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Eric Edson, 52, gave police the slip in multiple ways and was finally caught after he jumped into a river to evade captureA Vermont armed robbery suspect who police say eluded capture in the past week in a vehicle, on a stolen bike, on foot and in a stolen sailboat was arrested on Thursday after he was spotted in a kayak on a river, authorities said.Eric Edson, 52, was wanted on accusations of a robbery of a store in Burlington on 24 August, impeding and assaulting two police officers and the theft of a sailboat and vehicles, police said. Continue reading...

Lawrence Hecker, 91, charged with first-degree rape two months after Guardian report on 1999 statement in which he admitted overtly sexual acts'A retired Catholic priest from New Orleans who years ago secretly admitted to church leaders that he sexually molested or harassed numerous children is now facing criminal charges.State prosecutors in New Orleans obtained an indictment charging Lawrence Hecker, 91, on Thursday with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...

Former president's lawyer notifies judge in Fulton county that he may seek removal of his prosecution'Donald Trump's lead defense lawyer notified a judge in Fulton county on Thursday that he could soon seek to remove to federal court the racketeering prosecution charging him with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.The unusual filing, submitted to the Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee, said only that the former president may seek removal of his prosecution", stopping short of submitting a formal motion to transfer the trial venue. Continue reading...

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The actor, 47, who has been in custody since May, was found guilty of raping two women two decades agoActor Danny Masterson, who starred in That 70s Show, was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for the rapes of two women two decades ago.Los Angeles superior court judge Charlaine F Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women about the trauma and suffering they experienced. Continue reading...

Republicans energized after special counsel seeks indictment of president's son by end of September on gun possession chargeThe White House is bracing for political trench warfare after prosecutors pursuing Joe Biden's son on a gun possession charge said they would seek a criminal indictment by the end of September.The prospect of Hunter Biden standing trial is likely to energise Republicans preparing to launch an impeachment inquiry into the president even as Congress tries to avert a government shutdown. Continue reading...

Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser, had refused to cooperate with the investigation of the House January 6 committeeA White House adviser to Donald Trump was found guilty of contempt of Congress on Thursday when he refused to cooperate with an investigation of the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol.Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser during Trump's presidency and who had promoted his baseless claims of mass voter fraud, was convicted in Washington's federal courthouse after a short trial. Continue reading...

The two outsiders have vastly different grand slam experience but both face a battle to prevent a Djokovic-Alcaraz finalAs the ATP tour neared the halfway point of its 2023 season, the year had been largely defined by what had not occurred. It had been clear for a long time, as they tore through the opposition, that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were the best players in the world. Yet the two best players had also, somehow, not faced each other in more than a year.Things can change so quickly in tennis. In a few short months, this rivalry has come to define the entire men's season. The important question before the US Open men's singles semi-finals on Friday is whether either of the remaining challengers can stop Djokovic and Alcaraz from meeting again. Continue reading...

Activists entered open gate where trees are being cleared two days after state attorney general indicted 61 people under Rico lawAtlanta police arrested five activists, including two clergy members, on Thursday after the activists chained themselves to a bulldozer at the construction site for Cop City", a huge police and fire department training center being built in a forest south-east of Atlanta.The activists entered an open gate around 9am local time where trees are being cleared and land is being graded for the training center, which would occupy a footprint of 170 acres if completed according to plans. Two Unitarian Universalist church clergy members hung a sign on the bulldozer saying: Stop work." Continue reading...

Police are investigating discovery of ancient' skull with several teeth attached and what appeared to be a missing mandiblePolice in Arizona were investigating after a human skull was discovered in a box of donations to a Goodwill store.On Tuesday, police in Goodyear responded to a call near Sarival Avenue and Yuma Road. On arrival, they discovered what appears to be an actual human skull", authorities said. Continue reading...

Two-thirds would like someone other than Biden but respondents say he is best placed among declared candidates to beat TrumpA majority of likely Democratic voters say the party should nominate someone other than Joe Biden for president next year, according to a poll released on Thursday.Two-thirds of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters surveyed by CNN and SSRS from 25 to 31 August said they would prefer someone other than Biden. Among those voters, 18% specified another candidate but the overwhelming majority - 82% - said they just want to see someone besides" the current president. Continue reading...

