The incoming Biden administration loves to tout its diversity, instead of talking about what it will actually do in powerJoe Biden is inheriting a mess of a country. The pandemic has killed 290,000 people and threatens many more; another 853,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last month; and stores are reporting spikes in shoplifting for food and baby formula.If Biden has any answers for us, Americans are keen to hear it. Continue reading...
The grand prix season ends in Abu Dhabi this weekend. The sport needs to rethink its partnerships with oppressive regimesFor Formula One fans around the world, the news that world champion Lewis Hamilton has recovered from coronavirus and will be fit to race in Abu Dhabi this weekend will be met with jubilation. F1’s management, on the other hand, might be feeling ambivalent.
A stroll down my high street is like walking with the ghosts of Christmas pastAs I write, Philip Green’s Arcadia Group – which includes former high street stalwarts Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Evans – has collapsed into administration. Yes, Topshop! The once seemingly indomitable, all-conquering Topshop.Doubtless, Green would point to Covid for this demise; some of us may crook a small finger in Green’s direction. Famously a cuddly bundle of charm, Green fell out with the brilliant Jane Shepherdson, Topshop’s former brand director and the architect of its rise through the 2000s, and she left in 2007. This resulted in a slow but notable downturn in the quality of the clothes, and left the fashion field wide open for retailers such as, on the one hand, Zara, and on the other, Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, all of whom grasped far quicker than Green that the future lay online. Continue reading...
The electoral college will confirm Joe Biden’s victory on Monday but Donald Trump’s fact-phobic hold on the Republican party holds firmNearly four decades after the publication of A Very British Coup, a popular novel by member of parliament Chris Mullin, America is in the throes of a very Trumpian coup – desperate, mendacious, frenzied and sometimes farcical and, most importantly, doomed to failure. Continue reading...
by Sam Levin in Los Angeles, Maanvi Singh in Oakland, on (#5BJ96)
Despite aggressive early lockdown measures, cases and deaths are now surging. How did things get so bad?Early in the coronavirus pandemic, California was celebrated as a beacon of common sense in a country on the brink. Continue reading...
Alfred Bourgeois’s IQ put him in the intellectually disabled category, which should have barred execution, lawyers sayThe Trump administration continued its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions Friday by putting to death a Louisiana truck driver who abused and killed his two-year-old daughter.Alfred Bourgeois, 56, was pronounced dead at 8.21pm eastern time after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Continue reading...
by Sam Levine in New York and Lauren Gambino in Washi on (#5BJ0S)
More than 120 Congress members have asked the supreme court to bar four states from casting electoral votes for BidenMore than 120 Republican members of the US House of Representatives formally asked the US supreme court this week to prevent four swing states from casting electoral votes for Joe Biden to seal his victory in the November election, a brazen move that signals how the Republican party has embraced Donald Trump’s baseless attacks on the American electoral system.Related: Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results Continue reading...
Message from still unidentified killer reads: ‘I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me’It took 51 years and a team of experts from three countries to crack the code to a cipher left by the still unidentified Zodiac Killer, who haunted northern California communities in the 1960s and 70s. But, on Friday, the code-breaker David Oranchak revealed for the first time, the ominous message sent by the murderer. Continue reading...
Cleavon Gilman says hospital told him not to return to work after his viral comments about bed shortageAn emergency-room doctor whose dedication throughout the coronavirus pandemic garnered praise from Joe Biden has claimed he was fired by the Arizona hospital where he worked for tweeting about the outbreak’s impact.Cleavon Gilman told the Arizona Republic he received a call from the Yuma regional medical center on 23 November, less than a day after he shared his frustration online about the state’s lack of hospital beds in tweets that went viral. He said hospital authorities told him not to return to work. Continue reading...
The state has recorded more than 1.4m cases and close to 20,500 deaths, and numbers are expected to keep risingThe coronavirus continues to shatter grim records across California, as the surge in the fast-spreading virus fills hospital beds close to capacity. Continue reading...
String of White House events with little social distancing flout official guidelines while 3,000 Americans a day are dyingDonald Trump has drawn withering criticism for continuing to host Christmas parties at the White House even as America’s daily death toll from the coronavirus hit a record 3,000. Continue reading...
