Experts say claim banks enabled Epstein will be difficult to prove but other outcomes could provide solace to victimsFor years, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have demanded justice. For a while, it seemed like they would get it.Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's ex-girlfriend, was found guilty of sex trafficking four years ago for her involvement in the late financier's sexual abuse of teen girls - and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. Continue reading...
Reductions in weather balloon launches could have degraded forecasts that residents depend on to prepareA faltering federal response to one of the worst storms in Alaska's history, which caused hundreds of people to become homeless, is drawing further scrutiny over the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle federal weather and climate protections.The powerful remnants of Typhoon Halong hit remote communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta of south-west Alaska on 12 October, inundating a vast low-lying area of tundra that is home to some of the most remote and inaccessible communities in the country. Continue reading...
Play makes us more agile and resilient. Bring on the frog costumes and naked cyclistsWhen Donald Trump declared Portland, Oregon, a hellhole" overtaken by the Radical Left's reign of terror", Portlanders took to the streets not as an angry mob, but as frogs. They showed up in inflatable costumes by the dozens. Clowns came out dancing. Naked cyclists rode among unicycles, chiming bike bells and honking rubber horns. A band of gray-haired banjo players incited not a riot but a folk-song singalong. It seemed that the more absurd the accusation, the sillier the response.As the attacks on democracy and mischaracterizations of millions of Americans become more extreme, the reasons for outrage grow. Reading the news is infuriating. But while anger can temporarily mobilize us, it is exhausting and disempowering in the long term. Constant rage doesn't feel good to most of us. As we buckle into this new normal of uncertainty, I'm glad to see we're showing up with creativity, humor, music, all tools that are central to who we are and how we cope. The administration's performance of power and control are being met not with protest: but with play.Cas Holman is a Brooklyn-based designer, inventor, and author of Playful: How Play Shifts Our Thinking, Inspires Connection, and Sparks Creativity Continue reading...
US treasury secretary anticipates tariff truce with China will be extended, and that Beijing will revive substantial purchases of US soybeans. Plus, is Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?
The four-time MVP faced his old team on Sunday night and put in a respectable performance. But it was Jordan Love who was able to control the gameIt all started so well. And then it fell apart.For two quarters, it looked like Aaron Rodgers might conjure one of those nights, the sort that ends with a smirk, a wink, and a reminder that he can match any of the league's young pups. It was the first time in his career that he played against Green Bay, where he spent nearly two decades, won four MVPs and a lone Super Bowl. But the NFL rarely cares for nostalgia. Continue reading...
Critics say scientists held hostage' by RFK Jr as changes mean vaccine development and guidance in perilThe staff supporting the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were let go earlier this month in a sweeping round of layoffs that gutted entire departments of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Most of the committee's working groups, which pore over data and help set the agendas, haven't met for months, and there was little communication from the staff even before they received reduction in force (RIF) notices during the US government shutdown. Continue reading...
Thousands pack Forest Hills stadium on Sunday night, voicing their excitement and hope for changeJust over a week before New York City's mayoral election on 4 November, about 13,000 people poured into Forest Hills stadium in Queens for the NYC Is Not For Sale" rally, a packed gathering headlined by representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic mayoral candidate, assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.The historic open-air venue was filled to capacity. New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds came together, but it was the Gen Z crowd that seemed to animate the atmosphere. Continue reading...
A state referendum could give Democrats five more congressional seats. It faces two key critiquesWhat, exactly, is Congress for? In the second Trump administration, it can be hard to tell. The power to declare war, long considered a crucial legislative power, has become a murky prerogative of the executive branch in the years since September 11; Trump, in recent months, has claimed even more of that power for himself, conducting strikes on vessels in the Caribbean.The power of the purse seems to have largely been stripped from Congress, too; now, under the office of management and budget director, Russell Vought, much of the power to appropriate federal funds has also defaulted to the presidency, with the White House claiming the ability to abort congressionally authorized expenditures and seeking to redirect the money elsewhere. It's not like they're passing any laws, either; virtually all legislation must now be crammed into budget reconciliation bills, massive perennial must-spend omnibus legislation that can circumvent the filibuster. But when those don't pass - and increasingly, they don't - the government simply shuts down. At least, that is, big parts of the government do - and it's not clear how many people notice. Currently, the government has been shut down all month; there are no signs of it reopening anytime soon. But the executive branch keeps on humming along. Continue reading...
