Now a Republican congressman, Ronny Jackson also made sexual comments about a female co-worker, Pentagon report says

California city, which was among the first to impose a lockdown, has seen some of the lowest case and death rates in the USSan Francisco will begin reopening more of its economy amid declining Covid-19 case rates, hospitalizations and deaths.Starting on Wednesday, restaurants can start serving limited indoor dining and movie theaters, gyms and museums can reopen at restricted capacity. Continue reading...

Andrew Cuomo made clear that he would not quit in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him. ‘I’m not going to resign,’ the New York governor said at his press conference. ‘I’m going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do.’The Democrat apologised for engaging in behaviour that made anyone feel uncomfortable, but insisted he had never touched anyone inappropriately. A number of lawmakers of both parties have called on the Democratic governor to resign as the state attorney general investigates the allegations against him.‘I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused anyone. I never intended it, and I will be the better for this experience,’ Cuomo said.

New York governor apologizes for ‘acting in a way that made people feel uncomfortable’ but insists he will not step downAndrew Cuomo said on Wednesday he would not resign as New York governor following the emergence of sexual harassment allegations.Related: Andrew Cuomo apologizes over sexual harassment reports but insists 'I'm not going to resign' – live Continue reading...

President said US ‘on the cusp’ of being able to change nature of Covid but ‘the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking’Joe Biden criticized Republican governors of Texas and Mississippi on Wednesday, calling their decisions to end state-wide mask mandates “a big mistake”.The US president said the country was on the “cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease” with the distribution of vaccines and added: “The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine.” Continue reading...

Security beefed up after authorities obtain intelligence about apparent threat to ‘breach the Capitol by an identified militia group’Federal authorities on Wednesday warned that people associated with identified militia groups have been discussing plans for another attack on the US Capitol with the aim of removing Democratic politicians on or about 4 March.The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Capitol police department has obtained intelligence pointing to a possible plot to “breach the Capitol by an identified militia group” on Thursday, the agency said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s nominee for budget director faced Republican opposition over old tweets but had also clashed with progressivesNeera Tanden’s decision to withdraw from consideration to serve as Joe Biden’s budget director marks the first major loss for the still young Biden administration, and sets off a scramble between various political factions to push through a new nominee. Continue reading...

The USA full-back is attracting the attention of clubs across Europe after his transfer to Portugal. The move across the Atlantic has also made him reflect on homeThere is no hesitation from Reggie Cannon when he considers whether his view of America has changed since moving to Europe. “One hundred million percent,” the US full-back explains from his Porto home. “Looking at the insurrection, Texas freezing over right now … explaining to my teammates what is going on in the country is baffling to me. Explaining the America I have lived in to those who don’t live in America, it feels like I am describing medieval times.”On and off the pitch, however, there are increasing reasons for optimism for the 22-year-old defender who swapped MLS for Boavista last summer. Cannon has impressed in the shop window that is the Portuguese league, already attracting interest from the Bundesliga, La Liga and Premier League, all while the election of Joe Biden at least symbolically ended a tumultuous four years in his homeland. Continue reading...

Republican senators, and one Democrat, cited Tanden’s tweets in opposing her nomination for director of the budget officeJoe Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators over her past controversial tweets.Her withdrawal marks the president’s first failure as he seeks Senate confirmation for his cabinet nominees. Continue reading...

President says he will direct states to prioritize teachers with a goal of vaccinating all educators by end of MarchJoe Biden has said that the US expects to have enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that the drugmaker Merck would help produce Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved shot.With the bolstered supply, Biden also announced he would be using the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and said the government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. Continue reading...

Our government is effectively forcing people to choose between heat in their apartment and the risk of deportationIf you had to choose between having running water at home or risking your home being raided by the authorities, which would you choose? The correct answer is: this shouldn’t even be a question.But it’s become one. The startling truth is that signing up for even basic utilities in this country has turned into a gamble for many people, particularly undocumented immigrants. Last week, the Washington Post revealed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has paid tens of millions of dollars since 2017 for access to a private database that contains more than “400m names, addresses and service records from more than 80 utility companies covering all the staples of modern life, including water, gas and electricity, and phone, internet and cable TV”. The information has been mined by Ice, the Post reported, for immigration surveillance and enforcement operations. Continue reading...

