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Dana Briggs, 70, had charges dropped after being accused of assaulting an agent during a protest at an Illinois ICE facilityA 70-year-old air force veteran who had been charged with felony assault on a federal officer as he protested an ICE raid has told the Guardian he is now considering a civil lawsuit after all charges against him were dropped.The US Department of Justice moved to dismiss all charges against Dana Briggs, who had been charged despite a video of the incident, which showed masked Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents advancing on the elderly veteran and knocking him over. Continue reading...

AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn't about the democratization' of art - it's about scaleMaking music is hard. Well, at least it used to be. I remember the old days, when you had to spend hours and hours honing skills, coming up with something clever or personal to say, then actually recording sounds that people would want to listen to. But that's the past. In our sparkling future, a pre-teen can dump a bunch of words into a machine and out comes a catchy tune. In 2025, a robot can be a pop star. (Although Data from Star Trek did drop an album back in the 90s. How soon we all forget.)Three AI-generated songs recently topped Spotify's Viral 50" charts. One of the creators" responsible for these songs, Broken Veteran, who squirted out a track about immigration policies, told the Guardian that AI is just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training". It used to be that if you didn't know how to do something, you wouldn't do it.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

The former Blackhawks star is back in the NHL after two and a half years. A pair of retreats in India, and a fresh start with his hometown Jets, helped him rediscover his lost joyStepping on the ice for this season's opening game signified far more than a return to routine for one of the NHL's most decorated veterans.Jonathan Toews - the former Chicago Blackhawks captain who led the club to three Stanley Cups in six seasons - was not only making his debut for his hometown Winnipeg Jets. He was playing his first NHL game in two and a half years. Continue reading...

The sport is rooted in the culture of rugged individualism and has been slow to adopt modern techniques. That state of affairs is slowly changingBoosted by cultural phenomena like the hit series Yellowstone and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album and tour, rodeo and all things Western are enjoying a cultural resurgence. Attendance, broadcast and streaming viewership are at all time highs. So is the prize money, which is attracting more and more young athletes seeking a chance to make a name for themselves.But while rodeo is booming, athlete development remains antiquated. Continue reading...

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After Trump logged on and chose violence, Democratic leaders condemned his disgusting and dangerous death threats' - key US politics stories from 19 NovemberDonald Trump called for the arrest of a group of Democratic lawmakers he accused of engaging in SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH".The president's remarks, issued on his Truth Social platform on Thursday morning, came after the legislators posted a video in which they told active service members they should refuse illegal orders. Continue reading...

Karoline Leavitt says president calls out fake news when he sees it' after remark to reporter draws severe condemnationThe White House issued a full-throated defense of Donald Trump's reference to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a piggy" on Thursday, claiming without evidence that the president calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information".White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the remarks during a White House briefing, saying Trump was re-elected because of his bluntness and that members of the media should appreciate his willingness to answer their questions. Continue reading...

Activist detained by ICE condemns smear and harassment campaign' and demands release of key communicationsMahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist who participated in protests at Columbia University and was detained by Ice earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit demanding the Trump administration release its communications with anti-Palestinian groups he says contributed to his March arrest and efforts to detain him.The groups, a number of which have boasted about their involvement in sharing dossiers on Palestine activists with the administration, have claimed credit for Khalil's arrest, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is part of the legal team representing Khalil, and they say there is evidence that indicates the Trump administration acted on information and misinformation - provided by these groups in cracking down" on Khalil and other pro-Palestine activists. Continue reading...

Public health and autism specialists roundly condemn alteration to the vaccine safety' webpageA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website has been changed to reflect the belief of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health and human services secretary, that there is a link between vaccines and autism, a view flatly contradicted by experts and scientifically validated studies.Public health and autism specialists roundly condemned the alteration to the CDC's vaccine safety" webpage, after it was changed to read: The statement Vaccines do not cause autism' is not an evidence-based claim." Continue reading...

California lawmaker says names of anyone involved in Epstein's crimes must come to light, Democrat or Republican

Poverty rate jumped from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023 in state, Tipping Point Community report findsNewly released data found that the San Francisco Bay Area's poverty rate soared from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023, with an approximate total 1.02 million residents in this six-county region considered impoverished by year's end.Another 12.5% of residents - about 790,000 people - hovered on the brink of poverty, meaning that about three in 10 Bay Area residents struggled to cover basic expenses. Continue reading...

