Jon Green says Republican governor failed to issue similar order after other prominent cases of gun violenceA local government official in Iowa has said he would refuse to comply with orders from the Republican state governor to fly flags at half-staff in honor of rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday.Jon Green, the chair of the Johnson county board of supervisors in Iowa, announced on Thursday on social media that he would not follow governor Kim Reynolds's directive to fly flags at half-staff for Kirk through Sunday evening. Continue reading...
Recognizing a Palestinian state is a limited but welcome step that addresses an enduring blind spot: Palestinian rights cannot be conditioned on Israeli interestsThroughout the two years of the Gaza war, Israeli bombing has been so intense that, in certain weather conditions, its echoes can be heard here in Tel Aviv, 70km away. The mass starvation is quieter. Even images of dead children rarely pierce Israel's media bubble. The war appears in protests over the hostages, political debates, stickers with the faces of fallen soldiers on walls and bus stops. Palestinian suffering - by contrast - remains distant, abstract, unmoving.After two years, Israeli society is adapting: the army has developed a practice of not calling reservists who are likely to dodge the draft; instead, it turns to former soldiers in need of cash or employment, offering them to fill the ranks of its combat units. At times, special arrangements are made so that reservists can keep working in their old jobs, practically doubling their income. Civilian contractors are hired to systematically raze whole neighborhoods in the Strip; they are paid by the house. The IDF is becoming a new military, adjusted for permanent operations in Gaza, the West Bank and the northern borders. The rest of the public goes on with their lives. War is the new normal. Continue reading...
In the wake of horror, honest accountings of his life have not only become rare - they have also become dangerousMaybe it is the gruesome suddenness of his death that has made so many people forget the realities of Charlie Kirk's life. After the 31-year-old rightwing influencer was shot dead at a college campus appearance in Utah on Wednesday, many commentators rushed to condemn political violence, on the one hand, and to issue warm tributes to Kirk's life, on the other. The former of these is legitimate: that political policy should not be determined by force, or political disagreements settled through homicidal violence, is a baseline precondition of not just a democratic form of government, but of any functional society. The latter, perhaps, can be explained by the admirable human impulse towards gentleness and reconciliation. The horror and shock of Kirk's assassination prompted some to offer their generosity, and their sympathy, to the dead man.Perhaps it was these noble gestures toward generosity and sympathy that led some commentators to be more laudatory to Kirk's memory than an honest recounting of his life would allow. In the days following Kirk's death, several bewilderingly inaccurate postmortem hagiographies have appeared, including from prominent voices on the left and center, that seem to wish that the tragedy of Kirk's death could retroactively have given him a more honorable life.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Fear and fatigue palpable as emboldened Trump officials set sights on LA - but volunteer groups are mobilizingA sense of apprehension hung over Los Angeles this week in the wake of a supreme court ruling that paved the way for federal agents to conduct warrantless raids and target people based on their skin color, accent or job.Immigrant communities have been on edge for months amid sweeping raids that have rounded up thousands of people. In July, a judge issued a temporary restraining order that barred agents from racially profiling people in southern and central California - slowing the raids but not stopping them. Continue reading...
by Bryan Armen Graham, Jakub Frankowicz, Stephanie Ka on (#7014Y)
Our writers pick the champion, key players and dark horses as the WNBA postseason tips off on SundayYes and no. Yes because the worst talking heads who turn the storyline into something nastier and ugly will not be drawing the air out of WNBA discussion. No, because genuine rivalry is one of the best parts of sports, and Reese v Clark is particularly captivating. Jakub Frankowicz Continue reading...
After the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the Guardian's Rachel Leingang gives more detail on the rise in political violence in the US. She explains how an increasing polarisation between the left and the right is worsening the threat and how increasing numbers of people believe violence is the way to achieve political goals
Progressives in the US and UK are asking why leftwing politicians are not connecting with ordinary peopleProgressives in the UK and US are grappling with the same question. Why have rightwing populists become so much more successful at tapping into public concern? And why are so few politicians on the left connecting with ordinary people?Barely a year after taking power in Britain, Labour's popularity has collapsed with an unprecedented rapidity against surging support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Continue reading...
