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Denis Cilley had given up her pet, Ashes, for dead but a microchip confirmed she had somehow made her way 1,500 miles awayA Maine family that long ago gave up on a lost family cat is being reunited – more than six years and 1,500 miles later.Denise Cilley, of Chesterville, said she was shocked to get a voicemail last week announcing her cat, Ashes, had been located in Florida. Continue reading...

Kaleb Franks admitted conspiring to abduct Gretchen Whitmer, leaving four alleged co-conspirators still facing trialA man charged in an alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, a second key conviction for the government a month before four others face trial.Kaleb Franks joined Ty Garbin as the second person to admit guilt in a plot to abduct the Democratic governor before FBI agents arrested them in October 2020. The plea gives prosecutors another important witness for the 8 March trial. Continue reading...

Coffee chain fires seven workers in Tennessee but denies that the reasoning was tied to union effortsStarbucks has fired seven workers involved in organising a union in Tennessee, fueling accusations that the coffee giant is retaliating against the growing labor movement it faces nationwide.The workers – a third of the total workforce at the Memphis location – were fired on Tuesday, including most of the union organising committee. Continue reading...

Students instructed to raise their arms in prayer at event in public school’s auditoriumBetween calculus and European history classes at a West Virginia public high school, 16-year-old Cameron Mays and his classmates were told by their teacher to go to an evangelical Christian revival assembly.When students arrived at the event in the school’s auditorium, they were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, Mays said. The teens were asked to give their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Those who did not follow the Bible would go to hell when they died, they were told. Continue reading...

Instead of ramping up the threats, western nations should be offering Vladimir Putin a ladder to climb downThe current western narrative on the Ukraine crisis is that Russia is a machiavellian power with an expansionist agenda. That view is shaping our response: we are matching Vladimir Putin’s aggression, meeting strength with strength and threats with threats. But what if we tried to get inside the mind of the enemy, and ask what was motivating the aggression? By doing so, could we break this cycle – and offer Putin a way out, too?When the USSR deployed ballistic missiles to Cuba in the 1960s, their proximity to the US nearly unleashed a third world war. Sitting in Moscow today, does Putin see being encircled by Nato as an equivalent threat? After all, one of his core demands is that Nato curbs its expansion close to the Russian border, and that Ukraine must not join. Russia claims that the US repeatedly told Soviet leaders it would incorporate Russia into a cooperative European security framework. In practice, Nato emerged as a US-dominated security frame with about 75,000 US troops still on European soil. Great powers always treat with suspicion and hostility the presence of rival great powers on their borders.Gabrielle Rifkind is a specialist in conflict resolution and the director of Oxford Process Continue reading...

The disgraceful smear against Keir Starmer has strong echoes of the former president’s attacks on Hillary ClintonIn 2007, Boris Johnson took a shot at Hillary Clinton, then a candidate for the Democratic US presidential nomination, in his Telegraph column. He wrote that Clinton’s eyes put him in mind of a “sadistic nurse in a mental hospital” and that she represented “everything I came into politics to oppose,” not least “purse-lipped political correctness”.He even threw in a reference to “the position of poor Vince Foster’s gun”. Foster was a Clinton-era White House counsel, and his suicide in 1993 has fed wild conspiracy theories – including that the Clintons had him murdered – ever since.Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes the Columbia Journalism Review’s newsletter The Media Today Continue reading...

French president’s statement that Russian leader vowed not to escalate crisis met with scepticism in Kyiv. Plus, A-ha moments could trigger fast climate action

Their sunny pop-optimism and ‘Army’ of fans are giving millions of people hope – and may even be luring some people away from the far-rightA battle is raging in front of our eyes, but this is no ordinary war. While the combat may be bloodless, no one should be fooled. This clash is fierce and unforgiving, representing the ideological struggle of our age. On one side we find men wearing animal horns and dressing in furs. On the other are legions of devotees draped over their computer screens. This contest of wills is the ultimate postmodern showdown. I’m talking, of course, about the fight for our future, namely, the legendary battle of far-right conspiracy theorists v K-pop.And the good news is that, in this war, K-pop – that globally renown, highly engineered, synthesiser sounding, toe-tapping, arm-snapping, bubblegum pop music – keeps winning.Moustafa Bayoumi is the author of the award-winning books How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America and This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror. He is Professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York Continue reading...

