Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted of parents’ murders at Beverly Hills home in 1989
A judge has decided the resentencing hearings for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents, can continue despite a new Los Angeles district attorney opposing their release after 30 years behind bars.
The brothers appeared in court over Zoom on Friday for the proceedings.
Continue reading...Critics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashed
Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday.
The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Mahdi, who killed an officer in 2004, endured torture in his childhood and argued he was denied a fair trial
A prison firing squad in South Carolina executed Mikal Mahdi on Friday, the second recent death row killing in the state by authorized gunfire.
Mahdi, 42, was shot dead by corrections employees inside the execution chamber, where authorities have carried out a rapid spree of killings as South Carolina aggressively revives capital punishment.
Continue reading...School district says DHS agents, seeking five students in first through sixth grades, were barred from entering
Immigration officials attempted to enter two Los Angeles elementary schools this week, but were turned away by school administrators. The incident appears to be the Trump administration’s first attempt to enter the city’s public schools since amending regulations to allow immigration agents to enter “sensitive areas” such as schools.
At a Thursday press conference, the Los Angeles unified school district superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, confirmed that agents from the Department of Homeland Security were seeking five students in first through sixth grades.
Continue reading...Move comes after professors sued and alleged investigation violated their constitutional free speech rights
The US House education and workforce committee withdrew an investigation into Northwestern University’s law school clinics after professors there sued and alleged that the inquiry violated their constitutional free speech rights.
The professors secured what amounted to a legal victory for them on Thursday, when the House committee withdrew its investigative requests with respect to the university and its law school’s Bluhm Legal Clinic program on Thursday.
Continue reading...‘Average man from Derbyshire’ shocked to find photo of tattoo celebrating child’s birth was used to deport migrants
A British man was shocked to discover that a photo of his tattoo was included in a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document used to identify alleged members of a notorious Venezuelan criminal gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA).
Earlier this week, 44-year-old Pete Belton, who lives in the English county of Derbyshire, told the BBC that he was stunned to find a photo of his forearm tattoo featured in a DHS document among nine images of tattoos intended to assist in “detecting and identifying” TdA members.
Continue reading...Mexico’s failure to keep up 81-year-old water-sharing treaty has sparked a diplomatic spat with the US
Mexico will make an immediate water delivery to Texas farmers to help make up its shortfall under a treaty that has strained US relations and prompted tariff threats by Donald Trump, said Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Friday.
Mexico is looking for alternatives to comply with the 81-year-old water-sharing treaty with the US, Sheinbaum said in her regular news conference. A proposal had already been sent to US officials, she said.
Continue reading...Carmaker removes ‘order now’ buttons for Model S saloon and Model X SUV on its Chinese website amid tariffs war
Tesla has stopped taking orders in China for two models it previously imported from the US, as companies scramble to adapt to prohibitive tariffs imposed in Donald Trump’s trade war.
The manufacturer, run by Trump’s close ally Elon Musk, removed “order now” buttons on its Chinese website for its Model S saloon and Model X sports utility vehicle.
Continue reading...Supreme court upholds earlier order that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be released after being improperly sent to prison
The Mississippi library commission, which offers services such as specialized research assistance to libraries in the state, has ordered the deletion of two research collections: the race relations database and the gender studies database. The collections were stored in what’s called the Magnolia database, which is used by publicly funded schools, libraries, universities and state agencies in Mississippi.
The commission’s executive director, Hulen Bivins, confirmed the deletion to the Guardian, and said:
We may lose a lot of materials.
All of the states, we are in dire shape. We have had a reconsideration of everything with regard to what Doge [is doing].”
Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties.”
Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful land mass.”
I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the US administration discussed by vice-president Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik space base.”
Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.”
Continue reading...Col Susannah Meyers removed amid reports she distanced base from Vance’s criticism of Denmark’s oversight of territory
• Europe live – latest updates
The head of the US military base in Greenland has been fired for criticising Washington’s agenda for the Arctic island after JD Vance visited two weeks ago.
Col Susannah Meyers, who had served as commander of the Pituffik space base since July, was removed amid reports she had distanced herself and the base from the US vice-president’s criticism of Denmark and its oversight of the territory.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping makes move after urging EU to resist Trump’s ‘bullying’. Plus, the supreme court orders the US to help return a Salvadorian man it wrongly deported
Good morning.
China has raised its tariffs on US goods to 125% as the trade war between Washington and Beijing continues to escalate, just hours after its leader, Xi Jinping, said there were “no winners in a tariff war”.
