Injuries, trades and firings can turn a contender into an also-ran. We take a look at what the season holds as we enter its second halfBack in September, I made my preseason predictions for 2023. With the season at its midpoint, I've looked back to see what I got right and what I got wrong (conclusion: nobody's perfect). Continue reading...
A government-backed report is damning about the porn industry, painting it as inherently criminal. Sex workers, on the other hand, strongly disagreeOnline pornography has become inescapable. Hundreds of millions of people watch it every month. The global industry makes vast amounts of money every year. Countries and governments constantly debate its practices, excesses and dangers, yet nothing meaningful ever happens. Can it be stopped or curtailed? Should it?It is France's turn to agonise over adult content, how it's produced, what it leads to and whether it should be banned. The catalyst was a report launched by the High Council for Equality Between Women and Men (HCE), a government-nominated watchdog on gender equality.Marie Le Conte is a French journalist living in London Continue reading...
Candidates clash over Ukraine and immigration and grapple with abortion questions as Donald Trump holds rally nearbyThe Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and other foreign policy issues dominated Wednesday's fiery third debate of Republican presidential hopefuls in Miami. Candidates pledged wholehearted support for Israel's military response following last month's Hamas attacks, and clashed over Ukraine, China and immigration.The debate, minus Donald Trump, the runaway favorite for the party's 2024 nomination who was hosting his own private rally elsewhere in the area, was a more bitter affair than its predecessors in Wisconsin and California. Lively verbal sparring sometimes regressed into insults, with Nikki Haley at one point calling one of her rivals scum". Continue reading...
Candidates showed unequivocal support for Israel on a night when Nikki Haley shot back at Vivek Ramaswamy's criticismThe third Republican debate was held in Miami on Wednesday, with frontrunner Donald Trump once again foregoing the debate for his own rally nearby.The pool has dwindled since the last debate, and Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott and Chris Christie seemed to be more serious and focused this time around as they answered questions on the Israel-Hamas war, immigration, abortion and the federal budget. Even so, the debate had moments where it devolved into a shouting match, with petty barbs and personal attacks. Continue reading...
Officials say driver fled police and smashed into Chevrolet which then caught fire, with everyone in both vehicles killedEight people died on Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a south Texas highway.The crash happened about 6.30am when the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic tried to outrun deputies from the Zavala county sheriff's office and attempted to pass a semi-truck, the state department of public safety (DPS) said. The Civic collided with a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, which caught fire. Continue reading...
Ex-executive Drew Dixon alleges Reid, known for growing stars such as Usher and Pink, assaulted her twice and derailed her careerLA Reid, the music executive known for helping develop superstars Mariah Carey, Pink, TLC and Usher, was sued on Wednesday by a former music executive who accused him of sexually assaulting her more than two decades ago.Drew Dixon said Reid, 67, derailed her once promising music industry career after he became Arista Records' chief executive because she rejected his advances, including two assaults that she said occurred in 2001. Continue reading...
Despite the control shown during her testimony, Trump was following the same script as her family: deny remembering anythingWhen Ivanka Trump took the stand at her father's New York fraud trial on Wednesday, it appeared she was following the advice she gave to readers in her 2009 book The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life. Perception is more important than reality," Trump wrote. It is more important than if it is in fact true."In stark contrast to her father's often angry performance on the stand just two days earlier, Ivanka Trump was calm and amiable. Her brothers, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, also visibly lost patience on the stand, speaking quickly and sternly when answering some questions and making sarcastic comments at others. The eldest Trump daughter maintained her poise throughout. She delivered her testimony like a swan gliding across a lake. But beneath the surface, she was furiously paddling. Continue reading...
Lawsuit claimed former president participated in January 6 insurrection and should be blocked from holding office againMinnesota's high court dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to keep Donald Trump from being on the 2024 primary ballot, saying he had participated in an insurrection that bars him from holding the office.The Minnesota supreme court said the issue itself is ripe for review, but not in the primary election, where political parties select their nominees for the general election. Continue reading...
