Families are boycotting Publix after a member of founding family donated $300,000 to the Donald Trump rally that preceded January’s deadly Capitol attackWendy Mize’s family grew up on Publix, disciples to the giant supermarket chain’s empirical marketing slogan: “Where shopping is a pleasure”. As infants, her three daughters wore diapers bought from the Publix baby club. As children, they munched on free cookies from the bakery. There were even perks for the family’s pets, who are proud members of Publix Paws.But now the decades-long love affair is over. After a member of Publix’s founding family donated $300,000 to the Donald Trump rally that preceded January’s deadly Capitol riots, Mize is pulling out of what she says has become “an abusive, dysfunctional relationship”, and joining others in a boycott of the Florida-based grocery chain that operates more than 1,200 stores across seven south-eastern states. Continue reading...

It is chilling that rather than condemn the conspiracy theorist’s espousal of antisemitic nonsense, her party supported herFor a few days last month, in a little corner of the internet where topics of Jewish interest are discussed, Jewish space lasers were trending.The discussion was prompted by speculation from the newly elected Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene based on “research” she had conducted, that wildfires in California had been caused by a project to explore “solar generators” tenuously associated with Rothschild, “an international banking firm”. Once that assertion became public, the floodgates opened and cynics, humorists and pundits – the Jewish community is blessed with an abundance of them – took ownership of this meme and began to explore every aspect of the lasers. Were they an appropriate batmitzvah gift? Did people who observe kashrut need separate lasers for dairy and for meat? Was a special one necessary for Passover? If buying in bulk, could they be obtained wholesale? Continue reading...

Like all predictions, these should be taken with a grain of salt ...At the beginning of every year, trend forecasters the world over put together expensive reports predicting what the future will bring. As a trend forecaster myself, I’ve read literally hundreds of predictions in the past few weeks made by the likes of McKinsey, WGSN and countless others so that you don’t have to. So, what do these professional speculators of the future think the next few years hold?Many of the themes are predictable: automation, artificial intelligence, climate crisis and climate-related migration, virtual reality and augmented reality, China’s rising power, cryptocurrencies, Zoom, remote work and people agitating for their rights. Continue reading...

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have made fresh calls for a commission into how the Capitol was breached. Plus, is a change of direction brewing in the GOP?Good morning.Democrats and Republicans have made fresh calls for a 9/11-style bipartisan commission to investigate how rioters were able to breach the Capitol on 6 January. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, a commission reviewed how the incidents were possible and laid out plans to prevent them being repeated. Now politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for the deadly Capitol siege to be given the same treatment. As expected, Donald Trump was acquitted at the weekend for his role in inciting the violence, with 57 senators voting to convict against 43 to acquit, meaning Democrats fell short of getting the two-thirds majority required for a conviction. Continue reading...

Pandemics are global by definition. Only travel restrictions and equal vaccine access for all countries will end this crisis

Democrats and Republicans both voice support for panel to ‘make sure it never happens again’Democratic and Republican lawmakers have issued fresh calls for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement failed to stop the attack on the US Capitol in January, following Donald Trump’s acquittal in his impeachment on charges that he incited the insurrection.The commission would be modeled after a panel created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, which reviewed what caused the atrocity and laid out recommendations on how to foresee and prevent any future incursions. Continue reading...

Greg Abbott, the governor, issued a disaster declaration for every county in the state as conditions continued to get colderTexas is experiencing one of its coldest winter in decades , with temperatures expected to drop to as low as 11F (-12C) in Houston and 9F (-13C) San Antonio under a winter storm warning.The governor, Greg Abbott, issued a disaster declaration for every county in the state on Friday, as conditions continued to get colder over the weekend. The White House also issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide additional support to the state. Continue reading...

Wording was in posting that also said Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields was working to attract a more diverse audienceThe Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields has apologized for a job listing which sought a new director to maintain the museum’s “traditional, core, white art audience”.The wording was in a bullet point in a six-page job description that also said the museum was working to attract a more diverse audience. Continue reading...

‘We can’t let our guard down,’ says CDC director who urged that precautions must remain in place as infections remain highAverage daily new coronavirus cases in the US have dipped below 100,000 for the first time in months, but experts cautioned on Sunday that infections remain high and precautions to slow the pandemic must remain in place.Related: Caught in a Covid romance: how the pandemic has rewritten relationships Continue reading...

