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With China and Russia as its allies, the authoritarian regime is assembling a Middle Eastern coalition as Washington's influence wanesThe first of what may be many US-led air strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi Shia militants in Yemen marks another dismaying milestone on a long trail of western policy failures in the Middle East - the most pivotal and consequential of which remains the decades-old failure to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.The fact the US, backed by Britain, was obliged to use force in response to trade-strangling Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping reflects an unpalatable reality: Washington's political leverage is waning, its diplomacy ineffectual, its authority scorned. Undaunted, the Houthis vowed attacks would continue.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...

Critics condemn cruelty' of state opting out of federal problem to feed children from low-income families during summer breakMississippi is withdrawing from a federal program to feed children during their summer break from school, the governor there announced, characterizing the decision as a way to reject attempts to expand the welfare state".Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, declined to participate in the federal program that would give electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to low-income families to supplement food costs when academic classes are out of session, Mississippi Today reported. Continue reading...

The state has outsized influence due to its first-in-the-nation caucuses, but its position in the presidential nominating process has criticsIowans are set to brave subzero temperatures on Monday when they arrive at their caucus sites at 7pm to formally kick off the process to choose their nominee.In terms of pure numbers, the Iowa caucuses won't have much of a role in determining who the Republican nominee is. The state allocates 40 delegates in the Republican nominating contest, roughly just 1.6% of the more than 2,400 that are up for grabs. But that small total belies the outsized influence the state can have on US presidential politics. Continue reading...

As the international court considers claims of genocide, the question of intent seems moot. Just read the words of Netanyahu and his alliesIt always starts with words. Genocide is largely remembered for its depraved acts, but it is incubated in language. Words can cast dark spells on a population, stirring hatred in those who otherwise see themselves as moderate, humane, normal.This is why the genocide convention of 1948 criminalises direct and public incitement to commit genocide". Like Britain, Israel was a signatory nation and, two years later, it translated the convention into domestic law. There were four acts, it decreed, that leave the offender treated like a person guilty of genocide": one is incitement to commit genocide".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. Continue reading...

Grammy nominee, born Jason DeFord, who experieneed addiction before music career, says fentanyl killing the people we love'Saying he was once part of the problem" but now wants to be a part of the solution", the country singer Jelly Roll - who overcame drug addiction and imprisonment to achieve stardom - appeared before US lawmakers and urged them to pass an anti-fentanyl law.I've attended more funerals than I care to share with y'all," the musician who was born Jason DeFord recently told the Senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee. I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I've carried of people I love dearly, deeply in my soul. Good people, not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people." Continue reading...

Technology is no match for the human will, with all its potential for beauty, creativity and the possibility of making mistakes

He's the leftwing outsider who nearly became the Democrats' candidate for president - twice. As his position on the Israel-Gaza war threatens to upset his support, the veteran senator says he's tired but determined to fight the return of that bitter, humiliated man'Bernie Sanders sweeps into his state office in Burlington, Vermont, itching to get on with our interview. When I try to break the ice by asking the US senator how he is, he replies gruffly, Good," and motions with his outstretched hand for our conversation to begin.It's a Saturday, and Sanders is dressed in his casual weekend uniform of cream chinos, blue shirt and sweater, no tie. I'd been hoping the day would be so cold and crisp in Burlington, the idyllic college town which has been his home since 1968, that he'd be wearing the mittens captured in a cult photo of Sanders huddled against biting winds at Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration. The ones that launched a quadrillion memes and sent the US senator hurtling into the cyber stratosphere. I couldn't believe it, all I was doing was trying to keep warm!" he says, before breaking the bad news. Not only is he not wearing the mittens, I don't even know where they are." Continue reading...

At least 24 reports of adverse events related to products recalled in December but no illnesses confirmed linked to foods, FDA saysThe Quaker Oats Company has added two dozen additional types of granola bars, cereals and snack foods to a December recall over possible salmonella contamination.The company, which is owned by PepsiCo, announced the additional recall in the US and Canada on Thursday. Continue reading...

Letter accuses ex-president of intending to sow chaos' next week, while Trump ordered to pay New York Times nearly $400,000Donald Trump's legal woes continued to mount as a lawyer in an upcoming defamation case asked a judge to ensure the former president does not disrupt imminent legal proceedings - and, in a separate issue, he was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees to the New York Times.In the first of those two cases, a lawyer for E Jean Carroll - a columnist who last year won a $5m jury award against Trump for sexual abuse - urged a judge to take strong measures to ensure Trump does not sow chaos" when a new jury considers next week if he owes even more in damages. Continue reading...

