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Prisoners are being released early because jails are overflowing. We know what better policies would look like - but politicians won't actGuess which public service is hardly ever mentioned in stories about austerity? The answer is prisons. Last week, prison governors were told by the justice minister, Alex Chalk, to send prisoners home two months early to free up cells because 99.7% of prisons were full. He must have been desperate. Imagine hospitals being told to send patients home two weeks early because car parks were full of ambulances. Imagine schools leaving students unattended in classrooms because there weren't enough teachers. For a sign of a society in decay, you need to look no further than our booming prison population.In 1960, there were 30,000 people in prison in England and Wales and the government of the day declared it a crisis". In 2000, there were about 60,000; the present total of 85,000 is predicted to rise to up to 105,000 by 2027. The UK as a whole has almost 150 prisoners per 100,000 people; by contrast, Germany has 70 per 100,000. The nation is prison-mad, and has the largest prison population per head in western Europe. The total number was boosted in 2020 when normal sentence remission was reduced from half to a third in what seemed a fatuous bid to get tough on crime". To that was added 25,000 immigrants and asylum seekers in detention - in effect prisoners awaiting Home Office bureaucracy at the taxpayers' expense. Such is the chaos in the court system that there are also 15,000 prisoners on remand, legally innocent until they are proven guilty. This is not cheap. Prison costs 48,000 a year for each inmate. That is almost the same as Eton, perhaps a preferable source of rehabilitation.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said Benjamin Netanyahu has emerged as a 'major obstacle to peace' in Gaza, in a further sign of growing tensions between the US and its ally Israel. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, accused Netanyahu of bowing to pressure from 'extremists' in his cabinet and appealed to Israel to 'change course', warning that the US would be prepared to use its leverage to shape Israeli policy if it failed to do so

Though the list is broad, many of the 4,240 books were targeted because they related to issues of LGBTQ+ communities or raceMore books were banned in 2023 in US schools and libraries than any other year for which records have been kept, the American Library Association (ALA) reported on Thursday.Many of the books were targeted because they related to issues of LGBTQ+ communities or race, though the list was broad, including commonly taught novels such as Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird. Continue reading...

Thousands of voters in latest states to hold primaries sent message that support depends on ceasefire in Israel-Gaza warThe protest vote against President Joe Biden's stance on Gaza continued in Washington and Georgia this week, where thousands of voters chose no one, sending a message to the president that their votes depend on a ceasefire.Washington, a reliably blue state, saw support from local elected officials and major unions in its multi-faith push for uncommitted" delegates. They spent about $20,000 and began organizing on 24 February. More than 56,000 voters selected uncommitted delegates on the ballots counted so far, though more than 200,000 ballots remain uncounted there as of Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Lawsuit accuses South Dakota governor of not disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company'South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, a contender to be named Donald Trump's presidential running mate, was sued over a video in which she promoted a cosmetic dentistry company showing off work on her own teeth.Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group, filed suit in Washington DC on Wednesday, accusing Noem of advertis[ing] a product or service without disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company". Continue reading...

Alabama senator pleased Scarlett Johansson parodied her much-mocked Republican response to Biden's State of the Union addressKatie Britt, the Alabama senator who delivered a much-mocked State of the Union response last week, rued the irony" of being told by the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that it'll be fine" before giving her disastrous speech.Speaking to the hard-right Texas senator Ted Cruz, on his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast, Britt said Johnson told her: People are going to tell you horror stories about all of these things that happen and people's career being blown up over it.' Continue reading...

Ro Khanna, Biden campaign surrogate, believes US president should take tougher line with insufferably arrogant' Israeli PMJoe Biden has committed a strategic mistake" by bear-hugging" the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he prosecutes war with Hamas, a leading congressional progressive Democrat and Biden campaign surrogate said.The bear-hugging of Netanyahu has been a strategic mistake," Ro Khanna said, accusing the Israeli leader of conducting a callous war" in Gaza, in defiance of the United States. Continue reading...

In speech in Budapest, David Pressman says while Hungary under Viktor Orban tries to wait out US government, we will act'The US ambassador to Hungary has said Washington will act amid Budapest's dangerously unhinged anti-American messaging" and expanding relationship with Russia".In a landmark speech in Budapest on Thursday, David Pressman took direct aim at the controversial foreign policy of Hungary's longtime prime minister, Viktor Orban, while also accusing the Hungarian government of rampant corruption and undermining independent institutions. Continue reading...

