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Respondents tell us about personal levels of borrowing, with most saying they were now struggling to repay their debtsRobin, a 70-year-old retired arts teacher from California, survives on an annual income of $14,000 in social security payments.I became disabled and retired about 20 years ago," she says. My life became unaffordable then, but I'm very good at budgeting so I was able to manage. Continue reading...

Aimee Harris of Florida sold Ashley Biden's diary to conservative group Project Veritas in actions judge called despicable'A Florida woman was sentenced Tuesday to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing and selling Joe Biden's daughter's diary four years ago to the conservative group Project Veritas.Aimee Harris was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Laura Taylor Swain, the judge who called the Palm Beach, Florida, woman's actions despicable". Continue reading...

Survey finds turnover increased from 28% in 2004 to 39% in 2022, following increased harassment and threats after 2020 electionA new study confirms what election experts have been warning about for years: increased harassment and threats following the 2020 election have led election officials to quit at higher rates than in previous election cycles.The study, conducted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and using data on more than 18,000 chief election officials across the 50 states, found that while turnover in election offices had been steadily increasing since 2004, election officials have left their jobs at higher rates since the 2020 election - with turnover increasing from 28% in 2004 to 39% in 2022. Continue reading...

Federal Aviation Administration looking into claims US aircraft maker knew of flaws but covered them up to speed productionClaims that Boeing knew of safety flaws in the manufacture of one of its largest passenger jet aircraft, but covered them up to speed production, are under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to a reports.The information came from a whistleblower inside the beleaguered US aircraft maker, and relates to the structural integrity of the 787 Dreamliner jet, a report published by the New York Times alleges. Continue reading...

Four-time major champion believes simple approach will be key to completing career grand slam on 16th start at AugustaRory McIlroy's Tuesday press conference has become a modern-day Masters tradition, his annual attempt to explain exactly how he's planning to go about finally winning the thing that fits right in alongside the par-three contest, the pimento cheese sandwiches, and watching the players try to skip the ball across the water during the practice rounds. In the 13 years since McIlroy blew a four-shot lead here on the Sunday in 2011, he seems to have tried it every which way, fat and thin, zoned out and dialled in.There were years when he played the course over and over before the tournament, years when he hardly stopped here at all, years when he talked up how much it meant, and years when he played it down. Yeah," McIlroy said himself this year. This is my 16th start in the Masters, so I feel like I've done it quite a few different ways." Continue reading...

Justices rule to hold off on requiring state to enforce ban for 14 days, to allow advocates to ask lower court to pause it againThe Arizona supreme court ruled Tuesday to let a law banning almost all abortions in the state go into effect, a decision that could curtail abortion access in the US south-west and could make Arizona one of the biggest battlefields in the 2024 electoral fight over abortion rights.The justices said Arizona could enforce a 1864 near-total abortion ban, first passed before Arizona became a state, that went unenforced for decades after the US supreme court legalized abortion nationwide in the 1973 decision Roe v Wade. However, the justices also ruled to hold off on requiring the state to enforce the ban for 14 days, in order to allow advocates to ask a lower court to pause it again. Continue reading...

The seeds of a forever war are being planted in the coastal strip. They must not be allowed to take rootIsrael's war turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Palestinians returning to their homes in the southern part of the coastal strip this week were greeted by a similar lifeless vista of destruction. It might be some relief that Israeli forces have withdrawn from much of Gaza. But one is reminded of what Tacitus said of the Roman legions: They make a desert and call it peace."The ending of a four-month long assault on KhanYunis and the allowing of more aid into Gaza have been positive steps. These should help talks in Cairo to end the fighting permanently. The Biden WhiteHouse is also increasing pressure on Israel to negotiate a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas. The drop in violence may not last long. Neither side, at present, seem willing to make the concessions needed for a durable peace. Continue reading...

A New York judge rejected the ex-president's bid to postpone the 15 April trial amid his fight against a gag orderA New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's latest bid to delay his hush-money criminal trial while he fights a gag order, clearing the way for jury selection to begin next week.Justice Cynthia Kern's ruling is yet another loss for Trump, who has tried repeatedly to get the trial postponed. Continue reading...

The UK's foreign secretary has said the government position on arms exports to Israel remains unchanged but that it continues to have concerns about the level of humanitarian aid entering Gaza. David Cameron said Israel is an ally and a key defence partner. He added: 'We don't publish or comment on legal advice but we are a government that acts under the law'. Cameron held a joint press conference with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, after meeting former president Donald Trump

Exclusive: four vases in New York auction traced to Gianfranco Becchina, convicted in 2011 of illegally dealing in antiquitiesChristie's has withdrawn four ancient Greek vases from Tuesday's auction after a leading archaeologist discovered that each of them was linked to a convicted antiquities dealer.Dr Christos Tsirogiannis, an affiliated archaeology lecturer at the University of Cambridge and a specialist in looted antiquities and trafficking networks, told the Guardian that there was damning evidence within the auction house's own correspondence with the dealer, which was seized by the police. Continue reading...

