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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...

Trump has wasted no time in trying to remake the US in his image - with results that are sweeping, vengeful and chaotic

Trump has cut off Ukraine aid, brokered and lost a ceasefire in Gaza and took a sledgehammer to world commerce

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...

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...

Staff offered second fork in the road' buyout and are strongly encouraged to consider this option'The Peace Corps is offering staff a second fork in the road" buyout, according to a source familiar with the matter. Allison Greene, the chief executive of Peace Corps, sent an email to staff on Monday with an update about the department of government efficiency" (Doge) assessment of the agency.Greene said to expect significant restructuring efforts" at Peace Corps headquarters, according to the email seen by the Guardian. Starting on 28 April and going through 6 May, direct hire and expert staff are being offered a second deferred resignation program, what Elon Musk's Doge has referred to as a fork in the road" buyout. Greene referred to this offer as DRP 2.0". Continue reading...

Second executive order aims to strengthen and unleash' law enforcement to pursue criminals', White House saysDonald Trump signed two new executive orders on Monday afternoon related to immigration, according to the White House, including one targeting so-called sanctuary cities" and another the administration says will strengthen law enforcement.One of the orders aims to strengthen and unleash America's law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens", according to the White House. It directs the attorney general to provide resources to the legal defense of police officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law". The order also includes a directive to [hold] state and local officials accountable" for willfully and unlawfully [directing] the obstruction of criminal law." Continue reading...

Two women and their children, who are US citizens, held in complete isolation' before being put on flight to HondurasTwo women who were deported to Honduras alongside their US citizen children were held in complete isolation" and denied any opportunity to coordinate the care and custody of their children before being put on a flight, according to one of the lawyers representing them.The mothers were unable to contact attorneys or loved ones, and were not allowed the option to transfer the custody of their citizen children to another parent or caregiver, said Gracie Willis, an attorney with the National Immigration Project who is representing one of the families and coordinating with the team representing the other family. Continue reading...

Moves sparking fears of a crackdown on such children and prompting alarm about backdoor family separation'Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials are seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide with a view to deporting them or pursuing criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them legally in the US, according to sources and an Ice document.The moves are sparking fears of a crackdown on such children and prompting alarm about what one critic called backdoor family separation". Continue reading...

A Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spat at and pelted with objects by a group of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel's far-right security minister. The assault, recorded by a bystander, unfolded on Thursday near the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, where an appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and members of the neighbourhood's large Orthodox Jewish community. A Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman, Rabbi Motti Seligson, denounced both the anti-Ben-Gvir protesters and the mob that chased the woman.

The Trump administration is making an example of the Milwaukee judge to intimidate critics and opponentsOn Friday, the Trump administration dramatically escalated its assault on the courts when the FBI arrested Hannah Dugan, a county circuit court judge handling misdemeanors in Milwaukee - allegedly for helping an undocumented man avoid abduction by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents outside her courtroom. The arrest, a highly publicized and dramatic move from the Trump administration, seemed designed to elicit fear among judges, government bureaucrats and ordinary Americans that any effort to slow, impede or merely not facilitate the administration's mass kidnapping and deportation efforts will lead to swift, forceful and disproportionate punishment by Donald Trump allies. Her arrest may be the opening salvo of a broader Trump assault on judges.Even if you believe the FBI's allegations, their account of Dugan's alleged misconduct is trivial and flimsy, wholly undeserving of the administration's sadistically disproportionate response. The FBI claims that earlier this month, on 17 April, when an undocumented man was in Dugan's Milwaukee courtroom charged with misdemeanor battery, she learned that Ice agents were waiting in a public hallway to arrest him. Later, in her courtroom, when she saw the defendant moving toward a main exit, she told the man, Wait, come with me," and directed him towards a side door instead. (He was captured by Ice shortly thereafter.) The FBI arrested her in her courtroom and has indicted her on two federal felony charges: obstruction and concealing an individual".Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Police know few details about the shooting on Sunday, except that a verbal altercation' had taken placeTwo people were killed and at least two others wounded at a large gathering of motorcycle riders just south of Atlanta, police said.The shooting happened around 5pm on Sunday in Forest Park, police said in a statement. Continue reading...

