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Paralegal dismissed by US attorney general for inappropriate conduct' towards troops deployed on the streets of WashingtonThe US attorney general, Pam Bondi, has fired a justice department official for making a vulgar gesture to members of the National Guard deployed in Washington DC on her way to work.The employee, Elizabeth Baxter, was a paralegal at the department's environmental defense section, according to a memo to her published by the New York Post, which first reported Friday's dismissal. Continue reading...

The ground stop is expected to stay in effect until 0330 GMT and has a medium probability of an extensionAll SkyWest Airlines flights were grounded for 21 minutes on Friday night at the request of the airline, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.A ground stop advisory was issued at 0149 GMT and canceled at 0210 GMT, according to the FAA. Continue reading...

Decorated navy pilot who served in House of Representatives pleaded guilty to accepting illegal giftsRandy Duke" Cunningham, whose feats as a US navy flying ace during the Vietnam war catapulted him to a House of Representatives career that ended in disgrace when he was convicted of accepting $2.4m in bribes, has died. He was 83.Cunningham died Wednesday at a hospital in a Little Rock, Arkansas, according to former representative Duncan L Hunter, who spent time with him a week before his death. Continue reading...

Ruling is biggest blow yet to Trump's tariffs; critics slam move against vice-president as act of revenge'. Key US politics stories from Friday 29 August at a glanceA US federal appeals court has ruled that most of president Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, describing the levies as unbounded in scope, amount and duration".The ruling, which will take effect on 14 October, is the biggest blow yet to Trump's tariff policy and will likely mean the supreme court will have to rule on whether Trump has the legal right as president to upend US trade policy. Continue reading...

Appellate panel upholds lower court's ruling as homeland security spokesperson attacks activist' judgesA federal appeals court on Friday blocked Donald Trump's plans to end protections for 600,000 people from Venezuela who have permission to live and work in the US, saying that plaintiffs are likely to win their claim that the president's administration's actions were unlawful.A three-judge panel of the ninth US circuit court of appeals unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that maintained temporary protected status for Venezuelans while TPS holders challenge actions by the Republican president's administration in court. Continue reading...

Trump found to have overstepped authority with tariff policies as president accuses court of political biasDonald Trump overstepped his presidential powers with most of his globe-rattling tariff policies, a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled on Friday.US law bestows significant authority on the president to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax", the court said in the 7-4 ruling. Continue reading...

State follows Texas's lead in Trump's push to gain more House seats for Republicans in 2026 midtermsThe Missouri governor, Mike Kehoe, has moved to help the Republican party gain an additional seat in Congress, calling a special legislative session to redraw congressional districts in his state.Kehoe's announcement on Friday followed a pressure campaign from Donald Trump, who has urged Republican states to reshape district boundaries to more heavily favor Republicans, boosting the party's chances of maintaining control of the House of Representatives in 2026. Continue reading...

Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last 16, Emma Raducanu was outclassed by Elena Rybakina, Ben Shelton retired injured, and Jasmine Paolini and Frances Tiafoe also departedThis game follows the first-set script as Rybakina moves to 40-30, set point. But then she throws in a double! A glimmer, perhaps, for Raducanu. But Raducanu can't make the most of the reprieve. She bashes a backhand return into the net on the second set point and it's been a near-rout for Rybakina, who leads 6-1.Raducanu gets on the board as a forehand winner seals a hold to 15. That'll have felt good. But Rybakina, undeterred, swiftly holds to 15 herself amid a flurry of errant forehands from Raducanu. Rybakina has this way of looking so calm, composed and effortless, while also being so powerful and destructive. And that's exactly how she gets herself a double break. It's 5-1. After just 22 minutes, the ninth seed will serve for the opening set. Continue reading...

