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The philosopher and the sex trafficker were in contact long after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, documents revealThe prominent linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky called it a most valuable experience" to have maintained regular contact" with Jeffrey Epstein, who by then had long been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, according to emails released earlier in November by US lawmakers.Such comments from Chomsky, or attributed to him, suggest his association with Epstein - who officials concluded killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges - went deeper than the occasional political and academic discussions the former had previously claimed to have with the latter. Continue reading...

The Maga star won on the Epstein files and could have founded a Republican resistance movement but is instead the latest dissenter to head for the exitIt has been a head-spinning 48 hours in Washington. Liberal TV host Rachel Maddow showed up at the funeral of conservative vice-president Dick Cheney. Donald Trump embraced Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist set to be the first Muslim mayor of New York, like a brother.And then Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump acolyte-turned-nemesis who bested him over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stunned the political establishment again. In what should have been her hour of triumph, the Maga star abruptly announced that she was quitting the House of Representatives. Continue reading...

Fox News and other conservative networks have mostly avoided covering the president's ties to the sex traffickerWhen House Democrats released emails which showed Jeffrey Epstein claiming Donald Trump knew about the girls", rightwing news channels in the US reacted the same way: with silence.Viewers of Fox News and other conservative networks would have had no idea that the president allegedly spent hours at Epstein's home with one of his victims. Rightwing media largely kept quiet on all of it, apart from a notable slip when a progressive guest on Sean Hannity's show repeatedly told his audience: Trump's all over the Epstein files." Continue reading...

The plan would leave Ukraine's democracy in jeopardy and its sovereignty compromisedFor a moment, Donald Trump seemed to have seen the light on Ukraine. After promising severe consequences" in August if Vladimir Putin continued to obstruct ceasefire talks - but then doing nothing as Putin did just that - Trump finally on 22 October imposed significant sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, seriously compromising Putin's ability to finance his invasion. But now, with his 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, drafted by US and Russian officials without Ukrainian or European participation, Trump has reverted to his pro-Putin norm.Trump's plan would reward Putin for invading Ukraine while leaving Ukraine's democracy in jeopardy. The plan's ringing proclamation that Ukraine's sovereignty will be confirmed" rings hollow when so much of the plan compromises that sovereignty. A Kremlin dream, the plan would be a Ukrainian nightmare.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. His book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, is published by Knopf and Allen Lane. Continue reading...

The abject obedience of GOP members for the president has not augured well in the 4 November electionsThe elections of 4 November were the end of a grandiose illusion. After his 2024 victory Donald Trump claimed he had an unprecedented and powerful mandate", that his mandate" was massive", and that his Maga movement" was irresistible, the wave of the future. It lasted 10 months, in which he had betrayed his chief promise to lower inflation, turned the public against him on every issue and Republicans at last faced a battering by voters.Trump's image of omnipotence has rested upon a pyramid of dread. His ability to maintain the servility of the Republican Congress, whose members are intimidated by the danger that if they defy him he would support primary opponents to run against them, has been the political foundation for all the other forms of fear he incites throughout American institutions. Trump could not have leveraged himself as dictator on day one" without congressional abdication. The Republicans immediately fell into lockstep. But within two weeks of the 4 November elections, only one Republican in the House voted against the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files which Trump had called a hoax" before he felt compelled to bend in the cyclone to sign the bill - and yet still suppresses the files.Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to the president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Experts infuriated by president accusing Democrats of sedition' for urging soldiers to refuse illegal ordersVeterans have condemned the politicization of the military after Donald Trump accused Democratic lawmakers of sedition, punishable by death" after a small group of them released a video in which they urged US soldiers not to follow any unlawful" orders.The extraordinary exchange was sparked after Democratic lawmakers with military or national security backgrounds - the Congressional representatives Maggie Goodlander, Jason Crow, Chris DeLuzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and the senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin - posted a video on Facebook addressed to US service members. Continue reading...

A pension-pot World Cup looms and with Trump in the White House and a crown prince at his back, it is now a safe spaceIt was hard to choose one favourite photo from football's double-header at the White House this week. In part this is because the pictures from Donald Trump's state dinner with Mohammed bin Salman and his in-house hype men Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianni Infantino were everywhere, recycled feverishly across the internet, dusted with their own drool-stained commentary by the wider Ronaldo-verse.Mainly there were just so many jaw-droppers. Perhaps you liked the one of Trump and Ronaldo strolling the halls of power, Ronaldo dressed all in black and laughing uproariously, like a really happy ninja. Or the one of Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez standing either side of a weirdly beaming Trump at his desk, holding up some kind of large heraldic key as though they've just been presented with their own wind-up wooden sex-grandad. Continue reading...

