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Novak Djokovic overcame a first-set wobble to dismantle the unseeded Tommy Paul, setting up a final against Stefanos TsitsipasDjokovic 3-0 *Paul (*denotes next server)Worrying signs for Paul at 15-15, when Djokovic opens his shoulders and powers a clean forehand winner to the corner. Too good. Continue reading...

Nichols, 29, died three days after a traffic stop in Memphis turned violent. Plus, the rise of queerbaiting accusationsGood morning.Five former Memphis police officers have been charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist in Memphis, Tennessee, who died three days after a 7 January traffic stop spiraled into violence.How did Nichols die? In a three-minute attack, Mulroy said. An independent autopsy indicated “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating”, an attorney representing his family reportedly said. “He was a human piñata for those police officers,” the family attorney, Antonio Romanucci, told reporters. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”When will the video footage be released? Memphis authorities said they would release video of the incident. Family members and their attorneys have already seen it. During the press conference yesterday, officials indicated that the footage would be released after 6pm local time today.What happened? Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers arrived at daybreak yesterday at several entrances to the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the north of the Palestinian territory, said Sakir Khader, a Palestinian-Dutch film-maker at the scene. Armed Palestinians shot at an Israeli armoured vehicle disguised as a commercial van, at which point the IDF returned fire and a fierce four-hour gun battle ensued, causing widespread damage, he said. Continue reading...

Funding for controversial review of state’s vote count in 2020 election can be traced to former president’s PacOne of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election “audit” in Arizona?The identity of one of the largest benefactors behind the discredited review of Arizona’s vote count has been shrouded in secrecy. Now the Guardian can reveal that the person who partially bankrolled the failed attempt to prove that the election was stolen from Trump was … Trump. Continue reading...

The congresswoman reflects on a whirlwind rise from Texas politics to Washington, and her hopes of passing a critical billIn July 2021, Jasmine Crockett entered the US Capitol for the first time. Then a state representative, Crockett was a lead architect of Texas Democrats’ unprecedented plans to board a flight and travel to Washington to break quorum in Texas and block Republicans from enacting the voting restrictions they were steamrolling in the state.Less than two years later, Crockett came back to the Capitol, this time to be sworn in to the House of Representatives – one of 22 women and just 13 women of color in the class of 74 new freshmen. Continue reading...

There are just four teams remaining after an entertaining run of playoff games. Which two will be on their way to Arizona for the Super Bowl?There will be plenty of drama on Championship Sunday but no real upsets, whoever wins – any of the four remaining teams could go on to win the Super Bowl. So take these predictions with a giant grain of salt. Every team has a real shot at the title. Continue reading...

Students designed, 3D printed and sized a prosthetic hand for Sergio Peralta, whose right hand is not fully formedStudents at a Tennessee high school have built a robotic hand for a classmate missing part of his, an act of friendship that he has called life-changing.At the center of perhaps one of the most heartwarming news stories to come out of the US so far this year is Sergio Peralta, who initially arrived at Henderson high school near Nashville this past fall while trying to cover up that his right hand was not fully formed, CBS News reported Wednesday. Continue reading...

Class action lawsuit alleges prison authorities are inflicting ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ in breach of constitutional rightsA class action suit has been brought on behalf of the 185 male prisoners on death row in Texas, accusing the state of violating the inmates’ constitutional rights by holding them in permanent solitary confinement in some cases for more than 20 years.The state’s prison authorities are alleged to be inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment” on the men in breach of the eighth amendment of the US constitution. The lawsuit describes how the prisoners are held in “devastating conditions” in isolation for up to 23 years without pause, with almost 80% of the death row occupants having been in solitary for more than 10 years. Continue reading...

Nichols, 29, died three days after a traffic stop turned into a fatal physical attack on 7 JanuaryFive former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist in Memphis, Tennessee, who died three days after a 7 January traffic stop spiraled into a fatal physical attack, local jail records indicated.Shelby county sheriff’s office online records showed that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith were in custody. All five were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Continue reading...

Former president’s attorney charged with misleading courts and making false statements about voter fraud in electionCalifornia attorney regulators said on Thursday they will seek to disbar attorney John Eastman over his involvement in former US president Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.The state bar of California charged Eastman, a former personal lawyer to Trump, with 11 counts of ethics violations, including misleading courts and making false public statements about voter fraud in the 2020 election. Continue reading...

