PM says Lebanon has not fully met conditions for Israeli withdrawal under ceasefire dealBenjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israeli troops will not comply with a Sunday deadline for them to withdraw from southern Lebanon, throwing the ceasefire with Hezbollah into crisis.Confirming that Israel would not meet the 26 January deadline, the prime minister's office said in a statement: The IDF's withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani [River]." Continue reading...
Pete Hegseth wants to make government subordinate to Old Testament law. Plus, the Australians lining up to sniff a flower that smells like a rotten carcass
by Katy Murrells (now) and Joey Lynch (earlier) on (#6TSMQ)
Jannik Sinner saw off Ben Shelton in straight sets to set up a final against Alexander Zverev, who was leading by a set to love when Novak Djokovic retired injuredDjokovic produces another hold to go up 2-1 but his inability to land a first serve is already looking like it could be an issue going forward. Landing just four of his 21 serves at the first time of asking so far, the Serb was taken to break point four times in that game only to fight back and eventually produce the hold. Unable to land a decisive blow, the host broadcaster is already postulating that the occasion may be getting to Zverev.A much less dramatic hold for Zverev, working his serve and baseline play to drop just a single point. Continue reading...
This long and awful war has taught Ukrainians to love and value their country - and its beauty - even moreLast November, my wife Elizabeth planted a great many tulip and daffodil bulbs in the cold autumn soil, so that in the spring, even more flowers than usual would bloom around our village house, located an hour's drive from Kyiv. Our neighbours have sown garlic and onions for the winter, planted flowers and scattered fertiliser over the ploughed land, thoughtful of another year's harvest.But between now and the spring, there is winter and there is war. Continue reading...
Halts to external communications, publishing reports and reviewing and approving research a dramatic shift'US health agency employees are now banned from nearly all travel and certain agencies and programs have been ordered to stop issuing new contracts and grants until further notice.The limits on travel and spending, announced internally on Wednesday, add to previous indefinite halts on external communications, including publishing new reports or even posting to social media, and on reviewing and approving new medical research, a nearly $50bn industry in the US. Continue reading...
Truss, Braverman, Farage and Fox flock to US hoping for a seat at president's inauguration - to discover he has moved onSpare a thought for the grifters. Those sad Brits who have spent years toadying up to Donald Trump in the belief they had been admitted into his gilded inner circle. Those men and women who bravely posted selfies on X as they arrived in Washington in the belief they would be attending the inauguration of The Donald. Continue reading...
Pete Hegseth expresses admiration in podcast series for authoritarian beliefs promoted by far-right Idaho pastorIn a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of sphere sovereignty", a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.In the recordings, Hegeth rails against cultural Marxism", feminism, critical race theory", and even democracy itself, which he says our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous". Continue reading...
Will Jayden Daniels make history? And can Josh Allen break his playoff drought against the champions? Here are our picks for this weekendStory of the season: Jayden Daniels is one game away from the extraordinary. A stunning seven-win rampage through the winter leaves Washington with just Philadelphia to beat for the NFC championship and Daniels to become the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl. They need a second win in six weeks over an Eagles team with the strongest roster top to bottom in the NFL. But Philly's stacked lineup, with Saquon Barkley at its nucleus, rang rings around the Commanders for an easy victory the teams' other regular-season meeting, in November. The Eagles will be desperate to spoil the rookie's party while clinching this unlikely season-defining series. Continue reading...
Chelsea are signing the USA defender for a world-record $1.1m but the big gap to the rest of the pyramid is unhealthyWhen Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign the Colombia striker Mayra Ramirez for 450,000 (380,000) last January, the thought of that fee more than doubling in the space of a year might have sounded like a fanciful rate of inflation to some. But to those involved in the fast-evolving world of women's football transfer fees, this week's smashing of the $1m (810,000) barrier has been on the cards for a while.With Chelsea understood to have agreed personal terms with the highly acclaimed United States defender Naomi Girma for her world-record-breaking $1.1m transfer from San Diego Wave, the prospect of the first 1m move is surely now a mere inevitability, and the rise in prices certainly will not stop there. Indeed, it could already have been comfortably smashed for a winger or a No 9. Girma is arguably the best defender in the world - Emma Hayes labelled her the best defender she had ever seen" - but she is, nonetheless, a defender. If a centre-back can attract a seven-figure transfer fee, what would the WSL's top goalscorer Khadija Shaw be worth, or the Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati? Continue reading...
