Daniel DiDonato, 18, drafted new state senate districts at home on free software - and a judge picked his map ahead of professionals' efforts to remedy voting rights violationsEarlier this month, after years of litigation, a federal judge in Alabama ordered a new state senate map. In a surprising decision, the map she chose wasn't one drafted by a court-appointed special master and his expert cartographer, but rather one that had been submitted by an anonymous member of the public, known only by their initials, DD".The decision stunned DD" - an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Alabama named Daniel DiDonato - who learned his map had been selected as he was preparing to leave for his 9.30am introduction to political science class. Continue reading...

Over the past week, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity to end Russia's war in Ukraine. As Kyiv battles to minimise Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands, including the cessation of territories in the east, the Guardian's Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer, explains why despite some advances, the agreement to a peace deal still appears unlikely

Parts of the US economy are doing just fine but many are struggling to make rent, let alone splurging on giftsWill retailers and merchants have a strong holiday season? That depends. This year, more than most, the 2025 holiday season will actually be two holiday seasons.If your business caters to higher-income individuals or if you're located in a wealthier part of the country, you'll probably have a decent holiday season. True, even the wealthy are cutting back. But according to the HR firm ADP average salaries have risen between 4.5% and 6.7% depending on whether workers stayed or switched jobs. The stock markets, though increasingly volatile, are up over 13% since the beginning of the year. And in some parts of the country, notably New York, Boston, DC and San Francisco, the average household income is over $125,000 - almost $41,000 higher than the national average. People in this demographic may be a little more cautious but they'll spend. Continue reading...

David Gentile had just begun to serve a seven-year sentence for role in $1.6bn scheme that defrauded thousandsDonald Trump granted clemency to private equity executive David Gentile, who had just begun a seven-year prison sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6bn fraud scheme, reported the New York Times.The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPB Capital, 59 year old Gentile was convicted and sentenced in May to seven years in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of individual investors. Continue reading...

Republicans and Democrats alike look to fill congressional firebrand's House seat when she departs in 2026Marjorie Taylor Greene for president. Randy Bone rolled the idea around in his hands for a second as he stood inside his wife's antique shop in Ringgold, Georgia. He's heard the talk. He's even seen the prediction market action. He doesn't have a problem with his boisterous, attention-seeking congresswoman. He just doesn't think it will work.I don't know. I don't see her as one that is very attractive ... You've got to focus on those that are kind of in the middle, and I don't think that she's unifying enough," he said. Continue reading...

There is growing understanding that our country is witnessing evil in our public life. Here is a path to confronting itAcross the country, organizers are carrying something heavier, clearer and more spiritually charged than anything I have seen in over 30 years of this work. From veteran freedom fighters to young activists, there is a growing alignment around the unmistakable presence of evil in our public life. The horrors unfolding before us have sharpened our collective sight and deepened the understanding that our resistance must be morally unwavering and spiritually grounded.The spiritual framework for this argument begins with a simple conviction. Our movements need to reclaim a moral vocabulary that names evil plainly. Dr King understood this. When he named the pain of poverty, the sickness of racism and the excess of materialism, he called them the triple evils", speaking with unflinching clarity about the devastation that this collective evil was inflicting on the country, on our conscience and on our very souls. We are living in such a moment again. The evil is fully out, and anyone with spiritual integrity can see it. Among the forces driving that clarity are Gaza, empire and ICE.Dr Rami Nashashibi is a MacArthur fellow and the founding executive director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) Continue reading...

Former oversight officials alarmed by dismantling of DHS system that oversees complaints about civil rights harmsThe federal watchdog system at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees complaints about civil rights violations, including in immigration detention, has been gutted so thoroughly that it could be laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to abuse people with impunity", experts warn.Former federal oversight officials have sounded the alarm at the rapid dismantling of guardrails against human rights failures - at the same time as the government pushes aggressive immigration enforcement operations.Border Patrol agents in Arizona forcibly removed a detained man from a cell, handcuffed him and then injected him with ketamine to sedate him in 2023, according to a CRCL document confirming the watchdog's investigation into the allegation. A Guardian reporter had saved that document just weeks before it was scrubbed from the DHS's website.Guards at a privately owned Louisiana detention center systematically mistreated detained immigrants, according to a CRCL document. This included an investigation into a 2024 incident during which correctional staff pepper sprayed around 200 detained immigrants who were staging a hunger strike in protest of detention conditions. Guards then allegedly locked the men in the unit and cut the power and water for hours. A majority of the men were allegedly denied medical care, the original complaint, submitted to the CRCL by RFK Human Rights, said.In a Florida jail, a 33-year-old immigrant woman with mental health problems was forcibly stripped naked, strapped to a restraint chair and mocked by male guards, according to a CRCL complaint submitted by the ACLU of Florida and RFK Human Rights. The woman was allegedly left with contusions and marks on her body" after hours in the restraint chair. The whistleblower declaration said the CRCL had launched an investigation into the case.Agents violated due process during the arrest and detention of Palestinian student and Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, according to the whistleblower complaint. Continue reading...

