Ruling will allow ban, first passed in 2019, to stay in place while litigation continuesAbortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy will remain illegal in Georgia, the state's supreme court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling will allow the state's six-week ban, which was first passed in 2019 and took effect after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year, to stay in place while litigation over the ban continues.In their challenge to a six-week ban, known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (Life) Act, a group of abortion rights supporters had argued that it should be struck down because it ignored the fact that, in 2019, the US still recognized the constitutional right to abortion. A lower court in Georgia agreed with that argument, but the Georgia supreme court discarded it. Continue reading...
Crashes occurred amid combination of marsh fire smoke and dense fog, killing at least seven people and injuring another 25Crews worked into Tuesday morning clearing the wreckage of more than 150 vehicles involved in a series of crashes the day before on Interstate 55 near New Orleans caused by a superfog" of marsh fire smoke and dense fog that killed at least seven people and injured another 25.Hazardous driving conditions on Tuesday morning prompted several schools in the area to close or delay. Continue reading...
Ellis pleads guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, after becoming an outspoken critic of Trump recentlyJenna Ellis, the lawyer for Donald Trump who was also facing criminal charges for attempted election subversion, is taking a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.In Fulton county on Tuesday, Ellis became the fourth of 19 defendants to plead guilty as part of the wide-ranging racketeering charges into Trump and allies in the 2020 election in Georgia. Last week, both Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty before their trials were to start. Scott Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman, has also pleaded guilty. Continue reading...
Lawsuit says Sarah Katz, 21, had heart condition and was not aware of stimulant content of cafe chain's powerfully caffeinated sodaThe family of a 21-year-old Ivy League student who died after consuming Panera Bread's Charged Lemonade - a powerfully caffeinated soda - is suing the food chain, claiming that it failed to appropriately warn customers about what they claim is a dangerous energy drink".According to a complaint filed on Monday in the Philadelphia court of common pleas, Sarah Katz had a heart condition and was not aware of the drink's stimulant content. The complaint said the drink's stimulant content exceeds that of cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined. Continue reading...
Retired marine Paul Whelan, held in Russia, says decision not to include him in past two swaps painted a target on my back'A retired US marine jailed in Russia nearly five years ago on espionage charges his country says are bogus has told the top American diplomat that being omitted from the White House's past two prisoner swaps with the Kremlin at best painted a target" on his back.In comments to CNN published on Tuesday, Paul Whelan said he used a phone call in August with Antony Blinken to tell the US secretary of state point blank that leaving me here the first time painted a target on my back". Continue reading...
Research suggests writing down your feelings' about winter can help with seasonal affective disorder. I'm willing to give it a goDear winter,It seems that you intend to visit us again this year. I just want to make it clear - because researchers have found that expressing feelings" about you in the form of a dear winter" letter could make me less miserable at this time of year - that I did not invite you. Continue reading...
Adam Kinzinger, another anti-Trump Republican, details exchange - and shoulder checks' from McCarthy - in new memoirWhen Liz Cheney warned fellow Republicans five days before January 6 of a dark day" to come if they indulged in the fantasy" that they could overturn Donald Trump's defeat by Joe Biden, the then House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, swiftly slapped her down.After Liz spoke," the former Wyoming representative's fellow anti-Trumper Adam Kinzinger writes in a new book, McCarthy immediately told everyone who was listening, I just want to be clear: Liz doesn't speak for the conference. She speaks for herself.'" Continue reading...
Lawyers say indictment over alleged plot to overturn 2020 election violates Trump's free-speech rights and is vindictive prosecutionLawyers for Donald Trump are raising new challenges to the federal election subversion case against him, telling a judge that the indictment should be dismissed because it violates the former president's free-speech rights and represents a vindictive prosecution.The motions filed late on Monday in the case charging the Republican with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden are on top of a pending argument by defense attorneys that he is immune from federal prosecution for actions taken within his official role as president. Continue reading...
Republican Jeff Wilson, from Washington state, charged with possession of an unregistered firearm but calls it honest mistake'Authorities in Hong Kong arrested a politician from Washington state after he stepped off a flight from San Francisco for having a pistol in his carry-on bag.Jeff Wilson, a Republican state senator, was granted bail Monday after being charged with possession of an unregistered firearm. A court hearing in Hong Kong, which China administers, is set for 30 October. Continue reading...
