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Updated 2025-07-03 11:15
Police find Bengal tiger cub in mobile home while investigating shooting
New Mexico officers followed a trail of blood and found the uninjured cub in a crate, and took him to the local zooPolice in New Mexico investigating reports of a shooting followed a trail of blood to a mobile home, and discovered a young tiger cub inside a crate.The uninjured cub was not, officials said, the same illegally kept tiger that investigators were searching for last summer when they raided a nearby house in Albuquerque and found instead a stash of guns, cash, drugs and a 3ft alligator. Continue reading...
Congresswoman shares story of stillborn son with US House
Florida’s Frederica Wilson relives experience of being forced to carry a dead baby as Republicans push for anti-abortion measuresIt was a moment of raw humanity in Washington amid federal policy discussions that were largely devoid of it.During a week when Republicans, newly in control of the House of Representatives, discussed whether pharmacy workers should be allowed to refuse to fill abortion medication prescriptions due to religious objections, the Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson rose to break a silence she had held. Continue reading...
What is LockBit ransomware and how does it operate?
Name of malware and criminal group behind it, LockBit has been blamed for attack on Royal MailLockBit has emerged as the most prolific name in ransomware attacks and has now been blamed for an incident that has hit Royal Mail’s international operations. Here is what we know about LockBit and how it operates. Continue reading...
Deadly tornado rips through Alabama leaving damage in its wake – video
At least six people were killed in Alabama on Thursday as thunderstorms and at least one tornado swept through the region, local officials have said.Trees were uprooted and homes destroyed by the tornado in Selma, with high winds and heavy rain leaving thousands without power. Parts of Georgia and Mississippi were also affected by the extreme weather Continue reading...
The anti-abortion movement just had a mask-off moment in Alabama | Moira Donegan
In Alabama, pregnant women are subjected to a work around law in the name of protecting the fetus: chemical endangerment of a childThis week, Steve Marshall, Alabama’s Republican attorney general said he sees a path to prosecuting women for having abortions in his state. This was a bit of a faux pas: a moment of letting slip the mask that the anti-abortion movement always tries to keep on.Alabama’s total abortion ban, which has only limited exemptions for women’s lives, makes providing an abortion a felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. But like nearly all of the abortion bans that have sprung into effect since the US supreme court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health overturned Roe v Wade last June, the law has no mechanism to prosecute women who receive abortions. But that doesn’t mean that patients are safe from criminal charges, according to the state’s top prosecutor.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Why hasn’t Harry given up his ridiculous title yet? | Arwa Mahdawi
I don’t think anyone should be going around calling themselves Duke or Duchess in 2023. Unless they are a stripper or a dogI’m afraid it’s the law now, OK? I’ve valiantly resisted for as long as I could, but the time has come: I simply have to write about Harry and Meghan. It is basically illegal not to have at least one opinion about the royals who apparently hate being royals but are still milking their royal connections for all they’re worth. And don’t roll your eyes, you’re a glutton for this stuff too. Everyone loves to see obscenely privileged people airing their dirty laundry. There is a reason that Harry’s memoir has become the UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book and that reason is not the quality of the writing.Don’t worry I’m not going to pull a Piers Morgan or Jeremy Clarkson here and start seething with unhinged rage about Harry and Meghan. I’m not the Sussexes biggest fan but the only royal I can muster up enough energy to get really outraged about is Prince Andrew. You remember him? He hasn’t been in the news very much lately since Harry’s been hogging all the headlines but he’s the guy that got stripped of royal duties over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He’s the guy that Ghislaine Maxwell recently called her “dear friend.” He’s a nasty piece of work and yet Britain is now so caught up in Harry hatred that a recent YouGov poll has found that Brits over the age of 65 dislike the Sussexes more than disgraced Prince Andrew.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist and the author of Strong Female Lead Continue reading...
