status through the programme had 60 days to leave the US or face deportation. Continue reading...

Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritariansMy friends, the world is changing," Zohran Mamdani told supporters in the run-up to the New York City mayoral election. It's not a question of whether that change will come. It's a question of who will change it." Today, Mamdani becomes one of those people.People are so fed up with the status quo that they opt for anything but continuity. But Democrats and most democratic parties worldwide have shied away from offering real alternatives. This has pushed voters into the arms of the extreme right, even fascist forces. Mamdani set out to break their monopoly over visions for a different future - and won a resounding and historic victory. The last time this many voters turned out to vote for a mayor in New York City was in 1969.Isabella Weber is an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of a forthcoming book on antifascist economics Continue reading...

Key figures accused of harassment, bullying and attacks as US employees work without pay to keep services runningAs the US federal shutdown enters its second month, government workers are accusing the Trump administration of being out of control" and bullying people who are simply trying to do their best".The shutdown surpassed 35 days this week, beating the previous record set under Donald Trump's first presidential term. About 700,000 federal employees are furloughed without pay, and about 700,000 additional federal workers have been working without pay through the shutdown. Continue reading...

The mayor-elect built the greatest field operation by any political campaign in the city's history - by getting New Yorkers to talk to eachother. Can Democrats learn from his success?A week before Zohran Mamdani astounded the world by his out-of-nowhere, odds-defying, convention-shattering victory in the New York City mayoral election, members of his vast army of youthful volunteers were amply aware of what was at stake.A group of 16 had assembled in the Bohemian Hispanic neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn for one last push to heave the Democratic candidate over the line. Continue reading...

Whatever he manages to accomplish as mayor, much of potentially national significance can be learned from his candidacy aloneThe thing that should surprise us most about Zohran Mamdani's election is that it wasn't a surprise. Well before the result was called on Tuesday night, weeks of reliable surveys had already suggested his victory in New York's mayoral race, by a nine point margin over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, would be a foregone conclusion - an extraordinary finish for a man unknown to the vast majority of New Yorkers when he launched his run just over a year ago. The campaign that followed was one of the greatest in American history.True as it may be that both Cuomo and incumbent mayor Eric Adams were deeply flawed candidates marred by scandal, it was by no means inevitable that Mamdani would be the leading candidate against them - as recently as February he was polling at 1% in the Democratic primary, well-behind a slew of challengers with more name recognition, more experience and deeper roots in city politics. They were defeated by an ever-growing army of volunteers - 90,000 by the summer - led substantially by organizers from the Democratic Socialists of America. Early in the campaign, it was a given to many commentators that an openly leftist campaign for the mayorship of the world's financial capital would face impossible headwinds. In Tuesday night's victory speech, Mamdani opened with a quote from Eugene Debs. Per exit polling from CNN, one out of four New Yorkers who went to the polls described themselves as socialists.Osita Nwanevu is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Ugandans react with joy after Kampala-born Mamdani's victory during a trying time for democracy in east AfricaUgandans reacted with joy and hope to the news that Kampala-born Zohran Mamdani had been elected mayor of New York City, amid a stormy democratic and rights environment in east Africa.Mamdani, who was born in Uganda 34 years ago to a family of Indian origin, on Tuesday defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the city's first Muslim mayor and the first of south Asian heritage. Continue reading...

The New York mayor-elect sells a political message further to the left than any American politician has dared to in recent memoryThe morning after Zohran Mamdani's startling mayoral victory in New York, the most arresting visual image was not of the mayor-elect celebrating in an applause-filled room, but the breakdown of voting patterns across the city. Street by street, practically building by building, you could index New Yorkers' support for Mamdani or Andrew Cuomo to the probable amount of rent they were paying. A middle-income precinct on the Upper West Side, for example, showed up as a small island of Mamdani voters in a sea of Cuomo-voting wealthier neighbourhoods. Solid lower-income support for Mamdani in modest midtown gave way to the incredible banking wealth of Tribeca and its majority support of Cuomo.Allowing for large anomalies - Staten Island, a middle- to lower-income part of the city, voted heavily for Cuomo, as did lower-income Hassidic neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Queens - the message of the huge turnout for Mamdani in the US's most expensive city seemed to be one of affordability; even of a referendum on capitalism as we know it. And so the most pressing question became: was it a crank result from an unrepresentative city, or the beginning of a new political wave? Continue reading...

With unprecedented access to one of the top US college programs, director Sean Mullin uncovers raw stories of love and lossAt the United States Military Academy at West Point, rugby has the best winning record of any men's sports program. Brothers on Three, a new documentary about the team out this week, begins with scenes of wild joy from Houston, Texas in 2022, when the Black Knights beat St Mary's, from California, to win their first US college title.And yet director Sean Mullin's film is shot through with loss. Continue reading...

