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The US president Joe Biden asks at civil rights event: what do you think he would have done ... if Black Americans had stormed the Capitol?'Joe Biden has launched one of his most scathing attacks yet on Donald Trump's record of racism, suggesting that the former US president would have acted differently to the January 6 2021 insurrection if was led by Black people.The remarks, at a dinner hosted by a civil rights organisation in a critical swing state, pointed to an intensifying battle between Biden and Trump for African American voters ahead of November's presidential election. Continue reading...

Hastily established racial equality schemes are being shuttered. What survives is a movement that's achieving real changeIf 2020 was the year that Black Lives Matter went mainstream, 2024 was the year it died. Quietly, without even the customary whimper, the trappings of diversity so frantically sought and flamboyantly brandished after those protests four years ago are being discarded.Like so many of the promises and pledges of the pandemic era, those of its accompanying racial equality movement have been swallowed whole by reality. But it's worth remembering how large, how global, how fashionable it all was at the time. There were big, iconic moments, such as the removal of statues in Europe and the US, that triggered soul-searching about our history, and which opened up productive avenues of reappraisal. And there were others that four years later you cringe to remember: the black squares on social media, Nancy Pelosi taking the knee wearing kente cloth, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner also taking the knee while looking soberly into the camera. Continue reading...

Republican senator's comments come as he is considered among Trump's top candidates for vice-presidentThe Republican Florida senator Marco Rubio said on Sunday he would not commit to accepting the 2024 presidential election results, insisting that if it's unfair" his party will go to court and point out the fact that states are not following their own election laws".Rubio's statements on Meet the Press come as he is considered among former president Donald Trump's top candidates for vice-president. Trump has continuously said falsely that the 2020 election was stolen. Continue reading...

From Moises Caicedo's brilliance to Jurgen Klopp's goodbye, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekendAny concerns that it would be a nervy day for Manchester City were erased by Phil Foden a minute into their title coronation. The Premier League Player of the Season delivered the performance of the week to hand City their fourth successive title. It took all of 79 seconds for Foden to kick off the coronation. Continue reading...

Gaza protesters wore keffiyehs as Biden tried to assure the crowd: Your voices should be heard, I promise you I hear them'It was, in the end, an artful compromise.Joe Biden got to speak uninterrupted and renew his pitch to Black voters. Protesters got to make their point by wearing keffiyehs or raising a fist. Even the skies were merciful, hinting at but never quite unleashing rain. Continue reading...

Speech warmly received at historically Black college despite backlash from students in weeks leading to address over warJoe Biden told graduating students of Morehouse College that American democracy has failed the Black community, but vowed to continue fighting the poison of white supremacy", in a widely watched speech to a historically Black college during an election year.Despite a backlash from some students and alumni in the weeks leading up to Biden's commencement address, including over the Hamas-Israel war and concerns that Biden would use the speech as a campaign event, the president's address to the all-male school was warmly received. He used his speech to reaffirm his commitment to democracy in the wake of the January 6 insurrection, and to reiterate his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Continue reading...

A school district in Houston has voted to redact chapters on vaccines and climate change, and parents and educators are worriedThe wave of book bans sweeping the US, typically reserved for works of fiction deemed controversial, has hit textbooks used in public schools, marking the next step in Republicans' war on education.The board of trustees for the Cypress Fairbanks independent school district in Houston voted 6-1 earlier this month to redact certain chapters in science textbooks, including those about vaccines, human growth, diversity, and climate change. Continue reading...

Irish rugby international who went on to become one of his country's most charismatic businessmenAs Ireland's best known and most flamboyant businessman, Sir Tony O'Reilly, who has died aged 88, was instrumental in changing the image of his country from that of a commercial backwater into one of a booming Celtic Tiger" economy. Never notably self-effacing, he once said: The Irish in many countries concealed their identities. I got the Irish to be rather proud of the Irish."But the career of the titan who had once been Ireland's richest man and a sporting hero ended in failure when, in a demonstration of hubristic over-reach, he was pursued through the courts for debts which, in spite of the sale of his houses and art collection, he was unable to pay, and he was declared bankrupt in 2015. Continue reading...

During a bombastic speech in Dallas, GOP frontrunner asks: Are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?'Donald Trump flirted with the idea of being president for three terms - a clear violation of the US constitution - during a bombastic speech for the National Rifle Association in which he vowed to reverse gun safety measures green-lighted during the Biden administration.You know, FDR 16 years - almost 16 years - he was four terms. I don't know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?" The ex-president and GOP presidential frontrunner said to the organization's annual convention in Dallas, prompting some in the crowd to yell three!" Politico reported. Continue reading...

