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Bhuwan Pyakurel and Kamal Subedi's story charts a Bhutanese refugee community's rise - and its growing political divideAlmost 32 years ago, in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal, children sat cross-legged around a small blackboard propped on the dirt, repeating the alphabet in sing-song rhythm. Among them was Bhuwan Pyakurel, a fourth-grader, and his teacher, Kamal Subedi, barely 18.He was tall, thin, and very talkative," Subedi said, now 52. We didn't know what would happen tomorrow. So we went hut to hut, gathering kids to learn." In the early 1990s, thousands of Bhutanese refugees had arrived across seven camps in the region, each day bringing more families, more children, and more uncertainty. Continue reading...

Deeming universities too leftwing, outside donors and state governments are sponsoring curricula that center the classics, Christianity and the great books' of western civilizationA small conservative revolution has swept the humanities at some US colleges and universities. Its vanguard are new programs, called centers or institutes, that have begun cropping up at schools in recent years. Often funded by outside donors or earmarks from state governments, the programs tend to bear names featuring words such as civic", freedom" or classical".These centers do credible teaching and research, and are usually not explicitly political. But their goal, to counter what conservatives see as hegemonically leftwing teaching, arguably is. Continue reading...

US refugee groups say move lowers our moral standing.' Plus, unionized Starbucks workers to vote on strikes over pay and conditions

Miller is one of the most powerful officials in Trump's White House, illustrating how it has sought to overcome a deep state' of professional diplomats

Union says world's largest coffee chain engaged in bad faith bargaining and stonewalled over contractUnionized Starbucks workers across the US are casting their votes on whether to hold a strike amid anger over pay and conditions at the world's largest coffee chain, and allegations it breached labor laws by engaging in bad faith bargaining.Starbucks has faced a rapid wave of mobilization since 2021. Starbucks Workers United, a union representing baristas at the chain, has won elections at more than 650 of its locations in 45 states and the District of Columbia, representing more than 12,000 workers. Continue reading...

What is and is not constitutional is determined, in effect, by loyalists on the supreme court and their bad-faith enablersThe news cycle has continued in a predictable arc. Last week, Steve Bannon, the far-right provocateur and one-time Donald Trump adviser, said in an interview with the Economist that the president would seek an unconstitutional third term. Trump is going to be president in 28, and people ought to just get accommodated with that," Bannon said. (He seemed to be referring to Trump winning the presidential election in 2028 - Trump's current term will last through 20 January 2029.) At the appropriate time, we'll lay out what the plan is."Like clockwork, Trump commented on the idea soon after, telling reporters following him on Air Force One as he flew from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo: I would love to do it."Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Jeff and Brian Park spent 40 years working in secret at a CIA lab - but science is just one part of their lives

On Breeders' Cup weekend the thoroughbred is celebrated. My aging friend reminds me that the same industry too often steals dignity from the young horses who run for our entertainmentMy beloved friend Pancho is an off-track thoroughbred who has been with me for 24 years. In his youth, in the early 2000s, he soldiered through a vigorous mid-level career on the competitive tracks of Southern California. At nearly 28 now his life is approaching its natural end. Our life together riding trails has been the purest gift. But his slow decline forces me to face the unsettling possibility of euthanasia. It's a decision that haunts me constantly, like a whispering djinn. Some days are good, some are not. Though I dread the day I may walk into the barn and he lets me know he needs my help to die I am consoled only by the dignity of his life. He's privileged where many thoroughbreds of his day and thousands since were not. As it was back then, as it is now and will continue to be, for the young racehorse who dies on the track there is no dignity in the end.As thoughts of Pancho's creeping decline weighed on me, I took a job at a large equine hospital to fill gaps in my knowledge and learn how best to care for him as health problems arise. But after a while I admitted to myself that the more sincere reason I am there is to observe other horses die. It may sound dark or morbid, but it hardly compares with the deaths I've witnessed before: young racehorses with shattered legs or hearts that burst mid-stride, collapsing before an audience in the name of sport.Elizabeth Banicki worked for two decades as an exercise rider in the horse racing industry. Continue reading...