Sean Duffy says cuts at 40 locations to reduce stress on air traffic controllers will start Friday if solution not foundThe transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, and the FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, said on Wednesday the federal government would be reducing airline traffic by 10% at 40 high volume markets" beginning on Friday if the government shutdown does not end by then.The announcement did not specify which 40 airports would see the reduction and said that a complete list would be announced on Thursday with cuts likely at the nation's 30 busiest airports, including those serving New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas. The reduction will affect cargo, private and passenger traffic. Continue reading...

Conservative justices expressed skepticism of the strength of the Trump administration's position - key US politics stories from 5 November 2025The conservative majority of United States supreme court justices has been widely criticized for granting Donald Trump an increasing amount of leeway to wield his presidential power. On Wednesday, the court questioned one avenue of the president's authority: his ability to impose sweeping global tariffs.Justices heard oral arguments on the legality of the tariffs, with conservative justices expressing skepticism of the strength of the Trump administration's position. Continue reading...

Devastated' family demands answers after two-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lotMasked, heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Home Depot store, then entered his car and drove away with his toddler, who is also a US citizen, in the backseat.The child's grandmother said the incident had left the whole family shaken. I am devastated by what has happened to my son and demand an explanation," she said at a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...

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Lawmakers outraged that president gilding White House as Snap food stamps in jeopardy amid longest US shutdownA new sign was spotted adorning the White House this week, prompting backlash from lawmakers who have noted that Donald Trump is quite literally gilding the White House during a government shutdown.Trump has been remaking the White House in his own image with the recent dramatic demolition of the East Wing and active construction of a new ballroom, doing so with plenty of gold. Written in cursive gold script, a sign identifying the Oval Office is now affixed beside the office's door. Continue reading...

Ayob Nasser, 19, accused of participating in planning of potential attack on LGBTQ+ bars in suburban DetroitInvestigators say a third Michigan man is now facing charges in a plot to stage a terror attack on Halloween. He traveled to an amusement park in the midwest to scout the location, they said.Ayob Nasser, 19, was arrested on Wednesday. He is accused of participating in the planning of a possible attack on LGBTQ+ bars in suburban Detroit that was inspired by the Islamic State, federal authorities have said. Continue reading...

NTSB agents arrive in Louisville to investigate what caused engine to fall off UPS cargo plane and left wing to catch fireThe death toll from the UPS cargo plane that exploded into a fireball in Louisville on Tuesday night has risen to 12, said Craig Greenberg, the city's mayor. At least 15 people were reported injured and several individuals" were still unaccounted for, Greenberg said in a social media post.A federal investigator announced earlier Wednesday a UPS cargo plane's left wing caught fire and an engine fell off shortly after takeoff from the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport, causing the plane to crash and explode into a fireball. Continue reading...

President shares more than 30 Truth Social posts in less than two hours - including series of bizarre AI-generated videosDonald Trump appeared to be sharing everything on his mind all at once on Wednesday as he posted more than 30 Truth Social posts in less than two hours.The posts, of which there were 33 between 4.17pm and 6.40pm ET, came a day after Democrats won in a series of elections across the United States in New York, California, Virginia, and New Jersey. Continue reading...

Mamdani performed well citywide, drawing support from a wide range of racial, ethnic, and economic groupsZohran Mamdani won the New York mayoral race on Tuesday following a historic campaign, building upon the broad coalition that had propelled him to victory in the democratic primary earlier this year.The 34-year-old democratic socialist ran New York's most ambitious mayoral campaign in years, attracting hundreds of thousands of supporters with bold promises to make the largest US city affordable. Continue reading...

South Carolina firebrand running for governor allegedly abused agents working without pay during shutdownThe US representative Nancy Mace, a Republican firebrand running for South Carolina governor, is drawing scrutiny after a police report described her berating airport police and TSA agents as she was being escorted to a gate last week.The profane incident at the Charleston international airport threatens to derail her run as she said she would sue the airport authority for defamation and false reporting. Continue reading...

Gerardo Jerry' Estrada, 30, was hit head-on by weaving car with sirens on that had drifted from correct side of streetThe Los Angeles police department has released disturbing dash-cam footage of its officers weaving in and out of traffic before fatally striking a skateboarder.The video of the 19 September collision shows an LAPD cruiser, with its sirens on at around 7.15pm, at times driving on the wrong side of the road to get past cars. While the driver and another officer appeared to be engaged in a casual conversation, they drifted from the correct side of the street into a center lane, at which point the skateboarder appeared in view. Continue reading...