The latest victims of the culture wars? Woke white goods. Because, apparently, energy efficiency and lower electricity bills are unAmericanIf you've ever wished your dishwasher used more water, or found your fridge too cheap to run, help is at hand. US Republicans have their sights set on one of the greatest scourges of our age: woke white goods.You may or may not remember last year's induction hobs are unpatriotic" idiocy. For the mercifully uninitiated, one of 2023's more niche culture war moments crystallised around an allegation that the Feds" were going to take away" gas stoves. This was demonstrably untrue: despite plentiful research demonstrating gas stove emissions are hazardous to human health, there was no proposed ban, just a statement from a consumer safety commissioner that any option is on the table" with harmful products; the White House almost instantly clarified that it would not support a prohibition. Shame: imagine the bootleg methane speakeasies. Continue reading...

A ballot measure on the legalization of recreational marijuana has been overshadowed by the vote on abortion rightsThe push to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida ramped up this week. Campaigners bankrolled by dominant players in the cannabis and CBD marketplace launched a $5m advertising blitz in support of a ballot measure in November's election that has so far been overshadowed by publicity for the one on abortion rights.Four commercials featuring retired military personnel, business owners, law enforcement officers and regular citizens began appearing on television, radio and the internet, leaning in heavily to themes campaigners believe will appeal to the 60% of voters amendment 3 needs to pass. Continue reading...

A Miss USA winner has handed back her crown, and another champion has resigned - is the lustre of the pageant starting to wear off?The US beauty pageant industry, in a concise summation made last week, is such a hot mess".Two reigning beauty queens have stepped down in as many weeks, and there may be more turbulence to come to an area of showbusiness that promotes a sheen of perfection - at least among its contestants - but is increasingly seen as out of date with modern social mores. Continue reading...

As a slew of Republicans went to the hush-money trial to show their fealty to their boss, the president tried to rise above itDonald Trump last week turned his New York fraud trial into a political circus and a platform for his election campaign while Joe Biden struggled to persuade voters that they're wrong about the economy.Trump engineered a parade of leading Republicans to demonstrate their allegiance outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan even as his trial laid bare the swamp that is the former US president's professional and personal life. Continue reading...

Our desires are an essential part of who we are - as I discovered when I lost my appetite for six monthsMostly, walking down New York streets in spring sunshine is the cinematic, euphoric ideal of what it is to be alive. It's the thing I looked forward to for decades. It meant to me, back then as a kid in Ireland, listening to songs about Lexington and 14th Street, freedom: an almost deranged amount of freedom.Sometimes, though, walking down New York streets in spring sunshine is agonising in both a physical and spiritual sense. This may be so, for instance, if you have no health insurance and are very stupid. Like me. That was in February 2023. I had been in increasingly acute pain for days, but because of a stubborn ability to ignore bodily breakdown and also a reluctance to spend money on healthcare in the US when I was only visiting, I kept going until I collapsed into an urgent care centre that I luckily passed one evening as I was dragging myself with manic good cheer to another dinner, despite being barely able to walk. Continue reading...

Pundits say rising negative feelings to other parties threatens democracy. Apart from in America, new research tells a different storyThe frontrunner to be the next US president is spending his weeks in court, charged with a criminal offence related to an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star. This would normally be suboptimal from a campaign perspective, but to date is having no effect on support for Donald Trump.Moreover, whether you think the US economy is going gangbusters or collapsing depends not on whether wages and employment are rising but on whether you side with Democrats or Republicans, with the latter currently reporting that economic conditions are worse than in the depths of Covid. Continue reading...

When people were offered a window between New York and Dublin, puerile behaviour beat bridging worldsHow will technology change us as a species? In Silicon Valley, all prophesies seem to have converged into one: that it will usher in some sort of planetary Buddhist revolution. To read its mission statements and watch its Ted Talks is to hear phrases such as connectedness", common understanding" and overcoming barriers". You could probably pitch a social media platform and a spiritual handbook simultaneously these days: This will lead humanity to smiling, peaceful enlightenment."The soothsayers in Hollywood, meanwhile, see it differently. Introduce new tech within a blockbuster film and things tend to go one of two ways. Awe and then terror, as the product wreaks havoc on the planet; or alternatively, the rise of an emotionless new society, where, surrounded by intelligent machines, people start behaving a bit like robots themselves. The stereotypical sci-fi citizen is cold, sombre, aloof and efficient. In the minds of scriptwriters, at least, tech will at some point leach the very humanity out of us. Continue reading...

