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In a congressional hearing, Republicans used specious charges of rampant antisemitism to advance an illiberal agenda on campusesAs Jewish faculty at Columbia University, we watched with alarm as our president, Minouche Shafik, appeared before the House education and workforce committee on Wednesday to answer questions about antisemitism on our campus. While we are deeply concerned about antisemitism, we are also disturbed by the ways the hearing - like those in December, and surely those to follow - used specious charges of rampant antisemitism to advance an illiberal agenda.We were shocked that President Shafik capitulated to its mendacious premises and failed to stand up for fundamental academic principles of honest intellectual inquiry and free expression. Most galling was the absence of any acknowledgment of the relentless devastation in Gaza: the urgent reason for the student protests that the committee caricatures and condemns as antisemitic.Alisa Solomon is a writer, professor of journalism, and the director of the arts and culture concentration at the Columbia Journalism School. Marianne Hirsch is the William Peterfield Trent professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and professor in the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Sarah Haley is associate professor of history at Columbia University. Helen Benedict is a novelist and professor at Columbia Journalism School. Continue reading...

Fifa is considering a policy change that would allow leagues to play domestic matches overseas, reopening one of football's most squalid ideasThe dream - or nightmare - of a 39th Premier League match in America has drawn a little closer. After reaching a settlement with US promoter Relevent Sports, Fifa last week signaled it will consider changes to its policy of blocking league matches from being played outside the league's home country. The indication that Fifa's thinking on the issue may be evolving in a more flexible direction will be welcomed by Europe's top clubs and deplored by football traditionalists.For clubs, the commercial case is clear. This is an argument anchored not in culture but money. The work of evangelizing soccer is already done; the sport is not like American football, say, or rugby league, or basketball, or even cricket, which are still trawling the globe for converts and regularly hold matches overseas. In the world of professional sport, football is No 1 and probably always will be. Taking chunks of the European domestic season on the road represents a juicy financial opportunity, potentially unlocking valuable revenue to help weather the storm of a newly restrictive regulatory environment and bringing teams closer to the millions of football fans who live outside Europe. Continue reading...

Mike Gallagher, a representative from Wisconsin, is stepping down on 19 April, before the end of his termMike Gallagher has suggested that he is resigning from his seat in Congress because of death threats and swatting targeted at his family.The Republican US representative for Wisconsin shared more insight into his decision to vacate his seat while talking with reporters on Tuesday, the NBC affiliate WLUK reported. Continue reading...

Gigantic bill apparently reflected using 9.5 gigabytes of data on a phone that had not been set up for international roamingA Florida man was stunned to come back from a European trip and - upon checking his phone bill - realize that he had been charged a staggering $143,000 by his phone company for using his device while overseas.ABC Action News reported that Rene Remund and his wife had toured Switzerland last September and had even gone to a T-Mobile store to share his travel plan with his phone provider before leaving. Continue reading...

Measures including background checks on private sales and waiting periods for purchases follow deadly shooting last yearMaine's state legislature approved sweeping gun safety legislation including background checks on private gun sales, waiting periods for gun purchases and criminalizing gun sales to prohibited people before adjourning on Thursday morning, nearly six months after the deadliest shooting in state history.The Democratic governor, Janet Mills, and the Democratic-led legislature pressed for a number of gun and mental health proposals after the shooting that claimed 18 lives and injured another 13 people, despite the state's strong hunting tradition and support for gun owners. Continue reading...

How Uri Berliner went about his complaint made it clear he was not interested in constructive criticism, but a viral moment

A round packed with goals brought us a smiling Ousmane Dembele, a frustrated Bukayo Saka and match-winning performance from a goalkeeperIf Tuesday night's Champions League second legs tipped one way and then the other with attacking flair, then Wednesday was a night for grit to win the day - and English football to be the loser. It also brought a restoration of the old order, with Bayern and Real Madrid to meet in the semi-finals.Goalkeeper: Andriy Lunin, Real Madrid Continue reading...

