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Joran van der Sloot is not charged over Holloway's death in Aruba, but pleaded guilty to trying to extort money from her motherThe chief suspect in Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance in Aruba has admitted that he killed the 18-year-old and disposed of her remains, as part of a plea deal where he admitted attempting to extort money from Holloway's mother, a US judge said Wednesday.Joran van der Sloot, 36, confessed to murdering Holloway and pleaded guilty to extortion and fraud, Judge Anna Manasco said. Van der Sloot had been extradited to Alabama for the hearing from Peru, where he is serving a 28-year sentence for murdering Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian business student, in May 2010 in Lima. Continue reading...

Maintaining international backing is becoming harder. The Israel-Hamas war is further complicating mattersAs temperatures fall and a second winter of war approaches, Ukraine fears that the international enthusiasm for its cause that followed Russia's invasion is cooling too. Slovakia halted military aid after pro-Russian Robert Fico's party took power. Poland, one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, had already suspended weapons transfers following a dispute over Kyiv's grain exports - though things may well improve after the opposition unexpectedly claimed victory in last week's elections. Now US attention is consumed by the Middle East, and Russia will be keen to keep it there.Volodymyr Zelenskiy was quick to voice his support for Israel last week following the atrocities by Hamas. But the Ukrainian president also warned that there is only a certain amount of military support to share". There may be direct competition for some weaponry. Mr Zelenskiy also acknowledged that next year's US presidential election brings uncertainty. Last month, aid for Ukraine was stripped from a government funding package to ensure its passage through Congress. Hardline Republicans are increasingly vociferous in their opposition to supplying further aid, and are gaining traction, not least due to the battle to become House speaker. Some are exploiting the Israel-Hamas war to cynically argue that the US can't afford to back Ukraine too, although Kyiv's supporters hope it may be possible to push through a joint Israel-Ukraine package. While US deliveries will continue for now, Kyiv could start rationing its use of arms if it cannot count on timely resupplies. Continue reading...

Despite hardball' attempts, Republicans voted against hard-right Ohioan's speakership again, leaving the House in limbo

The stakes couldn't be higher. A wider war in the Middle East could embolden Russia in Ukraine and encourage China over TaiwanThe White House's collective stress level must have gone up several notches as Joe Biden and his entourage sat on the runway waiting to leave for the Middle East on Tuesday night. After the violence and emotions of the past two weeks, the president's visit was already a political gamble. But, as news came from Gaza of the bombing of the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, anxiety about what the visit would be able to achieve surely reached new levels.If so, those doubts were soon confirmed. With the Gaza hospital death toll soaring, and with popular outrage coursing through the region, Arab leaders pulled out of their scheduled meeting with Biden in Amman. By doing so, the Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders made at least one of Biden's key objectives - using face-to-face US presidential influence to discourage escalation - instantly more difficult. Continue reading...

Construction crews dig up wooden remains of ship probably used to extract fish and shellfish in downtown St AugustineConstruction crews in Florida found the remains of a 19th-century shipwreck while working on an infrastructure project in a north-eastern city.Workers with the Florida department of transportation (FDOT) were digging throughout downtown St Augustine as part of a project to improve drainage in the city, WFLA reported. Continue reading...

Biography says Romney considered 2016 pairing with senator - who he saw as a demagogue' - to block Trump nominationMitt Romney considered a desperate, third presidential bid in 2016, aiming to stop Donald Trump as part of an unlikely unity ticket with Ted Cruz - a hard-right Texas senator who Romney privately considered scary" and a demagogue", a new book reports.Romney was willing to wage a quixotic and humiliating presidential bid if that's what it took," McKay Coppins writes in Romney: A Reckoning, a biography of the 2012 Republican nominee written in close cooperation with its subject. Continue reading...

