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In their humane responses to the killing of Charlie Kirk, Democrats are observing the old norms. Things are different now: anger and division rule

Loomer accused TPUSA founder of betraying president in July but now bashes those she perceives to celebrate' his assassination

Conservative activist and Trump ally was shot dead at a Utah Valley University event on Wednesday

Conspiracy theorists wonder about what Epstein and his powerful friends may have done to cover up his crimes. But they barely were covered upJeffrey Epstein had a lot of friends. When his girlfriend-cum-assistant and convicted fellow sex trafficker, Ghislane Maxwell, set out to compile letters, drawings and well wishes from friends in celebration of the pedophile financier's 50th birthday in 2003, the resulting scrapbook was 238 pages long. The book, titled The First 50 Years, included letters from prominent well-wishers such as former president Bill Clinton and the Bear Stearns executives James Cayne and Alan Greenberg, as well as from the late Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling scout and Epstein's fellow pedophilic rapist.The lawyer and longtime Epstein friend Alan Dershowitz contributed a mock cover of the magazine Vanity Fair, which was working on a profile of Epstein at the time; Peter Mandelson, until this week the UK ambassador to the United States, wrote that Epstein was my best pal!" The fashion designer Vera Wang compared Epstein to the contestant on the reality series The Bachelor, and the Microsoft executive and Bill Gates deputy Nathan Myhrvold included photos from a recent trip to Africa, writing that they were more appropriate than anything I could put in words". The photos included images of lions and zebras copulating, as well as of a zebra with a visible penis.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Utah governor Spencer Cox confirmed today that Tyler Robinson, 22, is the prime suspect in the murder of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University. In a press conference, Cox said: 'Robinson reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident'

Brian Gavidia, plaintiff in lawsuit alleging blatant racial profiling', says encounter with agent has left lasting scarsBrian Gavidia can't sleep. It's been three months since federal immigration agents accosted him, twisting his arm and pushing him into a metal fence outside a Los Angeles tow yard as he tried to tell them he is a US citizen.Now, he frequently finds himself awake late into the night, wondering: are they coming for me? Continue reading...

Three people have died in two years at the South Korean Hyundai-LG battery plant in EllabellA week after a federal immigration raid on a South Korean battery plant under construction in Georgia, concerns over the economic fallout have reverberated between the United States and South Korea. The detention of more than 300 Korean workers at the Hyundai-LG worksite in Ellabell has created uncertainty both about the future of the project and those like it in Georgia, as well as the exact reasons for the aggressive and unusual workplace raid.One reason that may have driven immigration officials to take actions that threaten an important trade relationship and a politically and economically sensitive development in one of the poorest parts of the US: workplace safety issues that led to three deaths in two years. Continue reading...

Deadly airstrike was Benjamin Netanyahu's latest move to obstruct peace negotiations, threatening Qatar's role as intermediaryWhen Donald Trump visited Qatar in May, he promised to defend the tiny, wealthy emirate and its rulers. We are going to protect this country," Trump declared on his state visit, where he was treated like royalty and honored in gilded palaces. It's a very special place, with a special royal family ... They are great people and they are going to be protected by the United States."Over two decades, Qatar spent billions of dollars to upgrade the largest US military base in the Middle East and spent many more billions to buy US warplanes and other weapons. In May, as the president prepared to visit, the Qatari government donated a luxury Boeing jet, a palace in the sky" valued at $400m, which is now being refitted so Trump can use it as Air Force One.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...

Reward of $100,000 and direct appeal appear to indicate struggle to identify Charlie Kirk's killer. Plus, the rise of ecoanxiety on the frontline of climate breakdownGood morning.US officials have issued an urgent appeal for help from the public as they continue to search for the shooter of Charlie Kirk, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack in Utah.Who was Charlie Kirk? The Donald Trump ally and star of the US Republican right galvanized young conservatives through online antics and inflammatory views, helping to push a new generation to the right. Even those who did not agree with his values could not deny his ubiquity on the political scene.This is a live story. Follow the latest updates here.What did the judges say? Announcing Bolsonaro's sentence for crimes including coup d'etat and violently attempting to abolish Brazil's democracy, the supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes said: [He tried to] annihilate the essential pillars of the democratic rule-of-law state ... the greatest consequence [of which] ... would have been the return of dictatorship to Brazil." Continue reading...

