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We have no idea how many people have been killed in Gaza but I would bet my own life that the number is far higher than the 60,000 number the media usesHow many people have been killed by Israel in Gaza since 7 October 2023?It's an almost impossible question to answer but, as the likes of the New York Times publish atrocity-minimizing op-eds that argue Israel hasn't killed all that many people really - certainly not as many people as it could kill if it wanted to with all the big-boy bombs US taxpayers have helped fund - it's an increasingly important issue to grapple with. The first question the anti-Israel genocide chorus needs to answer is: Why isn't the death count higher?" Brett Stephens asked in his recent New York Times op-ed. Here's the thing, Brett. It almost certainly is.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The 18-year-old wildcard stunned Osaka, Gauff, Rybakina and Kenin to win her first WTA 1000 title - and rocket from obscurity into the world's top 25Canada was still catching its collective breath from Summer McIntosh's record-breaking swims when 18-year-old Victoria Mboko grabbed the spotlight at the National Bank Open and never let go.In front of a sold-out crowd in Montreal, the 85th-ranked Canadian wildcard finished her Cinderella title run on Thursday night by beating former world No 1 Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her first WTA Tour title. Prolonged cheers for Mboko interrupted play 30 minutes into the men's final being played concurrently 330 miles west in her hometown of Toronto. Continue reading...

The president has tried to distract from the Epstein story - but his ill-conceived Mar-a-Lago tale has undermined himOne of Trump's preternatural abilities is his apparent animal instinct to lie on the spot whenever he senses he might be cornered. His initial Pavlovian training by his mob lawyer Roy Cohn and subsequent experience in more than 4,000 lawsuits and countless scandals seem to have ingrained in him that lying, the more outrageous the better, buys him time, plays to his credulous followers as insouciant defiance, and wears down his accusers.When Trump's distractions failed to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein files, he offered a story without missing a beat to distance himself from any taint. In his tale, he was traduced by Epstein. Trump was taken advantage of, violated, despoiled. There could be no guilt by association; Trump was a victim, too. Continue reading...

American track athletes have not dominated the Paralympics in the way they have the Olympics. More money and commitment is neededAlthough he came up just short in one of the most thrilling events of last weekend's US Track and Field Outdoor Championships, Miguel Jimenez-Vergara could still take satisfaction in a crowd-pleasing performance.Competing for the first time at the famous Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the 24-year-old waged a tense tactical war over 5000m with the US's fastest wheelchair racers. Entering the final lap, Jimenez-Vergara vaporized a tightly packed field with a ferocious acceleration that energized the crowd. Only one competitor could rise to the challenge: reigning Paralympic gold medalist Daniel Romanchuk. Jimenez-Vergara still led by a wheel as they rocketed through the final turn at more than 20 mph; Romanchuk caught him in the final 50m and won by a tenth of a second.Larry Borowsky is the editor of Amplitude, a national lifestyle magazine for amputees. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The global scientific community is reeling after the US announced sweeping cuts to vaccine research, reigniting fears that misinformation is driving critical health policyGood morning. You may have heard a saying along the lines that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold". So when the US health department announced plans to cut half a billion dollars in vaccine research funding on Wednesday, the world took notice.The US is the world's largest funder of biomedical research, but this position has become more precarious with the appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime vaccine sceptic, as US health secretary.Israel-Gaza war | Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his security cabinet had approved a plan to take over Gaza City after the prime minister earlier said Israel planned to take full control of the Palestinian territory. The decision early on Friday marks another escalation of Israel's offensive in Gaza. Follow developments liveUkraine | Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of an expected meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that Europe must participate in the peace process between Ukraine and Russia. As the Kremlin refused a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy and Trump, the Ukrainian president said: Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side."Economy | The chancellor and prime minister will begin to foreshadow tax rises and reforms from September to prepare the country for a difficult budget that could be held in November, the Guardian has been told. A rise in gambling levies - advocated by Gordon Brown - is thought to be near-guaranteed as part of the package of tax rises.UK news | Amnesty International has warned the Met police against arresting participants protesting this Saturday in London in support of Palestine Action.Labour | The UK homelessness minister, Rushanara Ali, resigned after it emerged she evicted tenants from her east London property before increasing the rent by almost 700 a month. Continue reading...

