US news | The Guardian

Trump campaigned on the promise of no more wars' but the US is now embroiled in another Middle Eastern conflict - key US politics stories from Sunday 22 JuneDuring his presidential campaign, Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of no more wars" but global events have radically changed his views.In what could be his most consequential day as president yet, Trump decided to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday in an operation he deemed a spectacular military success". Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities, he boasted, have been completely and totally obliterated." Continue reading...

Man wrongfully deported by Ice amid Trump crackdown has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling chargesA Tennessee judge on Sunday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free.At his 13 June detention hearing, prosecutors said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial. Continue reading...

Activist condemns Columbia's shameful trustees' but praises students' courage after release from Ice detentionMahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian rights activist, freed from Ice detention on Friday, returned to Columbia University on Sunday to renew his commitment to the cause of Palestinian freedom and opposition to both the university and the Trump administration.Khalil arrived back in New York on Saturday after being released from more than 100 days in detention in Louisiana by a federal judge who ruled that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional and ordered his immediate release on bail. Continue reading...

Kat Cammack blames left's fearmongering after medical staff hesitated to give her drugs needed to end pregnancyA Florida Republican congresswoman is blaming fearmongering on the left for the reluctance of hospital staff to give her the drugs she needed to end an ectopic pregnancy that threatened her life.Kat Cammack went to the emergency room in May 2024 where it was estimated she was five weeks into an ectopic pregnancy, there was no heartbeat and her life was at risk. Doctors determined she needed a shot of methotrexate to help expel her pregnancy but since Florida's six week abortion ban had just taken effect medical staff were worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they did. Continue reading...

Much could go wrong for the US and the Middle East as Trump and Netanyahu pursue the disempowerment of Iran

Vice-president declines to double down on Trump's stance that Iran's nuclear sites were totally destroyedJD Vance has said the US is not at war" with Iran - but is with its nuclear weapons program, holding out a position that the White House hopes to maintain over the coming days as the Iranian regime considers a retributive response to Saturday's US strike on three of its nuclear installations.In an interview Sunday with NBC News' Meet the Press, the US vice-president was asked if the US was now at war with Iran. Continue reading...

Gunman opened fire at CrossPointe Community church in Wayne, Michigan, but was shot by security guardA gunman opened fire during a service at a suburban Detroit church on Sunday, wounding one person before he was shot and killed by a security guard, police said.The person shot in the leg was the security guard, according to what the church's pastor told the Detroit News. No one else was hurt in part because a church member ran the attacker over with a truck, said the CrossPointe Community church pastor Bobby Kelly Jr. Continue reading...

Manager has to use Caicedo, Fernandez and Lavia wisely with Club World Cup useful exercise for next seasonEnzo Maresca sometimes gives the impression he would love nothing more than to name an entire team of midfielders. A conundrum facing Chelsea's head coach, though, is that he will struggle to find space in his starting XI for everyone next season.Chelsea are not short of options in the middle. They have the 100m buys, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, and the elegant, deep-lying Romeo Lavia. Yet starting them all in a midfield three is not easy if Cole Palmer plays as a No 10. Continue reading...

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon lead voices on right seeing airstrikes as break with America first' doctrine

Leading figures on Senate and House intelligence committees not briefed in advance in break with custom

Blasts were heard in Isfahan after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. Explosions from the direction of the Isfahan nuclear site could be heard in a video posted on social media, and at least one fiery ball illuminated the night sky

Boat overturned after apparently being hit by a large swell, in a region that's a popular spot with touristsSix people have died and two others were missing after a boat capsized on Saturday on California's Lake Tahoe, local authorities have said.A 27ft-long boat overturned in the afternoon after apparently being hit by a large swell near DL Bliss state park, according to the Coast Guard. Lake Tahoe and its surrounding wilderness region is a hugely popular spot with tourists. Continue reading...

GOP officials had previously manipulated districts as well to wrest voting power from Black electorateRepublicans in Florida racially gerrymandered two key state senate districts to disenfranchise Black voters and skew results in the Tampa Bay area, a panel of judges has heard.In one district, they took a small chunk of St Petersburg heavy with minority voters and added it to an area of Tampa in a different county, and across a 10-mile waterway, leaving the remainder of its electorate artificially white", the court was told. Continue reading...

The political temperature is dangerously high - and shows few signs of coolingIt has been a grim couple of weeks in the US, as multiple acts of politically motivated violence have dominated headlines and sparked fears that a worrying new normal has taken hold in America.Last Saturday, a man disguised as a police officer attacked two Democratic legislators at their homes in Minnesota, killing a state representative and her husband, and wounding another lawmaker and his wife. The alleged murderer was planning further attacks, police said, on local politicians and abortion rights advocates. Continue reading...

