by David Smith and Daniel Strauss in Washington on (#5H8SQ)
As he took office, the president noted four crises: the coronavirus pandemic, climate, economy and racial justice. Here’s his progress on eachIn his inaugural address on 20 January, Joe Biden declared: “We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.”Related: Republicans still orbiting Trump dark star fail to derail Biden’s first 100 days Continue reading...
The Epoch Times, believed to be linked to the Chinese religious movement, is part of an anti-CCP influence operation tapping into the US right, according to a media watchdogUS news outlets aligned with Falun Gong, a religious movement locked in a decades-long conflict with the Chinese state, have been increasingly successful in promoting conspiracy narratives about Democrats, election fraud and communists to the pro-Trump right in America.Experts say that in a future post-pandemic landscape, the cable news channel NTD, and especially the multimedia enterprise the Epoch Times, may amplify the efforts of Republicans to link Joe Biden and Democrats to the Chinese Communist party (CCP), and to harden US public opinion against China. Continue reading...
During a speech at a drive-in rally in Duluth, Georgia, to mark 100 days in office, Joe Biden was briefly interrupted by protesters calling for an end to private prisons, a demand that Biden agreed to, saying that the US was 'working to close all of them'.The president praised the conviction of Derek Chauvin, the police officer found guilty of killing George Floyd, and declared that 'America is on the move again, choosing hope over fear, truth over lies, light over darkness'. Georgia is a particularly important state for Biden after he became the first Democrat to win there since Bill Clinton in 1992
From educating them about Emmett Till to telling them never to leave home without an ID card, parents of Black children in the US share how they prepare them for encounters with the police, and the daily impact on their young livesMy husband is one of just a handful of Black police officers in our city. Our daughter saw some of the George Floyd coverage and asked a lot of questions. We have had to explain that not all police are the good guys, that some people have racism and bias in their hearts. It has been a very tough spot to be in. We tell her some police are bad, as her daddy stands in a uniform and people say they hate the police. But her daddy is also that Black skin lying on the ground. We ourselves are struggling with it. How do we explain it to a child? We do so by teaching her the truth of the country and its violent past and present. And we believe in our hearts and with my husband’s words and actions in policing that he is that change. We have to. Shanda; Kansas; parent of a biracial eight-year-old daughter Continue reading...
Fox News chat leaves vague impression that FBI raid on ex-mayor’s apartment was somehow Hunter Biden’s faultRudy Giuliani guilty? That’s what they want you to think! And who are they? The sinister cabal of Hunter Biden, the Lincoln Project and Department of Injustice, of course.That would have been the impression of Fox News viewers on Thursday night when Giuliani gave his first TV interview since federal agents seized mobile phones and computers from his New York apartment, part of an investigation into his dodgy Ukrainian dealings. Continue reading...
President promoted his $4tn plans to rebuild crumbling US infrastructure and expand the social safety net at drive-in rallyOn his 100th day as US president, Joe Biden spontaneously lowered his black face mask, leaned towards the microphone and shouted: “Go Georgia, we need you!”It was a fitting moment in a state that has more claim than most to be the ground zero of a potentially transformative presidency. Continue reading...
Legal team allege she is being held in worse conditions to other inmates due to the “Epstein Effect”Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell have released a photograph of the British socialite, who is in a US prison facing sex trafficking charges, showing her with a bruised face.Maxwell, 59, who is accused of procuring underage girls for the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, has been in jail since last year while awaiting trial. She denies the allegations. Since her arrest last summer, she has only been seen in court sketches during hearings. Continue reading...
In Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the death of a Black man has sparked large protests – will body-camera footage be released?Raising signs, flags and fists, about 200 protesters walked through the streets of Elizabeth City in North Carolina on Wednesday night following a judge’s ruling, which denied the immediate release of police video footage of the killing of Andrew Brown last week.Related: Judge denies requests to release body-cam video of Andrew Brown shooting Continue reading...
