Incumbent, 80, beats back challenge from Seth Moulton, who argued Markey was too old to be effective at his job

Senator Ed Markey won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday, beating back a challenge from Seth Moulton, a congressman who tried to unseat him by arguing to voters his opponent was too old to be effective at his job.

Massachusetts is heavily Democratic, making the senator favored to win a third full term in the November general election, where he faces the Republican nominee, John Deaton.

In a major LGBTQ+ rights victory, the justice department cannot force the state to ban trans girls from women’s sports

A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s policy of allowing transgender youth to play on sports teams that match their gender, a major loss for Donald Trump and the Department of Justice (DoJ).

The justice department had been fighting for a year to force California to ban trans girls from women’s sports, with the president directly singling out one trans track and field athlete in online attacks and regularly mocking trans athletes in his speeches.

Acting secretary picked for top role as critics accuse president of overworking sailors during war with Iran

Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is nominating acting navy secretary Hung Cao for the permanent job, giving the navy combat veteran the nod as concerns have emerged that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during the Iran war.

Cao has been serving as acting navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April.

Government talks up pact but Venezuelan opposition alarmed that democracy yet to return after Maduro exit

Trump administration officials on Tuesday defended a highly contentious deal giving the US control of a significant chunk of Venezuelan oil reserves, arguing that the sweeping agreement would help stabilize and rebuild democracy in the shattered South American country while giving Washington vital access to strategic crude reserves.

Last week, Donald Trump announced a “groundbreaking” deal that would give the US “majority” control over 65bn barrels – roughly one-fifth – of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Markwayne Mullin says officers could be deployed ‘if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant’

US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday said that federal immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers could be deployed to polling sites across the country.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Mullin said: “ICE isn’t there to patrol the polling places. We’re there to enforce specific threats.”

Sudden departure of Daniel Driscoll comes after Pentagon chief removed senior officers and blocked promotions, prompting warnings of a leadership crisis

A senior Senate Democrat accused Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth of having “hollowed out” the army’s senior ranks after its top civilian leader resigned after months of internal clashes with Hegseth.

No official reason was given for army secretary Daniel Driscoll’s departure after 18 months on the job, while thousands of US soldiers are deployed in the Middle East. In a statement on Monday night, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Driscoll had been “highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda”, citing his work on “readiness and lethality” and his role in Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

Proposal offers look at how state department could enforce Trump order targeting what it calls ‘birth tourism’

The US state department has proposed requiring parents applying for passports for their children to provide proof of their own citizenship or immigration status as part of Donald Trump’s ⁠latest effort to limit birthright citizenship.

The ⁠draft guidance, reviewed by ​Reuters, is the first detailed look at how the state department could enforce Trump’s 6 August executive order targeting what it calls “birth tourism” and broadening historical exceptions to birthright citizenship.

Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old vice-president at the bank, was killed in Tuesday stabbing in New York City, officials say

A corporate vice-president at Bank of America was killed in a stabbing in New York City’s Times Square, the second-biggest US lending bank ⁠said on Tuesday about a ⁠random incident that took place ​in broad daylight in the bustling heart of Manhattan.

The incident had brought the streets of the crowded area to a halt on Monday as emergency vehicles swarmed between the skyscrapers.

Harold Lucas, sentenced to death over 1976 murder, killed by lethal injection as state continues execution rush

A Florida man convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was executed Tuesday evening.

Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6.18pm following a three-drug injection starting at 6pm at Florida state prison near Starke, authorities said.

• British Wimbledon semi-finalist loses 6-3, 6-3, 7-5

• Elena Rybakina into second round with 6-3, 6-2 win

Six weeks on from the fortnight that changed his life, Arthur Fery’s first grand slam appearance since his semi-final run at Wimbledon came under considerably different circumstances. He is now the 33rd best men’s player in the world, a direct entrant for all of the biggest tournaments, and he has continued to gain experience at the highest level of professional tennis each week.

As a result of his continued exposure on the tour, though, Fery’s adversaries have also learned a bit more about him. In his first main draw appearance at the US Open, Fery came up against a prepared and sharp Lorenzo Musetti, who knew exactly how to exploit the vulnerable parts of his game in order to secure a win. The Italian comprehensively outplayed the British No 1, reaching the second round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory.

British far-right pundit breaks silence on ICE arrest and deportation and says he was ‘really, really terrified’

Milo Yiannopoulos, the British far-right commentator who was arrested last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Louisiana and deported to the United Kingdom, has broken his silence about the experience, saying that “for the first time I know what it feels like to be really, really terrified”.

Yiannopoulos on Tuesday appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored, a YouTube show presented by Piers Morgan, the British broadcaster and media personality. Yiannopoulos, 41, described the experience in the US as “humiliating and disorientating”, “physically degrading” and “frightening”.

• Arte Moreno sells after owning team since 2003

• Deal gives KSE teams in NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS

Kroenke Sports + Entertainment announced Tuesday that it will buy a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno in a deal that is expected to close in the first quarter ⁠of 2027.

The sale will require the approval of Major League Baseball and its owners.

Michigan Senate candidate accuses vice-president of ‘dog whistle’ and says Republican policies are true evil

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic US Senate candidate in Michigan, has hit back at Republican vice-president JD Vance’s onslaught against him, saying it is “evil” to deprive people of healthcare and affordable groceries.

