Corrections department review shows how Grant Hardin made fake guard uniform and details lax security at facilityA former police chief and convicted murderer known as the devil in the Ozarks" spent months planning his escape from an Arkansas prison, and he said lax security in the kitchen where he worked allowed him to gather the supplies he needed, according to an internal review by prison officials released on Friday.The state corrections department's critical incident review of Grant Hardin's 25 May escape from the Calico Rock prison provides the most detailed description so far of his planning - and the issues that allowed him to walk out of the facility. Continue reading...
Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was released and returned to Israel after being charged with luring a child for a sex actAn Israeli government cybersecurity official was reportedly arrested recently by Las Vegas police and other authorities in Nevada who were conducting an undercover investigation aimed at online users seeking to sexually prey on children.Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, 38, faces felony charges of luring a child with a computer for a sex act, alongside several other suspects who were apprehended during the two-week sting operation, the Las Vegas metropolitan police department said in a statement published on Friday. He has since evidently been released from custody and returned to Israel. Continue reading...
Dec My Dorm gives away sheet sets, pillows, shower caddies and other essentials at an annual summer eventWhen Ar'reiona Green was accepted to Sacramento State last year, she knew she would need books and school supplies. She didn't expect to need a toolbox. Or hangers. Or that her dorm room wouldn't come with a fan or a lamp.Like many first-year students, Green, who is headed into her sophomore year and plans to become a plastic surgeon, was excited about her future adventures. But coming up through the foster system in California, she didn't know anyone who had gone to college. While she felt ready for her classes, life as a college student was mostly mysterious except for what she'd seen online. Continue reading...
Hundreds of titles are being pulled from library and classroom shelves in the Republican-dominated stateA new wave of book bans has hit Florida school districts, with hundreds of titles being pulled from library and classroom shelves as the school year kicks off.The Republican-dominated state, which has already had the highest rate of book bans nationwide this year, is continuing to censor reading materials in schools, bowing to external pressures in an effort to avoid conflict and government retaliation. Continue reading...
Redistricting call a stereotypical power-play by Republican governor who has often bent state lawmakers to his willWith Gavin Newsom and Greg Abbott, the respective heavyweight governors of California and Texas, trading blows over plans to gerrymander the 2026 midterms, it was always kind of inevitable that Florida's Ron DeSantis would enter the chat.The Republican sees his state, the nation's third-largest by several metrics, not least its 28 congressional seats, as pivotal in the redistricting wars for control of the House. Continue reading...
by Stephen Starr in Clark county, Ohio on (#6ZBYM)
Excess rainfall has fueled disease and pest pressure in Ohio's soybean fields as a trade war with China puts farmers' biggest export market in doubtSeventh-generation farmer Brian Harbage grows corn, soybeans and grass, and runs a cattle operation across five counties in western Ohio. In the world of agriculture, his work makes up a large business.And still, the past two years have been immensely challenging amid the twin threats of the climate crisis and the Trump administration. Continue reading...
Officers who were attacked by the pro-Trump mob in 2021 are unimpressed by the crime crackdown: Whenever he says he's all for law and order, I have a bridge to sell you'As rioters beat and crushed him in a Capitol building tunnel on January 6, officer Aquilino Gonell kept thinking to himself: Where the fuck is the president? Why is the national guard not being deployed?"The bipartisan congressional committee that investigated the attack would later conclude that Donald Trump never ordered in the guard, which only arrived at the Capitol hours after the riot began, by the directive of the defense department. This week, the president showed far less hesitation to send national guard troops and federal agents on to the streets of Washington DC to respond to an out of control" crime wave that city leaders say is not actually happening. Continue reading...
Personalized intervention has transformed the former murder capital of the US - Trump's recent cuts have experts fearing a reboundThe end of violence in Baltimore is a litany of stories that weren't told in 90-second clips on the evening news, about shootings that didn't happen.The untold stories sound different, said Sean Wees: The guys had guns pointed at each other. We got in between." Continue reading...
Protests against redrawing of electoral maps in Texas and other states to take place in 34 US cities and towns SaturdayThousands are expected to gather in cities and towns across 34 states on Saturday for a national day of protest against Republican redistricting plans in Texas and elsewhere.Fight the Trump Takeover" will be anchored in Austin, Texas, with other sites spread nationwide. Continue reading...
