Three people fell into water but survived with minor injuries' as swell expected to bring waves as high as 26ftThree people fell into the water, but survived with only minor injuries", when a 150ft portion of the Santa Cruz wharf in Santa Cruz, California, collapsed on Monday and floated away, according to local officials and the National Weather Service (NWS).The collapse comes as the area is experiencing a major swell that is expected to bring waves as high as 26ft (7.9 metres) to the central coast, along with hurricane-force winds. Continue reading...
Judge said state's ban clearly contrary' to recently passed constitutional amendment but left other laws in placeMore than two months after Missouri residents voted to add abortion rights into their state constitution and overturn the state's ban on the procedure, abortions have not yet resumed in Missouri - and it's not clear when they will, according to a key Planned Parenthood official in the region.The day after the election, Missouri Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a lawsuit asking the court to eliminate a slew of abortion restrictions that, the affiliates said, made it impossible to perform the procedure. On Friday evening, the Jackson county circuit court judge Jerri Zhang ruled that several restrictions, including the state's near-total ban, were clearly contrary" to the state's new constitutional amendment and could not be enforced. Continue reading...
Eruption was confined to volcano's summit caldera, with torrents of red-hot lava and cloud-line plumes of gas visibleRed torrents of lava and billows of volcanic gas began erupting from Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island - one of the world's most active volcanoes.The eruption was confined to the volcano's summit caldera, in a remote, closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes national park, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory reported. Increased earthquake activity began at about 2am local time and within about half an hour webcam images began to show lava emerging through fissures in the caldera or spurting in fountains. Continue reading...
Shane Lamond found guilty of leaking to Enrique Tarrio that a warrant was out for his arrest before January 6The former head of the Metropolitan police intelligence unit in Washington DC has been found guilty of tipping off Enrique Tarrio - the imprisoned, one-time leader of the Proud Boys - that a warrant was out for his arrest before the January 6 Capitol attack in 2021.Shane Lamond has been charged with tipping off Tarrio, who at the time of the Capitol attack was wanted for the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner. Continue reading...
Walkouts have caused nearly 50 stores nationwide to close in five days, says Starbucks Workers United unionThe five-day strike from the Starbucks workers' union has grown to include locations in at least 11 states.As of Sunday, the strike had caused almost 50 stores nationwide" to close after it began, according to a statement provided by the union. Continue reading...
At a moment of the year associated with renewal and new birth, reflection on inspiring acts of solidarity and courage can point the way to a better futureIn the introduction to a new, seasonal compilation of his speeches on hope, Pope Francis reflects on the legacy of the great German theologian Johann Baptist Metz. Shaped by the early experience of living through the horrors of the Nazi era, Metz's political theology was a passionate warning against the danger of a self-absorbed Christian piety. Instead he urged a hopeful mysticism with open eyes" - one that clear-sightedly bears witness to, and seeks to alleviate, the suffering of others.At a time of the year associated with renewal and new birth, it is not necessary to share Metz's religious convictions to feel the power of that message. This yearhas been filled with heart-rending images from theongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere. The weekend brought reports of yet more innocent casualties of Israel's relentless bombing campaign, including children sheltering in a school. Meanwhile, more than 12,000 civilians have been killedsince the start of Vladimir Putin's assault on Ukraine, along with more than 43,000 soldiers, according to Kyiv's estimates.Do 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...
Several aircraft collided and fell into the crowd at an holiday event in Orlando, leading to Alexander's hospitalizationSeveral drones collided and fell into a crowd observing a holiday drone show in Orlando over the weekend, according to the Federal Aviation Alliance. A seven-year-old boy was seriously injured.The FAA is investigating the incident which occurred on Saturday, according to a statement. Continue reading...
At a time when support for immigration is waning, the people of Stone Ridge, New York, adopted Afghan refugees - and helped them build a new lifeEvery third Thursday evening, an episcopal church in upstate New York transforms into an Afghan takeaway restaurant. It's a very foodie congregation", says the Rev Marcella Gillis. The church does not charge the fledgling catering company overseen by Saida Faqirzada, a refugee from Kabul, for use of its gleaming commercial kitchen.That decision, unsurprisingly, reminds Gillis of a familiar biblical parable. Several bystanders pass by a distressed person who has been mugged, who beaten up, robbed and left for dead. They say, I'm not allowed to help them. I shouldn't help them. Someone else will help them." So they walk past. Continue reading...
