Lawyers say president's son prepared to be questioned at Joe Biden's impeachment inquiry with conditionsHunter Biden's lawyers have told a Republican-led congressional committee that he is prepared to be questioned at his father Joe Biden's impeachment inquiry next month - but the Democratic president's son will only appear before lawmakers if the hearings are held in public.The conditional agreement to appear before the House oversight committee comes after committee chairman James Comer issued a subpoena to depose Hunter Biden, his former business associate Rob Walker, and the president's brother James Biden earlier in the month. Continue reading...
Daily Beast's Andy Levy says media needs to focus on Trump's cognitive skills with every bit of concentration it does on Biden's'Donald Trump's claim that he is not suffering from age-related cognitive decline - despite frequent campaign trail gaffes, including seeming to think Barack Obama is still president - has not only attracted widespread mockery, but it has also produced claims that the US media ignores such slips while focusing relentlessly on Joe Biden's age and fitness for office.Trump gets names wrong all the time", said Andy Levy, co-host of The New Abnormal, a Daily Beast podcast. Continue reading...
Exclusive: ride technician engineers in California say union avoidance consultants brought in after filing for union electionLego playsets have captivated children and adults alike for decades, but engineers at Legoland California are dealing with blocks of a different kind: opposition from management and hired union avoidance consultants trying to deter their bid to formally unionize.Ride technician engineers at Legoland in Carlsbad, California, filed for a union election to join International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), District Lodge 947 in September. They await a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board on accepting their bargaining unit, and permitting the election to be scheduled. Continue reading...
I've never been one to vote with my feet. But a veteran-quitter friend showed me the way - and wow, it felt goodWe were about 15 minutes in when my companion turned to me and whispered: It's not very good." We were watching a dance-theatre show that initially sounded promising - who doesn't like the sound of a play that has installed its own onstage pub? But after the first overly earnest monologue was succeeded by the second equally earnest monologue, I began to get the sinking feeling she was right. But I was committed, wasn't I? I'd paid for my ticket, I'd put my coat on and left the house in the freezing rain, I was in the second row - I was ostensibly all in. Then the interval was announced and my friend whipped around with a grin on her face: I'm going. Want to come?"I've always been a people-pleaser. The fear of letting others down or causing a scene bleeds into every aspect of life. I've sat through bad meals and terrible dates, wishing I'd sent both plate and date to the kitchen, but finding myself terminally unable to call quits on either. I've never walked out of a play, which feels, bizarrely, just as personal to me as legging it from a Hinge rendezvous. You're announcing to every audience member in the near vicinity that you're done - it's all so final and declarative. I've come back from intervals to find the stranger next to me has done a runner, leaving me wondering: do they know something that I don't? What made them leave? Continue reading...
Franklin P Hall, 21 at the time he died, was killed by Luftwaffe in 1944 and body had never been located or identifiedThe remains of a US army aviator who went missing after German forces shot his bomber plane down in France during the second world war nearly 80 years ago have been located, according to officials.Franklin P Hall, who was a 21-year-old staff sergeant for the US army air force at the time of his death, is now set to receive a proper funeral, said a news release that the military distributed Monday. Continue reading...
Mercury Stardust makes DIY home repair videos centering renters - and the person who thinks they can't fix anythingIn April 2021, Mercury Stardust, a Wisconsin maintenance technician, was cleaning someone else's poop off myself" after a clogged toilet came apart. She happened to see a video of someone asking how to use a ratchet strap, one of those complicated-looking thingummies often used to tie down cargo. As soon as she tidied up, the 33-year-old responded as digital natives often do: she recorded an instructional video, wearing a (clean) flannel shirt and overalls while skillfully handling the tool in question.The minute-long video introduced her signature enthusiastic and encouraging patter, ending with: Learning something new is a triumph, and I'm proud of you." Continue reading...
From applying makeup in the rear-view mirror to watching cat videos on the phone, the morning commute is a parade of appalling driver behaviourThe photograph didn't lie. There I was in the driver's seat of my car, stopping at the lights, with one hand on the wheel, the other on my lap and holding my mobile phone.There was nothing to mitigate in my favour. Not the phone addiction we all have. Not my urgent impulse to check who was calling even though I didn't intend to answer. I was good for it, your honour. I copped the five demerit points which put me perilously close to a three-month licence suspension. I'm now a much more prudent driver (not that I felt I was ever particularly reckless, though I would argue that of course) - slower, more cautious entering intersections and careful never to go near my phone. Continue reading...
