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The former prime minister was a symptom, not the cause, of a political culture that gorges on spectacle and triviaPoliticians, journalists and assorted hangers-on have been regaling each other with their risque Boris Johnson anecdotes for as long as I can remember. “Boris” this, “BoJo” that. Even his detractors used his first name. The braggadocio, the enjoyment of watching his ascent, reached a peak during his tenure as mayor of London. Commentators, even those on the left, joked about how fun it was to have a Conservative in charge of the capital city who whizzed around on a zipwire.The bonhomie suddenly turned to buyers’ remorse when he embraced the Brexit cause in 2016. What, I ask now, as I asked then, took people so long? It was abundantly clear to me from the moment I met him (he and I were foreign correspondents at the same time for the Telegraph) that Johnson was a charlatan. While I was covering the collapse of communism from Moscow, he was in Brussels inventing stories about straight bananas. Continue reading...

The endurance athlete is attempting to win the 3,000 mile Race Across America for a second time. And women are excelling in ultra-distance eventsWhen Leah Goldstein sets off from Oceanside, California on Tuesday morning to begin this year’s Race Across America (Raam), it will most likely be 40 hours before she is next able to grab some sleep. And that’s if everything goes to plan.“In the practice ride,” says the ultra-endurance cyclist, “I left at 10 [in the morning] and I went down the next day at midnight for about 45 minutes … in [Raam], we’re going to probably do the same thing. We’re going to go through the first night and into the second night as much as I can.” Continue reading...

Case against the former president names several people who allegedly played a role in mishandling classified documentsDonald Trump’s 44-page federal indictment depicts a varied cast of characters orbiting around the former president as he mishandles, flaunts and conceals top secret documents and reveals classified military information. The case involves numerous individuals, some named and others referred only by their titles, but all who allegedly played a role in Trump committing crimes related to the boxes of classified documents he took from the White House after leaving office.The indictment, which was unsealed last week, sets up a criminal case that could lead to significant time in prison if Trump is convicted and further complicate his presidential campaign for the 2024 election. Along with the Trump world staffers mentioned in the indictment, it will also put attorneys on both sides of the case on the national stage. Continue reading...

The former president, who faces 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, is to make his first court appearance in the case in Miami

Move follows reports of extortion by Mexican officials in Nuevo Laredo who threaten migrants with missing asylum appointmentsThe Biden administration has stopped taking mobile phone app appointments to admit asylum seekers at a Texas border crossing that connects to a notoriously dangerous Mexican city after advocates warned US authorities that migrants were being targeted there for extortion.US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) gave no explanation for its decision to stop scheduling new appointments via the CBP One app for the crossing in Laredo, Texas. Continue reading...

Young people are grappling with challenges that no generation in modern history has been forced to deal with. They need our help nowThis country faces a longstanding mental health crisis, exacerbated by the isolation, fears and uncertainties of the pandemic. This crisis affects all generations, but has been especially devastating for young people.In America today, 40% of parents report being either extremely or very worried that their child is struggling with anxiety or depression. Continue reading...

Ten evacuated to care facilities outside region after incident on Sunday that is being investigatedTwenty-two US service members were injured in a helicopter “mishap” in north-east Syria on Sunday, the US military said late on Monday, without disclosing the cause of the incident or detailing the severity of the injuries.The military’s Central Command said 10 service members had been evacuated to higher-level care facilities outside the region. Continue reading...

The Saudis came for golf. Will your favourite sport put up any more of a fight?Perhaps you were invited to the exclusive Venice wedding of a billionaire’s daughter where Jay Monahan and Yasir al-Rumayyan are reported to have met for the first time. Perhaps you happened to be playing a round at Beaverbrook Golf Course at the same time as Rumayyan and the PGA board member Jimmy Dunne were thrashing out the early stages of a deal that would change golf for ever. Perhaps you happened to be eavesdropping at the next table as they ate dinner or at least close enough to hurl a well-aimed bread roll or slip something into the ceviche.Short of that, however, there is very little you or I could have done to prevent the effective merger of the PGA Tour with the rebel LIV Golf organisation, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Your opinion was not consulted. Your vote was not canvassed. Players who had turned down eye-moistening sums of Saudi money out of what they laughably believed was a reciprocated loyalty to the PGA Tour found out, like everyone else, when their phones started pinging. Continue reading...

