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Cousin of murdered Black teenager tries to compel sheriff to enforce 1955 warrant against Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 89A relative of Emmett Till has filed a lawsuit seeking the arrest of the white woman whose allegations resulted in the 14-year-old Black boy’s kidnapping, torture and murder nearly 70 years ago.Earlier this week, Till’s cousin, Patricia Sterling, filed a federal lawsuit against Ricky Banks, the sheriff in Leflore county, Mississippi, seeking to compel the elected official to serve a 1955 arrest warrant against Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was then identified as “Mrs Roy Bryant” on the document. Continue reading...

The novelist is still recovering from a knife attack last summer, but the loss of an eye won’t stop him writing about it“The world,” Salman Rushdie wrote in The Satanic Verses, “is the place we prove real by dying in it.” Happily, defiantly, the author, 75 and among the greatest of all living make-believers, is not ready just yet to test that theory. Reading his interview with David Remnick in the New Yorker last week, the first he has given since he was attacked on stage last August – stabbed 15 times in the face and neck and chest and hands – was to be reminded of some of the darker ironies of his existence.In the years since he came out of hiding after the 1989 fatwa and moved to New York, Rushdie had begun, he noted, to evoke frustration, even ridicule for trying to live normally, as if he’d been exaggerating the threat all along. “People didn’t like it,” he told Remnick, “because I should have died… Not only did I live, but I tried to live well.” Continue reading...

Florida legislature gives governor right to name members of board supervising theme park, claiming: ‘There’s a new sheriff in town’Florida’s far-right governor, Ron DeSantis, has won the power to appoint the members of the board that supervises the development of the state’s famous Walt Disney World theme parks after a fight over a law that restricts sexual orientation and gender identity discussions in schools.Disney as a result is set to lose some of the autonomy it has enjoyed in Florida during the last nearly six decades, but the company has held on to some of its key privileges amid the culture war leveled at it by DeSantis. Continue reading...

State attorney general must also apologize to four former aides whose claims initiated ongoing FBI investigationThe attorney general for the state of Texas, Ken Paxton, has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3m in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.Under terms of a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed on Friday, Paxton made no admission of wrongdoing to accusations of bribery and abuse of office, which he has denied for years and called politically motivated. Continue reading...

The Church of England is considering gender-neutral ways to refer to God, revealing a lot about how gendered language reinforces stereotypesThe woke agenda spares no one, not even God. The revelation that the Church of England is considering gender-neutral ways to refer to God has caused quite a ruckus this week; very predictably all the usual suspects have been foaming at the mouth about wokeness gone mad. Nigel Farage (AKA Mr Brexit), for example, even suggested that you might as well shut down the Church of England if they’re going to go all trendy and politically correct. Continue reading...

Deaths and disappearances, including actor Julian Sands, have plagued the popular spot as hikers underestimate its perilsAt 10,064ft high, Mount San Antonio – commonly known as Baldy – towers in the San Gabriel mountains on the eastern edge of Los Angeles. Named for its steep, treeless summit, the mountain is a popular spot for hikers and skiers.It’s also a dangerous one. Continue reading...

Guillermina Fuentes was sentenced to one month for alleged unlawful ballot collection – and advocates say prosecuting cases like hers suppresses the right to voteThe small city of San Luis is tucked away in the far corner of Arizona, closer to Mexico than to any major US city. The community is nearly 95% Latino and tight-knit – the type of place where you know your neighbors and their parents and cousins.It’s not uncommon here for residents to frequently cross the border into Mexico to go shopping or see a dentist, as the vast majority of residents are US citizens who can go back and forth freely. And they do not take their right to vote in the US for granted. Election days in San Luis were typically joyous occasions, with music and celebrations in the streets. Continue reading...

My family owned plantations, made profits and was compensated, but the personal atonement of my generation can only ever be a startWhat do you do when you discover your family got rich through slavery? For Laura Trevelyan, the BBC correspondent whose ancestors owned more than 1,000 enslaved people in Grenada, the answer was simple. She and her family started discussions with people on the island, and now she has given £100,000 towards an economic development fund. The Trevelyans will apologise formally for the lives ruined and wasted by their ancestors’ greed.So why doesn’t everyone – and there are hundreds of thousands in Britain with the same history – do a little digging and say sorry? Continue reading...

