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One man's campaign finance operation in Wisconsin exemplifies the opacity of the US political funding systemIn the summer of 2024, a non-profit called the Green Dragon Coalition wired the last $20,000 of a $445,000 grant to a Super Pac. Its tax return for that year would describe the purpose of the transfer as educational".The same day, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, the Super Pac spent $8,000 attacking Celeste Maloy, the Republican congresswoman for Utah's second district, four days before the primary that would decide whether she kept her seat. It had already spent more than $400,000 promoting her challenger, Colby Jenkins, who was running to her right with the endorsement of the rightwing Utah senator Mike Lee. Continue reading...

Cost of living has loomed over this election cycle as workers and unions champion candidates fighting for higher wages and tackling rising pricesFor millions of Americans heading to the polls on Tuesday, affordability is a constant and worsening issue, and it's been a prevailing concern this election cycle.In Lorain county, Ohio, Gina Jones and her co-workers at the Lorain county job and family services have been on strike since February 2026, the longest public sector strike in Ohio history and on pace to break the US record for longest public sector strike. Continue reading...

From the cheesecake factory discourse to the double Dan Sullivans, campaign season has been ridiculousChances are, as you're reading this, your bunker is fully stocked, your doors are locked, and you're peeking at your computer screen through gaps between your fingers.After all, it's election day on Tuesday. Once again, democracy will be tested - like Beavis & Butthead taking the SATs. I'm not looking forward to it, and I'm sure you aren't either.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Former president has given series of blistering speeches to help candidates in key races - and deployment has proved a hit with party's progressive wingThat could have been awkward. Barack Obama, campaigning for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, acknowledged that his fellow Democrat has criticised some aspects of the Obama presidency.Yeah, Abdul didn't agree with some things we wanted to do - that our administration was doing - when I was president," he told a rally in Detroit. You know who else doesn't agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama." The crowd erupted in laughter. I'd say about five times a day, she says, You knucklehead. Why you do that?'" Continue reading...

Donald Trump uttered five words this summer that could seal the Republican party's fate: Pretend I'm on the ticket'He spoke admiringly of a senator's posterior. He baselessly accused a Muslim candidate of being a terrorist. He boasted about his renovations of the White House. He quipped that his own supporters couldn't afford a hamburger at his Mar-a-Lago club. Every now and then, he spoke about the cost of living, and other everyday concerns of voters.Donald Trump has held dozens of campaign rallies before next week's US midterm elections. The 80-year-old remains convinced that he can prove the doubters wrong again and help Republicans retain control of the US Congress. But it was five words he uttered at this summer's Republican convention in Dallas that could seal his party's fate: Pretend I'm on the ticket." Continue reading...

A public spat has cast Democratic tensions in the spotlight as the close US Senate race draws to a headAbdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's tightly fought US Senate race, wants Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events.I don't want any distractions," El-Sayed told reporters after a campaign rally, according to the New York Times. It seems as though other folks are more interested in making this race about things that it's not about." Continue reading...

Benvenuto Cellini and Ryan Moore quickened clear to win the $5m Breeders' Cup Turf17.48 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, Grade One, 5fWe're on to the turf next, and the most obvious barrier to a European clean sweep on the grass in the form of Wesley Ward's Bacio. He is already familiar to European racing fans as the winner of both the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe at York in August. Continue reading...

Tensions had flared after Stevens gave a precondition for her appearance: El-Sayed must denounce an ad attributing rising costs to US support of Israel

Order says local officials can't be forced to separate or stop counting ballots that the government deems to be disputedA federal judge has barred the justice department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots.The temporary restraining order issued by the US district judge Trina Thompson in the northern district of California late Friday also bars the justice department from demanding local election officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government deems may have been illegally cast by immigrants, something that is exceedingly rare. Continue reading...

Legal challenges to Donald Trump's proposed memorial arch are mounting even as its construction is imminentThe legal challenges to Donald Trump's proposed memorial arch are mounting, with the District of Columbia and Virginia suing in federal court on Saturday as the administration says construction could begin as early as next week.There are now three lawsuits calling for a halt to potential work on a monument that would rise 250ft (76 meters) on a patch of grass off the bridge that spans the Potomac River, connecting the city with the Arlington national cemetery. That would make the arch 100ft taller (30 meters) than the Statue of Liberty is from its base to the top of the torch. Continue reading...

