The guard was once touted as the future face of the NBA. Now, after off-court problems and injuries, he has been hustled out of the city that made him a starWhen Ja Morant jumps into the air, he levitates past the natural apex of his arc, as if gravity decided to give him an extra half-second of respite. Men a foot taller or with 50 lbs more muscle don't have as much spring as is packed in his 6ft 2in frame. He can end up almost fully horizontal when he dunks. He is hardly a one-dimensional player though: he sees the game in higher definition than his peers too, zipping passes to teammates a beat before his opponents process the situation. Morant is rarely the best player on the floor at a given moment, but he often seems to be having the most fun. His highlights invite smiles. What could be cooler than a little guy outperforming giants with craft? Imagine if, in the NBA finals, Jalen Brunson had dunked over Victor Wembanyama. Morant knows what that would feel like, because he's done it.The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Morant second overall in 2019. They watched him blossom into 2020 Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star as the franchise player on a semi-reliable playoff team. In 2022, he scored 47 points in a playoff win against the Golden State Warriors, the eventual champions that year. As a young star with such a particular style, Morant figured to reach even greater heights, on the Grizzlies and as one of the faces of the league. Continue reading...

Explosive AP story based on whistleblower testimony suggests agents sat back and watched' in hopes of securing larger drug-trafficking bustDid the Drug Enforcement Agency break the law and gamble with public safety when it permitted large quantities of fentanyl pills to be trafficked in New Mexico in the hopes of getting a larger drug-trafficking bust?That is the question at the heart of an explosive story published in the Associated Press, based on information provided by a former DEA agent turned whistleblower; the whistleblower filed a complaint in 2023 that claimed agents had allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Albuquerque - a city still reeling from the opioid crisis while many others across the country are seeing overdose rates decline. Continue reading...

The former New England Revolution midfielder came up through the US system, but felt a pull toward his parents' homelandEsmir Bajraktarevi's uture offered two options with little overlap.Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, a Midwestern river town where Harry Houdini also came of age, Bajraktarevi's development took him from the nearby Chicago Fire's academy to the New England Revolution. He began representing the United States at youth levels, first the U-19s and then the U-23s. He was included in Gregg Berhalter's squad camp in January 2024, making his senior debut against Slovenia. He was involved at Olympic level too, helping the US qualify for Paris 2024. Continue reading...

Democratic socialists need to do more than win in the big American cities. And they can, with the right messageI joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in April 2007 at the age of 17. DSA back then was a small group with an ageing membership and an almost negative amount of buzz. If you'd told me its candidates would someday sweep primaries across New York City, I would have been surprised to say the least.Last week, they did. Darializa Avila Chevalier, an organizer in her early 30s, beat the five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in a Harlem-and-Bronx seat. Claire Valdez, another socialist, took the open seat Nydia Velazquez is leaving in Brooklyn and Queens. Add the state races, and DSA will seat at least 15 of its endorsed candidates in Albany next year. The movement that made Zohran Mamdani mayor is starting to look less like a pressure campaign and more like a bloc that can govern.Bhaskar Sunkara is a Guardian US columnist. He is the president of the Nation, the founding editor of Jacobin, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality

FBI veterans believe director may have flouted legal rules by prematurely divulging details of UFC attack plot inquiry

Trump administration faces an escalating controversy over handling of Jane Doe 4' documents in Epstein files. White House has called her allegations completely baseless'A woman known as Jane Doe 4 in the Jeffrey Epstein files is staying off the grid" and lives in fear of retaliation from the Trump administration amid an escalating controversy over its handling of her case, according to a family member.Trauma is brutal. Chronic trauma destroys," said the relative, who described the woman's life as layers of abuse dating back to early childhood. She's coping as best she can." Continue reading...

