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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...

Cuomo and Trump have the same appetites for authoritarianism, disdain for their detractors and egos that stand in the way of effective governing Continue reading...

Those who know the lead impeachment manager salute his eloquence, even in the face of crushing griefJamie Raskin had finished a face-to-face interview with the Guardian and was on his way home. It was late on Saturday night in October 2018. But then he thought of a point he hadn’t made and, ever fastidious, restarted the conversation by phone.Related: For Trump, V is for victory – while his lawyers flick a V-sign our way | Richard Wolffe Continue reading...

Willie B Smith III’s lethal injection was called off after the US supreme court says state cannot proceed without pastor present

Fast-food workers will walk out on Tuesday, hoping to push through a minimum-wage raise to benefit tens of millionsFear was the overwhelming emotion Alvin Major felt when, on a chilly November morning in 2012, he went on strike at the Brooklyn KFC where he worked.“Everybody was scared,” said Major. He may have been fearful, but what Major didn’t know was that he was about to make American history – an early leader in a labor movement that some historians now see as the most successful in the US in 50 years. Continue reading...

It’s been years since she was in a film worth watching, but she has made being a celebrity its own art formI see that Angelina Jolie is on the cover of Vogue this month, to brighten our February gloom, which provides me with an opportunity to discuss what might be the most urgent question of our era: why is Jolie so famous?Let’s take this apart. First: why is Jolie well-known at all? Because she’s an actor, of course. Aha, I say to you, waggling my moustache like Hercule Poirot, right before dismantling somebody’s alibi: name a single movie of Jolie’s that you have actually seen. Maybe Maleficent, AKA Wicked Witch Of The Cheekbones? Possibly Girl, Interrupted? Sure, they exist, those movies, and she was definitely in them. Except they were made two decades apart, and they came out either long before her peak fame era or many years into it, which I would date roughly as 2005 to 2017. Instead, during that period Jolie made films such as Wanted, Beowulf, Changeling and Salt. Did you see any of those? Of course not. No one you know saw Jolie’s 2017 film, By The Sea. And yet, during those years, Jolie was probably the most A-list US actress in the world. Continue reading...

The Trump associates have opted for a medium that offers big opportunities with less risk of being de-platformedWhat do Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, Mike Pence and Anthony Scaramucci all have in common?They worked for Donald Trump, obviously, and several have been implicated in alleged crimes connected to the former president, but as of this month, each of these one-time high-profile Trump acolytes also has his own podcast. Continue reading...

Robert D Kaplan’s outstanding book makes a strong case for US engagement based on human rights and helping refugeesWhat adjective should describe “the American” active in foreign policy? Graham Greene chose “quiet”, as his character harmed a country he did not understand. Eugene Burdick and William Lederer used “ugly”.Robert D Kaplan, one of America’s most thoughtful chroniclers of foreign affairs, proposes “good” to describe Bob Gersony, who in “a frugal monastic existence that has been both obscure and extraordinary” has devoted his life to using the power and treasure of the US to serve others through humanitarian action. Continue reading...

Last year, Michael van der Veen sued Trump for claiming voter fraud. On Friday, he helped present an insult to US democracyYou may have thought the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump was somehow connected to the fascist mob that staged an insurrection on Capitol Hill last month.Related: Trump defense team ridiculed over video of Democrats saying 'fight' Continue reading...

Lawyers claim Trump’s ‘fight like hell’ rhetoric on 6 January was no different than the language politicians frequently useImpeachment lawyers for Donald Trump accused the prosecution of waging a “politically motivated witch-hunt” against the former president, vehemently denying the charge that his words and actions incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they concluded their sharply partisan defense and prepared for a swift conclusion to the trial.Confident that Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial would again result in acquittal, the defense lawyers channeled the former president’s bombastic style – and his loose relationship with the facts – to denounce the case against him as an “unconstitutional act of political vengeance” fueled by Democrats’ longstanding “hatred” of their client. They claimed the House managers had grievously mischaracterized Trump’s remarks to his followers at a rally on 6 January, when he exhorted them to “fight like hell” during a rally just before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol. Continue reading...

