Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket commissions from auction of the works at show he arranged that was revealed to be a scamTrustees of a Florida art gallery are suing its former director, claiming he conspired to cash in on the exhibition and sale of fake paintings purportedly by the neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat.Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket tens of millions of dollars in commissions from auction of the works after legitimizing" them during a 2022 show he arranged at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA), according to the lawsuit filed in central Florida on Monday and reported by the New York Times. Continue reading...
At least 106 people have died - a figure set to rise significantly as workers carry out the painstaking work of identifying remainsThe destruction in Lahaina stretches as far as the eye can see - homes burned down to their foundations, blackened cars, and piles of twisted metal from the fire that burned all the way to the sea. It is in these ruins that search teams will determine the true toll of the disaster.The wildfires that ravaged Maui last week exploded rapidly, moving at roughly a mile a minute, and giving residents little time to escape as flames consumed the historic town of Lahaina. At least 106 people died - a figure expected to rise significantly in the coming days as crews scour the rubble. A huge operation is under way to find remains and identify them, and officials have asked for patience. Continue reading...
The main figures in the Oscar-winning movie are embroiled in an ugly legal dispute. But the story never sat comfortably with many observersIn late 2009 I was sent to Baltimore for a Sports Illustrated feature story on Michael Oher, a rare household name among NFL offensive linemen. Oher was a few months into his rookie year and on the brink of a critical showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.In the book version of The Blind Side, which places Oher within the NFL's evolution into a passing league, he is set on a collision course with the sport's top quarterback cruncher - Indy's Dwight Freeney. And after devouring the Michael Lewis book, his Moneyball for football geeks, I was keen to dig into this and more with Oher. By this point he was over the book and unhappy with the much-hyped film that sprang from it and was due to premiere that same weekend. The Ravens PR team cautioned that Oher would turn me away faster than a corner blitzer if I asked too many questions about The Blind Side. Just how touchy a subject it was for him has become that much clearer in the wake of a feud that contains personal wounds, cultural rifts and career consequences that run deep. Continue reading...
One of my life's great joys has been mining the depths of my knowledge for my children. Just one proviso: don't try to explain every event in We Didn't Start The FireWhere does the urge to mansplain come from? Hold on, please don't rush straight to the comments to tell me; I've got my own theory. I think it's about one part male privilege to five parts something more primal: a vestigial survival urge that we learn at school.In the world of the small, awkward boy, knowing stuff is currency: grownups are impressed when you can explain the workings of a trimaran; other youths show grudging respect if you can display an in-depth knowledge of Warhammer 40k lore. This feeling never entirely leaves us, so we go out into the world stepping on endless metaphorical rakes as we mistake polite lack of interest for rapt attention. Some of us grow out of this, have it gently bullied out of us by romantic partners or learn to sense when it's not wanted. Others never quite kick the habit and spend their lives missing stifled yawns or lecturing astrophysicists about their own fields of expertise. Continue reading...
Fani Willis did not charge these individuals, but that doesn't mean they can never face penalties for their involvement in election fraud plotThe Georgia district attorney Fani Willis delivered an extensive 41-count indictment against former president Donald Trump and 18 others over their plot to subvert the 2020 US presidential election, unsealed late on Monday night. While each defendant faces a different list of charges, all 19 have been charged with racketeering in violation of Georgia's powerful Rico (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, which carries a sentence of five to 20 years.The racketeering charge also lists 30 unindicted co-conspirators", as participants in the criminal enterprise in Fulton county, Georgia, and elsewhere". Continue reading...
Cards depicting albums by Brooklyn-born rapper are part of initiative to celebrate 50th anniversary of hip-hopForget new lines of sneakers or T-shirts: the most sought-after merchandise this month can be found in public libraries in Brooklyn.In collaboration with Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, the Brooklyn Public Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop by issuing limited-edition library cards featuring the rapper, who was born in the New York borough. Continue reading...
