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While other countries turn away from the futile ‘war on drugs’, politicians here are still falling for the ‘evil’ narcotics narrative

Let’s be clear: whatever he may say, Biden absolutely has the power to unilaterally cancel all federal student debtAt his recent town hall, Joe Biden made a series of convoluted and condescending comments about American student debt. His remarks cast doubt on his ability, or willingness, to confront this country’s ballooning student loan crisis. Within hours, #cancelstudentdebt was trending on Twitter.Related: Key Biden aide said pandemic was 'best thing that ever happened to him', book says Continue reading...

The film is a laudable portrayal of Hampton, the activist killed by police in 1969. But it largely ignores his strong anti-capitalist politics

Of the 14 Californians charged in connection with the pro-Trump riot, three are from the wealthy LA county enclaveBeverly Hills has seen more residents arrested for participating in the US Capitol insurrection than any other city in California. Continue reading...

New state data shows removal of almost 17,000 eligible voters ahead of 2020 election could have been disastrousA well-connected conservative group in Wisconsin nearly succeeded in forcing the state to kick nearly 17,000 eligible voters off its rolls ahead of the 2020 election, new state data reveals. Continue reading...

Coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson safe and effective in trials, the FDA says. Plus, Biden reverses yet more of Trump’s executive ordersGood morning.The one-shot coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson appears to be safe and effective in trials, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in documents published yesterday. The vaccine effectively reduced the risk of Covid-19, and prevented confirmed cases of the virus, at least 14 days after vaccination, according to FDA briefing documents. This takes the prospective vaccine a step closer to approval, with an advisory panel of independent experts set to meet on Friday to decide whether to recommend that the FDA take the step. Continue reading...

Powerful figures like the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach believe they are above reproach – because for much of their careers they have beenJust when you think the NFL cannot sink any deeper into its own particular brand of win-at-all-costs shamelessness. Just when you think the sport as a collective has broken through the cycle of player arrests, out-of-control assistant coaches and the system of enabling that extends from the high school ranks all the way to the commissioner’s office, along comes Urban Meyer.College football’s enabler-in-chief has moved to the professional ranks. The three-time national championship-winning college coach has been handed the keys to the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise. Already, he has brought with him controversy. Earlier this month, Meyer dipped back into the college game to hire former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle to serve as his conditioning czar in Jacksonville. Continue reading...

This week’s roundup also features Sarah Taylor’s wicket-keeping skills and the pain of being an NHL official1) It’s not often the Guatemalan third division features in this roundup, but it’s also not often a player – in this case Rosbin Ramos of Batanecos – drops to the ground writhing in agony, pretending to have been hit by an object thrown from the crowd. Ramos is not the first: who could forget Dida’s slight overreaction to an admittedly stupid pitch invader at Celtic Park? Or Feyenoord’s Steven Berghuis? Or even this? Worse still is the tale of Roberto Rojas. Back in 1989, Chile needed to beat Brazil to qualify for the World Cup and were trailing 1-0 when keeper Rojas pretended to have been hit by a flare, cutting himself with a razor blade hidden in his glove. The game was abandoned and Rojas banned for life (a sanction lifted in 1991) while Chile, whose manager and doctor were in on the sting, were excluded from the 1994 tournament.2) Some referees are frustrated players, just like the rest of us. Here’s Óscar Macías blocking a goalbound shot from Cruz Azul, in their Liga MX game against Toluca. And here’s Maurice Paarhuis, refereeing a game in the Dutch fourth division, accidentally scoring for HSV Hoek against Harkemase Boys. And here’s Atay Daudov bagging for Manas against Keyes DD in the second round of the LFL Dagestan. Of course, no such digest is complete without our very own Mike Dean, so here’s Sky Sports’ homage. Continue reading...