A Guardian investigation into the Alexandria, Louisiana, facility reveals a pattern of alleged due process violations, previously unreported accounts of neglect and abuse, documented health emergencies and long staysHe arrived in Alexandria exhausted and sick.It was early April, and Amilcar Lisser-Posadas - shackled at his hands and feet - had been transferred from a nearby immigration detention center to this remote US immigration facility in Louisiana. He feared it would be his last stop before deportation. Continue reading...

Maga leaders blame a mythically powerful left for political violence. Now, they are bent on destroying anyone who opposes themI disagreed with Charlie Kirk on pretty much everything, but his shocking and morally repugnant assassination is deeply concerning, and not just because it's another example of the lethality of our politics. Kirk's killing is also sending prominent conservatives on a warpath, setting the stage for a dangerous expansion of federal government repression.Kirk was a social media megastar and the founder of Turning Point USA, the foremost rightwing youth organization in the country. His political positions were to the far-right, and his language was often combative, to say the least. He called Martin Luther King, Jr awful" and said we made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s". He believed in the so-called great replacement theory, which asserts that elites are encouraging mass migration to undermine white people in western countries. Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America," he wrote on X the day before he was killed. He also blamed Jewish dollars" for funding cultural Marxist ideas and supporters."Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The hiring of Kenneth Weinstein as an ombudsman hands the US president a seat at the editors' deskNews outlets, including CBS, are free to run their editorial operations as they see fit. If they independently decide to hire a bias ombudsman, that's their prerogative. If they think the best person to monitor bias at this moment is a career partisan like Kenneth Weinstein, that's cause to question their judgment, but not necessarily a first amendment concern.That all changes, however, when the monitoring is at the behest of the federal government. And that's what's going on at CBS. The creation of the ombudsman role was one of many capitulations CBS's owners made to the Trump administration to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to approve the Paramount-Skydance merger. Continue reading...

Boxing's biggest fight in years takes place on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Here's everything you need to know about Canelo v Crawford, including how, when and why to watchSaul Canelo' Alvarez and Terence Crawford, two of the most accomplished boxers of the past 20 years, will climb through the ropes on Saturday night in Las Vegas for one of the sport's biggest events in years.Alvarez, 35, will be defending his undisputed super middleweight title at his natural 168lb. Crawford, 37, is attempting the jump of a lifetime: moving up two full divisions to that weight for the first time after winning his fourth world title last year in his 154lb debut. That size gap is at the heart of Saturday's intrigue. And because the fight will be carried globally on Netflix at no extra cost to subscribers, it could draw the largest audience ever for a major championship bout. Continue reading...

The far-right activist, who was fatally shot this week in Utah, galvanized young conservatives through online antics and inflammatory views

Douglas Alexander says he would not have been appointed if PM had known the depth of his links to Jeffrey Epstein

This blog is now closed, you can read our new live blog hereA UK offshoot of a US conservative group set up by Charlie Kirk is to hold a vigil in London after he was shot dead, reports the PA news agency.Turning Point UK has said its activists will gather on Friday evening by the Montgomery statue in Whitehall and called on others to join us in remembering Charlie".It's absolutely shocking, we're heartbroken over here in the UK.My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk.It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband.Political violence has no place in our societies.Our thoughts and condolences are with his family.An atrocious murder, a deep wound for democracy and for those who believe in freedom.My condolences to his family, to his loved ones, and to the American conservative community. Continue reading...

Vice-president JD Vance flies with casket as officials say rifle found and images of suspect released

The far-right commentator didn't pull his punches when discussing his bigoted views on current events

A day after Trump blamed the radical left' for shooting, vowing a crackdown, president says Kirk advocated nonviolence and that's the way I'd like to see people respond'. Key US politics stories from Thursday 11 SeptemberDonald Trump has said his supporters should respond peacefully to the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk as the gunman continued to evade a manhunt more than 24 hours after the fatal shooting.A day after Trump gave an inflammatory address blaming the radical left" for the killing and pledging a wide-ranging response, the president agreed with a suggestion from a conservative reporter that his supporters should not respond with violence. Continue reading...

