Politicians' glee about abortion becoming an electoral weapon contrasts with real-world consequences of bans, say advocatesAmy knows that a lot of people hate every candidate on the ballot this November.A nurse who's worked for more than a decade at Bread and Roses Women's Health Center, an abortion clinic in Gainesville, Florida, Amy has dealt with both patients and friends who feel so disillusioned about partisan politics that they don't want to vote at all in the 2024 elections. She gets it: the mere thought of the last few elections makes her grimace. Continue reading...
State's attorney general also appealing to allow new, majority-Black district to stand for November electionBlack Louisiana voters are working against the clock to keep a panel of conservative federal judges from blocking a new Black-majority congressional district from being in effect for the November election.The Louisiana state conference of the NAACP, advocating for that district, asked the US supreme court Wednesday to put on hold the order of the fifth circuit court of appeals, which on 30 April invalidated Louisiana's new congressional district map for the 2024 election. Continue reading...
With only 144 spots and an ever-growing talent pool, the WNBA may be the most difficult league to make in all of sports. For a rookie class led by Caitlin Clark, it'll be a whole new ballgameFrom the moment Caitlin Clark was tapped by the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick in last month's WNBA draft, the buzz surrounding the once-in-a-generation player from the American heartland has only redoubled.The 22-year-old from West Des Moines, who broke Pete Maravich's 54-year-old record to become the all-time leading scorer in major college basketball history earlier this year, is the bandleader of a sensational WNBA rookie class that has drawn millions of new fans to the women's game in recent months - and generated an unprecedented sense of excitement as the league's 28th season tips off on Tuesday night. Continue reading...
The former heavyweight and US Olympian has awoken from a coma after saving his parents from a fire that almost took their livesTHUD."On 13 March, Mark Coleman's eyelids jolted open, as his bedframe shook. His 11-month-old rottweiler, Lil' Hammer, cowered under the bed. Chronic nightmares had plagued Coleman since childhood, but it was his dog who woke him around 3am that morning. Coleman left his childhood bedroom - he was on an overnight stay visiting his parents - for a glass of water. Continue reading...
This verbal boxing match is great entertainment, but the real winners are the artists and label executives getting rich off the spectacleThe sight of two (or more) people tearing chunks out of each other is one of humanity's first and most enduring forms of entertainment. The sheer excitement, the intrigue, the unpredictability, the adrenaline rush, the bloodlust: who can resist? And in exchange for their courage, discipline and possibly even their lives, we reward our gladiators handsomely. It's payday for the poetic, profit-seeking, pride-protecting feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, easily the landmark competitive event of our time.Rappers are our modern gladiators (and poet laureates). And thanks to social media and the fact that every major media organisation worth its salt - the BBC, the New York Times, the Guardian - has dedicated prominent real estate to cover and contextualise the beef blow-by-blow, track-by-track, the world is their colosseum. Are you not entertained? Continue reading...
Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly interrupted the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, during a Senate hearing, calling for a free Palestine while raising their palms painted red.Austin confirmed that the US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns the country was approaching a decision to launch a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah
All 32 teams have been busy over the last few months. But which ones have significantly boosted their chances of success in 2024?Houston took a twin-track approach this offseason, trying to balance a championship window with maintaining future flexibility. After an unexpected playoff run, with the top two rookies in the league, oodles of cap space and no first-round pick, it would have been easy to toss money around like a nepo baby in Cabo. Continue reading...