Neera Tanden withdraws bid for Office of Management and Budget job after criticism of her past tweets. Plus, teachers will be prioritised for a Covid vaccineGood morning.One of Joe Biden’s cabinet picks, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination amid a backlash over controversial past tweets. Tanden, who was nominated to head the Office of Management and Budget, faced opposition from Democratic and Republican senators after tweets surfaced in which she attacked members of both parties. After Joe Manchin, a conservative Democratic senator, announced he would oppose her nomination, she fell short of the number of lawmakers needed to confirm her in the Senate. This marks the first failure for Biden in getting Senate approval for his cabinet; so far, 11 of 23 have been confirmed. Continue reading...

Getting rid of the virus completely now seems an impossible project. But there are powerful arguments in its favour

I’ve struggled trying to hold what I know – that she would never intentionally hurt anyone – in tension with what I know just as deeply: this system of policing will always hurt Black peopleIn 2012, when Frank Ocean told me (yes, me, specifically) to “imagine being thrown off of a cliff” in the Tumblr note he published before dropping the transformative Channel Orange, the same Tumblr note in which he admitted publicly for the first time that he had been in love with another man, I cried, and then I did, too. I admitted for the first time publicly – or at least for the first time to my parents – that I was queer in a three-page email.The fall from that cliff was glorious for many beautiful moments – until I smashed head-first into the ground. Until my mother wrote back, three days after receiving my email, to tell me that all three pages were unacceptable and this was not what she raised me to be and – Kṛṣṇa help her! – my body, now lying mangled on the jagged rocks at the bottom of this hill I wanted to die on, was enveloped in sin. Continue reading...

Analysis: Membership list of American Patriots Three Percent also shows widespread network of people from variety of occupationsA Guardian investigation of a website leak from the American Patriots Three Percent shows the anti-government militia group have recruited a network across the United States that includes current and former military members, police and border patrol agents. Continue reading...

System has been used as a point of comparison as Boris Johnson seeks to create a charity to refurbish his Downing Street flatJackie Kennedy first visited the White House as a girl. “All I remember is shuffling through,” she told Life magazine. “There wasn’t even a booklet you could buy.” When she became first lady, she set about transforming it from bland and boring into a mansion worthy of a president – but someone would have to pay.In 1961, Jackie Kennedy founded the White House Historical Association (WHHA) to protect, preserve and guarantee public access to America’s most famous address. Three years later, President Lyndon B Johnson created the committee for the preservation of the White House, a group of experts who work to maintain the “museum quality” of its public spaces. Continue reading...

From tender pictures exploring disability to a Congo odyssey, these previously unpublished photographers were all acclaimed at the ICP/GOST First Photo Book award Continue reading...

Millions in precarious jobs are betting scant savings on worthless stocks and cryptocurrencies via share-dealing appsThe US economy’s K-shaped recovery is under way. Those with stable full-time jobs, benefits, and a financial cushion are faring well as stock markets climb to new highs. Those who are unemployed or partially employed in low-value-added blue-collar and service jobs – the new “precariat” – are saddled with debt, have little financial wealth, and face diminishing economic prospects.These trends indicate a growing disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. The new stock market highs mean nothing to most people. The bottom 50% of the wealth distribution holds just 0.7% of total equity market assets, whereas the top 10% commands 87.2%, and the top 1% holds 51.8%. The 50 richest people have as much wealth as the 165 million people at the bottom. Continue reading...