In 6-3 decision that split conservative bloc, justices faulted government in case of man from Guatemala who entered US without papersThe US supreme court on Thursday offered new hope to thousands of long-term immigrants seeking to avoid deportation in a ruling that faulted the federal government for improperly notifying a man who came to the United States from Guatemala to appear for a removal hearing.Related: New York Post reporter quits citing pressure to write incorrect story about Kamala Harris Continue reading...
In effect, the iPhone maker has the equivalent of an entire BP lying around as spare changeApple’s trading figures for the first three months of 2021 were a collection of astonishing numbers. Revenues for iPhones, a product that was supposed to have peaked a couple of years ago because Apple was pushing prices too high, rose by two-thirds to almost $48bn. Sales from iPads were up 79% and Macs were 70% better. Even the relative backwater of “wearables”, meaning watches and headphones and suchlike, improved by a quarter.But the most remarkable figure, from a UK perspective, may be one that was almost slipped in casually – a $90bn share buy-back. Think what the sterling equivalent, £64bn, would buy. Only eight FTSE 100 companies are worth more. Even BP is valued at “only” £62bn, albeit a notional buyer would also assume borrowings or £25bn. In effect, Apple has an entire BP lying around as spare change, deemed surplus to operating or investment requirements. Continue reading...
Critics say the bill, which is awaiting the governor’s signature, targets ‘young people for political gain’Transgender women and girls will be banned from participating in school sports in Florida, if the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signs what critics call a “cruel and horrific” bill rushed through by state legislators in a controversial late-night session.The politicians revived, then passed, the bill that prohibits trans athletes competing in high school and college sports in short order on Wednesday, employing what opponents have called “shady, backroom tactics” to bind it to unrelated legislation on charter schools. Continue reading...
Princeton and University of Pennsylvania at center of storm over the use of the bones of a child killed by police bombing in 1985The two Ivy League universities at the center of a billowing storm over the use in anthropology teaching of the bones of an African American child killed by Philadelphia police in 1985 have apologized for the “serious error”, promising to return the human remains to relatives who never consented to the practice.The pelvis and femur bones of an unidentified Black girl thought to be in her teens were revealed last week to have been used as props in an online anthropology course staged by Princeton and given by a professor from the University of Pennsylvania. Neither institution had requested or received consent from the family of the child, yet held on to the bones for research and teaching for 36 years. Continue reading...
Analysis: why the president wants to build the US economy from the middle and bottom, not top downCut taxes on the rich. Unleash a wave of entrepreneurship. Growth will pick up and more jobs will be created. Everybody benefits. That, in essence, is trickle down – a theory of economics that Joe Biden wants to consign to the dustbin of history.The US president was a young politician when the idea that cutting taxes on the well-off would be good for the poor first came into vogue in the 1970s. Now he has used his first address to a joint session of Congress to call on the US’s top 1% to pay for his $1.8tn (£1.3tn) American families plan – higher spending in areas such as education, childcare and infrastructure. Continue reading...
Two US officials in Washington area experienced symptoms similar to ones suffered abroad that were probably result of directed energy deviceThe White House has said it is investigating “unexplained health incidents” after a report that two US officials in the Washington area experienced sudden symptoms similar to the “Havana syndrome” symptoms suffered by American diplomats and spies abroad.The wave of mysterious brain injuries, beginning in Cuba in 2016, are deemed by the National Academy of Scientists to be most likely the result of some form of directed energy device, and the CIA, state department and Pentagon have all launched investigations. Continue reading...
San Francisco has an initiative to take police out of the response to the crisis of homelessness altogetherIt’s been some time now since Shanna Couper Orona has slept on the sidewalk, but she can’t forget the first time a police officer kicked the side of her tent in an encampment sweep in San Francisco.The disorienting confusion of getting jarred awake at 3 in the chilly morning. The rush of fear that comes for any woman who hears unknown male voices at night. The ache in her back. “I poked my head out, and they said, ‘You have to get the fuck out’,” Orona said. “I said back to them, ‘I have to get the fuck out?’ And they said, ‘Oh, you got a smart mouth’?” Continue reading...
