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Far from freeing the UK from continental insecurities, Brexit has made some of them worse. Isolationism won't help: the only hope is to work with our neighboursOnce again, a spectre is haunting Europe. Yet the spectre is not communism, as Karl Marx wrongly predicted nearly 200 years ago. Far from it. The spectre today consists of multiple new drivers of national and regional insecurity. Together they threaten Europe's - and Britain's - long postwar years of general democratic stability and intermittent economic optimism. And Europe does not yet know what to do about it.Last week's success for Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom in the Netherlands' general election is the latest of these many shocks. The vote for Wilders' anti-migrant, anti-Islamic and Eurosceptic campaign has sent a jolt through all of Europe. It is too simplistic to call it part of a general shift to the right, partly because that may encourage simplistic responses. The far right has always been a problem in each country, and will continue to be so. But the increased vote for Wilders is also a sign of something altogether larger.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

This year's summit in Dubai must be the moment when the developing world finally meets its climate crisis promises

We are belatedly waking up to the many health risks of microplastics. Yet too little research focuses on the most exposed demographic of allFor the last 70 years, we have all been lab rats in the biggest health experiment of human history, one that none of us signed up for, least of all our children.In the run-up to attending the global plastic treaty negotiations in Nairobi, I was feeling frustrated about the coverage of microplastics and their impact on human health, so I wrote a report, Babies v Plastics. I wanted to emphasise that these tiny, insidious fragments of plastic are associated with not just one health risk, but with an entire range of health issues, from elevated miscarriage rates to early puberty. Continue reading...

The towering diplomat and Nobel prize winner shaped decades of US foreign policy but was seen by critics as a war criminalHenry Kissinger, the former secretary of state under Richard Nixon who became one of the most prominent and controversial figures of US foreign policy in the 20th century, has died. He was 100.His consulting firm Kissinger Associates announced his death in a statement on Wednesday evening, but did not disclose a cause. Continue reading...

Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state under Richard Nixon, became one of the most prominent and controversial figures of US foreign policy in the 20th century. He remained influential until the end of his life, in large part thanks to his founding of his geopolitical consulting firm and the authorship of several books on international affairs

The former secretary of state and Nobel peace prize winner remained influential in US politics and foreign policy until the end of his life Continue reading...

Stan, who recently played Tommy Lee in Pam & Tommy, will play the former US president in new film, joined by Strong as Roy Cohn and Bakalova as Ivana TrumpMarvel star Sebastian Stan will play Donald Trump in an upcoming biopic, to be joined by Succession's Jeremy Strong and Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova in leading roles.Directed by Iranian film-maker Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice, which commenced production this week, is billed as an exploration of power and ambition in a world of corruption and deceit. Continue reading...

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Union drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in US southLess than two weeks after ratifying new contracts with Detroit automakers, the United Auto Workers union announced plans on Wednesday to try to organize workers simultaneously at more than a dozen non-union auto factories.The UAW says the drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the south, where the union has had little success in recruiting new members. Continue reading...

Prosecutor says lethal dose of ketamine killed the 23-year-old Black man, after he had been weakened by police neck holdsA Colorado prosecutor said on Wednesday that two paramedicsdid nothing" to help an ailing Elijah McClain as he lay on the ground and instead injected him with an overdose of a powerful sedative that killed the 23-year-old Black man, after he had been weakened by police neck holds when officers forcibly restrained him as he was walking home from a convenience store.A defense attorney, however, sought to shift blame to the officers during opening statements in the final jury trial over McClain's 2019 death in a Denver suburb. Continue reading...

Republican county supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd initially refused to certify their county's election resultsTwo elected officials in a rural Arizona county who stalled certifying election results have been charged by Arizona's attorney general with conspiracy and interfering with an election officer.Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, Republican county supervisors in Cochise county, face two felony counts for their initial refusal to certify the county's election results in 2022. A grand jury convened earlier this month to discuss the potential charges, which were filed on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The novel, about the uprising of a fictional Latino community, won widespread recognition for its themes of social justiceThe writer John Nichols, best known for his populist novel The Milagro Beanfield War, has died. He was 83.Nichols died on Monday at home in Taos, New Mexico, amid declining health linked to a long-term heart condition, said his daughter, Tania Harris of Albuquerque. Continue reading...

