The new season begins this week with 14 Australians storylines to watch out for as the season unfoldsThe NBA tips off this week with Australia's two biggest basketball names - Ben Simmons and Patty Mills - without a roster spot for the first time in a decade.Their absence signals a changing of the guard, as Boomers' backcourt duo Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels emerge as key starters for playoff aspirants, with recently signed nine-figure contracts making them some of Australia's highest sporting earners. Continue reading...
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has met with the US president, Donald Trump, officially for the first time in person. At a meeting in the White House, Trump heaped praise on Albanese's leadership as the pair signed a US$8.5bn rare earths deal and Trump assured Australia of the US's commitment to the Aukus submarine deal. It wasn't all rosy - Trump told former Australian PM Kevin Rudd, who is now the ambassador to the US, 'I don't like you and I probably never will'. Trump was asked about Rudd's former negative comments about the president. Trump also chided three Australian reporters, but praised one for his haircut.Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
Administration has pushed nine universities to sign a deal that seeks to make changes in line with conservative ideasThe University of Arizona has become the seventh US university to reject a Trump administration proposal that would grant schools funding priority if they agreed to support the administration's conservative agenda.The decision follows the administration's push for nine universities to sign a Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," which seeks to make sweeping changes to campus culture, hiring and admissions practices and foreign student enrollment. Demands from the Trump administration's 10-point compact include reforms to the way race or ethnicity are used in admission and hiring practices, as well as a commitment to strict definitions of gender, among others. Continue reading...
Kada Scott was missing for two weeks before anonymous tip led police to wooded area with remains in shallow graveRemains found buried in a wooded area behind an abandoned school are those of Kada Scott, a 23-year-old woman who had been missing for about two weeks, prosecutors in Philadelphia said on Monday.Authorities said an anonymous tip led police back to the area they previously searched and they found the remains in a shallow grave. DNA tests confirmed her identity. Continue reading...
Ex-congressman calls major renovation utter desecration' as demolition in East Wing reportedly under wayConstruction crews have started demolishing part of the East Wing of the White House to make way for Donald Trump's planned ballroom, prompting widespread criticism on social media and beyond.One former lawmaker even called the renovation an utter desecration". Continue reading...
Daughter Ashley calls father, 82, so damn brave' after treatment at UPenn clinic for aggressive cancer formJoe Biden has finished a round of radiation therapy treatment, a spokeswoman for the former president confirmed to CBS News.The president originally reported a metastasized prostate cancer diagnosis in May, and announced he was receiving radiation therapy earlier in October. Biden's May diagnosis labeled him as having an aggressive, high-risk form of cancer. Continue reading...
Ruling marks an important legal victory for Trump - key US politics stories from Monday at a glancePresident Donald Trump claimed a key victory in a US appeals court Monday as a divided three-judge panel decided he is allowed to deploy federal troops to the city of Portland, Oregon.Trump had claimed the right to send the national guard to the liberal stronghold for the purported purpose of protecting federal property and agents. The ruling marks an important legal victory for Trump as he continues to send military forces to Democratic-led cities. Continue reading...
Eleventh vote fails on 50-43 tally as Congress remains deadlocked on legislation after weekend No Kings protestsOne of the longest government shutdowns in US history just got longer after the Senate again failed to pass a funding resolution after a majority of Democrats continued their pressure campaign after the No Kings nationwide weekend protests.The Senate vote fell for the 11th time with a vote of 50 to 43, with no new defectors from the Democratic side.This article was amended on 20 October 2025. A previous version said the No Kings protests drew tens of thousands of demonstrators. The actual number was in the millions. Continue reading...
The US president, Donald Trump, and the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, signed an agreement on rare earths and critical minerals on Monday at the White House. Albanese said the deal would 'take our relationship to that next level' while Trump said it had been negotiated over four orSubscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTubefive months
Special counsel nominee Paul Ingrassia also said holidays commemorating Black people should be eviscerated'A Donald Trump nominee who is scheduled for a confirmation hearing this week told other Republicans he has a Nazi streak" and that holidays commemorating Black people should be eviscerated," according to a report based on a private group chat.Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia to serve as special counsel of the United States, a role charged in part with safeguarding federal whistleblowers from retaliation. His confirmation hearing is set for Thursday. Continue reading...
Ex-FBI director claims he is victim of selective prosecution and charges were filed by unlawfully appointed attorneyFormer FBI director James Comey has formally asked a federal judge to dismiss criminal charges against him, arguing he was the victim of a selective prosecution and that the US attorney who filed the charges was unlawfully appointed.The record as it currently exists shows a clear causal link between President Trump's animus and the prosecution of Mr Comey," Comey's lawyers wrote in their request to dismiss the case, calling a 20 September Truth Social post in which he disparaged Comey and called for his prosecution smoking gun evidence". They continued: President Trump's repeated public statements and action leave no doubt as to the government's genuine animus toward Mr Comey." Continue reading...
