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As a patient, it's frustrating to know a solution may be just around the corner but that you probably won't be there in time to benefitI'm kneeling on the hard, cold tiles of my bathroom floor retching into the toilet bowl, and I've been here for some time. The colour has drained from my skin and I'm clammy and delirious from a pain so intense, it is simply indescribable. Something is squeezing me from the inside so ferociously that I can barely catch my breath. All I can do is retch, unproductively, and writhe. This must be what labour feels like," I think, in a surreal, out-of-body way.Ten years on, and one difficult childbirth later, I can confirm with some authority that this unrelenting, all-consuming pain was so much worse than giving birth. The bathroom floor episode was my first major inkling that something wasn't right in my body. It was so frightening that I couldn't dismiss it (even if A&E staff told me there was nothing wrong when I dragged myself there, and a GP explained it away as probably just a stomach bug). In reality, I had always been in pain to some degree. I had always bled through my PE shorts at school, swelled two dress sizes during my period - didn't everyone? But even when my symptoms were at their worst, no one mentioned endometriosis. Continue reading...

Dashcam footage captured the moment a tornado tore through a building in Lincoln, Nebraska, in late April. The state was hit by more than a dozen tornadoes that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, according to the National Weather Service. The building in the video, which belonged to Garner Industries, was bit by a tornado with wind speeds of 158mph Continue reading...

What the two laws have in common is desire to silence Israel-Gaza war criticsThe White House rightly said it was concerning" when Israel's parliament laid the groundwork to shut down Al Jazeera within its borders in April. On Sunday, Israel made its move. The Foreign Press Association called it a dark day for democracy".If the White House remains concerned, it has a strange way of showing it. Joe Biden and his administration have supported and encouraged recent censorial laws and court cases that virtually ensure that dark days" are ahead at home as well.Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer Continue reading...

Early season disappointments put the Argentinian coach on the hot seat, but a resurgent Lionel Messi has shown the value of experienceRiding a six-game unbeaten streak in MLS, leading the race for the Supporters' Shield and with their star players featuring at the top of the goals and assists charts, all is well in the world of Inter Miami.Yet little over a month ago, head coach Gerardo Tata' Martino was on the hot seat. A humiliating 4-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls in late March was followed by elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of Mexican side Monterrey in early April. Continue reading...

Police officers arrested multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were attempting to disrupt the Met Gala in New York City.Law enforcement clashed with protesters who came within a block of disrupting the event, which is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Celebrities often wear extravagant outfits to the invitation-only gala.

Stars and celebrities from the worlds of film, fashion, music, sport and politics acended the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 2024 Met Gala. Zendaya and Cardi B were the talk of the event, which took JG Ballard's 1962 short story, The Garden of Time, as its theme

The Israeli army launched targeted airstrikes against Hamas targets in eastern Rafah. The attacks came as Hamas announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its 'core demands' and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel said it would continue negotiations.

Dramatic conjunction of forces with aim to crash gala separated only by New York police and metal barricadesDozens of pro-Palestinian protesters came within a block of disrupting celebrity fashion's biggest night out - the Met Gala - on Monday evening in a dramatic conjunction of forces that was separated only by New York police and metal barricades.Some protesters, chanting Rafah!, Gaza!", said it was their intention to crash the gala. Others said they didn't know about it. At times, a roughly equal number of police were guiding the winding protest through New York's Upper East Side as they were preventing fashion fans from getting a glimpse of their favorite celebrities. Continue reading...

Students link arms around tents on campus and block local thoroughfare as they call for end to killings in GazaPro-Palestinian protesters who had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group had been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza. Continue reading...

University and police denounced as masked group marched on campus and attacked pro-Palestinian demonstrators last weekThe University of California, Los Angeles, said that it would create a new office dedicated to campus safety following mounting criticism of authorities' slow response to a brutal attack on pro-Palestinian protesters by a mob of instigators".The school's chancellor, Gene Block, said on Sunday that urgent changes were needed to better protect our community moving forward" and announced that a new office of campus safety would oversee the university police department and the UCLA office of emergency management, effective immediately". Continue reading...

Officials say Staff Sgt Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to TexasAn American soldier has been arrested in Russia and accused of stealing, according to two US officials.US officials said the soldier, Staff Sgt Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in Texas. Instead, officials said, he traveled to Russia. Continue reading...

Prosecutors pressed witnesses on the alleged falsification of business records to cover up the payments to Stormy DanielsDonald Trump's criminal trial in New York entered a new phase on Monday, as prosecutors moved on to the alleged falsification of business records to cover up the hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, after previously calling witnesses who described the conspiracy to kill the story.The prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's started with the former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, the number two in the accounts department, who processed the former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's invoices seeking reimbursement for the hush money. Continue reading...

