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Biden resorted to the longstanding US foreign policy that looks the other way as America’s autocratic allies commit atrocities at home and abroadOn Friday, Joe Biden’s administration confirmed what the world knew: that Saudi Arabia’s ruthless crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Biden followed through on a campaign promise to release a summary report of the US intelligence community’s findings on the murder, and he undid two years of stonewalling by Donald Trump.But Biden failed to keep a more important promise: to hold Khashoggi’s killers accountable. Worried about disrupting the US-Saudi relationship, Biden decided not to impose sanctions on the crown prince. By giving the prince a pass, Biden skirted true justice for the murdered journalist and other dissidents who have suffered at Prince Mohammed’s hands. And, in turn, the reckless prince is unlikely to be dissuaded from more repression and crimes. Continue reading...

Social media quick to point out Robert Unanue’s CPAC remarks about supposed election fraud are not worth a hill of beans

The Golden Globes awards kicked off with wins for two black British stars as best supporting actors in film and TV: Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah, and John Boyega in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series.

Decision could narrow section 2 of Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting laws that discriminate based on raceThe US supreme court will hear a case on Tuesday that could allow the court’s conservative majority to deal a major blow to the most powerful remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, the 1965 law designed to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Continue reading...

Donald Trump peddled debunked election lies and anti-immigrant rhetoric at a conservative conference yesterday. Plus, is the White House being too soft on Saudi Arabia?

Democrats argue that it’s impossible to deliver a higher minimum wage, when there are plenty of ways to overcome this impasseWhen a Republican is president, Democratic politicians, pundits and activists will tell you that the presidency is an all-powerful office that can do anything it wants. When a Democrat is president, these same politicians, pundits and activists will tell you that the presidency has no power to do anything. In fact, they will tell you a Democratic president cannot even use the bully pulpit and other forms of pressure to try to shift the votes of senators in his own party.A tale from history proves this latter myth is complete garbage – and that tale is newly relevant in today’s supercharged debate over a $15 minimum wage. Continue reading...

Effort to oust governor – though unlikely to succeed – reflects political polarization that has widened amid CovidAcross California, hundreds of thousands of people armed with signs and clipboards are gathering outside of local Walmarts, in shopping center parking lots, and on beachside boardwalks, trying to convince their neighbors that the governor needs to go.An effort to recall Gavin Newsom has gained momentum in recent weeks, as the California governor’s approval ratings dipped amid mounting frustration over how the state has handled the Covid pandemic, and the economic slump caused by closures. Continue reading...

Monday’s high-level meeting convened by the UN will call for immediate funding to slow the hunger endangering millions

Huge Ma built TurboVax , a bot that finds available appointments, after discovering how complicated it was to book one for his motherHuge Ma first came up with the idea for his much-needed vaccination appointment-finding bot after discovering how complicated it was to book one for his mother.“You had to basically open three tabs, one for each major government vaccine portal, and then refresh all day until you got an appointment,” said the 31-year-old software engineer from New York. Continue reading...

Former US president Donald Trump has hinted at a possible run for president again in 2024 during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC] in Florida. Trump attacked president Joe Biden and repeated his fraudulent claims that he won the 2020 election in his first major appearance since leaving the White House nearly six weeks ago. 'Who knows, who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time,’ he said.

Twice-impeached ex-president used speech at rightwing event to propagate the lie of a ‘rigged’ 2020 election and hinted at 2024 runAn embittered Donald Trump has used his first post-presidential speech to propagate the lie of a “rigged” election in 2020 and hint that he might try to beat Democrats “for a third time” in 2024.Grasping for continued relevance, Trump returned to his political comfort zone by fearmongering about immigrants and unleashing angry tirades against Joe Biden, his Republican critics and the media. Continue reading...

A photo of the stage went viral, with thousands of Twitter users comparing its distinctive design to an odal runeThe Hyatt Hotels Corporation called symbols of hate “abhorrent” on Sunday after the design of a stage at the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at one of its hotels drew comparisons to a Norse rune used by Nazis during the second world warHigh-profile Republicans including former president Donald Trump were attending the four-day event in Orlando, Florida, as conflict raged between Trump allies and establishment politicians trying to distance the party from him. Continue reading...

Ex-president repeats false claims that he won 2020 election and floats possible run in 2024 in speechDonald Trump on Sunday launched his attempted political comeback, teasing a possible run for the presidency in 2024 and denouncing Joe Biden for “the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history”.The former president made his first speech since leaving the White House at the rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, to an effusive reception. Continue reading...