The US hasn't just left Ukraine vulnerable; it is also provoking Xi's intensifying attitude towards what he considers a renegade provinceSheer ignorance, fed by malign intent, historical prejudice and mutual misunderstanding, is often the crucial spark that ignites simmering international conflicts. If Adolf Hitler, remarkably ignorant of the US, had grasped the true extent of American industrial might, would he still have fatefully declared war on Washington in 1941?When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, it evidently had no idea what it was getting into. Humiliating defeat contributed greatly to its subsequent disintegration. In 1990, Iraq's Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait, convinced he had a green light from the White House. In all these cases, stupidity produced disastrous misjudgments that proved fatal.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

From Vietnam to the Balkans, Donald Trump's family has launched a global dealmaking blitz since his re-electionA crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case. Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon.All have one thing in common: they appear to be connected to the Trump family's campaign to amass riches around the world. Since Donald Trump's re-election a year ago, warnings that his use of presidential power to advance personal interests is corroding American democracy have grown ever louder. What is less understood - and perhaps even more dangerous - is the damage this is doing everywhere else. Continue reading...

Venezuela responds defiantly to Trump comments about closing airspace above country, saying it doesn't accept foreign orders or threatsThe Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump's statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed.In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump's comments were a colonialist threat" against their sovereignty and violated international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats. Continue reading...

Rosa Park's story is about courage. But, lest one forget, it is also a story about breaking the lawIt was 70 years ago when four African Americans were sitting in the fifth row of a bus in Montgomery. As one white man had to stand towards the front, the driver asked the four to get up and move towards the back of the bus. Three did; one did not - the rest is history. Or so many American kids might think when they first read the story of Rosa Parks in school.It is a story of courage, but, lest one forget, it is also a story about breaking the law. And the question for us today is what civil disobedience means in an era when the federal government is signaling its readiness severely to punish even perfectly legal dissent. Continue reading...

President made declaration in a social media post, after FAA last week warned airlines of worsening security situation'The Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to the heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump's recent statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety.In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump's comments are a colonialist threat" against their sovereignty and violate international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats. Continue reading...

Trump administration lists reporting it objects to in latest escalation of attacks on US journalismThe White House rolled out a new section of its official website on Friday that publicly criticizes and catalogs media organizations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage.At the top of the page, the text reads: Misleading. Biased. Exposed." The feature names the Boston Globe, CBS News and the Independent as media offenders of the week", accusing them of inaccurately portraying Trump's remarks about six Democratic lawmakers who released of video encouraging military members to not follow illegal orders. Continue reading...

Defense secretary called reports about his role in strike as fake news' intended to discredit US militaryThe US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has declared recent reporting that he may have illegally ordered all people to be killed in a military strike in the Caribbean as fake news" on Friday evening, adding that the series of strikes of people on boats had been lawful under both US and international law".Hegseth lambasted reports about his role in the strike as fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland". Continue reading...

Lead FDA vaccine regulator announced new approval process after claiming Covid vaccine had killed 10 childrenThe leading vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a far stricter course for federal vaccine approvals, following claims from his team that Covid vaccines were linked to the deaths of at least 10 children.Experts suggest the announcement will make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult. Continue reading...

Trump has a disconcerting tendency to attack the press - but especially female reporters, whom he holds in particular ireThere was a time when it would have been a scandal for the president of the United States to call a journalist ugly" or a politician retarded". Now it's just another day in America. During a holiday when many Americans were gathering with family and reflecting on what they were grateful for, Trump was crouched over his keyboard slinging insults at his perceived enemies.On Thanksgiving day, for example, Trump posted a rant on Truth Social about immigration. He called Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, an ableist slur, and then made an Islamophobic jab at the worst Congressman/woman' in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab". Continue reading...