For years I've watched the far-right party mobilise in my home town. Friday's terrible events could galvanise it furtherOn Saturday afternoon in Magdeburg a man stood outside Johanniskirche (St John's church), contemplating a lake of candles, flowers and soft toys. Then he loudly voiced his disbelief. And then they say he supported the AfD. As if. You just can't believe the media any more."People had gathered here to mourn. The photo of a dead nine-year-old boy was being shown around. Used rescue blankets piled up at the roadside as police guarded the now empty market.Thomas Vorreyer is a Berlin-based journalist with a focus on East German politicsDo 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...
Musk's intervention helped derail a crucial government funding bill, but some political observers question how long the alliance can lastDonald Trump has moved to quash speculation about Elon Musk's outsized influence in Republican politics, insisting at a conservative gathering that the tech billionaire would not usurp his authority as incoming president.No, he's not going to be president, that I can tell you," Trump told cheering supporters at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix on Sunday. And I'm safe. You know why he can't be? He wasn't born in this country." Continue reading...
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham regime, which has friendly relations with Turkey, is unlikely to tolerate Kurdish autonomyThe fall of Bashar al-Assad after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) takeover in Syria is bad news for the country's Kurds. It is worth charting how things got here from the start of the war in Syria in 2012. During the conflict, the Democratic Union party (PYD) emerged as the biggest and most influential Kurdish political actor in Syria, taking territorial control in the north and maintaining an autonomous administration, albeit a fragile one.The PYD's position is even more precarious after the HTS takeover. Turkey, emerging as the most influential foreign actor in Syria, is laser-focused on limiting any Kurdish push for autonomy domestically and regionally. Another challenge the PYD faces is that the HTS-led regime is very unlikely to tolerate existing Kurdish autonomy in Syria.Dr Zeynep Kaya is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Sheffield. She is the author of Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and NationalismDo 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...
The two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer's life has been turned into rousing drama The Fire Inside, written by Oscar winner Barry JenkinsClaressa Shields was two months removed from defending her Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when an email from Hollywood landed in her inbox. Universal Studios wanted to make a movie about her life story. For Shields, who had spent much of her career fighting for recognition in a sport that marginalized women when they weren't ignoring them entirely, the offer felt like more than just a career milestone. It was a rare mainstream acknowledgment of her achievements and a chance to amplify to a wider audience the struggles she had endured in and out of the ring.I never checked my emails back then," Shields says with a laugh. But I saw the subject line, and it said something about a movie. I thought, A movie about my life? OK, let's see what they're talking about.'" That email kicked off a series of phone calls and meetings with the Oscar-winning screenwriter Barry Jenkins and other industry heavyweights. We negotiated for a year. I was only 20, so I made sure I had a lawyer," she recalls. I wasn't going to just sign anything. But once the contract was finalized, the ball started rolling." Continue reading...
AmericaFest showcased Maga's commitment to mobilizing conservative evangelicals into the Republican party baseStriding on stage to thunderous music and strobing pyrotechnics, Charlie Kirk thanked God for Donald Trump's victory in November's presidential election during a speech that set the tone for a Jesus Christ-filled weekend at AmericaFest, Turning Point USA's (TPUSA) annual gathering which drew 20,000 rightwing politicians, media figures and activists.We cannot take credit for what happened on November 5," said Kirk, the firebrand director of TPUSA. Who deserves credit is God Almighty." Continue reading...
The clemency action applies to all federal death row inmates except three convicted of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murderJoe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, changing their punishment to life imprisonment without parole.The decision follows mounting pressure from campaigners who warned that the president-elect, Donald Trump, backs the death penalty and restarted federal executions during his first term after a 17-year hiatus. Continue reading...
