US news | The Guardian

Closure of public broadcasting group follows House Republicans' decision to strip $1.1bn in funding over two yearsThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Friday it will shut down operations after losing federal funding, delivering a blow to America's public media system and the more than 1,500 local stations that have relied on its support for nearly six decades.The closure follows the Republican-controlled House's decision last month to eliminate $1.1bn in CPB funding over two years, part of a $9bn reduction to public media and foreign aid programs. Continue reading...

Andrew McGann charged with murder over deaths of Clinton and Cristen Brink in apparently random' attackArkansas authorities say a 28-year-old schoolteacher has admitted he killed a couple who were hiking with their two young daughters at a state park, and he has been charged with capital murder in what investigators are portraying as a random" attack.Clinton, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, were found dead on Saturday on a walking trail at Devil's Den state park. Their daughters, seven and nine, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said. Continue reading...

University chancellor said life-saving research' will be defunded as Trump's academic crackdown continuesThe Trump administration is suspending some research grants to the University of California, Los Angeles, claiming antisemitism and bias", the school announced in a statement on Thursday.UCLA received a notice that the federal government, through its control of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is suspending certain research funding to UCLA," Julio Frenk, the university chancellor, said in a letter to the campus. The move means life-saving research" will be defunded, he said. Continue reading...

Acute hunger in Gaza, Russian airstrikes in Kramatorsk, wildfires in Turkey and England's Chloe Kelly celebrating at Euro 2025: the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists

Governor announces possible move as Democrat-led states seek to respond to planned Texas redistrictingCalifornia's governor, Gavin Newsom, may call a special election in November to begin the process of redrawing the state's congressional maps in response to Texas's plans to change their own maps to help Republicans keep their majority in the House of Representatives.Donald Trump is pushing Texas and other Republican-dominated states to carry out mid-decade redistricting that will favor the GOP and potentially stop Democrats from retaking control of the House in next year's midterm elections. Governors in Democratic-led states have responded by warning they will move to redo their own maps if Texas goes ahead with its plans, which could create an additional five Republican-leaning districts. Continue reading...

Goggles would have made it hard for helicopter pilots to see plane's colored lights, experts said at inquiry into the crashThe pilots of a US army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over Washington DC in January would have had difficulty spotting the plane while wearing night-vision goggles, experts told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Friday.The army goggles would have made it hard to see the plane's colored lights, which might have helped the Black Hawk determine the plane's direction. The goggles also limited the pilots' peripheral vision as they flew near Ronald Reagan Washington national airport that evening. Continue reading...

Changes at National Museum of American History come amid president's push to reshape US cultural agenciesThe Smithsonian Institution has scrubbed all mention of Donald Trump's impeachments from a prominent display at the National Museum of American History, temporarily eliminating any acknowledgment of the president's unique status as the only US leader the House impeached twice.The alterations to the presidential power exhibit, first reported by the Washington Post, occurred in July, with museum officials replacing contemporary signage with an older version that excludes Trump's impeachment proceedings entirely. Visitors now see only a generic reference to three presidents facing potential removal from office. Continue reading...

Actor, 81, admitted he purposely touched a woman inappropriately at a horror film convention in 2022The actor Gary Busey has pleaded guilty to criminal sexual misconduct after admitting that he purposely touched a woman inappropriately at a horror film convention in New Jersey in 2022.It was not an accidental touching," the 81-year-old Busey, who was once nominated for an Oscar, told a judge during a virtual court appearance Thursday. Continue reading...

Men's pro competition rattled as New Orleans exit, San Diego and LA merge, and Utah and Miami face uncertainty. Utah CEO tells Guardian he's confident funds can be foundMajor League Rugby has endured a tough week with a merger and a withdrawal reducing the competition to nine teams, but the US men's professional rugby union competition could yet fall to just seven entrants if two more teams fail to raise new funds, the Guardian learned.The merger of the San Diego Legion and RFC Los Angeles and the exit of the NOLA Gold were announced on Wednesday.Martin Pengelly writes on Substack at The National Maul, on rugby in the US. Continue reading...