One day I hope to be able to shoulder the cost of an entire apartment, and with no boyfriend waiting in the wings to pay half, I won’t be happy about it, but I will be ready

Bilal al-Sudani, ‘responsible for fostering the growing presence of IS in Africa’, was killed in strike approved by Joe BidenA US military raid in Somalia ordered by President Joe Biden this week killed a key regional leader of the Islamic State group, Bilal al-Sudani, according to US officials.Sudani was killed on Wednesday during a gunfight after US troops descended on a mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia hoping to capture him. Continue reading...

President Joe Biden says the government’s better-than-expected economic numbers are proof his plan ‘is working’. The US economy expanded at a 2.9% annual rate from October through December, ending 2022 with momentum despite the pressure of high interest rates and widespread fears of looming recession. Speaking in Virginia, the US president referred to fiscal policies proposed by Republicans, saying ‘they're threatening to have us default on the American debt, the debt that has been accumulated for over 230 years, we’ve never done that’

Democrats and liberal groups deplored decision to revoke ban on former president who incited insurrection but ACLU defends movePoliticians and civil rights advocates have weighed in on Meta’s decision to allow former president Donald Trump to return to Facebook and Instagram, stating that his presence on the platforms will “fan the flames of hatred and division”.The social media firm has lifted a ban imposed on Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack and will allow him to post again in the coming weeks. Experts in online hate speech say there is no reason to believe Trump will not return to spreading dangerous misinformation and hate speech upon his return. Continue reading...

Sayfullo Saipov, who drove a truck down a popular bike path in 2017, could face the death penaltyAn Islamic extremist who killed eight people with a speeding truck in a 2017 rampage on a popular New York City bike path was convicted on Thursday of 28 federal crimes and could face the death penalty.Sayfullo Saipov bowed his head as he heard the verdict in the trial for an attack that prosecutors said was inspired by his reverence for the Islamic State militant group. Saipov was tried in a Manhattan courtroom just a few blocks from where the attack ended. Continue reading...

New rules spark furious debate as city tightens regulation of illegal rentals in attempt to defend housing stock for tenantsNew York City’s latest plans to crack down on illegal short-term rentals – which could remove as many as 10,000 Airbnb listings later this year – is sparking fierce debates about housing, hotels, the tourist market and residents’ rights.The new rules will hit those New Yorkers who make extra income by hosting – renting out apartments on Airbnb and similar platforms – but flout city laws, while potentially easing the burden on long-suffering city renters. Continue reading...

California congressman makes play for Dianne Feinstein’s seat, which is being eyed by at least three other candidatesAdam Schiff, the California congressman who became a household name as the lead prosecutor in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, said he will seek the California Senate seat currently held by Dianne Feinstein.“I wish I could say the threat of Maga extremists is over,” said Schiff, 62, in a video announcing his campaign. “We’re in the fight of our lives – a fight I’m ready to lead as California’s next US senator”. Continue reading...

Ex-presidents and vice-presidents including Obama, Bush, Cheney and Gore receive letters on reviewing their personal recordsThe US National Archives has asked representatives for former presidents and vice-presidents on Thursday to review their personal records for any classified-marked documents in their possession after a series of such discoveries at the homes of Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mike Pence.The archives sent letters to the presidents and vice-presidents in the previous six administrations that are covered under the Presidential Records Act, which requires materials from their time in the White House to be turned over to the agency when they leave office. Continue reading...

‘We hacked the hackers,’ says deputy attorney general of group that has received over $100m in extortion payments from victimsUS authorities have seized the servers of the notorious Hive ransomware group that has received more than $100m in extortion payments from thousands of victims after law enforcement infiltrated its systems and captured the keys to decrypt its attack software, the justice department announced on Thursday.The website for the group – considered among the most dangerous and prolific hacker gangs that targeted hospitals and public infrastructure – showed a message saying it had been seized by an international law enforcement coalition including the department and the FBI. Continue reading...

