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Mark Francis Ford is accused of sexual crimes allegedly starting in 2004 against a then 10-year-old boyA man who once served in the administrations of two Louisiana governors has been arrested on allegations that he molested a child whom he met while ministering to disabled children in New Orleans as a Roman Catholic priest during a previous career, according to authorities and an attorney representing the accuser.Mark Francis Ford, 64, faces charges of first-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile after federal agents arrested him on Thursday in Portage, Indiana, on a warrant obtained by police in New Orleans, Brian Fair of the US Marshals Service said. Continue reading...

One-in-30m' find spared from menu and released into Long Island Sound after being spotted in upstate grocery storeA rare orange lobster was released back into the wild this week after being spotted by an enthusiast at a local grocery store.The lobster, swiftly nicknamed Jean-Clawed Van Damme, is a one-in-30m catch, according to Humane Long Island, a wildlife rescue group, and the New York Aquarium, who aided in releasing it. Continue reading...

Medical examiner says autopsy of Shane Tamura, who played football in high school, showed evidence of brain diseaseThe mass shooter who suspected he had CTE when he killed four people and himself in a Manhattan office building in July did in fact have the degenerative brain disease, the New York City medical examiner said on Friday.Shane Tamura, who was 27 and played football in high school, had unambiguous diagnostic evidence" of low-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the medical examiner found. The condition, which can only be diagnosed posthumously, is caused by repeated exposure to head trauma and is most commonly associated in the US with tackle football players, in particular those who have made it to the NFL. Continue reading...

Monica Moreta-Galarza was pleading with officer to release her detained husband when he pushed her to the groundA federal officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has been relieved of his duties" after a video showing him pushing a woman to the floor at an immigration court in New York City spread quickly on social media.Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, sent a statement to the Guardian, saying the officer's actions were unacceptable and beneath the men and women of Ice". Continue reading...

Nineteen in immigration processing unit striking for access to medical and mental health care, among other demandsNineteen people detained at an immigration detention center that the Trump administration opened within Louisiana's infamous Angola prison were entering their fifth day on hunger strike on Sunday, according to advocacy groups.Those striking at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) processing center set up at Angola's former Camp J are demanding access to medical and mental health care - including prescription medications, according to the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition (SEDND) and the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG). Continue reading...

John Gillette on X called for people like' Pramila Jayapal to be hanged' in response to her video on anti-Trump protestsAn Arizona Republican state representative who has expressed support for January 6 insurrectionists on Wednesday called for a Democratic congresswoman to be executed, as a response to a video clip.The comment on X by state representative John Gillette of Kingman, Arizona, first reported by the Arizona Mirror, was a reaction to a short clip drawn from a YouTube video in March by US representative Pramila Jayapal, a longtime Democratic congresswoman representing Washington state, entitled The Resistance Lab." In the video, Jayapal discusses preparations for street protests against the Trump administration. Continue reading...

Bolton says the world leader who handled the US president better than anyone else was Shinzo Abe: he never asked Trump for anything

Amid financial struggles and presidential criticism, USPS is facing challenges. But it plays an essential role in US lifeIn towns where Washington DC is an abstraction, the post office is the front desk of American democracy - sometimes the only public space at all. Here, postmasters are the human side of government", as the senator Jennings Randolph put it in 1976. When such offices are closed," he warned, the American flag really comes down."Championed by Benjamin Franklin in 1775, the roots of the US postal service - whose mandate is to bind the nation together" - are older than the republic itself. The constitution calls for post offices and post roads". The USPS is still legally obligated to provide a basic and fundamental" service to all Americans. In Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a rural carrier drives more than 700 miles a year to serve just two households.Niamh Rowe is a New York-based writer and podcast producer Continue reading...

We would like to hear from Californians about how they view the redistricting proposalOn 4 November, residents of California will get to vote on a new congressional map drawn up by the state's legislature.The ballot measure, Proposition 50, temporarily gives power to the legislature to redraw congressional borders, returning it to an independent redistricting commission in 2031. Continue reading...

Comey, one of Trump's frequent targets, indicted on counts of making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceedingJames Comey, the former FBI director and one of Donald Trump's most frequent targets, is expected to surrender to the authorities in the coming days after being indicted on Thursday evening on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding.The stunning indictment by a grand jury was the latest and most dramatic move yet in the president's retribution campaign against his political adversaries. Continue reading...