Clayborn Temple, base for sanitation workers' strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968, suffers extensive damageA fire has severely damaged the historic Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis, which is closely associated with the US civil rights movement and Dr Martin Luther King.The temple was headquarters for the sanitation workers' strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968. The campaign's I Am a Man" signs were made in the church's basement, according to the temple's website. Continue reading...

Police declare mass casualty incident' due to the number of injuries, and say boat that caused accident fled the sceneA boat crashed into a ferry transporting 45 people on the final day of a sand-sculpting festival in Florida, killing one person and injuring at least 12 others, officials said.

Musk's Doge targets National Labor Relations Board with cuts and terminated leases as union speaks outDemocrats have warned that cuts to the US's top labor watchdog threaten to render the organization basically ineffectual" and will be catastrophic" for workers' rights.The so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge) has targeted the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for cuts and ended its leases in several states. Continue reading...

Virginia representative says he will not seek re-election in Congress, citing return of esophageal cancer

The demonstration outside the Tesla showroom in west London was one of the smallest I have seen. But everyone who passed by was keen to show their supportPark Royal is the worst underground station in London and therefore the world. You come out of a stubby 1930s entrance hall that must have been cute once, right on to a dual carriageway. There's a hotel on the other side of the road, and a tourist will most likely approach you, asking how she's supposed to cross, and your answer will be just a sub-verbal collapse into nothingness. There is no obvious way to cross the road. This place was built for cars, and if you're not a car, you're stuck in a tube station now. There is actually an underpass, but that's no excuse for dystopian urban planning.I was there helping the Stop Trump Coalition make a video before the US president's state visit, whenever that might be, and they were there to see Tesla Takedown, which is not as antagonistic as it sounds, just a score of people, one dressed as a shark for some reason, holding signs that said: Honk if you hate billionaires." Tesla drivers were honking as they drove into the showroom. It wasn't the easiest thing to guess, a year ago, that you were buying an ad for the values of Elon Musk, nor what those values would transpire to be. Continue reading...

Cliona Ward, who had returned from trip to Ireland, held over criminal record from almost 20 years agoAn Irish woman who has lived legally in the US for four decades has been detained by immigration officials for the last week because of a criminal record dating back almost 20 years.Cliona Ward, 54, was detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April after returning from Ireland to visit her sick father and is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Tacoma, Washington. Continue reading...

Democratic candidates cutting in to GOP leads in local elections and protests against Trump provide faint path

Democratic governor of Illinois declares Republicans cannot know a moment of peace' in New Hampshire speechIllinois's Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, scorched Donald Trump's administration Sunday night, calling for mass protests" and declaring that Republicans cannot know a moment of peace" during a fiery speech in New Hampshire that immediately sparked presidential speculation.It's time to fight everywhere and all at once," Pritzker said to a ballroom filled with Democratic activists, officials and donors. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now." Continue reading...

Woman, who requested anonymity, says a group of 100 men' followed her, shouting threats and kicking herA Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spit at and pelted with objects by a mob of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel's far-right security minister.The assault, recorded by a bystander, unfolded Thursday near the global headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, where an appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and members of the neighborhood's large Orthodox Jewish community. Continue reading...

