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Relationship with IM-1776, which praises dictators and attacks liberal democracy, is collaborative and supportiveChris Rufo, a rightwing culture-war celebrity and close Ron DeSantis ally, has maintained a close relationship with IM-1776, a dissident right" magazine that regularly showers praise on dictators and authoritarians, puffs racist ideologues, and attacks liberal democracy.The outlet's editors and writers - many of them so-called anons" working under pseudonyms - have variously advocated for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act; celebrated figures such as the Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and the proto-fascist Italian nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio; and advanced conspiracy theories about the Covid pandemic, and what they term the regime", a leftist power structure that they imagine unites the state, large corporations, universities and the media. Continue reading...

Many of us gravitate towards people who are similar to us. But as I recently discovered, there is delight to be found in our differencesIn the UK, it's quite rare to have a truly diverse group of friends. In 2018, a YouGov study found that one-third of white Britons didn't have any friends from an ethnic minority background, while other research has suggested that people, including children, tend to gravitate towards those who have the same class background.I've always prided myself on having a diverse array of friends, but recently I too realised that my circle was overdue a shake-up. As the number of people I talk to continually shrinks - as most people's friendship circles do as they age - I've recognised some repeated patterns. My friends in the UK are mostly middle class (although plenty of us had working-class upbringings), earning a decent wage, and a mixture of ethnicities, but few are first-generation immigrants. Many of our experiences are shared and enough are delightfully different- but we are all coddled by having grown up in one of the world's richest countries. Continue reading...

The new season kicks off this week. Our panel of writers deliver their verdicts on the MVP, champions, Season Pass' team and the young players to watchA full season of Lionel Messi in MLS. The GOAT made an immediate impact for Inter Miami last year, but his best moments came in the Leagues Cup and US Open Cup. There's no guarantee of success for Inter Miami (see their chaotic pre-season). Messi, however, will surely produce some magic - assuming he can stay fit. Graham Ruthven Continue reading...

The Spurs boast a generational rookie talent in Victor Wembanyama, a nice young supporting cast and perhaps the greatest coach to ever do it. So why are they this terrible?Let's get this out of the way at the beginning: Everyone loves Gregg Popovich. He's a five-time NBA champion, the league's all-time winningest coach and he led the US men's national team to a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Furthermore, if some tragic world event occurs, Pop is the person in the NBA most would want to hear from (Doc Rivers and Steve Kerr being next). But affection can't get in the way of a difficult question. So here goes: Why are the San Antonio Spurs so bad?This year, the Spurs have a sub-.200 winning percentage. They've barely broken double-digit victories after playing 55 games (they're 11-44). The Spurs also boast one of the best and most exciting NBA players in rookie Victor Wembanyama, along with several other talented young guys like Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan. Can we really live in a world where the New York Knicks are the paragon of decision-making and the Spurs are somehow the dregs? But maybe there is a method to the team's recent madness - for their fans' sake, let's hope so. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: As Israel's position weakens on the international stage, differences in language between different ceasefire calls tell a complicated story Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. The daily details of the horror being visited on civilians in Gaza can make any conversation about the language of ceasefire proposals being put forward in foreign capitals seem absurd.A massive majority at the UN general assembly backed a ceasefire in December; so did the pope. A few days later, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer backed a sustainable" ceasefire. Twenty-six of 27 EU states again called for a ceasefire on Monday. Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet been persuaded by any of them.Health | Patients whose health is failing will be granted the right to obtain an urgent second opinion about their care, as Martha's rule" is initially adopted in 100 English hospitals from April at the start of a national rollout. The initiative follows a campaign by Merope Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, and her husband, Paul Laity, after their 13-year-old daughter Martha died of sepsis at King's College hospital in London in 2021.UK news | Detectives hunting for Abdul Ezedi, the man wanted over a chemical assault that injured a vulnerable woman and her two young daughters, have recovered a body in the Thames that they believe is Ezedi, Scotland Yard has said. We have been in contact with his family to pass on the news," said Cmdr Jon Savell.WikiLeaks | Julian Assange faces the risk of a flagrant denial of justice" if tried in the US, the high court has heard. Lawyers for Assange are seeking permission to appeal against the WikiLeaks founder's extradition, and say he could face a grossly disproportionate" sentence of up to 175 years if convicted in the US.PPE contracts | Michael Gove failed to register hospitality he enjoyed with a Conservative donor whose company he had recommended for multimillion-pound personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts during the Covid pandemic. When asked by the Guardian about not registering VIP hospitality at a football match he received from David Meller, a spokesperson for Gove apologised for the oversight".Pakistan | Imran Khan's political rivals have announced details of a coalition agreement, naming Shehbaz Sharif as their joint candidate for prime minister amid continuing concerns about the legitimacy of the recent elections. Candidates aligned with Khan won the most seats in the parliamentary elections but not enough to form a government. Continue reading...

Despite prompts from the host, the former US president did not mention Putin when asked about Navalny in the Fox News town hall eventDonald Trump has used an interview with Fox News to compare his own legal troubles to the persecution of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last week.In the interview on Tuesday, the former US president said Navalny was a very brave man" who probably should not have returned to Russia, but did not assign any blame for the Russian opposition leader's unexpected death. Continue reading...

Prosecutors reveal alleged ties to Russian intelligence-affiliated persons to urge US judge to deny Alexander Smirnov's releaseA former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence, prosecutors said in a court paper on Tuesday.Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to keep Alexander Smirnov behind bars while he awaits trial. He's charged with falsely reporting to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and the president $5m each in 2015 or 2016. The claim has been central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress. Continue reading...

South Carolina lawmaker is one of more than 12,000 individuals on list kept by Russia's state financial monitoring agencyThe Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a key ally of Donald Trump, has been added to a list of terrorists and extremists" kept by Russia's state financial monitoring agency.Tass, the state-run news agency, first reported the move by Rosfinmonitoring, which allows authorities to freeze Russian bank accounts, though in Graham's case is likely to be chiefly symbolic. Continue reading...

We asked our supporters to weigh in - and they didn't hold backOne of the benefits of being a regular Guardian supporter is that you get a weekly email with a direct line to the newsroom, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at how we report on the big news stories of the day.Last week, we wrote about our approach to covering Joe Biden's age and asked our supporters for their feedback. Our inbox was deluged, and below you can find a cross-section of the replies we received - the good, the bad and the funny. Continue reading...

Suspects charged with second-degree murder in shooting at Chiefs' victory parade that left one person dead and 22 injuredTwo men were charged on Tuesday afternoon with murder in connection with a mass shooting in Kansas City on 14 February that killed one person and wounded 22 others at a rally for the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs, according to prosecutors.As celebrations were winding up for the Chiefs and thousands of fans, after they returned triumphantly having won the Super Bowl in Las Vegas the previous weekend, gunfire erupted among the crowd. Continue reading...

Joe Biden declines to give details but says sanctions will coincide with second anniversary of Vladimir Putin's invasion of UkraineThe US will announce a major package of sanctions against Russia on Friday prompted by the death of political opposition leader Alexei Navalny but also devised as retaliation for the two-year war Vladimir Putin initiated against Ukraine, Joe Biden said on Tuesday.The US president spoke to reporters on the south lawn of the White House as he headed for a campaign fundraising trip to California, starting with a flight to Los Angeles. Continue reading...

I feel no need to kiss the ring,' says Republican candidate as she turns up rhetorical heat ahead of South Carolina primaryA defiant Nikki Haley on Tuesday declared no fear of retribution from Donald Trump as she persists in her efforts to compete against the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, saying: I feel no need to kiss the ring."Haley approaches the South Carolina primary on Saturday, her home state where she was previously governor, a long way behind Trump but turning up the rhetorical heat. Continue reading...

The ex-president debuted the high-tops just after he was ordered to pay $355m in courtTrump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Vodka - and now, Trump Sneakers. The former president is no stranger to frenzied licensing and intense self-promotion, and the grift continued this weekend, even after a judge ordered him to pay more than $350m in his civil trial ruling.His next move? Debuting the $399 Never-Surrender High-Top Sneaker", branded as the official" Trump shoe. The 2024 contender stopped at Sneaker Con Philadelphia, a traveling event for sneakerheads, to reveal the shoe on Saturday. Only 1,000 pairs were made, to make this a super limited-edition run; at least 10" of these shoes were randomly autographed" by Trump. Continue reading...

Former South Carolina governor who is the last major challenger to Donald Trump reaffirms her spot in 2024 race ahead of Saturday's primarySpeaking of surveys, the Guardian's Martin Pengelly reports that a poll of scholars ranked Joe Biden as the 14th best president in US history, and Donald Trump as the worst ever:Donald Trump finished 45th and rock bottom of a list ranking US presidents by greatness, trailing even historically calamitous chief executives" who failed to stop the civil war or botched its aftermath. Continue reading...

Brilliant' scientist Matthew Leshinsky turned himself in after calling the police to report a burglary at his lab in Suffolk countyA New York man, whose attorney said is a brilliant" scientist who researched drug addiction for the public good", has pleaded guilty to running a meth lab in a case that prosecutors compare to the series Breaking Bad.But Matthew Leshinsky's chemistry skills took him only so far. The 23-year-old was busted for running the meth operation in Ronkonkoma, New York, after calling the police to report a burglary at his cannabis analyzing side-hustle, Quantitative Laboratories. Continue reading...

Senator says $35bn deal merging two of the largest US credit card firms would threaten financial stability' and reduce competitionSenator Elizabeth Warren has urged regulators to block Capital One's $35bn takeover of Discover Financial, arguing that combining two of the US's largest credit card companies would harm consumers and challenge financial stability.The blockbuster deal would inevitably lead to higher costs and fees for cardholders, according to the leftwing senator. Continue reading...

US presidents once spoke softly and carried a big stick. By contrast, in Gaza Joe Biden speaks loudly and carries a little stickAs western leaders wake up to the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign. More than two-thirds of the dead in the coastal enclave are thought to be women and children. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. The reputation of the west as a champion of universal values and upholding a rules-based order is unlikely to recover anytime soon from the bloody events in Gaza.International politics is not a morality play. Probably several Arab countries were not averse to the idea that Israel could deliver a coup de grace to Hamas. But the state of the fighting in Gaza suggested that this was a remote possibility. In January, it was estimated that Israel has killed or captured only around one-third of Hamas's fighting force. To finish the job would only be achievable at an indefensibly high cost to Palestinian - and hostage - lives.Do 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...

Temporary lake forms in Badwater Basin thanks to record rainfall - and aquatic enthusiasts have been taking in a rare opportunityThe rains that soaked California in recent weeks have created an unusual opportunity for kayaking in the driest place in the US.Visitors at Death Valley national park have a rare chance for aquatic recreation in a temporary lake that formed in Badwater Basin, the National Park Service said in a statement. Continue reading...

Court allows two wrongful death suits against fertility clinic to proceed while decision could impact people seeking IVFIn a first-of-its-kind decision, the Alabama supreme court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are children", allowing two wrongful death suits against a Mobile fertility clinic to proceed. The decision could have sweeping implications for people seeking in vitro fertilization (IVF) or other assisted reproductive technology treatments and could increase criminalization of expectant people.In 2021, a patient at Mobile's Center for Reproductive Medicine wandered into the clinic's cryogenic nursery and removed several embryos. According to the lawsuit, the subzero temperatures at which the embryos had been stored freeze-burned the patient's hand, causing the patient to drop the embryos on the floor, killing them". Continue reading...

Footage shows suspects removing bags of product and rolling out suitcases in broad daylight before speeding off in a HondaNew York police are searching for a black Honda SUV with New Jersey license plates after three robbers - two men and a woman - allegedly stole $50,000 of merchandise from a Gucci store in the city's Meatpacking district at gunpoint.The suspects took the merchandise after telling shoppers and store sales assistants to lie down, police said. Continue reading...

Survey of 154 scholars places 45th president behind even historically calamitous chief executives' linked to civil warDonald Trump finished 45th and rock bottom of a list ranking US presidents by greatness, trailing even historically calamitous chief executives" who failed to stop the civil war or botched its aftermath.Worse for the likely Republican nominee this year, his probable opponent, Joe Biden, debuted at No 14. Continue reading...