French cinema risks being sacrificed on the altar of market forces. From Jules et Jim to Blue is the Warmest colour, that would be an incalculable lossIn 2018, the film-maker Paul Schrader made some controversial remarks about how the business has changed since his 1970s heyday, when he wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. There are people who talk about the American cinema of the 70s as some halcyon period," Schrader said at a Bafta Screenwriters event in London. There's probably, in fact, more talented film-makers today than there was in the 70s. What there was in the 70s was better audiences." The director added, We now have audiences that don't take movies seriously, so it's hard to make a serious movie for them."Looking back just five years later, Schrader's words seem like a grim portent of an era when art films and character-driven dramas struggle to find an audience in cinemas. Though much of the blame lies with the major studios and entertainment companies, who've all but eliminated risk and originality from theatrical releases, the pandemic also got viewers hooked on streaming instead of movie-going. Continue reading...
Holocaust-denying, pro-Nazi and white nationalism content posted on Rumble, exclusive livestreamer for November debateA key broadcasting partner for the next Republican presidential debate permits and even promotes political extremism, false conspiracy theories and misogyny on its site, according to observers of media and extremism and a Guardian review of content on the online video platform Rumble.The Guardian's survey of Rumble revealed dozens of accounts posting content including Holocaust denial, pro-Nazi and pro-Hitler advocacy, white nationalism, and content from banned creators such as the white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Continue reading...
Israel is about to wade into a moral and strategic disaster. We need a ceasefire and the return of the hostagesIsrael's stated war aim is to destroy Hamas and ensure there is no return to the situation before 7 October. This will not be a replay of past wars with Hamas, Israel insists, where it degraded Hamas's capacities and bought a few years of relative quiet before everything heated up again. Yet this is exactly what is about to happen - but on a much more horrific scale. This outcome can and must be avoided for the sake of the Palestinians and to diminish Israel's capacity for self-harm in the guise of self-defense. There is an urgent need for a ceasefire.To see the disaster that lies ahead for Israel and the Palestinians, let's begin with what we know and consider how the situation may evolve. What would it take for Israel to eradicate Hamas from Gaza? According to most estimates, a bloody, grinding ground war that will last weeks if not months. Whether such an operation would even accomplish this goal is anyone's guess: Hamas is deeply entrenched in Gaza, has hundreds of miles of tunnels in which to play hide and seek, and could head south and disappear into the refugee camps. Continue reading...
US says now not the time for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as hostages still held. Plus, smoky superfog' in Louisiana causes 158-vehicle pileupGood morning.Joe Biden has underscored the need to sustain a continuous flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza" in a phone call with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House has said.What's the situation like in Gaza? Concern about the plight of people in Gaza intensified. The director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, Thomas White, said shortages of shelter, food and drinking water in the south had forced some residents to return to their homes in the north.What will happen now? Republicans are due to meet at 9am ET on Tuesday to begin choosing a nominee behind closed doors through a series of secret ballots. Continue reading...
While Trump hurtles to the Republican nomination, his party's representatives in Congress feud and backstabJim Jordan's march to seize the Capitol began as a beer hall putsch but veered into Sesame Street. Vote after vote, he has missed the sagacity of the Count, the puppet Dracula who teaches children the number of the day. Former speaker Nancy Pelosi wryly remarked that the Republicans should take a lesson in mathematics and learning how to count".After the second round, Jordan threw in the towel from his stool in the corner: no mas! He endorsed instead extending the tenure and power of Patrick McHenry, the speaker pro tempore, until someone could figure something else out. But Jim Jordan the consensus builder was a short-lived phenomenon. The spirit of violence swirled around him. Continue reading...
