Agents reportedly looking into the events leading up to the Dali ship colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in MarchThe FBI has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, with agents looking into the events leading up to the Dali ship colliding with the bridge.The Washington Post first reported on the existence of the criminal investigation into the collision and collapse, with the investigation beginning in earnest on Monday morning. Continue reading...
Senate hopeful Ruben Gallego says the damage is done' and enshrining abortion rights in constitution is best countermeasureRepealing the 1864 near-total abortion ban that Arizona's state supreme court recently ruled was enforceable would have little effect because the damage is done", the Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego said on Sunday.Any initiative they pass right now wouldn't even take effect for quite a while," the US House member and Senate hopeful told NBC News on Sunday. He also said a repeal would be vulnerable to being neutralized by future iterations of the state legislature, remarking: It could just get overturned later by another state house or state senate." Continue reading...
An all-out conflict, dragging in other regional powers, may be someone's idea of national security'. As an Israeli citizen, it isn't mineIsraelis woke up on Sunday morning with a tentative collective sense of relief. For the first time ever, Iran had attacked Israel directly, sending a barrage of more than 300 drones and various missiles intended to rain down on Israel. Instead, Israel and a coalition of its allies intercepted 99% of the threats, according to Israeli authorities - mostly before they reached Israeli territory. Those that arrived caused only limited damage.Many Israelis felt the country had dodged a bullet. But members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government want to fire back, which would add one more front to a war that is already dangerously overstretched. The ultra-nationalists in Netanyahu's cabinet insist that the only way to achieve fear and admiration in the Middle East is to go berserk", in the words of Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extremist minister who holds the portfolio, ironically, of national security. He is joined by a posse of fanatical men running the government who are beating war drums.Dahlia Scheindlin is a Tel Aviv-based political analyst and the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in IsraelDo 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...
Girls are much more likely than boys to drop out of competitive sports. It's little wonder when revealing kits are highlighted on the global stageParis has long been known for its avant garde fashion. Yet the couture scene would be hard-pressed to produce anything as confounding and controversial as the Team USA track and field kits that were unveiled in the City of Lights last week.There was nothing to see when it came to Team USA's men's track uniforms: standard shorts and a tank top. But when it came to their female counterparts, there was everything to see, especially around the nether regions. Continue reading...
After four days of great action which culminated in Scottie Scheffler's victory, we take a look back at some of our favourite images from the first major of 2024 Continue reading...
The world No 1 Scottie Scheffler won his second Masters in three years, beating out the impressive Masters debutant Ludvig Aberg by four shots for the green jacket. After the tournament, Scheffler said: 'I love winning. I hate losing. I really do. And when I'm sitting there with the lead on Sunday, I really, really want to win badly.'
Starting Monday, Trump becomes the first ex-US president to face a criminal jury, over alleged payments to an adult film starOn Monday, 15 April 2024, Donald Trump will go on trial in Manhattan, making him the first former US president to face a criminal jury. More than 500 prospective jurors have been summoned to Manhattan supreme court in preparation for a selection process that could span days.Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, in spring 2023 charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records over an alleged hush-money scheme involving adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal. The charge is a class E felony. Continue reading...
Montgomery, the state's capital, is included in a new congressional district, and on Tuesday, a runoff will decide who stands in NovemberMontgomery, Alabama is the birthplace of the Confederacy and of the civil rights movement. Its history speaks volumes about the state of American democracy. It is perhaps ironic, then, how the last generation of its voters have largely been silenced.For decades, Alabama's capital city has been split between two or three different congressional districts - a deliberate effort by state leaders to prevent power from accreting to Black voters. Recently the region has been represented by a white Freedom Caucus Republican. But last year a bruising court battle forced Alabama to redraw its district lines, finally placing the entire city and a wide swath of Alabama's Black Belt of African American residents in the same congressional district. Continue reading...
