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The franchise has won just two playoff games in the past 11 seasons. But a talented young roster look like they could make a deep run this time aroundOne of the NBA's great recent runs of futility could finally be nearing an end.The Orlando Magic don't carry the league's longest active playoff drought - that dishonor belongs the Charlotte Hornets - but there's a real case to be made that no NBA fanbase has dealt with as much frustration over the past decade or so as folks in mid-Florida. They've won just two playoff games in the past 11 seasons, dropping five straight postseason series dating back to their Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy heyday. Continue reading...

As nation-state ownership within football becomes normalized, growing numbers of fans are willing to make excuses for autocratsIt was the clearest definition of sportswashing' you could hope for. Buried within Foreign Office exchanges unearthed in a recent investigation by The Athletic into the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United, one line stuck out: The takeover of Newcastle presents an opportunity to promote a different image of Saudi Arabia in the UK."The increased presence of nation-state ownership in sport - from the Saudi golf takeover to the acquisition of clubs such as Newcastle and Manchester City by investment funds linked closely to governments in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi - is, inevitably, money-oriented. Gulf states are attempting to diversify their economies and decrease their reliance on fossil fuels, with Saudi Arabia aiming to boost sport's percentage of the kingdom's GDP to 10% by 2030. Continue reading...

Walgreens Boots Alliance reportedly exploring options including flotation on London Stock ExchangeThe US parent company of Boots has revived plans to offload the UK's biggest pharmacy chain.Walgreens Boots Alliance, which abandoned a 5bn sale of Boots and its related No7 Beauty brand last year, is reportedly exploring options including an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. Continue reading...

Nothing should be taboo for comedy or satire. But a Sky TV project raises the question: who is telling the joke and writing the script?Is a comedy about slavery" desirable, or even possible? And if not, what about satire: is that an applicable lens through which to consider one of the greatest crimes in human history? Sky, the writer Rufus Jones and the actors Hugh Bonneville and Sarah Parish - all of whom are involved in a putative series about the repercussions of an inheritance derived from slavery - are about to find out. The omens are not good: it's attracted widespread criticism before even being made.First, let me be clear: slavery and the myth of white guilt are not too taboo for comedy and, even more so, satire. Absolutely nothing should be. Satire in particular, which differs to comedy in so far as the underlying objective is to expose folly, vice, hypocrisy and human shallowness, is an important tool for generating empathy for the downtrodden, and understanding some of humanity's more shameful and painful tendencies.Nels Abbey is a writer, broadcaster and former bankerDo 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...

At the European Council, liberalism and populism will lock horns. Whichever side prevails could decide the course for years to comeI have been in more than 20 European countries this year and I have seen two Europes. Across large parts of the continent, you're still in a Europe where high-speed trains waft you across frontiers you hardly notice, as you travel seamlessly between highly integrated liberal democracies resolved to solve all their remaining conflicts by peaceful means. But take an old slow train just a few hours to the east and you are spending time in bomb shelters and talking to badly wounded soldiers with tales from the trenches reminiscent of the first world war. I keep the Air Alarm Ukraine app active on my phone, so its warnings of air raids on Ukrainian cities remind me every day of that other Europe.There's a related duality in our politics. Many European countries still have governments on the spectrum between centre-left and centre-right, often with complicated coalitions, yet all committed one way or another to making both liberal democracy and the European Union work. In Poland, we can this week celebrate the return of such a government under Donald Tusk, kicking out a populist nationalist party that had dangerously threatened the country's democracy. On the other hand, populist nationalist parties of the hard right have scored notable successes, from the emergence of Giorgia Meloni as Italian prime minister last year, through to worrying regional election gains for Germany's Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) and the recent election victory of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. Hungarian leader Viktor Orban is more aggressive than ever as he works against both the interests and the values of the EU, while exploiting all the advantages of membership in it. (Brexiters at least had the honesty to leave the club they loathe.)Timothy Garton Ash is a Guardian columnist. His latest book, Homelands: A Personal History of Europe, is being published in more than 20 European languages Continue reading...

Sergey Ochigava, who had Russian and Israeli identification, faces felony charges of being an aircraft stowawayA Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket told US authorities he didn't remember how he got through security in Europe, according to a federal complaint filed by the FBI. He has been charged with a federal crime.Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, 46, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on 4 November via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. He initially told authorities he had left his passport on the airplane which he flew on. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer could not find Ochigava on the flight manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to the complaint filed 6 November in Los Angeles federal court. Continue reading...

