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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs moved to new prison after reports of a luxury lifestyle behind bars

Disgraced music mogul moved to Pennsylvania prison after reports of perks and fight injuries at New Jersey lockup

Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was convicted of prostitution-related crimes, has been moved to a federal prison in Pennsylvania after reports that the disgraced music producer was living the high life and was injured in a fight at his New Jersey lockup, according to reports.

The US Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is transferring Combs, 56, from FCI Fort Dix to FCI Allenwood Low, a low-security facility south of Williamsport and about 155 miles (250km) west of New York City, a person familiar with the matter said to the Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

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© Photograph: Jordan Strauss/AP

© Photograph: Jordan Strauss/AP

© Photograph: Jordan Strauss/AP

Bystander who killed Oregon shooter identified as father of girls at elementary school

16 October 2026 at 18:34

Kaylub Giamanco, who was reportedly driving home when he heard gunshots, ‘not seeking recognition’, family says

Details are beginning to emerge about Kaylub Giamanco, the man who brought the deadly shooting at elementary school in Bend, Oregon on Thursday, to an end by fatally shooting the 16-year-old suspect in the midst of a violent rampage.

While police have declined to release the man’s identity, Giamanco’s family issued a statement on Friday confirming that he shot and killed the suspect, identified Friday as Griffin J John II, a former Silver Rail student.

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© Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

Family of US man who died on Six Flags ride question if death was preventable

16 October 2026 at 16:26

Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem died after reportedly ‘passing out’ and falling off Goliath rollercoaster in Georgia

The family of a man who was ejected from a rollercoaster at a Six Flags amusement park in Georgia and died has publicly questioned whether the death could have been prevented.

Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem was riding the Goliath rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta alongside his niece during a family trip to celebrate her birthday when he was thrown from the ride. His niece witnessed her uncle’s death, a relative told the Atlanta ABC News affiliate WSB-TV.

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© Photograph: Kelvin Johnson/AP

© Photograph: Kelvin Johnson/AP

© Photograph: Kelvin Johnson/AP

Katie Zacharia fired after five days as White House press secretary

16 October 2026 at 15:29

Zacharia hosted widely panned first briefing on Tuesday and faced scrutiny after admitting she didn’t pass bar exam

Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, was fired on Friday, just five days after she assumed the role, according to a White House official.

Zacharia confirmed her departure from the White House on Friday evening.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Katie Zacharia reportedly fired just days after starting role as Trump’s press secretary - live

The ouster comes after President Donald Trump told reporters he asked Zacharia to “reconsider” the job, following days of intense media scrutiny

In Maine, Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee for US Senate, and Susan Collins, the five-term Republican incumbent traded barbs on Thursday in their final debate ahead of the November midterms.

This was the fourth showdown between the pair. Collins has tried to cast Jackson as an inexperienced state lawmaker, and attempted to yolk him to the former nominee, Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race earlier this year following allegations of rape and sexual assault (which he still denies). Meanwhile, Jackson accused his opponent of corruption, and castigated her for her “moderate” persona in Congress.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Barack Obama pays tribute to Manchester cotton workers and cites them as an inspiration

Speaking at live UK event, former US president expresses hope rooted in the past and discusses the modern challenges to democracy

Barack Obama cited the “wonderful” story of how Manchester cotton workers stood in solidarity with enslaved African Americans as an inspiration for our times in a live appearance in the city.

Tens of thousands of people packed Co-op Live in the city on Thursday for An Evening With Barack Obama, where the former US president was interviewed by the writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch.

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© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Starlink access still not fully restored for Ukraine’s military, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president says US limiting access was a ‘dangerous and unpleasant surprise’, amid reports the order came from inside White House

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the Ukrainian military’s access to the Starlink satellite internet service has not yet been fully restored, as media reports suggested the order to throttle the service had come from within the White House.

