Asim Jamal Shakir Jr is suing the Los Angeles police department after he was injured during a George Floyd demonstration last MayA 23-year-old Los Angeles film-maker has sued the Los Angeles police department, alleging that his uncle, a Los Angeles police department officer, ordered him to be shot by projectiles during the George Floyd protests last summer.On the evening of 29 May 2020, Asim Jamal Shakir Jr had joined the demonstrations in downtown LA and was live-streaming when police formed a skirmish line, and he spotted his uncle, Eric Anderson, among the officers, according to a complaint filed on Monday. Anderson allegedly told his nephew to go home and then later motioned for an officer to shoot a “less-than-lethal” rifle at Shakir. Continue reading...

Two of the candidates to replace Bill de Blasio did themselves no favours by vastly underestimating the cost of a place in BrooklynWith less than six weeks to New York’s mayoral primaries, two candidates have left themselves electorally vulnerable for vastly underestimating the median cost of buying a home or apartment in Brooklyn.“In Brooklyn, huh? I don’t know for sure. I would guess it is around $100,000,” Shaun Donovan, the housing and urban development secretary under Barack Obama and housing commissioner under the former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, told the New York Times. Continue reading...

Christopher Miller will testify that he was concerned sending troops to the Capitol would cause a repeat of Kent State shootingsDonald Trump’s acting defense secretary during the 6 January Capitol riots plans to tell Congress that he was concerned in the days before the insurrection that sending troops to the building would fan fears of a military coup and could cause a repeat of the deadly Kent State shootings, according to a copy of prepared remarks obtained by the Associated Press.Christopher Miller’s testimony is aimed at defending the Pentagon’s response to the chaos of the day and rebutting broad criticism that military forces were too slow to arrive even as pro-Trump rioters violently breached the building and stormed inside. He casts himself as a deliberate leader who was determined that the military have only limited involvement, a perspective he says was shaped by criticism of the aggressive response to the civil unrest that roiled American cities months earlier, as well as decades-old episodes that ended in violence. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Hate crime charges and the death penalty are being sought against Robert Aaron Long, accused of killing six women of Asian descentA Fulton county grand jury indicted Robert Aaron Long, 22, in the March 16 slayings of Sun Cha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The indictment only covers those four killings that happened at two spas in Atlanta, and not the attack in Cherokee county in which Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33; and Paul Michels, 54, were killed. Continue reading...

US tech sell-off and report of rising prices for goods leaving China’s factories spook stock marketsFears that central banks will have to abandon their zero-interest rate strategies in the face of mounting inflation prompted steep falls on the world’s leading stock markets on Tuesday.In the UK, the FTSE 100 had its biggest one-day fall since February, closing down 175.69 points at 6947.99 – a drop of 2.47%. The British Airways owner, IAG, was the top faller on the City’s main share-price barometer, down 7.4%, with the engineering companies Renishaw, Melrose and Rolls-Royce also among the the worst performers. Continue reading...

He took the power-dressing pomp of the 1980s and directed it at banks, airports and corporate HQs. Here are some of the greatest buildings of the German-American architect, who has died aged 81 Continue reading...

The violence in Jerusalem is part of a plan to repress Palestinian life in the city. Yet there is a heartening refusal to be cowed

McDonald’s to promote vaccine information on coffee cups while Uber and Lyft to give free rides to vaccine sitesIncentivising the vaccine-hesitant in America has reached the fast food and ride-share industries.Burger chain McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups. Continue reading...

Confidential data obtained by AP shows the number of children in government custody more than doubled in the past two monthsThe Biden administration is holding tens of thousands of asylum-seeking children in an opaque network of some 200 facilities that the Associated Press has learned spans two dozen states and includes five shelters with more than 1,000 children packed inside.Confidential data obtained by the AP shows the number of migrant children in government custody more than doubled in the past two months, and this week the federal government was housing around 21,000 kids, from toddlers to teens. Continue reading...

