Immigration lawyer Kim Xavier says stricter enforcement and delays are leaving even legal immigrants in limbo and fearKim Xavier, a senior associate at CoveyLaw, an immigration law firm based in New York, has spent much of the last year bracing herself for any Friday announcements that might affect her clients.So when Donald Trump announced on a recent Friday that he will impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, the timing was not totally surprising. Continue reading...
Joshua Wayne Cole to admit in court to making online posts about shooting people at an LGBTQ+ parade in TexasA Texas man has agreed to plead guilty to going on social media and threatening to shoot people at an LGBTQ+ parade as vengeance for the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.Joshua Wayne Cole signed federal court filings indicating that he planned to plead guilty to a charge of interstate threatening communications at a hearing tentatively set for 16 October, about a month after he was arrested in connection with online posts threatening to open fire on a Pride parade in Abilene, Texas. Continue reading...
Dynamic pricing, crypto detritus and corporate doublespeak have made the task of buying 2026 World Cup tickets a grim case study in the monetization of emotionWhen the first tickets for the 2026 World Cup went on sale last week, millions of fans joined online queues only to discover what Gianni Infantino's assurance that the world will be welcome" really means. The cheapest face-value seat for next summer's final, somewhere in the gods of New Jersey's 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium where the players are specks and the football's a rumor, comes at a cost of $2,030 (oxygen tank not included). Most upper-deck seats range from $2,790 to $4,210, according to customers who finally glimpsed the prices that had been closely guarded. The much-touted $60 tickets for group-stage games, propped up by Fifa as evidence of affordability, exist only as comically tiny green smudges on the edge of digital seating maps, little more than mirages of inclusivity.Fifa had kept the costs under wraps until the very moment of sale, replacing the usual published table of price points with a digital lottery that decided who even got the chance to buy. Millions spent hours staring at a queue screen as algorithms determined their place in line. When access finally came for most, the lower-priced sections had already vanished, many presumably swallowed by bots and bulk-buyers (and that's before Fifa quietly raised the prices of at least nine matches after only one day of sales). The whole process resembled less a ticket release than a psyop to calibrate how much frustration and scarcity the public will tolerate. Continue reading...
The US results still aren't matching performances, but now there are more reasons for optimism than everMauricio Pochettino has said multiple times through the United States' up-and-down 2025 that he does not care about results yet. The most important place to win - in fact, the only important place to win, according to him - is at the 2026 World Cup. The results would ideally match the performances, sure, but they don't have to. Not yet.That's a good thing, because once again on Friday night the US performance was met with a result that was probably less than the Americans deserved. A 1-1 draw with Ecuador in Austin, Texas saw the US control the flow of the game most of the time, winning most of the individual defensive battles and on occasion constructing some truly attractive moves forward against Ecuador's disciplined defensive shell. Continue reading...
White House had described doctor visit as routine yearly checkup' although president had annual physical in AprilDonald Trump - the oldest person ever to be elected US president - had what he has described as a semiannual physical" at the Walter Reed national military medical center on Friday.The visit, which the White House announced earlier this week, comes as Trump is preparing to travel to the Middle East on the heels of a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, described it as a routine yearly checkup", although the president had his annual physical in April. Continue reading...
by Chris Stein in Washington and Michael Sainato on (#70NQZ)
AFL-CIO fights issue in court as union leader warns of devastating effects' for AmericansThe White House announced layoffs of federal workers on Friday, making good on a threat it had made in response to the US government shutdown, which now appears set to stretch into a third straight week.Russell Vought, the director of the White House office of management and budget, wrote on social media that RIFs have begun", referring to the government's reduction-in-force procedure to let employees go. Continue reading...
Company to sell some medicines at a discount to US's Medicaid health plan in exchange for tariff reliefDonald Trump announced a deal with the British-based drugmaker AstraZeneca for a most-favored-nation" drug-pricing model aimed at making prescription medicines more affordable and avoiding the administration's tariff threats.The company will sell some medicines at a discount to the government's Medicaid health plan in exchange for tariff relief, similar to a drug-pricing pact reached last week with Pfizer. Continue reading...