First such public declaration says US support for human rights across the globe undermined when our own house [is] in disarray'Concern for US democracy amid deep national polarization has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to principles including the rule of law and respecting diverse beliefs.In a statement, the first such public declaration, the libraries said Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and human rights around the world because free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home". Continue reading...

Eric Adams blames lack of federal aid and Republican governors who have bussed asylum seekers north for creating emergencyThe mayor of New York, Eric Adams, has said an increase in migration would destroy" the city, seemingly blaming the Biden administration for failing to provide federal support as much as the Republican governors who have sent asylum seekers north.Adams made the remarks during a Wednesday town hall meeting on the Upper West Side. The comments were some of his most biting to date on the issue of asylum seekers. Continue reading...

Bear was involved in fatal attack on Amie Adamson, 48, about eight miles from West YellowstoneA grizzly bear that fatally mauled a woman on a forest trail west of Yellowstone national park in July and also attacked a person in Idaho three years ago was killed after it broke into a house near West Yellowstone over the weekend, Montana wildlife officials said.Early on Saturday, a homeowner reported that a bear with a cub had broken through a kitchen window and taken a container of dog food, the Montana fish, wildlife and parks department said. Continue reading...

The ex-Fox host's segment on a convicted con man who claims he had druggy liaisons with Obama was embarrassing to watchOh, how the mighty have fallen. This time last time year Tucker Carlson had a primetime spot on Fox News where his hate-heavy, fact-light sputtering drew an audience of over 4 million. Then, in April, he was summarily fired. Fox didn't explicitly say why. Carlson has claimed that it was a condition of the media company's $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems relating to the broadcast of Donald Trump's lies about election fraud; both Fox and Dominion have denied that Carlson's firing had any relation to the settlement.Once cock of the walk, a humiliated Carlson quickly revived his show on the social network formerly known as Twitter, calling it Tucker on Twitter. (Elon Musk's rebrand to X really messed with his alliteration.) Over the last few months he's resorted to increasingly cheap tactics in order to keep himself relevant. If someone's controversial, Carlson wants them on his show.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnistThis article was amended on 7 September 2023 to reflect that both Fox and Dominion deny that Carlson's firing had any relation to their legal settlement Continue reading...

US Coast Guard says Reza Baluchi, stopped off South Carolina coast, threatened crew with knife and warning of bombA serial adventurer intercepted off the South Carolina coast during his latest attempt to cross the Atlantic in a makeshift hydropod" was charged with criminal conduct on the high seas after holding off US Coast Guard crews with a knife and threats of a homemade bomb, court papers said.Reza Baluchi, an Iranian-born resident of Florida, was stopped 70 miles from Georgetown in the vessel resembling a giant hamster wheel. He told officers he was trying to reach London. Continue reading...

Experts say official data obscures scale of emergencies and underscores how little is known about abortion in states with bansIf you're a pregnant person in Texas and you find yourself facing a medical emergency, you are legally able to have an abortion. At least, that's what the law says.But the Texas Health and Human Services Commission recorded only 17 legal abortions in the first four months of 2023, according to a new report by the agency. All the procedures were performed due to medical emergency" and to preserve [the] health of [the pregnant] woman". Continue reading...

Breakout in Pennsylvania wasn't detected by guards for an hour, officials say, as Danelo Cavalcante eludes manhunt for seventh dayA murderer made a brazen escape from a jail in the Philadelphia suburbs by scaling a wall, climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof. The breakout was not detected by guards for an hour, authorities said as the killer eluded a widening manhunt for a seventh day.The timeline and details of Danelo Cavalcante's escape - including that he got out using the same route another prisoner took in May - were released as police flooded a search zone of increasingly worried residents. A tower guard on duty during the breakout was put on leave as part of the escape investigation. Continue reading...

Pennsylvania's John Fetterman says any attempt to impeach president would end up hurting the Republican partyThe Democratic Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman directly dismissed Republican moves towards impeaching Joe Biden, saying doing so could end up hurting the GOP.Go ahead. Do it, I dare you," Fetterman told reporters on Capitol Hill. If you can find the votes, go ahead, because you're going to lose. It's a loser. Continue reading...