Uncertainty surrounds the signing of this week's trade deals amid the failure to secure reciprocity from the US to cut tariffsOn Donald Trump's whirlwind tour of Asia - which involved stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea - the US president triumphantly collected new trade deals from countries hoping for a reduction in the tariffs he slapped on them earlier this year.However - China aside - analysts were left asking just how much Asian nations got out of it. Continue reading...

In California, daily life under Trump is marked by sporadic resistance and avoidance. Neither will defeat the autocratsHow would you behave if your democracy was being dismantled? In most western countries, that used to be an academic question. Societies where this process had happened, such as Germany in the 1930s, seemed increasingly distant. The contrasting ways that people reacted to authoritarianism and autocracy, both politically and in their everyday lives, while darkly fascinating and important to study and remember, seemed of diminishing relevance to now.Not any more. Illiberal populism has spread across the world, either challenging for power or entrenching itself in office, from Argentina to Italy, France to Indonesia, Hungary to Britain. But probably the most significant example of a relatively free, pluralist society and political system turning into something very different remains the US, now nine months into Donald Trump's second term.Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Survey, in which one-third respondents voted for the president, found 56% disagree with moveMore than half of Americans disapprove of Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing and the construction of a new ballroom, according to a new poll from the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos.The survey was conducted between 24 and 28 October and indicates 56% of the respondents disagree with Trump's recent move while 28% are in favor of it. Most of the survey's respondents were white, one-third of them voted for Donald Trump and another third for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Continue reading...

RFA will begin closing overseas bureaus, as well as laying off and paying severance to staff members, with the hope that it could return in the futureRadio Free Asia (RFA) has said it is suspending its news operations due to the US government shutdown and the Trump administration's cuts to government-funded news services.RFA has been forced to suspend all remaining news content production - for the first time in its 29 years of existence," said Bay Fang, RFA's president and CEO, in a statement. Continue reading...

Despite rare opposition in the Senate, the House is unlikely to take any similar action - key US politics stories from Thursday 30 October at a glanceA (small) handful of US Senate Republicans issued a legislative rebuke to president Donald Trump's world-rattling trade tariffs in a rare alignment with their Democratic counterparts.Four Republicans - Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - joined the opposition party, voting 51-47 on a resolution to end the base-level tariffs on more than 100 nations that the president put into place via executive order. Continue reading...

Miller urged firings of those who had investigated president to satisfy Trump's desire for revenge, Injustice authors writeStephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, was the driving force behind a purge of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who had investigated Donald Trump, a new book reveals.Miller trampled the independence of the FBI by demanding firings that would satisfy the US president's desire for retribution, journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis write in Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department. Continue reading...

Shooting at vehicle in Ontario comes as Trump officials attempt to step up deportation operations across USUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in a shooting in southern California on Thursday, prompting a federal investigation.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that ICE officers were conducting a vehicle stop in Ontario when another driver, who was not the target, approached. Officers ordered the driver to leave the area, according to the statement. Continue reading...

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The Times thought they were interviewing ex-NYC mayor Bill de Blasio. They were actually talking to a wine importerIt was a hell of a scoop.Here was Bill de Blasio, the progressive former mayor of New York who has been an enthusiastic supporter of Zohran Mamdani, suddenly turning on the man whom many expect to be elected as the next mayor next month. Continue reading...

Victims to receive payments based on severity and effects of abuse perpetrated by members of clergyIn a nearly unanimous vote, hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse by clergy and other church creditors approved a $230m bankruptcy settlement with the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans by a midnight deadline on Thursday.The archdiocese reported in a court filing on Thursday morning that the deal was accepted by a staggering 99.63% of creditors, excluding a small group of bond investors who voted against it while suing the church and alleging it committed securities fraud. Continue reading...

Vote passes 51-47 in latest bipartisan effort to challenge tariffs, but House is unlikely to take any similar actionThe US Senate took a stand against Donald Trump's global tariffs affecting more than 100 countries on Thursday, voting to nullify the so-called reciprocal" tariffs.Four Republicans joined with all Democrats to vote 51-47 on a resolution to end the base-level tariffs that the president put into place via executive order. Continue reading...

