US news | The Guardian

Top court to hear appeal from Oregon city after appeals panel ruled city could not remove unhoused people from public spacesThe US supreme court will be reviewing an appeals court ruling that officials in cities across the west say bar them from removing unhoused people from public spaces when there are no shelter beds available.On Friday, the supreme court agreed to hear an appeal from the city of Grants Pass, in south-west Oregon, where in 2022 a three-judge ninth circuit of appeals panel ruled that the city could not enforce it's anti-camping ordinance that barred people from using any sort of shelter or bedding equipment on public property.Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...

Former president a step closer to Joe Biden rematch, as Ron DeSantis edges out Nikki Haley for distant second place finish. Plus, who won at the delayed 2023 Emmy awardsGood morning.Donald Trump has won an overwhelming victory in the US's first election contest of 2024, easily fending off a winnowed field of Republicans in the Iowa caucuses.How much did Trump win by? With an estimated 99% of the vote counted, Trump was on 51%, DeSantis 21.2%, and Haley 19.1%. The former president smashed the previous record margin of victory in a competitive Republican presidential race in the state, which stood at 12 percentage points.What's next? The New Hampshire primaries are next and Trump will be more confident than ever about capturing the Republican nomination following last night's success.What's happening in Gaza? The Israeli military said on Tuesday its troops killed dozens of Palestinian militants around the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and also uncovered about 100 rocket launchers.What else is happening? Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said today that the country's intense military operation in southern Gaza was nearing its end. However, Gallant said Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without continued military pressure. Continue reading...

Dean Phillips gave ex-president praise and criticism and repeated that Biden cannot defeat Trump in the election later this yearDean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman mounting a long-shot challenge to Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, praised the Trump White House for its outreach on issues and legislation he worked on and said he had not seen any of that reach-out by the Biden White House".I don't believe that we've had a president recently that invested in the way one needs to develop ... those relationships and that work ethic," Phillips told Johanna Maska, host of the Press Advance podcast and a former aide to Barack Obama. Continue reading...

Philip Anschutz has hosted rightwing justice at resort and stands to benefit if court strips power from federal regulatory agenciesTwo days before oral arguments in a US supreme court case set to have a major impact on federal health and environmental regulation, a leading government watchdog called on Neil Gorsuch to recuse himself over close links to a billionaire oil baron who has hosted the rightwing justice at a mountain resort called Eagles Nest for weekends of dove shooting and who stands to benefit from the ruling at hand.Not only would overturning Chevron deference strip power from federal agencies, harming their ability to serve everyday Americans - but now, we know billionaire oil baron Philip Anschutz would score big from a favourable ruling by his friend on the high court," said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US. Continue reading...

Donald Trump won the US's first election contest of 2024, easily fending off a field of Republicans who failed to gain traction against the former US president. The result for Trump was called quickly, while the battle for second place took much longer, with Ron DeSantis edging out Nikki Haley in an upset. Vivek Ramaswamy led the lesser-known pack of contenders, before he dropped out of the Republican nomination race and endorsed Trump

The Miami Heat star, known as much for his breadth of interests off the court as his exploits on it, opens up about his coffee obsession, ongoing bromance with Neymar and country music dreamsJimmy Butler may just be the most fascinating character in American sports today. The Miami Heat guard is at the highest echelon of his craft, a six-time All-Star and one of the NBA's best defensive players, whose ability to dominate in the biggest moments has earned him comparisons to fellow Chicago Bulls alum Michael Jordan. But what truly sets Butler apart from his peers is the fact that his athletic success, including two NBA finals appearances in the last four years, may be the least interesting thing about him. He embodies containing multitudes", and on a Friday morning in December, over a cappuccino, Jimmy Butler doesn't want to talk about basketball.Butler, for starters, wants to talk about coffee. He lights up immediately when I bring up his three-year-old coffee company Bigface and, while listening to him excitedly recount origin trips" he's taken to places like Colombia and Peru - I wanted to learn what it really takes to make coffee, I'm talking from the ground up" - it's easy to forget the 34-year-old is one of the biggest names in professional basketball. He's eager to give recommendations for favorite coffee shops - he name-checks Forin Cafe in Philadelphia, Mammoth Espresso in New Orleans and Hex Coffee in Charlotte among his favorite to visit - and exhibits genuine exuberance when talking about Bigface, which was first conceived in the NBA's Disney World bubble during the coronavirus pandemic when Butler began charging his fellow players $20 a cup for the coffee he brewed in his hotel room. Continue reading...