At some deep level, the former adult film star clearly has his number and knows how to hit him where it hurtsThe spectacle of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom this week sent one back to the image of Trump's last female antagonist, E Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who famously sued Trump for sexually assaulting her, standing victorious outside another courtroom in January. Daniels, unlike Carroll, is not the plaintiff in this case. Nonetheless, Trump's fortunes rest, to a large degree, on her credibility, a 45-year-old former porn star who the New York Times described this week as a complicated and imperfect witness". If Carroll - elegant, measured, articulate - was the perfect victim, Daniels is practically the archetype of the woman court systems tend to revile. And yet, on the strength of her opening testimony, she strikes me as Trump's very worst nightmare.This impression is extrajudicial. Daniels, who has already been rebuked by the judge for straying off topic, may prove too wayward a witness to achieve what Carroll did: the civil case equivalent of a guilty verdict against a man almost supernaturally able to avoid them. If we are looking beyond verdicts to the public image, however, Daniels is in some ways by far the more menacing foe for Trump. You couldn't make up the details of her testimony this week, which sent court reporters scrambling to find sober ways to present her account of spanking Trump with a rolled up magazine and insisting on having sex with her without a condom. This is a woman willing to meet Trump at his preferred site of conflict - public humiliation - and on the evidence so far, he isn't weathering it well.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The brilliant center won his third MVP award on Wednesday night. But he has come up against a Minnesota team built to cause him problemsNikola Joki continues to wind his way into the inner circle of the greatest basketball players ever. The Denver Nuggets' otherworldly center won his third league MVP award on Wednesday night. He is just the ninth player to achieve that feat in the NBA, an achievement that usually ends with players - LeBron, Jordan, Magic, Wilt - becoming mononyms. Had Joki finished one place higher in the voting in 2023, when he finished second to the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, he would now be the only player to win the award four years in succession. Last year, he led the Nuggets, a historically mediocre franchise, to their first NBA championship.At this stage in his career, it is difficult to overstate Joki's excellence. The 29-year-old Serb is a marvel of consistency, dominating opponents nearly every time he takes the floor. He is a scoring wizard, a playmaking savant and a rebounding menace. He even makes his free throws at a rate of better than 80% each year while nailing about 35% of his three-pointers. In doing all of that, Joki answers the question, What if Shaquille O'Neal could shoot?" The 2015 second-round pick has gotten so mind-numbingly good that almost nobody even bothers to debate if he is the best player alive. By now, it is taken for granted. Continue reading...
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Associated Press photographers Ivan Valencia, Eduardo Verdugo, Felix Marquez, Marco Ugarte Fernando Llano, Eric Gay, Gregory Bull and Christian Chavez have been awarded a Pulitzer prize ($15,000) for their poignant photographs chronicling migrants and asylum seekers in their arduous journey from central and South America to the US border Continue reading...
Eighteen-year-old will be among delegates to officially nominate his father, Donald Trump, as candidate for upcoming presidential electionBarron Trump, who is former president Donald Trump's youngest son, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention, the state party chairman has said.Evan Power said the 18-year-old high school senior will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to July's national gathering, where the GOP is set to officially nominate his father as its presidential candidate for the November federal election. Continue reading...
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was at home in apartment when officers burst into wrong unit and shot him dead, family saysDeputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black US air force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was based at the special operations wing at Hurlburt Field, was in his off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach when the shooting happened on Friday. Continue reading...
Far-right congresswoman booed on House floor before chamber votes 359-43 to kill proposal to remove Johnson from postThe House easily quashed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's resolution to oust the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, on Wednesday, as members of both parties came together in a rare moment of bipartisanship to keep the chamber open for business.The vote on the motion to table Greene's resolution was 359 to 43, as 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats supported killing the proposal. Continue reading...
The California congressman co-wrote the Endangered Species Act, co-founded Earth Day and in his later years disavowed the GOPPete McCloskey, a pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day, has died. He was 96.A fourth-generation Republican in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt", he often said, McCloskey represented the 12th congressional district for 15 years, running for president against an incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972. Continue reading...
Administrators from New York City, Maryland and California disavow accusations of tolerating hate on their campusesSome of America's top school districts rebuffed charges of failing to counteract a surge of antisemitism on Wednesday in combative exchanges with a congressional committee that has been at the centre of high-profile interrogations of elite university chiefs.Having previously grilled the presidents of some of the country's most prestigious seats of higher learning in politically charged settings, the House of Representatives' education and workforce subcommittee switched the spotlight to the heads of three predominantly liberal school districts with sizable Jewish populations. Continue reading...
Panel heard from expert witnesses how Russia had means, motive and opportunity' for covert targeting of intelligence officersRussia has targeted and neutralized" dozens of US intelligence agents in recent years in a covert worldwide operation using sonic weapons, a House committee heard on Wednesday as it looked into the mystery phenomenon known as Havana syndrome.The panel heard from expert witnesses that Russia had the motive, the means and the opportunity" to enact the attacks on US diplomats and other government employees at embassies and other government outposts that left many with debilitating or career-ending brain injuries and hearing loss. Continue reading...
