Biologist was fired by a state agency for criticizing Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting deathFlorida officials have agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars to a biologist who was fired by a state agency for criticizing conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting death.The state's fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) fired biologist Brittney Brown in September after she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account that claimed Kirk wouldn't care about children being shot in their classrooms. She filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, saying she struggled to find other work because the state agency is the regulatory body for her research specialization in bird conservation. Continue reading...

This week, Donald Trump dropped a personal $10bn lawsuit he had against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for a so-called anti-weaponisation fund. The $1.8bn fund will be used to compensate those who think they have been unfairly investigated by the government in the past. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the legal analyst Kristy Greenberg about why critics are calling this fund corruption on steroids' Continue reading...

President says reality star a big Maga person' but backing may prove more hindrance than help in deep-blue bastion

Senate will not pass $70bn homeland security bill that includes $1bn for security measures for controversial project - key US politics stories from Thursday, 21 MayA bid to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump's White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn anti-weaponization" fund.The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president, Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess. Continue reading...

Cancellation, which avoids embarrassment for Trump, is latest signal of diminishing congressional support for warHouse Republicans canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held.The cancellation, which avoided political embarrassment for Donald Trump, is the latest signal that congressional support for the US president's war is diminishing. Continue reading...

Nascar says it is heartbroken' to share news of Busch's death after he was hospitalized with a severe illnessTwo-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has died at 41 after being hospitalized with a severe illness, Nascar said in a Thursday statement.We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport's greatest and fiercest drivers. He was 41 years old," the racing organization wrote on social media. We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community." Continue reading...

Assistant US attorney general claims services in state subject to shocking' levels of fraud, which he labels a crisis'The Trump administration broke new ground in its offensive against alleged fraud in Minnesota's social services on Thursday as the US Department of Justice announced charges against 15 people accused of cheating a government healthcare program to the tune of $90m.At a news conference in Minneapolis that underscored Donald Trump's fierce focus on the state and Tim Walz, its Democratic governor, Colin McDonald, assistant US attorney general, told journalists that services had been subject to shocking" levels of fraud, which he labelled a crisis". Continue reading...

Report contains damning findings concerning spending, media strategy and organizing failures that led to defeat

Tony Carruthers's lawyers say no evidence ties him to 1994 crimes he was convicted of and he is mentally incompetent

Forecast came amid warning that US was unprepared for storms with staffing cuts under Trump administration

Approval marks key step forward for project dubbed Arc de Trump', which will be near Arlington national cemeteryThe US Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved designs for Donald Trump's proposed 250ft triumphal arch in Washington.The vote by the panel,which is made up of Trump appointees,marks a key step forward for the project. Next month, the proposed design is set to be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission, another federal panel that oversees planning for federal buildings and land. Continue reading...

DNC chair Ken Martin apologizes for initial bid to block release of report on the party's disastrous election defeatThe Democrats have belatedly published a postmortem on the party's disastrous 2024 election defeat, after an initial decision to withhold the document triggered an angry backlash.Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), released the report - which fails to mention Gaza or Joe Biden's age - accompanied by an apology to party members angered by his initial decision to keep the analysis of Kamala Harris's loss to Donald Trump and defeat in both houses of Congress under wraps. Continue reading...

ICE funding bid derailed amid Republican backlash to attempt to latch ballroom funding on to immigration billA bid to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by rows over a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump's White House ballroom and controversial plans to create a $1.8bn anti-weaponization" fund.The US Senate will not pass the $70bn legislation ahead of a 1 June deadline set by the US president, Republican senators told reporters on Thursday, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day recess. Continue reading...

Court throws out state's challenge to judicial finding that inmate convicted of murder is ineligible for death penaltyThe US supreme court on Thursday threw out a challenge by the state of Alabama to a judicial finding that a death row inmate convicted of a 1997 murder is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible under the US constitution for the death penalty.In this highly unusual move, and in a single-sentence, unsigned order, the court dismissed Alabama's petition for review in Hamm v Smith without deciding it, effectively undoing its earlier decision to take up an appeal by state officials to the method used by a lower court to determine that Joseph Clifton Smith was intellectually disabled and therefore could not be executed. Continue reading...

Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which claimed to help provide millions of meals to children during the pandemic

DHS issued Bolo' for Ben Palmer, whose videos of calls with members of the public who thought they were reporting immigrants went viralThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has circulated a Be on the Lookout" alert to law enforcement nationwide, targeting a comedian whose satire of US immigration enforcement went viral.The subject of the alert, known as a Bolo", was Ben Palmer, a Nashville-based standup comedian and prankster who created a parody anti-immigration tip website. His revealing videos of calls with members of the public who thought they were reporting immigrants to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have garnered millions of views on TikTok and YouTube. Continue reading...

Sarah Kellen told lawmakers that convicted sex offender sexually and psychologically abused me ... and gaslit me'

Lawsuit says university and private investigators conspired to intimidate, terrorize and retaliate against Josiah WalkerA University of Michigan student has sued the school, accusing it of violating his constitutional rights when it waged a vast undercover surveillance operation against him in response to his protest of Israel's war in Gaza.The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court by Cair-MI and U-M student Josiah Walker, claims the university and individual private investigators conspired to intimidate, terrorize and retaliate against Walker in 2024 and 2025. Continue reading...

Ebony Parker was accused of ignoring warnings about six-year-old boy who shot and wounded his teacher in 2023

HHS advisory says high screen time among youths can be linked to poor sleep and weakened in-person relationshipsHealth officials in the Trump administration have issued an advisory about children and adolescents' excessive screen time, warning that negative impacts on sleep and mental functioning have become a public health concern".The advisory from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notes that the amount of screen time reaches an average of four or more hours per day by the time a child becomes a teenager and can be linked to poor sleep, decreased functioning in school, less physical activity and weakened in-person relationships. Continue reading...

Air France flight en route to Detroit, Michigan, landed in Montreal after virus-related travel restrictions

Strict restrictions on Americans with exposure to Ebola and hantavirus highlight officials' previous rhetoric on public health measuresThe US is imposing strict restrictions on American travelers who have been exposed in dual Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks in ways that experts say could run counter to their legal rights and affect who will volunteer in future public health crises globally.The latest restrictions highlight officials' previous rhetoric on public health measures and their attempts to contain outbreaks now, including reported opposition from the White House to Americans returning home. Continue reading...

Charges filed against Raul Castro for allegedly shooting down planes in 1996. Plus, US employers spend more than $1.5bn a year to fight labor unions

Troubled Baywatch reboot production echoes film-making woes in a city best known for its movie and TV industryThe fight for the future of Los Angeles, America's second-largest city, usually plays out in the grand art deco offices and committee rooms of city hall. But in an election year full of surprises, the most consequential battle may in fact have begun on a beach.And not just any beach: we're talking about the fantasy sandbox inhabited by buff gym rats and sun-kissed bikini babes on Baywatch and its multiple spin-offs. In February, Los Angeles welcomed the latest incarnation of the hit TV show back to southern California after a long hiatus, including detours to Hawaii and Georgia. City officials heralded its return as a sign of better times for local film and television production following years of decline and tens of thousands of job losses in the heart of Hollywood. Continue reading...

US cities are turning to randomly selected residents to help resolve divisive policy debatesA Los Angeles software engineer, Hunter Futo, recalled being disaffected and apolitical" for years but experienced an about-face recently: now, she's leading resident debates, helping guide local governance reforms and even pushing for more options for Angelenos to help create policy.For Futo, the turnaround happened in January, when she and a few other LA residents were randomly selected to lay out a vision of local values for the first-ever preamble for the city charter. Continue reading...

Investment banker Lorna Hajdini says ex-colleague Chirayu Rana's malicious' allegations wreaked havoc'The JPMorgan Chase investment banker accused of sexual assault in an explosive lawsuit that went viral countersued her accuser, saying his malicious lies destroyed her reputation and wreaked havoc" on her life.In papers filed on Tuesday night in a New York state court in Manhattan, Lorna Hajdini said her former colleague Chirayu Rana fabricated allegations that she raped and drugged him, in order to attract maximum press coverage, cause her pain and extract millions of dollars from her and JPMorgan. Continue reading...

