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Senate Democrats voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near certain path to a shutdown. Key US politics stories from 30 September 2025Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for stalled talks that have made a US government shut down all but certain, and has threatened to punish the party and its voters during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.Late on Tuesday Senate Democrats voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in almost seven years. Democrats refused to vote for the bill unless it included a series of concessions centred on healthcare. Continue reading...

US Senate rejects Republican plan to keep funding flowing as each party mostly unites to block other's proposal

Federal Trade Commission alleges agreement between two firms started when Zillow paid Redfin $100mThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Zillow and Redfin, accusing the real estate companies of entering what the regulator says is an illegal deal to suppress competition in online rental advertising.In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the FTC alleges that this agreement started in February - when Zillow paid Redfin $100m. In exchange for that and other compensation, the commission said, Redfin agreed to end contracts with advertising partners, stop competing ads for multifamily properties for up to nine years and serve as a syndicator of Zillow listings on its own sites. Continue reading...

Nakia Porter was violently arrested by sheriff's deputies in 2020 after stopping to switch drivers during a family tripA woman who was knocked unconscious and arrested by two sheriff's deputies in northern California after stopping to change drivers during a family trip in 2020 has reached a $17m settlement with the county, her lawyer said on Monday.Nakia Porter had filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Solano county sheriff's office deputies violating state and federal civil rights statutes by engaging in unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force". Continue reading...

Rancho Palos Verdes threatened by worsening landslide with no injuries reported and but trigger unknownA wealthy enclave in southern California that has been threatened by worsening landslides for years saw more of its land crumble this week.Aerial photos showed parts of several backyards of large homes in Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal community about 25 miles (40km) south of Los Angeles, had crumbled toward the ocean on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Housing and VA departments attack radical left' despite law limiting political activities of government employeesSeveral US federal agencies on Tuesday began blaming Democrats for an impending government shutdown at midnight in a move that experts say appears to violate the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of government employees.Some agencies reportedly sent emails to employees on Tuesday afternoon, while others posted public statements faulting Democrats, the radical left," and radical liberals in Congress" for a potential government shutdown at midnight. Continue reading...

Democrats said they won't vote for legislation unless Republicans reverse Medicaid cuts and extend subsidies

Brendan Carr earlier said we can do this the easy way or the hard way' as he urged networks to take action on KimmelBrendan Carr, the tough-talking, pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claimed on Tuesday that Democrats and the media had misrepresented" critical comments he made about Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talkshow.Television conglomerates including Nexstar and Sinclair opted to pull the show for business" reasons, Carr argued, not because of anything he said. Continue reading...

Release comes after a Guardian investigation revealed US pullback on anti-trafficking efforts, which Trump officials denied

Lawsuit from Trump's justice department targets advocates involved in a 2024 protest at a New Jersey synagogueThe Trump administration has filed a first-of-its-kind civil rights lawsuit against pro-Palestinian groups and activists, accusing the advocates of violating a law that has traditionally been used to protect reproductive health clinics from anti-abortion harassment and violence.The lawsuit, filed on Monday by the justice department's civil rights division, alleges that two advocacy groups and six people broke the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (Face) Act when they protested against an event at a West Orange, New Jersey, synagogue in November 2024. The event at the Ohr Torah synagogue promoted the sale of property in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are widely considered illegal under international law. Similar events have sparked protests in the years since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, but this event escalated into violence. Continue reading...

Judge rules non-citizens have the same free speech rights as US citizens under the first amendment

President also said that company would provide medications to Medicaid at most favored nation' pricing

Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, a father of four, succumbed to his injuries after being removed from life support'A second person who was shot recently at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Dallas, Texas, has died, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac), which is representing his family.Lulac announced in a news release on Tuesday that Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, had succumbed to his injuries after being removed from life support following the [24 September] sniper attack on the Dallas Ice facility". Continue reading...

Jeff Landry's request comes as crime trends analyst says New Orleans has had fewest murders since 1970The Donald Trump-supporting Republican governor of Louisiana has asked for national guard troops to be deployed to New Orleans and other cities, saying Monday that the state needs help fighting crime and praising the president's decision to send the military to Washington DC and Memphis.The Republican governor, Jeff Landry, asked for up to 1,000 troops through fiscal year 2026 in a letter sent to the Trump administration's top military official, Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the national guard to fight crime. Continue reading...

