Troubled Baywatch reboot production echoes film-making woes in a city best known for its movie and TV industryThe fight for the future of Los Angeles, America's second-largest city, usually plays out in the grand art deco offices and committee rooms of city hall. But in an election year full of surprises, the most consequential battle may in fact have begun on a beach.And not just any beach: we're talking about the fantasy sandbox inhabited by buff gym rats and sun-kissed bikini babes on Baywatch and its multiple spin-offs. In February, Los Angeles welcomed the latest incarnation of the hit TV show back to southern California after a long hiatus, including detours to Hawaii and Georgia. City officials heralded its return as a sign of better times for local film and television production following years of decline and tens of thousands of job losses in the heart of Hollywood. Continue reading...
US cities are turning to randomly selected residents to help resolve divisive policy debatesA Los Angeles software engineer, Hunter Futo, recalled being disaffected and apolitical" for years but experienced an about-face recently: now, she's leading resident debates, helping guide local governance reforms and even pushing for more options for Angelenos to help create policy.For Futo, the turnaround happened in January, when she and a few other LA residents were randomly selected to lay out a vision of local values for the first-ever preamble for the city charter. Continue reading...
Investment banker Lorna Hajdini says ex-colleague Chirayu Rana's malicious' allegations wreaked havoc'The JPMorgan Chase investment banker accused of sexual assault in an explosive lawsuit that went viral countersued her accuser, saying his malicious lies destroyed her reputation and wreaked havoc" on her life.In papers filed on Tuesday night in a New York state court in Manhattan, Lorna Hajdini said her former colleague Chirayu Rana fabricated allegations that she raped and drugged him, in order to attract maximum press coverage, cause her pain and extract millions of dollars from her and JPMorgan. Continue reading...
The Anti-Weaponization Fund' is an extraordinary example of bald self-dealingDonald Trump is stealing almost $2bn in taxpayer money and handing it out to his friends. That's the upshot of the president's recent agreement following a $10bn lawsuit he brought in his personal capacity against the IRS, an agency that he oversees. Trump brought the suit over leaks of some documents from his tax returns to the press. To resolve the suit, the justice department will create a fund of nearly $1.8bn - a wildly outsized figure compared with Trump's somewhat flimsily alleged injuries - that can be doled out to Trump allies. The Guardian describes the fund as loosely controlled and secretive", but members of the Trump administration have not ruled out January 6 insurrectionists as possible awardees.The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund" will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump's attorney general and one appointed in consultation" with congressional leadership - Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control. It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations - ie, those few who were prosecuted or sued during the Biden era. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government. But I doubt that there will be any remaining money. We may never know either way: there is no requirement that the fund's work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
US Preventive Services Task Force had already been largely sidelined before health secretary fired its two chairsThe Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans.In letters dated 11 May, the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, notified the two doctors who chaired the US Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Body-cam footage shared with the Guardian shows agents forced workers out of a van in what a judge has called unlawful' arrestNewly released body-camera footage shows US immigration officers stopping a van of farm workers in Oregon, smashing their windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them.Videos from a 30 October 2025 operation were disclosed in court as part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) arrest tactics and racial profiling by agents. Lawyers for one of the detained farm workers shared the footage with the Guardian. Continue reading...
Will Lawrence, an outspoken opponent of AI datacenters, is running in swing district where three mega complexes loomA prominent environmental organizer calling for a nationwide moratorium on datacenters as he runs for the Democratic nomination in a swing Michigan congressional district has secured an endorsement from Bernie Sanders.Will Lawrence, co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement climate justice group, was a key figure behind the campaign for a Green New Deal to battle economic and racial injustice while also fighting climate change. Continue reading...
Hundreds of cases reported in the DRC after USAID has been dismantled and key scientific research canceledA previously undetected outbreak of Ebola is coursing through parts of central Africa, and the US appears to be doing little to help stop it, after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts.There is no cure and no vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. Health leaders and scientists are now racing to understand where the virus is spreading and attempting to stop it - but the US is notably absent in these efforts. Continue reading...