Letitia James backs calls from congressional Democrats as governor apologises if conduct ‘misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation’The crisis enveloping New York governor Andrew Cuomo deepened on Sunday evening as the state’s attorney general demanded he grant her the authority to investigate claims he sexually harassed at least two women who worked for him – and the governor admitted his behaviour may have been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation” and offered a qualified apology.Democrats statewide appeared to be abandoning Cuomo in large numbers. Continue reading...

‘I would have no hesitancy whatsoever,’ says Fauci in taking Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine after FDA approvalThe nation’s leading infectious disease expert has urged Americans to take whatever vaccine is immediately available to them, following this weekend’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose jab as a third option in the fight against Covid-19.Anthony Fauci said on Sunday he “would have no hesitancy whatsoever” in taking the vaccine that was authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Conference seeks to shore up Trump’s position as Republican standard bearer even after he lost the presidency and CongressDonald Trump returns to the political stage on Sunday determined to show that he is still a major force in America and ready to purge his critics within the Republican party. Continue reading...

California medical board to investigate after plastic surgeon appeared at a virtual trial from an operating theatreA plastic surgeon is under an ethics investigation in California for appearing at a virtual court hearing while dressed in medical scrubs and operating on a patient.Dr Scott Green had already begun the procedure when he was called by the clerk of the Sacramento superior court to answer a traffic charge. Continue reading...

Senator Bill Cassidy points to seats lost in House and Senate during Trump presidency and says ‘if we idolize one person, we will lose’Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican senator, predicted on Sunday morning that Donald Trump will not be the party’s nominee for president in 2024, pointing to the number of seats lost by Republicans in the House and Senate over the four years Trump was in office.Cassidy was asked on CNN’s State of the Union show whether he would support Trump if the former president runs for another term in 2024, or if he would support him if he did run and won the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden. Continue reading...

LeBron James responded to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s criticism of his political activism with a promise that he will never ‘shut up and dribble’ after the Milan striker called it ‘a mistake’ for James and other athletes to get involved in political causes in an interview with Discovery Plus. The LA Lakers superstar also pointed out that Ibrahimovic clearly didn’t feel the same way about spotlighting social injustices when the footballer called out racism in his native Sweden just three years ago.

My doctor says my cholesterol levels are insane and I have to eat healthily. My supermarket shop has changed overnightLooking back, I believe it was the key lime pie that did it. In the first flush of the first lockdown I decided it was my right – no, my duty – to lift my spirits by eating as much junk food as I possibly could. Cakes, muffins; oh my god, so much sausage.I’d throw an entire kielbasa into the frying pan, smother it in baked beans and round it off with a pound of cheddar. But it was the pies, I’m convinced, that pushed me over the edge. I put the key lime on automatic reorder at Whole Foods and polished one off, single-handedly, every two weeks. Continue reading...

A two-story mural on the side of Jilchristina Vest’s house is dedicated to a piece of history that isn’t often toldJilchristina Vest always wanted people to look up to Black women. Now, thanks to a two-story mural on the side of her Oakland home, they literally do.The mural, dedicated to the women of the Black Panther party, was unveiled earlier this month. Vest’s house sits at Center and 9th streets, in the heart of the West Oakland neighborhood where the Black Panther party began, once known as the Harlem of the west. The mural looks down on the corner where Huey Newton, one of the party’s founders, was killed. Continue reading...

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s criticism of LeBron’s activism is a rehash of the familiar Fox News double standard: that it’s OK for athletes to speak out on issues as long as conservatives agree

The singer’s choirmaster took great pride in inspiring him, but a certain other PJ was the real influenceNick Cave has been squatting rent-free in my mind all week. On Thursday, he and collaborator Warren Ellis released an album – Carnage – every bit as consuming as its predecessor, 2019’s Ghosteen. By day, I heard Cave swinging from swagger to sorrow. By night, I juggled a massive hardback: Boy On Fire, the forthcoming biography of Cave’s early years by Australian journalist Mark Mordue.The best detail so far: it turns out the choirmaster at Cave’s childhood church was a certain Father Paul James Harvey. “Years later,” writes Mordue, “when The Boatman’s Call was released in 1997, the bishop of Wangaratta would read a news article mentioning the influence of a PJ Harvey on the album’s songs, and would proudly mention the enduring impact of Nick’s old choirmaster to an appreciative congregation.” The Boatman’s Call was, in fact, inspired by Cave’s relationship with one Polly Jean Harvey… Continue reading...