Former president a step closer to Joe Biden rematch, as Ron DeSantis edges out Nikki Haley for distant second place finish

As they proclaimed his victory, the news anchors muttered it's Donald Trump's party now'. Just like they've done every night since 2016The journalists came in and issued their ritual dispatches from the bucolic midwest, describing the state in terms heavy on sentiment and light on respect. The candidates poured their money and time into the state, with Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and one-time favorite for the nomination, betting all his hopes on the state. They persisted through an ominous blizzard and through the punishing cold of a plains winter to make it to the high school gyms and recreation centers where the caucuses took place. And they did all this, made all this effort and expense, in order to change absolutely nothing about the race.Trump won the Iowa caucuses handily; the major networks called for him almost as soon as the doors opened. There was never any question that he wouldn't, except perhaps in the mind of the most delusional DeSantis aides. Nikki Haley was in a tight race for second against DeSantis, as each pretends that they are in fact really running for president - and not, as anyone can see, for the positions of vice-president and attorney general, respectively. Perhaps because Trump's fait accompli has no plot and can't drive ratings, or perhaps because they are in denial, the networks have spent the better part of the past year pretending that there is a legitimate primary contest in the Republican party. There isn't. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The first real results of the 2024 presidential campaign are a hammer blow to Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Last night, the race for the US presidency formally started - and Donald Trump has won the first round by a landslide. With 99% of votes counted, Trump has 51% of Republican support in the Iowa caucus - a victory of unprecedented dominance for any race not involving a sitting president.Ron DeSantis got 21% of votes, a very distant second place that he tried to present as a success - while Nikki Haley finished a disappointing third with 19% but claimed she now had the momentum to challenge Trump. In truth, though, the result is so decisive that it's all but impossible to see anyone but Trump taking the nomination from here.Conservatives | Rishi Sunak is facing a Conservative meltdown over the Rwanda deportation bill after two deputy chairs said they would support rebel amendments aimed at blocking international human rights laws. Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have defied the prime minister by backing rightwing challenges to the bill, which will be debated by parliament on Tuesday.Middle East crisis | The Houthi militia group has continued to attack commercial shipping, hitting an American-owned container ship with a ballistic missile in defiance of US and UK strikes on Yemen. While the strike caused no major damage, it will add to fears that the militia group retains the ability to threaten commercial shipping.Rail strikes | Train drivers have called a further week of rolling strikes across England from late January in their long-running dispute with operators over pay. Members of the Aslef union will strike for 24 hours at each train-operating company on the national railway on different days between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February.Security | Hizb ut-Tahrir will be banned from organising in the UK following claims that the group is antisemitic, the home secretary has said. The Islamist group is already banned in several countries including Germany and Indonesia.Emmys | Beef, The Bear and the final season of Succession reigned supreme at the delayed 2023 Emmy awards. Jesse Armstrong's hit HBO drama picked up six awards, including for actors Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen and the night's biggest award for best drama series. See the red carpet fashion and a full list of winners. Continue reading...

Full results as Iowa Republicans chose their candidate for the US electionsThe Republican race for the 2024 presidential nomination began with a surprisingly large field but rapidly winnowed down. Voters flocked to the Iowa caucuses - the first contest in the process - on Monday.In a US election, Republican and Democrats hold contests in each state to decide who their nominee will be in the presidential election in November. The winner in each state gets delegates who vote at the party conventions in the summer to choose their nominee. The state elections are usually called primaries with a simple vote, but in some states the election follows a more complex, meeting-based format known as a caucus. Continue reading...

