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The 42nd president's latest book is a prolonged stroll down memory lane that never quite reaches a desired destinationIn 1992, Bill Clinton defeated George HW Bush, a sitting Republican president. In 1996, Clinton won re-election over Bob Dole. A former Democratic governor of Arkansas, Clinton had a flair for policy and retail politics. He felt your pain, garnering support from voters without a four-year degree and graduates alike. He played the saxophone, belting out Heartbreak Hotel on late-night TV. Redefining what it meant to be presidential, he told a studio audience he preferred briefs to boxers.He oozed charisma - and more. But his legacy remains deeply stained by allegations of predatory conduct and questionable judgment. He is one of three presidents to be impeached - in his case, for lying under oath about his extra-marital relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Before leaving office, to avoid professional discipline, Clinton surrendered his law license.Citizen is published in the US by Knopf Continue reading...

Trump voters in the American heartland are excited, even as senior Republicans are less than enthusiastic about some of the president-elect's choicesIn the American heartland, they're excited. Finally, say voters who put Donald Trump into the White House for a second time, they are about to get the president they wanted all along.Even as leading Democrats decry Trump's cabinet nominations as agents of his contempt, rage and vengeance", the former and future president's supporters are interpreting the selections as evidence that he has finally broken free of the Washington establishment. Continue reading...

Max Verstappen secured his fourth world championship title as George Russell won the Las Vegas Grand Prix.Off the track, Russell is also a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), who are increasingly losing patience and confidence in the FIA and its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.Giles Richards has more from Nevada. Continue reading...

The 138-year history of the world chess championship is filled with games of rare precision, imagination and brilliance. Go move by move through 22 of them below

If we are forced to house these tiny plastic interlopers, perhaps it's time we sat down and had a chatDear the microplastics that live in my body, How are you? I hope you are well and enjoying the unseasonable humidity of my lungs, kidneys and blood. I'm writing today because I am likely to have housed many of you for years now and I thought it time to reach out. I just want to talk.And first, let me make something clear, I don't want to be thought of as a landlord. OK? I'm just a guy, just a normal little guy like you - I'm not some scary flesh monster who'll evict you for putting up pictures (as long as you don't leave holes in the stomach wall) or hassle you for rent. I may be human, but I am also humane. Besides, I couldn't get rid of you even if I tried. Nothing works, haha. Continue reading...

Unintelligible as it is, new book is part of a manifesting' trend offering the young and spiritually lost an illusion of controlWhat links these two news stories? The first: manifesting" has been declared Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year. The self-help practice, based on the magical belief that mental rituals can move the universe in your favour, has exploded in popularity.Having kicked around for years, it surged into the mainstream during the pandemic, when Google searches of the term rose by 600%. Since then, manifesting courses and retreats have sprung up everywhere, and celebrities from Dua Lipa to Simone Biles are now claiming they manifested" their success. Continue reading...

Watching the numbers migrate from Elon Musk's toxic platform is addictive, but the best social media is finite

The US doesn't need to spend more on Ukraine. Britain can bring funding to the table - and help Trump reboot alliancesWith Donald Trump the very meaning of words is up for negotiation. What does he really mean when he promises to build a wall"? When he pledges to end the Russo-Ukrainian war in one day?His supporters say they don't take him literally but seriously - but who decides what serious" is? The very ambiguity can be part of Trump's appeal. There's something exhilarating in the sense one is in an exclusive negotiation with the president to define reality. It's as if he's welcoming you backstage from the reality show of politics to the discrete board room where meaning is made. Continue reading...

Choice of president of America First Policy Institute completes top cabinet picks for president-electDonald Trump has chosen Brooke Rollins, president of the America First Policy Institute, to be agriculture secretary.As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country," the US president-elect said in a statement. Continue reading...

Trump's former national security adviser says Gorka is the worst cabinet appointment in recent American history'Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton has laid into Sebastian Gorka, the president-elect's pick for counter-terrorism chief, as a conman" whose selection is not going to bode well for counter-terrorism efforts when the [national security council's] senior director is somebody like that".Trump praised Gorka, an immigrant from Hungary, as a tireless advocate for the America First Agenda and the MAGA Movement". Continue reading...

