Just 1% of the city’s registered voters have turned out so far in a primary filled with allegations and accusationsNew York City will effectively choose its next mayor in the coming days, drawing to a close a tumultuous election race marred by allegations of sexual misconduct, by the staff of one campaign launching a protest against their own candidate, and by accusations that at least one of the mayoral hopefuls doesn’t actually live in the city.The winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary will, given the leftward political leanings of the city, almost certainly win the election proper in November, and immediately be tasked with leading New York through its darkest period in several decades. Continue reading...
Far-right conspiracies ran unchecked online in the Trump years. It’s all gone quiet since the Capitol riot, but author Mike Rothschild believes there’s a radicalised audience waiting for a new rallying pointOn 7 January this year, a day after the mob stormed the Capitol in Washington DC, a curious exchange occurred in the netherworld of global conspiracy. Alex Jones, the rasp-voiced mouthpiece of fake news for the past decade, was in conversation with the most visible leader of the previous day’s shocking events: Jacob Chansley, the self-styled “Q Shaman” who featured on the world’s front pages, in buffalo horns, animal skins and face paint.Jones, on his fake-news platform Infowars, with its million-plus viewers and sharers, had for years been the loudhailer of unhinged stories that included the belief that Hillary Clinton was the antichrist, that Michelle Obama was a man, that the Pentagon and George Soros had detonated a “homosexual bomb” that turned even frogs gay, that 9/11 had been a “false flag” operation and, most viciously, that the Sandy Hook school murders, in which 20 children and six teachers died, were staged by “crisis actors” to promote gun control. Jones had inevitably been among those who addressed the restive crowd at Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” march (having donated $50,000 for the staging of the rally) and calling for supporters to “get on a war footing” to defend the president. Two days later, however, when faced with the rhetoric of Chansley, whom he had invited on to his show to explain the insurrection, it seemed even he, America’s conspirator in chief, finally couldn’t take the lies any more. Continue reading...
The rivalry with China is palpable but history teaches us lessons about how it’s easier to blame others than blame ourselvesChina’s increasingly aggressive geopolitical and economic stance in the world is unleashing a fierce bipartisan backlash in America. That’s fine if it leads to more public investment in basic research, education, and infrastructure – as did the Sputnik shock of the late 1950s. But it poses dangers as well.More than 60 years ago, the sudden and palpable fear that the Soviet Union was lurching ahead of us shook America out of a postwar complacency and caused the nation to do what it should have been doing for many years. Even though we did it under the pretext of national defense – we called it the National Defense Education Act and the National Defense Highway Act and relied on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration for basic research leading to semiconductors, satellite technology, and the Internet – the result was to boost US productivity and American wages for a generation. Continue reading...
Cold reality intrudes on Biden’s first few months as leftist Democrats frustrated with president’s agenda stalling in CongressThey were pointed questions, not personal criticisms. But they will have conveyed a warning to Joe Biden that the patience of the left of the Democratic party and its leaders in ‘the Squad’ of progressive politicians is not infinite.“Are we passing the deal that helps working people the most?” asked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand New York congresswoman and best known member of the squad. “Are we passing the deal that makes the most jobs? Are we passing a deal that brings down the most climate emissions? Are we passing a deal that raises wages and actually improves our infrastructure for the next generation?” Continue reading...
Little has been achieved in 20 years of war, and as the Taliban regroup, ordinary Afghans brace for an uncertain futureMilitary retreats from Afghanistan are problematic, as the British (1842) and the Red Army (1989) discovered to their cost. The cliffs of the Khyber Pass feature many memorials and plaques to departing or defeated foreign forces. The 2021 Afghan withdrawal is less fraught – the US is not yet retreating under fire. But the march to the exit has nonetheless turned into an undignified sprint.Most Americans will welcome this accelerated end to an unpopular war. Yet it spells catastrophe for Afghans who pinned their hopes and their country’s future on western support in fighting Taliban and Islamist terrorism and who believed the nation-building promises made by George W Bush and others. Continue reading...