Heartbeat International, affiliated with more than 2,000 facilities, aims to convince people to continue their pregnanciesThe organization behind an international network of anti-abortion facilities is misleading people with claims that abortions can be reversed", a lawsuit filed Monday by Letitia James, the New York attorney general, alleges.The organization, Heartbeat International, is affiliated with more than 2,000 facilities that aim to convince people to continue their pregnancies. In recent years, many such centers, which are often Christian and sometimes known as crisis pregnancy centers, have started to promote a controversial practice known as abortion pill reversal", which claims that people can halt a medication abortion midway through. Continue reading...

After weeks of testimony, Trump's trial turned to much drier - but arguably more crucial - details on Monday

Lawmakers pass bill to regulate industry after 190 decomposing bodies found in bug-infested facility and another found in hearseAfter the discovery of nearly 200 decaying bodies in a Colorado funeral home in October, lawmakers saw the need to tighten the state's lax funeral home oversight and on Monday passed a bill that - in combination with a second bill that passed last week - would help to regulate the industry.A series of cases that include sold ashes and fake body parts have devastated hundreds of already grieving families and shed a glaring spotlight on the state's funeral home regulations, some of the weakest in the US. The bill passed on Monday will head to Governor Jared Polis's desk after the state house considers a minor change by the senate. Continue reading...

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UCLA watched the chaos unfold in the middle of the night and did nothing until it was far too lateThings had been tense at the University of California, Los Angeles, with some ugly jibes and the occasional shove exchanged between students who support Israel's war on Gaza and those who have set up encampments to call for a permanent ceasefire and the university's divestment from companies that arm and otherwise profit from Israel's occupation and military incursions in the Palestinian territories.But what happened in the middle of the night last Tuesday was no scuffle. It was not even one more of the outsized, excessively brutal raids that college administrations have invited the police to inflict on their students.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept, and the author of five books Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can follow the latest updates on the Israel-Gaza war in our standalone blog here:

National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center issued a rare high risk for central Oklahoma and southern KansasMillions of people in the central US could see powerful storms on Monday including long-track tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and baseball-sized hail, forecasters said.Much of Oklahoma and parts of Kansas are at the greatest risk of bad weather - including areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed four people and left thousands without power last week. Continue reading...

Mayor appoints Paulina Gutierrez to lead election commission, replacing Claire Woodall, in key battleground state's biggest cityMilwaukee will replace its top election official with just under six months until the presidential election, the city's mayor announced on Monday.Mayor Cavalier Johnson appointed Paulina Gutierrez to take over as executive director of the Milwaukee election commission, replacing Claire Woodall who had served as the director since July 2020. Continue reading...

Workers say tentative agreement was reached for first union contract after threats of walkout during gala, a major fashion eventWorkers at Conde Nast, the media empire behind Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, announced a tentative agreement has been reached for a first union contract after threatening to stage a walkout during the Met Gala on Monday evening.The Conde Nast Union, which represents about 540 editorial workers, has been bargaining for a union contract since September 2022. It is affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York. Continue reading...

Flooding in parts ofTexasafter days of heavy rain has displaced thousands of people. Around Houston there were more than 400 rescues from homes, rooftops and roads covered in murky water. Rangers used boats in waist-deep water to rescue people and pets who had not left there homes in time Continue reading...

I have trespassed in peaceful protest. I have shutdown government offices in civil disobedience. I have made the powerful uncomfortable. That's the pointIn America, the student movement has been seriously radicalized wherever police and police brutality intervened in essentially nonviolent demonstrations: occupations of administration buildings, sit-ins, et cetera." - Hannah Arendt, observing Columbia University protests in 1968.When you've been in the midst of a demonstration that devolves into chaos and violence, you find out in a hurry if you're able to put aside your own terror to still uphold the needs of the many and to maintain the discipline of your values. This has happened to me more than once. That tension has always been a reminder to me that democracy is a choice and that citizenship is a full-contact sport. Continue reading...