People paid respects to the far-right activist and Trump ally as they pondered his divisive legacy

From an Omaha gym to a Las Vegas stadium, Terence Crawford has built a career solving problems others can't. Now he must out-think size, history and Canelo AlvarezTerence Bud' Crawford, America's finest boxer since Floyd Mayweather Jr, has spent his life closing the distance between the improbable and the inevitable. He was the kid from North Omaha who survived a bullet to the head and poured himself into neighborhood gym. He was the stubborn amateur who missed the Olympics but kept showing up in dingy basements until the craft became second nature. He was the icy technician and ruthless finisher, denied opportunities against name-brand fighters for most of his career, who unified the fractured world championship at 140lb, then did it again at 147 by dismantling Errol Spence Jr so comprehensively that it felt like a curtain being ripped back. Here, at last, was the full measure of the quiet man's design.Now, at 37, undefeated in 41 professional fights with 31 wins by knockout, he's arrived at boxing's biggest stage yet. On Saturday night, beneath the fluorescent dome of Allegiant Stadium, Crawford will climb two weight classes to face Saul Canelo' Alvarez for the undisputed super-middleweight crown. More than 70,000 fans are expected - the largest boxing crowd in Las Vegas history by more than double - in a $2bn football coliseum better known as the home of the NFL's Raiders. Netflix will beam the spectacle to hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world at no extra cost, the first time a fight of this magnitude has bypassed the pay-per-view model that defined the sport for decades. Continue reading...

Supporters leave flowers and flags at the Phoenix offices of the far-right activist following his shootingShortly after Turning Point USA shuttered its offices upon learning of Charlie Kirk's death on Wednesday afternoon, the front doors of the political influence network's headquarters became a memorial for its fallen co-founder.A steady stream of mourners brought flowers and handheld American flags to the office building in Phoenix, Arizona, and placed them in front of a large, black-and-white photo of Kirk. Continue reading...

Utah officials have released the county dispatch audio on the moment police were alerted to the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. Kirk was speaking at a Utah Valley University event in Orem.

The shooting of the Turning Point USA co-founder should not be used to foment further division in a polarised countryDemocracy is the way that we have diverse societies that don't kill each other, largely," Lilliana Mason, a leading scholar of partisanship, observed recently. She added: As soon as we stop believing in it, it disappears." Dr Mason's own research suggests that there is sharply rising tolerance of political violence. On Wednesday, it claimed one more victim.The shocking killing of the co-founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, a hugely influential activist who rallied young people to Donald Trump's cause and far-right ideology more broadly, has been widely and rightly condemned across the political spectrum. Leading Democrats and progressive activists made clear that such violence must not be tolerated.Do 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...

Deputy secretary of state says foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors'

She was convicted of selling her husband's influence for cash, gold bars and a luxury carNadine Menendez, the wife of the convicted former US senator Bob Menendez, was sentenced on Thursday to 4.5 years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician's influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car.US district judge Sidney Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58, after she was convicted in April of colluding from 2018 to 2023 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, in a variety of corrupt schemes, some involving assisting the Egyptian government. Continue reading...

Far-right activist and star of the US Republican right with a direct line to President TrumpThe US rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk, who has been murdered at the age of 31 by a sniper at a speaking event at Utah Valley University, enjoyed an influence far greater than his years or his lack of formal public service would suggest. A fluent debater and effective organiser, not least on college campuses, he stood for the darker themes of the newly resurgent US nativism that have accumulated around the US president Donald Trump, who called him a martyr for truth".At recent Republican conventions Kirk was a conservative star, and he had a direct line to Trump through being a frequent visitor to both the White House and Mar-a-Lago, the president's base in Florida. Though not a household name outside America, in the US he was well known enough to have been recently satirised by the animated TV show South Park, along with Trump, JD Vance and the secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem. Continue reading...