Federal workers' move offers Democrats a chance to win the budget battle - and their identityThe Federal Unionists Network (FUN) and 35 national, state and local unions have written a letter to the Democratic congressional leadership - Chuck Schumer in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries in the House, urging them to hold out against Republicans in the budget negotiations, even if it means a government shutdown and halted paychecks. The signatories represent tens of thousands of federal workers", according to an FUN press release.The Democrats' demands, the letter says, should include adequate funding for critical public services" and a guarantee" that funds appropriated by the Congress are spent.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...

Does the Donald know that there's a new master negotiator in town? Of course he does, he taught the apprentice everything he knowsAny dramatist seeking a character through whom to distil the sold-out madness of the present times could do a lot worse than President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Yesterday exposed Jared's starring role in not one but two current deals. 1. History's biggest-ever leveraged buyout, of video game giant Electronic Arts (EA), which Kushner's firm is taking private and effectively into Saudi ownership. And 2. Eternal peace in the Middle East", as per what has been widely referred to as the Kushner-Blair plan" for Gaza. Busy week for Jared! He's popping up at so many seismic moments - just call him Forrest Trump.Quick refresher on our boy: he is married to Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, and previously served as a senior adviser in his father-in-law's first administration, taking the opportunity of Trump's election loss/unfortunate insurrection-fostering to seemingly leave frontline politics and start his own investment firm. And contrary to popular conjecture that he would be a pariah after that period, Jared sails unstoppably on. These days his appearance is so coolly detached and rarefied that he looks more like a drawing of Jared Kushner, or maybe like the cyborg you'd build to covertly replace Jared Kushner after the real one was plagued by conscience glitches.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Michigan suspect was a Marine veteran, as was suspect in another recent shooting in North Carolina, who has been charged with murderThe suspected shooter in the killing of at least four people in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan on Sunday bore a virulent hatred of the Mormon religion which he frequently referred to as the antichrist, local people have reported.The hostile views of the suspect, 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, who was shot and killed by police minutes after he opened fire inside the church in Grand Blanc Township, have emerged as the FBI continues to search for a motive in the mass shooting. The authorities have labelled the incident as a targeted act of violence". Continue reading...

New Zealand destroyed pistols the FBI director gifted to security chiefs after finding the guns potentially operableOn a visit to New Zealand, Kash Patel gave the country's police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed, New Zealand law enforcement agencies told the Associated Press.The plastic 3D-printed replica pistols formed part of display stands the FBI director presented to at least three senior New Zealand security officials in July. Patel, the most senior Trump administration official to visit the country so far, was in Wellington to open the FBI's first standalone office in New Zealand. Continue reading...

Study finds prosecutors targeting low-income women mainly in US south - and figure likely to be an undercountIn the first two years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, prosecutors in 16 states charged more than 400 people with pregnancy-related crimes, new research released on Tuesday found.Of the 412 cases tracked by Pregnancy Justice, the vast majority took place in the US south, targeted low-income women and involved allegations that women broke laws against child abuse, endangerment or neglect, according to the research, which was compiled by the reproductive justice group. About 300 prosecutions took place in Alabama and Oklahoma. In 16 cases, law enforcement charged women with homicide. Continue reading...

Former prosecutors condemn takeover of the DoJ' but say chance of success could be tainted by president's commentsDonald Trump's public and private push to have ex-FBI director James Comey indicted on criminal charges is a strong sign of the US slipping into authoritarianism, but it could also taint the case's chances of success because it is evidence of a selective and biased political prosecution, ex-prosecutors and scholars say.Trump's retribution drive against an old foe he blames for legal and political problems notched a big win when Comey was indicted last week on two criminal counts in Virginia. Continue reading...

Exclusive: more than 100 members of Congress warn TPS cancellations will result in significant staff losses that US healthcare facilities will struggle to replaceThe US healthcare system faces a perfect storm", more than 100 members of Congress warn today, as Donald Trump's administration risks exacerbating pressure on its workforce by stripping nearly one million US immigrants of work authorization and legal protection.Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has granted about 570,000 US workers protection from deportation, as their home countries are regarded as dangerous, due to factors like war and natural disaster. Continue reading...

