© Eric Lee/The New York Times; Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
The Senate candidate denounced opponent Ken Paxton, calling out corruption allegations and support from Musk
James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Texas, has taken aim at Elon Musk, warning that the tech mogul is trying to buy political influence and declaring: “Texas is not for sale.”
Talarico held a campaign rally on Friday at the University of Texas at Austin, packing an auditorium at his alma mater with hundreds of students and other supporters, who cheered, whooped and waved campaign signs.
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© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
CBP commissioner Rodney Scott says $46bn Texas project is justified amid court-ordered pause on wall’s construction
The Trump administration’s top border official defended plans to build a wall and other infrastructure in the Big Bend of Texas despite mounting opposition against the project and a court-ordered pause on construction, saying his goal of fortifying the country’s borders was “non-negotiable”.
Rodney Scott, the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said the $46bn wall project was justified despite a bipartisan coalition of landowners, local businesses and environmentalists who view it as a waste of taxpayer money that could be destructive to a region with historically low migrant crossings, in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press.
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© Photograph: John Locher/AP
© Photograph: John Locher/AP
© Photograph: John Locher/AP
Republicans are resorting to childish taunts to defend an uncommonly dishonorable state attorney general
It’s a bit like Lucy with the football. Every few years, Democrats convince themselves that a Texas Senate seat might finally switch from red to blue. On paper, it makes sense. Texas is a large and urbanizing state with an increasingly educated – and increasingly non-white – population.
Other one-time Republican strongholds that have undergone similar demographic shifts have turned purple or even blueish – think Georgia, for example. The border counties along the Rio Grande valley, with their deep poverty and big Latino populations, were long thought to be fertile ground to nurture a kind of anti-Trump populism that could be converted into pro-Democratic sentiment. The state Democratic party is anemic there, but a few talented candidates have emerged.
Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
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© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
© Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters
California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii health officials ask CDC ‘prioritizing emerging technologies’ to reconsider
California and Washington asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May to validate a new way to test for measles – but after waiting two months, the CDC denied the request, citing “other competing priorities”, according to a letter from the West Coast Health Alliance to the CDC director, Erica Schwartz.
The letter, signed by health officials in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, asks Schwartz to reconsider and validate a rapid, high-volume measles test in preparation for major outbreaks. The alliance also asked the CDC to create protocols to test for other high-priority pathogens to prepare for future outbreaks.
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© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
© Desiree Rios for The New York Times
© Brandon Bell/Getty Images
USDA says screwworm found in elk in Texas, and warns hunters and ranchers to be vigilant to help stop spread
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday it had confirmed the first detection of flesh-eating parasite the New World screwworm in US wildlife in an elk in Pecos county, Texas.
The elk was located on a game ranch and was reported after being harvested by a hunter, the USDA said in a statement.
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© Photograph: Kaylee Greenlee/Reuters
© Photograph: Kaylee Greenlee/Reuters
© Photograph: Kaylee Greenlee/Reuters
© Ronaldo Schemidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Republican Neil Bush says he was ‘deeply troubled’ by Ken Paxton’s conduct and ‘enormously impressed’ with Talarico
Neil Bush, a son of former president George HW Bush and a lifelong Republican, announced on Tuesday that he crossed party lines to vote for James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas.
In a Facebook post, Neil Bush said he chose to vote early for Talarico over Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate and current Texas attorney general, because he was “deeply troubled” by Paxton’s conduct and was “enormously impressed” by Talarico’s principles.
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© Composite: Shutterstock, Getty Images for Points of Light
© Composite: Shutterstock, Getty Images for Points of Light
© Composite: Shutterstock, Getty Images for Points of Light
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a house framer before he was killed by ICE agents. Countless other Latino builders in Texas live in fear of a similar fate
Every morning long before dawn, while America sleeps, legions of Texas construction workers grab their fluorescent vests and hard hats, sling ladders and tools into their trucks, and head down the highway for another day of grueling labour under the blistering sun.
Elsewhere, before the first flush of daylight settles over Texas’s concrete sprawl, a separate army gets on the move in a fleet of shiny unmarked SUVs. They hover at gas stations, prowl around bodegas, pounce on the highways.
