Those who know the lead impeachment manager salute his eloquence, even in the face of crushing griefJamie Raskin had finished a face-to-face interview with the Guardian and was on his way home. It was late on Saturday night in October 2018. But then he thought of a point he hadn’t made and, ever fastidious, restarted the conversation by phone.Related: For Trump, V is for victory – while his lawyers flick a V-sign our way | Richard Wolffe Continue reading...
Fast-food workers will walk out on Tuesday, hoping to push through a minimum-wage raise to benefit tens of millionsFear was the overwhelming emotion Alvin Major felt when, on a chilly November morning in 2012, he went on strike at the Brooklyn KFC where he worked.“Everybody was scared,” said Major. He may have been fearful, but what Major didn’t know was that he was about to make American history – an early leader in a labor movement that some historians now see as the most successful in the US in 50 years. Continue reading...
It’s been years since she was in a film worth watching, but she has made being a celebrity its own art formI see that Angelina Jolie is on the cover of Vogue this month, to brighten our February gloom, which provides me with an opportunity to discuss what might be the most urgent question of our era: why is Jolie so famous?Let’s take this apart. First: why is Jolie well-known at all? Because she’s an actor, of course. Aha, I say to you, waggling my moustache like Hercule Poirot, right before dismantling somebody’s alibi: name a single movie of Jolie’s that you have actually seen. Maybe Maleficent, AKA Wicked Witch Of The Cheekbones? Possibly Girl, Interrupted? Sure, they exist, those movies, and she was definitely in them. Except they were made two decades apart, and they came out either long before her peak fame era or many years into it, which I would date roughly as 2005 to 2017. Instead, during that period Jolie made films such as Wanted, Beowulf, Changeling and Salt. Did you see any of those? Of course not. No one you know saw Jolie’s 2017 film, By The Sea. And yet, during those years, Jolie was probably the most A-list US actress in the world. Continue reading...
The Trump associates have opted for a medium that offers big opportunities with less risk of being de-platformedWhat do Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, Mike Pence and Anthony Scaramucci all have in common?They worked for Donald Trump, obviously, and several have been implicated in alleged crimes connected to the former president, but as of this month, each of these one-time high-profile Trump acolytes also has his own podcast. Continue reading...
Robert D Kaplan’s outstanding book makes a strong case for US engagement based on human rights and helping refugeesWhat adjective should describe “the American” active in foreign policy? Graham Greene chose “quiet”, as his character harmed a country he did not understand. Eugene Burdick and William Lederer used “ugly”.Robert D Kaplan, one of America’s most thoughtful chroniclers of foreign affairs, proposes “good” to describe Bob Gersony, who in “a frugal monastic existence that has been both obscure and extraordinary” has devoted his life to using the power and treasure of the US to serve others through humanitarian action. Continue reading...
Last year, Michael van der Veen sued Trump for claiming voter fraud. On Friday, he helped present an insult to US democracyYou may have thought the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump was somehow connected to the fascist mob that staged an insurrection on Capitol Hill last month.Related: Trump defense team ridiculed over video of Democrats saying 'fight' Continue reading...
by Sam Levine in New York and Lauren Gambino in Washi on (#5E3ZT)
Lawyers claim Trump’s ‘fight like hell’ rhetoric on 6 January was no different than the language politicians frequently useImpeachment lawyers for Donald Trump accused the prosecution of waging a “politically motivated witch-hunt” against the former president, vehemently denying the charge that his words and actions incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they concluded their sharply partisan defense and prepared for a swift conclusion to the trial.Confident that Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial would again result in acquittal, the defense lawyers channeled the former president’s bombastic style – and his loose relationship with the facts – to denounce the case against him as an “unconstitutional act of political vengeance” fueled by Democrats’ longstanding “hatred” of their client. They claimed the House managers had grievously mischaracterized Trump’s remarks to his followers at a rally on 6 January, when he exhorted them to “fight like hell” during a rally just before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol. Continue reading...
Goodman was quick to act during the 6 January attack by engaging rioters and ushering Senator Mitt Romney to safetyEugene Goodman, the Capitol police officer who led violent rioters away from lawmakers during the 6 January attack, has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the US Senate.The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called the vote at the end of Friday’s impeachment proceedings, noting Goodman’s “foresight in the midst of chaos, and his willingness to make himself a target of the mob’s rage so that others might reach safety”. Continue reading...