Mehdi Hasan of MSNBC repeatedly presses Republican candidate to explain past condemnation of former presidentIn a heated interview, the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy four times refused to answer the MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan when asked to explain his own words: that Donald Trump's abhorrent" behaviour made him a danger to democracy".The former president, 77, leads national and key state polls by vast margins despite facing 91 criminal charges under four indictments, two relating to his attempt to overturn the last election. Continue reading...

The state's Republican governor is already appealing a judge's decision to strike down unlawful election mapsIn mid-August, lawyers representing Florida Republicans made a startling admission. The state's new congressional map, drawn by governor Ron DeSantis, made it harder for Black voters in north Florida to elect the candidate of their choosing. On Sunday, a judge in Florida ruled the map was unlawful.From 2016 until last year, Florida's fifth congressional district had stretched more than 150 miles across the northern part of the state, from Jacksonville to just west of Tallahassee. It was a portion of the state once home to the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings. In 2022, it was represented by Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, and 46% of eligible voters were Black. Continue reading...

Environmental and community groups file lawsuit as the lake shrinks from overuse. Plus, US Open struggles in New York heatwave

It's free speech for me, but not for thee' in his world - he doesn't like it, he suesEven before he took over Twitter, Elon Musk touted himself as a free speech absolutist".This was always a troubling notion for an insanely rich guy with a cult following whose sense of history is as limited as his ego is boundless.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

The men's US Eagles failed to qualify but events in France will still give American rugby fans a chance to come togetherOn Friday, the 10th Rugby World Cup will kick-off in Paris with a monumental match-up, France against New Zealand, les Bleus against the All Blacks. Like most rugby fans in Washington, and across the US, I will be watching on TV.With my sister-in-law, who played at Dartmouth, I'll be at the French embassy in Georgetown. We are promised a taste of the extraordinary atmosphere found at rugby matches at French stadiums". Lucky us. Less fortunately, the US men's team will also watch from these shores. The Eagles failed to qualify for France, losing out to Uruguay, Chile and Portugal. Nonetheless, American sports fans who do not know rugby should consider tuning in too. Continue reading...

As disaster capitalists descend on Lahaina, Indigenous Hawaiians fight for self-governanceAt a time of climate crisis, dwindling resources and unfettered capitalism, the decades-long Native Hawaiian struggle for sovereignty has gained a renewed sense of urgency following the August wildfires that incinerated west Maui.Indigenous activists say restoring Hawaii as a self-sufficient island nation is the only way to preserve it for their children and grandchildren. Continue reading...

While states in recent years have moved away from Jim Crow-era policies, several still make it difficult for people leaving prison to regain the right to voteWhen a US federal appeals court issued an opinion last month striking down Mississippi's practice of revoking voting rights for life from people convicted of certain felonies, the state lost its designation as the most difficult for people with felony convictions to restore their right to vote.The fifth circuit court of appeals panel found that the state's felony disenfranchisement policy violated the constitution's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling followed a pattern of states in recent years moving away from their Jim Crow-era policies - an estimated 4.6 million Americans were barred from participating in elections as of October 2022, a number that's down 24% since 2016, according to the Sentencing Project. Continue reading...

Translators say the US immigration system relies on AI-powered translations, without grasping the limits of the toolsIn 2019, Carlos fled Brazil with his sister and two nephews after his son was murdered in front of him by a local gang. Upon arriving in the US, he was separated from his family and detained in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center.Carlos, who is Afro-Indigenous, speaks Portuguese but does not read or write it. Staff at the Calexico, California, detention center spoke only English or Spanish. The staff used an artificial intelligence-powered voice-translation tool to interpret what Carlos was saying, but the system didn't pick up or understand his regional accent or dialect. So Carlos spent six months in Ice detention unable to meaningfully communicate with anyone. Continue reading...