Pascale Ferrier made the toxic substance herself and sent it with letters to Trump and Texas law enforcement officials in 2020A French-Canadian woman has pleaded guilty to mailing ricin to Donald Trump.Pascale Ferrier, 55, admitted to making the poison at her residence in Quebec in September 2020, the US Department of Justice announced. Continue reading...

City on edge as police department is poised to release video of the deadly encounter after a traffic stopTyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died on 10 January, several days after an encounter with Memphis, Tennessee, police officers during a traffic stop near his mother’s house.According to Nichols’s family and their attorneys, an independent autopsy revealed he had “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating”. The Memphis police department is investigating the deadly encounter, as are state and federal authorities. Continue reading...

Albert ‘Ian’ Schweitzer was convicted for the 1991 murder of Dana Ireland, a white female touristA native Hawaiian man who was wrongfully imprisoned for killing a white female tourist in 1991 has finally been freed after spending more than 20 years behind bars.On Tuesday, Hawaii’s circuit court judge Peter Kubota ordered 51-year old Albert “Ian” Schweitzer to be “released from his shackles immediately” following additional evidence presented by Schweitzer’s attorneys in a new petition filed on Monday. Continue reading...

As the war continues to slowly escalate, the question remains: how does this end?These tanks aren’t going to help end the war any time soon. Hopefully, they are intended to build up Kyiv’s negotiating position and this might encourage the Kremlin to rethink its extreme war aims, thus moving this war toward a negotiated endgame. But the Ukrainians are likely to see the decision as a western endorsement of their aim of beating Russia definitively on the battlefield. This works against diplomacy and tends to draw the war out.Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the Carnegie Endowment’s American statecraft programMatthew Duss is a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft program at the Carnegie Endowment. He is the former foreign policy adviser to Bernie SandersThe Rev William Barber is president of Repairers of the Breach and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale UniversityPhyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at Institute for Policy Studies Continue reading...

Democratic congressman pushes back after former CIA chief and secretary of state accuses him of leaking classified informationMike Pompeo is a “failed lackey of the Trump administration”, a spokesperson for Adam Schiff said on Wednesday, after the former CIA director and secretary of state accused the Democratic congressman of leaking classified information.“This is another patently false and defamatory statement from Mike Pompeo,” the spokesperson told the Hill. “While we understand that Adam Schiff is a favorite target for the failed lackeys of the Trump administration running for president, reputable news outlets shouldn’t repeat these falsehoods.” Continue reading...

The invasion of Ukraine has shaken Germany out of its decades-long commitment to pacifismIf the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, chose to upgrade Germany’s military assistance to Ukraine this week, it was only as a result of the extreme amount of pressure that had been building up in recent days.Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has thrust upon Germany the necessity of some serious self-analysis. It has shattered many certainties, including even that most iron-clad tenet of postwar German history, which maintained that no conflict could ever be resolved militarily. Germany’s famous creed “Wandel durch Handel”, change through trade, was directly derived from this thinking that had permeated virtually every part of its society. Continue reading...

As Trump was reinstated, Meta’s Nick Clegg stressed ‘guardrails’ were in place. He could soon find them testedIf Donald Trump’s activity on his Truth Social account is a reliable indicator of what his return to Facebook and Instagram will unleash, then Nick Clegg is going to be busy.The former US president has used his rightwing social media platform to push baseless claims of election fraud and amplified content related to the QAnon conspiracy multiverse. These were two issues that received a special mention from Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister turned president of global affairs at Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent, as he explained the decision to end Trump’s two-year exile on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Peaches Stergo, 36, allegedly met victim on dating site and deceived him into paying 62 checks over four yearsA Florida woman is accused of defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor out of his $2.8m life savings in a romance scam lasting years.Peaches Stergo, 36, of Championsgate, south of Orlando, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of wire fraud, said the US attorney’s office for southern New York. Continue reading...

Memphis police chief says January traffic stop that preceded man’s death was ‘heinous, reckless, and inhumane’The police chief of Memphis, Tennessee has described the circumstances surrounding the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died three days after a 7 January encounter with police, “heinous, reckless, and inhumane”.“Aside from being your chief of police, I am a citizen of this community, we share; I am a mother, I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us; this is not just a professional failing,” CJ Davis said in a video statement released on YouTube. Continue reading...

