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Updated 2025-12-09 18:01
United Auto Workers calls for ceasefire in Gaza – the largest union to do so
UAW, representing 400,000 in the US and over 580,000 retired workers, makes announcement as military operations resumeThe United Auto Workers, one of the US's largest labor unions, has come out in support of a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine as a temporary ceasefire ended on Friday with Israel resuming military operations in Gaza.The UAW is now the largest union to have called for a ceasefire. It represents 400,000 workers in the US and more than 580,000 retired workers. Continue reading...
His debate with Gavin Newsom showed Ron DeSantis will never be president | Lloyd Green
The fight between two of America's most powerful governors, billed by Fox as The Great Red v Blue State Debate', mostly hurt DeSantisOn Thursday night, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, reminded the US why he will never be president. His voice grates, his visage a cross between a squinted grimace and scowl. He looks like Manuel Noriega, the ex-Panamanian dictator, without the scarring. On a personal level, he lacks humor, warmth, wit, or uplift. He is ham-handed, an awkward social warrior.DeSantis comes across as too hot. This is the guy who picked a fight with Mickey Mouse, his state's largest employer. He holds degrees from Yale and Harvard, but repeatedly flashes clouded judgment. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why he is getting walloped among Republicans by Donald Trump. Continue reading...
US appeals court says Trump must face civil lawsuits over US Capitol attack
Ruling clears way for Trump to face lawsuits from police and lawmakers seeking to hold him responsible for violenceA US appeals court on Friday ruled that Donald Trump must face civil lawsuits over his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, rejecting the former president's claim that he is immune.A panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit found that Trump was acting in his personal capacity as a presidential candidate" when he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. US presidents are immune from civil lawsuits only for official actions. Part of the lawsuit was filed under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law, which makes it illegal to prevent an officer of the United States from performing their duties through threats or intimidation. Continue reading...
Texas lawsuit claims Pfizer exaggerated effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccine
State attorney general Ken Paxton files suit despite medical consensus that vaccine prevents severe infection and deathThe attorney general of Texas is suing the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, alleging that it exaggerated the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine and deceived the public.Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit on Thursday after filing it in Lubbock state district court in north-west Texas, the Texas Tribune reported. Continue reading...
US to impose visa bans on Israeli extremist settlers for violence against Palestinians
Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose the bans in the next few weeksThe Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose visa bans in the next few weeks on Israeli extremist settlers engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, a senior state department official said.Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, in his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and his war cabinet have let them know that the United States will take its own action against an undisclosed number of individuals. Continue reading...
Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman to serve on US supreme court, dies aged 93
Former supreme court justice died in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illnessFormer US supreme court justice Sandra Day O'Connor died at age 93 in Phoenix on Friday of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the court said in a statement.O'Connor was the first woman ever to serve on the US supreme court. Continue reading...
Fabian Nelson, Mississippi’s first openly gay legislator: ‘I’m staying true to my constituents’
Nelson, who surveyed people door-to-door, is prioritizing Medicaid, education and high-speed internet for all householdsFabian Nelson didn't have a campaign platform when he announced his candidacy for Mississippi's house of representatives. He knew, though, that his community's needs would be central to his mission.When people are running for office, [they can be] very selfish and say: Oh, I live here and this is what I need,'" he said. But what you need is not necessarily the best thing for the community." Continue reading...
One small slip and Omid Scobie’s Harry and Meghan book goes stratospheric. Imagine his distress | Marina Hyde
The Sussexes-friendly author swears he never name-checked Charles and Kate. The truth? Look, it's very hard to nail downA hugely intriguing week in Dutch publishing mishaps, as the Netherlands' edition of a new book about the royals names King Charles and the Princess of Wales as the two family members who supposedly speculated about the skin colour of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's then-unborn son. The opus in question is Endgame by Omid Scobie - officially, a Sussex-friendly journalist; unofficially, a jacquard polo shirt influencer of quite substantial importance. Asked about the raging drama, Scobie declared: To be honest, I've been operating a bubble of no emotion for the last 10 days." Which you'll know was the exact same thing Lytton Strachey said in the week of publication of his volume on Queen Victoria. Nothing becomes a contempo historian like the I can't even" of it all.But we race ahead of ourselves. The details - I want to say facts, but I somehow feel that judgment is best reserved for now - are these. Omid Scobie, who increasingly looks like a felt-pen drawing of Omid Scobie, has this week published Endgame, which the publisher says is a penetrating investigation into the current state of British monarchy". Go on. An unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family ... this is the royal family's endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?" You get the gist. For anyone who ordered the word salad, he recommends the Windsors move forward with growth". Continue reading...