Spencer Cox tells 60 Minutes he's making plea after being able to unsee' video of Charlie Kirk being shotThe Utah governor, Spencer Cox, has called on people in the US to stop shooting each other - that's it" saying he makes that plea against political violence after being unable to unsee" video of a sniper in his state killing rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.Cox delivered those comments in an interview aired Sunday evening on the CBS program 60 Minutes, 18 days after Kirk's shooting death at Utah Valley University (UVU) and one week from the Turning Point USA founder's memorial service outside Phoenix. Continue reading...

Any questions about how the Gabon international would gel with Son Heung-min have been put to rest after a historic scoring runWhen Son Heung-min arrived at Los Angeles Football Club last month, there was a huge sense of excitement: here was South Korea's most popular athlete and one of the best Asian footballers in history. In a city with the largest South Korean community in the United States, there was also a belief that - just as with Lionel Messi and Miami - the diaspora would create a strong bridge between club and city.But this was also about LAFC itself. Undoubtedly, there was much Son could offer to Steve Cherundolo and a squad that was already blessed with attacking talent, including Denis Bouanga, the 30-year-old France-born Gabon international. Just before Son's debut for LAFC on 9 August against Chicago Fire, Bouanga - a three-time All-Star - had 13 goals in the league and had long served as the main goal threat for the club, who at the time were sixth in the Western Conference. Continue reading...

American attacks have killed more than 14 people they claim were drug traffickers in our waters. Now our islands are at risk of being dragged into a manufactured conflict we are ill-equipped to endureFor decades, the Caribbean has been caught in the slipstream of other people's wars - from cold war proxy battles to Washington's war on drugs" and war on terror". Our islands have too often been turned into the frontlines for policies scripted elsewhere but fought in our waters, our communities, and on the backs of our most vulnerable.The recent US naval strikes against alleged drug boats" leaving Venezuela, and the decision of Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to grant access to territorial waters without first consulting the Caribbean collective of developing countries, Caricom, risk dragging our islands into yet another manufactured storm. Continue reading...

Jared Kushner and Tony Blair's neocolonial venture would be an incompatible transplant that would be rejected by the bodyOn my first day in Baghdad, after the mortar fire had subsided, I made my way to my office in the Republican Palace and set about the first task I had been given: writing a new policy for the Iraqi police on pregnant officers. To be clear, I was 26 and knew nothing about policing, nor about pregnancy, nor, for that matter, about Iraq, but I was part of the Coalition Provisional Authority - the American government that had been imposed after the war - and this policy, I was told, was what Iraq needed.Five years later, I found myself sitting in a plush hotel suite in Jerusalem, as Tony Blair - one of the architects of the Iraq war, but now the quartet special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process", waxed lyrical on the economic growth that was occurring in the Palestinian city of Jenin. Having spent a significant amount of time the day before negotiating the myriad of Israeli military checkpoints that separated Jenin's dusty streets from the five-star German Colony Hotel where we were meeting, I could not square Blair's impression with my own reality.Josh Paul served as a national aecurity consultant in the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq, a security sector governance adviser to the US security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian territories, and now leads Washington DC-based non-profit advocacy group A New Policy Continue reading...

As the postseason starts with the wildcard round, our writers pick the dark horses, likely winners and the high seeds at risk of going out earlyThe Pirates may have been abysmal again but have remained appointment viewing thanks to Paul Skenes, whose highlight reels make you question physics. It's not just his raw pace, throwing 100mph+ deep into games, but his mastery of late-moving variations that mean batters can't pick whether it's a sweeper or a splinker until it's already behind them. Alan Evans Continue reading...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of boxing's greatest fights. As Muhammad Ali's biographer, I knew the toll the bout took on himIn 1989, with Muhammad Ali sitting beside me, I watched a tape of Ali's historic triumph over Joe Frazier in Manila, which took place 50 years ago this week.For months, Ali and I had been reviewing his fights for a book I was writing as his authorized biographer. We'd watched Henry Cooper knock Cassius Clay to the brink of oblivion with a picture-perfect left hook. From the vantage point of my living room, that had amused Muhammad. Continue reading...