Detroit police say investigation in the stabbing of Samantha Woll, 40, will remain confidential and have not released suspect's detailsDetroit police said on Wednesday they had arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of synagogue leader and Democratic party adviser Samantha Woll, whose death on 21 October rocked religious and political circles.Woll, 40, was president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. She was found dead outside her Detroit home on 21 October, hours after returning from a wedding, investigators said. Continue reading...
by Lauren Aratani and Dominic Rushe in New York on (#6G71V)
Trump's elder daughter gave an orderly, calm performance after the often chaotic testimony of her father and brothersI don't recall," Ivanka Trump repeatedly told a New York court on Wednesday as she took the witness stand at her father's $250m fraud trial and was quizzed about deals prosecutors claim prove the Trump Organization knowingly misled lenders.Trump's eldest daughter gave an orderly, calm performance after the often chaotic testimony of her father and brothers. She pointed out that she had not worked for the family firm since 2017 and said she did not recall many specific conversations but added: I have no reason to doubt it." Continue reading...
A major explosion at a Texas chemical plant has caused a massive fire, triggering evacuations and stay-at-home orders. The explosion and subsequent fire happened on Wednesday morning at a chemical plant in Shepherd, Texas, about an hour outside Houston, the San Jacinto county office of emergency management said in a Facebook post.Officials in San Jacinto County said the explosion took place at Sound Resource Solutions, a company that recycles and repackages various chemicals. Information on a possible cause of the explosion or how they planned to put it out was not immediately given
The decaying corpses were discovered after reports of abhorrent smells' inside company's rundown building last monthThe owner of a Colorado funeral home and his wife were arrested on Wednesday after the decaying remains of at least 189 people were recently found at his facility.Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Wagoner, Oklahoma, on suspicion of four felonies - abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery - the district attorney, Michael Allen, said in a news release after at least some of the aggrieved families were told. Continue reading...
House committee has been searching for evidence of influence peddling when Biden was vice-president to Barack ObamaHouse Republicans issued subpoenas on Wednesday to members of Joe Biden's family, taking their most aggressive step yet in an impeachment inquiry bitterly opposed by Democrats that is testing the reach of congressional oversight powers.The long-awaited move by Representative James Comer, the chairman of the House oversight committee, to subpoena the president's son Hunter and his brother James comes as Republicans hope to gain ground in their nearly year-long investigation. So far, they have failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in any wrongdoing. Continue reading...
The off-year statewide elections, in which Democrats gained control of legislature, could spell trouble for GOP in 2024Loudoun county, Virginia, attracted national headlines in 2021, when parents outraged over the alleged instruction of critical race theory and policies regarding transgender students shouted down officials at school board meetings.Republican Glenn Youngkin made the issue a central focus of his gubernatorial campaign in the months after, accusing Democrats of politicizing education to the detriment of students' learning and blaming them for pandemic-related school closures. And he had hoped it would continue to work in Tuesday's general election. Continue reading...
A recent poll prophesied doom and gloom for Democrats. Then Americans voted for Democrats and progressive policiesThe New York Times released a poll on Monday showing Donald Trump beating Joe Biden in several key states, and progressives across the country started to panic. The next day, actual voters in actual states cast actual ballots, and suddenly Democratic prospects don't look nearly as bleak. In state after state, Democrats and progressives swept to victory, affirming the findings from decades of demographic and electoral data showing that the majority of Americans prefer the more multiracial and inclusive vision of Democrats to the angry and punitive policies of the Republicans.At the heart of the Times poll was the suggestion that African Americans and Latinos were gravitating in large and significant numbers to support Trump. According to the poll, 71% of Black voters and just 50% of Latinos backed Biden. If accurate, those numbers would represent a historic collapse of Democratic support among people of color. Since exit polling by racial groups began in 1976, African Americans have supported the Democratic nominee for president with 88% of their votes, on average. In 2020, Biden got 87% of the Black vote, and in the 2022 midterms, Democratic candidates received 86% of the Black vote. As for Latinos, Biden secured 65% support in 2020. Continue reading...
Explosion and subsequent fire happened at petroleum processing plant in Shepherd, Texas, about an hour outside of HoustonA major explosion at a Texas chemical plant has caused a massive fire, triggering evacuations and stay-at-home-orders.The explosion and subsequent fire happened Wednesday morning at a chemical plant in Shepherd, Texas, about an hour outside of Houston, the San Jacinto county office of emergency management said in a Facebook post. Continue reading...
