by Helen Davidson in Taipei and agencies on (#6D37N)
US climate envoy and former secretary of state is in Beijing for talks with senior Chinese officials amid strained US-China relationsJohn Kerry has said climate change is a universal threat" and has to be separated from politics during talks between the US and China.Kerry, the US climate envoy and former secretary of state, is in Beijing for talks with senior Chinese officials. The talks are hoped to repair relations between two sides - the world's two largest economies and carbon emitters - before the COP28 climate talks in Dubai at the end of the year. Continue reading...
Wednesday's scheduled drawing comes about nine months after California's Edwin Castro won $2.04bn in NovemberPowerball players across the US are bracing for the opportunity to win what would be the seventh-highest jackpot in American lottery history on Wednesday night.The jackpot is estimated to be about $1bn after the Powerball lottery has gone 38 consecutive drawings without a winning ticket being sold, according to the official website for the game of chance. Someone last won the Powerball on 19 April, when the top prize was nearly $253m, the jackpot - as is typical - has been growing steadily since. Continue reading...
Trooper employed by Greg Abbott's initiative expressed concern over inhumane' actions, in email reviewed by the GuardianTexas troopers employed by Greg Abbott's border patrol initiative were instructed to push children into the Rio Grande and deny migrants water in extreme heat, according to emails sent by a state employee.Nicholas Wingate, a trooper-medic from the state's department of public safety expressed concern over inhumane" actions towards migrants in a 3 July email to supervisors and reveals other unreported incidents involving migrants, the Houston Chronicle first reported. Continue reading...
Judge Aileen Cannon said she would issue a ruling later after appearing skeptical of arguments from both sidesThe federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's classified documents case signaled that she could delay the trial until 2024, appearing inclined to find that the matter was sufficiently complex after hearing arguments from prosecutors and the former president's lawyers on Tuesday.The US district court judge Aileen Cannon did not rule from the bench on a timetable during the roughly two-hour pre-trial conference at the courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, and concluded the hearing by saying she would enter a written order at a later date. Continue reading...
Florida governor and presidential hopeful tells CNN he hopes his rival is not charged after Trump says he is target of DoJ inquiryRon DeSantis said charges against Donald Trump over his election subversion that culminated in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress would not be good for the US.I hope he doesn't get charged," the Florida governor told CNN in a much-trailed interview on Tuesday. I don't think it'll be good for the country." Continue reading...
Charges announced by the state's attorney general against people who signed paperwork falsely claiming Trump won 2020 electionSixteen people who signed paperwork falsely claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Michigan have been criminally charged, Michigan's attorney general, Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced on Tuesday.Michigan was one of several swing states that Trump lost in 2020 in which he and his legal team convened alternate slates of electors as part of an effort to overturn the election. The Tuesday charges mark the first time any of the electors have been charged. Continue reading...
Arizona city with a population of 1.6 million had a previous record of 18 consecutive days of 110F or higher in 1974Tuesday marked the 19th day the city of Phoenix has been subjected to temperatures of at least 110F (43.3C) - the longest stretch of time spent in such brutal heat - as record-breaking summer weather continues to affect millions in the US and around the world.The US city, which is the fifth biggest in the country, with a population of about 1.6 million that is only expected to grow in the coming years, often ranks as the hottest or one of the hottest. But pushing into new territory comes with amplified risks to human health, especially for those forced to endure the extreme conditions for longer periods of time. The previous record of 18 days at that temperature threshold was set in the city in 1974. Continue reading...
Only one cooling center remains open all night, when the concrete radiates heat stored during hellish daytime hoursEven after the sun sinks below the horizon in Phoenix, Arizona, the concrete cityscape continues to cook. In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave that's kept daily highs above 110F (43.3C) for a record 19 consecutive days, the evening hours have offered little reprieve. For more than a week, low temperatures breached 90F (32.2C), breaking a grim record recently set in 2020.While the city is considered a leader in mitigating the dangers of extreme heat and has worked to secure widespread access to cooling centers and hydration stations during the scorching summer days, most facilities here close before nightfall. There's only a single center that operates around the clock in a city of more than 1.6 million people, even as dangerous conditions grow more deadly - especially for those who can't access overnight relief. Continue reading...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib say they intend to boycott address due to Israel's treatment of PalestiniansDemocratic divisions over Israel were on stark display on Tuesday, as lawmakers prepared to welcome Isaac Bougie" Herzog, the president of Israel, for an address to a joint session of Congress.Several progressive House members, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, intend to boycott Herzog's speech on Wednesday to protest against the treatment of Palestinians under the government of Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Continue reading...
