Ruling includes statue of Robert E Lee that became focus of white nationalist rally in 2017 that turned violent and deadlyVirginia’s highest court ruled on Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E Lee that became the focus of a white nationalist rally in 2017 that turned extremely violent and ultimately deadly.The state supreme court overturned an appeal court decision that had been previously made in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow general Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson. Charlottesville’s city council voted to remove both. Continue reading...

George Floyd’s girlfriend told the Derek Chauvin murder trial that the couple shared an addiction to opioid painkillers that they struggled to overcome in the weeks before his death.Courteney Ross described meeting the man she called 'Floyd', but the bulk of her testimony on the fourth day of the trial focused on the pair’s opioid use

Aminadab Gasiola Gonzalez was taken to the hospital in critical condition although it was unclear if his wounds were self-inflictedDetails started to emerge on Thursday morning about a mass shooting at an office building in southern California that left four people, including a nine-year-old boy, dead the night before.Police said the suspect in the shooting in the city of Orange, south of Los Angeles, knew all of the victims through a “business and personal relationship”. A fifth victim was hospitalized in critical condition. Continue reading...

US has tallied on average 63,000 new cases daily over the past week while only five states have seen declines in new infectionsThe US could be in the early stages of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that is taking renewed hold across the country, with coronavirus cases increasing in 25 states, according to reports.The US has tallied, on average, 63,000 new cases daily over the past week–an increase of 17% from the week prior, news website Axios reported. Only five states have recently seen declines in new cases. The third wave of the pandemic, which peaked in January, saw about 250,000 people daily testing positive for Covid-19, the Hill reported. Continue reading...

Charles McMillian told the court: ‘I feel helpless’ while ex-officer can be heard interacting with witness in new body camera footageYesterday the Derek Chauvin murder trial saw more vivid and raw testimony from eyewitnesses who expressed both survivor’s guilt and helplessness over witnessing George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, dying under the knee of the white former police officer in Minneapolis.Charles McMillian, a 61-year-old eyewitness who testified on Wednesday, broke down as he watched video of the incident and explained why he confronted Chauvin after the motionless Floyd was taken away in an ambulance following the nine-minute-and-29-second knee-to-neck restraint he placed Floyd under last May. Continue reading...

American Jobs Plan would rebuild roads, highways and bridges; confront the climate crisis and curb wealth inequalityJoe Biden on Wednesday unveiled what he called a “once-in-a-generation” investment in American infrastructure, promising a nation still struggling to overcome the coronavirus pandemic that his $2tn plan would create the “strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world”.Speaking at a carpenters’ training center outside of Pittsburgh, where he launched his campaign two years ago, Biden returned as president to elaborate on his campaign pledge to “rebuild the backbone of America”. Continue reading...

Kimberly Jones, LaDonna Simpson, Kristel O’Cañas and Kathryn Wijnaldum break new ground in white and male-dominated fieldFour US Navy officers have made history this week – and breaking new ground in a traditionally white and male-dominated field.For the first time in US Navy history, four women of color are now commanding war ships at the same time, NBC News has reported. Continue reading...

Under pressure, Delta and Coca-Cola finally spoke out against the measure but activists warned that words would not be enoughHappy Thursday,As Georgia lawmakers debated significant new voting restrictions over the last month, many of the most powerful companies in the state stayed neutral. Now, nearly a week after governor Brian Kemp signed the measure, companies are pivoting and speaking out more forcefully on the measure. Continue reading...

Families in Waukegan attack Obama’s record on deportation and say using his name would be ‘painful for the community’Plans to rename an Illinois school after Barack Obama have run into a protest from local members of the Latino community who are angry about the former president’s record on the issue of deportation.Leaders and members of the Waukegan Latino community are pushing back against a local school board’s proposal to rename the city’s Thomas Jefferson middle school, according to WGN Chicago. Continue reading...