During a 9/11 memorial address, the president honored the far-right activist who was fatally shot on Wednesday

Furious reaction from media figures and Donald Trump blames left for shooting of conservative activist

Keir Starmer has sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US over his association with financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs that Mandelson had not disclosed the extent and depth of his friendship with Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, when he was appointed as the ambassador. He said No 10 had not known about emails from Mandelson to Epstein suggesting his 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged Continue reading...

The US president, Donald Trump, announced that he will be awarding Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.Speaking at the memorial services marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Trump said the date of the ceremony would be announced soon.'I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd,' the president said.Trump said Kirk was a 'giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people'.Video footage posted online showed Kirk being questioned by an audience member about gun violence in the moments before he was shot

The FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, Robert Bohls, says police have recovered a 'high-powered bolt-action rifle' they believe to be the weapon used in the shooting of Charlie Kirk. The commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, Beau Mason, says the killer appears to be of college age'

The US rightwing activist also addressed supporters in South Korea and visited Greenland with Donald Trump Jr

Killing of the conservative activist in Utah remains an active investigation', say authorities. Plus, how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disasterGood morning.Law enforcement were still searching on Thursday for a suspect in the shooting of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, hours after the close ally of Donald Trump was killed at a Utah university, triggering bipartisan condemnation.How did it unfold? Local officials said the shooting was believed to be a targeted attack" by a shooter from the roof of a building.What's happening in response? Warsaw said Nato allies had made concrete proposals to boost its air defenses, with the UK considering deploying Typhoon jets as part of an enhanced air policing mission to protect Nato's eastern flank.Why might Russia send drones into Poland? The Guardian's defense and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, dissects this question in his analysis, suggesting that a desire to create fear, assess Nato's air defenses and test the US's commitment to the alliance may all be factors.Head to our live blog for the latest updates. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Andrea Brower quits Gonzaga University after the Civil Rights Act is used to challenge her pro-Gaza activismWhen Andrea Brower was hired two years ago as the lead instructor for Gonzaga University's solidarity and social justice program, she thought she had landed a dream job. Brower was tasked with mentoring students in their social justice pursuits" at the private, liberal arts university in eastern Washington state. The school's Jesuit mission highlighted a commitment to diversity, global engagement and solidarity with the poor and vulnerable" - a perfect fit for Brower, who had come to academia by way of grassroots, environmental activism in her native Hawaii.Brower felt at first that her activist credentials were welcome, but when she started organizing around issues on campus - criticizing the treatment of adjuncts and rising administrator salaries and speaking out against the university's investments in fossil fuels - she began to run into opposition from university administrators. Continue reading...

Like an infectious disease, it efficiently finds more and more victims. It's not picky about who they areOnce unleashed, political violence comes for everyone.It doesn't know what side of the aisle you're on or what your ideology might be, who your allies are or what your vision for the future includes. It doesn't know what brand of media you consume or how many ardent followers you have.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Only months ago, Mike Lee had posted disparaging tweets after Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shotThe official X account of Mike Lee, a Republican US senator, drew backlash after quickly condemning Wednesday's killing of influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah - less than three months from when the politician initially responded to the shootings of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers by boosting misinformation about that case.A post from Lee, who joined the Senate in 2011, denounced Kirk's murder as a cowardly act of violence" while hailing the Turning Point USA executive director as an American patriot" and inspiration to countless young people". His post also solicited prayers for the 31-year-old Kirk's widow, Erika, and their children. Continue reading...

After rightwing activist was killed, nation already grappling with polarization faces shock bordering on despair

It's risky making calls after just one week. But there are a few worrying signs for prominent teams, players and coaches early in the seasonFun fact: the Giants returned 10 of their 11 offensive starters from last year, despite finishing 29th in EPA per play last season. The only change came at quarterback, with the Giants signing Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and trading up in the first round of the draft for Jaxson Dart. Continue reading...

