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You want a middle-aged woman to run an ultramarathon or start a wellness empire? Can’t I just have a breakdown?There is good news for midlifers, so gird your loins for a flurry of off-brand optimism. Kicking off the list is a new prize for debut novelists over 50. “The reason we launched the award was to say to people over 50: yes, you too can be a shiny, sparkly, new writer – just older,” said Lisa Highton of Jenny Brown literary agents, who launched the award. I am delighted, because it will add new literary later bloomers to my carefully memorised list: Penelope Fitzgerald (first novel published at 60), Raymond Chandler (51) and Annie Proulx (56). It looks less impressive every year I still don’t write a novel, so new blood is welcome.It’s heartening to see more recognition that while life might have stopped you from making that cursed Granta Young Novelists list, this might make your writing richer and more exciting – although nothing short of a full transfusion of virgin’s blood in a Swiss clinic could achieve “shiny, sparkly” for me. This year’s Women’s prize shortlist offers further evidence of that, with five out of six nominees over 50. Continue reading...

Financial help is available to small businesses – but this funding is competitive, time-consuming and difficult to receiveThe Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, has been warning for some time that it takes time for interest rate rises to filter through to the real economy. Well, here we are.Since March, 2022 the Fed has increased its federal funds rate – the rate it charges to its member banks to access money – from 0.25% to 5%. That’s a 20-fold increase in just a year. The Fed meets again this week – and may raise rates again. Continue reading...

Joe Biden, the oldest president in US history, joked about his age as he addressed the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner. The president earned a big laugh when he said: 'They say I’m ancient; I say I’m wise. They say I’m over the hill; Don Lemon would say, "That’s a man in his prime".' The CNN host Don Lemon was fired last week after a series of missteps including remarks about the Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Biden also poked fun at the media, especially Fox Corp’s settlement of a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m. 'It’s great the cable news networks are here tonight. MSNBC, owned by NBC Universal. Fox News, owned by Dominion Voting Systems.' For all the comedy, Biden also used his speech to issue forceful denunciations of attacks on press freedom and called for the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia since March.

In the past few years I’ve been forced to confront my competing desires: the thrill of chaos or the comfort of securityI started therapy last spring, and was briefly worried that my therapist and I were too demographically similar and might run into each other at a bar – a concern based entirely on his beard and shoe choices. I got around this by aggressively refusing to absorb even the most irrelevant personal information about him. Once, I rhetorically said: “I don’t know what it’s like where you’re from …” and he pleasantly replied: “London!” and I went blank and stared out the window as I tried to forget this personifying detail.Once I had managed to flatten him in my mind into a benevolent inhuman listening machine I took to the process, but if anything, therapy has made the concept of happiness feel even more distant than it did in the past. Before, I could at least tell myself I was too lazy and stupid to build the life that would give me happiness. But in this past year, I have begun to understand how nebulous and elusive a notion it really is.Megan Nolan is an Irish writer based in London. Her novel Ordinary Human Failings is published on 13 July 2023Do 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...

Bigotry against minority groups based on sexual orientation or gender identity is a way fascism takes rootFor a second week, Montana Republicans have blocked Democratic transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from participating in a debate over proposed restrictions on transgender youth.Zephyr, a first-term Democrat from Missoula and the first openly transgender woman elected to the Montana legislature, hasn’t been allowed to speak on the state house floor since last Tuesday, when she told Republican colleagues they would have “blood on their hands” if they banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.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...

Gas giant New Fortress Energy’s cars would have taken a route from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, hauling its explosive cargoThe Biden administration’s transportation department has denied a special permit request from gas giant New Fortress Energy that was needed to run up to 200 liquified natural gas “bomb train” cars daily from north-east Pennsylvania to a New Jersey shipping terminal.The proposal’s opponents warned prior to the recent East Palestine wreck that a derailment would likely result in a catastrophe, and those fears were amplified in the Ohio train disaster’s wake. Continue reading...

Democrats center abortion rights in early stages of presidential campaign while Republicans waver over unpopular positionHours after Joe Biden announced his re-election campaign on Tuesday, his vice-president and 2024 running mate, Kamala Harris, delivered a fiery call to action for voters alarmed by the loss of constitutional protections for abortion.“This is a moment for us to stand and fight,” she said to a packed auditorium at Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington and her alma mater. To the “extremist so-called leaders” rolling back access to reproductive rights, Harris warned: “Don’t get in our way because if you do, we’re going to stand up, we’re going to organize and we’re going to speak up.” Continue reading...