We don’t yet know if the quarterback is guilty of allegations filed against him, but positive reports of his character do not change the case either wayIf you’re shocked by anything about the legal case against Deshaun Watson, be shocked by the numbers. On Wednesday, two more women filed lawsuits against the quarterback, bringing the total to 21. Twenty-one women who say he sexually assaulted or behaved inappropriately toward them. But that’s not the number I’m stuck on.I’m stuck on 18. That’s how many women made positive statements about Watson’s character, which his lawyer released almost as soon as the newest lawsuits went live on the Harris county district clerk’s website. These testimonials are mentioned in news stories alongside the growing pile of suits – as if they carry a similar weight, as if they mean anything at all. Continue reading...

Prioritizing broadband systems is a pillar of the infrastructure bill, which would help the a staggering 35% of people who lack accessJoe Biden’s massive infrastructure bill will prioritize broadband expansion as a top goal, earmarking $100bn to bring affordable internet to “all Americans” by 2029.The plan, details of which the White House released in a fact sheet on Wednesday afternoon, seeks to reach “100% high-speed broadband coverage” across the US. It will do so while prioritizing broadband networks “owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and cooperatives” in a clear rejection of partnerships with big tech firms. Continue reading...

This whole controversy is part of a long history of misdirected moral outrage that blames artists for the social ills of societyLil Nas X, a 21-year-old musical artist first famous for his rap/country hit Old Town Road, has ruffled quite a few feathers with the release of the video for his new single Montero: Call Me By Your Name. He’s long been a controversial online figure, due in part to his charming and frenetic social media presence and the homophobic attacks he has received since proudly and publicly announcing that he is gay, has been gay, and will remain gay until the world stops spinning. Absurd conspiracy theories have followed him - from claims that he is brainwashing kids into queerness to his potential ties to the ever-present Illuminati.Lil Nas X has embraced the hate and conspiracy with his latest song and the accompanying video, which satirically doubles down on the idea that his sexual orientation will send him to hell by visually traveling there himself, lap-dancing for the devil, and usurping him as the king of the underworld. This, along with his limited release of custom Satanic-themed sneakers made with a trace amount of human blood, has brought a furor of condemnation and fresh conspiracy theories that Lil Nas X worships the devil, is trying to brainwash children, and/or has ties to secretive and sinister organizations. Continue reading...

Tight margins and customer demands make new technologies attractive, but are ultimately designed to replace people

Republicans seeking to restrict children’s lives claim trans youth are a ‘new phenomenon’. Jules Gill-Peterson explains how medical archives prove them wrongRepublican lawmakers pushing to restrict transgender children’s lives have repeatedly argued that trans kids are a “new phenomenon” and that gender-affirming treatments and policies are “experimental”.But Jules Gill-Peterson, a professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the University of Pittsburgh, has found extensive evidence of trans youth in the US living as themselves and fighting to transition in decades-old archival documents. The records from American hospitals and clinics date back to the early 20th century, with examples across the US well before the existence of contemporary language on trans identity. Continue reading...

President introduces $2tn plan to create jobs, reminiscent of FDR’s New Deal. Plus, Georgia approves bill to repeal citizen’s arrest law

The House bills to ban assault weapons and require mandatory background checks seem unlikely to pass the SenateThe once all-powerful National Rifle Association is mired in legal and financial woes but its 5 million members still exert hefty grassroots influence with most Republicans as a fresh gun control debate in Congress heats up, say gun experts and NRA veterans.The NRA’s grassroots clout – via the Internet, letters, phone and other tools – coupled with the influence wielded by millions of other gun owners, keep many Republican allies fighting almost reflexively against gun curbs, notwithstanding recent NRA problems including electoral setbacks, staff cuts, drops in member dues revenue and legal threats, according to analysts. Continue reading...

Minnesota lawmaker says filibuster is doing ‘damage’ to democracy – and believes it’s high time for reformIt’s rare a federal lawmaker makes a complete about-face on an issue with major legislative consequences.Related: Biden promises 'historic' $2tn spending in infrastructure – but Capitol Hill fight awaits Continue reading...

