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The three-time Grammy winner appeared at the White House to perform his new, pro-Ukraine song – which has a cameo from ZelenskiyWearing white cowboy hat, black suit and black tie, country singer and guitar virtuoso Brad Paisley strode on stage in the East Room of the White House before a bipartisan audience.It was a Saturday night and, fittingly, he began the 40-minute set playing his hit song American Saturday Night – but with an amended lyric. “I had to change the second line because it mentioned Russia, and I don’t do that any more,” he explained.

Proposed class-action lawsuit claims bank failed to reveal how rising interest rates made it ‘particularly susceptible’ to failureSVB Financial Group and two top executives have been sued by shareholders over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, as global stocks continued to suffer on Tuesday despite assurances from US president Joe Biden.The bank’s shareholders accuse SVB Financial Group chief executive Greg Becker and chief financial officer Daniel Beck of concealing how rising interest rates would leave its Silicon Valley Bank unit “particularly susceptible” to a bank run. Continue reading...

Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines, a major step aimed at countering China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. The first of the new vessels are expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in the early 2040s

Stock markets fail to be reassured by Joe Biden’s intervention, as SVB failure is followed by Signature

Anthony Albanese joined US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Rishi Sunak to announce an Aukus agreement in San Diego that 'represents the biggest single investment in Australia's defence capability in all of our history,' Albanese said. The first Australian-built nuclear-powered submarines, fitted with vertical launch systems to fire cruise missiles, are due to enter into service in the early 2040s

Senate Republican leader fell and was injured last week, and will now receive physical therapy at inpatient rehabilitation facilityMitch McConnell was released from the hospital on Monday after the Republican leader of the Senate received treatment for a concussion, and he will continue to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, a spokesman said.McConnell’s office said his doctors discovered over the weekend that he had also suffered a “minor rib fracture” after he tripped and fell at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

Ex-president’s remarks come after his former vice-president said that history will hold Trump accountable for the violenceDonald Trump on Monday responded to Mike Pence’s contention that history will hold him accountable for the January 6 attack on Congress, saying the deadly attack was his former vice-president’s fault.“Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with January 6, so in many ways you can blame him for January 6,” Trump told reporters on a flight to Iowa for a campaign appearance. Continue reading...

Since Christmas the state has faced an exceptionally wet winter after being plagued far more by drought in recent yearsCalifornians are bracing for the arrival of another “atmospheric river” storm on Monday after a weekend of heavy rainfall and flooding forced thousands to evacuate, washed out roads and knocked out power.Rains are expected to ramp up on Monday night, and “impact increasingly sensitive portions of central California that were hit hard by the rainfall on Friday and early Saturday”, according to the national weather prediction center. Continue reading...

Former vice-president took aim at transportation secretary for taking maternity leave and joked about postpartum depressionThe White House rebuked the Republican former vice-president Mike Pence on Monday, for making jokes about US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, maternity leave and postpartum depression that it said were homophobic and offensive to women.“He should apologise to women and LGBTQ+ people,” said Joe Biden’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. Continue reading...

Split between jurors means convicted killer of October 2017 attack gets an automatic sentence of life in prison without paroleA jury said on Monday that it could not reach a unanimous decision on whether to impose the death sentence on an Islamist extremist who killed eight people using a speeding truck on a popular New York City bicycle path.Jurors told a federal judge they were unable to agree on whether Sayfullo Saipov should live or die for the October 2017 attack. Continue reading...

President reassures Americans ‘banking system is safe’ as US government announces plans to stabilize situation

Oregon athlete who invented the Fosbury Flop won historic gold medal at Mexico City games in 1968The American Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with a technique that became known as the Fosbury Flop, has died. He was 76.His former agent, Ray Schulte, announced the news on Instagram on Monday. Continue reading...

Given the antipathy towards Wall Street bailouts in the 2008 crisis, Biden is at pains to stress that ‘no losses’ will be borne by taxpayersWhen is a bailout not a bailout? It’s a question many people are asking after the dramatic collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the US’s decision to rescue depositors on Sunday.Joe Biden and elected and appointed officials all insist the emergency interventions to protect deposits in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, a second bank that failed on the weekend – or, indeed, any further bank failures – won’t come at taxpayers’ expense. Continue reading...

Hundreds of migrants tried to race across the Paso del Norte bridge to El Paso after false internet post said the border was openHundreds of people near an El Paso, Texas, border crossing who tried to enter the US from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday were met with physical barricades erected by shield-wielding authorities, according to reports on what is the latest episode to pit US immigration officials against a group of migrants.Many of the migrants, who were largely Venezuelan, had gone to the center of the Paso del Norte international bridge to determine whether a rumor that the border had been temporarily opened to them was true, the Texas Tribune reported. Many trying to flee lives in Mexico, where they cannot legally work and are often confronted by police, had hurried through toll booths on the Mexican side of the bridge and arrived at the center. Continue reading...