The purchase of professional golf by a brutal regime has exposed yet again the lack of moral sanctities on the global free marketBrace for another season of upheaval in the sports world. The Arabs are coming. Again. After the Qatar World Cup raised misgivings about sportswashing, that charge is now being levelled at Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF has essentially bought professional golf, taking over the PGA Tour by merging it with LIV, a new, smaller competition golf series that Saudi Arabia launched in 2021. Last year’s World Cup taught the Saudis a very important lesson. Oil is temporary; sport is for ever.The move has triggered outrage. Human Rights Watch declared that Saudi Arabia “is attempting to ‘sportswash’ its egregious record of human rights violations”. US media channels have numerous segments discussing the ethics of accepting money from a notoriously brutal regime. These are justified concerns: Saudi Arabia’s image problem has intensified under its leader, Mohammed bin Salman, who brought the nation into global disrepute with the grisly murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a crackdown on political opposition and the ramping up of capital punishment. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in 24 hours for crimes that included witchcraft and drug smuggling.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Governor spoke with host Sean Hannity about the state’s housing crisis and criticized Ron DeSantis while praising the presidentCalifornia’s Gavin Newsom sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity for a wide ranging interview on Monday night that fueled speculation about his presidential aspirations – even as he again said he had no plans to run for the presidency in 2024.The Democratic governor’s decision to appear on Hannity confounded many of his supporters, but Newsom, who routinely spars with Republicans on social media, took the opportunity to defend his state’s record and its policies with a senior adviser telling Politico that he viewed the interview as “going into the lion’s den”. Continue reading...

Former US president lands in Miami ahead of court appearance on Tuesday; Miami officials detailed security measures in press briefingThe White House said Joe Biden will not be under anesthesia during his root canal today, meaning the 25th amendment won’t be invoked.Ratified in 1967, the amendment is one of the most recent additions to the constitution, and outlines the procedure for the vice-president to temporarily assume the president’s duties at the chief executive’s request. In November 2021, Biden used its authority to hand power to Kamala Harris while he underwent a colonoscopy. Continue reading...

Sewell, first woman to hold post, says ‘my time here will come to a close’ amid reports of tension with mayor Eric AdamsNew York City’s police commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman to hold the position, is stepping down after 18 months on the job.Sewell, who was appointed by the city’s Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, announced the resignation in an email to department staff on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

As court officials set up barricades and police tape around the Miami courthouse where Donald Trump is due to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon, police officials sought to assure local residents they would safely handle any protests.Miami police chief Manny Morales repeated that the city is ready for protests of any size.'We’re taking this event extremely seriously. We know that there is a potential of things taking a turn for the worst, but that’s not the Miami way,' Morales said.'We’re bringing enough resources to handle crowds, anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000. We don’t expect any issues,' he added

Police chief says department taking Trump court appearance ‘extremely seriously’ and that it can handle crowds of up to 50,000As court officials set up barricades and police tape around the Miami courthouse where Donald Trump is due to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon, police officials sought to assure local residents they would safely handle any protests.“Make no mistake about it, we’re taking this event extremely seriously, and there’s a potential for things to take a turn for the worse,” said the city’s police chief, Manuel Morales, adding “but that’s not the Miami way. Continue reading...

Roadrunner hatchling named Miles was driven 660 miles in total before dying at wildlife rescue center several days laterA man was clearing land in the west Texas city of Odessa when he realized he had made a horrible mistake: he ran over a bird’s nest and smashed the eggs inside.But one egg remained intact, and he went to extraordinary lengths to try to save it in a saga that has captured national US media attention. Continue reading...

Nichols, who died after being beaten by police in Tennessee, spent much of his youth skateboarding at Sacramento parkCalifornia has dedicated a skate park in honor of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who spent much of his youth in the state and was killed last January in what prosecutors said was a fatal beating by police in Tennessee during a traffic stop.An avid skateboarder, Nichols spent much time as a youth at the park on the outskirts of Sacramento. City officials and others held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated skate park now named for Nichols. Continue reading...

Lawsuit claims that officials at the bank ignored warning signs about Epstein’s abuse because he was a wealthy clientJPMorgan Chase has announced a tentative settlement in a legal claim brought by a woman who said that the US banking giant knowingly benefited from sexual abuse that she and others suffered at the hands of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.The value of the settlement for a class of plaintiffs that has grown to encompass as many as 100 women or more is placed at $290m, said a source familiar with the terms. Continue reading...

