US news | The Guardian

Democrats criticize governor's comments after shooting that left three Black people dead and say this type of hatred isn't random'The booing that greeted Ron DeSantis as he showed up to a vigil in Jacksonville on Sunday for three Black people murdered by a white supremacist told quite a story. Nobody contradicted the Republican governor and presidential hopeful's assertion that the killer was a scumbag", or that the racist killings were totally unacceptable".Yet his comments raised eyebrows because of DeSantis's previous attitude - indifference in the minds of many - to Nazis in the state rallying in his name; and his promotion of a succession of legislation designed to disenfranchise Black voters, and recast Florida's racial history to teach forced labor as beneficial to the enslaved. Continue reading...

After months of late nights and lie-ins, it's time for my kids to readjust to school hours. And here's me, leading by exampleIt is 8.07am and I am standing on a tennis court while my 15-year-old yells at me to stop looking at dogs. I take his point, that it is hard to follow the trajectories of two moving things at the same time but, on the other hand, there is a chow chow playing with a dalmatian, and I can't play tennis. Let physics do the work," he is saying, after chasing some ball I had managed to hit, but miles off the court. Don't make me do the work." Why is he pretending to be a coach? Where did he learn to talk like a coach? Was it on Instagram? Much more importantly, why am I here?This is the long road back to school hours, the week when the summer holidays exact their price. For the first two weeks, the kids went nocturnal and I stayed the same, and this was a golden time, when I was gifted four beautiful morning hours, and I mostly spent those staring out of a window, bored, waiting for everyone else to wake up. By this, the final holiday week in England, we are all keeping junkie hours. Yesterday, the house wasn't fully awake, dressed and ready to leave until 1.43pm, and that's when we were going somewhere we actively wanted to go. The reasonable thing would be to claw this back by five minutes a day, but then we would have to go back and start in May.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnistZoe Williams will host a Guardian Live event with the author and activist Naomi Klein in Manchester on Wednesday 27 September at 7pm BST. The event will also be livestreamed. Book tickets here Continue reading...

The Texas governor has turned the Rio Grande river bank into a battlefield and lives as well as the environment are at grave riskJuanita Martinez stood on the muddy banks of the Rio Grande watching the iconic ribbon of water that marks the US-Mexico border. She was separated from the river by coils of razor wire and was just upstream from the infamous giant orange buoys installed to deter migrants from crossing into Texas. On the verge of tears, she said: What have they done to our river?"Nearby, old shipping containers were stacked, topped with more barbed wire. Martinez, an Eagle Pass native and chair of the local Maverick county Democratic party, told the Guardian: It's so inhumane to expose innocent migrants to this." Continue reading...

State faces poverty, poor education and insufficient healthcare, but lawmakers are funding renovations to event centerLouisiana lawmakers have faced backlash for using some of their spring legislative session's final moments not to address some of their state's myriad needs - but instead to grant the multimillion-dollar wish of the state flagship university's championship-winning women's basketball coach.Poverty, poor education and insufficient healthcare have loomed over Louisiana for decades and have earned the state the country's lowest rankings in each category, according to the US News and World Report. Louisiana ranks 50th - dead last - in crime and economy, 49th in infrastructure and 46th in education when compared to the rest of the nation, the report says. Continue reading...

The Englishman is leaving his post with Canada to join the ranks in club football. He will find a team whose best days lie firmly in the pastThe chase is on for Inter Miami. Victory over the New York Red Bulls in Lionel Messi's first Major League Soccer match was enough to lift the club off the foot of the Eastern Conference. They have 11 regular season matches left to make up an 11-point difference and qualify for the playoffs. Toronto FC, bottom of the East on a run of 10 consecutive losses, now have the worst record in MLS, along with the Colorado Rapids.It wasn't meant to be this way. Only last year, Toronto FC were being spoken about as a resurgent force with Lorenzo Insigne, signed from Napoli on a league-record contract, hailed as the most notable transfer in MLS history. Federico Bernardeschi was another statement signing, at least in pre-Messi terms. While Inter Miami's new stars have prospered, though, TFC's have flopped. Continue reading...