There's no virtue in avoiding something simply because it's popular. And yes, it has taken me a year to tackle the latest Barbara KingsolverI was coming through the barriers at Gravesend railway station when the woman next to me said: Oh my God, where are you up to? Isn't it great?" At this point, I was on page 15 of Barbara Kingsolver's novel Demon Copperhead, late to the party, no real views yet, but there is nothing I like more than a random encounter, so I said: Yes, I love it."By this time, we had lingered so long that the gates had opened and closed and we had to get the train guy to help us. He had read it, too, and really loved it, which seemed to soften the irritation at two idiots who couldn't exit a station. Continue reading...
Increased militancy after pandemic sacrifices and tighter labor market contributed to impressive contract deals in last yearCall it the Great Reset. Across the US, labor unions are winning surprisingly large contract settlements as workers have reset their expectations to demand considerably more than they did just a few years ago, and that has in turn pressured many corporations to reset - and increase - the pay packages they are giving in union contracts.The result has been a wave of impressive - sometimes eye-popping - union contracts over the past year, far more generous than in recent decades. In August, 15,000 American Airlines pilots won pay increases of 46% over four years. In a huge labor confrontation last summer, 340,000 Teamster members at UPS won raises of $7.50 an hour over five years, with drivers' pay climbing to $49 an hour and part-time workers receiving a pay increase of 48% on average. Continue reading...
The league was once made up of would-bes and has-beens. Now there's a burgeoning middle class: talented players looking to kickstart stalled careersFor most of the league's existence, high-profile players in MLS have tended to fit into one of two categories: young prospects, from home or abroad, who have been developed in-house, and established stars who have moved Stateside to wind down their careers.In recent seasons, though, a look across MLS's most consistent high-performing players reveals a third class of imports - a group of mid-prime stars who have moved to North America with the aim of kickstarting stalled careers. Continue reading...
The UN is warning of a risk of genocide' against Palestinians. Future pleas of If I knew then what I know now' will not cut itIf I knew then what I know now. For many of the guilty men and women who plunged Iraq into blood and chaos, this became something of a stock phrase. When, in 2004, the then Tory leader, Michael Howard, was asked if he would still have supported the British government's motion backing the war - only 16 Conservative MPs rebelled a year earlier - he replied: If I knew then what I know now, that would have caused a difficulty. I couldn't have voted for that resolution." If I knew then what I know now, I would not have voted that way," protested Hillary Clinton during her doomed first campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. If I knew then what I knew now, I wouldn't have voted for it," said Labour's then deputy leader, Harriet Harman, a few weeks later.Prepare yourself for the revival of this phrase. As the calamity of Israel's onslaught against Gaza becomes apparent, those who cheered it on will panic about reputational damage and plead their earlier ignorance. Do not let them get away with it this time. Continue reading...
by Ryan Baldi, Claire de Lune, Andrew Lawrence and AR on (#6FTDX)
Our writers give their verdicts on the new season, which starts on Tuesday night. Can Boston or Milwaukee thwart a Denver repeat?The fact that every time Jimmy Butler's name appears in line-up graphics or his stats are displayed mid-game, it'll be accompanied by his headshot with the emo" hairstyle and facial piercings he showed up with at media day. After he did the same with his dreadlocks-and-clean-shaven look last year, his commitment to the bit is almost as impressive as his postseason heroics. RB Continue reading...
Europe's turn to the right now looks reversible, while Donald Tusk's victory leaves Viktor Orban politically isolatedIt was meant to have been Poland's Orban moment". Last August, the country's ruling nationalist Law and Justice party voted that parliamentary elections in October should be accompanied by a referendum. Citizens would be asked populist-inflected questions about selling off state assets to foreigners, increasing the retirement age and illegal immigration. The referendum was copy-pasted from a strategy successfully used by Viktor Orban to consolidate his illiberal regime in Hungary. It was not simply a cynical ploy to allow unlimited public money to be spent on the ruling party's electoral campaign, it was an effort to frame the elections as a referendum on Polish sovereignty. To oppose the referendum and to vote for the opposition meant not only that you favoured a loss of sovereignty, but that you endorsed neoliberal economic policies and economic occupation by foreign" powers such as Germany. Law and Justice was sure that it was a tactic that could not go wrong.As we know, the ploy failed. The fact that the opposition successfully boycotted the referendum held alongside general elections on 15 October (only about 40% of voters took part) reveals one of the least-discussed consequences of the national populists' long rule in Poland: the paradox that eight years of culture war against liberalism has resulted in Polish society's dramatic liberalisation.Ivan Krastev is a political scientist at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and author of The Light that Failed: a Reckoning Continue reading...