Rescue of Silicon Valley Bank’s British arm followed fears sector would be plunged into crisis

Whether it’s Hollywood or any other industry, too many men need reminding that women can be good at their jobs even if you don’t fancy them‘Ladies, never let anyone tell you you are past your prime,” Michelle Yeoh told a rapt audience as she accepted her Oscar on Sunday. She made history from a number of directions with the victory – the first woman from an Asian background to win best actress in 95 years, and only the second Asian lead even to be nominated. The first was Merle Oberon in 1936, and there is no better barium meal into the bowels of Hollywood racism than Oberon’s life story. but give the place a break: only 87 years later, it’s fine not to be white.On the age point, though, Yeoh was thought to be taking a wider swipe at culture as a whole, specifically referring to the CNN television anchor Don Lemon, who said last month that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “past her prime”. Challenged live on air, he clarified: “A woman is in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” When that didn’t wash with his co-hosts, he said that it wasn’t according to him, and to Google it.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Police used genetic genealogy analysis of evidence collected after the body was found to find the alleged killers – her parentsFor more than three decades, answers surrounding the grisly death of a baby girl known to them simply as Baby Doe eluded Mississippi authorities. The infant’s body was discovered inside a garbage bag in the south-western Mississippi community of Picayune on 17 April 1992.Authorities determined that someone had smothered Baby Doe and deemed her untimely death a homicide. Picayune police started to investigate, collecting evidence – some tying the infant to neighboring Louisiana, reportedly including local newspapers – but the case went cold. Continue reading...

Girl killed sibling in family home with semi-automatic pistol but unclear if any of five adults present will face chargesIn a case that starkly illustrates the deadly consequences that the US’s permissive gun culture has on the country’s youth, a three-year-old girl accidentally shot her four-year-old sister to death in their Texas home late on Sunday, according to authorities.First responders found the slain girl while responding to an emergency call at 7.30pm about an injured minor at an apartment in suburban Houston, the local sheriff’s office said in a statement. She was there with five adults – including her mother and stepfather – when her younger sister grabbed a loaded semi-automatic pistol and shot her, first responders learned. Continue reading...

Multiverse fantasy picks up seven awards including best picture and best actress while All Quiet on the Western Front wins four. Plus, long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms 20 years on

Analysts say US Federal Reserve will probably reject further increase in borrowing costs next week

If approved in full, the Willow project would mean the construction of 219 wells and hundreds of miles of pipelinesPresident Biden faces a legacy-making – or legacy-breaking – decision in arctic Alaska with the $8bn Willow project, the largest oil and gas project currently proposed on US public lands.If Biden remembers his visionary pledge – forged in the hard truth of human-caused climate change – that the US will expand into clean energy and approve no new oil drilling on federal lands, then his decision should be straightforward. Continue reading...

Line are drawn between the extremist wing and those who distance themselves from portraying the rioters as ‘sightseers’Some Republicans have rebuked efforts by Donald Trump and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to whitewash the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, underscoring a significant split in the party over attempts to downplay the events of the day.Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, turned over more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the Capitol to Carlson earlier this year. This week, Carlson aired selectively edited portions of that footage, falsely claiming the rioters were “sightseers” and “not insurrectionists”. At least 1,000 people have been arrested for their role in the January 6 attack. Five people died as a result of it. Continue reading...

Former national security adviser tells podcast ‘we didn’t feel we would get support’ from president during Russia investigationDonald Trump’s third national security adviser, John Bolton, did not brief the president on suspicions Russia might be behind mysterious “Havana syndrome” attacks on US diplomats because he did not think Trump would support him.“Since our concern was that one of the perpetrators – maybe the perpetrator – was Russia,” Bolton said, “we didn’t feel we would get support from President Trump if we said, ‘We think the Russians are coming after American personnel.’” Continue reading...

Takeover, arranged by government, likely to save British startups from big losses after US bank’s collapse

I spent 10 years burying the shame of being a failed contestant on the US version of the show. Then a 15-year-old helped me see it differentlyMy name is Emily, I’m a standup comedian and when I was 15, I was on The X Factor US. But if you’d told me back then that I’d be willingly telling you that, let alone regaling audiences – while touring a show – about the experience, I’d tell you that you were in the wrong multiverse, dumbass! Couldn’t be me!I auditioned for The X Factor with my best friend, Austin, in 2011. We went in with full confidence that we not only had the raw talent for stardom, but also the branding: who wouldn’t love a pubescent boy-girl duet with a name as brilliantly punny as AusEm?Emily Wilson is a comedian. She performs Fixed at London’s Soho Theatre from 13 to 18 March 2023. Book tickets here Continue reading...

In his new book, the scholar examines how religion shaped the history of major sports in North AmericaDoes the penalty box have religious connotations? Randall Balmer leans in that direction. A scholar of religion at Dartmouth College, he’s intrigued by the origins of the so-called sin bin.Ice hockey emerged in late 19th-century Canada, influenced by the indigenous sport of lacrosse. As the game became popular among Catholics in Canada in the 1930s, it started to incorporate the penalty box, where players received a sort of absolution through separation. Balmer explores this connection in his new book, Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America, which was published late last year. Continue reading...

