Obama once joked about what a gaudy Trump White House would like - the president seems bent on proving him rightWhen Barack Obama roasted Donald Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Association dinner, the icing on the cake was a cartoon illustration of what the White House might look like if Trump ever became US president.The name Trump" was emblazoned across the top in giant capital letters, followed by the White House" in lurid purple cursive, then hotel casino golf course" and presidential suite". The parody imagined gold pillars, a giant crystal chandelier and two scantily clad women sitting at reception. Continue reading...
Refurbishing the nation should be a collective effort - not the work of a single man with an unmatched taste for the gaudyWho doesn't love a good home renovation project? Something to take your mind off the humdrum details of life. A fresh start. A dream made reality. I recently repainted my French doors from teal to aquamarine. I felt like a new man, albeit one with all the same problems. Just with a new door color.The average homeowner will always find something to change, tweak or revise - even in the most beautiful property. Don't like your kitchen sink? Rip it out. Not a fan of subway tiles? Scrap them. Have you ever considered the sublime serenity of a rainfall shower on your body in the morning? All of these amenities can be yours for the price of materials, labor and the psychic distress of a bunch of burly middle-aged men traipsing around your house with large, thick boots. A small price to pay for a bit of temporary contentment. Continue reading...
A few months ago Baltimore were seen as a Super Bowl contender; now they're struggling to make the playoffs. We assess their chances of turning things aroundThe Ravens' season is on the brink. Coming out of a bye week, Baltimore are 1-5 after a miserable start partly because their roster has been ripped apart by injuries. Next up are the Chicago Bears, who have come into some form. Beat the Bears, and the Ravens could turn the year around. If they lose, and they fall to 1-6, their season is effectively over, a huge disappointment for a team with genuine Super Bowl aspirations a few months ago. Below, we look at the factors that have hurt the Ravens - and the chances of those factors changing for the better. Continue reading...
As the LA Angels stand trial over the pitcher's death in the quiet shadow of the World Series fanfare across town, a sport confronts a truth practically as old as the game itselfBefore steroids, before amphetamines and before fentanyl, baseball's first documented chemical dalliance came from monkey testicles. In August 1889, a worn-down pitcher for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys named James Francis Pud" Galvin, so nicknamed for his once-devastating ability to reduce hitters to pudding", was in need of a spark. He was 32, his right arm a rubbery relic of nearly 5,000 innings pitched, his career on the fade. Then came salvation in a syringe. A French-Mauritian doctor by the name of Charles-Edouard Brown-Sequard published a paper - The Effects Produced on Man by the Subcutaneous Injections of a Liquid Obtained from the Testicles of Animals - in which he claimed that a few drops of an extract sourced from dogs and guinea pigs might well make ordinary men stronger and more virile. Galvin, a stocky power pitcher, wasted no time getting jabbed with the so-called Brown-Sequard elixir in a public demonstration at the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, only four miles east from the team's home ground. The next day he pitched a five-hit shutout to turn back the Boston Beaneaters, adding a double and a triple at the plate off the great Old Hoss Radbourn for good measure. (Take that, Ohtani.)If there still be doubting Thomases who concede no virtue of the elixir, they are respectfully referred to Galvin's record in yesterday's Boston-Pittsburg game," wrote the Washington Post, with proto-advertorial flourish. It is the best proof yet furnished of the value of the discovery." No one thought to call it cheating, even before Brown-Sequard's colleagues called cap on the tonic's efficacy in the weeks that followed. Why would they? Good old Pud wasn't breaking the rules so much as pushing the boundaries of willpower and endurance. In baseball, those things have often been one and the same. Continue reading...
Candidates jockeyed for advantage during debate, but were unlikely to change voters' minds before election dayZohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and current frontrunner for New York City mayor, faced off with Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, at the second and final New York mayoral election debate on Wednesday night.Here are some key takeaways from the evening. Continue reading...
Final debate was marked by heated exchanges between the frontrunners, while Sliwa quipped at Cuomo's expenseNew York City's three mayoral contenders had a fiery debate on Wednesday night in their final televised face-off less than two weeks before voters decide the city's next leader on 4 November.Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa participated in a tense and often chaotic discussion. The current mayor, Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race weeks earlier, once again did not attend. Continue reading...
