Nancy Pelosi calls officer who died ‘a martyr for democracy’ as attack on Friday afternoon stirs memories of Capitol insurrectionWashington woke on Saturday shaken by another deadly attack at the US Capitol, an incident which left a police officer and a suspect dead and stirred memories of 6 January, when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the election.Related: US Capitol: one officer and suspect dead after car rams into barrier Continue reading...
The fact that this guy is a sitting member of Congress shows just how low we set the bar for our (male) politiciansThe Matt Gaetz story increasingly reads like a script written by a pervert high on a cocktail of ADHD meds and MDMA. Even if you’ve been following the scandal-prone Republican congressman’s latest controversy closely it’s hard to keep track of what on earth is happening. So here’s a guide to navigating the saga far. Continue reading...
In a chaotic situation at the southern border, agents are escorting migrants and expelling them from the US before they know what’s happeningThey couldn’t work out quite where they were or where they were headed when the guards told them: “Keep going”.They walked forward, as instructed, across an unfamiliar bridge and then suddenly they were in Mexico. Or, more accurately, back in Mexico. But 800 miles from where they had arrived in America. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands flood Santa Monica Pier as authorities send mixed messages about coronavirus safetyAuthorities across southern California are scrambling to contain large holiday crowds on beaches, boardwalks, and piers this weekend, anxious about a possible new surge in Covid-19 cases.But they face a restive public eager to party in the sun after more than a year of lockdowns, and appear to have few tools at their disposal to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. Continue reading...
Georgia’s Black faith leaders are urging economic boycotts and community action to fight back against tough new voting lawsOne of the most striking voting restrictions in Georgia’s new elections law is a ban on distributing food and drinks to voters waiting in lines to cast a ballot – even though these waits can, as in the most recent election, stretch for hours.Related: Delta and Coca-Cola pivot on Georgia’s restrictive voting law: 'It's unacceptable' Continue reading...
The campaign to cancel the author is typical of today’s all-or-nothing approach, where if you don’t like everything about a public figure, you can’t like anythingIn order to grow up, as Sigmund Freud probably wrote somewhere, a child must rebel against its parents, and for a while now modern culture has been rebelling against its literary fathers, that Mount Rushmore of 20th-century highbrow masculinity: Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, John Updike and Philip Roth. Last month, two British newspapers announced that Roth “could face getting cancelled” on account of details about his personal life included in two new biographies. That Roth arguably cancelled himself three years ago by dying is beside the point: the quickest way to prove one is Good these days is to vilify those who are Bad, and death is no hiding place.Since their deaths, all of these men have come in for criticism, mainly for their attitudes towards women: Mailer was hugely popular at his peak, but now he’s probably best known for that whole stabbing-his-second-wife awkwardness; Updike is regularly derided as “a misogynist”; and Bellow’s female characters are often, at best, thinly drawn, or full-on bitches and shrews. Now, inevitably, it’s Roth’s turn. Continue reading...
The former TV producer is said to be an ardent ‘Maga’ champion – and a North Carolina seat is soon to be vacantThe Trump flags and yard signs are still up. Flags that shout “Impeach Biden” fly on the back of pickup trucks. “Most people here believe Donald Trump is still the president,” says Nancy Allen of her neighborhood in Shelby, North Carolina. “And I call him President Trump.”Allen might get the chance to vote Trump again sooner than expected. But it will not be for Donald or his politically ambitious daughter Ivanka. Instead the former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a North Carolina native, is considering a run for the US Senate next year. Continue reading...
The ex-officer’s trial has seen witnesses offering personal and vivid accounts of their experiences from the day George Floyd was killedThe murder trial of Derek Chauvin, which concluded its first week of testimony on Friday, saw a wave of witnesses come before the jury, with many offering deeply personal and vivid accounts of their experiences on 25 May 2020.At times the trial has felt unique in comparison to other officer involved murder cases that have made it to court, partly as a result of prosecutorial strategy but also the very specific circumstances of the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man killed during a police restraint. Continue reading...
Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd longer than originally thought and witnesses described feelings of guiltThe trial against Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer charged with murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis last May, began in earnest Monday and lasted all week.Floyd died after Chavin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. The public responded to Floyd’s death with mass protests across the US in what became the largest US civil rights movement since the 1960s. Continue reading...
by Daniel Strauss in Washington and Martin Pengelly on (#5G3YW)
Police shoot suspect after he allegedly rams vehicle and then lunges at officers with a knifeA police officer and a suspect were dead on Friday after the suspect rammed a vehicle into two US Capitol police officers outside Congress in Washington, then lunged at others with a knife.The suspect was shot. Two officers were taken to hospital. Police named the officer who died as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the department. Continue reading...
New York zoo where giraffe lived says she was euthanized because of advancing arthritisApril, the giraffe that became a sensation when a rural New York zoo livestreamed her 2017 pregnancy and delivery, was euthanized Friday because of advancing arthritis, the zoo said.“She is a precious member of our family, and while we knew this day would eventually come, our hearts are hurting,” Animal Adventure Park’s owner, Jordan Patch, said in a statement. Continue reading...
Governor says prohibition is ‘necessary to protect the fundamental rights and privacies of Floridians and the free flow of commerce’Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Friday announced an executive order banning “vaccine passports” in the state, which like the rest of the US continues to suffer under the Covid-19 pandemic.Related: ‘He’s riding a crest’: Ron DeSantis positions himself as keeper of Trump’s legacy Continue reading...
Move comes after Governor Brian Kemp signs measure making it significantly harder to voteMajor League Baseball will not hold its annual All-Star Game in Atlanta this year, after Georgia passed a law that makes it significantly harder to vote.The announcement is perhaps the most consequential action taken since Georgia governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the measure into law. Continue reading...
The US Capitol was put under lockdown after a car reportedly rammed two US Capitol police officers before crashing into a giant concrete barrier outside the complex.The suspect reportedly drove into the barrier and launched an attack with a knife and was shot dead by police. Two officers were taken to two different hospitals and police said one had died from his injuries
Suspect chained the front and rear gates of the office complex, then was seen on security video brandishing a semiautomatic handgunA gunman who killed four people, including a 9-year-old boy, in a rampage at a southern California office building knew all the victims and his motive may have involved personal or business relationships, police said.“This was not a random act of violence,” said Orange police Lt Jennifer Amat on Thursday of the attack at a two-story building that housed small businesses in Orange, southeast of Los Angeles. Continue reading...
Richard Zimmerman gives testimony and tells court ‘if your knee is on someone’s neck – that could kill them’A Minneapolis homicide detective has described Derek Chauvin’s decision to press his knee into George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as a totally unnecessary use of “deadly force”.Related: Video of George Floyd's killing retraumatizes many as trial unfolds Continue reading...
Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo did not take stand before adjournment and is expected to testify on Monday5.57pm BSTThe murder trial currently taking place in Minneapolis of white, former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, last May has just adjourned for the weekend.There had been an expectation that police chief Medaria Arradondo would testify for the prosecution today but they didn’t get to him before closing proceedings.5.40pm BSTThe trial has adjourned for the day. The police chief was not called. That means he will probably come to the stand pretty swiftly on Monday. Continue reading...
Verona restaurant and pizzeria owner Alessandro Bazzoni sanctioned in crackdown on blacklisted Venezuelan crude oilAn Italian restaurant owner accidentally put on a US sanctions blacklist before Donald Trump left the presidency has described the last couple of months as a “nightmare”.In a case of mistaken identity, Alessandro Bazzoni, who owns a restaurant and pizzeria in the northern Italian city of Verona, had sanctions slapped against his company as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on blacklisted Venezuelan crude oil. Continue reading...
Stewart Rhodes made numerous calls with three members of the far-right group, prosecutors say in new indictmentThe founder of far-right group the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, his lieutenant, and three members of the militia who guarded Donald Trump ally Roger Stone swapped numerous phone calls in a three-hour period on 6 January when the Capitol was attacked by a mob, prosecutors said Thursday.These exchanges coincided with the initial assault on police barricades outside Congress, and continued into when the three guards breached the US Capitol building, according to the Washington Post. Continue reading...
Republican congressman reportedly under investigation over alleged cash and gifts given to women contacted onlineOne of Donald Trump’s loudest cheerleaders in the US Congress is under federal investigation over allegations that he paid for sex with women recruited online, according to a media report.Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida, is one of the former president’s most ardent supporters and frequently appeared on TV to promote his lies about a stolen election. Continue reading...