Book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell contains multiple innuendo-laden letters - including one from Donald TrumpAfter House Democrats released a scrapbook gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, questions have emerged about whether the late child-sex trafficker's proclivities were an open secret or, at the very least, rumored in the circle of powerful and rich people that surrounded him.Indeed, the so-called birthday book, which was compiled by Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, contains multiple letters that are laden with sexual innuendo - including one alleged missive from Donald Trump. Continue reading...
Social media and widespread availability of lethal weapons make this era more dangerous than the 1960s - and the violence may increaseCharlie Kirk's killing came amid a rise in political violence in the US, the kind now so frequent that it moves swiftly out of news cycles it would once have dominated.The list is long and growing. From the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump during his campaign last year to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home burnt in an arson attack in April and the Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband gunned down by a man dressed as a police officer in June, to name a few. Continue reading...
A UN special rapporteur shares the stories of those trying to record the horrors of Gaza even as they live through themYesterday I talked to a mother of a child who was born and died in the war."Every day I look at my child, who instead of going to school is going to fetch water, and instead of playing football is hanging around in areas where corpses are lying."Mary Lawlor is UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders Continue reading...
How Bovino went from an unheralded border patrol agent to a key figure leading Trump's Chicago and LA takeoversGregory Bovino is indisputably a man of the political times, perfectly in harmony with the signature theme of Donald Trump's second presidency.A previously unheralded regional border patrol agent, Bovino, 55, has risen to prominence in recent weeks as the publicity-hungry spearhead of the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented people in Los Angeles. Continue reading...
Surgeon general Joseph Ladapo retreats on his plans after the US president says: You have vaccines that work'It took barely two days, and some huffs of disapproval from the White House, before Joseph Ladapo's bold plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates in Florida began to deflate.The action, the fervently religious state surgeon general had asserted at a fire and brimstone press conference in Tampa, came straight from the heavens: Who am I, as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body?" he opined, framing the freedom to reject vaccines as a reflection of God's light against the darkness of tyranny and oppression". Continue reading...
Putin and Netanyahu are creating chaos in the vacuum left by a weak US president. But there are still ways to foil themIt is too easy to blame Donald Trump for everything that goes wrong in the world. The ability of any US president to fundamentally change or control the behaviour of other major powers is frequently overestimated. Yet by posing as a sort of uncrowned global monarch and grand arbiter of war and peace, Trump perpetuates fantasies of US hegemony, omnipotence and divine right. Intoxicated by such ego-inflating delusions, he pledged before taking office to swiftly end the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. Perhaps, in his vanity and hubris, he truly believed he could.Eight months on, the exact opposite is happening. Both crises are expanding and escalating. The bubble has burst, his bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes - and there is no denying that Trump, by alternately appeasing, excusing and encouraging the two foremost villains of these twin tragedies, is greatly to blame. Last week's multiple Russian drone incursions into Nato member Poland - which Polish officials are right to call deliberate - risk transforming the Ukraine war into a Europe-wide conflagration. Likewise, the reckless, illegal Israeli airstrike in Qatar, which blew up the Gaza peace process, physically and metaphorically, has supercharged regional tensions. Continue reading...
Numerous firings reported as authorities search out commentary deemed offensive on conservative free speech advocate's killing - key stories from 13 September 2025 at a glanceThe killing of Charlie Kirk has prompted a crackdown by authorities on critical commentary, with numerous people losing their jobs over their reaction to the fatal shooting of the conservative activist and free speech advocate.Those fired, suspended or censured in recent days include teachers, firefighters, journalists, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team. Continue reading...
Suspect's background and politics are being pored over in aftermath of killing of far-right influencerThough the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was revealed by authorities on Friday, questions surrounding his identity and motivations have exacerbated intense US political debates in the aftermath of the shooting.Authorities revealed Kirk's suspected killer to be Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who grew up in Washington, Utah, along the state's south-western border. Continue reading...
Leaked documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centers. This blog is now closed.Images coming out of the far-right Unite the Kingdom' march in central London on Saturday show framed photographs of Charlie Kirk being held aloft as protesters gather.The far-right activist and political commentator, who was fatally shot this week in Utah, galvanized young conservatives through online antics and inflammatory views. Continue reading...
Documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centersDonald Trump's administration has drafted a proposal to deploy 1,000 Louisiana national guard troops to conduct law enforcement operations in the state's urban centers, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing military planning documents it had obtained.Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many US cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests, including a recent demonstration by several thousand people in Washington DC. Continue reading...
News network Milenio releases public apology after US deputy secretary of state threatens to revoke Mexican visasA congressional staffer from Mexico's ruling party has resigned after being called out online for comments he made on a major Mexican television news program about Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk's murder.The news network, Milenio, also released a public apology after the United States' deputy secretary of state - a former ambassador to Mexico - evidently threatened to have Donald Trump's presidential administration revoke any US visas on which it may count. Continue reading...
Nato announces plans to beef up defense as Poland rejects Trump's suggestion drones were sent by mistakeThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear whether Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Nato announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe's eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down the drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine.We think it's an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development," Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and Britain. Continue reading...
by Siri Chilukuri in Franklin Park, Illinois on (#700QN)
Governor JB Pritzker joins US representative Delia Ramirez in response to shooting death of Silverio Villegas-GonzalezA US congresswoman from Illinois and local officials in and around Chicago are calling for an investigation into the traffic stop initiated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents that resulted in the shooting death of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez on Friday.A joint statement whose signatories included Democratic US House member Delia Ramirez said Villegas-Gonzalez's killing in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park illustrated the inevitable violence" resulting from the deportation campaign mounted by Donald Trump's administration during his second presidency. Continue reading...
Mayoral candidate said he'd try to honor ICC warrant for Israeli prime minister's arrest over war crimesIf he wins his fall election, Zohran Mamdani would order New York's police department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in the event that the Israeli prime minister ever traveled there, the city's leading mayoral candidate said in a recent interview.Mamdani - the Democratic nominee in the 4 November election - alleged to the New York Times on Thursday that Netanyahu was a war criminal who was committing genocide with Israel's military campaign in Gaza, according to a report published by the outlet on Friday. He said he would honor an international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant issued in November 2024 for Netanyahu's arrest over alleged Gaza war crimes by having the Israeli leader taken into custody at the airport if he ever steps foot in New York and Mamdani is the mayor. Continue reading...
Two-year attempt to prosecute opponents of police training center on criminal conspiracy charges ends in failureGeorgia prosecutors are facing what one expert called probably the highest-profile failure of using conspiracy charges to indict a protest movement" in US history, after a two-year attempt to prosecute a criminal conspiracy in connection with opposition to the police training center known as Cop City.Fulton county superior court Judge Kevin Farmer announced his decision to dismiss charges against the case's 61 defendants during hearings this week on a handful of defense attorney motions. Continue reading...
In Truth Social post, US president also suggests members consider imposing tariffs of 50% to 100% on ChinaDonald Trump has said he is ready to impose sanctions on Moscow, but on the condition that all Nato allies agree to completely halt purchases of Russian oil and implement their own sanctions.He also suggested members of the transatlantic alliance consider imposing tariffs of 50% to 100% on China for its purchases of Russian petroleum as a way to help end the war. Continue reading...
Invective against Kash Patel includes insults to his handling of investigation, his ethnicity and his reference to ValhallaThe killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk has conjured a storm of online criticism on the far right towards the FBI director, Kash Patel, both for his perceived incompetent stewardship of the bureau and his invocation of Viking lore.During the news conference announcing the arrest of Tyler Robinson, 22, the alleged killer of Kirk at a Salt Lake City campus on Wednesday, Patel made triumphant statements as the Utah governor, Spencer Cox, looked on. Continue reading...
The sex offender was worth $600m when he died, but exactly how he acquired his wealth remains a mysteryJeffrey Epstein was a very wealthy man, but exactly how wealthy and where that money came from remains shrouded in mystery.Newly unearthed emails last week shone light on Epstein's role as freelance client development officer, acting as a channel between political figures and business titans, greasing up the former with lifestyles they could not afford and the latter with avenues of political influence. Continue reading...