Donald Trump's would-be running mate has already outraged the US by shooting her own pet. This is no time to double downWhen Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor being vetted as a candidate for Donald Trump's vice-president, admitted in her memoir to having shot and killed her 14-month-old puppy, I have to admit I thought it was a play. She was just testing the waters: how much could she insult human decency without making a dent in her numbers? As the battle rages on, I'm coming to accept that the benighted wire-haired pointer did, for a short time, exist, and was executed for a real crime: chicken killing. It seems a tiny bit unfair, given the two centuries of wire-haired pointer breeding that have gone into creating exactly this fixation with upland (which is to say, non-waterfowl) bird work. But that's exactly what you'd expect a liberal to say. Next I'll be on about the death penalty.Digging in, Noem has gone on to say that not only was she right to execute her pointer, but also that Joe Biden has been remiss in pardoning Major and Commander, both German shepherds inveterately hostile to secret service agents. Commander, with a charge sheet of 24 biting incidents, should have been put down ages ago, according to Noem. He is no longer at the White House, though history doesn't relate his new address. Major, meanwhile, was sent to live with friends in Delaware after a biting incident involving a National Park employee. No excuses for that - public servants ought to be able to go about their duties bite-free - but to have a thing for guys in parks is less bad, I would contend, than having an aversive fear response to armed secret service agents when you're the dog of the US president. It's possible, of course, that both dogs have been destroyed - and gone to live with friends in Delaware" is what they say to Joe Biden when they mean gone to live on a farm". Continue reading...

School announced it will switch to smaller celebrations in its 19 colleges, almost three weeks after pro-Palestinian protests beganColumbia University has announced that it will be cancelling its university-wide commencement ceremony this month and switching to smaller celebrations in its 19 colleges, almost three weeks after pro-Palestinian protests erupted at the Ivy League institution.A university official told the Guardian that the decision to scrap a large commencement ceremony was driven in part by security concerns. Most of the events will be shifted from the main lawn of the Morningside campus, which became the center of students protests calling for the university to divest from Israel, and moved to an athletics center further north in Manhattan. Continue reading...

South Dakota governor and Trump VP hopeful refuses to back down amid scandal over animal killings and North Korea claimTuesday will see publication of No Going Back, a campaign book by the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, that generated unusual buzz after the Guardian revealed how Noem describes in detail the day she shot dead her dog, Cricket, which she deemed untrainable and dangerous, and an unnamed goat.The revelation sparked a political firestorm, widely held to have incinerated Noem's chances of being named running mate to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Continue reading...

As a bloke, I have been met with disbelief and suspicion when I've applied for part-time work. Didn't I realise this was women's work?The job I was applying for was three days a week. It was a backwards step, career-wise, but the hours were attractive. By that I mean that the role's part-time nature would allow me to continue meeting my KPIs as majority parent.I could keep up with all that important driving and shouting that comprises a career as primary caregiver - the constant shuttling from school to ballet to football to dentist and, more generally, the endless forcing of kids to do things that they will really enjoy. Continue reading...

Much is at stake as Republicans and Democrats vote in the Super Tuesday primaries, and a Biden and Trump rematch loomsAs a Joe Biden v Donald Trump rematch looms, much is at stake. From the future of reproductive rights to the chances of meaningful action on climate change, from the strength of US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and Israel in its war with Hamas, to the fate of US democracy itself, existential issues are firmly to the fore.Here's a look at why. Continue reading...

As high school students, Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson worked to find valid new proof for the 2,000-year-old theoremTwo college freshmen who, during their final year of high school, found a new way to prove Pythagoras's theorem by using trigonometry - which mathematicians for generations thought was impossible - have since uncovered multiple more such proofs, they revealed in a national interview on Sunday.We found five, and then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs," Calcea Johnson said on CBS's 60 Minutes, a little more than a year after she and Ne'Kiya Jackson collaborated on an accomplishment that earned them international recognition. Continue reading...

The grumblings have begun. But Tottenham's improvement from a year ago should not be forgotten

Almost entirely white group made offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable' statements with racist overtones', school saysThe conduct of at least one student at the University of Mississippi is under official investigation after white counter-protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration made what the school called offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable" statements with racist overtones".The university's chancellor, Glenn Boyce, said that a conduct investigation had been launched into one student and more might follow in the wake of Thursday's volatile scenes on campus. The clash occurred after a diverse group of about 30 students protesting against Israel's war in Gaza were outnumbered by almost entirely white counter-protesters at a ratio of 10 to one, according to the Mississippi Free Press. Continue reading...

Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, and various Trump casinos have all failed - but has the ex-president finally found himself a winning product?There was a time, not so long ago, that Donald Trump did not seem to be very familiar with the Bible.When he first ran for the nomination of the very Christian Republican party, Trump was unable to name a single Bible verse. Early in his 2016 presidential campaign he referred to the eucharist as a little cracker". In a subsequent church visit, as he attempted to prove his religious credentials, he put cash in a plate that was meant to hold the communion. Continue reading...