Donald Trump orders levies ranging from 10% to 41% but extends deadline to next week. Plus, how did Labubu dolls became a social currency'?

Former vice-president talked to Colbert in first interview since election, after declining bid for California governorKamala Harris has said that she currently has no desire to re-enter the system" of American politics because it is broken".On Thursday night the defeated Democratic party's presidential nominee, who replaced Joe Biden late in the 2024 campaign after he dropped his re-election bid, gave her first interview since losing the election to Donald Trump, talking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. Continue reading...

With action after action, the Trump administration has made clear it does not value women's health or dignityThere are few better metaphors for the receding status of American women than one offered up by the Trump administration at a medical waste disposal facility outside Paris this week: rather than distribute nearly $10m worth of birth control, which had been purchased by USAID and was destined to be given to women in low-income countries, primarily in Africa, the Americans decided to burn it.The incinerated contraceptives included 900,000 birth control implants, 2m doses of injectable long-acting birth control, 2m packs of contraceptive pills, and 50,000 IUDs. The medicine is just the latest in the far-reaching fallout from cuts made by the so-called department of government efficiency," or Doge, a project in which Elon Musk and a group of his very young, overwhelmingly male acolytes unilaterally slashed congressionally appropriated funding to government programs they did not like. The cuts have been devastating for non-profits that work to improve women's health and safety worldwide. Sarah Shaw, an associate director at the global family planning group MSI Reproductive Choices, says that the cuts will put women at risk as they strain their health with unplanned pregnancies and seek out illegal abortions; other women who are denied access to birth control will lose out on the opportunities for education, professional development or remunerative work that can help them escape abuse, rise out of poverty, pursue their talents and ambitions and better provide for the children they already have.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Price hikes may frustrate some, but the mood at a California meetup shows why the trend isn't slowing down yetLabubu-shaped bounce houses. Labubu-themed drinks. A chance to meet and greet a life-size Labubu.This was the scene at a recent meetup at an outdoor shopping center in southern California, where dozens of people gathered for the chance to get their hands on one of the wildly popular fluffy dolls. Continue reading...

Experts predict changes to food stamps' program affecting millions of Americans will cause poverty and hunger to risePoverty and hunger will rise as a result of the Trump administration's unprecedented cuts to the US federal food stamps" program, according to experts. Low-income workers who rely on the aid are braced for dire consequences.Katie Giede, a single mother and waitress in Conyers, Georgia, is one of the 42 million Americans who use the supplemental nutrition assistance program (Snap). Even with the maximum benefit permitted, she struggles to afford food for her and her child. Continue reading...

Actor's Astronomer ad pokes fun at canoodling CEO, while Kim Kardashian's face sling raises eyebrows and jowlsShe is an actor, a businesswoman, a guru and an influencer, but at heart - let's be honest - Gwyneth Paltrow is a sales guy, who has shown us time and again via Goop how thoroughly she understands how to monetise sneering. This week, crisis PR-style, she lent her world-class expertise to Astronomer, the company that dragged everyone's eyes up to the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert two weeks ago when two of its married executives were entwined where they shouldn't have been. Continue reading...

The US owns a good recent record against Euro 2025 teams, but the transition to a new generation under Emma Hayes could be limiting for nowSunday in Switzerland, England's Lionesses clawed their way to a second straight Euro title after defeating the reigning world champions, Spain, 3-1 in a penalty shootout. With a record 1.35m watching stateside, at least one wondered if, in some alternate universe in which they could play in the Euros, they would have won it.Asked that question on a recent episode of The Women's Game podcast, US captain and OL Lyonnes midfielder Lindsey Heaps suggested that they could. While debriefing England's wild quarter-final comeback against Sweden with retired World Cup champion Sam Mewis, Heaps began by noting the difficulty of comparing Emma Hayes' program in transition to mid-tournament teams: It's so hard because we're obviously missing a lot of players," she said. But we have a lot of new, young players, inexperienced players, that are doing so well. I think it would be so hard to say. Also, Emma would fully prepare us for a tournament, and tournament mode. So it'd be a little bit different than what we've been doing, and how we've been playing." Continue reading...