There's only two rules for summer: every body is a beach body; any book will doChances are you're flocking to the sand this summer. Perhaps you prefer to perch under a tree near the riverbank or roll out your towel on the small grassy patch at your local pool. No matter where you're dipping, I hope you've packed a book!It's officially beach read" season and as I prepare to switch off socials and close the laptop for a few weeks, I'm turning my attention to the precarious tower of novels on my bedside table. Continue reading...
Some party figures favour cooperation but others say shun at all costs - and the split has critics seeking coherenceFor months they called him an authoritarian, an existential threat, even a fascist. But for some Democrats, it seems, none of these is a deal-breaker when it comes to working with Donald Trump.As the leaderless party struggles to find its bearings after a devastating election defeat in November, a split is emerging between those who insist on shunning the US president-elect at all costs and those who see merit in cooperation. The dichotomy has left allies frustrated and demanding a coherent plan of attack. Continue reading...
US president-elect raises issue of control of Denmark territory five years after proposing to buy it during first termGreenland's elected leader said the gigantic Arctic island is not for sale after Donald Trump once again raised the issue of ownership and control" of the vast territory that has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years.Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom," Greenland's prime minister, Mute Egede, said in a written comment. Continue reading...
Republican Jim Pillen expected to remain in hospital for several days after being thrown off new horse and injuredThe Nebraska governor, Jim Pillen, was injured on Sunday after being bucked off a horse and is expected to be hospitalized for several days.Pillen, a first-term Republican, was with his family when he was thrown off a new horse and injured, according to the governor's office. He was taken to a hospital in Columbus, Nebraska, and then transported to the University of Nebraska medical center in Omaha. Continue reading...
Back away from the celeb endorsements and viral posts. As my gift to you, dear readers, I tried this stuff - so you don't have toChristmas is all about traditions: repeating the same thing over and over, however silly it might be, because that's just what you do at Christmas. But every time-honoured tradition has to start somewhere. In order to sell us tat we don't need, and keep the PR industry ticking over, the holiday season has also become the time for all manner of daft fads, and celebs promising to give our favourite festive foods, games and pressies a twist". Not wanting to miss the (gravy) boat, I embarked on a spirited mission to try them all.This year's hotly touted Christmas trends include burr baskets" - a care package of cosy items such as blankets and socks given as a pre-Christmas gift, which sounds like an unnecessary extra faff. Then there's a lot of talk about Thriftmas": re-gifting and buying secondhand gifts from charity shops, which my friend and I havebeen doing for years. The best/worst such gift, from me to him, was probably an unofficial version of Guess Who? with most of the pieces missing. And from him to me: a used chocolate Advent calendar, with all the chocolate scoffed. Also on trend in the world of gifts this year is burgundy wrapping paper, although I say: what's wrong with tinfoil, like in Gavin and Stacey? Continue reading...
The great clashes to come will be less between left and right than between those inside and outside a dying establishmentWe live, at first blush, under the absolute dominion of celebrity. The former and future president of the United States spent more than a decade as a reality TV star. Taylor Swift just concluded the largest and most lucrative pop music tour in the history of the world. Mass entertainment vehicles remain star-driven - just ask anyone flocking to see Wicked (Ariana Grande) or Gladiator II (Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington) this holiday season. And that's not to mention all the petty dramas of the attractive and famous that still keep us all gossiping.It might be strange, then, to make a completely counterintuitive claim: that we are leaving the age of traditional mass celebrity. And not only are we leaving it, but we are drifting into a new, uncertain era, one where fresh hostility has emerged against those who, even a few years ago, would have received blind worship and little more.Ross Barkan is a writer based in New York Continue reading...
Next year is going to be an enormous challenge for the free press in the US. We hope you will consider making a gift to the Guardian in this final stretch of our year-end appealHere are 20 stories from our US reporting teams this year that held the powerful to account, exposed hidden truths, helped change lives and secure justice for people across America.None of this would be possible without the generosity of our readers: thank you so much from everyone at the Guardian for your support. Continue reading...
Catholic bishop dismissed child sexual abuse allegations that was then settled out of court, says investigation reportThe Roman Catholic bishop of Birmingham, Alabama, dismissed allegations of child sexual abuse against a priest that were later deemed credible and settled out of court by church officials, according to a new prosecutors' report that scrutinized his work during a prior role in Michigan.The actions of now Birmingham bishop Steven J Raica are detailed in a report published by the office of the Michigan state attorney general, Dana Nessel's, after an investigation into the diocese of Lansing, Michigan. Continue reading...
