Goodell confirms review after Ohio prostitution sting
York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges
NFL has previously disciplined owners for misconduct
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is looking into whether San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York will be punished for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after he was caught in a prostitution sting in Ohio.
“It’s being reviewed under the personal conduct policy,” Goodell said Wednesday at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta. “We’ll do that and when there’s something to be reported we’ll talk.”
Jes Staley told US House committee he also was at one point named a trustee of convicted sex offender’s estate
Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley told US lawmakers he repeatedly shared confidential and market-sensitive bank information with Jeffrey Epstein and was at one point named as a trustee of his estate, according to a transcript released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday.
These admissions come as lawmakers investigate the late convicted sex offender’s ties with political and business elites. Staley appeared before the committee in July as part of its investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his associate. Transcripts from the meeting were released on Wednesday.
Only original 88 selections will earn Pro Bowl status
Players to be honored at Super Bowl week in LA
The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event.
Beginning with the 2026 season, 88 Pro Bowlers will be selected but the NFL no longer plans to stage an AFC-NFC game, a flag-football matchup or an accompanying series of competitions. The players chosen will instead be invited to next year’s Super Bowl site in Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February.
Democrat Eric Hafner, to be released in 2036, also ran for seat in 2024, securing spot on that general election ballot
A man who is serving time in a federal prison in New York advanced on Wednesday from the primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat.
Eric Hafner, a registered Democrat, also ran for the seat in 2024 and secured a spot on the general election ballot that November despite a challenge brought by the Alaska Democratic party.
Then House candidate joined Democratic Socialists of America in 2018 but didn’t renew membership after a year
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America after not renewing her membership for seven years, amid speculation that she might run for president in 2028.
The 36-year-old New York representative and one of the country’s most prominent democratic socialists renewed her membership in the group’s national organization after reports emerged earlier this month that it had lapsed. Ocasio-Cortez initially joined the group in 2018.
Victoria Hicks, mother of Alexandra Hicks, told reporters that she feels 'justice is possible' after Meta settled in its US trial over teen addiction. On 26 August in a Oakland, California, federal courtroom, Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenagers and pay up to $17bn. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products
FBI psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff says he has treated only two women with postpartum psychosis, both decades earlier
Testimony finished in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Wednesday, as a final witness for the prosecution laid out that he believed the Massachusetts mother knew right from wrong when she took the lives of her three young children before attempting to commit suicide in 2023.
Closing arguments are expected to begin on Thursday. The jury will then start deliberating.
Donald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip.
Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland.
Earlier this year, a survey found that Canada, along with Switzerland, was the best-liked country in the world. We all know this kind of polling is about as scientific as a high school popularity contest, but at least anecdotally, Canadians have a reputation for being friendly and welcoming, respectful and polite. Many people would find it difficult to dislike Canadians.
But not Donald Trump, who in a “hold my beer” moment this week demonstrated that he, at least, finds it easy to resent Canadians. The US president called the country “difficult and unreasonable”, and in a particularly hysterical moment, threatened to rename a lake, after trade talks collapsed.
Rangers have acquired forward Kevin Kelsy from Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told the Guardian on Wednesday. That source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the agreement. The deal, worth $13m (£9.5m) – potentially more if Kelsy hits certain performance goals for Rangers – also includes a sell-on fee for the MLS club.
The Athletic’s Tom Bogert first reported details of the deal on Wednesday morning.
Portland acquired Kelsy from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk last January, paying $6m for the Venezuela international. The 22-year-old has been erratic but ultimately productive for the Timbers, scoring 16 times in 43 appearances.
US labels group ‘global terrorist’ as Palestine Action challenge against proscription in UK nears supreme court hearing
The US has issued sanctions against the UK-based direct action organisation Palestine Action, describing it as a “transnational terror group”.
The US Department of the Treasury labelled Palestine Action a specially designated global terrorist on Wednesday, which allows the US to freeze the assets of foreign individuals and entities.
Tributes have poured in for Dolly Parton, the pioneering country music singer, songwriter and actor, who has died aged 80. Stars including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Paul McCartney have paid tribute to one of the world’s greatest music artists, with many praising her lifelong philanthropy and advocacy for literacy and LGBTQ+ rights. Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian deputy features editor Jenny Stevens
FDA officials approve first-of-a-kind pill called daraxonrasib to fight one of the deadliest types of cancer
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering US patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of the disease.
FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, that blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases. It’s an approach that has eluded drugmakers for decades.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Wesley Bell to join as Jared Moskowitz becomes ranking member on sub-committee
Three pro-Israel Democrats have been given key roles on a powerful congressional body overseeing US foreign policy in a move rounding sharply counter to popular sentiment within the party and likely to anger leftwing activists.
The appointments to the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee follow a succession of wins in party primaries for progressive candidates who put criticism of Israel and its actions in Gaza at the core of their campaign messages.
‘This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,’ Ken Paxton says
A federal judge has, for a second time, struck down a Texas state law banning drag performances in settings where children may be present.
In a ruling issued on Tuesday, US district judge David Hittner said Texas cannot enforce its drag show ban. He said that the measure improperly restricts speech and violates the first amendment of the US constitution.
In this episode of Guardian Australia’s US politics podcast Decoding America, co-hosts Jonathan Yerushalmy and Reged Ahmad explore why datacentres in the US have provoked such anger – and whether that could harm Republicans in the midterms given Donald Trump is such a supporter of the growing industry.
They also look at why the US and Canada are fighting over tariffs. The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, is pushing back and both countries could be on the cusp of a full-blown trade war.
Finally: why does the Trump administration’s secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, have his very own YouTube show – and is he the only one?
In states like Montana, range riders can play a key role in a wild landscape where livestock and predators navigate life together
For most people, the word “cowboy” still summons a figure from Western folklore – a rough rider with a weathered face and a steely gaze, a self-reliant loner who answers to nobody, is fearless in the face of danger, and protects his lands from predators – animal and human alike.
But over the past 15 years, a new range rider has emerged in the American West, one that is out on a wholly different mission: to live in a wild landscape where livestock and predators can co-exist.
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of firing his gun and wounding a Venezuelan man in the leg is caught in an interstate extradition dispute between Texas and Minnesota – and could walk out of a Texas jail as soon as Wednesday after a federal judge refused to intervene.
Christian Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime by another, in relation to the incident in which he was involved in the wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.
World No 10 is one of the best players yet to win a major and heads to Flushing Meadows in fine form after learning to embrace being uncomfortable
Amanda Anisimova can see the signs now. It is just over three years since the American announced she would be taking an indefinite break for mental health reasons. A brilliant junior, she was a semi-finalist at the French Open in 2019 and seemingly destined for the top, only for her world to be rocked by the sudden death of her father, Konstantin, a few months later. Struggling for motivation and burned out, in May 2023, she revealed she would be stepping away from the sport.
It turned out to be the best decision she ever made. “I learned how important it is to have a great balance on and off the court,” Anisimova says in an interview from New York, ahead of the US Open, where she will try to go one better than last year and win her first grand slam title.
All US immigrant visa applications halted as state department moves to tighten restrictions and limit access. Plus tributes pour in for Dolly Parton, who has died aged 80
Good morning. All US immigrant visa applications have been paused by the Trump administration as the state department moves to tighten restrictions and limit access to applicants whom they deem could need US assistance. The agency launched the initiative at all embassies and consulates in early August.
Applicants with scheduled interviews were sent emails that their appointments had been canceled. Agency officials claim this will ensure visa applicants will not end up relying on US public benefits. This week the Trump administration also announced plans to revoke visas from asylum seekers who had initially entered the US for tourism or business. Up to 200,000 people seeking asylum could be affected.
Is the move lawful? “The court made clear that immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination,” Joanna Cuevas Ingram, a senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said. In February, a federal judge overturned the president’s attempt to suspend the US refugee system entirely.
Why are the states suing Meta? The lawsuit centers on the allegations that Meta deliberately designed addictive products that hooked young people, leading to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicide. Meta has denied all allegations, saying the states are chasing an “outlandish payout”.
Piketon datacenter promises to generate thousands of jobs, but environmental groups voice concern over project
On a winding road tucked away behind forests in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio is where OpenAI, Nvidia and Japanese investors are set to spend $500bn on one of the largest artificial intelligence datacenters on the planet.
Last March, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick and a host of Japanese and other dignitaries briefly descended on Piketon to enthusiastically break ground on a project to build 8GW worth of AI computing power.
