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Military says objects are thought to have landed in difficult terrain, after hobbyists suggested one could belong to themThe search for small balloons shot down recently by US and Canadian fighter jets over Alaska and Lake Huron has been called off, military commanders have said, days after balloon hobbyists in northern Illinois indicated that one of the stray unidentified flying objects could belong to their group.In a joint statement released at 10 pm on Friday, the North American aerospace defense command (Norand) and the US northern command said they had recommended calling off the search because the objects were believed to have landed in difficult terrain. The US secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, had approved the defense agencies’ recommendation. Continue reading...

Taiwan and its huge silicon foundry look set to become the centre of the geopolitical conflict between the US and ChinaOur digital civilisation, if you can call it that, runs on just two numbers – 0 and 1. The devices we call computers run on vast strings of ones and zeros. How? By having electrical currents that are either flowing or not. The tiny electronic switches that decide whether they’re on (1) or off (0) are called transistors.Once upon a time, these were tangible objects: I remember buying one with my pocket money in the 1950s for a radio receiver I was building. But rapidly they were reduced in size, to the point where electrical circuits using them could be etched on thin wafers of silicon. Which I guess is how they came to be called silicon “chips”. Continue reading...

US vice-president tells Munich security conference that Russia's actions in Ukraine constitute 'crimes against humanity'. She says: 'We have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt.' The official determination, which came at the end of a legal and factual analysis led by the US state department, carries no immediate consequences for the war

President says ‘thoughts and prayers aren’t enough’ after Richard Crum, 52, suspected of carrying out mass shooting in ArkabutlaJoe Biden is once again pleading for Congress to pass meaningful gun control after a man shot six people to death – including his ex-wife and stepfather – at three different locations in a small, rural Mississippi community on Friday.“Enough,” the president’s statement said, noting that there had been at least 73 shootings in which at least four victims were wounded or killed in the first 48 days of this year. Continue reading...

Don Lemon’s comments weren’t just a gift to attention-hungry Haley – they’re an opportunity to attack liberalsBreaking news from CNN this week: women are officially past their prime in their 50s. Although, it’s possible that they age out of their prime in their 40s. It’s not entirely clear. Maybe try asking Google about it. Continue reading...

Incidents like the Chinese spying balloon could too easily spiral out of control in the future, ending in disasterMuch uncertainty still surrounds China’s balloon spying program and the other mysterious objects that have now been identified over North American airspace. One thing seems certain, however: incidents like these could too easily spiral out of control in the future, ending in disaster. Unless something is done, dangerous waters lie ahead. Unfortunately, both sides are reluctant to do what’s needed.Let’s make no bones about it. It would be better if China didn’t spy on the United States. Any US leader would be hard pressed not to shoot down a Chinese object that the American public has seen flying over US sovereign airspace – as President Biden decided to do on 4 February. But the reality is that events like this will be more and more likely in the next decade as the United States and China bump up against each other globally. The risk of clashes in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea have preoccupied military experts for years, but the balloon incident shows they could happen almost anywhere. Continue reading...

After Jen Angel’s shocking death, loved ones honor her legacy of punk zines, gourmet dinner nights and social justice projectsJen Angel, a beloved Oakland baker and longtime activist, was in the parking lot of a bank on 6 February when she was robbed and then critically injured by the fleeing vehicle. The 48-year-old died three days later.As word spread, Angel’s friends and loved ones did exactly what she would’ve done for them – they started organizing. They fundraised first for medical costs and then expenses related to her death, created spreadsheets to coordinate tasks, and formed a plan to ensure her bakery, Angel Cakes, would stay open and employees would be cared for. It was the kind of mutual aid and collective action she’d championed as a social justice advocate and anarchist. And as reporters began reaching out, her friends wrote a statement imploring them not to exploit her story: Continue reading...

Petition to Fulton county superior court seeks halt to building work while appeal against huge police training center is ruled onRecent mornings at South River Forest, south-east of Atlanta, have begun with workers driving tractors around, clearing paths and felling trees, guarded by more than 100 police officers.The workers are taking the first steps in building an 85-acre, $90m police and fire department training center planned for the land, called “Cop City” by activists. Continue reading...

Ernest Paschal II was fired from Walmart while recovering from sepsis – and like many sick workers, he’s found employers aren’t accommodatingLast summer 44-year-old Ernest Paschal II was fired from his job at a Walmart in South Carolina while recovering from sepsis. Paschal is paraplegic due to a work injury he sustained at the age of 19 and had his left leg amputated in 2019 due to a medical condition.Like many US workers living with serious illness, Paschal found some employers have little interest – and almost no incentive – to make accommodations for sick workers. Continue reading...

