Florida passed a law to incrementally achieve $15 an hour by 2026, exciting workers but driving fear into small business who worry they’ll pay the costI have a question for Andrena Curtis.How much is a dollar? Continue reading...
Midterm elections tend to follow a predictable pattern – but could redistricting, restrictions and issues such as abortion change that?In the past, midterm elections have been kind of predictable. The president is slightly unpopular, his party loses some seats and most voters disappear for two years until they turn up in greater numbers for the main show. It’s been a pretty consistent pattern; since 1934, the president’s party has lost in almost every single midterm election, gaining House seats just three times and Senate seats in only six of the 22 midterm votes.This year might not buck any of those long-term trends. The Democratic president Joe Biden has watched his popularity slump from 53% to 42% over the past year. Polls suggest that Republicans will win the House of Representatives and might even win the Senate too (though if they do, it’s likely to be by a narrower margin). And even though turnout is looking set to be historically high by midterm standards, it’s unlikely to beat the numbers in 2020. So, it’s all pretty much electoral business as usual, right? Continue reading...
LeBron James’s eldest son has started on a path that may eventually lead to the NBA. His best option may be to simply enjoy the rideWhen, as a burgeoning high school basketball talent, LeBron James graced the covers of magazines and newspapers, it was the American Dream writ large: a life moving from poverty to prosperity. Those covers contained promises LeBron has since fulfilled many times over in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles. Now the 37-year-old seemingly has it all, from NBA titles to MVP awards to movie roles, his own production company, a reported billion dollar net worth, a wife and three children.But – speaking of those children – what does it mean for them to be the progeny of one of the most famous people in the world? Well, LeBron’s son Bronny is finding that out right now, especially when it comes to the 18-year-old’s dreams of following in his father’s footsteps as an NBA player. Bronny is the same age as his father when LeBron decided to turn pro and enter his name into the NBA draft out of high school (something no longer allowable by the league’s rules). It remains early for Bronny, of course, but the results have been mixed. And while he almost certainly will not end up one of the best players of all time like LeBron, he has already earned his fair share of accolades – something the sons of other legends like, say, Michael Jordan have been unable to achieve. Continue reading...
The former president has been dropping heavy hints that he’s going to attempt a comeback. With luck he and arch-rival Ron DeSantis will rip the Republicans apart
Operations on both sides will slow as it gets colder, but western-supplied artillery will make Russian troops a sitting targetHeavy rains in Ukraine are bringing the twice yearly rasputitsa, when mud breaks up unpaved tracks and makes many almost impassable; even tanks may be confined to the roads. Vehicle routes become predictable, and more easily targeted by artillery or drone and airstrikes. Snow and ice will follow in December, causing their own problems. Lack of foliage in wooded areas makes concealment from ubiquitous drones difficult, but by the same token, increased cloud cover will impede much aerial reconnaissance. Supplies and ammunition – including artillery shells – will take longer to arrive and will come in smaller quantities.In short, winter means everything slows down. The Ukrainian style of war, relying on speed and surprise, will lose much of its tempo. And above all, soldiers, like everyone else, focus on keeping warm. General Winter is coming. Russian troops, under new leadership, will attempt to freeze the lines in place and hold them. The Ukrainians, although they have surprised us before, will probably be unable to execute the kind of dashing operations we saw over the last eight months. Continue reading...
We’re better off when people like them cannot gain such untrammeled wealth and influence. Our politics is the worst for itWe likely won’t know all the results of America’s midterm election for a while, but consider two people not on any ballot who are setting the tenor for much of what we have heard and seen.First is Elon Musk, who last Friday fired half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, including teams devoted to combating election misinformation – and did it so haphazardly and arbitrarily that most had no idea they were fired until their email accounts were shut off.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...
The majority of the Republican candidates for the House of Representatives are election-deniers – and a Republican-controlled Congress might attempt to sabotage the certification of the next presidential voteMidterm elections are generally seen as less important than presidential elections. The stakes seem lower, which means fewer people turn out to vote. Most of the time the party controlling the White House takes losses, and this predictability can make midterms seem less important too: what can one voter do against the strength of the political tides? But occasionally there are midterms whose stakes rise beyond whether or not the president’s party will be able to pass new laws, and instead concern the whole future of the American republic. This year is one of them.That’s because this year, the majority of Republican candidates running for Congress, governor’s mansions, and other key statewide offices have denied or questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump’s attempted coup failed in 2020 because officeholders at the federal and state level refused to go along with it. This year’s midterm elections could change all of that, producing a set of Republican officials willing to extinguish American democracy.Andrew Gawthorpe is a historian of the United States at Leiden University and host of the podcast America Explained Continue reading...