Small businesses are doing OK right now, even if there is a bit of concern about tariffs, inflation, labor shortages and higher costsSmall businesses in the US account for approximately half of the country's jobs, so when small businesses are doing well, it's likely that the economy is doing well. Media reports recently indicated that many small businesses are challenged by Trump's tariffs, ongoing inflation, labor shortages and higher financing costs. So how are small businesses doing so far in 2025? Not great. But not that bad either.In just the past two months, there have been no less than seven comprehensive surveys conducted by well-known companies and brands that altogether surveyed or drew from their internal data of tens - even hundreds - of thousands of small businesses. And they give a pretty good idea of how they're doing. Continue reading...

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US defense secretary praises Trump at first news briefing but Pentagon says it is too early for full damage assessment

Pete Hegseth said overnight airstrikes targeting the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities 'devastated' Iran's nuclear programme. At a press conference at the Pentagon, he said the strikes, which followed a 'focused, powerful and clear' order from the US president, Donald Trump, did not target Iranian troops or civilians

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called the US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday night 'an outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation of the principles of the UN charter and international law'. He added: 'Iran reserves all options to defend its security interests and people' Continue reading...

Social media popularizes the deadly activity, and a 1847 law stymies families who try to hold the city to accountJaida Rivera's 11-year son, Cayden, was supposed to be in school at Brooklyn's Fort Greene preparatory academy on the morning of 16 September last year. Staff saw him in the cafeteria after his grandmother dropped him off at 7.45am.But 30 minutes later he was marked as absent. Cayden had somehow slipped out, boarded a G subway train traveling south and was riding on top of one of its carriages when he fell on to the tracks at the Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street station just after 10.00am. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likelyBombing will not make Iran go away. US bombs will not destroy the knowhow needed to build a nuclear weapon or the will do so, if that is what Tehran wants. The huge attack ordered by Donald Trump will not halt ongoing open warfare between Israel and Iran. It will not bring lasting peace to the Middle East, end the slaughter in Gaza, deliver justice to the Palestinians, or end more than half a century of bitter enmity between Tehran and Washington.More likely, Trump's rash, reckless gamble will inflame and exacerbate all these problems. Depending on how Iran and its allies and supporters react, the region could plunge into an uncontrolled conflagration. US bases in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the region, home to about 40,000 American troops, must now be considered potential targets for retaliation - and possibly British and allied forces, too. Continue reading...

The race has turned into an Israel-Palestine proxy war of sorts, even as voters on both sides wish the focus remained on local issuesSpeaking from a Jerusalem bomb shelter last week as Iran and Israel exchanged fire, a New York state senator posted a video message to New York City voters: There is a mayoral primary coming up this week where one of the candidates does not believe the Jewish state has a right to exist," said Sam Sutton, the senator from Brooklyn. We don't want to be in a situation like this in America."Sutton called on New Yorkers to elect a great friend of the Jewish people": Andrew Cuomo, New York's former governor. Continue reading...

People were starting to laud the US president for his resistance to the Israeli PM's pull, but what now?

Trump calls attacks on Iranian nuclear sites a success, but some US lawmakers immediately called the attack unconstitutional. Key US politics stories from Saturday 21 JuneWashington was in a flurry late on Saturday as Donald Trump announced that the US had completed strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to destroy the country's nuclear program.American politicians reacted to the news of the US bombing of nuclear targets in Iran with a mix of cheering support and instant condemnation, reflecting deep divisions in the country, as Washington grapples with yet another military intervention overseas. Continue reading...

Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders denounced the decision to launch attack, while most Republicans praised the action

President warned that Tehran must start peace negotiations with Israel and stop enriching uranium

As Trump considered striking Iran, some advisers adjusted public arguments to suggest quick bombing run

The administration has torn up the rulebook as it seeks to implement a hardline agenda to expel people from the USDonald Trump retook the White House vowing to stage the largest deportation operation in American history". As previewed, the administration set about further militarizing the US-Mexico border and targeting people requesting asylum and refugees while conducting raids and deportations in undocumented communities, detaining and deporting immigrants and spreading fear.Critics are outraged, if not surprised. But few expected the new legal chapter that unfolded next: a multipronged crackdown on certain people seen as opponents of the US president's ideological agenda. This extraordinary assault has come in the context of wider attacks on higher education, the courts and the constitution. Continue reading...

Governor Greg Abott signs bill into law but challenge expected from critics who consider it unconstitutionalTexas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation's largest to attempt to impose such a mandate.The bill, which was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. Continue reading...

