US news | The Guardian

Samuel Woodward, 27, sentenced to life without parole over stabbing of Blaze Bernstein, who was gay and JewishA California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate was sentenced Friday to life without parole in prison.Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in a southern California courtroom at the end of an all-day hearing for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. Continue reading...

Local clerks say they received threatening emails last week, amid a series of hostile election-related incidentsThe FBI confirmed it is aware" of bomb threats that targeted election offices in several Oregon counties. Local clerks in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson reported receiving threatening emails last week, just days after election day.The FBI said that none of the threats were deemed credible. Continue reading...

Leavitt was Trump campaign's national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.

Palm Springs approves settlement for displaced Black and Latino families after decades-long fight for compensationThe Palm Springs city council on Thursday unanimously approved a $5.9m reparations settlement with former residents of a largely Black neighborhood that was leveled in the 1960s for commercial development.The city council was also set to approve another $21m for housing and small business support aimed at the former residents and their descendants. Continue reading...

Leavitt served as the national press secretary on Trump's campaign and assistant press secretary during his first administration

FBI investigating anti-migrant and anti-gay texts that follow messages sent to Black people after Trump election winRacist text messages targeting Black people across the US just hours after Donald Trump won a second presidency have now expanded to the Hispanic communities - and homophobic versions have been aimed at LGBTQ+ people, the FBI said on Friday.Authorities say they are investigating the messages - which now include emails - and that they have not received reports of violent acts stemming from the hateful messages. Continue reading...

Arturo Nelson finds Melissa Lucio, convicted of killing two-year-old daughter, is actually innocent of capital murder'Efforts to free Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her two-year-old daughter, were significantly bolstered after a judge concluded that she is actually innocent" of capital murder.Senior state district judge Arturo Nelson concluded that prosecutors presented false testimony, suppressed evidence and that new scientific evidence that was not available during Lucio's 2008 trial undermines and contradicts evidence presented by the state. He recommended that Lucio's conviction and death sentence be overturned. Continue reading...

Pamela Price, recalled in November election, files criminal charges over man left unchecked for days in Santa Rita jailA San Francisco Bay Area district attorney recalled in the 5 November election filed criminal charges this week against 11 former and current staff of a county jail for the 2021 in-custody death of a man who was left unchecked in his cell for days.The Alameda county district attorney, Pamela Price, announced on Thursday that felony dependent adult abuse charges were filed against seven county sheriff's deputies, two former deputies and two medical staffers at the Santa Rita jail. If convicted, the maximum for each defendant is four years in state prison. Continue reading...

Kraft Heinz cites weak demand for pre-packaged meals amid reports of lead and high sodium in supermarket kitsAfter offering the pre-packaged meals branded as Lunchables on school menus across the country just last year, Kraft Heinz, the company that makes the popular lunch and snack kits, is removing their products from a federally assisted meal program while citing weak demand.That development came after a Consumer Reports investigation found lead and high levels of sodium in the supermarket versions of Lunchables, though the ones made available at schools were tailored differently to meet federal nutrition regulations. The fact that the version of Lunchables available at schools used different ingredients to meet federal guidelines triggered warnings that they would not taste the same as the ones sold in stores, meaning they could be off-putting to children. Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges law enforcement agencies knew of plot to kill civil rights leader but did not act to stop itThe family of Malcolm X, the militant civil rights leader who was assassinated almost 60 years ago, filed a $100m federal lawsuit on Friday that accuses the FBI, the CIA and the New York police department (NYPD) of allowing his murder.The lawsuit, brought by Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and other family members, alleges the law enforcement agencies concealed evidence they knew of the plot to kill him but did not act to stop it. Continue reading...

Concerns anti-vaccine pick for US health secretary could pursue anti-science positions' on life-saving interventionsThe appointment of a US health secretary with anti-vaccine views could cause deaths and have profound consequences around the world, global health experts fear.Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump's pick for the position, has a history of spreading misinformation on vaccines and questioning the science of HIV and Aids. Continue reading...