Mayor says truck was part of parade in Wilton Manors when it suddenly accelerated and nearly hit local congresswoman Debbie Wasserman SchultzA man has died after a truck driver hit spectators at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida on Saturday, seriously injuring another, authorities said.Fort Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis said the pickup truck driver appeared to be part of the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride parade but then suddenly accelerated when he was told he was next, crashing into the victims, according to WSVN-TV. Continue reading...
No deaths or serious injuries reported as tropical storm hits plans for Juneteenth and Father’s DayAuthorities in Alabama say a suspected tornado spurred by Tropical Storm Claudette demolished or badly damaged at least 50 homes in a small town just north of the Florida border.Sheriff Heath Jackson in Escambia county said a suspected tornado “pretty much levelled” a mobile home park, toppled trees on to houses and ripped the roof from a high school gym. Continue reading...
Days after Juneteenth was made a national holiday, communities across New York came together to celebrate 19 June 1865, the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, freeing slaves in the final Confederate state to abolish slavery.Prior to Biden signing this legislation, Juneteenth was recognised in 48 states and Washington DC either as a ceremonial or state holiday, said USA Today. And, although the history of Texas’s emancipation is the most well known, other watershed events in the history of emancipation happened on and around 19 June 1865.
Governor De Santis hails ‘major victory’ following ruling that CDC’s ‘conditional sailing order’ is non-binding and merely a guidelineA federal judge in Florida ruled Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cannot enforce its Covid-19 rules for cruise ships in the state after 18 July.Related: Champ, Joe Biden’s German shepherd and ‘sweet, good boy’, dies aged 13 Continue reading...
Statement says pet was ‘constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family'President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden announced Saturday that Champ, their 13-year-old German Shepherd, had died.“Our hearts are heavy today as we let you all know that our beloved German Shepherd, Champ, passed away peacefully at home. He was our constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family,” they said in a statement. Continue reading...
The talk in the carpeted corridors of the Road to Majority conference suggests the ex-president’s big lie has firmly taken rootYoung alligators swam in the water or lazed on artificial rocks as a waterfall cascaded nearby. “Alligators are found primarily in freshwater and swamps and marches,” noted a nearby sign. “... Alligators are opportunistic feeders.”Related: Conservative Christians jeer ‘traitor’ Pence for refusing to overturn election Continue reading...
The lingerie giant is jumping on the Female Empowerment™ bandwagon. Call me cynical, but this feels desperateLooks like someone is getting a makeover! After a hellish few years that saw sales slump, criticism mount, and a Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Victoria’s Secret has decided it’s time for a drastic rebrand. The lingerie behemoth is jumping on the Female Empowerment™ bandwagon and has pledged to become – wait for it – “the world’s leading advocate for women.” I dunno about my fellow females, but I for one am humbled to the core that a failing underwear brand is finally going to take on such important advocacy work. Continue reading...
It’s now a federal holiday – and Eleanor Thompson has fond recollections of celebrating Juneteenth in Austin over the yearsJuneteenth has only just been recognized as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in America, but Eleanor Thompson has decades of memories celebrating it in Austin.“It was a big event all over town,” Thompson, 78, recalls. “It was our holiday.” Continue reading...
The fight between a black American and a Nazi-era German was supposed to symbolise racial and political difference. Instead it forged a lasting friendshipHistorical narrative can often be grafted on to sporting events in retrospect. When one of the world’s most famous black Americans, Joe Louis, bludgeoned Germany’s Max Schmeling to a first-round defeat in 1938, it was symbolic of free-world endurance against the fascism of Schmeling’s Nazi homeland.In two minutes and four seconds of brutal efficiency, Louis exploded with a barrage of uppercuts, crosses and hooks to put his opponent on the canvas three times. By the time the fight ended in technical knockout, Schmeling had thrown just four punches, two of which had missed, to Louis’s 31. Many spectators had yet to take their seats. Continue reading...