The speaker hopefuls made their pitches at a closed-door forum, however factional strife has made the process difficultRepublicans, whose party infighting has stymied the US House of Representatives for three weeks, tried on Monday to find consensus on a new speaker to lead the chamber and address funding needs for Israel, Ukraine and the federal government.Nine speaker candidates, including No 3 House Republican Tom Emmer, made their pitches to fellow Republicans at a closed-door forum, and answered questions about how they would handle the job, which has become a flashpoint for factional strife between rightwing hardliners and more mainstream Republicans. Continue reading...
Prosecutors say Jareh Dalke, facing up to 22 years in prison, gave security files to FBI agent that he thought was Russian operativeA former National Security Agency (NSA) employee from Colorado pleaded guilty Monday to trying to sell classified national security information to Russia.Federal prosecutors agreed to not ask for more than about 22 years in prison for Jareh Sebastian Dalke when he is sentenced in April if he adheres to the terms of a plea deal, but the judge will ultimately decide his punishment. Continue reading...
Defendants allegedly left coins scattered across parking lot after breaking into truck and taking 10-cent pieces worth $234,500Robberies in the US are a dime a dozen, but one in particular had investigators perplexed. Now, more details about a scandal involving the theft of dimes by the million, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, have been released by federal authorities.A newly unsealed indictment charges that on the evening of 13 April, four Philadelphia men made off with $234,500 - made up of more than 2m dimes - after breaking into a tractor-trailer carrying the coins. The truck driver, who had pulled into a parking lot to sleep at the time of the heist, had picked up the dimes from the US Mint and was headed to Miami. There was $750,000 worth of dimes in the truck before the robbery - a shipment that weighed about six tons and cost a pretty penny. Continue reading...
The Democratic senator stepped down from the foreign relations committee chair after accusations of being a foreign agentBob Menendez returned to court in New York on Monday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge alleging that the US senator conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government when he chaired the Senate foreign relations committee.Menendez, 69, spoke up to say not guilty" when offered the chance to make his plea during his first appearance before Judge Sidney Stein at federal court in lower Manhattan. Stein is expected to preside over a trial tentatively scheduled for May. Continue reading...
Authorities have confirmed no motives and are just short' of naming one person a suspect in murder of Samantha WollDetroit police officials on Monday reiterated their belief that the killing of synagogue president Samantha Woll over the weekend does not appear to be a hate crime - but have yet to describe any theory or motivation for her murder.Right now the evidence doesn't take us there," said Detroit's police chief, James White, at a press conference on Monday. When we talk about hate crimes, there are certain tracks they take. We're confident that we don't have any indication of that at this point." Continue reading...
Alaska Airlines flight was reportedly diverted after off-duty pilot attempted to disable plane's engines and was subdued by crewAn Alaska Airlines flight bound for San Francisco was reportedly diverted to Portland, Oregon, after an off-duty pilot inside the cockpit attempted to disable the aircraft engines.Alaska Airlines flight number 2059 operated by Horizon Air from Everett, Washington, was diverted on Sunday after reporting a credible security threat, according to a Federal Aviation Administration statement. Continue reading...
A ceasefire from all sides, along with the immediate and safe return of all the hostages, is what's necessary now - this is hardly a difficult concept to graspOn the morning of 19 October, I received an email circulated by the director of veteran's affairs at the City University of New York, where I teach. Due to recent dire events overseas," the email read, there is a possibility that the Department of Defense might activate varied servicemembers by or before November 1, 2023."Is the United States about to blindly march us into yet another catastrophic war? This type of information didn't come only from my university, either. NBC News has also reported that about 2,000 US troops have been ordered to prepare to deploy to support Israel. While some get ready for war, shouldn't the rest of us be pushing for alternatives to violence, especially before we find ourselves in a global conflagration beyond anyone's control?Moustafa Bayoumi is the author of the award-winning books How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America and This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror. He is a professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian US Continue reading...