About two dozen protested after midnight, carrying flags and signs and calling out baby killer' and free Palestine'

Detroit are making the wrong kind of baseball history after a late-season freefall threatens a once certain playoff place. But at least they're now underdogsOn Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians, Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson stood stunned as he watched a routine ground ball spin off his glove and into right field. Later, his teammate, catcher Dillon Dingler, doubled over in disbelief after an innocent foul pop up plopped off his mitt and on to the dirt. These were some of the low-lights of yet another Tigers loss, their eighth straight, a defeat which dropped them completely out of first place for the first time since April, shortly after the 2025 season began.Collapse is not a powerful enough descriptor to characterize Detroit's sudden and dramatic downfall, which we'll get to momentarily. But first, some housekeeping. With three games to go of the regular season, the Tigers and the Guardians are tied for first place in the AL Central, but Cleveland own the tiebreaker as they have the better head-to-head over the course of the season. The Tigers do hold a one-game lead over the Houston Astros for the final wildcard place, but if their collapse continues and the Astros do well in their final games, Detroit would be in serious trouble. For the Tigers, who were skating towards the playoffs with a 9.5-game lead in the AL Central with just 16 to play as recently as 10 September, there are three ways their regular season could end. On Monday morning, their fans could wake up dazed but with a division title, sputtering it was all just a terrible dream." Or Detroit could be preparing for a humiliating but somewhat face saving wildcard series. The third option, in which the Astros overtake them and the Tigers miss the postseason altogether, is that the franchise becomes the holder of what is arguably the most catastrophic late season collapse in nearly 150 years of Major League Baseball. Continue reading...

Drug overdoses are now a leading causes of death among US teens as fentanyl possibly drives surge, researchers warnFewer than one in three teenagers with opioid use disorder receive treatment, according to a study published in this month's Health Affairs journal that looked at the disorder in minors from 2022 to 2023.In 2023, 557 teens died of opioid overdose, nearly threefold as many as in 2018, while adult opioid deaths only went up by 65% during this time, according to the study. Drug overdoses are now among the leading causes of death for US teenagers. Continue reading...

Reports say PR teams are working busy rewriting history in real time - not that the American media needs the helpIf a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?You've heard that one before, but here's a new version of the thought experiment: if a genocide takes place but you prevent foreign journalists from observing it, kill the key witnesses and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on propaganda, then will anyone care? Continue reading...

Government data shows 16,523 people with no record, versus 15,725 with a record and 13,767 with pending chargesImmigrants with no criminal record are now the largest group in US immigration detention, according to data released by the government. The number of people with no criminal history arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and detained by the Trump administration has now surpassed the number of those charged with crimes.Ice, the federal agency most heavily relied upon by Donald Trump to carry out the US president's mass deportation campaign, released its latest numbers on Thursday. Continue reading...

Ex-FBI director indicted on counts of making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Plus, human origins may reach back far deeper in time than previously thought

Trump is clearing the way for US investors to control a wildly popular platform where millions get their newsIn 2020, only a tiny fraction of Americans got news from TikTok. These days, that number has soared to one in five.For young adults, those figures are much higher, with almost half of adults under 30 getting news there, according to the Pew Research Center.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

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This blog is now closed. Read the full story hereDozens of House Democrats have signed a letter to Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio, urging the administration to recognize Palestinian statehood.The letter, led by California Democrat Ro Khanna, has 46 signatures, and lawmakers will send it to the US president on Friday, according to plans first provided to the Guardian. Continue reading...

President announces 100% tariffs on imported branded drugs, 25% on heavy-duty trucks and 50% on cabinetsDonald Trump on Thursday announced a new round of punishing tariffs, saying the United States will impose a 100% tariffs on imported branded drugs, 25% tariff on imports of all heavy-duty trucks and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets.The US president also said he would start charging a 50% tariff on bathroom vanities and a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture next week, with all the new duties to take effect from 1 October. Continue reading...

