Beverly Daniel Tatum on antisemitism, the hardest in the US', and DEI as the White House targets higher educationWhen Beverly Daniel Tatum told a friend that she was writing a book about higher education, he replied: I think being a college president has to be the hardest job in America." Indeed, the academic year 2023-24 was an annus horribilis for college presidents", according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.And that was before Donald Trump returned to the White House and sought to bend them to his will. Continue reading...
After 13 months out with a torn ACL, the Sparks' rising star has returned to the WNBA with renewed purpose, a sharpened game and a determination to help othersIt's the fourth quarter of a tense, close bout in Los Angeles between the hometown Sparks and the Indiana Fever. The game has serious playoff implications for both teams, so every bucket feels fraught, and it's going down to the wire. Cameron Brink, the 6ft 4in second-year Sparks center with an unmistakable Rapunzel-esque blonde braid has fouled out of the game, but you wouldn't know it from her enthusiasm on the bench. No one is clapping harder, cheering louder, for her teammates.That's fundamental to who Brink is, according to everyone I talk to around the team in their final push for the playoffs in recent weeks - the Sparks are in a battle with Seattle Storm for the final spot. Brink is one of the brightest young stars in the W, securing a slew of endorsements (including a high-profile deal with New Balance which made her the first female basketball player on their talent roster), but Brink is a far cry from the myopic, self-centered stereotype of a star. Continue reading...
Letter contains purported message from Trump to Epstein in which the president says, May every day be another wonderful secret'. Key US politics stories from 8 September at a glanceQuestions over his friendship with convicted sex offender, Jeffery Epstein, continue to haunt Donald Trump, this time with the release of a birthday letter that Trump had previously denied writing.An image of the birthday letter, the existence of which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in July, was released by House Democrats after the House oversight committee received the 2003 birthday book" from Epstein's lawyers. It is dated three years before allegations of sex abuse by Epstein became public in 2006. Continue reading...
Big police operation for US president's second state visit will involve two days of drone patrolsDonald Trump's second state visit to the UK will see a big policing operation led by drones in the airspace over Windsor, police have said.King Charles is to host the US president and his wife, Melania Trump, at Windsor Castle from 17 to 19 September, where they will be entertained with a ceremonial welcome and state banquet. Continue reading...
Evanston urges residents to report sightings of federal agents as Trump has threatened immigration crackdownA Chicago suburb has warned its residents that federal immigration agents may be present in the coming days as Donald Trump continues to threaten an immigration enforcement crackdown and national guard deployment in the nation's third largest city.The city of Evanston issued a statement urging its residents to report sightings of federal agents, after local officials said they were informed over the weekend about the likelihood of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) activity. Continue reading...
Head of US border patrol says operations will start back up in city after temporary restraining order reversedUS immigration officers are ramping up immigration sweeps in Los Angeles again after the supreme court reversed a temporary restraining order that banned the Trump administration from stopping people solely based on their race, language or job.In a post on Twitter/X, Greg Bovino, the head of US border patrol in Los Angeles, called the temporary restraining order very poorly" written and the worst" he's ever seen. He also said that border patrol would be starting operations back up again today. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas and David Hammer of WWL Louis on (#6ZWK1)
The increase from an initial guarantee of $180m is enough to persuade certain attorneys who were opposed to striking a deal to instead favor settlingJust as the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans was beginning to ask victims of clergy sexual abuse to approve a settlement plan assuring them of $180m, the church has now guaranteed $230m - enough to persuade certain attorneys who were opposed to striking a deal to instead favor settling.The church's largest insurer, Travelers, for now has evidently held out against a settlement. However, the Guardian and local reporting partner WWL Louisiana understand that the insurer is in active talks to contribute an amount of money that could substantially increase the worth of the proposed settlement. Continue reading...
Group of men in 20s found in Catskill Mountains by forest rangers, who later hiked up to retrieve one man's keysFour hikers who had consumed psychedelic mushrooms - including one experiencing a debilitating high" - had to be rescued from New York's Catskill Mountains after they got lost there, according to state authorities.In a news release, forest rangers from the the New York state department of environmental conservation (DEC) said that they were alerted to the situation at about 5pm on 29 August after the receipt of a satellite text. Continue reading...