Russian state TV reacted with acerbic putdowns on Wednesday to the news that the US and Germany had finally agreed to send tanks to Ukraine. The Rossiya-24 TV channel broadcast a series of mocking stories. In one on-air sequence titled 'Toothless cats', the presenter said the German-made tanks were 'more primitive', heavier, less manoeuvrable and had a shorter firing range compared with Russian T-90s. Pointing to an on-screen graphic showing a fictional battle between T-90 and Leopard tanks, the news anchor said half of the Nato platoon would be hit before even reaching the battlefield. Another withering sequence called the US-made tanks 'battered Abrams' and showed footage of the armoured vehicles being struck in a number of past battles

The brand made a vague symbolic gesture – and rightwing pundits twisted it into a devious agenda. Now they’re retreatingThey were inciting a communist takeover. They were promoting radical wokeness. Worst of all, they weren’t hot any more.A year after it first began, one of the most ridiculous back-and-forths between a large corporation and the media I’ve witnessed in my lifetime is finally over. The M&M’s have pulled their beloved spokescandies.Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Sending tanks is seen as growing ‘direct involvement in the conflict’ from US and Nato, Kremlin says. Plus, how did America’s eggs get absurdly expensive?

Why does America allow civilians to amass weapons of war, but not to live free of a constant threat of random violence?Three days. Three mass shootings. One state. Nineteen dead.These numbers are stark enough that, in a sane society, they’d engender outrage and then change. But this is the United States, and when it comes to our tolerance of mass gun deaths, we are truly exceptional. Thanks to our feckless supreme court and the Republican party death cult, even the most progressive parts of the country have no real ability to crack down on guns and keep their residents safe. We are collectively stuck living in a dangerous, weapon-happy dystopia, all because reactionary, fearful conservatives want to cosplay as tough guys with deadly toys.Jill Filipovic is the author of the The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness Continue reading...

Roland Conner, 50, opens pop-up marijuana shop in Greenwich Village, only second legal dispensary in the stateAs a New York City teenager, 50-year old Roland Conner found himself harshly punished for only minor offenses related to marijuana.A 1991 arrest resulted in a months-long incarceration, as America’s flawed “war on drugs” had an unfairly disproportionate impact on Black and brown youth. Continue reading...

Lisa Marra, who worked in Republican Cochise county, condemns ‘physically and emotionally threatening’ work environmentThe elections director of a rural Republican Arizona county that refused to certify the state’s 2022 elections has resigned.The Washington Post reported that Lisa Marra, the appointed elections director in Cochise county, will leave the role. The county has not yet confirmed the resignation to the Guardian. Marra could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Continue reading...

In an industry still dominated by white men, San Francisco’s Ungrafted is a refreshing change from the stuffy wine bars of oldThere’s no shortage of bars and restaurants with impressive wine lists in the culinary mecca of San Francisco. Deciding where to sip a glass of cabernet often comes down to the vibe, finding an environment where you find yourself inspired, or perhaps just feel comfortable. Especially if you’re a woman or person of color.The $63.7bn US fine wine industry still is dominated by white males. And if you’re not a white male, finding a place where the person pouring wine takes your opinions seriously can be incredibly challenging. Continue reading...

I didn’t have a proper vocabulary to talk about loss, but discovered that breaking the taboo was vital for healingDid my father know that his death was imminent? After he was wheeled back to my parents’ flat in Edinburgh for his last Christmas five years ago, delusion seemed to prevail. He was getting better, he reassured me; then aged 72, he insisted would make it to his 80s. But his eyes seemed to suggest otherwise: there was something about how they welled up as I blared Edward Elgar’s Nimrod from the living room speakers. He loved that variation. My mother hasn’t been able to listen to it since, because it’s one of those emotional landmines that grief lays after a bereavement. Why stand on it, if you have the choice?Just over two weeks later, he was dead, but he wouldn’t have felt disappointment in that moment of finality. Sometimes I wonder if he could hear his family in that hospice, whispering their love, or the baritone notes of the Bruce Springsteen songs we played. Before he fell ill, he used to loop around his armchair, clicking his fingers and roaring out the chorus as he listened to the Boss. His eyes seemed to moisten in those final moments, too. But was this a silent emotional response to his family wishing him farewell, or just another symptom of a human body shutting down for good?Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