The US president's attempts to broker a deal fail to distinguish between the aggressor and the victim. No just agreement is possible on that basisIt wasn't quite the calamity of February, when Volodymyr Zelenskyy was publicly humiliated in the Oval Office by Donald Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance. But the Ukrainian president's latest visit to the White House on Friday was, by all accounts, a disquieting experience. Mr Trump's public musings before the meeting suggested that his stance had hardened towards Vladimir Putin, to the strategically significant extent of being willing to sell long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv. But by the time MrZelenskyy arrived in Washington, the US president had changed his mind, instead lecturing his guest on the need to make territorial concessions to Russia.So far, so familiar. Since being re-elected, Mr Trump has repeatedly resiled from following up tough talk on Russia with meaningful action. Faux deadlines for Mr Putin to make substantive steps towards peace have come and gone, treated with indifference by the Kremlin. Last week, the US secretary of war, PeteHegseth, stated that Washington was ready to impose costs" if Russia continued the conflict. But atwo-hour phone call at Mr Putin's request was enough to defuse that threat, and for Mr Trump to onceagain position himself as a neutral arbitrator between two warring parties. Continue reading...
Scores of DIY cycling enthusiasts on Saturday took over an NYC side street for the 21st annual Bike Kill, a chaotic block party dedicated to biking mayhem Continue reading...
The violence Republicans seemed to want did not materialize. Instead the event showcased liberal-democratic consensusOver the past week or so, it seemed as if some Republican leaders were hoping that Saturday's No Kings demonstrations - the marches and rallies hosted by a coalition of liberal groups across the country and worldwide - would turn violent. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, called them Hate America" rallies, a moniker that was quickly picked up by other Republicans, and described the No Kings protests as a crucible of potential riots, representing all the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, the antifa people". You're gonna bring together the Marxists, the socialists, the antifa advocates, the anarchists, and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat party," he said. Tom Emmer, a representative for Minnesota, described the rallies as a product of the terrorist wing" of the Democratic party. And Roger Marshall, a senator from Kansas, fantasized that the protests would require action by the national guard. Others, such as the attorney general, Pam Bondi, mused about who might be paying the protesters to show up - an idea that seemed to dismiss the notion that anyone might oppose Donald Trump's agenda for principled, rather than cynical, reasons.At times they sounded almost wistful. Republicans, the president himself chief among them, have been fervently endeavoring to cast those who oppose their authoritarian consolidation of power as enemies - contemptible un-Americans who lack virtue, common values, or the protection of the law. In a world where it was once considered the height of inappropriate partisanship for Hillary Clinton to refer to a basket of deplorables" among Trump voters or Barack Obama to mourn the conservatives who cling to guns or religion", it barely registered as news on Thursday when the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News: The Democrat party's main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals." Continue reading...
Trump administration argues that federal law prohibiting drug users from having firearms is justifiable restrictionDrinking alcohol regularly does not disqualify you from owning a gun in America. Smoking marijuana does. The supreme court agreed on Monday to take up a case challenging that distinction.The case is an attempt by the Trump administration to reverse an appeals case ruling in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, who was charged with felony gun possession after he acknowledged being a regular marijuana user. Federal prosecutors in Texas had been investigating Hemani, alleging illegal ties to the Iranian regime, and found a gun and drugs during a search of his house. Continue reading...
Typhoon from 11 October weekend destroyed 90% of structures and displaced 1,500 people in south-west AlaskaSenator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska warned over the weekend that it could take years for some of her state's communities to recover after they were devastated by a powerful storm recently.Speaking at the Alaska Federation of Natives' annual convention on Saturday, the Republican shared her experience visiting Kipnuk, a village where officials estimate 90% of structures were destroyed amid flooding and other extreme conditions, describing the widespread devastation and long road" ahead for rebuilding. Continue reading...
Sixteen people were reportedly shot on 10 October after high school football game in downtown LelandA seventh person has died from injuries suffered during the mass shooting in Leland, Mississippi, on 10 October, according to officials.Ebanee Williams, 25, died on 17 October at the University of Mississippi medical center, as the local news outlet WLBT.com reported. Sixteen people were reportedly shot in the case, which unfolded in downtown Leland hours after a homecoming high school football game. Continue reading...
