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Some see the US president's executive order imposing sanctions on settlers who violently attack Palestinians as a bid to win supportWas Joe Biden's announcement of unprecedented US sanctions against Israeli settlers in occupied Palestine a sign of political weakness at home, or of a newly found willingness to assert American influence over Israel?The president signed the executive order imposing financial and travel sanctions on settlers who violently attack Palestinians shortly before a campaign rally in the swing state of Michigan, where the largest Arab American population in the country has rounded on Biden over his largely blanket support for Israel's assault on Gaza. Continue reading...

Long-lived member of the vulnerable species was coaxed into reproducing by her zookeeper and eventually hatched eight chicksA great, but odd, love story has come to an end.Walnut, a white-naped crane and internet celebrity, has died at the age of 42. She is survived by eight chicks, the loving staff at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and by Chris Crowe - a human zookeeper whom Walnut regarded as her proxy mate for nearly 20 years. Continue reading...

Conflict escalates between Trump defender Jim Jordan and Willis, whose office is charging ex-president over election interferenceThe US House judiciary committee has subpoenaed Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, for records related to the use of federal grant money in prosecutions and the potential misuse of those funds.The subpoena escalates the conflict between Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican congressman, judiciary committee chair and ardent defender of Donald Trump, and Willis, whose office charged the former president and 18 others with 41 counts over interfering with a Georgia election and illegally attempting to undo Biden's victory in Georgia. Continue reading...

Tech CEOs who've ruined people's lives or politicians who back misery and mayhem? That's a low bar and a tough choiceDid you catch a clip of the tech CEOs in Washington this week? The Senate judiciary committee had summoned five CEOs to a hearing titled Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis. There was Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok's Shou Zi Chew, Snapchat's Evan Spiegel, Discord's Jason Citron and X's Linda Yaccarino - and a predictable vibe of Senator, I'm a parent myself ..." Listen, these moguls simply want to provide the tools to help families and friends connect with each other. Why must human misery and untold, tax-avoidant billions attend them at every turn?If you did see footage from the hearing, it was probably one of two moments of deliberately clippable news content. Ranking committee member Lindsey Graham addressed Zuckerberg with the words: I know you don't mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands." Well, ditto, Senator. You have a product that is killing people," continued Graham, who strangely has yet to make the same point to the makers of whichever brand of AR-15 he proudly owns, or indeed to the makers of the assault rifles responsible for another record high of US school shootings last year. Firearms fatalities are the number one cause of death among US children and teenagers, a fact the tech CEOs at this hearing politely declined to mention, because no one likes a whatabouterist. And after all, the point of these things is to just get through the posturing of politicians infinitely less powerful than you, then scoot back to behaving precisely as you were before. Zuckerberg was out of there in time to report bumper results and announce Meta's first ever dividend on Thursday. At time of writing, its shares were soaring.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 had radioed airport reporting engine failure before the plane crashed into a homeA small plane crashed at a Florida mobile home park on Thursday, killing the pilot of the aircraft and two people on the ground, fire officials said.The pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reported an engine failure shortly before the aircraft went down at about 7pm local time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported. Continue reading...

A small plane crashed at a Florida mobile home park on Thursday, killing the pilot of the aircraft and two people on the ground, fire officials said. The pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reported an engine failure shortly before the aircraft went down at about 7pm local time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported

Thief stole seven of the cakes that are popular during carnival season but business has been better because of it'A New Orleans bakery has had a sweet few days after a thief stole seven of its king cakes as Mardi Gras celebrations continue in the city.A thief entered Bittersweet Confections last Wednesday and stole the cakes - and a case of vodka and cash - during a break-in, the New Orleans police department said. Continue reading...

By continuing to focus the conversation around our appearance, all the body positivity movement does is reinforce that how we look is the most important thing about usThere was a time when a woman reaching the age of 28 may have been considered to be approaching her middle years. That time was probably in the early 1900s, when the average life expectancy for women (in England) was around 50.Surely in 2024 though, a 28-year-old is still considered young, right? Wrong! According to a recent social media trend and the feral comments it has produced, the only thing more depressing than being almost 30 is looking like you're almost 30. Continue reading...