Brandon Russell, founder of neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, was convicted of plotting to blow up Baltimore power gridThe founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland's power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs.Brandon Russell, 30, was convicted by a jury earlier this year. Prosecutors presented evidence detailing his longstanding affiliation with white supremacist causes and his recent efforts to organize sniper attacks" on electrical substations around Baltimore. Continue reading...

Police say 61-year-old man attacked his neighbour and then fired dozens of rounds at emergency workers responding to the attackA 61-year-old man shot and killed his neighbor in rural Pennsylvania on Thursday and then ambushed responding state troopers, wounding two and shooting down a drone while firing dozens of rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, police said. The attacker was killed by police.The boyfriend of the woman who was killed, Lori Wasko, called 911 from their home near Thompson, in Susquehanna county, to report that shots had been fired, state police Col. Christopher Paris told reporters. Police did not say why Carmine Faino decided to kill 57-year-old Wasko outside her home and then fire at responding troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins. Continue reading...

Decision to alter Ohio river flow made solely by agents', the security agency said in a statementA spokesperson for JD Vance said he and his staff were unaware that the Secret Service decided earlier this month to ask military engineers to raise the water level of the Little Miami River ahead of a family boating trip, which took place on his birthday.The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the vice-president or his staff, as was the case last weekend," the spokesperson said.Do you have a tip related to this story? You can contact the Guardian via Signal on +1 646 886 8761 Continue reading...

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries accuses Trump administration of attempting to weaponize law enforcement to target political adversaries'

Nicolas Maduro was indicted in 2020 on federal charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaineThe Trump administration is doubling to $50m a reward for the arrest of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world's largest narcotraffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes," Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said on Thursday in a video statement announcing the reward. Continue reading...

Brazil calls duties unacceptable blackmail' as other seek talks with US; Trump contradicts reports Putin meeting Zelenskyy was precondition of US-Russia summit. Key US politics stories from Thursday 7 August 2025Leaders all over the world were attempting to put contingencies in place after Trump's tariff threats turned to reality at a minute past midnight Washington time on Thursday.The Brazilian government said it was planning a state aid plan for companies affected while its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, called the duties unacceptable blackmail". Continue reading...

John Cornyn claims FBI agreed to help return Democrats to state, sparking backlash amid GOP map pushDemocrats harshly criticized Donald Trump and Republicans after a US senator said the FBI had agreed to assist in locating Texas Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block Republicans from enacting a gerrymandered congressional map that would likely add five more Republican seats before next year's midterm elections.Senator John Cornyn's claim that the FBI would assist Republicans' effort could not be independently confirmed. The FBI declined to comment. An administration official told NBC News this week the government did not plan on using federal agents to arrest Texas lawmakers and a federal law enforcement official told the outlet that as of Thursday morning, the agency had not assisted with trying to locate the lawmakers. None of the lawmakers have been charged with a crime. Continue reading...

Experts say allowing alternative assets like cryptocurrency in 401(k) portfolios carries a high degree of riskDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to allow cryptocurrency and other alternative assets like private equity and real estate to be included in the investments in 401(k) retirement accounts.The order smooths the way for fund managers to tap into trillions of dollars of Americans' retirement savings. It could open up a vast new funding source to managers of so-called alternative assets outside stocks, bonds and cash, though critics say it also could bring too much risk into retirement investments. Such a move would be a boon for big alternative asset managers by opening the $12tn market for retirement funds, known as defined contribution plans, to their investments. Continue reading...

If approved by the Senate, Stephen Miran will fill seat vacated by Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointeeDonald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve's board of governors for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment.Trump said he has named Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House's council of economic advisers, to fill a seat vacated by Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday as governor. Miran, if approved by the Senate, will serve until 31 January 2026. Continue reading...

Move requires colleges and universities to prove they do not consider race in admissionsDonald Trump signed an executive action on Thursday forcing colleges and universities to submit data to prove they do not consider race in admissions, as the White House intensifies its scrutiny of higher education institutions that receive federal funding.The Trump administration is accusing colleges of using personal statements and other proxies in order to consider race, despite a 2023 supreme court ruling reversing affirmative action, as part of its wider attack on diversity-, inclusion- and equality-related initiatives at American institutions. Continue reading...

Texas House Democrats left the state to break quorum to try to stop Republicans from drawing new congressional maps that add as many as five seats for the GOPAt the insistence of Donald Trump, Republicans in Texas are pushing ahead with an effort to redraw their congressional map to pick up as many as five additional Republican seats.The decision has set off a cascading legal battle. State lawmakers have fled Texas as part of an effort to stop Republicans from passing the map. Democrats in other states have said they will retaliate, setting the stage for a nasty and prolonged redistricting tit-for-tat that could last for years. Continue reading...