Speaking after a White House meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, US president Joe Biden said the US will support Ukraine in its war with Russia 'as long as we can'. 'Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine. We must, we must, we must prove him wrong,' Biden said. The US president continued, highlighting praise for Republicans by a Russian TV host and said: 'If you're being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you're doing. History ... will judge harshly'

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The 4-3 decision could have major ramifications for the control of the US House as Democrats angle to gain control of itNew York's highest court on Tuesday ordered the state to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections, giving Democrats a potential advantage in what is expected to be a battleground for control of the US House.The 4-3 decision from the New York court of appeals could have major ramifications as Democrats angle for more favorable district lines in the state next year. Republicans, who won control of the House after flipping seats in New York, sought to keep the map in place. Continue reading...

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are seeking up to $43m in damages after Giuliani falsely accused them of trying to steal 2020 electionShaye Moss thought she was getting promoted when her boss stopped by her cubicle on 4 December 2020. But when she stepped into his office, something was amiss - she realized she was the only one smiling.It would wind up being the day everything in her life turned upside down". Continue reading...

In indication of possible shift in tone from the White House, Biden called on Netanyahu to change his hardline government

Police in Gary were able to track down the man after he allegedly shot a fellow customer during a fight at a grocery storeA debit card left behind at the scene of a fatal shooting helped police in the US state of Indiana track down and arrest a man suspected of killing a fellow customer at a grocery store.The violence on Monday evening was caught on the surveillance camera of the store in Gary, Indiana - video which shows two men in their 40s getting into a fight near the checkout counter. Continue reading...

Agreement thought to be the largest in state's history involving an incarcerated person's deathThe family of a man who died after starving in an Indiana jail while being held in solitary confinement for three weeks has secured a $7.25m settlement, thought to be the state's largest ever in connection with the death of an incarcerated person.Joshua McLemore's estate reached the settlement with the government of the county where the jail is. Wrongful death lawsuits against the jail's physician and its medical services provider, Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc, are still pending. Continue reading...

Hannah Giles quits rightwing muckraker and says non-profit has become an unsalvageable mess'The chief executive of the rightwing muckraker Project Veritas resigned on Monday, saying the non-profit had become an unsalvageable mess" and alleging past illegality" and past financial improprieties" at the group founded by the political provocateur James O'Keefe.I am stepping down from all roles with Project Veritas and Project Veritas Action - effective immediately," Hannah Giles said. Continue reading...

State attorney general threatened to prosecute doctors if they provided abortion care to a woman with a nonviable pregnancyWhen a Texas court ruled that a 31-year-old woman with a non-viable pregnancy could have an abortion despite the state's strict bans, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, responded with a brazen threat to prosecute hospitals, doctors, or anyone else" who would assist in providing the procedure. The letter he sent Texas hospitals hours after the ruling, threatening first-degree felonies that could result in life in prison, was a stunning" move indicative of his longstanding crusade to criminalize abortion care, say legal experts and advocates.It is extraordinary that Paxton would threaten hospitals and doctors with this letter before even winning an appeal," Mary Ziegler, a UC-Davis law professor who focuses on reproductive rights, told the Guardian. It's a very unusual maneuver, but does certainly reflect his ultimate goal of wanting to go after abortion providers and supporters at all costs." Continue reading...

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the most vulnerable: we must fight to defend and extend itDuring the week when we mark 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1948 convention on the prevention and punishment of genocide, I have been thinking about the genesis of both events and how we should commemorate them now.Adopted within 24 hours of each other in Paris in December 1948, the universal declaration seeks to protect individuals, while the convention seeks to protect groups. That moment in Paris was revolutionary: a recognition that the rights of the state are not unlimited, that the days of being allowed as a matter of law to trample over human lives were over. Continue reading...

Two years ago, a woman like Cox was able to control her body on her own terms. Now, she has to go before a court and begIn most cases, we would never have learned her name. Kate Cox, a Texas woman, is in a sadly common set of circumstances: a 31-year-old mother of two, Cox was pregnant with her third child when doctors informed her that something was wrong. Pregnancy complications are common, but in a state like Texas, they have become newly dangerous, threatening women with potentially disfiguring health complications, along with unimaginable heartbreak, as the state's multiple bans have mandated grotesque and inhumane treatment of doomed pregnancies.Cox's fetus had trisomy 18, a chromosomal disorder. Trisomy 18 is a devastating diagnosis. Most pregnancies end in stillbirths; those infants born alive with the disorder live anguished, short and painful lives. Cox was informed that her fetus, in the sterile medical parlance, could not sustain life". The fetus had malformations of the spine, heart, brain and limbs. The pregnancy also posed dire threats to Cox's health; most significantly, she was at risk of losing her future fertility if she remained pregnant. Continue reading...

Marvin Haynes receives apology from DA who said prosecutors had no forensic evidence linking him to 2004 murderA man convicted of murdering a Minnesota flower shop clerk largely based on a single eyewitness identification has been freed from a sentence of life imprisonment, elating his supporters and him but outraging the slain victim's family.Marvin Haynes was 16 when the killing which sent him to prison for nearly two decades unfolded in 2004 in Minneapolis. His release comes amid the implementation of court-mandated reforms to the local police department, prompted in part by a former officer's murder of George Floyd in 2020. Continue reading...

The leaders of Harvard, Penn and MIT should have clearly condemned calls for genocide but the response has been almost as repugnantAmerica's prestigious universities play a big role in determining who gets into America's wealthy elite.A degree from Harvard, Penn or MIT, to take three examples, is a meal ticket to a lucrative job on Wall Street or a corporate law firm and to the richest and most influential people in the land. Continue reading...

There is wisdom gained through the years of being a human that offers insight and deep understanding. Why are women so reluctant to claim it as their own?Wisdom has oft been thought as a phenomenon that might only be found at the peak of a mountain, held in the fingertips of an older man who has taken himself away from the pesky happenings of the world below so as to contemplate the existence of truth. And then perhaps share that understanding with a book tour and motivational speaking encounter.One of my favourite stories about those who remove themselves from the world to live in caves to reach heightened states of wisdom and transcendence was the story of a monk who had spent a year in an isolated holding, on a mountain, without contact with the world. After that year of silence and contemplation, he reached a transcendent state and so found his way back down the mountain to live among the villagers below. He said it took only an hour before he felt enormous irritation arise - humans, it turns out, were quite annoying. He walked back up the mountain. I'm not sure how that story ended but maybe he never came back down. Continue reading...

Backlash against presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT has led to one resignation and implications for free speech on campusThe controversy over the comments of three elite US university presidents made at a congressional hearing on antisemitism could reverberate far beyond their campuses.On Tuesday, the Harvard Corporation, the school's highest governing body, announced that the university's president, Claudine Gay, would remain in her post after calls for her removal following the testimony. The news came days after another president, Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, quit following backlash to her responses to combative questioning at the hearing from the New York Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Continue reading...

A growing number of Black women in the US are choosing IVF, surrogacy and other medical interventions to have children - and ending the silence around their difficulties conceivingWhen Monique Farook finally let go of what had been her secret shame, her mother's response was fast and painfully plain: Infertility? What is that?"Those were her exact words, recalled Farook, who spent six months trying to get pregnant, then almost four years trying to convince her husband that in vitro fertilization (IVF) or some other assisted reproductive technology was the way to go. After one failed intrauterine insemination (IUI), where sperm is injected into the uterus, and a successful round of IVF, where an embryo is implanted, Farook finally gave birth to her son, now six-year-old Omar. Continue reading...

The institution has progressed from its earliest, brutal form. But Marriage 3.0 still hands men the lion's share of benefitsIt sounds absurd, but the most compelling display of the collapse of modern American marriage in 2023 is happening on a show about Mormon polygamists.For 18 seasons, TLC's Sister Wives has followed Kody Brown and his four loudly Caucasian wives, who share 18 children and several houses in Arizona. The show started as a saccharine docu-soap about an unorthodox family trying to fit into an increasingly modern world. Now, I watch with rapt interest, practically foaming at the mouth, as one by one Kody's wives leave him. Continue reading...

French company to receive up to receive up to 657m, helping push electric vehicles unit AmpereFrance's Renault has said it will sell 5% of its shares in Nissan, the first step in a plan to rebalance a troublesome partnership with the Japanese carmaker.Renault will receive up to 765m (657m) from the sale, helping the launch of its electric vehicles unit, Ampere. However, it will book a loss of 1.5bn to reflect the sale price, which is lower than the value of the stake previously reported on its balance sheet, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Continue reading...