Despite the fact separate sleep spaces are more available than ever before, the vast majority of adults share their bed at one time or another with a partner, child or even a petEvery parent knows the feeling of being woken up through the night by a small child stumbling their way into their bed.But why do children want to sleep with us? And why are they so reluctant to sleep on their own? Continue reading...

Angela Michelle Carr, Jerrald Gallion and AJ Laguerre Jr were shot fatally when a gunman opened fire in a Dollar General storeAJ Laguerre Jr worked at a Dollar General store after finishing high school to help support the grandmother who raised him. Angela Michelle Carr was an Uber driver beloved by her children. Jerrald Gallion relished weekends with his four-year-old daughter.All three were killed Saturday when a gunman with swastikas painted on his rifle opened fire at the Dollar General where Laguerre worked in Jacksonville. The sheriff said writings left by the killer, a 21-year-old white man, made clear that he was motivated by racism. Each victim was Black. Continue reading...

In response to Maui county's lawsuit, utility appears to blame emergency crews for most of the destructionHawaii's electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the US in more than a century.Hawaiian Electric Company released a statement on Sunday night in response to Maui county's lawsuit blaming the utility for failing to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Hawaiian Electric called that complaint factually and legally irresponsible" and said its power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for more than six hours when the second blaze started. Continue reading...

Three marines remain in hospital in Darwin, one in intensive care in a critical condition after the crash of the Osprey aircraft on Sunday

Rapper sends letter to Republican presidential hopeful objecting to candidate's use of his songThe rapper Eminem has demanded that Vivek Ramaswamy cease using his music.In a letter reported by the Daily Mail, a representative for the rapper's publisher told counsel for the Republican presidential hopeful that Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, objected to Ramaswamy's use of his compositions and was revoking a license to use them. Continue reading...

State attorney general Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against schools having to notify parents if their children change gender identityCalifornia's attorney general sued a southern California school district Monday over its new policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns, the latest blow in an intensifying battle between a handful of school districts and the state about the rights of trans kids and their parents.Rob Bonta, the attorney general, said policies like the one adopted by Chino valley unified school district will forcibly out transgender students and threaten their well-being. But the district's board president and supporters say parents have a right to know the decisions their children are making in schools. Continue reading...

Suspect arrested after apparent shooting at UNC's flagship campus that placed students and faculty in lockdown for hoursA faculty member was shot and killed in a campus building and a suspect has been arrested after reports on Monday afternoon of shots fired at the University of North Carolina, school officials have said.Reports earlier of an apparent shooting at UNC's flagship campus had led students and faculty to barricade themselves in dorm rooms, offices and classrooms for hours until a lockdown was lifted. Continue reading...

Experts say trial dates typically not subject to appeal as Mark Meadows attempts to move his case to federal court

Andrea Smith, an ethnic studies scholar at a California university, had faced decades of criticism for claiming Cherokee heritageAn ethnic studies professor at the University of California, Riverside, will resign next year following more than a decade of outrage over accusations that she falsely claimed Indigenous American heritage.Andrea Smith, once a heralded scholar of Native American studies, faced criticism since at least 2008 for claiming she was Cherokee but had remained employed at the southern California university. Last year, 13 of her colleagues at UC Riverside alleged that she made fraudulent claims to Indigenous American identity and violated academic integrity. Continue reading...

British qualifier Lily Miyazaki got her first ever grand slam win while 2017 winner Sloane Stephens was a big casualtyAzarenka is making short work of her match with Ferro and is 3-0 up in the second set, having won the first 6-1. She might well be the first winner back into the locker room of the early starters. Richard Gasquet meanwhile is two sets down, losing the second set to Maroszan 6-1.The 2020 champion, Dominic Thiem, who made that odd start to the match with Bublik, and looked unwell, has taken the first set 6-3 and looks far less green around the gills. Continue reading...