Temporary halt for facility in Florida Everglades comes as attorneys argue whether environmental laws being violatedA coalition of conservation groups has welcomed a federal judge's ruling on Thursday that halts construction work on the immigration jail in the Florida Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz.US district judge Kathleen Williams ordered workers to stop adding any new paving, infrastructure or ground filling at the remote tented detention camp that the Trump administration intends to use to eventually hold 3,000 immigrants awaiting deportation. Continue reading...

Move targets trans air force members with 15-18 years of service and forces them out of US military with no benefitsThe US air force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with 15-18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters.These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or be forced out, with corresponding lump-sum payments as they walk out the door, the 4 August memo says.Focus on the benefits you do retain (GI Bill, VA benefits, experience)"Emphasize this doesn't reflect on your service or character"Military & Family Readiness can provide counseling resources" Continue reading...

Intel share price drops after US president accuses Lip-Bu Tan of links to Chinese Communist partyDonald Trump has called on Intel's chief executive to resign, alleging Lip-Bu Tan had ties to the Chinese Communist party, sending the stock of the US chipmaker falling.The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately," Trump posted on Truth Social about Tan. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!" Continue reading...

Industry representatives warn of job losses and say decision could be nail in the coffin' for those exporting to the US

Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the healthcare conglomerate on Thursday citing a Guardian investigation

Six soldiers awarded medal after subduing Sgt Quornelius Radford who is accused of shooting five fellow officersHalf a dozen soldiers at a Georgia army base have been awarded medals for tackling an armed assailant accused of shooting five people and then giving aid to their wounded colleagues, three of whom have now been released from hospital.Sgt Quornelius Radford, 28, who was assigned to Fort Stewart, is accused of using a personal handgun to shoot five of his fellow soldiers on Wednesday before he was quickly tackled by other troops. Army officials would not speculate about a motive. Continue reading...

Fort Bliss could be largest US immigration detention facility as White House moves to use military bases for crackdown

Census has historically counted all residents regardless of citizenship status, as required by the 14th amendmentDonald Trump announced on Thursday that he has ordered the commerce department to conduct a new census that would exclude undocumented immigrants from the official count.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the census would be based on modern day facts and figures" and use results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024". He added that people who are in our country illegally will not be counted". Continue reading...

Broad language could allow cities to lock up unhoused people as aid is cut and housing costs soar, experts warnDonald Trump's executive order that pushes local governments to remove unhoused people from the streets will exacerbate the issues already facing people who have unstable housing, mental health conditions and substance use disorders - and the vague wording could be used for wider action, experts say.It's one of the most harmful things to happen to folks who live outside in decades. It is not going to help anybody," said Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center. Continue reading...

Cuomo also used the moment to attack Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over Hamas and defend himself in a NewsNation segmentThe US television host Chris Cuomo has been pilloried for falling for a clearly marked parody AI video of the congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.On Wednesday Cuomo, a host on NewsNation and formerly of CNN, took to Instagram to share a video that was prominently watermarked as a deepfake" video, made using AI technology. It depicted a fake Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arguing on the floor of Congress that a recent Sydney Sweeney ad, which advertised her great jeans", was racist. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking accomplice was sent to a minimum security facility after meeting a top DoJ official who is Trump's ex-attorney - experts say this is not the end'When Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred to a minimum security prison camp last week, despite being convicted of sex trafficking for Jeffrey Epstein, her move fueled ever-growing speculation about authorities' handling of the late financier's crimes.For many, the timing of Maxwell's sudden relocation from a Florida penitentiary to a Texas lockup known for its more campus feel and celebrity inmates was especially suspect - with two Epstein victims reportedly describing the event as a cover-up". Continue reading...

Vance Boelter, charged with killing top Democrat and her husband and wounding two others, to be arraigned in federal courtThe man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota house and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is expected to plead not guilty when he's arraigned in federal court on Thursday, his attorney said.Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted on 15 July on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. Continue reading...