Vance, in a Monday speech that railed against undocumented immigrants, cast El-Sayed as representative of “terrible evil” and as someone who fights for “one group at the expense of others”.

Two people shot dead and suspect later died in hospital after shooting in parking lot of Venture-N bar

Authorities in Tucson, Arizona, are investigating a shooting outside a gay bar that left three people dead as a possible hate crime.

The shooting occurred shortly after midnight on Monday in the parking lot of Venture-N, according to Tucson police. The suspect, identified by police as 44-year old Ousman Ceesay, allegedly killed 42-year-old Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and 33-year-old Cameron Davis Capara.

Exclusive: financial disclosures from Emil Michael – who also reaped millions from xAI stock earlier this year – show he sold his Perplexity stock for up to $25m

The top Pentagon official overseeing military artificial intelligence policy, who reaped profits earlier this year of up to $24m selling his private investment in Elon Musk’s AI company, has now sold his holdings in another AI company for between $5m and $25m, according to records seen by the Guardian. (Federal financial records show ranges of dollar values rather than specific figures.)

Earlier this year, the Guardian disclosed that the official, Emil Michael, had profited handsomely from his investment in Musk’s xAI in January, with a gain of between 400% and 4,800%.

Outgoing congressman Thomas Massie urges justice department to launch immediate investigation

An outgoing Republican congressman accused billionaire Leon Black and David Copperfield, the illusionist, of being co-conspirators of the accused late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and repeated a call for the Department of Justice to launch an immediate investigation into the men, among others.

Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who recently lost his primary to a challenger backed by Donald Trump, named several friends and associates of Epstein on the floor of the House in his bid to “shame” the Department of Justice to investigate a group of men and one woman who Massie called “perpetrators” of Epstein’s crimes. He also noted that, nearly one year after Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act, which led to the release of millions of so-called “Epstein files”, millions more have yet to be publicly disclosed.

Additional reporting by Anna Betts

• MLS had limited participation since 2024 Open Cup

• League decision to withdraw teams was controversial

Major League Soccer will allow all of its 27 US-based teams to participate in the US Open Cup next year, according to a report from Backheeled.

The move would bring to an end a three-year period in which MLS withheld teams from the United States’ oldest soccer competition, a single-elimination cup that has been running continuously since 1914, with only two editions skipped (2020 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic). Like England’s FA Cup and other similar competitions, the US Open Cup involves teams at all levels of the soccer system, including amateur and semi-pro teams. MLS teams traditionally enter at the later stages, with an MLS team winning all but one edition of the Open Cup since the league started play in 1996.

Continuing resolution to approve government spending until 11 December passes 370-48 and will now go to Trump

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation to prevent a government shutdown through the midterms, as both parties opted to defuse a volatile dispute ahead of the November elections that will decide the balance of power in Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

A continuing resolution (CR) authorizing government spending until 11 December passed the House by a 370-48 vote, with only 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats in opposition. Had it not passed, lawmakers would have had until the end of September to approve new funding or face a government shutdown.

Experts say more bears are wandering into human's homes and shops in search of food, due to drought-driven food shortages across the US west

• CBS analyst was arrested in July after traffic stop

• Former QB has been absent from CBS duty

CBS NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated and has apologized for the actions that led to his July arrest.

Romo was arrested on 23 July following a traffic stop in Wisconsin. CBS has since placed him on leave from his role as its lead NFL analyst.

Attacks on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and reprisals against US bases in Middle East quash hopes that flare-up last weekend was limited in nature

The US has launched new airstrikes on Iranian targets, prompting counter strikes by Tehran targeting American interests in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, and fuelling concerns about a ⁠wider renewal of hostilities.

The US Marine Corps base Camp Titin in Jordan was targeted for an “intense ballistic missile attack”, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said early on Wednesday, according to Iranian news outlet Tasnim.

ICE spokesperson says Loreto Javar failed to disclose criminal conviction in Philippines when he applied for visa

A 76-year-old man holding permanent US residency and grappling with stage four prostate cancer is reportedly being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in Tacoma, Washington.

Federal immigration officials detained Loreto Javar during his US citizenship interview in Tukwila, Washington, in June. Javar, a Filipino national, moved to the US in 1995 and has lived in the country with his wife and daughter ever since.

Exclusive: Two congressmembers respond to revelations of government snooping on journalists, non-profits and unions

Two congressional Democrats asked a government watchdog on Tuesday to investigate the Trump administration’s use of an obscure law to secretly collect records on journalists, non-profits and unions without judicial oversight.

The request from the Oregon senator Ron Wyden and the representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington seen by the Guardian comes amid mounting scrutiny over the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently used its power to issue administrative summonses related to customs matters to make extraordinary unilateral demands for information. They sent their request to the government accountability office (GAO), the non-partisan congressional watchdog.

Buddy Stephens, who was featured on Last Chance U, publicly criticized his school and league hierarchy

A college football coach who rose to prominence in a Netflix documentary series about student athletes trying to make the big time on their final opportunity has been fired after publicly calling officials “idiots” for changing the structure of the league in which his team competed.

Buddy Stephens, the coach in question, starred in the first two seasons of the gritty reality show Last Chance U that chronicled the struggles endured by football players at East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) as they juggled academics, challenging home lives and their full-contact sport in their efforts to reach the NFL.