Republican reaction centered on what Biden was perceived to have omitted as much as policies he did lay outRepublican reaction to Joe Biden’s first congressional speech on Thursday centered as much on what the new president was perceived to have omitted as much as the policy proposals he did lay out.“He didn’t discuss the border and the fact that tens of thousands of people are pouring into our country,” former president Donald Trump said during a morning appearing on Fox News’ Mornings with Maria, seizing on a familiar grievance. Continue reading...
Even though Democrats control both chambers of Congress, they can’t pass a voting rights bill because they don’t have enough votes to get rid of the filibusterHappy Thursday, Continue reading...
Investigators execute search warrants at Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan residence and office as part of Ukraine investigationFederal agents raided Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office Wednesday, seizing computers and cellphones in a major escalation of the Justice department’s investigation into the business dealings of former president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership after 9/11, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges. Continue reading...
We may be seeing the rise of a new authoritarian capitalism shielded from democratic scrutinyThirteen years after the financial crisis put the global economy on life support, neoliberal capitalism is facing an existential crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the disastrous consequences of decades of privatisation, deregulation and outsourcing. In order to contain the economic fallout from the pandemic, western countries have ripped up the neoliberal playbook.Market forces have been shunned in favour of regulatory controls and state intervention. Central banks have broken the ultimate economic taboo and are printing money to finance ballooning budget deficits. For the first time in decades, the direction of travel for corporate tax rates is up rather than down. Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has thrown its weight behind wealth taxes. As Guardian columnist Larry Elliott recently put it: “the era of small states, low taxes and balanced budgets suddenly looks to be over”. The question remaining is: what is replacing it? In the UK, a number of recent developments provide some clues. Continue reading...
The president made his first address to Congress on the eve of reaching 100 days in office. Plus, three people were charged with federal hate crimes over Ahmaud Arbery’s killingGood morning.Joe Biden has made his first address to Congress, unveiling a sweeping $1.8tn package for families and education and pitching his “blue-collar blueprint” to rebuild America. Continue reading...
After the latest census numbers, Republicans are well positioned to draw districts that will give them an advantage in their effort to reclaim the House in 2022The next major fight over voting rights in the US kicked off Monday: a hugely consequential battle over the boundaries of electoral districts for the next 10 years that will have profound implications for American politics. And Republicans seem to be pulling ahead. Continue reading...
More than 1,000 report cramping, increased bleeding and other health issues, challenging claims teargas has minor impactMore than a thousand people reported lasting health effects after being exposed to teargas during protests in Portland, Oregon, last summer, according to a newly published scientific study.Nearly 900 people reported abnormal menstrual cycles, including intense cramping and increased bleeding, that began or persisted days after their initial exposure to the teargas. Hundreds of others complained of other negative health impacts, including severe headaches, nausea, diarrhea, and mental health concerns. Continue reading...
This year’s top prospects are about to enter the professional ranks. We assess the best young players coming out of college as Thursday’s first round loomsEditor’s note: the list below is the players we believe teams will draft rather than who we think they should draft.1) Jacksonville Jaguars Continue reading...
This week’s roundup also features NHL opportunism, a goalkeeper assist and three monstrous UFC finishes1) Sixty years ago today, ABC’s Wide World of Sports debuted on American television. Here’s Evil Knievel’s first jump on the show, from March 1967; Arnold Schwarzenegger winning Mr World in 1970; a show from January 1974 featuring a row between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali (it’s all worth your time, but here’s the actual physical bit); and a world-record high dive challenge from 1983.2) Last Saturday saw three UFC title fights, all of which ended in devastating style. Here’s Kamaru Usman v Jorge Masvidal at men’s welterweight; Zhang Weili v Rose Namajunas at women’s strawweight; and Valentina Shevchenko v Jessica Andrade at women’s flyweight. Continue reading...
Missouri senator accuses big tech of posing ‘gravest threat to American liberty’ since Gilded age in new bookSenator Josh Hawley of Missouri accuses the US’s biggest tech companies of committing the “gravest threat to American liberty since the monopolies of the Gilded age” in his upcoming book. He rails that tech giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook “have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power”.Related: Josh Hawley attacks ‘woke capitalism’ and claims to be victim of cancel culture Continue reading...