US official says inquiry launched in June still under way but Australian PM and defence minister confident deal is secure

Neither Trump's US nor the rise of the AfD explains it all. Self-styled progressives in the arts must take a hard look at themselves tooIn sports, the Black athlete is often mythologised: supernatural speed, exceptional strength, genetics as magic. And yet, in public spaces, a Black person running is met with suspicion, fear or anger. The choreographer Joana Tischkau's new piece Runnin', which premiered at Berlin's prestigious performance stage HAU, last week, opens that tension and holds it for us to see.The work builds itself in the everyday: four performers move in circles across an empty stage. It brings the so-called pedestrian movement" of postmodern dance - walking, standing, sitting - the sort of movement considered neutral, almost invisible, into collision with the Black body. When a racialised person simply moves, simply breathes in our shared streets, the piece seems to ask, is that ever neutral?Fatma Aydemir is a Berlin-based author, novelist, playwright and Guardian Europe 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...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on US politics, read more of our coverage hereTrump officials to announce plan to boost coal outputThe US is set to announce on Monday policies to try to boost the output of coal, the interior department said, as the Trump administration seeks to reverse the decline of the fossil fuel's use. Continue reading...

State is latest to face legal threats in the course of Trump administration's brutal deportation campaignThe justice department has sued the state of Minnesota over its sanctuary city immigration policies, making it the latest locality to face legal threats as the Trump administration attempts to carry out the president's campaign promise of mass deportations.Minnesota officials are jeopardizing the safety of their own citizens by allowing illegal aliens to circumvent the legal process," Pamela Bondi, the attorney general, said in a statement. Continue reading...

Trump and the Israeli prime minister outline their 20-point plan during meeting at White House. Key US politics stories from Monday 29 September at a glanceSome of America's key allies have backed Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza, after the president and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered an ultimatum to Hamas, warning the militant group to accept their 20-point plan or face the consequences.UK prime minister Keir Starmer has called on Hamas, to agree to the plan and end the misery, by laying down their arms and releasing all remaining hostages". French president Emmanuel Macron said France stands ready to contribute" to the efforts to end the war. Continue reading...

Democrats strike optimistic tone after high-stakes meeting but Republicans accuse rivals of hostage-taking'A high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and top congressional Democrats on Monday resulted in no apparent breakthrough in negotiations to keep the government open, with JD Vance declaring afterwards: I think we are headed into a shutdown."Democrats, who are refusing to support the GOP's legislation to continue funding beyond Tuesday unless it includes several healthcare provisions, struck a more optimistic tone following the Oval Office encounter, which also included the Republican leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. Continue reading...

Ian Roberts was superintendent of Des Moines public schools, the largest school district in the stateThe superintendent of Iowa's largest school district has had his education license revoked by state education officials following his arrest last week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents.Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines public schools (DMPS), was detained by Ice agents on Friday morning in what the Department of Homeland Security described as a targeted enforcement operation". Continue reading...

The US president, Donald Trump, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Monday that they have agreed to a plan to end the war in Gaza, but it is unclear whether Hamas will accept the terms. The plan does not require people to leave Gaza and calls for the war to end immediately if both sides accept it. It also calls for all remaining hostages to be released within 72 hours of Israel accepting the plan

Hud attorneys who said fighting discrimination not a Trump priority call dismissals as blatant as can be'Two attorneys in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) anti-discrimination division said they were fired on Monday, a week after going public with a whistleblower report alleging that the Trump administration had dismantled efforts to combat residential segregation.Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan worked in Hud's Office of Fair Housing (OFH), which is tasked with bringing cases against parties accused of discriminating against tenants and homebuyers under a landmark civil rights law. In a report sent last month to Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, Heenan, Osadebe and two anonymous colleagues wrote that fighting discrimination under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was not a priority" for the administration, and that their office had been targeted for downsizing because it presented an optics problem". Continue reading...