The first time you came into my hospital, shards of glass shredding your tiny body, I saved you. The second time I failedAs news of the ceasefire ripples my way, my memory mocks me. Your face glides into focus from my mind's abyss, where I had buried it.You come into my emergency room at al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza during the early morning hours. Your chubby cheeks blush with the night's cold, heavy eyelashes dripping tears into the basins under your eyes. I save you this time. I do my job. Shards of glass stemming from an explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike shred your tiny arms and legs. I clean the wounds and stitch you up without even a modicum of pain relief. A niche torture for both of us. Follow up in five days for suture removal post penetrating injury from secondary blast," I write on your chart.Seema Jilani is a paediatric specialist. She has worked in Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt and the Balkans. Her radio documentary, Israel and Palestine: The Human Cost of the Occupation, was nominated for the Peabody award Continue reading...
Hughes fire near Castaic Lake broke out on Wednesday and led to evacuation orders or warnings for more than 50,000Firefighters fought to maintain the upper hand on a huge and rapidly moving wildfire that swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles and resulted in more than 50,000 people being put under evacuation orders or warnings.The Hughes fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 sq miles (41 sq km) of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64km) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week. Continue reading...
Announcement comes day before Donald Trump will visit fire-torn areas and amid criticism around state water supplyGavin Newsom has signed a $2.5bn relief package to help areas of Los Angeles recover from the devastating fires that have been burning for nearly two weeks. The funds were announced during a press conference on Thursday in Pasadena, just outside of Altadena, the town hit hardest by the Eaton fire, which ignited on 7 January.The signing of the bipartisan aid package comes a day before Donald Trump is set to visit the fire-torn areas and amid continued criticism of the California governor and other state officials' management of the state's water supply. It also follows a new blaze, the Hughes fire, which sparked on Wednesday morning and quickly grew. It is now 36% contained and has burned nearly 10,400 acres (4,209 hectares), according to Cal Fire. Continue reading...
Ras Baraka and other state lawmakers express outrage as sanctuary cities nationwide brace for similar Ice actionsThe mayor of Newark, New Jersey, said an immigration raid in the city was done without a warrant, and led to the detainment of undocumented residents as well as citizens.Newark mayor Ras Baraka said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had raided a local establishment. Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized," he wrote in a statement. Continue reading...
Nick Brown, the Washington state attorney general, spoke outside after a federal judge temporarily blocked Donald Trump's executive order redefining birthright citizenship. 'We came to the courthouse today to defend the United States constitution. To defend democracy in America and to defend what it means to be an American citizen,' Brown said
The policy stands in contrast to instances during the Biden administration when gay pride and Black Lives Matter flags were flownThe US Department of State has banned consular posts from flying any flags other than that of the US as part of the Trump administration's pledge to crack down on diversity efforts in government institutions.A cable seen by the Guardian titled One flag policy" appears to target several instances during the Biden administration when gay pride and Black Lives Matters flags were flown at embassies abroad. Continue reading...
Executive order also aims to declassify federal records on killings of Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther KingDonald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of John F Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades.The executive order the president signed on Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of Robert F Kennedy and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr. The order is among a flurry of executive actions Trump has quickly taken the first week of his second term. Continue reading...
A 17-year-old fatally shot one student, injured two others, and killed himself at Antioch high school on WednesdayA 17-year-old gunman opened fire in a Nashville-area high school cafeteria on Wednesday, killing one student and wounding two others.With an investigation underway, here is what we know so far: Continue reading...
Executive order signed by Trump, which was to take effect on 19 February, is already the subject of five lawsuitsA federal judge in Seattle blocked Donald Trump's administration on Thursday from implementing an executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the US, calling it blatantly unconstitutional".US district judge John Coughenour at the urging of four Democratic-led states issued a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from enforcing the order, which the Republican president signed on Monday during his first day on office. Continue reading...
Dublin's latest coalition has finally got parliamentary approval. But there are meteorological and political tempests coming across the AtlanticThe whole of Ireland was put on red alert on Thursday as Storm Eowyn barrelled in from the north Atlantic. Schools in the Irish republic are closed on Friday, all public transport has been stood down and pet owners have been told to keep animals stabled or indoors, with 80mph winds expected to leave trails of destruction before the storm moves on towards central Scotland.The danger to life and property will be more than enough for most people in Ireland. But it is hard not to see this week's tempestuous visitation as something of a metaphor for Irish politics, which have had an unusually storm-tossed week of their own as the republic buckles up for a tax-and-tariff battle with Donald Trump's new administration in Washington. Continue reading...
