US news | The Guardian

Misty Roberts, 44, who faced up to 17 years in prison, convicted of two felonies including statutory rapeMisty Roberts, a former mayor in Louisiana, has been sentenced to 90 days for raping a 16-year-old boy.On Tuesday, 44-year-old Roberts was sentenced following her conviction earlier this year of two felonies including carnal knowledge of a juvenile - or statutory rape - and indecent behavior with a juvenile. Continue reading...

Chemical tank overheated in May and forced evacuation of 50,000 nearby residents due to danger of explosionThe FBI is searching a southern California aerospace facility where an overheated chemical tank forced 50,000 residents to evacuate last month, after federal authorities served a search warrant there on Wednesday.Signed by a federal judge last week, the warrant approved the seizure of records related to the storage, use or disposal" of methyl methacrylate, the chemical stored inside the tank that authorities feared could explode. Continue reading...

The men's head coach discusses his American dream' at the World Cup and tempering the host nation's arrogant' expectationsThis American dream begins in small-town Murphy, Santa Fe. That's Santa Fe, Argentina, at a little club where the old folk played bochas, a kind of boules, and they had one of the few colour television sets. It was 1978, Mauricio Pochettino was six years old and he can see it perfectly, still feel the meaning of it all.I lived in a prefab with my grandmother and my older brother because my parents were off working the land, then at the weekend we would go to the club," he says. There were three courts and I remember standing there, hanging on to my dad's pocket, watching the World Cup. The ticker-tape at River [Plate], that image engraved. Passarella, Ardiles, Luque, Bertoni, Kempes, Fillol, Tarantini ... my heroes." Continue reading...

Lawmakers warn appointment of presidential loyalist will scuttle bipartisan agreement to renew Fisa surveillance lawDonald Trump stood firm on his decision to install controversial loyalist Bill Pulte as the country's top intelligence official, demanding Congress pass a short-term extension of a surveillance law set to expire amid intense criticism of the appointment.Pulte will has been asked to execute the immediate and needed downsizing" of the office of the director of national intelligence, the US president declared on Wednesday, after lining him up to serve as acting director on a temporary basis. Continue reading...

Rows over US visas and excessive ticket prices have overshadowed flawed tournament preparations. But fans will still hope for a gripping spectacleOne hundred and four matches involving 48 competing nations, to be played in 16 venues across a continent and four time zones: the sheer scale of the men's World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico, which begins on Thursday and ends on 19 July, makes it easily the biggest and longest football tournament ever staged.Whether it will ultimately be judged the greatest in sporting terms will depend on the 1,248 players competing in gruelling conditions, ranging from the heat of Houston to the high altitude of Guadalajara. Butafter a lead-up marred by hubristic hype, visa rows and the eye-watering cost of buying tickets for games, for many people it will be a relief when Mexicofinallykick off against South Africa in the Estadio Azteca on Thursday evening.Do 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...

Outcome of polls in four states offers mixed signals about direction of two major parties before November's midterms

Outbreak driven by falling vaccination and misinformation as federal public health cuts hamper state responseThe US has recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases so far this year - near the total of 2,228 recorded in all of 2025, and on track to become the worst year for measles in decades as states struggle with the loss of federal funding for public health.The virus continues to spread in unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities, including among babies too young to be vaccinated, and it reveals the depths of the twin crises of misinformation and public health in the US. Continue reading...

A cycle of threat, detente and deadlock repeats itself wearisomely as the president's war in Iran drags on

Graham Platner, a Marine veteran, oyster farmer and progressive activist, has won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Maine. Platner won 72% of the vote, defeating the state governor, Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April but remained on the ballot. Platner received scrutiny during the campaign for old incendiary Reddit posts, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, sexually explicit messages sent to other women early in his marriage and accusations from a former girlfriend, denied by Platner, that he was physically intimidating. Platner will face the senator Susan Collins, a Republican running for a sixth six-year term, in November. The race is seen as a must-win for Democrats to take control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.

Australia, Turkey and Paraguay must be vigilant of a defender-heavy squad ready to bring Mauricio Pochettino's vision to life on the home stageThe opening salvo kicked off pitchside at Wembley - not between the Australian and USA World Cup teams, but between players turned pundits Mark Schwarzer and Mike Grella. The former Socceroos goalkeeper, with 109 caps on his CV, was on-hand for the EFL Championship promotion final and stationed alongside Grella, who had a fine career in MLS and the EFL but never cracked the USMNT. It's unlikely Schwarzer arrived with an axe to grind but he took umbrage with Grella's post-draw reaction that playing Australia was a lay-up" for the co-hosts.Host nations are always difficult to play against at any World Cup," Schwarzer said. We always knew the USA was going to be a tough, tough opponent. What we like to do is let our performances do the talking." Continue reading...

