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On the 51st anniversary of Roe v Wade, a sparse crowd of activists brave snow on March for Life in Washington DCWhile Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are planning a cascade of ads and events to coincide with the 51st anniversary of Roe v Wade, hundreds of anti-abortion activists gathered on the National Mall in Washington DC on Friday in hopes of re-energizing a movement that has repeatedly stumbled since Roe's overturning.Originally organized around the goal of overturning the Roe precedent that established federal abortion rights, the March for Life has seen what was once its greatest victory become a political liability. In the 18 months since Roe's demise, abortion rights supporters have trounced anti-abortion activists in state-level ballot referendums. Yet the march's message was largely similar to past years: speakers and attendees alike talked about the need to make abortion unthinkable" rather than just illegal - with scant details on how to make that happen. Continue reading...

Anthem Rugby Carolina, based in Charlotte, will field young American players in attempt to grow domestic gameMajor League Rugby, the US men's professional rugby union competition, will this year include a team predominantly featuring young American players, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and backed by World Rugby in an attempt to boost the US game in the run-up to the 2031 and 2033 World Cups.The introduction of Anthem Rugby Carolina will restore the league to 12 teams and two conferences, after the recent collapses of the Toronto Arrows and New York Ironworkers, the latter MLR champions in 2022. The announcement of the new team, widely reported before being confirmed on Friday, comes a little over a month before the season seven kick-off, on the first weekend in March. Continue reading...

Hard-right Republicans ensure chances of more money and weapons for Kyiv hinge on immigration reform negotiationsJoe Biden on Friday signed a measure to keep the US government funded but as Washington shivered under its second major snowfall in a week, the bill did not unfreeze funding for Ukraine.Hard-right House Republicans, led by the speaker, Mike Johnson, are ensuring the chances of more money and weapons for Kyiv in its fight with Moscow hinge on negotiations for immigration reform. Continue reading...

Eric Swalwell calls for action against Trump ally apparently recorded saying congressman or colleague has to die'The California Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell has called for the rightwing activist and Trump ally Roger Stone to be prosecuted over an alleged death threat he also made against Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York.Asked by Scripps News if he wanted Stone to be prosecuted, Swalwell said: Yes, I absolutely do. I know [the] aim [of the threat] is to not just threaten and in this case take a specific action, but its aim is to silence Donald Trump's critics." Continue reading...

Quick-thinking state police officer enlists pet canine to carry rescue equipment to man who fell through iceA man who fell through the ice on a frozen Michigan lake was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded man's dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety.Bystanders called 911 on Thursday after the 65-year-old Traverse City man fell through ice-covered Arbutus Lake, state police said. Continue reading...

Grand jury in New Mexico charged the actor for a shooting on Rust set that killed cinematographer Halyna HutchinsActor Alec Baldwin is facing a new involuntary manslaughter charge over the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the movie Rust.A Santa Fe, New Mexico, grand jury indicted Baldwin on Friday, months after prosecutors had dismissed the same criminal charge against him. Continue reading...

John Kirby said the US still opposes a ceasefire in Gaza amid growing pressure on the Biden administration to push for an end to fighting as the death toll passed 24,000 people. Kirby said: 'We don't believe a ceasefire is going to be to the benefit of anybody but Hamas. We do support humanitarian pauses, as I said, to try to get hostages out and more aid in. But we don't support a ceasefire at this time'

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Records submitted in Nathan Wade divorce case show DA named as travel companion while Trump investigation was ongoingThe Fulton county district attorney prosecuting Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia had travel paid for by a special prosecutor she hired for the case and with whom she is alleged to have been involved in an improper relationship, according to a court filing submitted on Friday.Bank records for the special prosecutor Nathan Wade attached as an exhibit to the filing, submitted by Wade's wife in a divorce proceeding, showed that the district attorney, Fani Willis, was named as a travel companion on at least two trips while the Trump investigation was ongoing. Continue reading...

