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The US president long refused to use his influence over the prime minister. Last month, that appeared to changeAfter nearly nine months in office, Donald Trump seems to have had enough of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, undermining his ambition to establish himself as a global peacemaker. Over the past few weeks, the US president finally decided to use his leverage to force Netanyahu to accept a new ceasefire and stop two years of genocidal war in Gaza.On Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, including an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory. It's unclear what guarantees the US gave to Hamas and Arab mediators to ensure that Netanyahu would not resume the war after the hostage-prisoner swap - if negotiations on later stages of the deal are stalled. That's what happened earlier this year, when Netanyahu accepted a truce that took effect in January, but then refused to move into the second phase of negotiations with Hamas, and violated the ceasefire after two months.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...

Prosecutor who sought charges was installed amid Trump frustrations with pace of investigations against rivalsA federal grand jury has indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general, for bank fraud and making false statements. Two charges were brought against James, who had brought a civil fraud case against the Trump Organization in 2022 that Trump claimed was a malicious prosecution.Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, personally presented the case to the grand jury on Thursday, the person said. US attorneys do not typically present to a grand jury. Continue reading...

Other universities still mulling proposal while MIT's president said it would compromise academic freedom

Zohran Mamdani and Kathy Hochul among Democrats decrying president's weaponization' of justice department

The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on itWhen he first learned that federal agents had detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil in the lobby of his university housing complex, Jameel Jaffer knew he was in for a fight.Jaffer is the director of a Columbia-affiliated institute devoted to the defense of the first amendment, and Khalil, a green card holder, had been a fixture at the pro-Palestinian encampments on campus. Months earlier, Jaffer's organization had hosted a symposium about the free speech rights of noncitizens. The institute had been established to defend the very constitutional principles the Trump administration was now openly flouting - and that Columbia seemed too scared to defend. Continue reading...

More than three in four store managers report more empty shelves since the Trump administration's global tariff rollout, new poll suggestsUS store managers are reporting more empty shelf space since the global tariff rollout by the Trump administration.More than three-quarters of managers in one recent survey reported an increase in bare shelves. And over half (51%) of the store managers surveyed by warehouse software company GreyOrange also reported that they have reduced their workforce in the last six months, which may affect the shopper experience. Continue reading...

First lady had pleaded for children in letter that Donald Trump delivered to Russian president at meeting in AlaskaMelania Trump said on Friday that eight Ukrainian children have been reunited with their families after ongoing talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.The US first lady in August wrote a letter to Putin and had her husband hand-deliver it during his meeting with the Russian president in Alaska. Continue reading...

Court to rule on whether president can deploy guard in Portland, Oregon, against mostly small, nightly protestsNational guard troops were seen patrolling in Memphis for the first time on Friday, as part of Donald Trump's controversial federal taskforce, amid fierce legal challenges as he was blocked from sending troops to Chicago and a court ruling is awaited in Portland, Oregon.At least nine national guard troops began their Tennessee patrol at the Bass Pro Shops, an outdoor gear chain, located at the Pyramid, a commercial landmark in Memphis. They were being escorted by a Memphis police officer and posed for photos with visitors who were standing outside. Continue reading...

The Israeli PM wants to bolster his position and ward off global pariah status. But he has shifted gears before and may do so againIn Gaza, children, journalists and rescue workers who have seen their peers and colleagues killed in front of their eyes for the past two years have started to rejoice at the prospect that their living nightmare could finally be over. So, too, have the families of Israeli hostages who thought they might never see their loved ones again. We can only share in their relief. And still, the reasons to be wary of the ceasefire's long-term prospects are endless.We have been here before. I'm haunted by a video from back in January, in which 28-year-old Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif removes his press vest and helmet live on air before being hoisted aloft by a joyous crowd as he announces news of a ceasefire. That deal led to several successful exchanges of Israeli and Palestinian captives and brought two months of relative respite to Gaza - before Israel tore up the agreement by launching more than 100 airstrikes on the besieged territory in one night, killing more than 400 Palestinians. Five months later, Israel bombed a press tent outside a Gaza City hospital, killing Sharif and five other journalists. Continue reading...

Agencies like Ice are way ahead of Donald Trump, who wants the military to treat cities like training grounds'Even without the national guard, law enforcement agencies of the federal government have been using military hardware and tactics on civilian targets.At a low-rent apartment complex on Chicago's south shore, people started hearing the boots hit the roof around one in the morning. The oh-dark-thirty immigration enforcement raid in the early hours of 1 October featured an air assault from helicopters. Officers went door to door in the building, using charges to blow the hinges off doors and flashbang grenades to clear apartments. They hauled men, women and children from the building in zip ties and often little else, ostensibly to capture undocumented gang members. Continue reading...