Great and good pay tribute in Washington but honouring of former vice-president was an exercise in omissionYou suspected that Maga had not conquered the Washington national cathedral when Bill Kristol was spotted at a men's urinal conversing with Chris Wallace. You knew it for sure when James Carville, Anthony Fauci and Rachel Maddow were seen sitting close to one another in the nave.The funeral of the 46th US vice-president, Dick Cheney, who died earlier this month aged 84, was a throwback to a less raucous and rancorous time. Ex-presidents and vice-presidents, Democratic and Republican, made small talk, but Donald Trump, who spent Thursday crying treason and calling for Democrats to be put to death, and his deputy JD Vance were not invited. Continue reading...

Inquiry centers on whether two Trump allies influenced the Schiff mortgage investigation as prosecutors struggle to build the case

Move deals the president a temporary legal setback to his efforts to send troops to US cities despite local objectionsA federal judge on Thursday halted for now Donald Trump's deployment of national guard troops to Washington DC, dealing the president a temporary legal setback to his efforts to send the military to US cities over the objections of local leaders.US district judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying national guard troops to enforce the law in the nation's capital without approval from its mayor. Continue reading...

Senate majority leader, John Thune, and others push the attorney general to release Epstein records within 30 days

Release of report comes amid conjecture Trump may have authorized the agency to assassinate Venezuelan presidentThe White House under Gerald Ford tried to block a landmark Senate report that disclosed the CIA's role in assassination attempts against foreign leaders and ultimately led to a radical overhaul in how the agency was held to account, documents released to mark the 50th anniversary of the report's publication reveal.The documents, dating from 1975, were posted on Thursday by the National Security Archive, an independent research group, as it sought to highlight the report's significance amid conjecture that Donald Trump may have authorized the agency to assassinate Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, amid a massive US military build-up against the country. Continue reading...

San Francisco supervisor, 47, highlighting work on affordability for working families in US House runConnie Chan, a progressive lawmaker who serves on the San Francisco board of supervisors, has entered the race to succeed the former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi next year.In a Thursday announcement, Chan, 47, said the race was about local neighborhoods versus outside money" and highlighted her work trying to make San Francisco more affordable for working families. Continue reading...

Drenched by floods and abandoned amid the ruins, people in Gaza can draw no comfort from US plansThe declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza in October brought initial relief to its inhabitants. Yet officials there said Israeli strikes killed 33 people, including 12 children, on Wednesday; Israel said its troops had come under fire. Another five Palestinians were killed on Thursday. Hundreds have died since the ceasefire was declared. Even if the shelling stops, the destruction of Palestinian life will carry on as Israel continues to throttle aid, and the consequences of two years of war unfold. TheWorldHealth Organization warned last month thatthe health catastrophe would last for generations.Food remains in short supply. While displaced families shiver in flooded makeshift shelters, with many facing a third winter of homelessness, aid organisations say they cannot deliver stockpiles of tents and tarpaulins. Israel, which denies blocking aid, has designated tent poles as dual-use" items that could potentially be used for a military purpose. Save the Children reports children sleeping on bare ground in sewage-soaked clothing. Continue reading...

Big-name drivers and cutting out the middle man a vital part of the strategy with just over 100 days to go before the 2026 season openerTwelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One's newest entry for 2026. Building the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.At the final race of the season to be staged in the United Statess, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day. Continue reading...

Joe Biden and George W Bush attend Republican's service, while notable absences included Barack Obama and Bill ClintonDonald Trump and JD Vance have been snubbed, by not being invited to former vice-president Dick Cheney's funeral, taking place on Thursday, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.Cheney, the former US vice-president to George W Bush and Republican defense hawk who became a fierce critic of the current US president, died earlier this month at the age of 84. Continue reading...

With students terrified and arrests rising, educators in San Diego are scanning streets, sharing alerts and defending the right to feel safeThree teachers drove through a quiet neighborhood in southern San Diego, the sun not yet fully up over the horizon. They drank coffee and talked about their jobs. The start of the school day was still an hour or two away.Suddenly, mid-conversation, they spotted something: what appeared to be an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, driving right past them. Continue reading...

Top Democrat on Senate banking committee says private funding for Trump's ballroom poses serious corruption concerns

Cyril Ramaphosa says US has had change of mind' but does not confirm Trump's attendance in JohannesburgThe US has changed its mind about attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa's president has said, without confirming whether Donald Trump, who had said the US would boycott the event, now wanted to come.Trump has claimed that South Africa racially discriminates against the minority white Afrikaner community, which led the country during the apartheid regime that ended in 1994. Continue reading...

