Across the US, communities are relying on mutual aid as a safeguard against extreme weatherWhen winter storm Uri hit Texas in February 2021, bringing single-digit temperatures and sheets of snow to Dallas, Susana Edith and a group of volunteers distributed lentil soup and winter gear to unhoused people in their community.“A lot of us had a sense of urgency and were called to action at that moment,” Edith said. “We were out in the streets while the storm was happening.” Continue reading...
Discovery in storage unit appears to confirm DoJ’s suspicions that former president possessed additional government records, sources say. Plus, Australia’s worst Christmas treesGood morning.Two more documents bearing classification markings have been found by Donald Trump’s lawyers inside boxes at a storage unit in Florida, one source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.Where else did the firm search? The outside firm ended up searching a number of Trump’s properties, according to another source, including Trump Tower in New York, Trump Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, the Mar-a-Lago resort and the external storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is understood to have been controlled by a federal agency.How has the New York Times responded? Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the newspaper, said bosses were still in negotiations when they were told the strike was happening. “It is disappointing that they are taking such an extreme action when we are not at an impasse,” she said. Continue reading...
There will be a race to the bottom for a chance at selecting the brilliant French teenager. Maybe it’s time to rethink a system that rewards failureVictor Wembanyama is the type of guy you dream up in NBA 2K’s “create a player” mode. Only less realistic.The 7ft 4in forward with an 8ft wingspan is as coordinated as he is large; as fluid as he is dynamic; and as skilled as he is smart. Wembanyama can do everything, from acrobatically blocking shots to hitting movement threes to dunking over everybody.Once the regular season ends, have a tournament between all or some non-playoff teams to compete for draft position, with the winner getting the No 1 overall pick.Once a team has been mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs, place them in a different standings table in which they compete for draft position, with the best record following playoff elimination winning the No 1 pick.Create a simple rule that disincentivizes long-term tanking, such as disallowing a team from drafting in the top-three or top-five of the lottery three years in a row, or prohibiting a team from winning the lottery two years in a row.Relegation. Keep the lottery format as is, but have the worst team demoted to the G League, with a chance to play their way back into the NBA. The worst team would still get the highest pick, but would have to bear the financial losses of a season in the G League, while a G League team would move up to the NBA. Continue reading...
Nearly 4 million more children in poverty in January 2022 compared with December 2021, say expertsAndrea Knauber used the money to pay for more nutritious food and cover the fees for her daughter’s dance classes. Melissa Lester spent the checks on birthday and Christmas gifts for her daughter, and to take the first holiday of her life.“My family never went on family vacations or anything, and 2021 was the first time that I had done anything like that. And we got to go to the beach,” said Lester, a 38-year-old social worker in Ohio. Continue reading...
Kansas manager’s missive – which claimed workers were calling out ‘at a staggering rate’ – caused an uproar onlineA manager of an Olive Garden restaurant in Kansas was out of a job after warning subordinates to look for other work if they requested time off.In an unusually harsh message that went viral online, the manager – whose name was not publicly released – complained that staffers at her eatery in Overland Park were staying off work “at a staggering rate”. Continue reading...
Eric Adams issued summons by health department in May after inspector spotted ‘fresh rat droppings’ at his Brooklyn townhouseNew York City mayor Eric Adams is such an enemy of rats that he once called a press conference to demonstrate a contraption for drowning them in poison. Now Adams finds himself contesting a $300 fine issued by his own administration over a rat infestation at a building he owns in Brooklyn.Adams was issued a summons by the city health department on 10 May after a health inspector spotted “fresh rat droppings” at his townhouse on Lafayette Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Continue reading...
Federal grand jury also charged Republican lawmaker Joe Harding with ‘fraudulently obtaining’ $150,000 in Covid relief fundsA federal grand jury has indicted Florida state representative Joe Harding, the Republican lawmaker who authored the “don’t say gay” bill, for Covid business relief fraud and money laundering, the justice department announced on Wednesday.Between December 2020 and March 2021, Harding, 35, committed wire fraud when he took part in a “scheme to defraud” the Small Business Administration and obtained Covid-related relief funds for small businesses under false pretenses, according to a federal indictment. Continue reading...
