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Report marks end of inquiry launched after death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten following traffic stopThe Memphis police department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people, according to the findings of a US Department of Justice investigation launched after the beating death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in 2023.A report released on Wednesday marked the conclusion of the investigation that began six months after Nichols was kicked, punched and hit with a police baton as five officers tried to arrest him after he fled a traffic stop. Continue reading...

Former Fox host tries to charm Republican senators amid growing questions over suitability; Atkins named amid flurry of appointments. This blog is now closed.

A look at the people who have been and still could be offered key positions when Trump takes officeDonald Trump, the former US president set to return to the White House in January for a second term, has announced a number of choices for his administration.Trump has tasked Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend and pick for commerce secretary, with recruiting officials who will deliver, rather than dilute, his agenda. During his first term, several of Trump's key appointees tried to steer Trump away from his more extreme plans. Continue reading...

A look at the people who have been and still could be offered key positions when Trump takes officeDonald Trump, the former US president set to return to the White House in January for a second term, has announced a number of choices for his administration.Trump has tasked Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend and pick for commerce secretary, with recruiting officials who will deliver, rather than dilute, his agenda. During his first term, several of Trump's key appointees tried to steer Trump away from his more extreme plans. Continue reading...

President-elect says Navarro, his former White House trade adviser, will focus on tariffsDonald Trump said he would name former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.Navarro made headlines earlier this year when, in March, he was jailed for contempt of Congress. Continue reading...

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Police look for suspect who shot and killed Brian Thompson, 50, outside Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan

Lawyers argue that sitting president is immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal'Donald Trump's attorney in Georgia has asked the state's appellate court to dismiss election interference charges against the president-elect, arguing that a sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal".The filing by attorney Steve Sadow before the Georgia court of appeals asks the court to dismiss Trump's appeal of a lower-court decision to allow Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis to remain as prosecutor on the case, because the Fulton county superior court no longer has jurisdiction, given Trump's electoral victory. Continue reading...

Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of drunken, irresponsible and predatory behavior, would be in charge of the world's most powerful militaryIt takes a lot to get a man's mother to declare him an abuser of women". Mothers, as a rule, are not known for their ungenerous assessments of their sons' behavior. But Penelope Hegseth, the mother of the Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Defense, once did just that in an email to her son.I have no respect for a man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego," Hegseth's mother wrote to him. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains and embarrasses me to say that, but it's the sad, sad truth." The email - which Hegseth's mother later disavowed - appears to have come around the time of the dissolution of Hegseth's second marriage; during Hegseth's first marriage, according to a new report by Vanity Fair, he confessed to no fewer than five affairs.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

President-elect appoints David Warrington as White House counsel and moves Bill McGinley to efficiency agencyDonald Trump announced on Wednesday he was appointing David Warrington to serve as the White House counsel, abruptly changing his mind about who will be the top lawyer in the incoming administration as he moves his original pick to the new department of government efficiency.The move means Warrington, a longtime Trump lawyer who was also the Trump campaign's general counsel, will effectively be the most prominent legal adviser to Trump in the day-to-day running of the West Wing. Continue reading...

The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, one of the US's largest health insurers, was fatally shot in the chest on Wednesday in midtown Manhattan by an unidentified man. At a news conference, police said they believe Brian Thompson, 50, was killed in a brazen targeted attack". New York's police commissioner Jessica Tisch said: 'I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned targeted attack"

Report comes amid controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct against several Trump nominees for his cabinetA new study, released amid controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct against several nominees for Donald Trump's cabinet, reveals a positive correlation between people accused of wrongdoing who use Darvo (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender") defense tactics and both sexual harassment perpetration and acceptance of rape myths.These findings suggest Darvo isn't just a response," said Dr Sarah Harsey, assistant professor of psychology at the Oregon State University-Cascades and study lead author. It reflects a broader perspective that condones victim-blaming and minimizes accountability." Continue reading...

The 50-year-old had climbed up the ranks of the health insurance giant over 20 years and lived in Minnesota

Activists among 92% of Black women who voted for Harris discuss how intersection of racism and sexism led to defeatMisogynoir, the intersection of racism and sexism, was the main reason behind Kamala Harris's loss in the 2024 general election, a panel of Black female experts argued, noting how post-election coverage has failed to contend with how white supremacy undergirded the election results.In a conversation titled Views from the 92%: Black Women Reflect on 2024 Election and Road Ahead", several academics dissected how and why the vice-president lost, particularly given Trump's problematic history. Continue reading...