After months of disarray over the legality of abortion, the state supreme court will decide whether to reinstate zombie' ban. Plus, seven ways to make your holidays a little greenerGood morning.The Arizona state supreme court will today hear arguments in a case over whether to reinstate an abortion ban that originated in 1864, before Arizona even became a state. The ban blocks people from helping to procure the miscarriage" of a pregnant woman and allows abortions only to save her life. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.What's happening in Texas? The Texas supreme court yesterday overturned a lower court's ruling that would have allowed a pregnant woman to get an emergency abortion under the medical exception for the state's near-total abortion ban, granting a petition by the Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton. The ruling came hours after lawyers for the woman, Kate Cox, said in a court filing that she had left the state to obtain the abortion, but nonetheless wanted to pursue the case.What else is happening? The UN general assembly is due to vote today on a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza - a call that the paralysed security council has so far failed to make. Continue reading...

Fighter opens up on his tough upbringing, escaping gang life and his stunning defeat of Kamaru Usman to become world championLeon Edwards laughs as he remembers how, seven years ago, he and a friend used to practise his interview technique at home in Birmingham. I was terrible at interviews," the UFC welterweight champion admits as his traumatic life, blighted by the murder of his father and his immersion in gangland strife as a teenager, had left him sounding broken and stilted.I was so nervous I'd be giving one-word answers," Edwards says with an amused grimace as he gets ready to defend his title against Colby Covington in Las Vegas on Saturday night. That's all I could do then." Continue reading...

The lurgy rules used to be clear. But now, if you want to go anywhere with a runny nose, you have to get your excuses in earlyIt was nearly midnight on Friday, and I was sitting in a TV studio with some balled-up tissue in one hand and a pack of chewing gum in the other, like a kid who had been asked by a police officer to turn out their pockets, and then unaccountably wandered into a current affairs programme. This is 100% true: I did not feel ill when I left the house. My best guess for why I was streaming with snot and my eyeballs were on fire was that I was allergic to the pine-scented car-freshener in the Uber. This is bound to pass," I thought, as I waited for the camera to move somewhere else so I could blow my nose again. It did not pass, and all was not well, and by all", I mean me".The rules of illness changed after Covid: previously there was an expectation that you would take your rhinovirus all round town until you dropped dead, and if you happened to give it to anyone, they would appreciate you even more, because now they would know how rubbish you felt. While the pandemic delivered nothing of the large-scale social revolution many of us hoped for at the start, it did at least ram home this trace of wisdom: maybe just stay in bed if you are not well?Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

It's crucial for Democrats to connect with ordinary voters on the topic and focus on state capitols where Donald Trump allies are pressing for sweeping bansDemocrats should hammer extremist Republicans as out of touch" with ordinary voters on abortion rights ahead of crucial state legislature elections next November, a leading party fundraiser says.Heather Williams, whose appointment as president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) was first shared with the Guardian on Tuesday, urged her party to stay focused on state capitols, where allies of former US president Donald Trump are pursuing sweeping abortion bans. Continue reading...

The Italian defender left Juventus for LAFC in 2020. With his playing career winding down, his move to MLS has laid the tracks for what comes nextAt 6.07 pm on a chilly, stormy Saturday in central Ohio, Giorgio Chiellini reached a crossroads that no professional athlete can avoid.The 39-year-old center-back, who has played for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC since July 2022, must now decide whether to continue a career that featured numerous team and personal honors for Juventus and Italy. Continue reading...

Fumi Nagasaka had never been to the deep south before visiting Dora in Walker County - the people she met and photographed there confounded her expectations Continue reading...

Many Europeans fail to realise that EU enlargement is the only way to counter Russia and China - but this week, leaders must act

Paterson residents describe anger, sadness, desperation' after US vetoes UN resolution calling for ceasefireA general strike called after the US blocked a UN resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza took hold across New Jersey's Arab American communities on Monday, in the latest expression of opposition to Israel's devastating military offensive in the Palestinian territory.Along Palestine Way in the city of Paterson, dozens of business owners, community leaders and families with young children, swathed in keffiyeh scarves against the cold, heeded the call from Palestinian leaders to show, in symbolic, political and economic terms, deepening anger and distress about an Israeli military operation that began after a Hamas cross-border attack on 7 October. Continue reading...

Filing suggests experts could connect former president's tweets with the movements of January 6 rioters who stormed the CapitolSpecial counsel prosecutors indicated on Monday they will call three expert witnesses at Donald Trump's trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election who could potentially show how January 6 rioters moved on the Capitol in response to the former president's tweets.The witnesses, according to a three-page filing, involve two experts on geolocation data to show the crowd's movement during and after Trump's speech at the Ellipse, and an expert on cellular phone data to testify about when and how Trump's phone was being used, including over the same time period. Continue reading...