President's son switches gears and says he will speak to Congress members seeking to impeach his fatherHunter Biden offered on Friday to comply with any new subpoena and testify in private before House Republicans seeking to impeach his father over alleged but unproven corruption, an attorney for Joe Biden's son said.If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorised impeachment inquiry, Mr Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition," Abbe Lowell wrote to James Comer and Jim Jordan, the Republican chairs of the oversight and judiciary committees. Continue reading...

Court agrees to consider challenge by coffee chain to judicial decision requiring it to rehire seven union activists in TennesseeThe US supreme court agreed to consider a challenge by Starbucks to a judicial decision requiring the world's largest coffee chain to rehire seven union activists in Memphis, Tennessee. A federal agency determined the workers were fired for supporting unionization.A lower court found that Starbucks - grappling with a wave of unionization across the United States - probably discouraged other employees from exercising their rights under US labor law by dismissing the workers, dubbed the Memphis Seven", in 2022. Continue reading...

Andrew Lyons and another sheriff's deputy shot at Twyman 34 times while he was inside his car in south Los AngelesA former Los Angeles sheriff's deputy who fatally shot an unarmed 24-year-old man in his car in 2019 was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Friday.Andrew Lyons, one of two deputies who fired a barrage of bullets at Ryan Twyman in a parking lot in south Los Angeles, pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority, said the district attorney, George Gascon. Continue reading...

Patrons at Zombie Burger in Des Moines can choose from the Meatball Ron, Mom-Aswamy Spaghetti and the Day One Dic-TaterA restaurant in Des Moines is gearing up for next week's Iowa Republican caucuses one burger at a time.On Friday, Zombie Burger unveiled its 2024 Iowa caucus specials that feature six items largely inspired by Republican presidential candidates including Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. Continue reading...

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Louis Wright freed in November after DNA ruled him out as perpetrator of child sexual assault in Michigan in 1988The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $1.75m to an innocent man who spent 35 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of sexual assault.Louis Wright was released in November after authorities said DNA tests ruled him out as the perpetrator in an attack on an 11-year-old girl in Albion, a small town in south-western Michigan, in 1988. Continue reading...

The Israeli PM's alliance with the far right made this case possible, and the result could be harmful to Jews all over the worldThere was so much history and so much tragedy in that room. For two days, ending today, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague witnessed a clash between two nations, each shaped by acts that live on in the global lexicon of good and evil.In one corner, South Africa, which only a generation ago emerged from apartheid, still the universal shorthand for the wickedness of racism. In the other, Israel, established just three years after the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews and the attempt to eradicate the Jewish people from the face of the Earth. In a global courtroom, those who bore the scars of those two great crimes - apartheid and the Holocaust - squared up against each other, as one accused the other of the gravest crime of all: genocide.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistJoin Jonathan Freedland at 8pm GMT on Tuesday 16 January for a Guardian Live online event. He will be talking to Julian Borger, whose new memoir, I Seek a Kind Person, reveals the story of his father's escape from the Nazis via an ad placed in the Guardian. Tickets available here Continue reading...

The attacks on ships in the Red Sea are only one manifestation of a regional conflict which won't easily be endedThe reality is that the war in Gaza has already spread through the region. The question is how far it extends and how intense it grows. Those involved are calculating and calibrating; they have in mind small blazes, rather than a regional conflagration. But their confidence that they can take containable risks may prove misplaced. Crises are feeding into each other, and the likelihood of missteps is rising.Thursday night's US and UK strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen were taken after diplomacy and threats failed to halt sustained attacks on commercialvessels in the Red Sea and the naval taskforce protecting them. They were not token measures - the US says it launched 60 strikes at 16locations, the UK that it hit two - but were intendedto re-establish deterrence and degrade military capability rather than destroy the Houthithreat. The US blames Iran - which supplies and enables but does not control the Houthis - for assistingthe Red Sea attacks. But neither Washington nor Tehran wants direct conflict. For Iran, it's better to allow the rest of the axis of resistance" to advance its position at minimal cost. Continue reading...