Process server allegedly approached adult film star at Brooklyn nightclub seeking information related to recent documentaryDonald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the adult movie actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.A process server working for Trump's lawyers said he approached Daniels with papers demanding information related to a documentary recently released about her life and involvement with Trump, but was forced to leave them at her feet", according to a court filing made public on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Only 28% of Arizona voters approve of the 1864 law. Plus, Israeli media reports weapons deployments for Rafah offensive

Elizabeth Hanna says she was fired by the American Diabetes Association after refusing to approve recipes heaped with the additive made by a major donorElizabeth Hanna had a simple job: help people with diabetes figure out what to eat. Anyone with common sense knows this should probably not entail foods that might increase people's risk of getting diabetes. But that's not necessarily the thinking at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the world's leading diabetes research and patient advocacy group, which also receives millions of dollars from sponsors in the pharmaceutical, food and agricultural industries.According to a lawsuit Hanna recently filed against the ADA, the organization - which endorses recipes and food plans on its website and on the websites of partner" food brands - tried to get her to greenlight recipes that she believed flew in the face of the ADA's mission. These included recipes like a cucumber and onion salad" made with a third of a cup of Splenda granulated artificial sweetener, autumnal sheet-pan veggies" with a quarter cup of Splenda monk fruit sweetener and a cranberry almond spinach salad" with a quarter cup of Splenda monkfruit sweetener.Neil Barsky, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and investment manager, is the founder of The Marshall Project Continue reading...

The public supports it, and even the rich are calling for it. We must prevent a deeper slide into global inequality

Caleb Williams will almost certainly be the No 1 overall pick this month. But there are plenty of interesting players lower down the boardIn recent drafts, we've seen players selected from Australia. We've had a tight end with no experience picked out of Germany in the sixth-round, thanks to Mike Mayock demanding it on the draft broadcast - that really happened! What we haven't seen is an American-born player selected out of Canada. And we haven't seen an American-born player drafted who played no college football. Continue reading...

With Donald Trump and the Capitol Hill riots in court, the studiously apolitical vibe of this dystopia feels like a cop-outAs the supreme court heard arguments relating to the 6 January riot and Donald Trump sat in a criminal court in Manhattan, cinemas across America have been showing scenes from an imagined world after the end of democracy. The movie Civil War, written and directed by Alex Garland, depicts a conflict-ridden US in which rebel forces battle to overthrow the government. As a thought experiment, this would be a lot more fun in a year in which a man with 91 felony charges wasn't standing for his second term as president. As it is, the film currently at No 1 at the US box office is under some pressure to say something meaningful about where we are now.Civil War does have things to say: about how war is bad, and violence corrupts, and once things get under way people exploit the chaos for all sorts of reasons - which explains the presence of Florida in the film's imagined secessionist uprising. It's a gripping ride that, depending on your view, is either shrewdly non-partisan in a way that assumes the audience can fill in the gaps for themselves (the New York Times), an empty but entertaining romp with lots of explosions (the New Yorker) or a provocation to liberals who don't understand what movies are for (the Hollywood Reporter). Meanwhile, in court this week, prospective jurors in the former president's hush money trial were warned to keep details of themselves confidential, to preserve against the possibility of juror intimidation - the kind of deep background detail in which the film has no interest. Continue reading...

Officer shot and killed both a man who was attacking customers and Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was hiding in a dressing roomA Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot a 14-year-old girl inside a clothing store in 2021 will not face charges, the California attorney general announced on Wednesday.Valentina Orellana-Peralta was shopping with her mother at a north Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory on 23 December 2021 when the LAPD entered to apprehend a man suspected of attacking customers in the store. When officer William Dorsey Jones Jr fired three rounds at the man, Valentina was in a nearby dressing room with her mother praying and was killed by Jones's gunfire. Continue reading...

Western fire chiefs association details challenges faced by first responders during blazes that killed 101 peopleAs wildfires ripped across Maui last August, the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels on returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts, according to a report released Wednesday.Communications problems were also encountered by Hawaiian Electric, with officials unable to confirm that power lines had been de-energized until well after flames had caused widespread damage, the report from the Hawaii attorney general said. Continue reading...

President touted plan during speech on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, where union support could prove crucialJoe Biden announced plans to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum and promised to block the acquisition of US Steel by a Japanese company during a speech to steelworkers on Wednesday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where union support could prove crucial in the November general election.Biden touted the plan during a visit to the United Steelworkers union headquarters in Pittsburgh, the heart of the American steel industry, where he said the backbone of America has a steel spine" and promised to keep US Steel as a totally American-owned, American-operated" company. Continue reading...

