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I'm usually opposed to replacing words when an artist covers a song - but there is room in my heart for satisfying revengeI can't hold a tune to save my life, so I don't know for sure, but I imagine there are a few things that strike fear into the heart of singers. Losing their precious voice, for one. Not getting enough attention (can't relate). And then there is ... Kelly Clarkson covering your song.A practice that began when she was touring, taking cover requests from fans, Kelly Clarkson now has a daytime talkshow in which every episode she does Kellyoke and covers a song she loves. Why, you might ask? It's simple - because she can, and also she should. She's amazing at it. I'm not saying every time she does a cover she makes it her own, but she definitely shows everyone what your song sounds like when it's belted by one of our greatest living singers. Continue reading...

Amid a mysterious FBI investigation and a Silicon Valley-funded recall, Thao is seeking to reassure voters that the city is getting betterThe Oakland mayor, Sheng Thao's political rise was precarious from the start.For progressives, her narrow victory in 2022 affirmed their city's radical, leftist roots. By electing a daughter of Hmong refugees and a domestic violence survivor who promised to advocate for the city's most vulnerable residents, it seemed Oakland had defied the tech billionaires and venture capitalists who were working to transform the political landscape in neighbouring San Francisco. Continue reading...

Van makes voting accessible in Montgomery county, where officials reject at least 1,000 mail-in votes each electionMaxine Endy had been on the phone with her neighbors in her towering apartment complex in King of Prussia, a Philadelphia suburb, trying to get them to vote. Several people told Endy, an octogenarian (don't put my age in the newspaper") they weren't sure how to get a ballot. Many of them weren't sure where to go to the polls.Another woman in the complex had even seen a confused neighbor go to the lobby of her building and ask a receptionist for a mail-in ballot. Continue reading...

Stacey Williams says the ex-president, whose spokesperson denied the allegations, touched her in an unwanted sexual way in 1993. Plus, the Guardian endorses Kamala Harris

Two big names had a shaky week, while Milan have found their Mr Reliable. We hand out honours (and dishonours) from the latest round of actionVFB Stuttgart: In last season's Bundesliga it was Stuttgart rather than Bayern Munich who came second to the unbeaten champions Bayer Leverkusen. Following that up this season has proved tough for Sebastian Hoeness's team, who lie 10th in the German league. On Tuesday night in Turin they dominated Juventus, who put in their worst performance yet under Thiago Motta, and were reduced to 10 men after Danilo's red card. Deniz Undav's first-half screamer for Stuttgart was rubbed out by the VAR but it seemed Mattia Perin, who saved Enzo Millot's penalty amid a brilliant goalkeeping display, would deny the Germans. It took some dainty improvisation from El Bilal Toure to land a first Champions League win this season for a club back in the competition for the first time in 15 years. Continue reading...

Universities such as Columbia and Princeton rebuke educators for posts and comments criticizing war in GazaSeveral professors at universities around the US are facing disciplinary actions in regard to their support for the pro-Palestine movement and their students holding protests on college campuses.At Columbia University, Katherine Franke, law professor and the director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School, is currently under investigation at the school over an interview she gave early this year. Last week, she announced she had filed a complaint against a law firm she retained after it dropped her as a client. Continue reading...

More than 30,000 workers at the troubled aviation company represented by the union began striking in mid-SeptemberBoeing workers late on Wednesday rejected the latest offer to end the more than a month-long strike that has crippled the already struggling manufacturing giant.In a blow to Boeing and the Biden administration, which has fought for a resolution to the dispute, 64% of the 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union voted to reject the contract, the union said late on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The far right is looking very different to how it did a few years ago. They're less tied to traditional conservative organizationsThis Tuesday, Charlie Kirk brought his You're Being Brainwashed Tour to the campus of my public university in a Republican-controlled state. It was nothing like the last time Kirk and his Turning Point USA (TPUSA) organization had visited. Although the different timing matters - this was literally two weeks before election day - the differences between the 2018 and 2024 events in many ways reflect the dangerous radicalization of the US right wing.In 2018, Kirk had a fairly similar agenda when coming to my university: exposing leftist lies and progressive propaganda" at US universities. I wrote a column about the rather bland event, describing it as a rightwing safe space", in which Kirk railed against the cultural Marxists". Most students seemed more amused than aggrieved. How different this week's event was. Continue reading...