First Thing: At least 35 killed in Israeli strikes, says Gaza ministry, as ceasefire ends
Israel's military says it is dividing territory into numbered blocks prior to demanding evacuations from southern Gaza
Lucy Yu’s thriving New York bookstore burned down. How can she rebuild without burning out?
Experts advise the city's first AAPI female bookstore owner on a plan to reopen Yu & Me Books in its original location in ChinatownFor Lucy Yu, who runs what's believed to be New York City's first Asian American woman-owned bookstore, losing her brick-and-mortar business was akin to losing a child. But since 4 July of this year, when a blaze engulfed the Chinatown building that housed Yu & Me Books, the 29-year-old has had little time to process her grief.Within hours of the blaze, she shifted into rebuild mode: right after firefighters brought the fire under control, Yu and a friend ran into the store and hauled inventory into plastic bags and tarps. They salvaged a couple thousand books from the wreckage, just under half of the collection. The effort left Yu coughing and short of breath for the next two weeks. Continue reading...
Bankruptcy court stacks odds in New Orleans church’s favor over abuse claims: ‘I’ve never felt so powerless’
Chapter 11 protection is designed to give an organization time to reorganize its finances to pay its debts but victims of clerical abuse feel frustrated by a lengthy and opaque process
Mad Poll Disease is making Democrats misread voter opinion | Michael Podhorzer
Horserace polling can't tell us anything new about who will win the electoral college - but the existence of an anti-Maga majority is clearNow that Thanksgiving has passed in America, and everyone's Trumpy uncle is on his way back to his conservative state, we still have our catastrophizing Democratic cousins to contend with. Triggered by the drumbeat of horrific poll results, they are panicking that Joe Biden is too old and unpopular to prevent a second Trump administration from taking power.These cousins, and perhaps you too, are suffering from the latest strain of what I call Mad Poll Disease. It's a perpetual state of anxiety - spread by the media's obsession with using polls to forecast the outcome of the next election, instead of empowering voters with all the information they need to decide what they want that outcome to be and act, or vote, accordingly. Continue reading...
I spent half a million dollars on a three-year cruise, but the ship never turned up. Still, always be positive | Meredith Shay
I sold most of my possessions and gave up my home in anticipation of my departure. It might sound stressful, but it was liberatingWhen I heard about a round the world cruise last year, taking in 135 countries and docking at 375 destinations over three years, I was the first person to sign up for it. I chose a seventh-floor cabin with a balcony, setting me back $562,000 (444,000).I had been preparing to set sail last month, from Miami. As the date approached, I started packing the four small cases I was planning to bring aboard with me and then had them sent to the port, ready to be put on the ship. But we hit stormy seas. First, the cruise operator told us our boarding destination had changed, from Miami to the Bahamas. Days later, we were told the cruise was cancelled entirely.Meredith Shay is a retired flight attendant from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US. As told to Lucy Pasha-RobinsonDo 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...
‘We’re killing the youth of America’: calls for crackdown on gambling
Worries that gambling addiction has spiked in the US as legal sports betting booms have led to calls for increased regulationThe United States is heading into a quagmire, if not crisis" of gambling addiction among young people, according to counselors and clinicians - prompting calls for a regulatory crackdown.Treatment clinics are grappling with an influx of patients in their teens and early 20s and helplines are reporting record levels of calls. Continue reading...
NFL playoff race: can Denver continue improbable turnaround in Houston?
The Broncos are looking to become only the fifth team since 1990 to reach the postseason after losing their first three gamesAs the regular season draws to a close, we'll take a look each Friday at a game likely to affect the playoff race, along with the teams whose fortunes are rising and falling. And, so we don't neglect the also-rans, we'll see which teams are in the hunt for next year's No 1 pick. Continue reading...
