Incident that left at least three critically wounded is believed to be the capital city’s largest shootingNine people were wounded in a shooting on Thursday evening in Rhode Island’s capital in what police there believe to be the largest shooting in city history.Of the nine, three were critically wounded in the shooting just before 7pm, the Providence police chief, Col Hugh T Clements, told reporters at the scene. Continue reading...
The government’s actions after last month’s elections call democracy into question and set a dangerous precedent for developing nationsSamoa has long been touted as a beacon of democracy and political stability in the Pacific, a region troubled by military coups and civil strife. The prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is the world’s second longest serving prime minister, having held the office for more than 22 years.But the latest election in the country, held last month, saw the most serious challenge to Malielegaoi’s ruling Human Rights Protection party (HRPP), and has left the country without a clear result. In the weeks since, the government has used every method available to it – and some that arguably are not – to hold on to power. What the government is doing is effectively a bloodless coup. Continue reading...
The corporate scientist discovered the unique adhesive that allowed notes to be easily attached to surfaces and removedThe inventor of the adhesive used on the Post-it Note has died, according to the company 3M, which produces the product, and his published obituary.Spencer Silver was 80 and died May 8 at his home, the family’s obituary said. Continue reading...
Leaked video published by Mother Jones shows executive director of Heritage Action bragging about crafting voting restriction billsA top official at one of America’s most influential conservative groups bragged about playing a key role in crafting voting restrictions across the country, according to leaked video published by Documented, a watchdog group, and Mother Jones on Thursday. Continue reading...
Mayor fires health chief over disposal of remains decades after 1985 Move bombing, which killed 11The public outcry over the handling of human remains retrieved from the ashes of the deadly 1985 bombing of a Black liberation organization in Philadelphia dramatically escalated on Thursday, with the revelation that the bones of an undisclosed number of Move victims were incinerated and dumped by the city without the knowledge or permission of living relatives.In a bombshell disclosure, the mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, announced that he had fired the city’s health commissioner, Thomas Farley. The mayor said that Farley had told him earlier this week that several years ago he had become aware that remains of victims of the Move bombing – in which 11 people died – were still in the possession of the city’s medical examiner’s office. Continue reading...
US diplomats, spies and defence officials have reported serious symptoms, some within the past few weeksThere have been more than 130 incidents of unexplained brain injury known as Havana syndrome among US diplomats, spies and defence officials, some of them within the past few weeks, it has been reported.The New York Times said three CIA officers had reported serious symptoms since December, following overseas assignments, requiring outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington. One episode was within the past two weeks. Continue reading...
by Victoria Bekiempis in New York and agencies on (#5HSS8)
Rochelle Walensky announces relaxation of guidelines: ‘We have longed for this moment … [to] get back some sense of normalcy’As coronavirus cases and deaths decline across the US amid vaccination efforts, the director of the CDC said Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans could participate in most indoor activities without wearing a mask.An unmasked president Joe Biden heralded the announcement during an outdoor press conference several hours later, saying: “Today is a great day for America in our long battle with coronavirus.” Continue reading...
Around the world, Eid al-Fitr celebrations have been taking place in another unprecedented year. With the uneven distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, Muslims in countries like the US and UK have been able to gather en masse for the first time in over a year and celebrate the end of Ramadan. Meanwhile, across Asia, some ceremonies have been more muted and somber, as families continue to lose members to the virus.Adding to the complex emotions amid this year’s celebration, Muslim communities have been demonstrating solidarity with those affected by the crisis in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people, including many children. As millions share traditional feasts after a month of fasting, Eid will continue through the evening, and often through the week
The currency is an environmental abomination and investors should be pleased the founder has said soElon Musk moves in mysterious ways, so it would be foolish to assume that his new sceptical stance on bitcoin will last longer than his previous cheerleading. But he has now landed on the right spot: bitcoin is an environmental abomination.Researchers at the University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance have been chronicling as much for ages. At last count, electronic mining of the cryptocurrency was consuming the same quantity of energy as economies the size of Argentina or the Netherlands. That matters because the super-computers in China, the ones doing the bulk of the mining, are running mostly on electricity generated by coal – the point referenced by Musk. Continue reading...