Attorney general Letitia James urges residents to share video and photos amid outcry over Chinatown raidThe New York state attorney general, Letitia James, rolled out a Federal Action Reporting Portal" form urging New York residents to share photos and videos of federal immigration enforcement action across the state, just a day after a high-profile ICE raid rattled Manhattan's Chinatown and prompted hundreds to come out in protest.A US congressman revealed in a Wednesday press conference that four US citizens were arrested and held for nearly 24 hours" after Tuesday's raid. Protests broke out in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Continue reading...
by Robert Mackey (now); Ryan Fonseca and Shannon Ho ( on (#70YKF)
Candidates came out swinging as they vied for New Yorkers' votes in final debateIt's us versus them," Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, says in his brief opening statement, in which he claims that he is the true representative of New Yorkers.Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, begins by urging the Knicks to win, and then pivots to attacking my main opponent", Zohran Mamdani. Continue reading...
Women report miscarriages, delayed care, being shackled and being held in solitary confinement, letter saysPregnant women have reported bleeding, miscarriages, being shackled and other instances of medical neglect while in US immigration custody, according to a group of prominent civil rights organizations.The groups - which include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its Louisiana chapter, the National Immigration Project, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, Sanctuary of the South and Sanctuary Now Abolition Project - sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Senate committees on Wednesday, describing interviews with more than a dozen women. Continue reading...
Trump, who has to date not put sanctions on Russia over the war and instead relied on trade measures, says Rosneft and Lukoil will be targeted. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 22 OctoberDonald Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft, sending oil prices higher by more than $2 a barrel.The president imposed the new measures as his frustration grows with Russian president Vladimir Putin over the war. Continue reading...
Newsom calls move right out of the dictator's handbook' as agents prepare for key immigration enforcement operationThe Trump administration appeared poised to send dozens of federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area for a major immigration enforcement operation, prompting condemnation from California leaders.Details of the deployment were still emerging, but it will reportedly involve more than 100 federal agents, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The agents are reportedly set to begin using the US Coast Guard base in Alameda, a city located across the bay from San Francisco. It remained unclear whether national guard troops would also be involved. Continue reading...
Spokesperson calls journalists who refused to agree to new rules self-righteous media who chose to self-deport'After the recent departure of Pentagon reporters due to their refusal to agree to a new set of restrictive policies, the defense department has announced a next generation of the Pentagon press corps" featuring 60 journalists from far-right outlets, many of which have promoted conspiracy theories.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted the news on X but did not provide any names. Continue reading...
Carlitos Ricardo Parias remained hospitalized after he was shot in the elbow by federal agents during arrestAn influential Los Angeles man who livestreams US immigration enforcement operations on social media remained hospitalized on Wednesday after he was shot and arrested by federal agents.Authorities allege that Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a TikTok creator with a large following online, tried to ram federal agents' vehicles with his vehicle in an attempt to flee after agents surrounded him and boxed in his car. He was shot in the elbow during the incident while a ricochet bullet hit a deputy US marshal in the hand. Continue reading...
Robert Garcia cited revelations from Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir in letter to the attorney generalThe top Democrat on a congressional committee investigating the government's handling of Jeffrey Epstein's case demanded on Wednesday that Pam Bondi, the attorney general, turn over files related to the alleged sex trafficker, citing revelations from the posthumous memoir of a prominent abuse survivor.Virginia Giuffre's memoir Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, published this week, details how Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell groomed and manipulated her. Continue reading...
Leaders of left-leaning groups behind mass protests against Trump administration map out their visionThe No Kings alliance, the left-leaning groups behind the mass days of protest last Saturday and in June, is building a nationwide rapid response network that will call on supporters to take new actions each week. Leaders of the organizations told the Guardian that there was energy for some type of disruption", and future actions could include targeted boycotts, campaigns at universities, more street protests, and electoral organizing in local communities.After an estimated 7 million people took to the streets last weekend, tens of thousands joined a national call on Tuesday to hear what's next for the growing movement. Leaders celebrated the broad turnout, saying it showed how much opposition to Trump there was in all corners of the US, and talked about how to sustain and grow a movement during an increasingly authoritarian moment for the country. Continue reading...
Graham Platner says he was never questioned about the skull-and-crossbones chest tattoo in the 20 years he had itGraham Platner, a Democratic candidate for US Senate in Maine, said on Wednesday that a tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.Platner said he got the skull-and-crossbones tattoo in 2007, when he was in his 20s and in the Marine Corps. It happened during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia, he said, adding he was unaware until recently that the image has been associated with Nazi police. Continue reading...