On Friday, Biden was asked for his response to the US Conference of Bishops taking steps toward rebuking Catholic politicians who receive communion and support abortion rights. 'I don't think that's going to happen,' the president said of the suggestion politicians may be blocked from receiving communion.'That's a private matter,' he said before leaving the briefing. The president took a couple questions from reporters after concluding his prepared remarks on his administration’s coronavirus vaccination efforts
Small number of participants to receive $1,250 a month for up to two years in effort to help them find stable housingNew York City is set to launch a pilot program aimed at combatting homelessness among young adults by giving them monthly cash payments.The scheme, developed by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and financially supported by the city, will give $1,250 a month to 40 participants aged 18-25 for up to two years, with the aim of helping recipients find stable housing . Continue reading...
Reporter Lee Sanderlin ate nine waffles to shave nine hours off his original 24-hour stay in Jackson, MississippiFor Lee Sanderlin, defeat was hard to stomach.Sanderlin, an investigations and politics reporter at the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi, had to spend 24 hours in a Waffle House restaurant after losing in his fantasy football league. Continue reading...
Starbucks uses complex tax structure in Europe and has faced criticism for lack of transparencyStarbucks received a tax credit worth £4.4m in the UK because of losses in 2020, despite the coffee chain’s US parent company making a profit during the same period of $1.2bn (£870m).The loss comes after a year in which Starbucks was forced by the pandemic to temporarily close all of its 935 UK shops, leading to a steep fall in revenues. Continue reading...
Prospect of Fed slowing its emergency stimulus package triggers heavy selling of sharesThe FTSE 100 posted its biggest fall in more than a month on Friday as the prospect of America’s central bank slowing its emergency stimulus package triggered heavy selling across the financial markets.London’s blue-chip stock market index fell by 136 points, or 1.9%, on Friday to 7017 points, its worst one-day drop since mid-May, and its lowest closing point in a month. Continue reading...
Officials ‘deeply saddened by the mistake that was made’ after Morgyn Arnold, 14, not included in Shoreline yearbook pictureA Utah junior high school that took two official photos of its cheerleading squad did not include the 14-year-old team member with Down syndrome in one of these pictures – and chose to use that image in its yearbook and on social media, according to reports.Shoreline junior high school cheer squad member Morgyn Arnold had been the team’s manager, and “knew all the routines by heart”, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. In the photo that included Arnold, she was seated in the front row, whereas in the second image she was clearly absent. Continue reading...
Democratic candidate for president languishes in fourth place in race to replace Mayor Bill De Blasio, poll showsAndrew Yang has fallen to fourth place in two polls ahead of New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary election on Tuesday, weeks after being depicted as a tourist candidate.Related: Digested week: I’ve belatedly become an American. Congratulations, people say | Emma Brockes Continue reading...
The president’s visit to Europe isn’t about trade deals but repairing US domestic politicsDuring his first trip abroad as US president last week, Joe Biden kept telling Europe that “the US is back”. Before the G7 meeting, Biden signed a new Atlantic charter with Boris Johnson that agreed to protect democracy and open societies. After Cornwall, he went on to more meetings in Brussels with the European Union, as well as a Nato summit and a head to head with Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Past presidents have viewed the EU as an irrelevant bureaucracy or a sinister threat. Biden described it as an “incredibly strong and vibrant entity”.In his press conference with Emmanuel Macron, Biden seemed to promise that the US was returning to its normal role in international politics. After Donald Trump, some nostalgic politicians might even hope for a reinvigoration of the so-called rules-based liberal order which has purportedly prevailed since the second world war. Continue reading...
The tennis star has helped to shine a light on an issue that is only growing by the dayIn late May, the tennis champ Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, after officials fined her $15,000 and threatened to suspend her from the tournament for opting out of mandatory media activities. In her statement, Osaka explained that she was having to contend with “huge waves of anxiety” before each speaking engagement, and that she’d also struggled with depression following her 2018 US Open win against Serena Williams, where she was booed and jeered by the crowd during the trophy ceremony for defeating the US legend.The series of events sent a clear message: that in the world of elite sports, mental health is still not a priority. Yet rather than bow to the organization’s demands, Osaka opted to remove herself from a situation that she knew would jeopardize her mental wellbeing (the 23-year-old four-time Grand Slam winner has since also withdrawn from the Berlin WTA tournament, raising questions about whether she will be competing at Wimbledon later this month). Continue reading...