The union representing workers at the grocery chain had asked the company to allow more breaks and cooler working conditionsA Kroger distribution center employee has died on the job in Memphis amid hot working conditions, adding to a national debate in the US over the risk to workers during heatwaves.The worker was identified as Tony Rufus, members from his union announced. Continue reading...

Trump has converted the blizzard of indictments into fundraising gold. His campaign raised $7m on the Fulton county booking last weekDonald Trump's legal headaches have drawn one step closer to colliding with the Republican nomination calendar.On Monday, the US district judge Tanya Chutkan set 4 March 2024 as the first day of jury selection in the Washington DC election interference and civil rights case. Super Tuesday is one day later. Republican nominating contests in California, Texas, and 14 other jurisdictions will be immediately set against the backdrop of the 45th president's woes. In the weeks that follow, Ohio, Illinois and New York will be hosting primaries of their own. Continue reading...

One crew member and another person on the ground dead after fire-rescue helicopter crashed near Fort LauderdaleTwo people were killed and others were injured after a medical rescue helicopter crashed on Monday into an apartment building near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, authorities said.The Broward country sheriff's office said one of its fire-rescue helicopters crashed near the Pompano Beach airpark shortly before 9am. One person aboard died, and one person on the ground was killed as the helicopter crashed into a three-unit apartment complex, National Transportation Safety Board officials said. Continue reading...

Nicholas Anthony Donofrio, of Connecticut, lived on same street as where he was shot adjacent to University of South Carolina campusA University of South Carolina student was shot and killed as he apparently tried to enter the wrong home on his off-campus street over the weekend, police said.Nicholas Anthony Donofrio, 20, of Madison, Connecticut, was dead by the time police responded to reports of a home burglary and shooting, according to a Columbia police department news release. Officers found his body on a front porch at about 2am Saturday, and Donofrio had a gunshot wound to his upper body, the release said. Continue reading...

Residents along Gulf coast warned of increasingly dangerous situation' as storm expected to hit as major hurricaneResidents along Florida's Gulf coast were warned of an increasingly dangerous situation" on Monday as Tropical Storm Idalia continued to bulk up off the coast of Cuba and threatened to strike the state later in the week as a major hurricane.With the storm moving north on a path almost parallel to Florida's west coast, the location of its landfall, expected early Wednesday, was difficult to predict, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said in a late-morning briefing. Continue reading...

Florida governor, who said additional $100,000 would be give to charity for victims' family, was booed at vigil for victimsThe Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, has announced $1m for heightened security at a historically Black college, a day after he was booed at a memorial gathering for victims of a deadly racist shooting in his state.DeSantis said his administration would give $1m to Edward Waters University to enhance its security after the gunman in this weekend's racist killings at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville tried to enter the historically Black college but was denied entry. Continue reading...

The champions are not a perfect team but their strong start to the season raises questions about who can disrupt their title defence

Respondents used words old' and confused' to describe president, and corrupt' and dishonest' to describe Donald TrumpMore than three-quarters of respondents in a new US poll said Joe Biden would be too old to be effective if re-elected president next year.But as many people in the survey said the 80-year-old Biden was old" and confused", so a similar number saw his 77-year-old likely challenger, Donald Trump, as corrupt" and dishonest". Continue reading...