International criminal court's intervention must be supported if global rules-based order is to have a meaningful futureThe decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, Israel's former defence minister, for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza has huge implications for Israel and Palestine, for international justice and the rules-based global order that the UK and its allies are pledged to uphold. This unprecedented, necessary and impartial supranational attempt to prosecute democratically elected western politicians accused of grievous wrongdoing is a test the international community dare not fail.Netanyahu's reaction to the charges was to dismiss them as absurd" and antisemitic" and the ICC as a biased, politicised body. No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us - and it will not prevent me - from continuing to defend our country in every way," he said. Netanyahu will have to do better than that. This case is not remotely about antisemitism. It's not about Israel's right to defend itself, which nobody disputes. It's a matter of how it goes about it. It's a question of impunity and justice. Netanyahu and Gallant should voluntarily surrender to the court and fight their case.Do 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...

A woman in California also lost a fetus from the disease that US health officials have linked to Yu Shang Food IncA listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from a South Carolina food processor has caused 11 illnesses in four states, with nine hospitalizations, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).A woman who was pregnant with twins was also sickened. Both of the fetuses died, but listeria was found in a sample from only one. Continue reading...

Mark Rylance's sensitive portrayal blinds us to the lessons Henry VIII's righthand man could offer for Donald Trump 2.0Thomas Cromwell is back, and this time he's a romantic. In Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the latest BBC TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Tudor novels, we see Henry VIII's chief facilitator turn 21st-century empath, offering a listening ear to half the young women of the Henrician court.Mark Rylance, former artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, is an actor with an extraordinary capacity for vulnerability. Here he is at his best and most sympathetic. As Cromwell, we watch him safeguard the victimised adolescent Mary Tudor, coaching her to negotiate her way out of looming execution at the hands of her axe-happy father, Henry. (Cromwell made a promise to Mary's dying mother, you see, and he's a sweetie like that.)Do 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...

Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on 14 November in Minneapolis-St PaulA couple has been accused of stealing nearly $1m worth of Lululemon products from its stores across the US.Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on 14 November in Minneapolis-St Paul and have each been charged with one count of organized retail theft, according to a criminal complaint filed in Minnesota and reviewed by multiple outlets. Continue reading...

The PM and other western leaders are cosying up to Beijing. If the president-elect imposes punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, he will give Xi the upper handBoth were lawyers before they became politicians, but that's where the similarities between Keir Starmer and Richard Nixon end. The former US president resigned in disgrace at the height of the Watergate corruption scandal exactly 50 years ago. Britain's prime minister may have been unwise to accept free tickets from Arsenal FC - but he's not in Nixon's league.Except, perhaps, was there just a touch of Tricky Dicky about Starmer's meeting with China's president, Xi Jinping, at last week's G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro? Watergate aside, Nixon is famous for his groundbreaking 1972 visit to Beijing, which opened the way to normalised relations between the US and Red China. Continue reading...

National gun clubs field an influx of newcomers interested in learning how to shoot firearms for self-defenseThe misogyny and anti-trans rhetoric that were hallmarks of the 2024 election campaign have seemingly ramped up since Donald Trump's win, prompting some women, queer and trans people to respond by buying guns - and learning how to defend themselves from potential attackers.The Guardian spoke to various Americans from marginalized groups taking firearms classes, arming themselves with stun guns and pepper spray and taking their friends shooting in an effort to protect themselves from bigots they fear will be emboldened by the president-elect's return to power. A few left-leaning gun clubs say their numbers are increasing dramatically. Continue reading...

Won Jang drowned in Connecticut River in July after party where alcohol was supplied by his fraternityA sorority at Dartmouth College and two members of a fraternity are facing charges related to the death of a student who drowned after attending an off-campus party this summer.Won Jang, 20, of Middletown, Delaware, had been reported missing in July after the party. State and local emergency responders searched the Connecticut River and found his body. Continue reading...

Some outlets recalibrate coverage as they navigate threats of president-elect and interests faced by corporate ownersWhen MSNBC's morning hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced to their viewers last week that they had paid a visit to Donald Trump at his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago they must have suspected there would be a reaction.The married co-hosts on the liberal news network made hay for years lambasting Trump, especially in the run-up to the presidential election. Now, in the wake of his victory, they told their viewers they were seeking to reset communications with the man they had warned only a few weeks ago was set to bring fascism to America. Continue reading...