Section is responsible for enforcing laws designed to prevent voter discrimination, raised alarm about voting rights enforcement

A coalition fixated on intelligence is staking the US economy on AI - which will devalue the very skills the right fetishisesOne thing that Donald Trump and his Silicon Valley partners share is an obsession with IQ. Being a low-IQ individual" is a standard insult in the president's repertoire, and being high-IQ" is an equally standard form of praise for those on the tech right. Yet in the drive for US supremacy in artificial intelligence - signalled by the $500bn (375bn) Stargate project announcement in the White House and an executive order to integrate AI into public education, beginning in kindergarten - there is a hidden irony. If their vision for our economic future is realised, IQ in the sense that they value will lose its meaning.IQ testing arose at a time when the US and other industrialised nations were worried about the health of their populations. Recruitment campaigns for the Boer war in the UK, and then the first world war elsewhere, showed male populations that were unhealthier than their fathers' generation. Industrial work seemed to be triggering what looked like a process of degeneration, with a fearful endpoint in the subterranean Morlocks of HG Wells's classic novella, The Time Machine. Intelligence tests were a way to salvage the diamonds from the rough and find a new officer class - and later a new elite - to guide mass society from the slough of despond into a braver future.Quinn Slobodian's latest book is Hayek's Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far RightDo 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...

Conservative US Catholics like Steve Bannon look to win war that lasts decades' with pope antithetical to FrancisOnce the papal conclave starts, the cardinals choosing Pope Francis's successor will be strictly shut off from the world until a new pope is named. But the coming days before the conclave begins on May 7 will see competing factions of Catholics, including many laypeople, campaigning in the Vatican and the US to influence the church's future - none with more urgency than those discontented with Francis's liberal reign.American Catholics will fight to play a central role. Soon after the news of Francis's death reached faithful the world over, the American counter-revolution mobilized, Vatican watchers say. Red-eyes to Rome were booked. Long-distance phone calls were made. Various cardinals likely received sudden dinner invitations. Continue reading...

Democratic House leader and New Jersey senator protest on steps of US Capitol over proposed Republican budgetHakeem Jeffries and Cory Booker held a sit-in protest and discussion for more than 12 hours on Sunday on the steps of the US Capitol in opposition to Republicans' proposed budget plan.Billed as an Urgent Conversation with the American People", the livestreamed discussion between the House minority leader and the New Jersey senator came before Congress's return to session on Monday, where Democrats hope to stall Republicans' economic legislative agenda. Throughout the day, they were joined by other Democratic lawmakers, including the senator Raphael Warnock, who spoke as the sit-in passed the 10-hour mark. Continue reading...

People found scrambling away with the money after it fell when the back door of a truck openedA security truck in Chicago accidentally dropped several bags of cash on its rounds that resulted in scores of passersby making off with $300,000 as they scrambled to leave with the money lying on the street.In a police report last week, the incident was described as beginning when the back door of the truck - operated by Brinks Home Security - opened by unknown means" as it drove down South Austin Boulevard in the city. Continue reading...

Using fitness and sports as an entry points to their neo-Nazi ideologies, youth club' chapters are proliferating across USA national network of American neofascist fight clubs is endorsing youth-oriented offshoots aimed at grooming the next generation of racist activists.So-called active clubs" have proliferated across the US and are a combination of fitness and mixed martial arts groups that often espouse neo-Nazi and fascist ideologies, openly taking their historical cues from the Third Reich's obsession with machismo and European soccer hooliganism. Continue reading...

The first major overhaul since 1979 seeks to simplify the map's old illegible squiggles - but faces opposition from change-averse New YorkersThe New York City subway map has always been tricky to decipher. Unlike those in cities from Boston to London to Tokyo, the longstanding New York map hews fairly closely to the image of the city aboveground.Central Park is clearly depicted, as are the individual bodies of water within it; you can see the shape of each borough and the rivers and ocean framing them. Overlaid across it all is a tangled web of subway lines, daunting to the first-time visitor - especially when it comes to distinguishing between local and express trains. Continue reading...