‘He’s a coward’: Lucas Kunce on his Senate run – and Hawley running away
Missouri Democrat mounting a second bid for US Senate hammers the Republican incumbent over his actions on January 6Announcing his second bid for US Senate in Missouri, Lucas Kunce needed to hit the ground running. He did so by running an ad targeting the Republican he hopes to defeat, Josh Hawley, for running away from the January 6 rioters he encouraged.The ad appeared on the second anniversary of the deadly attack on the US Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters. On 6 January 2021, before the mob broke in, Hawley was photographed raising his fist in its direction. The House January 6 committee showed what happened after rioters breached the walls: the senator ran for cover. Continue reading...
Rightwing group pours millions in ‘dark money’ into US voter suppression bid
Tax filings reveal advocacy arm of Heritage Foundation spent $5m on lobbying in 2021 to block voting rights in battleground statesThe advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation, the powerful conservative thinktank based in Washington, spent more than $5m on lobbying in 2021 as it worked to block federal voting rights legislation and advance an ambitious plan to spread its far-right agenda calling for aggressive voter suppression measures in battleground states.Previously unreported 2021 tax filings from Heritage Action for America, which operates as the foundation’s activist wing, shows that it spent $5.1m on contracting outside lobbying services. The outlay comes on top of $560,000 the group invested in its own in-house federal lobbying efforts that year, as well as registered lobbying by Heritage Action staffers in at least 24 states. Continue reading...
First Thing: Trump plans tour of presidential campaign events
Events aim at giving ex-president a narrative reset after being criticized for his ‘low energy’ and inactivity, sources say. Plus, how menopause can destroy mental healthGood morning.Donald Trump is scheduled to venture out of his Mar-a-Lago resort and conduct a swing of presidential campaign events later this month, ramping up efforts to secure the Republican nomination after facing criticism around the slow start to his 2024 White House bid, according to sources familiar with the matter.What else is happening? The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed a special counsel on Thursday to investigate Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents from his time as vice-president. The move to name Robert Hur, a former Trump-appointed federal prosecutor and former top justice department official, was a rapid decision from Garland to insulate the department from possible accusations of political conflicts or interference.How do the Trump and Biden cases regarding classified documents differ? While Trump appears to have wilfully obstructed efforts to recover them, leading to the FBI raid, Biden’s team said they cooperated fully and immediately returned the documents to the National Archives as soon as they were discovered. Read more here.What tributes have been paid to Presley? John Travolta said on Instagram: “Lisa baby girl, I’m so sorry. I’ll miss you but I know I’ll see you again.” Meanwhile, Bette Midler said: “I’m in shock. So beautiful and only 54 years old; I can’t actually comprehend it.” Continue reading...
NFL wildcard weekend predictions: which No 3 seed is heading out?
There are plenty of intriguing match-ups as the playoffs kick-off. Who will survive and book a spot in the NFL’s last eight?It will not be business as usual in the NFL playoffs this weekend. Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest earlier this month will haunt proceedings, despite his near-miraculous recovery. How could it not? If there’s one thing we should take away from the last few weeks, it’s that the league is populated by human beings, not abstract figures on stats sheets. The playoffs will continue as scheduled but expect the atmosphere to be more subdued than in years past. And let’s hope that the drama remains entirely football-related. Continue reading...
Trump to ramp up efforts to secure 2024 Republican nomination after slow start
Events aim at giving ex-president a narrative reset after being criticized for his ‘low energy’ and inactivity, sources sayDonald Trump is scheduled to venture out of his Mar-a-Lago resort and conduct a swing of presidential campaign events later this month, ramping up efforts to secure the Republican nomination after facing hefty criticism around the slow start to his 2024 White House bid, according to sources familiar with the matter.The former US president is expected to travel to a number of early voting states for the Republican nomination – the specific states have not been finalized – around the final weekend of January, the sources said, where he is slated to announce his state level teams. Continue reading...