Ex-vice-president rebukes Kennedy's stance on abortion while Matt Gaetz, another Trump pick, faces uphill battle'

Biden is as free from political constraints as he's ever been. Yet he has chosen to seal his legacy as Israel's tepid enablerWhen the histories of his administration are written, it will be clear that Joe Biden held on to his callous disregard for Palestinians until the end of his presidency. How else to explain why Biden would refuse a final chance to stop Israel's brutal war on Gaza and save Palestinian lives, when he has nothing to lose?On Tuesday, the Biden administration quietly ignored its own deadline for Israel to increase the minuscule amount of humanitarian aid it allows to enter Gaza. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, imposed the 30-day deadline in a letter sent to Israeli officials on 13 October, which warned that they must take concrete measures" to ensure that Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza have access to food, medicine and other necessities. The administration said it could suspend US military support to Israel if conditions did not improve. Despite the US ultimatum, the amount of aid reaching the besieged territory in October had dropped to its lowest level in 11 months.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian center for Near Eastern studies, and a journalism professor at New York University Continue reading...

From an anti-vaxxer running health to a suspected sex abuser as attorney general, the president-elect has picked a team designed to ensure his dominationHe wasn't kidding. Donald Trump really does want to rule as an extremist strongman, with contempt for the planet, for America's allies and for the rule of law. He's made that crystal clear this week, announcing one bombshell appointment after another, each one a declaration of intent. Few things tell you more about a president than their hires - personnel is policy, as they used to say in Ronald Reagan's White House - and Trump is telling us exactly who he is.The latest name added to the roster is a storied one: Robert F Kennedy Jr, now lined up for the role of health secretary. You may have known of Bobby Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy may be a hero of yours. But, boy, his son is no Bobby Kennedy. Once an admired environmental campaigner, now he is an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who promotes treatments that don't work - such as hydroxychloroquine for Covid - and rails against those that do, spreading the long-debunked claim that childhood vaccines are linked to autism and opposing fluoridation of water to prevent tooth decay. Apparently unchastened by the pandemic, Kennedy believes US public health officials have been too focused on infectious diseases. Or as he memorably put it: We're going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years." If deadly pathogens could lick their lips, they would.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Bypassing the standard procedure comes as president-elect's choices of RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz send shock waves

West Side Story actor soon to take on iconic Disney role backs down after re-election response led to backlashThe West Side Story and Snow White actor Rachel Zegler has apologised after criticising Donald Trump and his supporters.The 23-year-old, currently starring in Broadway's re-imagined Romeo + Juliet, had posted a lengthy response to the re-election of Trump and the four years of hatred" he would bring about in America. Continue reading...

The cringeworthy campaign for Harris made it clear - voters aren't simply going to do what mega-rich celebrities tell them toI wish celebrities would learn the art of the French exit. But they can't, which is why Eva Longoria has announced she no longer lives in America. I get to escape and go somewhere," she explained. Most Americans aren't so lucky - they're going to be stuck in this dystopian country." What's brought this on, apart from the obvious? Whether it's the homelessness or the taxes ... it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now." Great to learn that Eva dislikes both homelessness and taxes. America's loss of this major political thinker is some other country's gain - and this highly called-for intervention reminds us why celebrities should speak their brains even more often. If only into a pillow, or an abyss.As always in these moments of the silly voters making a silly mistake, many stars have pledged to follow her. We'll see. Either way, celebrities seem totally unaware that these high-handed statements of first-class migration are not the admonishment to the lesser orders that they are meant to be, and may even encourage them.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistA Year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar. On Tuesday 3 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back at a political year like no other, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading...

Facing threats to their rights and their safety, people rush to protect themselves amid discrimination and scapegoatingThis weekend, Atticus Sparks plans to attend a six-hour concealed weapons permit class. He's not a gun person, but as an 18-year-old trans man, he's concerned he might someday need to own one, just in case". Since Donald Trump's election, Sparks has faced online threats of violence and sexual assault from the president-elect's supporters.Hopefully I won't ever need a gun," Sparks, who lives in South Carolina, said. But everyone here is so pro-gun. I work across from a gun store, and I always see people carrying around loaded rifles." Continue reading...