While Canada may be clinging to fossil fuels, much of the world is moving onCasual international observers would be forgiven for assuming Canada is in the comforting hands of a climate champ. After all, while climate policy rollbacks reign supreme in Donald Trump's America, Canada is now led by a man who, while serving as governor of the Bank of England, delivered a celebrated 2015 speech, Breaking the tragedy of the horizon", warning the global investment community of the financial risks of climate change; who went on to serve as UN special envoy for climate action and finance; and whose 2022 book Value(s) had much to say about the existential threat" of climate change. A man who recently dazzled the world with his Davos speech on how middle powers can stand up to global bullies.Look, we get it. Next to the US president, Carney seems so debonair, thoughtful and calm - a lifeline of stability in a volatile new world.Seth Klein is a Canadian climate writer and activist, author of the book A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, and former team lead of the Climate Emergency Unit. His newsletter can be found here. Continue reading...
Wherever you're planning to watch the matches - we'd like to hear from youThe men's World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada is nearly upon us, kicking off on 11 June.Amid the excitement around the tournament, there has been controversy over Fifa's ticketing process, the cost of travel, and security concerns for fans travelling to the US. Continue reading...
Eight nations have won the World Cup. An expanded field and a grueling schedule means a new champion could emerge from the pack this summerWhen Fifa expanded the field for the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, the sales pitch included giving more nations a chance at glory. In reality, the favorites are nearly always former champions.To date, only eight nations have won the men's World Cup. And yet, few of the former champions arrive at this summer's tournament in their finest form. Spain are a justifiably popular pick as the reigning European champions have plenty of world-class talent. Argentina will hope to defend their title from 2022 after following it up with the Copa America in 2024. France, who top our power rankings, have reached the last two finals, and Kylian Mbappe claims this squad is the best he has been a part of. Continue reading...
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger accused of hiding files related to Trump documents investigation as bundt cake recipeA former Department of Justice prosecutor is facing felony charges after emailing herself a sealed Biden-era investigative report concerning Donald Trump and attempting to hide the documents as cake recipes, federal authorities said on Wednesday.Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who worked as a managing assistant US attorney in Florida, is facing two counts of theft of government money or property in addition to charges related to her alleged alteration of the documents, according to the indictment. Continue reading...
Former president, 94, faces multiple US felony charges, including four counts of murder - key US politics stories from Wednesday 20 MayThe United States issued a federal criminal indictment against Raul Castro, Cuba's former president, and five others on Wednesday in a significant escalation of the Trump administration's campaign to oust the country's six-decades-old communist regime.The 94-year-old political figurehead was charged in Miami, Florida, with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Continue reading...
by Adria R Walker in Jackson, Mississippi on (#75RV5)
Demonstration, held at historic location where the Mississippi Plan' was enacted, comes as southern states race to dilute Black voting powerThousands of Mississippians, along with allies from other southern states, gathered at the state's War Memorial Building auditorium on Wednesday in support of voting rights. It was the latest in a series of actions protesting the supreme court's recent decision gutting the provision of the Voting Rights Act preventing racial discrimination, and held on a site integral to the state's history of Black disenfranchisement.Section 2 stopped states, counties, cities, from passing redistricting maps that discriminate against Black voters and it led to the biggest growth of Black political power since Reconstruction", said Amir Badat, the southern states director at the voting rights group Fair Fight Action. Continue reading...
Acting US attorney general Todd Blanche announced the indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro on Wednesday, in what is seen as an escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the island's government. The indictment was related to Castro's alleged role in the downing of two small planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, now 94, was Cuba's defence minister at the time.
by Hosted by Carter Sherman and Kai Wright, produced on (#75RVF)
The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills - for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a nationwide, near-total abortion ban could be on the horizon. Carter speaks with Dr Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, who reveals how the legal battle over abortion pills has affected patients across the US - and what could happen next Continue reading...
