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For decades, parliament has been far too lenient about the royal family's finances. This avaricious practice needs to endAs a royal author, I have come across plentiful examples of royal greed. It is standard practice for the royals to seek to minimise their personal expenditure while maximising their income from other sources, normally the public purse.But the revelation that King Charles III's personal slush fund, the Duchy of Lancaster, is having its already bulging coffers augmented by the estates of people who die in parts of England with historical links to the royal estate plumbs new depths of disgusting avarice.Norman Baker was the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes from 1997 to 2015Do 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 exit of Democratic senator Joe Manchin signals nadir for the party in the state as Republicans tighten gripNibbling appetizers off American-flag printed paper plates in a city hall basement, the group of Democrat voters had been listening to a party official's appeals to get active in politics when Terri Rodebaugh stood up to air a grievance.One thing I want to say is I'm tired of being called a baby killer, which I am not," said Rodebaugh, her shirt pink and her hair, like most others in the room, gray. Yet having such epithets hurled at them is what it has come to for party faithful and pro-choice West Virginians like Rodebaugh in Nicholas county. Continue reading...

Mediator Qatar says operations room in Doha will monitor the truce. Plus: the upward trajectory of the far right in Europe

Edelman, world's largest public relations company, paid millions by Saudi Arabia, UAE and other repressive regimesPublic trust in some of the world's most repressive governments is soaring, according to Edelman, the world's largest public relations firm, whose flagship trust barometer" has created its reputation as an authority on global trust. For years, Edelman has reported that citizens of authoritarian countries, including Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and China, tend to trust their governments more than people living in democracies do.But Edelman has been less forthcoming about the fact that some of these same authoritarian governments have also been its clients. Edelman's work for one such client - the government of the UAE - will be front and center when world leaders convene in Dubai later this month for the UN's Cop28 climate summit. Continue reading...

Oakland is an acute victim of a stadium-financing racket that has existed for decades. But the loss of the city's three pro sports teams over the past decade is a special kind of tragicProfessional sports' exodus from Oakland, California gets sadder all the time. The Golden State Warriors' move across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco in 2019 was tough for Oaklanders to swallow. The two cities aren't the same, after all. But at least the Warriors stayed nearby. The NFL's Raiders left for Las Vegas in 2020, an even rougher departure given the distance between the Bay and the desert. And now Oakland has taken a body blow, as the final major professional team in the city has headed for the exits: Major League Baseball's Athletics, whose own move to Sin City was finalized last week.The drying-out of the pro sports landscape in Oakland is, on some level, the same simple story that gets written every time a city loses a team. The Warriors played in an old arena that left them lagging behind the rest of the NBA in commercial opportunities. The Raiders and A's played in an old stadium, the Oakland Coliseum, that put them at a similar disadvantage to their NFL and MLB peers, respectively. And when the Oakland football and baseball franchises couldn't get local governments to give in to their demands for public assistance to subsidize a sporting venue whose benefits would mostly be reaped by billionaire club owners, the teams simply cut and ran. The Warriors, blessedly, financed their new home privately. Nevada taxpayers are on the hook for the Raiders and A's, however. Continue reading...

The retired NFL great's brutal assessment was harsh. But as GMs try to hack the cap by relying on rookie QBs before they're ready, the results are no surpriseNo sports entity markets itself quite like the NFL. The shots of rabid fans idolizing legends in the making, the countless hours of pregame buildup, the wild popularity of fantasy football, the alternate broadcasts, the push to grow internationally. For most of the last two decades, no league has fed its marketing department as much red meat as the NFL. But when it comes to the on-field product, this season has been pedestrian from an offensive standpoint and especially putrid when it comes to quarterback play.Tom Brady, who was part of more than a few marquee matchups in his 23-year NFL career, blasted the state of football on ESPN uberpundit Stephen A Smith's radio show earlier this week. Continue reading...

Merrick Morton has been documenting gangs in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. Collected in Clique: West Coast Portraits from the Hood, and published by Hat and Beard Press, his distinctive style provides an understanding of marginalised communities, often ignored or shown in crude stereotypes Continue reading...