South Carolina propelled him to the White House last time around, and the president is eager for voters to back him again

In the UK and around the world, those who challenge rich corporations are being hounded and crushed with ever-more inventive penaltiesWhy are peaceful protesters treated like terrorists, while actual terrorists (especially on the far right, and especially in the US) often remain unmolested by the law? Why, in the UK, can you now potentially receive a longer sentence for public nuisance" - non-violent civil disobedience - than for rape or manslaughter? Why are ordinary criminals being released early to make space in overcrowded prisons, only for the space to be refilled with political prisoners: people trying peacefully to defend the habitable planet?There's a simple explanation. It was clearly expressed by a former analyst at the US Department of Homeland Security. You don't have a bunch of companies coming forward saying: I wish you'd do something about these rightwing extremists.'" The disproportionate policing of environmental protest, the new offences and extreme sentences, the campaigns of extrajudicial persecution by governments around the world are not, as politicians constantly assure us, designed to protect society. They're a response to corporate lobbying.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Defense minister's announcement comes despite more than 1 million civilians in city. Plus, Michael J Fox on how Parkinson's has not defeated him

Democrats will award their first delegates in the state that transformed Biden's fortunes in 2020 while Republican Nikki Haley has an uphill struggle in her home stateThe 2024 Democratic nominating contest in the 2024 presidential election officially begins in South Carolina on 3 February, with the result all but a foregone conclusion. Joe Biden is expected to secure an easy victory in the state that resurrected his foundering presidential campaign four years ago.Despite a lack of suspense, Saturday's contest will offer some clues about Biden's standing with his party's base. Here's what to know. Continue reading...

The senator is writing a book about his mental health. That's hard to celebrate while he shrugs off the suffering of millionsJohn Fetterman is a workwear icon. The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania has made a national name for himself by wearing baggy basketball shorts and a scruffy hoodie in any and every situation. And his penchant for sportswear makes sense: he needs it for all the vigorous political flip-flopping he does. While progressives helped Fetterman into power, it only took a few months in office before he started giving them the middle finger. Republicans once mocked Fetterman for his slobby presentation and his health problems (the senator had a stroke while running for office). Now, however, he's getting admiring comments from the right and hosts of Fox News are cheering him on for his hawkish pro-Israel stance and his anti-immigration comments.When he's not yelling about how we need to be softer on Israel and tougher on immigrants, Fetterman likes to talk about his mental health. Last February, the senator checked into a hospital for clinical depression and spent six weeks there as an inpatient. After he left, he wasn't shy about talking about his health problems. He gave an emotional interview on MSNBC and was on the cover of Time. Now it's been reported that he's writing a memoir about his experiences with depression. The book is going to be called Unfettered. Continue reading...

Republicans have perfected the art of gerrymandering - like in Ohio, where they're using their state legislature supermajority to override the governorIn June, 2022, Nick Zingarelli and his family packed their bags and left St Louis.His daughter had come out as transgender just two years earlier, and Missouri lawmakers were in the midst of passing a raft of anti-trans bills, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Continue reading...

The startup publication blew through $50m in less than a year - money that could sustain some newsrooms for decadesThe new journalism outlet began less than a year ago to considerable fanfare. Claiming it would be unbiased and indispensable, the Messenger recruited hundreds of journalists, paid its executives lavishly and confidently forecast $100m in annual revenue this year.It would be like the good old days when the media was beloved, its founder predicted. Continue reading...

Providers working in federal programs will be required to expedite patients' prior authorizations for medications and/or surgeryA new set of rules from the Biden administration seeks to rein in private health insurance companies' use of prior authorization - a byzantine practice that requires people to seek insurance company permission before obtaining medication or having a procedure.The cost-containment strategy often delays care and forces patients, or their doctors, to navigate opaque and labyrinthine appeals. Continue reading...

Greg Abbott is using the same quasi-legal arguments once used by the Confederacy. Some of the supreme court is listeningOver the past few weeks, a quiet legal crisis has been unfolding on the US-Mexico border. Texas has seized control of part of the border and claimed the right to prevent federal authorities from exercising jurisdiction there. After the US supreme court ruled that the federal government could tear down razor wire erected by Texas authorities, the state vowed to erect more - and Governor Greg Abbott claimed that because the federal government had failed to protect his state from an invasion" of refugees, it has broken the compact between the United States and the States" and lost the right to exercise authority over the border altogether.To understand why this is so alarming, you need to see it in two historical contexts. The first is the notion of a compact" between the states. This idea holds that the constitution is not the supreme law of the land but rather a mere agreement between independently sovereign states. Those states hence retain the right to decide when certain actions by the federal government break the compact - and to reclaim their independence accordingly. Continue reading...