The 80-year-old US president chooses annual address to have some fun with a crucial voter concern, mixed with digs at Don Lemon and Fox NewsAge shall not weary him, but it might provide some good punchlines.Joe Biden, the oldest president in American history, faced his biggest political liability with a smile on Saturday as he addressed a gathering of Washington’s political and media elites. Continue reading...

Republicans are already targeting Biden’s vice-president with attack ads. The 2024 election race is her chance to show she’s a winner – and the conventional wisdom is wrongBeing vice-president of the United States is not much fun, or so it often seems from the outside. All the trappings of power are present: high-profile events, free foreign travel, big limos, secret service protection and a turreted mansion in the grounds of Washington’s Naval Observatory.But the job itself is a cemetery from which few escape with their political lives. Indeed, attending funerals is in the job description. The incumbent is forever overshadowed by the president of the day, blamed for his blunders, given thankless tasks to perform. Continue reading...

US president says he is ‘working like hell’ to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia on espionage chargesJoe Biden has praised the “absolute courage” of Evan Gershkovich, the US journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges, and reiterated calls on Moscow for his immediate release.The US president said the Wall Street Journal reporter, who is the first correspondent since the cold war to be detained in Russia on spying charges, sought to “shed light on the darkness” of the country and said American efforts to get him home would not cease. Continue reading...

Permissive self-defense and gun laws spotlighted by recent shootings in which victims approached gunmen by mistakeWaldes Thomas and Diamond Darville were driving for the grocery delivery service Instacart near Miami in mid-April when they drove the order up to the wrong address.Thomas, 19, and Darville, 18, reportedly told authorities they were backing away from the home when the owner emerged with his son, grabbed on to the driver’s window and fired a gun three times at their car. Antonio Caccavale, who didn’t hit anyone, later reportedly claimed to police who investigated the encounter that he shot because he feared for his and his son’s lives as Thomas and Darville’s car ran over his foot and struck a boulder. Continue reading...

A new lawsuit against its former boss does not involve the bank, but awkward questions may be asked at this week’s AGMBarclays could be forgiven for thinking it was out of the woods after parting ways with its chief executive, Jes Staley, in 2021, amid regulators’ concerns over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.At the time, the board – which had already backed the boss over a separate whistleblower scandal in 2018 – seemed assured by Staley’s account of events. The bank even expressed disappointment over his departure as he prepared to challenge a (yet-to-be-released) UK investigation into the way he had characterised his ties to the disgraced financier. Continue reading...

White House announces offenders to be moved to home confinement and they will not have to pay remainder of finesPresident Joe Biden has ordered the federal prison sentences of 31 people to be reduced, punishments which were given to them after nonviolent drug-related convictions.In an announcement released on Friday, the White House revealed that those whose sentences were commuted would be under home confinement until a 30 June expiration date for their respective punishments. The plan is for them to then be on supervised release, with the duration of that based on their original sentence. Continue reading...

No wonder new parents are at sea over the conflicting information on everything from what to eat to the ‘best’ way to give birthMy wife and I are expecting our first child later this year. We’re going through the gamut of emotions common to all new parents – a heady mix of excitement, terror, and above all a huge and ongoing dose of extreme confusion. In the decades that I’ve been alive on this earth, I’ve never before been confronted with so many choices for every decision, nor a more diverse array of advice on what to choose.As something of a scientific factchecker, this plethora of parenting options has been a really fascinating adventure for me into how complicated the evidence often is for the advice that new parents get.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Police are searching for suspect in after shooting in Cleveland, in which one of the victims was an eight-year-old childAfter neighbors complained about the noise he was making, a Texas man went next door with an AR-15-style rifle and shot them, killing five people – including an eight-year-old child – as well as wounding three others at a home in Cleveland, Texas, on Friday night.Law enforcement patrolling the community more than 40 miles outside of Houston were searching for Francisco Oropeza, 38, who had been intoxicated and fled the scene, the sheriff of San Jacinto county, Greg Capers, told reporters on Saturday. Continue reading...

My mother’s contribution to perhaps the most overlooked British folk art of the past 90 years: the canvas-work church kneelerIt’s probably too soon to suggest, as the Rev Richard Coles recently did, that Elizabeth Bingham’s Kneelers is the best non-fiction book of 2023. But, like him, I’m a little in love with this guide to the most practised (and overlooked) British folk art of the past 90 years. Bingham is an authority on Anglican church canvas-work kneelers, and in her lovely book she traces their history from their beginnings in 1930s Winchester, through their zenith after the coronation of Elizabeth II, to the present day, in which a dedicated few keep the tradition alive.Kneelers celebrate and memorialise every aspect of life, not only the religious – though Bible stories do feature, if you’re in the market for a tapestry of Jonah and the whale – and this makes them both touching and surprising. My favourites so far: a grey whippet (St Peter and St Paul, Deddington); a Second World War ARP warden fighting a fire (St Mary Magdalene, Woodstock); Sizewell nuclear power station in the sunshine (St Edmunds, Southwold). Continue reading...