I took my seat expecting a masterful take on French history. Instead, we got an industrial-grade sex-and-battles disasterWhen the trailer for Ridley Scott's Napoleon was released last summer, French social networks shuddered with excitement. The trailer's promises were bountiful, and the historical inaccuracies spotted here and there (no, Napoleon didn't fire cannon at the Pyramids) did little to dent our enthusiasm; great artists are allowed some poetic licence, after all. How daring of the 85-year-old English film-maker to tackle such a momentous subject - we were in awe already. Would his Napoleon measure up to his masterful debut, The Duellists, set in France during the Napoleonic wars and adapted from a short story by Joseph Conrad? Hopes were running high.That it was an Englishman charged with this latest blockbuster interpretation of Napoleon's influence only fuelled the anticipation. Most of us welcome a foreign take on our history and cultural heritage, perhaps even more when it comes from a former best enemy. This cross-cultural experience fosters fascinating exchanges and conversations. How many musketeer, Sun King and Marie Antoinette stories has Hollywood churned out since the birth of cinema? We have lost count. How many Joan of Arcs? There was Ingrid Bergman, Hedy Lamarr, Jean Seberg, Milla Jovovich, not to mention the unforgettable Renee Falconetti in Carl Theodor Dreyer's masterpiece. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands across south-east Asia are forced to work for industrial-scale criminal enterprises. Reporting scams is therefore criticalNever click on a suspicious link. Beware of unsolicited emails. Don't access your bank from public wifi. Just as suddenly as Black Friday has become the new" Boxing Day, so have the warnings about online scams become commonplace.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently reported that scams, largely perpetuated online, had cost Australians an estimated $3.1bn in one year. That was an 80% increase on recorded 2021 losses. Clearly, these warnings require serious attention. Continue reading...

Macy's annual parade featured giant balloons from Paw Patrol to Stuart the Minion floating through Manhattan. This year's parade is the 97th since it was first held in 1924, and it has been televised since 1952 Continue reading...

Nazi materials among items retrieved by FBI from house of gunman who killed self after wounding four peopleThe FBI said the gunman who opened fire inside a Walmart in Ohio on Monday, wounding four before killing himself, may have been at least partially inspired by racially motivated violent extremist ideology".It confirmed two of the victims were white and the other two were Black. Continue reading...

State declares emergency and town of Livingstone evacuated, to be fed Thanksgiving dinner by CVX rail companyThe governor of Kentucky has declared a state of emergency after a train derailed and sparked a molten sulphur fire.The derailment, involving at least 16 cars including two that were carrying molten sulphur, occurred north of Livingston in Rockcastle county at about 2.23pm on Wednesday, according to railroad operator CSX. Continue reading...

Food cart worker saw an outpouring of support from customers after news of the verbal attacks went publicThe street vendor in Manhattan who was racially harangued about the Gaza conflict woke to huge lines of well-wishing customers on Wednesday as the the former state department official who was filmed berating him was arrested and charged with racial harassment and stalking as a hate crime.Mohammed Hussein, 24, was back to work at the Q Halal Cart grill on Wednesday on the corner of Second Avenue and East 83rd Street, with lines of customers queuing for food in a sign of support. Continue reading...

Summons accuses Adams of sexual assault and employment discrimination in 1993 while he and plaintiff worked for the cityThe mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has been accused of sexual assault in a court filing submitted on late Wednesday.The summons against Adams alleges that the plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York". Continue reading...

After Unesco recognized Ohio's Indigenous ceremonial grounds, Native communities hope to spark a land return movementFor decades, Indigenous communities in US industrial cities have had to gather at recreation centers and in each other's homes to celebrate ties to their cultures, says Ty Smith, a member of Oregon's Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.But last month, the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO) that Smith helps run from Columbus, Ohio, reached a goal he never thought possible: raising $250,000 to buy a small piece of rural land meant to foster Native American life and activities. Continue reading...

European far-right leaders celebrate success of Wilders' Party for Freedom, which has won 37 seats. Plus, welcome to the world of gossip surveillance

The US president's hawkish support for Israel has alienated younger voters, progressives, and Arab and Muslim AmericansThe 2024 presidential contest should not be close. Joe Biden's opponent, Donald Trump, is a bigot, a liar and a crook, with dozens of credible sexual assault allegations, a disastrous track record of enabling sadistic racism in both his policy and his rhetoric, a frank admission of his own authoritarian ambitions, and 92 pending felony charges.The Republican party that the former president leads has become beholden to a small but extremely powerful base of voters with wildly unpopular social views, particularly regarding abortion - views that have driven the Republicans to election losses in virtually all major contests since the summer of 2022. Voters hate them, and reject their vision for the US; few politicians have ever been so unpopular as Trump is, and few political platforms have ever seemed so determined to alienate and anger voters as the Republican party's.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