While Covid ravaged across the world, air pollution killed about three times as many people. We must fight the climate crisis with the same urgency with which we confronted coronavirus
by Lewis Kendall in Pittsboro, North Carolina on (#5G3C9)
Testing by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found high levels of potentially harmful PFAS in Pittsboro, North Carolina, and regulators have struggled to keep paceOn a bitterly cold afternoon earlier this year, the Haw River was running high – its water a bright ochre thanks to heavy rainfall and snow melt.Most of the water flowed south, where it would eventually connect with Jordan Lake and the rest of the Cape Fear River basin, home to the cities of Greensboro, Durham, Fayetteville and Wilmington and a major source of drinking water for the eastern half of the state. Continue reading...
Proposal comes as the nation has seen gun violence increase and marks the first time the government has made an effort to address the root causesThe Biden administration plans to invest $5bn toward gun violence prevention in the nation’s most hard-hit areas as part of a key infrastructure package announced this week.This investment marks an important step in acknowledging the disparate impact of gun violence and is the first time the government has set aside this much money at one time to address community violence holistically over a multi-year period. Continue reading...
The journalist whose close call with a Yellowstone bison went viral tells of how he was judged on his Baltimore accent – and how he adjusted to do what he lovedThis time last year, Montana KTVM reporter Deion Broxton had a close call with a herd of bison in Yellowstone national park.In the middle of a piece to camera, he saw the bison approaching. Mid-sentence, his eyes became locked in a side-eye. Continue reading...
As millions became eligible for shots, hundreds found themselves unable to sign up – little surprise given My Turn’s historyMillions of Californians on Thursday became eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine as the state expanded eligibility to residents over the age of 50. But throughout the day, hundreds of people reported being unable to sign up for vaccine slots online.“There are NO appointments,” one Santa Clara resident tweeted. Other tweets read: “No appointments within 100 miles of San Francisco,” and “Is California’s new slogan ‘Perpetually behind’?” Continue reading...
Chief Medaria Arradondo’s testimony over George Floyd’s death may be unprecedented, experts sayAs the prosecutor Jerry Blackwell addressed the jury for the first time in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin last week, he reeled off a list of witnesses expected to testify: from eyewitnesses who watched as the former officer held his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, to forensic pathologists, use of force experts and members of the Minneapolis police department.Among the most significant on this long list was the most senior member of that department, Chief Medaria Arradondo. Continue reading...
This is what happens when a third of humanity depends on one manufacturer for Covid jabs. We need to waive patents nowAs the UK’s vaccination programme was “knocked off course” due to a delay in receiving five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, a far more chilling reality was unfolding: about a third of all humanity, living in the poorest countries, found out that they will get almost no coronavirus vaccines in the near future because of India’s urgent need to vaccinate its own massive population.It’s somewhat rich for figures in Britain to accuse India of vaccine nationalism. That the UK, which has vaccinated nearly 50% of its adults with at least one dose, should demand vaccines from India, which has only vaccinated 3% of its people so far, is immoral. That the UK has already received several million doses from India, alongside other rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Canada, is a travesty. Continue reading...
New documentary reexamines the 1993 killing of the NBA legend’s father and finds it tells us much about contemporary AmericaThe abridged version of the Michael Jordan story goes something like this: Carolina boy misses the cut for his high school team, seals an NCAA crown for North Carolina on a late bucket and lifts the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships on the way to becoming the greatest basketball player of all time, a world-class grudge holder and an icon many times over. The murder of his father, James – if it even manages a passing mention in the legend – is couched as little more than an unfortunate episode in the hero’s inexorable journey to the top. But the unabridged version of that story is nowhere near as neat or tidy.The messy details are fully reckoned with on screen at last in Moment of Truth: the Killing of James Jordan, a five-part docuseries that premieres on Amazon’s IMDb TV on Friday. The series starts in the summer of 1993, when James Jordan went missing for three weeks before his body was discovered in a South Carolina creek. Jordan was believed to have been shot to death as he napped on the side of a North Carolina highway while driving home from a funeral in the small hours of 23 July. Continue reading...
