US news | The Guardian

Boeing is back in the spotlight after a door panel blew out of a plane, and all 737 Max 9s with similar door plugs have been grounded

Woman rescued on Sunday after driving car off road leading to Mount Baldy on Wednesday and surviving low temperaturesA woman fell nearly 100ft while driving on a road in the California wilderness and was trapped for four days before being rescued on Sunday, according to authorities.The unnamed woman survived low temperatures, precipitation and other natural elements after she inadvertently drove her car off the road leading to Mount Baldy on Wednesday night, CBS News reported. Continue reading...

Jonathan Wilson answers your questions on the World Cup, VAR and the January transfer window

Officers killed at least 1,232 people last year - the deadliest year for homicides by law enforcement in over a decade, data showsPolice in the US killed at least 1,232 people last year, making 2023 the deadliest year for homicides committed by law enforcement in more than a decade, according to newly released data.Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, catalogs deaths at the hands of police and last year recorded the highest number of killings since its national tracking began in 2013. The data suggests a systemic crisis and a remarkably consistent pattern, with an average of roughly three people killed by officers each day, with slight upticks in recent years. Continue reading...

After my mother's death, I turned to a man I barely knew, but it only brought heartbreak. Now I've cut ties - and it's liberatingWhen my mother died in my early 20s, I hoped my estranged father might become the parent I so badly needed. Our relationship was never the stuff of John Lewis Christmas adverts. In fact, for most of my life we had been strangers to each other. We only began to be in contact regularly after my mother's death and a DNA test officially confirmed I was his.If this sounds like a promising premise for a fairytale happy ending, I have yet to read that particular story - but at the time, I convinced myself I could live it. Now I'm in my 40s, I've come to realise I don't need him in my life. I haven't seen him for seven years, and we last spoke a year ago. I wish I had known earlier how liberating it would feel to cut off contact.Jennifer Barton is a freelance writer working on her first novel. Born and raised in New York, she is now based in LondonDo 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...

Iowa victory would give Trump crucial momentum, backstopped by rule changes his campaign forced through in early voting statesDonald Trump's presidential campaign anticipates winning the Iowa state caucuses and advisers have suggested internally they would only be concerned about the former president being upstaged if another candidate started polling within five or 10 points, according to people close to the campaign.The margin of the expected win has been an informal litmus test for several weeks, and with none of Trump's rival candidates close to breaching that threshold, the campaign has been confident Trump will win the state's first-in-the-nation nominating contest. Continue reading...

In these difficult times, it is easy to fall victim to despair and cynicism. We have no alternative but to stand and fightIt's no great secret. These are the most difficult and challenging times in modern history.We're dealing with the horrific situation in Gaza, Putin's war in Ukraine, the existential threat of climate change, obscene and growing levels of income and wealth inequality, attacks on our democracy and women's rights, increasing levels of bigotry and intolerance, unprecedented threats from artificial intelligence, a dysfunctional healthcare system, huge increases in military military - and much, much more. Continue reading...

A group comprising 2022 and 2023 interns signed a letter accusing the president of having betrayed' his promise by supporting IsraelA group of former White House interns signed an open letter to Joe Biden imploring his administration to support an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.The signatories, which include interns who worked in the White House and executive office of the president during 2022 and the summer of 2023, accuse the president of having betrayed" his promise to pursue equality and justice by supporting Israel's bombardment in Gaza. Continue reading...

So far the risks of the horrific Gaza crisis escalating to a wider war remain low - but they can't be ruled out entirelySoon after Hamas's 7 October attack and Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign in Gaza, pundits began debating the odds of escalation. For its part, the Biden administration has tried to prevent the fighting between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from spreading to other areas of the Middle East, if only to spare the roughly 45,000 US troops based there from another ill-fated war.Escalation" lacks a singular meaning. For some, it connotes a vast increase in death and destruction after at least one warring party starts using weapons that are far more powerful than it had employed previously. For others, escalation refers to wars that spread because additional countries or armed groups decide to join the fighting. Continue reading...

