by George Chidi in Atlanta, Ed Pilkington in Johnstow on (#6YXRK)
New revelations about Trump's relationship with late sex offender dominate the news, yet many Trump boosters say they're overblownIt has united luminaries of the far right, from media personality Tucker Carlson to activist Laura Loomer, from tech billionaire Elon Musk to congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Typically unwavering in support of Donald Trump, all have criticised his administration's handling of files about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.But in towns and cities across the US, a more complicated and nuanced picture emerges, serving as a reminder that - like any other political constituency - Trump voters are not a monolith. Continue reading...
The US and EU announced a trade framework on Sunday after a meeting between President Donald Trump and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement comes before a Trump administration deadline to impose tariffs on Friday
Several passersby were seen yelling throw it away' and get on the ground' to a knife-wielding man now in custodySeveral passersby helped apprehend a knife-wielding suspect who stabbed 11 people at a Walmart in Michigan, video has revealed.Footage circulating on social media showed several citizens in Traverse City confronting a 42-year old man outside the supermarket on Saturday during the attack. Among the people confronting the suspect included an armed citizen who could be seen pointing his gun at the man. Continue reading...
American Medical Association writes to health secretary after reports he aims to overhaul taskforce for being woke'A top US medical body has expressed deep concern" to Robert F Kennedy Jr over news reports that the health secretary plans to overhaul a panel that determines which preventive health measures including cancer screenings should be covered by insurance companies.The letter from the the American Medical Association comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Kennedy plans to overhaul the 40-year old US Preventive Services Task Force because he regards them as too woke", according to sources familiar with the matter. Continue reading...
Another Republican says it should be on table, illustrating challenge posed by scandal for Maga base and the partyThe US House speaker, Mike Johnson, said on Sunday he would have great pause" about granting a pardon or commutation to Ghislaine Maxwell while another House Republican said it should be considered as part of an effort to obtain more information about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.Donald Trump and his allies, including Johnson, have been under immense pressure to disclose more information about Epstein for weeks, especially amid scrutiny over the extent of Trump's relationship with Epstein. The splits over what to do with Maxwell illustrate the complicated challenge posed by the scandal for Trump, his Maga base and the broader Republican party. Continue reading...
Mayoral candidate's ties to NYC's democratic socialists may have aided his primary win - but can the group overcome critique from Democrats?Was it his charisma, communication skills or his captivating short-form videos? His high-profile endorsements or his clothing style? These elements were said to have contributed to Zohran Mamdani's record-setting success in New York's June mayoral primary.But another major factor in his win may have been his ties to the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Continue reading...
Police investigate death of Ke'Torrius Starkes Jr, three, who was left inside car by contractor for state human resourcesAn investigation has been triggered after a three-year-old boy died after being left in a hot car by a contractor for the state human resources department in Alabama.Ke'Torrius Starkes Jr, who was in foster care, had been picked up in the late morning on Tuesday by the worker after a supervised visit with his father, the New York Times reported. He was supposed to be transported to a daycare program by a worker for the department, which oversees child protection other social services. Continue reading...
The Trump baby account will be good for beer money when your kids are in college. Don't neglect to fund better plansThere's Trump Mobile, $Trump coins, Trump watches, Trump sneakers and now ... the Trump baby savings accounts! Will it be popular? As a financial adviser, I'm not so sure.The Trump IRA (or individual retirement account) was established as a part of the recently passed big, beautiful bill" and aims to help young people save. Parents and employers can annually contribute up to $5,000 into an account for their kids who are under the age of 18. Within limits, the contributions are not taxed to the employee and employers even receive a deduction. Continue reading...
A man and a woman were found dead at Devil's Den state park as police seek a white male suspectTwo people were found dead along a walking trail in a state park in Arkansas, authorities said on Sunday.A 43-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were found dead at Devil's Den state park in Washington county, according to the Arkansas state police. Its criminal investigation unit is handling what it calls a suspected homicide". Continue reading...
Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend knows where the bodies are buried', his lawyer says, but her previous testimony may count against herEarly one afternoon in April 2016, Ghislaine Maxwell got so angry that she struck a table.Maxwell, who was facing a defamation lawsuit from the late Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre Roberts, was being deposed by attorneys and seemed to grow incensed during questioning. Continue reading...