TJ Ducklo is sorry for ‘heated conversation’, says White House press secretary, but punishment appears to fall short of Biden’s threat to fire uncivil aidesThe White House has suspended a press aide over allegations he threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.Vanity Fair alleged on Friday that White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo had made threats – including saying “I will destroy you” – to a Politico correspondent who was reporting on Ducklo’s recently disclosed relationship with an Axios reporter, Alexi McCammond. Continue reading...
The state’s plan has been criticised as too little too late, leaving those with high-risk conditions uncertain about when their turn will comeCalifornia leaders are under fire over the state’s mixed messaging on how people with disabilities will be prioritized for the Covid-19 vaccine, a situation that advocates say has left millions of disabled and chronically ill residents in the lurch.Last month the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, abruptly announced California would diverge from national guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by prioritizing age, rather than underlying risk, in deciding who would get the inoculation next, arguing it would “allow us to scale up much more quickly”. Continue reading...
Bill Michael, UK chair of the accountancy firm, had to step down amid protests after he told staff to ‘stop moaning’Millennials are flexing their power in the workplace. From women’s rights to demands for tougher action on climate change, younger staff are forcing the pace.Last week the boss of KPMG stepped down amid protests from staff about his behaviour during an online meeting. Continue reading...
The impeachment trial saw its most bizarre turn yet as the ex-president’s lawyers deployed whataboutism in its purest formFight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. The first rule of Fight Club is just keep bashing your audience with the same word ad nauseam.Related: Trump defense team ridiculed over video of Democrats saying 'fight' Continue reading...
Democratic senator decries ‘false, dangerous and distorted equivalence’ but impeachment defence met with ridicule onlineLawyers for Donald Trump were condemned by Democrats and ridiculed by critics on Friday, after they showed the Senate impeachment trial a video which sought to compare remarks on the campaign trail and in support of protests against systemic racism with Trump’s incitement of the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.Related: Impeachment trial: defense lawyers argue Trump is victim of 'cancel culture' Continue reading...
Justice department confirms Joe Biden intends to have WikiLeak’s co-founder stand trial in USThe US government has appealed a UK judge’s ruling against the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, according to a justice department official.The appeal made clear that Joe Biden intends to have Assange stand trial on espionage- and hacking-related charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic documents. Continue reading...
Anti-Trump group said John Weaver’s conduct was ‘appalling’ and tweeted messages between journalist and Jennifer HornAfter the publication on Thursday of further revelations about a founder member who sexually harassed gay men, the anti-Trump conservative Lincoln Project acknowledged what it called a “central truth”: that John Weaver’s conduct was “appalling” and that he “abused” some who sought work with the group.But it also continued to deny mishandling the allegations. Responding to reports by the Associated Press, New York magazine, the New York Times and other outlets, the group said: “Recently published stories about the Lincoln Project are filled with inaccuracies, incorrect information, and reliant exclusively on anonymous sources.” Continue reading...
Stacey Abrams’ New Georgia Project accused of not handing documents in on time in Republicans’ latest targeting of the groupThe Georgia state election board referred two cases to prosecutors on Wednesday connected to organizations that helped mobilize a record number of voters in the state during the 2020 election, a move critics say is an intimidation effort. Continue reading...
New York’s governor criticized following leaked recording of top aide admitting the administration withheld dataAndrew Cuomo – New York’s governor who was once hailed the king of the US Covid-19 response – was facing fresh calls for his removal from office on Friday after new allegations emerged that he and senior staff covered up the extent of the virus deaths in the state’s nursing homes.The New York Post said it obtained a leaked recording of the governor’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, admitting to Democrats in private conversations this week that the administration withheld the true data because it feared the Department of Justice would use the figures to pursue complaints of state misconduct. Continue reading...