Survivors of previous eras of xenophobia say the harms done have lasted generations - and what's happening now threatens to do the sameMass expulsion, babies born behind barbed wire, intrusive medical exams for newcomers, families torn apart: these aren't scenes from Donald Trump's promised second-term immigration crackdown, but from the US's extensive history of xenophobic immigration policy.While so many Americans watched in horror at Immigration and Customs Enforcement's military-like raids across Los Angeles this summer, US cruelty and violence towards immigrants is nothing new, from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the mass deportation of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression. As the Trump administration escalates its attacks on immigrants - or those perceived to be immigrants - survivors of previous eras of xenophobia say it's more important than ever to remember the past. The harms done to them and their families have lasted generations, and what's happening now threatens to do the same. Continue reading...
The slain head of Turning Point USA stoked campus culture wars and treated faculty and students as enemies'Charlie Kirk, the far-right activist killed this week while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University, never graduated from the community college he briefly attended. But his lack of a degree didn't stop him from assuming a defining role in the ongoing transformation of US higher education.Kirk pioneered a style of ideological warfare against what he viewed as bastions of leftism, helping turn campuses into cultural battlefields and paving the way for Donald Trump's unprecedented campaign to weaken American universities and subject them to his movement's ideological agenda. Continue reading...
The country's finest male intellectuals - including some in positions of power - are weighing in on the matterShould women in the US have the right to vote? You'd be forgiven for assuming this particular issue was sorted out quite a long time ago. But, because we live in hell, it seems the question is once again up for debate.Not by women, though; the fairer sex is obviously too emotional for such muscular discussion. So please sit this one out, ladies, and listen to what America's finest male intellectuals have to say.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Reaction to the shocking killing of Charlie Kirk has largely overlooked the obvious: the country is awash with guns and people prepared to use them on fellow AmericansAt 12.23pm on Wednesday, as the rightwing influencer and provocateur Charlie Kirk was addressing a large crowd at Utah Valley University, a single shot rang out. He was struck fatally by a bullet in the neck, sending thousands of screaming students scattering in all directions and propelling the country into a new and dangerous crisis.Exactly one minute later, at 12.24pm, about 450 miles to the east in Colorado, a 911 call came in to first responders in the mountain town of Evergreen. A 16-year-old student had opened fire with a revolver on high school grounds, critically injuring two fellow students before turning the handgun on himself. Continue reading...
Erika Kirk, the widow of the conservative activist, delivered her first public remarks on Friday. In a livestreamed speech, she thanked Donald Trump, his vice-president, JD Vance, and law enforcement officials for their support since her husband's death
Document appears to undermine claim from Donald Trump allies that Cook committed mortgage fraudA loan estimate for an Atlanta home purchased by Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump administration, shows that Cook had declared the property as a vacation home", according to a document reviewed by Reuters.The document, dated 28 May 2021, was issued to Cook by her credit union in the weeks before she completed the purchase and shows that she had told the lender that the Atlanta property would not be her primary residence. The document appears to counter other documentation that Cook's critics have cited in support of their claims that she committed mortgage fraud by reporting two different homes as her primary residence, two independent real-estate experts said. Continue reading...
Brianna Ladapo, the wife of Florida surgeon general Dr Joseph Ladapo, claims her husband won't work with anyone she hasn't vettedThe wife of Florida surgeon general Dr Joseph Ladapo, a leading vaccine skeptic, believes that angels have spoken to her and that dark forces" are targeting her family with chemtrails, and has claimed her husband won't work with anyone she hasn't vetted.In published works and interviews reviewed by the Guardian, Brianna Ladapo - who edited her husband's USA Today op-ed from March 2020 against Covid-19 shutdowns and appears alongside him at conferences - claims to have regularly received visions that come true and believes her life has been saved multiple times" by angels. Continue reading...
No item of clothing seems to go through revisions more than jeans. And the denim discourse is insufferableIf you're reading this, there's a good chance you are wearing clothes. Or my byline photo made you spontaneously strip down to nothing but a pair of crusty underwear and a smile. I don't judge, and I also don't blame you. That photo is from a decade ago.Assuming you're in clothes, then you had to decide what to wear. It's an arduous task for most of us - the rummaging in a closet, color coordinating, the classic smell" test to confirm you can go another week without doing your laundry. For me, dressing is a joy. I have multiple closets stocked with clothes - suits, mostly. I have some shorts, some sweats, hoodies and T-shirts, but those are for special occasions only. Like a kid's birthday or a hangover.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...