Indictment released by DoJ also provides new evidence unnamed agent ordered murder of activist Hardeep Singh NijjarUS prosecutors have accused an agent of the Indian government of directing the attempted assassination of an American citizen on US soil, according to a superseding indictment released by the Department of Justice, which revealed new details about India's alleged targeting of Sikh activists around the world.The indictment also provided new evidence that the Indian agent - who is not named - ordered the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June. Continue reading...

Munger, who has died at 99, won fans for a quick wit that cut much of the business world down to sizeIf people weren't so often wrong, we wouldn't be so rich," Charlie Munger, the right-hand man of the billionaire stock picker Warren Buffett, once said of rival investors.It was that humour, paired with decades of investment successes, that endeared Munger to a global business community now in mourning after news of his death at the age of 99 on Tuesday night. Continue reading...

Look past the sniping and family rivalries, and a new book from biographer Omid Scobie paints a deeply disturbing pictureOmid Scobie is the reporter favoured by Harry and Meghan. In ordinary circumstances, this would be a footnote, but the couple's relationship with the rest of the press is so frosty that Scobie's access looks as unfettered as if he were their medieval scribe or they were all in a thruple. It's for this reason, I suspect, that there are no details in Scobie's new book, Endgame, that would trouble the Sussexes. Given the openness of Harry in Spare, earlier this year, there was arguably not much new news to share.Yet scandal arrived on its own, via the Dutch publishers, whose translation appeared to name the member of the royal household who allegedly asked what colour Meghan and Harry's son would be when he was born. The book has been pulled from the shelves in the Netherlands, though not before some readers clocked it, so the intelligence is now in the waiting room of the public domain; enough people know it that we'll all know it soon enough.Zoe Williams 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...

Mike Johnson says we're going to allow people to vote their conscience' over Republican, fabulist and accused fraudster

Music and culture publication has acquired the feminist US news site and is looking to relaunch as quickly as possibleLess than three weeks after the feminist US news site Jezebel was shuttered, news has emerged that the site has been acquired.On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Paste Magazine, a music and culture publication, had acquired Jezebel and was looking to relaunch the site as quickly as Wednesday. Continue reading...

It's obscene that the super-rich can criminalise protest, while they burn the world's resources and remain untouched by the lawDon't they have children? Don't they have grandchildren? Don't rich and powerful people care about the world they will leave to their descendants? These are questions I'm asked every week, and they are not easy to answer. How can we explain a mindset that would sacrifice the habitable planet for a little more power or a little more wealth, when they have so much already?There are many ways in which extreme wealth impoverishes us. The most obvious is money-spreading across our common ecological space. The recent reporting by Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Guardian gives us a glimpse of how much of the planet the very wealthy now sprawl across. The richest 1% of the world's people burn more carbon than the poorest 66%, while multibillionaires, running their yachts, private jets and multiple homes, each consume thousands of times the global average. You could see it as another colonial land grab: a powerful elite has captured the resources on which everyone depends.George Monbiot 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...

In my previous column, I accused veterinarians of upselling' remedies for profit, and I am sorry. Vets are lovely - but their corporate employers, not so muchI owe vets an apology. I wrote something about the commercialisation of veterinary care a couple of weeks ago which did the vast majority of them a great disservice. I would have apologised sooner, but I was away on holiday last week. If it's any consolation to those furious with me, my break was marred by worries about how I'd find a vet to treat my dog if he got ill. I suppose I could have sent him in alone with a note and some cash tucked into his collar.A number of clarifications are necessary. I should have made clear that almost every vet I have had the pleasure of meeting was exactly that - a pleasure to meet. Mostly not long out of veterinary school, they have been kind, patient, clever and plainly motivated by a love of, and desire to care for, animals. On reflection, this sheer fondness for their patients is what separates vets from doctors. But I've made enough enemies in the field of medicine lately, so best I don't go there.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and 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...

Oath and Honor, obtained by the Guardian ahead of release, says House speaker snuck baseless claims of electoral fraud past Republican signatoriesIn a new book Liz Cheney, the anti-Trump Republican accuses Mike Johnson of dishonesty over both the authorship of a supreme court brief in support of Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow the 2020 election and the document's contents, saying the US House speaker duped his party with a bait and switch".As I read the amicus brief - which was poorly written - it became clear Mike was being less than honest," Cheney writes. He was playing bait and switch, assuring members that the brief made no claims about specific allegations of [electoral] fraud when, in fact, it was full of such claims." Continue reading...