Deportations are likely to cause employers to let go of US workers, and reduce the labor forceThe government shutdown may have prevented the publication of September's job report, but we can be reasonably confident that when the numbers are known, they will further underscore the Trump administration's policy incoherence and remind us of all of the damage he is prepared to inflict on the American economy.The president will most likely be apoplectic over data confirming that the economy is generating very few new jobs (the payroll processor ADP estimated a loss of 32,000 private sector jobs in September). Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the jobs numbers, after a lackluster report published in August. Continue reading...

Israeli troops begin pulling back from parts of Gaza. Plus, stories from survivors who were trapped on Everest

The South American nation performed better than ever in World Cup qualifying, with strength in depth that make them difficult to play againstLast September, in the sweltering night heat of Guayaquil, Ecuador finished off their Conmebol World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 victory over table-leaders and defending champions Argentina. Enner Valencia, the 35-year-old journeyman and the nation's all-time scorer, sealed the win with a penalty in his 100th appearance. The Estadio Monumental roared with ecstasy and emotion.Both sides had already sealed qualification for 2026 and the visitors were playing without Lionel Messi, who had also said goodbye to qualifiers after his final game in Buenos Aires a few days prior. But none of these narratives mattered to Ecuadorian fans. They were acknowledging a magnificent campaign as La Tricolor ended second in the table, their best-ever finish since Conmebol qualifiers moved to a single table. And this despite starting the campaign with a three-point penalty due to the use of documents with false information to register Byron Castillo in the previous cycle. Continue reading...

As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in aftermath of shooting, allegedly without due processA climate of fear" is still shrouding college campuses across the US, academics have warned, after a string of professors were fired or punished for their comments after Charlie Kirk's assassination.As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in recent weeks, according to the American Association of University Professors. Many were targeted by rightwing campaigners, who seized on remarks they wrote or shared, and pressured their employers to take action. Continue reading...

Investors fear that the collapse of the car parts company - and the size of its debt - could portend wider problemsFinancial problems at the maker of spark plugs, wiper blades, brake calipers, brake shoes, tow hitches and motor oil has caused intense anxiety on Wall Street in recent weeks.Car parts are not usually something that causes finance chiefs to lose much sleep. But the potentially multi-billion dollar financial crisis surrounding First Brands has them rattled. Continue reading...

Erin Scott O'Brien says grandfather Charles Paddock brought back artifact with him from second world warThe ancient Roman grave marker recently found in the back yard of a New Orleans home had evidently been inherited and left there by the granddaughter of a US soldier who fought in Italy during the second world war.In statements that all but solved an international historical mystery, Erin Scott O'Brien told two local media outlets that her grandfather, Charles Paddock Jr, kept the 1,900-year-old artifact in a display case at his home in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood before his death in 1986. Continue reading...

In the White House deputy chief of staff, we see that Maga will not simply end with Trump. We must keep our eyes on MillerIn an interview on Monday, CNN's Boris Sanchez asked Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, whether Donald Trump intended to abide by federal judge Karin Immergut's order blocking the deployment of the national guard in Oregon.Miller said neither yes nor no. But the implication was no. The administration had already filed an appeal with the ninth circuit. He said: I would note the administration won an identical case in the ninth circuit just a few months ago with respect to the federalizing of the California national guard." Actually, it didn't quite win. As I understand it (and lawyers, please correct me) the administration won a temporary stay on a temporary injunction against federalizing the California national guard in Los Angeles.Judith Levine is Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...

A leading Democrat, backed by substantial funding, should enter the 2028 presidential race right nowThe Democratic politicians on the national scene, charged with leading the opposition, continue to bring a butterknife to the ongoing gunfight that is US politics under Donald Trump. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, comes across as a weary grandpa, glasses perched halfway down his nose as he reads his script in sleep-inducing monotone. Quick - who's the minority leader of the House? You get bonus points if you can identify Hakeem Jeffries. Charismatic he is not.What's to be done?David Kirp is professor emeritus at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley Continue reading...

Investment bank had previously planned for such information from New York workers to be voluntaryJP Morgan Chase has told staff moving into its new headquarters in New York that they must share their biometric data to access the multibillion-dollar building.The investment bank had previously planned for the registering of biometric data by employees at its new Manhattan skyscraper to be voluntary. Continue reading...