Authorities say Jeffrey Michael Kelly had more than 120 guns and over 250,000 rounds of ammunition in his homeThe man arrested for shooting at a Democratic National Committee office in suburban Phoenix on three separate occasions had more than 120 guns and more than 250,000 rounds of ammunition in his home, prosecutors said, leading law enforcement to believe he may have been planning a mass shooting.Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, has been detained on terrorism charges in connection with the shootings at the Democratic party's campaign office in Tempe, a city just east of Phoenix, on 16 and 23 September. After the third shooting, on 6 October, the Arizona Democratic party was forced to close its office. Continue reading...

Revealed: in a highly unusual move, regents bypassed local prosecutors, believing Dana Nessel would be tougher on the student protestersWhen the University of Michigan governing board this year asked the state's attorney general to bring charges against campus Gaza protesters, they tapped a political ally with whom some board members have extensive personal, financial or political connections, a Guardian investigation finds.Frustrated by local prosecutors' unwillingness to crack down on most of the students arrested at the height of the pro-Palestinian encampments last spring, the regents executed a highly unusual move in recruiting Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel because she was more likely to file charges, three people with direct knowledge of the decision tell the Guardian. Continue reading...

Biden oversaw the passage of the first major federal gun safety law in nearly 30 years. But advocates fear gun safety policy could be easily reversed: We are at a pivotal moment'Yoonie Yang was sitting in her Spanish two honors class in southern Florida when she first learned of a shooting at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. She watched in horror as fellow students checked in on their friends to see if they were among the 17 victims.I don't think my peers know of an America or a world where there isn't gun violence," said Yang, now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania and a campus organizer for the gun safety group Students Demand Action. This is an issue that we're willing to take a stand on, and it's an issue that has affected our lives and affected our childhoods into our adulthoods." Continue reading...

Legal analysis released by Legal Defense Fund highlights specific harms rightwing plan poses to Black communitiesProject 2025, the 900-page ultra-conservative roadmap that details how the former president Donald Trump and his allies would restructure the US government if he is elected, has specific implications for Black Americans, according to a new report.The Legal Defense Fund (LDF), an organization that fights for racial justice, recently released the most in-depth legal analysis of Project 2025's impact on Black communities. It highlights how Black Americans would be harmed due to policies that would weaken anti-discrimination laws; dismantle the Department of Education; threaten Black political power; increase the use of the death penalty (which disproportionately affects Black people); and exacerbate health disparities caused by environmental racism. Continue reading...

University attendees ramp up outreach efforts and pitch pop-up polling sites as election day approachesCollege students formed a steady line outside a campus art museum to vote early on Tuesday at a pop-up polling place at the University of Minnesota.The one-day site, enabled by new state laws that allow for pop-up early voting, helps populations like student voters, who may not have access to transportation to get off campus, easily access the polls. Continue reading...

More than 2,000 Israelis have signed this letter, published in 11 languages, asking the international community to use every possible sanction' to save us from ourselves'We, Israeli citizens residing in Israel and abroad, call on the international community - the UN and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the League of Arab States, and all states around the world - to intervene immediately and implement every possible sanction towards achieving an immediate ceasefire between Israel and its neighbors, for the future of both peoples in Israel and Palestine and the peoples of the region and for their rights to security and life.Many of us are veteran activists against the occupation, for peace and mutual existence in this land. We are motivated by our love for the land and its residents, and we are concerned for their future. We have been horrified by the war crimes committed by Hamas and other organizations on 7 October and we are horrified by the countless war crimes that Israel is committing. Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day.More than 2,000 Israeli citizens have signed this letter. The full list of signatories can be seen here. An earlier version of this letter was published in Liberation Continue reading...

