Two-day walkout begins after contract negotiations fail amid unprecedented stresses' on county budgetMore than 50,000 Los Angeles county workers were on strike again on Tuesday, closing libraries and disrupting administrative operations across the nation's most populous county.The two-day walkout that began on Monday followed failed negotiations with the county for a new contract after the last one expired in March, according to the Service Employees International Union Local 721. Continue reading...
Defense secretary dismissed it as a woke ... Biden initiative' despite it being a Trump achievement from his first termPete Hegseth, the defense secretary, has abruptly banished the Pentagon's Women, Peace and Security program as part of his crusade against diversity and equity - dismissing it as woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative" despite it being a signature Donald Trump achievement from his first term.In a post on X, Hegseth wrote: This morning, I proudly ENDED the Women, Peace & Security' (WPS) program inside the [Department of Defense]. WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops - distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING." Continue reading...
Yunice Abbas claims he acted as lookout in Paris hotel lobby while US celebrity's jewellery was taken at gunpointA 71-year-old man who has said he played a bit part in a jewellery heist in which Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in 2016 has said he totally regretted" having participated.Yunice Abbas is one of 10 people on trial in Paris for having taken part in the robbery on the night of 2-3 October. Continue reading...
From deportations to human rights to the economy, the president's actions have resulted in mayhem. Here's a samplingSome Democrats fear they're playing into Donald Trump's hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.But it's not either-or. The theme that unites Trump's inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
Actor makes major dramatic bid as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in biopic also starring his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily BluntDwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt aim for awards glory with the first trailer for fact-based sports drama The Smashing Machine.The wrestler-turned-actor plays the MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the film inspired by the 2002 documentary with the same name. Kerr won multiple awards and medals in his career and also struggled with substance abuse. Continue reading...
Education department claims that article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race'The Trump administration said it would investigate whether Harvard University and the student-run journal, the Harvard Law Review, violated civil rights law when editors of the prestigious journal fast-tracked consideration of an article written by someone of a racial minority.News of the investigation on Monday night came hours after a federal judge agreed to expedite Harvard University's lawsuit challenging the administration'sfreeze of $2.3bn in federal funding. The Ivy League elite private university, the oldest and wealthiest in the US, has warned the freeze would threaten vital medical and scientific research.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...
by Hugo Lowell, Joan E Greve, Joseph Gedeon, David Sm on (#6V0SY)
Follow major developments of the second Trump administration's first 100 days, brought up to date weeklyDonald Trump has completed an extraordinary return to power as the 47th president, vowing to impose his vision and re-altering the political and cultural landscape of the nation.To keep up with the dizzying array of executive orders, directives, firings and policy changes, the Guardian tracked the major developments of the second Trump administration's first 100 days, just like we did during the first 100 days of Trump's first presidency in 2017. Continue reading...
Crew members jump out of Super Hornet before jet and towing tractor fall into the Red SeaUS sailors had to leap for their lives when a fighter jet fell off a navy aircraft carrier that was reportedly making evasive maneuvers to avoid Houthi militant fire in the Red Sea on Monday.The F/A-18 fighter Super Hornet jet, along with the vehicle towing it into place on the deck of the USS Harry S Truman, rolled right out of the hangar and into the water, the navy said. Continue reading...
Company had strong first quarter but says it cannot raise outlook for this year owing to tariffs uncertaintyAdidas has said the price of its popular trainers, including the Samba and Campus models, is likely to rise as a result of Donald Trump's tariffs.The German group said the uncertainty around US import tariffs had prevented it from raising its outlook for sales and profit this year despite reporting strong first-quarter results. Continue reading...
The prime minister is apparently pursuing ways to land the 2028 Open for the president. With friends like that, POTUS surely won't be carrying his own clubsAt what point does realpolitik tip over into nakedly facilitating conflict of interest/corruption? I only ask in the strictest hypothetical terms after reading that Keir Starmer's government has been exploring whether golf bosses could host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump's Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. Sorry, but no. It's almost as if the prime minister is compiling material for a seminal 2025 business manual. Call it The Art of the Kneel. Perhaps Starmer could ask the Treasury to explore" buying a load of Trump meme coins.According to reports, Donald Trump has frequently mentioned in his phone calls with the prime minister that he'd prefer it if the Open returned to Turnberry. As so often with this particular caller, the reply to this should simply be, And I'd prefer to be talking to Mickey Mouse, but we're all making compromises." Failing that, just go with: God, you always want MORE, don't you? Scotland invented the great game of golf. Have you said thank you ONCE?" Unfortunately, the actual reply seems to have been: Capital idea, Mr President! How can we make that happen?"Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Trump administration has been cracking down on people who leak information to the media since JanuaryThe US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Monday it has started using polygraph tests to aid investigations aimed at identifying the source of leaks emanating from within the law enforcement agency.We can confirm the FBI has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks within the bureau," the bureau's public affairs office told Reuters in a statement. Continue reading...