Choice of vaccine critic knocks some of world's biggest drugmakers including Moderna, AstraZeneca and GSK

Subtle high-fives were exchanged and remarks about the impending success of the next four years were whispered aroundWhen we walked into school on the morning of 6 November, we exchanged quick glances with the other girls in our social circle - looks filled with uncertainty and dread about the future. Because we are applying to colleges all around the country and about to leave our homes in the Hudson Valley, political issues suddenly have begun to feel a lot more personal.Access to abortion and contraception, protection of the environment, and the growing hate and violence toward marginalized groups all have the potential to greatly impact our lives. We had only brief conversations about why Trump's victory felt so defeating, but our shared disappointment stuck with us as we walked to our first period classes. Continue reading...

The Washington Post's Will Lewis said the paper was returning to its roots' by not endorsing a presidential candidate. There was more to it than thatPostmortems continue for who lost Kamala Harris the US election, and these will be consequential for the left in the UK. However many times the US flags that the special relationship" is really not a thing for them any more, their politics bears down on ours, whether it's rightwing narratives travelling from the Heritage Foundation to the thinktanks at Tufton Street, via [checks notes], oh yes, money, or the centre left here praying they can sail past the Democrats' shipwrecks.If consensus is reached that the problem was go woke; go broke" - that Harris was too inclusive, too pro-trans, too pro-diversity, generally speaking, not horrible enough - that would be multiple kinds of erroneous, the greatest of which is moral. It lacks backbone to diagnose the problem as too strong on the values of humanity and universalism", and solve it by abandoning those values. Amusingly, the message Labour has taken, so far, isn't even that the Dems were too woke - rather, that they were just too hopeful, a reading which is a little like avoiding the shipwreck by drowning yourself.Zoe Williams is a Guardian journalist Continue reading...

Trump's alleged victims, as well as other victims of sexual abuse, voice disappointment that that he was elected againWhen Donald Trump was elected to a second term last week, women who say he sexually assaulted them, and other victims of sexual abuse, voiced disappointment that a man repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct could once again become president, with one of them describing this win as a gut punch".More than two dozen women have made such claims against Trump, including E Jean Carroll, who was awarded nearly $90m total in two civil trials after jurors found that Trump sexually abused and defamed her. She said on X: I tried to tell you." Continue reading...

Wagering platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket want to expand rapidly, offering bets on awards, epidemics, the economy and more, after astronomical' election growthBetting markets had a great election. With billions of dollars wagered on who would take the White House, their projections proved closer to the actual result than many opinion polls. Now the operators behind them want the US to wager on almost everything else.Forget Trump or Harris. Is Billie Eilish going to win album of the year at the Grammys? How many federal government employees are about to lose their jobs? Will mpox be declared a pandemic this year? Continue reading...

Experts warn making the anti-vaccine activist health secretary is going to cost lives'. Plus, Paul Mescal interviews Ridley Scott

Sudan is the largest food crisis and Gaza is the worst emergency by intensity of deprivation - both disasters need urgent actionI care about both Gaza and Sudan. It's distasteful to compare extreme human suffering. But we can use the international metrics for famine to explain why each humanitarian crisis is uniquely terrible - and why people caught in both need urgent action.Sudan is the largest food crisis in the world by the sheer numbers affected. The country's warring generals can immediately end the worst hunger by agreeing to a ceasefire and facilitating humanitarian aid. But it's a complicated, deep-rooted crisis that will take years to resolve. Continue reading...

Can they change course? Maybe, but they need a message of commonsense solidarity without liberal elitismBefore the election it was clear that Kamala Harris's closing message was not landing with working-class voters. The Center for Working Class Politics (CWCP) sounded the alarm that the Democrats could be heading for a disaster. And last Tuesday, disaster struck.Harris lost badly. She resoundingly lost the electoral college (226 to 312 as of publication), and she lost the critical blue-wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Democrats even lost the popular vote for the first time in 20 years. In short, Harris lost the working class. Continue reading...

