Justice department warns election officials of prosecution if they ‘knowingly tabulate ballots’ cast by noncitizens

The Trump administration is escalating its fight with California ahead of next month’s midterm elections, warning that local officials who process and tabulate ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters are putting themselves at risk of criminal investigation and potential prosecution.

The letter on Friday from senior justice department officials and obtained first by the Associated Press is the latest salvo in an ongoing tussle with heavily Democratic California, coming just a day after the Trump administration sued the state to prevent it from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal government has identified as “likely” noncitizens until their immigration status can be confirmed.

• 21-year-old was treated on field after injury during game

• Coach pays tribute to player’s ‘quiet strength’

Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma announced on Thursday that sophomore safety Tyler Ulrich has died five days after sustaining what the school called a “traumatic injury” during a game against Ouachita Baptist. Ulrich was 21.

The Division II school based in Bethany, Oklahoma, did not reveal the cause of death or the nature of Ulrich’s injury. Ulrich was hurt during a 49-14 loss on Saturday, with the game delayed for nearly an hour while he received medical attention before being transported to a hospital.

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.

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”.

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

• US politics live – latest updates

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.

Jack Russell terrier that escaped from family’s cabin in September was caught in a live trap

Luna, a Jack Russell terrier who eluded capture for over a month as concern for the dog’s survival mounted ahead of winter in Yellowstone national park, was caught in a live trap Wednesday and reunited with her owners.

The 10-year-old dog had been spotted crossing intersections, strolling through employee housing and entering lodges through automatic doors at the sprawling national park that’s home to grizzly bears, wolves and other predators.

Republican representative described the assault in a nearly hourlong speech in February 2025 that named the men

Nancy Mace’s former fiance and two of his business associates were charged with sex crimes and voyeurism on Wednesday over an episode the South Carolina representative described in detail during a speech last year on the House floor, about how crimes against women are not investigated thoroughly.

John Douglas Osborne committed sex acts on a 23-year-old incapacitated and intoxicated woman while Mace’s ex-fiance Patrick Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman watched, according to sworn statements by agents from the state law enforcement division, which brought the charges.

• Receiver liable for two counts, not liable on eight others

• Lakeeta Vaccaro alleged abuse by NFL receiver

A Miami jury on Tuesday found Tyreek Hill liable for two counts of battery but not liable for the eight remaining claims made by Lakeeta Vaccaro – ending the high-profile civil trial involving the NFL wide receiver and his estranged wife.

Hill, who has played for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, was found liable for two counts of battery – one stemming from an incident in January 2024, and another from April 2025. The jury awarded Vaccaro $500,000 in compensatory damages but did not award her punitive damages.

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.

• Recruiting report prepared for Raiders’ 2024 search

• Lawyers say assessment contains racial stereotypes

• Flores sued NFL over discriminatory hiring in 2022

A recently unsealed recruiting report on Brian Flores contains multiple examples of “racial stereotypes” and amounts to unlawful retaliation for the coach’s discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, according to his lawyers.

The Korn Ferry report, made public on Tuesday and obtained by the Associated Press, lists six strengths and seven weaknesses that Flores’ attorneys say demonstrate the league’s continued reliance on racial stereotypes in hiring and its retaliation against the coach for his lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

District judge Ana Reyes halts tree-cutting at the East Potomac golf course until 26 October, and now requires advance notice before making course changes

US district judge Ana Reyes on Tuesday ordered a halt to tree-cutting at the East Potomac golf course until 26 October, putting a further pause on work at the historic Washington DC course that has been part of Donald Trump’s plans to remake the country’’s capital city.

Reyes issued the order one day after a tense three-hour hearing in which she harshly criticized the government for having deceived her with its actions over the holiday weekend.

Trial could see white supremacist who killed 10 people in New York state store get the death penalty

Jury selection is set to begin on Tuesday in the trial that could see the white supremacist who killed 10 people in a 2022 Buffalo supermarket get the death penalty.

The attack is believed to be the deadliest shooting targeting Black people in modern history.

• NLCS Game 2: LA Dodgers 4-7 Milwaukee Brewers

• Reigning champions 2-0 down in best-of-seven series

• Guardians take Game 1 of ALCS against Rays

William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

• Ernest Jones IV was not wearing helmet during incident

• Linebacker will miss game against Commanders

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw was suspended for one game after headbutting Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV in the wake of a late hit on the Seahawks sideline.