After he was stabbed and lay dying on a train, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche said, ‘tell everyone on this train I love them.’ I will never forget his wordsIt was 26 May 2017 on the Portland MAX light rail service when a white supremacist named Jeremy Christian began threatening two teenage girls; one of the girls was black, the other in hijab. Three other men, all strangers on the same train, stood up to Christian, defending and ultimately saving the girls. Christian attacked the three men with a knife, killing 53-year-old Ricky John Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and injuring Micah David-Cole Fletcher.As Taliesin was bleeding, another passenger, a woman named Rachel Macy, knelt with him, comforting him and staunching his wounds. Taliesin knew he was dying. “Tell everyone on this train I love them”, he said to Macy in his final moments.Maeve Higgins is a Guardian US columnist and the author of the book Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them Continue reading...

Adams appears to have had some personal success with a vegan diet after a health scare, but can he replicate it among all New Yorkers?One morning in March 2016, before Eric Adams burst onto the national stage as the charismatic new mayor of New York City, he had a very rude awakening.The then Brooklyn borough president was startled to find that he could barely see the alarm clock that was sounding his morning call. His bedroom looked shrouded in mist. Continue reading...

The quarterback is finally on a team that can make the best use of his talents. But his former team, the Lions, have also benefited from trading himSpeaking of compelling Super Bowl LVI angles, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finds himself in the big game just one year after he asked the Detroit Lions, who won their last NFL championship nine years before there even was a Super Bowl, to trade him.As he pointed out Monday, though, “Just because I came here doesn’t mean we were going to get to this point.” Continue reading...

Just like their bland aesthetic, social media stars’ low-risk, high-gain activism has become a core part of how they attract attentionWho should be famous? There are people who are so brilliant at – and dedicated to – what they do that their work makes the world seem bigger and more exciting. Watching them act, hearing them sing, reading their writing or seeing their art can make you feel like something inside you is waking up – like there is more to life than work, bills and shopping. It really hits you. There are people who live wild, fascinating lives, full of stories that remind you rules can be broken.There are people who are so beautiful they seem to come from a different planet. You see a face like this and it stays with you. You find yourself, months later, in a supermarket queue, smiling and wondering about them, still. There are people who are very brave. Who will do the right thing, whatever the personal cost, because someone has to.Rachel Connolly is a London-based journalist from Belfast Continue reading...

Gynaecologist James Heaps accused of groping and assaulting hundreds of women over 35-year careerThe University of California has agreed to pay $243.6m (£179m) to settle allegations that hundreds of women were sexually abused by a former UCLA gynaecologist.The settlement covers about 50 cases involving 203 women who said they were groped or otherwise abused by Dr James Heaps over a 35-year career. Each will receive $1.2m, attorneys said. The deal was reached with the assistance of a private mediator after substantial litigation, the parties said. Continue reading...

A Super Bowl win could cement the Rams’ place in the city – and the hearts of its residents – which had once exiled themThe stereotype about Los Angeles sports fans is that they only love their teams when they’re winning. For decades, this hasn’t been much of a football town.“It was never cool to be a Rams fan growing up in LA,” said Ryan Nixon, 40. “It was like this safe team your grandparents liked to watch.” Continue reading...

Leaked documents show that about 18 out of 87 applicants, or 21%, to Patriot Front were currently or formerly affiliated with militaryNearly one in five applicants to the white supremacist group Patriot Front claimed to hold current or former ties to the US military, according to leaked documents published and reviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and alternative media collective Unicorn Riot.Some 18 out of the 87 applicants, or 21%, said they were currently or previously affiliated with the military. One applicant, who claimed to be a former Marine, also said he currently worked for the Department of Homeland Security, according to the SPLC’s Hatewatch, a blog that tracks and exposes activities of American rightwing extremists. Continue reading...

Scotty David, who was Juror 50, made comments about prior sexual abuse that prompted a request for a new trialGhislaine Maxwell’s lawyers once again called for the temporary sealing of legal arguments involving the juror who might not have disclosed childhood sexual abuse during jury selection.“With the constitutional right to a fair trial at stake, it is of paramount importance for the court to ensure the integrity of any fact-gathering process that may take place so that the inquiry is safeguarded and can uncover the truth of what happened,” her attorneys said in a letter Tuesday. Continue reading...

The Republican National Committee chastised Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, irking the Senate minority leaderMitch McConnell criticized the Republican National Committee for censuring Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger over their work for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, which he characterized as a “violent insurrection”.The Senate minority leader said it was not the party’s place to single out members over their views. Speaking with reporters outside Senate Republicans’ closed-door weekly lunch, McConnell rebuked the RNC for its characterization of the deadly riot at the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse”. Continue reading...

Jennifer Crumbley’s boss testified she asked to not be judged ‘by what my son did’ and was more worried about losing jobA day before four students were killed at a Michigan school, the mother of the teenager charged with carrying out the mass shooting sent him a text message asking if he had showed teachers a “pic of your new gun”, an investigator testified on Tuesday.The text was one of several between Jennifer and Ethan Crumbley on 29 November after school officials left a voicemail informing her that the 15-year-old was looking up ammunition on his phone. Continue reading...

Second gentleman was at Dunbar high school in DC for Black History Month event when he was escorted outDoug Emhoff, the husband of Vice-President Kamala Harris, was whisked out of an event Tuesday at a Washington high school by Secret Service agents following an apparent bomb threat.Emhoff was at Dunbar high school for an event in commemoration of Black History Month. He was in the school’s museum for about five minutes before a member of his security detail approached him saying, “We have to go.” Emhoff was removed from the building into his waiting motorcade. Continue reading...

New book says Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will ‘flashed’ through Bannon’s mind and that former adviser repeatedly invoked Hitler

Barry McCarthy to replace co-founder John Foley in top role after company’s sales dropped from pandemic’s early daysPeloton, the troubled exercise equipment company, is replacing its chief executive and planning to axe 2,800 jobs as it deals with a post-pandemic sales crash.Co-founder John Foley, who has led the company for its entire 10-year existence, will step down as chief executive and become executive chair while the company will cut about 20% of corporate positions. Fired staff will receive a year’s free membership with Peloton as well as a “meaningful cash severance allotment”. Continue reading...

My friend’s father was an expert in his field, but dementia took a relentless toll – on him and his family“You are a hero.”“Not really. The strength just comes to you.” Continue reading...

Black business ownership is up more than 30% on pre-pandemic levels, with Black women making up a fastest growing groupBlack business ownership is surging in the US despite the coronavirus pandemic, research shows, with a rise in businesses owned by Black women.At the start of the pandemic, Black-owned businesses suffered. Between February and April 2020, Black business ownership dropped by more than 40%, the largest drop of any racial or ethnic group, according to a report from the House committee on small business. Continue reading...

How did this ‘grassroots’ rebellion paralyse the Canadian capital? With funding from the far right and a boost from Facebook misinformationWhat the truck is going on in Canada? No offence to Ottawa, but it’s not the most exciting place in the world. Over the past couple of weeks, however, the Canadian capital has been embroiled in drama: hundreds of truckers, ostensibly protesting against vaccine mandates, have brought the city to a standstill. Members of the so-called “Freedom Truck Convoy” have been blaring horns, desecrating war memorials and setting off fireworks. Residents are being driven to distraction. The police chief has called the situation a “siege”; the Ontario premier called it “an occupation”. On Monday, the city’s mayor, Jim Watson, declared a state of emergency.There’s a lot going on in the world right now. If you’re not Canadian, then the protest in Ottawa might not be top of your list of things to worry about. But I’m afraid you should be worried. You should certainly be paying attention. What’s unfolding in Ottawa is not a grassroots protest that has spontaneously erupted out of the frustration of local lorry drivers. Rather, it’s an astroturfed movement – one that creates an impression of widespread grassroots support where little exists – funded by a global network of highly organised far-right groups and amplified by Facebook’s misinformation machine. The drama may be centred in Canada, but what is unfolding has repercussions for us all. Continue reading...

Bipartisan commission makes 76 recommendations to confront crisis that has caused 1m overdose deaths since 1999The US urgently needs a smarter, multi-pronged strategy and cabinet-level leadership to tackle an escalating overdose epidemic which poses an unacceptable threat to national security and the economy, a bipartisan congressional commission has found.The long-awaited report by the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking calls for a major shift in policy to combat rising fatal overdoses, with much greater focus on reducing demand through public health measures. Continue reading...

I helped get the law changed in 2019 but at great personal cost. But there is still so much work to be doneI remember the first violent message I received on Instagram. It was a veritable bingo of hate: he mocked me, told me no one would want to look at my “dirty” crotch – though his language was worse, of course. He asked if “sluts” like me, moaning until they “get what they want”, was “what our country was coming to”, before reminding me that nothing was going to change. He finished by saying he hoped I was gang-raped “senseless” by 20 men. But, he didn’t use the word “men”. He used a racist slur instead, finishing the message with five middle-finger emojis. I remember how my chest tightened and I grew hot with fear.That day had marked my first appearance on a big, mainstream television channel. I was three months into a campaign I’d launched to raise awareness about non-consensual upskirt photographs, something that I’d fallen victim to that summer at a music festival. While I waited patiently for a band to come on stage, a man had stuck his hands between my legs, up my skirt and taken photos of my crotch, sharing it with his friends around him. I heard laughter and sensed that they were looking at me. One of the guys was standing in front of me, head down, laughing at something on his phone. I looked around his back and saw he was on WhatsApp, looking at a picture of my crotch. I was standing in the middle of a crowd of tens of thousands, but somehow I managed to snatch the phone from his hands and run through the throngs of people to security.Gina Martin is a campaigner and writer. She will be part of a Guardian Live panel event to discuss tackling the online abuse of women on Wednesday 9 February, 8pm GMT. Book tickets here Continue reading...