These relics from the fountainhead of European culture don't belong in a cold, grey Bloomsbury chamberThe Parthenon marbles row is beyond silly. Rishi Sunak screeches Mine, mine" like a child in a playground. He refuses a cup of tea with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The leader of the opposition laughs. The nation yawns - polls show over half are happy to see the marbles returned and just above 20% want them to stay. Any civilised Briton knows they should be displayed where they belong - in their former home of Athens. But what fun it is to think up smart reasons why this should never happen.Sunak's quest for a daily headline gets more frantic by the day. There was something synthetic about Monday's incident. Mitsotakis' reference to the separated marbles being like the Mona Lisa cut in half might be over the top. But as any visitor to Greece knows, what to Britain is a boring scholastic quarrel is to Greeks a burning sense of grievance that will not go away. This is an asymmetrical row.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

To escape this bloody impasse, Israel must declare it seeks a settlement with a willing Palestinian leadership and take steps to end occupationLike many other people in Israel and across the world, my first reaction to the attack on 7 October was of shock and horror. But that initial reaction was accompanied by rage, not only at the appalling massacre perpetrated by Hamas on women and children, the elderly and the handicapped, even babies, but also at those who could have prevented this act of violence, many that preceded it and the brutal retaliation that would come in its wake.Without clearly defined political goals, war tends to devolve into endless destruction and annihilation. The only way out of this conundrum is for Israel to declare that it seeks a peaceful resolution of the conflict with an appropriate and willing Palestinian leadership. Making such a statement would dramatically transform the situation and clear the way for intermediate steps to be taken on the ground, starting with a halt to the mutual killing and a return of all surviving hostages. Continue reading...

Former vice-president had planned to skip process to certify Joe Biden's election victory but changed mind after son's pleaMike Pence reportedly decided to skip the congressional certification process for Joe Biden's 2020 election win, because to preside over it as required by the constitution would be too hurtful" to his friend", Donald Trump. He was then shamed into standing up to Trump by his son, a US marine.Dad, you took the same oath I took," the then vice-president's son Michael Pence said, according to ABC News, adding that it was an oath to support and defend the constitution". Continue reading...

Ryan Fournier, 27, charged with domestic assault on a female and assault with a deadly weapon over incident in North CarolinaThe co-founder of Students for Trump, a supporters group formed ahead of the 2016 election, was arrested last week on domestic violence charges in North Carolina, court documents show.Ryan Fournier, 27, was detained last Tuesday and accused of assaulting a woman, later identified as his girlfriend, by grabbing her right arm and striking her in the forehead" with a handgun, according to an order issued by a magistrate in Johnston county. Continue reading...

CDC researchers say life expectancy has rebounded to 77 years and six months as pandemic wanes but still down on 2019 statisticUS life expectancy rose last year by more than a year but still is not close to what it was before the Covid pandemic.The 2022 rise was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said on Wednesday. But even with the large increase, US life expectancy is only back to 77 years and six months - about what it was two decades ago.Life expectancy increased for both men and women, and for every racial and ethnic group.The decline in Covid deaths drove 84% of the increase in life expectancy. The next largest contributor was a decline in heart disease deaths, credited with about 4% of the increase. But experts note that heart disease deaths increased during Covid-19, and both factored into many pandemic-era deaths.Changes in life expectancy varied by race and ethnicity. Hispanic Americans and American Indians and Alaska Natives saw life expectancy rise more than two years in 2022. Black life expectancy rose more than one and a half years. Asian American life expectancy rose one year and white life expectancy rose about 10 months. Continue reading...

The church is using legal tactics to prevent testimony from survivors and spur expensive inquiries into its criticsThis is the first installment of a three-part series exploring how the archdiocese of New Orleans's bankruptcy stands apart from other cases of its kind.As his practice grew, plaintiff attorney Richard C Trahant, 56, sent money to the Jesuit high school of New Orleans. Lots of money. Continue reading...

Sultan Al Jaber says progress means unprecedented outcome' is possible. Plus, why the UK and Greece are arguing about marblesGood morning.An unprecedented outcome" that would keep alive hopes of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C is within reach, the president-designate of Cop28 has said - adding that even Saudi Arabia is expected to come to the UN climate summit with positive commitments.Who is going to Cop28? World leaders and heads of state and government will attend the first few days of the fortnight of talks, including the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, King Charles and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are not expected to attend but will send high-level representatives. Pope Francis has cancelled his trip to the summit on the advice of doctors concerned about his recent flu-like symptoms, the Vatican said.What has the White House national security council spokesperson said? John Kirby told reporters: Now you have an added population of hundreds of thousands more in the south that you didn't have before [the Israelis] moved into Gaza City. And so it's even all that more of an added burden on Israel to make sure ... that they have properly accounted for ... the extra innocent life that is now in south Gaza." Continue reading...