Already ‘failed’ Dry January? There’s another way, and I’ve been doing it for years | Barbara Speed
Like other sober-curious people, I wanted slightly more of a handle on what I drank. So I started logging every drink in an app. And, reader: it helpedI am not doing Dry January this year. I didn’t do it last year, or the year before that. But I do know, down to the glass, what I drank on every single one of those January days. Two post-new year amarettos on 2 January 2021; two glasses of prosecco on 9 January 2020 (if I’d known what was coming in March, I might have stretched to three); a lone bottle of beer on a Sunday in 2019.This isn’t some incredible feat of memory. The data is at my fingertips thanks to something I started doing just over five years ago, in late 2017. Every day – or, let’s be realistic, often a few days later – I plug the amount I’ve had to drink into an app.Barbara Speed is a Guardian Opinion deputy editor Continue reading...
Frantic search continues for boy, 5, swept away in California floods
Kyle Doan, 5, was pulled into the raging waters as he and his mom, Lindsy Doan, were trying to escape the sudden floodingThe danger lurking along a country road in central California’s wine country was not clear to Lindsy Doan as she drove her five-year-old son to school on Monday morning.The region, like much of the state, had been hit by a deadly series of storms that were , but the family had traveled through the area the previous day, her husband told the Guardian, and countless times before on their commutes. Nothing initially appeared wrong and unlike past occasions, there were no signs indicating the road was closed. Continue reading...
Harry wanted men to talk about their problems. Now therapy has been weaponized against him | Sam Wolfson
The duke and his brother have spent years as mental health advocates – and therapy has fueled Harry’s public outpouringWhile the revelations in Prince Harry’s book have shock value, the format they come in does not. The tell-all memoir, ghostwritten with the most salacious stories parcelled into pre-publication interviews, is a media set piece. Subject, publisher and publicists all know their roles and – bar a few early leaks – things have been staged-managed effectively.But what’s so unusual about Harry’s revelations is how they have been compared to, and intertwined with, a far less premeditated form of disclosure: therapy. Continue reading...
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland awaiting trial on domestic violence charges
Roiland, who voices two of the animated TV show’s characters and created video game High on Life, has pleaded not guilty to the chargesJustin Roiland, who co-created the animated series Rick and Morty and provides the voices of the two title characters, is awaiting trial on charges of felony domestic violence against a former girlfriend.A criminal complaint obtained from prosecutors in Orange County, California charged Roiland, 42, with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against the woman, who he was living with at the time. Continue reading...
NWSL draft: Alyssa Thompson becomes first high schooler taken with No 1 pick
Lisa Marie Presley – a life in pictures
The singer and only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley has died after being taken to hospital, aged 54. The musician appeared with her mother at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles two days before she was hospitalised, to support Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed biopic Elvis. We look back over her life, from Graceland to her last days Continue reading...
Demonstrators protest NCAA’s transgender athlete inclusion
Fighters attack UFC head Dana White’s lack of punishment for slapping wife
White House pledges to cooperate with special counsel over classified documents – as it happened
Wisconsin Republican who bragged about low turnout faces calls to resign
Robert Spindell, who sits on state election commission, told party members to be ‘proud’ of low voting figures in Democratic areasA top Republican election official in Wisconsin is facing calls to resign from his role after boasting about lower turnout last year in Black and Hispanic areas of Milwaukee.Robert Spindell is one of three GOP appointees on the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), the six-member bipartisan body that oversees elections in the state. He is also the chair of the Republican party in the fourth congressional district, which includes Milwaukee. After last year’s election, he sent an email to fellow Republicans touting the party’s “well thought out multi-faceted plan” that resulted in a drop in voter turnout in the city, which is home to a majority of Wisconsin’s Black population. Continue reading...
Trump appointee named special counsel in Biden papers investigation
Robert Hur chosen by US attorney general after classified materials discovered in Delaware and WashingtonThe US attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed a special counsel on Thursday to investigate Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents from his time as vice-president.The move to name Robert Hur, a former Trump-appointed federal prosecutor and former top justice department official, was a rapid decision from Garland to insulate the department from possible accusations of political conflicts or interference. Continue reading...
