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Cruises resumed in June after being halted for over a year because of the pandemic, and continue to sail despite the investigationThe Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is investigating or observing 86 cruise ships with reported Covid-19 outbreaks on board as the pandemic is reaching a new peak in the United States with record numbers of infections.In addition to having already investigated 48 vessels, the agency has started investigating 38 ships, which according to its update, remain “under observation”. Continue reading...

Federal judge rejects defence arguments, a development that could have potential implications for Donald TrumpA federal judge has refused to dismiss an indictment charging four alleged Proud Boys leaders with conspiracy and obstructing an official proceeding during the 6 January attack on the US Capitol – a development that could have potential implications for Donald Trump.On Tuesday, the US district judge Timothy Kelly rejected arguments by defence lawyers that Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe are charged with conduct that is protected by the first amendment right to free speech. Continue reading...

Seven-day average of cases exceeded 267,000 on Tuesday, beating its January 2021 record of 251,232The United States has punched through its record for daily coronavirus cases, as the Omicron variant has surpassed Delta in distribution across much of the country amid a massive surge.The seven-day average of US cases exceeded 267,000 on Tuesday, beating its January 2021 record of 251,232, according to a New York Times database. The fast moving Omicron variant now accounts for 59% of new infections, up from 23% a week earlier. Continue reading...

Lyndon James McLeod, 47, who was killed at scene was ‘on radar of law enforcement’, say Denver policeA gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a series of shootings in Denver is believed to have targeted the victims based on previous personal and business dealings and was investigated by police twice in the last two years.Denver police said that Lyndon James McLeod, 47, who was also killed in the deadly rampage on Monday night, knew most of the victims and was “on the radar of law enforcement”. Continue reading...

A film about a comet hurtling towards Earth and no one is doing anything about it? Sounds exactly like the climate crisisThe movie Don’t Look Up is satire. But speaking as a climate scientist doing everything I can to wake people up and avoid planetary destruction, it’s also the most accurate film about society’s terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I’ve seen.The film, from director Adam McKay and writer David Sirota, tells the story of astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her PhD adviser, Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), who discover a comet – a “planet killer” – that will impact the Earth in just over six months. The certainty of impact is 99.7%, as certain as just about anything in science. Continue reading...

Three in five pregnant Americans have no vaccine protection as experts say it is ‘one of the most important things you can do’For many people, the thin red line on a pregnancy test ushers in countless changes. You change what you eat and drink, how you exercise and socialize and sleep, and keep careful track of what medications you should and shouldn’t take.But for many Americans, there’s one choice they largely haven’t made: getting vaccinated. Continue reading...

All over the country, free and fair elections are under threat. This will be one of the most important stories we tell in 2022.

We used price controls after inflation sky-rocketed after the second world war. There’s a strong case for doing so again nowInflation is near a 40-year high. Central banks around the world just promised to intervene. However, a critical factor that is driving up prices remains largely overlooked: an explosion in profits. In 2021, US non-financial profit margins have reached levels not seen since the aftermath of the second world war. This is no coincidence. The end of the war required a sudden restructuring of production which created bottlenecks similar to those caused by the pandemic. Then and now large corporations with market power have used supply problems as an opportunity to increase prices and scoop windfall profits. The Federal Reserve has taken a hawkish turn this month. But cutting monetary stimulus will not fix supply chains. What we need instead is a serious conversation about strategic price controls – just like after the war.Today economists are divided into two camps on the inflation question: team Transitory argues we ought not to worry about inflation since it will soon go away. Team Stagflation urges for fiscal restraint and a raise in interest rates. But there is a third option: the government could target the specific prices that drive inflation instead of moving to austerity which risks a recession.Isabella Weber is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy

December in Lagos should have been the highlight of my year. But when plans were cancelled I turned to a new trait: resilienceI planned to be in Lagos this Christmas. The season is called Detty December (as in “dirty”), and it’s a whirlwind of weddings, parties and concerts that go on till the early hours of the morning. The dress code is “slay queen” – dress to slay – and there’s only one rule: enjoyment. I booked my flight months in advance to avoid the price hikes that happen close to Christmas. I readied my outfits. I packed my sunscreen. And then, as of 7 December, the UK government put Nigeria on the red list. I was scheduled to fly the day before.I sought counsel. My bolder friends encouraged me to travel because the rules might change before my return flight. My more cautious friends advised that I should only risk it if, in the event that the travel ban was not lifted, I was ready to pay £2,120 for hotel quarantine. I was not ready to pay £2,120. I postponed my trip.Chibundu Onuzo is a Nigerian novelist living in London. Continue reading...