Larry Bushart was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie KirkTennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.While many people across the US lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk's death, Larry Bushart's case stood out as a rare instance in which such online speech led to criminal prosecution. The 61-year-old retired police officer spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October. Continue reading...
Officials say sinkhole discovered at about 11am as emergency crews rush to complete repairsA sinkhole was discovered at New York's LaGuardia airport on Wednesday, shutting down a runway while emergency crews sought to determine its cause and how to fix it.In a post on X, LaGuardia, which handles domestic travel, said the sinkhole had been discovered at about 11am near runway 4/22" while the airport's operator was conducting its daily morning inspection. Continue reading...
Security guard Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad were killed in shooting at Islamic Center of San DiegoA security guard who was killed during the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday is being hailed as a hero after police said that his actions undoubtedly" saved lives.On Monday, two teenagers opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, shooting and killing three men. The two attackers, aged 17 and 18, were found dead several blocks away, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. Continue reading...
Conflict and aid cuts are hampering the fight against an outbreak of the deadly virus centred in the Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced the deadly threat of Ebola 16 times since the virus was discovered there in 1976, with a 2018-20 outbreak killing almost 2,300 people. On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the 17th outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern. So far, 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever virus have been identified, nearly all in the DRC's north-eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, with two cases in Uganda of people who had travelled from the DRC.There is also anxiety about neighbouring South Sudan. The WHO fears the disease has been spreading for a couple of months and, given the highly mobile population, warns that it could take months more to bring it under control. While it judges the risk of global spread to be low, it thinks the regional risk is high.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...
Watchdog group glued trackers to 53 of the chain's cups across nine states and found none ended up at a recycling facilityIf you attach a GPS tracker to a widely recyclable" plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but the environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that's not the case in a new report.Starbucks announced that their plastic cups were now considered widely recyclable" earlier this year, according to How2Recycle, a group affiliated with the consumer packaging industry that helps private companies label their packaging with recycling options. The coffee giant touted the achievement as a big milestone, with huge impact". Continue reading...
How tough is the move from college football? We asked three players drafted by the New York Jets in the first roundBy No Helmets RequiredAfter a dismal 2025, the future is looking a little brighter for the New York Jets. They selected Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey second in the 2026 draft and had two more first-round draft picks - Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq (No 16) and wide receiver Omar Cooper, from national champions Indiana, who they chose at No 30. We spoke to the trio during their first week at 1 Jets Drive.What have been the biggest surprises about your first week in the NFL? Continue reading...
Flash flood warnings and school closures in Texas as the US north-east breaks heat records before a dramatic cooldownHundreds of flight cancellations have been reported in Texas as storms roll over the state, leading to flash flood warnings and school closures, while punishingly high temperatures in the north-east break records before a dramatic cool-down.Nearly 150 flights were canceled or delayed at Dallas Fort Worth international airport on Wednesday and nearly 700 delayed on Tuesday, according to Flightaware. The FAA issued a ground stop in Dallas and Love Field. Continue reading...
Billionaire philanthropist's Open Society Foundations has worked to advance justice and human rights around worldFor decades, the Open Society Foundations have worked to advance justice and human rights in Africa, the Middle East and trouble spots around the world. But the OSF's latest major investment is aimed at a crisis closer to home.On Tuesday, the organisation, founded by the billionaire philanthropist George Soros and headquartered in New York, announced a $300m spend aimed at boosting economic security and defending civil liberties in the US. Continue reading...
US president, like a cult leader whose commune keeps getting smaller, commands fierce loyalty from a shrinking baseThomas Massie caught in a throuple!" screamed the AI-generated attack ad that showed the Republican congressman supposedly dining with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar then checking into a hotel with the two progressives. Thomas Massie betrayed President Trump!" it added.Crude but effective, as it turns out. Massie, from northern Kentucky, lost the most expensive House of Representatives primary election in history on Tuesday to Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former US Navy Seal backed by Donald Trump. Continue reading...
Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic primary outright, while Republicans Burt Jones and Rick Jackson will face offThe Republican primary campaign for Georgia governor will go to a June runoff, with the lieutenant governor Burt Jones facing off against healthcare billionaire and political newcomer Rick Jackson - and locking out Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state and longtime political enemy of Donald Trump who was on track to finish a distant third.Jackson, a political newcomer who was relatively unknown in the state, upended the contest by pouring nearly $50mn of his own money into campaign advertising. Republican candidates spent more than $100m in total, according to tracking figures from AdImpact. Jones, who has been endorsed by Trump, and Jackson will continue their showdown on 16 June, which has soaked up almost all of the available advertising inventory on Georgia television. Continue reading...
Seven-term incumbent had spoken out against Iran war, government spending and Jeffrey Epstein files. Plus, Trump's board of peace' receives just $23m to rebuild Gaza
A New York exhibit of more than 3,000 volumes bills itself as an exercise in radical transparency' - and a bid for attentionThis February, a story broke that seemed like it might finally be the one. Reporters at NPR had noticed that there were pages missing from the enormous tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice. Further reporting revealed that the files in question were 2019 FBI interviews with a woman who claimed to have been sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump when she was a minor. The justice department had no good explanation for why the documents had been withheld. Trump issued blanket denials.It was all starting to feel like a good old-fashioned something-gate, the kind of scandal that might even bring down a presidency. But then, as with so many other stories in the era of Trump, its spark was subsumed by a new fire. On 28 February, Trump launched an unprovoked and likely illegal war against Iran, and the Epstein files were once again pushed off the front pages. Continue reading...
The justice department's lawsuit is part of a federal effort to reframe AI consumer protections as ideological overreachThis April, the US Department of Justice joined Elon Musk's xAI in suing the state of Colorado to kill its AI anti-discrimination law.When the federal government sides with a billionaire against a state trying to protect its residents from AI discrimination, that's not only a Colorado story. That's everyone's story.Dr Genevieve Smith is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University, founder of the Responsible AI Initiative at the UC Berkeley AI Research Lab and a member of professional faculty at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Continue reading...
Some Christian conservatives are only eating foods mentioned in the Bible. At least Jesus wasn't devouring ultra-processed sausage rolls ...It looks like all the raw milk Conservatives have been chugging may have curdled some of their brains. Some very odd wellness ideas, many of them Maga-adjacent, have been popping up in the US lately. Vaccines are evil! Testicle tanning will boost testosterone! According to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, seed oils are unknowingly poisoning Americans! Beef tallow will make your skin glow!The latest unorthodox theory to gain a cult-like following? Biblical eating. This is a somewhat fuzzy concept that tends to focus on eating foods mentioned in the Bible. While the idea isn't new, it has been resurrected. A recent New York Times piece notes that it has had a resurgence in recent months".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...
The streamer has given us a broadcast so powerfully isolating it effectively anticipates sport's viewerless futureGame 7 in the NBA playoffs: a chance to kick back, enjoy the drama of a winner-takes-all shootout between basketball's big beasts, and ... switch over from your regular TV provider to Amazon Prime? The excitement drains from the occasion at the first touch of the remote. Amazon no doubt imagined it had landed a real coup when the Eastern Conference semi-final series between Detroit and Cleveland extended to its maximum length, thereby handing the retail giant's streaming arm, Prime Video, the right to air a Game 7 in the first season of its partnership with the NBA. In the event, Sunday's game was a dud: a blowout win for the Cavs, playing on the road, that had all the electricity and charm of a stint in the doctor's waiting room. Fortunately for viewers, Prime Video did its best to match the moment by producing a broadcast that was every bit as dull and juiceless as events on the court.The pre-tipoff highlight was an interview with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, on the occasion of his coronation as this season's MVP, in which the Oklahoma City star appeared to be speaking from a movie theater for some reason. Blake Griffin, the house beefcake on Prime Video's studio set, chided ESPN insider Shams Charania for leaking this year's MVP announcement hours earlier: It's Sunday, Shams - go to brunch, you nerd." If Hillary had won and Shams had kept his trap shut, we'd all be at brunch! The game got under way, and things did not improve. During the half-time show, Dirk Nowitzki rambled Germanly about various topics, while fellow former MVP Steve Nash delivered lines like That decisiveness in isolation is so important" with all the conviction of a hostage recording a ransom video. Host Taylor Rooks tried valiantly to compensate for the lack of chemistry on set by laughing at even the slightest hint of a joke from any of her panellists. Awkward laughter delivered over dead air on a platform it feels like a punishment to access: that's the Prime Video NBA playoffs guarantee. Continue reading...