The Trump v Slaughter decision allows the president further influence over agencies Congress itself createdWhat is Congress for? According to the supreme court, not very much. On Monday, the supreme court overturned Humphrey's Executor, a 91-year-old precedent, nullified the Federal Trade Commission Act, a 112-year-old law, and presumed to settle a 250-year-old debate on the scope of presidential authority when it reapportioned power away from the people's representatives in the House and Senate and gave it instead to Donald Trump. In Trump v Slaughter, the court ruled that that the heads of independent agencies that Congress created cannot be protected from arbitrary firings by laws that Congress passed. Instead, Donald Trump is now free to fire agency heads at will and to replace them with political loyalists, regardless of what Congress has said about it.The ruling has one key exception: Donald Trump does not, according to the justices, have the ability to fire members of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve without cause and without proper procedure. A separate decision found for Lisa Cook, the Joe Biden appointee who was the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, and who was fired via social media post by Donald Trump last year. In addition to Cook's job, the decision protects the independence of the Federal Reserve and the health of financial markets, to say nothing of the considerable personal wealth of the justices themselves.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The last thoroughbred racetrack in New York City went dark after its final races on Sunday, closing the book on 132 years of history and one of the city's last great communal spacesFor the better part of a century, the subway ride to Aqueduct Racetrack followed a familiar rhythm. The closer the train drew to Ozone Park, the more animated the conversations became. Men with folded racing forms debated trip notes, overlays and bombs. Regulars swapped tips while newcomers eavesdropped, hoping to catch a profitable whisper. By the time the doors opened at the Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue stop, thousands of New Yorkers had arrived at what many considered the city's most democratic sporting venue.That ritual took place for the last time on Sunday. After 132 years, Aqueduct hosted its final day of thoroughbred racing before closing for good, marking the end of the last racetrack within New York City limits and a fixture of city life that had endured since the Gilded Age.Pictured above: A towering 60ft-by-80ft mural depicting Secretariat, painted by renowned Los Angeles street artist David Flores, has welcomed visitors to Aqueduct for years. Pictured below: Scenes from around Aqueduct on Sunday's closing day. All photographs by Lauren Caulk. Continue reading...

Former goalkeeper and US Soccer general manager is hosting the Spain team at his training camp in ChattanoogaAt the foot of Signal Mountain on a bend in the Tennessee river, over the little level crossing like a postcard of America, past the sheriff at the gate and through an avenue of pines, the perfect pitch awaits Lamine Yamal, Rodri and the rest. So does a man. He's 6ft 3in, 78 years old, his name is Bill Nuttall, and he's here every day.I've got nothing else to do," he says, laughing. He's done it all: he cleaned out Pele and got cleaned out by Gordon Banks, coached Gerd Muller and built a US national team from scratch, the hosts making history in 1994. He also brought Spain here, an even better host now than he was back then. Continue reading...

The Ecuador manager is a beautifully manicured buzz of energy with Bolivarian liberation in his heart. The tournament is all the better for himAn underrated pleasure for spectators at every World Cup is observing the managers. If club football, an increasingly regimented domain of set pieces and systems, is all about structure, international soccer is much more a matter of style - and at this tournament, the theatrics of the sport's touchline strutters have been rich with emotion and figurative power.Didier Deschamps patrols his technical area with the watchful pride of an outer-arrondissement charcutier. Luis de la Fuente is a veteran wealth manager at Banco Santander. Japan's Hajime Moriyasu is about to go postal at his dreary office job in a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film. Socceroos coach Tony Popovic looks like he's on his way to MC a wedding at Sydney's King Tomislav Croatian Club. And Carlo Ancelotti is ... well, he's just Carlo Ancelotti, a man with Champions League-winning eyebrows whose fierce allegiance to his three-piece suit, even through the worst of a North American summer, suggests he's somehow in command of his own climate. Continue reading...

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Carl Rinsch requested $11m for never-finished sci-fi series but diverted money to personal account, prosecutors saidHollywood writer-director Carl Rinsch was sentenced Monday to two-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11m for a never-finished sci-fi series. Supporters including Keanu Reeves had asked the court to show him leniency.Rinsch, best known for the 2013 samurai fantasy film 47 Ronin, was convicted in December of federal wire fraud and other charges. According to prosecutors and trial testimony, he told Netflix he needed $11m to finish a show called White Horse but diverted the money into a personal account and ultimately spent whopping sums on luxury cars, watches, clothes and household goods, including $638,000 on two mattresses. Continue reading...