Erick Aguirre arrested on count of murder after allegedly shooting Elliot Nix while on a date at Texas burger restaurantWhat started as a date at a Texas burger joint earlier this month ended with one of the participants going to jail after allegedly murdering someone else over $40 and carrying on with the rest of the date as if nothing happened, according to authorities.Erick Aguirre, 29, stepped away from a dinner date he had with a woman to grab a pistol from his car and shoot 46-year-old Elliot Nix dead after Aguirre learned from a restaurant employee that he had been scammed by a parking attendant, investigators have said. Continue reading...

A Lakers team given only a 0.3% chance of making the playoffs a few months ago has the look of a deadly serious contender in a wide-open Western Conference after toppling the Grizzlies“Do you ever amaze – or surprise – yourself?” LeBron James was asked following the Lakers’ thrilling Game 4 overtime win in Los Angeles on Monday, which gave the team a commanding three-games-to-one lead in their first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. “Yup,” James replied succinctly. Indeed, recording his first ever 20-point, 20-rebound game on one fully functioning foot, at age 38 (making him the oldest player to ever do so), and in the playoffs no less, was pretty amazing.But seeing James and the rest of his Lakers cohort topple the odds can hardly continue to be considered a “surprise”. It’s what they’ve been doing all year long: clawing back from an abysmal 2-10 start to an above-.500 finish, and ending a tumultuous regular season – which many believed would have James’ breaking of the scoring record in February as its sole highlight – as the No 7 seed in the Western Conference. Continue reading...

Greg Guidry gave thousands to archdiocese before ruling in favor of New Orleans church in case involving nearly 500 clergy sexual abuse victimsA federal judge overseeing a bankruptcy filing from the US’s second-oldest Roman Catholic archdiocese has recused himself from the case amid scrutiny of his donations to the church as well as his close professional relationship with an attorney representing archdiocesan affiliates in insurance disputes.Greg Guidry, who was appointed to the judicial bench at New Orleans’s federal courthouse by the Donald Trump White House in 2019, issued an order after 8pm on Friday recusing himself from a role handling appeals in a contentious bankruptcy involving nearly 500 clergy sexual abuse victims. Continue reading...

The self-help author is less an outsider, more a no-hoper in the 2024 White House race but Democrats should study her appealMarianne Williamson, the self-help author who is making her second bid for the presidency, has a history of saying things that can be characterized as either “deranged” or “quirky” depending on how charitable you’re feeling. Some of her greatest hits include: Continue reading...

The move to a costly and experimental hand-count system comes as half the workforce is readying to strike over wagesIn Shasta county, a deep red enclave in far northern California, officials are intensifying their push to replace voting machines with a costly and experimental hand-count system that could cost an additional $4m over two years.The decision of the far-right majority on the region’s governing body, the Shasta county board of supervisors, to press ahead with the controversial plan comes as half the county’s workforce is preparing to strike over wages. Officials on the board recently said the county did not have enough money to pay requested wage increases for workers. Continue reading...

Dillon Reeves, a seventh-grader in the US, regained control of a school bus that was on the verge of crashing after the driver passed out, as he and other students travelled home from a day of classes at Carter middle school in Warren, north of Detroit. Reeves went to the front of the bus after he noticed the driver had lost consciousness, then stepped on the brakes and steered away from traffic to bring the vehicle to a stop

Suspension comes after 12 soldiers die within a month in two crashes in Alaska and KentuckyThe US army has grounded aviation units for training after 12 soldiers died in helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky in the last month.The suspension was effective immediately, with units being grounded until they complete the training, the army spokesperson Lt Col Terence Kelley said. Continue reading...

An ex-Marine turned analytics wonk is using biomechanical data to help teams find the NFL draft’s diamonds in the rough

The death of a K-pop star has focused minds again on the young people struggling to cope in this hyper-competitive societyBefore I moved to South Korea, 12 years ago, I hadn’t really come across suicide in my social life. Now, every year I hear of friends, or friends of friends, taking their own lives. The recent suspected suicide of K-pop star Moonbin has focused minds yet again on this problem – one which is far from limited to the entertainment industry, but is a full-blown social crisis affecting Koreans of all ages and backgrounds. However, it is young people in particular who are bearing the brunt.So what is going on?Raphael Rashid is a Seoul-based freelance journalist and author of The Korea We Refuse to SeeInternational helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.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...

