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President announces $3.3bn in infrastructure spending to right historic wrongs' as he takes 2024 campaign to vital swing statesJoe Biden hailed the beginning of $3.3bn in infrastructure spending on US projects on Wednesday to right historic wrongs" with efforts to reconnect city neighborhoods riven by interstate highways that plowed with particular impunity through many Black, brown, Asian American and Hispanic communities decades ago.The US president was in Milwaukee, where he traveled to announce new infrastructure investment and officially open his election campaign's Wisconsin office in the vital swing state. Continue reading...

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The continent is seeing a surge in repressive laws. Campaigners say US evangelists are fuelling discrimination and hatredThere was widespread horror and condemnation last year when Uganda passed a draconian anti-gay law that included the death penalty for some same-sex acts and a 20-year sentence for promoting" homosexuality. Yet it was only the harshest in a wave of homophobic new legislation across Africa, which has yet to ebb.In February, Ghana's parliament passed a bill making wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities" punishable with up to five years in jail, and identifying as gay with up to three years' imprisonment. It was supported by both major parties, though the president has yet to validate it - and the finance ministry has urged him not to do so, warning that it could cost the country $3.8bn (3bn) in World Bank funding. There is particular concern that Kenya, which has previously given asylum to LGBTQ+ people forced to flee other countries, could toughen laws.Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. Continue reading...

Republican Mike Johnson urged by Democrats and veterans to hold vote on Senate packageA group of congressional Democrats including the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and armed services veterans urged the current Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to lead, follow or get out of the way" of more military support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.In the military, we have a great expression," Mikie Sherrill, a House Democrat from New Jersey and a former navy helicopter pilot, told reporters on Capitol Hill. Lead, follow or get out of the way.' That is exactly what our speaker has to do." Continue reading...

Munn posted a video and photos of her being treated on Instagram and said it saved her life'Olivia Munn has revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy, thanking her doctors and urging fans to calculate their own risk assessment.I'm lucky. We caught it with enough time that I had options. I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day," the 43-year-old actor posted on Instagram on Wednesday with photos and a video of her being treated at a hospital. Continue reading...

No indications that president's forceful State of the Union address provided much of a boost with voters, survey showsJoe Biden officially begins his general election campaign with a slight polling deficit against Donald Trump, and no indications that his forceful State of the Union address has provided much of a boost with voters, according to a public opinion survey released on Wednesday.But the newly released USA Today/Suffolk University poll also shows views of the economy have hit their highest level of Biden's presidency, a sign that voters may be starting to agree with the president that his policies helped the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Polio survivor, recognised as longest iron lung patient' after using one for 70 years, became an inspirational figurePaul Alexander, who lived much of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at the age of six, has died at the age of 78.The Texas resident was paralysed from the neck down by the disease and went on to become an inspirational figure, graduating from law school, writing a memoir and painting using a brush that he held in his mouth. Continue reading...

Governor Maura Healey announces plans to pardon all simple marijuana possession charges from the stateThe Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, announced plans to pardon all simple marijuana possession charges from the state, which could affect hundreds of thousands" who have faced charges.We believe this is the most sweeping cannabis pardon announced by any governor in the United States. The reason we do this is simple: justice requires it," Healey said at a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Charges for soliciting officials to violate their oath of office were dismissed, although the other charges remain

Republican Pac released 100 testimonials of former Trump voters explaining why they will never again vote for ex-presidentAn anti-Donald Trump group of Republicans is launching its second campaign against the former president, spending $50m and using testimonials from former supporters in an attempt to convince voters to turn away from Trump.This week, Republican Voters Against Trump released 100 videos recorded by anti-Trump Republicans explaining why they no longer support him. Continue reading...

Jets quarterback and ex-Minnesota governor reportedly being considered for Robert Kennedy Jr's independent presidential runThe New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the former pro wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura are at the top of Robert F Kennedy Jr's list of potential running mates for his independent presidential campaign, the New York Times reported.Kennedy told the paper he was speaking to Rodgers - a fellow conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine campaigner - pretty continuously" and had been in touch with Ventura since being introduced by him at an event in Arizona last month. Continue reading...

Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8bn almost a decade ago but has had difficulty absorbing the chainDollar Tree will close nearly 1,000 stores and swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss as the discount retailer took a related $1.07bn goodwill impairment charge.Shares tumbled 15% before the opening bell on Wednesday. Continue reading...