The quarterback has more interceptions than touchdowns this season. But his struggles speak more of a player adjusting to circumstances than one in declineSeven weeks into their bid for immortality, the Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated. They've ripped off wins against the likes of the Ravens, 49ers and Bengals on their way to a 6-0 start. On defense they've been elite, putting a succession of the game's best quarterbacks through the blender. The back-to-back champs should have the feel of a runaway juggernaut, but something is amiss with KC's offense.Given his body of work, Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. That isn't an opinion, it's a statement of fact. But through the opening stages of the season, the Chiefs have fielded a middling offense and Mahomes has been a statistically middling quarterback. The Chiefs' offense has yet to score 30 points in a game, despite facing only one defense in the top 12 in EPA/play, a measure of a unit's down-to-down effectiveness. Continue reading...

Progressives shouldn't dismiss the left-conservative' leader - her popularity is driven by her powerful critique of runaway capitalismOn a chilly autumnal evening last month, the Berliner Platz in the eastern German city of Cottbus was buzzing by the time Sahra Wagenknecht appeared. One activist, busy handing out leaflets promoting the latest maverick force to disrupt European politics, said she was there because Wagenknecht understands people like us". Anti-war banners were dotted around the square. One elderly woman proudly displayed a badge reading Omas fur Frieden (grandmothers for peace).Formed only last January, the eponymous Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has been collecting voters from across the political spectrum, although mainly from the left. An unscientific straw poll suggested much of the Cottbus audience had previously voted for the Social Democrats, or the Left party to which Wagenknecht used to belong, or not at all. Her stump speech checklisted blue-collar anxieties: the cost of living crisis, declining healthcare provision, a lack of access to good jobs and affordable housing, and meagre pensions. Mainstream political and cultural elites, Wagenkecht told many nodding heads, suffered from an abject lack of empathy with these ordinary realities".Julian Coman is a Guardian associate editorDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

With less than two weeks until polls open in the presidential election, Trump celebrated early voting in Georgia as Harris doubled down on fascist claim

The issue is on all our minds at this week's Commonwealth summit in Samoa. Now is Keir Starmer's chance to address it

At CNN town hall in Pennsylvania, the vice-president told Anderson Cooper she believes Donald Trump to be unfit to serve'Kamala Harris praised Donald Trump's former chief of staff for sending a 911 call" to the nation about the former president's unfitness to serve a second term, attacking her opponent as a fascist" who would send the nation down a dangerous path.Harris participated in a CNN town hall with undecided voters in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, as the battleground state appears poised to play a potentially decisive role in the presidential race. While taking voters' questions on everything from the cost of living to abortion access, Harris repeatedly steered the conversation back to questions over Trump's fitness for office. Continue reading...

This live blog is now. You can read our latest coverage of the US election hereThe Labour party has put out a statement rejecting allegations that it broke US election law because activists and staff members have been volunteering to help the Democrats.A Labour spokesperson said:It is common practice for campaigners of all political persuasions from around the world to volunteer in US elections.Where Labour activists take part, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and rules." Continue reading...

The push to vote early has amounted to an unprecedented wave, with more than 24.5m having voted early so farThe US election is under way across the country, and so far more than 24.5m people have voted early, according to the University of Florida's election lab.In numerous states, the push to vote before election day, whether by mail or in-person, has amounted to an unprecedented wave of early voting. Continue reading...

Ex-president makes characteristically rambling speech after report comes out of his alleged sexual misconductDonald Trump escalated his personal insults against Kamala Harris at a Wednesday evening rally in Georgia as he faces growing scrutiny over reports of his praise of Hitler and alleged sexual misconduct.This woman is crazy," the former president said at an event in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth, hosted by Turning Point USA, a far-right youth group. He said voters should stand up to the vice-president and tell her: You're the worst ever. There's never been anybody like you. You can't put two sentences together. The world is laughing at us because of you." He also said that in her recent interview with CBS, she gave an answer that was from a loony bin", later adding: She's not a smart person. She's a low IQ individual."Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Chinese embassy denies connection to alleged coordinated interference on social media by troll network known as Taizi FloodAn army of Chinese-controlled social media bots is attempting to influence voters in Alabama, Texas and Tennessee, while denigrating US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, according to new research published on Wednesday by Microsoft.The operation represents a coordinated interference effort against down-ballot races, experts say, in which the fake accounts are denigrating representative Barry Moore of Alabama, representative Michael McCaul of Texas, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and Rubio, all Republicans. Continue reading...

