With most voters in Catalonia rejecting independence-seeking parties, the pro-separatist chaos of 2017 is a distant memoryFor the first time since 1980, parties opposing Catalonia's independence from Spain have the support of a majority of voters in the region. Elections last Sunday saw around 54% of the electorate return candidates from non-separatist parties across the political spectrum. The Socialist party scored a momentous victory for the first time.The vote appears to draw a line under a tumultuous decade marked by a 2017 rush to independence that led to an illegal referendum, a unilateral declaration of independence, mass protest and the country's worst constitutional crisis since the restoration of democracy in 1975.Maria Ramirez is a journalist and deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain Continue reading...

This is a seismic moment as Westminster prepares for power to pass from one party to another. It will affect everything in some wayThe Conservative party's lurch into collective hyperventilation after 2016 gave Britain five prime ministers in eight years. Yet changes of government from one party to another are actually remarkably rare. There have been only three of them in the past half century: to the Tories in 1979, to Labour in 1997 and then back to the Tories in 2010. Lucy Powell, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, pointed out in a speech this week that, at the age of 49, she has only witnessed two changes of UK party government in her adult life; someone aged 30 will not have witnessed a single one in their voting life.More on Powell's speech later. But her observation about the rarity of change underlines something distinctive as well as something important. Britain's rare changes of regime make it something of an outlier. In the US, Canada and Spain over the same half century, there have been seven such changes to Britain's three. In France and Germany, there have been five. Change is just that bit rarer in the UK, and for that reason it may in some ways be a bigger deal. Continue reading...

The Loafers Lodge blaze prompted a review of safety standards at New Zealand's 800 boarding houses but more action is neededOne year ago, Wellington's mayor said her city had endured one of its darkest days" after a fire broke out at the Loafers Lodge boarding house, killing five people. On that day the air in New Zealand's capital filled with black smoke and soot, and the city later mourned the loss of some of its most vulnerable residents.Twelve months on, not enough is being done to prevent another such tragedy, experts believe.Max Rashbrooke is a New-Zealand-based writer with interests in economic inequality and democratic participation. He is a senior research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. Continue reading...

Barrett Blade says wife, who testified in hush-money trial, wants to move past this' but admits I don't see people fighting for her'The husband of Stormy Daniels said there is a good chance" that the couple will leave the US if Donald Trump is acquitted in his criminal trial over paying hush-money payments to the adult film star.I think if it's not guilty, we got to decide what to do. Good chance we'll probably vacate this country," Barrett Blade told CNN host Erin Burnett on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Ruling on map prevents yet another new one from being drawn, and boosts Democrats' chances of gaining control of US HouseThe US supreme court on Wednesday ordered Louisiana to hold congressional elections in 2024 using a House map with a second mostly Black district, despite a lower-court ruling that called the map an illegal racial gerrymander.The order allows the use of a map that has majority Black populations in two of the state's six congressional districts, potentially boosting Democrats' chances of gaining control of the closely divided House of Representatives in the 2024 elections. Continue reading...

Republican senator tells MSNBC that frankly, the country doesn't want to have to go through prosecuting a former president'Joe Biden should have pardoned Donald Trump on all federal criminal charges the moment they were announced, the Utah senator and former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said.Had I been President Biden," Romney said, when the justice department brought out indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him. I'd have pardoned President Trump." Continue reading...

After receiving a word puzzle, Oklahoma police say they're closer to identifying another victim of murderer Dennis RaderA newly re-examined word puzzle sent to a Kansas City TV station in 2004 could strengthen leads in a cold-case investigation into the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl in Oklahoma and link it to the convicted serial killer Dennis Rader, nicknamed BTK for bind, torture, kill".At a news conference on Tuesday, Osage county sheriff Eddie Virden said he had received a package from a woman in April containing a crossword puzzle Rader allegedly used to taunt investigators. Continue reading...

Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to chief of staff, accused the president of using Jewish people to justify US policy in the conflictAn interior department staffer on Wednesday became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of US support for Israel's war in Gaza.Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the interior department, accused Joe Biden of using Jewish people to justify US policy in the conflict. Continue reading...