Dolly Parton was one of the greatest singer-songwriters in country music and a pioneer for women throughout her career. The Guardian US's deputy arts editor Owen Myers reflects on a career and legacy whose impact transcends generations
Exposure to two compounds approved can result in ‘sudden death’ and range of other serious health risks, lawsuit warns
The Trump administration has approved two new datacenter chemicals to which exposure can result in “sudden death” and a range of other serious health risks, like cancer, eye corrosion, neurological damage and reproductive harm, a new lawsuit warns.
The two compounds approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for import and immediate use in facilities across the US are photoacid generators that also appear to be Pfas “forever chemicals”, though it is unclear because much of the EPA documents are redacted. Some Pfas are commonly used in the production of semiconductors.
This article was amended on 26 August 2026. A previous version said the EPA concedes that the chemicals present an “unreasonable risk” to workers. It has been updated to say the chemicals may present an unreasonable risk.
The Portland Thorns midfielder fills a role few in the US player pool can match, and she’s in a race against time to be fit for Brazil
Olivia Moultrie is no stranger to setting her own timeline. Half a decade ago, her desire to go pro at age 15 helped change NWSL rules, which previously forbade teams from signing players under 18. The ensuing five years have seen her go from one of the country’s top prospects to a high-level midfielder, a developmental success with the Portland Thorns.
Today, Moultrie instead finds herself in a race against time. The 2027 World Cup kicks off in 302 days, and her recovery from a torn ACL suffered at the start of this month has only just begun. Moultrie may not be among the biggest stars in the United States’ player pool, but her recovery from this injury should be closely monitored. Simply, there are few like-for-like alternatives who operate in possession as tidily and dangerously as she does.
They should ask the question Reagan asked at the end of his debate against Jimmy Carter: ‘Are you better off now than you were before this presidency?’
The midterm elections are already upon us, and every Democrat and independent running against a Republican should ask voters the question Ronald Reagan asked on 28 October 1980, at the end of his televised debate against Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off now than you were before this presidency?”
Unless you’re very, very rich, the answer is obviously: “No, I’m worse off.”
Energy bills have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation while Trump has been president. The national average monthly utility bill reached $280 in early 2026, a 12% increase since the end of 2024, just before the second Trump administration took office.
A US military strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean on Tuesday killed four people, officials said.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike targeted a vessel “operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean.”
Administration moved away from high-profile raids that defined immigration enforcement approach last year but still deported record number of people
The Trump administration arrested and deported a record number of immigrants in July, according to newly released government data – apprehending an average of 1,500 people and removing 1,100 people daily.
This latest data confirms what attorneys and immigrant advocates have been seeing across the US – although the administration has moved away from the high-profile, militarized raids that came to define its immigration enforcement approach last year, it is quietly ramping up its operations.
The quiet-spoken Canadian prime minister has spoken unutterable truths
Is it perhaps a sign of the times that Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, has become a thrilling orator? A sober banker, he speaks calmly, without many vocal inflections. We expect Canadians to be somewhat flat; even a little boring, and yet Carney has already delivered two remarkable speeches in 2026, and the year is far from over.
The first, at Davos, described a “rupture in the world order”, and “the end of a pleasant fiction”. By that, he meant that the world could no longer depend on the United States to lead the Pax Americana that has largely kept the peace since the end of the second world war.
Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations.
After trade negotiations broke down between the two countries last weekend, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, vowed to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar” and unveiled a list of nearly 900 American goods that will face 25% to 50% tariffs starting on 8 September.
Jack Klein takes heat readings, gives fans to overheated passengers and lugs big jugs of water into the stations
On a recent August day in the subterranean furnace of New York City’s subway, one bearded, curly haired man was studying his phone for different reasons than the other wilting passengers – to track the soaring temperatures and ponder how underground train stations can cool down in an era of climate crisis.
Jack Klein, a 31-year-old construction site manager, has in the past two years taken it upon himself to become a sort of guerrilla subway heat operative, sticking teardrop-shaped thermometers to steel beams in seven of the hottest Manhattan stations and posting social media videos of the hades-like summer temperatures that commuters have to endure.