Letting the expert online recruiters Patriotic Alternative back on the platform isn’t a win for free speech but for fascismAt the end of last year, the British far-right group Patriotic Alternative (PA) was allowed back on Twitter after a ban of nearly two years for an unknown transgression. Far-right groups immediately urged Elon Musk to “be a hero” and also reinstate the account of the group’s leader, Mark Collett. Three weeks later, they rejoiced as Collett’s account was returned.The reinstatements appear to be part of Musk’s commitment to free speech. But if he knew anything at all about PA, he would realise that he has placed a target on the back of every disenfranchised and politically lost young man on Twitter, many of whom are recruited to the far right via the platform.Katherine Denkinson is an investigative journalist whose work focuses on misinformation, conspiracies and the growth of the far rightDo 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...

The governor – believed by many to mount a 2024 presidential campaign – is ramping up an ‘anti-woke’ crusade with a veto-proof supermajority in state legislatureIf there’s one word Floridians have heard plenty of since their Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, was sworn in for a second term last month, it is “freedom”. The rightwing politician, expected by many to seek his party’s 2024 presidential nomination, sprinkles the word freely as he ramps up the “anti-woke” crusade he believes can propel him to the White House.It turns out, following a special legislative session last week that handed DeSantis victory after victory in his culture wars against big corporations, the transgender community, students, migrants and racial minorities, the person with the greatest freedom in Florida to do exactly as he pleases is the governor himself. Continue reading...

India’s prime minister and the billionaire Gautam Adani each benefited from the other’s rise – now their relationship is under scrutinyIndia is under attack by foreign powers. Specifically the United Kingdom and the United States. Or so our government would have us believe. Why? Because former colonialists and neo-imperialists cannot tolerate our prosperity and good fortune. The attack, we are told, is aimed at the political and economic foundations of our young nation.The covert operatives are the BBC, which in January broadcast a two-part documentary called India: The Modi Question, and a small US firm called Hindenburg Research, owned by 38-year-old Nathan Anderson, which specialises in what is known as activist short-selling. Continue reading...

Suspect charged with murder after shootings around Arkabutla, in state’s northA lone gunman killed six people, including his ex-wife and stepfather, on Friday at multiple locations in a tiny rural community in northern Mississippi, the sheriff said, leaving investigators searching for clues to what motivated the rampage.The shootings all happened within the community of Arkabutla, the local television station NBC5 reported, citing the Tate county sheriff, Brad Lance. Lance identified the suspect in custody as Richard Dale Crum, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Proposal would allow prisoners to vote in what advocates see as a matter of racial justice – but challenges lie aheadBefore having his sentence commuted by Governor Gavin Newsom last year, Thanh Tran served ten and a half years in prisons and jails across California, a time he described as the “most traumatizing and dehumanizing experience of my life”.Had he been able to vote during that time, he said he would have maintained some hope that his community still cared about him. Continue reading...

As incidents increase, state lawmakers seek to allow civil suits against paramilitaries – but critics say rights will be infringed onAn armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge. Over 100 straight days of racial justice protests that turned downtown Portland into a battleground. A violent breach of the state capitol. Clashes between gun-toting rightwingers and leftist militants.Over the past decade, Oregon experienced the sixth-highest number of extremist incidents in the nation, despite being 27th in population, according to an Oregon secretary of state report. Now, the state legislature is considering a bill that, experts say, would create the nation’s most comprehensive law against paramilitary activity. Continue reading...

Marco Díaz-Muñoz asks lawmakers to not act in ‘self-interest’ after two of his Michigan State University students killedA college professor who taught two of the three students killed in the mass shooting at Michigan State University on Monday night – and came face-to-face with their murderer – is pleading with lawmakers to tighten controls on access to guns in the US.In an interview with the Detroit Free Press newspaper published Friday, 64-year-old Marco Díaz-Muñoz said no one should need more than one pistol to defend themselves and pleaded with legislators – who often are supported by pro-gun lobbyists – to not act in “self-interest” as the country continues registering more than one mass shooting daily this year. Continue reading...

Vice-president dismisses ‘Washington chatter’ about whether president should run for a second term in the White HouseDismissing Washington “chatter” about whether Joe Biden should run for re-election in 2024 and whether her own party thinks she would be a suitable replacement if he did not, Kamala Harris said the US president “has said he intends to run for re-election … and I intend to run with him as vice-president”.Harris was speaking to NBC News at the Munich Security Conference. Continue reading...

