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With Trump surging, democracy is in peril: that's the message Biden needs to couple with the spirit he showed in CongressThe president of the United States delivered his annual address to Congress on Thursday night - except what Americans and an increasingly nervous world wanted to assess was less the state of the union than the state of Joe Biden. I don't mean politically, I mean physically.In the week that confirmed the November election will be a rematch of the 2020 contest - the current president against the former one - Biden needed to prove he was not the doddering, even senile figure of Donald Trump's rhetoric and a thousand social media memes. In 68 combative minutes, he cleared that bar. He ad-libbed, he took on Republican hecklers and, often at high volume, jabbed at his opponent. The result: a performance that pundits described as feisty" and scrappy", free of senior moments, and which prompted even Fox News to muse that Biden seemed jacked-up" - which, from the network that likes to depict the president as a walking corpse, was a compliment.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Have the new vegans had enough of being called soy boys'? I suspect the reason is far simplerIt would be easy to assume that the rise of vegan diets and products is now inevitable. More than 700,000 people signed up to the official Veganuary campaign in 2023, more than four times as many as in 2018. Vegans used to be seen as humourless, sanctimonious and moralistic, but a new generation has changed the diet's image, bringing a fun, vibrant, health-conscious slant to a vegan lifestyle that eschews some of the stricter elements, and appeals to young, climate-conscious consumers. Terms and trends such as flexitarian", pescatarian", meatless Monday" and Veganuary" have become popularised, as consumers abstain from meat in more relaxed and less all-consuming ways.Influencers such as the broadcaster Fearne Cotton and reality TV star Lucy Watson share easy vegan recipes and lifestyle content, and impress upon their audiences that moving to a vegan diet is relatively simple, focusing less on why the diet is the right ethical choice. As a result, what once seemed extreme and out of reach for many is now far easier to absorb into an existing lifestyle.Dr Jennifer Yule is a lecturer in marketing at the University of Edinburgh Business School, who researches consumer behaviour in the health and wellbeing domain Continue reading...

His remarks were designed to demonstrate Biden's vitality. They succeededLike a budget, a State of the Union speech is a moral document: it reflects a president's values and priorities, distilling his own view of his administration for the American people. On Thursday night, Joe Biden made his moral case for re-election: he views America as a besieged but worthy global leader, one whose tradition of democracy deserves to be defended and rebuilt. Referring to his opponent Donald Trump only as my predecessor", Biden repeatedly contrasted his own vision of a more equitable and prosperous nation with the Republican agenda. The point was to offer Americans an optimistic and inclusive vision - and to remind them of the cynicism, sadism and depravity of the Trump worldview, which threatens to undermine women's freedoms, make interracial democracy impossible, and use the machinery of government for little else but to further Republicans own self regard and greed.The 90-minute speech was raucous, strident and insistently optimistic; it appeared designed to demonstrate Biden's vitality, and to launch in earnest a presidential campaign that has previously been somewhat tepid and sluggish. I'm here to wake up the Congress," Biden said as he began, declaring the nation to be in an unprecedented moment". Maybe he was there to wake up his own campaign, too. Continue reading...

The 42-year-old Alabama senator is a rising Republican star but her kitchen table speech did not land well even in her own party

There's a certain sense of freedom in the knowledge that some things won't last for everWhat will be left of us online after we're gone? For me, I hope it's a collection of hot selfies, sassy tweets, and maybe even some writing that made people think (or at least, angry in the comments). But the reality is that so much of the trails we leave online aren't up to us.Perhaps that's why digital ephemerality - material existing online only briefly - is so alluring. In a digital ecosystem that relentlessly creates, extracts, stores and monetises our data, it's no wonder that the notion of temporary content is appealing. There's a certain sense of freedom in the knowledge that things won't last for ever. Continue reading...

