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Decision by archbishop on Alex Crow in sharp contrast to decision on different priest who sexually molested multiple boysThe Roman Catholic priest in Alabama who married a recent high school graduate after meeting her through his ministry, fleeing to Europe with her and facing law enforcement scrutiny, has been permanently ousted from the priesthood, a consequence few clergymen ever endure.Alex Crow's removal as a priest - known as laicization - by the Vatican had taken effect by 5 January and was confirmed in a letter from the Catholic church's worldwide leader, Pope Francis, according to an announcement from the archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama. Continue reading...

The addition of Luis Suarez has brought more star power to Miami. But with an older roster and a packed schedule, can they compete at the top of MLS?The names just keep rolling in for Inter Miami.When Lionel Messi joined the club midway through the 2023 MLS season, Miami quickly added Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba - two of Messi's teammates from his time at Barcelona. Then, just before the new year, Inter Miami added another former Barcelona player to their squad in the form of striker Luis Suarez. Continue reading...

A new book argues that basketball was at its peak when the Lakers, Pistons, Bulls and Celtics fought it out during the 1987-88 seasonFourteen seconds. That's how close the Detroit Pistons were to a championship in Game 6 of the 1988 NBA finals. Leading by one point over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit had possession. Then momentum shifted: A referee made a much-discussed foul call on the Pistons' controversial center, Bill Laimbeer. The decision put Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the line; he made both free throws. LA went on to win, then prevailed in a similarly dramatic Game 7 for the title.This is a pivotal moment from a new book by Rich Cohen called When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season. The book argues that the excitement, excellence and revolutionary star play of the 1987-88 season set an unparalleled standard. Continue reading...

The pattern of killing cannot be denied. Is there a lack of sympathy because the victims aren't American or European?I am in awe of Wael Dahdouh's strength to haul himself back in front of the camera and focus on the suffering of others even as he has repeatedly endured his own personal hell. The face of Al Jazeera's reporting throughout Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza was on air in October when he learned that his wife, seven-year-old daughter, 15-year-old son and one-year-old grandson were killed in an attack. Still he went on reporting.Last month, Dahdouh himself was wounded and his cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, killed in the Israeli bombing of a UN-run school used as a shelter. Then on Sunday, an Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Gaza killed Dahdouh's eldest son, 27-year-old Hamza, who also worked for Al Jazeera, along with another journalist.Chris McGreal writes for Guardian US and is a former Guardian correspondent in Washington, Johannesburg and Jerusalem Continue reading...

If the Tesla CEO studied the Nordic labour movement like he studies car batteries, he'd see that collective bargaining can suit employers tooElon Musk, the notoriously anti-union CEO of the electric car giant Tesla, finds himself on the ropes in his dispute with Swedish workers. After more than two months of strikes - the first against Tesla anywhere in the world - 10 Swedish unions have so far launched industrial action against the company and the pressure is growing.The issue at the core of the original dispute concerns Tesla and the Swedish industrial union IF Metall, which sought a collective agreement to provide better wages and benefits for mechanics in Tesla's repair shops. The union's members in Sweden have been on strike since 27 October.German Bender is chief analyst at the progressive Swedish thinktank Arena and a former visiting research fellow at Harvard Law School Continue reading...

A group of men belonging to a Hasidic Jewish community in New York were arrested on Monday in a dispute over an illegal tunnel secretly dug at a historic synagogue, which has since been closed. Action by law enforcement after the tunnel came to light led to a brawl between police and those who created the passageways. The Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters, located in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City, was in chaos on Tuesday as Jewish leaders and police faced off against what Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesperson for the Chabad, called a 'group of extremist students'

Brawl erupted between police and those who created passageway and wanted it to remain at Chabad-Lubavitch headquartersA group of men belonging to a Hasidic Jewish community in New York were arrested on Monday amid a dispute over an illegal tunnel secretly dug into the side of a historic synagogue, which has since been closed.Action by law enforcement after the tunnel came to light led to a brawl between police and those who had created the passageway and wanted it to remain. Continue reading...