Request is fraught as department would have to confront appearance it dropped case in order to shield Navarro after he was tapped as Trump's senior adviser
House speaker made baffling claim that president worked with FBI to take down Epstein before later backing awayIn a matter of days, the US House speaker, Mike Johnson, claimed that Donald Trump was an FBI informant who was working to try to take down the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein - then backed away from the confusing statement.Johnson made the baffling claim on Thursday speaking to reporters at the US Capitol. He was an FBI informant to try and take this stuff down," Johnson said of Trump. Continue reading...
Powerball players overcame astronomical odds to end three-month drought without a big winner for the nationwide gamePowerball players in Missouri and Texas won the nearly $1.8bn jackpot on Saturday, the US's second largest lottery prize ever.They overcame astronomical odds to end a three-month drought without a big winner for the nationwide lottery game.Guardian staff contributed reporting Continue reading...
by Andrew Lawrence at Flushing Meadows on (#6ZWAG)
The president's appearance at the men's final was met with pushback. But his visit was always about distraction, even if it exposed his flawsIt was just the authoritarian image Donald Trump hoped to project at the US Open: the president himself, looming from Arthur Ashe Stadium's giant screens like Chairman Mao at Tiananmen Gate, as he stood at attention for the national anthem. But there was no denying that, while the picture was there, the sound clashed. The burst of cheers that went up for his stiff salute on Sunday was quickly drowned out by a chorus of boos made louder from the Ashe roof being closed for rain - perhaps fitting given that many fans had been left to stand in the wet and endure the long security lines that resulted from his attendance. In that awkward five-second moment, as the Stars and Stripes was unfurled on center court, the president smirked at the negative reaction. It surely rang so familiar.Trump's presence at the US Open men's final wasn't just intended as a soft power grab, the kind of routine stunt Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and the other despots he admires pull all the time at sports events - except with recruitment ads for Ice playing across the US. No, Trump's presence was intended as a distraction. Not distraction. for him; lord knows, he couldn't care less about the actual match, a fact that was reinforced when Trump left his luxury box seat to step inside and kibitz with a phalanx of suck-ups. No, Trump's visit was dropped like a flash bang to divert attention from klaxoning recession indicators, rumbling speculation about his health and, naturally, those files about that guy whose name must not be mentioned. Continue reading...
Sale opponents say private equity's profit-seeking is at odds with reasonable rates and state's goal to decarbonizeA bid by financial giant BlackRock to acquire a Minnesota electric utility could push up already-soaring utility bills, opponents warn.The private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, a division of BlackRock, announced a $6.2bn deal last year to take over the parent company of a Duluth-based electric utility which serves more than 150,000 customers, if the state's public utilities commission gives the green light. Continue reading...
Show, ending in May 2026 after CBS's controversial decision, won Creative Arts award for directing in a variety seriesThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert won its first-ever Emmy on Sunday, less than two months after news of its cancellation elicited a gleeful reaction from Donald Trump.Colbert's program won at Sunday's Creative Arts Emmys in the category of outstanding directing for a variety series for an episode featuring actors David Oyelowo, Finn Wolfhard and Alan Cumming as well as a musical performance by the rock band OK Go. Continue reading...
The FDA is allowing the vaccine for people 65 and older, but younger people need to have an underlying conditionFor many Americans, the new Covid vaccine guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), spearheaded by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his highly controversial Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, have added another layer of stress to an increasingly inaccessible healthcare system.The agency authorized Covid vaccines for people 65 and older, who are known to be more at risk from serious illnesses from Covid infections, but younger people will only be eligible if they have an underlying medical condition that makes them particularly vulnerable. Continue reading...
His grandparents survived the Nakba and he fled Assad's Syria. Khalil is no stranger to political persecution, but not even Trump's crackdown can silence himWhen a history of resistance to the lurching authoritarianism of Donald Trump's second presidency is written, it could well begin on 11 April 2025, inside a small immigration courtroom in remote, central Louisiana.It was there, in the early afternoon, that a slight young man dressed in a blue uniform jumpsuit spoke calmly but directly to the new administration - away from the gaze of television cameras and 1,000 miles (1,610km) from his friends and family. Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and Palestinian organiser, had been arrested a month earlier - snatched from the lobby of his Manhattan apartment building as he returned home with his wife. Now, detained in the small town of Jena, he sat before a judge who had just ruled that he was eligible to be deported from the United States purely for his political views. Continue reading...