Political analyst Michael Lange, a born and raised New Yorker who predicted Zohran Mamdani would win, discusses election night's trends and surprises

Residents overwhelmingly backed the redistricting measure Democrats say is critical to protecting democracy

Amanda Anisimova came back from a set down to advance to the semi-finals and eliminate Iga SwiatekAlexandrova 3-3 Rybakina* (* denotes server): Rybakina sends down a blistering serve to Alexandrova's backhand; it's not one for returning. At 30-all, Alexandrova returns with a stonking forehand winner: break point. Rybakina's whippy backhand makes it deuce ... and she saves another break point to hold.*Alexandrova 3-2 Rybakina (* denotes server): Rybakina attacks Alexandrova's second serve, coming inside to hit a deep forehand return that makes it 15-30. The former steps into a backhand winner to make it 30-40, but Alexandrova resists, closing the game with an ace. Continue reading...

A historic campaign that focused on the theme of affordability can offer wider lessons to a re-energised oppositionSince the re-election of Donald Trump last November, a demoralised Democratic party has struggled to reverse a palpable sense of downward momentum. Ata grassroots level, amid plunging poll ratings, there has been a yearning for renewal and a more punchy, combative approach in opposition. Against that bleak backdrop, the remarkable election of Zohran Mamdani to the New York City mayoralty is a moment for progressives to savour.Mr Mamdani entered the mayoral race last October as a socialist outsider with almost zero name recognition. He won it with more than 50% of the vote after the highest turnout in more than half a century, and despite the best efforts of billionaires to bankroll his chief rival, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, to victory. That achievement makes him the youngest mayor of the US's largest city for more than 100 years and the first Muslim to occupy the role. Continue reading...

Starbucks Workers United voted to authorize open-ended strike if deal with company is not reached by 13 NovemberUnionized Starbucks baristas voted to authorize an open-ended strike ahead of Starbucks's high-traffic holiday season, announced Starbucks Workers United on Wednesday.The union said workers are prepared to strike if a contract is not finalized by 13 November, which is the company's Red Cup Day, and strike actions could hit more than 25 cities and escalate if there is a lack of progress. Continue reading...

Prop 50, passed by voters yesterday, allows legislature to redraw congressional maps to benefit Democrats in House

Team includes Lina Khan, the FTC commissioner under Biden, and other Democratic former city officials

For too long, the centre has been adopting the language of the right but deploying it with greater civility - to disastrous endsZohran Mamdani was forged in the era of Donald Trump. He came to socialism through watching Bernie Sanders run for the US presidency in 2016, in the contest that ultimately gave us Trump I. Last November, a few days after the election of Trump II, he asked voters why they'd backed that guy. The conversations prepared Mamdani in his battle for New York, and the film of them reveals so much about the politics of this era that it repays watching.Those of us schooled in the tactics of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair might roll our eyes at yet another listening exercise", starring a powerbroker and his retinue in some beautifully lit hall, but this is no such thing. Here stands an unknown on a street corner in the Bronx, waving a placard as doughtily as a Seventh-Day Adventist. Rather than read off a Rolodex of platitudes, this politician sees his public - some of whom look a little like him, yet whose faces and bodies are etched with the strains of the city. Never having spoken to power, even a lowly state assemblyman such as Mamdani, they talk of lives made smaller and shorter in an economy where the daily basics are too costly. Politics has failed them, so they consider politicians to be failures.Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

The ranked-choice election went into a second round of tabulations, putting him ahead of state senator Omar FatehMinneapolis mayor Jacob Frey fended off progressive challengers on Tuesday to win his third term to lead the city.The ranked-choice election went into a second round of tabulations after no candidate topped 50% in the first round. Frey gained more second-round votes, putting him ahead of Omar Fateh, a state senator who challenged Frey from the left, according to Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services. Continue reading...

Federal judge concerned that justice department sought to indict first and investigate later' in case of ex-FBI directorA federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors in the criminal case of the former FBI director James Comey to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, saying he was concerned that the justice department's position had been to indict first and investigate later".Magistrate judge William Fitzpatrick instructed prosecutors to produce by the end of the day on Thursday grand jury materials as well as other evidence that investigators seized during the investigation. The order followed arguments in which Comey's attorneys said they were at a disadvantage because they had not been able to review materials that were gathered years ago. Continue reading...

His win is a huge victory for all New Yorkers, but it is also meaningful far beyond the five boroughs of this cityThe people of New York have spoken. Despite all the odds, a 34-year-old Muslim Democratic socialist has been elected to lead the largest city in the United States. Zohran Mamdani's win is a huge victory for all New Yorkers, but it is also meaningful far beyond the five boroughs of this city.Just as amazing was that this election wasn't even close. Mamdani's main opponent, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, ran a campaign that was as devoid of imagination as it was of hope and even personality. Having dramatically lost the democratic primary this past summer, Cuomo was forced to run as an independent, an almost comical political affiliation for a man whose campaign was utterly dependent on donations from the billionaire class.Moustafa Bayoumi is Guardian US coolumnist Continue reading...