The Anti-Weaponization Fund' is an extraordinary example of bald self-dealingDonald Trump is stealing almost $2bn in taxpayer money and handing it out to his friends. That's the upshot of the president's recent agreement following a $10bn lawsuit he brought in his personal capacity against the IRS, an agency that he oversees. Trump brought the suit over leaks of some documents from his tax returns to the press. To resolve the suit, the justice department will create a fund of nearly $1.8bn - a wildly outsized figure compared with Trump's somewhat flimsily alleged injuries - that can be doled out to Trump allies. The Guardian describes the fund as loosely controlled and secretive", but members of the Trump administration have not ruled out January 6 insurrectionists as possible awardees.The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund" will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump's attorney general and one appointed in consultation" with congressional leadership - Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control. It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations - ie, those few who were prosecuted or sued during the Biden era. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government. But I doubt that there will be any remaining money. We may never know either way: there is no requirement that the fund's work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

US Preventive Services Task Force had already been largely sidelined before health secretary fired its two chairsThe Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans.In letters dated 11 May, the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, notified the two doctors who chaired the US Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Body-cam footage shared with the Guardian shows agents forced workers out of a van in what a judge has called unlawful' arrestNewly released body-camera footage shows US immigration officers stopping a van of farm workers in Oregon, smashing their windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them.Videos from a 30 October 2025 operation were disclosed in court as part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) arrest tactics and racial profiling by agents. Lawyers for one of the detained farm workers shared the footage with the Guardian. Continue reading...

Will Lawrence, an outspoken opponent of AI datacenters, is running in swing district where three mega complexes loomA prominent environmental organizer calling for a nationwide moratorium on datacenters as he runs for the Democratic nomination in a swing Michigan congressional district has secured an endorsement from Bernie Sanders.Will Lawrence, co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement climate justice group, was a key figure behind the campaign for a Green New Deal to battle economic and racial injustice while also fighting climate change. Continue reading...

Hundreds of cases reported in the DRC after USAID has been dismantled and key scientific research canceledA previously undetected outbreak of Ebola is coursing through parts of central Africa, and the US appears to be doing little to help stop it, after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts.There is no cure and no vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. Health leaders and scientists are now racing to understand where the virus is spreading and attempting to stop it - but the US is notably absent in these efforts. Continue reading...

While Canada may be clinging to fossil fuels, much of the world is moving onCasual international observers would be forgiven for assuming Canada is in the comforting hands of a climate champ. After all, while climate policy rollbacks reign supreme in Donald Trump's America, Canada is now led by a man who, while serving as governor of the Bank of England, delivered a celebrated 2015 speech, Breaking the tragedy of the horizon", warning the global investment community of the financial risks of climate change; who went on to serve as UN special envoy for climate action and finance; and whose 2022 book Value(s) had much to say about the existential threat" of climate change. A man who recently dazzled the world with his Davos speech on how middle powers can stand up to global bullies.Look, we get it. Next to the US president, Carney seems so debonair, thoughtful and calm - a lifeline of stability in a volatile new world.Seth Klein is a Canadian climate writer and activist, author of the book A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, and former team lead of the Climate Emergency Unit. His newsletter can be found here. Continue reading...

Wherever you're planning to watch the matches - we'd like to hear from youThe men's World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada is nearly upon us, kicking off on 11 June.Amid the excitement around the tournament, there has been controversy over Fifa's ticketing process, the cost of travel, and security concerns for fans travelling to the US. Continue reading...

Eight nations have won the World Cup. An expanded field and a grueling schedule means a new champion could emerge from the pack this summerWhen Fifa expanded the field for the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, the sales pitch included giving more nations a chance at glory. In reality, the favorites are nearly always former champions.To date, only eight nations have won the men's World Cup. And yet, few of the former champions arrive at this summer's tournament in their finest form. Spain are a justifiably popular pick as the reigning European champions have plenty of world-class talent. Argentina will hope to defend their title from 2022 after following it up with the Copa America in 2024. France, who top our power rankings, have reached the last two finals, and Kylian Mbappe claims this squad is the best he has been a part of. Continue reading...