This hypocrisy of western media has been laid bare by Israel's targeting of journalists since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attackFor nearly two years, Israel has been systemically targeting and killing Palestinian journalists in Gaza. On Sunday night, the Israeli military brazenly killed another six journalists, who had been sheltering in a tent housing media workers in Gaza City. Among them was the 28-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and the rest of the network's team reporting from the besieged territory.Israel is able to kill Palestinian journalists with impunity not just because of the unconditional military and political support it receives from the US and other western powers, but also the failure of many western media organizations and journalists to stand up for their Palestinian colleagues. Western outlets are often willing to publicly criticize governments and campaign for journalists who are harassed or imprisoned by US adversaries like Russia, China or Iran. But these institutions are largely silent when it comes to Israel, a US ally. Continue reading...
by Jenna Zaza in New York, Tiago Rogero in Rio de Jan on (#6ZBWB)
As US cafes come under pressure, major coffee-producing countries like Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia are also bracing for disruptionThe Trump administration has targeted Brazil with steep US tariffs of 50%. Coffee shops in the heart of New York are bracing for impact.When the Trump administration announced another wave of sweeping tariffs, particularly on Brazil, Stone Street Cafe's managing partner was first confused. Then came fear. A cafe already runs on slim margins and extra costs passed on from tariffs could risk everything. Continue reading...
For those who feared the summit on Ukraine might resemble Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler in 1938, the reality was worseThat was the moment he knew it was true love.Donald Trump turned to gaze at Vladimir Putin as the Russian president publicly endorsed his view that, had Trump been president instead of Joe Biden, the war in Ukraine would never have happened. Continue reading...
by Edward Helmore, Maya Yang and agencies on (#6ZBAC)
US capital city's law enforcement will remain under control of its chief, Pamela SmithWhite House officials and attorneys for Washington DC have agreed to scale back the Trump administration's takeover of the city's police department.Under an agreement announced early Friday evening, the US capital city's Metropolitan police department will remain under the control of its chief, Pamela Smith, instead of Terry Cole, the top administrator for the Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA), according to reports. Continue reading...
US president leaves more questions than answers after summit on ending Ukraine war with Vladimir Putin; White House agrees to scale back takeover of DC police department - key US politics stories from 15 August 2025Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin lavished praise on each other but offered no details of their nearly three-hour meeting in Alaska on Friday, with the US president saying great progress" but no deal had been made on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.There's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up Nato ... I'll of course call up [Ukraine's] President Zelenskyy and tell him about today's meeting," he said. Continue reading...
Legislation says special emergency conditions that would warrant federalization of DC police have not been metDemocratic lawmakers have introduced a joint resolution aimed at ending what they call Trump's unlawful and unprecedented move to federalize the Metropolitan police department (MPD) in Washington DC.Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House judiciary committee; DC's non-voting House delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton; and representative Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House committee on oversight and government reform, introduced the resolution on Friday, invoking the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. Continue reading...
by Lucy Campbell (now); Anna Betts, Shrai Popat and T on (#6ZB70)
This live blog is now closed. For the latest on US politics, read more of our coverage here.Washington DC's only Home Depot was busy with contractors and customers on Thursday morning - but the Hispanic day laborers who usually gather and wait for work under the parking lot's sparse trees were nowhere to be found.Two days earlier, masked federal agents swarmed the area and made several arrests, which were photographed by bystanders and posted on social media. Juwan Brooks, a store employee who witnessed the raid, said the agents grabbed anyone who appeared Hispanic. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans and agencies on (#6ZBN0)
Grand jury charges LaToya Cantrell with using city property and resources for purported affairThe New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on corruption charges involving a purported romance with her former bodyguard.Cantrell, 53, thus became the first New Orleans mayor in the city's 307-year history to be charged by the US government with crimes while still in office. Continue reading...
Prosecutors says Solomon Pena showed no remorse for shootings on the homes of four Democratic officials in AlbuquerqueA failed political candidate in New Mexico has been sentenced to 80 years in federal prison for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election.A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Pena in March of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state house speaker. Continue reading...