The president has inherited an unpopular war, and whatever he decides to do about it will be fraught with dangerOf all the foreign hazards, snares, pitfalls and timebombs left behind by Donald Trump, Afghanistan is arguably the worst. Joe Biden must decide in the coming days whether or not to abide by his predecessor’s shabby “peace deal” with the Taliban and withdraw all US troops by the end of April. It’s a president-sized trap.The point being, there is no peace, no viable deal, and no easy answer. All three main options – leave now, delay the US and Nato departure by, say, six months, or stay indefinitely – are fraught with danger. Biden may be damned whatever he does. The war is a hole dug by others. But he’s in it now – and it risks becoming his hole. Continue reading...

Move prompts New York governor to request independent investigation into allegationsA second woman has come forward to accuse New York governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment in a move that has prompted the under-fire Democrat to launch an independent investigation into the allegations.Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until November, told The New York Times that he had harassed her last spring, during the height of New York’s fight against the coronavirus – which Cuomo led and which at the time gave him an international reputation for good leadership. Continue reading...

Multimillionaire Trump ally and senators who oppose $15 wage rise among those promoting idea that party is for working peopleAmid the resurrection of “the big lie” about an election stolen from Donald Trump, another deceptive theme has emerged at this weekend’s rightwing gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference: Republicans as the true party of the blue-collar worker.It was a concept promoted variously over CPAC’s first two days by, among others, a multimillionaire former governor who made a fortune in healthcare; the son of Donald Trump, who lives in his own exclusive Florida club; and two firebrand US senators with law degrees from Ivy League universities who oppose a universal hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by AP reveal bodycam footage shows Kory York dragging Ronald Greene ‘on his stomach by the leg shackles’A Louisiana state police trooper has been suspended without pay for kicking and dragging a handcuffed Black man whose in-custody death remains unexplained and the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.Body camera footage shows Kory York dragging Ronald Greene “on his stomach by the leg shackles” following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit, according to internal state police records obtained by the Associated Press. Continue reading...

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley admits ‘critical mistakes’ after man unable to provide social security number turned awayA university in Texas has apologised after undocumented immigrants were refused a Covid-19 vaccine, saying it had made “critical mistakes” in turning people away.The Washington Post reported that a pre-diabetic man, Jesús Díaz, 61, was denied the vaccine after failing to provide a social security number. It said Diaz was among at least 14 people refused a vaccine because of residency or immigration status by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Continue reading...

Artist Tommy Zegan reveals figure was constructed in country the former president has assailed and demonizedA golden statue of Donald Trump that has caused a stir at the annual US gathering of conservatives was made in Mexico – a country the former president frequently demonized.Related: Mitch McConnell says he'd 'absolutely' support Trump as 2024 nominee Continue reading...

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin acknowledges hesitancy and says ‘we have to work to hard to dispel rumors and provide facts’Reluctance to be vaccinated for Covid-19 is now rife in the US military, with about a third of troops on active duty or in the national guard refusing to be administered the vaccine.Related: How to avoid 'Zoom fatigue' during the Covid pandemic Continue reading...

Bungled response will have consequence for finances, health and homes – and less privileged Texans will feel the pinchLast week, Malori Elsner’s family was struggling through power outages in their poorly insulated rental home near Houston, Texas, burning cardboard in the fireplace to stay warm during a deadly Arctic blast.But even as they endured the cold, their electric bill skyrocketed – Texas’s deregulated grid had gone haywire, and Elsner sat there, helpless, “knowing that I’m leeching money, but not having a choice because it’s eight degrees outside.” Continue reading...

Facebook is considering building facial recognition capabilities into its smart glasses – which would make life easy for stalkers Continue reading...

A Senate official has ruled that the plan for a $15 minimum cannot be passed with only a simple majority but the fight is far from overIt was a major plank of the Democratic plan to “build back better” – raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour as a way of boosting the economy during the pandemic and tackling poverty and income inequality. But on Thursday the much-vaunted plan hit a roadblock in the US Senate, which has knocked the proposal sideways.Related: 'We need $15': US minimum wage ruling a personal blow for millions of workers Continue reading...