Javice was convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175mCharlie Javice, the entrepreneur convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175m, was sentenced on Monday to just over seven years in prison.Alvin Hellerstein, the US district judge, handed down the sentence at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. Continue reading...

Oregon has filed suit to block Trump's move, warning there was no legal justification' and it will escalate tensionsPortland is bracing for the deployment of 200 national guard troops as Donald Trump moves ahead with plans to bring the US military into another Democratic-run city.Oregon filed a lawsuit to block the deployment, which the state has warned will escalate tensions and lead to unrest when there is no need or legal justification" to bring federal troops into Portland. Continue reading...

Celeste Rivas Hernandez, first reported missing at age 13, found decomposing in trunk of singer's car in Los AngelesThe missing teenager whose body was discovered decomposing in singer D4vd's Tesla in early September likely died several weeks earlier, according to the Los Angeles police department.Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dead in the trunk of the singer's car on 8 September, one day after her 15th birthday, following reports of a foul odor emanating from the vehicle. The then 13-year-old Rivas Hernandez was first reported missing on 5 April 2024. Continue reading...

Craig Vogt arrested after allegedly saying he killed the animals out of spite because neighbor kept feeding themA man on Florida's Gulf coast has been charged with animal cruelty after authorities said he killed, cooked and ate two of his pet peacocks to spite a neighbor.Craig Vogt, 61, was arrested on 23 September on a third-degree felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty, according to an affidavit from the Pasco county sheriff's office, as the Miami Herald reported. Continue reading...

Six separate mass shootings bring tally to 324 this year, underscoring continuing US crisis of gun violenceSunday's mass murder at a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, which left at least four worshippers dead and eight wounded, was just one of six mass shootings that erupted across the US over a weekend of gun horror.The Gun Violence Archive, an online non-profit database which records mass shootings in America, added six fresh incidents over Saturday and Sunday. The concentrated bloodletting, spread out across four states, took the lives of nine people, including the suspect in Sunday's shooting at Grand Blanc's Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church, as well as injuring at least 33. Continue reading...

After Europe held off an amazing comeback from the USA to triumph 15-13 and retain the Ryder Cup, we bring you some of our favourite images from three days of excitement at Bethpage Continue reading...

Irish golfer represents everything that makes Europe so successful as a team and could well be a future captainIt is not easy being Shane Lowry. Such a close friendship with Rory McIlroy means not only is sporting comparison inevitable but questions towards Lowry are routinely framed with the Northern Irishman in mind. What does Rory think, what would Rory say. Lowry takes it all in good spirit - the vast majority of the time - when he would be entitled to roll his eyes. That also applies to the rogue depiction of the hard-drinking Irishman who has a natural talent for his sport that removes a need for hard work. There are few more dedicated or serious performers than Lowry. He cares almost too much.McIlroy's outstanding achievements in golf do not extend to what Lowry produced on Sunday. A stirring comeback from the USA had left Europe in serious danger of letting the Ryder Cup slip through a dozen pairs of hands. It was left to Lowry and a 6ft putt on the final green at Bethpage Black to ensure at least a tie. The man American fans had called a Teletubby over the Ryder Cup's earlier two days would enjoy the last, deafening laugh. I still can't believe it," Lowry said on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Investigation to come after body was found by maintenance workers at Charlotte airport after flight arrived from EuropeAirplane maintenance workers at a North Carolina airport found the body of a suspected stowaway in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines flight that had recently arrived from Europe, police said.The body was found on Sunday morning while the plane was undergoing maintenance at Charlotte Douglas international airport. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department said in a statement that it is investigating the death. Continue reading...

Administration's targeting of group settled in the US after fleeing war in Vietnam creating further displacementWa Kong Lor, a Hmong refugee from the outskirts of Detroit, was deported to Laos last month with only a driver's license and $65 in cash.Lor had never set foot in Laos, where his parents fled after the end of the Vietnam war. Born in a Thai refugee camp, he's considered stateless in the country, and unable to open a bank account to receive money from the US. For the past month, he's been living off the $65, spending a couple of dollars a day on food, said his wife, Maiyia Xiong. He asked her not to tell his mother and four young children back in Michigan that he's begun sleeping on the streets. Continue reading...