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Michael McMahon condemns president for commuting death sentence given to Len Davis, 60, over 1994 murderJoe Biden was hypocritical - and blindsided" the victim's daughter - when in December he commuted the death sentence given to a corrupt former police officer after he orchestrated the murder of a woman who filed a brutality complaint against him, according to the retired assistant US attorney whose job it was to prosecute the case.In a guest column published on Friday by Louisiana's Advocate newspaper, Michael McMahon said the clemency given to the ex-New Orleans policeman Len Davis was morally depraved" - and not revealed to the family of Kim Groves, the slain woman, until virtually the last minute, all but violating US justice department policies designed to give victims' loved ones a voice in such decisions. Continue reading...

Class-action lawsuits allege algorithms turn down claims in seconds and critics say reform is needed for lasting changeInsurance coverage denials have risen in recent years in the US, driven in part by automated algorithms powered by AI - and some recently launched artificial intelligence tools may fight back by generating automatic appeals.But to see more lasting change, health experts say that the health insurance system needs greater reform to control high prices and ensure coverage. Continue reading...

Madison Keys caused an upset by defeating the No 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win her first grand slam titleSabalenka 0-2 Keys* (*denotes server) Sabalenka nets a backhand on Keys' first serve and after a high volley the world No 14 makes it 40-30. Sabalenka goes wide in the final point and what an excellent service game from Keys to back up that early break.*Sabalenka 0-1 Keys (*denotes server) Sabalenka starts with a double fault but a rocket of a forehand down the line makes it 15-15. But the Belarusian double faults again and Keys faces a break point ... the American works Sabalenka into the corner and breaks the champion serve. Early unexpected nerves from Sabalenka! Has she got it out of her system? Continue reading...

The president has wasted little time in pushing a radical rightwing agenda at the start of his second termThis time last week Stewart Rhodes was serving an 18-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy over his role in a deadly attack on the US Capitol. On Wednesday, two days after Donald Trump's inauguration as president, Rhodes was inside the Capitol building, wearing a Trump 2020 hat and relaxing at a Dunkin' Donuts.With mere strokes of a pen, Trump has launched a rightwing political revolution in America, deploying troops to the US-Mexico border, assailing a constitutional right to citizenship, reversing gender and diversity policies, all but abandoning the fight against the climate crisis and freeing violent criminals who backed him. Continue reading...

Religious extremists from the US are bolstering local opposition by pouring money and messaging into the country under the guise of supporting family values'Sierra Leone is on the precipice of making history in its parliament this week. A new bill being debated would see a deadly centuries-old British colonial law abolished and monumental strides made to protect the safety of women and girls.For a country where sky-high maternal deaths are a national emergency, the safe motherhood and reproductive health care bill is a lifeline. The new legislation would decriminalise abortion and provide that any girl or woman, regardless of economic status, can seek the reproductive care needed from a qualified medical professional - whether that involves the decision to conceive, to access contraception or to make the difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy. Continue reading...

Figure skating's quad god' takes aim at a third straight US national title starting on Saturday, but for the first time as the incumbent world championNo matter how you look at it, Ilia Malinin is already one of the most technically accomplished men's figure skaters of all time. From his history-making quad axel, to his personal best scores - almost three points higher in the free skate than previous record holder Nathan Chen - when the 20-year-old reigning world champion heads to the US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas, this week, there's little doubt that he'll collect yet a third straight national title on the road to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.He's skating to music by rapper NF and rock band Falling in Reverse, and fans won't just see the American skater complete a now-expected array of quad jumps, and his signature Raspberry Twist, (a move taken from acrobatics), he's also included a newly sanctioned backflip. It's all part of an underlying ambition to, Help the new, more modern generation of people come and see what skating is," he said to me this week. Given the mind-blowing fact he's been working on a quint (an eye watering five rotations in the air) as a side-project", if there's one athlete that can bring a Biles-like level of fandom to a sport well past its heyday, it's Malinin. Continue reading...