Figures were provided as part of lawsuit brought by ACLU which in 2018 ended family separations under Trump policyThe parents of 112 children separated at the US-Mexico border by Donald Trump’s administration have been contacted since January, lawyers told a court on Friday, as the judge expressed optimism about reunification efforts now being the responsibility of Joe Biden’s administration.The new figures were provided as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which in 2018 ended family separations under Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy about unlawful border crossings and ordered the government to reunite families. On Friday, the government’s position in the case was represented publicly for the first time by Biden’s administration instead of Trump’s. Continue reading...

Officials warn against ‘pathogen porn’ amid limited data, but researchers say they are simply stating the factsReports of a new variant of coronavirus in New York City have circulated this week, causing a rift between health experts and city officials who questioned how concerned people should be when data is limited.Two separate studies in pre-print stages, meaning they have not been peer-reviewed, were released this week pointing to a coronavirus variant, named B.1.526, spotted in parts of New York City starting in November. Continue reading...

As I grew up, the majority of black women I saw on TV were fair skinned. Those who looked like me were never cast as the leadI’ve been building a profile as a writer and broadcaster long enough to know that there will be public storms. Some creep up on you, others you sense brewing, and some have been lingering in the background for a lifetime.A couple of weeks ago, I posted on social media about having “lost out” on hosting a documentary to a lighter-skinned black woman. The subject of the documentary was maternal mortality in the UK, and the harrowing fact that black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. This is something I have campaigned on for several years, wrote about in my book I Am Not Your Baby Mother and experienced first-hand when I almost died a few days after the birth of my first child in 2013. Continue reading...

Conservative gathering in Florida has seven sessions this year focused on voter fraud and election-related issuesRepublicans have continued to embrace the myth of a stolen election the annual rightwing conclave of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), underscoring how the party continues to sustain the baseless idea months after Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 race and the deadly assault on the Capitol.This year’s gathering of some of the party’s most fervent supporters has a staggering seven sessions focused on voter fraud and election-related issues. Several have inflammatory titles. “Other culprits, why judges and media refuse to look at the evidence,” was the name of one panel discussion on Friday. “The left pulled the strings, covered it up, and even admits it,” was another. “Failed states (GA, PA, NV, oh my!)” is the title of another scheduled for this weekend. Continue reading...

Swedish company has begun work on US flotation as plant-based foods enter mainstream“Here comes the post milk generation” is the slogan emblazoned on the side of the electric trucks of the alt-milk brand Oatly. We will soon find out if that’s true as the Swedish oatmilk juggernaut heads towards a mega US stock exchange listing.The Swedish company said this week it had begun work on a flotation in New York which some analysts think could value the fast-growing business at as much as $10bn (£7.1bn). Continue reading...

Relief bill represents Biden first big legislative win but wage hike proposal to be removed from Senate versionThe US House of Representatives has passed Joe Biden’s $1.9tn coronavirus aid bill in his first major legislative victory.Related: Criticism builds over Biden's failure to lift Trump sanctions on ICC prosecutors Continue reading...

Dogs were dropped off at a police station in Los Angeles, while dog walker shot in the attack is recoveringTwo French bulldogs belonging to Lady Gaga that were stolen at gunpoint earlier this week have been recovered unharmed, police in Los Angeles have said.A woman brought the dogs to the LAPD’s Olympic community police station on Friday evening, said Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the robbery-homicide division. Continue reading...

The president visited an emergency operations centre and a food bank as the Texas senator railed against the ‘hard left’ at the conservative CPAC eventAmerica’s political divide was on display on Friday as Joe Biden flew to Texas to comfort victims of a deadly winter storm while Ted Cruz, a senator from the beleaguered state, basked in Florida sunshine and joked about his recent holiday in Mexico.The US president, who made empathy the core of his election campaign, and the first lady, Jill Biden, travelled to Houston for his first trip to a major disaster site since taking office on 20 January. Continue reading...

Vaccine, along with those from Pfizer and Moderna, should provide US with more than enough supply to vaccinate every personThe battle against Covid-19 took a major step forward on Friday as the US moved closer to distributing its first one-shot Covid-19 vaccine, after an independent expert advisory panel recommended drug regulators authorize the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use.The authorization would be a significant boost to the Biden administration’s vaccination plans, making Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine the third available to the public. Janssen, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine subsidiary, told a congressional hearing this week that it expects to deliver 20m doses by March and a total of 100m doses before the end of June. Continue reading...