Republican presidential nominee returns to scene of first assassination attempt in July as tech CEO reiterates supportElon Musk plans to attend Donald Trump's rally on Saturday at the site in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president narrowly avoided assassination in July.I will be there to support!" the tech billionaire replied to a post by Trump on Musk's social media platform, X, saying he was returning to the Butler Farm show grounds. Continue reading...
Israel's tactical successes, including killing key Hezbollah leaders, are not going to alter the core dynamics of the conflictKilling Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, was a step toward changing the balance of power in the region for years to come", the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Saturday. Yet, just days later, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel, bypassing its formidable air defenses and signaling the high costs and risks of further escalation for Tel Aviv.Indeed, while Israel has achieved significant tactical victories in recent weeks, including the assassination of Nasrallah and other key Hezbollah leaders, the broader question remains: can these successes fundamentally alter the region's strategic dynamics? Continue reading...
Estella Park Riahi never thought she'd join her mother's business, but now she's an enthusiastic partnerAs a kid, when Estella Park Riahi did poorly on a test, her mother had a favorite way of threatening her. She'd tell me: You're going to have to work for the family business!'" said Riahi. That used to scare me."Back then, making and selling hanbok - traditional Korean garments - alongside her immigrant mother, Laura Park, in Los Angeles's Koreatown was the last thing Riahi wanted to do. I attended a predominantly white all-girls school, and I wanted to fit in with everybody whose parents had normal' careers," she said. I had no interest in celebrating my Koreanness." Continue reading...
US homeland security's comments come as over 150,000 households affected by Helene register for assistanceThe US homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has warned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) does not have enough funding to make it through the rest of this hurricane season, which started off more quietly than forecast but has roared into catastrophe with Hurricane Helene and typically runs until the end of November.The warning on Thursday underscored how the federal government is being stretched thin as top Republicans have signaled they won't give it more funding. Continue reading...
Videos voiced by Nate Hochman tout conspiracy theories about McKinsey and have elements of fascist rhetoricA Marco Rubio-linked thinktank stoking fears about Haitian migrants in Pennsylvania has also produced a sequence of videos in recent months that promote conspiracy theories about LGBTQ+ people, human rights organizations and even the corporate consultancy McKinsey & Company.The editor hired to produce those videos also produces for the media organization founded by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow chief and prominent election-denier who is a close ally of the former US president Donald Trump. Continue reading...
A new report states fatalities had decreased by 10% as of April 2024 while 911 first-responder calls were 16.7% lowerExperts have welcomed news of a reported drop in overdose deaths in the US and say they are cautiously optimistic about the downward trend, while warning that more work and extra resources will be needed to sustain progress.Overdose deaths in the US have dropped by about 10%, the largest decline in decades - falling to an estimated 101,168 deaths annually as of April 2024, according to an analysis of state-level data. Continue reading...
As the Dodgers' $700m sensation preps for his MLB playoff debut, his teammates describe a player whose otherworldly talents belie an impossibly down-to-earth personaIt's the final week of the Los Angeles Dodgers' regular season. The San Diego Padres are in town and a win tonight at Dodger Stadium over their Interstate 5 rivals would secure their 11th NL West division title in 12 years. There's an excited buzz in the halls, even now, hours before the gates open to the public. The clubhouse is palpably tense: at the end of a season plagued by injuries, the opportunity to earn a first-round bye and bypass the wild-card round could prove invaluable to their ultimate goal of a World Series title. A tall, floppy-haired man enters the room, noticeably more tranquil than anyone around him, armed with a soft smile and a steaming cup of tea, and plops down at his locker. He is almost staggeringly unbothered. One would never guess that he's a history-making global phenomenon, primed to embark on his first ever trip to the postseason since joining Major League Baseball six years ago with the crosstown Angels. But Shohei Ohtani is not your average superstar.At this point the 30-year-old's dumbfounding statistical achievements speak for themselves, hard as they are to comprehend. Even in a season when his unprecedented two-way skillset was forced to take a backseat with his rehab from a second major elbow surgery keeping him off the pitcher's mound, Ohtani found a whole new way to rewrite baseball's record books. Only days ago he became the first player in major league history to rack up 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single campaign. By week's end, he will have finished the regular season having topped the National League in homers (54) and runs batted in (130) with a batting average (.310) second only to San Diego's Luis Arraez (.314), falling a few percentage points short of becoming the NL's first Triple Crown winner since Joe Medwick of the St Louis Cardinals in 1937. The eye-watering numbers don't stop there: 134 runs scored, 411 total bases, a .646 slugging percentage and an OPS over 1.000. Continue reading...