Prosecution has shown jury – and those watching at home via livestream – footage of the afternoon, the arrest and Floyd’s deathThe public has been able to livestream the murder trial of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin since Monday, as searing video of George Floyd and wrenching testimony from distressed witnesses who watched him die filled the court room and the senses of millions, from Minneapolis to the rest of the world.As the trial got fully under way, the prosecution showed the jury not only bystander video, with which many were familiar from but also a lot of never-before-seen footage showing various aspects of Floyd’s last afternoon, his arrest and his excruciating death as Chauvin kneeled on his neck last May. Continue reading...
Heinous crimes committed years ago cannot be excused by appealing to the ‘social context’ of the ageRooting around the basement of my family home in Mannheim, south-west Germany, some years ago, I discovered evidence that in 1938 my grandfather had taken advantage of antisemitic Nazi policies to buy a small business from a Jewish family at a low price. I also found letters from the only survivor of this family: his relatives had been killed at Auschwitz. After the war he wrote asking for reparations, but my grandfather refused to face up to his responsibilities.
by Presented by David Smith, with Stasha Rhodes. Prod on (#5G34T)
The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, speaks to the campaign director for 51 for 51, Stasha Rhodes, who is advocating for the US capital to become a state, giving more than 700,000 residents equal representation in CongressWashington DC’s residents pay more in federal taxes than those of 22 other states. The District of Columbia’s 700,000-plus residents are essentially disenfranchised, however, with no voting representation in either chamber of Congress.Both sides of the DC statehood debate put forward their arguments at a hearing before the House committee on oversight and reform last week. David Smith talks to Stasha Rhodes about why Republicans are trying to block a statehood bill up for a vote on the House floor before the summer. Continue reading...
Adam Toledo was killed in an ‘armed confrontation’, police say, as family calls for justiceA 13-year-old boy has been identified as a person shot dead by Chicago police on the city’s west side in what the department called an “armed confrontation”.Adam Toledo died of a gunshot wound to his chest early on Monday, the Cook county medical examiner’s office said on Thursday. Continue reading...
Derek Chauvin’s police supervisor, Sgt David Pleoger, has said there was no justification for the officer keeping a knee on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. Ploeger arrived at the scene shortly after Floyd was taken away by ambulance, said that Chauvin and other officers holding down the 46-year-old Black man should have stopped using force once Floyd stopped resisting. 'When Mr Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers they could have ended their restraint,' he said
Sgt David Pleoger tells trial that Chauvin and the other officers should have stopped using force once Floyd stopped resistingDerek Chauvin’s police supervisor has told his murder trial that there was no justification for the officer to keep his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes.Sgt David Pleoger, who arrived at the scene shortly after Floyd was taken away by ambulance, said that Chauvin and other officers holding down the 46-year-old Black man should have stopped using force once Floyd stopped resisting. Continue reading...
Biden’s first full cabinet meeting was a return to the staid old way of doing things – not worshipping the president like Trump’s cabinetPoor old Joe Biden. He might have won the electoral college and the popular vote but he’ll never feel the love of his underlings like Donald Trump did.The former president’s first full cabinet meeting in June 2017 remains an unparalleled opera of oleaginousness. Secretary after secretary all but flung themselves at his feet, sang songs of praise and paid homage to the divine emperor of the universe. Continue reading...
Courteney Ross tells of opioid use as prosecutors seek to head off Chauvin lawyers’ argument that Floyd was killed by drugsGeorge Floyd’s girlfriend told the Derek Chauvin murder trial that the couple shared an addiction to opioid painkillers that they struggled to overcome in the weeks before his death.Courteney Ross said that Floyd had been clean for a while after she took him to hospital when he overdosed, but that he started using again about two weeks before his arrest by Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, last May. Continue reading...
Ruling includes statue of Robert E Lee that became focus of white nationalist rally in 2017 that turned violent and deadlyVirginia’s highest court ruled on Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E Lee that became the focus of a white nationalist rally in 2017 that turned extremely violent and ultimately deadly.The state supreme court overturned an appeal court decision that had been previously made in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow general Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson. Charlottesville’s city council voted to remove both. Continue reading...
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