Hospital stay that Joe Biden did not know about was for prostate cancer surgery and to treat urinary tract infection, doctors sayJoe Biden did not learn that his defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, had prostate cancer until Tuesday, the White House has said, minutes after it was disclosed to the public along with news of an infection that had also been kept under wraps.Austin prompted confusion followed by uproar when it emerged that he had recently, secretly been hospitalized for surgery and again later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation. Continue reading...

Deobra Redden's foster mother says his mental health was not taken into consideration in his court sentenceThe family of a man who was filmed attacking a Las Vegas judge has come forward to say that, while they don't condone Deobra Redden's actions, his mental health had not been taken into consideration before the court appearance.Oh my god, I went into a state of shock," Karen Springer, Redden's foster mother, told local CBS affiliate 8NewsNow. I mean it was heartbreaking really to see him and, like I said, at the end of the day it's about his mental state." Continue reading...

Planes await inspection by aviation regulators after panel blowout on Alaska Airlines flight amid heightened safety concernsBoeing must acknowledge our mistake", its CEO has said, after the cabin panel of a 737 Max 9 jet blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight last week.Dozens of Max 9 planes have been grounded following the incident, awaiting inspection amid heightened concerns around safety. Alaska and United Airlines have since both found loose parts on several jets. Continue reading...

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Legal woes that would have buried a candidate have become a feature of Trump's 2024 run as other Republicans hit campaign trail in IowaFour candidates were on the campaign trail, meeting and greeting voters in frigid Iowa. A fifth was sitting in a courtroom in rainy Washington, trying to fend off a criminal case that might land him in jail.But in the upside-down, topsy-turvy world of American politics, it is Donald Trump - not Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson or Vivek Ramaswamy - who is expected to win the first Republican presidential nominating contest in a landslide next week. Continue reading...

Sometimes, if you build it, they don't come,' says Dean Phillips after he ends up pouring coffee for staffers only in New HampshireContemplating a New Hampshire campaign event to which not one voter showed up, the Minnesota congressman and Democratic presidential hopeful Dean Phillips told reporters on Tuesday: Sometimes, if you build it, they don't come."He was alluding to a famous line from Field of Dreams, a 1989 film in which an Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner builds a baseball field, thereby attracting the ghosts of famous players. Continue reading...

Ray Epps, 62, was targeted by rightwing conspiracy theorists who accused him of helping incite attack to entrap Trump supportersA man targeted by rightwing conspiracy theories about the US Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to a year of probation for joining the January 6 attack by a mob of fellow Donald Trump supporters.Ray Epps, a former Arizona resident who was driven into hiding by death threats, pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge. He received no jail time, and there were no restrictions placed on his travel during his probation, but he will have to serve 100 hours of community service. Continue reading...

Tornado warnings issued in Alabama and Louisiana as rare blizzard conditions hit Pacific north-westMillions of people across the US are facing extreme weather this week as forecasters warn of strong storms in the west, the threat of tornadoes forming in the south, and a winter blast that may produce widespread flooding in the east.Widespread hazardous weather impacts are expected for the eastern third of the US," the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Tuesday, adding that flood risks extended from the Florida Panhandle up to Maine. The downpours will be accompanied by widespread strong winds gusting up to 50mph. Continue reading...

Robert Romanov Woodland is at least third American detained by country and faces 20-year prison sentence if convictedA US national has been arrested on drug trafficking charges in Russia, the latter nation said on Tuesday, bringing the number of Americans detained by authorities in Moscow to at least three as tensions rise over the Ukraine war.Robert Romanov Woodland, 32, was arrested on 5 January, Reuters reported, citing the Russian news website Mash, which said Woodland faced a 20-year prison sentence if convicted. Continue reading...