A moment of peril demands a new approach - on everything from funding to the BBC charter

Decision by Georgia Republican and leading Maga figure to give up House seat comes after dramatic break with Trump, lately over the Epstein files bill

President says I think she should be happy' while Democratic colleague praises her for stance on Epstein files

President claims he is immediately' terminating temporary protected status in US state with largest Somali communityDonald Trump said on Friday night he was immediately" terminating temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, further targeting a program seeking to limit deportations that his administration has already repeatedly sought to weaken.Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali community. Many fled the long civil war in their east African country and were drawn to the state's welcoming social programs. Continue reading...

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The Georgia representative said on Friday she was resigning from office effective January 2026

Trump told the press he's very confident that [Mamdani] can do a very good job' in surprisingly cordial meeting - key US politics stories from 21 November 2025It's not as if they were holding hands and skipping down the halls of the White House, but President Trump and New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani appeared to get along well in their first meeting.Trump hosted the 34-year-old Democratic socialist, who defied early expectations to win the city's Democratic primary, then the mayoral race. And Trump let it be known he was impressed by that, congratulating Mamdani and describing his victory as an incredible race against smart people". Continue reading...

No fists, no fire - the president and the mayor-elect met in Washington, and things went bewilderingly, bizarrely wellThe armies of lefty America and of Maga were assembled ready to watch their champions do battle. After all, Donald Trump had called Zohran Mamdani a 100% Communist Lunatic" and total nut job." The incoming democratic socialist New York mayor in turn had called the Republican US president a despot" and fascist".But anyone expecting to see fists fly and shirts torn in the Oval Office was in for a disappointment. Trump, 79, and 34-year-old Mamdani actually got on rather well. In fact beautifully, bewilderingly, bizarrely well. Instead of Batman v Superman, this was Toy Story besties Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Continue reading...

We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,' the US president said of his first face-to-face meeting with the New York mayor-elect

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, and Donald Trump had a 'productive' meeting in the Oval Office.The president repeatedly stepped in to defend Mamdani from hostile questioning from outlets such as the New York Post and Fox News, while Mamdani was relentlessly focused on the issue of making New York a more fair and affordable place to live.Here are some key moments from their conversation with members of the press.

In a signed statement, 28 victims say they are bracing for blame for their abuse and threats of harmA group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse have warned they have received death threats and are worried about an escalation as they wait for the release of the files related to the late paedophile financier.In a statement titled What we're bracing for", the women said they had received threats of harm and asked police to investigate and protect them. Continue reading...

Hannah Shirley, born in November 1973, was celebrated with Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed partyThe San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center is feeling festive, and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but instead a birthday celebration for a hippo that turns 52.Hannah Shirley, the world's oldest known living pygmy hippopotamus, turned 52 years old on Thursday, and celebrated with a Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed party. Hannah was surrounded by guests as she played with different-colored balls and presents. Continue reading...

President called behavior of Mark Kelly, whose wife Gabby Giffords survived assassination bid, punishable by death'Senator Mark Kelly - whose wife, Gabrielle Giffords, narrowly survived an attempted assassination while she was in Congress in 2011 - says he is worried about increased threats" to his family's safety after Donald Trump accused him and other Democratic lawmakers of SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH".This kind of language is dangerous, and it's wrong," Kelly said on Friday on MS NOW's Morning Joe, with political violence one of the top topics in the US's public discourse. He continued: I'm not going to get into my specific security arrangements, but it would be irresponsible for me not to consider that [Trump's] words result in increased threats to myself, even to my staff, to my family. Continue reading...

From Georgia to Oregon, clinics and wards are closing as Trump's health law triggers steep Medicaid cuts and rising costs

Donald Trump helped New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani evade a question probing him on calling the president a fascist after a meeting that Trump said was 'great'.Trump and Mamdani said that their meeting was focused on their shared love for the city of New York and not 'places of disagreement'

Justice department challenges policy allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students at public universitiesThe justice department sued California on Thursday for allowing undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition for public universities, alleging the policy harms US citizens.The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the eastern district of California, marks the third time this week that the Trump administration has sued California. In addition to challenging the state's in-state tuition policy, the lawsuit argues that California unlawfully extends eligibility for scholarships and subsidized loans to undocumented students. Continue reading...

Mountbatten-Windsor continues to hide', US lawmakers say, after deadline they set to receive response passesTwo Democratic lawmakers involved in the US congressional investigation into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday condemned Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's silence" in response to their request that he sit for a deposition.Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House oversight committee, and Suhas Subramanyam, a member of the panel, were among the Democrats who earlier this month sent the former British prince a letter seeking his cooperation in their inquiry into Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Continue reading...