Never mind high-flying balloons. The two sides should aim low, concentrating on preventing further deterioration in relationsIn the closing years of the cold war, as relations between the Soviet Union and US thawed, Ronald Reagan adopted a Russian proverb: trust, but verify. These days, with Sino-US relations chilling rather than warming, there is precious little trust, and limited ability to read the other’s intentions accurately.Relations were deteriorating long before the Chinese balloon floated into US airspace and the military shot it down. Everyone knows that the US spies on China and vice versa; it is also obvious, despite Beijing’s feigned outrage, that it would take swift action against a US device appearing in its skies. Instead of promising jets are ready for action, countries would do better to reconsider what trade-offs they have made in security for convenience and cost – as with the Chinese cameras used by British police. Continue reading...

Illinois hobby group says balloon went missing the day military missile costing $439,000 destroyed unidentified entity nearbyA group of amateur balloon enthusiasts in Illinois might have solved the mystery of one of the unknown flying objects shot down by the US military last week, a saga that had captivated the nation.The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade says one of its hobby craft went “missing in action” over Alaska on 11 February, the same day a US F-22 jet downed an unidentified airborne entity not far away above Canada’s Yukon territory. Continue reading...

Republican presidential candidate makes comments in New Hampshire on controversial law signed by governor Ron DeSantisRepublican presidential candidate Nikki Haley told a New Hampshire audience the controversial “don’t say gay” education law signed by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, does not go “far enough”.“Basically what it said was you shouldn’t be able to talk about gender before third grade,” Haley said. “I’m sorry. I don’t think that goes far enough.” Continue reading...

Local 911 dispatches received multiple calls from residents about loud noises and a possible ‘explosion’ that shook their homesA 1,000lbs meteoroid likely exploded in the skies above Texas scattering fragments over the ground on Wednesday afternoon, confirmed Nasa.The meteorite had a diameter of 2ft and its destruction was felt near McAllen, Texas, in the state’s southern area, as residents reported loud noises in the area. Continue reading...

Comments by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham revealed in $1.6bn Dominion defamation lawsuitHosts at Fox News privately ridiculed Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen while simultaneously peddling the same lies on air, according to court filings in a defamation lawsuit against the network.Rightwing personalities Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are among those named in the $1.6bn action brought by Dominion Voting Systems, the seller of electronic voting hardware and software that is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation for maligning its reputation. Continue reading...

Officers plead not guilty to second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and official misconductFive former Memphis police officers pleaded not guilty on Friday to second-degree murder and other charges in the violent arrest and death of Tyre Nichols.Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith made their first court appearances with their lawyers before a judge in Shelby county criminal court. The officers were fired after an internal police investigation into the 7 January arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later. Continue reading...

The president’s short address didn’t do anyone – including himself – much good, as it shed little light on what was going onAfter weeks of speculation about a Chinese spy balloon and other weird things in the skies over North America, President Joe Biden on Thursday did what he had to do.He finally talked about the subject in a formal setting – a brief address to the nation from the White House.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Steve Mulroy, the Shelby county district attorney, discusses the swift charges on the five officers and criminal justice reform in MemphisSteve Mulroy had been the Shelby county district attorney for just over 100 days when five Memphis police officers beat and killed Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man.As the case began to get more and more attention, Mulroy, a Democrat, did something surprising. In high-profile police killings, prosecutors and police are slow to release video while they investigate. Criminal charges against the police officers, if they’re filed at all, come much later. Continue reading...

Our current stage of capitalism demands that poor people make do with less while the rich make no sacrifices“Let’s eat only two meals a day.” Back in the 1990s, North Korea, which was suffering through a terrible famine, adopted a slogan which cheerfully asked its impoverished citizens to eat less. Decades later, it looks like the Wall Street Journal wants to bring that slogan to America. “To Save Money, Maybe You Should Skip Breakfast”, the Journal headlined a recent short piece documenting inflation in breakfast foods like eggs. Which is honestly quite a restrained take for the Journal. Why not up the ante a little bit and ask some really difficult questions, eh? Like: “Hey Paupers, Have You Tried Existing on Grubworms?” Or: “To Save Rich People from Experiencing Any Inconvenience Whatosever, Maybe The Poors Should Live in Underground Tunnels”.It’s a bit of a waste of energy – and without breakfast you can’t afford to waste energy! – to get angry over a Wall Street Journal headline that was clearly intended to provoke people. (It succeeded brilliantly at that, by the way: the headline generated a lot of outrage and mirth on Twitter.) The real issue here, the reason this headline deserves any extra attention, is because it’s not just clickbait, it’s a perfection summation of the economy. Our current stage of capitalism demands that poor people make do with less while the rich make no sacrifices whatsoever. We can’t possibly tax the rich to help combat inflation, that would slow economic growth. Nope, far better for everyone at the top if the people at the bottom just eat a bit less. Who needs breakfast anyway? Continue reading...