Prices are starting to level out, with some toys, electronics and apparel cheaper than last year. Why are retailers expecting a muted shopping season?Some good news for the holiday season: shopping for gifts this year will probably be a bit cheaper than last year. The bad news? Consumers just aren't feeling the holiday cheer - and with good reason.After over a year of high inflation, prices in the US are starting to level out, with drops in prices of some goods. The cost of a dozen eggs went from an average of $4.83 down to an average of $2.07 this October. Gas prices surpassed $5 a gallon in summer 2022, and are now down to a national average of $3.30. Continue reading...
South Carolina lawyer has pleaded guilty to stealing millions fueled by what prosecutors called an insatiable need for money'For years, the South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh looked his anguished clients in the eyes and promised to help them with their medical bills, their suffering or simply to survive. Then he stole most, if not all, of what he won for many of them.On Tuesday, those folks get to look right back at Murdaugh, in a prison jumpsuit, and tell him whatever they want as the disgraced lawyer, also convicted of murder, is sentenced for a decade worth of thefts from clients and his law firm. Continue reading...
While jaw-dropping highlights are a regular occurrence for the Thunder star, what really stands out is the maturity of his gameNBA fans knew they'd be getting a 7ft, generational unicorn this season. Few had any idea they'd actually be getting two.Just one other rookie in NBA history - the legendary Tim Duncan - has matched the statistical accolades currently being posted by San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren. Who is easily the most efficient of that threesome as a rookie? Holmgren. And he doesn't just look like the best newbie in the NBA this year - but one of the most well-rounded in recent memory. Continue reading...
After Brittany O'Connor was declared brain dead, her father clashed with medical authorities. The battle shines a light on America's legal definition of death - and the thousands waiting for organ donationMike O'Connor had just been told that his daughter was brain dead.Brittany had been in the hospital for six days. One end of a thick blue tube was taped to her mouth, the other connected to a respirator, which pushed air into her lungs with a mechanical force that shook her chest up and down. Continue reading...
Hamas releases 11 hostages from Gaza in exchange for 33 Palestinians in Israeli jails as truce extended by two days. Plus, can we solve our addiction to consumerism?Good morning.Eleven more Israeli hostages have been freed from Gaza in return for dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, as the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire by two days.How are the hostages? Itai Pessach, the head of the Safra children's hospital said: Seeing the hostages reunited with their families and the fact that they are recovering physically gives a sense of optimism, but given their difficult, complex stories of captivity, they will have a long way to go until they are [fully] healed."What will happen after the extension ends? Aid agencies have voiced concern that the anticipated resumption of Israel's attack on Hamas will lead to an even deeper humanitarian crisis among Palestinians. A particular concern is the impact on people in the crowded south of the Gaza Strip, where it is estimated by Israel and aid agencies that about 2 million people are now living. Continue reading...
At least 53 journalists have been killed since 7 October, the deadliest figure in the 30 years of keeping these dire statisticsThe numbers alone are dreadful. Journalists are being killed in the Israel-Hamas war at the rate of more than one every day since 7 October - at least 53 so far, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.This has been the deadliest period for journalists in the 30 years since the New York-based organization began keeping these dire statistics.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...
When people harboring such bigoted views have been rewarded with positions of influence, you really have to wonder about the US governmentNothing says New York City like its street food vendors. Known the world over for offering delicious and carb-heavy food at affordable prices, these vendors often throw in a dash of charming conversation, free with purchase. It's a winning combination, which explains why everyone in New York City loves their local halal food cart guy. Everyone, that is, except the racists.Enter Stuart Seldowitz. Since 7 November, Stuart Seldowitz has been harassing workers at his local halal cart on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to reports. The police, who initially did nothing about Seldowitz's harassment, finally arrested him on 22 November; he has been charged with aggravated harassment and several counts of stalking. Harassment of any sort is unacceptable, but Seldowitz's behavior is particularly vulgar and disgusting. And it's racist to the core. Continue reading...