Officials say two men and a woman killed around town of Enderlin as region experiences powerful winds and hailPowerful winds - including a tornado - that swept across parts of the upper midwest left three people dead and a regional airport heavily damaged, while nearly 150 million Americans were under a heat advisory or warning as the weekend warmed up in much of the US.A complex storm system wreaked havoc in parts of North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with reported tornadic activity, large hail and strong wind gusts, according to Brian Hurley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Continue reading...

Director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fallen in line with the US president - other war-sceptics are followingThe Trump administration is managing internal dissent over deliberations on whether to launch a strike against Iran, breaking what many supporters saw as a campaign pledge not to involve the US in new conflicts in the Middle East.Trump for the second time this week disregarded testimony by his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, that Iran had not been seeking to build a nuclear weapon as of March this year. Continue reading...

Columbia graduate and legal US resident was targeted by White House for speaking out against the Israeli war in GazaMahmoud Khalil - the Palestinian rights activist, Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident of the US who had been held by federal immigration authorities for more than three months - has been reunited with his wife and infant son.Khalil, the most high-profile student to be targeted by the Trump administration for speaking out against Israel's war on Gaza, arrived in New Jersey on Saturday at about 1pm - two hours later than expected after his flight was first rerouted to Philadelphia. Continue reading...

Officials tell Reuters bombers moving to Pacific Island but unclear whether deployment tied to Middle East tensionsThe United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, two US officials told Reuters on Saturday, as Donald Trump weighs whether the United States should take part in Israel's strikes against Iran.It was unclear whether the bomber deployment is tied to Middle East tensions. Continue reading...

Team, which said it stopped Ice agents entering parking lot on Thursday, makes donation to immigrant familiesThe Los Angeles Dodgers have donated $1m to assist families affected by two weeks of immigration raids in southern California.The World Series champions also said they intend to form partnerships with the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and other organization to continue providing aid to immigrant families. Continue reading...

Vance Boelter texted family that they needed to flee their house before people with guns' showed up, filings allegeThe man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday prepper" who instructed his family to prepare for war" as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings.Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier. Continue reading...

Police say Arturo Gamboa was carrying a rifle when safety volunteer fired on him and accidentally killed bystanderA man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a No Kings" rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody.Local district attorney Sim Gill's office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo - but that the investigation into the slaying continues. Continue reading...

The Maha campaign seeks to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foodsFederal health officials are seeking to launch a bold, edgy" public service campaign to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods in social media, transit ads, billboards and even text messages.And they potentially stand to profit off the results. Continue reading...

Across the US, the Active Club network uses combat sports to lure boys and young men into white nationalist circlesA neo-Nazi fight club that secretly infiltrated a Tennessee martial arts school where young children train has been banned from the facility, after an inquiry by the Guardian.Last month, the South Central Tennessee Active Club published video footage on the messaging app Telegram showing its members participating in combat training at Shelbyville BJJ Academy, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in Shelbyville, Tennessee, that offers classes to students as young as three years old. Continue reading...

Other countries have approved a wider range of UV-filtering ingredients, which allow for more advanced sunscreensMany dermatologists and experts say US sunscreens are still not as effective as many available overseas when it comes to protecting against ultraviolet radiation linked to skin cancer and premature ageing - despite years of research.The concern comes as a brutal heatwave, with a suffocating heat dome", is arriving for more than 200 million people across vast swaths of the US this weekend, bringing extreme heat and humidity . Studies have shown that the global climate crisis is making heatwaves more severe, frequent and long lasting. Continue reading...

A win for civil liberties groups, but state attorney general says she will appeal ruling to supreme court if necessaryA panel of three federal appellate judges has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in each of the state's public school classrooms is unconstitutional.The ruling on Friday marked a major win for civil liberties groups who say the mandate violates the separation of church and state - and that the poster-sized displays would isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Continue reading...

Civil rights advocates and scholars say the US government's claims are troubling indicators of rising authoritarianismAfter New York City comptroller Brad Lander this week became the latest prominent Democrat to be arrested while monitoring and protesting US immigration authorities, the Trump administration trotted out a familiar refrain to justify his detention.The mayoral candidate had assaulted" law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserted, warning if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences". Continue reading...

Raids have brought life to a standstill for some immigrant residents while others pick up pieces after arrests of familyIt has been eerily easy to find street parking in Los Angeles's fashion district this week. In the nearby flower district, longtime vendors have locked up stalls. And in East LA, popular taquerias have temporarily closed.Neighborhoods across LA and southern California have gone quiet since the Trump administration ramped up immigration raids in the region two weeks ago. Continue reading...