Leaders cast the other as ill-prepared after Trump threatens to apply 25% taxes on goods from both countriesMexico's president has said Canadians could only wish they had the cultural riches" of her country as tensions mount between the two nations, caught in a feud over tariffs and trade exacerbated by Donald Trump.The US president-elect threatened in a social media post last week to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both countries, and to keep them in place until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!" Continue reading...

Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific policy of pursuing detente against China at all costs meant embracing Yoon, whose anti-democratic attitude has always been clearJean Baudrillard's 1986 travel diary of his time in Reagan's America - the only remaining primitive society on earth", in his words - describes a paradox about the nature of late-century American hegemony. American power does not seem inspired by any spirit or genius of its own," wrote Baudrillard, but it is, in a sense, uncontested and incontestable." American genius" appeared to suffer from the weakening of all the forces that previously opposed it" - the incoherence of American strategic thinking, to Baudrillard, was thus a measure of its success.Today, there are American adversaries everywhere - not least in what is now called the Indo-Pacific. But no such spirit or genius" seemed to underpin the Biden administration's response to the Tuesday coup in South Korea, much less South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol's attempted overthrow of democratic rule. The Biden administration's response has been, to say the least, limp. At the time of writing, the state department has said little beyond an assurance that its alliance with South Korea is ironclad" and that the United States will stand by Korea in its time of uncertainty".Alex Bronzini-Vender is a writer living in New York Continue reading...

Since the separation of the Koreas in 1953, our elders have experienced the suspension of normal civil rights many times. But for the younger generation, this was a horrifying and instructive firstAt 10.23pm on 3 December in Seoul, I was already in bed, alternating between reading a book and watching YouTube cooking reels. That was when Yoon Suk Yeol, the president, declared emergency martial law in South Korea for the first time since 1979.In an unannounced televised address, Yoon said the imposition of martial law was aimed at eradicating pro-North Korean forces and protecting the constitutional order of freedom". Continue reading...

Those who donate $1m or raise $2m will get invites to dinners with Donald and Melania Trump as well as JD VanceTop donors to Donald Trump's inauguration committee will be rewarded with dinners alongside the president-elect and his wife Melania before and after their return to the White House, according to multiple reports.An elegant and intimate dinner with President Donald J Trump and Mrs Melania Trump" on 19 January, the night before Trump's swearing-in, has been billed as the pinnacle event", according to details sent to donors this week. Continue reading...

Report comparing 10 peer countries shows how holes in Medicare coverage lead to Americans skipping careOlder Americans spend more on healthcare than peers in 10 other developed democracies, a new Commonwealth Fund report found.The new report highlights how Medicare, the public health insurance program for people older than 65 and people who are disabled, has significant cost-sharing requirements - including co-pays, deductibles and no ceiling on out-of-pocket costs. Continue reading...

Trump's nominee for secretary of defense vows not to back down despite multiple controversies emerging since he was namedPete Hegseth, Donald Trump's embattled nominee for secretary of defense, shared an impassioned post saying he will never back down" amid a flurry of rumors that the president-elect is contemplating replacing him with Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis.I'm doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of [Donald Trump] - and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don't want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I," Hegseth wrote on X on Wednesday morning. Continue reading...

Move is in response to parental requests for alternative to Christian release time' religious instructionThe Satanic Temple will begin offering a religious program at an Ohio elementary school in response to parent requests for an alternative to a Christian release" program.Release time religious instruction programs began in the early 20th century to allow students religious instruction for a short period in the middle of the school day. At the Edgewood elementary school in Marysville, Ohio, where the Temple will start a program, the evangelical LifeWise program removes students for 55 minutes each week. Continue reading...

For healthy people, pills, patches and gummies just create expensive urine'. But for those with nutrient deficiencies, vitamin supplements have clear benefitsSupplements are no cottage industry: an estimated third to nearly half of Australians regularly take vitamins or minerals.Hawked by the likes of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, vitamin gummies have in recent years found popularity among millennials and zoomers, who are more receptive to supplements in the form of powders, liquids and gummies" than older generations. Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop - no stranger to dubious health trends - sells its own line of such supplements. Continue reading...