Lineup at annual gathering features former president’s allies – and Trump himself – suggesting his dominance is undiminished by his election lossRonald Solomon spent five days making the 2,300-mile drive from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Orlando, Florida, where he will sell about 75 different hat designs, 15 types of flag, 10 T-shirt designs and a range of eight face masks.Solomon is the president of the Maga Mall, a retailer of Donald Trump and “Make America great again” merchandise. Undeterred by the former president’s 2020 election defeat and disgrace, he expects to do brisk business when the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives opens on Thursday. Continue reading...

Intended as a tool to address distribution inequities, the codes were passed around by text and email, sometimes with misinformationAccess codes meant to give Californians of color priority access to Covid-19 vaccine slots have been getting passed around among other residents in the state, allowing some to cut the line and get appointments meant for underserved Black and Latino residents.Misuse of these codes was reported at vaccine sites in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, said Brian Ferguson, spokesperson for the California office of emergency services, to the Guardian. Continue reading...

Move undoes actions that blocked many immigrants from entering the US and sought to cut funding to cities Trump deemed ‘lawless’Joe Biden has formally reversed a series of executive actions taken by Donald Trump, including a proclamation that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States. Continue reading...

Alex García from Honduras sought sanctuary in Missouri church in 2017 under threat of removal from US by Trump administrationAfter three and a half years living inside a Missouri church to avoid deportation, a Honduran man has finally stepped outside, following a promise from Joe Biden’s administration to let him be.Alex García, a married father of five, was slated for removal from the US in 2017, the first year of Donald Trump’s administration. Days before he would have been deported, Christ Church United Church of Christ in the St Louis suburb of Maplewood offered sanctuary. Continue reading...

Lindsey Boylan, who previously accused governor of sexual harassment, offers new details about her claimsA former member of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration who previously accused him of sexual harassment offered new details on Wednesday, saying he once kissed her on the lips without consent after a private meeting.Lindsey Boylan said that during her more than three years working as an economic adviser in the administration, Cuomo “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs”, compared her to one of his rumored ex-girlfriends and once joked they should play strip poker. Continue reading...

State’s controversial practice of coordinating with immigration authorities has come under widespread scrutiny in recent monthsCalifornia lawmakers are fighting to protect thousands of residents from deportation with new legislation that would stop state prisons and jails from handing over immigrants to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Continue reading...

Protests in Rochester follow lack of charges for police officers who placed Black man in hood until he became unconsciousA crowd of somber yet outraged protesters in Rochester, upstate New York, endured bitter cold on Tuesday night to decry a grand jury’s failure to indict local police officers for the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who was in town visiting relatives, last March.“This is not what we expected. This is not what we wanted. And until there is justice in this system, they will not get no peace from us,” said Jay Johnson, who was demonstrating. Continue reading...

The golfer is known for his supreme determination to overcome obstacles. But a return to professional sport will be tough after his car crashOnce again the world held its collective breath when the scene of a car crash was broadcast on live television and the name Tiger Woods flashed across the screen. From what we know, Woods was involved in a motor vehicle accident early in the morning on Tuesday. His car rolled multiple times, but fortunately he was wearing his seat belt, which very likely saved his life. The golfing legend was transported to Harbor-UCLA, which is one of the busiest trauma centers in Los Angeles county and staffed with top-notch experienced surgeons.Thankfully, his injuries aren’t life-threatening. We do have some clues in the released statements as to what injuries Woods has suffered. First, we heard about “compound” fractures, which are another term for an open fracture in which the broken bone pokes through the skin. Anytime the skin barrier is broken, bacteria and other contaminants can enter into the bone and possibly cause an infection. The first important step in treating open fractures is to get intravenous antibiotics coursing through the bloodstream to the bones and the rest of the body. Second, the bone ends are cleaned in the sterile operating room before being fixed straight again. Continue reading...

Family of Angelo Quinto said police officer knelt on his neck for almost five minutes after they called for helpA US navy veteran who was experiencing a mental health crisis died after a police officer called out to help him knelt on his neck for several minutes, asphyxiating him, lawyers for his family have said.Angelo Quinto, 30, was suffering a bout of paranoia, anxiety and depression in his family home in Antioch, northern California, when his sister Isabella Collins called police on 23 December. Continue reading...