Some lawmakers and businesses are in favor of vaccine verification, but civil liberties and privacy questions aboundWith summer around the corner, Americans are desperate for some sense of normalcy as the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine continues. Some businesses and lawmakers believe they have a simple solution that will allow people to gather in larger numbers again: vaccine passports.But as with so many issues in the US these days, it’s an idea dividing America. Continue reading...
The president introduced his $1.8tn plan to invest in America, funded by raising the capital gains rate for the wealthyAs Biden took the podium, he brushed past a sparse, masked crowd. He fist-bumped and elbow-tapped lawmakers and members of his cabinet – greeting a crowd that was physically distanced, and ideologically divided. Continue reading...
Joe Biden argued that 'America is on the move again' in his first address to Congress, on the eve of his 100th day in office. The president, flanked by two women – Vice-President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – for the first time in US history, addressed the coronavirus pandemic, the 6 January assault on the Capitol, plans to raise the minimum wage, police reform, climate change and historic levels of investment in the country. Due to social distancing measures, only 200 people, mainly politicians, attended rather than the usual 1,600 guests
by Adam Gabbatt in New York and David Smith in Washin on (#5H6XX)
The sole Black Republican in the US Senate began by denying racial inequality then spoke of the discrimination he had facedIt is Donald Trump, not Democrats, who deserves credit for wresting the coronavirus pandemic under control, Tim Scott argued on Wednesday night as the Republican senator gave his party’s official response to Joe Biden’s first address to Congress.Scott, a South Carolinian seen as a rising star in the Republican party, was handpicked by GOP leaders to deliver a rebuttal to Biden’s optimistic message, and duly did so, opening with a solidly Republican criticism of “socialist dreams” before taking aim at the president over some public schools having failed to reopen – a decision which is taken at state-level, frequently by local districts, rather than by the federal government. Continue reading...
Sketch: The president went big in an address that offered post-Trump healing and an image of a new eraIt has always been Washington’s version of the Oscars: a primetime TV audience, an overlong speech and fierce disagreement among critics.On Wednesday, Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, on the eve of his first 100 days in office, followed the Academy Awards with a small, physically distanced gathering that, given the US president’s love of trains, might have switched to a railway station too. Continue reading...
President pushes ambitious families and jobs plans, calling for a ‘blue-collar blueprint’ to rebuild AmericaJoe Biden argued that “America is on the move again” in his first address to Congress, where he unveiled a sweeping $1.8tn package for families and education and pitched his “blue-collar blueprint” to re-build America.Flanked by two women – Vice-President Kamala Harris and House speaker Nancy Pelosi – for the first time in US history, the president gave his speech on the eve of his 100th day in office as the country continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...
Congressman Jamaal Bowman urges president to do more on climate, inequality and ‘burning crisis of structural racism’The progressive wing of the Democratic party praised Joe Biden for his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in a response to the president’s first address to Congress, but urged the president to be bolder in tackling the climate crisis and economic inequality, and to do more to address “the burning crisis of structural racism in our country”.Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic congressman from New York, gave a speech responding to Biden’s address shortly after the president finished his address, as progressives seek to convince Biden to pursue more ambitious policies. Continue reading...
Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi sit behind the president, in a measure of progress for gender equality in the USWhen Joe Biden gave his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening, viewers were treated to a historic first – the sight of two women, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, seated behind the president.Biden began his speech by thanking “Madam speaker” and, in particular, “Madam vice-president”. Continue reading...
Remains of one of the children killed in 1985 police bombing were used for research and teaching at University of PennsylvaniaAn Ivy League university which kept the bones of a Black child killed by police for use in its research and which were also later used as a “case study” in an online forensic anthropology course has apologized for its actions.The physical remains of one of the children who were killed in the bombing of the Move black liberation organization in Philadelphia in May 1985 have been in the anthropological collections of the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton for the past 36 years. Continue reading...
Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot and killed as he ran along the street in Brunswick, Georgia in February last yearThe US justice department has indicted three men on federal hate crime charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging when he was shot and killed in Brunswick on 23 February last year. Arbery’s family characterized his death as a modern-day lynching. Continue reading...
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