The furore over Jenni Hermoso enduring that unwanted kiss after our World Cup victory has opened eyes to misogyny as never beforeSe acabo" (in Spanish, it's over"). Those words were used by Alexia Putellas and other Fifa Women's World Cup champions on social media just before all of them announced they would not return to play for the national team if the current leadership remained in place. By Sunday night, #SeAcabo was on the jerseys of Sevilla men's football team and was a hashtag used by the UN, Spain's government and athletes around the world to show support for the Spanish team. #SeAcabo was also used by women speaking up about abuse and bullying they have experienced.Football players, politicians, singers and ordinary people showed solidarity with Jenni Hermoso, the star forward who received an unwanted kiss on the lips from her boss, the head of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, during the World Cup trophy ceremony. As Hermoso put it, it was the straw that broke the camel's back".Maria Ramirez is a journalist and deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a Spanish news outletDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Leftwing senator advises unification of progressive people in general' because threat from Republican ex-president is too greatProgressive US voters must unite behind Joe Biden rather than consider any of his Democratic primary challengers because the threat of another Donald Trump presidency is too great, Bernie Sanders has said.We're taking on the ... former president, who, in fact, does not believe in democracy - he is an authoritarian, and a very, very dangerous person," the senator and Vermont independent, who caucuses with Democrats, said on NBC's Meet the Press. I think at this moment there has to be unification of progressive people in general in all of this country." Continue reading...

The American has grabbed headlines with goals in his first two Serie A games but other new recruits are making an impact tooChristian Pulisic is listed on the Milan website as weighing 73kg or 161lbs, but Rafael Leao lifted him off the floor like a dad with his kid at school sports day, hugging him right up into the air. When you have been carrying a team's attack for as long as the Portuguese has, anything else feels light by comparison.Leao has been Milan's top scorer and assist-provider in Serie A for two seasons running - though he did share the first of those titles with Olivier Giroud in 2021-22 - a blessing and a curse for his team. He seemed to win games on his own at times, but the Rossoneri also became predictable, forcing play through him. When injury forced Leao to miss the Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter, there was no one else able to provide a spark. Continue reading...

The NLRB has brought 100 cases against the coffee chain over anti-union activities - but it cannot punish the companyWith more than 340 victories at Starbucks stores across the US, the campaign to organize the coffee chain's workers is one of the most successful union drives in a generation. But Starbucks' fierce union-busting campaign has badly slowed its momentum and exposed deep flaws in US labor law that threaten other promising unionization efforts.Two years on since workers at a Buffalo, New York, Starbucks location started the first successful campaign to form a union at a company-run store, labor experts say the coffee chain's aggressive union-busting is shining a harsh light on the shortcomings of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and how that 88-year-old law which governs unionization campaigns is proving far too weak to stop a powerful, multibillion corporation from using an arsenal of illegal tactics to stifle a highly promising union drive. Continue reading...

Law allows for termination if patient's water breaks too early or in cases of ectopic pregnancy, but critics say it is not enoughA Texas law about to take effect on Friday carves out exceptions to the state's abortion ban.In June, the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, quietly signed HB 3058, allowing doctors to provide abortion care when a patient's water breaks too early for the fetus to survive, or when a patient is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. Continue reading...

People from Douglas say accountability is lacking for local officials involved in election machine data breach in 2021On Saturday afternoon, roughly 70 people gathered on folding chairs in a sweltering church meeting room in the small town of Douglas, about 200 miles (322km) south-east of Atlanta, Georgia. Less than a week earlier, Donald Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted in Fulton county for efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including allegedly entering the Coffee county elections office less than a mile away and copying the state's voter software and other data.County residents at the town hall raised concerns about the lack of accountability for those who played a role in copying software and other data, and said they felt insecure about the safety and integrity of future elections. Continue reading...

A white man shot and killed two men and one woman, all of whom were Black, before shooting himself. Plus, exposing Andrew TateDon't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Joe Biden said yesterday that white supremacy has no place in America" after three people were killed in a racist shooting in Florida and it emerged that the gunman had been turned away from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) campus moments before opening fire at a discount store.Who were the victims? TK Waters, the sheriff of Jacksonville, on Sunday afternoon named the victims, saying the gunman was caught on video shooting Angela Michelle Carr, 52, in her car outside the Dollar General. The gunman then entered the store where he shot Anolt Joseph AJ" Laguerre Jr, 19, and Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion, 29.How are the community of Jacksonville coping? The shooting has traumatized a historically Black neighborhood in Jacksonville. Our hearts are broken," the Rev Willie Barnes told about 100 congregants Sunday morning. If any of you are like me, I'm fighting trying to not be angry."What did Yolanda Renee King, 15, the only grandchild of the civil rights leader, say? She said that if she could talk to her grandfather today, she would apologise. I would say I'm sorry we still have to be here to rededicate ourselves to finishing your work and ultimately realizing your dream. Today, racism is still with us. Poverty is still with us. And now, gun violence has come for places of worship, our schools and our shopping centers."What else happened 60 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial? Martin Luther King Jr changed America that day. But there was more to the day than just his I have a dream" speech. There was music too. Continue reading...

