A conservative movement seeking to harness female fandoms and pop culture gossip is the new front in the hard right's endless culture warFun news from the Guardian's Everything is Awful" desk this week: the womanosphere" cometh. The article heralds the arrival of a crop of conservative personalities ... convincing young women of a gender-essentialist worldview".What does such essentialism entail? The woman holding a sign reading Make him a sandwich" is a strong clue. Be thin, fertile and Republican" is the Guardian's conclusion. Continue reading...
As part of the price for peace, Moscow would like sanctions on Russian airlines lifted. That's no surprise: they're vital to the Kremlin's war machineOn Monday, the Kremlin offered a three-day pause in hostilities against Ukraine in May, to coincide with Moscow's celebrations of the end of the second world war. In a context where Ukraine is calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, and the US a permanent one, Russia wants concessions before a lasting pause or permanent peace can even be discussed. Central to the Kremlin's demands is the removal of sanctions - especially those restricting its aviation sector.We must be cautious not to make concessions prematurely, under the guise of quick progress. The short pause offered would not make a meaningful difference to the war, and accepting it would enable a regime that has repeatedly shown intent to prolong its war of aggression and undermine this chance for a just, fair and lasting peace.Andriy Yermak is head of the Ukrainian presidential office Continue reading...
During a rally in Michigan to mark his first 100 days in office, Trump mad the false claim that, 'for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction'. In the latest nationwide poll, conducted from 17-21 April for the Associated Press by National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, the overwhelming majority of Americans said that the country is headed in the wrong direction (62% vs 37%).
Donal Trump celebrates 100 days in office with Michigan event, saying nothing will stop me' - key US politics stories from Tuesday 29 April at a glanceDonald Trump has celebrated his 100th day in office with a campaign-style rally in Michigan and an attack on communist radical left judges" for trying to seize his power, warning: Nothing will stop me."The president also served up the chilling spectacle of a video of Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador, accompanied by Hollywood-style music and roars of approval from the crowd. Continue reading...
At least 28 people charged in federal court as civil liberties groups condemn enhanced militarization' of border landsThe US Department of Justice has begun the first criminal prosecutions of migrants for entering a newly declared military buffer zone created along the border with Mexico, according to court filings, Reuters reports.At least 28 migrants were charged were charged in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday for crossing into the 170-mile-long, 60ft-wide militarized buffer zone patrolled by active-duty US troops. Continue reading...
Felix Rojas, 44, arraigned after video showed him performing sexual acts on unresponsive passengerAuthorities in New York have charged a man with attempted rape after surveillance video taken showed him performing sexual acts on an unresponsive passenger who was later determined to have died.Police have been looking for suspects in the case for weeks, after footage captured two different people robbing the corpse of a man on a train traveling from Brooklyn to Manhattan, one of whom allegedly sexually violated him. Continue reading...
Former top official calls for Rodney Scott to be blocked from CBP role over handling of investigation into Anastasio Hernandez Rojas's deathRodney Scott, Donald Trump's nominee to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has been accused by a former top official of orchestrating a cover-up" over the death of a man detained while trying to enter the country from Mexico, according to a letter obtained by the Guardian.Scott is a former US border patrol chief who has supported the president's vow to build a wall along the border with Mexico and criticized Joe Biden's handling of immigration policy. As commissioner of CBP, Scott would lead one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, which encompasses the border patrol and staffs ports of entry across the United States. Continue reading...
Narrative that US listings outperform European ones has been popular for years, but analysis shows a different storyDonald Trump is doing an excellent job of demonstrating that US stock markets don't always outperform European ones.On-off tariff wars, threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and general unpredictability have prompted a reappraisal of boring old Europe. The S&P 500 is down 6% this year, versus a gain of 2.5% for FTSE 100 index and a 3% improvement in the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600. The differences aren't enormous but they mark a reversal from recent years. Continue reading...
Texas officials say 87 patients hospitalized as researchers say country at tipping point for return of endemic measlesMeasles cases in Texas rose to 663 on Tuesday, according to the state's health department, an increase of 17 cases since 25 April, as the US battles one of its worst outbreaks of the previously eradicated childhood disease.Cases in Gaines county, the center of the outbreak, rose to 396, three more from its last update on Friday, the Texas department of state health services said. Continue reading...
Marsupial spotted hopping along side of interstate before police surrounded area and owner used dart to tranquilize itA runaway kangaroo named Sheila shut down a stretch of interstate in Alabama on Tuesday before state troopers and the animal's owner wrangled the wayward marsupial.The Alabama law enforcement agency said the kangaroo was spotted on Tuesday hopping along the side of Interstate 85 in Macon county, which is between Montgomery and Auburn. Continue reading...