Zelenskyy met European leaders on Friday in Brussels, where he asked the EU for another €70bn (£60bn) next year to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland

16 October 2026 at 11:30

The old certainties have gone. We will have to spend whatever it takes to protect ourselves in this new and dangerous world

Donald Trump must find it oddly frustrating. He keeps showing the world exactly who he is, and yet the world keeps refusing to believe it. As clearly as he can, he is announcing that he is not the leader of the free world, that he is not even a reliable member of the democratic west, that he is in fact an ally of its enemies – but the west, including Britain, either doesn’t fully get the message or can’t quite bring itself to draw the obvious conclusion.

Trump had another go this week, finding multiple ways to declare that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, he is no mediator or peace broker but a partner of Vladimir Putin. In fairness to him, the US president had loudly issued that declaration within weeks of his return to the White House when, in February 2025, he delivered an on-camera dressing down of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, seeking to humiliate the Ukrainian leader by telling him “you don’t have the cards”, even as JD Vance demanded their visitor show gratitude. That should have made Trump’s position sufficiently plain, but in the past few days he has all but put it up in lights.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

US midterms: Trump, war and America’s future
On Thursday, 5 November join Jonathan Freedland, Devika Bhat, Professor Adam Smith in London and David Smith and leading US commentator Tara Setmayer live from the US to discuss the results and their implications for the future of Trump, the US and global politics.
Book tickets here or at guardian.live

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© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Jon Ossoff’s rise to US Senate was meteoric – how high can he go?

16 October 2026 at 05:00

The media-savvy Democratic senator is defying predictions of a tight re-election battle. But he insists he has ‘zero interest’ in a presidential run in 2028

Jon Ossoff has “zero interest” in running for president in 2028, he declared during a debate this week. Jon Ossoff has “zero interest” in running for president in 2028, he told a local TV station last month. Jon Ossoff has “zero interest” in running for president in 2028, he told MS Now – twice – in August.

The Democratic US senator for Georgia said as much to CNN. And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And MS Now, again. And in his second Senate debate on Tuesday night.

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© Illustration: Guardian Design/Photo by Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Illustration: Guardian Design/Photo by Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Illustration: Guardian Design/Photo by Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Is JD Vance campaigning for the midterms – or 2028? | Politics Weekly America

The US vice-president is following the Donald Trump playbook, attacking the Democrats, attempting to make jokes and even swearing more. Jonathan Freedland talks to Arwa Mahdawi about why Vance is making such an effort to court voters

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

Museum releases historical photos of island where Amelia Earhart may have crashed

16 October 2026 at 06:09

Images from New Zealand aerial survey of Nikumaroro in 1938 offer new clues over aviator’s disappearance

A New Zealand museum has released nearly 50 photos from a 1938 aerial survey of the island where Amelia Earhart is believed to have crash-landed, offering amateur sleuths new evidence to scour for traces of the pioneering aviator and her plane.

The black-and-white images were published by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand after renewed interest in one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, spurred by a US expedition to the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro in search of new clues.

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© Photograph: RNZAF/RNZAF Official

© Photograph: RNZAF/RNZAF Official

© Photograph: RNZAF/RNZAF Official

Infantino told by top Fifa figures to scrap or depoliticise peace prize after Trump furore

  • Backlash greeted award of prize to US president

  • Fifa committee to make recommendations this year

Donald Trump is likely to end up as the only political leader awarded the Fifa peace prize after Gianni Infantino was told at Thursday’s meeting of the Fifa council to make major changes or scrap the controversial award.

The Guardian has learned that several council members demanded the award be abolished and others called for the prize to be depoliticised, with Fifa’s football social responsibility committee to make a recommendation before the next council meeting in Doha on 16 December.

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© Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

© Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

© Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

Commercial kitchen staff exposed to high levels of air pollution, study finds

16 October 2026 at 01:00

US research says nitrogen dioxide in restaurants that cook with gas can exceed WHO limits, which also affects diners

Each time we enjoy a meal out or order a takeaway, someone cooks for us in a commercial kitchen. In the UK, 3.6 million people work in catering and hospitality. In the US it is estimated at close to 16 million. A first-of-its-kind study in the US has found catering staff can experience high air pollution at work – and that this can affect diners too.

Dr Drew Michanowicz, senior author of the study at non-profit research institute PSE Healthy Energy, said: “I was motivated by what we have learned over the years about what just 30 minutes of gas cooking can do to air quality in homes with the realisation that millions of people cook for a living for hours on end.”