Friends and family hold vigil for Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy killed in a hate crime in IllinoisCarrying signs including the words I am not a threat", classmates and friends of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume stood on an Illinois basketball court on Tuesday night at an emotional vigil for the Muslim boy stabbed to death in a weekend hate crime.Hundreds of adults, including Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranked Muslim official in the Biden administration, joined the children in Plainfield to pay tribute to the child. The Palestinian American boy died after he and his mother were stabbed by their landlord, whom authorities say was fueled by rage over the Israel-Hamas war. Continue reading...

Davis Polk won't hire Harvard and Columbia students because they allegedly supported letters blaming Israel for violenceA leading American law firm said it rescinded job offers to three law students who were involved in groups which signed statements criticizing Israel's role in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a report.Davis Polk, one of the world's largest law firms, said in an internal email that it had revoked offers to the Harvard and Columbia university students because they allegedly supported letters blaming Israel for the violence. Continue reading...

The tennis champion has signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House, saying it will be the first time she has paused and reflected on her remarkable careerSerena Williams is set to publish two books, the first of which, a memoir, will take an intimate" look at her childhood and remarkable tennis career.The 42-year-old, regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, announced her retirement from the sport last year. For so long, all I was focused on was winning, and I never sat down to look back and reflect on my life and career," she said. Continue reading...

The polls had been favourable until a brutal press campaign kicked in against this kindly, long-overdue change

Plan includes $500,000 to organizations offering Texans care but it unclear if it will go to groups that help people get abortionsSeveral anti-abortion groups on Tuesday sued the city of San Antonio over the city's plan to create a reproductive justice fund and provide $500,000 to organizations that offer Texans reproductive care.The lawsuit seeks to put a halt to the reproductive justice fund, which, it alleges, would give taxpayers' dollars to criminal organizations that violate the state's abortion laws" by helping people get abortions out of state. Because Texas law bans anybody from helping procure" an abortion, the lawsuit argues, if any part of the procurement' activity occurs within Texas, then the act is criminal even if the abortion that has been procured' takes place outside the state." Continue reading...

My love for this show and its crotchety, snobbish but warm characters is boundless. Would a new series break the spell?I love Frasier. I have a T-shirt that says Frasier" on it in the Seinfeld font, a stupid internet mashup joke I nonetheless find charming and wear sincerely, and which multiple people in my life have told me they find actively irritating. I once seriously argued with myself about buying a shirtdress printed with a still from the show, priced at more than 160. I would be interested and probably appalled to know how many hours I have clocked up rewatching episodes when I'm in a funk.Why? I don't remember seeing any episodes of Frasier when it was originally airing. What was there to delight an eight-year-old in a show about a divorced radio psychiatrist and his newly disabled father? My mum is a fan, but I don't remember watching it with her, either. Yet Frasier feels like a language I have always spoken. Continue reading...

Joe Biden on Wednesday said the explosion at a Gaza hospital appeared not to have been caused by Israel. During a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, the US president said: 'I'm deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.' He said the US would give Israel what it needed to defend itself and added: 'We have to also bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering'

Arthur Brooks spent years advocating cuts to the social safety net. Now, with the help of Oprah, NPR and the Atlantic, he's teaching Americans to be happyAs economic misery in the US persists, the country's self-help industry has become a multibillion-dollar bonanza. If one reads enough of that industry's happiness catechism - including its latest bestseller, Build the Life You Want - one realizes that all of the advice revolves around a core set of directives: focus on the self rather than the collective, redeploy hours to different priorities, spend less time at work, build deeper personal relationships - and, by implication, buy more self-help books.But if time is money", then in America's survival-of-the-richest form of capitalism, time-intensive remedies are mostly for the affluent - that is, those with a big enough savings account to de-risk career changes; those with enough income to afford gym memberships, hobbies and excursions; those with enough paid leave and cash to enjoy the best vacations; those with enough resources to employ personal aides to do paperwork, chores and cleaning; those with enough workplace leverage to secure more hours off for introspection, friend time and outdoor adventures. Continue reading...