Russell Vought led the Office of Management and Budget during Trump's first term and is pushing for a workaround to install president-elect's picksEven before Donald Trump tapped Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a second time, Vought's thinktank had gotten to work in recent weeks lobbying for recess appointments - a means by which Trump could attempt to circumvent the US Senate's confirmation process.Vought, who served as director of the OMB during Trump's first term and of the thinktank he launched in 2021, is advocating for the archaic method to install Trump's nominees, including Vought himself and some of Trump's most heavily criticized picks. Continue reading...

The Strip is sprinkling its stardust on F1's ambition to break America, with drivers, fans and locals buying into a project that already has a special feelWhen Formula One threw its weight behind promoting a grand prix in Las Vegas, the sport was taking no little gamble on success and on the bigger picture of finally breaking America. With the race in its second year, hosting a potential championship decider and the streets full of enthusiastic fans, every indication is that they have backed a winner.There was an enormous risk in hosting a grand prix, especially one that required a $700m investment and involved agreements between casinos, businesses and local government to allow it to run through the heart of the Nevada city. They pulled it off last year, albeit once past the initial PR disaster of a loose water valve cover smashing into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, prematurely ending first practice. The race that followed was one of the best of 2023, praised by drivers and fans. Continue reading...

The next time you see dystopian thirst traps, we should be thinking about how these robots are going to be used by the self-proclaimed warrior class'On a scale of one to 10, just how desperate do you think Kim Kardashian is for attention? Judging by the billionaire's weirdly sexual photoshoot with a robot, the answer may be an 11. The entrepreneur and influencer, who is a big Tesla fan, recently posed with the company's Optimus bot in a Tesla Cybercab (a self-driving taxi) for a series of photos which might be described as avant-garde if you're being polite, and dystopian thirst traps if you're not. She also posted some rather less sultry videos of her interacting with the humanoid robot. Continue reading...

A new book on the Los Angeles authors leaves no petty stone unturned as it explores their fraught friendshipJoan Didion, the original girlboss of American letters, keeps inspiring new takedowns. Critiquing Didion's racism, the writer Myriam Gurba compared her to an onion: She's very white, very crisp, and she makes people cry." An anonymous woman in a Los Angeles bar called Didion that lady from Sacramento". (Didion might have fooled the New York Times, but Angelenos know she wasn't from Los Angeles.)Eve Babitz's recent takedown of Didion might be the most extraordinary, though, because it has been issued from beyond the grave. Continue reading...

Immigrant advocates are recruiting volunteers as the president-elect vows to use the US military for deportationsAs a second Trump term looms, refugee and immigrant advocacy groups across the country are bracing for what's to come. The president-elect has vowed to utilize the US military to conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, and there's no reason to believe he'll do otherwise.During his first term from 2016 to 2020, Trump made several efforts to end asylum for immigrants and refugees fleeing their home countries, instituted a highly controversial Muslim ban" and slashed the number of refugees allowed into the country to the lowest ever since Congress passed the Refugee Act in 1980. Back then, however, the Trump administration had some guardrails in judges who ruled against restrictive policies, as well as substantive legal challenges from organizations such as the ACLU, which prevented his administration from fully enacting all of his plans. Continue reading...

Vice-president's next move could involve California politics, poise a re-run for 2028 or join a thinktank among othersWhatever happened to Kamala Harris? For 107 days she was everywhere, filling TV screens and campaign rallies in her whirlwind bid for the White House. Then, with election defeat by Donald Trump, it all ended as abruptly as it began. The rest is silence.The vice-president has taken time off to go spend time with her family," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday, acknowledging that Harris is holidaying in Hawaii with husband Doug Emhoff. She has worked very hard for the last four years, and her taking a couple of days to be with her family, good for her." Continue reading...

Democrats had braced for a disaster but state results show a much more nuanced picture than the party had fearedAfter watching Kamala Harris lose the White House and Republicans wrest back full control of Congress, Democrats were bracing for disaster in state legislatures. With the party defending narrow majorities in several chambers across the country, some Democrats expected that Donald Trump's victory in the presidential race would allow a red wave to sweep through state legislatures.And yet, when the dust had settled after election day, the results of state legislative elections presented a much more nuanced picture than Democrats had feared. Continue reading...