Pulling out of the WHO and Paris climate agreement, a war on migration, backing Israeli claims on Palestinian land - the new presidency is under wayDonald Trump has spent his first week back in the White House introducing so many policy changes that it has been hard to keep up with what has happened.In less than a week, the new administration has abandoned the world's main health agency, ditched a global treaty on the climate crisis, and told refugees already approved to fly to the US that they were not welcome and could no longer come. Continue reading...

The country's most controversial politician, Michael Lowry, is the cornerstone of the coalition. That deal could haunt taoiseach Micheal MartinThe art of the stroke used to be a hallowed practice in Irish politics. To pull a stroke meant wiping the other fellow's eye, by fair means or foul. The art might involve anything from brown envelope" bribes and nod-n-wink" sneaky deals to a type of sophisticated chicanery by outwardly unsophisticated politicians, known as cute hoorism". This was the culture of the Galway tent, so called because of an access-to-power fundraiser the Fianna Fail party hosted for wealthy businessmen at the west of Ireland horseraces every summer.Micheal Martin, who was - eventually - reinstalled as taoiseach on Thursday, after scenes of uproar in the Dail the previous day, declared the age of the Galway tent dead more than 20 years ago, after state tribunals unearthed secret payments made by businessmen to Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern, his predecessors as Fianna Fail leaders. Self-described as a person of substance", even Martin's most ardent critics acknowledge his decency". Continue reading...

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Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault and excessive drinking, and has endorsed extremist Christian doctrineThe Senate has confirmed Fox News host and army veteran Pete Hegseth to be the US secretary of defense, placing him in charge of the federal government's largest agency after a tie-breaking vote had to be cast by JD Vance.Three Republican senators - Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins - and every Democratic senator voted against his confirmation, leaving him with 51 votes, enough to become Donald Trump's third cabinet member to secure Senate confirmation. Continue reading...

Vice-president casts tie-breaking vote for Fox News host despite allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abusePete Hegseth, the former Fox News personality and rightwing commentator who has said women should not serve in combat roles, recommended the military purge generals and faced allegations of sexual assault and alcoholism, has been confirmed as secretary of defense in the Senate by a tie-breaking vote from Vice-president JD Vance.Almost the entire Republican conference supported Hegseth's nomination while every Senate Democrat voted against his confirmation, resulting in a 50-50 vote. Three Republican senators - Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - opposed Hegseth's nomination. Collins and Murkowski had earlier cited concerns about his personal history and inexperience as disqualifying. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. Read our latest story hereIn a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of sphere sovereignty", a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.In the recordings, Hegeth rails against cultural Marxism", feminism, critical race theory", and even democracy itself, which he says our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous". Continue reading...

Federal rule also known as Mexico City policy' halts US funds to overseas groups that provide abortion servicesDonald Trump on Friday signed an executive order reinstating a federal rule known as the Mexico City policy" which halts US aid from flowing to groups that provide abortion services, counsel people about the procedure or advocate for abortion rights overseas.The policy, which was first instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984, is typically implemented whenever a Republican president wins the White House and rescinded whenever a Democrat wins. But this whiplash has major implications for abortion and reproductive healthcare around the world. Continue reading...

Internal memo to US state department staff explicitly makes exceptions for military assistance to Israel and EgyptThe secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has ordered a halt to virtually all US foreign aid, but made an exception for funding to Israel and Egypt, according to an internal memo to staff at the US state department.No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved ... as consistent with President Trump's agenda," said the memo. Continue reading...

Teresa Youngblut, 21, charged with weapons crimes over highway shootout in which German man also diedA Washington state woman has been charged in the fatal shooting of a US border patrol agent during a Vermont traffic stop that happened days after authorities began watching her and a German companion, who also died in the highway shootout, the FBI said on Friday.Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the death of the border patrol agent David Maland, 44, who died on Monday during the shootout in Coventry, a small town about 20 miles from the Canadian border. Continue reading...