US secretary of state speaking in Qatar on latest leg of Middle East tour also warned that Israel-Gaza war could metastasise'. Plus, Oppenheimer and Succession dominate Golden GlobesGood morning.Antony Blinken has warned that Palestinians must not be pressed to leave Gaza" as he continues his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.What else did Blinken say? He also warned that the Israel-Gaza war could spread across the region without concerted peace efforts. He said: This is a moment of profound tension for the region. This is a conflict that could easily metastasise, causing even more insecurity and suffering."What does the data tell us about what's been happening in Gaza? From death tolls to destroyed buildings and lost hospital beds, these are the figures that cut through the fog of war and reveal the extent of the destruction in Gaza.Who hosted the event? The Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy, a last-minute pick for host announced just two weeks before the ceremony, stuck to his promise for an uncontroversial ceremony. Unlike Jerrod Carmichael's relatively edgy hosting work last year, Koy avoided mention of politics.What do the winners tell us about the upcoming Oscars? So often the Globes are no guide to what happens on Oscar night, but Oppenheimer's resounding success could spell a landslide at the Academy Awards. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sergey Kolesnikov has supplied building materials to Russian military and for use in occupied UkraineAn oligarch who has supplied building materials to the Russian military machine and for construction in occupied areas of Ukraine is being assisted by Morgan Stanley and Allen & Overy in his attempt to gain control of a huge Russian oil asset, the Guardian can reveal.Sergey Kolesnikov, originally from Russia but now a Maltese citizen under its golden passport" scheme is estimated to be worth $1.2bn (940m) as a result of the building materials business he co-founded. Continue reading...

Jacksonville looked like they were cruising to a postseason berth until their campaign crumbled. Was their quarterback the problem?The Jacksonville Jaguars had every opportunity to make the 2023 season a success. Instead they made it a disaster, culminating with their 28-20 loss at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon. The Jaguars needed only to beat a 5-11 team to clinch the AFC South. But Trevor Lawrence threw two interceptions and got stacked up shy of the goalline on a decisive fourth-and-goal keeper from the Titans' one-yard line. A last-gasp effort by the Jaguars wasn't enough to overcome a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter. And now the organization embarks on an offseason of figuring out how a year with such promise went so awry. The Houston Texans, not the Jags, will represent the division in the playoffs.The Jaguars have been lousy for most of the 21st century, and they reached fresh depths of ignominy when they posted the league's worst record in both 2020 and 2021. (In the latter year, the franchise became a special kind of embarrassment because of the slapstick leadership of an overmatched head coach, Urban Meyer.) But the team made a quantum leap in 2022. Lawrence, the franchise quarterback they'd drafted with the first pick a season earlier, blossomed into one of the better quarterbacks in football. Edge rusher Josh Allen led a feisty defense. The Jaguars mounted a late-season charge to win the AFC South, and then pulled off a thrilling comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers. They even scared the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the next round. Continue reading...

The conflict has spilled over into Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and the Red Sea - yet the context is barely discussed or understoodIt may be a small detail, but it tells a big, clarifying story: the Biden administration did not appoint an ambassador to Cairo until March of last year. After he came to office, President Biden's orders to his foreign policy staff were to keep the Middle East off my desk". The idea was that the Arab case was largely closed. The Middle East is quieter today than it has been in decades," said the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in a fate-tempting speech just a week before the Hamas attacks.The plan was to ultimately integrate" the region by encouraging further normalisation between Arab states and Israel, thereby isolating and taming Iran. As the scholar Edward Said once put it: It is quite common to hear high officials in Washington and elsewhere speak of changing the map of the Middle East, as if ancient societies and myriad peoples can be shaken up like so many peanuts in a jar." Continue reading...

Lawmakers must negotiate how much agencies can spend to avert the start of a government shutdownThe top Democrat and Republican in the US Congress on Sunday agreed on a $1.59tn spending deal, setting up a race for bitterly divided lawmakers to pass the bills that would appropriate the money before the government begins to shut down this month.Since early last year, House of Representatives and Senate appropriations committees had been unable to agree on the 12 annual bills needed to fund the government for the fiscal year that began 1 October because of disagreements over the total amount of money to be spent. Continue reading...

We will see if this is a legal and valid election,' congresswoman says and claims that the 2020 presidential election was not fair'Leading US House Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik on Sunday declined to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 White House race no matter the outcome, three years and a day after a mob of Donald Trump supporters staged the January 6 Capitol attack while refusing to recognize that he had lost the presidency to Joe Biden.Stefanik - a New York representative who serves as the House's Republican conference chairwoman - was asked by Kristen Welker of NBC's Meet the Press whether she would vote to certify the results of the 2024 election, no matter what they show". Continue reading...

