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Whether it's saying goodbye to a parent or watching a favourite film with your child, final moments happen much more than we realise. There is a power in acknowledging themI watched ET recently with my six-year-old. He liked it, obviously - no child can resist a film in which grownups are bamboozled and frogs let loose, even if it can't match the unparalleled frenzy of The Super Mario Bros Movie - but he didn't love it. So I wonder if I will ever watch ET again. Maybe not. The child actors are wonderful and the score is majestic, but there are a lot of excellent films. I might be done with this one. At least, I thought, absolutely not crying at the Be good" bit, it was a good viewing on which to close.My dad died a few years ago. Ever since then, I have been more aware of these little lasts" that make up a life: the moments, recognised or otherwise, when you do something for the final time. With my dad, there were a bunch of them. Moving in with him after his cancer diagnosis, I was there for his last beer, his last cup of tea, his last visit with friends and his last night. Continue reading...

Alana Bechiom alleges she had to quit after fired colleagues threatened her and arranged for her car to be vandalizedA California Taco Bell fired employees who engaged in a group sex act in plain view of other guests during a Christmas party at the restaurant last year, according to a lawsuit filed by the ex-employee who reported them.The lawsuit also alleges that the employee who reported the incident at the holiday festivities - leading to her former co-workers' dismissals - ended up being forced to quit her job after facing threats and getting her car window shattered by an associate of the terminated colleagues. Continue reading...

Only 7% of us dress formally for work, according to a new survey. At least celebrities still make an effortWe are gathered here today to mourn the suit - at least, according to a recent YouGov survey. Pollsters report that only 7% of workers say they wear business attire in the office, and a quarter say that they only ever wear casual clothes to work. So, is it time to put away the Moss Bros and tidy away the tie-pins? Not exactly.The suit is undergoing a bit of a style rebirth. Witness band of the moment Boygenius opting for suit and tie for their recent Saturday Night Live performance, the Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi wearing a sublime Burberry three-piece at the Saltburn premiere or GQ dressing Kim Kardashian for its Men of the Year cover in a blazer from The Row. Meanwhile, almost every woman I know has acquired a pair of Wasp-y loafers that wouldn't have looked out of place on Wall Street in the 80s. Continue reading...

For owner and curator Patricia Puckett-Hall, the home where Lee Harvey Oswald spent six weeks represents a mission - to correct the narrative around the most hated man in the USAcross from a strip mall, on a suburban street stands an ordinary looking house: a clipped lawn, row of bushes, stars and stripes flying on a flagpole, red tiled roof, green floored porch and white, ornately patterned front door. But a yard sign indicates something is different here: Oswald Rooming House Museum."The house at 1026 North Beckley in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas is where Lee Harvey Oswald slept the night before he allegedly gunned down US president John F Kennedy 60 years ago on Wednesday, leaving a scar on the American conscience. Continue reading...

Israel approves deal in which 50 Israeli women and children will be released in exchange for 150 jailed Palestinians and a lull in fighting. Plus, thousands sign up to anti-loneliness club in LAGood morning.Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal for the release of 50 women and children held hostage in Gaza in return for 150 Palestinian women and children to be freed from Israeli jails during a four-day ceasefire, both sides announced this morning.What has Israel said about the deal? A statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said the lull" in Israeli military operations would be extended for an additional day for every 10 more hostages released. It did not say when the ceasefire would start, though in his address to his cabinet, Netanyahu said the first hostages should be free within 48 hours of the agreement.What did Altman say? He posted soon after: I love OpenAI, and everything I've done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together." He added: I'm looking forward to returning to OpenAI." Continue reading...

The two coaching hires represent the state of the national programs. The men's team played it safe, while the women's side swung for the fencesThe appointment of Emma Hayes was the biggest statement the US women's national team could have made. Still hurting from a dismal 2023 Women's World Cup, US Soccer turned to one of the best coaches in the game to remodel the USWNT. This is in stark contrast to what US Soccer did after the 2022 World Cup, when they retained Gregg Berhalter as coach of the men's team.Of course, the US men's national team didn't fail in Qatar like the USWNT did in Australia and New Zealand. Berhalter's team did not exceed expectations at the World Cup, but they did not fall short of them either. Nonetheless, US Soccer had the opportunity to make a more exciting appointment after Berhalter's contract expired. Continue reading...