The Republican governor of Georgia refutes the former president's claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and more. Plus: the slow recovery process after Hawaii's wildfiresGood morning.The fallout continues from the latest criminal indictment of Donald Trump, this time in Georgia on state racketeering and conspiracy charges over efforts to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.Chris Christie, the Republican former governor of New Jersey, immediately endorsed Kemp's statement. This is a strong leader telling the truth. Others should try it," said Christie, who is challenging Trump for the party's 2024 presidential nomination.Polls now put Christie as second to Trump's 40-point lead in New Hampshire as Ron DeSantis fades in the race.What exactly is the Georgia racketeering Rico" law that prosecutors used to charge Trump and his cohorts? The basic premise of the Rico charge is that the unlawful enterprise was built and established and maintained for the singular unlawful purpose to overthrow the election and deny Georgians their right to vote," said Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor.Thirty unnamed, unindicted co-conspirators are mentioned in the racketeering charge. While Georgia prosecutors charged Trump alongside 18 of his closest confidantes, the racketeering charge also detailed the involvement of 30 unnamed co-conspirators.Who are the main characters in Trump's Georgia case? Here's a detailed breakdown of Trump's 18 co-defendants, who include the lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff.Maui county has released the first names of people killed in last week's wildfires, as search and rescue efforts continue to recover the bodies of the victims.One survivors recounted her harrowing escape from the Maui blaze by jumping into the ocean alongside infants, elderly people and burn victims. Continue reading...
Wide-ranging Georgia election subversion indictment is inappropriate, claims House judiciary panel member Ken BuckThe indictment of Donald Trump and 18 allies for election subversion in Georgia is a nuclear bomb where a bullet would have been appropriate", a Republican member of the House judiciary committee said.It is a Rico charge primarily," Ken Buck of Colorado told MSNBC, referring to racketeering law under which Trump and others are charged. Continue reading...
Ex-president and allies portray drive to stay in power as free speech matter, but ex-DoJ officials say his actions went beyondDonald Trump's dubious defense that he was exercising his free-speech rights in response to a four-count federal criminal indictment charging him with pushing illegal schemes to overturn his 2020 election loss is prompting ex-Department of Justice officials and scholars to criticize such claims as bogus and as threats to the rule of law.Despite special counsel Jack Smith's detailed 45-page, four-count indictment of Trump for promoting several illegal schemes including organizing slates of fake electors in seven states to thwart Joe Biden's victory, Trump and some top Republican allies have repeatedly portrayed his multi-pronged drive to stay in power as a free speech matter. Continue reading...
Post-affirmative action, Black schools show why cultivating diverse campuses should extend beyond the application processEver since Cheyney University opened in 1837, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have provided educational access to students who were once barred from attending white institutions. By the 1890s, to support newly freed Black Americans following the civil war, more than 200 HBCUs had opened. And by the 1950s, more than 90% of Black undergraduates in the country were attending Black schools.Once the US supreme court ended state-mandated segregation with its 1954 decision in Brown v Board of Education, followed by the introduction of affirmative action policies designed to rectify segregation's effects, the number of Black students at predominantly white colleges grew significantly. Still, HBCUs remained a touchstone for Black students. So it might be surprising to learn that some experts argue that in light of the supreme court striking down affirmative action earlier this summer, HBCUs could be models for race-blind admissions. Continue reading...
Ron DeSantis has put the rightwing activist Christopher Rufo in charge of reforming' a liberal arts college and remaking it in a rightwing moldRon DeSantis's presidential campaign is flailing: the Florida governor, once considered a formidable contestant for the Republican nomination, is polling at a pathetic 14.8% among the Republican contenders. His camp is struggling to raise money, and the candidate's public appearances have revealed him to be interpersonally unpleasant - coming off stiff, judgmental and creepy.At the Iowa state fair last week, DeSantis was caught on video telling a little girl, who was clutching a fairground treat, that's probably a lot of sugar". The governor, a man so joyless that he scolded a child for eating candy, was later the subject of a taunting banner flown over one of his events: Be Likable, Ron!"Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
The movement itself may have grown quieter - but its ideas have percolated into public discourse, freed from their ridiculous premiseIt is the nature of conspiracy theories to turn tragedy into grist, to transform grief and human suffering into an abstract game. The latest horrifying example came out of news late July that Barack Obama's chef Tafari Campbell had drowned in the waters off Martha's Vineyard. What was a terrible accident and a tragic loss for Campbell's family and friends was almost immediately seized upon by the paranoid corners of the internet as proof that somehow Barack and Michelle Obama had been involved in an assassination.It was not the first time that conspiracists have seized on a senseless death as proof of a deeper plot: the 1993 suicide of Vince Foster, lawyer in the Clinton White House, and the murder of the DNC staffer Seth Rich during the 2016 presidential campaign were both used as proof of a Clinton body count" by the right wing, a playbook that was immediately resurrected as news of Campbell's death broke. The difference was that those earlier conspiracy theories were focused almost entirely on the Clintons, while the current iteration is far more diffuse and its targets far more wide-reaching. Continue reading...