It's not enough to point out the government's inadequacies: Keir Starmer must show us his vision of a better BritainI cling for morale to the idea that there's never been a period of Conservative rule as bad as this one: the external shocks of recent times, set against a degraded backdrop left by David Cameron and Theresa May, have been met by leaders as woefully inadequate as Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.Nevertheless, exactly 30 years ago, Labour leader John Smith, in a long Commons debate nominally about economic issues", made a case that we'd all recognise: There is proof abundant that this is a government who are ... deeply untrustworthy, hopelessly incompetent. Perhaps their most defining characteristic is an aggressive, bullying and dogmatic obstinacy which assumes that they are entitled to control our affairs without the slightest recognition of the expertise of others." He rattles off crisis after crisis: Black Wednesday; energy shortages due to pit closures; the corruption and dishonesty laid bare in the Matrix Churchill affair; the disaster waiting to happen in the privatisation of our railways". Continue reading...

The marriage between the Rossoneri and the American comes as Serie A look to make inroads into a lucrative market across the AtlanticChristian Pulisic is not the first Captain America to play in Serie A. Michael Bradley earned the same nickname when he joined Chievo in 2011 and set to stealing scenes with heroic last-gasp interventions. It stuck when he moved on to Roma, where teammates borrowed an airplane captain's hat to crown him after a winning goal against Udinese. Never mind that one commentator thought the midfielder looked more like Lex Luthor.Bradley was the fourth American ever to play in the Italian top flight, and only the second since the end of the second world war. The fifth was Weston McKennie, who joined Juventus in 2020. Oguchi Onyewu signed for Milan, but never made a league appearance - his time there remembered instead for a training ground brawl with Zlatan Ibrahimovi. Continue reading...

The new season kicks off on Thursday night. How will Aaron Rodgers fare in New York? Which rookies will impress? And who will win it all?Make-or-break quarterback seasons. It's hard to think of a time in recent history with a more concentrated pool of quarterback talent. But somebody is going to have to lose games, no matter how many points they put on the board. There's pressure on Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert, who have new-look offenses built to tap into their gifts. Josh Allen is in year two with Ken Dorsey. Likewise for Tua Tagovailoa in Mike McDaniel's set-up. There will be no more excuses of rust for Deshaun Watson. A down year for any of those five quarterbacks will lead to uncomfortable questions. OC Continue reading...

The reported meeting of the two dictators reveals a shift in power balances and the threat of a return to old, cold war politicsReports that North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un, may visit Russia soon to meet Vladimir Putin - probably to discuss the supply of North Korean weapons for Putin's war in Ukraine - point to a rather remarkable transformation of Russian-North Korean relations. During the cold war, North Korea was Moscow's key ally in north-east Asia. But at that time, the North Koreans were, at best, poor supplicants to a mighty superpower. Today, Kim's hermit kingdom stands tall and proud as Russia's partner in crime.Putin's engagement with North Korea is as old as his presidency. But the relationship was generally more exotic than practical. Russia's real partner was South Korea, which consistently ranked among its top 10 trade partners, with nearly $30bn in trade volume in 2021. North Korea was never an attractive partner, and it was subject to very restrictive sanctions that Russia, as a permanent member of the UN security council, had helped craft. Until it invaded Ukraine, Russia tried to abide by them in letter and spirit. Continue reading...

There is something uniquely powerful about football - a fact brought home to me when my mother died this summerI read Marc Stears' book, Out of the Ordinary, this summer and recognised much of what he said in my own experience. The thrust of his argument is that our politics has become intellectually abstracted from how most people live and derive meaning in their lives. We have lost sight of the everyday", the joy that it offers in connection and community.I moved away from Grimsby at 18 and built an itinerant life, studying and living abroad. I eventually settled to work and build a family in London until my children started to develop cock-er-ney" accents and I had to get them back up north right quick". Over those decades my love of Grimsby Town Football Club and the home game schedule created the gravitational force for my increasingly rare visits home. In the last two years I have much improved that frequency, being part of the ownership structure with Andrew Pettit. Aligned with the articles I have written for the Guardian, my presence in Grimsby has allowed me to engage with the questions of purpose, connection and identity as a more consistent part of my hometown community. Importantly and more personally enriching I have spent much more time in the town with my mum, family and friends. Continue reading...

Secondhand fashion supports many livelihoods, but by nurturing local resources the country can wean itself off the used rag tradeStop buying secondhand clothes, these clothes are for dead people." At the opening ceremony of the Sino-Uganda Mbale industrial park in late August, our president announced an unexpected ban on imported secondhand clothes. The audience responded to Yoweri Museveni's rhetoric with laughter. A dead white person's clothes being packed and shipped to Uganda is a compelling image with which to galvanise the masses.But secondhand clothes don't come from the dead. That's not how fast-fashion systems work. People don't die quickly enough for fast fashion, only trends do. Continue reading...

All I wanted was some delicious homegrown produce. Now I'm the one who's likely to end up as dinnerBack in the spring, I was given two tiny tomato plants. Unpromising as they looked, I felt I had to be a good father to them. They grew very slowly at first but, thrillingly, a scratch of a leaf yielded a tomatoey smell. I went away for a week or two and they were bigger and better and now the leaves barely needed scratching to yield that scent. Summer had come, on paper at least, so I decided it was time for these babies of mine to strike out on their own. Their safe windowsill perch was, I sensed, breeding complacency. Outside they went, together, looking lost and vulnerable planted in a big plastic bucket. They looked in at me sadly, drooping in reproach. I feared the worst. Glancing at them as I packed to go away again, I felt sure their end was nigh.Imagine my delight when I returned to find they'd gone completely nuts. We'll show that cruel man what we're really made of, they seemed to have decided. This ain't over. And the growing wouldn't stop. Two plants seemed to have turned into countless plants, which had then morphed into a kind of mega-bush. I bunged in some bamboo canes but they lost the battle with the plant, which was now sprawling everywhere. I went and bought some sturdy supporting thingies from the garden centre but they soon disappeared into it too, swallowed up by the billowing green mass, which had developed a decidedly threatening aura. What it hadn't developed was much in the way of tomatoes, just lots of tiny green ball bearings amid the flowers.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Heavy rains turned this year's Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock desert into a quagmire of mud. Tens of thousands of attendees were stranded for days and when the roads became dry enough for people to leave, the mass exodus produced hours-long traffic jams ten lanes wide Continue reading...

Exact charges president's son would face were not immediately clear but indictment to come by 29 September at earliestFederal prosecutors are seeking to bring a new indictment against Joe Biden's son Hunter by the end of September, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.The exact charges the president's son would face were not immediately clear, but he has been under investigation in Delaware on gun and tax charges. Continue reading...

Preliminary order issued by judge David Ezra requires the floaters to be relocated to an embankment on the state side of the riverA US judge ordered Texas to move a line of floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border. The ruling is a tentative win for the Biden administration after the Department of Justice (DoJ) sued the state.The federal judge David Ezra on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction in the state capital of Austin that requires Texas to relocate the controversial buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river. Continue reading...

Fulton county judge said he hoped to decide trial schedules for the 19 defendants involved next weekA Fulton county judge said that he hoped to decide on trial schedules in the Georgia election interference case next week, a case for which a joint trial will take approximately four months, according to state prosecutors.On Wednesday, the judge Scott McAfee held the first hearing in the Georgia election interference case involving 19 co-defendants including ex-president Donald Trump, who have been charged with interfering in the 2020 presidential elections. Continue reading...

Brutal heat and humidity have left some players at Flushing Meadows feeling like they're facing two opponents on court

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, has been spotted five times since he fled prison last week, but has still evaded capturePolice are continuing their manhunt for an escaped killer near Philadelphia which has led to closures of local schools and a botanical garden and warnings to the public to lock their doors and be on their guard.Danelo Cavalcante, 34, escaped from the Chester county prison on Thursday and has been spotted five times since, but hasn't been caught yet. The search for Cavalcante has now entered its seventh day. Continue reading...