The girl group's reunion tour will bring back one of the most distinctive bodies of work in British pop history, with genius production and genuinely excellent singingIt came late last week; the news every pop fan worth their salt had been waiting for. The news every pop fan who recognises that Biology is one of the greatest bangers of the 21st century, and whose keen standom extends to the knowledge that the now-mononymic Cheryl has an intense phobia of cotton wool, was dreaming of: Girls Aloud are reuniting, with tickets on sale today.Along with the Shangri-Las and the Runaways, Girls Aloud are one of the greatest girl bands of all time. As someone born in 1989, it was probably the Spice Girls that I should have been obsessed with. Sure, I had the collectible photo album now doing a brisk trade on eBay. I could do the signature leg-kick of fellow scouser and ardent LFC supporter Mel C. But the Spice Girls never spoke to me. Continue reading...

Watching this genocide unfold on their doorstep has jolted many Egyptians into action, from boycotting western products to protest marchesIsrael's unfolding genocide in Gaza is shaking relations between states and citizens across the Middle East. In Egypt, events have pushed the political regime's comfortably obscured cooperation with Israel into the limelight, and have jolted millions of Egyptians out of their inward focus on daily survival amid spiralling inflation and unemployment. They are now confronted with Israeli plans to recolonise Gaza using Egypt as a conduit, by forcing Palestinians south into Sinai. Both the Egyptian state and its citizens reject this vehemently, but for different reasons. These differences reflect a chasm between the regime and the population opened by the signing of the Camp David accords in 1978, which events are widening further by the day.Egyptians have a long history of support for the Palestinian cause, in the context of a shared Arab national identity. The public first opposed the Zionist colonisation project in the 1930s, and the army fought in the 1948 Palestine war. In the 1950s, Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, offered state support to the Palestinians and secured a political victory after the attack by Israel, Britain and France in 1956, but suffered defeat in the 1967 war with Israel. His successor, Anwar Sadat, secured an early victory in the 1973 war, when Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal to liberate Sinai, and Israel was only able to regain its balance after an airlift of US arms.Reem Abou-El-Fadl is a senior lecturer in comparative politics of the Middle East at Soas, University of London Continue reading...

Pittsburgh's defenseman has shown perseverance on and off the ice, from the death of his father to raising a pair of Stanley CupsBefore a recent road game, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Kris Letang decided to have some fun.In the middle of the pre-game warmup, the All-Star defenseman flipped a bunch of practice pucks from the goal crease to fans wearing the Penguins' black-and-yellow jersey behind the glass. Continue reading...

Studying sociology, politics or the creative arts may well make you unhappy. But it's not necessarily a bad choiceRecent analysis has revealed the university degrees that lead to the highest life satisfaction, with Celtic studies and sports science coming out on top. At the bottom? Bad news for those who studied sociology, politics, creative arts or media and communications - these degrees are associated with a negative impact on wellbeing. Turns out all those money-minded parents are right - it's better to be a rich but artistically thwarted oncologist than a starving artist.As someone who did three of these subjects (clearly a sucker for punishment), I want to mount a defence of so-called misery degrees. The government would love nothing better than to shovel all young people into a Stem-shaped pipeline that produces exemplary doctors, scientists and engineers, and God knows we badly need all three. But not everybody's career will line up so exactly with their subject. For every med student who knew they wanted to specialise in cardiology from the age of 13, there'll be a dreamy 18-year-old who signs up for a design course because they like the idea of drawing for three years. Continue reading...

Tiger Woods admitted he was 'frustrated' by the circumstances surrounding the controversial framework agreement between golf's established tours and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. He and other players were blindsided by the secret negotiations between the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, and two high-profile board members that led to the agreement. Woods said: 'We were very frustrated with what happened and we took steps going forward to ensure that the player involvement was not going - we were not going to be left out of the process like we were. So part of that process was putting me on the board and accepting that position.'

There is nothing wrong with the quarterback wanting to return to football. But it could end up hurting the New York Jets in the long-termWant to hear something kooky? Aaron Rodgers still has not officially ditched the idea of playing for the New York Jets this season. Teammates spotted him on Monday at the Jets' complex in Florham Park getting treatment on the left achilles tendon that he blew out less than three months ago, a mere four plays into his 19th NFL season.Rodgers told Pat McAfee on his ESPN radio show Tuesday that two factors would drive his decision to return in 2023: It's [my] health, first," Rodgers said, and, Are we alive, second?" as in, would the Jets be in contention for a playoff berth when he was ready to play in a game. A return is unlikely - but not out of the question, either. Continue reading...