Have you been following the big news in football, cricket, rugby, cycling, UFC, horse racing and the NFL? Continue reading...

Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelledA Rutgers University professor who taught a course on anti-fascism and was blocked from leaving the US for Spain on Wednesday night, according to media reports, hours after Donald Trump hosted a White House roundtable highlighting the impact of antifa - or anti-fascist" - far-left activists is now departing.Mark Bray, an historian who published the 2017 book Antifa: the Anti-Fascist Handbook and has taught courses on anti-fascism at the New Jersey university, posted on the social media platform Bluesky that Our plane to Spain is in the air!". Bray was attempting to board a plane at Newark airport when he was informed at the boarding gate that the reservations for him and his family had been cancelled. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. Read our latest story hereThe president has spent much of Thursday morning thanking his allies on Truth social for praising his diplomatic efforts in Gaza.I would like to thank Republican Congressman Brian Mast, of Florida, for his brilliant words and analysis on the return of the Hostages, and Peace in the Middle East, this morning on Fox & Friends. Thank you Brian!!!," Trump wrote in a post. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after a government meeting to approve the US-brokered deal to release all hostages and implement a ceasefire in Gaza

New York attorney general attracted Trump's ire after she led a civil fraud case against the president. Key US politics stories from Thursday 9 OctoberSenate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has accused Donald Trump and his administration of turning the Department of Justice into personal attack dogs against their political enemies", after New York attorney general Letitia James was indicted for fraud in Virginia.Calling the move outrageous", Schumer was among those labelling the move as Trump's latest effort to weaponize the department to punish political rivals. Continue reading...

Officials say US to establish center in Israel to help flow of humanitarian aid and logistical and security aidUS troops have been sent to Israel as part of the peace deal approved on Thursday to support and help monitor the ceasefire, according to multiple news reports.Senior US officials told reporters that 200 troops will initially be on the ground with a civil-military coordination center" operated by US Central Command to help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war, the Associated Press reported, citing two officials who confirmed the report on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release. Continue reading...

Report reveals Maricopa county spent huge sums on items not connected to court-ordered overhaul of agencyThe sheriff's office for metro Phoenix spent millions of dollars budgeted for compliance costs in a racial profiling case over Joe Arpaio's immigration crackdowns on things that had little or nothing to do with a court-ordered overhaul of the agency, according to an expert's report.The report released on Wednesday criticized the use of compliance money by the Maricopa county sheriff's office to fund personnel costs and tasks, either in part or in full, that are not connected to the overhaul. Continue reading...

Data shows stunning shift in law enforcement priorities that has raised public safety concernsNearly half of the FBI agents working in the US's major field offices have been reassigned to aid immigration enforcement, according to newly released data, a stunning shift in law enforcement priorities that has raised public safety concerns.Personnel data obtained by Mark Warner, a Democratic senator, and shared with the Guardian, suggests the Trump administration has moved 45% of FBI agents in the country's 25 largest field offices to support the Department of Homeland Security's immigration crackdown. Across all of the FBI's offices, 23% of the roughly 13,000 total agents at the bureau are now working on immigration, according to Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. Continue reading...

The president was coy about a peace prize for the ceasefire deal in Gaza - Marco Rubio was much less reticentSo to peace in our time. And why not? The Nobel committee is meeting in Oslo to divvy up its annual gongs and Donald Trump, convening his cabinet - and the media - in the White House had a good story to tell.After two years of death, destruction, starvation and captivity for Israeli hostages in Gaza, peace at last was at hand. Israel and Hamas were on the brink of a historic deal, brokered by the man in the Oval Office, who has made no secret of his desire to be known as the president of peace. Continue reading...

Trump administration has been accused of preparing to severely limit journalists' ability to cover the departmentWith days left before journalists covering the Pentagon must sign on to a new set of guidelines to retain physical access to the department, major US news companies - and organizations representing their interests - remain concerned about specific policies they fear will stifle independent reporting on the Pentagon.The Trump administration has been accused of preparing to impose severe limitations on the ability of journalists to cover the Pentagon and publish information that had not been officially approved for release. Continue reading...