The university's draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossibleDear Acting President Shipman,I am writing you an open letter since you have seen fit to communicate the recent decisions of the Board of Trustees and the administration in a similar fashion. Continue reading...

In the first of a three-part special report, a look at the drugs and violence allegedly sweeping through the Cibola county correctional center in New MexicoA private US prison contractor that is expanding its immigrant detention business amid increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) arrests is running a federal facility that is being investigated by the FBI for rampant drug trafficking and violence, a Guardian investigation has found.Even some staff who work for the contractor, CoreCivic, are implicated in drug smuggling at the Cibola county correctional center (CCCC) in New Mexico that is owned and operated by the company on a government contract. Continue reading...

Vermont Green could cap an undefeated season in this weekend's USL League Two title game, with overflow crowds expected once againA silence fell on Virtue Field. Owen O'Malley stepped up, kissed the ball, and prepared to take Vermont Green's fifth penalty in a shootout. The outcome of that spot kick could decide the winner of the USL League Two semi-final against Dothan United in the fourth tier of American soccer.The moment of quiet was in stark contrast to the buzz that has gathered around this team in 2025, but the silence was soon broken as O'Malley coolly rolled his spot-kick down the middle. The back of the net rippled, and the celebrations in the stands spilled on to the field. Continue reading...

New legislation would let a Saudi-backed venture bypass boxing's sanctioning bodies and adopt the UFC model, undercutting protections the Ali Act once ensuredWhen Ari Emanuel - the notorious Hollywood powerbroker and CEO of TKO Holdings Group, which owns both the UFC and WWE - made a rare media appearance on the Pat McAfee Show in February 2025, he offered cryptic remarks about the state of boxing. Though typically cagey, Emanuel hinted, Who knows what's going to happen with the Ali Act" - a reference to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, a federal law designed to protect the rights and welfare of boxers. Since then, rumors have swirled that TKO is quietly working to amend the law to make way for its newly minted boxing venture with Saudi Arabia.Last week, those rumors were confirmed when US representatives Brian Jack, a Republican from Georgia, and Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas, introduced the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act in Congress.Karim Zidan writes a regular newsletter on the intersection of sports and authoritarian politics. Continue reading...

By my age, my German boomer parents had kids, a house, a car, a garden. All I have is a nervous feeling whenever I open my banking appA couple of weeks ago, I came across an Amy Poehler joke in which she sums up the different generational experiences of money: Boomers are all about money. Gen X is like: Is it all about money?' Millennials ask: Where is the money?' And gen Z is like: What is money?'"It made me laugh - but it also hit a nerve. It felt painfully accurate and oddly comforting. Maybe it's not just me. I'm a millennial, and financial insecurity has been a theme in my life for a while. But recently, it's grown louder, and I literally can't stop asking: WHERE IS THE GODDAMN MONEY?"Carolin Wurfel is a writer, screenwriter and journalist who lives in Berlin and Istanbul. She is the author of Three Women Dreamed of Socialism Continue reading...

San Francisco judge leaves temporary protected status in place for people from Honduras and Nicaragua while case against Trump administration proceedsA federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration's plans and extended temporary protected status (TPS) for 60,000 people from Central America and Asia, including people from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua.TPS is a protection that can be granted by the homeland security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States, preventing them from being deported and allowing them to work. Continue reading...

Donald Trump has blamed freeloader' countries like Australia for the high cost of medicines. Unfortunately the grim statistics tell a different story

New tariffs, which range from 10% to 41%, will come into force in seven days - key US politics stories from Thursday at a glanceDonald Trump has signed an executive order placing tariffs on dozens of US trading partners just hours before the 1 August deadline he set for deals to be done.The new tariffs, the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy, are set to go into effect in seven days. The extension reflects the government's need for more time to harmonize the tariff rates, AP reports, according to a senior official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Decision comes amid escalating trade tensions between the two countries and before a deadline to negotiate a deal

Pull-ups, sit-ups and a mile-long run on menu of test first introduced by Eisenhower - but does it actually work?Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he is re-establishing the presidential fitness test, a way of assessing the fitness level of American students.The test was administered in public middle and high schools in the United States from 1966 to 2013, when the Obama administration replaced it with the presidential youth fitness program - a similar physical assessment program, but with more focus on health education. Continue reading...