If poetry is to be a necessity for life rather than a luxury, then it should be accessible - and the bestselling Instagram poet has allowed many to see their feelings reflected in textual form for the first timeIt's 2016, and you're on the wean off Tumblr. That's OK; Instagram's made some algorithmic changes to your explore page and now exercise videos are sandwiched between Kermit the Frog memes and RIP Harambe tribute posts. You continue to scroll through Vampire Diaries gifs and share the Harambe in Heaven pic because you care about animal rights. You scoff to yourself.Wait. You can't just be a meme girl, so you keep scrolling. Till you find it. The one thing that will make you a bit more cultured. Poetry. A snippet from Rupi Kaur's book Milk and Honey arises from the digital ashes. You share it on your story and, just like milk, the DMs come pouring in. A gaggle of My queen", Poet of our generation" and, omg she speaks to my soul", materialise on your screen.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

The season starts this weekend with two expansion teams and a number of high-profile signings. It promises to be quite a ride

Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, and colleagues clearly identifiable'. Plus, house votes to force TikTok owner to divest or face ban

Experts say most guns smuggled from states with lax firearms laws such as Florida, Arizona and GeorgiaAs Haiti has again plunged into violent chaos, images of gang members bearing high-powered rifles, pump action shotguns or automatic weapons in the streets of Port-au-Prince have become ubiquitous.But this weaponry is not made in Haiti, a country with no firearms or ammunition manufacturing capabilities. Continue reading...

Alexander Smirnov was paid $600,000 in 2020 - the same year he allegedly began lying to FBI about Bidens' role in Ukraine businessAn American company that paid the now indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov in 2020 is connected to a UK company owned by Trump business associates in Dubai, according to business filings and court documents.Smirnov is now accused of lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, alleging that they engaged in a bribery scheme with executives at Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Smirnov's accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are impossible fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens. Continue reading...

If Jonathan Glazer's brave Oscar acceptance speech made you uncomfortable, that was the pointIt's an Oscar tradition: a serious political speech pierces the bubble of glamour and self-congratulation. Warring responses ensue. Some proclaim the speech an example of artists at their culture-shifting best; others an egotistical usurpation of an otherwise celebratory night. Then everyone moves on.Yet I suspect that the impact of Jonathan Glazer's time-stopping speech at last Sunday's Academy Awards will be significantly more lasting, with its meaning and import analyzed for many years to come. Continue reading...

The basketball Hall of Famer is excelling in a new sport as he approaches 80. He is not the only senior player who has found a new field to compete inIn a way, Rick Barry is a rookie again. With his 80th birthday approaching in late March, the NBA legend is eligible to be among the youngest players in the oldest age group in a sport that he is starting to dominate as he did long ago in basketball.Like many septuagenarians over the past few years, Barry gave up his other post-retirement athletic pursuits, in his case tennis and golf, for another sport once widely associated with slow-moving retirees: pickleball. Continue reading...

NFL legend Emmitt Smith and the NAACP have made a stand against Ron DeSantis' anti-DEI policies, but it might not have the desired consequences in college sports' new world orderEmmitt Smith is the exceptional Florida man. The pride of Pensacola, Smith racked up the second-most running yards in US high school history and smashed a haul of records at the University of Florida before leading the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s and retiring in 2004 as the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Now 54, Smith is hurtling head-first into the goalline stand that is Ron DeSantis's war on wokeness.Last year the Florida governor ratified a law prohibiting the state's public universities and four-year community colleges from spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as Texas and a handful of other states have taken aim at university DEI programs. In response the University of Florida eliminated 28 DEI positions earlier this month, vowing to shift the savings from those cuts - some $5m - into a faculty retirement fund. The school put on a diplomatic face after the fact; we will continue to foster a community of trust and respect," read the official statement. But DeSantis's tone rang far more true. Florida is where DEI goes to die," he wrote in a triumphant social media post. Continue reading...

The countless individual tributes to Alexei Navalny show there is another Russia, and it's one the west must supportBy next Monday, Vladimir Putin will have been re-elected" president of Russia. In truth, Russian voters have no genuine choice this weekend, since Putin has killed his most formidable opponent, Alexei Navalny, and ordered the disqualification of any other candidate who presented even a small chance of genuine competition. This plebiscitary legitimating procedure - quite familiar from the history of other dictatorships - will also be implemented in some parts of eastern Ukraine, which Russian official sources describe as the New Territories. Large percentages for turnout and the vote for Putin must be expected, and will be no more accurate than his historical essays on Russo-Ukrainian relations.Encouraged by signs of western weakness such as the refusal of the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine and Pope Francis's recommendation for Ukraine to hoist the white flag, Russia's brutal dictator will continue to try to conquer more of Ukraine. Not only does Putin believe that Ukraine belongs historically to a Russia whose manifest destiny it is to be a great, imperial power. Unlike western governments, his regime is both politically and economically committed to continue this war, with as much as 40% of its budget devoted to military, intelligence, disinformation and internal security spending, and a war economy that can't easily be switched back to peacetime mode. Continue reading...