Failing to convict the former president will send a clear and alarming message: future elections can be overturned by forceRare is the trial that takes place at the scene of the crime. Rarer still is the trial where the jurors are also witnesses to, if not victims of, that crime. Which means that the case of Donald Trump should be open and shut, a slam-dunk. Because those sitting in judgment saw the consequences of what Trump did on 6 January. They heard it. And, as security footage played during this week’s proceedings showed, they ran for their lives because of it.And yet, most watching the second trial of Trump – only the fourth impeachment in US history – presume that it will end in his acquittal. They expect that fewer than 17 Republican senators will find the former president guilty of inciting an insurrection and so, lacking the required two-thirds majority, the verdict will be not guilty. Barring a late spasm of conscience by the senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, Trump will pronounce himself vindicated, the case against him a hoax and he will be free to run again in 2024 – and to loom over his party as its dominant presence at least until then. Continue reading...
Four years ago, Brexiteers led an iceberg-worthy event on the Thames. Now they’ve ghosted an entire industry“Every revolution evaporates,” declared Kafka, “and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.” The government’s Brexit deal has gone one better, leaving both the slime of a new bureaucracy and heaps of rotting shellfish on the docks, as fishermen discover they cannot export them to the European Union. In public, environment secretary and reconstituted shrug emoticon George Eustice claims the EU’s shellfish ban is “legally wrong”, while in private his department informs the shellfish industry that the opposite is the case. Such a fine line, isn’t it, between having had enough of experts and having had enough of exports.Even by their own standards, however, the Brexiteers’ ghosting of the fishermen is something to behold. Every day brings new stories of businesses folding under the weight of red tape or insurmountable non-tariff barriers, and a government response that’s basically: “I want you to know that what we had was really special and also I’m blocking you now.” Continue reading...
Rival supporters have enjoyed mocking Palmeiras but their results in Qatar show how far Brazilian football has fallenBy Tom Sanderson for Yellow and Green Football
Committee voted 12-0 in favor of ban, advancing it to city council, months after actions of city’s police sparked racial reckoning in USThe city of Minneapolis is poised to ban facial recognition software for police use, part of a growing movement to prohibit software known to have serious flaws identifying racial minorities and women.The actions of Minneapolis police sparked a racial reckoning in the United States last summer when police officers knelt on the neck of George Floyd for more than eight minutes, leading to his death. Continue reading...
Biden administration takes major step to dismantle Trump policy that exposed people to violence in Mexican border citiesThe Biden administration on Friday announced plans for tens of thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico for their next immigration court hearings to be allowed into the United States while their cases proceed.The first of an estimated 25,000 asylum seekers in Mexico with active cases will be allowed in the United States on 19 February, authorities said. They plan to start slowly with two border crossings each processing up to 300 people a day and a third crossing taking fewer. Administration officials declined to name them out of fear they may encourage a rush of people to those locations. Continue reading...
Workers call for McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s to increase pay as Congress prepares to debate federal minimum wageFast-food workers in 15 cities will hold a Black History Month strike on Tuesday to demand that the McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurant chains pay them $15 an hour.The action comes as Congress prepares to debate a federal rise in the minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25, the first federal raise since 2009. Continue reading...
Reports on Queen’s consent have revived the republicanism question – and regional and generational shifts are emergingThe Queen is less of a constitutional monarch than we thought. This week the Guardian revealed how she has used her Queen’s consent powers to vet more than 1,000 laws before they reach parliament. Memos unearthed from the National Archives show how she applied pressure over transparency legislation in the 1970s to ensure her private wealth stayed secret. Successive governments bent at the knee, showing how those weekly private meetings keep prime ministers in awe.I’m not sure why she is at such pains to keep her money secret: everyone knows she has astronomic wealth beyond her subjects’ imagining, and a few noughts more or less makes no difference to monarchists. But the true scale of her wealth is never disclosed: Norman Baker, monarchy monitor, this week estimated it at £1bn. Forbes put the monarchy’s worth at £72.5bn, but that’s not all hers to keep. The Sunday Times Rich List puts her down for £350m personally. Continue reading...