Comparison with other conflicts paints a harrowing picture of children being killed in unforgivable numbersEven if the truce between Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Hamas results in the promised four-day pause in hostilities - or longer - the horror enveloping Gaza in terms of lives lost is worse than many people think. Among those who oppose Israel's onslaught, there are still those who do not truly grasp it. It's understandable that Israeli authorities are seeking to sow doubt about the size of the death toll, because the numbers expose the gravity of the crimes being committed. But we should not be deceived.Take the argument that the health ministry is Hamas-run and, therefore, its figures can never be trusted. It sounds like a reasonable enough claim on the surface, until you realise that in previous conflicts the death toll reported by the ministry was largely consistent with the UN's and even Israel's counts. Last month, after doubts were raised by President Biden, the ministry even released the names, ages and identification numbers of the victims. Continue reading...

Germany and France could offer global leadership. Instead, they're struggling with the weight of their own historiesWhile the world focuses on the many ways in which the Israel-Hamas war is reshaping the geopolitics of the Middle East, western powers are also contending with its impact on their societies and domestic politics. The worry is not only about an immediate regional spill-over, but about repercussions in Paris, Berlin, London and beyond.Given the tortuous histories of France and Germany, rising antisemitism in both countries is of particular concern in the wake of the 7 October Hamas massacre in Israel and the Israeli government's retaliatory war. In France, which has the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe, events could potentially pit two minorities - both of which have reason to feel systemically and historically victimised and persecuted - against one another. In Germany, the weight of the second world war needs no explanation.Catherine Fieschi is a political analyst. She is the director of Counterpoint and author of PopulocracyDo 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...

Stein is latest in a series of mostly leftist figures to announce candidacies with the potential to erode Biden's core supportA new front opened in the growing threats to Joe Biden's presidency on Tuesday when the left-wing environmentalist Jill Stein formally launched her third presidential bid in an online conversation with two fellow progressive activists.Stein, 73, who is bidding to become the US Green party's nominee, is the latest in a series of mostly leftist figures to announce candidacies with the potential to erode Biden's core support in an expected re-match against Donald Trump in next year's poll. Continue reading...

Harrison Floyd's social media posts lead Georgia judge Scott McAfee to call for clarity on what constitutes interferenceA Georgia judge wouldn't revoke bond on Tuesday to put Donald Trump's ally Harrison Floyd in jail, in the broad case in that state over Trump's alleged election subversion scheme.The judge, Scott McAfee, did call for changes to the bond order to make clearer what constitutes interfering with witnesses and other defendants by Floyd. Continue reading...

Alexander Crow, 30, married 18-year-old high school graduate on Friday, according to license filed in Mobile county, AlabamaA Roman Catholic priest in Alabama who was investigated by law enforcement after fleeing to Europe with a recent high school graduate he met through his ministry legally married after he returned to the US with her, a document provided to the Guardian showed.According to a marriage license filed in Mobile county, Alabama, Alexander Crow, 30, married the 18-year-old former McGill-Toolen Catholic high school student on Friday. Continue reading...

CEO Changpeng Zhao will resign and pay a $50m individual fine as part of a plea deal with the US Justice DepartmentChangpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, agreed to resign from the company and plead guilty to money laundering on Tuesday.As part of a guilty plea, Zhao agreed to pay a $50m fine and would be barred from any involvement in the business. Binance too agreed to plead guilty, accept the appointment of a monitor and pay a criminal fine of nearly $1.81bn as well as a $2.51bn order of forfeiture to settle three criminal charges. The US Justice Department had charged the company with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, a conspiracy charge and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Continue reading...

Officials launch inquiry as victim identified as Jesse Dominguez, 34, who family says may have been in mental health crisisA California highway patrol officer fatally shot a man on Sunday during a confrontation in the middle of a Los Angeles highway, state authorities said as they announced an investigation into the incident.The Los Angeles county medical examiner's office on Tuesday identified the man as Jesse Dominguez. The 34-year-old was walking along the westbound lanes of Interstate 105 in south Los Angeles county when the deadly encounter unfolded, the California highway patrol said. Continue reading...

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Hanme K Clark, 45, is believed to be driving a 2017 white Ram 1500 pickup truck with camper shell, says Custer county sheriffA man was on the run on Tuesday after police say he fatally shot three people and critically wounded a fourth over a years-long dispute about the use of an easement on the suspect's property in rural Colorado, authorities said.The 45-year-old suspect, Hanme K Clark, was believed to be driving a 2017 white Ram 1500 pickup truck with a camper shell, said the Custer county sheriff, Lloyd Rich Smith. He said at a midday news conference that the department were narrowing in on the suspect and hoped he would surrender peacefully. Continue reading...