The USMNT lost to Germany 3-1 and beat Ghana 4-0 during the international break. Here's what we learnedThis is why it's worth Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna resolving - or at least suppressing - their well publicized differences. The 20-year-old with the dazzling blond hair scored twice in a scintillating first half in Tuesday's friendly with Ghana, his first goals for the USMNT since June 2021. Continue reading...

A new survey has thrown up some dispiriting results about workplace communicationsWe now spend a whopping eight hours 42 minutes a week writing emails, according to a survey. That is a full working day each week that we will never get back and, even worse, only 42% of the emails we send are fully read and understood.Frankly, I find the 42% figure to be on the high side. Continue reading...

US president to meet only Israeli figures after the deadly hospital blast in Gaza, as protests spread across the Middle East. Plus, how Bethann Hardison got frank about fashion's racismGood morning.A deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza City has upended US diplomatic efforts aimed at fending off the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and thrown a shadow over President Joe Biden's visit to the region.What else is happening in Gaza? Fears are growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, while Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on food, electricity, medicine and fuel.Is everyone in Israel supportive of the government's actions? No. The Israeli public is fiercely divided over how the state has handled the breach of its security, with the issue of the hostages becoming a lightning rod for criticism of Netanyahu's response to the crisis. Some said the prime minister's decision to prioritise striking Hamas over freeing the hostages was the latest sign that he should step aside, after a combined 16 years in power.Where do things stand? In a worrying sign for Jordan, several of his detractors, led by the congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, called for an immediate second vote yesterday, potentially indicating that they believed their ranks were growing. Jordan picked up at least one new supporter, the congressman Doug LaMalfa of California, after the first failed vote, but that still left him short of a majority. Continue reading...

Four years after coming forward about systemic abuse in Canadian soccer, Ciara McCormack has become the first female co-owner and CEO of a League of Ireland clubWhen Ciara McCormack finished her testimony before a Canadian parliamentary committee hearing on safe sport last April, she decided to buy a soccer team. It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. For over a decade, the former Vancouver Whitecaps player and Republic of Ireland international had fought to highlight abuse and cover-ups at the highest level of Canadian soccer.Some people listened to McCormack and her fellow players. Others didn't. Or if they did listen, they decided everything was OK. Or decided institutions must be protected above the welfare of people. With the exception of police reopening an investigation into former Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada national youth coach Bob Birarda that led to multiple sex offence charges, a guilty plea and jail time, not much changed. The system remained intact and enablers dodged accountability. Continue reading...

Cancellation of summit between Joe Biden and Arab leaders raises risk of wider conflict, says analyst

Government stimulus gains some traction in third quarter as property downturn continues

Visit 11 days after Hamas attack puts US president centre-stage in global affairs at key momentJoe Biden arrives in Israel on Wednesday on a high-stakes visit overshadowed by catastrophe even before Air Force One touched down at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.Eleven days after the Hamas attack that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, the US president faced the already tricky task of providing solace to a grief-stricken nation while attempting to persuade its leaders to prevent humanitarian crisis and even regional conflict. Continue reading...

From deals on electric cars to investment in solar panels, there is room for all sides in the global green industrial revolutionOur polarised world is failing to tackle the climate crisis at the required speed. The only way to reverse this catastrophic situation is to get the three largest historical emitters - the US, Europe and China - to join forces, directly or indirectly, to accelerate the global shift to green energy.After months of rising tensions, the possible visit to Washington of the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, later this month could pave the way for a highly anticipated but still unscheduled summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, and kickstart a reset.Simone Tagliapietra is a senior fellow at the Brussels-based thinktank Bruegel Continue reading...