Gabriel Silva, 17, was saved by his family's dog, who alerted his parents that he was having a stroke in the early morningA quick-thinking dog saved the life of a teenage boy having a potentially deadly medical emergency in Texas.Gabriel Silva, 17, was saved by his family's border collie, Axel, who alerted the teen's parents that he was having a stroke, the Today Show first reported. Continue reading...
In an extract from his weekly newsletter, Jonathan Wilson answers your questions on club ownership, Manchester United's midfield and the Saudi Pro League
Last time I visited from Australia, Ibtisam remained calm as I trembled through an Israeli attack. This time it is very differentWe are not special," Ibtisam, my mother-in-law says, and it is as if I am beside her, trembling, while she calmly pours the summakiya into the plates. The smell of it brings some comfort. It is the smell of home.I remember my mother's summakiya as if its smell and taste suffuse my kitchen now, although it, and she, are lost to me. I regret not writing her recipe before she died. It is 10 years since I left home in Gaza and settled in Perth, where I became a mother and learned to make all her dishes - but not her summakiya. The whole neighbourhood of Tuffah knew Huwayda's summakiya was the best! She was invited to make the dish at every wedding. Despite being a refugee, her family displaced to Gaza in 1948, she perfected the Gazan traditional dish. Continue reading...
Former officer and man she shared apartment with arrested on charges of conspiracy and narcotics distribution in the BronxA former New York City police department officer has been arrested on charges of selling fentanyl and heroin, allegedly negotiating deals while on the job in the Bronx.The charges against Grace Rosa Baez, who is 37 and has been a member of the NYPD since 2012, included conspiracy and three counts of narcotics distribution, according to prosecutors with New York's southern federal district. Continue reading...
A new law puts strict limits on how hosts use the site in the city. What does it mean for residents and tourists?It was once a popular way to visit New York City: book someone else's entire apartment for a few hundred dollars a night on a site like Airbnb, and briefly play resident in America's most expensive metropolis.In a city where one in three renters spend nearly half their income on rent and lines for apartment viewings snake around the block, the practice infuriated tenants struggling to find housing. Continue reading...
Delano is in the heart of a district won by Biden but held by a Republican. Will David Valadao's vote to impeach Trump help him hang on?When customers come in for a cut and a conversation at Miguel Navarro's barbershop, there's one topic they raise more than any other: gas prices.A gallon of regular goes for about $5 in Delano, a farming town in California's Central Valley where in 1965, grape pickers staged a historic strike over bad pay and working conditions that led to the creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union, led by Cesar Chavez. Today, everyone in the city who can afford to do so drives, which means feeling the pain of California's pump prices, the highest in the nation. Continue reading...
White House says there will be continued flow' of aid, after Biden speaks with Netanyahu. Plus, far-right populist Javier Milei comes second in the first round of Argentina's presidential election
As part of Kenneth Chesebro's plea deal he could incriminate Trump in Georgia, but he could also incriminate him in the federal criminal caseDonald Trump's chances of being convicted in the federal 2020 election subversion case may have increased after his top election lawyer took a plea deal in the 2020 election case in Fulton county and admitted to a felony that the effort to create fake slates of electors was fraudulent.The immediate consequence of Kenneth Chesebro's plea deal is that he could incriminate the former president in Georgia, given one of his plea conditions involved testifying truthfully against other defendants. Continue reading...
Hour by hour, they are being killed, maimed and traumatised, while the leaders of our nations fail to interveneThe screams of children are difficult to hear over the noise and fury of the Gaza maelstrom. So it's doubly important to listen out for their cries, because what is happening to them, right now, is truly terrible. No, don't look away. Don't close this tab. This is your problem, too.Long after this war is over, the violent deaths of at least 1,750 children - the total rises daily - and the maiming of the minds and bodies of thousands more will be remembered as an epic failure of human decency for which all may eventually pay a price.Simon Tisdall is a foreign affairs commentator. He has been a foreign leader writer, foreign editor and US editor for the GuardianDo 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...