The World Series champions look set to repeat. Our writers run down the contenders and the best players to watch in the coming season“Dog, if there were slightly larger bases, I would be all over MLB!”, said no young would-be baseball fan, ever, at any time. Yet that’s just one of a series of experiments set to take place in baseball’s minor leagues as MLB brass continue their neverending search for fans under 50. Expect an announcement scrapping the obsolete 90 feet between bases in time for the 2022 season: the distance was never really right anyway. DL Continue reading...

This week’s roundup also includes shock football qualifying results, full-length Wimbledon classics and April Fool’s gold1) These days it is better known for darts but 99 years ago, horses raced around the Alexandra Palace’s Frying Pan (more footage here). Here are more gone-but-not-forgotten racecourses, starting with Northolt Park in Middlesex and Gatwick racecourse, which held the Grand National during the first world war. Here’s a 1946 race report from Castle Irwell in Manchester; and one from Lincoln, “the centre of the racing world” in 1950. Finally, planes replace horses at Ensbury Park in Bournemouth.2) This is lovely. Remembering Rocky: Ian Wright and Bukayo Saka on David Rocastle’s legacy, 20 years since the Arsenal legend’s death. Continue reading...

The word for ‘tending to create peace’ is one of dozens of forgotten positive terms – while negative terms flourish. Let’s redress the balanceI was trying to make a small impression on my pile of unread editions of the London Review of Books at the weekend. I’ve been stuck at base camp for a while now. I struggle for the time and/or IQ necessary to appreciate much of the content, but there’s always something brilliant in there for me. This is usually a fascinating biography of someone I’ve never heard of, generally presented in the shape of a review of a biography; a review written by someone who plainly feels they know the subject better than the biographer.On this occasion, the discovery of just one word, in a piece by Rosemary Hill, was worth the cover price. She uses the word “irenic” to describe the son of John Lewis, the original draper. Irenic? I’d emphatically never come across this word before. This is a shame because it describes something beautiful. As I’m sure Guardian readers will know, it means, according to Chambers, “tending to create peace”; my Concise Oxford English Dictionary has it as “aiming or aimed at peace”. Either way, sweet. Continue reading...

Civil rights advocates celebrate bill’s passage, which comes just over a year after the fatal shootingGeorgia lawmakers have approved a bill that would overhaul the state’s citizen’s arrest law, rolling back a Civil War-era statute one year after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.The state’s governor, Brian Kemp, is expected to sign the bill into law, which would make Georgia the first state to move toward repealing a citizen’s arrest statute. Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law, which was enacted in 1863 to allow white citizens to capture slaves fleeing north, and was later used to justify hundreds of lynchings, was cited by a prosecutor last year who initially declined to arrest Arbery’s assailants. Continue reading...

Joe Biden unveiled what he called a 'once-in-a-generation' investment in American infrastructure, promising the nation his $2tn plan would create the 'strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world'.Biden’s proposal to the nation still struggling to overcome the coronavirus pandemic would rebuild 20,000 miles of roads and highways and repair the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country. Biden added other projects would confront the climate crisis, curb wealth inequality and strengthen US competitiveness

Former Alaska governor confirms diagnosis in interview and says her case shows ‘anyone can catch this’Sarah Palin says she tested positive for Covid-19 and is urging people to take steps to guard against the coronavirus, such as wearing masks in public.“Through it all, I view wearing that cumbersome mask indoors in a crowd as not only allowing the newfound luxury of being incognito, but trust it’s better than doing nothing to slow the spread,” Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, told People magazine. Continue reading...

The president has proven he has his eye on posterity. But his $2tn package will face a hard-fought political battleJoe Biden, the oldest US president ever elected, seems keenly aware of the sentiment expressed in the Broadway musical Hamilton: “History has its eyes on you.”Before taking office he reportedly read biographies of Franklin Roosevelt, who steered the nation through the Great Depression. Recently, at an eerily quiet White House, he hosted presidential historians to explore the virtues of thinking big – or more precisely, the perils of thinking small. Continue reading...