Not all buildings are created equal. From sightlines to acoustics to the alchemy of actor-audience rapport, the physical facts of a dramatic space are fundamentalWhat makes a good theatre? Critics are not the most reliable guides. We sit in the best seats, don't have to pay, and are there to assess the performance rather than the building. If ever I have wanted guidance on architectural issues, I have turned to Iain Mackintosh, who from 1973 worked for Theatre Projects Consultants, has designed many successful theatres and has now put his encyclopedic knowledge into a book called Theatre Spaces 1920-2020. But the revelation comes in the subtitle: Finding the Fun in Functionalism. At the heart of the book lies an assault on modernist concrete buildings and a celebration of any theatre where actor and audience enjoy an easy rapport.Mackintosh covers a lot of ground and tells a number of good stories, two of which relate to the old Shakespeare Memorial theatre in Stratford, which opened in 1932. Derided at the time as a jam factory", yet capable of infinite adaptation, it has long been attributed to a 29-year-old modernist architect, Elisabeth Scott. But Mackintosh implicitly endorses the view that it was the work of her father, Maurice Chesterton (cousin of the famous GK). He also quotes a story about Tyrone Guthrie, on being offered co-directorship of the theatre in 1950 by Anthony Quayle, saying he would only accept if they built a new theatre with the audience on three sides. Asked what should be done with the existing theatre, Guthrie replied, Bulldoze it and push it into the river."Theatre Spaces: 1920-2020 is published by The Society for Theatre Research and Bloomsbury-Methuen Continue reading...
Antiquities from Israel's national treasures collection have ended up at Trump's Florida estate, say reportsAncient artefacts sent from Israel to the US four years ago on a short-term basis and intended for display at a White House event have ended up at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to a report.The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Tuesday that antiquities including ancient ceramic oil lamps, part of Israel's national treasures collection, were shipped to Washington DC with the approval of the then director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel Hasson, for use in a Hanukah candle-lighting event at the White House in December 2019, when Trump was in office. Continue reading...
A 47-year-old woman from Arizona suffered significant injuries to her chest and abdomen' after incident in national parkYellowstone national park officials have reiterated warnings to stay at least 25 yards away from large wild animals - as well as 100 yards from bears and wolves - after a bison gored a 47-year-old woman from Arizona on Sunday.The goring left the woman with significant injuries to her chest and abdomen," officials said in a statement. Continue reading...
Study, which used cognitive data and population estimates, examines prevalence of the disease by countyAlzheimer's disease is most prevalent in the eastern and south-eastern US, but the highest total number of patients is in California, according to a first-of-its-kind study released on Monday.New county-by-county data released at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) showed that those regions' large populations of older people as well as Black and Hispanic residents may explain the new study's data. Continue reading...
Sky-high entitlement is causing havoc, with passengers baring their feet and complaining about their meals. Another reason to give up flyingHere is your mission, should you choose to accept it: you have to get from point A to point B in an aeroplane without causing an international incident or inspiring a viral TikTok about what an entitled nitwit you are. Sounds simple, right? Apparently, it isn't. About 76.9% of the general population, extensive analysis has led me to believe, seem to find this mission impossible.You may have also noticed this phenomenon. It's hard not to: there is a constant stream of headlines about airline passengers exhibiting sky-high entitlement. For example, earlier this month, a United Airlines flight from Houston to Amsterdam was diverted to Chicago after a business class passenger became unruly. The reason? Their first choice of meal was unavailable. Authorities should have diverted the plane to The Hague, if you ask me. Having to deal with the ignominy of being served chicken instead of beef? It may sound paltry to unrefined ears, but if you've paid almost $7,000 for your ticket, it's a veritable crime against humanity. Continue reading...
Trump's legal team argued that Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis and her office should be barred from seeking chargesGeorgia's highest court Monday rejected a request by Donald Trump to block a district attorney from prosecuting the former president for his actions in the wake his 2020 election defeat.The Georgia supreme court unanimously shot down a petition that Trump's attorneys filed last week asking the court to intervene. Trump's legal team argued that Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis and her office should be barred from seeking charges and that a special grand jury report that is part of the inquiry should be thrown out. Continue reading...