I can't help but yearn for the green rolling hills of a totally theoretical farm lifeLiving in the city is a rip off. Tolls, housing costs, mould, crowds, construction noise. Parking for a day can cost $60. Getting from place to place should not be this frustrating and expensive. Each time I remember it, I am radicalised anew.All of it, sometimes every day, spurs my long-held and worryingly sincere view. That I should move to the country.Emily Mulligan is a mum, aunty and occasional writer, begrudgingly from Sydney Continue reading...

The healthcare system's focus is largely on the birth itself. Then if you're lucky and your baby is healthy, you're set adrift in social media feeds full of parenting influencers

The men had suffered career setbacks, and were in desperate need of love - thank goodness, then, for the open arms of Putin and MBSBehold, the current must-have accessory for all the most grimly murderous dictators - a pet American idiot. Not just any American idiot, obviously. You need a male, mid-50s to early-60s, ideally fire-damaged by a recent career setback, who just wants to see the best in you for coins. In short, you need someone of the ... calibre, would you call it? ... of Tucker Carlson or Johnny Depp.The past week or two has seen the formal reveal of two of these new dictator-pet acquisitions: Vladimir Putin's kind offer to rehome the stray former Fox News host, and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's generous response to the question How Much Is That Deppy in the Window? Answer: a rumoured seven-figure tourism promo deal and forking out for one somewhat indifferent period French film. I know. Pets are very reasonably priced, not to say embarrassingly cheap.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Disembodied limb recovered from track bed of 4 line in the Bronx in latest troubling incident on mass transit systemNew York's mass transit experience took a grisly turn over the weekend when a disembodied human leg was found on the 4 line between 167th and 170th streets in the Bronx.Detectives are trying establish who the limb belongs to and how it got on a subway track bed. The city's medical examiner later took possession of the leg to find out more about its origins. Continue reading...

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25, faces involuntary manslaughter and tampering charges over incident in which Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographerThe trial of a gun armorer on the New Mexico film set where the actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer while rehearsing a scene for the neo-western Rust in October 2021 is set to start on Wednesday with jury selection.Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25, faces involuntary manslaughter and tampering charges for loading a fully functioning .45 revolver with dummy rounds and at least one live round - then handing the gun to Baldwin, who was pointing it at Halyna Hutchins when it went off. The bullet also injured the director Joel Souza. Continue reading...

Linsey Huff's lawyer says restaurant's owners sacked her for refusing to name names in conflict over moneyA Michigan restaurant server who recently received a $10,000 tip on a $32 tab says the establishment has since fired her amid a dispute over how many of her co-workers deserved a share of the remarkably large gratuity.The story of the tip that Linsey Huff earned while waiting on a table at the Mason Jar Cafe in the western Michigan community of Benton Harbor on 5 February initially went viral on corners of the internet dedicated to uplifting news because it had been left by a patron who wanted to honor a late friend. Continue reading...

The inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup kicks off this week. The US is planning to use the tournament as a testing ground for the Paris OlympicsThe coming year will be a pivotal one for a beleaguered Team US. With last summer's biting disappointment at the World Cup still fresh, a team deep in transition has its sight set on redemption, and the Olympic Games in France (just five months off) are the chosen stage.Redemption starts now, with the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup. 23 players are gathered in California to play their first games of 2024, stocked with a litany of new names and under the care of an interim coach. Over the course of three weeks (should they progress to the final) the US will test their mettle against top teams from Concacaf (including reigning gold medalists Canada), and challengers from Conmebol, who've sent four teams to the inaugural affair (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay). Continue reading...

As the UK considers extraditing the WikiLeaks founder, American press freedom hangs in the balance

Hush-money trial will begin on 25 March, with federal case on allegations over 2020 election hinging on supreme court actionDonald Trump's legal calendar is coming into sharper relief after a New York judge affirmed last week that the ex-president's first criminal trial - on charges that he manipulated the 2016 election by concealing hush money payments to an adult film star - will proceed to trial in Manhattan next month.A federal case in Washington over the former president's alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election had been expected to go first. But when Trump filed appeals on grounds of presidential immunity last year, the presiding US district judge, Tanya Chutkan, was forced to put the case on hold. Continue reading...