After a bruising election year, Americans make no-political-talk deals and avoid relatives to salvage festive gatheringsOver Thanksgiving, a seat at Irena's table in New York was empty this year.Irena and her husband chose not to share the holiday with his brother, who is a fan of Donald Trump. Continue reading...
The Atlanta rookie finally took over for Kirk Cousins and showed the Falcons what they have been missing for almost two months: a legitimate starting quarterbackIt only took one drive to see the difference. The Falcons smoked the Giants 34-7 on Sunday behind a commanding performance from their rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr.It was Penix's first start after the team ejected on the Kirk Cousins experience, with the Falcons expected to release the veteran this offseason. On the sideline, Cousins stood with his helmet on, looking like a dejected figure. On the field, Penix threw lasers, showing the Falcons what they have been missing for almost two months: a legitimate starting quarterback. Continue reading...
With the country in stalemate, people have lost faith in government. But citizens' assemblies show one way forwardWhen Notre Dame burned, something in the flames seemed to speak to the combustibility of our age. Nothing is for ever, the fire said, even those edifices - stone or institutional - that we assume will always be there. In almost every democracy, there are similar forces of backlash and disaffection. The anger is diffuse and the discontents vary, but there is a general agitation that seems to boil down to the feeling that someone should do something.At the moment, France seems to have crystallised this phenomenon in a way that other democracies might draw both warnings and lessons from. Will Francois Bayrou last longer as prime minister than Michel Barnier? Perhaps. But the basic impediment remains: the country is politically split roughly into thirds (and the left" is split among itself), with the end result that creating a majority for anything is almost impossible. Continue reading...
It may feel hopeless to see supportive states continue to back Israel, but bearing witness matters for future reckoningA consensus is building. On 5 December, Amnesty International concluded after an investigation that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip". A few days later, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) stated that after research and analysis, it concluded that there is a legally sound argument that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza".A few days after that, Human Rights Watch (HRW) declared that Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide", and Medecins Sans Frontieres reported that its medical teams in the north of Gaza are seeing clear signs of ethnic cleansing". Earlier in November, HRW also concluded that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to war crimes" and crimes against humanity", and appeared to also meet the definition of ethnic cleansing". Continue reading...
They can be silly and tasteless - and there's something suitable for almost any age and audienceA clown walks into a bar. Seriously. Bear with me a minute here.The clown sees a Santa Claus impersonator propped up on a stool with a beer. The clown gambols across to sit on Santa's lap, and then pees his pants before shooting everyone else in the bar. He steals Santa's costume, ties him up, douses him with liquid nitrogen and proceeds to smash him to bloody pieces. Ho ho ho. Continue reading...
Katie Miller picked to join Musk and Ramaswamy's advisory board as Stephen Feinberg tapped for No 2 Pentagon roleDonald Trump announced a series of appointments to his incoming administration on Sunday evening, including top positions in the Department of Defense and one of the first members of Elon Musk's department of government efficiency".The president-elect said he would nominate billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to serve as deputy secretary of defense, the No 2 role at the Pentagon. Continue reading...
Trump also warns he would not let a vital national asset' for the US fall into the wrong hands'Donald Trump has demanded that the Panama Canal be given back to the US if Panama did not manage the waterway in a fashion that was acceptable to him - and he accused the central American country of charging excessive rates for use of the ocean-connecting ship passage.The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Saturday, a little more than a month before the start of his second US presidency. This complete rip-off' of our Country will immediately stop...." Continue reading...
Democratic former president Barack Obama renamed the mountain using the local natives' name of Denali in 2015, after a decades-long naming battleUS president-elect Donald Trump has said he will rename Denali, Alaska natives' name for North America's tallest mountain, after William McKinley, the 25th US president who was assassinated in 1901.Democratic former president Barack Obama in 2015 officially renamed the mountain as Denali, siding with the state of Alaska and ending a decades-long naming battle. The peak had been officially called Mount McKinley since 1917. Continue reading...