The president has begun his second term at a whirlwind pace, slashing the government, upending international alliances, challenging the rule of law and ordering mass deportationsLaw-abiding migrants sent to foreign prisons. Sweeping tariffs disrupting global markets. Students detained for protest. Violent insurrectionists pardoned. Tens of thousands of federal workers fired. The supreme court ignored.The first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term have shocked the United States and the world. On the eve of his inauguration, Trump promised the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history", and what followed has been a whirlwind pace of extreme policies and actions that have reshaped the federal government and the US's role in the world. Continue reading...
Husband of Kamala Harris calls move political and decries turning historical atrocity into a wedge issue'The Trump administration has fired several members of the US Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by Joe Biden, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris.Emhoff described the move as a political decision that turned one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue". Continue reading...
Deal represents largest aggregate settlement in US history as officials issue apology for reprehensible acts'Los Angeles county officials on Tuesday approved a $4bn payout to settle nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959.The agreement reached on April 4 far surpasses a $2.6bn settlement reached in 2022 with the Boy Scouts of America that was the largest aggregate sexual abuse settlement in US history at the time. Continue reading...
Miriam Haley testifies as ex-producer faces charges involving two women from original trialThe first of three accusers expected to testify at Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial took the witness stand on Tuesday, reprising her testimony from his first #MeToo trial five years ago.Miriam Haley, a former TV and movie production assistant, alleges that the former movie mogul forcibly performed oral sex on her at his New York City apartment in 2006. Continue reading...
The US president's territorial and economic threats have prompted voters to unite against his bellicosityCanada's astounding election comeback by the Liberals will hearten many outside its borders as well as within. The governing party's Lazarus moment was sparked by a man who was not on the ballot - though he took the chance to reiterate that the country should become the 51st US state, implying that voters could then elect him.By then it was already clear that Donald Trump's threats had backfired. Monday's result was a clear repudiation of his agenda. For two years, the Conservatives' Pierre Poilievre looked like a dead cert as the next prime minister, assailing Justin Trudeau's government on issues including the cost of living, housing and immigration. His party built a 25-point lead. But within four months, Mr Trudeau's resignation, his warning that Mr Trump's 51st state" remarks were no joke, and the imposition of swingeing US tariffs, transformed the contest. Mr Poilievre lost his seat. The Liberals are embarking on a fourth term, though this time perhaps as a minority, under MrTrudeau's replacement Mark Carney.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...
Two-day walkout begins after contract negotiations fail amid unprecedented stresses' on county budgetMore than 50,000 Los Angeles county workers were on strike again on Tuesday, closing libraries and disrupting administrative operations across the nation's most populous county.The two-day walkout that began on Monday followed failed negotiations with the county for a new contract after the last one expired in March, according to the Service Employees International Union Local 721. Continue reading...
Defense secretary dismissed it as a woke ... Biden initiative' despite it being a Trump achievement from his first termPete Hegseth, the defense secretary, has abruptly banished the Pentagon's Women, Peace and Security program as part of his crusade against diversity and equity - dismissing it as woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative" despite it being a signature Donald Trump achievement from his first term.In a post on X, Hegseth wrote: This morning, I proudly ENDED the Women, Peace & Security' (WPS) program inside the [Department of Defense]. WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops - distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING." Continue reading...
Yunice Abbas claims he acted as lookout in Paris hotel lobby while US celebrity's jewellery was taken at gunpointA 71-year-old man who has said he played a bit part in a jewellery heist in which Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in 2016 has said he totally regretted" having participated.Yunice Abbas is one of 10 people on trial in Paris for having taken part in the robbery on the night of 2-3 October. Continue reading...
From deportations to human rights to the economy, the president's actions have resulted in mayhem. Here's a samplingSome Democrats fear they're playing into Donald Trump's hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.But it's not either-or. The theme that unites Trump's inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
Actor makes major dramatic bid as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in biopic also starring his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily BluntDwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt aim for awards glory with the first trailer for fact-based sports drama The Smashing Machine.The wrestler-turned-actor plays the MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the film inspired by the 2002 documentary with the same name. Kerr won multiple awards and medals in his career and also struggled with substance abuse. Continue reading...