Roughly 2,700 buildings were destroyed and at least 101 people lost their lives in the devastating fires that swept through MauiA long road to recovery lies ahead of Lahaina, the vibrant and historic town tucked along the western coast of Maui that now stands in smoldering ruins.Roughly 2,700 buildings were destroyed by the wind-whipped flames and at least 101 people have lost their lives. Search and rescue efforts to recover the bodies of the victims, as well as relief efforts to support the thousands of displaced survivors, are at the center of focus. But tons of charred debris will need to be removed from the island before communities can begin to heal. Continue reading...
Every week, we play football for an hour and then retire to the pub to talk tactics, kids, marriage and work. It's so much more than sportIt's the middle of summer, which means a new football season. The glory game hardly sleeps these days: we're in the midst of the Women's World Cup and there is the constant spectre of the Saudi power grab on men's elite football. As a fan, I'll still embrace this hypothetical moment of renewal. But the big kick-off for me will come in early September with the return of the Thursday night football game that, for the last 25 years, I've played in almost every week.I first got involved with it in 1998, when I was invited along by friends in the time-honoured way. Most of my Thursday evenings since then, amid changes of jobs and circumstance, have been defined by a routine of ferreting around the house for contact lenses, grabbing whatever bits of kit I can find and shoving a towel into a tatty old orange bag. At about 8.20pm, summoned by the beep of a horn outside the house, I'll squeeze into the back of a car that was patently not designed for four portly middle-aged men.Graham Snowdon is the acting editor of Guardian Weekly Continue reading...
There are prompts to add around 20% for simply buying a pint of milk at the local shop or picking up a coffee. How can we stop this madness?The US may be a bitterly divided country, but I think I've found a topic which pretty much everyone can unite behind: tipping culture is out of control. The US norm of tipping at least 20% on a meal, and at (the very, very) least $1 a drink at a bar, has always confused European tourists. In recent years, however, tipping prompts have become so ubiquitous, have spread to so many new areas of commerce, that even Americans are confused about when and where a tip is appropriate.There is now almost no payment transaction in the US that doesn't involve a prompt for a tip. If you go to get a coffee or pick up a takeout order, for example, an electronic screen will almost certainly get swivelled in your direction, asking if you want to add a 20%, 25% or 30% tip. More confusingly, however, if you go to the local convenience store to buy a pint of milk or a pack of crisps, chances are you'll still see that tip screen pointed at you. You're even prompted to leave a tip at some self-checkouts.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The 25-year-old was a shock winner in the 100m at July's US championships. Now he's aiming for more glory in Budapest against the world's bestHe thought he had finished fourth. Premature cheers of Coleman!" and Lyles!" echoed around Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon last month. But Cravont Charleston, the 25-year-old without a shoe sponsor, ultimately pipped former world champions Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles to secure the 100m title in 9.95 seconds in his US championships debut.I always knew I could win," Charleston quipped. [My coach Allen] Johnson said to me, I told you so.'" Continue reading...
So far 106 fatalities have been identified but number of dead is expected to rise as teams search devastated neighborhoodsMaui county has released the first names of people killed in the Hawaii wildfire that all but incinerated the historic town of Lahaina a week ago, while raising the death toll to 106. Meanwhile, local power utility Hawaii Electric Company has faced criticism for not shutting off power in an area at high risk for fire.The county named two victims, Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, adding in a statement that a further three victims had been identified. Those names will be released once the county has identified their next of kin. Continue reading...
I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later,' the US Treasury secretary told CNNUS treasury secretary Janet Yellen has started a craze in China for a magic mushroom-based dish called Jian shou qing, or see hand blue", after she was spotted eating the fungi, known for being hallucinogenic, while on a visit to Beijing in July.I went with this large group of people and the person who'd arranged our dinner did the ordering. There was a delicious mushroom dish I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later," she told CNN. Continue reading...
Travis King entered the country while on tour of a border village on 18 July, becoming the first American detained in nearly five yearsNorth Korea has claimed that an American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border from the South wants to seek refuge from inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the US military.In its first public acknowledgment that Private 2nd class Travis King entered the North while on a tour of a Korean border village on 18 July, the regime said the 23-year-old had voiced disillusionment" with US society. Continue reading...