Footage showed an assailant igniting woman's clothing, with emergency personnel declaring her dead at sceneNew York City police took a man into custody who they believe is connected to the early morning death of a woman who was intentionally lit on fire on a stationary subway train.The incident took place on Sunday morning aboard an F train at the end of the line at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn. Continue reading...
Man crashes into mall after a police pursuit, striking four people before he was fatally shot by law enforcementA fleeing motorist drove a pickup truck into a busy JCPenney store in Texas on Saturday, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by law enforcement, authorities said.Four of the injured people were taken from the Killeen mall to hospitals and the fifth went on their own, Sgt Bryan Washko of the Texas department of public safety said in an evening media briefing. They ranged in age from six to 75 years old, and their conditions were not immediately known. Continue reading...
Officials investigate cause of crack after ski patrolers use rope to lower 174 people to ground at Winter Park ResortA crack in a Colorado ski lift forced the evacuation of more than 170 stranded skiers and snowboarders on Saturday, with people riding the gondolas lowered down by ropes over the course of hours.Officials are still investigating what cause the gondola lift at Winter Park Resort, about 70 miles (113km) west of Denver, to crack. The lift automatically stopped when it detected the crack in a structural piece of the lift just after noon on Saturday, resort spokesperson Jen Miller said. Continue reading...
Lifelong Democrat who became independent gives series of warnings to former party and predicts US is not going left'US senator Joe Manchin, a lifelong Democrat who left the party earlier this year to become an independent and is now stepping down from the Senate after 15 years, issued a series of warnings on Sunday to members of his former party.The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of - it's just, it's toxic," Manchin told CNN, saying he had not been able to consider himself a Democrat in the form of what Democratic party has turned itself into". Continue reading...
State accused of systemic overdetention' that violates inmates' rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars a yearLouisiana's prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences, the US justice department alleged in a lawsuit filed on Friday. The suit against the state of Louisiana follows a multi-year investigation into what federal officials say is a pattern of systemic overdetention" that violates inmates' rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars a year.The justice department alleges that since at least 2012, more than a quarter of the people due to be released from Louisiana prisons have instead been held past their release dates. The DoJ warned Louisiana officials last year that the state could face a lawsuit if it didn't fix the problems - but lawyers for the department say the state's marginal efforts" to address the issues were inadequate" and showed a deliberate indifference" to the constitutional rights of incarcerated individuals. Continue reading...
In speech president-elect doubles down on idea that his clear but relatively narrow victory was in fact a landslideDonald Trump used a Sunday morning speech at a rightwing convention in Phoenix, Arizona, as a victory lap, doubling down on the idea that his clear though relatively narrow victory was in fact a landslide - and impressing upon his base the idea that he enjoys an overwhelming mandate.Our movement not only won a mandate," said Trump, who won the popular vote in November's election by about half a percentage point while clinching the electoral college 312-226. We've built majorities all over the place that will define our country's future." Continue reading...
Republican Kay Granger of Texas living at senior living facility, which she had not disclosed to publicA Republican congresswoman from Texas has not cast a vote in the US House since July while she has been grappling with dementia issues" and residing at a senior living facility, according to her family - something she did not disclose to the public before a Dallas media outlet figured out where she was during her prolonged absence.Kay Granger, 81, has represented Texas's 12th congressional district, which includes part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, since 1997. And beginning in January 2023 she spent more than a year as the chairperson of the powerful House appropriations committee. Continue reading...
Anonymous note in Lincoln county told people to write license numbers to find those who may be undocumentedLaw enforcement officials in Lincoln county, Oregon, have condemned an anonymous letter encouraging residents to track down and report brown people" in the Pacific coast community, particularly those believed to be undocumented.The letter, titled brown round-up part 1, told recipients to write down the license plate numbers of cars driven by people of color in order to identify people who might not have permanent legal status, the New York Times reported. It instructed readers to send that information to the Department of Homeland Security after Donald Trump's inauguration. Continue reading...