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© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

Police reveal identity of man found in a barrel in drought-stricken Lake Mead

15 October 2026 at 21:34

The remains of Edward Lelburian Jackson were first discovered in 2022, and an initial autopsy revealed he was killed decades ago

After four years, a piece of the haunting mystery uncovered in the waning waters of drought-stricken Lake Mead has been solved.

Since the remains of an unknown homicide victim were discovered stuffed inside a barrel in 2022, Las Vegas investigators have been searching not for his killer – but for his identity. At a press conference on Thursday, Clark county coroner Melanie Rouse shared his name publicly for the first time: Edward Lelburian Jackson.

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© Photograph: John Locher/AP

© Photograph: John Locher/AP

© Photograph: John Locher/AP

Meta releases Muse Spark Open, a new ‘open-weight’ AI model

15 October 2026 at 20:34

Meta says Muse excels at ‘multi-step reasoning’ and ‘complex software engineering’ as it races to catch up to Chinese rivals

Meta on Thursday launched a new open-weight AI model which it claims rivals, and in some cases outperforms, similar products from leading Chinese developers.

Muse Spark Open “is the most capable US open-weight model to date,” Meta’s chief of AI Alexandr Wang wrote on X.

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© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Shooter kills three children and one teacher at Oregon elementary school

16 October 2026 at 07:25

Two people critical in hospital as officials in Bend say 16-year-old suspect shot dead by bystander

Schools in Bend, Oregon, will be closed on Friday after a 16-year-old shooter opened fire at an elementary school in the city on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher before he was shot dead by a community member.

The children killed at Silver Rail elementary school were aged five, eight and 11, officials said.

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© Photograph: Joe Kline/AP

© Photograph: Joe Kline/AP

© Photograph: Joe Kline/AP

Trump’s new press secretary says it’s ‘unknown’ how much she’ll deal with media

15 October 2026 at 18:58

Katie Zacharia faces mounting questions over her legal credentials after admitting she did not pass the bar exam

Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary says it is “unknown” how much she will engage with the press, amid mounting questions over her legal credentials after admitting she did not pass the bar exam.

In a brief interview with the Guardian, Katie Zacharia detailed the whirlwind sprint to replace her predecessor Karoline Leavitt as the US president’s chief spokesperson.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Wes Streeting urges US to back Ukraine on Washington visit after Starlink row

UK defence secretary says he has been ‘reassured directly’ counterpart Pete Hegseth that Starlink system has been restored as he seeks to cool tensions

Wes Streeting urged the US to stand by Ukraine on his visit to the American capital and sought to cool tensions between the two countries in the wake of the Starlink row that is threatening to set back Kyiv’s war effort.

The British defence secretary, giving a speech before a meeting with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, argued that supporting Ukraine was in the long-term interests of Washington, and a business opportunity.

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© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Matt Gaetz accused in suit of sex trafficking two women in Florida

Jane Does allege ex-congressman and two others coordinated ‘payments, drugs and travel’ for sexual acts

The Republican former congressman Matt Gaetz has been accused of participating in the sex trafficking of two young women in a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday in district court in Florida.

The allegations, which Gaetz denied in a statement to the Guardian, are the latest developments in a long-running sexual abuse scandal involving the politician who resigned from Congress in November 2024.

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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

Nicolás Maduro tells New York court new torture allegations are ‘false’

15 October 2026 at 12:38

Rewritten indictment accuses ex-Venezuela president and wife Cilia Flores of leading campaign of torture

Nicolás Maduro insisted on Thursday during an appearance in a New York court that torture allegations in a rewritten drug trafficking indictment against the deposed Venezuelan president and his wife were “false accusations”.

Maduro, shackled at the ankles, was brought to court to face the new charges accusing the couple of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans.

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© Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA

© Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA

© Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA

Trump cancels plan to livestream execution after global condemnation

15 October 2026 at 13:03

Soldier who killed 13 people in 2009 will still be executed, but president said ‘people would rather not watch him die’

Donald Trump has shelved a widely condemned plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people at a military base at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009.