Homeland security said Hamdi's visa had been revoked amid claims the move was apparent retaliation for his criticism of Israel. Key US politics stories from Sunday 26 October at a glanceThe council of American-Islamic relations (Cair) has accused the Trump administration of a blatant affront to free speech" after federal immigration authorities detained British journalist, Sami Hamdi, on Sunday.The Muslim civil rights organization claimed that Hamdi had been detained at San Fransisco airport for criticising Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Hamdi is one of several people who have been arrested and deported by ICE for expressing pro-Palestinian views. Continue reading...
US treasury secretary anticipates tariff truce with China will be extended, and that China will revive substantial purchases of US soybeansThe US and China have agreed a framework for a trade deal just days before Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping are due to meet.Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the agreement, forged on the sidelines of the Association of south-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Malaysia on Sunday, would remove the threat of the imposition of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting on 1 November and include a final deal" on the sale of TikTok in the US. Continue reading...
by Graham Searles (now) and Tom Bassam (earlier) on (#7113Y)
Denver Broncos scored over 40 points against the Dallas Cowboys while the New York Jets won their first game of the seasonPanthers 0-6 Bills 14:09, 2nd quarterIt's good! But Carolina come out on top as Buffalo settle for a field goal. Josh Allen successfully scrambles around once but on the second effort is sacked on 3rd and 5. Not the end of the world but a cheap penalty forced Allen to put on his dancing shoes after an illegal formation penalty. Matt Prater knocks in the 43-yard field goal. Continue reading...
Nearly three-month strike includes 3,200 machinists at plants where military aircraft and weapons are developedBoeing workers at three midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed voted Sunday to reject the company's latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago.The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in Mascoutah, Illinois, and the Missouri cities of St Louis and St Charles is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners but threatens to complicate the aerospace company's progress in regaining its financial footing. Continue reading...
Lando Norris has regained the lead in the title race after leading from start to finish, with Leclerc and Verstappen completing the podiumNico Hulkenberg is having power issues on his formation lap. Everything else seems to be in order. Those red lights start to tick up ...Here's the top of the starting grid again: Continue reading...
Trump ally Laura Loomer took credit for Sami Hamdi's detainment in move denounced as affront to free speech'British journalist Sami Hamdi was reportedly detained on Sunday morning by federal immigration authorities at San Francisco international airport, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) says that action is apparent retaliation for the Muslim political commentator's criticism of Israel while touring the US.A statement from Cair said it was a blatant affront to free speech" to detain Hamdi for criticizing Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza while he engaged on a speaking tour in the US. A Trump administration official added in a separate statement that Hamdi is facing deportation. Continue reading...
Transportation secretary says figure is one of the highest we've seen' since 1 October as shutdown drags onUS airports have reported more than 20 incidents of air traffic controller shortages on Saturday, said Sean Duffy, transportation secretary, in the latest sign of the government shutdown's impact.A ground stop was issued by the agency at Los Angeles international airport due to the air traffic controller staffing shortages at around 11.30am ET (15.30 GMT). The restriction covered most of the southern California region and delays are likely when flights resume. Continue reading...
One armed person detained as historically Black school shooting comes amid rising violence at homecoming eventsAt least one person was killed and six others wounded in a shooting at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania late on Saturday, as students and alumni celebrated homecoming at outdoor festivities at the historically Black university, authorities said.A person who had a firearm was detained, and officials are investigating the possibility that there was more than one shooter but don't believe there is any active threat to the campus, Chester county's district attorney, Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe, said during a brief news conference early on Sunday. Continue reading...
Democratic California governor and high-profile Trump critic plans to make decision after 2026 midtermsGavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor, told CBS News Sunday Morning he plans to make a decision on whether to run for president in 2028 once the 2026 midterm elections are over.Yeah, I'd be lying otherwise," Newsom said in response to a question on whether he would give serious thought to a White House bid after the 2026 elections. I'd just be lying. And I'm not - I can't do that." Continue reading...
Book cites Pence's notes from call with Trump, who called vice-president a wimp' if he certified Biden's 2020 victoryOn the day that his supporters attacked the US Capitol because his 2020 re-election run ended in defeat, Donald Trump called his vice-president at the time, Mike Pence, and told him he would go down in history as a wimp" if he certified the election result, a new book says.Those details were revealed on Sunday when ABC News published a preview excerpt of an upcoming book by its political correspondent Jonathan Karl. The book, titled Retribution, cites Pence's notes from the 6 January 2021 phone call with Trump, who was purportedly trying to shame his vice-president into refusing to certify Joe Biden's victory weeks earlier in the White House. Continue reading...