No Republican can out-Trump Trump. Opponents need to target his flaws: a bloody insurrection and a record of broken promisesThe few Republicans who have not succumbed to the cult of Donald Trump cling to one last hope. They are crossing their fingers that on Tuesday night the ex-president's march to his party's nomination will be halted, or at least delayed, by a defeat in the New Hampshire primary at the hands of the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley. But it is a thin hope.Even if Haley wins a famous victory in this snowbound state, the battles ahead are on terrain far more tricky for her and congenial to him. On Monday, Trump won his party's contest in Iowa by a record-breaking margin, amassing more votes than all his rivals combined - and the primary electorates that come next look more like Iowa's than New Hampshire's, which, unusually, includes a big slice of Trump-sceptic independents. When you combine that with surveys that show Trump even - or better than even - with Joe Biden, making him many forecasters' favourite to win the White House in November, it prompts a question that confounds blue-state America and baffles most of the rest of the world. Given all that he's said and all that he's done, given all that he is, why do so many Americans want Donald Trump to be their next president?Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistJonathan Freedland is presenting three special episodes of the Guardian's Politics Weekly America podcast from New Hampshire. You can hear the first episode here Continue reading...

A man who fell through the ice on a frozen Michigan lake was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded man's dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety.Michigan state police said bystanders called 911 on Thursday after the 65-year-old man fell through ice-covered Arbutus Lake. They praised the actions of officer Kammeron Bennetts, whose body-camera captured the rescue. The officer called the man's dog, Ruby, and attached a rescue disc tethered to a rope to the dog's collar. When the man called Ruby back to him, the officer was then able to pull him to the lake's edge across the icy surface in East Bay Township Continue reading...

Matthew Brackley, who previously tried to unseat Maine's Democratic senate majority leader, pleads guilty to assaulting officersA former Republican legislative candidate has pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in the final days of his one-term presidency.Officials said that Matthew Brackley, 40, of Waldoboro, Maine, traveled to Washington DC, Trump's Stop the Steal rally on January 6, prior to him encouraging the crowd to go to the Capitol. Continue reading...

An Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane with five crew members made an emergency landing at Miami international airport after facing an engine malfunction shortly after departure. Footage on X shows flames shooting out of the left wing of the aircraft while in flight. No injuries were reported Continue reading...

A mass prisoner release would seem like a PR win for Hamas, but it's Israel's only route to victoryMore than three months into a conflict that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, it is clear there is only one way Israel can return all of the hostages from Gaza alive: an all for all" deal with Hamas - all of the hostages, an estimated 129 of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for all of the Palestinians in Israeli prisons.There are about 8,000 Palestinian prisoners now in Israeli jails. Of these, 559 are serving life sentences for killing Israelis, and another 130 were caught in Israel in the two days after the 7 October Hamas attacks. Continue reading...

Richard Howson's job with Florida-based tech firm sparks anger among unions and industry expertsThe disgraced executive who led Carillion before the construction company's collapse has landed a senior role at a technology firm in Florida, only months after he was banned from being a company director in the UK.Richard Howson, who received an eight-year disqualification from the Insolvency Service in October, has been named construction president at Tampa-based TECfusions, the Guardian can reveal. The appointment sparked anger among unions and industry experts. Continue reading...

Judge cites failure of star-studded Los Angeles enclave to sign off on affordable housing plan that addresses city's needIt's the home of Taylor Swift, Adele, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeff Bezos and any number of other celebrity grandees whose elaborate mansions, replete with helipads and cascading swimming pools, perch on some of the highest-value real estate in the world.But just having the cash to splash in Beverly Hills may no longer be enough to get yourself the latest spa basement or indoor basketball court, after a judge banned all new luxury permits for home renovations until the city first builds more affordable housing. Continue reading...

Ex-South Carolina governor at a town hall in New Hampshire said one should talk about a pardon after someone has been convicted'

Atlas Air 747 cargo plane bound for Puerto Rico was filmed trailing flames from left wing before landing safely back in MiamiA Boeing cargo airliner made an emergency landing in Florida on Thursday night after what its operator called an engine malfunction" occurred shortly after takeoff, in the latest setback for the beleaguered company.Video taken by an eyewitness and posted to social media showed the 747-8 aircraft trailing flames and sparks from its left wing as it circled back to land at Miami international airport at about 10.30pm. Continue reading...