The No 1 golfer's edge around the fairways is knowing he has God at his back, even if he's not actually carrying his bagWhatever you may have thought watching it on TV, Scottie Scheffler didn't win the Masters when he made that tricky birdie putt from 10ft on the eighth green, when he hit that lob-wedge to six inches on the ninth, or when he clattered that drive 340 yards down the middle of the 10th for his third successive birdie. No, he explained later, he won it about 2024 years before the tournament even started. I believe that today's plans were already laid out many years ago, and I could do nothing to mess them up," Scheffler explained. And there you were thinking that God had bigger things to worry about right now than who won that green jacket.Well, you scoff if you want to. But there's no doubt that it gives a man a certain edge around the fairways to know he's got the almighty at his back, even if he's not actually carrying his bag. Scheffler has another passionate Christian, Ted Scott, to do that for him. Like Scott said, having the God of the universe, the Creator, on your side just makes things a lot easier to deal with". This was Scott's fourth Masters victory, he had already won one with Scheffler and a couple of others with Bubba Watson, and he celebrated it by striding across the clubhouse lawn brandishing the flag stick from the 18th green like he was leading the crusaders into Jerusalem. Continue reading...
If criminally convicted in New York, Trump will face legal humiliations of the sort he loves when applied to other peopleThe People of the State of New York v Donald J Trump will conclude, according to long-established court procedure. The former US president's defense attorney will make a closing argument. He will assert that his client is not guilty of the charges of bribery and business fraud to manipulate the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan will issue his instructions to the jurors. They will deliberate. When they emerge, the foreperson will read the verdict in open court. If Trump is found guilty, Merchan will adjourn to a later date for sentencing.If Trump is found guilty on all 34 felony counts, he could theoretically face a maximum of 136 years in prison. Post-conviction, the major question would be whether his sentencing involves actual imprisonment, probation, a fine, or some combination, along with various parole arrangements. To be sure, Trump would then almost certainly file an appeal, but this would not forestall his immediately incurring certain civil disabilities. Above all, he would instantly lose his right to vote. Continue reading...
The attack exposed the limits of the US's willingness to be dragged into a wider conflict. This may moderate Israel's next moveEarlier this month, after an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed several military commanders, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, used his sermon to mark Eid al-Fitr to equate Israel's attack on the diplomatic facility to an attack on Iranian soil, and vowed that Israel's mistake" would be punished. At just that moment, the broadcast of the sermon cut to a face in the crowd - Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Hajizadeh commands the aerospace forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His grin was knowing.A few days later, on Sunday, 300 drones and long-range missiles were launched from Iran toward Israel. The attack marked the first time Iran had attacked Israel directly from its own territory, rather than relying on its proxies in Iraq, Syria or Lebanon. Though Israeli jets and air defences responded, with the support of American, British, French and Jordanian forces, and successfully intercepted most of the drones and missiles, the spectacle of missiles flying above the Dome of the Rock - the third holiest shrine in Islam - seemed to portend a full-blown war. Continue reading...
The league has forged close links to betting. But many worry about how such relationships will affect athletes and fansIn life, there is one constant - change. For professional sports, the biggest change of late has to do with gambling. Most US states now offer fans the chance to bet on games and player props legally. And big professional sports leagues like the NBA have embraced that recent change in legislation, too. What was once a third-rail topic is now a major source of income, with ESPN's financial guru Bobby Marks saying this year the NBA is projected to receive $167m in revenue from casinos and betting, an 11% increase from last season."One need look no further than ESPN to see how integrated sports betting is with major leagues and the media outlets that cover them. Right at the top of the company's website is a new tab, ESPNBET, the broadcaster's very own sportsbook, which launched in November of 2023. Is this a conflict of interest? Maybe, maybe not. But gambling seems to drive a great deal of new business in sports. For NBA fans frustrated by the in-game reviews, the challenges and lengthy replays, they have gambling largely to blame, especially in the wake of the league's referee scandal earlier this century. For a business that lost a great deal of money during the pandemic and one that is trying to grow globally, gambling promises an influx of cash, and the NBA has two official betting partners. The league says it promotes responsible gambling, but there are thought to be around three million problem gamblers in the US, and the National Council on Problem Gambling says the risk of gambling addiction in the general population increased by 30% between 2018 and 2021. Betting ads appearing everywhere on NBA broadcasts almost certainly won't help those numbers. Continue reading...