Jurors in the New York rape trial heard this week of how Trump’s alleged attack led to pain behind the public selfFor decades, America saw one face of E Jean Carroll.The sophisticated Elle magazine advice columnist, who was nominated for an Emmy while writing for Saturday Night Live, was pictured at New York media parties or found shopping for “treats” for herself on Fifth Avenue’s luxurious department stores. Continue reading...

Former New York City mayor reveals voter suppression tactics from 1993 election to Steve Bannon and Kari LakeFormer New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has admitted to a “dirty trick” that his campaign used to suppress the Hispanic vote during the city’s 1993 mayoral race.On Tuesday, Giuliani revealed his voter suppression tactics to the far-right Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon and Arizona’s defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake during a discussion on his America’s Mayor Live program. Continue reading...

As Biden formally launches his 2024 bid and Trump chalks up endorsements polls show voters have little appetite for a replayIt is the envy of the world for its diversity and vitality. Yet America appears on a likely course for a presidential election between a white man in his 80s and a white man in his 70s. And yes, they’re the same guys as last time.Joe Biden, the 46th president and oldest in history, this week formally launched his campaign for a second term in a video announcement. The 80-year-old faces no serious challenge from within the Democratic party and told reporters: “They’re going to see a race, and they’re going to judge whether or not I have it or don’t have it.” Continue reading...

If the king wants to be a moderniser, he won’t let hard-pressed UK taxpayers pick up the bill for this self-serving traditionAnd so here we are: days away from the coronation of Charles III. Along with much of the population, I will not be celebrating. A YouGov poll this month revealed that 64% of us don’t care very much or care at all about the event, while only 9% care a great deal.I do care, perhaps not for the same reasons as that small minority of Britons, but because it is estimated that the whole event will cost up to £100m and – in line with self-serving royal traditions in this country – the bill will be picked up by the taxpayer, not the super-rich royals. Continue reading...

Seventh-grader Dillon Reeves of Carter middle school in Warren, north of Detroit, took steering wheel and brought vehicle to safetyA community in Michigan is heaping praise on to a seventh-grader who regained control of a school bus whose driver lost consciousness and was on the verge of crashing, according to officials.Dillon Reeves was on a bus taking him as well as other students home from a day of classes at Carter middle school in Warren, just north of Detroit, when the driver began to feel dizzy and passed out, said a statement from the local education system’s superintendent. Continue reading...

Images show president plus Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and advisers focused on Afghanistan operation that killed al-Qaida leaderAlmost exactly 12 years to the day since Barack Obama authorised the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, a cache of previously unseen pictures of events in the White House around the raid was obtained by the Washington Post.The images of Obama, his vice-president, Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and key military and civilian advisers underscored the high stakes of the operation, the tension as US special forces carried out the mission, and celebrations of its completion. Continue reading...

The measures signed into law by the governor aim at quelling suicide rates, youth violence and mass shootingsColorado’s governor signed four gun control bills Friday, a significant move in a state with a long history of mass gun violence, including a shooting last fall at an LGBTQ+ nightclub that left five people dead.The legislation comes as states across the US struggle to confront a nationwide surge in violent crime and mass shootings, and a recent supreme court ruling that expanded second amendment rights. Continue reading...

Move comes as Federal Reserve report admits it failed to take ‘forceful enough action’ before Silicon Valley Bank collapseThe US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is preparing to place First Republic under receivership, Reuters reported on Friday, as the worst banking crisis since 2008 continued to hammer mid-sized US banks.The California-based bank looks set to be the third such financial institution to collapse this year, following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature in March. Continue reading...

US supreme court justice, who wrote Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe, denies claims he was responsible for leak in draft formSamuel Alito said the decision he wrote removing the federal right to abortion made him and other US supreme court justices “targets of assassination” but denied claims he was responsible for its leak in draft form.“Those of us who were thought to be in the majority, thought to have approved my draft opinion, were really targets of assassination,” Alito told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday. Continue reading...