Research shows increase in insults and harassment, with rate disproportionately high among women and minoritiesLocal elected officials in the US faced escalating insults and harassment in the immediate lead-up to the 2024 election, with women and minorities experiencing disproportionately high levels of hostility, according to new research.The latest survey from from Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) and governance non-profit CivicPulse found that 53% of local elected officials reported receiving insults and 39% reported harassment between July and October, marking a significant increase from the previous quarter. Continue reading...

Victim was going to testify about being forced to see a psychiatrist for lying or face expulsion from school after rape by Lawrence Hecker, now 93The star witness in a clerical molestation case that has rocked one of the most Catholic cities in the US was going to tell a jury that his high school principal forced him to see a psychiatrist for anger issues and fantasy stories" - or face expulsion - after reporting that a priest had raped him on campus.Such shocking testimony was set to be delivered in a criminal trial against the retired priest, 93-year-old Lawrence Hecker, that was scheduled to begin Tuesday in New Orleans. But it was upended when the clergyman unexpectedly pleaded guilty to charges of child rape and kidnapping, a decision that guarantees him a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Continue reading...

A second term for Trump has chilling implications for critical independent journalism and the media the industryDonald Trump's second term promises to deliver historic threats to US press freedom - directly from the Oval Office.The president-elect made it clear during the campaign that he had the media in his sights. He told a rally on the eve of the election that he wouldn't mind" if an assassin shot the journalists standing in front of him. Continue reading...

Hunter Biden cut the line while thousands of people who deserve similar considerations of mercy languish in prisonWhen Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would be pardoning his son Hunter - who was facing sentencing in two federal criminal cases - he helped cement Donald Trump's much-repeated argument that the American judicial system is rotten, politicized and in need of an overhaul.It's a stupid refrain, but there are some heavy issues with Biden's choice to do this now. What are we to make of the hypocrisy of a president who promised he'd never interfere in the dealings of the justice department", and swore even up until six weeks ago that he would not pardon his son? Or the fact that he just delivered Trump and the Republican party the kind of ammunition they need to justify pardoning, say, the orchestrators of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol? More morally troubling is that there's a million other worthy causes that Biden could be using his pardon powers for. Continue reading...

Opposition parties submit motion to impeach Yoon and could vote on it as soon as Friday. Plus, how AI will rob music workers of nearly a quarter of their income within four yearsGood morning.South Korean opposition parties could vote on whether to impeach the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, as soon as Friday over his brief declaration of martial law on Wednesday after they announced they had submitted a motion for the process.Why did Yoon say he was declaring martial law? According to his address, it was to safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people's freedom and happiness".What's the context? Yoon's approval ratings have tanked and he is at bitterly odds with the opposition over next year's budget. Meanwhile, Seoul remains technically at war with Pyongyang.Is he the first nominee to withdraw? No - former Republican representative Matt Gaetz, who Trump originally picked as attorney general, also dropped out. His decision followed scrutiny over a federal sex-trafficking investigation that threw his ability to be confirmed into question. Continue reading...

No player has been as impactful, as exciting or as deserving of the Heisman Trophy than Colorado's two-way superstar. So why will he almost certainly be snubbed?The Heisman Trophy is college football's supreme individual honor, an annual tribute to the best player in the game, and more often than not it's the country's top quarterback who takes the prize. But this could be the year Colorado's Travis Hunter breaks with tradition.Hunter is college football's mind-warping dual threat, a game-changing wide receiver and cornerback. It's not uncommon for the nation's best college football prospects to play offense and defense as high schoolers, especially if there aren't enough bodies to fill out every position on the roster. At the highest levels of the college game, though, ironman" players are confined to specialty roles on one side of the ball or the other. Why? Because why double the injury risk? Why mess with convention? Continue reading...

