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Exclusive: Massachusetts senator said credit checks in hiring disproportionately affect people of color and womenAs the US labor market comes under pressure, two senior figures in Washington are pushing to end a practice that prevents large swaths of US workers from obtaining jobs.A bill reintroduced today by Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, and Steve Cohen, the representative from Tennessee, bans employers from using credit checks to vet potential hires. Continue reading...

Tenisha Warner reveals identity as she starts two initiatives to support children on behalf of late actor and singerThe widow of actor and singer Malcolm-Jamal Warner has announced the launch of two philanthropic organizations in his honor, paying tribute to her late husband in social media posts that identified her for the first time.On Friday, the day before the eighth anniversary of their wedding, Tenisha Warner published a photo on Instagram of her and her Grammy-winning husband holding hands and laughing together on the day they got married. Some accompanying text explained that the doctor of psychology and her daughter had started the Warner Family Foundation as a young artists' scholarship program as well as River & Ember, which is dedicated to helping deepen bonds between parents and children. Continue reading...

A handful of party figures warned about the power of redistricting. Too many leaders ignored themThere are many reasons why Democrats find themselves on the wrong end of a gerrymandering armageddon.There's John Roberts and the US supreme court, who pretended partisan gerrymandering is just politics as usual, left voters naked to extreme power grabs, and failed the nation when voters most needed the courts' protection.David Daley is the author of Antidemocratic: Inside the Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections as well as Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count Continue reading...

World leaders, moguls and even journalists have realized that to deal with the president, they must speak glowinglyHe's the peace president". He is a style icon". He has a beautiful face". To the head of Nato, he is Daddy".Donald Trump, a man who was once named by People magazine as among the worst-dressed people in the US, and who is not typically seen as a rare beauty, has found himself showered with praise in recent weeks, as a new political phenomenon has emerged: the art of the fawn. Continue reading...

Russell Wilson's team looked as disappointing as always in their season opener. But in their loss to the Cowboys, they produced sloppy mistakes and offensive fireworks in equal measureWhen Fox analyst Greg Olsen noted that this week's version of Russell Wilson was unrecognizable from Week 1," he could have referred to the entire New York Giants team.Limping into Dallas after their dismal opening loss to the Commanders, the Giants picked up where they left off - with a lot of stupid mistakes. Offensive tackle James Hudson III stole the limelight as he somehow amassed four consecutive penalties on New York's first possession. Hudson was duly benched but the Giants' penalties kept coming - they gave away 160 yards' worth on Sunday. Continue reading...

Allies indulged the US president on the basis they wouldn't be bombed or suffer economic damage. So much for that idea

Men could face terrorism-related and weapons charges after officials say explosive had been lit but failed to function'Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn't go off.Police and fire department bomb squads responded on Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building. Continue reading...

New York governor endorses democratic socialist whose platform includes rent hikes for the wealthiest New YorkersKathy Hochul, the governor of New York, has endorsed Zohran Mamdani in his run for mayor of New York City, a major boost for the democratic socialist.Writing in a New York Times opinion piece, Hochul said: In the four years since I took office, one of my foundational beliefs has been the importance of the office of New York governor working hand in hand with the mayor of New York City for the betterment of the 8.3 million residents we both represent." Continue reading...

US president says he doesn't want to disincentivize investment' after images of workers chained and handcuffed caused widespread alarm in South KoreaPresident Donald Trump has said foreign workers sent to the United States are welcome" and he doesn't want to frighten off" investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: I don't want to frighten off or disincentivize investment. Continue reading...

Utah governor Spencer Cox says suspect Tyler Robinson not cooperating with authorities. Key Trump administration stories from Sunday 14 SeptemberAs officials continue to investigate the motives of Tyler Robinson - the 22-year-old accused of shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk - many Republicans have been quick to lash out at the political left.Allies of Donald Trump have accused liberals of fomenting anti-conservative vitriol that would encourage violence - even as the president and his allies have often invoked violent imagery against their opponents. Continue reading...

Edgar, who died of cancer treatment complications, was lauded for guiding US state into financial stability in 1990sFormer Illinois governor Jim Edgar, a popular two-term Republican credited with guiding the state into a period of greater financial stability in the 1990s, died on Sunday, according to his family. He was 79.Edgar died from complications related to his treatment for pancreatic cancer, his family said in a statement. He had disclosed his cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Continue reading...

Funding would go toward protecting members of executive and judicial branches, and potentially members of CongressThe Trump administration is asking Congress to approve an additional $58m for security services to protect the members of the executive and judicial branches after the killing of Charlie Kirk, multiple outlets report. They also supported adding more money to protect members of Congress, but they deferred to the legislative branch on further steps.News of the request comes as House Democrats prepare to hold a virtual security briefing on Sunday evening, following Kirk's death. The briefing will be with the House sergeant at arms and the Capitol police chief. Continue reading...

HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campusesAs authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses. The law allowed people with the proper permit to carry them openly. Continue reading...

Desmond Holly also expressed neo-Nazi views online before a shooting critically injuring two students, ADL saysA teenager suspected in a shooting attack at a suburban Denver high school that left two students in critical condition appeared fascinated with previous mass shootings including Columbine and expressed neo-Nazi views online, according to experts.Since December, Desmond Holly, 16, had been active on an online forum where users watch videos of killings and violence, mixed in with content on white supremacism and antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism said in a report. Continue reading...

Hart, who wrote and produced for years with Tommy Boyce, died in his Los Angeles home after a period of poor healthBobby Hart, a key part of the Monkees' multimedia empire who teamed with Tommy Boyce on such hits as Last Train to Clarksville and (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, has died. He was 86.Hart died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his friend and co-author Glenn Ballantyne. He had been in poor health since breaking his hip last year. Continue reading...

Calls rose for Brian Kilmeade to be fired after saying people facing homelessness and mental illness should be executedFox News host Brian Kilmeade apologized on Sunday for saying days earlier that people who are experiencing homelessness and mental illnesses should be executed - remarks that prompted calls for him to be fired.The host said his comments on Wednesday were extremely callous". Continue reading...

US secretary of state says Trump not happy' about Israeli attack that targeted Hamas officials in Doha for Gaza talksThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has held talks in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at limiting the diplomatic damage to both countries by Israel's attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar, its continued demolition of Gaza, and the accelerated expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.The Israeli prime minister took Rubio on a tour of the Western Wall, where both men placed written prayers between the stones, before taking his American visitor underground to view archeological excavations. Continue reading...

Brilliant runs from USA's Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Oblique Seville of Jamaica saw them win 100m gold in the women's and men's races respectivelyI've learnt in the past just to stay in the present," laughs Matt Hudson-Smith in interview with the Beeb - I like that. And he's right, of course - the past has gone and the future is a promise: the only thing he has, as an athlete, but also we all have, as people, is what's going on right now.We're back watching footage of the 100m heats; goodness me, Julien Alfred looks immense, a classic example of an athlete who wins something when not quite expecting to, then becomes a million times better as a consequence. Consider also: France after the 1998 World Cup. Continue reading...

In wildfire-devastated Altadena, a little misfit group' of diners are supporting struggling business - and each otherOn a Friday evening at El Caporal, a southern California restaurant, the dining room buzzed with chatter. For owner Neddy Morelos, the soundtrack was a welcome contrast to the silence of other nights when employees joked that they could hear a fly flap its wings.For the first time since January, when the Eaton fire bore down on her restaurant on Fair Oaks Avenue, a busy thoroughfare in Altadena, every vaquero-themed banquette was filled with hungry customers. Continue reading...

Our tipping culture was in place long before Trump, but his no tax on tips' promise - now law - is enabling itI'm here in Las Vegas for a conference where I just paid $7 for a cup of coffee and then was shamed into tipping another $1 to the server for pouring the coffee and handing it to me. Welcome to America. I feel like I'm tipping for everything, everywhere. And now it's only going to get worse. And for that I blame President Trump.Of course, our tipping culture was in place long before Trump took office. But now that his no tax on tips" promise became law, our government is officially enabling it. That's good news for tipped workers and for small-business owners who may feel less pressure to pay higher wages if their workers are getting enough gratuities. But at the same time, it's bad news for the rest of us who will likely feel even more obligated than ever to tip. Continue reading...

Jon Green says Republican governor failed to issue similar order after other prominent cases of gun violenceA local government official in Iowa has said he would refuse to comply with orders from the Republican state governor to fly flags at half-staff in honor of rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday.Jon Green, the chair of the Johnson county board of supervisors in Iowa, announced on Thursday on social media that he would not follow governor Kim Reynolds's directive to fly flags at half-staff for Kirk through Sunday evening. Continue reading...

Recognizing a Palestinian state is a limited but welcome step that addresses an enduring blind spot: Palestinian rights cannot be conditioned on Israeli interestsThroughout the two years of the Gaza war, Israeli bombing has been so intense that, in certain weather conditions, its echoes can be heard here in Tel Aviv, 70km away. The mass starvation is quieter. Even images of dead children rarely pierce Israel's media bubble. The war appears in protests over the hostages, political debates, stickers with the faces of fallen soldiers on walls and bus stops. Palestinian suffering - by contrast - remains distant, abstract, unmoving.After two years, Israeli society is adapting: the army has developed a practice of not calling reservists who are likely to dodge the draft; instead, it turns to former soldiers in need of cash or employment, offering them to fill the ranks of its combat units. At times, special arrangements are made so that reservists can keep working in their old jobs, practically doubling their income. Civilian contractors are hired to systematically raze whole neighborhoods in the Strip; they are paid by the house. The IDF is becoming a new military, adjusted for permanent operations in Gaza, the West Bank and the northern borders. The rest of the public goes on with their lives. War is the new normal. Continue reading...