Pastors reject ‘perversion’ of Christian nationalism and say they do not want to be ‘quiet accomplices in this ongoing sin’More than 100 prominent evangelical Christian pastors and church leaders have spoken out against what they call the “perversion” of Christian nationalism and the role it played in enabling the violent insurrection at the US Capitol in Washington on 6 January.Related: Senate postpones vote on Neera Tanden's confirmation amid opposition – live Continue reading...

Rightly, a digital platform for conservatives, goes down awkwardly in Qatari-funded news organisationAl Jazeera’s surprise decision to launch a digital platform for conservatives in the US has left many within the Qatar-based news organisation dumbfounded and confused, staff have told the Guardian.The network has announced the launch of Rightly, a platform that will host programmes and produce online content aimed at “audiences currently underrepresented in today’s media environment”, in this case right-of-centre Americans. Continue reading...

Advisory panel will meet on Friday to decide whether to recommend the vaccine be authorizedJohnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine appeared safe and effective in trials, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff said in documents published on Wednesday, paving the way for emergency authorization in the US.An advisory panel of independent experts will meet on Friday to decide whether to recommend the vaccine be authorized. While the FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its experts, the agency did so when authorizing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year. Continue reading...

Learning our history is about truth. But it is also about reconciliation: making amends for the pain caused to generations of Black AmericansIn 1926, Carter G Woodson started “Negro History Week” to rectify the fact that Black people “were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them”.Woodson chose the second week of February because it coincided with the birthdates of President Abraham Lincoln and the slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In 1970, Black educators and students at Kent State University began using the entire month of February to celebrate and recognize Black triumphs and tribulations. US presidents started to formally designate February as Black History Month in 1976. In recent years, other countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Ireland have formally recognized and celebrated the history of the African diaspora. Continue reading...

Lucia DeClerck, who learned she had been infected after receiving her second vaccine dose, attributed her health partly to the raisinsA 105-year-old woman in New Jersey who fought off a bout of the deadly coronavirus has credited her ongoing good health to an unusual habit: gin-soaked raisins.Lucia DeClerck, who lives in a nursing home, learned she had been infected by the virus in January, the day after receiving a second dose of a vaccine intended to combat Covid-19, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...

The Anti-Racist Project (ARP) aims to fund a toolkit that will see 5,000 coaches, 60,000 young people, and 115 staff trained in over 400 communities in the first yearA coalition of leaders from the US soccer industry have partnered with the Common Goal movement to launch the Anti-Racist Project (ARP), an action-based approach to tackling systemic racism in soccer and society.The initiative, which was officially unveiled on Wednesday, brings together clubs from the three top divisions of US soccer – the Chicago Fire of MLS, Angel City FC of the NWSL and the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship – along with former US international Tony Sanneh and the American Outlaws supporters’ group. Continue reading...

Just as golf owes 15-times major winner absolutely nothing, there is precious little left for him to proveSummoning the spirit of Ben Hogan might not be enough for Tiger Woods to prolong a remarkable career. That the golf world is not prepared for Woods to call time on tournament pursuits was clear in the aftermath of the road accident that left the stricken 45-year-old requiring prolonged surgery on his right leg.Hogan did it, why can’t Tiger? Golf wants to cling on to an individual who transcends the sport and has single-handedly hauled it into a different commercial stratosphere. The post-Woods age has lingered somewhere in the distance for some time, with no one really willing to address what it may entail. The reticence is completely understandable: Woods is a one-off. Continue reading...

After 139 years at 807 Franklin Street in San Francisco, a two-storey Victorian house has a new address. The green home with large windows and a brown front door was loaded on to giant dollies and moved to a location six blocks away on Sunday. Onlookers lined the sidewalks to snap photos as the structure rolled – at a top speed of 1mph – to 635 Fulton Street

The former chief of the Capitol police told a Senate hearing that rioters who stormed the building were ready for ‘war’ and that Pentagon backup was slow to arrive. Plus, officers involved in the death of Daniel Prude won’t face chargesGood morning.The chief of the Capitol police, who resigned over the 6 January attack, said the pro-Trump mob “came prepared for war”, at the first congressional hearing about law enforcement’s response to the siege. Steven Sund said he was astonished at delays from the Pentagon after police appealed for reinforcements at the Capitol and the deployment of the National Guard. Washington’s metropolitan police chief said he remembered Sund “literally pleading” for backup. Continue reading...