As memorial marks 100 years, Gerard Baker, park's Native American ex-superintendent believes if Rushmore's story is told the right way, people are going to be leaving pissed'Despite suffering heart attacks, strokes and the effects of diabetes, Gerard Baker can still easily lift an 80-lb bag of feed for the cows he raises on his south-east Montana ranch. On the sprawling 640-acre property of pine and cottonwoods, buffalo grass and blue grass, Baker drives out early in the mornings to feed his cows and think about what he could have done differently.On 1 June 2004, Gerard Baker became the first Native American superintendent at Mount Rushmore national memorial, and his six years at the helm were both transformative and turbulent. Continue reading...
Two House Republicans push justice department to investigate Zohran Mamdani's path to US citizenshipTwo US House Republicans are pushing the federal justice department to investigate the path to citizenship of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate favored to win the 4 November election for New York City mayor.Congressman Randy Fine of Florida and Andy Ogles of Tennessee - both staunch proponents of Donald Trump's presidential administration - have been leading the push, which has been condemned by Democratic officials and Muslim civil rights groups as racist and anti-Muslim". Continue reading...
Nearly 42 million people in danger as federal government shutdown continues and Snap funding to end 1 NovemberTwo decades ago, Sara Carlson, then a mother of three, was newly single because of a traumatic event, and the US's food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), helped her feed her children with free food supplies.I wouldn't have been able to afford to live," said Carlson, 45, who lives in Rochester, Minnesota, and now works as an operations manager for a wealth-management firm and serves on the board of Channel One Regional Food Bank, which works to increase food access.This article was amended on 26 October 2025 to correct that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated $187bn in Snap funding through 2034, not through 2024 as an earlier version said Continue reading...
Department of Agriculture says no benefits will be issued in November and it would not draw on emergency reservesThe US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Saturday that food benefits under one of the country's biggest social assistance programs will not be issued in November amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.The shutdown was in its 25th day at the time of the announcement, which came after more than 200 Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Friday called on USDA to draw on its emergency reserves to fund November food benefits. Continue reading...
Detention of Chicago man violates his due process and he must be given a bond hearing by 31 October, judge saysThe detention by immigration authorities of a Chicago man whose 16-year-old daughter is undergoing treatment for advanced cancer is illegal, and he must be given a bond hearing by 31 October, a federal judge has ruled.Attorneys for Ruben Torres Maldonado, 40, who was detained on 18 October, have petitioned for his release as his deportation case goes through the system. While US district judge Jeremy Daniel said in an order Friday that Torres's detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is illegal and violates his due process rights, he also said he could not order his immediate release. Continue reading...
A tour of the mayoral hopeful's Jewish outreach reveals an electorate fractured over Israel and grappling with his historic candidacy in radically different waysSecuring Jewish votes was never going to be a straightforward ride for Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayoral hopeful who is on track to become the most prominent Palestine supporter to assume elected office in the US - in the most Jewish city outside Israel, no less.The notion that he could sparks outright panic in some quarters. Continue reading...
Millions took to US streets to oppose authoritarianism as Democrats acknowledge People want to see us fighting'They marched in their millions. Some waved the Stars and Stripes. Some clutched signs with slogans such as: Nothing is more patriotic than protesting." And some donned inflatable costumes that included aliens, chickens, clowns, frogs, lobsters, mushrooms, penguins, seahorses, sharks, squirrels, starfish and unicorns.The energy of last weekend's No Kings protests against Donald Trump's authoritarianism was palpable and peaceful, drawing an estimated 7 million people to 2,700 rallies across the country. Among them were the Democratic senators Cory Booker, Ed Markey, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, Raphael Warnock and Elizabeth Warren as well as the independent Bernie Sanders. Continue reading...