The new law will not act as the deterrent the UK government says it will - it just puts more vulnerable people in harm's wayThere have been a number of migration bills in recent years, but make no mistake: the illegal migration bill that has now passed through parliament is a watershed moment. It will go down in history as a milestone like no other. As the UN has said, it extinguishes access to asylum" in the UK for anyone arriving by a route the government deems irregular".Pause for a moment and consider what that means. These are all people, like you and me. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. They aren't all illegals", as the government claims. They are the family from Syria who saw their neighbours killed by bombs. Sudanese people fleeing the brutal war that is raging in their country. Iranians escaping persecution. And Afghans, who made up the largest nationality coming across the Channel in the first three months of this year. Continue reading...
Homicide suspect who had used bed sheets to escape from Pennsylvania jail captured after nine daysA couple checking out a barking dog on their north-western Pennsylvania property over the weekend led to the capture of a homicide suspect who had used bed sheets to escape from jail, authorities have said.Michael Burham, 34, was captured nine days after he fled the Warrencounty jail in the late evening hours of 6 July by climbing on exercise equipment, going through a window and scaling down a rope fashioned from jail bedding, authorities said. Continue reading...
The record crowds that flocked to Nevada were treated to lots more than the Victor Wembanyama Show. Our correspondent in the desert empties her notebookThe most common mistake people make post-Vegas is overreacting, whether positive or negative. Yes, the NBA's Summer League provides a high-profile showcase for undrafted and G League players to show their mettle, so if they impress, it shouldn't be discounted. And some rookies display their rough edges in their first NBA-branded outing in ways that might raise flags for concern. But, on the whole, sweeping generalizations from the past 11 days shouldn't be made in either direction off a handful of games that in the long run don't carry a whole lot of weight. Continue reading...
Estimated 60 to 100 rabbits are descendants of a group a backyard breeder illegally let loose when she moved awayDozens of feral rabbits are driving some residents of a Florida neighborhood hopping mad after the furry creatures that were let loose are taking over the streets and are multiplying like - rabbits.In the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale, there's a new invasive species" to contend with in a state all too familiar with the destructive habits of non-native animals. These include Burmese pythons and the iguanas that can voraciously consume their way to local wildlife dominance, as well as lionfish and giant African snails. Continue reading...
Highs of between 46 and 48C forecast in Sicily and Sardinia, as parts of Europe, Asia and North America face surging temperatures. Plus, why first loves can shape our lives for ever
For Democratic leaders like Joe Biden, Herzog embodies the good Israel. Unfortunately, they are wrongWhy are President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress so eager to welcome Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, to Washington this week? Because he's an Israeli leader not named Benjamin Netanyahu.Many Democrats revile Netanyahu, who undermined Barack Obamaand leads a government determined to entrench Israel's brutal and undemocratic occupation of the West Bank. They also fear that legitimizing Netanyahu could strengthen his efforts to defenestrate Israel's judiciary.Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) is a professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also an editor-at-large of Jewish Currents and writes The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter Continue reading...
When I was the New York Times public editor, Kennedy vented on the phone - his ugly theories have sullied the family nameMy assistant in the New York Times public editor's office said Robert F Kennedy was on the phone. Did I want to take the call?This was roughly a decade ago, but I still remember being momentarily confused. Assassinated in 1968, RFK was long gone, and though we did get some unusual calls in the public editor's office, they tended to be from the living.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...
Heider Garcia, Tarrant county's elections administrator, quit after an election crimes taskforce was set up, which critics say undermines confidenceOn 22 November 2020, Heider Garcia, the elections administrator for Tarrant county, Texas, was awake in his living room until around 3am, unable to sleep over fears that a stranger might show up at his house, he recalled.An account had posted his family's home address on Twitter during weeks of false conspiracy theories and death threats about his role in the 2020 election. Donald Trump's supporters refused to believe that Tarrant county, a major, diverse county that encompasses the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington, had broken its Republican voting patterns for Joe Biden. Continue reading...
CCTV cameras captured a wildfire ripping through a valley in California as the state experienced record high temperatures during the heatwave that began scorching the region last week.Firefighters continued battling a large brush blaze nicknamed the Rabbit Fire near Beaumont in Riverside County. The fire started burning on Friday and has covered more than 3,200 hectares. It was 35% contained by Monday, according to the Riverside County fire department.Heat warnings remained in effect for the region, while the ongoing heatwave continues to bring oppressive conditions to central California
USA are favourites for an unprecedented third World Cup win in a row but uncertainty surrounds an injury-ravaged team grappling with changeThis is not the USA women's team you think it is. Yes, USA are in search of an unprecedented third successive World Cup title. Yes, USA are still ranked No 1 in the world by Fifa. And yes, there is a target on their collective back as one of the perennial favourites at any major tournament. The players who won in 2019 though? They are mostly absent.Just nine of the 23 named in USA's World Cup squad were part of the triumph four years ago, of whom only five also took part at the 2015 tournament. News of captain Becky Sauerbrunn's foot injury, which will keep her out of what would have been the 38-year-old's fourth World Cup, only underscores the dramatic turnover that has played out during the past 18 months. If USA are to threepeat", they will do so with a vastly younger and less experienced group. Continue reading...