In a sport that is often predominantly white and upper middle class in the US, Black players are working together to have their voices heardFirst it was the killing of Breonna Taylor. Then the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. But the final straw was the inescapable image of George Floyd calling out to his deceased mother while a police officer fatally knelt on his neck.“Enough had been enough,” says Jeremy Ebobisse, Portland Timbers forward and co-founder of Black Players for Change. “But enough was enough again.” Continue reading...
Welcome to the worst drought in an estimated 1,200 yearsIf water is the lifeblood of planet Earth, the American south-west is in big trouble.John Wesley Powell, the one-armed US army civil war veteran who led the first white expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon – a daring boat run in 1869 – later became an ethnographer who wrote a prescient 1878 government paper titled: Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States. In it, he unflinchingly described the scarcity of water, and summarized that much of the American south-west, if it must be settled, should be settled lightly and modestly. Overpopulate it, and it will be unforgiving. Continue reading...
Republicans are pushing hundreds of bills to limit voting access. Some measures may get in the way of their own votersAs the coronavirus wreaked havoc around the world, lawmakers in the US were faced with a monumental task: carrying out a presidential election in the middle of a once-in-century pandemic.Concerned about the possibility of virus spread at polling places, Democrats pushed the federal government to approve more funding for states to expand absentee and early-voting options. Continue reading...
The 23-year-old is set to be one of the stars of the Olympics, where he will showcase his charisma, fashion sense and blistering speedNoah Lyles has already run the Olympic 100 metres final in Tokyo.A hundred times. In his head. Continue reading...
Soaring temperatures raise fears over drought and fire, and Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. Plus, the man who swallowed an AirPodGood morning.With summer yet to officially begin and temperatures soaring, a record-shattering heatwave in the US is raising fears over drought and fire. Continue reading...
Despite audit after audit, the CEO of MyPillow, a state senator and a rightwing TV host remain convinced of election fraudOn 7 November 2020, after several days of vote-counting, Donald Trump lost the US presidential election. More than 60 unsuccessful lawsuits and one insurrection later, Trump has still lost the election, but the former president refuses to accept defeat.Egged on by a group of sycophants and fantasists, including a small-time Pennsylvania politician, a host on a far-right news network, and the CEO of a pillow company, Trump now plans to hold rallies at the end of June where he is likely to continue his fraudulent claims of a stolen election. Continue reading...
The Elaine race massacre of 1919 is understood as one of the worst in US history. Parts of the story are still in disputeThe history of the race massacre in Elaine, Arkansas, has always been contested. Continue reading...
by Bayeté Ross Smith. Essay by Jimmie Briggs on (#5K7HR)
In 1919, white mobs and federal troops killed hundreds of Black residents – and America has tried to forget the storyNearly a century and a half after the end of Reconstruction and the emergence of Jim Crow in the US south, a debate is raging over a Biden administration plan to forgive loans for Black and Latino farmers. Rural whites and lending banks are protesting against what right-leaning Americans consider “reverse racism”, ignoring decades of discrimination and violence against communities of color working in agriculture. Eventually a federal judge put the plan on hold. Continue reading...
Summer has yet to officially begin and temperatures are soaring, bringing bad air quality and worsening the mega-droughtThis week the temperatures hit 106F (41C) in Billings, in northern Montana. In Arizona, animals were scorching their paws on blistering asphalt. In Texas, authorities asked residents to limit cooking and cleaning to preserve a creaking power grid.These were just some of the scenes emerging from one of the most excruciating heatwaves to ever hit the western United States this early in the year. From California to Montana, a staggering 40 million people are experiencing temperatures of 100F (38C) or hotter this week, and 50 million were under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories. Continue reading...