After seven albums and multiple awards, I realised I much preferred acting the clown to singing for my supperOn Christmas Eve 2017, I told my wife that eight years into a successful 10-year music career, I wanted to quit and tell jokes instead. She told me she supported me and - crucially - that she believed I was funny enough to make a go of it. I was elated ... until we pulled a cracker and she almost died laughing at the joke inside. Fair to say her comedy barometer was a bit buggered.I recorded music for a decade under the stage name Tall Dark Friend. Don't ask me what it means - I didn't know then and I don't know now. Seven albums, two European tours, a proverbial shelf of awards" (the awards were real, I just never got around to putting up an actual shelf) - and no plan B. Everything culminated with a memorable stint on The Voice in 2016, signing to a label, bringing out a rubbish single, being unceremoniously dropped from said label, and dragging my arse across the Pride circuit for a year as my heart scabbed over. I turned my head one day to find the muse on my shoulder had long since flown away. Continue reading...
by Andrea Bernstein and Andy Kroll for ProPublica on (#6FSHP)
The conservative strategist and dark money organizer has worked to place ideologically sympathetic judges at state level and all the way up to the US supreme courtIn July 2015, Wisconsin's supreme court shielded Governor Scott Walker, then a rising Republican star with aspirations to the presidency, from a criminal investigation.The court's conservative majority halted the investigation into what prosecutors suspected were campaign finance violations. One of the deciding votes was cast by Justice David Prosser, a conservative who had won re-election a few years earlier in a heavily contested race. Continue reading...
Despite pressure from environmentalists to halt Louisiana construction, the US president touts gas exports to EuropeJoe Biden's administration is under mounting pressure to block construction of what would be one of the world's largest gas export hubs, and which would be perched near the rapidly eroding Louisiana shoreline, due to concerns over its impact on the climate and communities living amid an unprecedented expansion of new gas infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico.The $10bn project, known as Calcasieu Pass 2 (or CP2), is being planned for Cameron parish, on Louisiana's coast. It would involve bringing gas extracted via fracking through a new pipeline to a terminal where it would be condensed into liquid, chilled to -260F (-162C) and sent on ships for export to other markets, including in Europe. Continue reading...
The Baltimore Ravens already had one of the best defenses in the league but their powerhouse offense clicked into place on Sunday against DetroitAt 4-2 heading into their game against the 5-1 Detroit Lions, the Baltimore Ravens hadn't fully taken flight. They had the league's second-best defense but were struggling to put together a consistent offense. Unfortunately for the Lions, Baltimore were clicking on both sides of the ball on Sunday, putting together a 28-0 halftime lead and eventually winning 38-6. With the victory, the AFC North leading Ravens made a case for being potential Super Bowl champions while bringing the Lions back down to earth.The key to the Ravens' offense remains Lamar Jackson, who was boosted in the offseason by the arrival of receivers Odell Beckham Jr, Nelson Agholor and first-round pick Zay Flowers. Under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Jackson came out flat-footed in his regular-season debut, going without a passing or rushing touchdown in a Week 1 win over the Houston Texans. He regained his rhythm with a four-touchdown game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4 but his team had red zone struggles as recently as last week's win against the Tennessee Titans. Continue reading...
The tradition of NBA teams playing exhibitions with international clubs goes back decades, offering opportunities for prospects to showcase their skillsThe first time an international club played an exhibition against an NBA team was in 1978, when European powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv beat the defending NBA champion Washington Bullets in Israel as part of the inaugural NBA Global Games.When the late David Stern became the commissioner of the NBA in 1984, he set out to make basketball a global game in part by increasing the frequency of inter-league matches, bringing them to Asia, Africa, South America and, eventually, North America for the first time in 1987. Now, international clubs travel to North America every preseason to test themselves against NBA competition. Continue reading...