Deep south state escalates its fight against environmental protection with rare' use of public record lawsLouisiana's far-right government has quietly obtained hundreds of pages of communications between the Environmental Protection Agency and journalists, legal advocates and community groups focused on environmental justice. The rare use of public records law to target citizens is a new escalation in the state's battle with the EPA over its examination of alleged civil rights violations in the heavily polluted region known as Cancer Alley".Louisiana sued the EPA on 19 December, alleging that the federal agency had failed to properly respond to the state's sprawling Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request sent by former state attorney general Jeff Landry. Continue reading...

Texas, a state under attack for its policy on women, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people, could be announced as the host of the World Cup finalFifa's newly introduced human rights strategy for World Cups is set to be tested on Sunday when the host city for the 2026 final is announced. The location of the final - the tournament is to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada - is understood to be between two venues: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, or MetLife Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands.While the latter stadium is unlikely to draw much comment, a World Cup final in Texas may attract its share of criticism, particularly because the 2026 World Cup is the first time a human rights strategy was included as part of the bidding process. Continue reading...

The Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers and Lions reached this season's Championship Games for good reasons. Here's what their rivals could learn fromWhat makes an offense great? In short, the ability to effectively attack multiple parts of the field and stress defenses. Good offenses can do something so well that defenses have to adjust to stop it. Great offenses punish defenses for those adjustments. Continue reading...

Test your knowledge of football, cricket, tennis, rugby union and winter sports in this week's quiz Continue reading...

Where I saw colour and fun, they saw the reflection of something darker: a new generation of men who fear feminismTaylor Swift is many things. But she did not, at least until recently, look like the battleground on which an election could be fought.Though on reflection, maybe it makes a weird kind of sense. Like Donald Trump, whose allies are said to be threatening a remarkably silly-sounding holy war" against the singer, Swift is an unstoppable cultural phenomenon with a deep hold over the American psyche. She epitomises what many young women want to be - powerful but joyful, financially independent, patently not in need of a man but having zero trouble getting one - while he stands for all those threatened by this subversion of the patriarchal order. Continue reading...

Roads were flooded and trees toppled amid calls for people to get ready for powerful downpours, heavy snow and damaging winds

President's visit to the battleground state is met with autoworkers' endorsements - and protests over his backing of IsraelJoe Biden won a strong pledge of support on Thursday from union autoworkers crucial to his re-election bid in Michigan, while yet more protests over his backing of Israel's actions in Gaza put pressure on the trip.The president's travel to the battleground state was intended as a celebration after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union recently endorsed his re-election bid. But his visit was also met with protests amid the state's sizable Arab American community, demanding Biden seek a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, and refusing to meet his campaign. Continue reading...

Bill passed by Republican-dominated state senate may exacerbate deadly overcrowding in Fulton county jailThe Georgia state senate passed legislation Thursday mostly outlawing bail funds for protest groups, and added dozens of offenses to the list of charges requiring cash bail to secure release.The passage of SB63 by a 30-17 vote in the Republican-dominated state senate arrives as three activists operating the Atlanta Solidarity Fund face state-level racketeering and charity fraud charges in connection with the prosecution of dozens of protesters against Cop City", an Atlanta project to build a police-training facility. Continue reading...

Joshua Schulte, who prosecutors said was responsible for agency's largest data breach, also guilty of possessing child abuse imagesA former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) software engineer who was convicted for carrying out the largest theft of classified information in the agency's history and of charges related to child abuse imagery was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday.The 40-year sentence by US district judge Jesse Furman was for crimes of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography", federal prosecutors said in a statement. The judge did not impose a life sentence as sought by prosecutors. Continue reading...

The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the US has ordered a series of reprisal strikes to be launched against an Iran-backed militia. Austin added that while it signalled a dangerous moment in the Middle East, the United States would work to avoid a wider conflict. The strikes are expected to take place in Syria and possibly Iraq after three US soldiers were killed at a base in Jordan

This live blog is now closed. For more on the US involvement in the Middle East crisis, you can read:

Top Senate Democrat gives timetable for vote on border security bill tied to Ukraine aid as Trump urges lawmakers to reject dealThe US Senate will vote next week on a bipartisan bill that would strengthen security at the US-Mexico border and also provide more aid to Ukraine and Israel, the chamber's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said on Thursday.We cannot simply shirk from our responsibilities just because the task is difficult," Schumer said on the Senate floor, adding that the text of the package will be released by Sunday, with the initial vote taking place no later than Wednesday. Continue reading...

