It was a show set in New York that managed to ignore 9/11. So why are they going to mention the pandemic?You know, after the Covid crisis, Brexit, Trump, Labour’s antisemitism meltdown and the return of skinny jeans, I thought I’d hardened my hide to bad news. But a new development might finally break me: it was recently confirmed that And Just Like That, the rebooted Sex And The City , will include references to the pandemic. According to Sarah Jessica Parker, the show’s star and executive producer, “It will obviously be part of the storyline, because that’s the city [the characters] live in.”Now, I have two issues with this, and one of them is about Sex And The City, and the other is about the pandemic. Let’s deal with the former first. The appalling SATC films already proved that Michael Patrick King, SATC’s director, writer and producer, and Parker completely misunderstood their show, given that they jettisoned all the things that made the series so great – the smart scripts, the respect for the characters – and replaced them with jokes about how all a woman needs is a walk-in closet and how weird the Middle East is. So Parker and King didn’t really get the appeal of their own show: that doesn’t make much sense, but neither did Carrie getting back together with Mr Big. So fine: we soldier on somehow. Continue reading...

At the start of the pandemic, the New York governor found himself on the national stage with his daily briefings. Now he faces calls for his resignation and a federal investigationOn 20 March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was rampaging through New York, Andrew Cuomo announced new restrictions on home visits for older and vulnerable people. Unveiling the rules, named Matilda’s Law after his mother, at his televised daily briefing, the governor spoke passionately about the need for New Yorkers to care for one another.“Those three-word sentences can make all the difference,” he said. “ ‘I miss you’, ‘I love you’, ‘I’m thinking of you’, ‘I wish I were there with you’, ‘I’m sorry you’re going through this’.” Continue reading...

Texas has a unique power system with little connection with the two national grids – but it was unprepared for what residents neededThe Texas power outage, which has left millions without power, happened for a multitude of reasons. But it’s important to understand how those causes are connected, because they’ll continue to be relevant as the state experiences more extreme weather events.It all starts with the winter storm that began on 13 February, which brought some of the coldest weather the state has experienced since 1989. Continue reading...

Five US territories float in constitutional limbo, but impetus is growing to put and end to a ‘fundamental democratic flaw’One of the most powerful prosecutions of former US president Donald Trump last week came from Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands, the first delegate from an American territory to hold the position of impeachment manager.Yet Plaskett’s status meant that she was unable to vote for Trump’s impeachment because she has no vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. The US Virgin Islands has no representation at all in the Senate. Its residents cannot even vote for president. Continue reading...

Alex Tresniowski’s story of a 19th-century Rosa Parks would have worked perfectly well without a detour to New JerseyThis is a book about an important and long-overlooked Black woman civil rights leader, and an intrepid New York City private investigator who solved a murder at the seashore in New Jersey in which a Black laborer was wrongly accused of the crime.Related: Trump's defeat and the death throes of the Civil War – podcast Continue reading...

Move is milestone in undoing ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, which forced those seeking US entry to wait outside borderThe US government on Friday released 25 asylum seekers into the country with notices to appear in court, marking a milestone in unraveling a key immigration policy of Donald Trump.The asylum seekers were enrolled in Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program, which forced people seeking protection in the US to wait south of the border until their court hearings. They tested negative for Covid-19 in Mexico and were taken to San Diego hotels to quarantine before taking a plane or bus to their final destinations in the US, said Michael Hopkins, chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which is playing a critical support role. Continue reading...

Ocasio-Cortez says she stands with local officials urging inquiry while governor admits information wasn’t produced fast enoughAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined growing calls for an investigation into New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

President says US will have to work to earn back the trust of its allies in video remarks to the G7 and Munich Security ConferenceJoe Biden has pledged “unshakable” US support for the transatlantic alliance in what he portrayed as an epoch-defining struggle to safeguard democracy.Biden used his virtual debut on the world stage on Friday, in videoconference remarks first to the G7 and then the Munich Security Conference, to assure America’s allies of his determination to bury the legacy left by his predecessor. Continue reading...

It is in everyone’s interests for richer countries to ensure supplies are distributed more equitably

Osaka ‘never had to fight so hard’ as against Brady at the US Open. Now they meet again in the Australian Open finalNaomi Osaka has never lost a big grand slam match in her life. After piecing together another impressive run to her fourth final, her record after passing the fourth round of any major tournament now stands at 11-0.Throughout the past two weeks in Melbourne, she has frequently been asked about that record. But each time it has been brought up, Osaka has pushed back. “It’s not really doing too much for me,” she said after her quarter-final victory over Hsieh Su-wei, shaking her head. “I would be more impressed if I didn’t lose in finals. If it says 10-0 in finals.” Continue reading...