The supreme court edict overturning Roe v Wade said women are ‘not without electoral and political power’. That feels almost like a dareOrganized feminism has been on the decline in the US since the 1980s, with the radicalism of the second wave giving way to a more diffuse, less focused feminist movement consisting of NGOs, campus activists, online discourse and HR inclusion initiatives. In a way, this is normal. Students of the movement have long spoken of feast and fallow years for feminism, eruptions of activism that are followed by long and virulent backlashes.But feminism has perhaps never received such a dramatic and immediate setback as it did this June. The supreme court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization undid the major legal achievement of the second wave era, reversing Roe v Wade and ending the constitutional right to an abortion. Continue reading...
We may not know the winner of key races until later in the week – here’s what to look out for on election day and the days and weeks afterTuesday 8 November marks the first general election day since Donald Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential race.Millions Americans will have already cast their ballots, either by mail or in person, and millions more will show up to do so in person. These votes are being cast at a moment in which the US election system has come under attack like never before. Continue reading...
37 million people are facing starvation in the Horn of Africa. Time for wealthier countries to adopt ‘loss and damage finance’In September, I travelled from my home country, Uganda, to Turkana County in Kenya, which is suffering from a historic drought. One morning, I met a boy in a hospital where doctors see patients with the worst cases of severe acute malnutrition. His family had not been able to access the treatment he needed in time. By the time the sun set that evening, he had died.The boy was one of 37 million people facing starvation in the Horn of Africa. After four failed rainy seasons, Kenya faces the acute risk of widespread famine. This suffering is set to get worse; experts predict that drought-stricken areas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia will receive significantly below normal rainfall for the rest of the year. Continue reading...
A handful of general scenarios could play out on Tuesday, each having huge significance for Biden and Donald TrumpAs Americans go to the polls on Tuesday they are voting in what Joe Biden has framed as a vital test for American democracy in the face of a Republican party fielding candidates who buy into the big lie of a stolen 2020 election.Republicans, meanwhile, have tried to capitalize on widespread economic anxiety in the face of rising inflation as well as stoking culture war themes and fears over crime, often spilling over into racism and intolerance. Continue reading...
Users are quitting in their droves after Elon Musk’s purchase. But where else would I go to babble on?When we were young, my sister was going out with someone called Will Lee and I was going out with someone called Jon Thomas and people were like: “Why don’t you two just admit that you don’t have boyfriends, rather than put us through this farce?” And we were all: “No, no, these are real people. There genuinely are parents in the world who think nothing of calling their sons slang names for penis.” “Yeah, right,” everyone said, and we replied: “Hello? Dick much?”, and they said: “Dick Much? Is that your other ‘boyfriend’?”Anyway, I split up with Jon Thomas (lol, no, we were never really going out, he was somewhat out of my league), while my sister stayed with Will Lee and now no one ever laughs at his name. About 15 years in, we just got tired.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Former US president Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Ohio, said he will be making a 'big announcement' on November 15, hinting he will mount a 2024 presidential run. 'I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,' Trump told supporters at the rally for Republican Senate candidate JD Vance. Trump declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to 'detract from tomorrow's very important, even critical election'.Americans are set to cast their vote in elections that could result in Republicans winning control of one or both chambers of Congress
In his final speech before election day, the president attacked Republicans on the economy but also offered a hopeful noteJoe Biden rallied with fellow Democrats on Monday night, delivering a message of optimism and determination in the face of widespread concerns about his party’s showing in Tuesday’s midterm elections.Addressing a boisterous crowd in Maryland, Biden stressed the high stakes of the races that will determine control of the US Congress for the next two years. Painting a grim picture of a Republican-controlled Congress, Biden predicted that the opposing party would use their majorities to roll back Americans’ rights and dismantle social welfare programs. Continue reading...
ACLU of Georgia, SPLC and Dechert LLP had filed an emergency lawsuit urging election officials to extend deadlineA judge has agreed to extend the deadline to return absentee ballots for voters in a suburban Atlanta county who didn’t receive their ballots because election officials failed to mail them.The move came after the ACLU of Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center and Dechert LLP joined forces to file an emergency lawsuit urging officials to extend the deadline for these voters to return their ballots. Continue reading...