Police chief calls explosion near Bucksnort, south-west of Nashville, devastating' and says we have some deceased'Nineteen people are missing and feared dead following a huge explosion at a military munitions plant in Tennessee.The powerful blast ripped through the explosives manufacturing plant in rural Tennessee on Friday morning, rattling homes miles away and bringing emergency services to the scene, authorities and residents said. Continue reading...
President accuses China of very hostile' moves and says additional tariffs could come on 1 November or sooner'Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China from next month, accusing Beijing of very hostile" moves to restrict exports of rare earths needed for American industry.Wall Street fell sharply after the US president reignited public tensions with the Chinese government, and raised the prospect of another acrimonious trade war between the world's two largest economies. Continue reading...
Marimar Martinez, 30, was charged with impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon in fracas preceding shootingA Chicago woman shot multiple times by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents was recently indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon.Prosecutors allege Marimar Martinez, 30, rammed the vehicle of federal agents with her own before they shot her, which they say was an act of self-defense. They also claim Martinez was armed. Continue reading...
Are you really going to believe the attorney general of New York would commit this over $600 a year?' says one lawyerA prosecutor installed by Donald Trump may have been able to secure an indictment against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, but actually obtaining a conviction may be an uphill battle, legal experts say.Even before a grand jury handed down the indictment on Thursday, there was already deep skepticism about possible charges. Career prosecutors in the US attorney's office for the eastern district of Virginia had looked at accusations James committed mortgage fraud and concluded there was no probable cause to charge the case. Lindsey Halligan, Trump's handpicked interim US attorney, nonetheless went ahead and presented the case to the grand jury. Her decision to do so reportedly caught top justice department officials off-guard. Continue reading...
The US president long refused to use his influence over the prime minister. Last month, that appeared to changeAfter nearly nine months in office, Donald Trump seems to have had enough of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, undermining his ambition to establish himself as a global peacemaker. Over the past few weeks, the US president finally decided to use his leverage to force Netanyahu to accept a new ceasefire and stop two years of genocidal war in Gaza.On Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, including an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory. It's unclear what guarantees the US gave to Hamas and Arab mediators to ensure that Netanyahu would not resume the war after the hostage-prisoner swap - if negotiations on later stages of the deal are stalled. That's what happened earlier this year, when Netanyahu accepted a truce that took effect in January, but then refused to move into the second phase of negotiations with Hamas, and violated the ceasefire after two months.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...
by Sam Levine and Edward Helmore in New York on (#70NNG)
Prosecutor who sought charges was installed amid Trump frustrations with pace of investigations against rivalsA federal grand jury has indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general, for bank fraud and making false statements. Two charges were brought against James, who had brought a civil fraud case against the Trump Organization in 2022 that Trump claimed was a malicious prosecution.Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, personally presented the case to the grand jury on Thursday, the person said. US attorneys do not typically present to a grand jury. Continue reading...
The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on itWhen he first learned that federal agents had detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil in the lobby of his university housing complex, Jameel Jaffer knew he was in for a fight.Jaffer is the director of a Columbia-affiliated institute devoted to the defense of the first amendment, and Khalil, a green card holder, had been a fixture at the pro-Palestinian encampments on campus. Months earlier, Jaffer's organization had hosted a symposium about the free speech rights of noncitizens. The institute had been established to defend the very constitutional principles the Trump administration was now openly flouting - and that Columbia seemed too scared to defend. Continue reading...
More than three in four store managers report more empty shelves since the Trump administration's global tariff rollout, new poll suggestsUS store managers are reporting more empty shelf space since the global tariff rollout by the Trump administration.More than three-quarters of managers in one recent survey reported an increase in bare shelves. And over half (51%) of the store managers surveyed by warehouse software company GreyOrange also reported that they have reduced their workforce in the last six months, which may affect the shopper experience. Continue reading...
First lady had pleaded for children in letter that Donald Trump delivered to Russian president at meeting in AlaskaMelania Trump said on Friday that eight Ukrainian children have been reunited with their families after ongoing talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.The US first lady in August wrote a letter to Putin and had her husband hand-deliver it during his meeting with the Russian president in Alaska. Continue reading...