Big data has helped the music industry sell us only what we already like - but the results are less alive and less surprisingI was 14 when Kurt Cobain of Nirvana appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a T-shirt that said CORPORATE MAGAZINES STILL SUCK". Even at that tender age, I found his message worrisome: if Rolling Stone sucked, why was he on the cover? Maybe the shirt was ironic. Maybe his participation in the profile was ironic. Or maybe, alarmingly, he saw no contradiction between his shirt and his appearance in this corporate magazine, because we were all supposed to understand that any assertion of meaningful values in popular music was inherently bunk, even though many of the songs on Nevermind were clearly about me.Cobain's interview did not do much to resolve these ambiguities. After limply defending Rolling Stone as having some good articles, he added: I don't blame the average 17-year-old punk-rock kid for calling me a sellout."Dan Brooks is a writer based in Montana Continue reading...
Mynor Recinos was on his riverside patio fishing when he spotted the girl in trouble and swam nearly 60ft to save herA fisher in Oregon used a rope, his lifelong swimming skills and quick thinking to rescue a girl who fell off a jet ski and into the Columbia River from drowning, according to witnesses. Now, people are calling for the local government to formally recognize him as a hero.The dramatic scene unfolded Wednesday off Hayden Island, when Mynor Recinos was on his riverside patio fishing and spotted two girls in lifejackets who had fallen off their jet ski in the face of a large wave. Continue reading...
Several women were found dead in a 100-mile range over three months and authorities have identified one person of interestThe bodies of four women discovered in wooded areas in north-west Oregon are linked, authorities said on Monday while announcing that police have identified at least one person of interest".Fears of a serial killer in the Pacific north-west had grown since last month when the Oregonian reported that six women, all under 40 and most with connections to the Portland area, were found dead in secluded areas in a 100-mile range over three months. Continue reading...
Democratic senator appears at No Labels town hall as colleagues warn that any bipartisan campaign would help Donald TrumpThe West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who for years has held an outsized degree of power within the Democratic party, appeared on Monday at an event held by a political group exploring a third-party presidential bid. Manchin's appearance has fueled speculation that he is considering a run for the presidency, a scenario that has alarmed Democrats as it could weaken President Joe Biden's candidacy.Manchin appeared at the group No Labels' town hall meeting on Monday, alongside Republican former Utah governor Jon Huntsman. They co-headlined the organization's Common Sense" policy platform release, the first in a series of events that the group says it will hold as the 2024 presidential election takes shape. Continue reading...
Flight 12 from Zurich touched down in Chicago without inflatable slide - which was found four miles away in resident's backyardThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday evening that it was investigating when happened when a flight landed in the midwest but was discovered to be missing its emergency evacuation slide.The inflatable slide, so familiar in theory to millions of passengers from the safety-briefing videos that precede take-off - but which most hope they will never have to see, let alone use, in real life - was discovered on the ground. Continue reading...
No date set for far-right Israel PM's visit as arrival of President Isaac Herzog highlights over creeping annexation of West BankThe White House has finally invited Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the US after months of snubbing the Israeli prime minister over his government's creeping annexation of the West Bank and deepening oppression of the Palestinians.Netanyahu's office said President Joe Biden extended the invitation in a call between the two leaders on Monday ahead of a visit to Washington by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, this week that had thrown a spotlight on to the shunning of the prime minister. Continue reading...
Former president writes open letter to American librarians and appears in TikTok video decrying rightwing censorship pushIn an open letter to American librarians, Barack Obama has criticised profoundly misguided" rightwing efforts to ban books from libraries in public schools.Some of the books that shaped my life - and the lives of so many others - are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives," the former president wrote. Continue reading...
Roberta Bell dismissed after offering to take in Katie Bourgeois's baby for two months while she finished her prison termA Louisiana prison guard has reportedly lost her job for taking in an incarcerated woman's newborn baby for about two months while the mother finished her prison term.The prison guard, Roberta Bell, offered to take in Katie Bourgeois's newborn earlier this year, violating the rules against giving personal contact information to inmates at Louisiana's Transition Center for Women, which holds people who are close to finishing their sentences. Continue reading...