The 50-year-old, who survived the encounter, is being treated for the wounds to her upper right thighA California woman has given her first interviews about surviving a shark attack while swimming off the coast of San Diego.Lyn Jutronich, 50, said she was resting in the water during her morning ocean swim when something rammed her hard out of the water. Continue reading...
by Johana Bhuiyan (now) and Joanna Walters (earlier) on (#65J4J)
President to speak in Maryland while predecessor travels to Ohio, amid surge in early votingVolker Türk, the new United Nations high commissioner for human rights, yesterday urged Twitter owner Elon Musk to make respect for human rights central to the social media platform, amid savage cuts to the tech company’s staff under its new chief.In an open letter, Türk said that reports of the new owner laying off the platform’s entire human rights team were “not, from my perspective, an encouraging start”. Continue reading...
by Martin Pengelly and Joanna Walters in New York on (#65JRQ)
The US House speaker also told CNN the attack on Paul Pelosi last month would affect her decision about whether to retireHouse speaker Nancy Pelosi has for the first time described the moment US Capitol police woke her in Washington DC to say her husband, Paul Pelosi, had been attacked in their home in San Francisco.“So I run to the door and I’m very scared,” Pelosi told CNN, in an exclusive interview to be broadcast in full on Monday night. “I see the Capitol police and they say, ‘We have to come in to talk to you.’” Continue reading...
Comments from former South Carolina governor and UN envoy, seen as a potential 2024 candidate, draw widespread criticismThe former US ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told Republicans at a rally for Herschel Walker the Democrat in the Georgia US Senate race, the Rev Raphael Warnock, should be “deported”.“I am the daughter of Indian immigrants,” Haley said in Hiram, Georgia, on Sunday. “They came here legally, they put in the time, they put in the price, they are offended by what’s happening on [the southern US] border. Continue reading...
Polls show DeSantis positioned to win re-election on Tuesday but political opponents say his focus is locked on a White House runThe simmering animosity between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor emerging as Trump’s most likely challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, looks set to evolve into open warfare following the midterm elections.Polls show DeSantis comfortably positioned to win re-election on Tuesday but political opponents say his focus is locked on the national stage and a White House run. Continue reading...
Hurricane and storm surge watch in effect as experts warn of heavy rainfall and significant winds for south-eastern FloridaFlorida was bracing itself on Monday for the arrival of subtropical Storm Nicole, which experts said could impact the coast, potentially affecting election day on Tuesday.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that while Nicole was still a subtropical storm, hurricane and storm surge watches were in place in parts of the state. Continue reading...
Opinion polls suggest late surge in support for Trump-endorsed nominees who have embraced his lie about election fraudThe spectre of Donald Trump’s imminent declaration of a new White House run looms over races in several key states ahead of Tuesday’s US midterm elections, with the former president poised to seize on any success for ultra-conservative candidates as validation for his 2024 campaign.Opinion polls appearing to reflect a last-minute surge of support for Trump-endorsed nominees in a number of crucial congressional and governors’ contests came as the former president appeared at a rally for the Republican senator Marco Rubio in Florida on Sunday. Continue reading...
by Sam Levine and Rachel Leingang, graphics by Andrew on (#65JC8)
Republican control of state legislatures allowed them to draw advantageous districts, and the party is racing to do it again in the midterm electionsEva Burch has worn out her shoes visiting thousands of voters this year.Burch, a Democrat running for the Arizona state senate, tells people that her race could be decided by just a few hundred votes. She’s not just “cat-mousing them” – the race really could be that close. And while her race has gotten nowhere near the amount of attention of Arizona’s closely watched US Senate and gubernatorial races, it could ultimately be just as important. Continue reading...
Proposal 2 is the first measure of its kind, explicitly designed to block partisan actors from overturning electionsSeventy-two hours before election day, Anne Ballew and her husband Tom Porter spent their Saturday afternoon darting up and down stoops to knock on doors in Dearborn, just outside of Detroit. But Ballew and Porter weren’t there to talk about Michigan’s races for governor, US House, attorney general, or secretary of state.They were there to pitch voters on an under-the-radar measure in Michigan that could dramatically protect democracy in the state and offer a roadmap of how to do it elsewhere. Continue reading...
Should these candidates prevail, it’s far less likely that schemes to overturn the 2024 election will succeed. Here’s a look at some of the key candidatesYou’ve probably heard about at least one of the candidates threatening democracy – the people running for office on the baseless premise that the last election was rigged, and that Donald Trump should be president right now.But what about the ones working to protect and expand access to the ballot? Continue reading...