Education department claims that article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race'The Trump administration said it would investigate whether Harvard University and the student-run journal, the Harvard Law Review, violated civil rights law when editors of the prestigious journal fast-tracked consideration of an article written by someone of a racial minority.News of the investigation on Monday night came hours after a federal judge agreed to expedite Harvard University's lawsuit challenging the administration'sfreeze of $2.3bn in federal funding. The Ivy League elite private university, the oldest and wealthiest in the US, has warned the freeze would threaten vital medical and scientific research.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...
by Hugo Lowell, Joan E Greve, Joseph Gedeon, David Sm on (#6V0SY)
Follow major developments of the second Trump administration's first 100 days, brought up to date weeklyDonald Trump has completed an extraordinary return to power as the 47th president, vowing to impose his vision and re-altering the political and cultural landscape of the nation.To keep up with the dizzying array of executive orders, directives, firings and policy changes, the Guardian tracked the major developments of the second Trump administration's first 100 days, just like we did during the first 100 days of Trump's first presidency in 2017. Continue reading...
Crew members jump out of Super Hornet before jet and towing tractor fall into the Red SeaUS sailors had to leap for their lives when a fighter jet fell off a navy aircraft carrier that was reportedly making evasive maneuvers to avoid Houthi militant fire in the Red Sea on Monday.The F/A-18 fighter Super Hornet jet, along with the vehicle towing it into place on the deck of the USS Harry S Truman, rolled right out of the hangar and into the water, the navy said. Continue reading...
Company had strong first quarter but says it cannot raise outlook for this year owing to tariffs uncertaintyAdidas has said the price of its popular trainers, including the Samba and Campus models, is likely to rise as a result of Donald Trump's tariffs.The German group said the uncertainty around US import tariffs had prevented it from raising its outlook for sales and profit this year despite reporting strong first-quarter results. Continue reading...
The prime minister is apparently pursuing ways to land the 2028 Open for the president. With friends like that, POTUS surely won't be carrying his own clubsAt what point does realpolitik tip over into nakedly facilitating conflict of interest/corruption? I only ask in the strictest hypothetical terms after reading that Keir Starmer's government has been exploring whether golf bosses could host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump's Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. Sorry, but no. It's almost as if the prime minister is compiling material for a seminal 2025 business manual. Call it The Art of the Kneel. Perhaps Starmer could ask the Treasury to explore" buying a load of Trump meme coins.According to reports, Donald Trump has frequently mentioned in his phone calls with the prime minister that he'd prefer it if the Open returned to Turnberry. As so often with this particular caller, the reply to this should simply be, And I'd prefer to be talking to Mickey Mouse, but we're all making compromises." Failing that, just go with: God, you always want MORE, don't you? Scotland invented the great game of golf. Have you said thank you ONCE?" Unfortunately, the actual reply seems to have been: Capital idea, Mr President! How can we make that happen?"Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Trump administration has been cracking down on people who leak information to the media since JanuaryThe US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Monday it has started using polygraph tests to aid investigations aimed at identifying the source of leaks emanating from within the law enforcement agency.We can confirm the FBI has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks within the bureau," the bureau's public affairs office told Reuters in a statement. Continue reading...
People queued calmly for torches and shared radios, but our vulnerability in an internet-reliant world was badly exposedAt the entrance to a healthcare centre on Trafalgar Street, in my densely populated, central Madrid neighbourhood, somebody had stuck a sign: We ask for patience and common sense." The door was half open as doctors and nurses calmly tended to emergencies inside.Patience and common sense is a very good way to describe what I witnessed in Madrid throughout the big blackout. We had no light, no power, no phone signal, not even water in some apartment buildings. Continue reading...
The country's future depends on law firms, universities and media companies - as well as everyday Americans - breaking their silenceWhen a woman asked me a couple of weeks ago why leaders were not standing up to Donald Trump, my thoughts went immediately to political leaders. When I started to answer, she corrected me and said: No, no, I'm talking about college presidents and law firms. Where the heck are they?"Where indeed? From all observations, most have been asleep as the US president dismantles democracy piece by jeweled piece. They are either cutting sweet little deals on their knees, or just remaining silent as the fruits of 250 years of national labor and life are strangled by Trump's tentacles. From the cowering of major media companies to the shameful capitulation of some law firms, and oppressive silence from virtually all of them, the nation is sleepwalking into a slow but ever encroaching totalitarian state. Continue reading...
by Michael Sainato in Gainesville, Florida on (#6WYCF)
Republican committee advises against holding town halls as cases of lawmakers berated over federal cuts go viralAngry voters are holding empty chair town halls as Republican members of Congress are refusing to hold those meetings with constituents.Weeks into Donald Trump's second term as president, Republican members of Congress were advised by the National Republican Congressional Committee against holding in person town halls with constituents, as several cases of Republican members of Congress being berated by constituents over federal worker firings and cuts went viral. Continue reading...