No set of crimes justifies another. To succumb to this principle would mean a never-ending cycle of violenceFor almost 4,000 years, some governments have insisted that if wars must be fought, there should be rules. The first known code, by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, laid down the principle on which all subsequent laws of war have been based: to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak". Needless to say, he possessed some expertise in oppressing the weak. From inception, such laws have amounted to victors' justice, enforced by but not against the dominant powers. But this neither renders them worthless nor suggests that we shouldn't attempt to hold powerful governments to account.During its assault, on Black Saturday, Hamas broke numerous laws of war, starting with its rocket fire into Israel, which made no attempt to discriminate between military and civilian targets, breaking article 13 of protocol II of the Geneva conventions. Its fighters murdered, tortured and raped, breaking common article 3 of the Geneva conventions and articles 27 and 32 of the fourth convention. They also engaged in pillage and terrorism (33, fourth convention) and the taking of hostages (34, fourth, and article 8 of the Rome statute). Hamas clearly intends to use these hostages as bargaining chips, exacerbating the crime. Continue reading...

Pentagon cites more than 180 incidents of aggression against US aircraft over the East and South China seasThe US has accused China of orchestrating a concerted" campaign of dangerous and provocative air force manoeuvres against US military planes in international airspace, warning it could spark an inadvertent conflict between them.The Pentagon said aggressive tactics by Chinese aircraft had threatened US planes flying over the East and South China Sea regions, tallying more than 180 such incidents since autumn 2021. Continue reading...

Authorities find more bodies after initial report of 115 two weeks ago, when owners were evicted and police investigated foul odorThe remains of at least 189 decaying bodies were found and removed from a Colorado funeral home, up from about 115 reported when the bodies were discovered two weeks ago, officials said Tuesday.The remains were found by authorities responding to a report of a foul odor at the Return to Nature funeral home inside a decrepit building in the small town of Penrose, Colorado. Continue reading...

Jury found Siraj ibn Wahhaj and three others guilty of a range of charges including kidnapping resulting in deathJurors on Tuesday delivered split verdicts in a case that stemmed from the search for a three-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia and was found dead hundreds of miles away at a squalid compound in northern New Mexico.Four members of the family were on trial. Three were found guilty on federal kidnapping charges. Two were convicted on related terrorism charges. The boy's father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, was one of the two people found guilty of terrorism-related charges. Continue reading...

After Jim Jordan failed to win the gavel on Tuesday, the House gears up for a second round of voting on WednesdayThe US representative Jim Jordan faced strong opposition to his House speakership bid Tuesday as 20 Republicans voted against him on a first ballot. The chamber adjourned for the day as the Ohio Republican worked to flip some of his detractors his way.It's the second time in this Congress that the House has faced multiple rounds of voting for speaker, following the protracted struggle in January when Kevin McCarthy won the gavel on the 15th attempt. Continue reading...

Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed in little over a week, and the risk of the violence spreading is immenseIn the wake of the carnage wrought by Hamas in southern Israel, killing at least 1,300 people; with bombs still raining upon Gaza, having killed more than 3,000; and with 199 children and adults still held hostage, the horror is increased by the prospect of this violence begetting more.The US hopes two aircraft carrier groups in the eastern Mediterranean, non-stop shuttle diplomacy by the secretary of state and a presidential visit to Israel will see off the twin spectres of even greater humanitarian disaster in Gaza and regional catastrophe. Yet hours before Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East came reports that hundreds had died in a blast on a Gaza hospital. Jordan has already cancelled its summit with him. While visiting Israel sends the message that the US is a staunch ally, and may offer Benjamin Netanyahu a political lifeline, it was intended to rein him in, as well as Hezbollah and Iran. The US had reportedly agreed to the trip only after Israel agreed to move on humanitarian aid and safe areas for civilians to avoid the bombing. Continue reading...