The College Football Playoff has expanded to from four to 12 teams this season, yet the debate around it remains as intense as ever. Here's our foolproof selection methodThis season is the best of times and the worst of times to institute a 12-team playoff in the top tier of college football.It's the best of times because the results so far have yielded a muddled picture in which picking just four teams would have been extraordinarily difficult, and we'll need these playoff games to lend some clarity.1.5 adjusted wins for defeating a Tier 1 (top 5) team.1.4 for Tier 2 (6th through 10th)1.3 for Tier 3 (11th through 20th)1.2 for Tier 4 (the rest of the top 40)1.0 for Tier 5 (the rest of the top 100)0.8 for Tier 6 (everyone else)0.5 adjusted losses for losing to a Tier 1 team0.6 for Tier 20.7 for Tier 30.8 for Tier 41.0 for Tier 51.2 for Tier 61 Tier 1 win (Alabama), worth 1.5 adjusted wins2 Tier 4 road wins (Oklahoma, Vanderbilt), each worth 1.3 adjusted wins1 Tier 4 home win (Florida), worth 1.23 Tier 5 wins, worth 1.0 each3 Tier 6 wins (the Volunteers' non-conference schedule wasn't particularly strong), worth 0.81 Tier 1 road loss (Georgia), 0.4 adjusted losses1 Tier 4 road loss (Arkansas), 0.7 adjusted losses1 Tier 4 home win (Michigan), 1.2 adjusted wins6 Tier 5 wins, 1.0 each3 Tier 6 wins, 0.8 each1 Tier 1 road loss (Ohio State), 0.4 adjusted wins Continue reading...

Adam Gray wins by fewer than 200 votes, leaving Democrats with 215 House seats and Republicans 220 this election cycleDemocrat Adam Gray captured California's 13th congressional district on Tuesday, unseating Republican John Duarte in the final US House contest to be decided in the 2024 elections.Gray's win in the farm belt seat that cuts through five counties means Republicans won 220 House seats this election cycle, with Democrats holding 215 seats. Continue reading...

Somali women who speak out on social media can expect fake nude images and degrading abuse. But some are fighting backSocial media has given Somali women the space to be free, to organise themselves to effect change and to connect with their sisters. Unfortunately though, this newfound liberation has a heavy price, and women are subjected to more online harassment than their male counterparts.Since 2009, when I first created a Twitter (now X) account, I've been following the trolling, hate speech, harassment and bullying that Somalis face. However, I've also seen another trend worth mentioning: the disproportionate consequences for men and women. More often than not, the terms and phrases used to lash out against Somali women's active presence online are more derogatory, offensive, degrading and destructive than they are for men. Continue reading...

Family of Elizabeth Pollard, 64, of Marguerite, Pennsylvania, say she has not been seen since MondayAuthorities fear a grandmother who disappeared while looking for her cat may have been swallowed up by a sinkhole that recently opened up in a western Pennsylvania village.Crews lowered a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole in Marguerite on Tuesday morning but detected nothing. A second camera lowered into the hole showed what could have been a shoe. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can read our Trump hush-money story hereNotre Dame Cathedral will reopen in Paris on Saturday with incoming US president Donald Trump set to attend the ceremony marking the resurrection of the Gothic masterpiece five years after a devastating fire.The Republican confirmed Monday he had accepted an invitation from French president Emmanuel Macron to attend the grand re-opening of the 850-year-old edifice which was nearly lost to flames in April 2019. Continue reading...

Hakeem Jeffries calls for high level of compassion' towards people in prison after president pardoned son HunterThe top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, has called on Joe Biden to pardon some working-class Americans" after the president faced criticism for pardoning his son Hunter.During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses," Jeffries said in a statement. Continue reading...

Florida sheriff cites gravity' of responsibility days after Trump taps him to lead Drug Enforcement AdministrationDonald Trump's pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Chad Chronister, said on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from consideration.Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I've concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration," Chronister, a Florida sheriff, said in a social media post. Continue reading...

Transition officials sign agreement after weeks-long delay as teams of investigators ready to process clearancesDonald Trump's transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the US justice department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees, after a weeks-long delay.The step lets transition aides and future administration staffers of the Republican president-elect obtain security clearances before he is inaugurated on 20 January to access classified information about government programs, an essential step for a smooth transition of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for confirmation by the US Senate to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Continue reading...