US attorney general outlines investigation into classified documents found at Biden’s home – video
The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, has announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the retention of classified documents by President Joe Biden from his time as vice-president. Speaking in Washington DC, Garland outlined the events that led to the announcement, confirming that further classified documents had been found at Biden’s home in Delaware. Prior to the statement, the White House said the search for secret materials from Biden’s time under President Barack Obama had concluded
Robert Hur: special counsel in Biden documents case was Trump appointee
‘Well-informed, industrious’ lawyer, 50, was US attorney for Maryland before moving to private practice in 2021Robert Hur, appointed on Thursday as special counsel in the case of Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents while out of office, is according to his LinkedIn profile a “seasoned trial lawyer, former supreme court law clerk and former US attorney … with decades of experience in government and in private practice”.An appointee of Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, the 50-year-old was US attorney for Maryland from 2018 to 2021 before becoming a partner at Gibson Dunn, a Washington law firm specializing in white-collar “enforcement, investigations and litigation”. Continue reading...
Usain Bolt reportedly missing millions from investment accounts
The sheer joy of Jamie Lee Curtis cheering Michelle Yeoh sets a new bar for female best-friendship | Zoe Williams
In a world that still expects a catfight between women, a viral image of the actor celebrating at the Golden Globes shows a thrilling act of sisterly solidarityEveryone likes a photo of Jamie Lee Curtis because everyone likes Jamie Lee Curtis, but the moment caught at the Golden Globes on Tuesday was something else.Combining the razzle-dazzle of the red carpet with the raw emotionality of war photography, the shot captures the moment when Michelle Yeoh wins best actress (comedy/ musical) for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh is covering her face with her hands, which is the smart move in these situations: triumph has no acceptable expression. It’s not a lovable emotion to begin with, and it can tip so easily into something even less endearing: smugness, fakery, know-me-by-the-lamentations-of-my-inferiors. Way better to keep all the key features submerged under fingers. Continue reading...
‘What were you thinking?’: Biden reacts to classified documents found in Delaware home – video
Further classified documents have been found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. The White House has announced the search for the president’s properties for secret materials from his time as vice-president under Barack Obama has concluded. Initially, a small number of classified documents were found at Biden’s former office space in Washington, but further materials have now been located in his garage. At the end of a briefing, a reporter asked Biden: ‘What were you thinking?’ when details emerged the documents were found next to his Corvette
More Republicans call for George Santos to resign over fictional résumé
Newly elected New York congressman insists he will not step down despite lies about background and education being exposedRepublican members of Congress have joined state party officials in calling for the New York representative George Santos to resign, heaping more pressure on the disgraced politician who won election in November with a largely fictional biography.Anthony D’Esposito, who represents New York’s fourth congressional district, neighbouring Santos in the third, said on Wednesday Santos had lost the faith of voters and did “not have the ability” to represent them, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...
Chicago mayor faces backlash for asking students to work on campaign for credit
Lori Lightfoot’s office asked teachers to encourage their students to submit résumés in exchange for ‘class credit’Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, is facing criticism after her office attempted to recruit students with school credit to help with her re-election campaign.Emails encouraging students to volunteer were sent to several Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers’ work emails from Megan Crane, who identifies herself as Lightfoot’s deputy campaign manager on LinkedIn. Continue reading...
Teams eye Derek Carr as quarterback bids farewell to Raiders
Classified documents: how do the Trump and Biden cases differ?
The president and his predecessor have each retained secret papers but what do we know and what happens next?The discovery of documents from the Biden-Obama administration in at least two locations linked to Joe Biden has been greeted with dismay by Democrats and glee by Republicans, given the extensive legal troubles that Donald Trump faces for taking classified papers to his Florida resort.Republicans believe the incident shows that Biden has committed the same transgression as the former president, and argue that the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and subsequent investigation were politically motivated points-scoring. Continue reading...
