US news | The Guardian

Ex-president’s 2019 interview with Bob Woodward appears to undermine his defense in Mar-a-Lago records investigationDonald Trump acknowledged in 2019 that letters he wrote to Kim Jong-un and later took with him upon leaving the White House were secret, according to recordings of an interview he gave to journalist Bob Woodward that call into question the credibility of one of Trump’s main defenses in the investigation into his unauthorized retention of government files.In December of that year, Trump shared with Woodward the letters that Kim had written to him, saying, “Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect … and don’t say I gave them to you, OK?” according to recordings obtained by CNN and the Washington Post on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Towns need year-round residents if they are to thrive. Tourism alone can’t sustain bus services, libraries, chip shops and playgroupsWind-whipped sand, grey sea, people sitting in beach huts under blankets with hot-water bottles, ring doughnuts, bare trees, hot chocolate, empty pier rides: there is a particular tang to a British seaside town out of season that few places can rival. A specific mushy peas and condom wrapper bleakness that, personally, I love.But the news that coastal areas now have three times the number of Airbnb listings per dwelling as non-coastal areas threatens the very future of these places, not to mention the lives of their residents. Housing campaigners point out that the huge number of “entire places” listed on the website show how landlords have been drawn towards short-term holiday rentals precisely at the time when people need affordable homes. They’d rather rent their spare house – you know, just that other house they have – to 50 well-off families for weekends than a local family for the year.Nell Frizzell is the author of The Panic Years and Square One Continue reading...

Parents express frustration that the state seems to be preparing for child deaths without addressing gun controlMillions of Texas children will get identification kits designed for parents to collect fingerprints and DNA to be used in case their kids are in an emergency such as a school shooting.Nearly 4 million Texans from kindergarten through grade eight will bring home a tri-fold pamphlet this month in which parents can place their children’s fingerprints, photo and a DNA sample, according to ABC13. Continue reading...

Wong, pioneering actor of early 20th century who faced Hollywood discrimination, to have image shown on new quartersThe legendary Hollywood star Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to appear on US currency.Starting Monday, Wong’s image will be imprinted on quarters across the country. Recognized as Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star, she acted in over 60 films across a decades-long career. Continue reading...

College football fans stormed the field of Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee to celebrate after Tennessee Volunteers beat Alabama Crimson Tide with a last-second 40-yard field goal. Amid the chaotic scenes, some fans tore down a set of goalposts and carried it outside the stadium, eventually dumping it in the Tennessee River. Continue reading...

Lee county sees increase ion bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which is found in warm, brackish waters and can cause injury and deathOfficials in just one of the Florida counties recovering from Hurricane Ian are warning that a potentially deadly microbe informally known as flesh-eating bacteria has infected 29 people and killed four as of Friday, bringing the total killed across the state to 11.The bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, which often lives in warm, brackish waters, can spread when there is extensive flooding, as was caused by Hurricane Ian. It can enter the body through direct contact with an open wound and can lead to skin breakdown, ulcers and even death, according to the Lee department of public Health. Cases among healthy people are generally mild, the Fort Myers News-Press reported. Continue reading...

In the lead-up to the US midterm elections, the Guardian's Oliver Laughland travels to Indiana, the first US state to pass a new abortion ban into law following the overturning of Roe v Wade. Can Democrats who are campaigning on the issue make inroads at the ballot box? And why are the Republicans who voted for it so reluctant to talk about it?

Democrats have come under fire from critics like Bernie Sanders, who say the party isn’t focusing enough on the economy. Is that right?It is true that the economy and inflation are seen as the top problems by most Americans, but that does not necessarily mean that Democrats should run their midterm campaigns on economic issues. The country has been dealing with continued inflation, the possibility of a recession, and the prospect of an even worse energy crisis for months now.Cas Mudde is a Guardian US columnist and the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of GeorgiaDavid Sirota is a Guardian US columnist and an award-winning investigative journalist. He is an editor-at-large at Jacobin, and the founder of the LeverLaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter Continue reading...

President casts election as a choice between Republicans who seek to impose a nationwide abortion ban and Democrats who aim to protect it. Plus, how to have a better funeral

US justifications for intervention ignore the ways in which Haiti has rarely, if ever, been allowed to manage its own affairsWhat comes first in Haiti: disaster or foreign intervention? The conventional, i.e. first world, wisdom has it that disaster comes first.The underlying assumption is that Haitians cannot manage their own affairs. The government is corrupt or ineffective or both. Its people are ensnared in a “web of progress-resistant cultural influences”, as David Brooks was somehow allowed to opine in The New York Times just after the country’s giant 2010 earthquake. Left alone, Haiti would descend into chaos and humanitarian crisis: disease, violence, death. That’s when Haiti’s so-called international friends – chiefly the US, along with Canada and France – are forced to come to the rescue with their big guns and elite forces. Continue reading...