Richard DeLisi, now 71, was sentenced to 90-year prison term in 1989 for marijuana trafficking, as part of era’s ‘war on drugs’A man believed to be the longest-serving inmate for non-violent, marijuana charges has been released from a Florida prison, and is set to spend the holidays with family for the first time in more than 31 years.Related: First US Covid vaccinations expected next week as FDA emergency approval appears close – live Continue reading...
The prime minister’s Merrie England delusions may work here, but beyond Dover he’s just a liar of global reputeCan it really be just three entire years and three entire days since Michael Gove said of a Brexit deal: “The final whistle has blown, and the prime minister has won”? Either way, I see the Brexit talks have moved into the threatening-suicide-if-your-ex-doesn’t-do-what-you-want stage. On Thursday evening, Boris Johnson took to the airwaves to warn that with negotiations due to end on Sunday, there is now a “strong possibility” of a no-deal Brexit.Related: Boris Johnson would only have himself to blame for a no-deal Brexit | Simon Jenkins Continue reading...
Elected officials and human rights groups in renewed plea for end to federal executions after Bernard, 40, put to death in IndianaA wave of outrage from human rights group, activists, elected officials, and others over the execution Thursday night of federal prisoner Brandon Bernard continued to grow on Friday behind a coordinated call for the abolition of the death penalty.Related: First US Covid vaccinations expected next week as FDA emergency approval appears close – live Continue reading...
Republican and Democratic attorneys general of four US states urged the supreme court to reject a lawsuit from Texas aiming to overturn the election result. Plus, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are Time’s person of the yearGood morning.Republican and Democratic attorneys general in the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have urged the US supreme court to reject a lawsuit filed by Texas that aims to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Shapiro, said the lawsuit contained a “mass of baseless claims” that had already been widely rejected by the courts, and said it was adding to a “cacophony of ” about the election. But the lawsuit still has some support; more than 100 Republican members of the House filed an amicus brief with the court in support of the Texas lawsuit on Thursday. Continue reading...
The Village will serve a range of needs in a region grappling with a history of erasure: ‘There’s nothing like it anywhere’The Bay Area is among the most racially and ethnically diverse regions in the US, but it is only slowly grappling with its self-understanding as a home for significant populations of Native Americans. An ambitious project is hoping to help address a challenge that the region’s Native population has grappled with since the occupation of Alcatraz Island in the late 1960s and early 70s: a crisis of invisibility.The Village, a multi-year project with funding from the philanthropic investor Kat Taylor (who is married to Tom Steyer, the billionaire financier and brief Democratic presidential hopeful), is intended to become a center of Native culture and heritage. The effort is an outgrowth of the Mission District’s 57-year-old Friendship House, which describes itself as “the longest-running social-service organization in the United States run by and for American Indians”. Continue reading...
Progressives dismayed that Biden would consider a man they accuse of deepening inequality and covering up a police killingOf all the names bouncing around as prospects yet to be tapped for the incoming Biden-Harris administration, there’s one triggering intense emotion, especially in his home town.Related: Hunter Biden says US attorney’s office is investigating his tax affairs Continue reading...
Two years ago it looked like the team would be moved 1,000 miles to Texas for commercial reasons. Now the Crew are showing what supporters can achieveComebacks make for great sporting tales and in winning the Eastern Conference, and progressing to the 2020 MLS Cup final, the Columbus Crew completed a remarkable turnaround. But their comeback wasn’t from a goal or two down. No, the Crew came back from the brink of extinction. Or relocation, at least.Next season will see Austin FC join Major League Soccer as the competition’s 27th franchise and Columbus fans know the new club’s owner, Anthony Precourt, well. It was Precourt who, in his five years as Crew owner, proposed moving the Ohio club 1,200 miles south to Texas. He saw more commercial potential in Austin than in Columbus, where there has been a league club since 1995. Continue reading...
The trailblazing college football player says her background in soccer and the support of her family helped her make history this seasonAfter three consecutive years of injuries, Sarah Fuller was just hoping to piece together her first full season for Vanderbilt University women’s soccer team in 2020.On 28 November she did a bit more than that when, as a last-minute replacement due to a Covid-19 outbreak, the 21-year-old goalkeeper became the first female athlete to play in the Power 5, the highest level of college football. Fuller and her soccer team had clinched their season with a conference title just six days earlier when she took the field for the halftime kickoff for the men’s football team with a helmet bearing the words “Play like a girl”. Continue reading...