Senate Democrats dismissed the articles of impeachment, as the charges failed to meet bar of high crimes and misdemeanors'Senate Democrats on Wednesday dismissed the impeachment case brought by House Republicans against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, on grounds that the charges failed to meet the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors" outlined in the constitution as a basis for removing an official from office.In a pair of party-line votes, Democrats held that two articles alleging Mayorkas willfully refused to enforce the nation's immigration laws and breached the public trust with his statements to Congress about the high levels of migration at the US southern border with Mexico were unconstitutional. On the first article, Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator from Alaska, voted present". Continue reading...

Kari Lake of Arizona warned supporters of intense' election year in which Democrats will come after them with everything'Republican US Senate candidate Kari Lake has told supporters to strap on a Glock" ahead of the 2024 elections as she struggles to gain ground against her Democratic rival in Arizona.In a campaign speech made to a crowd in Arizona's Mohave county on Sunday, Lake echoed Trump-like terms in calling Washington DC a swamp" - and used a reference to carrying guns when she told people to prepare for an intense" election year. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Mayorkas impeachment, read our story here.Chuck Schumer has released a lengthy statement about the commencement (and presumably very swift termination) of the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this afternoon.It is the least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States," the Democratic Senate majority leader said, encapsulating remarks he made in the chamber just now and posted to Facebook:The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.For the sake of the Senate's integrity, and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, Senators should dismiss today's charges.It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise.Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. That would set a disastrous precedent for the Congress and could throw our system of checks and balances into endless cycles of chaos. Continue reading...

Minouche Shafik appeared beleaguered as House members grilled her over reported upsurge in antisemitism on campusThe head of a prestigious US university clashed with members of Congress today in highly charged hearings over a reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus in the wake of Israel's war in Gaza.Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, appeared beleaguered and uncertain as one Congress member after another assailed her over her institution's supposed inaction to stop it becoming what one called a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred".This article was amended on 17 April 2024 to correctly identify the school where Elizabeth Magill resigned as president last year. The school was the University of Pennsylvania, not Pennsylvania University. Continue reading...

Two fellow Republicans have threatened to remove House speaker if he advances Ukraine funding proposalThe House speaker, Mike Johnson, is pushing ahead with his plan to hold votes on four separate foreign aid bills this week, despite threats from two fellow Republicans to oust him if he advances a Ukraine funding proposal.Shortly after noon on Wednesday, the rules committee posted text for three bills that would provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The text of a fourth bill, which is expected to include measures to redirect seized Russian assets toward Ukraine and force the sale of TikTok, will be released later on Wednesday, Johnson said in a note to members. Continue reading...

The University of Southern California canceled its valedictorian's planned speech after pro-Palestinian posts. It's no surpriseIf you want to get ahead in life then I have some advice: keep your mouth shut about Palestine. Or, if you must say something, then make sure it is nuanced like - I'm just paraphrasing a former Mossad agent here - no Palestinian over the age of four is an innocent civilian and they all deserve to be starved to death. Certainly make sure you don't use controversial words like genocide" or occupation", even if those are accurate descriptions according to international law and UN human rights experts. Best to avoid considering Palestinians as humans altogether, rather think of them as Israel's defense minister does - human animals" - if you want to avoid unpleasantness.Asna Tabassum, a first-generation south Asian American Muslim from near Los Angeles, is the latest person to learn this lesson the hard way. Tabassum, who is graduating from the University of Southern California (USC) with a major in biomedical engineering and a minor in resistance to genocide, was recently named her class valedictorian and due to give a speech at her May graduation. Giving a valedictorian address, in which a student reflects on shared experiences and imparts wisdom about the future, is a major honour. It would have been a high point in Tabassum's academic life. Continue reading...