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UN’s arbitrary detention group calls for immediate release of Palestinian Abu Zubaydah, saying detention has no basis in lawA UN body has declared that the detention of a long-term Guantánamo inmate, Abu Zubaydah, has no lawful basis and called for his immediate release, warning that the systemic deprivation of liberty at the camp may “constitute crimes against humanity”.The UN working group on arbitrary detention (UNWGAD), also declared the UK, among other countries, was “jointly responsible for the torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of Mr Zubaydah” over his more than 20 years in detention. Continue reading...

Rocky Hanna is accused of ignoring Florida governor’s directives in latest move against those who oppose Republicans’ politicsFlorida officials are threatening to revoke the teaching license of a school superintendent who criticized the governor, Ron DeSantis.The educator is accused of violating several statutes and DeSantis directives and allowing his “personal political views” to guide his leadership. Continue reading...

As a young navy lawyer, the Republican was posted to the notorious prison camp. What he did there – and his role in the investigation of three deaths – remains controversialIn the middle of a June night 17 years ago in the Guantánamo prison camp, guards and medical orderlies were urgently summoned to one of the inmate clinics, where an emergency was unfolding.Two inmates, Ali Abdullah Ahmed and Mani Shaman al-Utaybi, had been brought in dead. A third, Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, had been rushed to the hospital on the US naval base but was declared dead there soon afterwards. The three men were found hanging from their necks, with their hands and feet bound and rags in their throats. Continue reading...

Officials named remains as those of Claude Russell Pensinger, who disappeared on fishing trip in 1998Nevada officials have identified remains found in Lake Mead as those of a Las Vegas man missing for 25 years, the latest development in a quest to identify a series of bodies discovered in America’s largest reservoir last year.On three different days last summer, visitors at a beach on the lake discovered skeletal remains along the shoreline. The Clark county coroner’s office announced on Thursday that those remains belonged to the same person, now identified as as Claude Russell Pensinger, who disappeared on 14 July 1998 at the age of 52. Continue reading...

Pair say ‘peaceful political expression’ has been censored but phrase is used by conservatives as code for insulting Joe BidenTwo students in Michigan have filed a lawsuit against their school district after they were banned from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts.The slogan is widely understood as a coded euphemism for a profane curse towards Joe Biden and is popular with conservatives. Continue reading...

Ettore Lacchei, 79, arrested and charged with first-degree murder over death of William Martys, 59, in Antioch, north of ChicagoAn Illinois man using a leaf blower in his yard was killed by his neighbor, local television reported.William Martys, 59, was reportedly using his leaf blower in his yard in Antioch when his neighbor, 79-year-old Ettore Lacchei, got into an argument with him then shot him in the head. Continue reading...

Furious viewers flee to other conservative networks as Brian Kilmeade tries to take the place of network’s ex-most popular hostThere were a lot of questions floating around after Fox News unceremoniously dumped rightwing firebrand Tucker Carlson on Monday morning.Among them: can the conservative news channel effectively replace its most popular host, a grievance-filled firebrand who drew in more than 3 million viewers every night? Continue reading...

Exxon’s profits in first three months of year rise to $11.34bn while rival Chevron also beats forecasts to record $6.57bn profitExxonMobil reported a record first-quarter profit on Friday that was more than double a year ago and topped Wall Street estimates as rising oil and gas output overcame a pullback in energy prices from high levels.Net profit rose to $11.43bn, compared to $5.48bn a year ago that included a $3.4bn after-tax writedown to exit Russia. Continue reading...

President’s team ‘needs her to be strong’, official says, as Biden seeks to counter Republican criticism that he is too old to runAs Joe Biden seeks to conquer public concern he is too old to run for and complete a second term in office, the White House is reportedly planning to boost support for Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, in the face of increasing Republican attacks.An unnamed source “familiar with conversations inside the White House” told NBC News: “They need her to be strong. They know she is a target, and the attacks have always been intense, and the ante is going to be upped. So they want to make sure she is on the best possible footing.” Continue reading...

Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have both been accused of ethics violations – and John Roberts refuses to discuss the matter with CongressIt was a short letter. John Roberts, chief justice of the US supreme court, was brief in his missive to Democratic senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate judiciary committee. Citing “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence”, Roberts declined to appear before the committee to discuss disturbing recent revelations of ethics violations at the court.Congress is meant to exert checks on judicial power – to investigate or even impeach judges who abuse their office or interpret the law in ways that violate its spirit, and to affirm that the elected branches will hold more sway over policy than the appointed one. But the chief justice’s show of indifference to congressional oversight authority reflects a new reality: that there are now effectively no checks on the power of the court – at least none that Democrats have the political will to use – and that the justices can be assured that they will face no repercussions even if they act in flagrant violation of ethical standards. It seems that they intend to.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...