Americans for Prosperity Action recently invited two politicians who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential electionAt an event in California last weekend, the Koch family political network announced it would move away from Donald Trump, and invest in congressional elections in a bid to break from the far-right, Trump-supporting politicians who have come to the fore in recent years.Americans for Prosperity Action, founded by Republican megadonors Charles Koch and David Koch, who died in 2019, would be seeking to “turn the page on the past”, it said, in remarks that were covered extensively, and favorably, in the US media. Continue reading...

Changes lawmakers are seeking, such as expanding types of approved work, will potentially ‘put kids in dangerous situations’As child labor law violations have been on the rise in the US, some state legislators are pushing for changes at state and federal levels to roll back protections in what some see as a threat to return child labor to the country.The laws aim to expand permissible work hours, broaden the types of jobs young workers are permitted to do, and shield employers from liability for injuries, illnesses or workplace fatalities involving very young workers. Continue reading...

History will be made on Sunday in the Arizona desert when Jason and Travis Kelce become the first ever brothers to compete against one another on the NFL’s biggest stageThe breakout star of Super Bowl week will not play on Sunday. Donna Kelce will instead watch from the commissioner’s box at State Farm Stadium as her sons, Jason and Travis, become the first brothers ever to compete against one another in the NFL’s title game.“It’s going to be the best day ever,” she told them on their podcast, New Heights. “Except for when you were born, when both you guys were born, it can’t get any better.” Continue reading...

As the 57th edition of the Super Bowl nears, here are 20 questions on the annals and arcana of American sport’s high holy day Continue reading...

Hundreds of lawsuits alleging abuse by priests and others in the diocese have come to light after California lifted statute of limitationThe Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego has said it may declare bankruptcy in the coming months as it faces “staggering” legal costs in dealing with some 400 lawsuits alleging priests and others in the diocese sexually abused children.In a letter that was expected to be shared with parishioners this weekend, Bishop Robert McElroy said the cases were filed after California lifted a statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse claims. Continue reading...

Senator from Pennsylvania was admitted after feeling light-headed but tests confirmed he did not suffer a second strokeJohn Fetterman was discharged from George Washington University Hospital on Friday, his staff said, two days after the US senator was admitted to the Washington DC facility because he was feeling light-headed.Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke last year. Tests showed he did not suffer a second stroke during the latest incident, the hospital said. Continue reading...

John Kirby says defense department was tracking flying object, and Biden ordered military to ‘down’ it

Attorneys say in court filing that law used to seek five-year term for actor Alec Baldwin was not in force at time of incidentAttorneys defending the actor Alec Baldwin from an involuntary manslaughter charge in the film-set killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins are urging a judge to stop prosecutors from seeking a five-year prison sentence, saying the law authorizing that punishment did not exist when the shooting occurred.In court documents filed on Friday, lawyers for Baldwin contended that allowing New Mexico state prosecutors to charge the actor under a gun enhancement law would violate a clause in the US constitution that prohibits retroactively changing the legal consequences of actions. Continue reading...

Spokesman John Kirby says object, the size of a small car, was ordered by President Biden to be downed• Chinese ‘spy balloon’ wakes up world to new era of war on edge of spaceA US fighter jet has shot down an unidentified high-altitude object over Alaska that was the size of a small car but the nature, purpose or origin of the object remains unclear.US officials said the targeted aircraft brought down on Friday was considerably smaller than the Chinese balloon downed last Saturday over the Atlantic, and carefully avoided characterising it as a balloon, drone or plane, giving nothing away about the description of the object other than its rough size, its altitude and its direction of travel. Continue reading...

Lawyer for Trump’s former vice-president reportedly present for search, which followed discovery of documents there last monthFBI agents searched an Indiana property belonging to Mike Pence on Friday and found new official papers, including one with classified markings. The search was the latest step in a saga over the improper retention of classified documents by Pence, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.The Washington Post reported that Pence, Trump’s former vice-president, was in California while the search was carried out at his home in Carmel, north of Indianapolis. A Pence lawyer was present, the paper said. Continue reading...

A US fighter jet has shot down an unidentified high-altitude object that was the size of a small car, the White House said on Friday, although it remained unclear what the purpose or origin of the target was. 'The president ordered the military to down the object,' National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. He added it was unclear where the object came from, but that US authorities expected to recover it from territorial waters. The incident came just days after a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon crossed the continental US and was eventually shot down over the Atlantic Ocean

Man, 26, arrested after attack in elevator in Angie Craig’s Washington apartment building early on Thursday morningAngie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who was assaulted in her Washington apartment, reportedly deterred her attacker by pouring hot coffee over him, it emerged on Friday.“Representative Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically OK,” her chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...