Latest wave of US levies has left governments around the world racing to try to reach deals to avoid job losses. Plus, former Superman actor Dean Cain says he is becoming an Ice agent

Authors have been imagining societal collapse for decades - but could the reality be as dreadful as they think?The man who claimed to have coined the word survivalist" called himself Kurt Saxon. The sinister godfather of survivalism was actually born Donald Eugene Sisco, a former journalist who spent the 1960s floating between far-right groups in California before deciding that none of them were serious enough. Sisco's passion for making his own bombs, which he advocated using on student demonstrators, cost him the fingers of his left hand. He liked to say that he was the reincarnation of a soul whose previous lives included a Roman legionary, a Nazi stormtrooper and the revolutionary philosopher Thomas Paine.Survivalism, or prepping, is experiencing a boom, from Silicon Valley billionaires to users of the Reddit board r/collapse. Elon Musk's entire career, for example, has been partly driven by apocalypse anxieties and his conviction that he alone can save the human race (details to be confirmed). The scenarios vary - climate catastrophe, renegade AI, another pandemic, nuclear war between authoritarian regimes - as do the responses. Some claim to be making rational preparations to survive in the event of civilisational collapse, while others seem unnervingly keen to see the world turned upside down. This can feel like a very 21st-century obsession, stoked by online conspiracy theories and the doomerism produced by 24/7 news, but Sisco was pioneering the doom business 50 years ago. Continue reading...

Elizabeth Warren and others pen letter over alleged plan to divert funds from nuclear arsenal to convert jet into Air Force OneLeading Democrats are sounding the alarm over Donald Trump's reported plan to divert funds from the US nuclear arsenal to convert a luxury jet gifted by Qatar into a new Air Force One.The US president provoked an outcry in May when it emerged that he would accept a $400m Boeing 747-8 jet as a free gift from the Qatari royal family. Stripping down and securing the plane so it can transport Trump for a few years will cost taxpayers an estimated $1bn. Continue reading...

Experts say settlements worth hundreds of millions will further embolden US president's use of coercive tactics'With the Trump administration's campaign to reshape US higher education in full swing, some top universities have agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle antisemitism claims; others may soon spend more and submit to major restrictions on their autonomy to avoid billions in funding cuts and other crippling measures.The University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Brown University have reached settlements with the government in the past month, seeing millions in federal funding restored in exchange for adopting measures that advocates warn severely undermine their independence. Columbia also agreed to pay more than $220m to settle antisemitism allegations, including an employment discrimination claim that may qualify any Jewish employee who has allegedly experienced antisemitism to get a payout. Continue reading...

Advertising group halves interim dividend after pre-tax profit plunges to 98m in first half of its financial year

Trying to rationalize Maxwell's actions evades what is truly terrifying about the dark center of the Epstein sagaDays after Ghislaine Maxwell met with the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, the convicted child sex trafficker and longtime Jeffrey Epstein girlfriend and procurer was moved from a women's federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, to a so-called prison camp" in Texas, a dramatically more comfortable minimum-security environment with dormitory-style housing and fewer guards, sometimes called Club Fed".Maxwell's new camp primarily houses nonviolent offenders, and the inmates there are reportedly livid, and probably not a little bit frightened, to be imprisoned with one of the world's most notorious sex traffickers and alleged rapists. Maxwell, too, was not initially eligible for such a transfer, due to her sex offender status; connections at the Department of Justice had to waive a procedural requirement in order for the move to go through. Continue reading...

The president, who made his money in construction, takes on one of the biggest White House projects in over a centurySir, why are you up on the roof?"The question was shouted by a reporter on Tuesday as Donald Trump scaled new heights at the White House. The US president explained that he was scoping out a new ballroom and boasted: Just another way to spend my money for this country." Continue reading...

Umaymah Mohammad sued the Atlanta university, alleging discrimination during disciplinary hearings over her remarks about Israel and GazaUmaymah Mohammad, perhaps the only student in the US to be suspended from medical school for remarks about Israel and Gaza, has filed a federal lawsuit against Atlanta's Emory University, alleging discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as additional complaints under state law.The lawsuit, filed on Monday morning in federal district court on Mohammad's behalf by the Council on Islamic-American Relations in Georgia (Cair-Ga), centers on Emory's alleged intentional discrimination and retaliation" during disciplinary proceedings against the medical-sociology dual degree student last year. It names the university, its board of trustees and John William Eley, a dean at the medical school, as defendants. Continue reading...