Classism and other assumptions mean that whenever I have an unidentified item in the bagging area, the assistant will wave it throughIn the radical rise of shoplifting, during which retailers have been forced to hire private armies and stock their shelves with decoy versions of the pricier goods, a crime-driver besides gangs and the cost of living crisis has been observed: the middle-class crim who shoplifts with a sense of entitlement. The chair of Marks & Spencer, Archie Norman, described the attitude of some customers to self-checkouts: This didn't scan properly, or it's very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time. It's not my fault - I'm owed it." The criminologist Emmeline Taylor said: They won't think of themselves as criminals; they will think they've cheated the system [and] the big retailers are the real criminals." Add to this self-righteousness and a growing appreciation of the thrill of theft, and the trend could really get out of hand.There is something else, though. I interviewed the actor Stockard Channing once and she described some career doldrums with the elegant line: I couldn't get arrested." It floats back to me sometimes, because I now honestly believe I couldn't get arrested. Nobody checks my bag at bag checks. When there is an unidentified item in the bagging area (not because I'm shoplifting, but because self-checkouts do not, in fact, work that well), the assistant will wave it through without a glance. Continue reading...
Washington is laying down rules for the use of seemingly mundane AI that could, in fact, be incredibly dangerousBetween fancy global summits, OpenAI's boardroom drama and rumoured technical breakthroughs, the world has recently been paying close attention to the frontiers of AI research. But last month the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the US released a memo on the use of more mundane AI systems in government that is likely, in the near term at least, to be equally consequential.From its use tracking undocumented migrants, to the predictive algorithms police departments deploy to surveil populations and allocate resources, AI is now a common tool of the US government to cut costs - but at the expense of subjecting society's most vulnerable to arbitrary rule without due process, and with predictably discriminatory outcomes. Researchers, journalists and activists have been calling attention to this for years. That call is at last being answered. Continue reading...
David Tepper has ditched two head coaches in two seasons. Anyone with any sense will steer clear of his troubled franchiseIn the latest edition of David Tepper Has No Idea What He's Doing, the Panthers owner fired coach Frank Reich on Monday.This one is a doozy. Critics are already calling it Tepper's best work since earlier this month, when he axed Charlotte FC head coach Christian Lattanzio, despite the team making the MLS playoffs. Continue reading...
The Argentinian has delivered a trophy and massive attention for his new team. But some fans say the franchise has become impersonal since his arrivalWhen the news happened, I had to turn my phone off," says Mike Longin, a member of the Green Lot Gang Inter Miami supporters' group, of the moment Lionel Messi's signing was confirmed.My friends, my family, even my pool guy, were all calling - Hey, Messi's coming. We're so excited for you.' It was an exciting day. But there was also from day one, OK, what does this mean?' We knew it wasn't going to be the same." Continue reading...
The hard right, the left and Turkey's autocratic leader are all peddling the myth of German guilt. The truth is more complexWho could have anticipated such a twist in Germany's fraught relationship with its dark past? The German government is coming under increasing pressure to break free of the constraints of German guilt. And it is Turkey that wants the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to deliver the reversal.On a visit to Germany earlier this month, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, standing next to Scholz in Berlin, claimed that Germany was too absorbed by historical remorse to grasp the reality of the Middle East. Before his arrival in Germany, Erdoan had called the Hamas terrorists freedom fighters" and said that Israel's legitimacy was in doubt due to its own fascism". Scholz had staunchly resisted calls to cancel the visit, but made clear before Erdoan's arrival that he considered the president's view of the conflict absurd".Joerg Lau is an international correspondent for the German weekly Die ZeitDo 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...
Sassi Mizrahi sentenced to federal prison after he and his brother targeted over 40 people in San Fernando Valley in Ponzi schemeA southern California man has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after he and his younger brother scammed more than 40 people out of $7m in investments. Their fraud targeted victims from the San Fernando Valley's orthodox Jewish Israeli community.From 2012 to 2019, Sassi and his brother and co-defendant Motty Mizrahi ran an investment and money management firm called MBIG Company that boasted risk-free investments and an annual return rate of 30% to double the original investment, according to court records. To add legitimacy to MBIG, Motty Mizrahi also passed himself off as a licensed broker, certified accountant and veteran trader. Continue reading...