Child drowned while crossing the freezing Rio Grande with his family amid unprecedented weather conditions at US-Mexico borderAn eight-year-old Honduran boy has become the latest victim in a string of drownings on the US-Mexico border as migrants attempt to cross the Rio Grande in treacherous winter conditions.The child, who has not been named, drowned on Wednesday while attempting to cross the freezing river with his family amid unprecedented Arctic conditions in the borderlands which have killed more than 30 people and left millions in Mexico and Texas without power, water and food. Continue reading...

Pop-up site set up to offer vaccinations for residents of two zip codes in well-off area rather than across the countyFlorida Democrats have slammed the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, claiming that he is “playing politics” with Covid-19 vaccine distribution after a new pop-up vaccination site was set up in a wealthy area with predominantly white residents.The pop-up vaccination site in Manatee county, just south of Tampa, was set to offer additional vaccinations for residents of two zip codes covering well-off neighborhoods, rather than residents across the county. Continue reading...

Bill that would restrict early voting on Sundays denounced as ‘concerted effort to suppress the votes of Black Georgians’Georgia Republicans have unveiled sweeping new legislation that would make it dramatically harder to vote in the state, following an election with record turnout and surging participation among Black voters. Continue reading...

Millions of Texans are facing water shortages after a winter storm caused pipes to burst and treatment plants to back up. Officials ordered 7 million people – a quarter of the population of the nation’s second largest state – to boil tap water before drinking it. The storms have also left millions without power for days

Constituents, late-night hosts and politicians have lined up to lambast the Texas senator’s tropical trip while constituents frozeWintry conditions eased in Texas on Friday, but a storm of outrage continued to build over Senator Ted Cruz’s quick trip to Cancún, Mexico, at a time when millions of his constituents were still stranded without heat, food and water.“Texans’ anger with Ted Cruz right now could power an entire electrical grid,” a Houston Chronicle editorial blasted. “He plopped himself down on a direct flight to paradise and left us to fend for ourselves in this frozen hell.” Continue reading...

Anything short of full forgiveness will only widen inequalities that the president personally contributed to in his career

I have tried to find calm through meditation and yoga, unblinking in my focus on my belly button.My favourite misunderstanding – which lasted an embarrassingly long time – was around the phrase navel-gazing. I knew what it meant, introspective at the cost of wider perspective, but for years I thought the literal translation was “staring at boats” (“naval” gazing).It made sense. Boats are on the sea, and the sea is very spiritually moving, with its unknowable depths and changeable temper. Of course boat-staring would be considered myopic. Plus, navel-gazing is a phrase pejoratively hurled at artists, and I don’t know if anyone else has noticed but, historically, artists sure did paint a lot of boats. Continue reading...

Texas senator rebuked over decision to fly to Cancún while constituents endured food, power and water shortages. Plus, Nasa successfully lands a rover on Mars

This is about more than Facebook and news – it’s about the pursuit of power in a world where companies are stronger than countries

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s movie is crammed with ridiculousness. Who doesn’t crave that right now?Poor Jamie Dornan. All those years playing the hideous serial killer in the determinedly depressing TV show The Fall; another gig as the frankly ludicrous sadist Christian Grey in the 50 Shades franchise; marooned in the Irish countryside with a wonky accent in Wild Mountain Thyme. And all along, if he is now to be believed, he just wanted to be a goofball. He was simply waiting for the writer-actor-comedians Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo – who most famously collaborated on the script of Bridesmaids a decade ago – to come up with the right part.Much of life is currently surreal, so you’d be forgiven for doing a double-take watching Dornan cavort on a Florida beach while ripping his shirt off to a cheesy power ballad; for scrunching up your eyes as he whimpers plaintively to a commitment-phobic super-villain; for wondering if you might be mistaken as he courts a couple of middle-aged Nebraskan ladies in culottes. But such is the magic of Wiig and Mumolo’s utterly crackers comedy Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar that you’ll end up believing – as Dornan has been telling everyone in interviews for the film – that he’s a natural-born clown. Continue reading...