Pilots recovered alive - one with minor injuries - after ejecting from fighter jet as US military says its guided missile cruiser mistakenly' fired on the F/A-18Two US navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea on Sunday in an apparent case of friendly fire", the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in more than a year of the country targeting Yemen's Houthis.Both pilots were rescued alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the incident underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become amid the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area.The Associated Press and Maya Yang contributed reporting Continue reading...
Authorities arrest Yaoning Sun for allegedly working for Chinese government while trying to get politician electedA Chinese man was arrested this week on charges of acting as an illegal agent for Beijing while serving as the campaign manager for a Los Angeles-area politician, in a case that highlights rising concerns that the Chinese government has cultivated a network of operatives to influence US politicians and advance their interests.US authorities on Thursday arrested Yaoning Mike" Sun, 64, on accusations he worked for the Chinese government while trying to get an unnamed politician elected to a southern California city council. Continue reading...
Pennsylvania senator who's seeking to position himself as a bridge to the far-right advises Democrats to pace yourself'Senator John Fetterman - once a darling of the left but increasingly seeking to position himself as a bridge to the far-right - on Sunday doubled down on advice for fellow Democrats loathing the thought of the looming second Donald Trump presidency: You gotta chill out."You know, like the constant ... freak out - it's not helpful," Fetterman said. Continue reading...
Philosopher and management thinker who coined the phrase portfolio' career, and believed companies should retain their humanityFor a country that prides itself on its professional and financial services sector, the UK has produced remarkably few world-ranking management and organisational thinkers. At the very top of that pile, however, is Charles Handy, the writer and social philosopher - his preferred designation - who has died aged 92.As both a thinker and educator, Handy was unusual. Although a professor - he was a founding faculty member of the London Business School (LBS), the UK's first graduate business school, in the 1960s - he never followed the conventional path, ploughing a narrow furrow and publishing in specialist journals. Continue reading...
Hurricanes and an untreatable tree disease have left a once fruitful citrus industry with little to produce this yearFor decades it was the signature taste of Florida: orange juice from the state's plentiful groves advertised to a thirsty nation as your daily dose of sunshine". But now another hyperactive hurricane season, paired with the dogged persistence of an untreatable tree disease known as greening, has left a once thriving citrus industry on life support.Only 12m boxes of oranges will have been produced in Florida by the end of this year, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts show, the lowest single-year yield in almost a century. The figure is 33% lower than a year ago, and less than 5% of the 2004 harvest of 242m boxes. Continue reading...
Abortion debt is swelling. Providers and groups trying to fill the void created by bans are buckling under the weightEarly this fall, a woman desperate for an abortion messaged the Wild West Access Fund, an abortion fund in Nevada, asking for support. She guessed she was nearly 20 weeks pregnant and didn't have even a few hundred dollars to spend on the procedure. She wanted to prove she was doing everything she could to raise the money, and said she was trying to pawn her vehicle.Over the next few weeks she bounced from clinic to clinic, trying to put the money together as the price of the abortion she sought continued to increase. The cost of a first trimester abortion is about $500, around $2,000 in the second, and a third trimester abortion can range from a few thousand dollars to around $25,000. Since the US supreme court eliminated federal protections for abortion, more than a dozen states banned the procedure completely, while others set gestational limits, increasing travel costs for pregnant people in those states. Continue reading...
What's more depressing than the thought of a long, slow decline in health? The thought of several short, sharp declines. Thank you, science!I don't believe ageing is linear: I reckon we have long plateaux, then everything falls apart all at once. I realised this at the close of my harrowing 31st year, when I looked in the mirror and didn't recognise the sad, grey ghost staring back. I swear one day I was young and moderately dewy with a functioning musculoskeletal system; the next my face imploded, shortly followed by my knee (yes, it was a fun year). There's a phrase for this kind of sudden ageing in French: prendre un coup de vieux, which feels appropriate, since I was living in France during that first precipitous decline and prolonged exposure to the angry rigours of Parisian life was at least partly to blame.Anyway, now science is catching up. Earlier this year, researchers identified two peaks" for ageing at 44 and 60, and now a new paper points to three peaks in brain ageing. At 58, there are changes in proteins associated with wound healing, metabolism and mental health; at 70, it's age-related brain conditions; and when we hit 78, immunity and inflammation-associated proteins are affected. Continue reading...
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