Outrage over killing of Ryan Gainer, shot three times on Saturday, as sheriff denounced for defending deputies' use of lethal forceThe San Bernardino, California sheriff released new body-camera footage of the fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Ryan Gainer, who was holding a gardening tool.The Saturday killing of Gainer, who was autistic and having a mental health crisis, sparked national outrage and escalating criticisms, prompting the head of the department, sheriff Shannon Dicus, to show reporters additional footage during a Wednesday press conference. The sheriff also revealed that it appeared two deputies on the scene had fired three rounds at Gainer. Continue reading...

Hail as big as baseballs possible from Kansas to Missouri, with torrential rain from Louisiana to ArkansasVolatile weather is expected to hone in on parts of Kansas and Missouri Wednesday night, and the biggest worry is the potential for massive chunks of hail.Some are calling it gorilla hail" because it has the potential to be so big, said Alex Sosnowski, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. The Kansas City metro area is at the center of the worry zone. Continue reading...

Slide occurred in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood, where the fire department evacuated several people from a residenceA landslide in a wealthy neighborhood reduced a Los Angeles house under renovation to a jumble of lumber, pulled the pool and deck away from a second home, and left the pool at a third residence on the edge of a huge fissure early Wednesday.The slide occurred just before 3am in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles (19km) north-west of downtown. An initial search found no victims, but several people were evacuated from one house, the Los Angeles fire department said in a statement. Continue reading...

President announces $3.3bn in infrastructure spending to right historic wrongs' as he takes 2024 campaign to vital swing statesJoe Biden hailed the beginning of $3.3bn in infrastructure spending on US projects on Wednesday to right historic wrongs" with efforts to reconnect city neighborhoods riven by interstate highways that plowed with particular impunity through many Black, brown, Asian American and Hispanic communities decades ago.The US president was in Milwaukee, where he traveled to announce new infrastructure investment and officially open his election campaign's Wisconsin office in the vital swing state. Continue reading...

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The continent is seeing a surge in repressive laws. Campaigners say US evangelists are fuelling discrimination and hatredThere was widespread horror and condemnation last year when Uganda passed a draconian anti-gay law that included the death penalty for some same-sex acts and a 20-year sentence for promoting" homosexuality. Yet it was only the harshest in a wave of homophobic new legislation across Africa, which has yet to ebb.In February, Ghana's parliament passed a bill making wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities" punishable with up to five years in jail, and identifying as gay with up to three years' imprisonment. It was supported by both major parties, though the president has yet to validate it - and the finance ministry has urged him not to do so, warning that it could cost the country $3.8bn (3bn) in World Bank funding. There is particular concern that Kenya, which has previously given asylum to LGBTQ+ people forced to flee other countries, could toughen laws.Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. Continue reading...

Republican Mike Johnson urged by Democrats and veterans to hold vote on Senate packageA group of congressional Democrats including the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and armed services veterans urged the current Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to lead, follow or get out of the way" of more military support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.In the military, we have a great expression," Mikie Sherrill, a House Democrat from New Jersey and a former navy helicopter pilot, told reporters on Capitol Hill. Lead, follow or get out of the way.' That is exactly what our speaker has to do." Continue reading...

Munn posted a video and photos of her being treated on Instagram and said it saved her life'Olivia Munn has revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy, thanking her doctors and urging fans to calculate their own risk assessment.I'm lucky. We caught it with enough time that I had options. I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day," the 43-year-old actor posted on Instagram on Wednesday with photos and a video of her being treated at a hospital. Continue reading...

No indications that president's forceful State of the Union address provided much of a boost with voters, survey showsJoe Biden officially begins his general election campaign with a slight polling deficit against Donald Trump, and no indications that his forceful State of the Union address has provided much of a boost with voters, according to a public opinion survey released on Wednesday.But the newly released USA Today/Suffolk University poll also shows views of the economy have hit their highest level of Biden's presidency, a sign that voters may be starting to agree with the president that his policies helped the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Polio survivor, recognised as longest iron lung patient' after using one for 70 years, became an inspirational figurePaul Alexander, who lived much of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at the age of six, has died at the age of 78.The Texas resident was paralysed from the neck down by the disease and went on to become an inspirational figure, graduating from law school, writing a memoir and painting using a brush that he held in his mouth. Continue reading...