If the police are satisfied that a protest is safe, ministers should not be stirring suspicion and fearPolitical demonstrations are frequently controversial. Any issue that can mobilise tens of thousands of people is likely to involve fierce passions, and provoke strong reactions. In a democracy, those are insufficient grounds for a ban. That is why the Metropolitan police have resisted ministerial pressure to withdraw permission for a Palestinian solidarity march in central London this weekend. Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, has taken the view that Saturday's march does not pose a threat to public safety. Downing Street has very reluctantly, and perhaps only temporarily, deferred to that judgment.Rishi Sunak has expressed his objection in terms of the date. A rally on Armistice Day would be disrespectful", according to the prime minister. Whether or not that is true - and the march organisers have tried to accommodate such sensitivities in their choice of route - respectfulness is not a measure of public order. There would be few public demonstrations on any issue if the threshold for a ban were set at breaches of a prime minister's sense of decorum. Continue reading...
Court papers reveal Japanese conglomerate transferred money less than a week before office rental group filed for bankruptcySoftBank transferred almost $1.5bn to WeWork's lenders less than a week before the shared office rental group filed for bankruptcy, court documents have revealed.The Japanese conglomerate has endured steep losses on its investment in WeWork, which was one of the world's most feted startups when it first invested six years ago. Continue reading...
Dr Paul Appelbaum, a psychiatrist, challenges assumptions about the connections between mental health and violence riskIn the wake of the Maine mass shootings that left 18 people dead, Republican politicians are returning to a familiar talking point: the way to prevent these frequent massacres is not changing how easy it is for Americans to access guns - it's locking up more people with mental health issues.The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, said after the shooting that he did not support expanding the red flag" laws that make it easier to temporarily take guns away from people who have threatened to hurt themselves or others. Instead, he argued on CNN, an involuntary commitment" of the shooter would have done the trick". In 2018, then-president Donald Trump responded to a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead, in part by tweeting about why a sicko" like the shooter should have been brought to a mental institution". Continue reading...
The documentary series about the troubled singer shows that, while the heyday of the paparazzi is over, pop stars are still prey to intrusionNetflix's new documentary delivers on its promise of presenting Robbie Williams as you've never seen him before, and not just in showing the era-defining cheeky chappy, now rounding on 50, mostly in bed, lounging around in his pants. Its director, Joe Pearlman, brings together hours of behind-the-scenes archival footage, much of it never seen by Williams, and screens it to him on his laptop for his response.One of the more harrowing clips is a video diary recorded by Williams in 2007. It shows him apparently alone, drug-addled and reading online commentary aloud. Robbie Williams is music for people who don't feel'," he says, his face grey, eyes sunken. Rob is a showbiz chancer' - yeah, I am ... Robbie Williams is a shit joke'." Continue reading...
Earthquake occurred near the Texas-New Mexico border and effects were also reported in New MexicoA 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit western Texas on Wednesday morning, the US Geological Survey (USGS) announced.The earthquake occurred near the Texas-New Mexico border, about 22 miles (36km) south-west of Mentone, Texas, the USGS said. The effects of the quake could be felt in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is 215 miles west of Mentone, according to the National Weather Service. Continue reading...
The Timbers announced Neville as their new head coach this week, five months after he was sacked by Inter MiamiPhil Neville, somehow, is back in Major League Soccer. A lot of Portland Timbers fans wish he wasn't - and they have been vocal in saying so. When the club published an announcement video of Neville stepping over the stands at Providence Park, it inadvertently symbolised how the concerns of supporters have been ignored to appoint the former England international. The video was deleted, but fans aren't ready to accept NevilleNeville, as his detractors see it, was a failure in the only other MLS position he has held. Continue reading...