By taking over state legislatures, Republicans hope to pass conservative amendments that cannot be electorally challengedSteve Bannon, the former chief strategist in the Trump White House who is at the forefront of the Republican march toward hard-right populism, is throwing his weight behind a movement to radically rewrite the US constitution.Bannon has devoted recent episodes of his online show the War Room to a well-funded operation which has stealthily gained ground over the past two years. Backed by billionaire donors and corporate interests, it aims to persuade state legislatures to call a constitutional convention in the hope of baking far-right conservative values into the supreme law of the land. Continue reading...

Labeling Jim Irsay a hero is a stretch, but the Colts owner’s comments on Tuesday may set the table for a formal vote to force the toxic Daniel Snyder out of the NFL once and for allFinally, someone with influence said the obvious. Colts owner Jim Irsay set off fireworks Tuesday when he became the first NFL owner to publicly state that there is “merit to remove” Dan Snyder as owner of the Washington Commanders. Irsay, in what appeared to be a calculated move, spoke for 10 minutes to media members at the NFL’s fall owners’ meeting about Snyder’s stain on the league.“I believe in the workplace today, the standard that the shield stands for in the NFL, that you have to stand for that and protect that.” Irsay said. “I just think once owners talk among each other they will arrive at the right decision. Unfortunately, I believe that’s the road we probably need to go down and we just need to finish the investigation, but it’s gravely concerning to me the things that have occurred there over the last 20 years.” Continue reading...

The NBA legend reflects on his business career, the modern basketball era and whether Victor Wembanyama is destined for greatnessDuring his playing days, it was easy to define Shaquille O’Neal – the most dominant center in the NBA and one of the greatest players in the league’s history. It’s not so simple nowadays.Since he retired from professional basketball 11 years ago, O’Neal has branched out and pursued ventures in all sorts of spaces; so much so that it doesn’t all fit on his LinkedIn profile. Continue reading...

At this time of year, swapping fresh air for a sweaty gym, I yearn for a society in which we can go outside without fearMy normal running route takes me through the backstreets of the former factory town where I live, up winding tracks through farms and small clusters of sandstone houses to grizzly, grey-green moorland. It is a steep route, but the view from the top of the hill is breathtaking. On a clear day, it is possible to see forests, farmland, moors and lakes more than 30 miles into the Yorkshire Dales. I do the same run nearly every day, and it somehow looks different each time. I never grow tired of it.I run because I enjoy the exhilaration of the fresh air and the outdoors. This time of year it is the damp smell of the leaves, the misty woodland and mushrooms. I like the rush of being on the moor, gazing as far as I can into the distance with the wind whipping my hair. I like coming home with muddy legs and nettle stings and cold, pink skin that prickles when I get in a hot shower.Robyn Vinter is North of England correspondent at the GuardianComments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. Continue reading...

Despite advances in technology and decades of research, experts worry we are still underprepared to handle a blast – and the aftermathIf you look hard enough, you’ll spot faded yellow signs proclaiming “Fallout shelter” around New York City. They are remnants of a cold war program that signaled spaces within ordinary buildings – from schools to banks to the Brooklyn Bridge – with adequate supplies and walls thick enough for riding out a nuclear blast safely.Many of these windowless shelters housed little more than rats and sewage before the practice was terminated in 1979. In 2017, the city’s department of education ordered the “misleading” signs removed from its buildings, but many others remain – vestiges of nuclear fears that never materialized. Continue reading...

The Just Stop Oil activists are accused of using tactics that will backfire. But ‘respectable’ protest is roundly ignoredWhat does it take? How far must we go to alert other people to the scale of the crisis we face? Only one answer is clear: further than we have yet gone. We are hurtling towards planetary tipping points: the critical thresholds beyond which Earth systems collapse. The consequences are unimaginable. None of the horrors humanity has suffered, great as they are, even hints at the scale of what we now face.Everywhere I see claims that the “extreme” tactics of environmental campaigners will prompt people to “stop listening”. But how could we listen any less to the warnings of scientists and campaigners and eminent committees? How could we pay any less attention to polite objections by “respectable” protesters to the destruction of the habitable planet? Something must shake us out of our stupor. Continue reading...