Sterling rises against dollar and euro and is best-performing G10 currency

Two women aged 34 and 44 rumbled while wearing bonnets and gloves to vaccination centre

The Canadian found that his Russian and Guinean ancestry made him an outsider at most rinks. Since his retirement he has been skating his own wayOn a sunny winter day, Elladj Baldé soars beneath the snowy peaks of the Canadian Rockies, floating to weightless chords of a piano ballad.Few things compare to the singular beauty of skating on wild ice. It creaks, pings and groans. As it shifts, it fractures in deep, silvery lines. And for Baldé, it’s a place to make art. Continue reading...

With grocery stores empty and school meals suspended, the need for food is soaring – even as weather forces pantries to closeFood banks in Texas have gone into disaster mode as they ramp up operations to tackle a surge in hunger after unprecedented freezing conditions disrupted almost every part of the food supply chain in the state.Grocery stores are empty, school meal programs suspended, and deliveries disrupted by untreated treacherous roads that have left millions of Texans trapped in precarious living conditions with dwindling food supplies. Continue reading...

Ted Cruz has provoked an outcry after the Republican senator from Texas left the state for a trip to the sunny Mexican tourist resort of Cancún, as millions of his constituents endured deadly power outages and freezing temperatures.Cruz was spotted waiting for, then later boarding, a flight to Cancún on Wednesday night.A day later, after the images went viral, he returned to Texas

As Joe Biden visited Milwaukee, Wisconsin this week, our guest presenter Kenya Evelyn spoke to the state representative David Bowen about the administration’s early obligations to the Black voters who swung the election in the Democrats’ favour, racial equity in pandemic and vaccine plans, and how the president should combat white supremacyJoe Biden took the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this week for his first town hall since entering the White House. For some, it was a necessary first step toward combatting racial inequities in the economy and healthcare made worse by the coronavirus. People in the audience asked the president how he was going to make sure everyone got a vaccine, and how he planned to combat white supremacy in the country.Watching intently was David Bowen, a state lawmaker and one of the young progressive Democrats leading the party forward. He told Kenya about his thoughts on the new Biden administration. Continue reading...

The Texas senator has become the target of jokes on the internet after he fled the state in the middle of a deadly cold snapTexas senator Ted Cruz, who fled Texas in the middle of record-breaking cold temperatures that left millions of his constituents without power or water, was unable to escape Twitter’s ire on Thursday, with users gleefully skewering what was seen as the senator’s poor judgment and poorer excuses.Related: Ted Cruz flies to Cancún as millions of Texans freeze in the dark Continue reading...

Executives from Reddit, Melvin Capital and Citadel speak in first public hearing on investigation

Vlad Tenev accused of creating ‘smokescreen’ to deflect blame before House financial services committeeThe chief executive of the Robinhood app has defended the decision to halt trading in GameStop shares at a congressional hearing on Thursday, calling allegations that the company acted to help hedge funds that were hemorrhaging money “absolutely false”. The comments triggered accusations the company was creating a “smokescreen” to deflect blame.Related: GameStop hearing live: Robinhood CEO and others in trading saga testify before Congress Continue reading...

Residents struggle with lack of power, food and water while White House says storms prove ‘climate change is real’As Texas struggled on Thursday with a disastrous lack of power, food and water following the deadly storm that brought Arctic temperatures to the southern US, the state’s Republican leadership stood battered by a growing outcry over mismanagement of the power grid and a painfully slow emergency response.Related: Texas storm: political tensions boil over as vast power outages continue – live Continue reading...

After so many tournaments, winning has actually become more difficult for someone who was once almost unbeatableA few hours after Serena Williams walked out of Rod Laver Arena, beaten in the late stages of a grand slam tournament once more, the Eurosport team had converged in front of the cameras to discuss the day’s play. There stood Barbara Schett, last active 15 years ago, who played against Williams three times, and via video link, Williams’s former rival Justine Henin, who retired in Melbourne 10 years ago. Henin is a year younger than Williams, now a mother of two, and when she was asked if she saw herself competing like Williams again, her response was simple: “No way, no chance.”While Williams competes against players such as Naomi Osaka, it is easy to forget that her real contemporaries are women such as Schett and Henin. They are almost all long retired, living full lives, enjoying the fruits of their on-court labour in peace. Meanwhile, Williams has just competed in her 77th grand slam tournament, which puts her second on the all-time list to her sister, Venus, who played in her 88th last week. Continue reading...

