US news | The Guardian

Walking through the US's deindustrialized zones is a bit like walking through Dresden after 1945. We can rebuild better than beforeA poll from the conservative Cato Institute recently went viral. It found that 80% of Americans think the country would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing. At the same time, only 25% of respondents said they themselves would be better off working in a factory. What should we make of the results?First, there's nothing contradictory between these figures. It's easy to see how it would be good for the country to reshore manufacturing jobs, even if it's not good for you, personally, to work in a factory. Imagine a local pharmacist in an industrial town. He can see how his business would benefit from the expansion of a nearby plant. Yet he could also see that he would personally lose out on a lot of income if he gave up his trade and marched into the factory himself. The same can be said for any number of other workers. The reason so many people find appeals to reindustrialization attractive is because life was undoubtedly better when the old factories in their town were buzzing with activity than it is today, where they sit idle. Continue reading...

For centuries the horse was our most noble ally - in war, migration and myth. Today we repay that bond not with reverence, but with suffering at the racetrackHumanity owes the horse an immeasurable debt. For centuries the horse has been our partner, has shaped our history and sacrificed itself for our defense, our causes, and our conquests. The Native American Comanches, master horsemen, created an empire on the power they conjured from their deep and unique connection with the horse. The horse was critical to their existence as it became to the white settlers of the western frontier who would never have prevented their own annihilation had they not adopted the native's mounted war techniques. Yet modern society, which has long abandoned warring on horseback, still tolerates dangerous and violent exploitation of the horse. Indeed, taxpayers fund it. Despite the sacrifices these allies have made for our evolution, we continue to demand they forfeit their lives, but not for so noble a cause as our survival. Today horses die not in battle but for sport. Another Triple Crown season means another cache of young horses who will publicly risk their lives for profit and entertainment. Hence the life of the American racehorse, run to death by the hundreds every year, is cheapened and disrespected.Horses are central to my personal history, and I am bedeviled by memories of my track life, my former self. Years ago, I was galloping racehorses and immersed wholly in the world of racing. I admit to this day as a rider I have pride in my past. Though now as I get older and think more broadly my sense of the wrongness of modern American racing expands to include the context of the historical and philosophical sacrifices horses have made for humans and how dismissed their enormous contributions generally are. Whether one's love for the horse manifests in the act of dressing up for a day at the races or in recognizing and being honest about the reality of how brutal racing can be to horses it is critical to think of the animal itself and to consider the countless horses who have died and will die for the trivial activity of racing. For them my heart aches. For those who acknowledge that reality and still defend and endorse racing, I am bewildered by that degree of callousness. The human ego is the horse's most vile predator. Continue reading...

The coach has gone from the football field to the gossip pages with his May to December relationship. It's an extraordinary turnaround in his careerFootball has never known a control freak like Bill Belichick, the Nixonian figure who ran the New England Patriots as if their facility was a CIA black site. But four months into Belichick's new coaching tenure, at the University of North Carolina, there is a stunning lack of clarity about who's actually in charge.Belichick was not the obvious choice to revitalize the Tar Heels. Not only does he lack any college coaching experience, he is dour, cold and gruff - traits you imagine might turn off a high school prospect who could choose to play for Deion Sanders, Lane Kiffin or another charismatic sideline general instead. Belichick is also 73 and deeply set in his ways, part of the reason why the Patriots fired him in 2023 after 24 years of service. No other NFL team has hired him since: the Atlanta Falcons considered Belichick for their head coaching vacancy in 2024, but wound up passing after Patriots owner Bob Kraft reportedly warned his Falcons counterpart, Arthur Blank, not to trust Bill". (The Patriots deny the allegation.) Continue reading...

As Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez prepare to fight in Times Square, the Matchroom boss discusses power, pressure and the man (mostly) behind the curtainAs workers tighten bolts on a steel ring platform beneath the glare of LED billboards in Times Square on a sun-splashed Thursday afternoon, Eddie Hearn is still wrapping his head around the reality of what he's helped build.It actually is going to happen," he says, sounding slightly astonished. Up until about two weeks ago, I thought: this isn't happening. And now we're 24 hours away." Continue reading...