Yvonne Missy' Woods was charged with 102 counts for supposed criminal misconduct between 2008 and 2023Authorities have charged a former Colorado-based crime lab analyst with more than 100 criminal counts over allegations that she altered reports in cases of sexual assault.On Tuesday, a Colorado district attorney, Alexis King, announced that Yvonne Missy" Woods was charged with 102 counts related to 58 instances of alleged criminal misconduct between 2008 and 2023 during her career as a lab analyst for the state's bureau of investigation. Continue reading...

Both president and vice-president indicate US justice department will no longer prosecute anti-abortion activistsIn addresses to the March for Life, the nation's largest anti-abortion rally, Donald Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, both indicated on Friday that the US justice department would no longer prosecute anti-abortion activists.No longer will our government throw pro-life protesters and activists - elderly, grandparents, or anybody else - in prison," Vance told the thousands-strong crowd that gathered on the National Mall, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. It stopped on Monday, and we're not gonna let it come back to this country." Continue reading...

Stewart Rhodes, whose 18-year Capitol attack sentence was commuted by Trump, was released from prison on Tuesday

Obama had restored peak's Koyukon Athabascan name, undoing designation in honor of 25th US presidentDonald Trump's pledge to rename the highest mountain in North America has sparked backlash among some Indigenous Alaskans and Alaskan lawmakers, including Republicans.Trump reiterated his intentions to rename Denali back to Mount McKinley during his inaugural address. Barack Obama had dubbed the mountain Denali during his presidency, undoing the 1917 designation made in honor of the 25th president, William McKinley. Continue reading...

President tours hurricane-damaged areas of North Carolina and says: I think we're going to recommend Fema go away'

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found 168 new products appeared for sale on site since NovemberDonald Trump's merchandising operation moved into overdrive between election day and his inauguration this week as it rushed to cash in on his return to the White House, an investigation has found.In all, 168 new products appeared for sale on trumpstore.com since November, many celebrating his election to a second term of office, according to the pro-transparency group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew). Continue reading...

Former Fox News host accused of sexual assault, financial mismanagement and excessive alcohol use appears to have enough Republican votes

The US president has issued a blizzard of edicts and announcements. Determining where to focus the fightback will be difficult but essentialWaiting for Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday was like watching a tsunami gather force. Everyone could see the threat approaching. But its scale was still shocking as it hit land, and what damage it wreaks will ultimately take months and years to determine.The deluge is intentional. For supporters, there is a sense of unleashed macho, almost messianic energy - setting the US on a path to national destiny which might take in Greenland, Panama and ultimately Mars. This time Mr Trump has an electoral mandate, a compliant team with a ready agenda, the obsequiousness of billionaires who command the attention economy, and a compliant supreme court which has already granted the president extraordinary power. He aspires to the rule of a monarch. The flood of executive orders, pardons and pronouncements is intended to overwhelm and intimidate, but also to disorientateopponents. Continue reading...

In just 100 hours, the returned president has already revealed his goal and exposed the weakness of those who might challenge himIt's hard to see in a blizzard. When so much is coming at you, one thing after another, it becomes impossible to discern anything but a blur. You become disoriented and lose your balance. If that was the aim of Donald Trump's first 100 hours in office, it's definitely working.The bombardment of executive orders, decisions and declarations has been unrelenting, a shock-and-awe display of presidential action that has left its targets reeling. Consider what Trump has done this week alone.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Columbia University's Merlin Chowkwanyun says public health has a long history of being used against asylum seekers - from repatriation to segregationIn one of Donald Trump's many day one executive orders and proclamations, he cited not just safety and national security as a reason to crack down on immigration - but also public health.It's not the first time the president has used public health to block immigration. In the early days of the Covid pandemic, his administration used a dormant wartime law from 1944, known as Title 42, to invoke public health restrictions to turn back migrants at the US-Mexico border. It expired in 2023, during the Biden administration, but experts believe it could be revived as Trump's advisers have reportedly spent months trying to find a disease that would help them be able to close the border. Continue reading...