Mounting stories of forced disappearances' of Venezuelans in the US have left their loved ones distraught and disbelievingNeiyerver Rengel's captors came one sunny spring morning, lurking outside the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and pouncing as soon as he emerged.The three government agents announced the young Venezuelan man had charges to answer" and was being detained. Continue reading...
Amid the debate about trans people on hospital wards we have lost sight of dignity, respect and the horrifying reality of a health service in meltdownAnother morning, another absolutely bananas conversation about transgender people, without any trans people involved, following the supreme court ruling that permits the exclusion from single-sex spaces of anyone not born into that sex. On BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Emma Barnett was asking care minister Stephen Kinnock about wards in hospitals, and came out with the immortal line: Do you think it's right for trans people to be segregated from other patients, as an interim measure, or for the future?"Great save, that for the future" - because if you're going to interpret this ruling as a requirement to exclude trans people, what does that mean in practice? Trans women on men's wards, trans men on women's wards? This delivers dignity and respect to precisely no one; so, sure, segregate" away, and it would have to be for ever, because it would otherwise be an interim measure on the way to what? The relentless demonisation of trans people has led us straight to a place where every choice is impossible, using words that recall, or should recall, the darkest days of prejudice and hatred.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...
We spend almost twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other country on Earth. It's time to change thatI have held public meetings all over Vermont and in many parts of the country. At these gatherings I almost always ask a very simple question: is our healthcare system broken? And the answer I always receive is: Yes! The American healthcare system is broken. It is outrageously expensive. It is horrifically cruel.Today, we spend almost twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other country on Earth. According to the most recent data, the United States spends $14,570 per person on healthcare compared with just $5,640 in Japan, $6,023 in the United Kingdom, $6,931 in Australia, $7,013 in Canada and $7,136 in France. And yet, despite our huge expenditures, we remain the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right.Bernie Sanders is a US senator and a ranking member of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. He represents the state of Vermont and is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress. Continue reading...
From the Premier League to MLS and the NFL, huge stadiums with gargantuan costs are a symptom of elite sport's unrealistic promisesNil satis nisi optimum," boasts the motto of Everton FC: Nothing but the best is good enough." Performances on the pitch over the past few seasons have suggested otherwise (what's Latin for Anything to stay up will do?") but in the form of the sparkling new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which will replace Goodison Park as Everton's permanent home from the start of next season, the club now has tangible proof that its historic aspiration to excellence is at last being met.Based on the renderings and early footage of its interior, Everton Stadium (it will be a while before that bland placeholder is draped in the capitalist rococo of the TeslaDome" or Open AI's ChatGPT Arena" or Palantir Presents Bramley-Moore Dock") appears to be a pleasingly raked and compact arena that should retain at least some of the raucousness of Everton's old home. The stands are at the steepest pitch that regulations will allow, sightlines are unobstructed from every seat, and judging from the promotional videos, fans will never be more than 50 metres from either a toilet or a scouse pie, which seems like a key metric of success for any stadium in Liverpool. Continue reading...
One of America's greatest distance runners is excited about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead after a job she modestly describes as cushy'There is no better word to describe Des Linden's 18-year professional career than consistent. No matter the race, weather, or competition, she always showed up with her best - and the results back it up. A two-time Olympian, winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon, and world record-holder in the 50k, Linden is one of America's greatest ever distance runners. But like any good thing, her career can't last for ever.This will be my last time racing Boston in the professional field," Linden said a few weeks before this year's race. Despite countless accolades, Linden wanted her final pro marathon to be about the competition, not a farewell tour that could get in the way of her goal of leaving it all out there one last time." Continue reading...
This was a vote against delusions of a 51st state' and economic warfare, rather than an endorsement of the Liberals' policiesYesterday, as Canadians went to the polls, the US president, Donald Trump, suggested that if Canada became part of America, they could vote for him instead. But in truth, Canada becoming the 51st state wasn't a prerequisite for Canadians to vote on Trump. It was Trump who set the stakes of this election anyway, beginning almost as soon as he took office. His threats against Canada, economic and existential, were the backdrop of this campaign. An unexpected crisis on our doorstep.And now the Liberal party, led by Mark Carney, has won a fourth term in office, a result that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago, before Trump's unprecedented intervention.Colin Horgan is a Toronto-based writer and a former speechwriter for Justin Trudeau Continue reading...