The more I scroll, the more a pang of longing blooms within me for the unbridled insanity of TwitterOne thing about me is that I am an avowed hater of change, by which I mean I am a baby, and that my phone – which has not seen a software update since 2017, thanks for asking – regularly carks it when I try to do things like send an email or message a friend or press any button. My feelings towards downloading a new app are the same that others might have towards skydiving: a fear of leaping into the unknown, and also death.Unfortunately, the other thing about me is that I am masochistic, which is how I find myself downloading Mastodon – the platform that has been touted, to varying degrees of certainty, as the replacement for a slowly crumbling Twitter now owned and micromanaged by the world’s neediest billionaire. Continue reading...
Discovery appears to confirm DoJ’s suspicions that former president possessed additional government records, sources sayDonald Trump’s lawyers found at least two more documents bearing classification markings inside boxes at a storage unit in Florida when they searched through items that were brought from the White House at the end of his administration, one source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.The new discovery could exacerbate the former president’s legal exposure after the FBI seized 103 documents marked classified at his Mar-a-Lago resort in August as part of the justice department’s criminal investigation into the possible unauthorized retention of national security information and obstruction of justice. Continue reading...
Case brought by North Carolina would give partisan state legislatures near total control over elections with no role for courtsThe US supreme court heard arguments on Wednesday in Moore v Harper, one of this term’s highest profile and most contentious cases which has the potential to fundamentally reshape elections for Congress and the presidency.The justices appeared to be starkly divided along predictable ideological lines as they mulled over the power of state courts to strike down congressional districts drawn by state legislatures because they violate state constitutions. Continue reading...
City’s police department prohibited from using the 17 robots in its arsenal for lethal force after board of supervisors voteSan Francisco lawmakers voted to ban police robots from using deadly force on Tuesday, reversing course one week after officials had approved the practice and sparked national outrage.The city’s board of supervisors voted to explicitly prohibit the San Francisco police department (SFPD) from using the 17 robots in its arsenal to kill people. The board, however, also sent the issue back to a committee for further review, which means it could later decide to allow lethal force in some circumstances. Continue reading...
Herschel Walker’s failure to win Georgia runoff is latest in long list of midterm misfires for extremist candidates endorsed by TrumpDeflated Republicans were embarking on a period of introspection and blame on Wednesday after Herschel Walker, Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate, fell well short in his effort to capture Georgia’s Senate seat.Walker’s failure in the runoff against the incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock was the most recent of a long list of misfires in the midterm elections for extremist candidates endorsed by the former president, who announced his latest run for the White House last month. Continue reading...
Trump’s former press secretary apologized for his error, after criticizing Biden for not acknowledging D-day last yearSean Spicer, Donald Trump’s first White House press secretary and a Harvard politics fellow, came under fire on Wednesday for a tweet in which he appeared to confuse one major second world war anniversary for another.Spicer wrote: “Today is Dday [sic]. It only lives in infamy if we remember and share the story of sacrifice with the next generation. #DDay.”Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...
Self-styled prophet Samuel Bateman allegedly engaged in child sex trafficking and had at least 20 ‘wives’, most of them childrenFederal investigators in Arizona discovered that a man arrested in August for kidnapping was head of a polygamous religious cult and had at least 20 “wives”, most of them children.Samuel Rappylee Bateman, an erstwhile member of the Mormon Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, set up an offshoot sect and persuaded male followers to surrender their wives and daughters, court papers filed in Flagstaff said. Continue reading...
Metzger Bar and Butchery cancels event booking for the Family Foundation, citing the conservative group’s beliefsA Virginia restaurant canceled a reservation for an event hosted by a conservative organization, citing the non-profit’s condemnation of same-sex marriage and abortion rights.Metzger Bar and Butchery, a German-inspired eatery in Richmond, canceled the booking made by the Family Foundation. Continue reading...