Goodman was quick to act during the 6 January attack by engaging rioters and ushering Senator Mitt Romney to safetyEugene Goodman, the Capitol police officer who led violent rioters away from lawmakers during the 6 January attack, has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the US Senate.The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called the vote at the end of Friday’s impeachment proceedings, noting Goodman’s “foresight in the midst of chaos, and his willingness to make himself a target of the mob’s rage so that others might reach safety”. Continue reading...

TJ Ducklo is sorry for ‘heated conversation’, says White House press secretary, but punishment appears to fall short of Biden’s threat to fire uncivil aidesThe White House has suspended a press aide over allegations he threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.Vanity Fair alleged on Friday that White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo had made threats – including saying “I will destroy you” – to a Politico correspondent who was reporting on Ducklo’s recently disclosed relationship with an Axios reporter, Alexi McCammond. Continue reading...

The state’s plan has been criticised as too little too late, leaving those with high-risk conditions uncertain about when their turn will comeCalifornia leaders are under fire over the state’s mixed messaging on how people with disabilities will be prioritized for the Covid-19 vaccine, a situation that advocates say has left millions of disabled and chronically ill residents in the lurch.Last month the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, abruptly announced California would diverge from national guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by prioritizing age, rather than underlying risk, in deciding who would get the inoculation next, arguing it would “allow us to scale up much more quickly”. Continue reading...

Bill Michael, UK chair of the accountancy firm, had to step down amid protests after he told staff to ‘stop moaning’Millennials are flexing their power in the workplace. From women’s rights to demands for tougher action on climate change, younger staff are forcing the pace.Last week the boss of KPMG stepped down amid protests from staff about his behaviour during an online meeting. Continue reading...

The impeachment trial saw its most bizarre turn yet as the ex-president’s lawyers deployed whataboutism in its purest formFight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. The first rule of Fight Club is just keep bashing your audience with the same word ad nauseam.Related: Trump defense team ridiculed over video of Democrats saying 'fight' Continue reading...

Democratic senator decries ‘false, dangerous and distorted equivalence’ but impeachment defence met with ridicule onlineLawyers for Donald Trump were condemned by Democrats and ridiculed by critics on Friday, after they showed the Senate impeachment trial a video which sought to compare remarks on the campaign trail and in support of protests against systemic racism with Trump’s incitement of the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.Related: Impeachment trial: defense lawyers argue Trump is victim of 'cancel culture' Continue reading...

University, which has not named the professor, confirmed the resignation on Friday after a four-month investigation

Footage from 6 January shows mob was within 30 metres of Pence and air force officer carrying briefcase with nuclear codes

Justice department confirms Joe Biden intends to have WikiLeak’s co-founder stand trial in USThe US government has appealed a UK judge’s ruling against the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, according to a justice department official.The appeal made clear that Joe Biden intends to have Assange stand trial on espionage- and hacking-related charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic documents. Continue reading...

Anti-Trump group said John Weaver’s conduct was ‘appalling’ and tweeted messages between journalist and Jennifer HornAfter the publication on Thursday of further revelations about a founder member who sexually harassed gay men, the anti-Trump conservative Lincoln Project acknowledged what it called a “central truth”: that John Weaver’s conduct was “appalling” and that he “abused” some who sought work with the group.But it also continued to deny mishandling the allegations. Responding to reports by the Associated Press, New York magazine, the New York Times and other outlets, the group said: “Recently published stories about the Lincoln Project are filled with inaccuracies, incorrect information, and reliant exclusively on anonymous sources.” Continue reading...

Stacey Abrams’ New Georgia Project accused of not handing documents in on time in Republicans’ latest targeting of the groupThe Georgia state election board referred two cases to prosecutors on Wednesday connected to organizations that helped mobilize a record number of voters in the state during the 2020 election, a move critics say is an intimidation effort. Continue reading...