The 2023 verdict found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer and then defaming her - key US politics stories from Monday 29 June at a glanceThe US supreme court on Monday declined Donald Trump's request to review a New York jury's 2023 verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll, and then defaming her.The justices did not provide an explanation or reasoning, and no public dissents were noted. The decision leaves intact the $5m civil judgment against Trump that was returned by the jury after the two-week trial in 2023. Continue reading...

Challenger Dan Sullivan had been booted from ballot, but supreme court ruled he can compete against senator of same nameA man with the same name and party affiliation as Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, is qualified to run for the seat and ordered election officials to place him on Alaska's primary ballot in August, the state supreme court ruled Monday.The ruling came hours after arguments on Monday and just days after state court Judge Thomas Matthews found the division of elections had abused its discretion" in booting the challenger Sullivan from the ballot. The supreme court, in a brief ruling, affirmed Matthews' decision but sent back to the division the issue of how the challenger should be listed on the ballot, within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law". Continue reading...

Sonderling is filling in as acting secretary after Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced she was leaving in AprilDonald Trump announced he is nominating Keith Sonderling to serve as US secretary of labor, a role he is currently filling as acting secretary after Lori Chavez-DeRemer's announced her departure in April.It is my Great Honor to announce that I am nominating Keith E. Sonderling, the outstanding Acting United States Secretary of Labor, to be permanent," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Keith previously served as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer and, during my First Term, worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division." Continue reading...

Settlement requires archbishop to write apology letter to each survivor and implement child protection reformsThe San Francisco Catholic archdiocese has agreed to pay $395m to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs' attorneys said Monday.Salvatore Cordileone, the San Francisco archbishop, will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement. Continue reading...

Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson killed working to contain raging fires on Utah-Colorado borderThe US Department of Interior on Monday released the names of three firefighters who were killed while working to contain wildfires along the Utah-Colorado border.Two other firefighters who were part of the specialized helicopter-deployed crew were also injured in the blaze, although authorities did not identify them. Continue reading...

Police found man, who died of a heart attack, next to his girlfriend by abandoned vehicle in wooded area of AlabamaA man recently died in Alabama from a heart attack while trying to discard his girlfriend's body after fatally strangling her, according to authorities.At the center of the unusually macabre case was Daniel Robbins, 44, and Jessica Folds, 47. Continue reading...

Arbitrator rules California State University system violated law when it dismissed Sang Hea Kil, who now plans to sueA tenured professor who was fired last year over her pro-Palestinian activism has won her job back and is suing her university over the termination.Last November, Sang Hea Kil, a justice studies professor at San Jose State University in California, became the first tenured faculty member to be dismissed from a US public university following nationwide campus protests over Israel's enduring war in Gaza. After several appeals, an arbitrator last week ruled that the California State University system had violated the law and ordered it to reinstate her. Kil had previously filed a lawsuit against CSU, which it accused of discriminatory and retaliatory attempts to silence her". Continue reading...

Court sides against Republicans after deciding earlier this term to let Louisiana effectively dismantle Voting Rights Act

A natural disaster provides unforgiving clarity in a country already reeling from years of crisis and the unlawful US seizure of Nicolas MaduroThe devastation wrought by an earthquake is shaped by what happened before and after it as much as by the shock itself. The twin tremors that hit Venezuela moments apart last Wednesday were its biggest since 1900, at 7.2 and 7.5, and were shallow temblors, which often cause more destruction than deeper ones of similar magnitude. Aftershocks continued on Monday. At least 1,450 people have died, with tens of thousands reported missing and more than 3,000 injured. The UN estimates that there has been $6.7bn of damage - equivalent to 6% of the country's GDP -including key infrastructure; 38 hospitals are said to need repairs. Unicef says that 1.8 million people need aid.The toll of such disasters reflects the condition of the nation before they struck, and the state's capacity to respond. While remarkable rescues in the last few days have brought joy even after the 72-hour window judgedcrucial to saving lives had closed, the picture isnot kind to Venezuela's leaders. Continue reading...