Abby Zwerner is suing former assistant principal for $40m, saying she failed to act after reports that child had gunA first-grade teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in 2023 has told a court she thought she had actually died that day and was on her way to heaven after being severely wounded.Abby Zwerner is suing the school's former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, for $40m after she was shot in the hand and chest as she sat at the reading table in her classroom at Richneck elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, on 6 January 2023. Continue reading...

Artifacts such as Native American baskets, ivory carvings and daguerreotypes taken in early morning burglaryThieves stole more than 1,000 items belonging to a museum in Oakland, California, authorities said this week, including historic artifacts and jewelry.Local officials are working with the FBI to investigate the burglary, which took place earlier this month at an off-site storage facility owned by the Oakland Museum of California. Continue reading...

Though the US president's meeting with Xi Jinping appears to have staved off a global trade war, this is far from a win for WashingtonThe diverging verdicts offered by the Chinese and American leaders after their talks in South Korea on Thursday reflected more than the chasms between their personal styles and political cultures. Donald Trump gushed about an amazing" meeting, scoring it 12 out of 10; Xi Jinping reportedly noted that a consensus had been reached, with the two sides needing to finalise follow-up steps rapidly.Mr Trump's usual trade approach - shout loudly and wave a big stick - faltered when Beijing raised its own bludgeon. No tribute of gold crowns or Nobel nomination pledges were on offer from Mr Xi. The US president blinked first - but, predictably, attempted to repackage the underwhelming result as a great success. Continue reading...

Oregon and Virginia also issued emergency declarations to fund food assistance as shutdown imperils Snap benefits

Low number represents a dramatic drop after US previously allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecutionThe Trump administration is going to restrict the number of refugees it admits into the United States next year to the token level of just 7,500 - and those spots will mostly be filled by white South Africans.The low number represents a dramatic drop after the US previously allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution from around the world. Continue reading...

It's ridiculous for the government to splurge on defence while it slashes spending on its most valuable asset: cultureThe US has backed down in its tariff war with China. Thanks to Donald Trump's egotistical diplomacy, rare earths can again flow one way, soya beans the other, and less of the chemicals used to make fentanyl in between. No matter that the war was Trump's own idea and seems to have been a stunt. The stunt is over. Trump has played his favourite game of dealmaker, much to the discomfort of millions.Meanwhile Britain still cannot make up its mind if China is its enemy. In 2008 British officials visited the Beijing Olympics authorities to discuss the next games in London in 2012. The government told them to raise" human rights issues, about which the British government was most concerned. I am told the Chinese reacted with sympathy at the Britons' embarrassment at broaching the matter, and then everyone got down to business. Soon China was a friend, certainly to David Cameron and George Osborne.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Casey Means, a leading Maha figure with an inactive medical license, is Trump's second pick for the role

The Ballydoyle squadron is at the heart of the European challenge in California this weekendAidan O'Brien's gallop towards an extension of his record for Group One wins in a season has slowed a little in recent weeks, but there was still a shield-beating sense of theatre about the scene as his team for the 2025 Breeders' Cup meeting at Del Mar this weekend made its way to the track for morning exercise on Wednesday.Unlike 2024, when City Of Troy was being aimed at the Classic, there is no obvious headliner in the O'Brien lineup, but plenty of the horses trotting past in a well-ordered single file have banked at least one Group One already this season and four are expected to set off as favourite. Continue reading...

We're interested to hear how the looming pause of Snap benefits, as well as rising insurance costs due to a loss of subsidies, could affect AmericansMore than 40 million Americans will stop receiving food stamps on 1 November, as the US government shutdown enters its fifth week.The Department of Agriculture says the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) will be suspended until Congress reopens the government. While the Trump administration argues the department does not have the legal authority to use a $5bn contingency fund to continue the aid, Democrats disagree, and two dozen states have sued the government to force the program to continue. Continue reading...

US biotech viewed as lucrative target partly because of its promising pipeline of weight-loss drugsNovo Nordisk has launched a surprise $9bn (6.9bn) offer for the US obesity-focused biotech firm Metsera that could gazump an existing bid from Pfizer as the pharmaceutical giants fight for dominance in the weight-loss market.The bid comes weeks after Metsera agreed to a $7.3bn takeover from the US group Pfizer. Denmark's Novo Nordisk, which owns the weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, lost out in a competitive auction processin September. Continue reading...