A judge has ordered an EPA risk assessment amid fear that additive that strengthens teeth could harm children's IQsFor decades, drinking water fluoridation opponents were often portrayed as a fringe element and conspiracy theorists, but a federal ruling in the US may put an end to the practice and marks a pivotal point in their campaign to convince the public and policymakers of the substance's dangers for infants' developing brains.Armed with a growing body of scientific evidence pointing toward fluoride's neurotoxicity, public health advocates say the legal win shows they are overcoming institutional inertia" and the unwillingness of federal public health agencies to admit they may have been wrong. Continue reading...
If voted into law, Proposition 6 would abolish forced labor as a criminal punishment in the state's prisonsGovernment-sanctioned slavery still exists in California. The state is one of 20 where incarcerated people can be forced to work against their will. But if it's up to the assemblymember Lori Wilson and the state's legislative Black caucus, that will come to an end in November.Wilson and the caucus are behind Proposition 6, a proposal on the ballot on 5 November that would abolish forced labor as a criminal punishment in the state's prisons and prevent inmates who refuse to work from being penalized. Continue reading...
If the right strews constitutional chaos over the certification of this presidential election, two people will have cleared the pathTwo men recognized and exploited the anti-democratic loopholes within America's rickety democracy in order to deliver Republicans victories that they could never win at the ballot box.Now their willfully minoritarian creations threaten the very essence of a representative democracy: if Donald Trump, rightwing courts, gerrymandered state legislatures and an extreme Republican caucus in the US House of Representatives create constitutional chaos over the certification of this presidential election, two men cleared the path.David Daley is the author of the new book Antidemocratic: Inside the Right's 50 Year Plot to Control American Elections as well as Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count Continue reading...
There are signs of rebellion in Austin, Oscar Pareja's men are well worth watching and Lionel Messi appears to be heading for yet another titleWelcome back to the Guardian's MLS Power Rankings, where I have a beef with your specific team and your specific team alone. I've hired Drake Callender to save me from any dangerous objects that will be hurled my way by readers angered by these rankings. Hey, he's good enough for Inter Miami, he's good enough for me.Now, as a reminder, these aren't your standard, run-of-the-mill power rankings. We're still ranking teams from worst to first. But along with the rankings, we're diving deep into a handful of teams from around the league who are doing particularly interesting things. Continue reading...
The former US president will campaign for Kamala Harris, starting in the crucial battleground state Pennsylvania that could decide the electionFormer president Barack Obama will crisscross the battleground states for Kamala Harris, with a kickoff in all-important Pennsylvania next week, according to a senior Harris campaign official.Obama will hold his first event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania next Thursday, the beginning of a blitz across the handful of rust belt and sun belt states that will probably decide the 2024 election. Continue reading...
Black signal callers are no longer marginalized. But it also means that, to some extent, they have been forced to become company menTwo years ago, under a cloudless sky in north central Louisiana, Doug Williams and Michael Vick met on the football field at Grambling University's Eddie G Robinson Memorial Stadium to reflect on the NFL trail they helped blaze. In 1988 Williams led Washington past Denver in Super Bowl XXII, breaking fresh ground: he was the first Black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl and finished the game as MVP. In 2001 Vick was the top pick in the NFL draft. All were landmark firsts for Black quarterbacks - and they didn't stop there.Look around this league now," Williams told Vick in his stubborn Louisiana drawl. I could be wrong, but in the next five to seven years? Half of the quarterbacks in this league gon' be Black." In his day Williams was famous for his deep shots - but he could well wind up three years long of this mark. Continue reading...
Georgia's conspiracy theorists are still disputing the result of the last US presidential election. Will this year's be more peaceful? I looked for clues in the Atlanta suburbsA few weeks ago, I found myself standing in the white marble atrium of Georgia's state capitol building, watching a scene that encapsulated much of the presidential race. To my right: a cluster of election conspiracy theorists who still believe Donald Trump won in 2020. To my left, a group of voting rights campaigners, singing an old spiritual popularised during the civil rights era.They were here to observe last-minute efforts by hard-right officials to alter the way in which votes will be counted next month. The measures, many say, will sow doubt in this crucial swing state, creating chaos that is likely to favour Trump. Continue reading...