I've learned that at 40, you can set a course. If you're not there by 50, there's still time. By 60 the die is cast, and you know it

With New York traffic, LED billboards and title ambitions swirling, boxing's new era rolls into midtown Manhattan, where anything could happen once the bell ringsThe canvas has been laid down just north of 43rd Street. The ropes are up, the ring gleaming under LED billboards. And on Friday night, three of boxing's most volatile and compelling stars - Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez - step into what might be the sport's strangest stage yet: a pop-up fight arena smack in the middle of Times Square.Barely half a block from Jimmy's Corner, more than 100 digital screens will beam the feed across the famed Manhattan tourist spot. A closed-off footprint will morph into a fight zone, cordoned by security, hemmed in by chain-link fencing and pulsing with spectacle. A ring abutting the US armed forces recruiting station will be the unlikely epicenter of a tripleheader not quite like anything boxing has attempted before. Continue reading...

US foreign policy is turning it into a global pariah - yet Labour's strike on the Houthis represents a new level of support

People organize in nearly 1,000 cities with focus on rallying against Trump administration and billionaire profiteers'Protesters rallied nationwide on Thursday in support of workers' and immigrants' rights in the latest round of demonstrations against Donald Trump and his administration.May Day, commemorated as international workers' day, comes after two massive days of protests in April - 5 April's hands off rallies and 19 April's day of action - drew millions to the streets across the country. Continue reading...

This blog has closed. Read the latest story hereThe Trump administration is seeking to strip collective bargaining rights from large swaths of federal employees in a test case union leaders argue is part of a broader attack on US labor unions that could land before the US Supreme Court.A Trump win would deliver a severe blow to labor unions in the US. Some 29.9% of all federal workers were represented by labor unions in 2024 compared to 11.1% for all US workers. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio becomes the first person since Henry Kissinger to hold the national security adviser and secretary of state positions at the same time - key US politics stories from Thursday 1 MaySecretary of state Marco Rubio - ridiculed as Little Marco" by Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries - has become one of the most powerful players in the president's cabinet.Trump appointed Rubio interim national security adviser on Thursday after Mike Waltz was forced to leave the post, alongside his deputy, Alex Wong, as sources said officials had lost confidence in their leadership. Continue reading...

Service closing area in Oregon for wildfire prevention plan months after Trump order to increase timber productionDozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted on Thursday by the US Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees, clearing debris and setting controlled burns over thousands of acres.The project has been on the books for years, and the decision to remove the encampment in the Deschutes national forest comes two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk. It wasn't immediately clear if the evictions were a result of that order, but homeless advocates seized on the timing on Thursday, as US Forest Service officers blocked the access road. Continue reading...

Secretary of state will take on dual role as national security adviser - and just like half a century ago, times are turbulentMarco Rubio, you have come a long way.From being ridiculed as Little Marco" by Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries, the former Florida senator now stands - on paper, at least - as the US's most powerful diplomat since Henry Kissinger half a century ago after his former nemesis appointed him acting national security adviser to replace the departing Mike Waltz. Continue reading...

Justice department calls on court to hold judge's order against ending temporary protected status for 300,000The Trump administration asked the US supreme court on Thursday to intervene and assist in its attempt to strip temporary protected status (TPS) from more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants in the US, a move that would clear the way for their deportation.The justice department asked the supreme court justices to put on hold a federal judge's order from March that halted the decision of the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to terminate the temporary legal status that previously was granted to some Venezuelans. Continue reading...

Ruling only applies in southern Texas district, yet is the most powerful rebuke to Trump's use of 18th-century lawThe 18th-century Alien Enemies Act does not authorize Donald Trump to deport Venezuelan immigrants alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday.The ruling from US district judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr is significant because it is the first sweeping and permanent injunction directly addressing whether the government can use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua. Other judges have issued similar but more limited and preliminary rulings. Continue reading...

