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Like other sober-curious people, I wanted slightly more of a handle on what I drank. So I started logging every drink in an app. And, reader: it helpedI am not doing Dry January this year. I didn’t do it last year, or the year before that. But I do know, down to the glass, what I drank on every single one of those January days. Two post-new year amarettos on 2 January 2021; two glasses of prosecco on 9 January 2020 (if I’d known what was coming in March, I might have stretched to three); a lone bottle of beer on a Sunday in 2019.This isn’t some incredible feat of memory. The data is at my fingertips thanks to something I started doing just over five years ago, in late 2017. Every day – or, let’s be realistic, often a few days later – I plug the amount I’ve had to drink into an app.Barbara Speed is a Guardian Opinion deputy editor Continue reading...

Kyle Doan, 5, was pulled into the raging waters as he and his mom, Lindsy Doan, were trying to escape the sudden floodingThe danger lurking along a country road in central California’s wine country was not clear to Lindsy Doan as she drove her five-year-old son to school on Monday morning.The region, like much of the state, had been hit by a deadly series of storms that were , but the family had traveled through the area the previous day, her husband told the Guardian, and countless times before on their commutes. Nothing initially appeared wrong and unlike past occasions, there were no signs indicating the road was closed. Continue reading...

The duke and his brother have spent years as mental health advocates – and therapy has fueled Harry’s public outpouringWhile the revelations in Prince Harry’s book have shock value, the format they come in does not. The tell-all memoir, ghostwritten with the most salacious stories parcelled into pre-publication interviews, is a media set piece. Subject, publisher and publicists all know their roles and – bar a few early leaks – things have been staged-managed effectively.But what’s so unusual about Harry’s revelations is how they have been compared to, and intertwined with, a far less premeditated form of disclosure: therapy. Continue reading...

Roiland, who voices two of the animated TV show’s characters and created video game High on Life, has pleaded not guilty to the chargesJustin Roiland, who co-created the animated series Rick and Morty and provides the voices of the two title characters, is awaiting trial on charges of felony domestic violence against a former girlfriend.A criminal complaint obtained from prosecutors in Orange County, California charged Roiland, 42, with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against the woman, who he was living with at the time. Continue reading...

The singer and only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley has died after being taken to hospital, aged 54. The musician appeared with her mother at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles two days before she was hospitalised, to support Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed biopic Elvis. We look back over her life, from Graceland to her last days Continue reading...

Robert Spindell, who sits on state election commission, told party members to be ‘proud’ of low voting figures in Democratic areasA top Republican election official in Wisconsin is facing calls to resign from his role after boasting about lower turnout last year in Black and Hispanic areas of Milwaukee.Robert Spindell is one of three GOP appointees on the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), the six-member bipartisan body that oversees elections in the state. He is also the chair of the Republican party in the fourth congressional district, which includes Milwaukee. After last year’s election, he sent an email to fellow Republicans touting the party’s “well thought out multi-faceted plan” that resulted in a drop in voter turnout in the city, which is home to a majority of Wisconsin’s Black population. Continue reading...

Robert Hur chosen by US attorney general after classified materials discovered in Delaware and WashingtonThe US attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed a special counsel on Thursday to investigate Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents from his time as vice-president.The move to name Robert Hur, a former Trump-appointed federal prosecutor and former top justice department official, was a rapid decision from Garland to insulate the department from possible accusations of political conflicts or interference. Continue reading...

The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, has announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the retention of classified documents by President Joe Biden from his time as vice-president. Speaking in Washington DC, Garland outlined the events that led to the announcement, confirming that further classified documents had been found at Biden’s home in Delaware. Prior to the statement, the White House said the search for secret materials from Biden’s time under President Barack Obama had concluded

‘Well-informed, industrious’ lawyer, 50, was US attorney for Maryland before moving to private practice in 2021Robert Hur, appointed on Thursday as special counsel in the case of Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents while out of office, is according to his LinkedIn profile a “seasoned trial lawyer, former supreme court law clerk and former US attorney … with decades of experience in government and in private practice”.An appointee of Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, the 50-year-old was US attorney for Maryland from 2018 to 2021 before becoming a partner at Gibson Dunn, a Washington law firm specializing in white-collar “enforcement, investigations and litigation”. Continue reading...