Governor Andrew Bailey at odds with bank’s chief economist warning of price inflation above 2% targetThe governor of the Bank of England has sought to calm financial market fears over rising inflation but has exposed a policy rift with Threadneedle Street’s outgoing chief economist, Andy Haldane.The day after Haldane used a newspaper article to warn of the need to prevent the “inflation genie” getting out of the bottle, Andrew Bailey said he thought upward price pressures would prove temporary. Continue reading...
Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were to face trial on 23 August but judge changed date so federal case can go firstThe trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd will be pushed back to March 2022, a judge ruled Thursday.Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were scheduled to face trial on 23 August on charges they aided and abetted both murder and manslaughter when they assisted the more experienced officer, Derek Chauvin, in restraining Floyd face down on the street last May, with Chauvin kneeling on his neck. Continue reading...
Progressive US lawmakers speak out against Israeli military as Palestinian activists say it is a shift from previous languageEid al-Fitr marks the conclusion to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Usually cause for celebration, the holiday is sorrowful for Palestinian Americans, Muslim or otherwise, who are mourning amid the worst violence seen in the homeland in years.“I doesn’t feel like a holiday for us,” Amani al-Khatahtbeh, a Palestinian American author and founder of online magazine Muslim Girl, told the Guardian. “These types of atrocities that are taking place really harm the collective diaspora.” Continue reading...
The Israeli right’s urge to take the Temple Mount threatens to turn 2,000 years of Judaism on its headOn Monday, an apocalyptic video from Jerusalem began to circulate on social media. In the background, it showed a large fire raging on the site Muslims call al-Aqsa or al-Haram al-Sharif, and Jews call the Temple Mount. A tree was ablaze next to al-Aqsa mosque (some blamed Israeli police stun grenades, others blamed Palestinians shooting fireworks, perhaps aiming at Jewish worshippers). Below, the large plaza of the Western Wall was full with young Jewish Israelis, identified with the religious Zionist right, celebrating “Jerusalem Day” (marking the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967). They were cheering at the sight of the fire, singing an anthem of vengeance popular in extreme-right circles. The lyrics are the words of Samson, just before he pulled down the pillars of the Temple in Gaza: “O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” The Israeli teenagers, visibly ecstatic, jumped up and down and shouted: “May their name be effaced!”This is not the first time that the holy sites have been ground zero for a major violent escalation in the conflict, and it is therefore tempting to interpret this vengeful frenzy as merely the latest eruption of an atavistic devotion to ancient stones, one bound to spiral out of control. But this is a misleading story: the political significance of these places – and their very meaning – has changed dramatically over the past century, particularly for Jewish Israelis. Continue reading...
by Victoria Bekiempis in New York and agencies on (#5HS6X)
Racers block roads, travel in packs and engage in drag racing or perform stunts as deaths and quality-of-life widely reportedWhile America’s coronavirus pandemic has disrupted routine car traffic by reducing daily commutes and travel to leisure activities, authorities across the US said unauthorized street racers have taken advantage of these newly quiet roadways – and that these competitive motorists have killed several unsuspecting drivers.Illegal street racing has reportedly surged ever since Covid-19 hit the US in earnest last spring, with officials reporting increases in states such as Georgia, New York, New Mexico and Oregon, among others, officials said. Continue reading...
Election administration experts, who usually go out of their way to be non-partisan, are raising alarms about the processBy now, you’ve probably heard about the unprecedented effort to recount 2.1m votes in Arizona and all of the wacky conspiracy theories – including searching for bamboo fibers in ballots – that the effort seems to be amplifying. Continue reading...