They had health warnings but focused on other things. Their deaths opened my eyes to the scale of the challenge aheadThe kids' bedtime had long since passed, and my frustration was beginning to show.As they faffed, I fretted - about the list of chores still to do before I could collapse into bed myself. At last as I harriedly tucked in my daughter, she looked up at me with a concerned expression and said: Dad, does Poppy need surgery?" Continue reading...

Majiah Washington saw the baby's parents, her neighbors, struggling to save the baby after a storm coated Portland with iceMajiah Washington noticed a flash outside her home this week in Portland, where a dangerous storm had coated the city with ice. Opening her blinds, she saw a red SUV with a downed power line on it and a couple who had been putting their baby in the car.The woman screamed to her boyfriend to get the baby to safety, and he grabbed the child and began to scramble up the driveway on concrete so slick it was almost impossible to walk. But before he made it halfway, he slid backward and his foot touched the live wire - a little fire, then smoke," Washington said. Continue reading...

The state party has voted to oust Kristina Karamo, but she is refusing to accept the result. So who's in charge?Michigan's Republican party has devolved into feuding factions - and at this point, it's not even clear who, if anyone, is in charge.Kristina Karamo, the Michigan GOP's election-denying chair, was ousted in a 6 January vote held during a special meeting called by state committee members critical of Karamo. But she and the faction that support her have refused to step down, further inflaming the chaos that has engulfed the swing-state Republican party with just months left before the 2024 presidential election. On Saturday, the party will meet to vote on a new state party leader. Continue reading...

The decision by Britain's strictest head' reflects a wider culture with a myopic view of what multiculturalism should look like

The shutdown would have started at 12.01am on Saturday. Plus, Netanyahu says he opposes creation of Palestinian state after war

Legislators proposed 49 bills targeting transgender people in the first three weeks of January, more than any other stateIn a packed hearing room on Wednesday, lawmakers gathered in Missouri to embark on a nine-hour marathon session, aiming to pass new legislation focused solely on one topic. The bills considered did not address the economy, healthcare, jobs or inflation, all ranked as top issues for US voters in 2024. Instead, the lengthy committee session concentrated exclusively on agenda item: transgender people in bathrooms, books, schools and doctors offices.One bill under consideration would allow pharmacists, desk workers and nurses, among others, to refuse to dispense medication or complete paperwork for transgender patients seeking gender-affirming care. Another bill would force trans youth already receiving treatment off their medication, eliminating a grandfather clause allowing them to continue. One bill would end all legal recognition of transgender individuals in the state, echoing the recent anti-transgender laws in Russia and Hungary. Yet another bill would prohibit transgender individuals from using bathrooms of their gender identity in workplaces, potentially mandating small businesses to construct separate bathrooms for them. Continue reading...

As the former president wins a landslide in Iowa and appears in court, Brooklyn Beckham serves up a bacon sandwichThere wasn't much to laugh to about when the Iowa caucus results came in on Monday, although the New York Post, erstwhile endorser of second place candidate, Ron DeSantis, raised a smile with the evidently vein-popping effort it had to put into finding a normal-sounding quote from Donald Trump. Trump easily wins Iowa caucus in historic landslide, urges unity to straighten out death and destruction'," was the best they could eke from slim pickings. Continue reading...

There is a direct and alarming link between Trump's political rise and the increase in political violence and threats in AmericaDonald Trump has galvanized an army of vigilantes who are casting a fearsome shadow over the 2024 election.It's impossible to know how large this potential army is, but last October 41% of pro-Trump Americans agreed with the statement that because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country." (That view was shared by 22% of independents and 13% of Democrats.) Continue reading...