Court to rule on whether president can deploy guard in Portland, Oregon, against mostly small, nightly protestsNational guard troops were seen patrolling in Memphis for the first time on Friday, as part of Donald Trump's controversial federal taskforce, amid fierce legal challenges as he was blocked from sending troops to Chicago and a court ruling is awaited in Portland, Oregon.At least nine national guard troops began their Tennessee patrol at the Bass Pro Shops, an outdoor gear chain, located at the Pyramid, a commercial landmark in Memphis. They were being escorted by a Memphis police officer and posed for photos with visitors who were standing outside. Continue reading...
The Israeli PM wants to bolster his position and ward off global pariah status. But he has shifted gears before and may do so againIn Gaza, children, journalists and rescue workers who have seen their peers and colleagues killed in front of their eyes for the past two years have started to rejoice at the prospect that their living nightmare could finally be over. So, too, have the families of Israeli hostages who thought they might never see their loved ones again. We can only share in their relief. And still, the reasons to be wary of the ceasefire's long-term prospects are endless.We have been here before. I'm haunted by a video from back in January, in which 28-year-old Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif removes his press vest and helmet live on air before being hoisted aloft by a joyous crowd as he announces news of a ceasefire. That deal led to several successful exchanges of Israeli and Palestinian captives and brought two months of relative respite to Gaza - before Israel tore up the agreement by launching more than 100 airstrikes on the besieged territory in one night, killing more than 400 Palestinians. Five months later, Israel bombed a press tent outside a Gaza City hospital, killing Sharif and five other journalists. Continue reading...
Agencies like Ice are way ahead of Donald Trump, who wants the military to treat cities like training grounds'Even without the national guard, law enforcement agencies of the federal government have been using military hardware and tactics on civilian targets.At a low-rent apartment complex on Chicago's south shore, people started hearing the boots hit the roof around one in the morning. The oh-dark-thirty immigration enforcement raid in the early hours of 1 October featured an air assault from helicopters. Officers went door to door in the building, using charges to blow the hinges off doors and flashbang grenades to clear apartments. They hauled men, women and children from the building in zip ties and often little else, ostensibly to capture undocumented gang members. Continue reading...
Deportations are likely to cause employers to let go of US workers, and reduce the labor forceThe government shutdown may have prevented the publication of September's job report, but we can be reasonably confident that when the numbers are known, they will further underscore the Trump administration's policy incoherence and remind us of all of the damage he is prepared to inflict on the American economy.The president will most likely be apoplectic over data confirming that the economy is generating very few new jobs (the payroll processor ADP estimated a loss of 32,000 private sector jobs in September). Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the jobs numbers, after a lackluster report published in August. Continue reading...
The South American nation performed better than ever in World Cup qualifying, with strength in depth that make them difficult to play againstLast September, in the sweltering night heat of Guayaquil, Ecuador finished off their Conmebol World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 victory over table-leaders and defending champions Argentina. Enner Valencia, the 35-year-old journeyman and the nation's all-time scorer, sealed the win with a penalty in his 100th appearance. The Estadio Monumental roared with ecstasy and emotion.Both sides had already sealed qualification for 2026 and the visitors were playing without Lionel Messi, who had also said goodbye to qualifiers after his final game in Buenos Aires a few days prior. But none of these narratives mattered to Ecuadorian fans. They were acknowledging a magnificent campaign as La Tricolor ended second in the table, their best-ever finish since Conmebol qualifiers moved to a single table. And this despite starting the campaign with a three-point penalty due to the use of documents with false information to register Byron Castillo in the previous cycle. Continue reading...
As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in aftermath of shooting, allegedly without due processA climate of fear" is still shrouding college campuses across the US, academics have warned, after a string of professors were fired or punished for their comments after Charlie Kirk's assassination.As many as 40 academics have been dismissed in recent weeks, according to the American Association of University Professors. Many were targeted by rightwing campaigners, who seized on remarks they wrote or shared, and pressured their employers to take action. Continue reading...