With every bombing, more people are horrifically injured and left to survive without the devices and medications they needIt is breakfast and I reach for a painkiller dropped off by a Boots delivery van. The sleep apnoea machine by the bed is beeping and I plug it in to the mains to charge. I can't stop thinking about the disabled and ill people in Gaza; the dialysis patients who were halfway through their treatment when the power stopped, the children surviving off animal feed who can't find bread, let alone a wheelchair.I scroll social media and see the bodies of babies decomposing in an abandoned hospital, milk bottles and maggots next to their beds. I wonder had they been permitted to live, how much longer they would have survived. If they would have died in pain when the morphine ran out, or gasped for air when the ventilator batteries went to red. And I wonder if a quick death is what counts as mercy nowadays, in a place where no amount of suffering seems to matter.Frances Ryan 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...
There is a yawning gap between how the world sees Israel and how Israelis see themselves. If only each could see through the other's eyesYou'll be ahead of me on this one. By the time you read this, it's possible that Israel will have hit back in response to the nearly 200 ballistic missiles that Iran fired on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities on Tuesday evening. As I write this, the world is bracing itself for that expected Israeli retaliation and what threatens to be an all-out regional war, pitting the Middle East's dominant powers against each other.The reason for that gap between us is that I am writing these words before the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, which began at sunset on Wednesday. By tradition, Jews are supposed to refrain from all work for the 48 hours that follow, work defined to include not only updating newspaper columns but watching the news on TV or checking your phone. I suspect I will not be the only Jew who will have struggled to comply with that stricture this year.Jonathan Freedland 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...
Democratic vice-presidential candidate spoke virtually at advocacy group Emgage Action's eventIn a final push to engage Muslim voters ahead of the election, Tim Walz called for the end of the war in Gaza and pledged that, if elected, the Harris administration would work side by side" with Muslim Americans.The Democratic vice-presidential candidate joined Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action's Million Muslim Votes: A Way Forward virtual summit the day after the vice-presidential debate. Continue reading...
Republican and former Wyoming representative appeals to undecided voters in Ripon, Wisconsin, on ThursdayLiz Cheney, one of Donald Trump's most prominent conservative critics, appealed to the millions of undecided Americans who could decide the outcome of the 2024 election, asking them to reject the depraved cruelty" of the former president.A former representative from Wyoming, Cheney cast the stakes in November as nothing less than the future of American democracy as she appeared alongside Kamala Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin, on Thursday, the symbolic birthplace of the modern Republican party. Continue reading...
The Born to Run singer praises Harris and Tim Walz's commitment to the vision of America I've been consistently writing about for 55 years'Bruce Springsteen has officially thrown his support behind Kamala Harris, endorsing her for president and simultaneously opposing Donald Trump, calling him the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime".The Born to Run singer made the announcement in a video posted to his Instagram on Thursday evening (US time) in which he described the upcoming election as one of the most consequential elections in our nation's history". Continue reading...
Ex-first lady calls reproductive freedom an essential right' in first public response to news of abortion rights defenseMelania Trump doubled down in her first public response to news of her passionate support for abortion rights, a position starkly at odds with that of her husband, Donald Trump, and the Republican party he leads.Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard," the former first lady said in a video released on Thursday. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom. What does, My body, my choice' really mean?" Continue reading...
by Anna Betts, Aliya Uteuova and Dharna Noor on (#6R6TB)
Hurricane that made landfall as category 4 last week is described as one of deadliest storms in US historyA week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the US, search-and-rescue teams continue to look for missing people in parts of the south-east that were devastated by the storm, and nearly a million people in the region remain without power.Officials have reported at least 215 deaths across six states, and have warned that the toll is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue. A separate NBC News tally found that at least 202 people have died, including at least 98 in North Carolina, 19 in Florida, 33 in Georgia, 39 in South Carolina, 11 in Tennessee and two in Virginia. Continue reading...
International Longshoremen's Association announces agreement for wage hike and immediate work resumptionThe US ports strike that shut down shipping on the east and Gulf coasts for three days came to an end on Thursday after dock workers struck a tentative deal with port operators.The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) announced that the union had reached an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on wages, suspending their walkout until January. Work would resume immediately, the union said. Continue reading...
Ruling by Matthew Schelp hands victory to six Republican state attorneys general who challenged planA US district judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Joe Biden's administration from implementing a plan to forgive student loan debt held by millions of Americans.The ruling by St Louis-based Matthew Schelp handed a victory to six Republican state attorneys general who challenged the US president's plan. Continue reading...