President-elect picks Fox News personalities and key loyalists as he looks to fill crucial agency and advisory rolesIn a flurry of announcements late Friday evening, Donald Trump released his picks for some of the most important agency and advisory roles in the country, further revealing his preference for Fox News personalities and those that are loyal to him. Continue reading...

The 62-year-old treasury nominee has spent his career in finance, and made a big bet on Trump winning the election

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Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, commerce and Treasury nominees respectively, are sure to ignore economist's warnings and follow Trump's leadCertain events happen during every presidential campaign. The parties crown their candidates. The candidates debate on live TV, with millions watching. Tens of millions heads to the polls. And at some point in this process, Jamie Dimon will be tipped as the next Treasury secretary.Sure enough, the veteran boss of JPMorgan Chase - Wall Street's de facto ambassador to the world - was, indeed, linked with the role this time around as the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns mulled their options in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election. Continue reading...

Job is one of most powerful in Washington with huge influence over US economy and financial markets

Vought, who led Office of Management and Budget during Trump's first term, deeply involved in rightwing manifestoDonald Trump has chosen Russ Vought, a key architect of Project 2025, the controversial conservative plan to overhaul the government, to be director of the US Office of Management and Budget, a powerful agency that helps decide the president's policy priorities and how to pay for them.Vought, who was OMB chief during Trump's first term, would play a major role in setting budget priorities and implementing Trump's campaign promise to roll back government regulations. Continue reading...

I served in Congress,' Gaetz's page says. Trump nominated me to be US attorney general (that didn't work out).'The Florida Republican Matt Gaetz has made his first big move since withdrawing from consideration to be Donald Trump's attorney general - by starting an account on Cameo, the website that lets ordinary people pay for video messages from celebrities, dubious or otherwise.The news website Semafor first reported the move on Friday. The revelation came a day after Gaetz withdrew from the confirmation process, under fire over a House ethics committee investigation of allegations of misconduct including allegedly paying an underage girl for sex - all of which Gaetz vehemently denies. Continue reading...

Teachers can opt in, but state is offering financial incentive of $60 a student for participating school districtsThe Texas board of education voted 8-7 on Friday to approve a new Bible-based curriculum in elementary schools.The curriculum, called Bluebonnet Learning", could be implemented as soon as August 2025 and affects English and language arts teaching material for kindergarten through fifth grade public school classes. Continue reading...

President-elect spokesperson hails decisive win' as Judge Juan Merchan declines to provide new sentencing date

ACLU obtains documents showing agency's effort to expand state's detention capacity for undocumented immigrantsUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials could add 600 beds to detain unauthorized immigrants in New Jersey, according to new documents obtained by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday.An additional 600 detainees could mark a significant increase in the number of people held in New Jersey. The Elizabeth detention center - the only facility in the state that holds detainees - can currently accommodate up to 300 detainees, the Bergen Record reported in April. There were 285 detainees in the facility as of the end of October, according to data analyzed by the Guardian from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Continue reading...

The ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders challenge decades of impunity, testing global resolve to uphold international justiceThe arrest warrants from the international criminal court (ICC) for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister Yoav Gallant, and the Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, represent a historic milestone in the fight for accountability over war crimes. Hamas's October massacre of 1,200 Israelis was a shocking violation of international humanitarian law, justifying prosecution. However, with many of Hamas's senior commanders killed in Israeli military strikes, courtroom justice may remain elusive.For Israel's leadership, the ICC's action ends decades of perceived impunity and challenges what critics describe as Israel's longstanding shield of immunity". There were predictable reactions: Mr Netanyahu condemned the ICC's decision as antisemitic", while Hamas praised the warrants against Israel's leaders as an important historical precedent". The ICC's jurisdiction over Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem provides the legal foundation for this bold step. Yet, the real test of these warrants lies with the ICC's 124 member states, which are legally obliged to arrest the accused and transfer them to The Hague. Failure to act would expose international law as a facade, undermining its credibility and allowing powerful nations and their allies to trample justice with impunity. Enforcing these warrants is not just a legal obligation - it is a moral imperative to uphold the principle that no leader is above the law.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...

US Department of Transportation has greenlit congestion fee for raising funds for mass transit and cutting trafficThe US Department of Transportation has approved New York's plan to impose a $9 congestion charge for driving in Manhattan starting on 5 January, a move aimed at raising billions for funding better mass transit and cutting traffic jams.The congestion charge, the first of its kind in the US, was revived last week by the governor, Kathy Hochul, after she had put it on indefinite hold in June. Continue reading...