In a social media post on Thursday, Trump argued that broadcasting such an execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan” but said that “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device”.

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© Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

© Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

© Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

Palestine book by Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari pulled from Random House before release

15 October 2026 at 10:00

Authors withdraw book planned for young readers after disputes with editors over characterizations of 7 October

A book on Palestine for young readers was pulled at Penguin Random House just before its scheduled release, following editorial disputes between the publisher and the book’s Palestinian American authors over their account of Palestinian history.

In November 2024, Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House, signed the book deal with Alana Hadid, a philanthropist, activist and older sister of models Bella and Gigi, and Jenan Matari, an author and communications strategist. The book was promoted for release in September this year.

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© Photograph: Getty

© Photograph: Getty

© Photograph: Getty

US lawmakers unveil bill to hold Wall Street’s ‘Epstein-connected’ bosses to account

Move comes as Senator Elizabeth Warren condemns Barclays response to questions over ex-boss’s ties to sex offender

US lawmakers have unveiled a new bill to hold Wall Street’s “Epstein-connected” bosses to account for helping finance the late sex offender’s crimes.

It came as top Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the UK bank Barclays for “dodging responsibility” over its failure to vet former boss Jes Staley and his ties to the once well-connected billionaire.

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© Photograph: Uma Sanghvi/AP

© Photograph: Uma Sanghvi/AP

© Photograph: Uma Sanghvi/AP

Bad news for Trump ahead of the midterms: it’s still the economy, stupid

15 October 2026 at 08:00

Voters’ opposition to the state of Trump’s economy is well established – despite his desperate attempts to deflect

It’s indisputable that the political polarization of our time has reduced (and confused) the influence of economic conditions on US elections.

In September of 2024, in the waning weeks of the Joe Biden presidency, 65% of Republicans believed the US economy was getting worse. About six months later, as Donald Trump launched a trade war on the rest of the world with his “liberation day” tariffs, the share of Republican pessimists had dropped to 33%.

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© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Revealed: Serbian ruler’s secret role in ‘illegal’ effort to help Trump business

15 October 2026 at 07:00

Exclusive: Aleksandar Vučić personally intervened to push plans for controversial $500m Trump Tower in Belgrade, which sparked protests and a criminal case

Serbia’s authoritarian ruler personally intervened to advance an allegedly illegal scheme to hand over a protected site in Belgrade for a Trump tower, the Guardian can reveal.

Aleksandar Vučić summoned officials to a meeting at his presidential offices about the project, which has culminated in a landmark indictment of senior figures from his regime on charges of abuse of public office.

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© Composite: Guardian Design/PA/EPA/AP/Getty Images

© Composite: Guardian Design/PA/EPA/AP/Getty Images

© Composite: Guardian Design/PA/EPA/AP/Getty Images

Trump should fear the BBC. Instead he’s picked a fight – and he seems to be losing | Emma Brockes

15 October 2026 at 06:00

The president is used to bullying his media targets. The quagmire that is his libel actions shows the broadcaster is working to a different script

For the greatest account of the BBC’s finest hour, one must turn to Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel, Human Voices, written in 1980 and set 40 years earlier, at the corporation’s Portland Place wartime HQ. Flanked by sandbags and infused with a smell of cooking “from the deep hold that suggested more strongly than ever a cruise on the Queen Mary”, the organisation that Fitzgerald describes is at once noble and deeply eccentric. “Broadcasting House stood headed on a fixed course south,” she writes. “With the best engineers in the world, and a crew varying between the intensely respectable and barely sane, it looked ready to scorn any disaster.”