People queued calmly for torches and shared radios, but our vulnerability in an internet-reliant world was badly exposedAt the entrance to a healthcare centre on Trafalgar Street, in my densely populated, central Madrid neighbourhood, somebody had stuck a sign: We ask for patience and common sense." The door was half open as doctors and nurses calmly tended to emergencies inside.Patience and common sense is a very good way to describe what I witnessed in Madrid throughout the big blackout. We had no light, no power, no phone signal, not even water in some apartment buildings. Continue reading...
The country's future depends on law firms, universities and media companies - as well as everyday Americans - breaking their silenceWhen a woman asked me a couple of weeks ago why leaders were not standing up to Donald Trump, my thoughts went immediately to political leaders. When I started to answer, she corrected me and said: No, no, I'm talking about college presidents and law firms. Where the heck are they?"Where indeed? From all observations, most have been asleep as the US president dismantles democracy piece by jeweled piece. They are either cutting sweet little deals on their knees, or just remaining silent as the fruits of 250 years of national labor and life are strangled by Trump's tentacles. From the cowering of major media companies to the shameful capitulation of some law firms, and oppressive silence from virtually all of them, the nation is sleepwalking into a slow but ever encroaching totalitarian state. Continue reading...
by Michael Sainato in Gainesville, Florida on (#6WYCF)
Republican committee advises against holding town halls as cases of lawmakers berated over federal cuts go viralAngry voters are holding empty chair town halls as Republican members of Congress are refusing to hold those meetings with constituents.Weeks into Donald Trump's second term as president, Republican members of Congress were advised by the National Republican Congressional Committee against holding in person town halls with constituents, as several cases of Republican members of Congress being berated by constituents over federal worker firings and cuts went viral. Continue reading...
Mounting stories of forced disappearances' of Venezuelans in the US have left their loved ones distraught and disbelievingNeiyerver Rengel's captors came one sunny spring morning, lurking outside the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and pouncing as soon as he emerged.The three government agents announced the young Venezuelan man had charges to answer" and was being detained. Continue reading...
Amid the debate about trans people on hospital wards we have lost sight of dignity, respect and the horrifying reality of a health service in meltdownAnother morning, another absolutely bananas conversation about transgender people, without any trans people involved, following the supreme court ruling that permits the exclusion from single-sex spaces of anyone not born into that sex. On BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Emma Barnett was asking care minister Stephen Kinnock about wards in hospitals, and came out with the immortal line: Do you think it's right for trans people to be segregated from other patients, as an interim measure, or for the future?"Great save, that for the future" - because if you're going to interpret this ruling as a requirement to exclude trans people, what does that mean in practice? Trans women on men's wards, trans men on women's wards? This delivers dignity and respect to precisely no one; so, sure, segregate" away, and it would have to be for ever, because it would otherwise be an interim measure on the way to what? The relentless demonisation of trans people has led us straight to a place where every choice is impossible, using words that recall, or should recall, the darkest days of prejudice and hatred.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
We spend almost twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other country on Earth. It's time to change thatI have held public meetings all over Vermont and in many parts of the country. At these gatherings I almost always ask a very simple question: is our healthcare system broken? And the answer I always receive is: Yes! The American healthcare system is broken. It is outrageously expensive. It is horrifically cruel.Today, we spend almost twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other country on Earth. According to the most recent data, the United States spends $14,570 per person on healthcare compared with just $5,640 in Japan, $6,023 in the United Kingdom, $6,931 in Australia, $7,013 in Canada and $7,136 in France. And yet, despite our huge expenditures, we remain the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right.Bernie Sanders is a US senator and a ranking member of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. He represents the state of Vermont and is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress. Continue reading...