Advocates who lived through the riots are now fighting to defund the police and dismantle unions that thwart accountabilityThirty years after the savage assault on Rodney King, the Los Angeles police department is facing a reckoning over its failure to curb brutality, racial profiling and officer misconduct since the historic uprising.For some in LA, Wednesday’s anniversary of the 1991 attack is a painful reminder of the ways the racist and deadly law enforcement practices of the 1990s remain alive today. Continue reading...

The US president said the country was on track to have enough vaccines for every adult in the country by the end of May. ‘When we came into office, the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America. We rectified that’

Move follows charity’s allegations of poor working practices in its UK supply chainUS authorities have launched an investigation into allegations of forced labour in Boohoo’s UK supply chain, which could lead to the online fashion seller’s goods being impounded at ports.The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) body is understood to have found sufficient grounds for the investigation late last month after Liberty Shared, a charity which campaigns against modern slavery, sent it a petition on 1 February outlining problems with Boohoo factories in Leicester. If the CBP finds evidence goods have been made with forced labour it can instruct ports not to release them. Continue reading...

Country music legend Dolly Parton has been inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine that she helped to fund. Parton broke into song while getting the Moderna jab, adapting one of her best-known songs.To the tune of Jolene, she sang: 'Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate.Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, because once you’re dead, then that’s a bit too late.'

Mohammed bin Salman is stained by the murder of a journalist and a devastating war. The US response remains limited – and the UK’s is worseOn 2 October 2018, the journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. Within minutes he was murdered and his body dismembered; his remains have never been found. While the last of Riyadh’s many stories portrayed it as a “rogue operation”, the CIA swiftly concluded that the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved his killing. But Donald Trump, an admirer of the brash young prince, declared otherwise and declined to act.Joe Biden, then a presidential candidate, vowed that he would make Saudi Arabia “pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are”. Now in a position to act on his pledge, he appears to have changed his mind. On Friday, Washington declassified an intelligence assessment on the killing, as promised; the president is also to snub the crown prince, dealing only with King Salman. But while the US declines to say whether Prince Mohammed is included in the “Khashoggi ban” that it has imposed on visas for 76 Saudi officials, the clear message is business as usual, with only minor changes. Continue reading...

Seven government officials and 13 companies sanctioned as Biden administration says more punitive measures to be issued soonThe US has announced sanctions on seven Russian government officials and 13 Russian and European companies in response to the poisoning of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which a US intelligence assessment confirmed to be the work of the FSB.Related: US refuses to say whether crown prince one of 76 Saudis hit by visa ban Continue reading...

Organization to create $300m victims’ fund to deal with legal claims made by more than 85,000 former scoutsThe Boy Scouts of America has said it will establish a victims’ fund of at least $300m, to deal with payments arising from lawsuits over sexual abuse and funded in part by selling its portfolio of Norman Rockwell paintings.More than 85,000 former scouts have made legal claims against the 111-year-old organization about alleged sexual abuse by leaders, according to reports. Continue reading...

Christopher Wray says ‘that attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple … and has no place is our democracy’

FBI director Christopher Wray has said the bureau views the Capitol insurrection as a clear act of domestic terrorism. Speaking during a Senate hearing on the 6 January riots, Wray said: ‘That attack, that siege, was criminal behaviour, plain and simple, and it’s behaviour that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism’

Prosecutor says ‘horrible conduct’ does not violate law but urges state to change legislation to protect citizens from such incidentsA prosecutor has declined to file charges against a man who displayed a Ku Klux Klan flag in his window in suburban Detroit, next to the home of a Black family.Such “horrible conduct” doesn’t violate Michigan law, Wayne county prosecutor Kym Worthy said on Tuesday, adding that an ethnic intimidation charge would require physical contact, property damage or threats of such activity. Continue reading...