IDF says attack followed Hamas killing of two soldiers, but both sides say they are committed to ceasefire. Plus, No Kings protesters on their hopes for resistance movement against Trump Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Israel launched waves of lethal airstrikes yesterday and cut off all aid into Gaza until further notice" after a reported attack by Hamas, in escalations that marked the most serious threat so far to the increasingly fragile ceasefire.What is the US doing to help maintain the ceasefire? Senior US officials, possibly including the vice-president, JD Vance, are expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days for what observers said was a clear effort to hold the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the deal signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, earlier this month.What happened in the meeting with Zelenskyy? Ukraine's president had flown to Washington hoping to capitalise on Trump's growing frustration with Vladimir Putin after the summit in Alaska failed to produce a breakthrough in the war. But Zelenskyy left the US empty-handed, failing to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles after weeks of lobbying. Continue reading...
Critics say mandatory statues on college campuses and street renamings are a way to keep US culture wars goingRepublicans and conservatives are campaigning to quickly build statues and other memorials across the United States for the slain rightwing activist Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination at a college event in Utah last month.Political leaders in states such as Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma have not only called for construction of memorials but in some cases also threatened to penalize colleges that refuse to publicly honor Kirk, who was killed on 10 September. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands of people held across the US amid Trump's immigration crackdown could face an insidious hazard: broken internal clocksAt the Northwest Ice Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, about 1,500 people in immigration detention await their day in court. Most are held for months, living not by the rising and setting sun but under the perpetual twilight of fluorescent lights.We couldn't tell if it was day or night," said one former detainee who spent 10 months at the facility and whom the Guardian is not naming for fear of retaliation from US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and the Geo Group, the private company that operates the detention center. The lights were on 24/7. We maybe saw the sun twice a week." Windows were coated in dark paint, and people made eye masks with their socks, he recalled. Continue reading...
The president has repeatedly proclaimed a shining moment. Meanwhile, he's taking a wrecking ball to truth and democracyIn his inauguration speech last January, Donald Trump bombastically declared: The golden age of America begins right now." Our braggadocious president has stuck to that theme ever since, telling the United National general assembly in late September: This is indeed the golden age of America."With the federal government shut down for more than two weeks, the nation more polarized than at any time since the civil war, political violence growing and the job market slowing, it doesn't feel remotely like a golden age, unless one focuses on Trump's Louis XIV-like effort to gild as many things as possible in the Oval Office. Continue reading...
The Guardian revealed how US veterans have been injured and arrested at protests against Ice deportationsSome of the most decorated military veterans in Congress say they are outraged after a report in the Guardian revealed US military veterans have been arrested or injured amid protests over Donald Trump's deportation campaign and his push to deploy the national guard to American cities.I went to war three times for this country to defend the right of Americans to say things I may not like," said Representative Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado and former army ranger who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq as a platoon leader with the 82nd airborne division. Now is the time for every American to speak out." Continue reading...
Donald Trump said on Sunday that he never asked the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to cede all of the Donbas region to Russia in an earlier meeting, but that it should stay divided as it is.'Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia,' the US president said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter onboard Air Force One.Trump had pushed Zelenskyy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting on Friday that left the Ukrainian delegation disappointed, according to two people briefed on the discussion
Director general says it is inappropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way'BBC journalists cannot wear T-shirts in the newsroom supporting the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter, the corporation's director general has said.Tim Davie said the BBC stood against racism but it was not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way. Continue reading...
Missing star receiver Puka Nacua, Sean McVay reinvented the Rams' offense with heavy 13 personnel as Matthew Stafford threw five TDs in a Wembley rout of the JaguarsWhen the Los Angeles Rams took the field on Sunday at Wembley Stadium to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, they did so without their best offensive weapon in receiver Puka Nacua, who was out with a sprained left ankle. Given that the Jaguars' defense has been spicy at times under first-year coordinator Anthony Campanile, perhaps Jacksonville could come out with a win that would send them to 5-2 on the season.That was ... not how things transpired. The Rams won going away, 35-7, and Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 21 of 33 passes for 182 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 117.7. Stafford became the eighth quarterback in pro football history to throw five or more passing touchdowns with fewer than 200 yards; the last to do it was Jameis Winston for the New Orleans Saints against the Green Bay Packers on 12 September 2021. Continue reading...
It's a fool's game trying to understand the president's true motives, but do our misgivings matter if the outcome is a speedy end to war?Donald Trump is sensible and he is right. Basking in glory after his Gaza ceasefire, he was on Friday evening flying to Florida with his entourage of reporters. The drums of war were beating across Europe and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with him for Tomahawk missiles. What was his reply?Trump was clearly fed up. He had told Zelenskyy: go make a deal. He had said, They should stop the war immediately. You go go by the battle line wherever it is ... and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it." Matter closed. Tomahawks would merely mean escalation and more killing. Get a deal.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnistDo 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.