About 50,000 federal lawsuits claimed that the bestselling heartburn drug had led to cancerShares in drug firms GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi surged after a US judge dismissed thousands of lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.GSK’s shares jumped as much as 14% in early trading, while Sanofi’s stock jumped nearly 6% in mid-morning trading. Continue reading...
The Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, won the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, securing his first full term and delivering a 51st seat to bolster his party’s majority in the chamber. Here is a look at what the pastor and politician stands for – from abortion to policing and voting rights – in his own words
Christian Walker sent a series of celebratory tweets that recalled the candidate’s alleged history of mistreatment of his familyAmong the many detractors celebrating Herschel Walker’s defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff was one closer to home: son Christian, who expressed his delight on Twitter that the state had rejected his controversial father.“Don’t beat women, hold guns to peoples [sic] heads, fund abortions then pretend your [sic] pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family,” the younger Walker said in the first of a flurry of tweets posted on Tuesday night as the Democrat Raphael Warnock was projected to be the winner. Continue reading...
Storms uncover what appears to be wooden ship dating from 1800s poking from sand at Dayton Beach ShoresSevere beach erosion from two late-season hurricanes has helped uncover what appears to be a wooden ship dating from the 1800s which had been buried under the sand on Florida’s east coast for up to two centuries, impervious to cars that drove daily on the beach or sand castles built by generations of tourists.Beachgoers and lifeguards discovered the wooden structure, between 80ft and 100ft (24-31 meters), poking out of the sand over Thanksgiving weekend in front of homes which collapsed into rubble on Daytona Beach Shores last month from Hurricane Nicole. Continue reading...
A US human rights charity has awarded the Duke and Duchess of Sussex its Ripple of Hope award for their activism on racial justice and mental health. The couple received the award on Tuesday night in New York, two days before the release of a Netflix show expected to include damning revelations about the royal family. The award is named after the 'ripple of hope' speech on apartheid given in 1966 by Robert Kennedy to students at Cape Town University in South Africa. The charity was set up shortly after he was assassinated in 1968
Come January, Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues will face a 51-49 Senate Democratic majority – making Biden’s job a little easierTuesday delivered a spate of bad news for Donald Trump and the Republican party. First, Bennie Thompson, chairman of the January 6 committee, announced that criminal referrals to the US Department of Justice would be forthcoming. A few hours later, a Manhattan jury convicted the Trump Organization on 17 counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and falsification. According to prosecutors, the former president was complicit.And now, the incumbent senator Raphael Warnock has prevailed in a hard-fought runoff. Georgia again rejected Herschel Walker and Donald Trump, his patron. Continue reading...
During a press conference with the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and their Australian counterparts in Washington, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the US had not 'encouraged nor enabled' Ukraine to strike inside Russia. His comments come after a string of strikes deep within Russian territory. Austin, however, said the US was not stopping Ukraine from developing its own long-range strike capability
Republican Herschel Walker conceded defeat in his Georgia runoff for a Senate seat against Raphael Warnock on Tuesday. Walker said: 'There's no excuses in life. And I'm not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. That's what we got to do.'Walker told his supporters at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta to continue to 'believe in America' and its elected officials, thanking them for their prayers and efforts. 'I said, "you guys, I've done a lot of stuff. You talk about Heisman Trophy, talk about all the athletic award, business awards I've won. But the best thing I've ever done in my whole entire life is run for this Senate seat right here"'
The right likes to portray Democrat cities as dystopian hellscapes - and yes gun crime is soaring, but not for the reasons they give‘Bad things happen in Philadelphia,” Donald Trump once warned. Last weekend, a very bad thing happened in Philadelphia: I pepper-sprayed myself in the face. I had bought some pepper spray keyrings online because, after a spate of armed robberies in my neighbourhood, I was worried about walking my dog at night.My dog is the size of a large rat so he doesn’t really deter bad guys – unless the bad guys are scared of rats. Anyway, I had gone out to the garden to test the spray – I’m not a complete idiot, I didn’t want to inhale that stuff in a confined space – and managed to get some droplets on my face. At first it was kind of pleasant. A nice little tingle. An exhilarating Philly facial. Then it started getting painful. Then I rubbed my eyes and …. yikes! 0/10 do not recommend.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Five patients of Eric Salata have filed 11 reports accusing physician of sexually assaulting them or attempting to during proceduresA doctor in Florida who recently died by suicide after being arrested on allegations that he drugged and raped two patients is now accused of similarly attacking at least three other women under his care.As of Tuesday, five patients of Eric Salata’s Pura Vida cosmetic surgery clinic in Naples had gone to police there and reported that the physician had either sexually assaulted them or attempted to during medical procedures, Adam Horowitz, an attorney for one of the women, said on Tuesday.In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. A list of prevention resources can be found here.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
A selection of the winning images from Capture the Atlas travel photography blog’s annual northern lights photographer of the year collection, published to coincide with the aurora season and the end of year• This article was amended on 7 December 2022 to clarify that two images feature the southern lights, not northern lights Continue reading...
Incumbent Democrat fends off challenge from Republican Herschel Walker to gain party’s 51st seatThe Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, won the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, securing his first full term and delivering a 51st seat to bolster his party’s majority in the chamber.The Associated Press called the race about three and a half hours after polls closed in Georgia, as Warnock led the Republican candidate, Herschel Walker, by approximately 40,000 votes. Continue reading...
Incumbent beats Republican Herschel Walker to strengthen Democratic majorityNot long ago, Herschel Walker took a slim lead, 50.4% to 49.6% (Georgia state results page here) over Raphael Warnock, but a lot of the experts and reporters I’m following here at Guardian central in New York are reporting pessimistic noises from the Republican’s campaign.Here’s Dave Wasserman, US House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report:A pattern emerging: Walker is hitting/getting close to the numbers he needs in the reddest, most rural counties. But he’s falling a good bit short of the numbers he needs in small/midsized cities. Continue reading...
by David Smith Washington bureau chief on (#66JZJ)
Walker’s Senate runoff loss might be viewed as the last nail in Trump’s political coffin, but 2024 will reveal the rebirth or the death of TrumpismSanity strikes again.Raphael Warnock’s victory over Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff caps an election season in which the normal, the sensible and the fans of fact regained their voice and gave hope that, after long years in which American democracy was feared to be at death’s door, the patient is rallying. Continue reading...
Twelve-person jury returns guilty verdict against former president’s company after being sent out on Monday to deliberateA jury in New York has convicted the Trump Organization of criminal tax fraud in a stinging rebuke of the former US president’s company.Although Donald Trump was not personally on trial, prosecutors in the case brought by the Manhattan district attorney insisted he was fully aware of the long-running scheme in which they said executives were enriched by off-the-books perks to make up for lower salaries, reducing the company’s tax liabilities. Continue reading...
The former president can add tax fraud to his accomplishments after his company was convicted of a 15-year criminal schemeWhen sorrows come, Shakespeare observed, they come not single spies, but in battalions. The same goes for former US president Donald Trump’s legal troubles.The latest trouble for Trump strikes at the heart of his identity as a wealthy businessman who wrote the bestselling book The Art of the Deal. On Tuesday his company was convicted of a 15-year criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans on (#66JN3)
VM Wheeler, 64, admits indecent behavior with juvenile in latest twist to Catholic church’s molestation scandalThe clerical molestation scandal that for decades has engulfed the Roman Catholic church in New Orleans took another turn on Tuesday, when a suspended deacon pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually abused a preteen boy two decades earlier, before the defendant’s ordination as a clergy member.Virgil Maxey “VM” Wheeler III, 64, pleaded guilty to four charges of indecent behavior with a juvenile filed against him in state court in Jefferson parish, which neighbors New Orleans. He agreed to serve five years of probation in exchange for that plea, avoid contact with the victim for the rest of his life and register as a sex offender for 15 years, court records show.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...
Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy denounced as ‘two-faced’ by Brian Sicknick’s mother at Congressional Gold Medal eventSenior Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy were snubbed by law enforcement leaders and a fallen officer’s family at Tuesday’s Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony for Capitol police who defended against the 6 January attacks.The pair were denounced as “two-faced” by the mother of Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after a mob of Donald Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol building and forced politicians to flee for their lives. Continue reading...
