The Capitol attack was a warning: US democracy is at risk. To fix the system before the midterms, two steps have to be enacted before the 2022 midtermsAcademics rarely agree about the big issues, and generally hesitate to enter the political fray by signing collective public statements. Yet a few days ago, more than 100 leading scholars of democracy endorsed a remarkable Statement of Concern, which I also signed, warning about grave threats to American democracy and the deterioration of US elections.“We urge members of Congress to do whatever is necessary – including suspending the filibuster – in order to pass national voting and election administration standards that both guarantee the vote to all Americans equally, and prevent state legislatures from manipulating the rules in order to manufacture the result they want. Our democracy is fundamentally at stake. History will judge what we do at this moment.” Continue reading...

The real story includes the reconciling of domestic interests with international demandsA historic agreement has been reached. For decades, multinational corporations have abused gaps in an international tax system that has barely changed since agreements made at the League of Nations in the 1920s.After meetings in London at the weekend, the message from the G7 group of wealthy nations is clear: time is up on tax havens. In a landmark move, a global minimum rate of corporation tax has been agreed, alongside measures forcing large firms and online tech giants such as Facebook, Apple and Google to pay more tax in the markets where they make their money regardless of physical presence. Continue reading...

Governor’s plan to take down a 131-year-old statue of Gen Robert E Lee came after George Floyd was murdered by a police officerThe supreme court of Virginia will this week hear arguments in legal challenges to Governor Ralph Northam’s plan to take down a 131-year-old statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee, a move met with widespread praise from activists who had long seen it as a symbol of white supremacy.Related: Memphis exhumes body of Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from city park Continue reading...

Conspiracy theory says people in Italy used military satellites to make US voting machines switch votes for Biden

The president plans a record investment away from gas-powered cars – but Republicans in Congress could thwart his plansOn a hot, sunny day in Michigan, Joe Biden zoomed around in a new electric version of the Ford F150, one of the automaker’s most famous vehicles.“This sucker’s quick,” Biden said as he drove up to reporters at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center last month. Continue reading...

The vice-president is helping lead Democrats’ efforts to advance a set of voting rights bills after being seen by some as a ‘floater’ in the administrationWhen Kamala Harris leaves for her first overseas trip on Sunday, the US vice-president will be doing so with an expanded domestic portfolio.Last week, Joe Biden announced in a speech that Harris would help lead Democrats’ efforts to advance a set of voting rights bills, a top legislative priority for the party on an issue that disproportionately affects black and brown Americans. The president made the announcement during a speech in Oklahoma on Tuesday, where he marked the centennial anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, which decimated a flourishing black community. Continue reading...

The NFL’s scandalous practice of refusing payouts to brain-injured black players was rooted in ‘systematic’ racismThe NFL, American football’s professional league, is to abandon the practice of “race norming” in assessing compensation for former players with brain injuries. It’s the assumption that black players have lower cognitive functioning than white ones, an assumption that made it harder for them to prove they had suffered a deficit through brain trauma and so qualify for a payout. Two former players, Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport, had sued the NFL, having been denied compensation that they would have received had they been white.The treatment of black people as cognitively less able is straightforward bigotry and draws on a long racist history. The irony, though, is that race norming was introduced as an anti-racist measure and as part of affirmative action programmes. Continue reading...

None of the coalition leaders has any interest in resolving the Palestinian issueIt would be encouraging to think that the massive upheaval afoot in Israeli politics with the unseating of Benjamin Netanyahu also signals a seismic shift in political culture. Perhaps a turning point in its democratic decline, even a move towards ending its rule over millions of Palestinians.Unfortunately, it signals none of these things. The burning desire to depose Israel’s longest serving leader is certainly the driving force behind the disparate eight-party coalition that hopes to replace him. But another factor also unites them – by default, if not by design: the consensus that in determining the future of the Jewish state, the conflict with the Palestinians can be managed in perpetuity. Continue reading...