As he demonstrated at the launch of his pledge cards, the Labour leader has succeeded in de-risking perceptions of his partyWho scares wins. That has been the motto of many, often successful Conservative election campaigns. Fear may not be an edifying strategy for securing power, but the Tories have repeatedly demonstrated that it can be highly effective. Time and again, they have persuaded voters that Labour is just too risky to be trusted with government. The red scare" of 1924, whipped up with the aid of the fraudulent Zinoviev letter, brought an abrupt end to the short life of the first Labour government. The tax bombshells" dropped on Neil Kinnock in 1992 exploded his dreams of becoming prime minister. Tory claims that Ed Miliband would wobble atop a coalition of chaos" helped to floor that Labour hopeful in 2015. The big scare has often been a winning formula for the Tories.So it was pretty much inevitable that Rishi Sunak would press a quivering finger on the fear button. Not least because he is so short of any other ideas for making the general election look competitive for his party. He's previously tried marketing himself as MrStability, MrDelivery and Mr Change. None of these iterations has put a dent in Labour's headline poll ratings. They insistently place Sir Keir Starmer's party about 20points ahead of the Tories. In his most recent attempt at a relaunch, an exercise he performs almost as often as he changes his undies, the Tory leader tried another costume. This time he cloaked himself in the garb of MrSecurity. In what Downing Street puffed as a big speech, the prime minister tried to chill the country's bones with the warning that Britain is entering a very dangerous period. His ostensible subject was the threat from an axis of authoritarian states". His electoral purpose was to try to build an argument that voters will be safer sticking with him than taking a punt on Labour. Continue reading...

The Liverpool manager, who bows out today after nine years, knew football was the most important of least important things'It's not so important what people think when you come in," Jurgen Klopp observed on beingunveiled as Liverpool manager in October 2015. It's much more important what people think when you leave."Today is the day Klopp leaves. It is the final day of the Premier League season in England, and Manchester City will probably be (again) crowned champions. It is also the final day of Klopp's tenure as Liverpool manager, a moment that will wring the emotions, and not just at Anfield. Football is deeply tribal, but Klopp stepping down is an event that resonates well beyond Liverpool supporters, even beyond the world of football. Continue reading...

Even his defence minister knows that there can be no military solution to the war with HamasThe emotional vow by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, to destroy" Hamas after it massacred about 1,200 people on 7October 2023 was understandable. But in practice it was never a realisable aim. Eight months into the ensuing conflict, more than 35,000 Palestinians are dead, yet Hamas is still fighting in parts of Gaza that Israel's army thought it controlled, a new humanitarian crisis looms around Rafah, 640,000 people have been displaced again, and the agony of Israeli hostages and their families is daily renewed. Three more bodies were recovered on Friday.Defeating Hamas remains a vital objective for Israel and most western and Arab governments, as well as ordinary people appalled by its actions. But, from the very first, Netanyahu has failed, or rather refused, to articulate a day after" strategy for administering (and rebuilding) Gaza once its terrorist rulers are supposedly destroyed". Despite the evidence, he refuses to accept that military force alone will not work. Hamas's defeat, if it is to be permanent, must be political, legal, economic and psychological as much as physical. Continue reading...

Pro-Palestinian students were attempting to take over a university hall to protest school's refusal to negotiate in good faith'More than a dozen pro-Palestinian activists, including six students at the University of Pennsylvania, were arrested after attempting to occupy a hall on the university campus late Friday.The protesters were arrested around 9pm after trying to take over Fisher-Bennett Hall but had been met with a response from university and Philadelphia police, according to reports. The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that protesters caused the evacuation of an alumni event at the Penn Museum. Continue reading...

Child is in hospital in a stable condition, as police say father was found dead of self-inflicted gunshot woundA man suspected of shooting his 6-month-old son multiple times after taking the boy and his mother hostage was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the rubble of a suburban Phoenix home that caught fire during a swat standoff, police said.

Republican Glenn Youngkin also vetoed bills related to maintaining access to contraception, saying they were not ready'Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has vetoed two bills that would have stripped tax exemptions for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that has opposed the removal of statues of southern state generals during the US civil war and other markers of the southern states' attempt to secede from the Union in defense of slavery.The Republican governor vetoed several measures, including those related to maintaining access to contraception, saying in a statement they were not ready to become law". Continue reading...