Over the past decade, the Giants and Jets have become the NFL’s twin paragons of ineptitude. And the pathway back to respectability for either has seldom looked more dauntingProfessional football in the New York metropolitan area somehow has become even bleaker in the two-plus years that have passed since the Giants and Jets last played each other. The Jets (2-7) rallied to beat the Giants (2-8) that glum November day in the Meadowlands in the so-called Toilet Bowl, with tailgaters displaying toilet-seat lids with each team’s logo.The NFL’s two NYC-based teams are each 4-11 heading into the homestretch of the 2021 season. It is likely that both will finish the season with 13 losses, which has never happened since New York added an AFL team in 1960. In the last 10 years, only the 2016 Giants reached the playoffs (and they were promptly blown out by Green Bay in the wild-card round). More recently, they have been pro football’s biggest losers: none of the other 30 teams in the NFL have posted a worse record than the Jets (21-58) or Giants (22-57) since 2016. Continue reading...

After a close shave with high-street fashion death, I’m now a devotee of secondhand marketplacesUp to a point, I can plot my life in clothes shops. M&S and Asda as a kid; New Look and Tammy Girl as a pre-teen, then Topshop, surf shops and our local 60s den for massive corduroy flares – the full complement from my rural hometown’s offering. When I moved for university, I revelled in the terribly exotic (to me) Gap and Zara; during my 20s, London offered the untold riches of Cos, Monki and & Other Stories.After turning 30, that sense of surefire fits slipped away. I was probably too old for Topshop’s cropped-everything, plus I found its owner a bit gross. I felt jaded by Cos’s austere dental hygienist smocks. And the emerging age-appropriate uniform of mid-length floral skirt, nice jumper and heeled boots felt like a millennial update of M&S’s old Classic collection, AKA premature fashion death. Where next?Laura Snapes is the Guardian’s deputy music editor Continue reading...

The island community of Kodiak set the record on Sunday and scientists fear the population will be deluged with rain as climate warmsAn unusual winter warm spell in Alaska has brought daytime temperatures soaring past 15.5C (60F) and torrents of rain at a time of year normally associated with bitter cold and snow.At the island community of Kodiak, the air temperature at a tidal gauge hit 19.4C (67F) degrees on Sunday, the highest December reading ever recorded in Alaska, said scientist Rick Thoman of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. He called it “absurd.” Continue reading...

Judge Alison Nathan says they face ‘a high and escalating risk that jurors and trial participants may need to quarantine’The judge in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial on Tuesday told lawyers that deliberations could be held this weekend, warning that the surge in Covid-19 cases could derail the trial if a juror fell ill before a verdict were reached.“We now face a high and escalating risk that jurors and trial participants may need to quarantine,” Judge Alison Nathan said “thus disrupting trial, putting at risk our ability to complete this trial.” Continue reading...

The 14-year-old came to LA from Chile with her mother six months ago, excelled in school and wanted to become an engineerValentina Orellana-Peralta, 14, came to Los Angeles from her native Chile earlier this year. She dreamed of becoming an American citizen and an engineer, and looked forward to seeing LeBron James play basketball in person.But her life was cut short two days before Christmas, when a Los Angeles police officer opened fire at a man inside a department store, and in the process fatally shot the young girl. Continue reading...

Box, deposited in 1887, did not appear to hold a rare photo of Abraham Lincoln that had been hoped forMore than 130 years after a time capsule was deposited in the pedestal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee, and after one false start, conservators in Virginia were finally able to open the long sought-after box on Tuesday.The 36lb copper container, deposited in 1887, was removed on Monday after it was found sitting in water in the remains of the pedestal. Continue reading...

Suspect also died after being shot, but it was not immediately clear if police officers had shot himAt least five people were killed and several injured, including a police officer, after a series of shootings across the Denver area.Four were killed in the Monday night shooting and a fifth died from her injuries on Tuesday, police said. Continue reading...

Panel bends to wishes of the Biden White House over concerns of national security and executive privilege

The sacred Māori meeting place is a place our ancestors once walked. Even when there is no one here, I am not alone

Claim was part of push to overturn election but officials confirm four cases, all involving family members submitting votes

Paxlovid and molnupiravir were authorized by the US FDA last week, but supplies of Paxlovid are limited while molnupiravir is less effective than hopedAn effective and widely available treatment for Covid would be a significant breakthrough for managing the pandemic, but two antivirals recently authorized in the US come with some significant caveats, including low supply and use only among those at high risk for severe illness and death.Paxlovid from Pfizer and molnupiravir from Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics were authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week. The pills could be a game-changer for the most vulnerable, because they can be taken at home twice a day for five days to prevent hospitalization and death. For those considered at high risk of serious illness, Paxlovid was found to be 89% effective when taken within the first three days of symptoms and 88% effective in the first five days. Continue reading...