Indian voters ought to think hard about giving Narendra Modi another popular mandateThe world's largest elections begin this weekend in India, amid claims that the race to lead the country has already been won. If Narendra Modi were to secure a third term with a big parliamentary majority, his achievement would match that of the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Whatever the outcome, the loser has been Indian democracy. Unlike Mr Nehru, who anonymously criticised his own leadership, Mr Modi has little time for his opponents.Democracies run best when there is a contest of ideas and equal treatment of citizens in everyday administration. These are in short supply in Modi's India. The main opposition Congress party found its bank accounts frozen. It can't be a coincidence that all the leading Indian politicians arrested by enforcement and tax authorities belong to the opposition and none to the ruling party. Weaponising India's prosecutorial apparatus seems unnecessary, as Mr Modi can massively outspend his rivals. Since 2018, Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata party has received about 1.25bn from wealthy donors, more than all other political parties combined. Continue reading...

St Louis officer Jatonya Muldrow claimed she was transferred to undesirable new job because of her sexThe US supreme court on Wednesday gave a boost to a St Louis police officer who sued after claiming she was transferred to an undesirable new job because of her sex, in a case testing the scope of federal workplace protections.The 9-0 ruling by the justices threw out a decision by a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the officer, Jatonya Muldrow, and directed it to reconsider the matter. Continue reading...

The American Diabetes Association takes millions from companies that stand to profit from our reliance on drugs. Is that affecting their guidance?For a glimpse into how big business influences the $4tn US healthcare system, look no further than the world's most powerful diabetes advocacy and research non-profit, the American Diabetes Association (ADA).Diabetes afflicts 38 million Americans, with another 90 million considered pre-diabetic. Every year the disease claims the lives of over 100,000 Americans and disproportionately affects people of color. It is also ruinously expensive, as doctors visits, hospital stays, insulin, blood test strips, leg amputations, continuous glucose monitors and numerous glucose-lowering drugs add up to about $400bn a year. To put it bluntly, we are losing the war on diabetes. Continue reading...

The core of the Golden State team that won four NBA titles may hang around for a while longer. But there seem few options to reverse the declineThe detractors of the Golden State Warriors dynasty of the past decade thought the party was over when Kevin Durant left in 2019 after three seasons and two NBA titles. They thought it again when the Warriors were a dreadful 15-50 in 2019-2020 and missed the playoffs again the next year. But the doubters have yet to be proved correct and Golden State got the band back together to win the championship in 2022.This time, however, those waiting for an end to this Warriors era of dominance may have a point. On Tuesday, Golden State lost in the NBA's Play-In Tournament to the Sacramento Kings, 118-94. The game was never close, and it was heavy on symbolism. Sharpshooting guard Klay Thompson had perhaps the worst game of his career, going 0-for-10 from the field and putting a zero on his scoreline. Draymond Green, the defensive and playmaking wizard, found himself bullied in the post by the Kings' Domantas Sabonis. Chris Paul, the future Hall of Fame guard, had all of three points in 18 minutes of action. Underpinning it all was the face of the franchise, Stephen Curry, scoring a fine 22 points but unable to carry the whole team. Continue reading...

Smartmatic sued OAN in 2021, saying it was a victim of OAN's disinformation' that its equipment flipped the election for BidenThe voting equipment company Smartmatic has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with the far-right One America News Network (OAN) over lies broadcast on the network about the 2020 election.Erik Connolly, a lawyer for Smartmatic, confirmed the case had been settled, but said the details were confidential. Attorneys for Smartmatic and OAN notified a federal judge in Washington on Tuesday that they were agreeing to dismiss the case, which Smartmatic filed in 2021. Continue reading...

Airline says it experienced IT issue during upgrade to system that calculates weight and balanceThe US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop advisory on Wednesday for Alaska Airlines, saying: All Alaska mainline and subcarrier flights ground stopped."In a separate statement, the FAA said the carrier asked the FAA to pause the airline's mainline departures nationwide". It did not provide a reason for the stoppage. CNBC reported that the problem may have been an IT issue and that the airline's system used to calculate weight and balance for flights was not functioning correctly. Continue reading...

Luther Hall was severely injured by his own colleagues while undercover at a 2017 protest in MissouriA Missouri judge awarded more than $23m to a former St Louis police officer who was beaten by other officers while working undercover at a protest in 2017.On Monday Luther Hall was awarded the significant sum in a default judgment by Joseph Whyte, the St Louis circuit judge, after one of the defendants failed to respond to a lawsuit over the 2017 attack. Continue reading...