‘We needed more senators with spines,’ said Stacey Plaskett after vote to convict fell short of two-thirds majority needed

Former president celebrates second impeachment acquittal as supporters and moderates prepare to contest party direction

Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz spread the big lie. Mitch McConnell fed the beast for years. Culpability spreads far and wide

The few Republicans who voted against the former president had gone happily along with him when it suited themThere was something poignant on Saturday about the lengths gone to by some media organisations in the US to try to make the result less appalling. “Most bipartisan support for conviction in history,” declared the New York Times, clutching at the pitiful seven Republicans who voted in favour of impeaching Donald Trump, well short of the 17 needed to uphold a conviction. Four years ago, at a campaign stop in Iowa, Trump famously declared: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Here we were, a month after five people died during the storming of the Capitol, living some version of that promise.It should have helped, perhaps, that the result was anticipated before the trial even got under way. There was no suspense, no surprise; the votes needed to convict were never there. Nor, seemingly, was the appetite for investigation: both sides agreed at the 11th hour not to call witnesses and draw this thing out, a lassitude mirrored across the electorate. What was the point of even watching the proceedings, stoking one’s outrage or being moved by the closing arguments of Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, when it was apparent that Trump would get off scot-free? Better to avoid and move on. Continue reading...

The Senate Republican leader excoriated Trump – after acquitting him of inciting an insurrection. The GOP is lost

A Florida retailer has made a virtue of flouting Covid measures but imposing your politics on your business rarely ends wellHave you seen the video yet? It’s pretty shocking. No, it’s not the Weeknd’s Super Bowl performance. It’s even worse.The 15-second video, from an NBC news reporter, shows shoppers and workers inside an independent Florida supermarket going about their business … maskless. The video was taken in early February 2021 right as the state continued to record thousands of new Covid cases and scores of deaths from the virus every day. Continue reading...

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Saturday that Donald Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January – minutes after voting to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial for that very same act.The House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised McConnell’s remarks in a press conference on Saturday and said the issue of timing 'was not the reason that he voted the way he did; it was the excuse that he used'

The high court has ruled in no uncertain terms that a public interest defence isn’t about the public being interestedDo you remember that tabloid staple, the shagging footballer? The love rat who played away, scoring with a casually met blonde who duly capitalised on her encounter with a spot of what used to be fondly known as kiss’n’tell?We don’t read so much about such beasts these days. I’m guessing this is not because young footballers have become more chaste or God-fearing. It’s because newspapers have become unable to persuade judges that it is in the public interest for the striker’s marital misdemeanours to be splattered all over their front page. Continue reading...

Immediate backlash from powerful rightwingers reveal the strength of Trump’s grip on the Republican partyThe seven Republican senators who broke rank by voting to convict former president Donald Trump at his impeachment trial faced immediate hostility and criticism from fellow conservatives revealing the potentially high cost of opposing Trumpism within the party.These senators – North Carolina’s Richard Burr, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, Maine’s Susan Collins, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Utah’s Mitt Romney, Nebraska’s Ben Sasse, and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey – brought the total number of guilty votes to 57. That was not nearly enough to secure a conviction, but easily enough to ensure instant attack from fellow Republicans and others on the right. Continue reading...

Critics say the impeachment process no longer presents a threat or deterrent to bad behavior by the most powerful figure in the landFormer president Donald Trump has repeatedly been called “Teflon Don” during his presidency – a moniker used for the late mob boss John Gotti to describe how consequences for his bad actions apparently don’t stick to him.Related: Senate Republicans stand by their man and Trump wins his second acquittal | David Smith's sketch Continue reading...

Analysts say ‘whiteness protects its own’ after only seven Republicans vote to convict Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riotThe decision by 43 Republican senators to acquit Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial has been condemned by many observers as a racist vote which upholds white supremacy.Related: Donald Trump acquitted in second impeachment trial Continue reading...

Trump never respected the constitution but the GOP did not have to follow him over the cliffThis is not even about Donald Trump any more. It’s about a Republican party that has lost its way, forgotten its core values, and kicked American democracy in the guts.It’s about justice, common sense, and honour, and how they were trampled deep into the churned-up ground of Capitol Hill by a mob of liars and dissemblers who call themselves GOP senators. Continue reading...

US leader has taken a tough line with Xi Jinping, raising concerns about trade, Taiwan, Hong Kong and alleged genocide in XinjiangChina’s Year of the Ox, which began on Friday, is a fitting metaphor for the most formidable, and potentially dangerous, geopolitical challenge facing Joe Biden and the western democracies. In Chinese mythology, the ox is large, powerful and adept on land and water. It’s determined, stubborn, and takes a lot of stopping.Biden is well aware he has a fight on his hands that, if mishandled, could swiftly turn physical. Some analysts fear war with China is inevitable, sooner or later. So he is moving fast. In a first phone call to China’s president, Xi Jinping, last week, he raised concerns about trade, Taiwan, Hong Kong and alleged genocide in Xinjiang. Continue reading...