Officers arrested Darrell Hunter, 45, after he repeated threatened an Asian American woman in a bakery, police sayPolice said Wednesday that they arrested a man who repeatedly threatened an Asian American woman inside a San Francisco bakery and in one instance mimicked a gun with his hand and simulated shooting the people inside.Darrell Hunter, 45, was arrested Tuesday near the business in the Tenderloin neighborhood after the woman called police, officer Adam Lobsinger said in a statement. Continue reading...

President says new plan will allow ‘transformational progress’ by bolstering investments in clean energy and electric vehiclesJoe Biden has said his new infrastructure plan will allow “transformational progress in our ability to tackle climate change” by bolstering investments in clean energy, electric vehicles and building homes resilient to threats posed by the climate crisis.The $2tn plan will make “crumbling” American infrastructure more robust to extreme weather events, the US president said in a speech on Wednesday, while providing funds to “build a modern, resilient and fully clean grid”. Continue reading...

Christopher Martin tells court ‘this could have been avoided’, on third day of testimony in former officer Derek Chauvin’s trialThe cashier who served George Floyd in a Minneapolis store immediately before his arrest and death last May told a court on Wednesday of the “disbelief and guilt” he felt for allowing Floyd to pay with a suspected fake $20 bill when he later saw the police kneeling on him.Testimony on the third day of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial continued in an atmosphere of tense emotions and harrowing evidence about Floyd’s death. Continue reading...

Under pressure to speak out, the CEOs of Delta and Coca-Cola issued forceful statements against the voter suppression billAfter weeks of pressure from activists some major companies and prominent Black executives are taking a somewhat harder line in speaking out against a new law in Georgia to restrict voting access. Continue reading...

Authorities reportedly investigating if Republican congressman, 38, violated sex trafficking laws and had inappropriate relationshipThe prominent Republican congressman Matt Gaetz’s reported relationship with a 17-year-old girl remained under scrutiny on Wednesday, despite his insistence in an appearance on Fox News that the allegation was “verifiably false”.Related: Hunter Biden calls Trump 'vile' in new book and denies Ukraine allegations Continue reading...

German shepherd ‘nipped someone while on a walk’, then today one of the dogs left faeces on the White House floorJoe Biden’s dog, Major, has been involved in its second biting incident in a month, the White House has said.The dog “nipped someone while on a walk” on Monday, according to Jill Biden’s press secretary, Michael LaRosa. The animal “is still adjusting to his new surroundings”, he said. The individual was seen by the White House medical unit “out of an abundance of caution” and returned to work without injury. Continue reading...

George Floyd’s death has accelerated golf’s diversity drive but Augusta has a troubled past and white faces still dominateLee Elder’s appearance next Thursday morning as an honorary starter for the 85th edition of the Masters will – metaphorically of course – see rose petals thrown at the feet of those in high office at Augusta National. Perhaps it is churlish not to commend organisations for doing the right thing but the extent to which Augusta endorsed discrimination for so long means modern-day praise is always over the top. Augusta sat in a time warp for a significant enough period for it not to be forgotten.In 1975 Elder became the first African American to compete in the Masters. It took until 1990 for Augusta to admit a member from the same ethnic group. When the world’s leading players line up behind Elder to joust for a Green Jacket, white faces will again dominate. Continue reading...

Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for voting while inadvertently ineligible in 2016Texas’ highest criminal appeals court said Wednesday it would hear an appeal from a Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for voting while inadvertently ineligible in 2016. Continue reading...

The time I’ve spent testing Novavax is the closest I’ve come to the eye of the storm – and it has put my other worries into perspectiveI’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a vaccine triallist. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m on the Novavax trial. When I look back on this past year, I’ll remember my visits to the hospital with fondness. I’ve found them to be pleasant little diversions from the rhythm of my locked-down life. I just bowl in and everyone seems vaguely glad I’ve made the effort.I’m pleased to see them, too, although I know them only by their eyes, hair arrangements and voices. It’s an odd thing that I’ll probably never get to see their faces; once it’s over, I’ll be able to walk past them in the street, or at a pub, a gig or a football match, or wherever unmasked top trial types hang out, and not know them from Adam or Eve. And vice versa, I suppose. Continue reading...