Trump tries to undermine allegations against him by attacking his accusers, sowing confusion and painting himself as a martyrTime after time, with predictable regularity, never missing a beat, Donald Trump proclaims his innocence. He always denies that he has done anything wrong. The charge does not matter. He is blameless. But this is only the beginning of the pattern. Then, he attacks his accusers, or anyone involved in bringing him to account, usually of committing the identical offense of which he stands accused.But it is not enough for him to lash out. Then, he declares himself to be the victim. Whatever it is, he is falsely accused. But his self-dramatization as the wounded sufferer is only half his story: he insists that whoever has accused him is in fact the offender. He emerges triumphant, the martyr, the truth-teller, courageously unmasking the real villain. J'accuse! Continue reading...

Ex-US president took action over allegations he took part in perverted acts' and bribed Russian officialsDonald Trump's data protection claim for damages over allegations in the Steele dossier" that he took part in perverted" sex acts and gave bribes to Russian officials has been dismissed by a high court judge in London.Mrs Justice Steyn agreed with Orbis Business Intelligence, the company founded by the former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the contentious material, that the case should not go to trial. Continue reading...

Court could weigh in on whether cities and states can shut down homeless encampments but it could also define what it means to provide shelterIn mid-January, the US supreme court agreed to reconsider the case Grants Pass v Johnson. In doing so, it could overturn a previous decision, Martin v Boise, which ruled that cities cannot punish unhoused people for violating anti-camping policies when there are no alternatives available.That has left elected officials, advocates and, not least of all, homeless people themselves wondering whether a future high court decision will give cities more power to clear homeless settlements or if cities' responsibilities to provide for unhoused residents will be clarified. Continue reading...

SB 1780 would make it defamation to accuse someone of homophobia, transphobia, racism or sexism and punishable by fineBy day two of Florida's legislative session, which started last month, lawmakers had introduced nearly 20 anti-gay or anti-trans bills. One such bill, SB 1780, would make accusing someone of being homophobic, transphobic, racist or sexist, even if the accusation is true, equivalent to defamation, and punishable by a fine of at least $35,000. If passed, the bill would severely limit and punish constitutionally protected free speech in the state.Though SB 1780 is not likely to survive past higher courts, its introduction is indicative of a wider conservative strategy to stifle criticism of racist, sexist and homophobic behavior. The bill, critics argue, is being introduced to test the waters and see how far, legally, lawmakers can go until they are able to silence detractors. Continue reading...

The staggering death rate already seen does not fully capture the human pain and miseryWar deaths are not only caused by direct violence, and they don't stop when the fighting does. Civilians as well as combatants may succumb to earlier injuries, or to hunger and disease in the aftermath of conflict. In the longer run, disruption of food production, damage to infrastructure and suspension of medical services such as routine vaccinations can all result in peacetime deaths which are ultimately attributable to the war. Women and children are disproportionately affected.More than 27,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities. Tens of thousands of people are injured, in many cases with life-changing injuries. What will become of those now known by the chilling abbreviation WCNSF - Wounded child, no surviving family"? Continue reading...

Filings to Federal Election Commission show scale of legal fees former president, facing 91 criminal charges, has racked upDonald Trump's political action committees spent more than $50m on legal fees over the course of 2023, as the former president's legal troubles intensified in the face of 91 felony counts across four criminal cases.According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Wednesday night, Save America, Trump's leadership Pac that has shouldered most of the financial burden of his legal battles, entered 2024 with just $5m in cash on hand after spending more than $25m on legal expenses over the last six months of 2023. Continue reading...

Biden administration says public health insurance program has made initial offers for 10 of most commonly used medicinesThe Biden administration has announced that representatives of Medicare, a public health insurance program that covers 47 million American seniors and disabled people, on Thursday sent initial offers to pharmaceutical companies in negotiations over 10 of the program's most expensive and commonly used drugs.The initial offers are part of a negotiation timeline set by law, and will set the tone for what is expected to be an intense process between the administration and drugmakers, who have launched at least 10 lawsuits against the government. Continue reading...