The NFL issued the suspension on Monday, saying the headbutt of a player without a helmet during Sunday’s 32-29 win against Seattle was “contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.”

Ana Reyes demands Trump officials explain East Potomac tree cutting saying it will probably cause ‘irreparable harm’

US district judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree cutting at the historic East Potomac golf course while she decides on an emergency order from plaintiffs concerned that Donald Trump’s plans for the course are moving forward despite a pending court case challenging them.

“Tree removal for routine maintenance is not exempt from this order,” Reyes wrote. “Plaintiffs are likely to suffer immediate and irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.

• NBA star wore jersey during 1998 NBA finals

• Jordan memorabilia has attracted huge attention

A jersey worn by Michael Jordan during the 1998 NBA finals has been sold for $14m, an auction house announced on Monday, in what it said is the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia.

Hunt Auctions said Miami real estate investor Ron Firman had bought the jersey in a private sale. Jordan wore the red jersey in Game 2 of the 1998 finals; he and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz that night to even the series at a game apiece. Jordan and the Bulls would go on to win the series in six games, the sixth and final title of his Hall of Fame career. That 1997-98 season was the subject of the Last Dance documentary series, which became a hit on Netflix in 2020.

A businessman wanted in the US for allegedly bribing top Venezuelan officials has been taken into custody

A businessman wanted for years in the US for allegedly paying bribes to top Venezuelan officials in exchange for lucrative state contracts in Venezuela has been taken into custody.

Alvaro Pulido was indicted in Miami federal court in 2019 and again in 2021 as part of an investigation into his longtime business partner, Alex Saab, a one-time ally of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the state department had been offering a reward of up to $10m for information leading to his arrest.

Senior official says president and US secretary of state are ‘extremely pissed off’ by conduct of US envoy to Greece

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, are considering firing US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens.

A senior US official said Sunday that Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and would likely decide on what action to take this week after Monday’s federal holiday.

Comments were among the most direct overtures by Trump to woo Democratic senator into his Republican party

Donald Trump on Saturday openly encouraged Democratic US senator John Fetterman to switch parties and become a Republican just weeks before the federal midterm elections could reshape control of Congress.

“I’d love to see him as a Republican,” the presidents told reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he returned to Washington DC from a rally in Tennessee. “He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat.”

Guardian staff contributed reporting

Investigation launched after five broadcasters last month ceased presidential coverage after CNN, MS Now and Politico were barred from White House

The US Department of Justice is investigating whether the decision of the White House television press pool to halt coverage of the US president, Donald Trump, last month violated antitrust law, an agency spokesperson said Saturday.

A spokesperson for the department said group boycotts among business competitors might violate US law. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws,” they said.

10-year police veteran Shane Seiber was killed after responding to a report of a man with a gun

A Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot and another was wounded on Saturday after responding to a report of a man with a gun, authorities said.

Shane Seiber, 40, was killed early on Saturday morning in West Philadelphia, according to the city’s police commissioner, Kevin Bethel.

First US memorial for suicide victims dedicated by Chicago archdiocese earlier this year at Queen of Heaven cemetery

The Chicago archdiocese has recognized the Rev Charles Rubey’s work supporting families whose loved ones died by suicide this year by dedicating in his honor a memorial to the lives lost to suicide and the victims’ surviving families.

In 1979 Rubey founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, a counseling and support program run by Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Chicago.

Multiple hospitalized after Avianca flight from Medellín to New York had to divert to Miami due to strong turbulence

At least eight people were injured when an Avianca flight encountered severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing in Miami early on Friday.

Miami-Dade fire rescue said one person was rushed to a trauma center with severe injuries while seven others were taken to area hospitals in ambulances.

• Hall of Famer led 1985 Bears to Super Bowl title

• Coach was known for tough, gruff demeanor

• The Super Bowl Shuffle to SNL: a life in pictures

Mike Ditka, who won NFL titles as a player and coach with the Chicago Bears, has died at 86, his family announced Friday.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” the family said. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”

Flowers, tried six times over 1996 murders of four people, faced execution before supreme court tossed his conviction

Curtis Flowers, a Black man who spent more than 22 years in prison and was on death row in Mississippi before the US supreme court threw out his conviction and death sentence, has died. He was 56.