The former FBI director was fired by Trump in 2017, and has been a longtime target for the presidentDonald Trump's long public campaign to get someone in his administration to bring criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director he fired in 2017, finally succeeded on Thursday, but the president has been so public about his loathing of the indicted man, and his desire to see him jailed, that it might be hard for prosecutors to convince a jury that the case was not brought for political reasons.Comey was fired by Trump in 2017 after he reportedly refused a request to pledge his loyalty to the newly elected president, and then publicly confirmed to Congress that the FBI was conducting a counterintelligence investigation of Russian efforts to help Trump get elected in 2016. Continue reading...

Former FBI director James Comey has said he is innocent, adding let's have a trial and keep the faith'. Key US politics stories from 25 September 2025 at a glanceFormer FBI director James Comey has said he knew there would be costs to standing up to Donald Trump," after he was indicted on Thursday on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of justice, in the latest move in the president's expansive retribution campaign against his political adversaries.In a video published online, Comey said he was innocent, adding let's have a trial and keep the faith." Continue reading...

US president criticizes anarchists and agitators' as he unveils memo expected to meet fierce legal pushbackDonald Trump issued a presidential memorandum on Thursday aimed at reining in what he has called a radical leftwing domestic terror network" but which seemed likely to meet fierce legal pushback from critics depicting it as a licence for a broad crackdown on his political opponents.Prompted by journalists, Trump suggested that George Soros, the billionaire Hungarian-born philanthropist who funds the Open Society Foundations, could be in his sights. He also identified Reid Hoffman, a billionaire venture capitalist, adding: I hear about him. Maybe it could be him. It could be a lot of people." Continue reading...

Asked by a reporter if he promised leaders of Arab and Muslim countries he met this week that he would block Israel from formally annexing the West Bank territory it has occupied since 1967, Donald Trump replied: 'I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope. I won't allow it. It's not going to happen'

Police had been searching for Travis Decker since bodies of his three daughters were found at campground in JulyForensic tests confirmed that human remains found on a remote mountain in Washington state this month were those of a former soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters last spring, officials confirmed on Thursday.Travis Decker's remains were discovered in a remote wooded area in central Washington, south of the city of Leavenworth, the Chelan county sheriff's office said. Continue reading...

Democrats accuse Trump of intimidation tactics after memo outlines much more aggressive step than previous shutdownsThe White House is telling federal agencies to prepare large-scale firings of workers if the government shuts down next week in a partisan fight over spending plans - prompting the Democrats to accuse Donald Trump of intimidation tactics.In a memo released on Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, is not otherwise funded and is not consistent with the president's priorities". Continue reading...

Cook's lawyers say president's unprecedented move would destroy Fed's independence and disrupt financial marketsFederal Reserve governor Lisa Cook urged the US supreme court on Thursday to reject Donald Trump's attempt to fire her, telling the justices the Republican president's unprecedented move would destroy the central bank's independence and disrupt financial markets.Lawyers for Cook filed a written response opposing the justice department's 18 September emergency request to lift a federal judge's order that blocked Trump from immediately removing Cook, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden, while her legal challenge continues. Continue reading...

KION-TV announces partnership with San Francisco CBS affiliate as workers condemn disservice to the community'This week KION-TV, a broadcast news outlet on California's central coast that's been on the air for more than 50 years, announced it was entering a new chapter" with a San Francisco CBS affiliate to bring expanded coverage to its viewers.But staff say the development has been devastating for the operation - the newsroom, which covers Salinas, Santa Cruz and Monterey, suddenly shuttered and more than a dozen people were laid off. Continue reading...

Texas authorities say the shooting at an Ice detention center came after a high degree of planning'Authorities said on Thursday that the words of the suspect in the shooting on Wednesday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention facility in Texas were definitively anti-Ice" but said that they did not find evidence that the suspect was a member of any specific group or entity, nor did he mention any specific government agency other than Ice".At a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Texas authorities provided more details on the shooting investigation describing messages and notes they found at the suspect's residence. Continue reading...

The 32-year-old is a polarizing figure but he is committed to getting American fans behind their team as they aim to capture victory on home soilBryson DeChambeau is not shying away from the spectacle as golf's matchplay carnival touches down on America's toughest public course. On the eve of the Ryder Cup, the 32-year-old admitted he sees it as his responsibility, and his privilege, to feed off Bethpage Black's notoriously rowdy galleries and leverage their energy into a weapon.This week is an amazing opportunity," he said on a soggy Thursday in Farmingdale. New York fans are incredible. As rowdy and raucous as they get, they still love the game of golf. I couldn't be more excited to hopefully get them riled up and excited for what's to come." Continue reading...