Karl Rove says in Wall Street Journal that Trump has created chaos and controversy' before he's even in officeAs Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's first nominee for attorney general, withdrew after eight days amid allegations of sexual misconduct and more, and as Trump's new pick, Pam Bondi, faced scrutiny of her own, a leading Republican strategist rebuked the president-elect for bringing chaos" back to Washington.Inadequate vetting, impatience, disregard for qualifications and a thirst for revenge have created chaos and controversy for Mr Trump before he's even in office," said Karl Rove, once known as George W Bush's Brain", in the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading...

Former House representative said he will pursue other goals and continue to fight for Donald Trump

A strategy of starvation would always be indefensible. After this week's ICC decision, he risks turning Israel into a pariah stateThanks to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, which once dreamed of being a light unto the nations, has taken a step closer to becoming a leper among the nations. The Israeli prime minister and the defence minister he sacked a fortnight ago, Yoav Gallant, are now wanted men, the subject of arrest warrants issued on Thursday by the international criminal court (ICC), accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. From now on, some 124 countries are effectively closed to them: if Netanyahu or Gallant set foot in any member state of the ICC - which includes Britain and most of Europe - they face the risk of arrest. The UK government has already said it will follow the law, which sounds like a commitment to detain the two men if they come here. They are to be shunned, as a matter of international law.Israeli ministers and their allies are raging against the ICC, accusing it of bias and double standards in levelling against Israel charges that it has never made against the leaders of any other western democracy. But the blame lies squarely with Netanyahu himself. Because this move, which signals a new isolation of Israel, was entirely avoidable.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

When Trump executes his sweeping agenda, 4 million children who are US citizens may have their lives upendedDonald Trump confirmed on Monday his intentions to make mass deportations a hallmark of his second term.That such measures would drastically upend the lives of the US's immigrant communities is widely understood. But sweeping anti-immigrant policies would also be detrimental to American citizens - most notably the nearly 20 million US-born children of immigrant parents. Continue reading...

Death of Carey Dale Grayson, 50, marks third time the US state has killed someone using controversial methodAn Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures shortly before he was put to death on Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas - as the daughter of his victim spoke out against capital punishment.Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was executed at the William Holman correctional facility in southern Alabama. He was one of four teenagers convicted of killing Vickie DeBlieux, 37, as she hitchhiked through the state on the way to her mother's home in Louisiana. The woman was attacked, beaten and thrown off a cliff. Continue reading...

Senate will not vote on four Biden appellate court nominees to allow for other nominations to proceed more quicklyThe US Senate will not hold votes on four of Joe Biden's appellate court nominees as part of a deal with Republicans to allow for speedier consideration of other judicial nominations and bring the president within striking distance of the 234 total judicial confirmations that occurred during president-elect Donald Trump's first term.Currently, the number of judges confirmed under Biden totals 221. Republicans forced numerous procedural votes this week and late-night sessions as the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, attempted to move ahead in getting more of Biden's nominees confirmed before Congress adjourns and Republicans take control of the chamber in January. Continue reading...

Union mechanic Dan Osborn's independent campaign outperformed Kamala Harris by 14 points in NebraskaDan Osborn's performance this month was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak election cycle for progressives. Although he ultimately lost, the independent US Senate candidate outperformed Kamala Harris in Nebraska by 14 percentage points while running an assertively anti-establishment, pro-union platform. His formula was simple: connect with people about their economic problems, tell them who to blame for them, and tell them what he would do about it.Now he's starting a new political action committee, Working Class Heroes Fund, to support working-class candidates, something our national politics direly needs.Dustin Guastella is a research associate at the Center for Working Class Politics and the director of operations for Teamsters Local 623Bhaskar Sunkara is the president of the Nation, founding editor of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequalities Continue reading...

Lawmaker Mia Bonta outlines new bills package to protect reproductive rights in interview with the GuardianAs Donald Trump returns to the White House, anti-abortion groups are hoping this is their moment.With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the US supreme court governed by a conservative supermajority, activists are pushing an extreme agenda, including a nationwide abortion ban, a prohibition on abortion pills, a fetal personhood" doctrine that could restrict in vitro fertilization and attacks on contraception. Continue reading...