Founder Will Shu could net 172m in potential deal as biggest US food delivery app looks to expand globally

Zelenskyy, Starmer, Macron ... they all had his ear at Pope Francis's funeral. But he is just as easily swayed by the elevator doormanThe most recent diplomatic effort to find a way to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine took place at the most unlikely of events: the funeral of Pope Francis. The image of Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump leaning toward each other, under Carlo Maratta's late-17th-century painting, The Baptism of Christ, rekindled hopes that the US might, at last, hear Kyiv out. Would this unexpected setting make Trump's compassion, so frequently expressed for the loss of human life, real? And could it lead to a better strategy for ending this criminal and brutal war?The goal of Kyiv and the coalition of the willing - a group of 31 nations that back Ukraine in its fight against Russia - is to distance Trump from what has become a dangerous rapprochement between the Washington and Moscow. But this will be an uphill battle - Europe and Kyiv are trying to fight their way to Trump's ear just when the US is backing Russia's position. Continue reading...

Evangelicals say president is in step on core issues such as abortion and Israel - and they're backing him all the wayWhen asked about Donald Trump's Easter morning post wishing a happy holiday to the Radical Left Lunatics ... fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners" to the United States, Jackson Lahmeyer, an Oklahoma evangelical Christian pastor, said: Isn't it terrible that they are wanting to do that?"Lahmeyer, the founder of the Pastors for Trump organization, was not bothered by Trump's extreme and divisive message on the Christian religious holiday, because, he said: You cannot unify with evil." Continue reading...

Prosecutors say more charges are possible against Kai-Ji Adam Lo, who was arrested at the scene. Plus, Heather Graham on family, ageing and creepy' film-makersGood morning.The suspect in a car-ramming attack that killed 11 people and injured dozens at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver yesterday has been charged with eight counts of second degree murder, prosecutors have said.What has the prime minister, Mark Carney, said? Just two days before a national election, Carney said the attack had left the country shocked, devastated and heartbroken". Vancouver's interim police chief, Steve Rai, described the carnage as the darkest day" in the city's history.What else did Trump say? Despite the comments on Crimea, the US president expressed newfound sympathy for his Ukrainian counterpart yesterday, saying he wants to do something good for his country" and is working hard". Continue reading...

As Trump administration fights diversity, some officers fear for future of policing as they observe culture shiftsAfter the murder of George Floyd, protests pushed some police agencies to bring in a new class of professionals including Colleen Jackson to help make departments more representative of and responsive to the communities they serve.Hired as the first chief diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 2021, Jackson has assisted in a hiring process that swore in a class of women, Black and Asian American recruits and has surveyed residents on their experiences with the police. She is now organizing an event to bring together young residents and Black officers that she hopes will lead to safer interactions on the street. Continue reading...

Tragically, the president's second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US historyIn his first 100 days back in office, Donald Trump has made a strong case that his second term will be by far the worst presidential term in US history. So many of his flood-the-zone actions have been head-spinning and stomach-turning. His administration seems to be powered by ignorance and incoherence, spleen and sycophancy. Both he and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, with their resentment-fueled desire to disrupt everything, seem intent on pulverizing the foundations of our government, our democracy, our alliances as well as any notions of truth. Tragically, Trump's second term is already more lawless and more authoritarian than any in US history.The worst and most dangerous part of Trump's agenda is his war against our democracy and constitution - defying judges' orders, deporting people without due process, suggesting he will run for a third term, calling to impeach judges who rule against him, pardoning hundreds of January 6 criminals, gutting federal agencies and firing thousands of federal employees in flagrant violation of the law, and banning books from military libraries. (One wonders, will book burning be next?) Underlining just how dangerous and lawless Trump is, he is talking publicly about of disappearing US citizens to foreign countries where they could be locked in prison forever. For those who care about democracy and basic freedoms, this is DefCon 1 stuff. Continue reading...

The Trump administration is creating a chilling effect on independent reporting and public dissentThis week is World Press Freedom Day. That used to be a time when we pointed fingers at governments that kept journalists from doing their jobs - places like Turkey, where reporters are imprisoned for libel, or Saudi Arabia, where government censorship is a part of daily life. From our privileged perch here in the US, we highlighted the struggle of journalists suffering under authoritarian rule. But this year, the ones suffocating aren't halfway around the world - they're right here at home.In my 20 years as a media lawyer, I've always seen the United States as the gold standard for press freedom - a model admired by journalists around the world. But in just a few short months, the Trump administration has severely undermined those protections, creating a chilling effect on independent reporting and public dissent. Today, the White House is waging an increasingly hostile campaign against the press, pushing to control coverage in ways that go far beyond anything we saw during the president's first term. Continue reading...