Former PR chief says Trump wielded complete control over 2016 campaign - and her testimony could be a coup for prosecutors

Cosmetic procedures are on the rise among younger people; I'm barely 30. Still this is about more than just clinging to youthEveryone goes through it: a reckoning with one's own mortality in the mirror, poking at eye bags and tugging at folds of loose skin. Am I looking a bit rough? It's part of the human condition to fear ageing, but among millennials and gen Z there seems to be a heightened anxiety around growing older, coupled with an increasingly casual attitude towards getting fillers and Botox compared with previous generations.Almost half of millennial women polled by the BBC in 2019 said they believed that having a cosmetic procedure was akin to having a haircut. I can say from experience that it is not. Like many, I have fallen victim to negative anti-ageing rhetoric. After months of staring at my tired face on Zoom calls during lockdown, I felt as if my hot years were slipping through my fingers. When the world opened up, I found a doctor to restore" my hollowed out under-eyes with 1ml of filler. I was barely 28.Georgina Lawton is the author of Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity and the Truth About Where I BelongDo 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...

Bureau of Labor Statistics releases latest estimate of how much labor receives of national income, showing bleak declineWhen Jesse Motte began working at a Starbucks inside a Target store in Columbia, South Carolina, more than two years ago, $15 an hour sounded great. He was excited to start because it was the most he had ever made after working for years in the service industry.The excitement has dissipated due to his inconsistent and erratic work schedule, the rising costs of necessities and the minuscule raises he and his co-workers receive annually. His most recent annual wage increase was $0.37 an hour. Continue reading...

Unrwa says offensive will cause more civilian suffering and deaths.' Plus, death toll climbs in Brazil floods

Far-right congresswoman has spearheaded effort to oust fellow Republican as speaker but motion to vacate widely expected to failThe House is expected to vote this week on a motion to remove Republican Mike Johnson as speaker, but the effort, spearheaded by hard-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, faces virtually no chance of success.Greene announced on Wednesday that she would move forward with forcing a vote on Johnson's removal this week, following through on a threat she first issued in late March. Greene has consistently attacked Johnson for advancing bills that have attracted widespread bipartisan support, such as the government spending proposal approved in March and the foreign aid package signed into law last month. Continue reading...

Radical honesty isn't for the faint-hearted, but it's one of the greatest joys I've ever discoveredI never used to think of myself as a liar. I always saw myself as an honest person. The only time I'd ever veer from the truth was to protect someone's feelings. But that wasn't really lying, I would tell myself, it was an act of kindness!And then I had a therapy session, where I realised that all of this was actually people-pleasing behaviour and it turned out I was a prolific liar. Not only that, but according to my therapist, by constantly hiding my true feelings to protect those I loved, I was blocking them from ever getting to know the real me and creating true intimacy.Radhika Sanghani is a writer and author. Her children's book The Girl Who Couldn't Lie is published on 9 May Continue reading...

For those who like their boxing straight up, the Mexican's win on Saturday night solidified his status as the signature fighter of this eraBoxing has changed. HBO and Showtime are gone. Once dominant fighters like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, and the Klitschko Brothers have left the arena. Big fights are gravitating to Saudi Arabia.In recent years, through it all, there has been one constant - Canelo Alvarez.Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book - a memoir titled My Mother and Me - is now available in stores. In 2019, he was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Continue reading...

At Columbia University I saw young people who feel they have no choice but to risk their futuresOn a hot day last week, the pavements outside Columbia University were heaving. About 200 protesters were gathered, making a noise that was bigger than their numbers, raising pro-Palestine chants and signs. It was a disparate crowd, diverse across ethnicities and generations. I've lived in this neighbourhood all my life," said one of them when I asked him why he was there. One smiling elderly lady walked through the crowd offering small bottles of water. A helicopter circled overhead. The police who encircled the crowd were jittery, yelling at passersby to keep moving, and raising the temperature of what was a loud but perfectly orderly and amiable crowd.Once inside the campus, I made my way to the reason for protesters, the police and the high security at the university gates: an encampment of students on a patch of lawn at the heart of campus. It had been up for about two weeks at this point, after a series of demands to university administrators, including divestment from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid", were not met. Continue reading...

Largely white, male group taunts pro-Palestinian protesters on campus and one man makes racist gesture towards Black womanDozens of students at the University of Mississippi gathered this week to protest against Israel's war in Gaza and to call for the state's flagship university to be transparent in its potential dealings with Israel.There were hundreds of counter-protesters, in contrast to the few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters. The scene evoked memories of the resistance to the civil rights struggle in the US south six decades earlier. Continue reading...

Officers in riot gear raid encampment at dawn as university warns demonstrators that failure to leave could lead to arrestPolice have dismantled the student-led Palestinian solidarity encampment at the University of Southern California.About 4am on Saturday, as many as 100 Los Angeles police officers in riot gear raided the encampment at dawn as anti-war student demonstrators slept in the tents. In a series of tweets during the raid, the university warned demonstrators to leave the area, adding that people who don't leave could be arrested". Continue reading...