Freedom Flotilla Coalition says Smalls was choked and kicked' after aid ship trying to reach Gaza was interceptedOn Saturday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted and boarded the Handala, an aid ship that attempted to reach Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a grassroots international collective that has worked to end Israel's blockade of Gaza since 2010. According to the coalition, IDF soldiers beat and choked the American labor activist Chris Smalls, who was onboard the ship. Smalls is most well-known for co-founding the Amazon Labor Union.The Handala, which carried food, baby formula, diapers and medicine, was attempting to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, as Palestinians there continue to starve in what UN-backed hunger experts have called a worst-case scenario of famine" that is unfolding. Continue reading...

A powerful storm system is bringing torrential rain, with forecasters predicting possibility of at least 3in an hourA state of emergency has been declared in New York City and New Jersey as a powerful storm system hits the US east coast from New York to Washington DC, with dangerous torrential rainfall and flash flooding under way in the region.Forecasters had predicted intense rainfall, with rates possibly reaching up to 3 inches an hour and some isolated locations could see as much as 5 to 8 inches. Continue reading...

Sent by Trump administration to quash LA protests, remaining 250 guards will stay to protect federal assetsThe Pentagon will remove 1,350 national guard troops from Los Angeles originally sent to the state by the Trump administration to deal with protests over its immigration policies.Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, ordered the national guard members to leave this week. A remaining 250 troops will stay put to protect federal personnel and property, according to the statement attributed to Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson. Continue reading...

The physical test, which included a one-mile run, sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups, was suspended 12 years agoDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to bring back the presidential fitness test, a series of physical tests for schoolchildren in the US that was in place for decades but suspended 12 years ago to focus less on competition and more on healthy lifestyles.Trump announced the test's revival in a press event with famous athletes, praising the golfers, football players and a pro-wrestler for their achievements and physiques. The executive order will also re-establish the president's council on sports, fitness, and nutrition. Continue reading...

US president tells pharma firms to match lowest global prices or face crackdown, citing burden on US familiesDonald Trump has threatened to use every tool in our arsenal" to crack down on pharmaceutical giants if they fail to cut drug prices for Americans within 60 days.The president wrote to executives at 17 companies on Thursday, demanding they match their US prices for prescription drugs with the lowest price offered in other developed nations. Continue reading...

Driven by the ambitious ownership of Tom Wagner and an NFL icon, the Blues intend to take the second tier by stormUnsurprisingly, Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and global sporting icon, is braced for the challenges that await Birmingham City, where he is a minority owner. Just because you were successful last year doesn't mean you're going to be successful this year," he says, alluding to a season that culminated in promotion and a record-breaking tally of 111 points. You have to put the same amount of work, commitment and discipline in - sometimes more - because the stakes only get higher. When the competition gets tougher, the margin of error gets smaller."It is his final answer in an interview that takes in everything from the blue-collar nature of Birmingham", which he compares with Cleveland and Cincinnati, to the Championship landscape and the bubbling rivalry with Aston Villa, which he was educated on during his first visit to England's second-biggest city after acquiring his 3.3% stake. Continue reading...

US president seems to be weaponizing tariffs to punish Brazil for its coup trial against his ally BolsonaroOver the past six months, Donald Trump has been accused of rapidly dragging the largest democracy in the Americas towards authoritarianism. Now, the US president seems bent on undermining the region's second largest democracy too.Since early July, Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Brazil's institutions, slapping 50% tariffs on imports from the South American country and sanctions on a supreme court judge - partly in retribution for what he called the political persecution of his ally, Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly masterminding a failed coup. Continue reading...