If extradited, a US conviction could mean life in prison for the Wikileaks founder. Plus, the groundbreaking stories of Black astronauts

From Pedro Neto's star turn to a bizarre appointment, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the Premier League weekendDarwin Nunez is a cackling delight. Every game is an adventure. Every finish, must-watch television. Continue reading...

When it arrives, the flood of money from new sources into basketball will not be a shock, but American business as usualBooming team valuations, feelgood social justice and anti-racism initiatives, and repudiation of anyone standing in the way of the league's expansion into markets across the globe: values, in both senses of the word, have been at the core of Adam Silver's 10-year tenure at the head of the NBA, and it's never been entirely clear whether those of the ethical variety matter more to the league's commissioner than numerical ones.On the one hand, Silver has won plaudits for setting up the NBA's social justice coalition, the group established in the wake of the George Floyd protests to advocate on behalf of the league for criminal justice reform and an end to racial inequality, and forging a path for professional basketball as a socially conscious sport amid the culture wars and toxicity of the Trump era. On the other, he's put distance between the NBA and franchise figures with outspoken views on foreign policy - none more so than Daryl Morey, the former general manager of the Houston Rockets who almost got the NBA kicked out of China after tweeting his support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters in 2019 - and cultivated an institutional image of geopolitical neutrality to repair the league's post-Morey reputation in China. Liberal pieties and accommodations with illiberalism have mingled seamlessly in Silver's NBA. For every Donald Sterling, forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 after he was caught on tape being racist, there's an Enes Freedom, the former New York Knicks star who was pushed to the sport's fringes a few years ago for being a little too vocal in his support of China's Uyghur minority. Continue reading...

The new wave of Palestinian protesters are heirs to giants such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, CLR James and Rosa ParksHistory is often written by ordinary people dedicated to a cause in the pursuit of peace and justice. Israel's reign of terror over Palestine since the 7 October attack by Hamas has seen the rise to prominence of several such activists using social media to highlight the graphic truth of the horrific suffering there.Railing against the state propaganda machines, people such as Motaz Azaiza, Bisan Owda, Plestia Alaqad, Hind Khoudary and the veteran journalist Wael al-Dahdouh have brought shocking, heart-rending images straight to our phones. Pictures of weeping parents kneeling over the tiny, bloodied corpses of children have stirred up deep anger against Hamas, the Israeli government and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and at the complicity of the US, UK and EU governments. Continue reading...

Colorado Springs officers say they arrested 25-year-old after shootings that killed a student and another personA suspect was arrested on Monday on murder charges over the shootings of two people who were found dead in a dorm room last week at a University of Colorado campus in Colorado Springs, police said.The Colorado Springs police department said they arrested Nicholas Jordan, 25, without incident on two counts of first-degree murder in a case involving people who knew each other. The victims were identified as Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, and Samuel Knopp, 24, a student at the university about 70 miles south of Denver. Continue reading...

Moses Robinette was convicted in a civil war-era brawl - but Biden's predecessor gave him a reprieveJoe Biden's great-great-grandfather was charged with attempted murder after a civil war-era brawl - but pardoned of any wrongdoing by Abraham Lincoln, a newspaper said on Monday, reviving on the US holiday of Presidents' Day the often contentious issue of presidential powers to grant pardons.Citing documents from the US national archives, the historian David J Gerleman wrote in the Washington Post that Biden's paternal forebear Moses J Robinette was pardoned by Lincoln after Robinette got into a fight with a fellow Union army civilian employee, John J Alexander, in Virginia. Robinette drew a knife and sliced Alexander. Continue reading...

The ex-president is scrambling to come up with $450m after the judgment in his fraud trial as the next case loomsDonald Trump was already reeling from multiple legal setbacks when a New York judge last week handed the former president a staggering defeat in his civil fraud case, ordering him to pay roughly $450m to the state after finding him liable for conspiracy to manipulate his net worth.The decision by Justice Arthur Engoron capped a bad legal week for Trump, who had watched his lawyers attempt to get access to sealed filings in a classified documents case in Florida and then watched his lawyers lose their attempt to delay his first criminal trial in New York. Continue reading...