Second gentleman campaigns in Florida, attacking Donald Trump and Project 2025, despite state being reliably redIn terms of presidential elections at least, Florida has fallen a long way since its heady days as the ultimate swing state. Seven cycles on from the 537-vote cliffhanger in 2000 that was finally resolved when the US supreme court placed George Bush in the White House, Florida is so reliably red, and Donald Trump so confident of picking up its 30 electoral college votes, that he has barely campaigned here.For the same reason, the Sunshine state has not featured on Kamala Harris's schedule either. So some eyebrows were raised when second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the vice-president's husband, rolled up on Wednesday to rally Democrats in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, on a break from stumping in the battleground states of the north-east.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Stacey Williams says the ex-president, whose spokesperson denied the allegations, touched her in an unwanted sexual way in 1993, after Epstein introduced them

VP gives surprise speech after reports that Trump's former chief of staff said ex-president repeatedly praised Hitler

Billionaire promised to give $1m each day until election day to someone who signs petition supporting US constitutionThe US justice department has sent a letter to Elon Musk's Super Pac warning that the billionaire and Tesla CEO's $1m-a-day giveaways may violate federal law, according to multiple reports.A letter from the department's public integrity section, which investigates potential election-related law violations, went to the Pac, reports in CNN and the New York Times said. The justice department and Musk's America Pac did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading...

A judge has granted preliminary approval for a settlement between the MMA promotion and fighters who claim they were underpaid. Here's what happenedNearly a decade after filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, more than 1,000 former and current professional mixed martial artists should begin receiving payments from a pool of $260m starting next June.Federal judge Richard F Boulware granted preliminary approval of a negotiated settlement between the two parties on Tuesday. Once final, the $375m agreement would end the proceedings in Le, et al v Zuffa LLC, one of two classes Boulware certified last year that cover UFC fighters from the end of 2010 through the present day. The other, Johnson, et al v Zuffa LLC, represents the interests of fighters beginning in July 2017, and is ongoing. Continue reading...

Poll conducted by union shows Democrat has significant advantage over Republican in battleground statesUnited Auto Workers (UAW) members in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada support the presidential candidate Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by 22 points, according to a poll conducted by the union.UAW members in Michigan - the center of the US auto industry - support Harris over Trump by 20 percentage points, with 54% supporting Harris over 34% supporting Trump, the poll found. The union claimed in 2020 that UAW members accounted for 84% of Joe Biden's margin of victory in Michigan.Don't miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts Continue reading...

Robert Buckland says it appears Labour activists covered their own expenses, after Trump team files legal complaintLabour did nothing wrong when party officials campaigned for Kamala Harris in the US election, a former Conservative minister has argued, after Downing Street faced fury from Donald Trump about the move.Robert Buckland, who has also campaigned for Harris due to his distaste for Trump, said it appeared that Labour activists who knocked on doors had volunteered and covered their own expenses, which would not be a breach of US laws on overseas involvement in elections. Continue reading...

Thomas Gallegos, 56, arrested for allegedly breaking into eight-year-old's home and attempting to abduct herA 56-year-old man in Colorado has been charged with attempting to kidnap an eight-year-old girl from her bedroom while wearing a clown mask, according to authorities.Police in Sterling, Colorado, announced in a recent press release that they have charged Thomas Gallegos with first degree burglary, second degree assault, second degree attempted kidnapping, third degree assault and child abuse after he allegedly broke into the girl's home and tried to abduct her. Continue reading...

Gates, who has not publicly endorsed Harris, reportedly expressed concern about a second Trump presidency

Back in May, a campus demonstration for Palestine drew hundreds of jeering counter-protesters. A student activist group regathers to honor the martyrs'On Sunday night, about 40 people gathered outside of city hall in Oxford, Mississippi, near the town's famed statue of William Faulkner, in front of a Palestinian flag that read Free Palestine". As more attendees arrived, organizers gave them electric tea candles and flowers to hold during the vigil, held for the estimated 42,000 Palestinians who have been killed since 7 October 2023. The event, organized by UMiss for Palestine, a student activist group at the University of Mississippi, marked a striking departure from its previous solidarity demonstration in May, which drew hundreds of counter-protesters, many of who spewed racist vitriol at the students.Sunday's event was reverent, with solemn expressions of grief and remembrance befitting a funeral. According to organizers, those who gathered did so to honor the martyrs, commit to fight for the living, and stand in solidarity with Palestinians in [their] community and in the rest of the world". Continue reading...