A few months after 14 May 2022, a curator sought out three local artists. The resulting exhibition, Before and After Again, is thought to be the first of its kindTwo years ago, a white supremacist drove 200 miles to Buffalo, New York, and opened fire in a grocery store in the city's predominantly Black East Side neighborhood, killing 10 people and injuring three.Though the Tops Friendly Markets where the racist mass shooting took place has been remodeled, and most of the country has forgotten about the violence that occurred on 14 May 2022, Buffalo's East Side is forever changed. Continue reading...

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Kouri Richins, 33, charged in Utah with murder over death of Eric Richins, who prosecutors say was fatally poisoned with fentanylA Utah judge on Wednesday postponed a hearing to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial in the case of a woman charged with fatally poisoning her husband before she published a children's book about coping with grief.Judge Richard Mrazik delayed the hearing until 18-20 June after prosecutors said they would need three days to present their evidence against Kouri Richins, whose lawyer says she is innocent. Continue reading...

McIlroy prepares for US PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he won the tournament in 2014, after back-to-back winsIn normal circumstances, Rory McIlroy returning to a scene of triumph would be cause for deep reflection. McIlroy finished in darkness at Valhalla when claiming the US PGA Championship of 2014, in what provided a theatric backdrop to his fourth and hitherto last success in one of golf's majors. McIlroy landed back in Louisville, Kentucky, this week with back-to-back PGA Tour wins to his name.These are no ordinary times. A McIlroy media appearance on the eve of this US PGA lasted a mere nine minutes and seven questions from a packed floor. The appearance of news on Tuesday that 24 hours earlier the 35-year-old had filed for divorce from his wife of seven years has suddenly distorted the scene around McIlroy. On Sunday, McIlroy stood with trophy aloft at Quail Hollow after a dominant closing 18 holes. Continue reading...

Sobering figure obscures the fact that the number of overdose deaths in the US declined for the first time since 2018An estimated 107,543 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2023, a shocking figure that obscures a glimmer of hope - this is the first annual decline in drug overdose deaths since 2018.The grim toll represents Americans' struggle with powerful synthetic drugs, in particular the synthetic opioid fentanyl, known to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine. More than 1 million people have died of a drug overdose since 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading...

Both candidates agreed upon two dates for debates: 27 June and 10 September, and Trump also posted about a third date in OctoberShortly after the Biden-Harris re-election campaign proposed two TV debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump ahead of November's presidential vote, both men have agreed upon two debate dates: 27 June and 10 September.CNN confirmed that it would host the first debate of 2024 on that date at 9pm ET from the crucial battleground state of Georgia. Continue reading...

Clearly, our job is not just to re-elect Biden. It's much more than thatIn 1776, Americans, living in a British colony, put their lives on the line and fought for independence from the king of England. They wrote the strongest democratic constitution that had ever been written as they created a new nation. That was a pivotal moment in American history.In 1861, civil war broke out in the United States and more than 600,000 Americans died in the war between the states. Slavery was abolished. Over the ensuing decades, racist forces regained power and established an apartheid form of government throughout the old confederacy. That was a pivotal moment in American history. Continue reading...

Trump's criminal hush-money trial continues in New York, while both Trump and Biden fight for voters in swing states

As new exhibition opens in Amsterdam exploring the settlement of North America, original Manhattanites demand apologyRepresentatives for some of the Lenape people have called for an apology and reparations for the 17th-century Dutch settling" of New Amsterdam, the place that is now New York.Precisely four centuries after the Dutch established a colony at the mouth of the Hudson River, some descendants of Indigenous Americans believe it is time for a fuller story of the wars on their people, slavery, exploitation and dispersal. Continue reading...

Actions taken after Kristi Noem - fresh off a dog-killing scandal - suggested that tribal leaders were benefiting from drug cartelsThe governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, is no longer allowed to step foot on large swaths of her state after another Native American tribe banished her from its reservation after comments she made about tribal leaders benefiting from drug cartels.The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe on Tuesday confirmed that the tribe had voted to ban the Republican governor from its reservation in central South Dakota. It is the latest development in a widening rupture between Native American tribes in South Dakota and the state's governor. Noem, an ally of Donald Trump, has embraced his hardline rhetoric on immigration and in recent months has repeatedly claimed that drug cartels are responsible for crime on the state's reservations. Continue reading...

Valentina Gomez, running for Missouri secretary of state, makes remark in video filmed in historically LGBTQ+ neighbourhoodValentina Gomez, a Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state, stoked outrage with a video in which she ran down a street while wearing a protective vest and said: In America, you can do anything you want, so don't be weak and gay. Stay fucking hard."Jason Kander, a former Democratic Missouri secretary of state and candidate for US Senate, said with sarcasm: So refreshing to see a female GOP candidate who never served in the military doing the whole veteran cosplay, stolen valour, bigotry as a substitute for strength routine as well as any man." Continue reading...

The US secretary of state, who performed with a Kyiv band in a bar this week, is the latest musically inclined politician to hit the stageName: Rocking politicians.Age: The latest example of the trend came on Tuesday night, in a basement in Kyiv. Continue reading...

State's governor, Jim Justice, clinched the Republican nomination and is expected to trounce Democratic opponent in electionRepublicans' chances of retaking the US Senate were boosted on Tuesday when the governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, cruised to victory in that state's primary, the highest-profile result on a night of such votes.Justice is overwhelming favoured to beat his Democratic challenger, Glenn Elliott, and fill the US Senate seat now held by Joe Manchin, the only Democrat in statewide elected office. Continue reading...

I discovered a new side of myself last week. And I didn't much enjoy itI was given an award last week. It was a grand prix, if you don't mind, at the Croatian national tourist board's Golden Pen awards in Dubrovnik. The garland was hung around my neck for a thing I did about the island of Murter on Shaun Keaveny's BBC Radio 4 series Your Place or Mine. I'll spare you the humble stuff along the lines of: Aw, shucks. Me? Really?" This award was richly deserved - less for my contribution to Shaun's splendid show than for a lifetime spent using my privileged position in the British media to bang on about my mum's home country.At the ceremony I was asked to appear live on Croatian television. I'd not been so nervous about anything in years. As we waited to go live, the interviewer, alarmed that I was deadly quiet, sweating profusely and all wibbly-wobbly about the legs, asked me if I was all right. Was it that I was more used to radio than television? I explained that I was terrified of making a fool of myself speaking publicly in such poor Croatian. But then the light went on and I babbled and burbled my way through it, and everyone seemed happy. Continue reading...

The Guardian US investigated claims that the famed entertainer selected girls and women from his audiences and subjected them to sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior. Copperfield's lawyers say the allegations are false and entirely without foundation'

A majority of Israel's Jews today are not descended from Europe, but rather from Arab nations. To expect them to leave Israel is unprecedented, unrealistic and wrongThough not a prevalent catchphrase in the student demonstrations, the slogan Jews/Israelis go back to Europe" has garnered national, and even international, attention. This phrase, like the much more popular phrase from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," is troubling because it attempts to negate the existence of the Jewish state of Israel. The Go back to Europe" chant also ignores the fact that the majority of Israelis today don't come from European backgrounds.Another slogan heard at rallies calls for ending the 75-year occupation", pointing not to the occupation of the West Bank or Gaza, which dates back to 1967, but rather to the date when Israel was founded as a modern nation.Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK and Israeli publications. Continue reading...

We asked Jewish students at US universities what they think about pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Our panel respondsI was in California for Passover when the encampment first came up. I was excited because I want to see an end to what Human Rights Watch calls a system of apartheid, which refers to the fact that there are over 65 laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, roads in the West Bank are segregated, Israelis have civil law while Palestinians have military law, water allotment is unequal and so much more.Theo Goldstine is an undergraduate at New York University studying international politics and computer scienceBenjamin Kersten is a PhD candidate in art history at UCLA, a fellow at the Leve Center for Jewish Studies and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at UCLA Continue reading...