US public opinion seems to be swinging in support of Palestinian rights, but it must go further to begin real changeThe headlines speak mainly of “clashes”, “conflict”, and “casualties on both sides”. The politicians recite bromides about Israel’s “right to defend itself”– a right that Palestinians seemingly do not have. The US government calls for “all parties to deescalate”, with no acknowledgment that it is US funds – $3.8bn a year – that, in part, make Israel’s bombardment of Gaza possible. This is the familiar American routine when Israel goes to war.Yet before Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets came to dominate the news, what happened over the last week in Jerusalem was perhaps the most substantial Palestinian mass uprising in the city since 2017 – when Palestinian demonstrations led Israeli police to abandon their attempt to install metal detectors at the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Then, as now, it was an uprising centered in Jerusalem but about much more. And though US public attention has been diverted, the Jerusalem uprising is still ongoing. That is important not to forget. Continue reading...
Demand for items that people want as lives slowly return to normal has outstripped supply and sent consumer prices soaringThe coronavirus pandemic triggered all kinds of shortages, with demand for items from toilet paper and puzzles to baking yeast soaring as people struggled to adjust to life under lockdown. Now the lockdowns are receding. The shortages? Not so much.Demand for items that people want in their post-lockdown lives has outstripped supply and, along with supply chain issues, has sent consumer prices soaring and created a strange patchwork of expensive, or unavailable, items. Continue reading...
Israeli army drafts Gaza ground operation amid rising death toll and mob violence. Plus, would you get a vaccine for $1m?Good morning.Israel’s military was on Thursday drafting a plan for a possible ground operation in Gaza as the crisis in the region worsened amid mob violence and a rising death toll, with continued airstrikes and rocket attacks. Continue reading...
In spite of the increasing crisis of gun violence in intimate partner abuse situations, gun control is still not generally thought of as a gender justice issueSeven people died in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sunday at a birthday party, after the boyfriend of one of the party guests showed up with a gun. The boyfriend came to the mobile home park where the party was being held and shot six adults, including his girlfriend. Five of them died at the scene, and another died later, at the hospital. Then he killed himself. He didn’t fire on the children who were there.The Colorado Springs shooting comes on the heels of another shooting in Austin, Texas, last month, when Stephen Broderick, a former police officer, killed his ex-wife, Amanda, her teenage daughter, Alyssa, and Alyssa’s boyfriend, Willie, in their home. At the time of the murders, Broderick was out on bail after being indicted for sexually abusing Alyssa. In her court petition asking for a restraining order against her stepfather, filed in June 2020, 10 months before he murdered her, Alyssa wrote that she feared the worst. “I’m afraid that to him, a protective order will just be a piece of paper … I’m afraid he might hurt me or my mom for coming forward.” Continue reading...
The GOP once stood up for small government or big business, or to foreign enemies or domestic taxes. Now it’s just a cult of personalityWhat is the point of the Republican party?This isn’t a flip question. It’s one prompted by the last four months of grappling with the fallout of the bloody insurrection on Capitol Hill, and by the last four years of grappling with the fallout of installing a fascist in the White House. Continue reading...
The single mom from Brooklyn who became world featherweight champion and one of NYC’s most popular fighters opens up about her feminist roots, the fight for gender equity and life after boxingHeather Hardy has experienced it all during her time as a professional fighter. A single mom and feminist who didn’t start boxing until well into her twenties, the Brooklyn native came up through the crucible of New York City’s club scene before finally winning the World Boxing Organization featherweight title in 2018.Now 39, Hardy is up against a challenge she’s yet to confront in her decade-long career: bouncing back from defeat. Twenty months after suffering her first professional loss and ceding her title to fellow Brooklynite Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden, Hardy will climb into the ring with Montreal’s Jessica Camara in an eight-round lightweight bout at the top of Broadway Boxing’s inaugural Ladies Fight card – a new all-female boxing series streaming on UFC Fight Pass that promoter Lou DiBella has launched to keep veteran contenders busy and elevate up-and-coming prospects. Continue reading...
