FBI report: Anthony Quinn Warner acted alone and set off bomb to kill himself but was not motivated by political or social ideologyThe man who blew himself up in his recreational vehicle on Christmas Day in 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, was grappling with paranoia and conspiracy theories but was not motivated by social or political ideology, the FBI said on Monday.An FBI statement set out to resolve some lingering mysteries from an explosion that perplexed investigators and the public because it appeared to lack a motive. Though the blast damaged dozens of buildings, it took place early on a holiday, well before streets would be busy, and was preceded by a recorded warning. Continue reading...

David Fincher’s frontrunner Mank is a brilliant but nostalgic choice, while there are no nominations for stunning sexual politics drama The Assistant

Utah senator said US spectators should stay home and prohibiting athletes from competing in 2022 winter games is ‘wrong’ answerThe US should boycott the Beijing Winter Olympic Games next year, Mitt Romney said on Monday – but not by keeping its skiers, curlers and bobsledders at home.Related: Beijing 2022: 180 human rights groups call for Winter Olympics boycott Continue reading...

Republicans concerned that Eric Greitens’ candidacy could tip one of the state’s two seats to the Democrats

Miami Beach mayor says ‘too many people [are] coming here to let loose’ as state reports increase in coronavirus casesPolice in Miami Beach used pepper spray and arrested 100 people as large spring break crowds gathered despite the pandemic.Related: Texas police handcuff maskless woman who asked: 'What are you going to do, arrest me?' Continue reading...

Something about video calling hypnotises you into gazing at your own image. I can’t wait to shake the habit

Pennsylvania woman accused of manipulating photos of three girls to make it appear they were drinking, smoking and even nudeA Pennsylvania woman has been accused of creating “deepfake” pictures of her daughter’s cheerleading rivals, doctoring photos and video in an attempt to get them kicked off the squad, officials said.Related: What are deepfakes – and how can you spot them? Continue reading...

Warrant issued after state ended orders requiring masks in public places, though many businesses have kept their own rules in placeAn arrest warrant was issued for a woman who refused to wear a mask at a Texas bank, saying to a police officer: “What are you going to do, arrest me?”Related: 'It’s every man for himself': the Texans defying end of mask mandate Continue reading...

While questions rightly remain over its shadowy nominations process, Grammy voters should be praised for honouring a large number of women and people of colourThe Grammys always attract a degree of controversy. This year, there was singer Teyana Taylor protesting that “all I see is dick” in the all-male nominations for best R&B album, and a slightly peculiar statement from Justin Bieber, asking to be considered an R&B artist rather than a pop singer. More headlines were grabbed by the Weeknd, understandably shocked that his double-platinum album After Hours, and its accompanying single Blinding Lights – a song so omnipresent that it recently celebrated an entire year in the US Top 10 – didn’t receive a single nomination: he subsequently announced he would stop his label submitting his music in future. The latter’s complaint revolved around a lack of transparency in the voting process: the presence of nomination committees that retain executive power over who makes the shortlists and who hold the ability to add artists who have received no nominations in many of the Grammys’ categories.The argument about transparency isn’t going to go away – if your voting process involves a shadowy and apparently unanswerable cabal who exert control over the nominations, you should probably expect people to look askance at it – but, the absence of the Weeknd aside, the actual winners in the Grammys’ big categories brooked little argument. Continue reading...

Abrams said attempts to restrict mail-in voting in Georgia were a ‘redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie’. Plus, female artists swept the GrammysGood morning.Stacey Abrams launched a searing attack on proposals to restrict voting access in Georgia, describing them as “racist” and “a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie” this weekend. Abrams, a former senior state legislator who was credited with helping the Democrats win crucial senate races in the state last year, has become a key voting rights activist in recent years. Continue reading...

Algorithms decide which applications reach human managers’ eyes. But they sort out people with unusual work histories or who lack college degrees

Despite vaccine hesitancy, figures show a big drop in infections – giving hope that, after a brutal year, an end is in sightJoan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home, loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one.Months later, it appears that danger has faded. After the rollout of Covid vaccines, the number of new Covid cases among nursing home staff fell 83% – from 28,802 for the week ending 20 December to 4,764 for the week ending 14 February, data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows. Continue reading...

The Des Moines Register reporter speaks about her arrest while covering a protest against police brutality: ‘I did my job and I did it correctly’Six days after the murder of George Floyd, the Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri went to work.The public safety reporter was assigned to cover one of the many protests against police brutality happening around the country, set to take place outside Merle Hay Mall, a shopping complex near the city center of Des Moines, Iowa. Continue reading...

Acclaimed musician celebrated receiving his second vaccine dose by performing for those waiting in line

The renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma gives an impromptu performance in a vaccine waiting room in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, after having received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. He performs Ave Maria and the prelude to Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 to the small number of patients waiting to receive the dose. Ma, who played for about 15 minutes, is a part-time resident of the area and wanted to ‘give something back’ to his community, according to a local paper, the Berkshire Eagle Continue reading...