This is the media mogul's second proposal in 12 months. Us mortals can only speculate about his mesmerising dating secretsAt last, some happy news. Rupert Murdoch is engaged - and for the second time in less than a year. I know! Despite being 93 next Monday, he's getting engaged even more frequently than serial sex killers serving life sentences. Those betrothals, of course, tend to happen entirely by letter, but as far as we know, Murdoch's latest love match is a real-world union. His fiancee is Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired biologist who also previously served as mother-in-law to Roman Abramovich. In the absence of an official engagement photo, just sub in that image from Alien 3 where the slavering alien corners Ripley in the infirmary. And please remember - the Fox News chairman emeritus's lifelong commitment to irreverent stories about people's private lives means the above is precisely how he wants his latest chapter to be covered.As mentioned, this is Murdoch's second proposal inside 12 months, his previous engagement enduring just a fortnight. Hand on heart, I was surprised he couldn't make it work with that last one, a former dental hygienist/evangelical prison chaplain he met in one of his gardens, who had successfully dismissed a case of financial elder abuse" brought by one of her previous stepchildren. She seemed so perfect. Back at the time they announced their intention to wed (not hugely long after Rupert reportedly told Jerry Hall via email that he was divorcing her), he gibbered out some hilarious interview to his own New York Post, in which he claimed: I dreaded falling in love - but I knew this would be my last."Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Abortion and reproductive rights took centre stage at the 2024 State of the Union, as Joe Biden sought to overcome concerns about his re-election chances by emphasising an issue that has energised voters since the overturning of Roe v Wade.The president has largely pinned his re-election hopes on the passions stirred by threats to abortion rights. The demise of Roe v Wade, which was overturned with the help of three justices appointed by Trump, has led more than a dozen states to enact near-total abortion bans

Trump's drive to have trials held post-election hinges on hopes of winning presidency, and then telling DoJ to kill the federal chargesClaims by Donald Trump and his lawyers that holding any of the four criminal trials he now faces before the US election in November would be election interference" lack a solid legal basis and are brazen ploys to delay trials until post election, former justice department officials say.As he campaigns to return to the White House, Trump is facing unprecedented legal and political perils: trials are pending in four federal and state jurisdictions, where he's been charged with 91 felony counts including 17 about conspiring with allies to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in 2020. Continue reading...

The president also addressed concerns about his age and announced plan for US troops to build port on Gaza shore for aid delivery

Officials have deployed thousands of armed police and national guard troops into the system. Critics fear a new era of profilingIt's a common fear in New York City: the random subway attack, when a commuter gets assaulted, mugged or pushed on to the track. The prospect is terrifying. It's also, statistically speaking, probably not going to happen to you, especially in 2024.Though more transit workers are being attacked on the job nationwide (not just in New York), NYPD data shows that major felonies in the subway system were lower last year than in 2022. In January 2024, transit crime increased 46% year-over-year, then dipped in February. Continue reading...

Minnesota United have made a bright start, FC Cincinnati are chasing an encore and the New York Red Bulls are this season's must-watch teamIn the first few weeks of every new MLS season, there's a race to gather as much information as possible. Offseason expectations are reformed. New opinions arise. Hot takes are scrubbed from the digital archives.Welcome to the first edition of the Guardian's 2024 MLS power rankings, where we'll be doing plenty of scrubbing ourselves throughout the year. Continue reading...

A United Airlines flight headed for Japan landed safely at Los Angeles International airport after losing a tyre mid-air following takeoff from San Francisco. United said it was arranging for a new aircraft to continue the trip for the 249 people who were onboard the Boeing B777-200. The tyre landed in the airport's staff carpark, smashing a window and damaging at least one car Continue reading...

The technology giant has paid billions to show matches on its streaming service, and critical analysis isn't part of the packageIt is a truism that referees are doing a good job if you don't notice them. It also appears to be the official policy of MLS.Salient plotlines as the 2024 campaign unfurls are the first full season of Lionel Messi in Miami, the controversial withdrawal of most MLS clubs from the US Open Cup and the use of replacement referees because of a labor dispute. Continue reading...

Emma Raducanu moved into the second round of Indian Wells with a composed performance and no significant problems, confidently closing out a 6-2, 6-3 win over the qualifier Rebeka Masarova. A much tougher battle against Dayana Yastremska, the 30th seed, awaits Raducanu on Saturday

Have you been following the big stories in football, cricket, rugby, snooker, Formula One, tennis and basketball? Continue reading...