Party's old guard abandons blue no matter what' banner to push for a more formal break with progressive wingAfter a string of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) primary victories, the loudest response from much of the Democratic establishment's old guard was not reconciliation, but escalation.Over the last few days, prominent party figures have moved away from unifying under a blue no matter who" banner to push for a more formal break with their left flank, and said the moment may have arrived for Democrats to confront their more socialist wing. Continue reading...

Jury found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually abusing former magazine columnist and defaming her

Law enforcement's use of warrants sweeping smartphone location data requires privacy protections, court rules

Move comes amid growing outbreak in Texas and after two-month halt on mandatory shotsThe US military is racing to vaccinate new recruits after a two-month halt on mandatory flu shots - but it's a temporary reprieve, as the shots will soon expire and new doses will not be available for months.Officials will need to lean on other prevention measures to contain the growing flu outbreak at Lackland air force base in San Antonio, Texas, experts say. Continue reading...

Case focused on White House's March 2025 firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter

Justices find president does not have constitutional authority to fire Federal Reserve governor without cause

Mary Evelyn Nicole Manning-Kellione's death was among at least five reported amid floods in Tennessee and KentuckyA 39-year-old woman died in Tennessee while trying to save her son from high flood waters on Sunday morning, according to officials.The death of Mary Evelyn Nicole Manning-Kellione was among at least five reported during flooding in recent days in a region encompassing Tennessee and Kentucky. Continue reading...

Organizers of the four-day Electric Forest festival are appealing for attendees to come forward with informationA newborn baby was found dead in a portable bathroom at a Michigan dance music festival on Sunday, and organizers are now appealing for festivalgoers to come forward with information.It causes us so much pain to have to share this difficult news with you," Electric Forest festival organizers wrote online on Sunday night. Saying the organizers were heartbroken", the statement added: Michigan state police continues to investigate this tragic event, if you can assist in any way." Continue reading...

San Jose police say Sunday incident in area that has been hosting watch parties is being investigated as a homicide'One person was killed and another seriously injured on Sunday night in a shooting at a popular entertainment spot in San Jose, California, that has been hosting a World Cup fan zone" as well as screening matches, police said.There were no World Cup games being screened at the time of the shooting, with the only match of the day in the tournament finishing at about 2pm local time. Continue reading...

Modern AI systems are, in effect, a universal adviser to help people do harmful things. We'll need to harness AI for defense, tooEarlier this week, national security agencies from the Five Eyes - that's the rich, English-language-speaking countries club - jointly released a statement warning of the increasing cyber risks of AI models: in particular, their ability to autonomously hack into systems and networks. The statement was more measured than some of the breathless headlines about it, and the advice they gave is pretty much the standard advice everyone gives - albeit with newfound urgency.Internet risks are nothing new, and cyber-attacks - both large and small - have been a significant issue since long before the current crop of generative AI models.Bruce Schneier is a security technologist who teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University and University of Toronto's Munk School Continue reading...

US commerce department accuses state of environmental terrorism' and plans to evaluate its coastal agencyThe Trump administration plans to evaluate the performance of the California Coastal Commission, in the latest escalation of a dispute between the state's Democratic leaders and the federal government over energy production.Per federal law, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) is required to conduct reviews of federally approved coastal management programs, which take into consideration the extent to which the State of California has implemented and enforced the program approved by the [commerce] Secretary". Continue reading...

New York City mayor says Democratic candidates he endorsed speak to people struggling to make ends meet. Plus the best pictures from weekend Pride events across the US

Plan to limit scrutiny of polluters and shift financial risks to taxpayers is attack on democracy, advocates sayThe Trump administration is attempting to shrink public comment periods for fossil fuel leasing on federal land while shifting the financial risks of cleanup to taxpayers and allowing for more planet-warming emissions. It's part of a broader effort to dismantle public input processes and save polluting companies money, advocates say.By ignoring public comment [requirements] while propping up companies," said Alexa Dietrich, research director at the science advocacy organization Union of Concerned Scientists, they're really attacking democracy in a very clear way." Continue reading...