The charity has forgotten that true power lies in solidarity and compromiseIt was never going to be an ideal Pride month for Stonewall. The protests and parades, with their joyous celebrations and flags are, by necessity, on hold until later in the year. But how did it happen that its chief executive, Nancy Kelley, came under fire last week for likening a strand of feminism to antisemitism?Two of Stonewall’s founders have accused the charity of losing its way. An independent review by a QC into the unlawful no-platforming of two female academics found that Essex University’s policy on supporting trans staff, reviewed by Stonewall, misrepresented the law “as Stonewall would prefer it to be, rather than as it is”, to the detriment of women. And following the Equality and Human Rights Commission leaving Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, the equalities minister, Liz Truss, has reportedly pushed for government departments to follow suit. Continue reading...

The Chinese president’s conciliatory speech rings hollow in the face of his brutal policiesIs it too late to halt the slide towards all-out confrontation between China and the western democracies? An apparently conciliatory speech last week by Xi Jinping led some observers to suggest China’s president may want to mend fences. But a change of tone in Beijing will not cut much ice in Washington unless Xi’s aggressive policies change, too.Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has overseen a marked shift towards authoritarianism at home and increased “assertiveness” – a polite word for bullying – abroad. He has established the type of personal, almost cultish dominance over the Chinese Communist party not seen since the days of Mao Zedong. Continue reading...

Republican efforts to exclude social elements such as daycare and senior care risk depriving the Black and brown people most in need of investmentThe massacre of innocents was just the beginning, Joe Biden explained. African Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, would go on to be locked out of home ownerships, see a motorway built through their community and endure chronic underinvestment by government.“This story isn’t about the loss of life, but a loss of living, of wealth and prosperity and possibilities that still reverberates today,” the US president said during a visit marking the centenary of an attack by a white mob that left up to 300 people dead. Continue reading...

As Covid vaccination rates rise entertainment events and rental homes and cars are selling out but companies are struggling to fill job vacancies

The president will meet the Queen and Erdoğan as well as democratic leaders but experts including John Bolton wonder what purpose his Russia summit will serveJoe Biden will make his first overseas trip as US president this week, determined to convince allies and adversaries “America is back” after four years under Donald Trump.Related: Arizona emails show Trump pushed ‘to prove any fraud’ before Capitol attack Continue reading...

Former president seeks limelight ahead of midterms, calling on China to pay Covid reparations and dismissing criminal inquiries into his business dealings

Nine arrested on possible charges including suspicion of riot and arson after Thursday shooting of Winston Boogie Smith Jr

Gavin Newsom responds after Judge Roger Benitez compares AR-15s to Swiss army knives ‘good for both home and battle’

Congresswoman’s support could heighten chances of city electing a woman for the first time and its second Black leaderAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Maya Wiley for mayor of New York, a dramatic intervention that could heighten the chances of the city electing a woman for the first time and only its second Black leader.Related: Fewer police, more housing: how Maya Wiley wants to transform New York Continue reading...

Abiding by judicial oversight is alien to a government that acts as if it’s above the lawYou cannot say anything coherent without generalising, and so, and to generalise, the British will lose their rights to challenge an over-mighty and underwhelming state because they hate foreigners more than they love political accountability.The Johnson administration knows that as long as it portrays asylum seekers as cheats arriving in the UK illegally and their solicitors as activist “lefty lawyers”, tricking the trusting public into allowing scrounging aliens to remain on our island, it can end scrutiny of its abuses of power. Continue reading...

Jim Justice is personally liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans taken out by his coalmining companiesThe Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, has revealed he is personally liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans taken out by his coalmining companies.Related: Greensill lobbying leaves your reputation in tatters, Cameron told Continue reading...