Everything the US president does is for money - and in serving his avarice, he's managed to triumph over the marketDonald Trump embodies dealmaking as the essence of a particular form of entrepreneurship. Every deal begins with his needs and every deal feeds his wants. He thus appears to be like other super-rich people: seemingly bottomlessly greedy, chasing the next buck as if it is the last buck, even when they have met every criterion of satiation.But Trump is different, because his brand of greed harks back to an idea of leadership that is primarily about adversarial dealmaking, rather than about innovation or improved managerial techniques. Trump's entire career is built on deals, and his own narcissism is tied up with dealmaking. This is because of his early socialization into his father's real-estate dealings in and around New York. Real estate in the United States, unlike the money-making modes of super-rich individuals in other countries, relies on deals based on personal reputation, speculation on future asset values, and the ability to launder spotty career records. Profits and losses over time can be hard to identify and quantify precisely, as Trump's auditors and opponents have often confirmed, since profits, which depend on speculation and unknown future value, are by definition uncertain. Continue reading...
American Airlines evacuated passengers using slides amid signs of a fire underneath the plane, the FAA saysOne person was injured after a plane in Denver aborted its takeoff and evacuated those on board using its emergency slide, authorities reported.The Federal Aviation Administration said that a possible landing gear incident" hit the American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the slides were deployed amid signs of a fire underneath the plane. Continue reading...
The big, beautiful' bill will cut more than $1tn from the health plan, with rural hospitals feeling the brunt of itThe road to four struggling rural hospitals now hosts a political message: If this hospital closes, blame Trump."In a series of black-and-yellow billboards erected near the facilities, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) seeks to tell voters in deep red states who is responsible for gutting rural healthcare". Continue reading...
Every day brings more devastation. But daily forms of rebellion can restore our sense of purposeThe exterminating force of Project 2025 is plowing through the culture, the government and people's hearts and bodies like a drunk on a violent tear. We wake each morning, holding our breath to bear witness to the new devastation: PBS and NPR defunded, cuts to the fight against human trafficking, Medicaid gone for millions, Ice working to surveil critics, tons of food for the poor ordered burned and wasted.The momentum of cruelty always feels inevitable. Cruelty is by definition a callous indifference to or pleasure in causing pain". For those of us who have suffered physical, political, racial and emotional abuse, it feels like a familiar steamroller of violence. We only have to witness the cries of parents being separated from their children, men screaming out for libertad" from cages in Everglades detention center (AKA Alligator Alcatraz), non-violent protesters beaten for trying to stop a genocide, to be frozen in that same incapacitating dread and fear.V (formerly Eve Ensler) is a playwright and activist and the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls Continue reading...
While the Wall Street Journal cast a stone against the president, Fox News is more than making up for itIn the wake of new revelations regarding the friendship of Donald Trump and disgraced and deceased billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, Rupert Murdoch's media empire has both poured gasoline on to the story and come to Trump's loyal defense. Experts say that, much like the broader Maga movement, the Epstein affair is testing Trump and Murdoch's mostly chummy relationship.To think, only months ago, at Jimmy Carter's funeral, Barack Obama and Donald Trump were laughing together in the pews. Continue reading...
Jobs, homes, kids, retirement - some say instability worsened under Trump is forcing them to postpone it allAmericans are getting married, having kids, buying a home, and retiring years later than what once was the norm. Many don't ever reach these milestones.While there is a complex web of factors that go into decisions like having kids or buying a house, a person's financial situation often plays an major role. In a May Harris/Guardian poll, six out of 10 Americans said that the economy had affected at least one of their major life goals, because of either a lack of affordability or anxiety about where the economy is heading. Continue reading...
Was I surprised by reports that tourists are being ripped off in France? LOL, non! But there are ways to minimise the riskWhen an investigation into the tricks of Parisian waiters found that foreign tourists were being ripped off, all I could think was, Quelle surprise!" Anyone who has stared in shock at a bill for a citron presse and an espresso near the Boulevard St Germain - as I did on one of my recent visits - will no doubt join me in a feeling of vindication. Undercover journalists for Le Parisien, posing as cafe punters around the Champ de Mars, have discovered that foreign tourists are being charged as much as 50% more than French customers, using a variety of tricks including only offering bottled water or more expensive drinks, being told service isn't included when it is, and swapping the wine ordered for the cheapest on the menu.As a former waitress in the French capital, I'm someone who has been on both sides of this conflict. Before I left home, at 18, to move there, my mother warned me of the tourist tax", having visited with my father in the mid-1980s and noted the suspicious fiver that seemed to appear on all their bills. As a result, I was slightly on guard whenever I was en terrasse, always making sure to ask for tap water and quibbling anything that didn't look right. Then I became a waitress myself.Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Donald Trump also criticises European leaders on immigration ahead of crunch meeting with Ursula von der Leyen. Key US politics stories from 26 July 2025Donald Trump spent the night at his family-owned golf resort in Scotland but took time to criticise European leaders over wind turbines and immigration, claiming there won't be a Europe unless they get their act together".I say two things to Europe. Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries. I really mean it, it's so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds," he said. Continue reading...