The president's move is less an example of American exceptionalism than part of a familiar patternAmid all the horrors of the second Trump administration, the demolition of the East Wing is hardly in the top 10. But it provides a powerful symbol of wanton destruction - and, as Trump himself knows full well, images matter greatly in politics. It also curiously combines so many elements of a distinctly Trumpian approach to government: shameless falsehoods about the proposed ballroom (It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it"); complete disregard for legislation (in this case rules about preservation), and unprecedented levels of cronyism (with CEOs trying to curry favor with the president through donations to a grotesque project of self-aggrandizement). There is also something very poignant about the destruction of an edifice which had provided an office of one's own for first ladies. For all these peculiarities, Trump's disfiguring the White House fits into a larger global trend: far-right populist leaders in many countries have used spectacular architecture to advance their political agenda and, more particularly, to set their vision of a real people" - as in real Americans", real Hungarians" et cetera - in stone.Just before Christmas 2020, in the dying days of his first administration, Trump had already taken time off from his busy schedule promoting the big lie about having won the election in order to issue an executive order entitled Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture". The order made classicism" the preferred style for new federal buildings, stopping just short of banning modernism entirely. Biden rescinded the order; Trump brought a version of it back right on inauguration day this year. What is almost entirely forgotten is that the 2020 order had belonged together with Trump's 1776 commission", the ill-fated attempt to whitewash US history; both the architecture orders and the instructions for history teaching were meant to promote an image of the US as pure and beautiful".Jan-Werner Muller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University Continue reading...
As we approach the anniversary of the 2024 election, we awake to new horrors each day. But we must not give up hopeOne year ago, everything was so different. In late October 2024, before the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could certainly acknowledge the deep flaws of their country - its injustices and inequality - but they could still recognize it as the United States. A democracy. A place where the rule of law meant something. A nation led by a dignified and decent public servant, despite his advanced age and increasing frailty.These days, in late October 2025, many of us barely recognize the nation we live in. People suspected of being illegal immigrants are rounded up and shoved into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the people's house" - the White House - is being destroyed for an obscene ballroom. Donald Trump is persecuting his political rivals or supposed enemies and demanding the justice department hand over $230m. Armed military personnel are being sent into American cities on false pretexts. The Pentagon, relabeled the Department of War, has - in effect - rid itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends what could amount to nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Universities, law firms, news companies are buckling under the president's threats, and billionaires are treated like members of the royal family. Continue reading...
by Anita Snow in Tucson, Angela Kocherga and Alyda Mu on (#710YN)
Nuns, bishops and laity from California to Texas have created a network of help to uphold church teachingsCatholic parishioners rushed to deliver food boxes to immigrants too terrified to leave their homes in the California city of Coachella after federal immigration agents swept through Latino neighborhoods during the summer.Just south of Arizona's border in Nogales, Mexico, Catholic nuns, laypeople and volunteers at the Kino Border Initiative, despite rising threats against aid workers, cook and serve two meals daily for immigrants who have been deported or lost their chances at US asylum in Donald Trump's crackdown. Continue reading...
Donald Trump makes announcement in response to anti-tariff ad sponsored by Ontario government. Key US politics stories from Saturday 25 October at a glanceDonald Trump announced on Saturday that he will raise US tariffs on Canada by 10% in retaliation for an anti-tariff advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government, which has further strained one of the world's largest trade partnerships.The statement, posted on Trump's Truth Social account, came after several days of public disputes over the ad, which referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free trade and provoked the US president's anger. Continue reading...
Fort Worth police share video of extraordinary effort by officers and motorists to pull car off baby and give CPRA baby is expected to make a full recovery and two Fort Worth police officers are being hailed as heroes after saving the infant, who was pinned under an overturned car after a crash on Texas's Interstate 30 on Thursday morning.Fort Worth police said in a social media post that Sgt R Nichols and officer E Bounds responded to a crash around 9.30am where a woman and an infant had been in a collision that caused the infant to be ejected from the vehicle. Continue reading...
Sgt Kevin Bollaro accused of misconduct and falsifying report after blowing off investigation of a double homicideA New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors say he didn't quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead stopping at an ATM and pizzeria.Franklin township police sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of 1 August when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) from Manhattan in central New Jersey, according to Hunterdon county prosecutor Renee Robeson's office. Continue reading...
Move is response to ad sponsored by Ontario that referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free tradeDonald Trump announced on Saturday that he will raise US tariffs on Canada by 10% in retaliation for an anti-tariff advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government, which has further strained one of the world's largest trade partnerships.The statement, posted on Trump's Truth Social account, came after several days of public disputes over the ad, which referenced Ronald Reagan's support for free trade and provoked the US president's anger. Continue reading...