I'm all for a bit of distraction in a tense medical situation, but who on earth picks those tunes?It's quite something to be sitting on a lime-green, wipe-clean chair, your tongue pinned to the roof of your mouth by fear, strangers in scrubs walking past briskly every few minutes, while Firework by Katy Perry pours out of a portable radio with the sound quality you might expect to find at the bottom of a crisp packet.This week, I spent an hour in a medical waiting room in a funk of uncertainty. My soaked poncho hung over a nearby door; a woman behind me read a book in Spanish; someone knitted in the corner. Weaving us all together were the tinfoil-on-a-filling beats of commercial radio. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen as I stared out of the window at a climbing frame and felt the sweat between my breasts. Dance With Me Tonight by Olly Murs while being shown to the toilet to give a urine sample. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia as the person behind me was called into their appointment. Continue reading...

Pope Francis's anti-western views are well known - and his new advice would lead not to peace, but a dangerous escalationThe suggestion from Pope Francis that Ukraine should have the courage" to raise the white flag" and negotiate a settlement with (in other words, surrender to) Russia was deeply shocking for Kyiv and its backers. The understandably outraged response from Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was that the only flag Kyiv would raise was its own: the yellow and blue of Ukraine.Some may think that the pope's words are inconsequential to how this war unfolds. It is not the first time Pope Francis has displayed overtly pro-Russian sympathies, nor has the Vatican's mediation, for instance regarding the liberation of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia, been successful so far. So what if the pope speaks out again about the war, given that his views are already known and his practical efforts to address the humanitarian dimensions of the war have failed?Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

A California city where homicides increased significantly after the pandemic is in a moment requiring us all to work together'On the other side of the San Francisco Bay sits Oakland, a city that has been known as many things: a nerve center for civil rights and Black power, one of the murder capitals of the US, a sports and cultural destination, a face of gentrification and a symbol of community-led resilience.Recently, the city has been in the national spotlight again amid stubbornly high gun violence numbers and recurring reports of robberies and property crimes. Viral videos have shown lines of cars with busted windows and people going into stores and leaving with armfuls of stolen merchandise. Dominating headlines are the ever-increasing numbers of homicides - which, beginning in 2020, have increased to numbers not seen in more than a decade. Continue reading...

Primary results from Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state set up a 2020 rerun. Plus, EU official says starvation being used as a weapon in Gaza

Four years after police killed Taylor, Scheherazade Tillet hopes art is not the only justice Taylor's family will seeI first visited Breonna Taylor's home in Louisville, Kentucky, after the first anniversary of her death. I had recognized the apartment from the video footage, forensic reports, and witness accounts of the night that police officers fatally shot the 26-year-old in the early hours of 13 March 2020. In time, her life and legacy would galvanize a nation to reckon with police violence against Black women, but in the immediate days and hours after her death, her family was mourning her loss and beginning their long fight for justice.I had come to Louisville from Chicago to pay my respects and because I was creating The Black Girlhood Altar, an art project that pays homage to the lives of Black girls and young Black women who have gone missing or been murdered in the United States. At first, I had looked at street murals and toured the exhibition dedicated to her Promise, Witness, Remembrance" at the Speed Art Museum, but to truly understand the trauma that unfolded, I needed to go to back to the beginning, the place she called home. Continue reading...

John Hinckley, 68, who shot and wounded president in 1981, to play first gig as folk musician after previous show promoters pulled outAfter he says a number of his concerts have been canceled at the last minute by the venues that planned to host them, the man who shot Ronald Reagan in 1981 is telling the public: I stand for peace now."I want people to know that I'm coming in peace," John Hinckley said, according to the Connecticut news station WTNH. Continue reading...

The outcome of this fight will set the course for the US and the world for decades - and it is winnable

Compensation for senior bosses at firms from Tesla to T-Mobile US worth more than those companies' net tax payments, study findsTop bosses at some of America's largest companies have received more in pay than their companies paid in federal taxes, according to a new report.Senior executives at 35 different firms - from Tesla to T-Mobile US - received compensation worth more than the net tax payments of their respective employers between 2018 and 2022, the research found. All the companies generated billions of dollars in profit over the same period. Continue reading...

The ultrarunner is famed for her achievements in long-distance events. Breaking 11 world records in a single competition may be her finest feat to dateIt's a hot winter noon on a Monday and Camille Herron is asleep. She lies on a cot in a tent next to a flat dirt track. Lined with palm trees and white stone and desert grass, it loops two and a half miles along the lip of a large olive-green lake. Over the lake, towers a screen of steep mountains covered in bush scrub. It's one resort among many in California's Coachella Valley and the setting for Lululemon's FURTHER event, a chance for 10 select women to run as far as they can in six days.It's the penultimate day, and her nap is stretching long - five hours - and the timer by the line is ticking - and Herron has less than 24 hours to run 48 miles. If she can will herself on, she'll break a record that has stood for more than three decades. Continue reading...