From the Premier League to MLS and the NFL, huge stadiums with gargantuan costs are a symptom of elite sport's unrealistic promisesNil satis nisi optimum," boasts the motto of Everton FC: Nothing but the best is good enough." Performances on the pitch over the past few seasons have suggested otherwise (what's Latin for Anything to stay up will do?") but in the form of the sparkling new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which will replace Goodison Park as Everton's permanent home from the start of next season, the club now has tangible proof that its historic aspiration to excellence is at last being met.Based on the renderings and early footage of its interior, Everton Stadium (it will be a while before that bland placeholder is draped in the capitalist rococo of the TeslaDome" or Open AI's ChatGPT Arena" or Palantir Presents Bramley-Moore Dock") appears to be a pleasingly raked and compact arena that should retain at least some of the raucousness of Everton's old home. The stands are at the steepest pitch that regulations will allow, sightlines are unobstructed from every seat, and judging from the promotional videos, fans will never be more than 50 metres from either a toilet or a scouse pie, which seems like a key metric of success for any stadium in Liverpool. Continue reading...
One of America's greatest distance runners is excited about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead after a job she modestly describes as cushy'There is no better word to describe Des Linden's 18-year professional career than consistent. No matter the race, weather, or competition, she always showed up with her best - and the results back it up. A two-time Olympian, winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon, and world record-holder in the 50k, Linden is one of America's greatest ever distance runners. But like any good thing, her career can't last for ever.This will be my last time racing Boston in the professional field," Linden said a few weeks before this year's race. Despite countless accolades, Linden wanted her final pro marathon to be about the competition, not a farewell tour that could get in the way of her goal of leaving it all out there one last time." Continue reading...
This was a vote against delusions of a 51st state' and economic warfare, rather than an endorsement of the Liberals' policiesYesterday, as Canadians went to the polls, the US president, Donald Trump, suggested that if Canada became part of America, they could vote for him instead. But in truth, Canada becoming the 51st state wasn't a prerequisite for Canadians to vote on Trump. It was Trump who set the stakes of this election anyway, beginning almost as soon as he took office. His threats against Canada, economic and existential, were the backdrop of this campaign. An unexpected crisis on our doorstep.And now the Liberal party, led by Mark Carney, has won a fourth term in office, a result that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago, before Trump's unprecedented intervention.Colin Horgan is a Toronto-based writer and a former speechwriter for Justin Trudeau Continue reading...
Israel's genuine friends abroad, from governments to Jewish communities, must mobilise to help us end this terrible war Ami Ayalon is a former director of Shin Bet and a former commander-in-chief of Israel's navyI spent close to 40 years working as a public servant for the state of Israel, including as commander of the navy and head of the Shin Bet, protecting Israel and defending it from external and internal threats. Several weeks ago, along with 17 other colleagues who have also dedicated their lives to Israel's security and welfare, I made a decision that the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is so under threat that it is not just my responsibility, but obligation, to sound the alarm.The 18 of us took out a full-page advert in two major Israeli broadsheet papers. In it, we made clear that the very fabric of the state of Israel and the values on which it was founded are being eroded. The truth is that our hostages in Gaza have been abandoned in favour of the government's messianic ideology and by a prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu who is desperate to cling to power for his own personal gain. Our government is undermining the democratic functions of the state to shore up and protect its own power. It is forcing us into a perpetual war with no achievable military objectives and which can only result in more loss of life and hatred.Ami Ayalon is a former director of Israel Security Agency (the Shin Bet) and a former commander-in-chief of Israel's navyDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Eurocentric assumptions and bullying resource-grabs are justified causes of outrage in the global southDonald Trump has disrupted the global economy with his disastrous tariff wars and appears hell-bent on gutting transatlantic relations. I am hoping he has also unwittingly injected new life into the EU's struggle to wean itself off overreliance on Washington.A vast network of trade and aid agreements connects the EU with more than 70 countries. The union could become an important standalone global actor and even thrive in a multipolar world. But it must first shed its Eurocentric worldviews, complacent policymaking and double standards.Shada Islam is a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. She runs New Horizons Project, a strategy, analysis and advisory companyDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The moves have prompted alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation' - key US politics stories from Monday 28 AprilAs part of President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown, unaccompanied minors are now being targeted for deportation, with the Department of Homeland Security engaging in welfare checks" on children who arrived in the US alone, usually across the US-Mexican border.The moves have sparked fears of a crackdown and prompted alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation". Continue reading...