This live blog has closed. Read our analysis of the Georgia indictment hereAfter Joe Biden won the presidential race, Donald Trump and his associates immediately went to work challenging the legitimacy of the election results, as special counsel Jack Smith outlined in his own indictment filed earlier this month.After dozens of his election lawsuits failed, Trump then attempted to pressure state leaders to overturn Biden's wins in key battleground states.This indictment should serve as a warning to future anti-voter politicians that the will and voices of Georgia voters cannot be silenced, and there is no place for election-denying conspiracy theorists in our democracy. Continue reading...
Brandon Cole, 36, died after an officer fired at him twice after receiving a domestic violence complaint from a neighborA Denver police officer fatally shot a man who was holding a marker pen, which the officer mistakenly believed was a knife, officials said on Monday.Newly released body-camera footage of the killing of Brandon Cole, 36, on 5 August shows an officer firing two shots at the man who was on the sidewalk. A young child and a woman were standing close behind the man as the officer fired at him and he fell to the ground. Continue reading...
Charging document, staggering in its breadth and ambition of its charges, may represent greatest legal peril for ex-president to dateThere's no other way to say it: the 98-page indictment handed down by a Fulton county grand jury on Monday represents the most aggressive effort to hold Donald Trump and allies accountable for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.The document is staggering in its breadth and the ambition of its charges. The 41 counts of crimes in it, including 13 against Trump, detail the lies the former president and his co-defendants told the public about fraud to try and keep him in power. It doesn't back away from charging Trump's attorneys and inner circle with crimes for coordinating a plan to create slates of fake electors and to stop Congress from counting votes. Some of the state's 16 fake electors themselves also face charges. And it also casts a wide net, not letting those who breached voting equipment and intimidated poll workers off the hook. Continue reading...
If Trump loses again in 2024, he faces not only embarrassment but the prospect of jail time. We should all fear what he might do to avoid itWhether they like it or not, the three prosecutors who have now indicted Donald Trump in four different cases - the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who is bringing charges in the Stormy Daniels hush money case; the special counsel Jack Smith, who is bringing federal charges against Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents and January 6cases; and now Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney who is bringing state charges against Trump regarding his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia - are now the former president's political opponents. They pose a greater risk to his political future than any of his primary rivals.This, at least, is how Trump is behaving as his presidential campaign lumbers toward 2024: as if he's running against the prosecution. For one thing, Trump is acting like the prosecutions are political attacks. In the lead-up to the Georgia indictment, he aired TV ads attacking Willis. And for another, the cases are costing him a tremendous amount of money. A Pac that the former president is using to pay his mounting legal fees, Save America, recently requested a refund of a donation it had made to another group supporting Trump's re-election effort. The money couldn't go to campaign efforts, as had been planned, because it was needed to pay the legal fees. That's how rapidly lawyers' bills are adding up for the former president and his long list of indicted allies. Continue reading...
Tucker by Chadwick Moore sells just 3,227 copies in first week after publication on 1 August, Publishers Weekly figures revealA much-hyped biography of the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has struggled to find favour with readers, a leading US publishing authority said, listing just over 3,000 copies sold in the first week of its release.According to Publishers Weekly, Tucker by Chadwick Moore sold just 3,227 copies in its first week after publication on 1 August. Continue reading...
The disgraced mogul was jailed after he leaked his ex-girlfriend's private writingsJudge Lewis Kaplan has had enough of Samuel Bankman-Fried's envelope-pushing.He has gone up to the line over and over again and I am going to revoke bail," the US district judge ruled Friday. So he sent the disgraced 31-year-old cryptocurrency mogul to jail, rather than allow him to continue to hang out in his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, while awaiting trial on charges of defrauding investors in his business.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...
by Abené Clayton with photographs by Danny Wilcox Fr on (#6DW05)
More than six times as many Black women were killed in Iowa in 2020 than the year before. What is driving the gun violence?On Christmas day 2020, while millions of American families were navigating virtual holiday gatherings, Jeremy Hepker was sitting in an Iowa City hospital room holding the hand of Marisa Doolin, his teenage niece. Doolin had been shot in the face three days earlier and was in a medically induced coma to stop the swelling in her brain. The next day, Doolin's family decided to take the 18-year-old off of life support.I felt so powerless, I felt so angry and I felt vengeful," Hepker said. Continue reading...