Forget Barbie and pink cupcakes. Radical change is what we should fight for on International Women's DayIn 1932, 75-year-old socialist Clara Zetkin stood in Germany's Reichstag and, despite being so unsteady that she had to be carried into the building on a stretcher, managed to give a rousing speech lasting more than 40 minutes. The fight of the labouring masses," she declared, is the fight for their full liberation." She wasn't a fan of feminism (dismissing it as bourgeois), but it was Zetkin's dream that women everywhere, especially the most deprived and marginalised, might one day be free of all forms of oppression. The Nazis took power in Germany shortly after. Zetkin fled to Russia and died there.On the day I went to see Zetkin's former home north of Berlin in Brandenburg, now a museum, there were no other visitors. Despite her iconic status in her own time, she has been largely lost to history. Her bravery is remembered usually as a footnote to the fact that she helped found what we now know as International Women's Day.Angela Saini is a science writer, teaches at MIT and is the author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule Continue reading...

The US president covered everything from abortion rights to Donald Trump, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Israel's war in Gaza, as well as the size of a Snickers barJoe Biden made a forceful State of the Union address on Thursday, criticising former president Donald Trump over the January 6 insurrection, vowing to stand up to Vladimir Putin, urging Israel to play its part in the delivery of aid to Gaza, backing reproductive freedom and taking on rightwing antagonist Marjorie Taylor Greene on immigration.Here are some key takeaways from the speech. Continue reading...

The president brought the fight, jousting with Republican hecklers as he attacked Trump without mentioning his nameWould it be a withered old man or a human dynamo? Would it be a rambling, gaffe-prone politician or an inspiring leader touched with fire? Would it be Geriatric Joe or Dark Brandon?Within the first few minutes of Thursday's State of the Union address in Washington, millions of Americans had their answer. Joe Biden, 81, had brought the fight. Continue reading...

Alabama lawmaker gave the Republicans' formal response to Joe Biden's State of the Union address, criticizing the president on issues such as immigration and the state of the US economy Continue reading...

The president needed to appeal to voters as he and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the presidential contestJoe Biden confirmed a new US mission to deliver aid to Gaza and repeatedly took aim at Donald Trump in his State of the Union address on Thursday, offering a pointed preview of the general election in November.Biden's most significant announcement came toward the end of his roughly hour-long speech, when he confirmed that the US military would establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza" capable of receiving large shipments of water, food and medicine. Biden pledged the mission will not involve deploying American troops on the ground and would facilitate a significant infusion of supplies into Gaza. Continue reading...

US president makes last State of the Union address of this presidential term, with much at stake as he heads into re-election fight against TrumpFor some reason, expelled former Republican congressman George Santos has returned to watch the State of the Union from the House floor:Axios reports he wanted to hang out with the lawmakers who voted to remove him from office last year for being a big-time liar: Continue reading...

During his final State of the Union address of his presidential term before the US elections in November, Joe Biden tackled what he called threats to freedom and democracy, which were 'under attack both at home and overseas'.

Britt, 42, third youngest serving senator, spoke on the heels of her state's supreme court ruling that frozen embryos are children'Republicans chose first-term Alabama senator Katie Britt, the youngest Republican woman ever to serve in the Senate, to deliver the rebuttal to Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday.The 42-year-old presented a counterpoint to the oldest sitting president at her kitchen table in Alabama after his speech. Continue reading...

Disgraced ex-congressman chummed about with Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, and then tweeted his candidacy for New York seatDisgraced ex-congressman and noted fabulist George Santos announced yet another run for Congress during a surprise appearance at Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday.Despite currently facing federal criminal charges, Santos wrote on X during the speech that he's looking to face off against his former colleague Representative Nick LaLota: Tonight, I want to announce that I will be returning to the arena of politics and challenging Nick for the battle over #NY1. I look forward to debating him on the issues and on his weak record as a Republican. The fight for our majority is imperative for the survival of the country." Continue reading...

Biden sought to capitalize on the passions stirred by GOP threats to reproductive freedom, while avoiding the word abortion'Abortion and reproductive rights took center stage at the 2024 State of the Union, as President Joe Biden sought to overcome concerns about his re-election chances by emphasizing an issue that has energized voters again and again since the overturning of Roe v Wade.My predecessor took office determined to see Roe v Wade overturned and he brags about it," said Biden, referring to former president Donald Trump, his presumptive rival for the presidency. Look at the chaos that has resulted." Continue reading...