Hospital says six people in a critical condition after stabbing at Traverse City storeAt least 11 people were stabbed at a Walmart in Traverse City, with six people in a critical condition, Michigan authorities said.About 4.45pm on Saturday, a 42-year-old man allegedly entered the store and used a folding knife to stab 11 people, the Grand Traverse county sheriff's office said, adding that it appeared to have been a random act of violence. Continue reading...
Joseph Czuba sentenced to 53 years for murder of Wadee Alfayoumi and wounding of mother in October 2023A landlord jailed for decades after he attacked a Palestinian American boy and his mother has died.Three months ago, Joseph Czuba was sentenced to 53 years behind bars for the attack. He was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen. Continue reading...
LA county sheriff's deputies died when one of two military-style' grenades detonated at police training complexA grenade is missing from the scene of an explosion that killed three people at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility, authorities said.Three veteran deputy sheriffs died in the explosion last Friday, the LA county sheriff's department's largest loss of life in a single incident since 1857. Continue reading...
Venezuelans back home under Maduro-Trump deal tell of isolation, beatings and dirty water - a living nightmare'Venezuelans that the Trump administration expelled to El Salvador's most notorious megaprison endured state-sanctioned torture", lawyers for some of the men have said, as more stories emerge about the horrors they faced during capacity.When Jose Manuel Ramos Bastidas - one of 252 Venezuelan men that the US sent to El Salvador's most notorious mega-prison - finally made it back home to El Tocuyo on Tuesday, the first thing he did was stretch his arms around his family. Continue reading...
Department of government efficiency' is proposing to use tool to cut 50% of federal regulations by JanuaryThe department of government efficiency" (Doge) is using artificial intelligence to create a delete list" of federal regulations, according to a report, proposing to use the tool to cut 50% of regulations by the first anniversary of Donald Trump's second inauguration.The Doge AI Deregulation Decision Tool" will analyze 200,000 government regulations, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Post, and select those which it deems to be no longer required by law. Continue reading...
Lawyers say grand jury transcripts might not provide much insight compared with documents still held by FBI and DoJAs Donald Trump reels from political fallout related to his justice department's handling of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, the US president has directed his loyal attorney general, Pam Bondi, to release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to court approval".It is an effort at damage control for a White House now engulfed in endless speculation - especially among Trump's previously devoted Maga base - about the extent of Trump's relationship with the late, disgraced sex trafficker and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019. Continue reading...
Ron DeSantis said most of the detainees were transferred to other facilities, and 100 deported from the USFlorida has begun deporting people from the notorious Alligator Alcatraz" detention camp, the state's governor said, and deportations are expected to increase in the coming weeks.At a press conference at the controversial facility, Ron DeSantis said hundreds of illegals have been removed" from the facility. He later clarified that most of those were flown from Alligator Alcatraz to other detention facilities in the US. DeSantis, who has built a political career on his anti-immigration views, said 100 people had been deported from the US. Continue reading...
The controversy may deal the president a serious political blow - or will his distraction machine overcome the odds once again?Brrrr. Brrrr. Brrrrrrr. That's the sound of Donald's Trump's distraction machine, which has been running at full power as the president tries his best to stop us all from talking about Jeffrey Epstein. Or, to be more specific, from talking about just how chummy he was with the dead paedophile.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Ursula von der Leyen will meet with US president on Sunday, who describes 20 sticking points' in negotiationsIntensive negotiations were continuing on Saturday between the EU and the US before a crunch meeting in Scotland between Donald Trump and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to avert a costly trade war.Trump spent the night at his family-owned Turnberry golf resort on a private visit, but took time to criticise European leaders over wind turbines and immigration, claiming there won't be a Europe unless they get their act together". Continue reading...
It's good to welcome strangers, but some strangers are stranger than others. Welcomes come in all shapes and sizes tooAs an American comedian living in Scotland, I'm often asked: Krystal, why don't you talk about Trump more on stage? I'll bet that subject is rife for comedy!" Yesterday he was in Washington, today the schedule says Scotland. I know this visit isn't a personal attack on me, but woo boy, it sure does feel like it. I live in Edinburgh. But I didn't come to Scotland so I could be around the most annoying, unhinged, rich Americans in existence.There are many reasons I don't tend to talk about Donald Trump that much on stage. For one, that 10 to 20 seconds in the morning before I remember who occupies the position of president of the United States is honestly the best part of my day. And those few precious moments I savour will not be present for me over the next four days, because the aura of Trump's presence will permeate my consciousness, not to mention all the major news outlets, with everyone giving their very strong opinions on this man who has managed to inflame humanity more than anyone in all of our collective living memory. And what's more, he doesn't seem to care.Krystal Evans is an American comedian who lives in Scotland. Her latest show, A Star is Burnt, is at the Edinburgh festival fringe 2025 Continue reading...
The university's agreement reveals its willingness to bend to the administration's will and undermines an American mythOne of the chauvinistic, self-glorifying myths of American liberalism is that the US has especially strong institutions. In this story, trotted out occasionally since 2016 to reassure those who are worried about Donald Trump's influence, the private and public bodies of American commerce, governance, healthcare and education are possessed of uncommonly robust internal accountability mechanisms, rock-hard rectitude, and a coolly rational self-interest. Trump can only do so much damage to America's economy, culture and way of life, it was reasoned, because these institutions would not bend to his will. They would resist him; they would check his excesses. When forced to choose, as it was always accepted that they one day would be, between Trump's demands and their own principles and purposes, the institutions would always choose themselves.This week put another nail into the coffin of this idea, revealing its valorization of American institutions to be shortsighted and naive. The latest intrusion of reality comes in the form of a deal that Columbia University made with the Trump administration, in which the university made a host of academic, admissions and governance concessions to the Trump regime and agreed to pay a $200m fine in order to restore its federal research funding. The deal marks the formal end of Columbia's academic independence and the dawn of a new era of regulation by deal making, repression and bribery in the field of higher education.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Richard Black, who appeared on controversial Jubilee video, organized Proud Boys-linked protests in 2017A debating opponent of the leftwing media figure Mehdi Hasan in a controversial viral YouTube video was previously the organizer of two violent far-right protests in Berkeley, California, in 2017, the Guardian can reveal.The video debate session with Hasan, published to the 10 million-subscriber Jubilee channel, has already attracted scrutiny due to platforming a self-described fascist", Connor Estelle, who reportedly lost his job after he was identified by online researchers. Continue reading...
Republican lawmakers voted for the big, beautiful' bill but cuts to Medicaid will hit hard in rural areas like Missouri's poorest county, PemiscotWhen her severely allergic toddler, Josie, began gasping for breath in the middle of the night, Krissy Cunningham knew there was only one place she could get to in time to save her daughter's life.For 74 years, Pemiscot Memorial hospital has been the destination for those who encounter catastrophe in Missouri's poorest county, a rural stretch of farms and towns in its south-eastern Bootheel region. Three stories of brown brick just off Interstate 55 in the town of Hayti, the 115-bed hospital has kept its doors open even after the county's only Walmart closed, the ranks of boarded-up gas stations along the freeway exit grew, and the population of the surrounding towns dwindled, thanks in no small part to the destruction done by tornadoes. Continue reading...
by Alexandra Villarreal in San Antonio on (#6YXAT)
Jenny, 25, entered the US legally, but Ice agents arrested her after a hearing, part of a growing trend of court detentionsJerome traveled a thousand miles from California to El Paso, Texas, so he could accompany Jenny to her immigration hearing. He and his wife had promised to take her after she had fled Cuba last December, after the government there had targeted her because she had reported on the country's deplorable conditions for her college radio station.Everything should have been fine. Jenny, 25, had entered the United States legally under one of Joe Biden's now-defunct programs, CBP One. By the end of the year, she could apply for a green card. Continue reading...
The teenage phenom from Canada is chasing five golds in Singapore, but her showdown with the sport's longtime 800m free queen could signal a passing of the torchFor the first time in more than a decade, Katie Ledecky may not be the most feared swimmer in the pool. That honor now belongs to Summer McIntosh, the Canadian teenager looking to do what only Michael Phelps has done before her: win five individual gold medals at a single world swimming championships.Their clash in the 800m freestyle on 2 August is set to be the defining moment of the weeklong meet in Singapore. Ledecky, the most decorated female swimmer in history, is bidding for an unprecedented seventh world title at the distance she has dominated since 2013. McIntosh, just 18, is the only swimmer to have beaten her at 800m in the past 15 years. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6YXA1)
Protests planned but those who spent years opposing president's golf courses worry about playing to his egoRohan Beyts first visited the dunes overlooking the slate grey North Sea at Menie, Aberdeenshire, as a teenager. Later she brought her own children to play across the spectacular landscape of dunes and slacks, vibrant with butterflies and wildflowers.Beyts attended the initial meeting called in 2006 to galvanise local resistance to the then business tycoon Donald Trump's plans to bulldoze this legally protected site of ecological rarity to make way for his first Scottish golf resort. Continue reading...
The Guardian Opinion cartoonist reports on lives for ever changed by conflictIn Ukraine, many people affected by the conflict are being treated and supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). I was able to meet some of them: in a rehabilitation centre for war veterans in Cherkasy and a mental health clinic for internally displaced families in Vinnytsia.Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, I've drawn many political cartoons about the war; drawings that feature Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin and the occasional bear. It looked very different from the ground, where war is fought and lived by ordinary people, just like us. In the hospitals I visited in May this year, I sketched the precise way in which war is mapped on individual bodies and listened to the stories behind their scars. I drew what people told me, as well as what I saw, because trauma and hope are intangible things of memory and imagination. There's nothing left to draw of an amputated limb but memories - the same could be said for a lost home or relative. These things are beyond a camera's reach, which I think gives you licence to reach for a pencil. Continue reading...
by Robert Mackey, Lucy Campbell, Maya Yang and Shanno on (#6YWNN)
This blog is now closed. Read our latest story hereDonald Trump has said Hamas did not want to make a deal" on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.Speaking to reporters at the White House earlier, the president's comments echoed those of his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who said yesterday the Trump team had pulled its negotiators for consultations following Hamas's latest proposal. Continue reading...
Ro Khanna and Robert Garcia seek complete and unredacted copy' of book from Epstein estate lawyersHouse Democrats on Friday sent a letter to the attorneys representing the estate of Jeffrey Epstein requesting a copy of the so-called birthday book" that reportedly contains a crude poem and doodle from Donald Trump in celebration of the late sex offender's 50th birthday.In the letter, California congressmen Ro Khanna and Robert Garcia say the contents of the book may be essential" to congressional oversight of the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein controversy. In the letter, they ask for a complete and unredacted" copy of the book by 10 August. Continue reading...
Donald Trump deflects on Epstein ties and rejects idea of a pardon for Maxwell. Key US politics stories from 25 July 2025Donald Trump continued to face questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein as he landed in Scotland ahead of meeting British prime minister Keir Starmer and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.The US president denied reports that he was briefed about his name appearing in the Epstein files after landing on Friday evening local time. He was also asked about the justice department's questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell and suggestions he might offer her clemency. Continue reading...
Remains of Timothy Garlington shipped from Georgia funeral home to another in PennsylvaniaTwo funeral homes allegedly gave grieving parents their deceased son's brain in a box, which began to smell, leaked into their car and got on the father's hands when he moved it, according to an updated lawsuit filed this week.The father, Lawrence Butler, said the discovery was overwhelming at a news conference on Thursday, leaving a horrific memory that mars the other memories of a good young man", their son, Timothy Garlington. Continue reading...
Reports say plane flying from Burbank to Las Vegas took dramatic plunge after takeoff to avoid Hawker Hunter jetTwo Southwest Airlines flight attendants are being treated for injuries after a passenger jet heading to Las Vegas from southern California took a dramatic plunge shortly after takeoff on Friday, the airline and passengers said.Southwest flight 1496, headed from Burbank to Las Vegas, received two alerts that made the plane climb and then descend, according to a statement from Southwest. Continue reading...
Blow to US president as judge rejects claim that sanctuary policies thwart' federal efforts to enforce immigration lawsA judge in Illinois dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit Friday that sought to disrupt limits Chicago imposes on cooperation between federal immigration agents and local police.The lawsuit, filed in February, alleged that so-called sanctuary laws in the nation's third-largest city thwart" federal efforts to enforce immigration laws. Continue reading...
Method of payment a recent addition as US treasury gives kind-hearted citizens chance to help reduce $36.72tn debtJohn F Kennedy's sage words from his inaugural address are forever seared into America's political consciousness:Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Continue reading...
Trump administration's block on congressionally approved funding for states had prompted Republican backlashThe White House has announced that it will release $5.5bn in frozen education funds back to US states.That announcement came on Friday after Donald Trump's administration decided to abruptly withhold the congressionally approved funds a day before their 1 July release for the 2025-26 school year. Continue reading...
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