Hochul, Schumer and the three mayoral candidates express outrage over federal operation in ChinatownLocal and state officials in New York are expressing outrage after dozens of federal agents carried out a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Manhattan's Chinatown on Tuesday.Eyewitnesses accounts and video footage captured the chaotic scenes in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, where masked and armed federal agents were seen detaining several individuals near Canal Street, while crowds of New Yorkers gathered, protesting against the action. Military-style vehicles were also seen driving through the area. Continue reading...
President says government owes him a lot of money' for federal investigations during and after first termDonald Trump declared himself the arbiter of whether or not his own administration should pay him damages over past federal investigations, telling reporters that any such decision would have to go across my desk".The president insisted on Tuesday that the government owes him a lot of money" for previous justice department investigations into his conduct, while at the same time asserting his personal authority over any potential payout. Continue reading...
Combo of heavy surf and low tide causes partially translucent gelatinous creatures to litter the tideline'Thousands of sea cucumbers have washed up on the beach in the Oregon coastal town of Seaside thanks to a combination of heavy surf and low tide.The partially translucent gelatinous creatures are called skin-breathing sea cucumbers. They normally burrow into the sand along the low tideline and farther out. But on Tuesday, they were scattered across more than 2 miles (3.2km) of Seaside Beach, said Tiffany Boothe, the assistant manager of the Seaside Aquarium. Continue reading...
Gavin Newsom criticized Trump for endangering people's lives' as shutdown sets stage for delayed food benefitsGavin Newsom warned this week that Donald Trump's increasingly long government shutdown will impact those who rely on federal food support, likely delaying benefits as families are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving in November.On Wednesday, California's governor said he would set aside $80m in state support and deploy the California national guard to assist food banks. Continue reading...
Sequoia park zoo said staff were doing an inspection when they saw a wild black bear looking in at three captive bearsA wild bear in California has broken into a zoo and paid an unexpected visit to the bear enclosure.In a Facebook post, the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka in the northern part of the state said its staff were conducting a routine inspection of part of the complex when they spotted a wild American black bear leaning on a gate and looking in at three captive black bears in their enclosure. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#70Y2Q)
Elite helicopter unit's part in military deployment comes as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Nicolas MaduroThey call themselves the Night Stalkers and their unofficial motto hints at the group's lethal nocturnal line of work: Death Waits in the Dark." You can flee, but they will find you," warns a rare book about the US army's secretive 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR).Since the elite helicopter unit's creation in 1981, its daredevil pilots have taken part in some of the most dangerous missions in recent US military history: battling Islamic State during Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria, and Somali warlords during Operation Gothic Serpent; and spiriting Navy Seals into Pakistan to kill the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as part of Operation Neptune Spear. Continue reading...
Investigators searched car and deemed it safe after Secret Service officials took man into custody Tuesday nightA man was taken into custody late Tuesday after driving his car into a security barrier outside the White House, authorities said.The US Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10.37pm on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service's uniformed division, the agency said. Continue reading...
Americans able to buy deadly gangster weapons' again as lobbying forces key concession from Trump officialsUS citizens are free once more to buy some of the country's most deadly firearms and gun accessories, after relentless lobbying by the gun industry and Republican politicians forced a concession from the Trump administration under the federal government shutdown.As of this week, gun owners will be able to restart purchases of some of the most highly regulated weapons in the US, with the return to work of federal employees responsible for regulating the items now reclassified as essential". They include silencers, short-barreled rifles and vintage machine-guns produced before 1986. Continue reading...
by Alexander Abnos, Jakub Frankowicz and Graham Ruthv on (#70Y0H)
The MLS postseason starts on Wednesday night. We assess the contenders for the championship, and take a look back at the talking points from the regular seasonHow little there was between the top teams. When all was said and done, just seven points covered the top six teams in the standings. The Supporters' Shield race was settled with a game to spare, but any one of several sides could have finished top of the pile, which bodes well for the playoffs. Even by MLS standards, the field is wide open. GR Continue reading...