US health secretary said he told agency to update website to claim the fact vaccines do not cause autism is not evidence basedRobert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, said in an interview with the New York Times that he personally instructed the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to change its longstanding position that vaccines do not cause autism.Countering decades of science showing vaccines to be safe, the US public health agency's website was changed to say: The claim vaccines do not cause autism' is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism." Continue reading...

Officials say the move is long overdue' and meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle crash testingThe transportation department has unveiled a first crash test dummy in the US modeled specifically on female anatomy, a move officials say is meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle testing.Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, unveiled the THOR-05F, an advanced female design for a crash-test dummy with upgraded technical specifications. According to the transportation department, the dummy will be incorporated into federal vehicle crash testing once a final rule is published. Continue reading...

Motorist told dispatcher you may not believe me' and said windshield was shattered while driving on North Carolina highwayA motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when the carcass of a cat crashed into the passenger side of her front windshield along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains national park.In a call to 911, the unidentified driver on US Route 74 in Swain county, near Bryson City, told a dispatcher that a bald eagle dropped the cat. Bryson City is about 65 miles south-west of Asheville. Continue reading...

From marches and petitions to a constitutional amendment, a years-long campaign led to New Mexico becoming the first state in the US to offer universal childcare

As little as a decade ago it would have been unthinkable that an American institution such as Disney would have chosen to hitch its wagon to F1The remarkable nature of the transformation in Formula One's fortunes in the United States could not have been better illustrated than by the incongruous sight of Mickey Mouse and an assortment of his Disney pals leading a gang of enthusiastic fans on a walk down the pit lane at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.F1 successfully hosting a race in Sin City and the US now boasting three sellout meetings is testament to the sport's burgeoning prosperity. For all of the somewhat surreal edge of seeing Donald Duck and Goofy outside garages, the fact Disney has chosen F1 as a partner is indicative of the sea change the sport has brought about in a market it has long coveted. Continue reading...

The seven-term Democrat is known for his pugnacious and persistent opposition to Donald Trump

Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York courtwatch' group that was observing public hearingsThe FBI spied on a private Signal group chat of immigrants' rights activists who were organizing courtwatch" efforts in New York City this spring, law enforcement records shared with the Guardian indicate.The FBI, the documents show, gained access to conversations in a courtwatch" Signal group that helps coordinate volunteer activists who monitor public proceedings at three New York federal immigration courts. The US government has repeatedly been accused of violating immigrants' due process rights at those courts.This article was updated on 21 November to include a longer statement from the NYPD. Continue reading...

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said his country was facing 'one of the most difficult moments in our history' after being presented with a 28-point peace plan drafted by the US, which pressed Kyiv to end its war with Russia and concede territory.In a 10-minute address, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was facing the pressure of having to choose between accepting the plan or losing a key partner, the US, and dealing with 'an extremely difficult winter' ahead

Gregory Aymond testified in archdiocese bankruptcy case, which will determine how much compensation survivors receiveThe New Orleans Roman Catholic archbishop, Gregory Aymond, has apologized to a group of survivors who have claimed they were abused by clergymen as children.I know you have been through a lot of pain," he said on Thursday in a federal courtroom while looking directly at survivors Tim Trahan and Richard Coon. Continue reading...

Rodney Taylor, 46, says detention draining on my body' as Democratic senator Raphael Warnock lends support to caseThe health of Rodney Taylor, a Liberian-born man who is a double amputee and is missing three fingers on one hand, has continued to worsen after being picked up by ICE and detained at Georgia's Stewart immigration detention center and his case has now garnered support from a US senator.Taylor, who has been detained for almost a year, told the Guardian he has now been diagnosed with bone spurs in his back, causing severe pain, while the silicone lining of one of his prosthetic legs has deteriorated, causing chafing and boils. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Discredited election-rigging conspiracy theory could strengthen Trump's military action against MaduroFederal investigators have been interviewing multiple people who are pushing unfounded claims that Venezuela helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump, the Guardian has learned.Two promoters of the conspiracy theory have repeatedly briefed the US attorney for the district of Puerto Rico, W Stephen Muldrow, and have shared witnesses and documents with officials, according to four sources. Muldrow declined to comment. Continue reading...

You've done this before,' comedian told president, who ranted about Kimmel online and demanded his firingEarly on Thursday morning, Donald Trump made another plea for ABC to fire the late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, writing on his Truth Social platform that he has NO TALENT" and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS".On his show later that night, Kimmel was defiant, poking at the president for his previous attempt this fall to get him fired and suggesting that Trump has clearly been watching his show. Continue reading...