With the pandemic raging and budgets tight, the sometimes loved, sometimes loathed festive tradition is having to adaptAfter a year that has upended work life for millions of Americans, many companies are still keen to show appreciation for their employees with a holiday party.But with the pandemic still raging across the US and budgets tight, this year the sometimes loved, sometimes loathed festive tradition is getting a socially distanced online makeover. Continue reading...
Incoming president and his vice-president earn recognition, and follow in footsteps of Barack Obama and Donald TrumpJoe Biden and Kamala Harris have been named Time magazine’s person – or persons – of the year for 2020.The magazine said: “Together, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket. And America bought what they were selling: after the highest turnout in a century, they racked up 81 million votes and counting, the most in presidential history, topping Trump by some 7 million votes and flipping five battleground states.” Continue reading...
‘It’s about democratic values,’ says founder of Vote Forward, which urges voters to the polls without getting politicalEach election season as campaigns ramp up get-out-the-vote efforts, socially awkward Americans face a dilemma: is it possible to help salvage democracy without having to cold-call anyone?The letter-writing organization Vote Forward offers a solution. This year, the non-profit says, it inspired more than 182,000 people to send more than 17m personalized letters encouraging others to exercise their rights. Continue reading...
Attorneys general from both parties reject baseless allegations in case filed with US supreme courtGeorgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Thursday urged the US supreme court to reject a lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Donald Trump seeking to undo Joe Biden’s victory, saying the case has no factual or legal grounds and makes “bogus” claims.“What Texas is doing in this proceeding is to ask this court to reconsider a mass of baseless claims about problems with the election that have already been considered, and rejected, by this court and other courts,” Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, wrote in a filing to the nine justices. Continue reading...
Republican attempts to undermine Biden’s victory through legal action are on their last legs – but they’ve caused lasting damageHello Fight to Vote readers,It feels like this election has lasted about 20 years, but we’re finally in the last few days. Tuesday was the “Safe Harbor” deadline, when most election disputes must be resolved. And on Monday, the electoral college will finally cast its votes, all but securing the president-elect’s position. Continue reading...
President-elect’s son, who has been targeted by Trump for unproven corruption charges, said he handled his affairs ‘legally and appropriately’President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, said on Wednesday that the US attorney’s office in Delaware had opened an investigation into his “tax affairs”.Hunter Biden, who has long been a target of Donald Trump and his allies, said he had learned about the federal investigation on Tuesday from his lawyer, who was informed of the matter by the US attorney’s office earlier that day. Continue reading...
State criticizes ‘brazen federal overreach’ after DoJ report details serious violence to which officials are ‘deliberately indifferent’The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Alabama over conditions in the state prisons, saying the state is failing to protect inmates from violence and excessive force at the hands of prison staff.The lawsuit alleges that conditions in the prison system – which the justice department called one of the most understaffed and violent in the country – are so poor that they violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment and that state officials are “deliberately indifferent” to the problems. The lawsuit comes after the justice department twice released investigative reports that accused the state of violating prisoners’ rights. Continue reading...
Democracy is seriously under threat in our countries. The EU must stand up to the bullying tactics of Orbán and MorawieckiAs European leaders gather in Brussels this week municipal buildings and monuments in Warsaw and Budapest have been lit up in blue. The illuminations, organised by campaign groups and the mayors of these cities, are meant as a powerful reminder of the dark path ahead if the EU stands aside while the rule of law is extinguished in Poland and Hungary. The lights are a call for solidarity with the millions of citizens of both countries who argue that EU funding should be conditional on their governments upholding these fundamental rights.The release of €1.8tn in EU funds for rebuilding after the pandemic and the EU’s 2021-2027 budget is at stake. So far agreement has been derailed by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki because of their unwillingness to accept that membership of the EU depends on upholding democratic values. Continue reading...