In the country of my birth, this latest conflict is two tragedies overlaid. Its people are strong, but none of us can see a way throughOne year ago today, Sudan descended into war. The toll so far is catastrophic. Thousands are dead, and millions are displaced, with hunger and disease ravaging all in the absence of aid. The UN has called the situation one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history", afflicting about 25 million people. The Sudanese people are suffering what has become the largest displacement crisis in the world.The war was both sudden and a long time coming. The short history is that of a country where, following a promising 2019 revolution that overthrew the dictator Omar al-Bashir, the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful militia, ejected civilians from a power-sharing agreement between the three parties and then could not come to an agreement themselves. Their partnership broke down in April last year, and the RSF moved quickly, taking over the capital city, Khartoum, in an unprecedented moment in the country's history. It then spread through the rest of the country, looting, assaulting and murdering civilians. Continue reading...
Climbable sculpture in Hudson Yards in Manhattan closed in 2021 after four people died by suicideThe Vessel, the huge climbable centerpiece of New York's upmarket Hudson Yards development that saw a number of suicides, is set to reopen later this year with new safety features, according to developers.The 150ft sculpture, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and built at a cost of $260m, was closed three years ago after four people jumped to their deaths. Besides overall criticism of its design - including descriptions of it as a giant gold shish-kebab rotisserie - the construction was grimly described to the Guardian as staircase to nowhere".In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
Five-time Masters champion is maybe the only person who hasn't cottoned on to the fact he is playing exhibition golfThe sun rose at 6.58am on Sunday in Augusta, a full three hours after Tiger Woods. Across the city, people were asleep and sharing the very same sorts of dreams, about the view down through the pines along the first fairway, the shots over the water at Amen Corner, the long walk uphill to the 18th green, where the club chairman Fred Ridley and last year's champion Jon Rahm would be waiting ready with that freshly pressed Green Jacket. Woods says he still has these thoughts himself, in the few hours' rest he gets between warming-down for the evening and warming-up again in the morning. For him, it's a sixth win, and a share of Jack Nicklaus's record.Only a handful of the people entertaining these thoughts had a chance of actually realising them. In the 29 years Woods has been playing here no one had come from further back than six shots off the lead on Sunday. Which meant you likely needed to be at least one-under already to have the slightest chance of overtaking the third-round leader Scottie Scheffler. Continue reading...
Malcolm LaVergne, executor of Simpson's estate, says hard no' to brain being given to study effects of playing in NFLA lawyer who represented OJ Simpson said there were no plans to donate the former NFL player's brain to science and that his body would be cremated.Simpson, who became the subject of an intense national debate in America after he was accused - and cleared - of the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, died last week aged 76. He was later found liable for the two killings in a civil case. Continue reading...
From Newcastle's forward line to a comical series of own goals, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekendArsenal were stunned by Aston Villa 2-0 at home to hand Manchester City the advantage in the title race. If you're looking for a microcosm of Ollie Watkins's season, look no further than his goal on Sunday: Continue reading...
Investigators say two people came forward after death of man who killed Hiram Ross' Grayam in 1968More than five decades after a second world war veteran was killed while working as a milkman in Florida, investigators say they have solved the case thanks to two people who came forward after the killer died.Hiram Ross" Grayam was delivering milk in April 1968 and failed to return home after work. Deputies later found his body and his milk truck deep in the woods in the Vero Beach area, the Indian River county sheriff's office said in a news release. He had been shot several times. Continue reading...
Iran's attack may give the president a reason to return to his default position of ironclad' Israeli support - could that hurt him in November?Ironclad," said Joe Biden. Ironclad," said Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary. Ironclad," said the Senate leader Chuck Schumer, the House leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer.In the wake of Saturday's attack by Iran, Democrats united around a single word in expressing their commitment to Israel's security. It was a sentiment that papered over, at least for now, cracks in the party over Biden's handling of the war in Gaza. Continue reading...
Robert Kennedy Jr, Cornel West and Jill Stein likely to take votes from Biden in November election, research suggestsMultiple new polls show Joe Biden strengthening slightly in the US presidential election, but suggest third-party candidates could present a risk to his chance of carrying the White House in November.According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Saturday, Biden has whittled down the four-point lead Donald Trump held in February, with Trump leading Biden 46% to 45% among registered voters. Continue reading...