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© Photograph: Michael Gonzalez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Michael Gonzalez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Michael Gonzalez/The Guardian
At a gathering in Texas, near where floods killed 136 people last year, survivors are united on the need for urgent action
It may be a club none of its members actually want to be in, but the growing number of people in the US affected by extreme weather disasters are starting to organize into a political force.
Severe wildfires, floods storms and other calamities now touch the lives of huge numbers of Americans – about half of all people in the US by one estimate – as the climate crisis supercharges extreme events. Some survivors are now coalescing to push for improved disaster response and even action on the politically contentious issue of global heating.
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© Photograph: Brenda Bazan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Brenda Bazan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Brenda Bazan/The Guardian
© The New York Times
© Shelby Tauber for The New York Times
Nearly half of enlisted families struggled to afford enough food last year. Congress has known for decades how to solve the problem
• This article was produced with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, and supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project
The Armed Services YMCA in Harker Heights, Texas, is a state-of-the-art facility, with a swimming pool, gym and coffee shop. There’s also a food pantry tucked away in a small room at the far end of a hallway on the second floor, where active-duty soldiers stationed nearby at Fort Hood can receive free groceries. More than a dozen pantries surround the army base, where about 40,000 soldiers are stationed.
The pantry’s parking lot is where I found Miguel Pérez on a July morning, lugging a heavy reusable grocery bag to his pickup under the already blazing central Texas sun.
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© Photograph: Elliott D Woods/Elliott D. Woods 2026
© Photograph: Elliott D Woods/Elliott D. Woods 2026
© Photograph: Elliott D Woods/Elliott D. Woods 2026
© Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times
US military says Tech Sgt Ian Patterson was killed after he fell from rafters at University of Texas at San Antonio game
The US military has identified the air force service member who died after he fell from the rafters of the Alamodome during a rappelling demonstration before the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)’s home game against Navy on Saturday.
He was Tech Sgt Ian Patterson, a tactical air control party instructor assigned to the sixth combat training squadron, detachment two, at Joint Base San Antonio.
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© Photograph: Joe Nogalski/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Joe Nogalski/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Joe Nogalski/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times
© Doug Mills/The New York Times
© LM Otero/Associated Press
Officer fell from rafters during pregame display
Man treated on field before being taken to hospital
An Air Force officer has died after he fell from the rafters of the Alamodome before the University of Texas at San Antonio’s home game against Navy on Saturday.
The officer, who has not been named, was taking part in an event to celebrate UTSA’s Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans night. He fell on to the field while rappelling down from the stadium rafters. He was treated on the field before being taken away on a stretcher. He later died from his injuries at a local hospital. Nellis Air Force Base said he was part of the 6th Combat Training Squadron. The unit helps train military members to rappel down from helicopters.
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© Photograph: John Rivera/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
© Photograph: John Rivera/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
© Photograph: John Rivera/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
The Republican state attorney general appears uniquely ill-chosen as a candidate – but he is a political survivor who could yet frustrate Democratic dreams
Depending how you look at the situation, it is either predictable that Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general and Republican candidate for US Senate, is struggling in the polls – or impressive that he is not doing worse. Beloved by hardcore Maga voters and regarded with skepticism by the broader voting public, Paxton is also puzzlingly bland. Recently, Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters that the 63-year-old Paxton “may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen”. The president was endorsing him.
Yet it is Paxton’s ability to attract – and somehow scrape through – scandal that makes him a less charismatic, perhaps, but still kindred spirit of “Teflon Don”: nothing sticks. He has survived state prosecution (on securities-related charges that he settled without admitting guilt), impeachment by the Republican-led Texas legislature (on abuse-of-office charges of which he was later acquitted), and so many controversies that it can be difficult to pin down the most outrageous.
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© Photograph: Christopher Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Christopher Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Christopher Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Guyger, convicted of murder of Botham Jean in Dallas in 2018, served seven years of 10-year sentence
The former Dallas police officer who was convicted of murdering Botham Jean after entering his apartment and shooting him in 2018 was released from prison on Friday morning after spending seven years in prison.