Comment evoking Trump's frequent references to jailing or prosecuting political adversaries sparks rightwing backlash

Residents of Las Vegas have endured a string of record-breaking heatwaves in summer with a very warm fallBy now, the canvassers at Make the Road Nevada know how to prepare themselves for the record-breaking heat.Members of the progressive group - which focuses on mobilising Black and Latino voters - layer on white, UPF-protective shirts, and sweat-wicking performance wear. They fill their 50-quart coolers with ice-cold water. And they pack lots and lots of chips - barbecue Lays, and Cheetos and Doritos - for the road. The salt helps stave off dehydration. Continue reading...

Brian Niccol's syrupy praise for store workers does not impress. He should focus on the hard problem of rising pricesSo this is what you get from a $113m chief executive: a ditching of profits guidance served with a dollop of platitudes about going back to the company's roots. Amazingly, the stock market still thinks Starbucks is worth 25% more than before Brian Niccol was appointed.To be fair to the new boss, he's been in post for a month, so it's too soon to expect a fully formed strategy. He was merely offering an initial helicopter view of operations (or perhaps the perspective from his private jet on the commute from Newport Beach, California, to the Seattle head office). That inevitably involved syrupy praise for our green-apron partners" and a homage to the unconvincing corporate claim that a chain with 36,000 outlets in 84 countries can still style itself as the community coffeehouse". Continue reading...

I call this state of being next-level incompetence. By doubting everything I do - from where I put a book to whether I picked up my medication - I cause chaosThere is something worse than pure incompetence, and that is next-level incompetence - when your incompetence starts feeding off itself. It's a dangerous place to be. It's like not only feeling depressed, but feeling depressed about being depressed, or feeling anxious about being anxious. Next-level incompetence is when, being dismally aware of your incompetence, you start - with good reason - to doubt everything you do and, crucially, blame yourself for things that weren't your fault. And this can cause yet more chaos.An example: a couple of Wednesdays ago, I was due to interview Geoff Hurst, England football legend, at the Cheltenham literary festival, about his new book, Last Boy of '66. On the Monday, being a consummate professional, I thought I ought to give the book a read. But I couldn't find the book anywhere in my flat. Where had I put it? Obviously somewhere so safe that I now couldn't find it. Continue reading...

There is a new push by his opponents to brand him with the F-word - and the effect has been both silly and seriousI remember when fascist" became a word we all used, right around the time we first learned what it meant in adolescence. It had the kerb appeal of a swearword without the rudeness to get you into trouble, and you could spit it - really put your shoulder into the f" at the front and the digraph in the middle. There was something satisfying about the word fascist", which was, back then, the apex, the very fanciest of insults. You thought I was being mean in a trivial, localised way, when in fact I was offering a structural analysis of your political ideology (plus your horrible personality and disastrous side-parting).Most of us aged out of that phase when everyone and everything that opposed us was fascist. Still, aspects of the pleasures embedded in the word survived its wear and tear so that decades later, there is still a vague frisson, partly nostalgic, lighting up its outer fringes. Among adults, fascist" tends to be used in a lightly ironised form, often in the context of a customer service dispute or fight with petty officialdom. Analogising the man at T-Mobile with the Nazis delivers some of the old sniggering satisfaction and for a long time this was fine, but now we have run into an obvious problem. The flippancy and babyishness of how we use fascist" is making it hard, if not impossible, to recharge its meaning.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Atlantic report claims Trump disputed funeral costs he offered to pay for Vanessa Guillen, a murdered US soldierA row has broken out in the aftermath of a report from the Atlantic that claims Donald Trump refused to cover the funeral costs of a soldier who was murdered at a Texas military base in 2020.The deceased woman's sister came to the defense of the former US president amid a wave of backlash against Trump. Continue reading...

As LeBron and Bronny James become the first father and son duo to play together in the NBA, more families with overlapping sporting careers Continue reading...