Gaza's media office says Israel killed at least 80 Palestinians since ceasefire deal took effect. Plus, Trump's pick for whistleblower office drops out after racist textsGood morning.JD Vance has expressed great optimism" over the Gaza truce plan, which he described as durable" and going better than expected" during a visit to Israel on Tuesday, two days after Israeli airstrikes killed 26 Palestinians.What are the ceasefire violations? On Sunday, Israel launched lethal airstrikes in Gaza that killed 26 Palestinians after two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack the army blamed on Hamas. The militant group said it was not responsible because it had not had contact with fighters in the area since communications were cut off in March. The Israeli military later said it had resumed enforcing the ceasefire.What is Israel alleging about Hamas? Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of hostages' bodies. Hamas has sent back 15 bodies but still needs to hand over 13 more. The group has said locating the remains will take time as many are buried under rubble. Continue reading...
DEI is being used as a smokescreen to roll back progress and consolidate power. The goal is to rewrite our nation's storyDemocracy flourishes when Black Americans advance. The evidence is clear: birthright citizenship, constitutional due process, anti-discrimination laws from education to housing to employment and equitable small business investments, are all byproducts of the systemic corrections known today as DEI. Yet, in recent years, DEI has been used as a smokescreen by cynical politicians and activists to roll back progress and consolidate power. Across classrooms, museums, boardrooms and federal agencies, the key pathways to opportunity and success are under attack through a coordinated disinformation campaign of erasure, distortion and suppression.The impact of these tactics is concrete and undeniable. Since the start of this year, Onyx Impact's research has found, 306,000 Black women have lost their jobs and $3.4bn in grant programs investing in Black communities has been slashed - including $9.4m in sickle cell disease research, $42m in programs designed to address Black maternal mortality and $31m in cuts to address asthma rates and air pollution harming Black children. Continue reading...
Message sent to fundraising site led investigators to man accused of stabbing Evin Paulos about 30 timesA tip sent to an online fundraising campaign recently allowed investigators to jail the prime suspect in a deadly 2017 stabbing in Arizona - a case which otherwise appeared as if it might not yield any arrests, according to authorities.The remarkable chain of events, which began with a tip to a page on the GoFundMe platform in September, led to the 15 October arrest in Mexico of Michael Anthony Arredondo, who is accused of stabbing Evin Paulos about 30 times and killing him while the two were traveling together. Continue reading...
An immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on Canal Street in the Chinatown district of New York City turned chaotic on Tuesday, as bystanders and protesters surrounded federal agents and attempted to block them from carrying out raids
by Robert Mackey, Shrai Popat, Maya Yang and Tom Ambr on (#70X36)
This live blog is now closedThe Central Intelligence Agency is providing the bulk of the intelligence used to carry out the controversial lethal air strikes by the Trump administration against small, fast-going boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of carrying drugs from Venezuela, according to three sources familiar with the operations.Experts say the agency's central role means much of the evidence used to select which alleged smugglers to kill on the open sea will almost certainly remain secret. Continue reading...
Paul Ingrassia dropped out of consideration after racist text messages he sent surfaced this week. Key US politics stories from 21 October 2025 at a glanceDonald Trump's nominee to lead a federal watchdog agency, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew on Tuesday following a report that Ingrassia described himself as having a Nazi streak."Ingrassia said in a social media post that he was pulling out of a scheduled Thursday hearing before a Senate panel that was set to consider his nomination because I do not have enough Republican votes at this time." Continue reading...
Report on Paul Ingrassia featured messages where he allegedly described himself as having a Nazi streak'Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump's nominee to oversee federal whistleblower protections, has dropped out after racist text messages he sent surfaced this week.Ingrassia, currently a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security, was the subject of a report on Monday published in Politico. The report featured text messages where he allegedly described himself as having a Nazi streak" and suggested Martin Luther King Jr Day should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell". Continue reading...
Adelita Grijalva was elected last month but Republican House speaker has so far blocked her from taking seatArizona's attorney general is suing to force the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, to swear in Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a congressional special election in September.Grijalva was elected on 23 September in the southern Arizona district that her father, Raul Grijalva, held until his death earlier this year. Continue reading...
Grounds, including governor's office, searched after authorities found what appeared to be a homemade objectThe Wyoming capitol building, including the governor's office, was evacuated on Tuesday after a suspected explosive device was found. The grounds were being searched with drones and bomb-sniffing dogs.The evacuation that began at 9.30am was still ongoing at mid-afternoon. Continue reading...
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