Israel allows an average of 100 trucks a day to enter Gaza , but aid groups say 500 trucks a day are neededThe US claims it is working relentlessly" to get humanitarian aid into Gaza amid UN warnings that the territory's 2.2 million people are highly food insecure and at risk of famine".Antony Blinken, speaking at Davos this week, called the situation in Gaza gut-wrenching". But the US secretary of state was unable to secure any major new gains on increasing the amount of assistance entering the territory during his recent visit to Israel, even as leaders of international organizations advocate for urgent access. Continue reading...

The late general manager's widow was left in tears by Chicago fans. They forget he helped build a team that gave them great joy

The Premier League is experiencing an injury crisis and the women's game has an ACL epidemic. Advances in technology could help slow the spiralIt was one of the indelible sights of the 2023 Champions League final. With a noticeable limp, Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City's star midfielder, crossed the touchline and into the arms of Pep Guardiola, who hugged him tight.Unbeknown to De Bruyne, that was one of the last times he'd wear the City shirt in 2023. Two months later, in the opening match of the 2023-24 Premier League season, the Belgian reinjured his hamstring and was sidelined for the next five months. Continue reading...

The best weekend in the NFL calendar is almost here as top seeds San Francisco and Baltimore join the fight for the Super BowlWhat the Texans need to do to win: Head coach DeMeco Ryans has to be aggressive on defense. The Ravens' last defeat, a 33-31 loss to Cleveland in November, provides the blueprint. Given time, Lamar Jackson will pick teams apart. But the Browns blitzed him 33.3% of the time on passing downs as they knocked him out of his comfort zone. Cleveland forced him into the only game this season in which he has thrown multiple interceptions, and he completed just 56.5% of his passes. Houston need to up their current blitz rate of 15.4%, otherwise Jackson will take everything they give him. Continue reading...

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Populists are taking advantage of agrarian protests sparked by genuine crises - and it all feels horribly familiarWhen environmental activists calling for less pollution sit in the streets, across Europe they are now abused and attacked, arrested and handed extreme and draconian sentences. When farmers contesting pollution rules block entire city centres and major roads and spray manure on government buildings, the authorities sit and wait for them to go home. Few, if any, are prosecuted, and those who are receive small penalties. The promise of equality before the law has seldom looked emptier.The hard right and far right demonise people who challenge the status quo, and valorise those who seek to restore it. Governments and police forces across the rich world have proved all too responsive to their demands. Continue reading...

Lawmaker JJ Humphrey seeks punishments for acts of terrorism' and defines terrorist as any person who is of Hispanic descent'An Oklahoma lawmaker is facing backlash for proposing a discriminatory bill that deems people of Hispanic descent as terrorists".The Republican state representative JJ Humphrey introduced the bill, HB 3133, which seeks to combat problems in the state, such as drug and human trafficking, and lay out punishments to those who have committed these acts of terrorism". Continue reading...

The case was automatically frozen after the ex-president appealed judge's decision to reject his motion to toss criminal charges

Lawyers call on justices to reverse disqualification after Colorado barred him from primary ballot over January 6 insurrectionDonald Trump's lawyers urged the US supreme court on Thursday to reverse a judicial decision disqualifying the former president from Colorado's Republican primary ballot as the justices prepare to tackle the politically explosive case.Trump's lawyers in court papers presented the former US president's main arguments against a Colorado supreme court ruling on 19 December barring him from the primary ballot over his actions around the January 6 Capitol attack, citing the 14th amendment of the US constitution. Continue reading...

Agreement ends months of defiance from president's son, who had insisted on testifying publiclyHunter Biden has agreed to appear before House Republicans for a private deposition next month, ending months of defiance from the president's son, who had insisted on testifying publicly.The House oversight committee announced on Thursday that the two parties have come to an agreement for Hunter Biden to sit for a deposition on 28 February. Continue reading...

Mercer board of elections will not vote on disqualifying Arienne Childrey for a law requiring past names on petition paperworkA transgender candidate vying for a seat in the Republican-majority Ohio house was cleared to run on Thursday after her certification had been called into question for omitting her former name on qualifying petitions as required by a little-used state elections law.The Mercer county board of elections chose not to take up a vote on disqualifying Arienne Childrey, a Democrat from Auglaize county who is one of four trans individuals campaigning for the legislature, for not disclosing her previous name on petition paperwork. Continue reading...