Fashion used for powerful statement during Thursday night's State of the Union address, with lawmakers donning suffragette white

Families outraged by city inquiry that said officers who waited outside as shooting took place showed level-headed thinking'An investigation Uvalde city leaders ordered into the Robb elementary school shooting put no blame on local police officers and defended their actions Thursday, despite acknowledging a series of rippling failures during the fumbled response to the 2022 classroom attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead.Several family members of victims walked out in anger midway though a presentation that portrayed Uvalde police department officers of acting swiftly and appropriately, in contrast to scathing and sweeping state and federal past reports that faulted police at every level. Continue reading...

Lewis Kaplan says former president must post acceptable bond during expected appeal against verdict in defamation caseA federal judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump's request to delay enforcement of the writer E. Jean Carroll's $83.3 m verdict in her recent defamation case.The decision by US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan adds to pressure on Trump to line up an acceptable bond during his expected appeal. Continue reading...

President is expected to highlight his legislative record in office, with looming election raising the stakes

Korbein Schultz was paid about $42,000 to provide person he believed lived in Hong Kong with information, DoJ release saysA US army intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiring to sell sensitive defense information to China.Federal prosecutors charged Korbein Schultz with conspiracy to disclose national defense information, exporting defense articles and technical data without a license, and bribery of a public official, the US justice department said in a press release. Continue reading...

US government has been mailing free at-home Covid tests on and off since January 2022 to curb spread of virusThe US government will stop accepting orders for free at-home Covid-19 tests on Friday, 8 March.Each household can still place an order until Friday for rapid coronavirus tests via the US Postal Service (USPS), according to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Continue reading...

Orbis, founded by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, compiled allegedly damaging intelligence on Trump in 2016Former US president Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy whom Trump unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation.A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was bound to fail", ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Continue reading...

Miami-Dade commission serves eviction papers to owners following scathing federal reports into care of marine mammalsOne of Florida's largest aquatic theme parks has been ordered to close by next month following several high-profile animal deaths and a series of scathing federal reports into the care of its marine mammals.The Miami-Dade commission on Thursday served eviction papers on the Dolphin Company, owners of the troubled Miami Seaquarium, demanding it to vacate its county-owned site in Key Biscayne by 21 April. Continue reading...

Brain tissue analysis showed degeneration in the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brainRobert Card, an army reservist who shot and killed 18 people in Maine last year, had evidence of traumatic brain injuries, according to researchers who analyzed his brain tissue.There was degeneration in the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain, inflammation and small blood vessel injury, according to Dr Ann McKee of Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) center.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

With gangs threatening civil war, widespread violence and no elected officials, the country faces an unprecedented crisis. Its people must be heardAlmost as frightening as the threats from a Haitian crime lord of a civil war that will lead to genocide" on Wednesday was the silence from the country's leaders. Jimmy Cherizier, widely known as Barbecue, is behind the week-long uprising by gangs that has freed 4,000 prisoners and besieged airports and police stations. The gangs are demanding the resignation of the unelected and unpopular prime minister, ArielHenry, who arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday having been unable to return home from a foreign trip. But while ordinary citizens reel from the violence, he has yet to comment. The finance minister declared a state of emergency via a press release.Even before the gangs banded together last week, a country used to suffering and turmoil was struggling with an unprecedented crisis that began with the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. More than 4,780 people were murdered in 2023 - double the homicide rate in 2022 - while 2,490 were kidnapped. This year, 1,193 have already been killed. Vigilantism emerged last year, with angry civilians lynching suspected gang members. Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced, and the UN has called the effect on food supplies cataclysmic". Continue reading...

Xavier Becerra says US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if it hopes to avoid further restrictionsThe health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the US must provide federal protections for reproductive rights if Americans hope to avoid further restrictions on in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.Becerra's comments come in the wake of an Alabama supreme court decision that gave embryos the rights of extrauterine children" and forced three of the state's largest fertility clinics to stop services for fear of litigation and prosecution. The fallout from the decision prompted the Alabama legislature to hastily sign new legislation that will give IVF providers with immunity from civil and criminal suits, which the governor signed into law on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Daniel Rodimer, a former pro-wrestler, suspected in killing of Christopher Tapp in Las VegasA former pro wrestler who won a prominent endorsement from Donald Trump while unsuccessfully running for Congress in Nevada surrendered to authorities on Wednesday on an arrest warrant for murder.Daniel Rodimer, 45, was booked in connection with the slaying of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp, who was reportedly beaten to death in Resorts World Las Vegas on 29 October. Continue reading...