by Dara Kerr (now); Lucy Campbell, Marina Dunbar and on (#6WXH9)
This blog has now closed. You can read more of our US politics coverage hereHere is an extract from The Atlantic's piece on Trump's first 100 days - in an interview secured after initially being canceled by the president over previous reporting from the journalists, who then reached the president on his cellphone - detailing some of the key development's of his second term so far.The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term: He had begun a purge of diversity efforts from the federal government; granted clemency to nearly 1,600 supporters who had participated in the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those caught beating police officers on camera; and signed 98 executive orders and counting (26 of them on his first day in office). He had fired independent regulators; gutted entire agencies; laid off great swaths of the federal workforce; and invoked 18th-century wartime powers to use against a criminal gang from Venezuela. He had adjusted tariffs like a DJ spinning knobs in the booth, upsetting the rhythms of global trade and inducing vertigo in the financial markets. He had raged at the leader of Ukraine, a democratic ally repelling an imperialist invasion, for not being thankful"- and praised the leader of the invading country, Russia, as very smart," reversing in an instant 80 years of US foreign-policy doctrine, and prompting the countries of Nato to prepare for their own defense, without the protective umbrella of American power, for the first time since 1945.He had empowered one of his top political donors, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, to slice away at the federal government and take control of its operating systems. He had disemboweled ethics and anti-corruption architecture installed after Watergate, and had declared that he, not the attorney general, was the nation's chief law-enforcement officer. He had revoked Secret Service protection and security clearances from political opponents, including some facing Iranian death threats for carrying out actions Trump himself had ordered in his first term. He had announced plans to pave over part of the Rose Garden, and he had redecorated the Oval Office - gold trim and gold trophies and gold frames to go with an array of past presidential portraits, making the room look like a Palm Beach approximation of an 18th-century royal court. Continue reading...
Several injured after vehicle hit three people during after-school program and one more before exiting other sideFour children, between the ages of four and 18, were killed and several others injured when a car barreled through a building that housed an after-school camp program on Monday afternoon in a town outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.Officers responded around 3.20pm to calls in Chatham about a vehicle hitting three people outside the building used by the YNOT Outdoors Summare and After School Camp, ramming through the building and then hitting one more person before exiting the other side, Chatham police department deputy chief Scott Tarter said. Continue reading...
Staff offered second fork in the road' buyout and are strongly encouraged to consider this option'The Peace Corps is offering staff a second fork in the road" buyout, according to a source familiar with the matter. Allison Greene, the chief executive of Peace Corps, sent an email to staff on Monday with an update about the department of government efficiency" (Doge) assessment of the agency.Greene said to expect significant restructuring efforts" at Peace Corps headquarters, according to the email seen by the Guardian. Starting on 28 April and going through 6 May, direct hire and expert staff are being offered a second deferred resignation program, what Elon Musk's Doge has referred to as a fork in the road" buyout. Greene referred to this offer as DRP 2.0". Continue reading...
Second executive order aims to strengthen and unleash' law enforcement to pursue criminals', White House saysDonald Trump signed two new executive orders on Monday afternoon related to immigration, according to the White House, including one targeting so-called sanctuary cities" and another the administration says will strengthen law enforcement.One of the orders aims to strengthen and unleash America's law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens", according to the White House. It directs the attorney general to provide resources to the legal defense of police officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law". The order also includes a directive to [hold] state and local officials accountable" for willfully and unlawfully [directing] the obstruction of criminal law." Continue reading...
Two women and their children, who are US citizens, held in complete isolation' before being put on flight to HondurasTwo women who were deported to Honduras alongside their US citizen children were held in complete isolation" and denied any opportunity to coordinate the care and custody of their children before being put on a flight, according to one of the lawyers representing them.The mothers were unable to contact attorneys or loved ones, and were not allowed the option to transfer the custody of their citizen children to another parent or caregiver, said Gracie Willis, an attorney with the National Immigration Project who is representing one of the families and coordinating with the team representing the other family. Continue reading...
Moves sparking fears of a crackdown on such children and prompting alarm about backdoor family separation'Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials are seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide with a view to deporting them or pursuing criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them legally in the US, according to sources and an Ice document.The moves are sparking fears of a crackdown on such children and prompting alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation". Continue reading...
A Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spat at and pelted with objects by a group of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel's far-right security minister. The assault, recorded by a bystander, unfolded on Thursday near the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, where an appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and members of the neighbourhood's large Orthodox Jewish community. A Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman, Rabbi Motti Seligson, denounced both the anti-Ben-Gvir protesters and the mob that chased the woman.