Ronda Stryker and husband William Johnston announce $100m donation to the historically Black women's college in AtlantaA billionaire couple is giving $100m to Atlanta's Spelman College, which the women's school says is the largest-ever single donation to a historically Black college or university (HBCU).The donation was announced on Thursday by Ronda Stryker and her husband William Johnston. She is the billionaire granddaughter of the founder of the medical device maker Stryker Corp and he is the chairman of the money management firm Greenleaf Trust. They live in Michigan. Continue reading...

House approves bill in vote of 314 to 108 after bipartisan deal, sending legislation to Biden's deskThe House passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday, sending the legislation to Joe Biden's desk with just two days left before government funding runs out.The House approved the bill in a vote of 314 to 108, with 107 Republicans and 207 Democrats supporting the proposal. The House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, took up the bill under suspension of the rules, so he needed two-thirds of the chamber to support the legislation to get it passed. In a potentially worrisome sign for Johnson, 106 Republicans opposed the bill as hard-right members of the conference called for steeper spending cuts. Continue reading...

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Fatalities reported in at least nine states and forecasters warn of another round of snow and ice over the weekendPowerful winter storms in numerous US states left multiple people dead, damaged buildings and cut power to tens of thousands, authorities said, as forecasters warned of another round of snow and ice sweeping in for the weekend.Fatalities have been reported in at least nine states this week as one of the deadliest cold snaps of the season took hold from the Pacific north-west to the north-east and as far south as Mississippi. Continue reading...

Elections department in Yuba county says worker found powdery substance inside envelope and contacted policeAn envelope containing fentanyl was mailed to an elections office in northern California, where a worker was exposed to the drug, officials said on Wednesday.The elections department in Yuba county, a rural area about 40 miles from Sacramento, the state capital, received the package on Tuesday. It appeared to come from a verified agency" and did not initially look suspicious, a county spokesperson said. A staff member found a powdery substance inside and contacted law enforcement. Continue reading...

As Alina Habba, Trump's counsel, hammered on about the writer's commentary on social media, questioning took an absurd turnE Jean Carroll's New York defamation trial against Donald Trump resumed on Thursday with the ex-president's lawyer trying to discredit her on cross-examination with a bizarre dialectic about genitals and by intimating that she has loose morals.Did you ever post any tweets that could be considered sexually explicit?" Alina Habba, Trump's lead attorney, asked. Continue reading...

Republican Nick Wilson hurriedly redrafts proposed law to combat familial abuse that would have legalized sex between first cousinsA Kentucky state lawmaker and 2018 winner of the television competition Survivor had to hastily scrap a proposed measure that - if approved - would have unintentionally legalized sex between first cousins.After correcting the gaffe within a day, Nick Wilson - a Republican representative in Kentucky's house of representatives - expressed hope that the misstep would not doom a measure whose purpose is to combat familial abuse. Continue reading...

Comments on Truth Social prompt warning that Trump intends to wield authoritarian powers should he return to the White HouseDonald Trump provoked outrage with an all-capitals 2am post to his Truth Social platform in which he claimed full", total" and complete and total presidential immunity" over acts committed in office.The comments prompted warnings that Trump intends to wield authoritarian powers should he return to the White House and come amid widespread fears that any Trump victory in the 2024 election would pose a dire threat to American democracy. Continue reading...

Scores of media professionals have been killed in the last three months. The truth itself is under threatNo war has killed so many journalists so quickly. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says that at least83 media workers have died since 7October. Seventy-six of them were Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, while three Lebanese citizens were also killed, and four Israelis were killed by Hamas in the 7October attacks.Even given the total number of deaths in Gaza - at least 24,600, the Palestinian authorities say - the media toll is shocking and disproportionate. On one estimate, it amounts to a tenth of all journalists there compared with a reported one in 100 of the overall population. Reporters Without Borders has warned that journalism is being eradicated in the Gaza Strip". Chillingly, the CPJ describes an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families" - including at least two cases where journalists reported threats from Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers before family members were killed.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...