The Native American congresswoman from New Mexico has worked across the aisle is backed by environmentalistsOccasionally presidents have a chance to make choices that change the way we view things – one of those opportunities comes in the next few days, when Joe Biden is expected to name the next secretary of the interior.The interior department dates back to 1849 and President Zachary Taylor. Largely forgotten now (in part because he died after 16 months in office), Taylor had first come to prominence fighting in the Black Hawk war, which led to the policy of “removing” Native Americans to the far side of the Mississippi, and then as a general in the Second Seminole war, where he fought the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. Over the years its secretaries have ranged from the corrupt (Albert Fall, of Teapot Dome fame) to the remarkable (Stewart Udall, who in the 1960s became the most persuasive champion of conservation the government ever had) to the unpleasant (James Watt, Reagan’s choice, who lost his job when he explained to a Chamber of Commerce gathering that one of his agencies boasted “a black, two Jews, and a cripple”). Continue reading...
The government’s hopes of turning India into the world’s workshop for global corporations are being strongly resistedThe scene is almost festive. Kanwar Grewal, a popular Punjabi singer, is on the stage performing in front of a spellbound audience. The show is routine for someone like him, but the setting is unusual. The makeshift stage is a table, a set of borrowed speakers and a microphone, all hurriedly assembled on a roadside kerb. He performs without special stage effects or background music; the song is a resounding call to protect the rights of farmers and protest against the new farm laws – a genre different from his familiar oeuvre of Sufi songs.This scene is neither exceptional nor limited to one artist. It has become commonplace in the past months, especially in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, as massive protests mount against the deregulation of the agricultural sector. The vast assembly of protesters during a relentless pandemic might seem reckless. But it is more a sign of desperation that thousands of famers and workers have camped for weeks at the borders of Delhi during a harsh winter and the risk of contagion. They show no sign of turning back. Continue reading...
The pandemic has devastated small businesses across the US, and San Francisco’s Chinatown has been particularly hard-hitIron gates and metal doors appeared to shutter the fronts of every other shop, their once-bustling entrances overflowing with brightly colored knickknacks now quiet and tightly contained. Some art stores still had ornate sculptures visible, collecting dust in the dark behind the gates. Others were completely empty, cavernous and blank.Related: Fatigued Californians are back in lockdown. Will it work? Continue reading...
Hunter Biden reveals US attorney’s office has launched investigation into his tax affairs, following months of corruption allegations from Trump. Plus, US hospitals at crisis pointGood morning.The US attorney’s office has launched an investigation into the tax affairs of Hunter Biden, son of the president-elect, Joe Biden. Hunter Biden has long been a target of Donald Trump’s, who has regularly pushed unproven claims of corruption, eventually leading to his own impeachment. Yesterday, the president tweeted a quote which said “10% of voters would have changed their vote if they knew about Hunter Biden”, while the younger Biden said he was “confident” a review would prove he had handled his tax affairs “legally and appropriately”. Continue reading...
This week’s roundup also features snooker deciders, somersault throw-ins and the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers1) RIP Paolo Rossi. The Italian football great’s death was announced on Thursday. Judging by this Fifa short film from 2018, he was also a wise man to boot. He is best remembered for leading Italy to World Cup glory in 1982, nabbing the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball (for best player) – here are his six goals from that tournament, including the hat-trick against Brazil. “Coming second is the same as coming 20th,” he says in this interview from last year at his home in Tuscany. At club level he was most associated with Juventus and Milan but was the top scorer – Capocannoniere – in Serie A in 1977-78, helping newly promoted Vicenza finish second. A legend of the game.2) Peter Alliss died last week at the age of 89. What was the legendary commentator’s secret to success? “I just waffle along, loving the game of golf,” he said in 2012. Some of Alliss’s highlights: trying to sum up Jean van de Velde’s infamous Carnoustie collapse, watching Tom Kite battle with a bank at Wentworth and covering Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s unusual warm-up. Alliss was also a fine golfer in his own right before his commentary career. He shares a host of useful tips in these delightfully retro videos, and his swing is the subject of this clip from 1968. In the booth, Alliss always enjoyed an amusing aside, whether trying out a cockney accent or offering tips to a youngster, but he could tackle the serious stuff too. In 2009 he visited Seve Ballesteros at his home in Spain for an enlightening and emotional interview. Continue reading...
The division is one of the worst in the history of the NFL, but two of its teams would pose a real threat in the postseasonThe 2020 edition of the NFC East is on track to be one of the worst divisions in NFL history.The New York Giants and Washington are tied at the top of the division at 5-7, the four teams have a combined 16-31 record, and the division as a whole has a point-differential of -209. Only the 2010 NFC West and 2014 NFC South come close to that level of collective ineptitude. Continue reading...
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