Investors fear that the collapse of the car parts company - and the size of its debt - could portend wider problemsFinancial problems at the maker of spark plugs, wiper blades, brake calipers, brake shoes, tow hitches and motor oil has caused intense anxiety on Wall Street in recent weeks.Car parts are not usually something that causes finance chiefs to lose much sleep. But the potentially multi-billion dollar financial crisis surrounding First Brands has them rattled. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans on (#70NGQ)
Erin Scott O'Brien says grandfather Charles Paddock brought back artifact with him from second world warThe ancient Roman grave marker recently found in the back yard of a New Orleans home had evidently been inherited and left there by the granddaughter of a US soldier who fought in Italy during the second world war.In statements that all but solved an international historical mystery, Erin Scott O'Brien told two local media outlets that her grandfather, Charles Paddock Jr, kept the 1,900-year-old artifact in a display case at his home in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood before his death in 1986. Continue reading...
In the White House deputy chief of staff, we see that Maga will not simply end with Trump. We must keep our eyes on MillerIn an interview on Monday, CNN's Boris Sanchez asked Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, whether Donald Trump intended to abide by federal judge Karin Immergut's order blocking the deployment of the national guard in Oregon.Miller said neither yes nor no. But the implication was no. The administration had already filed an appeal with the ninth circuit. He said: I would note the administration won an identical case in the ninth circuit just a few months ago with respect to the federalizing of the California national guard." Actually, it didn't quite win. As I understand it (and lawyers, please correct me) the administration won a temporary stay on a temporary injunction against federalizing the California national guard in Los Angeles.Judith Levine is Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...
A leading Democrat, backed by substantial funding, should enter the 2028 presidential race right nowThe Democratic politicians on the national scene, charged with leading the opposition, continue to bring a butterknife to the ongoing gunfight that is US politics under Donald Trump. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, comes across as a weary grandpa, glasses perched halfway down his nose as he reads his script in sleep-inducing monotone. Quick - who's the minority leader of the House? You get bonus points if you can identify Hakeem Jeffries. Charismatic he is not.What's to be done?David Kirp is professor emeritus at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley Continue reading...
Investment bank had previously planned for such information from New York workers to be voluntaryJP Morgan Chase has told staff moving into its new headquarters in New York that they must share their biometric data to access the multibillion-dollar building.The investment bank had previously planned for the registering of biometric data by employees at its new Manhattan skyscraper to be voluntary. Continue reading...
Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelledA Rutgers University professor who taught a course on anti-fascism and was blocked from leaving the US for Spain on Wednesday night, according to media reports, hours after Donald Trump hosted a White House roundtable highlighting the impact of antifa - or anti-fascist" - far-left activists is now departing.Mark Bray, an historian who published the 2017 book Antifa: the Anti-Fascist Handbook and has taught courses on anti-fascism at the New Jersey university, posted on the social media platform Bluesky that Our plane to Spain is in the air!". Bray was attempting to board a plane at Newark airport when he was informed at the boarding gate that the reservations for him and his family had been cancelled. Continue reading...
by Lois Beckett , Shrai Popat, Lucy Campbell and Tom on (#70MK1)
This blog has now closed. Read our latest story hereThe president has spent much of Thursday morning thanking his allies on Truth social for praising his diplomatic efforts in Gaza.I would like to thank Republican Congressman Brian Mast, of Florida, for his brilliant words and analysis on the return of the Hostages, and Peace in the Middle East, this morning on Fox & Friends. Thank you Brian!!!," Trump wrote in a post. Continue reading...
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after a government meeting to approve the US-brokered deal to release all hostages and implement a ceasefire in Gaza
New York attorney general attracted Trump's ire after she led a civil fraud case against the president. Key US politics stories from Thursday 9 OctoberSenate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has accused Donald Trump and his administration of turning the Department of Justice into personal attack dogs against their political enemies", after New York attorney general Letitia James was indicted for fraud in Virginia.Calling the move outrageous", Schumer was among those labelling the move as Trump's latest effort to weaponize the department to punish political rivals. Continue reading...