In an age of spiritual isolation, witches are forming covens that defy the oppressive natures of man and churchOn the floor of a sun-drenched room in a 200-year-old Irish estate, a group of 15 witches gather to commune with the spirits. Everyone has someone they want to talk to - dead ancestors, forest fairies, the witches who came before them - and the room has the same expectant charge as the first day of school. Some of the witches wear long black capes and bandannas. Some wear Columbia fleeces, spaghetti-strap tank tops and Adidas sneakers.Isabella Ferrari, known as Penny the Witch, guides the women as they make divination maps, sheets of paper covered with yeses" and nos" that work like Ouija boards: the witches ask their questions and the spirits guide the crystal pendulums in their hands towards the answer. One of the women, Tara Monte, screeches as her pendulum begins circling uncontrollably. Isabella, do I stop this? Someone really wants to talk to me." Later, she will confess she believes it was her archangel Michael letting her know yes, her parents were proud of her. Yes, they still loved her. Continue reading...

US inflation hits a three-year high in MayEuropean stock markets are taking a more decisive turn downwards now - the UK's FTSE 100 has fallen 0.5%. The German Dax is down 0.6% and the French Cac 40 is down 0.3%.The Europe Stoxx 600 is down 0.4%. Continue reading...

The president's immunity from continuing audits made fewer headlines than the anti-weaponization fund', but it's no less egregiousLast week, Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, told Congress that he was abandoning plans to establish a $1.8bn fund to compensate Donald Trump's political allies. The administration's attempt to use taxpayer money to pay people who claimed to have been unfairly prosecuted by the government - possibly including those convicted of violence during the January 6 Capitol riot that Trump incited - was too much for Senate Republicans.But Blanche, who served as Trump's personal lawyer before joining his administration, made another announcement that got far less attention than scrapping Trump's anti-weaponization fund": the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be barred from continuing audits into the president, his family and their affiliates". In other words, Trump secured something most Americans can only dream of: immunity from IRS audits of his past tax returns. Continue reading...

We're thinking about the crisis facing pollinators all wrong. And we've come to a crucial momentLast winter, commercial beekeepers lost more than 60% of their colonies - their worst losses on record. We tend to blame bee losses on separate, singular threats: pests, pesticides, habitat loss or extreme weather. But we've been thinking about bee losses wrong.The real culprit is our industrial food system. Continue reading...

The Monaco striker's impact on the US attack will vary depending on how the team builds up, and where that buildup happens Free newsletter | Daily podcast | Download our appSome strikers are gregarious personalities who ensure attention even when they struggle. Folarin Balogun prefers to speak softly and maintain a healthy goalscoring record. The 24-year-old has still been making himself known to his country of birth - he was born in New York but raised in London - after committing to the US over England and Nigeria. This past season, he finished fourth in Ligue 1 scoring with 13 goals, priming him for an emergent World Cup on home soil.Balogun's recruitment was closely monitored by US fans, desperate for a dependable goalscorer. Continue reading...

EV maker aims to overtake Toyota, as it plans to spend 1.8bn to build five-minute flash chargers in Europe

As a lifelong Knicks fan, the Public Enemy frontman knows how much New York craves an end to its 53-year NBA title droughtI didn't see the Knicks win their second championship in 1973 because I had to go to bed.That night, the Knicks beat the LA Lakers, but clinching game was on the west coast and it was a school night. I couldn't watch it. I was 13 and in seventh grade. Back then things were different. Today, 13-year-olds stay up to 5am. But I had to go to bed.Chuck D was talking to Jacob Uitti. Continue reading...

US president blames Tehran for loss of Apache gunship, whose crew were rescued by a drone near strait of Hormuz