Former president to give speech at North Carolina Republican convention as Arizona emails show how audit came to be set up

The actor’s ‘ocean warrior’ spouse does what wives do each day, so why the huge praise?Why do highly successful women feel they must overpraise spouses who merely do what women do all the time? Kate Winslet is having a “moment” with the television series Mare of Easttown and deservedly so. Still, why did she feel the need to uber-gush about her husband, Edward Abel Smith (Richard Branson’s nephew, formerly self-christened Ned Rocknroll) in a recent New York Times interview? According to Winslet, Abel Smith is a “super-hot, superhuman stay-at-home dad” and an “absolutely extraordinary life partner”. He looks after her and the children. Although dyslexic, he helps Winslet with her lines. He maintains his zen with veganism, yoga, breath work and cold swims. His long hair makes him resemble “an ocean warrior”.Note to Kate: there are acceptable levels of spousal gushing and then there’s “umbrella for the journalist, please!”. Winslet adds: “He didn’t particularly plan on meeting and marrying a woman who is in the public eye and therefore having been so judged.” And there perhaps you have it: while Winslet stops short of technically de-alpha-ing herself, she could be endeavouring to ensure that her husband doesn’t feel quite so beta. Continue reading...

A global dearth of these vital components, and a reliance on just-in-time manufacturing, has put the motor industry in a tricky spotHere’s a tale of two industries – cars and computers. In February, major car manufacturers such as Nissan and Honda began to warn shareholders that revenues were likely to fall significantly below expectations. And the reason wasn’t Covid-19 – well, not directly anyway: the pandemic had already significantly depressed sales in 2020. No, the problem was that manufacturers were now unable to make some cars because they couldn’t get the silicon chips (processors and other semiconductor components) needed to get the vehicles rolling off production lines. As a result, some factories were temporarily closing or being put on short time.Meanwhile, in the same month, the computer industry was looking at a record year. Laptop sales were up 90% year on year. Tablet sales had recovered after a long slump. Even desktop computers and printers, for heaven’s sake, were flying off shelves and into delivery vans. So how did it happen that one industry struggled while another boomed? Continue reading...

Actor writes in New York Times that he ‘never read a page of any school history book’ about 1921 massacre

The latest wellbeing index confirms the theory that we quickly get used to almost anything that life throws at usAmong the stranger pieces of psychological research is the idea of thermostatic contentment or, to give it its fancier title, “hedonic adaptation”. The original work was led in the 1970s by the US professor Philip Brickman and published under the title Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative?The study examined the effects of extreme life-changing events on perceived contentment. Against all intuitive expectation, it discovered that after a short period of adjustment the reported “happiness” of those who had enjoyed a major windfall hardly changed, while those who had suffered an accident still rated themselves above averagely happy. The researchers concluded that happiness adjusted in relation to expectation and that there was a strong genetic element in feelings of contentment. Continue reading...

Buildings emblazoned with the Trump moniker once attracted the rich and famous – now apartments are going for bargain pricesThe building has stunning Manhattan skyline views, its spa offers deep-tissue massages, and the fancy restaurant off the lobby serves up prime steaks.Best of all, many apartments at the Trump World Tower in New York are selling at a deep discount – assuming the buyer doesn’t mind the name over the door. Continue reading...

More than a decade later, I can still recall the terror of that day with precise, photographic dread

Governors have tried lotteries, free beer, tickets to theme parks and gift cards, as Biden tries to reach 70% goal by Fourth of JulyFirst it was a lottery to win $1m in Ohio. Then another lottery was set up in West Virginia.In Illinois people could get free tickets to the Six Flags amusement park. Continue reading...

Texas 18-year-old says it was ‘scary to take a stand’ amid controversy – but speech has received rave reviewsWhen 18-year-old Paxton Smith used her valedictorian address to rail against Texas’s near-total abortion ban last Sunday, she inspired cheers at her Dallas high school, as well as an outpouring of support for her across the country and online.Smith had pre-written a speech on how TV and media have shaped her worldview, which had been approved by school administrators. But when it came time to address the graduating class of Lake Highlands high, she switched course. Continue reading...

Rich countries can’t expect to be trusted on their climate promises if they fail the poorest on vaccinesIt would only cost $50bn to ensure 40% of the world’s population is vaccinated by the end of the year, and 60% by the first half of 2022. This is a recent estimate from the IMF, the latest institution to join a chorus of voices calling for a global vaccination programme to bring Covid-19 under control. The IMF has highlighted the economic benefits of global vaccines, which would be huge. But there is another powerful reason for a worldwide campaign.Vaccinating the world will be crucial if countries are going to act together to confront the climate crisis, which will require many of the same things as delivering vaccines: resources, innovation, ingenuity and a true partnership between rich and developing countries. The Cop26 climate conference in November will be an opportune moment for building this partnership. But to do so, rich countries need to deliver on their early promises to deliver global vaccines. Continue reading...

Government data shows unemployment rates for many groups remain high, even as post-pandemic hiring picks upThe coronavirus pandemic sparked one of the deepest, and strangest, downturns in employment in US history. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the US had added another 559,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate had fallen to 5.8% – a dramatic drop from its 14.8% high in April last year.Employers say they are struggling to hire workers, and yet the US is still 7.6m jobs short of where it was before Covid-19 struck. Below, in the first of a monthly series, we take a look at what lies behind the headline figures for the highly influential jobs report. Continue reading...

Voting rights are threatened across the US and Trump allies are vying to control elections in multiple states. Can US democracy survive the Post-Trump onslaught?If Donald Trump’s inaugural address can be summed up in two words – “American carnage” – Joe Biden’s might be remembered for three: “Democracy has prevailed.”Related: Republican resistance: dissenting Texas leads the anti-Biden charge Continue reading...

Blanket policy to continue as part of efforts last year to ban displaying the Confederate flag in midst of racial tensionsThe Pentagon will not make an exception to allow US military installations to fly rainbow pride flags in June, it said on Friday, keeping a policy set by Donald Trump that limited the type of flags that could be flown on bases.Days before the announcement, US president Joe Biden said that nearly 1,500 of his federal agency appointees identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, in a proclamation marking the start of pride month celebrating the LGBTQ community. Continue reading...

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Taunt directed at Mark Zuckerberg suggests either a presidential run or the unfounded belief that ex-president might be reinstated

Attempt to hold a worker criminally liable for the spread of Covid resulted in Josefina Brito-Fernandez losing her license to work, fearing deportationProsecutors in Camden, New Jersey, charged a home health aide accused of inadvertently exposing an elderly patient to Covid-19 early in the pandemic in what appears to be the only case of its kind. The patient, an 80-year-old woman, died of the illness in May last year.The attempt to hold an essential worker criminally liable for the spread of Covid-19 resulted in the worker, 51-year-old Josefina Brito-Fernandez, permanently losing her license to work and entering a probation program for fear she would be deported. Continue reading...

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Although the new coalition taking shape may not agree on much, the prime minister’s downfall is long overdueIt could be over before it starts. As you read this, it may already be unravelling. But a new government has been formed in Israel, thereby removing the man who has ruled that country longer than anyone else. Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for most of the past quarter-century: first elected as prime minister in 1996, he has ruled Israel uninterrupted for the past 12 years. But now, if the new coalition holds together – a big if – the reign of Bibi, King of Israel, will come to an end. Even if we should have no illusions about what comes next, that itself is a cause for celebration.It is also the new government’s sole, animating purpose. The motley collection of parties, which runs from the settler hard right through the centre to the liberal left – and which includes a Palestinian Islamist party – has next to nothing else in common. It cannot be described as hawkish or dove-ish, left or right: it is simply the anti-Netanyahu bloc, forged to prise his fingers off the prime ministerial desk once and for all. Continue reading...

Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev all came through their third-round matches in straight sets on Friday5.08pm BSTIt’s time to say au revoir on today’s French Open blog. Thanks for reading and we’ll be back again tomorrow.4.58pm BSTShe had some awkward moments but a good old shout to herself did the trick for Serena Williams as she closes out victory in straight sets.Sweet 1️⃣6️⃣ for Serena@serenawilliams navigates a tricky test from Collins, emerging victorious 6-4, 6-4.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/GDHUlvMx77 Continue reading...