KitKat, affectionately known as mayor of 16th Street' was struck and killed by a Waymo in the city's Mission DistrictThe death of beloved neighborhood cat named KitKat, who was struck and killed by a Waymo in San Francisco's Mission District last week, is sparking uproar in the city and across the internet. Now, local politicians and community leaders are harnessing momentum to put new limits on the fast-spreading autonomous vehicle industry.KitKat was a regular fixture at the deli and liquor store Randa's Market, and was well known in the neighborhood and on social media. In a recent podcast interview, Daniel Zeidan, part of the family that owns Randa's, described KitKat as unequivocally adored. Continue reading...

Labour's Luke Charters and Sadiq Khan hail result while Israeli minister warns New York walking into the abyss'Liberal politicians outside the US have watched Zohran Mamdani's election win as New York mayor with interest, with some saying it offers lessons in how to combat the rise of rightwing populism around the world.The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, congratulated his US contemporary. New Yorkers faced a clear choice, between hope and fear, and just like we've seen in London, hope won," he wrote. Continue reading...

From Virginia's first female governor to New York's first Muslim mayor, Tuesday's elections secured trailblazing wins

Mayor-elect centered affordability and the working people of the city in his speech while emphasizing: Hope is alive'

New York traded away two of their best players in an extraordinary few hours. But they could finally have made a decision that makes senseIt's rare to see a franchise accept what everyone else already knows - that what they've built isn't working. The Jets didn't just tweak their roster at the deadline; they detonated it. In a dizzying few hours, they dealt cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys. Continue reading...

Democratic socialist's campaign was fueled by small-dollar donations and tens of thousands of volunteers. Plus, Dick Cheney dies aged 84

A report shared exclusively with the Guardian documents how a civil rights law has become a tool to impose ideological priorities on US schoolsUS government investigations into universities over antisemitism allegations surged following the 7 October 2023 attacks and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, with more investigations open in the last two months of that year than in the two decades prior, according to a report published on Monday that was shared exclusively with the Guardian.The data, compiled by the Middle East Studies Association and the American Association of University Professors and relying on publicly available records, offers a detailed account of how landmark civil rights legislation - and particularly Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act - has become a primary tool to restrict speech on campus. Continue reading...

The second lady is no victim - she has been a major force in JD's meteoric rise. But as a former Democrat, what does she really think of the political world she's landed in?Usha Vance is a very clever woman with terrible taste in men. The Yale and Cambridge-educated lawyer quit her job at a prestigious DC firm the same day her husband was picked to be Donald Trump's running mate. She trailed after him on the campaign trail, smiling for the cameras. A former Democrat, she aligned herself with Trump, a man her husband once called America's Hitler".In exchange for her loyalty, the second lady now has a taxpayer-funded mansion, regular trips in a private jet, and a husband who acknowledges white supremacist attacks on her - saying Don't attack my wife" - but has failed to condemn them head on. Speaking during an event at the University of Mississippi last Wednesday, the vice-president said that he hoped his wife, raised in a Hindu household, would convert to Christianity. JD, by the way, used to be an atheist, then converted to Catholicism in 2019, saying he really liked that the Catholic church was just really old".Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

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A broken wrist and time away from the sport helped Kate Courtney find new purpose - and the freedom that led to another world titleIn early September, Kate Courtney lined up at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships for the 12th time in her career, but the first time targeting the marathon distance. A figure at the front of the pack in the shorter cross country and short track distances, Courtney would surprise everyone by winning the 77-mile race, claiming the second rainbow jersey of her nearly decade-long career.The competition at the sharp end is so high and the course was brutal, so I was productively intimidated," said the 30-year-old Courtney, I didn't think much about the pressure of winning, which let me just focus on myself." Continue reading...

CCTV footage shows the moment a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff, erupting into a massive fireball near Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport in Kentucky. At least seven people died and 11 were injured. The Honolulu-bound plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, had three crew members onboard and crashed at about 5.15pm local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration

We'd like to hear what people make of Zohran Mamdani's win of the New York City mayoral electionDemocratic nominee Zohran Mamdani was elected on Tuesday as the 111th mayor of New York City, defeating the former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and making history as the city's first Muslim mayor.We'd like to hear what people make of Mamdani's win, and what New Yorkers' hopes are for their city. Continue reading...

Zohran Mamdani supporters said they were 'elated' and 'hopeful' after the Democratic candidate was elected as the new mayor of New York City. Mamdani's socialist campaign promising to freeze rent and make buses free seduced New Yorkers who voted for him en masse, securing victory for him with more than 50% of the vote. He will be inaugurated as the 111th mayor of the city in January