A year into his country’s fight for its very survival, Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows some in Europe are looking for a way outThe image was stunning, the optics perfect: a war leader addressing the nation in an ancient hall, the rays of stained-glass sunlight all but crowning him with a halo. And yet there was something wrong with that picture. Volodymyr Zelenskiy was not stiffening the resolve of his own people, who after a year of war, bereavement and pain might be forgiven for losing heart. Rather, he was in Westminster to steady the nerves of British politicians – and, later, European ones – to ensure they do not abandon a fight that has cost them so much less.His official request was for fighter planes – “Give us wings,” he said – but he had a wider purpose. His lightning trip to London, Paris and Brussels was aimed at ensuring the west does not grow impatient, that as the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, it does not start looking at its watch – and for an early way out. Continue reading...

Republican at centre of string of scandals was charged in Pennsylvania with theft over purchase of puppies in 2017The New York Republican congressman George Santos, who is at the centre of a bizarre string of scandals and who the Utah senator Mitt Romney this week called a “sick puppy”, was charged with theft in Pennsylvania in 2017 – over a purchase of “puppies”.The scandal, reported by Politico, is not Santos’s first involving dogs and his charity, Friends of Pets United. A New Jersey veteran alleges Santos raised money for an operation for his dog, then absconded with the money. Continue reading...

Who spoke out? Who took it step by step? Who scored? Continue reading...

Syrian rescue teams say earthquake has created conditions not seen at any point during 12 years of war. Plus, Russia ‘on offensive’Good morning.Pressure is mounting on the UN to provide urgent support to north-western Syria, which is yet to receive meaningful aid five days after the earthquake that devastated the region, and with the chance of finding any survivors beneath the rubble almost gone.Erdoğan’s earthquake response tarnishes brand. His refusal to accept criticism of the state’s response has done little to quell growing public anger at a wholly inadequate disaster response.‘I am lucky.’ Wisam Afisa, a British-Syrian dual citizen, has been walking through the streets of Aleppo in pyjamas, boots and a parka since Monday. Continue reading...

Remote work has emptied downtowns across the US – and that space could be used to create desperately needed affordable housingThe lack of affordable housing and the emptying of many downtowns in the US are what doctors might call co-morbidities: different problems that occur simultaneously and can exacerbate each other, making the entire system worse. But some people are able to look at the US housing crisis and the state of the nation’s downtowns and feel a shred of hope. After all, here are two problems that can each become a solution to the other.The 2022 State of the Nation’s Housing report from Harvard University revealed that the US housing supply is at a deficit of 3.8m homes. Meanwhile, in a city like San Francisco, where the availability of affordable housing has reached an acute crisis, the downtown business district has all but hollowed out. Now that remote work has become the norm, with knowledge workers logging in from everywhere and anywhere, only 27% of the city’s office space is in use, according to one study by the real estate firm CBRE. Continue reading...

Durham inquiry into origins of FBI’s Trump-Russia scrutiny has sparked allegations of a weaponization of justice departmentWhen the Trump justice department tapped a US attorney to examine the origins of the FBI inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, conservatives and many Republicans hoped it would end the idea Donald Trump’s campaign was boosted by Moscow and back his charges that some FBI officials and others had conspired against him.But instead, as the multi-year investigation winds down, it is ending with accusations that unethical actions by that special counsel – John Durham – and ex-attorney general William Barr “weaponized” the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to help Trump. Continue reading...

The signs are good. Ukraine’s leader is avoiding the mistakes of the second world war – while Putin shows every sign of repeating themThe Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s speech to parliament on Wednesday was filled with references to the second world war and Winston Churchill. Just as evil was defeated before, he said, so evil will be defeated today. Comparisons with that momentous conflict have been a common theme throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – but at least we can rest assured that Zelenskiy knows what he’s talking about.I was flattered when the Economist reported a few weeks ago that Zelenskiy gets up early each morning and reads from my book, Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War, recently published in Ukrainian translation. I was also impressed that, while trying to win a bloody war against the Russians, he found time to read anything other than official documents. Continue reading...