New York Times reports justice department is pushing attorneys to investigate as Trump ramps up attack on rivalsThe Open Society Foundations (OSF), the major philanthropic group funded by George Soros, has criticized the Trump administration for politically motivated attacks on civil society" after a report that the justice department had instructed federal prosecutors to come up with plans to investigate the charity.The New York Times reported on Thursday that a lawyer in the office of Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, sent a memo to several federal prosecutors in attorney's offices in California, New York, Washington DC, Chicago and Detroit, offering a range of charges to consider against the group. Those charges included racketeering, arson, wire fraud and material support for terrorism, the newspaper reported. Continue reading...

The shadow boxing is over now but every serious competition needs jeopardy and home teams cannot prevail time and againWhat made Keegan Bradley's opening ceremony blooper, when he muddled surnames, so outstanding was not the basic fact Justin Rose is an Englishman who could not possibly have sunk the winning putt for the USA in the 1999 Ryder Cup. Instead, this was simply such a much-needed antidote to the micromanagement that now dulls the buildup to a biennial joust between a continent and a country. Golfers who ordinarily have plenty to say and who revel in the rarity of team combat find themselves delivering anodyne soundbites. Bradley's blunder was such an endearing reminder of days gone by, when the Ryder Cup was more open to rogue elements. The whiff of cordite was never far away.The Ryder Cup needs a little more fizz. That may well be provided by a volatile New York crowd, the arrival of a US president who polarises opinion and stars such as Rory McIlroy or Bryson DeChambeau who should not be backwards in coming forwards when the proper stuff starts. The shadow boxing is now over. What is so striking and impressive is that golfers who bump into each other on Floridian school runs somehow manage to summon the spirit of a great rivalry for one week out of every 104. Continue reading...

As Israel inflicts untold misery on Palestinians, it is time for football's governing bodies to stand by the principles they claim to upholdWhen Israel takes the pitch against Norway on 11 October for their 2026 World Cup qualifier, the most important question will not be who wins, but whether Israel should be allowed to play at all.Fifa, the world's governing body for football, positions itself as a human-rights advocate. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Fifa moved with lightning speed, banning Russia from all competitions four days later. In a joint statement with Uefa, Europe's football governing body, they asserted, Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine." And yet, little solidarity has been afforded Palestinians. When it comes to Israel, Fifa and Uefa have foot-dragged. Continue reading...

Interior department says National Park Service removed statue of pair holding hands because of incorrect permitAn impromptu statue of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands was unceremoniously removed from the National Mall in Washington just a day after a group of anonymous artists erected it there.The piece showed the president and the late convicted sex offender, who were friends in the past, looking joyful together, with wide grins and feet kicked back. Continue reading...

Shareholders want ABC owner to turn over documents related to decision to temporarily suspend late-night showA group of Disney investors is asking the company to turn over documents related to the company's decision to temporarily suspend Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, amid charges the media company may have been complicit in succumbing" to media censorship.The investors, composed of lawyers for the American Federation of Teachers and Reporters Without Borders, noted that Disney's stock suffered significant declines in response to the company's abrupt decision to suspend Mr. Kimmel and his show", it said in a letter to Disney. Continue reading...

Outdated alert process led to delays in warning residents to evacuate during Eaton and Palisades fires, per the reportAn outside review of Los Angeles county's response to January's deadly wildfires found a lack of resources and outdated policies for sending emergency alerts led to delays in warning residents about the need to evacuate as flames began consuming neighborhoods in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.The Independent After-Action Report, produced by the consulting firm McChrystal Group, was commissioned by county supervisors just weeks after the Eaton and Palisades fires killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes in highly dense areas of Los Angeles county. Continue reading...

Ryan Walters, who has led Oklahoma public schools since 2022, is quitting to run a conservative education non-profitOklahoma's superintendent, who has attracted national attention as he sought to install religion and rightwing viewpoints in Oklahoma schools, will resign to run a conservative education non-profit.Ryan Walters, who has led public schools in Oklahoma since 2022, has put Donald Trump-endorsed Bibles into classrooms and required teaching 2020 election conspiracies. Continue reading...