US president expected to draw some protesters despite enjoying deep well of support in heavily Republican stateDonald Trump will travel to heavily Republican Alabama on Thursday to speak to graduating students at the University of Alabama, where he is expected to draw some protesters despite enjoying a deep well of support in the state.The US president's evening remarks in Tuscaloosa will be his first address to graduates in his second term and will come as he has been celebrating the first 100 days of his administration. Continue reading...

Move comes after Waltz lost officials' confidence, sources say, with Marco Rubio to take on national security job

Wife of man unlawfully sent to El Salvador filed protection petition in 2020 after domestic violence allegationsThe legal team behind Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man unlawfully deported to El Salvador, is demanding that the Trump administration bring him back and give him a full and fair trial" as the administration releases new domestic abuse allegations.In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited allegations made by Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, that he abused her on several occasions in 2019 and 2020. Continue reading...

The White House calls it historic'. A more realistic estimate is that while Ukraine is glad to sign, this is not a shift in the big pictureThe Trump administration, with its customary rhetorical inflation, has hailed its mineral deal with Ukraine as historic". What the world's most powerful nation says and does matters. But how much? And for how long? This is a government of caprice and chaos. Attempting to connect the data points can be like trying to join up the bug splats on a windscreen. The real issue is that the vehicle is still following the signs for Moscow.This moment looks like a high because US-Ukraine ties hit such a low, particularly with the Oval Office bullying of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reports that Washington is willing to recognise annexed Crimea as Russian. Key details of this deal have yet to be finalised in a technical agreement. The idea originated with Kyiv, which saw that economic incentives might be the only way to interest the money-minded US president in its defence. The Trump administration decided the answer was, in essence, to take all the resources without granting the security guarantee that Ukraine had sought. It looked a bit like a protection racket, without ongoing protection.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...

In comprehensive' 409-page report, department claims medical care should be avoided though harms are sparse'The federal health department released what it described as a comprehensive review" of pediatric gender dysphoria - advocating for therapy instead of medical care for youth whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex.The 409-page report claimed that while the harms of such medical treatment are sparse", medical treatment should be avoided in favor of therapy for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Continue reading...

Fast-food company reports 3.6% fall in sales and carmaker says tariffs could cost it as much as $5bn in 2025McDonald's and General Motors have warned that uncertainty around Donald Trump's tariff policy is hurting business, hitting sales and knocking profits.The fast-food chain reported a 3.6% fall in sales in its US home market during the first quarter, driven mainly by lower customer numbers as consumers reined in their spending in the face of an unpredictable economic outlook. Continue reading...

A deal involving US money or a US partnership isn't guaranteed but the odds are favourableIf you want to crack the booming US gambling market as a UK or Irish company, it's best to find an American partner, buy an American business, or just emigrate.Flutter, the Dublin-based owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, has been through the collection. It took a punt on FanDuel, then just an online fantasy games business, in 2018 as an option on US liberalisation of its gambling rules. When states in the US did indeed start to open up, it gained full control. Last year, and with FanDuel now its biggest division, Flutter switched its listing to New York. Entain, the Ladbrokes and Coral group that remains in the FTSE 100 index, has a US joint venture with MGM Resorts. Continue reading...

Power outages, the needs of vulnerable people and a general descent into dystopia are all reasons to resist banks' dream of a cashless societyOpening my wallet, I'm down to my last five dollars. Dog-eared leftovers from a foreign holiday that I keep forgetting to take to the bank, they have somehow ended up being the only physical money I always carry, now there are so few places to use the British folding stuff.Our village pub was for years a cash-only enterprise, possibly as a means of deterring customers from outside the village (long, gloriously eccentric story), and I keep a few pound coins rattling around the car for shopping trolleys. But using actual money feels mildly eccentric in most places now, or even faintly shady: increasingly cafes and bars are adopting no cash" rules upfront to save the hassle of carting their takings to some faraway bank branch. Half of us have recently been somewhere that either didn't accept cash or positively discouraged it, according to a survey by the ATM network Link. But since most people long ago switched to tapping a card reader, what's the problem?Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

$800,000 in coins were scattered on Texas highway, forcing closure for nearly 14 hours as clean-up crews workedAn avalanche of 8m freshly minted dimes spilled from an overturned truck and closed a Texas highway for almost 14 hours.Witnesses described a sea of silver on US Route 287 in Alvord, 50 miles north of Fort Worth. Clean-up crews attempted to suck up the coins, worth $800,000, using vacuums more commonly used to unclog sewers and drains. Continue reading...