How are markets reacting? Oil prices were expected to fall for the second week running, and US stocks fell again on Thursday. Follow our business live blog here and our US politics blog here.
What are her lawyers requesting? Öztürk’s attorneys on Thursday asked the federal court in Vermont to order her release or her transfer to the state of Vermont while her case is heard.
Continue reading...Advocates braced for revamp of certification system as experts warn of political pressure being brought to bear
Advocates for academic freedom are bracing for what they expect to be the next phase of the government’s effort to reshape higher education: an overhaul of the system accrediting institutions of higher learning.
Donald Trump has made no secret of such plans. During the campaign, he boasted that accreditation would be his “secret weapon” against colleges and universities the right has long viewed as too progressive.
Continue reading...Case related to Atlanta project raises issue of state open record laws, and whether they apply to police foundations
A legal case in Atlanta stemming from the controversial “Cop City” project is being closely watched because it has the potential to cast a spotlight on the activities of police foundations nationwide.
The case raises the issue of state open records laws, and whether they apply to police foundations. The private foundations exist in every major US city, with more than 250 nationwide, according to a 2021 report by research and activist groups Little Sis and Color of Change.
Continue reading...Library commission says state ‘in dire shape’ and has ‘had a reconsideration of everything with regard to’ Doge
The Mississippi library commission, which offers services such as specialized research assistance to libraries in the state, has ordered the deletion of two research collections: the race relations database and the gender studies database. The collections were stored in what’s called the Magnolia database, which is used by publicly funded schools, libraries, universities and state agencies in Mississippi.
The commission’s executive director, Hulen Bivins, confirmed the deletion to the Guardian, and said: “We may lose a lot of materials.”
Continue reading...HBO renewed Mike White’s hit drama before third season aired and rumours abound about luxury settings and return of stars
You’ve only just got home from a holiday when you start planning the next one. So it is with the super-rich spa satire The White Lotus. The gunsmoke is still clearing from the finale of the third season but speculation is rife about where the HBO hit will head next.
This week’s climax of Mike White’s drama might have divided critics, but it was still group chat-dominating, column inch-gobbling TV, notching its highest ratings yet. The show was renewed for a fourth trip before the third had even aired, with White reportedly pitching HBO execs his next idea while still filming in Koh Samui. Buzz is now building about the next chapter, expected on our screens in late 2026.
Continue reading...Spanish family including three children age 11, five and four killed in crash along with pilot, who has not yet been named
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has offered his condolences to friends and relatives of a Spanish family who died in New York on Thursday after their sightseeing helicopter crashed in the Hudson River, killing all onboard including the pilot.
It emerged on Friday that the victims were Agustín Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí, and their three children, who were 11, five and four. The identity of the pilot has not yet been made public.
Continue reading...Chinese leader canvasses Spain and other trading partners on how to tackle economic fallout as market turmoil continues
China has raised its tariffs on US products to 125% in the latest salvo of the trade dispute with Washington, just hours after Xi Jinping said there were “no winners in a tariff war”.
Xi made the comments during a meeting with the Spanish prime minister in which he invited the EU to work with China to resist “bullying”, part of an apparent campaign to shore up other trading partners.
Continue reading...It would take an ‘extraordinary deal’ for any country to improve on 10% rate, says Kevin Hassett
A senior economic adviser to Donald Trump has said it would take “an extraordinary deal” for any country, including the UK, to improve on the 10% tariff rate the US has imposed almost worldwide, pouring cold water on Downing Street’s hopes for a breakthrough.
Trump succumbed to pressure from plunging financial markets on Wednesday and temporarily reduced “retaliatory” tariffs on all countries’ goods to 10%, except those from China, which face a rate of 145%.
Continue reading...Bloc is ‘very committed’ to laws on big tech and is not targeting US companies, says European Commission’s Henna Virkkunen
The EU will not rip up its tech rules in an attempt to reach a trade deal with Donald Trump, the bloc’s most senior official on digital policy has said.
Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission vice-president responsible for tech sovereignty, indicated the EU was not going to compromise on its digital rulebook to reach an agreement on trade with the US – a key demand of Trump administration officials.
Continue reading...Justices uphold judge’s order and say Trump officials must ‘facilitate’ return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to United States
The US supreme court upheld on Thursday a judge’s order requiring Donald Trump’s administration to facilitate the return to the United States of a Salvadoran man who the government has acknowledged was deported in error to El Salvador.
US district judge Paula Xinis last week issued an order that the administration “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, in response to a lawsuit filed by the man and his family challenging the legality of his deportation.
Continue reading...