by Bryan Armen Graham and Donald McRae on (#700HM)
Will Canelo's power or Crawford's precision prove the decisive factor in Saturday night's showdown in Las Vegas? Our writers set out the arguments on both sidesFor years Bud Crawford's name has been synonymous with patience. Denied mainstream recognition and opportunities against name-brand fighters, he kept beating everyone they put in front of him until he'd unified all four titles at junior welterweight. Then he did it again at welterweight with a dismantling of Errol Spence Jr so complete it cemented his place in boxing's pound-for-pound S-tier alongside Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk. His gifts are obvious: the ability to switch seamlessly between stances, to read rhythms like sheet music, and to mete out punishment with icy composure once he's cracked the code. Continue reading...
Portugal star will hand Gianni Infantino the perfect publicity coup if he does play in America for the first time in more than 10 years, having already begun cosying up to Donald TrumpIs it still safe to stage the World Cup in the United States? After more headline evidence this week of the extreme nature of American gun violence, some may conclude that the answer is no. Nine months out from the opening game, it is now almost impossible to ignore this. But believe it or not statistics suggest more than 300 people will have been shot in America last Wednesday alone.The same number will also be shot on Friday, Saturday, every day next week, and every day of World Cup year. On average 127 of these unnamed, largely non-famous people not called things such as the superstar influencer Charlie Kirk will die each day. Within this, youth gun deaths will be both alarmingly high and a register of social injustice: a disproportionate 46% of all young people shot will be black. Continue reading...
Feminism exposed the ubiquity of child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence - and helped fight that cultureI was there. I kept the receipts. I remember how normalized the sexual exploitation of teenage girls and even tweens by adult men was, how it showed up in movies, in the tales of rock stars and baby groupies", in counterculture and mainstream culture, how normalized rape, exploitation, grooming, objectification, commodification was.The last Woody Allen movie I ever saw was Manhattan, in which he cast himself as more or less himself, a dweeb in his mid-40s, dating a high school student played by Mariel Hemingway. She was my age, 17, and I was only too familiar with creeps, and the movie creeped me out, even though it was only long afterward that I read that she said he was at the time pressuring her to get sexually involved with him in real life.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell's Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Continue reading...
President sought to cast people on the left as sole problem of US politics, while widow of Charlie Kirk said her cries will echo around the world like a battle cry' - key stories from 12 September at a glanceDonald Trump on Friday advocated for the death penalty in the killing of his close associate Charlie Kirk, as the widow of the rightwing activist spoke publicly for the first time since the shooting.The president told Fox & Friends in an interview - during which he also announced that a suspect was in custody - that he hopes the shooter gets the death penalty". He added: Charlie Kirk was the finest person. He didn't deserve this". Continue reading...
by Cy Neff in Washington, Utah, Charlotte Simmonds in on (#700CS)
In Washington, a small city some 260 miles from where Kirk was killed, neighbors expressed shock and surprise at arrest of local college studentEditor's note: This article was updated on 12 September 2025 to remove summarized quotes after the verified source who attended high school with Tyler Robinson said after publication that they could not accurately remember details of their relationship.The quiet neighborhood was like many others in the sun-baked city of Washington, Utah, which lies amid the red rock and sagebrush mesas of the Utah-Arizona borderlands. Continue reading...
by Marina Dunbar in New York and Siri Chilukuri in Ch on (#7006V)
Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez shot and killed and officer injured in incident in Franklin Park, IllinoisA man was fatally shot during a vehicle stop on the outskirts of Chicago by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers after attempting to flee the scene, according to officials, and another officer was injured during the altercation.Ice released the following statement after the shooting: This morning in Chicago, Ice officers were conducting targeted local enforcement activity during a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene, fearing for his life, the officer discharged his firearm and struck the subject. Both the officer and subject immediately received medical treatment and were transferred to a local hospital." Continue reading...
Demonstrators gathered outside an Ice detention facility in the Broadview suburb west of Chicago on Friday to denounce the Trump administration's increased crackdown on undocumented immigrants in Illinois. About six miles away, officials said a man was fatally shot during a vehicle stop on the outskirts of Chicago by Ice officers after attempting to flee the scene
US news | The Guardian