Administration launches investigations on basis of 1964 Civil Rights Act, which rightwing activists are fighting to weaken

Administration's news wire' will promote press releases, posts by high-level officials and positive news about itselfThe Trump administration has unveiled a news-style website that publishes exclusively positive coverage of the president on official White House servers.White House Wire, published at the government domain WH.gov/wire, resembles the rightwing website the Drudge Report, with a list of headlines from right-leaning outlets praising the administration. Continue reading...

Education department says school program to improve Black academic performance violates 1964 Civil Rights Act

More than 250 lawyers have left or been reassigned since January as critics fear end of the division as we've known it'More than 250 attorneys in the justice department's civil rights division have either left, been reassigned, or accepted a deferred resignation offer since January, according to an estimate provided to the Guardian by people familiar with the matter. The significant decrease in personnel underscores how Donald Trump is gutting the arm of the federal government responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws.About 235 attorneys in the division's civil enforcement sections have accepted deferred resignations or have quit the justice department and roughly another 20 have been reassigned or detailed to do other work within the agency, including handling public records requests and internal agency complaints. Continue reading...

Experts are alarmed as department says it will alter vaccine testing methods and build new surveillance systems'Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his department have made a series of misleading statements that alarmed vaccine experts and advocates in recent days - including that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine includes aborted fetus debris".Health department officials released statements saying they could alter vaccine testing and build new surveillance systems" on Wednesday, both of which have unnerved experts who view new placebo testing as potentially unethical. Continue reading...

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the US-Ukraine minerals deal was the 'first of its kind, economic partnership for the reconstruction and long-term economic success of Ukraine'.She continued: 'President Trump has been clear from the beginning he wants the killing in this brutal war to end. This agreement shows how invested the president is in securing a truly lasting peace'

We're down to the last four teams, and the semi-finals didn't disappoint, even if they were played in contrasting stylesParis Saint-Germain Continue reading...

Immigrants report moldy food, used underwear and pandemonium' as Trump dramatically expands detentionThe US government has jailed hundreds of immigrants in notorious federal prisons in a dramatic escalation of its detention practices, cutting people off from their attorneys and families and subjecting them to brutal conditions, according to accounts from behind bars.Since February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has increasingly used Bureau of Prisons (BoP) facilities to incarcerate immigrants facing deportation, records show. The partnership between BoP and Ice, two agencies that have generally operated separately, means people accused of civil immigration violations are being imprisoned in harsh environments of federal penitentiaries run by prison guards. Continue reading...

A community college program has been instrumental in helping Latinx students in the state access higher education, while educators fear they'll become Trump's next targetDaniel is a high school senior in rural North Carolina. Soon, he'll graduate with a high school diploma, an associate degree and a paralegal certification from a local community college. He's just 17, but he'll be able to apply for positions at law firms and begin earning an almost $50,000 salary straight out of high school.The early college program really set me up for success because even though I'm young, I'll be able to help financially support my family," said Daniel, a first-generation Salvadorian American who is only using his first name to protect undocumented family members. I've done all of this because of support from my mother and family. I owe everything I've accomplished to them and I want to give back." Continue reading...