In other words, a formidable foe, one that in the spring of 1940, in the face of anticipated Nazi invasion, decided “without prompting, that truth was more important than consolation, and, in the long run, would be more effective”. I bring this up in respect to the gathering storm of Donald Trump versus the BBC, a fight triggered by the US president’s $10bn defamation lawsuit – $10bn! It’s a wonder he didn’t go for $10 gazillion – brought against the corporation at the end of last year in response to a poorly edited episode of Panorama. The BBC was at fault, editing together comments made by the US president at a rally on 6 January 2021 to give, as the corporation’s apology put it, “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”. But it is fighting the lawsuit.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

Why one of the US's reddest counties is losing faith in Trump – video

As the midterm elections loom, Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to rural West Virginia, a Republican party stronghold, to explore how soaring gas prices, war in the Middle East and datacenter expansion are affecting Donald Trump's popularity among his base. Although the state remains staunchly Republican, there are signs of a new politics emerging – and local Democrats are looking to capitalize on it

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© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

‘Like selling wolves from Yellowstone’: how protected US sharks are being sold off to foreign aquariums

15 October 2026 at 05:00

While anglers cannot take endangered sand tiger sharks, a loophole lets private firms catch the fish to sell abroad, profiting from Delaware Bay’s conservation success

Shortly after 12.45pm, what remains of a 300-metre line goes taut. Somewhere beneath the murky green surface of Delaware Bay, on the eastern US coast, a sand tiger shark has taken the bait of a mackerel chunk. Marine researchers at the University of Delaware haul the line towards a small boat as the shark’s grey-brown outline emerges.

It is a large animal: 225cm (7ft) long with a 90cm girth. Its mouth hangs open, revealing rows of jagged teeth. The researchers work quickly, measuring the shark, recording its sex, and taking blood and muscle samples. A tag is then fastened beneath its dorsal fin, through its thick sandpapery skin.

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© Photograph: Maya Young/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maya Young/The Guardian

© Photograph: Maya Young/The Guardian

Can Lena's Dunham new Girls do for 40-year-olds what she did for 23-year-olds? I know it can | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

15 October 2026 at 03:00

I was in my early 20s when the classic series debuted and I recognised so much. I can’t wait to see how the reboot takes on a new – equally messy – stage of life

HBO’s Girls is coming back, Lena Dunham and her fellow cast members announced this week, and the internet is already abuzz. Women of a certain age, myself included – approaching, turning or having turned 40 – are genuinely thrilled, if also slightly trepidatious. When you’ve loved, loathed and most importantly grown with characters in the way many of us did with Girls, you feel protective of a show’s legacy. But with Dunham, I’m confident it is in good hands.

Girls means a lot to me, in part because it was the topic of my first ever column for this newspaper: in 2012, shortly after the show premiered, it was already generating a bananas amount of internet discourse and I was on work experience. I was in my early 20s and not long off the dole. I didn’t share the privilege of Dunham’s characters, which is perhaps why I so enjoyed how she skewered it. (I never understood the criticism that the show was about spoilt rich girls. So many people missed the satire.) Yet there were aspects of it that I related to, as I wrote at the time:

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

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.

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© Photograph: Mark Schafer/HBO

© Photograph: Mark Schafer/HBO

© Photograph: Mark Schafer/HBO

Volodymyr Zelenskyy feels ‘betrayed’ by Donald Trump over Starlink access

Ukrainian president accused US president of picking the other side after four years of war

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he feels personally betrayed by Donald Trump after it emerged that Ukraine’s military has had its access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite squeezed, raising doubts about long-term US support for Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president, on a visit to London, accused Trump of picking the other side after more than four years of war, risking a breakdown in relations already strained by the US agreeing to buy diesel from Moscow.

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© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Pool/AP

© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Pool/AP

© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Pool/AP

Lawyers for man shot by ICE in New York City say agent did not identify himself

14 October 2026 at 18:30

Account by Oscar Belgal differs sharply from that of DHS agents, who fired into vehicle with young boy in back seat

Lawyers for a man wounded by an immigration officer while driving with his young son in New York City said in a court filing Wednesday that the agent who shot him never identified himself before he ran up to the car, smashed one of its windows, then fired several shots into the vehicle.

The account by lawyers for Oscar Belgal contrasted sharply with the version of events outlined by Department of Homeland Security officials. They have said officers opened fire only after Belgal smashed his car into two government vehicles and “accelerated toward other officers”.