The ceremony will be a nod to the barriers broken by the two most powerful women in California politics and beyondUS vice-president Kamala Harris will swear in Karen Bass as Los Angeles mayor, marking the historic election of the first Black woman to lead the second largest city in the country.The swearing-in ceremony on Sunday will bring together two elected leaders who have repeatedly broken barriers in California politics and beyond. In 2020, Harris became the first woman, first Black person and first Asian person to be US vice- president. In 2008, as a California state assemblymember, Bass became the first Black woman to serve as the speaker of any US state legislature; she was elected to represent Los Angeles in the US congress in 2010 and later became chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Continue reading...
Representatives for those receiving an award for officers who defended the Capitol during the January 6 attack shook hands with the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, but walked past Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, video from the congressional gold medal ceremony shows
Targets and details of referrals in investigation of Capitol attack were not immediately clear but could follow two tracksThe House January 6 select committee will make criminal referrals to the US justice department in connection with its investigation into the Capitol attack, the chairman of the panel said Tuesday, heightening tensions ahead of the release of its final report expected to come later this month.
by Associated Press in Colorado Springs on (#66JER)
Anderson Aldrich, 22, accused of entering gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and killing five people with AR-15-style rifleThe suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, was charged by prosecutors on Tuesday with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder.Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, sat upright in a chair during the hearing and appeared alert. In an earlier court appearance just a few days after the shooting, the defendant’s head and face were covered with bruises and Aldrich was slumped over and had to be prompted by attorneys to respond to questions from a judge. Continue reading...
Political action committee paid bills of former Trump adviser Kash Patel and valet Walt Naud, who told FBI agents he moved boxes at Trump’s directionA report published by the Washington Post claims that money from Donald Trump’s political action committee paid the legal bills of some witnesses involved in the US justice department’s criminal inquiry into the former president’s improper handling of classified documents.They include the former Trump adviser Kash Patel, who was granted immunity last month for his grand jury testimony, the newspaper says, citing anonymous sources said to be familiar with the matter. Continue reading...
John and Kathleen Santonastasso of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, ordered to pay $57,332 after violating child labor lawsThe owners of several McDonald’s restaurants in Pennsylvania have been accused of violating child labor laws, with more than 100 children allegedly working excessive hours.The US labor department announced on Monday that 13 McDonald’s locations in the Pittsburgh area had violated labor laws designed to protect young employees. An investigation found that 101 child employees had been working excessive hours outside allowable time periods. Continue reading...
Best known for her role in the popular 1980s sitcom Cheers, the US actress Kirstie Alley died aged 71 after being diagnosed with cancer. During her career she won two Emmy awards, and a Golden Globe in 1991, and another Emmy in 1994. She also appeared in a string of movies including Star Trek II, Summer School and most prominently Look Who's Talking and its sequels
Republican David Rivera, arrested over consulting contract, also charged with acting as unregistered agent of Maduro governmentA former Miami congressman who signed a $50m consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government was arrested on Monday on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.David Rivera, a Republican who served in the US House from 2011 to 2013, was arrested at Atlanta’s airport, authorities said. An eight-count indictment against him alleges he was part of a conspiracy to lobby on behalf of Venezuela to improve US-Venezuela relations, resolve an oil company legal dispute and end American economic sanctions against the South American nation – without registering as a foreign agent. Continue reading...
A new app allows users to upgrade where they sit – for a price. It is just another case of inequality being rubbed in your faceIt looks like the airline experience you know and hate may be coming to a restaurant near you soon. A new app called Tablz, which is being used by a handful of well-known eateries in the US, lets you pay extra to choose your table at a restaurant. Want a window seat? Well, everyone else wants it too, buddy, so you’d better pay up! How much depends on how many other people are interested: as with ride-sharing apps, prices on Tablz surge with demand.“The restaurant financial model is broken,” the Tablz co-founder Frazer Nagy told Fast Company. “You can upgrade your hotel room, your car rental … seats on a plane. Every other industry has figured out pricing through upgrades, except restaurants.” Continue reading...
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