Peter Antonacci, the chief elections fraud official, died after a heated meeting in the governor's office and slumped in the hallwayRon DeSantis's chief elections fraud official collapsed after abruptly leaving a contentious" meeting in the Florida governor's office, then lay dead or dying for almost half an hour in the hallway outside until he was found, an investigation published Monday has revealed.Previously unreported details of the September 2022 death of Peter Antonacci in the Tallahassee capitol building appeared on the website of the Florida Bulldog, an independent online watchdog of the state's politics and government. Continue reading...
by Robert Tait and David Smith in Washington on (#6GPTN)
Activists including Cynthia Nixon say they are launching five-day fast to showcase the actions of President Biden'Leftwing activists including the actor Cynthia Nixon, famous for her role in Sex and the City, have begun a hunger strike outside the White House aimed at pressing Joe Biden into demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.The five-day fast was launched to coincide with what had been the scheduled end of a four-day truce in Israel's military offensive into the Palestinian coastal territory, during which the Palestinian group Hamas released dozens of hostages. Israel has also released several batches of Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and minors. The truce was later extended by a further two days following mediation from Egypt and Qatar. Continue reading...
President says there is no place for violence or hate in America' after suspect arrested on SundayJoe Biden has expressed horror at the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont and, amid heightened tensions with the crisis in Israel and Gaza reverberating in the US, reiterated on Monday that there is no place for violence or hate in America".A suspect was arrested on Sunday after the shootings the night before that wounded the men, police said, adding that contrary to media reports the shooter did not speak before firing.Edward Helmore and Chris Stein contributed reporting Continue reading...
Jewish Voice for Peace estimates more than 1,500 protesters calling for permanent ceasefire blocked cars amid holiday trafficNew York peace activists calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza staged their most dramatic action to date on Sunday, closing down the Manhattan Bridge for three hours as people were returning from the Thanksgiving break.Organizers with the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice For Peace (JVP) estimate more than 1,500 protesters blocked traffic on the bridge connecting lower Manhattan to Brooklyn as they chanted let Gaza live" and other messages calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Palestinian territory where Israel and Hamas have warred since October. Continue reading...
Short-lived PM does not mention frontrunner for nomination by name but says I hope a Republican will be returned in 2024'Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, who was memorably shown to have a shorter shelf life than a lettuce, has in effect backed Donald Trump in next year's US presidential election.Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Truss - who spent just 49 days in No 10 Downing Street before being turfed out by her own Conservative party in large part for pitching the UK economy into crisis - said she wished for a Republican president next. Continue reading...
We're always being told that our festive drinks or feasts come at a cost. It's just another way for people to feel superiorI've got to stop putting wellness influencer" in inverted commas. These are real people; we have to accept that they have influence. Wellness is, incontrovertibly, a real thing, since health" is a bit too neutral to be illness's opposite. So, anyway, a wellness influencer has posted on TikTok the number of alcoholic drinks you have to down before you'll gain 1lb (450g) in weight. I know for an absolute fact that this isn't how the human body works. The calories-in-calories-out mechanical understanding, where all calories have a like effect and every body is the same, has been debunked from every which way. Even if we were to agree that 37.5 flutes of prosecco should add 1lb of body weight, uniformly, to any drinker, we'd know immediately that circumstances would move the dial. What if you drank them all in one go? You could make yourself so ill that you actually lost weight.The list was a kind of homage to the great mysteries of alcohol: how on earth is lager more calorific than Guinness? Whose bright idea was the strawberry and lime Rekorderlig, a Swedish cider that packs more energy in nine bottles than Corona can in 25? But the list also joined the canon of self-hate for the annual self-indulgence" that I'm not sure is any more real than Santa.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Political activist who was intern in Bill Clinton White House urges wide-ranging review of constitution in Vanity Fair articleMonica Lewinsky has called for elected officials to be subject to mandatory retirement ages and for presidential self-pardons to be banned.The former Bill Clinton White House intern whose affair with the president eventually set the stage for his 1998 impeachment pushed for those measures in an opinion piece published on Monday by Vanity Fair. Continue reading...
Republican challenger says rival's language and conduct a contributing factor to rising antisemitism and IslamophobiaDonald Trump's intolerance towards everyone" encourages antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US amid tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas, said Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor challenging Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.When you show intolerance towards everyone - which is what he does - you give permission as a leader for others to have their intolerance come out," Christie told CNN on Sunday. Continue reading...