White House prepared to send weapons that could strike inside Crimea if Congress approves $60bn aid packageJoe Biden's White House is prepared to send long-range tactical missiles to Ukraine if Congress approves a new funding package, according to a US media report on Monday.Citing two unnamed officials, NBC News said that the administration was willing to send a variant of the missiles - known as Atacms (army tactical missile systems) - if a new $60bn aid package approved by the Senate, but held up for now by congressional Republicans, becomes law. Continue reading...

North sees strong winds while central coast at risk of significant flooding' as storm moves south toward Los AngelesThe latest in a series of wet winter storms gained strength in California early on Monday, with forecasters warning of possible flooding, hail, strong winds and even brief tornadoes as the system moves south over the next few days.Gusts topped 30mph (48kph) in Oakland and San Jose as a mild cold front late on Saturday gave way to a more powerful storm on Sunday, according to the meteorologist Brayden Murdock with the National Weather Service office in San Francisco. Continue reading...

Ex-president links Russian opposition leader's death to his own political grievances after criticism from HaleyDonald Trump has offered a belated acknowledgement of the purportedly sudden death of Alexei Navalny, three days after the Russian opposition leader collapsed in one of Russia's penal colonies. But Trump failed to join with - or acknowledge - international outrage at Navalny's political nemesis, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country," Trump posted on his Truth Social network. The former US president and presumptive Republican White House nominee added: It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction." Continue reading...

His awkwardness is on another level, and the beauty and professionalism of the actors doesn't helpLove" would be a strong word, but I like the Baftas, hard. I don't care especially who wins, I could take or leave the acceptance speeches except where they're phenomenal (Samantha Morton), but the photos - all those magnificent faces that only actors know how to make: the I'm so surprised to have won on this completely unsurprising occasion" face; the of course I don't mind not winning, the winner who won is, by happy chance, much more important to me than myself" face; the knowing side-eye, the straight-down-the-lens candour, the beaming sincerity. These are faces only the pros can perfect. If the rest of us tried any of them, we'd look like we just got caught shoplifting.And into this Bafta array, as its president, steps Prince William. This job was not really optional for him. The only time in the organisation's history that it hasn't been led by a member of the royal family is when it was David Attenborough, who is like royal-plus. William, grinning at rising stars Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna-Bruce, hits the summit of his endearing awkwardness. In the great schism of the princes, in which all right-thinking Britons were supposed to pick a side, everyone who chose the elder and who was not motivated by fervour against the wokerati, misogynoir or keenly felt anti-Americanism was really responding to Prince William's self-consciousness.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

The Russian president believes that now is the time to prepare for his ultimate goal: taking Ukraine. He cannot afford even limited oppositionIt is difficult not to equate the untimely death of Alexei Navalny with the death of Russian opposition. With just a few weeks before the sham election scripted to result in Vladimir Putin's appointment for a fifth term as Russia's president, Navalny's death foreshadows a grim post-election future for Russia, Ukraine and the world.Within Russia, Navalny will be irreplaceable in his ability to connect, to charm and to mobilise. With most of his allies now in exile, and the Kremlin's stranglehold on the digital public square tighter than ever, the very avenues Navalny navigated to reach the hearts and minds of young people are fast disappearing. It is hard to see where a successor would emerge from. And so the Russian opposition has no leader, no focal point to unite behind, no face to represent it, no voice to speak on its behalf.Olga Chyzh researches political violence and repressive regimes. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of TorontoDo 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...

Late-night host gives justice, under fire over undisclosed donations, 30 days to accept offer, which includes a tour busThe late-night talkshow host John Oliver has offered to pay Clarence Thomas $1m annually - as well as give him a $2m tour bus - if the Republican judge resigns from the US supreme court.Oliver made the proposal on Sunday's episode of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, saying the supreme court justice had 30 days to accept or it would expire. Continue reading...

Governor's signature marks end of long fight over legislative lines and greatly reduces the Republican bias baked into current mapsThe Wisconsin governor, Tony Evers, has signed into law a pair of new state legislative maps, undoing a Republican gerrymander that has shaped Wisconsin politics for more than a decade and giving Democrats a chance at winning control of the state in future elections.It's a new day for Wisconsin," said Evers at a press conference on Monday to cheers from a room of anti-gerrymandering activists. Continue reading...