Outcome appears closer to truce than durable peace but outline of broader diplomatic relationship is visible

Overall US tariffs on Chinese goods will be lowered to 47% after talks. Plus: the far right loses support in Dutch election

JB Pritzker urges suspension of immigration crackdown to let children spend Halloween weekend without fear'JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, has urged the Trump administration to suspend its immigration crackdown in his state from Friday to Sunday, to allow children to spend Halloween weekend without fear".In a letter addressed to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Pritzker said federal agents were ignoring their duty to protect the public and uphold the Constitution" by conducting raids and arrests in line with the US president's mass deportation agenda. The Democrat said such raids had endangered the lives of innocent community members and traumatized children". Continue reading...

Group of 11 Democratic senators has raised concerns about use of Wrap full-body restraints on US deportation flightsA near-total secrecy" surrounding deportation flights and the use of full-body restraints onboard is raising serious human rights concerns", a group of 11 Democratic US senators wrote in a letter on Thursday to top immigration officials.Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called upon US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide a full accounting of its air operations and to stop using the black and yellow restraints known as the Wrap until the agency explains its policies for the device and resolves other questions about its use on immigration detainees. Continue reading...

The US started off badly with a loss to Portugal, recovered a bit with a win against the same team, and finished with a romp over New ZealandMore than three months after their last match, the US women's national team returned to the pitch in October, playing three games with varied results. In the first, an impressive Portugal broke down the Americans in a 2-1 win for the visitors. Emma Hayes played an almost entirely different, much younger lineup in the rematch, and the Americans returned the favor, 3-1. A somehow even younger lineup in the third game steamrolled a limp New Zealand, 6-0. The Portugal games offered many lessons; the Football Ferns were less scary than 11 jack-o'-lanterns would be, so that third match was more of a fun romp than a true test.Here are some takeaways from the window: Continue reading...

Tolerance for behavior like Platner's is tied to a wrongheaded theory of the male working class. Zohran Mamdani illustrates a different pathA young political outsider with a fairly scant record becomes a sensation in a Democratic primary, capturing hearts and minds with a populist message and a disarming charm that translates well into vertical video. His success surges him to the head of the race, and as election day nears, he seems poised to pull off an upset victory that topples one of his district's most hated and entrenched political machines.It's a tale of two primaries: the New York City mayoral race, in which the 33-year-old state assembly member Zohran Mamdani defeated the disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Maine Senate race, where the political outsider and oyster farmer Graham Platner attracted national attention with a viral campaign. Continue reading...

With ticket sales phases under way and prices reaching eye-watering levels, my experience raised a crucial question: who is this World Cup for?For months, people in my life had been asking me when and where to get World Cup tickets. In the absence of any actionable information from Fifa before the first round of the pre-sale opened up, they hoped, I guess, that I had inside knowledge.In truth, I only knew that Fifa would be using the universally despised dynamic pricing model, and that the bid book for the 2026 World Cup had promised an average group stage ticket price of $305. Mind you, that was seven and a half years ago and an awful lot of inflation has happened since then. In the bid, Category 4 tickets for the group stage - the cheapest seats available - were priced at $21. (As we would soon learn, the actual price would start at $60, and category 4 tickets are almost non-existent.) Continue reading...

Israel's airstrikes have exposed the fragility of Trump's peace plan'. Without international support, it risks crumbling altogetherIsrael's recent airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed more than 100 people, show just how fragile this arrangement truly is. This is not the first violation since it came into effect on 10 October, but rather one of many over past weeks - showcasing that without stronger enforcement mechanisms and determined planning this is a ceasefire in name only.According to Israel, this round of violence resulted from Hamas fire against IDF forces in Rafah, an area still under Israeli control, resulting in the death of an IDF reservist. Hamas has denied involvement. Israel responded with additional strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis. With each side interpreting violations to suit its own interests, the ceasefire's vague structure leaves a wide margin for miscalculation and opportunism.Sanam Vakil is the director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham HouseDo 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...