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Benjamin Netanyahu says he would welcome an extension if it means Hamas releases more hostages. Plus, why cosy living is good for you Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.The truce between Israel and Hamas has entered its final 24 hours, with the militant group saying it was willing to extend the pause after it freed more hostages, including a four-year-old orphaned by its 7 October attack.What has Biden said about the deal being extended? The US president said: That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza."Who has been released by Hamas? A four-year-old Israeli-American girl who was among three US hostages held by Hamas was released yesterday. Biden confirmed that Abigail Mor Edan was in the hands of Red Cross officials. Meanwhile, teenage siblings Noam and Alma Or were released only to find out their mother had been murdered by Hamas on 7 October.Who will be at Cop28? The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is expected to attend, and King Charles will give the opening speech, along with the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Pope Francis will also be there, as well as the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. An invitation has been extended to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Continue reading...
State makes unusual move in submitting journal of Manuel Tortuguita' Paez Teran, killed by state troopers in JanuaryThe diary of an environmental activist police shot and killed earlier this year is playing a crucial role in Georgia's conspiracy case against 61 people tied to a police and fire department training center known as Cop City", offering an early window into the state's approach to the prosecution.The Georgia deputy attorney general, John Fowler, has put forward a legal motion to enter the diary of Manuel Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita, as evidence in the Rico, or racketeering, case, sidestepping standard legal procedure while employing smear tactics and falsehoods, said observers of the case and based on the Guardian's reporting. Continue reading...
Jewish organizations are embracing public figures who have circulated antisemitic tropes - because they support IsraelPerhaps the most bizarre spectacle of the past month has been watching some of the world's most wretched antisemites lining up to give their unalloyed support to Israel. Even more jarring has been their embrace by those who are supposed to advocate for Jewish safety.These people include the radical US pastor John Hagee, who previously claimed that Adolf Hitler had been born from a lineage of accursed, genocidally murderous half-breed Jews" and sent by God to help the Jews reach the promised land. (He apologized in 2008 for some of his remarks.) He was invited to speak last Tuesday to an audience of thousands at the March for Israel in Washington, organised by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, to help condemn the rising trend of antisemitic violence". Continue reading...
The Covid pandemic accelerated enormous societal changes - and nowhere is that more true than transnational organized crimeThis week in Vienna, at the annual global meeting of police leaders from around the world, whether in huddled groups in quiet corridors or on the main stage, every law enforcement officer will be talking about one thing: the explosive growth of transnational organized crime.What every police force knows, but the rest of the world has yet to realize, is that there has been an epidemic of transnational organized crime and at such a scale that it is now a global security crisis.Jurgen Stock is the secretary general of Interpol Continue reading...
The quarterback's only positive contribution to his team this season may be to provide a long-term successorMac Jones and the New England Patriots have had a classic relationship arc. When Bill Belichick broke his historic bond with Tom Brady after the 2019 season, he was adrift. He had unproductive flings with Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham in 2020's pandemic-disrupted season. But in 2021, Belichick decided to settle down again; he drafted Jones, who had just led Alabama to a national championship, with the 15th pick. Belichick and Jones' first year together was a vision; Jones wasn't a star, but he was the most productive rookie quarterback in a class that included Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Trey Lance (yikes) and Zach Wilson (doubles yikes). The Patriots made it to the playoffs, and though Jones had some limitations, he looked like Belichick's partner for the long haul.The situation gradually disintegrated in 2022 as Jones failed to progress, and it looks in tatters 12 weeks into the current season. In a 10-7 loss to a mediocre New York Giants team on Sunday, Belichick benched Jones for the fourth time this season, in favor of Bailey Zappe. The Patriots fell when kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal as time expired, but that may prove to be a long-term victory. Jones' two interceptions and 89 yards on 12-of-21 passing helped the Patriots drop to 2-9. For the moment, they're positioned to pick third overall in the 2023 draft. By playing miserably, Jones has given the Patriots a decent shot at drafting a superior successor to him next year. Continue reading...