Concerns over bonds involving Trump’s then daughter in-law Vanessa and daughter Tiffany revealed in Carol Leonnig’s Zero FailTwo Trump family members got “inappropriately – and perhaps dangerously – close” to agents protecting them while Donald Trump was president, according to a new book on the US Secret Service.Related: A Very Stable Genius review: dysfunction and disaster at the court of King Donald Continue reading...

The rich are now nearly 40% richer than before the coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, food prices rise, and more and more people go hungry

Selection ends months of speculation over whether Obama’s first chief of staff would be nominated to an administration roleJoe Biden has picked former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to be his ambassador to Japan.The selection ends months of speculation over whether Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, a former congressman and longtime Democratic operative, would be nominated to an administration role. Continue reading...

Senator says McCarthy ‘trying to silence others in the party’ in service of TrumpThe only woman in Republican Senate leadership complained about cancel culture on Monday, regarding the imminent removal of Liz Cheney, the only woman in Republican House leadership, because she opposes Donald Trump’s big lie that the presidential election was stolen.Related: Republican says party leader dismissed his warnings of Capitol violence Continue reading...

Israeli airstrikes kill 24 in Gaza – including nine children. Plus, Tom Cruise returns his Golden GlobesGood morning.Twenty-four people, including nine children, were killed in Gaza, the enclave’s health ministry has said, following all-night Israeli airstrikes that came after weeks of tension that dramatically escalated on Monday. Officials said seven of those killed in Gaza were members of a single family. Continue reading...

Under a highway, beautiful structures offer food, healthcare, showers and a free ‘store’ – as well as a strong sense of communityTucked under a highway overpass in West Oakland, just beyond a graveyard of charred cars and dumped debris, lies an unexpected refuge.There’s a collection of beautiful, small structures built from foraged materials. There’s a hot shower, a fully stocked kitchen and health clinic. There’s a free “store” offering donated items including clothes and books, and a composting toilet. There are stone and gravel paths lined with flowers and vegetable gardens. There’s even an outdoor pizza oven. Continue reading...

Twenty-four states object to bankruptcy proposal for Sacklers to settle lawsuits by paying $4.3bn but family would keep about $7bnNearly half of US states have joined growing opposition to a highly unusual bankruptcy plan that would protect the wealth of the Sackler family after it made billions of dollars from selling the drug that kickstarted the US opioid epidemic.Attorney generals of 24 states, members of Congress, municipalities and victims families object to the proposal for the Sacklers to forfeit ownership of Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, and surrender part of their immense fortune in return for immunity from further litigation over their part in a drug epidemic that has claimed more than 500,000 lives. Continue reading...

As Democrats struggle for united front, conservative groups act in lockstep to protect Senate procedure that could frustrate Biden’s agendaWhile congressional Democrats hope to make dramatic changes to a controversial legislative tool that has stalled bills in the Senate and could be used to frustrate Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda, Republicans are mounting an all-out defense to protect it.Conservative outside groups have been organizing overtly and covertly to counter Democratic pressure to gut the filibuster – a Senate device that in effect allows the minority party to halt proposed legislation. Continue reading...

Workers saw 2% decrease as companies gave leaders bonuses and forgiving performance benchmarks amid pandemicThe millionaire CEOs of some of the American companies with the lowest-paid workers saw an average pay raise of 29% in 2020 while their workers saw a 2% decrease, according to a report released Tuesday.The Institute for Policy Studies calculated that the average CEO compensation in 2020 was $15.3m when looking at the 100 companies with the lowest median wage for workers in the S&P 500 index. Continue reading...

One man ignored orders to wear a mask and is being fined $10,500 while another faces a $9,000 charge for shouting profanitiesThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced fines totaling $20,000 against two airline passengers who interfered with crews. The civil penalties come as as part of a zero-tolerance policy designed to combat a surge of similar cases in recent months.The agency said it will seek a $10,500 fine against a passenger who repeatedly ignored orders to wear a mask, which is required by federal regulation, then coughed and blew his nose into a blanket during a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles in December. Continue reading...