Agreement will also end series of investigations of university over school's alleged failure to fight antisemitismNorthwestern University has agreed to pay $75m to the US government in a deal with the Trump administration to end a series of investigations and restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.Donald Trump's administration had cut off $790m in grants in a standoff that contributed to university layoffs and the resignation in September of Northwestern's president, Michael Schill. The administration argued the school had not done enough to fight antisemitism. Continue reading...

US families queue for groceries, hot meals and baby supplies as demand at Trinity's Compassion Market soarsOn a chilly morning in Lower Manhattan this month, the line outside Trinity Commons, a modern extension of New York's historic Trinity church, stretched on past the end of the block.Hundreds of people were standing in the 44F cold, many with young children, waiting to get their turn for the Compassion Market food bank. Continue reading...

People implicated in the late sex offender's crimes might face criminal charges or, at the very least, social ostracismAs the clock ticks toward the congressionally mandated deadline of 19 December by which Donald Trump's justice department must release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, there is intense speculation about the contents of these documents - but also questions as to what happens when they are released.The US president on 19 November signed a bipartisan bill requiring that the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, disclose these documents to the US public within 30 days. Given that other tranches of materials related to the disgraced financier included damning correspondence with high-profile individuals, many expect that still more names of the rich, famous and powerful will be named. Continue reading...

Those who tried to overturn the 2020 election now occupy key federal roles, shaping rules and sowing doubt for 2026The people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have more power than ever - and they plan to use it.Bolstered by the president, they have prominent roles in key parts of the federal government. Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who helped advance Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election in 2020, now leads the civil rights division of the justice department. An election denier, Heather Honey, now serves as the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in the department of homeland security. Kurt Olsen, an attorney involved in the stop the steal" movement, is now a special government employee investigating the 2020 election. Continue reading...

The conflict is neither a clearcut defeat nor a feelgood victory, but an in-between outcome that contains profound elements of eachNo one should be satisfied with the unjust peace that Ukraine may be forced to accept. The aggressor would be rewarded with territory and other concessions from the victim it has brutalized. Yet the horrified reaction in Washington to recent peace proposals is troubling in its own right.The Trump administration's recent 28-point plan, roundly denounced in Congress and the commentariat as a capitulation" to Moscow, actually offered Kyiv a remarkable strategic outcome. Under its terms, Ukraine would face no meaningful limit on its peacetime military, despite Russian attempts to impose draconian restrictions since 2022. (The only requirement, a cap of 600,000 personnel, probably exceeds the number of active-duty forces Ukraine would maintain anyway.) Moreover, Ukraine would receive a substantial security guarantee from the United States and Europe - the strongest in history, even if short of a Nato-style commitment.Stephen Wertheim is deputy director of research and policy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and Research Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. Continue reading...

In the wake of the deadly Washington DC shooting, Trump claimed immigrants are destroying everything America stands for'. Here's what the data showsDonald Trump's hateful, falsehood-filled rant on Thursday blaming immigrants for crime, social dysfunction" and economic hardship is refuted by a wide range of immigration statistics, which show clearly that immigrants dramatically bolster the US economy and commit crimes at far lower rates than people born in the US.On Thursday evening, Trump condemned immigrants in a broad and vicious invective, painting them as illegal and disruptive populations" and attacking those that hate, steal, murder and destroy everything that America stands for". He vowed to block all migration from third world countries" to allow the US system to fully recover". Continue reading...

Some small business owners doubt that even strong holiday sales will ease impact of tough year plagued by uncertaintyDonald Trump's tariffs have increased prices on an array of popular holiday goods and driven a massive" number of small firms out of business, industry leaders have warned.On Small Business Saturday, firms have their fingers crossed that strong holiday sales will ease the impact of a tough year. But many aren't holding their breath. Continue reading...

Next nominee faces enormous task of leading a party that has been entirely re-oriented around TrumpDonald Trump hasn't stopped joking about running again for the White House in 2028, even as he acknowledges it is pretty clear" he is constitutionally ineligible for a third term. Whether intended as a taunt or a threat, his musings are a reminder that, even barred from the ballot, Trump is likely to remain a central figure in the campaign to succeed him.The next Republican nominee faces the potentially enormous task of leading a party that has been entirely reoriented around Trump into a post-Trump era. Here's a look at the Republicans best positioned for a White House run.Retiring Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor GreeneHomeland security secretary Kristi NoemHealth and Human Services secretary Robert F Kennedy JrArkansas governor Sarah Huckabee SandersVirginia governor Glenn YoungkinGeorgia governor Brian KempSouth Carolina senator Tim ScottFormer UN ambassador Nikki HaleyUtah governor Spencer Cox Continue reading...

A harrowing US podcast documents a community's struggle against immigration raids - and warns us about herd mentalityEarlier this year, the Trump administration reversed the convention that nobody would be snatched by immigration and customs enforcement, or ICE, by a school, church or hospital. Since then, teachers have reported classrooms a third empty, as parents are too scared to send their kids in - volunteers walk them there and back.In the Rogers Park area of Chicago, a group of citizens are organising to resist such immigration raids. Sometimes, it's simple non-violent tactics, such as slowing officers down by walking in front of them. Last month, 50 people rushed to a church, where the congregation was trapped, having got word that there were ICE agents waiting outside. Maybe their most evocative tactic is whistles - coded blasts for when a convoy is suspected to be ICE agents, a different code when it's confirmed. They have numerous accounts of undocumented migrants warned off driving right into a raid, which is galvanising, but they also see and hear dismaying things all the time: vehicles standing empty, one door open, not robbed, merely relieved of their drivers; landscape gardeners arrested off ladders. Earlier this month, the Protect Rogers Park group got 1,500 calls in a day. Continue reading...

Trump administration says decisions paused until government can ensure every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible'The Trump administration has announced it is halting all asylum decisions in the wake of the National Guard shooting in Washington DC, according to a senior immigration official.Joseph Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a post on X on Friday that asylum decisions would be paused until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible". Continue reading...

The first autopen was patented in the 1800s and has been used by many American presidentsOn Friday, Donald Trump claimed that he will reverse everything that Joe Biden has signed with an autopen.The automated signature machine has been a tool used by presidents at the White House for decades. Continue reading...

Trump claims without evidence Biden did not sign off on orders himself in latest attack on predecessor - key US politics stories from Friday at a glanceDonald Trump has declared he intends to cancel most of the executive orders signed by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president of the United States.In a post on social media, Trump claimed baselessly that Biden had not signed off on the orders himself, saying that the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him" by signing his name using an autopen - a signature machine, which has commonly been used by nearly all US presidents since the device's invention. Continue reading...

In social media post Trump claims baselessly that Biden did not sign off on the orders himself, escalating longstanding campaign against his predecessor

Hernandez was convicted in 2024 of accepting millions in bribes to protect cocaine shipmentsDonald Trump has said he will grand a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US on drug trafficking and weapons charges.I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly," Trump said Friday in a post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Elaine Miles of Northern Exposure was stopped by four masked men in Seattle while walking to bus stopA Native American actor known for her role in Northern Exposure has said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Seattle, Washington, who told her that her tribal identification looked fake".Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, alleges that she was stopped by four masked men while she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond. She offered them her ID card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon but was told by an ICE agent that anyone can make that." Continue reading...

Student heartbroken' after being sent to Honduras while trying to travel from Boston to Texas, attorney saysA college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was instead deported to Honduras in violation of a court order, according to her attorney.Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, had already passed through security at Boston Logan international airport on 20 November when she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass, said attorney Todd Pomerleau. The Babson College student was then detained by immigration officials and within two days sent to Texas and then Honduras, the country she left at age seven. Continue reading...

Russia's president is only interested in a deal on Moscow's terms. Equipping Kyiv with the resources to fight on is the quickest route to a just settlementAs Donald Trump's Thanksgiving Day deadline for a Ukraine peace agreement came and went this week, the Russia expert Mark Galeotti pointed to a telling indicator of how the Kremlin is treating the latest flurry of White House diplomacy. In the government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a foreign policy scholar close to Vladimir Putin's regime bluntly observed: As long as hostilities continue, leverage remains. As soon as they cease, Russia finds itself alone (we harbour no illusions) in the face of coordinated political and diplomatic pressure."Mr Putin has no interest in a ceasefire followed by talks where Ukraine's rights as a sovereign nation would be defended and reasserted. He seeks the capitulation and reabsorption of Russia's neighbour into Moscow's orbit. Whether that is achieved through battlefield attrition, or through a Trump-backed deal imposed on Ukraine, is a matter of relative indifference. On Thursday, the Russian president reiterated his demand that Ukraine surrender further territory in its east, adding that the alternative would be to lose it through force of arms". Once again, he described Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government as illegitimate", and questioned the legally binding nature of any future agreement.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...