Biden rules out gas-stove ban after Republican backlash
Republicans furious at suggestion from US regulators that gas stoves could be phased out over links to childhood asthmaJoe Biden has ruled out any ban of gas stoves in the US, following a furious backlash from Republicans to suggestions they could be phased out due to their contribution to dangerous indoor air pollution that has been linked to childhood asthma and other conditions.Biden “does not support banning gas stoves”, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday. Jean-Pierre added that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency responsible for consumer safety, “is not banning gas stoves. I just want to be very clear on that.” Continue reading...
Sam Bankman-Fried claims ‘I didn’t steal funds’ in first response to FTX case
Disgraced cryptocurrency boss says FTX customers could get their money back in statement published on Substack“I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away,” the disgraced cryptocurrency boss Sam Bankman-Fried claimed on Thursday in his first detailed response to the criminal charges filed against him last month.In a statement titled FTX Pre-Mortem Overview and published on Substack, Bankman-Fried said that millions of customers of FTX, his bankrupt exchange, could get their money back and that “very substantial recovery remains potentially available”. Continue reading...
Nurses claim victory after three-day strike at two New York City hospitals
Tentative contract agreement secures better working conditions and pay raises, unions officials sayThousands of nurses at two New York City hospitals ended a three-day strike on Thursday after reaching a tentative contract agreement union officials said offered better working conditions in addition to pay raises.The tentative deals at Mount Sinai hospital, in Manhattan, and Montefiore medical center, in the Bronx, include raises totaling 19% over three years. Nurses began returning to work at both hospitals on Thursday morning, with the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, greeting returning nurses at Mount Sinai just before dawn. Continue reading...
Beware the ‘spare’: let’s drop the need for a second-in-line, and let Harry be the last | Kate Williams
Heirs’ early deaths are a lot less common these days, so Britain should copy European royalty and let No 2s work unimpeded“My family had declared me a nullity. The Spare,” declares Prince Harry in his new memoir, frustrated in a history lesson at Eton that the teacher expected him to know the story of Charles Edward Stuart. He doesn’t want to think about it, doesn’t want to know about history – “Why memorise the names of past spares?”. And yet he has: they thread through his book, unspoken. Not just Princess Margaret (who he notes once gave him a Biro for Christmas), all the others who were No 2, and those who are to come. Harry was, as he sees it, “brought into the world in case something happened to Willy”.“The heir and the spare” was, he tells us, a “shorthand” about the two brothers used by the entire family, and says it was what Charles told Diana after his birth. The word “spare” is repeated so much that it is almost dizzying – and recurs in the most heated incidents. When, he said, William pushed him, his brother was “in full heir mode and couldn’t fathom why I wasn’t dutifully playing the role of the spare”. Continue reading...
Joe Biden may have broken the Espionage Act. It’s so broad that you may have, too | Trevor Timm
The Espionage Act is incredibly broad and spares no one. Readers of this newspaper may even have violated itWith President Joe Biden now embroiled in his own classified documents controversy, partisan commentators will surely have a field day playing the tired old game of “no, you endangered national security.” Instead, I’d like to focus on the real issues: the overly broad and often-abused Espionage Act and the massive, draconian secrecy system that does far more harm than good in the United States.This should be yet another wake up call that both the classification system and the Espionage Act need a dramatic overhaul. The question is — as more secret documents are found at a second Biden location and Trump’s special prosecutor continues to work — will anyone listen?Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation Continue reading...
US prices dropped in December for first time since May 2020 as inflation rate fell to 6.5%
According to latest consumer price index, cost of living dropped 0.1% in December while inflation rate fell from 7.1% in NovemberPrices dropped in the US in December for the first time since May 2020, in an encouraging sign that the inflation crisis may be easing.According to the latest consumer price index (CPI) – which measures a broad range of goods and services – the cost of living dropped 0.1% in December compared with a rise of 0.1% in November. The annual rate of inflation fell to 6.5% from 7.1% in the previous month, the sixth straight month of yearly declines, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading...
Sarah Sanders bans use of ‘Latinx’ in Arkansas state documents
Trump’s former White House press secretary, now the state’s governor, issues executive order targeting gender-neutral termIn one of her first acts as governor of Arkansas, the former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Sanders banned the use of the word “Latinx” in state documents.The executive order was one of seven signed by Sanders, who last November easily beat the Democrat Chris Jones to succeed her father, Mike Huckabee, and become the first woman to govern the state. Continue reading...
UFC president Dana White says he has 'no defence' for slapping wife – video
UFC president, Dana White, apologised and said there were 'no excuses' after he was caught on camera slapping his wife while they vacationed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.'There's no defence for this, and people should not be defending me over this thing, no matter what. All the criticism I have received this week is 100% warranted and will receive in the future,' he said. 'It's something I'm going to have to deal with and live with for the rest of my life.' Continue reading...
The FTC is back to being the activist US agency progressives sought in 1914 | Robert Reich
Last week, under its Biden-appointed chair, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements – and it’s a big dealHave you ever been forced to sign a non-compete agreement when you started a job?About 30 million Americans are trapped by contracts that say if they leave their current job, they can’t take a job with a rival company or start a new business of their own.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
California governor caught in eye of storm over climate budget cuts
Announcement drew criticism from environmentalists as Gavin Newsom proposes cutting $6bn from ‘unprecedented’ climate fundFacing a budget shortfall, California’s governor Gavin Newsom proposed billions of dollars in cuts to climate spending – slashing subsidies for electric vehicles, funding for clean energy, wildfire prevention and programs to help low income residents cope with extreme weather.The Democratic governor’s announcement, which came amidst a week of torrential rains, deadly winds and flooding, drew sharp criticism from environmentalists. Facing a potential $22.5bn budget deficit, Newsom has suggested pulling back $3bn to address inflation and $750m to pay down unemployment insurance debt. But the bulk of his spending cuts slash programs for climate crisis and transportation. Continue reading...
Biden faces fresh scrutiny over handling of government secrets | First Thing
Another set of materials discovered at a separate location, as White House addresses first discovery at Biden’s institute. Plus, why are DVD menus trending on social media?
Heavily armed officers arrest Florida man in voter fraud crackdown, bodycam shows – video
Newly obtained body-camera videoshows the moment heavily armedFlorida police officers descend on the homes of two different men accused of illegally voting and arrested one of them at gunpoint as part of Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on voter fraud.Both men were in their underwear, unarmed, and placed in handcuffs as police arrested them in front of their Miami-Dade county homes on 18 August.A spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the agency that oversaw the arrests said: “Arrest warrant planning and tactics are dictated by a number of factors, to include the subject’s criminal history and other officer and public safety concerns."The 19 arrests were part of the first wave brought by the office of election crimes and security, a new state agency focused on investigating voter fraud. Hours after Miller and Wood were arrested, DeSantis held a press conference saying those accused of voter fraud would “pay the price”.The voter fraud charges against both Wood and Miller were separately dismissed.
Man arrested at gunpoint in DeSantis voter fraud crackdown, video shows
In August, armed officers descended on homes of two men accused of illegally votingHeavily armed Florida police officers descended on the homes of two men accused of illegally voting and arrested one of them at gunpoint as part of Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on voter fraud, new body-camera footage obtained by the Guardian can reveal.Both men were in their underwear, unarmed, and placed in handcuffs as police arrested them in front of their Miami-Dade county homes on 18 August. Continue reading...