He suggests drugmakers would get a lot of time' to repatriate manufacturing before facing levies

The Lakers were thoroughly outmatched against the Timberwolves in this season's playoffs. The team must now address the fixes that need to be madeDorian Finney-Smith slams his hand in frustration against an empty chair on his way to the shower. The locker room is so silent you could hear a pin drop. In spite of every expert prediction, it was not Lakers in five," or, at least, not on the right end of five. The LeBron James, Luka Doni, and JJ Redick-led Lakers were sent packing by the Minnesota Timberwolves on their home court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in a five-game series whose final tally doesn't tell the whole story.Minnesota were decidedly the better team in the series, but with the exception of a decisive Timberwolves win in the opener, it was a sequence of games won on the margins. The final game between the two teams felt, for the most part, like a competition where neither opponent particularly felt like giving their all, which played into Minnesota's hands as the roster with far more depth and, thus, margin for error. But, in all likelihood, the series was won and lost in Game 4, a classic, hard-fought battle that came down to the final buzzer. While it wasn't technically the end of the series, it's the kind of loss that's almost impossible to come back from, both emotionally, and historically: teams who go up three games to one in a seven-game series go on to win 95% of the time. Continue reading...

The two best players of their generation suffered same-day disappointments that show the game is starting to move onNot long ago, the results might have been seismic. Or at the very least, worthy of an eyebrows-raised remark. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two leading lights of their generation, the dominant on-field forces for most of this century, both going out of continental competition in the semi-finals? Both in upsets? On the same day?On Wednesday, it actually happened. Messi's Inter Miami fell to Vancouver 5-1 on aggregate in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and Ronaldo's Al-Nassr lost 3-2 to Kawasaki Frontale in the AFC Champions League Elite at a nominally neutral site in Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...

In their rush to implement a barely concealed authoritarian agenda, this administration is producing a litany of blunders, gaffes and slip-upsAs we pass the 100-day mark of Donald Trump's second term, it's time to take note of a key element of how this administration governs: by mistake. I'm being serious. Have we ever seen a more error-prone, incompetent and fumbling presidency? In their rush to implement a barely concealed authoritarian agenda, this administration is producing a litany of blunders, gaffes and slip-ups. At times, they'll seek to hide those mistakes by projecting a shield of authoritarianism. At other times, they'll claim the mistake as a method of walking back an unpopular authoritarian agenda item. Either way, it's a unique style of rule, one that I call rule by error".On 11 April, for example, the White House's taskforce on antisemitism sent Harvard University a letter detailing a laundry list of actions that Harvard would have to undertake if the university wanted to avoid having over $2bn of multiyear federal grants frozen by the government. But the actions were extreme and would have resulted in the end of Harvard's intellectual independence. Days later, Harvard wrote back: Nah, I'm good," they told Trump's people. (More precisely, they wrote that the university is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration".) Continue reading...

Trump and Musk have gut National Institutes of Health and experts are wary of private efforts' ability to replicate public serviceThe federal government has slashed research since Donald Trump took office - hacking away at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its grants, staff and long-held partnerships with academia.Now, some private companies said they want to pick up strands of research that might have otherwise been funded by the federal government. The effort has stoked little optimism among experts, who caution that private efforts cannot remotely replicate the breadth, depth or public service provided by federal funding. Continue reading...

The once unsinkable ship of US higher education has hit an unthinkable icebergAmerican higher education is living its RMS Titanic moment. The multi-trillion-dollar United States academic-scientific complex, led by the richest and most highly coveted universities in history, remains the envy of the world. American University Inc" is one of the US's top exports and among its most valuable stocks. Brands such as Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and so many others are revered worldwide as symbols of academic excellence, independent thinking, breakthrough innovation and prestige. No other university system in the world comes close to amassing as much capital - financial, human, cultural and social - as the mighty American one.Until now. Continue reading...