US defence secretary's deputy, Kathleen Hicks, took over thinking Austin was on vacation when he was in intensive care - unknown to even the presidentThe US defence secretary Lloyd Austin's hospitalisation remained secret for longer than previously known, officials disclosed on Sunday, with his deputy on a long list of people up to President Joe Biden who were in the dark for days.The Pentagon released new details on Sunday about Austin's continued hospitalisation, saying he had an initial medical procedure as far back as 22 December from which he went home a day later. Continue reading...

Former president sidestepped signing state's loyalty oath, which opponents Nikki Haley and Chris Christie also have not signedJoe Biden's 2024 election campaign has lambasted former president and most likely Republican opponent Donald Trump for failing to sign a loyalty oath in the state of Illinois, in which candidates pledge against advocating an overthrow of the government.The Biden campaign was responding to an investigation by Illinois news outlets WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that Trump sidestepped signing the McCarthy era voluntary pledge that is part of the midwestern state's package of ballot-access paperwork submitted by 2024 electoral candidates last week. Continue reading...

Colorado police reportedly arrived after Jayson Boebert called and claimed he was victim of domestic violence' and punched in faceRightwing US congresswoman Lauren Boebert is denying allegations that she punched her ex-husband in the face in public after police in Colorado were reportedly called out to an encounter involving the pair Saturday night at a restaurant.The incident was first reported by the Daily Beast. The news site said that Jayson Boebert called police claiming that he was a victim of domestic violence". In an interview with the Daily Beast, Jayson Boebert alleged that the congresswoman had punched" him in the face several times. He claimed to have a witness to the events. Continue reading...

Meanwhile, Sierra Nevada storm with heavy snow in the west shut down a stretch of interstate and leaves thousands without powerA major winter storm bringing heavy snow and freezing rain to some communities spread across New England on Sunday morning, sending residents scurrying to pull out their shovels and snowblowers to clear sidewalks and driveways.Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the north-east, and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina. Continue reading...

Boeing faces fresh scrutiny after door panel blows out of brand new plane, leaving a hole the size of a refrigerator'US aviation investigators were on the ground in Oregon on Sunday trying to figure out what caused a door panel to blow out of a brand new Boeing passenger jet just minutes after takeoff, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing with a hole the size of a refrigerator" in the side of the plane.The American jet maker was facing fresh scrutiny as regulators temporarily grounded the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a section of a plugged exit door on an Alaska Airlines flight detached 16,000ft (4,877 meters) above Portland, Oregon, on Friday with 171 passengers and six crew on board. The weeks-old plane had been modified, requiring fewer emergency exits because it had fewer seats. Continue reading...

Lloyd Austin apologises for lack of disclosure but questions about medical procedure and the secrecy surrounding it remain unansweredUS defense secretary Lloyd Austin has said he takes full responsibility" for secrecy surrounding an ongoing, week-long hospitalisation for a still-unspecified medical condition.Austin, who is 70, was admitted on New Year's Day to Walter Reed national military medical center for what the Pentagon has said were complications following a recent elective medical procedure", a fact the defence department kept under wraps for five days.Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...

Three years after insurrection, Trump was in Newton, Iowa, currying support before the 15 January Republican caucusDonald Trump largely ducked speaking about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol during a campaign speech Saturday, which he delivered on the third anniversary of the insurrection, reflecting the degree to which Republican voters have absolved the former president of responsibility for that day's deadly consequences.Trump's remarks came a day after Joe Biden appeared in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and spoke about how his presidential predecessor had urged his supporters to fight like hell" shortly before they staged the Capitol attack.Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

I felt cheap when I forgot to tip for a coffee in a Brooklyn cafe - and my attempts to make up for it have cleared out my bank accountI am just back from New York and I've brought home a new anxiety dream as a souvenir. I'm paying in a cafe and a giant touchscreen asks me to choose a gratuity. The options whirl, impossibly fast: 50%, 100%, nothing, $100,000, as I try to hit the right one with sausage fingers. I fail, and face financial ruin, or have my meanness broadcast over a PA, while everyone stands around, judging: Cheapskate on table four!" Brrrr.Is there a cringier social dance than tipping? It's got everything: money, guilt, notions of generosity, discomfort around service, a tussle between our idealised and authentic (broke) selves. I need therapy after a week of agonising over it daily in the US, fumbling with screens and prompts. Should I tip for coffee, a bagel, a $2 sachet of washing powder, rung up agonisingly slowly by an extremely stoned-looking bodega employee? Continue reading...