Joaquin Blaya condemns recent interview on Spanish-speaking TV network as propaganda' while John Leguizamo calls for a boycottA former president of Univision condemned the Spanish-language US television network's recent interview with Donald Trump as propaganda" and an insult to the Hispanic community".To call the Trump [interview] an interview is mistaken," Joaquin Blaya told MSNBC. It was not an interview as we understand [it] in the United States. It was basically a one-hour propaganda open space for former president Trump to say whatever he wanted to say." Continue reading...

However, judge decided former president could not be disqualified from the presidential ballot under the 14th amendment clauseDonald Trump appealed a ruling in which a Colorado judge said he could not be disqualified from the presidential ballot under the 14th amendment to the US constitution, even though he engaged in insurrection by inciting the deadly January 6 attack.The former president took issue with the finding that he participated in insurrection in connection with the attack on the Capitol staged by his supporters. Continue reading...

Shooter in Ohio wounded four people before killing himself, days after two people were shot and killed outside a Walmart in AlaskaWalmart says it is working closely with investigators to try to determine why a shooter opened fire at one of its stores in Ohio and wounded four people before killing himself late on Monday.The attack came during a year that - as of early Tuesday - had so far seen the US report about 610 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

After his landslide victory in the presidential election, Javier Milei is threatening to undo 40 years of democracy in Argentina Continue reading...

George Conway, J Michael Luttig and Barbara Comstock create new legal group to speak out against the endless stream of falsehoods'Three prominent US legal thinkers have announced a new organisation to champion conservative legal theory within the rule of law, to fight the threat of a second Donald Trump term.Our country comes first," the three wrote in the New York Times, and our country is in a constitutional emergency, if not a constitutional crisis. We all must act accordingly, especially us lawyers." Continue reading...

Police work to confirm whether body is that of Ross McDonnell, 44, last seen leaving Brooklyn apartment on bicycle earlier this monthNew York police are working to confirm that a body found on a city beach is that of the award-winning Irish film-maker Ross McDonnell, who was last seen leaving his Brooklyn apartment on a bicycle early this month.Although the body has not been officially identified, NBC law enforcement sources told the network the remains appeared to be those of McDonnell. Continue reading...

Phillip Fisher Jr, who served three years in prison, volunteered at Philadelphia summit for rightwing parental rights groupA Philadelphia-based outreach leader for Moms for Liberty - the conservative parental rights group that is pushing to exclude discussion of gender and diversity from school curricula - has been exposed as a registered sex offender.According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Phillip Fisher Jr - a pastor and local Republican ward leader who volunteered at Moms for Liberty's national summit in Philadelphia this year - pleaded guilty in 2012 to a charge of aggravated sexual abuse involving a 14-year-old boy when he was 25 and living in Chicago.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...

The premature loss of a cancer patient is something that is anathema to an oncologist. Could I have done more to change her mind?Every time I talk to you, I feel more distressed."Tears stream down the patient's face as she claps her palms over both ears to shut me out. Continue reading...

Nine people aboard escape injury after P-8A aircraft flying in rainy weather miscalculates and ends up in Kaneohe BayA navy plane flying in rainy weather overshot a runway on Monday at a military base in Hawaii and splashed into Kaneohe Bay - but all nine aboard were uninjured, authorities said.The coast guard responded, but rescue attempts were quickly called off after all parties involved" emerged safely, a spokesperson for the military branch said. Continue reading...

A deal to pause hostilities in Gaza and free some hostages is agonisingly close, but both sides are split on what happens nextA deal with Hamas to release some of the Israeli hostages seized on 7 October in return for a pause in the fighting in Gaza, if confirmed, would reflect a change of course by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has adopted an uncompromising stance since the start of Israel's worst security crisis in 50 years.It would probably be wrong to suggest the deal, as currently configured, represents a softening of Netanyahu's position. He has been adamant from the beginning that Israel's overriding aim must be to eliminate Hamas as a military and political force in Gaza. He appears wedded to that approach, on whose success his own political future hinges. Continue reading...

Geoffrey Holt, who wore threadbare clothes, rode a bicycle and died in June at 82, donates fortune to home town of HinsdaleGeoffrey Holt was the unassuming caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he lived a simple but curious life.Residents would see Holt around town in threadbare clothes - riding his lawnmower, headed to the convenience store, parked along the main road reading a newspaper or watching cars pass. Continue reading...