The Dutch player comes into this year's US Open undefeated in singles since February 2021 and has her sights set on victory once againDutch wheelchair tennis champion Diede de Groot is so dominant within her sport that she's capable of literary alchemy - she transmutes hyperbole into fact. For example, although de Groot enters this year's US Open as the tournament's five-time reigning champion, it might be more accurate to describe her as the reigning everything" champion. She's won every singles tournament she's entered this year - just as she did in 2022.In fact, de Groot hasn't lost a singles match since February 2021, a streak that stretched to 111 matches (and counting) after her victory in last month's Wimbledon final. During that span, she's won 12 consecutive grand slam tournaments, along with gold medals at the Paralympics and the European Para Championships. And, if she wins the US Open again in the coming days, de Groot will secure her third consecutive calendar-year grand slam. Continue reading...

Explosion of sports betting in US represents a rising threat, with PGA Tour needing to fiercely protect integrity of competitionJay Monahan speaks so sparingly that the PGA Tour commissioner had plenty of time to plot and plan precisely what his message would be during traditional end-of-season media duties in Atlanta last Tuesday. When pressed on even light detail of how a framework agreement between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Group may take on more formal status, Monahan was completely noncommittal. The 53-year-old may soon realise, if he has not already, that Saudis bearing billions do so with more than a passing interest in how their buck is being deployed. He who pays the piper, and all that.What Monahan appears very keen to stress is that he is working for the good of the PGA Tour. This is fair enough, in theory - the organisation pays him $14m a year, according to the most recent report - but belies the sense that elite golf is now all about a collective good. Monahan at least left the impression the DP World Tour, LIV and various other related parties have to fall into line. Continue reading...

Admitting my two-year-old still wakes at night can elicit a gasp of horror. Expectations around infant sleep are often way offExpecting your first baby? An inescapable truth is that you are about to lose a lot of sleep. You will know by now that seasoned, weather-beaten parents relish sharing this news. It's all about survival in the early days," friends would say, when I was pregnant. Enjoy those lie-ins while you can!"By the time my daughter arrived, I had collected a small armoury of tools for the battle against her anticipated wakefulness. Swaddles, blackout blinds, a white-noise machine; for months after she was born, I used apps to obsessively track her wake windows" and sleep totals to the minute, determined to crack the code for a good night's sleep. When I think back to her first summer, I'm transported to my in-laws' attic bedroom, where I spent hours in the dark, sound machine blaring, rocking her - willing her - to nap. But no matter what I did, my daughter never slept well, and I nearly drove myself mad in pursuit of discovering why. Continue reading...

The seven-time Olympic medalist hailed as the greatest gymnast ever inspires a popstar-like devotion from her fans, who packed a hockey arena over the weekend for US nationalsSimone Biles continued her triumphant return to competition over the weekend, taking all-around gold at the US gymnastics championships on Sunday to become the first man or woman to win eight national titles.The event marked the second meet for the seven-time Olympic medalist since she stunned the world by withdrawing from a majority of her events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, citing her mental and physical health. But if there were concerns that a break of more than two years would set Biles back, her performance over the weekend all but annihilated them. Continue reading...