Eric Adams calls for accused migrants to be deported without waiting to see if they are convictedNew York City mayor Eric Adams has announced he wants migrants in the city who are charged with crimes to be deported from the US without waiting to see if they are convicted - signaling a move towards alignment with the incoming Trump administration's plans for mass deportations.Adams, a Democrat embroiled in his own criminal corruption case, in a Tuesday press conference cited safety concerns for New York residents, including law-abiding migrants, while also striking a defiant tone, clearly anticipating pushback from city liberals, or what he called cancel culture". Continue reading...

Lawyers file paperwork to formally request dismissal after judge in November put sentencing on hold indefinitelyDonald Trump's lawyers have filed paperwork pushing for dismissal of his Manhattan criminal hush-money case - and have invoked Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter, in their argument.Yesterday, in issuing a 10-year pardon to Hunter Biden that covers any and all crimes whether charged or uncharged, President Biden asserted that his son was selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted' and treated differently'," Trump's lawyers wrote in papers filed on Monday but which were not made public until Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Sylvester Stallone loans second cast for first-ever festival honoring franchise, including bus tour and mural unveilingThe city of Philadelphia is hosting its first RockyFest" in honor of the film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone as the boxing protagonist - and included an event-opening surprise at the top of the so-called Rocky Steps.The festival, which began on the franchise's 48th anniversary on 3 December and runs through 8 December, includes a bus tour, mural unveiling and movie marathon. Continue reading...

Benefield, 33, also received 10 years of probation for shooting Doug Benefield, 58, at their home in FloridaAshley Benefield, the former ballerina convicted in July of manslaughter for killing her estranged husband in what she claimed was self-defense, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison plus 10 years of probation.Benefield, 33, shot her husband, 58-year-old Doug Benefield, at her home in Florida on 27 September 2020. The subsequent media circus and trial, dubbed the Black Swan trial," has left many wondering if the act was intentional or in self-defense. Continue reading...

Stephen Feinberg's company has links to defence contractors, raising questions of conflict of interestDonald Trump has reportedly asked Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire private equity investor with extensive interests in the armaments industry, to be deputy defence secretary in his new administration.The choice, which requires Senate approval, could see Feinberg, 64, take the number two role at the Pentagon, where he would report to Trump's designated defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, whose own nomination faces an uncertain path amid allegations of past sexual misconduct, drunkenness and financial mismanagement. Continue reading...

Lawsuit filed on behalf of abortion providers argues state's 15-week ban is unconstitutionalWeeks after Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, Arizona's attorney general, Kris Mayes, has agreed that the state will not enforce its 15-week abortion ban while a new lawsuit over the law plays out.The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Maricopa county superior court on behalf of Arizona abortion providers, argues that Arizona's 15-week ban is now unconstitutional and should be overturned. Continue reading...

Top Meta lieutenant says company overdid it a bit' on moderation after CEO's dinner at Mar-a-LagoMark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump, who have previously engaged in bitter public feuds, are now warming to each other as Zuckerberg seeks to influence tech policy in the incoming administration.The Meta CEO dined at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida last week, talking technology and demonstrating the company's camera-equipped sunglasses, Fox News reported. Continue reading...

The craven stance of Tesla's board should not be lost in the legal back-and-forthThe first time around, judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware court of chancery got it right. The $56bn pay package awarded by Tesla to Elon Musk in 2018 was indeed a governance abomination, a stitch-up in which ordinary shareholders weren't told about the deeply flawed" process whereby a superstar ceo" secured wildly over-the-top terms from pliant directors.Her closely argued ruling in January spelt it out in persuasive detail. The company had inaccurately described key directors as independent and misleadingly omitted details about the process". Ira Ehrenpreis, the lead director negotiating for Tesla, had a 15-year business relationship with Musk. Another member of the working group regularly went on holiday with Musk's family. A third was the company's general counsel and Musk's former divorce lawyer. Continue reading...

Hannah Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to step away from modern connectivity', LA police sayA Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to step away from modern connectivity" and was last seen crossing into Mexico, police said at a news conference.Hannah Kobayashi, 30, appeared unharmed as she walked alone with her luggage into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles (201km) south-east of Los Angeles around noon on 12 November the day after her family reported her missing, LA police said Monday. Authorities made the discovery after reviewing surveillance video from the US Customs and Border Protection late on Sunday. Continue reading...