House impeachment managers concluded their case against Donald Trump on Thursday by saying that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency beset by lies and violent rhetoric. They also said he would remain a threat to US democracy if not convicted and barred from holding future office
Who missed his calling? Who united? Who hit 500 not out?Serena Williams has been wearing a one-legged catsuit at the Australian Open. Which athlete inspired the outfit?John DalyJorge CamposFlorence Griffith JoynerBillie Jean KingLeon Spinks, who beat Muhammad Ali to become the heavyweight champion of the world in just his eighth professional fight, died this week at the age of 67. How many people were in the arena to witness the greatest moment of Spinks’ career on that Wednesday afternoon back in 1978?5,29898,999112,345156,777Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring for Milan against Crotone at the weekend, scoring his 500th goal in club football. At which of his nine clubs has he been most prolific, scoring 156 of those goals?MalmöAjaxJuventusInterBarcelonaMilanPSGManchester UnitedLA GalaxyWhat task brought Porto and Braga players together during a cup tie in Portugal?The two captains did a symbolic dance together on the pitch to encourage fans to maintain social distancing rules at all timesTwo players caught a streaker together. A Porto forward tackled him to the ground and the Braga keeper protected his modesty with his glovesThey pushed a broken-down ambulance off the pitchPlayers from both teams petitioned the referee not to send off a striker who had taken off his shirt after scoring an overhead kick. The opposing captain told the referee: 'Did you not see it? It was perfect. He should be allowed to take off his shorts after scoring that goal!'Which former footballer has revealed his desire to take up cricket once lockdown eases, saying: "I was an all-rounder. I was really good. I just love playing. I was probably playing more cricket than soccer at school. I’m on YouTube a lot watching cricket. My wife always says: ‘What are you watching? What is this?’ Three hours a day watching games from 1984 and 1986, and she is going: ‘What is wrong with you, why aren’t you normal?’ When it gets a bit warmer and we can start to go out a bit easier, I would like to go training with the national team and see how fast the ball really comes at you, with your pads and everything. I think it would be a good experience"?Phil NevilleShay GivenFrank LampardChristian VieriPeter O’Mahony was sent off during Ireland’s game against Wales in the Six Nations at the weekend. How many players have been sent off in the Six Nations (in 318 matches since Italy joined the competition in 2000)?ThreeNine3055England’s start to the Six Nations was about as successful as O’Mahony’s. They lost a home game to Scotland for the first time in 38 years. Things should improve this weekend, when they play Italy at Twickenham. England have played Italy 27 times. How many of those games have they won?24252627The Champions League returns this week. Which two countries will be hosting knockout ties for the first time (in the Champions League era)?Denmark and CyprusHungary and RomaniaGreece and BelgiumSwitzerland and TurkeyTom Brady won the Super Bowl for the seventh time on Sunday. Which NFL team has won as many Super Bowls as Brady?New England PatriotsSan Francisco 49ersDallas CowboysPittsburgh SteelersNone of themWhich of the eight clubs left in this season’s FA Cup has reached the final on four previous occasions but never won the trophy?BournemouthSheffield UnitedLeicester CitySouthampton3 and above.Not bad. Have a good weekend4 and above.A decent score. Well played. Have a great weekend5 and above.A decent score. Well played. Have a great weekend6 and above.Well played. Have a great weekend7 and above.Well played. Have a great weekend8 and above.Well played. Have a great weekend9 and above.Well played. Have a great weekend10 and above.Perfection. Well played. Have a great weekend2 and above.Oh dear0 and above.Oh dear1 and above.Oh dear Continue reading...
House impeachment managers urged senators to prevent ex-president from holding office again. Plus, former Republican officials discuss creating a new party
Major health insurers volunteered to cover testing and treatment, while the government introduced new programs – but those assurances haven’t played outCovid-19 allowed for an experiment in US healthcare: what if doctor’s visits and hospitalizations didn’t cost people money?In response to the pandemic, major health insurers volunteered to cover coronavirus testing and treatment for their paying customers and the government introduced programs to make care more affordable. But a year after coronavirus was first identified in the US, those assurances haven’t played out as planned. Continue reading...
The coming months could involve a flurry of trades for some of the biggest names in pro football. Here’s a rundown of some of the most intriguing dealsAge: 28. Career touchdowns: 113. Career interceptions: 50. Career passer rating: 89.2 Continue reading...