Shootings, and the grief and trauma that follow, are concentrated in lower-income, mostly Black and Latino communitiesWhen I ask parents, siblings and children what they want Guardian readers to know about their family member lost to gun violence, each one emphatically tells me their relative didn’t deserve what happened to them. They tell me their loved ones adored animals, loved kids – that they were just special. The people I speak with, especially parents, want the world to know their sons and daughters weren’t stereotypes.This desire for posthumous exoneration isn’t anything new, but the pleas sounded especially urgent in 2021. Continue reading...

A long-sought 1887 time capsule appears to have been found under a pedestal that once held a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia. Media reports described a capsule with dozens of artefacts, perhaps including a rare photo of Abraham Lincoln. Crews dismantling the pedestal found another time capsule earlier this month, but it did not contain the expected trove of objects. The statue was removed in September after protests against the police killing of George Floyd

Punctuation has always been controversial, but right now, amid fierce political debate, matters seem especially polarisedPunctuation is so 1990s. The comma is disappearing, the full stop has come to a full stop, and the semicolon has been repurposed as a pair of winking eyes. While the exclamation mark remains in rude health, the fate of the apostrophe seems especially bleak. Even the Apostrophe Protection Society has given up the fight, calling an end to its activities in 2019 and declaring a victory for “ignorance and laziness”. Debates over the correct use of punctuation have raged since English printers began to adopt the fancy new marks to supplement the simple virgule of medieval scribes (the ancestor of today’s forward slash), used singularly to serve a range of functions.The recent release of a large electronic corpus of written English from the past 30 years by Lancaster University allows us to track this rapid shift to a plainer prose. Short messages typed in haste dispense with old-fashioned commas and stuffy semicolons in favour of more informal dashes. Text messages now often sent as individual sentences mean the full stop has become surplus to requirement; including one is seen to signal a deliberate desire to be blunt or convey hostility, similar to adding the word “period” in speech: “That’s enough – period.”Simon Horobin is a professor in the Department of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford Continue reading...

As the first anniversary of the Capitol attack nears, all decent Americans must commit to deprogram this Republican cult. Doing so will mean paying attention to those we left behind6 January will be the first anniversary one of the most shameful days in American history. On that date in 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by thousands of armed loyalists to Donald Trump, some intent on killing members of Congress. About 140 officers were injured. Five people died.Even now, almost a year later, Americans remain confused and divided about the significance of what occurred. Let me offer four basic truths: Continue reading...

Long-sought-after item could contain artifacts, Confederate memorabilia and even a rare photo of Abraham LincolnCrews wrapping up the removal Monday of a giant pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee in Richmond found what appeared to be a second and long-sought-after time capsule, Virginia governor Ralph Northam said.The governor tweeted photos of a box being removed from the site and said conservators were studying the artifact. Continue reading...

The death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was shopping with her mother for a holiday dress, raises concerns about police use of deadly forceThe Los Angeles police department has released body-camera footage and surveillance video of an incident in which an officer shot and killed a 14-year-old girl inside a department store while firing at another person.The footage from the Thursday morning incident shows that as soon as police encountered a man suspected of assault inside the store, an officer fired three bullets at him from a distance. One of the officer’s bullets struck the girl when it bounced off the floor and into the dressing room where she was with her mother, police said on Monday. Continue reading...

Former Theranos chief faces 11 criminal charges, alleging she duped investors and patients over blood-testing technologyThe jury weighing fraud charges against Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, began their second week of deliberations on Monday morning.Holmes faces 11 criminal charges, alleging that she duped investors and patients by hailing her company’s blood-testing technology as a medical breakthrough when in fact it was prone to wild errors. Continue reading...

‘Remarkable woman’ Weddington hailed for role in 1973 case that established right to abortionTributes were paid to Sarah Weddington after the attorney who argued and won the landmark Roe v Wade case at the supreme court, establishing the right to abortion, died aged 76.Susan Hays, a former student of Weddington’s and a Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner, announced on Twitter that Weddington died on Sunday morning “after a series of health issues”. Continue reading...

Texan lawyer and Linda Coffee won landmark 1973 case, safeguarding right now under threat from US supreme court

I asked a child psychologist if I should be worried about the extent of their make-believe worldsNever confuse fantasy and “realty”.It’s a sentence that has floated, jokingly, around my family ever since my father’s colleague uttered the bungle to him years ago. We New Yorkers, of course, never confuse fantasy and realty. But in our house we happily confuse the two all the time.Sophie Brickman is a contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times and other publications, and the author of Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age Continue reading...

The US has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries. Yet Senator Joe Manchin struggles to understand why paid family leave is importantTwenty-four hours after I gave birth to my second child, my employer called to ask when I planned to return to work.It had been a high-risk pregnancy and a complicated, precarious delivery involving a breech birth. I should have remained in the hospital for several days. But my oldest child – then just a year old – needed major surgery that couldn’t be delayed. So we brought our newborn home and rushed to prepare to leave for a hospital two hours away where our oldest child would have surgery while our newborn was at home being cared for by relatives.Bobbi Dempsey is a freelance writer specializing in topics related to poverty, a reporting fellow at the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and an economic justice fellow at Community Change Continue reading...