President says the substance of the charge against Donald Trump over the January attack on US Capitol is not in dispute

In first departure from Biden administration, Ducklo says he has ‘embarrassed and disappointed’ colleaguesWhite House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo has resigned, the day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist inquiring about his relationship with another reporter.In a statement on Saturday, Ducklo said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden”. Continue reading...

Senate minority leader says Trump ‘practically and morally responsible’ for Capitol riot, but votes not guilty regardlessSenate minority leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday that Donald Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January – minutes after voting to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial for that very same act.Related: Donald Trump acquitted in impeachment trial Continue reading...

Calls of ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ pinged back and forth in the chamber but once McConnell said no the die was castIf the denouement of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial had been a Hollywood film, stirring music would have struck up around the time Congressman Joe Neguse explained why he thinks the floor of the US Senate is “sacred”.Related: Trump’s acquittal seals his grasp on the Republican party Continue reading...

The trial that saw a former US president impeached for a historic second time was fraught with emotional argumentAfter an emotional and dramatic week in the Senate, the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump finally came to an end on Saturday, capping days of often fraught and emotional argument.Here are five key quotes from the trial which saw a US president impeached for a historic second time, but resulted in Trump’s acquittal on charges he incited the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. Continue reading...

Utah senator plays down heated exchange with Ron Johnson and insists they discussed underwear preferencesMitt Romney suggested on Saturday that a heated argument he was seen to have with a Republican colleague in the Senate chamber was not about whether witnesses should be called in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial – but concerned the age-old question: “Boxers versus briefs”.Related: Senate votes to acquit as Trump celebrates: our movement 'has only just begun' - live Continue reading...

The House managers presented an eloquent and moving case but some senators openly conferred with defense lawyersFrom tears of grief and anger, to images of terrible violence and moments of deep compassion, the second impeachment trial of Donald J Trump, 45th president of the United States, produced an all-encompassing spectacle of human emotion.Its diverse cast of characters featured heroes and villains, several charismatic new faces and some familiar old ones, politicians and lawyers arguing in support of or against the former president’s actions surrounding the 6 January attack on the Capitol, and others who were central to its action. Continue reading...

The former president and his supporters are likely to claim victory as they did after his first impeachment trial a year agoDonald Trump’s highly anticipated acquittal at his US Senate impeachment trial is the least surprising twist in American politics since … well, his acquittal at his first US Senate impeachment trial a year ago.Related: Democrats fail to secure enough votes to convict Trump in historic second impeachment trial - live Continue reading...

Authorities say Michael and Peter Taylor helped former Nissan boss flee the country tucked in a box on a private jetThe US supreme court on Saturday cleared the way for the extradition of an American father and son wanted by Japan in the escape of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn.Related: Impeachment trial deal ends move for witnesses and brings final vote near – live Continue reading...

Impeachment trial thrown into disarray amid row over fresh testimony before deal struck to get proceedings back on track

Jaime Herrera Beutler makes rebuke of Trump known six days after Capitol riot, saying it halted ‘the peaceful transfer of power’Jaime Herrera Beutler, the congresswoman for south-west Washington state at the center of last-minute drama at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, has been a rare Republican supporter of the Democrat-led effort to convict the former president of “inciting violence against the government of the United States”.Herrera Beutler, who has served as a representative since 2011, made her support to impeach Trump known six days after the Capitol riot in early January. “The president of the United States incited a riot aiming to halt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” Herrera Beutler said then. Continue reading...

The Texas lawyer trapped in a Zoom filter perfectly encapsulated the surreal working life so many of us endureIt used to be that Zoom made ordinary people briefly notorious for two reasons: either they were inappropriately dressed for the digital workplace (such as the lawyer who attended a virtual hearing shirtless, and was reprimanded by the judge), or they had failed to locate the mute/video off button at a very unfortunate moment (like the director who was caught talking disparagingly about an actor’s apartment).As another, hopefully final lockdown trundles on, this Return of the King of third acts – essential, but dreary and interminable – has caused Zoom to evolve. We are now entering its surreal late period. Continue reading...

Five Senate Republicans voted with the Democrats on Saturday, that the Senate should call witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.Before the 55-45 vote, Trump’s impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen warned senators that if Democrats wished to call a witness, he would ask for at least 100 witnesses and insist they give depositions in person in his office in Philadelphia – a threat that prompted laughter from the chamber.

Schmidt appears on Bill Maher show as Republican group reels from scandal of alleged sexual harassment by another co-founderSteve Schmidt resigned from the Lincoln Project on Friday, amid scandal over the anti-Trump conservative group’s handling of alleged sexual harassment of young men by another co-founder and questions about its finances.Related: Lincoln Project: Steve Schmidt resigns from group hit by harassment allegations Continue reading...