President attacks Chicago mayor and Illinois governor as extra troops at army training site south-west of cityHundreds of national guard troops remained in the Chicago area as city and Illinois officials awaited a judge's decision to stop Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation's third-largest city.It was still unclear where specifically the Trump administration would send the troops who reported to an army training site south-west of Chicago, which was laden with extra fencing and tarps put up to block the public's view of the facility late on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

Company, which reached $787.5m defamation settlement with Fox News, becomes new entity called Liberty VoteDominion Voting Systems, the company that makes widely used voting equipment in the United States that became synonymous with election conspiracies and Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, has been sold.The company was purchased by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican Missouri election official who founded KnowInk, which makes electronic pollbooks used at voting sites across the country. Leindecker purchased Dominion under a new company called Liberty Vote. Leiendecker, served as the elections director in St Louis from 2005 until 2012, according to his LinkedIn, a period during which he would have overlapped with Ed Martin, a staunch Trump ally at the justice department who served as chairman of the St Louis board of elections from 2005 to 2006. Continue reading...

Seventh round of votes fails to yield breakthrough while president threatens to cut funds for Democrat programs'The US Senate remained deadlocked on legislation to end the government shutdown on Thursday, as Donald Trump reiterated his threat to make Democrats pay for the funding lapse that has closed federal agencies and furloughed workers nationwide.The Senate took its seventh round of votes on competing Democratic and Republican proposals to restart the funding, but neither won enough bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancement in the chamber. In a sign that neither party had budged from its demands, no senators changed their votes from when the bills were last considered in recent days. Continue reading...

White House deputy chief of staff had an odd pause during a CNN interview when asked about the president's power to deploy national guard troopsAn odd moment in a CNN interview with Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has been circulating on social media after Miller's distinct pause when discussing the plenary authority" of the president. A technical glitch - crossed wires from another broadcast in Miller's earpiece - caused him to stop talking before completing his thought, CNN said.But the term plenary authority", has been taken as subtext for the broader ambitions of the Trump administration to assert legally-unassailable power over the use of the military and other functions of government. Continue reading...

This is the best prospect of ending Israel's war in Gaza since it began. But a long-term solution remains distantDonald Trump called the pause in hostilities he has brokered the first step to a strong, durable and everlasting peace". No one can do more to determine the outcome than the US president. This was, for him, a modest statement, acknowledging that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of his plan - it being their decision, not his, to break a multi-point agreement into a multi-stage discussion. Two parties so far apart agreed on one thing: both would rather defer the really difficult issues.In Israel and Gaza, there was joy - however tentative- at the announcement. An end to the annihilation, the release of all hostages and the resumption of large-scale aid have all been desperately needed. There is every reason to fear that this will not lead to a lasting peace, and every reason to strive to ensure that it does. In finally reining in Benjamin Netanyahu, and in offering Qatar a security guarantee that persuaded it (with Egypt and Turkey) to lean more heavily upon Hamas, Mr Trump has created an opportunity which must be seized.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...

Prosecutor says Jonathan Rinderknecht had traits of an arsonist and family expressed worries about mental stateA federal magistrate in Florida on Thursday ordered a man charged in California's deadly Palisades fire to remain jailed after a prosecutor said he had traits of an arsonist and his family had worried about his declining mental state.Federal officials have said Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the area at the time, started a small fire on New Year's Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later and roaring through the wealthy enclave, home to many of Los Angeles's rich and famous. Continue reading...

The US president's fervid pursuit of the award is believed to have been a key motivator in brokering peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza

Two who received presidential pardon among six activists charged with trespass and conspiracy in PennsylvaniaSix anti-abortion activists, include two previously pardoned by Donald Trump, will stand trial on state charges that they trespassed on an abortion clinic's property and refused to leave.The six, who were also charged with criminal conspiracy, were due in court on Wednesday, but waived their right to appear - a move that is tantamount to pleading not guilty, according to lawyer John Williamson. A trial date has not been set. Continue reading...

New law signed by Gavin Newsom will define and ban ultra-processed foods of concern' beginning in 2029California will become the first state in the US to phase out certain ultra-processed foods from school meals over the next decade.A new law signed by the governor, Gavin Newsom, on Wednesday will first define, and then ban, ultra-processed foods, the often super-tasty products typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, from school meals. Continue reading...