Returning cancer patients aren't looking to be shielded from reality - they want to know you'll remain steadfastly in their cornerI would recognise those footsteps anywhere. I knew it was you even before I saw you!"Making a mental note to soften my footfall, I extend my hand into hers. Continue reading...
Inquiry could have far-reaching implications for Trump and his chances of winning the Republican 2024 nominationDonald Trump now faces more criminal charges for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election as a case in Fulton county, Georgia, begins its next act. The district attorney, Fani Willis, has delivered a sweeping indictment that charges Trump, along with more than a dozen co-defendants, with 41 counts including racketeering, conspiracy, solicitation and filing false statements.These are the people involved in the high-profile election investigation that could have far-reaching implications for Trump, who may well face jail time if convicted, and his chances of winning the Republican nomination in 2024. Continue reading...
We cannot be passive bystanders when the actions of men cause such pain and suffering. It's vital to listen and learnI remember the feeling of bewilderment the first time my older sister told me how tightly she grips her keys in her pocket if she is walking alone in the dark. Bewilderment, because as men we just don't have to think that way.And the reason for that? It is pretty simple: men have made our communities feel far too unsafe for far too many women. As first minister of Scotland - but more importantly as a father of two girls - this is not a situation I am prepared to simply accept.Humza Yousaf is first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National partyDo 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...
Woman said ex-boyfriend conducted campaign to spread intimate photos of her online without her consentA man who harassed his ex-girlfriend online - including by sharing intimate photos of her on social media - must pay her $1.2bn in damages, a Texas jury has ordered.The woman, who went by DL" in court documents, said her ex-boyfriend conducted a campaign to spread intimate photos of her online without her consent. Using images taken by security cameras at the home where the woman was living, he shared the photos on fake social media accounts, tagging friends, family and employers on the picture. He also created a website and publicly accessible Dropbox folders and emailed the photos to people. Continue reading...
Trump faces a blizzard of trials starting this fall. Yet his earlier indictments fueled a fundraising spurt and a rise in the pollsOn Monday night, a grand jury in Fulton county, Georgia, delivered a 41-count, 98-page felony indictment. Donald Trump and the names of 18 co-defendants litter its pages. Prosecutors allege that Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, Sidney Powell and a passel of lackeys illegally interfered with the 2020 election and violated Georgia's anti-racketeering statute.Trump helmed a criminal enterprise", the indictment alleges. He now stands in the shoes of a purported mob boss. Said differently, the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee personifies the spirit of Tony Soprano.Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 Continue reading...
Former president is accused of planning a criminal enterprise in his attempt to reverse his defeatGood morning.Georgia prosecutors have indicted Donald Trump and some of his closest allies on state racketeering and conspiracy charges over efforts to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.What is this case about? Some details into Trump and his allies' aggressive push to invalidate the election results in Georgia.Prosecutors charged 18 people in addition to Trump, including lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff.Who is the Georgia district attorney preparing to face off with Trump? The office of Fani Willis, the first Black woman to serve as district attorney in Fulton county, spent more than two years investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the election results.Residents and historians are still processing the full scope of destruction in historic Lahaina, an 18th-century coastal town that once served as the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom and was designated a national historic landmark in 1962. Continue reading...
Former library spaces will now be multipurpose' rooms; disruptive students will be stationed there to watch footage of their classroomsAmong the news stories that have shadowed these bright, late-summer days is a recent report from Houston, where the state of Texas has announced its plan to close public school libraries in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. The former library spaces will now be used as so-called multipurpose" rooms, which actually seem to have one single purpose: punishing disruptive" students by making them watch, on computer screens, what's happening back in their classrooms.No one seems clear about the fate of students who remain disruptive in the multipurpose rooms. Surely I am not the only adult who remembers that being sent to detention was more of a vacation than a punishment. So it's uncertain how precisely a student's internal exile is meant to function. It's hard to imagine what students will learn from these cheerless, punitive spaces - except for the grim possibility that they are being prepped for incarceration.Francine Prose is a former president of PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Continue reading...
Bailey Ross, reported air force reservist and former Coast Guard service member, linked to Agartha Publishing in South DakotaThe Guardian has identified a trainee nurse and reported US air force reservist called Bailey Ross as the proprietor of a white nationalist publisher in South Dakota.Ross was also a paid-up member of a white nationalist organization that marched at Charlottesville while enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. Continue reading...