City audit says police flights cost $3,000 an hour with unclear benefit, but police chief disputes findingsLos Angeles spends nearly $50m a year on its police helicopter program, or roughly $3,000 for every hour of flight, according to a new audit that raises questions about the financial and environmental impacts of the city's aerial surveillance.The LA controller's report released on Monday suggests the use of LA police department (LAPD) helicopters is nearly constant across the city, and the majority of flight time is not in response to reports of major crimes, but instead for transportation, ceremonial trips or patrols. The flights are a major source of pollution and appear to disproportionately affect some communities of color, the audit said. Continue reading...

Georgians are seeking $15.5m-$43m in damages from former New York City mayor for his false statements about ballot counts

Plaintiff are seeking up to $43m in damages in defamation case and Giuliani's lawyer tells court it would be the end' of him if he loses

Court filing shows former representative in negotiations with prosecutors following 1 December expulsion from US HouseUS prosecutors said on Monday they were engaged in plea negotiations with the former US representative George Santos to resolve criminal charges ahead of trial, a court filing showed.Santos's fellow lawmakers voted on 1 December to expel him from the House of Representatives over the charges and accusations of misspending campaign money. Continue reading...

Representative celebrates UPenn president's resignation as critics point to her support of Trump, who associates with antisemitesCongresswoman Elise Stefanik celebrated the resignation of the president of the University of Pennsylvania in a storm over campus antisemitism, but faced criticism regarding her support for Donald Trump, who associates with antisemites himself.Referring to Liz Magill, who quit after a stormy congressional hearing last week, and the presidents of Harvard and MIT, who by Monday had not stepped down, Stefanik - the House Republican caucus chairperson - tweeted: One down. Two to go." Continue reading...

Prosecutors seek expedited decision on whether former president has immunity amid concern that appeals process could delay trial

Zelenskiy's government faces growing criticism at home and abroad. But support for Kyiv is not based on sentimentalityA year ago, Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Washington as not merely the respected leader of a courageous nation, but as a global star. His address to Congress was greeted with thunderous cheers. As he returns for a third trip on Tuesday, he is seeking to win over key legislators, and the public, after Republican senators blocked $106bn in aid, primarily for Ukraine and also Israel. They have tied the spending to US immigration measures. The administration has warned that funding could run out by the end of the year. Kyiv is also trying to shore up support from its other main ally, the EU. In talks this week, Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, is threatening to veto 50bn of support and is blocking progress on accession.The failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive has hit morale at home and enthusiasm for the cause abroad. Last month the commander in chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, acknowledged the stalemate and warned that there will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough". This is now, more than ever, a war of attrition. GenZaluzhnyi's words demonstrated not only frustration but also the growing evidence of friction between political and military leaders. The US is also more openly discussing differences, primarily over military tactics, but also over issues such as corruption. Continue reading...

Col Sean Riley's removal announced along with report on investigation into leak that led to charges against Jack TeixeiraThe US air force has removed the commander of the unit where a low-ranking national guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents worked.Col Sean Riley's removal as commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis air national guard base in Massachusetts was announced along with a report containing the results of an internal investigation into the classified materials leak which led to federal charges against 21-year-old Jack Teixeira. Continue reading...

From Alisson Becker's excellence to another dismal day at Old Trafford, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the Premier League weekend

Former president received 51% support despite facing 91 criminal charges and warnings of authoritarian threat he posesA little over a month before the Iowa caucus kicks off the Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump has expanded his commanding" lead in the first-to-vote state, a new Des Moines Register/NBC News poll found.The 77-year-old former president faces 91 criminal charges including 17 for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, and civil suits including a defamation trial arising from a rape allegation a judge called substantially true". Warnings of the authoritarian threat he poses have been rising in volume. Continue reading...

New Hampshire man faces federal charge after allegedly sending text message threatening to attack Republican candidate's eventA man from Dover, New Hampshire, faces a federal criminal charge after threatening the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and attendees at a campaign event.The US attorney's office for New Hampshire said Tyler Anderson, 30, received a text message from the victim's campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Continue reading...

Purchase is latest in series of big takeovers in oil and gas industry and will give Occidental more than 94,000 net acres in TexasOccidental Petroleum has agreed to buy energy producer CrownRock in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $12bn, the latest in a string of vast fossil fuel takeovers in the United States.The acquisition will increase Occidental's acreage in the oil-rich Permian basin, America's largest oil-producing area, and boost its production in the region by about 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.Reuters contributed to this story Continue reading...