Pugilistic US presidential undercard provides snapshot of a nation divided
Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Gavin Newsom finally went head to head on Fox News after months of trash talkThe American media billed it as a slugfest" and the Vendetta in Alpharetta". Ron DeSantis's campaign hyped it with a tale of the tape". In the era of politics as entertainment, everyone had an interest in turning a debate between two US state governors into something resembling fight night in Las Vegas.After all, it seems the Elon Musk v Mark Zuckerberg cage match is not going to happen, so Florida governor DeSantis v his California counterpart Gavin Newsom on Fox News in prime time on Thursday would just have to do. Continue reading...
Success is not guaranteed for the USWNT. Just ask China’s Steel Roses
Before a World Cup final defeat to the US in the 90s, Chinese women's soccer was a powerhouse. Now, the nation is plotting for greater success in the 2030sSporting history is littered with Sliding Doors moments, instances when future fortunes pivot on one swing of a bat, one toss of a ball or one swipe of a boot.So named for the 1998 movie in which alternate realities of Gwyneth Paltrow's lead character's life play out simultaneously, diverging at the point at which she did or didn't get on a tube train, the most consequential example of a Sliding Doors moment in the history of women's soccer came on 10 July 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Continue reading...
‘Aura of credibility’: why Democrats and elites revere Kissinger despite war crimes allegations
The enduring fealty of Democrats to the late Republican has baffled many progressives
If ‘man flu’ means men moaning on about minor symptoms, then yes: man flu is real | Tim Dowling
Another health advocate has said the phenomenon is genuine - and take it from me, it is. But not in the way she's suggestingYou don't need a man to tell you man flu is real, although he still will. And now health advocates are agreeing with us: nutritionist Jenna Hope, author of the new book How to Stay Healthy, is perhaps the most recent to argue that men really do suffer more than women when they're ill. When we look at the evidence we find that the female immune system is actually stronger than the male immune system," she told the Times. Women have higher levels of progesterone and oestrogen, she says, which tend to support the immune system, while men have higher levels of testosterone, which suppresses immunity.But when we talk about man flu, are we really talking about an increased sensitivity to symptoms, or just a decreased ability to stop going on about them? The term man flu" has always suggested exaggeration, not least because the illness in question is almost never flu; it's usually just a cold.Tim Dowling is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Has Josh Giddey gotten a pass from the media because he’s white?
A former NFL star has attacked ESPN's coverage of allegations against the player as showing racial bias. But the reality of the matter is far from black and whiteNBA player suspected of improper relationship with minor" is the kind of headline that usually stops the press. But little about this curious case involving Josh Giddey has gone by the book. For a tipoff, it was the league itself - not one of its sleepless scoop hounds - that broke the news over last week's Thanksgiving holiday weekend that it was investigating allegations of an improper relationship between the Oklahoma City Thunder swingman and an underaged girl. In a social media post, a user said a girl who features prominently in photographs and videos with Giddey was as young as 15. Giddey turned 21 last month. I'm dating Josh!" she screams in one snippet. We don't have to talk about it!"But even as the league office appears to be treating the matter with utmost seriousness and local police are launching their own investigation too, the league-wide reaction has been oddly restrained - perhaps because Giddey has yet to miss a start as a result. Giddey barely addressed the matter when the news broke. I understand you guys want to know about it," he said last week, but right now, I just don't have anything to say." Thunder coach Mike Daigneault has been just as reluctant to comment on the allegations or pull Giddey - a leading scorer, rebounder and assist man - from the OKC lineup, filing it under personal matter". Continue reading...