Anonymous hair and makeup artist alleges sexual assault and battery during 2019 in suit filed in Los AngelesA hair and makeup artist has accused the country singer Garth Brooks of sexual assault and battery in a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, CNN reported.The anonymous accuser, referred to in the complaint as Jane Roe", alleges that Brooks raped her during a work trip to Los Angeles in 2019, and that he repeatedly groped her and made sexually explicit comments while she was doing his hair or makeup throughout 2019. Continue reading...
Kobe Williams, 27, and boys Khyzier and Khazmir died after relatives say tree fell through roof in Thomson, GeorgiaTwin babies who died alongside their mother in Georgia on Thursday became the youngest known victims of the monster Hurricane Helene and the storm's devastating aftermath.Obie Williams could hear babies crying and branches battering the windows when he answered his daughter's daily phone call last week as the storm tore through her rural Georgia town after roaring across the Gulf of Mexico and making landfall in northwestern Florida. Continue reading...
It could be that she is being sincere, but that does not mean her choice to make them now is not cynicalJust how stupid does Melania Trump think we are? On Wednesday, my colleagues at the Guardian published a leaked excerpt of the former first lady's memoir, in which the Slovenian-born former model and Donald Trump's third wife claims to be passionately pro-choice. The leak comes just a month before November's presidential election, a contest in which Trump's hopes of returning to the White House are severely threatened by voter anger over the 2022 reversal of Roe v Wade, and the suffering of women caused by sadistic abortion bans across the country.In her memoir, Mrs Trump speaks of abortion rights as a matter of women's dignity and fundamental freedom. It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government," she wrote. She later reiterated the sentiment in a short video posted to Truth Social, her husband's social media platform. Continue reading...
David Adam of USMX made coarse remarks about president and appeared to endorse rightwing conspiracy theoryAn executive representing ports where tens of thousands of workers went on strike this week made a series of critical and crude remarks about Joe Biden, tied Kamala Harris to concerns about over-taxation, and appeared to endorse a rightwing conspiracy theory.David Adam, chairman and chief executive of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), attacked prominent Democrats in a string of social media posts uncovered by the Guardian. Continue reading...
It's unclear whether the ex-first lady is trying to help or hurt husband Donald by revealing pro-choice views in new bookWhen news broke on Wednesday evening that Melania Trump supports abortion rights - and apparently has for her entire adult life - it was greeted with surprise and confusion.Melania's husband, Donald Trump, is trying to rapidly recalibrate his approach to abortion as he races towards election day. Is his wife trying to help him? Hurt him? Or neither? Continue reading...
To avenge 7 October, crimes of all kinds are condoned. But politicians should take note: the British public disagreesConsider these two parallel universes. One is Gaza, the scene of some of the worst atrocities committed in the 21st century, as Israel's genocidal rampage offers a new reminder of our species' capacity for depravity. According to research by Oxfam, more women and children have been killed by the Israeli military in the last year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades".What makes this all the more disturbing is that the figures are conservative: the 11,355 children and 6,297 women listed as violently killed are only those who have been officially identified. Many of the dead have not been recorded in this way, not least the thousands buried under rubble, listed as missing, or incinerated by Israeli missiles, leaving not a trace. Israel's destruction of Gaza's hospitals, too, has laid waste to the system of reporting fatalities. Those caveats notwithstanding, in no 12-month period were so many women and children butchered in the killing fields of Iraq and Syria, despite those populations being much greater than Gaza's.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
It is uncomfortable when the people we love are in pain. But we need to sit in this discomfort - it's the least we owe each otherThe other day I was stopped on the street by someone who told me that during a particularly bad depressive episode in which she was hospitalised, she just thought of me and realised her life wasn't actually that bad. Um, thanks? I'm not sure if that comment was more or less offensive than the guy who told me he wasn't sure how I got out of bed each day". Cheers bro.The short version is that in my twenties my boyfriend died suddenly while we were sleeping, nine years later my brother died suddenly at work and in 2022 our lives imploded (again) when my son was diagnosed with cancer and severe Guillain Barre Syndrome which has left him paralysed.Natasha Sholl is a writer and lapsed lawyer living in Melbourne. Her first book, Found, Wanting was published by Ultimo Press in 2022 Continue reading...
Sam Dutcher, 18, was in SUV that sped up to 113mph on its own before he was advised to run into trooper's vehicleA teenager from North Dakota says he thought he was going to die" when his SUV sped up on its own to more than 110mph (177km/h) and wouldn't slow down - but he saved himself by intentionally crashing into the back of a Minnesota state trooper's patrol cruiser.As the North Dakota television station WDAY told it, 18-year-old Sam Dutcher was driving near Harwood - relatively close to the state's border with Minnesota - as night fell on 17 September. His Honda Pilot suddenly accelerated on its own to 113mph, a speed so high that it would be virtually impossible to survive crashing. Continue reading...
The Argentinian has helped his team claim MLS's Supporters' Shield. But he has also set up the club, and league, for success when he steps awayAnother year, another trophy for Lionel Messi.With two goals in a 3-2 win over the defending MLS Cup champions, Columbus Crew, on Wednesday, Inter Miami's global superstar secured the MLS's Supporters' Shield - awarded each year to the team with the best regular season record. Continue reading...
From Villa's emotional win to a Dortmund blitz, we hand out honours (and dishonours) from the the second round of actionAston Villa - There wasn't a dry eye in the house - among home fans anyway - as Aston Villa celebrated beating mighty Bayern Munich. For the German giants, who suffered a first group-stage defeat since 2017, Vincent Kompany's coaching experience at this level could be in question. But credit Villa's manager. Just as in the Premier League at Burnley last season, Unai Emery did a number on Kompany, and of the two World Cup-winning keepers, it was Emi Martinez who outshone Manuel Neuer on Wednesday night. Just as in 1982's European Cup final, Villa beat Bayern 1-0. The goal came from a player who (sort of) shares his surname with Birmingham's most famous pop group. Jhon Duran's beautiful, first-time finish caught Neuer roaming. I never saw where the goalkeeper was," admitted Duran. He was almost sold in the summer, but has scored six times this season, five as a sub. The Colombian, once of Chicago Fire, is a brilliant finisher, a true wildcard to throw into what was already a dangerous forward line of talented Englishmen in Ollie Watkins, Jaden Philogene, Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey. Villa Park swelled with pride and emotion in England's second city. Continue reading...
As some Americans are informed they need to prove their citizenship, Trump and other Republicans are spreading the false idea non-citizens could vote in vast numbersJames Cozadd, a 49-year-old plumber born in Montgomery, Alabama, has no idea why he got a letter from Alabama's top election official telling him he's potentially ineligible to vote. He was born in the US, yet the letter said he was suspected of being a non-citizen and he would have to prove his citizenship to vote.I've been racking my brain to try to figure out how I ended up on the list of purged voters, but I have no clue," Cozadd said in a court filing in September. Continue reading...
Ex-first lady says she told Trump to stop separating children from parents and addresses jacket controversy in bookMelania Trump describes in her new memoir how she made her husband, then president Donald Trump, drop a signature hardline immigration policy under which migrant children were separated from their parents, stoking domestic and international uproar.This has to stop," the former first lady says she told her husband, emphasizing the trauma it was causing these families" and seeing him swiftly comply, ending the policy on 20 June 2018. Continue reading...
by Oliver Laughland, Tom Silverstone, Bruno Rinvolucr on (#6R6R8)
In a new series of Anywhere but Washington, the Guardian's Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to the crucial swing state of Georgia, where election deniers and rightwing conspiracy theorists are facing a new generation of Gen Z candidates and voters who could tip the race in favor of the Democrats Continue reading...
The All-Pro receiver wants out of Las Vegas. And there is no shortage of teams who could improve their Super Bowl chances by trading for himThe writing has been on the wall for Davante Adams for a while. Once the Las Vegas Raiders ejected on the Derek Carr experience, it was clear that Adams' exit would not be far behind.The three-time All-Pro joined the Raiders to reunite with Carr, his old college quarterback and friend, and to get paid. Two years on, Carr is now in New Orleans and Adams is reportedly on the trade block, with a plump bank account. Continue reading...
The England star on leaving Manchester United, embracing a new challenge and the competitive edge of the NWSLIf you were walking your dog in your local park near Manchester this summer and thought you saw two England internationals doing one-on-one training drills, don't worry - you weren't seeing things. That was indeed the former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem and her Lionesses teammate Laura Coombs, trying to keep themselves in shape. Coombs, who was putting in extra yards while returning from injury before pre-season with her club, Manchester City, had agreed to help Zelem, who was weighing up numerous options after her Manchester United contract had concluded at the end of June. Zelem Googled some one-on-one sessions" and brought the cones along, and she knows the extra effort was worth it.I was running up and down every field I could find, keeping as fit as possible," the 28-year-old tells the Guardian, reflecting on her time between clubs. I felt so motivated because I had quite a few offers. I thought, Wherever I end up, this is going to benefit me.' But running is very different to team training, with the sharpness and connecting passes. It was a unique situation because I basically had no pre-season. Continue reading...
US news | The Guardian