Targeting Yemen would risk upending its fragile ceasefire, and fanning the flames of a greater conflict in the Middle EastSince Israel launched its devastating assault and invasion of Gaza after the 7 October attacks by Hamas militants, the world has been anxious about the war spreading into a wider conflict that consumes the Middle East. In recent weeks, the threat of an expanding conflict has centred on an unlikely place: the poorest country in the region, Yemen, which has suffered years of civil war.In late October, the Houthi militia in Yemen began firing missiles and drones towards Israel and then moved to seize commercial ships sailing in the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed they would prevent Israeli ships - or those registered to Israeli owners - from passing through the channel until Israel stopped its attack on Gaza. In recent weeks, the Houthis escalated their attacks on cargo ships using missiles, drones and small boats. The attacks, which crippled traffic through a vital trade route that links Asia to Europe and the US, prompted Joe Biden's administration to create an international naval operation last month to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea.Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University Continue reading...

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz - even Roseanne Barr - stand in for ex-president as his challengers struggle in the pollsOutside, traders were braving the bitter cold to sell Trump hats, T-shirts and other merchandise. Inside, hundreds of Trump supporters were proudly sporting Make America great again" (Maga) regalia. They were surrounded by big screens, loudspeakers, TV cameras, patriotic flags and Team Trump" logos.It had all the trappings of a Donald Trump campaign rally but one thing was missing: Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Claudia de la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation plans to seize control of the top 100 US corporations and disband the CIA - but recognises it will take a movement to overthrow capitalismIt's 20 January 2025, the day of the presidential inauguration. After taking the oath of office the new president, a 44-year-old woman, born in the Bronx to Dominican parents, takes her seat in the office and gets to work.In one of the first acts of Claudia de la Cruz's presidency, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk watch on as the government seizes control of Amazon and Tesla, along with all of the top 100 corporations in the US. Continue reading...

Our communications lose character when we give up putting pen to paper. It's hard to imagine an Auden poem celebrating the arrival of the night emailThings ain't what they used to be, and it's hard to imagine a beleaguered institution suffering reputational damage these days sending for filmmakers, a composer and a poet, as did the General Post Office in 1936. Indeed, now it's the filmmakers who seem to have shone the strongest light on the injustices visited on so many sub-postmasters and covered up for so long. But back in the 1930s, collaboration between a public institution and the creative arts resulted in Night Mail, a short black-and-whitefilm picturing the journey of a postal train from Euston to Aberdeen, set to a score by Benjamin Britten and concluding with a poem by WH Auden, which was painstakingly constructed to mirror the rhythm and speed of the train's progress. The GPO's ambition - to portray its service as modern, reliable and vital to the life of the nation, as well as to bolster the morale of its underpaid workers - was largely satisfied.Auden's poem - until Four Weddings and a Funeral stopped all the clocks - became perhaps his most quoted, and among its achievements is a keen understanding of what the post meant to its recipients; the daily tombola that might bring the brown envelopes of officialdom but also a love letter, an unexpected card from foreign parts, an invitation to a party. The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,/ The cold and official and the heart's outpouring,/ Clever, stupid, short and long,/ The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong." Continue reading...

The head of Harvard's fate was sealed when she became the focus of a culture war battle over antisemitism, plagiarism and free speechFor some, she is the wretched epitomeof the liberal elite; for others, the victim of a racist mob". She herself condemns her critics for having recycled tired racial stereotypes". As an illustration of the way that culture wars warp political judgment and push people into tribal corners, the case of Claudine Gay may be Exhibit 1.Gay, who became Harvard University's first black president in July, was forced last week to resign, the culmination of a bitter controversy at the heart of which are tussles over some of the most polarising issues of theday: racism, antisemitism, plagiarism, free speech and diversity.Kenan Malik is an Observer columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Why is the debate about becoming a parent so babyish? I recently learned there is a growing industry in coaching women on whether or not to have children. I've started to picture them sometimes, these coaches with their tea and tissues, merrily sketching out flowcharts, calculating the predicted longevity of the NHS perhaps, the likelihood of our planet becoming hostile to human life before the theoretical child turns 21, the hormonal appeal of matching mummy and me" outfits from Zara, etc. And then, presumably, sending the client off with an answer. Permission to live a certain life.I am regularly fascinated by the way we are led to believe that there could ever be a correct answer to this question - a relatively new one, and one complicated by the anxiety caused by the economy slipping backwards while the science of fertility leaps forward. And I am regularly livid, too, at what seems to me to be a terrible incuriousness, an avoidance of complexity, around anything related to motherhood. The new choice-coaching industry thrives alongside an ongoing discourse about the ways we talk about motherhood, after the publication of a Vox piece late last year, How millennials learned to dread motherhood: to our generation, being a mom looks thankless, exhausting, and lonely. Can we change the story?" The internet lit up. Well, my internet at least, an internet of women between the ages of 30 and 50, swaggering, thirsty, cynical, eager. And while I usually enjoy nothing more than a brisk debate about the politics of motherhood, this one left me oddly cold. Continue reading...