Company which rode the at-home exercise boom during Covid has suffered as many of its users returned to gymsShares in Peloton tumbled by almost a quarter on Thursday after the embattled fitness group cut back its sales forecast amid lackluster demand for its high-end equipment.The company, which rode the at-home exercise boom at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, has suffered as many of its users headed back to gyms across the world.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...

Alan Filion, 17, facing felony charges over allegedly faking call to send armed police to mosque, may have been active since 2021A California teen has been extradited to Florida and is believed to be a serial swatter" behind hundreds of swatting incidents and bomb threats called in across the US.Alan Filion, 17, was transported from Orange county, California, to Seminole, central Florida, on Tuesday, where he faces three felonies and a misdemeanor charge in connection to the swatting of a local mosque, according to the Seminole county state attorney's office, Wired first reported. Continue reading...

Lloyd Austin says he was shaken by news of prostate cancer but he should have told Joe Biden and the public soonerLloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, said on Thursday that his recent cancer diagnosis shook him but he should have notified Joe Biden and the public about it.Austin came under fire earlier this year after it was revealed that the 70-year-old was admitted on New Year's Day to Walter Reed national military medical center for what the Pentagon has said were complications following a recent elective medical procedure", a fact the defense department kept under wraps for five days. Continue reading...

Former Boeing employee Ed Pierson expresses concern over 737 Max 9 jet's return to skies following Alaska Airlines incidentA former Boeing manager says he would absolutely not" fly on one of its 737 Max planes as the aircraft maker faces heightened scrutiny after a cabin panel blowout.The company has been fighting to reassure regulators, airlines and passengers since a brand-new 737 Max 9 jet was forced into an emergency landing last month. Continue reading...

Statue of first Black player to integrate Major League Baseball was stolen last week from public park in Wichita, KansasA historic statue of baseball trailblazer Jackie Robinson will be replaced after donations poured in to restore the statue that was stolen from a Kansas park and found destroyed.On Wednesday - which would have been the 105th birthday of Jackie Robinson - an online fundraiser raised more than $160,000 to replace a bronze statue of the baseball legend that was stolen from the McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading...

Isla, Amelia, Oliver and Noah ... your time is now. Why are we all so unoriginal?The yearly index of the most popular names in New South Wales dropped last week, and for anyone who sporadically logs on to Facebook to find half of their graduating class pregnant, the results are likely unsurprising. For girls, Isla and Amelia came in equal first with 383 registered births each, followed by Olivia, Mia and Charlotte. For boys, Oliver, Noah, Leo, Henry and Luca rounded out the top five.Depending on your individuality complex, the results could be benign or devastating. If you chose the name Isla before 2008, you were a pioneer. It was unlikely your baby girl would need to fight for the right to be called Isla in school without the qualifying initial of her last name. Now, the name has become my generation's answer to Jessica". All babies born from the late noughties called Isla are now destined for a lifetime of saying Isla with an S" when they order iced lattes (climate change has rendered hot coffee obsolete). Continue reading...

Five of those injured in critical condition after incident at hangar under construction on grounds of Boise airport in IdahoA hangar under construction on the grounds of the airport in Boise, Idaho, collapsed Wednesday, killing three people and injuring another nine, officials said.Five of those injured in the collapse at the Boise airport are in critical condition, the city said in a statement released Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Already ordered to pay E Jean Carroll more than $83m, an imminent verdict could be even more costly

Ex-president determined to see Haley withdraw from Republican race as he attempts to secure nomination as quickly as possibleDonald Trump's frustration with the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has continued to mount, according to people close to the former president, with her refusal to withdraw from the race for the 2024 Republican nomination starting to cause operational headaches for his campaign.Trump was annoyed with Haley the night of his New Hampshire primary win last week after she finished in second place and still delivered a speech that he viewed as her taking a victory lap. Continue reading...

Michael Cassidy charged under Iowa's hate crime statute after figure depicting Baphomet destroyed beyond repair' in DecemberA Mississippi man accused of destroying a statue of a pagan idol at Iowa's state capitol is now being charged with a hate crime.The statue was brought to the capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa under state rules allowing religious displays in the building during the holidays. The move drew strong criticism from state and national leaders, including the Iowa governor, Kim Reynolds, and the Florida governor and former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, both Republicans. On 14 December, the figure depicting the horned deity Baphomet was destroyed beyond repair", according to the group. Continue reading...