With the league all but certain to adopt the universal designated hitter rule in December, the forthcoming season will almost certainly be the last time we see pitchers take their turn at batWhen Major League Baseball made the decision to expand the designated hitter rule to National League ballparks last year to lighten players’ workloads, the end of America’s national pastime in its original form appeared to be a fait accompli.The facts: Few pitchers want to bat and even fewer managers want to watch them bat. It’s one of the rare issues that both the players and the owners, warring factions who otherwise couldn’t agree on today’s weather, appear to be in total accord. And after a pandemic-shortened season gave baseball commissioner Rob Manfred the perfect cover to enact a handful of experimental rules, it seemed inevitable that last year’s universal DH trial run would be carried over into perpetuity. Continue reading...

The president has stacked his government with military men. Now that blurring of institutional lines may backfireIt is not surprising that the government of Jair Bolsonaro is in crisis. Setting aside his ruinous response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the radically reactionary leader of the largest country in Latin America has never displayed the ability or desire to use political means to benefit anyone but those closest to him. Still, the scale and rapidity of the upheaval this week has raised concerns that Brazilians may soon confront a full-blown political meltdown on top of the public health disaster that has been unfolding for several months.On Monday, Ernesto Araújo, the foreign minister, resigned. His tenure had been marked by brash self-righteous rhetoric delivered without a glimmer of grace or confidence. Indeed, Araújo became known for masking his palpable insecurity with long, confusing references to Latin and Greek antiquity. Aráujo embraced conspiracy theories and far-right ideas that endeared him to the constellation of far-right governments that emerged around the world in recent years, particularly the Trump administration in Washington, but failed to deliver many tangible results for the Brazilian people (this is why two years ago I called Araújo “the worst diplomat in the world”). Continue reading...

Lawsuit seeks damages for ‘physical and emotional injuries caused by Trump’s wrongful conduct inciting a riot’ on 6 JanuaryTwo US Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly 6 January insurrection and saying he was responsible for physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result.James Blassingame, a 17-year veteran of the force, and Sidney Hemby, an 11-year veteran, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in US district court for the District of Columbia seeking damages of at least $75,000 each. Continue reading...

Police say Brandon Elliot, who was previously convicted of killing his mother, faces assault charges for attacking 65-year-old womanThe suspect wanted in an attack of an Asian American woman near New York City’s Times Square has been arrested and charged with felony assault as a hate crime, police said early Wednesday.The arrest comes after the man was seen on video kicking and stomping the woman on Monday. Continue reading...

Derek Chauvin also resisted calls to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck, witnesses said on the second day of the murder trial. Plus, the US orders non-essential diplomats to leave Myanmar

A rotating menu of Filipino, Moroccan, and Mexican cuisine underpins an ambition to uplift the food industry labor structureAt Understory, a new restaurant in Oakland, diners can sample Kare Kare empanadas stuffed with peanut braised beef stew and Kefta sliders made with spiced lamb, all while sipping on a passion fruit margarita.But alongside its rotating menu of Filipino, Moroccan, and Mexican cuisine, Understory is also hoping to serve up a side of change. Continue reading...

The NFL team put in a placeholder while they searched for a new nickname. But it turns out WFT has its upsidesSo much rides on the Washington Football Team’s rebranding “journey” that Jason Wright, the president of the NFL franchise, announced last week that 15,000 suggestions that the club has received from 60 countries and all 50 US states were not quite enough. The only decision the WFT has settled on, apparently, is that the team colors will remain the same.“Seeing the results from our analytics,” Wright wrote in a letter on the team’s website, “we know that the burgundy and gold are deeply important to folks, so I can confidently say the color scheme will remain the same. Continue reading...

This week: Can Biden defeat the gun lobby at the second go? Plus flagged-off Britain, and German jab woes.

A survey found nearly twice as many Black Americans as white Americans would not be able to pay the costs of a sudden medical bill