From price rises to a ridiculous mascot, the French have had it up

Its latest iPad ad, portraying the destruction of artistic tools, is confirmation that company is just another unfeeling, arrogant tech giantThis is a tale of two advertisements. And about the company that made them - Apple Inc. The first ad ran during the Super Bowl in 1984. It was made by Ridley Scott, the celebrated movie director. The vibe is distinctly Orwellian: set in a vast, darkened auditorium dominated by a giant screen entirely filled by a sinister-looking talking head, who is clearly Big Brother (BB).The opening shot shows lines of drably uniformed, shaven-headed zombies marching in lock-step into the building. Today," intones the talking head, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the information purification directives." Continue reading...

Proponents of the Greater Idaho movement have argued Democrats in Portland don't understand their way of lifeUnder a large tent at the Crook county fairgrounds in Prineville, Oregon, six people stand in a neat line, each clutching the gun in their holster. Shooters, set," a man to the side yells. They wait. A light turns on in the centre of the target. They fire. A clock above records how long it took them to draw, shoot and, if they managed to, hit the target. They're playing in pairs. Best two out of three wins.Welcome to Oregon's Cowboy Fast Draw State Championship, a sport organisers say is dedicated to the romance and legend of the Old West". Continue reading...

At least two children have already been killed while working in Mar-Jac Poultry plants in the US south over the last yearA poultry plant in Jasper, Alabama, has been accused of hiring minors and could be shut down for 30 days, according to a newly released US Department of Labor lawsuit.Mar-Jac Poultry, the largest employer in Walker county, is accused of violating federal labor laws when it hired four minors as young as 16 who were allegedly discovered working overnight at the company's slaughterhouse. Continue reading...

Ex-president's legal team sure to make hay out of Juan Merchan's $35 gift to Biden for President and anti-Republican groupsThe judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush-money campaign finance trial in New York has been cautioned by a state ethics panel over two small donations made to Democrat-aligned groups in 2020.The caution is likely to be seized on by Trump and his lawyers as evidence of his claims that the New York trial, now entering its fourth week, has been unfairly adjudicated by Judge Juan Merchan along partisan political lines. Continue reading...

The military alliance is turning 75. But there's little to celebrate in Kyiv, as Putin's forces continue their bloody advanceNato's grand 75th birthday celebration in Washington in July will ring hollow in Kyiv. The alliance has miserably failed its biggest post-cold war test - the battle for Ukraine. Sadly, there's no denying it: Vladimir Putin is on a roll.Advancing Russian forces in Kharkiv profit from the west's culpably slow drip-feed of weaponry to Kyiv and its leaders' chronic fear of escalation. Ukraine receives just enough support to survive, never to prevail. Now even bare survival is in doubt. Continue reading...

Judge declines to remove Darrell McClanahan, who merely claims one-year honorary membership in terror group, from GOP primary raceA long-shot Missouri gubernatorial candidate with ties to the Ku Klux Klan will stay on the Republican ticket, a judge ruled on Friday.Cole county circuit court judge Cotton Walker denied a request by the Missouri GOP to kick Darrell McClanahan out of the August Republican primary. Continue reading...

The dog-killing South Dakota governor's VP hopes are in tatters. But she's not the first politician to flame out with an own goalShe could have been a contender. But then she wrote a book. And suddenly Kristi Noem was caught like a rabbit - or a rambunctious puppy - in the headlights.The governor of South Dakota found herself insisting that a false claim she met the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had been put in her book by accident. Wait, said Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation, you recorded the whole audiobook version and read this passage out loud. Why didn't you take it out then? Continue reading...

We're going backwards: a football player can say hateful things from a university podium while students are being arrestedImagine for a moment that that you are a young woman who has spent more than $100,000 on your university degree. After four years of hard work it's your graduation and Harrison Butker, a kicker with the Kansas City Chiefs, is the commencement speaker. During his speech the NFL star, who has made millions by kicking a ball, kindly informs you that your hard-earned degree was a waste of time and that your true role in life is supporting your husband. Imagine what that would be like.IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder." (This doesn't make any sense, I know, but the entire speech is incoherent.)Joe Biden has been vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies". (Which is certainly true if we're talking about Gaza - but Butker was talking about abortion rights.)Pride month is a deadly sin".You can't spread the antisemitic talking point that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus any more or you'll end up in jail".Women have been subject to the most diabolical lies" and, while some women in the audience may go on to have successful careers the majority should be most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world".His wife would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother". (This sparked long applause from the audience.)We should fight against the cultural emasculation of men". Continue reading...