During the pandemic I fell for the beauties of nature and a slower pace - and revised my thoughts about men in LycraCyclists are a menace and should be banned from the roads," read the headline. It was 2015, and the most controversial article I had ever written had just been published on a national newspaper's website, attacking Mamils - middle-aged men in Lycra - and anyone, as I then saw it, stupid enough to ride a bike.The backlash was caustic. Furious hordes accused me of stirring up hate, of encouraging reckless, criminal motorists and of indirectly putting cyclists in danger. Cyclists who had been knocked off their bikes and people whose cycling relatives had been injured got in touch. I was horrified but also convinced that most motorists were careful, sensible and well-meaning, so the accidents must have been tragic, rare, isolated incidents. Continue reading...
From Belgium to Germany and Britain, western countries still seek to dictate which colonial abuses are redressed and howI still remember the sense of excitement that ran through activist circles in Brussels when the king of Belgium expressed his regret for colonial violence in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, and suddenly it felt like the mask of collective amnesia over Europe's colonial past was starting to crack, setting us on a path towards real, reparative justice.But three years on, the fight for justice seems more fraught than ever. In recent weeks, heads of state from Germany and Great Britain have addressed the colonial crimes committed in Tanzania and Kenya respectively. King Charles III, on an official visit to Kenya in early November, expressed his deep regret" for the colonial abuses perpetrated by British forces. The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, asked for forgiveness" for the crimes perpetrated by the German army in Tanzania against up to 300,000 people during the Maji Maji revolts at the beginning of the 20th century.Liliane Umubyeyi is the co-founder and executive director of African Futures Lab Continue reading...
People have seen too much that will stay with them too long. Trust in the international community' will never be the sameThe images of hostages and prisoners being reunited with their families are almost too hopeful to absorb. Even as Israeli authorities explicitly try to suppress Palestinian expressions of joy" at the return of their prisoners, the fact that they were released, and that some Israeli hostages are now safe and reunited, signals some small promise. But even if the wildest hope is realised - a lasting ceasefire - what has already unfolded over the past 52 days will be hard to forget.There is a short video, posted on social media a few weeks ago, that I cannot get out of my head. In the clip, a man in Gaza is holding two plastic bags that carry the body parts of a child, presumably his. There are other details. The look on the man's face. The way those around him avoid eye contact once they realise what he is carrying. I see these details often now, sudden and unbidden. The emotional and psychological impact of the war on those outside Gaza - no matter how intense - is a sort of privilege, happening, as it is, only on our screens. But there is something lasting about these images. Others I know are haunted too, by different visions. By the doctor who came across her husband's body while treating bombing victims. By the father stroking and rocking a dust-covered baby on his chest one last time.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnistDo 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...
US president is balancing the demands of a Middle East war and a presidential campaign expected to heat up in JanuaryUS President Joe Biden will not attend a gathering of world leaders focused on climate change in Dubai this week, a US official said on Sunday.The announcement comes after the New York Times reported that Biden would not attend. Continue reading...
Crew recovers body of Kara Heller, whose parents and sister found dead, and look for third child of family and their neighborAuthorities recovered the body of an 11-year-old girl Saturday evening from the debris of a landslide in south-east Alaska that tore down a wooded mountainside days earlier, smashing into homes in a remote fishing village.The girl, Kara Heller, was the fourth person confirmed killed by last Monday night's landslide. Continue reading...
Prophet Song imagines an Ireland under fascist control, breaking through the it-couldn't-happen-here complacency of western societies Soul-shattering' Prophet Song by Paul Lynch wins 2023 Booker prizeWith Paul Lynch's Prophet Song, the judges have chosen perhaps the most timely and urgent book on the shortlist - a novel explicitly plugged into global strife and political tectonic forces. But it's also the very intimate, elemental story of one woman's love for her family, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the immediate world around her in the face of rising chaos.Lynch imagines an Ireland that has fallen under fascist control. Eilish Stack is a Dublin scientist and mother of four, busy with work, family and her elderly father, averting her eyes from the increasingly worrying news reports. Then grim reality comes knocking at her door: the newly created secret police arrive to interrogate her husband, Larry, about his work as a trade unionist. Along with many others, he is disappeared into the maw of the state. Their teenage children want to take to the streets - to wear the colours of protest, to march, to fight back - but all Eilish wants is to keep them hidden and safe. As civil war breaks out, and the streets of Dublin are filled with roadblocks and snipers, she remains frozen in a state of denial. Her sister, who lives in Canada, begs her over the phone to try to escape. History is a silent record of people who did not know when to leave." Continue reading...
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