Democrats are hoping to win a statewide election for the first time since 1994, but courting Latino votes will be more important than everJobs, healthcare and the cost of living drive voter turnout in Texas.And, for these upcoming midterm elections, that has left political candidates to tread a fine line between the values of their national parties and those held by voters whose interests lie more and more outside rigid Democratic and Republican lines. Continue reading...

Paul Flores found guilty of first-degree murder as prosecutors claim he killed 19-year-old during attempted rapeThe last man seen with Kristin Smart was convicted on Tuesday of killing the college freshman, who vanished from a California campus 25 years ago.Jurors unanimously found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. Flores was one of Smart’s college classmates at the time. Continue reading...

The money will be used in work with independent organizations like the Red Cross and not go through the Cuban governmentThe US will provide $2m in emergency relief funding for victims of Hurricane Ian in Cuba, in response to a call for help from the government in Havana, marking a rare example of cooperation between the two countries in recent years.Ned Price, the state department spokesman, made it clear that the relief assistance would not go through the Cuban government but Washington would instead work with independent organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Continue reading...

‘We’re going to stay tenacious, we don’t know how many cases there are,’ Stockton police chief saysProsecutors have charged a northern California man with fatally shooting three men whom police have said were among six victims slain by a serial killer over the past year and a half.Wesley Brownlee, 43, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings dating back to April 2021. Police had been conducting surveillance on him on Saturday as he drove through the streets of Stockton, armed with a handgun and possibly “out hunting” for another victim. Continue reading...

This was the third case brought by special counsel John Durham in FBI’s own investigation into Russian collusion claimsA jury on Tuesday acquitted a thinktank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about Donald Trump.The case against Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by the special counsel John Durham as part of his investigation into how the FBI conducted its own inquiry into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Continue reading...

Judge Raymond Dearie suggested assertions of privilege by the ex-president lack evidence for a ruling to be made in his favorDonald Trump’s assertions of executive and attorney-client privilege over certain documents that the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort appeared to lack evidence sufficient for him to rule in the former US president’s favor, the special master reviewing the records suggested on Tuesday.The special master, senior US district court judge Raymond Dearie, complained during a conference call in the case that the log of documents Trump is trying to withhold from the justice department did not give enough information about the validity of the privilege claims. Continue reading...

Report finds hurricane-force winds were key reason Seacor Power vessel overturnedThe results of an investigation into the deadly capsizing of an oil industry boat off Louisiana’s coast that killed 13 mariners in April 2021 has underlined how personal beacons could save lives and “take the search out of search and rescue”, the US transportation safety board chairperson said on Tuesday.The report into the capsizing of the Seacor Power during severe weather in the Gulf of Mexico concluded that hurricane-force winds, rather than any other suspected factor, were the primary reason the vessel overturned. Continue reading...

Rapper alleged Floyd died from a fentanyl overdose on a podcast, sparking a $250m lawsuitThe mother of George Floyd’s daughter, Roxie Washington, has sued rapper Kanye West for $250m (£221m) after the artist alleged that the 46-year-old man died from drug abuse rather than being murdered by a police officer.Last Saturday, on the Drink Champs podcast, West, who legally changed his name to Ye, alleged that Floyd died from a fentanyl overdose. In the same interview, which has since been taken down by YouTube, West also made antisemitic comments. Continue reading...

President Joe Biden has officially announced that if the Democrats gain control in Congress his first move will be to send a bill codifying Roe v Wade and sign such legislation ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 decision. Midterm elections are 22 days away and abortion rights have been a key motivating factor for the Democratic campaign. The Republican party are calling for a federal abortion ban that would punish doctors for performing the procedure after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade earlier in the year

President cast election as a choice between Republicans who seek to impose a nationwide abortion ban and Democrats who aim to protect itWith Democrats’ congressional majorities at risk this November, Joe Biden vowed on Tuesday that the first bill he sent to Capitol Hill next year would codify Roe v Wade – if Americans return his party to power with wide enough margins to pass abortion protections.It’s a major lift for Democrats, who face a challenging political environment marked by a rocky economy and decades-high inflation. But the loss of abortions rights has sparked a political backlash, motivating Democratic voters and women more broadly who have registered to vote in significant numbers since the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe in Dobbs v Jackson. Continue reading...

Brady Lowry suffers broken arm and wounds after trying to fight off bear in Shoshone national forest, south-east of YellowstoneA college wrestler from a small Wyoming school helped his teammate survive a grizzly mauling over the weekend by trying to wrestle the massive bear off his friend, eventually drawing a more brutal attack to himself.The men are crediting their bonds as wrestling team-mates at Northwest College in Cody, Wyoming, with helping them survive the attack Saturday evening south-east of Yellowstone national park. Continue reading...