The director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, warned that a recent increase in coronavirus cases indicated a fourth surge could occur before a majority of the US had been vaccinated.According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has recorded more than 28.5m Covid-19 cases and nearly 513,000 deaths. Daily case numbers fell steeply after a peak in January but have started to increase again, boosted by the spread of new variants

Anchor says of course CNN will cover story of New York governor who has been accused by three women of sexual harassment

The federation says the right things about fighting racism but those intentions have not been enough so farThe US Soccer Federation is not what it thinks it is.The federation was queued up to give itself a pat on the back Saturday after its Annual General Meeting, where it shared slick videos about new efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. The highlight was going to be the repeal of a controversial policy that forced US players to stand during the national anthem. Continue reading...

Monday’s announcement confirmed my worst fears – not even those in the most desperate crises are safe from aid cutsThree weeks ago, foreign office minister James Cleverly told me that in the face of drastic cuts to the UK’s aid budget, Yemen would remain a UK priority country and the government would use the full force of its diplomatic efforts to bring about peace.On Monday, those words rang hollow when he announced the UK was slashing humanitarian aid to Yemen by more than 50% compared with last year. As a consequence, an already devastated country now faces the worst famine in decades and the prospect of lasting peace seems further away than ever. Continue reading...

Biden has the power to pass a $15 wage, raise corporate taxes and investigate firms accused of spying on workers. He must use it

State legislators are trying to make it more difficult for citizens to take action when their own representatives won’tThey walked through Michigan college football games dressed as gerrymandered districts. They crisscrossed Idaho in a decades-old RV dubbed the Medicaid Express. In Florida, they united black and white, left and right, Trump-loving “deplorables” and radical criminal justice reformers into a mighty moral movement to end an ugly vestige of Jim Crow.Related: The Guardian view on the return of Donald Trump: plotting a hostile takeover | Editorial Continue reading...

Drone warfare abroad is bad enough. Let’s not apply the same kinds of technologies to domestic policingThe New York police department has acquired a robotic police dog, known as Digidog, and has deployed it on the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and, most recently, the Bronx. At a time that activists in New York, and beyond, are calling for the defunding of police departments – for the sake of funding more vital services that address the root causes of crime and poverty – the NYPD’s decision to pour money into a robot dog seems tone-deaf if not an outright provocation.Related: Louisiana police trooper kicked and dragged Black man who died in custody, records show Continue reading...

Cuomo casts himself as merely clumsy – but the allegations seem to be an extension of bullying behavior designed to exert power and controlOn Saturday, a second former staffer accused the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, of sexual harassment. Charlotte Bennett was 24 when she began working for the governor in the entry-level position of briefer, which required her to have close daily contact with Cuomo. In a series of interviews with the New York Times, Bennett described a pattern of overtures from the governor that progressed from overly familiar, to inappropriate, to aggressively suggestive. He asked her whether she practiced monogamy and if she ever slept with older men (Cuomo is 63). After learning in 2020 that Bennett’s 25th birthday was coming up, Cuomo offered that he was open to sexual relationships with women over the age of 22. The implications were not ambiguous. “I understand that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the Times. “And was wondering how to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”Related: New York attorney general seeks to investigate Cuomo sexual harassment claims Continue reading...

The CDC director warned the US could face a fourth Covid wave before the vaccine rollout is completed. Plus, Andrew Cuomo, the New York governor, faces growing calls to resignGood morning.The US could experience a “fourth surge” of coronavirus before the majority of the country was vaccinated, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned yesterday. Continue reading...

Delays, backlogs of claims and errors have left workers without any unemployment benefits while out of work due to CovidBefore the pandemic hit Stephanie Gaither worked as a driver for Uber and Lyft in Indianapolis, Indiana, making around $600 to $900 weekly. Now she is facing eviction and has her utilities shut off.Like millions of other Americans who have seen their work dry up as the virus has spread, Gaither has fallen through the huge holes in the US’s unemployment benefits system. Her unemployment benefits expired in December 2020 and she has waited several weeks without any benefits while caring for her children who are currently learning remotely. Continue reading...

President has chance to mitigate some of Trump’s judicial efforts as vacancies ariseDonald Trump’s historic shakeup of the roster of US federal judges will not soon be reversed, despite his exit from the White House. Continue reading...