The pop star has been draped in the star-spangled banner for her album. This pride in the flag is misplacedBeyonce is coupling her album, Cowboy Carter, with Americana-themed images. She straddles a white horse and holds the US flag in the album's cover art. In other photos, the flag is everything, everywhere, all at once - capes, boots, bomber jackets with leather frills, durags, sashes, scarves and hair beads. Unlike white artists who drape themselves in red, white and blue, Mrs Carter becomes a billionaire cultural astronaut, and drives the flag pole down into the ground as a stake for Black America. Capitalists will claim the territory. Levi's stock jumped 20% the week after Beyonce dropped its name on the album (the US denim brand is mostly made in China, India and Bangladesh). US flag apparel manufacturers might hope that the Cowboy Carter tour will do for them what Renaissance did for silvers and sequins.The timing is terrible. The timing is always terrible to be a voluntary brand ambassador for the United States, intended or not. Economic inequality is increasing. Black people overwhelmingly experience the most hate crimes, which have soared by nearly 50% since 2019. The nation is always at war. Currently, Congress is Israel's personal Instacart for bombs against Palestinians trapped in Gaza. Yet is it possible for Cowboy Carter fans to separate Beyonce's pride in being a Black American woman, a southerner and Texan, from what the US has historically done, and is doing right now? Continue reading...

US secretary of state took to stage with his guitar to perform Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World

After a tabulation error led to felony charges against his predecessor, Eric Olsen almost quit, but stayed to rebuild trustEric Olsen thought his job was going to kill him.He had been the head of elections in Prince William county, Virginia, for almost a year when he unexpectedly announced during an electoral board meeting in October 2022 that he'd be resigning soon. He was dealing with a serious heart condition and worried about the impact of the debilitating stress" of his new job. Continue reading...

By moving Sergei Shoigu and promoting key allies, Russia's leader is shoring up the military-industrial complex that justifies his survivalWhen the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, was removed from his post and appointed head of the security council this week, there were two big questions on everyone's mind. What would his successor, Andrei Belousov, bring to the table, and what would happen to the former head of the security council, Nikolai Patrushev - reputed to be the second most powerful man in Russia and seen by many as a potential successor to Vladimir Putin?The second question has a straightforward answer. Patrushev, it seems, is being sidelined. Yesterday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Patrushev had been appointed to the grand position of presidential aide for shipbuilding - barring any further surprise moves, this is a considerable downgrade in role.Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and a political commentator on LCI television in France Continue reading...

You assumed the entertainer was talking about her sexuality when she said she was queer'? What an old-fashioned way of thinking!I have some inspiring news for heterosexuals who may be struggling with their lifestyle choices: Dannii Minogue has bravely come out as straight.Why did the 52-year-old, who has a long-term boyfriend, feel she needed to come out now? Well, it seems that Minogue may have misunderstood what the word queer means. Earlier this month, you see, the entertainer was doing a Q&A about a new gay dating reality TV series she's hosting called I Kissed a Girl, and was asked if she was attracted to women. Minogue replied: You girls are hot. You know it. I love it. I'm here for it. Is that an answer?" Not really, to be honest. Still, she also helpfully clarified that she identifies as queer in a weird way". Continue reading...

In the middle of the Mojave desert, the US army has built a huge set to prepare its soldiers for combat, filled with actors, tanks, explosions - and even fake newsIn the middle of California's Mojave desert, down a long, bumpy track that winds past barren hills and arid ravines, there is a town like no other. The first unusual sight is a golden onion dome poking up on the horizon, crowning a pale blue minaret. It rises above a cluster of boxy, tan-coloured buildings that form a network of narrow alleyways around a central street where a lively market is in full swing. Some of the buildings are topped with decorative crenellations, others have big plastic water butts on their roofs, some are adorned with plaster columns with a faintly Middle Eastern air. The buildings become simpler as they get farther from the centre of town, fading into blank grey boxes with window-shaped cutouts in the hazy distance.It looks as if it could be a film set for Hollywood's latest Arabian epic, or a new live-action Disney show, ready for Aladdin to swoop in on his carpet. But this is a theatre of a very different kind. It is not Aladdin but an Apache helicopter that suddenly appears overhead, its blades narrowly missing the minaret as a rapid volley of gunfire echoes through the streets. A tank rumbles around the corner, aiming towards a building on which armed figures patrol the roof. There's a big bang, and clouds of smoke engulf the street. A human body starts convulsing on the ground, spurting with fake blood. Continue reading...