Applicants reportedly cited Nazi theorists and other extremists as inspiration for Trump administration rolesHacked materials from the powerful rightwing thinktank the Heritage Foundation show that applicants to a Project 2025-branded effort to create a talent pool for the Trump administration cited the influence of Nazi political theorists and other far-right thinkers on their political views.Not all applicants revealed in the hack ended up with Trump administration jobs, but some current appointees did make applications. Continue reading...

Religious leaders' powerful prophetic and moral compass' comes to fore amid ICE arrests, teargas and violenceFor weeks, Chicago has been at the center of the Trump administration's brutal immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security officials have arrested 800 people as of 1 October, while also using violent tactics such as body-slamming and deploying teargas in residential areas.Amid the raids and arrests, which have created a pervasive sense of fear, faith leaders have stepped up, putting themselves on the front lines of resistance. Continue reading...

Shaped by lockdown and two Trump presidencies, gen Z are grappling with a lot in love, dating and the bedroomThe sex lives of gen Z are of great interest - to politicians, to parents, to influencers and dating app executives and to you, apparently. Are gen Z so lonely they are falling in love with AI robots? Are they forming polycules across the US? Are they having enough sex? Are they having sex at all?Gen Z is defined roughly as young Americans aged 13 to 28. This generation came of age with information about sex readily available to them, for better (the internet provides both sex education and community) and arguably for worse, too (in 2022, 54% of US teens reported first seeing online pornography at age 13 or younger). They are more likely to embrace non-traditional identities and are progressive on issues such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage - especially gen Z women. Continue reading...

Kyiv and the rest of Europe must stand together to prevent Russia from seizing more territory by force

President's remarks followed the death of Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two guard members shot. Plus, Palestinian-American 16-year-old released after nine months in Israeli jail

One other member of the guards, Andrew Wolfe, is still fighting for his life', according to the president

The entertainment giant is building almost 2,000 homes in California's Palm Springs area so beloved by its founderThe Coachella valley typically brings a few things to mind: hot desert sun, the most Instagrammable music festival in the country, and even more sun. What it doesn't bring to mind, however, is the family-friendly, Mickey Mouse-eared nostalgia associated with all things Disney. But that may be changing.In 2022, Disney announced plans to build a first-of-its-kind branded residential community, which they have named Storyliving by Disney". The first of the Storyliving communities, Cotino, is officially welcoming residents into model homes in Rancho Mirage, a city nestled in Coachella valley. When all plans are finished, the 618-acre community will feature almost 2,000 residential units, including single-family homes and condos. Continue reading...

The one-act play Oh, Mary! - the stupidest, funniest thing possible' - to open after blockbuster run in New YorkWhat if, in the final weeks before Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the first lady could not care less about the American civil war and was instead hell-bent on becoming a cabaret star?That is the question posed by Oh, Mary!, the smash-hit show that reimagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a gloriously unhinged alcoholic who despises her closeted husband. Continue reading...

Ex-member of the hip-hop group was convicted of money laundering and campaign finance violations after funneling money from a rich MalaysianFrom the moment the Fugees shot to fame in the mid-90s, Prakazrel Pras" Michel was discounted as an incidental member of the hip-hop superstars. He was the unremarkable New Jersey rhyme spitter by way of Brooklyn who was lucky enough to be a high school classmate of the mesmerizing Lauryn Hill and a cousin to mercurial Wyclef Jean. On the group's breakout album The Score, Michel's eight-bar features were minor contributions, relative to Hill's adroitness as an emcee and balladeer and Jean's compositional polymathy.From Hawaii to Hawthorne, I run marathons, like / Buju Banton, I'm a true champion, like / Farrakhan reads his daily Qur'an / It's a phenomenon, lyrics fast like Ramadan," Michel raps on the band's breakout single Fu-Gee-La, in one of his more pedestrian efforts. Continue reading...

Many knew little about the polarizing figure before Utah Valley University was thrust into the national spotlightThe spot where Charlie Kirk was killed is fenced off. The fountain beside it shut down. The American flags nearby hang low above the spot where he fell. Every so often, someone stops to leave flowers or say a prayer. There are far more police officers and security staff than before, and many linger around the venue, as if the campus itself hasn't taken a full breath since that day.Back in 2019, Utah Valley University felt big and loud in the best way, a sprawling public campus of nearly 46,000 students and one of the most diverse in the state, with a large share of first-generation students. Then, on 10 September 2025, Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and one of the country's most polarizing conservative commentators, was shot on stage during a campus event. The attack sparked national outrage and political blame, adding to a long list of politically violent episodes. Two months later, UVU stands at the center of a national conversation. Continue reading...