White House says Latorya Beasley and Texas mother forced to travel outside her state for a doctor-recommended abortion will be guests

Within Trump's wild exaggerations are grains of truth. Liberals have never dealt with them - and that's why he might win againDonald Trump is certain to be the Republican candidate in this year's election for US president. He is also currently favourite to win. To most readers of the Guardian, I am sure this prospect is appalling, as it is to most Britons. The nation to which they gave birth and language, that has been their friend and protector down the ages, seems to be going mad.Britons who know the US are amazed that, however reluctantly, enough of its voters might again choose Trump to rule over them after the experience of 2017 to 2021. Who are these Americans? How can they be so blind to his faults, with the law hounding him, gossip ridiculing him and commentators pouring scorn and derision on his every word?Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Casting your opponents as dangerous extremists is the oldest trick in the book - and this time it's supporters of Palestine in the government's sightsBritain's latest descent into authoritarianism fits a depressingly familiar pattern. This is how it tends to work: a subversive group is identified by political elites and presented as a danger to the nation, often being additionally labelled as allies or dupes of hostile foreign enemies. An air of national emergency is contrived, with exaggerated, distorted, or simply invented evidence used to justify claims of an imminent threat. The ensuing repressive measures are supposedly to defend the security of both individual citizens and the nation alike.This is what was really going on when Rishi Sunak spoke of mob rule" and warned of the forces here at home trying to tear us apart" during his sinister prime ministerial address last Friday. It should be seen, too, as the rationale behind proposals by rightwing former Labour MP John Woodcock - appointed by the Tories as a peer, Lord Walney, and advisor on political violence after he endorsed Boris Johnson in the last election - to ban politicians from engaging with movements protesting against mass slaughter in Gaza or the climate emergency.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Democracy, by its nature, requires participation. You have to give a damn. Taylor Swift does, and so should we all

Juror says they found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter because she did not follow proceduresA juror in the manslaughter trial for the Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said the decision to convict her was easy because she did not follow firearm safety procedures, leading to the fatal shooting on the film's set in 2021.Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was found guilty on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 when a gun held by the actor Alec Baldwin discharged. Continue reading...

Speaker of the House urges respect for set-piece speech which has previously been marked by Republican heckling of presidentMike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the US House, reportedly pleaded with his party to show decorum" on Thursday, when Joe Biden comes to the chamber to deliver his State of the Union address.Decorum is the order of the day," Johnson said, according to an unnamed Republican who attended a closed-door event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and was quoted by the Hill. Continue reading...

Real political struggle has been largely suspended for the sake of defeating Trump and his threat to constitutional democracyYou would hardly know from the 2024 cycle that primaries are supposed to be political contests. Each party's primaries, if they can be called that, were long exercises in foregone conclusions. And so the primary process, which for nearly 60 years has been a popular contest in which each party's internal factions jockeyed for position, worked to shape the party identity, and ultimately made their case to voters did not come to pass this year. Functionally, there were two incumbents. And functionally, neither party's primary offered a meaningful opportunity for the expression of internal dissent.This did not change on Super Tuesday. Biden and Trump racked up delegates; the votes that were cast in the presidential contest were cast mostly in full awareness of their futility, the result already decided. There is one option labeled R", and one option labeled D". More than once throughout the campaign, I've imagined America's political party leaders as cruel lunch ladies, slopping greyish gruel on to trays for an unappetized America. You'll eat it and you'll like it."Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The latest slate of knockout games featured breakouts from new stars and a throwback performance from an old handThe first tranche of the last-16 second legs did not thrill but there were plenty of outstanding individual displays. This selection comes in a 3-4-3 formation.Goalkeeper: Real Madrid did not have it easy against RB Leipzig. Not at all. Rather like the first leg, in fact. As so often down the years in the competition, Madrid's back line lead the way. Andriy Lunin continued his breakout season, making save after save, narrowing angles and organising his defenders, as Leipzig attacked in waves. Leipzig's Benjamin eko, who had multiple chances in Madrid, will probably never forget Lunin, who won their personal duel, including one, dominant, smothering early save that set the tone. Continue reading...