In the wake of horror, honest accountings of his life have not only become rare - they have also become dangerousMaybe it is the gruesome suddenness of his death that has made so many people forget the realities of Charlie Kirk's life. After the 31-year-old rightwing influencer was shot dead at a college campus appearance in Utah on Wednesday, many commentators rushed to condemn political violence, on the one hand, and to issue warm tributes to Kirk's life, on the other. The former of these is legitimate: that political policy should not be determined by force, or political disagreements settled through homicidal violence, is a baseline precondition of not just a democratic form of government, but of any functional society. The latter, perhaps, can be explained by the admirable human impulse towards gentleness and reconciliation. The horror and shock of Kirk's assassination prompted some to offer their generosity, and their sympathy, to the dead man.Perhaps it was these noble gestures toward generosity and sympathy that led some commentators to be more laudatory to Kirk's memory than an honest recounting of his life would allow. In the days following Kirk's death, several bewilderingly inaccurate postmortem hagiographies have appeared, including from prominent voices on the left and center, that seem to wish that the tragedy of Kirk's death could retroactively have given him a more honorable life.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Fear and fatigue palpable as emboldened Trump officials set sights on LA - but volunteer groups are mobilizingA sense of apprehension hung over Los Angeles this week in the wake of a supreme court ruling that paved the way for federal agents to conduct warrantless raids and target people based on their skin color, accent or job.Immigrant communities have been on edge for months amid sweeping raids that have rounded up thousands of people. In July, a judge issued a temporary restraining order that barred agents from racially profiling people in southern and central California - slowing the raids but not stopping them. Continue reading...

Our writers pick the champion, key players and dark horses as the WNBA postseason tips off on SundayYes and no. Yes because the worst talking heads who turn the storyline into something nastier and ugly will not be drawing the air out of WNBA discussion. No, because genuine rivalry is one of the best parts of sports, and Reese v Clark is particularly captivating. Jakub Frankowicz Continue reading...

After the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the Guardian's Rachel Leingang gives more detail on the rise in political violence in the US. She explains how an increasing polarisation between the left and the right is worsening the threat and how increasing numbers of people believe violence is the way to achieve political goals

Progressives in the US and UK are asking why leftwing politicians are not connecting with ordinary peopleProgressives in the UK and US are grappling with the same question. Why have rightwing populists become so much more successful at tapping into public concern? And why are so few politicians on the left connecting with ordinary people?Barely a year after taking power in Britain, Labour's popularity has collapsed with an unprecedented rapidity against surging support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Continue reading...

Book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell contains multiple innuendo-laden letters - including one from Donald TrumpAfter House Democrats released a scrapbook gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, questions have emerged about whether the late child-sex trafficker's proclivities were an open secret or, at the very least, rumored in the circle of powerful and rich people that surrounded him.Indeed, the so-called birthday book, which was compiled by Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, contains multiple letters that are laden with sexual innuendo - including one alleged missive from Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Social media and widespread availability of lethal weapons make this era more dangerous than the 1960s - and the violence may increaseCharlie Kirk's killing came amid a rise in political violence in the US, the kind now so frequent that it moves swiftly out of news cycles it would once have dominated.The list is long and growing. From the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump during his campaign last year to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home burnt in an arson attack in April and the Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband gunned down by a man dressed as a police officer in June, to name a few. Continue reading...

A UN special rapporteur shares the stories of those trying to record the horrors of Gaza even as they live through themYesterday I talked to a mother of a child who was born and died in the war."Every day I look at my child, who instead of going to school is going to fetch water, and instead of playing football is hanging around in areas where corpses are lying."Mary Lawlor is UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders Continue reading...

How Bovino went from an unheralded border patrol agent to a key figure leading Trump's Chicago and LA takeoversGregory Bovino is indisputably a man of the political times, perfectly in harmony with the signature theme of Donald Trump's second presidency.A previously unheralded regional border patrol agent, Bovino, 55, has risen to prominence in recent weeks as the publicity-hungry spearhead of the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented people in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Surgeon general Joseph Ladapo retreats on his plans after the US president says: You have vaccines that work'It took barely two days, and some huffs of disapproval from the White House, before Joseph Ladapo's bold plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates in Florida began to deflate.The action, the fervently religious state surgeon general had asserted at a fire and brimstone press conference in Tampa, came straight from the heavens: Who am I, as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body?" he opined, framing the freedom to reject vaccines as a reflection of God's light against the darkness of tyranny and oppression". Continue reading...