Restructuring comes after six quarters of falling sales and growing pressure from unions over working conditionsStarbucks will lay off around 900 staff and pull down the shutters on some 100 cafes across North America as part of a $1bn restructuring plan to revive the world's largest coffee chain.The business, which eliminated 1,100 corporate positions earlier this year, will also close many" open or vacant positions as it notifies affected employees affected by cuts on Friday. Continue reading...

Ana Reyes says firings likely violated federal law but do not justify reinstatement before lawsuit endsA federal judge refused on Wednesday evening to reinstate eight former inspectors general who filed a lawsuit after the Trump administration fired them with no warning and little explanation.US district judge Ana Reyes said that while Donald Trump likely violated the federal law governing the process for removing the non-partisan watchdogs from office, the president's firings didn't cause enough irreparable harm to justify reinstating the watchdogs before the lawsuit is resolved. Continue reading...

The budget measure will hurt poor people and boost rich people. It should really be called the Billionaires' Tax Cut ActJust a few months ago, Donald Trump sought to bamboozle the American people into believing that his One Big Beautiful Bill Act - with its trillions in tax cuts for the rich - was a legislative wonder stuffed with one marvel after another. But a Pew opinion poll in August found that millions of Americans have wised up about the measure and now view it as a big, unbeautiful monstrosity.Many Americans have come to realize that Trump's not-so-beautiful bill - instead of being filled with good things that benefit average Americans - is overflowing with big tax cuts for the wealthy as well as many unfortunate things that will hurt typical working families. As we saw in the town halls held across the US, many Americans are furious about some painful things that Trump and congressional Republicans inserted into the bill: cuts that will make health insurance more expensive, cuts that reduce food assistance, cuts that make it harder for students from working families to afford college. All this is bad news for working families who struggle to make ends meet.Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labour and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Continue reading...

The Kansas City quarterback's greatness is not in doubt. But without a strong strong supporting case he is struggling to entertain ... and winPatrick Mahomes has never been here before. Lose to the Ravens on Sunday, and they'll sink to 1-3, falling further behind the Chargers in the AFC West, a division Kansas City have owned for nearly a decade.After three weeks of the season, it's clear: these are not the Chiefs of old. And Mahomes, while still dazzling in moments, is not the irrepressible force he was three years ago. Continue reading...

Exclusive: letter, led by Ro Khanna, has 46 signatories and calls for long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination'Dozens of House Democrats have signed a letter to Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio, urging the administration to recognize Palestinian statehood.The letter, led by California Democrat Ro Khanna, has 46 signatures, and lawmakers will send it to the US president on Friday, according to plans first provided to the Guardian. Continue reading...

Ayman Soliman recalls isolation, abuse and fear of deportation and the community that fought for his releaseOn a recent rain-drenched fall afternoon, the mood at the Clifton Mosque in Cincinnati was one of elation and relief.Last Friday, Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian imam and hospital chaplain who had been detained at a county jail for more than 10 weeks, was released and is expected to have his visa status fully returned. Continue reading...

In the aftermath of Kirk's death, the far-right and Trump administration have turned up attacks on transgender peopleOn the day anti-LGBTQ+ activist Charlie Kirk was shot, fear rippled through the left that the far right would seize the moment to consolidate power. Nowhere was that fear more acute than in the transgender community.Within hours, Republicans were already blaming trans people; one commentator even claimed the bullets carried transgender symbols", a claim investigators quickly debunked. But the deeper fear wasn't misinformation - it was the crackdown that would follow. With fragile rights hanging by the thread of court rulings and blue-state protections, trans people braced for the worst. And they were right: The right has seized on the shooting as its own Reichstag fire, accelerating a campaign to target transgender existence - now with the full weight of the Trump administration behind it.Erin Reed is a transgender journalist based in Washington DC. She tracks LGBTQ+ legislation around the United States for her subscription newsletter, Erin in the Morning Continue reading...

Public health leaders worry proposed 53% CDC slash would weaken disease prevention and pose a national security riskDonald Trump's budget would cut funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by 53%, eliminating 61 programs and laying off another 16% of health agency staff, according to a new report - moves that would drastically reduce disease prevention and fuel more chronic illness, public health leaders say.We cannot lose this," said Joseph Kanter, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). This is crucial to the health of every person in every community across this country, whether they realize it or not." Continue reading...