For some Americans, it's a nightmare from which they cannot wake, but for others it's a new chapter in the Maga sagaThere is a familiar scene in many a film where the protagonist jolts awake from a terrible nightmare, only to realise that he or she didn't wake up at all: the nightmare continues.For the millions of Americans who abhor Donald Trump, there was a similar sensation on Monday night as the former US president swaggered out on stage in Des Moines, having just scored a resounding victory in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. Continue reading...

Ex-president beats Republican rivals as DeSantis finishes a distant second, Haley slides into third place and Ramaswamy drops out

Donald Trump won early and Ron DeSantis' investment in Iowa paid off but Nikki Haley has focused more on New HampshireThe Iowa caucuses took place on Martin Luther King Jr's Day, a national holiday, while a raging winter storm swept through the region.But still many Iowans made it to their precinct to cast their vote in the first Republican state primary of the 2024 election year. Continue reading...

In the end, Iowa, as was much predicted, went for the original packaging - by a landslideThe Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, who was in Iowa on Monday night as a surrogate for the Biden-Harris campaign, may have summed up the night the best. Tonight's contest," Pritzker said, is simply a question of whether you like your Maga Trump agenda wrapped in the original packaging, or with high heels or lifts in their boots".Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnistLloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992Bhaskar Sunkara is the president of the Nation, the founding editor of Jacobin, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme InequalitiesBen Davis works in political data in Washington DC. He worked on the data team for the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaignGeoffrey Kabaservice is the director of political studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington DC as well as the author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party Continue reading...

Youthful entrepreneur briefly threatened to disrupt primaries with relentless engagement in culture warsVivek Ramaswamy, the youthful entrepreneur who briefly threatened to disrupt the Republican primaries, has suspended his campaign for president, his team said on Monday after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses.As of this moment we are going to suspend this presidential campaign", Ramaswamy said. There's no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don't want to see happen in this country." Continue reading...

US vice-president speaks at South Carolina event honoring the civil rights leader, urging voters to roll up our sleeves'

Republican presidential candidate makes final appearance in Iowa hours ahead of caucuses

Latest polls place Donald Trump as clear frontrunner for party's nomination in first round of voting in 2024 primary

Multiple emergency personnel sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue following hoax call at 7.03am on MondayThe White House on Monday became the latest victim of a growing US problem of swatting": the summoning of large numbers of law enforcement personnel and other first responders to a hoax emergency incident.Multiple Washington DC fire and ambulance crews rushed to the White House following an emergency call that was received at 7.03am, a spokesperson for District of Columbia fire and emergency medical services said. Joe Biden was not at the residence, and the call was later traced to a fake number. Continue reading...

The false belief the 2020 election was stolen is part of some Trump voter's ideology, while others are turned off by his legal woes

US's most senior military official was admitted two weeks ago but delayed notifying White House of his absenceThe US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, was released from hospital on Monday, two weeks after he was admitted for complications following prostate cancer surgery, apparently leaving the White House unaware of his absence for three days.In a statement, the Pentagon said the most senior US military official will work remotely for a period of time" before returning to the office and has full access" to secure communications capabilities. Continue reading...

Biden administration says state officials acted unconstitutionally by preventing border patrol from helping mother and childrenA dispute between the White House and Texas intensified on Monday after the Biden administration declared that state officials acted unconstitutionally by blocking federal agents from a section of the border where a migrant mother and two children drowned in the Rio Grande.The Texas military department (TMD) fenced off a large public park at Eagle Pass last week on the orders of the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, who boasted on Friday we are not allowing border patrol on that property any more". Continue reading...

Latin Americans besieged by organised crime may be willing to overlook a turn towards authoritarianism, but at what cost?A wave of attacks carried out by criminal organisations last week in Ecuador - epitomised by gunmen storming a television station live on air - has brought international attention to a security crisis that has been building for years. Ecuador has become one of the most murderous countries in what is already the world's most homicidal region. The murder rate in the South American country has risen from five per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017 to 46 per 100,000 in 2023.States of emergency, which establish curfews and permit military action in prisons, have been frequent in Ecuador in recent years. Its president, Daniel Noboa, innovated last week with the unprecedented declaration of a state of internal armed conflict". By applying the laws of war to organised criminals as if they were terrorists or insurgents, the move may contravene international law, Human Rights Watch's deputy Americas director, Juan Pappier, told the Washington Post. Commentators and critics have noted the lack of any clear exit strategy by the government. Continue reading...