Officials say US to establish center in Israel to help flow of humanitarian aid and logistical and security aidUS troops have been sent to Israel as part of the peace deal approved on Thursday to support and help monitor the ceasefire, according to multiple news reports.Senior US officials told reporters that 200 troops will initially be on the ground with a civil-military coordination center" operated by US Central Command to help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war, the Associated Press reported, citing two officials who confirmed the report on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release. Continue reading...
Report reveals Maricopa county spent huge sums on items not connected to court-ordered overhaul of agencyThe sheriff's office for metro Phoenix spent millions of dollars budgeted for compliance costs in a racial profiling case over Joe Arpaio's immigration crackdowns on things that had little or nothing to do with a court-ordered overhaul of the agency, according to an expert's report.The report released on Wednesday criticized the use of compliance money by the Maricopa county sheriff's office to fund personnel costs and tasks, either in part or in full, that are not connected to the overhaul. Continue reading...
Data shows stunning shift in law enforcement priorities that has raised public safety concernsNearly half of the FBI agents working in the US's major field offices have been reassigned to aid immigration enforcement, according to newly released data, a stunning shift in law enforcement priorities that has raised public safety concerns.Personnel data obtained by Mark Warner, a Democratic senator, and shared with the Guardian, suggests the Trump administration has moved 45% of FBI agents in the country's 25 largest field offices to support the Department of Homeland Security's immigration crackdown. Across all of the FBI's offices, 23% of the roughly 13,000 total agents at the bureau are now working on immigration, according to Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. Continue reading...
The president was coy about a peace prize for the ceasefire deal in Gaza - Marco Rubio was much less reticentSo to peace in our time. And why not? The Nobel committee is meeting in Oslo to divvy up its annual gongs and Donald Trump, convening his cabinet - and the media - in the White House had a good story to tell.After two years of death, destruction, starvation and captivity for Israeli hostages in Gaza, peace at last was at hand. Israel and Hamas were on the brink of a historic deal, brokered by the man in the Oval Office, who has made no secret of his desire to be known as the president of peace. Continue reading...
Trump administration has been accused of preparing to severely limit journalists' ability to cover the departmentWith days left before journalists covering the Pentagon must sign on to a new set of guidelines to retain physical access to the department, major US news companies - and organizations representing their interests - remain concerned about specific policies they fear will stifle independent reporting on the Pentagon.The Trump administration has been accused of preparing to impose severe limitations on the ability of journalists to cover the Pentagon and publish information that had not been officially approved for release. Continue reading...
by Gabrielle Canon , Lucy Campbell and agencies on (#70MJY)
President attacks Chicago mayor and Illinois governor as extra troops at army training site south-west of cityHundreds of national guard troops remained in the Chicago area as city and Illinois officials awaited a judge's decision to stop Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation's third-largest city.It was still unclear where specifically the Trump administration would send the troops who reported to an army training site south-west of Chicago, which was laden with extra fencing and tarps put up to block the public's view of the facility late on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...
by Joseph Gedeon, Sam Levine and Hugo Lowell on (#70N3Y)
Company, which reached $787.5m defamation settlement with Fox News, becomes new entity called Liberty VoteDominion Voting Systems, the company that makes widely used voting equipment in the United States that became synonymous with election conspiracies and Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, has been sold.The company was purchased by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican Missouri election official who founded KnowInk, which makes electronic pollbooks used at voting sites across the country. Leindecker purchased Dominion under a new company called Liberty Vote. Leiendecker, served as the elections director in St Louis from 2005 until 2012, according to his LinkedIn, a period during which he would have overlapped with Ed Martin, a staunch Trump ally at the justice department who served as chairman of the St Louis board of elections from 2005 to 2006. Continue reading...
Seventh round of votes fails to yield breakthrough while president threatens to cut funds for Democrat programs'The US Senate remained deadlocked on legislation to end the government shutdown on Thursday, as Donald Trump reiterated his threat to make Democrats pay for the funding lapse that has closed federal agencies and furloughed workers nationwide.The Senate took its seventh round of votes on competing Democratic and Republican proposals to restart the funding, but neither won enough bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancement in the chamber. In a sign that neither party had budged from its demands, no senators changed their votes from when the bills were last considered in recent days. Continue reading...
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