The likes of Andrew Tate want to return to an imagined idyll in gender relations. It would be a disaster for everyoneCan we think a bit more deeply about masculinity? Toxic masculinity has a certain usefulness and punch as a phrase. It expresses what some men put out into the world but it doesn’t address the whys deeply enough.Until recently, and still to this day in many parts of the world, men were raised to be protectors: fighters and economic providers. Conscription – men being trained to kill – only ended in Britain in 1960. Women, meanwhile, were being raised to be nurturers and carers – to be midwives to their needs, to support their initiatives, whether or not the women worked also outside the home. Men were to be receivers of emotional support, women to be receivers of economic support and “protection”.Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, psychoanalyst and social critic. She is the author of many books including What Do Women Want? – co-authored with Luise EichenbaumDo 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...

Things are looking up for the Suns and Bucks after a most chaotic trade deadline. The Bulls and Raptors? Not so muchKyrie Irving to Dallas. Then came Kevin Durant to Phoenix. Brooklyn’s spectacular loss was the Western Conference’s gain. And that was only the start of one of the most chaotic NBA trade deadlines in recent memory, with all but two of the league’s 30 teams getting into the action. Here’s a quick survey of the most notable winners and losers. Continue reading...

Super Bowl LVII shows that football is more willing to see Black men as leaders – although that doesn’t apply to other levels of US society, or the NFLThirty-five years ago a harsh spotlight shone on Washington’s Doug Williams. He was the story of Super Bowl XXII, the first Black quarterback to start in the NFL title game. In the run-up to the game he was blitzed with questions about his race, but this was the one that hit home.Reporter: “How long have you been a Black quarterback?” Continue reading...

Superstar singer is the much-anticipated half-time performer on the biggest US sports night of the year – but what can we expect?A lot has happened since Rihanna, one of the most famous singers in the world, last released an album. Two presidencies, a global pandemic, the invention of TikTok and five new Taylor Swift albums all postdate 2016’s Anti, the Barbadian singer’s last full-length project before a seemingly eternal hiatus from music.Rihanna’s return to the stage during Sunday’s Super Bowl half-time show – her first live performance since pitching in to help DJ Khaled on Wild Thoughts at the 2018 Grammys – does not guarantee new music. Even the singer has joked that R9 (the colloquial name for her next, ninth LP) may be lost to time. But it does herald a megawatt return to the music spotlight for one of pop’s most reliable hit-makers, who has for nearly seven years devoted her energy elsewhere. Continue reading...

Dancers have alleged harassment, wage theft and unsafe working conditions. Still they struggle to make their voices heardFor Mhkeeba Pate, no Super Bowl will ever beat the 2014 game. Her hometown team, the Seattle Seahawks, fought from underdog status to domination over the Denver Broncos, knocking them out 43-8. And Pate had the best seats in the house – she was on the field the entire time. Pate, who was a Seattle “Sea Gal” cheerleader for five seasons from 2011–2017, remembers seeing the likes of Gayle King taking her seat near the sideline, and dancing for and with fans.“It was just amazing. Getting to dance in the end zone. It’s the ultimate experience. That’s our Super Bowl, too,” says Pate. Continue reading...

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has amassed a litany of contentious rulings in less than four yearsMatthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas appointed by Donald Trump, has a tendency to attract strong language. Every Democratic senator opposed his confirmation in 2019, with Chuck Schumer, the then minority leader, calling him “narrow-minded” and “bigoted”.“Mr Kacsmaryk has demonstrated a hostility to the LGBTQ [community] bordering on paranoia,” Schumer said. Continue reading...

In this series, Guardian writers share the best advice they’ve ever received and how it’s impacted their lives sinceMy grandfather was a prolific collector of aphorisms and inspirational quotes. “Failing to plan is planning to fail” is tattooed on the brains of my entire family, he said it so much. But it was one poem (of the many) he often recited about self-belief that has really stayed with me.If you think you are beaten, you are

Former vice-president and former Trump official Robert O’Brien issued subpoena though nature of requests is not knownFormer US vice-president Mike Pence and the former national security adviser Robert O’Brien have been subpoenaed by the special counsel leading investigations into classified documents found at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, according to media reports on Thursday.Pence was issued a subpoena by special counsel Jack Smith, though the nature of the request was not immediately known, ABC News reported, citing sources. The action follows months of negotiations involving federal prosecutors and Pence’s lawyers. Continue reading...