In a world that still expects a catfight between women, a viral image of the actor celebrating at the Golden Globes shows a thrilling act of sisterly solidarityEveryone likes a photo of Jamie Lee Curtis because everyone likes Jamie Lee Curtis, but the moment caught at the Golden Globes on Tuesday was something else.Combining the razzle-dazzle of the red carpet with the raw emotionality of war photography, the shot captures the moment when Michelle Yeoh wins best actress (comedy/ musical) for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh is covering her face with her hands, which is the smart move in these situations: triumph has no acceptable expression. It’s not a lovable emotion to begin with, and it can tip so easily into something even less endearing: smugness, fakery, know-me-by-the-lamentations-of-my-inferiors. Way better to keep all the key features submerged under fingers. Continue reading...

Further classified documents have been found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. The White House has announced the search for the president’s properties for secret materials from his time as vice-president under Barack Obama has concluded. Initially, a small number of classified documents were found at Biden’s former office space in Washington, but further materials have now been located in his garage. At the end of a briefing, a reporter asked Biden: ‘What were you thinking?’ when details emerged the documents were found next to his Corvette

Newly elected New York congressman insists he will not step down despite lies about background and education being exposedRepublican members of Congress have joined state party officials in calling for the New York representative George Santos to resign, heaping more pressure on the disgraced politician who won election in November with a largely fictional biography.Anthony D’Esposito, who represents New York’s fourth congressional district, neighbouring Santos in the third, said on Wednesday Santos had lost the faith of voters and did “not have the ability” to represent them, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...

Lori Lightfoot’s office asked teachers to encourage their students to submit résumés in exchange for ‘class credit’Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, is facing criticism after her office attempted to recruit students with school credit to help with her re-election campaign.Emails encouraging students to volunteer were sent to several Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers’ work emails from Megan Crane, who identifies herself as Lightfoot’s deputy campaign manager on LinkedIn. Continue reading...

The president and his predecessor have each retained secret papers but what do we know and what happens next?The discovery of documents from the Biden-Obama administration in at least two locations linked to Joe Biden has been greeted with dismay by Democrats and glee by Republicans, given the extensive legal troubles that Donald Trump faces for taking classified papers to his Florida resort.Republicans believe the incident shows that Biden has committed the same transgression as the former president, and argue that the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and subsequent investigation were politically motivated points-scoring. Continue reading...

Republicans furious at suggestion from US regulators that gas stoves could be phased out over links to childhood asthmaJoe Biden has ruled out any ban of gas stoves in the US, following a furious backlash from Republicans to suggestions they could be phased out due to their contribution to dangerous indoor air pollution that has been linked to childhood asthma and other conditions.Biden “does not support banning gas stoves”, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday. Jean-Pierre added that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency responsible for consumer safety, “is not banning gas stoves. I just want to be very clear on that.” Continue reading...

Disgraced cryptocurrency boss says FTX customers could get their money back in statement published on Substack“I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away,” the disgraced cryptocurrency boss Sam Bankman-Fried claimed on Thursday in his first detailed response to the criminal charges filed against him last month.In a statement titled FTX Pre-Mortem Overview and published on Substack, Bankman-Fried said that millions of customers of FTX, his bankrupt exchange, could get their money back and that “very substantial recovery remains potentially available”. Continue reading...

Tentative contract agreement secures better working conditions and pay raises, unions officials sayThousands of nurses at two New York City hospitals ended a three-day strike on Thursday after reaching a tentative contract agreement union officials said offered better working conditions in addition to pay raises.The tentative deals at Mount Sinai hospital, in Manhattan, and Montefiore medical center, in the Bronx, include raises totaling 19% over three years. Nurses began returning to work at both hospitals on Thursday morning, with the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, greeting returning nurses at Mount Sinai just before dawn. Continue reading...

