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New research reveals different political ads work in different times and different placesThere are so many elections this year but how to go about winning them? Labour has a sub-optimal, but impressively consistent strategy: waiting (usually a decade and a half in opposition).It's paying off again with huge swings to them in last week's two byelections. But this approach requires patience and most parties around the world are less keen on waiting that long. So they spend a lot of time and money trying to win, which means election adverts. In the US, TV ads are centre stage. In the UK, those are largely banned (even GB News is meant to be providing news when Tory MPs interview each other) but online ads are big business. Continue reading...

The Russian opposition leader's final message - to be scared of nothing' - should be heeded by the west following his deathIt will be days if not weeks and months before we know some version of the truth of what happened in a grim Siberian jail to Alexei Navalny, the greatest leader Russia never had.But, it's the timing that sent a chill down many people's spines. Because this wasn't any old Friday in February. It was the first day of the Munich Security Conference, a key global summit attended by world leaders and the Nato secretary general. And top of the agenda this year is the threat to Nato itself. Continue reading...

The viral success of John Galliano's merkin is a sign of progress - but let's not get too excitedI watched this video clip maybe 20 times, a closeup of a merkin being made, light brown human hair being threaded through silk tulle. This was behind the scenes at the Maison Margiela haute couture show, designed by John Galliano, in which corsetted models were made up to look like porcelain dolls and wore luxurious merkins under their sheer black skirts. Historically, I have lost large cuts of time to videos of ingrown hairs being extracted, enjoying something quite animal and orgasmic about the eventual release, and while this video had similarities, the aim was not, of course, hair removal, but instead hair introduction. A pubic wig was being created and in the meditative space between each threading, I thought about the state of body hair.An advertisement for an at-home hair-removal laser kit had just popped into my emails, one in a list of top Mother's Day presents", the suggestion being that I might this year thank my mum for giving birth to and raising me with the gift of a thousand small shocks to her armpit, thigh or vulva. This device sat comfortably among its fellow gift recommendations - a candle, a bottle of rose - a shrine to femininity, motherhood, or hairy alcoholics whose houses stink, whichever cost more. Continue reading...

Societies are robbed of subtlety and depth when racism is conflated with the borrowing of ideasThe future music of this country must be founded upon what are called negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States." So wrote the Czech composer Antonin Dvoak, in an 1893 essay, a year after he had moved to America to teach at the newly created National Conservatory in New York.Almost half a century later, a precocious Harvard student by the name of Leonard Bernstein wrote his undergraduate thesis on The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music". Searching for a national" basis for American music, he found it in Negro music". If an American is a sensitive creator," Bernstein wrote, jazz will have become an integral part of his palette, whether or not he is awareof it." Continue reading...

The social pressure to go out is off, but has it been replaced by scrolling alone in our bedrooms?We spend more time online. We socialise less. Our mental health is getting worse. These three trends have been obvious for some time - particularly among the young - but now more evidence is linking them, and alarm bells are sounding louder. This is a crisis, and we will need to solve it. What, exactly, has happened to hanging out?Much has been written on the idea that hanging out has been displaced: glued to our phones, some social needs thereby fulfilled, we have less time to see our friends in real life. But this misses, I think, a parallel cultural shift. Hanging out has not just been displaced but devalued. We think it less important, less prestigious. This is profoundly odd, for a social animal, but we seem to have entered an era in which real-life socialising has dropped sharply in status. It has lost its social cachet. Continue reading...

Never Surrender High-Tops' cost $399 and arrive on the market just after judge hands former US president huge penaltyDonald Trump has launched his own sneaker brand, a day after a New York judge ordered him to pay $354.9m in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders.I've wanted to do this a long time," the former US president said, as he unveiled what he called the first official Trump footwear at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia, a gathering that bills itself as the The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth." Continue reading...

No immediate reports of major damage or injuries after quake struck at 12.32am about 45 miles south-east of San AntonioAn earthquake of 4.7 magnitude that struck early Saturday morning near a small Texas city - one of several earthquakes that have occurred in the area in recent days - could be felt dozens of miles away, including in San Antonio.There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries from the earthquake, which struck at 12.32am and was centered about 2 miles (3km) south-east of Falls City, according to the United States Geological Survey. Falls City, which has a population of about 500 people, is about 45 miles (72km) south-east of San Antonio. Continue reading...