‘Private companies’ conclusion likely to fuel criticism that downings were overreaction amid pressure over initial balloon discovery. Plus, there may be a reason you want to sleep more in winter

Bills are part of religious right’s post-Roe strategy, with most prevalent ones relating to age verification of sex-related websitesA wave of proposed legislation pushed by Republicans across the US at the state level is aimed at outlawing aspects of sexuality that could have a huge impact on Americans’ private lives and businesses.Opponents to the laws before legislatures in various states say the planned new legislation could spawn prosecution of breast-pump companies in Texas for nipples on advertising, or a bookstore might be banned from selling romance novels in West Virginia, or South Carolina could imprison standup comics if a risque joke is heard by a young person. Continue reading...

Houston are the latest MLB team to secure a uniform advertising deal as their players become walking billboards for Occidental PetroleumAs soon as it was announced that MLB teams would be allowed to include advertisements on their uniforms, a race seemingly began to see who would land the most dubious sponsor. While results are still coming in, the Houston Astros are leading the pack after signing a deal with Occidental Petroleum. Yes, the reigning world champions, not exactly popular to start with, will be walking billboards for a fossil fuel company as the climate crisis rages.Officially, the league prefers if you call this type of deal a “patch sponsorship,” which sounds folksy and informal. That term feels more than a little euphemistic, so maybe it’s more helpful to take the cue of journalist Paul Lukas, who believes the simpler term “uniform ads” is more to the point. Continue reading...

Number of conservative political commentators expressed doubts about claims being aired on their networkHosts at Fox News did not believe the allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election that were being aired on their programmes by supporters of former president Donald Trump, according to court filings in a $1.6bn (£1.34bn) defamation lawsuit against the network.“Sidney Powell is lying” about having evidence for election fraud, Tucker Carlson wrote in a message on 16 November 2020, according to an excerpt from an exhibit that remains under seal. Continue reading...

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest has become an institution in modern basketball. But for years dunks were outlawed in college and high school gamesIt seems impossible to believe, but there was a time when basketball largely forbade the dunk. From 1967 to 1976, high school and college players were outlawed from slamming the ball through the rim. Instead, they would have to lay the ball up or simply drop it through the hoop as they soared through the air. Now, as we look forward to this weekend’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, the ban seems silly, especially when considering the eye-popping highlights created by the likes of Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Shawn Kemp and Vince Carter.But such was the state of things a half-century ago. In an era when the game was changing rapidly, when players like the 7ft 2in Kareem-Abdul Jabbar were dominating instead of the shorter, more ground-bond hoopers like Bob Cousy, the dunk was seen as taboo among “purists,” against the very nature of basketball itself. Though that perspective wasn’t shared by many of the players. Continue reading...

Online hate has become a tool of the right and a lucrative business. It’s driving women out of public life, putting democracy and human rights at riskListening to the resignation speech of Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon this week, it was impossible not to think of the all-too similar words from former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern just a few weeks earlier.Politicians are humans, too, as Sturgeon and Ardern reminded us, but the abuse women face online – greater and more vicious than that faced by male politicians – seem to dehumanise them, leaving some to wonder if the problem is a reflection of millennia-old misogyny, or an issue with technology. Continue reading...

Alejandro, who fled his home fearing for his life, is among a vast displaced population used as political pawns in the USThe rough floor of the immigration detention center was Alejandro’s sharpening stone.For hours each day, he scraped trash against concrete at the River correctional facility in rural Louisiana so he could make rings for his loved ones. He wore plastic Coke bottles down to an “O” shape, using the cylinder to give the rings their form. He knew the bottle would leave the rings too big for the fingers he was making them for: his sister, niece, and best friend. But he had nothing else. Continue reading...

