Joe Biden appeared to mix up the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, with a former British paramilitary force notorious for its brutality during the second day of his Northern Ireland and Ireland tour. The US president thanked Rob Kearney, a relative who played rugby for Ireland, for the tie he was wearing and then remarked to the press: 'This was given to me by one of these guys, right here. He was a hell of a rugby player. He beat the hell out of the Black and Tans'. Biden made the remark in the Windsor Bar pub in Dundalk before heading south to Dublin where he will meet politicians on Thursday.
I’ve sculpted figures from Mary Seacole to George Orwell, but a 9.6m-strong test run of my latest image is art on a whole new scaleThe king makes a good subject. Over the months of designing and modelling his head in profile for the British coinage, I have had to examine his features with the scrutiny of a cartographer mapping a landscape.The process of modelling a bas-relief is painstaking. Commissioned by the Royal Mint, I made a model in plasticine about the size of my outstretched hand and no more than a few millimetres deep. This was then digitally scanned and reduced before dies were struck and coins started pouring into crates. When I was told a test run of 50p pieces was to be produced, I asked how many, imagining a dozen or so. “We’ll start with 9.6m,” came the reply. Continue reading...
Trump, a shrewd opportunist, has understood tendencies in American culture that most of us would prefer to ignore or denyA few years ago a former student of mine, one for whom I had particular respect, stopped me on the street and handed me a copy of The Road to Serfdom by the British-Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek.For reasons I cannot reconstruct, I had already read that book and forgotten it, except for the impression it left of being very much a product of its place and time, the London School of Economics, 1945. Since then I have learned that, fairly or not, it is read as a supporting document for the slippery-slope catastrophism that now casts the American government, insofar as it enacts policies favored by Democrats, as a sinister and quite absolute threat to individual freedom. My student told me that a reading group had formed and I was invited. He had the glow of the convert.Marilynne Robinson is an American novelist and essayist. She has received several awards including the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2005 and the 2012 National Humanities Medal Continue reading...
Tabbed for no higher than third in the AL East by most experts, the Rays have won 12 straight and are off to baseball’s hottest start in decades. How are they doing it and how long will it last?With their 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays became just the third team to win 12 straight games to open a baseball season since the dead-ball era more than a century ago. With one more win, the Rays will tie the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1982 Atlanta Braves as the only teams to begin a season with 13 consecutive victories since the 1880s.The winning streak is the latest achievement for a team known for their modest payrolls, sparse attendance and excellent organizational development. Early adopters of the advanced analytic strategies that dominate contemporary baseball, the Rays have made the postseason for six years in a row despite playing in the same division as the famously deep-pocketed New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Continue reading...
Vernon Jackson began Gifted Program haircuts at Noble Barber and Beauty after ‘hearing so many horror stories’ at other shopsVernon Jackson goes in to work at his barbershop in Cincinnati even on his off days. But it’s not because he wants to make as much money as possible – it’s because that’s the day he has set aside to give free haircuts to children with special needs.The kindness which Jackson offers at his Noble Barber and Beauty shop earned a profile from CBS News this week. Jackson told the network he began his Gifted Program haircuts in 2021 after “hearing so many horror stories that parents were going through with … barbers or stylists having no patience with their [children]” at other shops. Continue reading...
Memphis officials voted to reinstate Justin Pearson, the second of two lawmakers expelled from legislature by RepublicansHundreds of supporters marched Justin Pearson through Memphis to the Shelby county board of commissioners meeting on Wednesday, chanting and cheering before entering the commission chambers, where officials quickly voted 7-0 to restore him to his position.“The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice,” Pearson said at the meeting, his voice rising as he spoke. “You can’t expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight.” Continue reading...
Representatives Ro Khanna and Dean Philips tweet echoing sentiments as ailing senator has missed 60 of 82 votes taken so farSenator Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of the upper chamber of the US Congress, said she plans on serving out her term despite growing calls for her to resign.Feinstein, 89, has not voted in Congress since February, and has been away from Capitol Hill after being hospitalized for shingles treatment in March. “I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel. In the meantime, I remain committed to the job and will continue to work from home in San Francisco,” she said. Continue reading...
Nanuq, a one-year-old Australian shepherd, disappeared from a family trip and went on an adventure across the Bering SeaA one-year-old Australian shepherd took an epic trek across 150 miles (241km) of frozen Bering Sea ice that included being bitten by a seal or polar bear before he was safely returned to his home in Alaska.Mandy Iworrigan, Nanuq’s owner who lives in Gambell, Alaska, and her family were visiting Savoonga, another St Lawrence Island community in the Bering strait, last month when Nanuq disappeared with their other family dog, Starlight, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Continue reading...