Dealing with slurs is nothing new for basketball stars. But some believe harassment has become more severe in the age of smartphones and social mediaFormer NBA champion Jim Chones, who won a ring with the 1980 Showtime Lakers, believes the relationship between fans and players has changed since his era. In decades past, the NBA was purely a sports league, one that provided entertainment to those in the seats or watching on television. Now, though, he says, it's an entire social network."This fan is different," Chones tells the Guardian. If you're basing what a fan is on traditional values and issues and character, you're going to miss the whole boat." Continue reading...

The city has had enough of stag parties and red-light gawpers. But it will take more than an online quiz to curb over-tourismAn online quiz is the latest strategy with which Amsterdam hopes to deter nuisance tourists. The quiz is called Amsterdam Rules, and is meant to appear in search results about the city. It asks for the reasons why you desire to visit the Dutch capital. If you respond: for a stag party, a pub crawl or to smoke marijuana in public, you'll be told that you will be disappointed, because it's no longer allowed.The quiz is just one in a long series of experiments with which Amsterdam has tried to reduce the disruption caused by the hordes of tourists who come to the city to party wildly.Renate van der Zee is a Dutch writer and journalist Continue reading...

Israel poses a palpable, unprecedented risk to medical workers in Gaza with their systemic disregard for international humanitarian law

First-time candidate, who lost after pro-Israel group spent millions supporting another Democrat, defeated by senator Sarah ElfrethFormer US Capitol police officer Harry Dunn has lost his congressional primary election in Maryland, after a pro-Israel group spent millions of dollars supporting another Democrat in the crowded race.Dunn, a first-time candidate who gained national attention after publishing a book about his experiences protecting lawmakers during the January 6 insurrection, lost to state senator Sarah Elfreth in Maryland's third congressional district. Continue reading...

Alsobrooks beats Dave Trone and Hogan wins Republican primary, setting up November clash that could determine control of SenateDemocrat Angela Alsobrooks will face off against former Republican governor Larry Hogan in the Maryland Senate race this November, setting up an unexpectedly competitive election in the reliably Democratic state. Republicans have a rare opportunity to flip a Senate seat in Maryland, and the outcome of that race could determine control of the upper chamber in November.Alsobrooks and Hogan won their parties' Senate primaries on Tuesday, as Maryland voters cast ballots in the presidential race as well as congressional elections. Joe Biden and Donald Trump easily won the state's primaries after already securing enough delegates to capture their parties' nominations. Continue reading...

Funds from plan, designed to build treatment centers and clinics, made available early as state grapples with homelessness crisisCalifornia governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that $3.3bn would be made available from the state's new mental health bond ahead of schedule to build more behavioral health treatment centers and homeless housing as the state grapples with a growing homelessness crisis.It's the first pot of money from a ballot measure designed to help cities, counties, tribes and developers build or renovate treatment centers and clinics, among other things. Voters passed it by a razor-thin margin in March after Newsom threw all of his political weight behind it, touting it as linchpin of the state's efforts to reduce homelessness. Continue reading...

Government weighing prosecution after aircraft maker failed to meet terms of $2.5bn deal stemming from 2018 and 2019 crashesBoeing has violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, the US justice department told a federal judge on Tuesday.It is now up to the justice department to decide whether to file charges against the aircraft maker amid increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes. Prosecutors will tell the court no later than 7 July how they plan to proceed, the justice department said. Continue reading...

As former US president Donald Trump's hush-money trial plays out in New York, Matilda Boseley breaks down the details on her whiteboard. Here's how former adult film star Stormy Daniels, disbarred lawyer Michael Cohen and tabloid boss David Pecker fit into a sprawling legal story that could have implications for the 2024 US election.

About 53 people were onboard bus heading to local watermelon farm to work for private company when crash occurredEight people were killed and dozens injured after a bus carrying migrant workers to a local farm crashed in Florida early Tuesday.The crash happened around 6.30am in west Marion county, Florida, according to the Florida highway patrol, WCJB reported. Continue reading...

Todd Blanche seemed to be looking for a gotcha' - instead there was laughter in the viewing room and one irked judge

The former attorney and fixer returned to the stand on Tuesday and offered more incriminating testimony about his ex-boss

Star witness in hush-money trial walked through key elements of case as defense lawyers sought to undermine his credibility