US president said Russia ‘has some responsibility’ to deal with ransomware attacks while pipeline shut since Friday

Coast guard vessel takes action after 13 Iranian fast boats come within 150 yards in strait of HormuzA US coast guard ship fired about 30 warning shots as a group of 13 Iranian fast boats sped toward US navy vessels in the strait of Hormuz, in what the Pentagon called “unsafe and unprofessional” maneuvers by the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGCN).The incident marked the second time within the last month that US military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year. Continue reading...

54-second video showed Bengal tiger roaming freely in front of houses before owner seen putting it in his vehicleA tiger was briefly on the loose in a Houston suburb on Sunday, terrifying residents before its owner grabbed it and fled in a car.A 54-second video posted on social media showed the Bengal tiger roaming freely in front of houses in the Energy Corridor, 18 miles west of downtown Houston. Continue reading...

Adam Kinzinger says he told Kevin McCarthy ‘his words and our party’s actions would lead to violence ’

Now many Labour MPs no longer believe their leader will become prime minister, expect the muttering to grow louderBefore the chaos of the past five days, there were already growing doubts among Labour MPs about Keir Starmer’s leadership – but until now, these worries were largely muffled by relief that anyone other than Jeremy Corbyn was running the party. That has now changed.For MPs, the belief that Labour may be headed for government imposes an anxious discipline: a leader holding the prospect of political power is like someone carrying a priceless vase that the smallest misstep could shatter. What quiets the party’s warring factions, if only for a time, is the fear of toppling the vase. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer’s party must stop the bile-filled civil wars – and wait for the IOUs sprayed out by the Tories to be called in

Brewery in Buffalo offers a Moderna vaccine shot with a free pint glass and coupon for the vaccinated person’s drink of choiceA micro-brewery in Buffalo, New York, has been offering free beer to encourage vaccine-hesitant customers to visit pop-up vaccination clinics next to its taprooms – and the program has been a roaring success.The scheme, a hook-up between Erie county health department and two local breweries, comes as many regions across the US are seeing sharp declines in vaccine demand. Continue reading...

Scots are still evenly split on independence, and a lengthy constitutional stalemate seems likelyOpinion polls for most of the past three years have shown Scotland to be evenly divided between supporters of union and independence. The Scottish parliament election result confirms this again. While the Scottish National party narrowly failed to gain an overall majority, independence supporters (the SNP and the Greens) have 72 of the 129 seats. Scottish electors cast two votes. The first is for a constituency MSP, elected by first-past-the-post as in Westminster elections. The second is for a regional party list, with seats distributed proportionally to ensure that the overall balance in the parliament is close to the regional list vote. Pro-independence parties won 49% of the constituency vote and 50.1% of the vote in the regional lists.The polarisation of Scottish politics around the constitutional issue is exacerbated by Brexit. While unionists and nationalists backed remain by substantial majorities in 2016, since then there has been a move of remainers towards independence, while a smaller number of leavers have moved in the opposite direction. This polarisation has benefited the SNP and the Conservatives, while Labour has been squeezed. The middle ground, on which the largest section of Scottish opinion was previously camped – more devolution but short of independence – has shrunk. Continue reading...

Relatives of 165 victims of police brutality back by ACLU and 250 groups worldwide write to UN commissioner for human rightsThe families of 165 victims of police brutality in the US are calling on the United Nations to set up an independent inquiry into the ongoing scourge of police killings of Black men and women.With the support of more than 250 civil society groups from around the world including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the families are hoping to engage the UN in efforts to rein in police violence against African American communities. The call comes in the wake of last year’s nationwide and international protests following the murder of George Floyd by the now ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. Continue reading...

Our elder boy is finally having some fun after a year of lockdown. But he can’t forget the seedlings he left behindI am taking pictures of ailing house plants. There are a few casualties: a furry reddish thing is droopy, a stripy green and white chap has yellowing leaves and something spiky has a withered arm (branch, whatever). “Excellent, excellent,” I mutter to myself, holding them up to the light to get a better shot.The plants belong to my elder son, who is away. His Covid testing job became so boring when infection rates plummeted that relations between the cleaning and security teams deteriorated into a Sharks v Jets-style beef, while others spent their 12-hour shifts doing crosswords. Instead, he found a conservation volunteering gig far from home, finally escaping the suffocating family cocoon of the past year: no more sitcom repeats and Wednesday night takeaway rota. I’m delighted. I hope all his cohort of newly minted adults get the chance of a few months of carefree fun before another year of student debt and awful job prospects hits. Continue reading...