Appeals court unconvinced by contention of Trump's lawyer that former president enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution

Credible centre-left figures were passed over for 34-year-old Gabriel Attal, who will soon face Marine Le Pen's own protegeTo an American (now French by naturalisation) who spent four traumatised years being metaphorically punched in the face over and over by the unceasing nature of Donald Trump's latest outrage", Emmanuel Macron will never merit the hysterical reactions he provokes in France. Rather, he is a president of missed opportunities, and with a problem similar to Joe Biden's: his record is far from bad, but the vibe" that carried him to the Elysee in 2017 has long since shifted from enthusiasm to generalised discontent.Public dissatisfaction with Macron has been fuelled by his outgoing prime minister Elisabeth Borne's repeated recourse to a deeply unpopular constitutional measure, article 49.3, to get laws passed - including hated pension reforms - in the absence of a clear legislative majority. The clause inverts normal legislative proceedings and is supposed to be a last resort, not a routine feature of government.Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Primary to take place on 19 March for 20th congressional district in Bakersfield, vacant after former House speaker's resignationCalifornia's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has set a mid-March special election date to fill the US House seat vacated by the former speaker Kevin McCarthy.In a statement, Newsom set the 19 March primary date for the 20th congressional district contest. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters would advance to a 21 May matchup to fill the seat. Continue reading...

Alan Wilmer Sr, who died aged 63, would be charged if he were alive, police say, over three unsolved murders in late 1980sA small-time fisher who died in 2017 has been linked to three cold-case murders in Virginia from the 1980s, including two that were among a series of unsolved killings of couples known as the Colonial Parkway murders, officials have announced.Virginia state police identified the suspect as Alan Wilmer Sr but offered few details about how he is tied to the killings - which occurred in 1987 and 1989 - or when he became a suspect. However, authorities said Wilmer would be charged if he were alive. Continue reading...

Billionaire vows to tackle problems with how our media operates' after Neri Oxman accused of plagiarism in PhD thesisAfter the resignation of the Harvard president, Claudine Gay, amid accusations of plagiarism, some might have expected Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, to step back from what became a rightwing push against academia.Instead, Ackman, who became embroiled in university politics after students protested against Israel's actions in Palestine, appears to have expanded his scattergun attack against other perceived liberal institutions, with news organizations and the media now in his sights. Continue reading...

There was some surprise when the boy-next-door star of The Bear revealed an impossibly toned body in a new ad campaign. It was a reminder, once again, that celebrities aren't like you or meSex sells. Just ask the fashion label Calvin Klein, whose adverts flogging perfectly white (and salaciously tight) men's underwear have led to global pant domination. Its formula of hunky celebrity guy du jour brooding in tiny whities" has been turning heads for decades, so you might think we'd be immune to their masculine wiles by now. Not so, as the breathless response to last week's ads featuring the actor Jeremy Allen White proved. In the campaign video, White, best known as chef Carmy from the hit TV series The Bear, is seen wandering New York, before climbing the stairs of a building and emerging on to its roof, where he strips down to his boxers and does some half-hearted exercise (mostly stretches but he chucks in a little pull-up too). This is before he falls on to a conveniently placed rooftop sofa (no plastic covering? Doesn't it get wet?), and we see that he had his trainers and socks on the whole time.It wasn't his ability to remove his shorts while walking and without taking off his trainers that got tongues wagging - or rather, panting. It was White's muscular, toned and tanned physique. The still images show him pulling the underwear waistband down to reveal a defined inguinal crease or love line" (the pinnacle of the male physical ideal, apparently), and lounging on the rooftop in jeans, flies open and shimmied down to show the underwear. This is what every woman needed to start 2024 off right," reads one comment on Calvin Klein's Instagram. I hope this is someone's gay awakening," reads another. A comment simply saying YES CHEF" earned 1,600 likes.Coco Khan is a freelance writer and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK Continue reading...