In memoir, professor whose accusation rocked 2018 supreme court hearings says rightwing justice not consummately honest person'The US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh is not a consummately honest person" and must know" what really happened on the night more than 40 years ago when he allegedly sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser writes in an eagerly awaited memoir.A research psychologist from northern California, Ford was thrust into the spotlight in September 2018 as Kavanaugh, a Bush aide turned federal judge, became Donald Trump's second conservative court nominee. Her allegations almost derailed Kavanaugh's appointment and created headlines around the world. Continue reading...

The label of feminist' is beginning to feel more like a subcategory on Netflix than a meaningful description of artLet's play a game. Of all the best picture nominees from this year's Oscars, which film is the most feminist? Is it Barbie, a family-friendly paean to our childhood's plastic It Girl? Poor Things, a racy riff on Frankenstein that charts one woman's process of self-emancipation? Or is it Anatomy of a Fall, about a hotshot bisexual writer accused of murdering her man?You can make a solid case for any one of them. Conversely, a takedown of each is easy, too. Barbie's girl power is nothing but good PR for Mattel, and besides, why did they allow Ryan Gosling to steal the show? Poor Things is a man's manicured vision of women's liberation. If it's so feminist, where's the menstrual blood? The armpit hair?Beatrice Loayza is a film critic and historian based in New YorkDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

If Michael Gove really wants to root out the forces threatening British society, perhaps his party should look in the mirrorWhen Thomas Mair was arrested for the murder of Jo Cox MP in 2016, he told police he was a political activist". Asked to identify himself in court, he said: My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain'."When Ali Harbi Ali, the man who murdered David Amess MP in 2021, was interviewed by police, he claimed to have been serving a just cause". Asked if he thought his actions were rational, he replied: If I thought I'd done something wrong, I wouldn't have done it." Continue reading...

It's not easy being a mysterious celebrity I should know

President and ex-president capture nearly all votes in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington and HawaiiBoth Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state on Tuesday, soldidifying a rematch a majority of voters aren't looking forward to.Both men captured nearly all the votes cast so far in what had become token state primaries, along with the primary for Democrats Abroad and the Republican caucus in Hawaii. Biden also won the Northern Mariana Islands primary Tuesday morning, earning 11 delegates. Continue reading...

Full state-by-state results as well as votes of Democrats abroad and in the Northern Mariana territory

James Clark, 38, gets prison time and three years on probation as judge says he inflicted trauma on government employeesA Massachusetts man who threatened to blow up the secretary of state of Arizona in 2021 has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, one of the most severe federal punishments yet handed down for the wave of violent threats against election officials unleashed by Donald Trump's stolen election lie.James Clark, 38, was sentenced in federal district court in Phoenix on Tuesday to 42 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years on probation. Judge Michael Liburdi said that his online bomb threat had inflicted emotional and psychological trauma" on government employees and required a deterrent sentence to protect democracy. Continue reading...

New legislation would standardize how public schools conduct such drills and avoid doing more harm than good'California legislators are moving to standardize how public schools conduct active-shooter drills. If passed, the legislation would require school administrators to notify parents, teachers and students before a drill, and ban the use of fake gunfire during drills.Individual schools and districts currently create their own procedures and often contract with law enforcement or private companies to create scenarios that mimic school shootings, which can include students lying on the ground and the use of fake blood and firearms. These exercises can traumatize students in the name of preparing for an event that, while frightening, is unlikely to happen, according to a 2021 study published in Nature. Continue reading...

Neither Republicans nor Democrats were pleased with the special counsel's report, resulting in a contentious hearingThe former special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Joe Biden's handling of classified documents, testified before a House committee on Tuesday in an often contentious hearing that found the witness on the receiving end of criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.Here were the key takeaways from the House judiciary committee hearing: Continue reading...

Special counsel Robert Hur said his report on declassified documents held by President Biden didn't exonerate him, insisting 'that is not a part of my task as a prosecutor'. Hur also didn't rule out a possible future role in the Trump administration when pressed for an answer by Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell. 'I'm not here to speak about what may or may not happen in the future,' Hur told lawmakers Continue reading...

James Lankford cites a veteran as partial reason for recommitting to Sunshine Protection Act, which has already passed in SenateAs Americans pushed their clocks forward an hour on Sunday to implement daylight savings, Senator James Lankford doubled down on his commitment to eliminating seasonal time changes, saying he wanted to abandon what he described as an antiquated first world war convention.The Republican lawmaker from Oklahoma said he was devoted to proverbially locking the clock through his Sunshine Protection Act, which unanimously passed in the Senate but was not taken up by the House. Speaking with CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper on Sunday, Lankford said he wanted to start the dialogue" back up partly because of an encounter with a military veteran who seemed to view ending daylight savings time as a dying wish. Continue reading...