There are deep bonds between our nations, and so I appeal to the UK, chair of the G7, for urgent assistance

JD Vance, Tucker Carlson and Josh Hawley love saber-rattling about ‘elites’. But they have no interest in taking on corporate powerJD Vance, author of the bestselling 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, wants to be a senator. He’s fresh off a trip to visit Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago and he’s solicited the support of the tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel has contributed $10m to a new Pac – Protect Ohio Values – created to support a possible Vance bid for the Senate seat of the retiring Republican Rob Portman next November.While elite donations roll in, Vance is playing up his rightwing-populist credentials to the Republican base, praising Tucker Carlson as “the only powerful figure who consistently challenges elite dogma” and complaining about corporations who have opposed state voter suppression efforts. But Vance has a secret he doesn’t want voters to find out about: in form, and substance, he’s a 1990s Clintonite. Continue reading...

People have grown accustomed to wearing masks, a practice which has been credited for a huge drop in seasonal flu deathsPeople could be wearing face masks several years from now in order to avoid the spread of respiratory diseases, according to Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser.Fauci said people have grown accustomed to wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning they may opt to wear them during seasonal spikes in viruses such as influenza. Continue reading...

From the Thames to the Mediterranean, seeing nature out of place reminds us of our impact on the planetWith the weekend’s arrival of a young minke whale stuck in the River Thames – not far from where a seal pup was recently savaged by a dog – it seems marine mammals are appearing everywhere they shouldn’t be.Since the beginning of April, an exotic visitor has been spotted off the coast of southern Europe. A lone grey whale, measuring eight metres long – and 7,000 miles from its fellow Pacific grey whales on the other side of the world – was seen off Rabat, Morocco, at the start of March. It wandered through the strait of Gibraltar – and into an enormous trap, the Mediterranean. Since then its progress has been charted from the north African coast to southern Italy and the south of France, from Naples to the Côte d’Azur. Unable to find its usual source of food, it is growing thinner and weaker in its search for a way out. Continue reading...

Scramble to avoid shortages after Colonial Pipeline targeted in attack on US infrastructureThe Biden administration has invoked emergency powers as part of an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to avoid fuel shortages after the worst-ever cyber-attack on US infrastructure shut down a crucial pipeline supplying the east coast.The federal transport department issued an emergency declaration on Sunday to relax regulations for drivers carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products in 17 states and the District of Columbia. It lets them work extra or more flexible hours to make up for any fuel shortage related to the pipeline outage. Continue reading...

The White House has declared the ‘light at the end of the tunnel is brighter’ in the country’s battle against Covid. Plus, how a woman who had multiple miscarriages found comfort in baking

More than a year into the pandemic, some people prefer to keep wearing their face mask – even outdoors in publicShe’s been fully vaccinated for three weeks, but Francesca, a 46-year-old professor, does not plan to abandon the face mask that she’s come to view as a kind of “invisibility cloak” just yet.“Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker or maybe it’s because I always feel like I have to present my best self to the world, but it has been such a relief to feel anonymous,” she said. “It’s like having a force field around me that says ‘don’t see me’.” Continue reading...

The Bronx Bombers are in danger of losing their place as the premier franchise in baseball after a series of ringless, sizzle-less seasonsFor roughly a century, the New York Yankees have stood at the center of Major League Baseball’s universe. That’s where you live when you win 27 World Series titles, are continuously near the top of baseball’s payroll list, and play in one of the biggest sports markets in the world.Traditionally, the Yankees have been in it to win at all costs. In December 2002, the Yankees, furious after losing twice in the playoffs following a run of four titles in five years, beat out their Boston rivals in a battle for Cuban free agent Jose Contreras. “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” said then Red Sox president Larry Luchino. Continue reading...

The Duchess of Sussex has made her first television appearance since her and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey.