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Louisiana congressman is solid part of party's right wing and played role assisting Trump's efforts to overturn 2020 election

The actions taken by Spears in response to the madness around her were, in the circumstances, only proof of her sanityThe rollout this week of Britney Spears's memoir, The Woman in Me, seeks, among all the usual aspirations of the celebrity memoir, to execute a strange brief: to prove, finally and decisively, just how competent the 41-year-old is. Spears, who for 13 years toiled under the Grimms' Fairy Tale-like curse of a conservatorship overseen by her father, has been legally in control of her life for 18 months. With the exaggerated care of someone trying to prove they're not drunk, her appearances this week have seemed, at times, contrived to illustrate independence", fun", and an occasionally grim-looking levity in the service of convincing everyone she's free and in charge.The irony is that from the outside, the trajectory of the singer's life and career looks like a classic catch-22 in which the central trauma is so profound that no single position in regards to it is preferable to another. In the book, Spears recounts how, from her earliest success as a 16-year-old pop star to her relationship with Justin Timberlake and the birth of the two children she had with Kevin Federline, she was harassed, taunted and belittled at every turn. The abuse took place within her own home and more resonantly without. Even after seeing the details of Spears's life recalled and documented multiple times in recent years, this latest retelling still triggers incredulity: of the double standard between Spears's and Timberlake's early interviews (he is taken seriously as a music person, which is hilarious - it's Justin Timberlake - while she is asked whether she's had a boob job) and the unbelievable level of goading she suffered from paparazzi. Who, in these circumstances, wouldn't freak out?Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Rescuers had to abandon attempt at freeing man due to safety concerns over using torches to cut through steel platingA man was trapped inside a steel-reinforced concrete jewelry vault in New York City overnight after firefighters had to abandon an attempt to rescue him for safety reasons. Fortunately, the vault was on a timer and opened on its own on Wednesday morning, officials said.The fire department was called to the midtown Manhattan building on Tuesday evening after the man became trapped while trying to access his safe deposit box, said John Sarrocco, the assistant fire chief. The building at 580 Fifth Avenue is known as the World Diamond Tower and houses several jewelry businesses. Sarrocco did not explain how the man became trapped. Continue reading...

Cohen sparred with Trump lawyer Alina Habba and said former president told him to inflate assetsDonald Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen continued giving evidence at his fraud trial on Wednesday in another combative day in which the disgraced lawyer alleged the former president instructed him and other executives to inflate his apparent fortune.In an often theatrical performance, Trump's attorney Alina Habba painted Cohen as a serial liar and a perjurer who was angry to have been spurned by Trump. You have made a career of publicly attacking President Trump, haven't you?" asked Habba. Yes," replied Cohen. Continue reading...

Residents of Franklin turn out in force to rebuff Gabrielle Hanson, who failed to denounce support of white supremacist groupMiddle Tennessean voters have soundly rejected a mayoral candidate who refused to to denounce the support of neo-Nazis in a poll that drew four times as many voters than in a similar ballot four years earlier.Gabrielle Hanson's bid to become mayor of Franklin, Tennessee, had been dominated in its final months by controversies. Those included an investigation in September that revealed she had posted a photo of a group of women she claimed to be supporters, though at least one later said she had no idea who the candidate was. Continue reading...

I felt a deep need to join this unbelievable meeting of women and non-binary people. I am worried, I am tired and I am angryWhen I was an infant, my mother, then 26 years old, took me with her to the first women's strike in downtown Reykjavik. It was a momentous day in 1975, with 90% of Iceland's women stopping work in protest at gender inequality. Today I am an educated, middle-class woman living in the country that has been No 1 on the global gender gap index for years. So why go on strike again, as thousands of women and non-binary people did on Tuesday? Didn't my mother's generation fix everything?There has been much talk here among both men and women who say they don't really get it. They argue that the strike is just about ungrateful middle-class feminists who have it all but stay angry over everything and nothing. That this is us taking a day off to meet our friends and play victims of an imagined injustice. I admit that I was looking forward to meeting my friends downtown yesterday, but more importantly, I felt a deep need to be there, to be part of the unbelievable force of a meeting like this. And it really was powerful - an estimated 100,000 people took part, including the prime minister. That's more than a quarter of the entire country. Continue reading...

Republicans boo Rachel Scott of ABC News for asking the latest speaker pick, Mike Johnson, questionHouse Republicans booed and heckled a reporter who asked their latest choice for speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, about his support for Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election.Late on Tuesday, Republicans held a press conference to announce Johnson as the fourth candidate for the role since rightwingers made Kevin McCarthy the first speaker ever thrown out by his own party. Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer previously failed to attract sufficient support. Continue reading...

At least 63 people injured on I-55 interstate as search for victims continues and governor calls for blood donorsAt least eight people were killed after a superfog" of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense fog caused multiple car crashes on Monday morning involving a total of 168 vehicles, authorities said.As of Tuesday evening, the death toll from the huge pileup increased from seven to eight people, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...

Ex-president interrupted briefing to ask why he should give a fuck' about Kurds amid US troop withdrawal, Adam Kinzinger writesDonald Trump surprised his own national security adviser and a group of Republican congressmen and women when he interrupted an Oval Office briefing to ask why he should give a fuck" about the fate of Kurds in Syria.Nothing we said worked," Adam Kinzinger, until this year a Republican representative from Illinois, writes in a new book. Continue reading...

Evan Gershkovich's sister says family wants to see more action' to free Wall Street Journal reporter charged with spyingAs the Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich prepared to spend his 32nd birthday on Thursday in a Moscow lockup, Joe Biden has assured the reporter's family that the White House will ultimately get him back to the US from Russia, the journalist's sister said.Danielle Gershkovich remarked on Tuesday in an interview on Newsmax that the president promised our family personally that he's going to get Evan home". Continue reading...

Connor Bowman, a poisoning specialist, is also accused of researching drug found in wife's bloodstreamA poison specialist and former medical resident at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is charged with fatally poisoning his wife, a 32-year-old pharmacist who died days after she went to a hospital in August with stomach distress.Authorities say Connor Bowman, 30, tried to stop the autopsy on his wife, Betty Bowman, arguing she should be cremated immediately and claiming she had a rare illness, which hospital tests did not confirm. The medical examiner's office halted the order for cremation, citing suspicious circumstances, according to a criminal complaint, and an autopsy showed Betty Bowman died from toxic effects of colchicine, a medicine used to treat gout. Continue reading...

The IDF's three-phase' operation would increase Hamas's influence in the region rather than extinguishing it

The road to the MLS Cup kicks off this week. Our writers predict the dark horses, the key players and who will wind up as championsWould a much-loved attacker in his mid-thirties who's achieved so much in the game still have the hunger to perform and score, or was he joining MLS simply for the money and a beachfront lifestyle? Arriving from Europe during the season, could he adjust quickly? Would his brilliance almost single-handedly haul his struggling club into the playoffs? Yes, the Billy Sharp storylines were compelling all right. Lionel Messi was also fairly interesting. Tom Dart Continue reading...

After a student's death was blamed on a Panera drink, experts say brands making misleading health claimsA 21-year-old student died after drinking a Charged Lemonade from Panera Bread, drawing more attention to the energy drink market, which remains popular among young people.The family of Sarah Katz alleged in a lawsuit that the University of Pennsylvania student was not properly alerted through Panera's marketing that the drink contained 390 milligrams of caffeine - more than a can of Red Bull and a can of Monster Energy combined. Katz lived with a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1, and her roommate told NBC News that she was very, very vigilant" about avoiding high doses of caffeine that could endanger her. Katz died of cardiac arrhythmia. (The FDA says 400mg of caffeine a day is generally safe for healthy adults".) Continue reading...

Ambassador vows to teach the UN a lesson' after remarks by the secretary general. Plus the carrot wars of Cayama ValleyGood morning.Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has vowed to teach the UN a lesson after the organisation's secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said in a speech that the appalling attacks" by Hamas against Israel on 7 October that killed 1,400 people could not justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people".The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, a rival of Hamas, denounced inaction by the UN security council. The ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel - the occupying power against the Palestinian civilian population under illegal occupation - must be stopped. It is our collective human duty to stop them," he said.Meanwhile, the US and Russia put forward rival plans at the UN to help Palestinian civilians. While both countries seek UN security council resolutions to address shortages of food, water, medical supplies and electricity in Gaza, the US, which opposes a ceasefire, has called only for pauses to allow aid to enter.Hospitals in Gaza are ceasing to function because they are running out of water and fuel for generators, while being overwhelmed by huge numbers of casualties and civilians seeking shelter from Israeli bombing.Israel has dropped leaflets in Gaza offering rewards and protection for information in its latest effort to free more than 200 people seized during the terrorist attacks on 7 October. Continue reading...

Why we must remember Maurice Bishop and the Grenadian revolutionYou wouldn't have guessed he was in enemy territory. Addressing 2,500 people at New York's Hunter College one June night in 1983, Maurice Bishop won the crowd over with ease, covering everything from the Palestinian struggle to Ronald Reagan's Medicaid cuts. At one point, the 39-year-old prime minister of Grenada described a secret report" from the US state department warning that the revolution he fronted was even worse for US interests than the Cuban and Nicaraguan ones.Why? Because its leaders were young, Black, socialist and, most crucially, English-speaking. The thousands of people who chanted: Forward ever! Backward never!" with Bishop on that night showed the outsized importance that events on the tiny island of Grenada had taken on.Bhaskar Sunkara is the president of The Nation, the founding editor of Jacobin and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in An Era of Extreme Inequalities Continue reading...

An Ohio election ballot, if passed, would safeguard abortion access - but groups tied to anti-abortion figures like Leonard Leo are trying to influence the outcomeThe fight for abortion access in the US continues to be threatened by the same dark-money, anti-abortion operatives that helped overturn Roe v Wade. Chief among them is the Leonard Leo-affiliated group Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA-PLA) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).One of the fiercest fights is currently focused on an amendment at the center of a November Ohio election ballot, that, if passed, would safeguard abortion access by enshrining reproductive rights in the state's constitution. Continue reading...

Costs are slashed, entire departments of doctors are laid off, and patients' bills go up. I would knowEarlier this year, I stood outside the hospital in New Mexico where I worked as an emergency physician. I was, for the first time, picketing. The next day I would be fired, another first. At least I wasn't the only one - all of my colleagues would also be terminated.Why would a hospital fire an entire department of doctors? Continue reading...

Exclusive: Records and interviews suggest the California prison system let Gregory Rodriguez get away with rampant sexual abuse, while his victims were punishedOn 15 May 2022, Gregory Rodriguez, a guard at the Central California Women's Facility, ordered a 30-year-old woman in his custody to come to a hearing room at the prison.He told her there were no cameras in the room, prison investigators allege, and gave her a choice: she could have sex with him or get a write-up for a rules violation, risking a lengthened prison term, revoked privileges and solitary confinement. Continue reading...

Support for political violence increased over past two years, poll finds, offering snapshot of America's deepening polarisationNearly one in four Americans believe that political violence may be justified to save" the country, a national opinion poll has found.The 14th annual American Values Survey, carried out by the non-profit Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution thinktank, offers a snapshot of America's deepening polarisation and willingness to contemplate taking up arms. Continue reading...

Italy's prime minister wasn't afraid to take a day off when her relationship ended, and neither was I. It should be the normOne Monday morning, many years ago, I was riding the bus to work. As it came to a stop at the corner where I always got off, I found I remained seated. I stayed on the bus all the way to the end of the line where I finally alighted and caught the next bus straight home.The day before, I had been dumped by my boyfriend of a year. And the day before that, I had introduced him to a group of my colleagues. The thought of showing up at the office and forcing a smile through their debrief - or, worse, dissolving into tears - felt impossible. Continue reading...

Every fighter with a modicum of power has a chance of victory, even when they're struggling in the ring. Here are a few highlights from boxing historyOne of the things that makes boxing so compelling is that at any moment - BOOM! - one punch can end a fight. For the winner, there's elation. For the loser, despair. The roar of the crowd is deafening.I've compiled a list of one-punch knockouts that are a treasured part of boxing lore. There are three criteria for inclusion: Continue reading...

Fellow tech company Intel reviewing regulations' as timing of move brought forward

A Lebanese front is unlikely: it wouldn't be in Iran's interests, as it would probably spark US interventionSince 7 October, questions have been posed over whether Hezbollah would intervene in the fight against Israel in aid of Hamas, and on the extent of Iran's involvement in Hamas's attack on Israel. Iran backs both Hamas and Hezbollah: they are military partners and have coordinated training and battles with support from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Neither Hamas nor Hezbollah take decisions to declare war or peace without explicit prior agreement from Iran.However, battles are not the same as full-on war. To date, Hamas and Hezbollah have never been involved in a war on two fronts against Israel. This is a scenario that neither the two groups nor Iran take lightly, because such a scenario amounts to regional war in the Middle East, which is in no one's interest.Lina Khatib is director of the Soas Middle East Institute and associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham HouseDo 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...

Hungary's leader is at the heart of EU institutions - so Russia is, in effect, there too. Europe must take swift actionThe image of a smirking Vladimir Putin clasping hands with Viktor Orban sent shockwaves around western capitals, and rightly so. Putin, wanted for war crimes, with an active arrest warrant from the international criminal court, stood side by side with Orban, representing a European Union and Nato member state.The Orban-Putin in-person talks, their first since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, came as the pair attended a state ceremony in China to mark 10 years of Beijing's belt and road initiative. The Beijing gathering showcased a shocking tableau: a gathering of authoritarian leaders, including Putin and the Taliban leadership - and in the middle of them, Orban, prime minister of a supposedly democratic EU member state.Katalin Cseh is a Hungarian member of the European parliament for the Renew Europe GroupDo 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...

We tolerate a sclerotic system that allows the rise of people you wouldn't trust with your wallet - or to babysit your children

The Louisiana congressman was named Tuesday night after Tom Emmer withdrew from his bid hours after getting approvalMike Johnson was nominated to lead the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, though it was unclear whether he would merely become the latest hopeful to fall victim to party infighting that has paralyzed Congress for more than three weeks.Johnson, of Louisiana, is the fourth Republican this month to win the party's nomination for the speaker's chair, which has sat vacant since a small faction of party rebels ousted Kevin McCarthy on 3 October. Continue reading...

Meadows testified to a grand jury about the ex-president's efforts to overturn 2020 elections after being forced by a court orderDonald Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows testified to a federal grand jury about efforts by the former president to overturn the 2020 election results pursuant to a court order that granted him limited immunity from prosecution, according to two people familiar with the matter.The immunity - a powerful tool that forces witnesses to testify on the promise that they will not be charged on their statements or information derived from their statements - came after a legal battle in March with special counsel prosecutors, who had subpoenaed Meadows. Continue reading...

Band known for hits Love Shack and Rock Lobster dropped from entertainment line-up at state dinner for Anthony Albanese

The actor, whose career spanned more than four decades in Hollywood, died in Los Angeles from pancreatic cancerRichard Roundtree, known for playing the suave lead role in the 1971 film Shaft died on Thursday, the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, have reported.Roundtree, 81, died in Los Angeles after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Patrick McMinn, Roundtree's longtime manager told the Hollywood Reporter. Continue reading...

Joseph David Emerson has pleaded not guilty and says he'd taken psychedelic mushrooms for the first time, court documents showAn off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines on a regional jet mid-flight on Sunday told police after his arrest that he believed he was having a nervous breakdown, thought he was dreaming when he pulled fire handles in the cockpit, and that he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms recently as his mental health worsened, according to a federal complaint made public on Tuesday.Just before trying to cut the engines, Joseph David Emerson, 44, who was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit said: I'm not OK" and later told police he had recently taken psychedelic mushrooms, according to charging documents. Continue reading...

Trump's former chief of staff gave evidence in special counsel investigation into effort to overturn 2020 election, ABC reportsDonald Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows testified to a federal grand jury about efforts by the former president to overturn the results of the 2020 election after receiving immunity from special counsel prosecutors, ABC News reported on Tuesday.The testimony that Meadows provided to prosecutors included evidence that he repeatedly told Trump in the immediate aftermath of the election that the allegations about fraud were unsubstantiated, ABC reported. Continue reading...

The woman was exploring a cave 100ft underground in an area known as Thunder Canyon Caves east of San DiegoA California hiker was rescued by helicopter from a narrow portion of a cave where she was stuck for 16 hours, according to the San Diego county sheriff's department.On 21 October, the rescued hiker, who has not been identified by law enforcement, was exploring a cave in an area known as Thunder Canyon Caves, 65 miles (105km) east of San Diego, when she tried to pass through an opening that was just 12in wide. Her friends tried to free her but were unsuccessful, so they called 911. Continue reading...

The New York fraud trial's first star witness outlines scheme designed to fool people about the size of Trump's fortuneSilence filled the courtroom in the fraud trial of Donald Trump on Tuesday in anticipation of the arrival of the case's first star witness. Trump, at his usual place at the front of the courtroom surrounded by his lawyers, didn't turn to look back at his former employee, Michael Cohen, entered to take the stand.After an eruption of camera flashes from the hallway, Cohen slowly walked to the witness stand in a grey jacket and a white shirt, no tie. But there was nothing grey about his testimony. After days of highly technical testimony from Trump's former accountants, Cohen outlined a simple scheme designed to fool people about the size of Trump's fortune. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on the House speaker race, you can read our latest report:

Members of STAYC wore retro kit for the Glasgow football team instead of baseball jerseys for the Texas Rangers on their US tourA K-pop's band attempt to ingratiate themselves with the local audience in Texas resulted in a fashion faux pas, with the group wearing retro Glasgow Rangers football shirts.STAYC had intended to wear the jerseys of the Texas Rangers baseball team, who this week reached the World Series, for a show in Dallas as part of their US tour. Continue reading...

House majority whip becomes third Republican to withdraw after Louisiana's Steve Scalise and Ohio's Jim JordanThe Minnesota representative Tom Emmer has abandoned his bid for speaker after it became clear he had no pathway to winning the 217 votes required to claim the gavel. He abandoned his attempt hours after getting enough votes to be the GOP nominee.Emmer is the third Republican to withdraw from the speakership race after initially getting the nod from a majority of the conference. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio previously launched unsuccessful efforts. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on Michael Cohen testifying at Trump's fraud trial, you can read our latest report:

Minnesota congressman voted to certify 2020 election but did urge supreme court to throw out electoral votes of key states US politics - follow liveThe Minnesota congressman Tom Emmer was the third party leader to try to galvanize enough support among Republicans to be House speaker after Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio failed in their bids.But he rapidly found he was unableto muster the 217 votes he needed to get the job. Continue reading...

Tom Emmer - the third nominee in three weeks - drops out of race just hours after winning nomination

Party calls explicit Republican flyers desperate' attempt to foil Democratic challenger and distract voters from abortion banDemocrats in Virginia are defending their candidate for a competitive statehouse seat against desperate" efforts by Republicans to exploit her appearances on an adult porn website.The state's Republican party has admitted it sent out several thousand explicit" flyers to voters in House district 57 containing still images reportedly of Democrat Susanna Gibson engaged in livestreamed sex acts with her husband. Continue reading...

DMV cites unreasonable risk to public safety' from General Motors' subsidiary amid multiple investigationsCalifornia suspended Cruise's permits to operate self-driving cars on the state's public roads, effective immediately, the state's department of motor vehicles said in a statement on Tuesday. The agency said Cruise's vehicles pose a danger to the public and that the company had misrepresented key facts when dealing with safety regulators.When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits," the regulator said. Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, can still operate its vehicles with safety drivers, per the DMV's statement. Google's Waymo, Cruise's main rival, maintains its permit to test its autonomous vehicles sans drivers on the streets of San Francisco. Continue reading...

Once the guy who would take a bullet' for the ex-president, the 57-year-old is now a key witness in the New York fraud trial

Scholars of genocide are criticizing the dangerous use of the Holocaust to justify Israeli mass violence against PalestiniansPresident Joe Biden began his remarks in Israel with this: Hamas committed atrocities that recall the worst ravages of Isis, unleashing pure unadulterated evil upon the world. There is no rationalizing it, no excusing it. Period. The brutality we saw would have cut deep anywhere in the world, but it cuts deeper here in Israel. October 7, which was a ... sacred Jewish holiday, became the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.It has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by millennia of antisemitism and the genocide of the Jewish people. The world watched then, it knew, and the world did nothing.Raz Segal is an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide Continue reading...

Recognising the common humanity of Israeli and Palestinian civilians can break the endless chain of attack and reprisalWhen 85-year-old Israeli Yocheved Lifshitz was released from Hamas's underground cells, she was filmed gripping the hand of a hooded fighter who had probably been part of her prison guard while saying shalom", the Hebrew word for peace. It was a startling moment of humanity in a frighteningly divided world. At a press conference, Ms Lifshitz said that she had been treated well in captivity despite a harrowing and brutal capture from her kibbutz.A peace activist, Ms Lifshitz's views surely influenced her words, as probably did the knowledge that her husband was still being held by Hamas. But in these bleak times, Ms Lifshitz offers an important lesson: that a small gesture of kindness towards a person who represents your enemy can stop time, can show in an instant that we are all human, as opposed to an impulse for revenge that reinscribes the past, setting off an endless chain of attack and reprisal.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...

Groundskeepers resort to covering course with chilli oil to discourage the herbivores, which are native to the south-westWith no respect for etiquette on the fairways, let alone a dress code, a group of scruffy porcine invaders has left a trail of devastation across a prestigious Arizona golf course hailed among the country's finest.Greenkeepers at the picturesque Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona have posted to social media videos of the destruction wrought by the marauding pack of javelinas, also known as collared peccaries, which has dug up large areas of the course. Continue reading...

Trump's ex-fixer takes stand at New York fraud trial as former president, in attendance in court, attacks Cohen as proven liar'

Officials say Aimenn Penny, 20, threw molotov cocktails at church in Chesterland, Ohio because it planned to host two drag showsA man allegedly connected to a white supremacist group has pleaded guilty to firebombing a church in Ohio to try to prevent it from hosting two drag shows planned for last April.According to court documents, 20-year-old Aimenn Penny had made molotov cocktails before driving to the community church of Chesterland on 25 March this year. He threw two at the church, damaging the house of worship and a sign. Continue reading...