Whatever your view of the Israel-Hamas war, rape is rape. To trivialise it is to diminish ourselves | Gaby Hinsliff
This isn't some ghoulish competition, where any empathy shown to dead Israelis leaves less available for PalestiniansThere is no such thing as a perfect victim, but a million ways to be an imperfect one. She was drinking. Her skirt was too short. She went willingly back to the footballer's mansion, or up to Harvey Weinstein's hotel suite, so what did she think was going to happen? Maybe she was a teenage runaway, or a sex worker; he was a good boy, or a much-loved celebrity. There is a long list of reasons rapists get away with it, but it all too often starts with a jury's refusal to listen to a woman they have already decided for some stubborn reason not to like. Remember that, as we come to the distressing picture now emerging of alleged multiple rapes and sexual assaults by Hamas fighters amid the atrocities of 7 October.This week, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, finally called for what he described as numerous accounts of sexual violence during the abhorrent acts of terror by Hamas" to be vigorously investigated".Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistInformation and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.htmlDo 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 dock of sorts for the men who failed Britain during Covid – but they may yet escape | Andy Beckett
The dereliction of Boris Johnson and his allies is daily being laid bare. The key is to remember what they did and hold them to accountIn so many ways, the Covid inquiry feels as if it is going very badly for the Tories. Seemingly every session in the plain, low-ceilinged, rather severe room next to Paddington station in London confirms more of our worst suspicions from the time of the pandemic about the Conservatives' performance in government. That Boris Johnson, many of his ministers and some of his most senior advisers were disastrously unsuited to dealing with one of the most lethal crises Britain has ever faced is becoming ever clearer, question by question, document by document.The lead counsel for the inquiry, Hugo Keith KC, sometimes uses phrases such as failings in the heart of the government" when he is questioning ministers and ex-ministers - and even more ominously for them, when he is summarising or making observations about their answers. It's hard to see at this stage how the inquiry's report, the first part of which is currently scheduled for publication early next summer, can be anything other than damning. And Johnson and Rishi Sunak - or Dr Death", as one of the government's most senior scientific advisers called him during the pandemic - haven't even been interrogated by the inquiry yet. Johnson is scheduled to appear next week, with Sunak expected soon afterwards.Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The Black Atlantic exhibition takes an unflinching look at the sins of the past – and offers a vision of repair | Kenneth Mohammed
A lasting legacy of racism, oppression and colonialism is laid bare at a powerful exhibition in Cambridge. Confronting it can help us build a more equitable worldGone and forgotten until it comes around again next October, Black History Month is challenging for those who argue that a people's history should not be confined to a mere four weeks. Genuine comprehension of history fosters an appreciation for the crucial principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity. All are pivotal in cultivating peace within our societies, and their absence manifests in racism. But racism isn't limited to a specific month.Racism encompasses prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against others based on their racial or ethnic affiliation, typically targeting minorities or marginalised groups. It stems from the belief in distinct characteristics, abilities or qualities attributed to different races, often to establish a hierarchy of inferiority or superiority. Continue reading...
Would I use AI to write my novels? I'd get better results from a monkey with an iPhone | Monica Ali
I asked ChatGPT to improve my latest novel and lost no sleep over the results. But I do worry about diverse voices being crowded outThis summer two worlds - literature and technology - collided. News stories began appearing about authors suing OpenAI and Meta for using their works to train their large language models without consent, without credit and without compensation". I read them with increasing curiosity, and then I found a review of a novella, Death of an Author, which was 95% machine-generated". I put down my quill and stared out of the window, wondering if my tried and tested productivity hacks of taking the dog for a walk or soaking in a hot tub were no longer going to cut it in this frightening new world.Be brave, I told myself. Experiment with these new technologies or prepare to be replaced by a monkey with an iPhone and a writing app. I lay on my bed and opened up Laika, one of the free creative writing tools I'd read about. Perhaps my latest novel, Love Marriage, could have been vastly improved with this genius tool. I pasted in the first paragraph: In the Ghorami household sex was never mentioned. If the television was on and a kissing-with-tongues scene threatened the chaste and cardamom-scented home, it was swiftly terminated by a flick of the black box. When Yasmin began her first period, her mother had slipped her a pack of Kotex Maxi pads and murmured instructions not to touch the Qur'an ..."This is an edited extract from Monica Ali's 2023 PEN HG Wells lecture, hosted by English PEN in partnership with New Writing North. The full version of this piece is published in PEN Transmissions, English PEN's literary magazineMonica Ali is a novelist, whose latest book is Love Marriage Continue reading...