Twenty Republicans oppose hard-right congressman in first round of voting following historic ouster of Kevin McCarthyThe House of Representatives was unable to elect a new speaker on Tuesday, as the hard-right congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio struggled to win the gavel following the historic ouster of the Republican Kevin McCarthy earlier this month.In the first round of voting, 20 Republicans opposed Jordan, while 200 Republicans supported the judiciary committee chair. The result left Jordan far short of winning the speakership, given that he can only afford four defections within his conference and still capture the gavel. All 212 House Democrats supported Hakeem Jeffries of New York, giving the Democratic leader more votes than Jordan. Continue reading...

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Former president planned a return to coincide with Michael Cohen's testimony, which has been delayed until next weekFormer president Donald Trump returned to a New York court on Tuesday to watch and deplore the civil fraud trial that threatens to disrupt his real estate businesses, but he got no face-to-face encounter - for now - with the star witness against him.After attending the trial's first three days earlier this month, Trump initially planned a return to coincide with testimony by Michael Cohen, his one-time attorney turned outspoken foe. But Cohen's testimony was delayed until at least next week, with Cohen citing a health problem. Continue reading...

Actor's case in connection with fatal film shooting in 2021 will reportedly be brought before grand jury in mid-NovemberNew Mexico prosecutors intend to recharge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal 2021 Rust shooting, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.Baldwin's case will be brought before a grand jury in mid-November, the report added. Continue reading...

Former MI6 officer's witness statement criticises reckless' publication of testimony about ex-president's Russia linksDonald Trump's decision to declassify evidence given by a former British spy about the former US president's alleged links with Russia led to the disappearance of two Russian sources, according to a court document.Christopher Steele, who used to run MI6's Russia desk, compiled the notorious Steele dossier" investigating Trump's connections to Russia. In a witness statement released on Tuesday, Steele said publication of his testimony to the Mueller investigation on the matter, originally classified secret, was an egregious and reckless act" that served no purpose other than to expose me and Orbis [Steele's company], our sources and our methods". Continue reading...

Justice department launches inquiry after numerous reports' that Trenton officers conducted stops and arrests with no good reason'A New Jersey police department is under investigation for excessive use of force, unlawful stop and searches, and other possible federal violations.On Tuesday, the justice department announced its investigation into the Trenton police department and the city of Trenton, New Jersey. Continue reading...

Brothers Tou Sue Vang, 32, Andrew Vang, 28, and mother Monica Moua, 58, accused of being part of national network of thieves, dealers, and processors'Three members of a California family pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy for their role in a ring that shipped $600m worth of stolen catalytic converters from California to New Jersey, federal prosecutors said.Brothers Tou Sue Vang, 32, and Andrew Vang, 28, along with their mother, Monica Moua, 58, were part of a national network of thieves, dealers, and processors" who provided the stolen auto anti-smog devices to a metal refinery for more than $600m, according to a statement from the US attorney's office. Continue reading...

All eyes are on the Republican - but Jordan has a long history of controversial views that many of his own party members aren't aligned withAs the House gears up to vote for its new speaker, all eyes are on Jim Jordan, a founder of the hard-right Freedom caucus. But while the Ohio congressman and his allies say they will have the votes soon, Jordan also has a long history of controversial views that many of his own party members and constituents are not aligned with.Here are some of the key things to know about Jordan as a politician - and a look into how he might act in the role of speaker. Continue reading...

I fear there will be terrible slaughter in Gaza, and leaders in the UK and the US seem willing to aid and sanction itImagine being in Sderot, Israel, and hearing Hamas rockets land near your home. You're scared; you instantly take mental stock of your family members' location. Then you hear gunfire. Screaming. You recognise a scream. A few minutes later you're holding your daughter's corpse. She's still warm and will be for a while yet, but she is dead. A Hamas bullet severed her subclavian artery, and that was that. You pray out loud, essentially singing, to trade places with her. It doesn't work. She is dead. You are alive. You want to die. You won't.Can you kill anyone to fix this? Who? Where are they? Do you bring your other children with you to do it? Or do you get a babysitter for your other kids so you can go and try to kill them? Is your babysitter alive? If you can't kill your child's murderer specifically, is there someone else you could kill? Would it feel good then and there, like working out or taking a shit? If so, how long would it take for the feeling to dissipate? Continue reading...

Mounting evidence shows even moderate exercise can be a valuable companion to cancer treatmentDon't take it personally, doctor, but it has been a dreadful experience."I tell her that far from taking offence, I am sympathetic because in the 15 months since her cancer diagnosis, she has weathered surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, not to mention hospitalisations and hiccups. This, on top of the psychological suffering and the spillover effect on the whole family that no healthcare system ever fully mitigates.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Man, 71, charged with murder over death of Wadea Al-Fayoume as Council on American Islamic Relations says bigotry must stop'A top official at the Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) National has warned of a potential rise in violence against Muslims and Palestinians in the US following the hate-crime murder of a six-year-old boy in Illinois and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Cair's deputy director and a civil rights attorney, called the stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother in their home one of the worst-case scenarios". Continue reading...

Leonard Cure, 53, exonerated after being wrongly convicted of robbing a drug store in 2003, killed after traffic stop in GeorgiaA Black man who spent 16 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a violent crime was shot and killed by police in Georgia on Monday.Leonard Cure, 53, was killed after a sheriff's deputy pulled him over in south-eastern Georgia's Camden county early on Monday morning. The Georgia bureau of investigation (GBI) is examining the shooting. Continue reading...

Bank's board reportedly concerned at attention received by chief executive, who moonlights as DJ D-SolThe music has stopped for the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, amid reports that the US investment bank's board was concerned his DJing sideline would distract him from his main job.Solomon has formally hung up his headphones on high-profile gigs and has not performed publicly in more than a year, the bank said. Continue reading...

Joran van der Sloot, convicted in Peru over separate 2010 killing, expected to reverse not guilty plea over death of US teen in 2005The chief suspect in Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance is expected to plead guilty on Wedneday and reveal details about her death to resolve a federal case accusing him of trying to extort money from the missing teen's mother.A federal judge set a plea and sentencing hearing for Joran van der Sloot in Birmingham, Alabama. He had previously entered a plea of not guilty in the case. Continue reading...

Nearly fifty years after the federal government pushed for looser rules, cities across the country are considering a changeFor the past 50 years, red-blooded Americans have enjoyed a freedom the Founding Fathers hardly dreamed of: the ability to turn right on a red light. But with pedestrian fatalities at a four-decade high, a movement is afoot to change that.This month, San Francisco supervisors unanimously voiced support for a ban on right-on-red. Last year, the practice was banned in Cambridge, Massachusetts. New York has long barred it, Denver could soon, and Washington DC has taken steps toward a ban. Seattle, meanwhile, has made no-right-on-red the city's default" policy at new traffic signals. A growing media chorus agrees it's time for change. Continue reading...

Former president in speech in Iowa says he would immediately begin ideological screening' for all immigrantsDoubling down on the hardline immigration policies that have long animated his base, Donald Trump on Monday vowed to bar refugees from Gaza and immediately expand his first-term Muslim travel ban if he wins a second term following the deadly attack on Israel last week.Speaking to supporters in Iowa, the former president said that if he returns to the Oval Office, he will immediately begin ideological screening" for all immigrants and bar those who sympathize with Hamas and Muslim extremists. The war between Israel and Hamas has sparked what is now the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. Continue reading...

Contender for House speaker, described as political terrorist' by John Boehner, also linked to Ohio State sexual abuse scandalJim Jordan, the Ohio congressman who is seeking to become House speaker, is a prominent celebrity on the far right of US politics - and a magnet for controversy who a former speaker from his own party once called a political terrorist".Jordan, 59, was elected to Congress in 2006 from a conservative, rural district of Ohio. A high school and college wrestling champion, he made his mark on the House as a founder of the hard-right Freedom caucus, helping oust two speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, who were not deemed sufficiently extreme. Continue reading...