Ex-president to take to stage in Dallas at annual convention amid fears a second term would imperil Biden's firearm restrictionsAmid fears that he would reverse gains made by gun control activists if elected to a second presidency this fall, Donald Trump on Saturday is scheduled to address the National Rifle Association's annual convention.The former Republican president is set to take the stage in Dallas after threatening to roll back the firearms regulations enacted by the Joe Biden White House and expand gun rights - at the expense of American lives - if voters lift him to victory over the Democratic incumbent in November. Continue reading...

Vermont State University confers doctorate in litter-ature' upon tabby for being keen hunter of mice and beloved figure on campusMen named Max have won the Nobel prize (Planck), the Oscar for best actor (Schell), and multiple Formula One world championships (Verstappen).A cat in the US named Max now joins those lofty ranks, having earned a doctorate in litter-ature" when Vermont State University bestowed an honorary degree on the campus-dwelling tabby in recognition of his friendliness, a gesture which quickly achieved virality in corners of the internet dedicated to spotlighting light-hearted news. Continue reading...

Trump's former fixer gave damning testimony - and he'll return to the stand on Monday as the trial moves towards a closeDonald Trump's criminal trial is drawing to a close, with two looming questions: what will the jury decide, and how will America react?After weeks of testimony from witnesses including the porn star Stormy Daniels, National Enquirer boss David Pecker and former senior Trump aide Hope Hicks, the trial came to an inflection point this week with its star witness. Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer and attorney who has since turned into a bellicose critic of his old boss, was on the stand all three days court was in session this week. He delivered damning testimony - then faced a tough if uneven grilling from Trump's team. Continue reading...

For the first time in history, three women's Olympic all-around champions, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee, will compete in the same even on Saturday at the US ClassicThere was once a time, not long ago, when the women's Olympic all-around champion's triumphant week was also likely to be the last time they ever appeared in an international competition. If their tireless journey to the summit of their sport had not left deep physical or mental scars, then the perception of women's gymnastics as a sport for teenagers would keep them from investing their time in another run. Between 1980 and 2016, not a single Olympic women's all-around champion gymnast returned to compete at another Olympic games.This is a time of change in women's artistic gymnastics, though, and the US Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, this weekend is testament to how many more gymnasts are enjoying longer, fuller careers. For the first time in history, three women's Olympic all-around champions, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee, will compete in the same event as they each vie to return to another Olympics. Continue reading...

The attempted assassination of a leader sympathetic to Putin has Europe on edge. But exaggerating the fascist threat is also dangerousThe shooting of the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, has dramatised the increasingly angry and polarised landscape of European politics. With just weeks to go before the European parliament elections, it is time to step back from the brink.This eruption of violence in the midst of the campaign is so shocking that it may, at best, have a chastening effect, softening the venomous tone of political discourse by reminding democracies old and new of what they stand to lose.Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy CentreDo 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...

Scottie Scheffler returned to Valhalla after his arrest and hit a five-under-par 66 to sit three shots off the halfway leader, Xander SchauffeleSky Sports commentator Wayne Riley has been on the driving range to gauge opinion among the early starters. The energy is zapped," he reports. His Sky colleague Rich Beem is competing this week as a former champion, and Beem told Riley that no-one had seen Scottie Scheffler ... everyone was on their phone ... they'd hit a shot, hit a putt, then look on their phone ... they were caring for Scottie Scheffler, they were worried."Riley also spoke of the person who was coming to the golf, if he was coming, lost his life ... that is a terrible thing ... you're looking forward to the PGA Championship here at Valhalla and someone is not going to be with us today ... so many players have said to me, I can't believe they're actually playing today' ... I'm getting that vibe ... I'm getting a lot of vibe that people are going woah, somebody's lost their life here today, Scottie has been taken away, do we go into Monday?' " Continue reading...

Coleman, known for his ample mustache, won a Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story and also appeared in Boardwalk EmpireDabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in 9 to 5 and the nasty TV director in Tootsie, has died. He was 92.Coleman died on Thursday, his daughter, Quincy Coleman, told the Hollywood Reporter. No other details were immediately available. Continue reading...