It can take years to properly evaluate if a prospect works out. But here are a few early takes on the ups and downs from this year's selection processGrading NFL drafts right after they happen is like grading a meal after you order it: all you know is what was said on the menu. That said, drafts do tell you a great deal about how NFL teams think about themselves at a particular point in time - what they need, where they're lacking, and how they want it all to come together. Whether right or wrong in the end, there's no more clear indicator of team philosophy than the annual three-day exercise, and that's why it's important beyond the players who are actually selected.While it will be years before we know how wise each move was in the 2025 draft, here are those who benefited most and least, as well as the decisions we feel are worthy of applause, and the ones that had us shaking our heads. Continue reading...

From the Canadian elections to universities and civil society, the campaign to turn the tide against anti-liberal nationalists is at last underwayLiberals of all countries, unite! Just as anti-liberal powers outside the west are becoming stronger than ever, the assault on everything we stand for has been joined by the United States. Against this massed onslaught of anti-liberal nationalists we need a determined fightback of liberal internationalists. Canada's election this week can contribute a strong mounted brigade.A core insight of liberalism is that, if people are to live together well in conditions of freedom, power always needs to be dispersed, cross-examined and controlled. Faced with the raw, bullying assertion of might, whether from Washington, Moscow or Beijing, we now have to create countervailing concentrations of power. In the long history of liberalism, a free press, the law, labour unions, a business community kept separate from political power, NGOs, truth-seeking institutions such as universities, civil resistance, multilateral organisations and international alliances have all served - alongside multiparty politics and regular free and fair elections - to constrain the men who would be kings.Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Centrists won't beat Reform UK by echoing its messages. They should emphasise the true unworkability of policies like BrexitIn the middle of an election or the early stages of an administration, populist politics can feel like a liberation. The unsayable is said. Political rules are broken. Constitutional restrictions are flouted. Populist rallies are boisterous, seemingly uninhibited, with enemies of the movement taunted or intimidated.For many voters, and even some activists and politicians, conventional politics can be boring, with its careful rhetoric and predictably choreographed campaigns, its compromised and complicated centrist policies. Populism promises something much more visceral, with larger-than-life leaders and dramatic national goals: make America great again", take back control". Digital media, with its constant hunger for brevity and straightforward narratives, is a perfect environment for populism's seductive claim that politics is actually quite simple.Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Our political history is one of catastrophe, communism, and developing powerful antibodies against oppressionIn 2016, one year after the rightwing populist Law and Justice party won an overall majority in Poland, there was a knock at a door. The mother of a young journalist opened it. To her astonishment, it was the security services looking for her son. No details were provided. Thus began an informal campaign by the authorities against the media and civil society in Poland, including our thinktank, Kultura Liberalna. After hearing the news about the journalist, we called Aleksander Smolar. The legendary anti-communist dissident, who ran his own NGO, told us that the security services were also trying to arrange informal" meetings with his staff. And he comforted us: Don't worry, we've had a playbook for this kind of situation since the 1960s."At that moment, we almost travelled back in time. We spoke about responding to this new regime as if we were once again under communism. What is striking in retrospect is that we all knew what to do. Our eastern European political culture, shaped by historical catastrophes, has developed some antibodies against oppressive power. Over the past centuries, the state has often been wiped off the map or occupied by foreign aggressors. Adversity sparks initiative.Jarosaw Kuisz is editor-in-chief of the Polish weekly Kultura Liberalna and the author of The New Politics of Poland: A Case of Post-Traumatic SovereigntyKarolina Wigura is a Polish historian and co-author of Post-Traumatic Sovereignty: An Essay (Why the Eastern European Mentality is Different) Continue reading...