Record number of early votes cast, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in states which collect that informationThere has been a surge of early voting for the US midterm elections, with millions more Americans going to the polls compared with the last such election amid a series of tight contests that will determine control of Congress.More than 50.5m early votes have been cast across the US as of Saturday morning, according to an analysis by the University of Florida. This is already nearly 5m more votes than the total number of early votes made in the last midterm elections, in 2022. Continue reading...

On the Bering Sea, Unalaska is the US's most productive seafood port, employing thousands of workers. But Trump's cuts, and his disastrous war with Iran, have caused chaos - and put Republican control of Congress at riskIt was less than 17 hours until the start of Alaska's lucrative Bering Sea crab season, and Oystein Lone was standing on a dock in the city of Unalaska, preparing to embark in rough conditions.The problem wasn't the next day's forecast of 60mph gusts, which would kick up white-capped swells and make crabbing, already one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, even more hazardous. Nor was it the question of whether there'd be enough red king, tanner and snow crabs to go around - state regulators had, in fact, announced higher quotas for the season. Continue reading...

But select Democrats, too, are being accused of having ties to the late sex offender as country prepares to voteIn races across the country, Democratic candidates or groups that support them have released ads accusing Republicans of protecting pedophiles by voting against legislation to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.The ads appear intended to evoke an emotional response by accusing candidates of protecting" Epstein, a notorious pedophile accused of running a sex-trafficking ring involving minors. Continue reading...

Legal experts welcome judge's rejection of firing of James Comey's daughter prosecutor but warn an appeal is likelyA recent legal ruling against an effort to fire the star-prosecutor daughter of a former FBI chief targeted by Donald Trump could send a strong message about politicized firings - and influence other judges weighing similar cases, legal veterans said.Judge Jesse Furman ruled this week that the Department of Justice's firing of assistant US attorney Maurene Comey without cause was unlawful. Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, successfully litigated numerous high-profile cases during her tenure at the southern district of New York, including guilty verdicts against Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Diddy" Combs. Continue reading...

The administration's efforts have raised concerns among experts about potential disruptions after election dayDonald Trump is waging a brazen effort to interfere with voting in this year's midterm elections, escalating concerns that the federal government will try to slow down certification of election results - a strategy that could create chaos when the new Congress is seated next year.Experts are certain the administration's efforts to subvert America's elections will not work. And some have bemoaned fearmongering" about far-fetched scenarios that are unlikely to go anywhere in court. Continue reading...

Guardian readers share their concerns and disillusionment with the political climate under Trump as elections loomMillions of Americans will head to the polls on 3 November in elections that will determine control of the Republican-held House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships of 36 states.The midterms come amid mounting public frustration over issues ranging from the rising cost of living and immigration to the climate crisis, artificial intelligence, big tech and the US's overseas wars. Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to 36%, according to a New York Times/Siena poll conducted this month. Continue reading...

After canceling events in 2025, US cities including Henderson, Kentucky, are reviving public Day of the Dead eventsJulia, a 19-year-old born in the US, and her parents, undocumented immigrants from Mexico, enjoyed attending the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration each year in Henderson, Kentucky, and selling aguas frescas, horchatas and a sweet bread traditionally eaten on the Mexican holiday.Last year, her family also built an ofrenda, or altar, featuring flowers and a violin, to honor her grandfather, who played the instrument and died in 2023 in Mexico. Continue reading...