Pilot among those killed in crash in remote section of desert after unspecified problem with balloon's envelope, officials sayFour people died and a fifth was critically hurt after a hot air balloon crashed early on Sunday morning in a remote section of Arizona desert.Micah Powell, mayor of the Pinal county town of Eloy near the crash site, said 13 people - eight skydivers, four passengers and a pilot - had been in the basket of the balloon. The skydivers had already jumped when the accident occurred. Continue reading...

Sub-zero wind chills grip swathe of country as Arctic storms leave at least four dead and knock out electricity in parts of north-westDangerous freezing air from the Arctic continued sweeping across the US on Monday, prolonging a bitter cold blast that has set record-low temperatures and disrupted daily life across a broad swathe of America, including an NFL playoff game and the presidential nominating contest in Iowa.From Oregon on the west coast to New York state on the east coast and all the way down to Florida, the US grappled with the effects of a weather system that hit tens of millions of people. Continue reading...

Covid, flu and RSV rates creep up as vaccination rates for all three remain low, worrying healthcare providersCases of and hospitalizations for respiratory viruses, including Covid, the flu and RSV, continue rising across the US, and some health systems have begun returning to mask and limited-visitation policies as health officials warn that hospital capacity may become strained.Vaccination rates for all three illnesses remain low, despite the efficacy of updated flu and Covid boosters and the entrance of new RSV vaccines for older and pregnant people. Continue reading...

Team to be sent to inspect processes at main supplier as part of efforts to demonstrate safety of 737 Max 9Boeing is implementing a further set of checks on its 737 Max 9 production lines and opening factories to airline scrutiny as it attempts to demonstrate the safety of its troubled plane.The US manufacturer said it would also bring in independent assessors, beyond normal regulation, and send a team to the plant of its main supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, to check its processes as well. Continue reading...

Republicans preparing to vote for presidential candidate share concerns over US-Mexico border, debt and international affairsDavid Erlacher hadn't made up his mind about who he was going to caucus for when he showed up to a Cedar Rapids brewery to hear Ron DeSantis speak on Sunday afternoon. But inside his jacket pocket was a handwritten list of issues that mattered most to him.At the top was the economy, followed by the southern border. He then listed a series of foreign policy conflicts, including the Houthi attacks in Yemen, the war in Israel, and the war between Ukraine and Russia. Continue reading...

The midfielder's creative brilliance was on full display in his first league match in five months, bringing spontaneity to Pep Guardiola's mechanical sideWith 16 minutes to go at St James' Park on Saturday, Liverpool were perhaps beginning to contemplate their five-point lead over Manchester City, having played a game more, becoming an actual five-point lead without caveats - which, with City still to go to Anfield - might have started to look fairly significant. But then Kevin De Bruyne scored one and set up another, the lead is down to two points and the champions are within striking range.City are still nowhere near their best, vulnerable to balls played in behind their defensive line in the way that Pep Guardiola sides struggling for form often are. That they conceded two in three minutes against Newcastle was also characteristic; leaking goals in batches is another familiar quirk of Guardiola teams when they're still searching for the right set-up out of possession. At half-time, Saturday's match was almost a paradigmatic example of how Guardiola teams can lose games: City had controlled the ball to an extraordinary degree without creating a huge amount and yet had not only let in two goals to brilliant finishes but had conceded three or four other chances in transition. Newcastle had been under some pressure but essentially the game had been following a similar pattern when De Bruyne came on. Continue reading...

The first stage of the 2024 election takes place amid wind chills of -40F on what is expected to be coldest caucus night everA cold coming we had of it. Icy winds blow across the plains, numbing the face and cutting to the bone. Stranded cars and tractor trailers lie abandoned at the side of highways. Snow is piled high on the side of every road in the state capital, where giant icicles hang off buildings. Candidates' yard signs and children's playgrounds have been enveloped by a white blanket.Welcome to Iowa, often described as the centre of the political universe at this stage of the US electoral cycle, but currently feeling more like the outer reaches of our solar system. Continue reading...