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© Photograph: Pedro Almarez/Reuters

© Photograph: Pedro Almarez/Reuters

© Photograph: Pedro Almarez/Reuters

Ilhan Omar’s phone seized and relatives subpoenaed in criminal inquiry, source says

14 October 2026 at 18:22

Federal authorities issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas in inquiry into potential immigration fraud

Federal authorities investigating the Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar seized the Democratic lawmaker’s phone and have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to a person briefed on the inquiry.

The subpoenas were issued for a grand jury collecting evidence in Minnesota as federal authorities investigate potential fraud in Omar’s immigration paperwork, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. The investigation led to federal agents searching Omar’s Washington DC home on Monday just weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking re-election.

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© Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

© Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

© Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Israel blocks construction of key Gaza base created by Trump peace board

14 October 2026 at 15:19

Exclusive: Israel has not permitted US-led project to house 150 international troops to move forward

Israel is refusing to allow a key military outpost project for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to proceed in Gaza, the Guardian has learned.

In early August, the Board of Peace, the international organization authorized in 2025 by the UN and chaired by the US president, issued its first construction contract for Gaza: Louisiana-based Arkel International would construct a military outpost for 150 international troops that would be the vanguard of an international stabilization force.

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© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Trump’s new press secretary faces scrutiny over claims to be a lawyer

14 October 2026 at 15:12

Katie Zacharia describes herself as a lawyer but no public record shows she has been licensed in the US states where she resided

Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer. But when asked after her inaugural press briefing on Tuesday to name the state where she passed the bar exam, she replied curiously: “when I moved to China”.

No public record shows she has ever been licensed to practice law in the US states where she resided, and her answer to reporters’ questions on Tuesday only deepened scrutiny.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

SpaceX rocket launch causes stunning ‘jellyfish cloud’ visible off US east coast

14 October 2026 at 14:15

Expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystalized in the sky and reflected sunlight off frozen particles after Florida launch

A SpaceX rocket provided a stunning pre-dawn display over Florida as a egiant, luminescent “jellyfish cloud” spread for miles, caused by an expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystalizing in the sky and reflecting sunlight off the frozen particles.

The phenomenon occurred shortly after Tuesday’s 6.33am ET launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station.

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© Photograph: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

The Guardian view on Trump’s deal with Putin: grim and grubby, but not gamechanging | Editorial

14 October 2026 at 13:30

President Zelenskyy’s allies must show the Russian president that American perfidy won’t alter the course of a war the Kremlin is losing

When Donald Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of re-entering the White House last year, no one with any depth of insight into the conflict believed him. But Mr Trump took his own words seriously enough to feel the lack of a ceasefire as an affront to his self-image as a master dealmaker. After a period when it seemed that Kyiv’s European allies had steered the US president away from pro‑Kremlin partisanship, he has reverted to the grotesque view that Ukrainian capitulation is a necessary precondition for peace.

These are the perilous circumstances in which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Andy Burnham on Wednesday in Downing Street. In recent days, the US president has called for a change of government in Ukraine. He claimed that a partial ceasefire had been agreed, while Russia escalated its bombardments. According to Mr Zelenskyy, the latest missile strikes have come without the intelligence warnings from the US that have, in the past, facilitated self-defence. There have been reports of Ukrainian soldiers losing access to the Starlink satellite network, controlled by Elon Musk, the US tech oligarch. This raises suspicion of coordinated pressure to tip the scales in Russia’s favour after many months when Mr Putin’s forces have failed to deliver significant advances and his country’s economy has been suffering from the effect of Ukrainian missile and drone counterstrikes.

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.

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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Cornell president acknowledges he knew about fraternity sexual assault but didn’t follow up

14 October 2026 at 12:30

Michael Kotlikoff addressed his administration’s handling of the 2024 allegations as he faces calls for his resignation

Michael Kotlikoff, the president of Cornell University, has spoken to the New York Times about sexual assault allegations at the school, acknowledging for the first time that he knew a student had reported being sexually assaulted in November 2024, but did not follow up with the Jane Doe involved in the months after learning about the alleged assault.