The new Matilda musical film is traumatic for child abuse victims. Hollywood must be careful
Emma Thompson’s sadistic Agatha Trunchbull follows in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm, Stephen King and M3gan – but graphic scenes of abuse should not be seen as entertainmentThere’s no denying that Emma Thompson’s latest transformation into the sadistic Agatha Trunchbull in Netflix’s new Matilda the Musical film is an act of brilliance, both from the Oscar-winner herself and an army of makeup artists. But explicit scenes of Miss Trunchbull’s violent behaviour are likely to prove to be a traumatic experience for both children and survivors of child abuse alike.Matilda author Roald Dahl is well known for his focus on cruelty to children, from child-killing witches to body disfigurement for naughty children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Matilda itself contains graphic lines such as: “The Trunchbull simply grabbed me by one ear and rushed me to the Chokey at the double and threw me inside and locked the door … I was sliced and cut all over when I came out.” Continue reading...
Aaron Rodgers has 59.5m reasons to play in the NFL in 2023. But will he?
The question is whether the quarterback has the drive to overhaul his game, be it with a new team or a new roster in Green BayYou can be forgiven for a sense of deja vu. With the end of the NFL’s regular season comes the return of the league’s most tiresome soap opera: what does Aaron Rodgers want to do?After two years of will-he-won’t-he – will he force a trade away from the Green Bay Packers? Will he retire? – Rodgers shuttered all speculation last offseason when he signed a three-year, fully guaranteed, $150m contract, making him the most expensive quarterback in the league and, it was assumed, a Packer for life. Continue reading...
Poor Harry: even Americans are getting bored with his tell-all tour | Emma Brockes
Watching Harry do the rounds of US chat shows, I felt a sense of pity for the man who will never be more than a sideshow hereIt is ill-advised to form judgments based on the behaviour of a talkshow audience, a group whose sympathies – stoked by hours of anticipation and the sunken cost of a day off work – would rally for any guest above the level of a pot plant. Still, after a week of intense media coverage in the US, Prince Harry stepping out before a studio audience on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night was the first sight we had of him interacting with something approximating the American public.For days, American news outlets had speculated that the rollout around Spare was becoming overblown. But that night in New York, the audience heaved to its feet and gave the 38-year-old “husband, father, military veteran and activist”, per Colbert’s introduction, a warm standing ovation. Harry smiled sheepishly. It was, for British observers, deeply, unsettlingly odd. Continue reading...
Teacher and cousin of Black Lives Matter founder ‘Tased to death’ by LAPD
‘He needed help and was killed,’ says Patrisse Cullors, as police are seen repeatedly using stun gun on him after traffic accidentA cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors was killed by Los Angeles police after he got in a traffic accident and officers who showed up repeatedly Tased and restrained him in the middle of the street, according to body-camera footage and his family’s account.Footage from the 3 January encounter released on Wednesday showed that Keenan Anderson, a 31-year-old high school teacher and father, was begging for help as multiple officers held him down, and at one point said, “They’re trying to George Floyd me.” One officer had his elbow on Anderson’s neck while he was lying down before another Tased him for roughly 30 seconds straight before pausing and Tasing him again for five more seconds. Continue reading...
Biden under scrutiny as second batch of classified documents reportedly found
Another set of materials discovered at a separate location, as White House addresses first discovery at Biden’s instituteJoe Biden was facing fresh scrutiny over his handling of government secrets on Wednesday after a second batch of classified materials was reportedly found at a location linked to him.The White House was already on the defensive after revelations that classified documents were discovered last November in an office used by Biden after he served as US vice-president. On Tuesday he said he was “surprised to learn” of their existence. Continue reading...
Republican-controlled House pushes for new abortion restrictions
Bills not expected to advance in Senate but underscore Republican majority’s legislative priorities ahead of 2024 electionThe Republican-led House on Wednesday pressed ahead with a pair of anti-abortion measures, despite warning signs that the issue had galvanized the opposition in the wake of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last year.Voting mostly along party lines, Republicans first approved a bill that would compel doctors to provide care for an infant who survives an attempted abortion – an occurrence that is exceedingly rare. Continue reading...
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