Still only 20, Gauff moves with a wisdom that belies her youth. This was never more evident than how she conducted her business on and off the court during last week's WTA Finals in RiyadhSteadily - and rapidly - over the last 30 years, seeking to both expand their economic strength by not relying solely on their petroleum riches as well as struggling to convince the world they are becoming a less repressive regime, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has built an empire across the broad spectrum of professional sports; F1 racing, soccer, basketball, WWE and, most notoriously, golf with the LIV tour. And now professional tennis is the latest sport to be seduced by the massive amounts of money that the Kingdom can offer, with the WTA Finals just having concluded in Riyadh.In 2023, while the Kingdom was intensely lobbying the WTA to host the tennis tour's year end finals in Riyadh, a fault line developed amongst the old guard of the sport, with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on one side and Billie Jean King on the other. In late 2023, just before the WTA confirmed that Riyadh would indeed host the 2024 WTA Finals, Evert and Navratilova sent a letter to the WTA outlining their deeply felt concerns:In light of the WTA Finals potentially being moved to Saudi Arabia, we feel it is essential to speak up now and highlight why we are so concerned. The WTA Finals is the crown jewel of our tour and we can't sit back and allow something as significant as this to happen without an open, honest and transparent discussion.We fully appreciate the importance of respecting diverse cultures and religions. It is because of this, and not in spite of it, that we believe allowing Saudi Arabia to host the WTA Finals is entirely incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women's tennis, and the WTA itself.The WTA was founded on fairness and equality to empower women in a male dominated world. In short, the WTA should represent values which sit in stark contrast to those of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country which criminalizes the LGBTQ community. Continue reading...

What time does it start? Why Netflix? And what about that 31-year age difference? We (mostly) have the answersMike Tyson is returning to professional boxing for the first time in nearly two decades on Friday night in Texas. The 58-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion is fighting YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a made-for-Netflix showdown expected to draw a global audience of around 300m viewers.But is that all you really need to know? What about the rules, how much they're getting paid and the *checks notes* 31-year age difference. Read on for all the answers ... Continue reading...

Test your recall of rugby union, football, tennis, NFL, boxing and more with our weekly quiz Continue reading...

As the circus wheels on around him, Mike Tyson knows there is nothing new to say - so at his pre-fight press conference he said nothingMike Tyson sat in almost magnificent silence, refusing to engage in the bombast and bluster of the final press conference before he fights JakePaul in a charade of a contest on Friday night in Arlington, Texas. As I stared at his familiar tattooed face I remembered what he had told me on a sweltering afternoon in the summer of 1991.We sat then in a stinking Las Vegas gym and Tyson tapped me on the hand in reminder of a bleak truth. Look what happens to fighters," he said, even the best of them. Joe Louis ended up a doorman at Caesars Palace. He was in a wheelchair at the end. Sonny Liston died in this town, a drunk and a junkie with no money. Even Ali, look at Ali. I love Ali but when they introduce him at my fights I look away. Sure, they cheer him, but where's his beauty now, his speed, his talent? It's gone ... it's gone." Continue reading...

There's comfort in being surrounded by like-minded people, but challenge is important, and we may have to look for it elsewhereHell is other people. Or, more specifically, other people on social media. Hell is millions of people who would avoid each other like the plague if they met in real life, but who are shoved into each other's faces and essentially egged on to punch each other online; it's people endlessly winding each other up out of boredom or frustration or desperation to be part of some gang, which ends in viral bullying, death threats, children ripping other children to shreds on platforms they are legally not old enough to join.Hell is a social circle so vast and remote that human brains just aren't wired to cope with it: it's sociability without accountability, and it was making us miserably stressed long before Elon Musk bought X and drove it at a wall. But even then, people stayed for the reasons people do stay in toxic relationships - inertia, fear of being lonely, misplaced hope it may get better - and because it seemed intrinsic to many working lives. You had to be on X because everyone else was, a circular logic that this week finally snapped: a stampede away from X has seen rival Bluesky add 1 million users since the US election, with several prominent Labour MPs joining the charge. What's the point, the chair of the women and equalities committee, Sarah Owen, asked, in being on a site that's gone from cat memes, to sharing Wordle scores, to calling people whores just for having a different political opinion"?Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Donald Trump's choice of Robert Kennedy Jr has drawn sharp criticism, setting the stage for fiery scenes in the senate; plus, how do Trump's 2024 picks compare with 2016?

Dismay as president-elect picks Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr for key rolesFears that Donald Trump's second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.Dismay over some of the president-elect's early picks escalated to outrage after the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was unveiled as his selection to be attorney general - a position Trump has previously said he views as the most important in his administration. Continue reading...