The network is facing a $1.6bn false-claims lawsuit – and its top star’s private texts about the ex-president are causing anguishTucker Carlson was once seen as untouchable. Now the most popular TV host on American cable news is at the center of a firestorm threatening to engulf Fox News and also anger Donald Trump, whose conspiracy theory-laden political cause he has long championed and who his audience loves.Court filings attached to the $1.6bn Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit accuse Fox News of allowing its stars to broadcast false accusations about rigged voting machines in the 2020 presidential election. Continue reading...

The Daniels’ alt-reality adventure achieved its amazing success because it questions how life could be different for any one of us

Award winners and nominees celebrated into the night at the Governors Ball after the Oscars ceremony, while some attended the celebrity packed Vanity Fair party Continue reading...

President Saied is scapegoating his country’s small black migrant population to distract from political failings. Does this sound familiar?A little more than 10 years ago, calls for freedom and human rights in Tunisia triggered the Arab spring. Today, black migrants in the country are being attacked, spat at and evicted from their homes. The country’s racism crisis is so severe that hundreds of black migrants have been repatriated.It all happened quickly, triggered by a speech by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, at the end of February. He urged security forces to take urgent measures against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, who he claimed were moving to the country and creating an “unnatural” situation as part of a criminal plan designed to “change the demographic makeup” and turn Tunisia into “just another African country that doesn’t belong to the Arab and Islamic nations any more”. “Hordes of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa” had come to Tunisia, he added, “with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails”. Continue reading...

Does it really ‘work’?

The best images of the 95th annual Academy Awards featuring a champagne-coloured red carpet and a big night for Everything Everywhere All at Once

Real-estate listing on Zillow showcases home with doorways shaped like caskets, where guests feel ‘a presence’Searching for a quaint home that’s off the beaten path, where no one can hear you scream? This one’s for you: a $125,000 three-bedroom for sale on the 3516 Interstate Highway near Baird, Texas, is an “established and running haunted house”.The spooky home went viral last week after Steven Dennis, a Bloomberg reporter who often chronicles the ups and downs of Zillow on Twitter, posted photos from the listing. Continue reading...

The suit could determine whether US women can access abortion drugs, but judge is trying to limit disruptions and protestsA judge in Texas overseeing a lawsuit in which a conservative group is challenging the legality of the abortion drug mifepristone scheduled the first hearing in the case for Wednesday, but directed that court officials not make the timing public until the evening before.According to sources cited by the Washington Post, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a US district court judge in Amarillo appointed by Donald Trump in 2019, ordered the hearing kept out of the court docket as a way to try to limit disruptions and protests, and also asked that lawyers arguing the case not to disclose information. Continue reading...

Senator accuses president of ‘demagoguing’ issue to fund and protect program, along with Medicare, from proposals to cutThe Republican senator John Kennedy accused Joe Biden of “demagoguing” the issue of how to fund social security and Medicare and protecting the two programs from Republican proposals to cut them, calling it a “very immature thing to do”.Speaking to Fox News Sunday, Kennedy took aim at Biden for mentioning in his State of the Union address last month that some Republicans have proposed to “sunset” social security and Medicare as part of attempts to balance the federal budget. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt explore options to help tech and life sciences sectors

Announcement comes as Signature Bank was closed on Sunday by regulators – the second to fail in a weekUS financial regulators rolled out emergency measures Sunday night to stem potential contagion from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The measures include ensuring that depositors with the failed bank would have access to all their money on Monday morning.Regulators announced the measure in a joint statement from the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chair, Martin Gruenberg. Continue reading...

A selection of some of the best looks on the red carpet at the 95 Academy Awards in Los Angeles

Republican House speaker has only let Fox News see the tapes so far, giving access to the primetime host Tucker CarlsonThe Republican speaker of the US House, Kevin McCarthy, said on Sunday he would “slowly roll out” to networks other than Fox News more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the January 6 attack on Congress.“We will slowly roll out to every individual news agency,” McCarthy told Sunday Morning Futures, a show broadcast by Fox News. “They can come see the tapes as well. Let everyone see them to bring their own judgment.” Continue reading...

Storm expected to hit Monday after weekend of destruction and flooding left thousands without power and two people deadAnother “atmospheric river” storm was expected to hit California on Monday, after thousands of residents were left without power following a weekend of heavy rainfall, powerful floods and deadly destruction.Atmospheric rivers, streams of moisture that transport water vapor from the tropics following evaporation of warm water in the Pacific, are often accompanied by powerful winds and destructive flooding. Continue reading...

Search continues for seven more people after small craft suspected to have been carrying 15 migrants overturned off Black’s BeachAt least eight people were killed when two suspected smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach and one capsized, authorities said. Crews were searching on Sunday for an estimated seven additional victims.A woman on one of the panga-style boats called 911 late on Saturday to report that the other vessel overturned in waves off Black’s Beach, US coast guard petty officer Richard Brahm said. Continue reading...

SVB specialised in high-growth startups, solving problems other lenders would not touch