Kathleen Corradi is the city’s first director of rodent mitigation, tasked with rooting out the city’s infestation of verminEvery New York City mayor has waged war – and mostly lost – against one of humanity’s most cunning and enduring foe: rattus norvegicus. But has the city’s vilest enemy, better known as the common brown rat, finally met its match?Mayor Eric Adams introduced a former elementary school teacher and anti-rat activist as his new “rat czar” on Wednesday. Officially, Kathleen Corradi, the mayor’s new hire, will be known as the director of rodent mitigation. Continue reading...
The Shelby county board of commissioners in Memphis, Tennessee, have voted unanimously to reappoint Justin Pearson, the second of the two black Democratic lawmakers who were expelled from the statehouse by Republicans last week. After being reappointed to the Tennessee House of Representatives, Pearson gave an impassioned speech: 'So the message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: you can't expel hope. You can't expel justice. You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight.'Justin Jones, who represents Nashville and was ejected along with Pearson for protesting against gun violence, was also reappointed Monday by that city's Metro council
Liz Harris exits following 46-13 vote, after she invited to hearing conspiracy theorist who accused election officials of briberyLiz Harris, an election-denying Republican lawmaker in the Arizona house of representatives, was expelled by her colleagues on Wednesday after she invited to a committee hearing a conspiracy theorist who accused elected officials of unproven corruption and bribery.Republican and Democratic representatives joined together to expel Harris with a 46-13 vote. An expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the chamber and is rare. The last expulsion from the Arizona legislature was in 2018, though before that, the most recent was in 1991. Continue reading...
Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister tries to channel Margaret Thatcher to buff her image – 3,500 miles from her legacy of political chaos and near economic disasterShe’s back. Sort of. Liz Truss, a former British prime minister whose tenure lasted only 50 days, sought to revive her political career and economic agenda on Wednesday with a major speech – more than 3,500 miles from home.Truss’s unlikely comeback attempt was perhaps guaranteed a warmer welcome at the Heritage Foundation (a somewhat stuffy conservative thinktank in Washington that has its own Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom) than at many places in her native Britain. Continue reading...
US president given rapturous welcome despite bad weather as he begins celebration of his Irish heritageJoe Biden has started a three-day personal and political pilgrimage to the Republic of Ireland, receiving a rapturous welcome despite heavy wind and rain.The US president flew into Dublin on Wednesday afternoon after concluding a politically charged visit to Northern Ireland. The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, greeted Biden after he descended from Air Force One for an expected three-day celebration of the president’s Irish heritage. Continue reading...
Mifepristone will lose its FDA approval this week unless an appeals court intervenes in a case likely to reach the supreme courtFDA authorization for a key abortion drug could be nullified after Friday, unless an appeals court acts on a Biden administration request to block last week’s ruling suspending approval of the drug.The drug, mifepristone, is used in more than half of all the abortions in the US. The ruling, issued by a federal judge in Texas, applies across the country. Continue reading...
by Julia Carrie Wong in New York and Stephanie Kirchg on (#6APSH)
Graduate school of arts and sciences to be named in honor of Ken Griffin, 54, hedge-fund billionaire and world’s 35th richest personHarvard University will rename its graduate school of arts and sciences after the billionaire hedge fund executive and Republican mega-donor Kenneth Griffin, the institution announced on Tuesday, after a new $300m contribution brought Griffin’s total support of his alma mater to more than half a billion dollars.Griffin, 54, is the founder and chief executive of Citadel, a $59bn hedge fund, and Citadel Securities, which trades securities. He is the 35th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $34.9bn, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index. Continue reading...
The world champions suffer a blow while France ride high with Hervé Renard as all 32 teams are put under the microscopeThe European champions’ momentum suffered a blow when defeat to Australia ended their 30-game unbeaten run. In contrast, they also added the Finalissima to their ever-expanding trophy cabinet this window. The Lionesses are still favourites with time to fix any problems. Continue reading...
My newly mindful driving may cause fury in those stuck behind me, but I find it much more enjoyable and less stressfulI’ve never been a particularly fast driver. I can’t have been, because in four decades at the wheel, driving far too many miles every year, I’ve only been nicked three times for speeding. Once was in 1985 doing 65mph in a 40mph limit on the A456 just outside Halesowen. I was in my dad’s car, wearing mirrored sunglasses, which I decided not to remove when the police officer addressed me. Idiot. (Me, not the copper.) Perhaps he saw his own irritated reflection as he issued the reprimand. I got a fine no bigger than the speed I was doing, and three richly deserved points. It should have been more.The second time was more recently, on the Adriatic coast road in Croatia. An outstretched arm, palm facing towards me, indicated I should stop. On this occasion I removed my sunglasses; the policajac didn’t. After a brief admonishment and a spot of form-filling, his arm was outstretched again – now with his palm facing upwards, indicating I should put some cash in it. This I did. Job done. Continue reading...