The first lady has been praised for singlehandedly' brokering a ceasefire in a Ukrainian city - though she might have had some helpHaters be damned: Donald Trump just keeps on winning. He won the inaugural Fifa peace prize last year and was presented with the completely real, totally not made-up Man of the Century" award at a recent rally. The president has also spent the greater part of a decade claiming he was once crowned Michigan's Man of the Year: a fantastic achievement considering there is no such award and Trump has never lived in Michigan.But despite his many trophies, there is one honour that has proved elusive: the Nobel peace prize. Trump holds a bit of a grudge about that, recently terming Norway a shithouse country" for passing him over for the award. In response, the country's tourism board highlighted some of its nicest public lavatories with the tagline: Norway makes shit houses great again!"Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Lance Wallnau has gathered supporters to talk about Charlie Kirk and school boards - with no mention of GOPOne of Donald Trump's most influential Christian nationalist backers has privately shied away from rallying supporters for the Republican party before the midterms, instead urging them to focus their attention elsewhere - including emulating El Salvador and Poland, finding a successor for Charlie Kirk and even focusing on their own diets.At the As One" weekend for paying partners" in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier this month, Lance Wallnau, one of the first prominent rightwing evangelicals to back Trump in 2015, spoke across three sessions about the virtues of El Salvador's prison system, school boards and the movement's future. The midterms, then little more than three weeks away, were not mentioned once. Continue reading...

Days away from a national verdict on Trump 2.0, we check in with nine midterm voters across the US and the political spectrumUS voters will soon deliver a national verdict on the second presidency of Donald Trump. On 3 November, millions of Americans will vote in midterm elections to decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states and state legislatures across the country. The results could have a huge impact on Trump's final two years in office.Our reporters have interviewed nine voters across the country and the political spectrum about extremism in US politics, their confidence in the US voting system, what they hope Congress will tackle first and their views of the president's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...

Nearly 500 men are detained at the T Don Hutto detention facility, and many have risked sharing their experiences in a unique wayWhat goes on inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers across the US happens behind closed doors and high fences.Personal accounts of lengthy detention, misery and sickness and allegations of abuse rarely reach the public directly while people are still behind bars. Continue reading...

The unprecedented measure has enormous potential nationwide. The clash exposes the party's corporate-progressive divideMidway through this summer, a high-quality poll found that Democrats in California were overwhelmingly in favor of the upcoming ballot measure for a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth.The ratio was more than 4 to 1. But the state's most powerful Democrats - including the governor Gavin Newsom, his near-certain successor Xavier Becerra and the Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass - have lined up with Silicon Valley billionaires who've raised upward of $340m to defeat the initiative. Continue reading...

Once among the NFL's most punishing running backs, Larry Johnson opens up about memory loss, intrusive thoughts and his fears over football's lasting tollIn his heyday, Larry Johnson was the NFL tailback you'd least want to line up against, the steamroller in pads who had defensive players and coaches questioning their life choices on every down. But since Johnson walked away from pro football in 2011, after seven seasons in the league and an All-Pro run with the Kansas City Chiefs, he's the one doing the soul-searching, grappling with the toll all that gridiron glory has taken on his brain.Johnson, who still cuts a fit and formidable figure at age 46, can scarcely recall his glittering career, much less its highlights. I go up to maybe 2006, 2007," he tells me. Anything before or three years after, I really don't remember." Continue reading...

Amid the chaos, havoc and war caused by a capricious and amoral US president, countries are waking up to the dangers of being excluded and abused by AmericaNever has there been a time when the world has been more interconnected than now. What happens in the secretive inner councils in Tehran, the mountains of south-west Yemen, the steppe of the Donbas, the still bloody wasteland that is Gaza and even the elegant boulevards of Paris and Milan have a common thread.One cannot understand one set of conflicts without weaving them into another, and it is this very interdependence that is making each problem so contagious, layered and difficult to resolve, leaving the world to live as if trapped inside a pressure cooker on the brink of an explosion. Continue reading...

Mangione pleaded guilty in August in federal case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian ThompsonLuigi Mangione's lawyers filed paperwork on Friday once again pushing for dismissal of his state-level case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson following his federal guilty plea.Mangione pleaded guilty on 14 August to federal charges in Thompson's grisly death outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024. The shocking plea came less than a month before his state murder and weapons trial, which had been scheduled for 8 September. Continue reading...

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Marco Rubio pulls plug on traditional photo op at meeting of foreign ministers after about one-third of countries threaten boycottThe traditional family photo" to open the G20 foreign ministers' meeting has been abruptly cancelled in the US after a host of nations - including Australia and the UK - refused to appear beside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pulled the plug after several European officials, the UK and Australia made it known they would boycott or walk out of the snapshot that often kicks off such international gatherings. Continue reading...