Benjamin Lay was a revolutionary who battled for an unpopular cause that is today regarded as unquestionably justTwo hundred and sixty-four years after his death, Benjamin Lay has suddenly come into vogue. He is the subject of a new play opening on Tuesday at the Finborough theatre in London, which joins both a fine work of history and a graphic novel based on his life. Or perhaps we should say lives, because Lay was a shepherd, a glover, a sailor, an author, a bookseller. Most importantly, he was a revolutionary, who waged a lifelong battle for a cause that then looked hopeless but today is seen as unquestionably just. Half a century before William Wilberforce began cajoling fellow parliamentarians, Essex commoner Lay fought to stop slavery. For his pains, he was scorned and humiliated and spurned by his community. Yet in his life is a story for our times.Born in 1682 with dwarfism, and standing 4ft tall, Lay was raised as a Quaker and taught its principles of democracy and equality. Though he came from a village outside Colchester, he could never settle, switching jobs, moving to London and then taking to the sea. Over 18 months in the slave society of Barbados, he and his wife, Sarah, witnessed how Africans were whipped, starved and burned by their wealthy white enslavers. He befriended enslaved people and one, “a lusty fellow”, swore he would kill himself rather than be whipped again. After he did so, Lay left the island knowing “sugar was made with blood”. Continue reading...

Applause and approval as Hamilton actor Denée Benton makes comparison at Tony awards in New York on Sunday nightProminent Broadway actor Denée Benton likened Florida’s rightwing governor Ron DeSantis to a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard at Sunday night’s Tony awards ceremony, drawing applause and roars of approval from the audience.Benton, known for her stage roles in Hamilton as well as Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, took aim at the Republican presidential hopeful and his policies attacking minority groups as she announced an award for theatrical excellence for a Florida high school teacher from the town of Plantation. Continue reading...

After his resignation as an MP, I’m struck by a new consensus, decades in the making – that the former prime minister is an unlikable man, without friends or alliesThe interesting thing about Boris Johnson’s exit from parliament is not his statement, a thousand words from a psychedelic upside-down world in which everyone else is a liar and he alone tells the truth. Perhaps that’ll come back to bite me: it could be important for the historical record. Right now, though, I’m struck by the new consensus that Johnson is an unlikable man, without friends or allies, whose only discernible mark on the universe is a trail of the betrayed and disillusioned. This is now apparently an obvious thing, completely common knowledge among the Boris-watchers who five seconds ago were telling us that he was the most genial man in British politics.A little bit of consistency would be nice, or at the very least some acknowledgment that they’re now saying something different from what they said before. But never mind that, because it’s also a relief. It’s quite discombobulating when opinion is united on the amiability of a man who you can see, from a distance and close up, and at every proximity in between, is not amiable.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...

Poll shows 80% of likely GOP voters think ex-president should be eligible for re-election even if convicted but senators are less keen

Nations go to war over the ideologies, religions, racism, social classes or economic policies. Trump represents nothing other than his own grievanceThe former president of the United States, now running for re-election, assails “the ‘thugs’ from the Department of Injustice”, calls Special Counsel Jack Smith a “deranged lunatic” and casts his prosecutions and his bid for the White House as part of a “final battle” for America.In a Saturday speech to the Georgia Republican party, Trump characterized the entire American justice system as deployed to prevent him from winning the 2024 election.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is 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 new 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...

The California congresswoman speaks about the legacy of slavery and the need for reparations for African AmericansWhen the California congresswoman Barbara Lee first introduced a bill proposing a national commission on racial healing, the US had erupted in grief and rage over the murder of George Floyd.Since then, the movement to provide restitution and reparations to Black Americans has gained momentum. As has the backlash. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 delegates at the North Carolina Republican party’s annual convention voted to censure TillisRepublican US senator Thom Tillis has been reprimanded by party officials in his home state of North Carolina after his support of gun control and same-sex marriage.More than 1,000 delegates at the North Carolina Republican party’s annual convention voted behind closed doors Saturday to censure Tillis, a move that doesn’t affect his elected position but signals strong dissatisfaction with him. Continue reading...

Ruben Gallego, running for US Senate next year, says Arizona Republican’s response to Trump’s federal indictment is dangerousThe Arizona Republican Kari Lake’s vow of armed resistance over Donald Trump’s indictment for retaining classified records “threatens the very core of our democracy”, an Arizonan Democratic congressman said.Ruben Gallego is running to replace the former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the US Senate next year. Continue reading...

The men’s team’s 1,000th international game comes on Monday against a nation that is fighting for its freedomI played six major tournaments from 2004 to 2014: three World Cups and three European Championships. Euro 2012 took place in Poland and Ukraine. We played the group stage in Kharkiv and Lviv. Ukraine has a great football culture – that was noticeable.It has also had great footballers. Andriy Shevchenko, Igor Belanov and Oleg Blokhin were Europe’s footballers of the year. Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the legend of the Dynamo Kyiv bench, continues to influence European football; many system coaches refer to him. In 2001, when I was making my way towards the professional team at Bayern Munich, Germany had a difficult task against Ukraine in the World Cup playoffs. Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn had cause to fear for their participation in the tournament because Ukraine were strong opponents. Continue reading...

Today the ITV show primarily attracts contestants seeking followers, not friendship – no wonder viewers are switching offLove Island is back, which means a new squad of impeccably preened future spokespeople for the fast-fashion industry has entered TV’s most famous villa looking for love – and Instagram followers.Once again, audiences have tuned in with the hope of becoming completely obsessed with the minutiae of the Islanders’ lives in the villa, only to forget most of their names once they leave. But according to overnight figures, Love Island lost 1 million viewers on its summer 2022 series. Even with the 300,000 that have since been added to incorporate catch-up, the overall figure was still a significant drop on 2022 and around half the number who watched 2019’s series launch.Louis Staples writes about the internet, culture and society Continue reading...

The former Italian PM, who combined celebrity antics with rightwing populism, laid the groundwork for TrumpismWhen he hurriedly left the prime minister’s official residence, Palazzo Chigi, for the last time on 16 November 2011, Silvio Berlusconi looked like a humiliated man. Italy’s finances were in trouble, with international investors betting against the country’s treasury bonds; prosecutors were on his heels due to the infamous “bunga bunga” scandal, which involved an underage sex worker; European allies Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel had made their displeasure with him public. Few would have guessed at the time how much future politics would follow Berlusconi’s populist template.Berlusconi has died at 86 – he had been in hospital in Milan, undergoing treatment for a lung infection. Yet look around, and you can see his legacy everywhere. In fact, the years that followed Berlusconi’s exit from office vindicated his political style, which combined extreme personality politics, a skilful use of visual media and an unashamed demagogy – all to tap into voters’ disillusionment and cynicism about the status quo. It is hard to think of another politician more prefigurative of politics to come.Paolo Gerbaudo is a sociologist at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, and King’s College London, and the author of The Great Recoil Continue reading...

The actors’ production company Artists Equity ‘had no foreknowledge and did not consent’ to any involvementBen Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company Artists Equity has condemned the use of an audio voiceover from its recent film Air, which tells the story of the creation of the Michael Jordan-endorsed Nike Air Jordan sports shoe, in a Donald Trump campaign video.In a statement posted to social media, Artists Equity stated it had not been consulted or given consent for the voiceover to be used. “We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use.” It added: “We hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent.” Continue reading...

Media tycoon was one of Italy’s most flamboyant politicians whose career was tainted by sex scandals. Plus, fears over Republicans’ pro-Trump rhetoric

A poisonous haze made the air over New York temporarily more hazardous than any other place on Earth. Thank fossil fuel billionairesWho’s responsible for the poisonous haze that blanketed the north-east this week, that turned the sky eerie shades of yellow and orange and made the air over New York City more hazardous – for a time – than in any other place on Earth?The smoke is from the unprecedented wildfires that, first sparked by lightning, have been raging for weeks in Nova Scotia and Quebec; more than 450 are now burning across Canada. More than half of those are considered “out of control”. That ferocity is thanks in large part to the kinds of unusually warm and dry conditions that rising temperatures are making more common. Winds from a low pressure system then fanned the flames and sent them southward. Continue reading...

Leopoldstadt and Kimberly Akimbo won big at this year’s history-making Tony awards, with the writers' strike affecting the format and content of the ceremony.History was made with two actors becoming the first non-binary winners of acting Tonys. J Harrison Ghee was named best actor in a leading role in a musical for Some Like It Hot, and Alex Newell won best featured actor in a musical for their role in Shucked.Jodie Comer picked up the Tony for best actress in a leading role in a play for one-woman show Prima Facie. Comer won in a competitive category that included Jessica Chastain and Audra McDonald

The league has made efforts to welcome LGBTQ+ people into ballparks but recent pushback has shown that large parts of the sport remain conservativeWhen the Los Angeles Dodgers arranged their latest annual Pride Night the team probably did not envision facing opponents from the Catholic League as well as the National League.Gamedays that celebrate LGBTQ+ communities through initiatives such as rainbow-themed uniforms and drag queens throwing out the ceremonial first pitch are commonplace, and until recently they typically occurred with little fuss. Now they are a battlefield in the culture wars, with Dodger Stadium at the centre of the fiercest conflict. Continue reading...

Employees complain about pay and conditions, travelers say prices are too high and service is poor – why is airline travel so bad?The world is traveling again. Summer air travel is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and airline revenues are back to near record levels.But for airline workers – who suffered the brunt of pandemic shutdowns and then the spike in air rage that followed – unresolved labor issues remain and many are warning that for passengers those issues, which have led to a surge in operational problems, remain and are likely to cause more concerns this holiday season. Continue reading...

If there is any meaningful sense in which we can ask who is the greatest of all time, the answer can not simply be given by crudely adding up slamsNow that Novak Djokovic has won his 23rd grand slam tennis tournament (and there is little prospect of Nadal equalling him), many people are saying Djokovic is the greatest of all time. But many of these people also feel a certain reluctance in saying this. Federer seems at least as great.But can the numbers lie? Yes! Continue reading...

A black bear was sighted in the Gulf of Mexico before it decamped into the nearby dunes to the astonishment of beachgoersFlorida beachgoers have long been accustomed to the threats from sharks in their warm waters, but bathers at Destin recently got a surreal shock when they saw a black bear emerge from the surf and amble on to the beach.Local TV station WMBB reported that stunned onlookers saw the bear, which appeared to be a youngster, swimming in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and heading to shore. Continue reading...

‘An eye for an eye’, said Arizona congressman, while another representative from Louisiana gave militaristic instructionsBelligerent and conspiracy-laden rhetoric from high-profile Republican backers of Donald Trump has heightened fears that the former US president’s campaign against his legal troubles could trigger political violence.Fewer than 24 hours after Donald Trump was indicted, Arizona congressman Andy Biggs went on Twitter and used violent language to call for retribution. “We have now reached a war phase,” he said. “An eye for an eye.” Continue reading...

Harvard-educated mathematician carried out a 17-year solitary bombing spree that killed three people and injured 23 othersTed Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber”, who carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, died by suicide, four people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.Kaczynski, who was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer, was found unresponsive in his cell at the federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina, around 12.30am on Saturday. Emergency responders performed CPR and revived him before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later on Saturday morning, the people told the AP. Continue reading...

Geopolitical fallout from the conflict in Ukraine is threatening an environmentally crucial regionAs the cold war thawed in the 1980s, the frozen high north of the planet was a leading beneficiary of more conciliatory times. Speaking in Murmansk in 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev called for an end to military competition in the Arctic, and a new focus on preserving its unique ecosystem. “The community and interrelationship of the interests of our entire world,” said the Soviet leader, “is felt in the northern part of the globe, in the Arctic, perhaps more than anywhere else.”Mr Gorbachev’s words paved the way for a cross-state consensus around the idea of “Arctic exceptionalism” – an agreement that in an environmentally crucial region, where Europe, North America and Asia meet, geopolitical rivalries should be put to one side. Since 1996, the Arctic Council, comprising the eight Arctic states including Russia, has embodied that spirit of cooperation. It is yet another disastrous consequence of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine that it is now at risk. Continue reading...

George Soros, 92, hands over reins of Open Society Foundations to ‘more political’ 37-year-oldThe financier George Soros, the billionaire investor and liberal donor, has handed control of his multi-billion-dollar foundation to his son, Alexander.The 92-year-old, who memorably made $1bn betting against the British pound and “breaking the Bank of England” in a catastrophic financial event in 1992 that became known as Black Wednesday, had said previously that he did not want his Open Society Foundations (OSF) to be taken over by any of his five children. Continue reading...

Officers didn’t secure Randy Cox when transporting him, and when vehicle braked suddenly he hit his head and fractured his spineA Connecticut man who was left partially paralyzed while in police custody last year has reached a $45m settlement with the city of New Haven.Last June, 36-year-old Randy Cox was arrested on charges of illegal handgun possession and was put into a police transport van without any seatbelts. Continue reading...

Half of an elevated portion of highway gave way while remaining lanes were ‘compromised’ by blazeAn elevated section of Interstate 95 collapsed early on Sunday in Philadelphia after a vehicle caught fire, closing the main north-south highway on the east coast and threatening to upend travel in parts of the densely populated north-east, authorities said.Transportation officials warned of extensive delays and street closures and urged drivers to avoid the area. Early reports indicated that the vehicle may have been a tanker truck, but officials could not immediately confirm that. The fire was reported to be under control. Continue reading...

Former attorney general who has largely broken with Trump ‘shocked by the degree of sensitivity’ of documentsDonald Trump’s former attorney general William Barr believes that the former president may be “toast” as he faces a sweeping indictment of 37 federal criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.Speaking to Fox News on Sunday following the release of the indictment, Barr, who served as the US attorney general under Trump from 2019 to 2020, said that he was “shocked by the degree of sensitivity at these documents and how many there were”. Continue reading...