US owners have restored the team to the big time, building around an attack-minded manager and an energetic squadOf all of London's football clubs, Fulham is the most middle-class. Tucked on the north bank of the Thames amid a neighborhood of million-pound housing and leafy avenues, Craven Cottage is where the residential swell of well-to-do south-west London begins, reaching out to suburbs where rugby union is the preferred sport. Along with rowing, that is. The Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race, held since 1829, starts on the Putney Bridge many visitors cross to reach the stadium.To the traditionalists, Fulham was always a second-division concern, welcome in the top division for the pleasantness of the surroundings and the club's commitment to attractive football. And it is a club with no fierce rivalry of note, with near-neighbors Chelsea far more interested in crosstown rivals Tottenham. Continue reading...

Mockery over Two Corinthians' slip and endorsement battles in 2016 echo in 2024 race as Republican contenders seek first winIn the heat of the Republican primary of 2016, Donald Trump called evangelical supporters of his rival Ted Cruz so-called Christians" and real pieces of shit", a new book says.The news lands as the 2024 Republican primary heats up, two months out from the Iowa caucus and a day after Trump's closest rival this time, the hard-right Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, was endorsed by Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader in Iowa. Continue reading...

Media complacency and outgoing PM Mark Rutte's decision to campaign on immigration have created a political earthquakeTwo things were already clear months before Dutch election day: the Netherlands would have a new prime minister and dozens of new parliamentarians. Forty sitting members of parliament, a quarter of the Tweede Kamer (lower house), and, even more striking, three of the four leaders of the outgoing conservative-led coalition had announced their departure from national politics. Ironically, in this sea of electoral change, it was the far-right mainstay, Geert Wilders, the soon-to-be longest-sitting MP, who would emerge the big winner.How do we make sense of the political earthquake that has put Wilders and his PVV party in first place and how will it affect Dutch and European politics? The first, and most important, lesson is one that Dutch politicians in particular should have known, as it has happened over and over again in the past three decades in the Netherlands and throughout western Europe. If you make the elections about the issues of the far right, notably the problem" of immigration, the far right wins. We saw this most recently in Sweden.Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia and an adjunct professor at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-Rex) at the University of Oslo Continue reading...

Quarterbacks nearly always take home the award. But the Cleveland Browns star has made his team's defense into a terrifying forceThe NFL's MVP award is a proxy for the league's best quarterback. At least that's the way it's evolved over the last 20 years.The reason for picking a winner typically slots into one of three cliches: validating a young star's legitimacy; confirming an old guy has still got it; or handing it to a consistent performer having a career year (hooray for Matt Ryan!). Continue reading...

Enlargement may offer Europe greater security, but its price is change with daunting financial and political costsEuropean Union leaders are coming around to the geopolitical necessity of embracing Ukraine, Moldova and western Balkan countries as future EU members, but will struggle to reform the bloc to make it fit for enlargement.Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has thrust EU expansion back on to the agenda after two decades in which governments procrastinated over admitting six small western Balkan states with a combined population of 20 million. These countries were given a European perspective" in 2003, but have done little since then to reform themselves and have long felt unwanted in Brussels. Vladimir Putin is also playing on frozen conflicts or unresolved disputes in Moldova, Georgia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina to destabilise Europe's borderlands.Paul Taylor is a senior fellow of the Friends of Europe thinktank Continue reading...

New York governor says no indication of terrorist attack' as officials investigate incident at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls

Four border crossings between the US and Canada were closed after a car exploded at a checkpoint on a bridge near Niagara Falls, reportedly killing two people. Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, said there was 'no sign of terrorist activity' in the explosion, which happened on the US side of the Rainbow Bridge connecting the two countries across the Niagara River. An eyewitness at the scene, Mike Guenther, said: 'We see this car coming down towards the border and he was flying over 100mph ... He went up into the air and we've just seen a fireball. That's all we could see ... It was covered in smoke everywhere'

Two people who were in the car have died, police say, as New York governor says there are no signs of terrorist activity

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Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk have also received antisemitic abuse since a gag order imposed on the ex-president was liftedThe office of the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud trial has been bombarded with death threats and antisemitic abuse following the former president's online attacks.Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk, Allison Greenfield, are said to have received hundreds of threatening, harassing and disparaging messages via telephone and social media. Continue reading...