Flowers’ family confirmed that he died on Wednesday at his home in Mississippi, attorney Rob McDuff told the Associated Press on Thursday.

David J Rush used his job at spy agency to acquire Florida real estate and gold bars worth tens of millions of dollars

A former senior CIA official pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Virginia to a charge that he abused his position and government funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars worth tens of millions of dollars, according to court records.

David J Rush fabricated a “highly classified” government program to justify the acquisition of luxury property in south Florida that he intended to resell for personal profit, according to a court filing. Rush separately concocted a bogus “sensitive government activity” to obtain the gold bars, the filing also says.

School trustees appoint Sally Yates to review policies as university grapples with fallout from alleged frat gang rape

A former high-ranking Department of Justice official will look at how Cornell handles sexual misconduct complaints, university trustees announced on Tuesday as they tried to address an outpouring of anger over allegations of a 2024 gang rape at a fraternity house.

Sally Yates, who was a deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, will spearhead the review, the trustees said. The assessment is to include how the Ivy League university investigates reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment, how the disciplinary process works, the adequacy of campus police responses, and more.

Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan had 15 children, aged between two months to 13 years, removed from their home

A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 kids, police said on Tuesday.

Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan are expected to face conspiracy to commit child abuse charges, according to the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department.

CBP says in response to lawsuit use-of-force cases are ‘thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented’

A US citizen who was shot one year ago by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent during a sweeping immigration crackdown in Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, alleging the agent lied about the shooting and fired into her vehicle from behind.

Federal prosecutors initially accused Marimar Martinez, then 30, of using her vehicle to strike and box in agent Charles Exum’s sport utility vehicle on Chicago’s south-west side on 4 October 2025 during what the Trump administration named Operation Midway Blitz. Exum then exited his car and opened fire, leaving Martinez with seven gunshot wounds.

• Falcons ease to 45-24 win and silence Superdome crowd

• Match marked two decades since return post-Katrina

The New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was “embarrassed”. The second-year coach Kellen Moore was “disappointed” and “frustrated”. And a day of festivities commemorating one of the most triumphant moments in the New Orleans Saints’ history ended with boos and early exits.

Three plays into Monday night’s game against Atlanta, the Falcons running back Bijan Robinson silenced an electric Superdome crowd with a 59-yard touchdown run. The Saints’ performance in a 45-24 loss to the Falcons bore no resemblance to their landmark 23-3 victory against the same team 20 years ago, when the venue finally reopened after being damaged by Hurricane Katrina. On that made-for-TV night, Steve Gleason blocked a punt on the Falcons’ opening possession and Curtis Deloatch recovered it for a touchdown, sending the Saints on their way.

• Russian led Capitals to their first-ever Stanley Cup win

• Ovechkin turned 41 in September

Alex Ovechkin said on Monday that his 22nd season in the NHL will be his last, beginning the farewell tour for the longtime Washington Capitals captain who holds the league’s career goalscoring record.

Ovechkin told his teammates of his decision before the Capitals posted a message from the Russian star on social media.

The Republican, who was sent to prison in 2016 in a hush-money case tied to the allegations, died over the weekend

Dennis Hastert, whose congressional legacy as the longest-serving Republican US House speaker was later fouled by allegations that he had molested high school athletes during his prior career as a teacher and wrestling coach, died over the weekend, a coroner said on Monday. He was 84.

Hastert, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007, died of natural causes at his home, according to Jacquie Purcell, the Kendall county coroner.

Wanying Zhang surveilled Taiwanese president’s son and family for China while in US, according to FBI

The FBI arrested a woman at Los Angeles international airport (LAX) as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president’s family for China.

Wanying Zhang, also know as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government while in the United States, according to the FBI.

US president urges Americans to call Tom Cotton to support bill to make daylight saving time permanent

Donald Trump on Saturday put pressure on the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of his fellow Republican and the chair of the Senate intelligence committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate, where some Republicans are strongly opposed to it. Proponents, including the president and his administration, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors say permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.