County officials alert Montecito homeowners that they face prosecution, including daily fines of $850 if stones are not removedMontecito, California, is known for being home to Oprah, a former royal family, and a stunning stretch of coastline. It's also home to miles of trails, some of which are being blocked by residents hoping to stop people from accessing public hot springs.Santa Barbara county has been watching encroachments on East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road in Montecito since at least 2022, when they sent letters to residents warning them to remove large stones. Continue reading...

Fifteen scholars on US history outline that Trump is not immune to prosecution for crimes committed while he was presidentFifteen prominent historians filed an amicus brief with the US supreme court, rejecting Donald Trump's claim in his federal election subversion case that he is immune to criminal prosecution for acts committed as president.Authorities cited in the document include the founders Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Adams, in addition to the historians' own work. Continue reading...

After a decision to spare Fifi further interventions, she lives a full two months more - and teaches us a few things along the wayRanjana, how long can Fifi live with liver cancer?"An unexpected aspect of being an oncologist (for humans) is being approached for advice about pets (usually dogs) with cancer. Bruno, Marco, Maisie, Ziggy, Chloe, Tiger, Muppet, Jessie, Bella, Buddy, Johnny, Wilfred. Apart from my own Odie, the dogs of my friends form the backdrop of my life. Not all of them develop cancer but when there is a diagnosis, I know.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

As a gen X feminist who survived and ignored a violent assault in the 80s, I didn't identify as a victim - but #MeToo gave me a crucial new perspectiveIn the scorching summer of 1987, young, invincible and hungry for adventure, I left my cloistered life at the University of Sydney to hitchhike to Darwin. I wanted to discover the real" Australia, that classless utopia of rugged, self-made blokes in the Foster's ads; the quixotic outback of explorers and mavericks celebrated by Xavier Herbert and Patrick White. Hitchhiking for art was a masculine pursuit, mythologised by Jack Kerouac and the beatniks. I wanted to update their 60s machismo with some brazenly female 80s cool. I would document my 8,000km trip, return to Sydney unscathed, and write a novel. Or so I thought.My companion, Andrew Peisley, and I hit the highway at Lithgow, armed with a tarp, seven books and a guitar. We'd survive on Peisley's dole cheque and busk for counter-meals in pubs along the way. We agreed to remain platonic, accept every lift that got us closer to Darwin, and never split up. Four days in, at a Cunnamulla roadhouse, our rules imploded. I was kidnapped by truckies. Four of them, driving two road trains in convoy. They couldn't fit us both in one truck so they offered to take me in the first and Peisley in the second. I climbed, just as Kerouac would, into the first rig and we drove off. But when Peisley approached the second truck, the driver slammed the door in his face. Continue reading...

Study of 13,000 Americans finds particular risk among certain types of gun owners, including those who carry weapons in publicLarge numbers of Americans who have bought guns over the past four years or who regularly carry their loaded weapons in public are willing to engage in political violence, even to the extent of shooting a perceived opponent, a new mega-survey has found.The study of almost 13,000 Americans, drawn from across the country and weighted for demographics, provides alarming evidence of the openness of certain types of gun owners to the idea - and possibly the practice - of violence as a political act. Continue reading...

Device failed to detonate successfully, causing only slight damage to the temple located in the city of the 17-century witch trialsAn explosive device was thrown on to the porch of the Satanic Temple and caused cosmetic damage to the building early on Monday - but the device failed to detonate successfully and was only found hours later, according to police in Massachusetts.Police in the town of Salem have since said that the situation had been contained and that there was no ongoing threat after office had closed access for several hours to the block on Bridge Street where the targeted building is. Continue reading...

Former congressman Ken Buck says Marjorie Taylor Greene gets her talking points from the Kremlin' when opposing Ukraine aid

Company says settlement will resolve all class action claims within 20-mile radius from February 2023 derailmentNorfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600m in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio.The company said the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment. Continue reading...