Carmen Mercedes Lineberger accused of hiding files related to Trump documents investigation as bundt cake recipeA former Department of Justice prosecutor is facing felony charges after emailing herself a sealed Biden-era investigative report concerning Donald Trump and attempting to hide the documents as cake recipes, federal authorities said on Wednesday.Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who worked as a managing assistant US attorney in Florida, is facing two counts of theft of government money or property in addition to charges related to her alleged alteration of the documents, according to the indictment. Continue reading...

Former president, 94, faces multiple US felony charges, including four counts of murder - key US politics stories from Wednesday 20 MayThe United States issued a federal criminal indictment against Raul Castro, Cuba's former president, and five others on Wednesday in a significant escalation of the Trump administration's campaign to oust the country's six-decades-old communist regime.The 94-year-old political figurehead was charged in Miami, Florida, with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Continue reading...

Demonstration, held at historic location where the Mississippi Plan' was enacted, comes as southern states race to dilute Black voting powerThousands of Mississippians, along with allies from other southern states, gathered at the state's War Memorial Building auditorium on Wednesday in support of voting rights. It was the latest in a series of actions protesting the supreme court's recent decision gutting the provision of the Voting Rights Act preventing racial discrimination, and held on a site integral to the state's history of Black disenfranchisement.Section 2 stopped states, counties, cities, from passing redistricting maps that discriminate against Black voters and it led to the biggest growth of Black political power since Reconstruction", said Amir Badat, the southern states director at the voting rights group Fair Fight Action. Continue reading...

Acting US attorney general Todd Blanche announced the indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro on Wednesday, in what is seen as an escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the island's government. The indictment was related to Castro's alleged role in the downing of two small planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, now 94, was Cuba's defence minister at the time.

The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills - for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a nationwide, near-total abortion ban could be on the horizon. Carter speaks with Dr Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, who reveals how the legal battle over abortion pills has affected patients across the US - and what could happen next Continue reading...

Larry Bushart was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie KirkTennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.While many people across the US lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk's death, Larry Bushart's case stood out as a rare instance in which such online speech led to criminal prosecution. The 61-year-old retired police officer spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October. Continue reading...

Suit says administration is impinging on rights to life and liberty by worsening planet-warming and toxic pollution

Officials say sinkhole discovered at about 11am as emergency crews rush to complete repairsA sinkhole was discovered at New York's LaGuardia airport on Wednesday, shutting down a runway while emergency crews sought to determine its cause and how to fix it.In a post on X, LaGuardia, which handles domestic travel, said the sinkhole had been discovered at about 11am near runway 4/22" while the airport's operator was conducting its daily morning inspection. Continue reading...

Security guard Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad were killed in shooting at Islamic Center of San DiegoA security guard who was killed during the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday is being hailed as a hero after police said that his actions undoubtedly" saved lives.On Monday, two teenagers opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, shooting and killing three men. The two attackers, aged 17 and 18, were found dead several blocks away, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. Continue reading...

Obama hails Frank as a one of a kind' LGBTQ+ advocate and key architect of sweeping financial reforms'

Conflict and aid cuts are hampering the fight against an outbreak of the deadly virus centred in the Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced the deadly threat of Ebola 16 times since the virus was discovered there in 1976, with a 2018-20 outbreak killing almost 2,300 people. On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the 17th outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern. So far, 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever virus have been identified, nearly all in the DRC's north-eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, with two cases in Uganda of people who had travelled from the DRC.There is also anxiety about neighbouring South Sudan. The WHO fears the disease has been spreading for a couple of months and, given the highly mobile population, warns that it could take months more to bring it under control. While it judges the risk of global spread to be low, it thinks the regional risk is high.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...

Watchdog group glued trackers to 53 of the chain's cups across nine states and found none ended up at a recycling facilityIf you attach a GPS tracker to a widely recyclable" plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but the environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that's not the case in a new report.Starbucks announced that their plastic cups were now considered widely recyclable" earlier this year, according to How2Recycle, a group affiliated with the consumer packaging industry that helps private companies label their packaging with recycling options. The coffee giant touted the achievement as a big milestone, with huge impact". Continue reading...

Retired Capitol police officer and DC officer allege Trump's $1.8bn fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and allies