Longtime aide Larry Schwartz has denied mixing political and policy calls or acting improperlyThe coronavirus vaccination tsar for the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, made appeals for political support for the embattled politician, prompting ethical concerns, according to multiple media reports on Sunday.New York’s “vaccination tsar”, longtime Cuomo aide Larry Schwartz, reportedly pivoted in at least one telephone conversation with a county executive from a discussion of vaccination policy directly to an appeal for support for Cuomo. Continue reading...

Powerful late winter storm brings heavy snow and wind and closes roads in Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska

Bill includes various measures including ending the right to vote by mail without having to provide an excuseStacey Abrams has described Republican efforts to restrict voting rights in Georgia as “racist” and “a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie”.Abrams, who helped Democrats win two key US Senate runoff elections in her home state in January that gave the party a narrow control of the chamber, is a leading critic of voter suppression efforts by Republicans. Continue reading...

The White House is putting government at the heart of the post-Covid economic bounce-back. The implications affect us allDuring the pandemic, the world has been dazzled by the huge sums that governments have been willing to spend propping up their economies. Britain has spent £407bn in support measures, more than 40% of normal government spending in an entire non-Covid year. The European Union has launched an emergency new €750bn (£645bn) coronavirus recovery fund to help its 27 member states. Now the United States has topped them all, passing the $1.9tn (£1.4tn) stimulus package that President Biden signed this week. This takes pandemic-related spending by the US to around $6tn (£4.3tn) – more than it spent fighting the second world war.The Biden package is massive. It puts up to $1,400 into the pockets of low-paid workers and members of their families. It extends a wide range of welfare payments into the autumn, boosts parental tax credits, and maintains special unemployment reliefs and health care subsidies. Much of the support is unconditional. The poorest fifth of US households will see their incomes rise by 20%. Child poverty may be cut in half. Payments began to arrive over the weekend. Continue reading...

Administration to send Fema to help with surge at Mexico border to safely receive, shelter and transfer minor childrenThe House speaker, Nancy Pelosi said, on Sunday that the Biden administration had inherited a broken immigration system as the administration announced it would send federal help to children on the US-Mexico border seeking asylum.“This is a humanitarian challenge to all of us,” Pelosi told told ABC News’ This Week program. “What the administration has inherited is a broken system at the border, and they are working to correct that in the children’s interest.” Continue reading...

Polls shows about half of US men who identified themselves as Republicans said they had no plans to get the vaccineDr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that he hopes former president Donald Trump will urge his supporters to get the Covid-19 vaccine and emphasized that pandemic-related restrictions should not be lifted prematurely.In a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released last week, about half of US men who identified themselves as Republicans said they had no plans to get the vaccine. Continue reading...

One of the great middleweights in boxing history, Marvelous Marvin Hagler died Saturday at the age of 66. He fought on boxing’s biggest stages against its biggest names, as he, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Durán dominated the middleweight classes during a golden time for boxing in the 1980s. His career ended in controversial fashion after losing to Leonard in 1987: Hagler was the favourite but lost out on a split decision and never fought again• Marvin Hagler, middleweight boxing’s towering champion, dies aged 66 Continue reading...

Hundreds gather in Louisville chanting ‘no justice, no peace’ for Black woman shot by police in her apartmentBreonna Taylor family has continued its call for justice as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Louisville to mark the one year anniversary of her death.“Eyes are on Louisville, Kentucky, today so let’s show America what community looks like,” said Taylor’s aunt, Bianca Austin, who wore her niece’s emergency medical technician jacket. Continue reading...

More than $5tn has been spent on stimulus programs in the US to fight Covid’s economic impact – and a significant amount has been earmarked for small businessesThanks to the stimulus programs, there are now five ways small can save big on their taxes in 2021 … and even get money back.Related: Lifting mask mandates in Texas has caused conflicts for small businesses | Gene Marks Continue reading...

Analysis: more than a serious effort to unseat the governor, it is likely a strategy to rally voters, boost Republican candidates and raise funds

The broadcaster caught directing the N-word at a girls’ team dredges up memories of the racism I experienced as a young player in Tulsa. But what happened the next day gives me hopeBack in 1996, my Booker T Washington High School team beat Norman High in the Oklahoma state tournament final to seal back-to-back state championships. Continue reading...

The country’s global standing is plunging as Xi Jinping attempts to whitewash atrocities in the name of empire-buildingA terrible scream of pain contorts a little girl’s face and tells the story of the army’s brutal crackdown in Myanmar. Shwe Yote Hlwar, five, is standing beside an open coffin containing the body of her father, Ko Zwe Htet Soe, shot dead by security forces.Her face is a picture of searing, bottomless grief. Women try to help. But there is no comforting her. Who can explain her dad’s needless killing? Who can say why men in uniform think it’s OK to do such things?

The New York governor faces a legendary fall from grace due to allegations of bullying, a cover-up of nursing home Covid deaths and a sexual harassment scandal involving seven women

When I was labor secretary welfare ended but now it’s back and three-quarters of Americans – and many Republicans – approveA quarter-century ago, I and other members of Bill Clinton’s cabinet urged him to reject the Republican proposal to end welfare. It was too punitive, we said, subjecting poor Americans to deep and abiding poverty. But Clinton’s political advisers warned that unless he went along, he would jeopardize his reelection.Related: Chaos Under Heaven review: Trump as raging bull in a China policy shop Continue reading...