The president's moral failure in Gaza has taken on historic proportions, like Lyndon Johnson's in Vietnam before himAmerica is big, diverse and polarized. Yet, when it comes to the war in Gaza, opinions here are converging. A Gallup poll in March found 55% of respondents disapprove of Israel's actions", up from 45% in November. Among registered Democrats, the figure is 75%. As the number of citizens voting uncommitted" in Democratic primaries makes plain, President Biden's unqualified support for Israel is a problem. Beyond the human carnage - 32,000 Palestinians, including over 14,000 children, have been killed by Israel in Gaza - Biden's Israel policy could cost him the election.We have given Biden and his administration and the party a gift," said Layla Elabed, organizer of the Listen to Michigan campaign, where 100,000 voters marked the uncommitted" box in February. The vote in Michigan, a battleground state where Biden beat Trump by a little more than 154,000 votes in 2020, has triggered a cascade of protest votes in primaries across the country. At least 25 uncommitted delegates will be sent to the Democratic national convention in August. Continue reading...

Restored trifecta could allow Democrats to pass laws protecting voting rights and election administrationSpecial elections for two vacant seats in the Michigan house of representatives flipped control back to Democrats, who organizers say could use their restored trifecta in the state to pass legislation protecting voting rights and election administration.A push to codify voter protections stalled after two Democratic lawmakers resigned and the party lost its majority in the house of representatives last November. With the election on Tuesday of Mai Xiong and Peter Herzberg, who represent sections of Detroit and its suburbs, legislators could use their newfound majorities to renew those efforts. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Residents of Ukraine's second city tell of impact of Russian attacks targeting suburbs and power suppliesKharkiv is at risk of becoming a second Aleppo" unless US politicians vote for fresh military aid to help Ukraine obtain the air defences needed to prevent long-range Russian attacks, the city's mayor has warned.Ihor Terekhov said Russia had switched tactics to try to destroy the city's power supply and terrorise its 1.3 million residents by firing into residential areas, with people experiencing unscheduled power cuts for hours at a time. Continue reading...

Providers are optimistic for a different future for abortion in the state even as Republicans flounder in their responseThe waiting room of the Acacia Women's Center in Phoenix, Arizona, was calm and quiet on Friday. Patients sat with their mothers, friends or partners, paying no mind to the slapstick Tyler Perry movie on the TV and an arrangement of Vogue magazines resting on a table.It had been three days since the state's highest court reinstated an 1864 law that would ban almost all abortions and send abortion providers to prison for up to five years. Continue reading...

Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush face formidable challenges but Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar in Summer Lee much stronger positionsQuarterly campaign finance reports reveal the Democratic representatives Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri - progressive Squad" members - will face formidable challenges in their 2024 congressional primaries, partly due to the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups.Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, and Summer Lee, of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, have far outspent their primary challengers, and the Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member whose outspoken criticism of Israel has brought the ire of her political opponents, does not yet face a challenger. Continue reading...

United Auto Workers faces first real test in campaign to unionize 13 automakers across US as Volkswagen workers vote in TennesseeThe United Auto Workers (UAW) has launched an ambitious campaign to unionize 13 non-union automakers across the US, and the first big test begins this Wednesday when 4,300 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, start voting on whether to unionize. Many VW workers are predicting victory.We're going to win," said Lisa Elliott, a quality control worker at VW. We have the momentum. I know this will be a historic event." Continue reading...

House speaker seeks to split US aid into separate votes. Plus, Trump rebuked by judge in warning against juror intimidation'

SpaceX is trying to kill a federal agency that accused it of labor violations. Ostensibly progressive brands have leaped to join inElon Musk boasts that he's a free speech absolutist", but that didn't stop his rocket company, SpaceX, from firing eight workers who had criticized him for making light of reports that SpaceX had settled a sexual harassment claim against him.Not stopping there, SpaceX has moved to put the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the US's top labor watchdog, out of business. Earlier this year, a day after the board accused SpaceX of illegally retaliating against those workers, SpaceX filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that seeks to have the labor board - which has successfully overseen relations between business and unions since the 1930s - declared unconstitutional and shut down.Steven Greenhouse, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, is an American labor and workplace journalist and writer Continue reading...