Beautiful Girls singer and his mother were convicted in March of accruing luxury items through falsified paymentsSean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a Florida court for a $1m wire fraud scheme, according to NBC South Florida.The 35-year-old singer, born Kisean Anderson, was found guilty in a South Florida court in March alongside his mother, Janice Turner, for accruing about $1m worth of luxury items through falsified payments that never cleared. Turner was sentenced in July to five years in prison with three years of probation. Continue reading...
Judge previously blocked president from laying off 1,500 employees at the Consumer Financial Protection BureauA federal appeals court set the stage for the Trump administration to resume firings at the top US consumer watchdog, ruling in a split decision that a lower court lacked jurisdiction in temporarily blocking the mass layoffs.The ruling will not take immediate effect, the court said on Friday, to allow lawyers representing workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer groups to file for a review of the case by the full circuit court of appeals for the District of Columbia. Continue reading...
Jamie Marsicano's due process and constitutional rights were violated by the state's ongoing delays, judge saidA judge has dismissed domestic terrorism charges against a defendant in connection with vandalism against construction equipment at the future site of the police training center near Atlanta, Georgia, colloquially known as Cop City, in what is seen as a win for protesters.DeKalb superior court judge Gregory Adams ruled on Thursday that defendant Jamie Marsicano's due process and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were violated by the state's ongoing delays and failure to issue an indictment two and a half years after arresting them at a nearby music festival. Continue reading...
Wildfires all over Europe, aid airdrops in Gaza, the frontline in Ukraine and Palestine Action arrests in London: the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists
The Polari first book prize claims to promote trans rights and trans voices. But when I saw the longlist, I had to actLast week, I withdrew my nomination from the longlist for the Polari first book prize. The awards had become mired in controversy due to the nomination of the Irish author John Boyne, best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, for the main prize for his novel Earth. Four days before the longlist announcement, Boyne had written in the Irish Independent, celebrating JK Rowling as a fellow terf" and saying of women who had pilloried" her for her gender activism: For every Commander Waterford, there's a Serena Joy standing behind him, ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her."I think such a viewpoint is abhorrent, but Boyne is free to hold whatever views he wants. What was unacceptable was a statement from the Polari prize addressing the backlash, emphasising its commitment to support trans rights and amplify trans voices", but defending Boyne's inclusion on the grounds that submissions are assessed purely on the merits of craft and content" and that within our community, we can at times hold radically different positions on substantive issues".Jason Okundaye is an assistant newsletter editor and writer at the Guardian. He edits The Long Wave newsletter and is the author of Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay BritainDo 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...
Sana Javeri Kadri built a successful spice company by sourcing directly from south Asian producers. But new tariffs threaten her business modelIn 2016, turmeric lattes were all the rage, but Sana Javeri Kadri thought the ones in San Francisco, where she lives, tasted nothing like the fresh spices she grew up with in India.A former line cook who was doing marketing for a Bay Area grocer, Javeri Kadri knew [her] way around spices", but was new to the industry. Still, she booked a ticket home to Mumbai, hoping that she could get richer flavors into US pantries. Continue reading...
US president's comment that Russian and Ukrainian leaders may have to divvy' things up likely to raise alarmDonald Trump has said he believes Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal on the war in Ukraine as the two leaders prepare for their summit in Alaska on Friday, but his suggestion that the Russian leader and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could divvy things up" may alarm some in Kyiv.The US president, who left the White House on Friday at 7.30am, implied there was a 75% chance of the Alaska meeting succeeding, and that the threat of economic sanctions may have made Putin more willing to seek an end to the war. HIGH STAKES!!!" he posted on Truth Social as his motorcade idled outside the White House shortly after sunrise in Washington. Continue reading...
Groups of armed men are descending on the capital's neighborhoods - to actually see it first hand, I didn't like it'Washington DC's only Home Depot was busy with contractors and customers on Thursday morning - but the Hispanic day laborers who usually gather and wait for work under the parking lot's sparse trees were nowhere to be found.Two days earlier, masked federal agents swarmed the area and made several arrests, which were photographed by bystanders and posted on social media. Juwan Brooks, a store employee who witnessed the raid, said the agents grabbed anyone who appeared Hispanic. Continue reading...