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Daniel Rodriguez, who was on holiday in Arizona during 2022 attack that killed 22, says resignation is best for his familyThe Uvalde police chief who was on vacation during the Robb elementary school shooting submitted his resignation on Tuesday.It came a week after a report ordered by the city defended the department's response to the attack but outraged some family members of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed. Continue reading...

Agency that protects judges and manages courthouse security says it needs greater funds to respond to rising dangerThe United States Marshals Service is asking Congress for $38m to fund two new programs aimed at bolstering judicial security in response to a rise in threats against federal judges and justices on the supreme court.Both programs were tucked into the US justice department's budget proposal unveiled on Monday and were part of the US Marshals Service's overall request for $4bn for the 2025 fiscal year that begins 1 October. Continue reading...

Maga activists launched a campaign in January to remove Robin Vos from his post, illustrating endurance of election denial in stateAn effort by rightwing activists to recall Wisconsin's powerful Republican assembly speaker Robin Vos appears to have failed.The campaign, which was launched in January, was a long-shot attempt by Maga activists to squash their feud with the establishment-leaning assembly speaker by forcing him out of office. It wasn't the first time the activists, who identify themselves as the grassroots" of the Wisconsin Republican party, tried to remove him from office. Vos's opponents challenged him in a primary in 2022 and came within 300 votes of winning. Continue reading...

Ukraine is running dangerously low on munitions as efforts to get fresh funds for weapons have stalled amid Republican oppositionThe Pentagon will rush about $300m in weapons to Ukraine after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10bn to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its desperate fight against Russia, the White House announced on Tuesday.

Officers at shelter then separated Yanny Cordero from one-year-old son and punched Cordero's head, according to footageNew York City police officers used a stun gun on a Venezuelan migrant who was holding a small child in a city-operated shelter on Friday night, according to video footage taken of the altercation.The video, released by the New York Times, shows police officers trying to arrest Yanny Cordero, 47, as he holds his son. At some point during the video, which the Times says is two and a half minutes long, police appear to pull out a yellow stun gun and use it on the man as he holds his one-year-old son. Continue reading...

Robert Hur, who investigated president over classified files, says at hearing before Congress I had to consider the president's memory'

Soaring costs of food and housing forcing many to still rely on parents to cover expenses, as they risk retirement securityNearly half of US parents provide some kind of financial support to their adult children, who are grappling with higher food and living costs than they did, a new study has found.The study - conducted by Savings.com - found that young, working-class Americans were not substantially benefiting from the recovery of the country's economy, as evidenced by high employment, falling inflation, and economic growth". That has forced many of them to continue to rely on their parents to help cover costs of living. Continue reading...

John Barnett was one of several people who raised alarm in 2019 about concerns of safety lapses at Boeing's North Charleston plantA former quality manager at Boeing who became a prominent whistleblower and raised concerns over the planemaker's production line has been found dead.John Barnett died on Saturday from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to officials in Charleston, South Carolina.In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

US president said Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is looking for a dictatorship' after Orban met with Trump in FloridaHungary summoned the US ambassador over comments by the US president, Joe Biden, who said the prime minister, Viktor Orban, wants a dictatorship.The Hungarian leader traveled to Florida on Friday for talks with Donald Trump during a visit in which he did not meet with anyone from the Biden administration. Continue reading...

The former special counsel has defended comments he made on Joe Biden's memory in his report on the US president's handling of classified documents. Robert Hur appeared before a house judiciary committee on Tuesday, where he said: 'I did not sanitise my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly. I explained to the attorney general my decision and the reasons for it. That's what I was required to do'

Ex-president's second chief of staff tried to convince him fascist dictator was great guy in comparison', John Kelly tells Jim Sciutto

Even supposedly positive' birth stories make my heart sink. Am I just going to have to make a leap of faith?It's a conspiracy, I'm sure of it. Since the pandemic in 2020, the year I moved out of the category of young adulthood, my Instagram for you" page has been filled with images and videos of the cutest babies you could ever hope to see. Round-cheeked and smiley, they drool and babble and fall haphazardly on their faces when they fart, or smile when they fart, or just fart very loudly. It's adorable.As someone who, at 30, hasn't been around many actual babies, and has only a couple of close friends who have embarked on parenthood thus far, this online exposure has been transformative. I had always known I wanted at least one child, but approached the idea with the naivety of youth and the assuredness of socialised gender norms - of course I would have a child because all little girls have the ambition to care for babies, and why would I have wasted all that time swaddling a plastic doll or discussing baby names when I was barely out of babyhood myself (Chloe was my favourite) if it wouldn't one day translate into reality? Continue reading...

The president made the comments after Donald Trump suggested there is a lot you can do' in terms of cutting popular programs