Boyfriend hits back at skeptics and insists Carlee' Russell, 25, fought off kidnapper' after stopping to check on child on highwayPolice in Hoover, Alabama, are trying to pin down exactly what happened to Carlethia Carlee" Nichole Russell, the 25-year-old woman who set off a two-day search after she stopped to check on a child who was walking along a highway on Thursday and disappeared.And as investigators carry out that process, Russell's boyfriend issued a strongly worded statement in which he asserted that she had to fight off at least one abductor to come back home alive. Continue reading...
Yes, many students are being sold a false dream. But that's the government's fault, not the universities'It was a long time before I understood the phrase he'll piss on you and tell you it's raining" - really understood it, at a gut level. It took 13 years and 10 weeks, to be precise, of successive feckless Conservatives messing everything up and telling us how messed up everything is.So, having introduced the tuition-fee regime that leaves students with a life-changing amount of debt, and has demoralised and underfunded the sector so that the poverty-paid lecturers at its backbone are always on strike, the party has declared war on ripoff" degrees. Young people, Rishi Sunak contends, are being sold a false dream, without the prospect of a decent job at the end of it. Well, yes, Rishi, that is called life in the UK". Continue reading...
Most of the settlement money to go to family of 19-year-old killed in 2019 crash of boat purportedly driven by Alex Murdaugh's sonA series of lawsuits centering on the deadly February 2019 crash of a boat purportedly driven by Alex Murdaugh's son before his high-profile murder at the hands of his father has reportedly been settled for about $15m.Most of the money from the settlement, confirmed on Sunday, is destined to go to the family of Mallory Beach, 19, who was killed on the night of the wreck near Parris Island, South Carolina, according to the local news outlet WSAV. Continue reading...
Anthony Carter calls architect Rex Heuermann, charged with murders of three women in Gilgo Beach in 2010, a demon'A senior police investigator on Long Island, New York, has described the acts attributed to the man charged with three murders in the Gilgo Beach serial killings as the worst I've ever seen".Suffolk county deputy police commissioner Anthony Carter told CNN that suspect Rex Heuermann, the man in custody since last week, was a demon". Continue reading...
Pennsylvania is latest area in the US to be hit by intense rain and flooding as worldwide climate emergency worsensFive people have been killed and two children remained missing after floodwaters tore through parts of south-eastern Pennsylvania over the week during the latest round of violent storms to hit the region.The family of the two children, a nine-month-old boy and his two-year-old sister, were caught in their car on the way to a barbecue on Saturday, the chief of the Upper Makefield fire department, Tim Brewer, said on Sunday. Their mother was later found dead while their father and young sibling miraculously" made it to safety. Continue reading...
The outgoing defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has got the begging bowl out again. But his fearmongering about Russia and the Pacific is irresponsibleBritain's defence secretary, Ben Wallace, resigned at the weekend. In a farewell interview he predicted, ostensibly based on intelligence, that Britain would be at war by 2030". Conflict would be on one of three fronts. If Vladimir Putin loses in Ukraine, says Wallace, he's still got an air force and a navy ... [he's] not done with us yet".The assumption here is of war between Russia and us". Next Wallace predicted a total breakdown of politics in the Pacific", where we are deeply vulnerable". He nowhere identified this vulnerability or why it meant war, hot or cold. Finally, there was to be a shooting war in Africa, where al-Qaida and Isis threaten the future of nation states". This in turn would trigger us internationally coming to [their] aid". Continue reading...
A message meant for another Dale, sent by his 88-year-old sister, revealed the fascinating world of like-named peopleFor a while now, I have been getting the strangest emails. They concern golf rules, carpenter bees and CPR short courses I've not signed up for at local fire departments I could not place. I have been on the receiving end of a round-robin addressed to all the stoners".The explanation is that I share my name - and therefore a similar email address - with a stranger half way round the world from me. Random email is the bane of everyone's existence; I could tell you how many actual thousands of unread messages I have, but no one needs more pain. What does alleviate it, though, is any inkling that a real person may be present - and there is something fascinating about discovering people who share our name, as though we are connected by something more than pure coincidence. Continue reading...
Andre Longmore's motives remain under investigation, police chief says, after four residents of Longmore's neighborhood killedOfficers on Sunday shot and killed a man wanted in four weekend killings near Atlanta during an exchange of gunfire, with a sheriff's deputy and two police officers wounded while trying to take the suspect into custody, authorities said.Officials said Andre Longmore was shot during an intense manhunt for the 40-year-old suspect. The exchange of gunfire came a day after Saturday morning's shootings rocked a bucolic subdivision in Hampton, south of Georgia's main city. Continue reading...
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