Trump's plan to boost Republican House seats in the midterms through gerrymandering has provoked a reactionThe mid-decade redistricting war looming between Republicans and Democrats is exposing an idea that's corroding American democracy - voters may not matter that much in determining who controls the US House.After Texas Republicans unveiled a Donald Trump-fueled plan to pick up five additional US House seats last month, the California governor, Gavin Newsom, unveiled a plan on Thursday to throw out districts drawn by an independent commission and put in place new ones that would add five Democratic seats in response. Republicans are also expected to push ahead with plans to redraw maps in Ohio, Missouri, Florida and possibly Indiana, in their favor. Continue reading...
Local officials slam president's remarks and point to federal funding cuts as the real harm to public safety in their citiesWhen Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan police department in Washington DC on Monday, he left room for the possibility of making a similar move in other cities across the US, alluding to their high crime rates.You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad," Trump said. We're not going to let it happen, we're not going to lose our cities." Continue reading...
The 23-times gold medallist warns of drift and weak leadership. Governance failures, and a troubled safeguarding record, could cost the US more than podium places at LA 2028In three years' time, the swimming programme for the Los Angeles Olympics will unfold over nine days and nights on the grandest stage the sport has ever known. A purpose-built pool inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will be the centerpiece of a 38,000-capacity open-air natatorium, transforming the $5bn home of the NFL's Rams and Chargers into the largest swimming venue in modern history. For the United States, a rare Summer Games on home soil should be a coronation, a chance to showcase the depth of its talent in the country's most spectacular arena. Yet Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of them all, fears the US swimming program is in no shape to seize the moment.Phelps has launched a withering attack on USA Swimming's leadership, accusing it of weak" stewardship, poor operational controls" and presiding over years of organizational drift. The 23-times Olympic gold medalist said he would think twice about letting his own sons join the system in its current state. His concerns, he says, stretch back to his own competitive career, when athlete voices were too often brushed aside in the name of keeping the peace and presenting a united front. This isn't on the athletes," he wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement. This is on the leadership of USA Swimming." Continue reading...
The league forbids political statements at its matches. But many believe MLS is more interested in its own position than the wellbeing of fansThe man in the Make America Great Again hat could not have been more direct.I'm being evicted from the premises because we can't wear Donald Trump hats in public," he said to his camera from the stands at a St Louis City game in late July. A security official lingered in the background, asking him to leave as he delivered his next line: Trump is not welcome here." Continue reading...
The careers of Sturgeon, Merkel and Ardern show how foolish it is to idealise leaders just for being womenNicola Sturgeon was always afraid of failure. But it was a very particular kind of failure she feared; one that follows a very particular kind of success. Living up to the fact of being Scotland's first female first minister became, she writes in her new memoir, almost an obsession", which is arguably unhealthy but not unreasonable. To be the first woman (or indeed the first minority) in any field is to be uncomfortably aware of being on probation: the test case that sceptics will use to decide whether women in general can really hack it, but also the yardstick by which other women will judge whether representation actually makes a difference.You daren't betray anything that looks like a sign of weakness, yet at the same time you're endlessly under pressure to spill your guts on all the intimate stuff - miscarriage and menopause in Sturgeon's case, pregnancy in high office for New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern, also the author of a recent memoir - lest other women feel you're either holding out on useful information, making it all look too infuriatingly easy, or failing to do your bit to break some taboo. (Even Sturgeon, in an interview this week with the midlife women's podcast The Shift, expressed surprise that, when she was figuring out how to manage menopausal symptoms in office, she couldn't find anything to read about how other senior politicians had coped.) Suddenly, you're not just a woman but an everywoman, supposed to magically embody every female voter who ever existed, even on issues where women in real life are impossibly divided - as they were over trans rights, the issue that ultimately holed Sturgeon's premiership below the waterline.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistDo 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...
These are the key issues the leaders of the US and Russia will need to resolve to achieve an end to the war in UkraineFew believe that Friday's Trump-Putin summit in Alaska will pave the way for a breakthrough. Russia and Ukraine remain far apart - with the Kremlin seeking to dominate its smaller neighbour while Kyiv wants to move decisively into the western sphere.Here are some of the key issues that will need to be addressed to reach a meaningful peace settlement. Continue reading...