He also revealed that he did not know she had dropped out of Cornell until she filed a lawsuit last month.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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© Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/Reuters

© Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/Reuters

© Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/Reuters

Sir Trevor Phillips urges CBS News colleagues to give critics blunt riposte

14 October 2026 at 12:20

Phillips sought to buck up his fellow London bureau colleagues during a contentious staff meeting on Tuesday

The veteran British broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips had some strong words of advice for his CBS News colleagues when facing off against critics who question the editorial integrity of the network: “Why don’t you just fuck off and let us do our jobs?”

Phillips made his blunt suggestion during a contentious meeting of the network’s London bureau on Tuesday, during which the foreign editor, Shayndi Raice, went on a lengthy tirade criticizing unnamed staffers for suggesting that editorial oversight amounted to “interference” and informing colleagues that disobeying editors would be insubordination and “legal grounds for firing”.

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© Photograph: Dave Benett/Tracey Welch/Getty Images for Sky News

© Photograph: Dave Benett/Tracey Welch/Getty Images for Sky News

© Photograph: Dave Benett/Tracey Welch/Getty Images for Sky News

Family of man killed by tiger criticise online content after Trump reposts video

Relatives of William Chapman say footage of attack shared online ‘deeply offensive’ and causing them ‘severe distress’

The family of a man killed by a tiger at a wildlife park in the UK have spoken about their “severe distress” at the circulation of online media after Donald Trump reposted a video of the incident.

William Chapman, 23, was mauled to death after entering an enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, on Saturday.

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© Photograph: Family Handout/PA

© Photograph: Family Handout/PA

© Photograph: Family Handout/PA

‘From liabilities to goldmines’: refineries eye record profits from diesel shortage

Firms turning crude oil into the ‘workhorse’ fuel stand to gain most despite economic fallout from record prices

Days after Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US in an effort to lower soaring pump prices, the world’s energy watchdog has warned that the global fuel shortage will drag into 2027.

Trump’s temporary sanctions reprieve was criticised for offering “too little, too late” to temper the sky high pump prices triggered by the shutdown of war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia – once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter behind the US.

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© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

What will drive American voters to the polls in the midterm elections? - video explainer

Recent polls show that American voters across the political spectrum are deeply dissatisfied with the Trump administration, and the upcoming midterm elections will provide them an opportunity to express how they feel. The Guardian's reporter Fabiola Cineas breaks down the four key issues that will drive voters to the polls

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© Photograph: Guardian reactive desk

© Photograph: Guardian reactive desk

© Photograph: Guardian reactive desk

Nvidia, worth $5.5tn, donates $250m to UK for AI safety research

Pledge spanning five years from world’s most valuable firm comes as concerns about AI agents have risen

The $5.5tn (£4.1tn) US chipmaker Nvidia is donating $250m worth of computing power to the UK to support AI safety research.

The donation from the world’s most valuable company comes as the UK government confirmed its AI Security Institute (AISI), which tests advance AI models, will be able to examine cutting-edge technology developed by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google before they are released.

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© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

The raid on Ilhan Omar’s house is dangerous political theater | Moira Donegan

14 October 2026 at 06:00

The raid is meant to cast an air of suspicion and criminality over Democratic candidates who, like Omar, are facing the voters in a matter of weeks

On Monday, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided the Washington DC area home of Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota congresswoman and a progressive Democrat, in the latest instance of Donald Trump’s effort to weaponize the national security state to harass, punish and embarrass his political opponents.

The raid, which was approved by a judge after a reportedly extensive back-and-forth with federal security officials, was nominally carried out in connection with a spurious criminal investigation into Omar’s childhood immigration to the US.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

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© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

Why are so many Americans forced to work standing up – unlike their president? | Arwa Mahdawi

14 October 2026 at 06:00

Airports’ TSA staff have been stripped of their chairs in the name of ‘professionalism’. Most supermarket staff have never had them. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is seated at his desk – and apparently snoozing

Great news for everyone who is soon to fly via a US airport: the Trump administration has just elevated the travel experience. You still risk getting arrested by immigration agents and thrown into a detention centre, but never mind that! Instead, luxuriate in the fact that none of the poorly paid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff with whom you interact will be sitting down. The government recently got rid of all the chairs at travel document checking stations, arguing that “maintaining a standing posture helps reinforce professionalism” and strengthens “our security posture and … commitment to hospitality”. Funnily enough, border patrol and customs officers have not adopted the same policy. Perhaps because their job tends to involve being as inhospitable as possible.