Dak Prescott makes MVP case as Dallas Cowboys hold off Seattle Seahawks
Whether in song or in silence, Shane MacGowan exuded the very essence of life
When I interviewed him last year, the late Pogues legend was truculent, moody, wilfully silent - and immensely likable. I will forever cherish our strange meetingShane MacGowan and I sat in near silence for two hours last year. We were at his home, just outside Dublin. I'd been warned by his wife, the writer Victoria Mary Clarke, that he was depressed and anxious, not really in the mood to talk. But nothing could prepare me for this. He scoffed at my questions or snorted with contempt. He looked at Victoria despairingly when I asked about his mix of Englishness and Irishness. God, these questions are fucking ..." He decided the sentence wasn't even worth finishing. I tried to talk about his most famous song, Fairytale of New York. It pisses me off when people always talk about it," he said in that famous mumbled slur. I asked if people were right to refer to him as a genius. Probably, yeah," he said. What made you a genius? God! Fucking ridiculous question!" He had a point.Sometimes he just laughed, like a snore. Chhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Throughout, he slurped his gin and tonic noisily from an oversized glass. Schhhhhhlrrrrp. Continue reading...
DeSantis v Newsom debate: governors clash on housing, taxes, immigration and more – as it happened
Republican and Democrat to take to the stage in Alpharetta, Georgia, for debate moderated by Sean HannityNewsom has called out DeSantis' lagging poll numbers.You're trying to find migrants to play political games to get some news attention so you can out-Trump Trump, and by the way, how's that going for you, Ron? You're down 41 points in your own home state." Continue reading...
DeSantis v Newsom debate: governors clash on crime, abortion, guns and more
Slugfest' moderated by Sean Hannity saw the Democrat and Republican speaking over each other in heated shadow campaign'Ron DeSantis, a hard-right contender for the Republican presidential nomination, took the stage in Georgia on Thursday for a debate one eager website dubbed The Vendetta in Alpharetta."But the Florida governor's opponent was not Donald Trump, the former president and clear primary frontrunner, or any other Republican contender. His opponent was Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California,who is not seeking his party's nomination next year, given Joe Biden's grip on the White House. Continue reading...
US judge blocks Montana’s TikTok state ban: ‘oversteps state power’
In a preliminary injunction on Thursday, Judge Donald Molloy said first-of-its-kind ban violates free speech rights of usersA US judge has blocked Montana's first-of-its kind state ban on the use of short-video sharing app TikTok from taking effect on 1 January, saying it violated the free speech rights of users.In a preliminary injunction on Thursday, US district judge Donald Molloy said the law oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users". Continue reading...
LA executive was fatally shot by woman stalking his friend, lawyers say
Friend was not at home when woman allegedly forced herself inside home of Michael Latt, 33, and fired semi-automatic handgunA high-profile entertainment marketing consultant was targeted by a woman who had been stalking one of his friends before she fatally shot him after forcing her way inside his Los Angeles home, prosecutors said Thursday.Michael Latt, 33, had worked on projects with filmmakers including Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, as well as the rap artist Common. He was pronounced dead on Monday in the hospital. Continue reading...
Atrocities and dirty jokes: Americans learn of Kissinger’s death through raunchy text chain
I'm doing what I can to keep this man's legacy from being a master politician,' says woman who wrote viral copypastaOn 31 October, I received an emoji-filled text that screamed: THOT-O-WEEN is upon us." While taking a break from Turkey Day baking last week, I got another wishing me a HAPPY SPANXGIVING". Such is the horny holiday copypasta text.It's practically a Gen Z and millennial tradition. These texts resemble the chain emails that were popular at the dawn of the digital inbox: send this generic spooky story to 15 people, or you'll be dead by midnight. But they've been revamped for our chaotic times, filled with horny emojis, sexual innuendos, and lots of curse words. Continue reading...
Tiger Woods signs for ‘rusty’ 75 on comeback at Hero World Challenge
Bronny James, LeBron’s son, cleared to play for USC after cardiac issue
Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini hit with five-match MLS ban for playoff tirade
House debates resolution to expel Republican George Santos – as it happened
This live blog is now closed. For our latest report on Santos, click below:
US urges Israel to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza – video
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, held a press conference in Tel Aviv after meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials. Blinken said the immediate focus of his visit is to try to extend the pause in fighting in Gaza and enable more hostages to be freed. The US also urged the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to protect civilians in Gaza. Israel has one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world, it is capable of neutralising the threat while minimising harm to innocent men, women and children,' Blinken said
Trump attacks wife of New York judge after gag order reinstated by court
Former president lashes out against wife of judge in civil fraud trial before and after appeals court reapplies gag order
Latin America remembers Kissinger’s ‘profound moral wretchedness’
US statesman's encouragement of Pinochet's coup in Chile and his backing for Argentina's military dictatorship left lasting stainHenry Kissinger's death has brought out some bitter epitaphs from Latin America where the legacy of US intervention helped saddle the region with some of the most brutal military regimes of the 20th century.Nowhere has been the reaction been more damning than in Chile, where Kissinger was instrumental in the 1973 coup that led to the death of a democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende and the installation of a dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, and his military junta. Continue reading...
As Gavin Newsom’s political star rises, some Californians are wary of his ‘new persona’
Governor has been busy campaigning over the last few months, but his approval rating sank to an all-time low and his constituents are growing increasingly skepticalGavin Newsom won't be on the ballot in 2024, though lately, he's been acting a lot like he is.In the lead-up to his prime-time debate on Thursday with Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, Newsom, 56, has been busy campaigning over the last few months. He has travelled to several red states, where he also paid for billboards and television advertisements. He has challenged not just DeSantis, but a number of Republican governors including Greg Abbott of Texas. He launched a Campaign for Democracy'' political action committee. He met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Xi Jinping in China. Continue reading...
Dismay as Mehdi Hasan’s MSNBC and Peacock news show cancelled
British-born journalist's program had gained reputation for hard-hitting interviewsThe cable TV channel MSNBC and its sister network NBC's Peacock streaming service is cancelling the weekend news show The Mehdi Hasan Show, with its eponymous outspoken host, people familiar with the decision have told the news website Semafor.The host and journalist Mehdi Hasan will instead become an on-camera analyst and guest host, the outlet reported on Thursday. The Peacock original show will be replaced by an additional hour of Ayman, the news program hosted by Ayman Mohyeldin. Continue reading...
Oklahoma executes man who claimed he killed two in self-defense
Phillip Dean Hancock killed by lethal injection after Republican governor declines to commute sentence despite recommendationOklahoma executed a man on Thursday who claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed two men in Oklahoma City in 2001.Phillip Dean Hancock, 59, received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma state penitentiary and was declared dead at 11.29am. His execution went forward once the Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, declined to commute his sentence, despite a clemency recommendation from the state's pardon and parole board. Continue reading...
George Santos: a creature of Congress, Citizens United and limitless Republican hypocrisy | Sidney Blumenthal
The New York fabulist faces expulsion but the fault for his rise lies with Trump, McCarthy, McConnell and the supreme courtIt seems churlish for any member of the party of Donald Trump to single out George Santos for punishment as a liar, fraudster and fabulist. The 23 federal charges against the first-term member of Congress pale beside the Republican frontrunner's 91 felony counts and civil suits over fraud and E Jean Carroll's defamation claim, based on her allegation of rape. Republicans' faux horror at the discovery of Santos's extravagant spending of campaign funds on Botox, casino chips and OnlyFans porn belies their previous blithe tolerance of the red-dressed, gay-pride, Brazilian drag queen in their midst. Santos thrived as the symbol of the cultural contradictions of Republicanism. Did his sophisticated taste for accessories from Hermes and Ferragamo finally do him in with his anti-globalist colleagues?The facts of Santos's false identity were pried apart gradually, beginning before he was even sworn in. Slowly, his crimes were revealed. Expose after expose - yet nothing happened. So long as Santos voted as a reliable Republican (100% Heritage Action rating), he was shielded from ritual rounds of queer bashing, much less expulsion. The narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives required every able-bodied member who could hold up an arm. Santos was straight as a party liner. Continue reading...