Flightline’s memorable run set the perfect seal on an event that showed the extent to which US racing is beginning to find its feet after years of declineAn unusual lot at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale on Monday will put a price on Flightline, the brilliant – and now retired – winner of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. A 2.5% slice of the world’s best racehorse will be sold to the highest bidder and when the hammer falls, most guesstimates suggest Flightline will be worth at least $70m.Rarity value alone will bump the price, of course, but Flightline did everything that any fan – or breeder – could have hoped to see in what turned out to be his final start. The winning margin of eight and a quarter lengths was a record for the Classic, and Flightline powered clear, under a hand ride, after sitting just behind a blistering pace for the first mile. Continue reading...
Anyone hoping a poor election showing might pull the party back from extremism doesn’t see the unfortunate truth: Trump and his radicals now represent Republican valuesIn 2010, the then conservative Canadian-American commentator David Frum feared that the conservative Tea Party movement would radicalize the Republican party, which would bring it short-term gain but long-term loss. Two years later, after some unconventional Tea Party candidates had defeated establishment “Republicans in name only” in primaries to then lose in the general elections – like Christine “I’m not a witch” O’Donnell in Delaware or Richard “God intended your rape child” Mourdock in Indiana – the Republican establishment successfully blamed the Tea Party movement for the party’s electoral defeats and regained control, albeit, as it turned out in 2015, for just a few years.Recently, some commentators have argued that radical outsiders once again endanger Republican success in the midterms. While this might be the case, don’t expect this to seriously change the far-right direction of the party.Cas Mudde is a Guardian US columnist and the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor in the school of public and international affairs at the University of Georgia Continue reading...
Rich countries not upholding finance promises to developing states. Plus, Republicans expected to take CongressGood morning.Billions of dollars of promised to developing countries by the US, UK, Canada and Australia to aid carbon emission reduction plans and help make communities more resilient to more extreme weather have not yet been delivered.Only Canada responded to requests for comment. A government spokesperson said it remained committed and would double its climate finance in order to overdeliver, despite appearing to so far have covered only a third.“Hey, don’t ask us.” Billionaires should not be expected to make up for climate finance gaps caused by failures to uphold promises to less developed states, the head of the Bezos Earth Fund has said.Democrats are on the defensive. Even in places they thought were safe, like New York and Washington, while Biden’s low ratings continue to burden his party’s most vulnerable candidates. Continue reading...
Raising a baby is a huge challenge. No wonder many new parents resent the cult of compulsory joyOf all the phrases parents tell me they dislike, “cherish every moment” is the winner. Time is a strange thing when you are caring for small humans, and, as I thought about it this week, it is this phrase that keeps coming back to me. It’s the idea that by feeling any negative emotion, you are somehow squandering time. I have been told by parents with postnatal mental health issues that this unrealistic phrase – often said by older people – has made them feel deep shame. Time is precious, and to not feel constantly delighted by your child is a terrible waste.
Joe Biden was joined by Barack Obama on the campaign trail in the swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday as the US gets ready to vote in new members of Congress and the Senate. Biden also addressed supporters in Westchester, New York, where he echoed his message that 'democracy is literally on the ballot'. Donald Trump also visited Pennsylvania, where the former president attended a rally in support of the Republican candidate for Senate, Mehmet Oz
The veteran political strategist on why he believes his Republican party will benefit from dissatisfaction with the status quoOn the eve of a crucial midterms election that Joe Biden has warned “will preserve democracy or put us at risk”, veteran top Republican strategist Karl Rove says his party will benefit from dissatisfaction with the status quo, despite the specter of a Trump 2024 run and the end of federal abortion rights.Rove, widely seen as a villain by the left for his orchestration of George W Bush’s victory over Al Gore in 2000, and for his senior role in Bush’s two terms as president, says American voters are being propelled by fears over inflation, the economy, crime in some areas, and feelings about the overall direction the country. Continue reading...
The Green Bay Packers quarterback threw three ugly interceptions against the Detroit Lions’ usually porous defense. This time he couldn’t blame his receiversDuring Green Bay’s 15-9 loss to the (previously) one-win Detroit Lions on Sunday, the TV cameras happened to catch Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers angrily slamming down a phone on the sideline. This is not inherently interesting. Rodgers is far from being the only NFL player unable to hide frustration when playing badly. He’s not even the only future Hall of Fame quarterback to take his anger out on technology this season.However, such is the nature of his season (which can pretty easily be described as his worst – more on that later), that this otherwise insignificant moment has already been turned into a meme. Sunday’s loss to lowly Detroit may represent a new rock bottom for the perennial contender Packers, but it wasn’t a surprise. Coming into Sunday’s game, the Packers had lost five of their last eight games, the worst start of the Rodgers era. Continue reading...