TSA agents aren’t the only US workers getting sore calf muscles during their shifts. Unlike their European and British counterparts, cashiers at US supermarkets have traditionally been forced to stand while working. The US’s upright obsession seems to be down to a Protestant work ethic and a lack of labour laws. Sitting apparently conveys laziness to the discerning American consumer. Over the years there have been numerous right-to-sit lawsuits pushing back on mandatory standing but, while things are shifting slightly, seated supermarket cashiers are still unusual. One exception is Aldi, which has been expanding aggressively in the US. Cashiers get chairs at Aldi because (surprise) it’s more efficient when your workers’ feet aren’t aching all the time.

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© Photograph: Myung J Chun/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Myung J Chun/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

© Photograph: Myung J Chun/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Joni Mitchell becomes US citizen: ‘A journey that began 62 years ago’

14 October 2026 at 04:39

Canada-born singer-songwriter, 82, posts footage of citizenship ceremony to Instagram

Joni Mitchell has become a US citizen, after first moving to the country in the mid-1960s. The Canada-born singer-songwriter, 82, posted footage of her citizenship ceremony on her Instagram account, along with a photo of her next to an American flag, accompanied by the caption: “A journey that began 62 years ago.”

It means that Mitchell can now vote in US elections, something that she had complained she wasn’t able to do.

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© Photograph: Instagram

© Photograph: Instagram

© Photograph: Instagram

Judge extends White House access to banned media outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico

14 October 2026 at 00:34

District court judge Timothy Kelly was ruling after the Trump administration blocked access to the three outlets in September

A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to continue allowing journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico to access the building as the media coalition’s lawsuit against the Trump administration plays out.

Timothy Kelly, a district court judge, had on 24 September granted a 14-day reprieve for the news organizations, which six days earlier had been banned by the president in an extraordinary move from entering the White House grounds “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS”.

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Graduate student accused of poisoning colleague and trying to flee to China arrested at LAX

13 October 2026 at 20:53

Microbiologist Aili Wang, 32, poisoned tea of colleague in Wyoming who had pending patents, prosecutors allege

A Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China has been arrested on accusations she poisoned the tea of a colleague who had pending patents and with whom she did not get along, then tried to flee the country after police questioned her.

Aili Wang, 32, was arrested 6 October at Los Angeles international airport, where prosecutors allege she sought to return to China. With her were laptops, electronic storage devices and documents now in the possession of police, who allege Wang was seen on surveillance video rummaging through the desk of the victim who specialized in technology for disease treatment – research similar to work she had done in China.

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© Photograph: Mark Gomelsky/AP

© Photograph: Mark Gomelsky/AP

© Photograph: Mark Gomelsky/AP

BBC asks judge to force Trump to sit for deposition as part of his $10bn lawsuit

13 October 2026 at 16:49

BBC asks US federal judge to compel Trump’s lawyers to schedule deposition after his team canceled initial session

The BBC is asking a federal judge in Florida to force Donald Trump to sit for a deposition as part of the president’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster.

According to a Tuesday filing, the BBC and Trump’s legal team had agreed for him to be deposed on Friday. The BBC’s lawyers wrote to the judge that they had spent months trying to secure a location for the deposition from Trump’s team.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis sentenced to 40 years to life over Tupac Shakur’s murder

13 October 2026 at 15:43

‘You don’t get to take a man from his family … and just walk away from it,’ judge says as former gang leader sentenced

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the former California gang leader convicted of murder for orchestrating the 1996 fatal shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.

“For three years, I’ve heard you say some variation of the same thing … ‘Yeah, I was involved in this. But I’m different. I’ve moved on. I got out of Compton. I’m a grandfather now,’” Judge Carli Kierny said Tuesday as she delivered the sentence.

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© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

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