What has happened with 60 Minutes is a high-octane version of what's happening everywhere in Trump 2.0There have been so many red alerts for press freedom in the United States over the past few months that it can be hard to know which ones really matter.The one at CBS's 60 Minutes really matters.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

ChatGPT's embarrassing rollback of a user update was a warning about the dangers of humans placing emotional trust in AINobody likes a suck-up. Too much deference and praise puts off all of us (with one notable presidential exception). We quickly learn as children that hard, honest truths can build respect among our peers. It's a cornerstone of human interaction and of our emotional intelligence, something we swiftly understand and put into action.ChatGPT, though, hasn't been so sure lately. The updated model that underpins the AI chatbot and helps inform its answers was rolled out this week - and has quickly been rolled back after users questioned why the interactions were so obsequious. The chatbot was cheering on and validating people even as they suggested they expressed hatred for others. Seriously, good for you for standing up for yourself and taking control of your own life," it reportedly said, in response to one user who claimed they had stopped taking their medication and had left their family, who they said were responsible for radio signals coming through the walls.Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World's Favourite App Continue reading...

In an extract from his new book, Jared Beasley introduces the eccentric figure behind the Barkley Marathons, where runners are terrified and tested in equal measureFor over a century, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary was the end of the line. Built in the shape of a Greek cross, the pale limestone structure had housed the worst of the worst - murderers, madmen, monsters - its bulk hunched beneath a crown of scarred mountains the guards called the fifth wall.Now it sits empty - cracking and molding and dying. But each spring around April Fool's, on a cold, crisp day like today, a retired accountant appears at its gate. He carries a book with an ominous title and plants it against the back wall. Then sometime between midnight and noon the next day, he lights a cigarette, and the world's most grueling footrace begins. Continue reading...

Jolly humouring and kind words guarantee nothing from this White House. Right now Walmart has more clout than the UKIt's not funny, of course - livelihoods if not actual lives depend on reaching a workable accord. But the news that President Trump has probably stiffed the UK into a second- or third-tier boarding group for trade talks, behind South Korea and Japan, triggers at least a snort of recognition for anyone who has experienced versions of that dynamic. The phrase British negotiators are hopeful" followed almost immediately by use of the word disappointed" in heavy rotation takes you, with grim amusement, back to every toxic relationship in which you have played Britain to someone else's America.We are talking, of course, about the wisdom or otherwise of appeasing a man many think of as a tyrant, and the main takeaway from the Guardian's story on Tuesday is that no matter how the UK pretzels itself to fit Donald Trump's requirements, none of it will make any difference. Or rather what difference it makes, beyond the immediate relief enjoyed before the flattery wears off, is likely to be negative. It's a rule of extortion that demands will increase with each capitulation, as Columbia University is finding out to its cost. (After caving to Trump's demands last month in return for the restoration of $400m in federal funding, the university has not, in fact, had its funding restored. Instead Trump officials have told Columbia its concessions only represent the first step".)Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Democratic presidential candidate speaks in San Francisco in first significant appearance since election defeatKamala Harris delivered a searing indictment of Donald Trump's first 100 days in power, warning in her first major address since leaving office that the nation was witnessing a wholesale abandonment of America's highest ideals" by its president.Speaking to an audience of Democrats in San Francisco, the former vice-president struck a defiant posture as she praised the leaders and institutions pushing back against Trump and his aggressive agenda - from the members of Congress acting boldly to the judges who uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them", the universities defying the administration's unconstitutional demands", and the everyday Americans rallying to protect social security. Continue reading...

Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to UkraineThe US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share profits and royalties from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine's defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Continue reading...

Footage of the undercover conversations between veteran Republican strategist Chris LaCivita and undercover reporters shows LaCivita claiming he visited Australia to advise the Liberal party ahead of the election. LaCivita says he made an unpublicised visit to Australia to advise theLiberal partyabout 'structural issues' related to Peter Dutton. 'I was in Australia two weeks ago helping the Liberal party there, on some of their structural issues that they were having withPeter Dutton,' LaCivita says on 16 April in the first of two calls. The footage waspublished on Thursdayby the Europe-based organisations Correctiv and the Centre for Climate Reporting.ACoalitionspokesman has denied LaCivita had any connection to the Dutton campaign.In a statement, LaCivita told Guardian Australia: 'I did not and do not work for the Liberal Party of Australia. I provide consulting to a wide variety of business interests - some in Australia some in the US etc in terms of a political party - I have not. Also, I have never met Mr Dutton, but I hope to when he is elected prime minister'Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube