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Successive foreign governments plunged it into unpayable debt and left its citizens in penuryIn December 1914, the USS Machias dropped anchor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Eight US marines disembarked, sauntered to the Banque National de la Republique d'Haiti (BNRH), removed $500,000 worth of gold belonging to the Haitian government - $15m in today's money - packed it in wooden crates to carry back to the ship and thence to New York, where it was deposited in the vaults of the investment bank, Hallgarten & Co.The BNRH was Haiti's central bank. It was also a foreign private corporation. Originally set up in 1880 through a concession granted to a French bank, pressure from America brought in US investors. By 1920, the BNRH was wholly owned by the American National City Bank. Haiti's central bank it may have been but the Haitian government was charged for every transaction and the eye-popping profits spirited off to Paris or New York.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Mychal Threets' sudden rise to fame as a pusher of library joy' isn't over despite his exit from his job to focus on himselfMychal Threets has spent most of his 34 years in libraries - first as a homeschooled kid finding community and refuge in the world of books and then as an adult working as a librarian.I grew up in libraries, raised by libraries, loved everything about libraries," he said in an interview. It is a place where you can just be as you are, you can come on inside, you can take joy in that as an introvert [or] an extrovert." Continue reading...

Just as Britain gets the hang of cooking risotto, its future has been thrown into doubtI know, I know. How peak middle class to make mention of a risotto crisis; don't most of us have enough on our plates already without getting worked up about the cost of posh rice to boot? But at the risk of impaling myself with my own privilege - there it goes, clean through my Toast linen apron like an expensive Japanese knife - I'm going to jump in anyway, truffle grater in hand (I'm joking, I don't own a truffle grater). The bad news is that hard times lie ahead for Italian rice, and while I think this is a grave development for Italians, as for all Europeans, perhaps it's a particular sadness for we British, who came a bit late to risotto, and have only just started truly to get the hang of it.The trouble has to do with the climate crisis. Risotto rice varieties such as arborio and carnaroli are grown in the Po valley, a floodplain in the north of Italy where the challenge for farmers used to be to keep the water away. But now everything's topsy turvy. In 2022, the worst drought in 200 years struck the Po, the river that feeds the system of canals that irrigates the paddy fields. As a result, Italy lost 26,000 hectares of rice fields, and production of the grain dropped by more than 30%. Things haven't improved since. Last year, therewas again a drought, and a further7,500 hectares were lost. Some farmers are getting out, replacing rice with crops that require less water. Others are pondering the cultivation of other varieties of rice: grains that are hardier than carnaroli, but which are also less suitable for making risotto, which requires rice both to be super-absorbent and to maintain its texture after slow cooking. Continue reading...

Josh Pieters and Archie Manners posed as George', a Kensington Palace employee, in interview with former Fox News hostPranksters claiming to be a Kensington Palace employee fired over the Kate Middleton edited photograph fiasco say they duped former Fox News host Tucker Carlson into interviewing them for his streaming show.In a video posted on X that has already received more than a million views, Josh Pieters and Archie Manners explained how they concocted a story about being released by the Prince and Princess of Wales for not doing a good enough job" in manipulating a photograph of Middleton and her children that has stoked an international furore and endless conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

Despite Congress threatening to ban the Chinese-owned app, the service has unexpectedly been handed a presidential jokerLast week, the US House of Representatives, a dysfunctional body that hitherto could not agree on anything, suddenly converged on a common project: a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to an owner of another nationality, or else face a ban in the US, TikTok's largest market.American legislators' concerns about the social media app have been simmering for years, mostly focused on worries that the Chinese government could compel ByteDance (and therefore TikTok) to hand over data on TikTok users or manipulate content on the platform. A year ago, Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, told Congress that TikTok is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government - and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns". Continue reading...

A ceasefire on Russia's terms would embolden the tyrant to pick new targets for his expansionist aimsPope Francis's suggestion that Ukraine's leaders should admit defeat, find the courage to raise the white flag" and negotiate a halt to the war with Russia provoked justified fury in Kyiv and eastern Europe. He was wrong to say Ukraine is beaten, and gravely remiss in failing to condemn Moscow's illegal aggression and war crimes. Yet Francis is not alone in wondering how this conflict ends.Two years on, there's no sign of a winner. Maybe that's just as well, in the sense that outright victory for either side could be disastrous for all. Does this unheroic consideration tacitly influence the cautious approach of Kyiv's two biggest western backers, the US and Germany? If so, it makes the absence of a credible peace process all the more regrettable - and potentially very dangerous. Continue reading...

Democrat Chris Van Hollen says Biden must cease giving arms to Israel until it lifts restrictions on aid and does more to protect livesJoe Biden should use his leverage and the law to pressure Israel to change how it is prosecuting the war in Gaza, the Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen said.Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, is among a group of senators urging Biden to stop providing Israel with offensive weapons until it lifts restrictions on the delivery of food and medicine into Gaza, where children are now dying of hunger and famine looms. Continue reading...

Peter Navarro is appealing his conviction for contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate with the January 6 House inquiryDonald Trump White House official Peter Navarro appealed to the US supreme court on Friday to allow him to stay out of prison as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.Navarro is due to report to a federal prison on Tuesday after an appeals court ruled that his appeal wasn't likely to overturn his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the January 6 attack that Trump supporters aimed at the US Capitol in 2021. Continue reading...

Before Robert Card killed 18 last year, police had opportunity to seize his guns and place him in custody after several incidentsLaw enforcement should have seized a man's guns and put him in protective custody weeks before he committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting, a report found Friday.An independent commission has been reviewing the events that led up to army reservist Robert Card killing 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston on 25 October, as well as the subsequent response. Continue reading...

Lawmakers say they're on the warpath because TikTok's owner is a national security threat. Some users think the app has become a hub for progressive activismTick tock, tick tock ... that's the sound of time running out for Gen Z's favourite app. On Wednesday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill would require the TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or get banned in the US. It's not clear whether the bill would pass in the Senate. However, the White House has said it supports the legislation. All in all, things don't look great for TikTok. Continue reading...

Several employees at the federal correctional institution in Dublin have pleaded guilty to abusing female inmatesA judge called a California federal women's prison known for rampant sexual abuse against inmates a dysfunctional mess" on Friday as she ordered a special master to oversee the facility, marking the first time the Federal Bureau of Prisons has been subject to such an action.The situation can no longer be tolerated. The facility is in dire need of immediate change," wrote US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, adding that the Bureau of Prisons has proceeded sluggishly with intentional disregard of the inmates' constitutional rights despite being fully apprised of the situation for years. The repeated installation of BOP leadership who fail to grasp and address the situation strains credulity." Continue reading...

The adult film star - at center of hush-money payments in run-up to 2016 election - is featured in the new documentary StormyStormy Daniels, the adult movie star who received hush-money payments at the center of one of Donald Trump's pending criminal cases, says she is so tired" as she confronts the prospect of testifying against the former president, whose supporters have flooded her social media accounts with threats.I'm desensitized to some of it ... but I'm also tired," Daniels says in a new documentary premiering on Monday on Peacock, according to Slate, which reported viewing the film in advance. Like, my soul is so tired. And I don't know if I'm so much a warrior now as out of fucks, man. I'm out of fucks." Continue reading...

Republican presidential nominee can still undermine trust in US global leadership and is reminiscent of the GOP in the 1940sAmid the grandiose surroundings of the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich's historic old town, previously cautious and low-key German politicians were in such a state of alarm about future US commitment to Nato that they were discussing how Germany might acquire an independent nuclear deterrent, potentially overturning decades of national defense doctrine.The setting was the annual Munich security conference in April and the talk among statesmen and officials gathered in the Bavarian capital was dominated by the ad-libbed threat from Donald Trump days earlier to encourage Russia to do what the hell they want" with European alliance members supposedly derelict in paying for their own protection. Continue reading...

The state Republican party is undaunted by electoral defeats for those claiming voting is rigged - and election officials are bearing the brunt of their furyOn a glorious spring day in Phoenix, in an atrium beneath the majestic cupola of the old state capitol, the secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, is celebrating Arizona's 112th birthday.He solemnly recites President William Howard Taft's proclamation welcoming Arizona as the 48th state of the union. Speeches fete the state's breathtaking landscapes, from the mighty Grand Canyon to the sprawling deserts of Yuma and lush green forests of Coconino, then a cake iced with the state seal is cut into 112 pieces and devoured in the sun-dappled Rose Garden. Continue reading...

Who are these people? Why are they doing it? And would I look stupid holding a cigar? All were questions I needed to answerBritain's young people don't smoke cigarettes as much these days. Since 2011, smoking among teenagers has fallen steadily. Anecdotally, this rings true to me, and it is surely good. Smoking is, as you may have heard, bad for you.But a study published recently in the journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, that suggests something weirder is also going on with young people and tobacco. Apparently, the number of adults in England using non-cigarette tobacco products - things like cigars, pipes and shisha - increased from about 210,000 in early 2020 to a peak of just shy of 1 million in mid-2022, falling back to 773,000 by September last year. What struck me as truly strange, though, was that the most likely group to use these products is young people. About 3.2% of 18-year-olds were smoking these things in September 2023, up from 0.19% in 2013. By contrast, only 1.1% of 65-year-olds were doing so.Imogen West-Knights is a writer and journalist

Group of more than a dozen writers decry organization's inadequate response to genocide' being committed by IsraelMore than a dozen prominent authors and literary figures have withdrawn from PEN America's flagship World Voices Festival in protest of what they see as an inadequate response by the organization to the genocide" being committed against Palestinians by Israel in Gaza.The group of writers, which includes Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander, Hisham Matar, Isabella Hammad and Zaina Arafat, sent a letter to PEN America asserting it had betrayed the organization's professed commitment to peace and equality for all, and to freedom and security for writers everywhere" by failing to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war. Continue reading...

Measures target people convicted of driving without a license - which undocumented people can't obtain - or committing feloniesFlorida's governor signed bills Friday that increase the prison and jail sentences for immigrants who are living in the United States illegally if they are convicted of driving without a license or committing felonies.Ron DeSantis is a frequent critic of the Biden administration over its handling of the Mexican border, sending Florida law enforcement agents and national guard members to Texas. The Republican governor, who ended his attempt for his party's presidential nomination last month, has also flown immigrants who entered Texas illegally to Massachusetts and California. Continue reading...

Judge agrees to month-long postponement after Trump lawyers say they need more time to sift through newly released documentsA judge on Friday delayed Donald Trump's hush-money criminal trial until at least mid-April after the former president's lawyers said they needed more time to sift through a profusion of evidence they only recently obtained from a previous federal investigation into the matter.Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to a 30-day postponement and scheduled a hearing for 25 March to address questions about the evidence dump. The trial had been slated to start on 25 March. It is among four criminal indictments against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read our coverage on Fani Willis here:

Judge Scott McAfee allows Fulton county district attorney to continue as long as special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigns

Former Indiana governor and candidate for Republican nomination tells Fox News decision should come as no surprise'Mike Pence will not endorse for president Donald Trump, the man he served as vice-president for four years but whose supporters chanted for Pence to be hanged as they attacked Congress on January 6.It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year," the former Indiana governor and former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination told Fox News on Friday. Continue reading...

Christian R Basham spent his life as Mark Clemens, a building maintenance man, after police presumed he was deadA man suspected of child sexual abuse feigned his death by jumping off a Seattle-area bridge nearly two decades earlier - then spent the final years of his life under an alias and working as a Los Angeles apartment building maintenance man, according to authorities.The stunning truth about Christian R Basham surfaced after the Los Angeles county medical examiner's office investigated his 26 February death. Continue reading...

Manhattan prosecutors condemn former FTX chief's unmatched greed and hubris' and seek long sentence for $8bn fraud convictionSam Bankman-Fried should spend between 40 and 50 years in prison after being convicted for stealing $8bn from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, prosecutors said on Friday.His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people's money," federal prosecutors in Manhattan wrote. And even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong." Continue reading...

Resignation comes after judge handed down ruling capping off series of hearings that investigated Wade and Willis's relationship

The US president, Joe Biden, said the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer's concerns about Israel were shared by many Americans. Biden said: 'I'm not going to elaborate on his speech, he made a good speech and I think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans.'Biden made the remarks during a bilateral meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, after Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, said the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was an obstacle to peace. Israel's president and Netanyahu's Likud party criticised Schumer's comments and a state department spokesperson distanced the Biden administration from them

Scathing letter from White House counsel tells Republican Mike Johnson it is clear the House Republican impeachment is over'The White House's top lawyer has told House Republicans to give up on their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, calling the investigation a charade".The White House counsel, Ed Siskel, told the House speaker, Mike Johnson that it is clear the House Republican impeachment is over" in a scathing letter sent on Friday morning. Continue reading...

More than 40 Muslim, Palestinian and Arab American leaders and groups said meeting would whitewash' Biden's support of IsraelAhead of next week's primary in Illinois, more than 40 Muslim, Palestinian and Arab American leaders and groups in Chicago refused a meeting with White House officials, citing the US's continued funding of Israel's war on Gaza.In a letter sent to the White House on Thursday, the leaders said there was no point" in additional meetings when they had already made clear their demand for a permanent ceasefire to the Biden administration through prior discussions, protests and media interviews. We believe another meeting would only act to whitewash months of White House inaction followed by meek handouts. We are interested in serious action," they wrote in the letter. Continue reading...

Judge rules that Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of Trump, as long as a top deputy steps down

Attorneys say prosecutors diverted attention from evidence during grand jury proceedings into the death of Halyna HutchinsDefense attorneys for Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Thursday to dismiss a grand jury indictment against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the western movie Rust.The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on 21 October 2021 at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Continue reading...

Bernie Moreno, a hardline LGBTQ+ opponent running to face Sherrod Brown, seemed to seek men for 1-on-1 sex' in 2008 profileA former intern to Bernie Moreno, Donald Trump's endorsed candidate for US Senate in Ohio and a hardline opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, said he wrote as an aborted prank" a post on the Adult Friend Finder website in which Moreno appeared to look for young guys to have fun with" and men for 1-on-1 sex".I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago" in late 2008, the former intern, Dan Ricci, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press by Moreno's lawyer. Continue reading...

They're trapped in a deal they can't uphold, scrutinised by a nation of trolls who demand they live perfect, trouble-free livesKensington Palace, which remains in its private quarters the London residence of Prince William and Kate (for ever to be known as) Middleton, currently has an exhibition in its public rooms of Untold Lives", a medley of royal servants. If any of the tourists walking round on Thursday felt the piquancy of treading so close to a home Kate Middleton may or may not be in (for the first time since her marriage, probably, nobody can say for sure where she is), that didn't show on their politely interested faces.The opening portrait is of Bridget Holmes: 96 years old, carrying a mop in comedic representation of her role as a necessary woman" to monarchs all the way from Charles I to William III. Taking into account the different conception of childhood in the 1590s, when she was born, we can reasonably assume Holmes spent about 90 continuous years shovelling shit, her life remaining untold so that the story of kings could be told. Continue reading...

Chain of private members' clubs increases debt as it continues its international expansionSoho House, the private members' club popular with celebrities including Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner, Ellie Goulding and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has reported losses of $118m (92.5m) for 2023.The company, which has expanded from a single house" in London's Soho to 42 locations around the world, has lost money every year since it was founded by the restaurateur Nick Jones in 1995. Continue reading...

As disaster capitalists' text survivors with offers to buy their ruined homes, a land trust is trying to help residents keep themMere days after wildfires tore through Maui last August and leveled the historic town of Lahaina, community organizers warned that longtime residents were vulnerable to predatory land grabs.And they were right. As search and rescue teams painstakingly combed through the scorched ruins, traumatized survivors began receiving texts, voice messages, and letters from speculators and realtors offering to buy their burnt-out homes. Continue reading...

Independent lawmaker says it's time for workers to have a better quality of life with a 32-hour workweek without loss of payBernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to establish a four-day US working week.Studies and pilot programmes have shown that four-day workweeks can increase productivity and happiness. Given Republican control of the House and a Senate split 51-49 in favour of Democrats, however, the legislation stands little chance of success. Continue reading...

Could this national madness have been Meghan's revenge? Plus, questions about chafing and a vet bills shockPlease make sure you are sitting down before I break this news to you. The Princess of Wales edited a photo of herself and her three children. It is thought she used several shots taken by her husband, a bald man, and sort of mushed them together to make a slightly better one. As a result, millions died. Continue reading...

The new season kicks off on Friday night with the NWSL Challenge Cup. Our panel of writers deliver their verdicts on the MVP, champions and plotlines to watchVibrant, young players looking to make their mark on professional football. USWNT stars Trinity Rodman, 21, and Jaedyn Shaw, 19, will lead the frontline for Washington Spirit and San Diego wave respectively, while draft picks Ally Sentnor (No 1) and Savannah King (No 2) will bolster expansion teams Utah Royals and Bay FC. JR Continue reading...

The US Senate leader said Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace'. Plus, father of mass shooter found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

Millions of young Americans love the social media app - but it's alarmingly addictive and a national security riskImagine a world where America's foreign adversaries don't need spies or hackers to infiltrate our society or meddle with our democracy. Instead, they can deploy a far more insidious tool: a digital platform, addictive by design, that captivates its users and then mobilizes them to influence our democratic institutions.The scenario may sound farfetched, but something like that recently happened. Earlier this month, while the US Congress was considering a bill that would curtail TikTok's operations in the United States, the popular, Chinese-owned social media platform confronted its users with a kind of digital ransom note calling for political action. As the New York Times reported, TikTok's campaign sparked a deluge of calls to Capitol Hill, overwhelming some congressional offices and demonstrating the platform's political influence.Nita Farahany is the author of The Battle for Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology and the Robinson O Everett professor of law and philosophy at Duke University Continue reading...

The point guard is a talented prospect. But the French Federation of Basketball's ban on religious headwear means she cannot play in her hometown of ParisThe energy radiating from Diaba Konate is palpable, even over our transatlantic Zoom chat. The wide-smiling college star has dreamed of playing basketball in the States ever since she was a young girl. She moved to the US from France in December 2018 on a full scholarship from Idaho State University, later transferring as a junior to the University of California, Irvine.The 23-year-old point guard's collegiate highlights include averaging 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a junior, ranking among the top-30 in the nation with her free-throw percentage, and tying eighth in single-season school history with 63 steals. She also reached 1,000 points in her collegiate career after dropping a season-high 20 against UC Santa Barbara in February 2023. Continue reading...

With restaurants serving dinner until 1 am, we are outliers in Europe. But some are attacking calls for change as a loss of freedomSpain's employment minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Diaz, described the late opening hours of restaurants and bars, earlier this month, as madness". A country that has its restaurants open at one o'clock in the morning is not reasonable," she said. Hospitality industry figures and conservative politicians responded with outrage. The deputy prime minister thinks she lives in Sweden instead of Spain," a furious restaurant owner in Barcelona told El Pais, pointing out the late sunset in her city. That day, 6 March, the sun set in Stockholm at 5.29pm, and in Barcelona at 6.48pm. In Stockholm, restaurants typically close at 11pm; in Barcelona, restaurants and bars are allowed to open until 2.30am on weekdays, and until 3am at weekends.Spain is not Sweden in many ways. In 2022, in Sweden, the GDP value of a worker's hour was $75, compared with $53 in Spain, which is below the European average. GDP per capita is almost double in Sweden. The standard working week in Sweden is one hour longer than in Spain. Overall life satisfaction is higher in Sweden.Maria Ramirez is a journalist and deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain Continue reading...

Five years on from the massacre, the government is preparing to roll back gun reforms and progress to make New Zealand safer is falteringThe day before the fifth anniversary of a terrorist attack at my mosque, New Zealand's prime minister Christopher Luxon sent an email to the bereaved and survivors of the massacre in Christchurch, including me. Fifty-one Muslims were killed at Masjid al-Noor and at Linwood Islamic Centre during Friday prayers on 15 March 2019, and 40 were injured. In his note on Thursday, Luxon praised our strength, courage, compassion and dignity.The government is committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and secure," he wrote. We will ensure that lessons learned from these attacks continue to inform how we keep New Zealand safe." Continue reading...