New York’s governor criticized following leaked recording of top aide admitting the administration withheld dataAndrew Cuomo – New York’s governor who was once hailed the king of the US Covid-19 response – was facing fresh calls for his removal from office on Friday after new allegations emerged that he and senior staff covered up the extent of the virus deaths in the state’s nursing homes.The New York Post said it obtained a leaked recording of the governor’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, admitting to Democrats in private conversations this week that the administration withheld the true data because it feared the Department of Justice would use the figures to pursue complaints of state misconduct. Continue reading...

Failing to convict the former president will send a clear and alarming message: future elections can be overturned by forceRare is the trial that takes place at the scene of the crime. Rarer still is the trial where the jurors are also witnesses to, if not victims of, that crime. Which means that the case of Donald Trump should be open and shut, a slam-dunk. Because those sitting in judgment saw the consequences of what Trump did on 6 January. They heard it. And, as security footage played during this week’s proceedings showed, they ran for their lives because of it.And yet, most watching the second trial of Trump – only the fourth impeachment in US history – presume that it will end in his acquittal. They expect that fewer than 17 Republican senators will find the former president guilty of inciting an insurrection and so, lacking the required two-thirds majority, the verdict will be not guilty. Barring a late spasm of conscience by the senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, Trump will pronounce himself vindicated, the case against him a hoax and he will be free to run again in 2024 – and to loom over his party as its dominant presence at least until then. Continue reading...

World’s biggest cosmetics group says there will be a ‘fiesta in makeup and in fragrances’

Four years ago, Brexiteers led an iceberg-worthy event on the Thames. Now they’ve ghosted an entire industry“Every revolution evaporates,” declared Kafka, “and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.” The government’s Brexit deal has gone one better, leaving both the slime of a new bureaucracy and heaps of rotting shellfish on the docks, as fishermen discover they cannot export them to the European Union. In public, environment secretary and reconstituted shrug emoticon George Eustice claims the EU’s shellfish ban is “legally wrong”, while in private his department informs the shellfish industry that the opposite is the case. Such a fine line, isn’t it, between having had enough of experts and having had enough of exports.Even by their own standards, however, the Brexiteers’ ghosting of the fishermen is something to behold. Every day brings new stories of businesses folding under the weight of red tape or insurmountable non-tariff barriers, and a government response that’s basically: “I want you to know that what we had was really special and also I’m blocking you now.” Continue reading...

Rival supporters have enjoyed mocking Palmeiras but their results in Qatar show how far Brazilian football has fallenBy Tom Sanderson for Yellow and Green Football

Committee voted 12-0 in favor of ban, advancing it to city council, months after actions of city’s police sparked racial reckoning in USThe city of Minneapolis is poised to ban facial recognition software for police use, part of a growing movement to prohibit software known to have serious flaws identifying racial minorities and women.The actions of Minneapolis police sparked a racial reckoning in the United States last summer when police officers knelt on the neck of George Floyd for more than eight minutes, leading to his death. Continue reading...

Biden administration takes major step to dismantle Trump policy that exposed people to violence in Mexican border citiesThe Biden administration on Friday announced plans for tens of thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico for their next immigration court hearings to be allowed into the United States while their cases proceed.The first of an estimated 25,000 asylum seekers in Mexico with active cases will be allowed in the United States on 19 February, authorities said. They plan to start slowly with two border crossings each processing up to 300 people a day and a third crossing taking fewer. Administration officials declined to name them out of fear they may encourage a rush of people to those locations. Continue reading...

Workers call for McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s to increase pay as Congress prepares to debate federal minimum wageFast-food workers in 15 cities will hold a Black History Month strike on Tuesday to demand that the McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurant chains pay them $15 an hour.The action comes as Congress prepares to debate a federal rise in the minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25, the first federal raise since 2009. Continue reading...