Sixty years ago, at the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King changed America. But there was more to the day than just his I have a dream' speech. There was music tooOne hundred years after the civil war, the treatment of African Americans persisted as a gaping wound in the purported land of the free. Then, suddenly in the 1960s, the bleeding from lynchings, bombings, beatings and shootings finally had a seismic effect. It galvanized the noble group who made the 60s so electric: the nimble, passionate and utterly fearless Black and white citizens who banded together to rescue America's soul.By 1963, the Rev Martin Luther King Jr had become the leader of the first generation since the abolitionists who truly believed they had the power to heal the nation. Since founding his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, King had worked tirelessly to fulfill its mission: To save the soul of America." Continue reading...

Graphic videos of the last hours of 10-year-old Fatima Furiro have highlighted once again the abuse faced by child workersThe death of 10-year-old Fatima Furiro would have passed sadly but quietly had it not been for the two graphic videos that turned up on social media. The little girl's body was this week exhumed for a postmortem examination, days after the videos mysteriously appeared online.One appeared to show signs of torture on Fatima's body, while the other showed her writhing in agony, and struggling to sit up, before collapsing. Continue reading...

As Antarctica warms and sea ice disappears, the breeding of emperor penguin chicks is in peril - a hostile environment even they cannot overcomeLast week I saw a headline announcing that last year thousands of emperor penguin chicks had died in the Bellingshausen Sea, when the fast ice broke out unusually early. I was deeply saddened and devastated, but not surprised.The region where this dreadful event occurred has been one of the fastest warming areas on Earth, and as temperature records are being broken year after year, a catastrophe of this kind was a matter of time. For nearly two decades, scientists have developed models to predict the potential impact of raising temperatures on emperor penguins to establish what the future would hold for these magnificent birds. Continue reading...

A white man shot and killed two men and one woman - all three victims were Black - before fatally shooting himself yesterdayJoe Biden declared on Sunday that white supremacy has no place in America" after three people were killed in a racist shooting in Florida and it emerged that the gunman had been turned away from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) campus moments before opening fire at a discount store.Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, on Sunday called the gunman in the attack a hateful lunatic" and said we will not allow HBCUs to be targeted". Continue reading...

Martin Luther King's family decried the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, the overturning of Roe and gun violence in the USOn the eve of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King's legendary I Have a Dream speech, his son and granddaughter have decried continuing racial violence and hatred in the US, lamenting that the civil rights leader's call for equality and justice has yet to be fulfilled.Speaking a day after a vast crowd gathered in the nation's capital in an echo of the 28 August 1963 march on Washington at which King made his famous remarks, his eldest son, Martin Luther King III, warned of a resurgence of hate crimes. Violence against minorities was unconscionable" and unacceptable", he said. Continue reading...

Alina Habba said trials' schedules would cause them to overlap and clash with voting, preventing the ex-president from campaigningDonald Trump's legal spokesperson has predicted that forthcoming early trial dates in the former president's four criminal cases will not hold, and that his multiple cases could clash with the final stages of the 2024 presidential election campaign and voting.Alina Habba told the Fox News Sunday show that prosecutors' plans for fast turnarounds in Trump's two federal criminal cases and the state indictments in New York and Georgia amounted to unrealistic theatrics". She said that each of the trials would last from four to six weeks, raising the threat of overlapping schedules. Continue reading...

Maj Andrew Mettler - known as Simple Jack' - was a native of Georgia and a leader of the Fighting Bengals squadronThe US military has identified the Marine Corps pilot who was killed on Thursday when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.Maj Andrew Mettler was piloting an F/A-18D Hornet when it went down at 11.54pm on Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the Second Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement from its headquarters in Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was the only person on board. Continue reading...

Pastor urges congregants to follow Christ's example as mayor says it feels some days like we're going backward' after mass shootingThe pastor of a church near the site of the racist fatal shooting of three Black people in Florida told congregants Sunday to follow Jesus Christ's example and keep their sadness from turning to rage.Jacksonville's mayor wept. Others at the service focused on Florida's political rhetoric and said it has fueled such racist attacks. Continue reading...