Trump says Washington will also slash assistance to Colombia while US forces attack another alleged drug boat. Key US politics stories from Sunday 19 OctoberDonald Trump has escalated tensions between Washington and one of its closest Latin American allies, declaring the US will slash assistance to Colombia and enact tariffs on its exports because its president, Gustavo Petro, does nothing to stop" drug production.Trump referred to Petro as an illegal drug leader" in a post on the Truth Social platform and warned that Petro better close up" drug operations or the United States will close them up for him, and it won't be done nicely". Continue reading...
Shrapnel fragments rained on vehicles parked on Interstate 5 including highway patrol and JD Vance's detailA live artillery shell exploded prematurely during a marines live-fire demonstration that launched over a southern California freeway in celebration of the military branch's 250th anniversary, raining shrapnel down on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and a motorcycle that was part of JD Vance's detail, according to a police report.The New York Times reported that fragments that fell from the 155mm shell landed on vehicles parked on a ramp on Interstate 5 - a major artery through southern California - which governor Gavin Newsom had ordered closed after learning that military officials had no plans to close the freeway. Continue reading...
Chandler Langevin faced censure from Palm Bay council and calls to resign from series of posts condemned as vile'A city councilmember in Florida is facing backlash from national Indian American organizations, members of Congress, and local residents after posting a series of social media messages that insulted Indian people living in the US and called for them to be deported en masse.Chandler Langevin, a Palm Bay council member elected last year, made derogatory comments about Indian people across several posts on the social media platform X over roughly three weeks this fall. He claimed that Indians come to America to drain our pockets" before returning to India, or worse ... to stay". Continue reading...
Davante Adams' Wembley hat-trick earned the Rams a 35-7 win against the Jaguars at Wembley, among other plotlinesJaguars 0-14 Rams 12:38, 2nd quarterJacksonville smartly are turning to the run and get to midfield with Travis Etienne churning away. LA respond and stop then to set up a 4th and 1. The Jags go for it and Parker Washington scampers for three yards on nifty little end around play. Continue reading...
Disgraced former congressman who was meant to serve seven years for fraud and identity lashes out at criticsDisgraced former US congressman George Santos said on Sunday that his prison sentence had been disproportionate", but that he had been served a very large slice of humble pie", while lashing out at his critics in his first interview since Donald Trump commuted his sentence.Speaking to Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union, Santos said he was all politicked out", and called for his former campaign staffer, Sam Miele, to also receive a commutation. Continue reading...
Driver turned himself in to Maryland authorities after initially fleeing scene, where eight children were injuredA driver rammed into a group of people at a children's birthday party outside of Washington DC late on Saturday, killing a woman in her 30s and injuring at least 14 others, eight of whom were children.In a statement released by the Bladensburg police department in Maryland, they announced that the driver of the striking vehicle had turned himself in and had been identified as a 66 year-old man from the surrounding area. Continue reading...
Trump vows to cut US funding as Pete Hegseth says US hit Colombian rebel group vessel and three terrorists killed'Donald Trump on Sunday accused Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, of being an illegal drug dealer" and threatened to immediately cut US funding to the country, as a Republican senator said the US would soon announce major tariffs" on the country.It comes after the US defense secretary confirmed in a social media post an attack on a vessel associated with a Colombian leftist rebel group. Pete Hegseth said three terrorists were killed" in the operation, which was conducted in international waters". Continue reading...
Like many American cities, Portland has been struggling to combat rising unaffordability and homelessnessWhen Donald Trump said he was sending the national guard to Portland, Oregon, to protect immigration officers, local residents immediately responded with characteristic sarcasm. Mocking the president's portrayal of a city in decline, social media was awash with videos of children in parks, busy farmers' markets and September's falling leaves overlaid with satirical text: war ravaged".When the US secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, visited the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) building where protesters had been gathering for weeks, she found a small crowd of demonstrators wearing inflatable animal costumes, not a city overrun by antifascist militants. The reality on the ground did not deter Trump from painting the city as unlivable. Continue reading...
District courts are speaking truth to power over troop deployments. If only the supreme court would do the sameAt a time when Donald Trump has declared war on the truth, it was heartening to see two federal district court judges have the courage to call out Trump's rationales for sending troops to Portland and Chicago as blatantly untrue - one of the judges said that rationale was untethered to the facts".And at a time when the United States supreme court has been so craven and deferential toward Trump, it was gratifying to see that these lower court judges had the guts to do what the high court's six conservative justices have been utterly unwilling to do: speak truth to Trump's power.Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labor and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Continue reading...
US consumers say price rises caused by president's tariffs contradicts his promise to make life more affordableAs a mother of two, Paige Harris has noticed a change in the way she shops for her family.Items that I have bought regularly have gone up in price steadily," she said. From hair dye to baby formula, our grocery list has gotten smaller while our budget has had to increase. Meats like steak are a no-go for our household." Continue reading...
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