Ron Shinnick did not mention the firing of the Cohutta police force, which was later rehired, in resignation letterThe mayor of a small town in the US state of Georgia has resigned shortly after firing his community's entire police department, a step that the local governing council ultimately reversed - but that he nonetheless took amid a political spat pitting him and his wife against members of the force.In a 15 May resignation letter that the Guardian reviewed, Ron Shinnick avoided mentioning his attempted termination of the Cohutta police department, word of which gained international media attention. The letter instead said Shinnick had opted to vacate the mayoral post he had held since 2014 due to health concerns" faced by family members outside Cohutta. Continue reading...
We look at what Celtic's title win means for Scottish soccer, Argentina's World Cup plans and the prospect of a Premier League without Pep GuardiolaSir Alex Ferguson may have him beat for longevity and number of titles. Arsene Wenger can take some credit for English soccer's modernization in the 1990s, but Pep Guardiola completely changed the landscape in his decade as Manchester City manager. Continue reading...
by Amanda Ulrich in San Diego, Maanvi Singh in Oaklan on (#75R0E)
Firearms used by shooters, aged 17 and 18, in fatal rampage were registered to one of their parentsThe two teenage assailants responsible for a mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, rushed toward the mosque fully armored" with handguns and rifles, authorities said.A security guard shot and struck one of the shooters, according to members of the mosque, but the attacker continued charging. The guard, Amin Abdullah, alerted administrators of the school at the Islamic Center, telling them to go into lockdown, before he was shot and killed. If it was not for him ... the carnage would be much worse," said the imam, Taha Hassane. He sacrificed his life." Continue reading...
Thomas Massie, who repeatedly broke with Trump, lost to retired Navy Seal Ed Gallrein who was recruited into the race by the president. Key US politics stories from Tuesday 19 May at a glanceDonald Trump displayed his supremacy over the Republican party on Tuesday when voters in northern Kentucky rejected the maverick congressman Thomas Massie in favour of the US president's hand-picked challenger.Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy Seal and farmer who was recruited into the race by Trump, defeated the seven-term incumbent in a primary election in Kentucky's fourth congressional district, in what the president's allies framed as a test of whether dissent could still exist inside today's Republican party. Continue reading...
Altadena group pans report as pages of deflection' and cites reliance on department insiders' rather than residentsLos Angeles county fire officials did not discriminate on the basis of race or socioeconomic status and did not delay in their evacuation orders during last year's deadly Eaton fire in Altadena, a consulting firm found on Monday.At the behest of the county and its fire department, the California-based firm Citygate Associates conducted an investigation into how evacuation alerts were deployed last January, after emergency response officials came under fierce scrutiny for reported delays. Continue reading...
Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle the wind-driven fire in the Simi Valley area as at least one home is destroyedMore than 17,000 people were under evacuation orders in southern California on Tuesday as a wildfire threatened suburban homes.The wind-driven Sandy fire was reported on Monday in the hills above Simi Valley, about 30 miles (48km) north-west of Los Angeles. Continue reading...
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