Heirs’ early deaths are a lot less common these days, so Britain should copy European royalty and let No 2s work unimpeded“My family had declared me a nullity. The Spare,” declares Prince Harry in his new memoir, frustrated in a history lesson at Eton that the teacher expected him to know the story of Charles Edward Stuart. He doesn’t want to think about it, doesn’t want to know about history – “Why memorise the names of past spares?”. And yet he has: they thread through his book, unspoken. Not just Princess Margaret (who he notes once gave him a Biro for Christmas), all the others who were No 2, and those who are to come. Harry was, as he sees it, “brought into the world in case something happened to Willy”.“The heir and the spare” was, he tells us, a “shorthand” about the two brothers used by the entire family, and says it was what Charles told Diana after his birth. The word “spare” is repeated so much that it is almost dizzying – and recurs in the most heated incidents. When, he said, William pushed him, his brother was “in full heir mode and couldn’t fathom why I wasn’t dutifully playing the role of the spare”. Continue reading...

The Espionage Act is incredibly broad and spares no one. Readers of this newspaper may even have violated itWith President Joe Biden now embroiled in his own classified documents controversy, partisan commentators will surely have a field day playing the tired old game of “no, you endangered national security.” Instead, I’d like to focus on the real issues: the overly broad and often-abused Espionage Act and the massive, draconian secrecy system that does far more harm than good in the United States.This should be yet another wake up call that both the classification system and the Espionage Act need a dramatic overhaul. The question is — as more secret documents are found at a second Biden location and Trump’s special prosecutor continues to work — will anyone listen?Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation Continue reading...

According to latest consumer price index, cost of living dropped 0.1% in December while inflation rate fell from 7.1% in NovemberPrices dropped in the US in December for the first time since May 2020, in an encouraging sign that the inflation crisis may be easing.According to the latest consumer price index (CPI) – which measures a broad range of goods and services – the cost of living dropped 0.1% in December compared with a rise of 0.1% in November. The annual rate of inflation fell to 6.5% from 7.1% in the previous month, the sixth straight month of yearly declines, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading...

Trump’s former White House press secretary, now the state’s governor, issues executive order targeting gender-neutral termIn one of her first acts as governor of Arkansas, the former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Sanders banned the use of the word “Latinx” in state documents.The executive order was one of seven signed by Sanders, who last November easily beat the Democrat Chris Jones to succeed her father, Mike Huckabee, and become the first woman to govern the state. Continue reading...

UFC president, Dana White, apologised and said there were 'no excuses' after he was caught on camera slapping his wife while they vacationed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.'There's no defence for this, and people should not be defending me over this thing, no matter what. All the criticism I have received this week is 100% warranted and will receive in the future,' he said. 'It's something I'm going to have to deal with and live with for the rest of my life.' Continue reading...

Last week, under its Biden-appointed chair, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements – and it’s a big dealHave you ever been forced to sign a non-compete agreement when you started a job?About 30 million Americans are trapped by contracts that say if they leave their current job, they can’t take a job with a rival company or start a new business of their own.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Announcement drew criticism from environmentalists as Gavin Newsom proposes cutting $6bn from ‘unprecedented’ climate fundFacing a budget shortfall, California’s governor Gavin Newsom proposed billions of dollars in cuts to climate spending – slashing subsidies for electric vehicles, funding for clean energy, wildfire prevention and programs to help low income residents cope with extreme weather.The Democratic governor’s announcement, which came amidst a week of torrential rains, deadly winds and flooding, drew sharp criticism from environmentalists. Facing a potential $22.5bn budget deficit, Newsom has suggested pulling back $3bn to address inflation and $750m to pay down unemployment insurance debt. But the bulk of his spending cuts slash programs for climate crisis and transportation. Continue reading...

Another set of materials discovered at a separate location, as White House addresses first discovery at Biden’s institute. Plus, why are DVD menus trending on social media?

Newly obtained body-camera videoshows the moment heavily armedFlorida police officers descend on the homes of two different men accused of illegally voting and arrested one of them at gunpoint as part of Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on voter fraud.Both men were in their underwear, unarmed, and placed in handcuffs as police arrested them in front of their Miami-Dade county homes on 18 August.A spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the agency that oversaw the arrests said: “Arrest warrant planning and tactics are dictated by a number of factors, to include the subject’s criminal history and other officer and public safety concerns."The 19 arrests were part of the first wave brought by the office of election crimes and security, a new state agency focused on investigating voter fraud. Hours after Miller and Wood were arrested, DeSantis held a press conference saying those accused of voter fraud would “pay the price”.The voter fraud charges against both Wood and Miller were separately dismissed.