Mike Flynn, Mike Lindell and others to attend event on election fraud by Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers AssociationA group of far-right sheriffs is set to meet Donald Trump allies in Las Vegas on Wednesday for talks with dozens of Republican state officials and candidates focused partly on potential election fraud by non-citizens, which experts say is wildly overblown.The far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which the former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack founded in 2011 and which boasts hundreds of members nationwide, is hosting the day-long event, which it bills as a training session". The group is known for attacks on Covid mask mandates and gun control measures. Continue reading...

Carrier says three-week grounding of 737 Max 9 planes after Alaska Airlines blowout cost it profitUnited Airlines has blamed a $200m (161m) hit to its earnings in the first three months of the year on the mid-flight blowout that forced it to ground many of its Boeing planes.The US carrier said the three-week grounding of 737 Max 9 jets after a cabin panel blew out on a flight operated by rival Alaska Airlines at the start of January contributed to a $124m loss in the three months to the end of March. Continue reading...

Dozens indicated they could not be fair and impartial to the ex-president in his home town - others were even more expressiveAs jury selection in Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case started this week, it seemed like the former president would face a tough crowd. When Judge Juan Merchan asked the first group of 96 prospective jurors whether any thought themselves incapable of being be fair and impartial, more than 50 raised their hands.These prospective jurors were excused from serving on the case, of course, but it still might have smarted for the real estate tycoon turned TV star turned America's 45th president. New York is Trump's home town, but it appears he's so polarizing that his fellow citizens wanted an out.A guide to Trump's hush-money trial - so farThe key arguments prosecutors will use against TrumpHow will Trump's trial work?From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players Continue reading...

The franchise has long been dismissed as backwards looking. But it is set to draft a star who happily pushes back on athlete stereotypesAmong the NFL's heirloom franchises, the Chicago Bears are the still living in the last century - the pride of George Papa Bear" Halas, a league founding father. From their neoclassical stadium to their 101-year-old owner-matriarch to their stubborn reverence for Bear Weather" (ie: lake-effect winter conditions that only affect the other team), everything about the franchise is old-fashioned. Even the Bears being in position to select a quarterback with the first pick in this month's draft has arrived about 30 years too late in a league where the passing game dominates. What's notable is that the passer in their sights isn't the second-coming of 1940s hero Sid Luckman or a Harvard man or some other statuesque golden boy. It's Caleb Williams, Gen Z's poster boy quarterback.On paper, Williams would appear to possess precisely the resume that Virginia McCaskey, the owner-matriarch in question, might describe as the cat's pajamas." He went to USC - a college football program that Chicagoland's many Notre Dame fans at least respect. He won the Heisman trophy, putting him in a league with early Bears two-way star Johnny Lujack. And Williams played most of his college games in the LA Memorial Coliseum, one of the few stadiums left that can rival Soldier Field's antiquity - so he shouldn't be a snob about the patchy quality of the Bears natural home turf. Continue reading...

Democrat praised for serving with immense dignity and courage' during five-decade career while also perfecting workdays' to connect with constituentsFormer US senator and two-term Florida governor Bob Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate intelligence committee in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, has died aged 87.Graham's family announced the death in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham on Tuesday. Continue reading...

After a contentious redrawing of Alabama's congressional map, two candidates will compete in November for a seat, and perhaps congressional controlShomari Figures, an attorney and Obama White House executive from a politically-prominent civil rights family, has won the Democratic nomination to run in Alabama's redrawn second congressional district Tuesday night, defeating state representative Anthony Daniels.The runoff election has been closely watched because of its implications for control of Congress in November, and for the effect of supreme court orders requiring southern states to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and eliminate racial gerrymandering. Continue reading...

Asna Tabassum says university is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice' after decision to scrap speechThe University of Southern California is facing intense backlash for the decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student at the commencement ceremony in May, a decision which the student has criticized as being silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred for her views on human rights.In a missive to the USC community, the university's provost, Andrew Guzman, wrote that the Los Angeles university took the unprecedented step of canceling Asna Tabassum's planned speech because the alarming tenor" of reactions to her selection as valedictorian - along with the intensity of feelings" surrounding Israel's ongoing military strikes in Gaza - had created substantial risks relating to security". Continue reading...