Ohio has voted to add abortion rights to the state's constitution in a major victory for women's reproductive rights. The vote to approve 'Issue 1' passed with nearly 60% of the vote. Abortion access has been a contested issue in Ohio since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, sending the question back to the states and leading 16 states to ban nearly all abortions. Lauren Blauvert, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, welcomed the pro-choice victory in a speech: 'There was no choice, we had to win. We had to end the ban'
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been on loan to US from China for more than two decades and are being transported with their cubThe two giant pandas at the Smithsonian's National zoo officially began their return to China on Wednesday.The two panda bears, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, had been in the United States on loan from China for more than two decades as part of a research agreement set to expire early next month. Their cub, three-year-old Xiao Qi Ji, is also going. Continue reading...
Yusef Salaam's victory comes two decades after DNA used to overturn mistaken conviction in 1989 rape caseThe exonerated Central Park Five" member Yusef Salaam has won a seat on the New York City council, marking a stunning reversal of fortune for a political newcomer who was wrongly imprisoned as a teenager in the infamous rape case.Salaam, a Democrat, will represent a central Harlem district on the city council, having run unopposed for the seat in one of many local elections playing out across New York state on Tuesday. He won his primary election in a landslide. Continue reading...
Civilians given four-hour window to leave encircled capital but fears many are still trapped. Plus, Salman Rushdie on peace, Barbie and what freedom cost him
Gender conservatism does not tend to attract as much notice as the other pillars of the far-right ideology, but it is central to the Republican ideologyLate last month, when House Republicans ended their chaotic, weeks-long search for a new speaker by elevating Louisiana's Mike Johnson, a curious trend of stories began appearing in national media. Democratic operatives (and perhaps a few of Johnson's Republican adversaries, too) had begun leaking what's known in Washington as oppo", or opposition research - unflattering truths about political rivals - about the new speaker.For many politicians, the embarrassing secrets revealed in an oppo dump are somewhat oblique; usually, they're about money. Maybe the candidate, as a young lawyer, represented a bank in a case where he aimed to repossess the home of a poor widow; maybe the candidate's husband or daughter was appointed to a job they did not seem quite qualified for, raising questions about nepotism or access trading. The aim of such stories is to make a politician appear corrupt, or unscrupulous - like someone beholden to greed and not to principle. Continue reading...
From Daniel Radcliffe to Paul Mescal, a star name will fill theatres. And if most of the audience aren't there for the acting, that's not always a bad thingPoor Kenneth Branagh. His West End production of King Lear has been savaged by critics - including the Observer's Susannah Clapp - as an emotionally stilted, insubstantial affair. Branagh is, of course, a trained Shakespearean actor, although he hasn't performed on stage in eight years. His luxuriant bouffant - making him possibly the most follicularly blessed Lear since Laurence Olivier - is all Hollywood, as is the surprising third-act revelation that this Lear comes with abs.I'm being a little unkind. But perhaps theatre audiences could do with a bit more unkindness, particularly when it comes to A-listers. While several good-looking stars got their start treading the boards, more than a few have entered stage right and left it coming off as total planks. (There's a reason you've probably never heard about Ricky Martin's stint in Evita.) Continue reading...
More than 70 Orange County firefighters battled a blaze at one of two 17-storey-high hangars at the former Tustin airbase. The fire broke out in the historic hangar facility at about 1am and prompted a three-alarm fire response from fire crews. The twin blimp hangars are two of the world's largest freestanding wooden structures and date back to the second world war Continue reading...
I hold two thoughts in my mind: I love my daughter and at times I find it difficult to copeMy daughter was born on 4 January, overnight. It wasn't an easy labour. It lasted more than 24 hours and ended up in an emergency caesarean. When the nurse brought her to me from the surgery room, I thought to myself, Am I supposed to hold this baby now?" It was the first time I had held a baby. Most of my friends and relatives have kids, many of them were teenagers at that point, but somehow I had managed to never hold a baby. It wasn't by chance: I've never liked them and had always felt afraid of having my own.I have lived with depression since I was a teenager. It's hard to explain what suffering from chronic depression is like. Many of us learn how to operate on a daily basis, sitting with sadness in the moments when we are alone, or with our closest family. But there's a lot of suffering. For me, mornings are the worst. I struggle to find a reason to start my day, and I have to use every tool in my kit to get my mind out of that loop. Most of those tools involve allowing myself to be sad and grumpy for a couple of hours, while I gather strength and my mood starts to change. It's a tedious daily task that requires time and focus on oneself. Continue reading...