In difficult races, Democrats are leaning into economic populism with promising resultsAs Democrats continue to sift through the wreckage of the 2024 election, one truth should be impossible to ignore: they are bleeding support among working-class voters and Donald Trump's stumbles alone will not save them. From Black and Latino men to young and low-income voters, Trump's re-election made it clear that working Americans increasingly feel alienated from the Democratic party.Democrats today might not be as sanguine about sidelining the working class as Chuck Schumer was before the 2016 election, when he claimed that for every blue-collar voter Democrats lost, they could pick up two college-educated Republicans. But it's clear that many Democrats still don't see winning back working-class voters as essential - either to defeat Maga or to build durable, majoritarian progressive coalitions for the future. Continue reading...

Commissioner Gary Bettman and Panthers captain Matthew Tkachuk are on the US president's sports council. It's hardly a sign of social progressDiverse representation within inclusive environments is proven to advance innovation, creativity, and decision-making - all of which are critically important to the growth of the sport and our business," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in his introduction to the NHL's first - and only, so far - diversity and inclusion report, which it released in 2022. Recognizing these facts, we are working to better understand and accelerate our engagement across all layers of diversity - including nationality, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and religion - and their nuances and intersections," Bettman continued.Last week, Bettman was named alongside NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, Florida Panthers' captain Matthew Tkachukx6x and various representatives of other sports as a member of Donald Trump's sports council. The council will be responsible for - among other things - playing an important role in restoring tradition to college athletics, including ... keeping men out of women's sports." Not what you'd call an opportunity for Bettman et al to gain a better understanding of the nuances of gender identity, by the sounds of it. Continue reading...

Self-help homilies seem out of place in this era of Starmer and Trump. In fact, applied to government, they can offer new solutions for global problemsIf there is one thing that has marked the first year of Keir Starmer's premiership, it is a propensity for control - whether it's managing his own party, cracking down on civil liberties and protest, or instilling fear and anxiety in marginalised groups. For a centre-left party, the authoritarian strain Starmer has shown isn't exactly in line with the change" from the Tories that was promised.Governments seek to control populations, politicians seek to control their parties: this is nothing new and has been explicitly promoted since Machiavelli's The Prince was published in 1532. When leaders understand holding power as an end in itself, and see the method as controlling those they have power over, they block themselves from being able to bring about real change, because not losing control" becomes more important than any change they seek to create. And attempting to tightly control outcomes is ill suited to an increasingly complex and unstable world.Fran Boait is a leadership coach, freelancer and writer Continue reading...

Mark Raymond Gibbon, in US on holiday, charged with attempted second-degree murder and batteryA British man has been charged by US police with the attempted murder of his daughter-in-law after allegedly trying to drown her in a swimming pool while on holiday, local authorities have said.Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, allegedly tried to drown the 33-year-old woman after they had an argument about his grandchildren in their rental home at the Solterra Resort in Davenport, Florida, on Sunday, the Polk county sheriff, Grady Judd, said on X. Continue reading...

We won't deepen our understanding of the Holocaust with vanity projects like Juergen Teller's misguided new workTo say that a picture speaks a thousand words might no longer ring true. As images proliferate at an unprecedented rate online, they risk losing their meaning, especially as AI poses a growing threat to the truth of what we see. We might ask why images of the relentless killing and devastation in Gaza, there for all to see, have not yet halted the slaughter of Palestinians.Into this situation comes Juergen Teller, enfant terrible" of 1990s fashion photography, who has produced a coffee-table book about the Nazis' concentration and extermination camp in Auschwitz. This goes some way beyond his usual remit. Teller is known for his knack for making pretty things look ugly, as a shorthand for authenticity", associated with the grunge aesthetic and so-called heroin chic", which made him the most in-demand fashion photographer of his era. Continue reading...

Ground stops were issued nationwide including at hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark and San FranciscoUnited Airlines has said a technology issue that led to the grounding of flights for a few hours and major delays across its network in the US has been resolved.While we expect residual delays, our team is working to restore our normal operations," the airline said in a statement late on Wednesday. Continue reading...

President's plan expected to increase cost of electronics and household goods but US-produced chips to be exemptDonald Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on foreign computer chips, likely raising the cost of electronics, autos, household appliances and other goods deemed essential for the digital age.We'll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors," Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook. But if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge." Continue reading...

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Trump may meet Putin as early as next week to discuss the war in Ukraine, White House officials have said - key US politics stories from 6 August 2025US president Donald Trump may meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as early as next week to discuss the war in Ukraine, White House officials have said.The development comes as senior administration officials have also warned that serious impediments" remain to achieving a ceasefire. Continue reading...