Omar Fateh, a democratic socialist, hopes to defeat Jacob Frey by focusing on affordability, wages and public safetyOn a rainy October day, dozens of volunteers showed up at a Minneapolis park to grab campaign literature they would leave at voters' doors, hoping to buoy up a democratic socialist into the mayor's office.A handful of door-knockers ran into an apartment building to escape the rain, joining Omar Fateh, the mayoral hopeful sometimes dubbed the Mamdani of Minneapolis". Continue reading...

Food stamps are in danger and hundreds of thousands of federal workers may go unpaid, as thousands more are laid offFor many Americans, government shutdowns are a painful experience, but in the current shutdown, Donald Trump - that supposed champion of workers - has gone out of his way to make things more painful for millions of workers and their families.As part of his effort to clobber the Democrats in the shutdown showdown, the US president has repeatedly treated workers like pawns by employing a callous calculus that the worse he makes things for workers, the greater the pressure on congressional Democrats to cry uncle and end the shutdown on his terms. Not only are several of Trump's shutdown moves blatantly anti-worker, but legal experts say many of them violate federal law. Continue reading...

NYU report monitored social feeds and found groups call for retaliatory action after politically motivated violent eventsExtremists are exploiting political violence on online platforms to recruit new people to their causes and amplify the use of violence for political goals, according to a new report that monitored social platforms after recent attacks.Researchers at New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights tracked social media feeds for several months this year, including in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Continue reading...

Quarterbacks such as Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield have gone from busts to MVP candidates. The Chargers backup is in the ideal place to make a similar journeyThe development path for young NFL quarterbacks is brutal. They get lobbed in at the deep end as franchises try to figure out if their investment was worth it, before being tossed overboard if things go wrong. The league eats its young. The path from potential franchise starter to career backup - or out of the league - has never been shorter.And that path has been expedited almost by design. In part, that's due to the rookie pay scale, which allows teams to move on from perceived misfires early. It's also down to a shift in evaluations. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson broke the mold for everyone. They redefined what a starting quarterback could look like, the skills needed, and the speed of development. Continue reading...

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth gives approval for troops to remain in US capital past November end, CNN reportsNational guard troops sent to the nation's capital will reportedly remain there through at least February.The order was set to lapse at the end of November but was extended by Pete Hegseth, who leads the US Department of Defense. As of Wednesday, there are nearly 2,400 national guard troops in Washington DC, according to CNN. The network also notes that their presence costs about $1m daily. Continue reading...

The two justice department officials with power to sign off on the claims are Trump appointees and allies - key US politics stories from 29 October at a glanceWhat are the odds that the president can successfully sue his own government to recoup hundreds of millions in damages from past federal investigations? If he were any other claimant, it would be a long shot, according to a legal expert and a former Department of Justice official who handled damages claims against the government.Trump has asked the justice department to pay him $230m in damages, the New York Times reported last week. The amount is the total of two separate claims in which Trump argues he is entitled to compensation because of investigations into the links between Russia and his 2016 campaign as well as the 2022 search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and subsequent criminal prosecution. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed.On X, Adam Schiff, one of California's Democratic senators, criticized acting US attorney Bill Essayli, after a judge found that he was in the Los Angeles-based position illegally.Schiff wrote:Unlawfully serving" in his role. Acting illegally. But left in place? While this Administration continues to replace career professionals with illegitimate political allies eager to do Trump's bidding, Californians need better relief than this.I do the American People's bidding at the direction of their duly elected President. That's how our Constitution works. Try reading and abiding by it sometime. Continue reading...

Tech company brings in record quarterly revenue but major tax bill dampens earnings per shareMeta reported mixed financial results for the third quarter of 2025. The company brought in record quarterly revenue but reported a major tax bill that dampened earnings per share, the company announced on Wednesday. The financial results come as Meta ends a multibillion-dollar hiring spree focused on artificial intelligence talent.The tech giant earned $51.24bn in quarterly revenue, beating Wall Street expectations and the company's own projections for third-quarter sales. However, it reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, far below Wall Street expectations of $6.70 in EPS. The major drop was due to a one-time non-cash income tax charge of $15.93bn. The EPS would have been $7.25 without this one-time charge, the company said. Continue reading...