The social media minimum age has become a benchmark – but one size won’t fit allThe surgeon general is the “nation’s doctor” in the United States. He or she is tasked with giving Americans the “best scientific information” about their health.Late last month the current US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, warned that 13 is too young to join social media. He said it posed a risk to young people’s “self-worth and their relationships”, adding:I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early … the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children. Continue reading...

Woman found guilty of trying to kill 35-year-old woman with cake laced with powerful sedative and then stealing her passportA New York City woman accused of feeding poisoned cheesecake to her lookalike in a bid to steal the other woman’s identity has been convicted of attempted murder, prosecutors said on Thursday.Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday of trying to kill 35-year-old Olga Tsvyk with cheesecake laced with a powerful sedative and then stealing her passport and other valuables in August 2016, Queens district attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release. Continue reading...

Lawsuit, filed by parents and sister of cinematographer, accuses actor and others of battery and negligenceThe family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed on the set of Rust, have filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and others involved with the film.The lawsuit filed on behalf of Hutchins’ parents, Anatolii Androsovych and Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, accuses Baldwin and others, including the film’s armorer, of battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium. Continue reading...

Survey also finds that 29% of white evangelical Protestants qualify as nationalism adherents while 35% qualify as sympathizersTwo-thirds of white evangelicals and most Republicans are sympathetic to Christian nationalism, a new survey has found.According to a national survey released on Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute and Brookings Institution, 29% of white evangelical Protestants qualify as Christian nationalism adherents while 35% qualify as sympathizers. Continue reading...

President makes comments in Florida speech, vowing to safeguard programs ahead of anticipated 2024 re-election campaignJoe Biden amplified his attacks on Republicans over Medicare and Social Security during a visit to Florida on Thursday, arguing that it was the party’s “dream” to slash the federal programs and vowing to be the “nightmare” that stops them.Speaking in Tampa, Biden outlined his administration’s plan to safeguard the popular entitlement programs as part of an ongoing war of words with his Republican opponents that began during his second State of the Union address on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Investigation concludes six officials violated state ethics laws by diverting alcohol, including Pappy Van Winkle, for own purchaseOfficials with Oregon’s liquor and marijuana regulating agency allegedly “abused their position for personal gain” and violated state ethics laws to obtain rare bottles of top-shelf bourbon worth thousands of dollars.The state’s governor on Wednesday asked the Oregon liquor and cannabis commission (OLCC) to remove the executive director, Steve Marks, and five other officials after an internal investigation concluded they used their knowledge and connections to obtain the pricey whiskey. Continue reading...

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to London, Paris and Brussels is not only about fighter jets. It is about arming his country to resist Russian offensivesRussia is preparing for a long war in Ukraine. Recent reports put the number of Russian troops in Ukraine at about 320,000. They are not there to look at cathedrals. They are there to kill Ukrainians and take territory. Vladimir Putin wants to win the war. He is demanding “sweeping advances”. At the very least he wants to control the Donbas. There is absolutely no evidence that Russia is interested in any form of settlement to the conflict that will carry what the military expert Prof Lawrence Freedman calls “a whiff of defeat”.Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to western Europe this week should be understood in that light. The Ukrainian president – who visited London, Paris and Brussels in quick succession – knows that the Russians are not interested in peace negotiations. What is more, he knows that western European and US leaders now know it too. The logic of this recognition is that the western states have no alternative but to arm Ukraine to win some battles. Mr Zelenskiy’s trip to the west, like his trip to Washington at the end of last year, is designed to secure the weaponry which can make that possible. Continue reading...

Biden’s State of the Union address is a reminder of how good a president he has been, but majorities believe he has made no progressIn his first State of the Union address since Democrats lost control of the House, Joe Biden celebrated recent economic gains – especially declining inflation and soaring job growth – while taking a bow for legislative victories that will curb prescription drug prices, expand health benefits for veterans, slow climate change and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.Biden’s speech reminded me of how good a president he has been, especially given what he inherited from the former guy, who made a fetish out of dividing and angering Americans while accomplishing nothing except giving a giant tax cut to big corporations and the rich.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

The quarterbacks will earn plenty of attention on Sunday in Arizona. But their ability to survive an onslaught from the opposition will be crucialThe hype and intrigue swirling around quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes in Sunday’s Super Bowl is deserved. But the game may well be decided by which quarterback copes with the heat coming at him from the opposition. Both defenses have been great this season. Here’s how Hurts and Mahomes may fare against them. Continue reading...