Muslims say anti-Islamic rhetoric making everyday life difficult - and threats and harassment not uncommonFollowing a brutal Republican primary runoff in which Islamophobia took center stage, anti-Muslim hatred continues spilling into public life in Texas.Texans say that the hate speech shared by elected officials is increasingly echoed by people in their everyday interactions, including discussions about education or interactions at a store, in a park, at university and at elementary school. In one case, students at the University of Houston were praying when a man approached them and burned a Qur'an. In other cases, people have been verbally attacked for wearing traditional garments. Continue reading...

Research shows that reducing sentences for women could save tax dollars with virtually no increase in violent crimeTwo new reports raise questions about the economic tradeoffs of incarcerating women - a prison population that has grown more than 600% in the United States since 1980.Imprisoning women costs as much as 75% more than incarcerating men, but some of those costs could be offset by halving the amount of time women spend in prison with minimal impacts to public safety, according to new reports from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan thinktank. Continue reading...

Trump, laying siege to freedoms and truth itself, is twisting America's milestone birthday into a joyless occasion

Research suggests 41,800 premature US deaths in 2024 were attributable to road pollutionRoughly five Americans die every hour due to exposure to toxic road vehicle pollution, a new study has found.It's the latest warning showing fossil-fueled transit is a major driver of mortality. Continue reading...

The court's TPS decision is devastating for those whose countries of origin are deemed unsafe. Congress must actOn Thursday, the US supreme court authorized the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), facilitating the largest single assault on immigrants in contemporary United States history.While the case concerned the 350,000 Haitian and 6,000 Syrian holders of this status, the decision could expose more than 1.3 million people to potential deportation to countries that the United States has recognized as unsafe.Heba Gowayed is an associate professor of sociology at Cuny Hunter College and Cuny Graduate Center and author of the book Refuge: How the State Shapes Human Potential Continue reading...

Ulric Ulroan charged on 47 criminal counts amid allegations he sexually assaulted teenage girls from 2009-2025The former mayor of a city in Alaska - who has also coached high school girls basketball and won a parent of the year award - has been criminally charged on allegations that he sexually assaulted several teenage girls over a yearslong period, according to authorities in that state.Ulric Ulroan, 48, first drew scrutiny from Alaska's bureau of investigation in January, when the agency received a tip that he had purportedly inflicted sexual abuse on a 17-year-old girl in the village of Chevak between 2009 and 2010. The tip prompted an investigation which brought forth more reports of Ulroan having sexually assaulted and/or abused various teenage girls" between 2009 and 2025 in Chevak as well as the Alaska communities of Anchorage, Mountain Village and Nome, officials said in a news release published on Friday. Continue reading...

Punchlines on president's thwarted bid to have building named after him come thick and fast at Washington DC galaOutside the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a giant tarpaulin remained in place to conceal Donald Trump's humiliation.Guests entering the national arts complex on Sunday night could not see the section of its marble facade where Trump's name was recently erased to comply with a court order. Continue reading...

Dunhill maker to cut about a fifth of workforce, aiming to reduce costs and become more technology enabled'

The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion who evolved away' from tennis shares why she's backFor two long weeks, since her return to the courts of a professional tennis tournament at the Queen's Club, a clock was ticking in Serena Williams's mind. She had already committed to making her comeback in doubles at 44 after four years away from the sport, butdoubles only requires a player to cover half a court with the helpofa partner. The real question was whether she would dare to putherself on the line again in singles against the best tennis players in the world.Williams's decision to supercharge her comeback by taking a singles wildcard into Wimbledon, it turned out, was exactly as last minute as it appeared. She was only announced as the final wildcard for the women's singles draw on Sunday 21June, one day before the qualifying draw was made: Ihad until Monday to decide. I think it was like Sunday. I just wasn't sure up until then. Honestly, I'm still not even sure, but we'll see," Williams says, smiling, in her pretournament press conference. Continue reading...

Former president calls Trump a loser' and criticizes his attempted makeover of Washington. Key US politics stories from Sunday 28 June at a glance