The agency celebrates the US and the president as aggressor, conqueror and unrestrained international lawbreakerOn Friday, Donald Trump signed an executive order restoring the Department of Defense to its original name, the Department of War.That name had a stronger sound", Trump told reporters in August. As Department of War we won everything," he added, and I think we're going to have to go back to that." In June, at the Nato summit, he called Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, his secretary of war".Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books Continue reading...
Growing divide across US as membership increasing - and wages higher - in states that protect workers' rightsAdd another growing split to the increasingly divided United States: union membership.US states that protect unions' collective bargaining rights have experienced an increase in new union members, while states with anti-union right to work" laws are responsible for declines in union members, a new report reveals. Continue reading...
The US will face a tall test against another East Asian power - this one with ambitions to make World Cup history in 2026Not even the most blinkered South Korean fan would deny that Japan present the United States with the strongest test that Asia has to offer. The Samurai Blue may not have a player like Christian Pulisic who has played regularly at elite clubs, but the roster is full of talents playing at high level, and they were the first team other than the hosts to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Continue reading...
A House committee will receive the late sex offender's will and contacts from his black book', among other filesThe release of records from Jeffrey Epstein's estate to US lawmakers this week, as well as potentially suspicious transaction reports, could offer a roadmap to where the scandal swirling around the late convicted sex trafficker goes next.Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed full transparency around Epstein and his links to a wide circle of powerful, rich and famous associates. But instead, the administration has been accused of foot-dragging and a cover-up, and has faced intense scrutiny over the extent of Trump's own social contact with Epstein. Continue reading...
Trump has been an enabler of war, famine, disease and deathDonald Trump's thuggish campaign to bully his way to the Nobel peace prize should not be the cause for the committee to reject him. There are many more substantial grounds that render him patently unqualified to receive the award.Among the numerous reasons that make him one of the least deserving people in the world who should be honored, he has single-handedly destroyed the United States Agency for International Development, which has saved hundreds of millions of people from hunger and disease, and promoted democracy and the rule of law around the world. In an executive order issued on his inauguration day, 20 January, Trump slandered USAID as not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values" and claimed that its workers serve to destabilize world peace".Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
The Indiana Fever have shut down their star for the rest of 2025. And the toxic elements of her fanbase have lost a culture-war totemCaitlin Clark's season is over. The Indiana Fever confirmed on Thursday night what many suspected, when the 2024 rookie of the year announced on social media that she would not be returning this year from the groin injury that has limited her to 13 games.I had hoped to share a better update, but I will not be returning to play this season," she wrote. Disappointed isn't a big enough word ... This has been incredibly frustrating, but even in the bad, there is good. The way the fans continued to show up ... brought me so much joy and perspective." Continue reading...
The new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback required a bit of luck to win on his debut but there were signs he can be an effective weapon for his teamAs revenge games go, this one was pretty sweet. Aaron Rodgers led the Steelers to a 34-32 win over the Jets, his former team, and over a coaching staff that fired him before they had the decency to check out his crystal collection.I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets," Rodgers said on Sunday, after throwing for 244 yards and four touchdowns in his Pittsburgh debut. Continue reading...
South Korea has said that 300 of its nationals detained during the immigration raid would be flown home. Key US politics stories from Sunday 7 September at a glanceDonald Trump has told foreign companies that they must hire and train American workers and respect immigration laws, after a raid at a Hyundai Motor manufacturing facility in Georgia saw about 300 South Koreans detained.Nearly 500 workers in total were detained in the raid on Thursday, with US authorities releasing footage showing them restrained in handcuffs and ankle chains, loaded on to buses. Continue reading...
President says the Israelis have accepted my terms' and urges release of hostages to secure peace agreementDonald Trump on Sunday issued what he called his last warning" to Hamas, urging the Palestinian militant group to accept a deal to release hostages from Gaza.The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!" Continue reading...
Governor Gavin Newsom hails towering figure' who stood up for working class and nurtured many political careersThe former US congressman John Burton, a salty-tongued and unabashedly liberal San Francisco Democrat who stood up for the working class and nurtured countless political careers, including that of Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday. He was 92.Burton died in San Francisco of natural causes, his family said in a statement. Continue reading...
Health department says vaccines for polio, measles and other diseases will still be mandatory unless updated through legislation'Florida's plan to drop school vaccine mandates likely won't take effect for 90 days and would include only chickenpox and a few other illnesses unless lawmakers decide to extend it to other diseases, like polio and measles, the health department said on Sunday.The department responded to a request for details, four days after Florida's surgeon general, Dr Joseph Ladapo, said the state would become the first to make vaccinations voluntary and let families decide whether to inoculate their children. Continue reading...