About one in four women will experience partner violence, yet domestic violence still seems shrouded by myths and silenceThe settlement came almost immediately. Cassandra Ventura, the R&B singer better known by the stage name Cassie, had filed her blockbuster lawsuit in federal court against the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs only a day before Combs, a rapper and producer, paid her to drop the suit. In her complaint, Ventura described a pattern of coercive control, abuse, drugging and sexual violence perpetrated against her by Combs throughout their more than 13-year relationship, which began in 2005, when Cassie was 19 and had just signed to the 37-year-old Combs' Bad Boy Records, and ended in 2019.The complaint alleges that Combs plied Ventura with drugs, such as ecstasy and ketamine; that he beat her, including in one incident in Los Angeles in 2009, after Combs saw Cassie talking to another business agent, which required her to recuperate for a week; that he raped her repeatedly, including an incident in which he hired male sex workers to gang-rape Ventura, which Combs filmed, and again in 2018, when he broke into her house and assaulted her after she attempted to leave the relationship; and that he controlled nearly all aspects of her life, including not only her career, which he allegedly leveraged to keep her silent, but also access to her own medical information and when she was allowed to see her family. Ventura also alleges that after she was romantically linked to another man, Combs told her that he would blow up the man's car. A vehicle belonging to the rival exploded in a driveway shortly thereafter.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnistIn the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women's Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

An exhibition on women's activism drove home how much more involved dads are now, and that we have 1970s feminists to thankSay what you want about millennials, but this is a generation of hands-on dads." If you're a parent on Instagram, you have probably seen a video using this template by now. Against a background of saccharine music, users show their male partners lovingly interacting with their children. It's cheesy and self-congratulatory, and if I did it to my husband I think he would be utterly mortified. But there's also something cheering about it. This is a generation that has been bashed by its predecessors for supposed entitlement, so such videos represent a gentle, if sentimental, rebuke - an assertion that we are doing things differently when it comes to childcare.And we are doing things differently, there's no doubt about it. Millennial dads show up for their kids. They spend three times more time with their children than previous generations, and whereas in 1982 almost half of dads (43%) admitted to never having changed a nappy, that figure had fallen to 3% by 2000. Indeed, you could go so far as to say that refusing to change a nappy - or complete other childcare tasks - would be met these days with the utmost scorn, not just from women, but from other men. It would have been highly unusual for a woman of our mothers' generation to expect such support and input from a male partner. Some did exist: they were called involved fathers" because the norm was to leave the children to the woman and, though the term still exists, it is highly likely to provoke an eye-roll, as is the suggestion that dads are merely babysitting" their own kids.Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The US House speaker is a longtime user of Covenant Eyes, in which an accountability partner' tracks the content on your phoneThe first thing to say about Covenant Eyes, the anti-porn phone app used by House speaker Mike Johnson, is that it did change my relationship with pornography.It dramatically increased the amount of time I spent thinking about it. Continue reading...

The USMNT booked their spot in next year's Copa America with a 4-2 aggregate win over Trinidad and Tobago in the Nations League. Here's what we learnedWhen Gio Reyna, of all players, is the voice of reason urging his teammate to calm down, swallow his frustration and act less petulantly, you know there's a serious problem. Continue reading...

Deal could include limited ceasefire and exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Plus, most US gun deaths are suicides. How can they be prevented?

The more disturbing Trump's public proclamations become, the more US plutocrats seem to want him to winAs an ever-greater portion of the nation's total wealth goes to the top, it's hardly surprising that ever more of that wealth is corrupting US politics.In the 2020 presidential election cycle, more than $14bn went to federal candidates, party committees, and Super Pacs - double the $7bn doled out in the 2016 cycle. Total giving in 2024 is bound to be much higher.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley Continue reading...

Senator's urge for US to make Israel reconsider military strategy is met with fierce backlash, underscoring rift on left over war in GazaBernie Sanders called on Congress to require Israel to change its policies as a condition to receiving US military aid - a statement that was met with fierce opposition by vocal Democratic supporters of the Jewish state, underscoring a deepening rift on the left over the Biden administration's response to the war.In a statement on Saturday, Sanders, a leading progressive voice, proposed leveraging US security assistance as a way of forcing Israel to reconsider its military strategy amid its bombardment and blockade of Gaza that has led to spiraling death, dislocation and destruction across the territory. Continue reading...

Robert Burns and Bob Yanacsek tie for 970 votes in race for Monroe mayor - and Burns wins it after Yanacsek incorrectly calls headsIn US politics, the slimmer the margins, the crazier things can get. And that reality has vaulted the winner of a coin flip into the mayor's office of a North Carolina city.The new mayor of Monroe, Robert Burns, and the runner-up, Bob Yanacsek, had signed up to run alongside three other candidates in a 7 November election that generated low voter turnout. Continue reading...