Amber Guyger, 38, regained her freedom a little more than two weeks after the Texas board of pardons and paroles approved her release, despite opposition from Jean’s family.
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© Photograph: Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
© Photograph: Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
© Photograph: Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Court filing alleges ‘physical abuse by guards’, ‘filthy living conditions’ and disease outbreaks at Camp East Montana
Attorneys and experts are raising the alarm that immigrants at Camp East Montana, the sprawling desert detention camp on the Fort Bliss military base in west Texas, face a risk of serious injury or death because of ongoing, extreme health and safety hazards there, according to a fresh court filing, the Guardian can reveal.
The allegedly dangerous conditions persist at the tent jail, the largest immigration detention facility in the US, despite regular reports from inside and outside the federal government that it has violated dozens of official standards since it opened last year.
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© Composite: AP, Reuters
© Composite: AP, Reuters
© Composite: AP, Reuters
© Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
© Brandon Bell/Getty Images
El Niño will likely shift weather patterns to bring more rain, but much snow still isn’t forecast for the northern states
Winter in the United States looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government’s seasonal outlook and other meteorologists’ forecasts. You can thank or blame El Niño.
El Niño is likely to shift weather patterns to bring more moisture, but with it higher temperatures. That should help erase persistent western drought, but it is unlikely to make northern snow-lovers happy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday.
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© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images
© Kenny Holston/The New York Times; Antranik Tavitian for The New York Times
Voting registration organizations accuse Texas officials of failing to ensure eligible voters can register properly
Texas election officials are struggling to process a massive backlog of nearly 600,000 voter registration applications after a major state computer system failure, just days before early voting is set to open on Monday and amid concerns about widespread voter suppression.
The disruption has raised serious concerns about the state’s voter registration system, with voting rights organizations accusing Texas officials of failing to ensure that eligible voters could properly register.
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© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
© Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
Elon Musk has spent $158m in a month to back Republicans in midterm races – with his efforts mostly focused on Texas
Tens of millions of dollars are pouring into Texas as Democrats stage an audacious bid to win a US Senate seat in the Republican stronghold.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is among those wading into the closely watched race as November’s midterm elections approach.
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© Composite: Reuters, CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
© Composite: Reuters, CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
© Composite: Reuters, CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
© Antranik Tavitian for The New York Times
Discovery of grenades prompted a neighborhood lockdown and a visit from the Austin police department’s bomb squad
A buyer at a Texas estate sale discovered several second world war-era grenades in a box of newly bought items, prompting a neighbourhood lockdown and a visit from the Austin police department’s bomb squad.
The grenades, which were described as “live and active” in a social media post by the Austin police association, were removed and disarmed.
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© Photograph: Austin Police Association
© Photograph: Austin Police Association
© Photograph: Austin Police Association
Claims that James Talarico suffered a mental health crisis spread across rightwing media, offering a warning about disinformation ahead of the US midterm election
Where is James Talarico? The question ricocheted around rightwing echo chambers before metastasising into a conspiracy theory – and a reminder of the persistent danger of disinformation in the US midterm elections.
The smear campaign began when Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Texas, was not seen in public for nine days. His campaign was slow to explain why. While nature abhors a vacuum, Donald Trump and social media seize on one and weaponise it.
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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Christopher Lee for The New York Times
Talarico casts himself as a moderate who would put Texans’ needs over party allegiances amid close contest against Republican Ken Paxton
James Talarico, the Texas Democratic nominee for Senate, sat face to face with skeptical Republicans and independents voters who grilled him on a slew of contentious issues including Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, abortion and foreign aid, during a CNN town hall co-hosted by the Jubilee Media digital platform on Wednesday.
One voter, a young Republican activist who volunteered at the party’s midterm convention in Dallas last month and recently appeared on Fox News as a supporter of Talarico’s opponent, questioned the authenticity of Talarico’s faith, referencing a past remark where he described God as nonbinary.
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© Photograph: Sandra Dahdah/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Sandra Dahdah/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Sandra Dahdah/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
© Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times
© Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The New York Times
© Desiree Rios for The New York Times
© Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times
© George Walker IV/Associated Press
© Desiree Rios for The New York Times
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