The Ukraine and Iran wars are very different, but a common authoritarian delusion unites the men who started themA strongman president, self-styled redeemer of national glory, is trapped in a conflict he can't win but doesn't know how to end without looking like a loser. A cult of infallibility prevents the leader admitting a strategic blunder even to himself. It could be Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin; Iran or Ukraine.The conflicts and the regimes involved are also dissimilar in important ways. Russia's campaign to eradicate a neighbouring democracy is nastier in conception and bloodier in execution than the bungled US effort to dislodge a dictatorship in Tehran. It has also gone on much longer. The first world war was shorter than a special military operation" that was supposed to capture Kyiv within weeks. The Soviet Red Army repelled Nazi invasion and marched on Berlin in less time than it has taken Putin's forces to occupy a tranche of eastern Ukraine, and they are not making any significant advances. The war has burned trillions of roubles and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives for no discernible dividend in national greatness.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Exclusive: poll across 15 countries finds deep mistrust', with majority doubting US would come to their aid in an attackEuropean confidence in an American security guarantee" has hit a historic low, a survey suggests, with only one in 10 people across 15 countries seeing the US as an ally and majorities in all doubting it would come to their aid if they were attacked.The survey, published on Wednesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank before critical G7 and Nato summits in France and Turkey over the coming weeks, revealed deep European distrust in the US", the authors said. Continue reading...

Lieutenant governor and attorney general advance but result signals decisive defeat for controversial Nancy MaceDonald Trump-backed Pamela Evette, South Carolina's lieutenant governor, and Alan Wilson, the state's attorney general, have advanced to a runoff in a competitive race to represent the Republican party in South Carolina's gubernatorial election.The winner of the Republican primary is favored to win the closely watched general election, given South Carolina's conservative tilt, although Democrats are hoping to ride a wave of progressive enthusiasm to make political gains across the ticket. Continue reading...

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Experts worry Trump's administration - now stocked with loyalists and election deniers - may not stand up to attempts to sabotage upcoming elections - key US politics stories from Tuesday 9 June at a glanceDonald Trump is inventing fraud" in California's primary elections, and likely to ramp up unfounded allegations when more races go against him, pro-democracy experts have warned.Trump has repeatedly called the California results into question as ballot-counting continued in the country's most populous state. In the LA mayor's race, Trump said it was not possible" that the former reality TV star and registered Republican Spencer Pratt could have lost, despite the fact that LA is a deeply liberal city. Continue reading...

The ex-reality TV star, who lost his home in the Pacific Palisades fire, cast himself as the antidote to the city's woesSpencer Pratt, an ex-reality TV star, cast himself as the antidote to Los Angeles's woes as he campaigned to be the city's next mayor.He curried favor with swaths of disillusioned voters who related to his diatribes against city leadership. His fervent social media posts, including re-shares of AI-generated campaign ads showing LA in an apocalyptic light, garnered national attention. Continue reading...

Groff tells lawmakers I am not a conspirator' and that she had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes while working for himLesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime executive assistant, testified Tuesday before the House oversight and reform committee, telling lawmakers that she had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes while working for him.I believe that my testimony will dispel the false notion that because of my employment with Epstein, I must have knowingly enabled or conspired with him to commit his evil acts," Groff told lawmakers in her prepared opening remarks, obtained by the Guardian. Nothing could be further from the truth." Continue reading...

The man in charge the last time the US hosted the World Cup marvels at the transformation of football in America over the last 32 yearsThe Super Bowl-style half-time show curated by Chris Martin for the World Cup final will not be to everybody's tastes, but one octogenarian American will have a wry smile on his face when Madonna and Shakira walk out on to the pitch at MetLife Stadium next month.In his role as chair and chief executive of the 1994 World Cup, Alan Rothenberg wanted Whitney Houston to perform on the pitch at the final at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, only to be overruled by Fifa, who insisted that the singer stay on the sidelines. Continue reading...

Southern Poverty Law Center releases report as US government pursues federal fraud charges against groupA new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) finds hard-right groups have increasingly expanded their influence across the US government, which is pursuing a federal fraud case into the civil rights organization.Tuesday's report - which identified 1,263 hate and anti-government groups in operation throughout 2025 - comes less than two months after it was indicted by the government it says the hard right has infiltrated. Continue reading...

Decarlos Brown Jr to stay in custody while receiving treatment for remainder of case over Iryna Zarutska's deathThe man accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte commuter train in August has been found incompetent to stand trial in federal court for now, the US attorney's office for the western district of North Carolina said on Tuesday.Decarlos Brown Jr, 35, is accused of killing Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte light rail train in a case that drew national attention after a surveillance camera video depicting the violent attack was released. Continue reading...

Earthquake was region's strongest tremor in nearly 150 years and was also felt in parts of Mexico including CancunAn earthquake on Monday off the coast of Cuba, which was that region's strongest tremor in nearly 150 years, could be felt in Florida and parts of Mexico.The 6.1-magnitude earthquake, which struck in the afternoon, occurred approximately 65 miles (105km) north-west of Mantua, Cuba, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS added that the earthquake had a depth of 16 miles. Continue reading...