In this series, Guardian writers share the best advice they have ever received and how it has changed their lives

A passing weather system brought snowfall and temperatures dropped to about -20C (-4F) as voters prepared for the Republican party of Iowa's presidential caucuses on Monday. Candidates who would normally be crisscrossing Iowa in the final days before its first-in-the-nation caucus cancelled many of their events, as winter weather created unsafe travel conditions Continue reading...

Politicians and celebrities routinely twist the message of the civil rights icon, turning a radical legacy into revisionist historySixty years on, Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech remains a rhetorical paragon, pushing the civil rights movement into the law books while transforming the rabble-rousing preacher into a global icon for freedom and equality. The speech did such a good job of capturing lofty American ideals that King's name is regularly taken in vain.Vivek Ramaswamy harks back to King while making the case for dismantling critical race theory and DEI initiatives. (What bothers the heck out of me is right when we're close to that promised land ... [we] then obsess about systemic racism and white guilt," he told NBC earlier this month.) Ron DeSantis claims King would have been for book bans. (He said he didn't want people judged on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character," the Florida governor said while stumping for his Stop Woke Act in 2021, stressing a responsibility to protect our people and our kids from some very pernicious ideologies".) Nikki Haley, slow to concede the civil war's origins in slavery, says she was inspired by the civil rights icon. Continue reading...

Mike Lindell, undeterred by $1bn defamation lawsuit, calls on Bannon and Roger Stone to boost rightwing Lindell TV networkThe MyPillow chief, Mike Lindell, a close ally and cheerleader for Donald Trump and his bogus stolen election claims, is expanding his own conspiratorial TV network, while aggressively stumping for Trump again and fighting defamation lawsuits from two electronic voting firms, one of which wants over $1bn in damages.The moves by Lindell show the continuing presence of powerful parts of the pro-Trump movement, undeterred by the extensive legal peril their false claims of election fraud due to electronic voting machines have caused them. His expansion of his television network also shows the growing power of rightwing media as the 2024 race for the White House gets under way, and its ability to elevate conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

The court has undone rulings to try to unravel Black political power and reverse the progress of the modern USThere is little doubt 2024 will be a consequential year as we enter a presidential election that will decide the future of American democracy. But while the race for the presidency will capture most of the headlines, a darker and more subtle governmental force continues to churn out devastating decisions that chip away at our fundamental freedoms.We're talking, of course, about the US supreme court. Continue reading...

US Central Command says missile from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen was launched towards USS Laboon before being shot down by fighter jets. Plus, is booing at the theatre actually a good thing?Good morning.US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen at one of its warships in the Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday night.What else is happening in the Middle East? The White House has said it's the right time" for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli leaders again vowed to press ahead with their offensive against Hamas. The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war on Sunday.Does Haley have a good chance of being nominated? Not while Trump is still in the running. The poll underscored the profound challenges that Haley - and any other Republican not named Donald Trump - faces in the quest for the nomination. Trump easily beat all of his opponents in the Iowa poll, capturing the support of 48% of likely caucus-goers. Continue reading...

After the civil war, Klansmen were prosecuted - and Confederate traitors forced from office - by the same laws Trump has now run afoul ofOn Tuesday, in response to the federal case brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith over Trump's alleged role in the January 6 insurrection, Trump threatened a new round of violence - or bedlam" - if he loses the election. In early February, the US supreme court will also rule on the Colorado supreme court's decision to disqualify Trump from the state's ballot for his part in the insurrection.The two cases might appear to be disconnected, but they are inseparable in law and history. They are united by Congress's Reconstruction-era action to enforce the 14th amendment's extension of constitutional rights against the former Confederates' campaign of racial and political violence - the Ku Klux Klan Acts of 1870 and 1871. Continue reading...

