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Years of work by alleged victims and advocates have led to an investigation of the mogul and a suit against Russell SimmonsLast week, the world watched as agents of the US Department of Homeland Security dramatically raided two properties - one in Miami and one in Los Angeles - belonging to the music mogul Sean Diddy" Combs, as part of an ongoing investigation into sex-trafficking allegations.What fewer people probably knew was that just a couple of weeks earlier, the former hip-hop executive Drew Dixon had tracked down another industry legend, Russell Simmons, to serve him with a defamation lawsuit relating to her own alleged history of abuse at Simmons's hands. Continue reading...

A new take, like Beyonce's cover of Dolly Parton's Jolene, only expands the work. So why do people love complaining?

Isaac Arnsdorf's Finish What We Started shows how the strategist wanted to create a dominant coalition to take US political power

Regulations will bar career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees - who are more easily dismissed

Ditching the Republican-wife wrap dresses is easy, but my mother's 196os boots are replete with memoriesI'm spring cleaning and last week filled eight huge boxes with clothes during a once-in-a-decade pass through my wardrobe. We put these things off for a reason: the time it takes, and more than that, what we have learned to call the emotional labour. Going through old stuff, whatever the particulars, threatens to drag us back through the years, but the wardrobe thing is particularly stark. Here, before me, is evidence that entire chunks of my life were lost to the delusion that the Banana Republic shirt dress was a thing I should wear.Contrary to previous attempts, this time I vowed things would be different. I was in charge. I was going to be ruthless. I wasn't going to be bossed around by this stuff and its freight of memory. No hanging on to clothes so I could stare at them to spark images, when my memories could just as easily be preserved by taking a photo.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Trump's New York trial is only superficially about his tawdry sex life and really about his ultimate victim: the constitutionOf all of Donald Trump's charged crimes, spelled out in 88 felony counts - from plotting to overthrow the government of the United States to stealing national security secrets, and obstruction of justice along the way - there is one case that most closely parallels the greatest political crime in American history: his trial in New York, scheduled to begin 15 April, for falsifying business records.Yet against the enormity of the former president's transgressions, that case's gravitas has been diminished by some legal pundits as the runt of the litter" and probably the least serious of the crimes he's been charged with". This case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney, however, reveals Trump as having essentially the same purpose as Richard Nixon in Watergate, hiding the truth through fraud and bribery in order to manipulate the outcome of a presidential election. Continue reading...

Kathryn Archer could not terminate her pregnancy in her home state and, instead, had to wait more than three weeks for an emergency abortion at an out-of-state abortion clinicIn January 2023, whenever Kathryn Archer took her young daughter out to the local playground in Nashville, Tennessee, strangers often noticed her visibly pregnant stomach and wanted to make small talk.When are you due?" they would ask Archer. Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl?" Oh, I bet your daughter's so excited to be a big sister."This article was amended on 4 April 2024 to correct a quotation from Kathryn Archer in which she said a one-day procedure turned into two-day procedure, not into a three-day procedure as originally quoted. Continue reading...

Until we have a mechanism to test for artificial intelligence, writers need a tool to maintain trust in their work. So I decided to be completely open with my readersWhere do you get the time?" For many years, when I'd announce to friends that I had another book coming out, I'd take responses like this as a badge of pride.These past few months, while publicising my new book about AI, God-Like, I've tried not to hear in those same words an undertone of accusation: Where do you get the time?" Meaning, you must have had help from ChatGPT, right? Continue reading...

Party members in key swing states say they won't re-elect a president who enables the continued Israeli bombardmentThis Tuesday, more than 48,000 people defied cold, rainy weather to register protest votes in the Wisconsin Democratic primary against the Biden administration's unrelenting support for Israel's war on Gaza.In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by an excruciatingly narrow margin of victory of about 21,000 votes. As of Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin's uninstructed" vote tally - the equivalent of the uncommitted" campaign that Arab Americans launched in Michigan - was 48,093 votes, more than twice Biden's 2020 win margin.Malaika Jabali is a 2024 New America fellow, journalist and author of It's Not You, It's Capitalism: Why It's Time to Break Up and How to Move On Continue reading...

Ban on using private grants and requiring only election officials designated by law' to perform election tasks could harm votingWisconsin voters enshrined in the state constitution on Tuesday two amendments that election officials and voting rights advocates worry will hurt election administration in the state.The first bans election offices from accessing private grants - a source of revenue that election officials relied on in 2020 to run elections during the pandemic and have since used to stock voting equipment in polling places. Continue reading...

Trade bodies are setting out rules to avoid unacceptable' behaviour, but part of the problem is how we view work itselfAn old, cruel joke claimed David Beckham wore headphones at all times so a voice could remind him to breathe in, breathe out". Some things that should come naturally don't.You might think that a code of conduct for adult professionals attending a work-related social event, reminding them to be considerate and respectful to each other" and refrain from any unacceptable conduct" (defined elsewhere in the code), falls into the same category of advice as Beckham's breathing tips.Stefan Stern is co-author of Myths of Management and the former director of the High Pay Centre Continue reading...

The LSU coach is one of the most polarizing figures in sports. But her true focus, and first love, has always been basketballEverything about Kim Mulkey screams LOOK AT ME - from her garish sideline fashion to her in-your-face coaching style to her combative media posture. But perceptions of Mulkey have never shifted as wildly as during this year's NCAA women's basketball tournament, where the LSU coach has been under a level of scrutiny unlike any she has endured over her long hoops career.The rollercoaster ride started late last month, with the 61-year-old dedicating the first of two postgame news conferences to lambasting an imminent Washington Post hit piece" on her. This, despite the paper spending two years courting her cooperation and giving her two more days to respond to a final list of questions. Mulkey threatened legal action and tarred Kent Babb, the respected Post writer in question, as a two-bit muckraker. (Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable, but I am, and I'll do it," Mulkey said.) While the aggressive PR defense endeared Mulkey to swathes of conservative-leaning hoops agnostics who are plenty leery of the press already, it had the backfiring effect of providing free advertising for what proved to be a fairly benign profile - a major letdown for readers who were half expecting the Post to report that she had been at the Capitol on January 6, based on the coach's outburst. Continue reading...

The Uruguayan striker has been the best player in MLS through the early weeks of the season, carrying a Messi-less Miami through an injury crisisHe is 37, carries a visible paunch and is nursing chronic knee pain that requires regular injections. But old Luis Suarez still looks a lot like the Luis Suarez of old.Since linking up with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, Suarez has scored seven goals and provided five assists across 10 appearances in MLS and the Concacaf Champions Cup. He has already shown that he still possesses a wide and devastating arsenal of scoring techniques, too - there's been a set-piece header against New York City FC, a rampaging solo effort versus Orlando City, a deft left-footed chip against DC United and a few tap-ins plundered thanks to wily penalty-box movement. Continue reading...

Popular English golfer explains the reason behind visiting breakaway tour which heightened speculation over his futureGolf's rich tapestry is demonstrated by Tommy Fleetwood's start to 2024. The Englishman opened the year by seeing off Rory McIlroy to win in dramatic circumstances in Dubai. His subsequent visit to LIV Golf's event in Las Vegas triggered a social media frenzy, given the interest the rebel circuit has been known to have in Fleetwood in the past. Fleetwood will begin a three-week US tournament stretch - which includes the Masters - from Thursday. Thereafter, he will caddie for his stepson in a Challenge Tour competition in Abu Dhabi.Fleetwood's LIV stop-off was perfectly innocent. The 33yearold was in Nevada visiting his coach, Butch Harmon. Still, it was notable that Fleetwood was relaxed enough in his own mind regarding speculation that he dropped by the Las Vegas Country Club. Continue reading...

Many are hyping a return to the dark days'. Their obsession with security comes at a high political priceFootball fans heading to the stadiums of Germany for Euro 24 this summer face a resurgence in far-right neo-Nazi hooligans who have been overwhelming the police across Europe", the Sun has warned, with its usual sense for nuance.It was just one of many recent articles that have appeared in British and other European media on the alleged return" of hooliganism" in Europe. The situation is apparently so bad that governments in countries such as France and the Netherlands have vowed to tackle the issue. Almost always, the response leans towards the authoritarian, including calls for more police and more restrictions.Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia, and author of The Far Right Today Continue reading...

From bull-riders to beauty queens, photographer Rahim Fortune's Hardtack project chronicles Black families and communities in the post-emancipation American south Continue reading...

Boy, as yet unidentified, is third child killed by San Bernardino law enforcement in less than two years and second in under a monthSouthern California sheriff's deputies shot and killed a 17-year-old boy with mental health issues after he armed himself with a knife and locked himself inside a bathroom at a home, authorities said Wednesday.The teen was being transferred from a hospital, where he had been treated after cutting himself, to a mental health facility when he escaped on Tuesday, the San Bernardino county sheriff Shannon Dicus said. Continue reading...

Jack Smith says if judge decides Trump can cite federal records law in his defense to claim immunity, he will appeal to higher courtIn a court filing, the special counsel Jack Smith said that the judge in Donald Trump's criminal case over his retention of classified information was relying on a fundamentally flawed legal premise" when asking lawyers to consider whether the former president can claim immunity under federal records law.Smith also said that if the judge, Aileen Cannon, ruled Trump can indeed cite the Presidential Records Act (PRA) in his defence, he would appeal to a higher court, seeking an order for her to apply the law correctly and, implicitly, her removal from the case. Continue reading...

Prison guards, judges, jurors and prison workers have beseeched Mike Parson to commute capital punishment to life without paroleWith less than a week until Brian Dorsey is scheduled to be executed at Potosi correctional center in Missouri for the 2006 killings of his cousin and her husband, an extraordinary effort is underway to have the 52-year-old's capital sentence commuted to life without parole.More than 150 people have called on the Missouri governor Mike Parson to commute Dorsey's punishment - including more than 70 current and former prison workers, many of whom got to know Doresy behind bars, Republican state representatives, jurors and even the appeals judge who upheld Dorsey's conviction and death sentence in 2009. Continue reading...

Louisiana's Republican governor has called for the scholarships of college athletes who are not present for the national anthem before games to be revoked. His announcement came after the LSU women's basketball team were absent during the pre-game ceremonies on Monday night before their NCAA Tournament contest with Iowa.Kim Mulkey, who has won four national titles as head coach and was inducted into basketball's Hall of Fame in 2020, said afterwards that her players were undergoing their regular pregame preparations on Monday night when the anthem was played.

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Taylor James Johnatakis barked commands' and shouted step-by-step directions for overpowering police officersA Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob's attack on police officers guarding the US Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to more than seven years in prison.Royce Lamberth, the US district judge, said videos captured Taylor James Johnatakis playing a leadership role during the January 6 riot. Continue reading...

Solicitor general says in appellate hearing that SB4, paused from going into effect, may have gone beyond limitations of state lawsThe state of Texas has conceded that it may have gone too far" in passing a law last year that made entering the state illegally a crime and allowing state judges to order undocumented people to be deported.The admission that Texas's SB4 may have gone beyond the limitations of state laws, which typically bow to federal law on immigration matters, came at a hearing on Wednesday before the fifth US circuit court of appeals. Continue reading...

We'd like to know how you feel about your child's school lunch - and how those lunches vary across the countryAcross the US, parents, kids, educators and public health advocates are pushing to change the multibillion-dollar school meals industry.At the same time, public schools have to contend with government requirements for nutrition, decreases in funding, religious and dietary restrictions and parent and student opinion. Continue reading...

Israel wants to dismantle the agency. The US has halted funding. But its capacity is essential to saving livesHow are starving Palestinians to be fed? Even if the bombing stopped tomorrow, the death toll would continue to climb without a proper resumption of aid. The international court of justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to ensure the unhindered provision at scale ... of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance" including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.Yet a few days on, the Israel Defense Forces' killing of seven foreign relief workers from World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian driver has halted not only the organisation's work but other relief operations too. Aid drops are little more than a conscience-salving gesture that has, in some cases, led to further Palestinian deaths.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.

Ellis, a Black man, was shocked, beaten and restrained face down as he pleaded for breath in Tacoma, Washington, in 2020A former Tacoma, Washington, officer acquitted of murder in the 2020 homicide of Manuel Ellis - a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained face down on a sidewalk as he pleaded for breath - has been hired by a neighboring sheriff's office.The Thurston county sheriff's office, based in Olympia, Washington, announced on its Facebook page on Monday that it had hired the former Tacoma officer Christopher Burbank as a patrol deputy, despite an ongoing federal investigation into the 2020 death. Continue reading...

Charlie Kirk tweet leads to governor backing bill to end splitting of electoral college votes - potentially handing advantage to TrumpThe power of the far-right commentator Charlie Kirk was illustrated when his tweet prompted the governor of Nebraska to support a bill to change the state's system for presidential elections in order to deny Democrats a single electoral vote that could decide the presidency later this year.Nebraskans should call their legislators and their governor to demand their state stop pointlessly giving strength to their political enemies," Kirk wrote. Continue reading...

Judd Blevins loses Enid ward 1 council position months after he was shown to have attended Charlottesville rally in 2017Voters in Enid, Oklahoma, have decisively kicked out a city council member with a history of ties to white nationalist groups from the elected body almost a year after he was admitted.Judd Blevins lost his position as Enid's ward 1 council member, according to Oklahoma's state election board. The move comes months after Blevin was shown to have attended a deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and was later shown to have led an Oklahoma chapter of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa. Continue reading...

The rapper seemed to have blown his career up two years ago with a string of offensive comments. But now he has another album at No 1Over the course of about a month in late 2022, Kanye West seemingly blew up his career for ever. Weeks of increasingly erratic behaviour culminated in a slip into full-blown reactionary populism with a series of offensive stunts, including but not limited to: wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt, reviving hoary antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling the media, and threatening on X (then Twitter) to go death con 3" on Jews.Within weeks, West's record label and publisher - Universal Music Group and Sony Music Publishing, respectively - terminated their contracts with him; he was dropped by his agency, CAA; and Adidas, Balenciaga and Gap canned their continuing collaborations. The vast majority of his $2bn (1.6bn) net worth evaporated overnight. Kanye Is Never Coming Back From This read the headline of one Rolling Stone article at the time.Shaad D'Souza is a freelance culture journalistDo 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.

Several tornadoes spotted across the midwest and southern states, and 275,000 people in multiple states are without powerMillions of people across the US were bracing for extreme weather on Wednesday as a powerful system of thunderstorms swept across several states, bringing intense winds, rain, and other dangerous weather conditions.As of Wednesday morning, more than 275,000 residents in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky were without power due to severe storms, according to poweroutage.us. Continue reading...

Ex-president's description of meeting relatives of Ruby Garcia to spin anti-immigration narrative is shocking', sister saysDonald Trump used a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to describe meeting the family of a woman killed by an immigrant in order to spin a narrative about what he calls Biden's border bloodbath" - except Ruby Garcia's family now say he never did.Garcia, 25, was found shot to death on highway US-131 on 22 March of this year. Court records later showed that her boyfriend confessed to killing her and dumping her body. Continue reading...

Former president seeks to block Wesley Moss and Andrew Litinsky from receiving Trump Media stock worth over $400mDonald Trump sued two former contestants on The Apprentice, his hit NBC reality show, who became co-founders of Trump Media and Technology Group, claiming they failed to set up the venture properly and should not get promised stock worth more than $400m.Trump fronted The Apprentice, in which contestants competed for a job at the Trump Organization, from 2004 to 2015. The show coined Trump's catchphrase, You're fired!", though he ended up fired himself, after entering Republican presidential politics and making racist comments about Mexicans. Continue reading...

The thousands in Britain who march against this war see a people - and aid workers - under murderous attack. Sunak can act, and he mustThere are no excuses for ignoring where Israel's onslaught against Gaza would lead. After slaughtering seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, three Britons among them, Israeli authorities will subject us to a well-trodden strategy: deflect, delay, deceive, muddy the waters, hope attention moves elsewhere. We have seen this all before. As the Tory MP and chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Alicia Kearns, notes, nearly 11 weeks on, there has still been no explanation for why Israel bombed a Medical Aid for Palestinians compound in an official safe zone in mid-January.These latest aid workers were travelling in a deconflicted" zone, had coordinated their movements with Israeli forces on a pre-agreed route, and were in vehicles marked with large World Central Kitchen logos. They were struck three times, over the space of nearly a mile and a half; survivors even scrambled into the remaining cars before being hit again.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Cal-Maine Foods says 1.6m laying hens destroyed as officials also detect virus in poultry facility in MichiganThe largest producer of fresh eggs in the US said on Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan.Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods Inc said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at a facility in Parmer county, Texas. Continue reading...

Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years triggered landslides, building collapses and injured at least 800 people. Plus: fighting the stigma of epilepsy in Cameroon

After ex-president attacked daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, judge said threat to integrity of judicial proceedings is very real'.

Conservatives don't understand that abortion is controversial only in theory; faced with a material choice, Americans support abortion rightsIt's hard to imagine a scenario in which the Florida state supreme court would not have allowed Governor Ron DeSantis's six-week abortion ban to go into effect. In a challenge to a previous 15-week ban, the court's seven judges, all of whom were appointed by DeSantis, overturned 35 years of precedent this week in order to find that the right to privacy enshrined in the state constitution does not protect the right to an abortion, as Florida state law has acknowledged it does since 1989.The court's approval of the 15-week ban will allow a stricter, previously stayed six-week ban to go into effect on 1 May. Justice Charles Canady did not recuse himself from the case, despite calls for him do so from no less an authority than the Florida supreme court's former chief justice, Barbara Pariente. Justice Canady's wife, the state representative Jennifer Canady, is a legislative co-sponsor of the newly approved six-week ban. There is no rape or incest exception. Continue reading...

Thankfully my mum is soon coming to visit me with a suitcase full of the best of Britain: chocolate, tea and savoury snacksMy mum, who lives in England, is coming to visit me in Philadelphia soon and I have given her strict instructions on what to bring from the motherland. Namely, deodorant. You can get a lot of things in the US - it is a land of excess - but the deodorant offerings here stink.Most American women, you see, tend to use stick deodorants. In the UK, meanwhile, it's far more normal for women to use a roll-on. Or, at least, its far more normal for shops to stock a wide range of roll-ons. I don't have some sort of degree in deodorant studies, I should probably note; I have not done extensive market research on this matter. This assertion is based on empirical data gathered over a lifetime of deodorant shopping, along with several years of arguing with my American wife about our underarm preferences. She thinks roll-on deodorant is (trigger warning: an objectionable word is about to appear) moist and leaves a wet sensation. I think that stick deodorant feels clammy and flaky. Clearly I am right. Continue reading...

Young people may have fewer paths from shop floor to boardroom - but you can still find your way to a more fulfilling roleRecently, I sat in a lecture hall with a couple of hundred final-year undergraduate students. Looking around, I thought about my own uncertainty at their age. When I was about to graduate, the future seemed unclear. I didn't have a place on a company graduate programme like many of my classmates. Decades on, I realised that what seemed like obvious career ladders weren't so simple.The job market for today's graduates seems good. The annual report by the Institute of Student Employers found that graduate recruitment is expected to increase by 5% in 2023-24. Companies continued to struggle to recruit in areas such as digital, engineering and finance. Despite this strong demand, each position was hotly contested - with an average of 86 applications for every opening. Continue reading...

They can be sacred, space-like, healing or heart-shaped - and anywhere on Earth. Even war can't get between people and natural springs, as Greta Rybus shows in her latest photobook Continue reading...

The SPD chancellor has drawn a line in the sand. But playing the peace card to win back anti-war voters could cast his party into the political wildernessA Social Democratic German chancellor lagging in the opinion polls vows adamantly not to join a war. Support for his SPD party rallies and he narrowly clings to power.By refusing to supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine despite an outcry among western allies, Olaf Scholz may be hoping that history will repeat itself and he can replicate Gerhard Schroder's 2002 stunt before the US-led invasion of Iraq when he refused to provide troops or money.Paul Taylor is a senior fellow of the Friends of Europe thinktank and author of the report After the War: How to Keep Europe Safe Continue reading...

I'm working to help vulnerable women in my home country of Kenya, but millions around the world face deep-rooted injusticesIn February, Asenath Rotich became a widow, after the death of her partner, marathon runner and world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, in a road accident. Unlike the majority of more than 8 million widows in Kenya, Rotich's future is being provided for. The government has built her a house and is working to secure a job for her so she can care for her two children.In contrast, consider the recent case of Silvia that was shared with me by a community radio journalist. Silvia is a 39-year-old widow with five children, whose home in Siaya County was demolished during a land ownership dispute. Despite widespread media coverage and public outcry, justice remains elusive for her. Continue reading...

Thousands show up in Green Bay where ex-president attacks fake media' and tyrants' in state where he lost to Biden four years agoOn Wisconsin's presidential primary election day, Donald Trump made his first campaign stop in the state, where he railed against so-called migrant crime" and doubled down on false election claims.We won in 2016 - we did much better in 2020, hate to say it, we did a hell of a lot better," the former president told the roaring crowd, nodding to the disproven and unfounded rigging" numerous times during his speech. Continue reading...

Both candidates have clinched nominations, but Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin turnout may hint at 2024 resultsBoth Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in four states, including the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin.Hundreds of delegates were up for grabs in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin on Tuesday, and Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to win their respective nominations. But the turnout could provide more clues about the general election in November. Continue reading...