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in the chamber, sparked criticism by defending the slogan from the river to the sea'The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted late on Tuesday to censure the Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan - the only Palestinian American in Congress - in an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.The 234-188 tally came after enough Democrats joined with Republicans to censure Tlaib, a punishment one step below expulsion from the House. The three-term congresswoman has long been a target of criticism for her views on the decades-long conflict in the Middle East. Continue reading...
Sole Palestinian American in US Congress defends her criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and urges lawmakers to call for ceasefireThe progressive Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American in the US Congress, on Tuesday defended her criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and urged US lawmakers to join in calling for a ceasefire.Her comments on the House floor came minutes after Democrats paved the way for an effort to censure her for her remarks, which her detractors say disparaged Israel, and included an emotional and impassioned plea for free speech and equal treatment for Palestinians. The actual vote on whether or not to censure Tlaib is expected on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, defended her criticism of Israel ahead of a House of Representatives vote to censure her over her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war. The House ultimately voted 234-188to censure Tlaib. The Michigan Democrat said: 'I will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words,' Tlaib said, adding, 'I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable'The censure measure was forwarded by the Republican Rich McCormick in response to what he said were 'falsehoods' about 'our greatest ally, Israel, and the attack on October 7'
The Steelers head coach has won a Super Bowl but remaining in the playoff hunt with a middling roster may make 2023 his finest year so farMike Tomlin, in his 17th season as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, found a seat behind a table and two microphones last week and said he was really excited" that his team had rallied to beat the Tennessee Titans. Then, as usual, Tomlin abruptly began sweating the details.Obviously, it could have been cleaner, first and foremost, from a penalty perspective," Tomlin said. Part of being a tough team to beat, first, is not kicking your own butt, and we've been kind of doing that some. We've got to own that. And so, we will. We'll review it. We'll learn from it, we'll look at it. We'll bring more officials into our practice setting in an effort to be cleaner, because that was catastrophic, really, in a lot of instances to our effort." Continue reading...
The US national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US president, Joe Biden, does not support Israel reoccupying the Gaza Strip. Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, Kirby said: 'President Biden's been very clear. We don't support a reoccupation of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces. We do think that there needs to be a healthy set of conversations about what post-conflict Gaza looks like and what governance looks like.'Kirby's statement comes after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country would take security control over Gaza for an 'indefinite period'
While Europe is battered by the climate crisis, governments must reassure voters that green costs will be fairly sharedAt a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking ... We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open." A few months ago, the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres used these words to warn that the collective battle against the climate crisis is losing political steam. Guterres was right: the collective response is pitiful. But it's not just the politicians.Clear evidence of climate fatigue emerges from recent opinion polls on voting intentions in the next European parliament elections, in June 2024. While European green parties are expected to lose more than a third of their seats, rightwing climate-sceptic conservatives are expected to win big.Francesco Grillo is a visiting fellow at the European University Institute, Florence and director of the thinktank Vision Continue reading...
In a rebuke to Glenn Youngkin, the governor, voters rejected stricter abortion limits and conservative school policiesDemocrats have secured full control of the Virginia state legislature, winning a majority in the house of delegates and depriving the Republican governor Glenn Youngkin of the opportunity to enact a 15-week abortion ban.Democrats maintained their majority in the state senate and flipped control of the house of delegates, where Republicans previously held a narrow advantage. Democrats' victories quashed Youngkin's hopes of securing a Republican-controlled legislature that would be able to advance his policy agenda, casting doubt upon his prospects as a potential presidential candidate. Continue reading...
Republican managed to hold on to his position and beat out Democratic challenger in year-long election seasonBrandon Presley conceded to the incumbent governor Tate Reeves on Tuesday night after the Republican managed to hold on to his position.During the state's only gubernatorial debate this season, Reeves and Presley, who is related to Elvis Presley, had exchanged verbal blows, with Reeves alleging that Presley had been bought by out-of-state, liberal political interest groups. Presley hammered Reeves on his and his family's alleged involvement in the state's ongoing corruption scandal. Continue reading...
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