The Trump administration is making an example of the Milwaukee judge to intimidate critics and opponentsOn Friday, the Trump administration dramatically escalated its assault on the courts when the FBI arrested Hannah Dugan, a county circuit court judge handling misdemeanors in Milwaukee - allegedly for helping an undocumented man avoid abduction by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents outside her courtroom. The arrest, a highly publicized and dramatic move from the Trump administration, seemed designed to elicit fear among judges, government bureaucrats and ordinary Americans that any effort to slow, impede or merely not facilitate the administration's mass kidnapping and deportation efforts will lead to swift, forceful and disproportionate punishment by Donald Trump allies. Her arrest may be the opening salvo of a broader Trump assault on judges.Even if you believe the FBI's allegations, their account of Dugan's alleged misconduct is trivial and flimsy, wholly undeserving of the administration's sadistically disproportionate response. The FBI claims that earlier this month, on 17 April, when an undocumented man was in Dugan's Milwaukee courtroom charged with misdemeanor battery, she learned that Ice agents were waiting in a public hallway to arrest him. Later, in her courtroom, when she saw the defendant moving toward a main exit, she told the man, Wait, come with me," and directed him towards a side door instead. (He was captured by Ice shortly thereafter.) The FBI arrested her in her courtroom and has indicted her on two federal felony charges: obstruction and concealing an individual".Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Police know few details about the shooting on Sunday, except that a verbal altercation' had taken placeTwo people were killed and at least two others wounded at a large gathering of motorcycle riders just south of Atlanta, police said.The shooting happened around 5pm on Sunday in Forest Park, police said in a statement. Continue reading...
Clayborn Temple, base for sanitation workers' strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968, suffers extensive damageA fire has severely damaged the historic Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis, which is closely associated with the US civil rights movement and Dr Martin Luther King.The temple was headquarters for the sanitation workers' strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968. The campaign's I Am a Man" signs were made in the church's basement, according to the temple's website. Continue reading...
Police declare mass casualty incident' due to the number of injuries, and say boat that caused accident fled the sceneA boat crashed into a ferry transporting 45 people on the final day of a sand-sculpting festival in Florida, killing one person and injuring at least 12 others, officials said.
Musk's Doge targets National Labor Relations Board with cuts and terminated leases as union speaks outDemocrats have warned that cuts to the US's top labor watchdog threaten to render the organization basically ineffectual" and will be catastrophic" for workers' rights.The so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge) has targeted the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for cuts and ended its leases in several states. Continue reading...
The demonstration outside the Tesla showroom in west London was one of the smallest I have seen. But everyone who passed by was keen to show their supportPark Royal is the worst underground station in London and therefore the world. You come out of a stubby 1930s entrance hall that must have been cute once, right on to a dual carriageway. There's a hotel on the other side of the road, and a tourist will most likely approach you, asking how she's supposed to cross, and your answer will be just a sub-verbal collapse into nothingness. There is no obvious way to cross the road. This place was built for cars, and if you're not a car, you're stuck in a tube station now. There is actually an underpass, but that's no excuse for dystopian urban planning.I was there helping the Stop Trump Coalition make a video before the US president's state visit, whenever that might be, and they were there to see Tesla Takedown, which is not as antagonistic as it sounds, just a score of people, one dressed as a shark for some reason, holding signs that said: Honk if you hate billionaires." Tesla drivers were honking as they drove into the showroom. It wasn't the easiest thing to guess, a year ago, that you were buying an ad for the values of Elon Musk, nor what those values would transpire to be. Continue reading...
Cliona Ward, who had returned from trip to Ireland, held over criminal record from almost 20 years agoAn Irish woman who has lived legally in the US for four decades has been detained by immigration officials for the last week because of a criminal record dating back almost 20 years.Cliona Ward, 54, was detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April after returning from Ireland to visit her sick father and is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Tacoma, Washington. Continue reading...
Democratic governor of Illinois declares Republicans cannot know a moment of peace' in New Hampshire speechIllinois's Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, scorched Donald Trump's administration Sunday night, calling for mass protests" and declaring that Republicans cannot know a moment of peace" during a fiery speech in New Hampshire that immediately sparked presidential speculation.It's time to fight everywhere and all at once," Pritzker said to a ballroom filled with Democratic activists, officials and donors. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now." Continue reading...
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