Netanyahu is stuck as he battles Hamas: he can’t afford to lose, yet can’t find a way to win | Alon Pinkas
Paralysed by the demands of the Israeli public and the US, the PM is struggling to offer solutions or a vision of the future
The Golden Bachelor’s older singletons have saved a franchise
No matter who 72-year-old Gerry picks on this week's finale, the spin-off has injected new life into the US's flagship dating showStrange as it may sound, one of the hottest shows on TV this fall has been ... an old dating series now catering, for once, to senior citizens. That would be The Golden Bachelor, a new spin-off of America's pre-eminent dating series in which a 72-year-old widow searches for love among a cohort of age-appropriate women aged 60-75. The show has delivered the franchise's highest ratings in years - its September premiere reached a combined 13.9 million viewers and set a streaming record as ABC's most-watched episode of an unscripted series ever on Hulu. And it's not just appealing to the golden demographic; the series scored the franchise's best ratings for the 18-49 demographic since a 2021 episode of Bachelor in Paradise, which adheres to the much more standard format of hot young singles commingling in hot exotic locales.Anecdotally, The Golden Bachelor has transcended the generally siloed island of Bachelor Nation - no show has been mentioned to me more this fall, or with more surprise and delight. I'm generally dating show agnostic, and yet found myself charmed by the older midwesterner Gerry Turner and his suitors, all openly looking for companionship after love, loss and many former eras. Regardless of who Turner chooses on this week's two-hour season finale - 64-year-old Leslie Fhima, a former national aerobics champion, or 70-year-old Theresa Nist, who also lost a longtime beloved spouse - the Golden Bachelor has undoubtedly reinvigorated America's pre-eminent dating franchise. Continue reading...
Buffalo Bills star Von Miller faces arrest for assaulting pregnant woman
George Santos makes final effort to resist vote to expel him from US House
Republican congressman, facing possible expulsion following House vote on Friday, gives speech outside the US Capitol
Hungary and Philadelphia Union’s Dániel Gazdag: ‘We reached our goal and we are so happy’
The logjam created by MLS's newly bloated playoff format and European qualifying has made things complicated for players like Philadelphia Union and Hungary midfielder Daniel GazdagThe 28th season of Major League Soccer has taken a league famed for its frequent changes and Americanized innovations and shifted the format once more.With the inaugural Leagues Cup stuck into the middle of a long, arduous season, MLS's 29 teams entered the postseason already considerably fatigued. Upon arrival, they'd find an expanded playoff format allowing nearly two-thirds of the league's teams into a postseason race that started with drawn-out best-of-three series. Victors in that round were then treated to an international break - further beleaguering their star talent - before the conference semi-finals arrived this past weekend. Continue reading...
Praise and criticism as world reacts to death of Henry Kissinger
Vladimir Putin among those offering condolences and praising former US secretary of state, amid division over legacy
Henry Kissinger: tributes to ‘old friend’ and ‘giant of history’ mix with criticism of controversial legacy – live
Leaders of China, France, Russia and Italy pay tribute amid critical statements over his record in Latin America and CambodiaOn the subject of Taiwan - and see below for our China correspondent Amy Hawkins' reminder of the incredible fact that in 1979 Kissinger was a key figure in the US severing ties with Taiwan, and switching its formal recognition to the government in Beijing - some people there praised his death as good news".Bless him for being Chinese in his next life," one said. Continue reading...
Democratic leaders and Jewish groups condemn video of support for Hamas at Oakland debate
Edited video clips, which some say are misleading, show comments made by public at city council debate justifying Hamas as armed resistance'Prominent Democratic party leaders in California, as well as pro-Israel Jewish groups in the Bay Area, have condemned expressions of support for Hamas and conspiracy theories questioning the 7 October attacks aired at a heated Oakland city council debate on Monday.The California congress member Adam Schiff said it was shocking to hear people downplay, deny or even seek to justify" the horrific attacks, rapes, killings and kidnappings" carried out by Hamas. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, also posted on social media that Hamas was a terrorist organization that must be called out for what they are: evil". Continue reading...
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