She left the White House with the worst popularity rating for any first lady in history. But she could still be an asset for her husbandShe is a riddle inside an enigma wrapped in Valentino. One of the few things anyone can say with certainty about Melania Trump is that the former first lady has never been keen on politics. And who can blame her? Melania was living a life of untrammelled luxury before her husband decided he wanted to be president. She didn't have to pretend to care about causes. She didn't have to shake hands with paupers. She didn't have to live in a shabby old house in DC. She could do whatever she liked. When Donald Trump got booted out of the White House, Melania didn't seem particularly distraught.Nor has Melania seemed especially enthusiastic about Trump's attempts to weasel his way back into the presidency. The former model kept her distance from his 2020 re-election efforts and has been noticeably absent from the 2024 campaign. She attended the campaign launch event in November 2022 and showed up when Trump cast his ballot for himself in the Florida presidential primary last month, but that's about it. She has been so absent that Missing Melania" posters have been jokingly handed out at some of Trump's campaigns by, rumour has it, his detractors. Continue reading...

He's never wanted to be in politics, you know - but if the people keep asking, he might just have to become America's Final BossWhere do you stand on The Rock? A question to which the answer can only be, Please - not on his face!" Wrestler, movie star, high-intensity interval philosopher, skincare entrepreneur, self-styled future presidential candidate ... Personally I believe that Mr Dwayne Johnson is a net hilarity for humanity, though the idea he could ever truly limit himself to enriching the lives of only one species - or indeed only one planet - feels profoundly suspect.Last week, The Rock graced Fox News with a lengthy interview in which he announced he will be withholding his wildly coveted endorsement in the forthcoming US presidential election, having given it to Joe Biden last time. The reason? The Rock believes that very endorsement - his specifically - caused an incredible amount of division in our country". Evidently The Rock judges himself a mega-market-mover in terms of American discord, so this time he is not declaring support for either Biden or Donald Trump. Quite a statement from a guy who 100% seems the type to have a tattoo of the words if you choose not to decide you have still made a choice". Obviously not in English - in either Sanskrit, Latin or Hindi, curling round some sort of calf muscle called a trizeltoid or something, that he's got a cool abbreviation for. #trizos #gainzneversleepz #warriorpoetMarina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Stock has become actively shorted as traders are betting on company's fall, and the ex-president's stake is now valued at $3bnDonald Trump's media and technology group, DJT, has lost about 36% of its value since it began publicly trading on 22 March, dropping the former president's stake to approximately $2.8bn.As of Monday afternoon, DJT stock was priced at about $36 - down from a high of $66 seen on 27 March. But market analysts are saying it's too soon to draw any firm conclusions from the depreciation because the stock has become one of the most actively shorted on the Nasdaq exchange - meaning traders have been betting that it will fall. Continue reading...

Israel buys 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the southern Gaza city. Plus: how green onions became a symbol of voter anger in South Korea

Taylon Nichelle Celestine allegedly shot two drivers on Interstate 10 after telling hotel staff she had been directed by GodA woman checked out of a Florida hotel on Monday, told staff that she was going on a God-directed shooting spree because of the North American solar eclipse that day, and allegedly shot two drivers on Interstate 10 before being arrested, according to the state's highway patrol.Taylon Nichelle Celestine, 22, of Georgia, entered the highway in Bonifay - 115 miles (180km) from the Alabama border in the Florida panhandle region - and headed west. Within five miles (8km), she fired into a passing car several times, shattering windows and grazing the driver in the arm, the department said in a statement. Continue reading...

Assailant killed a man and a women at a child custody case deposition at a private law office in the Summerlin neighborhoodA man fatally shot his former daughter-in-law and her husband during a deposition hearing on Monday in a child custody case at a law office in an affluent neighborhood of Las Vegas, police and media reports said.The case starkly illustrated the reality that matters involving child custody are generally considered to be among the most volatile legal disputes in the US court system. Continue reading...

Transfer portals, NIL deals and the lure of the NBA make sustained success difficult. But the Huskies are building a mini-dynasty under Dan HurleyThe University of Connecticut already had a men's basketball dynasty. How else to describe a program that had won five national titles since 1999, with those victories coming under three different head coaches? If dynasties are hereditary, the Huskies passed theirs from Jim Calhoun to Kevin Ollie to their current boss, Dan Hurley. All that happened on Monday night was a set of affirmations - that Hurley has built something even better than Connecticut had before. And that, for now, the only other team that compares is Dawn Staley's unbeaten South Carolina in the women's game.A 75-60 win over Purdue in the national championship game was a master class in every sense. The Boilermakers had a player who has been the best in men's college basketball for two years: the running, hulking center Zach Edey. Hurley's team had a plan, which revealed itself as the night went on: UConn would take their chances and let Edey bang away near the basket, but they would otherwise cut Purdue's strengths out from under them. The Boilermakers were one of the country's best three-point-shooting teams all season, making more than 40% of their shots from beyond the arc. On Monday, they went 1-for-7 from that range. Edey's 37 points didn't matter when the other Purdue players had 23 combined. UConn's scoring attack, on the other hand, came in waves, a perfect testament to the depth Hurley has built at his outpost in Storrs, Connecticut. Continue reading...