Eric Adams admits to lapses in his veganism as he launches campaign to get New Yorkers to eat a more plant-based dietThe new mayor of New York City has caused a mix of amusement and serious consternation by comparing cheese to heroin.“Food is like a drug,” Eric Adams said. “And in fact, the studies show the same level of brain that encourages you to use drugs also addicts you to food. Continue reading...

White House had earlier indicated Lander could keep his job after he was found to have mistreated staffJoe Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, resigned on Monday, hours after the White House confirmed an internal investigation found credible evidence he mistreated his staff. It was the first cabinet-level departure of the Biden administration.An internal review prompted by a workplace complaint found evidence Lander, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to Biden, bullied staffers and treated them disrespectfully. Continue reading...

Senator says he has texted with ‘terrific’ Ronna McDaniel, RNC chair who oversaw censure of Cheney and KinzingerMitt Romney and his niece, Ronna McDaniel, exchanged texts after the Republican National Committee she chairs called Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his election defeat and the Capitol riot “legitimate political discourse”.Romney, the Utah senator, 2012 presidential nominee and only Republican to twice vote to convict Trump at his impeachment trials, told reporters on Monday he “expressed his point of view”. Continue reading...

French president says both sides need to work quickly to avoid escalation after five-hour session at the Kremlin. Plus, Will Arnett on his weird period

The lineup’s too big to fail, and like the league’s efforts to address its race and gender problems, this too appears to be a no-win proposition“I would’ve never thought that this moment would be happening right now,” Dr Dre said in an October interview heralding his headlining slot in this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. “Everybody’s gonna leave here happy and excited about what we’re about to do.”On paper the 55-year-old Dre (real name: Andre Romelle Young) seems a perfect fit for this showcase – not just a famous Angeleno of the City of Compton but arguably the most influential maker of modern Black music besides Quincy Jones and Kanye West. Continue reading...

Protesters targeting Keir Starmer yesterday cited foul slurs hurled by the PM. It is clearer than ever that Johnson is unfit for officeWords matter. They are all you have as a politician. They are your only weapon. We wage war and we broker peace with words. We inflame or we calm. That is why it is so important to deploy them carefully and responsibly.Unfortunately, a cynic knows how to cast aspersions, make an insinuation and whisper sweet nastiness in the public ear – preferably without anyone noticing. But it’s a dangerous business. The poison you pour in the well may be intended for your enemy, but it can all too easily poison your friends and all around you too. Continue reading...

Dean Spanos made a mistake uprooting his team from San Diego, where he had a chance to make the Bolts a truly international franchiseAmid the sound and fury of the Brian Flores lawsuit, you may have forgotten that the Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. As challenging as it is to pick a winner between the Cincinnati Bengals and the hometown Rams – barely a field-goal favourite, by Vegas’ reckoning—one team has already lost: the Chargers.You remember the Chargers. They’re the other NFL team that calls Los Angeles home, the one with the cute yellow lightning bolt on the sides of their helmets. Of course for 55 years they were the San Diego Chargers, the pro sports standard bearer for a sleepy SoCal idyll famous for sun and fun (they actually started life in LA before heading south in 1961 after a single season). In San Diego, they were one of the league’s heritage teams, in that group of pioneering AFL franchises with the Raiders and the Chiefs. Among other things, the Chargers were the team where Al Davis got started in pro football and where the vertical passing game was laboratory tested and perfected. They played at Jack Murphy Stadium, an architectural marvel that played host to three Super Bowls and two World Series – handling one of each in 1998. Continue reading...

The man had bought police paraphernalia including handcuffs, badges, and an AR-15 style BB gunAt around midnight one night last week, Sgt Matthew Jacobsen of the Portland police bureau in Oregon saw a man and a woman standing next to a silver Dodge Charger on a street corner.The trunk was open and Jacobsen said he saw a tactical vest with “DEA POLICE” written across it. The sergeant also saw red and blue police lights on the rear license plate and in the front exterior on the headliner. Continue reading...

Arizona man was arrested after it was discovered he was stuffing real money into his pocket and replacing the bills with fake onesAn employee at a Home Depot in Arizona has scammed the company out of hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2018, by swapping out cash from the registers for fake $100 bills, according to a criminal complaint.Adrian Jean Pineda, who used to be in charge of counting the money in Home Depot registers in Tempe, allegedly siphoned $387,500 over four years through this scheme, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...

Joe Biden issues stark advice to Americans in Ukraine: ‘Leave’