US district judge Beryl Howell says order violates first, fifth and sixth amendments and permanently blocks itA federal judge on Friday permanently struck down Donald Trump's executive order that targeted the firm Perkins Coie, which once worked with his 2016 presidential election rival Hillary Clinton, after declaring in an extraordinary ruling that the order was unconstitutional and unlawful.The decision from the US district judge Beryl Howell, which criticized virtually every aspect of the order in a 102-page opinion, marks a major victory for Perkins Coie and could be used as a model by other judges weighing cases brought by other law firms in similar orders. Continue reading...
Military spending plans would also see $163bn cuts in non-defense spending - key US politics stories from Friday 2 May at a glanceThe Trump administration is considering cuts worth $163bn to departments including health and education as well as environmental schemes while increasing spending on defense, according to a White House budget blueprint.In contrast to the squeeze on discretionary social programmes, the administration is planning a 13% rise - to more than $1tn - in the Pentagon budget, a commitment at odds with Donald Trump's frequent vows to end the US's involvement in forever wars" in the Middle East and elsewhere. Continue reading...
Joseph Czuba, 73, killed Muslim boy and severely injured his mother in vicious attack days after war in Gaza beganAn Illinois landlord who killed a six-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured his mother in a vicious hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced on Friday to 53 years in prison.Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. Continue reading...
Real-life anguish or confected entertainment? One thing is clear - the soap opera endures because millions still love to watch itWell, isn't this a plot turn? You switched on for the latest cinematic episode of Prince Harry fights the fight - not against the Mirror this time, not against Murdoch either, but against those who have stripped him of his security protection - and then the script goes to places that no one expected.He loses his legal challenge in the court of appeal over the degree of security he is entitled to on the public purse while in the UK - that was pretty much expected. But then, in the second instalment of Britain's longest-running potboiler, he exclusively opens an anguished heart to the BBC, post the appeal court verdict, and all sorts of dramatic twists ensue.Hugh Muir is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Education, health, climate and more on chopping block and 13% rise - to over $1tn to Pentagon - in skinny budget'Donald Trump is proposing huge cuts to social programmes like health and education while planning substantial spending increases on defence and the Department of Homeland Security, in a White House budget blueprint that starkly illustrates his preoccupation with projecting military strength and deterring migration.Cuts of $163bn on discretionary non-defence spending would also see financial outlays slashed for environmental and renewable energy schemes, as well as for the FBI, an agency Trump has claimed was weaponised against him during Joe Biden's presidency. Spending reductions are also being projected for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Continue reading...
President says neither NPR nor PBS presents fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events'Donald Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to cut public funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, accusing them of leftwing bias.The order, signed late on Thursday, directs the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which sends funds to NPR and PBS, to cease federal funding" for the two outlets. Continue reading...
Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as the FTSE nets its longest-ever winning run, Amazon's Bezos to sell stock worth up to $4.75bn; US employment figures higher than expectedEurozone unemployment was steady 6.2% in March - unchanged relative to a revised February reading.The youth unemployment rate was 14.2%, down from 14.3% in the previous month. Continue reading...
Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer said president erased more than $1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans'The justice department's pardon attorney, who was recently fired, has claimed on social media that Donald Trump's recent wave of pardoning white-collar criminals has erased more than $1bn in debts owed by wealthy Americans" to the public purse.In a TikTok video, Liz Oyer, who has said that she was terminated in March after refusing to comply with an order to restore the gun rights of the actor Mel Gibson - a supporter of Trump's - explained that when you're convicted of a financial crime like fraud or embezzlement, the law requires you to pay back the money that you stole. It's called restitution." Continue reading...
Americans are beginning to worry about their future amid a shrinking economy, warnings of empty shelves - and the president's failed promisesHe says it's the best 100-day start of any president in history", but you can file that along with his boast about crowd sizes and his claim to have won the 2020 election. In truth, the first three months of Donald Trump's second presidency have been calamitous on almost every measure. The single biggest achievement of those 100 days has been to serve as a warning of the perils of nationalist populism, which is effective in winning votes but disastrous when translated into reality. That warning applies across the democratic world - and is especially timely in Britain.Start with the numbers that matter most to Trump himself. A slew of polls appeared this week, but they all told the same story: that Trump's approval ratings have collapsed, falling to the lowest level for a newly installed president in the postwar era. He has now edged ahead of his only rival for that title: himself. The previous low watermark for a president three months in was set by one Donald Trump in 2017. Continue reading...
Despite plunging opinion polls, for those attending a campaign-style rally in Michigan the president is deliveringIn Trump they trust. While pundits and protesters have called it 100 days of hell, talk to Donald Trump's most faithful supporters and you will hear them use words such as amazing", fantastic" and ecstatic" about his presidency.The Trump base, that amorphous group that has long intrigued pollsters, remains rock solid in its support for the 78-year-old and quite ingenious in finding new ways to eulogise his leadership. Continue reading...