Gregg Popovich’s longtime aide-de-camp is the first female full-time assistant coach in any major US sports league – and no one in the NBA will be surprised when she finally lands a top jobStill seething from a heated disagreement with the referee, Gregg Popovich pointed to one of his assistant coaches, Becky Hammon, and said, “You got ‘em.”There was 3:56 remaining in the second quarter when Popovich was ejected with his San Antonio Spurs trailing the Los Angeles Lakers by 11 on 30 December 2020. With the five-time NBA champion coach gone, Hammon assumed the reins, and the transition appeared perfectly natural to her, the Spurs staff and players. Not a moment’s thought was given to the fact that Hammon had just become the first female to take charge of an NBA team. There was a game to win, and there was no one better to fill Coach Pop’s shoes. Continue reading...
Ellen, the long-running US daytime television chatshow hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will end at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. The news comes after allegations of bullying of junior employees and a toxic workplace environment caused ratings to tank
This week’s roundup also features the most left-wing football match ever and breakdancing title celebrations1) After Sergio Agüero’s recent fluff, we start our round-up in Romania, head to MLS, then venture to Serbia, take a detour to the Championship and finally catch right back up with Bryan Taiva in Chile this week. We can’t quite tell if Bersant Celina was in the Panenka process when this happened (but it looks possible). Oh, and of course, when they go right with the man himself. Continue reading...
Occasion overshadowed by disclosure that bones of children who died held for almost four decades by University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia on Thursday marks the city’s first official day of remembrance for the 1985 bombing of a Black liberation group in which 11 people, including five children, were killed and an entire African American neighborhood burned to ashes.Related: Ivy League colleges apologize for ‘serious error’ in using bones of Black child for teaching Continue reading...
The scheme is one of several unusual incentives across the US, including scholarships, bonds and beerTo those who are still hesitant to get the coronavirus vaccine, Ohio’s governor is asking: would you do it for a million bucks?Mike DeWine announced on Wednesday that over the next five weeks, the state will draw the names of five people from its ledger of residents who have received at least one jab, and award them $1m each. The lottery scheme will be funded by federal coronavirus relief funds, DeWine said during a televised address. Continue reading...
Leader of a group called Love Has Won was found decorated with Christmas lights and glitter in what appeared to be a shrineProsecutors have charged seven people after the mummified body of the leader of a spiritual group called Love Has Won was found decorated with Christmas lights and glitter in what appeared to be a shrine in a southern Colorado home.Amy Carlson, 45, who was known as “Mother God” by her followers, was found dead in a home in the tiny, rural town of Moffat on 28 April, according to arrest affidavits. Each of the defendants is facing charges related to tampering with or abusing a corpse as well as child abuse. Continue reading...
Many investors are right to wonder if the ultra-low interest rates they have been semi-promised until 2023 will materialiseStatistical quirk or a warning of a fundamental change in the inflationary weather? We know on which side of the debate the US Federal Reserve will land. It will take the relaxed view that the sharpest monthly rise in US consumer prices since 2008 – 4.2% – is nothing to worry about.The Fed is committed to keeping interest rates at rock-bottom levels into the middle distance on the grounds that an economy in recovery mode is bound to throw up a few odd-looking pieces of data. Inflation fell a year ago at the onset of the pandemic, so one should not be misled by so-called “base effects”, goes the argument. Don’t risk the recovery by reacting. Continue reading...
Anthony Gay, who calls solitary confinement ‘wrong, despicable and horrible’, hopes bill passed by lower house will become lawAn inmate who spent 22 years in solitary confinement in an Illinois prison after being arrested for stealing a hat and a dollar bill is campaigning for legislation to end a practice that he says drove him to self-mutilation and a suicide attempt.Anthony Gay said he was “tortured for decades” by his isolation for up to 24 hours a day in a cold, tiny cell he likened to a dungeon, and was denied access to necessary mental health care. Continue reading...
