US news | The Guardian

The college basketball season tips off on Monday across the United States. Will the UConn men do a rare three-peat? Can anyone replace Caitlin Clark? Our writers weigh inThe dissolution of the Pac-12 means some new and unusual conference battles that look like midseason Sweet 16 matchups. UCLA v Indiana in Bloomington? Arizona v Kansas in Lawrence? Regular-season basketball in the Big Ten and Big 12 will either produce battle-tested teams for the NCAA tournament ... or exhausted ones. Gabriel Baumgaertner Continue reading...

City Of Troy did not take to the track when trailing home eighth behind Sierra Leone in the Breeders' Cup ClassicThe most predictable line in the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday was the one where Aidan O'Brien blamed himself for City Of Troy's failure to run to form - or, let's face it, to run any kind of race at all - in the meeting's showpiece event.He lost it at the start and obviously I didn't have him prepared to come out quick enough," O'Brien said. We thought we did, but we didn't. He missed it and left Ryan [Moore] with no chance, really." Continue reading...

Unlike 2020, experts say there's a much more organized effort to subvert the vote this time - here's what to knowDonald Trump has left little doubt that he will contest the results of the 2024 election if he loses.Election lawyers and voting rights experts are bracing for an aggressive effort by the former president in the days after the election to challenge the results while votes are still being counted. But unlike 2020, when Trump's effort after the election seemed a bit haphazard, experts say they're seeing a much more organized effort that stretches from the courts to local groups organizing election deniers to work the polls.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

The composer, arranger and producer who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson has died aged 91. We look back at his career highs Continue reading...

The Detroit Lions look like a complete team this season. And their quarterback has risen to become one of the best at his professionThe Detroit Lions are the best team in the NFL. They walked into a stormy Lambeau Field on Sunday and did what legitimate contenders do: handled their business against a talented yet inconsistent opponent, winning 24-14 on the road against the Packers.There is plenty of credit to go around. Dan Campbell's culture. The aggressive fourth-down calls. A pass rush that is still sizzling despite losing Aidan Hutchinson for the season. The team's versatile secondary. The Sonic and Knuckles" running back duo. Ben Johnson's creative play-calling. The best offensive line in the NFL. But it's time to recognize the person who makes it all tick: Jared Goff. Continue reading...

Republican effort comes despite criticism that the efforts could threaten the voting rights of recently naturalized US citizens in the electionA federal judge ruled Sunday that Iowa can continue to challenge the validity of hundreds of ballots from potential noncitizens despite criticism that the efforts could threaten the voting rights of recently naturalized US citizens.In the ruling, US district judge Stephen Locher sided with the state in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of an Iowa Latino group and four recent citizens who had been placed on a list of questionable registrations by local elections officials. Continue reading...

Kamala Harris holds marginal leads over Donald Trump in swing state polls with less than 48 hours before polls close in the 5 November election

Speaking in Macon city, the former president said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1790 if he won electionDonald Trump's final Georgia rally filled the Atrium Health amphitheater in the city of Macon on Sunday, with early voting tallies showing that supporters from the state's middle could prove to be decisive in the waning days of the election.Trump was an hour and a half late to the event and wore a black-and-gold Make America Great Again" cap. Sticking to familiar themes, the former president said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1790, the law under which Japanese, Italian and German Americans were interned during the second world war, and would pursue the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who kill an American. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can find all our US election coverage hereWe have already covered the presidential nominees' schedules but what are their running mates up to?Tim Walz will be in North Carolina this evening. The Queen City News says details are limited but according to a press release, Walz will hold an event in Gastonia to encourage voters to cast their ballots. Earlier in the day, former president Bill Clinton will hold a campaign rally at a church in Charlotte at 10am, it says. Continue reading...