This unprecedented slaughter could not have happened without powerful cheerleaders. Hold them to accountUnless those complicit in the Gaza genocide are held to account, the brutal consequences will be felt far beyond that shattered land. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas offered a respite for traumatised survivors. But Donald Trump's declaration that he is not confident it will last has prompted renewed terror. From the new president's decision to lift the pause on shipments of 2,000lb bombs to Israel, which were dropped repeatedly on civilians in so-called safe zones, to his pick for the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who once said there was really no such thing as a Palestinian", those hoping for lasting peace are right to worry that the carnage will soon begin again.The assault on Gaza is normalising an almost limitless violence against civilians, all facilitated and justified by multiple western governments and media outlets. It is worth recalling the destruction of Guernica by Nazi and Italian forces during the Spanish civil war nearly nine decades ago. Guernica was one of the first aerial mass bombardments of a civilian community, and it scandalised the world. The then US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, deplored how civilians, including vast numbers of women and children, are being ruthlessly murdered from the air". The Times journalist George Steer wrote that, In the form of its execution and the scale of destruction it wrought, the raid on Guernica is unparalleled in military history." Alas, Guernica turned out to be a trial run for the aerial obliteration of European cities a few years later: the Nazi military leader Hermann Goring told the Nuremberg trials that Guernica allowed the Nazis to test out their Luftwaffe.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Jan Johnson arrested after deputies made discovery during search warrant in investigation into animal neglectA woman in California was arrested on Wednesday after authorities discovered 27 dead horses across multiple properties, police said.Jan Johnson of Clements, California, was arrested and booked into the San Joaquin county jail on multiple charges, officials said, including cruelty to an animal, threatening a public official, criminal threats, and possession of a short-barrel shotgun. Continue reading...
Settlement resolves thousands of lawsuits alleging Oxycontin caused addiction crisisMembers of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agreed to pay up to $7.4bn in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, the New York Aattorney Ggeneral, Letitia James, announced Thursday.The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family members who own the company and lawyers representing state and local governments and thousands of victims of the opioid crisis, represents an increase of more than $1bn over a previous settlement deal that was rejected last year by the US supreme court. Continue reading...
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, the US president said: 'This guy went around giving everybody pardons. And you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn't give himself a pardon. And if you look at it, it all had to do with him.' It came as Trump told Hannity that he was given the option to pardon himself in 2021 when he was departing the White House, but declined because he believed he had done nothing wrong
Suspect later found dead inside an apartment after standoff, says San Antonio police chiefSeven San Antonio police officers were shot while responding to a suicide in progress" call and the suspect was later found dead inside an apartment after a standoff, the city's police chief said.The officers were shot on Wednesday night and a Swat team was called to the Stone Oak neighborhood, the San Antonio police chief, Bill McManus, said early on Thursday. After several hours, the suspect was dead but it was not immediately known how he died, McManus said. Continue reading...
Mariann Edgar Budde defends sermon asking president to show compassion to immigrants and LGBTQ+ peopleThe bishop at the National Cathedral prayer service in Washington on Tuesday who urged Donald Trump to have mercy upon" immigrants and LGBTQ+ people, has defended her remarks and said that she will not apologize.The Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde's sermon on Tuesday garnered national attention when she made a direct plea to Trump to show mercy and compassion toward scared individuals, including gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families", as well as immigrants, and those fleeing war and persecution. Continue reading...
It's Trump's proclivity for deal-making and no mess I'm holding on to for progress toward a Palestinian stateThe only thing we know for certain regarding a Trump Middle East doctrine is that the president-elect has no clear policy regarding that part of the world. Contradictions abound in his appointments and statements. Donald Trump's first term perhaps offers clues - the signing and promoting of the Abraham accords with the Gulf states and Israel while also moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and shuttering the US consulate in Israel that catered to the Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank and Gaza, while also tossing the PLO representative out of Washington and shutting down that ambassadorial-rank office.He allowed his US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, to encourage increased West Bank settlement, himself a patron of the hardcore ideological Jewish settlers. None of these actions made an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians easier or more near, and now, after October 7, the terrain is more fraught and confused.Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK and Israeli publications Continue reading...
Barcelona and Benfica produced a classic that swung from the sublime to the ridiculous. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of actionBarcelona Continue reading...