The American has made her peace with the stress that once stymied her and is ready for Aryna Sabalenka in MelbourneOnly a few hours after her first grand slam final had come to an end in 2017, while she was still trying to process falling short of achieving her ultimate dream, Madison Keys was asked to consider what she could have done differently during her time on court. She responded, smiling, without hesitation: Win some more games."Her comments were a fair reflection of a brutal 6-3, 6-0 loss to Sloane Stephens in the US Open final. Keys has had to accept that she badly failed to handle the pressure of the occasion. I've obviously thought of that match endlessly for the past eight years," said Keys, smiling. Continue reading...

Jamie Raskin had professionals talk to fellow members of Congress about navigating conflicts in Trump age

America has deep problems, which is why we can't give up. Protect the vulnerable, organize boycotts and keep fightingIn light of Trump II's predictably cruel and bonkers beginning, many people are asking: What can I do now?" Here are 10 recommendations. Continue reading...

America First doctrine and threat of tariffs leave EU elite wondering how it can close economic gulf with USIn the bars, hotels and windowless conference halls of the World Economic Forum in Davos, two themes dominated the conversation: America's ascendancy and Europe's decline.If the scale of the continent's problems was unclear before politicians and chief executives descended on the Swiss ski resort, there was no ambiguity by the time Donald Trump had finished speaking. Continue reading...

Rescue workers have swung into action to board, feed and treat displaced animals - and find those who may be trappedAs the wildfires besieged Los Angeles, marauding through hillside suburbs at an impossibly fast and ferocious pace, 500 miles away Garrett Needles and the volunteers with the North Valley Animal Disaster Group started making plans.The northern California-based group specializes in helping evacuate, rescue and shelter animals during catastrophes, and has responded to some of the state's largest and most devastating wildfires. Needles, the non-profit's executive director, who had recently retired as an assistant chief after 30 years working for the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire), had a feeling their expertise would be needed. Continue reading...

Every day families like mine try to be brave, try not to despair - and pray that the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds

PM says Lebanon has not fully met conditions for Israeli withdrawal under ceasefire dealBenjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israeli troops will not comply with a Sunday deadline for them to withdraw from southern Lebanon, throwing the ceasefire with Hezbollah into crisis.Confirming that Israel would not meet the 26 January deadline, the prime minister's office said in a statement: The IDF's withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani [River]." Continue reading...

Enrique Tarrio tells Alex Jones president gave me my life back' as far-right militias regroup and plan next steps

Pete Hegseth wants to make government subordinate to Old Testament law. Plus, the Australians lining up to sniff a flower that smells like a rotten carcass

Jannik Sinner saw off Ben Shelton in straight sets to set up a final against Alexander Zverev, who was leading by a set to love when Novak Djokovic retired injuredDjokovic produces another hold to go up 2-1 but his inability to land a first serve is already looking like it could be an issue going forward. Landing just four of his 21 serves at the first time of asking so far, the Serb was taken to break point four times in that game only to fight back and eventually produce the hold. Unable to land a decisive blow, the host broadcaster is already postulating that the occasion may be getting to Zverev.A much less dramatic hold for Zverev, working his serve and baseline play to drop just a single point. Continue reading...

This long and awful war has taught Ukrainians to love and value their country - and its beauty - even moreLast November, my wife Elizabeth planted a great many tulip and daffodil bulbs in the cold autumn soil, so that in the spring, even more flowers than usual would bloom around our village house, located an hour's drive from Kyiv. Our neighbours have sown garlic and onions for the winter, planted flowers and scattered fertiliser over the ploughed land, thoughtful of another year's harvest.But between now and the spring, there is winter and there is war. Continue reading...