The mass slaughter of media workers is a horror within a horror. Where is the outcry from the global journalistic community?Israel's onslaught against Gaza is a Russian doll of horror, with many atrocities tucked within. Described by the United Nations as a graveyard for thousands of children", where more than half of northern Gaza's buildings are destroyed or damaged and 70% of a traumatised population have lost access to clean water, Gaza is not wanting for horror - but is desperately lacking the essentials of life.The mass slaughter of journalists is one of those horrors. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), this is the deadliest conflict for media workers they have ever recorded. A total of at least 57 - comprising 50 Palestinian and seven foreign journalists - have suffered violent deaths; another 100 have been injured, all in just seven weeks. To put those numbers in perspective, according to the International Federation of Journalists, a total of 68 media workers were killed on a global scale in the whole of 2022. Continue reading...

A celebrity targeted me online, but under a system that should protect all equally, I was the one charged with a criminal offenceAs someone who has been in the public eye for the past 15 years, I am used to scrutiny and criticism. Online hate - especially when it targets women, and Black women in particular - has been extensively documented. So I have a pretty good idea of what to expect if I choose to speak out about sexism and racism in a country unwilling to acknowledge its misdeeds. Anonymous abuse and attacks from political or public figures come with the territory, and I have little choice but to face them.But I could never have imagined that a French celebrity could subject me to persistent criticism in plain sight, yet escape being called out for it by any of the media figures who invite him to appear on their shows and platforms. It has been a chilling lesson to realise that instead it was me who would end up victimised and put on trial for attempting to expose what I felt was harassment.Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian columnist. She is a writer, journalist, film director and activistDo 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...

Suit by several families and organizations seek to have law declared as violation of students' and teachers' free speechSeveral families are suing to stop Iowa's new law that bans books from school libraries, forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues and forces educators in some cases to out the gender identity of students to their parents.The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda announced the federal lawsuit on Tuesday, saying the law passed earlier this year by the Republican-led legislature and enacted this fall seeks to silence LGBTQ+ students, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and bans books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content". Continue reading...

Vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway - and a billionaire in his own right - died at a California hospital, company saysCharlie Munger, the veteran right-hand man of billionaire stockpicker Warren Buffett, has died aged 99.The vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's sprawling empire, became known for his sharp investment strategies - and tongue - as they transformed it from a textile manufacturing enterprise into a global investment powerhouse. Continue reading...

Politicians and public figures gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the former first lady Rosalynn Carter's life following a public memorial. Former president Jimmy Carter, 99, attended the tribute for his late wife of 77 years, traveling from his hospice care at home to the Glenn Memorial church in Atlanta.

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Jimmy Carter, 99, left hospice care at home for service for his late wife, but Trump, Obama and Bush did not attendA tribute service for Rosalynn Carter took place on Tuesday, as politicians and public figures gathered to celebrate the former first lady's life following her death last Sunday.Former president Jimmy Carter, 99, attended the tribute for his late wife of 77 years, traveling from his hospice care at home to the Glenn Memorial church in Atlanta. His attendance marks a rare public appearance for the former president, who has been in home hospice care for 10 months. Continue reading...

Heads of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be questionedThe presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, three of the country's most prestigious universities, are set to testify before a congressional committee next week on claims that antisemitic protests have taken place on their campuses, marking the latest window into ongoing tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war.Next Tuesday, Harvard's Claudine Gay, Penn's Liz Magill and MIT's Sally Kornbluth will stand before the House education and workforce committee, a body chaired by Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina.

Main networks gave 18 times more coverage to 2016 deplorables' remark; while top papers give it 29 times more, Media Matters findsMajor US news outlets devoted significantly less time and space to covering Donald Trump's description of his enemies as vermin" this month than they did in a similar period in 2016 to Hillary Clinton's reference to Trump's supporters as deplorables", a new study has found.Findings by the progressive watchdog Media Matters included 18 times more coverage of Clinton's remark than Trump's by the Big Three" broadcast networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) in the first week after the remark was made; and print reports among the top five circulating newspapers (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today) in which mention of Clinton's remark outnumbered Trump's 29-1 in the same period. Continue reading...