Phase one of Donald Trump's peace plan has brought joy and relief, yet it's hard to believe this fragile peace will last

Adelita Grijalva won a landslide election for her Arizona seat. But Mike Johnson is defying the will of the votersThe people of Arizona's seventh congressional district - a vast territory extending across the state's south, along the Mexican border - have been denied representation in Congress for weeks. That's because Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, has refused to swear in Adelita Grijalva, their representative-elect, who won a special election to fill the seat vacated by her father, the late Raul Grijalva, in a landslide late last month. Grijalva, a Democrat, has been largely ignored by the speaker. Unlike sworn representatives, she has to go around the Capitol with an escort. There's an office with her name on the door, but she hasn't been allowed inside, and has worked instead out of a conference room on another floor.It is an unprecedented abuse of procedural power on the part of the speaker, one that has had the effect of silencing a political opponent and denying representation to the citizens of her district. In refusing to seat Grijalva, Johnson has defied the will of Arizona's voters, and effectively nullified, at least for the time being, a legitimate congressional election. He has persisted in this even in defiance of his own promises, after saying on Friday he would seat her this week once the House returned to session - and then telling lawmakers they wouldn't reconvene this week after all. Last week, Grijalva showed up to a three-and-a-half-minute pro forma session, hoping to be sworn in then. (Johnson has sworn in other representatives at pro forma sessions in the past.) But the Republican presiding over the session, Morgan Griffith, ignored the effort. On a weekend talkshow, Grijalva said she had heard absolutely nothing" from the speaker about the timing of her swearing in.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Dog named Eeyore attracted sheriff's deputy's attention: He practically dragged me to her'A dog named Eeyore turned into a very good boy and a hero of the hour after leading a Florida sheriff's deputy to where a missing 86-year-old woman had fallen while walking him, bodycam footage shows.The woman's husband reported her missing on the night of 25 September after she failed to return from her walk in their Destin neighborhood in the panhandle region of the US state. Continue reading...

The Guardian's parenting WhatsApp group discusses the recent spate of school shootings and political violence - and how they explain it to their kidsI have been emotionally at my wit's end with the violence."Gabriela Rangel is a glass dispatch coordinator in California City, California, and mother to a five-year-old. Like many parents across the nation, she was horrified to learn about the 27 August shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two children were killed and 17 other people were injured. Continue reading...

Concerns that three separate shots would be more costly and time-consuming, and keep kids from being vaccinatedThe measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is undergoing more scrutiny by the Trump administration in their ongoing reassessment of vaccines despite the worst measles outbreak in decades.Jim O'Neill, the deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called on Monday for new vaccines to replace the current MMR shots. Continue reading...

Voters support progressive economic populism, our survey shows. They just don't trust Democrats to deliver itIf anyone could have broken through as a progressive in red America, it was Sherrod Brown. For decades, the Ohio senator railed against corporations for shipping good-paying jobs overseas and pleaded with Democrats to take the struggles of deindustrialized communities seriously. Yet in 2024, even Brown, a model economic populist, fell to a Republican challenger.Does that prove, as writers such as Jonathan Chait have argued, that the idea of winning back the working class with progressive economic policies has been tried and has failed?Jared Abbott is the director of the Center for Working-Class Politics. Bhaskar Sunkara is the president of the Nation magazine and the founding editor of Jacobin Continue reading...

Tucker Carlson says young people are more health-conscious than older generations. Does it explain why Republicans are drinking less?Butterworth's, an eclectically decorated restaurant in Washington DC, is an unofficial lounge of the Maga elite. A nameplate on one table declares it the official nook" of Raheem Kassam, the former adviser to the rightwing British politician Nigel Farage and a co-owner of the restaurant. Steve Bannon is also frequently sighted holding court over Carolina gold rice - though the signature dish is bone-marrow escargot, which some young Maga politicos swear is good for your collagen.When he opened the farm-to-table brasserie in 2024, Bart Hutchins, Butterworth's chef and one of its partners, was determined to resist what he sees as the new puritanism" of wellness and sobriety culture. Hutchins finds non-alcoholic mocktails" annoying on principle. I did this edict, where I was like, I'm not stocking that stuff,'" he said. If you want to drink a glass of juice, just ask for a glass of juice; I'm not gonna pretend it's a cocktail." Continue reading...

Lawyers scramble as Robert Roberson to be first person executed under theory now widely seen as junk scienceAt 6pm next Thursday, barring a last-minute reprieve, Robert Roberson will become the first person in America to be executed under the theory of shaken baby syndrome", a medical diagnosis from the 1970s that is so disputed it is now widely denounced as junk science.Roberson, 58, will enter the death chamber at the Huntsville unit in Texas, where he will be strapped to a gurney and injected with a cocktail of lethal drugs. He will be put to death having been convicted of shaking to death his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2002. Continue reading...

Trump says all hostages to be released and Israel to withdraw troops to an agreed line. Plus, shutdown deadlock deepens as senators reject competing bills