People in East Palestine demand answers from Norfolk Southern railroad, which skipped meeting due to staff safety concernsThe head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got a first-hand look on Thursday at the toll left by a freight train derailment in Ohio, where toxic chemicals spilled or were burned off, leaving the stench of fresh paint nearly two weeks later.The EPA’s administrator, Michael Regan, walked along a creek that still reeks of chemicals and sought to reassure skeptical residents that the water was fit for drinking and the air safe to breathe around East Palestine, where just less than 5,000 people live near the Pennsylvania state line. Continue reading...

The revelation that the Wieambilla shootings were a ‘religiously motivated terror attack’ should prompt deep introspectionThe announcement yesterday that Queensland police now consider the Wieambilla attacks to be a “religiously motivated terror attack” connected to a Christian extremist ideology should constitute a seismic shift in our understanding of the terror threat in Australia.Middle-aged, middle-class Christian Australians, two of them teachers, ambushed and killed two police officers and a neighbour. This should and must and trigger debate about new directions in extremism in Australia and equally, should stimulate a wider introspection about the increase in polarisation and extremism in Australia. Continue reading...

President lost weight since last year, but still suffers from arthritis and had small lesion removed from chest during annual check-upDoctors declared Joe Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” on Thursday after a physical examination that included removing a lesion from his chest and declaring him free of symptoms of long Covid after his bout last year with the virus.“The president remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a summary of the health exam. Continue reading...

‘Private companies’ conclusion set to fuel criticism that downings were overreaction amid pressure over initial balloon discoveryJoe Biden has broken his silence on unknown aerial objects shot down over North America during the past week, assessing that they were “most likely” operated by private companies or research institutions rather than China.The US president’s tentative conclusion is likely to fuel criticism that his orders to take down the objects were an overreaction amid political pressure over the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that transited much of the country. Continue reading...

The partial release of the grand jury report signals the investigation already contains legitimate evidence of perjuryThe release of a portion of the Fulton county special purpose grand jury’s report marks a new step toward potential criminal charges holding Donald Trump and his allies accountable for election interference.Georgia was crucial in the 2020 presidential election, providing a key victory for Joe Biden and drawing the intense focus of Trump and his backers. Continue reading...

Pennsylvania senator suffered a stroke while campaigning last year and has experienced depression ‘off and on’ throughout lifeJohn Fetterman, the US senator from Pennsylvania, checked into hospital on Wednesday to receive treatment for clinical depression, his chief of staff said.The news came a week after the Democrat, who suffered a stroke while campaigning last year, was hospitalised after feeling light-headed. Fetterman is a rising star among Democrats. Continue reading...

Hundreds packed into a high school gym on Wednesday to demand answers in a town hall almost two weeks after a train derailment released toxic chemicals into their town, East Palestine, Ohio. Locals expressed concern about the environment and their health despite the fact that authorities said the chemical spill had been contained and posed little threat to the town's residents. Resident Kathy Dyke said: 'I honestly feel that the … police department, the fire department, all the first responders, they don't have the answers to give us because I don't think they know.'Norfolk Southern, the rail company responsible for the crash, did not attend the meeting citing safety concerns, but has offered $1.5m in aid for the area. The company faces multiple lawsuits from residents.

Sections of report looking into whether Trump committed crime in attempt to overturn election released on ThursdayMultiple witnesses who testified before a special purpose grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election may have lied and committed perjury, according to a section of the grand jury’s report released on Thursday.The report offers the first insight into the work of the special purpose grand jury, which was convened in May last year. The 23 jurors and three alternates heard from 75 witnesses during the course of its investigation. Continue reading...

Palin, who quit as Alaska governor in 2009 amid talk of a run for president, envisions DeSantis running one day ‘but not now’Ron DeSantis of Florida should stay as governor “a bit longer” and not run for president in 2024, said Sarah Palin – the former Alaska governor who was John McCain’s running mate in 2008 but resigned rather than complete her term after Republican defeat.DeSantis, 44, has not declared a run but is widely expected to do so as the only strong challenger to Donald Trump in polling regarding the forming field. Continue reading...

Washington court sees string of messages from Shane Lamond to Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio in weeks before deadly 2021 riotA police officer frequently provided Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio with internal information about law enforcement operations in the weeks before other members of the far-right group stormed the US Capitol, according to messages shown at the trial of Tarrio and four associates.In court in Washington DC on Wednesday, a federal prosecutor showed jurors a string of messages that Shane Lamond, a Metropolitan police lieutenant, exchanged with Tarrio in the run-up to the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021. Lamond, an intelligence officer, was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys. Continue reading...