House report alleged governor and state attorney general knew of widespread taxpayer fraud' in social programs

We would like to hear from fans in New York and around the world about their reactions to the Knicks' performance in the NBA finalsThe New York Knicks are leading the NBA finals 2-1 against the San Antonio Spurs, much to the excitement of fans across the world. It's their first appearance in the playoff finals since 1999, when they lost the best-of-seven series to the very same Texas team.We would like to hear from New Yorkers and Knicks fans, both in the state and around the globe, about how they're feeling in this current moment. With the Knicks doing so well after so long, how are you celebrating? Are you still optimistic despite the Spurs' close win in Madison Square Garden on Monday? How are you feeling about the future? Continue reading...

National average gas price stands at about $4.16 per gallon as Americans grapple with price hikes sparked by the warDonald Trump has claimed US fuel prices are not very high, relatively speaking" as his administration grapples with affordability concerns after the surge in costs sparked by his war on Iran.The national average gas price stood at about $4.16 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA - $0.37 lower than a month ago, but still about $1 more expensive than the same time last year. Continue reading...

Shasta county has one of the state's highest rates of suicide and gun ownership. Here's how locals are trying to combat itLike many men in the mountainous California county of Shasta, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, Bill Rocha loved to hunt and fish, spending the infernal summers out on the lake in his boat. For decades he made his living as a contractor, working hard with his hands every day. And like many men in rural parts of the state, Bill was a gun owner. He had several hunting rifles, some of which he kept locked in a safe, and another firearm that he kept unlocked in his car.Kelly Rocha, his daughter, described him as extremely sociable, but in private things were starting to fray. She didn't know the extent of what her father was struggling with until she got a call one night in 2019. She had slept through two voicemails from her father's wife, but finally picked up when her own mother called. It was after midnight," recalled Kelly, who was then 43. She told me that my dad went out to his truck and killed himself." Continue reading...

Deal to create a streaming and sports powerhouse will be scrutinised by Competition and Markets AuthorityThe UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Paramount Skydance's $110bn (82bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).The deal will create a media powerhouse controlling assets including the Paramount and HBO Max streaming services, Channel 5 and TNT Sports, which broadcasts Champions League, Premier League and the Olympics, the Hollywood studios behind franchises including Superman, Batman and Top Gun, as well as HBO, home to shows including Game of Thrones, The White Lotus and Succession. Continue reading...

Reform had previously suggested Farage would be steering clear' of event, modelled on US conservative gathering

Pacoima is hemmed in by highways and heavy industry, and its residents are fighting pollution with hyperlocal air quality monitoringJose Luis Salas looks up at the ladder. Are you ready?" he asks Shance Taylor, an environmental project manager who's holding a white container, about the size of a shoebox, covered with wires and numbers.Taylor nods and climbs up to reach the side of Salas's tidy house in Pacoima, a neighborhood in Los Angeles's north-east San Fernando valley. The curious box in their hands is known as Aeroqual sensor - part of a community air-quality monitoring program run by Pacoima Beautiful, a local environmental group. Continue reading...

Rights groups and some locals worry that program to track illicit activity' could become a data collection projectThe Great Lakes have rarely ever been considered a hotbed of illicit drug activity or center for illegal immigration.But that hasn't stopped US government agencies and the company behind surveillance sailing drones from treating the region as such. The US Coast Guard recently announced it has launched an armada of at least six sailing drones in the Great Lakes this summer in an attempt to, in part, track illicit activity". Continue reading...

Nuvalent's late-stage lung cancer treatments zidesamtinib and neladalkib are expected to launch later this year

Suspect, charged with driving while impaired, was eventually captured and arrested with injuries to his armsAn alligator inserted itself into a police pursuit in south-eastern Louisiana, chasing and attacking an allegedly impaired driver who tried to evade law enforcement by leaping into a swamp.The suspect, a 40-year-old man, was eventually captured and arrested with injuries to both arms. Deputy body-worn camera footage of the alligator swimming at speed towards the man and thrashing with him in the water was posted on YouTube by local CBS News affiliate and Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana. Continue reading...

Attorney Dan Cogdell backs Paxton's Democratic opponent and says the Republican is too focused on appeasing TrumpA lawyer who represented Ken Paxton, Texas's attorney general, for nearly a decade over accusations of corruption and securities fraud is supporting Democrat James Talarico - and not his former client - in one of the biggest US Senate races.Talarico on Monday drew attention to his campaign winning the endorsement of Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who was part of Paxton's defense team during the Republican's historic impeachment trial in 2023 that ended in acquittal. Continue reading...

The climate phenomenon is intensifying an already unequal global economy Continue reading...