Putin and Netanyahu are creating chaos in the vacuum left by a weak US president. But there are still ways to foil themIt is too easy to blame Donald Trump for everything that goes wrong in the world. The ability of any US president to fundamentally change or control the behaviour of other major powers is frequently overestimated. Yet by posing as a sort of uncrowned global monarch and grand arbiter of war and peace, Trump perpetuates fantasies of US hegemony, omnipotence and divine right. Intoxicated by such ego-inflating delusions, he pledged before taking office to swiftly end the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. Perhaps, in his vanity and hubris, he truly believed he could.Eight months on, the exact opposite is happening. Both crises are expanding and escalating. The bubble has burst, his bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes - and there is no denying that Trump, by alternately appeasing, excusing and encouraging the two foremost villains of these twin tragedies, is greatly to blame. Last week's multiple Russian drone incursions into Nato member Poland - which Polish officials are right to call deliberate - risk transforming the Ukraine war into a Europe-wide conflagration. Likewise, the reckless, illegal Israeli airstrike in Qatar, which blew up the Gaza peace process, physically and metaphorically, has supercharged regional tensions. Continue reading...

Numerous firings reported as authorities search out commentary deemed offensive on conservative free speech advocate's killing - key stories from 13 September 2025 at a glanceThe killing of Charlie Kirk has prompted a crackdown by authorities on critical commentary, with numerous people losing their jobs over their reaction to the fatal shooting of the conservative activist and free speech advocate.Those fired, suspended or censured in recent days include teachers, firefighters, journalists, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team. Continue reading...

Suspect's background and politics are being pored over in aftermath of killing of far-right influencerThough the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was revealed by authorities on Friday, questions surrounding his identity and motivations have exacerbated intense US political debates in the aftermath of the shooting.Authorities revealed Kirk's suspected killer to be Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who grew up in Washington, Utah, along the state's south-western border. Continue reading...

Leaked documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centers. This blog is now closed.Images coming out of the far-right Unite the Kingdom' march in central London on Saturday show framed photographs of Charlie Kirk being held aloft as protesters gather.The far-right activist and political commentator, who was fatally shot this week in Utah, galvanized young conservatives through online antics and inflammatory views. Continue reading...

Documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centersDonald Trump's administration has drafted a proposal to deploy 1,000 Louisiana national guard troops to conduct law enforcement operations in the state's urban centers, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing military planning documents it had obtained.Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many US cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests, including a recent demonstration by several thousand people in Washington DC. Continue reading...

News network Milenio releases public apology after US deputy secretary of state threatens to revoke Mexican visasA congressional staffer from Mexico's ruling party has resigned after being called out online for comments he made on a major Mexican television news program about Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk's murder.The news network, Milenio, also released a public apology after the United States' deputy secretary of state - a former ambassador to Mexico - evidently threatened to have Donald Trump's presidential administration revoke any US visas on which it may count. Continue reading...

Nato announces plans to beef up defense as Poland rejects Trump's suggestion drones were sent by mistakeThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear whether Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Nato announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe's eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down the drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine.We think it's an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development," Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and Britain. Continue reading...

Teachers, firefighters and military personnel among those who lost jobs after posting their opinion on social media

Governor JB Pritzker joins US representative Delia Ramirez in response to shooting death of Silverio Villegas-GonzalezA US congresswoman from Illinois and local officials in and around Chicago are calling for an investigation into the traffic stop initiated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents that resulted in the shooting death of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez on Friday.A joint statement whose signatories included Democratic US House member Delia Ramirez said Villegas-Gonzalez's killing in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park illustrated the inevitable violence" resulting from the deportation campaign mounted by Donald Trump's administration during his second presidency. Continue reading...

Mayoral candidate said he'd try to honor ICC warrant for Israeli prime minister's arrest over war crimesIf he wins his fall election, Zohran Mamdani would order New York's police department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in the event that the Israeli prime minister ever traveled there, the city's leading mayoral candidate said in a recent interview.Mamdani - the Democratic nominee in the 4 November election - alleged to the New York Times on Thursday that Netanyahu was a war criminal who was committing genocide with Israel's military campaign in Gaza, according to a report published by the outlet on Friday. He said he would honor an international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant issued in November 2024 for Netanyahu's arrest over alleged Gaza war crimes by having the Israeli leader taken into custody at the airport if he ever steps foot in New York and Mamdani is the mayor. Continue reading...