More than 2,000 Starbucks employees are on the picket line as politicians like Zohran Mamdani back striking workersUnionized Starbucks workers are threatening to expand a US strike against the world's biggest coffee chain into the largest and longest" in the company's history - and urging customers to steer clear.Starbucks has said the vast majority of its cafes remain open, and expressed disappointment that Starbucks Workers United launched the strike. Continue reading...

Brendan Carr, head of FCC, asks if programme ever aired in US which is seen as key to any future litigationA US media regulator led by a close ally of Donald Trump is examining whether an edition of the BBC's Panorama broke US regulations in the way it edited one of the president's speeches.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Brendan Carr, has written to the BBC's outgoing director general, Tim Davie, asking whether the programme was ever aired in the US. Continue reading...

Unemployment rate hits 4.4%, its highest level since 2021, and government has said no October report will be issuedThe US jobs market added 119,000 jobs in September, according to the latest monthly jobs report, which was delayed by six weeks due to the shutdown of the federal government.Amid heightened uncertainty surrounding the strength of the US economy, the much-anticipated reading was higher than the 51,000 jobs expected by analysts to be added in September. Continue reading...

As federal agents descend in North Carolina, businesses close as even an after-school program is targetedOn Central Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina, Manolo's Bakery has become a focal point for resistance to the upscaled immigration raids since border patrol officers descended on the city at the weekend. The owner closed the bakery to prevent his staff from being targeted. Most of the other shops on Charlotte's busy immigrant-centric street followed suit.Dozens of people have taken up camp in the parking lot to wave signs of support for immigrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been active in the city for months as part of Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda but things went up a level when border patrol arrived. Agents swiftly began buzzing through the place to make an armed show of their presence, followed at times by Charlotteans honking their horns in warning. Continue reading...

The plan, which is likely to be viewed as surrender' by Kyiv, is facing pushback from the EU. Plus, Trump signs bill to compel release of more Epstein documents

The Spaniard's style of possession football is not easily defined by stats and data. We tried to do so anyway

Tucker Carlson's interview with the activist revealed the mainstream right is being flooded by extremism - and it's now impossible to containFive days a week, thousands of fans gather online to watch Nick Fuentes hold court about the dangers of non-white immigration, feminism and organized Jewry". Usually dressed in a dark suit and tie, he lectures to his far-right followers, known as Groypers", about what he argues is the insufficient radicalism of Donald Trump's Republican party and what he describes as the perfidies of the state of Israel and its American supporters.Fuentes's fixation with Israel is not rooted in concern about the war in Gaza but a belief, in his telling, that Jews are responsible for most of society's problems. Fuentes, who is 27 and lives in Illinois, has called Adolf Hitler really fucking cool" and compared the Holocaust to the baking of cookies. Continue reading...

We're supposed to be used to this by now, but getting used to it is dangerous. Her colleagues should have spoken upCatherine Lucey, who covers the White House for Bloomberg News, was doing what reporters are supposed to do: asking germane questions.Her query to Donald Trump a few days ago during a gaggle" aboard Air Force One was reasonable as it had to do with the release of the Epstein files, certainly a subject of great public interest. Why had Trump been stonewalling, she asked, if there's nothing incriminating in the files".Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

We'd like to hear how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is impacting your local healthcare provisionHealthcare providers across the country have closed clinics and hospital wards in the four months since Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the landmark tax-and-spending legislation that will lead an estimated 10 million people to lose their health insurance.The law is expected to slash federal funding by hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years, as part of Trump's campaign pledge to shrink government spending. Though the bill isn't thought to be the only cause of the closures - it may have an impact on local healthcare settings that are financially struggling. Continue reading...

Gotham are underdogs against a potent Spirit side but they have the talent and resilience to cause another upsetAt the close of quintessential NWSL playoffs rife with last-minute goals and upsets, the eighth-placed underdogs Gotham FC play second-placed Spirit for the ultimate trophy. Both teams have won the NWSL Championship once before: the Spirit in 2021 and Gotham two years later. Washington are the likely favourites, but Gotham's talent cannot be discounted.As we look forward to Saturday night in San Jose, here are a few key battles that could decide the game. Continue reading...

With a platform focused on cost of living, Aftyn Behn wants to turn the US House seat blue for the first time since 1983Republicans have controlled Tennessee's seventh congressional district for four decades. The party finished some 21 points ahead of the Democrats when the seat was last contested, alongside Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election last November.Twelve months on, that lead has narrowed dramatically, according to opinion polls - and a challenger is attempting to build a coalition of the pissed off" to overturn it altogether. Continue reading...