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun makes comments after Washington raised concerns Indian government may known of plotA prominent Sikh activist who was reportedly the target of a foiled assassination attempt on US soil has accused India of transnational terrorism" after Washington raised concerns the Indian government may have had knowledge of the plot.The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the US had thwarted the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen, after the June murder of another Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb. Continue reading...

Gunman who killed five in April wrote in journal how ridiculous' it was to buy a gun while having mental health problemsThe man who fatally shot five co-workers at a Louisville bank in April wrote in his journal that he wasn't sure if his mental health struggles would preclude him from purchasing a gun. Later, after acquiring a gun just days before carrying out the mass shooting, he remarked that buying it was so easy" , calling the transaction ridiculous".The journal writings by Connor Sturgeon were contained in a 64-page report released on Tuesday by Louisville police, in which authorities say they have now closed the investigation into the actions of the 25-year-old who also died that day after being shot by police . Continue reading...

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Pop rock duo Hall & Oates are embroiled in a confidential lawsuit, with court documents detailing the case sealedThe pop rock duo Hall & Oates are embroiled in a confidential lawsuit, with details of the litigation sealed.Daryl Hall, 77, the group's co-founder, is suing his former bandmate John Oates, 75, according to Axios Nashville reporter Nate Rau, who first reported the suit. The suit by Hall is against Oates as an individual and Oates's trust. Continue reading...

William Cogswell beats Democratic incumbent John Tecklenburg to become city's first Republican mayor since 1870sThe historic South Carolina city of Charleston has elected its first Republican mayor since the Reconstruction era.William Cogswell, formerly a Republican state lawmaker, defeated the incumbent Democratic mayor, John Tecklenburg, by about 2 percentage points in Tuesday's runoff, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. Results posted online by the commission showed a 569-vote margin separating the the two candidates. Continue reading...

Halal food worker might soon be able to take legal action against the explicit and racist abuse after the attacker's firm offered free representationA New York political lobbying firm has offered to represent a halal street food vendor who was recently subjected to a sustained racist attack by one of its own consultants, a former state department official, in the latest encounter reflecting tension in the city over the Israel-Hamas conflict.The Manhattan-based Gotham Government Relations firm said on Tuesday that it would cut all ties with Stuart Seldowitz, who worked in the US Department of State's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003 and later at the national security council during the Obama administration, after he was filmed harassing an Upper East Side street vendor. Continue reading...

CNN airs clip from May last year in which then Louisiana congressman - a leading anti-abortion voice - made comparisonBefore he became speaker of the US House of Representatives, the Louisiana Republican congressman Mike Johnson likened abortion to an American holocaust".The reality is that Planned Parenthood and all these ... big abortion ... they set up their clinics in inner cities," Johnson told a radio show in May 2022, in comments aired by CNN on Tuesday. They regard these people as easy prey." Continue reading...

The deal divided the Israeli cabinet, and likely Hamas too - for now it suits their interests, but this is a very fragile pauseObserving events from outside the region, one habitually hesitates. Nevertheless, it feels clear that the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel, with the exchange of prisoners that is woven into it, is better than what preceded it.It will bring home some abducted Israelis and will save some Palestinian lives, though not enough in either case. It involves the kind of political concessions without which conflict becomes endless. It is a cheering success for the diplomacy that brokered it. It brings a pause. And it is a precedent.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

St Charles city-county system to remove Bang Like a Porn Star: Sex Tips from the Pros after critics claim it is too sexually explicitA Missouri library system will ban a book that critics are calling too sexually explicit - but they are allowing the 20 people on the book's waiting list to read it first.A committee with the St Charles city-county library system in eastern Missouri has moved to ban the book Bang Like A Porn Star: Sex Tips from the Pros, but will allow everyone on the book's waiting list before 21 November to read it first, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Continue reading...

Taylor James Johnatakis was found guilty of seven charges for his role in 2021 attack to stop Biden from being certified as presidentA January 6 rioter who represented himself using sovereign citizen" arguments - which a judge called bullshit" and gobbledegook" - was found guilty on Tuesday.Taylor James Johnatakis, 39 and from Kingston, Washington, will be sentenced later. Continue reading...

Rutt the moose was spotted on Tuesday just 140 miles north of Minneapolis, far south of the giant animals' usual rangeA rogue moose wandering hundreds of miles south of its natural territory in Minnesota has become a growing media sensation as fans join online to track its journey through amateur photographs and video clips.The majestic" and noble" animal - nicknamed Rutt after one of two moose brothers in the film Brother Bear played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas based on their Canadian comedy duo Bob and Doug McKenzie - has been spotted in various locations across Minnesota and Iowa for weeks. On Tuesday, it appeared 140 miles (225km) north-west of Minneapolis. Continue reading...