The Guardian's picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

It's not just skin deep

Experts say files certain to contain revelations but warn disclosures could still leave critical questions unansweredThey are the files that America - and the world - has long waited to see: a huge cache of documents at the Department of Justice related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, whom a judge once dubbed the most infamous pedophile in American history".After a law passed by Congress and signed by Trump on Wednesday, those documents must now must be released to the American public and a waiting army of journalists. Just like previous Epstein caches they are certain to include damning communications between Epstein and many rich and powerful people in his social circle. Continue reading...

Italian MEP disgusted' after US president received $130,000 engraved gold bar weeks before he decided to slash tariffs on Swiss importsA gold Rolex desk clock and a $130,000 engraved gold bar given to Donald Trump by a group of Swiss billionaires have raised questions in Europe and the US about the personalisation of US presidential power.Pasquale Tridico, an Italian MEP and the former head of the country's national institute for social security said he was disgusted" by the golden charm offensive, made weeks before Trump decided to slash 39% tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%. Continue reading...

Plus Vanity Fair's plucky decision to feature only men in its Hollywood Issue and the reporter fired after RFK Jr sexting scandal'We've all said things that didn't come out right, and it's my instinct - stand by for some counter-intuition! - that Donald Trump's quiet, piggy" admonishment of a female reporter on Air Force One this week was a very weird attempt at affection, or possibly flirtation. As with everything the man does, the effect was disastrous and totally inappropriate. But rewatching the video, I saw from the president less an example of his usual bigotry and more an attempt at what looked like OK, kiddo" cuteness that, catastrophically, and before I could nip it in the bud, had triggered a tiny sprig of sympathy. Continue reading...

President has chosen white men for key posts at expense of women and people of colour, Brookings Institution findsDonald Trump has assembled the least diverse US government of the 21st century, filling the corridors of power with white men at the expense of women and people of colour, research shows.Nine in 10 individuals confirmed by the Senate in the first 300 days of the second Trump administration were white, according to the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington. Continue reading...

US president roundly decried for Truth Social post after lawmakers told military personnel to refuse illegal orders. Plus, Superman comic found in attic becomes most expensive ever sold

If you've been motivated to organize, protest or become more involved in politics, we'd like to hear from youIn cities and towns across the country, Americans are rallying to protect immigrants, civil rights, racial justice, healthcare, Snap benefits, the constitution and the rule of law.If you are someone who has been motivated to organize, protest or become more involved in politics this year, we would like to hear from you. Our team is hoping to tell your story and to share the ways that individuals or small groups of people have initiated movements to protect their neighbors, communities or their own civil rights. Continue reading...

Everyday people from blue and red states alike are leading actions such as protests, boycotts and mutual aid

Dana Briggs, 70, had charges dropped after being accused of assaulting an agent during a protest at an Illinois ICE facilityA 70-year-old air force veteran who had been charged with felony assault on a federal officer as he protested an ICE raid has told the Guardian he is now considering a civil lawsuit after all charges against him were dropped.The US Department of Justice moved to dismiss all charges against Dana Briggs, who had been charged despite a video of the incident, which showed masked Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents advancing on the elderly veteran and knocking him over. Continue reading...

AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn't about the democratization' of art - it's about scaleMaking music is hard. Well, at least it used to be. I remember the old days, when you had to spend hours and hours honing skills, coming up with something clever or personal to say, then actually recording sounds that people would want to listen to. But that's the past. In our sparkling future, a pre-teen can dump a bunch of words into a machine and out comes a catchy tune. In 2025, a robot can be a pop star. (Although Data from Star Trek did drop an album back in the 90s. How soon we all forget.)Three AI-generated songs recently topped Spotify's Viral 50" charts. One of the creators" responsible for these songs, Broken Veteran, who squirted out a track about immigration policies, told the Guardian that AI is just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training". It used to be that if you didn't know how to do something, you wouldn't do it.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

The former Blackhawks star is back in the NHL after two and a half years. A pair of retreats in India, and a fresh start with his hometown Jets, helped him rediscover his lost joyStepping on the ice for this season's opening game signified far more than a return to routine for one of the NHL's most decorated veterans.Jonathan Toews - the former Chicago Blackhawks captain who led the club to three Stanley Cups in six seasons - was not only making his debut for his hometown Winnipeg Jets. He was playing his first NHL game in two and a half years. Continue reading...

The sport is rooted in the culture of rugged individualism and has been slow to adopt modern techniques. That state of affairs is slowly changingBoosted by cultural phenomena like the hit series Yellowstone and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album and tour, rodeo and all things Western are enjoying a cultural resurgence. Attendance, broadcast and streaming viewership are at all time highs. So is the prize money, which is attracting more and more young athletes seeking a chance to make a name for themselves.But while rodeo is booming, athlete development remains antiquated. Continue reading...