As Afcon kicks off under an oil firm's banner, it is a tragic irony that the climate crisis is making the game ever more unsafe to play outdoorsThis Saturday, the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) - or to give the competition its full title, the TotalEnergies Afcon 2023 - the continent's biennial international men's football tournament, will kick off in Ivory Coast. The main point of interest, in the British sports press atany rate, is the impact that this will have on the course of the Premier League, where the leading teams will, mid-season, be losing their African star players for up to six weeks. Less remarked on, perhaps, is that Afcon 2023 is actually being played in 2024, and that its title is so prominently linked to the French hydrocarbon giant.For more than half a century, the tournament has been played in January and February but, in an effort to placate the needs of a few European leagues and clubs, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) had originally scheduled this edition for June and July 2023. However, those dates coincided with west Africa's rainy season, and under conditions of climate crisis the region has become more vulnerable to more extreme weather events at this time of year. Continue reading...

Court papers show Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice was told by her reputation manager' that reports about Virginia Giuffre's past were helpful leakage'A British PR guru hired to manage the reputation of Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell accused one of Epstein's victims of crying rape" and suggested past allegations of abuse would discredit her, unsealed court documents show.Ross Gow, then a managing partner at Mayfair-based Acuity Reputation, emailed Maxwell with links to media articles about a case from the Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre's childhood in which she claimed to have been raped by two older teenagers. Continue reading...

Critics say the QAnon conspiracy theorist, in the position less than a year, failed to deliver on funding promisesA group of Michigan Republicans voted on Saturday to remove Kristina Karamo as state party chair after months of infighting and slow fundraising raised concerns her leadership would hurt the party's chances in the key swing state in 2024.Karamo, a former community college instructor and election-denying activist who was elevated to her post in February, has indicated she would not respect Saturday's vote, setting the stage for a potentially messy court battle over party leadership. Continue reading...

Duke of York must answer to claims in new documents while facing all the trappings of the law', says victims' lawyerPrince Andrew must testify under oath about his role in the Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal so that he faces the threat of prison if he lies, a lawyer for several of Epstein's victims has said.Amid growing calls for a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault against the royal, Spencer Kuvin, a Florida-based attorney, told the Observer that the Duke of York needs to answer for what is now coming out" and should give his account with all the trappings of the law" so that he is legally obliged to tell the truth. Continue reading...

Joshua Powell, one of five defendants in lawsuit including former CEO Wayne LaPierre, has agreed to pay $100,000A former chief of staff to Wayne LaPierre - who resigned as the National Rifle Association's chief executive on Friday - has agreed to a $100,000 settlement in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general's office.As part of the settlement announced on Saturday, Joshua Powell - one of five defendants in the lawsuit against the NRA, a gun-rights organization - admitted to wrongdoing in failing to fulfill his fiduciary responsibilities and misusing charitable funds. Continue reading...

Randy Roedema, found guilty of criminally negligent homicide, is the first official to be sentenced in the 23-year-old's killingA former Colorado police officer convicted in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain was sentenced to 14 months in county jail on Friday.Randy Roedema, an ex-Aurora police department (APD) officer, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault in October. He is the first official to face jail time for the killing of McClain, a 23-year-old whose death led to years of protests and calls for reforms. Continue reading...