Halts to external communications, publishing reports and reviewing and approving research a dramatic shift'US health agency employees are now banned from nearly all travel and certain agencies and programs have been ordered to stop issuing new contracts and grants until further notice.The limits on travel and spending, announced internally on Wednesday, add to previous indefinite halts on external communications, including publishing new reports or even posting to social media, and on reviewing and approving new medical research, a nearly $50bn industry in the US. Continue reading...

Truss, Braverman, Farage and Fox flock to US hoping for a seat at president's inauguration - to discover he has moved onSpare a thought for the grifters. Those sad Brits who have spent years toadying up to Donald Trump in the belief they had been admitted into his gilded inner circle. Those men and women who bravely posted selfies on X as they arrived in Washington in the belief they would be attending the inauguration of The Donald. Continue reading...

Pete Hegseth expresses admiration in podcast series for authoritarian beliefs promoted by far-right Idaho pastorIn a series of newly unearthed podcasts, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, appears to endorse the theocratic and authoritarian doctrine of sphere sovereignty", a worldview derived from the extremist beliefs of Christian reconstructionism (CR) and espoused by churches aligned with far-right Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson.In the recordings, Hegeth rails against cultural Marxism", feminism, critical race theory", and even democracy itself, which he says our founders blatantly rejected as being completely dangerous". Continue reading...

Will Jayden Daniels make history? And can Josh Allen break his playoff drought against the champions? Here are our picks for this weekendStory of the season: Jayden Daniels is one game away from the extraordinary. A stunning seven-win rampage through the winter leaves Washington with just Philadelphia to beat for the NFC championship and Daniels to become the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl. They need a second win in six weeks over an Eagles team with the strongest roster top to bottom in the NFL. But Philly's stacked lineup, with Saquon Barkley at its nucleus, rang rings around the Commanders for an easy victory the teams' other regular-season meeting, in November. The Eagles will be desperate to spoil the rookie's party while clinching this unlikely season-defining series. Continue reading...

Have you been following the big (and small) stories in football, tennis, cricket and beyond? Continue reading...

Chelsea are signing the USA defender for a world-record $1.1m but the big gap to the rest of the pyramid is unhealthyWhen Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign the Colombia striker Mayra Ramirez for 450,000 (380,000) last January, the thought of that fee more than doubling in the space of a year might have sounded like a fanciful rate of inflation to some. But to those involved in the fast-evolving world of women's football transfer fees, this week's smashing of the $1m (810,000) barrier has been on the cards for a while.With Chelsea understood to have agreed personal terms with the highly acclaimed United States defender Naomi Girma for her world-record-breaking $1.1m transfer from San Diego Wave, the prospect of the first 1m move is surely now a mere inevitability, and the rise in prices certainly will not stop there. Indeed, it could already have been comfortably smashed for a winger or a No 9. Girma is arguably the best defender in the world - Emma Hayes labelled her the best defender she had ever seen" - but she is, nonetheless, a defender. If a centre-back can attract a seven-figure transfer fee, what would the WSL's top goalscorer Khadija Shaw be worth, or the Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati? Continue reading...

The first time you came into my hospital, shards of glass shredding your tiny body, I saved you. The second time I failedAs news of the ceasefire ripples my way, my memory mocks me. Your face glides into focus from my mind's abyss, where I had buried it.You come into my emergency room at al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza during the early morning hours. Your chubby cheeks blush with the night's cold, heavy eyelashes dripping tears into the basins under your eyes. I save you this time. I do my job. Shards of glass stemming from an explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike shred your tiny arms and legs. I clean the wounds and stitch you up without even a modicum of pain relief. A niche torture for both of us. Follow up in five days for suture removal post penetrating injury from secondary blast," I write on your chart.Seema Jilani is a paediatric specialist. She has worked in Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt and the Balkans. Her radio documentary, Israel and Palestine: The Human Cost of the Occupation, was nominated for the Peabody award Continue reading...