Stephen Hubbard said that only when he was being taken from Moscow to St Petersburg did he believe he was going somewhere'In his first comments since recently being released from a Russian prison, a retired Michigan teacher said he only believed he would be freed when he got new clothes.Stephen Hubbard, 74, remarked on Friday that he had heard many times previously that he would be released - but never really trusted what he was told, adopting a philosophy of seeing is believing" and actions speak louder than words". Continue reading...

Mary Peltola denies knowledge as party accused of recruiting spoiler candidate with same name as sitting Republican

Demand comes after Guardian investigation found ICE failed to record data on miscarriages suffered by immigrants in its custody between October 2025 and June 2026US lawmakers are urgently demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disclose how many pregnant immigrants have experienced miscarriages, stillbirths and pregnancy-related hospitalizations while in the its custody, after the agency admitted it lost count last year.US representatives sent the request following a recent Guardian investigation revealing that the Trump administration is detaining a record number of pregnant women and teens, and at the same has lost track of how many suffered miscarriages. Continue reading...

Javits Frimpong, 15, was being bullied at school before he was shot and killed in the Bronx on Thursday, his father saysA teenage boy from Ghana was chased down and fatally shot Thursday morning on his way to school in the Bronx.The New York City police department (NYPD) received a report on Thursday morning about a shooting near Corona Park in the Bronx, a police spokesperson said on Friday. At about 9.24am, responding officers found Javits Frimpong, 15, with a gunshot wound to his stomach. Continue reading...

European-trained runners completed a second successive clean sweep of the juvenile events on turf at a Keeneland Breeders' CupOFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE TURF SPRINT!They are down at the start before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Libertango remains a solid favourite at 2-1. And they're loading now ... Continue reading...

The Department of Homeland Security asked an Icelandic hosting company to take down data obtained through hackThe US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked an Icelandic hosting company on Thursday to take down or limit access to data related to thousands of agency personnel, saying the content put them at risk, according to the request posted online by hosting company FlokiNET.The database places more than 40,000 identifiable individuals at risk of harassment, stalking and physical harm", the request said. Continue reading...

Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign allegedly collaborated with party operatives to confuse voters in midtermsThe US justice department on Thursday is reported to have issued subpoenas in response to a report that the Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign collaborated with party operatives to get a challenger with the same name as the Republican senator Dan Sullivan on the midterm ballot.ABC News reported the subpoenas, citing sources familiar with the matter. The federal investigation comes a day after the New York Times found that the effort to recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan in the Senate race set to be decided on Tuesday was led by Peltola's campaign, which had for months denied involvement. Continue reading...

US vice-president writes to top Iranian security official in sign Washington has not abandoned diplomacyHopes of averting a major new conflagration between Iran and the US soon after Tuesday's midterm elections could rest on Iran's response to a personal letter from the US vice-president, JD Vance, offering to restart diplomacy.The letter, written after predominantly Qatari mediation, was sent to the secretary of Iran's supreme national security council, Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday. It requires Tehran to agree to make commitments on its nuclear programme at the start of a process that would lead to the opening of the strait of Hormuz within seven days in return for US sanctions relief. Continue reading...

Tankers, tracked by Greenpeace, are first phase of Trump-Putin deal - but there is uncertainty over whether they will unloadSeven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the US, though it is uncertain if the vessels will be able to unload amid a political row about the legality of the shipments.The transport, tracked by the pressure group Greenpeace, is the first phase of a contentious supply deal negotiated between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month, reversing years of sanctions on Russia oil. Continue reading...

Musician wrote a love letter' to Canada with a new album - and some pointed commentary about the US presidentLake Ontario, the vast body of water that straddles the US-Canada border, has gone by many names over the centuries: Lac Saint-Louis, Lacus Ontarius, Skaniadorio, Cataraqui Lake. But one thing it will never be called, says the Canadian rock star Bryan Adams, is Lake America.In his new song Lake Ontario, Adams takes aim at the US president, Donald Trump, accusing him of breaking the peace" between the people who live on the lake's shores.The lake of shining waters' is what the Iroquois called herIt's a First Nations name - not an executive order.But things weren't going his way in IranSo like a baby tossing the toys from the pramYou can push us to the brinkBut where the open road divides Continue reading...