Man who was 19 when he carried out racist attack on Black customers at Tops supermarket in 2022 faces hate crimes chargesFederal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022.The US Department of Justice has opted to ask for capital punishment for Payton Gendron, 20, for federal hate crimes, according to a new court filing. He was 19 when he carried out a racist, murderous attack on shoppers in a majority Black area, devastating the upstate New York community. Continue reading...

Critics on left and right furious that president failed to seek congressional approval for strikes against Houthi militantsA bipartisan chorus of lawmakers assailed Joe Biden for failing to seek congressional approval before authorizing military strikes against targets in Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, reigniting a long-simmering debate over who has the power to declare war in America.The US president announced on Thursday night that the US and the UK, with support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Bahrain, had launched a series of air and naval strikes on more than a dozen sites in Yemen. The retaliatory action was in response to relentless Houthi attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since the start of Israel's war in Gaza. Continue reading...

JPMorgan Chase posts record annual profit as earnings season gets under wayCitigroup will cut 20,000 jobs by the end of 2026 after enduring a steep loss in the last quarter as it presses ahead with a sweeping restructuring.While chief executive, Jane Fraser, hailed 2024 as a turning point" for the American banking group, Mark Mason, its chief financial officer, acknowledged that job cuts are tough on morale" as he outlined the planned reductions. Continue reading...

Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, has said his country is at war' with drug gangs. Armed men stormed a TV station live on air, while prison guards were being held hostage and police officers killed, in a new wave of violence. The surge of violence promoted the president to issue a decree, designating nearly two dozen gangs as terrorist groups, authorising the military to neutralise' crime factions. Noboa, who was elected in October, promised to crack down on violent crime and vowed to build new maximum security prisons. This has led to retaliations from drug gangs who have made Ecuador a transit state for cocaine from neighbouring countries. Thousands are fleeing the country as a result

Agency head says the FAA will significantly increase oversight of Boeing after last week's cabin blowout incidentThe US's top air transportation regular, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will significantly increase oversight of Boeing, the agency said on Friday, with the head of the FAA saying they believe there are other manufacturing problems" at the company.The FAA will conduct a new audit of the Boeing 737 9 Max production line and its suppliers, the agency said in a statement, after a panel broke off an aircraft while in mid-flight, prompting a dramatic emergency landing on Friday. Continue reading...

Global Infrastructure Partners, whose portfolio includes Gatwick, sold to BlackRock in $12.5bn dealFrom the humble luggage tray to filters that mask smells at sewage plants, the sale of some of Britain's most pedestrian assets to the world's largest money manager is to bring a multimillion-dollar payday to a small clutch of little-known bankers.Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which boasts a $100bn (79bn) collection of companies including Gatwick airport and the Suez wastewater group, has been sold to the US investment firm BlackRock in a $12.5bn deal. Continue reading...

Lawsuit claims coffee chain procured materials from farms and cooperatives that have committed violations against workersStarbucks, the coffee chain that has long portrayed itself as an ethical business and fair employer, is being sued by a US consumer group that claims its image is a deception that hides multiple instances of labor and human rights violations in the making of its products.While the coffee giant has committed to 100% ethical" sourcing, the lawsuit claims it has instead misled the public by procuring materials from farms and cooperatives that have committed various violations against workers. Continue reading...

Special counsel Jack Smith and another judge have also been victims of swatting as they oversee other cases against TrumpThe bomb threat against the judge presiding over Donald Trump's New York trial for financial fraud that caused a frenzy on the day of closing arguments turned out to be yet another high-profile swatting" incident, police said.Police responded to the swatting - which involves calling in a fake threat to prompt a heavy police response - at the home of the judge, Arthur Engoron, in Nassau county, near New York City, ahead of a dramatic day in court on Thursday. Continue reading...

James Heappey has said that overnight airstrikes on targets belonging to Houthi rebels were in self-defence. The strikes are designed to deter and prevent the Houthis from launching more attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, which began in October in support of Hamas against Israel after the war in Gaza broke out in October. The strikes in Yemen killed at least five people and wounded six others, a Houthi military spokesperson said on Friday

South Africa has shed light on the desperate plight of Gaza with its case in The Hague. The stakes couldn't be higherThe powerful case brought by South Africa against Israel at the international court of justice under the genocide convention is a wake-up call for many western governments and media outlets that uncritically supported Israel's savage war. They should now reflect on the fact that they may have supported a genocide. South Africa's case marked the first time since 7 October 2023 that the story of Gaza and the Palestinians has been so powerfully told through official channels, piercing through propaganda and obfuscation. It is hard not to be overwhelmed.What has been remarkable about the last three months is the chilling disregard shown towards Palestinian civilian lives. Too many lazy talking points were used to enable so many in Europe and North America to look away, or worse, to justify complicity in what South Africa argues is a genocide, through their support for Israel both diplomatically and with arms supplies. Continue reading...

It shouldn't be controversial to expect equal treatment in education, employment and healthcare - whatever the size of your bodyI've been fat my whole life and in the early 2000s, I discovered fat activism. It opened my eyes to just how badly fat people are mistreated and subjected to widespread discrimination: in education, employment, and healthcare, just for starters. But many people of my liberal and progressive ilk simply haven't caught on: the kindness we preach doesn't seem to extend to people who live in larger bodies.It's not just my impression: hard data backs up how entrenched fatphobia remains in society. When it comes to race, skin tone, disability, age and sexuality, both conscious and unconscious bias against marginalised characteristics appears to be on the wane, according to research undertaken at the Harvard department of psychology. There is one notable exception: body size, which was the only form of unconscious bias that is actually increasing. And conscious bias towards larger people was found to be decreasing the most slowly of any of the categories investigated.Kate Manne is an associate professor at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University. Her books include Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women and UnshrinkingDo 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...

Instead of retaliating against the Houthi militia, the US and its allies should be pressing Israel to end its invasion of Gaza and accept a ceasefireEarly on Friday, the US and Britain launched military strikes against more than a dozen targets in Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia. The strikes were in response to more than 25 attacks by the Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea since November - a campaign instigated by the militia after Israel's invasion of Gaza.Western leaders, and especially the US president, Joe Biden, insist that they want to reduce the risk of the war in Gaza spreading to other parts of the Middle East. But the US-led air and naval strikes on Yemen are the most significant expansion of the conflict since Israel launched its devastating assault on Gaza after the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Instead of avoiding a wider war, the US and its allies are escalating regional tensions and adding fuel to a conflict that has already spilled over to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Red Sea. The conflagration could spiral out of control, perhaps more by accident than design. Continue reading...

The US and the UK have launched air and missile strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in an effort to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea. They said steps had been taken to minimise civilian casualties, partly by attacking at night, but it was unclear initially what damage had been done on the ground and the impact on the Houthi military and local population

Bill Belichick, who led the New England Patriots to a record six Super Bowl titles, has left the team after 24 seasons. 'He is the greatest coach of all time, which makes this decision to part ways so hard. This is a move that we mutually agreed that is needed at this time. What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated,' said Patriots owner Robert Kraft at a press conference on Thursday. Speculation had been swirling for some time about Belichick's future after the Patriots slumped to a 4-13 record in 2023, their worst season during his time with the team. ESPN reports that conversations between Belichick and Kraft about the coach's future took place this week and were cordial. They concluded with Belichick and the team making a mutual parting of ways.

Trump and his cronies are leaning into five splashy talking points about illegal immigration. But the facts are a bit differentTrumpist Republicans are using the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border of the US, as well as a surge of migrants seeking legal asylum, to threaten a government shutdown and no added funds for Ukraine.They're using five lies to make their case. Continue reading...

The presidential race kicks off in the midwest on Monday as Republicans pick their preferred nominee - here's what to knowThe 2024 US presidential election begins in earnest in Iowa on Monday, as Republicans in the midwestern state stage their caucuses, events through which their preferred nominee is selected. The process is hallowed but arcane. Here's an attempt to explain. Continue reading...

Lobby groups push for changes to Trump-era tax law they once hailed as grand slam'US corporations and their supporters in Washington are pushing aggressively to roll back tax policies they once endorsed, in a move that could return hundreds of billions of dollars to some of America's biggest companies.As congressional negotiators attempt to keep the government funded past 19 January, an agreement is emerging that ties the corporate tax breaks to an increase in support for vulnerable American families - an effort to make the deal more palatable for Democrats. Continue reading...