Trump ally and confessed dirty trickster' said either Eric Swalwell or Jerry Nadler had to die before 2020 election, Mediaite reportedThe Republican operative and close Donald Trump ally Roger Stone reportedly told an associate one of two prominent Democratic congressmen ha[d] to die before the election" in 2020.It's time to do it," Stone said, according to Mediaite, which cited a recording the outlet reported was made at a Florida restaurant. Continue reading...

Tracy Kasper, head of 1.5m-strong group, says she was blackmailed with threat to reveal past personal, non-financial matter'A threat to blackmail the president of the US's National Association of Realtors has forced her to resign from the organization which bills itself as the largest professional trade group in the country, she announced on Monday.Tracy Kasper's abrupt resignation from the presidency of a realtors association that counts on 1.5 million members comes during a particularly turbulent time in the organization's history - her predecessor stepped down months earlier when confronted with sexual harassment claims. Continue reading...

This type of fraud might be easy to scoff at, but it's common, sophisticated, and robs people of much more than just moneyKeanu Reeves keeps me up at night, Brad Pitt wakes me up in the morning, and don't even get me started on Liam Neeson. The thing is, all they want to do is talk. Via social media. About needing gift cards.One of my recent conversations with Liam Neeson went like this: Continue reading...

An arrest warrant was issued for Simon Paul after he failed to show in court on charges including unlawful trafficking of eaglesA federal judge issued an arrest warrant on Monday for a Montana man who failed to show up for an initial court appearance on charges of killing thousands of birds, including bald and golden eagles. A second defendant pleaded not guilty.The two men, working with others, killed about 3,600 birds on Montana's Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere over a six-year period beginning in 2015, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed last month. The defendants also were accused of selling eagle parts on a black market that has been a long-running problem for US wildlife officials. Continue reading...

A driver was taken into custody as cause and manner' of the Monday evening collision was being looked intoA vehicle crashed into an exterior gate of the White House complex in Washington on Monday evening, the US Secret Service said.The Secret Service chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi, said a driver was taken into custody as the cause and manner" of the 6pm ET incident was being investigated. Continue reading...

This year's coaching cycle will be a wonky one. The group of candidates is headlined by high-profile retreads and hot-shot defensive coordinatorsHarbaugh continues his will-he-won't-he dance with pro football. Last year, he said after interviewing with the Minnesota Vikings that it would be the last time" he spoke to an NFL franchise, before inserting an exit clause into his Michigan contract that allowed him to skedaddle from the college game to the pros whenever he sees fit. Continue reading...

Proponents of the settler movement, backed by Netanyahu, are ruling the airwaves and skewing coverage of the conflictSince the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, Israelis have been glued to their TV sets and scrolling through news and social media. The ordinarily news-obsessed public has become even more engrossed, and the war has seen the propagation of a point of view that for much of Israel's media history has been marginal, but has now reached its apex: that of the settler far right.The settlement movement, originating as a small vanguard of religious Zionists, has expanded exponentially since Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza after the 1967 six-day war. Once perceived as bearded, outsider men patrolling the Hebron hills with Uzis, settlers have significantly increased their influence, becoming key political players. Recent elections have elevated some of the movement's most extreme figures, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, to high positions in government. Continue reading...

Plaintiffs in trial six years in the making say state's computerized voting machines put votes at unacceptable risk of being alteredA federal trial beginning this week in Atlanta could change the way people vote in next year's election in a key swing state, and potentially affect voters in other states for years to come.The trial, six years in the making, pits a non-profit organization and a handful of Georgia voters against the state, claiming that vulnerabilities in the state's computerized voting machines place a voter's choices at an unacceptable risk of being altered, infringing on their constitutional rights. Continue reading...

First months of conflict produced more planet-warming gases than 20 climate-vulnerable countries do in a year, study shows. Plus, the Greenland startup shipping glacier ice to UAE

Arab, Muslim and younger voters face a choice between Biden, who does little to stop mass Palestinian death, and the xenophobic TrumpWe have a chaotic and unpredictable election year ahead. That would normally elicit anxiety, but mostly I'm feeling hopeless.

Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer say they have a deal to avert a shutdown - but a divided Congress could yet stall its progressCongressional leaders reached an agreement on overall spending levels to fund the federal government in 2024, a significant step toward averting a shutdown later this month. But political divisions on immigration and other domestic priorities could stall its progress.The deal is separate from bipartisan Senate negotiations that would pair new border security measures with additional funding for Israel and Ukraine. That proposal is expected to be released sometime this week. Continue reading...

The Friends star appeared at the Golden Globes more or less unchanged from the 90s, when the world seemed full of promiseJennifer Aniston arrived at the Golden Globes sporting the same haircut she had when she played Rachel Green, in the earliest years of Friends. It stopped many star-gazers dead in their tracks, because the public record is quite clear on this: Aniston hated that look, thinking it was ugly. But she dusted it off anyway, as a gift of cultural nostalgia, a portal back to an innocent time, when Matthew Perry was still alive and young people could afford to pay rent, and the world was full of promise - and, for a girl with the right highlights, nothing could stand in her way. If Aniston can alter this little, after this much time, maybe nothing is as different as it feels?But the more powerful hit of times past came from Gillian Anderson's dress: it looked elegant, unremarkable, maybe a little bridal, even. Nothing to see here, just a fine-looking woman in white. Look closer, and you'll see it's embroidered; closer still, that the pattern is like nothing you've seen before. She called it her vagina dress, which was very on-brand, given her role as the sex therapist mum in Sex Education, yet at the same time very off-brand, because those are actually vulvas. Continue reading...

As floods, fires and storms escalate, it's time for a body with the expertise and resources to protect people and the planetIn 1859 a Swiss businessman, Jean-Henri Dunant, travelled to northern Italy to discuss his investments in Algeria with the French emperor. The business meeting took place near the site of the battle of Solferino - a key confrontation in the war of Italian independence. Moved by the carnage and the sight of 40,000 wounded soldiers, abandoned on the battlefield, Dunant decided to dedicate his life to bringing humanitarian relief to war zones.He was surprisingly effective. Thanks to his initiative, in 1863 the Red Cross was established, soon to be joined by the Turkish Red Crescent. In 1864, representatives of the main European powers signed the first Geneva convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in armies in the field". In 1867 Dunant declared bankruptcy, his business interests entirely eclipsed by his philanthropic devotion.Lorenzo Marsili is a philosopher, activist, author and director of the Berggruen Institute Europe Continue reading...

It may seem impossible to seek a deal amid war. But the consequences of not doing so are too painful to contemplateWith all hope currently buried beneath the rubble of Gaza and Israel's abandoned kibbutzim, it is hard not to despair about the prospects of an Israeli-Palestinian peace. The hostages have to be returned immediately and the killing of civilians has to stop, yet a ceasefire alone will not solve the fundamental challenge of achieving an enduring settlement, and while it is hard to make a plan amid such trauma, it is impossible to end years of violence without one.And in reality, a blueprint does exist for an alternative to this deadly cycle of destruction and retribution. The attempts in the Oslo process (whose five-year timetable for a two-state solution did not materialise), the failed Clinton-Arafat-Barak Camp David talks and the doomed Obama 2013-14 initiatives are well documented. Less well known is the 2007-08 peace plan. After talking to some of its leading proponents in the past few days, I believe this will, sooner or later, offer anew the best starting point for delivering a durable peace. Continue reading...

I got blood clots in my lungs, a pulmonary embolism, and all the doctors could tell me was to do things in moderationAt 4.58pm on New Year's Eve, a globule of blood lodged itself in my right lung. The heart is a pump and it behaved the way most pumps do when encountering a blockage: it strained, and strained some more, and began to break down.At the time, though, I found this all fairly academic - lying on a gurney in the emergency room, I had the distinct sensation my heart was applying shear force to itself and I was about to die.Tiger Webb is a dour bureaucrat Continue reading...