In a first, the state has purchased shoot houses designed for indoor gun training to help school staff respond to active shooter'Ohio appears to be the first state to purchase shoot houses - mobile homes designed for indoor firearms training - to better prepare public school staff to respond to an active shooter".The Ohio Controlling Board, which helps oversee changes to the state budget, approved public safety officials' request for $78,028 last month to purchase two shoot houses to help train public school employees that are allowed to carry firearms at work. Continue reading...

British foreign secretary will also urge congressional leaders in Washington to advance aid for Kyiv in its war against Russia

Landfill trash is the third-largest source of human-caused methane pollution in the US. To fight global heating, curb wasteAn elusive climate menace is now easier than ever to see. In early March, a rocket launched into the sky with a satellite that spots methane emissions from space. MethaneSAT joined more than a dozen similar satellites now in orbit, scanning the Earth for pollution and feeding that information back to scientists, policymakers, industry, and the public.What story does the data tell? One of methane on the rise, or one of collective efforts that avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis? Slashing methane is the most efficient way to slow global warming in our lifetimes. We have the chance - and the obligation - to do so. Continue reading...

Jessica Burns-McDonnell from West Virginia and Larry McDonnell took over the world record from a UK-based coupleA West Virginia woman who set a world record by marrying a man who is nearly three feet shorter than her says the couple is a testament to how what's really important" in a spouse is the person ... on the inside".I mean, you might find a person who looks exactly like what you want but you need someone who makes you feel and think and love," Jessica Burns-McDonnell, 40, remarked in an interview about her and her relationship with husband Larry McDonnell, 42, published Monday by Guinness World Records. Continue reading...

CBS broadcast the first-ever USL match on network TV on Saturday. The league hopes to ride Messi-mania while challenging MLS's structureNot for the first time, American soccer is approaching a crossroads, and given the landscape in which this latest rumble in soccer's turbulent history in the US will play out, it could be one of the most defining moments yet.The organisation that runs professional leagues in the second and third tiers of soccer in the US, the United Soccer League (USL), could have a big role to play in shaping the future. With the new league season kicking off this month, it hopes to become a more visible and authentic alternative to Major League Soccer. Continue reading...

Through the G20, Brazil's president is challenging the dominance of the richest countries. This year will be a huge test of his strategyThe world stage often seems sepia-toned, dominated by the dusty international structures of the post-second world war era, favouring the world's richest countries. However, it is increasingly clear that this setup isn't sufficient to respond to the interests of the global south, including combating climate breakdown and expanding economic development.Recognising this mismatch, Brazil under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has positioned itself as an international leader, focused on the agenda of emerging economic powers who prize stability, and in fact have much to lose from conflict and power struggles between rich countries. Continue reading...

Masters host has the experience and finances to launch a women's tournament - it just needs the big-picture thinkingFred Ridley's Wednesday morning address to the media at Augusta National has become an episode in self-congratulation and script-reading. A box-ticking exercise for Ridley, the Augusta chairman, and his acolytes becomes an annual frustration for journalists. Presumably they wouldn't want it any other way.Those presiding over the Masters swagger with pride at the Augusta National Women's Amateur and the children's Drive, Chip and Putt Championship which precede the opening major of the year. Nobody of a squeamish disposition should watch either on television; broadcasters fall over themselves to offer gushing superlatives to a point which goes beyond parody. The Green Jackets lap this up. Look! Look! We are progressive! There are children wearing shorts and everything!" By Monday of Masters week, the big stuff starts. England's Lottie Woad, the newly crowned women's amateur champion, will be back at Florida State University by the time the 88th Masters champion is crowned. The show quickly moves on in this corner of Georgia. Continue reading...

Western governments could once be confident of protecting their friends. Nicaragua's case shows those days are goneThe case brought by Nicaragua against Germany at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague this week is a powerful example of the unprecedented political impact that the Gaza conflict is having around the world. Most obviously, Israel's continuing assault after the 1,200 brutal murders and about 240 kidnappings by Hamas on 7 October has had a deadly impact on Palestinians. More than 30,000 people in Gaza have been killed, and a famine is now looming. The conflict has also opened up a division between the global north and south in a way not seen before.Nicaragua's case focuses on Germany's supply of arms to Israel - the country supplied more than 326m (258m) last year, which equated to more than a quarter of Israel's military imports. It also calls on Germany to restore Gaza funding to Unrwa, the UN agency that provides Palestinians with humanitarian aid. Nicaragua says the arms sales mean Germany is facilitating" genocide. On Monday, it accused Germany of doing business as usual - or better than usual" because of its burgeoning weapons sales. Continue reading...