New documentary attempts to get to the heart of the legendary running back's decision to quit the game while still in his primeBarry Sanders's 1999 NFL retirement still smarts. Jim Brown and Michael Jordan at least pivoted toward new pursuits (acting and, in MJ's case, baseball for a while) and with their legacies secure. Sanders was 31, ringless and a season or so shy of becoming the NFL's all-time rushing leader when he spun away to London to escape the press, faxing a goodbye letter to his home town newspaper on the eve of the Detroit Lions' training camp. Until yesterday," one supporter huffed at the time, OJ was my least favorite runner, but he only stabbed two people in the back."It's taken Detroit hitting rock bottom time and again and other star players walking away from the NFL in their primes - Calvin Johnson, not least - for fans to appreciate Sanders's lionhearted call. It's the motivation behind his early retirement that's long been so mystifying. A new Amazon Prime documentary called Bye Bye Barry aims for more clarity, but comes up grasping in the end.Bye Bye Barry is available to stream now on Amazon Prime. Continue reading...

The first ever strikes and a solidarity blockade against the US carmaker could force it to rethink its entire anti-union modelFor the first time anywhere in the world, workers for the US carmaker Tesla have gone on strike. It's not a coincidence that this strike is happening in Sweden, which has one of the strongest labour movements in Europe. More than 90% of workers are protected by collective bargaining agreements, and the system has strong backing among employees and employers alike. With good reason: the Swedish labour relations model has sustained relative industrial peace between wage-earners and corporations for decades.By refusing to play ball, Elon Musk's car giant may have picked an unwinnable fight. What started as a minor local disagreement has grown to the point that it could have global implications, with potential ripple effects for labour movements and auto workers across Europe and the US.Martin Gelin writes for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter Continue reading...

The autumn statement will be another chance for the Tories to offload blame, as if 13 years of failure and cuts hadn't happenedWinter is coming, as it always does, and the NHS creaks and groans. The chancellor will not tomorrow hand over the 1bn it needs to cover the cost of strikes, though NHS debts mount while almost 7.8 million people in England suffer on waiting lists.But Jeremy Hunt will have an easy riposte, hot ammunition to hurl at the NHS, rehearsing for the upcoming election. A spate of alarming reports all say the same thing: NHS productivity has fallen since the pandemic, with more money and more staff treating fewer hospital patients. So says the authoritative Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), parliament's public accounts committee and the House of Commons library. Here's what the chancellor can say: in the last five years the NHS has had more money and some 20% more doctors and nurses, yet it treats fewer hospital patients than pre-Covid. Forget asking for more.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

TSA predicts busiest ever' holiday season as inclement weather likely to hit central, north-east and mid-Atlantic regionsStorms and inclement weather this Thanksgiving holiday week are likely to disrupt travel plans for much of the US.The forecasts come as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it expects this holiday travel season to be the busiest ever". Continue reading...

President makes age jokes as 81st birthday coincided with White House tradition but vintage comedy it was notHe had his turn at the White House, made all the right noises and now, getting on a bit, is heading for a quiet retirement.Sadly for the millions of voters who tell opinion pollsters they want him to make way for someone younger, it is not Joe Biden, but a turkey named Liberty who is about to put his feet up. Continue reading...

Attorneys for former president urge appeals court to revoke gag order though judges appear skeptical

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest stories on the Voting Rights Act and Trump hearing below:

Shock ruling from Republican-appointed appeals court prevents outside groups or citizens seeking to enforce voting rights lawA federal appeals court shocked voting rights groups on Monday with a ruling that only the US government, not outside groups or citizens, could sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act's provisions.The civil rights law, which outlaws racial discrimination as it relates to voting, has typically been enforced by lawsuits from these groups, not by the government itself. Now that the Republican-appointed eighth circuit court of appeals has made the ruling by 2-1, this private right of action" to enforce Section 2 of the law is called into question. Continue reading...

Experts like Paul Nestadt of Johns Hopkins University say stigma and misinformation get in the way - but don't have toIn 2022, the number of US gun suicides reached an all-time high: 73 people dying by gun suicide every day, or a total of nearly 27,000 deaths that year.Despite years of intense debate over gun violence in the US, this central fact still receives little attention: the majority of the country's gun deaths are suicides, not homicides. Continue reading...