Governor Maura Healey announces plans to pardon all simple marijuana possession charges from the stateThe Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, announced plans to pardon all simple marijuana possession charges from the state, which could affect hundreds of thousands" who have faced charges.We believe this is the most sweeping cannabis pardon announced by any governor in the United States. The reason we do this is simple: justice requires it," Healey said at a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Charges for soliciting officials to violate their oath of office were dismissed, although the other charges remain

Republican Pac released 100 testimonials of former Trump voters explaining why they will never again vote for ex-presidentAn anti-Donald Trump group of Republicans is launching its second campaign against the former president, spending $50m and using testimonials from former supporters in an attempt to convince voters to turn away from Trump.This week, Republican Voters Against Trump released 100 videos recorded by anti-Trump Republicans explaining why they no longer support him. Continue reading...

Jets quarterback and ex-Minnesota governor reportedly being considered for Robert Kennedy Jr's independent presidential runThe New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the former pro wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura are at the top of Robert F Kennedy Jr's list of potential running mates for his independent presidential campaign, the New York Times reported.Kennedy told the paper he was speaking to Rodgers - a fellow conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine campaigner - pretty continuously" and had been in touch with Ventura since being introduced by him at an event in Arizona last month. Continue reading...

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8bn almost a decade ago but has had difficulty absorbing the chainDollar Tree will close nearly 1,000 stores and swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss as the discount retailer took a related $1.07bn goodwill impairment charge.Shares tumbled 15% before the opening bell on Wednesday. Continue reading...

I'm all for a bit of distraction in a tense medical situation, but who on earth picks those tunes?It's quite something to be sitting on a lime-green, wipe-clean chair, your tongue pinned to the roof of your mouth by fear, strangers in scrubs walking past briskly every few minutes, while Firework by Katy Perry pours out of a portable radio with the sound quality you might expect to find at the bottom of a crisp packet.This week, I spent an hour in a medical waiting room in a funk of uncertainty. My soaked poncho hung over a nearby door; a woman behind me read a book in Spanish; someone knitted in the corner. Weaving us all together were the tinfoil-on-a-filling beats of commercial radio. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen as I stared out of the window at a climbing frame and felt the sweat between my breasts. Dance With Me Tonight by Olly Murs while being shown to the toilet to give a urine sample. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia as the person behind me was called into their appointment. Continue reading...

Pope Francis's anti-western views are well known - and his new advice would lead not to peace, but a dangerous escalationThe suggestion from Pope Francis that Ukraine should have the courage" to raise the white flag" and negotiate a settlement with (in other words, surrender to) Russia was deeply shocking for Kyiv and its backers. The understandably outraged response from Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was that the only flag Kyiv would raise was its own: the yellow and blue of Ukraine.Some may think that the pope's words are inconsequential to how this war unfolds. It is not the first time Pope Francis has displayed overtly pro-Russian sympathies, nor has the Vatican's mediation, for instance regarding the liberation of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia, been successful so far. So what if the pope speaks out again about the war, given that his views are already known and his practical efforts to address the humanitarian dimensions of the war have failed?Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

A California city where homicides increased significantly after the pandemic is in a moment requiring us all to work together'On the other side of the San Francisco Bay sits Oakland, a city that has been known as many things: a nerve center for civil rights and Black power, one of the murder capitals of the US, a sports and cultural destination, a face of gentrification and a symbol of community-led resilience.Recently, the city has been in the national spotlight again amid stubbornly high gun violence numbers and recurring reports of robberies and property crimes. Viral videos have shown lines of cars with busted windows and people going into stores and leaving with armfuls of stolen merchandise. Dominating headlines are the ever-increasing numbers of homicides - which, beginning in 2020, have increased to numbers not seen in more than a decade. Continue reading...