Before Covid upended everything, the US president upended relations with Beijing – without interest or ability to build anewCovid-19 has left more than 530,000 Americans dead and China’s standing with the US at a historic low. Only Iran and North Korea fare worse. US opinion is no outlier. China’s reputation has taken a beating in Australia, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. Images of tanks rolling through Tiananmen Square in summer 1989 have been supplanted by Beijing stonewalling on the origins of the plague.Related: Lucky review: how Biden beat Trump – and doubters like Obama and Hillary Continue reading...

Local jurisdictions have decided to keep their coronavirus safety protocols, drawing ire from state politiciansMonths of hostility and infighting between Texas’s Republican and Democratic leaders reached a breaking point this week, when the state sued Austin and Travis county officials who were still requiring residents to wear masks in public.In a move decried as “reckless” around the United States, Texas ended almost all of its coronavirus-related restrictions on Wednesday, including a statewide mask mandate and capacity limits on businesses. Continue reading...

Once the hub of Trump World in the US capital, with the former president gone it is in danger of becoming a white elephantOnce it was like a second White House for the Maga crowd. Now it is in danger of becoming a white elephant.Clobbered first by the coronavirus pandemic, then by its owner’s election defeat, the Trump International Hotel in Washington is reeling from a huge loss of income and prestige. For critics of the former US president, it is welcome proof of how quickly the city is moving on without him. Continue reading...

The American boxing champion, who held the undisputed middleweight title from 1980 until 1987, has died aged 66. He leaves behind a towering legacy

Blizzard warnings issued for Wyoming and Nebraska and 2ft of snow expected in Colorado over the weekendA powerful spring snow storm was expected over the next three days to blanket parts of the US Rockies and central high plains where forecasters warned of whiteout conditions, power outages and avalanches.The National Weather Service (NWS) issued blizzard warnings for parts of Wyoming and western Nebraska, where quickly accumulating snowfall of up to 2ft (61cm) and fierce winds reaching 65mph (105km per hour) could cause dangerous conditions from Saturday through Monday. Continue reading...

No wonder one of the world’s biggest artists is turning his back on an increasingly irrelevant awardIt’s shocking, I know, but an awards ceremony with at least 683 distinct categories, which takes roughly four days to get through and almost certainly has a gong for best backing vocals on a rap-classical crossover in the Portuguese language, has again run into trouble amid accusations of an opaque and complex voting system that some artists claim damages the integrity of the process.There were no Grammy nominations this year for the Weeknd, one of the world’s biggest and bestselling pop stars, who headlined the Super Bowl half-time show in February for around 96 million viewers. After being left out, the Weeknd has announced that he will no longer submit his music for their consideration, blaming his exclusion on “secret committees” and a lack of transparency. His announcement followed tweets from Zayn Malik, who criticised the awards for allowing “favouritism, racism and networking politics to influence the voting process”. Drake and Frank Ocean have also been critical of the Grammys in recent years; the New York Times points out that, staggeringly, the last black artist to win album of the year was Herbie Hancock, in 2008, for River – his tribute to Joni Mitchell. Continue reading...

Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue has spent as much as $1,883,160 on fundraising costs for events at Mar-a-LagoA dog rescue charity that has links to Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, has spent almost $2m at Trump properties in the last seven years, according to US media reports.While other companies and groups have distanced themselves from the Trumps since the 6 January attack on the capital, the Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue is expected to spend another $225,000 at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club for an event this weekend, according to a permit filed with the town of Palm Beach, which was reported by HuffPost. Continue reading...

The president’s $1.9tn stimulus package should lift US GDP by up to 4% – and thus buoy up the whole of the global economyUS president Joe Biden did the world a favour last Thursday when he signed a bill handing $1.9 trillion (£1.4tn) of rescue funds to state and federal agencies, millions of students and workers and the US vaccination programme.The money will appear first as cheques landing on household doormats as early as this week, softening the blow of the pandemic for those in work and for the many who remain out of work and under severe financial strain. Continue reading...

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $27m to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd's family over the Black man's death in police custody.It was not immediately clear how the settlement might affect the trial of Derek Chauvin, a white former officer charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death.The city council unanimously approved the settlement on Friday which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested.

My plan was to write a book about the infamous city through its varied inhabitants. In the end it was Joe who told me the real story

Criminal groups that bring people into US reportedly document payment status on the plastic bandsAlong the banks of the Rio Grande in the scrubby grassland near Penitas, south-east Texas, hundreds of colored plastic wristbands ripped off by migrants litter the ground, signs of what US border officials say is a growing trend among powerful drug cartels and smugglers to track people paying to cross unlawfully into the United States.Related: What is Joe Biden doing to cope with a rise in unaccompanied child migrants? Continue reading...

The best way to honor her is to put an unflinching spotlight on the way society minimizes violence against Black women