The French coach on his partnership with Serena, why he parted ways with Naomi Osaka and how to break the Sinner-Alcaraz duopolyPatrick Mouratoglou was notably absent from this year's US Open. Since his breakout advising Marcos Baghdatis, who he guided to the Australian Open final in 2006, Mouratoglou has distinguished himself as a tennis guru - with pros and prospects making the pilgrimage to his academy on the French Riviera. But it was his partnership with Serena Williams, who won 10 of her 23 grand slam singles titles after pairing with the Frenchman, that helped cement Mouratoglou as a coaching great.In between touring clients at the moment, Mouratoglou caught up with me near the end of the US Open to talk about Naomi Osaka's resurgence, Williams's weight loss and what it will take to break Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's duopoly in the men's game.Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Patrick Mouratoglou is working with Motorola's Behind the Icons campaign. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can follow the latest developments in our new live blog hereA jump in greenhouse gas pollution in the US helped push global emissions higher in the first half of this year. This could be an omen of what's to come, with Donald Trump's pro-fossil fuel agenda set to significantly slow down the emissions cuts required to avoid disastrous climate impacts, a new forecast has found.The most abrupt shift in energy and climate policy in recent memory" that has occurred since Trump re-entered the White House will have profound consequences for the global climate crisis by slowing the pace of US emissions cuts by as much as half the rate achieved over the past two decades, the Rhodium Group forecast states. Continue reading...

E Jean Carroll won her case, but in Trumpland the only sex offences that matter are committed by paedophiles with links to DemocratsOn Monday, Donald Trump appeared in two, unrelated stories involving the sexual abuse of women. The first was a ruling by the US federal court of appeals, upholding an earlier judgment in which the president was found liable for $83.3m in damages for defaming the writer E Jean Carroll - a woman whom, it was ruled in civil court in 2023, had been sexually abused by Trump. On the same day, Trump's alleged contribution to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book" was shared by Democrats on social media in the form of a lewd drawing the president denied having made. The E Jean Carroll news caused no public inconvenience for Trump; the Epstein story went up like a mushroom cloud in what has become the most politically dangerous episode of his presidency.What, exactly, is the difference then between the sexual abuse of E Jean Carroll, for which Trump has been found liable in a civil court, and the trafficking and abuse of victims by Epstein, in which there is no direct evidence of Trump's involvement? For that matter, why does Trump's record of gross references to grabbing women by the pussy" and calling them fat" and ugly" elicit barely a shrug from supporters, while his friendship with Epstein, a man referred to in the press, variously, as the billionaire paedophile", the paeodophile financier", and, surely coming down the pike at some point, the hell-based paedophile money manager", has triggered not only fury among the Maga faithful but accusations of a Trump cover-up?Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Optimists cling to a faith in the old alliance, but the best we can achieve is an amicable divorceIs the transatlantic rupture temporary or structural? Is Donald Trump the cause of the rift, or is the US president only a symptom of underlying trends? Optimists latch on to the hope that the stability we have lost can be restored post-Trump. Having spent the past few days in Washington, I doubt it.Even in recent history, things were not quite so bad for the transatlantic relationship. The current tensions make the first Trump administration look like a walk in the park for Europeans. It is one thing to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump did in his first term. It is quite another to bomb Iran and give Israel the green light for its war against the regime.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

US lawmakers, in bipartisan rebuke, say violence has no place in America as Trump orders flags lowered

In an Oval Office address delivered before the person who killed the conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been identified, Donald Trump blamed the radical left' for the shooting and promised a crackdown. Trump recited a list of incidents of what he termed 'radical left political violence', including the attempt to kill him last year. The president's list did not include violence against Democrats, such as the murder of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota state lawmaker, and her husband, and the shooting of another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife in June. The attack on the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband; the Trump supporter who sent pipe bombs to leading Democrats; and the threats to the life of his first vice-president, Mike Pence, were also omitted

Rightwing commentator killed while speaking at Utah Valley University, as Trump blames radical left' while suspect remains at large

Rightwing activist Charlie Kirk died after being shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University in Utah. Kirk was about 20 minutes into a presentation when a shot was fired, according to the university. Political leaders across the US condemned the attack