It makes sense that sports teams want to keep influencers out of their games. The battle some clubs are waging with their fans, however, is a different dilemmaBy all appearances, things on the Yellow Wall seemed as they always had been. The stadium announcer hollered out the first names of Borussia Dortmund's starting lineup and the supporters responded with their last names, tens of thousands of voices bellowing as one. Dozens of black and yellow flags waved over Europe's largest standing terrace, a mass of faces fixed on the field beneath them.And then Signal Iduna Park, sold out with 81,365 fans, roared when Max Beier's lone goal led Dortmund to victory over Eintracht Frankfurt last Saturday, putting the home side even on points with Bayern Munich atop the Bundesliga standings. Continue reading...

The team have gone from MLS's flagship franchise to their most depressing - even among 2026's other stragglers

Kaden Matsuda and Jackson Donlon were on a trip in Rocky Mountains last weekend when heavy snowstorm hitTwo Colorado college students have been found dead after going missing during a hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains last weekend when a heavy snowstorm hit, authorities said.The bodies of Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, of New York, were found on Wednesday afternoon in a basin of West Apostle Mountain, about 100 miles (160km) south-east of Aspen, the Chaffee county sheriff's office said in a statement posted on social media. Continue reading...

Ex-congresswoman is connecting with young people and Native voters with promise to expand the social safety netThe road to Isleta Pueblo, a Native American tribal community just 20 minutes south of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, is peppered with campaign signs. Among the many names of candidates running in next week's midterm elections and tribal elections later in November, there's one that is poised to make history.Deb Haaland is set to become the first Native American female governor in the US when voters cast their ballots on 3 November. Recent polling shows her with a comfortable lead over her opponent, Republican Gregg Hull, a businessman and the longtime mayor of the city of Rio Rancho. Her bid for office also signals the growing power of the Democratic party in the state, where Democrats control the legislature, hold all top offices and have enacted progressive policies, such as universal childcare, that have been heralded across the country. Continue reading...

Democrat Annie Andrews neck-and-neck with Republican incumbent, Darline Graham, sister to Lindsey Graham

Gone are the eight criteria to be a High Impact Player so clubs can spend their money on whomever they want - and the solution makes senseWhen Washington plays Chicago this Sunday in DC, Rowdy Audi" will probably be full. It will also be full when the post-season starts, should they lock up their top-four position with a positive result on Decision Day. Equipped with an accessible stadium in a big city, a proud fanbase and a formidable roster rife with players qualifying for the High Impact Player (HIP) rule's initial criteria (including Trinity Rodman, who gave the rule its moniker), the Spirit hold sway in the attendance charts.But starting next season, everyone on the Spirit will qualify for the Rodman Rule". So will every player in NWSL. Announced Friday, NWSL settled a grievance with the league's Players Association, who argued that the initial criteria violated federal labor law. Continue reading...

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Milwaukee's first World Series championship is a rebuke to baseball's oligarch class, whose insistence that small-market teams cannot compete has been laid bare as fictionFor the entirety of the 2026 baseball season, the overlords of the game have stood on the single position that what has now happened could not happen, and the result was a year that has been treated like an appetizer for the main course of the offseason: the shutting down of the game until the players, after 40 years of resistance, finally agree to a salary cap. The insistence that the game had been predetermined undermined the Milwaukee Brewers, who spent 149 days this season atop the standings.Baseball dismissed Milwaukee's 22-0 demolition of Seattle on 18 August, the 20-0 waxing of Cincinnati a month later, and the comprehensive dusting of their division - their fourth consecutive National League Central title and fifth in six years - by 14 games. Baseball's owners, at their persuasive best, would have their paying customers believe that the Brewers' franchise-record 103 regular-season wins also were an illusion, or worse, the dreaded outlier, even though Milwaukee have won 770 games since 2018, the fourth-most in all of baseball. Even when Milwaukee exhaled and made the Dodgers look old in a stirring four-game sweep, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the owners' position remained unchanged. Continue reading...