After mocking Austin’s mayor as a hypocrite for his own Mexico trip, Cruz takes heat for leaving as millions suffer from storm“Complete and utter hyprocites,” tweeted Senator Ted Cruz back in December, when Steve Adler, mayor of Austin, was caught directing residents to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus while at his holiday home in Cabo, Mexico.But Cruz is now eating a slice of humble pie – after being caught hopping on a flight to Mexico just days after telling Texans to stay home during a storm that has left millions of Texans without heating, hot water or power. Cruz was pictured on a flight to Cancun while millions in his state are without power, and adults and children have died while trying to keep warm. Continue reading...

Carson Wentz is headed to the Colts after Philadelphia opted to cut bait on their $128m franchise quarterback, a decision which went from unthinkable to inevitable in six dizzying monthsFor all that was made of their snakebitten history in the run-up to their first Super Bowl championship, the Philadelphia Eagles have been among the NFL’s steadiest ships in the 27 years since film producer Jeffrey Lurie bought the team for a then-record $185m.At the time, the Eagles had won their division on only nine occasions in 61 years. Under Lurie’s ownership, they have reached the playoffs more often than any NFC team besides the Packers, the club which Lurie made the organizational paradigm when he handpicked a little-known Green Bay assistant coach named Andy Reid to lead them into the 21st century. Even if they only have one Lombardi trophy to show for it, the Eagles under Lurie transformed themselves into one of those select clubs that’s managed to mitigate if not defy the NFL’s built-in gravity and are never down for long. Continue reading...

Shelters have less capacity or remain closed by health authorities as some migrants hope for friendlier reception from USIn the first Mexican shelter reached by migrants after trekking through the Guatemalan jungle, about 150 migrants are sleeping in its dormitories and another 150 lie on thin mattresses spread across the floor of its chapel.Only six weeks into the year, the shelter known as “The 72” has hosted nearly 1,500 migrants, compared to 3,000 all of last year. It has halved its dormitory space due to the pandemic. That wasn’t a problem last year because few migrants arrived, but this year it’s been overwhelmed. Continue reading...

FBI and federal prosecutors investigating how New York governor’s Covid taskforce handled data on deaths in care homesFederal prosecutors in Brooklyn and the FBI have started investigating how Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus taskforce handled data on deaths in care homes and similar facilities, multiple reports revealed, as pressure mounted on Thursday on the New York governor.The preliminary federal investigation is looking into whether state officials manipulated figures on care home deaths – which were recently revealed to be nearly double than what authorities first disclosed, as first reported by the Times Union of Albany. Continue reading...

Proposed legislation would allow eligible immigrants to apply for temporary legal status and right to workThe Biden administration and congressional Democrats will formally unveil legislation in the House on Thursday that would dramatically reshape the nation’s immigration laws and create a pathway to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States.After two decades of failing to advance meaningful immigration reform, Joe Biden and his allies on Capitol Hill are reviving the effort, which the new president has signaled will be a top domestic priority. Continue reading...

Martin Luther King Jr and Lyndon B Johnson’s telegrams underscore just how significantly Selma had changed the calculus around pushing voting rights legislationHappy Thursday, Continue reading...

Cameron Williams says he was following Tennessee library instruction to remove ‘old, damaged or untruthful books’A Tennessee librarian has lost his job after allegedly burning copies of books by Donald Trump and rightwing commentator Ann Coulter.The Chattanooga public library dismissed Cameron Dequintez Williams after he allegedly posted videos of himself in his backyard in December pouring lighter fluid over Coulter’s How to Talk to Liberals (If You Must) and Trump’s Crippled America. Continue reading...

Rather than waiting for the adults in the room to relieve our debt burden, students are taking matters into their own handsAt the start of the spring 2021 semester, students at Columbia University said enough is enough. With the highest tuition in the country, the university is contributing, in no small part, to the ballooning $1.7tn student debt crisis which now affects more than 45 million Americans and leaves graduates, on average, entering the world $30,000 in the red.Coming across the strike you may have been led to believe that some students at Columbia, who have been engaged in distanced learning since mid-March, feel they are being overcharged for virtual classes and decided to do something about it. That would be a glaring oversight. Continue reading...

There are reasons of fairness and equality to increase the federal minimum to $15. But it’s also good for businessA longtime client of mine, a lifelong Republican, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, said something very unusual to me the other day. He said: “I support a national $15-an-hour minimum wage.”Related: A mask-free supermarket has made news – but it's publicity you can live without | Gene Marks Continue reading...