After being voted out from her role as House Republican conference chair, Liz Cheneysaid she planned to 'lead the fight' to create a stronger party in the future. The congresswoman said: 'I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.' Cheney was one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump over the US Capitol breach
The ousting of Cheney snuffs out all doubt – Republicans don’t think they can win next year’s midterm elections without TrumpLafayette Square, outside the White House, reopened this week to strolling couples, tourists and scampering children. After nearly a year sealed off by eight-foot metal fencing, it was one more sign of life in America getting back to normal.Then there’s the danger. For more than three months it’s been tempting for many to assume that, with Joe Biden in the White House and Donald Trump off Twitter, democracy survived its near-death experience, recovered and checked out of hospital. But the ousting of Liz Cheney by the Republican party shows that the potential for a relapse is all too real. Continue reading...
The UN Middle East envoy issued the stark warning as violence continued and the death toll in Israel and Gaza rose. Plus, Liz Cheney’s defiant last stand
The state is poised to hold a gubernatorial recall vote for only the second time in historyThe recall election may seem like an oddity, considering Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor, remains fairly popular across the state. Continue reading...
The WNBA has always demonstrated a sense of urgency around societal issues, but a new ESPN doc shows how the 2020 season took this commitment to a new levelWhen the WNBA decided to operate in Bradenton, Florida, last July, it marked the start of a season like no other, one that interrogated the careers, identities and principles of every player inside the league’s campus-style bubble. It was an emotionally grueling summer: not only because of the global pandemic that disproportionately affected communities of color across the US, but for the deaths of innocent Black people including Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police brutality. By the time the gruesome murder of George Floyd was broadcast worldwide, the grief and the exhaustion of Black communities in America were palpable – and professional athletes were not spared.A new documentary by filmmakers Jenna Contreras and Lauren Stowell entitled 144 – which premieres Thursday on ESPN, the day before the league’s 25th season tips off – offers a behind-the-scenes look at this unprecedented moment at the intersection of sports history and social justice. Continue reading...
The US representative Liz Cheney, speaking in the House a day before her expected ouster from a Republican leadership post, chastised her party colleagues for not standing up to the former president Donald Trump and his false claim that the November election was stolen. ’Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that,’ she said.Cheney, the No 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, was one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump in January after he delivered a fiery 6 January speech to supporters, many of whom then stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to block certification of his election loss to Joe Biden
The Wyoming representative stands by her opposition to Trump’s election lies as she prepares to be removed from No 3 House roleOn the eve of a vote almost certain to remove her from a leadership role in the Republican party, a defiant Liz Cheney embraced her fall from party grace and offered a final appeal to her colleagues: “We must speak the truth.”Republicans are poised to remove Cheney from her House leadership position over her refusal to support Donald Trump’s “big lie” that last year’s election was stolen from him. Cheney, a Wyoming representative who hails from a Republican political dynasty, was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection” following the deadly 6 January attack on the Capitol. Continue reading...
From portraits of friends in the pool to beautifully lit streets, the 21-year-old’s work captures the essence of being young in a small town Continue reading...
Newsom proposes creating 46,000 housing units and effort to end family homelessness within five yearsCalifornia’s governor has proposed a $12bn plan to tackle its homelessness crisis, calling the situation in America’s most populous state “unacceptable”.Buoyed by a large budget surplus and swimming in federal pandemic recovery money, Gavin Newsom’s proposal includes $8.75bn over two years to create an estimated 46,000 housing units, expanding on a program he launched last year to convert motels and other properties into housing. Nearly half the money would go toward housing in places where people with mental health and other behavioral issues can get services onsite. Continue reading...
Federal court says claim was not filed in good faith, paving the way for legal bid by New York state to close the group downA federal judge has dismissed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case, leaving the powerful gun-rights group to face a lawsuit from New York state that accuses it of financial abuses.The judge sitting in Dallas was tasked with deciding whether the NRA should be allowed to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where the state is suing in an effort to disband the group. Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state. Continue reading...