As leaders at Centers for Disease Control quit after director's firing, Kennedy stokes controversy with pet theoriesIn a week of chaos at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has continued to make questionable medical and health claims - and has been slammed for them by experts and lawmakers alike.In recent days, Kennedy has been facing increasing calls for his resignation following the Trump administration's firing of the CDC director, Susan Monarez, which in turn prompted four other top officials to quit the agency. The chaos across US health agencies also comes as Kennedy released a slew of controversial and contradictory rules surrounding Covid-19 vaccines. Continue reading...

Reports of incident were denied by Florida and Ice officials as detainees say they were beaten and teargas was firedGuards at Florida's Alligator Alcatraz" immigration jail deployed teargas and engaged in a mass beating of detainees to quell a mini-uprising, it was reported on Friday.The allegations, made by at least three detainees in phone calls to Miami's Spanish language news channel Noticias 23, come as authorities race to empty the camp in compliance with a judge's order to close the remote tented camp in the Everglades wetlands. Continue reading...

Trump's dictator-like behaviour is so brazen, so blatant, that paradoxically, we discount it. But now it's time to call it what it isIf this were happening somewhere else - in Latin America, say - how might it be reported? Having secured his grip on the capital, the president is now set to send troops to several rebel-held cities, claiming he is wanted there to restore order. The move follows raids on the homes of leading dissidents and comes as armed men seen as loyal to the president, many of them masked, continue to pluck people off the streets ...Except this is happening in the United States of America and so we don't quite talk about it that way. That's not the only reason. It's also because Donald Trump's march towards authoritarianism is so steady, taking another step or two every day, that it's easy to become inured to it: you can't be in a state of shock permanently. And, besides, sober-minded people are wary of sounding hyperbolic or hysterical: their instinct is to play down rather than scream at the top of their voice.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

By systematically devaluing the liberal arts, we are leaving students unprepared for the demands of democratic lifeNo part of the Trump 2.0 agenda has been more revealing to the ideological intentions of the administration than the sustained efforts that insist upon a pro-American" version of history. It is an effort that has taken many forms, including a recent letter sent by the White House to the Smithsonian announcing that there will be a review of the national museums' semiquincentennial plans to insure alignment with the president's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions". It is only the latest move in a broader campaign to commandeer the nation's historical memory, a campaign mirrored in statehouses and school boards across the country, where history curricula have become a central front in the culture wars.Unfortunately, the battle over the past - how we should understand it and, more importantly, how we should teach it - is a conflict for which most Americans today are woefully unprepared. That is because for more than two generations, the US educational system has systematically devalued the liberal arts in favor of vocationally oriented Stem education. By doing so, we have failed to accomplish the primary goal of education in a democracy: creating citizens capable of the difficult work of self-government. Of course vocational training and Stem education are vital to individual livelihoods and national prosperity. But when they become the sole focus of education, at the expense of the liberal arts, they leave citizens unprepared for the demands of democratic life.Katherine Kelaidis is a research associate at the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, England Continue reading...

Luis Manuel Rivas Velasquez desperate' to be deported due to living hell' but lawyers and family unable to connectA man whose loved ones thought he had died at Florida's Alligator Alcatraz after alleged delays in appropriate medical care turned out to be alive and was then secretly moved to the immigration detention camp at Fort Bliss, Texas - and has since been moved again.Luis Manuel Rivas Velasquez is awaiting deportation in what his lawyers said he described as a living hell". Continue reading...

White House says proposed change necessary to monitor' visa holders amid president's immigration crackdownThe Trump administration aims to tighten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media, according to a proposed government regulation issued on Wednesday, part of a broader crackdown on legal immigration.Donald Trump, a Republican, kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January. The latest move would create new hurdles for international students, exchange workers and foreign journalists who would have to apply to extend their stay in the US rather than maintain a more flexible legal status. Continue reading...

Susan Monarez was reportedly fired by Robert F Kennedy Jr but her lawyers say only Trump himself can remove herThe Trump administration is facing rare bipartisan pushback for firing the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), amid turmoil at the US' top infectious disease agency that prompted dozens of staff to walk out of its headquarters in protest on Thursday.The White House has said Susan Monarez, who was confirmed as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just a month ago, was fired as she was not aligned with the president's agenda" - only for Monarez to refuse to depart. The official's lawyers have said that, as a Senate-confirmed appointee, only Donald Trump himself can remove her. Continue reading...

Mississippi museum announces display on anniversary of boy's murder, a pivotal moment in civil rights movementThe gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing.The Mississippi department of archives and history unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference on Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till's murder. Continue reading...

This humanitarian catastrophe is barely of passing interest to Donald Trump. The curse of our times is how little we can do about itDay 222 of Donald Trump's presidency, and Russia's war in Ukraine - which he promised to end on day one - shows no sign of having got the memo. This was not a single-use Trump promise; he made it at least 53 times. Yet the US president has failed to keep it, either literally or in his favourite manner: figuratively. Can you figuratively end a war? Not even, apparently.What his most recent round of failure means, however, is that Trump is pivoting back to another war, the grotesquely horrifying and unlawful humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. Not the way he'd phrase it, possibly. This week he swerved commenting on either Israel's invasion of Gaza City or the mounting declarations that famine and starvation are clearly under way in the territory, and instead announced: I think within the next two, three weeks, you're going to have a pretty good, conclusive ending." Righto. Trump's recipe for an ending to the horror has hitherto seemed to resemble the famous business plan of the South Park gnomes. Phase 1: Collect Underpants. Phase 2: ?. Phase 3: Profit.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

A longstanding exemption that let people skip import fees on packages valued at less than $800 ended on FridayA longstanding tariff exemption that let people skip import fees for small-value packages ended on Friday, leaving small businesses and postal services around the world scrambling to apply Donald Trump's tariffs to millions of shipments.Experts say the change could mean up to $13bn in extra costs and delayed shipping for consumers as businesses adjust to the change. Here's what we know about the end of the exemption. Continue reading...

Rallies from Alaska to Hawaii will highlight cuts to wages, unions and social safety nets under Trump policiesNearly 1,000 worker over billionaire" protests are being planned in all 50 states starting this weekend as part of a Labor Day week of action organized by labor unions and advocacy groups in opposition to the Trump administration's policies.The actions include marches and rallies in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, a Labor Day parade in New York City, rallies in Palmer, Alaska, Freeport, Maine, and a planned protest at the state capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continue reading...

Some restaurants in the US capital have closed their doors as workers stay home rather than risk deportationHernan was at the Latin American restaurant that he owns with his brother in north-west Washington DC last week when his staff started getting phone calls and messages about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) checkpoints in the neighborhood. The employees, scared that they might be targeted and racially profiled, asked if they could go home.Within hours, Hernan had to close their doors, and the restaurant hasn't been open since. Continue reading...

Governor JB Pritzker's promotion of phone line comes as other US states have faced rollbacks of LGBTQ+ initiativesIllinois has launched a first-of-its-kind legal hotline that provides resources for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when they face increased hostility across the US.Legal services in the US can be costly and inaccessible, and the creation of the phone line is aimed at helping LGBTQ+ people access them despite other federal cuts that may affect them. Continue reading...

Ex-investment manager chosen as agency's interim director after firing of Susan Monarez. Plus, how marijuana became the US Open's new distraction Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.The White House has chosen a deputy of Robert F Kennedy Jr to serve as the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a decision that comes as lawyers for the fired director, Susan Monarez, claim she will not depart unless Donald Trump himself removes her.What's O'Neill's background? Unlike Monarez, O'Neill does not have a medical or scientific background. He is a former investment executive, served as a speechwriter for the health department during the George W Bush administration, and went on to work for the tech investor and conservative mega-donor Peter Thiel.What did Murray say? The Trump administration's immigration policy was fundamentally sick", Murray said. Trump has wrongfully detained everyone from lawful green-card holders to American citizens - no one should assume this was necessary or appropriate." Continue reading...

The new season is just around the corner. Which of the league's talents will rewrite the record books in the coming months?The league has a new Legatron. Jacksonville kicker Cam Little has a chance to crush the record for the longest successful field goal. He drilled a 70-yarder against the Falcons during preseason and comfortably clears 72 yards during warmups. Continue reading...

Game, Set, Matchmaker aims to woo a pop-culture audience. But with tennis sidelined in favor of awkward small talk, it risks alienating its core supportersOn the first day of this year's US Open, Alexandra Eala came back from 5-1 down in the third set to upset Clara Tauson in front of a rapturous crowd, Novak Djokovic rope-a-doped a fresher opponent barely half his age, Rebeka Masarova hit an overhead smash into the only racket-sized area inside the lines that would ensure she lost the point, and Daniil Medvedev all but incited a riot in the stands of Louis Armstrong Stadium while down match point.Amidst the overstimulating slate of matches, the US Open quietly published the first episode of the dating video series Game, Set, Matchmaker on their official YouTube channel. In it, host Ilana Sedaka, a figure skater and influencer, had a blind date with Ronnie, a lacrosse coach. They exchanged bright smiles and music tastes. They bonded over their love of Drake - what were the odds? Though the date took place on US Open grounds with players practicing in the background, very little of the conversation concerned tennis. It is Ronnie's first time at the US Open: This place is insane," he said. Slap it on a poster. Continue reading...

Deputy health secretary Jim O'Neill will become interim CDC director as staffers rally for officials who quit. This blog is now closed.Border czar Tom Homan said that there will be a ramp up" of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) operations in Chicago, and other Democratic-led cities, after Labor Day.He added:You're going to see a ramp up of operations continue in New York, operations continuing in LA...Portland, Seattle, all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE, where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country. Continue reading...

Deputy health secretary chosen as agency's interim director after firing of Susan Monarez

Ally of health secretary worked as speechwriter in George W Bush administration and has no training in medicineThe White House has chosen a top aide to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to temporarily lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - an appointment that is expected to bolster Kennedy's goals of remaking federal vaccine policy.Jim O'Neill, a biotech investor and speechwriter for the health department during the George W Bush administration, was tapped as acting director of the agency that oversees vaccine recommendations, a White House official confirmed to the Guardian. Continue reading...

A deputy of Robert F Kennedy Jr will reportedly replace Susan Monarez as acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Key US politics stories from Thursday 28 August at a glanceCDC director Susan Monarez was fired after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and that she believed contradicted scientific evidence, according to a former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Richard Besser said Monarez told him there were two things she would never do in the job. One was anything that was deemed illegal, and the second was anything that she felt flew in the face of science - and she said she was asked to do both of those". Continue reading...

Staffers gather in Atlanta to applaud senior leaders who resigned after CDC chief Susan Monarez was fired

Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner move into round three, likewise Naomi Osaka, Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey RublevGoffin has broken back against Musetti and they're now 4-4 in set one. On Grandstand, Rublev is giving Boyer all he can handle, forcing break points that he can't quite convert. Oh, and Swiatek survives break point to lead Lamens 3-0, I don't imagine this match will detain us all that long.Also a set up are Sakkari, 6-3 against Bondar; Alexandrova, 6-2 1-1 against Wang; and Kalinskaya, 6-1 1-1 against Putitnseva. Meanwhile, Swiatek breaks Lamens for 2-0, already looking monstrous; it'll take something significant to beat her here, but both Gauff, her potential semi-final opponent, and Sabalenka, the defending champ and no 1 seed, are capable of that. Continue reading...

British No 1 faces big-serving Elena Rybakina in US Open third round while Cameron Norrie takes on Novak DjokovicAt the start of a new season in January 2022, Emma Raducanu began her second full year on the WTA tour swimming in doubt. Not only was she trying to take steps forward after a life-changing summer, her off-season had been ravaged by contracting Covid-19, which forced her off the court for weeks in December. In her first match of the season, she found herself up against Elena Rybakina in Sydney. She left the court with just one game to her name, losing 6-0, 6-1.That first encounter between Raducanu and Rybakina was a good representation of the difficulties Raducanu has had to navigate over the past few years: the pressure from her sudden rise, her underpowered game against the best players in the world and the fact that there was always another physical issue around the corner. Continue reading...

The Kremlin sent a clear message with its lethal overnight raid on the Ukrainian capital. Will the US heed it?Wednesday night brought a grim return to Russia's form: one of the heaviest air raids on Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began. Moscow eased off its strikes on major cities in the run-up to the Alaska summit, and it held off its attack on the Ukrainian capital until Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy, had finished his visit there. But within hours of his departure, at least 18 people, including several children, were dead in an attack on a residential block, and the European Union mission had been severely damaged.Donald Trump periodically suggests that he is drawing a line for Vladimir Putin. Yet each time he appears toset a limit, the Russian president breezes through it. The Kyiv attack shows that it is MrPutin who is testing the US president. Mr Trump threatened severeconsequences" if Moscow did not immediately agree to a ceasefire - but in Anchorage was quickly persuaded by Mr Putin that there was no need for one prior to a peace deal. Continue reading...

Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, 18, was initially held at a facility near LA and later transferred to an Arizona holding siteThe family of 18-year-old Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz was shocked when they found out that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had discreetly moved him out of California, according to California congresswoman Luz Rivas, who spoke with his relatives and reviewed federal detention records.Guerrero-Cruz, who was first detained in Van Nuys neighborhood while walking his dog, was transferred late Monday from the Adelanto detention facility in San Bernardino county to a remote holding site in Arizona without any notification given to his family. Continue reading...

The killing of Curtis Windom, 59, by lethal injection will be a record 11th execution in the state this yearA man convicted of killing his girlfriend, her mother and a man he claimed owed him $2,000 is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Thursday in what would be a record 11th execution in the state of Florida this year.Curtis Windom, 59, would become the 30th person executed this year in the US, with Florida leading the way behind a flurry of death warrants signed by the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. A 12th man, David Joseph Pittman, 63, is scheduled to be put to death in Florida on 17 September. Continue reading...

The restaurant chain reverted back to its old logo after Trump joined the backlash against its rebrand. Experts say it was an easy targetOn Tuesday, the United States commander-in-chief weighed in on one of the most pressing issues facing our nation: the rebranding of a restaurant chain.Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic - rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table" - announced it was updating its logo. Continue reading...

A fresh US assault is aimed at Europe's right to regulate tech. It's an outrage - and we must resist it

This year, I've lost my father, my job and what feels like my country. But my mother and I are finding genuine connectionSince my father's funeral six months ago, I still call my mother almost every day. We live worlds apart, geographically and ideologically, but despite me being in Europe and she in the US, and despite our religious and political differences, we still manage to keep talking. After all, she's my mom.This year has not been easy, having lost my job, my father and what continues to feel like my country. I worked for USAID and believed in America's capacity to help solve global problems while helping others in need, but the current administration ended such work, calling it wasteful. Two days after that, my father passed away, and as our family gathered to mourn, we received news that my mother's cancer had returned and spread to her bones. Such news was devastating, but doctors offered hope. Though there was no cure, there was a pill available to stem the spread, sometimes even for many years. Continue reading...

Susan Monarez's ousting and four top resignations follow vaccine confusion, leaving US health agencies in turmoilIt's been a tumultuous week for US health agencies, with the departure of several top officials, uncertainty around new Covid vaccine restrictions, and even more experts calling for the removal of top health official Robert F Kennedy Jr.The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, was fired by the Trump White House after some controversy, and four other top officials also resigned. Continue reading...