Flowers, butterflies and a rosy banner saying ‘Bienvenidos’ decorate the child detention site. Is that meant to fool us into thinking this is humane?This week, the Biden administration did the unthinkable. They reopened a Trump-era detention site for migrant children. The detention center, a reconverted camp for oil field workers in Carrizo Springs, Texas, is expected to hold 700 children between the ages of 13 and 17, and dozens of kids have already arrived there.This is an awful development, reminding me of some of the worst abuses of the Trump years. And while we obviously don’t know how this ominous development will play out in the long run, what we do know is this: unaccompanied migrant children deserve compassion, not detention. But rather than seeking out new and better solutions, the Biden administration is instead trying to sell us an image of a kinder, gentler imprisonment. Continue reading...

Struggling with low pay and high stress, New York paramedics and emergency medical technicians are reaching a breaking point

Black women who powered Democrats to stunning win in Georgia have been fielding calls from other states eager to learnEver since the runoff elections in Georgia, people have been talking.They’ve been talking about how turnout among Black voters surged in December and January, propelling two Democrats to stunning victories in the state, long seen as a Republican stronghold. And how those same voters had helped Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state in nearly 30 years. Continue reading...

A chance to travel and earn good money attracts many to cross the Atlantic. But the system they become part of is under scrutinyHow desperate are youth soccer clubs in the US to hire foreign coaches? And how desperate are UK coaches to land jobs in the US, with visions of Hollywood (or at least Boston) and good pay, courtesy of parents willing to shell out for an “elite” soccer experience?The answer to both questions: so desperate that one club, Global Premier Soccer (GPS) – which once operated in dozens of locations across the US – came up with a convoluted scheme to bring coaches across the Atlantic with the help of professional teams. The plan drew plenty of interest from coaches but also from law enforcement. Continue reading...

The fallout of from the big freeze left some customers owing thousands but, experts say, one way or another consumers will pay the price for the state’s vulnerable energy infrastructureAmid a deadly storm, Nathan Polk-Borgerding was terrified that Griddy, his electric company, would shut off his power in Abilene, Texas, if he and his roommates allowed their account balance to dip below $10.So he transferred $50 from his bank – the only safety net he had – to try to keep up with the utility’s real-time charges as Texas’s grid collapsed and the spot price of wholesale electricity surged some 10,000%. Continue reading...

The Mauritanian tells the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, whose plight has left a stain on ideas of Anglo-American justiceI started work at Liberty, the civil rights advocacy group, the day before the September 11 attacks. I recall the feeling of doom: it is important to remember the devastating loss of life on that day – 3,000 people from all over the world – in an event that is now often subject to denialist conspiracy theories. Soon after, British ministers were contemplating far-reaching “security measures” against the background of fear that the same could happen in London. Surveying the entire population was a price worth paying, they said.Having worked at the Home Office before joining Liberty, I knew the that way Britain treated migrants – who are subject to fewer protections than citizens – might well become the framework for the UK’s draconian approach to anyone suspected of terrorism. But I never predicted how long the post-9/11 legacy would linger. And with my Hollywood ideals of Anglo-American constitutional norms, reflected in movies such as A Few Good Men, I never imagined that the use of torture would become a systematic technique of interrogation. Continue reading...

This weekend, the city moved a Victorian house six blocks – a practice that has continued for more than a centuryHundreds of San Franciscans lined the streets on Sunday – phones drawn and ready – to glimpse a unique procession slowly making its way through the city. “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand on the sidewalk,” a police speaker blared. “There’s a house coming down the street.”The two-story, 5,170-sq-ft green Victorian, known as the Englander House, had spent more than a century in the heart of San Francisco. But for years it stood vacant and fell into disrepair, sandwiched behind a gas station and loomed over by new apartment buildings. The city, which suffers from a housing shortage, was ready to build a 48-unit building in its place. Continue reading...