Heidy Sanchez says she was told her 17-month-old, who has health problems and is breastfeeding, couldn't go with herA mother deported to Cuba reportedly had to hand over her 17-month-old daughter to a lawyer while her husband, a US citizen, stood outside unable to say goodbye.Heidy Sanchez was told she was being detained for deportation to Cuba when she turned up at her scheduled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) check-in appointment in Tampa, Florida, last week. Continue reading...
Attorney general accused of targeting political foes, halting prosecutions and placing premium on loyalty to presidentDonald Trump's Department of Justice has taken radical steps to target his political foes, back a harsh agenda against undocumented immigrants and help business allies - steps which underscore its politicization under the attorney general Pam Bondi and undermine the rule of law, say ex-prosecutors and legal experts.Some even say that the department has in effect become Trump's personal law firm". Continue reading...
The country has exported a myth of progressivism. It's time to confront who we really areCanada has been canonized - safely, predictably.It's the great, grave story we've exported - retold in economic rankings, stitched into tourism ads, held up in classrooms and cable news panels. We're the cooler, mellower cousin nextdoor. The country that has it figured out. Where healthcare is universal, democracy is calm and diversity is politely managed.Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ... Continue reading...
Mike Waltz, ousted national security adviser at heart of earlier chat group fiasco, pictured using third-party clonePhotographs taken at Donald Trump's cabinet meeting this week have revealed that top White House officials are now communicating using an even less secure version of the Signal messaging app than was at the center of a huge national security scandal last month.The images, taken by Reuters on Wednesday, show the phone screen of Mike Waltz, the since-ousted national security adviser who last month accidentally included a journalist in a group chat in which top US officials discussed operational plans to bomb Yemen, attacks that were then carried out as described. Continue reading...
Red-carpet launch has to be backed up with a car on the grid next season, with Briton Graeme Lowdon leading the pushAs inescapable as it is inexorable, everyone at Cadillac is aware the clock is ticking as they edge closer towards a moment of truth well over three years in the making. The expectation and anticipation for when the team, backed by US manufacturer General Motors, hits the grid as Formula One's 11th entry for the first race of 2026 is ratcheting up with every passing second.Appropriately for this all-American marque, the team are launching their F1 entry on Saturday night with a red-carpet event at Miami beach after the sprint race and qualifying have concluded at the Hard Rock Stadium circuit. Continue reading...
After the US health secretary called for autistic people to be tracked, readers rebuked the idea that ASD is a tragedyWhen Robert F Kennedy Jr announced a major project to track the health of people with autism, autistic people and their friends and families reacted with shock and anger.They also expressed dismay and concern over the US health secretary's incorrect and weird" approach to autism spectrum disorder. Continue reading...
Nato for higher education - a mutual defense pact is a long-shot approach, but it might just convince the bully in the White House to back offHigher education is under attack from the person who inhabits the White House. Universities are being threatened with an array of punishments, including the cutoff of their federal contracts and grants, the loss of their nonprofit status and a tax on their endowment. The Trump administration is demanding a say in whom they admit, whom they hire and even what courses they teach.It's a grim message - abandon your fundamental values, or else. The idea of an existential moment" has become a cliche, but this situation warrants that grim description. Academic freedom, the lifeblood of higher education, is being threatened.David Kirp is professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley and the author of The College Dropout Scandal Continue reading...
Event between Curtis Yarvin, a favorite of Vance, and Danielle Allen put on by far-right publishing houseAn extremist blogger, who has become the Trump administration's so-called dark enlightenment" sage, is debating a Harvard professor of political philosophy at an unsanctioned event on its campus next week.Curtis Yarvin, who was for a time an obscure darling of Silicon Valley and the broader spectrum of the fringe right wing, has emerged as a major philosophical influence on key Capitol Hill power brokers. He is considered a favorite of Vice-President JD Vance, an ally of the tech mogul Peter Thiel, and having the ear of senior state department official, Michael Anton, among others. Continue reading...
Comments come a week after Trump claimed talks were already taking placeBeijing is evaluating" an offer from the US to engage in trade negotiations, the Chinese government has said, a week after Donald Trump claimed talks were already under way.China's commerce ministry said on Friday: The US has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China." Continue reading...
by Gaby Hinsliff, John McTernan, Carys Afoko, Carolin on (#6X0X2)
Can Farage's party now claim to be the official opposition? And what lessons should Labour and the Tories learn after a chastening night? Continue reading...
Donald Trump tried to distance himself from the radical rightwing blueprint for government during the campaign but its prescriptions are all over the administration's agenda
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...
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...
by Rachel Leingang, Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington a on (#6X009)
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...
by Robert Mackey, Lucy Campbell, Maya Yang and Amy Se on (#6X002)
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...
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...
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