VP tries to appeal to state's Arab and Muslim Americans as polling suggests they are gravitating towards Jill SteinKamala Harris pledged to do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza" in her final rally in Michigan on Sunday, as she attempted to appeal to the state's large Arab American and Muslim American population two days out from the election.Michigan is home to about 240,000 registered Muslim voters, a majority of whom voted for Biden in 2020, helping him to a narrow victory over Donald Trump. But Arab Americans and Muslim Americans in the state have expressed dissatisfaction over the vice-president's stance on Israel's war on Gaza, and polling suggests that these voters are gravitating towards Jill Stein, the Green party candidate.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Kamala Harris told voters that their vote will count 'and it does matter'. The Democratic nominee said she trusts the US election system and the 'systems that are in place for this election in 2024 have integrity'. 'They are good systems. And the vote of the people will determine the outcome of this election. And everyone must know that their vote is their power to determine the outcome of the election and their vote will count. It does matter,' Harris said

Supporters in Kinston back ex-president as he claims he's well ahead in polls and repeats conspiracy of election fraudAs Republicans, we are locked and loaded and ready to go."The startling comment came from a mother of five and grandmother of two, Vikki Westbrook, as she lined up on Sunday outside an aircraft hangar in rural North Carolina. She had come to hear Donald Trump make one of his last pitches of the 2024 presidential election.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

VP dodges question on whether she voted for measure that would increase sentences for drug and theft crimes in stateKamala Harris dodged a question on Sunday if she voted for California's Proposition 36, a controversial ballot measure that increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes.I am not gonna talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it's the Sunday before the election and I don't intend to create an endorsement one way or the other," the US vice-president and Democratic presidential nominee, who votes in California, told reporters at a rally in Detroit. Continue reading...

Former president also denounces polls showing him trailing Harris at one of his final rallies of campaign in PennyslvaniaDonald Trump said with two days until the presidential election that he should never have left the White House after his defeat in 2020 and joked darkly he would be fine with reporters getting shot, dredging up grievances that overshadowed his attack lines against Kamala Harris.The closing themes of the former president's campaign at a rally in Lititz in the battleground state of Pennsylvania brought him full circle with his 2016 campaign that went after the news media and his 2020 campaign that was defined by his attempts to overturn the result. Continue reading...

Selzer poll, widely respected organization with good record in Iowa, shows vice-president leading Trump 47% to 44%Donald Trump has passionately disputed a shock Iowa poll that found Kamala Harris leading the former president in the typically red state 47% to 44%.No President has done more for FARMERS, and the Great State of Iowa, than Donald J. Trump," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday morning. In fact, it's not even close! All polls, except for one heavily skewed toward the Democrats by a Trump hater who called it totally wrong the last time, have me up, BY A LOT."Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

But a spokesperson says the FCC has not made any determination regarding political programming rules'A US government communications regulator has claimed that Vice-President Kamala Harris's surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live violates equal time" rules that govern political programming.Brendan Carr, a commissioner with the federal communications commission (FCC), claimed on the social platform X that Harris's appearance on the show is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule". Continue reading...

Officials uncovered alarming amount of fentanyl-laced pills' during routine traffic stop in state's central valleyA routine traffic stop in California's central valley turned into a major fentanyl bust when authorities seized enough lethal doses to kill a quarter of California's population, according to California highway patrol (CHP).In a statement released on Friday, CHP officers in Stockton, about 50 miles south of the capitol city of Sacramento, said that last month, while conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 5 highway near Airport Boulevard, officers uncovered an alarming amount of fentanyl-laced pills" after a K9 signaled the scent of narcotics. Continue reading...

Women's access to abortion is a top issue, as activists rush to convince men they also have stake in the fightWhen Maxwell Frost bounded on stage at a Saturday morning rally in support of Florida abortion rights, the 27-year-old congressman was quick to explain why he had shown up.I'm so proud to be here as an ally and partner in this fight!" he yelled to the roughly hundred-strong crowd who had gathered in an Orlando church courtyard, clutching handwritten sings with messages like abortion bans are killing us" and womb-tang clan ain't nothing to fuck with". Continue reading...

Kennedy, who Trump promised to let lead health programs, makes claims against fluoride, which strengthens teethRobert F Kennedy Jr, a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that the former president would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected.Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear-and-tear, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

The ex-president and vice-president converge on a unifying message: if I lose, the country will not be the sameIn a speech filled with promises, falsehoods, insults and jokes delivered by Donald Trump to a packed Wisconsin arena six days before the presidential election, one line stood out: November 5 will be the most important day in the history of our country."Hyperbole? Undoubtedly, and exactly the sort that the former president has used repeatedly in the past months, as he plots a return to the White House that Joe Biden ousted him from four years ago. Did it ring true to his supporters? For many, the answer was yes. Continue reading...

University of California, Berkeley, research shows people are committed to protecting democratic institutions despite differencesYou know that uncle whose political takes threaten to turn family gatherings into food fights? Don't decline his Thanksgiving invitation just yet. When it comes to support for democracy, left and right in America are much closer than you might think.As a historic US election approaches, both sides see each other as working to upend democracy. But it's our assumptions about our political opponents - rather than their actual views - that drive polarization, according to new research. And if Democrats want to prove to voters on the fence that they're acting in good faith, they might want to consider a surprising grand gesture". Continue reading...

Ashes of 28-year-old female grizzly bear returned to Grand Teton national park where she spent much of her lifeThe remains of a beloved grizzly bear who died last month after being hit by a car in Wyoming have been returned to Grand Teton national park.In a statement released on Friday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it returned the ashes of Grizzly No 399, a 28-year old female grizzly bear, to the Pilgrim Creek area of the national park where she spent much of her life. Continue reading...

More than 80,000 customers were without power as damage included downed power lines, gas lines and treesSevere storms and reported tornadoes swept across Oklahoma early on Sunday, injuring at least six people, and causing injuries and widespread power outages.Those injured were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the Oklahoma city police department captain Valerie Littlejohn said.

Both Harris and Trump ignore harm reduction strategies, trying to outdo each other on border policy and law enforcementOverdoses killed 108,000 people in the US last year, more than Covid-19 or diabetes, yet overdose prevention has barely gotten mention this election cycle.On the relatively rare occasions when presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris discuss opioids, they draw from war on drugs" rhetoric - suggesting that tougher border and law enforcement policies are the answer to the problem. Continue reading...

Find out who's up and who's down in the latest US presidential election opinion pollsOn 5 November 2024, millions of Americans will head to the polls to choose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump for president of the United States. The two candidates have offered starkly different visions for the future of the nation. As the election enters the final stretch, the Guardian US is averaging national and state polls to see how the two candidates are faring. Continue reading...

From abortion to the economy, the Democrat and Republican have widely diverging visions for the countryKamala Harris and Donald Trump offer two starkly different visions for the country with much at stake - from pocketbook economic issues and reproductive rights to the strength of the country's global alliances and existential questions about the future of American democracy and the planet.As they compete for the White House, both candidates have laid out their plans in speeches, campaign ads and media interviews. Most of it amounts to a wish list, sketched out in broad strokes and lacking concrete details about how they would be implemented or paid for. A number of Trump's proposals raise legal questions, while some of Harris's would probably require Democratic control of Congress. Continue reading...

It is debatable what effect celebrity endorsements - in this case, highly contrasting groups of A-listers - have on votersIt is debatable what effect celebrity endorsements have on voters, but candidates always welcome them. Here are the highly contrasting groups of A-listers who have endorsed Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: Continue reading...

From abortion to the economy, the Democrat and Republican have widely diverging visions for the countryKamala Harris and Donald Trump offer two starkly different visions for the country with much at stake - from pocketbook economic issues and reproductive rights to the strength of the country's global alliances and existential questions about the future of American democracy and the planet.As they compete for the White House, both candidates have laid out their plans in speeches, campaign ads and media interviews. Most of it amounts to a wish list, sketched out in broad strokes and lacking concrete details about how they would be implemented or paid for. A number of Trump's proposals raise legal questions, while some of Harris's would probably require Democratic control of Congress. Continue reading...

As the election approaches, experts say a rightwing author is using the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer - executed for resisting Hitler - as a figurehead against the left, raising fears of political violenceThis article is co-published with DocumentedLeading figures on the Christian right have seized on an unlikely hero in their campaign against secular government: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an antifascist theologian and pastor who resisted the Nazi regime before he was executed in 1945. Continue reading...

In the state with a conservative majority in power, many of the project's proposed policies are making life difficult, with cruelty the point', say activistsProject 2025, the conservative blueprint for a second Trump presidency, has been used as a warning by Democrats to highlight what would be in store for the country if he were to win the upcoming election. But for some Americans, much of Project 2025 isn't a distant possible future - it is a current-day reality.In several states across the country, there are already extreme abortion bans that have led to the deaths of multiple pregnant women and at least one teen; restrictive voting policies that make it difficult for citizens to cast their ballots; defunding of education and censorship of books; and other such policies that have also been proposed by the authors of Project 2025. If the plan is successfully implemented, many policies that are already reshaping some states would become federal laws. Continue reading...

The broadcaster's senior US correspondent on whether the election will bring more violence, the challenges of being blind in his job, and what he misses about the UKBorn in Norfolk in 1968, and becoming blind by the age of eight, Gary O'Donoghue studied philosophy and modern languages at Oxford University. After graduating he joined the BBC as a junior reporter on the Today programme, later becoming Radio 4's chief political correspondent. Now the BBC's senior North America correspondent, O'Donoghue was in attendance at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania where Donald Trump was hit by a bullet; his interview with eyewitness Greg Smith subsequently revealed astonishing security lapses. With election day on Tuesday and Americans worried there could be more violence to come, O'Donoghue spoke to us from the corporation's Washington DC bureau. He divides his time between Washington DC, London and Yorkshire with his partner and their daughter.Where will you be when America goes to the polls?

Harris and Trump's policy priorities, polls and paths to victory: a complete guide to the White House raceThe 60th US presidential election will decide the 47th president - widely held to be the most powerful job in the world - and 50th vice-president. The candidates and their supporters are describing it as the most important election of their lifetimes with democracy and the American way of life are at stake. Record amounts of money have been raised and spent on campaign ads and ground games. Media coverage in print, on TV, online and on podcasts has never been more intense - or more polarised.All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs along with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate, which together will decide the membership of the 119th Congress. Thirteen state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will take place. Continue reading...

The dark view of populist politics by renowned historian Richard Hofstadter sheds light on the US electionAmerican politics has often been an arena for angry minds." Not a comment on this year's presidential campaign but an observation on another US presidential race, that of 1964. It is the opening line to one of the most influential political essays of the postwar era, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, first published 60years ago this month.The very title of Richard Hofstadter's essay is redolent of contemporary fears. As Donald Trump has, over the past decade, built a movement out of anger and disaffection, old copies of Hofstadter have been dusted off and op-eds written with titles such as The paranoid style in American politics is back" and Donald Trump's style perfectly embodies the theories of renowned historian". Continue reading...

With the contest on a knife-edge, four award-winning writers reflect on the state of the nation, their personal feelings about Harris and Trump, and what the future holdsIrish-born novelist and nonfiction author whose books include Let the Great World Spin and Apeirogon. McCann has lived in New York for three decades Continue reading...

The catastrophic floods in Valencia remind us that the fate of human beings and animals is what is truly importantYou may have heard of Cop29, the global climate change conference that doesn't start until 11 November but has already been generating headlines for weeks. You are less likely to have heard of Cop16, the international summit onbiodiversity. It wrapped up two days ago but has barely scraped thenews agenda.The lack of interest in Cop16 extended even to the participants. A whopping 80%of countries failed to submit plans for meeting a landmark UN nature agreement at the conference, as they had promised to do. Even Colombia, which hosted Cop16, missed the deadline. And, as the summit wore on, representatives noticed with mounting alarm a lack of concrete progress" on any of the major targets they had set themselves. Continue reading...

Launched in the Observer, John's Campaign aims to give frail people the right to be accompanied by those who love themEveryone has their own special way of grieving. Mine turned my life upside down.On 26 November 2014, two days after the funeral of my father, I sent a slightly unhinged email to the Observer saying there was a piece I want (need) to write... My very lovely and beloved father died two weeks ago, after a long and distressing time suffering from dementia. He had been in gradual decline for more than a decade but went into hospital in February, and while there seemed to go off a cliff: his deterioration was catastrophic and when he came out a few weeks later he was emaciated to the point of starvation, immobile, bed bound, incapable of stringing words together, hardly able to recognise anyone." Continue reading...

When JD Vance dismissed Kamala Harris as a childless cat lady', it sparked controversy, brought Taylor Swift into the presidential debate and focused attention on right-wing political pressure placed on women to have childrenWhen writer and artist Alice Maddicott's beloved rescue cat died, she was understandably bereft. Dylan was a proper character, she says, the kind of gregarious cat that follows you to the pub or for a walk. But mourning him made Alice, who was then in her late 30s and single, feel faintly self-conscious. What if people thought she was a mad cat lady, weeping spinsterish tears for her pet?If I'd had a dog, there would be no stereotype. But as a single woman approaching 40, it could be seen very differently," says Maddicott. Curious about the origins of such a kneejerk prejudice, she started digging into its history. The research became a book, Cat Women, reclaiming an insult long used to belittle older women (especially non-compliant ones) or frighten younger women into settling down, lest they end up like the crazy cat lady from The Simpsons: once a high achiever, now a burnt-out drunk. Continue reading...

While owner Mondelz continues to do business in Russia, should we truly just enjoy the moment'?On its bicentenary the chocolate maker Cadbury is keener than ever to remind consumers of its deep connection with the British public: Yours for 200 years".Well, not entirely. Since 2010 Cadbury has belonged first to Kraft then after 2012, to Mondelz International, a US-based confectionery giant that still chooses to operate factories and pay taxes within Russia. In Ukraine Mondelz was designated, in 2023, an international sponsor of war".Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Vice-president appears in the mirror opposite impressionist Maya Rudolph in last episode before 2024 election of variety show where politicians go to lighten their imageI don't really laugh like that, do I?"Uhhhhh, a little bit." Continue reading...

Harris makes surprise appearance live from New York', while Trump's Republicans lose a court challenge over balloting in Fulton county, Georgia, for the 5 November election

Thousands of women demonstrated in the US capital and across the country in support of abortion rights and other feminist causes ahead of Tuesday's presidential election. Marchers carried posters and signs through city streets as speakers urged people to vote in the election. 'We've got to stand up for democracy,' protester Lina Anderson said. 'We have to stand up for women's right to have control over her body, control over her life. Women's rights are human rights'

City Of Troy's audacious challenge for the Breeders' Cup Classic was over almost before it had begunThe latest interruption arrived just as the Filly & Mare Sprint was approaching its climax, and what a finish it proved to be. Scylla and Ways And Means were among the horses in a four-way go for the lead inside the final furlong ... only for Soul Of An Angel, who missed the kick and all but tailed off after a furlong, to sweep around them all for an upset win.Please accept my apologies for the frequent interruptions to the service at the moment. Not for the first time, the richest and most powerful nation on earth is apparently incapable of organising a stable wi-fi connection in the media room for a global sporting event. Continue reading...

Judge allows Fulton county election offices to be open Saturday and Sunday for mail-in ballots to be dropped offA Georgia judge on Saturday rejected a Republican lawsuit trying to block counties from opening election offices on Saturday and Sunday to let voters hand in their mail ballots in person.The lawsuit only named Fulton county, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta and is home to 11% of the state's voters. But at least five other populous counties that tend to vote for Democrats also announced election offices would open over the weekend to allow hand return of absentee ballots. Continue reading...

Brooklyn detention center holding 1,200 has been under scrutiny since two fatal stabbings this summerFederal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean Diddy" Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs's detention but was preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security" of staff and inmates. Continue reading...

Mayor Eric Adams asks residents to take shorter showers as city agencies ordered to prepare conservation plansNew York's mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October in the city and in much of the United States.A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Eric Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States' most populous city. Continue reading...

By promising troops to Russia, Kim Jong-un has internationalised the conflict, adding to instability around the worldThe transfer to Russia of an estimated 10,000 North Korean troops to bolster Vladimir Putin's illegal war in Ukraine represents an alarming escalation of a conflict that is causing ever-greater international insecurity and instability. The provocative deployment by the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, links the confrontation on Europe's border to the long-running east-west standoff on the Korean peninsula, potentially aggravating both.The US is plainly deeply concerned. Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, forcefully warned Moscow and Pyongyang last week against sending North Korean troops on to Ukrainian battlefields. The US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said that if Kim's soldiers enter Ukraine in support of Russia, they will surely return in body bags". Continue reading...