The co-founder of the City Lights Bookstore had global stature but remained a neighborhood fixtureBy early afternoon, a small memorial of flowers and a can of Pabst had begun to accumulate outside the door of City Lights Books, to commemorate the death of its co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti.And by the evening, a vigil for Ferlinghetti, one of the last living links to the Beat generation, was being held in the adjacent Jack Kerouac Alley, a tiny side street that separates the bookstore – a tourist attraction and official city landmark for decades – from the celebrated Beat hangout Vesuvio Cafe. Continue reading...

Golfing champion Tiger Woods was hospitalised in Los Angeles with severe leg injuries when his car veered off a road and rolled down a steep hillside, requiring rescue crews to pry him from the wreckage.The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva said at a news conference hours later, adding there was no evidence of impairment when Woods was assessed by emergency workers at the scene.Carlos Gonzales, a sheriff's deputy who was the first to reach the wreck, described Woods, who was wearing his seatbelt, as ‘calm and lucid',’ and said he recognised the golf great after Woods told the officer his name was ‘Tiger’

Canadian PM congratulates US president on rejoining Paris accord, saying ‘it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change’

The British socialite charged with aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse has been denied bail twice since being arrested in JulyGhislaine Maxwell, the British socialite charged with aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse, has offered to renounce her UK and French citizenship in an attempt to secure bail.The offer to surrender her foreign citizenship is the latest attempt by Maxwell’s lawyers to secure bail for their client. Maxwell, 59, has been denied bail twice, with a judge deeming her to be a flight risk. Continue reading...

Body camera showed officers holding 41-year-old Black man down until he stopped breathing last winterPolice officers shown on body camera video holding Daniel Prude down naked and handcuffed on a city street last winter until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges, according to a grand jury decision announced Tuesday.The 41-year-old Black man’s death last March sparked nightly protests in Rochester, New York, after the video was released nearly six months later, with demonstrators demanding a reckoning for police and city officials. Continue reading...

Six men and two pregnant women had been at sea for 16 days in makeshift vesselSix men and two pregnant women from Cuba have been rescued off the Florida coast after their makeshift styrofoam boat capsized following 16 days at sea, in the latest in a string of incidents involving migrants from the island.The capsize and interdiction was captured on video on Sunday by authorities, whose rescues of the past few weeks appear to follow a rise in Cuban refugees seeking to reach the United States. Continue reading...

The former Capitol police chief, Steven Sund, said during a joint hearing on security failures that the insurrectionists during the 6 January attack 'came prepared for war'.Senators investigating the attack on the US Capitol last month heard testimony on training and equipping the Capitol police as the former police chief of that department and other security officials testified publicly for the first time Tuesday.

First congressional hearing on attack comes day after Merrick Garland said he would expand investigation into 6 January assault

Black jogger, 25, was shot and killed by three white vigilantes as he ran along a community street in Brunswick, GeorgiaTributes have poured in across the US to mark one year since Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black jogger, was shot and killed by three white vigilantes as he ran along a community street in Brunswick, Georgia.“A Black man should be able to go for a jog without fearing for his life,” Joe Biden tweeted in honor of Arbery on Tuesday, adding that “today, we remember [his] life and dedicate ourselves to making this country safer for people of color”. Continue reading...

Biden’s pick for interior secretary criticized for tweeting ‘Republicans don’t believe in science’ in October 2020Deb Haaland, seeking to make history as the first Native American to hold a cabinet secretary position in the US, has weathered a torrent of hostile questioning from Republicans during her confirmation hearing as secretary of the interior.In a striking opening statement, Haaland, a member of Congress for New Mexico, said: “The historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say that it is not about me,” adding that she hoped her elevation would “be an inspiration for Americans, moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us”. Continue reading...