McCarthy says Congress won’t ‘write a blank cheque’ while another senior Republicans says Ukrainians should ‘get what they need’The Republican leader in the House of Representatives has said that Congress would not “write a blank cheque to Ukraine” if his party wins next month’s midterm elections, stoking fears in Kyiv that the flow of military equipment could be cut off.However, another senior Republican said that he thought that the Ukrainians should “get what they need”, including longer-range missiles than those the Biden administration has so far been prepared to supply. Analysts say the mixed messages reflect an internal debate between traditional national security conservatives and the Trumpist wing of the party, where pro-Russian sentiment is much stronger. Continue reading...

Group including children and pregnant women became stranded while piled in yolas, rickety homemade boats smugglers useUS authorities are trying to rescue more than 100 migrants stranded on an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico during a human smuggling operation.The nationality of the migrants awaiting help on Mona Island wasn’t immediately known, although officials believe the majority are Haitian, said Jeffrey Quiñones, spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection in Puerto Rico. Continue reading...

Steve Scalise questioned whether Democrats sought help on January 6, but video shows him standing near Pelosi as she called for national guard troopsThe second-highest ranking Republican in the US House, Steve Scalise, is facing criticism for questioning what Democrats did to halt the deadly January 6 Capitol attack on the day of the riots despite being shown on video standing beside chamber speaker Nancy Pelosi as she called for back-up from national guard troops.Scalise, whose Louisiana district includes a large suburban area outside New Orleans, at one point questioned the lengths to which top Democrats went to end the assault on the Capitol staged by a mob of Donald Trump supporters as the former president questioned the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. Continue reading...

Hearing aids now available from stores including Walgreens and Walmart without prescription after new FDA rule takes effectAmericans can start buying hearing aids over the counter this week, a significant development for whose need hearing assistance and are now expected to be able to get it more cheaply and more easily.Retail stores, including Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart, began selling hearing aids Monday after a new rule from the Food and Drug Administration went into effect allowing for the devices’ sales over the counter at such establishments. Continue reading...

President says he ‘used to get into trouble’ by being too policy-focused as Democrats brace for losing House majorityBarack Obama acknowledged Democrats can be “a buzzkill” with their abstract campaign messaging and could better connect with voters by emphasizing what constituents feel in their day to day lives.During an interview on Pod Save America, released Friday, Obama acknowledged that he “used to get into trouble” when he appeared too professorial, including by standing behind a lectern and talking about policy in theoretical ways that didn’t directly connect with voters. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt, resurrected from several political deaths, is apparently the safest pair of hands in the Tory partyThe lesson of the past few years in British politics is that new lows can always be found. Barely three months ago, it seemed there could be nothing less elegant than Boris Johnson’s dignity-aborting exit from Downing Street. That now seems like an exquisite performance of the Royal Ballet. Yesterday was mainly spent watching Jeremy Hunt try to persuade the markets to get back together with the UK, their maddest ex. At some level, it’s slightly adorable that the markets continue trying to make it work with a country that repeatedly demonstrates itself to be a basket case. It’s possible they’re the most hopeless romantics of all.Quick recap: the prime minister is in special measures. Black Monday’s already taken, so I don’t know how you’d describe yesterday’s lunacy. Crack Monday? The upshot is … Britannia has been rechained. The Britannia unleashed in the mini-budget three weeks ago – only to wreak appalling havoc everywhere from the bond markets to household budgets – has been lassoed by incoming surprise chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Hunt has immediately re-manacled her, then wound 40ft of heavyweight steel chain round her to prevent her threatening public safety again. Fan theory: was Liz Truss Britannia all along?Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistWhat Just Happened?! by Marina Hyde (Guardian Faber, £18.99). To support The Guardian and Observer, buy your copy here. Delivery charges may apply. Continue reading...

Fresh attacks hit Kyiv, Kryvyi Ri, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, damaging energy facility. Plus, US Secret Service charged $1,185 a night for Trump hotel stays

We adults may not be able to unlearn the damaging stories we were told, but we can halt their march through the generationsWe cannot shield children from history. In Ukraine, millions of families have lost their homes to Vladimir Putin’s war. In Delhi, record shattering temperatures of 50C saw kids locked inside this summer, unable to study or play. Global food prices are soaring, causing children all over the world to go hungry. So, surely it is inevitable that the next generation want to confront the big questions: why are there wars? What is our place in nature? What is money and why is it so important?Often, children take these questions far more seriously than grownups. They question things that adults take for granted. Adults might find it annoying when a child replies “why?” to our every answer. But typically, the child is just trying to get to the bottom of things in a way that adults have long stopped doing.Unstoppable Us: How Humans Took Over the World by Yuval Noah Harari is published on 20 OctoberDo 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...