This blog is closed, thanks for following along. You can read more of our coverage below:

Bynum says we believed in a vision' and victory is boost for party after longtime Democratic seat turned red in 2022Janelle Bynum will serve as Oregon's first Black member of Congress after the Democrat flipped a US House seat from the Republicans.Bynum, a state representative who was backed and supported by national Democrats, ousted Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The win was a boost for Democrats who won back the seat after Republicans flipped it red for the first time in roughly 25 years during the 2022 midterms. Continue reading...

Four individuals in Los Angeles were arrested and charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy after claiming that a bear had damaged their cars, when the bear in question was actually just a person dressed in a bear costume. The California insurance department detectives said the insurance companies were defrauded of $141,839

Trump's nominations, including RFK Jr, Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, have left US figures stunned', and drawn comparisons with eight years agoDonald Trump has wasted no time in assembling his incoming cabinet, issuing a flurry of nominations this week that - in some cases - have further heightened fears that his return to the White House will lead to an extremist agenda.The roster of names has inevitably drawn comparisons with Trump's 2016 victory, when he was reported to have devoted relatively little attention to a transition effort. Back then, his picks were described as conventional" and the incoming cabinet was said have been broadly in line with that of a traditional Republican. Continue reading...

Contact was reportedly at Trump-allied billionaire's request and could be significant for dismal US-Iranian relationsElon Musk reportedly met with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, a day before Donald Trump named the SpaceX founder as one of the heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.The meeting was a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States, according to two Iranian officials who spoke with the New York Times. One of the Iranian officials said that the Tesla executive requested the meeting and that the ambassador picked the site. Continue reading...

Nominee for health secretary decried as vaccine denier and tin foil hat conspiracy theorist ... this is going to cost lives'Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as US secretary of health and human services has prompted widespread criticisms towards Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who has embraced a slew of other debunked health-related conspiracy theories.In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump claimed that Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies" and that Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!" Continue reading...

Investigators find prisoners at Fulton county jail, Georgia's largest, tunneling through walls and violence uncheckedConditions in the Fulton county jail in Atlanta violate the constitutional and statutory rights of people incarcerated", a long-running federal investigation concluded on Thursday.Killings, stabbings, and assaults are common in the Jail," according to a Department of Justice report. Contraband is pervasive, lethal violence goes uninvestigated - and is sometimes directly abetted by jail staff - and drug use is common, according to investigators in a 91-page report on Thursday. Continue reading...

Trump's nominee to oversee key US health agencies is a vaccine denier and experts predict the return of diseases we have controlled for decades'Robert F Kennedy Jr, the man Donald Trump has nominated to oversee key US health agencies, rose to national prominence as one of the most persistent and influential vaccine deniers in the country.Kennedy, 70, backed Trump after ending his own third-party bid for president in August. He is the son of the former attorney general and presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy and the nephew of president John F Kennedy. Continue reading...

A scion of Democratic dynasty, RFK Jr is known for embrace of anti-vaccine beliefs and other conspiracy theories

Massachusetts senator now joins Bernie Sanders in endorsing joint resolution of disapproval against Joe BidenElizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice in the US Senate, has denounced the Biden administration's failure to punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and endorsed a joint resolution of disapproval in Congress.The amount of aid reaching the territory has dropped to the lowest level in 11 months, official Israeli figures show. The White House last month gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired on Tuesday, international aid groups said Israel had fallen far short.

Governor Kathy Hochul unveils initiative to charge vehicles entering lower Manhattan, after halting earlier plan in JuneNew York is reviving plans to introduce the US's first-ever congestion charge for vehicle traffic, with a reduced $9 toll set to apply to cars entering the lower half of Manhattan from January.Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, in June halted a landmark plan to charge $15 for drivers entering Manhattan's traffic-clogged streets, sparking a furious backlash from transport and climate advocates. Continue reading...

Ex-House speaker's remarks come amid calls for release of ethics report into sexual misconduct claims against Gaetz

Former Democratic congresswoman, 43, has been publicly suspected of being groomed' by RussiaTulsi Gabbard's biography has some rare distinctions, including being the first Samoan and the first Hindu elected to the US Congress, where she sat between 2013 and 2021 as the Democratic representative for Hawaii.But nothing marks her out so much as being almost certainly the only prospective head of American intelligence to have been publicly suspected of being groomed" by Russia - a suggestion made by Hillary Clinton, Trump's defeated Democratic opponent when he was first elected president, in a 2019 podcast. Continue reading...