Meyer's sudden death has ignited an outcry from news media advocates who condemned the police raid as something straight out of the authoritarian playbookPolice in the Kansas town where Joan Meyer had lived for almost a century had just raided her home and her newspaper - seizing electronics and reporting materials - during what she understood to be a leak investigation when another media outlet called her for comment.These are Hitler tactics, and something has to be done," Meyer, a co-owner of the Marion County Record, told the Wichita Eagle on Friday, invoking a fascist dictator as her colleagues contemplated legal strategies to recover their confiscated items and hold authorities accountable for what many contend was an illicit raid. Continue reading...
Georgia district attorney, Fani Willis, says a grand jury has voted to indict former president Donald Trump and 18 others over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The indictment details dozens of acts by Trump and his allies - including Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman - to undo his defeat in Georgia. The criminal case is the fourth brought against Trump and the second this month to allege that he tried to subvert the results of the 2020 vote
The Argentinian opted for Inter Miami over Al-Hilal. But it would be wrong to think his decision was made on ethical groundsSince touching down on American soil a few weeks ago, Lionel Messi - the undisputed maestro of the beautiful game - has already orchestrated a symphony of spectacular goals. From a scintillating stoppage time winner in his Inter Miami debut to his two first-half goals in his second game, the 36-year-old is already leaving his mark on US soccer.Yet as Messi Mania sweeps across the US, another country stands on the sidelines, eagerly watching the fruits of the Argentinian's continued triumphs: Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...
Terrible things happened in the runup to the historic day and my father witnessed one of them. The two events are inseparable to meFor many Indians, 15 August is a day of celebration but for some, it's a reminder of the atrocities that were committed during the lead-up to the stroke of midnight". I'm one of them. My father was not even 12 when he saw a brutal murder in his village in the north-east district of Jalandhar.It was late 1946, only a few months before India was to gain independence. People - Hindus and Muslims - had got wind of Lord Mountbatten's plans to partition the country. The two-nation theory that had been a rallying call for Indian Muslims such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah was now becoming an inevitable reality.Roshan Doug is an academic and the former poet laureate of Birmingham Continue reading...
President Trump redux could break the law, tear up treaties and trample on basic rights. Time for hard thinking about what that would meanThe question from the Finnish journalist to President Biden at last month's US-Nordic leaders' summit in Helsinki was direct: What actions will you take to assure Finland that the US will remain a reliable Nato partner for decades to come?"Biden replied: I absolutely guarantee it. There is no question. There's overwhelming support from the American people," before adding the caveat: You know, no one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone could make ... As sure as anything can possibly be said about American foreign policy, we will stay connected to Nato - connected to Nato, beginning, middle and end."Bruce Wolpe is a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is author of Trump's Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2023) Continue reading...
by Helen Sullivan (now) with Maanvi Singh and Léonie on (#6DTTY)
This blog is now closed. Read the full story hereTwice impeached and now arrested and indicted three times. Donald Trump faces serious criminal charges in New York, Florida and Washington over a hush-money scheme during the 2016 election, his alleged mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.As Trump prepares for those cases to go to trial, the former president is simultaneously reeling from a verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation toward writer E Jean Carroll. A New York jury awarded Carroll, who accused Trump of assaulting her in 1996, $5m in damages. Continue reading...
A grand jury in Georgia has issued an indictment accusing Trump of efforts to overturn the 2020 election - read the full text hereA grand jury in Georgia has issued an indictment accusing Donald Trump of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.Prosecutors brought 41 counts against Trump and his associates, including forgery and racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups. Continue reading...
Legal watchers say the Fulton county district attorney's entire career has prepared her for the prosecution of Donald TrumpThe synopsis for a Fani Willis biopic would probably go something like this: In Fulton county, the first Black woman to serve as district attorney takes on an unlikely case. Willis grew up attending court with her father, a defense attorney and Black Panther. Now, she sits on the opposite side of the courtroom, hoping to indict a former president who sought to overturn election results and often espoused white supremacist rhetoric while doing so.The film's montage would pull from real life, depicting a determined, unflappable Willis relentlessly poring over documents, leading her team through the long work hours and security risks that come with bringing an indictment against an often inflammatory former president, even as national attention on the case reached a groundswell. Continue reading...
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