Sung Kook Bill' Hwang charged with racketeering conspiracy, fraud and market manipulation for alleged stock scheme in 2021Sung Kook Bill" Hwang arrived in court on Wednesday for the start of his criminal racketeering trial over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, facing charges that he and a deputy broke the law in a stock scheme that unraveled in just days in 2021.Hwang appeared in a dark suit and purple tie in the Manhattan federal courtroom for the first day of screening potential jurors. Continue reading...
Animal rights group says South Dakota governor is scarier than any horror movie villain' after admission of killing 14-month dogKristi Noem, the South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful, is scarier than any horror movie villain", the animal rights pressure group Peta said as it unveiled a Halloween costume inspired by Noem's stunning campaign-book admission that she once shot an untrainable" 14-month-old dog called Cricket.Anyone cruel enough to blow a rambunctious puppy's brains out instead of attempting to train her or find her a more responsible guardian is scarier than any horror-movie villain," said Ingrid Newkirk, president of Peta. Continue reading...
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, indicted over death of nursing student whose body was found in February after she was reported missingThe suspect in the killing of the Augusta University student Laken Riley, 22, has been indicted on 10 charges, including malice murder and kidnapping.Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, faces three counts of felony murder and several other accusations. Among the charges are new allegations that he intended to rape the student, and that he spied on a staff member at the University of Georgia on the same day Riley was killed. Continue reading...
Exclusive: legislation creates a program to cancel all existing patient debt and block creditors from collecting past medical billsTwo prominent progressive lawmakers, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and California congressman Ro Khanna, revealed on Wednesday a new bill aimed at eliminating medical debt.The bill, introduced with Oregon senator Jeff Merkley and Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, would create a federal grant program to cancel all existing patient debt and amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to block creditors from collecting past medical bills. The legislation would also update billing requirements for medical providers and alter the Consumer Credit Reporting Act to prevent credit agencies from reporting information related to unpaid medical bills, alleviating the risk of such debt damaging patients' credit histories. Continue reading...
Defense attorney in conspiracy case cites Guardian reporting in seeking police messages on activists opposed to training centerGeorgia's deputy attorney general said in court that he didn't think police in the state were using Signal to communicate about the law enforcement training center colloquially known as Cop City" - despite being presented, in a motion from defense attorneys, with evidence from the Guardian of law enforcement leadership ordering officers to download the encrypted phone app last year for that very purpose.Defense attorneys have been seeking the Signal messages from Atlanta police and other law enforcement agencies that may be relevant to their clients' cases from the deputy attorney general, John Fowler, since February, according to their 15 March motion. Continue reading...
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Appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge decision not to disqualify Willis over relationship with her deputyThe Georgia state court of appeals on Wednesday said it would consider an appeal from Donald Trump of an order allowing Fani Willis, the district attorney, to continue prosecuting his election interference case in Fulton county.In a one-page order, the appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge the decision not to disqualify Willis over her relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to lead the Trump case. Scott McAfee, the trial judge overseeing the case, ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade resigned. Wade subsequently resigned the same day McAfee issued his decision. Continue reading...
Third-party US presidential candidate says 2010 issue caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died'Robert F Kennedy Jr, the third-party candidate for US president, said a health problem he experienced in 2010 was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died", the New York Times reported.The startling words were contained in a divorce case deposition from 2012 the Times said it obtained. Continue reading...
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Princeton University students have been protesting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza since 25 April, their goal being to get the US university to divest from Israel. The Guardian spoke to some of the students and faculty at the encampment to hear their reasons for being there, and how they feel they have been portrayed by the media Continue reading...
About 99% of car-interior air samples contained at least one flame retardant considered a carcinogen or potential carcinogenThe use of flame retardants in auto interior seats pollutes the air in car cabins with the highly toxic chemicals, putting those who spend significant time in cars at the most risk, peer-reviewed research in the US has found.About 99% of car-interior air samples contained at least one flame retardant the government considers a carcinogen or potential carcinogen, and most show additional, similar flame retardants linked to reproductive disorders and neurological problems, including reduced IQ in children. Continue reading...
The school's student paper reported arrests as hundreds of Washington DC police dismantled the impromptu tent villageHundreds of Washington DC police, some deploying pepper spray, cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University early on Wednesday, in the latest clash between law enforcement and protesting students to sweep the US.The GW Hatchet student paper reported that at least a dozen people had been arrested as the impromptu tent village was dismantled in University Yard. The Metropolitan police department said the arrests had been made for assault of a police officer" and unlawful entry". Continue reading...