Dr Rahul Gupta says drug has become increasingly common and is particularly dangerous when mixed with opioid fentanylJoe Biden’s drug tsar has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it is mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine.The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation on Wednesday, the first time the office has used it since the category for fast-growing drug dangers was created in 2019. Continue reading...
In pushing through with this unpopular reform, the French president is doing the groundwork for Marine Le PenIt’s been a great few months for the rats of Paris. As they’ve grown fat, feasting on rubbish in the streets, citizens have been struggling to catch a train and facing fuel shortages at the pumps. Tomorrow, another rolling strike of refuse collectors will start and the streets of the capital will again fill with the pungent aroma of social conflict.President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, is missing in action, hiding in the Élysée Palace or travelling abroad. A recent front page of the left-leaning Libération newspaper declared that he was becoming increasingly out of touch with the people. Continue reading...
Joe Biden has said the democratic institutions established by the Good Friday agreement are critical to the future of Northern Ireland while calling for the assembly to be restored.Biden delivered the keynote address at Ulster University on Wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement. His visit came against the backdrop of a political stalemate in which the devolved Northern Ireland assembly has not been functioning for more than a year due to a row over post-Brexit trade arrangements
A ridiculous parade of interviews and OTT newspaper front pages risked wrecking Succession’s latest episode for viewers. It’s time for some common sense (contains spoilers)I’d usually start a piece like this with a warning about spoilers. I’d point out that I’m about to discuss major events that took place during a recent television episode, and then do my best to persuade anyone who hasn’t seen it to stop reading, lest their enjoyment of the episode is ruined for ever.But, honestly, what’s the point? If you’ve seen a copy of the Daily Mail today – in the flesh, or online, or on TV – you will have seen the front page obituary for (final spoiler warning) Logan Roy. “Farewell to the foul-mouthed tyrant whose life (and death) were so explosively dramatic you couldn’t make it up!” crowed the Mail’s banner, taking up a quarter of the entire page, and adding “LOGAN ROY 1938-2023” just for the absolute avoidance of doubt. Continue reading...
Monthly consumer price index shows US prices increased at a lower rate in March, though core inflation remains steadyUS prices increased 5% over the last year, the lowest inflation has been since 2021, when prices started to climb.The monthly consumer price index (CPI), which measures the price of a basket of goods and services, for March showed prices made a decent jump down over the last year. In February, inflation stood at 6%, already a steep decline from its peak of 9.1% in June. Continue reading...
Lee Atwater was master of attack and dog-whistle politics. We should be alive to his methods and their effects – not emulating themWill 2024 be a repeat of 1992 or 1997, is the (binary) question people ask: a repeat of Neil Kinnock’s shock defeat to the Tories in 1992 or Tony Blair’s triumphant landslide victory in 1997.But while we are talking about the what will happen next time, we had better discuss the how. The means matter. The means help shape society. They impact how cohesive we are, how we treat each other. The means last longer than victory or defeat. And by many current indications, the means suggest we are looking at neither 1997 nor 1992, but at a mirror image of the 1988 US presidential election. Continue reading...
by David S Cohen, Greer Donley and Rachel Rebouché on (#6AQ8Q)
Try as it might, the Food and Drug Administration cannot escape the abortion debate. The agency must be bolderOn Friday, the nation was treated to dueling decisions from federal judges regarding the first drug in a medication abortion: mifepristone. A judge in Texas ruled that the Food and drug Administration (FDA) likely improperly approved the drug, staying its approval while the case plays out. Minutes later, a judge in Washington state ruled that the FDA could not change the status quo regarding mifepristone’s availability.In response to these two cases and two other less-publicized cases involving the FDA and medication abortion, the agency needs to chart a course consistent with its mission to protect patient health and to follow the evidence. As the Biden administration has stated, protecting medication abortion is a public health imperative now that states can ban all abortion outright. If the agency does not respond to these conflicting rulings in a manner tailored to provide the greatest access possible to medication abortion, it will be telling of Biden’s commitment to reproductive justice.David S Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University, is a co-author of Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America, a board member of the Abortion Care Network and a consulting attorney with the Women’s Law ProjectGreer Donley is a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a board member of the Women’s Law ProjectRachel Rebouché is the dean of the Temple University Beasley School of Law and a faculty fellow at the Center for Public Health Law Research Continue reading...