Before he became known as a leader in the attempt to try to overturn the presidential election, the Republican senator spent a year teaching at St Paul’s, the elite British school, in 2002Before Josh Hawley became known as a leader of the attempt to overturn the 2020 election in the US Congress, he was remembered by former students and staff at St Paul’s, the elite British school for boys where he spent a year teaching, as an aloof, rightwing political obsessive who had made himself popcorn to watch the US invasion of Iraq.The Republican senator from Missouri has been the target of ire of millions of Americans after he became the first senator to say he would object to election results. Ultimately, 146 congressional Republicans joined the rightwing lawmaker in seeking to block votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona from being counted, an extraordinary move that was seen as stoking the flames of a pro-Trump mob who attacked the US Capitol. Continue reading...
Republicans Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others unabashedly endorsed the former president’s assault on democracyA desk in the US Senate was notably empty for chunks of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial on Wednesday. Continue reading...
New video shows girl saying: ‘Please don’t do this,’ to which officer replies: ‘You did it to yourself, hon’A nine-year-old Black girl pepper sprayed by police begged “please don’t do this to me” and said “it burns” as she waited handcuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser for 16 minutes, according to new police body camera footage released on Thursday.The city of Rochester suspended police officers seen in an initial video from the 29 January detainment spraying a chemical irritant in the face of the distraught and handcuffed child. Mayor Lovely Warren said the city released almost 90 minutes of additional video in order to be transparent. Continue reading...
First a cat-faced lawyer, now Minnesota representative Tom Emmer presents a topsy-turvy screen image at a virtual committeeA US Republican congressman accidentally turned the political world upside down when he appeared with his face flipped the wrong way during a video call for a House of Representatives committee hearing.Days after a Texan lawyer presented in court with a kitten filter instead of his face, Minnesota representative Tom Emmer made his own unusual video call debut. Continue reading...
Joe Biden has criticised Donald Trump’s handling of the US Covid vaccination program after confirming the country had ordered an additional 200m vaccine doses to be delivered by the end of July. Speaking at the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, the president spoke of the efforts his team had gone through to ensure high vaccination numbers and criticised Trump’s strategy for distributing vaccines. ‘My predecessor, to be very blunt about it, did not do his job,’ Biden said. ‘He didn’t order enough vaccines. He didn’t mobilise enough people to administer the shots’
Grand jury declines to indict Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski on felony assault chargesCriminal charges have been dropped against two police officers seen on video last spring shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground in Buffalo, New York, prosecutors said Thursday.A grand jury declined to indict the Buffalo officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski on felony assault charges, ending the matter, said John Flynn, the Erie County district attorney. Continue reading...
At third day of impeachment trial, House managers focused on how Trump manipulated the emotions of Americans who were then willing to walk on hot coals on his behalfIt was “a little terrifying”, Eleanor Roosevelt told the Associated Press about her husband Franklin’s inauguration as US president in 1933. “The crowds were so tremendous. And you felt that they would do anything – if only someone would tell them what to do.”The ability of leaders to turns crowds into mobs and bend them to their will has been a constant in history was a focus of the third day of former US president Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate on Thursday. Continue reading...
by Joan E Greve in Washington and agencies on (#5E2ZX)
President, who confirmed doses would be delivered in July, said Trump ‘did not do his job’ on strategy for distributing vaccinesThe US has finalized an order for 200m more vaccine doses – 100m doses each from Pfizer and Moderna – to be delivered by the end of July, Joe Biden confirmed on Monday. Continue reading...
Officials feared president would need a ventilator as he faced extremely low oxygen levels, New York Times reportsDonald Trump was reportedly much more ill with Covid-19 in October than the White House publicly admitted at the time, with some officials concerned that he would need to be put on a ventilator.Trump experienced “extremely depressed blood oxygen levels” and a lung problem commonly associated with pneumonia caused by Covid-19, according to a report in the New York Times citing four people familiar with the former president’s condition. Continue reading...
House impeachment managers warned that more political violence could occur if Trump is not held accountable. Representative Diana DeGette argued the vote to impeach would make sure this would never happen again.The managers rested their case on the third day of the trial after presenting arguments for convicting Donald Trump.
Overnight freezing rain caused the pileup near Fort Worth which left a nearly mile-long wreckage and injured dozens of peopleAt least five people were killed and dozens injured on Thursday in a crash involving up to 100 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate highway, police said, as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the US.At the scene of the crash on Interstate 35 near Fort Worth, a tangle of semitrailers, cars and trucks had crashed into each other and had turned every which way, with some vehicles on top of others. Continue reading...
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