It's tempting to scoff, but don't dismiss the data. Modern man's failure to forge real, meaningful friendships is bad for everyoneAt first I was startled when the psychologist Angelica Ferrara told me that most of the time it's women, not men, who want to write about her research into male loneliness. But this is the crux of the issue, isn't it? That we men need to talk, and we don't: not nearly enough, anyway.Since 1990, there has been a sharp decline in how many people men say they are close to, says Ferrara, who is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. In the US, two-thirds of men aged between 18 and 23 think that nobody really knows them; one third haven't seen anyone outside their household in the past week; only a fifth say they have friends they can really count on; and a staggering 69% of young men think no one cares if men are OK".Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...
Raid, apparently not communicated to local officials, one of several recently targeting stores in southern CaliforniaA man was hit by a vehicle and killed as he attempted to get away from federal immigration officers who were raiding a Home Depot in Los Angeles county on Thursday morning, according to authorities.Little has been disclosed about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) operation that led to the incident, but officials in Monrovia, a diverse LA suburb tucked into the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, confirmed agents had been seen at the store by city police officers shortly before 10am local time. Shortly after, Monrovia fire & rescue responded to reports of a pedestrian struck on the 210 freeway, a large interstate with four lanes in each direction. Continue reading...
President's comments come after protesters heckled officers who stopped cars at checkpoint along busy streetDonald Trump falsely claimed that crime in Washington DC is the worst it's ever been" on Thursday, amid a federal takeover of the city's police department and deployment of the national guard and federal agents in the city.Washington DC is at its worst point," Trump said from the Oval Office. It will soon be at its best point." He also baselessly accused DC law enforcement officials of giving phony crime stats" and said they're under investigation". Continue reading...
Masked border agents circle venue at which governor outlines bid to counter Republican-led redrawing effortGavin Newsom, California's governor, said on Thursday state Democratic lawmakers would move forward with a redistricting plan to counter the Republican-led map-drawing effort in Texas aimed at securing a House majority after the midterm elections.As he spoke at the Japanese American National museum's National Center for the Preservation of Democracy - a venue deliberately chosen for its symbolism - federal agents, armed and masked, fanned out across the complex, led by Gregory Bovino, head of the border patrol's El Centro sector. Local news footage showed a man being led away in handcuffs. Continue reading...
by Robert Mackey, Shrai Popat, Lucy Campbell and Tom on (#6ZAET)
Gavin Newsom announces plans to ask voters to approve new congressional maps in response to a redistricting plan by Texas. This blog is now closed.Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. Continue reading...
Donald Trump gives talks 75% chance of success while European leaders worry about concessions to Moscow - key US politics stories from Thursday 14 AugustDonald Trump has insisted he won't let Vladimir Putin mess around" with him at their high-stakes summit over Ukraine and is giving the talks a 75% chance of success.Amid concerns from European leaders that the Russian president will cajole Trump into imposing a settlement on Ukraine, the US president told reporters on the eve of Friday's talks in Alaska: I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me. Continue reading...
Education department found to have violated law when it threatened to cut funds from institutions that backed DEIA federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation's schools and universities.In her ruling, US district judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found that the education department violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives. Continue reading...
Gregory Rodriguez convicted of more than 60 charges of abusing women in his custody over nearly a decadeA former California correctional officer convicted of dozens of sexual abuse charges at a women's prison was sentenced to 224 years in prison on Thursday.Gregory Rodriguez, 57, worked as a guard at the Central California women's facility (CCWF), the state's largest women's prison, and was found guilty in January of over 60 charges of abusing nine women in his custody, including rape and battery.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...
US president told Norway's finance minister he wants the Nobel peace prize, according to the Norwegian pressDonald Trump cold-called Norway's finance minister last month to ask about a nomination for the Nobel peace prize, Norwegian press reported on Thursday.The Norwegian outlet Dagens Naeringsliv, citing unnamed sources, reported: Out of the blue, while finance minister Jens Stoltenberg was walking down the street in Oslo, Donald Trump called ... He wanted the Nobel prize - and to discuss tariffs." Continue reading...
US news | The Guardian