Notable majority feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, and only 27% approve of his job performanceDonald Trump's standing with Hispanic adults has dropped notably since he took office at the start of the year, according to a new poll.Polling by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests growing unease among a voting bloc that was crucial to his 2024 re-election victory. The October survey shows that 25% of Hispanic adults now hold a somewhat" or very" favorable view of Trump, down sharply from 44% in an AP-NORC poll conducted just before he began his second term. Continue reading...
Jose Castro Rivera, 24, was killed Thursday morning after running onto a highway and being struckA 24-year-old Honduran man died while trying to flee Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Virginia, bringing the death toll among those trying to escape detention in the Trump administration's mass deportation crackdown to at least three people.Jose Castro Rivera was killed on Thursday morning after running onto a busy highway and being struck and fatally injured while trying to evade ICE agents, local authorities said. Continue reading...
Reclusive Republican billionaire is descendant of gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew MellonA reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.Timothy Mellon, heir to the gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, is the secret donor whom Trump has described as a friend", great American" and patriot", but has refused to name, the Times reported on Saturday, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the arrangement. Continue reading...
Republican opposition to the effort to give House Democrats more safe seats may be no match for the fact that Californians really don't like TrumpThere are many ways to characterize Proposition 50, the single ballot initiative that Californians will be voting on this election season.You could say it's about redrawing congressional district lines outside the regular once-a-decade schedule. You could say, more precisely, that it's about counterbalancing Republican efforts to engineer congressional seats in their favor in Texas and elsewhere with a gerrymander that favors the Democrats. You could, like the measure's detractors, call it a partisan power grab that risks undermining 15 years of careful work to make California's congressional elections as fair and competitive as possible. Continue reading...
Zohran Mamdani is facing off against Andrew Cuomo in New York, and Jack Ciattarelli and Mikie Sherrill are competing in New JerseyPolling places opened on Saturday for the start of in-person voting for two of the year's most closely watched elections: the New York City mayor's race and the contest to pick New Jersey's next governor.New Yorkers are choosing between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat on the ballot as an independent. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, is also on the ballot but dropped out of the race last month and recently threw his support behind Cuomo. Continue reading...
In a BBC interview, former vice-president says she isn't done with politics and could possibly' be the next presidentKamala Harris says she is not done with politics and strongly suggested that she is considering another bid for president in a new interview.In an interview scheduled to air on the BBC on Sunday morning, Harris says that she would possibly" be the next president, making the clearest suggestion to date that she will make another run for the White House in 2028 despite lagging far behind in the polls. Continue reading...
The Western Conference's No 1 seed can become the second expansion team to win MLS CupAs San Diego FC prepare for their first playoff appearance this Sunday, they do so with the deserved title of record breakers. The expansion club has earned the Western Conference's No 1 seed and set records for most victories (19) and points (63) in a single season by an MLS expansion team. As a result, they will be at home for the remainder of the playoffs, and would host MLS Cup if they make it there and meet anyone other than Inter Miami, Cincinnati, or the Supporters' Shield-winning Philadelphia Union.Now, they're aiming for more history - to become the first expansion side to win MLS Cup since 1998 when the Chicago Fire achieved it against DC United. Continue reading...
The president's mega-project raises a lot of questions - including when he's planning on leavingDonald Trump has quite the passion for American history. If there's a controversial statue commemorating a dead white supremacist out there, there's a good chance the president has gone to bat for it.Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," Trump tweeted in 2017, in response to a push to remove Confederate monuments. You can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Trump added.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Experts say there has been an 80% drop-off since serial killing peaked in the US in the 1970s - but that hasn't stopped social media speculationFor the past two years, rumors of a serial killer have preoccupied residents of Austin, Texas, and beyond as body upon body kept turning up at a lake in the city. The killer was even given a name: the Rainey Street Ripper.But authorities now say some 36 drownings in the lake, near Rainey Street neighborhood, were probably related to alcohol and drug consumption and the reservoir's proximity to the city's famous bar scene. Continue reading...
As Trump's tariffs and funding cuts suspend projects in Erie, some residents view the changes as a necessary evilIt was set to be the most expensive project that the beaten-down manufacturing sector of Erie, Pennsylvania, had seen in decades. In a blighted corner of town, a startup planned a $300m plant that would turn plastic waste into fuel for steel factories.Neighborhood advocates in Erie's impoverished east side hoped the facility would provide the jobs and prosperity they needed. Environmentalists decried the pollution they expected the plant to bring. Unions got ready for what they hoped would be hundreds of jobs created by its construction, with more to come once it opened. Continue reading...
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