A fantastic performance from Carlos Alcaraz set him up to win his second US Open and sixth grand slam titleMore from Bryan.An hour before Sunday's US Open men's final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the boardwalk from the Mets-Willets Point subway to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was quiet, punctuated only by bursts of fans spilling out of the No 7 train every few minutes.
Billionaire Scott Bessent dismisses concerns about president's levies and predicts acceleration' in US economyUS treasury secretary Scott Bessent has refused to acknowledge that the sweeping trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump around the world are taxes on Americans.In a new interview on Sunday with NBC host Kristen Welker, Bessent, a former billionaire hedge fund manager, dismissed concerns from major American companies including John Deere, Nike and Black and Decker who have all said that Trump's tariffs policy will cost them billions of dollars annually. Continue reading...
Residents told to stay connected to family and tell people their whereabouts as city readies for expected crackdownThe Rev Marshall Hatch urged congregants of a prominent Black church on Chicago's West Side to carry identification, stay connected to family and protest as the city readied for an expected federal intervention.You need to start telling people about your whereabouts, so you don't disappear," Hatch said during services at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist church. We're not going to despair. We're not going to feel threatened. We're not going to give up and give in to fascism and authoritarianism." Continue reading...
by Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows on (#6ZVVS)
World No 1 has proved she can control her emotions to become one of the most consistent big tournament playersAryna Sabalenka thought she had everything figured out. She believed she had done all the work necessary, harnessing successfully her once uncontrollable power into consistent excellence. After overcoming so many hurdles en route to becoming the best player in the world, she felt ready for anything. Sabalenka was convinced she could handle any challenge that came her way.It was not until her excruciating French Open final defeat against Coco Gauff that Sabalenka understood this was not true. As she struggled with her nerves under such significant pressure and punishing windy conditions, the 27-year-old was outplayed by a tireless, gutsier opponent in Gauff who broke her down by forcing her to work hard for every single point. Continue reading...
The strike on a speedboat allegedly containing Venezuelan drug traffickers may be performative, but sets a frightening precedentMore than five decades ago, Richard Nixon launched awar on drugs". The drugs won. Now Donald Trump is turning a failed metaphor into a worse reality.On Tuesday the US president claimed that the military had killed 11 drug traffickers from Venezuela, posting footage of the strike that US officials said took place on a speedboat in international waters in the Caribbean. The administration supplied no evidence for its claim that the boat contained Tren de Aragua members, or drugs, and gave varying accounts of its destination. It also warned that there was more to come, with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, arguing that intercepting boats had not curbed the drugs problem: What will stop them is when you blow them up." Earlier this year, Mr Trump secretly ordered the use of military force against cartels internationally. Continue reading...
Rand Paul decries thoughtless' comment after vice-president defends strike against alleged drug traffickersThe Republican senator who heads the homeland security committee has criticized JD Vance for despicable" comments apparently in support of extrajudicial military killings.Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military," the vice-president said in an X post on Saturday, in defense of Tuesday's US military strike against a Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean Sea, which killed 11 people the administration alleged were drug traffickers. Continue reading...
Jarvis McKenzie says he was shot at by a white man in a car with a rifle while waiting to go to workA Black man from South Carolina is calling for hate crime laws to be enacted in the state, one of only two states in the US that do not have them, after being targeted at in a racist attack.Jarvis McKenzie said that on 17 July, while waiting to go to work, a white man in a car picked up a rifle, fired over his head and shouted you better get running, boy!", according to the Associated Press. McKenzie reportedly escaped behind a brick wall and police later arrested Jonathan Felkel, 34, in the shooting, according to WIS 10. Continue reading...
The de minimis suspension is another change worrying small business owners, but the concern is misdirectedEarlier this month the Trump administration moved forward with eliminating a loophole that allowed businesses to avoid tariffs if making purchases under $800. Some experts say that the de minimis" exemption will hit many, many" small businesses hard.The de minimis suspension ending is yet another change that has forced every American small business owner to become an accidental trade policy expert overnight," Jacob Bennett, CEO and co-founder of small business banking platform Crux Analytics, told Forbes. There's this whiplash effect that many, many small business owners are now feeling which is leading to growing uncertainty and concern about how they're going to continue running their business." Continue reading...
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