As a recent BBC series confirms, the idea of a spiritual journey has survived the decline of organised religionIn Geoffrey Chaucer's England, the arrival of spring was taken by many as a cue to take to the road. As theprologue to The Canterbury Tales begins: WheninApril the sweet showers fall/And pierce the drought ofMarch to the root, and all/...Then people long to go on pilgrimages".Given Britain's increasingly damp climate, contemporary pilgrims are as likely to encounter persistent rain as the occasional sweet shower. But the participants in the BBC's sixth Pilgrimage series, which ended on Friday, were largely blessed with fine days as they travelled by foot and bus across North Wales. Travelling the Pilgrim's Way, the group of minor celebrities followed a Christianity-based route-map of shrines and churches, but also stayed at an eco retreat and a Buddhist meditation centre. Continue reading...
From an encounter with an adult film star in 2006, to a $130,000 payment in 2016 and a criminal trial starting on MondayAfter a years-long investigation by New York prosecutors, Donald Trump is facing his first criminal trial in Manhattan on Monday.Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, on business records. Trump allegedly had his former fixer Michael Cohen pay Daniels, while Trump reimbursed Cohen in 2017 and reported the reimbursement as legal fees.Trump meets with David Pecker, CEO of American Media, parent company to the National Enquirer. Pecker tells Trump that he will be the eyes and ears for the campaign" and will buy the silence of anyone with salacious stories on Trump. Continue reading...
CNN, NBC and Fox among outlets to make plea as Trump campaign calls for earlier debates and Biden remains uncommittedTwelve US news organizations are urging Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to TV debates ahead of the November presidential vote, a typical feature of an election year and one that can sometimes play a crucial role.If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high," the organizations including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press said in a statement. Continue reading...
by Lauren Gambino in Sun City West and Goodyear on (#6M2HP)
The Republican former TV anchor is trying to soften her election-denying image against the Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego in one of the year's most closely watched racesOn a recent Tuesday morning, at a retirement community on the western edge of Phoenix's sprawling desert metropolis, Kari Lake beamed at the graying crowd and introduced her guest, the Montana senator Steve Daines, the Republican charged with winning back the party's Senate majority in Washington.His presence sent the message that establishment Republicans were fully behind Lake, a former TV news anchor in Phoenix whose embrace of election denialism and fealty to Donald Trump made her a darling of his Maga movement but probably cost her the 2022 race for Arizona governor, a loss she has never formally conceded. Continue reading...
Sarah Jessica Parker is the latest A-lister to lavish our fair isles with praise, from the transport networks to the eggs. I guess it's easy to overlook problems when you're a wealthy touristI want to know Jubilee, Piccadilly, Northern, I want to know Edgware ... Your system here is exquisite." That is Sarah Jessica Parker raving about the tube. Goodge" she added, in wonderment, rolling the word around in her mouth like a mint humbug. She is in London, appearing in Plaza Suite at the Savoy theatre, having the time of her life and appreciating breakfast foods. There's these eggs here ... that I go mad for, they're called Burford, they have those orange yolks ... oh my God ... I love your rashers here," she told the chef Ruth Rogers on Rogers' podcast. HerInstagram features black cabs, graffiti and her learning which bus gets me where I need to go. On time."Meanwhile, Zendaya has been spotted patiently queueing for a Gail's coffee and pastry" and doing a big shop in New Malden Waitrose; Vogue has declared her one sausage roll away" from honorary Briton status. Continue reading...
Ex- president known for chaotic foreign policy posts Republican senator's praise of old Trump tweet telling Iran to be cautious'Donald Trump responded to Iran's Saturday attack on Israel by reposting a 2018 all-caps tweet in which he threatened the president of Iran and said the US would not stand for DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH."To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" read the 2018 tweet. Continue reading...
Experts partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a medical non-profit that buys and forgives debt, found it had little effect on people's credit scores and mental healthMedical debt is the most common form of debt in collections in the US. But forgiving that debt once it has gone to collections may provide fewer health and financial benefits than once hoped.A new study by researchers who partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a non-profit that buys and forgives medical debt, found disappointing" results when people's bills were purchased and forgiven, with little impact on people's credit scores and willingness to go to the doctor. Continue reading...