Horses included Paloma, a female who had given therapy rides to children with mental health issues and cognitive disabilitiesAuthorities in south Florida are searching for a gang of horse rustlers who stole and slaughtered three animals for meat, including one used in therapy sessions for children with autism and cognitive disabilities.The horses were taken from a remote area of Redland, near Homestead, and their carcasses were discovered on Friday by officers from the Miami-Dade police department's agricultural and environmental crimes section. Continue reading...

Retreat from Avdiivka deals military blow and hands initiative to Putin as war's second anniversary loomsVolodymyr Zelenskiy issued a desperate plea for fresh arms on Saturday as his army commanders announced that Ukrainian troops were pulling out of the key eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Moscow its first major military victory since last May, just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.Ukraine's leader told the Munich Security Conference that the slowing of weapons supplies was having a direct impact on the frontline and was forcing Ukraine to cede territory. Continue reading...

Champion quarterback makes hospital visit to Madison and Melia Reyes, who were hit by gunfire in Kansas City mass shootingKansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, visited two young sisters who were both shot in the legs during Wednesday's parade for the reigning Super Bowl champions.The Mahomeses on Thursday paid a call to 10-year-old Madison Reyes and Melia Reyes, age eight, at Children's Mercy hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where they were recovering from surgeries. Continue reading...

US vice-president gives interview on MSNBC calling on Congress to support Ukraine and on Israel to protect innocent Palestinians'Kamala Harris on Saturday criticized Donald Trump's cajoling of Russia to attack Nato allies of the US who don't pay their dues, saying the American people would never accept a president who bowed to a dictator.The vice-president's comments, in a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC's The Weekend, represent some of the strongest criticism to date of Trump's apparent allegiance to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk needs to convince European leaders to act to deter Vladimir Putin from further aggressionRecent panicky talk of a third world war seems a tad overblown. Yet the specific threat posed by Russia's aggressive, revisionist regime to eastern Europe is real and growing. As in the past, Poland is on the frontline of a battle for Ukraine that could easily spread. Scrambling to shore up defences, the UK and European Nato states must decide: is this 1920 or 1939?As all Poles know, the Battle of Warsaw, 104 years ago this August, ended in Marshal Jozef Pisudski's famous victory over the invading Red Army, which secured their country's independence. They called it the Miracle on the Vistula", after the river linking Poland's main cities. Vladimir Lenin lamented an enormous defeat" for Bolshevik revolutionary ambitions in Europe. Continue reading...

Vice-president Kamala Harris said Joe Biden's administration stood ready to support Ukraine for 'as long as it takes' and would push for Russia to pay damages to Ukraine when the war ends. 'We will continue in our efforts to secure a just and lasting peace. We will work to make sure Russia pays damages to Ukraine,' she said at a joint news conference with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Her comments come as the US political world battles over how and whether to stand up to Russia, particularly after Washington has approved more than $110bn in defence assistance for Ukraine, and Biden's request for another $60bn for Kyiv is stalled in the US Congress

Firefighters were called to home in Sterling, Virginia, by report of gas smell, and explosion took place 30 minutes later, officials saidOne firefighter was killed and nine others were injured on Friday when an explosion in a Washington DC suburb leveled a home where they were investigating a gas leak. Two other people were also injured.The firefighters were called to the home in Sterling, Virginia, by a report of a gas smell shortly after 7.30pm and a fiery explosion took place about 30 minutes later, officials said. Continue reading...

His primary opponent suggested the ex-president will raid Republican National Committee coffers to pay his legal feesDonald Trump awoke on Saturday facing a stark new reality of legal obligations in excess of half a billion dollars after his stunning civil fraud trial defeat a day earlier, and questions swirling over his ability, or intention, to pay.Yet the former president remained defiant late on Friday, insisting in a vitriolic rant from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida that he would win an appeal against a New York judge's ruling that he must pay more than $350m for intentional financial fraud stretching more than a decade. Continue reading...

The man behind ChatGPT is wooing the UAE to invest in energy-hungry AI. But if it turns out his tech can't fix the world, he's got his escape planOnce upon a time, nobody outside tech circles had heard of Sam Altman. But then his company, OpenAI, launched ChatGPT, and suddenly he was everywhere - touring the world, giving interviews to gushing journalists, granting audiences to awestruck politicians etc. Whiplash-thin, with a charmingly wide-eyed baby face, he instantly became the acceptable face of digital capitalism.Then the OpenAI board abruptly fired him, apparently on the grounds that he had not been, er, entirely candid with them. When Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO (who had invested $13bn in OpenAI), heard about it, though, he was mightily pissed off. And in no time all, Altman was unsacked and reinstated in the OpenAI driving seat. And the world was transfixed by the drama of it all. Which only goes to show that appearances can be deceptive. Continue reading...