Press secretary acknowledged Lloyd Austin was admitted five days ago after minor elective procedureThe US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday due to complications after a minor elective medical procedure, his press secretary said, in the first official acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted five days earlier to Walter Reed national military medical center.Air Force Maj Gen Pat Ryder said Friday that Austin was recovering well", but it was not clear when the secretary would be released from the hospital. Continue reading...

After Claudine Gay was ousted amid accusations of plagiarism, Neri Oxman was accused of copying from Wikipedia in dissertationThe wife of Bill Ackman, the hedge fund billionaire who accused Claudine Gay of being a plagiarist and led calls for her resignation as Harvard president, is now facing allegations of plagiarism herself.Neri Oxman, a prominent former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has apologized after Business Insider identified multiple instances in which she lifted passages from other scholars' work without proper attribution in her 2010 dissertation. She also pledged to review the primary sources and request the necessary corrections. Continue reading...

Former president made the comment 36 hours after one student was killed and seven people wounded during the first day of schoolDonald Trump told an audience at a campaign event on Friday in Iowa to get over" a deadly shooting at a high school in the state a day earlier.After offering sympathy and emotional support for the victims of the shooting in Perry, Iowa, and their families, Trump said at the event in Sioux Center: It's just horrible - so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward." Continue reading...

Conservationists are energized by rightwing attacks on African American studies to preserve once prosperous WeeksvilleConservationists in New York are ramping up research and preservation efforts of a historic Black community that had all but disappeared, illuminating what some experts say is an antidote" to ongoing rightwing efforts to keep African American studies out of classrooms.Weeksville, New York, located in present-day Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant, had been a center of Black excellence since its founding by a dock worker named James Weeks in 1827. A copy of the New York Times from 1855 advertised beautiful building lots at Weeksville" for between $130 and $200 cash under the heading For Sale To Colored People." It was a thriving community of free Black people who escaped slavery in the south. Continue reading...

The Republican governor and ex-Trump press chief seems to be popular with voters in her state. Does a national run beckon?Shortly after taking office in January, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched a powerful salvo in the so-called war on woke being waged by Republicans.Sanders, 41, signed an executive order targeting critical race theory, an academic field that probes how racism affects US society and laws. The move aligned with countrywide Republican opposition to the discipline. Continue reading...

Assassinations, atrocities and invasions, along with uncertain US leadership, presage a year of rising violenceAssassination is a two-edged sword. Last week's targeted killing in Beirut of Hamas's deputy leader is but the latest of many covert attacks on individuals in Iran and the Arab sphere attributed to agents of Israel. Do prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials in Jerusalem ever consider the possibility they may be paid back in kind?Hamas may not have the expertise and reach, although a booby-trap bomb requires no particular skill. But Iran does and maybe Hezbollah, too. Israel's assassination in December of a top Iranian general in Syria, plus last week's atrocity in southern Iran - claimed by Islamic State terrorists but officially blamed on Israel - could goad Tehran's more rabid hardliners into seeking an eye for an eye. Continue reading...

Folger library in Washington has single biggest collection of world's 235 surviving copies - until now kept hidden in a vaultWashington is a shining city on a hill, swamp of corruption or tourist destination with some great museums, depending on your point of view. It is seldom thought of as a place of pilgrimage for fans of a certain Elizabethan playwright from Stratford-upon-Avon.Yet the American capital is about to become a vital stop for devotees of William Shakespeare the world over. In June, the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill will unveil a permanent display of its 82 copies of the First Folio, the single biggest collection of the world's 235 surviving copies. Continue reading...

An education department official resigned this week, and 17 staffers sent an anonymous letter calling for a ceasefireDissent inside the Biden administration over the president's Gaza policy is growing, with a public resignation this week of a Department of Education official, and a letter signed by more than a dozen Biden campaign staffers calling for a ceasefire and the conditioning of aid to Israel.It's pretty extraordinary levels of dissent," said Josh Paul, a career official working on arms sales at the state department who resigned in protest in October, of the mounting signs of discontent. I am hearing in recent weeks from people who are thinking more seriously about resigning." Continue reading...

North Carolina representative Patrick Henry argues for increase from $174,000 salary, but voted against increasing minimum wageA retiring US House Republican who has previously opposed proposals to raise the federal minimum wage has advocated for an increase to the $174,000 salaries collected by rank and file Congress members, saying that would motivate credible people to run for office".Most of us don't have wealth," North Carolina's Patrick McHenry said to the Dispatch in an interview. Continue reading...