There are blockbuster matchups throughout the opening round of the playoffs. Who will advance to the NFL's final eight?They playoffs arrive with a super wildcard weekend packed with intrigue. The field is wider than ever after a rollercoaster regular season, any contender from the hobbled giants, plucky upstarts and surprise packages can make a case for a deep playoff run, all will believe they can live for another week until the league's true heavyweights, San Francisco and Baltimore, enter the fray. Continue reading...

New details emerge about 200 bodies found in October, including fluids, maggots and incriminating texts between ownersInvestigators who entered a Colorado funeral home where nearly 200 abandoned bodies were found encountered stacks of partially covered human remains, bodily fluids several inches deep on the floor, and flies and maggots throughout the building, an FBI agent testified on Thursday.Prosecutors also revealed text messages sent between the funeral home's owners showing they were under growing financial pressures and had fears that they would be caught for mishandling the bodies. As the bodies accumulated, one of the co-owners even suggested getting rid of them by digging a big hole and treating them with lye or setting them on fire, according to the texts. Continue reading...

Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is expected to plead not guilty to nine tax-related charges filed in DecemberHunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is accused of nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. His not guilty plea was expected. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden's son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty. Continue reading...

Club flyer says Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religion and does not attempt to convert children to any religious ideology'Children had a great time" at the first meeting of an after-school Satan club at a Tennessee elementary school this week, organizers said, despite dozens of protesters who condemned the meeting.On Wednesday, the After School Satan Club (ASSC), a federally recognized non-profit organization and national after-school program, held its first meeting at Chimneyrock elementary school in Memphis. Continue reading...

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The 2019 killing of the 20-year-old rapper raised scrutiny of Vallejo police department, which has a history of brutalityA California city has agreed to pay $5m to the family of a 20-year-old who was sleeping in his car when police approached and shot him 55 times in 2019.The city of Vallejo, north-east of San Francisco, said in a statement on Wednesday that the city council approved the payout to the relatives of Willie McCoy, an aspiring Bay Area rapper fatally shot by six officers in a case that sparked national outrage. McCoy was in his car at a Taco Bell on 9 February 2019 when the police arrived and quickly fired a barrage of bullets into his vehicle. Continue reading...

New York City emergency inspection discovers potentially dangerous conditions and issues order to vacateThe illegal tunnel discovered beneath the historic Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Brooklyn was found to have compromised the stability of several structures surrounding the house of worship, New York City officials said on Thursday.After city officials had to conduct an emergency inspection of the building earlier this week, an order to vacate was issued due to the potentially dangerous conditions of the other buildings. Continue reading...

This week's hearings at the international court of justice mark an important moment for humanitarian protection as well as GazaThe definition of genocide is simple: a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part. Its determination is much more complex. The legal threshold is high.Nonetheless, judges at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague could issue an interim ruling on the charges against Israel within weeks. A decision on which of the provisional measures requested by South Africa should be taken requires only that they find its case plausible, not proven, or that they believe there is a risk of genocide occurring. Resulting orders might not mean ordering a ceasefire, but restoring water supplies or punishing inciting statements. Continue reading...

With crossings opened for longer, water supplies restored and UN staff able to safely distribute food, we can limit the scale of this catastropheIt was heartbreaking to read the latest independent assessment of hunger in Gaza. The situation is desperate - and projected to get worse. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), nine out of every 10 Palestinians in northern Gaza may be eating less than one meal a day.With families displaced and sanitation close to nonexistent, disease and illness will spread. Almost 40% of Gaza's population is aged under 15. Death and despair haunt these children's lives. We all know we must act. The question is how.David Cameron is Britain's foreign secretary Continue reading...

Second recent case involving allegations of missing body parts from Alabama prisoners involves man whose brain was removedA man who died in the custody of Alabama's corrections department was reportedly returned to his family without his organs, including his brain.The news, which broke earlier this week, is the second recent case involving allegations of missing body parts from people in Alabama prisons. The US prison system has been widely criticized for its poor treatment of inmates. Continue reading...

Move comes after cabin panel blew off mid-flight and two airlines found loose parts on multiple aircraft of the same modelBoeing is facing a formal investigation into whether it made sure 737 Max 9 planes were in a condition for safe operation" after a cabin panel blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight.This incident should have never happened, and it cannot happen again," the Federal Aviation Administration said, announcing an investigation into whether the planemaker failed to ensure" the jets complied with safety regulations. Continue reading...