Ex-president lashes out at fake news' amid reports Pratt used wealth to cultivate close relationship between the pairDonald Trump has described Anthony Pratt, one of Australia's richest men, as a red haired weirdo" as he lashed out at extraordinary reports about their personal conversations.Earlier this month, reports suggested Trump had shared top-secret details of US nuclear submarines with Pratt, an Australian billionaire who runs the paper and packaging giant Visy.In private conversation, Pratt claims Trump had told him in 2019 of ordering an airstrike on Iranian-linked militants in Iraq, before it hit the headlines, and said that Iraq's president had called him to complain. Pratt says Trump responded: I [Trump] said to him [Iraq's leader], OK, what are you going to do about it?'"Pratt said Trump also told him about a phone call he made to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy asking for him to investigate Joe Biden's son Hunter. Trump said: You know that Ukraine phone call, that was nothing compared to what I usually do."Pratt also said Trump pushed the boundaries in his dealings as president and that he knows exactly what to say and what not to say so that he avoids jail ... but gets so close to it ... that it looks like to everyone that he's breaking the law".Pratt boasted of paying about a million bucks" to Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, to attend his birthday party. Giuliani didn't attend but the pair spoke regularly on the phone. The recordings suggest Pratt said: Rudy is someone I hope will be useful one day."Pratt had made a payment to then Prince Charles of $182,000 in 2021, according to documents cited by the Nine papers, and said: My superpower is that I am rich. So I am useful to him [Prince Charles], right?" He also said of Charles: What I'm trying to do is network with people who can be useful. Prince Charles said when he introduced me to Camilla, He's [Pratt] been very useful.' And I thought, that's an insult. And then I thought, it is better than being irrelevant" and I see him as an undervalued political stock. It is just that he is a laughing stock now. But when he is king, [they] won't be laughing."Pratt made consulting payments to former Australian prime ministers Tony Abbott and Paul Keating. Abbott was hired after losing his seat in 2019 on a retainer of $8,000 a month, the Nine newspapers reported, and Keating was receiving $25,000 a month. Continue reading...
As a child, I saw what follows ethnic cleansing. That's why I am speaking out about my new home's silence over Palestinian deathsWhen I moved to Berlin, I developed a habit of stopping by the Stolpersteine (stumbling stones" memorials) and reading about Jewish people who were taken from their homes and transported to the concentration camps. There is one building on my way to the U-Bahn from which 16 people were taken. But it was Lucie's stone that chilled me to the core. Hers is a single memorial stone in front of a large building. One little Stolperstein. All that is known of Lucie is that she was taken away at the age of 61. It made me think about all the other people who lived in the building and may have watched it happen. What were they doing? Did they just look the other way?My family comes from Croatia, and as non-Croats we left the country during the nationalist frenzy of the early 1990s, which the late Dubravka Ugrei described in her work as the fight for pure Croatian air". Having been persecuted in Croatia since the early 1940s - my grandpa managed to leave the Jasenovac concentration camp alive at the age of 11 - we found ourselves in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There the victim was different. Our Bosniak neighbours, whose only difference from us was their Muslim names, were now publicly vilified by almost every Serbian media outlet. People who lived by our side, sent their children to the same schools, spoke the same language, were now portrayed as non-human, as jihadists who would kill us while we slept, as animals that would pull our teeth out and rape our women. All of these stories I heard at the age of six. I knew the word mujahideen before having learned the alphabet.Lana Bastai is the author of the novel Catch the RabbitDo 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...
Arnie's brand of hustle culture is taking a bashing online and I am all for it. Do less, enjoy more and take that napRest is for babies and relaxation is for retired people," barks Arnold Schwarzenegger in his new self-help book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life. I am definitely not the target audience for this tome: I get exhausted just trying to type his surname. It is interesting that Schwarzenegger is viewed as a relatively benign figure whose advice you might want to hear, despite the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. At least he apologised for it and, unlike many Republican politicians, he doesn't think the climate crisis is woke fiction, which is refreshing.I think he's got it very wrong with this rest thing, though. You would expect a man whose entire career was built on the burn to venerate sweating and grinding, but don't even the biggest biceps and ropiest calves need the odd day off? The concept of rest is enjoying a low-key fight back, gently insisting that hustle culture hushes and has a little lie down with its snuggly blanket. I am seeing an encouraging amount of it: Rest is productive" reads a widely shared post on my Instagram timeline, and the writer and illustrator Sophie Lucido Johnson's newsletter, You're Doing a Good Enough Job, joyfully makes the case for doing less and enjoying more. Continue reading...
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