Finding the perfect combination of lifestyle hacks to live to 110 irks many experts who are more interested in quality of lifeThere is a whole body of scientific research dedicated to uncovering the lifestyles of people living in blue zones - areas of the globe where a higher proportion of people seem to live exceptionally long lives beyond the age of 100.From Okinawa in Japan to the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, the seven blue zone regions have given rise to books, diets, documentaries and endless social media posts from wellness coaches" delving into what it is about these places that lead people to live for so long. Continue reading...

Little-known policy embraced by Trump and included in Project 2025 would transform previously nonpartisan jobsThe Democrat Eugene Vindman stood before a group of roughly 30 fellow veterans and warned of an impending danger if Republicans like his opponent, Derrick Anderson, won key House races next month: a little-known policy called schedule F.The policy, initially embraced by Donald Trump in the final months of his first term in office and now included in the rightwing manifesto known as Project 2025, would transform previously nonpartisan jobs in the federal government into political appointments. The change could fundamentally alter and perhaps jeopardize the employment of tens or even hundreds of thousands of government workers, including 14% of the residents in Virginia's seventh district, where Vindman is running for Congress. Continue reading...

Kelly Ortberg reports $6bn quarterly loss at beleaguered planemaker amid worker strike that has entered fifth weekThe new boss of Boeing has pledged to fundamentally" transform the culture inside the beleaguered aerospace giant, as its quarterly losses swelled to almost $6bn amid a sweeping strike.As thousands of workers vote on a new contract on Wednesday, raising the prospect of an end to the crippling industrial action which began almost six weeks ago, Boeing revealed the extent of the damage of a dire year on its business. Continue reading...

Citizen review committee will be created after decision outraged' advocates and community near HoustonA Texas county reversed its decision to place Colonization and the Wampanoag Story, a children's history book about the Native American experience, in the fiction category at local libraries.The decision drew the ire of the world's largest publishers, literary freedom groups and many community members. Continue reading...

Announcement is first time federal authorities have confirmed connectionGroups in Russia created and helped spread viral disinformation targeting the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, a senior US intelligence official said on Tuesday.The content, which includes baseless accusations about the Minnesota governor's time as a teacher, contains several indications that it was manipulated, said the official with the office of the director of national intelligence. Continue reading...

France's second city makes headlines for crime, but also for being welcoming and progressive. Neither cliche does it justiceEarlier this month, France's second city suffered a pair of brutal killings that appeared to be the latest in a long list of tragedies inflicted by drug-related turf wars. In a place where groups have battled for years over highly coveted points of sale", many of them in the city's impoverished northern neighbourhoods, the age of those involved in the latest killings was especially stomach-churning. The Marseille prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, described how following the recent gang killing of a 15-year-old, a 14-year-old had been hired to carry out a revenge killing. A prisoner had recruited the teenager, the prosecutor said, and organised the logistics for him to be collected by car and brought to a hotel room in Marseille". The 14-year-old then allegedly shot and killed the taxi driver, who had nothing to do with the drugs trade, for not waiting for him.Unfortunately, grim stories such as these have become one of the big reasons Marseille makes headlines not just in France, but in the English-language press too. In addition to putting the spotlight on figures clamouring for more police authority and harsher prison sentences, they fuel a particular image of the port city in the rightwing imagination: Marseille as the ultimate symbol of French decline, a once-great metropolis torn asunder by decades of lawlessness and immigration that has become so dangerous it is now practically unliveable. Somehow, this reactionary fantasy hasn't yet damaged a radically different image of the city gaining steam: Marseille as a promised land for twenty- and thirtysomethings seeking sunshine, natural beauty and just the right dose of urban grit." Continue reading...

In recent years, money has poured into local politics as wealthy financiers try to remake the landscape of the cityAs San Franciscans gear up to decide whether their embattled mayor London Breed deserves another term, political observers are watching whether this fall's election - projected to be the most expensive municipal contest in history - will bring definitive proof of the growing political power of the city's tech elites.Wealthy financiers, including members of the city's traditional financial elite and the region's upstart tech oligarchs, have in recent years spent millions in an effort to reshape the political landscape of the city, pushing moderate candidates and policies over their more progressive rivals. Continue reading...