Jet2 also condemns White House post about Ice enforcement using viral holiday ad featuring Hold My HandIt is the internet meme of the summer, sparking laughter and thousands of wry smiles at the pitfalls of a British summer holiday.But the journey of the viral Jet2 holiday advert - with its promotional voiceover played out over cheerless summer holiday footage, including water-slide disasters and images of pouring rain - took a darker turn this week when it was used by the White House in a post on X to promote Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deportations. Continue reading...

Federal appeals court mulls whether US president exceeded authority in imposing reciprocal' tariffs on trading partners

Hogan was a master of wrestling's unreality, personifying the most American virtue of them all: you do not have to be youWhen Hulk Hogan died and a rush of people searched his name on Google to read various obituaries, I'm sure at least some of them were shocked to find that one of the most popular search terms related to the WWE Hall of Famer is Hulk Hogan lies." There are countless videos, Reddit threads, social media posts and articles detailing all the things the Hulkster apparently said that were either exaggerations, distortions or outright fabrications. One time, Hogan said he was asked to play in Metallica. The band denied the story straight away. Hulk said in his autobiography that he partied with John Belushi after WrestleMania 2 in 1986, even though Belushi had died in 1982. There's also the time where Hulk thought the Jackass star Bam Margera was dead when he very much was not.If you aren't a wrestling fan (you're reading the Guardian. You're probably not a wrestling fan) you might wonder why someone who was famous for four decades would feel the need to lie about whether he could have been in Metallica. These are the sorts of lies the quarterback of your high school tells at the reunion. Andre the Giant was 700lbs when I bodyslammed him in from of 200,000 people at the Roman Colosseum" is definitely an anecdote that could get you a free shot at the no-host bar at the Elks Lodge, but if you're Hulk Hogan, you could just be honest and say Andre was more like 400lbs and the crowd was between 80,000 and 93,000, depending on whom you ask. Also, it was in Pontiac, Michigan, not Rome. Hulk Hogan did not need to lie, but he did. Often. Continue reading...

Ottawa is still trying to find a trade deal with Washington to avoid heavy tariffs as 1 August deadline approaches

Defense secretary's staff ordered lie detector tests, at least one time without his knowledge, to undercut rivals, sources sayDefense secretary Pete Hegseth's senior aides conducted polygraphs on their own colleagues this spring, in some cases as part of an effort to flush out anyone who leaked to the media and apparently to undercut rivals in others, according to four people familiar with the matter.The polygraphs came at a time of profound upheaval in his office, as Hegseth opened a leak investigation and sought to identify the culprits by any means necessary after a series of sensitive disclosures and unflattering stories. Continue reading...

Wasp nest was destroyed and disposed of after discovery near tanks used to store liquid nuclear wasteThe US Department of Energy has reported the discovery of a radioactive wasp nest at one of its facilities in South Carolina that was once involved in the production of parts for nuclear weapons.According to a 22 July department report, the contaminated nest was discovered at the facility - the Savannah River site - on 3 July near tanks used to store liquid nuclear waste. Continue reading...

In recent years, the newspapers that have fared the best have been those with committed local ownershipWhen the legendary journalist David Halberstam wrote his landmark 1979 book about American journalism, The Powers That Be, he focused on four media organizations: the Washington Post, Time magazine, CBS and the Los Angeles Times.His choice of the LA newspaper made perfect sense. Influential and successful, it was owned by a prominent California family, the Chandlers. The paper had high standards, a raft of Pulitzer Prizes, and a hard-charging Washington DC bureau that competed successfully with its east coast rivals. For reporters and editors, the LA Times was a prestigious career destination; if you got there, you probably stayed. Continue reading...

Descendants of Japanese internees warn that Trump's revival of the Alien Enemies Act could open the door to new abusesNaoko Fujii's great-grandfather Jotaro Mori was out fishing when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.When Mori returned home hours later, the FBI was waiting at his door, ready to arrest him under a wartime law that declared citizens of foreign adversaries alien enemies". He was detained without due process and spent the next four years in concentration camps across the western US, including the infamous camp Lordsburg in New Mexico where two elderly Japanese internees were killed. The government seized his home and laundry business so that when he was released, he was left with nothing. Continue reading...