Thousands of Afghans are believed to have made their way to Mexico hoping to claiming asylum in the US. Most are still thereWhen the Taliban stormed Kabul, Wali Modaqiq, 54, began calling every American, Briton and European with whom he had worked on environmental projects, pleading for help to evacuate him and his family.“The message I received back was: ‘You’re not our direct employee, so we cannot help you,’” he said. “But I brought them in, I took them around, I helped them work in Afghanistan.” He says environmental activism with foreign conservationists had made him an enemy of the Taliban. Continue reading...
Ukrainian president calls for action after videos circulated online appear to show soldiers beheaded by Russian forces. Plus, Nasa prepares for life on Mars
In gerrymandering voting maps and gutting one of the biggest expansions of voting rights, the Florida governor seeks to dilute Black political powerAl Lawson felt the weight of his victory the night he was elected to Congress in 2016.He was born in Midway, a small town that’s part of a stretch of land in northern Florida dotted with tobacco fields once home to plantations. A former basketball star, he was once reprimanded for drinking out of a whites-only water fountain. In some of his early campaigns for the state legislature, he ran into the Ku Klux Klan. Continue reading...
The basketball legend whose legal case improved the landscape for generations of young stars may finally be getting his due in history with a forthcoming biopicSpencer Haywood was standing in the Cincinnati snow, freezing his butt off. The stylish green and gold bellbottom Seattle SuperSonics warmups he wore did little for the cold wind, which would blow up the thighs thanks to the wide ankle hem. The short-sleeve top didn’t help much, either. The 1970s had just begun but Haywood’s career, remarkable as it was, as a former ABA Rookie of the Year and MVP, had stalled again. But for the future multi-time All-Star, who later dealt with substance abuse issues while in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, he wasn’t standing in the sub-freezing night because of any personal or professional infraction. No, he was in the process of changing the league forever. As such, he wasn’t even allowed to stand on the Cincinnati Royals court, opposite Tiny Archibald and Norm Van Lier, or go back into the locker room and get his street clothes. He was an “illegal player” and banned from the game before it started because, simply, he was in court fighting a bigger battle.“‘We’ve got an illegal player on the floor,’ blah-blah-blah,” Haywood tells the Guardian, remembering back to his first year in the NBA with the SuperSonics. “There was another injunction against me. So, they put me out into the snow.” Continue reading...
President expected to emphasise US’s commitment to ensuring peace in Northern Ireland as he begins visit to island of IrelandJoe Biden will hold a meeting with Rishi Sunak in Belfast on Wednesday before a keynote speech in which he is expected to emphasise the US’s commitment to ensuring lasting peace and prosperity for Northern Ireland.US officials said the president would be “underscoring the readiness of the United States to support Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential to the benefit of all communities” with the prospect of major investments if power-sharing is restored in Stormont. Continue reading...
Trump’s only child with Marla Maples seems to have gone from avoiding the spotlight to being her father’s biggest fanWell, it looks like Melaniawatch is officially over. The former first lady has a habit of periodically disappearing, sparking fanciful theories that she has left her philandering husband and is crashing at the Obamas’ mansion to write a tell-all. Her latest vanishing act came, understandably, after Trump was arrested last week for hush money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Melania was conspicuously absent from Trump’s arraignment and he failed to mention her in a speech where he thanked his entire family, and – bizarrely – praised his son Barron for being very tall. Like Jesus, however, Melania made a public reappearance on Easter Sunday.As soon as the where-is-Melania speculation was laid to rest, the what’s-Tiffany-up-to conjecture started. Eyebrows were raised when Trump thanked Tiffany, his youngest daughter, in his post-arraignment speech, because Trump famously has a habit of forgetting that Tiffany exists. Her siblings reportedly aren’t much kinder. According to Michael Cohen’s memoir about his time as Trump’s lapdog, Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka (Trump’s children with his first wife, Ivana Trump) referred to Tiffany, who Trump fathered with his second wife, Marla Maples, as the “red-haired stepchild”. Cohen also claims the former president and Ivanka were rude about Tiffany’s looks. Continue reading...
Despite the claims of politicians and the media, the expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson is far from ‘unprecedented’When Tennessee lawmakers expelled two Black legislators from the state’s Republican-dominated house of representatives, pundits described the decision as “stunning” and “historic”. Joe Biden called it “shocking, undemocratic and without precedent”. The New York Times characterized it as “an extraordinary act of political retribution”.Sorry, have you met America? Continue reading...