In August, armed officers descended on homes of two men accused of illegally votingHeavily armed Florida police officers descended on the homes of two men accused of illegally voting and arrested one of them at gunpoint as part of Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on voter fraud, new body-camera footage obtained by the Guardian can reveal.Both men were in their underwear, unarmed, and placed in handcuffs as police arrested them in front of their Miami-Dade county homes on 18 August. Continue reading...

Emma Thompson’s sadistic Agatha Trunchbull follows in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm, Stephen King and M3gan – but graphic scenes of abuse should not be seen as entertainmentThere’s no denying that Emma Thompson’s latest transformation into the sadistic Agatha Trunchbull in Netflix’s new Matilda the Musical film is an act of brilliance, both from the Oscar-winner herself and an army of makeup artists. But explicit scenes of Miss Trunchbull’s violent behaviour are likely to prove to be a traumatic experience for both children and survivors of child abuse alike.Matilda author Roald Dahl is well known for his focus on cruelty to children, from child-killing witches to body disfigurement for naughty children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Matilda itself contains graphic lines such as: “The Trunchbull simply grabbed me by one ear and rushed me to the Chokey at the double and threw me inside and locked the door … I was sliced and cut all over when I came out.” Continue reading...

The question is whether the quarterback has the drive to overhaul his game, be it with a new team or a new roster in Green BayYou can be forgiven for a sense of deja vu. With the end of the NFL’s regular season comes the return of the league’s most tiresome soap opera: what does Aaron Rodgers want to do?After two years of will-he-won’t-he – will he force a trade away from the Green Bay Packers? Will he retire? – Rodgers shuttered all speculation last offseason when he signed a three-year, fully guaranteed, $150m contract, making him the most expensive quarterback in the league and, it was assumed, a Packer for life. Continue reading...

Watching Harry do the rounds of US chat shows, I felt a sense of pity for the man who will never be more than a sideshow hereIt is ill-advised to form judgments based on the behaviour of a talkshow audience, a group whose sympathies – stoked by hours of anticipation and the sunken cost of a day off work – would rally for any guest above the level of a pot plant. Still, after a week of intense media coverage in the US, Prince Harry stepping out before a studio audience on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night was the first sight we had of him interacting with something approximating the American public.For days, American news outlets had speculated that the rollout around Spare was becoming overblown. But that night in New York, the audience heaved to its feet and gave the 38-year-old “husband, father, military veteran and activist”, per Colbert’s introduction, a warm standing ovation. Harry smiled sheepishly. It was, for British observers, deeply, unsettlingly odd. Continue reading...

‘He needed help and was killed,’ says Patrisse Cullors, as police are seen repeatedly using stun gun on him after traffic accidentA cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors was killed by Los Angeles police after he got in a traffic accident and officers who showed up repeatedly Tased and restrained him in the middle of the street, according to body-camera footage and his family’s account.Footage from the 3 January encounter released on Wednesday showed that Keenan Anderson, a 31-year-old high school teacher and father, was begging for help as multiple officers held him down, and at one point said, “They’re trying to George Floyd me.” One officer had his elbow on Anderson’s neck while he was lying down before another Tased him for roughly 30 seconds straight before pausing and Tasing him again for five more seconds. Continue reading...

Another set of materials discovered at a separate location, as White House addresses first discovery at Biden’s instituteJoe Biden was facing fresh scrutiny over his handling of government secrets on Wednesday after a second batch of classified materials was reportedly found at a location linked to him.The White House was already on the defensive after revelations that classified documents were discovered last November in an office used by Biden after he served as US vice-president. On Tuesday he said he was “surprised to learn” of their existence. Continue reading...