In an increasingly red state, Ohio Senate hopeful Ryan blames Democrats as much as Republicans for failing the working classTim Ryan stood in the middle of the electrical workers union hall, facing the signs declaring he puts “Workers First”, and prepared to call for a revolution of sorts.But this was Dayton, Ohio, where patriotism and religion are largely unquestioned even if political loyalties are fluid. So first came the national anthem and then the prayers. Continue reading...
The president has remained outwardly optimistic about Democrats’ prospects in Tuesday’s midterm elections, but the party is now struggling as polls tightenThe lights dimmed, the music throbbed and cellphone lights danced across the arena. Then a DJ welcomed to the stage the president of the United States, Joe Biden, flanked by the former president Barack Obama and Pennsylvania’s nominees for Senate and governor. An ecstatic crowd of thousands roared to their feet.With days left until the midterm elections, the presidents were in Philadelphia to mobilize Democrats in a pivotal swing state that could determine Congress’ balance of power. But the event also had the feel of a political homecoming for Biden, joined by his former running mate in the state where he was born at the end of a volatile campaign season. Continue reading...
Momentum appears to be with Republicans capitalising on economic frustration as experts say party peaking at right timeJoe Biden is fighting a rearguard action to stave off defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections as Republicans look poised to make sweeping gains in the US Congress, setting up two years of political trench warfare.The president, along with former president Barack Obama, has been criss-crossing America in a last-ditch bid to persuade voters that a Democratic victory is critical not only to Biden’s legislative agenda but the preservation of American democracy. Continue reading...
The city is seeking transparency in job ads – but employers aren’t exactly abiding by the spirit of the measureDo you want to know how much money your future co-workers will make? Take a look at new job postings in New York City. One Deloitte ad promises compensation between $86,800 and $161,200 a year. A technical writer at Amazon can expect to make somewhere in the range of $125,800 to $211,300. And a head of news audio at the Wall Street Journal will earn somewhere in the range of $140,000 to $450,000. That’s a difference of $305,000.These astronomical figures became social media joke fodder after the reporter Victoria M Walker rounded up the most ridiculous ranges in a Twitter thread. “With NYC’s salary law now in place, I’ve been looking at some companies’ salary ranges, & I can already see that the ‘good faith’ part of the law is going to be tested,” she wrote, setting off a slew of responses naming and shaming such listings. Continue reading...
Woman, 70, won $100,000 on one scratch-off and when celebrating her win with more tickets, another $300,000Whatever are the odds of winning two six-figure lottery prizes within just a few days of each other, a woman in Delaware recently beat them.The 70-year-old woman at the center of a viral story coming out of the Delaware state lottery benefited from a stroke of good fortune when in the middle of October she went to a gasoline station and bought two scratch-off tickets. One of the Instant Game tickets was a $100,000 winner, according to a news release from state lottery officials. Continue reading...
Democrats frame election as referendum on US democracy while Republicans say they will better address economic woesUS political leaders from both sides of the aisle on Sunday made their closing arguments to voters two days before the hotly contested midterm elections, with several top Democrats framing the election as a referendum on American democracy.President Joe Biden accused Republicans of reveling in political violence, saying hundreds of the party’s candidates for state, federal and local office were “election deniers, who say that I did not win the election, even though hundreds of attempts to challenge have all failed, even in Republican courts”. Continue reading...
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate’s staffer opened the envelope and is under medical supervision, spokesperson saysArizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake closed a campaign office after an envelope containing “suspicious white powder” was delivered to the premises on Saturday, according to reports.A member of the candidate’s staff unwittingly opened the envelope and is now under “medical supervision”, campaign spokesperson Colton Duncan told CNN. Continue reading...
Pieper Lewis could face up to two decades behind bars for violating probation she was ordered to serve at a correctional facilityAn Iowa sex-trafficking victim who at age 15 killed her alleged rapist escaped custody on Friday, violating the probation she was ordered to serve at a correctional facility after pleading guilty to manslaughter, according to reports.Pieper Lewis, who is now 18, could face up to two decades behind bars after this alleged probation violation. Authorities have issued a warrant for her arrest, the Des Moines Register newspaper reported. Continue reading...
US news | The Guardian