My day-to-day fashion style is that of an unmade bed. One attempt to smarten up had horrible consequencesI hate getting dressed up. Watching the Met Gala red carpet makes my legs go all itchy. As a child, getting dressed up entailed putting on trousers which had wool in them. And wool made me itch like hell. They'd be the same trousers I'd been forced into the last time I'd been dragged off, in an ecstasy of discomfort, to the wedding of a distant cousin. Alterations would be necessary. I'd stand there while my mum faffed away with pins, ignoring my wails of protest. They are PICKY, I would bleat. Even thinking about wool makes me itch like hell. Wool is my hell. In Room 101, all they'd have to do is put me in a tight-fitting, 100% wool boilersuit and their work would be done.Eventually, perhaps embarrassed by a child behaving as if he had fleas, action was taken. Silk linings were sewn into the cursed, itchy, picky, scratchy trousers to shield my little legs from the misery. This helped, but only up to a point. Merely knowing the wool was there made me itch. This Little Lord Fauntleroy, covertly clad in silk, would still move gingerly, aching for the moment he could take the bloody things off. Continue reading...
Spurred by 2022 Ticketmaster fiasco, law requires sellers to disclose all fees, prohibits sales of more than one copy of a ticketPeople buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protection under a so-called Taylor Swift bill" signed into law on Tuesday by the governor, Tim Walz.The law, prompted by the frustration a legislator felt at not being able to buy tickets to Swift's 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will require ticket sellers to disclose all fees upfront and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures. The law will apply to tickets bought in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other live events held in Minnesota. Continue reading...
Last night's membership vote is a step in the right direction, but this remains a closed, elite institutionBritain's old boys' club" suffered a blow last night. The Garrick Club - an exclusive gentlemen's club in central London and relic of some 19th-century fantasy of male dominance - voted to allow women to become members for the first time in almost 200 years. About 60% of the votes were in favour.
State auditor, tasked with managing tip line, has been swamped with hoax reports made to protect trans people from inquiriesTransgender activists have flooded a Utah tip line created to alert state officials to possible violations of a new bathroom law with thousands of hoax reports in an effort to shield trans residents and their allies from any legitimate complaints that could lead to an investigation.The onslaught has led the state official tasked by law with managing the tip line, the Utah auditor John Dougall, to bemoan getting stuck with the cumbersome task of filtering through fake complaints while also facing backlash for enforcing a law he had no role in passing. Continue reading...
Lawyers for former Trump attorney attempt to explain failure to meet accounting obligations in bankruptcy caseNobody seems interested" in helping Rudy Giuliani meet accounting obligations in his ongoing bankruptcy case, lawyers for the former New York mayor, presidential hopeful and Trump attorney said in a court filing on Tuesday.Unfortunately, the debtor originally had an accountant who was helping," the filing said. However, he had a change of heart and indicated that he no longer wished to help prepare the monthly operating reports. Continue reading...
As brick-and-mortar retail stores compete with e-commerce, chains are spending heavily to immerse customers in bespoke fragrancesWhen Dallas Pratt worked at an outpost of Aesop in an outdoor shopping mall outside Chicago, one of her and her co-workers' favorite ways of drawing in new customers was making a concoction they called sidewalk tea". They would put a few drops of scented lotion in a cup of hot water, and then they would pour it onto the slab of concrete outside the shop. As the water evaporated, the smell of the lotion would fill the air.It drew people in," Pratt tells me. They asked questions. They spent time." And, crucially, they bought stuff. Continue reading...
The US paused shipment of 3,500 bombs over fears they would fuel killing in Rafah, it has emerged. Plus, Ukraine says it foiled Zelenskiy assassination plot
The closer Nato hugs Ukraine, the more Putin is sure to brandish his nuclear arms, and the greater the risk he uses themFrustrated by the precarious state of Ukraine's war effort and the long delays in US aid, leaders in France and Britain have stepped up their promises to Ukraine in the last few days. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, repeated in an interview last week that he might send ground forces to shore up beleaguered Ukrainian defenses. Meanwhile, speaking in Kyiv, the British foreign minister, David Cameron, gave Ukraine the green light to strike into Russian territory, clearly signaling that the UK wants a more aggressive approach to the war.Their frustration is understandable, as is the temptation to get more directly involved in the war, with more powerful weapons and more guarantees of long-term backing for Ukraine. Perhaps with enough time and a lot more effort, and if Washington can maintain its focus amid all the crises bearing down on it, Ukraine could eventually regain its footing on the battlefield. It might then be able to start taking back some of the territory it has lost to Russia - perhaps in 2025, or maybe the year after that.Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where he directs the program on American Statecraft. He served as the US national intelligence officer for Europe from 2018-2021 Continue reading...
The veepstakes' see prominent Republicans discarding any last shreds of integrity to impress Trump. It's a grim omenKristen Welker, the moderator of NBC's Meet the Press, did her best to pin down Tim Scott last Sunday.Would the junior senator from South Carolina state that he will accept the results of the 2024 presidential election no matter who wins? Pretty basic stuff, you'd think, but apparently not.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Freddie O'Connell is leading his progressive city in a heavily Republican state with equanimity and a spirit of cooperationTennessee's legislative session concluded in late April with some laws that alarm liberals, such as a bill to arm teachers and school staff. But the relatively progressive city of Nashville emerged largely unscathed by the GOP-dominated legislature.In fact, Nashville's legislative fortunes improved markedly this term, with approval for a massive redevelopment project, created at the behest of the mayor, Freddie O'Connell, to accompany the construction of a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans across the river from the city's tourist-friendly downtown. Continue reading...
Red' Harris and Jovanna Gardne allegedly involved in murder of person cooperating in inquiry into over 100 staged truck accidentsTwo clients of a television stuntwoman-turned-attorney helped orchestrate the shooting death of another of the lawyer's clients who was cooperating with a federal investigation into their purported roles in an insurance fraud scheme involving more than 100 staged truck accidents, prosecutors allege in a newly obtained indictment.Ryan Red" Harris, 35, and Jovanna Gardne, 39, face charges of witness tampering through murder in the 2020 slaying of Cornelius Garrison in New Orleans, according to federal court filings unsealed Monday but arbitrarily withheld from public release by officials until Tuesday. Continue reading...
The center was a dominant defensive force at his peak but mental and physical problems took their toll while he was still in his prime playing yearsIt was Christmas Eve 2014 when Larry Sanders, the budding star center for the Milwaukee Bucks, knew it was over. The night before, his team had lost by seven points at home to a middling Charlotte Hornets squad and the Bucks' new coach, Jason Kidd, was angry. Milwaukee, who were hovering around .500, were slated to have the holiday off to spend with family but Kidd changed those plans and decided his roster should practice - as punishment. The players had to cancel flights and alert their family of the change - something, of course, they did not want to do. During the Christmas Eve practice, Sanders went full-on. He didn't lollygag but, peeved, he also didn't back away from engaging his coach in confrontation. Afterwards, while he was the last one left in the locker room, his body started to break down.I was cramping from my ears to my toes," Sanders tells the Guardian. Full body cramps." Continue reading...
The English-born left back is the latest MLS academy graduate to draw interest from Europe's elite clubsDown the years, it has been common for US Soccer to track young English talent who also hold American passports. From Fulham's Antonee Robinson to Milan's Yunus Musah, the US has benefited from players gaining an education across the Atlantic. But New York City's Christian McFarlane looks set to do the reverse, a sign of the growing influence of MLS academies.The left-back was born in England but moved to New York at three years old. Over the past 18 months, McFarlane has represented the USMNT and England at youth level, keeping his options open before committing to any one country. The 17-year-old also has the option of playing for Jamaica, but why complicate matters more? Continue reading...
Ending an unsafe relationship does not always end abuse. In my experience, it has only escalated the efforts to control and destroy meI left an abusive relationship almost a decade ago, but my abuser has kept a noose around my neck every day since.At the time we had four young children, including a 12-month-old baby. Continue reading...
The adult film star testifies in a hush-money trial that could land the ex-president and Republican frontrunner behind barsAt 10.30am Tuesday in a New York City courtroom, five words changed the course of American history: The people call Stormy Daniels."Daniels, now a household name, is an adult film actor at the center of a hush-money criminal trial that could land Donald Trump, the former president and present Republican presidential frontrunner, behind bars. Continue reading...
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