The materials assess Ukrainian war preparedness, Egypt’s and the UK’s involvement in the conflict, and other disclosuresUS intelligence gave a downbeat assessment in February of the prospects for Ukraine’s expected spring counteroffensive, due to shortfalls in troop numbers and equipment deliveries. Only modest battlefield gains were expected. Continue reading...
Kentucky law requires officers to send assault-style rifle used in shooting to state police officials to sell at auctionThe mayor of Louisville has said Kentucky law would make him a criminal if he destroys the assault-style rifle used by a gunman in Monday’s killing of five bank employees in his city.An emotional Craig Greenberg was speaking Tuesday at a lunchtime press conference during which police revealed the killer – an employee at the Old National Bank who also wounded eight others, including two critically – bought the weapon legally six days previously. Continue reading...
Alvin Bragg is suing to block the subpoena of a former prosecutor who led an inquiry into Donald Trump’s business practicesManhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday sued Republican congressman Jim Jordan to stop what Bragg called an “unconstitutional attack” on the ongoing criminal prosecution of former US president Donald Trump in New York.The lawsuit aims to block a subpoena of Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who had led the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of Trump. The subpoena, issued last week by the House of Representatives judiciary committee, which Jordan chairs, seeks Pomerantz’s appearance before the committee for a deposition. Continue reading...
by Associated Press and Guardian staff on (#6APPV)
Phone call occurred a day after the US declared the Moscow-based Wall Street Journal reporter wrongfully detainedJoe Biden spoke to the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the Moscow-based journalist was detained in Russia and charged with espionage.The president made the call as he flew to Belfast to start a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland. The call happened one day after the Biden administration formally declared the reporter had been “wrongfully detained”. Continue reading...
Accountancy firm confirms work has stopped on radical scheme after internal concerns about structureEY has scrapped plans for a radical breakup of its global operations after internal disputes over the potential structure of the new businesses.The company started laying the groundwork for separating its audit and advisory businesses – under the codename Project Everest – last year, as the big four accounting firms faced mounting criticism about conflicts of interest between the two divisions. Continue reading...
Shares in US firm have fallen almost 50% this week and stock exchange says it is in danger of being delistedTupperware, the American plastic food container business founded by the chemist Earl Tupper 77 years ago, has predicted it will go bust unless it can raise emergency funds.Shares in the Massachusetts firm, which became famous in the 1950s and 1960s when mostly women held “Tupperware parties” to sell its plastic containers with patented “burping” seal, crashed almost 50% this week after it told investors there was “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. Continue reading...
The American president cannot solve the current impasse single-handedly. But US economic heft can helpIn The Green and White House, an account of the ancestral ties that have linked so many American leaders to Ireland since the 19th century, Joe Biden is described as the most deeply “connected” president of all. Throughout his career, Mr Biden has placed his Irish roots at the heart of his political identity, and played an influential role in promoting the Northern Ireland peace process.Cometh the hour, cometh the Potus? As he visits Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, there is widespread hope that Mr Biden can put his backstory to profitable use at a delicate moment, along with the unique clout that goes with his office. As a kind of restless, ominous gridlock grips Northern Ireland’s body politic, that would constitute a notable success. Continue reading...
The filthy rich are fighting back against wealthism. They are assisted by media allies, who urge more neutral language to describe their gold-plated plightYou’ve heard of racism and sexism, but there’s a horrifying new -ism we all need to be aware of: wealthism. The obscenely rich, you see, are an increasingly persecuted minority, vilified in modern society. Wealthism is so deeply entrenched, that without even knowing it, you’re probably using anti-wealth language and making billionaires feel very sad indeed.This public service announcement is brought to you by the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, which just published a scathing piece about a ProPublica investigation into US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas’s friendship with a Republican mega-donor and billionaire property developer called Harlan Crow. Continue reading...
Research, published a day after five shot dead at Louisville bank, reflects increasing incidence of gun-related attacksOne in five Americans has lost a family member to gun violence, an alarming survey published on Tuesday claims.The research came out one day after five people were killed by a gunman at a Louisville bank, at least the 15th mass shooting of the month, and 146th this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Continue reading...
Woman had been reported missing since 5 April but on 7 April a local fisher spotted a black Jeep almost completely underwaterIn what authorities are regarding as a miracle, a Texas woman was found alive in a vehicle that was discovered submerged in a lake two days after she was reported missing.The woman had been reported missing since 5 April by the police department of Longview, Texas, according to a statement from the local Marion county sheriff’s office that was posted to Facebook. Continue reading...
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