Senior officials indicated favorability toward Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros DiscoverySenior White House officials have discussed internally their preference for Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in recent weeks, and one official has discussed potential programming changes at CNN with Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount.The discussions, according to people familiar with the matter, comes as Paramount portrays itself as the best bid for Warner Bros Discovery, after it announced last month it was open to offers, because it would have an easier time getting through regulatory review. Continue reading...

After Republicans were trounced in this month's votes, the administration has launched a slapdash, ill-conceived campaignWhen running for president last year, Donald Trump wooed and wowed voters by vowing to reduce prices starting on day one". But once he was inaugurated, he seemed to pay precious little attention to prices and affordability.All that changed, however, when inflation-weary voters thrashed Trump and the GOP on election day this month - within days, the Trump administration launched a slapdash effort to focus on affordability. Unfortunately, the campaign is a hot mess: a pile of absurdity, contradictions, magical thinking, scapegoating and good ol' Trumpian dishonesty, with Trump repeatedly blaring that prices are down." Continue reading...

President has previously criticised the New York City mayor-elect, labelling him a communist' and threatening to deport himDonald Trump has confirmed a long-awaited meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will happen in Washington this week, setting up an in-person clash between the political opposites who for months have antagonised each other.The sit-down, which Trump said on social media would take place on Friday in the Oval Office, could possibly represent a detente of sorts between the Republican president and Democratic rising star. Continue reading...

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President attacks Democrats in post on Truth Social after US lawmakers swiftly move bill through CongressDonald Trump signed a bill Wednesday directing the justice department to release files from the investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, surrendering in the face of joint pressure from Democratic opponents and the president's conservative base.The signature marked a sharp reversal for Trump, who had the authority as president to release the documents himself, but chose not to. Continue reading...

Decision comes after ex-treasury secretary said he would step back from public commitments over links to EpsteinLarry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, will stop teaching at the school while it investigates his connection to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman for Summers said on Wednesday.Emails recently released by the US House oversight committee reignited questions about Summers' relationship with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors. Many of the messages indicated a friendship that lasted well into 2019. Contact only ceased shortly before Epstein was arrested in July of that same year. Continue reading...

Action follows months of resistance from the president and his political allies that fractured his Maga base - key US politics stories from Wednesday 19 November at a glanceDonald Trump announced on Wednesday night that he had signed the bill overwhelmingly approved by US legislators that directs the justice department to release more files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased child sexual abuser.The president's signing sets a 30-day countdown for the Justice Department to produce what's commonly known as the Epstein files. Continue reading...

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick accused of funneling money to family healthcare business for 2021 congressional campaignDemocratic representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly funneling more than $5m worth of federal disaster funds from her company into her 2021 congressional campaign.The indictment states that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, stole $5m in Fema overpayments that their family healthcare company received, moving the money through multiple accounts to hide its origins. The indictment alleges that the majority of the money was used for Cherfilus-McCormick's congressional campaign, as well as for the personal benefit of the defendants. Continue reading...

Jerry Smith condemns opinion written by Jeffrey Brown and mentions Soros name 17 times in 104-page dissentIn a highly unusual opinion, a US federal judge berated his fellow judge with a series of personal attacks, and suggested that the billionaire George Soros had a role in an opinion striking down Texas's congressional districts.The 104-page dissent from US district judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee, was issued a day after two of his colleagues on a three-judge panel said the new congressional map Texas adopted earlier this year was likely unlawful because it discriminated against non-white voters. Continue reading...

Concession by federal lawyers adds to mounting challenges in effort to prosecute the former FBI directorFederal prosecutors on Wednesday said they had never presented the final version of the indictment filed against James Comey to a full federal grand jury, a concession that adds to mounting challenges in their effort to prosecute the former FBI director.Prosecutors acknowledged the omission during a Wednesday hearing in which Comey's lawyers argued the case against him should be dismissed because it was a selective and vindictive prosecution. Continue reading...

James Boasberg demands sworn testimony to determine whether US officials defied March court orderA federal judge on Wednesday said he was resuming his long-stalled court proceeding to determine whether Trump administration officials willfully violated a court order by deporting hundreds of men to El Salvador in March.US district judge James Boasberg said he would demand sworn testimony from administration officials to determine whether they defied his March court order to turn around aircraft that were removing the men from US territory. Continue reading...

The clip of the US president on Air Force One last Friday has taken off without much help from the media itselfIt's one outrage in days full of outrageous material.Quiet, piggy," Donald Trump told a female reporter in a press gaggle, pointing his finger at her angrily. Continue reading...