Dallas' postseason ineptitude has become as predictable as a running gag in a sitcom. The punchline was the same against the PackersThe Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs are always a must-watch, usually for all the wrong reasons. With their 1990s run of dominance firmly in time's rearview mirror, the Cowboys' 21st-century legacy mostly consists of postseason disappointment. After grabbing the NFC's second seed in the regular season, it felt like these Cowboys should have easily handled a visiting Green Bay Packers team that many thought were just happy to be here.Except, these are the Cowboys, a team who haven't made it to the NFC Championship Game since 1995. At this point, their fans have come to expect embarrassment no matter how heavily the odds seem stacked in their favor. Continue reading...

When an occasional treat turned into a habit and broken promises to my child, I knew it was time to quitThe damaging impact of a parent's drug or alcohol use on their children has been well-documented in studies and memoirs. I know how harmful substances can be to family life, but to take the edge off the hard tasks of mothering, I've often used caffeine, alcohol and, more recently, weed. The legalisation of marijuana and the normalisation of its use where I live in Washington, in the US, lulled me into thinking it was OK, that it would enable me to relax, focus and playfully connect to my imaginative child.Right next to the supermarket, a cannabis dispensary, Higher Leaf, announced its grand opening last year. Rows of sparkling display cabinets offered cannabis in all its forms, bringing back memories of a childfree, transcendent lifestyle. The salesperson recommended a sativa pre-roll, for continuously unfolding realisations" with the ability to get stuff done. Weed combines spirituality and practicality, I thought, the same way motherhood is both a calling and a service job. So I bought it, presenting my ID and cash: no prescription or medical card required.Saira Khan is a writer based near Seattle, WashingtonDo 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...

I helped expose the grotesque hypocrisy of the Catholic church. But I owe so much to the nuns who formed meThe 1990s witnessed the collision of three tectonic plates that are still shaping the course of Irish history: the Celtic Tiger, the peace process and the decline of the Catholic church.Legacy is all around us: the legacy of boom and bust, the legacy of the Troubles and, almost 30 years after the catastrophic eruption of the clerical and institutional abuse scandals, Ireland is still coming to terms with the legacy of an unholy communion between church and state. Anger over the institutional response of the Catholic church to the abuse scandals, and its continued failure to take responsibility for the systemic cover-up of those abuses, is still visceral and ever-present.Dearbhail McDonald is an Irish journalist and author. The Last Priests in Ireland airs on 15 January at 9.35pm on RTE One. The Last Nuns in Ireland airs on 16 January at 10.15pm

Hunter Walker and Luppe B Luppen, authors of The Truce, quote former staffers to vice-president in scathing assessmentConsidering Kamala Harris's fitness to take over from Joe Biden should the need arise, a top aide to the former California senator's 2020 campaign said: This person should not be president of the United States."The withering assessment, given after Harris was picked for vice-president in 2020, is reported in The Truce: Progressives, Centrists and the Future of the Democratic Party, by the reporters Hunter Walker and Luppe B Luppen. The book will be published in the US on 24 January 2024. The Guardian obtained a copy. Continue reading...

Supporters of Palestine have long been told their position is fringe. But this case gives them legitimacy - and tests the limits of human rightsIt was only a little over six hours of legal argument, but the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel at the international court of justice had decades of history bearing down on it. The specifics dealt with Israel's assault on Gaza, but at its heart, the case was about something wider: closing the gap between Palestinian reality and how the dominant political forces describe it.For weeks now, anger at events in Gaza has spilled out on to the streets across Europe. Yet this anger has been resolutely ignored, dismissed, banned, or vilified by political leaders. Public support for a ceasefire, now at more than 70% in the UK, is not reflected in the positions of either the government or the opposition. Globally, condemnation of the violence from human rights organisations, the United Nations and even the pope has yet to translate into meaningful action from political leaders. Continue reading...

There's a reason we keep returning to stories where insecurity abounds, the anger is bitter, the shame an enveloping stormPrince William and Prince Harry. Kim and Kourtney Kardashian. Liam and Noel Gallagher. Cain and Abel. Same womb, lifelong rivals. When siblings clash, worlds hang in the balance. Who is in the right and who is in the wrong? (A very elder sibling question to pose, it turns out). More importantly, who is the favourite?Both questions miss the point, I've learned, and from a surprising source: the Bible. Continue reading...