Israel's genuine friends abroad, from governments to Jewish communities, must mobilise to help us end this terrible war Ami Ayalon is a former director of Shin Bet and a former commander-in-chief of Israel's navyI spent close to 40 years working as a public servant for the state of Israel, including as commander of the navy and head of the Shin Bet, protecting Israel and defending it from external and internal threats. Several weeks ago, along with 17 other colleagues who have also dedicated their lives to Israel's security and welfare, I made a decision that the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is so under threat that it is not just my responsibility, but obligation, to sound the alarm.The 18 of us took out a full-page advert in two major Israeli broadsheet papers. In it, we made clear that the very fabric of the state of Israel and the values on which it was founded are being eroded. The truth is that our hostages in Gaza have been abandoned in favour of the government's messianic ideology and by a prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu who is desperate to cling to power for his own personal gain. Our government is undermining the democratic functions of the state to shore up and protect its own power. It is forcing us into a perpetual war with no achievable military objectives and which can only result in more loss of life and hatred.Ami Ayalon is a former director of Israel Security Agency (the Shin Bet) and a former commander-in-chief of Israel's navyDo 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...
Eurocentric assumptions and bullying resource-grabs are justified causes of outrage in the global southDonald Trump has disrupted the global economy with his disastrous tariff wars and appears hell-bent on gutting transatlantic relations. I am hoping he has also unwittingly injected new life into the EU's struggle to wean itself off overreliance on Washington.A vast network of trade and aid agreements connects the EU with more than 70 countries. The union could become an important standalone global actor and even thrive in a multipolar world. But it must first shed its Eurocentric worldviews, complacent policymaking and double standards.Shada Islam is a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. She runs New Horizons Project, a strategy, analysis and advisory companyDo 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...
The moves have prompted alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation' - key US politics stories from Monday 28 AprilAs part of President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown, unaccompanied minors are now being targeted for deportation, with the Department of Homeland Security engaging in welfare checks" on children who arrived in the US alone, usually across the US-Mexican border.The moves have sparked fears of a crackdown and prompted alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation". Continue reading...
by Dara Kerr (now); Lucy Campbell, Marina Dunbar and on (#6WXH9)
This blog has now closed. You can read more of our US politics coverage hereHere is an extract from The Atlantic's piece on Trump's first 100 days - in an interview secured after initially being canceled by the president over previous reporting from the journalists, who then reached the president on his cellphone - detailing some of the key development's of his second term so far.The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term: He had begun a purge of diversity efforts from the federal government; granted clemency to nearly 1,600 supporters who had participated in the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those caught beating police officers on camera; and signed 98 executive orders and counting (26 of them on his first day in office). He had fired independent regulators; gutted entire agencies; laid off great swaths of the federal workforce; and invoked 18th-century wartime powers to use against a criminal gang from Venezuela. He had adjusted tariffs like a DJ spinning knobs in the booth, upsetting the rhythms of global trade and inducing vertigo in the financial markets. He had raged at the leader of Ukraine, a democratic ally repelling an imperialist invasion, for not being thankful"- and praised the leader of the invading country, Russia, as very smart," reversing in an instant 80 years of US foreign-policy doctrine, and prompting the countries of Nato to prepare for their own defense, without the protective umbrella of American power, for the first time since 1945.He had empowered one of his top political donors, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, to slice away at the federal government and take control of its operating systems. He had disemboweled ethics and anti-corruption architecture installed after Watergate, and had declared that he, not the attorney general, was the nation's chief law-enforcement officer. He had revoked Secret Service protection and security clearances from political opponents, including some facing Iranian death threats for carrying out actions Trump himself had ordered in his first term. He had announced plans to pave over part of the Rose Garden, and he had redecorated the Oval Office - gold trim and gold trophies and gold frames to go with an array of past presidential portraits, making the room look like a Palm Beach approximation of an 18th-century royal court. Continue reading...
Several injured after vehicle hit three people during after-school program and one more before exiting other sideFour children, between the ages of four and 18, were killed and several others injured when a car barreled through a building that housed an after-school camp program on Monday afternoon in a town outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.Officers responded around 3.20pm to calls in Chatham about a vehicle hitting three people outside the building used by the YNOT Outdoors Summare and After School Camp, ramming through the building and then hitting one more person before exiting the other side, Chatham police department deputy chief Scott Tarter said. Continue reading...
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