Samuel Moreno-Carranza's grandmother posted about boy's condition, who was injured when police killed the shooter - his motherA boy who was shot in the head at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch on 11 February has lost a portion of his frontal lobe" while recovering at the hospital, according to his grandmother.In a Facebook post three days after the shooting, Walli Carranza said her seven-year-old grandson - Samuel Moreno-Carranza - has lost a major part of what makes us who we are" after half of his right skull [had] to be surgically removed during two surgeries done in less than 24 hours". Samuel had endured cardiac arrest multiple times, and no one can determine whether he has significant brain activity because his scalp tissue is too friable" to let doctors attach electroencephalogram wires to him, Carranza added in a post that doubled as a criticism of the US's lack of meaningful gun control. Continue reading...

President pledged to get cleanup job done and pushed for protective measures as protesters held anti-Biden' rallyJoe Biden on Friday surveyed the federal cleanup in East Palestine, Ohio, more than a year after an explosive fire from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals - and the president saw up close the lingering hostility from victims still angry that he waited so long to visit.The White House has said Biden was waiting for the right moment to visit. The mayor invited him. Continue reading...

The murky depths of the rightwing mind have turned up conspiracies lately on Taylor Swift and the former first ladyI hope you're not squeamish, because we are about to journey into the murky depths of the rightwing mind where brain worms abound. Continue reading...

Emma Brown, 30, is executive director of Giffords and plans to mobilize Americans for the 2024 elections around gun safetyEmma Brown was five years old in 1999, when news broke that two student shooters had attacked Columbine high school. She was in elementary school when the federal assault weapons ban expired, and she was a high school student when a gunman shot then congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 18 others outside a grocery store in Arizona.Now, at 30, Brown has taken over as the executive director of Giffords, the gun-safety group founded by the former congresswoman. As she looks ahead to the crucial US elections this November, Brown hopes she can help mobilize the millions of Americans who, like her, have never known a time when mass shootings were not a common occurrence. Continue reading...

Donald Trump, his eldest sons and associates have been ordered to pay over $350m by a New York judge who found them guilty of intentionally committing financial fraud over the course of a decade. The ruling marks the conclusion of a case that has been years in the making. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has been investigating Trump's business since 2019. James hailed the ruling as a 'massive victory'. 'No matter how big, how rich, or how powerful you are, no one is above the law. Not even Donald Trump,' she said. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is likely to appeal against the decision

Even the giant fortune Trump inherited from his father did not stop him from steering the family's dynasty on to the rocksJudge Arthur Engoron's ruling on Friday concludes the nearly century-long history of the Trump Organization in New York in disgrace and ruin. For his financial fraud, Donald Trump must pay $355m in fines. He is suspended for three years from doing business in New York. His sons - Donald, Jr, and Eric, executives of the company - are barred for two years. New York means business in combating business fraud," the judge stated in his decision. The Trump brand is now adjudicated to be synonymous with fraud and failure.In order to borrow more and at lower rates, defendants submitted blatantly false financial data to the accountants, resulting in fraudulent financial statements," the judge wrote in his decision. When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants' fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences ... Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological." Continue reading...

In 2022, Otero county became the first place in over 100 years to remove a politician using section 3 of the 14th amendmentWhile the US supreme court appears poised to allow Donald Trump to remain on the ballot this year, a small New Mexico county on the Texas border may stand alone as the only place where the 14th amendment has been used in recent times to remove a government official from the ballot.Couy Griffin, a county commissioner until 2022 in Otero county, which has a population of around 69,000 people, became the first official in more than a century to be removed from office under a little-used provision in the 14th amendment that bans insurrectionists from holding office. Griffin, the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump, had been convicted of illegally entering the US Capitol grounds on January 6, a misdemeanor. Continue reading...

Until the president stops Israel's violence, an evil-looking Biden looks less like a clever joke and more like a statement of factNot long after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers for this year's Super Bowl title, President Biden sent out a bizarre post on his X account. In the post is a picture of Biden in a blue suit with his arms crossed and an affable smile on his face. But the picture is odd because you can't see the president's eyes. They've been replaced by what look like red laser beams. Joe Biden (or someone on his media team, presumably) also attached a description to the picture, one that simply read Dark Brandon", and above the picture is the caption Just like we drew it up."If you don't get the reference, the picture looks creepy. If you do get the reference, the picture looks, well, even creepier, especially considering what was happening in Gaza at the moment this post was sent out into the world. Continue reading...

So you want to build an MLS champion? No mean feat given the league's notoriously byzantine roster regulations. But take heed of these four rules and you'll be on your waySo you, dear reader, want to build a great MLS roster.You want to catapult your team to the top of the league, winning Supporters' Shields and MLS Cups along the way. Maybe you'll even contend for a US Open Cup or two - if MLS will let you play in it, that is. Continue reading...

Former president's business fortune risks slipping from his grasp after ruling, while he marches closer to the Republican nominationFrom Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to the Trump Building on Wall Street, the Trump World Tower by the United Nations to the Trump International overlooking Central Park, Donald Trump has stamped his name in golden letters on skyscrapers across New York City.This real estate empire was the springboard for Trump's ascent from tabloid fodder to reality TV stardom, and ultimately the presidency, all built on his self-projected image as America's most famous businessman. Continue reading...

Hungary's president quit over the fallout of a child abuse case, but the pro-family' prime minister still has questions to answerAfter nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orban's regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country's president, Katalin Novak, a close Orban ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children's home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.The scandal has not only rocked Orban's autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orban's de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself.Katalin Cseh is a Hungarian member of the European parliament for the Renew Europe GroupDo 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...

A British right to disconnect' law like those in Australia and Europe would help me kick my bad habit, and make life better for everyoneI have a secret that I need to own up to: sometimes I'm a bad boss. After spending a couple of decades studying management and leadership, during the last couple of years I have been leading a large business school in London. When I took on the role, I wanted to try to bring an evidence-based approach to my leadership position, and initially I used the relevant science to guide my actions. Over time, however, I found myself falling into bad habits that I knew were a no-no, according to the research.One of these was contacting my co-workers out of working hours. I knew there was plenty of research that finds that out-of-work-hours communication is generally bad for employee wellbeing, and can also be bad for productivity. However, this didn't stop me. Some mornings, I would find myself sending colleagues emails at 5am. In the evening, I would be messaging at 10pm. During the weekends, I would find myself firing off documents to colleagues and asking for comments. Continue reading...

Colorado police issued a warrant for Miles Harford, 33, at whose house they also discovered the body of a womanColorado authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday for a former funeral home owner they say kept a deceased woman's body in a hearse for two years at a home where police also found the cremated remains of at least 30 people.

Judge Arthur Engoron gave prosecutors the fine they asked for and admonished the former president for showing no remorse

Letitia James says judgment of more than $350m shows Trump's long-running fraud was intentional, egregious and illegal'

The ex-president was ordered to pay $355m and banned from leading a business in New York. He's on the worst kind of rollThe week-that-was will likely weigh heavily on the 45th president for the months and years to come. On Friday, Arthur Engoron, a New York judge, found Donald Trump and his businesses liable for conspiracy and ordered them to pay $355m. On top of that, the court banned Trump and his two adult sons from serving at the helm of any New York company for three years, while imposing a $4m penalty on both of the boys.In a 92-page decision, Engoron also lacerated Trump's pretensions of credibility. He repeatedly tagged Trump for his allergy to the truth. Continue reading...

US president says I hope to God' death of anti-Putin critic spurs lawmakers to approve critical $60bn aid package for Ukraine

Trump also banned from running any New York corporation or entity for three years in devastating blow for ex-president

Trump's co-defendants in Georgia racketeering case over attempts to overturn 2020 election seek to disqualify Fulton county DALawyers for Donald Trump's co-defendants charged over efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia struggled on Friday to undermine the credibility of the Fulton county district attorney and her top deputy, with whom she had a romantic relationship, in order to disqualify them from bringing the case.The district attorney, Fani Willis, and her deputy, Nathan Wade, both previously testified there was no financial conflict of interest (the defendants alleged Willis hired him to benefit financially) because the relationship started after Wade was retained as a special prosecutor. Continue reading...

The case ended with a $354.9m fine and a ban on running companies in New York - plus plenty of drama en route

Officials say juveniles are being detained on gun-related and resisting arrest charges' after a woman was killed and 22 injuredTwo juveniles have been charged with crimes connected to the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl rally, authorities said on Friday.A news release from the Jackson county family court said the juveniles are being detained in the county's juvenile detention center on gun-related and resisting arrest charges". The release said additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues". Continue reading...