Ex-prime minister, who lasted just 49 days, says she struggled to cope with death of monarch and self-inflicted economic disasterIn a new memoir, Liz Truss recounts the advice she was given by Queen Elizabeth II when they met in September 2022 to confirm Truss as Britain's new prime minister, the 15th and as it turned out last, to serve under Elizabeth II.Pace yourself," the 96-year-old queen said - a suggestion Truss admits she failed to heed after the queen died, leaving Truss unsure if she could cope. Continue reading...

Israel's onslaught has been on a scale never seen before. I spend my days searching for hope

Trump appealed lower court's denial of his request to be shielded from case charging him with attempting to overturn 2020 electionThe special counsel pursuing federal criminal charges against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss filed a US supreme court brief on Monday urging the justices to reject the former president's bid for immunity from prosecution on the principle that no person is above the law".The case is due to be argued before the justices on 25 April. Trump has appealed a lower court's rejection of his request to be shielded from the criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith because he was serving as president when he took the actions at the center of the case. Continue reading...

Winning ticket comes from convenience store after long winless streak in game, which offers a one in 292.2m chance of victoryA Powerball player in Oregon won a jackpot worth more than $1.3bn on Sunday, ending a streak of more than three months without a winner.The single ticket - revealed after a delay of more than three hours to the drawing - matched all six numbers drawn to win the jackpot worth $1.326bn, Powerball said in a statement. Continue reading...

Fulton county lawyers ask state appeals court to deny request by ex-president, who is charged with efforts to overturn 2020 electionFulton county prosecutors asked the Georgia state court of appeals on Monday to reject Donald Trump's request to consider his claim that the district attorney should be disqualified over a relationship with her deputy, arguing that the matter was correctly settled by the lower court judge.The present application merely reflects the applicants' dissatisfaction with the trial court's proper application of well-established law to the facts," prosecutors wrote in a 19-page filing. Continue reading...

Lawyers had argued trial should be postponed while they seek a change of venue to move it out of heavily Democratic Manhattan

Augusta National taps into fever for pretty wild' moment with branded solar glasses - which rapidly become a must-haveThey say bats come out during a solar eclipse, and owls too. Hippos have been seen to move towards their nighttime feeding grounds, bees to fly back to their hives and refuse to emerge until the sun comes back out, crickets begin to chirrup, mosquitoes come out for the evening, spiders take down their webs to protect them from the nighttime dew. Last time they had a solar eclipse one around these parts, scientists working at Riverbanks zoo over in South Carolina noticed that the gibbons started barking and a pair of Galapagos tortoises immediately began mating with each other.During this one, the fauna around and about Augusta National was acting unusually, too. Novel behaviours included patrons gathering together away from the shade and craning their necks to stare up into the blue spring sky. There were also sudden, and repeated, oaths, sighs, and other unusual utterances. OH MY GOD! IT'S HAPPENING!" cried a man in the grandstand down at Amen Corner when the moon took its first little nibble out of the sun's bottomcorner. Continue reading...

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Public filing alleges actor, charged with involuntary manslaughter, shamelessly lied' about the deadly shooting of cinematographerNew Mexico state prosecutors plan to argue that Alec Baldwin was unable to control his emotions on the set of the film Rust, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when a gun held by the actor went off - and that he shamelessly lied" and changed his story about the deadly shooting.The 66-year-old actor is due to go on trial in July on a charge of involuntary manslaughter for his part in Hutchins' death in Santa Fe. Baldwin has denied wrongdoing. But in a 32-page public filing released on Monday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey alleged that the actor would shout and swear on the set, and his uncontrolled behavior had affected safety. Continue reading...

Plan targets borrowers who accrued high level of interest on debt and those who have been in repayment for at least 20 yearsJoe Biden announced plans to cancel student loans for 30 million borrowers on Monday, the administration's latest push on addressing student debt before the presidential election.The plan primarily targets borrowers who have accrued a high level of interest on their debt and those who have been in repayment for at least 20 years. Borrowers who face extreme economic hardship could also see some relief. Continue reading...

In a Truth Social post outlining his view of reproductive rights, former US president declined to endorse a national abortion banDonald Trump on Monday announced his belief that individual US states should decide the legality of abortion, declining to endorse a national ban on the procedure.The former president's stated position dashed hopes of anti-abortion groups, who want a federal ban, and drew the ire of Democrats, who blame Trump for outright bans and severe restrictions already in place across the south and midwest.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...