Fort Worth authorities said some were trapped in basement before found by rescue crews and one person was in critical conditionAn explosion at a historic Texas hotel on Monday injured more than 20 people and trapped some in the basement before they were found by rescue crews, authorities said. One person was in critical condition.Fort Worth fire department spokesperson Craig Trojacek said investigators are confident the blast was some kind of gas explosion". The 20-story Sandman Signature hotel in the heart of downtown Fort Worth was undergoing construction. Continue reading...

Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October to passing sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence officerA US navy petty officer who pleaded guilty to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Monday, the US justice department said.Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of spying for China. Continue reading...

Wayne LaPierre, chief executive who resigned last week, accused of taking millions for personal benefit' in corruption schemeSenior executives of the National Rifle Association, including Wayne LaPierre, its former chief executive who resigned last week, pilfered millions of dollars from the gun rights organization for personal benefit" in an orchestrated scheme of corruption, a prosecutor said on Monday afternoon.Monica Connell, New York's assistant attorney general, made the claim during opening statements on the first day of a civil trial in Manhattan that will hear testimony that LaPierre and two other NRA leaders squandered the money on luxury travel and other perks for themselves and family members. Continue reading...

Brandon Jamal Nation III was reportedly fatally shot in a Bessemer home on Sunday and his barber, also shot, was taken to a hospitalA five-year-old boy was killed when someone shot into a home where he was getting his hair cut, according to Alabama police.The shooting happened at about 10am on Sunday in Bessemer. The child was identified as Brandon Jamal Nation III, of Fairfield, according to the Jefferson county coroner's office. Continue reading...

Police called to Washington home of Tanya Chutkan on Sunday night after shooting reported - but no such incident took placeA home owned by the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case against Donald Trump was targeted by a fake emergency call on Sunday night, the latest in a spate of similar false swatting" reports at the homes of public officials in recent days.Police responded at about 10pm to a report of a shooting at a Washington DC home linked in public records to the US district judge Tanya Chutkan. But officers quickly found out that no shooting happened, the Metropolitan police department said on Monday. Continue reading...

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US president says 2024 a battle for truth over lies in Charleston speech interrupted by protesters calling for Gaza ceasefireFrom the pulpit of a Black church that was the site of a racist massacre in 2015, Joe Biden cast this year's presidential election as a battle for truth over lies told by those who seek to whitewash" the worst chapters of American history - from the deadly assault on the US Capitol to the civil war.This is a time of choosing," Biden implored Americans during a visit to Mother Emanuel AME church, where nine Black worshippers were murdered by a white supremacist gunman who they had welcomed into their Bible study. Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, Biden assailed his predecessor and likely 2024 Republican opponent as a loser" who sought to overthrow the will of the 81 million Americans who voted for the Democratic president. Continue reading...

Unsealed documents show defence team used Sarah Ransome's claims, later retracted, to show she manifestly lacks credibility'Jeffrey Epstein's defence team sought to undermine the reliability of one of the witnesses against him by revealing she had claimed the billionaire had kept sex tapes" involving prominent people, a new batch of unsealed documents has disclosed.Those who were filmed were alleged to have included Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Sir Richard Branson, according to the allegations made by Sarah Ransome. Continue reading...

Christian Ziegler was suspended in a special vote on Monday as police investigate the accusations against himThe Republican party of Florida ousted Christian Ziegler, their chairman, in a special vote on Monday as police investigate a rape accusation against him, a vote that came the week before the governor, Ron DeSantis, competes in Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential caucus.The party suspended Ziegler last month and demanded his resignation, saying he could not effectively lead during a critical election year with the allegations, which Ziegler denies, swirling around him. DeSantis, US senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and other Republican leaders have called on Ziegler to step down, but he has refused. Continue reading...