Covid has forced us to find new ways to relate to each other – and that has meant creative opportunities and connections we’d otherwise have missedNearly two years ago, the dawn of Covid lockdowns forced us to contend with the prospect of solitude and self-reflection. Naturally, we rushed to find other stuff to do.Alongside the endless walks and compulsive baking, the early months of 2020 saw the blossoming of an array of tech trends: virtual gathering apps like Houseparty and Clubhouse, online events from trivia nights to Zoom weddings, livestreamed performances and art exhibitions. Continue reading...

I owe my career to Twitter, but two years reporting on the pandemic has made me realise disinformation costs livesI have a fantasy and it goes like this: a political party is formed, running on an anti-social-media platform. It campaigns on a pledge to ban social media. (“SWITCH IT OFF” is its straightforward, and elegant, slogan.)The party wins a general election and at midnight, on what comes to be known as Social Media Freedom Day, the prime minister pushes a giant button that blocks all access to social media. Crowds cheer. On the anniversary of Social Media Freedom Day – which becomes a bank holiday, of course – children burn effigies of Mark Zuckerberg and dress up as the Twitter bird.Sirin Kale is a Guardian journalist Continue reading...

Committee to request contents of the call seeking to stop Biden’s certification and may subpoena Rudy GiulianiCongressman Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, has said the panel will open an inquiry into Donald Trump’s phone call seeking to stop Joe Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January hours before the insurrection.The chairman said the select committee intended to scrutinize the phone call – revealed last month by the Guardian – should they prevail in their legal effort to obtain Trump White House records over the former president’s objections of executive privilege. Continue reading...

The Chiefs and Bucs could be headed for a Super Bowl rematch after clinching their divisions. But expect the chaos of a year where no team has looked invulnerable to spill into JanuaryIf the NFL was hoping to keep more teams in the playoff hunt longer by expanding the regular season from 17 weeks to 18, well, mission accomplished. Week 16’s slate of games is nearly completed, yet much remains unsettled, particularly in the still wide-open AFC. If there’s one team that’s taken advantage of their situation, it would be the Kansas City Chiefs, who are currently the only team in the conference guaranteed a playoff spot.It feels like ages ago, but it was only late October when the preseason favorites looked to be in serious trouble. After a demoralizing 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs had stumbled from the gate with a perplexing 3-4 record. Since then, however, they have rattled off eight straight victories and look to be in great shape to make their third straight Super Bowl. Continue reading...

Baseless claims of fraud have pushed Republicans to enact restrictive voting laws – and they haven’t stopped there2021 was the year that America’s democracy came under attack from within.Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election results, a push that culminated in the 6 January assault on the capitol, ultimately failed. But the lies the former president spread about fraud and the integrity of the 2020 results have stuck around in a dangerous way. False claims about the election have moved to the center of the Republican party. Continue reading...

Lawyer for Thomas Sibick tells judge he can be trusted to use social media to seek job and love during confinement at parents’ houseA New York man charged with assaulting a police officer during the deadly Capitol riot has asked a judge for permission to use dating websites while confined at his parents’ house.Thomas Sibick, of Buffalo, was part of a pro-Trump mob the then president urged to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden. Continue reading...

State says snowpack now between 114% and 137% of normal across Sierra range while southern areas get much-needed rainA major Christmas storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways in the mountains of northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days.Rainstorms also continued to hit parts of southern California. The conditions were difficult but welcome developments in a parched state where the Sierra snowpack had been at dangerously low levels after weeks of dry weather. Continue reading...

Five men are charged with conspiring to kidnap Democratic Michigan governor over coronavirus restrictionsDefense attorneys want dismissed the indictment against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, because of what they call “egregious overreaching” by federal agents and informants.The government alleges that the men were upset over coronavirus restrictions last year when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat then spoken about as a possible vice-president, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan. Continue reading...

Jayapal calls on president to continue work on social spending plan and to use executive actions to get around senator’s rejection

He was above everything a priest – albeit the funniest one I’ve ever knownI am lucky that in my life I knew Desmond Tutu, one of the greatest men of our time. This tiny giant, this impish little priest, had the dangerously insane courage of the gods. And it was through his God that he found the voice to unremittingly challenge oppressors and speak endlessly, eloquently for the beaten down, the trodden on, the innocent and poor of this world. And later, when the righteous justice of his rhetoric had come to pass, he – along with his great friend Nelson Mandela – proposed the national dignity that only forgiveness of the past and the vanquished can bestow.