Volunteers are offering aid to the more than 3,000 migrants who sleep in local police stations and airportsBy the time eight-year-old Miguel was put on a bus for a 1,500-mile trip across the US, his leg was badly infected from a cut from barbed wire at the US-Mexico border.On another bus, a woman who had started bleeding in federal detention in Texas had a miscarriage in the vehicle's tiny bathroom. Continue reading...

Four hundred workers in Washington state to strike, alleging the company - which pays millions to executives - is not playing fairMacy's workers are planning to strike on Black Friday, alleging unfair labor practices and the retailer's failure to reach a new union contract deal.Four hundred workers at Macy's locations in Washington state are planning action after 96% of workers voted in favor of authorizing the strike in October. Continue reading...

Trump's talk of seeking to weaponize' the DoJ and retribution' for opponents poses a direct threat to the rule of law and democracy in the US should he win a second term, experts sayDonald Trump's talk of punishing his critics and seeking to weaponize" the US justice department against his political opponents has experts and former DoJ officials warning he poses a direct threat to the rule of law and democracy in the US.Trump's talk of seeking retribution" against foes, including some he's branded vermin", has coincided with plans that Maga loyalists at rightwing thinktanks are assembling to expand the president's power and curb the DoJ, the FBI and other federal agencies. All of it has fueled critics' fears that in a second term Trump would govern as an unprecedentedly authoritarian American leader. Continue reading...

Whether it's saying goodbye to a parent or watching a favourite film with your child, final moments happen much more than we realise. There is a power in acknowledging themI watched ET recently with my six-year-old. He liked it, obviously - no child can resist a film in which grownups are bamboozled and frogs let loose, even if it can't match the unparalleled frenzy of The Super Mario Bros Movie - but he didn't love it. So I wonder if I will ever watch ET again. Maybe not. The child actors are wonderful and the score is majestic, but there are a lot of excellent films. I might be done with this one. At least, I thought, absolutely not crying at the Be good" bit, it was a good viewing on which to close.My dad died a few years ago. Ever since then, I have been more aware of these little lasts" that make up a life: the moments, recognised or otherwise, when you do something for the final time. With my dad, there were a bunch of them. Moving in with him after his cancer diagnosis, I was there for his last beer, his last cup of tea, his last visit with friends and his last night. Continue reading...

Alana Bechiom alleges she had to quit after fired colleagues threatened her and arranged for her car to be vandalizedA California Taco Bell fired employees who engaged in a group sex act in plain view of other guests during a Christmas party at the restaurant last year, according to a lawsuit filed by the ex-employee who reported them.The lawsuit also alleges that the employee who reported the incident at the holiday festivities - leading to her former co-workers' dismissals - ended up being forced to quit her job after facing threats and getting her car window shattered by an associate of the terminated colleagues. Continue reading...

Only 7% of us dress formally for work, according to a new survey. At least celebrities still make an effortWe are gathered here today to mourn the suit - at least, according to a recent YouGov survey. Pollsters report that only 7% of workers say they wear business attire in the office, and a quarter say that they only ever wear casual clothes to work. So, is it time to put away the Moss Bros and tidy away the tie-pins? Not exactly.The suit is undergoing a bit of a style rebirth. Witness band of the moment Boygenius opting for suit and tie for their recent Saturday Night Live performance, the Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi wearing a sublime Burberry three-piece at the Saltburn premiere or GQ dressing Kim Kardashian for its Men of the Year cover in a blazer from The Row. Meanwhile, almost every woman I know has acquired a pair of Wasp-y loafers that wouldn't have looked out of place on Wall Street in the 80s. Continue reading...

For owner and curator Patricia Puckett-Hall, the home where Lee Harvey Oswald spent six weeks represents a mission - to correct the narrative around the most hated man in the USAcross from a strip mall, on a suburban street stands an ordinary looking house: a clipped lawn, row of bushes, stars and stripes flying on a flagpole, red tiled roof, green floored porch and white, ornately patterned front door. But a yard sign indicates something is different here: Oswald Rooming House Museum."The house at 1026 North Beckley in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas is where Lee Harvey Oswald slept the night before he allegedly gunned down US president John F Kennedy 60 years ago on Wednesday, leaving a scar on the American conscience. Continue reading...