Rachel Reeves told the elites gathered in Switzerland she was relaxed about wealth creation'. She's in the minority on thatRachel Reeves might give the impression of being someone who's never late for social engagements, but she is increasingly late to the party. At a breakfast event on the second day of Davos, after she'd spelled out her faith in artificial intelligence and a high-skilled workforce, someone asked Britain's chancellor how she felt about wealth creation" - was she relaxed, in a Blairite sense? Absolutely," Reeves replied. Absolutely relaxed."Wealth creation isn't quite the same as just wealth, but wealth creators" is famously the moniker the super-rich use for themselves. And so Reeves's exceedingly relaxed tone here puts her in a minority - possibly a minority of one. As Elon Musk salutes his way into political power, not even rich people are relaxed about wealth any more. On the first day of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, the pro-tax campaign group Patriotic Millionaires released survey results from 2,000 high net-worth individuals across the G20: more than half of them thought extreme wealth was a threat to democracy, and over two-thirds agreed that the visible influence of the wealthy was leading to a decline in trust of the media, the justice system and democracy.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Daniel Ball granted clemency by Trump over riot-related offenses but remains in jail under separate gun chargeA Florida man pardoned for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot was swiftly rearrested on Wednesday on federal gun charges.Daniel Ball, 38, of Homosassa, Florida, remains detained after federal authorities executed an arrest warrant for illegal firearm possession - a charge that predates but emerged from his involvement in the 2021 Capitol insurrection. The arrest marks a complex legal move that suggests presidential pardons may not provide absolute protection from prosecution. Continue reading...
House and Senate Republicans float ideas to pay for Trump's immigration crackdown and to fund tax cutsRepublicans are reportedly prepared to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Donald Trump's promised crackdown on immigration and to fund tax cuts which would mostly benefit the wealthy.The GOP in the House and Senate have floated a series of ideas - many of which would target lower income Americans - to cover the cost of extending tax cuts passed by Trump in 2017, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...
Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, was too strong for Paula Badosa, while Madison Keys outlasted Iga Swiatek in an epic to set up an enticing finalSabalenka 0-1 Badosa* (denotes server) A big service-winner down the T makes 15-all, but Sabalenka takes control of the next point with a booming forehand return, cleaning up with with another down the line Then, facing a second serve, she steps in a little and starts thwacking ... but just when15-40 seems a matter of time, a backhand on the stretch and on to the line hauls Badosa back into the point and eventually the error comes; 30-all. But a double presents break point; another service-winner confiscates it, and so far, the underdog is coping with the pressure well, as I type spanking an ace down the T for advantage. And though she oughtn't win the next rally, Sabalenka in at the net and unable to finish, she makes her opponent play enough balls such that the error comes. Badosa is into this!Badosa to serve and ready ... play. Continue reading...
President defends offering clemency to the 1,500 people involved in the insurrection. Plus, an oral history of the making of Twin PeaksGood morning.Donald Trump has described attacks by insurrectionists on police officers at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 as very minor incidents" after he offered sweeping clemency to those who took part.Why so many pardons? Media reports suggest Trump was too impatient to go through cases individually, with Axios quoting an adviser as saying: Trump just said: Fuck it: Release 'em all'."What other action are Republicans taking related to January 6? House Republicans will continue investigating the insurrection to try to undermine the previous inquiry that found Trump responsible for the deadly attack.Which aspects of the ACA will be affected? Trump cannot repeal the act by executive order but his directives are restricting eligibility requirements, cutting federal subsidies and affecting enrolment deadlines. Continue reading...
While the global PR firm blames economic fears' for this age of grievance', the executive class doesn't seem very fearfulHigh up in the Swiss Alps this week, an influential public relations executive issued a stark warning to the world's corporate and political elite. Public trust is plummeting", Richard Edelman declared, prompting a global descent into grievance".For the 25th year, the PR agency Edelman released its annual trust barometer" at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The survey asks respondents in dozens of countries if they trust governments, NGOs, media outlets and corporations. Continue reading...
NLRB-sanctioned vote in February of 4,300 workers could produce only second unionized Amazon warehouse in USAn independent group of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Garner, North Carolina, are seeking to form the second unionized warehouse at Amazon in the US.Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (Cause) filed to hold a union election at the warehouse, which, despite Amazon claiming they were very skeptical" the group would have enough legitimate signatures for the petition, was approved by the National Labor Relations Board. Continue reading...
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