Netanyahu wanted a wider conflict, and Tehran has walked into his trap. The major powers must immediately head this offThe missiles and drones that rained destruction on Israel in the early hours of Sunday morning have given Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, what he's always craved - a mandate and justification for openly attacking Iran, a country he has long viewed as Israel's archenemy and possible nemesis. The pressing question, which may be answered within hours, is what form Israel's promised significant response" will take - and whether Iran, in turn, will strike back again. We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us," said the Israeli minister Benny Gantz, as the Israeli war cabinet met to discuss Israel's response today.It is incumbent on the US, Britain and other friends and allies of Israel to inform Netanyahu in plain terms that continued military, diplomatic and political support is conditional on a legitimate and proportionate Israeli riposte. It would be preferable if Israel did not hit back at all. Iran failed in its apparent aim of inflicting serious harm. Israel says 99% of its missiles and drones were destroyed. Thankfully, casualties have been light. Tehran now says, a little hopefully, that the episode is concluded" - but vows to fight back if attacked.Simon Tisdall is a foreign affairs commentatorThis article was updated on 14 April to add responses from Iran and IsraelDo 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 New York trial of the former president for allegedly paying hush money to a porn star will also test US justice systemHe has been businessman, TV showman and president of the United States. On Monday morning, in the sobering surroundings of a New York courtroom, Donald Trump will play yet another role in American history when he becomes the first former White House occupant to stand criminal trial.The case, involving hush money paid to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, carries profound political and legal ramifications as the Republican runs for election against Joe Biden in November. It is a jury trial not only of Trump but of America, testing the country's checks and balances and sacred promise that no one - not even a president - is above the law. Continue reading...
The former PM's aides josh that it was good for his morale, and ours. Never mind his wifeHow have we managed without the expression sunshine at sunset"? As in, when an older married man is granted sex with a much younger colleague and better still, keeps it quiet? So much so that his wife stays on to nurse him through Alzheimer's disease?We owe this promising euphemism to the former Harold Wilson aide Bernard Donoughue, 89, who appeared on Radio 4's Today programme last week. He was confirming gossip that he and the former Labour prime minister's press secretary, Joe Haines, 96, have treasured for 50 years: Wilson, during his final term in office, had an affair with Janet Hewlett-Davies, Haines's Downing Street deputy. Continue reading...
Swede has shown the easy confidence of a young man while French golfer has nerves of an older pro during the MastersThere are 20 ways to make the Masters, from winning the thing, or any other of a dozen leading competitions, to making it into the top 50 of the world rankings in the week before the tournament starts.The official listings will tell you that Ludvig Aberg and Matthieu Pavon both came the very same way, by route No 17, Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation, from previous Masters to current Masters". Aberg did it by winning at the RSM Classic at St Simons Island in November, and Pavon by winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines two months later. Continue reading...
With no mobile phones allowed, fans queue for two hours to capture their own unusual piece of Masters historyThe first thing you see when you make it through the gates at Augusta National is the grass, which, for the first time in your life, really is greener on the other side. Then it's the rainbow of azaleas and above them the trees, dogwoods, magnolias and firethorns, snaking down around the driveway.It will be around about now, as you are making your way along towards the course, that you will begin to notice all the people cutting back against the flow of the crowd. Soon enough, you will be wondering exactly where everyone is going. And then the answer will bang you in the shin. Continue reading...
by Chris McGreal in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on (#6M22Y)
Fervent Trump supporters from last elections air doubts over abortion and the man himself in state where turnout will be keyTerri Burl has come full circle.The local Republican party official was a founding member of Women for Trump in her corner of rural Wisconsin eight years ago when the then New York businessman's run for president was little more than a joke to political pundits. Continue reading...
Lori and George Schappell were joined at the skull with separate bodies and lived on their own since the age of 24The world's oldest living conjoined twins have died at the age of 62 in their native Pennsylvania.Lori and George Schappell died on 7 April at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, according to an obituary. A cause of death was not disclosed. Continue reading...
His cult-like status is likely to hand him victory in the coming elections, but at democracy's lossSuddenly, everyone loves India. But it's an affair, not a marriage. Whether it lasts depends on the consequences of this week's watershed election. At stake are the credibility of Indian democracy and, potentially, the country's future as a cohesive unitary state.Courting India as a counterweight to China, the US is ardently pursuing a deeper security relationship. The EU hankers after a free trade pact. Countries ranging from Australia to Norway to the UAE have already forged bespoke deals.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...
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