America is about to start a terrifyingly high-stakes ride. These are some ways to help save American democracyThe week after Labor Day weekend usually signals the start of a return to serious business - summer vacations over and kids back to school, fiscal years ending and new ones beginning, cleaning up and battening down for winter.This particular week after Labor Day also marks the start of a terrifyingly high-stakes ride for America - five months until the beginning of the primaries, eight until Donald Trump's trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, 10 until the Republican convention in which Trump is almost certain to be nominated, 14 until the presidential election of 2024.Do everything within your power to ensure that Donald Trump is not re-elected president. For some of us, this will mean taking time out of our normal lives to become more directly politically involved - up to and including getting out the votes in critical swing states.Do not succumb to the tempting anesthesia of complacency or cynicism. The stakes are too high. Even if you cannot take much time out of your normal life for direct politics, you will need to organize, mobilize and energize your friends, colleagues and neighbors.Counter lies with truth. When you hear someone repeating a Trump Republican lie, correct it. This will require that you prepare yourself with facts, logic, analysis and sources.Do not tolerate bigotry and hate. Call it out. Stand up to it. Denounce it. Demand that others denounce it, too.Do not resort to violence, name-calling, bullying or any of the other tactics that Trump followers may be using.Be compassionate toward hardcore followers of Trump, but be firm in your opposition. Understand why someone may decide to support Trump, but don't waste your time and energy trying to convert them. Use your time and energy on those who still have open minds.Don't waste your time and energy commiserating with people who already agree with you. Don't gripe, whine, wring your hands and kvetch with other progressives about how awful Trump and his Republican enablers are. Don't snivel over or criticize Biden and the Democrats for failing to communicate more effectively. None of this will get you anything except an upset stomach or worse.Demonstrate, but don't mistake demonstrating for political action. You may find it gratifying to stand on a corner in Berkeley with a sign asking drivers to honk if you hate fascism" and elicit lots of honks, but that's as politically effectual as taking a warm shower. Organize people who don't normally vote to vote for Biden. Mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in your community. Get young people involved.Don't get deflected by the latest sensationalist post or story by or about Trump. Don't let the media's short-term attention span divert your eyes from the prize - the survival of American democracy during one of the greatest stress tests it has had to endure, organized by one of the worst demagogues in American history.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Western democracies are wrong to overlook a country's descent into electoral autocracy because they believe they need it to contain ChinaNarendra Modi is an authoritarian figure who, as India's prime minister since 2014, has pushed his country into increasingly becoming a de facto ethnic democracy", in which Hindus define the national identity and non-Hindus are seen as second-class citizens. Yet as the host of the upcoming talks of the world's 20 largest economies, Mr Modi will be feted by major global leaders - except his absent fellow strongmen Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.Mr Modi's dangerous majoritarianism is too easily overlooked by the west, as the G20 glad-handing will show. India had been considered an exemplary liberal parliamentary democracy among developing countries. This is being slowly dismantled by Mr Modi's brand of Hindu nationalism. State intimidation has seen civil society harassed and critics jailed. A report by a group of prominent lawyers last year warned that the administration of law has become the means by which ... the Muslim community can be kept in a state of perpetual fear". Since May, the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur has been burning, with its valley Hindus and highland Christians sinking into bloody fighting. Mr Modi's party blames non-Hindus for the violence. Continue reading...

Sunak knew he would be grilled over the school concrete crisis but failed to come up with anything plausible to say at PMQsIt was never going to be pretty. Even if school buildings hadn't been found to be collapsing all around us, the first prime minister's questions of the new session was always likely to be brutal for Rishi Sunak. The government's attempts to seize control of the news agenda over the summer had backfired badly. Small boats week, NHS week and crime week had all left ministers trying to explain why nothing was going as planned. It was as if the idiots had taken over the asylum. Which of course, they have. Only the idiots are left. To be a halfwit in the current Conservative party is a status symbol. Most are far dimmer than that.Sunak's problem is that almost everyone has long since given up listening to him. There was a brief period after he replaced Liz Truss when a few people kept half an ear open to him but that window has long been closed. Now he's just an irritant. White noise. A man programmed to be a very basic form of artificial intelligence whose only output is to take the country for mugs. RishGPT. The words tumble out in an entitled nasal whine but everyone has zoned out. Life is too short. People have given the Tories more than enough chances already. Time's up. Continue reading...