Primary results from Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state set up a 2020 rerun. Plus, EU official says starvation being used as a weapon in Gaza

Four years after police killed Taylor, Scheherazade Tillet hopes art is not the only justice Taylor's family will seeI first visited Breonna Taylor's home in Louisville, Kentucky, after the first anniversary of her death. I had recognized the apartment from the video footage, forensic reports, and witness accounts of the night that police officers fatally shot the 26-year-old in the early hours of 13 March 2020. In time, her life and legacy would galvanize a nation to reckon with police violence against Black women, but in the immediate days and hours after her death, her family was mourning her loss and beginning their long fight for justice.I had come to Louisville from Chicago to pay my respects and because I was creating The Black Girlhood Altar, an art project that pays homage to the lives of Black girls and young Black women who have gone missing or been murdered in the United States. At first, I had looked at street murals and toured the exhibition dedicated to her Promise, Witness, Remembrance" at the Speed Art Museum, but to truly understand the trauma that unfolded, I needed to go to back to the beginning, the place she called home. Continue reading...

John Hinckley, 68, who shot and wounded president in 1981, to play first gig as folk musician after previous show promoters pulled outAfter he says a number of his concerts have been canceled at the last minute by the venues that planned to host them, the man who shot Ronald Reagan in 1981 is telling the public: I stand for peace now."I want people to know that I'm coming in peace," John Hinckley said, according to the Connecticut news station WTNH. Continue reading...

The outcome of this fight will set the course for the US and the world for decades - and it is winnable

Compensation for senior bosses at firms from Tesla to T-Mobile US worth more than those companies' net tax payments, study findsTop bosses at some of America's largest companies have received more in pay than their companies paid in federal taxes, according to a new report.Senior executives at 35 different firms - from Tesla to T-Mobile US - received compensation worth more than the net tax payments of their respective employers between 2018 and 2022, the research found. All the companies generated billions of dollars in profit over the same period. Continue reading...

The ultrarunner is famed for her achievements in long-distance events. Breaking 11 world records in a single competition may be her finest feat to dateIt's a hot winter noon on a Monday and Camille Herron is asleep. She lies on a cot in a tent next to a flat dirt track. Lined with palm trees and white stone and desert grass, it loops two and a half miles along the lip of a large olive-green lake. Over the lake, towers a screen of steep mountains covered in bush scrub. It's one resort among many in California's Coachella Valley and the setting for Lululemon's FURTHER event, a chance for 10 select women to run as far as they can in six days.It's the penultimate day, and her nap is stretching long - five hours - and the timer by the line is ticking - and Herron has less than 24 hours to run 48 miles. If she can will herself on, she'll break a record that has stood for more than three decades. Continue reading...

In memoir, professor whose accusation rocked 2018 supreme court hearings says rightwing justice not consummately honest person'The US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh is not a consummately honest person" and must know" what really happened on the night more than 40 years ago when he allegedly sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser writes in an eagerly awaited memoir.A research psychologist from northern California, Ford was thrust into the spotlight in September 2018 as Kavanaugh, a Bush aide turned federal judge, became Donald Trump's second conservative court nominee. Her allegations almost derailed Kavanaugh's appointment and created headlines around the world. Continue reading...

The label of feminist' is beginning to feel more like a subcategory on Netflix than a meaningful description of artLet's play a game. Of all the best picture nominees from this year's Oscars, which film is the most feminist? Is it Barbie, a family-friendly paean to our childhood's plastic It Girl? Poor Things, a racy riff on Frankenstein that charts one woman's process of self-emancipation? Or is it Anatomy of a Fall, about a hotshot bisexual writer accused of murdering her man?You can make a solid case for any one of them. Conversely, a takedown of each is easy, too. Barbie's girl power is nothing but good PR for Mattel, and besides, why did they allow Ryan Gosling to steal the show? Poor Things is a man's manicured vision of women's liberation. If it's so feminist, where's the menstrual blood? The armpit hair?Beatrice Loayza is a film critic and historian based in New YorkDo 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...

If Michael Gove really wants to root out the forces threatening British society, perhaps his party should look in the mirrorWhen Thomas Mair was arrested for the murder of Jo Cox MP in 2016, he told police he was a political activist". Asked to identify himself in court, he said: My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain'."When Ali Harbi Ali, the man who murdered David Amess MP in 2021, was interviewed by police, he claimed to have been serving a just cause". Asked if he thought his actions were rational, he replied: If I thought I'd done something wrong, I wouldn't have done it." Continue reading...

It's not easy being a mysterious celebrity I should know

President and ex-president capture nearly all votes in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington and HawaiiBoth Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state on Tuesday, soldidifying a rematch a majority of voters aren't looking forward to.Both men captured nearly all the votes cast so far in what had become token state primaries, along with the primary for Democrats Abroad and the Republican caucus in Hawaii. Biden also won the Northern Mariana Islands primary Tuesday morning, earning 11 delegates. Continue reading...

Full state-by-state results as well as votes of Democrats abroad and in the Northern Mariana territory