Our writers give their verdicts on the new season, which starts on Tuesday night. Who is MVP? Who gets Victor Wembanyama? And who are the dark horses?The unabashed tank, unfortunately. It’s been whispered for a while that Victor Wembanyama is a generational talent, but after his mind-blowing performance in his Las Vegas exhibition games this month, it seems all but certain that it will be a race to the bottom for a chance to draft him. CDL Continue reading...

When I put the house on the market, I uncovered a story of a Black woman losing her home to municipal greed

The group places support for Israel over all over considerations, endorsing extreme rightwing candidates in the midterm electionsThe US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress next month because they have pledged to defend Israel against stiffening criticism of its oppression of the Palestinians.The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has justified endorsing Republicans with extremist views, including members of Congress with ties to white supremacist groups and representatives who attempted to block Joe Biden’s election victory, on the grounds that the singular issue of support for Israel trumps other considerations. Continue reading...

My bike has left me covered in grease – or, as the old hands call it, a ‘Cat 5 tattoo’For about six weeks, I had been cycling at a very stately Miss Marple pace because my brakes weren’t working. I assumed the brake pads were worn and meant to replace them, but in the interim found my left foot worked just as well, as long as I wasn’t on a hill. Until, one day, inevitably, I was. Hair-raised, I took the bike into a shop, where they said nothing was working at all. The cables had perished. Then they fixed them, which is hands-down the most my life has ever been saved by a shop. I should swear an oath of fealty to them, like a knight.Anyway, it’s good, because now I can pick up speed, which is exactly what you want when you are glad to be alive. That is how I got my “Cat 5 tattoo” – a greasy chainring imprint on the inside of your right calf. My brother-in-law introduced me to it gleefully because it’s meant as an insult. If you were a proper racer, in categories three or four, your chainring would be clean. If you were a better racer still (in categories one or two), your calf wouldn’t be anywhere near your chainring. But, because you are a novice and an idiot, you have grease all over yourself in an attractively symmetrical pattern. It’s also called a “noob tag” because why have one piece of jargon when you could have two? Continue reading...

Republican politics centering on opposition to Cuba’s late dictator Fidel Castro continue to resonate in Florida, even as they have faded in the rest of the USIt was a rainy Tuesday morning in South Florida, and two men in their 80s were deep into conversation and cafecito at the iconic Versailles Cuban Bakery in Miami.Born in Cuba and now retired, the pair – who would only give their first names Manuel and Juan – have lived in the area for more than 60 and 20 years, respectively. And when asked about their political stance, they shy away from the Republican label many of their neighbors proudly embrace and instead simply describe themselves as deeply anti-communist. Continue reading...

After being involved in same wreck, Megan Warfield felt contractions start but stayed to help trapped womanMegan Warfield, a firefighter in Baltimore county, Maryland, was nine months’ pregnant with her third child when the car she was riding in crashed and she began to experience contractions.But she didn’t allow herself to go to the hospital and give birth until after helping free a woman trapped under another car in the wreck, actions that drew widespread praise. Continue reading...

Ukraine needs more support for our military and tougher measures to stop Putin evading sanctions. This can and must be agreed this week

Investigators determined the victims died from gunshot wounds before they were dumped in the Deep Fork RiverDismembered bodies found in the Deep Fork River in Oklahoma have been identified as those of four men reported missing last week, the local police chief said on Monday, adding: “This is now a murder investigation.”Investigators found the first remains on Friday and determined over the weekend that the victims died from gunshot wounds before they were cut up and dumped into the river, Okmulgee police chief Joe Prentice said at a news conference. Continue reading...

Acting president says Kevin de Léon and Gil Cedillo have ‘lost all credibility’ after leaked racist commentsTwo Los Angeles city councilmembers have been removed from their committee roles after they were caught on tape in a conversation in which city leaders used racist and disparaging language about constituents and colleagues in a scandal that has thrown LA politics into turmoil.Mitch O’Farrell, the acting city council president, announced on Monday that he would cut Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo from their committee assignments, the Los Angeles Times reported. De León chairs the committee on poverty and homelessness and has roles on committees dealing with finance, public works and environmental issues while Cedillo oversees the housing committee and serves on committees overseeing immigrant rights and environmental issues.This article was amended on 17 October 2022 to correct a headline that implied the members had been removed from their posts entirely. Continue reading...