Bills not expected to advance in Senate but underscore Republican majority’s legislative priorities ahead of 2024 electionThe Republican-led House on Wednesday pressed ahead with a pair of anti-abortion measures, despite warning signs that the issue had galvanized the opposition in the wake of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last year.Voting mostly along party lines, Republicans first approved a bill that would compel doctors to provide care for an infant who survives an attempted abortion – an occurrence that is exceedingly rare. Continue reading...

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar leads joint statement focused on Sunday’s riots in Brasília and January 6 insurrection

House to vote on medical protections for ‘babies that survive an attempted abortion’ and ‘attacks on pro-life’ groups and churches

Newest round of storms expected to produce torrential downpours and gale force winds along the northern coastCalifornia is facing a new round of brutal storms that will bring torrential downpours and gale force winds in the north as the state scrambles to clean up and repair widespread damage amid a break in the weather.The state has been ravaged by a relentless string of storms that have killed at least 17 people – a number the governor warned was likely to grow. The bout of extreme weather has closed highways, knocked out trees and infrastructure and cut power to thousands of people. More than half of California’s 58 counties have been declared disaster areas. Continue reading...

From weather disruptions to computer problems to crew shortages, customers are once again caught in travel limboAfter an $8bn makeover, New York’s new LaGuardia airport complex is finally an airport the city can be proud of. Unfortunately the same can not be said for the industry it serves.For the second time in almost two weeks, thousands of flights were canceled across the US on Wednesday – this time because of what appears to be a snafu with an antiquated computer system. Passengers have had enough. Continue reading...

Chair of Nassau county committee says Santos ran ‘a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication’ to win third districtThe Republican George Santos said on Wednesday he would not resign from Congress less than a week after being sworn in, despite calls to do so from the chairman of his district committee and a fellow New York representative, amid continuing scrutiny of Santos’s mostly made-up résumé and growing calls for campaign finance investigations.In a tweet, Santos said: “I was elected to serve the people of the New York third district not the party and politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. Continue reading...

Years of devastating dryness have depleted reservoirs and hurt farms. The deluge may offer a little helpThe series of storms that have struck California have poured water on a state mired in a years-long drought. Experts say the precipitation will help relieve the drought somewhat. Exactly how much isn’t clear yet and some areas of the state will benefit more than others.It will take more than a few storms to fill the biggest reservoirs. Plus, the climate crisis is making California drier and hotter. Officials see less water in the state’s future, and these storms won’t fix that long-term problem. Continue reading...

Some passengers called 911 fearing they were being held hostage, prompting conductor to announce ‘we’re not holding you hostage’Hundreds of Amtrak passengers in South Carolina were stranded on a train for more than a day, prompting several to call the police out of fear they were being held hostage.The train, which departed from Washington DC, was delayed for more than 29 hours after being rerouted due to a derailed CSX freight train, reported ABC News. Continue reading...

Allegation about ex-Barclays boss is made in US Virgin Islands lawsuit against JP MorganJes Staley, the former boss of Barclays, has been accused of having such a “profound friendship” with Jeffrey Epstein that it could “even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation”, according to documents filed in a US court.Staley, who resigned as chief executive of Barclays in November 2021 after a preliminary investigation by the UK regulators into his relationship with Epstein, is now accused of regularly visiting Epstein on his private Caribbean island and continuing to “corresponded with Epstein while Epstein was incarcerated”. Continue reading...

If princes squabbling about jurisdiction over a continent’s people and wildlife seems crazy here, imagine how it seems thereDetty December is an annual pilgrimage in which the African diaspora descend on African cities (principally Lagos and Accra) for fun, festivity, culture, business connections and the odd bit of unspeakable debauchery. Pool and beachside parties run from the evening until the sun comes up the next day. Flush the Band Aid poverty porn out of your head: every December, at least, Accra and Lagos are the new Ibiza and Ayia Napa.As the sun was setting on last year’s Detty December, with a festival attended by 50,000 people (including the likes of Dave Chappelle) and headlined by Erykah Badu, the sun was rising on Prince Harry’s publicity run for his wildly revealing and score-settling new book, Spare.Nels Abbey is a writer, broadcaster and former banker. He is the author of the satirical book Think Like a White ManDo 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...