While there are major differences between the president and Trump’s cases, the controversy arrives at a delicate time for BidenAt the invitation of Joe Biden’s legal team, federal investigators carried out an extraordinary 13-hour search of the president’s Delaware residence, scouring every room of the house from the bedrooms to the bathrooms.It was a remarkable gesture meant to demonstrate the president’s full cooperation with the investigation. But it also led to the discovery of half a dozen items with classified markings, the latest in a series of findings that have put Biden and his presidency on the defensive as he prepares to seek a second term. Continue reading...

In a largely unregulated industry, some residents trying to get sober are made to work 40 hours a week at restaurants – but don’t receive a paycheckThis article was first published in Montana Free PressKaitlyn, 32, applied for a spot at Hope Center Ministries near the end of 2021 because it seemed like her best option at the time. She had pleaded guilty in February to one count of criminal endangerment related to reckless driving and, after being released, violated her probation by reportedly failing to show up for check-ins and possessing drug paraphernalia.Court records say she had told her probation officer she’d been using methamphetamine, even as she denied having a problem with drugs or alcohol. The women’s sober living home, her attorney advised, would help her get out of jail and give her a structured environment to recover from substance use. Continue reading...

The 2019 MVP’s future is still up in the air. Will he stay put or head to a team desperate for a quarterback of his extravagant talent?With apologies to Tom Brady’s impending free agency/retirement, Lamar Jackson’s standoff with the Baltimore Ravens lingers as the most intriguing storyline of the offseason.Jackson is a perennial MVP candidate, the closest thing the league has to a one-man offense. He’s only just turned 26. But he also plays a distinctive, collision-based style, and his last two seasons have ended with injuries. His current style has a shelf life – and there are questions about whether he can evolve as he ages or how that evolution affects his value. Continue reading...

Inflatable produced to lampoon former US president during his UK visits undergoes testing prior to installation in museum’s protest collectionWhile Donald Trump’s hopes for re-election as US president may be faltering, the nappy-wearing depiction of him made famous during a UK protest in 2018 has had new life breathed into it, as the Museum of London has reinflated it.The baby blimp inflatable, which flew above a march in Parliament Square in London in July 2018, was given a test inflation this week. Continue reading...

Family accounts tell an interwoven story about the hope of starting afresh in a new country and shared joyAlong with dancing, Muoi Dai Ung loved eating and gambling – and sometimes, according to her family, she tried to do all three at once.At a candlelight vigil held by the city of Monterey Park on Tuesday night, city councilmember Thomas Wong shared a statement written by Ung’s family, which likened Ung to her community: “complicated, messy, easy to love and sometimes hard to understand from the outside”. Continue reading...

María Branyas Morera, born in 1907, now in Guinness record books after death of Lucille Randon, 118, in French town of ToulonMaría Branyas Morera has lived through two world wars, the Spanish civil war, the 1918 flu pandemic and Covid.Now the California-born woman is the world’s oldest living person. Continue reading...

Congressman, under intense scrutiny for largely fabricated résumé, a ‘significant risk’ to national security, letter saysTwo House Democrats have written to Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy demanding he deny New York congressman George Santos any opportunity to access classified information because he might be a “significant risk” to US national security.“We urge you to act swiftly to prevent George Santos from abusing his position and endangering our nation,” the two New York congressmen said. Continue reading...

Meta’s leadership say the risk has ‘sufficiently receded’, as the former US president has the ban on his accounts lifted for the first time in two yearsFormer US president Donald Trump will have the ban on his Facebook and Instagram accounts lifted for the first time in two years, parent company Meta has announced. But what are the “guardrails” it says will deter repeat offences, what will it mean for the platform, and what would it take for him to be banned again? Continue reading...

Civil rights groups voice anger at ‘unethical’ decision, while others say the public has an interest in hearing directly from candidates for political officeThe news that Meta will allow Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram following a two-year ban has been met with fury and indignation among civil rights and online safety advocates.The former US president will be allowed to return to the platforms “in coming weeks” but “with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offences”, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, wrote in a blogpost explaining the decision on Wednesday. Continue reading...