The star known as Bayou Barbie is shining in Atlanta. The longer her haters dwell on her lowlights, the more they miss her transformation into an all-around force
On 16 August, the Atlanta Dream faced the Indiana Fever in the WNBA’s showcase matchup, and Angel Reese had a chance to don the cape. Tied at 81, the Dream had possession with five seconds left in regulation when Rhyne Howard launched a deep three-pointer. Reese was perfectly positioned under the basket, snagging Howard’s air ball with an outstretched hand. But in the rush to win the game, Reese forced a shot off the backboard that caromed off the front rim – and Naz Hillmon’s putback fizzled as the buzzer sounded. After Indiana escaped with a 95-91 overtime victory, Reese beat herself up over the loss.
“I didn’t sleep,” she told reporters days later. “The competitor in me wanted to win that game so bad. I replayed that play so many times.” Reese vowed to shrug the game off and do better. Damned if she hasn’t proved herself to be a woman of her word.
A cousin says death of Sean Grayson in prison ‘doesn’t give Sonya back her life or return her’ to her children
The death in prison of the former Illinois sheriff’s deputy convicted of murder after fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her home “doesn’t feel like justice to me”, a cousin of the woman has said in an emotional statement.
“It doesn’t give Sonya back her life or return her back to her [two] children”, who were aged 15 and 17 at the time of the killing, Sontae Massey wrote in the statement on Monday. Referring to Sonya Massey’s mother, the statement continued: “It doesn’t give my aunt back her daughter. And it doesn’t give our family the accountability were still waiting for …
Reproductive Freedom for All – one of the country’s oldest pro-choice groups – backs Jackson in his fight against Republican Susan Collins
One of the oldest abortion rights groups in the US is endorsing Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee in Maine’s critical US Senate race, according to details first shared with the Guardian.
Reproductive Freedom for All is supporting Jackson, the former state senate president, in challenging Susan Collins – the five‑term Republican incumbent who has been dogged on the campaign trail for her role in overturning abortion access in the US.
Sky Sports is close to agreeing a new deal to extend its live coverage of the US Open. The three-year contract extension, which is expected to be announced when the singles draw from Flushing Meadows begins next week, will keep the tournament live on Sky until 2030.
Under the terms of the new deal, Sky will broadcast more than 12 hours of live tennis each day across the extended three-week tournament, including the new mixed-doubles event which is taking place this week.
The San Francisco 49ers owner’s arrest in Ohio over the weekend was quickly put behind him. Others are not so lucky
The Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community sits off state Route 170, on the edge of East Palestine, Ohio, a town most Americans only learned about because a train derailed there in February 2023 and released toxic chemicals into the creek. I grew up in a trailer park like this one, and know the sights. The grid of aluminum boxes in rows. Skirting the color of old teeth, some of it buckled, some patched with a piece of lattice. The window units huff and puff in August, dripping dark condensation on to the gravel.
I’m sure there were drugs on my street. I’m sure somebody was selling sex. I never saw it. What I saw were families raising kids in 800 square feet and people the country had already written off, living next to each other and mostly getting along.
Everyone can see that the Iran war has been a strategic disaster for the US, while a failing president pretends he is winning
Now is the twilight of Donald Trump’s supremacy. The US is still the richest and most heavily armed nation on Earth. That status is secure. The current president, contemptuous of law and indulged in lawlessness by a supine Congress, enjoys even greater power than the constitution allows.
With those advantages it takes a special talent for incompetence to look as thwarted and impotent as Trump does with more than two years of his second term still to run.
Are we seeing the first signs of panic in Donald Trump’s Treasury? The US is by far the world’s biggest debtor, and the steady rise in global long-term interest rates – which I have long argued was inevitable – is starting to cause real pain.
Until now, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has dismissed concerns about US debt, which recently surpassed $40tn, as a big nothingburger. Growth, in his telling, will be so spectacular the US will easily be able to meet its interest obligations without any significant tax rises or spending cuts, while the rest of the world will happily keep feeding it money. But if Bessent really believes that, why is he trying to strong-arm the bond market by fiddling with the maturity structure of government debt?
The incumbent senator Dan S Sullivan has condemned ex-school teacher Dan J Sullivan, claiming he is running at the behest of Democrats to confuse supporters
Dan S Sullivan, the Republican senator, will be joined on the November ballot in Alaska by a challenger with a nearly identical name from the same party, election officials confirmed on Tuesday, adding a twist to what is expected to be one of the most hotly contested races of the midterms.
The Republican senator is running for a third term against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former US House representative whom polls show is neck-and-neck with him in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 2008.
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