The opposition leader was jailed after bravely returning to Russia. Now he is the latest name on a long, grim list of dead activists and dissidentsAs I became more famous, I was sure my life became safer ... It would be problematic for them just to kill me," Alexei Navalny once told a film-maker, drily adding: I was very wrong."Yet the official announcement of the death of the 47-year-old, who remained Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent even from behind bars, was profoundly shocking. Many feared he would die in the notoriously brutal Arctic penal colony where he was incarcerated. Fewer expected it so soon or so suddenly, perhaps because of his apparently indomitable spirit. He seemed in reasonably good health, though gaunt, when he spoke via video link to a court hearing on Thursday, and cheerfully mocked the system.Do 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...

The US president said his government was not aware of whether or not Alexei Navalny was killed by the Russian government but that Vladimir Putin was responsible for his death. Other world leaders have also laid responsibility for the opposition leader's death firmly at the feet of the Russian president

Centrist Democrat of West Virginia says he has chosen not to run because democracy is at stake right now'Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has announced that he will not be launching a presidential campaign, ending speculation about a run for the White House that would have thrown more chaos and confusion into an already tumultuous 2024 election season.Manchin, a centrist Democrat from a deep red state, has long been a thorn in the side of his party and especially its left wing. Since announcing his decision not seek re-election to the Senate, Manchin, 76, has toyed with the idea that he might launch an independent or third-party bid for the White House. Continue reading...

Tropes in a Labour meeting, antisemitism incidents up 589% - try to imagine what it is like to be Jewish in Britain right nowJews dread the news. Maybe the entire population feels that way these days: waking to a morning bulletin consisting of wars abroad, recession at home and Donald Trump would make anyone want to turn off the radio and pull the duvet over their head. But for many Jews, the current news comes with a particular sting. They can hardly bear to hear it - not least because they're in it so often.On Thursday, they woke to new figures showing that late 2023 brought a 589% increase in antisemitic incidents in Britain compared with the same period in 2022. Overall, 2023 saw more than 4,100 episodes of anti-Jewish hate across the country - at least one recorded in every police region in the UK. Most of that huge spike came after 7 October, following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel and Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza. Some of the incidents involved knives, others saw Jews struck with metal bars. Some victims were punched or kicked or spat on, others had stones, bricks or bottles thrown at them. Some had religious clothing - say, the kippah, or skullcap - forcibly removed. Some of the abuse happened online; some of it was physical and personal. Some of it comprised attacks on buildings, slogans daubed on walls, windows smashed; hundreds of incidents involved children, whether making their way to or from school or inside it. The numbers, gathered by the Community Security Trust - the same body that helps organise the volunteer guards who've long been required to stand outside every synagogue and Jewish school in Britain - are the highest since the CST began collecting data four decades ago.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Robert DuBoise, sentenced over a 1983 rape and murder he did not commit, says he hopes others in his position now get justice'A Tampa, Florida, man who has been authorized to receive $14m for spending nearly four decades in prison over a rape and murder which he did not commit says he hopes his case makes it easier for the unjustly convicted to achieve justice before it's too late for them.I'm just grateful," Robert DuBoise told the New York Times of the compensation that Tampa's city council voted to pay him to settle a lawsuit over his wrongful conviction. He said he hoped others in his position now get justice and can move on without having to spend the rest of their life fighting the system that has already wronged them". Continue reading...

From its lavish launch parties to a 2019 accounting scandal, the UK challenger bank has been beset by controversyIn early 2008, inside the Seashell fish and chip shop in Marylebone, west London, Anthony Thomson was about to make a deal.Sitting with the American billionaire Vernon Hill over cod and chips, he revealed plans to import the tycoon's template for a US-style, consumer-focused bank to the UK. Hill gave Thomson his blessing, and ultimately, a chunk of his money, joining him as co-founder. Continue reading...

The Internationalists details how the president was determined to leave a country in which 2,324 US troops were killed since 2001Joe Biden is privately defiant" that he made the right calls on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in summer 2021, a new book reportedly says, even as the chaos and carnage that unfolded continues to be investigated in Congress.No one offered to resign" over the withdrawal, writes Alexander Ward, a Politico reporter, in large part because the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy." Continue reading...